Engineering – Page 72 – Take off with Natarajan

Joke For the Day….A Business Advice …!!!

August 1, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Joke: Solid Business Advice

A boat docked in a tiny seaside village. An businessman tourist complimented the local fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

“Not very long,” answered the fisherman.

“But then, why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more?” asked the businessman. The fisherman explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The businessman asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

“I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, play the guitar, and sing a few songs… I have a full life.”

The businessman interrupted, “I have an MBA from Harvard, and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat.”

“And after that?” asked the fisherman.

With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to the city, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge new enterprise.”

“How long would that take?” asked the fisherman.

“Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years,” replied the businessman.

“And after that?”

“Afterwards? Well my Friend, That’s when it gets really interesting,” answered the businessman, laughing. “When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!”

“Millions? Really? And after that?” said the fisherman.

“After that you’ll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings doing what you like and enjoying your friends.”

Source…..www.ba-bamail.com

Natarajan

A Pilot”s Story…Flying High , @ Home and @ Work…

August 1, 2015Natarajan1 Comment

Credit: Justin Jinn/Panos)

Priti Kohal’s love of flying began when she was a 16-year-old living in Mumbai. But her passion for planes started sitting in the driving seat on the open road, not wide-open skies.

As a teenager, Kohal, now age 45, would take her parents’ car, unbeknownst to them, for joy rides around town. She loved being in control of the vehicle and the freedom that came with it.

“I just loved the thought of getting away,” she said.

When Kohal turned 18 and officially received her driver’s license, her passion for driving intensified. “It was great to be able to do things on my own without having anyone ferry me around,” she said. “After the car I moved on to faster modes of transportation.”

Kohal earned her pilot’s license in 1994 and since 1996 has been a pilot with India’s Jet Airways — she’s one of 600 female pilots in India — and she’s been a captain since 2009.

There are only 4,000 female pilots worldwide, versus 130,000 male pilots, according to the International Society of Women Airline Pilots. Kohal’s doctor mother and engineer father taught her and her sister that they weren’t any different from men and could do anything they wanted as long as they had fun doing it.

This family support has helped her excel, but many women entering traditionally male-dominated professions in India encounter more obstacles. Kohal says she hasn’t run into sexism, but other females in the airline industry have and continue to face hurdles simply because of their gender. In 2009, Air India fired ten female flight attendants for being overweight. GoAir, a budget airline in India, said in 2013 that it only wanted to hire small, young females to be flight attendants in order to save money on fuel by keeping the weight of the plane down. And there are stories in the media and social media of notes being left on flights, or complaints being made, by passengers upset that they’ve flown with a female pilot.

However, Kohal never thought twice about being in the airline business. “I never considered being a pilot different from being an engineer or a teacher,” she said. “There were no limits for what we could do.”

Short flights, long days

When her children were younger, Kohal only flew one- or two-hour flights. She woke at 03:30, fed her baby, put him back to sleep and then headed off to the airport by 04:00. She’d work her flight and usually be home by 10:30, having the remainder of the day to spend with her children. By sticking with this system and meticulous planning, Kohal said she has never missed an important milestone or a school meeting for her children, now ages 14 and 11.

When her children were young, Kohal flew early in the morning and was home by 10:30. (Credit: Courtesy of Priti Kohal)

Contrary to how it might appear, being a pilot is a “very good career” for managing home and work life, Kohal believes, but it takes strategic planning. She decided to choose her flights so that she could spend time at home with her children. As long as someone doesn’t mind getting up in the wee hours of the morning, they can be home for long stretches of the day, she said.

As Kohal’s children have gotten older, her schedule has changed a bit, too. She’ll now captain long-haul flights, but tries to be away from home no more than four nights each month. The sacrifice: Kohal doesn’t get to see her husband, who is also a pilot and captains Boeing 777 planes for Air India, as often as she used to. He’s typically away for four days at a time, and then he’s off for six days. When he’s home, she spends her evenings with him — “all six nights are booked for my husband,” she said — but when he’s away, she can do as she pleases.

“It’s freedom for me,” when he’s in the air, she said, with a laugh. “I can do what I want for those 16 hours and he can’t reach me.”

When both are away, Kohal’s parents, who are retired, look after the children. Indian families tend to have strong support systems, she said. When grandkids are young, grandparents are happy to help, but when they are older there’s an expectation that children, in turn, will help their ageing parents.

Having that (wider family) support is important because it eases up an entire part of your life that you would have to constantly monitor,” she said.

Priti Kohal balances her flight schedule with that of her husband, who is also a pilot. He travels more than she does. (Credit: Courtesy of Priti Kohal)

A disciplined approach

These days, Kohal’s typical routine goes something like this: She wakes up at 05:30 and gets ready for work, arriving at 09:00 where she receives her flying assignment. She typically flies for a few hours a day — unless she’s taking an overnight flight. That means she can be home by 14:30. After an hour nap, Kohal is wide-awake to greet her kids when they get home from school.

The family has dinner by 20:30 and bedtime for the children is at 21:30, without exception.

“One aspect of being a pilot is that rules can’t be broken,” Kohal said. “You can’t mess up when you have to be stabilised at 1,000 feet. So I have some hard rules at home. They have it tougher than I did when I was younger.”

She’s usually in bed by midnight, but when her husband is away and she doesn’t have to fly the next day, Kohal will stay up reading until 02:30. “That’s my time,” she said.

Hard work pays off

Kohal attributes her success to one thing: hard work. For instance, only 0.1% of people pass the pilot’s entrance exam — and it’s given only twice a year. She was the only one to pass in her class.

Kohal has accomplished nearly everything she’s set out to do, but looking at her situation, she doesn’t think that she’s done anything extraordinary. Many educated women in India have successful careers, she added.

“Anything you set your mind to do, you just do it,” she said. “Tomorrow it will be something else.”

Source….Bryan Borzykowski in www. bbc.com

Natarajan

The World”s Strangest Unsolved Plane Mysteries….

August 1, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

The shadow of a Royal New Zealand Air Force P3 Orion is seen on low-level clouds while the aircraft searches for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in March 2014.Photo: AP

Plane debris that could possibly be linked to missing Flight MH370 has been discovered washed up on the beach of a remote island in the Indian Ocean, officials revealed Wednesday.

The component found is believed to be the flaperon from a Boeing 777, the same type of plane that disappeared over the southern Indian Ocean in March 2014 with 239 people onboard.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 is the only Boeing 777 currently unaccounted for, and experts have taken the part away for further analysis in an attempt to determine its origin.

This is the first major development in the flight’s puzzling disappearance over a year ago in an event that has become one of the biggest unsolved aviation mysteries in history.

