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Women Come on Top in Indian Elections as Rulers

2011-05-14T07:41:00.001-07:00

It’s high time they took the reins completely

If the enlightened master Osho has his way.

By Kul Bhushan

Friday the thirteenth proved lucky for Indian women who fought the state elections as they seized the reins of government in two of five states. These two victories by women tip the overall balance in the favour of women rulers in India as another two states already have women as chief ministers. Moreover, the President of India, three Union Ministers, three Ministers of State, and the Speaker in the Union Parliament, the leader of the ruling party and the leader of the opposition are– you guessed it! - all women.

As the fiery Mamta Banerjee and the imperial J. Jayalalitha take over as Chief Ministers of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu respectively, they join another two the dominating Mayawati and the suave Sheila Dikshit in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi to rule over 368 million Indians – about a third of India’s 1.2 billion people.

Let’s start at the very top. Pratibha Patil is the President. The Union Cabinet has three Ministers - Ambika Soni, Kumari Salja and Mamta Banerjee (expected to resign now) – who are joined by three Ministers of State - Preneet Kaur, Agatha Sangma and D. Purandeswari.

The political party scene is dominated by the Italian sphinx Sonia Gandhi leading the Congress and the peppery Sushma Swaraj blasting the government as the leader of the opposition in the parliament. This makes India perhaps the only country in the world with women in so many top political positions.

“If all over the world the woman is allowed freedom to grow to her potential, there will be many, many women enlightened; many, many women mystics, poets, and painters. And they will enhance not only the woman's part of the world -- because the world is one -- they will enhance the whole world,” says the enlightened master Osho.

Women will become front runners in politics if the proposed and long delayed Women's Reservation Bill to reserve 33.3 per cent seats in Parliament and state legislatures is passed by the parliament. Introduced in 1996, it seeks to empower women at the federal, state and local levels of decision making by reserving a third of the seats for them.

A third of the seats at village level elections have been reserved for women already. The experience of women's reservation at the panchayat (village governing body) level has been very encouraging. A million women are being elected to the panchayats in the country every five years. This is the largest mobilisation of women in public life in the world. But various political parties have staunchly opposed it because they fear many of their male leaders would not get a chance to fight elections if 33.3 per cent seats are reserved for women. Men on the back foot!

Says Osho, “It has taken her over a century and a half to get equal rights – at least under the law in most countries. Yet gender equality is a dream beyond the horizon in most poor countries of the world. In some, she is still enslaved.”

He adds, “The ultimate result is that the woman has become very bitter. Her whole being has become a cry for revolt. She is not at peace to laugh at things; she is in utter misery and despair, and unless she becomes liberated she will not have a sense of humour. Once she becomes liberated, she will leave man far behind in all creative dimensions and she will be really joyous and playful.”

“It is for the betterment of both man and woman that the woman should be given every freedom and equal opportunity for her individuality,” says Osho.

These are not empty words but Osho put them in practice by always giving women full authority and responsibility for establishing, expanding and managing his communes. Osho did not talk about women's equality but their superiority; not as the weaker sex but as the stronger sex.

But how will they survive in a man’s macho world of aggression and violence?

Osho answers, “A man is not of necessity masculine, a woman is not of necessity feminine. A woman can be masculine, for example, Joan of Arc or, in India, Laxmibhai. These women were warriors, great soldiers; they were not feminine at all. Biologically, of course, they were feminine, their bodies were those of women, but their very souls were those of men. They have to be counted as masculine.”

Indeed, India has the distinction of having the first women as the Prime Minister – the steely Indira Gandhi who stood up to domestic and international challenges and threats with courage and aplomb. In fact, she was dubbed as the only man in the cabinet! And also called “Mother India”

Osho says, “Mother, sister, girlfriend, wife and again mother…..all different and yet the same – a woman. She is the ultimate power, inspiration, beauty, charm, elegance and all the wonderful virtues one can think of. She can also be destructive and play havoc with the lives of men, start wars to destroy thousands of lives. She is stronger than man - both physically and emotionally. Yet she has been dominated, oppressed, tortured and humiliated by man.”

Yet doubts remain about how well a woman can rule. Can a woman take tough decisions? What is her attitude towards her subjects? Will she approach them as a tough task master or care and nurture them as a mother?

Osho says, “God is a mother, a motherly phenomenon. This whole existence is motherly. And God is far softer than man can ever be, far more vulnerable, far more open. A woman in her ultimate flowering becomes a mothering energy... she can mother the whole existence. She feels blessed, and she can bless the whole existence.”

“I Promote Religiousness, Not Religion,” says Osho.

2011-03-24T04:46:00.000-07:00

By Kul Bhushan

A new study using census data from nine countries shows that religion there is set for extinction, according to the American Physical Society, reported by BBC on 22 March 2011. The results indicate that religion will all but die out altogether in those countries. The team took census data stretching back as far as a century from countries in which the census queried religious affiliation: Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Switzerland. A day later, on 23 March 2011, BBC World Service telecast a news item that the church in Finland was losing up to a thousand Christians every week (see links below).

The churches in Europe are mostly empty following two world wars. The peoples’ faith has been shaken as in the church they could not get the solace and guidance from its leaders. Moreover, the old system of collecting a tax for the churches continued and there was plenty of money. Since their congregations were dwindling, the churches directed these funds to Africa, Asia and Latin America to promote Christianity.

During the last thirty years, many people objected to paying this tax and stopped paying it despite the threats from the church that they would not get their birth, marriage and death certificates and other services. In the last decade, the church scandals especially child sex abuse have further rocked the church. More and more people are discovering new ways of relating to their consciousness through meditation, yoga, Buddhism and other ‘new age’ spiritual paths. So it is no wonder that churches are losing a thousand followers every week as in Finland and a new study projects that religion will die out in nine European countries.

This fading away of religion is exactly what Osho envisioned many decades ago when he said, ”In the future, a few things will disappear. Nations will have to disappear because the earth has become a small village; now they are meaningless. And the second thing to disappear with the nations is Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism.“

What will replace religion? Religiousness, says Osho, “You have to understand what I mean by religiousness: by religiousness I mean a gratitude towards existence. It has given so much to you, and you cannot pay it back.”

“Man has not been allowed total access to his being. One has to be just a Muslim – a very narrow thing. One has to be just a Hindu – just a very narrow thing. Why? When you can have the whole heritage? When the whole past is yours and the whole future is yours, why should you divide? Why should I call myself ‘a Hindu or a Muslim or a Christian’? One should claim the total. By claiming the total you become total: you lose all narrow divisions, distinctions, you become whole. you become holy. That is going to happen, that is bound to happen. That HAS to happen. Otherwise man will not be able to grow any more,” says Osho in Tao: The Pathless Path, Vol 1,Ch 10.

He adds, “This is very crucial that man has to drop all barriers, of nation and religion and church. That’s what I am doing here: trying to bring together all the fragrances released in different centuries by differing flowerings of human consciousness. Lao Tzu is a flower, so is Buddha, so is Jesus, so is Mohammed, but now we have to melt all their fragrances into one – a universal fragrance. Then, for the first time, man will be able to be religious and yet undivided. Then the church is yours and the mosque too and the temple too. Then the Gita is yours, and the Koran and the Vedas and the Bible – everything is yours. You become vast.”

BBC article 22.3.2011: Religion may become extinct in nine nations, study says
by Jason Palmer

BBC video 23.3.2011: Churches in Finland experience an exodus of membership
by Robert Pigott

HAPPY AND HIGH RETURNS FOR FOREIGN MF INVESTORS

2011-02-28T23:30:00.000-08:00

Indian capital markets have been thrown open to foreign investors in a bold move of the budget announced on 28 February 2011. This means that as an individual foreigner, you can now invest in Mutual Funds (MFs). Earlier, only Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) could invest while individual foreign investors could not.

Now individual foreigners can rake in high returns from investing in MFs. The highest returns come from MFs when compared to investing in fixed deposits or in Indian stocks. Let’s invest Rs 100,000 ($2,216 or € 1,603 at current rates) in these three options. If you put down a fixed deposit of Rs 100,000 for one year, your total amount with interest will rise to Rs 113,000 after one year and Rs 174,000 after five years. If you invest Rs 100,000 in equity, after one year your investment will more than double to Rs 226,000 and in five years, it will rise further to Rs 278,000. Now, if you invest Rs 100,000 in MFs, it will go up to Rs 176,000 after one year more than triple to Rs 358,000 after five years with less risk than equities.

So how do you invest in MFs? You need to do some initial paperwork. First, you have to obtain a PAN (Permanent Account Number) Card. Then, you need to complete ‘Know Your Customer’ or KYC procedure.

A PAN Card is required for all their financial investments over Rs 50,000 in India. The card is issued by the Income Tax department and UTI, UTIISL or NSDL (www.incometaxindia.gov.in. www.utiisl.co.in or tin.nsdl.com) who are authorized to process these applications. You can download the application form at these sites. The simple form asks for your full name, residential and business address, age, nationality and the name and address of your representative in India. The proof of your name and address must be attested by the Indian Mission in your country of residence. Attach two attested photos and send it to your representative in India for processing at the addresses given on the web. Or, it can be sent through your investment broker or advisor. The fee for processing a PAN application, for dispatch outside India, is Rs.744.00. This is composed of application fee Rs.94 (Rs.85 Processing Fee Charges + Rs.9 Service Tax) plus overseas dispatch charges.

'Know Your Customer' process is to prevent money laundering. For this process, you need to fill the KYC form at nil fees. In addition to your name, age, nationality, address, occupation and income details, the KYC form has a mandatory requirement for your PAN number and its copy. Your recent photo and proof of address is required and it must be attested by the Indian Consulate or a legal notary public in the country of your residence. The form has detailed notes that you should read carefully before filling it. The KYC approval takes from one to three months. After your PAN card and KYC, you can send your investment for Mutual Funds with a draft from your overseas account through your financial advisor, at www.abundanze.com.

India’s Budget: No Respite on Inflation Despite High Growth

2011-02-28T06:58:00.000-08:00

You need a Ph. D. in economics and an encyclopaedia on hand to follow the top Indian economists commenting on English news channels about the impact of the Indian Budget on the common man. They freely use the latest jargon of economics and abbreviations of Indian projects (a quick sampler: AADHAR, TAGUP, GST, CRAR, RIDF, NABARD, MGNREGA, RKVY and NFSB) as if you grew up with them. Most of their discussion ranges around the changes in government expenditure and income, the state of the fiscal deficit, the concerns for subsidies, the pace of economic reforms, and so on and on. Of course, all this is meant to inform the TV viewer about how this budget will affect his personal finances, savings, taxes and inflation.

Inflation? Oh yes, food prices have gone up by over 17 per cent. What’s the government doing about it in the budget? Many new schemes and subsidies announcing for farmers and infrastructure. Don’t worry, they will bring down the prices when they are implemented.

Fuel prices? Have shot up after the Middle East uprisings to new heights. Has the government cut down its tax on fuels considering the international oil prices have topped $100 a barrel? No way.

Income Tax? Ah yes, the Income Tax exemption has gone up from Rs 160,000 to Rs 180,000 a year. Now you become a ‘senior’ tax payer when you reach 60 years instead of 65 years earlier and your tax exemption will be Rs 250,000. A new category of ‘very senior’ taxpayers, over 80 years, gets tax exemption for half a million rupees. All these tax reliefs come into effect on your next year’s income.

What’s gone up and down in prices? Up - Branded garments, air travel, air conditioned hospitalisation, Down - paper, chemicals, yarns, TVs, mobiles. Are you going to pay more for your addictions: cigarettes or liquor? No, keep puffing and drinking at the same prices.

Corruption and Black Money? A Group of Ministers has been formed to consider measures for tackling corruption. They will let you know how to curb this rot in ‘a time bound manner’.

Overall, the economy is expected to grow at around nine per cent – one of the highest rates in the world. Inflation? Higher than eight per cent. But, hold on, it will go down.

