jindal, come on prove that all hype around you is not a myth. this is your opportunity to shine. get the fbi involved right away as you very well know louisiana police isn't worth a dime. i had brought up this point the day this news first came about. but i know jindal will deliver nothing for two reasons: first he is not as bright as being amde out. (activist-kirastanism does dull the brains of the best). second, his hardcore kirastanism will definitely stand in his way in helping hindus.
i deeply mourn the killings of the two indian students. i am also a student here in US and i can understand what have been going thru their parents who lost their sons at this young age. my deep condolences are with them
But i m really depressed by how these Art of Living people are making use of the situation. i would like to ask the AOL people that if something like this would have happened anywhere other than in US, would they have done the same thing and that too with their supremo(who is usually very very busy) coming for three days. instead of spending huge amount on this workshop and arrangements for the stay of the supremo, it should have been much better if they would have financially supported the families of the two students. one should learn from these people how to advertise themselves... they are the the best MBA's in the world... no wonder ...if they hire some IIM graduates for this marketing job....
RE:What is Art of Living doing here?
by Cricket s on Dec 19, 2007 09:54 PM
Take it easy man. Why should you be depressed? They are there to help people. AOL was there at Katrina, 9/11, Iraq disaster, Tsunami and so on.
As Jayaraman explained, AOL has its own objective and they will have to follow it. They dont have to follow what you wanted them to do. Families need financial help which the local Telugu assn and students are already providing.
Regarding Marketing - You seem to sound like marketing is bad. Do you? what is wrong in marketing a good program? Marketing is fine as long as they are not forcing their wishes on others or giving false information to market their products.
RE:What is Art of Living doing here?
by on Dec 19, 2007 02:48 PM
Dear Atul
Your post shows how ignorant you are about Art of Living. You ask if they would have gone anywhere else other than US, please know the following
1. AOL is very active in helping prisoners in jail overcome their depression and get back to normal life. This is not only in India, but also in several countries around the world
2. Apart from RSS, AOL is the only organisation that swiftly sends its volunteers to places where disaster strikes. During Tsunami, it was the RSS and AOL that did the maximum, without any advertisement, pomp or show.
3. You are completely ignorant of the extraordinary work done by AOL. Please join this course asap and become a better citizen, whichever religion you may belong to.
4. What AOL helps is to better understand the true purpose of life, and live a higher quality of life, not live a higher quality of living.
RE:What is Art of Living doing here?
by atul mahajan on Dec 19, 2007 02:57 PM
dear jayaram....
it is evident from ur reply that u r hardcore follower of AOL....and ur reply further strengthen my belief that you guys have great marketing skills...in ur reply also ....u advertised about ur course and u r telling me to join that ......just for ur information .... i dont speak about anything until and unless i know about it....i think i know much more about AOL than you.....
please remember one thing ....in order to criticize something , you need to have much more knowledge about that as compared to one who follows it.its bcoz one who follows it, only sees the gud part of it and the one who opposes it, he goes into detail of that so that he can substantiate his views... so u just stop ur marketing skills on me...
RE:What is Art of Living doing here?
by Jayaraman on Dec 19, 2007 03:34 PM
Dear Atul
FYI, I am not a follower of AOL. I happen to be one of those strong critics of every social organisation that has idolatory trends. This forced me to look at their activities with extra care.
After seeing several activities to be true, though initially I was cynical, I found my views were tangential to the true intent of the organization.
I am not marketing for AOL. I care two hoots if you wish to not join or join. That's your personal decision, good luck.
I still am clear that you have very little idea of what AOL does.
RE:RE:What is Art of Living doing here?
by atul mahajan on Dec 19, 2007 03:57 PM
hey jayaram......
i respect watever opinion you have about AOL. but still tell me frankly ....dont u think it would have been better if AOL would have financially supported the families of those students in US... as u must be knowing that the wife of one of the students was pregnant at that time and at the same time, they lost the earning member of the family.
what i m trying to state here is not just because i want to counter your reply...my main concern is their families......tell me one thing very honestly, dont u think that the money used for this workshop could have been used for the settlement of the families....
i would like to have the statistics of the people who attended this conference.....how many were indian, blacks and whites. i m sure that 90% would be indians ....so in that case dont u think that its wastage of money..
also, if u r not well informed, i would like to tell u that there was another killing like this in US varsity last month where one student from jallandhar, punjab was shot dead. why not then the AOL conducted this workshop. just because that killing was not hyped by the media?
RE:What is Art of Living doing here?
by Jayaraman on Dec 19, 2007 04:37 PM
Dear Atul
There are two aspects you refer to.
1. The support the families need on account of the accident.
2. The way to resolve these kinds of incidents or accidents from recurring.
If any individual cares to support the families who have been affected, he is welcome to do it. Figure out how this is to be organized and go ahead and help the families concerned.
If there is a social trend that needs to be addressed more effectively by education, and by education I don't mean literacy, I mean Values, then it calls for a different approach.
It is the option driven by the vision of every organization to choose the direction. If an organization professes individuals welfare, it chooses to support individuals whose needs and concerns are in direct relation to its objectives. If the organization envisions a social awareness as its objective, its direction and actions will be different.
You cannot demand that every organization should have the same charter. AOL has as its objectives the approach to help the society reclaim its inherent strength to withstand stress and trauma. If certain practices and exercises help that, I am perfectly fine with it. Only if the objective is to market, as you mentioned, their services for material gains, or convert one to a different ideology, will your points hold water.
Likewise you need get worked up if AOL did not participate or reach out to other accidents. That's their choice.
RE:What is Art of Living doing here?
by atul mahajan on Dec 19, 2007 05:57 PM
hey jayaraman...
i m feeling gud to have conversation with u....its always gud to have ur conversation with someone who thinks logically....i know that u still think AOL as logical and i donth think that way..... but i still like ur thinking...tell me ...if u would have been their friends...would u have liked the AOL coming to teach the rest of the indians about how to breathe or you would have urged for the arrest of those suspected..
RE:What is Art of Living doing here?
by Jayaraman on Dec 19, 2007 06:52 PM
Dear Atul
Good you feel that way. That's necessary for a useful conversation.
If you think teaching how to breathe is trivial, you need to learn a lot. Second, all your actions and reactions are based on how you can comprehend. Your comprehension is at its best when you are calm. If you think its easy to be calm, you may be right as far as you are concerned. But that's not the case with millions. You being exceptional cannot become a rule for the rest.
As I have earlier said, I am not a follower of AOL. But I have been practicing Breathing techniques for a pretty long time. It definitely calms you, keeps you fresh, and above all lets you get angry fully under your control.
If the millions who are anxious, stressed, traumatized, and worried or excited benefit by learning how to keep their mind under their control, that should actually make you feel good. You seem to be worked up by this positive result, instead of thanking AOL for reducing the number of high stressed people, you want them to be arrested as suspects.
I would welcome anyone who comes without an axe to grind and enriches life.
Hope you get some clarity on my views
Jayaraman
PS: Our posts have nothing relating to Bobby Jindal, for whom the article was originally published
RE:What is Art of Living doing here?
by atul mahajan on Dec 20, 2007 01:55 AM
hi
as u have said in the last email that our posts have nothing about bobby jindal, i would like to tell you that there is less mention of bobby jindal in the article as compared to AOL
We mourn the death of these intelligent students and future of globe in general and India in particular. US should review the security system not only at airports but also at academic institutions. Other day one student frm Jallunder-India was shot dead at University of Sandiego(SDSU) which went unnoticed. There may be so much such deaths in US which are going unnoticed. It is alrming not only for US but also for world. Such incidents should be controlled. People which are responslible for such crimes should be brought to justice immediatelly to restore confidence in democratic systems.
At the request of the victims' families, the LSU said it was not releasing photos of the two graduate students whose bodies, which were kept in a local funeral home since Sunday, were scheduled to be flown back to their native state of Andhra Pradesh on Thursday.
RE:year-end hero
by Biju on Dec 19, 2007 01:09 PM
At the request of the victims' families, the LSU said it was not releasing photos of the two graduate students whose bodies, which were kept in a local funeral home since Sunday, were scheduled to be flown back to their native state of Andhra Pradesh on Thursday.
