How to become good student

Motivation

To become a good student, you need to get motivated! Motivation can come from seeing the situation of many poor children around the world who are not lucky enough to get a proper education. Keep that in mind when you don't want to attend class or study at home. Another reason to get motivated to study is that you will enjoy a better quality of life as an educated person. You can go to educational websites, like this, and surf them with interest. You must not force yourself to study, this will make learning a chore and you'll not feel like even opening your books. You will have many academically good students in your courses. Try becoming friends with them (or encourage your current friends to be better students), and you'll be immersed in an academic environment which will help you feel motivated!

Above all, you need confidence! For that, we need to feel that we are working for ourselves, and not for others! Good luck!

Concentration on Studies

Concentration follows eagerness. This section provides you with the basics of "Concentration" and also provides you with advice as to how to get aroused with concentration.

You need to pay attention in class. Don't start chatting with your peers/friends when the teacher turns their back to you. Even better; don't associate with distracting people. You should realize that the people in your class play an important role in how everybody progresses. However, if you are a good student you will do better and achieve your goals. Your friends will be there for you at that time, if they are trustful and of a good reputation. At home, study and do your homework in a place that doesn't make you sleep. It is advisable to have a dedicated study table or desk. Don't do your study work on the bed or in front of the t.v/radio/stereo etc. That would be pointless because you are meant to be thinking about your studies.

If you feel distracted, take a short break of 15 minutes or less, maybe try to read an unrelated story book. But don't start sticking to the book if the time limit is over. Book mark the page and then you can read it later on. You should also have a daily routine/timetable to guide you, but you must follow it through. Don't have regular fights at school; this will move your attention to fighting rather than listening to what your teacher says! Believe me, these are all important guidelines. Remember, study well now, and you can have fun after you achieve your goal - guaranteed!

Behavior

One of the main things that decide a person's or child's future is their behaviour. Learning textbooks and achieving 100% is not enough. People should think that you are the only all-rounder that has good manners. Obey your elders, don't bully your classmates at school. Remember, try imagining yourself in the other person's situation, and you'll know how much you hurt them with your actions. Say hello to your teachers and schoolmates when you see them, people will appreciate your friendliness and be friendly in return.

Above all, try helping your friends in any situation and you'll be remembered as one of the best friends at school! Don't just do it for a good reputation, but for a good future and for yourself. You should also know that words from your mouth are enough to break relationships (or worse) so don't utter foul, discouraging, or insulting words.

Don't take this as a lecture, but as a guideline! Behavior should be first and then comes academics. Even if you aren't good at school, you'll be famous for your behavior, and good friends are truly worth more than gold.

Management

This is one of the many questions that children ask their teachers, "Ma'am, I can't study!". Let's ponder on these things : Are you devoted to studying? Are you just studying for your parents? Are you just cheating in exams for getting good grades and marks? The list goes on.

First of all, as mentioned above, study somewhere that has a basic study table. Don't study or read in dim light. If you become bored on learning one subject, study something else that interests you a lot. You must always find alternatives as you go!

We all know the saying,” All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". Yes, studying all night and not playing just stresses you on work and you'll forget everything the next morning. Play out for about 2 hours or so. It will be pleasant if you go out to play around in the evening, say 5 pm in the evening. This energizes you and gives you extra strength for everything you do.

Make a timetable. And that is all what this section is about. Arrange a time-table with the subjects that are tough for you in the first column. Then put a break column after every 2 subjects so you don't get strained. Of all, try getting a good sleep. Children are supposed to get 8 - 10 hours sleep. If you don't get enough sleep, that will result in sleepy studying and nothing will get inside your head.

Study on each subject for about 1 hour. You'll get refreshed. Also have a snack in between.

 

Helping Others And Advising 

Apart from improving yourself, try spreading your skills among others. This is the section that provides you with all the things necessary in sharing your skills. Co-operation is helping each other out so everyone benefits, it's the opposite of competing, where everyone wants to win for themselves. Most learning is done with the help of others, so learning to cooperate is a valuable skill for anyone. Study partners are a wonderful tool. They save time and they help reinforce what you have learned. Divide a reading assignment in half. Study your section using any and all note taking strategies you have(ie: Venn diagrams, outlines, note cards, colored highlighters etc) When you both have an understanding of your readings, take turns 'teaching/explaining' it to the other person. As you adjust your explanation to your partner, you will reinforce the concept for yourself. It works because as you think about how to explain the topic, you must understand it first!

 

Moral Education for Environmental Protection , Sarvodaya Model

Ecology is becoming a more and more important subject today because it scientifically studies the relation of nature and living organisms with each other as well as with their surroundings. Further, this subject investigates the unique interactions in our environment. Compared with the past it is becoming a subject much referred to due to the destruction of the natural resource base through deforestation, destroying fauna and flora, and disturbing the natural environment for various development activities. Air pollution has an adverse effect on the ozone layer. These factors need very serious attention today. If not solved they may lead us towards various unending questions. Will man senselessly destroy the ecosystems that support life on this planet? Will he be able to maintain a sustainable earth and eventually build a new humanity? The Sarvodaya model of ‘Moral education for environmental protection’ is based on traditional Asian cultural values and differs from isolated, unilineal, material-oriented development models. It is unique, since it is developed through people-centred activities and for people-centred activities. Thus this model is directly associated with both an individual morality and a social morality within the central value system of society. It is imperative that the development process in a community is compatible with its environment as well as with the particular culture of that community. Human beings define their natural environment in terms of its own endowments and natural resources, and in accordance with their perceptions and interrelationships. This pattern suggests that man is a cultural animal. This research covers activities in more than 5,000 villages (out of 25,000 villages in Sri Lanka) where the Sarvodaya model has been applied to achieve environmental protection through moral education. Sarvodaya is defined as the awakening or liberation of one and all, and it follows the Gandhian concept of human advancement. The pioneer of the Sarvodaya movement in Sri Lanka is Dr A.T. Ariyarathna. He says that the Sanskrit word ‘sarva’ means all-embracing, integrating everything pertaining to man, society and nature. ‘Vdaya’ means awakening, unfolding or well-being. Thus the literal meaning of ‘Sarvodaya’ is the awakening of one and all in the society in every respect. Mahatma Gandhi had coined the two words to signify the kind of society he desired for Independent India. The Sri Lankan Sarvodaya movement was inspired and strengthened by Gandhian thoughts as well as the teachings of Lord Buddha. In the Sarvodaya movement moral education is totally focused on individuals’ personality development to ultimate accomplish universal personality development. It is not merely an ideological model. It is certainly pragmatic in addition to being a practical model applicable through village-level educational programmes. Individual Morality, Social Morality and Culture In Sri Lanka society the majority (70 per cent) are Buddhists and their central value system comprises Buddhist values, norms, beliefs and morals. This value system and its chain of thought can be represented through appropriate codes of conduct. Foreign invasions and colonial occupation and accompanying influences had a negative impact and paved the way for the various conflicts, deviations and undesirable consequences that exist at present. Even in this disturbed and unsettled situation, Sarvodaya forges ahead, its moral education system expecting to achieve a society governed by Buddhist ethics. The Sarvodaya model of moral education for environmental protection is a process that has six distinct stages. They include spiritual, moral, cultural, social, economic and political aspects. 1. Purna paurushodaya (Personality awakening) 2. Kutumbodaya (Family awakening) 3. Gramodaya (Village community awakening) 4. Nagarodaya (Urban community awakening) 5. Deshodaya (National awakening) 6. Vishvodaya (Global awakening) The achievement of these six levels of awakening leads to universal awakening. To reach this state, moral education can contribute very effectively. To facilitate fulfilment of moral education goals there are ten basic human needs to be satisfied. Among those needs the environment should be considered one of most important. Matrix of the Ten Basic Human Needs

BASIC HUMAN NEED	ENVIRONMENT	WATER	CLOTHING	FOOD	HEALTH	HOUSING	COMMUNICATION	ENERGY	EDUCATION	CULTURE
HUMAN GROUP
Being
Family
Village
Small town
Group of Villages

 

These ten basic human needs are universal. They are essential and indispensable to maintain human life according to Lord Buddha. Therefore the Buddhist central value system provides teachings to protect the environment using indigenous knowledge. Maha Mangala Sutta states that ‘living in a suitable environment is a blessing’. Also according to the principles of Sarvodaya, complete human personality development is achievable within a suitable environment. The word ‘environment’ is used here to mean the physical, social, emotional and mental environment in which humans live. The physical environment includes the house, kitchen, latrine, well, sources of water (such as tanks, ponds, streams), garden, soil, land, vegetation, pathways leading to and from the house, neighbourhood, roads in the village, the main roads, air and all other things of physical character. Social and emotional environment refers to the surroundings, neighbours, intellectual and spiritual development, concentration as well as factors such as noise, which may influence or lead to mental disturbances. A clean and beautiful environment is one with unpolluted air, healthy soil and uncontaminated water suitable for human survival and devoid of unfavourable influences that make growing children go astray, and which provide them with physical and mental security while giving satisfaction and happiness in addition to a morally sound life-style. Buddhism and the Central Value System This doctrine is in perfect harmony with the Buddhist central value system. Prince Siddhartha (later Lord Buddha) was born under a sal tree in full bloom; he attained enlightenment under a Bo-tree and his parinibbana took place in a grove of sal trees in full bloom. This suggests that even the supreme events take place in a natural setting. Furthermore, Lord Buddha had once said: A tree is unique. It has unlimited tolerance, patience, and generosity. It provides a congenial atmosphere for many living organisms to survive. It also keeps on providing shade (as long as it stands) even to the man who attempts to destroy the tree with his axe. This statement signifies the paramount importance and value of trees, and the environment so necessary to sustain life including that of man. The trees and nature assume so great an importance that even the noblest had illustrated their value. Lord Buddha has stated that man possesses nama, rupa (form and mind), energy and a consciousness unified within a physical and social environment. Although one physical object of the external world stimulates his senses and generates mental activity and provides motivation to his behaviour, it does not necessarily determine his behaviour. A person has an element of freedom or sense of choice that can be exercised with understanding. Furthermore, from a careful study of Lord Buddha’s concept of ‘Sath Sathi’ (seven weeks) it is evident that he spent the fifth week after enlightenment under a tree with the snake Muchalinda. To visualise a tree, a snake and a human being at the same location is imagining a mutual or reciprocal relationship. The relationship between man, tree and animal is an interesting link between nature and culture. Therefore we can assume that in Sri Lankan society, environmental protection is a part of the central value system of the culture. Almost all Buddhists in Sri Lanka after religious observances in the morning and before going to bed recite an interesting poem. This poem amply illustrates a Buddhist’s value system in relation to his environment and its components. All living entities on this world and above it (meaning the earth and space above) such as humans, non-humans, who live far and near, ants, animals, trees, acquaintances, friends, teachers, kinsman and parents should receive these merits that I offer. This discloses the moral values related to Sri Lankan Buddhist culture and also the relationship between man and the environment. A Sarvodaya member pledges to maintain this close and friendly relationship with nature and also recognises the hierarchical social order to be observed. Moral Education Programme and Environment Protection Systems The Sarvodaya moral education programme has five steps: (i) Pre-school group (ii) Children’s group (iii) Youth group (iv) Mothers’ group (v) Farmers’ group PRE-SCHOOL GROUP These children may belong to different socio-economic strata but come together during the first stage of the socialisation process. The rural Sarvodaya centres try to care for these children and duly consider their nutritional state, health, education and mental well-being as well as sociability. The children have opportunities to recognise and perceive the relationship among them and between them and the environment and culture. This is achieved through structured fancy stories, legends, small dramas and other activities. They observe the streams, sky, soil, trees, sun, moon and the clouds. Their nutrition is met by a meal of porridge prepared by village mothers and the pre-school teacher using nutritious green leaves gathered from the neighbourhood. The children are assisted in personality development and in becoming environment conscious. The programme may differ from one region to another due to ecological variations. CHILDREN'S GROUP Members of these groups are schooling children receiving formal education. They initiate and engage in tree planting, maintaining small home gardens, soil conservation, prevention of water pollution, repair of small irrigation systems and group savings. They are encouraged to interact with other groups (youth, mothers’ and farmers’). Sometimes they join or organise shramadana activities. These enhance their environmental awareness. They are trained to acquire practical skills, the development of organizations, and to participate in community development programmes. Sarvodaya headquarters assist such efforts. They are encouraged to engage in self-help activities and group activities depending on the circumstances. YOUTH GROUP This group is relatively mature, knowledgeable and responsible. It may be more active in environment protection than previously mentioned groups. The majority of the group members have either completed their formal education (G.C.E. ordinary level), or they may integrate school subjects with Sarvodaya cultural value-related environmental protection programmes. Some of their activities may include collecting planting materials, tree planting, participatory environmental protection programmes, etc. Some of them may receive organic farming training at the Tanamalvila Centre. There they learn natural pest control methods, ecological farming techniques, sustainable farming technology, reforestation and watersheds management, etc. MOTHERS' GROUP At the village level the mothers’ groups are dynamic and the most powerful of all Sarvodaya groups. They are trained in child care, tree planting, moral and spiritual development, family nutrition, home economics, home crafts, sustainable farming practices, post-harvest technology of food commodities, natural resource management, etc. Such training helps them to integrate newly gained knowledge with traditional knowledge and pass on their experiences to their children. They also undertake religious programmes and attend ritual functions. Usually mothers’ groups actively engage in running the pre-school groups. The children’s socialisation and health problems are looked after. Mothers’ groups often maintain a garden to provide raw material to produce porridge for pre-school children. FARMERS' GROUP The elders of the village are in these groups. They organise all Sarvodaya activities in the village and are active members of the shramadana society. They enhance cooperation, unity, freedom and are interested in the prosperity and socio-cultural identity of the village. They assist youth groups and act to satisfy the basic needs of the community, including environmental conservation, water supply, food production, housing, health, communication, energy, education and the satisfaction of the spirituals needs of their members. Group Formation, Moral Education and Environment Protection These five groups meet separately as well as collectively according to the needs of their own villages. Their collective group formation can be introduced as a pawul hamuwa (family gathering). It includes all the five groups meeting at the village Sarvodaya centre daily and weekly depending on necessity. Among their activities, moral education and unity maintenance are considered main subjects. This process can be described as a secondary level socialisation. At the pawul hamuwa, after normal practices in the schedule, meditation is a major item. In the educational process at every meeting discussions involve talk of the central value system, plays and other items. Among these speeches one will be on environmental protection. It is used to emphasise the main responsibilities of the younger generation in our society. Among pawul hamuwa speeches the researcher has observed the following topics: Traditional medical treatment and environmental protection. Chakkawarthi Seehanada Sutta and environment. Traditional indicator plants in the environment. Traditional post-harvest methods. Natural pest control methods that ensure harmless control over the environment. In addition to delivering these speeches they perform traditional drama in modified forms. All these forms of education provide necessary moral discipline to the members. At the end of the pawul hamuwa sessions they give merit to the environment and leave the place. Practical Side of the Environmental Protection Mechanism in the Sarvodaya Model The Sarvodaya development model is totally compatible with the balanced development of society and the environment. On the one hand it is related to sustainable