Up to now, only Foreign Institutional Investors and NRIs could invest in Indian mutual fund schemes. Now, foreign investors who meet Know Your Client requirements can invest in mutual funds. As the Budget speech was in progress the Indian Stock market sky rocketed to over 500 points but after the speech ended, the stock market plummeted and ended with a gain of 122 points. Clearly, the budget did not provide the expected kick start for a bull run.

So what’s the response? The Prime Minister and everyone else in the government praised the Finance Minister for this budget. The opposition lashed out at it – both the sides speaking true to form. But what about the common man still suffering from high prices? He will have his say at the voting booths of five states in a few weeks.

India Art Summit Becomes New Art Everest.

2011-02-03T05:25:00.000-08:00

Indian art market is hot. And it sizzled at the three-day India Art Summit that ended on 23 January 2010 in New Delhi. Minor Picasso and Rodin originals – at over one a million dollars each - were exhibited and so were thousands of other artists, mostly Indian. The Summit touched new heights for Indian art. A total of 84 galleries, including 34 from many countries round the globe, came to exhibit. Galleries from Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Singapore, Canada, Austria and other countries staged their artworks. Many Indian and foreign art magazines also exhibited their publications. Over 120,000 suave art lovers thronged to this mega art show triple the figure for the last year. The brainchild of a young MBA graduate, the Delhi event reached the top in just three years and dislodged Mumbai from its prime spot as an art centre.

The organiser, 31-year old Neha Kirpal, claims, “It is the single largest and the most exciting platform for art in India.” Visitors could buy art books and bric-a-brac at an art shop, right next to the VIP enclosure where the top artists and gallery owners hobnobbed with each other.

About 80 per cent of the galleries sold works, valued from $500 to over a million dollars each. About ten per cent of the exhibitors sold out all they came with. Over 120,000 art lovers paid Rs 200 (about $5) to enter the exhibition. Curators, art critics and art editors took part in a full programme of events with famous names on the world of art and sculpture like Anish Kapoor and Don Graham. Works by master painter Maqbool Fida Husain, who recently joined the million-dollar club of Indian artists, were exhibited after pulling them off initially because of possible protests from Hindu activists but later exhibited under heavy security.

India's economic boom has not only enabled Indians to buy houses and cars, but also to purchase expensive art. High income overseas Indians are also avid investors in Indian art. Modern art from India and China is being lapped up by collectors at top auctions like Southby’s and Christie’s in the art capitals of the world like Paris, London and New York.

When stock markets were booming before 2008 crash, a Mumbai auction house sold 160 works of Indian artists for $ 15.3 million. The highest bid was for the Paris-based artist S. H. Raza, whose work titled Climat went for a mind-boggling $ 1.4 million. A painting by Tyeb Mehta fetched $ 1.10 million. Now with India’s economic boom, the colour is back into Indian art. Prices are moving up again. A painting by Maqbool Fida Husain was sold for $4.4m. Saurashtra, a massive 79x79in acrylic on canvas by Syed Haidar Raza, one of India’s veteran masters, was bought for a hammer price of $3.5m.

For the new rich, showing off paintings or sculpture is a clear message that one has arrived on the scene. Of course, they acquire the services of art critics and advisors in what to invest but show off this knowledge as their own once they purchase these artworks. Whether at a corporate or an individual level, art always adds value to one’s status plus keeps on appreciating as an investment. With this new cash flowing into the art market, no wonder new art galleries are sprouting in Indian cities and the India Art Summit has become its Everest.

An NRI Can Remit One Million Dollars from Property Sales

2011-02-01T05:49:00.000-08:00

An NRI/PIO is allowed to send abroad up to one million dollars from the sale of property in any one financial year. This amount should be the sale proceeds of property inherited by him out of Rupee funds. This transfer is subject to production of documentary evidence in support of acquisition, inheritance or legacy of assets by the NRI, and a tax clearance or a no objection certificate from the Income Tax Authority. The one million dollar remittance can also be made from the balances held in Non Resident Ordinary Rupee Account (NRO) bank accounts.

The prices of ancestral properties left in India by emigrating NRIs have escalated beyond their belief. Thus, NRIs have developed a new and intense interest in claiming their share especially with the recession biting hard in the West. In the last few years, the ancestral home in India is valued in ‘crores’ – tens of millions of Rupees. So these amounts become very attractive for NRIs to claim and remit. No wonder, in the recent past, the Reserve Bank of India has revised the maximum amount that can be sent abroad without special permissions. However, these properties should not be agricultural land, a farm house or a plantation.

After taking a dip after the financial crisis of 2008, property prices have bounced back and how. Despite the high price rise, more and more NRIs are keen to buy properties in India. Who can buy property in India? An NRI who is a citizen of India but resident outside India; or a ‘Person of Indian Origin' (PIO). A PIO is defined as an individual (not a citizen of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sir Lanka, Afghanistan, China, Iran, Nepal or Bhutan) who held an Indian Passport at any time, or whose father or mother or grandfather or grandmother was a citizen of India.

The laws related to immovable properties in India are complex and are not uniform from one state to another, said Rajan D. Gupta, a senior lawyer and a qualified accountant with SRGR Law Offices. “A major concern is to determine the clear and marketable title of the land under question and to ensure that the land under question is free from any encumbrances such as litigation, prior mortgages, any third party interest or rights and any governmental actions such as compulsory acquisition proceedings. Again, in case of properties, especially agricultural properties, which are owned by farming families, there are a number of family law issues which again are myriad as there are a number of religions in India and most of them have their own characteristic legal frameworks. “

“To ward off such issues and be almost certain about the legal status of the property to be acquired, it is advisable that a competent legal professional must be engaged to conduct a title check and due diligence of the property to be acquired. It is also important to engage such a professional who practices within the jurisdiction where the property is situated so that he/she is aware of the local legal compliances and issues,” he adds.

