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- Denis Giles
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The learned judge at the International Court at Hague, relaxed at his club somewhere in the Netherlands. He was joined by an Indian lawyer, “Thank you, your honour for your judgement on the spy case!” said the attorney.
“You Indians are pretty good, arguing cases!” smiled the judge.
“We have many years of practice sir!” said the lawyer, ordering himself and the judge a round of drinks.
“Yes, since you got your freedom in the forties isn’t it?” asked the judge.
“No, many years, since most casesat hometake over fifteen years for a verdict!”
“Whoa! Whoa! But you guys wanted your spy verdict within a week, and I gave it to you!” said the judge. “I think I saved your man from hanging?”
“Yes, and we are very grateful!” said the lawyer. “But if the case was argued in my homeland, we would have been mourning his silver death anniversary by the time the judgement was out!” whispered the lawyer.
“But you claim to be a democracy?” asked the puzzled judge.
“A lopsided one!” said the Indian lawyer sadly, “We vote our representatives in with precision and regularity, but alas,deliver judgements in sporadic outbursts, with intervals of a decade or more!”
“Then,” said the judge sadly, “You are not a democracy!”
“Of course we are!” said the lawyer angrily.“Have a look at our constitution, it says so!”
“A constitution is a useless piece of paper, unless put to work with speed! Democracy,” said the wise judge, “requires popular rule, balanced with speedy justice!”
“Justice delayed, is justice denied!” whispered the lawyer.
“How would you have liked it, if the case you just argued had taken fifteen years? Would it have been fair to India or even to Pakistan?”
“We would have tried to settle it with arms and bloodshed or appealing to superpowers like America or China!” said the lawyer nodding.
“Which is what politicians like to become!” whispered the judge, “They want, not just to be law makers, but your super-powerful law settlers too. They will promise you more bridges, more trains, more highways, but no courts, no justice, because then power remains in their hands!”
“We have courts! We have judges! Look, I am a lawyer in my country!” said the attorney.
“Yes you are,” said the judge, “And be grateful for such international courts as ours, or you would never have had this live experience of seeing a successful outcome to a case, as you’d have been dead by the time a verdict was out in your homeland..!”
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- Denis Giles
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By Yogi Ashwini
All those who try to quit smoking experience at least one or more of these symptoms: cravings to smoke, difficulty concentrating, nervousness, restlessness, irritability, anxiety, cognitive impairment, increased appetite and eventually, weight gain. So much so that it becomes a constant struggle to overcome this addiction. Many times, people shift their addiction from one substance to another. A tried and tested way to reduce all these symptoms is to practice Sanatan Kriya.
The habitual use of tobacco in any form constricts the arteries to such an extent that the blood flow gets affected. To unclog the arteries, you need to ensure that the prana (life force) is appropriately distributed in your body. For this, you need to learn yogic breathing.
So, first sit in vajrasana. That is, with your knees placed together and legs folded such that your buttocks rest on your heels. The big toes overlap, right over the left. As you inhale, fill breath in the abdominal region, move it to your thoracic and then to your clavicular region. Exhalation takes place first from clavicular, then thoracic and then from the abdominal regions. At the time of inhalation, internally chant the mantra ‘so,’ and ‘hum’ while exhaling. As you inhale move your eyeballs to look from the tip of the nose to the center of forehead, and while exhaling return from the forehead to the tip of the nose.
Along with this eye movement, your internal awareness should move between the seven chakras in your body, taking the Mooladhar (base of your spine) to correspond with the nose tip, a little above that Swadishthan (pelvic), followed by Manipoorak (navel), Anahat (chest), Vishuddhi (throat), Ajna (forehead), and the Sahastrar (top of the head). Keep your eyes closed throughout this kriya. One inhalation and exhalation completes one cycle. Repeat this seven times.
This kriya will ensure redistribution of prana in the body, thereby eliminating all withdrawal symptoms and help the body fight the addiction and nicotine dependence. Those who do this kriya regularly also experience a sense of balance that makes the process of de-addiction smooth and permanent.
During this time, include a lot of liquids and fresh juices in your diet. You can also chew on sugarcane sticks every time you feel a craving for smoking.
It is recommended that you visit a Dhyan Foundation Centre near you to learn the correct way to practice Yogic breathing.
