An interest of the Community !!!!!

Once a wise old monk of China stumbled upon the path that led to a Barber shop in India. He went into the shop. The barber was pleased to give the monk a hair-cut.But,seeing no tract of hair ; he quipped-" I'm sorry sir, i cannot help you out maybe when your hair is old enough to be grown then please do come again. I wont charge you anything."

The monk left blessing the Barber,"As you wish.Blessed Soul."

Next morning,a line of young-monks awaited before the Barber.
He was surprised and asked,"What brings you here , O greatly blessed ones." The Monk who was the youngest and greatly infront at the line quipped,"Your eyes twinkled with joy whence you attended upon our Holy-one of the Monastery. He has asked us to come down and see the joy in your eyes again." Saying this, they all blessed him and went away.

Next day, a newspaper boy came in for a haircut. The Barber gave him the haircut and said," I'm doing this for community sake." Next day, whence the barber opened the door, he found a thank-you note with a pile of Magazines. The note read--"For the interest of the community;that visits you everyday."

"A Fresh Mind"

"A Fresh Mind"

=By Sanjay Yadav [M.A, M.Ed, DBM]; 18-01-2010; 12:45 PM

One fine morning ,I began,

To doodle with words, You too can,

A Pen is mightier than the sword, They said.

And broke all ground all-day; Till they all fell.

I minced no rhyme , for reason did not fallow;

The great gobbledy-gook of Time was the Chief Guest to borrow.

I hated all and fear'd none, for reason could forthwith burn,

A hole in many a pockets or in Learned minds;

To fathom deeper this bespectacled-line.

Verse or worst, we always bare,

No speakers today will do well to dare.

Mine is a rhythmic doodling divine,

Of nectar and honey, not shrews berry biscuits designed,

No juicy cake , that I'd cut for occasions ordered; 

Nor Christmas presents , found in Santa Claus larder.

Yet gooder is better, than the very best,

If I may so , now let it rest.

For reasons come and reasons go;

But galloping years that put white-eyebrows.

And pestering wives, neighbors, friends , colleagues all fine,

To give thine morning, a Lemonade-twist entwined.

The Youth fervor , always dies down young

For reasons are not seen , as seasons return.

I oft, have felt my pocket burn;

To explain this verse as verily you yearn,

May the God give you enough brains,

To cow me down till the next season rains.

Would you or will you, enjoy your heart's fill;

To say good Bye , yet to a mongrel ill.

Or buy that Bunny-rabbit toy; for your sick friend's boy.

I'd ask though , with writing zest ;

Don't though put me yet on a Sessional Test.

I'd love you, joke and all;

To answers for every cat that called.

And Every mouse that squirmed , At the mention

Of his Cheese dimension being turned.

Hurry, with such a flurry of haste is waste;

For I'd order you , a simple Coffee or chocolate cake.

Till , we meet; let these words do good-bye;

Or let the sparrows ,sing you a lullaby.

I have the honesty to be around;

And try well and hard in the deeper ground.

Good-bye to old-friends they said;

And make new one's , In this new year they felt.

I see this, and I see that;

For whatever Rhyme and Reason dwelt.

I ask no nerd , no compassion or grief,

For he will never lend me any good stead.

Welcome , to one and welcome to all; 

Well that's the reason , A Fresh Mind has it all.

"Aruni had it, do you have it too"

Once upon a time, there lived another learned mind, Aruni was one among the favourite disciple of sage Maharishi Ajodhya Dhaumya, along with Upamanyu and the one named 'Veda' (Mbh 1.3). He was from the country of Panchala and was known as Aruni of Panchala.

