Vijayraj Singh's Blog

Believe In Forever

Be a woman who believes in forever,

Who carries her vision and never says never,

Your life and this time may carry harsh lessons

Moments of insight and sometimes as persons

No matter the distance or what you may face

The light in your hands, it must never fade

We move on with courage, without being afraid

In uncharted paths, foundations are laid

 

Be a woman who believes in true love,

In loving yourself you will access power

There’s no stronger force, you will be relieved

To witness precisely what love can achieve

It begins with self-love, to truly receive

The grace of Allah and Hazrat Ali (a. s.)

Respect and true love must go hand in hand

There’s no other way, one must understand.

 

Be a woman who believes in herself,

Success and mistakes will define your existence

In this sacred path you will face resistance

You must power through, this is your time now

Only that continues, what you may allow

Seek beyond what’s in sight, just follow your vision

You will get what you want, trust your intuition

 

Be a woman who sets herself free,

Living on your terms, against bigotry

A spark from the infinite, defying destiny

Loved by her own, admired by enemies

Create your reality, in all that you do

Time and divinity will always assist you

 

Be a woman who believes in divinity,

Your true authentic self, no duality

The silence of time shall watch you shimmer

And in your own story, the world will remember

A path that was taken, a brave endeavour

 

Be a woman who challenges fear,

With perils nearby yet nothing comes near

Who questions all maxims to shape her career

To watch an example, you have your own sisters

Who went through hell, yet no one can tell

And shining today they now wish you well

Their shadow and blessings will truly come through

Whenever, wherever, forever beside you

 

Be a woman who stands by the truth,

Trusting the process, knowing when to let go

Unhindered by thoughts letting all good things flow

On the right side of history and learning what matters

Queen of her kingdom where knowledge is power

 

Be a woman who dares to dream,

Whose story and family will be held in esteem

Unafraid to take risks, embracing her rights

Choosing friends wisely and climbing new heights

Questioning everything will kindle your strengths

A tale of a lady, her deeds and her friends

 

Be a woman who believes in beginnings,

Revered by history and driven by love,

Even when barely holding yourself together

This, dear Cheeni, is how we walk through

Today still may not feel the best part of you.

Chained to a rhythm or just feeling blue

No sign of progression in all that you do,

Don’t be so disheartened, this isn’t very true.

 

For that very reason, we write you this rhyme

Life teaches in mystery, we take our own time

No maps in this journey led by the divine,

In times of all darkness, our light is awakened

Your prayers will be answered, your wishes taken

We love you and wish your life to embrace

The truth of your Self, with honour and grace

Watch us and learn from our own mistakes

So you can move on to write your own story

A life that is admired in all its glory.

Where you make your mark and the world may remember

There was once was a woman who believed in forever.

Rising Hearts

Beginnings & endings, can’t tell one from another

Is this all meant to be? Why all this pressure?

Is this who we’ve been? Who are we thus far?

Been introduced recently to what we really are

Why is it so rapid? Can’t it be a little pleasant?

For those living in the past, this is the present.

 

Some have lost moments, some have lost persons

A reality snatched away, no time for caution

Why so much disruption? Just when it gets happy

When it comes to new beginnings, it always gets messy

Don’t let yourself down, its smaller than it seems

You’ve made it this far, better than you could dream

 

Predictions, Contradictions have all magnified

Its what’s best for us all, and the ones living a lie

Shattered by love and battered by fate

For the warrior within, it wasn’t too late.

This rhyme is for those, whose hearts have cried

For it all fell apart, no matter how much they tried

It was already said earlier, what gets better will stay

Faith must remain strong, it will make sense one day

The destination is here, but the journey begins

The divine never takes away, what lies ahead

Divinity is here, even if it seems late.

