Akshay Kumar As Serious Actor

Akshay Kumar the actor from Bollywood is one of my most favorite filmy personalities. I love his acting as well the witty talent and most of all his incredible sense of humor which stands him apart from the lot of leading contemporary actors in the industry. I have full confidence that if you ever asked him to be serious for a day he will give you a hearty laugh immediately. Does that mean Akshay has never been in serious in his life or played a serious role in his life? That will not be justified if I do not mention ‘Aitraaz’ at this point in which he played the role of husband of Karina Kapoor who was in love with Priyanka and had a child with her. That was one off movie of him in which he played the role of a victim and did the job beautifully.   

I think there is a big difference in between a serious person and a person having a normal attitude toward life. I feel that Akshay knows the real meaning of seriousness but he prefer to stay normal in all situations. I also feel that Akshay has the same belief as I do that a person does not have to be inside the way as he generally appears or behaves in public. A person who looks serious is not necessarily the same in his personal life too or vice versa.

I recall reading one of his articles in which Akshay had mentioned that in the beginning of his career he worked with a film actress known for her seriousness or not being frank with her co-stars but spending all her spare time in reading her favorite books. Akshay once entered in her vanity van by mistake which was also white colored like the one he owned too. He was astonished to see that heroin was jumping on her seat with her shoes on and laughing like mad. He recalls that she was stunned for a moment but did not stop doing what she had been doing and kept jumping and laughing. Akshay said she was back to her normal self once out of the van and back on the set.  I think that pretty much says for the seriousness of a person in public. Akshay says he does not mind jumping and laughing when doing nothing in particular.

Akshay as a money minded person

Recently I had a chance of seeing Akshay in Delhi as I was in Delhi with my Ex boss for couple of hours for a meeting with a client who came from Canada. Incidentally, that client was appointed by me as a dealer in the company during my regular job and the client wanted to meet me. I had an opportunity to watch Akshay Kumar in the same hotel where he was meeting media for the publicity campaign of ‘Singh is Bling’ along with Lara Dutta and Amy Jackson. Akshay was in his usual funny mood and was responding to answers with his own humorous ways.

I had only a few minutes to listen to him and despite the natural anxiety a filmy person has before his release Akshay did not show any sign of nervousness. Not even then when a reporter asked him about the 100 crore club and his last few movies missing the mark with small margin. That question kind of triggered off some more similar questions but that did not made any change on the face of Akshay. He smiled and asked a counter question. He asked whether he should worry about such petty things after having worked in the industry for close to 25 years. He summed it up with a one liner- everyone needs success and so does he but not at the cost of his mental peace, he does not care much weather his movie brought 90 crores or brought 100. 

Akshay has no tension.

This is all about the question Akshay will ever direct or produce a movie under his own name? Up to date he has a plain and simple NO for an answer. He has been asked this question by many at different occasions but he has the same answer. And I have read this somewhere that if someone insists for an answer he has a pretty interesting answer, he would tell you- He has many stories in his mind especially a suspense thriller which he would love to share with anyone and if you can successfully tell who the murderer is then he will do the story. 

Here is his story- For example, he himself plays the role of a business tycoon and Aishwarya Rai is his lover and Sunil Shetty is his friend. Nasiruddin Shah plays the role of a police officer. Akshay comes back from a foreign trip and told by his friend Sunil that his lover Aishwarya is dead. He runs off to his lover’s home and finds that Aishwarya is very much alive and standing in front of him. Akshay asks her lover about the incident from his lover who explains that the truth is that his friend Sunil died a couple of days before.

Akshay was even more confused as he had met his friend at the airport a couple of hours before.  He drives back to his friend’s house but had a small accident with police officer’s car. The police officer, Nasiruddin asks about his problem and when Akshay tells about his story the officer explains that the fact was that his friend and his beloved both were murdered a couple of days before and shows him the newspaper. Akshay says, the day the mystery of murderer will be unveiled he will announce his movie. Akki does not stop here but laughs aloud as he finish his story.