NRIs face many legal tangles about their properties in India. These relate to the purchase, transfer and ownership of property, power of attorneys, management and eviction of tenants, remittance of the sale proceeds, illegal grabbing of their properties and other related issues. Their legal cases are pending in the courts for years, indeed decades. If an NRI is fighting a case with a resident Indian, he is at a disadvantage because the Indian is no hurry while the NRI has limited time to attend to his case during his visit to India or make special trips for court appearances.

Thus, NRIs have demanded the establishment of fast track courts in different parts of India to deal with their property cases – a demand the government has been considering for some years. This issue will no doubt resurface in the forthcoming Bharatiya Pravasi Divas (PBD) next month when NRIs are cajoled to invest in India. Before investing in property, the NRIs want to see some mechanism for speedy judgments for their court cases. Special committees have been formed by GOPIO – Global Organisation of Persons of Indian Origin – to deal with property problems. This committee has prepared and presented many proposals to ease the suffering NRIs at the hands of real estate developers, buyers, sellers and tenants and has a data base of thousands of such cases on their records.

The problems have been highlighted; now action is awaited.

WikiLeaks Exposes, Osho Proposes Accountable World Government

2011-02-01T05:40:00.000-08:00

The disclosures of WikiLeaks have exposed the double-faced diplomatic dealings of most nations and thus erased out international borders between nations. The diplomatic secrets are no longer secrets. WikiLeaks have shown the futility of so-called national interests that are just another name for unethical behaviour of the governments and institutions.

WikiLeaks supporters have commended it for exposing state and corporate secrets, increasing transparency, supporting freedom of the press, and enhancing democratic discourse while challenging powerful institutions. Government leaders and officials have criticized WikiLeaks for exposing classified information, harming national security, and compromising international diplomacy. Basically, WikiLeaks have given the freedom to information back to the people who want to know what their leaders are saying in public and doing in private. No wonder people have supported WikiLeaks with public rallies in many parts of the world and deluge of mails, articles and blogs on the web.

WikiLeaks disclosures have merely re-affirmed the insight of the enlightened master Osho when he proposed a world government for the entire planet, totally transparent and fully accountable to all the people all over the world for its deeds and actions. Osho’s insights on world government, politicians, control of technology and nuclear weapons, and freedom for the individual are as pertinent today as they were when he made them over two decades ago.

Osho says, "

A world government can look at the whole world as one humanity. Problems are not so much as they appear. At one time, in Russia, they had a bumper crop of wheat. Rather than giving it to the countries that were dying without food, they started burning wheat in their railway trains instead of coal. Now, those poor countries where people were dying have enough coal: if the world is one, the coal can be given to Russia, the wheat can move to the poor country.

And if there is one world, then there is no need for seventy-five percent of every nation's wealth to be wasted on nuclear weapons, on armies, on other kinds of war materials. Seventy-five percent! Humanity is living only on twenty-five percent. If there are no longer any nations, the question of war does not arise. A hundred percent of all energy, money, income becomes available to the whole world."
-Published in Osho World News Jan 2011.

Wishing You a HEALTHY 2011

2011-02-01T05:36:00.000-08:00

Body, Mind and Soul

Wishing you a happy – even better! – a healthy new year. You cannot be happy if you are not healthy. You will find articles, advice and suggestions no end on how to become healthy. These go on endlessly about food, exercise and sleep. Hundreds of ideas and innovations are promoted with smiling photos of models brimming with energy and glowing health. So you make them your role models and follow all these regimes to eat the right foods, go to the gym, practise yoga and sleep early.

After months, if not years, of regular practice and strictly following special diets, you have a strong, immune and attractive body with rippling muscles and the right curves. Women flaunt their ‘washboard abs’ and men their ‘Six Pack Abs’ as their stomachs hug their spines and their six abdominal muscles are displayed loud and clear. Rippling biceps are a major bonus shown off in tight fitting T-shirts or tees. Thus, you look smart and attractive physically. If you can carry it all off with good looks, you can even become a model or even a film star!

But, in most cases, what use is the body beautiful put to? To flaunt one’s ego or make money. Are these so-called ‘beautiful people’ really happy? Look at their mood swings, tantrums, depression and even suicides of models and stars and it is clear that physical beauty has not brought them happiness or any balance in their lives.

So these days, mental health is also promoted with physical appearance. Popular slogans like “Think Positive’, ‘Keep Busy’ and “Be a Winner” are supposed to help you keep mentally fit. Do they really help? If just think positive, what about facing the negative? If you remain busy at all times, what about reflection and rest? If you want to win all the time, what happens when you lose? The boom promoting mental fitness is not really helping people because more and more are getting mentally ill.

And finally, what about your soul? Do you even think about it? Do you even bother about it? Aren’t you a body, mind and soul? Yes, soul too. You have no time for it now; maybe later. Spiritual fitness helps you achieve a sense of wholeness within your spiritual dimension and outlook on life. You begin to look inwards and answer the eternal questions: Who am I? How can I discover myself? How well can I face death? And so on.

The enlightened master Osho shows the way to physical, mental and spiritual health with his unique meditations. Dynamic Meditation enlivens you with vigorous exercise for your body and catharsis for your mind. Kundalini meditation literally shakes out all your stress and negative emotions and Silent Meditation brings you closer to your real being, your soul. Osho says, “Only one thing is going to remain with you: that is your witnessing, that is your watchfulness. This watchfulness is meditation.”

Go for it - for a Healthy New Year.

- Editorial in Osho World News, Jan. 2011.

Do You Have Your Real Face On Facebook?

2011-02-01T05:33:00.000-08:00

What is the face that you present to over 500 million users on Facebook? Does your face show a smile, a grin, a smirk or a frown? Is it a happy face, a sad face, a funny face or a bold face? Is your face made up or a cover up? When you get bored with your face on Facebook, do you change it? As your face changes with your age, do you show your face as a child, a teenager, an adult or an oldie? So what is your real face? And do you have the courage to face your real face?

Initially, Facebook users make new friends, discover old friends, classmates and colleagues; and get connected to long lost relatives. What a joy to be reunited, re-connected with childhood playmates; teenage buddies and long forgotten coworkers! Frantic exchanging of messages brings you happily up-to-date with all of them. In this first dance of friendship, everything is endless spring. You become addicted to Facebook, so much so that you can’t live without it.

