HERE'S THE HEREAFTER, THANK YOU

HERE'S THE HEREAFTER, THANK YOU

It is all here. There is no hereafter. The hereafter itself is here. This location and dislocation business is a thought-trap based on experience and imagination of spatial extension. The channel changes on the television screen showing up new places, scenes and environs. But the screen remains the same. So also with the Self over which sensory superimpositions cast their distinctive images separated by space and time. But in transcendence relativity vanishes and the Absolute reveals itself shorn of all such distinctive designs. It is an integrated Whole without parts or joints, a seamless realm of Self-conscious existence. Upon return to relativity in its finest sense, the frozen moment stretches to engender ticking time and the consciousness-dense void extends to build the fabric of expansive space. Complex conception it may seem from the standpoint of mundane multiplicity but when Self-realisation dawns, things become apparent as the solidified integrated consciousness splits up into diverse thoughts, the One in lonesomeness wishes to become the Many, and lo and behold, the manifold universe comes into being, the single solidified substratum of superconsciousness is enveloped by the mist of multiplicity. That state of transcendence is here and now, and not there and then. It is all here. It is all now.

Written by Sugata Bose

P.S. My responses to observations made by a reader : Television---that is why Thakur spoke in parables.

Philosophy eludes ordinary conception. Myths and tales, parables and rustic notes make accessible subtle truths. But in analogy so often the subtlety of the original concept is lost. Thus is the Spirit rudely rendered into Matter, so to say, in an altered vein. This itself is idolatry that universally prevails upon the mind of the mundane man.

HANDS OFF!

HANDS OFF!

Spirituality is mostly materialism all over. Does the Spirit preach, convert or accumulate wealth? The Spirit just abides and in so 'doing'---for, abiding is hardly doing anything beyond being silently present---spreads its aroma around. Those that come within its ambit are magnetically drawn and transformed, raised unto Self-consciousness. There is neither sound nor word but the tranquil Presence that uplifts. Violence of preaching gone, proselytising takes to its wings and peace abounds, which is the essence and end of spirituality.

Whither spirituality in institutionalised religion, organisation et al? The individual is violated upon by those who wish in their own ignorance to raise him, the blind leading the blind unto the blind alleyway of life and its dead end in death. Hands off, preacher, priest, proselytiser, prophet! Who you wish to save is already saved, says Vivekananda. He is divine and needs not your saving grace. Om!

Written by Sugata Bose 

SUBMISSION TO UNREASON

SUBMISSION TO UNREASON 

They are in the deathgrip of their theology. It crushes and kills, allowing little freedom which is why there is neither growth nor progress within the polity but a stagnation that dates from medieval times and stretches unto modernity which though eludes them in their throttled thinking. The text dominates their lives and inspires them unto futile martyrdom. The focus of existence is elsewhere in the hereafter while life here on earth is passed in constant consternation of an absolute fiat whose judgement they must favourably gain to avoid the Fire they so fear. Enticements galore for the men, here and in heaven, subjugation of women, and submission overall to the divine dictate determine life on earth deemed as a test for a probable passage to a delectable heaven. Hatred of the infidel, the great calling to convert them to the one and only true faith and engagement in activity to that end consume earthly energy, leaving no scope for progress in a world of changing realities. Denied the right to challenge their faith, they are held captive to it, prisoners of transmitted culture from generation to generation, the process of indoctrination of the individual beginning from right after birth. Backwardness fosters hyper-fertility and the numbers grow unceasingly even as the interior rots.

The day is not far---and it is already happening---when newer generations will rebel against this brutalisation of the human soul by archaic absolutist ideology. Then the citadels of theocratic control will fall apart much like it did in the case of Christianity in the past several centuries. Enlightenment is bound to come, for the human soul is infinite and cannot be contained within the finite bounds of dogmatic faith. As of now it is a titanic struggle, the tug of war between identity culture and global liberalising influence. 

The races of the world are diversely developed owing to genetic, climatic and cultural factors. Hence, large sections of the world remain in the dark as yet, clinging to archaic conceptions, explanations of life, creation and the universe which have been debunked by scientific discoveries. The ability to adapt to the environment and evolve is not equally developed in all individuals, neither in the same measure in all races. Thus tribal culture persists in the garb of antiquated religions, holding humanity in its hypnotic grip still. But with the spread of information and the permeation of liberal culture, there will be a loosening of the theological grip on the masses and toxic texts will be rejected as unworthy of veneration by the moden mind. Then shall be light and then shall be liberation and then shall love spread around.

