Dandakaaranya

Why muslims dont like history?

2009-09-09T00:21:00.005+05:30

Let us consider this known, verified, and accepted bit of history lesson from wikipedia:

"Afzal Khan, after leaving Bijapur desecrated Hindu temples at Tuljapur and Pandharpur. He planned to get an emotionally overwrought Shivaji Maharaj to retaliate with his limited military resources, and thus lead him and his budding military power to easy destruction by the numerically superior, better armed and a more professional Bijapur army. However, Shivaji Maharaj had other ideas and he sent a letter saying he was not eager to face Afzal Khan and sought some type of understanding. Shivaji Maharaj upon carefully weighing his options, strategically decided to confront and surprise Afzal Khan under the guise of diplomatic negotiations. A meeting was arranged between Afzal Khan and Shivaji Maharaj at the foothills of Fort Pratapgad.^[6]

Wagh nakh

Shivaji Maharaj, armed himself with weapons like bichwa (dagger), wagh nakh (tiger claw) and chilkhat (chain-mail armour) prior to the meeting. What transpired during the meeting was not recorded by scribes, but folklore has it that Afzal Khan embraced Shivaji per their custom and attempted to stab Shivaji in the back. Shivaji's agility, strength and his armour help to save him and then Shivaji counter attacked Afzal Khan with a wagh nakh and bich'hwa, spilling his blood and entrails on the ground. Thereupon Afzal Khan's bodyguard Sayyed Banda responding to this incident attacked Shivaji but was intercepted by Jiva Mahala, Shivaji Maharaj's personal bodyguard, cutting off one of Sayyed Banda's hands with a Dandpatta (Pata-a medieval weapon). Afzal Khan stumbled out of the tent to get help and collapsed into a waiting palanquin, but was attacked and slain by Shivaji Maharaj's associate Sambhaji Kavji Kondhalkar, before he could raise an alarm."

So when Indians put up a huge poster showing just that, during Ganesha navarathi, there should be no problem, because they are just showing what happened. Nothing extra. Then how the hell did these happen (notice the actual poster towards the end of the third video)?

Please note that this incident is neither unprecedented nor sporadic. These incidents occur regularly during Indian fesitval season.

Updates (from Satyameva jayate):

Below are links to recent (last few weeks) incidents of desecration of Hindu icons (pl. read this post to understand why I have deliberately and consciouly used the word “icon” in place of “idol”):

Lord Krishna’s broken Murthy in Ahmedabad, 17 Aug 2009

Idol desecration triggers tension, Bangalore, 23 Aug 2009

Lord Shiva desecrated, Mangalore 17 Jul 2009

Gang desecrates Ganesha in Tamil Nadu, 25 Aug 2009

This is my explanation:
Muslims would never want us Indians (Hindus) to feel proud of our icons. If someone tries that, they will use any possible means--political lobbying, emotional-blackmail, or even direct violence. What is the result of that? Get this---we cant celebrate our festival, in our way, in our own country! That is what Islam is doing to India! Is it time to get up and stop putting up with this shit yet?

More news on "Love Jihad"

2009-09-05T14:20:00.001+05:30

Jihadis target Kerala women

Balbir K Punj

The allegation that Muslim men entice Hindu women into marriage for reasons other than love and as part of an Islamist conspiracy is usually dismissed as insidious Sangh Parivar communal propaganda. But a recent chance investigation by Kerala Police has brought out some ugly details.

The August 31 issue of Kerala’s foremost newspaper, Malayala Manorama, carried an extensive report on how a Pakistan-based terrorist organisation is planning, abetting and financing the enticement of college students from different communities in the State to become cannon fodder for its jihad in India. The report terms such young women as ‘love bombs’.

The modus operandi is very clever. Muslim youth in Kerala are employed by the terrorists to entice these young women. Handsome and dashing young men are selected and fully financed to have cars, motorbikes, the most expensive clothes and lots of cash. Their job is to move in groups, select their prey and then get the women to elope with them on the promise of marriage and a great life abroad.

After days of romancing, the women begin to believe that they have found their ‘Prince Charming’. Once they elope, a marriage is registered before a notary and then the woman is whisked away from place to place. The victim thinks that she has to undergo this to evade her parents who would be searching for her.

Hide-outs include places like Hyderabad that have a significant Muslim population. The victim is not allowed contact with any outsider and is subjected to propaganda videos that eulogise jihad and promise the ultimate victory of Islam. Though the racket has been going on for some years and several complaints of missing girls have been lodged with Kerala Police, the latter has ignored them, saying that the women had actually eloped out of their free will and, therefore, they could not do anything.

The racket came to light when one of the victims turned out to be the daughter of a ranking police officer and another somehow managed to send word to her parents about the reality of her situation. The parents in the second case approached the High Court with a habeas corpus petition that led the court to order the police to produce the victim before it. The plea that the woman had eloped on her own and that she was now legally married did not convince the court and it ordered that she be allowed to stay with her parents for a week before it again examined the case. After a week, the woman told the court the truth.

The police have now discovered a kidnapping racket to provide recruits to Pakistani terror outfits through ‘Love Jihad’. Further investigations have revealed that all over India some 4,000 young women have been recruited in this manner to be trained against their will as terrorists and suicide bombers. In Kerala alone the police suspect that over 500 women have fallen victim to the ‘Love Jihad’ racket.

more in the article...

Monkeying in Mehdipatnam

2009-08-29T21:05:00.009+05:30

I thought this piece of news would be just another one of those "See! I told you they were like this" sort of thing to be shoven right up the bottoms of the humanists, communists and other anti-Bharat (i.e., anti-Hindu) elements.

But as it turns out, the whole news is really out of this world, the sort of Rajni-ish "minnnd-blowwinggg I sayyy!"

Where do we even begin!!

1) First of all, what is the definition of a hard-core Hindu college? The way it is put shows that "hard-core Hindu" is something dangerous and best shunned. Creating villians out of your average Indian, that is! Hence, the conclusion:
dont be a hard-core Hindu! Be soft (hence the pink)-- sacrifice religious principles to accomodate 'others'.

But will the others reciprocate? We shall soon see!

I now can hear our poor humanists getting ready for their weekly dose of sheer-khurma.

2) The comment the principal had made was

"the students were spending more time in Mosques than with their books".

Now, for a moment, lets replace the word "Mosque" with "Temple". The statement just means what the elders remark the young ones act too smart-- "The Power up there wont help you when you dont help yourself". Studying is as (or more) important that spending time worshipping a deity. I dont even have to say anything about the Goddess Saraswati blessing those who work hard at studies. The implication here is straight-forward and innocent. But you just read the sentence again with the Mosque in it, and it becomes a "religious-discrimination" issue. Amazing how they get away with it.

And I now hear our poor humanists smelling their weekly dose of sheer-khurma.

3) And if a college that is just supposed to offer education for money follows its rules strictly without any affiliation to religion, how should it matter who is the majority? Obviously the management is Hindu because of the name (Vani College). So why should that mean that they would discriminate against Muslims when they are in minority? And Why should that mean that they would bend their rules when Muslims are in majority?

And I now hear our poor humanists licking their lips at the sight of their weekly dose of sheer-khurma.

4) Now this takes the cake surely-- notice the sequence of events and reaction by our very own Hyderabadi-Muslims:

a) A (possibly burqa-clad) muslim girl elopes with a boy (hopefully Muslim.. I would not wish to have Love-Jihadis among us Hindus), and they protest against

"the failure of the college management to react to the abduction of a girl student".

b) And the management reacts, and bans burqa so that its easy to identify and keep an eye on girls. Now, they throw tantrums and charge that

the principal has been berating them for wearing burqa for over a week saying that it did not comply with the uniform (salwar kameez) worn by other students.

c) And when the principal rightfully asks

"why are you wearing burqa when you are not particular about keeping your modesty"

they cry:

"These comments are too much to bear. The principal’s attitude irked us and hence we decided to take help from our parents."

Wow! These "parents" must be the ones who have been feeding sheer-khurma to my beloved humanists. Instead of appreciating the reasons behind the principal's decision, they join in the stone-pelting!

Imagine if you were the Vani college's management-- the first thing you would wonder is--
"what the hell is the core issue here?"
i)Is it about late-comers throwing tantrums?
ii)Is it about a girl eloping with a guy ?
iii)Is it about managment's reaction to an abduction that allegedly took place in college premises ?
iv)Is it about 300 people gathering at a college and indulging in stone-pelting?
v) Is it about minority-discrimination in our country?

Notice how the issues mentioned above are in an ascending order of complexity and gravity. How did an issue that started off as i and ii end up at v in just a week? What sort of an event would make you (yes, I mean you personally) to gang up with others, go to a college and pelt stones at it?
---------------

Now, for a word about our "anal"yst friend of the last paragraph:

"girls are girls, Hindu or Muslim. Their aspirations will be the same. Young girls will want to mingle with young boys, whether they wear burqa or not. Obviously, the principal is unable to appreciate this. She wants to say why are you friends with boys when you wear a burqa? This is the genesis of the trouble."

Sooper no! Now, lets think about it--
To stop girls eloping with boys in college premises, I can do two things--
i) Either completely isolate boys and girls while on college premises, which our "anal"yst thinks is not correct because we need to appreciate the aspirations of young girls (Hindu, or Muslim-- the bastard has the cheek to bring Hindu girls into this conflict, while totally unnecessary!),
ii) Or atleast ban the burqa so that I can keep an eye on the girls from afar, which is also not acceptable to our "anal"yst because they would still want to mingle with boys, so its useless (I dont understand the logic, but hey, he is an "anal"yst!)

What he doesnt say is what the management ought to do in case a girl elopes with a guy! Will he go and help cool down the crisis? Will he stop the issue from fireballing into a major one?
Or will he continue his armchair "anal"ysis from his, well, armchair ? And by the way, does he also "anal"yse my poor humanists' sheer khurma?

No! That is not the sound of inevitability, but of our very own poor humanists burping after their weekly dose of sheer-khurma...

After reading the whole thing, when I scrolled back to the top, I noticed these words in the very beginning of the article:

"Trouble erupted in Muslim dominated Mehdipatnam"

Yup! Thats it! Thats all I had needed to know! What a waste of time...

Know Your Eminences- II: Shahi Imam who?

2009-08-12T01:10:00.012+05:30

A pious muslim once said:
"We were rulers here for 800 years. Inshaallah, we shall return to power here once again.''
and
"I do not want that Kashmir should remain in India."
and
"I am the biggest agent of Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI in India and if Indian Government dares to arrest him, it will see the consequences."

But then, this was not some fanatic on the fringes...

This was 12th Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid.

A very important man.

And a very powerful man.

Powerful enough to bravely attend the funeral of two terrorists when their very own families stayed away:
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/shahi-imam-attends-burial-of-terrorists-families-stay-away/364622/

And from the google cache of Rajya Sabha website, quoting S.S.Ahluwahlia:

SHRI S.S. AHLUWALIA: The Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Delhi, Abdulla Bukhari convened a mass meeting in Ramlila Grounds on 21^st April, 2000. It was named as "Majhab Bachao Rally". I felt very much aggrieved to hear his speech. His speech should be condemned in severest terms. I am a nationalist Sikh. His utterances have deeply hurt the feelings of each and every citizen of India. His speech smacks of treason. Shri Abdulla Bukhari has openly stated in his speech that he is the biggest agent of Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI in India and if Indian Government dares to arrest him, it will see the consequences.

When the religious head of the sacred Jama Masjid says this thing before a gathering of thousands of people, he is harming the country and also the people who are being represented by him. The Muslim society has a respectable place in this country. There is a long list of those Muslims in this country whose rich contribution to our religious, cultural, literacy and social heritage makes every Indian feel proud of them. Even the Islam would not approve these anti-motherland speeches of the Shahi Imam. The Shahi Imam in his speech made at the Ramlila ground has said that there is the Indian forces’ hand in the killing of 35 innocent people in Chatti Singh Pura. I disagree to it. Such activities fan the communal passions. If we do not check such speeches, we will find that the communal passions are waiting in the wings to disintegrate the country into many pieces.

And now, some unconfirmed reports:
1) From http://www.hvk.org/articles/0401/99.html:
"In an interview to a Delhi-based daily 'Shahi' Imam of Jama Masjid, Sayed Ahmed Bukhari, has gone to the extent of saying that now he did not want Kashmir to remain a part of India. "Ab hu nahim chahate kashmir Hindustan je saath rahe. Mera zamir isko bardast nahin karta (Now I do not want that kashmir should remain in India. My conscience does not allow it)". He added that he wanted at least one Muslim dominaed state in India."

2) From http://www.kashmir-information.com/ConvertedKashmir/Chapter25.html
On April 8, 1988 Shahi Imam of Jamia Masjid, Delhi, delivered a speech after a Friday prayer congregation in a mosque in Anantnag. He blew up all the laws and practices of the Constitution of India by his bigotry. The congregated Kashmiri Muslims were advised to take up arms in the name of Jehad. He even blessed the birth right of Kashmiris to have an Islamic state while creating a pro-Pakistan atmosphere. While supporting the Muslim youhts, fight for their rights, Imam Sahib equated them with true Muslims meaning thereby that a true Muslim is he who is anti-India, who treats Islam higher than the nation and who snap their ties with the country's culture, history and traditions.

No wonder, when such desha-bhaktas die, our leaders glorious tributes to this great persona:
http://www.hindu.com/2009/07/09/stories/2009070960791200.htm

President Pratibha Patil and Vice-President Hamid Ansari have condoled the death. Mr. Ansari said the Shahi Imam would remain a lasting exemplar of selfless service and had an impressive record of religious service to the people.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit described him as a great Islamic scholar who raised his voice to protect the interests of the poor. Pradesh Congress Committee president J.P. Agarwal said the former Shahi Imam had a deep bond with the capital and he respected all religions.

Know Your Eminences- I: Zakir who?

2009-08-12T00:49:00.007+05:30

This is the famous Zakir Naik for you:

Thats not all:

But then, why do those who offer "sheer khurma" to our very own humanist brothers (and of course, humanist brothers pay it back with their "why not try one night with a muslim family? There are like us too" advert) dont speak up against these types?. Here is a simple answer:

But our own NDTV is getting cozy with the guy who publicly says that
1) Saudi Arabia is right in banning the right to worship of other religions,
2) Apostasy is punishable by death, and
3) Every Muslims should be a terrorist:

BLOW TO ATTEMPTS TO FORM NEO-LTTE

2009-08-08T16:07:00.002+05:30

This article is a good example of what is generally called 'pre-emption'. We can learn a lot about the commitment and effort to eradicate terrorism, of the tiny island beneath us.

INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM MONITOR---PAPER NO 548

B.RAMAN

The post-Prabakaran attempts by some never-say-die sections of the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora across the world to resurrect the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) suffered a blow on August 6,2009, when the Malaysian security agencies handed over to their Sri Lankan counterparts Kumaran Pathmanathan (known as KP), whom they had reportedly picked up from a hotel a few hours earlier.

2. It was suspected by investigation and intelligence agencies for some years that KP was residing in Malaysia and operating clandestinely from there with the help of LTTE sympathisers in the local Tamil community-----of Sri Lankan as well as Indian origin. For nearly 20 years he was a great asset to Prabakaran and the LTTE not because of any special political acumen he had, but because of his ability to work clandestinely without attracting much public attention to himself.

3. He emerged as the alleged main brain behind the LTTE's vast arms procurement, gun running, arms piracy from ships in mid-sea,money-laundering and commercial shipping network. The LTTE would not have been able to develop its capability as a conventional fighting force to the extent it did but for his alleged clandestine work. In connection with this, he travelled frequently and extensively in South-East Asia, East Europe and South Africa. He kept way from West Europe (except Greece and Cyprus) and North America for fear of being caughtby the local intelligence agencies, but from his base in Malaysia he allegedly guided the arms procurement and money-laundering networks in those areas too.

4. The fact that Prabakaran gave him a free hand in handling the cash flows from the shiping fleet, alleged narcotics smuggling and alleged extortions from the members of the Tamil diaspora and in negotiating the prices of the arms and in arranging the shipping schedules indicated the confidence he had in KP.

5. It used to be alleged that the Malaysian authorities avoided acting against him because of the support enjoyed by him in sections of the local Tamil community. His low profile and his ability to keep his mouth shut helped him in ensuring that the local security agencies would not act against him.

6. All this changed in January this year when Prabakaran appointed him as the in-charge of the international relations department of the LTTE. One does not know why Prabakaran chose him for this job. Outside Malaysia, KP had no political contact. He was not a well-known and well-respected figure in the international community of human rights organisations. He could not have travelled to the West without fear of being arrested. He was no Anton Balasingham. Nor was he a Thamilselvan. He was allegedly in some aspects a Sri Lankan Tamil version of Dawood Ibrahim. Dawood is a mafia leader. KP is not. But Dawood and KP allegedly had similar capabilities for gun running and money-laundering.

7. After his nomination to this post, the previously discreet and low-profile KP became increasingly high profile. He started interacting with journalists and non-governmental organisations from his safe sanctuary in South-East Asia. After the death of Prabakaran, he became the self-promoted head of a group of Sri Lankan Tamils in the diaspora, who tried to resurrect the LTTE as an organisation wedded to the same objective of an independent Tamil Eelam as was the organisation headed by Prabakaran, but advocating a non-violent movement to achieve this objective.

8. One does not know what real following he commanded in the diaspora and who were the people prepared to support him.However, one knows that there are elements in the diaspora who continue to hope that the LTTE will rise again like Phoenix and resume the march to the goal of an independent Eelam. Probably, some of them rallied round him.

9. The Sri Lankan Government was interested in getting him even before KP started this move for a neo-LTTE. The Sri Lankan agencies' campaign against the LTTE was not over with its defeat and the decimation of most of its leadership.A lot of work still remains to be done like identifying its supporters in the diaspora and its secret bank accounts abroad and getting them frozen, identifying the various arms smuggling channels exploited by it and determining how the LTTE succeeded in smuggling the clandestinely procured weaponry, including the aircraft,into Tamil territory without being detected by the intelligence agencies of different countries, including India and Sri Lanka.

10. There is a need for a total and painstaking reconstruction of how the LTTE operated abroad and how it was able to acquire the position it did. Such a reconstruction would not be possible without a thorough interrogation of KP. The Sri Lankan authorities, therefore, mounted a diplomatic drive for getting hold of KP. This drive was focused on South-East Asia. Their drive ultimately succeeded and the Malaysian authorities reportedly picked him up and handed him over to Sri Lanka.

11. His thorough interrogation would be necessary not only for finding out about the past, but also for finding out about the future plans of the die-hard elements in the diaspora.

12. The Government of India should be interested in interrogating him in connection with the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in May,1991, and the attempted gun-running by the LTTE from Pakistan in 1993 in an LTTE ship in which Kittu was travelling. When an Indian Coast Guard ship intercepted it, the crew set fire to the ship,which went down.Kittu and some others chose to go down with the ship. Some others tried to escape and were arrested. The full story of this incident of gun-running by the LTTE from Pakistan is not yet known. KP may also know about any arms procurement cell of the LTTE still present in South India, but dormant. (8-8-09)

( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd),Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and,presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )

Remember Sadhvi and Purohit?

2009-08-01T18:18:00.002+05:30

Anyone remembers those 'saffron terrorists'?

Well, not a single mention of this recent news (otherwise breaking news) by any of the news channels!

Muslims denigrate ‘Shiva-linga’ in Akola

2009-07-25T20:45:00.004+05:30

Well, well!! The Somnath plunder incident occured more than 1000 years ago and to many secularists and humanists, this would be something out of the history books. And history, thanks to the American materialism, has become more like a fantasy. Remember Marsellus in Pulp Ficton: "I'ma get medieval on your ass?" Yes, medieval is some sort of fantasy parallel world thats not supposed to be 'real'.

But then, the Somnath plunder incident
1) was not definitely the first of its kind,
2) was not defnitely the last of its kind,
3) was not an exclusive feature of only that age.

Incidents like these, have happened till the late 18th century, during the british rule at the end of 19th century, in the living memory of many of our grand-parents in the early 20th century and well documented evidence after independence.

Nevertheless, here goes:

Muslims Denigrate 'Shiva-Linga' in Akola, Maharashtra

Growing insolence in Muslims owing to Congress appeasement! O Hindus, be prepare to Save Temples from ant-Hindus to serve Hindu Dharma!

Akola (Maharashtra): Fanatic Muslims burst in Sopinath Temple and denigrated Shiva-linga, idol of ‘Nandi (the vehicle of Lord Shiva)’ and the trident while raising slogans of ‘Allah Ho Akbar’. They also attacked brutally the priest of the temple. (Hindus must note that the attack by insolent Muslims are on the rise; and it is time that the Hindus carry weapons which are permitted by law to restrain the Muslims! – Editor SP)

Hundreds of enraged Hindus took to the road that caused tension in the area. (Hindus must eradicate Congress in the forthcoming elections as it has created Pakistan-like conditions in this country! – Editor SP) Both the factions have lodged complaints against each other. Cases have been filed against 9 persons out of whom 5 have been arrested.

A gang of 10-15 fanatic Muslims went to the temple on Tuesday in the evening and started beating up Seetaram Chavan, the priest. (How can Muslims dare to hit a Hindu priest in India where Hindus are supposed to be in majority ? – Editor SP)

Later, several youths from both the groups took to the road. Police have arrested 3 Muslims based on the complaint lodged by Chavan. (How only 3 Muslims have been arrested when there were 10-15 fanatic Muslims involved in the attack ? – Editor SP) One Muslim young woman was asked to lodge a complaint with the police against the priest implicating him in the case of eve-teasing. Due to this complaint, police took into custody even Chavan and Deepak Phulari. (Police are prompt in taking action against Hindus ! – Editor SP)

Source: Dainik sanatan Prabhat

A minor setback to the Xtian vassal

2009-07-25T20:19:00.006+05:30

Andhra High Court stays state funding of Christian pilgrimage

Hyderabad, July 22 (IANS): The Andhra Pradesh High Court Wednesday stayed a state government order providing financial assistance to Christians for pilgrimage to Bethlehem, Jerusalem and other places connected with the life of Jesus Christ.

While staying the order issued last year, a division bench headed by Chief Justice A.R. Dave ruled that the government should not spend public money for any pilgrimage.

The court order came on a public interest litigation challenging the constitutional validity of the order issued by the minorities welfare department July 21 last year.

The petitioner argued that a secular state cannot fund pilgrimage to Jerusalem and other holy places. He contended that the Indian Constitution in Article 266 clearly states how the funds of state could be spent.

Under the order, the state government had announced a financial assistance of Rs.20,000 to each Christian pilgrim undertaking seven-day tour to Jordan and Israel.

The first batch of 51 Christian pilgrims had undertaken the pilgrimage with the government assistance in November last year. The total cost of the pilgrimage was Rs.56,000 for each pilgrim.

The pilgrimage includes visit to Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Nazareth, Jordan River, Dead Sea and Sea of Galilee and other important places connected with the life of Jesus Christ.

The state government had allocated Rs.20 million for the purpose in the 2008-09 budget.

Made In America?

2009-07-19T23:23:00.001+05:30

A thought-provoking comment on money.cnn

John Smith started the day early having set his alarm clock (MADE IN JAPAN) for 6am.
While his coffee pot (MADE IN CHINA) was perking, he shaved with his electric razor(MADE IN HONG KONG)
He put on a dress shirt (MADE IN SRILANKA),designer jeans (MADE IN SINGAPORE) and tennis shoes(MADE IN KOREA)
After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet (MADE IN INDIA)
he sat down with his calculator (MADE IN MEXICO)
to see how much he could spend today.After setting his watch (MADE IN TAIWAN)
to the radio (MADE IN INDIA)
he got in his car (MADE IN GERMANY)
filled it with GAS (from Saudi Arabia)
and continued his search for a good paying AMERICAN JOB.
At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day checking his Computer (made in MALAYSIA),
John decided to relax for awhile. He put on his sandals (MADE IN BRAZIL),
poured himself a glass of wine (MADE IN FRANCE)
and turned on his TV (MADE IN INDONESIA),
and then wondered why he can't find a good paying job in AMERICA

Indian Diplomacy

2009-07-15T21:59:00.002+05:30

One couldnt put it better!

Visit of Hilary Clinton to India

By B. Raman

The following is the reply sent by me to an E-mail question from a journalist asking for my reaction to the forthcoming visit of Mrs. Hilary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, to New Delhi for talks with the Indian leaders:

It will be essentially an "ego-massaging" visit. India's inflated ego was hurt when she went to China first in February and spoke in very positive terms about China. She has already embarked on an exercise to introduce correctives.

2. Whatever she might say to please India, the reality is that Pakistan and China are more important to the US at present than India. Pakistan is important for preventing another 9/11 in US homeland and for preventing a catastrophic act of terrorism involving the use of weapons of mass destruction material and China for its economic recovery.

3. Comparatively, India's utility to the US is limited. At the same time, the US cannot ignore India because of its size, its democracy, its economic potential in another 10 years if not now and the vigorous Indian-origin community in the US which is politically more active than the Chinese-origin community.

4. We can expect from her positive statements and gestures, but one cannot say definitely how sincerely-meant they would be. Indians have a weakness for flattery and tend to indulge in wishful-thinking.

5. We have no culture of strategic-thinking and laser-sharp analysis based on cruel facts and figures. But we have a long-ingrained culture of wishful-thinking. All Hillary Clinton has to do is to make a few statements describing India as a great power, praising Mahatma Gandhi, highlighting the impact of Gandhiji on Martin Luther King and Barack Obama, India's IT genius etc, Indians will be quite happy for some months till the next disappointment comes.

6. Americans understand India better than they understand Pakistan and its jihadi hordes. Pakistanis understand the US better than Indians.

7. Hype and flattery will be the defining characteristics of her visit. Indian ego will remain tickled for some months.

8. Ultimately, our people will continue to die at the hands of jihadi terrorists. Pakistan will continue to use terrorism against India to change the status quo in Jammu & Kashmir. Americans will continue to link terrorism with Kashmir.

They are showing us, how its done.

2009-06-09T15:21:00.002+05:30

Kudos to Lankans! Thats how you do it! Wish we were doing it as well...

Lanka Buddhists take on Church
--Sandhya jain.

Lion-hearted Sri Lanka leads by example once again. It was the first nation in the post-World War II era to elect a woman Prime Minister; then it became the first nation to spurn ineffective external intermediaries in a fratricidal war and launch a concerted armed effort to end violent secessionism once and for all.

Now, the island’s Buddhist religious leadership has risen to redeem the Indic tradition by repudiating inter-faith dialogue and demanding national legislation against conversions. India would do well to take a leaf out of Sri Lanka’s book, given the mischief Christian colonial powers are wreaking in our neighbourhood: Myanmar, Nepal, Tibet, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and of course, Iraq.

Sri Lanka’s Joint Committee of Buddhist Organisations wants re-introduction of the stalled Bill on Prohibition of Forcible Conversion of Religion (LDO/INC/7/2004). This is being criticised by Christian bodies, and 24 mainline Christian leaders, including 18 Catholic Bishops and retired Bishops, the Anglican Bishop of Colombo, Baptist Sangamaya, Presbyterian Church and Salvation Army have appealed to parliamentarians against it.

They contend that the proposed Bill will undermine the democratic right of religious freedom to choose a religion according to one’s conscience; prevent Christians and adherents of all religions to stand with the affected and serve one another for fear of legal consequences in spite of their innocence; and, provoke more inter-religious suspicion, tension and conflict than resolve them. They claim that all religions in Sri Lanka have originated outside the island nation, and that over the centuries, the Christian Church and Christians have become an intrinsic part of the social fabric.

This mischievous re-packing of the colonial Aryan-Dravidian divide insinuates Hinduism and Buddhism as imports from India (with ‘Dravidian’ Tamils as Hindus). This has been rebuffed by Mr Gamini Perera and Ms Chitra Wijesekera, co-conveners of the JCBO. They contend that the Christian Church has emanated from a colonial background of repression and cannot equate itself with Buddhism, which has moulded the life, culture and traditions of the country for over 2,550 years.

The JCBO says the barbaric manner in which different brands of Christianity have spread is well-documented. Despite this, tolerant Buddhist rulers and people have permitted other believers to merge with the national social fabric and even protected the Catholic community when hunted by Dutch Protestants, offering temple premises for religious activities. Similar asylum was given to Muslims attacked by the British. All religions enjoy all privileges only because of the magnanimity of the Buddhists.

Addressing Christian leaders directly, the JCBO says some of their major activities are directed at expanding Christianity through questionable means. Their commendable humanitarian services stand marred by subtle, long-term strategies to attract people of other religions to their faith.

Christians have established good educational infrastructure and turned this to undue advantage by alluring non-Christian parents to accept immoral conditions for the admission of their wards to Christian schools, even though many schools receive sizeable public funds. In India too, Christian NGOs corner governmental aid in the name of their developmental expertise, and the possible misuse of these funds has never been probed.

Mr Gamini Perera and Ms Chitra Wijesekera charge that the Church has never denounced or took action against Catholic Bishops with LTTE links. In fact, the activities of some senior members of the Christian clergy are aimed at breaking up the nation; even today, some Christian leaders’ statements are unduly biased in favour of the LTTE.

The JCBO has openly charged various churches of synchronising their myriad activities to achieve the objective of Christianising the Buddhist world. The late Pope John Paul II said when he visited India: “The task ahead of the Church is the evangelising of Asia during this millennium.” Way back in 1940, Rt Rev Lakdasa De Mel, on elevation as Assistant Bishop of the Anglican Church, had asserted: “The task of the Church in Ceylon will not be finished till the remaining 90 per cent of the population, who are not Christian, are converted.”

The Buddhist leaders rejected Christian concerns about the anti-conversion Bill, pointing out that original Bill had been placed before the Supreme Court and after two full days of comprehensive arguments by both sides, the court determined that its main contents were acceptable, barring a few amendments necessary to qualify it to be passed by ordinary majority in Parliament; these have been attended to since. The Bill has no provisions to prevent acting according to one’s conscience or make one who does so an offender.

But, and here lies the rub, it designates as offenders those who convert or attempt to convert by force, allurement or fraud, or aid and abet such conversions. The Buddhist clergy forcefully asserts that it does not accept “Sri Lankan society as presently constituted as a pluralistic society, but this notwithstanding, the Bill in no way undermines or tampers with the right to one’s conscience”. There are, it points out, special protections to ensure frivolous actions are not brought before a court. Clearly, six decades of dominant Western political rhetoric is meeting its Waterloo in Sri Lanka.

Batting valiantly for the Buddhist-Hindu ethos, the JCBO alleges that inter-religious tension is rising because of the activities of evangelical churches, better known as fundamentalist Christian groups. This was admitted by Bishop Malcolm Ranjith, Secretary-General of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, in a letter to the Ministry of Cultural and Religious Affairs in May 2000.

Christian fundamentalists boldly oppose Buddhist monks defending the freedom of religion of Buddhists targeted for unethical conversions; monks are often subjected to threats and violence. In northern Sri Lanka, where Christian churches have long had a privileged presence, an alarmingly large number of helpless Hindus have been pushed to change their faith. In India, Hindu monks defending the underprivileged against forced conversions are shot to death (Shanti Kaliji, Agartala; Swami Laxmanananda, Kandhamal) or hacked to pieces (Swami Ramcharan Das, Puri).

The Buddhist clergy maintains that 80 per cent Sri Lankans are legitimately aggrieved at the absence of a law against unethical conversions. Rejecting the Christian plea for an Inter-Religious Council to discuss conversions because the goal of the Church to evangelise the entire region is unchanged, it has urged Parliament to debate the Bill and take it to its logical conclusion. India needs a dose of such clear thinking and bold affirmation in defence of its civilisational ethos.

The thing called 'secularism': Part-II

2009-05-05T14:13:00.005+05:30

...contd from Part-I:

And so it was that a wonderful system that was meant to last for eternity was destroyed. Of course, now is the time to extract parallels between the parable and the real world:

The deity: A role model for all secularists, symbolising Secularism itself.
The Tiger: Indian Abrahamist
The Cow: Indian (Hindu)
The Fox: Foreign Abrahamist

To Conclude, all of that long parable can be put more entertainingly in this ending sequence from Andaz Apna Apna:

Prem realises that the gun he holds has no bullets, and he promptly lets Amar know of this. All the gundaas pick up their guns and tables are turned, yet again. Crime Master Gogo is devastatingly angry at Amar and Prem and is ready to kill them both...

Crime Master Gogo: Teri Akhri Khwaish kya hai Kaliya?
Amar: May, marne se pehle, ek bar isko (Prem ko) peetna chahta hu.
Prem: Nahi, may marne se pehle pitna nahi chahta.
Amar: Nahi, Please Gogo maibaap, may isko peetna chahta hu.
Prem: Nahi, Nahi, Nahi!
Crime Master Gogo: do minute ka waqt detahu. Tum (Amar) peet sako to peeto, aur tum (Prem) bach sako to bacho. Action!
----------------------------------------------------------------
The Hindu says, "I dont want to be converted because I love where I am".
But the Abrahamist says, "Its against my religion not to convert."
And so our Secular Indian govt has interpreted something called 'right to religious freedom' in a way that means-- get this right--

"Abrahamists have complete freedom to convert Hindus, and at the same time, Hindus have complete freedom not to get converted."

