May 2021

LITERARY DIGEST www.literarydigest.in | MARCH 2021 | VOL # 2 - ISSUE 03

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW Meet Col DS Cheema (Retd.)

POETRY Hindi & Urdu from Meenaxee’s pen

FEATURE More than Fifty Shades of Grey

MARCH ISSUE Cover photo by: AMAN SIDHU INSIDE: PLANTS LOVE CINNAMON

BOOK REVIEW BY SUPARNA THE CAPSULE WARDROBE LIFE - A GIFT OF GOD GURU-SHISHYA PARAMPARA

The FOUNDERS SAGUNA JAIN She started her career with the ‘Times of India’ way back in 1992, but soon moved to Chandigarh, where she started teaching journalism in the Deptt of Mass Communication, Panjab University. Went on to own and manage the first event management company in the ‘city beautiful’ called Event it Right! Then she turned a consultant for events, business development & media. Fundamentals Consultancy Group, her consultancy firm in association with her new venture Intyoutive, that she is a partner in, works on three verticals - design and publish inhouse magazines, offer consultancy to start ups and organise literary workshops and events. Daily post, one of the newspapers that she was a consultant with carried her weekly column on parenting for over five years. A mother to two boys, aged 23 and 20, Saguna is an ardent golfer and believes in the simple mantra - we all live and learn!!!

HARDEEP S. CHANDPURI He is a media professional with a keen interest in the ‘written word’ and started writing weekly columns for ‘The Tribune’, called ‘Popthrob’ and ‘Jukebox’ while still in college, which were a huge hit with the youth. He completed his Masters in Mass Communication from Panjab University, Chandigarh. After studying in Australia, USA & Canada, he moved back to India in 2001 and launched ‘Radio Buzz’ in the year 2002. He is a renowned broadcaster and trainer having hosted more than 8000 radio shows in India and abroad. He is often credited for revolutionising the radio scene in North India. A proud Limca Record Holder, for his brand ‘Academy of Broadcasting’ he is also the Founder of Ferntree Publishing, the Gen Secy of Chandigarh Literary Society and coFounder of Inkspire. He is also the Co-Founder of BalleBolly which is India’s first print magazine for the Punjabi film and music industry.

SHONA SINGH She is a Masters in Journalism from the University of Westminster, London and also a holder of a Diploma in Freelance Journalism from UK. She did her schooling from Convent of Jesus and Mary, Simla. She has had an exceptional career in media, starting out with the ‘Indian Express’ and as a golf columnist for the ‘Financial Express’, New Delhi and is currently a special golf correspondent for ‘The Tribune’. An experienced golfer and a regular contributor to ‘Golf Digest’, she also extensively covered golf in Europe for the ‘Golfing Yours’. Her passion for writing and golf also led to regular contributions while travelling on the Asian Tour. A Press Officer at the IMG run Indian Open and BILT Open, India's biggest professional golf tournaments, she used her vast experience to set up the media office of the players’ initiated Professional Golf Tour of India.

CONTENTS 04 Author Interview

12 06

Book Review

Meenaxee Raj’s exquisite poetry

13 07 More than Fifty Shades of Grey

Punjabi@

14 Capsule Wardrobe Conundrum

09 Plants love Cinnamon

15 Life - One time gift of God

11 Abir’s Photography

19 Guru Shishya Parampara

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“

The youth are not actually ‘useless’ and careless’, in fact, they are used less and cared less by us.....

Author Interview:

Col DS Cheema (Retd.)

I am a small-town man, originally from Punjab, United India. I did my schooling from a local school and was placed third in Panjab University in the matriculation examination in 1958. Went to DAV College, Amritsar, from where after passing F.Sc. examination, I was selected for a five-year integrated program in Metallurgical Engineering at IIT , Kanpur.

However, when I got selected for IMA , preferred to join it in 1963.

The importance of education was imparted at an early age to us as my father was the Principal of a Higher Secondary School and a well-known educationist from the early 50s to late 60s.

What were the kind of books that you read in your early years?

I grew up reading Readers Digest and The Tribune, which were subscribed to by my father. I have read novels

by Nanak Singh, poetry of Amrita Pritam, essays of Gurbax Singh Preetlari and some poems of greats like Bhai Vir Singh and Prof Mohan Singh. I passed Matriculation and FSc with Hindi as elective subjects and hence was impressed with the writings of Maha Devi Verma, Jaya Shankar Prasad and Ramdhari Singh Dinkar. Later, when my elder brother joined MA English at DAV College, Hoshiarpur, I got chance to read his books of English literature. I must accept, I was more influenced

by Keats, Milton and Shelley, the poets of romance, and was bored by the likes of greats such as Shakespeare, Somerset Maugham, Dickens etc.