Yogi Ashwini is the Guiding Light of Dhyan Foundation and an authority on the Vedic Sciences. His book, 'Sanatan Kriya, The Ageless Dimension' is an acclaimed thesis on anti-ageing. Log onto to www.dhyanfoundation.com for more
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- Denis Giles
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By Yogi Ashwini
Yog taps into the power of consciousness, which simply put, is the ability to manifest thoughts and desires. Yogis and rishis have been known to possess radiant, glowing and youthful bodies till the very last, and they were able to do this because of the power of consciousness. In advanced stages of Sanatan Kriya, a practitioner is able to access this consciousness and so if he wants to shape his/her body, he can do so just by sitting with eyes closed. For a beginner, however, certain asans are detailed to direct the consciousness towards body remodelling. While rapid exercises and weight training put tremendous pressure on the heart and joints, these asans work on the principle of consciousness and do not damage the body. A strong spine is a prerequisite for any practice of yog, therefore we recommend you learn and practice the kriyas and asans for spine strengthening at a Dhyan Foundation center near you, before attempting these asans.
Start by paying reverence to the energy of the Guru and lord Ganesh. Take a few deep breaths and monitor your breath as you perform the asans. It’s important that your breath rate does not shoot up at any time while performing these asans.
1. Namaskar Pose: Sit with legs crossed and spine straight. Inhale as you stretch out your hands sideways, lift your hands slowly over your head and join both the palms. Hold the pose for some time. Exhale as you slowly bring the hands down to their original position. A word of caution when lifting the hands upwards only the shoulder muscles should be used, spine should not be at play. If any pressure is put on the spine then it can result in an injury. Repeat this seven times.
2. Skanda Chakra: Sit with legs crossed and spine straight. Place the index, middle and ring fingers of each hand on the respective shoulders. Gently move both the elbows in a large circle, seven times forward and seven times backward. The breath needs to be synchronized with the movement. You inhale in half rotation and exhale in the other half.
3. Brahmcharya Asan Variation: Sit with legs crossed; bring the right foot on the left thigh and the left foot remains on the ground to keep a connection with the ground. Close your palms to make fists. Inhale as you lift your body above the ground with the help of the first two knuckles of your hands. Don't come down gently but with a little thud sound. This is an advanced yogic technique used to pull up the kundalini force. Exhale as you get back to the ground with some force. Repeat this seven times.
4. Plank Pose 1: Turn your body down facing the ground with only your forearms, elbows, knees and feet touching the ground. Inhale as you lift the body off the ground using your forearms and knees. Exhale as you slowly bring your body closer to the ground. Repeat it seven times.
5. Plank Pose 2: Lie down on the ground with your abdomen, chin, feet touching the ground. Those with heart conditions can avoid this. Clench to make fists and place them on the ground. Inhale as you lift your body away from the ground with the help of your fists and feet. Lift your chin as well and balance the body on your fist and toes. Hold the posture for as long as you can then exhale and slowly come back to the initial position. Relax and breathe seven times. Repeat this seven times.
6. Yaan Asan: Lie on your abdomen with palms under your shoulders and chin on the floor. Inhale as you stretch your arms straight in front of you. Raise the upper torso, arms and legs simultaneously. Exhale as you get back to the initial position. Breathe seven times and relax. Repeat this seven times.
7. Yaan Variation: Lie on your abdomen with palms under your shoulders and chin on the floor. Inhale as you stretch your arms sideways. Raise the upper torso, arms and legs simultaneously. Hold the posture and allow the body to rock to and fro, can breathe normally while doing this. Relax and breathe seven times. Then repeat seven times.
8. Nauka Asan: Turn and lie down in shavasan. Lift your feet and stretch your hands towards your feet while you raise your shoulders and head a little above the ground to look at your feet. Get back to the initial position. Synchronize breath with movements and repeat it seven times.
Count your pulse rate, it should be normal and should not go up.
Yogi Ashwini is the Guiding Light of Dhyan Foundation and an authority on the Vedic Sciences. His book, 'Sanatan Kriya, The Ageless Dimension' is an acclaimed thesis on anti-ageing. Log onto to www.dhyanfoundation.com for more
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- Denis Giles
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She stood, a small figure in front of the school notice board. With anxious eyes she searched for her number.
It wasn't there.