Did you get that? I am not sure.. let me say that again--

"Abrahamists have complete freedom to convert Hindus, and at the same time, Hindus have complete freedom NOT to get converted."

Thats what secularism does. And if we actually go ahead and impose a blanket ban on conversions, we would be violating one of the basic tenets of Abrahamic religions. They cannot even breathe without evangelism. We would be infringing on their 'right to religious freedom'.

And so my dear secularists, know this-- 'secularism', the thing that you hold on to so dearly, is not wanted in this country.

-----------------------------------------------------

Now, over to America: Guess who are the most vociferous opponents of secularism there? The very people who support secularism here-- proper evangetlist Christians. They never let people to be left alone. They just have to keep proselytising! So why are the against secularism? Because if American Christians are really afraid of something, its neither Islam, nor an irreligious atheistic govt. Its a cult called 'The Latter Day Saint', commonly called Mormons. They are the evangelists of the evangelists. Masters of conversion. Absolute horror to all those presbyterians, Baptists, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, etc--poaching away prized adherents from their sects! Just cant mess with them! And this is why other sects of Christianity oppose secularism in America. They want to be left alone. Does that ring a bell?

The thing called 'secularism': Part-I

2009-04-24T21:15:00.007+05:30

The Parable:
--------------

Once upon a time, the all powerful deity of a land wanted to create a perfect forest, different from others, where everybody would be equal, and there would be no food chain, and so everybody would be happy, an "ideal forest". He created a forest, and named it (for the lack of a better name) Dandakaaranya. In that forest, the Lion and the Deer, the Tiger and the Cow all lived peacefully, feeding upon the food provided by the creater deity. They all loved him and respected him for creating them and giving them such a jolly time.

Then one day, a company of foxes wandered into the forest from elsewhere and begged the deity to live there. They said they were tired of travelling and being hunted by humans. They said they wanted to live out the rest of their lives peacefully, and share their vast knowledge of the world with the idyllic inmates of this vast forest. The diety accepted their request and everybody was happy--the foxes because they found a new home, and other animals because now they had someone new to talk to.

But after a few days, the foxes slowly began murmuring among themselves. The food provided by the diety was not as good as raw meat that they wanted. Actually, they stopped in this forest mostly because they wanted to eat tasty meat of the Deer, the Cow, and the Rabbit. The murmur quickly grew into loud arguments and even dissent and rebellion. The leader then thought for a while, and he got an idea.

One night, he led a few of his followers and hunted a couple of nice tasty Rabbits. Then they invited their friends the Tigers for lunch the next day. There was a lot of celebration and dance and song. The Tigers were amazed at the number of songs and the number of languages the foxes knew and the they felt they were strangely rustic. They wanted to be like the Foxes-- dance like them, sing like them, talk like them.

Then the leader of the Tigers went upto his counterpart and wanted to know how they had got to be so intelligent and smart. The leader of Foxes came forward and offered them the raw meat of the two Rabbits and told them that raw meat has unmatched qualities and it was what made them so intelligent. The Tigers recognised the two Rabbits as the young sons of their good friend and neighbour, the Rabbit, but they were too preoccupied with becoming smarter. So each of them ate a piece of the Rabbit.

As the raw meat and blood went down their food pipe, the Tigers began to feel strangely new and strong sensations. They began to think they are the actual masters of the forest. The deity had got it all wrong. He was really holding them back. They just had to reach out and grab the respectful position they deserved. But this feeling quickly faded away as they swallowed the piece of meat they were chewing. They wanted more.

On their request, the Foxes magnanimously ran out and brought two more Rabbits, freshly hunted. These tasted even better, but this was clearly not enough... they wanted more. They felt an unknown hunger. Some were snarling at the Foxes, and some arguing with each other, and yet some others were looking hither and thither, to see if they can try their hand at this thing called hunting.

And one of them, who could not hold himself ran wild and attacked his friend the Cow, who was peacefully grazing. The stunned Cow sprang aside and stared at him in a new light--his long sharp canines, his tongue red with stains of fresh blood, his strong paws with razor sharp claws, and a murderous intention in his eyes, all made his friend look, well, not friendly at all, to say the least. The Cow was scared to death, and did the only thing it could. It prayed to the deity.

The deity appeared and he was furious and sad. His own creation, the Tiger was behaving in a such a shameful way. And he chided the Tiger for this unspeakable, unprecedented, and decrepit act. But the Tiger did not back down. He said that its in the nature of a Tiger to desire and eat raw flesh and that the Deity had been wrong to try to change the nature of things in the Universe. He said that if the deity believed that all the animals in the forest were equal, then he should also respect the right to food of every animal. And the food of the Tiger were of course other smaller animals. He said that this was a universally accepted fact and this was what happening in other forests in the world.

The deity was taken aback. He knew that the Tiger was right. His experiment had horribly gone wrong. If he punished the Tiger, it would only increase his anger and resentment. If he left the Tiger alone, he would surely kill the Cow. If he pushed the reset button and started it all over again, it would be accepting that the whole "ideal forest" thingy was a sham. All the options were leading to breaking of the fundamental principles on which Dandakaaranya was created.

And the deity, crushed by the utter failure of his experiment, vanished into nothingness forever and with him vanished the beautiful forest of Dandakaaranya.

to be contd...

How to dissect a deceptive news report?

2009-04-23T08:45:00.002+05:30

Pure logic. It helps. Really does.

Atleast in matters of courts and Committees formed by Judges, newspapers dont want to publish blatant lies. So they impart their own spin that makes the article look like a proper rebuttal to a casual reader of the paper, but without violating what essentially is the truth.

Here is an example of how to spot such an innocuous, yet malicious article, and dissect it--

The article itself appeared in Hindustan Times. Follow the link to the article and give it only a cursory read for the full effect, and come back to this page.

A blog reader and avid commenter 'Incognito' performs the honour on Sandeep's blog with precision as follows:

Came across the report in Hindustan Times linked by Sudhir above on another blog. This was my comment-

Surprising that it took them one full week to cook up this.

First they lay the ground work by pasting this -
“The Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing major cases of 2002 anti-Muslim Gujarat riots on Tuesday slammed reports that riots witnesses were tutored to give false evidence for exaggeration of the situation, by activists and organisations helping the victims. ”

1. The word they use is - “anti-Muslim Gujarat riots”.

How does then one account for the death of around 300 Hindus if riots were ‘anti-Muslim’ ?

2. Then ‘Gujarat riots’. Attempt to tie Gujarat to riots.

So a phrase ‘riots that occured in Gujarat in 2002‘ that would have conveyed the correct meaning was manipulated to “2002 anti-Muslim Gujarat riots ” to implant in the mind of the reader that -

(a) riots of 2002 were anti-Muslim.
(b) There was no ’cause’ to the riots. It spontaneously happened. No relation to Godhra incident.
(c) Gujarat and riots go together.

3. Next- ‘SIT… slammed reports…’
Whereas rest of the report show that SIT members have not denied what was reported earlier.

So ’slammed’ is meant to give a wrong impression that SIT themselves have denied what was reported earlier as findings of the team.

4. And they conclude with- “…by activists and organisations helping the victims. ”

Ya.
Whatever else you read, mind you, these activists and their organisations were helping the victims.

With this introductory paragraph implanting plenty of contrary-to-truth suggestions in the minds of the reader, they start their report.

Then comes - “The SIT rebuttal followed the alleged leak of its report recently, …”

5. The ‘SIT rebuttal’.

In case the ‘SIT …slammed reports…’ phrase of first para failed to make an impression on you, to reinforce it, is “SIT rebuttal”.

However, in the rest of the report one does not find SIT rebutting anything, only attempting to deflect the reporter.

6. Further, “alleged leak”.

It is only ‘alleged’, implying that truth is something different.
Second, ‘leak’. conveying the idea of untrustworthiness of source.

Thus the ‘reports’ in the first line becomes ‘alleged leaks’ in the second.

Next, this is the best that they could find among what SIT told them- ““The findings of the report have concentrated on the investigations into the cases and it was not our business to indulge in the blame game and level allegations,” a senior SIT official said.”

7. Far from denying what was reported earlier, far from ‘rebutting’, far from ’slamming’, SIT makes a neutral statement, indicating that it was not their business to blame anyone.

No negation of what was reported earlier as findings of the team.

This is what is trumpeted as ’slamming’ ‘rebuttal’ .

Next- “The SIT response to the reported leak came on a day, when the Supreme Court termed the leak as a “betrayal of the faith reposed in those to whom the report was allowed access”.”

So, that was not, after all, an ‘alleged’ or even a ‘reported’ leak.
For the Supreme Court to make such an observation, the leak had to be true.

8. So here we have these fellows attempting to suggest that the earlier report was not based on facts by adding ‘alleged’ and ‘reported’ to ‘leaks’ knowing fully well that the earlier report was based on authentic information.

9. Despite this, the next para tries again to cast aspersions on the veracity of the earlier report by using the words- ‘claimed’, ‘alleged’.

And then- “Asked about the leaked contents of the report, the SIT chief, R. K. Raghavan told Hindustan Times that he could not confirm whether the leaked contents were true.”

10. So where Court and SIT chief is involved, it is straight- the reports were based on leaked contents. not ‘allegedly’ , not ‘claimed’, not ‘reported’, but exactly on ‘leaked contents’.

11. This is the second quote from SIT that they have given which again does not deny the truth in the earlier report.

Is this what is trumpeted as ’slamming’, rebuttal’ ?

The third quote from SIT goes- ““I am answerable only to the Supreme Court. The alleged reported leaks appear to be inspired by dubious motives. I cannot confirm such claims. The act is highly condemnable,” Raghavan said. ”

Again, no denial of what was reported.

Further, by saying “I am answerable only to the Supreme Court.”, Raghavan tells the reporter that he is not intereseted in answering any question put by the reporter.

The rest of the quote reveals discontinuity, as when number of replies are clubbed together. It indicates the possibility that the quote is a contructed one from replies to different questions.

And then one more attempt to cast aspersion of the report-”The SIT sources said the alleged leaks appear to have been based on statements of state police officials and “cannot be termed as findings of the report.” ”

It is ‘SIT sources’ this time, not Raghavan. It could be anyone from the guy who supplied tea to the SIT to the sweeper who cleaned SIT office premises, since the ’source’ is able to only speculate that the ‘leaks appear to have been based on statements of police officials’.

And what all of this unequivocally confirms is that the earlier report was very much based on the SIT report.

Despite this and contrary to facts, the Hindustan Times headlines claim- “Gujarat riots witnesses not tutored: SIT”

When did SIT say that or anything at all to that effect ?

The intention behind this is that a person who casually glances through the news headlines will get the totally wrong impression that ‘Gujarat riots witnesses were not tutored’. And that SIT itself says so.

Next, if he glances at the first two paras, he will only reinforce this wrong impression.

The rest of the report is more of suggestions and insinuations rather than honest reporting.

As many people have the habit of glancing through the headlines, and maybe the first two paras, these tactics are very succesful in spreading misinformation and lies.

The headline, first para and the first line of the second para that cathces the eye of the casual glancer is carefully designed to mislead and misinform.

No wonder these master liars as are found in editorial dens indulge freely in such detestable tactics.

The question is, how does a newspaper such as this that has rather decent circulation get away with this kind of blatant deception ?

Don’t its subscribers deserve truthful reports ?

Why should the newspaper misinform its subscriber who pays him ?

Isn’t it akin to ‘biting the hand that feeds’ ?

Ok. Maybe, there is another ‘hand’ that is feeding these deceptive monsters more than what the subscribers can.

That would explain.

Nevertheless, there are sufficient grounds to file a case of ‘Cheating’ and make these monsters and the ‘hand’s behind them pay for their crimes.

Posted on April 23, 2009 at 7:13 AM.

Aah! So that is how it is done. I must confess that this sort of thing is new to me.

More Truth about Godhra (and Teesta)

2009-04-18T18:03:00.001+05:30

Godhra riot witnesses got Rs 1 lakh each

Navin Upadhyay | New Delhi

Gujarat-based NGO processed payment from CPM relief fund

A controversial Gujarat-based NGO was instrumental in organising payment of Rs 1 lakh each to as many as ten witnesses in various post-Godhra riot cases. The money came from the CPI(M) relief fund and was distributed months before the witnesses deposed in the courts, five years after the clashes took place. Four other eyewitnesses received Rs 50,000 each.

The revelation comes in the backdrop of reports that a host of Gujarat riot case victims were misled into signing affidavits giving false information at the behest of Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), an NGO headed by social activist Teesta Setalvad.

Incidentally, those who were both victims and eyewitnesses received Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000 while the victims got mere Rs 5,000 each. This has raised eyebrows over the selection of beneficiaries and the purpose of paying a disproportionately large sum to the eyewitnesses before the trial.

Chief Coordinator of CJP Rais Khan told The Pioneer that he had submitted the name of beneficiaries to the CPI(M) on instruction from Teesta Setalvad. “Setalvad identified the people and I merely followed her instruction and forwarded the list to CPI (M),” Khan said.

When contacted, Setalvad said she was present at the function on an invitation from the CPI(M) and had nothing to do with fund raising. “It was CPI(M) money and I was a mere guest at the function,” she claimed.

Yasin Naimudin Ansari, one of the eyewitnesses who got one lakh rupees, told The Pioneer on phone from Ahmedabad that he was approached by someone from Teesta Setalvad's organisation. "I vaguely remember this. But I don't remember the name of the person," he said.

The function took place in Ahmedabad on August 26, 2007 and the witnesses were handed out demand drafts by CPI(M) politburo member Brinda Karat, Teesta Setalvad and Rais Khan.

Brinda Karat admitted that the CPI(M) had raised the money, adding that as far the party was concerned it was giving relief to the victims. "Our party is not involved in any court cases involving Gujarat riots, and for us, distributing relief was merely a humanitarian gesture," she said.

Not disputing that she had taken the help of local NGOs to identify the victims, Brinda said, "We had received a lot of applications and money was distributed in different phases."

The 14 DDs (Nos 567540 to 567554 all dated 01/08/2007) were handed over to these witnesses by Teesta, Brinda and Rais Khan. Seven DDs were payable at Ahmedabad and seven at Baroda. Interestingly, one of the recipients is Yasmin Banu Sheikh, the estranged wife of Zahira Sheikh's brother Nafitullah.

The Pioneer is in possession of letters written by beneficiaries thanking Brinda, Teesta and Rais Khan for the payment.

Yasmin Banu Ismailbhai Shaikh (aunt of Zahira) of Baroda, who received Rs 50,000 (DD No 567552 dated August 1, 2007). Yasmin is a complainant in case No. 114/04 at Baroda. It is interesting to note that, when no substance was found in her complaint, she was directed to face lie detection test by the court and ever since she has not appeared in the court.

Among the recipients are four Best Bakery case witnesses and nine are appearing as witnesses in Ahmedabad-related Naroda Patia, Shahpur, Khanpur and other 2002 riot cases.

The information has been gleaned through a string of petitions under the Right to Information Act by one H Jhaveri from various agencies, including banks.

The four Best Bakery case witnesses are:

Sailun Hasan Khan Pathan of Ahmedabad who was paid Rs 1 lakh; Tufel Ahmed Habibullah Siddiqui of Baroda who received 50,000; Sehjad Khan Hasan Khan Pathan of Baroda who was paid Rs 50,000 and Rais Khan Amin Khan Pathan of Baroda who too got Rs 50,000.

There are nine witnesses relating to Ahmedabad riots who are testifying in local riot cases. All of them were given Rs 1 lakh and they are: 1.Kureshabibi Harunbhai Ghori of Baroda, witness in case No. 11/02 registered in Khanpur Police Station.

2. Husenabibi Gulambhai Shaikh, also of Baroda and witness in case No. 11/02 filed in Khanpur police station.

3. Rasidabanu Yusufkhan Pathan of Ahmedabad, witness in 2002 riots cases.

4. Fatimabanu Babubhai Saiyyed of Ahmedabad and witness in Case No. 100/02 registered in Shahpur Police Station.

5. Badurnnisha Mohd Ismail Shaikh of Ahmedabad, witness in Case No. 49/03 of Shahpur Police Station.

6. Mohd Khalid Saiyyed Ali Saiyyed of Ahmedabad, witness in Naroda-Patiya case. His first application was registered on March 7, 2008 and second on May 29, 2008.

7. Mohd Yasin Naimuddin Ansari of Ahmedabad, witness in 2002 riots cases.

8.Shaikh Azharuddin Imamuddin of Ahmedabad. During 2002 riots he was injured. At that time he was 10 years.

9. Sarjahah Kausar Ali Shaikh of Baroda. No details available.

List of Victims who were paid Rs 5,000 on 11/10/2007.

Mohammed Rafiq Abukar Pathan , Aslamkhan Anwarkhan Pathan, Pathan Saiyedkhan Ahmedkhan, Imtiyazhhan Saiyedkhan Pathan, Rashidkhan A. Pathan, Sairaben Salimbhai Sanghi, Ashraf Sikandarbhai Sanghi.

Semantics

2009-04-18T15:13:00.004+05:30

What is the difference between a Pogrom and a Riot?

Instead of providing dictionary definitions, let me provide practical examples. Read below for what a Pogrom is like.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

When a big tree fell

Kanchan Gupta

Manmohan Singh and Congress suffer from selective amnesia as they rake up the 2002 Gujarat violence to malign the BJP. But even if they choose to forget the 1984 pogrom that left more than 4,000 Sikhs dead, the story remains fresh in the minds of many, among them survivors waiting for justice for 25 years

Caught on the wrong foot over the brazen manner in which it tried to absolve Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar of the serious charges that have been levelled against them by survivors of the 1984 pogrom that resulted in the slaughter of 4, 733 Sikhs, the Congress has struck back at its principal political adversary, the BJP, by once again raising the bogey of the 2002 post-Godhra violence in Gujarat.

Addressing a Press conference in Mumbai on Monday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who would like people to believe that he was “not informed, not consulted, over the CBI’s clean chit to Jagdish Tytler” although that is an impossibility, has said, “Nor will I be found wringing my hands in frustration while one of my Chief Ministers condones a pogrom targeted at minorities.”

Ironically, even as the Prime Minister was seeking to resurrect the Gujarat ‘pogrom’ and remind people of the ‘atrocities’ committed against Muslims, the Special Investigation Team set up by the Supreme Court and headed by former CBI director RK Raghavan submitted its report, refuting the allegations that have sustained the myth-making aimed at demonising Mr Narendra Modi and tarring the BJP’s image.

The SIT’s report shows Mr Singh’s description of the Gujarat violence as a “pogrom targeted at minorities” is as fanciful as his denial of any knowledge about the CBI exonerating those who are accused of leading murderous mobs during the 1984 violence, planned and executed by Congress ‘leaders’ to avenge the assassination of Mrs Indira Gandhi. Noted writer and veteran journalist Khushwant Singh, recalling those terrible days of 1984, told the Nanavati Commission of Inquiry, set up by the BJP-led NDA Government, that the hideous bloodletting left him “feeling like a Jew in Nazi Germany”.

It is possible that Mr Manmohan Singh has no memories of that massacre; selective amnesia is a disease from which too-clever-by-half politicians tend to suffer. It is also possible that he and his patrons in the Congress believe that by pretending nothing of note happened in 1984, those born after Congress mobs ran amok on the streets of Delhi, garlanding Sikhs with burning tyres, can be persuaded to vote for a party which claims to stand against the BJP’s ‘divisive politics’.

Such sanctimonious self-righteousness is best avoided by the Congress, not least because its then president — and India’s Prime Minister — Rajiv Gandhi had no qualms about justifying the carnage. “Some riots took place in the country following the murder of Indiraji,” Rajiv Gandhi said on November 19, 1984, even as thousands of families grieved for their loved ones killed by Congress hoodlums, “We know the people were very angry and for a few days it seemed India had been shaken. But when a mighty tree falls, it is only natural that the earth around it does shake a little.” Some riots? Only natural? Shake a little?

Of course, Mr Singh would claim no knowledge of any of this. Perhaps he would even insist that he was “not informed, not consulted” by Rajiv Gandhi, or, for that matter, the mobs that bayed for blood (and feasted on it) for four days before someone called the Army in.

Twenty-five years is a long time. Public memory is notoriously short and it is unlikely those who have attained the right to vote in these 25 years would know what the protest against the Congress deciding to give party tickets to Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar is all about. It would, therefore, be in order to recall the chain of events lest we be persuaded to believe that nothing of consequence happened by a Prime Minister who spends sleepless nights worrying about a terror suspect held in distant Australia but blithely disowns responsibility for the shocking attempt to whitewash the crimes of his party and its ‘leaders’ committed against thousands at home.

So, here is the story, briefly told, of how more than 4,000 Sikh men, women and children were slaughtered; in Delhi alone, 2,733 Sikhs were burned alive, butchered or beaten to death. Women were raped while their terrified families pleaded for mercy, little or none of which was shown by the Congress goons. In one of the numerous such incidents, a woman was gang-raped in front of her 17-year-old son; before leaving, the marauders torched the boy.

For three days and four nights the killing and pillaging continued without the police, the civil administration and the Union Government, which was then in direct charge of Delhi, lifting a finger in admonishment. The Congress was in power and could have prevented the violence, but the then Prime Minister, his Home Minister, indeed the entire Council of Ministers, twiddled their thumbs.

Even as stray dogs gorged on charred corpses and wailing women, clutching children too frightened to cry, fled mobs armed with iron rods, staves and gallons of kerosene, AIR and Doordarshan kept on broadcasting blood-curdling slogans like ‘Khoon ka badla khoon se lenge’ (We shall avenge blood with blood) raised by Congress workers grieving over their dear departed leader.

In mid-morning on October 31, 1984, Mrs Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two Sikh guards posted at her home. Her death was ‘officially’ confirmed at 6 pm, after due diligence had been exercised to ensure Rajiv Gandhi’s succession. By then, reports of stray incidents of violence against Sikhs, including the stoning of President Zail Singh’s car, had started trickling in at various police stations.

By the morning of November 1, hordes of men were on the rampage in south, east and west Delhi. They were armed with iron rods and carried old tyres and jerry cans filled with kerosene and petrol. Owners of petrol pumps and kerosene stores, beneficiaries of Congress largesse, provided petrol and kerosene free of cost. Some of the men went around on scooters and motorcycles, marking Sikh houses and business establishments with chalk for easy identification. They had been provided with electoral rolls to make their task easier.

By late afternoon that day, hundreds of taxis, trucks and shops owned by Sikhs had been set ablaze. By early evening, the murder, loot and rape began in right earnest. The worst butchery took place in Block 32 of Trilokpuri, a resettlement colony in east Delhi. The police either participated in the violence or merely watched from the sidelines.

Curfew was declared in south and central Delhi at 4 pm, and in east and west Delhi at 6 pm on November 1. But there was no attempt to enforce it. PV Narasimha Rao, the then Home Minister, remained unmoved by cries for help. In his affidavit to the Nanavati Commission of Inquiry, Lt-Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora, decorated hero of the 1971 India-Pakistan war, said, “The Home Minister was grossly negligent in his approach, which clearly reflected his connivance with perpetrators of the heinous crimes being committed against the Sikhs.”

The first deployment of the Army took place around 6 pm on November 1 in south and central Delhi, which were comparatively unaffected, but in the absence of navigators, which should have been provided by the police and the civil authorities, the jawans found themselves lost in unfamiliar roads and avenues.

The Army was deployed in east and west Delhi in the afternoon of November 2, more than 24 hours after the killings began. But, here, too, the jawans were at a loss because there were no navigators to show them the way through byzantine lanes.

In any event, there was little the Army could have done: Magistrates were ‘not available’ to give permission to fire on the mobs. This mandatory requirement was kept pending till Mrs Indira Gandhi’s funeral was over. By then, 1,026 Sikhs had been killed in east Delhi. Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar were among Congress ‘leaders’ who, witnesses said, incited and led mobs. Both deny the allegation, but the evidence is overwhelming.

A report on the pogrom, jointly prepared by the PUCL and PUDR and published under the title, Who Are the Guilty? names both of them along with others. The report quotes well-known journalist Sudip Mazumdar: “The Police Commissioner, SC Tandon was briefing the Press (about 10 Indian reporters and five foreign journalists) in his office on November 6, at 5 pm. A reporter asked him to comment on the large number of complaints about local Congress MPs and lightweights trying to pressure the police to get their men released. The Police Commissioner totally denied the allegation… Just as he finished uttering these words, Jagdish Tytler, Congress MP from Sadar constituency, barged into the Police Commissioner’s office along with three other followers and on the top of his voice demanded, ‘What is this Mr Tandon? You still have not done what I asked you to do?’ The reporters were amused, the Police Commissioner embarrassed. Tytler kept on shouting and a reporter asked the Police Commissioner to ask that ‘shouting man’ to wait outside since a Press conference was on. Tytler shouted at the reporter, ‘This is more important.’ The reporter told the Police Commissioner that if Tytler wanted to sit in the office he would be welcome, but a lot of questions regarding his involvement would also be asked and he was welcome to hear them. Tytler was fuming…”

The slaughter was not limited to Delhi, though. Sikhs were killed in Gurgaon, Kanpur, Bokaro, Indore and many other towns and cities in States ruled by the Congress. In a replay of the mayhem in Delhi, 26 Sikh soldiers were pulled out of trains and killed.

After quenching their thirst for blood, the mobs retreated to savour their ‘revenge’. The flames died and the winter air blew away the stench of death. Rajiv Gandhi’s Government issued a statement placing the death toll at 425!

Demands for a judicial inquiry were stonewalled by Rajiv Gandhi. Human rights organisations petitioned the courts; the Government said courts were not empowered to order inquiries. Meanwhile, Rajiv Gandhi dissolved the Lok Sabha and went for an early election, which the Congress swept by using the ‘sympathy card’ and launching a vitriolic hate campaign.

Once in office, Rajiv Gandhi was desperate for a breakthrough in Punjab. He mollycoddled Akali leader Sant Harchand Singh Longowal into agreeing to sign a peace accord with him. Sant Longowal listed a set of pre-conditions; one of them was the setting up of a judicial commission to inquire into the pogrom.

Thus was born the Ranganath Misra Commission of Inquiry, which took on the job of crafting a report that would suggest extra-terrestrials were to be blamed for whatever had happened. Worse, submissions and affidavits were passed on to those accused of leading the mobs; some of these documents were later recovered from the house of Sajjan Kumar. Gag orders were issued, preventing the Press from reporting in-camera proceedings of the Commission.

For full six months, Rajiv Gandhi refused to make public the Ranganath Misra Commission’s report. When it was tabled in Parliament, the report was found to be an amazing travesty of the truth; neither were the guilty men of 1984 named, now was responsibility fixed.

Subsequently, nine commissions and committees were set up to get to the truth, but they were either disbanded midway or not allowed access to documents and evidence. India had to wait for the report of the Nanavati Commission for an approximate version of the real story.

Justice Nanavati’s report said, “The Commission considers it safe to record its finding that there is credible evidence against Jagdish Tytler to the effect that very probably he had a hand in organising attacks on Sikhs.” This is not an indictment, Mr Manmohan Singh and his Government decided, so why bother about it? Four years later they remain unrepentant, their attitude remains unchanged.

Two thousand seven hundred and thirty-three men, women and children killed in Delhi, another 2,000 killed elsewhere, scores of women raped, property worth crores of rupees looted or sacked. Families devastated forever, survivors scarred for the rest of their lives.

But the Congress doesn’t care!
-----------------------------------------------------------
So this is what a pogrom looks like.

Post-Godhra caricatures

2009-04-14T19:59:00.005+05:30

For reasons altogether distantly connected, during a certain point of time in 2007, people suddenly became aware of what happened in 2002. Gory incidents of unimaginable precedence (burnings, rapes of pregnant women, mass graves,etc) were attributed to a certain group they called 'hindu-fundamentalists'.

Lets see what they were supposed to have done:

1) The poster-boy of Post-Godhra riots, Qutubuddin Ansar, the young tailor of Ahmedabad was literally the poster boy for all ‘secular’ newspapers and journals. His bruised face and folded hands still haunt our memory.

2) And then of course, there was the pregnant woman named Kausar Banu who was gangraped by a mob and then whose foetus was gouged out by sharp weapons.

3) The dumping of dead bodies into a well by rioteers at Naroda Patiya

4) Police botching up investigation into the killing of British nationals, who were on a visit to Gujarat and unfortunately got caught in the riots.

5) Zarina Mansuri, a 30-year-old Muslim woman who was brutally hacked to death and later burnt to ashes by a mob in the Naroda Patiya massacre of February 28, 2002.

6) The rape of one Shabana (15), which Anisha, her friend is said to have witnessed.

7) And finally, Zahira Sheikh, the key witness in Best Bakery case in which 12 Muslims and 2 others were burnt alive in the premises of the bakery by Hindus.

Now lets see what happened with all these characters actually:

1) ‘Secularists’ sent Mr. Ansar to Kolkata and made a big issue of migration. Within few weeks, he came back to Ahmedabad, his home, and nobody has reported as to why he chose to resettle in Ahmedabad if it was ‘unsafe for Muslims’.

2) A Special Investigative Team (SIT) formed on the orders of Hon'ble Chief Justice of India found no truth in this matter. In fact the SIT observed “It is clear from the report that the horrendous allegations made by the NGO [Citizens for Peace and Justice] were false. Cyclostyled affidavits were supplied by a social activist and the allegations made in them were untrue…"

3) same as above.

4) same as above.

5) The woman Zarina Mansuri was not even alive at the time of riots. She had died of tuberculosis (TB) some four months earlier.

6) Yunus’s deposition said: “This, again, is wrong. Anisha had witnessed nothing like that that day. "We, along with several others, were hiding on the same terrace of a house in Gangotarinagar at that time and none of us had seen anything like that.”

7) Well, Ms. Z.Shaikh not only turned hostile (she was charged with lying to the court and was served a 1 year sentence), she actually asked the court to look into the bank transactions of a very very interesting woman.

Now, I must reveal an important player in the game, someone connected to all the above incidents in some form or other-- Teesta Setalvad. She heads an NGO called Citizens for Peace and Justice and she is the wife of some 'Javed Anand' (Ahem!).

And now I must direct the readers to Sandeep's blog just to illustrate the magnitude of that woman's treachery to the nation:
"...Teesta was the only person that went after Narendra Modi with singleminded determination almost every single day for at least 3 years. A measure of success of her brazen activism is the Supreme Court’s premature pronouncement of Modi as the “modern day Nero.” The SIT report clearly shows some of the dubious and outright illegal methods she followed in her quest for “justice” (sic):

Tutoring witnesses
Filing false affidavits
Lying openly
Manufacturing tales of incidents that didn’t actually occur
Threatening witnesses and aides who didn’t “obey” her

In other words, she didn’t have a case. But she got away with it for some time not because she was good at it but because she was hysterically vocal about it, and assumed that those who were with her were as ethically decrepit as she was.

However, Teesta’s spurious activism has done significant damage: it spawned off an entire cottage industry built on the edifice of falsehood. This cottage industry was awash with tons of funds because it was able to convince idiots abroad that the “fight for justice” was genuine. On the more dangerous side, some of these were well-intentioned idiots but others were active traitors. Gujarat was the perfect opportunity. Also, her sisters-in-crime like Arundhati Roy spun kilometres of yarn based on the Ripped Foetus Theory postulated by Teesta. Indeed, the theory holds a mirror to Teesta’s macabre imagination: I mean, she could’ve simply said: Kausar Banu’s head was severed or some such thing. But Teesta’s sadisitic mental imagery stretches it to: Kausar Banu was gangraped by a mob, who then gouged out the foetus with sharp weapons. No, don’t try to visualize that. Writing it was horrible enough for me."

Enough said. The case is closed. But then again, as Yoda might say,"Cure who can, the disease called Skepticism?"

Update-1: For all those misty-eyed post-modern humanists groping for a ray of hope to hang on to in this lost battle against Hindu Fundamentalism, the most dangerous threat in the universe, here is a rebuttal by the NGO Citizens of Peace and Justice.

Update-2: Happiness is ephimeral (or I can actually say, Satyameva Jayate). The original report is actually, true.

Some Naizam Titbits

2009-04-14T01:35:00.009+05:30

Now that I wrote something on Hyderabad, the history monster in me woke up, and a simple google search (wonder why others dont get such facts themselves) revealed these:

======================================================

1) No less than 200,000 muslim men were recruited as Razakars to counter any attempt by the local Hindu population (which was then more than 90%) to stage an internal rebellion.

2) In August 1919, Osmania University was founded to impart higher education in Urdu medium to Muslims and Urdu speaking Hindus in Telangana. When Mohammed Ali Jinnah, father of Islamic State of Pakistan (Islamic Pure State) visited the university, he addressed the students as "my Muslim students," ignoring Hindus among the students.

