My Sayings, A Collection Part IV

~ I dream of a state where it would be a heinous crime,
if anyone speaks in anything but rhyme. (1st April, 2013)

~The clouds travelled from the oceans to the plane,
bearing the weight of the water they had gained,
in order to relieve Earth from its thirst's pain,
finally reaching its destination, they thundered and rained. (29th March, 2013)

~Why waste a day celebrating a festival when you can lay back and relax? (29th March, 2013)

~The benefit of being an Environmentalist: One can lay down on his cozy bed and watch a cool movie without being worried about going to an overly crowded market and purchasing water colour and fire-crackers on a lazy festival eve. (26th March, 2013)

Edible Weapon

You don't need a bomb detonator in your hand to kill tens of thousands of people in a single day, a kitchen knife will suffice.

Food, along with water, which are the basic necessity for the survival of a human being can be used as a deadly weapon to control or to create mass destruction. Almost 1,50,000 people die every day and starvation alone accounts for 25,000 lives out it. This number is much larger than AIDS, malaria and TB combined or any terrorist attack till date. If any other country would have been responsible for so much death, countries would be waging wars against each other. But in this case, its not some other country which is responsible for death on such a large scale, but that country itself.

When a country is under an attack by a foreign force, it spends billions of dollars to offset the attack, but in case of starvation why don't governments do something to prevent it? Is it that the world doesn't produce enough to feed everyone? Mahatma Gandhi's answer to this question would be, “The world has enough for everyone's need, but not enough for everyone's greed.”

The world produces enough food to feed everyone, but most of the food gets wasted. This happens mostly when cooked food gets un-utilized/uneaten or when raw food are fed to livestocks.

Food wastage by being un-utilized/uneaten accounts to 300 million tonnes of food while by feeding to livestocks accounts to nearly 760 million tonnes of food.

We can mitigate the wastage of un-utilized/uneaten food by doing weekly auditing of our grocery so that we don't buy new grocery before consuming the previous ones, by only cooking the amount of food that is actually required, by completely eating what is served in our plates and in the case of excess, by distributing excess of food among the needy.

The wastage of food by feeding to livestocks is the largest part of wastage and which poses severe threat to both, human health and environment.

We feed millions of tonnes of grain to factory farmed animals to filter nutrients through their organs and getting very less amount of food (meat) thus we are wasting a large chunk of food which would have been fed directly to the starving people.

In United States itself, some 95% of soybean and 75% of corn is used as livestock feed in order to produce 1 pound of beef from every 16 pound of grains. If this amount of grain would have fed directly to people, we could have ended world hunger by now.

Out of 22% of the global total Greenhouse gas emission which is caused by the agriculture sector, nearly 80% of it is accounted for the livestock production. As the available technologies for reduction of emissions from livestock production would reduce non-carbon dioxide emissions by less than 20%, we advocate a contraction and convergence strategy to reduce consumption of livestock products, mirroring the widely supported strategy proposed for greenhouse-gas emissions in general.

It is estimated that nearly 70% of the former Latin American forest cover has been cleared for grazing of the livestock, which takes 1/3rd or Earth's entire landmass and hence is the major cause of deforestation.

By choosing a completely plant base diet, we can not only safe billions of animals from terrible fate but will also be able to feed millions of starving people in addition to saving environment from a catastrophic destruction.

Philip Wollen have said, "Every morsel of meat we eat is slapping the tear-stained face of a starving child." Stop using your kitchen knife as an instrument for mass murder. The change is in your hand. Give priority to fork over knives.

Think before you eat and save the planet, humans and animal. Go Vegan!

By Harshad Gupta

Valentine week

The best way to celebrate Valentine week:

7th Feb : Rose Day - Plant a flowery tree.
8th Feb : Propose Day - Propose friendship to a stranger.
9th Feb : Chocolate Day - Distribute chocolates in an orphanage.
10th Feb : Teddy Day - Raise awareness about animal abuse.
11th Feb : Promise Day - Review all promises made to parents, teachers, friends and relatives. Fulfil them.
12th Feb : Hug Day - Hug your brother/sister and make them feel special.
13th Feb : Kiss day - (Knowledge as social service) - Teach someone something.
14th Feb : Well-in-time Day - Go back to work, sit down and complete your work "well-in-time" instead of wasting your time doing nothing worthy on Valentine day.

Birthday Greetings

Alleluia, what a glorious new day,

which is marked by someone's Birthday,

lets convey our best wishes to Your Grace,

and wish that you be blessed with your loved one's embrace.

You were born many years back,

to bring the humanity back on track,

but in the form of you we got a great friend,

as if for us that from heaven to earth you were send.

So I wish you Happy Birthday, my dear,

and wishes that you receive such greeting for thousands of more year.

May your heart be full of song and your life be content and full of cheer,

and may great accomplishment in your life be the things that be seen by a seer.

Felix Cumple!!                                            Happy Birthday!!

~Love, Light and Truth;

Harshad Gupta.