However, this is not the first time a plane has disappeared or crashed under mysterious circumstances. Here are some of the other unexplained aviation disasters that have taken place in the last century:

1. Aer Lingus Flight 712

On March 24, 1968, Aer Lingus Flight 712 from Cork in Ireland to London’s Heathrow Airport crashed into the sea, killing all 61 onboard.

But when investigators looked into the crash, they could find no explanation for what brought the plane down. In the years following the crash, several witnesses came forward to claim that the plane had been shot down by an experimental British missile — a claim that was strongly denied by the British government.

2. B47 Stratojet Bomber

In March 1956, a Boeing B47 Stratojet long-range bomber carrying three US Air Force personnel vanished over the Mediterranean Sea while en route from MacDill Air Force Base in Florida to Ben Guerir Air Force Base in Morocco. The plane disappeared without a trace. Frighteningly, the bomber was carrying two nuclear warheads, which were never recovered.

3. Helios Airways Flight 522

On Aug. 14, 2005, Greek air traffic controllers lost contact with Helios Airways Flight 522 as it headed toward Athens airport to begin its descent after a short trip from Cyprus. Strangely, the plane stayed within its set holding pattern around the airport for over an hour. When fighter jets were scrambled to intercept the flight, they saw the pilot slumped over the controls. The plane descended rapidly around 30 minutes later, crashing into a hillside outside the city and killing all 121 souls onboard. An investigation into the crash determined that there may have been a gradual cabin pressure loss that had likely incapacitated the crew.

4. Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Electra

One of the most famous aviation mysteries in history occurred in 1937 when the Lockheed Electra plane piloted by pioneer aviator Amelia Earhart vanished over the Pacific Ocean during her attempt to circumnavigate the globe. No wreckage was ever found, and the plane’s disappearance has been the focus of intense conspiracy theories ever since. There have been stories of her being shot down by the Japanese or being a spy. Some have speculated that she faked her own death, and a very small contingent is convinced she was abducted by aliens.

5. Flight 19

Flight 19 was the name given to a US Air Force training exercise that took place on Dec. 5, 1945, involving an Avenger Torpedo Bomber. The plane disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle with 14 airmen on board. The Air Force then sent a Mariner flying boat with 13 men onboard to attempt to find the missing aircraft. That plane also went missing. Neither of the planes, nor the 27 crew members in total, was ever seen again, and investigators could never determine the cause of either flight’s disappearance.

6. Egypt Air Flight 990

Flight 990 was a scheduled flight from Los Angeles to Cairo with a stopover in New York. But on Oct. 31, 1999, the Boeing 747 mysteriously crashed into the Atlantic Ocean about 100 miles south of Nantucket, killing all 217 people onboard, including 14 crew members. While investigators never discovered the specific cause of the crash, the FBI believed that the evidence suggested the crash was deliberate rather than accidental. Egyptian and American authorities never agreed on the cause of the crash, with the Egyptians concluding it was due to mechanical malfunction and the Americans stating it was the responsibility of the relief first officer.

7. Pan Am Flight 7

Pan Am Flight 7 was once considered one of the most exclusive and luxurious “around-the-world trips” available. But in 1957, during a leg from Los Angeles to Hawaii, the Boeing Stratocruiser vanished into thin air. Rescue crews hunted for five days before finding the plane floating in the ocean, hundreds of miles off course, with very little actual damage to the aircraft. Autopsies on the passengers found that they had been poisoned by carbon monoxide emissions, but no reason for the poisoning was ever found. Many speculated that it was possibly an act of insurance fraud.

8. Air France Flight 447

On the morning of June 1, 2009, Air France Flight 447, traveling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, went missing with 216 passengers and 12 crew members onboard. The Airbus A330 had flown through a thunderstorm, but no distress signal was sent. For several days there was no trace of the plane, and it took over two years to recover the black boxes from the ocean floor. Analysis of the boxes found that a combination of equipment malfunction and human error resulted in the crash.

Source…. Sohpie Forbes, Yahoo Travel in http://www.nypost.com and www,news.com.au

Natarajan

” கலாம் கட் …” …

July 31, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

கலாம் கடைசியாக தைக்க கொடுத்த ஆடைகள்: ஞாபகார்த்தமாக வைத்திருக்க டெய்லர் முடிவு

அப்துல்கலாம் இறுதியாக தைக்கக் கொடுத்த கோட்டுடன், டெய்லர் அமன் ஜெயின் சகோதரர் ஆசிஷ் ஜெயின், படம்: சிவகுமார் புஷ்பாகர்

மறைந்த முன்னாள் குடியரசுத் தலைவர் அப்துல்கலாம், இறப்பதற்கு முன்பாக இரு புதிய ஆடைகளை வடிவமைத்துக் கொடுக்கும்படி, தனக்கு வழக்கமாக ஆடைகள் தைக்கும் டெய்லரிடம் கூறியுள்ளார். ஆடைகள் தயாராகிவிட்ட நிலையில், கலாம் இறந்துவிட்டதால் அவரின் நினைவாக அந்த ஆடைகளை தானே பத்திரமாக பராமரிக் கப்போவதாக அந்த டெய்லர் தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.

டெல்லி ஆரிய சமாஜ் சாலையில் ‘ஃபேர் டீல் ஷாப்’ எனும் பெயரில் தையலகம் நடத்தி வருபவர் அமர் ஜெயின். இவர் கடந்த 20 ஆண்டுகளாக அப்துல் கலாமுக்கு ஆடைகள் தைத்துக் கொடுத்து வந்துள்ளார்.

இவரிடம் ரம்ஜான் பண்டிகைக்கு முன்பாக சென்ற கலாம், இரண்டு கோட்- சூட் ஆடைகளை தைத்துக் கொடுக்கும்படி கூறியுள்ளார். வெள்ளிக்கிழமை பெற்றுக் கொள்வதாகவும் தெரிவித்திருக்கிறார். தைக்கப்பட்ட ஆடைகளை கலாம் டெல்லியில் வசித்த 10, ராஜாஜி மார்க்கில் உள்ள அரசு இல்லத்தில் கொடுப்பது டெய்லர் அமனின் வழக்கம்.

ஆடைகள் தயாராகிவிட்ட நிலையில், கலாம் அமரராகி விட்டார். இதையடுத்து அந்த ஆடைகளை, அப்துல் கலாமின் நினைவாக போற்றிப் பாதுகாக்க அமன் திட்டமிட்டுள்ளார்.

இது தொடர்பாக அமன், ‘தி இந்து’ விடம் கூறியதாவது: சுமார் 20 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்பு என்னிடம் அவர் முதன்முறையாக வந்தபோது, டிஆர்டிஓ-வில் பணி யாற்றி வந்தார். மிகவும் வெளிறிய நிறங்களே அவருக்குப் பிடிக்கும்.

மேல் சட்டையில் தங்க நிற பொத்தான்களும், அதற்கு மேல் அணியும் கோட்டில் வெள்ளி நிற பொத்தான்களும் எப்போதும் இருக்கும். ஆண்டுக்கு, இரண்டு முறை மட்டுமே புதிய உடைகள் அணிவார். உடைகள் சீக்கிரம் கிழியாமல் இருக்க சில சமயம் அதிகமான தையல்கள் போடக் கூறுவார்.

அவர் குடியரசுத் தலைவராக தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்ட பின்பும் என்னிடமே ‘பந்த் கலா (கழுத்தை மூடியபடி இருப்பது)’ வகை சூட் வடிவமைக்க கொடுத்திருந்தார். அப்போது, அது கழுத்தை இறுக்கியபடி இருந்த அந்த உடை அவருக்கு வசதியாக இல்லை போலும். இதனால், அடுத்த முறை கழுத்துக்கு அருகே சற்று இடைவெளி விட்டே தைக்கும்படி கூறினார்.

காரணம் கேட்டபோது அவர், ‘இப்படி ஒரு குடியரசு தலைவரின் குரல்வளையை நசுக்கினால் இந்த நாட்டின் முன் அவர் எப்படி பேசுவார்? மக்களிடம் தனது கருத்தை எப்படி சொல்வார்?’ என சிரித்தபடி பதில் அளித்தார். அதன் பிறகு பந்த் கலா சூட்டின் கழுத்தில் பொத்தான் இன்றி விடப்படும் இடைவெளிக்கு ‘கலாம் கட்’ எனப் பெயர் வந்தது. இவ்வாறு அவர் தெரிவித்தார்.

Keywords: அப்துல் கலாம் மறைவு, கலாம் தைக்க கொடுத்த ஆடைகள், ஞாபகார்த்தமாக வைத்திருக்க டெய்லர் முடிவு

Source…www.tamil.the hindu.com

Natarajan

” அசையாத சிவனும் அசைவது அம்பாளால் …

July 31, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

அசையாத சிவனும் அம்பாளால்தான் அசைந்து காரியத்தில் ஈடுபடுகிறார் என்று வருவதை சயன்ஸ்படி கொஞ்சம் விளக்கிப் பார்த்தால், ‘மாட்டர்’ என்று பதார்த்தத்தைச் சொல்கிறார்கள். அதன் சுபாவம் ‘இனர்ஷியா’ என்கிறார்கள் அதாவது சலனமில்லாமல் போட்டது போட்டபடிக் கிடப்பதுதான் என்கிறார்கள். அதனால் ‘இனர்ட் மாட்டர்’ என்றே சேர்த்துச் சொல்வதாக இருக்கிறது.

ஆனாலும் அப்படிப்பட்ட `இனர்ட் மாட்டர்` பல தினுசில் சலனப்பட்டு, பல தினுசில் ஒன்று சேர்ந்துதான் பிரபஞ்சம் உண்டாயிருக்கிறதென்று நன்றாகத் தெரிகிறது. அப்படியானால் ஏதோ ஒரு பவர், சக்திதானே சலனமில்லாத `மாட்டரை` சலனிக்கும்படியாகப் பண்ணியிருப்பதாக ஆகிறது? அந்தச் சலனமில்லாத `மாட்டரை` தான் சிவன் என்றும் அதைச் சலனிக்க வைக்கும் சக்தியைப் பாரசக்தி, அம்பாள் என்றும் சொல்லியிருக்கிறது.

நிச்சலனமான சிவனும், கிரக நட்சத்திரங்களில் ஆரம்பித்து அணுவுக்குள் உள்ள பரமாணுவரை எல்லாம் சதா சலனித்துக்கொண்டே இருப்பதற்குக் காரணமான சக்தியும் பிரிக்க முடியாமல் ஒன்று சேர்ந்திருக்கிறார்கள் என்பதை அவர் ‘மாட்டர்’, அவள் ‘எனெர்ஜி’ என்று சயன்ஸ் அடிப்படையில் விளக்கிச் சொல்லலாம். இணைபிரியாத இரண்டு பேர் என்றாலும் அவர்கள் அடிப்படையில் இரண்டுகூட இல்லை, ஒன்றேதான் என்பதையும் அடாமிக் சயன்சில் ‘மாட்ட’ரே ‘எனர்ஜி’யாவதாகச் சொல்லியிருப்பதைக் காட்டி உறுதிப்படுத்தலாம்.

ஆனால் ஒரு வித்தியாசம், பெரிய வித்தியாசம். என்னவென்றால், அங்கே ஒரு மாட்டரை எனர்ஜி ரூபமாக்கிய அப்புறம் மாட்டர் இல்லாமல் போய்விடும். இங்கேயோ சிவனும் சக்தியும் எப்போதுமே சாச்வத சத்யமாக இருக்கிறார்கள். சக்தியோக எனெர்ஜி வெளிப்பட்டுக்கொண்டே இருக்கும்போதும் சிவ `மாட்டர்` அழியாமலே இருந்துகொண்டிருக்கிறது.

ஏனென்றால் இங்கே ‘மாட்டர்’ என்பதே ஜடமாக இல்லாமல் உயிரான ‘ஸ்பிரிட்’டாக இருக்கிறது. அழியாத, அழிக்க முடியாத ஆத்ம தத்துவமாக இருக்கிறது. சைதன்ய பூர்ணமாக இருக்கிறது. ஜடத்திலேயே ஆரம்பித்து ஜடத்திலேயே முடிந்துவிடும் சயன்ஸ்படியான மாட்டருங்கூட இந்த சைதன்யத்திலிருந்து வந்ததுதான். இப்போது மெள்ள மெள்ள ஐன்ஸ்டீன், சர் ஆலிவர் லாட்ஜ், எடிங்டன் போன்ற பெரிய சயன்ஸ் மேதைகள் அந்த சைதன்ய ஆதாரத்தின் பக்கமாக சயன்சைத் திருப்பி விட்டிருக்கிறார்கள்.

