The healthiest approach in life is often to focus our energy on the things within our control. Finding a balance between perseverance and self-care is important. It’s normal to experience sadness, frustration, or even anger when we don’t get what we want. Breakups, career problems, dealing with losses, financial issues, there are a million things that can put us into miserable frame of mind. Spiritual strength can help us overcome hardships. Spirituality is our connection with the Universal Energy – Almighty.

Spiritual surrender means that a believer makes his attempts to get his desired goals with his thoughts, ideas and deeds in harmony with the Universal Energy whom we call God. When we surrender spiritually, automatically we stop forcing solutions on situations that are not in our control and instead trust and have faith that there is a Divine force taking care of everything in a perfectly coordinated manner.

When we surrender, the first practice comes automatically to practice letting go of things and circumstances we can’t control. This helps us to free ourselves from our fears.  God’s timing and rewards cannot be challenged. To surrender first we need to control our inabilities, wrong advice, identify where we have power and where we don’t. Face challenges in worst times. Don’t give up on friends, relatives in your worst fear/worst case scenario but let go of emotional attachments. Don’t depend too much on others, have the emotional connection with Almighty – you never know God will encourage one of them to help you.

One of my friends Aditya met me few weeks back, and while discussing over a cup of tea, he informed me that his sister was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer few years back.  It was before social media craze; Aditya has a compiled list of people around the world which they called “prayer chain.” It was an extensive email list of people who would pray for known/unknown ill people, natural calamity, wars and many other problems.  Aditya at once emailed them all, asking them to pray for his sister. Each one prayed their Divinity to give her strength and motivation to withstand the harsh treatment for cancer. Forty-eight hours later, the tumour shrank almost by 30 percent! His sister survived. It took her two years, she is alive. Aditya says he surrendered his dilemma, his fear, his anxiety to the Almighty.     

Surrender the situation to God and let Him do His divine work with you! We must accept our powerlessness. Accepting our powerlessness sends us directly into the arms of God where we feel empowered.  

This is story of Nilima, a lady who highly believes in prayers. She always prays to the Almighty saviour to allow her to help people around her. On a freezing and windy day, she was waiting at the post office for some transaction and looking out for a cab to return home. She noticed an isolated homeless woman freezing in a corner. The woman was waiting for little food she looked weak and famished; she had only a tiny cup filled with pennies. Well, sometimes life leaves people unfortunately helpless. In her poor state, the woman looked at Nilima with some hope of help. Nilima couldn’t purchase food with a credit card at nearby shops; all she could do was sympathise.

The woman accidentally dropped her bowl, and all coins scattered across the ground. Though she had nothing to give in return, Nilima rushed to help the woman gather each penny and fill them back into the cup. In a shaky voice, the woman sincerely murmured, ‘God bless you.’

Her words moved Nilima’s heart, and she offered up looking at sky a silent prayer. When she turned around, one kind woman had put money in the bowl while another ran to get her some water. It was a miracle in due time! As more people crowded around the woman, placing money into her cup, a woman asked if she was feeling alright and warm. The saviour, the Father, had heard Nilima’s powerful prayer and miraculously bestowed protection on the needy soul. It might look like a minor incident, but it has a huge lesson when it comes to spiritual surrender. Faith can move mountains.

Whenever we ask for divine protection and guidance for all those who are going through bad weather, natural calamity, accidents on ill conditioned roads, our spiritual surrender to Lord, can keep them safe from any harm or danger. 

When you make peace with your fears and anxiety, they are then less likely to show up. When you become okay with your worst-case scenario, you are no longer bound by a particular outcome or fear because you truly are okay with any outcome. This releases you from unconsciously helping to create the undesirable outcome because you are no longer resisting it nor have negative emotion going towards it, which feeds it. When you surrender to the God, you are freed of all negative thoughts. When we surrender, we become mindful of a higher power, and when we trust in a higher power that is trying to show and give us something greater.