A Smile

How sweet a smile that thou possess,
which gives complex even to the beautiful roses,
seeing which I can lay off my life with ease,
filling my life with sweetness, making me die from diabetes.

What should I speaketh about thy smile,
words of whose beauty hath been spread for many miles,
seeing which in euphoria people starts to jive,
which acts like medicine, making the dead man alive.

Thy smile is too beautiful to take mine eyes off it,
making me hard to concentrate on my path, leading me into a pit,
but the aura of thy smile will never let me plunge,
and on a contrary, to great heights it will help me to surge.

Thy smile is so innocent and pure,
that can be used as a lure,
to attract a smile on other's face,
and to wipe out all of their sadness's trace.

Of thy sweet smile I became so jealous,
that I wanted to fill miseries in thy life which be so joyous,
so as to fade the smile that on thy face so gloriously shine,
and to bring some peace to the covetous life of mine.

But all these miseries doth nay change thy smile even by a minuscule,
which became the reason for the blowing out of my cool,
sweetness of thy smile is same even when thou art merry or art hurt,
because verily thy smile springs from the core of thy sweet heart.

Ecstasy of thy beautiful smile,
hath been doing a magic on me for a while,
softening my grip over mine own mind,
making me unable to logic, laying me logically blind.

In order to regain my long lost grip,
in pieces I wanted to rip off your lip,
so as to lessen the beauty of thy smile,
and to free myself from it's wile.

Despite the disruption of thy face,
I see no lessening of thy smile's grace,
because thou smile from thy beautiful soul,
which by no mean is shoal.

I wonder what will chance,
when to the another world thou will advance,
the world will loose thy smile, which be their source of sweetness,
for then the world shalt be like it was ere thou, in a state of complete bitterness.

And after the infelicitous demise of thine,
even though my smile may not have either thy sweetness or thy shine,
but still for the sake of world I will try to smile thy smile,
so as to spread thy sweetness to many more miles.

Let us all smile,
for a greater while,
and be a source of sweetness,
and end all the bitterness.

~Love, Light and Truth;
Harshad Gupta.

Dangerous Me

Dangerous are those who speak less, and I am one of them.

Dangerous are those who have a chemical symbol to their name, and I am one of them.

Dangerous are those who talk with themselves, and I am one of them.

Dangerous are those who think a lot, and I am one of them.

Dangerous are those who are activist, and I am one of them.

Dangerous are those who dreams a lot, and I am one of them.

Dangerous are those who loves to be alone, and I am one of them.

Dangerous are those who think scientifically, and I am one of them.

Dangerous are those who have high values, and I am one of them.

Dangerous are those who think they are dangerous, and I am certainly one of them.

Dangerous I may be, yet I have many friends.

Dangerous I may be, yet I know how to fill their life with happiness.

Dangerous I may be, yet they call me by a name that means bringer of happiness.

Dangerous I may be, yet they call me Harshad.

The Tears Of Gratitude

The Heaven asked a young cloud,
that, "why doth thou roar so loud,
and what doth thou gain,
by handling so much strain,
in order to rain,
over the sea and  plane."

"The drops that fall from an altitude,
art no rain, but Tears of Gratitude,
in appreciation of the Earth,
which remains so calm and cool in its seat,
so that by the vapors I can take birth,
in an ever soaring heat",
replied the young cloud with a pride,
as he glides over the high rising tide.

The Heaven asked the glorious Earth,
that, "is it really worth,
to carve a valley in thyself,
which runs from the high mountain to the continental shelf,
so as to enable the flow of water,
which don't even bother,
to not to flood thy plane,
when it is roaring with water during the rain."

"The water that flow from one latitude to another latitude,
art no river, but the flow of Tears of gratitude,
in appreciation of the trees and the sea,
which adds to mine value in the eyes of those who sees,
the aesthetic value of me,
which makes me thousand times more beautiful than thee,
and with the water in the river, to themselves the trees feed,
and beautiful new lives sprout on me from their seed",
replied the glorious Earth,
in a voice full of mirth.

The Heaven asked the beautiful trees and the sea,
that, "why doth thou loose thy water with a whee!
and don't thou feel any sad,
by giving the clouds the water you had,
and what doth thou gain by the water that thou had evaporated,
which had by the clouds some where else been condensated?"

"The loss of water to which we art habitude,
art no evaporation, but Tears of gratitude,
in appreciation of the clouds that are so humane,
which rains over the seas and the plane,
and helps the water to accumulate,
which makes the river spate,
and with that water in the river, to ourselves we feed,
and thus from an eternal thirst we are freed",
replied the beautiful trees and the sea,
who were dancing with glee.

The Heaven told me that I would be insane,
if I don't write a couplet in the honor of rain,
which facilitate the meet of these three on the orb,
so on the paper I made this record,
"The Heaven kisses the Earth again,
oh see, it's raining again."

~Love, Light and Truth;
Harshad Gupta.

