The Power of Opinion Leaders - by Prakash S

Opinion leaders are people whose opinions, views and endorsements are valued by the general public. Most of the celebrities are default opinion leaders as many people idolize them and also try to ape them.

I feel being an opinion leader is a very good thing as this is a wonderful opportunity for them to influence people to do something good and to make a big difference. Moreover, being a celebrity, they can have a positive influence on a large number of people at once. National celebrities (like sportspersons/musicians/singers/actors) can have a powerful influence that can last through generations. But it can also be a double-edged sword and can lead to wrong influences which can have devastating effects. Hence it’s extremely important that opinion leaders fully utilize their unique position and lead by example. Here are some of the things they can do to play their role in making the world and our country a much better place. In fact, they can collaborate with the establishment to make their life easier.

Endorse healthy products, eco-friendly products, products of self-help groups etc.

Avoid endorsing harmful/unhealthy products like liquor, cigarettes, cola drinks (E.g. Former shuttle player Pullela Gopichand declined an offer from a cola brand just after he had won the All England Open because he felt he would send the wrong message of drinking carbonated drinks)

Participate in campaigns like voter awareness, rights of citizens, child education, following traffic rules etc (E.g. Aamir Khan participated in the India Tourism advertisement which talks about keeping places clean and the Indian concept of Athithi Devobhava)

Support and freely endorse NGO’s, trusts and other such organizations which do large scale community service (E.g. Many actors and sportspersons have tie-ups with and frequently participate in the campaigns of such NGO’s and service organizations like Greenpeace)

Let us take a moment to examine the flip side of the story, there have been times when such strong opinion leaders have endorsed a lot of harmful products and needless to say it had detrimental effects. For e.g. Rajinikanth was famous for his cigarette style and that did lead to many people smoking as it was a symbol of class and style. Many movies show actors smoking and drinking and enjoying and this subconsciously creates a lasting impression in young minds that drinking and smoking is a trendy thing to do and gives a higher social status.

Of course, it’s ultimately the choice of individuals what they want to do but as a society we need to frequently take stock of where are we heading. Opinion leaders to an extent, can make or mar the moods and habits of a nation and they do have an indirect impact in shaping the very character of a nation.

The Night- Final Episode by TR Mist

Last line from the previous part.
But then one spring day, I got a call from Bro.
The Day
 “What are you doing tomorrow?”, Bro asked. “ Nothing important in particular. It is all the same, going through the grind,” I said. “Hmm”, he replied. And added “ you know, when a kid is running away from his mother, he keeps running only till the mother keeps following him. The moment the mother stops running the kid returns to the mother’s arms,” “Okaaay?? ,” I replied. “Hmm,” came a monosyllable from Bro. “Ok then see you sometime tomorrow,” he said and hung up.
 I knew Bro was trying to communicate something to me but I could not make out what it was all about. A few moments later K called me up and was spoke about an identical conversation he had had with Bro. We both wracked out brains to understand and finally gave up. We both realized that we both were too dumb for Bro.
 But the biggest surprise came an hour later. Corto called on my cell number. Something I would never associate with an ever watchful Corto. He seemed quite excited, something pretty contrary to his nature.  “You know Bro called me,” he said. I wanted to protect Corto, Bro and myself. So I feigned ignorance about the caller. “ Who is calling and what is it about,”  I spoke back being a bit rude. There was silence on the other side. “Relax,” said Corto. “We will meet sometime tomorrow,” he added and hung up.
 I called K and told him about ‘some strange person’ calling me up and telling me that we will meet tomorrow. K understood whom I meant and was aghast that Corto had called me up.
We went to Bro’s café later that evening but found the café closed. We stared at each other in disbelief. We called Bro’s number, there was no response.



