Auromere Meditation Center welcomes you!        Please feel free to write your Queries, Comments & Suggestions to auromeremeditationcenter@gmail.com Weekly Book Reading Programs at AuroMere Meditation Center on : Sep 29, Oct 6, Oct 13, Oct 20, Oct 27 .     (9-10 AM)   (All Sundays).          Next Second Satuday Pushpanjali on Sep 8, 2012           Daily Prayer Timings - 6.00 PM - 6.30 PM)      Next Prosperity Day Pushpanjali on Sep 1 , 2013             .       Audio and Video Version of the Weekly Book Reading program is available now!      

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Friday, August 30, 2013

Audio : நம்மிடம் உள்ள நிறைகளை உயர்த்துவதன் மூலம் நாம் பெறும் பலன்கள் என்ன?

Audio : Tamil : Book Reading Program on August 25, 2013



(Book Reading Program -August 4, 2013) 
Dear Sri Annai & Sri Aurobindo Devotees,

Greetings.
You can play / download the Online Audio - Tamil version of the Weekly Book Reading Program of this week presented by Ms. Janaki,  a volunteer from our center. AuroMere Meditation Center thanks all the volunteers for their contribution in our center activities.


Play any one the following audio Players or the link to listen to the Audio Version - Tamil
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Topic:


நம் பழக்கங்கள் அனைத்தும் நம் பெற்றோரிடம் இருந்து வந்தவைதான்.பெற்றோரிடம் இருந்து நமக்கு வந்துள்ள பழக்கங்களை உயர்த்துவதன் மூலம் நாம் பெறும் பலன்கள் என்ன?
   பெற்றோர் நிறைகளை மேலும் உயர்த்துதல், அன்னையின் அருளைப் பெறச் செய்யும்.  
பெற்றோரின் குறைகள் நம்மிடம் காணப்பட்டால் அவற்றை நீக்குவதன் முக்கியத்துவம்.



Book :Annai vazhangkum Aanmeegap parisu.
By Sri. Karmayogi Avl.


Next Book Reading Program : 

 - Sep 1, 2013 @ Auromere Meditation Center ( 9.00 - 10.00 AM) 



Thanks,
AuroMere Meditation Center (Sri Mother & Sri Aurobindo Center)
Pallikaranai,
Chennai.

Tags: Tamil, Audio, Sri Aurobindo. AuroMere Meditation Center, Pallikaranai, Chennai, Sri Mother, Annai, Audio Version, Book Reading, Online Audio, Mother, Mother's Consciousness, ஸ்ரீ அன்னை, அரவிந்தர், அன்னையின் கருத்துக்கள், ஆரோமெர் தியான மையம், பள்ளிக்கரணை சென்னை, திரு. கர்மயோகி, பாண்டிச்சேரி மதர் சர்வீஸ் சொஸைட்டி ,  Sri Mother & Aurobindo's Principles, Life Divine, Audio - Tamil, Audio : Tamil -அன்னை வழங்கும் மறுவாழ்வும் மறுமலர்ச்சியும் - திரு. கர்மயோகி அவர்கள் 

Savitri - 355


Daily Savitri - 355

Sri Aurobindo's Savitri


There is a truth to know, a work to do; 
Her play is real; a Mystery he fulfils: 
There is a plan in the Mother's deep world-whim, 
A purpose in her vast and random game. 
This ever she meant since the first dawn of life, 
This constant will she covered with her sport, 
To evoke a Person in the impersonal Void, 
With the Truth-Light strike earth's massive roots of trance, 
Wake a dumb self in the inconscient depths 
 
 

- Savitri by Sri Aurobindo, Book I - The Book of Beginnings - Canto IV - The Secret Knowledge,
 Page  71


How to read Savitri?

It does not matter if you do not understand it ? Savitri, read it always.  You will see that every time you read it, something new will be revealed to you. Each time you will get a new glimpse, each time a new experience; things which were not there, things you did not understand arise and suddenly become clear. Always an unexpected vision comes up through the words and lines. Every time you try to read and understand, you will see that something is added, something which was hidden behind is revealed clearly and vividly. I tell you the very verses you have read once before, will appear to you in a different light each time you re-read them. This is what of happens invariably. Always your experience is enriched, it is a revelation at each step. But you must not read it as you read other books or newspapers. You must read with an empty head, a blank and vacant mind, without there being any other thought; you must concentrate much, remain empty, calm and open; then the words, rhythms, vibrations will penetrate directly to this white page, will put their stamp upon the brain, will explain themselves without your making any effort.


- The Mother

Thanks,
AuroMere Meditation Center,
Chennai.

Tags: Sri Aurobindo, Aravindar, Savitri, Daily Savitri, Series, The Mother Aurobindo

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Savitri - 354


Daily Savitri - 354

Sri Aurobindo's Savitri


As long as Nature lasts, he too is there, 
For this is sure that he and she are one; 
Even when he sleeps, he keeps her on his breast: 
Whoever leaves her, he will not depart 
To repose without her in the Unknowable.  
 
 

- Savitri by Sri Aurobindo, Book I - The Book of Beginnings - Canto IV - The Secret Knowledge,
 Page  71


How to read Savitri?

It does not matter if you do not understand it ? Savitri, read it always.  You will see that every time you read it, something new will be revealed to you. Each time you will get a new glimpse, each time a new experience; things which were not there, things you did not understand arise and suddenly become clear. Always an unexpected vision comes up through the words and lines. Every time you try to read and understand, you will see that something is added, something which was hidden behind is revealed clearly and vividly. I tell you the very verses you have read once before, will appear to you in a different light each time you re-read them. This is what of happens invariably. Always your experience is enriched, it is a revelation at each step. But you must not read it as you read other books or newspapers. You must read with an empty head, a blank and vacant mind, without there being any other thought; you must concentrate much, remain empty, calm and open; then the words, rhythms, vibrations will penetrate directly to this white page, will put their stamp upon the brain, will explain themselves without your making any effort.


- The Mother

Thanks,
AuroMere Meditation Center,
Chennai.

Tags: Sri Aurobindo, Aravindar, Savitri, Daily Savitri, Series, The Mother Aurobindo

Opportunities for Full Employment 

- An Article from MSS, Pondicherry.

Rapid evolution of the global economy presents new opportunities and new challenges to the achievement of full employment. Social organization is intended to foster the livelihood and development of its members, but the social organization that was adequate or effective in an earlier period has not evolved quickly enough to keep pace with the dramatic changes that are occurring in society today. Unemployment is one result.

Trade, technology and competition from low wage countries are often cited as explanations for rising levels of unemployment, but these factors are hardly new to the world economy, nor in balance are their impacts detrimental to global full employment. During the past century the US economy has been one of the most open. Even a hundred years ago average wage levels in America were already 10 times higher than in Europe. These rising wages have fueled an ever-increasing demand for goods and services, which has spurred creation of ever more jobs. No other country has so readily and fully embraced new technologies, yet over the past century employment in the US has grown more than four fold, because the social organization has remained sufficiently adaptive and responsive to the required changes.

Employment generation is a natural process of social development. Human beings bring with them into the world an array of needs that present employment opportunities for others to meet. Were it not so, the world could not have sustained a more than tripling of population over the past century. Yet, the actual process of employment generation remains largely unperceived except in the organized sectors of economy. India, for example, is adding more than seven million new workers to the labour force each year with little or no perceptible increase in unemployment rates, yet the nature and type of jobs being created is difficult to measure and very poorly understood since 92% of total employment is in the informal or unorganized sector. An understanding of this natural process and the jobs it is creating is essential for bridging the gap between supply and demand for employment.

Rapid evolution of global society has opened up vast opportunities to expand and raise the quality of employment opportunities while presenting challenges to existing social structures. This evolution is spurred by a multitude of factors interacting with one another in complex ways:

1. Population: Demographic shifts in both industrialized and developing countries are dramatically altering the global labor pool. The flattening of population growth and aging of population in the West has slowed growth of the labor force and is expected to generate a severe shortage of workers in coming years. Continued growth of global population means rising demand for goods and services among high growth populations. Growing numbers of retired workers means greater demand for services by the aged coupled with a lower proportion of workers to contribute to social welfare programs to support them.

2. Social Aspirations: Rising expectations, which is the fuel for all human development, is altering the pattern of employment globally. Rising aspirations among youth and the middle class are shifting the pattern of employment from agriculture and manual labor to industry and white-collar jobs in developing countries and from manufacturing to service jobs in the industrialized countries. India is experiencing an increasing scarcity of farm workers in more prosperous rural areas, while manufacturers in the USA find it increasingly difficult to entice the young into blue-collar work on the factory floor. Rising expectations in developing countries are spurring the young to greater enterprise and unleashing an unprecedented appetite for consumption at the very same time that the achievement of stable prosperity and social security in many industrialized nations has generated a greater sense of satisfaction and complacency among those whose forefathers struggled for economic survival. Rising demand for education, medical care, tourism and entertainment is spawning new jobs everywhere. A huge deficit in technical manpower in the West is being increasingly met by import of manpower or export of jobs because too few Western youth are opting for the rigors of engineering and hard sciences. The apparent change in employment markets mirrors a subtle but significant change in social attitudes.

3. Globalization: Globalization of markets has resulted in rapid expansion of international trade and a shifting of jobs to lower cost countries and closer to end user markets. In combination these factors have increased employment opportunities in some sectors for most countries and reduced job opportunities in others. Since its entry into the European Community 30 years ago, Ireland has risen from being the poor man of Europe to the second highest in per capita GDP as a result of this movement. Economic growth associated with rising levels of employment has spurred consumer demand and stimulated further job growth both nationally and internationally, as dramatically illustrated by China over the past few decades. For example, an American manufacturer who is struggling to attract new skilled workers is simultaneously pressurized to expand production by the increase in oil drilling activity in Asia. Localization of production has also resulted in the shifting of production from home country to the place where they are consumed. This process works in both directions. Companies such as Honda, BMW, Skoda and Ford are setting up or expanding production facilities in India, while Korean Hyundai and Samsung and India’s Infosys and Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals are expanding their manufacturing operations in Europe and North America.

4. Technology: Technology creates jobs and it destroys jobs, but overall it creates many more jobs than it destroys and creates better quality jobs than those it displaces. Much of its positive contribution remains unperceived because it permeate the entire society, the way computers and telecommunication technologies are increasing the number and speed of human interactions in every field, which is a signal characteristic of social development. Advances in Information Technology are creating the first truly global work place in which work is no longer bound to a specific location. This has stimulated rapid growth of employment opportunities in some sectors and a shifting of jobs to non-local workers in others. While large scale export of jobs was previously restricted to manufacturing, it is now taking place in a range of service industries as well. Greater global access to information is stimulating new job opportunities and eroding traditional monopolies. For the past decade, the US economy, for example, has been increasingly unable to meet the skyrocketing demand for IT professionals. After initially resorting to large scale of import of qualified manpower, American firms are increasingly creating new jobs overseas. IBM is now the largest employer of software engineers in India. Technology is also spurring a rapid expansion of Internet-based self-employment opportunities as well as a shift of work from workplace to home.

5. Organization: Organizational changes resulting from the globalization of production, supply chain management and service delivery, exemplified by the trend toward outsourcing, have opened up new employment opportunities for college educated and technically trained manpower. While concern has been raised about loss of jobs in high wage industrialized countries, much of the outsourcing represents creation of new job opportunities as a result of expanded activities or is spurred by a shortage of qualified in the country of origin. Oxford University Press is typesetting more than 2000 books a year in Pondicherry, South India, from where many of them are sent for printing in China and distribution around the world. Self-help groups and micro-finance (which have expanded coverage 10 fold in less than a decade), contract farming, credit cards, distance-learning, global R&D and product design, tele-medicine, e-governance, global supply chain management, e-commerce, business and knowledge process outsourcing, and blogs illustrate the range and plethora of organizational innovations that are multiplying transactions between people and transforming the way we carry out work.

6. Skills: Human resource development is dramatically elevating the education levels, vocational skills and competence of the global workforce. Yet at the same time the increasing demand for more educated, skilled and technically qualified workers is expanding the gap and mismatch between the capacities of the workforce and the needs of society. A shortage of job opportunities coexists alongside an increasing shortage of employable skills. A recent World Bank study confirms that the skills shortage prevails in developing countries as well. Vocational training systems in many countries remain grossly inadequate to equip new workers with requisite skills. In India, for example, only 5% of the workforce has undergone formal vocational training as compared to 95% in South Korea. In addition, outmoded perceptions, attitudes and curriculum focus on traditional forms of salaried employment which are in short supply, while expanding opportunities for self-employment opportunities remain largely ignored. The failure of educational and training systems to rapidly respond to changing social needs and attitudes has aggravated the mismatch, resulting in high levels of unemployment among educated youth.

All these factors combine and interact in complex ways to influence both the demand for qualified workers and the access to gainful employment opportunities. For instance, technological advances that facilitate outsourcing of service jobs are also increasing self-employment opportunities, stimulating economic growth and import demand, and providing new platforms for the delivery of quality education and vocational training to more people at lower cost. Even soaring cost of petroleum can have salutary effects on employment. A plan has been developed for generating tens of millions of new rural employment opportunities in India by producing renewable bio-mass power and bio-fuel energy sources from agriculture.

These factors present challenges and problems for job seekers in societies which have been slow to adapt to emerging trends. They open up unprecedented opportunities for those who perceive and respond to the dynamics of change. These factors are not limited to economics. They encompass the entire gamut of social, technological, educational and political development issues. Therefore, an effective response to these emerging trends cannot be confined to economic policy or any other single field of activity. In essence, global society is undergoing rapid evolution and the structures of that society are not adapting rapidly enough to fully meet its needs or avail of the opportunities it presents.

Countries are responding to this process in myriad ways, including changing laws and social policies, reducing barriers to trade and labor movement, geographically expanding and altering the structure of enterprises, investing to develop the telecommunications infrastructure, expanding and altering educational systems, adapting technology to change the nature of work, the methods by which it is carried out and the ways it which products and services are delivered.

Under conditions in which society expects each individual to provide for their own livelihood, there is irrefutable logic to the argument that employment must be recognized as a fundamental human right. This reasoning has already prompted India, the world’s second most populous nation, to recently pass legislation guaranteeing the right to employment and calling for public initiatives to enforce that right.