To that dawn, my dear,

I send forth these lines,

They'll waft through the starry skies

To welcome you with the light.

Written by Sugata Bose

POESY: ON WAKING UP

ON WAKING UP

Blessed be the morn

On which I was born.

Now attributes shorn,

In life wearyworn,

I, forlorn,

Am blowing the horn

To rid myself

Off this horrific world

That's stuck in me

Like a pricking thorn.

Life's been lived full force.

Now worn and torn,

Here at last its brief sojourn 

Shall end in scorn

If I tarry more.

For the world is full,

Too full of cares,

Too full of the wares

That crass commerce,

Too full of the snares

That the desirous mind

Have corrupted course.

Now off in flight

To a realm of light,

Leaving the plight,

This battle thrown.

The shore is nigh,

The tide is high,

The vessel's ready,

My spirit's steady.

Set off at eve,

This earth shall leave

When dusk beckons

The darkening dawn.

How many aeons 

This life has been,

How many ages 

Its scenery seen.

Now curtain's call,

Short shrinks the tall,

Breaks steps the ball,

Null sees the all.

I come, O Master, I come.

O Mother who art my sole refuge,

In Thee shall rest my days and nights.

A day of peace

And a night of rest,

Free of care

Nor worry pressed.

Life's been long

And hard and tough,

Rode through the smooth 

And rode through the rough.

Now peace, peace, peace within, 

Light and bliss and formfree win.

Rambling, rambling, carefree soul,

The parts are nought, 

They've fused as Whole.

Composed by Sugata Bose

THE MULTAN DECLARATION

THE MULTAN DECLARATION 

The declaration at Multan was absolutely justified. Tendulkar was crawling towards his prospective double century quite against the demands of team cricket which must put rapid scoring at a premium in order to force a victory. That victory was achieved with a day to spare was not evident then and neither does it matter, considering that cricket is a team game and the interests of the team are paramount, over and above individual interest which must not only be subservient but must not feature at all in the general scheme of things. It is the captain's decision to do what he deems is right for the team and for an individual player to question it is blasphemous in cricketing terms. That Tendulkar had the temerity to do so shows him in poor light as a sort of a selfish character despite many other redeeming features which would sure show him in a brighter light. Dravid's inability to defend his decision in more forthright terms almost gives the impression that he has capitulated to public pressure and holds himself culpable to an error of judgement which, though, is not his true position in regard to the decision to declare. This meekness on his part is unseemly, quite unmanly, so to say, and not befitting a leader of men. That Tendulkar has continued to hold his ground that Dravid was wrong in declaring proves what a poor sport he is after all, despite the contrary claims by all and sundry to his unselfish demeanour. Tendulkar did place person above team in regard to the Multan declaration, was culpable to the cardinal sin of questioning the captain and has in expressing his displeasure in autobiographical publication of the same confirmed his true individualistic frame of mind as opposed to what great teammen like Garry Sobers, Vivian Richards and Virender Sehwag have exhibited as the fundamental feature of their mental make-up in regard to this great team game.

P. S. The Multan Test took place from 28 March to 1 April, 2004, the latter being the fourth day of the Test when India won comfortably.  Three months earlier on 5 January, 2004, Ganguly had declared India's second innings at 211--2 to try and force a win against Steve Waugh's Australia at Sydney. Dravid was then batting on 91 and Tendulkar on 60. The match was drawn with Australia staving off defeat by notching 357--6 when stumps were drawn on the fifth day. Earlier Tendulkar had crawled to a double hundred (241 not out) in the first innings which time factor eventually cost us the missed victory as India had eight wickets in the second innings when they were accelerating to go for a probable win. India scored 211--2 in just 43.2 overs. Dravid never grudged his skipper Ganguly's decision nor even dreamed of questioning it. He smilingly got along with what was good for the team, so much so that people have forgotten that he was also denied a century in the team's interest which, perhaps, he could have notched up in a couple of overs more. But Dravid, the team man and a thorough gentleman, bowed down willingly before his captain's decision, although it must be added here than even Dravid as vice-captain of the team had initially gone on batting even after receiving multiple intimations from the dressing room to come off as soon as they could. But in the final analysis Dravid never brewed up a sullen atmosphere in the dressing room consequent on the eventual declaration with him stranded on an unbeaten 91. Not so Tendulkar, though. He harboured hurt feelings and questioned the veracity of the management's decision to declare. And now he has given his position regarding the same in his autobiography, ghost-written by someone else as is the wont with so many cricketers. Now read and draw your own conclusions. 

