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Friday, April 24, 2015

The Politics and Strategy of Bans!

Many leading personalities in my country are very good strategists, who understand the great potential of artificial scarcity has in accumulating wealth in a selective manner.

They understand the first principle of economics very well which states: 'Demand is inversely proportional to supplies'. Simply put, it means that the demand for any goods (or even services) is more when its supply is less. In other words, if something is in excess, it would be difficult to realize good money from it because its demand (and price) would be less.

Would You Like to Ban the Plants from Growing?

So, if supply is abundand, there would be some problem for the suppliers to make good money or wealth for them. So if supply is abundant either more demand has to be created or else the supply is artificially cut from the consumers for creating an apparently high demand. 

If tea production is less, some straight forward producers adopt the technique of marketting which involve in enhancing the tea consumption in consumers by various advertising techniques. But this method is time consuming and expensive.

But you can perhaps make more money by less production through artificial scarcity created by the modern marketing technology called the ' ban technique' which is widely used in developing nations such as my own India.

Ban technique is relatively simple. It uses democratic power of administration and the psychology of humans.

First about the psychology of humans. Human beings, both men, women and children are naturally bound to do some challenges before they acquire their desired possession of food, partner, toy, recreation, freedom and the like. If food is abundant, they do not feel like eating! If it is not available, they feel so hungry that they can do anything for it!

If a man or woman is free to move around, then they do not feel the importance of freedom. But if they were imprisoned, they are prepared to spend any amount to buy their freedom!

So the ban technique is essentially involved in preventing people from getting what they need.

So, if a high demand for tea is to be created, you can use the ban technique instead of other less effective marketing methods. What is done in this is to make the people who are involved in government or administration to promulgate a law or ordinance which bans the possession and consumption of tea by people. If any one is found to violate the law, various kinds of punishments are stipulated. 

If the people are found not taking the law seriously, the law enforcing authorities need to catch a few harmless violaters and punish them in accordance with the provisions of the law to make others scared of the new law.

When this is done, tea would become a banned item and people start feeling the desire for this item which is now scarce and illegal. Some fellows might even become so entrapped in their desire for drinking tea that they would now be willing to spend a fortune for it. The tea which used to sell for Rs.250/- a kg would now begin to sell for Rs.25000/- a kg! The producer would now make a killing by less production. The only thing that he has to do now is to share a good part of his huge profits to the ban enforcers!

Ofcourse, the ban equations need not be so clear and obvious. For bans to become effective, they need to be implemented cunningly and deceptively! The good thing here is that the ban supporters are normally very clever people with very good intelligence than the average common man. They know exactly what they are supposedly doing or have to do.

So some enlightened leaders of the people may advice the less developed folks about the reasons why they took the trouble to ban the sale of alcoholic liquors in a particular state or a region or country. Alcohol brews are very easy to produce. It could be produced in the homes of the ordinary people just as they make their normal foods. If it were so, these alcoholic drinks would not have been a charming thing for the people to spend money for getting it and consuming it. They would never have liked its obviously nauseating taste! They would not have liked the half poisoned state of their mind and bodies after consuming it!

But then the clever leaders have been doing the ban technique on it for centuries in various nations and regions of the world that people have developed the motive force of attraction to it because of its ban and undesirability forced upon them.

Same is the case with all kinds of bans. The more you ban, the more the motive force of desirability developing in the people affected by the ban.

You deny some thing to your child and your child will develop the curiosity and eagerness to go after it. The more you try to punish, them for their violating your ban rule, the more they get the impulse to violate. When you try to stop a natural flow, pressure builds up. That is the natural law. The build up of pressure can go to such heights that it could even burst to full destruction of the thing that prevented the natural flow!

The americans a few generations ago had been experimenting with the ban technique on various things. Many of them in the current generation are realizing the follies of their previous generations. The current move to liberalize marihuana (ganja) could be viewed as an example to this kind of drastic changes in thoughts.

If you want your child not to go after some food or drink or drug or other kind of  perceived sins, the wise way is not any forceful ban technique. Do not create the ban presssure on the child to instigate him or her to violate your diktat. The best and ideal way is not to project any negative clamour on any thing resulting it to gain some degree of sin value!