“Something fishy”, I said. “Not fish, whale,”  K responded. We started walking back trying to figure out the ‘mystery of the strange calls and a closed café’. “Will definitely make a good read, with your experience at truth checking,” K said and I let a punch land into his ribs. “Ooowoo”.
 It was still light and it would have been another hour or two for the light globs to start cueing a sunset.  . “Hellow” , a person shouted from almost 20 feet away.
 K tapped my arm , “Somebody you know?” he asked. Lost in solving the mystery, I looked up and knitted my brows and tried to recognize the person.  He was wearing a light sweater and dark trousers. It was Corto.
 “Corto?, here, in broad daylight and shouting at the top of his voice on one of the main streets of the inner city.” K noticed my shock. “Who is this guy?” he asked. I could only muster a feeble, “Corto”. K’s jaw dropped. “Is he out of his mind”, he said. “Looks definitely like that”, I said with my throat going dry.  
 “What should we do, he is coming straight at us,” I almost shouted. Corto heard me. “We should meet like friends,” Corto said and then hugged both of us in his huge embrace. “You must be K,”. He said looking at K, “I am Corto. Nice meeting you,” then he laughed a full blooded and a whole hearted laugh. “Ok bye then. Actually I thought we will meet tomorrow, but then we met today itself. But remember we will meet tomorrow again,” and then he disappeared. The only thing that surprised me more than Corto’s hug was his whole hearted laugh.
 “So now your story is going to be ‘mystery of the strange calls, a closed café and a bear hug’,” K said. I was surreptiously looking around to see whether somebody had noticed Corto with us. “Will we be jailed? Has Corto changed sides, is he pointing out non-conformists to the constables?” My head was reeling. “I think you need to relax,” K said as always the image of Buddha. “From what I have heard from you about Corto, I don’t think he is a person to change sides and nor a person who would unnecessarily take risks. There might be some meaning to this whole affair, which we don’t understand but Corto does.  “And the only other person who could enlighten us about it called in the morning and spoke in riddles and is currently beyond coverage area,” I replied.
 I went to sleep feeling restless. My sleep was if anything was fitful. At 4.00 am the next morning I was woken up by some rumbling noises. Initially, I thought I was having a dream, but then this seemed real. I woke up with a start. My apartment was getting shaken up thoroughly. My bed slid to the centre of the room and then again slid back to its original position. The crockery on the kitchen smashed to the ground. Standing up I fell on to the ground. It was then that I discerned that it was an earthquake. I had never been in an earthquake. But had heard that they would not last more than a few minutes. This one seemed to last long, very long.  
 I held on to the railing of my window waiting for the worst. Hoping all along that it would not happen. But it did. The apartment block swayed for one last time and then collapsed. I felt like sitting in a roller coaster and plunging down at a breakneck speed. I remember as the building fell I could see through my window that the road below was approaching us pretty fast.
 +                                   +                               +
 Mother Earth had had enough. She showed us what we were worth. Us is always about exploitation. If we are done with nature then our own creed, if we are done with our own creed then our own family. Funny, to satisfy our greed we don’t leave even God alone. Mother has the greatest forbearance, but there is a limit to everything unlike the human greed. When the Mother has had enough she shrugs her shoulders. When the dust settles maggots survive while humans lie dead in swarms. Feast for hungry maggots. That is our worth.
 +                                    +                                 +
 I found my bearings and opened my eyes dust was everywhere. I tried getting up and was  surprised when my body yielded. I was covered with dust and amazingly that was it. No broken bones, no swelling, no bruise , not even a scratch. My brain was going numb not because of the fall rather trying to figure out how the hell I survived.
 It was dark and cold. No streetlights. I could not figure how long I had been out and could not say what time it was. I groped my way around in the dark rubble one step at a time sometimes clinging on to a fallen streetlight, sometimes it was the reinforcing steel, which had broken away from the buildings and sometimes bricks and mortar. Few hours ago there had been a road and buildings now nothing. As I trudged over the rubble my bare feet sometimes would land on something soft and cold and then the realization that it was human sent shockwaves through my body. With a start I realized that there might be many who would have got stuck in the rubble but might be still alive. “ANYBODY THERE” I shouted. Silence. “HEY ANYBODY THERE”, “PLEASE ANYBODY PLEASE RESPOND”, I kept shouting. The shock, destruction and the silence sent tears burning down my face. It seemed nothing was left. No inner city no outer city no globs nothing. What remained was pitch darkness, hanging dust and an overwhelming silence.
