Tuesday, June 26, 2012

India under siege-V

There is a perception among the English-educated Hindus of India that all religions have the same goal.It has become such a fashionable to say that the Geetha,quran and the bible preach the same thing.The contention  is that though there might be some difference in the rituals being performed,the concept of these religions is one and the same.

If this were to be the case,the difference between people of different religions would be purely cultural.But is that the case?I really dont think so.Religious fanaticism has taken away so many lives in this world of ours than any thing else.There is definitely some amount of truth in the argument of atheists that the world would be much more peaceful if there was no religion at all.

Religion itself is needed only to raise the level of human beings from being just animals.So,if a man embraces a religion,it must help one become a better person.The purpose of religion itself is defeated if a man becomes a savage after he embraces a religion.This is especially the case because,man having his 6th sense, is capable of causing the maximum destruction to the world than any other animal.

If ethical values constitute the goal of a religion,then certainly there's some agreement among all religions,the ethical values being universal.But should a man be religious to be ethical??

Ethical principles are ingrained in men.How does religion come into this?I wont beat you up,because I know it pains a lot if you were to beat me up.I will try to be truthful because I know its unethical to lie.The world itself is based on the premise that people speak the truth normally.There are thousands of atheists who are ethical to the highest degree.

Religion itself is relevant only to people who believe in the concept of God,or those who want to believe,that is.Each religion has its own theology which guides people how to reach its goal.The problem starts when a particular religion starts claiming exclusivity.

One man comes and says,"This is the only way to reach God.Follow me"

Then another man comes and tell me "Do not go after him,he cannot take you to heaven,you better follow me,I will take you to heaven;I am the latest."

Suddenly a nun appears and says,"I am going to save you."

The nun is rather good looking,so I eagerly ask her,"Thank you mam.May i know from what  you are going to save me?Will you clear my debts?That will be nice.Will you save me from a disease?I would be grateful if you were to do so.What do you want to save me from?"

She smiles a soft,sympathetic smile and says"From your sin dear."

The word dear encourages me to ask "What sin mam?"

She again smiles and says,"You original sin".

I am a bit puzzled and ask her"Original sin???"

She explains calmly,"You have got parents.That is what is meant by the original sin.You need to be saved from that sin".

I get to know from her that some one died for me.She feels that he died for my sake about 2000 years ago.
By now I've over come  the aura of her beauty and am fully back to my senses.

So I find myself asking,"Mam,did he ask my permission before dying for me? I was not even there when he died.So how can you say,he died for me?I am not responsible for it".

She mutters some thing which seems like "eternal damnation" and goes away looking for another school boy. Hmmm...If only she had spoken about some thing else....Nalla dhaan irundichu.....What to do?

I would like to know where there is "unity" in all this.Still,so many Hindus keep repeating,"All religions have the same goal.Aaaaal are one and the same".

After I finished  my schooling , I went on a vacation to Darjeeling with my family.Darjeeling is a beautiful hill station located in West Bengal,near the Nepal border.It is full of Buddhist monastries.There is a belief among the Buddhists that if one were to ratate a particular cylindrical disc,all our prayers will be granted.I was surprised to see my mother suddenly rotating one of those huge discs.

I asked her,"Amma,why are you rotating these discs?"

She replied,"You should get good marks in your exams.Come,you also rotate..."
It was really touching to see as to what extent mothers will go for the sake of their children's welfare.
But common sense made me ask,"Have you forgotten that we are the disciples of Adi Shankara?"
She distractedly replied,"Adi Shankara and Buddha preached  the same thing ".
I had to storm out of the monastry.

Adi Shankara had to introduce the concept of institutionalism into Hinduism only to counter the surge of Buddhism in India.Before the advent of Adi Shankara,there was no such thing as a mutt.Religion was between the Almighty and the Hindu. Adi Shankara had to take this step only to clear the dilemma in the minds of the masses.If it were not for him,there would be no Hinduism today.

Of course,I do acknowledge my mother's right to freedom of religion.I took exception only to her reasoning that both Hinduism and Buddhism were the same.She has a masters degree in computer science and works as a teacher in one of the reputed schools in the country.She is also a pundit in Sanskrit.If such an eminent person can be fooled into believing such nonsense,I can well imagine the mind of the common masses.

The philosophy of Adi Shankara is that the material universe of forms and things is grounded in Brahman(God),but its formation therefrom cannot be described or formulated.It functions on the basis of the law of karma,that is of cause and effect;but its ultimate cause is Brahman which has created the material world and started the process of change that we see occurring in the world.All creation,however is Maya,or the power of illusion.Within the realm of maya,the universe exists and can be concieved as a creation of brahman,who is some times concieved as a personal God.However,from the standpoint of ultimate reality,even a personal deity is a product of maya.The world,as created by Brahman is an illusory superimposition of phenomenon on the basic reality-like a rope which is mistaken for a snake.

Buddhism,on the other hand doesn't even approve of the concept of God.Buddhism talks of nirvana as a state of "nothingness" or "Shunyatha". Buddhism believes in "putting off the light" i.e freedom from bondage.But that doesn't mean entering into a state of bliss.It means entering into a state of complete darkness.Also Buddhism teaches the soul is subject to destruction every second.A new soul appears the next second,replacing the earlier one,thus giving us the illusion of continuity of life.

This view is diametrically opposite to the philosophy of Adi Shankara,who talks again and again about the immortality of the soul.

I leave it to the wisdom of the reader to judge for himself whether there is anything common between the two philosophies.

The reason for such a belief is that Hindus have no identity for themselves.Such has been the impact of foreign invasions and foreign concepts.

I once heard a Hindu business man commenting,
"Love=profit.
Hatred=loss.
This is what the geetha,quran and the bible say.

While I cannot comment on what the foreign religions say,I can say with a fair degree of certainty that no such thing is found in the Bhaghavadh Geetha.
This is what lord krishna says in the Bhaghavadh Geetha:

"Sukha dukhe samae krithva
laba labao jaya jayao".

"View happiness and sadness,profit and loss,victory and defeat as one and the same!!!!"

Everyone is entitled to have their opinion.What i don't understand is why they drag religion into all this.These days so many people with no religious background have started penning books on spirituality.Let them do so.But let us stop mouthing big words like"All religions are one and the same".

I know so many of the so called saints do it for money,but we have only ourselves to blame if we fall a prey to their devilish designs.

Oh God,save me from these saviours.....

(To be continued)








Sunday, June 17, 2012

India under siege-IV

The oxford English dictionary defines economics as,"the science of the production and use of goods and services".There are various ways of looking at economics.The Marxist view of economics and the Anglo Saxon view of economics are two popular ways of looking at economics.India,after 1947,has experimented with both the socialist model and the Anglo Saxon model. 


The interesting thing to be noted is that the economics practiced by the Indian has never changed over the millennia,though the Indian state has experimented with different economic models,after Independence.Any economist will tell you that the difference between the traditional Indian economic model and the Anglo Saxon model is that the indian model is based on saving,while the Anglo Saxon model is based on spending.It was this mindset that led india to prosperity.India was such a rich country that every nation,all over the world was jealous of her wealth and prosperity.India was self sufficient and her children were contended and peaceful.


After India adopted the Macaulay system of education,there was a deliberate attempt to impose the Anglo Saxon model on the Indians.And the Britishers seem to have succeded,to a great extent as far as the Indian state is concerned, though a majority of the Indians continue to  follow to the traditional model of economics,based on savings.


But,slowly one can sense that even the Indian on the street has started to lean towards the Anglo Saxon model.The reason which is often attributed to this change in mindset is globalization.The concept of globalization assumes that it is in the best interests of nations,all over the world,to eat the same food,wear the same dress,speak the same language and so on.Globalization assumes that homogenizing societies is the key to development of the nations.


Any nation has its own people,languages,culture etc.These are influenced by geographic locations,way of thinking etc.It is natural to expect that each nation knows what is good and what is bad for it.It is only when some external power starts dictating that confusion sets in.This is more so when the mind itself is held hostage by the external power.


For the last two decades or so,India has adopted the policy of liberalization,paving the way for globalization.The popular perception in India is that India has boomed because of globalization.Unfortunately,figures and statistics seem to suggest otherwise.