3) During Milad-un-Nabi celebrations of 1937, Prof. Maulvi Nazarul Hassan Gilani openly admonished the Muslims for their failure to convert Hindus to Islam by saying, "I am pained to see the inertness amongst Muslims, when there exist still 22 million ‘Dung Worshippers’ in this country (Hyderabad State)."

4) It is reported that the Nizam purposefully delayed any formal decision on the future of Hyderabad state and in the meanwhile, received arms supplies from Pakistan and from the Portuguese administration based in Goa. In addition, additional arms supplies were received via air drops from Australian arms trader Sidney Cotton.

5) The commander of the Hyderabad State Army, Major General El Edroos, was an Arab. A foreign man was the leader of our army just 60 years ago. For that matter, Nizams of the Asaf Jahi dynasty were Iraqis, the Qutub Shahi dynasty (which ruled Hyderabad before Nizams) was Turkish, and the Bahmani Sultans (who ruled TelangaNa before Qutub Shahi dynasty; there was no Hyderabad then) was Tajik-Persian (even heard of Tajikistan, fellows?). Around 600 years of foreign rule. But do we dare to celebrate 18th September as our Independence Day? (More on this in the next post).

6) "Operation Polo": Indian losses were 66 killed and 97 wounded. The losses suffered by Hyderbad state forces and volunteers combined were 1,863 killed and 3,558 captured (Take that you "£$"%^&*). 122 members of the Hyderbad sate forces were also wounded. It is said that on Marathwada front of the battle, Patel had all the Razakars lie on the road and had his Battletanks run over them. This is was one of main incidents that demoralized the Hyderabad state into capitulation. Yes. We were different then (Hindus, not Humanists).

7) In the following weeks after Operation Polo, the state erupted in widespread communal violence. 50,000 people may have died in the reprisals that followed the invasion.

8) Old names of some places whose named got changed in the Nizam Era:

a) Adilabad - Edlavaada

b) Nizamabad - Indur/Indrapuri

c) Karim Nagar - Elagandala

d) Mahaboob Nagar (distt) - Palamoor

e) Mahaboob Nagar (town) - Manukota

f) Medak - Metuku

g) Hyderabad - Bhagyanagaram.

9) Qasim Rizvi was the founder member and president of an organisation called "Majlis-Ittehadul-Muslimeen". Rings any bells? Yes. It is indeed the same political party MIM (which now calls itself All-India MIM) led by the Owasis today. You will be interested to know that though the constitution was changed, the views of the organisation havent changed. More on it in the next post.

10) Finally, this pic of our glorious Razakar holy-warriors holding three lowly mean upto-no-good 'dung worshippers' to deal with at their convenience. They were lazy Hyderabadis, you see :) Just look at their proud faces oozing accomplishment. Wonder what the others were doing in the Godavari Delta at that time....

Osmania Biscuit XVI--Part III:Of Martand Rao, Osmania Biscuit, and the Richest Man in the world

2009-04-10T18:24:00.004+05:30

continued from part-II

Osman Ali Khan Siddiqui, the last and most famous Nizam (ruler) of the princely state of Hyderabad, was the Richest Man in the Whole World at that time, the Richest Asian Ever in the recorded history, and the 5th Richest Man Ever in the recorded history. His entourage of the rolls royces, his buildings, jewels and queens, and most importantly, the fact that he was the only Indian ruler allowed under the British Rule to have his own currency--simply too grand to behold. Naizam, or the territory ruled by Nizam, covered almost the whole of TelangaNa, some part of Maharashtra, and some of Karnataka.

But all was not well. The Nizams who had their origins in Arabian Peninsula (Kurdistan, Iraq) treated the local Hindus like second grade citizens in their own land. Very few administrative posts were reserved for them and they could not rise above a particular level. The state languages were Urdu and Farsi and were mandatory. Telugu, Marathi and Kannada suffered unparalleled neglect. In fact, many schools did not even bother to teach them.

The most conspicuous aspect of Nizam rule however, were the Razakars, a private army led by Qasim Rizvi, a supporter of Nizam. They instilled terror and wrecked havoc wherever they went. Loots, rapes, murders, kidnappings. And they are still hailed by some in the old-city as religious warriors, heroes, lengends. They wanted Hyderabad to be a separate country. And when talks with Sardar Patel failed, he launched ‘Operation Polo’, to annex Hyderabad state into the Indian Union. In the meanwhile, as a blackmailing tactic, Razakars started a campaign of terror of unknown precedence. Several areas were burnt, looted, pillaged. Women raped, children massacred… to force Sardar Patel into withdrawing his advancing forces.

But then, all of a sudden, within days of launching Operation Polo, Nizam surrendered and Hyderabad was liberated from Nizam’s rule and integrated into the Indian Union.

A very rarely told legend from the old city states how it happened--
A young muslim working in a bakery, unable to digest all this violence upon his Hindu neighbours, wanted all of this to stop and the only way that he knew was to appeal to the taste-buds of the Nizam. It was well-known that Nizam had a penchant for new tastes and different dishes. He wanted to make a new kind of biscuit, one that could appeal so much to Nizam that he should put an end to all this terror at once. But the already available karachi biscuit was a hot favorite of Nizam and he knew that he had stiff competetion to beat.

But he didn’t give up easily. After thinking about it day and night, he suddenly got up from his bed around midnight. He had came up with a solution. It seemed so obvious to him. He went to his bakery with his young assistant and started working frantically as the violence continued unabated outside. After a couple of hours, as he removed the tray from the traditional bhatti oven, he knew he had done it. But as he was about to take it to the palace, he was hit by a stray bullet in his leg. So his young assistant volunteered to take it to the Nizam in his stead. And so it was that the boy carried his treasure in a paper cover riding his bicycle as fast as his legs could manage it.

He reached the palace gate panting, showed what he had, and the smell of the warm biscuits brought by a known face instantly alerted the guard and they allowed him to pass without question. And he ran into the palace like a man chased by hounds and collapsed just outside the royal room, where the Nizam used to come for breakfast. His outstretched hand still holding the paper cover. The maids recognised his purpose and promptly carried the paper cover over to the Nizam’s breakfast table. It is said that along with the biscuits, the cover also contained a letter addressed to him in High-Persian praising his benevolence and delcaring that if he liked the biscuit, it would be named after him and his name will live in this land forever. In return, it begged him to stop the Razakar violence. Moved by the taste of the biscuit and the high ethics of the baker, he indeed put a stop to violence and surrendered himself.

Jumman Miya, who was silent till now, wiping off tears from his eyes with his sleeves, slowly said that it was he who had carried the Osmania Biscuits on the rusty bicycle and ran through the palace. Not a day passes when he doesn’t regret that it was his men who had indulged in such bloodshed. Nevertheless, those of his kind who think back nostalgically of those good old days of Nizam are still many. This saddens him even more.

And Tubelightla Srinivas, who was returning home a lot wiser and a lot older, finally made an attempt to understand why Lingam Yadav likes Osmania Biscuit.

Epilogue:
It is true that many cultures and religions together make up the unique culture of Hyderabad. But it is not wise to believe that things have been this way since a long time. And it is even more foolish to believe that things will continue to remain this way in future. Having a liking to some artefact should not blind one from the times and conditions in which the object was made. Unless we grow older by studying the lives of our ancestors, it is difficult for this new breed of peaceniks to understand what I am trying to say. But the bitter truth is, unless and until each of our families experiences a personal loss, we cannot unite against those cults which explicitly ask their followers for complete obliteration of others.

Osmania Biscuit XVI--Part II:Of Martand Rao, Osmania Biscuit, and the Richest Man in the world

2009-04-10T15:34:00.003+05:30

continued from part-I

Tubelightla Srinivas did not know about either Martand Rao or The Richest Man in the World. He did know about Osmania Biscuit though, mainly because Lingam Yadav was so busy popularising it. Srinivas was in his own world. His parents having migrated from a Coastal district of A.P., promptly found employment in the secretariat (dont ask me how). He was biologically slightly elder than Lingam, but historically too young. He didnt have any idea of either Hyderabad (since he grew up with mostly kids whose parents had migrated, like his), or of his native place (since his parents thought it would be unimportant in Hyderabad).

So what did happen on that casual evening during the usual unscheduled power cut?

Under the dull 'kandil' light, the scene begins with Lingam savouring an Osmania Biscuit and his usual gang of jobless people awaiting with baited breath for another chronicle of his. In the meanwhile, sporting his thick round glasses (called ’soda-buddi’), a striped full shirt, a local-tailor stitched trousers and a wide grin that revealed a slightly creamish dentition, in strode Srinivas (or ‘Tube’ as he was called here). As he was about to go after buying half a kg of idli rava, he thought it would be a good idea to add his 2 paise to the ongoing discussion about Nizam, and blurted out “Without Nizam, you wouldn’t be eating this Osmania Biscuit Lingam. You know, we owe a lot to Nizam's rule, now that I think about it.”

And there was silence.

Everyone was staring at him. Then Lingam finally opened his mouth and asked as a matter-of-fact “Do you even know what you are talking about?”

Tube just stood there blankly staring from face to face. He wasn’t expecting this sort of reaction and much less prepared for it. He nervously raised his eyebrows and made a half-hearted attempt at adjusting his soda-buddi glasses.

Lingam heaved a deep sigh and looking downwards, he slowly began his narration (of I presnet my own version here in English)--
In Hyderabad, there lived a man named Martand Rao. For a single beedi, he used to walk from his home in Shah-Ali Banda to our home in Gowliguda Chaman and after having a smoke (when my grandfather was not at home-- He was really scared of my grandfather catching him stealing his treasure), he used to go to Secunderabad to see his close relatives-- A good part of 30 kilometres is my guess. Everyone used to wonder at this extremely simple, white jhubba and puna-pant clad man walking his heart out for simple pleasures. He had no money (nor did he want it), no job (nor did he try for it), and no wife (he wasn’t interested). All because he was technically, well, insane.

Most of the time, Martand Rao was calm and composed. He had great affection for his sister, my Ajji, and his nephew, my father. My Grandfather also humoured to his innocence by talking really sweetly to him. The only time his nostrils flared, his eyes reddened, his body shook with rage, and he showed all signs of insanity was when someone uttered the words ‘Razakars‘, ‘Nizam’ or even ‘muslims‘.

True, the terror inflicted by Razakars was not just a passable phenomenon in the long history of TelangaNa. But there was something more to it. While as a teenager, he was returning home from a nearby shop, he was caught suddenly in Razakar violence and bullets rained everywhere. One of the bullets hit him, and Ajji says the bullet went “aar-paar” just above his ear, but my father corrected it saying that it grazed his skull. But the damage was done. A young life, full of promise was, laid waste. He was condemned to a long life of insanity, his potential crushed under the ambition of a very very Powerful Man. A man known, simply, as Nizam.

to be continued...

Osmania Biscuit XVI--Part-I: Of Martand Rao, Osmania Biscuit, and the Richest Man in the world

2009-03-24T19:40:00.002+05:30

Prologue:
How old are we?
And what determines our age?

Of old, elders, especially the aged used to transmit all the knowledge of the world they gained to the younglings by the medium of stories, anecdotes, and fables.

Hence, each region developed its unique culture, traditions, and hence, history. Some cultures were meticulous and wrote this history down as records, but some others like ours believed that history is not something just for historians (also the fact that our history spanned thousands of years).

But history, as a subject is extremely dry for many. Hence, our anscestors discovered a way in which history can be preserved in the minds of every single being. Anecdotes and fables and mythical stories make sure that even the most illeterate person has a hold of history.

It is my contention that the age of a people is determined by that of the oldest stories they carry in their mind. At an individual level, the age of an individual is that of the oldest story the person has.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
In this sense, I count Lingam to belong to the generation of no less than my grandfather. He has never read a history book, but has a sence of when something happened, why did it happen, and how it affects us now. And this is not a special quality of Lingam. Its just that the rest of us have forgotten how to be Indians.

One of the past-times of Lingam was sitting with elderly people during late evenings when there were frequent power cuts, and listen to their long tales of their past and extracting history from them. Learning history by doing something called 'reading the books', let alone doing something called "visiting a website" like was something his deeply Indian brain would not comprehend.

When I used to study for my social studies exam, he used to ask, with his innocence, some very disconcerting questions --
"How can you feel what happened just by reading this book?" or
"How does what happened affect you now?" or his favorite
"Are there any eyewitness accounts?"
to which I had really no answer. I had to shoo him off saying I was studying all this because I had to pass the test the next day.

So it was that while I was cramming the now-disproved-but-still-taught Aryan Invasion Theory, the irreverant single line mentions of Satavahanas, Pallavas, and Chalukyas, and the glorified depiction of Otto Von Bismarck's "blood and iron" policy for my exams, Lingam was busy listening to old tales from my Ajji about Martand Rao, about the Richest Man in the World and of course about Osmania Biscuit.

to be continued...

No love lost

2009-03-09T15:45:00.003+05:30

Vikram Sood writes thus in Times Of India:

No love lost

Over the years Pakistan has come to believe that the world is beholden to it because it exists. This notion of indispensability allows those in power in that country to be wild, delinquent and dangerous.

Like the spoilt brat of a rich and doting parent, Pakistan either becomes petulant when it is not granted what it unjustifiably demands or becomes belligerent when it is granted that wish by its benefactor.

Today, Pakistan has a begging bowl economy; terrorism is its main export. Unending unrest in Balochistan and sectarian violence in Dera Ismail Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan, coupled with a creaking law and order and judicial systems, evoke little confidence in that country. There are many in India who are ready to give Pakistan another chance forever. They say Pakistanis are like us but the poor souls are stuck with rotten governments and they need our help to get them out of their predicament.

It is incredibly naive of us to build policies for our future and security on fond nostalgia, which is mostly one way. They teach their children mostly how to hate India with warped versions of history, even in their mainstream schools.

It is strange that we still keep telling Pakistanis that we are all alike and have a common culture and so on. The truth is that they do not want to be like us and, quite honestly, we have nothing in common with them. Not anymore.

First of all, our minority population is more Indian than the minorities there are Pakistani. And our majority too is different from the majority across the border. Pakistanis have never understood, therefore never accepted, the concept of accommodating minorities. Not that we do it perfectly but we do a fairly good job.

In Pakistan, you are either a Shia, Bohra or an Ismaili or an Ahmediya. Being a woman, a Baloch, a Pushtun, a Sindhi or a Mohajir or a Hindu hari is a curse.

Only a Sunni Punjabi is a true-blue Pakistani. Arguments with minorities are settled with a bullet. It is difficult for a Pakistani to understand that minorities can also have a say. Our cricket team symbolises our diversity. Pakistan does not have an equivalent of Bollywood and if it did, Hindus would never dominate the industry.

There are other fundamental differences. They deny history and even geography, we seek our roots in our civilisation. Extremists there cry jihad in the name of god.

We have room for all faiths at the Dargah in Ajmer Sharif, in Darbar Sahib (whose foundation stone was laid by Mian Mir) or San Thome. Fewer Pakistanis understand that it is easy or natural for an Indian to listen to Jafar Hussain Badayuni's rendering of Amir Khusro's `Bahut kathin hai dagar' or `Ek pita ekas ke hum baarek' by Bhai Maninder Singh and Bhai Jitender Singh or `Jai Madhav Madan Murari' by Jagjit Singh on any morning.

In Pakistan today, we see images of mullahs leading a march to medievalism. In India, we see the young and exuberant marching into the 21st century. We are still behind the rest of the advanced world but are determined to catch up. Across the border, they wallow in a sense of victimhood, and blame everyone else for their plight.

In Pakistan, the extremists believe that Islam and democracy are incompatible. Secularism does not exist in the mullah's vocabulary, or even in the minds of some self-proclaimed moderates like General Musharraf.

So what do we have in common with Pakistan that we yearn for? The answer is nothing. We are two different countries with two different kinds of people on two different trajectories and we here should be happy with that.

Pakistan will strike deals with al-Qaeda, will encourage Lashkar-e-Taiba to carry out attacks on India and will appease the Taliban. It would seem that they have a death wish. It would be prudent for us to take measures now in case Pakistan's wish is granted.

The writer is a former secretary, Research and Analysis Wing.

Lessons From Buddhism

2009-03-03T14:16:00.007+05:30

What can be an appropriate response to an persecutionist ideology and a relentless assault of intolerant hatred?
Well, we atleast know what can NOT be a response to such an ideology--

Case Study: Buddhism

Facts:
SET-I
1) Hindus didnt kill Buddhists eventhough Buddhists were vehemently against and openly preaching against idol worship and the Vedas.
2) Hindus were not massacred under Buddhist Kings and Buddhists were free to propagate their religion under Hindu Kings.
3) Hindus and Buddhists came face to face through open and public debates. The loser had to convert to the victor's religion. Thus, the conflict was, more or less, restricted to priestly class.

SET-II
1) Thousands of Buddhist monks were killed and hundreds of monasteries were razed to ground by the Islamic invaders from central Asia and Afghanistan till East Bengal.
2) Buddhists could influence Ashoka, but not one among Mohd. Bin Kasim, Mahmud Ghaznavi, Mohd. Ghauri, Qutubuddin Aibak, Timur, Ghiyazuddin Tuglaq, or Aurangzeb.
3) Incidentaly, the only place where Buddhism thrived till the end of medieval ages was in Tamil-nadu, the only Hindu region unconquered by Muslims.
4) But even more interestingly, even that was destroyed... this time, by Jesuits (Christians).

Analysis:
1) Whenever a new and different ideology creats an environment of conflict in an existing system, there are two options left with either people: a)Non-violence, peace pacts, and inter-religious dialogue or b) Vigilance, self-defence, and counter-hatred. (With the advent of nation-states and democracies, the victims also have a beautiful option of going to the law and demanding justice, but I am talking about the even more beautiful middle-ages).
2) Buddhism is a totally peaceful religion that took the first path against both Hinduism and Islam.
3) Against Hinduism, it was the ideal "clash of religions" where no one was physically hurt and where there was an opportunity to show that one's beliefs were logically better than the opponent's. Compare this is to the cheap attitude of claiming hurt, then imposing guilt on the opponent and thereby extracting several concessions like reservations and free pilgrimages.
4) Against Islam, Buddhism was wiped out of India. Monotheistic religions are not made for peaceful and open debates, and Buddhism was not made to deal with such hateful ideology.

Conclusion:
The revered Dalai Lama has put it succintly:
"terrorism cannot be tackled by applying the principle of ahimsa because the minds of terrorists are closed."

Analysis: Politics of Hatred

2009-02-28T13:53:00.004+05:30

General Opinion:
This is all just politics of hatred. Everybody from politicians, police, and religious organisers are together in this. These people are in it for money, land, and power. There is hardly anything religious about it.

Underlying Assumption:
All religions are born in the same way, and given a particular situation, all of them make their adherents act in a similar manner.

Some irrefutable facts:
SET-I
1) Hindus in India dont fret about persecution of Hindus in Malaysia, Fiji, or Pakistan.
2) Hindus in India fully understand that these internal problems of the respective countries.
3) Hindus in India realise that the best way is to raise public awareness in India and make sure the GoI takes appropriate steps through the international diplomatic channels.

SET-II
1) In Pakistan, children are taught to hate Hindus.
2) This is a part of Pakistan's geo-politics to acquire Kashmir.
3) Pakistani Muslims should have nothing to do with either Muslims or Hindus in India.

Now, for some analysis:
Two questions arise:
1) If someone still believes all religions are same, can Hindus be succesful in preaching hatred against someone like, say Jews, Buddhists, Jains, or even Muslims in Pakistan who have nothing to do with Hindus in India?
2) If you are sensible enough to figure out the right answer for the first question, doesnt it follow that there is something in Islam that preaches hatred and violence, tailormade for Pakistan to be used against India?

Some masala on hamare pyare "Rahul Gandhi"

2009-02-25T18:59:00.002+05:30

This is known to many now, but then, you may be called a 'right-wing hindutva fanatic' for knowing this. Nevertheless, good fun:

Slumdog: Neo vs. Anderson

2009-02-23T03:57:00.009+05:30

Smith: You hear that Mr. Anderson?... That is the sound of inevitability... It is the sound of your death... Goodbye, Mr. Anderson...
Neo: My name... is Neo.
From IMDB
===================================================
Concisely, three things I realised after watching the movie "Slumdog Millionaire"--
1) Most of the scenes show slums (which is of course the backdrop of the movie, so no issues)
2) 'Real America'nism is in giving money to underaged car-thieves
3) Taj Mahal is absolutely necessary to the movie, even though it has nothing to do with either Slumdogs or Millionaires.
note: Did I mention the rioting Hindus? Its worth noting what David Milliband said in Mumbai recently.

Now for some logic, and it works. The slumdog in the movie has an unusually rich past (of course, associated with the third world) where he learns exactly only those facts that will help him in the contest. Now people really dont think that something like this can happen in real life. Right!
Lets see now--
A movie
a) that is, at the best, "entertaining" and at the worst, a stereotyped documentary,
b) with just about "OK" musical score,
c) where actors just manage to appropriately negotiate their roles (not that the roles are demanding),
d) whose credentials are far less than those of many many other Indian films ( choose your pick(s))
has managed to enthrall western audiences like never before.
Why?
That is the real question. Now, when T.P.Sreenivasan cried hoarse regarding this movie, people said we Indians are touchy. Right! How about now? How does a just-above-average, pop-corn-lovers' movie go on to win multiple Oscars? Now, isnt this a real life slumdog-millionaire story? But wait! I thought people dont believe something like this can really happen!

Either truth is stranger than fiction, or, we just dont want to see the obvious fact--
The west is hell-bent on telling us that we are still a third world country with all the associated vices--corrupt politicians, negligent state machinery, gangsters roaming about freely, not to mention its favorite--child abuse, and of course human rights violations. We have no right to be compared with the west, or to even dream to have a place of pride in the world. In short, it wants us to remain "Thomas A. Andersons" for the rest of our lives, our childrens' lives and their childrens' lives. The best part is, when someone "dares to come out with the truth", they "appreciate the effort", and stuff him with awards as an encouragement-- "See lads! Now thats a good movie. Now go on and make more of that kind if you want awards too!"

And I see that Mr.Smith has already entered some of our Indian brethren who have already resigned to becoming just dumb Andersons. Take for instance, Great Mr. Rahman-- He has allowed himself to be used a guinea pig for this exercise. Of course he got his prized Oscar, and for the effort he has put in through all these years, I daresay he deserves many Oscars. But for Slumdog Millionaire? The music is nowhere near his standards, and there is nothing in the music that identifies it with the slum-culture of Mumbai. But Wait! There is some sitar.... since this movie is based in India! And the sitar is so out of place and no unidentifiable, that it only be said that ARR has bent backwards to make his music sound like the "Indian Music" dished out by those oriental-obsessed westerners who think they are playing "Indian Music", because thats the only "Indian Music" understood by the West. This, my friends, is what is called "stereotyping".

Clever Mr.Smith! Very Clever!

Virat Sant sammelan-- Highlights

2009-02-17T15:56:00.003+05:30

Part-I

Part-II

Part-III

Part-IV

Part-V

Part-VI

Part-VII

Virat Sant Sammelan

2009-02-16T15:47:00.004+05:30

Virat Sant Sammelan in Mumbai
Religious leaders exhort society to fight terror unitedlySaints to take up national awareness campaign

To counter increasing terrorism and terror activities in the country the seers have decided to organise public meetings across the country between February 20 and March 20. Decision to this effect was taken by saints at a Sant Sammelan organised in Mumbai on January 30. The saints will conduct an awareness drive.

Noted saint Shri Asaram Bapu presided over the Sammelan. VHP president Shri Ashok Singhal, Sadhvi Ritambhara, Swami Hansraj, Rameshwardas Maharaj from Rishikesh, Raghwacharya Maharaj from Rewasa Peeth, Parmanand Maharaj, Krishan Muni Maharaj, Jain Muni Vimal Sagar Maharaj, Ramkamaldas Vedanti from Kashi, Nrityagopaldas of Ramjanmabhoomi Trust, VHP general secretary Dr Pravin Togadia, Ramvilas Maharaj, Devendranath Maharaj, Ravindraji Maharaj, Chaitanya Maharaj, Harigiri Maharaj, Shivshankargiri Maharaj, and senior Sangh Pracharak Shri Madhubhai Kulkarni attended the Sammelan.

Addressing the gathering of more than one lakh people Sant Asaram Bapu said "Together, we have to end terrorism from within and outside the country. For the uplift of the poor, those who are able should provide education, health care, homestead and employment to them. With the help of outsiders and the missionaries, conspiracies are being hatched to defame the Hindu seers and their religious beliefs. Hindus should inculcate more faith in their seers, so that more and more people can be returned to their fold. Children should be well brought up in a cultured environment rather than in a school built by people believing in conversions" he added.

In her usual aggressive way, Sadhvi Ritambhara said "India and Hindus are in a sensitive, vulnerable situation. If Mahatma Gandhi after Independence had installed Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel instead of Pandit Nehru as leader of the country we would not have come to this situation. Soon after Independence the nation through outside conspiracies was caught in the mires of self-aggrandisation and consumerism at the cost of spiritualism. Because of increase in terrorism, conversions, incursions, poverty, nepotism and unemployment, the seers are leaving their spiritualism and godly prayers, have to step into the mundane revolutionary activities."

She also chided the media for considering this step an escape from facing terrorism. "Seers are not afraid of terrorism and teach bravery. Whenever there was an invasion on religion or otherwise, the seers have taken arms and defended the motherland. She also said that India would not rest until the dream of united India is achieved." She opined, "missionaries in the garb of service are indulging in conversions. Anybody can stay in our country provided they love this country and respect its traditions."

Akhada Parishad’s Gyandas Maharaj pleaded for a government not sympathetic to terror perpetrators. Akhada Parishad’s general secretary Harigiri Maharaj requested the media to be bipartisan and straightforward. Dharmacharya Gangadhar Saraswati appealed to Muslims to accept common civil code. He said "Whenever they want, only Shariat is implemented, but when it comes to criminality they want application of ‘Indian Criminal Code’ to save themselves from the harsh Shariat laws. Other Muslim countries have enacted their civil and criminal laws, then why only in India do they want differential treatment?" Ramdayal Maharaj warned the government to stop ill-treatment of majority community under the guise of secularism. Parmatmanand Maharaj of Acharya Mahasabha was of the opinion that increase in terrorism is a direct result of lack of political will and determination.

Swami Chinmayanand said today’s government has damaged self-respect. He was of the opinion that if Afzal Guru had been hanged, the November 26, 2008 incident in Mumbai would not have occurred. He challenged the terrorists to come out of stealth and darkness and face our Jawans in hand-to-hand combat. Addressing the youth, he asked them to give their youth to the country so that a spiritual India is resurrected. He said the Preamble of Constitution should have spiritualism rather than secularism. Tanpure Maharaj of Varkari Sampraday said that Shivaji’s Maharashtra cannot allow terrorism. And for this, he said, we should all come together, overcoming the differences of cast and creed divisions.

Bad omens

2009-02-02T14:12:00.013+05:30

First there was the incident in Mangalore where a minor crime (violation of individual's fundamental rights as guaranteed in our constitution) to a major crime of terrorism and Talibanisation. Now attempts are being made to connect the people involved to Malegaon case. Now thats a leap of faith right there! But more concerning is the amount of media attention such incidents are being given in proportion to the actual terrorist and actual talibanisation incidents.

Next was the extremely interesing episode involving powerful Ms. Barkha Dutt of the rich NDTV, poor Mr.Chyetanya Kunte, a blogger (just like me, and probably you) and a totally invalid reason for libel suit resulting in something (unknown since the emergency of Indira Gandhi) called 'attack on an individual's freedom of speech'. Also read this wonderful piece by Atanu Dey on Defending Free Speech. Please see the video at the end of the article. Now I have been called 'Fanatic', 'Hateful' etc etc by some of the bloggers I know personally, does Barkha mean I can sue them now? Hmm! On a serious note, readers may note that just because its cloaked behind a legal procedure, it should not obstruct us from seeing for what it is-- a major violation of individual's right to free speech and a dangerous threat to the country, and this is much more dangerous than the earlier pub incident.

Third and the most dangerous one is the appointment on Mr. Navin Chawla, a known stooge of the Congress party as the CEC (this is not new... there has been a precedent!), even after the earlier CEC Mr. N.Gopalaswami's recommendation against this appointment. This is not good for the country. Why? Yossarin at Offstumped explains why this appointment is disastrous to Indian Democracy in his small and clear post. Now this move by congress is a direct attack on the country's democratic system itself. Sandeep at sandeepweb has given permission to all right-minded people to use this image (click on the image for full view):

Last, but not the least: A poser to the humanists in this rediff article. Read and ponder on what Dr. Hammond said in his book. Readers can also revisit the video in Atanu's post regarding this incident. Such views made publicly without any fear of criticism set the precedent for what is their 'right' and what is a 'favour'. And mind you, the boundary will keep extending to include a lot many dear things into what is their 'right'. This omen has the most potential of being easily the most dangerous one, mostly because people ignore such incidents.

It is hard to shake Indians. Its both good and bad. And against an adversary who has been engaging in salami tactics over a thousand years, it is even more important that we wake up soon enough. So... the humanist ostriches will anyway not think of taking a break from burying their heads in the dense sand of the grand delusion.. but what about the rest of Indians?

An open blog with open questions

2008-12-07T09:19:00.003+05:30

An interesting comment was offered to me recently:
"And yes, i hated the phrase "Hindu Terrorist" and for a moment i thought, how much will an ordinary muslim hate or feel bad if people use "Islamic Terrorist" or "islamic Militant"."

There are multiple questions that arise with this comment:
1) What is the definition of a terrorist?
2) Does the recent rightwing Hindu outfit in the news fit the definition of "a terror outfit" at all?
3) How does the ordinary Muslim feel about Islamic terrorists?
4) Does he know where the problem is?
5) What choices does he have?
6) What has he tried till now?

This is an open blog-- come along my secular hearties, lets see where this discussion goes. At the end of the discussion, I will update the answers for these questions.

Quote-Unquote: Part I

2008-11-19T22:04:00.003+05:30

Name the people who said the following:

1) [Any attempt to reorganise our society on the basis of hatred of the Muslims] “would therefore be to court degeneration and disaster. For that would pollute our minds by constant remembering of their heinous crimes."

2)“We are not so mean as to say that with a mere change in the method of worship an individual ceases to be a son of the soil. We have no objection to God being called by any name whatever …he can not be a Hindu at all who is intolerant of other faiths.”

3) “I have said that I am proud of our inheritance and our ancestors who gave an intellectual and cultural pre-eminence to India .How do you feel about this past? Do you feel that you are also sharers in it and inheritors of it and, therefore, proud of something that belongs to you as much as to me? Or do you feel alien to it and pass it by without understanding it or feeling that strange thrill which comes from the realisation that we are the trustees and inheritors of this vast treasure…You are Muslims and I am a Hindu …but that does not take away from that cultural inheritance that is yours as well as mine.”

Chiru and the 'S' in 'YSR'

2008-11-16T11:08:00.008+05:30

It is a known fact that the 'S' in YSR stands for 'Samuel'.
It is also known that he was the one behind allowing Seventh Day adventists to build churches on Tirumala hills (No! Not the Tirumala Hills of Malakpet, Hyderabad-- the real actual ones in Tirupati).
It is also known that Chiru is seen either siding with communists, or is seen hosting Iftar parties and puts Mother Teresa as one of his mascots.

Now what is really interesting is a site that is apparently run by Chiru fans (Chiru will, of course, claim innocence and deny awareness of it and you will see why). So this site, from its content makes it clear that it is devoted to Chiru's Prajarajyam party, and promptly does an 'expose' of YSR's Christian bias. Whats interesting is that Chiru's followers found proselytisation and Christianity as negatives and found it worthwhile to denigrate our CM YSR because he supports Proselytism and Christians, while on the other hand, Chiru himself has openly given in to that attractive politics of minority appeasement and vote-bank politics.

Does this go on to show how incoherent and confused Chiru's political campaign is?
Or does it simply show that Chiru's fans have simply not come around to understand what kind of leftist and vote-bank politics Prajarajyam intends to represent?
Perhaps the people want to give Chiru "a chance" (as they say in Indian political parlance), a shot at power and see what he can do, tired as they are of other people.
Thinking out of the box, it could well be that Chiru has come to realise that to counter congress and obtain power, no other party has so much capability as the BJP (seen as the front-runner in the next Lok Sabha polls), which made Chiru meet Advani the latter visited AP.

What is the problem with "The Hindu"?

2008-11-12T11:36:00.003+05:30

This newspaper, traditionally the frontline newspaper of most South Indian elite, has of late become a questionable bigot at best, and a Chinese-Communist-AntiHindu rag at the worst. Many people have openly come out against its reporting ethics (or the lack of them), its selling of Chinese propaganda to Indians (especially before and during the olympics), and blatant anti-India, esp. anti-Hindu bias (by now, we Dhaarmic people have become accustomed to bias against us anyway) of the paper.

