The Blind Girl

There was once a blind girl who hated herself for no other reason except that she was blind. She hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He was always there for her. She said that if she could only see the world, she would marry her boyfriend.

One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her and then she could see everything, including her boyfriend. Her boyfriend asked her, "Now that you can see the world, will you marry me?" The girl was shocked when she saw that her boyfriend was blind. Not wanting to be burdened by a 'blind' person, she refused to marry him.

Her loving, devoted and understanding boyfriend walked away in tears. His heart obviously broken.

The girl who had been so fortunate to have the world opened up to her, continued enjoying it; day in and day out.... trying to never miss a single pleasure life had to offer.

One day she received a letter from her ex-boyfriend stating simply.......

"I sincerely hope you enjoy your life. Your happiness was all that ever mattered to me. I am so happy that you are enjoying life as I always hoped you could. I would like to ask one parting favor of you my dear ... Just take care of my eyes."

This, as sad as it may seem, is how the human brain changes when our status changes. Only a few remember what life was like before and who's always been there even in the most painful situations.

Life Is A Gift
Today before you think of saying an unkind word - Think of someone who can't speak.

Before you complain about the taste of your food - Think of someone who has nothing to eat.

Before you complain about your husband or wife - Think of someone who's crying out to God for a companion.

Today before you complain about life - Think of someone who went too early to heaven.

Before you complain about your children - Think of someone who desires children but they're barren.

Before you argue about your dirty house, someone didn't clean or sweep -
Think of the people who are living in the streets.

Before whining about the distance you drive - Think of someone who walks the same distance.

And when you are tired and complain about your job - Think of the unemployed, the disabled and those who wished they had your job.

But before you think of pointing the finger or condemning another - Remember that not one of us are without sin and we all answer to one maker.

And when depressing thoughts seem to get you down - Put a smile on your face and thank God you're alive and still around.


Taken from here : http://soulcysters.blogspot.com/2007/05/blind-girl.html

And I Wish...

I came across this TOUCHING article in this blog. It is a story that relates to most of us, and highlights a common mistake we all commit of overlooking something that is VERY important. The message is touching, and is strong ...

I ran into a stranger as he passed by,
"Oh excuse me please" was my reply.

He said, "Please excuse me too;
I wasn't watching for you."

We were very polite, this stranger and I.
We went on our way and we said goodbye.

But at home a different story is told,
How we treat our loved ones, young and old.

Later that day, cooking the evening meal,
My son stood beside me very still.

When I turned, I nearly knocked him down.
"Move out of the way," I said with a frown.

He walked away, his little heart broken.
I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.

While I lay awake in bed,
God's still small voice came to me and said,

"While dealing with a stranger,
common courtesy you use,
but the family you love, you seem to abuse.

Go and look on the kitchen floor,
You'll find some flowers there by the door.

Those are the flowers he brought for you.
He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.

He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,
you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes."

By this time, I felt very small,
And now my tears began to fall.

I quietly went and knelt by his bed;
"Wake up, little one, wake up," I said.

"Are these the flowers you picked for me?"
He smiled, "I found 'em, out by the tree.

I picked 'em because they're pretty like you.
I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue."

I said, "Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today;
I shouldn't have yelled at you that way."
He said, "Oh, Mom, that's okay.
I love you anyway."

I said, "Son, I love you too,
and I do like the flowers, especially the blue."

Religion

Here's a VERY interesting article I came across about how the religions COULD have evolved and how thickheaded people could be in following the tenets.

Once upon a time - there were two Saints: Saint A and Saint B. Saint A lived in the mountains in a cold climate. Saint B in the hot plains.

Both were nice souls on their journey to purification through honestly, compassion, and meditation.

Saint A, one day, heard the WORD of God! He came back to his people and shared his conversation with God. The message:

God is one.. and omnipresent. It is compassionate and loving and complete

The way to him is through love and good deeds.

Love all.

There was this guy who really felt cold in the wintery month. Since Mr. A knows THE truth - he reasoned - chances are .. he would know what I might do to get rid of this bitter cold! So he hesitatingly approached Saint A. "Sir, what do I do to save myself from this bitter cold?". Saint A looked and thought for a minute.. "well, my dear friend, you see that sheep? take off its hair and wear clothes made of that.. it will help... and how often do you take bath?" "Sir, once a day" "Well, son tak ebath once in three days!" and the guy goes away to use the new knowledge!