ஆனாலும் அதை லாபரடரியில் எக்ஸ்பெரிமென்ட் பண்ணி நிரூபிக்கவோ, அநுபவிக்கவோ முடியாது. மதாநுஷ்டானத்தினால்தான் அதன் நிரூபணமும், ப்ரத்யக்ஷ அநுபவமும் கிடைக்கும். சயன்சுக்கும் மதத்துக்கும் மாறுபாடுகள் இருந்தாலும் ஒப்புவமை காட்டும்படியும் அநேகம் இருக்கின்றன. ஐன்ஸ்டீனின் ரிலேடிவிடி தியரியிலிருந்து நடந்துள்ள அணு ஆராய்ச்சிக் கண்டுபிடிப்புகள் மத சாஸ்திரங்கள், குறிப்பாக அத்வைத வேதாந்தமும் சாக்த நூல்களும் சொல்வதற்குக் கிட்ட வந்துகொண்டிருக்கின்றன.

லோகத்தில் ‘டைம்’, ‘ஸ்பேஸ்’ என்பவை உள்பட எதுவுமே தன்னுடைய ஆதாரத்திலேயே சத்தியமாக இருப்பதல்ல, ‘ரிலேடிவா’க இன்னொன்றைச் சார்ந்தே எல்லாமும் ஒரு ஓட்டத்தில் ஓடுகிறபோது அந்த ஓட்டத்தின் தொடர்ச்சியாலேயே அததுவும் சத்தியம் மாதிரி நடைமுறைக்கு இருக்கிறது என்பதுதான் நான் புரிந்துகொண்ட மட்டும் ‘ரிலேடிவிடி தியரி’.

பிரம்மம்தான் ஒன்றேயான ஆதார சத்தியம். அதைச் சார்ந்திருப்பதாலேயே சத்தியம் மாதிரித் தோற்றம் அளிக்கும்படியாக மாயை கல்பித்துக் காட்டுகிறதுதான் இந்த லோகம் பூராவும் என்று அத்வைதம் சொல்கிறது. அந்த மாயையாகவே அம்பாளை சாக்த சாஸ்திரங்களும் குறிப்பிடுவதாகச் சொன்னேன். மாயா தத்துவம்தான் ‘ரிலேடிவிடி’ என்று கொள்வதற்கு நிறைய இடமிருக்கிறதல்லவா? இந்த ரிலேடிவிடிக்கு ஆதாரமான ‘அப்சொல்யூட்’ என்னவென்று சயன்ஸ் கண்டுபிடிக்கவில்லை.

மத நூல்களும் தத்துவ சாஸ்திரங்களும் அதைத்தான் பிரம்மம், சிவன் என்கின்றன. மதம் ‘ரிலிஜன்’, தத்துவ சாஸ்திரம் ‘ஃபிலாஸஃபி’ என்று ஒரு பாகுபாடு சொல்லப்பட்டாலும் நம்முடைய மதத்தில் இந்த இரண்டும் பிரிக்க முடியாமல் சிவ-சக்திகள் மாதிரி ஒன்று சேர்ந்துதான் இருக்கின்றன. புத்தகத்தில் சொன்னது மட்டுமில்லை, அந்த அப்சொல்யூட்டை மகான்கள் ஆத்ம ஸ்வரூபமாக அநுபவித்தும் இருக்கிறார்கள். அதுதான் உயிருக்கெல்லாம் உயிராக இருக்கும் ஒரே உண்மையான உயிர்.

அதாவது ஒன்று மத்தியிலிருப்பது, மற்றது சுற்றியிருப்பது என்பதற்குப் பதில் இரண்டும் பேர் பாதி என்று சொல்லியிருக்கிறது. அதுதான் அர்த்தநாரீச்வர ஸ்வரூபம் – வலது பக்கம் பாசிடிவ் ஸ்வாமி, இடது பக்கம் நெகடிவ் அம்பாள். இப்படிச் சொல்வதிலும் புஷ்டியான காரணம் தெரிகிறது. என்னவென்றால், இடது பக்கம்தானே இருதயம் இருக்கிறது?

தேகம் பூராவுக்குமே அதுதான் சக்தி தருகிறது. ஒரு தேகத்தில் இடது பக்கத்தை விடவும் வலது பக்கம்தான் ஜாஸ்தி பலத்தோடு, ‘பவ’ரோடு காரியத்துக்கு உதவுவதாக இருக்கிறது. வாகாக வேலை செய்ய வலது பக்கம்தான் உகந்ததாக இருக்கிறது. வலது கையால் செய்ய முடிகிற மாதிரி இடதால் முடியாது.

வலது பக்க வியாபாரத்தை மூளையின் இடது பக்கம் கன்ட்ரோல் பண்ணுகிறது என்றும், இடது பக்க வியாபாரத்தை மூளையின் வலது பக்கம் கன்ட்ரோல் பண்ணுகிறது என்றும் தெரிகிறது. அதாவது ஜாஸ்தி சக்திகரமாகக் காரியம் பண்ணும் நம்முடைய சரீரத்தின் சிவ சைடுக்கு அப்படி சக்தி கொடுத்து கன்ட்ரோல் பண்ணுவது மூளையின் சக்தி சைடே என்றாகிறது.

Keywords: தெய்வத்தின் குரல், சாக்தம், தத்துவம், அறிவியல், சான்று, பெரியவா

Source…www.tamil.thehindu.com

Natarajan

“All Human Beings Carry Divinity Inside Themselves….” Says A P J Abdul Kalam …

July 31, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

‘This can lift us out of confusion, misery, melancholy and failure, and indeed guide us when it is contacted.’

‘For us to ignite our spirituality, we need to look inward and transcend our egos. We need to recognize, connect with and integrate the eternal spirit within,’ says A P J Abdul Kalam in his latest book, Transcendence.

I have vivid memories of my childhood in Rameswaram, but one memory particularly stands out, and comes to mind occasionally. As a ten-year-old boy, I recall seeing three contrasting personalities meet from time to time in our home: Pakshi Lakshmana Shastrigal, the Vedic scholar and head priest of the famous Rameswaram temple; Rev Father Bodal, who built the first church on Rameswaram Island; and my father, who was an imam in the mosque. These three would sit in our courtyard, each with a cup of tea; and they would discuss and find solutions to the various problems facing our community.

Reflecting on this, I can see that my father and his religious counterparts in Rameswaram were expressing a long-standing cultural trait. India has shown a healthy propensity for integrating diverse ideas and reaching a consensus, for thousands of years. And I cannot help but feel that the example of those inter-religious meetings at my family home is most worthy of emulation. Because now, throughout the nation and the world, the need for such frank and genial dialogue among cultures, religions and civilizations is more urgent than ever.

Starting with my father, Jainulabdeen, I have been blessed with some great teachers, who appeared at different stages of my life. My father taught me to view one’s role in life as that of an instrument or vessel, through which one takes with one hand and gives with the other. “There is only one light, and you and I are holes in the lampshade,” he would say.

