Do you believe in Astrology, palmistry, tarot cards and the like?

Why/Why not?

I think we should see what the bharatiya janta feels. Post your comment here.

In the Holy Srimad Bhagavad Gita lies the answer to all the dilemmas in today's fast-paced world. Sure, it will probably not be specific to your problem...but its guiding principles will show you the way to a great life.  I was always a devout person. I always wanted to start studying the Gita and so I started doing so routinely about 18 months ago.   I followed only a handful of its principles - the ones it is most well known for, namely,

 -----We must surrender all our activities to God, who shall deliver us from reaction and sin 

-----We must perform our duty with no expectation of result.

These two principles worked marvels for me. I changed completely. However, I have, it seems, forgotten to adhere to its wise teachings, but continue to read it daily...trying to ingrain it in my mind so that I may consciously follow more of its principles in everyday life.  Apart from the Gita, I recommend people to read books by Norman Vincent Peale, Shiv Khera, Dale Carnegie, and Eckhart Tolle. The last author takes some of his ideology from the Gita.   

These books should be the start to your path to personality development. (I could use the word self-realisation, but the people of today find that word to sound too...mystical and irrational.)  If you are happy with your life...good for u! Still go through the books of the above mentioned authors and of course the Holy Srimad Bhagavad Gita.

Keep in mind, though, that the Holy Gita is merely a summary of the Sacred Upanishads, which are in turn the ideology behind the Vedas. 

That feeling is creeping over me again. It is a disease, which all people experience albeit in different orders of magnitude. DEPRESSION.

A couple of my friends were admitted into universities abroad. I am not jealous; however, they were jealous of me when they came to know that I qualified GATE. I am happy for them. What I can’t stand is their making a mockery out of my rejections and my academic credentials. My credentials are as good if not better than theirs are. Is what I have false pride? I don’t know. However, I feel terrible. When I qualified GATE and they didn’t, I did not say anything that would upset them. In addition, here I am now being ridiculed over my current situation, being advised to apply to ‘C grade’ universities, being told that the universities I am expecting a response from are crappy.

I wish it were Feb 18^th this year. Everything was fine until then. And you’d think friends would be supportive if I got rejects – nope!

Hey, they aren’t monsters. I just think that they feel a sort of comfort that a guy like me who got good scores on his entrance exams could not get admission. A hard-working little wise-guy who couldn’t make it - the universe conspiring against a supposed ‘know-it-all’.

Let me tell you something. I am not a smart person, I will admit. I don’t have good things going for me - I admit that too. However, one thing I will not admit is that I discourage people; that I don’t give moral support. I have always told friends to keep their chin up. Nobody is there to tell me the same thing. Nobody to tell me I am capable of this joy. People might think I have an ego since I want others telling me how good I am. If that were so, then I would rather have an ego and admit it rather than have an ego and put a mask on my face and make others feel worthless.

I had good things coming my way. Not anymore. My day in the sun is probably over. I guess I should prepare myself to accept that.

But I am an optimist none the less. I don’t need others to encourage me. I believe in the Lord. He, I am quite sure, believes in me. This phase is just an anomaly in my life…I am going to overcome it coz HE is on my side!

I have been reading the Holy Srimad Bhagavad Gita for the past one year or so regularly. I am still amazed by the fact that I keep finding answers to questions that I sincerely wish I had the answer to in this book. In fact, the very first time I read a sloka from the Holy Gita (that was about two years ago, I was very irregular for about a year or so) answered a question I had for a few days. The sloka was not exactly from the Holy Gita itself but from a magazine which quoted the Holy Gita. I can’t remember the question to be honest, but again this phase is happening to me.

A few days ago, I asked myself – if we do so many actions in this material world, if we are constantly surrounded by it, how can we attain moksha? Why are the honest, hard-working, innocent people often faced with obstacles and the greedy, sinful and guilty people relishing the pleasantries of life?

The answer I found yesterday in one of the most famous verses of the Holy Book.

Chapter 2 verse 47

Karmanyevadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana

Ma karmaphalaheturbhuma te sangostvakarmani

I used to think the meaning of this verse was… do your duty without consideration of its fruits. Yesterday, however, I realised that it meant that, yes, but it also meant more. The key word in the phrase is ‘adhikaraste’ which means ‘you have the right’. You have the right to do your duty. God is not stopping you from doing that. So, whether you do it or you don’t is up to you. This is what we mortals call FREE WILL. However, once you have decided to do or not do the action, the result is not in your hand. That is why, people often think that they are being punished when simply God either has something in store which is better according to the work you put in, or the result is an effect of an earlier misdeed. The good are never left unrewarded and the evil never left unpunished.

Then those of you have read my last two blogs know about my query regarding whether or not people who have not been exposed to vulgar content feel lust. That answer was also answered today. In chapter 2 verse 59

You can check out the verse in Sanskrit, the translation is:

Even though the sense objects are refrained from, (by one who is self-situated), the taste or craving for sense objects remains. This subtle craving also completely disappears from the one who knows the Supreme Being.

And here is the spooky part. I started writing the previous article to try to find the answer to this doubt in the Holy Gita and post it on my blog. But I was too lazy to mention the Holy Gita or look for my answer in it. I guess…God had other plans…I am but his puppet, and once you have thought of doing something in the name of God, you had better fulfil it, I got away with it this time ( and one time before also :O) I may not be so lucky in the future.

हरी \

Contd from 23^rd March… please see earlier blog

It is the same thing here. The difference however, is that we all have a libido…but once we cross a certain age, say, 16 or 18…we won’t feel like satisfying it IF we are conditioned to ignore it. We simply ignore the impulse and our body sends a negative feedback to the brain saying ‘I don’t need your damn hormones!’ so the hormones are removed from the system. For eg, I am a vegetarian and when I feel hungry…I don’t eat non-veg even though every1 says it tastes great.

But herein lies a subtle difference…I have a choice of other foods. What choice does a man have of satisfying his sexual needs, if he is celibate and refrains from watching you-know-what. This is where our discussion gets dirty. Masturbation.

Many people do it and many doctors will say it is necessary to remove built up hormones. Otherwise, we feel irritable. Prolonging masturbation will cause ‘wet dreams’ or ‘night fall’, as it is termed, where the male ejaculates in his sleep.

Now getting back to the point, if a man has never seen pornography, does he masturbate? Can he have wet dreams? I think the answer is yes, since that is what happened in my case, but here is the main point – when it happened in my case, I had curiosity, I had not seen an undressed lady before, but my imagination somehow caused me to… well…you know, ejaculate. Can that happen to a person who has been taught to stay away from porn?

I am confused!

Now that I have seen porn, I can go a few days without doing…it…and then…there she (or rather he) blows! So, the question is, did my friends mentioned in my previous post ever have a wet dream? With one of them (the muslim), I didn’t discuss this…too delicate a topic for him!

With the other…he refuses to tell me properly…so, for people like these souls we will never know unless they are open. Imagine…if they ever had a wet dream…that means that pornography has nothing to do with libido and that libido is a BIOLOGICAL trait.

Still, I would not justify the acts of the women (and men) that I mentioned in the beginning of my earlier post – I don’t have a reason except that it makes me feel disgusted with myself and that it makes south-indians look like perverts which they certainly are not. I can’t make any moral, rational or spiritual justifications…only feelings and feelings alone have caused me to express my view.

HARI OM

We in the South don’t really celebrate Holi with the kind of zest that is displayed in the North.

Today, however, I got a rude awakening. In a local news channel, they showed a village near my home town of Vishakapatnam where women were dancing and disrobing themselves in-front of men and children alike without any shame, just in the name of Holi. I never thought these sort of things existed in my state and I was simply shocked. No one could even jail the organisers or the ‘performers’ since the police themselves were revelling in this blasphemy.

This made me reflect on myself. Okay, here is the truth… nine out of ten men my age (including myself) have watched pornography.

This, I kept telling myself, is a biological need that we have. However, I was always puzzled by those who steered away from these things. I have a Muslim friend who doesn’t even look at a woman’s face. The other friend is a Hindu…I am not sure about him, but he is quite religious and I doubt he has ever watched porn, at least out of his own free will.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not a sex addict or a pervert. I have gone weeks and sometimes months without watching you-know-what, but then one fine day…the hormones kick in. Therefore, I have a great alibi to watch It and so do all men – Hormones!

Then, why don’t hormones display their effects on my buddies mentioned above? Or do they have a secret method to make testosterone and androgen disappear from their systems? NO.

The answer I think lies in the fact that they had never been exposed to this stuff in their childhood. They probably do feel the hormones…but perhaps not in such a strong way. Imagine it like this - let’s say you have tasted something sweet for the first time in your life one day. A few days later, you feel like eating sweet food…you never had this feeling before.

So your brain tells you that the sweet stuff you tasted earlier was great and so you indulge yourself in the same. If a person has never tasted sweetness before he doesn’t know what sweetness is and so can not indulge in it.

To all the readers…I apologise if this sounds vulgar. But I am trying to find out the truth…ladies think that men are sex-hungry slobs, but I am trying to prove that not all men are like that…

To be contd…

HARI OM

It has been a while since i last posted a blog. 11months and 13 days to be precise and a lot has changed in my life.

I have applied to universities abroad for my higher studies. I cleared the GRE and TOEFL. I am waiting for a response from the universities. Recently I also qualified the GATE exam and am now looking for master's degrees in biotech in India, so those of you who want help/can give me some tips about where to apply can please do so here or mail me.

Ok, now back to business. I have not expressed my opinion in a while and feel like i have a lot to say but i'll keep it short and sweet like always.

This blog is in reference to an article i read today in the Times of India written by Jug Suraiya and the title was something like 'Chicken is the national bird of India'. I guess I could not agree more.

The difference is this...while I agree that we did chicken out when it came to the Taslima issue and the Tibet issue...the government had no other choice. Imagine what would have happened if Taslima were given shelter. Election season is around the corner and the ruling party does not want to lose its votebank. Think of all the 'minority groups' (ie the Islamic fundamentalists)  that would have protested. So the government had to save face.

Besides, we are not exactly very popular with religious extremists so I think the choice was cowardly, but it was also somewhat wise.

As far as Tibet is concerned...think about it...you have a growing superpower like China which is a great trade partner with India and then on the other hand you have Tibet - poor as hell. Whose side would you choose? Ya, i know that sounds really cruel...Tibetans are oppressed...but then people say why should we bother about Tibet's problems when we have problems of our own? Never mind that most politicians dont bother about domestic problems.

Or the case when Tamils were oppressed in Malaysia...not too much was done by the Foreign Ministry and the Centre showed a cold shoulder to their woes. So hey, if we can ignore our people...we can ignore other people too...like the families of jawans who are killed in battle...the widow who hasn't been given a job or means of surviving or the pensioner who hasn't been given his pension money...hey - we have problems Tibet. We aren't gonna solve our own problems why should we solve yours?

The government has asked China to 'resolve its issues' with Tibet. Well, I guess at least that means that we acknowledge that Tibet exists.

By the way, how many of you know that China wants to take Arunachal Pradesh away from India? I think about one lakh people out one hundred-and-something crorse all over India know about this.

How many of you give a damn about Arunachal Pradesh (except for those who are Arunachalis)? I bet none. Whatever. Life goes on.

Hari Om.

Everyone from the research scientist to the Aunty next door was yelling from the rooftop. The Biotech industry was going to be the NEXT BIG THING after IT.

Here is the reality,  the Biotech Industry in India is worth a measly $1billion, compare this with what 'experts' predicted – that Biotech was going to be worth $5billion by 2010. That seems way too far off.

The reason for this are many like the long time it takes to from patent to discovery, the huge amount of budget involved for Research and the lack of synchronisation between academia and Industry.

In a recent report in the US, most life scientists did not like their job until they turned forty, and in the Indian scenario, we produce a pathetic 1200 Life Science PhDs a year. So if it takes 10-15 years after completing a PhD for you to settle in your job, how is a person expected to opt for Life Sciences as an option out of High School? Pay? Peanuts.

As for Industry and academia synchronisation, there are NO postgraduate degrees in Mol Bio, Immunology, Biochemistry and Developmental Biology in India! To think that abroad there exist entire departments devoted to these fields of study.

No. of Mtech Biotech seats in India- 160

No of applicants – over 11000!

PhD in Biological Sciences is offered only in institutes of repute like NII, IISc and CCMB, but they too only matriculate 10 students per annum in their PhD program. Why isn't the Indian Biotech industry not shining?

I want that Hospitals must tie-up with Universities doing research in areas like Stem Cell Technology and Gene Therapy (if any such Universities do exist) so that Life Scientists at least get employed somewhere and lead a better, well paying life.

What are your views? Please share.

PS – someone said that we become life scientists so we can 'do good to mankind'. Well, if you can work on weekends for half of your life trying to figure out how yeast cells age so that a cure for aging can be developed then either you must have a lot of patience, or you have to be a total freak. As for the majority of the population, we rather stay grounded on earth. And by the way, doesn't mankind include scientists??!!

To be respected and loved is a primordial instinct in humans.

YES! Finally back. Ok, sorry guys, had exams and stuff going on for the last 2 months, but hopefully i'm gonna continue bloggin' frequently for a while.

Well, I'd like to kick off this new avatar of mine by saying (a belated) HAPPY NEW YEAR! to all my friends.

So, down to business - MY THOUGHTS.

Ya see, i'm been feeling kinda down these days because of well... my academic performance. I'm getting like an average GPA of about 7.7ish for the past few semesters in college and it is getting really frustrating, I mean did you ever just wanna scream and say 'just give me some damn good grades, GOD?!' Well, I felt like that but obviously, it's not that easy.

Did you guys ever feel like that?

Send in your comments.

I'm preparing for GATE life sciences and it is re-e-eally takin' a toll on me. Of couse i can appear the next year, but i'm afraid if i don't score well on this attempt, it may hurt my confidence.

Ok, whatever, so I also wanna say, publicly, that I am finally convinced that BUSH IS A MASS MURDERER.

Well, then c ya guys later. Bye!

Mahesh