Why I am a Hindu

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I recently got this story in an email. It was really interesting and hit really close to my heart. I’ll publish it here verbatim, its a bit long but worth the read.

Four years ago, I was flying from JFK NY Airport to SFO to attend a meeting at Monterey, CA. An American girl was sitting on the right side, near window seat. It indeed was a long journey – it would take nearly seven hours!

I was surprised to see the young girl reading a Bible – unusual of young Americans! (Later I came to know that September 11 has changed mind-set of lot of US citizens. They suddenly turned religious, it seemed.)

After some time, she smiled and we had few acquaintances talk. I told her that I am from India. Then suddenly the girl asked, ‘What’s your faith?’

‘What?’ I didn’t understand the question.  ‘I mean, what’s your religion? Are you a Christian? Or a Muslim?’

‘No!’ I replied, ‘I am neither Christian nor Muslim’. Apparently she appeared shocked to listen to that. ‘Then who are you…?’

‘I am a Hindu’, I said. She looked at me as if she is seeing a caged animal. She could not understand what I was talking about. A common man in Europe or US knows about Christianity and Islam, as they are the leading religions of the world today. But a Hindu, what?

I explained to her – I am born to a Hindu father and Hindu mother. Therefore, I am a Hindu by birth. ‘Who is your prophet?’ she asked.

‘We don’t have a prophet,’ I replied.

‘What’s your Holy Book?’

‘We don’t have a single Holy Book, but we have hundreds and thousands of philosophical and sacred scriptures,’ I replied.

‘Oh, come on…at least tell me who is your God?’

‘What do you mean by that?’

‘Like we have Yahweh and Muslims have Allah – don’t you have a God?’

I thought for a moment. Muslims and Christians believe one God (Male God) who created the world and takes an interest in the humans who inhabit it. Her mind is conditioned with that kind of belief.

According to her; or anybody who doesn’t know about Hinduism, a religion needs to have one Prophet, one Holy book and one God. The mind is so conditioned and rigidly narrowed down to such a notion that anything else is not acceptable. I understood her perception and concept about faith. You can’t compare Hinduism with any of the present leading religions where you have to believe in one concept of god.

I tried to explain to her: ‘You can believe in one God and he can be a Hindu. You may believe in multiple deities and still you can be a Hindu. What’s more – you may not believe in God at all, still you can be a Hindu. An atheist can also be a Hindu.’

This sounded very crazy to her. She couldn’t imagine a religion so unorganized, still surviving for thousands of years, even after onslaught from foreign forces.

‘I don’t understand…but it seems very interesting. Are you religious?’

Now what could I tell this American girl? I said, ‘I do not go to temple regularly. I do not make any regular rituals. I have learned some of the rituals in my younger days. I still enjoy doing it sometimes.’

‘Enjoy? Are you not afraid of God?’

‘God is a friend. No, I am not afraid of God. Nobody has made any compulsions on me to perform these rituals regularly.’ She thought for a while and then asked, ‘Have you ever thought of converting to any other religion?’

‘Why should I? Even if I challenge some of the rituals and faith in Hinduism, nobody can convert me from Hinduism. Because, being a Hindu allows me to think independently and objectively, without conditioning. I remain as a Hindu never by force, but choice.’ I told her that Hinduism is not a religion, but a set of beliefs and practices. It is not a religion like Christianity or Islam because it is not founded by any one person or does not have an organized controlling body like the Church or the Order, I added. There is no institution or authority.

‘So, you don’t believe in God?’ she wanted everything in black and white.

‘I didn’t say that. I do not discard the divine reality. Our scripture, or Sruthis or Smrithis – Vedas and Upanishads or the Gita – say God might be there or he might not be there. But we pray to that supreme abstract authority (Para Brahma) that is the creator of this universe.’

‘Why can’t you believe in one personal God?’

‘We have a concept – abstract – not a personal god. The concept or notion of a personal God, hiding behind the clouds of secrecy, telling us irrational stories through few men whom he sends as messengers, demanding us to worship him or punish us, does not make sense. I don’t think that God is as silly as an autocratic emperor who wants others to respect him or fear him.’ I told her that such notions are just fancies of less educated human imagination and fallacies, adding that generally ethnic religious practitioners in Hinduism believe in personal gods. The entry level Hinduism has over-whelming superstitions too. The philosophical side of Hinduism negates all superstitions.

