Swami Vivekananda, The Role Model and The Revolutionary Inspiration

Friends, Jan 12th occupies an important place in our Indian calendar. If there is one date which has become as significant as Jan 26th or Aug 15th or Oct 2nd for the people of India, it's Jan 12th. Over the last few years, Jan 12th is being celebrated as the National Youth Day in a grand way across the country, not just in cities but even in in the interior parts of the country. As the youth population in this country is growing, Jan 12th is becoming more and more relevant and more prominent.

Jan 12th of this year becomes even more special as the country is celebrating the 150th Jayanthi of the greatest patriot of this country, the great philosopher, the revolutionary saint, the intellectual, the leader of leaders, a strong inspiration for many movements and for many achievers, and the role model of the Indian Youth , Swami Vivekananda. If the country remembers Swami Vivekananda so much and If the country talks so much about him, I am sure that there should be something great about his contribution and his message which makes the countrymen his ardent followers.

 As someone who is one such ardent follower of Swami Vivekananda, If I am asked to summarize his contributions and his message to youth, I would summarize it in the following way:

 1. Swami Vivekananda through his deep understanding of India, Indian values and ethics and India's contribution to the world and humanity conquered the whole world through his historical Chicago speech at world's Parliament of Religions and made the whole world know what India stands for and brought a great pride for our mother land.

2. Swami Vivekananda awakened the countrymen from the ignorance with his strong magical oratory and inspired them to fight for relieving the mother India from the colonial rule and gave birth to the extraordinary fighting spirit of great leaders like Subash Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh etc.

3. Swamiji through his conviction and his imagination power asked Indians to put the 3 crore Gods whom we pray aside and asked them to start serving the Maa Bharath for 50th years and exactly after years India became Independent.

4. It's Swami Vivekananda for the first time in the history of colonial India who strongly opposed untouchability and slavery as a human crime and said one who practice untouchability is not a true Hindu.

5. Vivekananda gave a new definition to religion and spirituality. He said religion is nothing but being Good and doing Good. He asked us to see Lord Shiva in a poor man and asked us to serve the poor man rather than spending huge amounts and time in rituals.

 6. Swamiji simplified and brought back the teachings of Vendanta and Upanishads to the common people through his simpler wordings and interesting illustrations. His explanation of Advaita Philosophy, that God is present everywhere both in you, me and everyone else and that one can manifest the Godliness only through a principled life has become an eye opener for many.

7. Swami Vivekananda emphasized the importance of science and education for Indians and advised Tata to invest in science and scientific research and Tata followed his advised and built Indian Institute of Science (IISc), which later on became the No 1 Science Institution of India.

8. Vivekananda initiated Rama Krishna Mission at Calcutta and dedicated the mission for the service of humanity which later on became a Pan Indian organization with extra ordinary service for human excellence and inspired lakhs of people to dedicate their lives for the country through its teachings and through its service.

9. Swami Vivekananda extensively promoted the idea that God is one and he can reached by different paths and he strongly opposed the conversions in the name of God to prove the superiority of religions and advised the religious organizations to channelize their efforts in making a Christian a better Christian, a Muslim a better Muslim and a Hindu and better Hindu rather than converting people from one religion to other religion.

10. Swami Vivekananda openly opposed the materialistic elements of western culture and while touring in Europe, he warned Europeans of their materialistic aspirations and said the Europe would collapse because of their quest for materialistic aspirations and Europe collapsed with two world wars.

11. Swamiji emphasized the women empowerment for the empowerment of society and encouraged women education. He inspired and encouraged Sister Nivedita to work for the empowerment of women and their education.

12. Swamiji asked the youth to channelise their complete energy towards their goals and asked them to reject anything weak as poison and emphasized the point that strength is life and with strength, they can win the whole world.

The above mentioned are some of the major milestones of Swamijis Life, his invaluable contributions and deeds for the country. His life itself is a great massage for all of us, his contributions are great pointers for what as a country we need to do, his remembrance itself is a great source of energy for all Indians. And that is the reason why we all are celebrating Jan 12th, Swami Vivekananda Jayanthi across the country in a grand way. My blog is my personal tribute on the occasion of 150th Jayanthi for what this great saint has contributed to the country and to me personally. If I am what I am today, If my thoughts are what they are today, it’s primarily because of the massive influence of Swami Vivekananda's ideology on my personality which I am very proud of. And It is true for many of us. And that's the reason why we call him "The Real Role Model and a True Revolutionary Inspiration".

