Mahatma Gandhi Community Forum

March 2011 Blog Posts (36)

India Census 2011

The results of the India Census 2011 are just out this afternoon.

The Ministry of Home Affairs and the whole team at the Registrar General’s Office have to be commended for the swiftness in completion of the job. It looks like as if the enumerator had visited me only a few weeks back and presto here are the results. As a responsible citizen it is also my duty to congratulate the thousands who had walked from door to door to do the enumeration work and the back-office staff for the…

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Added by P.Uday Shankar on March 31, 2011 at 2:06pm — No Comments

The Divine & sacred words : RAM and ALLAH

One of the favourite prayers of Bapu has been " Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram Patit pawan Sita Ram. Eeshwar Allah Tere Naam, Sabko sanmati de Bhagwan."

From this divine prayer, I would like to stress on two sacred words "Ram" and "Allah" which, in true sense, are no simple words but are the eternal source of positive energy.

Many interpretions have…

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Added by Ramesh Tailang on March 31, 2011 at 8:00am — 4 Comments

Manibehn: A Great Daughter of the Great Sardar

Manibehn Vallabhbhai Patel was one of those few great and brave Indian women who with a sense of sacrifice and service came on the forefront of national freedom movement of India in the Gandhian era [1918-42].

Born in April, 1903 in a Patel-Patidar Community of Karamsad village of Kaira district, Gujarat Manibehn had the unique combination of simplicity, service, honesty, faith and devotion in her personality. She was the only daughter of Sardar Patel, the Ironman as well as the Maker…

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Added by Dr. Ravindra Kumar on March 31, 2011 at 4:00am — No Comments

Last year we said, 'Things can't go on like this', and they didn't, they got worse.

"Politics, divorced of religion, have absolutely no meaning."- Speech on 'Ashram Vows' at the YMCA, Madras, Indian Review, February 1916, The Hindu, 16 Feb. 1916 (from The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi edited by Raghavan Iyer)

By nature, I am not a political animal. The arcane and convoluted workings of my government, even my local city government, much less the national government, seem contradictory, hypocritical, self-serving, and tedious, not… Continue

Added by James E Burnside on March 29, 2011 at 7:59pm — No Comments

Neighbors as Ourselves

My efforts at lobbying in support of the abused, neglected, and orphaned children in the state of Texas continued this morning.

After my disappointing and disheartening trip to the State Capitol last week, to talk to my local representative about the upcoming budget for these children, I wrote an email to the representative describing my position and my experience in her office. A return email from a staffer requested my telephone number so that she could speak with me about my… Continue

Added by James E Burnside on March 28, 2011 at 5:55pm — 2 Comments

Searching for Peace in my native India

With all the hullabaloo in Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) over a separate Telangana State I retreated a few weeks ago to my wife's village in Andhra (Eluru, West Godavari Dist.). I am relatively new to local politics but noticed aside from sporadic violence (stone throwing students at Osmania University) there was very little apparent violence in general in the State capital. A testament to the legacy of Gandhian "ahimsa"? After listening to Michael Wood's Story of India I fathomed that we…

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Added by anil cs rao on March 28, 2011 at 3:33pm — No Comments

NewNobility for the people of Japan!

New Nobility song Asian girl for the people of Japan!

http://thereishoperecords.com/track/asian-girl?permalink

Added by New Nobility on March 28, 2011 at 12:04pm — No Comments

Weekly News - 28 March 2011

- Welcome to all new members who joined GandhiTopia last week! Now we are 1084 members, see

http://www.gandhitopia.org/profiles/members

Latest Activities on GandhiTopia:

- Bishnu Pathak, PhD added a discussion "UNMIN's Humiliating Withdrawal":…

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Added by GandhiServe Foundation on March 28, 2011 at 7:36am — No Comments

We are fortunate

We are fortunate

that only the smoke has touched our homes,

not the fire.

We are fortunate

that only the bad news are making us scared

not the aggressions.

We are fortunate

that the springs of compassion have not yet fully dried

out…

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Added by Ramesh Tailang on March 27, 2011 at 7:18am — No Comments

Hope

If Hope is alive,

there is nothing to worry

in our life.

Horrible are those moments

when we are badly surrounded by

the deep darkness of distress.

Our mind makes attempt after attempt

to come out of the agony,

but there seems to be no end of the tunnel,

we are in.

We lose our heart

and begin to cry

like a hapless child.