‘Good that you agree God might exist. You told that you pray. What is your prayer then?’

‘Loka Samastha Sukino Bhavantu. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti,’  ‘Funny,’ she laughed, ‘What does it mean?’

‘May all the beings in all the worlds be happy. Om Peace, Peace, Peace.’ ‘Hmm…very interesting. I want to learn more about this religion. It is so democratic, broad-minded and free…’ she exclaimed.

‘The fact is Hinduism is a religion of the individual, for the individual and by the individual with its roots in the Vedas and the Bhagavad-Gita. It is all about an individual approaching a personal God in an individual way according to his temperament and inner evolution – it is as simple as that.’

‘How does anybody convert to Hinduism?’

‘Nobody can convert you to Hinduism, because it is not a religion, but a set of beliefs and practices. Everything is acceptable in Hinduism because there is no single authority or organization either to accept it or to reject it or to oppose it on behalf of Hinduism.’  I told her – if you look for meaning in life, don’t look for it in religions; don’t go from one cult to another or from one guru to the next. For a real seeker, I told her, the Bible itself gives guidelines when it says ‘Kingdom of God is within you.’ I reminded her of Christ’s teaching about the love that we have for each other. That is where you can find the meaning of life.

Loving each and every creation of the God is absolute and real. ‘Isavasyam idam sarvam’ Isam (the God) is present (inhabits) here everywhere – nothing exists separate from the God, because God is present everywhere. Respect every living being and non-living things as God. That’s what Hinduism teaches you.

Hinduism is referred to as Sanathana Dharma, the eternal faith. It is based on the practice of Dharma, the code of life. The most important aspect of Hinduism is being truthful to oneself. Hinduism has no monopoly on ideas. It is open to all. Hindus believe in one God (not a personal one) expressed in different forms. For them, God is timeless and formless entity.

Ancestors of today’s Hindus believe in eternal truths and cosmic laws and these truths are opened to anyone who seeks them. But there is a section of Hindus who are either superstitious or turned fanatic to make this an organized religion like others. The British coin the word ‘Hindu’ and considered it as a religion.

I said: ‘Religions have become an MLM (multi-level-marketing) industry that has been trying to expand the market share by conversion. The biggest business in today’s world is Spirituality. Hinduism is no exception…’

I am a Hindu because it doesn’t condition my mind with any faith system.

Football Season begins, Fantasy Football begins!

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Football season started on Thursday (NY Giants against Washington Redskins) and rest of the games kick off on Sunday and Monday. It’s my third year of Fantasy Football and I think this year I’ve done a better job of drafting than the previous two years. Here’s what my team looks like:

  1. Carson Palmer, QB, Cincinnati Bengals – My starting QB will always be Carson Palmer, unless he implodes midway throughout the season. Bengals have had a lot of issues through the pre-season with WR injuries, from T.J. Housmanzadeh (hip) to Chad ‘Ocho Cinco’ Johnson (torn shoulder). Even though both are expected to play they won’t be 100%. Palmer is a risky move but at this point I think he’s better than my backup (Marc Bulger) simply because he is the better QB and will get yardage out of any receiver.
  2. Andre Johnson, WR, Houston Texas – Last year Andre Johnson (while healthy) was the best receiver in terms of YPG. If he stays healthy Andre Johnson could have a break out year.
  3. Jerricho Cotchery, WR, New York Jets – He has an excellent rapport with Brett Favre throughout the pre-season and was his go-to guy. Cotchery had average receiver with crappy Jet QB’s last year, so this year look for him to break out. Cotchery is more of a posession receiver so he’ll have high YPG but fewer touchdowns.
  4. Steve Smith, WR, Carolina Panthers – Even though he’s suspended for the first two games, he’s a good pick and will make up for it in the next 14 games. He is Delhomme’s go-to receiver, and even Delhomme is not so bad that he can’t get Steve Smith the ball.
  5. Dwayne Bowe, WR, Kansas City Chiefs – I just picked this guy because Rotoworld.com had rated him highly and he was available in Round 13. He’s just the lowest in my WR picks.
  6. Frank Gore, RB, San Francisco 49ers – A lot of people criticized this pick of mine, even though I had a chance to pick up Steven Jackson. But I took Gore on a big gut feeling. The offensive co-ordinator at SF is Mike Martz. The same Mike Martz who moulded the Rams offensive unit into a Super Bowl team, the same Martz who made Marshall Faulk a stud RB in a team which was almost always pass first.
  7. Clinton Portis, RB, Washington Redskins – Say what you want about Portis, but he had a decent last year and he’s my RB2 – He makes one hell of a good RB2. Jim Zorn will still keep running the ball as much because Jason Campbell isn’t still a decent QB.
  8. Lendale White, RB, Tennessee Titans – He is my RB3/RB4 (depending on Jonathan Stewart). White is in a RB by committee with Chris Johnson who is blazing fast. Coach Jeff Fishers says it will 50-50 or 60-40 in possessions. That’s fine by me, White isn’t always going to start.
  9. Jonathan Stewart, RB, Carolina Panthers – While Stewart won’t start at Carolina, he is getting a lot of buzz. That’s really the only reason I picked him towards the tail end of my draft. Let’s see how it works out.
  10. Chris Perry, RB, Cincinatti Bengals – With Rudi Johnson out of Cincinatti, Chris Perry is the starter. Kenny Watson should keep him a little sharp and provide him motivation to stay healthy.
  11. Tony Gonzales, TE, Kansas City Chiefs – Old, but still gold. Although much of it depends on the QB situation at KC.
  12. New York Giants Defense – Michael Strahan retired but the Giants were still strong at Defense till Umeniyora got injured and was out for the season. But Giants showed that they still got the goods.
  13. Adam Vinatieri, K, Indianapolis Colts – As long as Peyton Manning gets close to the end zone often, this guy is good.