Saint B, in the hot plains, also hears the WORD of God! He came back to his people and shared his conversation with God. The message:

God is one.. and omnipresent. It is compassionate and loving and complete

The way to him is through love and good deeds.

Love all.

There was this guy who really felt HOT in the summer month. Since Mr. B knows THE truth - he reasoned - chances are .. he would know what I might do to get rid of this heat! So he hesitatingly approached Saint B. "Sir, what do I do to save myself from this heat?" Saint B looked and thought for a minute.. "well, my dear friend, you have too many clothes on.. take them off and wear only shorts..... it will help... and how often do you take bath?" "Sir, once a day" "Well, son take bath THRICE A DAY" and the guy goes away to use the new knowledge!

Both the followers find happiness in life and their stress has been reduced.... they love their Saints.. they propagate the message far and wide... The message:

God is one.. and omnipresent. It is compassionate and loving and complete

The way to him is through love and good deeds.

Love all.

Wear X types of clothes

Take bath....... a day

It was okay... until they came face to face. And then the love for their Saints came out as their own Egos...

they had a big fight... over how many times should you take bath?

ONCE IN THREE DAYS ... or ..... THRICE A DAY!

...............the fight goes on...

I often think:

... what if there were no Saints? what if there was no message?

All would bathe once a day.. wear inadequate clothes.. but not know what "God" said. That, we still don't!

Desh
Drishtikone.com
Taken from here:http://www.intentblog.com/archives/2005/11/reinventing_din.html

Birdie by my workplace..

This cute birdie gave me a few moments of repose from my work, when it flew beside my window, and perched there for some time. :)

Dare devil!

Calculated caution, or plain stupidity?

Unity is strength!

This video is a prime example of the wisdom behind the title of this post!

Coconut Chutney..

Fresh Coconut - Whole
Dry chillies - 5
Green Chillies - 3
Tamarind paste - 1 Teaspoon
Curry leaves
Coriander leaves
Small Ginger - 1
Mustard seeds - 1 Teaspoon
Bengal gram seeds - 1 Teaspoon
Cumin seeds - 1 Teaspoon

Cut the coconut into thin strips so that it grinds easily. Grind the coconut strips, Ginger, Green chillies, Coriander leaves, tamarind or tamarind paste and suitable salt, adding water as necessary until homogeneous paste is formed.
Take a pan, heat two tablespoons of oil, add Bengal gram seeds, Mustard seeds and Cumin seeds until Bengal gram seeds become golden brown. Add Dry chillies to it, and then add Curry leaves. Add the coconut mixture paste to this pan, mix well, let it simmer in low flame for a minute or two and get ready to RELISH this yummylicious preperation. :D

Love.

"If by bathing daily God could be realised
Sooner would I be a whale in the deep;
If by eating roots and fruits he could be known
Gladly would I choose the form of a goat;
If the counting of rosaries uncovered him
I would say my prayers on mammoth beads;
If bowing before stone images unveiled him
A flinty mountain I would humbly worship;
If by drinking milk the Lord could be imbibed
Many calves and children would know him;
If abandoning one's wife would summon God
Wouldn't thousands be eunuchs?
Mirabai knows that to find the divine One
The only indispensable is love."

The above poem is written by Mirabai, translated to English in "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramahansa Yogananda.
Online Reference: http://oaks.nvg.org/ayob.html#7

I loved the poem for its simplicity in conveying a truth that is mostly misunderstood.

The Village Schoolmaster

- By Oliver Goldsmith.

Beside yon straggling fence that skirts the way With blossom'd furze unprofitably gay,
There, in his mansion ,skill'd to rule,
The village master taught his little school;
A man severe he was , and stern to view,
I knew him well , and every truant knew;
Well had the boding tremblers learn'd to trace
The days disasters in his morning face ;
Full well they laugh'd with counterfeited glee,
At all his jokes, for many a joke had he :
Full well the busy whisper, circling round,
Convey'd the dismal tidings when he frown'd :
Yet he was kind ; or if severe in aught,
The love he bore to learning was in fault.
The village all declar'd how much he knew ;
'Twas certain he could write, and cipher too :
Lands he could measure, terms and tides presage,
And e'en the story ran that he could gauge.
In arguing. too, the person own'd his skill,
For e'en though vanquish'd he could argue still ;
While words of learned length and thund'ring sound
Amazed the gazing rustics rang'd around ;
And still they gaz'd and still the wonder grew,
That one small head could carry all he knew.
But past is all his fame. The very spot
Where many a time he triumph'd is forgot.