 

A new age is here, abundance is near

It won’t seem as obvious, we’re covered in fear

Feel the rush, feel the light

Softly filling this twilight

Let go of those decisions,

The ones that didn’t seem right

Your old list of aspirations,

Must now step into the light

A new destiny is here, to walk by your side

 

The beginning of new time, when you are set free

With graceful goodbyes and farewell

Whatever will be, will be

Face all with a smile, and bid adieu

To that which seemed to be, but didn’t go as planned

Why fear the leap? Divinity holds your hand

 

Surrender this way, into a new paradigm

What lies ahead, is really sublime

It only gets better, the more one lets go

There’s sunshine & power outside that window

Stand up, peek outside,

From your inner prison,

Break out from the ordinary,

Accept this new vision

 

You are now master and servant

To your fate and fortune

What controlled and constricted

Now stands watching and scorching

It won’t work now, old ways are done

Manipulations were brazen, they sought to restrain

They no longer restrict you, their end has begun

Seize moments and timelines, whatever seems new

Whether experiences or people, go for what’s fresh

Even if they seem familiar, no need to feel blue

It won’t end the same way, let this be your clue

 

The shackles release, to this moment now rise

To your grandest version, in your own eyes

Unafraid to be alone, unchallenged by company

Walk together or just walk, create this new destiny

Where fear seems funny & leaps are made often

Don’t sit around now, it is time for action

The karma now locks and unlocks with its keys

Be the new you, what you’ve wanted to be

Dare to seek now whats been hidden in your dreams

Don’t look back anymore, you are now free.

Why the anger against the cracker ban is justified, but defiance is not.

The Supreme Court of India, in a welcome but puzzling decision banned the sale of firecrackers in the National Capital Region till the 31st of October. After the decision, the court itself observed that “Sale of firecrackers which has already taken place before the ban order. People will burst it and that will be sufficient. Anyhow, it is not going to be a cracker-free Diwali”. The decision itself was welcomed by all educated and sane residents of Delhi who have woken up every morning the next day after Diwali only to bear the worst of smog and alarming pollution levels which also coincide with farmers bring their paddy fields after harvest to get potassium into the soil.

The decision of the court, largely welcomed by the educated class, was a body blow to the sellers and traders whose entire sale and revenue model is based entirely on Diwali week. Both support and dissent trickled in and crackers were burst regardless, in total and conscious violation of the court order on Diwali night. Some questions were rightly raised, if the entire point of the cracker ban was to discourage pollution, why did the Apex court wait till October to furnish this order? Doing this not only ensured that livelihood and financial planning for entire families will be threatened and crippled for an entire year, it also brought forward the somewhat justified but retrograde argument of selective targeting. The most alarming by-product of this ban was the unnecessary attempt to make the issue communal by opportunist elements. Most asked the unfortunate question that if the ban on the cracker sale was to curb pollution to prove some other unknown point? Given the court itself observed that it is not going to be a cracker-free Diwali.

Diwali is a festival of lights, and not crackers. Pollution in the National Capital remains an unquestionable reality. Most living in Delhi understood this well before any ban and others were beginning to understand this over the years. But the terrible timing of this decision made it a field day for opportunists to turn the issue communal. Now, a largely ignorant and ego driven society that is a portion of Delhi’s Middle Class burst crackers purely to violate the order in a show of short sighted defiance. They may show support toward the livelihood of of the sellers and traders who were affected by the order but everyone knows that is only semantics. The same person that will burst crackers in a show of solidarity for the traders will haggle with the poor over diyas and small change they would easily splurge on other things. The worst side effect of this ban was the apparent and very clear attempt to use victimization by unscrupulous elements to make it look like an attack on the Hindu Community. Such methods have been used to victimize minorities very successfully for generations. It is appalling that this very tactic is now being used to make Hindus feel threatened and victimized, and even more appalling that most people are falling for the very clear and motivated emotional manipulation.