Before 1986,30 percent of India lived below the poverty line.Today,more than 70 percent of India's population lives below the poverty line.How does it matter to the man on the street,whether India's image as a global destination has grown or not,or at what rate Infosys is growing?All that matters to him is whether he and his children have food for the next day.Has globalization helped him feed his children?


The reader will probably be tempted to argue that globalization has worked wonderfully in developed countries like America.While there is no denying the fact that America has indeed benefited from globalization,few are aware that it is at the cost of other nations.


From being one of  the world's largest investors in the 1980s,the U.S,today is the world's largest borrower.America,owes $7 trillion dollars to the world,and it is borrowing at the rate of $2 billion a day.Who gives America the money??


Out of the $1.5 trillion risk loans, the EU Central Bank issued a cheque for $512 billion in December 2007. The EU money was lent in the US, not in the EU. Today, America has become a burden on the world.Without going too technical,let us try to understand the meaning of the term sub-prime loan.


Sub means lower in importance and prime means main.A sub-prime loan is a loan which is given to an unworthy borrower.In other words,the loan is given to a borrower who is highly unlikely to repay the loan.It is one of the most fasionable concepts in America.Loans are given indiscriminately.The question arises,are Americans foolish enough to give loans just like that?


The answer is NO. In fact,the Americans are the most brainy people on Earth.This is because,the sub-prime loan being given is not from America's money.It is the world's money.It is the rest of the world which has made a fool of itself.Americans must go to malls,freak out in pubs and go berserk in parties at the cost of the money lent by the rest of the world. It is the world that keeps America going.Not the other way round,as is being believed.America has become the burden of the world,and the rest of the world must bear the burden.As long as the world keeps pumping money,Americans continue to spend extravagantly.This is precisely the reason why no Indian wants to return back to India,after living in America for about 5-6 years.The hardworking people in India will save their money in Indian banks,which will in turn lend it to American banks through the World Bank route,and the Indian American will continue to lead an extravagant lifestyle.So many Americans consider it foolish to save their money these days.The reason is obvious.


The tragi-comedy is that,Indians who are under the impression that everything that is 
good for the West is good for India as well,has started to emulate America in this 
aspect as well.You see malls coming up everywhere,and teenagers flocking them with 
their friends.Of course,such a mindset has just started to set in.But,its scary to think 
what will happen if this mindset continues to grow among Indians.Unlike America,no 
body is going to pitch in for us if we become spend-thrifts.




My friends often ask me as to why i avoid going to malls.Try telling them all this and 
they might even consider "unfriending" me forever.But,these are the facts.I really 
hope that the reader is able to understand what will happen if this trend continues.

Curiously enough,the idea of shopping in malls reached much popularity in America 
only after the 9/11 attacks.


Recession on one side and terrorism on the other brought down the American economy to its knees. The American Industry experts thought unless the Americans started spending again there was no way to revive the economy . Out of desperation, to make the people spend they came up with an outlandish Idea called “SHOP FOR AMERICA”.


The former President, Mr Bill Clinton asked his countrymen “to get out and shop”. September 30 was celebrated as “SHOP FOR AMERICA DAY”. General motors started their campaign “to keep America rolling” by introducing 0% financial offer. The result was all automakers cleared their un-sold stocks. It was preached that what is good for General motors is good for America. Time Europe Magazine in its Jan 28,2008 issue says ”since September 11,2001 consumerism has been cast as new patriotism”.Shopping was preached as the national duty of every American citizen!!



The consumerism, which was preached as a solution for recession gave birth to Sub-prime mortgage lending on houses. How come the rise in value of houses promotes spending? As the price of their house,rose, people went to the bank, got loans against the increased price of their house as an additional equity and spent them in malls and other extravagant activities. 
For example a house which was priced at Rs 50 Lakhs pre recession rose to Rs 1 crore because of additional demand. The House owner took a loan on this increased value of Rs 50 Lakhs and complted his national duty of shopping.



The money lent on sub-prime basis was not American money. The mortgaged loans of the US banks belong to banks in the Middle East, in Korea, in Taiwan or even in India.It was a US crisis at global cost. That is why it affected the world. 
Globalisation helped America to make the local loans, global loans.This is why,recession,which ought to have been America's problem,became a "global" problem.Recession is America's gift to the world.



