Growing up, my father taught me many important life lessons that have shaped the person I am today. He has always been a pillar of wisdom and guidance. From how to handle difficult situations to how to be kind to others, my dad showed me the value of these lessons through his own actions and words.

He has consistently taught me important life lessons that have served me well into adulthood. From teaching me the value of hard work to the importance of having a positive attitude, my dad has been a role model of what it means to be a responsible adult.

The Value of Education
My father spent his entire life as a teacher before opening his own school. He published a number of books on mathematics. He consistently highlighted the significance of education, and I have carried that concept with me throughout my life. To him, education was about more than just landing a decent career; it was also about broadening one’s worldview and improving oneself. He demonstrated to me the value of continuing to study and develop on a personal and academic level. Our key to comprehension, invention, and personal development was education. He discussed the fundamental value of education—formal and informal—as the basis for a fulfilling life.

The Value of Religion
My father had a strong sense of spirituality, and he built his life around his faith. He taught me to accept all religions and their core principles while defending my own Hinduism. Never be ashamed of your Hindu faith or its principles; instead, be proud to be a Hindu. He showed me the need to have the value of religion in life in order to have hope, direction, and a moral compass in the face of difficulties. He was one of the leading advocates of Hinduism. I still remember when our Goswami (gurus) from Vrindavan visited Ahmedabad, they frequently told the crowd that the actual Goswami (guru) is Bahechardas (my father), who has done more than anybody else to disseminate information about our religion through his writings and speeches.

Family First
For my father, family was paramount. He taught me that no matter what success I achieve in life, it’s all meaningless without the love and support of my family. He made it clear that one’s first duty should always be towards their family. He always reminded us that family members are the people who are likely to be there for us through thick and thin. When we put our family first, we create a support system that can provide us with emotional stability, love, and care. This support system becomes crucial during challenging times, as our family can offer a sense of belonging and understanding that is hard to find elsewhere. As with everything else, he taught us by example. My aunt became a widow at a very young age, and at that time, marrying again was not the norm. My father gave assurance to my aunt’s parents that he would take care of her. And she lived with us all her life, and my father took care of her.

Community Service
My father was deeply involved in several community service projects, ranging from religion to education to women’s empowerment. I still remember very vividly that once I visited my father’s birthplace town, Sadra, with my entire family, I was invited to the high school, which my father started as a non-profit project, to speak about my experience in the small town of Sadra. It was a very humble experience since everybody was ready to put me on a pedestal because of my father. Everybody, including the principal, teachers, and high school students, spoke very highly of my father because of his effort toward progress in school. He believed in the power of giving back and taught me that one of the most rewarding experiences in life is helping those who are less fortunate. And speaking of the less fortunate, my father started an organization to help poor widow women living in my hometown, Sadra. When he started, the organization was able to help only five women. At this time, the organization helps over 500 women. His commitment to service inspired me to become a more compassionate and responsible individual.

Hard work pays off
From an early age, my father instilled in me a strong work ethic. He showed by example that success isn’t handed to you—it’s earned through dedication, commitment, and perseverance. He worked very hard all his life. I still remember him telling us that he was practically broke when he graduated from college. Besides taking care of my mother and brother, he was also responsible for taking care of my aunt and his parents. But that did not deter him from his goal. He started his career with a simple teacher’s job while simultaneously giving private tuition to students and then starting his own school. He was awarded the best teacher’s award in the state. He wrote several books on mathematics. His life has motivated me throughout my personal and professional life.

Integrity is Crucial
In the eyes of my father, integrity meant more than just honesty. It was about being consistent in both your actions and your principles and about being genuine to yourself and others, even when no one is watching you. This lesson has assisted me in keeping a strong moral compass in all aspects of my life, which is something I am extremely grateful for. In the 1950s, my father started his own private school. And finding employment as a teacher during that era was quite challenging. Many teachers were interested in working at my father’s school, and several of them were prepared to bribe my father in order to get hired there. However, my father refused to accept any bribes. Not only did he refuse to accept bribes from anyone, but he would also become extremely angry with those individuals who were prepared to bribe him.

Never give up on your dreams.
My dad always taught me that if I put my mind to something, I could accomplish it if I worked hard enough. Never give up on what it is that you want to do, regardless of how difficult things may seem. He instilled in me a confidence in myself that has been of great benefit to me throughout my life. When I applied for a visa to enter the United States, the consular officer informed me that due to my health, I would not be granted entry. My father advised me not to let discouragement get the best of me, and he stressed that the United States of America needs bright students like me just as much as you need to come to the United States.