A comprehensive solution to the employment challenge necessitates a better understanding of the social development process and the process of employment generation which is one of its natural functions. Social organization is the determinant of employment generation. The key lies in better understanding, better design and faster development of that organization to keep pace with global change. Given the requisite knowledge and commitment, global full employment is an achievable goal.

The objective of this project is to identify effective policies and strategies by which countries around the world can respond proactively and constructively to the emerging opportunities and challenges of employment in a global society.

Source: http://www.motherservice.org

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Sri Aurobindo's New World - Sri Karmayogi Avarkal

    What Sri Aurobindo offers to the world is a New World free of death, suffering, karma, etc. It is attained by Man rising from mind to Supermind. Sri Aurobindo says that the change arrives by a reversal of consciousness. The hunter became a cultivator producing his own food grains. He is now producing in a vast greater abundance what Nature was so far producing. It is an advance. He reverses his role from gathering what Nature offered to producing it himself. Man, by long experience, became a leader. He led others physically. Man discovered education. What leadership he attained at a ripe old age by experience, he acquired early in life by training and education. He gives himself what life was giving him so far. It is another reversal. Man produced goods, sold them for money and bought with that money other things. Later he invented credit. One got money without producing any goods. It is one more reversal of another type. Man produced anything for his own consumption. Later he devised trade. He now produced for sales. It is another reversal.

  • Man continually progresses.
  • Vertical progress occurs by a reversals.
  • There is no progress without a reversal.
  • The history of human progress is a history of a chain of reversals. Mother laughs at this phrase.
  • So far, Man reversed from physical to vital and from vital to the mental. The result is the present civilisation.
  • In the first, Man relived himself from physical drudgery and protected himself from physical dangers.
  • In the second, he fashioned new institutions of trade, money, education, politics, etc. and endlessly extended the scope of human life and created unheard of new comforts and facilities. The two most important advances are education and language apart from money.
  • The next reversal gave him his Mind. Now came science and all its wonders. Newer conquests were the order of the day as well as newer inventions. What remains to be conquered is death and evil. All the rest is being overcome in some substantial measure.
  • Sri Aurobindo offers the reversal of Spiritual consciousness. This conquers death and suffering apart from abolishing ALL problems of humanity so far left unconquered. This dissolves Evil by dissolving ego. Life is taken to a dimension of higher consciousness, and a new species, the Supramental Being will be born.

Savitri - 353


Daily Savitri - 353

Sri Aurobindo's Savitri


A power is on him from her occult force 
That ties him to his own creation's fate, 
And never can the mighty Traveller rest 
And never can the mystic voyage cease 
Till the nescient dusk is lifted from man's soul 
And the morns of God have overtaken his night. 
 
 

- Savitri by Sri Aurobindo, Book I - The Book of Beginnings - Canto IV - The Secret Knowledge,
 Page  71


How to read Savitri?

It does not matter if you do not understand it ? Savitri, read it always.  You will see that every time you read it, something new will be revealed to you. Each time you will get a new glimpse, each time a new experience; things which were not there, things you did not understand arise and suddenly become clear. Always an unexpected vision comes up through the words and lines. Every time you try to read and understand, you will see that something is added, something which was hidden behind is revealed clearly and vividly. I tell you the very verses you have read once before, will appear to you in a different light each time you re-read them. This is what of happens invariably. Always your experience is enriched, it is a revelation at each step. But you must not read it as you read other books or newspapers. You must read with an empty head, a blank and vacant mind, without there being any other thought; you must concentrate much, remain empty, calm and open; then the words, rhythms, vibrations will penetrate directly to this white page, will put their stamp upon the brain, will explain themselves without your making any effort.


- The Mother

Thanks,
AuroMere Meditation Center,
Chennai.

Tags: Sri Aurobindo, Aravindar, Savitri, Daily Savitri, Series, The Mother Aurobindo

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Will - Article by Sri. Karmayogi Avarkal

Will - The executive force of thought.

Man thinks. It is thought. Thought understands. It is done by observation. The senses observe and feed the mind with data. Mind is capable of seeing, hearing, smelling, etc. without the aid of senses. It happens when the yogi withdraws from all his senses. He then sees directly by his mind without the aid of his eyes. Mental understanding accrues knowledge. It has no capacity to act. What acts is the will. Mind has a consciousness, which divides into knowledge and will. Here we define will. Will is the force of consciousness, not its light. Man acts by his will i.e. his mind, choosing to act, instructs the body through the vital which energizes the body to execute the orders of the mind. If one is observant, when he wants to get up from his chair, his mind thinks to get up. It can be seen as a thought forming itself in the mind. One, who is capable of subtle observation, can see that thought rising in the subtle plane of the mind. Then the body shows initial movement energized by the vital. This is a simple act and its execution. The will rises in the mind as decision in the consciousness and becomes determination in the mental substance. There is mind in the body and the vital. It is only a further sub-division of the Mind proper.


  • Will is energy directed into force.
  • It acts according to the knowledge of the mind.
  • Will itself has its own knowledge. It is partial.
  • The greater the will absorbs knowledge, the more it is integrated with knowledge.
  • At the point of full integration the idea of the human mind, becomes the Real- Idea of the Supermind, which is capable of self-effectuation.
  • Will is energy organized by the mind for action.
  • Will is the force part of the consciousness.
  • Of the four parts of Sachchidananda - Existence, Consciousness, Force, Ananda -Will is the third.
  • The will of the consciousness is divine Will.
  • It becomes human will when it descends from conscious into the human mind.
  • The heroes of action are heroic by their will.
  • The body and the vital too have their own will.
  • Shivaji or Napoleon had attained the fame of great warriors as they had unconquerable will.
  • Will is ever-present in human life as we see that every man is constantly looking for an opportunity to assert himself.
  • In the married life it is the asserting will that spoils the charm of it.

Savitri - 352


Daily Savitri - 352

Sri Aurobindo's Savitri


Across the salt waste of the endless years 
Her ocean winds impel his errant boat, 
The cosmic waters plashing as he goes, 
A rumour around him and danger and a call. 
Always he follows in her force's wake. 
He sails through life and death and other life, 
He travels on through waking and through sleep. 
 
 

- Savitri by Sri Aurobindo, Book I - The Book of Beginnings - Canto IV - The Secret Knowledge,
 Page  71


How to read Savitri?

It does not matter if you do not understand it ? Savitri, read it always.  You will see that every time you read it, something new will be revealed to you. Each time you will get a new glimpse, each time a new experience; things which were not there, things you did not understand arise and suddenly become clear. Always an unexpected vision comes up through the words and lines. Every time you try to read and understand, you will see that something is added, something which was hidden behind is revealed clearly and vividly. I tell you the very verses you have read once before, will appear to you in a different light each time you re-read them. This is what of happens invariably. Always your experience is enriched, it is a revelation at each step. But you must not read it as you read other books or newspapers. You must read with an empty head, a blank and vacant mind, without there being any other thought; you must concentrate much, remain empty, calm and open; then the words, rhythms, vibrations will penetrate directly to this white page, will put their stamp upon the brain, will explain themselves without your making any effort.