development and on the other it is associated with the development of the human mind or moral development. Particularly four positive Buddhist virtues of loving kindness (metta), compassion (karuna), sympathetic joy (muditha), and equanimity (upekkha) are stressed. They analyse not only human resources but also non-human resources that can be influenced by the four positive virtues. The Sarvodaya model precisely and certainly emphasises balanced sustainable agriculture based on eco-friendly farming practices; further, it promotes practices conducive to sustainable natural resource management. The following case studies depict the nature and effectiveness of the Sarvodaya model in the Sri Lankan context. CASE STUDY 1 MORAL EDUCATION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION: THE PRE-SCHOOL GROUP (SINGITHI HAWULA, 0-6 YEARS) All Sarvodaya villages have a singithi hawula, which is a primary moral education group of children up to 6 years of age. The main purpose of this gathering is to enable children to acquire awareness about self-protection, self-confidence and self-reliance. Normally they are the pre-school children in the village. The pre-school teacher does the primary socialisation, providing understanding fancy tales, legends, jathaka stories and small dramas, and tries to introduce the relationship between nature and culture. Those are the first lessons about environmental protection and those devices are complementary to moral values from the central value system. At the same time the children try to internalise nature through observation. At the second stage the child himself has to bring a seed from home and plant it in the pre-school common home garden. He has to water the plants; he has to touch the soil with his fingers. Before the daily physical exercises the child goes to the common home garden and treats the small plants. This way he learns the interaction between humans and nature. Later on, small children prepare and plant a number of important vegetable plots collectively. At the third stage of environmental education the pre-school teacher and mother encourage children to think about trees and their importance to human beings. Everyday selected edible green leaves are collected from their home gardens used to prepare porridge. Sometimes they collect leafy vegetables from the surroundings to make porridge. After its preparation children are exposed to sharing behaviour. Each child serves a cup of porridge to another as a daily practice. It gives an equal opportunity to share as an activity that paves the way for collective consciousness. At the next step the pre-school children themselves organise malperehera (a flower parade) four times a month, particularly on poya days. The adult villagers have their own conflicts and problems with neighbours. But regardless of such things, every poya day one pre-school child carries a flower plate (malwattiya) to the neighbouring house. Then members of that family join the child with their own plate of flowers. This is repeated till each and every family gets together and walks, forming a perehare that moves towards the village temple. There they collectively make an offering. This sensitises villagers, establishes harmonious relationships among children, and leads to the development of a collective conscience among them. It paves the way for unity and solidarity. Trivial mistakes are forgotten and forgiven and harmonious relations among the participants are renewed. The next stage of the moral education process for the village pre-school group is organising a singithi pola (babies’ fair) at the village Sarvodaya centre. The children collect vegetables, fruits, nuts and other materials and take them to this small fair; mothers come to the fair to buy things from their own kids. This gives them training to earn and save money. In some villages pre-school children engage in rice collection, sugar collection, etc. These practices provide experience in collectivity, united earning and saving as a moral obligation. At the end of the pre-school stage children participate in organising visits or trips, or educational contests about environmental protection or shramadana activities. The final outcome is that a small child learns about his role within the environmental system, and personality development is supported within this primary moral educational model. In addition, the pre-school teacher and the mothers of the village have to look after the nutrition, health, education and mental well-being and sociability of children. At the end of the pre-school stage they form a singithi hawula to assist other small formal organisations of Sarvodaya. CASE STUDY 2 ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE GRAVITY-BASED VILLAGE WATER SUPPLY SCHEME ORGANISED BY THE ELDERS' GROUP This case study aims to explain the secondary level socialisation process and how the implementation of a moral education programme through practical experience is attempted. The location of this included 10 communities, 36 schemes and their gravity-based water supply schemes in Kandy, Badulla, Matara and Nuwaraeliya districts. These programmes were completed in 1985 and evaluation was done in 1987. This second evaluation was done in 1995. The main objectives of the case study were To identify whether the communities had achieved environmentally sustainable gravity-based village water supply schemes. To examine how this construction had changed values and fulfilment of the water needs of the area. To see whether they had achieved the moral values in the Sarvodaya value systemin practice through different hawulas such as youth hawula, mothers’ hawula, and farmers’ and elders’ hawulas. In the Sarvodaya model of moral education, activities are practically demonstrated to prove their value to youths, mothers and elders, so that they can all perform them in their everyday lives. For the water supply project, Sarvodaya provided technical cooperation from its Rural Technical Services (RTS) unit. In addition it provided the necessary materials which had to be purchased. In line with the Sarvodaya philosophy of normal education the following decisions were made. In the hilly areas water projects should be gravity-based ones and people should not pollute or destroy the environment. There is no use of chemicals or toxic substances. At the initial stage different groups in the village got together and collectively decided on the necessity of a water scheme, then they carefully searched for a water spring within the village. After getting consent they cleaned around the spring and dug properly to conduct further investigations, such as the quantity of water available. After gaining collective approval the selected place was taken over by the Sarvodaya village centre and converted legally into common property. Environment Protection and Naturalisation of the Process After these initial steps the Sarvodaya technical team visited and measured the water level, power of gravity, annual fluctuations in water availability and the capacity of the water spring. Following this the village shramadana society got together and started infrastructural work to develop the water spring without excessively disturbing the location. Further, they collected gravel, stones, sand and other necessary materials on a shramadana basis and constructed a protective tank, while taking remedial environmental measures. After having started the process the pawul hamuwa often got together at night to discuss developments or review the progress of the gravity-based water scheme. The management group of the Sarvodaya pawul hamuwa had given necessary guidelines in relation to resource management and environmental protection. After their common decision the shramadana society permitted the spring area protective scheme. First the land area was protected by a wire fence. Then trees were established around the catchment area and associated with the water spring. Attempts have been taken to protect the spring from soil degradation and contamination by human and non-human elements. After development of the water spring, the Sarvodaya society constructed a stock tank at the highest suitable location below the spring. The water collected by the tank was to be purified. The process of purification was completely managed by local experts. They used stones, gravel, sand and other suitable materials to filter the spring water. The collected water in the stock tank was distributed by gravity-based pump lines. This was done to avoid disturbing the natural soil. Natural purification methods were used. The researchers studied 36 gravity-based water projects providing water for thousands of people all over the hilly regions. In all of them the whole concept was found to be compatible with conservation of the natural environment, and the sustainability of the projects was high. The operations of the water project were done voluntarily by the villagers. Their collective consciences and internal peace and love had helped to smoothly conduct the activities. Basic values related to moral education had been internalised. The social and individual morality developed with team spirit from childhood enabled the individuals to establish and maintain harmonious relationships in later life. The Sarvodaya model of moral education was both socially effective and environmentally valuable. Conclusion Environmental protection concerns within the Sarvodaya moral education model are dealt with by appropriate organisation of the community followed by appropriate orientation, awareness sessions and training. The Sarvodaya model focuses on the integration of cultural values with environmental concerns through a harmonious, synchronised and friendly approach. The aim is to implement the most appropriate programmes to achieve well-defined objectives. The progress made so far suggests that this model enables the achievement of sustainable and adequate development in village settings.

Hinduism : An Overview

Introduction

If looked at in the historical perspective, all the religions have an interesting beginning and development.  Also looking at all the religions in the historical context makes it easier to understand and tolerate.  Sri Aurobindo wrote that all religions have two aspects.  One is the Truth or the core essence of the religion.  The second is the unimportant part that is only relevant to the time the scriptures were written.  Thus the Gita is a sermon on the battlefield.  The battlefield is not important.  Similarly the Koran was revealed over many years during tumultuous years with tribal infighting in Mecca and Medina.  That context of the Koran, with its violence and death is not important and significant only for the contemporary period.  Similarly one religion does not hold an answer to all the questions.  One religion does not hold a monopoly on Truth.  In the end one will only extract what one is capable of from any scripture.  If we get bogged down in the social constraints or customs of the time when the scriptures were written, they are bound to appear ordinary today.

Hinduism is a belief and not a scripted practice.  Belief in the basic tenets of Hindu Dharma is all that is needed.  The rest is up to the individual.  Despite the noisy celebration with loud conches and raucous bells, the essence of practice of Hinduism is a quiet introspection and contemplative meditation.  A Hindu’s quest is to purify his ‘self’ called jiva-atman.  It is possible for every Hindu to do this by following the path of Dharma.  No Hindu can be denied this right.

Action is inevitable in life.  There are distinctively two kinds of actions–good and bad.    A Hindu is encouraged to show moral judgment in all his actions.  This is especially so because of the karma doctrine.   There is accountability for all actions.  The goal is to accumulate good karma through many births.  Because Hindus believe atman is indestructible, it is believed that the same atman is transferred from one birth to another.  But the karma is never forgotten and carried by the jiva-atman like a shroud around a naked soul, form birth to birth.

This is a strong incentive for Hindus to lead a life of virtue.  Life is a learning process, an opportunity to gather knowledge.  Like a student in school, some students taking longer to comprehend and finish school than others, but always finishing school, Hinduism gives everyone ample time to succeed in releasing oneself from the cycles of rebirth.  It gives them many lifetimes to do so.  Everyone goes about doing this at his or her own speed.  The scriptures give us suggestions as to how this process can be hastened but does not compel us to do it one way or another.

Some Definitions

Dharma translates to righteousness and is a code of conduct that is expected of everyone though in Hinduism it is without compulsion. Laws of Manu (Manuva Shastra or Manusmriti) form the basis of Hindu conduct.

Karma is a retributive justice that is carried with the atman into the afterlife   It is the imprint of one’s deeds in this life.  A human being is born already with a heavy baggage that is the memory of the karma from previous births.  In the current life he is in full control of his deeds and hence is capable of accumulating good karma throughout this life. This is like a balance sheet.  Good karma cancels out the bad karma.  When enough good karma is accumulated over many lifetimes, the jiva-atman is released from this eternal cycle of samsara and attains moksha.

Samsara is the repeated cycles of births and deaths.  A human is destined to be born many times until his soul is purified.  He is given a chance to accumulate good karma so that the endless cycle of rebirths can be broken.  It is believed that as more and more good karma is accumulated it can be seen in one’s life as he becomes more and more illuminated and austere.  Thus we say that the learned guru, for example has an aura around him.  The avatars or the prophets perhaps are the ultimate examples of humans who have accumulated enough good karma to be on the verge of release from the repetitive cycle of samsara.  This in Hinduism is called Moksha or Realization of Truth.

Punarjanma and Punarmrutyu are repeated births and deaths.  The aim of a Hindu is to seek release from this endless cycle.

Moksha is attained when the jiva-atman is released from the cycle of samsara.  This is not different from the terms Nirvana of Buddhism or Mukti of Jainism.  It is also referred to as Realization of Truth, and identifying with the Eternal Self or Brahman.

Brahman is the Universal Self or World Soul or Parama-atman.  IT is the Supreme God of the Upanishads, who is characterless, shapeless, without limitations and without any attributes (nirguna, nirakara, nirupadhika and nirvishesha).  In the Upanishads Brahman is described as an amorphous, omnipresent, omnipotent all-pervading power.  However, for practical purposes and for the sake of worship,nirguna Brahman was given shape and characteristics.  This is the SagunaBrahman.

Jiva-atman is the self (soul) within every human.  It is the ego and is molded after Brahman.  Different Vedanta philosophies differ as to how closely aligned jiva-atmanis with parama-atman.

Antaratman is a deeper soul that is hidden deep within.  However, layers of ignorance cover antaratman.  The purpose of Hindu is to uncover the shades and let antaratman shine in all its glory.  Only by gathering knowledge the covering around antaratman can be removed.

Goodness is present in every human soul.  This is the basis of treating other humans with respect.  Divinity rests in every soul of every human.  The practice of greeting another human being with the palms brought together in front of the heart signifies the fact that we recognize the divinity in their souls.  It is the sign prayer to God.

Scriptures of Hinduism

To understand a religion and its philosophy it is important to know the scriptures that gave it form and strength.  Scriptures of Hinduism come from the Sanatana Dharma and mostly were written more than two thousand years ago.  The more modern literature (written in the medieval period) is mainly commentaries on the ancient literature.

Written in Sanskrit language, the Hindu literature is considered to be authoritative by the Hindus.  They can broadly be classified as six orthodox and four secular categories.

 

The orthodox section contains:

 

Shruti – That which is heard. This is the direct edict of the gods as heard by the Vedic seers. The Vedas fall under this category.   Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva.  Each Veda is again divided into four parts.  Samhitas are the hymns praising God.  Brahmanas are details of Vedic rituals and rites.  Aranyakas or forest books are a prelude to Upanishads, a guidebook for the forest dweller (during the Vanaprastha ashrama).  Upanishads are the philosophical aspect of the Vedas.  There are more than one hundred Upanishads attached to different Vedas, but about 13 of them are important because later teachers have commented them upon.

 

Smriti – That which is remembered. These are the law texts, moral stories and the epics written and remembered. These include Sutras and Shastras (e.g. Brahma Sutra and Dharma Shastra). Vedangas (Limbs of Vedas) and Upa-Vedas are also included here.   Jyotisha falls under Vedanga whereas Sthapathya veda (vastu shilpa) and Ayurveda are classified under Upa-vedas.

 

Puranas/Upapuranas – There are eighteen Puranas of Vyasa and fourteen upa-Puranas.  There are mainly three groups of Puranas, i.e. Brahma, Vaishnava and Shaiva Puranas.

 

Ithihasas – Mahabharata and Ramayana.

 

Agamas – Texts of rituals and rites of worship.  They include Mantra, Tantra and Yantra.  Agama texts also fall under three sections; Vaishnava, Shaiva and Shakta. These are treatises that explain the physical worship of God in a temple setting.

 

Darshanas – The six philosophical doctrines of salvation:  Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Sankhya, Yoga, Mimamsa and Vedanta.  Vedanta means culmination of Vedas.  It is the study of three philosophical texts namely Brahma Sutra, Bhagavad-Gita and the Upanishads, collectively called Prasthana Traya.

 

The secular section has four categories:

 

Subhashitas  – Wise sayings: Pachatantra and Hitopadesha belong to this category.

 

Kavyas – Scholarly poetry and prose: Kalidasa’s Raghuvamsha andKumarasambhava are examples of poetry and Banabhatta’s works are the greatest examples of prose literature.