Conclusion

Akshay does not want to be a director or producer as he has his funda clear. He says while he is doing well as a hero why should he go for something he is not sure about. He says he wants to keep his smiles intact.   

Han Suyin was a famous writer of Chinese origin. This was her pen name. Her real name was Rosalie Matilda Kuanghu Chow.She was  probably born in 1916 or 1917 and passed away on 2 November, 2012 in Lausanne, Switzerland. She was a Eurasian as her mother was from Europe and father Chinese. She studied medicine in Europe and married twice. Unfortunately two earlier husbands died, one in the civil war in China in 1947 and the second in the Korean war in 1952.

In between she took to writing  and wrote 5 novels. Her novel "  Love is a many splendored thing" is her most  famous novel. Her novel "The mountain is young"  is my favorite. Its a little torrid book with explicit love scenes. It was one of the favourite books of Pandit Nehru.

Han Suyin was invited to attend the coronation of the King of Nepal in 1956. She spent a fair amount of time in Nepal and met an Indian army officer named Colonel Vincent Ratnaswamy. They fell in love and her novel "The Mountain is young " has a autobiographical streak in it.

The novel is set in Nepal and has the backdrop of the coronation of the king. In the novel the main character is one Unni Menon who loves  a Eurasian girl. Its a lovely love story and once it was published  it became a best seller. The novel firmly put Han Suyin as one of the top writers of the English language. The novel has been reprinted many times and the last reprint was in 1999 by Rupa and Co from Delhi.

The love between Han Suyin and Colonel Vincent  resulted in marriage. The couple for sometime shifted to Bangalore and then shifted to Hongkong. They shifted after a few years to Switzerland and Han Suyin spent the rest of her life there.  Colonel Vincent pased away in 2003. They were married till the end, though Colonel Ratnaswamy and Han Suyin lived the last few years apart.

Han Suyin was a wonderful writer and I love her novels. She will be remembered as a novelist as well as a crusader for women.  She was also respected by the Communist government of China and had an open visa issued to her. She visited China every year and was always welcomed there. By marrying an Indian army Colonel, she has an India connection as well. She deserves her place in the sun as one of the great writers of the 20th century.

The Lord declared that whenever there was degeneration of virtues he would come again to establish dharma. And, twelve hundred years ago, when the Sanatana Dharma was in a critical stage, it happened again. This time it was in the form of an amazing child prodigy. When he was eight years old he renounced the world and became a Sannyasin; and when he was sixteen years this marvelous youngster wrote commentaries on the highly complicated Indian scriptures; the Upanishads, Brahma Sutras and Gita. He travelled all over the country and defeated great scholars, philosophers and theologians in debates with his spiritual purity, logic and abundance of knowledge. That was Shankaracharya, the greatest master of Advaita Vedanta Philosophy, who taught the world that there was only one Infinite Reality. He lived only 32 years, but single-handed, he revived Vedic Dharma from the demons of darkness. Knowledge was his weapon; spirituality was his strength!

India at the Time of His Birth

It was a time when there were religious conflicts existing between different sects of non-Vedic religions including Buddhists, Charvakas, Sankhyas, Kapalikas, Madhyamikas and many more, up to seventy two in numbers, spreading non-Vedic philosophical theories and wiping away Vedic culture from human mind.  Vedas, with their complex language and the superiority of upper castes were not reachable to common people. Buddhists and Jains spoke people’s language and involved in their problems and attracted many to their religions. It was a disgraceful state of Sanatana Dharma. People started rejecting Vedic ceremonies and rituals, temples and Gods, and pujas and festivals, and started doing non-Vedic activities. Vedic religion faced several threats, both internal and external; from the rulers of Indian dynasties and from the foreign invaders from Greek and Middle East countries. When darkness covered darkness, the intervention of an incarnation became necessary to save Sanatana Dharma.