What was the idea behind writing this book?

The theme of the book is that though the youth are the most important and powerful national asset and are the trustees of our posterity, yet they are perceived by many as ‘useless’ and ‘careless’, in fact, they are used less and cared less by us. The opportunities for the youth to realize their true potential have never been better and as such it is the responsibility of the policymakers, the education system and of course, the youth themselves to make the best of the wonderful, exciting and amazing world and help India achieve its rightful place on the global scene.

I see the best hope in the youth, India’s average age is just 37 with 88 crore young boys and girls below the age of 35 when the world is ageing. And soon we, as a nation would start ageing too. Imagine, what wonders can be achieved by young Indians whose population is more than that of the entire Europe, provided they are trained and developed the right way. Our education system is of course faulty as it produces unskilled and semi-skilled professionals.

Tell us about your earlier books?

My first book, How to get more done in less time? was published in 1999. Then I wrote Comprehensive Operations Research, a book of 923 pages published in 2005. The book Knowledge Management was a landmark in my

life as a writer, as it gave me some recognition (I was very happy to see the book in the library of LBSNAA) I have also written about Stress: Kill it before it kills you, Time Management, Awaken your true potential, Managing without MBA and two books on communication skills. In 2019, I released the book Impressions of A Restive Mind.

What were the challenges that came in the way while writing it?

Writing the present book was the most difficult task. There are so many self-help books that another of the same kind won’t be published by any publisher. Every self-management book claims to give ageless wisdom and simple doable methods of leading an exceptionally successful and happy life. My book is different as it provides many anecdotal evidence of what is being preached and also has simple methods of filling the seemingly impossible ‘knowing-doing’ gap.

smartphone has the ability to change the world, I mean for the better. However, the youth seems to be, unfocussed, restless and wanting to get everything quickly through shortcuts, you see like fast-food stuff. I am certain if they take the ageold path of hard work, sincerity and professional honesty, they can do much better than their elders.

Tell us about your journey into the book world?

As a seventh class student, I saw a poem of a girl student who was the daughter of a highly influential politician, in Punjabi magazine Jagriti.

I asked my father why I could not get my poem published, my father encouraged, and the poem was published in the same magazine, when I was in eighth standard without help from anyone.

Later, I started writing for Army Journals like Combat etc. It was only after retirement that I started sending hand-written articles to national dailies; I am happy to share that I have published more than 500 articles, book reviews etc., in all Tell us about you latest book 'I Can I shall Win’ national dailies published from Chandigarh and I CAN…..is a special book in many ways; firstly, I had a fortnightly column with Tehalka on Defence have written it keeping the young minds at the related issues. I believe that when an author’s back of my own rather old mind. I have laid a lot self-esteem is reinforced through successive of emphasis on certain fundamentals of a sustainable success, Courage, Discipline, Humility, positive outcomes, he/she can create better work.

Integrity and Truthfulness etc. The book is the Your future writing plans? result of my limited knowledge and skill which I Right now, I am going through the notorious have been fortunate to gather through my writer’s block. I am a voracious reader and am continuous pursuit of knowledge and interaction reading three books; one by MJ Akbar, another by with certain giants of management who touched Shashi Tharoor and yet another by Ruskin Bond, my life. I as a young Major developed the habit of recently gifted by Mrs Lippi Parida. But, I do want writing my ‘Magic Moments Journal’ and ‘Gratitude Journal’ .These notes have helped me a to write about my life which has been mostly lot. Any young boy or girl who really wants to take ordinary with hiccups of brilliance. full control of his/her life and take responsibility Your message to upcoming writers? for living it by design, has enough to learn by I am flattered by this question because I don’t following certain simple principles. Though it is think I am worthy of providing any advice to the not possible for anyone of us to plan to live a budding writers. But I do believe in using as perfect life using the mysterious and magical simple a language as possible without trying to things many books recommend, one can always copy any particular style and of course, being learn to live a reasonably successful and happy life. So, I don’t promise the youth the sky; there is authentic always helps. I think no reader is no need for them to develop the ability to walk on interested in knowing how knowledgeable their author is, all they are interested in is useful easy water. to apply and adopt information and knowledge, I mean the ROI they get from the book.