 

Natakas – Scholarly dramas: Examples are Kalidasa’s Shakunthala and Vishakadatta’s Mudrarakshasa. 

 

Alankara – Composition of elegance and ornamental language includes such works as Mammata’s Kavyaprakasha and Jagannatha’s Rasagangadhara. 
 

The heterodox literatures are those that did not view Vedas as authoritative. These are Buddhist, Jaina and Charvaka systems.

 

Who is a Hindu? 

 

In simple terms, “He who accepts the Scriptures (Shruti and Smriti) as the basis of his religion, and follows its rule of conduct (or Dharma), and he who believes in one Supreme God (Brahman), in the Law of retributive justice (or Karma), and in reincarnation (punarjanma), is a Hindu.”

 

History of Hinduism

 

Sanatana Dharma was brought to Northwest India first around 1500 B.C.  From its inception reform of the Dharma took place continuously.  There was a mixture of cultures in the Indus Valley civilization, which existed for at least a thousand years before the arrival of Aryans.  The Aryans brought with them the oral tradition of Vedas.  Rig Veda was introduced first. Until 600 B.C. the various Vedas were accumulated.  The form of worship was mainly sacrificial.  Nature Gods like Indra, Varuna, Surya were recognized.  Man considers himself capable of joining the ranks of gods by performing sacrificial rituals.  It was the age of the assimilation of great Vedas and it ended with the revelation of Aranyakas and Upanishads.  This is referred to as the Vedic Period.  Brahman of the Upanishads replaced Prajapati, the Creator God of Rig Veda.

 

Following this period the rigidity of caste systems developed.  Power and corruption led to dissenting thought process by the likes of Buddha and Mahavira.  This was the period when skepticism, materialism (Charvaka), Shaivism and Vaishnavism developed.  There were several other philosophers, who put forth their own unique philosophies, during the next 800 or so years.  This was the most fertile period in the history of India.  Called the Epic Period, when epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana were written, other significant works like Dharmashastra-the moral, social and ethical doctrine that forms the foundation of Hinduism even today, were also written.  This was also the golden period of other religions like Buddhism and Jainism.

 

The third period in the history is called the Sutra Period.  Short aphorisms called sutras were written during this period, in the early centuries of the Christian era.  Most significant of them were the Brahma Sutra of Badarayana, which were commentaries on the Vedas and Upanishads.  The six philosophical systems called Darshanas were also written during this period.

 

The fourth period is called Scholastic Period.  Commentaries were written on the Sutras.  Based on the Vedas and the Sutras, new systems and thought process developed.  Shankara’s Advaita, Ramanuja’s Vishistadvaita and Madhva’s Dvaita philosophies took permanent place in Hinduism.  However, after the sixteenth century, because of occupation by foreign rulers, Hinduism went into decay and no significant thought process occurred until late in 19^th century when Sri Aurobindo and Vivekananda helped in the renaissance of the religion.

 

Now let us see what happened to the sacrificial Sanatana Dharma first introduced by the Aryans.  The Nirguna Brahman of the philosophical Upanishad was now given character and form.  Saguna Brahman was given many shapes and attributes.  The Trinity of Gods – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva – gained prominence.  Orthodox Hinduism developed.  A great impetus to revive Hinduism in the face of challenge from Buddhism occurred during Gupta dynasty around 300 A.D.  Vikramaditya’s glorious rule saw a great increase in art and cultrure.  Secular literature like Kalidasa’s work and other natakas and subhashitas were written.

 

Buddhism slowly took a backbench but Hinduism was in danger into splintering into various factions like Vaishnavism, Shaivism and Shaktaism.  Then around 800 A.D. came a saint Shankaracharya who brought together these various factions under the big umbrella of Hinduism.  He reformed the form of worship and forwarded his Advaita philosophy.  Advaita drew its strength from Sankya philosophy and resembled Buddhism somewhat.  Later came Ramanuja and Madhva with different ideas, but not completely dissociating from the core philosophy laid down in the Upanishads.

 

Philosophy of Hinduism

 

Only by studying the philosophy as written in the Upanishads this question can be answered.  To explain them in more detail, there are seven fundamental characteristics of Indian philosophy. 

First and foremost the philosophy concentrates on spirituality.  

 

The second aspect of Indian philosophy is that it is socio-spiritual.  It is not merely an exercise to seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge.  This is to be lived and experienced.  The philosophy is to be used to change one’s life and seek the Truth.   This experience is to be seen as in Darshan and not merely known. 

 

The third aspect is knowing oneself by introspection, is more important than knowing the physical world.  Though science, astrology progressed at breakneck speed in India, it is the atma-vidya that is believed to lead a Hindu to realize the Truth.  This in turn is a highly personal endeavor. 

 

The fourth fact is that the philosophy is monistic.  Despite the appearance of conflicting images of various gods and forms of worship, basic thought is that there is only one ultimate reality.

 

Fifth and perhaps one of the most important characteristics of the philosophy isintuition. Reasoning may be important to demonstrate the Truth but will not always discover it. It is a process of knowing or sensing without rationalization.

 

Sixth important fact is the acceptance of authority.  Here comes the guru concept.  The Vedic seers are accepted as the ones who had known the ultimate Truth and realized it.  Buddha and Mahavira are also accepted as ones who had intuitive experience and thus realized the Truth.

 

The seventh characteristic is the ability to synthesize the different aspects of philosophical thought process.  It is the thought that God is one but man calls Him by many names that helped to bring all the disparate philosophies under one tent.

 

Purpose and practice

 

The only purpose of man’s life on earth is to identify himself with the eternal Self-called Brahman and unite with it through knowledge (jnana), service (karma) and/or devotion (bhakti).

 

The well-educated upper echelon of the society can take the path of jnana yoga to realize the Truth by studying scriptures. 

 

However, Upanishads give us other means of doing this if one is not familiar with the scriptures or is unable to comprehend them.  For ordinary folks it is possible to seek the Truth by intense devotion to a personal God.  This is called bhakti yoga.  Any object or manifestation can be chosen to show one’s devotion.  This has led to hundreds of perceived manifestations of Brahman, as envisaged by the devotees.  But the underlying theme is that all these are manifestations of a single God.  It is basically monistic.  On the surface it may appear to be polytheistic with many gods and objects worshipped in various forms.  But they are all manifestations of Brahman, the one and only Supreme Being.  At one time, the religion was close to becoming polytheistic with belief in many gods, but Sharkaracharya reformed this. 

 

For still others there is the karma Yoga, exalted in the Bhagavad-Gita.  Service of humanity without the expectation of fruits or rewards is another method of gaining knowledge.  If every human has an antaratman that resembles Brahman, then service of human is akin to service of God.  This is the premise of Karma Yoga.

 

Customs and Classes

Most of the codes of conduct are laid down in Manu Smriti texts.  The four castes developed as a result of people’s profession rather than by birth.  Upanishads repeatedly give examples of this but however in practicality the society was divided into Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vashya and Shudra classes.  The higher classes controlled the lower classes but this became more pronounced after the Muslim take over of India.  The earlier Muslim rulers craftily divided the Hindu society by taxing only certain classes and giving certain privileges to Brahmins.  This resulted in resentment among the other classes.