Let us understand this in an easier manner.You give me loan.I use the money to buy things from you.I never repay the loan.Thus,you get fooled twice.America imports products from other countries using its sub-prime loans.This is what America is doing to the world,and the world knows it.

It is this life model,which our economists are trying to enforce upon us.Isn't it obvious that such a policy will turn detrimental in the long run??

It is foolish to think of economics just in terms of money.There is a moral,social and cultural aspect to economics as well.Take a look at the society in India and compare the figures for public expenditure for private purposes, which is called the social security system in the West. 30% of the GDP in America is spent for social security, 48% in England, 49% in France, 56% in Germany and 67% in Sweden. This private expenditure is nothing but what you and I do by taking care of parents, our wives and children, brothers and sisters and grandparents, widowed sisters and distant relatives. This expenditure is met by the society in India.

Now,this is where the Anglo Saxon model fails.It looks as economics just in terms of money.The Anglo Saxon model looks at individuals separately.The Indian model looks at the society at large.This is because of the strong family system prevailing in India.It is this family system which keeps the Indian economy stable.

These days,we find so many Indian intellectuals arguing that family based lifestyle is not a must.The Supreme Court itself has given legal sanction to live-in relationships and pre-marital sex.But such opinions are meaningless as long as the aam aadmi continues to uphold the age old traditions and customs of his ancestors.

"Asia is long-lived, Europe brief, ephemeral. Asia is in everything hugely mapped, immense and grandiose in its motions, and its life-periods are measured accordingly. Europe lives by centuries, Asia by millenniums. Europe is parceled out in nations, Asia in civilizations... Everything in Europe is small, rapid and short-lived; she has not the secret of immortality."


These are the immortal words of Shri Aurabindho. He goes on to predict that India shall rise on the ruins of the West.

But that is possible only if a time comes when the Indian mind will shake off the darkness which has engulfed it,and cease to hold opinions at second or third thought,and that is when India shall rise again,to ascend the throne and assert her rightful place among the comity of nations.

I hope that by the grace of God,we shall be able to break the shackles that we have imposed on ourselves.

"Where the mind is without fear
and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free.....
Into that heaven of freedom,my father
Let my country awake"
- Rabindranath Tagore


Let us all pray God that Tagore's prayers come true one day.


(To be continued)





Sunday, June 10, 2012

India under siege-III

The date was 1st June,2012.I was to appear for my professional ethics examination on 2nd June,2012.The exam was to be conducted in the afternoon,from 2pm-5pm.I had to read 5 units by then.The first unit  was "Scope and Aim of Engineering Ethics".I was sitting at home with a book written by Mike W.martin and Ronald Schinzinger.Both of them were scholars who lived in America.One of the important topics to be covered in the first unit was about the two theories on moral autonomy.One was proposed by Kohlberg,the other was proposed by  Gilligan,who were again Americans.The book itself was meant for Americans,as was evident from the language used by the authors.(It repeatedly kept referring to America as "our country".)Where was I? Choolaimedu,Chennai,millions of miles away from America.Still,I was reading a book meant for Americans,in order to prepare for an engineering examination to be conducted in Chennai by Anna University,an "autonomous institution".
This really made me think.What is the reason for this?One obvious reason was globalization,which presupposes that it is in the best interests of nations,the world over,to follow the same policies,eat the same food,wear the same dresses and learn the same subjects in the same way(read as,Western way).the other reason that came to my mind was lord Mcaulay's speech in the british Parliament on 2nd February,1875.That one speech that was to impact the lives of millions of Indians for eternity.
The most significant extract of that speech is quoted below:


 “I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a begger, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre, that I do not think we would ever counquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self esteem, their native culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation. ”

I cannot,at present think of any person with such forthright and devilish planning as Lord Macaulay.The result is for everyone to see.Lord Macaulay lived in India only for four years,from 1834-1838,but he was destined to change the lives of millions of Indians forever.The main difference between the Britishers and the earlier Muslim invaders was that the Britishers succeeded in making us look down upon ourselves.Indians held the Muslims in fear but the Britishers were worshiped. 


Once the mind is mortgaged,there's little the body can do.When an entire nation is tricked into believing that Britishers alone,who came to plunder the wealth,  could develop the nation,there is no thing that can be done to make people have any respect for their motherland,natural resources or culture.