That’s it on my roster. I’m monitoring a couple of people to see if I can make a quick grab of the waiver if they improve. I’m also taking a look at AccuScore and how good they are at their predictions.

Also, one final plug for the FF Geeksource for managing the RSS feeds for Fantasy Football news, they are great!

India claims first ever gold medal in Beijing

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Oh beautiful gold!Abhinav Bindra won the 10m Rifle Shooting competition to capture India’s first gold medal in Beijing.

Thats medal number 20 for India, in it’s entire olympic history. The last gold medal for India had come in 1980 Olympics in Moscow for Hockey. India has since won only 2 bronze and one silver medal.

Congrats Abhinav Bindra on winning the first ever individual gold medal for India.

Here’s a YouTube video of the medal ceremony:

यह दिल मांगे मोर!

CNN Spam

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Apparently there is a new type of spam going around. Spammers have gotten smarter and are now spoofing CNN’s notification emails as spam. Here’s an email that I got today:

Spammers getting smarter

Spammers getting smarter

These emails contain current news, completely legitimate but they link to the spammer’s own website.  This website will have the usual boatlaod of adverts and malware.

Due to these spoofed CNN emails, Gmail has started flagging real CNN emails as spam. It sucks that spam emails are actually pushing legitimate email to the spam folder.

Find & Replace across multiple files in linux

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Here’s the post on my new blog – http://rushi.vishavadia.com/blog/find-replace-across-multiple-files-in-linux/
Below is an older version of the post:

I was trying to find a solution todo a find & replace across multiple files which was purely command line based. There are plenty of scripts out there which will accomplish this but I needed a single line command. After some google searches and some experimentation I came up with this snippet.

find . -name "*.php" -print | xargs sed -i 's/foo/bar/g'

It looks a bit complicated but its quite simple. There are three components to the command:

  1. find . -name "*.php" -print – Find all files (recursively) which has “.php” in the file and print them out. This will give you output like this: 
    ./file.php
./includes/test.php
./classes/class.php
  2. xargs- This command is used when you want to pass a lot of arguments to one command. xargs will combine the single line output of find and run commands with multiple
    arguments, multiple times if necessary to avoid the max chars per line limit. In this case we combine xargs with sed
  3. sed -i 's/foo/bar/g' – aka Stream Editor is a tool which should be in every sys admin’s toolkit.  In this case every occurence of “foor” is replaced by “bar” in all the files found using the “find” command. Sed simply parses input and applies certain text transformations to it. There’s a lot to say about sed, you can find more at this tutorial.

This pretty much covers the core of the find & replace command. You could also open up a particular folder in an IDE and use it’s find and replace feature. But find + sed is quite fast and powerful.

Resources: