Moksha

In Indian religions and Indian philosophy, moksha (Sanskrit: मोक्ष mokṣa), also called vimoksha, vimukti and mukti, means emancipation, liberation or release. In the soteriological and eschatological sense, it connotes freedom from saṃsāra, the cycle of death and rebirth. In the epistemological and psychological sense, moksha connotes freedom, self-realization and self-knowledge.

In Hindu traditions, moksha is a central concept and included as one of the four aspects and goals of human life; the other three goals are dharma (virtuous, proper, moral life), artha (material prosperity, income security, means of life), and kama (pleasure, sensuality, emotional fulfillment). Together, these four aims of life are called Puruṣārtha in Hinduism.

The concept of moksha is found in Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism. In some schools of Indian religions, moksha is considered equivalent to and used interchangeably with other terms such as vimoksha, vimukti, kaivalya, apavarga, mukti, nihsreyasa and nirvana. However, terms such as moksha and nirvana differ and mean different states between various schools of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. The term nirvana is more common in Buddhism, while moksha is more prevalent in Hinduism.

Moksha (festival)

Moksha, the annual cultural festival of Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology (NSIT), University of Delhi, started in 2003. It is organised in the month of March. Moksha is a four-day national cultural extravaganza held at NSIT every even semester of the academic year of the college, with the most popular events being Hasya-Kavi Sammelan, Qawwali, Choreography, Fashion show, Pop Show, Rock Show and the Star Night amongst others. It is considered to be one of the biggest cultural fests of New Delhi and attracts sponsorships from top corporate houses of India like TCS, Intel and Airtel. The fest is attended by colleges from all over India and has enjoyed the presence of big names from within and across borders, like Edward Maya, KK, Akcent, and Strings, the Pakistani band.

Popularity

Moksha involves participation from many colleges from all over India, making it one of the largest college festival of north India. Some of the events are also featured on popular TV and radio channels creating a large outreach. Every year Moksha witnesses a footfall of more than 20,000 at events and competitions that are covered by both print and electronic media. There are plethora of competitions organised witnessing participation from all over Delhi University to IIMs. There is activity, drama and vivaciousness at every nook and cranny of the campus during the three – day festival. The mega events – "Mudra" and "Rouge" – undergo various rounds of selection to cherry-pick the best four for the finale from multitude of dynamic participants. The theater – fest attracts teams from colleges all over DU, be it Hindu, Ramjas or Maitreyi. The popularity of the fest can be measured from the fact – MTV as Media Partner, with Video Jockey Gaelyn covering various events. This further leads to a soaring popularity of Moksha amongst the youth. Recent presence of Akcent in 2014 had people thronging the campus from every corner of Delhi. It is not an event – it is an experience!

Moksha (2001 film)

Moksha, also known as Moksha: Salvation, is a 2001 Bollywood film produced and directed by Ashok Mehta and starring Manisha Koirala and Arjun Rampal as the lead pair. The film launched the career of actor Arjun Rampal as well as gave a boost to Manisha Koirala's already successful career. Ashok Mehta won the National Film Award for Best Cinematography.

Plot

The story is about law graduate Vikram Saigal (Arjun Rampal) who is not happy with his lot at all. He is very idealistic and wants to battle corruption and society and change the world.

A young girl, Ritika (Manisha Koirala) takes a fancy to him and goes all out to woo him, at first he rejects her advances and eventually he gives in after she presents him with an expensive painting and they become a couple.

His idealism includes him wanting to set up a "free for the poor" law service, but he finds it impossible to find any other like-minded lawyers. His boss and his father (Suresh Oberoi) think he's too young and naïve to fully understand the implications of giving free legal services and he becomes more and more disillusioned and plans how to rob a bank to get money to set up his free legal institute.