Ayodhya is a city situated on the banks of the Sharayu River in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh which has been transformed significantly. From the new Maharishi Valmiki Airport to the revamped railway station, Ayodhya has been renovated ahead of the Ram temple inauguration on 22^nd January 2024. Experts predict a massive rise in spiritual tourism, with officials anticipating three to five lakh daily visitors in the coming months. India is focused on the grand “Pran Pratishtha” (sanctification) ceremony of the under-construction Ram temple in Ayodhya. Large posters bearing a symbolic image of the upcoming Ram temple, design of the new airport along with a message that hails Ayodhya as a city of “Maryada, Dharm and Sanskriti” have been put up in the temple town, including at locations near the airport and the station and the bypass road.

The hospitality industry in Ayodhya is fortunate as it will be benefited from religious tourism, with major hotel chains such as IHCL, Marriott, Sarovar and many other hotel brands planning projects in the temple town. The existing hotels are struggling to meet the demand, and there are plans for around 550 “Home Stay” centres for visitors to experience local culture and cuisine for 22^nd Jan 2024. The transformation of Ayodhya gained momentum after the Bhoomi Puja ceremony for the Ram Mandir in August 2020.

Ayodhya’s transformation from an undistinguished mofussil town to bustling city gained momentum after Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over the Bhoomi Puja ceremony of Ram Mandir on August 5, 2020, about nine months after the Supreme Court’s unanimous verdict in favour of Ram temple on November 9, 2019.

In few months’ times, people will not only visit Ayodhya to pray and respect to Ram Lalla, but they will also come here for ceremonies and rituals. It will be one of the renowned venues for wedding destination for people with spiritual bent of minds. Not only weddings, but people would also like to perform other family functions like the mundan ceremony (tonsure) of children and birthdays in Ayodhya. The Ayodhya Development Authority, which is organizing the project, has received 600 applications for locals willing to start a homestay facility at their residence.

The Home Stay facility will be an ideal opportunity for visitors to enjoy local cuisine and culture of Avadh by staying with locals. The tourism department and the development authority will keep a check on these centres to ensure their proper functioning assures the Ayodhya Development Authority.

India is a land of religious and spiritual tourism. It refers to travel for religious or spiritual purposes, such as undertaking a pilgrimage and visiting sacred sites. Also known as sacred or faith tourism, it is one of the oldest forms of tourism. Religious tourism is a niche within the segment of cultural tourism, comprising four specialist niches pilgrimages, visiting sacred sites, church, mosque and temple tourism, and travel for the purpose of mission or worship.

The temple tour packages in India cater to the religious sites of North Haridwar-Rishikesh-Varanasi. In Central Mahakaal-Kjajuraho-Sarnath in South Chennai- Kanchipuram-Mahabalipuram-Kanyakumari and in West Pushkar-Mount Abu- Somnath- Dwarka in Gujrat. Therefore, whether a South India temple tour or a North Indian temple tour package, you will be spellbound with remarkable architecture. India comprises diverse religions, caste, and creed therefore you will find temples of Hindus and Jains, Buddhists Monasteries, Sikhs’ Gurudwaras, Muslim Mosques, Christian’s Churches. Some are in the form of prehistoric caves, which also enjoy the privileges of UNESCO World Heritage sites. Some of them include Ajanta, Ellora, Modhera Surya Temple, Khajuraho, Sun Temple of Konark, Elephanta, Taj Mahal, Bodh Gaya, Nalanda University etc.

India being part of the world’s oldest civilizations is a land of rich history, countless beliefs, traditions, and legends surrounding the religions. India takes pride in the country’s rich cultural and religious history as it is the birth land of the traditions of Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. India is a land where people of different religious beliefs live in harmony and brotherhood. Hinduism is believed to be the world’s oldest religion. Unlike other religions, Hinduism does not have a founder but is instead a fusion of religions. Various ancient manuscripts and scholars describe the religion as a traditional way of living, a religion whose beginning and ending cannot be traced.

Indians seek spiritual support or reinforce their religious beliefs. Often, they undertake a pilgrimage for religious reasons or for the purpose of worship. Most religious tourists are very motivated to travel, so they are willing to spend more money than the average traveller. This inherent motivation also makes religious tourism less susceptible to economic lows. Believers like to travel in groups of like-minded people.

What is Religious Tourism?

When a person travels to a pilgrimage site primarily based on their religious belief, it is known as religious tourism. These travellers perform pilgrimage to worship and enjoy salvation. However, there are Muslim and Jewish travellers who go for pilgrimage because it is obligated by their religion.

Popularity of Religious Tourism

People visit the religious sites for expressing gratitude to the Almiighty, to confess their secrets and sins, to thank the deity, asking for forgiveness. For Spiritual Salvation etc. In many societies, going on a pilgrimage is seen as a mark of devotion. People also travel to religious sites to celebrate religious events, communicate with other believers. For the youngers generations and for foreigners’ new experience of spiritual travel could be the reason why they throng to temples and other religious sites. Better connectivity from major Indian cities is another significant reason people have begun to visit the pilgrim sites.

The Indian history is rich in spiritual learnings, cultural references and values that add solemnness to our actions. Today, many aspects of our lives have influenced the West. They are visiting India in search of peace and tranquillity. We Indians are blessed with the spiritual abundance.

Faith balances the psychological and emotional disturbances in our life. Faith expresses a hope in our mind. Faith is total trust, confidence or assurance in somebody, a theory, an idea, or something. Faith is connected with belief in God; more than a yearning, it is closer to a belief, that your wishes will be fulfilled. A belief is deep-rooted in the mind but faith is based in the heart. The world is full of diverse castes, creeds and religions; the way of thinking of each society is different, their impressions and philosophies are different but yet, each one has been grounded because of faith. Faith has a lot of positive energy. Faith is a quality that is inbuilt in a cultural mentality. It has been there right from beginning of mankind. However logic has always challenged faith. When ‘if’, ‘but’, ‘can it?’, ‘does it,’ ‘will it’ crops up in mind, faith is challenged or disputed. Faith gives immense strength to our mind, the moment we try to rationalize faith, it creates imbalance and we lose our peace of mind.

Faith gives us little peace, consolation, comfort and security; it gives us awareness that the creator – Almighty is guiding us. We are being protected by Him. We act in faith even when there is no guarantee, no certainty. There is such a lot of unpredictability in life about everything. Yet, we transact, we take up jobs, start businesses, hire people, take higher degrees, we marry someone, produce kids, bring them up – do you realize – we do so many things by one single emotion which is called faith. Without faith the world would have stopped up. Faith speaks the language of the heart. It is an expression of hope that goes beyond the conscious mind. All that we hold precious and valued in our life strongly rests upon faith in people, faith in relationships, faith in nature, faith in goodness and its potential.  When from the history of mankind there are evidences of cheating, grabbing, warring, brutality and viciousness on one side, on the other side there is compassions, tenderness, kindness and concern. Faith helps us fight the bad.  Faith makes us stronger human.

It seems shortly after turning fifty Leo Tolstoy experienced a profound spiritual crisis. With his all recorded great works which had made him so famous in world, he found his sense of purpose diminishing, he felt his celebrity and public acclaim fluttering. Tolstoy started sinking into a state of deep dejection and melancholy despite having a large estate, good health for his age, his wife was good and she had borne his fourteen children. Tolstoy was a public figure and had gained eternal literary fame. Still he faced a mental trauma and was on the brink of committing suicide. It seems he made one last grasp at light amidst the darkness of his existence, turning to the world’s great religious and philosophical traditions for answers to the age-old question regarding the meaning of life. Tolstoy – the great literary man has mentioned about faith in his later mythical works.

