SEEKING HAPPINESS

Every human being seeks happiness. He hates pain. He moves heaven and earth to get the happiness he wants from sensual objects and gets himself entangled in the meshes of Maya. But these objects are perishable, finite and conditioned in time, space and causation. Chances are he may fail to get the desired happiness from them.

Sensual pleasure is tantalising. There is enchantment so long as man does not possess the objects. The moment he is in possession of the object, the charm vanishes. He finds that he is in entanglement.

A worldly man is always struggling to get something, some money, some power, some position and so on. He is always anxious as to whether or not he will get it. Even when he is in actual possession of the thing he he so passionately longed for, he gets anxious about loosing it. Who do we say is happy then? A man who has controlled his mind is happy.

Happiness comes from peace of mind. Peace of mind comes from a state where there are no desires, no thoughts of objects. Forget all ideas of pleasures before entering the domain of peace.There is no happiness in any of the objects of the world because they are inanimate. It is sheer ignorance to think that we derive pleasure from the sense-objects or from the mind.

Real happiness is within you. It is in the Atma. It is subjective. It manifests when the mind is concentrated. When the mind is withdrawn from from the objects outside, when it is one-pointed when you become desireless and thoughtless, Atmic Bliss begins to dawn and Spiritual Ananda begins to thrill.

AAL IZZ WELL

Apart from the name there is nothing idiotic about the movie, '3 IDIOTS'. In fact it will make many of us feel like idiots. The movie in a very humorous way tells us a lot about the pressures exerted on us by our parents and ourselves.

After watching the movie many students will rethink about what they love to do and change their paths. In fact there willLooking around we will rarely see someone indulged in doing things that call him. Parents still have a big say in the moulding of a child's career. The child's future is seen not with his eyes, but with those of his parents. Also to be blamed is the system itself. The world is changing so fast that there is no time to think if the path chosen is what we really want to tread. By the time we realise that the chosen path is not what we want to travel it is too late.

3 Idiots gives us a chance to rethink and relive our lives. It is an eyeopener for parents and students both. It makes an attempt to awaken students, parents, teachers and the entire education system. It makes us present to the flaws of our education system. Recently there has been news as to how it has influenced ragging and suicides. But they existed before the movie was released. The movie throws light on the consequences of our system and way of thinking.

After watching the movie many students will rethink about what they love to do and change their paths. There will be many who would wish the movie was made 3 decades back. A few may take up things they always wanted to but could not.

There has been a controversy about the movie being made from a book. Looking at the other side movies touch more people than books. I say there is nothing wrong in adapting from a good source. It should make the author feel more proud that he has touched more people than he would have thought. I would say the movie is to the book what practicals is to theory.

"NEVER MISTAKE KNOWLEDGE FOR WISDOM. ONE HELPS YOU MAKE A LIVING; THE OTHER MAKES YOU LIVE A LIFE."

"KABEEL BANO KAMYABI TUMHARE PICHE AYEGI."

GOD AND RELIGION

FANTASTIC, AFLATOON, I have limited vocabulary to describe what I experienced while watching the play "KANJI VIRUDH KANJI". The lead character in the play Sachin Khedekar is just too good. What is more surprising is the fluency with which he narrates his lines.

The play draws the faintest of lines between God and Religion. With your deeds it is possible to make God come to you. We go to God for our own selfish needs. God will come to you when you welcome him with an honest and pure heart without any hidden intention. The play gives an understanding as to how religion has turned into a business.

Religion in our country is the most sensitive issue. There will be many who may find the play anti religious. They may say that the character in the play is an atheist. But as the story unfolds, it becomes evident that it is only he who has understood God and Religion. Religion is not something to be followed but to be lived. But I bet a very negligible percentage of people would understand this. In our country religion is followed as an exercise. Majority of the people just go through the rituals as instructed.

The simple truth the play projects is that believing in God is very different from being religious. But the parting line is so thin that it is almost impossible for us to distinguish between the two. Watch it, enjoy it and choose for yourself where you stand in understanding God and Religion.