gyanjyoti

The Universe, with its illimitable possibilities, has always imbued the mankind. NASA with other space agencies, round the world, have alomost redoubled their efforts in the past decade to find evidences of life in outer space. But the search seems to never ceasing.Since our first close-up picture of Mars in 1965, spacecraft voyages to the Red Planet have revealed a world strangely familiar, yet different enough to challenge our perceptions of what makes a planet work. With each day, Mars' new eccentricities are being discovered, courtesy to efforts made by the Mars Exploration Program. To discover the possibilities for life on the red planet-past, present or our own in the future-the Mars Program has developed an exploration strategy known as "Follow the Water." Under this strategy, dry riverbeds, ice in the polar caps and rock types that only form when water is present are being explored . Rigorous search for hot springs, hydrothermal vents or subsurface water reserves is being done by the erudite lot. As part of exploration program, a car sized robotic rover ,"CURIOSITY"-fraught with instruments consisting of MastCam, ChemCam, Navcams, spectrometer, REMS but the list goes on- was launched from Cape Canaveral on November 26, 2011. The rover's goals include: investigation of the Martian climate and geology; assessment of whether the Gale Crater has ever offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life, including investigation of the role of water; and planetary habitability studies for future human exploration. Since its landing on the Red Planet it has carried out some successful expeditions , major being-February's "mini drill test", April's plunge into an autonomous operation mode for approx. 25 days to monitor atmospheric and radiation data and May's Cumberland drill. It exercised the first drilling operation on the "John Klein rock" using a small drill bead by means of pulverizing rock upto 0.8 inches depth hence collecting samples of martian rock in powdered form. "Pre-drilling observations of this rock yielded indications of one or more episodes of wet environment conditions", explained mission manager. Aftre three months of the first drill, Curiosity drilled into yet another rock "the Cumberland" on May 19 . The hole is about 0.6 inch (1.6 centimeters) in diameter and about 2.6 inches (6.6 centimeters) deep. The science team expects to use analysis of material from Cumberland to check findings from John Klein. Preliminary findings from analysis of John Klein rock powder by Curiosity's onboard laboratory instruments indicate that the location long ago had environmental conditions favorable for microbial life. But still a lot has to be done .....

Certainly at some fortuitous day, our search would be over.  

NASA's mass rover "CURIOSITY", a car sized robotic rover equipped with sophisticated instruments meant to explore "Gale crater" on Mars as part of Mars Exploration Program,  has conducted some successful ventures on the Red Planet since its landing in the month of August. Major among them being - February's "mini drill test" and April's plunge into an autonomous operation mode for approx. 25 days to monitor atmospheric and radiation data. It exercised the first drilling operation on the "John Klein rock" using a small drill bead by means of pulverizing rock upto 0.8 inches depth hence collecting samples of martian rock in powdered form. "Pre-drilling observations of this rock yielded indications of one or more episodes of wet environment conditions", explained mission manager. Examination is still being carried out in the special onboard laboratory to gain more insight on the geological past and conditions of Red Planet.

prologue : Keeping the undergoing havoc in northern India by the nature in view, this is my small endeavour  to express the grief and immense torture felt by the flood victims through the following words.

" ALAS ! The pain is too much. We lost everything that we once hold dear to us. Our home, property, village, fields and most importantly the future that we once dreamed of. Had we acted with more alacrity, many more lives could have been saved. Vicisstudes of nature now seem more menacing than the nature of men. I fear the sleep now. Horrid thoughts never leave me now. Thinking about the dreadful past and the absence of ostentatious village children drive me crazy. How immaculately we used to plough the ground, ohhhh, its memory is still so fresh and vivid. Sometimes my pique get the better of me but now is not the right time to water the seeds of vitriol inside me. What is bygone is bygone. I dont blame it on anyone. Even the affluent ones failed to hide from the wrath of nature, then what to say of me, a small farmer, to be pardoned. But this time my spirits are truely dampened. I have had enough for one life...............        "