My father lived a simple life as it unfolded before him but never lost sight of the underlying divinity. Throughout my life, I have tried to emulate my father in this regard. My experiences of eight decades have validated the teaching I received from him.

I do believe that all human beings carry divinity inside themselves, and that this can lift us out of confusion, misery, melancholy and failure, and indeed guide us when it is contacted.

As a young engineer, I worked with Dr Brahma Prakash. He taught me how tolerance of others’ views and opinions is essential in building teams and accomplishing tasks that are beyond the individuals’ capacities.

He taught me that life is a precious gift, but it comes with responsibility. With this gift, we are expected to use our talents to make the world a better place, to live an ethical and well-balanced life, and to prepare for the spiritual life, which is eternal.

Dr Brahma Prakash changed the way I saw the world. He once told me, “Kalam, if you see this world as mean and rude, it will interfere with your concentration. Negative thinking is similar to carrying twenty bags of luggage on a trip. This baggage will make your trip miserable, and progress will be slow.”

As a project director, I worked with Professor Satish Dhawan, who taught me that a good leader takes the responsibility for the failures of his team, but gives the credit of his success to his colleagues.

His academic accomplishments were awesome. He had a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics and a Bachelor of Science in physics, followed by a Master of Arts in mathematics. These were augmented with a Bachelor of Engineering in mechanical engineering, a Master of Science in aerospace engineering.

When I asked him the secret of his brilliance, he told me: “Academic brilliance is no different than the brilliance of a mirror. Once dust is removed, the mirror shines and the reflection is clear. We can remove impurities by living pure and ethical lives and serving humanity, and God will shine through us.”

Later, I met Jain muni Acharya Mahapragya, who made me realize the affirmation of a divine life upon earth and an immortal sense in mortal existence. He taught me that our consciousness is the birthplace of our ethics. He said, “We know something is right when our consciences are clear. Our consciences are our true friends.”

Together we wrote Family and Nation and articulated two steps to the process of listening to our conscience — to become self-aware so that we can connect to our conscience, and to act on what our conscience says.

I met Pramukh Swamiji, my ultimate teacher, unwittingly. Fate and my curiosity had drawn me to him. Earlier, as principal scientific advisor to the Government of India, I had visited Bhuj to review the rehabilitation work in the aftermath of the earthquake.

There, on 15 March 2001, I met Sadhu Brahmaviharidas, a disciple of Pramukh Swamiji. He asked me a startling question which elicited a spiritual response. He asked: “After the detonation of the first atomic bomb, Robert Oppenheimer remembered the Gita: ‘Time I am the shatterer of the world.’ What came to your mind after you detonated India’s first atomic bomb?”

I was puzzled by this question, and said, “The energy of God does not shatter, it unifies,” to which he replied, “Our spiritual leader, Pramukh Swami Maharaj, is a great unifier. He has unified all our energies to regenerate and restore life from the rubble of damage.”

I was moved and expressed my desire to meet such a swami. What began as a chance introduction became a divine destiny.

Over several years and multiple meetings with Pramukh Swamiji, I realized that a divine life can have no base unless we recognize the eternal spirit as the inhabitant of this bodily mansion, and integrate all of which the eternal spirit is comprised.

That all those living on this planet Earth — around me, away from me, in my country, in other countries; even other species and vegetation and minerals — are all different forms of a great unity.

At the most elementary level, all nature is one. Only one noble material weaves constantly different garbs. The nascent convergence of Nano-Bio-Info-Cogno technologies is testimony to this. How can we ensure that this convergence leads to human good and not harm; to the benefit of the marginalized and poor and not to merely an influential few?

With these thoughts on my mind, I travelled to Sarangpur, Gujarat, on 11 March 2014 to see Pramukh Swamiji. This was our latest meeting. We met in a garden inhabited by peacocks, surrounded by beautiful flowers.

In an emotionally and spiritually charged atmosphere, Swamiji held my hand for ten minutes. No words were spoken. We looked into each other’s eyes in a profound communication of consciousness. It was a great spiritual experience.

I have had a few spiritual experiences even earlier. On 30 September 2001, I survived a helicopter mishap. That night, I had a very vivid dream. I saw myself in a desert on a moonlit night, surrounded by miles of sand. Five great men, namely Emperor Ashoka, Mahatma Gandhi Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln and Caliph Umar, communicated a mission to me for igniting the minds of the young with hope.

On 28 April 2007, in the cave on Philopappos Hill — the place of imprisonment and self-sacrifice of the great soul Socrates — I saw in my mind’s eye a powerful streak of lighting.

Out of the dark corners of the cave came four apparitions, walking towards me in white robes. Foremost among them was Socrates, who said in a soft voice, ‘Thinking is freedom.’ Next came Abraham Lincoln who said, ‘No human being can be a slave of another.’ Then I saw Mahatma Gandhi, who said, ‘Eliminate violence in all human missions, let peace prevail.’ Finally, I saw Galileo Galilei, who said, ‘Truth is beyond human laws.’

But at the garden in Sarangpur with Pramukh Swamiji, there was a difference. On the earlier two occasions, I felt that perhaps my own imagination was at play. This time, Pramukh Swamiji was holding my hand. I became oblivious to the people around us, and was drawn into a kind of timeless silence.

I felt that his was the hand of transformation that could bring a change that the world needed today. In these moments, a world vision based on Mother Earth was intuitively communicated to me.

Pramukh Swamiji is Gunatit Satpurush, a spiritual person. He has transcended the ephemeral and the modes of nature. I felt as if through Pramukh Swamiji a divine message was transferred to me about something endowed to mankind by God almighty, but forgotten by humanity.

In a revelatory flash, I realized that the struggle between happiness and unhappiness that had so far been the story of human existence — and the struggle between peace and war that had been the history of the human race — must change.

I heard in the silence of his grip on my hand, “Kalam, go and tell everyone that the power that would lead us to eternal victory amid these struggles is the power of good within us. Communicate to mankind the vision of a harmonious world. This vision would be greater than any other goal ever aspired to by humanity.”

A harmonious world may seem an impossibly utopian vision. But with the guidance of the Divine, and in acknowledging the unity of all creation — and with the helping hand of such transcendent souls as Pramukh Swamiji — the impossible may be achievable. And a harmonious world begins with a harmonious inner world — an unavoidably spiritual quest.

For us to ignite our spirituality, we need to look inward and transcend our egos. We need to recognize, connect with and integrate the eternal spirit within.

There are four steps for this: Search in the right place, Remove the dust, Open your inner eye and See your destiny waiting for your effort to be realized.