Taken from : here.
(The link also contains another poem, titled "Sweet Auburn", which is also a good poem.)
I loved this poem, "The Village Schoolmaster" for various reasons.
Most of us can fondly recollect their own school days when they might have had a stern teacher who was knowledgeable and fits into Mr.Goldsmith's description of this poem's protagonist.
The vivid detail through which he paints the picture of the village schoolmaster is praiseworthy. Also, he shows different people's perspectives on the schoolmaster.
The poem exuberates a strong sense of nostalgia with undertones of melancholy.

For teacher's notes and commentary on this poem, please click here.

Chikki.

This sweet savoury is made, following this procedure:

Take a few groundnuts and heat them in a pan them until they are fried - you know it is done when there are black spots on the seeds. You have to ensure through stirring that these black spots are evenly spread on all the nuts.

Transfer them into a plate and allow them to cool to the extent that you are able to break them into half using your hands. Also, take the skin off the seeds, and separate the half-seeds from the skin.

Take jaggery and heat in the pan, along with little water on medium flame. The jaggery melts and a paste is formed. The water mixes well and you see a dilute paste. Keep heating this while stirring occasionally. You know when this paste is ready when the following test is successful - take a glass of water and add a drop of the liquefied jaggery to it. If this drop spreads inside the water, it means that it requires further heating. If, on the other hand it stays solid and cohesive, it means that the syrup is ready for the next step.

Take a flat plate that has an edge to hold, add a few drops of oil to it and spread the oil on the surface of the plate. This ensures that the syrup does not stick on to the plate. Add the ground nuts to the syrup, mix well and then transfer this mixture into the plate.

Allow it to cool down. When it solidifies to the extent that when you tilt the plate, the mixture does not start flowing off, cut the chikki paste into pieces, and allow it to solidify further.


There you go! All you have to do is to wait until it solidifies, and Yuuummmm!!

Wanna be famous..

Rice bajjis!! Yum!

Mix Rice flour, finely cut green chillies, salt, turmeric powder, sodium bi carbonate, and lots of yogurt into a dough. Fry small scoopfuls of this dough in oil until it becomes golden brown. 15 minutes is all you would spend for this "Heerljk" tasting snack!

Indian Hippo.

The Money Story.

Taken from here.

You are old, father William poem by Lewis Carroll

You are old, father William...

"You are old, father William," the young man said,
"And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head
Do you think, at your age, it is right?

"In my youth," father William replied to his son,
"I feared it might injure the brain;
But, now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again."

"You are old," said the youth, "as I mentioned before,
And you have grown most uncommonly fat;
Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door
Pray what is the reason for that?"

"In my youth," said the sage, as he shook his grey locks,
"I kept all my limbs very supple
By the use of this ointment one shilling a box
Allow me to sell you a couple?"

"You are old," said the youth, "and your jaws are too weak
For anything tougher than suet;
Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak
Pray, how did you manage to do it?"

"In my youth," said his fater, "I took to the law,
And argued each case with my wife;
And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw,
Has lasted the rest of my life."

"You are old," said the youth, "one would hardly suppose
That your eye was as steady as ever;
Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose
What made you so awfully clever?"

"I have answered three questions, and that is enough,"
Said his father. "Don't give yourself airs!
Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
Be off, or I'll kick you down stairs.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Lewis Carroll (1832-1898)
First publication date: 1855

Taken from here.

Toothless is still cute.

Look at the above characters ... None of them except Goofy has teeth. And for a mouth as big as that, he has only TWO!! So, go ahead and get that little half-decayed white devil out, and SMILE. :)

Cheer up. Be Brave! :)

Dr.Nemo seems to be resembling a mercenary of peace, doing his best wearing a mask in the wake of the strong oral fragrance and trying to identify which of the numerous CREAMY, cemented teeth need filling and which of them need extraction. Eh! "Een en dertig" would be the whale's favourite number as she joins the majority of the rest around her who are members of the THIRTY ONE CLUB. :D

Its just a partially used tooth that is more harmful than is useful. Get away with it, and take pride in having done a WISE thing! You would be gaining wisdom, rather than losing it.

Notice the little droplets of water SPLASHing out of the blow hole on the back of the whale, where Nemo loves to WHEEEEEEE!

ChEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEr up! :)

Fighting Kangaroo, mother kangaroo and little Joel!

Chocolates, ahoy!!

Amateur photographs ..

Of Whales, lighthouses and the vast ocean..

Do something!