Miraculously,

Yes, miraculously,

right at that…

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Added by Ramesh Tailang on March 27, 2011 at 7:07am — No Comments

I AM DEEPLY IMPRESSED BY THE BEAUTIFUL POETRY BY RAMESH TAILANG

I very much liked the poen written by Rameshji. It is a melencally song that tells the hard Truths of day to day life. I wish and pray that we could see those Truths of life. It is by seeing those Truths that made Gandhi the great. I tried two times to write my comments but somehow or the other I could not get success. So this small blog. Thanks to Rameshji for sharing it with Gandhitopia family.

Added by Arya Bhushan Bhardwaj on March 27, 2011 at 1:00am — No Comments

"The End of the World as We Know It"

"I hold that he who invented the atom bomb has committed the gravest sin in the world of science. The only weapon that can save the world is non-violence. Considering the trend of the world, I might appear a fool to everyone; but I do not feel sorry for it. I rather consider it a great blessing that God did not make me capable of inventing the atom bomb." - Talk with Englishmen (G.), Biharni Komi Agman, pp. 253-4 (from The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi edited by Raghavan… Continue

Added by James E Burnside on March 26, 2011 at 3:07pm — No Comments

Condolence Message

This condolence message

has been written in deep agony

sitting close to the bodies of the

murdered human sentiments.

May it not be read by those

who, after announcing a nominal compensation

for each death

forget all about the…

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Added by Ramesh Tailang on March 26, 2011 at 8:47am — No Comments

The Least of These

"Every sin is a form of violence."- 'Problem of Non-Violence,' Navajivan, 6 June 1926 (from The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi edited by Raghavan Iyer)

I'm a foster parent.

My state, like many states, is having sever budget issues. Yesterday, I went to my State Capitol to rally and lobby to restore the funds cut from the proposed State Budget for the agency that oversees abused and neglected children. I won't bore you with the details, even if I… Continue

Added by James E Burnside on March 25, 2011 at 5:09pm — 2 Comments

Deep Down Inside, I'm Really Very Shallow

"Everyone should follow his or her own inner voice. If he or she has no ears to listen to it, he or she should do the best he or she can." - 'Non-Violence,' Harijan, 29 June 1947 (from The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi edited by Raghavan Iyer)

My mother used to say about herself that 'Deep down inside, I'm really very shallow." I've always felt that this described me.

I pray. I meditate. I daily seek guidance from a Higher Power. I have a… Continue

Added by James E Burnside on March 24, 2011 at 3:57pm — 1 Comment

Right Here, Right Now

"Our non-violence has to begin at home with our children, elders, neighbours, and friends." - Fragment of a Letter to Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Harijan, 18 Jan 1942 (from The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi edited by Raghavan Iyer)

I dream, I pray, for non-violence in far away lands. I practice non-violence in my front yard.

I live on a neighborhood street that is used to reach the local high school and other streets that lead out into the city. I spend time… Continue

Added by James E Burnside on March 23, 2011 at 3:02pm — No Comments

Self-Purification

"Non-violence implies as complete self-purification as is humanly possible." - "The Greatest Force," Harijan, 12 Oct. 1935 (from The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi edited by Raghavan Iyer)

I struggle with Gandhi's often puritanical approach to non-violence. I want to be a better person. I want to eliminate violence from my life. I believe in prayer and spiritual growth, but I am not seeking moksha, spiritual release from the cycle of death and reincarnation. I do… Continue

Added by James E Burnside on March 22, 2011 at 8:04pm — 1 Comment

Fear & Love

"Fear and love are contradictory terms. Love is reckless in giving away, oblivious as to what it gets in return. Love wrestles with the world as with itself and ultimately gains a mastery over all other feelings." - 'From S.S. Rajputana-III' (Letter from M.D.)*, Young India, 1 Oct. 1931 (from The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi edited by Raghavan Iyer)

Fear, I understand. I am a very fearful person and have always been so from my earliest memories. My father… Continue

Added by James E Burnside on March 21, 2011 at 3:56pm — No Comments

Weekly News - 21 March 2011

- Welcome to all new members who joined GandhiTopia last week! Now we are 1080 members, see

http://www.gandhitopia.org/profiles/members

Latest Activities on GandhiTopia:

- Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal added a blog post "6th International Youth Peace Festival 2011":…

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Added by GandhiServe Foundation on March 21, 2011 at 4:00am — No Comments

Global Peace Movement and Relevance of Gandhian View

“Mahatma Gandhi embodied in his life certain universal principles that are inherent in the moral structure of the universe, and these principles are as inescapable as the law of gravitation.” –Martin Luther King Junior

Martin Luther King Junior in his above-mentioned statement clearly emphasizes the following about Mahatma Gandhi:

One, Gandhi’s life was brimming with certain universal principles or values; secondly, the impossibility to escape from the…

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Added by Dr. Ravindra Kumar on March 20, 2011 at 3:00am — 1 Comment