And it happened; …. the Sun of Knowledge rose from South!! ....the great Shankaracharya took birth on earth!!

Shankara’s Childhood

Shankara was born in a poor Brahmin family in Kaladi village in Kerala, in 788 CE, as the only son of Sivaguru and Aryamba, after their long prayers to Lord Siva to bless them with a son. His father died when he was seven years old but his mother educated him with proper care. This child prodigy mastered all Vedas, epics, philosophies and theologies in his boyhood.

At the age of eight, he decided to renounce the world and become a sannyasin. He got permission from his mother after assuring her that he would be available at her last days and would do her funeral rites as a son.

There is a fable regarding how he got permission from his mother. One day when Shankara was bathing in a river, a crocodile dragged him by his foot. He shouted out to his mother and requested her permission to allow him to become a sannyasin, or else he would be killed by the crocodile. His mother had no other choice but to allow her child to become a sannyasin. Whatever may be the fact behind the crocodile story, one thing is certain that he presented two clear-cut options before this mother, either death or sannyasa, and got convinced by his mother for the latter.

Shankara’s Sannyasa

The young Shankara was initiated as a sannyasin by Swami Govindapada Acharya, whom he met on the banks of Narmada River. Govindapada, himself, was a disciple of Mahaguru Gaudapada. The master taught Shankara the Advaita philosophy and all philosophical doctrines. As per his master’s advice, Shankara proceeded to Kashi (Varanasi) and wrote commentaries on Upanishads, Brahma Sutras and Gita; an impossible task at the age of sixteen years. And then he started his famous journey for Digvijaya, the journey to conquer the world.

The Intellectual Journey

He travelled throughout India, met several scholars and philosophers of different schools of philosophy, challenged them, and argued them with his views on truth and became triumphant. He defeated a number of scholars, including Bhatta Bhaskara, Harsha, Murari Misra, Kumarila, Prabhakara and many more.

His debate with Mandana Misra was a notable one. He defeated Mandana Misra, the chief scholar in the court of Mahishmati (presently Maheswar city in Madhya Pradesh), in a religious argument that lasted for seventeen days. Subsequently, Bharati, the wife of Mandana Misra challenged him by asking questions on Kama Shastra. Shankara requested few days’ time to answer her questions. During this period, he entered into the dead body of a king, who was just died, using the technique of ‘para-kaya pravesha’  preserving his own body under the safe custody of his disciples. From the two wives of the king, he learned everything about love and sex. Within the agreed period, he returned and answered all the questions of Bharati, related to sex, and defeated her in the controversy.

Ascending Sarvajna Pita

Shankara travelled the entire country for spreading Advaita philosophy. He debated with scholars and philosophers from the different religious sects and defeated all of them with his amazing intelligence. The whole India surrendered before his knowledge.  And finally he ascended the Sarvajna Pita (the seat of omniscience), opening its southern door, which was remained closed till that time awaiting its heir from the Southern India. Thus, Shankaracharya established the authority of Vedic religion and became the Master of all (Jagad Guru).

Defeat by a Chandala

Shankaracharya, the incarnation of knowledge, who conquered great scholars and philosophers, was defeated by a simple man. The story goes like this.

After taking the morning bath, Shankara was walking towards Kasi Viswanatha temple, when a Chandala came by the opposite side with his four dogs. When Shankara’s disciples told the Chandala to keep a distance, the Chandala asked Shankara some simple questions, “O, Guru, You preach Advaita Vedanta, but your teaching and practice are entirely different. Who should keep a distance from your way, my body or my soul? If everything in the physical world is an illusion and the Supreme Being is the only reality that is reflected in every being, what difference do you find between a Chandala and a Brahmin? Is your Advaita Vedanta just a theory?”

