Essays

Meditation is attracting people in a big way these days. People often ask about the benefits of meditation. "What are we going to gain in meditation? Does meditation give us wealth and prosperity, besides peace of mind?'' The answer to such questions is: No, meditation is not something mundane or utilitarian; it is not for business or for material gains. If you are hankering for material gains through meditation, you will become victims of those who sell all kinds of package in the name of meditation. Sadly, large-scale businesses run by unenlightened people are flourishing all over the country. An enlightened person will never promise any material gain in this world or spiritual gain in the next world. Meditation is transcendental. It can be done in the marketplace but it does not belong to the marketplace. Rather, it is a sharing of peace and bliss by those who have attained more...

There goes an old saying "To be a champion, fight one more round," which is very true. Only tireless pursuit can create winners. Success comes to those who try and never tire. To be a winner, one has to learn to strive with perseverance, courage and determination. Success cannot be achieved in a day. The road to success is not an easy one. It is narrow, rough, patchy, long and full of hurdles and obstacles. One has to learn to overcome the hurdles and obstacles to achieve the desired goal. A little failure does not matter. In reality, the path to success is strewn with failures, With each failure one gets closer to success and with each fall one rises higher It may seem paradoxical and contradictory to talk of failures and falls alongwith success and rising higher. But it is the very truth. Each failure brings one closer to more...

Biodiversity means "the variety of life on earth," It is the variability of all living organisms — including animal and plant species — the genes of all living organisms, and the terrestrial, aquatic and marine ecosystems of which they are part of. Thus, in essence, biodiversity represents all life. Biodiversity also includes the structure of the ecosystems and habitats that support essential living resources, including wildlife, fisheries and forests. It composes ecosystems that maintain oxygen in the air, enrich the soil, purify the water, protect against flood and regulate climate. Thus, it plays a great role in fulfilling basic human needs such as food, shelter, and medicine. India contains a great wealth of biological diversity in its forests, its wetlands and in its marine areas. The country is one of the mega biodiversity centres in the world and has two of the world's 18 'biodiversity hotspots', located in the Western more...

Introduction. India has four seasons. Winter is one of them. It lasts from the month of November to. In England winter is a bad time. Of course, some of the days of winter are very chilly and unpleasant in India also. Morning hours. In winter morning is the hardest time. The nights are long. So we wake up in the morning at 5 o'clock . But it is so cold that we do like to rise and   leave the beds. We cover ourselves with the quilt and remain lying comfortably on the warm bed. At last, we have to leave our beds and answer our natural, calls. The water is very cold all this lime. So we get fre.sh water from well or lap. But when we have washed ourselves, our hands become numb and we go to the fire place to warm our hands and other pans (if our more...

The time has just past six in the evening. It has been raining for almost three hours and the roads are wet, the pavements are wet and a lot of commuters are wet, Many are parked under the massive concrete shelter which is the new bus station. Buses plying on some routes are packed to capacity while on other routes, they have only a few passengers. Spread out over the passenger area are a large number of commuters. Some are holding umbrellas in their hands. Some are wearing raincoats while others are in varying degree of wetness. 1 can see weary faces sitting huddled-up on the few benches available in the bus shelter. A group of youngsters sit on the pavement. There is not a face that emits joy. Everybody is preoccupied with going home/ away from the wetness and the overpowering roar of the after-work crowd. I stand with more...

An intellectual is a person who relies on intellect rather than on emotion or feelings. His faculty of thinking is of a very high order. He seeks knowledge of a high order in his field. He is a rational to the hilt. He presents new ideas. Verily he represents the brain of society. Socrates, a Greek philosopher, preached the principle that knowledge is virtue. Knowledge is also power. Plato, another Greek philosopher, gave his people the idea of philosopher king's rule. He favored a government run by intellectuals and specialists.  Great intellectuals have worked for the welfare of the people. In India, we have the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House, comprising intellectuals representing different walks of life. Their expertise is made use of. Members of the Rajya Sabha deliberate with a view to prodding the government to take welfare measures for the welfare of the people. They give liberally of more...

All that glitters is definitely not gold. In reality, many a times it is the fake one that glitters more. Even that useless broken piece of a glass that can do nothing but rut through flesh and make it bleed will shine with great glory as the sun rays fall and dance upon its surface. But that reflection of prismatic colours do not change that wounding piece of glass into gold. It is often thus said with a touch of a warning that Appearance is always deceptive'. Thus we should never rely on outward manifestations and put up shows- Many a times people can put up false show of kindness, charity, love, respect and other kinds of virtues. People even get swayed by that artful pretence of such people. But time and trials are the greatest examiners. With time when trials knock at their door, such people start showing their more...

Some people are compulsive exhibitionists. You can find them almost anywhere—they would do anything to get noticed. At a wedding, they want to be the bridegroom and at a funeral, the corpse. Julius Caesar, who was an incorrigible egotist, was kidnapped when he was a child. He was held for a ransom of 11,000 gold pieces. Horrified, he exhorted his captors to raise the ransom amount to 2, 50,000 gold pieces so as to preserve his prestige. William Shakespeare said: "Praises are my wages." Agreed American writer Mark Twain: "I can live an entire week on compliments alone." More recently, musician Eiton John said: "Even if I had only a single finger left, I would play the piano to be loved." There are very few people who do not like being the centre of attraction. They are the ones who are able to derive their nourishment from within. They are more...

Global Warming as the term itself suggests is the consistent rise in the overall average temperature of the planet. The greenhouse gases which cause pollution are also responsible for Global Warming- In fact, the worst effect of air pollution is the adverse effects on the climate. Industries which produce gases such as Carbon dioxide, Methane, Nitrous oxide, Carbon tetrachloride etc get accumulated in air, These gases are also known as greenhouse gases. They are responsible for the rise in temperature which scientists and environmentalists fear can bring about long-term changes in the climatic conditions of the earth. These changes can, in fact, turn harmful for survival of life on the earth and hence, something concrete should be done about them. These gases are responsible for gradual rise in temperature far beyond the normal limits needed for survival. The rise in temperature even by 1"C melts the snow at the poles more...

In school we compete for better grades. In sports and games we try our best to beat the other competitor. The commercial world is an ongoing race for more profits. Countries try to subjugate other countries by means of force. As a whole, the human race has engaged itself in a mighty round of competition. No one is spared. The winner reaps his gains, the loser withdraws to compete another day. Competition is very much a part of modern life. In every sphere of human activity, there is some form of competition going on be it to a larger or smaller degree. Some of us cope well. There are some who fall by the side. Yet there are some who shun competition, preferring not to be get involved. For those who do well, competition allows them to develop and realize their abilities. Record-breaking feats by athletes make us realize that more...