Are we Socially Responsible Citizens?

The other day, when I was traveling by MMTS Train, I was given a small pamphlet which reads, that for the transportation facility from hi-tech city railway station to Madhapur, they need signatures of the passengers (as support) to be presented before the concerned authority represented by Mr. Chukka Ramaiah (IIT Fame) and other MLC. The signatures were collected by one Software Engineer and as soon as he left our compartment, co-passengers started to share their differences in opinion and showcased their frustration in every possible manner.
I was listening to their conversations carefully, which if summarized, more or less says, it would be sheer waste of time to do such things. It would be better to block the road and protest or else wait for the government to respond or wait for the people to realize the situation. But, after listening to a really frustrated employee of Four Soft Company, I suggested him to buy a bicycle and park it hi-tech station and use it everyday to reach his office instead showing his frustration. I also added, it would solve his problem in many aspects viz., saving the fuel, no pollution and will serve as a good exercise for his health.
He looked at me with anger and for a moment, I thought, he is definitely going to bang on my head. But, thank goodness! He had just left that place without any comment. I know people get hurt listening to advises if they are not seeking one. But, at the same time, we must also, respect some advises which are really worthy.
As I had been a great believer of the fact that, “Instead cursing the darkness around us by sitting idle, it would be better if we at least try to light a small lamp.” I feel happy that, people viz., the software engineer distributing pamphlets, some students of my department who clean the litter thrown outside my department building etc., are concerned about their society. If we hesitate to take up on the responsibility at a right moment, it would show its adverse affects not only on us but also on our society.
In my conclusion, I would like to say that, there is no harm if you don’t take the responsibility but it does really matter if you do criticize the people working for such noble causes. We must respect their morals and feel pride of these people who are concerned about their co-human beings. And if possible, we must try not to hinder their way but try to help them in any or every possible manner.

Thanks and Regards

Srikanth Chintakindi.

HOW TO CONTROL DESIRES?

Desires are always one more than infinity. We all desire something or the other and do strive hard to see them get fulfilled. But, the problem here is, as soon as one desire gets fulfilled, multiple desires stand in a queue making us lead a restless life.
According to Yogi Vemana, as fish gets trapped by a worm thrown by a fisherman into the water, so do we, the people, gets trapped by the earthly desires and finally get extinct. And as soon as we get trapped, we rotate continuously in a never-ending cycle in order to fulfill our desires at any cost.
For Instance, take the fish in the water, though it has got plenty of food still gets trapped for the sake of a small worm thrown by a fisherman. We can kindly consider the case of fish, as it is a brainless creature. But, what happened with us? Why do we behave foolish? Don’t we have brains to think? It is quite surprising but a fact that, we still are being trapped by the worldly desires.
Can’t we exercise control on our own desires? Yes, we can. It may be difficult but not an impossible task. To do this, we have to strictly impose some factoids on us. It is a well-known fact that, nothing is permanent in this world. Neither the body you possess nor the people around you, neither the money/property you have nor the worldly gain you had acquired. It is better to sacrifice the above foolish feelings of belongingness and better avoid possessiveness on the materialistic wealth. As we all are here for a certain span of time, we must not only utilize it to the fullest but also realize that we must acquire the wealth that gives us both the security and happiness and more over that is not materialistic viz., “knowledge of what/why we are here for?”
If we are successful in leading life in a righteous manner, then we also are equally immortal like many legendaries of the history viz., any role model of yours. Therefore, in my conclusion, I would like to remind, that as we all have come empty handed to this world and are familiar that, we leave this world in the same manner; it would be better if we do not develop any kind of lust towards materialistic wealth. Or to be content as, Harold J smith says, “Richest people are those contented with what they have”. As knowledge itself is the immortal treasure (which cannot be stolen), try to share it with others, which you had had acquired in this short span of time. Believe me, it is the knowledge what you share will keep you alive in the hearts of millions.

Thanks and Regards,
Srikanth Chintakindi,
M.Tech AI,
University of Hyderabad.