Shankara was shocked to hear the intelligent words of the Chandala. He understood that God himself had come to teach him a lesson. He immediately composed five slokas known as ‘Manisha Panchakam’. The message conveyed by these slokas was that for a man who has attained self-knowledge and is convinced that the same Supreme Being is reflected in every being, he is the great teacher, no matter he is a Chandala or a Brahmin.

Mother’s Death

During his journey he understood by intuition that his mother was in death bed. As promised, he went to see his mother and witnessed her last moments. Amidst the protests of other Brahmin families, he carried out the final funeral rites alone, which a Sannyasin was not supposed to do. He then returned back to continue his religious journey, teaching Advaita philosophy and winning his opponents.

Monasteries

Shankaracharya established four ‘Mutts’ (monasteries) in different parts of the country and appointed four main disciples as heads to serve the spiritual aspirants with the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta. These Mutts are Sarada Mutt at Sringeri in Karnataka, in Southern India; Jyothish Mutt at Badrinath in Utharakhand, in Northern India; Kalika Mutt at Dwaraka in Gujrat, in Western India; and Govardhan Mutt at Puri in Orissa, in Eastern India. One Veda was assigned to each Mutt. The sannyasins were classified into ten definite orders under the title ‘Dasanamis’. They have to add certain suffixes at the end of their names, such as: Giri, Paravata, Sagar (Badrinath Mutt); Tirtha, Asrama (Dwaraka Mutt); Vana, Arnava (Puri Math); and Saraswati, Bharati, Puri (Sringeri Mutt).

Shankara’s Philosophy

Advaita is the identity of the Self (Atman) and the Supreme Being (Brahman). The Atman and the Brahman are the same. Even though they appear as many, the essence is one and the same. This unity is the underlying principle in all diversity.  "Ekam evadvitiyam brahma "- Brahman is one alone, without a second - says the Chāndogya Upaniṣhad.

Shankara’s teachings can be summarized in the following words:

Brahma Sathyam Jagat  Mithya

Jeevo Brahmaiva Na Aparah

which means: Brahman alone is real, this world is unreal; the Atman is identical with Brahman.

As per his preaching of 'Vivarta Vada', just like the illusion of a rope as a snake, this world and our body are super imposed on the Supreme Self. On attaining the knowledge of rope, the illusion of snake will vanish. Similarly, once we attained the Self Knowledge, the illusion of the world and the body will vanish and only the Self will remain.

Conclusions

Shankaracharya was not the founder of Advaita Vedanta. Advaita Philosophy was already there in Upanishads but was too complex. Shankara extracted the truths from the Upanishads and wrote commentaries on them filled with his amazing knowledge. Nobody could do such great interpretations on the complicated scriptures of Brahmasutras and Upanishads other than the enlightened one, the Shankaracharya.

When chaos prevailed in the spiritual realms in the country, Shankara appeared on the right time as a savior. He debated with Non-Vedic religions and different schools of philosophy with unfailing logic that broke their backbones. He supported Vedic practices, extracted the necessary contents from the infinite ocean of truth and refined Hinduism, reviving its moral values, while it was in a stage of doing low level rituals including kshudra pooja, and killing of animals in the name of God.

Even though the Supreme Being, the Brahman of Advaita is Nirguna (without qualities), Nirakara (formless) and Nirvisesha (without attributes), Shankara believed that by worshiping Gods, happiness and the ultimate goal of life can be attained. He structured the system of God worship consisting six deities Shiv, Vishnu, Surya, Durga, Ganesh and Skanda; and created thousands of beautiful stotras praising the indomitable gods; and hence he was also known as Shanmata Sthaapanaacharya. He believed that the different deities are the manifestations of the one Supreme Power, the Brahman.

Shankaracharya was a great philosopher, superhuman genius, blessed poet, incomparable logician and the spiritual perfection. He was a Karma yogi, Bhakta, Jnani and Yogi at the same time. The invaluable teachings of this ‘Knowledge-Sun’ that rose from South will live in this world for eternity.