 

Though samsara is a burden on the jiva-atman, that constantly seeks release from it, life is not to be wasted in inactivity.  There are responsibilities one must meet, including an assurance of continuation of one’s progeny.  A Hindu’s lifetime is divided into four stations (ashramas).  Earlier Brahmachari, a student living with his guru, subsisting on hand outs from neighbors and studying the Vedas. 

 

Next he enters grahasthashrama, when he marries and raises his family.  During this period he is urged to earn an honest living and follow righteousness.  Dharma, artha and kama are to be practiced.  Kama is an essential part of grahastha, not merely to continue one’s progeny.  Active participation in sex and mutual gratification is stressed.

 

When the children are well settled and the grandchildren are old enough to enter Brahmachari ashrama, it is time to enter Vanaprastha ashrama.  Man renounces worldly pleasures and resides in the forest with or without his wife.  He begins to undertake the study of the scriptures.

 

The final stage is Sanyasa ashrama, when the man renounces everything including his family and wanders around immersing himself in the study of scriptures.

 

The samhitas are for the Brahmachari.  The Brahmanas are for the Grahastha to follow Vedic rituals.  Aranyakas help in introducing the Vanaprastha ashrami to start dwelling into the philososphy of the Vedas.  Upanishads are for the Sanyasi to study in depth the scriptures.

 

Starting from before his birth a Hindu goes through many stages when different samskaras or rituals to purify the soul.  Of the more than forty such samskaras, sixteen called (Shodasha samskara) are still popular today.  It starts at the time of conception with the samskara of Garabadana.  Others include Seemantonayana, Jatakarma, Namakarana, Annaprashana, Upanayana, and Vivaha to name a few.  It ends in the end of life in the Antyeshti samskara. 

 

During his lifetime a Hindu is encouraged to practice eight moral rules to enhance his atma-vidya.  These include compassion, forgiveness, cleanliness, absence of jealousy, altruism, absence of greed, auspiciousness and absence of mental strain.  These eight characteristics called ashtaguna will help build character in a Hindu and propel him towards his goal of achieving moksha.

 

Conclusion

Hinduism is the longest surviving religion in the world.  That is not to say that it has not changed over the millennia.  Sanatana Dharma has changed significantly from the Vedic period to now.  In fact it has continually changed over many centuries and has been modified as new challenges appeared.  Starting with Buddha and Mahavira, the establishment of rigid caste system was questioned.  For about three to five hundred years even the Upanishads were questioned.  Charavaka system of complete materialism with atheism went a step further than Buddha’s atheistic but spiritual teachings. 

 

Around 600 B.C. after about one thousand years after its uninterrupted practice, Buddha, Mahavira and Goshala challenged the hierarchy.  Over the next 800 years Buddhism made steady progress, aided by the great Maurya king Ashoka and ensuing kingdoms.  Kanishka helped export Buddhism to China and Japan. 

 

The Darshana literature with Nyaya, Yoga and Sankhya and Vedanta were popular.   Royal patronage came again later when Guptas two to three hundred years after Christ, uplifted the religion.  Hinduism itself slowly transformed from the sacrificial ritual to bhakti ritual. 

 

A glorious period of religion and art followed.  Starting about the 7^th century A. D. permanent temples were built in stone to house Hindu gods.  By now the gods had changed from the nature gods to the three Trinity of Gods, namely Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.  Nirguna Brahman of the Upanishads was only mentioned in the philosophical discussions.  For practical matters, Saguna Brahman was visible everywhere.  

 

While Guptas effectively revived Hinduism it was another Saint half a millennium later that permanently brought all the factions of Hinduism under one umbrella.  There was a danger of schism, as the followers of Vishnu and Shiva and other gods failed to see that their philosophy originated from the same source called the Vedas.  Shankaracharya in the 8^th century helped in the synthesis and refined the ritualistic Hinduism.  He also advanced strict monism (advaita) based on the Sankhya philosophy as well as the Upanishads.  He saw a dual nature in the phenomenal world.  Maya or illusion was how he explained the daily chores and happenings on earth.  But he was pointing to another higher level where human intellect needed to go to attain moksha.

 

Later Vedantis disputed this and put forward their own theories, again based on the interpretations of the Upanishads and Brahma sutra.  Notably, Madhvacharya advocated dvaita philosophy, saying that the jiva-atman and parama- atman are two separate entities and can never be joined.  Moreover, the phenomenal world is real and not maya, (as Shankara had proposed) and Vishnu is the Supreme God.

 

It is truly a wonder how Hinduism that appears to be a combination of many religions tied together, has stayed as one religion.  From the Vedic sacrificial religion to the current day bhakti cult, they appear to be at two ends of the scale.  However, the sanctity of Vedas and a willingness to be reformed as well as an extraordinary tolerance of other religions has made Hinduism remarkable.  No wonder it is called Sanatana Dharma, a religion without a beginning or ending.

 

Where doe the future take us? 

 

One cannot forget what was taught so well in the Bhagavad-Gita.  It teaches us that paths to Truth are many.  Thus it does not discount other philosophies that may show a different path.  It is better to follow the faith one is born to than to change or convert to another.  Thus the tolerance of Hindus for other religions is unique.  It is the only religion that is inclusive, respectful of other religious thoughts and philosophy.   Hinduism is the only religion that can be adopted universally.

 

Hinduism demonstrated its willingness to accept others early when it adopted Buddha as one of Vishnu’s avatars.  It is conceivable that if Vishnu is to have more than ten avatars, both Jesus and Muhammad could be accepted willingly as avatars.  After all, Buddha who did not believe in the sanctity of the Vedas was included as one of the avatars, replacing Balram (in order to keep the total at ten).  Hinduism has shown remarkable resiliency and adaptability.  Is it possible to add newer prophets to the list of avatars?

Customer Satisfaction Survey Tips

When you survey your customers, you are sending a message not only to customers, but also to your employees. Both customers and employees know that you are focused on the quality of your services and/or products when they see that you are paying attention to customer satisfaction. In fact, you can even improve customer satisfaction before the survey results are tabulated. If employees know you are monitoring customer satisfaction, they will pay closer attention to the customer service they provide. Customers will also see that you are listening to their concerns, which can give them an outlet for any frustrations they might have. There are 3 very important keys to getting the most out of this process and making sure it does not backfire on you:

1. Planning - Take time to think about what you want to learn from the results and construct questions that will gather these data. Broad questions like "How satisfied are you with our customer service" are of little use by themselves since they do not tell you what you might be doing right or wrong. Be as specific as possible when constructing questions. You should also include a couple "write-in" questions that allow respondents to provide comments. Even though qualitative data are more time-consuming to analyze, they can reveal invaluable information.
2. Communication, communication, communication - You must communicate to both your customers and your employees that you are interested in customer feedback. Get the message out and make sure both customers and employees know that customer service is a priority in your organization. This is your chance to match words with actions!
3. Follow-up is critical - You must manage the customer satisfaction assessment process through to completion. If you fail to do this, customer frustration can increase. Once a customer has told you what you are doing wrong, he or she has an increased expectation that you will do something about it. If employees do not see any outcomes from the survey, they will quickly note that you are not "walking your talk" and realize that customer satisfaction is not a priority in your organization.
4. Involve your people - Ask employees in your organization if they see any customer service issues and ask them what they would do to resolve the issues that are raised. If you involve them in the process, it will be easier to get their buy-in when you implement changes.
5. Close the loop - Once you have made changes, let your customers and employees know. Briefly remind them of the survey and explain what changes you made as a result. You might invite additional feedback at this time as well.
6. Re-assess - Take a look at how your changes are working after 6, 9, or 12 months. A quick survey of your customers will tell you if the changes you made are working or if perhaps you still need to tweak things a bit. Better yet, make customer feedback an ongoing part of your business so you can continuously track and improve upon your level of customer satisfaction.

Cheap Vote Bank politics

The  vote bank politics in India is a political reality ever since Independence. With the spread of regionalism, proliferation of political parties and unprincipled alliance, elections in India are hardly contested on the basis of political ideology.  Almost all the political parties distorted this vote bank politics according to their political convenience.  Although, its character varies from state to state on the basis of caste, ethnicity, language and regional factors, the Muslims as a consolidated religious group with 12% of country's population remained a most sought after group at all India level in election time.

Manipulation of voters for seizing power in democracy is an art. Since the establishment of democratic and secular polity in India, the Muslim population was bracketed in a vote bank group initially by the congress party and subsequently by all the political parties in the country.  None of them however, offered any remedial solution to resolve the educational and economic miseries of the Muslim masses and allowed their communal conflict with the Hindus growing day by day. They did not even consider it necessary to guide them properly regarding their commitment to the fundamentals of the political blueprint of the Indian polity as free citizens.

Ironically, the Muslim leaders in connivance with the clergies allowed the situation to continue because of their self-seeking interest.  The reflections of the general contours of the Muslim politics consistently remained linked with their religious identity, which hardly faces any danger in the cultural ethos of Indian civilisation.  The efforts of the Hindu nationalists to bring the Muslims into the socio-political mainstream of the country lost its credence in its vote bank competition with the "secular" parties. Generation of heat and dust over Muslim voters therefore, became the electoral strategy of the political parties since Independence.  Initiated by Congress under the leadership of Nehru and followed by all the "secular" parties it has become a bane of electoral politics in the country.

Historically, the Muslim leaders as a group, who were responsible for partition of the country while playing in to the hands of  the colonial power turned their community members hostile to the national aspiration of the Hindus. Unfortunately, the Congress created the minority and majority syndrome and thereby widened the gap of mistrust between the two communities.

The Bhartiya Jana Sangh (BJS)/Bhartiya Janata Party(BJP), a party of Hindu nationalists with a view to consolidate the Hindu voters in its favour crititiced the Congress for pursuing appeasement policies towards the Muslims. This attitude of the party however, helped the Congress to tighten its hold over the Muslims, who found the party as the only saviour of their religious identity.  Following the footsteps of the Congress all the political parties made a mad rush to woo this community by raising hue and cry for protection of their religious identity. For the last 57 years Muslim personal law, article 370, Urdu language and subsequently Ayodhya remained the only issues to woo the community.  Following the footsteps of the Muslim leadership that played in the hand of the British establishment of the country, the contemporary leaders of the community in post Independence era also played the same divisive game under the patronage of the Congress for over thirty years for sharing political power.  Subsequently with the political decline of the Congress they bargained with the other non-BJP political parties for selling the votes of the community members without showing any interest for their economic and educational developments.

Muslims as a religion-centric society became a demoralised group after partition as they lost their exclusive political identity and bargaining power, which they enjoyed in British India. After Independence the Muslim-centric political parties namely Indian Union Muslim League and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen with their influence confined to Malabar region of Kerala and Old City of Hyderabad respectively and National Conference and PDP in Kashmir valley had no significance at national level. With new ethos of constitutional privilege to the minority communities, the Congress party made the Muslims more important than they were in British India. The Muslim leaders for their self-seeking interest for sharing political power treated their community members as market commodity and bargained with various political parties.  The minority-majority syndrome virtually vindicated the divisive policy of the British recognising the political distinctiveness of the Muslims, which was however contrary to the democratic concept in a pluralistic society of India.

There are 95 Lok Sabha constituencies in India which have over 20% of Muslim electorates (Electoral Politics and General Elections in India 1952-98 by M. L.Ahuja, 1998, Page 277). The Muslims are however, not in a position to win these seats on their own but they are capable to tilt the electoral balance in a number of constituencies.  Therefore, there has always been a mad rush of the parties to woo them at the time of elections. Traditionally, the Muslims exercised their franchise on the basis of the strength of the party or parties and candidates, who could aggressively fight against the parties, which they viewed anti-Muslim.

The "secular" parties had a common strategy to scare the Muslims of the danger to their religious identity due to consolidation of Hindu nationalists under the banner of the BJS/BJP.  They consistently allured them with a promise to their safety against this imaginary danger. The BJS/BJP on the other hand made consistent attempt to consolidate the Hindus also as a vote bank to counter the political consolidation of the Muslims against them. Though, the party failed to achieve any major success on this issue, it made the Muslims as its permanent political enemy. This Muslim vote bank politics on over 12 0 million of country's population, therefore, caused immense harm to the Indian society in general and Muslim community in particular.

With support from a section of vested interest Muslim elite, the Congress exploited the Muslim voters for over thirty years to rule the country and kept them appeased as a permanent vote bank. This appeasement policy of the party reached to highest peak in mid 1980s, when the Congress leadership surrendered to the dictate of Muslim clergies in Shabano case by negating the Supreme Court verdict by a parliamentary amendment. It in fact thoroughly exposed the self-acclaimed secular character of the party.  Sensing the reaction and likely consolidation of Hindu votes against the party, its Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi played a pragmatic Hindu communal card to negate the folly by laying the foundation of Ram temple at Ayodhya, which has been a disputed issue between the Hindus and the Muslims. This action of the Congress distanced the Muslims from the party and they moved towards the parties of caste leaders, who came in prominence after polarisation of backward castes following the implementation of Mandal Commission report.

Despite the fact that there is no Hindu vote bank as such, the political mobilisation of Muslims as a vote bank made disturbing progress in the closing decades of last century. Such unprincipled maneuvering of votes aggravated the conflictual relations between the Hindus and the Muslims from bad to worse.  It seems there is apparent absence of capability among the political parties to wipe out communalism from democratic and secular politics. They have in fact promoted communalism with the slogan of secularism. The electoral growth of the BJP during the period on the other hand particularly after the demolition of Babri mosque and the party coming to power at centre as a leader of coalition government created a panic among the Muslim masses. Thus, the hate-BJP became their sole political ideology though, they considered both the Congress and the BJP equally responsible for demolition of Babri mosque. It was however ridiculous that they had no inhibition to support the parties aligning with the Congress in electoral battle.

Even though, movement on Hindutva plank paid dividend to the BJP, it put the contentious issues like Ayodhya, Uniform Civil Code and Article 370 of Indian Constitution away from the NDA agenda when it came to power as head of a coalition government.  But its leaders reiterated time and again that they had not given up these issues and would fulfill their ideological commitments once the BJP comes to power at their own.  This attitude of the BJP leaders kept the Muslim masses always suspicious against them. Post Godhara communal riots in Gujarat aggravated their fear.

The RJD in Bihar and SP in Uttar Pradesh, which could emerge as a political force on the basis of caste politics took advantage of the situation and aggressively propagated against the danger of Hindu communalism. The Muslims found in them as the saviour of their religious identity and accordingly went for collective but tactical voting with a sole objective to defeat the BJP. Their tactical voting was based on the ground assessment at constituency level about the strength of the party or candidate to defeat the BJP. They supported Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh and BSP of Ms Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh and RJD of Laloo Yadav in Bihar. The Congress replayed its political game of pragmatic communalism in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, which was however counter productive due to significant consolidation of Hindu voters in favour of BJP.