The Honorable Court’s decision, ill timed but very welcome as it was — has made every citizen now question what the whole point of the order was? People still burst crackers in a show of ignorant defiance. It was already observed that the same bench that the that the festival will not be cracker-less by the same bench that issued the order in the first place. The pollution levels remained more or less about as close to safe levels as Neptune is to Earth. What we got in return, was that the decision complicated more things than it solved, it managed to give an opportunity and voice to vicious and malicious elements in society to emotionally manipulate people into feeling that their freedom and culture is under threat. It has also very rightly set the stage to question the mass slaughter of animals during Eid Celebrations. Most will now very rightly petition against the barbaric slaughter, and no matter what the conclusions — the fringe on both sides will have a field day.

Time to De-saffronise Hinduism and Politics

Maya denotes illusion. Appearances remain true only for the senses or the mind. Mankind has romanced collective and personal illusion throughout the ages. Maya today remains the most misunderstood construct, often identified with an accumulation of wealth or used as an excuse against admitting one’s failure to achieve in life. All of us religiously practice a certain degree of both personal and collective illusions, vehemently defended by our own delusions when challenged. Illusion can be attributed to a perceptional disturbance of the physical, delusions remain purely mental. A collective illusion is an illusion that is shared by a large number of people. 

The realm of politics romances Maya, like no other. It has sold and repackaged illusions to billions over centuries. The perceived path of greatest pleasure lies at the root of such an endeavour. The prevailing collective illusion in India since the past century has been a focused and blatant attempt to glorify inferiority and victimisation. The political class since independence has understood this very well and has creatively used this to further their own gains and make themselves seem as though they have been for the greatest benefit of mankind. The many who came throughout our history to eradicate collective illusion remain forgotten but hallowed today, the few who came for power and wealth, understood early on that politics was a game of illusion and control.

Politicians have exercised unhealthy control over a largely poor and uneducated population for most of the post-independence. The average Indian is trusting by nature, so much that it is only after a series of deceptive promises are ultimately broken that one is forced to realise how they have been misled. Regardless, Indian democracy and politics have flourished in the post independence era and overcome every threat it has come across. Dr Subramanian Swamy once famously proclaimed to a then unconvinced Jayaprakash Narayan, “Nothing works in India without politics”. The appropriateness of this statement was proven post the Emergency and holds true even in the present-day Modi era. What is worrying, however, is the mushrooming of self-proclaimed flag bearers who have largely remained fringe voices in the past but now seem determined to enter the political arena. An electorate plagued by poverty and illiteracy coupled with religious divisions left behind as a legacy of the colonial masters has proven to be easy breeding ground for unscrupulous elements misleading a large number of people on twisted religious grounds.

The mainstream media has encouraged them and seemed to have positioned them as authorities on Hinduism which has led to a saffronization of both Hinduism and politics. While this works in favour of vested interests who wish to accuse the government of oppressing the minorities; an overwhelming conclusion any rational individual can arrive at, is that this short sighted encouragement by elements aiming to malign the government for narrow political gains combined with the ruling party’s sympathetic ignorance towards these groups is a dangerous game. It is merely the influence wielded by these individuals over a large number of people that attracts politicians on both sides, not necessarily their vision or messages. The rulers will use their influence for electoral gains and the opposition will use their influence to sell victimisation to the highest bidders.

Hinduism and its tolerance to variations and different beliefs, food, faiths and cultures and its embrace of diversity within the subcontinent and outside of it have come to define India and Hindutva. Sanatan Dharma or eternal law preaches limitlessness as an ethos of human existence. Throughout history, whenever man has encountered boundaries, he has tried to breach them. Boundaries in scientific research, psychological boundaries of self, boundaries of thought and even physical boundaries leading to both miraculous and tragic consequences. It is this thirst for knowledge and limitlessness that true Hindutva should have been directed towards. Throughout history, Hinduism has remained largely forgotten and patronised by western science. Gurus and spiritual leaders in history have attempted to lead thousands of their followers to self-realisation. Gurus like Aurobindo have even been part of the freedom struggle when they felt that their participation became absolutely necessary.