B.Raman, international terrorism and intelligence expert, felt compelled to react against the abject surrender of the The Hindu to the Chinese official media agency "Xinhua", so much that he calls paper "People's Daily of Chennai". He has also written about Shri N.Ram, who heads The Hindu now.

"The Chindu" (a take on the Chinese angle of The Hindu), a blog run by a group of vigilant Indians is doing a superb service in this regard by exposing the bigotry of this once-great newspaper. Till recently, it had become a habit for me (before I stopped buying The Hindu) to first read the editorials and guess where the factual inaccuracies are and how "The Chindu" would blast them. What fun!

The latest claim of The Hindu is that Hinduism was also involved in forcible conversions at one time, just as other religions do.
Here is the article:
http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/07/stories/2008110753791100.htm
And here is a firm rebuttal of the article.
http://cbcnn.blogspot.com/2008/11/conversions-and-hinduism-chindus.html

Please do follow the blog and understand what sort of Goebellian propaganda we are being fed with, everyday. Of course, one can always say that the blog is a rightist one and they have their own perspective of looking at things, but then, they are atleast open for a discussion on their blog, unlike The Hindu (or is it Chindu?).

Whither Dharma?

2008-11-08T10:21:00.005+05:30

We seem to be having a lot of debate regarding future government for India and the relevance of Dharma for such a government.
So, is it going to be
1) the Nehruvian model of progressive liberalism, victimisation and guilthood ridden socialist government?
2) the No-holds-barred hyper-consumerism driven capitalistic system of the USA where everybody is rich and bankrupt at the same time?
3) the time-tested ideal of Dharma--the law the country has followed since ages, which the people are already conditioned to?

So let us start with a basic question: What is this government and why do we need it?

Nitin at Acorn writes an excellent post on this:
"Let’s start with an axiom: all individuals are free, and from this freedom, they possess certain inalienable rights. They possess these rights and freedoms at all times, but in a state of nature, their ability to enjoy the freedom and exercise the rights is circumscribed by their individual power. In Indian philosophy, the state of nature is termed as matsya nyaya, or the law of the fishes, a condition under which the stronger fish eats the weaker fish. Thomas Hobbes, the 17th century English philosopher, describes this as the time when “men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called war; and such a war as is of every man against every man (bellum omnium contra omnes).” Life, therefore, is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”
To better enjoy their rights and freedoms, individuals trade-off a part of their freedom for the security offered by a state. "
(In the present context, it is also important to consider what the Arthashastra says regarding internal security, upholding law and order, and disaffection.)

Now, coming to the kind of governance that our country needs, I belive that the first form of government largely stands discredited because it is based on negativistic concepts of guilt and victimhood (as you can see more about this below from some of the articles on Dharma) and not on positives of growth and national interest.

The second concept of governance, while being attractive, is not suitable for Indian psyche, because we are not known to be huge spenders. While capitalism as an ideal of allowing private enterprise is very much according to our Indian tradition, such reckless consumerism, as we have witnessed in USA resulting in mass-bankrupcy, is not in our blood. To paraphrase what M.R.Venkatesh says in this highly entertaining talk on globalisation, "The Indian wife will not allow such reckless spending and makes sure that the economy of the family is always sound." (as an aside, he had predicted the market crash as far back as February 2008).

Regarding the third one, Yossarin over at Offstumped (who, I consider to be my mentor) has written a series of articles on what Dharma is and how it protects us (regardless of our personal affiliations), as a nation, if we stick to it:
Dharma 101:What is Dharma?
Dharma 201-Part I
Dharma 201-Part II
Dharma 301: There is no Ninth Schedule in Dharma
Dharma 401: Extracts from Constituent Assembly Debates
Dharma 501: Responsible Exercise of Freedom
National Interest First, Not Human Rights
The Rise of Beedi Activism
War on Terror: Justice, Not Vengeance
Dharma 701: To Violence or Not?

That explained, he goes on to explain what Hindutva, based on Dharma means and how can it work in the current setting:
Flat World Hindutva-1: Freeing Religion from State Control
Flat World Hindutva-2: Uphold the Rule of Law as Dharma
Flat World Hindutva-3: Of Liberty, Licentiousness and Bigotry
Flat World Hindutva-4: Individual Freedom & Socio-Economic Choice
Flat World Hindutva-5: A Moral Compass to guide on Contemporary Issues
Flat World Hindutva-6: Integral Humanism and Flat World Hindutva
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Conclusion:
So after going through all of these, readers will find that the all important question "So if we desire a Dharmic government, what should we, as individuals, do?" or put in other words, "what does Dharma ask us to do?" is answered comprehensively.

First of all, any fears that if I subscribe to a Dhaarmic perspective,
--I have to shop for a brand-new Trishul and brandish it at every given opportunity yelling "Har Har Mahadev", or
--I have to start decrying and dengrating other religions just because I dont like them, or
--I have to join a gang of like-minded individuals and start playing tit-for-tat with those who have no Dharma in them, because fighting injustice is advocated in Bhagavad geeta
are plain nonsense.

Dharma is all about doing righteous actions at all times and in all circumstances. As Yossarin says, it is not about "what" of things, but "how" of the things.

As far as the Dharma of an ordinary citizen is concerned, it lies in the following three steps advocated succintly with brevity by Yossarin:
- Volunteering to join the Armed Forces or the Security Forces
- Forming Citizens Vigilance Group to work with your local police to keep an eye on suspicious activities
- Finally if you want to be a hero be a Simon Wiesenthal, make it about “Justice and not Vengeance” while not being a “Hater”.

It is time that Indians understood what real Hindutva means and work towards national interest using the Dharma as propounded by our forefathers who,
--were used to living in a society with multiple, often conflicting, ideologies,
--wanted to create sound principles, for the Indian psyche, towards betterment of all citizens,
--mostly importantly, did not wish to eliminate dissenting ideologies and wanted to include everyone in their stride.

Such an overarching, all-inclusive non-exclusivist, yet intuitive and simple principle is unheard of in any other civilisation at any point of time in history. And knowingly or unknowingly, we have been following this dharma in some way or another even before our current constitution was written down.

It is time we understand what really we should be aiming for.

Of King Tut, Moses, and the Vedas

2008-10-12T01:01:00.003+05:30

Seemingly, every odd fellow with a claim of knowing some history knows Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun, or "King Tut", as the "boy king" who died at just 19 years of age. They will even tell you that he was murdered by his own minister Aye. Tutankhamun, ( "Living Image of Amun") was actually born Tutankhaten, meaning "Living Image of Aten". He later changed his name to Tutankhamun after the death of his father.

His dear dad, Mr. Akhenaten, has an even interesting history. In a nutshell, he was a rebel and founded a different religion with a single deity named 'Aten', and changed his capital city. His deity Aten was one jealous God who would not tolerate worship of any other God in his stead. It was arguably, the first attempt at Monotheism, with all its characteristics like hatred, condescension and suppression of the older religious order. Predictably, there was confusion in the kingdom. So when he finally died after twelve years of his rule, his name was forever eliminated from all royal records, his new capital abandoned and temples to his God destroyed and the old order was restored.

Fine! So how is it relevant to us?

Thats because the idea of one single God of Akhenaten stayed on, and when the King and patron died, they had to leave the kingdom of Egypt under threat of persecution. And so, there was an exodus from Egypt. Hmm! sounds familiar? Some historians feel Moses was one of such Atenite religion believers. And then, we have the whole new religion of Judaism. And we know how Christianity and Islam took birth later on, from Judaism.

So, we can trace speculative path of Monotheism starting from Akhenaten of Egypt. Now, the real icing on the cake is this paper from Dr.Subhash Kak. He puts forth a compelling argument that Akhenaten was influenced by, hold your breath, the Rigveda!! Both, his mother, and his wife were from a kingdom called Mitanni, who were vedic worshippers. So the concept one-God, propounded in the Rigveda, was not new to Akhenaten. Dr. Kak points out that some of the hymns to Surya in the Rigveda bear an eeriely close resemblance to not just what Akhenaten wrote in praise of his God Aten, but also to psalm 104 in the Old Testament, thereby helping to even more crystallise the opinion that Akhenaten's Monotheism was a convoluted and over-simplified philosophy based on the Vedic idea of "One-truth", "Ekam Sat".

It is unfortunate that our own philosophy got exported to a foreign place and has now come back as multiple diluted, simplistic, and rigid ideologies that have taken off in tangential direction from their vedic beginnings to haunt us in the forms of proselytism and Jihad. However, this is not the first instance of this kind of illegitimate plagiarism--we already know about Hitler and Swastika.

Weaknesses of the Hindu heart and mind

2008-09-28T15:29:00.001+05:30

Weaknesses of the Hindu heart and mind
Sudheendra Kulkarni

Those Hindus who are sincerely striving to strengthen Hindu-Muslim amity would do well to study the thoughts of Sri Aurobindo. There is a prescient passage in one of his writings, dating back a hundred years, to 1909.

“Hindu-Muslim unity cannot be effected by political adjustments or Congress flatteries. It must be sought deeper down in the heart and in the mind, for where the causes of disunion are there the remedies must be sought. We shall do well to remember that misunderstanding is the most fruitful cause of our differences, that love compels love and that strength conciliates the strong. We must strive to remove the causes of misunderstanding by a better mutual knowledge and sympathy; we must extend the unfaltering love of the patriot to our Mussulman brother, remembering always that in him too Narayana dwells and to him too our Mother has given a permanent place in her bosom; but we must cease to approach him falsely or flatter out of a selfish weakness and cowardice. Intellectual sympathy can only draw together; the sympathy of the heart can alone unite. But the one is a good preparation for the other”.

Judge the above thoughts against India’s historical experience and what do we find? That the truth of the yogi’s thoughts speaks to us with undiminished power even today. Love thy Muslim brother, but let it be love of the strong, not of the weak.

Hindus in India exhibit many weaknesses of the heart and the mind in relating to their Muslim brethren. These are a cause for worry in the difficult times that India is currently passing through. One weakness is the dangerous temptation amongst a tiny section of the Hindu society to think that they can make the community strong by meeting extremism with counter-extremism, terrorism with counter-terrorism. India’s history shows that neither religious extremism nor political extremism has ever found support with the Hindu masses. Going by media reports, a fanatical fringe may well be involved in crude attempts at bomb making. It must be strongly condemned and the law must take its course against any perpetrator of violence.

In post-1947 India, nothing has harmed Hindu-Muslim relations more than communal violence. The causes for riots are many and complex, and the tendency to blame one or the other community exclusively is neither based on truth nor helpful. However, one thing is certain: the impact of riots on the fabric of Muslim life is far worse than on the Hindu society. The feeling of insecurity among Muslims, and the resultant anxiety to seek security in ghetto-like living conditions, is a reality that no honest Hindu can either deny or accept. Riots have also brought the role of the political leadership and the criminal justice system under close scrutiny. This role must be fair, unbiased and guided by the rule of law. Communal violence is a blot on India’s civilisational personality. To provoke it and thereby to weaken our national unity has indeed been a principal objective of the globally networked Islamist terrorists. Therefore, it is high time right-thinking Hindu political leaders, who have the nation’s long-term interests at heart, resolved to strive for the realisation of the goal of a Riot-Free India.

This goal cannot be attained by governments and political parties alone. A lot of sustained societal initiatives are needed. Unfortunately, many Hindus, including those in political parties that project themselves to be champions of secularism, do not have the “sympathy of the heart” towards Muslims. Suspicion and mistrust, which are mutual, lie just beneath the surface of cordiality. This situation has arisen because daily multi-layered socio-cultural interaction between the two communities, so essential for emotional integration in any society, is much less than before. The ghettoisation of Muslims is further shrinking its scope. Isn’t it the responsibility of Hindus, especially educated and better-off Hindus, to do whatever they can to make Muslims feel welcome and secure? What signals are we sending if even someone like Shabana Azmi—and she is by no means alone in this predicament—cannot buy a flat in an apartment or locality of her choice in cosmopolitan Mumbai? The issue cannot be trivialised by saying that she already has more than one flat in the city. The time has come for the Government and the majority community to consciously promote mixed, inter-religious habitats for the poor, middle-class as well as wealthy populations. This is necessary even to reduce the influence of those Muslim separatist forces that want to ensure least possible integration between the two communities.
There is another Hindu weakness, exhibited especially by ultra-secular intellectuals, which has impaired the community’s ability to establish a truly trust-based relationship with Muslims. It is the tendency of many secular Hindu intellectuals, who have no pride in their Hindu identity, to “flatter (Muslims) out of a selfish weakness and cowardice”. Those who do not love their own religion can hardly be expected to create a bond of robust love with adherents of another religion.

Soul-searching about the many ills in Hindu society is of course necessary. But soul-searching should not degenerate into self-blame, which is the attribute of a coward masquerading as a progressive. How many secular Muslims have you seen who loathe their own religion the way secular Hindus routinely do? How many secular Hindu intellectuals have you seen voicing legitimate Hindu concerns (such as mass conversions by Christian evangelists) the way secular Muslims endorse legitimate Muslim concerns? This Hindu weakness, coupled with the attraction of a Muslim vote-bank, is rapidly influencing the stance of many self-styled secular political parties on serious challenges before the nation (Islamist terrorism, large-scale infiltration by Bangladeshis, and separatism in Kashmir, to name a few). In the name of secularism, nationalism is being undermined.

What India needs today is the coming together of proud Hindus and proud Muslims, joined by the common unbreakable bond of Indianness and willing to introspect about the shortcomings in their own communities.

Write to: sudheenkulkarni@gmail.com

JIHADIS HOLD INDIA TO RANSOM

2008-09-21T09:58:00.003+05:30

JIHADIS HOLD INDIA TO RANSOM
INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM MONITOR--PAPER NO.446
B.RAMAN

1. The events in New Delhi since the terrorist strike by the so-called Indian Mujahideen (IM) on September 13 2008, which killed 26 innocentcivilians, should be a matter of concern for all right-thinking Indians.

2. The pent-up anger of large sections of our society over the helplessness and ineptitude of Shivraj Patil, the Home Minister of theGovernment of India, who occupies a position similar to that of the British Home Secretary and the Secretary for Homeland Security in theUS, burst out with many demands either for his resignation from the Cabinet of Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh or for his dismissal if herefused to resign.

3. Neither happened. Patil brazenly said: "There is no question of my resigning so long as I retain the confidence of my leader." Whom did hemean by "my leader"? Dr.Manmohan Singh? No. Sonia Gandhi. He himself said so. What he said amounted to his asserting that so long asSonia Gandhi had confidence in him, he did not have to worry about Manmohan Singh, who cannot touch him, or about the hundreds ofinnocent civilians, who have been killed by the jihadi terrorists in recent months.

4. On September 17,2008, Dr.Manmohan Singh addressed the conference of the Governors of the States of India at New Delhi. His addressreflected his concern over the widespread perception right across India that his Government was soft on terrorism and was unable tocontrol it for want of effective legal measures to empower the police to deal with this cancer effectively . It also carried an admission that inaddition to the continuing threat of jihadi terrorism sponsored by Pakistan, India was facing a new dimension to the threat to nationalsecurity due to a number of Indian Muslims gravitating to the ranks of the jihadis .

5. His address was widely welcomed as indicating that he and his Government were at long last coming out of the denial mode into whichthey had kept themselves confined since they came to office in 2004 and were now prepared for action to empower the police against thejihadi terrorists and to counter effectively the activities of the home-grown jihadis, but the hopes were belied within 24 hours. The PrimeMinister was apparently over-ruled by sections of his own colleagues in the Cabinet and in his Congress (I) party and by the other parties,which are part of the ruling coalition.

6. Briefing the media after a special Cabinet meeting to discuss counter-terrorism on September 18, Priyaranjan Dasmunshi, Minister forInformation and Broadcasting in the Cabinet of Manmohan Singh, virtually debunked and nullified what his own Prime Minister had told theGovernors the previous day. He said that there was no need for special powers for the Police to deal with jihadi terrorism. " If the presentlaws are implemented properly, there is no need for additional laws, " he said as reported by "The Hindu" of September 19,2008.

7. Thus, twice within five days of the New Delhi blasts, two senior Ministers of his Cabinet had sought to give an impression as if the PrimeMinister's views on counter-terrorism did not count. His authority in matters relating to counter-terrorism against jihadi terrorists has beensought to be marginalised by members of his own Cabinet and party as well as by members of the ruling coalition.

8. Some weeks ago, when there was a similar attempt to weaken the authority of the Prime Minister in matters relating to India's closerelations with the US and the concretisation of the agreement with the US for civil nuclear co-operation, the Prime Minister reportedlythreatened to resign in protest. This led to his party supporting him in this matter. One would have expected the Prime Minister to similarlythreaten to quit if his authority in matters relating to counter-terrorism is not respected and upheld by his colleagues in the Government andparty. He has chosen not to do so even though the subject of protecting the lives and property of the citizens of this country is a much moreimportant issue than the question of the nuclear agreement with the US.

9. Dasmunshi did not stop with debunking his own Prime Minister and others who spoke of the need for additional laws to deal with jihaditerrorism. He even ridiculed the concerns of the public over the recurring jihadi terrorist strikes across the country. The same issue of "TheHindu" has quoted him as saying : "Can anyone predict a terrorist strike? No Government can prevent it." So, to go by his words, theinnocent civilians of this country have no other option but to keep dying at the hands of the jihadi terrorists.

10.The events of the past few days have further indicated----if further indication was necessary--- as to who lays down the counter-terrorismpolicy of this country against jihadi terrorism.Sonia Gandhi? No.The Prime Minister of India? No.The Home Minister of India? No.The intelligence chiefs? No.The police chiefs? No.

11. It is laid down by the leaders of the Muslim community themselves. They indicate the dos and don'ts and the Government does not havethe courage to go against them. There is a systematic attempt by the leaders of the Muslim community to ridicule the results of the policeinvestigation into the activities of the IM. The police are accused of fabricating evidence and of targeting innocent Muslim youth in order todiscredit Islam and the Muslim community. Everytime a suspected jihadi terrorist is sought to be arrested by the police, these leaders andthe members of the community rally to his suppport. They either try to prevent him from being arrested or if the police manage to arrest, tofrustrate his interrogation by making allegations of targeting the Muslim community in order to discredit it.

12. In recent months, the Tamil Nadu police have arrested dozens of Tamil citizens of India on suspicion of their links with the LiberationTigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Do the Tamils allege that their community is being targeted? No.Many Nagas used to be arrested in Nagalandbecause of their alleged links with Naga insurgent organisations? Did the Naga leaders allege that their community was being targeted? No.Many Hindus in Assam are arrested on suspicion of their links with the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA). Do the leaders of the localHindu community allege that the Hindus are being targeted? No.

13. But the moment the Police arrests a Muslim for any reason-----for being a mafia leader, a narcotics smuggler, a counterfeiter or a jihaditerrorist--- large sections of the Muslim community rise in his or her defence and try to discredit the police by accusing it of targeting thecommunity by fabricating evidence. No leader of the Congress (I) or other parties of the ruling coalition has the courage to tell the Muslimleaders that the law has to take its own course against any wrong-doer whatever be his or her religion or ethnicity or language and that thepolice should do whatever they have to in order to protect the lives and property of the citizens of this country. The leaders of the Muslimcommunity are seeking to create an impression that a Muslim can do no wrong and that all the wrongs are committed by non-Muslims.

14. The comprehensive UN Security Council Resolution No.1373 passed unanimously after the 9/11 terrorist strikes in the US, inter alia,called upon the member-countries of the UN to take necessary legal measures to further empower the police. India is one of the fewcountries in the world not to have implemented the resolution in toto due to fear of adverse reactions from its Muslim community. TheAzamgarh District of Uttar Pradesh is not located in a remote area of the country where the Police cannot reach. It is in the heart of India. Itwas previously the Sicily of India from which many of the Muslim mafia leaders, narcotics smugglers and other criminals emerged. It is nowbecoming the breeding ground of India's home-grown jihadi terrorism. Many of those arrested in connection with the investigations into theactivities of the IM have had an Azamgarh connection. Azamgarh is slowly emerging as India's South Waziristan, a new radiating point ofjihadi terrorism. The police is not given a free hand to put an end to this spawning ground. The predominantly Muslim areas of this districtare becoming no-go areas for the police----not because the Police do not have the capability to neutralise the emerging jihadi breedinggrounds, but because the political leadership will not allow them to use that capability for fear of displeasing the Muslims.

15.Pleasing the Muslims at any price----by closing our eyes to the depredations of the jihadi terrorists in our midst--- in order to retain theirsupport during the election has become an important driving force of the electoral strategy of the ruling coalition. If hundreds of innocentcivilians have to die as a result, so be it. Keeping the Muslims happy is more important than protecting the lives and property of the citizensof this country.

16. Another disturbing trend has not received the attention it deserved. Many members of the Cabinet of Manmohan Singh and manyleaders of the ruling coalition are reportedly unhappy with the intelligence agencies and the Police for speaking of home-grown jihaditerrorism. They are also reportedly unhappy with the Prime Minister himself for drawing attention to this in his address to the Governors'conference. They want that the focus should continue to be on Pakistan and the terrorists sponsored by Pakistan and that one should nothighlight the role of the Indian Muslims in the global jihad. They are worried that the talk of home-grown jihadi terrorism might increasepressure on the Government to step up the monitoring of developments in the Indian Muslim community and identify and neutralise theIndian Muslims taking to jihadi terrorism.

17. On September 19,2008, Mohan Chand Sharma, a legendary and brave Inspector of the Delhi Police, succumbed to bullet injuries after hewas shot thrice by a group of jihadi terrorists from Azamgarh, who were operating from a hide-out in a Muslim area in the heart of New Delhi.Sharma, with a small team of his officers, had gone to the hide-out to arrest a group of five jihadi terrorists, believed responsible for therecent serial blasts. The cynical reaction of the so-called secular class as a whole to this despicable action of the jihadis has shocked thecountry. The so-called secular political class has vied with one another in praising this brave officer and in announcing financial assistancefor the members of his family. But, not one of them has condemned the Indian jihadis for their despicable crime and called for action to rootout jihadi terrorism in our midst.

18. Fortunately, we are a democratic country. If the Muslims, who constitute only about 15 per cent of the population of the country, havethe power of the vote, the rest of the population has it too. The Hindus constitute about 80 per cent of the population. At the time of voting,every voter should have before his or her eyes the pictures of the death and destruction being caused right across the country by the jihadisand the faces of Sharma and other similar brave officers of the security forces, who have sacrificed their lives in the fight against jihaditerrorists despite the lack of support from the so-called secular political class.

19. Every vote in the forthcoming elections should be a vote against jihadi terrorism and against the political leaders who are not preparedto act against the jihadi terrorists. Let there be an anti-jihadi tsunami against all of them.20. Thus far and no further----that is the message that should go across to the jihadi terrorists and their political backers and secularapologists.

(20-9-08)(The writer is Additional Secretay (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies,Chennai. E0-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )

Unique Sangh experiment in rural Development

2008-09-18T15:30:00.002+05:30

Unique Sangh experiment in rural Development By Pramod Kumar in Mohad

With 98 per cent rate of literacy, majority of the villagers speak Samskrit.

* There are 53 kinds of small and cottage industries in the village of 450 families with a population of 2500.
* Every inch of the agriculture land is irrigated.
* Majority of the farmers have said firm no to the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and adopted organic farming.
* No family uses wood for preparing food; almost every house has a bio-gas plant.
* Awareness about protecting the environment is so wide-spread that every girl of the village ties rakhi to trees on Rakshabandhan day and resolves to protect them.
* Every house has a tulsi plant and flower garden in the premises.
* Every building has a sign of Om/Swastik and other ethical messages on the walls.
* Every house has a toilet.
* The village is free from theft, violence and all kinds of addictions including paan, biri, cigarette, gutkha, liquor, etc.
* No dispute of the village is pending in any court or police station.
* Every family has Sangh swayamsevaks.

Having gone through these highlights, you must be wondering whether it is a fairy tale. But don’t be mistaken. It is absolute truth and the village is Mohad, where people are well aware of their duties and rights. This is manifest in the escalating literacy rate, concisousness about protecting the environment and all-pervasive religious atmosphere in the village.

Mohad falls under Narsinghpur district of Madhya Pradesh. About 20 years ago this village was also like any other village of the country. But now it has gone through a sea change. Credit to bring about this incredible change goes to Sangh swayamsevaks of this village.

The man behind this revolution is 75-year-old Shri Surendra Singh Chauhan, who, however, does not claim the credit personally and transfers it to his fellow villagers. “I am just a catalyst; the entire development work has been done by our villagers,” said Shri Chauhan who is affectionately called Bhaiyaji. He made it clear that he does not wish to make the village a town. “The village will remain a village but the technology available in towns will be brought to the village also,” he added.

Mohad is about 100 km from Jabalpur and falls under Kareli tehsil. It is just 5 km from Kareli town. After reaching the village border, one can realise the uniqueness of the village. As one enters the village, a Hanuman temple is standing tall to bless everyone. When I entered the village in the morning of September 1, the thing that impressed me the most was greetings of Jai Shri Ram and Namo Namah even by the kids of three-four years to me, who did not know me at all. On every step the village and the villagers inspire the outsiders. Their every activity carries a message.

Gaon ki pratibha gaon mein, gaon ka paisa gaon mein and gaon ka paani gaon mein (talent, water and money of the village should remain in the village) is the formula on which the village has been developed by swayamsevaks. The village has highly qualified people including Ph.Ds, LL.Bs, engineers, etc. Shri Bhaiyaji is himself MA in English literature. His son Shri Sangram Singh is MA Economics and the second son Shri Vikram Singh is BA LL.B. And all are doing farming in the village. The village has two Ph.Ds, dozens of post-graduates, over 20 graduates, 30 teachers, two journalists, four engineers, three doctors, one Superintendent of Police, two retired and three serving army officers.

Shri Beni Prasad is MA LL.B and is doing farming. He has done a wonderful work in organic farming. He stopped using chemical fertilizers and pesticides and turned most of his farming to organic. There are 38 tractors in the village and at least two farming symposia are held every year in which agriculture scientists are invited to guide the farmers. The government officers of different departments are called in the village to discuss the problems of farmers on regular basis.

Besides other animals the village has over 3000 cows and 154 bio-gas plants. The pressure of bio-gas is more than the LPG. It is also less sensitive than the LPG. “Bio-gas plant has changed our life beyond our imagination. Now there is no tension of purchasing LPG cylinder or cutting the woods from the forests. It is also very cheap. It solved all our energy and power problems,” said seventh pass Smt. Pratibha Chauhan in Samskrit. She pointed out that the cow dung produces more bio-gas than any other animals’ dung in the plant. The villagers have adopted Deenbandhu model of bio-gas plant, which requires less space and less cost. All plants are built underground and the space over them is used mostly for animals. According to Shri Bhaiyaji one plant of 2, 3, 4 and 6 cubic metres costs around Rs 10,000, 12,000, 14,000 and Rs 16,000 respectively. This model has proved very successful. That is why following requests from other villages the artisans of this village go to different states to build similar plants. Now the work is on in the village over the experiments of running diesel engines with bio-gas and storing it in cylinders too. Bio-gas plants have proved to be a milestone in protecting the environment and forests. Tying rakhi on trees by girls has also been taken up as a step to protect them.

Till 15 years back, the people from dalit communities and Vanvasis were not allowed to have even drinking water from the public handpumps and wells. But now the picture has changed. All people belonging to any community can have water from any handpump or well freely. The village Panchayat has ensured at least one handpump at every 100-meter distance. The social harmony has improved to the extent that all villagers jointly perform bhajan-keertan in temples and have meals together. Those people who were earlier deprived of performing aarti during the Durga Pooja and Ganesh festivals now happily do it along with other villagers. Kanyapujan is also held in the village to bridge the gap between the upper and lower classes during Navratras.

Adarsh Hindu Ghar competition is held in the village every year. A few years back, this award was won by a Jatav family of Shri Devkaran Jatav. RSS Sarsanghachalak Shri K.S. Sudarshan and the late BJP leader Saheb Singh Verma jointly visited the village to present the award to this family on 11-4-2000. Writing Om or the sign of Swastik outside every house and having a tulsi plant in the premises is part of the 21-point programme under this competition, which is followed by all.

The village has four schools including one Saraswati Shishu Mandir. Every child of the village goes to school and those who are below three years of age go to balwadis. All the schools begin with Saraswati Vandana and Vande Mataram. Interesting part of it is that even the Muslim students sing Saraswati Vandana and Vande Mataram without hesitation. They also sing Samskrit shlokas along with other students. Every house has the Ramayana and the Gita and the family members read them regularly. But the family members of one Jumman reads the Quran.

Special attention is paid to improve handwriting of the students. Apart from personal efforts on the part of Shri Bhaiyaji who still writes very beautifully, Shri Nana Labhe, a handwriting expert, is invited from Nagpur to teach the techniques of improving handwriting. So far, he has visited the village nine times since 1996.

Mohad has set a noteworthy example on Samskrit propagation. The first Samskrit Sambhashan Varga was held on January 15, 1996 and so far six such Vargas have been organised by the Samskrit Bharati. More than 800 persons including children have learnt Samskrit in these Vargas. There are more than 100 minor children, who can introduce themselves fully in Samskrit. A woman, Smt. Pramila Devi, even topped the All India Kovid Exam of Samskrit, conducted by Samskrit Bharati in 2004, with 84 per cent marks.

Under Udyan Utsava school children are taken to village nursery twice a year and are taught about grafting. According to Shri Bhagvendra Patel, suprintendent of the nursery, the nursery has more than two lakh saplings of rare species. Special experiments of grafting are undertaken here. It has a variety of mango trees, which produces four kinds of mangos—dashahari, chausa, langada and Amrapali at a time.

A few years back the village had six patients of leprosy and 13 of infectious diseases. But now all have been fully cured. The initiative was taken by the swayamsevaks. Though, there is no health centre in the village, there are two arogya rakshaks who cater to the primary health needs. Two camps of Patanjali Yoga training have also been organised in the village to teach proper yoga techniques.

The Sangh work in the village began in 1947 and was on even during the Emergency. Today, every house of the village has at least one swayamsevak. Three swayamsevaks are third year trained and seven have done first year OTC and over 20 have done Prathamik Varga. Today, there is one evening shakha, which has over 30 swayamsevaks including four Muslim swayamsevaks—Habib Khan, Rashid Khan, Jumman and Rais Khan. “Basically the shakha develops the genuine workers who are required for such development. The qualities and facilities that we wish to have for our own family should be available to all villagers, and this is our basic thinking,” added Shri Bhaiyaji.

Before leaving the village on September 2, Bhaiyaji introduced me to Major (retd.) Prabhat Singh Chauhan who has settled in the village after taking VRS. He did wonderful work on vermiculture. “Vermi is basically bhoomiputra and is the best friend of farmers. It is called intestine of the soil. But the chemical fertilizers and pesticides have killed it. It could become a major profession in the villages if taken up properly and seriously,” he said. He has promoted the use of rainwater in batteries instead of distilled water in the village. “This is the benefit of bringing the talent back to the village,” Shri Bhaiyaji explained.

Every person of the village appears energetic and enthusiastic. Nobody throws garbage in streets and every family cleanses the street outside their houses. Bhaiyaji is highly regarded in the village and he visits all the houses and is treated as if he is part of them. The swayamsevaks of Mohad also inspired the people of Baghuwar, an adjoining village, which is also being developed on the lines of Mohad. It has also shown good results. Seeing the inspiring and highly informative quotations on the walls of every house and building in the village the local Collector Shri Manish Singh had commented that the students preparing for UPSC exams must visit this village at least once. And after that two batches of such students have visited the village.

At the time when villagers are migrating to cities, Mohad sets an example as to how to develop villages and how the facilities available in urban areas can be made available in villages.

Strategy of (Political) Islam

2008-09-14T16:23:00.002+05:30

What Islam Isn't
By Dr. Peter HammondFrontPageMagazine.com Monday, April 21, 2008

The following is adapted from Dr. Peter Hammond's book: Slavery, Terrorism and Islam: The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat:

Islam is not a religion nor is it a cult. It is a complete system.

Islam has religious, legal, political, economic and military components. The religious component is a beard for all the other components.

Islamization occurs when there are sufficient Muslims in a country to agitate for their so-called 'religious rights.'

When politically correct and culturally diverse societies agree to 'the reasonable' Muslim demands for their 'religious rights,' they also get the other components under the table. Here's how it works (percentages source CIA: The World Fact Book (2007)).