Written by Sugata Bose 

A RUN DOWN MEMORY LANE

A RUN DOWN MEMORY LANE

A sense of history inspires one to carry on with the finest traditions of the game. I mean cricket with all its glorious past, its village greens, County Championships, Sheffield Shield, Ashes matches, W.G., Ranji, Hobbs and Sutcliffe, Trumper and McCartney, Bradman, McCabe and Ponsford, George Headley, Learie Constantine, Wolley, Rhodes, Verity, Jardine, Larwood and the Bodyline, and the great victories and defeats. Cricket with its rivetting past dated in Hambledon, Yorkshire and Lord's, the Oxbridge matches, Winchester, Eton and Harrow, the Gentlemen and the Players with separate dressing rooms and entrances and exits, the coalminer's son delivering the ball at 90 miles per hour, pulverising batsmen with vicious bumpers at a fiery pace, stumps flying on impact with the dipping, darting yorker, pubs animated in discussions on the elements of the day's game---those were the halcyon days of this glorious game played in the sun in July-August and in the cold English early summer of May when a thousand first class runs was the prized possession of the very best of batsmen and over 3000 runs in a season, as Ranji and Compton achieved, the immortal attainments of the game. This it was, so typically an English sport played in the days of Empire, whose lifebreath was captured in the prose of Cardus and Swanton, of Robinson and Arlott, like moods frozen in poetic metre or as ice melting in a flowing lake. And the interwar years that saw the maturing of batsmanship to new heights, and postwar heroes in Sobers and Kanhai and the three Ws. Hutton, Laker and Lock, locking horns with the Aussies, Graeme and Peter Pollock, Barry Richards, the great Viv, Lillee and Thommo and the fearsome West Indian pace battery--- Roberts, Holding, Daniel, Garner, Croft, Marshall, Patterson, Davis, Sylvester Clarke, Ian Bishop, Ambrose and Walsh, all bloodying batsmen and rolling stumps. Way back in early 20th century we had Sidney Francis Barnes, Bill O'Reilly and Clarrie Grimmett, and just the other day we had Warne and Murali, and earlier the famed quartet of Bedi, Chandra, Prasanna and Venkat coming in the line of Vinoo Mankad, Subhas Gupte, Ghulam Ahmed, Benaud, Gibbs and the redoubtable duo, Ramadhin and Valentine. Gavaskar lit up the Windies and Apartheid robbed the cricketing world of the Pollocks, Barry Richards, Eddie Barlow, Mike Proctor and more. Greig, the Chappell brothers, Kerry Packer and the cricketing revolution has done the rest. Now it is big money, the sibling of cricket, and shorter and faster brands of commercial cricket. Gone now is its languid romance, the rapturous joy of seasonal cricket played on the village greens. Hail to those halcyon days which is to be never anymore!

Written by Sugata Bose 

ALL-TIME INDIA TEST XI

ALL-TIME INDIA TEST XI 

1. VIRENDER SEHWAG 

2. SUNIL GAVASKAR 

3. RAHUL DRAVID 

4. SACHIN TENDULKAR

5. VIRAT KOHLI

6. VINOO MANKAD (C)

7. MAHENDRA SINGH DHONI (WK)

8. KAPIL DEV (VC)

9. JASPRIT BUMRAH  

10. ANIL KUMBLE 

11. JAVAGAL SRINATH 

COMMENTS GALORE ... 41

COMMENTS GALORE ... 41

Sugata Bose @YouTube [Kolkata Literary Meet] : Javed Akhtar has taken too much of the time, almost the whole of it, reducing other panelists to being mere audience to his seemingly never-ending oration. This is terribly unfair, a one-sided affair that has reduced a panel discussion to a monlogue, however stimulating in intellectual content it may have been. Javed Akhtar has even of the cuff taken undue precedence in answering questions from the audience. It seems he has had a mistaken notion of the Meet and has taken it to be 'Javed Akhtar Literary Meet'. Moderation by Mir ought to have taken care of this unseemly anomaly. The audience has been thus deprived of a possible second or even third round of rollicking rolling discussion that would have added flavour to the Meet. In actual effect such a possibility has been waylaid by a single speaker of much knowledge that despite it has made a mockery of a Meet. Such self-centring of group discussion literally should not be allowed at a literary meet.