What according to you is missing amongst today's youth?

Today’s youth are a privileged lot as anyone with a

Meenaxee Raj is an officer with the Haryana Administrative Services, presently posted as Joint Transport Commissioner and Chief Vigilance Officer, HAFED, Haryana. She has previously been a judge in Haryana and Rajasthan for about three years. She pursued her BA (Hons) Sociology from Govt College for Girls, Sector 11, Chandigarh and LLB from Delhi University. She has been the only woman SDM of Ferozepur Jhirka, a remote subdivision of Mewat. Besides, she has served the Education Department Haryana as Joint Director, Joint Secretary to the Governor and Joint Director Urban Local Bodies, Haryana. She is the youngest civil servant in the country to have been a member of a Govt of India Committee along with sitting High Court judges. The Committee gave its recommendations to Govt of India on international parental child abduction, an issue of imminent international relevance. She has an Urdu poetry book to her credit in the name

MEENAXEE RAJ

of ‘Paighaam-e-Sukhan’, which was released in 2017 by Hon’ble Justice Anil R Dave (Retd Judge-Supreme Court of India).

Grey is a balanced and firmly neutral colour, which is why just about any bright colour will contrast well with it. If you thought grey was a dull colour, think again. Grey can be the perfect neutral backdrop for a wide range of design themes.

You can run the gamut between a cool grey minimalistic study room, to a sultry slate grey bedroom that’s the last word in glamour.

more than

FIFTY SHADES O F G R EY

T

his time we decided to take a closer look at the use of the sophisticated and elegant colour grey in interiors. By this we mean archetype grey, (as in a mix of black and white, not other colours that are mixed with grey) which has proven to be a big hit in interiors over the past many years or so.

Grey interiors are definitely becoming more and more popular.

If we look at grey, we see a colour that is neither black nor white. Given it is virtually absent of colour, it draws no a ention to itself, it keeps its distance, remaining separate.

Grey is a balanced and firmly neutral colour, which is why just about any bright colour will contrast well with it. Thinking of industrial environments,

they are utilitarian and functional.

Industrial environments don’t necessarily need to be seen, so grey is a suitable colour. It could be seen as trendy, fashionable or aspirational. This gives a sense of belonging, inclusion, acceptance. Or perhaps during these uncertain times we are currently in, people may be looking for security.

The key is to choose a grey that is from the same harmonious colour family as the rest of the colours you are using.

That way it will harmoniously resonate and not jar or drain the other colours.

Grey comes in so many subtle shades, and it’s a delight to design with this colour pale e.

Grey is the perfect backdrop against which you can create a living room that’s smart and stylish.

“

Grey allows the other dominant colour to be visible whilst it takes a back seat.

“

Grey, as a colour, convey seriousness and the message ‘I mean business’.

Contributed by:

Himani Galhotra Founder

Touchstone Interiors

Did you know?

PLANTS SIMPLY LOVE CINNAMON Cinnamon saves seedlings The term dampening off covers a range of diseases that attack a seed/seedling either before or after germination and cause the seedling to die. They can be caused by several different fungus and soil conditions. But, if you dust the soil of seedlings with cinnamon, it will prevent dampening off. I've been doing it since with great results! This makes a lot of sense too, since cinnamon has anti-fungal properties. This also gets rid of those little fungus bugs that somehow appear around seedling trays. Cinnamon kills the fungus they devour.

Prevent wild mushrooms Nothing worse then having to waste a beautiful day pulling mushrooms from the mulch in the flower beds. Mushrooms are fungus and luckily cinnamon has anti-fungal properties.

By dusting cinnamon all over the garden mulch, it helps to control mushroom growth.

Don't worry, it won't hurt your plants.

Cinnamon as a rooting hormone Cinnamon is much cheaper than the chemical

rooting hormone they sell in stores/online and just as effective! Just allow the cutting to dry slightly then apply cinnamon powder to the stem before you plant the cutting.

Cinnamon as an ant deterrent Ants do not like cinnamon! Sprinkle cinnamon in your greenhouse or around your garden beds to deter garden pests. It will not kill the ants, but they will stay away from it.

Sprinkle a line of it in front of your doors, if ants are coming into your house. They really hate to cross a line of cinnamon!

Cinnamon heals plant wounds Overzealous pruning or a slip of the weed cutter and you'll have a plant with a wound that needs fixing up. Simply dust cinnamon on the wound to encourage healing and prevent fungal infection at the same time.