The girls around her jostled and pushed. There were screams of delight and shrieks of ecstasy. She turned away from the sounds, tears streaming down her face. Far away she heard the same laughter turning to jeers. Suddenly she felt imaginary eyes on her back and voices saying.
"She's dumb you know, she failed."
"She was never any good."
"Remember in class, she sat with that stupid look."
She turned and walked the stairs to her now empty class. In silence, she heard her teacher's voice. "Why don't you do your homework like the others, you'll fail if you go on like this."
How was she to tell the teacher that she had not understood a thing the day before to have been able to do her work at home?
"Stand outside the class will you, let the whole school know what an idiot you are!"
She had stood outside her class, and watched her juniors laughing as they walked past. The teacher had called her in after some time. There were sniggers from the other girls as she sat on her bench. "Dumb", they all seemed to say. "She 's just plain stupid"
There were no tears to wash away the heaviness in her heart.
She sat on her bench in the empty classroom and her thoughts went home. A shiver ran down her spine. She saw her father tall and menacing standing in front of her. "You better pass okay, we don't want the neighbors laughing at us, do we?".
An uncle had sniggered. "She's got her brains from her mother's side".
"Oh no", shouted her mother, "it's her own dopey mind."
"I don't care where you've got your brains from", her father had shouted, "but if you fail, you've had it".
"At least pass your school, so we can marry you off," her mother had piped in.
Voices, laughter, shouting, sniggering in the empty, silent classroom. Voices chasing each other round and round her mind. Laughter, cruel and brutal, sniggers, sharp and merciless, echoed louder and louder in her head, till suddenly she felt herself shudder involuntarily:
"Stupid!" they shouted.
"Idiot!" they yelled.
"Failure!" they cried.
Like a zombie she climbed the steps one by one, the tears no more there. She walked as though pushed by some invisible force. She smiled as she heard the taunts and jeers grow less and less. She smiled as she calmly climbed up onto the parapet wall. She heard the screaming of her classmates below as she joyously threw herself down.
"Why did she do it?" cried her classmates, her teachers, her father and her mother.
Suicide was what the police report said, but it was murder most foul..!
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- Denis Giles
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The beheading of two Indian soldiers by the Pakistan side has left the world gasping in horror! Most of us had been led to believe, quarreling methods had changed from medieval times to now. Centuries ago, a wife who dared speak against her husband found herself under the hangman’s noose. “But I was only telling you your horse was lame!” she cries as the rope is adjusted round her neck. “You should have whispered in my ear my dear, and not allowed the horse to hear!” thunders her husband as he signals the hangman to go ahead.
Times have changed, and rules have been formulated to see petty marital skirmishes and serious ones too are fought fair, though sometimes it ain’t so and couples need to know where to draw the line. Here are some rules that could help:
Rule One: Never speak about some weakness of your spouse, anything, which she or he confided in you, in your intimate moments. “Ho! Ho! Ho!” laughs the wife in a fight, “You did tell me you drank from a feeding bottle till you were fifteen, that explains your love for booze! You can’t give up your love for the bottle!”
Beware, the hangman’s noose beckons if you say such a thing!
“I’ll tell your friends you snore worse than a bullhorn!” sniggers hubby, and it’s just a matter of days before he finds himself beheaded in front of his friends!
Fight fair, though lately the rules or no rules of terrorism, will tell you that there is no fairness in a killing, but then we are not talking about terrorism, or are we?
I wonder, when a couple fights unfair, if it is soft terrorism at work?
“He can’t hold his drinks, nor can he hold anything up!” quips the wife and there are shockwaves in the room and sniggers from his buddies.
That’s terrorism at work, and the only thing left when husbands and wives fight like this is to part ways, or go to a counsellor, who teaches them to fight fair.
And now we learn that unfair fighting has come back to regulars in the army!
Can those soldiers who fought unfair, imagine what the families of the beheaded felt when they saw their husbands, or fathers or sons dismembered, with heads detached?
Just like counsellors and psychologists are used to counsel their clients and teach husbands and wives to fight the right way, maybe therapy is needed for these Pak soldiers.
“Good morning soldier, so you have come here to Geneva to learn to fight fair?”
“Sir, I am going skiing, just leave mycopy of the Geneva Convention onfair fighting at my desk, and I will take it back with me to Pakistan!”
And maybe that’s why those two Indian soldiers were beheaded; the manual on fair fighting, was never opened by the other side..!
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