Persistence and Resilience
My dad instilled in me the importance of overcoming hardship and the knowledge that failure is a natural part of the human experience. He demonstrated to me that the path to success is frequently paved with challenges and that perseverance and resilience are essential for conquering these challenges. During my battle with cancer, I found that these lessons were of immense use to me. When I first opened my eyes in the morning, before I prayed to God, I would pray to my parents and ask them for the strength to face the day.

Be grateful for what you have
My dad always drilled into me the value of being grateful for the things you have in life, no matter how big or how tiny they may be. He taught me that cultivating an attitude of gratitude and contentment is the path to achieving inner peace and pleasure, and that a never-ending pursuit of more might result in unhappiness and disappointment.

Help Others When You Can
My father always stressed the importance of treating others with compassion and goodwill. He was someone who was always willing to assist other people in whatever manner he could, and he showed me that a little bit of compassion can go a long way. Because of this, I love to continue his legacy of understanding and compassion in the world. This valuable lesson from my father inspired me to start a Hindu cremation project where I love to help family members whose loved ones have passed away.

About the Authors
Raj Shah, A software engineer by profession, Indian culture enthusiast, ardent promoter of Hinduism, and a cancer survivor, Raj Shah is a managing editor of Desh-Videsh Magazine and co-founder of Desh Videsh Media Group. Promoting the rich culture and heritage of India and Hinduism has been his motto ever since he arrived in the US in 1969.
He has been instrumental in starting and promoting several community organizations such as the Indian Religious and Cultural Center and International Hindu University. Raj has written two books on Hinduism titled Chronology of Hinduism and Understanding Hinduism. He has also written several children books focusing on Hindu culture and religion.

The Mahabharata prohibits anarchy

• Only criminals, anarchists, arsonists, and terrorists violate the law in the name of dharma
• The Pāṇḍavas, the main characters of the Hindu scripture, were not troublemakers
• They did not incite unrest
• Dharma includes protecting one’s nation
• This does not entail taking over other nations or stealing their land
• To keep their rule over their realm, they maintained the status quo

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated about taking tough action against terrorism while assuming the leadership of the G20. The world’s largest issue is terrorism. The world must speak in one voice and act in unison against terrorism, without any political considerations, he said. “We must enlist religious leaders, thinkers, and opinion leaders in a societal effort against extremism that is specifically directed at young people,” he continued.

It will be appropriate to discuss terrorism in light of Hindu scriptures while G20 leaders are discussing the battle against terrorism.

Raj Shah
Managing Editor

Each country has an air force, a navy, an army, and a police force. These organizations act as both the people’s collective power and the nation’s guardians. It is the dharma. Indeed, it is dharmic for rulers to conduct their legal responsibilities and to use the required force, even lethal force, in the armed forces and security forces that protect their families and nations. Without this collective group of defenders, peacemakers, and peacekeepers—the legal system, the central administrative organizations that oversee the legal system, the armies, fleets, and air forces—could the priests do their duties? The businessmen could buy and sell their goods. The ability of the farmers to plant and harvest their crops Could the children play freely in the fields and on the streets? No. The answer is obvious.

Only criminals, anarchists, arsonists, and terrorists violate the law in the name of dharma and support their claims with quotes from the Mahabharata or any religious scripture. The Mahabharata prohibits anarchy. There is no support for terrorism in the Mahabharata.

The Mahabharata outlaws prostitution, drug trafficking, and the acquisition and sale of illegal weapons to protect and preserve society’s values. The Pāṇḍavas, the main characters of this ancient Hindu scripture, were not troublemakers. They weren’t inciting unrest. Furthermore, they weren’t financing their struggle through extortion.

They weren’t even using the sale of drugs to finance their conflict. They weren’t using prostitutes to further their cause in combat, either. They weren’t even actively seeking out women to join them in their fight. Kids weren’t being taught how to trap their victims, either.

Dharma includes protecting one’s nation as well. But does that entail taking over other nations or stealing their land? Did the Pāṇḍavas intend this to happen? No, of course not. To keep their rule over their realm, they were only maintaining the status quo. Let’s not take it for granted that everyone has unrestricted freedom of action based solely on the Mahabharata and Ramayana. The mere allegation that Krishna lied stole some butter, and was mischievous in the Hindu scripture does not give the average individual the right to lie, steal, or be mischievous whenever they please—and perhaps to make these things a way of life. Clearly, this is not dharma. Simple, unadulterated lawlessness

In today’s world, it is unquestionably against Hindu dharma and against what the Mahabharata teaches to establish a nation or even business on another person’s estate or on property that has been forcibly stolen from their domain or usurped.

Reference: Living with Śiva – Chapter 277

“Hinduism has the strongest presence of the divine feminine among major world religions, from ancient times to the present” says Edwin Bryant, an American Indologist and professor of Religions of India at Rutgers University.

The goddess is viewed as central in Shakti and Shiva Hindu traditions. Matriarchal theology is quite prevalent in Sanskritic traditions and village Hinduism relating to the worship of Shakti, and there are numerous Hindu communities that are matriarchal.

June McDaniel, Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Religious Studies Program at the College of Charleston states, “The Devi Sukta ideas of the Rigveda are further developed in the relatively later composed Shakta Upanishads where the Devi asserts that she is Brahman, from her arise Prakṛti (matter) and Purusha (consciousness), she is bliss and non-bliss, the Vedas and what is different from it, the born and the unborn, and the feminine is thus all of the universe. She is presented as all the five elements, as well as all that is different from these elements, what is above, what is below, what is around, and thus the universe in its entirety.”

Maharshi Manu is the first great man of the world to have given society the highest ideals about women, which adds remarkably to the dignity, status and self respect of women. Maharishi Manu speaks wisely and offers noble ideas about women and womanhood. Whatever misquotes we come across against women citing the Manusmriti are from an adulterated portion of the ancient text.

Here are two famous quotes among many respecting the women in Manusmriti.

“yatra nāryastu pūjyante ramante tatra devatāḥ
yatraitāstu na pūjyante sarvāstatrāphalāḥ kriyāḥ

यत्र नार्यस्तु पूज्यन्ते रमन्ते तत्र देवताः ।
यत्रैतास्तु न पूज्यन्ते सर्वास्तत्राफलाः क्रियाः ॥

The divine are extremely happy where women are respected;
where they are not, all actions are fruitless.

Manusmriti 3.56

Prajnarth mahabhaga pujhra grihdipatyaIstriya
triyashc geheyshu na visheshosti kashchan

प्रजनर्थ महाभाग पुजरा गृहदीपत्या ।
इस्त्रिया त्रयश्क गेहेशु न विशिष्टोस्ती कशचन ॥

It means that women bring good luck to a household through procreation; they deserve respect and reverence; they irradiate the house with their presence. In fact there is no difference between the goddess of wealth and women.

Manusmriti 1.26

______________________________________________________________________________

Ancient texts of Hinduism expound a reverence for the feminine. The Rigveda, for example, asserts the feminine to be the supreme principle behind all of cosmos through the following slokas:

May you be empress and lead all.

Rigveda 10.85.46

______________________________________________________________________________

O brilliant woman, remove ignorance with your bright intellect and provide bliss to all.

Rigveda 4.14.3

______________________________________________________________________________

O woman, you are the motherly force that provides direction to our life.

Rigveda 2.41.16

______________________________________________________________________________

The way a powerful river breaks down even the strongest rocks and hills, in the same manner an intelligent woman destroys the fraud propagated by perverted ones. May we bow to such intelligent women.

Rigveda 6.61.2

____________________________________________________

This philosophy is also found in the Yajurveda, the Atharva Veda, Tripuratapani Upanishad and the Bahvricha Upanishad.

O woman, may you be strong and powerful like a rock. May you gain the brilliance of the sun and have a long prosperous life that benefits all.

Atharva Veda 14.1.47

______________________________________________________________________________

O woman, realize your potential. You are a lioness who can destroy criminals, ignorance and vices and protect the noble ones.

Yajurveda 5.10

______________________________________________________________________________

O woman, you provide bliss and stability to the world. You are a source of valour.

Yajurveda 10.26

______________________________________________________________________________

O woman, you are as strong as earth and are on a very high pedestal. Protect the world from path of vices and violence.

Yajurveda 13.18

______________________________________________________________________________

O woman, you do not deserve to be defeated by challenges. You can defeat the mightiest challenge. Defeat the enemies and their armies. You have valour of thousands. Please us all.

Yajurveda 13. 26

______________________________________________________________________________

May the scholarly woman purify our lives with her knowledge, noble actions and guidance.

Yajurveda 20.84

______________________________________________________________________________

Noble woman motivates us to be on the path of truth, love and harmony.

Yajurveda 20.85

______________________________________________________________________________

Whenever I am hurt emotionally or physically, women – as a mother, wife, sister etc – provides healing touch and rejuvenates me. I bow in humble respect to her.

Atharva Veda 7.57.1

Hinduism

Rutgers University

Edwin Bryant

American Indologist

Shiva Hindu traditions

Sanskritic traditions

June McDaniel

The Devi Sukta

women in Manusmriti

Atharva Veda

yatra nāryastu pūjyante

In this month’s Word to Live By column, I would like to highlight a Hindu Scripture that is full of knowledge, but not as popular as other Hindu texts. This lesser known Hindu scripture is Thirukkural, also known as Thiruvalluvar.

Thirukkural literature belongs to the Sangam period, the period of history of ancient Tamil Nadu, Kerala and parts of Sri Lanka spanning from the 3rd century BCE (Before Common Era) to the 3rd century CE (Common Era). Thirukkural is not the original name of this work and is made of couplet style poems originally written in Tamil before being translated in many languages. To honor the origins, the prefix thiru refers to respect in Tamil, and kural means couplet – together the name for the text Thirukkural emerged. Researchers claim that the work discovered is just a part of a much larger one, the discovered work consists of 1330 couplets. The author’s name is not known yet, but based on available information found so far, it is possible that a person who belonged to the Valluva tradition may be the author. Thus, the name Thiruvalluvar emerged.

Thirukkural consists of three categories, Ethics, Wealth and Love. Each category has multiple sections, and within each section are several chapters. Every chapter includes 10 couplets, each of which is two lines. The first line of the couplet has 4 words, and the second line has 3 words.

Thirukkural is all about how to lead a righteous life, and the text covers the complete spectrum of life in a concise manner. Thirukkural is like a pharmacy, you will have the medicine needed to cure illness, but can also be deadly if not consumed as prescribed. Take the medicine based on your situation or needs.

The next few issues of Desh-Videsh will feature a few couplets from Thirukkural that talk about the most important virtues in life such as friendship, loyalty, and love among others that lead to a righteous life. The series begins with one of the most important qualities every human being needs for success in life – perseverance. Six couplets from Chapter 6 of the text highlight this quality, and each couplet is listed in Sanskrit, Hindi and an English translation.

Thirukkural

one of the oldest Hindi scriptures

importance of Perseverance

Perseverance

Friendship

Loyalty

Love

Sanskrit

Hindi & English translation

The Bhagavad Gita

four Vedas: Rigveda

Yajurveda

Samaveda

Atharvaveda

Upnishads

righteous life

Thiruvalluvar

Sangam period

history of ancient Tamil Nadu

Kerala

Sri Lanka .Ethics

Wealth and Love.Philanthropist

Kural 611

Kural 612

Kural 613

Kural 614

Kural 615

Kural 616

As an editor of Desh-Videsh and a community organizer, I meet a lot of people at parties or at community events, especially those from my generation. After a few meetings, they open up and talk about their family and problems. Obviously I can not advise them either way because that is not my expertise. But I am a very good listener. By expressing their feelings to me, it may give them some solace.

Some of these people do expect that I share my personal experience with them. But fortunately for me, Aruna and I are blessed with a very caring family. Two daughter-in-laws, even though they are born and brought up in this country, understand our feelings as our own daughters.

But for those families not as fortunate as us, I want to share one popular dialogue from the Hindi Bollywood movie, Baghban, which means Gardener.

Those of you from my generation (65+ years young) must have seen the old Hindi movie Baghban, starring Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini. If you recall, it was a movie about conflict between the old generation and new generation. It was a movie about old thinking and new thinking where children do not understand their parents feelings and end up with disrespecting them.

Generation X and millennials may not have seen this movie. But I recommend that they watch ,and I highly recommend that they watch with their children.

At the end of the movie, Amitabh Bachchan gives a small speech about his newly published book titled Baghban. It is a small audience where his children were also present.

For the sake of new generation, I have attempted to translate it from Hindi to English. I know it is not justice to the Hindi language, or to the writer of that speech.

Below is my translation for this speech.

[dialogue excerpt from Baghban]

Ladies and gentlemen,

”Actually, l am not a writer. Writers are those that plunge deep into the oceans of knowledge and come up with rare gems of literature. I have written what life has taught me. Baghban book is not about me or any other individual. It is a book explaining the conflict arising between the days gone by and the days to come. It is a book explaining the conflict between the past and the future. It is a book about the broken relations between two generations, it is a book about the drooping (weary) shoulders on which some children had once sat to see the world. It is a book about the trembling hands that once held the hands of their children as they taught them to walk. It is a book about the parched lips, that once sang lullabies but they have now been silenced.

Times have changed, life has changed. If people of my generation will recall, we were always caught up in ties and in relations that yielded nothing. For us, our Father was God and at our Mother’s feet lay our heaven. And now people have become very sensible. The new generation is very clever and practical. For them, every relation is like a ladder, on which they will step to rise further in life. But when they have no use for the ladder they will be dumped with the rest of the broken furniture in the house like old vessels or old and torn clothes or old newspapers. However life is not like a ladder. Life grows like a tree. Parents are not the steps of a ladder. Parents are the soul of one’s life, like a big tree. Regardless of its size and fullness of big tree, it can’t stand on its own once its roots are hacked.

With all humility and respect, l ask today that if a father can spend every penny of his hard earned money with a smile for the happiness of his children, those very children, when the father’s eye-sight weakens, why do they hesitate in giving them light ? If a father can help his son to take the first step in his life, why can’t the son give his father support when he’s taking the last few steps of his life? What crime is it of the parents who have devoted all their lives to their children, that they are given tears and loneliness?” If they can’t give them any love who gives them the right to snatch their love from them? What do these children think? God have united their parents with love, how the children can separate and force them to lead a life of misery and despair?

Is it for a day like this that man seeks children? Children perhaps forget, what is our present today, tomorrow will be their present. If we are old today, they will also grow old someday. The questions we ask today, they will ask tomorrow. As for me… please don’t worry about me, if I am capable of bringing up my children, helping them become able and independent, I am capable of taking care of myself too. I do not expect anything from anyone because I am very fortunate, The reason I am very fortunate because life has given me a companion, walking with whom my hardships were always blown away, my hardships were always overcome. And that companion is my wife. People often fall in love. However they don’t express it as often as they should. I do not want to make the same mistake.  Pooja…I love you very much. Thank you for being with me. I exist because you do and there’s everything if we are together, else there’s nothing, absolutely nothing.

That’s all I wanted to say.”

The reporter asks, “Sir, how would you react had Baghban, been your personal experience?”

“Those children, who don’t love their parents…who don’t give them shelter…who don’t respect them… I would never forgive them l would rather punish them and l would disown them.

One of their sons asks, a mother always forgives her children, “Won’t you forgive us?”

”Yes, as a mother l may perhaps forgive you. But as a wife… I cannot forget the tears my husband has shed. And all of you are the ones who made them shed tears. I can’t say what the future holds, but l have nothing to give you today Not even forgiveness.”

Amitabh Bachchan

Salman Khan

Hema Malini

Mahima Chaudhry

Aman Verma

Samir Soni

Saahil Chadha

Nasirr Khan

Suman Ranganath

Divya Dutta

Arzoo Govitrikar

Rimi Sen

Yash Pathak

Paresh Rawal

Lillete Dubey

Sharat Saxena

Sanjeeda Sheikh

Asrani

Avtar Gill

Mohan Joshi

Anang Desai

Nakul Vaid

Gajendra Chouhan

Smit Sheth

Ravi Chopra

B.R. Chopra

Shafiq Ansari

Satish Bhatnagar

Ram Govind

Achala Nagar

Baghban

rina shah

sight weakens

community organizer

rare gems

baghban book

baghban movie

generation x

new generation

old newspapers

hindi bollywood

english

community events

aruna shah

torn clothes

hindi movie

small audience

gardener

parched lips

desh videsh

hindi language

what crime

relationship

Compiled by RajShah

Inspiring Commencement Speeches

What better time to discuss commencement speeches than in the Desh-Videsh Education special edition. Enjoy these quotable quotes from a few timeless commencement speeches by notable Indians to help you define your own success.

Raghuram Rajan
23rd Reserve Bank of India Governor
“You are rarely happy simply because you are successful,
but you are much more likely to be successful if you are happy, doing work you enjoy.”

Ratan Tata
The world’s most notable industrialist and Former Chairman of Tata Sons
“View this moment as moving from protected environment to
an environment where you have to learn and listen because your whole
world is going to be learning and listening. Your success is going to be your humility.”

Shikha Sharma
World Renowned Indian Banker and current CEO of Axis Bank
“The choice of a life partner is the single most important choice you’ll make in your life, much of the joy you derive in your life, does hark back to who you choose to share this journey with. A lot of what I am today are a function of the life partner I was lucky to have alongside my journey.
“When you are out there looking for a partner, look beyond their looks, their success, their style. The durability and strength of your relationship if not going to come from your partner’s personality. It is going to come from their character, so remember to look well be-neath the surface.”