Deters furry pests Dust cinnamon along the outside of the garden to deter rabbits, squirrels and even rats. Small critters are close enough to the ground that as they walk through the cinnamon they will get it on their face and breathe it in. Cinnamon will irritate the mucous membranes of their nose and mouth without causing permanent harm, but will deter them from visiting again.

Flying bug deterrent Cinnamon oil is known to be a deterrent for flying bugs like mosquitoes. When dusted around the garden, cinnamon powder can have the same effect.

Cinnamon for house plants Cinnamon gets rid of moulds and mildew in house plants too. Simply sprinkle a bit of cinnamon on the soil. Fungus shows up as discoloured spots on the soil. It will also get rid of bugs if you happen to have them buzzing around your house plants. These are the same bugs that attack the seedlings. The cinnamon destroys the fungus they feed on and they die.

Contributed by:

SEEMA SHARMA A Masters in Ecology & Environment and Diploma holder in Landscape & Horticulture from University of Canberra, Australia.

Seema has designed and executed prestigious projects like Airtel Campus Gardens, IT Park Chandigarh, Infosys, DLF Valley (Kasauli, Amravati, Hyde Park) etc and she is the founder of Merry Mind Landscapes.

Abir Hiranandani, an international student in Melbourne, is an aspiring filmmaker and cinematographer.

Studying Media and Film at The University of Melbourne, Abir is passionate about visual storytelling, world travel, international student life and sport.

His ultimate aim is to be a real and relevant professional in the world of media.

B

k Review

Yugantar: The Dream of Bharatavarsha Takes Shape 2300 Years Ago Author: Raghavan Srinivasan

A

story in time that reverberates with wisdom and vision of the ancients, offering lessons that can be instrumental in bringing about change, is Raghavan Srinivasan's first book, Yugantar : The Dream of Bharatavarsha Takes Shape 2300 Years Ago. Bearing an enthused interest in Indian literature, philosophy and history, the author's reason for scripting his first book arises from his belief “that the past of our subcontinent has many clues to help us find our way in these confusing times”. Interestingly, period chosen for the story is the fourth century BCE, which witnesses the emergence of India's first and one of the world's largest empires -The Mauryan. “It is a period full of dangers and opportunities...This is the time when people of India vanquished both external aggression and internal chaos”.

Yugantar portrays the vulnerability as well as the remarkable strength of the ordinary men and women who rise to the occasion when provoked with a self serving agenda for authority. The story involves a fascinating amalgam of relatable characters, for instance, a priest, philosopher and political scientist from Patliputra, a mariner from Muziris, a blacksmith from Ujjaini , a Siddha doctor from Madurai, a widow nun from Kaushambi. The fast paced narrative drifts through 'the gathering storm' in book one and into 'the storm' in book two rather dramatically, ferrying substantial doses of politics, intellectual debates, diplomacy, love escapades, commercial upheavals, betrayals and royal intrigues. Events and individuals are juggled in quick succession highlighting the general state of affairs and mood of the public of a significantly expansive and diverse land that is known for having produced seminal minds in the fields of mathematics, sciences, economy and statecraft.

The author's expertise and experience as a social

development consultant surges through the skillfully crafted storyline envisioned on a geographical canvas that maps across fragmented republics.

The author employs a style while scripting that traverses the terrain of fact and fiction subtly but with profundity: “We have to make the best use of the debates and discussions that are going on now before the right to conscience and the right to dissent vanish altogether”; Thus, rendering the book as an insightful flight through the annals of history. The story's carefully woven subaltern perspective accentuates the excitement that the power play exerts on society at large and in particular, the fringe elements when things don't go as planned. However, it is the murmur of strategies shaped by the heightened intellect of Yugantar-the brotherhood that lies at the heart of issues, concerns and possibilities. In just 272 pages, the author illustrates a blue print that has the enigma to outlast any form of autocratic ruling that infringes upon the liberty, fraternity and equality of the people at any given point in time.

