MONDAY MUSINGS SEASON 2 - EPISODE 344
15th December 2025
Austerities of the mind
Austerity of speech consists in speaking words that are truthful, pleasing, beneficial, and not agitating to others, and also in regularly reciting Vedic literature | Bhagavad Gita 17.15|
#BhagavadGita (and Manusmriti) advises us to speak only those things that are truthful and also beneficial, Satyam, Priyam api.
Thiruvalluvar has a slightly different idea. Thiruvalluvar believes that even untruth is acceptable if it is beneficial and free from fault.
பொய்மையும் வாய்மை யிடத்த புரைதீர்ந்த நன்மை பயக்கும் எனின். (Thirukkural 292)
Even falsehood is equivalent to truth if it confers a benefit that is free from fault.
Clean your speech
Like taking a bath regularly to clean the body, the speech and the mind should also be kept clean. Speaking sweet, pleasing and beneficial truth is like cleaning the speech,
Presenting now, how to keep the mind clean.
Mind is like a garden
मन:प्रसाद: सौम्यत्वं मौनमात्मविनिग्रह: । भावसंशुद्धिरित्येतत्तपो मानसमुच्यते ॥ Bhagavad Gita 17.16॥
Serenity of thought, gentleness, silence, self-control, and purity of purpose—all these are declared as austerity of the mind.
The mind may be likened to a land, which can either be cultivated into a beautiful and beneficial garden or allowed to become a dangerous wild bush. Gardeners cultivate their plots, growing fruits, flowers, and vegetables. At the same time, they ensure it remains free of weeds. Flowers would not bloom if weeds were allowed to grow. Similarly, we must develop our own mind with rich and noble thoughts while weeding out negative and debilitating ones. If we allow resentful, hateful, blaming, unforgiving, critical, and condemning thoughts to reside in our minds, they will have a debilitating effect on our personality. We can never achieve a fair amount of constructive action until we have learned to control it and keep it from being driven by anger, hatred, dislike, etc.
Thoughts are not secret
People imagine that their thoughts are secret and have no external consequences because they dwell in the mind, out of sight of others. They do not realize that thoughts not only forge their inner character but also their external personality.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said: “There is full confession in the glances of our eyes, in our smiles, in salutations, in the grasp of the hands. Our sin bedaubs us, mars all the good impressions”
Another famous and powerful saying linking thoughts to character, I used this many times, even in my book #GrandmaInTheBoardRoom.
“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”
It is essential to realise that we harm ourselves with every negative thought we harbour. At the same time, we uplift ourselves with every positive thought that we dwell upon.
#ThoughtsAreThings
Henry Van Dyke expressed this very vividly, in his poem #ThoughtsAreThings.”
I hold it true that thoughts are things; They're endowed with bodies and breath and wings; And that we send them forth to fill the world with good results, or ill.
That which we call our secret thought Speeds forth to earth's remotest spot, leaving its blessings or its woes Like tracks behind it as it goes.
We build our future thought by thought, for good or ill, yet know it not. Yet, so the universe was wrought. Thought is another name for fate; Choose, then, thy destiny and wait, for love brings love and hate brings hate.
- Henry Van Dyke
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#PositiveNewsPage
Adapted from www.newindianexpress.com
‘Golden Hour’ shield for hostellers in Konaseema
In government hostels across the state of Andhra Pradesh, emergencies such as falls, food poisoning, snake or scorpion bites, and accidental gas leaks often turn life-threatening within minutes.
Doctors call it ‘Golden Hour’ — the first hour in which a child must reach a hospital to survive. It is the inability to pay at private hospitals when every second counts, not the transport problem.
Konaseema district has now broken that cycle of helplessness. Under Collector Mahesh Kumar Ravirala, the district has launched the State’s first pilot project offering group health insurance to all hostel students, guaranteeing immediate treatment during emergencies. By February 2026, the initiative will complete one year, and already eight students have benefited from the scheme during critical situations.
The officials have brought BC and SC Welfare Residential Schools under the scheme, along with orphaned children covered by the ICDS project. In total, 8,384 students from 62 institutions now have Golden Hour protection. The premium - Rs 237 per student per year - is funded entirely through CSR contributions from industries, amounting to Rs 19.87 lakh annually.
The insurance, provided by ICICI Lombard, is renewed every year using CSR funds arranged by the authorities. The company has tied up with 25 network hospitals located near the schools and hostels. In an emergency, wardens or principals can rush a student to any of these hospitals and secure cashless treatment up to Rs 50,000. If treatment is received elsewhere, medical bills are reimbursed upon presentation of the student’s health card.
By ensuring that money is never a barrier in the first hour of an emergency, Konaseema is quietly setting a new benchmark for child welfare in the state — one that other districts may soon follow.
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Conceived, compiled and posted as a weekly positive newsletter #MondayMusings by Jaganathan T (www.authorjaganathan.com)
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