Rahul Dravid
Legendary Cricketer
“The Chinese Bamboo. You can take a Chinese bamboo seed and plant it in the ground,
water and nurture the seed for an entire year & not even see a single sprout.
In fact, you’ll not see a sprout for 5 years. But suddenly, a tiny shoot will spring from the ground. And over the next 6 weeks, the plant can grow as tall as 90 feet. It can grow as fast as 39 inches every 24 hours.
You can literally watch the plant grow.
What was the plant doing during these 5 years, seemingly dormant period, it was growing its roots. For 5 full years,
it was preparing itself for rapid, full growth. Without this root structure, the plant simply couldn’t
support itself for its future growth. Some would say the plant grew 90 feet in 6 weeks, I would say it grew
90 feet in 5 years & 6 weeks.
So keep watering and nurturing yourself. One day you will sprout and grow as fast as a Chinese Bamboo tree. No one becomes a midnight success, there are years of labor and pain behind that. God’s delays are not God’s denials.”

Desh-Videsh Education special edition

Raghuram Rajan

Reserve Bank of India

Ratan Tata

Shikha Sharma

CEO of Axis Bank

Rahul Dravid

Chinese Bamboo tree

Words to Live By…

Compiled by RajShah

This month, we explore shlokas from the Ancient Hindu scriptures that describe bride
and groom’s feelings toward one another.

Mangalyam tantunanena
mama jivana hethuna,
Kanthe badhnami subhage
twam jeeva sarada satam

“This sacred thread – Mangal Sutra – is being
tied around your neck for my long life. Dear
maiden of auspicious attributes, I hope you
too live to be a hundred.”

After a couple completes Saptapadi in a Hindu
wedding ceremony, the groom recites this
shloka seeking the bride’s friendship.

Sakha saptapada bhava
Sakhayau saptapada babhuva
Sakhyanthe gameyam
Sakyathe mayosham
Sakhyanme mayoshataha

“With the seven steps,
We have become friends,
Let me reach your friendship
Let me not be separated from your friendship
Let your friendship not separated from me.”

Dher aham prithvi tvam,
Retoham retabhru tvam,
Manoham asmi vaktam,
Samaham asmi rikritvam,
Sa maam anuvruta bhava“

I am the sky and you are
the earth.
I transmit energy while you
receive it from me.
If I am the mind, you are the
word that manifests from its
thoughts.
If I am a strain of music, then
you are the song that stems
from it. You and I, in essence
complete each other and
follow each other.”

Dharmecha, Arthecha,
Kamecha,
Mokshecha.. Naati Charaami!
“Righteously, financially,
by desire, or spiritually,
I will not walk away from her!”

shlokas

Ancient Hindu scriptures

Mangal Sutra

Saptapadi

Hindu wedding ceremony

financially

spiritually

Posted on: 07-31-2018 by: Deshvidesh

India has often been blessed with great visionaries, whose life and works have surpassed the boundaries of time and place and have left an indelible mark on the mind of millions of common men throughout the years. Premier among such extraordinary thinkers was Swami Vivekananda, the patriot saint of modern India, whose messages and speeches continue to hold tremendous relevance even in this Information Age. His work acts like a North Star guiding and giving us invaluable lessons about what it takes to be a true human being.

Among many such unforgettable quotes of Swami Vivekananda, this one in particular has singular significance as it deals with the positive aspects of the mind. The character of any man is but the aggregate of his predispositions, the sum total of the thinking output of his mind. Every work that we do, every movement of the body, every thought that we think leaves an impression on the mind, and even when such impressions are not obvious on the surface, they are sufficiently strong to work beneath the surface, subconsciously. As various thoughts pass through the mind, they leave upon it different pictures, and what we are every moment is determined by the sum total of these impressions.

What we speak does not have as much relevance as our thoughts have. This is because words die a natural death with the passage of time, but the thoughts we experience have a far-lasting impact on our souls and psyche. We are responsible for what we are, and whatever we wish ourselves to be as we have the power to make ourselves. It is thus extremely important that we exercise caution in our thinking process, as negative thoughts will only bring negativity in our life while positive thoughts will enlighten and enrich our lives. If we continue to think about evil, disaster or even death, our end will be hastened. But if we think optimistically and masterfully, with confidence and faith, life becomes more secure, more fraught with action, richer in achievement and experience.

It is probably why a person’s real character is determined by his most common actions and thoughts in every day life, because he when alone, is really great whose character is great always, the same wherever he be.