- The Mother

Thanks,
AuroMere Meditation Center,
Chennai.

Tags: Sri Aurobindo, Aravindar, Savitri, Daily Savitri, Series, The Mother Aurobindo

Monday, August 26, 2013

அன்னை முறைகளின் படி தொழிலில் முன்னேற்றம் அடைவது எப்படி?

மதர்ஸ் சர்வீஸ் சொஸைட்டி தொழில் நுணுக்கங்களை ஆராய்ந்து 3 புத்தகங்கள் எழுதக் காரணமாயிருந்தது. இப்புத்தகங்கள் அமெரிக்காவில் பிரசுரமாகியுள்ளன. மூன்றாவதாக வெளியிடப்பட்ட புத்தகத்தை Garry Jacobs உம் Robert Macfarlane உம் சேர்ந்து எழுதியுள்ளார்கள். இலாபத்தை இரட்டிப்பது எப்படி, தொழிலை இருமடங்காக்குவது எவ்விதம் என்பதே புத்தகத்தின் முக்கிய கருத்துகள். Vital Corporation என்பது புத்தகத்தின் பெயர்.

அப்புத்தகத்திலிருந்து சில பகுதிகள்.....


மூலதனத்தின் அம்சங்கள், அது நம்மை நாடிவர நாம்செய்யக்கூடியது, அம்முறைகளின் சிறப்பு ஆகியவற்றை விளக்கும் முயற்சியே இக் கட்டுரை. 

விரயத்தை விலக்க வேண்டும்

பத்து ரூபாய்க்கு வாங்க கூடிய பொருளைப் பதினொரு ரூபாய்க்கு வாங்கினால் அது பெரிய நஷ்டமாகாது. ஆனால், தொழிலில் அப்பொருள் தினமும் 1000 பயன்பட்டால் நஷ்டம் ஒரு ரூபாயில்லை. ஆயிரம் ரூபாய்; வருஷத்தில் 3 லட்சம் ரூபாய் நஷ்டமாகும். அது சரிவாராது. பத்து ரூபாய்க்கு விற்கும் பொருளை எந்த முதலாளியும் பதினோரு ரூபாய்க்கு வாங்கமாட்டார். அத்துடன் மொத்தமாக வாங்குவதால் 8½ ரூபாய்க்கு பேரம் பேசி வாங்குவார். இதில் எவரும் தவறு செய்வதில்லை. ஆனால் எந்தத் தொழிற்சாலையிலும் 10,000 ரூபாய் சரக்கு பல காரணங்களால் பல மாதம் பயன்படாமலிருப்பதுண்டு. அது இருப்பது தெரியாமல் மேலும் ஒரு 10,000 ரூபாய் சரக்கு வாங்குவதுமுண்டு. அதுபோன்ற விரயங்கள் அநேகம். ஒரு ஸ்தாபனத்தில், ஆரம்பித்த 6 மாதத்தில் 18 லட்சம் செலாவணியாகியிருந்தது. அவர்கள் எலக்டிரிக் பில் 5½ லட்சம் கட்டியிருக்கிறார்கள். அங்குள்ள எலக்டிரிக் பொருள்கள் எல்லாம் 24 மணி நேரம் செயல்பட்டாலும் 12 லட்சமே மொத்த பில்லாக இருக்கும். இதை யாரும் கவனிக்கவில்லை. ஒரு வீட்டில் போன் பில் 75,000 ரூபாய் ஆயிற்று. கேட்க, நம்பமுடியாத விஷயமாக இருக்கிறது. உச்சகட்ட உதாரணங்கள் இவை. நம் ஸ்தாபனத்தில் எலக்ட்ரிக் பில் 15,000 வரவேண்டும். அது 15,500 ரூபாயாக இருந்தால் அதைக் கவனித்து விலக்குவது அவசியம். அதுவே பணத்திற்கு நாம் செலுத்தும் கவனம். நாம் எப்பொருளைக் கவனிக்கின்றோமோ, அப்பொருள் நம்மை நாடி வரும் என்பதுகொள்கை. 30 வருஷமாக அனுபவத்தில் கண்ட உண்மை.

கணக்கு எழுதுவது

நாள் தவறாமல் கணக்கு எழுதுவதாலும், பிழையில்லாமல் எழுதுவதாலும் நாம் செய்த செலவுக்கு நம் கவனத்தைச் செலுத்துவதாகும். கணக்கு எழுத பாக்கியிருந்தால், அதை எழுதி முடித்தவுடன் பல திசைகளிலிருந்தும் பணம் வருவதைக் காணலாம். கணக்கைத் தவறாமல் எழுதும் தொழிலில் பணத்தட்டுப்பாடு இல்லை என்பதைக் காணலாம்.

நாம் செய்யும் தொழிலில் 10 பாகங்களிருந்தால், எதனால் லாபம் வருகிறது, எங்கு நஷ்டம் ஏற்படுகிறது என்று விளக்கமாகப் புரியுமாறு கணக்கை எழுதுவது மேலும் சிறப்பு.

Zazanias

ஸஸானியாஸ் என்பவர் தம் வியாபாரத்தை 10 கோடியிலிருந்து 18 கோடிக்கு உயர்த்தினார். திவாலாகப் போனவர் கடை ஒன்றை வாங்கினார். தம் தொழிலில் பயன்படுத்திய முறைகளை இங்கும் கடைப்பிடித்தார். வாடகை, எலக்டிரிக் பில், சம்பளம், சரக்கு விலை, ஸ்பேர் செலவு, பயணச் செலவு போன்ற தொழிலின் செலவுகளைப் பட்டியலாக எழுதி அவை மொத்த வியாபாரத்தில் எத்தனை சதவீதம் என்று கணக்கிடுவது அவர் பழக்கம். 15 ஆண்டு தொழிலில் ஒவ்வொரு செலவும் மொத்தத்தில் எத்தனை சதவீதத்திற்குள் இருக்க வேண்டும் என்று அவர் கணக்கிட்டிருந்தார். அவற்றுள் எலக்டிரிக் பில் 2½% என்பது அவரது புள்ளி. திவாலான கடையில் அது 6% ஆக இருந்தது. அதைப் பார்த்தவுடன் அவருக்கு அங்குக் கோளாறு என்பது புரிந்தது. அத்துடன் அதே கோளாறு மற்ற இடங்களிலுமிருக்கும் என்று நினைத்து அக்கடையை வாங்கி, கோளாற்றை விலக்கினால் இலாபம் என்று கணக்கிட்டார். முதலில் எலக்டிரிக் பில்லை 2½% க்குக் கொண்டு வர பெருமுயற்சி செய்தார். அதில் வெற்றி பெற்றவுடன், மற்ற அம்சங்களையும் தம் திட்டப்படிக் கட்டுப்பாட்டுக்குள் கொணர்ந்தார். ஓரிரு மாதங்களில் கடை இலாபகரமாக மாறிவிட்டது.

ஒவ்வொரு செலவுக்கும் உரிய பங்கை நிர்ணயித்தால் பணம் விரயமாகாது. அது நாம் பணத்திற்கு உரிய கவனம் செலுத்துவதாகும்.

