Arrogance the Gateway to Disaster

Arrogance is not related to furious or aggressive attitude always; even polite and soft personalities reflect the arrogance in their approach. Superciliousness is nothing but the consistent rigid behavior adopted by an individual in his or her routine behavior. Without realizing after effects on one self we keep getting sliding in web of arrogance.

The root cause for arrogance is not the personality of an individual but it’s more related the circumstances around us. Superficial success or status overpowers are rationality in thinking and with time it is hard for us to have open an approach in our life. Our achievements and accomplishments results in building the myopic view in us. Instead treating each aspect with unsullied approach our past laurels inflict us to the tunnel view. The end result is that we are not able to face the ground realties as and when that is need of the time.

Arrogance is self destructive tool and even with best of success and accomplishments it will lead us to the inevitable disaster. The life cycle circle with time will show us ultimate truth sooner or later. If we mend our ways in between it may allow us to save from the point of no return. So arrogance is not in personalities but it is more related to our dealing with situations.

Disconnect to get connected

In relationships we take lot of things for granted and expect the relationships to sustain in all the adversities of time. Any aspect of life which comes with fewer efforts is given less importance in our priorities. We tend to be invert looking in are action to carry on our relationships, in other words we start believing that our views and actions always best and appropriate in nurturing the relationships. This may lead to spoiling and damaging our relations. In any sphere of relations bitterness and tautness is a pain and we must make efforts to avoid it.

Getting disconnect in relations is an effective approach to rejuvenate the relationships. This disconnect can be physical or mental for some short period. When someone is not around us for some period the self introspection is bound to play its part in understanding the weakness and strengths of our relationships. For the things we take for granted, we realize are difficult to attain. Monotony is broken and a fresh look can be to various aspects of our relations. The gap allows us to look around and to do the comparison in similar context with people involved in the relationships. Strong desire of companionship enforce us to revisit our styles after experience a certain pause in relationship continuity.

Means and ways to strengthen and sustain our relations is never ending journey in our life time. As an individual if we our committed to our relations, trialing on new conducts will help us for being accepted as better human beings. So get disconnect to get connected in stronger manner. Too deep connectivity for longer period in relationships sometimes results in suffocation.

Economic Ideals Of Gandhi

In this period of immense depression in the economies of entire world, we need to re-look the existing economic models prevalent in different nations. The advent of capitalism and socialism has only given the suffering in real sense and there is dire need of some model which is based on simple assumptions of helping and supporting the human race. We as the common men expect basic needs to be fulfilled and always look forward to reasonable secure future. We envisage ways and means which are sustainable by influencing are life styles those reflect the optimum consumption and utilization of resources of the universe. Now it is the time to revisit the economic model propagated by Gandhi to gain some insight to resolve the present crisis.

The Basic Tenets of Gandhi's Economic Views
Gandhi had an innate sympathy for the poor and deprived. This coupled with a direct observation of the predicament of the poor and the oppressed both in India and in South Africa led him to design an economic model that would alleviate the condition of the poor and the deprived. Gandhi believed that the high capitalist endeavors were at the root of all suffering. He believed that business without ethical considerations was fundamentally evil. This led to discrimination, oppression and exploitation. Gandhi also held that there is enough in this world to feed and clothe all. However, there is poverty and deprivation because one group of people thrives on the labor put in by others. Gandhi strongly believed in the ethics of hard work and that one is entitled to take from the system only as much as he is capable of producing. This according to Gandhi, was the only way to fight poverty and to disarm the world of all its economic woes. Gandhi also strongly believed that laziness and lack of work can cause immense physical and spiritual deprivation among the populace. It is impossible to ignite the masses towards a revolution leading to a bigger political or ideological goal if they are weak, both physically and morally. He understood that the new industrial modes of mass and large scale productions that have been ousting the age-old indigenous village techniques are ultimately leading towards unemployment and laziness. Therefore, he worked hard for a resurrection of the village modes of production. The most unique feature of Gandhi's economic model was he wanted to turn the entire flow of profits from the pockets of the big industrialists to the workers. The consumer should, he believed, not only be concerned with acquiring high quality, inexpensive products, but also consider which sections of society are profited by his investment. Foreign clothes may be better and cheaper than the home-spun khadi, but the relentless use of the imported fabric would lead to unemployment of thousands of villagers who have traditionally earned a living by spinning and weaving home-made clothes. The same logic extends to agro-based products as well. Choosing such imported goods would lead to a degeneration of the entire village economy, which was the backbone of Indian economy, Gandhi believed. But at the same time, Gandhi knew the actual implications of an aggressive capitalism: no such humanitarian economic considerations can possibly curb the relentless advance of the big mechanizations initiated by high capitalist agencies. Therefore, he devised a scheme to suit one and all. A nation low on man-power can well use mechanization to enhance its agricultural and mechanical production. But for a nation with a teeming population like India, it would augur no good. Secondly, he thought that a nation should produce only as much as it needs to produce. Extra production, resulting in the beginning of international economic race, would only lead to exploitation. The condition in India, for Gandhi, was ultimately a manifestation of the aggressive mechanization promoted by the British colonialists.

Rural Economy, Khadi and Handlooms
One of the greatest challenges for Gandhi was to rope in every strata of the Indian society into his ideals of economic self sufficiency. Gandhi understood that the very backbone of India was its villages. Unless the village economy could be reformed, nothing could be achieved on the economic front. In his bid to resurrect the rural economy of India, Gandhi started to advocate the use of handmade tools to plough lands. He did not endorse huge farm holdings with modern agricultural machines. Such holdings, he thought, would naturally bring in discrimination where one would reap the benefits of the toil put in by someone else. Gandhi's more revolutionary concept that gathered great popularity throughout the nation was his defense for the cause of handicrafts and handlooms. It was a pointed attack against the mill-made textiles introduced by the British authorities and was an important part of their economic interests in India. Gandhi gave the call to all Indians to desist from the use of all foreign products and for everyone to spin his or her own clothes. The 'charakha' or the spinning wheel and the khadi, or the homespun coarse cloth became the very symbol of nationalism and a sign for the support for national economy. Gandhi made it compulsory for all satyagrahis to use khadi clothes. It was an important economic statement made by Gandhiji. All forms of rural handicrafts achieved great encouragement from Gandhi.

A Review of Gandhi's Economic Models
Actual understanding of the Indian condition led to the development of a unique brand of economic re-orientation of the Indian society that he propagated throughout his life. However, it will be erroneous to consider his economic model to be merely a political tool shrouded in spiritual rhetoric. His concern for the predicament of the Indian villagers was genuine, as was his concern for a heartless mechanization of the world economy sans ethical considerations. In his time, the influence of his economic model was immense and has been dutifully followed in various parts of the world as well as in India, with varied degrees of success.

Happiness is Just a mirage

A baby announces its arrival in the world with its shrill cries; a man announces his departure from the world by his unbroken stony silence. The book of life covering the period between birth and death contains pages of joy and sorrow, success and failure, triumph and tragedy, pleasure and pain, fulfillment and disappointment, health and sickness. Life is a mixed bag of pairs of opposites. Highs and lows are interwoven and form integral parts of the mosaic of life.

It is our basic nature to seek happiness. Do we get it? When we look around we find ourselves surrounded by suffering. We feel uneasy; that we are perched on an island of some happiness, surrounded on all sides by deep and dark waters of unhappiness. Is happiness just a mirage? The fact is that there is neither undiluted happiness, nor unabated unhappiness. Life is both. However, the nature of pain is such that it appears that the unhappy phase of life is interminably long.

When we are faced with unhappy situations, we may derive some comfort by observing and learning from Nature. A cold and dark night yields to the refreshing morning sun, with its soothing rays of warmth, radiating light dispelling darkness. After every chilly winter, there comes the spring, bringing warmth, hope and cheer. At the end of a dark long tunnel, there is light.

Happiness is a state of mind, which keeps us in a state of well being. Several important ingredients go to make the “commodity” known as happiness. But this precious commodity is simply not available in a departmental store. While money can buy pleasures, it cannot buy happiness. A rich man need not necessarily be happy. By the same token a poor man need not necessarily be unhappy. Happiness has to be experienced from within. A fairly comfortable financial position, cordial and harmonious family relations and good health contribute to a happy life. But these alone would not ensure enduring happiness. Many a time we script unhappiness for ourselves and for others.

The mind reacts to external stimuli and this could sometimes bring us happiness or unhappiness. For enduring happiness, the internal war that rages within our minds should first cease. We should come to terms with external ground realities. As physical training keeps the body in good shape, so also mental training helps in keeping the mind tranquil and balanced in the face of adversity.

Things happen not as we want them to, but according to a pre-obtained scheme of things, over which we have little control. We were not consulted about the choice of our parents, place of birth our sex. Neither will we be consulted about our time of death, its place and manner. The cards are dealt to us. We have to play them to the best of our ability. We do not gain anything by fretting or fuming over things over which we have no control whatsoever. We only become unhappy in the process. Accept gracefully the things given to us, the good or bad, and abjectly surrender to the dictates of destiny.

Life does not lend itself to strictly scientific analysis. In the rough and tumble of life two plus two may not necessarily equal to four. There are many questions for which we have no answers.