But it’s not all hunky-dory being on Facebook. When you get settled, the old jealousies sprout up on seeing the so-called achievements of your contacts when they post photos of their new homes, spouses, children, cars, holidays, gifts and accolades. Can you show a bold face in the face of these feats and triumphs you cannot match? Soon with subtle - and even open - ego clashes, you face problems with these new faces on Facebook. When you cannot face it at all, you go into a severe depression. Even, suicides have been reported following sour Facebook postings and relationships.

Your old flame can surface on Facebook and trigger off new fires in your existing marriage/relationship that was plodding along. Or, an imposter with an enticing, phony face lures you into an emotional or a business relationship that wounds your emotions and/or cleans out your bank balance. The offenders are so smooth that you need to have the face to ask them a rude question. But you don’t; and so you suffer horribly. Now, do you have the guts to face the Facebook? Can you preserve your normal face in the face of these disasters? Can you face up to reality? Do you have the courage to discover your real face? Or rather, your original face?

Instead of interacting on the Facebook, do you have the nerve to ask the ultimate question, "Who am I?" Like a Zen disciple, can you ask your Master, "What is the original face?" And the Master says, "The face that you had before your parents were born." And you start meditating on that: "What is your original face?" The Zen people say: “Find out your face, the face you had before you were born; find the face that you will again have when you are dead.” Between birth and death, what you think is your face is just temporary, accidental.

The enlightened master Osho throws a new light on your real face. Your challenge is to start discovering it with his meditations. – Editorial in Osho World News Feb. 2011.

Ready to Wow You: India's New Delhi Airport

2010-07-22T05:01:00.000-07:00

“When will India catch up?” was the frequent comment from arriving passengers at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. This was three years ago when they stood in long queues for immigration control and baggage claim in bland halls with erratic air conditioning. If they arrived during the last 37 months, they had to put with with scaffolding, construction materials, workmen and noise as the new airport was being built round the clock.

"An airport is often the first introduction to a country. A good airport will signal a new India, committed to joining the ranks of modern industrialised nations," said India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, at its opening of the swanky Terminal Three (T3) of the Indira Gandhi International Airport in July after seven days of religious ceremonies involving 300 priests.

Earlier, when passengers arrived from the west from New York, Toronto and London; or from the east from Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Kaula Lampur and Dubai; they would get a culture shock on entering the Indian airports. No more as India has caught up.

“Wow!” could be the first response when they now land at the state-of-the-art, fully integrated new terminal. The humongous steel and glass T3 extends over 5.4 million square feet, has 78 gates or aero-bridges, 97 automatic walkways or Travelors and five-level baggage screening system with a capacity to handle12,800 bags per hour, 215,000 square feet of retail space and parking for 4,300 cars in a multi-level building connected to T3 with covered walkways.

T3 has nine parking slots for the world's biggest double-decker Airbus A380 plane, six more than London's Heathrow. Covering 20 acres, T3 is the largest public building, with a length of 1.2 kms from end to end, constructed since India's independence in 1947. T3 was completed in 37 months by GMR Group Fraport, and other entities, compared with the 45 months China took to build the terminal in Beijing before the 2008 Olympics. Costing $2.8 billion, it can handle 75 planes in an hour with the latest the latest CAT-III runway landing system and 97 moving walkways.

T3 is a showcase of India's public and private partnership as the construction company, GMR, and the Delhi International Airport Authority interacted with over 50 government and semi-government organisations and yet managed to complete the project in record time. T3 makes good use of natural light and is designed to be energy efficient and environmentally friendly terminal with nearly one million plants and trees planted in 70 acres around the structure. Electricity in T3 will be fueled by municipal waste. T3 ranks among the top ten in the world. In addition to Delhi, new airports have been built for Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune, among others.

Gliding over Travelors at T3, the passengers enter the massive arrivals lounge. They may well be flabbergasted at the sheer size and the imposing sculptures of 'mudras' or postures of feminine hands fixed over golden discs. Under these 'mudras' are 95 immigration counters with smartly dressed officers in gray blazers and blue ties to process their passports. Depending on your passport as a diplomat, an Indian national, a foreigner or an overseas Indian, you will be directed to the right counter. If the arriving overseas Indians have a PIO (Person of Indian Origin) or an OCI (Overseas Indian Citizen) booklet, they can be cleared quickly at special PIO-OIC counters.

Once they move out from passport control to the baggage claim concourse, their bags are most likely to be moving to be picked up on one of the 14 conveyor belts. If a passenger has nothing to declare, he/she breezes through customs and enters the arrivals hall. A host of services are on hand here from taxis, car rental, hotels, currency exchange, telephones, shopping, a food court and lots more.

By the end of this year, the passengers can ride the direct Delhi Metro Airport Express (DAME) link from this airport to the city centre. In less than half an hour ride on this most modern rapid transit system in the world, he/she will be in Rajiv Chowk (Connought Circus). Passengers can get a cab to take the eight-lane highway with numerous flyovers to reach the city centre in less than half an hour.

The departure from Delhi airport will be no ordeal either. Gone are the chaotic scenes at the entrance gates to the departures lounge, the hassle of getting security checks for baggage, the long waiting at check in counters and immigration control. Once the baggage is checked in, it is screened for security and so there is no need to load it on the screening machine and then lug it to the check-in counter. No long wait for checking in either as T3 has 168 check-in counters, 95 immigration counters and the capacity to handle 34 million passengers per year. In case a passenger's flight is delayed or cancelled, a 100-bed hotel is right within this complex to rest or catch up on sleep.

After experiencing all these luxuries, arriving passengers at T3 will may well exclaim, “Oh, boy! India has arrived!”