Just as it is applicable to the child, it is applicable to groups of people as well.

Clever fellows who are proponents of the ban technique are trying to enhance the so called sin value to otherwise normal things such as alcohol, beef, pork, porn, meat, drugs, coffee, tea, carbonated drinks, packed foods, plastics, books, ideas, and the like. By doing so, they are enhancing the marketability of such things in an indirect fashion making those otherwise non-desirable things as most desirable to many fellows who are possessed with a bit more adventure type characteristic deep in their minds.

Do not be under the impression that the ban proponents do their ban propaganda for your good. All propagandas are for gaining some benefits. Bans are promulgated by governments and governments of modern times act only when propagandists do their work with full force. And for creating that full force propaganda, money is required. That money comes from the beneficiaries who spin money from the bans.

But humans are not same in mind. Their minds have so many things in varying degrees. While some say yes, some others are bound to say no! All propaganda naturally generate counter propaganda! For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction!

But then what should be done by us? Should we go with the ban proponents or the ban antagonists? 

My dear friend! Remember this universal law: Anything in excess is destructive poison. You have the freedom of choice. But your freedom should not harm my freedom or their freedom. While you live in this world, you should respect others who too are living in this world. How much and how best you proceed is well recorded in your mind itself. That is called human maturity and wisdom. 

But unfortunately, some humans do not have enough receptive power to tune to their own wisdom. Else they do not have the patience to do it. Some of them even forget that they are short lived humans and keep thinking that they are even greater than God!

What a pity!

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Are You A Hypocrite? What Causes Us To Adopt Hypocrisy?

Before determining whether you are a hypocrite or not, it is better to understand the meaning of the word, hypocrisy or hypocrite a bit better.

The definition as given by the wordweb english dictionary for hypocrite is : 'A person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives'.

On the other hand hypocrisy is defined this way: 'An expression of agreement that is not supported by real conviction'  and also as: 'Insincerity by virtue of pretending to have qualities or beliefs that you do not really have'. 

In Hindi, a hypocirte is called Pakhandi (पाखंडी). In my mothertongue malayalam, a hypocrite is called kapadveshadhaari (കപടവേഷധാരി), kapadanatyakkaaran (കപടനാട്യക്കാരന്‍) or kutilan (കുടിലന്‍).

In other words, a hypocrite is a false pretender. He or she pretends to profess some virtues or values that she or he does not really has. The person pretends to be too spiritualistic or religious in public, but in reality in his or her private life, does not have any thing to do with religion or spirituality. 

He or she may show a distate or aversion to some kind of food (for example non-vegetarian food) in public but in reality relishes on such food when in private. There could be many such examples. In reality, such persons are hypocrites and this dishonest nature that they have is hypocrisy.

TV still showing Indian politicians with Pope in Vatican

Politicians are generally perceived as hypocrites of the highest order. They profess some thing in public but do not really mean so. Since politicians are democratic leaders, it is to be presumed that the society that elects hypocrites as its leaders is also essentially hypocritical in its collective behavior. 

In a hypocritical society, what you see or presume as a reality may not be so. It would be a delusion. It is a maya or an illusion.

Hypocrites cause rules and laws to become complex by perpetual and contradictory amendments resulting in practical lawlessness.  

For a hypocrite, true belief or conviction is different from what is being professed or practised. In other words, a hypocrite's actions contradicts his or her declared beliefs.

If there is no difference between one's acts and beliefs, perhaps he or she is not a hypocrite.

Thus, a religious fanatic who commits horrendous acts in support of his or her stated belief cannot be considered as a hypocrite even while they exist as possible threats to humanity.

A hypocrite could be in constant mental tension because of the willful contradictions that he or she keeps committing against their true convictions. 

Hypocrisy develops due to unexplained fears that are hidden in the minds of people. Hypocrites are essentially cowards who lack the courage to stand up to the truths.

Hypocrites always prefer to side with those in power or those in majority because of their fear. They are good sycophants too!

It may not be an easy thing for non-hypocrites to live peacefully among hypocrites unless they too learn the art of living hypocritically!

