Digital Library

Near about 20 years back.....

“It’s retro Jupiter and not combust Mars which is causing problems in your life.” My family astrologer confidently told me. At that time, I did not have the knowledge of astrology. Even though his statement was contrary to other astrologers but I had firm believe in predictions. As per his suggestions, I did charity work related to Jupiter to dilute its negative effects. Even now, I did them regularly.

Near about 15 years back.....

I studied astrology to know the truth. I found out that my family astrologer was right because Jupiter aspects strengthens Mars as well as removes the negativity of Mars and moreover Jupiter damaged the house in which it is placed. At that time, most of the problems in my life were related to the house occupied by Jupiter. I decided to do more charity work related to Jupiter like donating mango, books, yellow coloured clothes, gold etc.

Near about 7 years back.....

As Jupiter represents education and learning, I started a charitable library in a commercial space that I owned. From my personal collection, I donated near about 1000 books to the library and spared my four almirahs for keeping books. My friends, relatives, neighbours and even strangers donated books generously. Popular newspapers and magazines were subscribed to attract all age groups. A part time librarian was appointed to look after it.

Near about 6 years back.....

A nominal fee of Rs. 200/- was fixed as security of two books that can be issued at a time to a member. Seven persons registered out of that only two or three were regular visitors. The rest did not bother to visit as they did not have interest in reading books or they issued books of more price than security and returning them would be a lost affair.   

Near about 3.5 years back.....

I kept pushing, dreaming that one day it would be full of students. My money was draining in librarian salary, newspaper bill and maintenance charges. After librarian’s wife died, he resigned, as he had to look after his grandchildren. After tiring search, I was not able to find a librarian in my budget. I had to put a lock on the library. I failed.

Near about 3 years back.....

Whenever I failed, I jot down the reasons why I failed.

1.      The library was located at commercial place. It was amidst a posh colony of the town. It was close to two main schools.

2.      The place was well illuminated and ventilated.

3.      I had the books for all age groups and on various subjects.

4.      The library was located in North- East of the building. (According to Vastushastra, it is the best place for studying.)

5.      There was good sitting arrangement with basic electric facilities.

6.      I did the proper marketing by advertising in newspapers and on cable T.V.

7.      The fees were nominal.

Then, why did I fail???

I prepare a list of persons from whom I can seek guidance and advice in this matter.

On the top of the list was the name of my former colleague who had retired from the post of librarian from a reputed college. She patiently listened to my problems then explained that people had lost interest in reading books. They loved to read on internet. Change the library as per the demand of the people. She introduced me to digital library, a library that neither had any librarian nor any books but remained full of students. She assured me to show such a successfully running library in her vicinity.

I rushed to her place.

She accompanied me in collecting all information and data needed to start a digital library. Now, I had a new idea, new concept, new motive but no funds.

Near about 2 years back.....

I sharply cut my personal expenses to drain my funds for the renewal of library. The digital library now had desks with selves and comfortable chairs to accommodate more number of students. To monitor the students CCTV cameras were fitted. A Wi-Fi connection with unlimited data was installed so that the students could learn without any obstruction. Fans, lights, power back up and all the modern facilities were there! But students were not there!!

Near about one and a half year back....

I advertised again on local cable TV and newspapers. At last, one student joined! He came regularly from 10am to 2:30pm on weekdays and took breaks on weekends and other holidays to spend time with his family. He was preparing for civil services. Two more students joined but didn’t showed up after two-three months.

Near about one and a half month back....

I called my employee Mr. ‘A’.

I – How many students are coming these days in the library?

A – Two old and three new students.

I – What new students are preparing for?

A – One boy is preparing for tax and another for police and the girl is preparing for service.

I – How do they come?

A – The two boys came from two different nearby villages on bus. And the girl came from a nearby colony on scooty. The boys came according to bus timings. They came early so I opened the library at 7:30am and they left late in the evening. I closed it at 6pm.

I – I will pay you extra for that. Do they move out of library in between 10.5 hours time?

A – No, they bring their lunch from home. The whole day they sit together and study together.

I – Are they coming regularly?

A – Yes, they came even on weekends and do not take any break on religious festivals.

I – Have they paid their fees?

A – Yes, they have paid the previous month fees but now they are asking for two days discount as I have closed the library for two days because of local lockdown for sanitisation for corona.

I – Are they asking for two days discount???

A – I told them, “In this library, you have to pay only Rs. 200/- per month for unlimited data and unlimited time where as the prevalent market rate is Rs.600/- per fortnight for only 6 hours and Rs.1200/- per fortnight for 12 hours. The total fees of all the students is not enough to pay WiFi bill as WiFi charges are too high in this area and the other expenses like maintenance are also borne by us. And now you are asking for 13 rupees and 30 paisa discount?!!”

I smiled.