What we hear a great deal nowadays is about BCCI- the umbrella organization behind today's face of Indian cricket albeit it is for some "not so good" reasons. And amongst many of them is spot fixing. Spot fixing has visibly rocked India. Chandila, the main accused, is yet to extricate himself from all legal charges. And sadly there has been no appreciable action taken by bcci. Some may say," You must not give facile  remarks." But i am just saying what the stark reality is. Even the agency in charge has failed to give facsimile documents on the matter in hand. And what pinches the most is the probable involvement of the chief, Sreenivasan, himself. But as we know rich men can always afford a factotum. So lets not worry about the Sreenavasan case for the time being. The events has taken quite a ugly turn for the bcci which is evident from the fact that skittish investors now tend to withdraw their money from the share market. What bcci urgently requires is someone who with his sleight of hand can get bcci into its position back, someone none can gainsay in these matters. But the future seems bleak for bcci.

Getting to the top is never easy, but for this person it was harder then for most. Listen to what he felt:

Every child faces embarrassing situation, of not looking good enough or not being good enough for his peers, or being teased or, basically, of not fitting in to some degree. I experienced these feelings daily. It wasn’t easy. I had stutter and a double thumb. This set me apart from other children, it made me different. I didn’t fit in. I was teased so often that I begun to feel I wasn’t normal.

When I was 21, around the time I had decided to pursue a carrier of my choice, I was diagnosed with a bad case of scoliosis (An abnormal curvature of the spine. Usually, the condition occurs late in life, resulting from disease of the bones or muscles supporting the spinal column; however, it may be a congenital malformation for the vertebrae that can be corrected, at least in part, by surgery) and a ruptured disc. I was sitting across this doctor who told me that I could never be what I wanted to be- I could never jog, never run I could never dance, never do any of those things that a film hero does. He went on and on, slowly and steadily destroying me bit by bit, demolishing all my hopes and aspirations. He even advised me to change my career plans.

To describe me! It just reinforces my belief that miracles can happen.

At that time only person who knew about my problems and who could help me was I, myself. So it was a very lonely fight. It took me about a year and a half to gather my strength. During that period, I did not pick up even a pin from the floor because the doctor had told me not to bend, that it would harm my back. He had told me not to jog, so I never ran, I never exerted myself. I became completely sedentary.

Then one day I realized that if I accepted defeat and cut myself off from all my dreams, there’d come a time when I’d be 50 and I’d never have known whether that doctor was right or wrong about my becoming an actor. That thought scared me more than the thought that I might break my back acting. So I resolved to find out if I could.

I read many books and learnt as much as I could about my back problem. I listened to my body and I treated my own back, I found a way of strengthening my back, and of strengthening my entire body along with it. Now here I am, a macho hero! Terms like ‘bulging biceps’ are used to describe me! It just reinforces my belief that miracles can happen.

I don’t think courage is the absence of fear. I think it is feeling the fear, but harnessing it and going for it anyway. All my life, whatever I’ve done a leap of faith. When I went to acting classes, every time I stood up to enact a scene before the class, I had to have faith that I wouldn’t stammer. And I didn’t. That is why I think it is very important to believe. It’s tough, but once you cross the line with confidence, it gets easier.

If Sussanne had not been in my life, I would probably not have become an actor. When I met her, I was seriously contemplating giving up my dreams. I was scared, afraid of what would happen if I failed. Moreover my dad kept telling me that I shouldn’t become an actor, that I should do something more stable. He didn’t want me to go through the kind of struggle he had faced as an actor for 20 years.

At that time, it was Sussanne who blindfolded me, in a manner of speaking, and pushed me in front of the camera. Her words of reassurance made me believe that I could do it. She voiced that part of me which believed that it was possible to overcome my fears. The confidence that she had in me made me more confident about myself. She came into my life like an angel. I still believe that she has been sent by God to take care of me and in turn I try to take as much care as I can of her.

Meeting her has been the best thing that happened in my life. I think marriage is the best thing in the world if you find the right person.

