Books Exhibition in Chennai - 2012

Books Exhibition in Chennai started on 5th Jan 2012 and it would continue till 17th Jan 2012.

Venue :
St. George Anglo Indian Hr. Secondary School
(Opp. to Paachayappas College)
Chennai – 30
Timings: 3 PM - 9 PM (on Weekdays), and 11 AM - 9 PM (on Holidays)

First time, since I started attending Books Exhibitions, I did not buy anything other than ISKCON books.

The reason can be one of the following.

• I have lost interest in buying books (Interest in reading books is anyway not there)
  
• I have all the books.
  
• There are not enough books in the books exhibition in more than 500 stalls.
  

One disappointing thing in the books exhibition was, there was no stall for Telugu books. For politics, I could find only one stall of publications division of the government. I wanted to buy the last volume of the freedom movement, which contains the happenings just before the Independence, like Partition etc. But, they rejected to sell just one volume, and they insisted to buy the whole set. I did not want to spend Rs.1200 for a book of Rs.300. So, finally ended up buying nothing outside ISKCON store.

Generally, in ISKCON stall, I don't buy anything, because, either I have their books or have already read those. But, this time I found two books that I did not have and have not read, and bought those.

I assumed that, I would buy lot of books in Chennai Books Exhibition, and did not show interest in going to books exhibitions in Bangalore, Hyderabad or Vijayawada. Because of that, I saved lot of money this year.

Prohibitions in Hinduism

In Hindu theology nothing is prohibited, but a menu of prescriptions and enumeration of consequences of your actions.

Courtesy: Subramanian Swamy, President of Janatha Party on Twitter (@Swamy39)

Role of the Chief Opposition Party

The role of chief opposition party is very important in the ruling of the government. Many times, the chief opposition party is as important as the ruling party.

BJP is the only party that has done good service to the country by being Chief Opposition Party. Other than BJP and Lok Satta, I don't see any other party which has worked for the public to the extent they can, by sitting in the opposition. Most of the parties have a single goal of opposing the government for everything (Unless the government tries to increase the reservations or introduce new reservations). [Of course, With FDI, BJP seems to become like any other Opposition Party.]

When P.V.Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister, then floor leader of the Chief Opposition Party (BJP), L.K.Advani, publicly praised him as the best Prime Minister after Lal Bahadur Sastry. Other than L.K.Advani, I am not aware of any other floor leader of the Chief Opposition Party praising the leader of the ruling party. BJP has given full support to all the economic reforms that P.V.Narasimha Rao brought.

When Manmohan Singh tried to get Nuclear deal, BJP has given full support. Only to the general public, it has shown off as if it is opposing. For more details, read Double Standards of Political Parties - Understanding What Politicians Actually Meant

When Chandrababu Naidu was Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, he tried to introduce private operators in Bus service. But, Congress opposed it, and he could not do it. When Congress tried to the same, TDP stopped it, and finally nobody did it.

Everyone praises Manmohan Singh for his strong will to get the nuclear deal. But, he was the one who strongly opposed Vajpayee, when NDA government had done Nuclear Tests. After Manmohan Singh became PM, Pranab Mukherjee criticized BJP for taking the credit of Nuclear tests, eventhough, everything was done by Congress government. BJP or Vajpayee never tried to take credit which they have not done. After the death of P.V.Narasimha Rao, Vajpayee clearly said, P.V.Narasimha Rao gave him a chit which says, "Bomb is ready. Go and explode". Any sane person would clearly understand, who is giving credit to whom.

The floor leader of the Chief Opposition Party is officially given the Cabinet Minister status, and he can contribute to the public almost like a Cabinet Minister.

Cartoon in Eenadu on Lokpal and Corruption

Translation: Lokpal is coming. If you are going to give Rs.25 Lakh or Rs.50 Lakh, it will not workout. There is more risk. Think about it. Unless you bring double the amount, it cannot be done.



Without understanding why the corruption is there in the first place, if we try to reduce the corruption, this is what happens.

Six Stages of Learning

According to the ancient Indian education system, there are six stages involved in learning anything.

a) Information - In the first stage you tend to gather information. You tend to become familiar with basic terminology and vocabulary.

b) Knowledge - When you are able to relate the various pieces of information, you are said to have acquired knowledge.

c) Skill - When you apply the acquired knowledge practically you develop a skill. Skill can be mastered only by constant practice.

d) Insight - When you have spent sufficient time in perfecting your skill, you automatically come to know why a certain thing happens in a certain way. You now can see a pattern which ordinary people may not be able to see. Thus you now have insight.

e) Foresight - After developing insight (knowing the pattern in past), when you project the pattern in future, you can start predicting things. Thus now you have developed foresight (projecting patterns in future with high accuracy).

f) Wisdom - After developing foresight, anyone can use it for personal benefit. But when you develop ability and motivation to use the foresight for the benefit of the society, you are said to have reached the stage of wisdom.


In english language everyone is called a teacher, but sanskrit is a very rich language. There was given a different designation for each type of teacher at each stage of learning.

One who gives you information, is designated as "Adhyaapaka".
One who imparts knowledge is called as "Upaadhyaaya".
One who teaches you a particular skill is "Aachaarya".
One who gives you insight is called "Pandit".
One who gives foresight is called "Drashtaa" (seer).
And finally one who gives you wisdom is called "Guru".

Courtesy: Rajesh Tiruveedula