As long as the Muslim population remains around 1% of any given country they will be regarded as a peace-loving minority and not as a threat to anyone. In fact, they may be featured in articles and films, stereotyped for their colorful uniqueness:
United States -- Muslim 1.0%
Australia -- Muslim 1.5%
Canada -- Muslim 1.9%
China -- Muslim 1%-2%
Italy -- Muslim 1.5%
Norway -- Muslim 1.8%

At 2% and 3% they begin to proselytize from other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups with major recruiting from the jails and among street gangs:
Denmark -- Muslim 2%
Germany -- Muslim 3.7%
United Kingdom -- Muslim 2.7%
Spain -- Muslim 4%
Thailand -- Muslim 4.6%

From 5% on they exercise an inordinate influence in proportion to their percentage of the population.They will push for the introduction of halal (clean by Islamic standards) food, thereby securing food preparation jobs for Muslims. They will increase pressure on supermarket chains to feature it on their shelves -- along with threats for failure to comply. ( United States ).
France -- Muslim 8%
Philippines -- Muslim 5%
Sweden -- Muslim 5%
Switzerland -- Muslim 4.3%
The Netherlands -- Muslim 5.5%
Trinidad &Tobago -- Muslim 5.8%

At this point, they will work to get the ruling government to allow them to rule themselves under Sharia, the Islamic Law. The ultimate goal of Islam is not to convert the world but to establish Sharia law over the entire world.When Muslims reach 10% of the population, they will increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions ( Paris --car-burnings). Any non-Muslim action that offends Islam will result in uprisings and threats ( Amsterdam - Mohammed cartoons).
Guyana -- Muslim 10%
India -- Muslim 13.4%
Israel -- Muslim 16%
Kenya -- Muslim 10%
Russia -- Muslim 10-15%

After reaching 20% expect hair-trigger rioting, jihad militia formations, sporadic killings and church and synagogue burning:
Ethiopia -- Muslim 32.8%

At 40% you will find widespread massacres, chronic terror attacks and ongoing militia warfare:
Bosnia -- Muslim 40%
Chad -- Muslim 53.1%
Lebanon -- Muslim 59.7%

From 60% you may expect unfettered persecution of non-believers and other religions, sporadic ethnic cleansing (genocide), use of Sharia Law as a weapon and Jizya, the tax placed on infidels:
Albania -- Muslim 70%
Malaysia -- Muslim 60.4%
Qatar -- Muslim 77.5%
Sudan -- Muslim 70%

After 80% expect State run ethnic cleansing and genocide:
Bangladesh -- Muslim 83%
Egypt -- Muslim 90%
Gaza -- Muslim 98.7%
Indonesia -- Muslim 86.1%
Iran -- Muslim 98%
Iraq -- Muslim 97%
Jordan -- Muslim 92%
Morocco -- Muslim 98.7%
Pakistan -- Muslim 97%
Palestine -- Muslim 99%
Syria -- Muslim 90%
Tajikistan -- Muslim 90%
Turkey -- Muslim 99.8%
United Arab Emirates -- Muslim 96%

100% will usher in the peace of 'Dar-es-Salaam' -- the Islamic House of Peace -- there's supposed to be peace because everybody is a Muslim:
Afghanistan -- Muslim 100%
Saudi Arabia -- Muslim 100%
Somalia -- Muslim 100%
Yemen -- Muslim 99.9%

Of course, that's not the case. To satisfy their blood lust, Muslims then start killing each other for a variety of reasons.

'Before I was nine I had learned the basic canon of Arab life. It was me against my brother; me and my brother against our father; my family against my cousins and the clan; the clan against the tribe; and the tribe against the world and all of us against the infidel. – Leon Uris, 'The Haj'

It is good to remember that in many, many countries, such as France, the Muslim populations are centered around ghettos based on their ethnicity. Muslims do not integrate into the community at large. Therefore, they exercise more power than their national average would indicate.

Chiru chiru chiru chiru..... Chiru!

2008-09-02T09:06:00.003+05:30

So I had the unpleasant experience of watching the Megastar's meeting on the idiot Box where he unveiled the name, flag and the USP of his political party. Poor thing.. whenever he wanted to look at the audience and speak, appropriate words couldnt plant themselves at the edge of his tongue, and he again had to bow his head and read out his speech-- A speech which had nothing but doling out more bonanzas for targetted vote-banks, revering their idols, while side-stepping most relevant issues like Telangana, Naxalism, and Terrorism. The crowd on their part cared too hoots about what he was saying. They were just too happy to have a slimpse of their icon-- and the Megastar knew it. Whatever he says, he knows that this bunch will vote for him, even if he has no credentials in politics. And so, there was neither applause in unison when he made a "applaudable statement" nor rapt attention when we was about to make one. There was just plain raucus and jostling among the crowd.

But his insistence of keeping Mommie Dearest (Mother Teresa aka MT) as his mascot is troubling. One of my collegues (yea, his fan) defends that the Megastar has been a fan of MT since long before he thought of entering politics. This is even more troubling. This can only mean two things--
1) Either he is too dumb to understand that she is a fake saint
2) Or he is totally conversant with her real nature and yet chooses to be devoted to her.

Either possibility dicsounts him to occupy the chair of a chief Minister of a province in a democratic nation. But then, the present fellow is not much different either. I will not be surprised if the next govt. in AP is a coalition with the most bitter enemies joining hands. One thing is for sure. Politics in AP has suddenly become far too interesting.

Whatever the outcome be, the path Chiru has chosen will only serve to project him seen as just another populist, caste-based, leftist politician without either motivation or even clue about what is governance and development. There is nothing new in here.

Another interesting tidbit--
I hope people have seen and heard the theme song of "Praja Rajyam": www.youtube.com/watch?v=02Y43Bt6U2Q
The chhandas of the song is called "Arya Geeti". There is one more, quite popular, traditional Indian poem in that meter-- The Shiva Tandava stotram.
So what?
well... Now listen to this one: www.youtube.com/watch?v=id-wKTALL8g

More on our Bahu

2008-08-14T12:40:00.003+05:30

First, about the author of the article to be presented below from wiki:

Brahma Chellaney is Professor of Strategic Studies at the New Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research, an independent, privately funded think-tank. He is also a Member of the Policy Advisory Group headed by the Foreign Minister of India. Professor Chellaney is also a newspaper columnist and television commentator. He writes opinion articles for the International Herald Tribune, Wall Street Journal, The Japan Times, The Asian Age, The Times of India and The Hindustan Times. In 1985, he won the Overseas Press Club of America's Citation for Excellence.

In his article "Sending A Wrong Signal", the author argues that Sonia Gandhi’s Beijing visit is not good diplomacy.

This is an excellent article, but what really caught my attention are bits about Ms. Gandhi's personality, esp when one looks through the prism of the present circumstances.

For instance--
Sonia’s fascination with China, as this writer learned long ago in a one-to-one meeting with her, dates back to her 1988 Beijing visit with late husband Rajiv Gandhi. The Chinese leadership rolled out all the pomp and pageantry, although that visit followed the 1987 Sumdorong Chu military showdown that brought war clouds out of a clear blue sky. Beijing’s perception of Sonia as someone it can work with was reinforced by her visit last October, when it accorded her a welcome fit for a head of state.

Dangerous already. China has found an easy catch.. Ms.Gandhi fell for the communist charms.
Her visit cannot be defended as personal or apolitical, for her presence at the Games ceremony sends out a potent political message. To go with children and grandchildren and treat the trip as all fun and games will be out of step with her political status. After all, she heads India’s ruling party and her son is its general secretary. A jaunt fraught with foreign-policy implications is irreconcilable with such standing.

Is That all?
Vision, consistency and tenacity are critical to good diplomacy. Nothing can undermine foreign policy more than spur-of-the-moment initiatives or actions based on personal whims and fancies. Pragmatic foreign policy, as legendary French diplomat Charles-Maurice de Tellyrand-Périgord said, cannot display too much zeal. In that light, Sonia Gandhi’s sudden decision to go to the Beijing Olympics runs counter to the central precepts of sound diplomacy.
That this is her second visit to China in less than a year smacks not just of overzealousness but borders on indiscretion, coming as it does in the face of mounting Chinese assertiveness. Her previous visit last October, in the company of son Rahul Gandhi, was ill-timed because it followed several provocative Chinese actions, including Beijing publicly upping the ante on territorial disputes, compelling India to call off an IAS officers’ tour by denying a visa to an Arunachali officer, and repudiating a 2005 agreement that any border-related settlement should not disturb settled populations. Her latest visit, with members of her extended family, follows more Chinese provocations, including border incidents (like the demolition of makeshift Indian army bunkers at the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet trijunction) and the post-midnight summoning of the Indian ambassador.

And so we have our own Marie Antoinette out to bankrupt the state of its political capital, and of course the national self esteem.
Her latest visit, at a time when China has stepped up pressure on India, will only help engender more Chinese pressure. By sowing confusion in India’s China policy, it not only sends out a message incongruous with Indian interest, but also unconsciously plays into Beijing’s game-plan to belittle the elected government as ineffectual and rudderless and reach out to her. Beijing is content that the Indian officialdom has fallen into the Chinese trap of talking about talks in a never-ending process. That leaves China free to pursue “congagement” with India, a blend of containment symbolized by aggressive flanking manoeuvres and engagement aided through the instrumentality of Sonia Gandhi.

And this final salvo from the author:
Ad hoc, personality-driven approach is no way to deal with such a state that calculatedly plays to its national pride and resolutely pursues long-term strategic interests. To upstage your own government through presence at China’s coming-out party is no mean matter. Once the party is over, it may not be long before China takes its gloves off. Given its growing bellicosity, can anyone discount the possibility that it may try to give India a bloody nose through a lightening but localized military expedition?

What I gather from the article is that Ms.Gandhi has absolutely no idea of what statesmanship, diplomacy, and strategy are. She has absolutely no clue no what China is and whats behind their sweet talk. A totally dispensable mediocre entity with no idea of whats going on either inside or outside the country is ruling our country through her nefarious minions and now, she is holding it hostage to her personal whims and fancies. Forget good governance and nation-building.... whither democracy, for starters?

About our Bahu

2008-07-25T11:52:00.003+05:30

There is everything you need to know about the "tyaag ki pratimaa", right here, right now... and its free!

"To end Bharat Mata’s shame and pain, what can patriotic Indians do in a democracy?

As a first step there is an urgent need to document the facts about their citizenship on notarized paper, for which we need to set up a network in London, Milan, Hongkong, and in Venezuela. Those persuaded by my above stated facts and arguments may join in and help set up this network. Other steps can come later once this is accomplished."

need I say anything more?.. read on:
http://www.janataparty.org/sonia.html

A grim joke on The Indian Essence

2008-07-25T11:47:00.002+05:30

A blogger Pradeep has written an excellent write-up on the Ram-setu: http://treebeard31.wordpress.com/2007/10/05/a-bridge-too-far/

The Lord surveyed the Ram Setu and said “Hanuman, how diligently and strenuously you and your vanara sena had built this bridge several centuries back. It is remarkable that it has withstood the ravages of the climatic and geographical changes over centuries. It is indeed an amazing feat especially considering the fact that a bridge at Hyderabad built by Gammon using latest technology collapsed the other day even before they could stick the posters on its pillars.” Hanuman with all humility spoke “Jai Sri Ram, it is all because of your grace. We just scribbled your name on the bricks and threw them in the sea and they held. No steel from TISCO or cement from Ambuja or ACC was ever used. But Lord, why rake up the old issue now.”

Ram spoke “Well, Hanuman some people down there want to demolish the bridge and construct a canal. The contract involves lot of money and lot of money will be made. They will make money on demolition and make more money on construction. “Hanuman humbly bowed down and said “Why not we go down and present ourcase”

Ram said “Times have changed since we were down there. They will ask us to submit age proof and we don’t have either a birth certificate or school leaving certificate. We traveled mainly on foot and some times in bullock carts and so we don’t have a driving license either. As far as the address proof is concerned the fact that I was born at Ayodhya is itself under litigation for over half a century, If I go in a traditional attire with bow and arrow, the ordinary folks may recognize me but Arjun Singh may take me to be some tribal and, at the most, offer a seat at IIT under the reserved category. Also, a God cannot walk in dressed in a three-piece suit and announce his arrival. It would make even the devotees suspicious. So it is dilemma so to say.”

“I can vouch for you by saying that I personally built the bridge.” “My dear, Anjani putra, it will not work. They will ask you to produce the lay-out plan, the project details, including financial outlay and how the project cost was met and the completion certificate. Nothing is accepted without documentary evidence in India. You may cough but unless a doctor certifies it, you have no cough. A pensioner may present himself personally but the authorities do not take it as proof. He has to produce a life-certificate to prove that he is alive. It is that complicated.”

“Lord can’t understand these historians. Over the years you have given darshan once every hundred years to saints like Surdas, Tulsidas, Saint Thyagaraja, Jayadeva, Bhadrachala Ramdas and even Sant Tukaram and still they disbelieve your existence and say Ramayana is a myth. The only option, I see, is to re-enact Ramayana on earth and set the government records straight once for all.” Lord smiled “It isn’t that easy today. Ravan is apprehensive that he may look like a saint in front of Karunanidhi. I also spoke to his mama Mareecha, who appeared as a golden deer to tempt Sita maiyya when I was in the forest and he said that he won’t take a chance of stepping on earth as long as Salman Khan is around!!!”

Mommie Dearest

2008-07-04T10:46:00.003+05:30

Mommie Dearest
The pope beatifies Mother Teresa, a fanatic, a fundamentalist, and a fraud.
By Christopher Hitchens
Posted Monday, Oct. 20, 2003, at 4:04 PM ET

I think it was Macaulay who said that the Roman Catholic Church deserved great credit for, and owed its longevity to, its ability to handle and contain fanaticism. This rather oblique compliment belongs to a more serious age. What is so striking about the "beatification" of the woman who styled herself "Mother" Teresa is the abject surrender, on the part of the church, to the forces of showbiz, superstition, and populism.

It's the sheer tawdriness that strikes the eye first of all. It used to be that a person could not even be nominated for "beatification," the first step to "sainthood," until five years after his or her death. This was to guard against local or popular enthusiasm in the promotion of dubious characters. The pope nominated MT a year after her death in 1997. It also used to be that an apparatus of inquiry was set in train, including the scrutiny of an advocatus diaboli or "devil's advocate," to test any extraordinary claims. The pope has abolished this office and has created more instant saints than all his predecessors combined as far back as the 16th century.

As for the "miracle" that had to be attested, what can one say? Surely any respectable Catholic cringes with shame at the obviousness of the fakery. A Bengali woman named Monica Besra claims that a beam of light emerged from a picture of MT, which she happened to have in her home, and relieved her of a cancerous tumor. Her physician, Dr. Ranjan Mustafi, says that she didn't have a cancerous tumor in the first place and that the tubercular cyst she did have was cured by a course of prescription medicine. Was he interviewed by the Vatican's investigators? No. (As it happens, I myself was interviewed by them but only in the most perfunctory way. The procedure still does demand a show of consultation with doubters, and a show of consultation was what, in this case, it got.)

According to an uncontradicted report in the Italian paper L'Eco di Bergamo, the Vatican's secretary of state sent a letter to senior cardinals in June, asking on behalf of the pope whether they favored making MT a saint right away. The pope's clear intention has been to speed the process up in order to perform the ceremony in his own lifetime. The response was in the negative, according to Father Brian Kolodiejchuk, the Canadian priest who has acted as postulator or advocate for the "canonization." But the damage, to such integrity as the process possesses, has already been done.

During the deliberations over the Second Vatican Council, under the stewardship of Pope John XXIII, MT was to the fore in opposing all suggestions of reform. What was needed, she maintained, was more work and more faith, not doctrinal revision. Her position was ultra-reactionary and fundamentalist even in orthodox Catholic terms. Believers are indeed enjoined to abhor and eschew abortion, but they are not required to affirm that abortion is "the greatest destroyer of peace," as MT fantastically asserted to a dumbfounded audience when receiving the Nobel Peace Prize*. Believers are likewise enjoined to abhor and eschew divorce, but they are not required to insist that a ban on divorce and remarriage be a part of the state constitution, as MT demanded in a referendum in Ireland (which her side narrowly lost) in 1996. Later in that same year, she told Ladies Home Journal that she was pleased by the divorce of her friend Princess Diana, because the marriage had so obviously been an unhappy one …

This returns us to the medieval corruption of the church, which sold indulgences to the rich while preaching hellfire and continence to the poor. MT was not a friend of the poor. She was a friend of poverty. She said that suffering was a gift from God. She spent her life opposing the only known cure for poverty, which is the empowerment of women and the emancipation of them from a livestock version of compulsory reproduction. And she was a friend to the worst of the rich, taking misappropriated money from the atrocious Duvalier family in Haiti (whose rule she praised in return) and from Charles Keating of the Lincoln Savings and Loan. Where did that money, and all the other donations, go? The primitive hospice in Calcutta was as run down when she died as it always had been—she preferred California clinics when she got sick herself—and her order always refused to publish any audit. But we have her own claim that she opened 500 convents in more than a hundred countries, all bearing the name of her own order. Excuse me, but this is modesty and humility?

The rich world has a poor conscience, and many people liked to alleviate their own unease by sending money to a woman who seemed like an activist for "the poorest of the poor." People do not like to admit that they have been gulled or conned, so a vested interest in the myth was permitted to arise, and a lazy media never bothered to ask any follow-up questions. Many volunteers who went to Calcutta came back abruptly disillusioned by the stern ideology and poverty-loving practice of the "Missionaries of Charity," but they had no audience for their story. George Orwell's admonition in his essay on Gandhi—that saints should always be presumed guilty until proved innocent—was drowned in a Niagara of soft-hearted, soft-headed, and uninquiring propaganda.

One of the curses of India, as of other poor countries, is the quack medicine man, who fleeces the sufferer by promises of miraculous healing. Sunday was a great day for these parasites, who saw their crummy methods endorsed by his holiness and given a more or less free ride in the international press. Forgotten were the elementary rules of logic, that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence and that what can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence. More than that, we witnessed the elevation and consecration of extreme dogmatism, blinkered faith, and the cult of a mediocre human personality. Many more people are poor and sick because of the life of MT: Even more will be poor and sick if her example is followed. She was a fanatic, a fundamentalist, and a fraud, and a church that officially protects those who violate the innocent has given us another clear sign of where it truly stands on moral and ethical questions.

Correction, Oct. 21, 2003: This piece originally claimed that in her Nobel Peace Prize lecture, Mother Teresa called abortion and contraception the greatest threats to world peace. In that speech Mother Teresa did call abortion "the greatest destroyer of peace." But she did not much discuss contraception, except to praise "natural" family planning.(Return to corrected sentence.)
Christopher Hitchens is a columnist for Vanity Fair and author of the book The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice.

Article URL: http://www.slate.com/id/2090083/

NGOs, activists and foreign funds: A book review

2008-06-22T19:44:00.004+05:30

NGOs, activists and foreign funds: A book review
THE WELL-researched book is the result of two events; the national systemic bending-over-backwards to ‘render justice’ to the Muslim victims of the Gujarat riots and the denial of a visa to the Gujarat chief minister, Narendra Modi, by the US state department. The first was a process and the second an incident, and both the process and the incident were authored by the same group of prominent ‘peace’ and human rights NGOs and individual activists whose signature tune is ‘anti-Hindu’.

This book is not about the hundreds of NGOs working with great dedication among the socially and economically backward sections of our society motivated only by the inspiring vision of transforming social attitudes and the quality of life of the people amongst whom they live and work. But it is about those NGOs and activists whose ’peace’ and human rights activism cloak deep political ambitions and objectives not restricted to participating or influencing electoral politics but aimed at shaping the character and direction of the Indian polity in a manner which derives from their warped notion of the Indian nation. Their political ambitions and activism are essentially undemocratic and anti-India nation.

Notwithstanding the fact that important democratic institutions including the NHRC, Parliament and the Judiciary have repeatedly shown a marked tilt towards minorityism and have rushed to do the bidding of the ‘peace’ and human rights activists profiled in this book, these persons have nevertheless shamed our judiciary, our men in uniform and our polity with their criticism of these pillars of our democracy on foreign soil and even before foreign governments. Parliament should consider suitable restrictions being placed on retired judges, retired armed force personnel including and above the rank of Brigadier, retired bureaucrats including and above the rank of Assistant Secretary and retired policemen including and above the rank of SP from undertaking projects for foreign or foreign-funded think-tanks and from deposing before foreign governments and their departments on any issue without prior permission from the Government of India.

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has been sitting for over five decades on the title suit of the Ramjanmabhumi while the Supreme Court promptly issues interim orders on cases filed by the Muslim community seeking to deny Hindu access to the site; those guilty of the genocide of Sikhs during the anti-Sikh riots of 1984, those guilty of the genocide of Kashmiri Hindus and those that render Kashmiri Hindus alive in the notorious Radhabai Chawl incident during the Mumbai riots of 1992, have all escaped the notice and attention of these very national institutions and the same ’peace’ and human rights activists who continue to campaign for the Muslim victims of the Gujarat riots of 2002.

There is a growing perception among the Hindu intelligentsia that ‘peace’ and human rights NGOs and activists are holding all democratic institutions in the country hostage to international opinion about democracy and good governance to serve the cause of ’secularism’ in a peculiarly on-sided fashion, which may be interpreted to be anti-Hindu

The well researched book exposes that India’s so-called secular polity is teetering perilously on the brink of minorityism aided and abetted in no mean measure by this well-networked group of Hindu-baiters who have succeeded in cleverly cloaking their congenital anti-Hindu bias in the garb of constitutional ’protection of minority rights’ discourse. These NGOs and other politically motivated activists have embarked on the twin mission to weaken India’s political will to deal ruthlessly with Islamic, Christian and Naxal terrorism and to de-Hinduise the nation. A group of nationalist Indians - some of them residing abroad - came together to profile these ’internationally acclaimed’ ’peace’ and human right NGOs and activists with a view to exposing their anti-India and anti-Hindu activism

The most striking feature of this book is that, in spite of the fact that the authors never discussed which NGOs to put under the scanner and which activists to expose when they began to write the book, they all zeroed in on the same groups! The book offers a veritable mine of information on these NGOs and activists – who are their supporters, partners and collaborators, what they say, what they write and their position on important national issues. What the compilers have presented, however, is only the tip of the iceberg. They have provided endnotes and appendices, which will enable the interested reader to dig deeper.

The book argues that contrary to doctored public opinion, these internationally- acclaimed NGO’s and activists are a threat to communal harmony and India’s democratic ethos. Communal harmony and democracy are naturally and best protected only when 85 per cent of this nation’s population repose faith in the country’s democratic institutions.

The book exhorts the reader to raise his voice too as a political Hindu to render service to this great nation’s well being.

In this second and revised edition of the book a new chapter, exposing AID, has been added, as well as a number of new appendices that include Narendra Modi’s speech at a book release function. The book exposes Nirmala Deshpande, Arundathi Roy and Admiral Ramdas and their kind much better and the kind of industry of which they are a part. Arundhati Roy, soon after Pokharan 2, said that she was a mobile independent republic. Roy also said she is not a flag-waving patriot. But since Roy has a passport, it must have something to do with the Indian nation. So, the Indian nation is relevant at least to the extent that it allows these people to travel abroad to badmouth this country.

The clearly reveals the position of these so called NGO activists in regard to national territory, to opinions they express in regard to Jammu and Kashmir, the kind of nonsense they speak on American and Pakistani soil about our jawans, is a cause of grave concern, because they are members of either the National Integration Council or of CABE or of the National Advisor Council of the UPA government. And they are not above glorifying terrorism.

With facts the book argues that the so-called NGOs have no faith in our elected parliament, they have no faith in our judiciary, they have no faith in the NHRC. They go to the US state department to depose before it, begging the US State Department to come to India and protect India’s democracy. It is high time legislation is put in place banning such people from deposing before alien governments against the Indian Army and India’s democratic institutions. Very little is generally known about the kind of position these people take on American soil against the Indian nation, or their position on Jammu and Kashmir, or what they are to say about our army. We have our jawans dying day in and day out protecting our territory, protecting our right to live. Why is it that the media does not do an expose of these people, on what they have stated about Jammu and Kashmir, what they have stated about Naxal terrorism, what they have stated about India’s defence requirement, what they have stated about the Indian Army? What is the opinion that they have about India’s democratic institutions? Every major issue concerning national security, every issue concerning national interest, they reduce to the politics of minoritysm.

Arundhati Roy, for example, speaks for effect. She puts words cleverly together. And, mindless that we are, we are so fascinated by the English she speaks that we fail to subject the contents to critical scrutiny. In fact, she has run down everything that is sacred or reverent to large sections of India’s people. The book has documented, word for word, what they have said, and the kind of patrons they have found abroad. Why do the European Parliament and the US State Department support these activists? The compilation prompts us to look at these questions and gives us the need to have the courage to look at the answers. Releasing the book on September 9, 2006, KPS Gill noted his surprise ‘that anti-nationals in our country are respected, and nationalists are derided. These days our country is fighting terrorism. But our so-called intellectuals have made efforts unparalleled in the history of the world to decry and deny our success in fighting terrorism’.

Vigil has placed before the readers, world for word a true picture of the so-called NGOs. One must have the courage to look at the book dispassionately. The book exposes the illustrious people who find international patronage. This brilliantly analysed and thought-provoking book is a must for all those who love India.

NGOs, activists and foreign funds (anti-nation industry)
Published by:Vigil Public Opinion Forum,
H-12/3, Pari Street, Kalakhetra Colony,Besant Nagar, Chennai – 600090
Edition: 2007
Pages: 422Price: Rs 400

The Last Samrat of Bhaarath

2008-03-28T17:57:00.005+05:30

"Akbar defeated Hemu in the second battle of Panipat in 1556 AD."

This was the only sentence which had any reference to Hemu or to the battle itself in the social studies text book that we had to study in school.

Years later, that name, "Hemu", has got a little more respect from this wiki article:

Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya or Hemu (1501-1556) was an Indian Hindu Emperor during the 1500s. He had won 22 battles against Afghan rebels spanning entire North India from Bengal to Punjab and Akbar's forces in Agra division and Delhi. He was bestowed the title of Vikramaditya after acceding to the throne of Delhi. This was one of the crucial periods in Indian history, when the Mughals and Afghans were desperately vying for power. The son of a food seller, and himself a vendor of saltpetre at Rewari in his youth, he rose to become Chief of Army and Prime Minister, under the command of Adil Shah Suri of the Suri Dynasty and won 22 battles for him spanning the entire North India from Bengal to Punjab. He was the only Hindu Warrior who could defeat the Mughal forces of Akbar/Humayun in Delhi and Agra and acceded to the throne of Delhi in the medieval period. He had his Rajyabhishek or coronation on 7th October 1556 at Purana Quila in Delhi and was bestowed with the honour of 'Samrat' Hem Chander Vikramaditya. He re-established the Hindu Kingdom and Vikramaditya Dynasty in North India after centuries of foreign rule.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Early life

Hemu was born at Machheri village of Alwar District in Rajasthan in the year 1501. His father Rai Puran Das was engaged in 'Purohiti', the performing of Hindu religious ceremonies as a profession. Due to the Mughal Rule in India, and persecution of Hindu religious ceremonies by Mughals, 'Purohiti' could not earn much. Under these circumstances, Rai Puran Das decided to move, to Qutabpur in Tehsil and District of Rewari in present day Haryana (then called Mewat). Hemu's father started trading in Salt in Qutabpur, and Hemu had his education there.
Apart from learning Sanskrit and Hindi, he was educated in Persian and Arabic too. During his childhood, he was fond of body-building, and Kushti (Wrestling) and while crushing salt in an Imam Dasta (an iron pot and hammer), he would monitor his muscle development. He had training in horse-riding at his friend's village. His friend Sehdev was a Rajput, and he participated in all the battles which Hemu fought,except the Second Battle of Panipat. Hemu was brought up in religious and Sanskritik environment. His father was a member of Vallabh Sampradai and visited various religious sites frequently. Hemu had good knowledge of political environment of that period still as a child.

Rise to Generalship and earning title of Samrat (Emperor)

At a very young age Hemu started supplying food/cereals to Sher Shah Suri's army. Slowly he started other supplies like Saltpetre (Gunpowder) to Sher Shah's army, who had defeated Babur's son Humanyun in the year 1540 and had forced him to withdraw to Kabul. Sher Shah Suri was a progressive Afghan ruler and considered himself a native Indian.He also considered Mughals as invaders. Hemu also laid the foundation of brass cannons casting and manufacturing industry in Rewari. After Sher Shah Suri's death in the year 1548, his son Islam Shah became ruler of North India. He recognised the calibre, dynamism, administrative skills and sincerity of Hemu and placed him in important government positions including Shahangaye Bazara Persian word meaning 'Bazar superintendent' and 'Chungi Adhikshak', and wazir later on. After Islam Shah's death in October 1553, Adil Shah Suri took command of most of North India. Adil Shah, not a good administrator, depended entirely on Hemu and placed him chief of army and prime minister. Hemu was sent to various states in North India to crush rebellion. Hemu fought, in all, twenty two battles from Punjab to Bengal, winning all of them. At the battle of Chhapparghatta in December 1555, Hemu routed Bengal forces under Muhammad Shah, who was killed in the battle. These continuous victories in entire North India, and victories over Akbar's strong holds like Agra and Delhi in Sept.- Oct. 1556 earned him the title of 'Samrat' and at his coronation at Delhi all his army commanders, Afghans as well as Rajputs bestowed him the title [['Samrat Hem chander Vikramaditya']]. Samrat is a Hindi word meaning unchallengeable warrior - one who has won all the battles fought. On the basis of being a Samrat, he re-established Hindu Kingdom and Vikramaditya Dynasty, in North India with all the authority and command.

Reason for Hemu's success was that, Hemu could muster the support of both Hindus and Afghans against the Mughal invaders. He was very popular among Hindus as well as Afghans. Afghans considered themselves to be Indians, and Hemu also considered Afghans as Indians. Unity of Hindus and Afghans had created a formidable force to take on the Mughals. This shows that Nationalism and Secularism was the common cause.

His Victories like Napoleon

After the victory of the Mughal ruler Humayun over Adil Shah's brother Sikander, Mughal rule was reestablished in Punjab,Delhi and Agra. Humayun's sudden death in 1556, however, gave Hemu an opportunity to claim power for himself. By then he had won several battles spanning the entire North India. He was in Bengal at that time. He made known his decision to his Afgan and Hindu commanders that he would capture power for himself in Delhi. He started a winning march from Bengal through present day Bihar& Eastern UPand Madhya Pradesh. Hemu marched to Agra, an important Mughal stronghold. But the commander of Mughal forces,representative of Akbar ran away from Agra hearing about Hemu's invasion leaving Hemu winner without a fight. Itawa,Kalpi,Bayana all came under Hemu's rule. Then he moved towards final assault on Delhi. This was Hemu's 22nd Battle. Hemu won Delhi after a day's battle on 6th October 1556. Some 3000 army men died in this battle.However,Mugal forces lead by Tardi Beg Khan vacated Delhi after a day's fight and Hemu entered Delhi under a royal canopy.

Starting of Vikramaditya Dynasty

He had his formal 'Rajyabhishake' or 'coronation' following all Hindu religious ceremonies in Delhi and became the ruler under the title 'Raja Vikramaditya'. Hemu was crowned at Purana Qila in Delhi on 7th Oct. 1556 in the presence of all Afghan Sardars and Hindu Senapatis (Military Commanders). Thus Hemu re-established a Hindu kingdom and restarted Vikramaditya dynasty in North India, after centuries of foreign rule. He reorganized his Army but did not remove a single Afghan from any position. He started coins in his name.

Death

On hearing about Hemu's victories,the Mughal army at Kalanaur lost heart and many commanders refused to fight Hemu. Most of the commanders advised Akbar and Bairam Khan to retreat to Kabul as Akbar as a young boy would be safer there. However, Bairam Khan' the guardian of Akbar and chief strategist for army matters,insisted on taking Hemu in a war and make an effort to gain control of Delhi. Akbar and Bairam Khan were not present in the war at Panipat. They stayed back eight miles away from the war-zone.However' Bairam Khan incited his army by a religious speech and ordered them to move for battle. Hemu lead his Army himself. Hemu's larger army was poised to achieve victory, when Hemu was wounded in the eye by an arrow, and collapsed unconscious. Taking him to be dead, his troops started fleeing.

The unconscious Hemu was captured and beheaded first by Akbar then by Bairam Khan. His head was sent to Kabul, while his body was placed in a gibbet out side Purana Quila in Delhi. His army was chased down and destroyed by Iskander Khan.

After Hemu's death, a genocide was ordered by Bairam Khan of the community of Hemu and his main Afghan supporters. Thousands of persons were killed and to create terror among Hindus, minarets were built of the skulls of the dead. Such minarets were still in existence about 60 years later as described by Petre Mundy, a British traveler who visited India during the time of Jahangir.

Artistic freedom yes, but not with Aurangzeb

2008-03-14T21:18:00.003+05:30

Artistic freedom yes, but not with Aurangzeb
--Kanchan Gupta

Artistic freedom in increasingly 'secular' India has come to mean the right to denigrate Jesus Christ and Goddess Shakti, as was done by a callow student of the fine arts faculty of Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda last year. But permission to exhibit exquisite miniatures and firmans related to Aurangzeb has been denied, because 15 Muslims and a bogus nawab have demanded so.