Book Reviewed by: SUPARNA-SARASWATI PURI

ਅਜ ਮੰਮੀ ਨੇ ਮੈਨੰੂ ਕਲਮ ਫੜਨੀ ਦੱਸੀ ਿਕਹਾ ਪਿਹਲਾਂ ਹੱਥ ਧੋ ਤੇ ਫੇਰ ਮ ਪਾਪਾ ਕੋਲ ਗਈ ਿਕਹਾ ਮੈਨੰੂ ਇਕ ਕਲਮ ਦੇ ਿਦਓ ਕਿਹੰਦੇ ਿਕਹੜੀ ਦੇਵਾਂ ਮ ਿਕਹਾ ਬਾਤਾਂ ਵਾਲੀ ਜੀਹਨੰੂ ਸਾਰੀਆਂ ਬਾਤਾਂ ਂ ਆਉਦੀਆਂ ਹੋਣ ਕਾਂ ਤੇ ਿਚੜੀ ਦੀ ਤੇ ਕੀੜੀ ਦਾ ਆਟਾ ਡੁ ੱ ਲਣ ਵਾਲੀ ਤੇ ਸਾਰੀਆਂ ਨਵਤੇਜ ਭਾਰਤੀ ਜੀ

RUPINDER SINGH AULAKH is a Design Engineer based in Seattle (USA).

He calls himself an ardent observer and art enthusiast.

He firmly believes that art saves us from our own negativity and acts as a mode of absorption and contentment. His passions include writing, and promoting Punjabi culture through creative photography and Punjabi calligraphy.

a end some family function etc., come in this category. The second ones are like me, who, despite having a sufficient stockpile in their wardrobes, still to evolve with the changing fashion. The urgency of the first one is genuine. The second one, like me, will not ask for immediate delivery, but will go for the exact date of delivery, so that the charm of wearing a new dress is not lost.

But to my surprise, there are high-profile persons, who have limited fashion options and wear only one or two colour combinations. For example, President Barack Obama whom all of us have seen him on TV with a single colour designer suit and a matching tie. When asked about efore I may discuss social this he famously quoted, ‘I don't want to consciousness about fast-changing fashion world, I recollect an incident make decisions about what I am eating or wearing because I have way too many other when I visited my tailor after a long gap decisions to make’. after retirement, as there was no immediate What I have discovered quickly from requirement, of any new clothes as sufficient all this, is the benefit of limiting one’s stock was available in my personal capsule wardrobe. In the morning, one can get wardrobe. So what was that incident? ready easily, quickly, and more efficiently On noticing me the tailor questioned, ‘Sir, plus the time saved can be used for other seeing you after a long time, as if, my constructive work. We see professionals like services are not required’. My instant reply doctors, executives, defence personnel and was, ‘No dear, how’s it possible, without security agency staff who seem to be free you, we would be moving around the city, from the avoidable problem of maintaining without our clothes on’. the capsule wardrobe. If they can, anybody But, now when I started to gauge about the fast-evolving fashion scene around else can also.

I am thinking, even in my 70s, to us, I realised that it becomes an issue for restrict the entry of new clothes to my retirees like us, as it is a temporary capsule wardrobe. The golden words said by phenomenon and as trends change, we are one of my close friends still ring in my ears. left with stock lying in our capsule wardrobes. Now do we discard it or keep it. He said, ‘There is no need to show where I also, summon my old memories that people know you and at the same time there whenever anyone goes to the tailor, the first is no need to show where people don't know thing the customer asks, How much time will you’. you take to stitch these clothes? There are two types of customers who frequent the tailor Contributed by: shop. One, who has to get new clothes HARISH MONGA Award winning Social Worker stitched as per their immediate requirement. & Freelance Journalist School uniform, office wear, politicians wanting the trendy Bandhgala jacket to a end some functions, family members to

Banning entry in capsule wardrobe

B

Life

and will bid farewell to this world smiling and content.

Spirituality as A Central Pillar of Life Life is the coexistence of soul, mind and body, and they are very closely interlinked and interdependent. Life can't exist in the absence of either one of them. Soul in the form of spirituality is centrally located as the strongest central foundation pillar of the building of your life,

a one time gift of god

G

od has blessed you with this valuable gift of life with the purpose for you to enjoy life to the fullest and enable others to do the same. Life is a wonderful journey of which beginning is known to you, but the end is kept as a secret by God. During this long journey, every human being has to pass through various stages such as infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, mature adulthood and then the golden years. Every stage of life has its own significant role to play. Good formative years equip you with the knowledge and instinct to remain happy and content at every stage. In other words, if you are well-groomed by your parents, teachers and other members of society, from your childhood till you become an adult, you can manage a very happy journey of life in all its stages. As a ma er of fact, you start preparing for the last journey of old age during childhood only, which continues throughout all the stages.

