Dharma --- Responding to the need of the Hour !!!

Often we speak of responsibility. What does it mean??? What does it signify???
In simple words, it means 'responding to the need of moment, moment to moment'. So today we need to respond to the call of uniting our country against the growing terrorism that threatens to tear us to pieces....our Integrity, our basic Values, our basic Structure!!!!

So let us start by understanding our National Flag....its Values, its Essence, what it Symbolizes....

Our National Flag has three colours. The top of the flag is Saffron, which symbolizes sacrifice. Every child in our country is taught the importance of sacrifice. Its considered to be a divine quality. Over the centuries, our country has been known to make selfless sacrifice for the upliftment of the masses, for the Values that we stand for, for the Valor that our country represents.
White symbolizes peace. We Indians are known to be a peace loving country. We have always welcomed & embraced people from all walks of life. Over centuries, invaders have come to our country with the sole purpose to plunder, ravage & go away, but then have stayed back to become an integral part of our country. They say that there is something about our soil & water that changes the heart of even the most hardened soul. That is why our country has people from diverse cultures & religion. The love & warmth with which we welcome our guests, makes them feel completely at home. We have been taught in our childhood : ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’.
Green symbolizes abundance. Abundance of righteousness, abundance of Love, abundance of food & shelter, abundance education & spirituality, abundance of everything that you can think of. This is best explained by our National Song, ‘Vande Mataram; Sujalam, Suphalam, Malayaja Sheetalam…..’ (Will write a separate article on this).
In between is the Ashoka Chakra which represents the wheel of Dharma. This teaches us to maintain our Dharma, our righteousness, our responsibilities.

Today, we need to vote for a person who is dignified, who has a personality, who has a long term vision. We need a lot of youth in politics. It is the youth, who will define our tomorrow. If you have to fight against the system you have to be in the system. If you want to set right the house, you have to enter the house. You have to enter and see where all the change is required. It cannot be done from outside. Violence is not the answer. We need to join hands together in rebuilding our past glory.
As a leader, we are not looking for a prime minister who is giving reservations to a particular caste and religion, to ensure vote banks. This is absolutely deplorable. A prime minister should be able to look at all with a sense of equality. He has to make efforts to bring everyone on one common platform. Voting must be made mandatory, along with the right to exercise Section 49-0 of the Constitution (read about this in my previous article).

There are around 600 districts in India. Out of that, about 205 are affected by the communist naxalites. In these areas, they only believe in violence. These are backward areas which have no industry or business. One of the main causes of poverty in these regions is due to the naxal violence. There is so much of fear around these places. Though their objective is to uplift rural people but the action is counter-productive. We have to open our eyes and ears and see how Russia and China have modified and progressed. Their existing system has changed the entire condition of their country and almost eliminated poverty.
The second point is lack of self confidence. When there is violence, there is lack of self-confidence. The rural Indian youth lacks self esteem and confidence. They are repeatedly being told that they are no good. This is coupled with very few options available to them to come forward. We need to provide them with a platform to perform & bolster their image. India is an agricultural based country & we will prosper only if our rural sector prospers.
The third point is the lack of useful education. A recent survey revealed that about 31% graduates are unemployed. As a recruiter myself, I believe that it’s not really a dearth of jobs, but on the contrary, in India we do not impart job oriented education. Most of you would remember one of the recent ads on TV from a popular Job Portal, “Caught in a wrong job? Apply now to….”. This leads to frustration & probably prompts individuals to look into unethical & wrong means of income which in turn leads to more corruption.
This brings us to the fourth point that is the lack of spiritual education!!! There was a time when people would conduct Satsangs every evening and Bhagwat Gita chanting would be an integral part of it. Today, people are forgetting spiritual education in the land of spiritualism. Spiritual education will bring peace (both internally & externally) & that will lead us to prosperity. We need to inspire the youth of this country to imbibe spirituality in their life. They need to know that Spirit is the essence of Life & to live in the awareness of the Spirit & its teachings, is Spirituality.
The fifth point is that people should be freed from the menace of prostitution, alcoholism, & tobacco. A recent survey shows that, in the villages, more than 60% of income is spent on alcohol & tobacco by men. A lot of the hard earned money goes down the drain in brothels, in gambling & other related vices. If properly guided, the people in the villages have enough income to sustain a healthy & prosperous life. But vices like gambling, alcohol, tobacco & prostitution etc consume hard earned money, & leave the household to poverty. This creates domestic violence. This further leads to unrest & people resort to other forms of violence & cruelty. It’s a vicious cycle, which ends in destruction & chaos.

The Art of Living runs a rural development program called the 5H. This covers Health, Hygiene, Home for the Homeless, Harmony in Diversity & Human Values. Under this initiative, the organization has adopted more than 25000 villages across the country, where volunteers are working closely with the youth of the villages to create model villages. For more details do visit www.artofliving.org

The above article is inspired by the words of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who started a movement called The Art of Living, an organization, dedicated to bringing peace & harmony across the whole world, building together a seamless One World Family……”Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.”