Philosophical Perspectives-V

For a long time in my life,I used to believe that the aim of life was enjoyment. I often find people admonishing me for sticking to my principles ,often mouthing big words like,"The very purpose of life is enjoyment".

"To enjoy at all costs,and by all means" seems to be the aim of so many people around me. I think it would be a good time to take a step back and actually analyze if this is indeed the case.

If you tell me the purpose of life is to be happy all the time,it would pre-suppose that life itself is programmed in such a way that you can always enjoy and there is an exponential increase in your enjoyment levels with every passing second. 

But is that the case ?

To the contrary,we find that the zeal to enjoy keeps gradually decreasing with the advent of maturity and wisdom. As years pass by,we start looking around us to see if we can do something for the sake of others,even if means getting ourselves out of our comfort zones. Old men often say that since they ve grown old,it is time for some spiritual activity and that they want some peace and quiet. 

If the very purpose of life is to enjoy,why is it that man and women change their views with the passing age age ?

Leave alone old people. Even youngsters feel calm when they see a calm river,a tranquil village and a cute baby playing with its toys. 

Also if that "Life is for enjoyment" argument were to be true,why is it that life has so many ups and downs ? Why are so many animals and birds dying for no fault of theirs ? Why do so many families rot in poverty and die out of starvation ?

And instead of doing all we can to help such people and animals,what kind of arrogance is it to not to care a thing about the sufferings of so many humans and animals and just go out and "have fun"?

The point is not just that. To so many misguided people of my age group (I turn 23 next week),the meaning of enjoyment seems to be indulgence. Indulgence in alcohol,in dating and in innumerable activities. 

I still remember an incident from my college days. When I was going on an Industrial Visit to a thermal power plant in Ennore,the driver switched on the stereo system and played popular cinema songs. Suddenly a couple of guys got up and started dancing in the bus. They then started asking other people to dance to the music. This involved pulling up people who weren't interested in dancing also. It really made me think.

Now what goes on during such times ?

You surrender your body to the stereo player. When the song changes,you start orienting your body differently. Another change of songs and a completely different orientation of your body,trying to recollect the moves that the actor/actress performed in that particular movie.

In short,you are not in control of yourself. It is understandable if you really feel the music is good and start tapping your feet or hum/sing a few lines from that song. Dance in itself meant to be a natural expression of one's moods. When you are happy,you are bound to jump up in joy. And if it was a special occasion or a festive occasion, communities used to dance to give expression to their happiness and prepare special dishes. 

Now,that is partying for you.

If you are really happy and wish to dance,please do so. I will also join you (though i may not know the steps). But to go out and party just because it is a Friday ??

Seriously,What the hell ? 

Ever since the big bang occurred and man started giving names to days,Fridays have been coming and going. If you are going to get drunk just coz its Friday night,which is a regular occurrence that has always been going on since the start of time,then what about sunrise and sunset ?

Practically speaking ou can do without fridays,without weekends,without even a promotion,but can you ever do without the sun and the moon ? What would happen if the sun stopped rising ? Doesn't it warrant that you celebrate it as well ?

And people actually make fun of me for doing Sandhya Vandhanam(which is mainly worship of the Sun) and suggest i join them in their friday night parties. 

Now I also know that we all work hard during the weekdays and it is natural to look forward to the weekend. But please tell me what logic is it to surrender your body to s loudspeaker and a bottle of wine,when you are already worn out after working hard though out the week ? When the body is worn out it needs rest. Not further exertion. If a man is stung by a poisonous insect,do you take him to the doctor or bring a even more poisonous snake into the room ?

Thus we can easily make it out that indulgence cant be the aim of life. Then what is the aim of life ? 

The aim can only be to seek God and help people who are not so happy in their lives. To neglect such down trodden people and just indulge in merry making is nothing short of arrogance and disrespect. 

(To be continued.....) 

Philosophical Perspectives-IV

Hinduism is indeed a unique religion,as it preaches non violence of the highest kind,but its scriptures speak of the glory of warfare and project warriors are heroes.This is because,one cannot afford to be non-violent at all points of time in one's life.When a warrior takes up arms,he does so not to hurt or injure others but to protect Dharma. One need not take to violence for the sake of one's selfish gains.But if it has to be done for the sake of the overall well-being of the society and the sustenance of Dharma, it is considered to be a warrior's duty to do so. It is a warrior's duty to protect the weak,the poor and the helpless from exploitation.God himself is said to have taken various incarnations to save humanity from the evil designs of powerful brutes.

But,violence should never be resorted to,for the sake of personal gains.

This is wonderfully demonstrated in the Ramayana,wherein Rama submissively retires to the forest in order to fufill the word given by his father Dashrath to Kaikeyi,his step-mother.

These are the words of Rama,

"Immediately, I shall go to live in forest of Dandaka for fourteen years, without reflecting on whether my father's words are right or wrong.There is not indeed anything of greater performance of duty than doing service to father or than doing what he commands.If I have to do whatever action is dearer to my revered father, that action is just done in all respects even by renouncing my life."

The Tamil poet Kamban,quotes Rama as saying,

"En pinnavan petra selvam adiyanein petra dhandro??"

("What is the difference between bharatha ruling the kingdom and me ruling the kingdom.His wealth is my wealth".)

Rama even argues that while Bharatha is going to rule over the people of Ayodhya,he is going to rule over the animals of the forest and live happily.

 Rama accepts everything passively in order to fulfill the words of his father.

But when his wife,Seetha is abducted by the demon Ravana,he threatens to destroy the entire world,if he is not able to recover Sita.
("Nasayaami jagat sarvam")

This is because,inspite of her faultlessness,Sita has been unfairly abducted by a demon.The very same Rama who passively accepted to retire to the forest threatens to destroy the enitre world by the might of the arrows for the sake of his wife.

The sage Valmiki describes Rama by  these words,

"His anger is like that of forest fire. His patience is like that of the Earth".

Hinduism preaches forbearance only when it is something concerned with his own welfare and not the welfare of his near and dear one's.Even that forbearance is recommended only when a greater virtue is at stake.In Rama's case,it was Truth.He endured the pains of the forest in order to fulfill the words of his father and for nothing else.

The poet Subrahmanya Bharathiyar proclaimed
"Thani oruvanukku unavillai yenil ijjagathinai azhithiduvein"

"If there is not sufficient food for a single person on this Earth,I'll destroy the entire universe".

That was because he could not tolerate the sight of rich people feasting and poor people dying out of starvation. Even in the Mahabharatha,Krishna asks Arjuna to fight for Dharma and not for land.The dharma of a warrior is to fight against adharma and so he must fight.

It is noteworthy that Buddha renounced the kingdom and preached non-violence while the King Ashoka did it even while being the ruler of the land.He was fortunate that he did not have powerful kings during his time,otherwise he would have known how foolish it is for a king to preach non-vioelnce.

As Chanakya says,
"War is to make way for peace and peace is to prepare for war".

This has been the eternal dharma of Hindus-to fight for the protection of their dharma,by even sacrificing their lives.

As Vyasa says in the Mahabharatha,
"Dharmam na thyajeth jeevithasyaapi hetho ho"

"Dont give up your Dharma even for the sake of your lives".

As Hindus,it is our duty to practise and protect our Dharma as it Dharma is essential for the sustenance of life on Earth.And this Dharma includes destroying the preachers of adharma as well.

P.S:This post is a bit sketchy,as am blogging after a long time.My apologies for the same.Hopefully,I will be able to update frequently from here on.Thank you ! Keep visiting ! :)

(To be continued..........)

Philosophical perspectives-III

Differential Calculus is a branch of mathematics which is concerned with the study of the rates at which quantities change.Often,it is very useful to calculate the rate of change of quantities with respect to time. Differential calculus finds applications in commerce,topology,physics etc.This field of mathematics finds so many real time applications due to the simple fact that things always keep changing in this world with respect to a reference.And when time is taken as a reference, there’s nothing which remains static.

Curiously,the entire edifice of philosophy is also built on this simple observation that everything keeps changing in this world of ours.As all objects around us are subject to changes,if one were to base one's happiness on such external objects which are subject to changes with respect to time and position,obviously there can be no guarantee regarding the happiness we might derive from those objects. As the objects are by their very nature are subject to changes and limited by external factors, the pleasures derived from them are also temporary.

This is why the Hindu scriptures ask us to stay true to our dharma,rather than going after pleasure.Since pleasure is always temporal and fleeting,the scriptures advocate an approach which is centered on dharma rather than pleasure. Dharma,as pointed out in India under siege-III, refers to a beings' natural tendency.Just as all animals have a natural tendency to stay true to their nature,human beings also have a natural human tendency,which differentiates them from other animals.Since human beings have been endowed with the 6th sense,they've to differentiate between right and wrong.Unless they use this discriminating faculty,there is no difference between humans and other animals.

Dharma of human beings is to work for other humans and all living beings in general.This approach is advocated because,even if our actions donot lead to expected results,one can at least rest take consolation from the fact that one's intentions were good and others would have gained benefit from our actions.

"Paropakaarartham idham shareeram".

"This body is for the purpose of doing service to others".

The order of the world itself is so complex that it is very difficult to define what is good and what is bad.One man's food is another man's poison.A victory for a patient in the event of a disease means death for bacteria and viruses.With this being the case,it is very difficult to even define what is good and what is bad.The only solution is to aim for the maximum good to the maximum number of people and always strive to maintain order and discipline in the society. If one were to do one's actions based on the objective of achieving the greater good, irrespective of the results obtained, one can rest in peace.

"Remember, if a time may come when we have to choose between what is right and what is easy".
These are words which Professor Dumbledore addresses to the gathering in the Great Hall in the Harry Potter series.

It is animal nature to go for what is easy,but dharma to go in for what is right.The Ramayana is a story,based on the life of the illustrious warrior prince Rama.In the Ramayana,Rama relinquishes the throne to fulfil the word given by his father (Dasharath) to Kaikeyi,Dasharath’s wife.He is exiled to the forest for 14 years. As he goes to the forest, the citizens of Ayodhya plead with him to stay back.

Rama’s brother Lakshmana also accompanies him to the forest.Lakshmana’s mother Sumitra says these words to Lakshmana,
“Lakshmana,it is your duty to guard and serve Rama.Always stand in vigilant watch by Rama’s side in the forest.Your elder brother is to you both preceptor and king.This is the dharma of our race.”

Sumitra knows very well that her son will face difficulties in the forest.There is no rational reason for Lakshmana going to the forest,as he is not bound by Kaikeyi’s boon. Still he goes to the forest along with his brother,the illustrious Rama.This is dharma,unique to the land of India.

Sumitra continues,”Go with my blessing Lakshmana.In the forest look upon Rama as your father and Sita (Rama’s wife) as myself and the forest will be to you as Ayodhya.”

In the forest,Bharatha also comes and pleads with Rama to accept the throne.The sages of the court also try to persuade Rama to rule Ayodhya,as Dashrath has passed away due to grief in Rama’s absence.

Once again,Rama refuses to do so, telling them that truth and dharma are to be upheld at all costs.He points out that ruling a land itself is for the protection and propagation of dharma and not for enjoying pleasures.He even argues that just as Bharatha is going to rule the city of Ayodhya,he is going to rule the forest,with the animals and birds as his subjects.This balanced outlook on life and the regard for truth and justice is what differentiates the great from the ordinary.

This has been the character of Indians,through the ages………….
The celebrated historian Max Muller,noted in the year 1882,
“It is surely extremely strange that whenever,either in Greek,or in Chinese,or in Persian,or in Arab writings,we meet with any attempts at describing the distinguishing features in the national character of the Indians, regard for truth and justice should always be regarded first.”

Rama is said to have ruled Ayodhya for 11,000 years.But it is the 14 years of exile which forms the Ramayana. Fourteen years of unbearable sorrow and suffering ,in which he stood for truth and justice.

At one juncture, Rama actually asks the Sita to consider the river Mandakni as her friend and asks her not to feel lonely in the forest.In the very same Ramayana,the sage Vishwamithra considers the sky to be his father and the land to be his mother.He considers a river running nearby to be his sister and names her Kousiki. While the reader may be tempted to laugh at this at first,the point to be noted is how broad minded the ancients were regarding nature and its inhabitants.

Bhartrihari ends Vairagya Satakam with these words,

“Oh Earth,my mother…. Oh Wind , my father,Oh fire,my friend,Oh water,my good relative,Oh Sky,my brother !here is my last salutation to you with clasped hands!Having cast away infatuation,with its powerful power,by means of an amplitude of pure knowledge resplendent with merits developed through my association with you all, I now merge in the Supreme Brahman.”

This is how the ancient Orients viewed nature.It is the West that viewed nature as some thing to be exploited to achieve one’s own materialistic ends.And it doesn’t stop with nature. It extends to human beings of other races as well!!Again,a little introspection will show that one cannot be happy always and life is full of ups and downs, irrespective of how much ever rich one may be.

The Hindu scriptures donot preach poverty.Rather,they preach equanimity of the mind.Rama,was probably enjoying all the comforts of the kingdom with all happiness,before suddenly he was banished to the forest.Still,he was able to see the fleeting nature of life and accepted hardships as they came in his way,for the sake of fulfilling his father’s word.

So, is hindu philosophy all about being passive and accepting things,as they come?Is it wrong to resist hardship and yearn for happiness?What happens when treachery is being committed against us?

Let us try to answer these questions,in the forth coming posts……………. 

(To be continued...............)

Philospophical perspectives-II

I wrote in Philosophical perspectives-I as to why Hinduism asks its practioners not to fritter away their lives by going after temporal pleasures.This has been the foundation on which Hinduism has been built.There might be a thousand branches today,but the tree remains the same.Another important thing to be noted is that practicing such an attitude of non-attachment helps us in coming to terms with the vagaries of life.

This is what is known as vairagyam in Sanskrit.Literally put, Vairagya is the "drying up of passions".This "drying up of passions" always happens in our lives.What is the object of pleasure today becomes the object of pain tomorrow.Every thing in Earth has only a relative value,depending on time,place and situation.The AC might give pleasure during the summer season,but during winter the same AC is not required.

Thus,we see that happiness does not lie in external objects.Happiness is a state of the mind.The minds projects certain things as the sources of happiness and sadness.If one were to tune the mind to remain calm and composed and take things in his stride as they come along,it helps a lot in dealing with everyday struggles.A solution can be found only when the mind is calm and composed.Thus we see that non-attachment helps us even in our mundane levels of existence.In the Ramayana,during the battle between Rama and Ravana,Indrajit binds Lakshmana with the naagastra. 

Rama is unable to bear the sight of Lakshmana in that state and he thinks Lakshmana is no more.Then he exclaims,"Of what use to me is the recovery of Seetha or even life itself, since my brother now lying, before my eyes, has been struck down in thh fight?It can be possible, if I were to look for her, to find a consort equal to Seetha in this world of mortals but not a brother, a friend and a comrade in a hostile war, such as Lakshmana!If Lakshmana returned to the five elements, he the increaser of Sumitra's joy, I will yield up my life-breaths while the monkeys stand looking on.What shall I say to my mother, Kausalya or to Kaikeyi? How can I talk to my mother Sumitra, sighing for the sight of her son?Woe unto me to my wicked deed and to my lack of nobility. Through my fault, Lakshmana has fallen and lies indeed on a bed of arrows as on who has yielded up his life!I shall follow him to the region of Yama, as that illustrious warrior accompanied me when I retired to the forest."

At this moment when everybody is struck with grief,it is the monkey-king Sugreeva who gives direction to the army and looks at things dispassionately.He asks Sushena,the doctor among the monkeys,to treat Rama and Lakshman and says that he himself will win over Ravana,rescue Sita from Ravana and crown Rama as the king of Ayodhya.Hearing the words of Sugreeva,all the monkeys regain composure and think about the further course of action.

Thus we see how important it is to remain non attached even for the worldly state of affairs.

But the scriptures advocate dispassion as a means of attaining permanent bliss.The scriptures elevate man from his grosser levels of experience to higher and higher levels of consciousness.And the first step in this direction is to broaden one's outlook.

The Vairagya Satakam is a book,written by Bhartrhari.Bhartrhari was born in a royal family,but later renounced worldly pleasures to become a Yogi.In the book,he beautifully explains the importance of vairagya.

In one particular verse,he explains as how how we undergo all troubles just for the sake of filling our stomachs while the yogis undergo the same troubles to reach the feet of Siva(God).

"We have forgiven,but not out of forgiveness(but out of our incapacity to right our wrongs);we have renounced the comforts of home life,but not out of contentment after satisfaction(but as exile from home in the quest of riches);though we have suffered inclemencies of weather,cold and heat,still it is not religious austerities that we have undergone;with subdued vital forces,night and day have we brooded on money and not on the feet of Siva;thus we have performed those very acts which the recluses do perform,but of their good effects,we have deprived ourselves".

Again,the point is not to deprive oneself of pleasure but to move onto lasting peace and bliss.It has always bewildered saintly recluses as to how people go madly in search of pleasure,seeking it outside,while happiness lies in the mind,not in external objects.

This is why Kulasekara Alwar proclaimed,

"மெய்யில் வாழ்க்கையை மேயெனை கொள்ளும் 

வையம் தன்னோடு கூடுவதில்லை யாம் "

("Am not going to mix with this world which takes the unreal world to be real")

The world is said to be unreal because of its temporal and ever changing nature.Even a little introspection will reveal this to us.But the sad thing is that we never introspect.

Bhartrhari puts across this point in the 8th stanza of the Vairagya Satakam,

"The face has been attacked with wrinkles,the head has been painted white with grey hair,the limbs are all enfeebles;but desire alone is rejuvenating".

In yet another verse he laments,

"Old age looms ahead,frightening men like a tigress;different diseases afflicting the human body like enemies;life is flowing away like water running out of a leaky vessel;still,how wonderful,that man goes on doing,wicked deeds!"

Am reminded of a verse my mother often repeats at home,

"Yuvvanam dhanasampathihi prabuthvum avivekitha

ekaikamapi anarthaaya kimu yathra chathustayam?"

"Youth,wealth,fame and ignorance-even one among these four are enough to bring down a man.What then to speak of a man who has all four detestable virtues?"

So,is it wrong to be rich,as far as Hinduism is concerned.What about those people who are tied to their families,due to social compulsions?And is non attachment just a euphemism for narrow mindedness?

Let us try to answer these questions in the forth coming posts................

(To be continued................) 

Philosophical perspectives-I

Hinduism is one of the most complex religions the world has ever seen.There are so many dogmas,belief systems and cults that one is often left confused as to whether Hinduism has a strong foundation or not.Some western historians conveniently come to the conclusion that Hinduism is nothing but an assimilation of assorted faiths.The Hindu on the street is often confused as to "which God is the most powerful one" and hops on from one faith system to another,thus making himself vulnerable to nefarious elements.

Such confusion is basically due to ignorance.Due to the lack of the understanding that every religion is based on philosophy.Its philosophy which determines how a religion looks at the world,its being and formulates rules and regulations regarding the conduct of the adherents of a particular faith.

I still remember what i read in Class VIII in zoology.
The zoology text book asked,

 "What is life?"

It went on to add that it was difficult to define life and so they chose the easier option of studying life,rather than enquiring about the meaning of life.

That was probably the first time i had come across the question.I was to come across the same question several times from then on.While am unsure as to whether anybody has ever found out the exact answer,i think it would be worth while to approach the question from the Hindu perspective as it is the Hindu who seems the most confused person on Earth today,without an identity or proper guidance. 

It doesn't need a philosopher to tell us that whatever action we perform in our lives,the goal is happiness.This applies to every being on Earth,from the tiny ant to the gigantic elephant.It is that desire for happiness that drives every being into action.

Now,why is it that that all living being crave for happiness?What makes them shun the other state of mind-sadness.After all,happiness and sadness are two states of mind.Why is it that one state is always shunned and that the other is always preferred,at all points of time in our lives???

Common sense makes us answer,"It our nature to be so".

Philosophy doesn't stop at this.The next question is,

"WHY is it our nature to be so???"

This question is the foundation on which Hindu philosophy is built.............

The Hindu scriptures themselves endeavor to give us an answer to this question.

The answer given by the scriptures is that all living beings have evolved from bliss.Just as how a calf separated from the cow always struggles against the binds of the ropes to reach the mother cow,in the same way all living beings go in search of the source from which they have all evolved.

Birds fly.Deer run.Snakes crawl.Hyenas laugh........All in search of one goal-happiness----in other words,the source from which they've all been derived.They may or may not know that they're running in search of the source from which they've been derived from.Still,they run more and more.

Though they have the feeling to reach the source from which they have evolved from,they are blinded by ignorance and don't know the way to reach that source.Still they run.And they continue to run............

This ignorance makes them run after pleasure and happiness,instead of bliss.The big danger in running after pleasure and happiness is that they are not permanent.Every joy which we experience in this world of ours is temporal and fleeting.

From the simplest of joys to the most animal pleasures,every thing is fleeting.

The sweet tastes good only until it is digested.Once that sweet is digested,we want another.Then another and another.

The scriptures proclaim that such pleasures are worthless,as they are temporary.And there's no means of being satisfied as long as we run after such temporal pleasures.

The aim of the scriptures is to show man the way to that bliss which is permanent.As long as joy is temporary,it will only end in dissatisfaction.This is why the scriptures ask us to root out desire.It is not as if the ancient sages wanted us to be deprived of our temporal pleasures.They wanted to show us the way to ever lasting bliss.....

Thiru moolar,a  tamil saint proclaims in the thiru manthiram,
 "ஆசை அறுமின் ஆசை அறுமின் "
("Root out desire.Root out desire")
We are asked to root out desires for the simple reason that we will crave for pleasure only when there is desire.The sages who leave all worldly desires and go in search of some lonely secluded spot don't do so as they are disgusted with the world.They do so as they are desirous of a greater happiness,and ever lasting bliss.And it is those sages who guide mankind towards a peaceful and joyous living.

What is the path shown by the sages?
What is that bliss which has been merely written upon in this post?
What is the message of the scriptures?
Is the Hindu religion merely for those who want to live a spiritual life or does it have some thing for everyone?

These are of course,difficult questions which require in depth analysis.I hope we shall be able to answer these questions as well as those that which might crop up in the future as we move along this new series,inspite of my rather shoddy knowledge and lunatic tendencies.Comments and criticisms are always welcome.

(To be continued)...........

India under siege-VIII

I wrote in India under siege-IV  as to how Lord Macaulay devised a plan to make Indians look down upon themselves in order to make colonization total and complete.What strikes us with astonishing clarity is the change in the mindset of the foreigners about how they viewed India and its history over a span of just one century.
In the year 1882 Max Muller,the celebrated historian observed,
"It is surely extremely strange that whenever, either in Greek,or in Chinese,or in Persian,or in Arab writings,we meet with any attempts at describing the distinguishing features in the national character of the Indians,regard for truth and justice should always be mentioned first."