As per epic Mahabharata (MBh 1.3), One day Aruni's Guru Maharishi Dhaumya, asked Upamanyu to go with Aruni to the field. But, Upamanyu stalled the attempt by giving an excuse that he had to tend the cows in the cow-shed and also to water the Ashrama garden, and then make garlands for the “Dev-Pooja.” So, the great sage seeing a plethora of excuses smiled only too well as he knew the avoiding nature of Upamanyu. To this immediately, without batting an eyelid, young Aruni said, “Gurudev, let brother Upamanyu tend the cows here and do the Ashrama work. I am very strong like Bhima-the Pandava prince. I can handle the task alone.” So, Rishi Dhaumya had no reason left but to allow him to go alone to the field and oversee that water was flowing well to a certain field. Aruni went there and found that water is not freely flowing, so he created a mud-wall bund from the nearby mud. A second later, the mud-wall could not withstand the overflowing water and broke the wall that Aruni had made. Again, quickly, Aruni tried; but the water flow was not being stopped from its designated path. Aruni tried to stop water by all means but became unsuccessful. He then lay there using his body to prevent the breach of water. Due to this Aruni did not return to the hermitage. Maharishi Dhaumya with his other disciples, grew worried as it was night and freezingly cold. They all came to the spot in search of Aruni. By now, there was frostbite on Aruni, and fever was raging like a bull; still Aruni who lay unconscious, didn’t give up.

Dhaumya was very pleased upon Aruni and gave him the title, “Uddhalaka--the savior”. Later Aruni became very famous under that title.

Questions for pondering:-

1. What was the need for Aruni to be such a staunch supporter of a cause?

2. Why did Aruni not come back to the Ashrama and leave the field to be devastated?

3. What quality of Aruni, do you like to emulate?

4. How do you rate Aruni, a coward or a patriot?

5. Why did Upamanyu not go to the field instead of Aruni?

6. What lesson do you learn from this story?

7. How do you see the above story helpful to solve any problem you have faced? Do share here.

"A LEARNED MIND."

"A LEARNED MIND."

Once upon a time, as all Vedic period stories begin, so began the story of a Forest-prince. No, I am not talking about Robinhood--the darling prince among thieves, but our very own forest lad; Eklavya.

He grew up in the forest,collecting Honey,Rudraksha beads, Lac,gum,and other assorted berries which got traded for food subsistence,and meagre living in the nearby village. Near the edge of the forest stood a great sage Dronacharya's Ashrama.

He was a sage, who would admit only the princes and royal kings for education.For him, education in any form was not the purview of lowly-caste populace. Hence, he was aptly termed as the "Guru of Royals." In the same Ashrama, Arjuna,Nakula, Sahadeva; the great Pandava Princes had been admitted. They were to become expert archers.

Young Eklavya,also evinced interest in his tender mind, seeing these princes practicising with their Bow-and-Arrows; and one day finally mustered enough courage to ask the great sage Dronacharya for his tutelage. The great sage laughed mockingly. He summoned all the princes and infront of them also again discouraged young Eklavya. Never mind that on that day , with a grief-stricken heart, young Eklavya had to go away dissappointed to the forest.

Second and third day, again he came but the guru would now not be cowed down. Seeing his adamantine posture, Eklavya; went into the forest, and near a dilapidated fort, made a mud statue of his favorite guru. That's Sage Dronacharya. Now he, started fashioning an improvised bow-and-arrow from the available Teak tree. Naturally, with his day and night of practise without rest; his prowress grew by leaps and bounds.

One day a mad-dog entered the Ashrama, and Eklavya was hiding behind the forest thicket.

None of the princes could aim and shoot arrows at the dog. But were successful at driving him away. The dog went into the forest hiding. Eklavya sought his chance to show his Archery prowress, now was the time to display his skill and it was also a test of his ability. One arrow after the another went into the dog's mouth, so much so that the whole mouth was bleeding; and full of arrows. The dog ran in pain again to the river-side, where the great sage Dronacharya and his disciples had come for having a bath.The sage was awestruck at the sight and so were the princes. Who could be a greater Archer here? They asked each other , but all the princes drew their head down in shame. None could have matched the dexterity with which this person had done. Eklavya too followed , the dog. He felt that seeing this , atleast now the Sage Dronacharya would bless him.But the guru quickly knew that if he gave him the blessings , his prestige would be at stake. Also, his tutuelage, the princes would not be known as greater than Eklavya. So, he quickly asked from innocent Eklavya; His right-hand thumb as his "Guru-Dakshina"

Young Eklavya, gave it to him immediately such was the presence of his divine ordinance.

So, friends there are questions which "A Learned Mind" asks:

1. Why was it necessary for Eklavya to be so innocent and give his thumb to the sage?
2. Why does a learned mind falter, in the case of Pandava Princes?
3. What is the strategy that you can see from this story?
4. How will you apply such a learned mind story to your own ?
5. Does this story fire your mind into any new ideas? Do share them here.