 After what felt like hours of navigating the rubble, at a distance a silhouette stood erect. “HEY YOU, YOU THERE, HEY MAN YOU” I shouted. He seemed too shocked and stupefied, my shouting elicited no response. As I ventured closer, it became more and more clear to me that it was a human. He was in night dress and stood rooted to the ground. My constant shouting seemed to fall on his deaf ears. When I reached him I grabbed and shook him violently. He felt familiar, He WAS K. He was covered with dust, just like me and did not seem to be injured but had a strange expression of shock on his face. My violent shaking had some effect. He turned around. I noticed even he had been crying. His tears had left a clear channels on his dusty face, his eyes as expressive as ever wanted to tell me something.  “What happened to you, come to your senses,” I shouted. With some effort he released his shoulder from my grip and slowly lifted his hand and seemed to point towards the blue mountains.
 I followed the direction of his hand.
 The sky was purple with a few streaks of pink.
 My eyes widened and my jaw dropped . Could this mean….could this mean? I looked at K. He softly nodded with the same stupefied expression . With our eyes wide open and dropped jaws we watched as the purple slowly give way to pink, the pink to red and the red gradually turned orange and then the snow on the blue mountains turned gold. The birds I don’t know where they had been hiding all these years, started a cacophony, the cacophony, which we had missed for years. Singing at the top of their little voices they were declaring the return of the Emperor. They knew it all along. As the cacophony increased in pitch, the blue mountains gradually washed themselves in gold. Darkness gave way to effulgence. I held K’s arm and squeezed tight with anticipation. We saw an arch of light just peeping out from behind the mountains.
 Epiphany .
 The SUN was back.
 I felt weak and collapsed on my knees folding my hands in a deep relief, K stood as erect as he had been. I heard him mumbling something. As his mumbling became louder, I realized that he was chanting the stanza from Bhagawat Gita which tumbled out of Arjuna’s lips as he witnessed  Krishna’s Vishwa Roopa. 
 The sky was Sun’s now. No more of darkness, no more of cold. The Emperor  was walking the royal path across the sky. The warmth of the Sun breached the dam in my heart, I cried and badly and did not feel any shame in doing so. All these years the pain, sorrow, anguish and yearning had finally found fulfillment. Gone was the darkness of ignorance, gone with it were the ignorant. The warmth of Sun purified Mother Earth again.
 I felt a tap on my shoulder, I turned to see Bro behind me. He pulled me up and made me stand and kept holding on to me. He knew I was too weak.  He put another hand on K’s shoulder. We looked at one another other. We all were smiling a relieved smile. “Look around you,” Bro said. We turned around, the whole city was a mass of grey rubble. Light globs lying all over the place.  “So the Sun could not really manifest Himself through the light globs,” K said. We laughed. “May be He thought they were not good at it, so he had to come back Himself an show how bad they were at it, “ Bro added.
 Buildings were just stumps of metal and concrete jutting out of the ground, they seemed to wither under the gaze of the Sun and melt away.  “Are we the only survivours, ”, I asked . “Our family yes, but there are more. We will meet them when the time comes”. “It was a standard  Bro reply. “When the time comes”. He had said the same thing about the Sun’s return and I was glad that the Sun’s time for return had come. “A lot needs to be done. So let us enjoy our day in the Sun today and then begin”, Bro added. As we walked the whole Earth was bathed with purifying  rays from the Sun.   
“There comes your stupid friend,” said Bro. I saw Corto. He came and embraced all three of us. I could see he had been crying himself. Look what is lying here, Bro said. It was the conformist bible that was slowly burning away, the so called, ‘The Road Ahead in the Brilliance of Infinite Earthly Suns.’ Bro asked Corto, “so Mr. Corto, what do you make of this?” “That Rabies has been eradicated from the Earth,” he said. It took us some time to understand and then we burst out laughing. Only Corto could come up with something like that.  
 “Let’s go,” Bro said. Where? K asked. Oh come on, to the Sun. He has invited us today for lunch.
 “Wait,” I said. “Just one thing remains to be done before we go”, I stopped and made everybody stop with me.