However, a worrying reality today is that mass religious leaders along with fringe leaders are being wooed by the political class for electoral gains. An even more alarming reality is that they are being perceived as authorities on Hinduism. True Hindutva preaches liberation from Maya, not the pursuit of it. Somewhere this centrepiece of Hindutva is under threat of being hijacked by the saffron-ists. Focus has shifted to food, clothing, chanting and individual definitions of patriotism instead of the intended pursuit by research into medicine and Ayurveda, ancient Scriptures, Vedic Knowledge, Self-Realisation, Dharma and Karma. The mainstream media seems to have had a field day reporting clashes, but does not report the Politics and governance in India remains largely personality-centric and hence reflects the personality of its leader. It is, therefore, a duty of the Prime Minister to bring on board young political leaders that represent his vision of the future and not the visions of past glory. Leaders who practice and encourage questioning, research, spirituality and intellect, not those who sell victimisation. Leaders who are aware that freedom of expression exists to protect unpopular speech and not popular speech and not those who question nationalities over unpopular speech.

Nation-building requires visionaries, innovators and leaders with a spine; not gurus that make money for the world reeling thousands of voters for the spineless political class. Their right to pursue their businesses and make them successful remains their personal choice, however, there is no need for them to enter the political processes. Their advice, however valuable it may be does not require a constitutional post. Lord Krishna, Gandhiji and JP understood this well. How long will a country pegged to be an economic superpower tolerate blind faith? The world awaits India to retake its rightful position as the spiritual and intellectual leader of the world. For the time being, many of us are left to squabble amongst ourselves over leaders who are busy exploring creative ways to end up behind bars, and thousands of their followers destroying public property, desecrating the guiding principles of constitutional framework and the rule of law.

For too long has the political class looked the other way, the after-effects of Ram Rahim’s conviction on charges of rape and the illegal destruction of public property by his followers requires a serious course correction by the opposition, the ruling party as well as the government of India. Mere opportunism will now prove to be a recipe for disaster. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been a leader who has challenged dogma and political methods of every politician in the country. He will be remembered as a reformer in the administrative history of India. He has proven himself as an astute politician and a hard taskmaster, but to be remembered as a legendary leader, he must remain on the right side of history. History is not created by astute politicians, it is created by leaders who have shattered collective illusions rather than use them for political gains. If India is going to lead the world in the intellectual and political domain of the 21st Century, a crucial ingredient to this path to greatness begins with the de-saffronization of Hinduism and Indian politics.

Revelations

I reveal unto you this message of peace

Your vibration and frequency, now must increase

The time has come, those days are over

Living one crisis after another

What you allow, is what will continue

Embrace a shift, another milieu

Vibrational matches, you will soon attract

Stop being a victim, don’t feel attacked

Reveal to yourself, what lies within

Are you aware, all this time, who you have been?

I reveal unto you this message of love

Unconditional below & unconditional above

Illusions will shatter like thin sheets of glass

don’t exist in regret, this too shall pass

New beginnings and big leaps will now resonate

Powerful thoughts shall now activate

Regions within you will eclipse time and space

I reveal unto you this message of light

Today may not feel the best kind of you

Regardless, divinity sees light in you

A hurdle, a person, an age or a legacy

No patterns, no system nor circumstance shall define you

A life of pure joy may still seem elusive

For years to yourself, you have been abusive

The light, you thought, that left years ago

Remains diminished, blame your own ego

You’ve kept yourself busy, there’s so much to do

The stars, the universe will still outlive you

I reveal as above, I reveal so below

The higher self will soon bestow

To do what you do, when you do wish to do

Abundance this way will take care of you.