சுத்தம்

அன்னை பக்தர்களுக்குச் சுத்தத்தின் முக்கியத்துவம் தெரியும். தொழில் செய்யும் பக்தர்கள், பணத்தட்டுப்பாடு ஏற்பட்டவுடன் சுத்தத்தை மேற்கொள்வது வழக்கம். சுத்தம் முடிந்தவுடன் பணம் வருவதைக் காணலாம்.

தரையை மட்டும் பெருக்கும் சுத்தம் முதல் நிலை. பொருள்களைத் துடைத்து வைக்கும் சுத்தம் அடுத்த நிலை. பொருள்கள் உள்ள அலமாரியில் சுத்தத்தை ஏற்படுத்துவது அடுத்த நிலை. அது போல் சுத்தத்திற்கு 6 அல்லது 7 நிலைகளைக் குறித்து நம் தொழில் எந்த நிலையிலிருக்கின்றதோ அதிலிருந்து அடுத்த நிலைக்குச் சுத்தத்தை உயர்த்த வேண்டும்.

பழைய பாக்கியைத் திருப்பித் தருவது

பழைய பாக்கியைத் தருவது அவசியம். பிறருடைய பணம் நம்மிடம் பாக்கியாக இருக்கும் வரை, நமக்கு வர வேண்டியது வாராது. எவ்வளவு சிறு தொகையானாலும் எவ்வளவு நாள்பட்டதாக இருந்தாலும், பழைய கடனை அறவே அழிக்கவேண்டும்.

சேர வேண்டியதை வசூல் செய்யவேண்டும்

பாக்கியைத் தருவது போல், நமக்குச் சேரவேண்டியது பிறரிடம் நாள் கடந்து தங்கியிருந்தால், அதனால் மற்ற தொகைகள் நிலுவையாகும். நிதானமாக, முறையோடு, வாடிக்கைக்காரர்களுக்குச் சலிப்பு ஏற்படாத முறையில் நமக்குரியதை தவறாமல் வசூலிக்க எல்லா முயற்சிகளையும் எடுக்க வேண்டும். சிறு தொகை என, பாராமுகமாக இருக்கக்கூடாது.

சிப்பந்திகளுக்குச் சம்பளம்

சம்பளம் நாள் தவறாமல், தாமதமில்லாமல் கொடுக்கப்படவேண்டும். அதற்குரிய முயற்சியைச் சிரமப்பட்டு எடுத்த நிறுவனம், தங்கள் பணத்தட்டுப்பாடு 90% விலகியதைக் கண்டனர்.

Payables

நாம் கொடுக்க வேண்டியவற்றைத் தாமதமின்றிக் கொடுக்கவேண்டும்.

பணம் இல்லாமல் தாமதமாவது வேறு. 30 நாள் தவணைக்கு வாங்கிய தொகை 25ஆம் நாள் கிடைத்து விட்டால், 30ஆம் நாளன்று செலுத்துவது வழக்கம், அதற்குப் பதிலாக கிடைத்த அன்றே செலுத்துவது நல்லது.

கடன் வாங்குவது தவறு என்ற கொள்கையுடையவர்களுண்டு. அது தனிப்பட்ட விஷயம். இது தொழிலுக்குப் பொருந்தாது. 6 இலட்ச ரூபாய் செலாவணியுள்ளவர் பாங்கில் 60,000 ரூபாய் கடன் வாங்கியிருக்கிறார். அவரது மூலதனம் 1 இலட்சம். மேலும் கடன் பெற அபிப்பிராயம் உண்டு. ஆனால் வழி புரியவில்லை. பாங்க் பல சமயங்களில் சிறு கடனும் தரமாட்டார்கள். சில சமயங்களில் தாராளமாகவும் தருவார்கள். 6 இலட்சம் செலாவணிக்கு அதில் பாதியான 3 இலட்சம் கடன் எந்தப் பாங்க்கும் கொடுக்கும். இவருக்கு அனுபவமில்லை. அதனால் இதற்கு மேல் கிடைக்காது என்ற நம்பிக்கையில் முயலவேயில்லை. நம் தொழிலில் மற்றவர்கள் பணம் புரட்டும் முறைகள் அனைத்தையும் நாம் அறிவது அவசியம். அதில் நமக்குப் பொருத்தமானவற்றைப் பயன்படுத்தி பலன் பெற முழுமுயற்சி எடுப்பது அவசியம். தெரிந்து கொள்ளாமலிருப்பது தவறு.

செலவைக் குறைப்பது எப்படி?

விரயத்தை விலக்குவது ஒரு வகை. அறிவாலும், அனுபவத்தாலும், பிறரைப் பார்த்துத் தெரிந்து கொள்வதாலும், யோசனையாலும், புதுமுறைகளாலும், இன்று அத்தியாவசியம் என நாம் கருதும் செலவுகளில் பலவற்றைக் குறைக்கலாம். அவை அனைத்தையும் குறைப்பது ஒரு முறை. முழுமுயற்சி எடுப்பவர் 10% செலவைக் குறைக்க முடியும். 10% செலவைக் குறைத்தால் இலாபம் 100% உயரும். ஒரு கோடி செலாவணிக் கம்பெனியில் 9 லட்சம் இலாபமானால் 9% இலாபம். ஒரு கோடியில் செலவை 10% குறைத்தால் 90 லட்சமாகும். குறைந்தது10 லட்சம் இலாபமாகும். புதிய இலாபம் 19 இலட்சம். 9 இலட்ச இலாபம் 19 லட்சமாகிறது.

Purchase கொள்முதலை முறைப்படுத்துவதால் வருஷத்தில் இரண்டுமுறை புரளும் பணம், மூன்று முறை புரண்டால் அது இலாபம். வருஷத்தில் 2 கோடி ஸ்டோர் சாமான் இருப்புள்ளவர் அத்தொகையை இருமுறைக்குப் பதிலாக மும்முறை பயன்படுத்தினால் பலன் என்ன? இரண்டு கோடி மூலதனம் 4கோடி சரக்கு வாங்கப் பயன்படுகிறது. மூன்று முறையில் 6 கோடி சரக்கு வாங்கப் பயன்படும். ஸ்டோர் சரக்கு வருஷத்தில் scientific monitoring முறையாகப் பயன்படுத்தப்பட்டால் 6 முறை புரண்டு வரும் என்பது சட்டம்.

புதிய இடங்களில் பணத்தைக் கண்டுபிடிக்க வேண்டும்

ஆலையில் விழும் குப்பையை வெளியே போட இடமில்லாமல் முனிசிபாலிட்டியுடன் 3 ஆண்டுகள் தகராறு செய்த இடத்தில் இம்முறையைக் கையாள ஒரு யுக்தியைக் கண்டு, குப்பையைப் பயன்படுத்த வழி கண்டு அதைப் பிரபலப்படுத்தியபின், குப்பையால் தொந்தரவில்லை. அது பணமாகி விட்டது. இப்பொழுது குப்பைக்கு டெண்டர் ஏற்பட்டு விட்டது.

பெரிய கம்பெனிகள் பணம் சேகரிக்கும் முறைகளைச் சிறுகம்பெனிகள் அறிவதில்லை. இவர்களுக்கும் அது பயன்படும்.