Sugata Bose @YouTube [MFC 1858] : This thing about Bradman having fallen short by 4 runs to have a career batting average of 100 runs per completed innings overlooks the fact that almost throughout his career he kept averaging well over 100. His average stood at 105 before his last Test series against England and it stood at 101 before his final innings which is why he needed only 4 runs to finish with a fallen average of 100 which, alas, was never to be and which has led to this misperception about he having failed to reach that pinnacle of glory in the final analysis. A baseless understanding of the great man's lifetime batting achievement, a testament to popular unreasearched shallow estimate of things.

Sugata Bose @YouTube [Jaipur Literary Festival] : Rajdeep Sardesai talks for too long depriving other speakers of legitimate talk-time.

It's a Rajdeep Sardesai show to the dismay of Gideon Haigh who hardly gets any chance to speak. What a wasted opportunity! Rajdeep Sardesai typically spoils every such show with his superficial talk. He evidently is a great fan of his own speech.

Sugata Bose @YouTube [The Print] : Why does the anchor (Shekhar Gupta) move his hands so much? Such body language is unwarranted where words ought to do the job.

Sugata Bose @Parnika Bubna : Do not worry. Mother is always holding you. Live your life creatively, expressing yourself freely, exercising your will and, so, strengthening it, manifesting your prodigious powers to the fullest.

Sugata Bose @YouTube [Sky Sports Retro] : Murali, not Warne, is the greatest bowler of this generation by miles.

Sugata Bose @Kevin Chowdhury : Hard work, harder work, and even harder work to the exclusion of all frivolous distractions of life alone pays. Do it and success will be yours.

Sugata Bose @YouTube [Jai Galagali] : Compare the lovely opening music that was afforded with the Australian telecast compared with the pedestrian ones that you provide at the start of some of your videos. While the batsmen rectify their stance as per the prevailing playing conditions, I request you to rectify your musical stance that is primarily aimed at attracting crude public attention. This ought not to be.

Sugata Bose @Tendulkar is a dull fellow who makes insipid comments. Compare that with Dravid's sharp incisive comments and you'll see the difference. Ganguly is another bore of an intellect, superficial and quite innocent of the history of this great game. Tendulkar is a great batsman but a terribly shallow intellect. Listening to him is painfully detrimental to one's intellectual faculties. 

Sugata Bose @YouTube : Ponting's a shame unto the game! Period.

Sugata Bose @Antara Sadhu : Nice original interpretation of my statement. You have a capacity for lateral thinking, sign of an intelligent brain. But my import was otherwise, along quite a different direction altogether.

Sugata Bose @Ratul Roy : Saddened to hear this. My mental final prostration at Mesomoshai's lotus feet. Stay peaceful in loving memory of the dear departed. 🕉

Sugata Bose @YouTube [Random Dawah] : Was this an inter-fath meet designed to prove the superiority of a particular religion by any means? What was the underlying motive? Cheap quotation tactics by Naik to prove his point. This is despicable, most uncivil culture. The philosophical point is more pertinent. Memory-juggling is not spirituality. Such memorising and consequent quotation of a few verses and stating the chapter and verse number may please the public but does not advance one spiritually nor does it prove one's philosophical point in any way. These are populist measures designed to stun the gullible public ever ready to gobble up gibberish dished out at them by clever manipulators of their mind.

Sugata Bose @YouTube [Random Dawah] : Zakir Naik is a master misinterpreter of the Bible as is customary of his kind. He was set straight by Swami Golakanandaji who towered above his lowly level.

Sugata Bose @YouTube [Random Dawah] : Father is a cultured person. His refinement far transcends Naik's unseemly offensive. His cultured repose was a fitting response to Naik's vituperation.

Sugata Bose @YouTube [Random Dawah] : 'Judge the tree by the fruit.' So says the old adage. And that is the apt method of judging the relative merits of the religions under consideration in this meet. The fruits are sweet, bland and toxic. Now judge for yourself which is which.

Sugata Bose @Random Dawah : What a cartoon of a character still preaching the supposed superiority of his political faith after a sizeable sizing up by the Swami!

Sugata Bose @Random Dawah : Stop telling God what to do and what not to do. He is free to do as He pleases without consulting you.

Sugata Bose @YouTube [Enlightened by Sadhguru] : The young lady has jacked this 'guru'. He is so disconcerted that he has resorted to threatening her with hosts of cases which is a despicable way to respond to an honest question. Is might right even in the spiritual world or is it not spirituality after all that is being so marketed?