Subtle signs will suffice, you won’t need a clue

This moment right now, is where one needs to live

Here in the moment, devoid of all sorrow

Neither living yesterday nor living tomorrow

And here in the chaos within the silence

With echoes of stillness, in absence of violence

This is the sign you’ve been waiting for long

Those yearning for music, here is your song

I conclude my message and have this to convey

Embrace the shift, leave all games at play

In divine timing at the end of the day

What will get better is what will stay, everything else will all wither away.

Democracy in Debt – The Greek Financial Crisis

The world financial position today, is far more vulnerable than it was in 2008. A small country accounting for only two per cent of the Eurozone’s GDP is making the world tremble. It is now effectively on the verge of bankruptcy and the eventual exit from the Eurozone leaves more questions for us to ask about ourselves and the world economy than the crisis itself. Ralph W. Emerson rightly said that “A man in debt is so far a slave” . Debt is a terrible form of poverty, it cannot be seen until one reaches a point of ultimate doom. It makes a person complacent by giving the option of kicking the can down the road and thereby contributing to the problem becoming even bigger than it was in the first place. I have personally seen lives being lost, promising futures being ruined, backs being stabbed and loyalties being sold when a man arrives into a “debt trap”. One doesn’t realise they’re in a debt trap until the weight of the very debt meant to “save” their financial positions begins to crush them and those who support them. Did Greece do the right thing by under reporting their deficit burden? That is an answer they owe to the world. Did the rest of the Eurozone countries and the Troika do the right thing by focusing on the repayment of debt and not on the economic revival of their fellow EU state? Did they offer bailouts to genuinely help the Greeks or to buy time to distance themselves from Greece‘s financial problems? It is well understood that imposing austerity eventually contracts the economy just as fast as the deficit; where the people have less money to spend, that leads to fewer thriving business which leads to loss of jobs and so on. This answer, the rest of the EU Members owe to the world.

Was the concept of a European Union premature from the beginning? It certainly seems to be so. The EU came forth with the idea that economic integration is more or less a natural consequence of decades of economic ties between nations, leave aside arguments of prevention of another world war and other such things. The concept of a Free trade area and economic integration would, from a more neutral point of view, only make sense among comparable economies. However, Greece and rest of EU were quite dissimilar when it integrated in 1981. A simple understanding of Economic Convergence (also known as the catch-up effect) tells us that poorer economies’ per capita incomes will tend to grow at faster rates than richer economies. As a result, all economies should eventually converge in terms of per capita income. This was what was meant to happen with the Greekeconomy. All things remaining constant, Greek growth should have been faster than other members simply because they started with a lower per-capita income. A paper done by Athanasios Vamvakidis on Successes and failures in real convergence, tells us that “Assuming a conditional convergence speed—convergence controlling for all other growth determinants—of 3 percent per year (see Barro and Sala-I-Martin, 1995), Greece should have grown faster than the euro area by 1.4 percentage points after joining the EU and by 1.9 percentage points after 1995, in per capita terms. Instead, Greece grew less than the euro area by 1.4 percentage points up to the mid-1990s and more by 1.5 percentage points after 1995. “ A study done by The Economist captures this phenomenon:

“From 1981 to 1995, growth rates in the EU were relatively higher, and Greece experienced divergence… The uncompetitive domestic industry, which was opened up as a result of the integration may have been too sudden…

Greek companies could not withstand the competition, while the wages of Greek employees were rapidly rising to level with rest of EU. As a result, they began declining. A peculiar move began after this when creditors lent money to Greek governments to keep up their appearance of a rich country. The reason whether this money was given for an economic turnaround or to keep up the brand image of the EU is under debate. The consequence of this however, is for all to see where theGreek government absorbed so much debt that the countdown to this eventual meltdown began the day of the very first bailout. What is a bailout? At the end of the day, it is a loan, and a loan comes with conditions and interest.

From the beginning of 2009, Greece has been unable to pay the debt and unable to restructure its economy. From the very beginning, it had to put up with a strong currency and unable to weaken the currency to bring back competitiveness to its economy. To explain it simply, it was a dinner party with only one dish on the menu with Greece being the only vegetarian.

Also, the only period where Greece experienced a considerable level of convergence was between the years 1996 and 2002, where a combination of better macroeconomic policies and structural reforms have had multiplier effects. In which their Shipping, Tourism and the Financial sector were the main contributors for increased growth rates. The conclusion? Greece should never have been a part of the European Union in the first place if it wanted to avoid this calamity. But how can such acrisis be predicted, that is a question that baffles economists even today.

So what really are the benefits of a European Union membership? What should future prospective members learn from Greece? A modern day membership of the EU will provide for its member Increased Trade, Competition and Inward Investment. But it is their domestic fiscal policies and alignment strategies that will determine the benefits and advantages of such a membership. The first and foremost lesson from Greece for any prospective member is that merely a European Union membership does not cause economic convergence, it is the combined effort of decisive policies, political will and economic decisions made with a spine of steel.

Greece has just negotiated a fresh bailout package, which safeguards their membership and gives them a loan in exchange for a restructuring plan. In my opinion such a move is retrograde, because from the point of view of the creditors it only gives them more time to safeguard themselves rather than focus on a Greek turnaround. The Financial Times reports that the creditor’s plan makes “some concessions to Athens, but largely sticks to exacting demands for greater savings on pensions. This would require Athens to increase the retirement age to 67 by 2022 and phase out a special solidarity grant given to poorer pensioners by the end of 2019. ” From the point of view of the Greece, this bailout would only amount to “kicking the can further down the road”. The new leftist government ofGreece understands this, and so does Europe which is that Greece would in all probabilities never be able to pay back it’s debt, coined by the Washington Post as Europe’s “Dirty little secret”.

“In a world awash in debt, power shifts to the creditors”. Perhaps Fareed Zakaria’s warning must now be taken seriously. As i mentioned earlier, it is a debt trap that causes an economic collapse, whether it be an economy or an individual. A person can only come out of his debt trap once he consciously acknowledges how much damage he or she is causing to him and to those that support them. It is a fact of humanity that one cannot solve a problem with the same level of thinking that caused it in the first place. But it is hard enough for a person to achieve such a full scale realisation, leave alone an entire nation. How Greece will recover from this, is up to their government and it’s people. The world today must acknowledge that an economic crisis is also a humanitarian crisis. Which must be addressed with aid rather than more loans. Do we send a bill to those affected by a disaster after sending them relief supplies?. The same logic applies here. This crisis will affect us as well, but only indirectly. Our largest trading partner has been the EU, we export a large portion of our software and engineering to the EU. The Greek depression has just begun, and it is going to get a lot worse before it gets better

The First Year of the Modi Government.

On the 26th of May, 2015 the first majority government since 1984 completes one year in office. We have seen in this year a volley of reforms by the government, which, by its own admission needed to alleviate the general feeling of despair which unfortunately followed in the final moments of UPA2. The course of one year also saw the spectacular rise of Prime Minister Modi as a global leader, with his rockstar reception at Madison Square Garden and american senators comparing him to Ronald Reagan to his ambitious Make in India initiative. The world welcomed the new Indian Prime Minister and the nation he promised with it. An analysis perhaps, of the effects and the changes at the grassroot as well as the policy level that have arrived as a direct result of the momentum brought in by the PMO and the Cabinet is a natural prerogative of critiques and admirers alike. In the words of President Reagan himself, “Government’s first duty, is to protect the people, and not run their lives.” One of the very first mass initiative by the PMO was the promotion of the Jan Dhan Yojana, which critiques labeled as a gimmick and the harsh ones among them called it wasteful and ineffective. One vital point of such a large initiative, which the critiques have missed out on is the all important concept of financial inclusion and the concept of saving which forms the very foundation of this scheme. The term “Financial Inclusion” first came up in 2004 when RBI set up the Khan Commission which urged banks to review their existing practices to align them with the objective of financial inclusion.The RBI at the time had laid bare the ground realities and the need to make available a basic banking ‘no frills’ account either with ‘NIL’ or very minimum balances as well as charges that would make such accounts accessible to vast sections of the population. It was however, only after the direct intervention of the PMO after the Prime Minister’s Independence Day speech announcing the Jan Dhan Yojana and the subsequent 5 month deadline that there was a large scale mobilization to open accounts began. The benefits of this scheme shall be seen in the years to come and like all other government schemes of the past and later years to arrive, it is merely a pillar in the vast architectural design of India that comes out of a collective progress driven conscience and co-ordination between the office of the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and the bureaucracy.