தொழிலையும், விவசாயத்தையும் மேற்கொண்ட கம்பெனி, மானேஜ்மெண்ட் முறைகளை விவசாயத்தில் பயன்படுத்தி இந்தியாவிலேயே தங்கள் துறையில் அதிகபட்சம் இலாபம் பெற்றனர்.
நமக்குரிய மானேஜ்மெண்ட் முறைகளைக் கடைப்பிடிக்கவேண்டும். பணத்தைத் தவறாக மட்டுமே சம்பாதிக்கலாம் என்பதை விட்டு, நேராகச் சம்பாதித்தால் அதிகமாகச் சம்பாதிக்கலாம் என்று அறியவேண்டும். 

Savitri - 351


Daily Savitri - 351

Sri Aurobindo's Savitri


Through the thunder's roar and through the windless hush,
Through fog and mist where nothing more is seen,
He carries her sealed orders in his breast.
Late will he know, opening the mystic script,
Whether to a blank port in the Unseen
He goes or, armed with her fiat, to discover
A new mind and body in the city of God
And enshrine the Immortal in his glory's house
And make the finite one with Infinity.
 

 

- Savitri by Sri Aurobindo, Book I - The Book of Beginnings - Canto IV - The Secret Knowledge,
 Page  71


How to read Savitri?

It does not matter if you do not understand it ? Savitri, read it always.  You will see that every time you read it, something new will be revealed to you. Each time you will get a new glimpse, each time a new experience; things which were not there, things you did not understand arise and suddenly become clear. Always an unexpected vision comes up through the words and lines. Every time you try to read and understand, you will see that something is added, something which was hidden behind is revealed clearly and vividly. I tell you the very verses you have read once before, will appear to you in a different light each time you re-read them. This is what of happens invariably. Always your experience is enriched, it is a revelation at each step. But you must not read it as you read other books or newspapers. You must read with an empty head, a blank and vacant mind, without there being any other thought; you must concentrate much, remain empty, calm and open; then the words, rhythms, vibrations will penetrate directly to this white page, will put their stamp upon the brain, will explain themselves without your making any effort.


- The Mother

Thanks,
AuroMere Meditation Center,
Chennai.

Tags: Sri Aurobindo, Aravindar, Savitri, Daily Savitri, Series, The Mother Aurobindo

Friday, August 23, 2013

Video: Tamil - Sri Aurobindo's Birthday - His life story and the future of Integral Yoga

Darshan Day Pushpanjali Images 
Book Reading- Tamil 

ஸ்ரீ அரவிந்தரின்  வாழ்க்கை வரலாறும், அவரது பூரண யோகத்தின் எதிர்காலமும்.

Flowers offered in the Symbol:
Country Rose - Consecration
Marigold - Plasticity
Tulsi - Devotion


Savitri - 350


Daily Savitri - 350

Sri Aurobindo's Savitri

Across the noise and multitudinous cry, 
Across the rapt unknowable silences, 
Through a strange mid-world under supernal skies, 
Beyond earth's longitudes and latitudes, 
His goal is fixed outside all present maps. 
But none learns whither through the unknown he sails 
Or what secret mission the great Mother gave. 
In the hidden strength of her omnipotent Will, 
Driven by her breath across life's tossing deep,    

- Savitri by Sri Aurobindo, Book I - The Book of Beginnings - Canto IV - The Secret Knowledge,
 Page  71


How to read Savitri?

It does not matter if you do not understand it ? Savitri, read it always.  You will see that every time you read it, something new will be revealed to you. Each time you will get a new glimpse, each time a new experience; things which were not there, things you did not understand arise and suddenly become clear. Always an unexpected vision comes up through the words and lines. Every time you try to read and understand, you will see that something is added, something which was hidden behind is revealed clearly and vividly. I tell you the very verses you have read once before, will appear to you in a different light each time you re-read them. This is what of happens invariably. Always your experience is enriched, it is a revelation at each step. But you must not read it as you read other books or newspapers. You must read with an empty head, a blank and vacant mind, without there being any other thought; you must concentrate much, remain empty, calm and open; then the words, rhythms, vibrations will penetrate directly to this white page, will put their stamp upon the brain, will explain themselves without your making any effort.


- The Mother

Thanks,
AuroMere Meditation Center,
Chennai.

Tags: Sri Aurobindo, Aravindar, Savitri, Daily Savitri, Series, The Mother Aurobindo

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Savitri - 349


Daily Savitri - 349

Sri Aurobindo's Savitri

There is limned ever retreating from the eyes, 
As if in a tenuous misty dream-light drawn, 
The outline of a dim mysterious shore. 
A sailor on the Inconscient's fathomless sea, 
He voyages through a starry world of thought 
On Matter's deck to a spiritual sun.   

- Savitri by Sri Aurobindo, Book I - The Book of Beginnings - Canto IV - The Secret Knowledge,
 Page  71


How to read Savitri?

It does not matter if you do not understand it ? Savitri, read it always.  You will see that every time you read it, something new will be revealed to you. Each time you will get a new glimpse, each time a new experience; things which were not there, things you did not understand arise and suddenly become clear. Always an unexpected vision comes up through the words and lines. Every time you try to read and understand, you will see that something is added, something which was hidden behind is revealed clearly and vividly. I tell you the very verses you have read once before, will appear to you in a different light each time you re-read them. This is what of happens invariably. Always your experience is enriched, it is a revelation at each step. But you must not read it as you read other books or newspapers. You must read with an empty head, a blank and vacant mind, without there being any other thought; you must concentrate much, remain empty, calm and open; then the words, rhythms, vibrations will penetrate directly to this white page, will put their stamp upon the brain, will explain themselves without your making any effort.


- The Mother

Thanks,
AuroMere Meditation Center,
Chennai.

Tags: Sri Aurobindo, Aravindar, Savitri, Daily Savitri, Series, The Mother Aurobindo

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Savitri - 348

Daily Savitri - 348

Sri Aurobindo's Savitri

He is a spirit in an unfinished world
That knows him not and cannot know itself:
The surface symbol of his goalless quest
Takes deeper meanings to his inner view;
His is a search of darkness for the light,
Of mortal life for immortality.
In the vessel of an earthly embodiment
Over the narrow rails of limiting sense
He looks out on the magic waves of Time
Where mind like a moon illumines the world's dark.


- Savitri by Sri Aurobindo, Book I - The Book of Beginnings - Canto IV - The Secret Knowledge,
 Page  71


How to read Savitri?

It does not matter if you do not understand it ? Savitri, read it always.  You will see that every time you read it, something new will be revealed to you. Each time you will get a new glimpse, each time a new experience; things which were not there, things you did not understand arise and suddenly become clear. Always an unexpected vision comes up through the words and lines. Every time you try to read and understand, you will see that something is added, something which was hidden behind is revealed clearly and vividly. I tell you the very verses you have read once before, will appear to you in a different light each time you re-read them. This is what of happens invariably. Always your experience is enriched, it is a revelation at each step. But you must not read it as you read other books or newspapers. You must read with an empty head, a blank and vacant mind, without there being any other thought; you must concentrate much, remain empty, calm and open; then the words, rhythms, vibrations will penetrate directly to this white page, will put their stamp upon the brain, will explain themselves without your making any effort.


