In 1923, eight of the wealthiest people in the world met. Their combined wealth, it is estimated, exceeded the wealth of the government of the United States at that time. These men certainly knew how to make a living and accumulate wealth. But let’s examine what happened to them 25 years later.

 1.      President of the largest steel company, Charies Schwab, lived on borrowed capital for five years before he died bankrupt.

 2.      President of the largest gas company, howard Hubson, went insane.

 3.      One of the greatest commodity traders, Arthur Cutton, died insolvent.

 4.      President of the New York Stock Exchange, Richard Whitney, was sent to jail.

 5.      A member of the President’s Cabinet, Albert Fall, was pardoned from jail to go home and die in peace.

 6.      The greatest “bear” on Wall Street, Jessie Livermore, committed suicide.

No man is an island is a famous prose work penned by the English writer John Donne in 1624.  It is a series of reflections that were written as Donne recovered from a serious disease, which he does not clearly identify in his text.  It is unfortunate that we have such divine revelations when we are on our sickbed, whereas we need to have them when we are on the rollercoaster of success.  This statement is as valid today as it was in the 16th century.

Many of us take pride in our independence, whether it is our ability to walk on our own or to make it on our own in the world.  This level of individual success deserves to be acknowledged, but does it define us?  Does independence mean I am a sovereign island unto myself?

If we hold onto our independence too tightly, then we will not be able to give of our self.  More importantly, we will lose opportunities to share with and in others’ talents and abilities, to create something greater than our self.  Independence should not take away from the “we” perspective, that is the recognition of interdependence, and the greater goal of unity.

When we engage, express and exchange,

Yoga expert Niharika, who won the silver in the Artistic pair category at the First Asian Yoga Championship, talks to MADHUMITHA SRINIVASAN "The HINDU" correspondent about how yoga is great not just for body and mind but also as a competitive sport.

This Std X student of Chettinad Vidyashram first experienced the benefits of yoga when she had to take it up to help recover from injuries suffered in sports like gymnastics, swimming and squash.

The pranayama and the relaxation asanas didn't excite Nikarika much; but what did was the first medal she won in a yoga competition, in which she participated at the insistence of her school yoga teacher Arunagiri.

Essence of Ramayana
By Swami Sivananda

The Ramayana of Valmiki is perhaps the most ancient and glorious epic in the world. It is known as theAdikavyam, the first poem.Ramayana is a marvellous book which contains the essence of all the Vedas and all sacred scriptures. It is a treasure for man. It is a reservoir which contains the nectar of immortality. It delineates the character of a son who renounced the throne and the pleasures of the world to fulfil the words of his father and lived in the forest for a period of fourteen years. It depicts the character of a father who sends even his most beloved son in exile in order to keep up his word. It delineates the character of an ideal, chaste wife who is devoted to her husband till the end of her life and shares the adversities of her husband and serves him untiringly in the forest, and who also regards her husband as her God. Above all, it also points the character of a brother who places brotherly affection above everything else in this world and follows his brother to the forest leaving all the pleasures of the palace, and leading the way to ward off all dangers.