The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, with it’s ambitious deadline of October 2, 2019, a date which marks the 150th anniversary of Gandhi is unique in the simplicity of the concept itself but by no means unfamiliar to the electorate. It follows in the footseteps of similar programmes initiated by Prime ministers’ Rajiv Gandhi and Vajpayee in 1986 and 1999 respectively. The critiques would quote einstein and proclaim, “Insanity is doing the same thing again and again, and expecting different results”. However, neither of the previous programmes could gain as much mass attention as Swacch Bharat today, both previous programmes preceded the Telecoms and Internet revolution. The concepts of viral social media and the penetration of the Internet and even telecommunications are far more advanced today. This single program itself is pivotal for the Indian economy and the quality of life of it’s citizens, it encourages co-ordination between public health and medical services, for they are two sides of the same coin. The success of this program depends on a conscious and strategic approach to make this a national movement, and the PMO is aware of this fact, which is why we saw Prime Minister Modi cutting across party lines and reaching out to politicians as well as celebrities to help promote the program.

A remarkable achievement, which i would like to attribute to this government is the strategic and long awaited approach towards removing outdated and archaic laws that have prolonged, some preceding British rule and others that even seem to be preceding common sense, such as Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code which makes an attempt to commit suicide a crime punishable by imprisonment and fine. The Union cabinet has given an approval to remove around 700 such outdated laws since it came into power. Colonial era laws such as The Ganges Toll, Act; the Indian Fisheries Act and even acts prone to misuse today are on their way out.

The highly awaited and much hyped Make In India plan adds the final pillar to the foundations, with which the new government hopes to begin it’s Renaissance like approach to governance and policy making. Undoubtedly, all would agree, that India’s manufacturing sector has lagged behind in its innovation as well as its survival skills in the post liberalisation competitive global market. The supply-side approach of the Make in India program along with parallel initiatives such as the 100 smart cities plan, simpler norms for industrial licensing, industrial and freight corridors point towards a decisive and far sighted approach toward ensuring a successful and positive conclusion.

One sector in which has dreadfully lagged behind is the education sector. Our Education deficit has increased since the past year figures and it forms the single biggest sore point in this report card. There is an absurdly low level of attention being paid to this issue. The quality of higher education, which forms the seed of economic stability, has been crippled by red tape. To remedy such an impending crisis, a need has arisen to go back to the drawing board to rescue the education system from it’s prevailing highly regulated and retrograde state. There would be no use of encouraging job creation if there is no skilled and educated workforce to take up those jobs. This problem is not new either, a reading of Conversations with Economists by V.N Balasubramanyam tells us of a 1955 note issued by economist BV KRishnamurti which speaks of the same issue.

The Government of India, in its completion of one year has started off on the path of new beginnings, quite literally. It would be fair to observe constructive criticism of its methods, however to those who wish to oppose merely for lack of opportunity to do the same, I would quote our father of the nation and say that ” To believe what has not occurred in history will not occur at all, is to argue disbelief in the dignity of man.” I would call upon those who wish to once again see the greatness of our nation on the world stage to focus not on the many reason that we may not get there, and instead focus on the few reasons that we will.