Accordingly, I have written this book in four parts. The book starts with my spiritual experiences in the presence of Pramukh Swamiji. The second part reflects on the social work undertaken by the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) under the stewardship of Pramukh Swamiji. The third part shows the way ahead for humanity, with a vision of the fusion of science and spirituality. The fourth part calls for creative leadership, which is essential for the realization of this vision.

The spirit of inclusiveness of BAPS offers a seed to build a glorious crystal of a peaceful and prosperous world, where all civilizations coexist harmoniously and accommodate each other.

Pramukh Swamiji has already made an example, by creating a reflective society living through its cultural heritage. He has taken the glory of India to Africa, Europe, America and the Far East in the form of magnificent Swaminarayan temples, strong fellowship of devotees and well-wishers that encompasses millions world wide.

Let it now expand into public dealings — transparent governance and ethical business — based on truth. Driven by the convergence of Bio-Nano-Info-Eco-Cogno technologies, human beings will have unprecedented power.

A vision is required to ensure that living conditions at the bottom of the social pyramid will improve across social, political and economic boundaries.

When this book was almost complete, my elder brother A P J Muhammad Muthu Meera Lebbai Maracayer called me from Rameswaram one morning after fajr prayers. Such a call so early in the morning initially worried me, but I was relieved upon hearing his cheerful voice. He asked me, “Tell me, brother, what is the most important thing you are doing these days?” I had told him about this book. I expressed my doubt to him: Whether it is appropriate for me as a Muslim to write about the leader of another religion.

I have much respect for my brother Maracayer’s judgement. He is fourteen years my senior and had lived a very pious life, grounded in Islamic religion and service. He said, “Kalam, when Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, arrived in Medina, there were Jewish and Christian tribes living there. He entered into a treaty with them within a larger framework dealing with inter-Muslim relationships. One of the clauses laid down in the treaty required that each party hold counsel with the other. Mutual relations shall be founded on righteousness; sin is totally excluded.”

My brother concluded by asking me to go ahead with the book, and share with everyone details of the pious and virtuous life of Pramukh Swamiji. Thus, the book was finally completed.

I dedicate this book to all the righteous people of the world wherever they are. The Swaminarayan temples and Akshardhams are indeed the sanctuaries of pious and virtuous living. They are abodes of peace and beacons of hope, rescuing people from the bottomless pit of self-indulgence, and, through service, reminding them of their true selves and allowing them to become wholesome human beings.

An increasing number of people, particularly in the developed world, are finding freedom from superficial relationships, trivial communications and the constant noise that pervade the modern world, in the counsel and guidance of BAPS saints.

May this divine presence increase!

Excerpted from Transcendence, by A P J Abdul Kalam and Arun Tiwari, with the kind permission of publishers, Harper Element, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

IMAGES: President A P J Abdul Kalam with Pramukh Swami Maharaj. Kind courtesy: Trancendence.

Source…..www.rediff.com

Natarajan

July 29…” Mohun Bagan Day”….Read this story to know the Reason…

July 29, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Imagine India in 1911.

Lord Curzon had recently announced the partition of Bengal between East and West Bengal along Hindu and Muslim lines. When the whole country was fighting against the British and the movement was at its peak…

…THE SUCCESS OF MOHUN BAGAN in IFA SHIELD in 1911 is remembered as an eventful event in the social history of Indian sports.

Mohun Bagan’s barefooted Bengalis defeated the British Army’s East Yorkshire Regiment to win the Indian Football Association Shield. This IFA Shield victory of 1911 is one of the most commented upon events in Indian histories. This victory was much more than just the greatest day in the history of Indian football. It provided an inspiration to a movement which was gathering pace in India then.

Mohun Bagan, considered the national club of India, became the first Asian football club when it was set up in 1889 in Calcutta. On 29th July 1911, Mohun Bagan was up against the East Yorkshire Regiment, a major British team. Over 80,000 Indians had gathered in and around the stadium to witness the real-life Lagaan moment.

After drubbing St. Xavier’s College 3-0 in the first round, they defeated Rangers Football Club in the second round. A 1-0 win over Rifle Brigade secured a semi-final berth for Mohun Bagan, under the leadership of inspirational Shibdas Bhaduri.

The final was as exciting as any game played today by players who cost their clubs millions. Perhaps more, because Mohun Bagan played that day with one thing on their mind – FREEDOM.

Mohun Bagan captain Shibdas Bhaduri scored an equalizer after the British team drew first blood. Then with just two minutes to go from the final whistle, Abhilash Ghosh received a pass from the captain and scored the winner with a thunderous strike.

The ground erupted in celebration. It started to rain in shirts and shoes within the ground. Mohun Bagan became the first Indian team to lift the IFA Shield. Indian football was born on 29 July 1911, and at the same time it pumped the freedom movement with much-needed enthusiasm.

29th July came to be known as Mohun Bagan Day.

This victory was highly praised not only by the Indian media. The British media wrote,“What the Congress failed to achieve, Mohun Bagan has”.

This day is remembered, for the bare-footed warriors who gave direction to a freedom movement. Not only that, it also has a nationalist, social, cultural and economic significance in historical perspective.

Source….www.storypick,com

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Image of the Day….Solar Halo Over Sweden…

July 29, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Solar halo over Sweden

Halos are a sign of high thin cirrus clouds drifting high above our heads. The clouds contain millions of tiny ice crystals, which both refract (split) and also reflect sunlight.

Göran Strand in Sweden posted this photo of a wonderful solar halo to EarthSky Facebook this week (July 26, 2015). He wrote:

Yesterday while I was documenting the ongoing Storsjöyran [a music festival], I saw a faint solar halo that was slowly growing in strength. This statue placed in Badhusparken, Östersund, and is called the Father and Son.

source…..www.earthskynews.org

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Rare Photographs of Dr. Abdul Kalam ….From The Archives of Indian Express…

July 28, 2015July 27, 2020NatarajanLeave a comment

The journey of A P J Abdul Kalam as a space scientist began in early 1960s at Thumba, a coastal village near here, which housed India’s first rocket launcher, Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launcher.

I K Gujral congratulating former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam after he was conferred with the Bharat Ratna at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi. (Source: Express photo by Virendra Singh) –

One of the little known facts about former President A P J Abdul Kalam is that he has a medical invention to his name — a coronary stent built with missile composites that dramatically brought down the cost of heart stents from Rs 55,000 to Rs 10,000 in the mid-1990s.

Former president Dr APJ Kalam deliver lecture on Homi Bhabha Birth Centenary Commemoration TIFR Foundation Day at Colaba. (Source: Express Photo by Ganesh Shirsekar) –

Dr. Abdul Kalam, who received several prestigious awards including Bharat Ratna, played a crucial role when India tested its nuclear weapons at Pokhran in 1998 when the Vajpayee government was in power.

Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, George Fernandes, Pramod Mahajan, Bhairon singh Shekhawat and other senior sceintist and army officals at the site of 1998 Pokharan nuclear missile launch. (Source: Express photo by Ravi Batra) –

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam felicitated 100-year-old body builder from Kolkata Manohar Aich during the celebration of Shanmukhananda Hall Diamond Jubilee. (Source: Express photo by Prashant Nadka) –

“At Rashtrapati Bhawan I found a letter from our first President, Rajendra Prasad to Nobel laureate Sir C V Raman in 1954 asking him to come to Rashtrapati Bhawan to accept the Bharat Ratna. Anyone would have jumped at the offer. Then I read Sir CV Raman’s reply to the invitation. It said, “Dear Mr President, I thank you for giving me such a great honour, but I have a problem. I am guiding a scholar and he is submitting his thesis in December-January. I have to sign the thesis and won’t be able to accept the invitation, ” Dr. Kalam said at Idea Exchange. (Source: Express archive) –

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam being sworn-in as the 11th President of India by the then Chief Justice of India B N Kirpal at the central hall of Parliament in New Delhi. (Source: PTI file photo) –

Former President A P J Abdul Kalam intervenes in the debate after presenting the second Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism awards on Monday night. On stage (from left): moderators Rajdeep Sardesai of CNN-IBN and Barkha Dutt of NDTV; panelists Shobhana Bhartia of The Hindustan Times, N Ram of The Hindu, Ravi Dhariwal of Bennett, Coleman (publishers of The Times of India), Pankaj Pachauri of NDTV India and Shekhar Gupta of The Indian Express. (Source: Express archive) –

During the Ramnath Goenka Awards, Dr. Kalam had broken protocol and sat on the dais to interact with the journalists present at the ceremony. (Source: Express archive) –

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam in Sukhoi-30 MKI. (Source: Express photo by Ravindra Joshi)

Dr. Abdul Kalam at his residence at 10 Rajaji Marg in New Delhi. (Source: Express photo by Oinam Anand) –

See more at: http://indianexpress.com/photos/photo-archives/apj-abdul-kalams-rare-photos-from-indian-express-archive/15/#sthash.0VnQg57H.dpuf

Source….www.indianexpress.com

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” When a Problem Arises , Become the Captain of the Problem and Defeat it…” Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam

July 28, 2015July 27, 2020NatarajanLeave a comment

From the Archives of Rediff.com …. This Article dates back to 6 NOV 2014….

Once, during his Presidency, President A P J Abdul Kalam received a letter from a student shocked with his class 12th mark-sheet.

He had secured 10 per cent in Maths and Physics, whereas throughout his school career, he had always scored 90 per cent and above.

In utter dismay, he wrote to the President of India, asking for his help.

President Kalam referred his case to the authorities and two weeks later got a reply that indeed there was a mistake in the evaluation and a rectification had been done.

In the last 15 years, President Kalam — arguably India’s most popular President and among the founders of the country’s space programme — has interacted with 18 million young Indians, face-to-face, through e-mail and over Facebook.

He receives 300 e-mails everyday.

Some of these letters have been turned into his latest book Forge Your Future, which provides an insight into the issues which concern and engage the minds of young Indians today. President Kalam’s replies are based on his personal experiences, his reading and his interactions with political and spiritual leaders.

The title of the book was selected after an online public vote.

In his quiet bungalow in Lutyens’ Delhi, President Kalam speaks to Archana Masih/Rediff.com about India becoming a developed country by 2020-2022, the heroes he admires, how 90 per cent of India’s space programme is intended for the people and the individual’s potential to become unique.

Photographs: Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com

Dr Kalam, please can you tell me a little about your daily schedule? What’s it like

The garden here has a 107-year old tree. Edwin Lutyens himself built and stayed in this house — so he maybe somewhere here (laughs).

His relatives had come to see this building.

The 107-year-old tree is beautiful. Parrots and various other birds live at the top and at the bottom live peacocks. Every year there are baby peacocks. I have a very bioactive tree.

I walk for 1 hour and 15 minutes every day. I spend time in my library.

In a month, I spend 15 days travelling in India. For ten days in a year, I go abroad. I am an honorary professor at the University of Beijing.

Every month, I meet a minimum of 100,000 young people. A million people in a year. So far I have met 18 million young people below the age of 25 in my country.

You get 300 e-mails everyday and spend two hours answering them. When did this process begin? When did you start actively engaging with young people?

It all started when I wrote Wings of Fire, in which I conveyed my life, how I had lived it, how I got myself educated, how I started meeting youth…

I was also teaching at Anna University at that time. After my work as scientific advisor, then projector director SLV 3, programme director AGNI — after all that I went in 2001 to Anna University as a professor.

I also get some handwritten letters. I consider them very important and I love to reply to them because they come from people from the grassroots who do not have access to the Internet. They come with unique questions and I have to give unique answers.

You mention what President Mandela told you about courage in your book — who are some of the most inspiring world leaders you have met?

Two world leaders exclusively come to my mind — Mahatma Gandhi and his unique life. Similarly, Nelson Mandela. I went to the prison where Mandela lived.

Where there is righteousness in the heart, there is beauty in the character. That’s the example of Mahatma Gandhi throughout his life.

In 2006, I travelled in the same kind of train with a steam engine from Durban to Pietermaritzburg. I could imagine the courage which Gandhiji showed in that cold winter.

Ahimsa dharma came after the battle of Kalinga. It transformed King Ashoka. The second time ahimsa dharma was put into action was by Mahatma Gandhi at Pietermaritzburg.

This book gives three messages. First: You can become a unique personality. Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela were unique.

The other important thing about this book is about continuously acquiring knowledge. Thirdly, when the problem arises — become the captain of the problem and defeat it.

You envisioned a growth plan for India called Vision 2020. How close are we to achieving that vision, in view of that deadline being six years away?

Actually India 2020 is a vision for an economically developed India by 2020. Up to 2008 our GDP was 8 to 9 per cent. Then there was a problem across the Atlantic Ocean, and our GDP crashed to 6 to 7 per cent, then to 5.5 and then to 5 per cent.

So in the 2008-2014 period, we had a slack in our development programme.

Six years is a long period in a nation like India with 600 million youth, nowhere in the democratic world there exists this strength.

We also have a natural way of life. Our agriculture is doing well. We have 250 to 260 million tons of food. Our IT, small scale and pharma industries are doing very well.