If I have to choose the most important thing that I have learnt from my experiences, it’s the answer to the question, “Do you have to see something to believe it, or do you have to believe enough to see it?” The answer is: You have to believe enough to see it.

Miracles happen if you believe strongly enough. I’d like to tell people that even if a situation seems hopeless, don’t give in. Persevere. If you truly believe, the magic will happen. It happened with me.

This interview of Hritikh Roshan was published in February 2004 volume of The Readers Digest.

Adhira : one who is not sober and is always disturbed

Adhoksaja : not approachable by material mind and senses, a name for Krsna

Adi-purusa : Krsna, the Supreme Primeval Person

Avidya : ignorance

Brahma-bhutah : the stage of liberation in which one realizes the Supreme Brahman and becomes free from hankering and lamentation

Brahmachari : a celibate student

Brahman : the all prevading impersonal aspect of Krsna

Brahmana : a liberal person who knows the Absolute Truth

Dhira : one who is sober inspite of provocation

Grhasthas :  Krsna conscious householders]

Jnana-vairagyam : that knowledge by which one becomes detached from material allurement

Jnanis : mental speculators

Karma-bandhanah : work which binds one to this material world

Karmi : one who works to enjoy the fruits of his labor

Krpana : a miserly person who doesnot use his human life for self realization.

Krsnaloka : the eternal planet of Lord Krsna in the spiritual sky

Manu-samhita : the Vedic lawbook for mankind

Maya : the illusory energy which causes the soul to forget God

Parampara : disciplic succession

Sac-cid-ananda-vigraha  : spiritual form full of eternity, knowledge and bliss

Samadhi : trance, absorption in God consciousness

Sannyasa : the renounced order of life

Sravanam : hearing from an authorized source

Srimad-Bhagavatam : the Vedic scripture which specifically describes the pastimes of Lord Krsna and his devotees

Tapasya : austerity

Tyaga : renunciation of material world

Vaikunthas : the eternal planets of spiritual sky

Vaisnava : a devotee of Krsna

Vasudeva-parayanah : those who are devoted to Krsna

Vimudhas : materialistic persons who have unnecessarily burdend themselves for temporary happiness

Yajna : sacrifice, work done for Krsna

Yoga : the process of linking with Krsna

Yogamaya : the eternal creative potency of Krsna which obscures Him to the unintelligent

In this vacation I am learning to cook simple vegetables. Contrary to my expectations, it is not easy to cook. One has to stand in front of the hot stove in this scorching summer. By the time one finishes cooking one is covered in sweat from head to toe. Moreover chopping onions is itself a tall order. They can bring tears to one’s eyes even if one is eternally happy. Hats off to all the mothers and wives who cook for their family every day, without a single word of complain. Ladies you are doing a wonderful job. Keep it up

This story was narrated to me by my HOD(Head of the department) Maam Mrs Manjula in November 2009. She was motivating us to do well in boards and in life. So here it goes.

Once there was a boy and his mother, who were walking on a road. The boy was curious about life. He asked a lot of questions and irritated his mother.

Further on the road they met a saint. He was in deep meditation. Mother asked her son to go and ask all his doubts about life from the saint as he was a learned man. The boy obeying his mother moved towards the saint.

Suddenly a butterfly flew towards him. He caught it in his hands and closed his fist tightly. The butterfly was completely inside his fists. He kept his hands at the back. Now he greeted saint with respect and asked him, “Sir what do you think is the butterfly in my hands dead or alive?”

The Saint replied “It is in your hands”.

Morale: Saint taught the boy that it was his wish whether to kill the butterfly or let it live. If the saint would have replied that the butterfly is alive, the boy would have killed it by rubbing his hands hard, just to prove him wrong. If the saint would have replied that butterfly is dead, the boy would have simply opened his fists to show that it is still alive.

My Maam conveyed the message to all of us that our lives were in our hands. It is our choice how we want to live it.

This story has been a guiding light for my life and I hope that it can guide all the readers of this article too.