My Perspective

The "happy birthday" song that we sing on someone's birthday is quite prosaic, dull, and repetitive to say the least. Maybe it it so because it addresses the lowest common denominator i.e. children who are yet to learn a language fully. If so then it is not for the adults to also sing the same song. Here is a meaningful birthday song in Sanskrit with its meaning. Song in Sanskrit: अयि प्रिय सखे जन्मदिनमिदम् । प्रार्थयामहे भव शतायुषी ॥ १ ॥ पुण्य कर्मणा कीर्तिमार्जय । जीवनम् तव भवतु सार्थकम् ॥  २  ॥ Transliteration of the poem: ayi priya sakhē janmadinamidaṃ । prārthayāmahē bhava śatāyuṣī ॥ 1 ॥ puṇya karmaṇā kīrtimarjaya । jīvanaṃ tava bhavatu sārthakam ॥ 2 ॥ Translation in English: Oh dear friend, today is your birthday; We all pray for your long life. By noble deeds may you attain fame; May your life be meaningful. Credits : [x] Original Birthday Song in Sanskrit by Swami Tejomayanandaji Link -  https://www.chinmayajyoti.org/documents/birthdaysong.pdf  

Here is the basic tenet of Hinduism: Irrespective of our nationality, race, ethnicity, caste, creed, we (the entire world) belong to one big family. If one believes in this philosophy then it does matter which country's citizenship they have, they are a part of this big family.  Such a mindset enables us as a species to tackle global problems like climate change. Previously such an approach has been shown to work for instance when the world came together to tackle ozone layer depletion due to CFCs. So let us embrace this philosophy in its entirety. Sanskrit Shloka (couplet) : अयं निजः परो वेति गणना लघुचेतसाम्। उदारचरितानां तु वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम्॥ Transliteration : ayaṃ nijaḥ paro veti gaṇanā laghucetasām। udāracaritānāṃ tu vasudhaiva kuṭumbakam॥ English translation : This is mine, that is his, say the small minded, The wise believe that the entire world is one family. Kannada translation : ಇದು ನನ್ನದು, ಅದು ಬೇರೆಯವರದ್ದು, ಇಂತಹ ಯೋಚನೆ ಸಣ್ಣ ಮನಸ್ಸಿನವರು ಮಾಡುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಉನ್ನತ ಸ್ವಭಾವದ ಜನರು ಇಡೀ...

Today is the last day of your past and the first day of your future. Today is the oldest you have ever been but the youngest you will ever be. Today is the day of resolution. Today is the beginning of a new tomorrow.

In March of 1996, my father gifted me something special for my birthday. He bought me Dorling Kindersley's Science Encyclopaedia. And what followed is a series of transformations. My father was worried that my brother and I would seldom read it.