Friends
Presently for the Jains this is most auspicious month. Jains have so many branches i.e. Digamber, Shwetamber, Tera Panthi, Murti pujak etc. The people of this religion are known for strict dieting habits and fasts in addition to the disciplined pooja in temple. Hence in this month most of the Jains are regular visitor to their temples, do fasts and follow strict food habits. Also they donate a lot in this month but mostly in temples. 'Paryushan Parva' or 'Daslakshan Parva' is a festival of 10 days for the jains during which they give maximum for the worship of God. Despite being a business community, jains would not mind to let the business affect adversely at the cost of Dharma during this month. By the way I am not a diehard Jain follower and hence not very focused on such issues. Basically Jainism is religion and not a caste as is generally believed. Treating a religion a caste is the biggest reason for today's conflict worldwide. It is very old religion but the documentation of the Jain Shastras is only during the time of Lord Mahaveer (24th Tirthankar) i.e. about 2500 years back. Lord Mahaveer and Gautam Buddha were almost of same period and therefore can be termed as latest religion coming out from Hindus. However after these religions Sikh and Swaminarayan religions grew alongwith Christian and Mohmedans (Muslim).
All religions give almost same teachings but we people still fight with each other and try to prove our religion better than others.
CP

Blink

Friends
Recently read a book "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell. The author had also written "Tipping point" and "Outliers". Incidentally I have read these books too. Blink is about the process of thinking by the unconscious mind. Our subconscious mind know many things without knowing why and delivers the judgement instantly without going into details. It is also called instinct and all of us are blessed with this power. But, We rarely give importance to the instant judgement/decision our subconscious mind takes the moment it screens the person or issue. Most of the time the decision of Blink is right than the detailed analysis. The Book also mentions that the excess information is mostly a bottleneck for right decision. This is the first book in my knowledge giving detailed analysis of Blink. It is worth reading and can help us in any kind of decision making. However the author is also not sure as to when we should hear of conscious mind and when we should follow sub conscious mind. There is very thin line and really difficult to divide. But one thing I conclude is that we should first follow the instant Blink, analyse and decide. In any case more analysis or information would lead to the confusion and wrong decision/Judgement.
CP

Happy Janmashtami

Friends
Today is Birthday of Lord Krishna. Being Ashtami as per Hindu calender, it is called as Janmashtmi. One of the holiest day for we Hindus. Exactly at 12 in night Lord Krishna born to Devaki when both Vasudev and Devaki were put into jail. It was Nandraiji who sacrificed his daughter and took away Lord Krishna as his Son. Kans (maternal Uncle of Krishna) had already killed six children of Sister Devaki . The 7th child would prove to be fatal for Kans as per Akashvani and hence he was waiting for the child to born so he can kill that. By swapping the child Kans killed the Daughter of Nandrai instead of Krishna. Rarely such friendship can be found where a friend swaps child for the sake of the nation and friendship. The life of Lord Krishna as 'Manav-Avatar' was full of challenges, events, fights and so on. Lord Krishna has given us teachings through Geeta and Mahabharat. If we follow even 5% of all the teachings, it can make huge difference in our life. To celebrate the Birthday , I had been to Jaipur where my Brother in Law, Rajeev Agrawal (Raja as we call fondly) had organised a grand Bhajan and dinner programme. The warmth, affection and commitment was unmachable. I adore and thank such people and family members who despite hectic schedules in business find the time and work for the enjoyment of family members. It is very tough to arrange and manage such programmes.
CP

Friends
Rakshabandhan was on 13th August. People celebrated this festival with independence day. Sister is one of the most auspicious relation in our society. She is not only a good friend but also guide and great companion. Brother-Sisters fight a lot but never become enemy. They share every thing and support each other. In present time the career and money has parted the family and every one is on the move. This makes difficult for brothers and sisters to meet frequently but still they remain as close as ever. those are very lucky whose sister visit them on this occasion and tie Rakhi. However, those who got Rakhi must not feel dis heartened and thank god that at least they have sister in this world who cares for them. Sometimes, we build a relation of Brother-Sister with persons who are not our relatives but friends. Such relationship may not get the approval from family members but this does not mean that it is wrong. It is upto such people to honor this relationship with full respect and dignity. Brother-Sister relationship does not need the approval of the society as long as people honor it honestly.

We celebrated 65th Independence day. After 64 years of independence, we are still struggling with social, economic and political issues. I wish Happy Independence Day and pray for better India ahead.

CP

Friends
The difference between success and failure is only of timing. In most of the cases, provided the efforts are consistent, success is bound to come sooner or later. Those who succeed got the positive results immediately wheres as those who failed have postponed the success. Many people feel depressed and accept the failure as end of the road. In fact it is the begining of the road full of success. I have come across many people who failed and became highly successful after this either in same field or in different sector. The failure is the message by the god to either make you excel more in the same field or in different field. God is almighty, no one can compare with him but he is also handicap in the sense that he can't descend on this earth in his own identity. He has to take the help of some identity like human or animals to interact or guide the people. That is why the failure is one way of message by the god to change ourselves. Many times god puts us into a situation which creates dislocation and mostly discomfort. God can not come and tell us to go to other location or do some thing else but he creates such situation and when we move there he gives success. The moment these things (failure, dislocation, bad luck etc.) happen we don't understand and take the failure as end instead of trying to read message by the God. Believe me those who gets such messages frequently are going to be more successful in their life. So take the failure in right way and move further, in very near future greater success is waiting for you.
CP

Friends
August month has started. August means lordly and grand too. The events and festivals of this month proves its name. Infact in Hindu culture, this month is begining of festivals which remains till Holi in February/March. Professionally July-August are less hectic and hence my travelling in these months is always very less. This period being in the mid of monsoon season also known for seasonal deseases like viral, malalria, typhoid, asthama etc.
Awaiting for the kids to come for a short visit on Rakshabandhan. Beauty of this world for we human being is that we are surrounded by large number of people through social, professional, political, geographical etc. connections. The movement of people to various places always excites me. Many close relatives and friends dislocate themselves and move to new locations for better career opportunities or shaping better career. Those already of middle age also move to new locations for better opportunities. Even some of the friends leave the job and start their own venture or vice versa. In present world the locations are not restricted to with in country or continents. The people dare to move distant places with dreams in their eyes, to prove themselves and be successful. The communication and travelling facilities are well developed which help in movement.
CP