To live a happy and successful life, you need to continue strengthening and balancing all the aspects such as spiritual, mental, physical, health, financial and social aspects. By doing so, you will be able to stay happy even in your old age

around which all other pillars of life such as mind, body, finance and society are built. Soul as a spiritual or divine power always resides in your body along with the mind, in original positive qualities such as purity, love, truth, honesty, kindness, peace, joy and happiness. With the passage of time, particularly after reaching the adulthood stage of life, one is likely to neglect the divine qualities and replace them by acquiring the negative ways of living, to find artificial/temporary happiness through materialistic things. Your pious soul will start ge ing buried under the dust of negativities layer by layer. In case, you want to achieve true happiness in the long journey of life, including the final stage, you need to keep cleaning this dust continually during every progressive stage.

What you learn and practically experience in your day-to-day life will ultimately become your habit, and repeated habits will take the shape of your belief, which is being recorded in your subconscious mind. This belief can be positive or negative depending on your thinking, but it's very difficult to undo the negative beliefs and replace them with positive beliefs. In order to achieve the

purpose of life, which is to live a happy, content and peaceful life, you need to stay in a state of positive consciousness throughout and follow the principle of “being-doing-having” and refrain from following “having-doing-being” which will ruin your life. Don't wait for the last stage of life to rectify your mistakes as it may be too late and you may have to spend the rest of your life feeling helpless to correct them and you will keep regre ing till the last breath. Don't ignore spirituality during your youth or prime age with the pretext that you don't have spare time to pray and meditate as you're too busy in your job and looking after your family and various other social activities. There is no doubt you will have plenty of time during your later years, make full use of this time to strengthen your spirituality in alignment with mental and physical health.

Remember, you don't have to pay even a single penny to enhance your spiritual power, you only need to manage your time and spare some time to meditate and pray to God. In order to get salvation or seeking the higher power you need not to renounce this world and go to a thick forest or on the top of the hill or under the earth in cave, in isolation, but you can achieve this while staying with your family and performing your day-to-day work and also looking after the family and society too. Avoid flocking towards fake saints, gurus and babas to seek answers to your problems, without knowing that the answer to your every problem, lies within only you and no other person, can help you to find any solution.

If you are spiritually strong and stable and stay in a positive conscious state of mind, you will get answers to your every problem, when it arises and you will realize that your physical and mental health will also improve.

Your old age or the last journey of your life, will pass very smoothly provided you continue following all the principles of spirituality.

Keep Strengthening Your Physical and Mental Health

Your physical and mental health plays a very important role for the smooth running of your life.

With the advancement of life, the immunity of the body starts reducing which is bound to affect your physical and mental health, particularly during old age. If proper care to maintain your health is not taken, you may fall prey to certain physical and mental diseases. Physical health and mental health are very closely related and dependent on each other.

In the long journey of life there may be many ups and downs like a roller coaster and sometimes you have to pass through various narrow and critical paths, which may make your journey very rough and tough, thus affecting your physical and mental health. If you are not careful about your health and don't take timely precautions, then you are going to suffer from mental and physical diseases. When you are free from mental diseases such as worry, anger, hatred, frustration, anxiety, tension, depression, etc., and achieve a positive state of mind then you are known to be in an ideal or healthy state of mind. This ideal condition of mind may not be easier to achieve during the prime stage as you remain commi ed very intensively to perform various responsibilities, towards your family particularly se ling and marrying your children and so on.

You are likely to pass a worried state of mind to the rest of your family. You must start unburdening yourself from all the worries before you reach old age. Try to follow the principle of forgive and forget, and also start detaching yourself from money, material, place and persons.

Remember, every worry or negativity burdens you with a load of approximately 15 pounds on your head and your mind can hold 60 negativities of life at one time. If you keep adding your worries or other negativities on your mind, you can well imagine that soon your mind will crash under the heavy weight, which is bound to ruin your life. It is be er to unburden your mind immediately, if any negativity gets penetrated into it and you will realize that you will experience a great relief.

In order to strengthen our physical fitness, we must know the importance of morning/evening walk, physical exercises, yoga, outdoor games/physical activities, water therapy, naturo-therapy, massage therapy, balanced diet, simple lifestyle, etc., which in addition to physical fitness, also enhance your mental health. Irrespective of your busy schedule or scarcity of spare time, during your youth or mature stage of life, you must plan your physical and mental activities accordingly and keep following them till you retire. Don't forget to take family medical insurance. Plan rest time at suitable intervals and must sleep 6 to 8 hours every day.

After retirement or reaching old age, reschedule your daily routine, as there is no scarcity of time. Stop rushing and learn to slow down your life. Regular morning/evening walk followed by yoga/light physical exercise must be planned. In old age, you are likely to be more prone to various diseases, as the immunity level goes down. From time-to-time, you must undergo medical check-ups. Keep following a simple lifestyle and also avoid consuming junk food. Don't forget to sleep for about eight hours. Keep yourself occupied with an activity and avoid isolation. If you could not explore your hidden talents during your youth or prime age, now is a golden opportunity to fulfil your desire to work on your hidden treasure.

When you are mentally strong (in other words in a positive consciousness state of mind) you will be physically strong too. Hence, you have the inner power to cure yourself from various diseases including chronic ones. Even medical doctors are using this technique to cure patients. Practising yoga, meditation, prayer, affirmation and visualisation, can do wonders to cure diseases.

When doctors fail to save the life of his/her patient it leaves the patient on God's blessings. In addition to the techniques mentioned above, the blessings of God and collecting blessings of others create a very strong positive vibration, which has the power to create miracles in curing the patient. hence, we should be very careful while visiting a patient, one should create a positive atmosphere and refrain from negative/depressing talk or discussion.

Managing Your Finances Your body, in order to survive and grow, needs physical facilities in terms of food, clothes and shelter. In order to procure these facilities, you need money. Today, everyone is struggling hard to earn more and more, to own all the luxuries of this world. You need the money to look after your family, children's education, good house, affordable transport and so on. In the modern world, cost of living is becoming very high, simultaneously demands of family are also increasing. In order to lead a quality family life both wife and husband have to work hard to earn even more. Hence, it is very essential to learn how to manage your personal or family finance. From my own experience having travelled a long way in the journey of life, I think the best institution to learn this kind of ‘management’ is the HOME and the best teachers are your parents, in particular your mother and grandmother.

Inculcate into yourself, a habit to always spend less than your earnings. The moment you start earning, try to save 10 to 20 percent of your earnings for an emergency fund and old age. Your seemingly miserly savings now, will accumulate to a huge amount on reaching the start of your golden age i.e., 60 to 65 years (retirement age). Never ever think in life, that you still have a long time to reach the last stage and keep postponing it. Avoid the habit of procrastination. It must be very clear to you, that you are self-responsible to manage your personal and family finances, during all the stages of life including the old stage. Time flies at supersonic speed and you will be surprised to know that you are on the doorstep to enter into the old age or the last stage of life. School/University students must follow the principle of ‘Earning while learning’ and the youngsters after joining the job or taking self-employment must keep

“Learning while earning”. I can assure you, if you follow this principle, you can never run short of money in your life. You cannot predict how long will be the last stage and how long you can keep celebrating your wedding anniversary together (you and your spouse) and/or how long you will have to spend your old age after your spouse leaves you forever. These are very pertinent questions for everyone and you need to plan your finances well in advance, so that you don't have to depend on others, including your children. Keep a strong hold on your hard-earned money and possessions till the end. Don't hesitate even to keep a certain amount of funds separately for your funeral. If you have surplus money, distribute amongst your near and dear ones. As per my experience, old age is the most enjoyable period of life, provided you have planned the finance well for your old age and continue maintaining your physical, mental and spiritual health. If you hold an adequate amount of money and capital, spend it judiciously to live a quality family life.

Be Socially Strong You are born in society, grow up in society, live in society and finally take your last breath in society.

Your whole life is kni ed very closely with your family in particular, and in general with the whole society. Your standard of living, is directly related to the quality of your social life. As you advance in age, you keep multiplying your relatives, friends and more people into your life, who always remain a great source of your progress and happiness in the long journey, during all the stages of life. You will realize the importance of your family and extended family members, your old and new friends during your last and final journey of life.

Your strong social network will allow the ship of your life to sail smoothly, even through rough weather, high sea tide, against the strong wind to end the final journey, as desired by God. There are a number of people travelling with you in the same train of life. At every station, some people disembark and new ones embark and the train keeps moving. It is the duty and responsibility of each and every co-traveller to make the journey joyful, cheerful and interesting, knowing fully that everyone will be disembarking one day. Why not keep enjoying till this unknown last day? So, enjoy every moment of your life with the company of

your family, in particular with your spouse. You must make sure, that you make yourself free from domestic responsibilities, having married and se led down your children, well before you retire.