REVIEW OF "JODHA AKBAR"

Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodha-Akbar has disappointed me to a greater extent. May be I was expecting a master-piece, which I thought would compete with the unanimous epic Mughal-E-Azam. When compared with his own two films, Swades and Lagaan, this multi-million venture has proved to be a failure.
To me, it seemed an ordinary (love) story and the wrongly depicted history in the movie says that, it is miles away from the truth or literature what we had had studied earlier. If we get into the details, it showcases Akbar who wants to flourish his kingdom in India through waging wars since his childhood under the guidance of Bhairamkhan. When Akbar approaches king Bharmal to accept his emperorship, king Bharmal asks Akbar to marry his daughter. Why he did so is not explained any where. Though, it was showcased as a political marriage, still there was absolutely no necessity to get his daughter married with a Mughal Emperor, particularly, in those days when casteism, religionalism etc., were given vital importance. And thus, princess Jodha of Rajputanas gets married with a Mughal Emperor for no proper reason.
Jodha’s brother Sujamal’s story has also had been depicted wrongly. Somewhere, in my school in Hindi text books, I had read about Bhaidhooj, where it was said that Jodha ties Sujamal a Rakhi to save Akbar from Shaifuddin. In a war with Shaifuddin, Sujamal dies was written in the literature. But, in this movie what was shown is absolutely against Rajput’s bravery and sacrifices. Therefore, in Rajasthan, there is no harm to impose a ban on this film. To my belief it definitely might have had hurt their self-respect and sacrifices for the country as it has showcased the Rajput kings to be fit for nothing.
Akbar in the climax scene says that every religion is equally important to him. If Akbar really wanted to follow what he said, why he started a religion of his own, “Din-I-llahi” is also quite questionable. It’s a pity that personalities like Birbal, Taansen were not discussed in the movie at least for once.
What are worth seeing in this movie are the jewellery that princess Jodha wears and her costumes. And above all, especially the well-picturized songs, viz., Sufi song khwaja mere khwaja (an excellent number), Azeem-o-shaano shehanshaa, Kehne ko jashne bahaara hai etc., Marhaba song reminds us of Republic Day parade. The palaces where the picturization took place were already seen in many-a-movies as it covered a very minor part of their portrayal. Except the above things which covered more than half part of the movie, everything is as per records that, Akbar though an illiterate was a great administrator who loved elephant fights, followed Sufism and was a great believer of Khwaja Gareeb Nawaz Chisti of Ajmer etc.,
Singer Ila Arun has done an excellent job in the movie, and did complete justice to her role Mahamanga. Hritik was too good in his performances as usual and Aishwarya was as beautiful as ever. Shatrugan Sinha’s wife who played mother of Akbar looked glamorous and Sonu Sood looked a bit older in his role Sujamal. As usual, Suhasini Mulay, Kulbhushan Karbaanda, appear in this movie as Rani and Raja Bharmal of Amer. Raza Murad played Vazir, and the Diwan Todarmal’s character was also well established. Shaifuddin’s character played by a new artiste won a huge round of applause. Director had tried his best to make it look like a Hollywood movie which wins hearty appraisal.
But, lack of research on the subject made this film lose its richness though money was lavishly expended on creating it. The history he depicted is quite misguiding and confusing as I said. Most of all, portraying Jodha-Akbar is just sheer waste of time, money and resources. May be as a source of integrity it serves preaching inter-religion relationships, but, Akbar to my belief, had never loved Jodha to the extent which was shown in the movie. If Akbar had truly loved his wife Jodha, I suspect he too would have had built a Tajmahal for her, after all, he was the richest emperor then. It was just a political marriage and no where in the history we find their relationship as great as any others and also about their love. But, why Ashutosh has chosen this subject is quite surprising.
This film has its own grandeur and freshness and above all it’s recommendable to watch. Anyways, watch it at your own interests and if you are seeking a change viz., commercial movies to art kind of movies then it is quite promising and a refresher.

Thanks and Regards,

Srikanth Chintakindi.

