Keep gazing forward, not backward

Stop looking toward your unpleasant past. Keeping gazing forward. Whatever has happened has already happened. What is in store in the future is all that matters. You might have committed mistakes, done blunders; you were not fully responsible for all that. Your heredity, upbringing and upbringing made you do all that. Even otherwise, what is the use in crying over the split milk?Who does not have his share of these anyway?


Let us not regret by looking back; nobody has ever gained anything by doing so. It is a sheer waste of energy and it may endanger your future too. Forget that which is behind. It cannot bind you nor influence your future without your permission. Your days to come will not be rosy if you are tormented by the agony of the past. You put a full stop to all that. Remember only your pleasant experiences, wins and your successes.

Stop trying to change your past.  There is no use; it will always remain the same. The more you turn your attention to the past the less will be the energy left to look, plan and work for the future. The dreams of the future are not built on the foundation of the events of the past.  keep the memories of the empowering and discard the unwanted ones by the wayside.

If you are unhappy or sad let it not be on something that has already happened. You are wasting your time as you have no control on the bygone events. If you live in your past you will kill your future. No one can build a bright future if he keeps thinking about his past misfortunes, blunders, wasted or missed opportunities. You start building your future right from now relying on your will, intense desire and with the conviction of the goals you have set. 

Origin of religions

Religion and magic are as old as man. They are inseparable. Religious elements cannot be preserved like fossil throughout time and hence we cannot arrive at correct statements regarding their exact origins. Things connected with religion like graves, temples, cult objects, statues, engravings, paintings are all products of later civilizations and not of the early man. We may be never able to say that the early primitive people practiced these ceremonies or performed such and such magical rites. 

We cannot precisely know where and how the various religious beliefs and magical performances emerged.  But there is no reason to believe that the earliest man received his religious notions through  a primary revelation from any god.  Primitive man’s religion is pervaded with animistic, magical and mythological beliefs. 

Manism, the cult of the dead contributed largely to the growth of religious practices.   The worship of the dead chiefs and tribal ancestors is found sporadically in all parts of the world. Scholars like H. Spencer even claimed manism to be true origin of religions. Spirits could take possession of living things. The primitives thought that their innumerable ills were caused by spirits. They devised a  number of ways- always magical in nature- to get assistance from these spirits. Ordinary needs of today were extraordinary for the prehistoric man and they applied extra-ordinary means for fulfilling them. Magic and religion of one kind or another is undoubtedly present among all the primitive communities of the pre-historic time. Belief in superpowers is almost universal among them.

The primitive man was also taken up by surprise by the persons and things they experienced in dreams and temporary hallucinations. The absence of vitality in a dead person and dreams of the dead  resulted in the beliefs of spirits and after life. Later on even inanimate objects were thought as having spirits.It was Edward B. Taylor who pointed out that the prehistoric people believed in  animism(a belief in intangible or non-material beings which can be souls, ghost, spirits or monsters). Thus began the cult of the dead man. Temporary survival of the ghost souls of the recently deceased are almost universally believed. There are endless varieties of beliefs regarding the sojourn of the departed souls.

At the earliest stages of man’s descent from the mammals, there was neither religious concepts nor magical rites. As powers of reflection, memory and insight gradually developed, man began to seek causes for the happenings around him.   Terrible nature phenomenon like thunder and lightening, earthquakes, flood and storms dismayed him.  As they were incomprehensible, beyond the reach of man, they were deified and early man tried to please them for favours and appease them to ward off dangers. This eventually created thousands of gods, some of them assuming  supremacy. Just like powerful emperors started ruling kings and the lords, more powerful deities emerged and later an all-powerful god was conceived much later.  

In an attempt to control the mysterious forces of nature man resorted to a number of ways inadequate to that end and these are termed magic. Every religion is pervaded with  a lot of magical practices. Every religion is an elaborate, complex, many faceted culture interwoven with magical ceremonies and meaningless rituals. 

How to improve your memory and brain?