For this to happen, you need to plan your marriage well in time. Don't keep searching for your soul mate, whom you may not meet even during your lifetime. But learn to become yourself the soul mate of your spouse after marriage. Accept your spouse as he or she is, and keep adjusting yourself, and surely one day your spouse will also adjust accordingly and both of you will become the soul mate of each other. This relationship must continue till the last day of togetherness. How beautiful life is!

Living a Life Beyond Life The success and happiness of life is not always measured by the wealth, you have acquired, rank or status in society, you have achieved during your lifetime, but it is also measured by how many people are happy and successful because of you.

How many families have you supported to help them make their livelihood and prosper? Your services to individuals in society to help improve their financial, social, physical, mental health are much above any selfish interest. Give to society without any expectation or reward, it is only God who can bless you with the award of more positive power and wisdom, to enable you to keep giving your maximum to uplift the society. There are a number of great personalities such as researchers, philosophers, scientists, thinkers, statesmen, artists, etc., who have created miracles. These legends are immortal in the hearts of people even after they pass away. They are living beyond their lives. They are remembered each and every moment as they ushered great wonders to this world. In conclusion I would like to say that, make your golden years shine by proper preparation and constant conditioning of your soul, mind and body. This will allow you to experience joy in this golden period and also help radiate this joy to others around you.

Contributed by:

Lt. Col. SURJAN S. RANDHAWA Author, Industrialist and Retd. Army Officer

COVID 19 and its impact on

“Guru Shishya Parampara” The COVID 19 pandemic has altered every aspect of life and has cast its shadow on each one of us. It is said that each coin has two sides and so is true for the shadow of the pandemic too, which has its umbra as well as penumbra.

The unsung community, which suffered the maximum impact is the teaching fraternity and that too in a nation like India, which has been a traditional follower of the Guru Shishya Parampara. In our nation, the appetite of a student is never satiated to the brim, until he touches the feet of his mentor and bows before the teacher. It may be the vardaan of Eklavya or Guru Drona, but it is a hard fact and I have personally experienced this, during my teaching career of more than two decades. The pandemic dropped a bombshell on this good old tradition and the teachers had to shift to online mode through various meeting Apps available at their service. The transition was not as easy, as it seems to anyone not belonging to our species as teachers, as it is firmly believed that we are the hardest nuts to crack. Each one of us belonging to the fraternity had a strong apprehension that the traditional Parampara will come to an abrupt end due to the virtual classes. Instead of the student going to the temple of learning the teacher had to reach the pupil's house (though virtually). In the traditional model, the student used to sit in the class with a sense of fear, the same sense of fear now gripped the minds of the teachers; the fear of some unwanted nuisance elements joining the virtual class. The students had the fear in their minds about any questions that could be thrown at them by the teachers; the similar fears now encompassed the minds of the mentors, as the entire knowledge base was now at the fingertips of the students. In the traditional system, the students used to wish us by bowing before us or touching our feet. On the contrary, in virtual classes, we the teachers wish the students first and it is only a handful

of them, who respond in return. The rest are in a frozen mode – some even a ending the class half asleep. All these initial indicators lead to further strengthening of our apprehension about the death of the Guru Shishya Parampara.

On the contrary, one such recent incident forced me to believe, that we have still not lost our respect for the teachers and our traditional Guru Shishya Parampara in spite of the virtual interactions, virtual classrooms and virtual faces. One fine day, I started my online class and as soon as I finished admi ing students and as soon as I had started the introduction of the topic, an elderly lady's voice echoed in the class ‘Please stop...sir’. As I was teaching a subject from the science stream I could not even exclaim ‘Oh!!! God’. The lady suddenly switched on the video and bounced another shocker at me, ‘Am I taking class of Adult Education Project?, I wondered, I took charge of my senses and asked her to introduce herself. She was holding a traditional Thali in her hands with lighted diyas etc. She introduced herself as the grandmother of a student and said that she was talking from a city almost 300 kms away from Chandigarh.

She expressed her apologies for having disrupted the class, but humbly requested that a guru has come to their place from so far and it is an old belief that God has landed at their doorstep in the form of Guru. She requested for some moments, so that she could perform the aarti and welcome the Guru in a manner, they have been taught since ancient times. This act of hers brought tears in my eyes and reaffirmed my belief that no profession in this world is nobler and holier than the teaching profession, where you are considered at par with God and are responsible for shaping the lives of many.

- VIVEK GULATI

NOVELBUNCH L I T-T H U S I A S T S

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