If there are students in my library who study nonstop for 10 long hours, without any break and want to save Rs.13/- even, then success is not far behind. One day, my digital library will be full of serious studious students.

I will succeed.

P.S. 1. Pic : Clicked by me as I love to play scrabble.

A start-up from scratch

June, 2020

I received a message on Whatsapp. It was from a guy let’s named him Mr. ‘G’ who was a hotel staff in a small town of Rajasthan. I meet him once while my stay in that hotel near about two years back.

Mr. ‘G’- For the three months, I am not going to hotel. I am at home.

I – Everybody is at home. Almost whole world!

Mr. ‘G’- I do not know what will happen next because hotel business is closed due to corona. I am upset.

I – Do not worry. Most probably corona medicine will come in the market by July end or August. After that, everything will be fine.

I tried to soothe him.

Mr. ‘G’- Today, Locust attacked my fields for the third time. They are active in our district.

I – You can shoo them away by burning dry leaves, by burning crackers, by beating utensils, by clapping or by playing loud music. Moreover, Rajasthan Government is giving compensation for crops damaged by locusts. You can contact Patwari (Land revenue officer) of your village.

Mr. ‘G’- We shooed them away. But they are visiting our fields again and again.

I – Next time, if they came then catch them during night. Grind them in a mixer and sell that paste to nearby poultry farm. They will give you good money.

I suggested not only humorous but also monetary gain idea to cheer up his mood.

Mr. ‘G’- Ohh! Good idea! J

But I am really worried how to meet my daily expenses.

I – Take up a local job to meet current expenses like organic farming, vegetable selling, handicraft making, carpentry, pottery making, puppets making, block printing, embroidery, mirror work etc.

Mr. ‘G’- Here everything has come to a standstill, as it is a small town.

I recalled that every nook and corner of the town had hotels from budgeted hotels to luxurious hotels, from mud huts to glamping tents from suburbs to resorts. However, one thing was common in them that their names had ‘bagh’ either as first, middle or last word, may be to give an assurance to the customers that if they stayed in this hotel they would be able to have a glimpse of tiger.

I – I can understand as hotel industry is one of the worst hit businesses.

Mr. ‘G’- I have a small farm house. I wish to start dairy at small scale. I have two cows. I want to buy a buffalo but it doesn’t fit in my budget.

He didn’t pick up the options suggested by me but picked up one according to his knowledge and skills. One step towards becoming an entrepreneur!

I – A buffalo will cost around one lakh or even more. You can take loan. Do you have Kisan Credit Card?

Mr. ‘G’- No.

I – Get one. You can take loan of 2-3 lakhs on very low rate of interest of 2-3% by mortgaging your land to any authorised bank. Kisan Credit Card is a not so new scheme launched by the Government to give instant loan to farmers for buying seeds, manure, fertilizers, insecticides, agricultural equipments and to do other agricultural related work.

Mr. ‘G’- I will try.

In my area, some greedy farmers had taken loan from Kisan Credit Card, and had invested that money in fixed deposits at higher rate of interest of 7-8% in other banks and were making good profit from the difference in the rate of interest.

After a week,

Mr. ‘G’- I have selected a good breed buffalo and I am interested in buying that but I am not able to arrange funds. I am tensed.

I – I told you about Kisan Credit Card.

Mr. ‘G’- The land is my father’s name and I have discussed it with him. The process will take time. I need money urgently.

I – You can take personal loan from the banks in which you have account(s).

After one hour,

Mr. ‘G’- I talked with a bank employee and I have filled the form. Let’s see when it will be passed.

I was amazed to see this message as it was Sunday evening and almost all the banks were closed. May be he had applied for loan online. I appreciated him that he had a risk taking ability and had a quality to overcome obstacle(s) to achieve goal.

After two days, the message flashed.

Mr. ‘G’ – Congratulations, Madam. I bought a buffalo and calf yesterday. Now I will be able to do my dairy work.

I - Best wishes for your business! May it prosper and grow!

Mr. ‘G’ – Thankyou very much, Madam. I need your blessings.

We all have potentials sometimes just needed a little push!

Pic: He send this pic to me.

P.S. Please don’t forget to tell me who you find more beautiful – buffalo or the necklace she is wearing? ;)

Book Review : The Magic of Friendships by Shubha Vilas

A true friendship energizes the soul and refreshes the mind. Sometimes it is so deep that words are not necessary to understand each other’s emotions. A true friend is always with you whatever happens in your life, accepts you as you are and loves you unconditionally. Do you have a true friend in your life? Nah! Then become one for someone!!

The Magic of Friendships by Shubha Vilas explained how one can make good friends and how one can become a good friend. According to the author, there are four types of friends – Badhus or associates, sakhas or friends, priya sakhas or confidential friends and suhrits or best friends. The Wheel of Friendship helps in analysing all kind of friendships one have. In our friend circle, there are many bandhus, some are sakhas, a few are priya sakhas and rarely is a suhrit. From bunch of posers, how to trace out a true friend is a difficult task but it becomes quite easy after reading this book. It includes questionnaires, quizzes, inventories, test and some fun activities that inspire one to enrich friends as confidential friends and strangers as friends.

The author very well explained that friendship is a responsibility and not a competition. He also throws light on creating value in friendship, peer pressure effecting self-esteem and friends beyond friendship. The language is simple and state forward.

It includes heart touching stories from Mahabharata, Ramayana, Panchtantra and modern times. It guides readers to find out simple solutions to the complex problems in friendships and teaches the art of becoming a good friend. The narration is appealing and motivates one to be good friends with parents, pets and self. It also discusses about the pros and cons of online friendships.

Author has embedded some beautiful gems in it. Some of the quotes which I liked are as follows :

1.      It is easy to see fault in others, but it is difficult to see fault in oneself.

2.      Friendship should not be about competition, it should be about helping each other grow.

3.      It’s not the quantity of friendship that matters but the quality of it.

4.      Before you beat others, you need to achieve victory over yourself.

5.      Every time you enjoy their (Priya Sakhas or Confidential friends) company, you come back supercharged and happy.

6.      Sakhas or friends encourage you and push you way more than you can push yourself. They can see the good in you even when you can’t see it in yourself.

The author is a TEDx speaker, lifestyle coach, storyteller and author. Ramayana : The Game of Life is his bestselling series. He has written Roar with Courage, Conquer Fear, Adopt Patience, Stand Strong  and Radiate Confidence based on Bala Kanda, Ayodhya Kanda, Aranya Kanda, Kishkindha Kanda and Sundara Kanda of Ramayana epic respectively. He is also the author of Open-Eyed Meditations and Perfect Love : 5.5 Ways to a LastingRelationship. The focus of his work is the application of scriptural wisdom in everyday living, addressing the needs of corporate and youth through thought provoking seminars. Curious to know more about him, then visit his website – www.shubhavilas.com.

G. Randolf quotes that good friends are hard to find, harder to leave and impossible to forget. This book is the best gift for your best friend that will always be a bond between you and your friend. J

Book Review : Radiate Confidence by Shubha Vilas

Radiate Confidence is the fifth book in the series of Ramayana – The Game of Life by Shubha Vilas. The author has written Roar with Courage, Conquer Fear, Adopt Patience and Stand Strong based on Bala Kanda, Ayodhya Kanda, Aranya Kanda and Kishkindha Kanda of Ramayana epic respectively. Radiate Confidence is the modern retelling of the Sundara Kanda of Valmiki’s epic Ramayana. According to the author, the Bala Kanda covers a period of almost 13years, the Ayodhya Kanda almost a year, the Aranya Kanda stretches over roughly 13years, while the Kishkindha Kanda describes a period of a little over two months. But the Sundara Kanda covers just five days and more than three-quarters of the book covers a two-day period when Hanuman leapt to Lanka.

Sundara Kanda is about Hanuman’s journey across ocean to Lanka in search of Sita, Lord Ram’s wife. Hanuman was fondly called ‘Sundara’ by his mother Anjani therefore Sage Valmiki (author of Ramayana in Sanskrit) named this Kanda as ‘Sundara Kanda’. It tells the adventure of Hanuman and his selfless service, strength and devotion to Lord Rama.

Sundara Kanda is about our purpose of life – our own search for a goal in life. Hanuman shows is that the goal of life is Sita, who he is searching for in this kanda. For a gyani, Sita is shanti or peace. For a devotee, Sita is bhakti. For a yogi, she is adishakti or subtle energy. The truth is that everyone is in search of Sita.

The language is lucid and simple to understand. It guides readers to find out easy solutions to the complicated problems and teaches the art of ‘being patient and finding success’. The narration is mesmerizing and motivates one to overcome obstacles in one’s journey. It helps in expanding one’s steadfast focus and faith to accomplish mission.

Author has embedded the story with beautiful gems. Some of the quotes which I liked are as follows :

1.      When a leader plants the seed of encouragement on one’s mind, it grows into a tree of hope for many minds.

2.      One must keep on going toward one’s goal and not be perturbed by people’s reactions and treatment.

3.      Enthusiasm is the chemical that keeps the milk of life from turning sour.

4.      Winning wars is about breaking confidence. Winning hearts is about building trust.

5.      The highest form of compassion is kindness shown to a person one hates.

6.      Those who live in the past are often blind to the present realities.

The author is a TEDx speaker, lifestyle coach, storyteller and author. Ramayana : The Game of Life is his bestselling series. He is also the author of Open-Eyed Meditations and Perfect Love : 5.5 Ways to a Lasting Relationship. The focus of his work is the application of scriptural wisdom in everyday living, addressing the needs of corporate and youth through thought provoking seminars. Curious to know more about him, then visit his website – www.shubhavilas.com.