“For all those of you who never believed, THE… SUN… IS… BACK,” I shouted to the city.  

Special Gift of Service- by Bhargav KVRK

A boy came running to Mandir frantically searching for me. He spotted me and uttered  the message in one gasp of breath, " Jitu's mother is in hospital, she is undergoing surgery, he wants you to be with him for help, he called up hostel office. " Those were days when the cellphone revolution had not caught up. It was just a week in the run up to the 76th birthday of the Lord. But for me it was special due to my convocation. I was tossed in the dilemma drifting back and forth between Parthi and Bangalore. I had to make a choice. On one side were  Swami’s darshans, the enthusiasm of participating in the convocation and on the other side was the help needed by my beloved brother whose mother was down with a dreaded disease of cancer and was recuperating in Bangalore. But His words ’seva is the best sadhana’ gave me the clarity to decide. My thoughts drifted finally to Bangalore before I physically reached there with a sense of satisfaction that I am of some help to my friend in need.
Immediately preparations were made and I was in a bus heading towards Bangalore. I started right earnest in rendering help to my friend, like going on errands to get some things from market, consulting the doctor, taking turns in remaining awake at night to look after aunty. It was quite a hectic schedule. We did all this work without aunty coming to know about the dreadful disease she had. Any conversation requiring the mention of the disease was code worded as ‘cigarette made for each other’. Slowly I started getting accolades from aunty, Jitu and the doctors, which gave me a lot of satisfaction. We spent around four days together and after all the hectic service, the day of departure arrived. Aunty came to the railway station to see me off and with tears in her eyes, she said, “You are like my second son, without you I wouldn’t have been walking like this.” I reached Puttaparthi just one day before convocation, with a sense of achievement that I had done a great job and made Swami happy. This sense of satisfaction was overwhelming my mind and unknown to me, vanity crept in.


It was the day before convocation and the hall was jam packed with the crowd overflowing the magnificent Sai Kulwant hall. Every inch of space was occupied to have a glimpse of the Lord. The heavenly darshan music started and Swami came gliding to give His benediction to the craning devotees. I got a vantage point in the front line. I sat with folded hands in salutation, heart thumping beneath my chest and mind recollecting all the yeoman service ‘I’ had rendered in the last one week. A sense of vanity crept in without my knowledge. Few calculations were quickly undertaken. ‘ I think, I will get a look and a smile at the least.’ I thought to myself. My chain of thought was broken by a big round of applause. I turned to see, Swami giving His benediction with both hands raised. He looked like a freshly blossomed rose, silently strewing fragrance all around. I continued the thought, ‘ Will he talk to me, will he pat my cheeks today.’
The excitement was palpable, with beads of sweat rolling down from my forehead. Swami took an unusual turn and was right in front of our line just five metres away from me. I was on pins and needles seeing Him walk towards me, showering His moon like glances on one and all. My heart missed one beat just by thinking what might be in store. Swami came gliding, spoke to the boy just next to me, all the while looking at him without straying His gaze on either sides. I was anticipating His gaze on me. Suddenly or perhaps apparently, Swami realized that He has missed the boys on the other side and took an about turn. A couple of boys got a shower of Vibhuti and after crossing a few boys, He picked up where He left on my side of the line skipping me and a couple of boys next to me. It was as if He wanted to ignore one denizen sitting there with lot of anticipation. He walked on and I saw the vibrant orange form slowly receding from my view carrying with it all my hopes and aspirations. Watching His bewitching form gliding away from me, I got soaked in the feeling of despondency.


My mind continued its tryst with despondency and frustration brooding over all the hard work undertaken and the lack of attention from Swami. But slowly all the feelings started dissolving. A strange feeling of peace descended on me. I was at loss of words to describe this state of mind. All the expectations, memories of the service and the chatter of the mind melted like mist in the morning sun. I was completely present in the moment looking at the giant screen in front of me. Every gesture of His looked beautiful and enchanting. The darshan music sounded ethereal, I enjoyed the instrumental version of 'Sai Darshan’ by Kavita Krishnamurthy.  The buntings, flowers, the chain of lights and the big red Chinese Onions as they are called, looked very beautiful. All the faces around looked blissful, soaked in the joy of His darshan. The faces of the tiny tots of the primary school looked like countless sunflowers riveted to the sun.There was nothing to interfere in the pure joy of witnessing.

No looks exchanged, no words spoken and no smiles given; but something profound happened. Has he given me a glimpse of what is the purpose of service? Is this what service should actually do-remove the doer of the service? 

Vilvamangala

Source : http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/volume_1/lectures_and_discourses/vilvamangala.htm

This is a story from one of the books of India, called "Lives of Saints". There was a young man, a Brahmin by birth, in a certain village. The man fell in love with a bad woman in another village. There was a big river between the two villages, and this man, every day, used to go to that girl, crossing this river in a ferry boat. Now, one day he had to perform the obsequies of his father, and so, although he was longing, almost dying to go to the girl, he could not. The ceremonies had to be performed, and all those things had to be undergone; it is absolutely necessary in Hindu society. He was fretting and fuming and all that, but could not help it. At last the ceremony ended, and night came, and with the night, a tremendous howling storm arose. The rain was pouring down, and the river was lashed into gigantic waves. It was very dangerous to cross. Yet he went to the bank of the river. There was no ferry boat. The ferrymen were afraid to cross, but he would go; his heart was becoming mad with love for the girl, so he would go. There was a log floating down, and he got that, and with the help of it, crossed the river, and getting to the other side dragged the log up, threw it on the bank, and went to the house. The doors were closed. He knocked at the door,


but the wind was howling, and nobody heard him. So he went round the walls and at last found what he thought to be a rope, hanging from the wall. He clutched at it, saying to himself, "Oh, my love has left a rope for me to climb." By the help of that rope he climbed over the wall, got to the other side, missed his footing, and fell, and noise aroused the inmates of the house, and the girl came out and found the man there in a faint. She revived him, and noticing that he was smelling very unpleasantly, she said, "What is the matter with you? Why this stench on your body? How did you come into the house?" He said, "Why, did not my love put that rope there?" She smiled, and said, "What love? We are for money, and do you think that I let down a rope for you, fool that you are? How did you cross the river?" "Why, I got hold of a log of wood." "Let us go and see," said the girl. The rope was a cobra, a tremendously poisonous serpent, whose least touch is death. It had its head in a hole, and was getting in when the man caught hold of its tail, and he thought it was a rope. The madness of love made him do it. When the serpent has its head in its hole, and its body out, and you catch hold of it, it will not let its head come out; so the man climbed up by it, but the force of the pull killed the serpent. "Where did you get the log?" "It was floating down the river." It was a festering dead body; the stream had washed it down and that he took for a log, which explained why he had such an unpleasant odour. The woman looked at him and said, "I never believed in love; we never do; but, if this is not love, the Lord have mercy on me. We do not know what love is. But, my friend, why do you give that heart to a woman like me? Why do you not give it to God? You will be perfect." It was a thunderbolt to the man's brain. He got a glimpse of the beyond for a moment. "Is there a God?" "Yes, yes, my friend, there is," said the woman. And the man walked on, went into a forest, began to weep and pray. "I want Thee, Oh Lord! This tide of my love cannot find a receptacle in little human beings. I want to love where this mighty river of my love can go, the ocean of love; this rushing tremendous river of my love cannot enter into little pools, it wants the infinite ocean. Thou art there; come Thou to me." So he remained there for years. After years he thought he had succeeded, he became a Sannyasin and he came into the cities. One day he was sitting on the bank of a river, at one of the bathing places, and a beautiful young girl, the wife of a merchant of the city, with her servant, came and passed the place. The old man was again up in him, the beautiful face again attracted him. The Yogi looked and looked, stood up and followed the girl to her home. Presently the husband came by, and seeing the Sannyasin in the yellow garb he said to him, "Come in, sir, what can I do for you?" The Yogi said, "I will ask you a terrible thing." "Ask anything, sir, I am a Grihastha (householder), and anything that one asks I am ready to give." "I want to see your wife." The man said, "Lord, what is this! Well, I am pure, and my wife is pure, and the Lord is a protection to all. Welcome; come in sir." He came in, and the husband introduced him to his wife. "What can I do for you?" asked the lady. He looked and looked, and then said, "Mother, will you give me two pins from your hair?" "Here they are." He thrust them into his two eyes saying "Get away, you rascals! Henceforth no fleshy things for you. If you are to see, see the Shepherd of the groves of Vrindaban with the eyes of the soul. Those are all the eyes you have." So he went back into the forest. There again he wept and wept and wept. It was all that great flow of love in the man that was struggling to get at the truth, and at last he succeeded; he gave his soul, the river of his love, the right direction, and it came to the Shepherd. The story goes that he saw God in the form of Krishna. Then, for once, he was sorry that he had lost his eyes, and that he could only have the internal vision. He wrote some beautiful poems of love. In all Sanskrit books, the writers first of all salute their Gurus. So he saluted that girl as his first Guru.