French journalist Francois Gautier's Foundation Against Continuing Terrorism (FACT) has painstakingly -- and at great expense -- put together a collection of 40 miniatures and firmans that tell the story of Aurangzeb's rule. The exhibition is called Aurangzeb as he was according to Mughal records. "We have taken care to present all facets of Aurangzeb, including his piety," says Gautier.

The collection was first exhibited to critical acclaim at the Habitat Centre in New Delhi. It next travelled to Pune where one lakh people visited the show. It was equally well received in Bangalore where the popular Gallery G hosted the exhibition. FACT then decided to take the collection to Chennai where it was supposed to be exhibited at the Lalit Kala Akademi from March 3 to 9.

The exhibition was inaugurated by N Vittal, former Chief Vigilance Commissioner, and B Raman, security expert and former R&AW official, March 3 at 5 pm. Some 100 people attended the inauguration. Since March 4, a continuous stream of people came to see the exhibits.

On March 5, a group of 15 Muslims (Gautier says "they were no more than six") affiliated to the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam, Manitha Neethi Paasarai and other Muslim organisations, entered the exhibition hall and confronted FACT volunteers who were present there. Raising their voice, they rubbished the show and alleged that it did not portray the right image of 'their' Aurangzeb.

"They threatened they wouldn't allow the show to go on, that they would send hundreds of protesters after Friday prayers from a nearby mosque," says Gautier. The organisers lodged a complaint with the local police station and the next day policemen were posted at Lalit Kala Akademi.

Meanwhile, RM Palaniappan, manager of Lalit Kala Akademi, rattled by the protest by 15 men, asked FACT to pack up and leave. He panicked after Assistant Commissioner of Police KN Murali visited the exhibition hall, had a cursory look at the miniatures and firmans (written in Persian and hence unintelligible to him), worked himself into a rage and shouted at the organisers, lacing his diatribe with expletives, before stomping off, threatening to return.

On March 6, Prince of Arcot Nawab Mohammed Abdul Ali made a surprise visit to the exhibition at 3 pm. After spending some time looking at the miniatures and the firmans, he lashed out at FACT volunteers and accused them of "misrepresenting facts". He was particularly enraged by two miniatures -- the first depicted Aurangzeb's army destroying the Somnath temple and the second showed the destruction of the Kesava Rai temple in Mathura.

He insisted that the paintings amounted to "fabrication and distortion of history" and that Aurangzeb had never done anything to harm the Hindus. He demanded that the exhibition be immediately shut down and said he would take up the issue with "higher authorities" in the State Government. Later, the 'Prince of Arcot' issued a Press statement, claiming, "the exhibition seemed to dwell only on Aurangazeb's alleged misdeeds and not a word about his munificent contribution. The exhibition would only promote enmity between various groups."
By Thursday, March 7, "higher authorities" in Tamil Nadu Government had issued instructions to the police to shut down the exhibition. Murali, along with his men, stormed into the exhibition hall on Thursday evening and began taking down the paintings. "He was looking for the paintings showing the destruction of Somnath and Kesava Rai temples. He threw them to the floor," said a FACT volunteer.

The police say they acted after receiving "three complaints that the show would disturb communal harmony". They wanted the exhibition to be shut down immediately as the next day was Friday. The police also forcibly took into custody three FACT volunteers -- Saraswathi (65), D Vijayalakshmi (62) and Malathi (47) -- although women cannot be detained after sunset in police stations. They were not allowed to contact their families.

The hall has been sealed and FACT has no idea about the fate of the paintings and other exhibits, including the priceless firmans. "I am told some of the paintings have been damaged beyond repair. This is shocking, especially because what we have witnessed is vandalism by the police," says Gautier.

The myth of history

2008-03-10T12:49:00.007+05:30

FYI: For those who are unaware of the name "Dawn", it is the name of a leading Pakistani newspaper. The interesting thing is, what we have known as simple, widely known, and historically proven facts rarely see the light of the day on the other side of the border due to the vast propaganda machine, the venom of whose machinations often trickle down into the expectant mouths of Indian politically correct diaspora non-so-seldom. This article is one of those rare occasions where the propaganda is challenged in favour of the truth.

The myth of history
By Prof Shahida Kazi
27th March, 2005.

History is a discipline that has never been taken seriously by anyone in Pakistan. As a result, the subject has been distorted in such a way that many a fabricated tale has become part of our collective consciousness.

DOES mythology have anything to do with history? Is mythology synonymous with history? Or is history mythology?

Admittedly, the line between the two is a very fine one. From time immemorial, man has always been in search of his roots. He has also been trying to find a real and tangible basis for the legends of ancient days — legends that have become a part of our collective consciousness. As a result, we witness the quest for proving the existence of King Arthur, the search for whereabouts of the city of Troy, and many expeditions organized to locate the exact site of the landing of Noah’s Ark.

During the ‘60s and the ‘70s, there was a worldwide movement to prove that the ‘gods’ of ancient mythologies did actually exist; they came from distant galaxies; and that mankind owed all its progress to such alien superheroes. Several books were written on the subject.

We, in Pakistan, are a breed apart. Lacking a proper mythology like most other races, we have created our own, populated by a whole pantheon of superheroes who have a wide range of heroic exploits to their credit.

But the difference is that these superheroes, instead of being a part of a remote and prehistoric period, belong very much to our own times. A seemingly veritable mythology has been created around these heroes, their persona and their achievements, which is drummed into the heads of our children from the time they start going to school. So deep is this indoctrination that any attempt to uncover the facts or reveal the truth is considered nothing less than blasphemous.

Here are some of the most common myths:

Myth 1
Our history begins from 712AD, when Mohammad bin Qasim arrived in the subcontinent and conquered the port of Debal.

Take any social studies or Pakistan studies book, it starts with Mohammad bin Qasim. What was there before his arrival? Yes, cruel and despotic Hindu kings like Raja Dahir and the oppressed and uncivilized populace anxiously waiting for a ‘liberator’ to free them from the clutches of such cruel kings. And when the liberator came, he was welcomed with open arms and the grateful people converted to Islam en mass.

Did it really happen? This version of our history conveniently forgets that the area where our country is situated has had a long and glorious history of 6,000 years. Forget Moenjo Daro. We do not know enough about it. But recorded history tells us that before Mohammad Bin Qasim, this area, roughly encompassing Sindh, Punjab and some parts of the NWFP, was ruled by no less than 12 different dynasties from different parts of the world, including the Persians (during the Achamaenian period), the Greeks comprising the Bactrians, Scthians and Parthians, the Kushanas from China, and the Huns (of Attila fame) who also came from China, besides a number of Hindu dynasties including great rulers like Chandragupta Maurya and Asoka.

During the Gandhara period, this region had the distinction of being home to one of the biggest and most important universities of the world at our very own Taxila. We used to be highly civilized, well-educated, prosperous, creative and economically productive people, and many countries benefited a lot from us, intellectually as well as economically. This is something we better not forget. But do we tell this to our children? No. And so the myth continues from generation to generation.

Myth 2
Mohammad Bin Qasim came to India to help oppressed widows and orphan girls.

Because of our blissful ignorance of history, we don’t know, or don’t bother to know, that this period was the age of expansion of the Islamic empire. The Arabs had conquered a large portion of the world, comprising the entire Middle East, Persia, North Africa and Spain. Therefore, it defies logic that they would not seek to conquer India, the land of legendary treasures.

In fact, the Arabs had sent their first expedition to India during Hazrat Umar Farooq’s tenure. A subsequent expedition had come to Makran during Hazrat Usman’s rule. But they had been unsuccessful in making any in-roads into the region. Later on, following the refusal of the king to give compensation for the ships captured by pirates (which incidentally included eight ships full of treasures from Sri Lanka, and not just women and girls), two expeditions had already been sent to India, but they proved unsuccessful. It was the third expedition brought by Mohammad Bin Qasim which succeeded in capturing Sindh, from Mansura to Multan. However, because of the Arabs’ internal dissension and political infighting, Sindh remained a neglected outpost of the Arab empire, and soon reverted to local kings.

Myth 3
The myth of the idol-breaker.

Mahmood Ghaznavi, the great son of Islam and idol-breaker par excellence, took upon himself to destroy idols all over India and spread Islam in the subcontinent.

Mahmud, who came from neighbouring Ghazni, Central Asia, invaded India no less than 17 times. But except Punjab, he made no attempt to conquer any other part of the country or to try and consolidate his rule over the rest of India. In fact, the only thing that attracted him was the treasures of India, gold and precious stones, of which he took care and carried back home a considerable amount every time he raided the country. Temples in India were a repository of large amounts of treasure at the time, as were the churches in Europe, hence his special interest in temples and idols.

Contrary to popular belief, it was not the kings, the Central Asian sultans who ruled for over 300 years and the Mughals who ruled for another 300 years, who brought Islam to the subcontinent. That work was accomplished by the Sufi Sheikhs who came to India mainly to escape persecution from the fundamentalists back home, and who, through their high-mindedness, love for humanity, compassion, tolerance and simple living won the hearts of the people of all religions.

Myth 4
The myth of the cap-stitcher.

Of all the kings who have ruled the subcontinent, the one singled out for greatest praise in our text books is Aurangzeb, the last of the great Mughals. Baber built the empire; Humayun lost it and got it back; Akbar expanded and consolidated it; Jahangir was known for his sense of justice; Shahjehan for his magnificent buildings. But it is Aurangzeb, known as a pious man, who grabs the most attention. The prevalent myth is that he did not spend money from the treasury for his personal needs, but fulfilled them by stitching caps and copying out the Holy Quran. Is there any real need for discussing this assertion? Anyone who’s least bit familiar with the Mughal lifestyle would know how expensive it was to maintain their dozens of palaces. The Mughals used to have many wives, children, courtiers, concubines and slaves who would be present in each palace, whose needs had to be met. Could such expenses be met by stitching caps? And even if the king was stitching caps, would people buy them and use them as ordinary caps? Would they not pay exorbitant prices for them and keep them as heirlooms? Would a king, whose focus had to be on military threats surrounding him from all sides and on the need to save and consolidate a huge empire, have the time and leisure to sit and stitch caps? Let’s not forget that the person we are referring to as a pious Muslim was the same who became king after he imprisoned his won father in a cell in his palace and killed all his brothers to prevent them from taking over the throne.

Myth 5
It was the Muslims who were responsible for the war of 1857; and it was the Muslims who bore the brunt of persecution in the aftermath of the war, while the Hindus were natural collaborators of the British.

It is true that more Muslim regiments than Hindu rose up against the British in 1857. But the Hindus also played a major role in the battle (the courageous Rani of Jhansi is a prime example); and if Muslim soldiers were inflamed by the rumour that the cartridges were laced with pig fat, in the case of Hindus, the rumour was that it was cow fat. And a large number of Muslims remained loyal to the British to the very end. (The most illustrious of them being Sir Syed Ahmed Khan.)

Furthermore, the Muslims did not lose their empire after 1857. The British had already become masters of most of India before that time, having grasped vast territories from both Hindu and Muslim rulers through guile and subterfuge.

The Mughal emperor at the time was a ruler in name only; his jurisdiction did not extend beyond Delhi. After 1857, the Hindus prospered, because they were clever enough to acquire modern education, learn the English language, and take to trade and commerce. The Muslims were only land owners, wedded to the dreams of the past pomp and glory, and when their lands were taken away, they were left with nothing; their madressah education and proficiency in Persian proved to be of no help. As a matter of fact, it was a hindrance in such changing times.

Myth 6
The Muslims were in the forefront of the struggle against the British and were singled out for unfair treatment by the latter.

Not at all. In fact, the first ‘gift’ given to the Muslims by the British was in 1905 in the form of partition of Bengal (later revoked in 1911). The Shimla delegation of 1906 has rightly been called a ‘command performance’; the Muslims were assured by the viceroy of separate electorates and weightage as soon as their leaders asked for them. After that, he Muslim League came into being, established by pro-British stalwarts like the Aga Khan, Justice Amir Ali, some other nawabs and feudal lords. And the first objective of the Muslim League manifesto read: “To promote feelings of loyalty to the British government.”

The Muslim League never carried out any agitation against the British. The only time the Muslims agitated was during the Khilafat Movement in the early ‘20s, led by the Ali brothers and other radical leaders. Not a single Muslim League leader, including the Quaid-i-Azam, ever went to jail. It was the Congress which continued the anti-British non-violent and non-cooperation movement in the ‘30s and ‘40s, including the famous ‘Quit India’ movement, while Muslim League leaders continued to denounce such movements and exhorted their followers not to take part in them.

Myth 7
The Muslim League was the only representative body of the Muslims.

It is an incontrovertible fact that it was only after 1940 that the Muslim League established itself as a popular party among the Muslims. Prior to that, as evident in the 1937 elections, the Muslim League did not succeed in forming the government in any of the Muslim majority provinces. In those elections, out of the total of 482 Muslim seats, the Muslim League won only 103 (less than one-fourth of the total). Other seats went either to Congress Muslims or to nationalist parties such as the Punjab Unionist Party, the Sind Unionist Party and the Krishak Proja Party of Bengal.

Myth 8
Allama Iqbal was the first person to come up with the idea of a separate Muslim state.

This is one of the most deeply embedded myths in our country and the one which has been propagated by all governments. In fact, the idea that Muslim majority provinces of the north-west formed a natural group and should be considered a single bloc had been mooted by the British as far back as 1858 and freely discussed in various newspaper articles and on political platforms. Several variations of the idea had come from important public personalities, including British, Muslims and some Hindus. By the time Allama Iqbal gave his famous speech in 1930, the idea had been put forward at least 64 times. So, Iqbal voiced something which was already there, and was not an original ‘dream’. After his speech at Allahbad was reported, Allama Iqbal published a ‘retraction’ in a British newspaper that he had not been talking of a separate Muslim sate, but only of a Muslim bloc within the Indian federation.

Myth 9
The Pakistan Resolution envisaged a single Muslim state.

The fact is that none of the proposals regarding the Muslim bloc mooted by different individuals or parties had included East Bengal in it. The emphasis had always been on north-western provinces, which shared common frontiers, while other Muslim majority states, such as Bengal and Hyderabad, were envisaged as separate blocs. So, it was in the Pakistan Resolution. The resolution reads: “The areas in which the Muslims are numerically in a majority as in the north-western and eastern zones of India should be grouped to constitute independent states, in which the constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign.”

Leaving aside the poor and ambiguous drafting of the entire resolution, the part about states (in plural) is very clear. It was only in 1946, at a convention of the Muslim League legislators in Delhi, that the original resolution was amended, which was adopted at a general Muslim League session and the objective became a single state.

Myth 10
March 23, 1940 is celebrated because the Pakistan Resolution was adopted on that day. The fact of the matter is that the Pakistan Resolution was only introduced on March 23 and was finally adopted on March 24 (the second and final day of the session).

As to why we celebrate March 23 is another story altogether. The day was never celebrated before 1956. It was first celebrated that year as the Republic Day to mark the passage of the first constitution and Pakistan’s emergence as a truly independent republic. It had the same importance for us as January 26 for India. But when Gen Ayub abrogated the constitution and established martial law in 1958, he was faced with a dilemma. He could not let the country celebrate a day commemorating the constitution that he had himself torn apart, nor could he cancel the celebration altogether. A way-out was found by keeping the celebration, but giving it another name: the Pakistan Resolution Day.

Myth 11
It was Ghulam Muhammad who created imbalance of power between the prime minister and head of state, and it was he who sought to establish the supremacy of the governor-general over the prime minister and parliament.

When Pakistan came into being, the British government’s India Act of 1935 was adopted as the working constitution. And it was the Quaid-i-Azam himself who introduced certain amendments to the act to make the governor-general the supreme authority. It was under these powers that the Quaid-i-Azam dismissed the government of Dr Khan Sahib in the NWFP in August 1947 and that of Mr Ayub Khuhro in Sindh in 1948.

Besides being governor-general, the Quaid-i-Azam also continued as president of the Muslim League and president of the Constituent Assembly.

It was these same powers under which Mr Daultana’s government was dismissed in Punjab in 1949 by Khawaja Nazimuddin, who himself was dismissed as prime minister in 1953 by Ghulam Mohammad.

However, in 1954, a move was started by members of the then Constituent Assembly to table an amendment to the act, taking away excessive powers of the governor-general. It was this move which provoked the governor-general, Ghulam Mohammad, to dismiss the Constituent Assembly in 1954, and thereby change the course of Pakistan’s history.

These are some of the myths that have been drummed into our heads from childhood and have become part of our consciousness. There are scores more, pervading our everyday life. And there are many unanswered questions such as:

• What is Pakistan’s ideology and when was the term first coined? (It was never heard of before 1907.)
• Why was Gandhi murdered? (He was supposedly guarding Pakistan’s interest.)
• What is the truth about the so-called traitors, Shaikh Mujeeb, Wali Khan, and G.M. Syed?
• What caused the break-away of East Pakistan?
• Why was Bhutto put to death?
• Are all our politicians corrupt and self-serving?
• Why does our history repeat itself after every 10 years?

The answers to all these questions require a thorough study of history, not mythology. But history unfortunately is a discipline that has never been taken seriously by anyone in our country. It’s time things changed.

Land of roaches

2008-03-05T13:12:00.003+05:30

"...in this cataclysmic battle against forces of barbarity, I expect India to be either a mute bystander or a minor hindrance."
By Mr.Shalendra Mathur in one of his comments to this post

This comment, which is more of a forecast is dangerously close to becoming true. So folks, it is time to revel in our insignificance, once again.

Religion: Of the Bygones and Amnesia

2008-02-19T14:57:00.011+05:30

Consider the following statements:

1. "Let us not get into the muck of the past lest we become the very thing we hate."
2. "Fundamentalists/fascists [...] will provide "lessons" from "history" as reason and justification for inhuman actions. So did Adolf Hitler and his crew in their Final solution to the Jewish question."
3. "If we do the same thing to those who have wronged us, what is the difference between us and them? Revenge is a very negative feeling and will not do anyone good."

These three statements are often heard among the moderate majority of Bhaarateeyas. So what is the common thread binding these three statements? History.

One fine day, something happened and because of that one thing, a whole population was asked to abondon some of its core values that it had been carrying for millennia together. Crores and crores of people had to wake up to something new called "secular India". Well, things dont quite work that way. People dont change suddenly.

In this context, lets consider a section of the urban middle class youth. These people have not yet realised the fact that the mindset and perspective of a people are formed as a result of centuries of interactions with the nature, with other peoples and within. Though these people have access to all kinds of information, they have not yet tried to access it. This new idea of "negativistic-secularism" (also called pseudo-secularism) foisted upon us is so much ingrained in them that they feel that it is the reality everywhere. Well, if its not, they simply extrapolate the current trend back into the past and dump every incident that doesnt concur with their thought into something very handy called "remote history".

They need to realise that their current pleasant conditions did not exist, say, a hundred or even fifty years ago, when there was hardly any urban middle class to speak of in the country. So is the case with this pseudo-secularism. It didnt exist before too long either. One can see that this kind of negativistic secularism goes well with the current trend of globalisation and reckless consumerism. It also goes with this urban middle class. So we can see that there is synergy among the three-- the urban middle class, consumerism, and pseudo-secularism.

Could it be that this pesudo-secularism is just a ruse by these people to avoid following those inexplicable, inomprehensible, and tedious religious practices? Or is it that they fell for that altogether predictable "political correctness" ? Or it may be that they are aspiring for that Utopian society that they suddenly see is possible when they look at similar people coming from different populations around them. There is no need to be sermonizing here, but these urban youth need to realise that they are, even now, only tiny islands in a sea of what is still good old Bhaarat as it has been in the last thousand years.

Each incident in the history of a people leaves its timestamp and does its bit in moulding the perspective of the people. In this sense, different peoples are always changing in their collective character over centuries and millennia. It is in this sense that studying history so important. It is not to take revenge but to understand the each population's current mindset, the origin of this mindset,the recent events that impacted this mindset, and the impact of this mindset on the rest of the country.

But those pesudo-secularists who do know some history, or the official (read concocted) version of it, find, to their immense profit, that dragging in Hitler automatically confers legitimacy on their argument of (pseudo-)secularism and the opponent is forced to first denounce Hitler and his deeds before making any argument to counter the initial argument. But then, we must pause here see if there is a similarity in what Hitler said and what Hindutva is all about, and whether we want to do same kinds of things to our alleged "enemies" that Hitler did to his. Blindly believing in those naive media campaigns has led us to find it obvious that there is a direct analogy between Hindutva and pogroms such as the Jewish one in Europe and other ethnic cleansings elsewhere in the world.

Let us consider each of the three statements in the beginning:

1. The first statement altogether ignores the role of history in the process of "perspective-building" of a section of people. It gives a whole new meaning to the adage "ignorance is bliss", just like how Tom (of 'Tom and Jerry' fame) blindfolds himself when he suddenly finds himself in front of an oncoming train that cant be stopped.
2. The second one implies that either we have taken wrong lessons from the right history, or that the history in question itself is not totally "kosher" (had to bring in the Jewish angle :)) or both. This statement is offered by folk who use incorrect analogies at unsuspecting and unlearned audiences to push forward their own arm-chair arguments. They are excellent theoreticians and great crowd-pullers, but probably have no idea on whats going on in their own backyard. And they see everything through their own (pseudo-)secular-tinted glasses to interpret plain facts as complicated conspiracies.
3. The third one actually accepts that injustice has been committed, but gives a totally negative connotation called "revenge" to any attempt at setting things right. Adherents to this one are deeply suseptible to general opinion about most things and dont bother to dig the facts for themselves. These are either too weak to bear the burden of injustice, or too shy to be pro-active in protecting the respect of our country's heritage and culture, or too busy in minting their own currency to bother about other things.

Hence, none of these three statements can be considered legitimate and such statements hold no logic for the Sanaataneeya.

Religion: Just a Personal Opinion

2008-01-29T12:26:00.001+05:30

In the debate that we had on this blog, an interesting remark was offered to me:

"...religion is something personal, a set of practices followed by an individual(s). The moment people bring it to the streets, use it as an instrument to win votes,discriminate,divide,kill people,the essence of their religion is already lost.In short,religion should be kept at home/temples etc,not at government offices."

Well, the statement was no doubt intended in a well-meaning sense and one has to agree wholeheartedly that
a) religion should not be used for petty gains and violence, and
b) religious bias should not have a place in governance.

So what is the interesting part then?
"...religion is something personal, a set of practices followed by an individual(s). "
That is!

It is unfortunate that religion has been relegated to being just another "personal opinion". Anything I say about dharma is just "what I feel is right". Of course, it is partly true but then, one has to realise what does it mean being and thinking like a "Hindu", or a"Muslim" or a "Christian". It is not my own intellection completely. It is a result of thought process originated and developed over many centuries or in our case, many millennia ago. It is still developing in our own minds even at this very moment, provided we give it a chance. In a way, it is like the computer called "Earth" in Douglas Adams's "The Hitchhikers' Guide to Galaxy".

Firstly, the very core of any religion deals with "sanghatan" and "samithi"-- organisation and assembly--to bring people together and hold them in a common bond, provide for their sustenance, and give them a purpose and something to live for and cherish. It is this very core that has helped civilisations to grow, architectural marvels to be built, and elevate arts--music, dance and panting to heavenly heights. Here, we quickly realise that this exactly is both the final purpose and the very beginning of an ideal "nation-state" as well. The idea of a nation state and patriotism towards it comes only when its adherents are one in thought, speech and action at atleast some basic level (even when there is no external aggression, mind you!!). So the said remark plainly goes against the very idea of forming a nation state.

Secondly, it is naive of an individual who restricts his religion to his "dev-ghar" (or "devuni goodu" in telugu) to expect the same from others. Even now, after centuries of Muslim, Christian & secularist dominance which obliterated not just a part of our heritage, history, and culture, but much of our identity as well, most people in Bhaarat share a common bond mostly because of our Sanaatana Dharma. Will they leave their mother, the deity of Dharma, who has been sustaining them all along, without causing any disharmony to the rest of the world, through countless generations? It is even more stupid of us to believe that people belonging to Abrahamic religions, each of which insists that its way is the only right way as its core motif, will keep their religions to their homes.

Having voiced my concerns over the comment, I must emphasise that I am only describing a current trend and not ridiculing any individual.

Lastly, I must point to one more thing-- what our Bhaarat has come to mean in recent years among a section of the "new and emerging India":
A rising enterpreneurial giant confronted by
1) a geographical area with redundant internal divisions,
2) a dysfunctional governing body and corrupt administrative and policing bodies, and
3) a set of common threats and dangers to the citizens to be lived with.
The rest is personal life.

This, I feel, is the problem. All of the three points above do offer a kind of bonding with neighbours, but one that is born out of negative feelings of fear, hatred, apathy, and helplessness.

When personal life includes our Dharma itself, how can we form a healthy bond with fellow countrymen at all? Dharma was never meant to be kept locked inside homes. The successive failure of governments in achieving the expected "good-governance" or "Dharma-rajya" is matched by our own lackadaisical perspective towards bonding with our neighbour using a positive approach. Come external invasion and we can easily see how a country can be mobilised into one single unit. But need we wait till such an act happens to be united under one banner?

The governing body-- either the legislature, or the executive cannot help the nation until the nation itself has a strong undercurrent in a positively directed manner. Do not forget that whoever sits in those legislative or executive chairs is not too different from you or me. The national feeling has to come from bottom up. If we ourselves change, we can expect people like us in those positions.

So how to cause this change? Clearly, you cannot move a whole nation that is so ancient and young at the same time, without regards to Her history, for therein lie the switches of Her awakening. We just have to tap the resources within ourselves to effect this change. For once, if we just give heed to what our grandparents used to say about how our country was once in the Golden Era, it is enough to cause a chain reaction.

We have to realise our proud history and awaken to the reality of what we were. There is a need for us to become ourselves again. There is no other feeling that can move our country forward.

I would like to see the current of our Sanaatana dharma pervade our nation and each person envisages herself/himself as a part of our nation, and we can proudly step up to the altar of the world and reclaim our place and pride as Bhaarateeyas.

If Not "Hindutva", then what?

2008-01-18T12:33:00.001+05:30

A comment by a blogger Ashish to this post :

If not Hindutva, then what?

1. Abrahamic (Jewish-Christian-Islamic)tattva?
That I am right, and you are wrong, and you must sign up to be in my club or else..?
That everything has been put on earth to serve man, so let the enjoyment begin?

2. Rationality tattva?
To a degree, yes, but that “degree” is already built into Hindutva.

Most of these “pure rationalists” have no problem destroying cultures that have benignly held together the masses. These “rationalists” assume that everyone but themselves is a fool, and even a Way of Life that developed over 12000 years ago (at least) and has a huge chunk of the world’s scientific discoveries to its credit, is nothing but a collection of rituals and superstitions.

3. Capitalism tattva?
To a degree, yes. But we all know what unabated money-mongering will do.

—

You must have something to guide you, and notice that I have not just stopped at the usual suspects (religions), but am willing to include other principles too..

Hindutva is the answer.
----------------------------------

The point is put across very succintly. This comment serves well as a continuation of my previous post.

Equality of religions

2008-01-16T01:32:00.001+05:30

"One should not kill in the name of religion."

"All religions say the same thing."

Does anyone notice what is wrong with the above two statements? Well, on the surface nothing seems wrong here, but then people will notice that Sanaatana Dharma is invariably included in the list of religions (generally first in the list for that matter).

Why?

Is Sanaatana Dharma a religion?

What book says so?

Do we in Bhaarat even have a word for religion?

Of course, these are just rhetorical questions. But these are just rhetorical questions. Not unjust. These are questions that every Sanaataneeya needs to ask himself from time to time.

There is a uniqueness about Sanaatana Dharma that is missing in other religions. It is the term "other religions"! It is a direct outcome of social and cultural evolution of Man in the subcontinent. In this sense Sanaatana Dharma is a "natural" phenomenon , not a "reactive" one-- something that was formed against an already existing order. We showed the world more than 1500 hundred years ago how to bind all the existing "internal" faiths (such as Shaivism, Shakti-ism, Vaishnavism, etc), and form a super-religion that is capable of
i) satisfying the spiritual, social, and cultural needs of all of its adherents (no matter how disjoint they be in their opinions),
ii) evolving continuously into future with many new developments, and most importantly
iii) fostering a strong national identity among Bhaarateeyas.

So when Sanaatana Dharma is not 'a religion' at all, how can one include it among the religions of the world? The mistake is not new in making. I am not sure when did it begin exactly, but the idea of "sarva-mata samabhaava" is definitely not new. Though the idea might have been used initially in relation to the internal faiths, it is entirely upto our discretion whether we still want to use selected quotes from rigveda such as "ekam sat, vipraaha bahudaa vadanti" (The truth is one! The learned say it in different ways) with respect to the world religions now.

And then, we have also continuously and consciously tried to assimilate even invading faiths into our super-system of Sanaatana Dharma and some were even ready to eschew some of our core beliefs (such as Vedas) and give the whole super-system a new shape. People such as Kabir Das, Shirdi Sai baba, etc had sought the very same thing. But in vain. To be assimilated would have been exactly opposite to what these religions aim to do. That would never work. These great men should have realised that.

But there is a greater grievance of mine against these great souls-- By equating, or comparing, or even juxtaposing Sanaatana Dharma with a religion means denigrating our entire super-system to the level of a mere "religion", a narrow word coined by the west. The ploy, though unknowingly set by us, works brilliantly against Sanaatana Dharma. The whole playing field is set where the rules are already biased against us since we dont even fit into their definition of a "religion". And naturally, its a losing game. And we have been losing since many centuries.

So,
I plead to all my fellow Sanaataneeyas to
i) stop seeing our Sanaatana Dharma as just a religion, and
ii) stop comparing our Sanaatana Dharma with any religion.

Then you will realise that we, the Bhaarateeyas, are all one and the same.

You see, all religions may still be equal. But please dont include Sanaatana Dharma in the list. We have suffered enough because of this "unfair equality".
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kedar.
Please point out any grammatical errors and other factual mistakes. It is your duty. Disagreements, of course, are always open to discussion.

A Menace is what it is!

2008-01-08T20:05:00.001+05:30

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jan/08guest.htm
http://intellibriefs.blogspot.com/2008/01/offensive-proselytisation-is-problem.html

What is the solution to this menace?

Well, here is one:
http://offstumped.nationalinterest.in/2007/12/29/orissa-violence-incendiary-entitlement-not-communalism/

New year, new hope

2007-12-24T12:15:00.002+05:30

If you are looking for a person who has been alone in his ideas and away from his ideals for a long time, talk to me. Since many months now, I have been forcibly (part of the force is my own lethargy) sucked into a tiniest buttonhole of misinformation and ignorance resulting in utter lack of clarity and confusion. I was reeling under the constant rush of bad news enveloping me from all sides-- repeated failures of our foreign policy, successive governments' ineptitiude in handling naxals and other separtist groups, negligence towards the largest Indian industry-- our agriculture, and finally desecration of our history, our culture, our religion, and our pride not just elsewhere, but also in our own country and by our own people...

Sounds just like Denethor.. sitting in the high chambers of Minas Tirith and peering intently into the Palantir controlled by the dark lord.

Without my own knowledge I had gradually become something called "alpasantoshi"-- a person who finds satisfaction in "half-achievements" or simply put, I was an "aspiring under-achiever". I was thinking whether we can salvage something at all from the stranglehold of the current divisive politics, political correctness of the intelligentia and western consumerism. Worse, my faith in my culture, tradition, and my own self was looking very jaded--just an oft-repeated rhetoric, nothing too serious. I actually believed that Pakistan must be made more stable because a less stable Pakistan's nuclear arsenal would be out-of-control and that, that would be dangerous for India.

But now, the tide has turned, atleast within my own self and that is more important. With the announcement of the election results in Gujarat, a glimmer of a new hope is born. But this is a victory in just one battle, though a significant one, in a prolonged war. There is lot more work to be done. Modi is, no doubt, a great leader. But I didnt know that till now. So, along with Modi, let me offer my salute to the five and haf crores of Gujaratis who opened my eyes to the reality.

The 'Dags' are back!

2007-12-16T23:05:00.001+05:30

Sheep Killed (The Hindu, Dec 04, 2007, Bangalore):

A pack of five dogs attacked a herd of sheep and killed them, early on Sunday. The pack of dogs entered a sheep’s pen in Vasanthapura, near Uttarahalli.

The Subramanyapura police said that 15 sheep were bitten and killed by the pack of dogs. Sources said that the dogs had attacked two children in the same area earlier. However, the police were not able to confirm it.

Any ideas on how the police can confirm if it was the same pack of dogs? Also, 15 sheep in a single sitting by just 5 dogs! Thats something to ponder. On the lines of what the great Brick Top said in Snatch, I will be wary of any man who keeps a pack of such 5 dogs!