Nirmaan Scholarship, a Navigator of Dreams

Most often, the best solutions emerge out of the worst experiences of a problem and Nirmaan Scholarship and Mentorship Program (NSMP) is one such solutions emerged from a painful experience. Friends, getting an admission at BITS Pilani was my dream as it was and is for many of us. Fortunately, I got an admission at Pilani in 2002 and I was asked to pay Rs 17,500 Semester tuition  fee and Rs 10,000 for admission fee along with another Rs 5,000 for mess advance to get an admission.

Rs 32,500 was a big amount for us at that time. It was the time when the drought for consecutive years has pushed the farming community into the mire of debts. It wasn't obviously affordable for my parents to gather such a big amount to get me an admission ay Pilani but in spite of all that, they have unturned every stone to make it happen. But they couldn't succeed. I approached most of the banks in my nearby locality and explained my case and requested for loans but they had nothing to offer me except their sympathies as we don't possess any lands or buildings or other assets in cities which we can offer them as a guarantee for the loan. We almost lost hopes that I would even see the gates of BITS and It's during that difficult time, one of our villagers named Venkataiah one of the close friends of my father understood our difficulties and my aspirations and whom I regard as my God, sold his own land and gave me Rs 28,000 because of which today I am writing this post today. He was not a well educated person. He also doesn't understand what an admission at BITS mean but what he understood was my aspiration to get good education and succeed in life. He was not even a rich person to do any philanthropy for us but he had that kind heart with which he sold an acre out of the three acres of land he had and helped me travel long miles from there.

It's that suffering that I have gone through when I had my ambitions but I didnt have enough money to even think of it and its that experience of how a kind heart of Venkataiah could help us realize my dreams compelled me to initiate a program like Nirmaan Scholarship and Mentorship Program to help the students like me who are in need of financial assistance to pursue the studies that they dream of. From day one when we started Nirmaan, It was a dream to make such an initiative which can help students who are meritorious but do not have sufficient money to pursue the studies that they dream for. And with God's grace, In 2008 we launched this program by providing scholarship of Rs 8,000 each to 8 students. From then onwards, the program has grown exponentially and this year we were able to provide 63 scholarships of Rs 10,000 each. In total, till date we were able to award around 180 scholarships with approximately Rs 17 Lakhs. 

               

Once a student is selected through a merit cum need basis for the scholarship, Nirmaan provides scholarship to the student till the completion of his/her studies. As a part of NSMP, we not only provide financial assistance but we also provide mentorship by which we try to impart skills that are required to succeed in placement interviews and in life. We conduct one skill building session every year for all the scholars and we also assign each student a person from the corporate world as a mentor who will be constantly in contact with students and mentor them. Around 25 students who received Nirmaan scholarship have graduated till now and out of them around 90% of the students are placed and are currently working for prestigious MNCs like Infosys, Wipro, TCs etc. The best success for the program was felt when some of the Nirmaan scholars after their graduation approached us and came forward to contribute back to the program to help the students like them.

The program has been so successful in terms of meeting its objective primarily because of the generous contributions from the donors and secondly because of the passion and the dedication of people like Varun, Naresh, Puch, Mayur, Sridhar, Tejaswini and many other dedicated soldiers of Nirmaan in the past. And currently the project is led by a new passionate team comprising of Chethan, Rajesh, Ravindar, Naresh, Rudra Verma, Sagar, Sharath, Meena and many other volunteers who want to direct the program to a level where it can help more and more number of students with diverse needs and to realize their dreams through both financial support and through mentorship.

I am sure that the NSMP team can succeed in its efforts only with a greater participation and generous contributions from people around us. After going through this blog post, I am sure you would be compelled to take part in NSMP and would like to know ways to do so. The two major ways in which you take part in program are: 1. Monetary contributions for the scholarships. 2. Be in regular contact with one of our scholars and mentor him/her. Why to wait then? Please contact either me at rakesh.anugula@gmail.com, +91-9686036488 or Chethan at murarichethan@gmail.com, +91-9731821003 to take part in this noble cause.

      SPONSOR A SCHOLARSHIP, SHAPE A STUDENT'S FUTURE

Educate is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

Let Society be a Part and Parcel of Our New Year Resolutions

If there is something in this world that keeps moving all the time, that is nothing else but TIME. As we grow, we see old years passing by and new years coming into our lives. And it's always our hope and wish that new year brings us happiness, peace and prosperity. This is what almost everybody believes in. What we sometimes fail to understand is one cannot live a peaceful and a happy live unless the society around us is happy and peaceful. As human beings we are social and hence the society determines standards of our lives to some extent or the other.

Along with the personal goals and wishes that everyone likes to aim for in a new year, unless one takes up resolutions that makes society and the nation a part and parcel of their resolutions and goals, the years keep passing, and our hope of peace and happiness remain as a hope and nothing changes except the mere numeric year. I am sure we all do not want 2013 to be a mere numeric year for us in our lives but we want 2013 as an year that brings a changes in our lives. And as I said, the real happiness can be experienced only when the whole society around us experiences happiness. Let's resolve to undertake the following in 2013:

1. I will spend time and resources for serving the poor, downtrodden, old and those handicapped by physical and mental challenges to what ever least extent that I am capable of.
2. I will cast my vote in every election that comes in my constituency be it local, state or national elections.
3. I will not go by what media says but I will consider what media says and go by my own judgement and come to an opinion on any issue.
4. I will not get involved in any kind of corruption that is possible either as a giver or a taker
5. I will respect all the fellow beings and women as our family members and strengthen India's culture of treating everyone as a part of our own family. "Vasudaiva kutumbakam"
6. I will execute all my fundamental duties such as paying taxes, keeping my surroundings clean and neat, protecting public property etc.
7. I will stand up and question any Government authority when I find them not doing their job or when they behave carelessly with the citizens.
8. I will do my bit in protecting our Indian culture, arts and folk which we are proud of and which makes us very unique in the world and I will strongly protest the westernization of our culture.
9. I will keep reading good literature of at least 1 to 2 pages everyday and learn and live by the good thoughts and values
10. I will live by the attitude of "Nation First and Self Last"

I am sure that the above 10 things are not sufficient enough to make our society a very happy and prosperous one but I am sure you would agree with me that if all of us can follow at least the above mentioned ones, we can see 2013 as an year of Change.

Be the change that you wish to see in the world. - Mahatma Gandhi

Telangana, a subject of political convenience for political parties

Blogging has been the best way of expressing my thoughts and views on several interesting socio-political and economic issues. My blogs have not only given me an opportunity to speak up on different issues but also they gave me a chance to keep myself updated with different perspectives on same issues through the interesting comments made by visitors of this blog.

I am happy that I am back to my blogging business. Had it been a few days back, I would have chosen the topic that everyone likes i.e, Modi, the man of Media :) Or had it been two days back, I would have chosen to talk about the God of Cricket Sachin and his retirement to ODIs. But since I have started today, I thought I will blog on Telangana all party meeting that's being convened tomorrow at Delhi by the central Govt.

This meeting at Delhi is so interesting and so significant for us that one can see all kinds of cheap politics that political parties can play with emotional and sensitive issues. The congress party which is a ruling party both at the state and the center and also as the party which invited all the recognized political parties of Andhra Pradesh for the meeting has no clear stand on Telangana. They try to make Telangana matter so complex and so never ending that they invite two members from each party so that they can fool people of both regions by expressing two different opinions which they think would please people from both the regions. The Congress party thinks that this is a great solution that they offer for the most intriguing problem. They think this is a great strategy that emerges out of the 120 years of long political experience of Congress. And they think that carry the legacy of Ambedkar and Indira Gandhi in decision making. The best part of the whole episode is Mr Shinde says he has casually convened the all party meeting to understand the issues and the views. Is he not aware of Chidambaram's dec 9th statement inside and outside parliament? Is he not aware of the Justice Shri Krishna's committee and its deep dive analysis and recommendations? Isn't the congress aware of public opinion that's expressed through various bypolls that happened in Telangana? Isnt the congress aware of the political stands of various political parties? Why should the Home Minister causally convene a meeting of such sort on such a sensitive issue for which thousands of youth have put their lives. If they are so serious in showing a solution, let them first have their stand clear before they ask for an opinion from other parties.

It's not just congress which plays this game of undermining the sentiments of people but its the same case with all major political parties including TRS which calls itself a party of people's movement. The TDP which played a spoiler role when Chidamabaramji aanounced the formation of Telangana, says that they too are in support of Telangana. What a joke? And it thinks that people are convinced with their stand. YSRCP, the party that emerged with altogether a different kind of ideology says they too respect the sentiments of people of Telangana people and they too would express an opinion respecting the sentiments of people of Telangana. Do the people of telangana forget that its president Jagan shouted slogans against Telangana with a placard opposing Telangana in the Lok Sabha. The TRS which believes that its the only party which has been with the people of Telangana all along the way says the meeting is useless. If it is so, what's the action plan that it has to achieve the goal? If the meeting is so useless,  then why doesn't KCR register a strong protest with the central Government. Has he uttered at least a single word on the PM and Soniaji for their carelessness in resolving the issue?