- The Mother

Thanks,
AuroMere Meditation Center,
Chennai.

Tags: Sri Aurobindo, Aravindar, Savitri, Daily Savitri, Series, The Mother Aurobindo

Inflation: Symptom of Social Growth



Inflation: Symptom of Social Growth

- Garry Jacobs (This article was published in "THE HINDU"on May 31, 1980) Click here for the newspaper clipping.

About the author:

Jacobs, Garry

Garry Jacobs is an American-born consultant on business management and economic development and Vice President of The Mother's Service Society, a social science research institute in Pondicherry, India.

The French Revolution, computer sciences, American Civil Rights Movement, automation, credit cards, the Magna Carats, telegraphy, unemployment, literacy, and Indian Freedom, all have one thing in common. They are among the less known, but real, causes of inflation. One of the little recognized virtues of inflation is its role as the only tax on black money and underworld business activities.

For several years the reading public all over the world has been bombarded by economists with an array of bleak forecasts, frightening warnings, and prophesies of doom in reference to the worldwide phenomenon of inflation. Some compare our situation with that which spurred the hyperinflation in post World War I Germany. Almost all economists seem to agree that the present inflation is bad or dangerous, though they differ widely regarding the extent of the danger and even more widely as to the proper remedy.

CONFLICTING VIEWS

When one reviews the current literature on this topic, it is surprising to note just how divergent are the positions of leading economists on questions such as: How can we measure the real rate of inflation? What is the major cause for increasing inflation in the present decade? What will happen if inflation is not stopped? What policies can we implement to stop it and should we implement them or allow it to continue? To illustrate the complexity and divergence of opinion on this issue, a few examples will suffice. No less an authority than John Kenneth Galbraith has described the current inflation as a “revolt of the rich against the poor”. “Economist Richard Parker supports this view with the claim that it is the richest people, the top 7% of the families in terms of wealth that benefit by inflation; while the rest especially the poorest, suffer in proportion to their relative poverty.

On the other hand, a conflicting view is contained in a 1979 study published by the Brookings Institute in Washington D.C. This study indicates that the lower or middle classes in the USA are generally benefited or unaffected by inflation, while the upper class is losing.

The confusion over who suffers from inflation is extended to other questions as well, including the major causes of inflation. In addition to the traditional proponents of the demand pull, cost push, and monetarist theories, there are many who doubt whether inflation is essentially an economic problem at all. Consultant Konrad Kellen wrote recently in the Los Angeles Times that inflation is not an economic problem but a psychological one, the result of people taking pleasure on spending rather than saving and in earning nominally larger, though in real terms sometimes smaller, incomes. In discussing the contribution of social welfare programs to inflation, Paul Samuelson cites a social factor, the evolution of a more humane society, as a root cause.

WIDER PERSPECTIVE

When the greatest minds of an age examine a problem and fail to arrive at a solution, it must be that the solution is very simple, only they are looking through the wrong end of the telescope. Inflation is one such problem. In an age of scientific precision, we are apt to wonder how there can be so much doubt and confusion over a phenomenon like currency values. We may wonder whether this confusion arises from lack of knowledge, wrong assumptions, too narrow perspective, or even an unwillingness to accept what is obviously true. One thing emerges from the recent literature on this subject; namely, that the causes and effects of inflation cannot be limited to the narrow field of economics, that in order to be fully comprehended inflation must be viewed from a wider or higher level, from a perspective which will reveal all the seemingly divergent facts and conflicting theories as parts of a single phenomenon.

In other words, a purely economic explanation of inflation is likely to be as incomplete as a purely physiological description of human behavior. In this article I propose to take a look at inflation from the wider perspective of social evolution which has accompanied the development of our modern economic system.

It would be well to start by trying to lift the veil from the “mysterious” causes of inflation. As we shall see the causes are so many and so prominent as to make one wonder whether a non-inflationary currency is even a remote possibility in the foreseeable future. These causes can be divided into major categories. One of the commonly cited causes is the contribution of rising labour costs due to the formidable power of unions to demand annual increments in wage rates. Each rise in labour costs which is not offset by a similar rise in productivity tends to boost the price of the finished products and at the same time to increase the costs of comparable labour everywhere else in the economy. Both of these tendencies are inflationary. The additional wages paid to labour increase their demand for consumer goods putting an upward pressure on prices. Also in the case of manufacturers of consumer goods, profit margins may be reduced by higher costs leaving less profit for reinvestment in greater reduction at a time of increasing demand, another clearly inflationary situation. Under this category of causes we can include all factors which increase the cost of production including labour’s demand for shorter working hours, better working conditions, pensions, medical insurance, etc. The demand of each union for greater benefits initiates a spiral of rising prices that spreads throughout the entire economy and dilutes the value of all currency including labour’s. The marked trend toward decreasing labour productivity in the West has the same effect as rising costs and often occurs in conjunction with it. There is a similar contribution from non-labour resources. The spiraling oil prices are a frequently cited but by no means singular example. Recent government regulations for environmental protection and anti-pollution measures also contribute to inflation while at the same time providing a non-monetary service to the entire community for which it would be difficult to assess the public by direct taxation. Another source of inflation is deficit spending by government. It is often argued that to resort to deficit financing is to enjoy a present benefit at the expense of future generations who must repay what is spent now. But, in fact, the reverse is equally or more true. Deficit spending is a means employed by governments to meet the public’s demand for modern facilities, e.g., new schools and hospitals, better roads, greater military security, welfare support, etc. No present day government can keep up with the demand on the basis of direct taxation alone because there is a gap between what various sections of the public expect and demand on the one hand, and what they are willing to pay for, on the other. This gap is filled by deficit financing. Where this is not possible you have a situation like in New York City where the greatest concentrations of wealth in the world exist along side decaying roads and shrinking city services. When governments issue new currency to cover their expenditure, it acts like a direct tax on all the present holders of currency diluting the value of their holding. It is the one form of taxation that assesses equally both white and black money, legal and illegal business. It is 100% efficient and is collected at no expense to the government. In addition to these well known causes of inflation, there are innumerable others to which little attention has been given. According to monetary theorists, any change in the velocity with which money changes hands will effect prices, increasing velocity having an inflationary effect. Among the non-economic factors which influence velocity are the great strides recently made in increased speed of transportation, communication, banking services, computer credit, etc. Each time the public is offered an improvement in these services, there is a slight increase in the velocity of money transactions and a hidden inflationary effect. In other words, the new service is not only or always paid for directly. There is also an indirect cost which is exacted as dilution of currency values. Similarly, credit card and installment purchases, lease and hire purchase financing increase the total purchasing power in circulation, i.e., increase the total money supply, and thereby tend to raise prices. A parallel effect is associated with the introduction of automation and the reduced dependence on human factors of production. Automation has been widely regarded as anti-inflationary because it increases productivity and reduces production costs. But one effect of modern automation has been the greater organization of labour; and the increasing demands of workers for guaranteed minimum wages, pensions, and unemployment insurance; and expansion of the social security system. In this manner some of the savings in the cost of production arising from automation are passed on to the country at large in the form of inflation. In past centuries expenditures on luxury items was confined to the aristocracy and therefore it had little effect on currency values. But today it has extended to the common man, not only in countries like USA where colour TV sets and big cars have become “essentials” even among the lower classes, but also in developing countries like India where there is a marked trend toward greater expenditure on non-essentials like tourism, festivals, marriages, watches, polyester clothes, stainless steel vessels, cinema, etc. It is easy to understand how the waste of fuel by big American cars is inflationary. It is less obvious that the growing demand for flowers for women’s hair has a similar effect on currency values by bidding up the price of limited materials. In a similar fashion the changing food habits all over the world are resulting in higher prices. In India almost all food items other than those under tight government control have shot up in price during the past ten years. The price of groundnut has increased six times, the price of cashew five times, that of ragi and cumbu three to four times. The increased demand for these items is due to changing social habits and cannot be adequately explained on the basis of population growth or short yielding. The tremendous growth in banking services and credit facilities in India – State Bank of India now has more branches than any other bank in the world – is another contributor to inflation. Greater credit means greater money supply which pushes up prices. So also the greater money flow generated by increased agricultural productivity and industrialization, not only contribute to economic growth, but in conditions of limited supply, to rising prices as well.