Some quotes from hardtalk, BBC

2007-12-13T10:15:00.000+05:30

"The developing nations... [need not] develop according to the same old dirty polluting pattern of the west."
-- Al Gore, quoting Dr.Rajender pachauri on Hardtalk, BBC.

"We [The US] have taken care of Iran's two major enemies-- Saddam Hussain and Taleban."
--Valerie Plame, Ex-CIA undercover agent on Hardtalk, BBC.

Osmania Biscuit XV--All hell breaks loose

2007-11-07T11:02:00.000+05:30

It seems people of Saleem Nagar colony love 'affairs' (you know what affairs I am talking about). So not long after Rekha-Jaffer issue subsided, another one surfaced-- though this one involved the notorious Chappal-bazaar Baby who incidentally neither lived in chappal bazaar, nor was she a baby anymore being in her late forties and mother of two grown ups. Her only claim to fame, other than her loud mouth, was that she was the hindi pandit in the famous Joseph-Thambi upper primary school near Lucky stores run by one Mr.Lucky Makhija, a confirmed miser.

So one fine night, Baalamani, the ironing lady we had encountered earlier (the mother of Dasaratha, if you remember), had a strange dream that Chappal-bazaar baby's elder daughter had run away with their driver, one Mallesh from Narsapur. She promptly passed on the news to her elder son Kashyappa (strange that these folk have such wonderful names whereas we end up with rahuls, rohits, and pujas...) who always was thinking he was born to do a job in this world. So came running to Lingam's shop and avered it there standing on his beloved rock that was beside the shop just like Sri Ramanuja had done about a thousand years ago disclosing the ashtaakshari mantram to the masses.

I was there and we laughed and we forgot, not noticing that selfsame chappal-bazaar baby's daughter Vaasanti was standing right there in the next shop-- a girni.. squarely in the hearing range.

Fate it seems is not without a sense of irony.
--Morpheus, The Matrix

Now what happened after that, no one knows... and it is best that no one knows... for reasons unexplainable of course. But exactly seven days later, Lingam's shop was abuzz with news of the strangest kind: Vaasanti, the daughter of Chappal-bazaar baby had run away with driver Mallesh from Narsapur!

Now, there was no clear target available for Chappal-bazaar Baby's anger and frustration except baalamani and she forced herself to believe that the whole thing was stage-managed by Baalamani herself while poor Baalamani had absolutely no clue what was going on. In the ensuing madness, we saw how Chappal-Bazaar baby unleashed her most terrible weapon-- Badi Bi, her servant-maid and the harridan aunt of Jaffer upon Baalamani. Now this Badi Bi had an old grudge on Baalamani on water sharing from our very home during one especially hot summer. She alleges Baalamani secretly stole water from our compound meant for her during a quiet afternoon and then refused to even confess. And there was a huge fight between the two women and Baalamani had won because Badi Bi had to back away-- her husband had a small accident and she had to attend to it. Ever since, she was looking for an opportunity to get back.

Right on the chaurasta, it all began early in the morning. Badi Bi started calling her names and cursing her. Baalamani came out of her lair after a while and the retaliation began wth such fury that Badi Bi had to step back for a moment. But her heart was already aflame with the fire of revenge upon glacing the countenance of her foremost adversary and she upped the ante. She came charging towards Baalamani and crashed into her.

Hector and Achilles,
Bhima and Suyodhana,
Vali and Dundubhi,

All of these duels would seriously fall short of what we saw on that fatefully sad day.
How they punched and slapped each other...
How they bit and pinched each other...
How they pulled each other's hair....

And no one dared to separate them-- the men were already far far away and were too scated to touch the women and the womenfolk-- well... they had their bit of fun (you know, they didnt have sas-bahu serials back then)-- no one, except one woman! Pushpa, the safai woman. It was generally believed that her real name was Pullamma, and she changed it to Pushpa only to appease her guru of dark arts. It was believed that she smelt news in the wind.

So while all this ruckus was going on, she was busy with her safai work, but suddenly she stodd up, lifted herself head up, and smelt the wind. Up she came running and separated the two like Bhima did to Jarasandha, and then others took over and restrained the two. And then Pushpa said aloud:
"The wind is changing. It brings fresh news. Steady all!!"

Such was the power in her voice that the two fighters calmed down.

The suddenly, the younger daughter of Chappal-Bazaar Baby came running out her home and whispered something in her ear.

It was later known that Vaasanti was an ardent devotee of some "gurumaatha" who had recently taken up her dwelling in prasanth Nagar colony (in the neighbourhood of Saleem Nagar). So also was Mallesh. And it seems that this Gurumaatha was organising some puja for three days in the outskirts of the city. knowing that her mother would never allow her out, she secretly went away with her co-devotee-- the driver.

But upon reaching there, she discovered to her horror that this gurumaatha was not organising any Puja after all, and that she was not a decent woman. It seems the gurumaatha also tried to lure Mallesh with his fair share of 'booty', but he didnt fall for it (having lived in Saleem Nagar atleast for a while makes one strong like that!). So he ran away and informed police of this Gurumaatha and the next day, we saw photos in the newspaper of this gurumaatha being chased along the East Marredpalli roads by the police.

All in all, the colony was restored to its calm. Nevertheless, the rivalry between Baalamani and Badi Bi remains still.

Fleeting Infinity

2007-08-09T14:24:00.000+05:30

I am.

Oh look! He is, as well.

And one more...

And there is another one...

Hmm... well, let me look at each one of these...

This one looks like a leader. He is golden, very tall, and shiny. It appears he gets others' things done really well, has a rich stentorian voice, goes about with a royal majesty, floors women and impresses all wherever he goes. Money was never a problem. He will probably get married with a heavy fanfare and have a couple of kids and be a proper family man, with ever rising popularity.
I wish I had his qualities. How very very great He is really is!

And that one... hmm.. looks like a researcher. A rather dark hard lean one with a tough head. They tell me that he listens only to the stupidest one for reasons better left unknown. He has a high strung temper and he is always trying to think, analyse, reason, rationalise. He will probably finish his Masters and then go on earn a PhD in one of the most difficult topics known thereby solving age old mysteries.
I wish I had his qualities. How very very great He is really is!

Ah! the third one... looks a little eely, has a greenish tint, and slithering. They tell me he has a honey coated tongue and that he is a great listener. He is famed to say the right things to the right people at the right time. He always has a lot of friends who think they have impressed him and can kick him anytime they want to, but its generally the other way around. He will probably end up earning a lot of money and friends.
I wish I had his qualities. How very very great He is really is!

And what about me? I am a little bronwish, not too tall, and probably with some adhering qualities... Hmm! Must be artist, or at the worst an art lover. Some say that I have a brilliance often misunderstood because I dont follow social norms. some say I lack the tact to face the world. Some others hate me for knowing what I know, and not knowing what I dont know.

But you know what I actually think? I think I...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just then, I familiar sound... drowning the voices of all the companions in an equalising vortex...

The toilet is flushed. And the companions, all of them, regardless of their prophetic destinies, are forced to ride the same subterranean current into the same dark oblivion that is ever eager to decimate their existence for ever.

The toilet is flushed. It is clean and spotless without any trace of the introspection conducted with authority by one of the most unwanted entities known. Yet, the toilet is waiting... for the next batch of emotions and egos and ambitions and aspirations that think they can exist infinitely.

Religion and Science

2007-07-08T23:45:00.000+05:30

Recently, Maha remarked how soft were my hands (I was spared the word 'womanly' thankfully). I, nevertheless, managed to wriggle out of this awkward situation by offering an ingenious explanation (Hyderabadis call this sort of self-aggrandisement as 'self-dabba' or simply, 'SD')--
One of the names of Shiva (please be reminded that my name is also a Shiva epithet) is 'SadyojAta'-- one who is just born. Of course you would expect that the hands of a just-born one would be soft. Sadyojaata is also very innocent and naive and we dont expect him to know the ways of the wicked world just as yet.
******************************************************
Even today, Religious scholars hide behind the theory that there are no proofs for theory of evolution and they basically "disagree" with darwin... why? because it says right here, in so and so Purana that from the nabhi-kamalam of Vishnu, Brahma was born and from him were born the Vedas or that Lord God made the world in seven days right in the book of genesis. No amount of evidence offered will convince them. Most importantly, they are threatened that all that they hold dear, will vanish in a moment if they agree with modern science. It doesnt have to be so...
I can offer a simple analogy, and in doing so, I will be offering yet another theory to the mankind already suffering from a "theoretical obesity":

Imagine, you want to make nice indian curry-- what do you do? you switch the stove on, put a pan on it, put vegetables, oil, other spices and condiments in the pan, and close the lid and let it simmer for a while. There is not much else to do now, other than occasional checking and stirring, and voila! you have your curry ready after a while. Notice that all the steps after all the ingredients have been mixed together are purely scientific and explainable, though they were happening with your least intervention.

The same can be applied to God and the evolution-- all the natural processes and the organic evolution is but an ongoing process or procedure happening exactly according to science, but what actually matters is the purpose, "the kAraNa" with which the universe, and subsequently, the solar system and the planets were formed as far as God is concerned. The rest, the science can easily handle. In that sense, The Almighty can be viewed as The Master chef with a view to prepare a cosmic soup of His own taste, and he doesnt have to keep it stirring all the while-- just use the ladle once in a while to stir up things a bit and make it more interesting.

The interesting part is that religion is viewed my most sociologists as a briliant outcome of evolution-- it is a successfully tested strategy designed to counter vagaries of mother nature to ensure his survival. It offers hope, a reason for existence, gives importance to his/her life in an odd way even without him/her doing anything of any significance. It also helps a tribe to be better than the competetion.
************************************************************
What an irony! The outcome of a process denies the very process that produces it, only because it feels threatened by its existence. What sadyojAtas we all make denying the very evolution that produced religion!
And when do we grow up to being YathirAjas (The Lords of all those who renounce the material world) ?

The Fall of the dynasty of Brahma

2007-05-16T15:05:00.000+05:30

The old wisdom born out of the west was forsaken. Kings made tombs more splendid than the houses of the living and counted the old names of their descent dearer than the names of their sons. Childless lords sat in aged halls musing on heraldry or in high, cold towers asking questions of the stars. And so the people of Gondor fell into ruin. The line of Kings failed. The white tree withered. The rule of Gondor was given over to lesser men.

And so we relish those bygone days... only as a fantasy.

The Evil King's Castle

2007-05-15T14:55:00.000+05:30

So one fine sunny summer day, Maha and I went frolicking straight into the Castle of the Evil King. The present caretakers were gracious enough to let us take pictures of those very forgettable times.

Looks like a place where the Evil King used to throw his newly wed brides from, after spending a night with them. The walls still seem to echo with the wails of those poor women.

This is where the Evil King used to hold court and sentence innocent bystanders to unmentionably horrid punishments for his pleasure during elevenses time.

The majestic garden of the Evil King. Anyone who entered it would have had his wiener chopped off and then it would be served to him, deep fried and garnished as a kabob, Armenian style!

This Evil King had a particular liking for Urdu. So it was that Urdu was made compulsory. And you know, only one non-native urdu speaker passed in the final test-- unfortunately, his name was Balakrishna, so his wiener was cut-off as well and served to him as kabob, Armenian style. The marks list was preserved as a memoir of those good 'ol days and the building rechristened as 'Arts college' of Osmania University.

You can see a totally petrified Maha standing in the corridor. It is widely romoured that the Evil King's 54th wife looked remotely similar to her....

The Mine Of Strength

2007-03-20T11:32:00.000+05:30

Far away beyond shore and foam,
In the forgotten backyard of his home,
What does the lad look to find?

He digs and digs, never tiring,
Soiling his clothes and perspiring,
What, indeed, does the lad look to find?

Perhaps wealth hidden by his Sires,
Got from caves lonely, beyond mires,
What, indeed, does the lad look to find?

May be a gentle souvenir rather,
On a high day, given, by his father,
What, indeed, does the lad look to find?

Not, surely, a weapon to tame the wiles,
Of the unseen enemy full of guiles?
What, indeed, does the lad look to find?

A new strength--
Strengthened anew
He emerges now,
From bonds, not a few,
Knowing the fact, verily,
That there is return again,
That there is digging again,
That there is searching again,
That there is soiling again,
To, his strength, gain.

Cat

2007-03-14T11:36:00.000+05:30

Cat

The fat cat on the mat
may seem to dream
of nice mice that suffice
for him, or cream;
but he free, maybe,
walks in thought
unbowed, proud, where loud
roared and fought
his kin, lean and slim,
or deep in den
in the East feasted on beasts
and tender men.
The giant lion with iron
claw in paw,
and huge ruthless tooth
in gory jaw;
the pard dark-starred,
fleet upon feet,
that oft soft from aloft
leaps upon his meat
where woods loom in gloom --
far now they be,
fierce and free,
and tamed is he;
but fat cat on the mat
kept as a pet
he does not forget.

-- J. R. R. Tolkien

Some pics from Kodagu

2007-01-23T20:07:00.000+05:30

Do these people know that these are examples of what is called as 'henotheism' in the west? Wall paintings from the Omkareshwara temple in Madikeri, the capital city of Kodagu (the actual name of the anglicised 'Coorg') District.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Look at the busy traffic waiting for green light at a traffic signal in Madikeri.

--------------------------------------------------------------

One cold winter morning in the kitchen of 'Ambika Tiffanies' in Madikeri.
--pic by Karthik

--------------------------------------------------------------

Karthik (black shirt, lots of hair on the face) overseeing the stepney change. Notice his stylish pose of sitting. How far behind is the West in fashion!Incidentally, wikipedia article on stepney says that the word is used only in India in that sense.
--pic by Pavan
-----------------------------------------------------------

Lots of Urea!

--pic by Karthik

Osmania Biscuit XIV--Battle of Wits

2007-01-16T22:41:00.000+05:30

Ok!

When Lingam performed the maneuver of facing Obul and cleverly running away past him, he did more than a maneuver-- he had won a great battle of wits, which thankfully, neither he knew nor Obul knew. In fact, chroniclers (who seem to be ubiquitous, which should make us think what is in it for them? but then we will not, for now!) think that this technique easily outweighs the last battle of wits (yes! It is a 'battle of wits', literally!) in the famous 'battle of BEML gate'.

What we are missing here is the history behind these battles of wits. Long long ago, there used to be two huge kingdoms-- one was militantly Vaishnavaite, and another was militantly Shaivaite, and they used to battle their guts out for supremacy. It was rumoured that they frequently obained favours from Gods for their militaristic endeavours.

The whole Vaishnavaite kingdom was one very posh, properly planned city called Narayanopolis. It had a beautiful central palace with Golden Spires and sprawling meadows for the King. The people were extremely polite and their taste was exceeded only by their hatred towards their Shaivaite counterparts. The people were highly sentient and hard-working beings and thrived on agriculture and trade. They had a vast, powerful and organised army divided into many regiments. The vaishnavite city also had another Satellite city (literally 'satellite', as you shall see!) named Garudopolis that was susupended in mid-air, and could be used as a huge warship. They also had a powerful air-force named the 'Garudawaffe'.

On the contrary, the Shaivaite kingdom was a large mass of barren waste-land --a paradox with colums of smoke and ash spewing out from one part and snow and grinding ice in another part. It was a rocky and a moutainous region and people mostly lived on hunting and most people, when not hunting were seen meditating on Shiva. Some never stopped meditating and after their death, they added a kind of unseen armour to the Shaiva kingdom that needed many magic weapons to break through. The Shaivas had their own answer to the Garudawaffe-- they had Marutsena.

While Garudawaffe depended on sophistication, efficiency, and precision, Maruts depended only numbers and raw heroics. No wonder, they were much feared. It was partly to thwart any further attacks from Maruts that Vaishnavaites built the Garudopolis. Shaivaites frequently employed women in the army and they had their own regiment called the Bhairavi regiment, and they were notorious for their unrelenting bravery. On the other hand, the Vaishnavaites had a powerful nursing and reconnaisance brigade called the Mohini-Brigade. It was famed to never fail.

Till now, Obul (a name of God Vishnu's Avatara Narasimha) did not know that he was the direct descendant of the lengendary General Oppiliappan-IX (Oppiliappan also means Narasimha. It could be that Oppiliappan is the actual Tamizh form of 'Obulayya'), who single-handedly, with his band of highly motivated fighters, routed an invasion of a huge Shaivaite army consisting of 44th KAla-Bhairava Regiment and the 16th Light-infantry Bhringi Regiment and 24th Rudra Rifles Regiment.

And Lingam, obvioustly as well, did not know that he was a direct descendant of VallinAyagam-III, the prefect of Chidambaram-- who successfully thwarted an attack of 4th, 5th, and 11th VarAha-regiments and even withstood, though at great loss, highly sophisticated and dangerous Sudarshana weapons dropped from Garudopolis. The whole of 6th Marut-Brigade was felled from the skies. The Shaivaites, from then on, never have had a 6th Marut-Brigade in honour of those who found martyrdom on that day. Now, it seems that to save from the onslaught of the Vaishnavaites, some of the Shaivaites in a neutral area got mixed with pastoral and peace minded Yadavs and began calling themselves Yadavs. Same was the case with Vaishnavaites and they mingled themselves with other tribes to find peace.

These wars continued for centuries together, with innumerable battles and skirmishes. As times changed, because of a lot of external factors, the funds for war decreased on Vaishnavaites' side, and not many Shaivaites were intent on ghOra-tapasya, so their shields weakened. So there emerged a new form of tactical warfare called 'Battle of Wits'. The entire warfare consisted of confusing the enemy. The more you end up confusing the enemy, the more crushing is the defeat inflicted upon him. And war-chroniclers, who write down everything, decide who wins. (more often, they are seen taking money from a side and pronounce it victorious!). So, you see, the profession is not without its plus points.

So when Lingam turned around and faced Obul at Janglee ViThoba Temple in Hyderabad, the whole world was watching him, and war-chroniclers were busy scripting each and every minute detail of the incident. By the time Lingam ran away into the galli with a perplexed Obul staring with his gaping mouth, Lingam was already a Shaivaite hero. Chants of 'Hara hara Mahadeva' echoed in the sub-terranean hideouts of the Shaivaite extremist organisations throughout the world. Lingam, without knowing the reason, kept getting many gifts and 'well-done', 'bravo', and 'salute to thou' letters for months. Thankfully, he didnt bother about them one single-bit because they were addressed to a guy named 'VallinAyagam-VII', and he had no idea it was his real name.

And Obul.. poor Obul got busted by the vaishnavaite powers that be. He was hunted by an inexplicable misfortune. He lost money everywhere, his friends deseted him. he was kicked out of his master Erra Satyam's service (in fact, some theorise that the murder of Erra Satyam was an attack to inflict pain on Obul) and was treated as a disgrace. But the powers calmed down eventually and were set to offer Obul a new life and a chance to redeem his honour.

parivartanAvartanam -- Life, Transformation, and back to Life- III

2007-01-14T23:20:00.000+05:30

Back to Life:

Priya was only remotely fascinated by her actual name before-- her parents sometimes used to make fun of her, saying that it would have been better if she had been named 'vakuLa', with a tint of sarcasm. Neither she understood what they meant, not did she understand what was wrong with the name 'vakuLa'. They always said that her grandmother didnt like staying with them even though they tried bringing her over because her way of life was too strict and out-of-date, and that she stayed in a remote village away from them.

It was only later when she met her grandmother incidentally on a trip did she realise what her parents meant. But right in the first meeting, she found her grandmother far more likeable than her parents. She developed a soft corner for her grandmother, who still called her VakuLa, and started visiting her often. Gradually, she began to prefer the name 'VakuLa' over 'Priya'. Though she enjoyed battling with semaphores and forks in work, she found this far more gratifying. In a short while, she had learnt so much that she felt she came a long way. Now, because of the same qualities that made her an excellent team lead in that software testing form, she had become the life of the town because of her commitment and hardwork, and she had become a role model for other young women.

At one point, she understood that more than devotion to the Godhead, it was the commitment to lead a way of life that preserved riches of life that kept her going--an honest attempt at leading a much more organic, natural, intuitive, and richer way of life where she can always learn something about the nature, the people around her, and finally herself.

And so, every weekend, she became VakuLa, and every Monday, she returned to work as Priya. Her grandmother did not coax her into any kind of decision. She knew that her granddaugher had come on her own, and she had to make her own decision-- and the decision had to be made soon.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is the end of my narration, for I do not know what the future has in store for the central character. Will she become VakuLa in the end or will she stay Priya... I do not want to take it any further, because I do not want to think for the readers of this story. If you have come till here, you have already an opinion about Priya/VakuLa, and about yourself. Her story ends here and yours begins here. What you want to become and where you want to go is your business.

P.S.: Yes, the narration is sloppy, the character development is incomplete, and some characters are too stereotyped and banal. But if you still manage to look through this nebulous fog and find something to ponder over, then I have done my job.

parivartanAvartanam -- Life, Transformation, and back to Life- II

2007-01-14T15:56:00.000+05:30

Transformation

When Priya got home, her grandmother was not at home but she found all the arrangements made. An olive coloured silk saree and blouse set were lying on a stool, and some water, cold as a rule, was present in the bathroom. She quickly cast away all of her 'city' clothes, took bath, and wore her saree, braided her hair and made it into a bun, applied a short vertical tilakam on her forehead, wore some green and a couple of golden bangles, a small nose-gem (not a nose-ring), a set of small golde ear-rings set with pearl, and finally set a small lenth of flower strip into her bun.

The process which had come to seem so natural to her now, was not so a while ago. It began only as a small and gentle curiosity about year and a half ago. By and by, her grandmother sensed the flow of her granddaughter's feelings as the curiosity grew into general interest, then into a fully-grown hobby, and then avid enthusaism and finally maturing into realisation of she had been missing all this time as her mentor-grandmother, feeling happy at the progress made by her protege, taught her all she knew-- to cook, dress up, and behave in the trational manner.

VakuLa herself was perplexed how she could imbibe all of this so easily. She felt something was not right, and she tried to keep away from the town and cut all contact with her grandmother. But the urge to come back was too swift. She gave up finally. At times, she used to wonder if she was enjoying it because she was so good at it, or was it the other way around, but now, it did not matter much. She knew where she belonged. Every weekend, she had been coming to her grandmother's place. She kept lying to her parents, friends, and people at office about her whereabouts at weekends. She hardly used to go to her home. But whenever she went, there was a feeling of frustration and loss. Her parents were not qualified enough to peep behind her formal smiles to sense the inner volcano of feelings.

She also had come to know many of the traditional Indian chants by heart. She began reading books on Indian philosophy and very soon she was able to convince other scholars in town that she was someone to contend with. She even had started participating in some of the temple ceremonies. A small coterie of orthodox Brahmins tried to bar her progress, but being well versed in the shastras by now, she came over them, yet without hurting their self-respect using her tact. She now looked into the mirror to give final touches to her transformation from Priya to VakuLa-- the name her grandmother had chosen for her when she was born, but rejected by her parents who found it too old-fashioned. She came out and saw the framed photograph of Goddess Laxmi by the wall in the outer room. She took a slow deep breath, and she felt she was now richer, having driven out Alakshmi from her life:

Kshut pipásá-amalám jyesthám alakshmím náshayámyaham
Abhūtimasamriddhim cha sarván nirnuda me grihat.

She wrapped her neck and shoulders with the saree and went to the grocers, who knew her only has the grand-daughter of the old widow Narmada, and ordered the necessary vegetables and condiments. Cooking SODasapakvAnnAs for fifty one people is not an easy task for a beginner. She was used, by now, to cooking for the temple, but the scale was much smaller. A tough task but she had taken it upon her willingly.

She returned home where her grandmother was waiting for her. She had gone over to the neighbours' place. As her grandmother went inside to cook, vakuLa went into the small garden to collect some tulasi-daLams for the puja the next day. It was going to be another long but beautiful day.

parivartanAvartanam -- Life, Transformation, and back to Life- I

2007-01-14T11:07:00.000+05:30

Life

Priya was into software testing. In her short 4-year old career after her engineering, she had already become a team lead after just over 2-years of service. A charming smile always adorned her face and she had a knack of getting the most difficult job done by the people working under her. She would push, taunt, or pep up her team mates as the situation demanded. She was extremely committed and hard-working and demanded the same level of commitment from others around her. She took on others' load when they could not bear it any longer. In short, she was the perfect leadership-material. However, not all was okay with her.

Priya had a secret life that began about 8 months before. A part of her that was almost negligible had suddenly begun to assert itself and she felt compelled to satisfy it. She fought it initially-- it was not something well bred girls of upper middle class did without bringing the family into disrepute in the high society. Even she herself took sometime to accept it. But she had finally begun to understand that she was different from others and that her priorities had changed. She knew what had to be done... only, she was afraid of taking the step. Her parents, who were proud of her, would find it opprobrius. They were too worried about their status. Her team-mates would think she has lost it and gone mad. She would be in one of those fringe groups, generally laughed at. She suspended her decision to some other time in future and sat in a bus friday afternoon, as she had been doing every weekend of late.

She got down at a small town in the cold evening after about 5 hours of journey and started walking at a brisk pace. Some people saluted her in namaskaara mudra and walked away with bent heads, some others greeted her as their own child, while some were giving her rather anxious looks. She commanded huge respect in the town. She reached a house, went inside, locked the door and promptly removed all of her clothing. There was a feeling of expectation and excitement-- she had not even dreamt doing something like this before.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jayati tEdhikam kRshna janmanAvrajAH
Srayata indirA kRshna SaSvad atrahi
dayita dRshyatAm kRshna dikshutAvakA-
stvayi dhRtAsavaH kRshna tvAM vichinvatE.

na khalu gopikA kRshNa nandano bhavAn....

Chants of gOpikA gItam, along with highly appetising culinary scents, were emanating from a small house with a label "VakuLa" early in the morning in a mountain town. The female voice was young and ebullient, but it also echoed deep commitment and was full of devotion. The house had a narow fence made of thickets, and it also had a well and a couple of cows in a shed. The priest of the temple stopped in front of the wooden gate for a while to listen to the young voice, wrapt in the beauty of the sonorous chants with his eyes closed, and then walked away to attend to his chores at the temple. VakuLa had become very dear and respectable to the people, both learned and lay, in town in a short while.

Ascent

2006-11-14T08:52:00.000+05:30

A laughter as one the Gods themselves be jealous of;
A laughter as the roar of the first thunder on the Earth;
A laughter that could rend the worlds asunder.
-----------------------------------------------------------
RudranArAyaNa Sastry was the nityAgnihotri of his village. He had completed a thousand chanDi homAs till date. He was the foremost authority on tantra in his kingdom. Yet he lived as an ascetic, living on alms and prasadam of the village kAmAkshi temple. He breathed KAmAkshi in every breath. He lived in a small house in the shadow of the kAmAkshi temple. He was born every moment as the son of his loving Mother, and died every moment pining for her eternal love. To him She was the beginning, the end, and everything else.

It was VijayadaSami, and it was the last day of rudranArAyaNa Sastry's old life and the first day of new life, the day when he would call out to the skies waiting to carry out his orders, the day when he would start living without dying every moment, the day when he would finally reach his Mother in her heavenly abode.

The divyachandana lEpita utsava-vigraham of the Heavenly Sankari was adorned with flowers-

SevantikA vakula champaka pATalAbjaiH
punnAgajAti karavIra rasALapushpaiH
bilvapravALa tulasIdala mAlatIbhiH
tvAmhi pUjayAmi jagadIshvari me prasIda!

The utsava vigraham was kept on the ratham and dozens of devotees slowly dragged out the enormous vehicle of the tribhuvanESwari onto the wet road after a rainy night--

chaturbhuje chandrakalAvataMse
kuchonnate kunkumarAgashoNe
puNDrekShupAshAnkushapushpabANa
haste namaste jagadekamAtaH

It has been held that the ratham should never stop on the road till it reaches the tank at the other end of the village. And it never did till now. While the people were pulling the divine vehicle ahead, none but he saw a pool of water on the road right in the path of the vehicle. The pool was deep and wide enough for the huge vehicle to get stuck. But the people dragged it along chanting the Mother's name.

And he beheld Her, his mother, coming towards him in this Divine chaos with mangaLa Arathi being offered to her. There were people everywhere. And a thousand bells were ringing at the same time. And She seemed to him--

As vAgdEvI saraswathi early in the morning to be worshipped in his small house with white lilly flowers,

Manikya vInAm upalAlayanthIm
madhAlasAm manjula vAg vilAsam
mahEndra nIla dyuthi kOmalangIm
mAthanga kanyAm manasA smarAmi.

As AnnapUrnEsvari at noon in the corn fields with turmeric, rice, corn, and chrysanthemum

prAlEyAchala vamsa pAvanakari kASIpurAdhISvari
bhikshAmdEhi kRpAvalambanakari mAtAnnapUrNESvari

As padmagandhini mahAlakshmi worshipped in the evening in the temple with lotuses, and marigolds,

lakshmIr kshIrasamudrarAjatanayAm srIrangadhAmESwarIm
dAsIbhUtasamastadEva vanItAm lOkaika dIpAnkurAm

And as kAtyAyanI kALika with bright red flowers at midnight in the cremation ground.

KALika VarALika
Prachanda jvAla mAlika
kapAlamAla dhArika
Dushta samhArika

And so he laughed.
Yea! It was the same laughter as one the Gods themselves be jealous of;
Yea! It was the same laughter as the roar of the first thunder on the Earth;
Yea! It was the same laughter that could rend the worlds asunder.

The bells were still ringing.

So he realised this is how he has been ordained to ascend to his Mother. This is where the door opens for the path to his Home. And he laughed again. People looked at him with wonder and fright. But they kept dragging the ratham. It was almost over the pool. rudranArAyaNa jumped before the wheel of the ratham and covered the pool with his body.

The ratham went on unhindered. The bells kept on ringing.
And the devotees sprinkled the water from red pool over their heads.

I have died today,
My Mother has come for me,
I am born today.
-------------------------------------------------
kAmAkshi-- in VarALi by SyAmA Sastry, set to misra chApu. Rendered by Maharajapuram Ramachandran

Shree

2006-11-12T18:09:00.000+05:30

Shadows of evening slanted through the high windows. It was not time yet to light the lamps. In the fading light is the silhoutte of a female figure sitting across the front door with head back, resting against the open door. The smell of sandal and jasmine was floating around the house. Dressed as a bride, ThakuraNi Roopmati was staring into the sky. Her hand was playing instinctively with the colourful bangles she had worn--red and green and yellow and of of gold with pearls and stones set in them. Suddenly, she felt a tinge of pain and gave out a gasp. She lifted her head and brought her gaze down onto her right thumb. The bleeding had long stopped but the wound would take a day or two to heal. It was in the early morning that she applied rakta-tilak to her Thakur and sent him to the battle wishing that he come back victorious, as always.

They had said the enemy was already at the gates of the city. They had said they were outnumbered. They had said there was slim chance of victory. But this was not the first time that the Thakur led his regiment to battle to under the leadership of the MaharaNa. She remembered how she had laughed at the prospect of war and how spectacularly magnificent was the huge feast they organised, as was the custom of the household, before war. MaharaNa himself had visited their house.

Yet, there was a deep sense of misgiving and a premonition in her heart right from the time she received the news of the battle and slowly, those vague warnings and notions in her heart began to take a shape and become clearer. And when she saw her Thakur's face, blazing like the Sun, in the glow of evening lamp, she was no longer in doubt. She knew her Thakur was not going to come back this time. She knew this was her Thakur's last feast. She knew that she will be seeing her Thakur for the last time the next morning. But she was a Lioness among RajputaNis. She had a huge reputation of lifting the spirits of others around her. And so she hid her sorrow. No. The Thakur shall not sense her state of mind. He has to go and the battle has to be won. At any cost. She remembered how she had succeeded in lifting the sagging morale of other women who were aghast at the rumours of the losing battle and she smiled wryly at herself.

It was almost night, and Roopmati still did not get up to light the lamp. It was a sombre evening with dull skies and no wind and a few melancholy birds wailing. Lamps could be seen dimly flickering from Neighbours' homes. She succeeded in rallying the neighbourhood to thw cause, but who would assuage the storms raging in her heart? She wondered what was the use of the Durga puja, the tilak, and other such rituals when she could clearly see the truth naked in front of her waking eyes.

An hour later, an errand rider came running to her and bowed to her:
"Victory to you ThakuraNi!"

She did not move and kept staring far away beyond the horizon.

"ThakuraNi... Thakur fought valiantly and saved MaharaNa's life."

She still did not move. Her eyes closed, and tears waiting in her eyes saw enough reason to flow out.

-------
Shree raaga.
Alap and dhamaar by Uday Bhawalkar.

Journey

2006-11-09T22:54:00.000+05:30

Those green valleys with those lush meadows,
The bee on the flower and the birdling in the nest,
That trickling stream, running down the mountains,
Those drops of rain and the gentle breeze sweetest,

Those high aims, those lofty ambitions,
Those long struggles and those victories great
Those melancholies and bursts of mirth,
Those smirks to self at treacherous turns of fate,

Those benign people living in inviting homes,
Those smiling faces, with greeting hands,
Those times spent in the pleasant company,
But mere images drawn on the eternal sands.

The feet move with ease by themselves
The hands held aloft on their own,
Away, away my heart, I am carried off,
Yonder to the place He does own.

Shivam Shankaram Shambhumeeshaa na meede!
(From Shivashtakam)

Genesis

2006-11-08T20:58:00.000+05:30

The four were not yet born, the eight still far away in thought.
The five were one yet, the universe still was not wrought.

Not even darkness. Not even nothing.

Then there was nothing. Darkness everywhere-- all engulfing, all encompassing-- A defeaning darkness. Issuing out of the depths of that nothing, and going back into that unseen chasm of nothingness.
Out of that nothingness was born the First of All-- Experience. And out of the Experience came a horrid fright. A fright that held the Unborn Universe as She saw her own Nemesis was being born before She was born.
A fright that would have made Man tear his own flesh and drink his own blood in a maddening dementia.
A fright that gripped even the Nemesis as she saw her own End -- slow, painful, and eternal.
A fright that struck and shook fright itself.

When would this torture end?

And fright called out:
O Most Powerful, Most Fearsome, Grandest and Greatest!
O Warrior of the Beyond, Slayer of the Great Foe unsown!
O Harbinger of the Eternal peace, my Only Saviour and Recourse,
Wilt Thou not take me, ere I drown in the venom of mine own?

There were swirling vortexes of blackness all around. Everything feared everything else and itself. Everything engulfed everything else and itself. Unmanifested realities contested among themselves without any rules and shattered themselves into a million fragments with indescribable elan. New unborn realities, formed from those fragments took their place and led the battle to newer planes of rage and passion.

A heavy burden of inexplicable melancholy. A feeling of permanent distress. Yet, no, this cannot be permanent, said a voice within. For anything permanent has to be blissful. Only a passing phase. Only Pangs of Birth. A grim determination arose-- To carry on. To suffer the pain. To brave the blows. To face the fear. To wade through the violence.

And PaSupathi opened His eyes to the Universe born as the Unborn, Unheard Sound--AnAhata Adi nAda.

Paarvathi Naatha Shiva Shambho,
MahaabaLi, Mahaaroopa, Mahaadevatha jaage!
(Dhrupad in Puriya-- chautaal)

Swadeshi and Matrix

2006-11-03T22:26:00.000+05:30

The swadeshi movement started by Gandhiji was one of the most potent manifestations of the Indian freedom struggle, and I single it out not just because it stands as a monument of defiance of the British authority in India, but it also was a necessary step for the survival of the struggling Indian industry. Simply put, the british were taking raw materials like cotton, jute, iron-ore, etc, fromIndia (did I mention at throw-away prices?), mass manufacturing them into finished goods and selling them back to us as finished products. One can imagine the conditions of the local industry! In this light, the swadeshi movement is one movement that was not just a maneuver to defy the British rule like the Salt Satyagraha or to throw the British off balance like the Quit-India movement, but something that must have hit the British in a very sensitive place! Imagine the worry of the British manufacturers! So... they literally forced the Indians to buy their goods. Well, it might have worked only moderately, with the entire nation of India rallying behind Gandhiji.

Cut to the present--
A Joke: A Yadagiri (in India) asks his friend, lets say a Srinivas, in US to get him a shirt, may be not a costly one, but something from The USA. The Srinivas diligently goes to wal-mart, and picks up a very decent one of about $35. On his visit to India, he proudly gives his friend Yadagiri, a glimpse of the American product. The Yadagiri looks at it in awe, but something near the collar catches his eye, and he throws the shirt back at the Srinivas! On the tag was written: 'Made in Pakistan'. Damn the American honesty!

But no, I dont want to talk about either American honesty or the quality of shirts in Wal-mart. I want to highlight that the same thing that was happening then, is happening now. All the these foreign manufacturers (Van-Heusens, Peter-Englands, Oxemburgs ??) buy raw material at dead-cheap rates from third world countries, mass manufacture them, and then sell them to the same countries! The bad thing is, we are lapping it all up without any sense of awareness or compassion to that good old tailor who used to sew our clothes about a decade ago. Why?

Cut to Matrix Reloaded, the second part of the trilogy-- The Architect tells Neo:
"The first Matrix I designed was quite naturally perfect, it was a work of art - flawless, sublime. A triumph equalled only by its monumental failure..."

As you would remember, Agent Smith tells Morpheus in the first part that "the first matrix... was a disaster.No one would accept the program. Entire crops were lost. "

(please note the word 'crops'. It warrants another discussion... not now though!)

The Architect continues "the answer [to the problem of designing a self sustaning matrix] was stumbled upon by another - an intuitive program, initially created to investigate certain aspects of the human psyche..."

"...she stumbled upon a solution whereby nearly 99% of all test subjects accepted the program, as long as they were given a choice, even if they were only aware of the choice at a near unconscious level."

Aah! So there you are! More than a grain of truth in there! Force doesnt always work (in fact, it doesnt work most often!), but given a choice, even if at a sub-conscious level, the human always chooses what s/he is expected to. No one is actually stopping us from getting our clothes stitched by the tailor. Yet we feel compelled to go to a mall and buy clothes.Hmm!

But wait! Thats not all. The local tailor, well, he certainly is out of business. But thats not the worst! People will always find alternate routes to support themselves. So, the tailor might get a job somewhere in the factory of some Levi's. Thats ok. But there is a bigger problem. Now, the ex-tailor is a part of the Levi's process chain... condemned to do a specific repetitive job over and over again... a part of the highly optimised and mechanised design. So, his skill is lost. And the generation of those who call themselves tailors might no longer possess that kind of skill.

All said and done, though the end seems inevitable sooner or later, one saving point in India is that its really difficult to reach the last leaf of the last branch of the tree. It takes a long long time for any sort of change to come into India. So lets wait and watch!

In the meanwhile, spare a moment for the local tailor who used to sew your clothes in your childhood (applies to middle class only!).

Experience

2006-10-16T00:51:00.000+05:30

What does a human being long for in life? Money, perhaps? or may be power? or may be love and affection? But are all these different? There is a definite common human quality associated with all these... underlying the outwardly different manifestations of materialism. It is not exactly materisalism that satisfies our human urges... it is the urge for the experience that we crave that matters so much to us. This childish longing for that sublime entity called experience makes us humans go to nefarious lengths, even if its only out of sheer malice and jealousy towards our fellows. Nevertheless, the importance of this thing called 'experience' cannot be underestimated.

But then, of what use is a brilliant masterpiece of visual art to a blind person? how can a congenitally deaf person comprehend music? Experience is more valuable than the value of the object sought! In that sense, the object associated with experience no longer matters once that familiar sensation starts to set in. The object remains as a gate-way to that realm, a vehicle to carry us across to the other shore, a means to the end. Hypothetically it can be argued, eventhough it seems a repugnant notion, that if an obect gives that same beautiful, instantly uplifting, and emotionally intense feeling to a woman that is gifted to her as her maternal instinct, the woman may be less inclined to beget a child since her urge has been satisfied by another object.

The problem is that though over the millennia, ways and means by which this experience can be had permanently, or for atleast a long time have been tried, successfully tested and documented, they have never been popular. And of course, they will never be. Most of us are not ready to wake up to that ultimate reality, to realise what we already know, to understake that ascent to the topmost turrets of the towers of our own inner selves and throw open all the windows and let ourselves be affected, exposed, and receptive to new, hitherto unknown, and inexplicable sensations of the higher realm... for Sensation preserved in memory is but Experience.

Hence, it now seems to me that humans are not exactly materialistic, what is materialistic is the way we adopt to satisfy the urge for the experience.

Shri Aurobindo's talk

2006-10-12T15:10:00.000+05:30

Taken from:
http://www.voiceofdharma.com/books/ir/IR_part3.htm

July 23, 1923

(A disciple:) The Mahatma believes that non-violence purifies the man who practises it.

I believe Gandhi does not know what actually happens to the man's nature when he takes to Satyagraha or non-violence. He thinks that men get purified by it. But when men suffer, or subject themselves to voluntary suffering, what happens is that their vital being gets strengthened. These movements affect the vital being only and not any other part. Now, when you cannot oppose the force that oppresses, you say that you will suffer. That suffering is vital and it gives strength. When the man who has thus suffered gets power he becomes a worse oppressor....
What one can do is to transform the spirit of violence. But in this practice of Satyagraha it is not transformed. When you insist on such a one-sided principle, what happens is that cant, hypocrisy and dishonesty get in and there is no purification at all. Purification can come by the transformation of the impulse of violence, as I said. In that respect the old system in India was much better: the man who had the fighting spirit became the Kshatriya and then the fighting spirit was raised above the ordinary vital influence. The attempt was to spiritualize it. It succeeded in doing what passive resistance cannot and will not achieve. The Kshatriya was the man who would not allow any oppression, who would fight it out and he was the man who would not oppress anybody. That was the ideal....

There is also the question of Hindu-Muslim unity which the non-violence school is trying to solve on the basis of their theory.

You can live amicably with a religion whose principle is toleration. But how is it possible to live peacefully with a religion whose principle is “I will not tolerate you”? How are you going to have unity with these people? Certainly, Hindu-Muslim unity cannot be arrived at on the basis that the Muslims will go on converting Hindus while the Hindus shall not convert any Mahomedan. You can’t build unity on such a basis. Perhaps the only way of making the Mahomedans harmless is to make them lose their fanatic faith in their religion....

The Mahomedan religion was born under such circumstances that the followers never forgot the origin.

That was the result of the passive resistance which they practised. They went on suffering till they got strong enough and, when they got power, they began to persecute others with a vengeance....

Gandhi's position is that he does not care to remove violence from others; he wants to observe non-violence himself.

That is one of the violences of the Satyagrahi that he does not care for the presssure which he brings on others. It is not non-violence—it is not “Ahimsa.” True Ahimsa is a state of mind and does not consist in physical or external action or in avoidance of action. Any pressure in the inner being is a breach of Ahimsa.

For instance, when Gandhi fasted in the Ahmedabad mill-hands' strike to settle the question between mill-owners and workers, there was a kind of violence towards others. The mill-owners did not want to be responsible for his death and so they gave way, without, of course, being convinced of his position. It is a kind of violence on them. But as soon as they found the situation normal they reverted to their old ideas. The same thing happened in South Africa. He got some concessions there by passive resistance and when he came back to India it became worse than before.

Hoomite and Youbee (Who might and you be)

2006-10-05T14:14:00.000+05:30

Long ago, there was an insignificant channel called Home TV which used to air some of my favorite shows. Mostly animation series from Cosgrove Hall productions and a couple of chinese mythological dramas-- totally enjoyable!.

One of the animations was "Count Duckula".

taken from http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/countduckulaseason1.php :

"Castle Duckula—home for many centuries to a terrible dynasty of vicious vampire ducks: the Counts of Duckula! Legend has it that these foul beings can be destroyed by a stake through the heart or by exposure to sunlight. This does not suffice, however, for they may be brought back to life, by means of a secret rite, that can be performed once a century when the moon is in the eighth zenith. The latest reincarnation didn't run according to plan."

Count Duckula is a funny, odd guy (voiced with above average enthusiasm by David Jason) a vampire duckwho now only wants to munch on veggies instead of hapless necks and who often finds himself overwhelmed by his bumbling, caustic staff. There's Nanny (voiced by Brian Trueman), an oversized bird with a bandaged arm and a knack for walking through walls; and Igor (Jack May), a stuffy Jeeves-like butler who often looks bored/indifferent/annoyed with Count Duckula and Nanny's antics. Other minor characters pop in and out of a few episodes, including Duckula's enemy, Van Goosling (a la Van Helsing).

Count Duckula is often based on odd exchanges between the various characters. To show you the goofy extents the show goes to, here's an example of a dialogue exchange between Count Duckula and two Egyptian characters (Hoomite and Yoobee):

Hoomite: I am Hoomite, High Priest of the Sun God Ra! And this is my assistant Yoobee.
Yoobee: Delighted, I'm sure.
Hoomite: Who might you be?
Count Duckula: Yes, I got that.
Hoomite: No, who might you be?
Count Duckula: Yes, I know, you said that already.
Hoomite: So you will not tell me?
Count Duckula: Well, I hardly need to, do I?
Hoomite: We shall see about that! Yoobee, you try.
Yoobee: Oh, very well master. Listen I am Yoobee, right?
Count Duckula: Wrong. I am, you are.
Yoobee: Aahhh! There you are Master, he is Yooare.
Hoomite: So you are Yooare?
Count Duckula: I am not, I am not.
Hoomite: See! He is not Yooare, he is Knot!
Yoobee: You are Yooare!

maya ka khel

2006-09-23T14:12:00.000+05:30

Since the last few days, the great Mr.Musharraf suddenly seems to say and do things that I never expected of him-- first it was the firm rebuttal of the great Bush's admission that he was prepared to send troops into pakistan to find the terrorists, then he had something to reveal for CBS 60 minutes (RIP, Dan Rather!) that the then deputy secy. of state Richard Armitage said something about bombing Pakistan back to stone age and finally, the deferral of the F-16 deal by Pakistan.
Call me a conspiracy theorist if you wish, but I do smell something. I think that Musharraf is onto something here. By reacting angrily to Bush's remark (rather harmless if you consider that it amounts only to violating the sovereignty of a country whose president fawns on the US) and defering the F-16 deal, a strong message is sent to the world and the Pakistanis (well, especially the latter) that they are not slaves of the US and they have an independent existence and their leaders will not allow that to change at any cost. Also, Musharraf is playing the victim to perfection when he talks about Armitage and Bombing Pakistan to stone-age-- Look! Here is a leader who is prepared to accept the insulting proposition of helping the west in the fight against the fellow muslim in order to save his country. He is a true leader! May God bless him!
And he will lap up all the sympathy he can get from the gullible public.

Why?

Because two assassination attempts have already been made on him, and the Islamic hardliners are gaining good ground in Pak. More importantly, he is losing control over the Islamists. Not that he cares a lot about the countries affected by them, but they no longer listen to him. So.... he needs to crack-down on them-- neither to make an honest attempt at securing world-peace, not to please the US by doing his part in the fight against Terror-- he just wants to consolidate his position in his country. Having the common man's support in such a mission is of utmost importance. Playing victim of circumstances dissuades the common man from letting himself carried away by the imflamatory speeches of the extremist clerics! And makes him follow his leader, and president with more faith. And the US is ok with it-- of course they will be happy if their 'stand-up guy' gets stronger in his own country! They want him to be so!

God knows where he is leading Pakistan to... but I sincerely hope what Barkha Dutt says is true!

nArada

2006-09-13T19:52:00.000+05:30

Posted in an orkut group by me--
My favorite character in the purAnAs is nArada. I shall investigate the character of nArada under the follwing headings:

1)A vital link:I think the very concept of Narada as an intermediary between the three kinds of beings-- the devas, the dAnavAs, and the humans is truly unbeatable.It is interesting to note that almost every mythilogical story involves nArada as a person being trusted by all. From outside, when we see the sequence of the purAnAs, we really feel that dAnavAs do not study their history properly-- time and again, nArada goes to dAnavAs and tricks them, and they still believe him.But if one goes into the depth, one can see that these are all stories out of a comic book. He who looks for a sequence has a very ignorant perspective of looking at Indian Mythology. In this regard, he supplies, through himself, that vital missing link in the story to make it more gripping.

2)Renunciation vs. Gruhasta Dharmam:
Many stories also involve him as one teaching a fitting lesson to some person, or (more frequently) him being taught a lesson in Bhakti. The latter one, I think is one of the most crucial central points about the SanAtana tradition. The moment nArada thinks he is the greatest bhakta of Hari since he has renounced the world, he is humbled by a common man! This is a great lesson, this is exactly why we have survived the onslaughts of religions that preach renunciation and living as an ascetic. Stories like these have taught the world that one can attain mOksha even while following the gruhasta dharmam.

3)Memory:
If Mythological stories were serious, they would really be boring, because the common man doesnt want to be engrossed in bhakti all the time. So--- add a comic element! nArada is perfect in this role! His comic touch makes an impression on everyone right from the newborn to the aged. It is very difficult to forget an entertaining story. This is exactly why our stories are still intact even after thousands of years.

The Kavi

2006-07-21T12:54:00.000+05:30

JandhyAla was a great film personality because of many reasons-- one of them being his contribution to gather and store important artifacts about the linguistic, cultural, and sociological conditions of the Telugu land of his times.

One of his masterpieces is the movie "Rendu-RellAru" starring Chandra Mohan and Rajendra Prasad.

There is reference to a term called "kavi" in that movie-- "kavi anTe kanapaDadu, vinabaDadu". I am not very sure if this term is an invention just for the movie, or if it has been in existence even before, but it is little things like these that have to be passed on to the next generations.

Notwithstanding the formal definition of the word "kavi" which is a 'poet', about 3000-4000 years ago, the word "kavi" meant something entirely different and denoted a person of a higher degree--a 'kavi' used to mean a 'seer'... somebody higher than a rishi. The Gods Agni, Brhaspati,etc., are all revered as kavis in Rig Veda.

This is just one example among many, of how our language, culture, and even religion have changed ever slightly by the day over thousands of years and finally have taken theie present shape. Sri Aurobindo Ghosh was one of the very few who saw a hidden, a rather cryptic meaning hidden in the otherwise mundanely ritualistic suktas of Rig Veda and Sri KapAli Sastry and Sri M.P.Pandit carried on the work started by Aurobindo. Dr.R.L.Kashyap, a Professor Emeritus at Purdue University has taken the responsibility of disseminating the inner meaning of the Vedas to the common people by writing and publishing numerous books that shed light on the real meaning of the Veda Suktas which can be viewed at http://www.vedah.com/org2/pub/overview.asp.

There is a dire need for the youth of this country to take up the study of Vedas because whatever interpretations we have of Vedas till now are by the western minds. Hopefully, atleast a few of us might devleop an interest in the esoteric knowledge of the Veda at some point of time.

I intend to propagate the work done by them by posting excerpts from their books (which are small, easy to understand and cheap!!) . For that purpose, I have started a blog called "The Kavi".

Who was he talking about??

2006-07-17T10:33:00.000+05:30

Gandalf in "Return of the King":
"The old wisdom born out of the west was forsaken. Kings made tombs more splendid than the houses of the living and counted the old names of their descent dearer than the names of their sons. Childless lords sat in aged halls musing on heraldry or in high, cold towers asking questions of the stars. And so the people of Gondor fell into ruin. The line of Kings failed. The white tree withered. The rule of Gondor was given over to lesser men."

And so, the beautiful Minas Ithil turned into the dark dirty and dangerous Minas Morgul.
Perfect!!! Gandalf (and Tolkien) could nt have been more correct.

But look-- Our own Minas Ithil going Minas Morgul way:
http://www.hvk.org/articles/0706/84.html

Osmania Biscuit XIII--- Raakshas Mama

2006-06-29T14:50:00.000+05:30

It is said that the much feared Shani doesnt come near people who take up Ayyappa deeksha, and wearing black clothes (black shirt, black lungi, black etc) was a sign for him to recognise those that he cant touch!
Alas!
Kaliyugam!!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ever since that incident before Deepaavali, Raakshas Mama has come to fear Lingam. And this, in fact had a very negative effect on Lingam who has, of late, become one of the most timid fellows! Even when some prankster (whistle-blower to be more precise) wrote "Rekha loves Jaffer" on our compund wall (Jaffer being the son of our cleaning maid, and Rekha, the daughter of one of our neighbours, apparently our distant relatives), he was very tight-lipped about it, while my parents made a huge ruckus about it in the colony.

Raakshas Mama is the name my father gave to a gentleman belonging to the huge family that occupies the whole of the front view from our home. He was the eldest son-in-law of the patriarch, known as "Head-Master"(now no more, MHSRIP). Apparently, he had one of the biggest sizes of the (decaying) teeth my father ever saw (with huge cavities), and his voice seemed like the braying of a confused male donkey mistakenly caught up in menstrual problems. Hence the name! And then the fact that whenever he used to meet my father over a cigarette at Yadagiri's shop (Lingam doesnt sell them!), he always used to greet my father with a "Namaskaar, bolaa!" in Marathi (in Telugu-- namaskaaram, cheppandi!) which he picked up from somewhere, having worked in the railways, and my father, being the courteous one, had to cook up some story all the time... but it was seriously getting on him... even if he met him every single evening, the same sentence...
"Namaskaar, bolaa!"
"Arey! what else does he expect me to tell.. I have told him everything from the shaving cream and the hair dye I use to the inside information on how to find out genuine mysore sandal soaps!" And he started avoiding him.
My father later found out from another frequenter at Yadagiri shop (he is not among us as well, MHSRIP) that it was just Raakshas Mama's way saying "Hi" and he didnt expect any information in return!! A huge sigh of relief!!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ahem! So.. anyway, Raakshas Mama is an ardent devotee of Ayyappa, and never fails to take up the deeksha. It was also the Deepaavali season. So, one fine evening, our Lingam here got very curious about a new type of cracker called "air force". It was very small... like a tiny round box. He was told that it shoots up straight into the sky, like a rocket! It seemed absolutely impossible to him.. how can such a small device shoot up into the sky! Well, he took one out, and lit it on the side of the road.

Misfortune, it seems, has her own ways of manifesting herself where there is absolutely no need of her. Walking just beside was our own beloved Raakshas Mama, and the air force betrayed its supposed wont-- instead of shooting up, it went straight into Raakshas Mama's black Ayyappa lungi.
Aahaa!
I have never heard such a loud howl... I came out running, and there I saw Lingam trying to get something out of Rakshas Mama's lungi... I didnt want to know what at that time... it seemed very iffy! I still cant forget the sight.
All said and done, Raakshas Mama developed a thorough mixture of hatred and fear towards both "air force" and Lingam. And Lingam... well, he was crushed beyond imagination. He didnt show his face throughout the Deepaavali season. And to add salt to his wounds, the rest of the "air force" devices didnt do anything strange... just went straight up, which made some theorise that Lingam had a "hand" in air-force goin up Raakshas Mama's lungi.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Raakshas Mama is (also) no longer amidst us. He passed away just a couple of months ago. He was found dead one afternoon in his apartment by one of his nephews. Heart Failure.

Farewell Raakshas Mama!
MYSRIP (May Your Soul rest In Peace).

Of Judas and Satan

2006-06-14T10:47:00.000+05:30

Ever since Gospel of Judas has come to light, a section of the christian orthodoxy is shaken up and is finding it hard to wake up to it. It may be a problem with organised religions. What is written in the book is believed to be absolutely true and any small piece of actuality unearthed that undermines the writing becomes a threat. Nevertheless, it has brought forth a motif, similar to one I was contemplating to write in the Indian context-- that of duty, of dharma and kartavya, and of sacrifice.

In this gospel, Judas is the closest disciple of all the other disciples to the Christ. He even chides others for not knowing the designs of the Messiah. And the other disciples are jealous of Judas. In the end, Jesus himself spells out to Judas on what is to be done to save the world and warns him that this will actually incur the wrath of all the followers. Yet, Judas passes the test, truly comprehends the orders of his master, and delivers Him to the Romans, in spite of his damnation at the hands of the other followers. He is branded as a traitor, though he is not actually one... he is just acting at the behest of his Lord and Master whom He loves and understands. Hmm!

There is a more beautiful concept, more fundamental to the christian myth, not history that I had come across earlier. That of the psyche of Satan himself. About two years ago, I watched the wonderful DVD "The Power of the Myth" by Joseph Campbell, the brilliant mythologist, and he explained the behaviour of Satan in a wonderful way. I am not sure of the sources, but according to one as cited by him, Satan is not exactly the "embodiment of evil", who seeks to destroy everything that is good in the world, a la Morgoth of the Tolkien's Middle Earth. Satan, like Morgoth was the greatest of the angels of God, but when God created Man and declared that Man shall be the most beloved of all of His creations, the character of Satan takes a very curious twist. In his childishly jealous love towards his Lord, he felt that Man has to be ensnared into evil so that Man falls from the grace of God and he could have God's love again, and so Satan is Man's enemy, not the arch-enemy of God directly. A beautiful, though dangerous, thought.

Now, there are two ways to look at it--

1) Christ loved Judas and others were jealous of Judas, and relegated him to a lower status. Similarly, God loved Man and Satan was jealous of Man, and made sure that Man did not stay for long in the Garden of Eden. So here, Satan is symbolised by the other disciples and the Adam/Eve by Judas.

2) There is one more way to look at it ... Judas might actually be an avatar of Satan, in a different way--vilified by the world which has absolutely no idea about the grand design of the God for the universe, Satan might just be doing his duty. And what is this duty? Just as Judas sought to end something good, Satan tried to currupt the hearts of people. The result of ending something good is what is called as 'The Change'. The 'Good', is always associated with a fantastic idea of utopia, where things dont change, stuck in an all pervading constancy. Change on the other hand is the fundamental nature of the dynamic universe and that which brought forth life from non-life. No wonder that constancy doesnt exist in the universe. While the Garden of Eden might be a superlative idea of perfection, denying change is denying that very thing that created the universe, for creation itself is a change. Many things that God thought for the Earth, had to come about in some way, and Satan may be the instrument that causes change that God wanted. As Merovingian puts it, everything in the universe happens due to causality. The interplay of Satan and God, could be viewed as cause and effect. What is reassuring, and probably makes us feel safe in this theory, is that though the cause is the mysterious Satan, the effect is always the benevolent God.

The gospel of Judas has been found of late. It may be that a gospel of Satan will also be found sometime in future, and it may be then that mankind will truly understand the wisdom of Satan. This is exactly why I love the ending of the movie "Bedazzled" where God and Devil are playing chess. I guess Satan has the white pieces.

Ramblings of a sentimental fool

2006-06-13T11:05:00.000+05:30

The sight of the tops of fluffy milky white clouds brilliantly illuminated by the soft light of white full moon in the midnight sky easily superseded that wonderful view of Fujiyama (Mt. Fuji) more than three years ago. Flight, an experience always associated with freedom, progress, happiness, and wonder, an expression of beauty and faith interwoven destined to find perfection, a triumph of nature's own ability to prove that She Is the divinity...
Flight.
Ironically, to most Homo sapiens now-a-days, flight has come to symbolise exactly the opposite experience-- flight is something that is best when it ends at the earliest-- It is dangerous, confined, and troublesome. I wondered how many of those who travelled with me knew the importance and the rarity of the sight outside. Yet, if they knew it, what else can they do than savouring it with utmost delight? Can they take it along with them, save etch it in their memories? And I, who claim to know all of this already, have done what to keep this treasure from going away? And can I actually do anything in this matter?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was Vata-SAvithri Purnima-- the day when SAvithri defied the God of Death to bring back her husband's life. Yet, there was the heavy feeling that what I lost cannot be brought back. I wanted to be melancholic, in reverence and memory of that guiding thought that was with me all the while when I was in alien land. A vision kept coming back to me in that flight. That evening, as I came out of the bathroom and stepped into the newly constructed (and posh) extended portion of my home, I turned back and saw little footprints coming out of the bathroom... Ah! those must be from the time when I just came out of the bathroom to declare that I belong to the clan of MitrAyu for the very first time. A little way ahead, the prints got bigger. I smiled... that must be from the time when I packed my school bag with books and clothes and said a tearful goodbye to my brother, determined and proud, to leave home forever because of a minor altercation with my parents-- all for my parents' total entertainment. And afterwards, they got still bigger. That was the time I came out from the bathroom not knowing if its was the last time I would ever come out of that room-- I was leaving the home for a long time for the first time in my life. Finally, they vanished into the marble flooring of the new portion.

I always loved that ShAhbAd flooring in my house. Still do. There were times when I wished for smoother, more modern tiles, but ultimately, this flooring was that one thing that made the home what it was, and is. Those little imperfections, those magnificent colours, and those irregular shapes of trees, aeroplanes, stones atop each stone imparted unrivalled uniqueness. Each stone I stood upon produced a different sensation. Each one had his/her voices, memories, emotions. Each one remembered and revelled in a particular moment of my life. I still remember how I used to never go in a straight line while passing through the hall, but used to mimic the movements of the knight on a chessboard. How I was, and still am, fascinated by the enchanting movements of the knight.

Even when I was abroad, the one thing that warmed the cold chambers of my heart was my home-- the walls, the floor, the scent of the old silk clothes that are taken out only during the MAhAlakshmi festival, the chants of my father, the songs of my mother, and so on. I always wanted to succeed my father one day and take up my responsibilities of offering the main puja to the Saligrams on that ShAhbAd flooring, always wanted to roam about the backyard looking after the plants and trees, always wanted to, one more time, stand under the umbrella of a plantain leaf and offer Arghya to the Sun on a rainy morn. It was that one idea that kept me alive, going about mundanities without minding. It was my Zion.

And now, under the garb of "utkarsh" (progress), all those little blossoms have been rolled over by the heavy machinery of the cold logic and obstinately objective rationalism.

The backyard is gone.
So have the plants.
The flooring is about to go this week.

Irony! At one point of time, I was not sure of myself coming back to see all these. Now, I am not sure if these will ever see me again. Nay, I am sure they wont. Hiding my tears, I asked my parents to keep one stone and sell the rest... one that I found as the quintessential representative of that whole bunch.

Where is this flight of progress taking me to? Which reality of life am I going to unearth at that height?

DIVINITY IN INNOCENCE

2006-06-09T11:05:00.000+05:30

Today, without thinking, Ashvin started running. Just about two hours ago, he was asleep with a serene countenance, clutching his grandmother. When she had got up early in the morning, slowly had he turned to the other side, resting his leg on the bump on the edge of the bed. A pillow was kept under the bedding to prevent him from falling off the bed while asleep.

Today, he realised how much he loved his people. He always knew his father as the wittiest and the calmest person on the earth, but his mother was always wonderfully special to him. Every single spare moment of his mornings was spent relishing the divinity in his mother. Yet, he never thought about it—he was just preoccupied looking at her in the mornings. Sometimes, when she sits down for puja in the morning, he instinctively goes to her and starts to braid her long thick hair. He loves her hair—by the time she is done with her puja, he is done braiding her hair with his tender hands. And ever single time she dresses up in his favorite violet, starched cotton sari and puts a small string of kanakambaram[1] flowers laced with maruvam[2] twigs amidst her braided hair, the vision has something new to offer.

Today, he didn’t care that he was still in his shorts, that his vest was torn, or that he forgot his footwear. He kept running. He still remembered how his mother kissed him goodbye before she left for her work. Yet, something was not right. Something that was supposed to be done was not done.

Today, he ran faster than ever before to catch up with his mother before she goes out of reach. He did not know if what he was doing was necessary at all, yet, he would not abandon his mission. When Varun, his younger brother got up, he could not find his mother home. A heavy gloom of separation descended over him —mother had left him without wishing him goodbye. He was still asleep when she left. She had a long way to go. Yet, Varun does not know all these intricacies of life. Tears welled up in his eyes. For his age, he was a charming character. He behaved with such maturity and patience that the elders were often baffled. He always checked if everyone had the pudding before asking for a second serving, never complained about his debilitating asthma problem, and still was ever cheerful. Yet, his fiery anger and disarming grief were difficult to assuage once aroused.

Today, though, it was not his brother’s anger that concerned Ashvin. It was melancholy that moved him. He could never stare at a tear in an eye without offering an answering tear of his own. But he simply could not stand tears in his brother’s eyes. Once, Varun had come home from school crying. He learnt that his teacher had hit him in school. An instant spasm of pain surged throughout his body, and made it quiver for a moment. He clenched his fists in helplessness.

Today, the moment he learnt what happened, Ashvin knew what to do. He darted out of his home, and on to the road. He always fancied himself one of the fastest runners among his peers. Stones and thorns pricked his soles, yet he went on. He saw his mother walking ahead. He ran faster and caught up with her. Surprised, she first checked her watch. She has a habit of forgetting her watch while leaving for work. No, the watch was on her hand. It is something else. He told her about Varun. She smiled. She put her hand under his chin, and asked him to pass on her characteristic “tata” to her younger son.

Today, as he was returning home, Ashvin had a sensation of triumph and a fragrance of satisfaction about him. As he entered the street where his home lay, he saw his brother waiting for him, sitting on the steps with his face cupped in his palms. As soon as Varun saw him, he rushed towards his elder brother.

Today, Ashvin is a kid of eight and Varun, a kid of six. Yet their mother was proud that in this world where street-smart children are looked at with awe, at least her children have the godly gift of innocence, but she wondered how long this halo would remain around them.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
1Kanakambaram—Firecracker flower (Crossandra infundibuliformis)
2Maruvam—The Sweet Majoram (Majorana hortensis)

Aha!

2006-05-31T17:11:00.000+05:30

Need I say anything? Of course, a couple of bus conductors did freak out after seeing the state of it...

And yes, thats how I look these days...