Life is not anything but roller-coaster ride. When things go right, when you are doing well, people will ignite your passion for achievement by believing in you, supporting you and cheering you. But when you experience bad time, when you journey becomes bouncy, the same people criticize you for the smallest mistakes. They defame you. When you have to rise to the occasion and face the challenges of life on your own, only faith gives you the ability to fight it out. It is therefore important to have faith in yourself and in your capacity to perform to the best of your ability. When faced with rough situations, always believe in yourself. If you don’t believe, no one else will. Your self-confidence and esteem stem from a strong belief in who you are and what you stand for. It is very important to bear in mind that you are your number one supporter and fan. Secondly, life is what you make it. Believing that you can make it happen for yourself is an important step towards making a life which you imagine. You must consider that you can do it and that you will succeed. Napoleon Hill has said it precisely it takes a person’s half lifetime to discover the objectives of his life. A lot of the decisions you make and things you do depend upon you; so arm yourself with faith in yourself.

Do you know that for Newton the world of science was by no means the whole of life? He spent more time on theology than on science; indeed, he wrote about 1.3 million words on biblical subjects. Yet this vast legacy lay hidden from public view for two centuries until the auction of his nonscientific writings in 1936.

It’s only your faith in the God and yourself which helps you in worst times in your life. I have read this little story somewhere which I am sharing with you all. Read on:  One rainy night, at 11:30 p.m an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway
trying hard to tolerate a lashing rain storm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car. A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled days of racism in 1960’s.  The man
took her to shelter, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab.
She seemed to be in a big hurry, but she took down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the white man’s door.   To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A special note was attached. It read: “Thank you so much for assisting me on the Alabama highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. I wanted to rush home to meet my dying husband. Your timely help enabled me to make it to my dying husband’s’ bedside just before he passed away……………………God Bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others; sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole.”

That’s the charm of having faith. God sends somebody to help you because he can’t let down your faith in Him. How important is faith? It takes faith to believe that what God always supports your right deeds. He holds you in tough times. Your faith helps you trust and walk each and every day. Whatever faith you have inside of you will determine the outcome of all your deeds. Many people mistakenly identify faith with religion, but faith predates religion. Faith is intangible…………..it’s abstract and subjective. Everyone has their own measuring sticks as to what information is credible and worthy of trust.

These lines of Thomas Aquinas superbly explain what faith is: “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible”.

Man’s needs are never fulfilled and he is never satisfied. When deficit need more or less gets satisfied, it will go away, and man gets engaged in activities towards meeting the next set of needs that are yet to be satisfied. These then become most important needs. However, growth needs continue to be felt and may even become stronger once they have been engaged. For the attainment of lasting harmony, a person must successfully complete all the lessons of human development. The fact is man is trapped in the “need cycle”.

The fundamental needs of human are physiological needs: hunger, sleep, thirst, and sex; then comes safety needs: clothes and shelter. After safety need comes social needs: affiliation, belonging, connection in society because man is a social animal. Self-esteem reflects an individual’s overall subjective emotional evaluation of his or her own worth. It is the decision made by an individual as an attitude towards the self. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself. And, lastly the zenith of one’s life is self actualization – the insight of fulfilment of life. So, a man is always on run to fulfil his physical, security, love and friendship and esteems needs. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory suggests that the most basic level of needs must be met before the individual will strongly desire on fulfilling the secondary or higher level needs.

Maturity comes only when a person goes through all stages of lifecycle and one faces all good and bad situations in each stage.  People whom we feel have a high level of maturity  possess a breadth of life experience. It does not depend on age alone it depends on experience along with reflection. When reflection happens simultaneously while experiencing something, it enriches the experience. The longer you wait to reflect on an experience, the less valuable the reflection becomes.

The pyramid always symbolises bigger consciousness of strength and energy. At the spiritual level the pyramid is a symbol for the integration of self-and soul. The base of the pyramid stands for the body, the sides show the spiritual endeavours and the top point symbolises the harmonious union of the human with the God. In all of us, there are two aspects. There is our real inner, divine self and there is also the body and intellect which gives us a separate egoist entity. With practice of spirituality, we realise that we cannot limit ourselves to the body and intellect, but merge with the Universal Consciousness.