Thus,another dark chapter in India's painful and turbulent history was being written....Not by her children,but the haughty and disrespectful children of a bitch.


Macaulay wrote a note,sitting in Ooty,“We require an education system in India which will produce a class of interpreters, who will be Indian in colour and Englishmen in taste, opinions and morals.”


On March 7, 1835, the Governor General William Bentinck agreed with Macaulay's Minute and wrote, "the great object of the British Government ought to be the promotion of European literature and science among the natives of India," thus promoting and establishing a permanent position for the use of English language in Indian educational institutions. 


Trevelyan writes, "two of the Orientalists retired from the Committee of Public Instruction; several new members, both English and native, were appointed; and Macaulay entered upon the functions of President with an energy and assiduity which in his case was an infallible proof that his work was to his mind"


Take any English book on Indian history and after reading it you will surely get the impression that India was such a good for nothing before the Britishers came to India.Such an impression is being created and the very same books are used as the reference for drafting the syllabus of  books to be read by school children.As you read this,millions of young minds are being poisoned into believing that India was a nation of superstition,castes and inequalities before the British cleansed the system.Of course,there is no denying the fact that India did face such problems.

But,didn't other nations face similar problems?

When you think of America,does Obama strike your maid or is it Apartheid?

When you think of India,does caste strike your mind or is it the Ashoka pillar at Sarnath?

Let us consider an example to understand our history book-The Indus valley Civilization
While reading about the Indus Valley Civilization,the only person given prominence is Mortimer Wheeler,who famously declared,"Indra stands accused".It was his contention that it was the Aryan invasion that brought down the fall of the Indus Valley Civilization.It hardly matters if people lived after him,like S.R.Rao, D.P.Agarwal, B.B.Lal, Ambedkar, Swami Vivekananda, Arabindho etc have disproved this. 

Wheeler,a Britisher,has said it,and his word is law.I can understand if both sides of the story are presented to the student and the final inference is left to the student.Such myths are propagated as though they are matters of fact.

As far as the Aryan invasion theory is concerned,it was first propagated by Max Muller.Later,Muller himself realized his folly and wrote

"I have declared again and again that if i say Aryas,I mean neither blood nor bones,nor hair,nor skull;I simply mean those who speak an Aryan language".

What does the 6th standard student study?

Max Muller's initial theory.For,surely,its impossible that Indians would've prospered without the help of the white-skinned Europeans.The more a historian speaks lowly of India,the more acclaim he gets.No wonder,then that Ramachandra Guha is proclaimed as India'a No 1 historian while S.R.Rao,who conducted extensive research in the Indus Valley sites,is forced to watch from the sidelines for the simple reason that he refuses to but the Europeans' theory.

As a matter of fact,it is now held by many historians the world over that Ancient Hindu civilization was spread over two river-the Indus and the Saraswathy,which dried up later.Will you find this in an NCERT text book?

NO!

The only way you can know this is by reading Michael Danino's "The invasion that never was",unless you are a history geek,that is.

As Prof.Viswanathan said:

"While other countries are uncertain about their future,India seems to be uncertain about even its past".

Shoudn't we be proud of our glorious past?Do we deserve this treatment inspite of being the cradle of civilization?I really wish people introspect on these questions.

The less i write about the English media's reporting on India,the better.

As the investigative journalist S.Gurumurthy lamented,

"Go to any country and the same negative stereotype is echoed that India is suffering from poverty and malnutrition. India has no drinking water. Indian women are burnt. If they are married, they are burnt, if they are widows, they are burnt. See the image that has been built about this country. Who did this? The English educated Indian".

Education must help people put things in the right perspective.Not help them in repeating old dogmas and strengthening stereo types.

Christian missionaries during the freedom movement created the impression that Indians are filthy, rotten, dirty and unhealthy, advertising abroad these are the people who need to be saved. We have to Christianise them, enlighten them, and give us money. I can understand that because it is their business. But what did we do after 1947?


We repeated the same mistakes. We projected India as a country of unending problems.The media still does it.


Every country has problems. Only in India, problems become identities. How many dowry deaths take place in India in a year? Yet, India is projected as a country burning its own daughter-in-laws. And we also talk about it. Every  newspaper will be writing about it. We believe in self-deprecation. And this goes on in the guise of intellectualism in India.

A new "study" says that Indian widows are sexually unsatisfied and they are becoming lesbians.What filthy lies!

What sort of image are we trying to project about India?I can understand if the foreign media,powered by Christian missionaries does this.But, is done by Indian media in such an overzealous manner.

 In the year 1978, an interesting incident occurred in Manhattan. There was a power failure for six hours. Manhattan is in the heart of New York where you find the UN building, the World Trade Centre and the head quarters of many multi-national companies. One third of the world’s health is concentrated in Manhattan. Within six hours, hundreds of people were killed, robbed and assaulted. We don’t need electricity to behave in a civilised manner. How many intellectuals in India have ever articulated from such a sympathetic approach? We have only tarnished the image of this country. We must be ashamed of this.

In so many American homes,the mothers mix the pregnancy-prevention pill in the food without the knowledge of their daughters.

Is this the India we want to shape for the future.I hope not.Going by the rate of westernization and globalization,it appears likely.

Have we really benefited from westernization,globalization as is being perceived?Is globalization the only way out?More on these topics in the subsequent posts.















Thursday, June 7, 2012

India under siege-II

If one were to look into the record books and find out the names of the longest books ever written,he would end up with two books-"1001 nights" and "Mahabharatha".
The 1001 nights is a Russian book while the Mahabharatha is a Sanskrit book written by Vyasa.It is a book which consists of one lakh verses,describing the rise and fall of various Indian empires,the lives of the illustrious and not-so-illustrious princes,warriors,soldiers and ministers of India.It is an epic story with so many twists and turns,so many characters whose lives are interwoven with one other.There are various plots and sub plots which culminate into a single emotional and heart warming ending in the end.An extract from the Mahabharatha is the Bhaghavadh Geetha,considered by the courts to be the holy book of the Hindus.It would not be an exaggeration to say that any study of Indian cultural ethics is incomplete without reading the Mahabharatha.The following is the last verse of the mahabharatha:
"धर्मार्थु कामन नाबयाँ नालोबाथ
धरमंना थ्यजेथ जीविथास्यापी हेथोहो
नित्यो धर्मः सुखा देखे थ्वानिथ्ये
जीवो नित्यो हेठुरास्य थ्वानिथ्यः "
"Dont ever give up your dharma.
Not due to fear,not due to trivial issues.
Dont give up your dharma even if it is for the sake of your life"

Now,a question arises:

What is dharma?

The literal meaning of dharma is natural property.For example,it is the dharma of dogs to bark,of sun flowers to have a yellow colour,of a typist to type and a teacher to teach".
Nature,if left to itself,takes care of itself. It is only when this natural order is breached that a disturbance occurs.Any disturbance has an effect,and that has repercussions on the surrounding depending on the cause and magnitude of the disturbance.
It is under this context that it is worth mentioning lord Krishna's declaration in the Bhagavadh Geetha

"Whenever the society forgets its duties and goes into chaos,
I take birth to uplift DHARMA"

Thus we see that righteousness from the hindu perspective means playing the game as per the rules of nature.It is the dharma of a cow to moo.It is the dharma of donkeys to bray and dogs to bark".

Unless this inherent dharma is violated,there's not  going to be any difficulty in identifying a crow,dog or cow.It is only if suddenly a cow starts barking that one gets confused whether it is a cow or a dog.

The same dharma applies to human beings also.But,man being the roof and crown of creation,has the sixth sense viz. common sense by which he discriminates between good and evil,right and wrong,virtue and vice.

The common sense is a double edged sword that can be used both for constructive and destructive purposes.Only if it is put to the proper use,can the society benefit.Otherwise,it would only lead to chaos and confusion.

Srimadh Bhagavatham,another Hindu scripture says that merely having 2 hands,2 legs and a backbone doesn't guarentee by itself that one is a human being.One can be deemed to be a human being only if he follows his dharma.One is deemed a dog if he shouts unnecessarily at other people,a vulture if he looks down upon others,a worm if he mixes with bad company and so on.