Goodbye Marriage: It's Broken, Irrelevant and Unnecessary for Producing Children

2010-06-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

Boy meets girl. Boy likes the girl. The girl likes the boy. They meet again and again. They come closer – emotionally, mentally and soon, physically. They are in love. The boy proposes, the girl accepts. Or the other way around. They get married and are supposed to live happily ever after. The End. No way. In fact, it is the beginning of a new chapter of adjustment, compromise, suppression, mental torture, slavery, violence and even killing. They may sort it out themselves. The one who gives in first, has to give way for the rest of his/her life. Or they divorce. This is the story of the marriage today.

As women assert their equal rights under the law; become more and more educated; are able to earn and support themselves; and enjoy sexual freedom with contraceptives; marriage has become weaker – indeed collapsed. So a ‘live in’ relationship without getting married is fast becoming popular. Indeed, the legal systems of the west, and now India too, have accepted this relationship. A new bill before the Indian parliament, when it becomes law, will allow single men, women and even gays and lesbians to have children using surrogate mothers. Women do not need a man to bear a child. A man does not need a woman to bear his child. The pill and the condom have freed a woman from bearing a child. A women does not need a man bear a child, she can use a donor sperm. She does not need a man to support her as better education has enabled her to earn and live the life she wants.

In a lead article, 'I Don't', Newsweek dated 28 June - 5 July says, “As an institution, marriage is described by sociologists as 'broken'. From a legal, financial and practical viewpoint, marriage is no longer necessary.”

The facts tell the same story. The percentage of married persons has dropped every decade since 1950s, while the number of unmarried partners has risen 1,000 per cent over the last 40 years. Births out of wedlock are 52 per cent in Sweden, 50 per cent in France, 42 per cent in the UK, 41 per cent in USA. And 15 other EU countries had an estimated average of 33 per cent, the annual ONS' Social Trends report said. In 1980, births outside marriage in the UK was a meager 12 per cent., according to he Office for National Statistics.

Half of all babies will be born to unmarried mothers by 2012 if present trends continue, says new research that suggests the rapid erosion of moral and religious taboos. Moreover, fewer than half of families will consist of married couples and up to a third could be lone parents, said Dr Peter Brierley, a former Government statistician now specialising in religious trends.

No wonder the western sociologists now say that marriage, as an institution, is broken. Osho said this over 40 years ago. Osho talked about all these aspects of marriage happening now. But with one major difference – he looked into the future and spoke more than four decades ago. He said marriage is irrelevant if one is in love; women have become more empowered with education and contraceptives, why one should not live in misery in an unhappy marriage, and divorce should be an easy and even an enjoyable option. If a marriage does not work, said Osho, untie the knot by going round the fire ceremony in the opposite direction! In the same style, divorce parties have now become popular in the west.

Osho said, “I am not against marriage -- I am for love. If love becomes your marriage, good; but don't hope that marriage can bring love. That is not possible. Love can become a marriage. You have to work very consciously to transform your love into a marriage.

“I am for the REAL marriage. I am against the false, the pseudo, that exists. But it is an arrangement. It gives you a certain security, safety, occupation. It keeps you engaged. Otherwise, it gives you no enrichment, it gives you no nourishment.

“Passion alone is not able to sustain love; compassion is needed. If you are able to be compassionate towards the other; if you are able to accept his limitations, his imperfections; if you are able to accept him the way he is or she is and STILL love -- then one day a marriage happens. That may take years. That may take your whole life.

“Marriage is a trap: you will be trapped by the woman and the woman will be trapped by you. It is a mutual trap. And then legally you are allowed to torture each other forever. The very institution of marriage is ugly, the very institution is anti-love. It is based on denying love a chance to flower within you. Marriage is an invention of those who don't want the earth to be full of flowers of love. Love is dangerous to the establishment, the most dangerous thing, because if people are loving then this society is doomed. This society depends on hatred, not on love,” said Osho.

What do you think?

Bored? With all this entertainment, why are you still bored? How never to get bored

2010-06-04T04:27:00.000-07:00

“I'm Bored.”

You hear this lament quite often these days. But there is absolutely no reason to be bored. After all, you have the 24-hour radio, the 24-hour TV, the 24-hour Internet, your mobile, new and old films, unlimited music albums and videos, a vast range of magazines and books, live shows, museums, exhibitions, public lectures...the list is endless. You have all the entertainment you can possibly enjoy and yet you are bored. What's wrong? Maybe you have an easy life.

One thing is clear: the answer to your boredom lies within you – not outside. You cannot blame your school or college, you job or business, the traffic or routine chores. Some people are bored temporarily but others seem to be bored all along because they are dissatisfied with their lives. Short term or long term, boredom takes a heavy toll. If it carries on, it turns into depression and you slide downhill on the slippery road of mental ill health – a major concern of our modern society. The advance of science and technology has given us more free time than ever before as we do not spend much of our time doing the routine chores now. Yet we don't know what to do with all this free time we have. Nothing commands our attention for long as we get bored quickly. Just watch yourself flipping TV channels and you will find out how you get bored within seconds.

Can you think when you are not bored? Yes, when you are in love. Your heart has a special bouncy beat as you think of your beloved all the time - remembering the last phone call over and over, constantly sending and getting SMSs or MMSs, counting the minutes to your next date or just thinking about your beloved all the time about what is she/he doing right now. Great while it lasts.

You are never bored when you face a real challenge in your life. You have focused all your energies, all your resources and all your thinking to plan and survive against heavy odds. You have no time to be bored because you are fighting for your life or a very cherished aim. This works until you overcome the challenge.

But how to fight boredom for your whole life? He says, “A man also should be a little raw, a little wild, ready to live in insecurity, ready to risk, ready to go on the un-trodden paths, always ready to take the challenge of the dangerous. Then life is every moment an ecstasy, and boredom disappears.”Osho advises, “Try, if you cannot do anything else, then only do this: commit suicide as far as your ego is concerned. You will never get bored. You will be like an empty mirror. Whatsoever is reflected is always new because the mirror is empty, it cannot compare. It cannot say, "I have seen this face before."

Bored people end up committing suicide and kill their bodies. Osho advises you to meditate regularly and kill your ego – not your body. Become the empty mirror, become ego less. And then there is no boredom - all life is a blessing, a deep ecstasy.