What makes a pyramid so powerful is its ability to channel or collect energy from the higher realms of the stars, the planets and the Universe and deliver it down to earth. The bottom of the pyramid stands for a firm, earthy foundation, whereas the pointed top represents being able to reach into higher area of consciousness.

All of us are capable to move up the hierarchy toward a level of self-actualization. Unfortunately, many get bogged down and disrupted by failures to meet lower level needs. We get all sorts of experiences including divorce, loss of a job, illness, getting cheated, loss of money and many other problems which can cause fluctuation between levels of the hierarchy. Therefore, not everyone will move through the hierarchy in an identical or similar manner. Each individual moves back and forth between the different types of needs according to situations in his/her life.

Spirituality helps in broader sense; to embrace diverse modes to connect with reality beyond oneself, it makes one resourceful to tackle all ups and downs of life.  Despite of one’s belief or non-belief in God, there is power in recognizing the numerous ways in which one is connected to the fabric of life.  Through prayer, meditation, reflection, appreciation of the natural world, being helpful to others, or fostering deeper relationships with others, we are able to refill ourselves from sources of the environment, Mother Nature. Spirituality gives patience to pause, listen deeply, and notice the countless ways in which our bodies, minds and souls can be replenished, each moment of our lives.

Self actualization is a process which develops as one grows. People get jumbled between spirituality and self-actualization. Spiritually, self actualization is evolving into a knowing that brings one closer to an understanding of how to live in the world with a sense of wholeness and attaining the inner peace.

The world requires more and more individuals with higher spiritual Quotient (SQ) for making the planet a better place to live. SQ has several dimensions such as compassion, wholeness, and gratitude to name a few. People with a good SQ score can handle egos easily – both of self and others. Ego stems from our memories. It gets reinforced when we repeatedly embrace a particular thought for longer time. One of the key aspects of handling ego is to analyze the way in which our thoughts are organized because our ego is rooted deep into our thought process. Spiritual quotient is a measure that looks at a person’s spiritual intelligence. Spirituality helps in increasing the ability to be creative and insightful.

We forget the basic truth of life that to be born as a human being alone gives us a platform for attaining higher levels in realization. A long and healthy life is important for any individual. Ill-health can either halt one’s progress or, even if one succeeds, result in the ‘gifts’ of a heart disease, blood pressure or diabetes. A happy individual builds a happy family and society. Spiritual Quotient therefore is the ability of an individual to see his personal vision and the ensuing endeavor to achieve the same through the prism of the larger good to the society, bringing good health and happiness to him and the world at large.

IQ (Intelligence Quotient) is a measure of intelligence. If IQ is high, a person is good at studies, research and can achieve brainy accolades such as many degrees, higher degree and awards. You will find all premier educational institutions in world full of people with good IQ. In one way it reflects the thought process.

EQ (Emotional Quotient) deals with the core of a human being. It deals with feelings and emotions. EQ denotes a healthy mind to individuals with higher EQ score.

When organizations are blessed with accomplished leaders who are equally good in IQ, EQ and SQ such organizations sustain in challenging times also. Often we see that despite the very best efforts put in, results are unexpected and unfavorable. A leader who is very high in Spiritual Quotient will instead of brooding over failed attempt try to rectify mistakes with a very positive frame of mind.  He plugs the loopholes and ventures out ahead. It is important to note that to create a turnaround; leaders need immense strength and conviction. It is very easy to be very happy, content and triumphant when the going is good but it takes lot of efforts to be mentally balanced when the chips are down.

When leaders lose their cool surely their subordinates and followers also grope in dark.  If the foundation is strong then the building will not collapse, so also if a leader has an unwavering mind and is ready to face any situation with stoic courage then the entire team will also be motivated to give in their best during recession.

