RABINDRANATH TAGORE'S

GITANJALI
"Song Offerings"
Translations made by the author from the original Bengali.
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Mind Without Fear
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up
into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason
has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action---
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Little Flute
Thou hast made me endless, such is thy pleasure. This frail
vessel thou emptiest again and again, and fillest it ever with fresh life.
This little flute of a reed thou hast carried over hills and dales,
and hast breathed through it melodies eternally new.
At the immortal touch of thy hands my little heart loses its limits in
joy and gives birth to utterance ineffable.
Thy infinite gifts come to me only on these very small hands of mine.
Ages pass, and still thou pourest, and still there is room to fill.

Purity
Life of my life, I shall ever try to keep my body pure, knowing
that thy living touch is upon all my limbs.
I shall ever try to keep all untruths out from my thoughts, knowing
that thou art that truth which has kindled the light of reason in my mind.
I shall ever try to drive all evils away from my heart and keep my
love in flower, knowing that thou hast thy seat in the inmost shrine of my heart.
And it shall be my endeavour to reveal thee in my actions, knowing it
is thy power gives me strength to act.
Moment's Indulgence
I ask for a moment's indulgence to sit by thy side. The works
that I have in hand I will finish afterwards.
Away from the sight of thy face my heart knows no rest nor respite,
and my work becomes an endless toil in a shoreless sea of toil.
Today the summer has come at my window with its sighs and murmurs; and
the bees are plying their minstrelsy at the court of the flowering grove.
Now it is time to sit quite, face to face with thee, and to sing
dedication of life in this silent and overflowing leisure.

Flower
Pluck this little flower and take it, delay not! I fear lest it
droop and drop into the dust.
I may not find a place in thy garland, but honour it with a touch of
pain from thy hand and pluck it. I fear lest the day end before I am
aware, and the time of offering go by.
Though its colour be not deep and its smell be faint, use this flower
in thy service and pluck it while there is time.

Fool
O Fool, try to carry thyself upon thy own shoulders!
O beggar, to come beg at thy own door!
Leave all thy burdens on his hands who can bear all,
and never look behind in regret.
Thy desire at once puts out the light from the lamp it touches with its breath.
It is unholy---take not thy gifts through its unclean hands.
Accept only what is offered by sacred love.

Leave This
Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads!
Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut?
Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee!
He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground
and where the pathmaker is breaking stones.
He is with them in sun and in shower,
and his garment is covered with dust.
Put off thy holy mantle and even like him come down on the dusty soil!
Deliverance?
Where is this deliverance to be found?
Our master himself has joyfully taken upon him the bonds of creation;
he is bound with us all for ever.
Come out of thy meditations and leave aside thy flowers and incense!
What harm is there if thy clothes become tattered and stained?
Meet him and stand by him in toil and in sweat of thy brow.

Journey Home
The time that my journey takes is long and the way of it long.
I came out on the chariot of the first gleam of light, and pursued my
voyage through the wildernesses of worlds leaving my track on many a star and planet.
It is the most distant course that comes nearest to thyself,
and that training is the most intricate which leads to the utter simplicity of a tune.
The traveler has to knock at every alien door to come to his own,
and one has to wander through all the outer worlds to reach the innermost shrine at the end.
My eyes strayed far and wide before I shut them and said `Here art thou!'
The question and the cry `Oh, where?' melt into tears of a thousand
streams and deluge the world with the flood of the assurance `I am!'
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

GLOBAL WARMING
&
GREEN HOUSE EFFECT
Our planet Earth is warming up. Its global temperature has risen. During the 20th century, the average global temperature has risen to0.6 degrees Celsius.

Using computer climate models the scientists have estimated that the year 2100 the average global temperature will be 1.4 degrees to 5.8 degrees Celsius.

The glaciers are melting causing floods and tsunami. The whole climate around the planet earth is changing causing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions..

The deforestation contributes to global warming considerably. Trees use carbon dioxide and give off oxygen in its place, this helps to create a balance of gases in the atmosphere.

Life on earth depends on energy from the sun. About 30% of the sunlight that beams towards the earth is deflected in the outer space . The rest reaches the planets surface and is reflected upwards as a type of slow moving energy called infrared radiation. As it rises the infrared radiation is absorbed by the “greenhouse gases” such as water vapour carbon dioxide ozone methane and nitrous oxide which slows the escape of heat from the atmosphere.

Although green house gases make up only 1% of the total earth atmosphere. they regulate our climate trapping heat and holding it in a kind of warm air blanket that surrounds the planet. This phenomenon the scientists term as ‘ green house effect.’without it there would be no life on earth.
Venus is too hot, Mars is too cold and Earth is just right.

The problem begins when the humans disturb the Nature, by their activities producing more green- house gases which trap more heat than necessary to warm the planet to an ideal temperature.

The gross activities producing greenhouse effect are:
Burning Natural Gas coal and Oil…. It raises the level of carbon in the atmosphere.
Some Farming practices and land use change increases the level of Methane and Nitrous Oxide in the atmosphere.
Factories produce industrial gases which are responsible for global warming.
Deforestation
Population growth.. means more food output, more farming more supplies for each individual produces green house gases and adds to global warming subsequently.

A lot of damage has already done to our planet. But due to awareness to further check this global warming nations are holding talks. The rich countries are mainly responsible for emission of greenhouse gases. It’s essential to save Our Planet.
(Enviormental issues.About.com)

Speech at Chicago-Welcome Address

Sisters and Brothers of America,
It fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome which you have given us. I thank you in the name of the most ancient order of monks in the world; I thank you in the name of the mother of religions, and I thank you in the name of millions and millions of Hindu people of all classes and sects.
My thanks, also, to some of the speakers on this platform who, referring to the delegates from the Orient, have told you that these men from far-off nations may well claim the honor of bearing to different lands the idea of toleration. I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true. I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth. I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites, who came to Southern India and took refuge with us in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny. I am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still fostering the remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation. I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: "As the different streams having their sources in different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee."
The present convention, which is one of the most august assemblies ever held, is in itself a vindication, a declaration to the world of the wonderful doctrine preached in the Gita: "Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths which in the end lead to me." Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal.By Swami Vivekananda

Each soul is potentially divine.
Our goal is to manifest this divinity within,by controlling nature, external and internal.

Do this either by work, worship, or psychic control, or philosophy-by one or more, or all of these-and be free.

This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details.
-------Swami Vivekananda.

जय श्रीकृष्ण

श्रीकृष्ण जयंती

श्रीज्ञानेश्वर महाराज जयंती......

पसायदान

आता विश्वात्मके देवें / येणे वाग्यज्ञें तोषावे / तोषोनि मज द्यावें / पसायदान हें //१//

आतां म्हणजे श्रीमत् ज्ञानेश्वरी या भगवत् गीतेवरील टीकाग्रंथाचे कार्य पूर्ण झाल्या नंतर विश्वात्मक प्रभू ने - सदगुरू निवृत्तीनाथानी मी हा जो वाग्यज्ञ केला त्यामुळे माझ्यावर प्रसन्न व्हावे आणि त्या प्र्स्न्न्तेतून मला हे पसायदान द्यावे .

जे खळांची व्यंकटी सांडो / तया सत्कर्मी रति वाढो / भूतां परस्परे पडो /मैत्रजीवांचे //२//

.या विश्वात जी खलवृत्तीची - दुष्ट प्रवृत्तीची मंडळी असतील त्यांचे खलत्व म्हणजे दुष्टपणा -वाकडेपणा जावो . त्याना सत्कर्मात आवड निर्माण होवो आणि ती आवड दिवसेदिवस वर्धिष्णु होवो. सर्व प्राणिमात्रांना एकमेकाविषयी प्रेम निर्माण होवो .

दुरितांचे तिमिर जावो / विश्व स्वधर्म सूर्ये पाहो जो जें वांछील तो तें लाहो / प्राणिजात //३//

अज्ञानामुळे घडणारे जे पाप,त्या पापाचा अंधकार नष्ट होवो. विश्वाची सर्व कर्मे स्वधर्माच्या प्रकाशामध्ये होवोत आणि आपली विश्वाकडे पाहण्याची दृष्टी ही स्वधर्माच्या स्वरुपबोधाच्या प्रकाशामध्ये असो . असा जो साधक असेल त्याची जी इच्छा असेल ती बहुधा पारमार्थिकच असणार ती त्याची इच्छा पूर्ण होवो.

वर्षत सकळमंगळी / ईश्वर निष्ठाची मांदियाळी / अनवरत भूमंडळीं / भेटतु या भूतां //४//

सर्व मांगल्याचा वर्षाव करणारा , ईश्वरनिष्ठ संताचा समुदाय अखंड त्या साधकाला भेटो

चलां कल्पतरूंचे आरव/ चेतना चिंतामणीचें गांव / बोलते जें अर्णव / पीयुशाचे //५// चंद्रमे जें अलांछन / मार्तंड जें तापहीन / तें सर्वांही सदा सज्जन / सोयरे होतु //६//

संत म्हणजे जणू चालते बोलते कल्प्तारुंचे कोवले कोवले कोम्ब असतात । चिंतामणि सर्व ऐहिक इच्छा पूर्ण करतो । पण हे संत साधकांच्या पारमार्थिक इच्छा पूर्ण करणारे चैतन्यरूप चिंतामणि रत्नांचे गाँव असतात । हे संत बोलायला लागले की जणू अमृताचा सागर उंचबलतो आहे असे वाटते ।

चन्द्रमा लांछित आहे पण हे संत कुठलेही लांछन न नसलेले निष्कलंक चंद्रमा आहेत। ताप न देणारे हे सूर्य आहेत । हे संतसज्जन सुष्ट दुष्ट सर्वाना नेहमीच आपल्या सोयरा प्रमाने होवोत .

किंबहुनाn सर्वसुखी / पूर्ण होऊनि तीही लोकी /भजिजो आदिपुरुखी / अखंडित //७//

साधकाने ऐहिक आणि पारत्रिक सर्व सुखाने तिन्ही लोकात परिपूर्ण होऊंन त्या आदिपुरुशाला अखंडित भजावे ।

आणि ग्रंथोपजीविये / विशेषी लोकी इये / दृष्टादृष्टविजये / होआवें जी //८//

ज्ञानऐश्वारित सांगितल्या प्रमाणे जो जीवन जगत असेल त्याला या कलियुगात वर्त्तमान परिस्थितीत ऐहिक आणि पारत्रिक ऐश्वर्य प्राप्त होवो ।

तेथ म्हणे श्रीविश्वेशरावो / हा होईल दानपसावो /येणे वरें ज्ञानदेवो / सुखिया जाला //९//

त्यावर विश्वाचे स्वामी श्रीनिवृत्तिनाथ म्हणतात 'तू मागीतलेले हे पसायदान पूर्ण होईल 'या सद्गुरुंच्या आशीर्वादाने ज्ञानदेवाना अतिशय संतोष झाला । ................स्वामी माधवनाथ पुणे .

Saturn's Rings to Disappear Tuesday By Robert Roy BrittEditorial Directorposted: 10 August 200909:01 am ET
In a celestial feat any magician would appreciate, Saturn will make its wide but thin ring system disappear from our view Aug. 11.
Saturn's rings, loaded with ice and mud, boulders and tiny moons, is 170,000 miles wide. But the shimmering setup is only about 30 feet thick. The rings harbor 35 trillion-trillion tons of ice, dust and rock, scientists estimate.
The rings shine because they reflect sunlight. But every 15 years, the rings turn edge-on to the sun and reflect almost no sunlight.
"The light reflecting off this extremely narrow band is so small that for all intents and purposes the rings simply vanish," explained Linda Spilker, deputy project scientist for the Cassini Saturn mission at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Mysterious rings
The rings remain a bit of a mystery. Scientists are not sure when or how they formed, though likely a collision of other objects was involved.
Saturn's equator is tilted relative to its orbit around the sun by 27 degrees – similar to the 23-degree tilt of the Earth. As Saturn circles the sun, first one hemisphere and then the other is tilted sunward. This causes seasons on Saturn, just as Earth's tilt causes seasons on our planet.
While Earth goes around the sun once every 365 days or so, Saturn's annual orbit takes 29.7 years. So every 15 years, the attitude shift puts the gas giant planet's equator, and its ring plane, directly in line with sunlight. Scientists call it an equinox, and this one marks the arrival of spring to the giant planet's northern hemisphere. (On Earth, equinoxes occur in March and September.)
"Whenever equinox occurs on Saturn, sunlight will hit Saturn's thin rings, the ring plane, edge-on," Spilker said.
Galileo puzzled
Galileo Galilei was the first to notice the rings and their then-mysterious transformation in the 17th century. Through one of the first telescopes, which he built himself, Galileo discovered Saturn's rings. He didn't know what they were, though, since all he could see were two lobes attached to the planet like ears. He entered the newfound setup in his notebook as a tiny drawing, mid-sentence, to serve as a noun.
By December 1612, Galileo had studied the phenomenon for more than two years, and the lobes (he thought they might be moons) were getting thinner. Then they disappeared.
"I do not know what to say in a case so surprising, so unlooked for and so novel," he wrote in a letter.
Dutch mathematician Christiaan Huygens, using a better telescope, figured out what the rings were in 1655.
"Galileo had every right to be mystified by the rings," Spilker said. "While we know how Saturn pulls off its ring-plane crossing illusion, we are still fascinated and mystified by Saturn's rings, and equinox is a great time for us to learn more."
Up-close view
The edge-on setup casts shadows across the rings in a unique way that can reveal moonlets and other structures otherwise not visible.
NASA's Cassini spacecraft has a front-row seat to the event.
Cassini is watching for topographic features – perhaps some tiny moons or warps in the rings, and it has already spotted some mystery features in the days leading up to the equinox. In one new image, an object seems to have punched through one of the rings, dragging material with it to leave a visible scar. The craft's near-infrared and ultraviolet instruments will be on the hunt for signs of seasonal change on the planet.
"We are not sure what we will find," Spilker said. "Like any great magician, Saturn never fails to impress."

COME DECEMBER.

----
There is something in the air-- the music of December. With the faint breeze of music, catches the December fever, and I get all set to greet it with my hands widely stretched. I hug this season with pride,- cause it is the most enchanting and memorable of all the seasons.

Frozen Fingers
I dash out from my cosy bed for an early morning walk. The lovely feeling for the cool cool breeze tickling my nose pink. With watery eyes and frozen fingers I reminisce the winter in North. The valley of Kashmir stretches with pall of snow. The dazzling snow on the mountains, on roads,on building, on trees and on their fine branches. The winter in pure whiteness. One perceives its magnificent beauty unblinkingly.

I remember the warmth of the silent falling snowflakes
Playing with snowballs making a snowman, zooming on the set ice with rollers and skies., rushing in the house to warm the frozen limbs beside the heated furnace called ‘Bukharin’ savouring the best food and fruits. Those were the days of childhood unforgettable .Trekking the mountains where father had been stationed with the battalion . On reaching we would storm father’s mess. Replenished our mugs with hot tea over gossips . A thrilling adventure during our vacations. During school we would freeze with cold. The teacher held each students hands over a well lit charcoal earthen pot (kangri) … to thaw them up. A feeling of love and care embarked within us . Whether Muslim or Christian, a Sikh or a Hindu all mingled together freely.

It was the winter of the year 1962 when war with China broke out . Father moved to the borders of NEFA . A huge fleet carrying jawans and arms drifted towards the borders. We were used to seeing them parading with heavy guns . Practicing artillery.—they would scream c-h-a-r-g-e . Piercing the bayonet of the rifles through the heavy sand bags. All their practice would be proved ‘ perfect’ when the enemy would crumble dead!

Nightmares
In the biting cold of the Himalayas the only attire which seemed to warm them up was ‘Courage’. Their echoes and echoes of the marauding planes awakened us from dreadful nightmares. How many had laid their lives, returned wounded or in one piece was the ever growing concern of their near and dear ones.

Mother seemed never to tire from hearing about Dad’s welfare & whereabouts. Our eldest brother (14) years would masquerade as father imitating his voice and thumping footsteps. Poor mother’s impatience would make way through streams of tears.. We kids then realizing the grievousness would cluster round her and console her. We prayed the almighty sincerely. Our prayers were answered. And with the advent of December, one day, father knocked at the door. Oh! Our joy had no bounds. Thank God, the war was at last over!.

My above article was published in Hitwada

The Moon Walk

Mrs.Prajakta.A.Dighe

Forty one years ago it was 2oth July 1969, I was studying in College. I remember we (my friends) and the rest of people young and old all rejoiced at the news of ‘the first men on the moon.’ Neil Armstrong and Edward Aldrin had stepped out of their shuttle they hoisted flag of USA on the Moon. The third astronaut Michael Collins had circled the moon. It was a memorable day for the world. Neil Armstrong had remarked a small step for the man and it is a giant leap for the Mankind. True the three astronauts tireless efforts and rigorous training these astronauts do is really laudable. Today's young astronaut from Satara Arti Patil who is undergoing the tough Astronaut training at USA had addressed about the training they undergo. The mind boggling experience , and only the fit are able to pass these tests.. she said.

After forty long years the 40th anniversary of NASA ‘s moon landing, President Barack Obama hailed the three astronauts of Apollo 11
An article caught my attention in Telegraph ; it read. The Apollo 11 astronauts were neglected by NASA. They were not give the support needed to readjust to life on Earth after returning from the first manned voyage to the Moon NASA has admitted. It speaks volumes about America. The current chief of medical operation Dr.JD. Polk told Time that the three men and their families should have been offered psychological help after the mission ended on July 24th 1969.
The Telegraph carried the news about Buzz Aldrin's talks to Marc Lee about the depression and alcoholism he faced after the moon landing. His two failed marriages and difficult relationship with his Father and the tragedy of his Mother who killed herself shortly before the Lunar Mission because she did not think she could handle her son's imminent fame .

The Apollo 11 crew have made history Their names have to be writtn in golden letters..their adventure to another planet is immortal! These heroes should have been proprly rewared.

NASA had done a disservice in failing to offer them any help in readjusting to life on Earth remarked Lawrence Palinkas a Professor of anthropology at the University of South California.
People in war also face the same experience. They fight for their nation at times they lay down their precious life ,some are maimed forever . They too are not rewarded for their valour. It really pains ,its criminal on part of all of us to overlook such a serious matter.

On 25th May 1961President J.F Kennedy had pledged that America would land men on the moon by the end of the decade. His dream was fulfilled at last on the day 20th July 1969. But the earthly dreams of the Astronauts remained unfulfilled….

William Shakespeare

• 
  Sonnet #39 Posted: XXXIX.
  O, how thy worth with manners may I sing,When thou art all the better part of me?What can mine own praise to mine own self bring?And what is 't but mine own when I praise thee?Even for this let us divided live,And our dear love lose name of single one,That by this separation I may giveThat due to thee which thou deservest alone.O absence, what a torment wouldst thou prove,Were it not thy sour leisure gave sweet leaveTo entertain the time with thoughts of love,Which time and thoughts so sweetly doth deceive,And that thou teachest how to make one twain,By praising him here who doth hence remain!