At the end of the day, after all the media attention, rhetoric, criticism and ambitious schemes, the voter will only judge the results that his government gives back. The Indian voter of the Information Age is far more conscious and aware of the scenarios and trials the economy is passing through and would ultimately judge his government for the promise of change that catapulted them into a strong majority.

The Expansion of Self.

Consciousness, for all things in this world, is the key. The key to wealth, to end suffering, manifestation, happiness, health. You will see the rich people with poverty consciousness losing everything they own or living lives of much suffering despite being wealthy; people wasting away their time trying to convince others they know that they’re “very busy” doing something or the other, complicating simple things. You will come across people in your life who will scare you with their ignorance of the world and their passionate explanations of how “people like this” and “people like that” are the cause of all the problems in the world. Everything you do, from breathing to thinking, eating to even the clothes you wear is a part of your consciousness. Once you reach the realisation that you are here for a limited time and your actions and thoughts here affect your world, you will arrive at the birth of a higher consciousness. How can you decide what you will do with your life if you don’t know who you are yourself?. The understand of self or to put it simply, finding out who you are is the beginning, then you reach an understanding of why you are here, which leads to a realisation of what you can do and where you see yourself going, which helps you figure out what you are going to do to get where you want to be.

You can have, everything that you want, the life that you have always desired, right now without waiting. There is no past, present or future; what is now is what is there. Within this now is he past, the present and the future. You cannot live in the past and expect the present to take care of itself and the same rule applies for the future. You will look around and see people living for some future luxury, only to realise one day that they’re too old to do anything and they never really lived.

The ignorance of mortality shatters at points in life when one experiences illness, death of loved ones and loss of property and wealth. This realisation is very important to understand as the universe gives you an opportunity to tune into higherconsciousness.

One soon realises, while visiting places of very pure energies and spirituality that one doesn’t need to constantly think about one’s own self preservation and survival because as long as your are attuned to a higher state of consciousness, the universe and a higher presence takes care of these things. It may be god if you believe yourself to be religious, your guides along with your ancestors and divine source if you are spiritual, and Natural Selection if you’re an atheist.

I can tell that if you are reading this right now, you will understand different things from these lines as compared to someone else. You may also understand different things at different points of time should you ever come across these lines again over time. That is the proof of growing consciousness within oneself.

It begins with self realisation.

– Vijayraj Singh 24-03-2015

Small Remembrance

The only way to get what you really want, is to know what you really want.

The only way to know what you really want is to know yourself.

The only way to know yourself is to be yourself.

The only way to be yourself is to listen to your heart.

Excerpts from Aurobindo’s Speech, 1973

In present times there is a preparation, if nothing else, to move towards the subtle from the physical physical. Because of the minute examination and the discovery of the laws of the physical universe by western scientists, the outlying plains surrounding the upward Way have been cleared. The knowers of the West are taking their first step in the vast, inner worlds; many are tempted by the hope of conquest. Apart from this, there are other visible signs – such as the quick spread of Theosophy, the welcome given to Vedanta in America, the partial and indirect influence of India in Western philosophy and modes of thinking. But the most remarkable sign is the sudden and unexpected emergence of India. By claiming the role of world teacher, the Indians are rising to inaugurate a new age. If the Westerners are deprived of the help from India they will not be able to succeed in their efforts at progress. Just as in the cultivation of the supreme means to the flowering of the inner life no country had excelled India in the Knowledge of Self and Yoga, similarly the purification of the nature, the control over the senses, the power of the Self-realisation, the energy born of askesis, tapasya, and the lesson of non-attached activity as Yoga, these too are India’s very own. To Acquire, by ignoring the outward joys and sorrows, the inner freedom is possible only for the Indian, the Indian alone is capable of undertaking activity in a spirit of non-attachment, while the sacrifice of ego and indifference in acton are acknowledged as the highest aim of her education and culture and are the seed of her national character.

– Aurobindo Ghose, Prison and Freedom, 1973.