I am from Bhārat!

Today a friend of mine from my office mentioned that the Greek do not like when someone refers to their country as 'Greece' - this is the name given to their land by the Turks when they conquered them. They actually call their land, Elláda, officially known as the Hellenic Republic. And then I started telling them how off late I have been thinking that whenever someone asks me where am I from, I should say I am from Bhārat. And they said but no one would know where that is.

And then it actually took me some time, effort and backing from wikipedia to prove to them that Bhārat (or Bhārat Ganarājya) is the official name of India and shares equal status with the 'Republic of India'. They were finding it hard to believe that the official name in Hindi is phonetically so different from the one in English. And then I explained to them that India is derived from Indus which is the derived from the Persian word Hindu which is derived from the Hindi/Sanskrit word Sindhu. Likewise India was also called Hindustan by Persians and the Mughal rulers. Now that I think, since we did not give 'Hindustan' a official status, we should not even have given 'India' an official status. Hindustan and India are both names given to our land by other people. We should always call our country Bhārat, after the legendary Hindu king Bharat who united the whole country.

Our motto is in Sanksrit - 'Satyameva Jayate", national anthem is in Bangla - 'Jana Gana Mana' and national song is in Sanskrit - 'Vande Mataram', why should we call our motherland in a foreign language. So next time when someone asks you. where are you from, tell them, "I am from Bhārat ..." and you can add, "... also know as India in the english-speaking world"

Source:
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Courts Informatics Division, National Informatics Centre, Ministry of Comm. and Information Tech. http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/fullact1.asp?tfnm=00%201. Retrieved on 2007-08-08. -- "Name and territory of the Union - India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States."

Not twice ....

She was the sweetest thing I had seen. Cute, fair, down-to-earth, intelligent and more importantly, she liked talking to me. We would sit in lectures together, study in the library together and share lots of stories. When her father got hurt, she was sad and shared it with me. I would bring her chocolates to make her happy.

All this while, for two years I kept it to myself that I had a crush on her. And that the moments I used to share with her were the best thing happening to me. And then, one day through someone she learnt that I had a crush on some girl. Since then, she would ask me every single day about who it was. I never told her - because I knew that she would stop talking to me if she knew it was her. She kept pressing me and then one fine day, I told her. I have never talked to her since, its been six years now ...

I am writing this down because once more, I have fallen for someone ... big time ... hard core :) I cannot concentrate on work, the image revolves in my head all the time and I do not know what to do. What I do know is that if I reveal it, the person will stop talking to me and I might lose a very good friend. I will not make that mistake again, not twice ....

"What do I get out of it?"

Is that the only question one should consider when planning on a step to do something? Atleast most people think so. Have we forgotten Gandhiji's Talisman which used to appear on each and every NCERT book from class I to XII:

"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to a control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions?

Let me try and start all over again. I got incited to write this blog when I said I would be more than happy to go back to India and be a professor at one of the IITs and to which my roommate replied, "Yeh dekho, yeh waapas jaake 15000 ki sadi hui naukri karega (He'll go back to India and do a lowly job which will just give him 15000 rupees)"

What's Your True Colour?

You're brown, a credible, stable color that's reminiscent of fine wood, rich leather, and wistful melancholy. Most likely, you're a logical, practical person ruled more by your head than your heart. With your inquisitive mind and insatiable curiosity, you're probably a great problem solver. And you always gather all of the facts before coming to a timely, informed decision. Easily intrigued, you're constantly finding new ways to challenge your mind, whether it's by reading the newspaper, playing a trivia game, or composing a piece of music. Brown is an impartial, neutral color, which means you tend to see the difference between fact and opinion easily and are open to many points of view. Trustworthy and steady, you really are a brown at heart.


Your true color is Brown!


What's Your True Color?

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Myers-Briggs Jung test

Extroverted (E) 69.23% Introverted (I) 30.77%

Sensing (S) 67.74% Intuitive (N) 32.26%

Feeling (F) 56.1% Thinking (T) 43.9%

Judging (J) 67.57% Perceiving (P) 32.43%

Your type is: ESFJ

ESFJ - "Seller". Most sociable of all types. Nurturer of harmony. Outstanding host or hostesses. 12.3% of total population.

ESFJ:

does not like being alone, thinks life has purpose/meaning, organized, values organized religion, outgoing, social, does not like strange people/things - likely intolerant of differences, open, easy to read, dislikes science fiction, values relationships and families over intellectual pursuits, group oriented, follows the rules, affectionate, planner, regular, orderly, clean, finisher, religious, consults others before acting, content, positive, loves getting massages, complimentary, dutiful, loving, considerate, altruistic

favored careers:

wedding planner, social worker, pediatrician, public health employee, kindergarten teacher, business consultant, nurse, human resources manager, office manager, executive assistant, public relations specialist, medical employee, human resources, office worker, social services, child care worker

disfavored careers:

artist, author, filmmaker, philosopher, video editor, musician, poet, tattoo artist, game designer, philosophy professor, international spy, film director, astronaut, art curator, scientist, computer consultant, cartoonist, graphics designer

Free Jung Personality Test (similar to Myers-Briggs/MBTI)

Interesting ... aren't they??

Those who can laugh without cause have either found the true meaning of happiness or have gone stark raving mad. - Norm Papernick

Boyhood, like measles, is one of those complaints which a man should catch young and have done with, for when it comes in middle life it is apt to be serious. - P G Wodehouse

It is good to be a child but it is bad to act childish. - Swami Chinmayananda

I think age is a very high price to pay for maturity. - Tom Stoppard

Dont I know myself?

I read this all the time on orkut in the section where you are supposed to write about yourself: "I am still finding out", "I dont know who I am, will find out one day". And that makes me think if its so difficult to know oneself. Come on, you have spent twenty odd years with yourself and if you still say this then I guess you have lost a lot of time already.

I dont exactly remember when I started to know myself but it was way back when I used to hear friends passing comments on me, my parents praising me and everyone around talking about me. It happens so many times in a day when you hear feedback about yourself (specially if you have a habit of talking too much). The only thing which might be happening is that you dont pay heed to these hints being dropped by people all the time.

So lets see if I can put something into words for the orkut section "About myself":

That's me: I am a always-smiling, talkative and fun-loving person. I am sensitive and might get touchy about certain things (though you might never feel that I felt bad about something if you aren't close to me). I love my friends and family a lot. So much so that people around me say: Wow, I never felt so special earlier. I am outspoken and extrovert. And yes I am bad at taking decisions, take a hell lot of time finalising plans. I can be very stubborn at times.


I do: I like dressing up well and formally (casually when needed i.e. exactly as what would befit the occasion), doing things sincerely and perfectly. I like to do things my own way and so am commanding (and I dont like people messing up my plans). I like to do shopping, reading and gossiping. Offlate, I have learnt that I like teaching and might choose it as a career.

Interests: I am passionate about fine arts, languages and chemistry (and fashion designing and interior decoration). I am into travelling and photography also. I love chocolates, sweets and food in general. I also love watching Hindi movies and listening to old Hindi songs. I like new things (like a new laptop or a new mobile or a new i-Pod). I am fond of collecting things: starting from erasers (my first collection), magnets, rubber bands, balls, toys, to stamps, coins, photographs (of me and others- aishwarya) to laptops, mobiles, i-pods, shoes, clothes etc etc ......