If anything is constant in world it is only change which can either be positive or negative. With change sometimes uncertainty comes. To deal with it organizations require a very competent strategist who is impervious by the results and is only concerned with giving the optimum output and is ever ready to face any adversity and move on with giant strides. A good leader recognizes that there are many things which are beyond his purview and cannot be predicted but can be only accepted with grace, humility and gratitude.

SQ gives the power of the unconditional surrender unto the Almighty. In my opinion it is a quality of true Karma Yogi whether he/she is a student, a parent, a scientist, a teacher, a corporate leader, a politician or a common man. There are great examples of people with high SQ:  Mahatma Gandhiji, Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam, Mr.Jamsetji Tata, founder father of one of the most prestigious and ethical Tata Group of Companies , Mr.Ghanshyam Das Birla, scientist Jagadishchandra Bose, Dr. Homi Bhabha and many more.  These great people possessed high SQ.

It is worth mentioning here that according to the recent Pew Research Centre, USA, report, one in five Americans identify themselves as “spiritual but not religious.” In other words, they have some feeling regarding something greater existing in the world, but they feel allergic to religious institutions. But, it is also worth recognizing that as we approach Passover and Easter, it’s important to remember that it is institutions and not abstract feelings that tie a community together and lead to meaningful change. Religion brings along with it institutional disillusionment. They act poky and dictatorial; they can both enable and shield wrongdoers. They frustrate our spiritual ideas and desires by asking us to submit to the will of others.

In a recent research work on SQ by Danah Zoher and Ian Marshal have mentioned in their book that while computers have IQ and animals can have EQ, it is essentially an SQ that sets human beings apart. Therefore, for happiness and satisfaction in the world, human beings must have balanced IQ, EQ and SQ which are equally developed. The journey from IQ to SQ is moving from gross to subtle, finite to infinite and from tangible to intangible.

It is important to integrate spirituality in our daily life in everything we do. It helps us both in our business and private life. To integrate spirituality in the daily life is somehow similar to wearing dress: we wear clothes and make sure that we are adequately dressed all day round and not just on some rare occasions. It is also like eating sufficient amount of food throughout the day. Likewise we should try to be connected with the spiritual world. It needs practice and patience to achieve spiritual strength. It requires a lot of training. Until and unless we set apart time in our daily busy schedule, we cannot begin our spiritual journey. We need to make a conscious effort. Spirituality brings depth in our approach and perspective towards leading a more meaningful life.

Spiritually high people understand that emotions, thoughts, and actions are not three different things. They are three different forms of the same energy. The emotions occur in the heart; the thoughts move in the mind. And these emotions and thoughts manifest through the body as actions. The emotions in the heart trigger as thoughts in the mind, and the same thoughts manifest through the body as actions. One can slap somebody with the hand or one can shake hand with somebody with the same hand. It all depends on us as to how we use our thought energy.

A thought is energy. And it creates its own world. It creates its own space and time. It creates its own world of thoughts and emotions. It creates a world of the mind. And this mind can be transformed into a creative mind. A moving thought is a space. A moving thought is time. A mind, therefore, is a space-time object. The mind is a space of moving thoughts. A moving mind creates an illusion of time.

Spirituality helps us to realize that we are part of a greater whole, and it helps us realize that we are not responsible for everything that happens in our life. We can share the burden of tough times as well as the joys of life’s blessings with persons around us. Spiritual individuals can cope better with stress and heal from illness or addiction faster.

Thirukkural – the brilliant Tamil literary work can be called the treasure house of worldly knowledge. It goes beyond any religion or creed.  The name Thirukkural is made of two words; “Thiru” means “holy” and “Kural” means “short verse.” This great work is the creation of Thiruvalluvar who was a Tamil poet and author. Through his work he analyzed the intricacies of human nature with pragmatic insights. Thiruvalluvar’s masterpiece is almost 2000 years old. All the Kurals (verses) have only 7 words and thus all the 1330 ThiruKurals fit within 140 characters. Who was Thiruvalluvar? Very little is known about him. It is said that he was a simple weaver who wrote the kurals with divine inspiration; how could a simple weaver write something so profound almost 2000 years ago? In those days education was reserved for the richer and nobler classes. While reading this book of short verses, you just cannot say that it is written by a layman. The verses touch upon core values for the human race. In true sense it is a road map for the essential, fundamental and everlasting aspects of human life.