(Taken from: Brisbane times )

A satirical video on teenage affluence is influencing hearts and
minds through YouTube.

(Affluent = having an abundance of wealth, property, or other material goods; prosperous; rich: an affluent person; - Source: http://dictionary.reference.com)

With the title 'Teenage Affluenza is Spreading Fast', the video
clip from World Vision is a clever parody of materialism in the suburbs.

When it was released online, it was quickly picked up by YouTube's editors and marked as one worth watching, leading to more than 200,000 hits in its first four days on the web.

Starring two typical teenagers, Erin and Red, living in
Melbourne, it uses the same male voice-over artist as the
mainstream World Vision television appeals, which focus on the
lives of deprived children from developing countries.

Instead of starving children in the YouTube clip, we watch the
Australian teens struggling with such horrors as eating dry cereal
without milk because the family has run out. The voice-over
intones: "Each mouthful of her cereal is so much harder to bear
with the knowledge that the milk bar is literally metres away from
her home."

The scenes are intercut with footage of children in developing
countries struggling with the harsh realities of their life in war
zones and famine-stricken regions.

Watch the video:

We learn that Red, who is described as an "incredibly gifted
computer gamer", is unable to "take it to the next level" because
he still has only a PlayStation 2 console from early 2004 rather
than a PlayStation 3.

This scene is contrasted with the life of Fen Ching, who is
playing with his one and only toy - a brass bomb-shell casing we
are told he found while foraging for food.

In the last sequence, which jumps between the two worlds, we
learn that today is particularly hard for 15-year-old Erin because
she knows "after dinner, after homework, before she can watch
Home and Away, it's her turn ... to unpack the dishwasher".

It is funny and moving and at the end viewers are urged to take
action by joining the 40-hour famine fundraiser on August 17-19.

One teenager who watched it, 16-year-old Luke Jarman from Sydney's northern beaches, says he typically gives a YouTube video about 15 to 30 seconds to capture his attention and this one passed the test.

He also admits there are parts of his and his friends' lives which he recognised in the video. "The bit about the gaming console made me think. I had been wanting an Xbox 360 but we already have about four different consoles in our house. I am thinking that maybe I don't a need new one."

Meanwhile, the video has attracted thousands of responses on
YouTube's online-comments section, including some honest
self-analysis from teenagers, while others started a discussion
about who is to blame - corrupt governments or first-world
greed.

This debate is very satisfying for Adam Valvasori, who runs
Stir, World Vision's youth arm, which produced the video.

"The response has been overwhelming," he says. "We have known for a while that it is not good enough just to have your own website but that we had to have a presence on MySpace and YouTube and you must have a two-way communication to motivate people to act."

The format of YouTube has been very useful, he says, because
when people are engaged they are often willing to watch for up to
five minutes, which is enough time to convey a complex message.

In the video, instead of asking people to simply put their hands
in the pocket, they are urged to "do something real" wherever they
are and the 40-hour famine is given as an inspiration.

You tube video link:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFZz6ICzpjI

Chillies ..... YUM!!

Green chillies whose seeds have been extracted and been filled with spices and turmeric paste and dipped in chickpea flour before being fried!

Organised Chaos!

This, by my partial definition is the meaning of an 'Organised' chaos! You do not have to SEARCH for something! All you have to do while looking for something is to bring up the picture of the object in your mind, and LOOK around for it in one lazy 180 degree scan on the table -- There it is within the second scan, you should find what you are looking for! (By the way ... I tidied up the table a bit for the photograph!)

If you were not careful...

If you had not been careful with the instructions, there are chances that you might end up with something that looks like the preparation shown in the picture above! Remember ... Use chilli powder in moderation, and never use Romano Cheese!

Easy way of preparing Pasta!

its very easy 1-2-3 steps kinda...but good..

so what u do is take a pan ( saucepan )

u fry a onion ( diced ) and one clove garlic rite ::sleep together

just medium heat make sure it doesnt burn ::sleep

then u add tomatoes..oregano..salt and pepper and boil them together

for 5 mins until the liquid is gone rite, then u remove it stir it for a while ::rolleyes u can also stir it in whipping butter or cream if u like to..

and let is simmer for like 5-10 mins

and there is ur spaghetti sauce

dont cook ur spaghetti toooooo long ::sleep 10-15 mins is enough

oh yeh i like it spicy so the taste is upto u ::happy

and not to forget...u cud aslo sprinkle with cheese...cheese is a must for me ::sleep

that was it...am outta here..i will send u the bill later on ::happy

The Guru.