Sugata Bose @YouTube [Sadhuguru And] : Rubbish! Adi Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, Guru Nanak, Sri Chaitanya, Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda are a few more among many divine incarnations and prophets who have graced this earth post the advent of Islam which effectively gives the lie to the statement that Muhammad is the last prophet that the world has seen.

Sugata Bose @Chaitanyadeb Das : Rejoice that Shree Ram will reign in Ayodhya once again in His newest incarnation which is in keeping with the oldest tradition dating from millenia, way back into remotest antiquity.

Sugata Bose @YouTube [Sportstar] : What a shallow audience! Laughing at Kallicharan's poverty situation that left him with no food at night.

Sugata Bose @YouTube [Franciscan University of Steubenville] : Islam and Christianity are ever at loggerheads with each other because each is an expansionist proselytising faith which objective makes them necessarily antagonistic to each other. Ramakrishna exhorts all to proceed along their individual paths on to God. Spiritual realisation is the key, not converting others to one's fold. Here lies the harmony.

Sugata Bose @Parnika Bubna/Gupta : You are doing yeoman service to the motherland by helping me glean invaluable information about our culture and heritage which is spurring me on to awaken our sleeping Hindu brethren into feeling a sense of rightful pride in their antiquity as Hindu civilisational recovery takes place in the coming decades and centuries. This invaluable support, a la patronage in the rightful sense, is befitting the best of souls that you are and is enshrining your name in the bosom of the great Mother who we fondly address as Bharat Mata. Thanking you will be selling short my indebtedness and your selfless philanthropy. I can express my gratitude in doing justice to the literature that has been made available to me and in serving our motherland in the rightful way by her blessings. 🕉

Sugata Bose @Rudranshu Singh : Learn the spelling of 'Gregorian calendar' first before you speak ji.

Sugata Bose @Rudranshu Singh : Your phone is naughty. It is still playing the fool with calendar and typing it somehow as CALLANDER, and too in two places. You must scold your phone.

Sugata Bose @Rudranshu Singh : Thank you for taking the cue of spelling from me. My IQ helped, you see.

Sugata Bose @Rudranshu Singh : There is no theocratic bigotry anywhere. It is a Sanatan civilisational resurgence, a renaissance that has long been in wait and is now finding fulfilment owing to karmic thrusts ushering in a new age where the Vedas will overspread the world with the message of peace and harmony.

Sugata Bose @Ashit Kumar Pal : Neither am I a relation of Netaji nor do I feel honoured by any such association barring my own familial one, neither am I to be fettered by any in making my observations.

Sugata Bose @Bratisankar Ghosh : It is unbecoming of a gentleman to call another a 'campaigner' by way of first address.

Sugata Bose @Rudranshu Singh : Had rectified it before your comment in response appeared. Evidently it was a typographical error. Nonetheless, thanks for reminding.

P.S. You have made grammatical errors in your comment. It ought to be: Sugata Bose, you have typed 'yout' instead of 'your'.

Nevertheless, you are a good soul, humble and nice, and it endears me to find a fellow countryman to be so, especially in these days of caustic commenting with a malicious slant.

Sugata Bose @Ashit Kumar Pal : Where do you find medieval darkness in illumination of our homes and hearts with the diyas of Deepavali?

Sugata Bose @Inderjeet Singh : Thank you, brother. Such appreciation is rare amongst those who follow my page and when it comes, it is a refreshing spring breeze with its fragrant appeal. Jai Shree Ram!

Sugata Bose @Joydeep Ghosh : The force of history will bring about inevitable amendments. Besides, the baby must not be thrown away with the bathwater. That will prove catastrophic. Evolution must be enlightened. Else, there will be a civilisational collapse and that must never be. Hatred towards Hindutva must not blind one's vision as to pass caustic comments casually. Better scholarship would deem it otherwise. Hence, depth study and clarification of the mind are necessary. Character must be built upon solid spiritual foundations on the bedrock of purity and adherence to the utterances of ancient, medieval and modern sages and divine incarnations.

Sugata Bose @Subhasish Papan Ghosh : Not at all, my friend. You are a critic with a cause and humorous too. Do keep enlivening proceedings as before. Welcome to the world of words.

Sugata Bose @Sreekanth Madhavan : Yes, she (Mother Teresa) is to be praised where praise is due. But her conversions of Hindus to Christianity I am opposed to.

Sugata Bose @Chanda Aniruddha : Read 'The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda' thoroughly and you will realise the spiritual essence of Bharatvarsha better. Your understanding of the epics is partial, flawed and slanted. Better sense will prevail with a thorough grounding in Swamiji.

Sugata Bose @Chanda Aniruddha : I make copious posts and have been making so for years on diverse issues concerning the civilisational concerns of the country. But busybody that you are, you have not had the time, occasion or opportunity to read them. Hence, the fault lies not with me, my friend, but in your unavailability on that count. Better by far will be from now to vent your emotions after having studied someone's writings for years. As it is, I can clearly see where your opposition to my writings is coming from, your intents and motives being clear as daylight to any discerning reader.

Sugata Bose @Subhasish Papan Ghosh :  Why do you persist with imagination running riot in your estimation about others with flawed analysis of statements made, as in this case? Is it not saner to read right and respond in accordance? Why pick up a verbal feud where none is due? This is precisely the reason why your comments, sarcastic and often caustic as they are, and out of place in especial, must not be responded to.

Sugata Bose @Anirban Chanda : From the study of Swamiji. Study his Complete Works well and you will also be privy to such sparkling gems strewn across that sublime body of literature.

Sugata Bose @Subhasish Papan Ghosh : India is developing fast. But India is a vast country and with a multitude of antinational forces and indolent agencies of negation and inner erosion that is delaying development. Also, exploding population is a major inhibitor of human development.

Sugata Bose @Goutam Mukherjee : Your steadfastness in support moves me. Amidst the melee of malicious contrivers insinuating unfounded motives and making caustic observations to suit their partisan leanings, yours has been the support of sanity---calm, distilled, courteous and constant, an illustration unto others as to what culture and good grooming is all about. Thank you, my friend, for your steady support. It does help in disseminating the message of truth and light which is what I aspire to always do, gleaning my inspiration from the pages of savants and sages whose lives are their best legacy bequeathed unto us. Jai Swamiji! Vande Mataram!

Sugata Bose @Subhasish Papan Ghosh : Because everybody is not fitted for every job. They have their assigned roles in life and I am pursuing mine in my own way. Politics is not my cup of tea, although many have unduly insinuated on me that I am pursuing through my writings a political course of things which I emphatically deny. To do party politics is to be partisan and, so, lose independence of articulation which as a writer I cannot subscribe to. Moreover, politics involves compromises and speaking falsehoods which I cannot bring myself to doing. I hope this makes it all very clear and satisfies your curiosity about my doings, active and potential. May Sri Ramakrishna bless you!

Sugata Bose @Prabir Bhattacharya : Strange observation considering the facts that pertain to me which is a pointer to the other fact of casualness and lack of study of a subject that characterises so many of my caustic countrymen, immersed as they are in self-indulgence about estimation of others.

Sugata Bose @Rudranshu Singh : Are you questioning your question? You have given the double question mark.

Sugata Bose @Joy Kumar De : Self-promotion is done only by him in India? Is it not a national menace today with its toxic effect consuming the public discourse?

Sugata Bose @Subhasish Papan Ghosh : Most communist leaders in India pursue simple living but all of them pursue slanted thinking along Marxist lines. Some, like Hiren Mukerjee, of course, have led highly frugal lives of exceptional character excellence with very exalted thinking, being philosophically erudite and culturally integrated at a reasonable Marxist distance, though. Such have really been role models of the motto 'simple living and high thinking'.

Sugata Bose @Rudranshu Singh : No, not at all. I choose not to be interviewed by you about my personal data. I do not entertain extraneous questions, especially from someone as unsympathetic as you about the Sanatan cause. But I do appreciate your sense of humour and general civility which is in scarcity these days.

Sugata Bose @Prabhakar Rao : Swamiji always explains like this. You are blessed that you read him. More strength to you.

Sugata Bose @Rudranshu Singh : Said it in an utterly ungentlemanly manner that is characteristic of the caustic critic, your observation replete with unsympathetic attributes unceremoniously ascribed to me. But then that is what is expected of one who cannot read enough into the import of my copious posts but expects me to furnish him with extra material in the comment stream as per the dictates of his wishes. Well, you may entertain whatever opinion of me you wish but shall be denied the privilege of eliciting responses as per your fancies. I am not here to humour your preferences in making my posts but shall do them as I deem it best. Civility is a virtue that gentlemen value and I set a premium to it notwithstanding your opinions of me. May Sri Ramakrishna bless you!