The Art of Giving

“Rivers do not drink their own water, nor do tree eat their own fruit, nor do rain clouds eat the grains reared by them.

The wealth of the noble is used solely for the benefit of others?

Even after accepting that giving is good and that one must learn to give, several questions need to be answered..

The first question is - when should one give ?

One does not know really whether one will be there tomorrow to give!

The time to give therefore is - NOW. The next question is – ‘how much to give ?’

One recalls the famous incident from history. Maharaja Rana Pratap was reeling after defeat from the Moghals. He had lost his army, he had lost his wealth, and most important he had lost hope, his will to fight.

At that time in his darkest hour, his erstwhile minister Bhamasha came seeking him and placed his entire fortune at the disposal of Rana Pratap. With this, Rana Pratap raised an army and lived to fight another day.

The answer to this question how much to give is - “Give as much as you can”!

The next question is – what to give?

It is not only money that can be given. It could be a flower or even a smile.

It is not how much one gives but how one gives that really matters. When you give a smile to a stranger that may be the only good thing received by him in days and weeks!

“You can give anything but you must give with your heart !

One also needs answer to this question - whom to give ?

Many times we avoid giving by finding fault with the person who is seeking. However, being judgmental and rejecting a person on the presumption that he may not be the most deserving is not justified. ”Give without being judgmental !

Next we have to answer – ‘How to give ?

Coming to the manner of giving, one has to ensure that the receiver does not feel humiliated, nor the giver feels proud by giving.

‘Let not your left hand know what your right hand gives? Charity without publicity and fanfare, is the highest form of charity. ‘Give quietly !

While giving let not the recipient feel small or humiliated. After all what we give never really belonged to us. We come to this world with nothing and will go with nothing. The thing gifted was only with us for a temporary period. Why then take pride in giving away something which really did not belong to us?

Give with grace and with a feeling of gratitude.

What should one feel after giving?

We all know the story of Eklavya. When Dronacharya asked him for his right thumb as “Guru = Dakshina”. He unhesitatingly cut off the thumb and gave it to Dronacharya.

There is a little known sequel to this story..

Eklavya was asked whether he ever regretted the act of giving away his thumb when he was dying.

His reply was “Yes ! I regretted this only once in my life. It was when Pandavas were coming in to kill Dronacharya who was broken hearted on the false news of death of his son Ashwathama and had stopped fighting. It was then that I regretted the loss of my thumb. If the thumb was there, no one could have dared hurt my Guru? The message to us is clear.

Give and never regret giving !

And the last question is – ‘ How much should we provide for our heirs ?

Ask yourself , ‘Are we taking away from them the ”gift of work? – a source of happiness!’

The answer is given by Warren Buffett: “Leave your kids enough to do anything,but not enough to do nothing !

I would conclude by saying: let us learn the Art of Giving, and quoting Sant Kabir:

“When the wealth in the house increases, When water fills a boat, throw them out with both hands ! This is the wise thing to do!

Live simply. Love generously. Speak kindly.

Places I've Visited

Hoganackal ( My all time favorite )

Hogenakal Falls is a waterfall in South India on the river Kaveri. It is located in theDharmapuri district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu,^] about 180 km from Bangalore and 46 km from Dharmapuritown.^[8] It is sometimes referred to as the "Niagara of India".^[9] With its fame for medicinal baths and hide boat rides, it is a major site of tourist attraction. Carbonatite rocks in this site are considered to be the oldest of its kind in South Asia and one of the oldest in the world.

Season:

Time to visit Hogenakkal is all through the year except summers. Boating is allowed only during the dry-season as the water falls are not strong enough to disturb the moving of the boats. Monsoon and Post monsoon seasons are good for sight seeing and waterfalls.

.....Classical Restrained ....

Thaaye Yashoda Undhan......

Day Light Saving Time ? what does it mean ?

Daylight saving time (DST)—also summer time in British English is the practice of temporarily advancing clocks during the summertime so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less. Typically clocks are adjusted forward one hour near the start of spring and are adjusted backward in autumn. Modern DST was first proposed in 1895 by George Vernon Hudson. Many countries have used it since then; details vary by location and change occasionally.




DST's potential to save energy comes primarily from its effects on residential lighting, which consumes about 3.5% of electricity in the U.S. and Canada. Delaying the nominal time of sunset and sunrise reduces the use of artificial light in the evening and increases it in the morning. As Franklin's 1784 satire pointed out, lighting costs are reduced if the evening reduction outweighs the morning increase, as in high-latitude summer when most people wake up well after sunrise. An early goal of DST was to reduce evening usage of incandescent lighting, formerly a primary use of electricity. Although energy conservation remains an important goal,energy usage patterns have greatly changed since then, and recent research is limited and reports contradictory results. Electricity use is greatly affected by geography, climate, and economics, making it hard to generalize from single studies.

Dhanushkodi - The Lost Land

Dhanushkodi or Danushkodi is a town/village at the southern tip of the Rameswaram
island, at the eastern coast of the Tamil Nadu state of India.Danushkodi is about 18
miles West of Talaimannar in Sri Lanka. The Dhanushkodi railway line running from
Pamban Station was destroyed in the 1964 cyclone and a passenger train with over 100
passengers was drowned into the sea.










Hindu scriptures says that at the request of Vibeeshana, brother of Ravana and ally of Rama, Rama broke the Sethu with one end of his bow and hence the name Dhanushkodi, Dhanush meaning Bow and Kodi meaning end. It is also said that Rama marked this spot for Setu with one end of his famous bow. Bath in holy Sethu at the junction of the two seas normally precedes the pilgrimage to Rameswaram. A series of rocks and islets found in a line are shown as remnants of the ancient Setu also called as Rama's Bridge.






It is said that Pilgrimage to Kashi will be completed only after the worship at Rameswaram besides a holy bath in Dhanushkodi at the Confluence of Mahodadhi (Bay of Bengal) and Ratnakara (Indian Ocean). Setu is Sanskrit word to denote bridge or causeway. It has now acquired a special significance to mean the bridge across the ocean constructed by Rama to reach Lanka.

My Trip to Edakkal Caves

Edakkal Caves are two natural caves located 1000 metres high on Ambukutty Mala 25 km from Kalpetta in the Wayanad district of Kerala in India's Western Ghats. They lie on an ancient trade route connecting the high mountains of Mysore to the Malabar coast ports. Inside the caves are pictorical writings believed to be from neolithic man, evidence of the presence of a prehistoric civilisation existing in this region. Such stone age carvings are very rare and these are the only known examples in southern India

Ettumanur Ezharaponnana

The ancient Siva Ettumanoor Mahadevar Temple here has brought glory and fame to the place. Myths have it that the Pandavas and the sage Vyasa had worshipped at this temple. The name of the place had its origin from the word 'manoor', which means the home of deer.
The famous Ettumanoor Mahadevar Temple hosts the arattu festival celebrated on a grand scale on the Thiruvathira day in February-March every year. Lot of people come to this temple on the 8th and 10th day of the festival when seven and half elephants (in Malayalam: ezharaponnaana) made of gold (nearly 13 Kgms) will be held in public view.this statue was donated to the temple by a travancore maharaja. The temple, the wealthiest Devaswom in Kerala, has many valuable possessions.

The Thulabharam is one of the important rituals of this temple. People make offerings to God for favours received. On balance, the child or man for whom offerings were promised to God, is weighed against offerings ranging from gold to fruits. Ettumanoor is an important pilgrim Centre of Hindus.