The Hindu puraanas are full of stories of people who stood up for dharma whenever the need arose.
Ramayan,another hindu epic centered an the life of warrior prince Rama says

"रामो विग्रहवान धर्मः
धर्मो विग्रहवान रामः "
"Rama is the embodiment of dharma. Dharma,if it were to be sculpted,the statue would be a carbon copy of Rama"

Another quote from the Mahabharath before we move onto the main theme:
"यथ कृष्णः थथो  धर्मः
यथो धर्मः थथो  जयः "
"Dharma lies where krishna is.
Victory lies where dharma is".

It is this respect for dharma that drove India as a nation towards greater and greater heights before the foreigners arrived with their savagery,sense of cunning and enterprise.Each invading country had a thing or two to learn from the conquests of the other nations.And this is where the Britishers acted with admirable precision and accuracy.

Their aim was not to demolish temples,rename provinces etc,but far more deceitful,far more cunning.They decided to strike at the very core of India's existence-her culture,in other words,her dharma.
This is what Michael Danino writes in his best selling book,"The Invasion that never was":

"Unlike the Portuguese or the earlier muslim invaders,the British were anxious to clothe their greed in lofty ideals:"the white man's burden" of civilizing(and naturally Christianizing) less enlightened races,the "divinely ordained mission" of bringing India to the glory of Europe's commercialization and industrial civilization..........."

It was this deadly plan which was executed with remarkable efficiency by the Britishers that snuffed the life out of the Indian's lungs.India was to die a slow,silent death on her own.The british-educated indians started believing that only imperialism could bring development to India.The home grown techniques,the Indian traditions,heritage,civilization,the result of nearly 4000 years of civilization were discarded with gay abandon. The british alone knew what to do,how to do and where to do.And Indians were to model themselves in the western ways as quickly as possible in order to please their newly arrived masters and for their own development,as the Englishmen wanted the Indians to believe".

And,the result???

The Britishers won,hands down.


Jawaharlal Nehru,the first prime minister of "independent" India was born with a silver spoon.His father Motilal Nehru was an Indian educated by the British system.The British influence on him was so stark that he decided to to become a Britisher in every sense of the term,by mannerism,habit and language.He insisted on the use of knifes and forks for eating and conversed only in English inside the house,inspite of the fact that his wife couldn't understand a word.(Those were the days in which the wife  was considered as a part of the furniture after the first few years of marriage.)

"Like father,like son".

Motilal's son Jawaharlal Nehru,lived up to his father's expectations to an unbelievable extent.He once remarked that he wanted Indians to remember him as the last British prime minister of India.The less said about his character,the better.He was a womanizer to the greatest possible degree.One of the rather nasty jokes is that it was his affair with Mrs.Mountbatten that ensured early independence for India.

If only he had paid heed to these soul stirring words of Swami Vivekananda:

"The debt which the world owes to our motherland is immense.Taking country with country,there is not one race on this earth to which the world owes so much as to the patient Hindu,the mild Hindu.....Here activity prevailed when Greece did not exist,when Rome was not thought of,when the very fathers of the modern Europeans lived in the forest and painted themselves blue.Even earlier,when history has no record,and tradition dares not peer into the gloom of that intense past,even until now,ideas after ideas have marched out from her,but every word has been spoken with a blessing behind it,and peace before it".

It is the dynasty of this great nehru which has ruled India for the greater part of India's so called "independence", Little wonder then,that Indian telecommunications and hrd minister has decided to do away with Devanagari numerals,the basis for the Arabic numerals we use today.

Today,Indian polity,media and education system  are guided by three foreigners who died long time ago viz Max Muller,Karl Marx and Lord Macaulay.

We shall see the contributions of these  powerful man and their impact on the Indian fabric in the next post


P.S:Nostradamus predicts that a sikh called CHYREN ROY will be born in the southern part of India,where the three seas meet(Kanya Kumari) and that he shall rule the world one day.Is he the only hope????
I hope not.  





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Wednesday, June 6, 2012

India under siege-I

We have been taught in school,"Be proud to be an Indian.Be prepared to lay down your life in the service of this great nation.Stand for its sovereignty and integrity.It is your duty to serve your motherland......" The one thing that we have failed to ask is this:
"Why should I be proud to be an Indian?What is special about this land?What is it that differentiates this nation from other nations?"