Image source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ravivarma.jpg

Chanakya, the master of practical diplomacy, is accepted and admired as a daring genius by the Indian and Western scholars. This greatest diplomat of the world was brave enough to speak his powerful words filled with democratic values, with his head held high, in front of kings. Even after 2300 years of his legendary life, his ideas are still relevant in the present world. That is his glory. His deep foresight and high intelligence combined with inimitable diplomacy in the severe political framework always reflected his confidence and the ability to remain cool in demanding situations. He was a shrewd political figure who was often misunderstood for promoting unethical practices for protecting national interests, with the concept that ‘the end would justify the means’.

Who was Chanakya?

Chanakya, also known as Kautilya or Vishnugupta, was a professor and philosopher as well as the greatest diplomat the world has ever seen, who lived in India in the 4th century B.C., and played an important role in the rise of the Maurya Empire. He was the chief advisor in the royal kingdom of both Chandragupta Maurya and his son Bindusara. He was believed to be a North Indian Brahmin, born in Taxila and educated in the University of Taxila. After serving as a Professor in the Taxila University, he landed up in the court of Magadha king Dhana Nanda. Disgraced by the king he took a vow to dethrone Nanda and his dynasty. With the help of Chandragupta, Chanakya destroyed the Nanda dynasty and gave rise to the Maurya Empire.

Chanakya’s Education

Chanakya studied all Vedas at a very early age. Right from childhood he was attracted to politics, where his intelligence and shrewdness was explicit from the beginning itself. He was an expert in politics and with tactful movements he knew how to destroy his political enemies forever. After studying Vedas and mastering practical political strategies he turned to economics, and continued it throughout his lifetime.

Takshashila, also known as Taxila, was the famous learning centre of the ancient India, which was the breeding ground of Chanakya, from where he studied religion, politics and economics. Takshashila was situated in the north-west part of ancient India, presently in Rawalpindi of Pakistan, and was a prominent learning centre with provision for accommodating 10,000 students at a time, and creating royal scholars in the fields of science, mathematics, religion, philosophy, politics, economics, astronomy, archery, hunting and all 18 arts.

Professor in Takshashila University

After studying in Takshashila University, he became a professor of the same university. His students were greatly inspired by their ideal teacher and were always ready to obey his orders to fight for justice. His students even acted as spies to collect secret information from his enemies.

That time, the country was facing internal and external threats. Rulers of the neighbouring kingdoms were looking for an opportunity to attack prosperous regions. At the same time foreign invaders were setting their armies ready to attack the weakened regions of our country, taking advantage of the grave situation of the country, disturbing its unity and integrity. At these critical moments of the history, Chanakya took an important decision to save the country from foreign invasion and to heighten the political and economic strength of the country.

Thus, Chanakya left Takshashila University and entered Pataliputra (the present-day Patna of Bihar), the capital of Magadha kingdom, to rewrite the political history of India and Pataliputra.

Vow to Dethrone Nanda King

The Nanda king Dhana Nanda ruling Pataliputra was greedy for money and used to collect heavy taxes from people for all sorts of unwanted things. In order to conquer the hearts of the people the king started giving gifts and charities to poor and a committee was formed to manage his activities. Being a scholar from the Takshashila, Chanakya became a member and sooner the president of the committee. Chanakya’s behavior was not like the other courtiers. He was absolutely professional and was not willing to praise the king like they do.

The Nanda king did not like his behaviour and removed Chanakya from his post without mentioning any specific reasons. Being insulted by the king for no reasons, Chanakya became furious and swore that he would dethrone the king and destroy the Nanda Kingdom forever.  