With a smile on his face,
he entered dressed in ochre robes.
A frail old Tibetan monk of seventy two.
A sovereign of hearts,
preaching compassion and peace.

A shepherd of souls,
in a world that is witnessing strife
in the name of religion.
Voicing a call to the human values,
that he believes are inherent in all.
His message was really simple,
just like the renounced man himself.

Having had to flee his nation,
fearing persecution from the villains,
the butchers of humanity,
but the great soul has forgiven them already,
in spite of what they did to him,
and what they are still doing to his people.
He has no complaints,
his smile confirms this.

As he bowed his head and folded his hands,
in a gesture of farewell,
people rose clapping and thanking fate,
that they could listen to him.
Some realize, and some don't
that what they assimilated this day
would stay with them forever,
staying within them, guiding them
in whatever endeavour they undertake.

Dalai Lama speech - 6 June 2007 Burswood dome, Perth.

The following is a report of the speech given by the Dalai Lama when he visited my city. I have had the fortune of attending it after a certain degree of difficulty. Finally, I arrived at the venue fifteen minutes late for the event I had been planning to attend since three months.

My attempt to elaborate what I jotted down on my notebook during the speech and what I understood out of it is purely my understanding of what I heard, and what my mind processed, based on the preset cogs of dogmas within my brain. If any interpretation or idea is represented wrongly, it is wholly my imperfection, and the reader should not attribute it to the holy soul, the Dalai Lama.

=====================================================================

As I entered, he asked the enrapt audience if they thought whether ethics were essentially based on religious faith. He paused a second for the audience to take cognisance, and said that he does not think so. Then, he went on to explain the meaning of ethics, and he said that ethics were what a person perceived as good, bad, right or wrong. He continued, saying that actions or motivations that bring happiness or joy are ethics. He then went onto explain the purity of mother's love, and how it is reciprocated by the child. He pointed the mother's selflessness when she even risks her life in order to protect an offspring, and went on to note how it is applicable to the animal world as well. He gave the example of butterflies or moths or salmon which lay eggs, and leave the young to hatch, feed and live by themselves. He said that there is no bond between the parent and the child in these cases. He mentioned that this is nature's way.

Continuing his topic of parent-child relationship, he explored the origins of the feelings of bonding in a new born, when he/she is suckling - the time when the child feels content, and safe. He said that this feeling within them would remain for the rest of the child's life. He added at this point that the child's affection towards the mother would remain within the child for the rest of his/her life. He gave out an idea that this feeling of contentment is what guides a person towards setting human values. The Dalai Lama emphatically stated that the basic human values do not come from religious tenets, but from natural factors, thus supporting his earlier stated point that ethics need not be based on religious principles.

He gave the example of Nazis and their leaders Hitler and Speer, who he proclaimed were probably brought up the same way as other children, and they might have continued to build up on the values they had been imparted, but they chose otherwise. He gave this example, stressing the universality of human values.

Moving on, he spoke about what brings happiness to a man. He said that anger and hatred never give happiness, they are born out of fear, and that they only give rise to insecurity and suspicion. On the other hand, he said that feelings like compassion, affection and friendship bring happiness. A person's inner strength and self-confidence automatically reduce the feeling of fear, in his opinion. Compassion, honesty and truthfulness, which are the basic human values, build self-confidence. He opined that the acceptance of this is a secular approach. In effect, he summarises that ethics are not based on religion, but rather they are based on basic human values like compassion. He narrated that he had met a neuro-scientist who had told him of his research and found that compassion, peace and calm would do a lot of good for a person's health, and even build up the immune system. He points to the directly proportional relationship between compassion and the immune system. He cautions that there is also an inversely proportional relationship between anger and the immune system.

He jestingly asked if a happy life can be bought at a super market and scoldingly took a dig at people who commit suicide, calling them 'foolish'. He said that life is anyway racing towards death, and that illness, old age, adversities are all parts of life, and that they are to be accepted as such. He seemed to question 'Why then, would one choose to commit suicide?' He stated that a person should prepare his/her mind to accept them, as they could visit anytime. He cautions that if a person is not prepared, surprise would be inevitable.

He said that what is perceived as an unfortunate event can be changed to a fortunate event by changing the way we look at things. So, mental attitude determines happy individual relationships, happy marriage and happy society as a whole. He quoted an ancient Indian Buddhist teacher,saying that if a person faced a serious problem, the person could (i) stay calm and concentrate on trying to find a solution; (ii) on the other hand, if the person is sure there is no solution to the problem, what is the point in worrying at all? He said it has to be accepted as a part of the person's life. He further states that the human mind is very sophisticated, and that it is a mystery.