Of course, we have to do lots in the development of the rural area. We have 600,000 villages where 700 million people live. We have to Provide Urban Amenities to Rural Areas (PURA). Seven thousand PURAS are needed to lift 600,000 villages.

Even now it is not too late. Fortunately, I understand the present government is taking a priority for PURAS. If they push it along with small scale industry and smart waterways, then definitely 2020 — plus or minus 2 years — we can get there.

So you are confident by 2022, that we may be able to do it?

We can do it, provided we have a national vision.

Do we have that national vision?

From 1930 to 1947, we wanted Freedom. Our caste system vanished, our religions vanished, our differences vanished and we were fighting only for Independence. I call that the first mission that India had.

The second vision: Economic development. If you work like that and declare that mission in Parliament and people and government work for it, irrespective of whichever party they belong to, it is possible. Because our resources are youth power and our natural resources.

Image: President Kalam’s latest book Forge Your Future

In your book, you say ‘The orientation must turn from the past to the future and focus on how India can become a developed nation. The real issue is that we are not to see ourselves as a nation and because of that there is no national vision.’

Why do you think we have not been able to see ourselves as a nation?

When we see the types of conflicts all around — religious conflict, caste system, language problems — any big nation will have such types of problems but the nation can be united for a big cause.

Independence was a big cause that united us. That’s why I am pushing this idea that the tool for India Vision 2020 is Providing Urban Amenities to Rural Areas. This way we can enhance village development. I have talked about all this in my book.

Independence was a common goal that united people, but some would say that India today is more divided than what it was then.

Any nation goes through a number of problems in various decades, but India has the experience of bringing together people on a big cause.

I am a believer.

The second great movement that India needs is India 2020 Vision and this will make people come together. Plus if the economic programme grows, the poverty level will come down.

Only a national vision can lift 300 million — that’s one third of the population — below the poverty line out of poverty.

As one of the co-founders of India’s space programme, you must be very proud of our Mars achievement. But at the same time when you say that we have to lift the large masses that remain poor, should not basic needs like healthcare, education, infrastructure precede loftier goals or at least go hand in hand?

The space programme is targeted at uplifting the people. In geosynchronised orbit, more than 200 transponders are communicating to the Indian earth station.

These transponders transmit communication, weather reports, 24 hour TV broadcast, the path of cyclones.

All the recent major cyclones have been forecast by various satellites. 90 per cent of the space programme is for remote sensing and communication. You can remote sense what is the kind of wealth we have on earth like water, minerals etc — so it is intended for the people. 90 per cent of the space programme is intended for the people. It is a people’s programme.

You asked about the Moon and Mars programme. We are spending less than 10 per cent of our space programme for finding and research on Moon and Mars so that we are partners in the research and no one can claim that it belongs to them. I don’t want to see Moon and Mars as the property of some other nation. It should be international property.

Ours is the lowest cost of going to the Moon or Mars and we found trace of water also on the moon. From Mars we don’t know… some revolutionary ideas will come from our Mars programme.

What kind of a leader was Vikram Sarabhai, the founder of India’s Space programme?

When you read this book Forge Your Future, you will know how to become a unique person. It contains the experience of great thinkers and doers. Dr Vikram Sarabhai was a unique personality.

He was a visionary. In 1970 he gave a report about what the nation’s space programme should be for the next 20 years.

What according to you are India’s greatest strengths?

One is our farmer community. Whatever weather condition, whatever shortfall — they will give us 200 million tones of food.

Hats off to our farmers and our agriculture scientists!

Second is youth power. No other democratic nation has 600 million youth. The ignited mind of the youth is the most powerful resource — on the earth, above the earth, under the earth — and we have that.

Third, just like every family asks the government for an economically developed nation; every family has the responsibility to give a great citizen to the nation.

We have 200 million families. Parents have the responsibility to make their children righteous — where there is righteousness in the heart, there is beauty in the character.

Only three people can give a good citizen before s/he turns 17. Father, mother, the spiritual environment and the primary school teacher.

You mention women like Marie Curie and Sister Antonia as role models. Who are some contemporary Indian women role models you admire?

I have great respect for Dr V Shanta, for her contribution towards cancer diagnosis, treatment and teaching how to avoid cancer. I admire the mission of Ela Bhatt, founder of the Self-Employed Women’s Association of India and, of course my favourite, whom I respect because I like Carnatic music — M S Subbulakshmi. I love her music.

When she was alive, I used to go to her music festival.

You say in the book that India needs to cast off its inferiority complex vis-a-vis China and work towards coming together to become a master civilisation because together they constitute 37% of the world’s population.

How can this be achieved in the background of the tension, hostility and border incursions?

I remember in April 2007, I addressed the European Parliament. There were around 800 parliament members from 23 nations.

I told them when I see you all — for hundreds of years you were fighting each other and you generated two World Wars, so a billion Indian people congratulate you. Forgetting all your wars, forgetting the difference of society, you formed a European Union for prosperity and peace.

This should be an example. I had composed a poem and recited it there. They gave a standing ovation.

That is not the issue, the issue is that such nations that created World War I and II, when they came together, we — China and India — are a people of great civilisation, in spite of all the differences, there are some great philosophy that is common.

Buddha and Confucius are common to us.

I believe we have to have a great mission. I suggested when the Chinese president came here that we have a World Knowledge Platform. I teach at the University of Beijing, I told them the time has come that both nations should combine our core competence, our 60 billion dollar business, should become 250 billion dollars.

The border issue we should sort out once for all. People of the European Union fought for hundreds of years, a people who generated two World Wars and Hitler and lost millions of people are a union today for economic growth and peace and it happened in front of our eyes.

So for me the differences between nations can be solved by mutual discussions.

Both sides should decide what we can give and what we cannot. It should be an intensive one month discussion with experts and we should sort it out. I hope the present governments in India and China will do that.

What are your thoughts on the present government?

We are getting into politics, next question!

I just asked your thoughts…

Any elected government will perform in five years. We have to give time.

You believe social media affected the results in 30 to 40 per cent Lok Sabha constituencies. How will social media and the Internet affect future elections?

Social media and the type of information flow should have credibility. It reaches fast. It connects people. It is one of the important mediums for putting forth ideas, thoughts and discussing problems.

In India, we also need contact on the ground, but in the future I see that you can sit in your home with a biometric signature and security approved and you can vote. That way you will have 100 per cent voting. It is a long way off, but I visualise it.

Selection of the candidates will also follow an electronic process — to determine if s/he is a good or bad candidate, how many cases s/he has etc. This will happen, it is only a question of time.

Archana Masih/Rediff.com in New Delhi

Source….From The Archives of www.rediff.com

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