1. understand that your brain and memory is good. When you think they are poor, they will respond to you accordingly. It is just like when you believe a person is bad he behaves to you in a bad way. Everyone's brain is good in some way; they are never bad. Thinking makes it so. You were given a good brain when you were born and it will ever remain ever so unless you make it bad thinking bad about it or without exercising it properly. Stop saying to yourself or others your memory is bad. 
2. Have strong, high aims and go after them. Your memory and brain always seem to function better when you command it to do so. Pursuing a high goal is in effect a command to your brain to function better.
3. You need relaxation for these to function at optimum levels. Tension decreases their efficiencies. Regular physical exercise, spending time with one's family and listening to soothing music will relax brain. If one can be in  a relaxed state his efficiency goes up.
4. Shut the door to the past. All of us have had our share share of bad past. But there is no point in crying over the split milk. Bury the unpleasant past. You were not responsible for them as your upbringing and early childhood environment influenced you to do blunders. But they are dead and gone.
5. Help others, rub off a tear, help bring a smile.  If you hold a grudge againts others, if you dislike someone, if you lie, if you spread false rumours or if you feel jealous or greedy you finer faculties may not reach their full potency.
6. Sufficient sleep: a human brain requires 8 hours' rest in a 24 hour cycle. If you sleep less or more it will adversely affect it. If you sleep less, they will be stored as 'sleep debt' and one will tend to doze off when he is trying to concentrate.
7. Memory works better when you follow your biorhythm. You will have then a particular time for sleep,play study and work. If you try to learn during the normal sleeping time, memory my not be at its best.
8. Enjoy what you do or better do what you enjoy. If what you do is something you enjoy your memory and brain helps you do it in a better way;  remember the reverse is true too.
9. Do not eat too much nor too little.It is always better to follow the principle, 'eat less'. After a heavy meal the brain and memory functions less efficiently. Pangs of hunger will reduce your concentration too.
10 spend some time meditating regularly to improve the sharpness and concentration levels of your brain.    

Kerala a 'communist' state

Kerala is considered to be one of the first places where communists have come to power through free and fair elections. And what have they accomplished so far? Kerala has become one of the most industrially backward states of India. Keralites depend on the non-communist states like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh for anything and everything. Even  agricultural production has come down drastically.

Many  people have become more lazy and indolent. They do not want to do any hard work and  have become very arrogant and non co-operative as they are protected by the militant trade unions. They have been taught to clamor for their rights, benefits, allowances and better working conditions. They have also been groomed to shout slogans, go for processions shouting them for hours (even days) denouncing their employers or clamoring for their rights. They are not willing to relate wage increase with output. No one wants to be held accountable.

Kerala would become a state of beggars if the remittances of those working beyond its borders and abroad stopped sending money all on a sudden.   The educational priority of the former rulers and the institutions established by the foreign missionaries are churning out thousands of graduates and post graduates who go abroad, find jobs, earn and send money home.

The main work of the socialist governments here has been to collect taxes and distribute the same to the non-productive and ever increasing state employees. Almost 75% of the state revenue goes for the salaries, benefits and pension, many of whom do very little. These employees who are fed by the tax payers have to be bribed by the latter to get a birth certificate or any such document. Even a college teacher (who gets anything between Rs.75,000 and 100,000) is not accountable; there is hardly any review or assessment of his work. Holidays are aplenty: they are declared for flimsy reasons. The ‘Bandhs’ and ‘harthals’are in effect  holidays too. The government is not concerned with employment generation by increasing industries; everyone wants to get a government job as it ensures a comfortable  life with a good pay, life-long pension and plenty of holidays.  

Just like any other state which has embraced communism Kerala  has regressed too.   communism has stifled the  agricultural production of the state. Agrarian workers have become organized and no farmer can afford them. Further, the workers demand work by force –as practiced  by the head load laborers –and they will work at a price fixed by them! Nobody is willing to do the available work, and hence workers from other states flow in to do the manual labour.  Many Keralites prefer to be paid for no work if possible.   

Yes there has been some resemblance of a social change. The old landowners have been made poor peasants; the working class and the politicians have become rich and powerful. Industrialists are discouraged and even now profit making is considered a sin! How can any nation progress without employing the principles of free economy and industrial growth? In Kerala we find red flags flying aloft as soon as a land is acquired for an industry.  And the entrepreneurs wisely keep off. It is a sorry state of affairs indeed! 

Communism makes Kerala & Bengal poorer?

 There are only very few who still cling on to the discarded, totally proven wrong political philosophy, communism. Societies which embraced it have regressed and became poorer.  USSR. East Germany, East European countries, Cuba are all examples. The people of Kerala, Bengal and Tripura still believe in communism and hold the most repressive dictators like Stalin in high esteem. The sad paradox is that they do not understand the inherent flaws in the philosophy and the universal failure of the experiment.

 

 Russia (one sixth of the world then with abundant natural resources and little population) after embracing communism became one of the poorest nations in the world. A counter revolution was required to bring it back to the path modernization and growth.  Fidel Castro has, of late, realized his blunders and is trying to follow market economy principles to set right the blunders of communism. China, as everyone knows is following capitalist principles and free market economy. But communism is still the utopia for the people in the above Indian states.  

They are still bewitched by the ‘October revolution’ of Russia and the obsolete concepts of Lenin and Marx which have been proven wrong many times over. It is proved beyond doubt that the dictatorship of the proletariat would destroy any society. Kerala and West Bengal where communism has ruled for many years have gone industrially backward. The prevailing high level literacy was an offshoot of the efforts of rulers of the past and the missionaries and it has nothing to do with this renegade philosophy. It has made our workers lazy, and militant, clamoring only for their rights, more wages and benefits without linking it to production. Lockouts, agitations and strikes have chased away the industrialists and even existing industries. Without the remittances of those employed overseas Kerala would have become very poor. 

Social equality has been much better in any developed country than in a communist one .It is common knowledge that the ordinary Russians had to queue up for a piece of bread when the polit bureau members had all the conceivable luxury. Inequality is a law of nature. Economic and industrial progress can alone reduce poverty and misery and free market principles are the only known way to ensure the same. 

How to remember names?

We tend to forget the names of those we meet. We remember their faces  as visual images are retained better than auditory ones. There are many silly technique people use to show that they remember names. A leading politician used to ask those who came to meet him: ‘how is that old sickness of yours?’ The visitor gets impressed as he thinks the leader remembers everything about him. But who does not have an old sickness?

There are the others who ask: what is your first name?  (As if he knows the surname) This is only a trick and cannot be substitute for remembering names. To remember the name of a person, try to hear and comprehend it properly. Usually you do not even hear the name clearly nor is it registered. You have to grasp how the name is pronounced properly and how it is spelt. It would do be good if you ask him/her to spell it for you. It is also good to know the surnames and expansion of the initials.

For effective recollection repeat the name a few times you speak to him/her. Take interest in your new friend (try to know about his work, family, interests and so on) and gather as much information about him/her as possible. Let each question beginning with his name. For eg, ‘Stephen, can you please tell me something about your people?’ Make sure you look at him and associate his name with the features of his countenance.   

Another technique is to associate the features with something you already know. This is not very easy. You may connect a particular feature of his face to the thing represented by the meaning of the name, if it has one. Later, whenever you see him you will notice the feature and the thing associated with will come to your mind and the name will prop up just from nowhere. If you find the third one difficult, just follow verbatim the others and they will make you remember it without much problem.        

Spend quality time with your family

During these busy ages, many people do not find time to devote for their families. However busy you are, whatever amount of work you have carried home, you can, if you want, spend quality time with your family members.  There are CEOs and presidents of big corporations who plan their time so very well that they pay special attention to each member of the family. They bring home a lot of work almost every day. After all you are working so hard for your family.  You have to schedule your time at home so that each member gets your undivided attention.

Let us say your family consists of two young children and your partner besides yourself. You can spend say one hour (from 7pm to 8pm) with your kinds. Play with them , read them stories, help in their homework, draw with them and answer their questions. This is their time, you cannot attend to even calls (better off  even your mobile) and let them feel this one hour is fully for them. By eight they will have dinner and off they go to bed by eight thirty or so. Now you start your office work devote an hour and half. By this time both of you are ready for dinner and bed. Talk about what you both did on that day, the problems you faced and the hurdles you had to overcome. Talk about your kids, share your common concerns and worries and the plans for their future.

Sundays and holidays must be set apart fully for the family. You can plan a trip to picnic spot, go for a cinema, have family games and have the best food you can manage to get. After the day each one will be refreshed and ready for the work-week ahead. If any one of you feels, you do not have time for all these you are simply kidding. There is a lot of time at your disposal and by careful planning you will be able to spend more time with your family.