A Monorhyme For Love

I loved you since the day we both were sophomore,

and from that day forth, all I wanted is to be yours,

and your love is what I want to explore,

as I always loved you from my heart's core,

and all I know is that I want to love you more,

and you are the one whom for eternity I will adore,

just like I have done before,

for you I want write enchanting verses just like Tagore,

and build a magnificent palace, just like that in Mysore,

with you I want to have a walk by the seashore,

and I want your happiness to be five-score,

and your tears to be my eyesore,

I love you so much and therefore,

if I don't receive your love, for myself I will deplore,

and will be walking to you even though I am footsore,

and I hope that by you our love will finally be restored,

and by receiving your love, with you I will soar,

and in happiness I will roar.

~Love, Light, and Truth;
Harshad Gupta

The Eternal Wait

I waited and waited, hoping that you will come,
till the setting of the moon and the rising of the sun,
when for the world the day was beginning, my came to an abrupt end,
by getting to know, that now towards me, you will never tend.

I got drenched waiting for you all throughout the monsoon,
and shivered with cold, waiting in the winter which arrived soon,
and while waiting in the ever soaring heat of summer, I got sunburn,
but towards my waiting self, you never took a road of return.

All these times, I was at your gate,
sitting there in your wait,
so as to keep the promises that I made,
and to see whether or not you were written in my fate.

But of the wait, I became tired,
so to my death bed, I finally retired,
and there where I waited, now sits my grave,
which you can visit, if ever for me you will crave.

~Love, Light and Truth;
Harshad Gupta

My Journey To Atheism

Disclaimer: This post is not written to hurt any religious sentiment of any faithful religious person of any faith by any mean. (Readers discretion advised.)

[Above cartoon is drawn by Dan Piraro, an American cartoonist and a Vegan. Link: Bizarro.com]

"Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right." ~Abraham Lincoln

I am an Atheist, but I was not born one, to the contrary, I was born in a secular conservative Hindu family twenty two years back, who taught me to be spiritual instead of being religious and to respect every religion without any discrimination and made me to believe in what I used to say, "There is only one true God. And he is "God", who has no name, no religious followers, who is impartial to all creatures, who is just God." But one day something happened that shattered my faith in that "God", not any particular (as the the world thinks that there are many "Gods" in this world, who are all against other all) but in all sorts of "God" (if they do exist). That event made me think on what Epicurus, an ancient Greek philosopher and the founder of the school of philosophy called Epicureanism said about "God":

“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?

Then he is not omnipotent.

Is he able, but not willing?

Then he is malevolent.

Is he both able and willing?

Then whence cometh evil?

Is he neither able nor willing?

Then why call him God?”

My second year finals were over and I was enjoying my summer vacation. That day, contrary to my habit, I went to bed early and consequently woke up early to find that it was a winsome morning in which I should go out to have a morning walk and enjoy some fresh cool breezes complimented with the sweet song of birds. After walking for half an hour or so, I felt urge to go to a restaurant, famous for its "kachauri and sabji", a kind of breakfast dish usually enjoyed by resident of the city of light which is known by the name of Varanasi, which also is my home town. But, as it was too early in morning, the restaurant was not open for business, so I went to the Ghats on the bank on River Ganges to sit there and enjoy the lovely morning. After devouring there for sometime, I thought of going to the an old bridge on the Ganges. On my way to the bridge on my bike, something happened that cannot happen just by chance but had some reason for its happening, (as according to the philosophy of Truth, "Every thing has a reason and every thing has a time" and as I have written in one of my blog post about happenings titled, "Happening, for a good".) I was taking the narrow street to the highway and just before their juncture, my bike went low on gas and it stopped there. There were two gas stations on either side of the highway, so I thought of giving my bike a little push to the gas station on left. As I was pushing my bike, I crossed a slaughter house, which I had crossed many times before also, but in those times may be I didn't noticed it, but this time I did noticed it and to add up to it, this time I was also a Vegan. The sight of the slaughter house completely baffled me, and this is when I thought that, "How can someone not be dazed by seeing how people take pleasure in others agony?" I was completely stupefied, and thought how can someone, in the holy city of Varanasi, murder some sentimental being so heartlessly. Then a thought sprouted in my mind that, it is not people who are solely responsible for the cold-blooded show of barbarism but are also the words of "mighty", "all generous" "God", which have been noted down in their holy books, that let these butchers murder so pitilessly. From that time onward, I decided to be an atheist and work against these Gods for the betterment of our non-human animal friends. This is when I read a quote from an anonymous writer that, "I am not interested in any religion whose cow, goat, pig, chicken, fish and other sentient beings have yet to experience freedom from the belly of its followers." and understood why majority of the Vegans are atheist.

You must be thinking that why a faithful religious follower like yourself is reading a crappy post of a non-faithful person speaking ill of the mighty God, so I want to make you aware of the fact that like me you are also an atheist. But you may be thinking that, how you being a faithful follower can be an atheist, then for that I will like to quote Stephen H. Roberts who said that, "I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours."