Elections – voting has begun in UP.
Rohit’s India Team has begun well.
NABARD has launched a new programme ‘JIVA’ (meaning “a living being or entity imbued with a life force”) at 1500 hrs on 9 February, in virtual mode. JIVA builds on NABARD’s earlier watershed and wadi programmes in the ecologically fragile and rainfed areas of the country covering 25 lakh hectares so far. It introduces agroecological approaches in Natural Resource Management (NRM) for stimulating a long-term, wider scale transformation of food and agriculture systems in these areas and for ensuring sustainability of interventions made so far.
Legend Lata Didi – (Hema) Lata Mangeshkar, 92 (b 28 Sep 1929, d 6 Feb 2022), succumbed to CoVID 19, is now immortal. Bharat Ratna, Nightingale of India. 36 languages, 80 years, 30,000-50,000 songs. Many immortal tunes. Ae Mere Watan Ki Logon; Ajeeb Daastan Hai Ye; Phir Jeeni Ki Tamanna; Pyar Kiya to Darna Kya; Allah Tero Naam; Prabhu Tero Naam; Aaj Phir Jeene Ki Tamanna Hai; Gata Rahe Mere dil; Satyam Shivam Sundaram; Wada Na Tod; Nidura Po Nidural Po (Telugu).
Apart from singing, she has been: Music Director, Actor, Producer.
216 ft panchaloha open statue of Ramanuja, referred as Samataa Murthy, (Statue of Equality/Equity) has been erected by China Jeeyar with donations-at-large, at Sriram Nagar, Muchintal, Shamshabad-Hyderabad, and dedicated to the nation/humanity, by Narendra Modi on 5 February. A complimentary 120 kg gold statue is inside, in addition. It is Ramanuja’s sahasrabdi. Ramanuja, Śrī Rāmānujāchārya, is also referred as: Udaiyavar, Yatirāja, Bhashyakaar, Godāgraj, Thiruppavai Jeeyar, Emberumānār and Lakshmana Muni. Ramanuja (1017-1137) is a most important Sri Vaishnavite who significantly influenced Bhakti Movement. Devotion to a personal God, whatever that means, is a means to spiritual liberation, the joy. This is vishishtaadvaita of Ramanuja. Other two most influential vedantic philosophies include – advaita of Adi Sankara, and dvaita of Madhvacharya.
The Samata Murthy, we guess/hope, reminds us to have a resolve to fight for and bring positive discrimination and social justice to the fore for all the marginalized and oppressed, on one pretext or the other, amongst us. In the least, it will be a 45-acre tourist attraction near Hyderabad.
ICRISAT celebrates its 50 years of being and is gearing up for sustainable and diversified production systems in semi-arid areas, to augment food security and nutrition security, and bio-fuels.
Came across: Tribute to Prof MK Prasad of Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad, who saved Silent Valley.
Government is proposing to amend NDDB Act. The amendments include: appointing an additional expert from private dairy industry as a director; limiting the term of the office of Chairman to three years, or up to the age of 65 years, and not more than two terms; supporting beyond cooperatives and cooperative sector; requiring Government approval for forming subsidiaries and transfer of share capital; and binding to directions from Government. At least, the last clause takes it out of the basic character of institution of national importance. These call for a comprehensive revisit before going ahead with them.
Indifference of the powerful, rich and elite to the problems of others around is the cruelty we cannot live with.
We are seeing and want to see – moving from addressing practical and strategic gender needs including changes in gender norms, to strengthening negotiating power of women/marginalised women in household, community, market and the state. Lenses of intersectionality (facing intersecting oppression, and oppression within the oppression and without) included. This means we – constantly analyse the context of change from gender, intersectional and rights lenses; address oppression and marginalization with these ‘gir’ lenses, and move to ‘gir’ action plans; intervene to strengthen the rights holders individually, institutionally and others to respond and address shifting intersectionality, with gir’ structures, metrics; have HR appropriately representing these identities at various levels including leadership, with ‘gir’ capacity and earmarked budgets for ‘gir’. Let us appreciate that growth is not at the cost of inclusion, equity and sustainability, that drive ‘gir’.
University Grants Commission, UGC got a new Chairman – M Jagdish Kumar. He moved from IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Delhi, JNU (as VC) to UGC. Jagdish has to implement New Education Policy in Higher Education in the country from 2022 onwards. He has handed over charge at JNU to Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit. She, a JNU alumna, is the first woman VC of JNU.
We need to shift focus of our education at various levels, beginning with school education. Can we move away from focusing on excessive cut-throat competition? Can we get into joy of learning, choices of learning and freedom of learning? Can we get out of limited retention, reproduction learning and testing centricity? Can we have the learning beyond material, towards augmenting inner strength and expanding inner vistas of human excellence? Can we transcend data, information towards improving knowledge, wisdom – analysis, appreciation, understanding, logic, arguments? Can we transcend success at any cost and failure to excellence? Can we transcend mental and emotional conditioning to freedom to think, create and expand? Can we go beyond cognitive skills to life skills that include skills to manage one-self and relate with other world of life, non-life? Can we transcend individual/personal victories to social consciousness, equity and actions? Can we transcend grabbing wealth to equitable wealth generation? Can we change this toxic ecosystem?
Can we remain excited, curious and ever willing to explore and experiment? This is the essence and purpose of education.
Can we walk confidently alone, and are we ready for togetherness, with life? Solitude takes us to better relationships and better choices. Let us take time and space for being in nature and reflecting, as often, and as long, as we can. Let us also appreciate that success^x leads to failure and failure^y to success, and this goes on. Therefore, joy has to be and is in the effort, full effort. The paradox of success is that the very causes/reasons that make us succeed, become the causes of failure later on. We may miss the clarity of purpose. We may miss the need for change, given the changed/changing context. Failure gives us humility and should deepen our motivation. The challenge is to learn and persevere, in failure. To let go and refocus, in success. We need to be humble to accept the truth that we do not know enough, and keep unlearning, learning and relearning. Can we?
Can we be inclusive, equitable and sustainable as we grow, as we excel, as we succeed?
Yes, we can. If we accept our simple truth. If we practice reflection, solitude, humility. If we are mindful, respectful. If we are conscious of what, how, and why. In the flow of N. For 7L.
Join us in the world of joyous yoga of excellence for useful coexistence – jayayoga for 7L.
Click here for a compilation of Yogakshemam updates.