It is an excellent read for mythological readers. The best part of this book is the ‘Lessons from Hanuman’s Jump’. I am sharing a part of it here. To read it full you can buy this book from the link given below.......

Guru’s Blessings

On Facebook, I have subscribed to various pages about movies as I love to know more and more about movies. I can watch anything and everything – drama, comedy, action, romance, thriller, historical fiction, philosophy etc. One day, while surfing on Facebook, I came across this clipping about Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa. It was from Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna, a Bengali movie with subtitles in English.

In this movie clip, Totapuri, an itinerant Naga sannyasi initiated Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa into sannyasa. Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa experienced Nirvikalp smamdhi. Totapuri said, “How strange! What I have attained after 40 years of strenuous practice, you have achieved in only 3 days.” (T-11.15) Guru’s blessings can reduce 14600 days of hard work to only 3 days. I liked this clipping so much that I not only watched this whole movie but also decided to write a post on it.  

My personal experience is also similar to it. I have committed thousands of mistakes while chanting and hundreds of errors while meditating. Many times I am not able to pronounce the mantra correctly, numerous times I am devoid of bhakti (devotion), several times I am not able to focus on the deity even then just because of Guru’s blessings I have divine experiences in my meditation.

On this auspicious occasion of Guru Purnima I want to express my gratitude to my Guru by humbly saying, “Thankyou ji!”

Photo – Sketch is drawn by me.

The hungry babies

While cooking, a morsel fell on the floor; I picked that up, opened the window and put it on the windowsill thinking that some bird would take it away. I turned back and started cleaning cooking range and slab. I went to the sink to clean the scrubber. The sink was located close to window. I looked out. I found a baby squirrel relishing that morsel. I was happy to see it. The tiny hands were holding the foodstuff very delicately and were chewing it extremely slowly as if it did not know how to feed itself. May be it was its first meal, outside the nest and out of the mother’s custody!

In the evening, I put peanuts on the windowsill. And I was amazed to see that two baby squirrels were feeding themselves. The explorer baby squirrel must have called its sibling to enjoy novel food items. I increased my frequency of keeping various food bits and pieces on the windowsill. As soon as I kept any edible item on windowsill, I did not know how but they came to know and would quickly come to the windowsill to feed themselves.

Two days went by, watching two of them growing up. In the evening, I cut the fresh watermelon for myself. I took out the seeds and put them on the windowsill for the babies. When I returned to the kitchen after feasting on melon, to my utmost surprise there were three babies on the sill. One was searching with its nose, which seed to be picked up, the other one was holding the seed in its tiny hands, removing outer cover with its recently grown sharp teeth to enjoy the soft nut inside and the third one was bewildering what to do. It could not decide, as it was the newcomer, smallest and fragile. The most active baby came near, put its mouth close to the weakest sibling as if teaching how to hold, bite, chew and swallow food. And the next moment, little one was copying its healthy siblings. Suddenly, mother squirrel came jumping on each one of them, quickly filled her mouth with seeds and hopped back. After all she was a mother, she had to stock for the rainy days!

The three hungry babies loved to eat peanuts, pomegranate seeds, watermelon seeds and muskmelon seeds. But most of the time, they were so hungry that they could just eat anything and everything!

The day before yesterday, I put some water in the bowl for them, as it was too hot outside.

Pic : Although it was very difficult to click them but somehow I managed to click one of the three babies.
P.S. - This post is now a featured post on os.me. You can read and comment on my post at https://os.me/short-stories/the-hungry-babies/

Love thy nature

Place : Grass Farm Nursery, Jaipur

When I saw all the employees of the nursery are busy with other clients, I knelt down to take out the packed saplings from the seedbed. As I was about to take out the sapling, a heard a blurred and harsh voice. I looked up. An old man with not so pleasing look with his right hand close to his chest tried to stop me with his not so distinct voice along with gestures with only left hand. As he speaks, saliva was dripping from his mouth. He was wearing thick glasses on his bulging eyes. I tried to understand what he was saying to me. When he repeated it three four times, I came to know that he was offering help.

“Let me do it for you!”

I was a bit hesitant whether he would be able to do it correctly physically as the packed saplings were quite heavy and mentally as they needed to be counted. He started doing it. When I noticed that he was doing the job perfectly, I stepped back.

He helped me in collecting different types of saplings in varied numbers. He also showed me some of the fully-grown trees in the nursery of those varieties that I selected.

He accompanied me to the checking and payment desk. The officer there told me, that this very special person was a retired person from the same department and he regularly visited nursery even after his retirement and work honorary, as he loved to live in greenery.

I was amazed to see his love for nature!