Gandhiana-8: "Einstein on Gandhiji"

Grateful thanks to YouTube.

Gandhiana-7: "God is Truth, Life, Light, Love and the Supreme Good"

Grateful thanks to YouTube.

Gandhiana-6: "A Tribute to Mahatma Gandhi" by Satish Kumar

Resurgence editor and ecologist Satish Kumar emphasises the importance and relevance of Gandhi's message of non-violence.

Grateful thanks to Mr.Satish Kumar and YouTube.

Gandhiana-5: "His Triumph changed the World Forever"

Video Biographies-2: "Bill Gates"

This is a documentary from biography channel about Bill Gates biography.

For a detailed article on Bill Gates from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates

Grateful thanks to Bill Gates, YouTube and Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.

Gandhiana-4: "Nehru on Gandhiji"

What was his great power over the mind and heart of man due to? Ages to come will judge and we are too near him to assess the many facets of his extraordinarily rich personality. But even we realize that the dominating passion of his life was TRUTH. That truth led him to proclaim without ceasing that good ends can never be attained by evil methods, that the end itself is distorted if the method pursued is bad. That truth led him to confess publicly whenever he thought he had made a mistake - Himalayan errors he called some of his own mistakes. That truth led him to fight evil and untruth wherever he found them regardless of the consequences. That truth made he service of the poor and the dispossessed the passion of his life, for where there is inequality and discrimination and suppression, there is injustice and evil and untruth. And thus he became the beloved of all those who have suffered from social and political evils, and the great representative of humanity as it should be. Because of that truth in him, wherever he sat became a temple and where he trod was hallowed ground. - Jawaharlal Nehru

Video Biographies-1: "Tony Robbins Biography"

Listening to the 5-part biography of Anthony Robbins was a wonderful and inspiring experience. It made me so happy and I found myself shouting, jumping and dancing like a child while listening. The whole day I was full of energy and enthusiasm and was doing things which I have been postponing for long. It had a tonic effect on me.

Incidentally, I am already an admirer of Tony Robbins having read some of his great books like 'Unlimited Power' and 'Notes from a Friend' and have actually benefited by them.

People listen to his talks and attend his workshops with great interest. This personal development guru, behaviorist and highly successful writer of many best-sellers, who has popularized NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), is really a great and inspiring person.

I thought I should share this interesting video with others. Hence I am embedding this in my blog and hope whoever visits my blog, plays the video and listens to the presentation and benefit by it.

To learn more about Tony Robbins, a detailed article on him from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Robbins

I am grateful to Anthony Robbins, Biography.com, YouTube and Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.

In the News-9: "Pop Icon Michael Jackson dies"

The King of Pop died of cardiac arrest, reports say, which is a great shock to all his fans throughout the world. Wikipedia reports that at the time of death, he was scheduled to 50 concerts from July 2009 to March 2010, tickets for all of them already sold out.

Like most celebrities, Jackson was also hounded by the media and some of his mad followers. One is reminded of Elvis Presley, who also rose to the height of fame and fortune and died an untimely death. Probably they both had problem in coming to terms with their name and fame.

In fact, there is another link between the two of them. Jackson was married to a daughter of Elvis Presley, Lisa Marie Presley, who was a singer and song-writer. But the marriage failed within two years. Jackson had to go through many difficulties like accusations of child molestation, drug addiction etc.

One could only feel sorry for both of them for they definitely had their unique talent. May their souls rest in peace!

For detailed Wikipedia article on Michael Jackson:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jackson#2009:_Death

For detailed Wikipedia article on Elvis Presley:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Presley

Grateful thanks to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Honours and Awards-4: "Kalam Honoured!"

Dr A.P.J.Abdul Kalam has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws by Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland for his distinguished public service. At the honouring ceremony, the University's Vice-Chancellor, Dr Peter Gregson described Dr.Kalam as an outstanding world statesman, scientist, educator and visionary who had inspired millions in India and around the world.

In his reply, Dr Kalam called for pooling global resources for common good. He said that in today's borderless world, countries could not afford to remain isolated as problems affecting one country had implications for others also.

Dr Kalam said that he had noticed anxiety among youth on how to deal with a world devastated by conflict. But he expressed the belief that youth could do it. He called for imaginative leadership to bring people together and build a peaceful world.

Source: "You can do it, Kalam tells youth" by Special Correspondent, The Hindu, June 12, 2009.

Grateful thanks to The Hindu, India's National Newspaper.

Reminiscences-1: "Rabindranath Tagore"

What Rabindranath Tagore, Joseph Broz Tito, Gary Cooper, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and Eva Peron have in common? Well, they were all on born May 7; of course, the years are different. On this 7th day of May, I chose to reminisce about one of them, viz., Rabindranath Tagore.

My first introduction was to his novel, The Wreck. It was an abridged version meant for pre-university-level students. Somehow a copy came into my possession and loved it. Later I also saw a Tamil movie, based on that novel. I learn that the novel has been filmed into other languages like Hindi also. Much later, I borrowed a copy of Tagore’s “Gora” from the local library. I was fascinated by the novel. Later when I saw it displayed on a platform for sale, I jumped at the chance. So I possessed a copy of it also and could read it again. I remember to have underlined the lines most appealed to me. The journal in which I had jotted down has disappeared. Most of the quotes have disappeared from my memory. I remember at least one quote to the effect: "He who does not fight evil is also a wrong-dower; for it is he who is the cause of all evil in the world."

In my office, a few famous lines from Tagore’s Gitanjali and displayed prominently at the entrance, which I liked very much. They are:

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls; Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action--
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Beautiful lines.

On browsing I find, Project Gutenberg has many books of Tagore (full text). I am glad to furnish for the benefit of my visitors; they are as follows:

Tagore, Rabindranath, 1861-1941
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/t#a942

* Wikipedia
* Chitra, a play in one act (English)
* Creative Unity (English)
* The Crescent Moon (English) (as Translator)
* The Cycle of Spring (English)
* Fruit-Gathering (English)
* The Fugitive (English)
* The Gardener (English)
* Gitanjali (English)
* Glimpses of Bengal - Selected from the Letters of Sir Rabindranath Tagore (English)
* The Home and the World (English)
* The Hungry Stones and Other Stories (English)
* The King of the Dark Chamber (English)
* My Reminiscences (English)
* The Post Office (English)
* Sadhana : the realisation of life (English)
* Sadhana, the Realisation of Life (English)
* Songs of Kabir (English) (as Translator)
* Stray Birds (English)

In our Literary Study Circle at Karaikudi (which is defunct now), at one meeting Tagore’s short story, Post Office, was discussed. Prof.Palani Raghuladasan who initiated the discussion. I could feel how much the short story has touched him. It is a beautiful story. Full text of Post Office is available in Project Gutenberg and I invited readers to take a look at it.

Grateful thanks to Project Gutenberg and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.