He said that compassion gives rise to open mindedness, spiritual reconciliation and normal effective functioning of the brain. He continued, saying that decisions taken in negative emotions always go wrong and we tend to see everything as negative when we are angry. He added that negative thoughts/emotions distort reality.

He stressed that one should make the distinction between positive and negative emotions, as they have a very important role in building inner values. This distinction, he stated can be made by a person only through education. He thinks that the purpose of education should be to reduce disparity between appearance and reality.

He chidingly stated that these days, people spend about 90% of their time on the satisfaction of outside senses. Like a parent counsels a child with words of wisdom after chiding, he continued saying that the satisfaction of sensory experiences - sound, taste, smell, touch or sight would lead a person to believing that he/she is happy. He stressed that this is not true happiness. He said that true happiness is achieved through mental satisfaction, and that it is superior. Pointing the virtues of mental happiness, he said that through mental happiness, physical disabilities can be easily endured, but the vice versa does not hold true. He stated that physical problems can be settled by physical things, like pain in an arm can be cured with a medication. Similarly, he said mental problems can be cured only mentally, which can be achieved by paying more attention to inner values which in turn can only be built through education. Continuing on building basic human values, he said that if a person remains compassionate, honest and truthful, the person would have inner peace, no matter how others saw him/her.

The Dalai Lama thinks that all the religions in the world basically have the same underlying messages, which are compassion, love, contentment, tolerance, self-discipline, forgiveness, etc. He observed that economy, self-interests, money and power are some factors that manipulate religion, and that religion is used for vested interests. He opined that since religion touches the human emotion, manipulating it gives a cunning person the power to control the believers. He said that these people are not sincere religious practitioners and that their aim is money, or power or other material longings.

He moved on to say that the world is like one human family. He said, at the individual level, the concept of one truth, one religion holds. He also stated that when people of different faiths meet, the concept of many religions, many truths comes up. But, he adds that the concept of the following monism on individual level, and pluralism on the society-level is non-contradictory. He then stated that in Buddhist, Jain and old Indian belief, there is no concept of the creator or God. He ventured on the theory of Karma - which states that a person is his/her own master.

At this point, the Dalai Lama caused an eerie silence in the hall when he said that the concept of creator or God needs to be removed, so that the different cultures can co-exist.

While answering a question, the Nobel Peace prize winner said he was 70, and quite experienced. He admitted that he was short tempered, and frustrated as a youth. He noted that he now is older, and importantly, wiser. He said that all these are to be accepted as part of life.

He advised that one should not lose hope and determination. He mentioned an interesting way of looking at things and something that would would give hope. He said that if one experiences failure 9 times, he/she should be hopeful 9 times, and that he/she would be successful the next time. Rather, if the person loses hope the first time itself, or, say the fifth time, he/she would not taste success in the tenth attempt.

When asked about his thoughts on world poverty, he said that poverty should be fought on a 1) national level, 2) global level. He said that even in the capital city of the world's most developed country, USA - in Washington DC, there are lots of poor people, underlining that this is a common problem in the world as a whole. He said that the poor should work hard with their own efforts, without losing hope, or being discouraged. He also stated that the richer sections of the society must be attentive, and help in imparting education, training and equipment to the poorer sections.

He jested, saying that one should work hard to achieve something, and that meditation would not help feed a hungry stomach. He mentioned that he says the same thing to the Tibetans in India. On a sombre note, he said that the richer countries need to change their lifestyle, and that they should develop contentment, and be more considerate.

He pointed that some societies like the former USSR and present China have tried/are trying to force equality between the poor and the rich, but he thinks that this concept has failed/is failing.

To a question on what his message to the world leaders would be in context of the environment-economy with reference to climate change, he immediately stated that he does not have an answer, stunning the audience with his honesty. He later went on to give the following explanation. (which seems to contradict his earlier statement that he does not have an answer)

He said that each leader thinks of his/her own nation first, but they need to think more wholistically. He advised that oneness of the planet should be adopted and that the realisation should dawn upon everybody that the world is multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious, and that the traditional mindset of looking for the interests of one's own country must be improved on. He said that the media should help raise awareness about climate change and that the politicians should follow course to implement corrective action. He observed that the present generation have a moral responsibility of protecting resources for the next generation.