Despite the preference of the Muslims for the non-BJP parties to whom they had voted for, the plight of the community remained the same, as these parties hardly did anything to rescue them from their educational and economic backwardness. The Muslim leaders on the other hand continued treating the community as a marketable commodity and bargaining with different political parties in election time for their individual benefits.

The consistent disappointing situation of the Indian Muslims perhaps prompted the BJP leaders to think in term of gaining their confidence. Despite the success of the party in recently concluded assembly elections and the acclaimed "feel good" scenario, they were not sure  of increasing  their electoral gains of 13th Lok Sabha poll in the 14th Lok Sabha election. They realised that the party could not afford to ignore the Muslims that constitute second largest religious majority. To rule over one billion population of the country on its own without taking the Muslim voters into confidence may remain a remote possibility against unlikely consolidation of Hindu votes in party's favour due to the diverse character of Indian society. They considered it necessary to win over the confidence of the Muslims in ensuing Lok Sabha election and accordingly the tactical shift of the party from Hindutva to development was a move also to woo the Muslim voters. This is a major shift in the history of over half a century of party's electoral politics.

A.B. Vajpayee while addressing a BJP-led convention for development of minorities (New Delhi, February 25, 2004) made an appeal to the Muslims to shed their hate BJP mindset, judge the party on the basis of its performance during last five years of its governance, come out of their fear psychosis, think independently and asked them to vote with a free mind. L.K.Adwani on the other hand appealed to them (New Delhi, March 3, 2004) to " beware of vote bank peddlers and concentrate on education". He also said, "Many problems arise today because Muslims have so far only been thought of in terms of votes.  I am happy that Friday holiday (earlier granted by Mulayam Singh, Chief Minister of U.P. since withdrawn) was first criticised by Muslims" (Pioneer dated March 5, 2004). Promod Mahajan, General Secretary of the party made an honest admission that "the BJP too, has realised it cannot rule one billion people without the participation of 120 million of them (Muslims)". He added, "The BJP and the Muslims have realised their folly in excluding each other from their scheme of things" (Ibid.). The RSS, the parent organisation of the BJP is no more found having any obsession to the hand of friendship extended by the BJP to the Muslims. The Sangh Parivar is reportedly serious to discuss and remove misconception from the mind of Muslims against them.

It is difficult to predict whether the Muslims would respond to the appeal of Vajpayee in the coming Lok Sabha election or not. Some of the critics of Vajpayee including from within the Sangh Parivar have criticised the move also as an appeasement. "With the best of intention, both Gandhi and Nehru failed to win over Muslims. It would be a miracle if Mr. Vajpayee succeeds where icons of India failed" (Pioneer dated March 3, 2004). They are of the view that despite his best efforts Mahatma Gandhi failed to win over the confidence of Muslims to prevent partition. 

There may be some logic in the criticism of Vajpayee for his new gesture towards the Muslims but the open admission of the party leaders that they cannot ignore the second largest religious group of population is a reality of contemporary politics. It has at least prompted the Muslims to lend their ears to the emotional appeal of Vajpayee that " the time has come to talk to the BJP". Though, only a limited section in the community has at least viewed the new gesture of Vajpayee in positive manner, the well meaning people are found it as an encouraging signal for improving the Hindu-Muslim relation. His appeal has seemingly hit the mental nerve of the community members.

Encouraged with the new gesture of Sangh Parivar some sections of Muslims are found responding positively. They are learnt to have even offered suggestions for "inclusion in the BJP's political agenda free education to girls up to graduation level and modernisation of Madrasas".  Some of the Muslim leaders are either found joining the BJP or hobnobbing with the party to come closer to it. They have perhaps realised that the "secular" parties had only exploited the community for vote but were hardly serious for their educational and economic developments.

Arif Mohammad Khan, former Minister in Rajiv Gandi government of Congress (I) and a defeated hero of famous Shahbano case and Anwarul Haq, RJD M.P. from Bihar have joined the BJP.  Similarly, a senior Congress leader Ms Najma Heptullah, Deputy Chairperson of Rajya Sabha has praised Vajpayee for which she has faced the wrath of her party leadership.  Arif Mohammad said, "It was my mistake that for decades I ignored Atalji's (Vajpayee) hand of friendship. I failed to sense the sincerity of his approach. Why should I blame others. It was my grave error too, that I rejected his hand" (Organiser dated March 7, 2004). Ms Heptullah remarked, " Vajpayee, a good man, who thinks of the nation".  She added, "Vajpayee is a leader, you can trust. The Congress leadership has lost that respect" (Ibid.).

The BJP is contesting the 14th Lok Sabha election on an "India Shining" plank.  How far the folly of the party as realised by the top leaders of a party that is commonly viewed as anti-Muslims and the soft gesture of some of the Muslim leaders would attract their community voters in favour of the BJP - only time will say. But the way these Muslim leaders have either joined the party or are found in the process of soul searching exercise seems to be an encouraging development towards communal harmony in the country. Besides, the slogan of the BJP has at least blunted the sharpness of the aggressive assault of the "secular" parties against Hindutva to some extent. If the new initiative of the BJP leaders works to change the Muslim opinion about their tactical voting against them, the party may get direct or indirect benefit out of it.

Historically, the conflictual relation between the Hindus and the Muslims is an inescapable fact in the political developments in the Indian subcontinent.  However, the political leadership in Independent India never took serious note to resolve the consistent bitter relation between the two major religious communities. In one hand the political parties continuously scared the community against the imaginary danger to their religious identity at the hands of the Hindu nationalists, on the other hand the leaders of the community never allowed them to integrate in Indian society.  The reason behind their economic, educational and social backwardness was never an issue of concern for either the political or community leadership.

With his long political experience Vajpayee realised the diversity of Hindutva and perhaps ruled out the possibility of the political consolidation of Hindus as a vote bank to counter Muslim vote bank. If his appeal could break the strong locker of Muslim vote bank being operated by the "secular" parties for last 57 years and free the community to exercise their franchise conscientiously, it will be a great service to the Indian society and help in bringing harmonious relation between the Hindus and the Muslims.

The medieval mindset of the Muslims as a distinct political community was a communal interpretation of history. Isolating themselves from the social and political mainstream national current, the Muslims failed to develop their national identity due to their economic and educational backwardness. Social identity is closely linked with educational and economic identity for which religion hardly has any role to play. There are sizeable members in the community, who have full faith in democracy but their voice is so feeble and weak that they are unable to bring out their community from their religion-centric identity. In a wider context of Indian society, modernisation of Muslims is possible only with their educational and economic development. But assertive institutionalisation of the communal distinctiveness of the Muslims by their leaders obstructed them to think independently about their overall development as a part of Indian society as a whole. They in fact created a myth about the fear of the cultural absorption of the Muslims by Hindu majority.

The sum and substance of the discussion is confined to the socio-political triangle of the BJP, the non-BJP and the Muslims. Of them the BJP has "realised its folly". The party also claims the same realisation by the Muslims but the Muslim masses in general and larger section of their leaders is yet to endorse this claim.  No other party is so far ready to accept that there has been any folly on its part. The message in Vajpayee's appeal to the Muslims is certainly thought provoking and it is time that all the three hands of the triangle come out in one platform and admit their follies and resolve the conlictual problem between the Hindus and the Muslims. If all the political parties rake up the issues related to the social, economic and educational identity of the Muslims for their integration with national identity, it will have a far reaching impact in bringing the communal harmony between the Hindus and the Muslims.