THE ART OF SAYING “NO”

Saying “No” is an art according to me. It is not only a harsh/hurting word but also a really difficult one to say as it sounds cold-blooded. Yet, one has to say “No” when he/she doesn’t want to say “Yes”. In my personal life, I am an equally timid soul. I feel self-pity that I have no courage to say “No” for unreasonable requests. For instance, when I am at my department, I simply join anyone who approaches me for having a cup of tea or just for pastime. Not always, but many a times, I felt like saying “No” but failed. This attitude of I has not only affected my personal hygiene (me becoming a jumbo) but also my precious time. By the time, when I realized this, it’s too late.
It was a self-mistake that, I had always feared of losing friends and people around me if I don’t attend to their unreasonable requests thinking, “If I refuse to do that, they won’t like me or they will go mad at me”. Thus, since years, I had been a victim of unassertiveness. As a result, I have learned to act in inferior ways by masking my own strengths making me inferior. I found it extremely impossible to express my emotions like anger or tenderness and hence forth, kowtowing to others wishes and holding my own desires inside made myself possess no control on/over my (own) life. It’s as similar as the situation of hero Siddhartha in the movie titled, “Bommarillu”. Many a times I found it difficult to express my feelings and instead saying “I don’t like what you did/said”, said, “I like what you did/said”.
I know this is the case with many, but, can’t we get over it? Yes, I think, we can! To do so, what I found in my study/research on this topic is, to develop assertiveness by keeping a self-watch. I know it hurts others when we say a “No”, but, at the same time, if we don’t say no at the right time/moment, it leads us into activities we don’t respect ourselves for doing. As I already said, if you can’t state this simple two-letter word when you want to say it, you begin to lose control on your own life. Though I haven’t learned it so far, (Though, Dr. Johnson says to learn from the past in his book, “The Present”) still, I suggest one and all not to get into troubles by saying “YES” when you wanted to say “NO” and hope you people will not behave as dumbo as I.
In conclusion, I didn’t mean saying no to everything. You say yes when you want to give an affirmative response. If doing a favor for a friend or participating in a social event may inconvenience to you, there is still nothing wrong with saying yes if you feel the matter important enough to undergo discommodity for the sake of the friend or activity. Saying yes becomes wrong when you want to say no and it is in your best interest to say no, but instead, you end up with a feeble “OK, I will do it.”

Thanks and Regards,

Srikanth Chintakindi.

Book Review of “The Present”

After reading one more inspirational book of his, titled, “The Present”, I have become a die-hard fan of Dr. Spencer Johnson. As Lord Shri Krishna is for Arjun, so is Dr. Johnson for me. In “The Present”, he revealed the simple truths of life very efficiently and magnificently. What ever has been written is nothing new or unknown to us, but the way, he explained is truly praiseworthy. We deny these things consciously, and never dare to experiment life, though, people like Johnson writes to motivate us.

The Present is also a parable of the present what you give to yourself. It is a story about a young man who discovers what the present is. Since his childhood, he used to observe an old man who was calm, serene, happy and successful. In his mentorship, the young man, becomes wise, learns a lot, and implements the same to become happy and successful. The young man, who was going through terrible troubles in his life, viz., break up with his girlfriend, not getting promoted in his work etc., gets this precious and invaluable gift from the old man. And, in order to unfold the present, the young man takes time out for himself by visiting a mountain place of his friend to rejuvenate and discover what the problem is? When he succeeds in finding a solution, returns back to work and implements what ever he had learnt from his experiences. Dr. Johnson explained each and every part associated with the present excellently by query, what if it happens like that, and what if it does not happen in the way we guess; thus, making the readers stick to the book till the last page, has given a master piece to the society.

It is also a must read book as I told in the case of “Who moved my Cheese?” I gave a very brief summary of the above tiny book, as I don’t want to spoil your joy of reading by explaining in totality in advance. In conclusion, I can only suggest you reading such invaluable books to find the real treasure of literature and apply it for the betterment of life, but it is solely up to you whether you really want to get benefited or not.

Thanks and Regards,
Srikanth Chintakindi
M.Tech (A.I.)