The Thirukkural is arranged in 133 Adhikarams (chapters of themes) each with 10 couplets. The 133 Adhikarams are divided into three major groups known as “Aram”, “Porul” and “Inbam”. Aram represents Virtue; Porul describes the principles of life for common people as well as the State. The last section “Inbam” deals with features and quintessence of Love. The overall organization of Thirukkural is as follows, based on seven ideals prescribed for people followed by observations on Love.

• 40 couplets on God, Rain, Virtue and Ascetics.
• 200 couplets on Domestic Virtue.
• 140 couplets on Higher Virtue based on Grace.
• 250 couplets on Royalty.
• 100couplets on Ministers of State.
• 220 couplets on the Essential requirements of Administration. In fact these are very good lessons on management.
• 130 couples on Morality, both positive and negative.
• 250 couplets on human love, sex and fervor.

Thirukkural has been translated in as many as 35 global languages, including 27 foreign languages such as English, French, German, Japanese, Latin, Malay, Portuguese and Spanish and Chinese was the latest one. So far, 96 scholars have translated Thirukkural in English and the first was done by Rev. G.U. Pope. The book has also been translated into ‘Vaagriboli,’ the language of Narikuravas – the tribal community in Chennai.

Thirukkural talks about the three main facets of life; wisdom, wealth and love and the Tamil literature talks of a fourth aspect “veedu,” which refers to God, or nirvana. I think if one follows every “kural” (maxim), he/she will automatically reach nirvana “veedu.”

Take any topic in management; from planning, coordination, leading, communication, managing people, and selection of people, training, and development, personality; take anything and you find them in well written verses and well explained in Thirukkural. The poet Thiruvalluvar must have written them for kings and their ministers then. But, in today’s complex and fast forward world also they still give clear directions.

Thiruvalluvar has written brilliant verses on leadership; he mentions leadership as more of an attitude and a way of living and behaving. Leaders must inspire those around them by action and setting examples. It is about standing up for others and shielding them from harm. Leaders must be graceful. Today, when we imbibe West in all manners, we forget that our own literary classics have enormously rich material. It’s pitiable fact that we can’t draw relevance from them and relate them to needs and problems of the present. It seems Mahatma Gandhi learnt the concept of non-violence from a letter written to him by famous Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy who quoted couplets on non-violence from German translation of Thirukkural. The Father of the Nation had said that he came to know about Thirukkural first from Tolstoy!

Later, Mahatma Gandhi was inspired strongly by Thirukkural; he then inspired all sections of the society to fight for freedom from the foreign oppression through his deliberately chosen path of truth and non-violence. He provided inspiration to many oppressed nations in the world to fight against colonization and become free. He continues to inspire the world even today. Thus Thirukkural can be hailed as an eternal light which lightens up the world for over two thousand years. Mahatma Gandhi got the spark from Thirukkural, Martin Luther King, Martin Luther King jr., Nelson Mandela and many more leaders who fought against oppression and dictatorship adhering to a non-violent way followed Mahatma Gandhi. In fact Gndhiji used preach many couplets from Thirukkural in his speech. Truth and Non-violence can never be underestimated.   These two paramount practices can only control terrorism and religious fundamentalism which are the main cause of unrest in many parts of the world. It’s a pity that mass-murder and sabotage are destroying mankind and destabilizing many nations.

In the subjects of Political Science, Management and Public administration, Thiruvalluvar seems supreme in his presentation and humanistic approach than many of his contemporaries. Recently, on 16^th Jan 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a Gujarati translation of Thirukkural. I conclude my article with one of my favorite couplet  “Just as the hand rushes involuntarily to protect one’s honor in case of accidental state of undress, so does a friend come to his friend’s aid without being asked”