Spiraling oil prices, powerful labour unions, increasing money supply, deficit financing, consumer debt, high interest rates, etc. are all commonly cited causes of inflation. But as economist Robert Heilbroner has pointed out, inflation existed before many of these factors were present and it persists today in countries where many of them are absent. “No one of these factors can be properly called the single ‘cause’ of ”inflation”.

Even if the cumulative effect of all of these factors is measured, it will be found that the current inflation rates exceed the sum of these causes. We must look behind or beyond these myriad symptoms to see if we can identify a central cause which is more universal than any of them and a driving force which is more compelling. Though our study has moved beyond the purely monetary or economic causes of inflation, to consider the contribution of technology welfare, increased consumption, changing tastes, etc., still it has not delved to the level of root causes from which a clear picture can emerge out of our present confusion. We may find a guidepost in statements like this one by Richard Parker, “Domestically, we have experienced not an economic boom after World War II, but a social revolution”.

Present day economists study inflation from the viewpoint of the fixed status quo of social values, i.e., the present distribution of resources and wealth in society. But inflation as we know it today is a symptom of a radical transformation in this distribution in favor of the have-nots. It is a symptom of social, as opposed to merely economic, growth. Today all over the world there is an unparalleled release of fresh human energies generated by progress in the fields of political freedom, education, human rights and dignity, etc. The modern day phenomenon of the street-cleaners in U.S.A. demanding $20,000 per year in place of the $8,000 they earned ten years earlier or the rickshaw drivers in India demanding Rs.2 for a trip that cost only Re.1 five years ago, cannot be explained away on the basis of rising costs of living and the power of labour unions. Two decades ago when the communists came to power in Kerala on a platform of social equality, a peon refused to serve tea to one of the new communist ministers on the grounds of social equality enunciated in the party platform. A wider truth and more universal phenomenon is reflected by this incident.

CHANGED VALUES

Social values at all levels are undergoing rapid change. Prior to independence, life in India was cloistered, withdrawn, submissive, fear ridden, tame. Society was vegetating and life for most was lived at a survival level with minimal expenses. But in the last three decades religious, social and family rigidity have given way. Life has become outgoing, expansive, assertive, and fearless. Man seeks to express his personality and he seeks enjoyment.

It was not long ago that any elder in a village could order any youngster to do some work without compensation. Today only the richest and most powerful retain that authority and even their power is waning. Now everyone takes for granted the right to a better, more comfortable and more luxurious life. Children use more paper, more books, and more clothes. People expend more time and money on recreation, there are better roads and more of them. Walking back to the village has been replaced by bus travel. Radios are common place and TV is spreading rapidly. Tourism is on the increase and has become an important part of life.

Expenditure on religious worship has increased a hundred-fold. Social functions like weddings, farewells, birthday celebrations are becoming more frequent and more elaborate. One need only imagine a gathering in 1930 and a similar one today to note the many changes. Tastes and habits in food have altered.

Old fashioned foods like cold rice, and ragi meal have disappeared while new food items like ovaltine and horlicks are increasingly popular. Women going to restaurants is a new phenomenon. At all levels of life man insists on greater comfort, more and better enjoyments. All of these new expenses have to be met by income from the same old jobs as carpenter, clerk, officer, etc

WOMEN MORE ASSERTIVE

The large scale influx of women into the labour market is a relatively recent phenomenon with broad implications. Not only has it provided additional income to the family. It has also sparked the gradual dissolution of women’s traditional role in society. The greater freedom of women to work and to spend changes her personality, makes her less submissive and dependent. She has become not only more productive but more assertive as well, both in the home and in public. She demands more and better clothes, jewelry, furnishings, entertainment, etc.

Now it is often the man who carries the child or the bags instead of his wife. Every assertion of the human will liberated from the oppression or the habit of subservience leads to greater expenditure and new pressures on currency values.

These changes are not confined to the cities. Rural bus transport and electrification are reaching out to every village. Pump sets are replacing the piccotah. Harijans are wearing clean clothes in the village. Toddy shops are giving place to tea shops. Village weddings are using taxis and loud speakers. High schools are coming to the villages. In the towns, vegetable, fruit, and grain vendors are wearing shirts in their shops. Hawkers are using cycles to carry their wares, instead of head loads. Nursery schools are spreading everywhere.

In the U.S. there are parallel changes at a higher level. Television today means colour TV, and often more than one per household. Restaurant going has evolved from an infrequent pleasure to an almost daily habit. Air conditioning is becoming standard equipment on cars in many areas. Electrical appliances have replaced nearly every type of manual chore at home from opening cans to opening garage doors. The line-in housemaid of thirty years ago kept to herself and lived apart. Today she may be eating dinner with the family, even when guests come.

The taxi driver carefully selects his customers and refuses the short trip. The lower classes refuse menial work or demand three times the previous wage for it. A porter wants $2 to wheel your bag on a trolley. A cleaning woman wants five dollars per hour. The upper classes do more for themselves. They carry their own bags, fill their own gas tanks, serve their own food at self-service restaurants, and wash their own cars. Signs of a general leveling between the classes have emerged. Americans have become used to far higher standards of private living and social services. Richard Parker writes, “Domestically, we have experienced not an economic boom after World War II, but a social revolution – spearheaded by women…. The creation of two-income families engendered a whole new level of American prosperity, in which millions shared. Today the American woman drives her own car, has her own profession and outside interests, demands equal pay to men for equal work, and often equal housework from men for no pay.

SOCIETY’S BURDEN

All of the examples cited above point to a single conclusion. Life styles are changing rapidly all over the world and standards of living at all levels have risen considerably in the last thirty years. This trend has been accompanied in many places by a tendency for worker productivity to level off or even decline. Man demands and expects more but wants to work less. The earlier levels of individual and social productivity cannot support the higher living standards and future expectations of wide sections of the population. Someone must pay for the increased consumption. Since the rich are unwilling to bear the burden for the poor to come up and the poor are unable to meet their own demands through their current incomes, the burden is shifted to society as a whole in the form of devaluation of currency, inflation.

Source: http://www.motherservice.org

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