Rakesh K. Mittal is an IAS officer with a difference. Other than handling the responsibilities as Commissioner, Lucknow Division, he is also a man with a mission. And his mission named Kabir Peace Mission aims at developing positive thinking in the society in order to make life happier, more satisfactory. Founded in 1990, Kabir Peace Mission, under the able leadership of its founder, RK Mittal, is bringing more people and objectives under its fold, each passing day.
Kabir Peace Mission is result of the questions that ceaselessly haunted Mittal regarding life. Once he found the answers to those questions, he was so pleased that he gave it the form of a Mission, so that others too could benefit from the ‘positive thinking’ that he developed as a consequence of his pondering.
“I used to ask myself ‘what is goodness’,” says Mittal. “Can science or knowledge tell us what being good is? I started search to find the answer. If your pursuit is from the heart, you get answers. I got the answers too and realized that human life is a wonderful opportunity, which should be utilized and not wasted,” adds he adding that is the path to happiness.
Fructification of Mittal’s endeavours has brought Kabir Peace Mission to a stage that today it undertakes or promotes various activities in the field of education, health, spirituality, culture and other allied fields. Mission also participated in ‘The Millennium World Peace Summit’ held at UNO Headquarters, New York on the commencement of this millennium.
Speaking on the social inequality, Mittal says: “I believe that if a person is at a certain stage, Divine Will is responsible for it. That is why one should never despise someone, be angry or show hatred towards a person, his opinion or belief.”
Mittal believes in honesty. And he is an honest person indeed. An honest person alone can lead a smooth life, he says. This process of smooth living is the natural process and called positive thinking. He knows that it is a very abstract thing as mere reading of religious scriptures is no guarantee for imbibing these values.
Mittal opines that religion is too be understood and not to be fought over. Though he does not like to interfere with the wrong practices that are in vogue, he does believe in showing the way, through one’s own example. “Do not blame the darkness, ignite a lamp instead,” adds he.
When asked about denizens of Lucknow, Mittal laments the fact that not just the Lucknowites but most of our countrymen lack that love for their city, their nation. “Lucknow is good city,” he says. But Lucknowites are concerned about its development. It is a problem with the entire country. They will go to Japan and praise it but they won’t go to Kerala. Even people of small countries of Africa have pride in their country, their language and culture but Indians lack this.”
However, Mittal knows that that disadvantages too could prove to be advantageous, if you are a right thinking person and is optimist that Lucknow will emerge as the best city in the country – the city of happiness. To further illustrate this, he cites his own example when he, a BE from Roorkee, was offered a non-technical job because of his weak eye-sight. This drove Mittal to try for the civil services. Eventually, he joined as an IAS officer in 1975.
All the best, Mr. Mittal! All the right-thinking people are with you!
NC Mittal’s Mantra for Goodness and Happiness
In all parts of the world one religion or the other is followed. After all, why did we need religion? There are certain cardinal principals which are same in all religions. We may call them fundamental principles of life. In my view to follow these fundamental principles of life is ‘goodness’. This way goodness is a social need more than an individual need. It is necessary not only for individual happiness but for social happiness too. Unfortunately, this faith is getting eroded while no alternative is suggested for social as well as individual happiness. As a result, man today is in such a dilemma where he does not know how to achieve happiness. By the time he realizes that happiness lies in following the path of goodness only, generally it is too late.
To establish a relationship between ‘goodness’ and ‘happiness’, one should first know ‘what is the goal of human life?’ The most realistic answer to this would be that ‘attainment of happiness’ is the goal of human life. The next question arises, ‘what is happiness’? You cannot say with certainty that a materially prosperous man is always happy or vice versa. Wealth can be a cause of happiness but it can equally be a cause of misery. Thus there should not be any doubt that happiness is a state of mind and the goal of human life is to achieve that state of mind.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment