Kurukshetra Anusmaranaya

කුරුක්ෂේත්‍ර අනුස්මරණය

Here is the preface of the historical fiction, Kurukshetra Anusmaranaya, the debut book of Arun Kotha. 

The Fireflies

The galaxies that cannot be put off by the strongest of the winds... aren't sufficient to light up the entire universe. You cannot hide a shadow, how many ever sources of light you might use. All that is in between those stars in the space is splendid darkness.

The sparkles of Anger, Lust, Greed, Attachment, etc., (the Arishadvarga - as we call them) are but the fireflies in this vast dark universe.

We all should reach an ultimate dark-world that is free of the faintest of these light beams. Lest we should remain as pointless as a compass in the hands of a sailor traveling in a ship in the midst of this never-ending hopeless horizon-less sea of emptiness.

Masculine Vs Feminine Ruling

Masculine ruling and Feminine ruling are two opposite governing laws that, in the long run, lead to either a suppressed and dejected nation or an insurgent and rebellious nation, regardless of whether the rule was malevolent or benevolent.

Devas insisted on a feminine way of governing their followers. They allowed rules to be amended and laws to be violated once in a while, considering the good it does in the long run. On the other hand, Asuras were very strict and did not allow their laws to be violated, even if they harmed their followers; because they believed in Ekam - the supreme law. 

Democracy is a feminine way of ruling. Sudden liberty in India immediately after the harsh and masculine British rule lead to anarchy and hence resulted in the liberation of the rebellious country Pakistan, which has given birth to even more rebellious government.. the Terrorism. Conversely, extremely masculine ruling and malevolent dictatorship in terrorism are leading itself to collapse, as it has forsaken the very first reason to create the government - to protect the followers. 

In simple words, making a government is like holding a bird in hand while protecting it. 

The more tightly you hold the bird, the more it gets hurt; but you have the supreme control. And you will make a supreme force that secures the bird, though at a cost of some of its blood. This is a dictatorship - the masculine ruling.

The more loosely you hold it, the higher the chances it will fly away because you gave it too much freedom. You desired the long-run well-being of the bird, so you gave it more freedom and it wanted more and more, to such an extent that it obviated your control. This is anarchy in democracy - the feminine ruling.

Overall, in the long run, neither of them will do good to the bird.

"A good rule is something that provides freedom and takes charge."

A constant change in the system of the ruling will be a suitable solution that implements a masculine and more rigid way of ruling until you have more control and switch to feminine and more liberal way of ruling when intolerance becomes overwhelming and again switch back to masculine ruling when the rebellion is outstanding. After all the whole universe runs in a cycle.

It is not one's ability, but one's willingness, that is important!!

Watching a baby sea turtle struggle out of the nest and make it's way to the water is an emotional experience. Everything from footprints to driftwood and crabs are obstacles.

In this photograph, the photographer captured not just a single heart-touching moment, but also the trails of trillion such moments that show the efforts made by a baby turtle in order to reach to the shore.

How many real heroes?

The kind of remuneration Indian actors draw from their film projects is mind boggling. Here is a list of some of the highest paid actors in India (Price in millions of Indian Rupees approximately):

Name : Aamir Khan
Price : 400

Name : Shah Rukh Khan
Price : 250

Name : Salman Khan
Price : 300

Name : Hrithik
Price : 200

Name : Amitabh Bachchan
Price : 200

Name : Rajinikanth
Price : 350

Name : Pawan Kalyan
Price : 200

Name : Mahesh Babu
Price : 150

Name : Kamal Hassan
Price : 200

Name : Suriya
Price : 250

Now the point is, how many actors in India are really willing to spend a part of their income for charity??? Of course there are some actors who are generous, but how many?

Someone said it well, "I think the best actors are the most generous, the kindest, the greatest people and at their worst they are vain, greedy and insecure."

True nobility does not lie in being highest paid, but in being a little generous. That is what differentiates 'Heroes' from actors.

Indian Prodigy: A "Human Computer"

Indian mathematics genius and astrologer Shakuntala Devi, who passed away after brief illness on April 21, 2013 at the age of 83, was dubbed "human computer" for her swift numerical calculation abilities.

A household name in India, Devi cast a spell adding a 16-digit number with another one and multiplying the result with an equal array of numbers almost instantaneously, finding the cube root of the resultant and pops up with an answer in just about the time taken for a wink.

Devi, who had no formal education and who simply picked up reading and writing, had the ingenous ability to tell the day of the week of any given date in the last century in a jiffy.

In 1977 in Dallas she competed with a computer to see who could give the cube root of 188132517 faster. She won.

Rated as one in 58 million for her stupendous mathematical feats by one of the fastest super-computers ever invented-the Univac-1108, Devi believed in using grey cells to silicon chips. At an American university she was asked to give the 23rd root of 

916748676920039158098660927585380162483106680144308622407126516427934657040867096593279205767480806790022783016354924852380335745316935111903596577547340075681688305620821016129132845564805780158806771
She answered in 50 seconds. Her answer of 546372891 took a UNIVAC 1108 computer a full minute (10 seconds more) to confirm that she was right after it was fed with 13000 instructions.

In 1977, Shakuntala Devi discovered the 23rd root of a 201-digit number mentally. 

On June 18, 1980, she demonstrated the multiplication of two 13-digit numbers 7,686,369,774,870 x 2,465,099,745,779 picked at random by the Computer Department of Imperial College, London. She correctly answered 18,947,668,177,995,426,462,773,730 in 28 seconds. This event is mentioned in the 1995 Guinness Book of Records.

She wrote a number of books on mathematics and astrology including "Fun with Numbers", "Astrology for You", "Puzzles to Puzzle You" and "Mathablit".

She had also set up an educational foundation public trust to promote studies in maths, astrology, philosophy and astronomy.

Shakuntala Devi was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award in Mumbai last month.

The Birds of Paradise

     The birds-of-paradise are members of the family Paradisaeidae of the order Passeriformes. The majority of species in this family are found on the island of New Guinea and its satellites, with a few species occurring in the Moluccas and eastern Australia.

     The family has 39 species in 14 genera. The members of this family are perhaps best known for the plumage of the males of the sexually dimorphic species (the majority), in particular the highly elongated and elaborate feathers extending from the beak, wings, tail or head. For the most part they are confined to dense rainforest habitat. The diet of all species is dominated by fruit and to a lesser extent arthropods.

     The family is of cultural importance to the inhabitants of New Guinea. The trade in skins and feathers of the birds-of-paradise has been going on for two thousand years. The birds have also been of considerable interest to Western collectors, ornithologists and writers.

    A number of species are threatened by hunting and habitat loss.