A novel full of Satire: Raag Darbari

The major distinction between comedy and satire is, comedy gives us the thieves of  tickling but satire make us think , why did they say this. Raag Darbari Sahitya Academy award-winning a book which is full of satire code in every sentence and paragraph written by Shrilal Shukla. But as embezzlement, fraud, corruption and dynasty strengthen its roots in the upper class. This novel is getting more and more relevant than before. It depicts the narrative of Rangnath, a young MA student who visits his uncle's hamlet of Shivpalganj to recover from a sickness. There, he is exposed to life in India's interiors, which is characterized by corruption, infighting, factionalism, petty rivalries, and a combination of defeatism and jugaad. 

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This novel puts thing of that time in front of the reader with full details of surroundings and situation. The word used by the character in novel is pure rural hindi form like sirimaanjee, kaaliz, bilbilakar, kaaliz and other various words.    As I mentioned earlier this book start with satire for example; "Challu Fashion ke hissab se driver ne truck ka dahina darwaaza kholkar daine ki tarah phaila diya tha. Isse truck ki khoobsurti to badh gayi thi, saath hi yah khatra mit gaya tha ki uske wahan hote hue koi doosri sawaari bhi sadak ke upar se nikal sakti hai."  This show that at that time people lived carelessly. He doesn't care about his life or anyone else. In the eyes of the Indian people, such an image of the railway has been created that they know that the train will always leaves the platform after the time. So in the same way, Ranganath had left home as usual considering the train to be two hours late, but the train was late only one and a half hours and that's how he missed his train. 

After Rangnath left the train, he left for Shivpalganj from Truck. Rangnath and the truckers had all the talk till they reached shivpalganj. There were many incidents happened before reaching the destination such as truck was running at such speed that in order to escape from him, a child fell down form the bridge, almost truck hit the bullock cart, truck caught by police officer and driver put the blame on Rangnath for stopping the truck. Driver insist Rangnath had to pay two rupees to the police. After all this, he finally reached in Shivpalganj. 

Karma Yoga: Karma in its effect on character

Karma Yoga book authored by Swami Vivekananda. This book contains six different chapters. In this book Swamijee has explained Karma as the basic principle of life through the essence of Bhagavad Gita. 

The first chapter discussed about "Karma in its effect on character". Karma word originate from Sanskrit word "Kri" that means "Karma", but in KarmaYoga the word "Karma" mean only "action". The ultimate goal of human being is knowledge gain.  

If we look at the character of human being, it will appear that in reality they are the sum of their mental tendencies and mental inclinations. All knowledge inherit in human being. Whatever knowledge has been gained in the world, it has comes out of the mind itself. Swamijee said if you want to help someone, don't think about how that person will react to them. Don't wait for him to thank you or expect him to do something for you in return. If you want to do good deeds, just stick to it. Instead of thinking about a reward, think about doing more good deeds. 

Further in this chapter, Swamijee explained how "Aatma" formed and their various aspects. As will the Karma, so will the development of "will". He advised try working without any selfish motive for just five minutes. It is also very difficult for you or even the thought of not getting anything in return for any work bother us, so working without any selfish motive also shows our real power. Swami Vivekananda said if we really want to test the character of a human, then do not test him on works great deeds. Even a fool is brave on a special occasion and in fact these are the only things by which we can know the true character of a great man. 

Let's Find your Ikigai

During the Covid pandemic, it seemed people's life has stopped. People didn't understand what is happening in their life. Many people became jobless, their salary hiked by fifty percent, those who lived away from their homes were in a hurry to come home as much as possible. In this situation we should have to motivate in this situation and try to handle every hurdle with positive approach. For driving the life smoothly in such bizarre situation, an enlivening book- Ikigai--- The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life authored by Hector Gracia and Francesc Miralles helps a lot. 

According to the book, Japanese concept Ikigai which translates roughly as “the happiness of always being busy,” is like logotherapy, but it goes a step beyond. It also seems to be one way of explaining the extraordinary longevity of the Japanese, especially on the island of Okinawa, where there are 24.55 people over the age of 100 for every 100,000 inhabitants—far more than the global average. This book also discussed about to inspire people to stay active until the very end and secret to a long and happy life. Books contain nine different chapters where author discussed many ways how to find our Ikigai. 

                                                                Source: Bookish Bulletin

Our Ikigai is hidden deep inside each of us, and finding it requires a patient search. According to those born on Okinawa, the island with the most centenarians in the world, our Ikigai is the reason we get up in the morning. This diagram guide us to how we can find our Ikigai. 

Based on a diagram by Mark Winn

A common say in Japan is "Hara hachi bu" which means "Fill your belly  to 80 percent". The lesson to learn from this saying is that we should stop eating when we are starting to feel full. The extra side dish, the snack we eat when we know in our hearts we don’t really need it, the ice-cream after lunch—all these will give us pleasure in the short term, but not having them will make us happier in the long term.

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Having a youthful mind also drives us toward a healthy lifestyle that will slow the aging process. Mind and body are important, and that the health of one is connected to that of the other. It has been shown that maintaining an active, adaptable mind is one of the key factors in staying young. Our neurons start to age while we are still in our twenties. This process is slowed, however, by intellectual activity, curiosity, and a desire to learn. Dealing with new situations, learning something new every day, playing games, and interacting with other people seem to be essential antiaging strategies for the mind. Furthermore, a more positive outlook in this regard will yield greater mental benefits. 

                                                        Source: science news for students

This book also states that small dose of stress is a positive thing, as those who live with low level of stress tend to develop healthier habits, smoke less and drink less alcohol. Spending too much seated at work or home will age us rapidly than normal. Along with this book also discussed about antiaging attitudes and many other things that add up to a long and happy life. Key ideas for better living through logotherapy and many case study include in this book to understand better way to stay young and healthy. 

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"There is no future, no past. There is only the present. You feel the snow, your skis, your body, and your consciousness united as a single entity. You are completely immersed in the experience, not thinking about or distracted by anything else. Your ego dissolves, and you become part of what you are doing." Find flow in everything you do. Have a clear, concrete objective in mind. Bruce Lee says "Be Water my friend". 

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In further chapters, authors discuss about master of longevity. In this chapter author share words of wisdom from the longest-living people in the world. In the next chapter, we get lessons from Japan's Centenarians i.e tradition and proverbs for happiness and longevity such as Don't worry, cultivate good habits, nurture your friendship  every day, Live an unhurried life, Be optimistic and keys to the ogimi lifestyle. 

In the last section of book author talks about many practicing technique such as Diet, styles of yoga, meditation, Tai Chi, Radio Taiso and various other technique. 

This book is ocean of inspiring stories and full packed with lot of knowledge. Through this book you gather many new information that will make your senses fly away after reading it. You also get flow of your life in very interesting manner. So, I highly recommend to read this book at least once in your lifetime. 

Please find the link of pdf book Ikigai : https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/528fd387-72f1-4bf6-b4be-2f0e210ec8fc/Ikigai%20_%20the%20Japanese%20secret%20to%20a%20long%20and%20hap.pdf