Right from the olden days and even today, hypocrites appear as materially successful people. Nevertheless, they keep suffering internal mental conflicts and face problem of mind and body. Being hypocrites, they may not admit to such a thing!

Obviously, they are not honest to others or even to themselves.

So what is your status? Are you a hypocrite? 

Would you get rid of your hypocrisy if you happen to have it?

Now the best thing to get rid of hypocrisy is to gain the strength to admit it. Once you admit it and introspect, the techniques of discarding this trait gets developed.

But of course, there are people who are purposefully hypocrites. They are the ones who artfully use hypocrisy for personal gains.

It appears that our era is the golden times for professional hypocrites.

If you happen to be a hypocrite or otherwise, it would be of some benefit if you think about all that I have told.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Would it be Possible for India to Improve its Corruption Perception Index!

To brush up your concepts of corruption, corruption perception index (CPI) and the score of India with regard to CPI, I would suggest that you read my earlier blog article titled: the root cause of corruption in India.

An Indian Newspaper Report about Corruption in  Aadhaar

In the above article I had concluded that the root cause of corruption is fear. Weaklings in mind and body are prone to problems arising out of their fear. These people are afraid of many things, though they might not agree to it so easily. They may even try to project themselves as courageous by trying to do many acts to prove their courage, though often in a foolish manner.

Fear about the uncertainties of the future causes people to become greedy. Their minds become engulfed in the thought of self survival even at the cost of others. They want to grab everything for them and do not wish to consider the necessities of others. 

This is greed arising out of fear psychosis. And this happens with all cowards. Brave men and women are not affected by fear and greed. For brave men and women, the lives of others around them are as important or perhaps more important as theirs!

But what happens when the people are genetically fearful? It is not easy for such people to remove their intrinsic fears about the unknown. 

Fear can make permanent imprints in animals and birds for generations. So is the case with people who have predominant animal like traits or those who are more concerned about their day to day living rather than thinking and analysing a situation with their god-given wisdom.

For example, many species of birds are scared of the scarecrow. Crows get agitated and scared if they happen to see some black cloth similar the feathers of a dead crow.

Some years ago, when I visited the Andaman Islands, I noticed a very peculiar thing. The buses that plied on the road across the island were having two gun shaped woods projecting on either side. Those were for scaring the aboriginals. The aboriginals of the island witnessed the deadly power of the guns of the civilized men some generations ago. Now their new generations are scared of any objects in the shape of the guns! When they see such objects, they would not dare to come near to attack. That was the logic behind the gun shaped scarecrows intented for the aboriginal humans of the island that I saw on the buses of this island. 

Cowards avoid fighting face to face. They avoid direct confrontation with the mighty ones, but adopt guerrilla warfare to destroy their enemies. Clever tactics to make selfish gains are usually adopted by cowards. When all people are courageous in mind and body, even wars among people would cease to happen!

Cowards are inherently suspicious about all others around them. They find it difficult to trust any one. The game of politics to grab power attains complex and unworthy levels when the people involved are intrinsically cowards. Those who are involved in this game say something, but act differently! The fears that are deep rooted in their minds do not allow them to be honest!

Fearful people cannot even have full trust in God. It is difficult for them to believe that God's providence is unconditional. As a result, they might even try to device their own gods and might even try to bribe such gods for doing them favors! It is difficult for them to differentiate between the characteristics of people and god. They assume their gods too with similar weaknesses as humans! For many humans, it is just difficult to comprehend God and the Universe and the power of God that is non-human like. But they fear God, just as they fear any power yielding human hero who takes pleasure in punishing all those commit errors or sins and rewards those who do good.

Fear arise out of cowardice which in turn prevents people to be honest, truthful, compassionate and generous. Cowardice arise out of many factors, some genetic, some demographic and some racial. To remove cowardice from mind, the first requisite is to have a sound body and mind. The second requisite is to train the body and mind to be strong. Unbiased education, knowledge and training do help people to become strong and generous in mind capacities. On the other hand, biased and improper education can make a sound mind to become apprehensive and fearsome.

A society or group of people cannot attain all round development, so long as there exist cowards who are weak in body and mind and who are not trained to remove their unjustified fears. 

Corruption of various kinds take roots in a society with weaklings in majority.

It is not possible for any current generation to eradicate corruption in their society if it exist in it. But, it can keep reducing it by willful determination in its future generations. The key is its future generation.

Children can be trained to develop to less fearsome adults as compared to their parents, provided they are not exposed to fear inducements by either parents or their teachers. A child who is exposed to imaginary ghost fear by parents can never fully eliminate that fear even during its adulthood under normal circumstances! So is the case with several such fears and prejudices that got developed during childhood! A boy or girl upon reaching adulthood might succeed in removing such fears, pride and prejudices only if his or her mind capacity is much superior with an inbuilt self desire for eliminating such negative qualities.

Now comes the moot question. Would it be possible for India to improve its corruption perception index? Could we possibly eliminate corruption in India?

It could be debated for generations. But fear is the key!

India or for that matter any nation or society where corruption is a serious problem for development, can possibly improve their corruption perception indices (CPI)  when the majority individuals learn to remove their hidden fears and prejudices deep rooted in their minds.

For it to happen, the individuals should have healthy bodies and sound minds capable of accepting and retaining good education and training.

Would it be happening in this generation or in the next?

Think about it!   

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Have You Heard About Samandar Singh or Sister Rani Maria? Learn About Them to Know the Power of Forgiveness!

Have you ever heard about this man Samandar Singh? Have you heard about Sister Rani Maria? Do you know what is the link that connects these two?

If you do not, let me make it clear. Sister Rani Maria was an young Malayali nun serving among the poor people in some rural areas near Indore in Madhya Pradesh. She was brutally killed in broad day light in a bus in front of many by a fanatic group sponsored by some landlords of the area who were annoyed with the social work of the sister among the downtrodden people. And Samandar Singh was the man who stabbed her, not once or twice, but fifty four times!

I remember reading about the news of this sensational murder and also hearing about it in the TV news channels. It was a day in 1995.

Like these decorative LED bulbs 
should we ever learn to light up our world?

At that time I too was working in the same state. The sister was none known to me, but I too hailed from her own home state, Kerala.

There were no more follow up news and the incident got forgotten from the minds of people like me. Murder and heinous crimes keep happening in this world and keep getting reported in small columns and clips. 

The media sometimes make it sensational or ignore it as per their assessment and convenience. At times they also provide news about some later day happenings.

Today morning an young doctor, Jeevan Kuruvilla, who too is a blogger like me, reproduced the touching story of transformation of the killer, Samandar Singh. 

It is the story about the power of forgiveness and love. This is one of the most important teachings of Jesus to all his true followers on earth

And here is a live example of that happening in India. It was never any rare happening. True Christians indeed follow this in letter and spirit. When they follow it, the miracle power of God acts.

In the case of Samandar Singh too, the same thing happened. He was the most daring and brutal killer who did not blink an eye to kill an innocent lady who  did only good to every one. He stabbed even her dead and bleeding body, which even hardcore criminals would not attempt!

What happened next?

The police nabbed Samandar Singh and his two companions. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and his friends were let out for want of evidences by the courts. That was expected and even the murderer did not think otherwise.

But the miracle happened later when the younger sister of sister Maria, herself a nun who opted voluntarily to work in the same place where her murdered sister worked, took permission to visit the jail to meet her sister's brutal killer. The young nun did not visit the fellow for expressing her anger. She visited him to transform an erring human with the love of God. 

The news is that she not only expressed her forgiveness to him, but also tied a rakhi on his hands, a Hindu custom for renewal of the sister-brother relation. By tying the rakhi threads on his hands, the sister accepted him as her brother!

Then and there, the power of God began to act in the mind of this once brutal human being.

The miracle was happening. Samandar Singh's hardened criminal mind began to melt! He was feeling remorse for the first time! He wanted to cry and repent. And he just did that! Not once, but on many occasions later and he still does that.

Samandar Singh was pardoned by the parents of the nun and they gave it in writing to the authorities. The younger nun and others tried for his early release from the jail. Those efforts finally succeeded in the recent times as Samandar Singh came out from the jail to joy.  

The released man is a totally transformed person who has now associated with the good work of the nuns in his area.

He is indeed a living witness to the power of forgiveness!

Suggested other readings in this context:

Monday, April 6, 2015

The Concepts of Deity and Divinity: Should I Cling to My Past Glories or Should I Change?

A sense of pride envelopes me whenever  I get a chance to observe the vast cultural and religious heritage of my country, India.

India is Hindustan (हिन्दुस्थान), the place of the oldest and the most cosmopolitan religion on earth, the Hinduism.

It is perhaps older than the Hebrew religion (Judaism), the other religion which the earth historians consider as existent from the days of the presently existing recorded history on earth.

I have also reason to consider that India had been the cradle where mankind originated almost a million years ago. I had written about it in some earlier blog articles.

The ancient texts of Hinduism, such as the Vedic literature and the many epics and the variety of architectural delights of Hindu temples in the north and south India detail the adventures of the numerous deities of the Hindu pantheon. These are the rich cultural heritage of the mixed peoples of India providing  much insights in to the details of human evolution with regard human civilization and religious practices. 

Some time ago, I had an opportunity to see some very famous Hindu temples located in South India, precisely, the Rajarajeswara Temple of Tanjavur and the Madurai Meenakshi Temple of Madurai, both in Tamil Nadu State. (I am not writing much about the history and the details of these temples. You may read those in Wikipedia. by clicking the linked names)

     Tanjavur Big Temple-View from road                               Tanjavur Brihadeswara Temple-Entrance

I keep wondering about the complex  manner in which the deity and divinity concepts have instigated the human mind to such extreme artistic,  sculptural and architectural creativity that could be seen in these Hindu cultural legacy. It is not that it has not taken shape in other regions or civilizations. It could be seen elsewhere as well. But yet, what we see in India is really astonishing when one try to figure out the circumstances through which the individuals of the past worked to result these marvels of human creativity.

   Brihadeswara Temple inside view                            Big Idol of Nandi inside Brihadeswara temple

They cause me to think. And I keep doing so and the thoughts compel me to seek answers to the varied aspects of human progress not only those physical, but also those concerned with the progress of human mind and spirit. I am quite relieved that my favorite book of life guidance has much to teach me in this context. 


      Brihadeswara Temple inside view            Big Idol of Nandi inside Brihadeswara temple              

Now a prominent question that come to my mind. Should the pride that I feel about my culture and its ancient legacy be allowed to hamper my own personality progress and onward evolution in mind and spirit? 

   Brihadeswara Temple inside view-Layout Map                     Brihadeswara Temple-Carved stone Inscriptions 

Should I consider the pinnacle of ancient glory as my bench mark and be contented with that or strive to go back to it? Shouldn't I try to learn from the past and move forward?

      Madurai Meenakshi Temple-Inside view       Madurai Meenakshi Temple-Inside view

Should I return back to the old? Should I consider all good old things as gold? 

Should I change my deity and divinity concepts in mind as I progress in the physical realms? Should I create conflicts in body, mind and spirit by restraining some parts of me from progressive evolution?

I have been just thinking.

Does such a thought come to your mind?

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

The Suicide Disease- Trigeminal Neuralgia- The Story How We Got Success to Overcome the Ultimate Helplessness!

Some years ago, my sister in law who is settled in Canada, suddenly developed a seriously painful health problem almost suddenly. It was later diagnosed by the Canadian doctors as TN or Trigeminal Neuralgia. Modern medicine recognizes this ailment as one of the most painful conditions known.

Unfortunately, there exist no effective cure for this problem in modern medicine, except some not so effective pain alleviating therapies, all of which have their own side effects. Once the prescribed treatment regime starts, the patient becomes more and more drug dependent. After some time, even heavy dozes of the known drugs would not give much relief and the patient's condition aggravates due to drug induced problems coupled with the original disease. These problems are all well researched and known facts.

My sister-in-law, being a doctor herself, understood the limitations of modern medicine and that caused much anxiety.  There was all possibility of she developing serious anxiety syndrome or other such problems as well, had the disease progressed further.

The Canadian doctors were doing all the best they could do. But all of them knew what was likely to happen after some time. The disease was one that did not have any known cures according to the allopathic system of medicine.

Though many people think of modern medicine as an advanced science which provides cures for all diseases that mankind faces, the reality is some thing very different. 

Modern medicine, unfortunately, does not have cures for all human sufferings from various disorders and illnesses.

On the other hand, there are effective cures or disease management systems in other forms medicine both traditional or contemporary. 

I had written a few blog articles on medicine earlier which could be read elsewhere in this site. You may read: My experiences and encounters with modern medicine!

The human medical sciences as we have today work in isolated compartments. There have  not been much efforts to combine the potentials of modern medicine with other systems such as ayurveda, homoeopathy, unani, naturopathy, the Chinese traditional medicine, etc and to evolve a holistic approach in the management of human diseases and health problems.

Let me come back to the story. 

I have been a person who believed and some what experienced the great potentials of the various systems of medicine that we have today. My sister-in-law knew this and due to that I was informed of the problem. I was also requested to find any known remedy in any other system of medicine for this otherwise incurable disease!

This was a decade ago and at that time I used to be in Bhilai, the steel city of central India. Mr Bhupinder Singh Bhatia, a mechanical engineer by profession was my colleague and friend. As a hobby he had been learning a difficult branch of Ayurvedic treatment called the Ras Chikitsa Vidhi (medicine system based on specially processed mercury salts and metals reportedly developed in India by Acharya Nagarjuna, some 2000 years ago.). He had also obtained a licence to practice ayurvedic treatment as a hobby.

Since Mr.Bhatia was not a professional ayurveda doctor, but a professional engineer, he was determined only to treat those cases where all other systems of medicine failed to obtain any cure or relief. He used to take up such cases as an independent research as an attempt to bring back the lost glory of Indian ayurveda. Being one of my close friends, he used to discuss his methods and the details with me. I was a serious observer to his Ayurveda experiments.

My sister-in-law was having such a health problem which was a fit case for an ayurvedic experimentation. I remember discussing the various aspects of the disease with my friend in Bhilai. With his knowledge, he decided to make a powdery mixture of medicine made from a few ayurvedic medicines. All these medical drug ingredients are prepared and marketed in India by a few Indian ayurveda drug houses in accordance with the processes described in the various sanskrit texts. Though they are not common, they are available in ayurvedic drug stores in India.

The following has been the proportion of the drug mixture to be divided in to 30 equal parts for 30 days medication  that Mr Bhatia suggested based on his knowledge about these medicines:

1. Sirguladi Vati (Bati) - 20 grams
2. Godanti Bhasma-20 grams
3. Ambar Kasturyadi Vati- 4 grams
4. Swarna Bhasma- 400 milligrams
5. Ratna garbha pottali Ras- 4 to 6 grams
In India there are a few traditional ayurvedic pharma companies that make these ingredients. They are Vyas Pharma, Krishna gopal ayurved, Charak Pharma, etc. In these, Krishnagopal is a charitable trust which makes medicines on a non-profit basis.

The ingrediants as above had to be ground and mixed well using a mortar and pestle. Fine grinding is very important for getting the full curative power of the medicine. The well-ground medicine is approximately divided in to 30 equal parts and was sent to Canada for the patient for oral intake.

The dozes were advised to be taken with tea or warm water  half an hour before or after meals once or twice daily. 

We waited to get the reports from the patient in Canada after she had taken the Indian medicine. We were surprised and relieved to get the very positive report. The patient got immediate relief after taking the first doze itself.



She never had the problem for the next many years and she did not have to take the entire medicine that was sent to her. The unused medicine was kept for any future emergencies, just in case the problem returned!

A month ago, she got the neuralgic attack once again, which was promptly overcome by a doze of the medicine that was in stock with her. Fortunately, these kind of ayurvedic medicines do not have any expiry date, had they been stored well in a cool dry place.

Her recent problem was communicated to me by her with a request for having another stock of the medicine procured for taking care of any future eventualities. I have just done that.

And that reminded me of  this case and I thought I should share this with my readers. 

This information might be useful for any such TN patients who suffer somewhere and have lost hope.

I also earnestly hope that a holistic approach to the management of human health problems and therapeutic system adopting an integrative medicine system approach would evolve in the near future.

Information Update (06th Sept 2017)

I have written another blog later which gives some more details on this, including the contact details of my friend Mr Bhupinder Singh Bhatia of Bhilai. This may be helpful to those who seek to contact him for possible Ayurveda treatment for TN. You may click the hyperlink to read that blog. 

Beware of These Frauds! They Keep Trying All Kinds of Phishing Methods!

I have been getting scores of emails and SMS messages announcing me as some winner of some lottery promoted in the name of world famous companies and requesting me to part with some personal information such as bank account details for the company to process the millions of dollars lottery amount to my account. 

The first time I got such an email was some 8 years ago. That time such e-mail frauds were not so well known. Yet my common sense warned me of the likely fraudster or fraudsters behind such a mail. 

I wanted to know more about it and I forwarded the mail to FBI who promptly confirmed the scam.

Since then, I have seen such mails and mobile phone SMS messages in various forms. The fraudulent people behind such activities continue with their acts because they still get a few fellows who get in to their phishing net due to greed for making quick money. 

Today too I got such an email. The subject of the mail said: Confirmation. The sender's email address was given as nandita.anuradha@cognizant.com. I do not know whether there exist a genuine email account holder in that email id or whether the fraudsters have made some software goof ups to send mail using this mail id.

The mail contained a word file attachment. The content of this world file document had been made to look as if it is very genuine. Let me reproduce some of the content below:

CHEVROLET AUTOMOBILE COMPANY
Chevrolet UK PLC, Griffin House,
UK1-101-135, Osborne Road,
Luton, Bedfordshire LU1 3YT
Register company number: 4533384
Telephone: +447010052776


                                                                                           STAR PRIZE WINNER!


Dear Sir/Madam,               

This is to inform you that you have won a BRAND NEW Chevrolet Cruse CAR and cash prize of  3.6 Crore INR the car comes with a special CHEVROLET INSURANCE Cover for one whole year that is till the next promotion. It also comes with a one year warranty and FREE repairs at any CHEVROLET AUTOMOBILE   depot or service center worldwide. Your Batch No: 515944052/166 and Winning No: 1544 make you as one of the lucky winner in our 2015 Charity bonanza. You are to contact our claims manager on this Email :( ukclaimchvy@outlook.com) with the below details for claims.
Please Fill the Information below:

MAKE SURE YOU SEND THESE DETAILS TO (ukclaimchvy@outlook.com) FOR THE RELEASE OF FUND
          
1. Full Name:
2. Full Address:
3. State:
4. Occupation:
5. Age:
6. Sex:
7. Mobile Number:  
8. Country
9. Winning Email:


NOTE: - YOU ARE TO IMMEDIATELY SEND YOUR COMPLETE INFORMATION TO OUR AGENT FOR IMMEDIATE PROCESS OF WINNING ON THIS EMAIL ID ONLY :- (ukclaimchvy@outlook.com)

For those who are aware of the internet and the types of internet frauds, the above is nothing new. But for those who are innocent new comers, these are potential dangers.

When a gullible person replies with the personal details, the clever fraud masters behind the scenes use that information for various purposes. In the beginning they may reply you appearing as genuine as possible and make you provide more information and personal data which will finally land you in bigger problems. They might use the data to manipulate your bank accounts and many other such fraudulent acts which only fraudsters can think of.

So, dear reader! Beware of such phishing (unauthorized attempt to gain confidential personal information for fraudulent use later) attempts. Do not get in to the trap, even when the mails and messages appear very genuine.

It is also very important to keep in mind that no banks or financial agencies send you emails of SMS compelling you to part with personal data. In case you receive such a message, make it doubly sure from the concerned office about the genuineness of that mail or message.

You may also read the warnings given by the police authorities of a few other countries such as the UK, Australia , India and  Canada.

If you notice some thing of a very serious kind of fraud, you may make a complaint with the Serious Fraud Investigation Office in India.