And,even if you had asked,the reply would probably be"You were born here.This land gives us food,shelter and a respectable life..Being a citizen of India,you have to work for its development and be prepared to defend it".

Is it so simple?Is it just the fact that i was have born and continue to live here?
Such a simplistic explanation places India on par with the other nations of the world.But is that the case?Can we afford to turn a blind eye to our glorious past?
As August 15th approaches,I intend to go on a blogging spree to introspect on these issues.Sometimes I wonder if we are free in the real sense of the term.
As a noted writer put it,"Independence for the nation must translate into freedom for the people".Has it happened in India?I am afraid it has not.We may have finally hoisted a flag of our own on Aug 15th,1947,but is that what is meant by freedom?If Tilak,Tagore,Bharathi or Gokhale been alive today,would they have been happy enough to celebrate independence day on Aug 15th?Is this the independence that our freedom fighters dreamt of?

Let us explore all these questions in as unbiased a manner as possible in this post and the forth coming posts.In a certain cases,it might be necessary to go deep into issues of  history,economics,governance and culture.I hope we will be able to do it to the best possible extent ,notwithstanding my rather shoddy knowledge and lunatic tendencies.

Since India was the home to the world's oldest civilization,it is imperative to look long back into its history.This becomes inevitable as that alone can help us understanding India's past which is the guide to  the future.

Magesthenes,who visited the court of the Mauryas in the 4th century B.C noted,"All Indians are free,and none of them is a slave.....Indians neither invade other people nor do other peoples invade India......They fare happily,because of their simplicity and frugality.....Since they esteem beauty,they practice everything that can beautify their appearance.....Further,they respect alike virtue and truth".


This fascination for India's wealth and culture seems to have sustained down the ages.India was an unknown commodity for most people,and the foreigners were keen on exploiting our passiveness.

In 1068,Andalusi,an Arab writer from Spain wrote:

"The Indians,among all nations,through many centuries and since antiquity,have been the source of wisdom,fairness and moderation.They are creators of sublime thoughts,universal fables,rare inventions and remarkable concepts.

Those were trying time for the Indian people,for their culture,the core of India's identity was put to test.Still India sustained the onslaught and withstood the test of time.
As Bedi ezr Zenen recorded,

"Indians are innumerable,like grains of sand.They fear neither death nor life".

By now,the Hindus would have gone through  one of the many torturous and tumultuous periods in their history.

The qutub minar was built in Delhi after demolishing 17 Hindu and Jain temples.The same material of the temples were used to build Qutub Minar in order to demonstrate the "Might of Islam".The assumption of the Muslim rulers was that the Hindus would cave in seeing their temples being destroyed.Alas,those rulers failed to understand that Hinduism was much beyond temples,idol worship and glorified institutions.They failed to acknowledge that India was made of character,resilience and inner strength to overcome such odds.But,they continued to hope that they would one day get to wipe out Hindus from their homeland if they continued to spread Islam by the sword.Forcible conversions,temple demolitions,giving Arabic names to Indian cities and provinces was enough,or so they thought.

Babur,the first Mughal emperor of India,had conquered both Hindustan and the afghan provinces.It was during this period of Babur that the Babri masjid was built after demolishing the temple at Ramjanmabhoomi.An estimate states that around 1.57 lakh Hindu and jain temples were demolished during Babur's time alone.

Still India managed to maintain her identity and heritage,even through these arduous times.

This is what Abul Fazl,the friend of Emperor Akbar wrote:

"The Hindus are religious,affable,lovers of justice,given to retirement,able in business,admirers of truth,grateful and of unbounded fidelity;and their soldiers know not what it is to fly from the field of battle".

It is because of these accounts of foreign traders and writers,recorded through a gap of about110 centuries that one gets the impression that Indians were never enslaved,though India as a state might have gone into the hands of foreign powers.

What is the reason for this?What really sustained the national life of India.how did the stream of India manage to flow inspite of the innumerable dams built by foreign powers,when other nations had crumbled under the face of similar oppression?

These are of course questions which have complex answers.
Let us try to answer them in the forth coming posts.
Comments and suggestions are always welcome.