Couldn't Vote in British Elections;Use India's Electronic Voting Machines

2010-05-08T04:06:00.000-07:00

Britain should use electronic voting machines from India to avoid the angry scenes at many polling stations when voters could not vote in the just concluded elections. Televised on global news channels, these scenes were a poor showcase for the democratic process in Britain.

Hundreds of voters were turned away from many U.K. polling stations amid long queues after they were prevented from voting in London, Sheffield, Newcastle, Liverpool, Birmingham and elsewhere. After voters angrily protested at not being able to cast their votes as the polling stations closed, police was called in to keep the peace in many locations. Voters staged sit-ins and tried to stop polling officers from taking away the ballot boxes.

All this mayhem and anger can be avoided by using the simple electronic voting machines developed for India's election commission. India's 671 million voters, including illiterates, used these user-friendly, tamper proof machines successfully in the last elections. Simple to operate, easy to install, these machines ensure secrecy, eliminate invalid votes and declare results instantly. Costing around $300 each, they need to be bought once and used again and again.

Thus the long rows of polling officers who count the votes manually can also be done away with as the results are tabulated by these machines without any chances of fraud as demonstrated in India. For an estimated 45 million British voters, these machines can be easily used with great manpower savings for vote counting. Britain has been trying to save on the cost of elections by employing a minimum number of persons for this exercise. When the voters came in larger numbers than expected in this election, the system broke down in many polling stations.

Had all these voters cast their ballots, the results could well be different in some constituencies where the margin of victory is wafer thin. Thus, the democratic process has been compromised by following an antiquated election system.

One livid British voter shouted,”I have been enfranchised and this Victorian system, more appropriate for a third world country, cannot be used here.” Jenny Watson, head of the election commission, told the BBC that it would undertake a "thorough review" of the problems, and acknowledged that there may need to be a change in the law to redraw the rules. It's not the laws and rules of extending the voting hours but the mechanism of recoding the votes in a modern manner that can avoid these ugly scenes.

A situation like the U.S. Presidential election in 2000 cannot develop with these machines when the results rested on whether disputed votes for Democratic candidate Al Gore in Florida could be counted. In the end, the courts stopped a re-count - handing victory to George W Bush. British and American observers travel to third world countries to monitor their election process; now it is high time that Britain and USA adapted the systems developed in an emerging country, India.

Will the Indians Vote Against Crime? Or for Merit?

2009-04-07T05:02:00.000-07:00

Indian voters cannot ignore the pressures of global meltdown, terrorism or technology. They cannot ignore the young leaders who are running the world today. They cannot tolerate criminals as their leaders. So, what is the new profile of leaders India’s mostly young voters can choose?

Forgetting about merit and leadership, will Indians again elect scores of criminals as their leaders in the coming elections in April and May? And in total contrast to the global trends today, will the young Indian voters elect old persons are their top leaders?

Will the voters repeat their dismal choices of the last elections by choosing criminals? In the 2004 elections, no less than 128 of the 543 winners had faced criminal charges, including 84 cases of murder, 17 cases of robbery and 28 cases of theft and extortion. Many face multiple criminal charges, including one member who has 17 murder charges. Even if a person has been charged with a crime but as long as one not convicted, one can stand for Parliament. Since court cases take decades to decide, the accused are out on bail and get elected as Members of Parliament. That’s how lawbreakers become lawmakers. Proposals have been made that any person charged with a crime that can be punished with a five-year sentence must not be allowed to stand for elections. In this case, opponents can slap fake criminal charges against their opponents and push them out of the election contest in the dirty game of politics.

Will a young India elect men and women well past their prime as their leaders? A new youthful India, 70 per cent under 40 years of age, is gearing up to vote for her future when about half of the MPs in the last Parliament were well beyond their retirement age. Nearly 700 million Indians go to polls in April and May in a watershed election. A new youthful India, 70 per cent under 40 years of age, is gearing up to vote for her future when about half of the MPs in the last Parliament were well beyond their retirement age. Indians are allowed to vote when they reach the age of 18 years and at least one fourth of the voters are below the age of 25. At least 100 million voters are between the ages of 18 and 24. Thus the results of this election will show the choice of the young voters youth or experience?

But most of the candidates are middle aged, if not older. The most powerful leaders of the eight most powerful countries (G 8) are becoming younger. The lineup of these youthful leaders shows that the youngest of them, Russian President Dmitry Medevev is just 44 years old. The election of 47 years old Barrack Obama has set the pattern for youth – rather than age – to lead the most powerful nation on this earth. Five others are in their middle age while only one, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is over 70 years. If India has become a trillion dollar economy to sit at the table of the richest countries, its leaders should measure up to the vitality and verve of the ones already sitting there. The two leaders vying for the post of the Prime Minister are aged 76 and 82 respectively from the two major political parties, the Congress and the BJP.

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(BOX)

G 8 LEADERS According to Their Age

Russian President Dmitry Medevev - age 44
US President Barrack Obama - age 47
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper - age 50
French President Nicolas Sarkozy - age 54
German Chancellor Angela Merkel - age 55
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown - age 57
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso - age 69
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi - age 73

Source: The Internet.

(BOX)
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The young voters are very active with their mobiles and may also use the Internet. The aspiring politicians have seen the power of the Internet after Barrack Obama’s election. So they connect with them by mobile and Internet campaigns especially in the cities and towns. The Indian voter may not have the yardstick to judge merit, but wants change and action. After high economic growth of nine per cent that has eased off with the global economic depression, the Indian voter wants fast economic recovery. After the November terror attack on Mumbai, the Indian voter demands accountability, full preparedness and instant response on security threats.

Long experience of political leadership is not enough in this age of high technology, massive economic shocks, lethal terror attacks and global vision while attending to local, basic needs. About ten per cent of urban youth voted in the last election but a much higher percentage will go the polls with more middle aged and old voters to try and make a difference to the type and quality of leaders they choose.

So what is needed? Education, yes. Not many of the elected members of the last parliament can be termed as educated considering their dismal behaviour or contribution to matters of national interest. Osho wants merit to be basis for both for voters and leaders.

“You can make it a point that you have to have a first class bachelor's degree if you want to vote in the state government. You have to have a doctorate if you want to stand for any position in the federal government -- a Ph.D. is absolutely necessary. If you want to become the president of the country, then you must have at least a D.Litt. or D.Sc. Without having these qualifications you cannot stand, you cannot run for the post.

“So we should require merits for each post - the highest merits. And we should make grades of voters: for the federal government, the highest degree; for the state government, a lower degree; for the county, a little lower degree. But meritocracy has to take the place of democracy.”

The leaders have to deal with ever changing and progressing science and technology and make meaningful decisions. Since all leaders cannot become scientists or even know about all the disciples of science, they ignore the new developments of science and continue with the antiquated methods. Or, they get scientific ‘experts’ to advise them before making decisions. Osho’s vision of Einstein the Buddha or marrying science and spirituality is more crucial now than ever before in this day of nuclear weapons and environmental disasters.

Equally important is spirituality – not religion that has been manipulated to divide and destroy the national fabric. Unless the elected leaders go beyond the intolerant and fanatic confines of their idea of religions, indeed terror, violence results. A person of meditation, on the other hand, has learnt to how to be full of energy at the maximum. He also gets the insight and the vision from the meditative no-mind.

Never judge a man by his actions. Osho says, “There is no other way because you have not known even your own being, then how you can see the being of others? Once you know your own being, you will learn the language, you will learn the language, and you will know the clue of how to look into another’s being. You can see into others only to the extent that you can see into yourself. If you have seen yourself through and through, you become capable o seeing into others through and through.” So he lives at the peak, says Osho. He united and leads without going on an ego trip. And he has no pseudo mask that hides his true face. Osho quotes a Latin proverb that he finds tremendously beautiful – Agere sequitur esse – to do follows to be; or, action follows being. That’s the type of leaders India needs now.

Obamania at its height in Kenya

2009-01-18T23:26:00.000-08:00

“Obama is very popular everywhere in Kenya,” said Karam Singh, a Kenya Indian currently on holiday after settling abroad. He saw that all over; and no wonder, the Inauguration Celebrations for President Barrack Obama start in Kenya much earlier than in the United States.

“I went for dinner to one Indian friend and he had portraits of Obama alongside pictures of Hindu Gods,” he said, “In traffic jams, vendors run up to cars selling his autobiography, pictures to hang at home alongside the President of Kenya. Vehicles have his photo painted on them.”

“I came across one coach on Mombasa Road with Obama's portrait painted on the back. Sections of this road are very rough. Some Chinese who are re-building this road, got menacing when I raised the camera. It was then a race to get a good vantage point from by car seat to take picture of the moving coach. I drove the driver crazy asking him to get as close as possible on this dangerous stretch of the road.

“After several wasted shots - I got my exclusive at the cost of being cursed by driver and passengers. They could not fathom the reason that someone from UK would want to take a photo of the back of the bus bearing Obama's photo! To me, this photo embodied aspirations of ordinary Kenyans who strive for greater achievements both in terms of monetary gains, power, high powered connections and personal embellishments,” he said.

Kenya declared a national Holiday when Obama won - the next national holiday will be when he visits Kenya. Now that has to be an event in itself. The Inauguration Celebrations for President Barrack Obama take off in Kenya earlier than in the United States. A five-day cultural extravaganza starts in his ancestral village, Kogelo, in western Kenya, on 16 January with traditional African music, dance, poems, art exhibitions, folk stories and feasts. Kenya’s Ministry of Culture and Heritage is assisting to organise this major event attended by many elders from his tribe and experts on African culture.

“The most important guest at Obama's inauguration is from Kenya,” headlined an American newspaper reporting on the presence of Sara Obama, Barack's Kenyan grandmother. She is the mother of Obama's father, whom he missed greatly when he was growing up. The US embassy in Nairobi has granted visas to eight members of the Kogelo community to attend Obama’s inauguration on January 20 in Washington DC. The group includes five immediate family members of Obama who will also be travelling to the US.

On the historic day when the first African- American takes the oath of office to lead the most powerful nation of the world, Kenyans will be singing to hail him. The trail blazing Boys Choir of Kenya, a group of 26 young men, will perform for Obama and his guests in Washington DC during the inauguration. They will present the song America the Beautiful, a US national song, and Jambo Bwana, a popular Kenyan ditty that means “Hello, Boss”.

Kenya is already reaping a bonanza for its tourism sector after the Obama’s election for tourists are coming to visit his ancestral village after its tourism took a big hit following the ethnic violence in January 2008 soon after the elections in December 2007. Now, no Kenya safari is complete without a visit to Obama’s village in Nyanza Province of western Kenya, not very popular on the tourist circuit until Obama won the US elections.

Many Kenyan companies and politicians are cashing in on Obama’s victory. The vastly popular beer called ‘Senator’ when Obama won the election, it launched a new beer named “President”. East Africa’s leading newspaper, Daily Nation, published a calendar entitled ‘The Obama Year” and was sold out quickly on that day. Obama posters and T Shirts are top sellers. Kenyan politicians published advertisements congratulating Obama on his victory to promote themselves.

Many tour companies start their safaris from this village and then escort the tourists to the national parks. The safari packages, costing between $ 2,000 and $3,500, are promoted as ‘Obama Kenya Roots and Heritage”, “Presidential Heritage safari”, “Roots of Obama” and “Discover Obama’s Kenyan Roots”. The tour operators caution tourists, “There will be no entry into the private residence of Obama's grandmother nor will there be any interviews or contact with any of the Obama family members.” The road to Kogelo has been upgraded, a police post has been established, the airport in nearby Kisumu town is being expanded, and a museum telling the story of the Obama heritage is under construction and set to open late this year. Kenyan tour operators, including many Kenya Indians who own safari companies, are travelling to the United States to promote Obams Safaris and bookings increased since November. Kenya is cashing on Obaboom.