Chanakya and Chandragupta

Insulted by the Nanda king, Chanakya found a companion to work together against the Nanda king. It was Chandragupta, the aspiring ruler of Maurya kingdom, who has already taken a vow to destroy the Nanda rule. They applied several strategies to attack Nandas. There were mistakes in their movements, but they learned lessons from the mistakes and adopted new strategies based on the practical situations of life. They understood that war could not be won by attacking the centre. They started attacking the boarder areas, capturing and establishing physical control, moved inside step by step, conquered Pataliputra, dethroned Nanda king and installed Chandragupta as King, establishing the new Maurya Empire.

The Great Maurya Empire

Alexander the Great invaded India in 326 BC, before the establishment of Maurya Empire. He conquered the kingdoms between rivers Jhelum and Chenab, taking advantages of the disunity of local rulers, but never crossed Beas and had made no permanent political impact. But it led to the political unification, merging of smaller territories into big ones, thus strengthening the Maurya Empire, which was established in 322 BC, destroying the Nanda kingdom.

After the collapse of Nanda Empire, under the intelligent guidance of the penetrating brain of the skinny Brahmin, kings of neighbouring territories united under Chandragupta’s leadership and defeated the Greek King Seleucus, the Alexander’s follower, and liberated the countries from the Greek. There were two obstacles in front of Chanakya – the Nandas and the Alexander’s armies – but using his political tactics he conquered all enemies and united a major portion of the country. Chandragupta’s vast empire extended up to Persia in the North, Mysore in the south, Gujarat in the West and Bengal in the East; and it was the greatest Indian empire ever seen before.

The End of a Legend

In his old age, when Chandragupta left the throne to lead an ascetic life as per the Jain tradition, his son Bindusara became the king. Chanakya continued to be his advisor till his death. As per one legend, Chanakya was died due to a stratagem planned by Subandhu, one of the ministers of Bindusara. Subandhu, who was envious and did not like Chanakya, applied some treachery and burned him to death, under the pretension of arranging a ceremony.

Chanakya’s Visions

The vital role of Chanakya reminds us of an era where people have the obsession of taking revenges. But Chanakya was always concerned about the happiness of people and he dreamt about a secure kingdom with smooth administration. And hence his revenge was not personal revenge. He had broader visions regarding his country. In his vision, he foresaw a nation that was the leader of the whole world in all aspects, including economically, politically and socially. His famous books were Arthashastra and Chanakya Neeti (Neeti Shastra).

Arthashastra is a book on economics, which systematically discusses the economic policies of a nation, international relations, and war strategies in detail. It deals with a variety of subjects such as how to choose ambassadors, how to use spies, how to protect a king, law and order, and numerous others.

The contents of the book reflect his dreams about India. The main economic activities of the country were agriculture, commerce and cattle rearing. Chanakya considered agriculture as the most essential component of economy and insisted that the government should implement projects for supporting various processes, starting from sowing of seeds to the final stage of harvest.

He gave more importance to internal trade rather than external trade and suggested that a bare minimum tax should be collected at the entry point of goods and avoid the chance of tax evasion. He insisted that the tax structure should be such that it should not be a burden to the people.

Chanakya Neeti contains 455 sutras created by his clear mind about the ideal way of life. Chanakya was a man of wisdom, with a thorough knowledge of Vedas and religions, and he put forward great strategies that will guide people with the ideal ways for living in society. His policies are aimed at eradication of problems around the people by their roots. People, to be successful in life, should control their senses and stop running behind materials pleasures. Chanakya insisted that individuals should concentrate on spiritual development rather than material pleasures for developing internal strength.

Conclusion

There might be so many intelligent persons who were aware about neeti shastra, but it required a Chanakya to apply the principles practically in his life that made him an odd fish and an outstanding historical celebrity. To lead our country towards prosperity we need to understand the great principles taught by this Taxila scholar, and the right leaders who can guide us through the right path.

To conclude, let me quote few lines from Arthashastra written by the legendary diplomat Chanakya 2300 years ago:

“The happiness of commoners is the happiness of the king. Their welfare is his welfare. A king should never think of his personal interest or welfare, but should try to find his joy in the joy of his subjects.”

Image Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chanakya