Telangana by and large has become the matter of politicial convenience for all the major political parties of Andhra Pradesh including the TRS. Power may come and go, one may win and lose but in a democracy, the aspirations and the dreams of people occupies the highest position in the agenda of political parties is what the architect of our constitution, Dr Ambedkar said. He also said the constitution gives the full power to the parliament to act in accordance with the dreams of people. Neither the political parties nor the Parliament seems to do justice to the spirit of our constitution. If that's the case, I think its high time for people of Telangana, organisations and the leaders leading the movement to rethink their strategy. It's ime to think if they want to put political parties in forefront of the movement. Its time for them to look forward for an alternative parliament which can act. Then alone the long aspiration and dream of people of Telangana may get realized, Then alone the souls of hundreds of martyrs of the movement would rest in peace. Then alone a solution can emerge for the most intriguing problem that has paralyzed the whole state for last 3 years.

Vivekananda Youth Convention at Warangal

Youth life is the most precious part of the life. It's the best time one passes through. The way in which we utilize this period will decide the nature of coming years that lie ahead of us. Our happiness, our success, our achievements, our name and fame all depend upon the way in which we live in this youth period. Not just our indivisual happiness or success, but even the country's success in the future will depend upon how we conduct ourselves during this age.

The most special feature of this age is that we can mould ourselves physically, mentally and spirituality in the way we want. We possess all the required energy and enthusiasm required for that. This is best articulated by none other than our youth Icon and the greatest patriot of this country Swami Vivekananda.

The teachings of Swamiji are most relevant for the youth specially in this current scenario when the youth is in a dilemma not understanding how to channelise their energy in a right purpose, how to keep themselves away from several distractions brought by westernization and globalisation. Keeping this in mind, a number of organizations including the Government of India and Rama Krishna Math are organising several youth conventions across the country on the eve of 150th birthday of Swami Vivekananda to take his message to the youth.

The youth convention with around 10,000 students organised by Rama Krishna Seva Samithi at Arts College grounds at Warangal is one such program in the recent past. Swamijis from Rama Krishna missions from across the country travelled to Warangal to pass on Vivekananda's message to the youth and humanity. Gujjula Narsaiah, renowned educationist and my mentor has chaired the program while Prabhuji, the coordinator of Rama Krishna Seva Samithi has been the organising secretary of the program. It is one of the biggest mass programs that I have ever been part of. India needs more and more such programs in every nook and corner for it to come closer to becoming a truly global leader.

Pilani, An Unforgettable Journey

Pilani, by its unique culture, lifestyle and values occupies a special place in any BITSian life. It leaves an undelible impression on shaping up the mindset and personality of a BITSian. Post Pilani also, Pilani continues to be a source of inpiration, a source of freindships and a source of values. It's a privilege and exciting experience for any BITSian to go back to the campus and get reminded of the place that has taught us what life is all about, to get reminded of the passions that we discovered in ourselves, the freindships that we built, finally the fun we had. I along with Chethan, Ravindar, Mohan were fortunate enough to experience one such trip to Pilani.

Rounds within the campus, interaction with the BITSians, discissions with Nirmaanites, meetings with profs, shikanji and khela rabdi at Redis, lacha session at ANC, fun session at Nuthan, Chai at IC took us back to good old Pilani days. All in all, it was a wonderful and refreshing trip.

School Building Inauguration at Akividu and Siddapuram

Education is the foundation for any society to progress and prosper. This is one program that's planned in that direction by Sagar in his home town in West Godavari with the help from Two cents of Hope. Following are few pics of the school buildings inauguration programs that I have attended at Akividu and Siddapuram villages of West Godavari.

In Akividu meeting, I spoke about how great people like Vishweraya, Ambedkar etc. have succeeded in life inspite of their challenging backgrounds and how they have contributed to the nation in their lifetime. I tried to fill inspiration in them by providing such examples that one can achieve great hieghts in one's life if one has a passion and if one works hard towards that passion.

In Siddapuram, I spoke about corruption, the root cause and some measures through which each one of us can participate in eradicating corruption. I also spoke how we as a nation are losing our uniqueness by ignoring and abusing our own culture and values and by blindly westernising ourselves. I said we as a Nation need to work on these two issues if we have to progress and prosper towards becoming a supreme power.