The first British travelers,settlers and rulers were all astonished at the scale and grandeur of the Indian civilization.Thomas Munro wrote,

"If a good system of agriculture,unrivalled manufacturing skill,a capacity to produce whatever can contribute to convinience or luxury;schools established in every village for teaching,reading,writing,and in arithmetic;the general practice of hospitality and charity among each other;and above all,a treatment of the female sex full of confidence,respect and delicacy,if all these are among the signs which denote a civilized people,then the Hindus are not inferior to the nations of Europe;and if civilization is to become an article of trade between England and India,I am convinced that England will gain by the import cargo".

A pity England was hardly interested in trading in civilization.

The German historian Friedrich Schlegal described Sanskrit as the original language of the world and declared in 1803,

"Everything without exception is of Indian origin......Whether directly or indirectly,all nations are originally nothing but Indian colonies....the oriental anquity could,if we consented to deepen it, bring us back more safely towards the divine."

However,this generous estimate of Indian civilization and its contribution to the West started changing at the turn of the nineteenth century.The British had established their supremacy,over most of India and the colonial masters could now concentrate on draining the wealth of India.

This is what Michael Danino writes in his best seller,"The invasion that never was",
"While most of eighteenth century European travellers to india described her as "flourishing",less than a century later,she had sunk into the depths of dismal misery."

One British historian noted in 1901,

"Time was,not more distant than a century ago,when Bengal was much more wealthy than was Britain".another even asserted that Britain's Industrial revolution could not have taken place without the influx of money that followed the conquest of Bengal.

The Britishers' unlike the Portuguese or the earlier muslim invaders,were anxious to clothe their greed in more lofty ideals: the white man's burden of civilizing(and naturally Christianizing) less enlightened races;the "divinely ordained mission" of bringing to India the glory of Europe's commercialization and industrial civilization,and so forth.articles,pamphlets,speeches,volumes poured forth year after year in praise of the "tremendous task of rescuing India" from the darkness into which she had fallen.It was Britain's historic duty to spread the highest kind of civilization."

Understandably,the recognition of India's far more ancient and refined civilization made such noble motives untenable.Thus began a systematic campaign to disparage not only this civilization,culture and society,but the very roots of Hinduism..................................

Deliberate attempts were made to portray India as a land of superstitions,ignorance and never-ending problems.This was done to justify for themselves the legitimacy of the conquest of India.and the first step in the direction was to erase the earlier perceptions about India's glorious past.

This is what Richard Temple said in 1883,in a speech intended to generate donations for missions:

"India is a country,which of all others,we are bound to enlighten with the eternal truth.....But what is most important to you friends of missions,is this-there is a large population of aborgines a people who are outside caste....If they are attached,as they rapidly may be,to Christianity,they will form a nucleus round which British power and influence may gather.Remember too,that hinduism,although it is dying,yet has force........and such tribes,if not converted to Christianity,may be perverted to Hinduism....You may be confident that the missions in inida are doing a work which strengthens the imperial foundations of British power......I say,of all the departments I have ever administered,I never saw one more efficient than the missions department."

The Hindus themselves were in a tizzy as they were under the imperial rule and had no clue about their future.centuries of slavery had more or less snuffed out the bravery in them.They started to believe that the British alone could develop India.

This is what James Mill,wrote in his book,"The history of India":

".The Hindu,like a eunuch,excels in all the qualities of a slave."

That book was published in 1817.You are reading this in 2012.much water has flown down the drain......
But are we any different today,more than 60 years after we obtained Independence?

Am afraid we are not.Of course,we do mint our own coins,have a flag of our own,and elect our people to parliament.But,is our mind free from slavery?Do we have the tenacity to look at foreigners in the eye?Are we today proud of our unbroken civilization,that has seen so much,been put to test so many times,yet reared itself again like a phoenix?

All a child learns today is to look down upon India and her religion.The Macaulayan education system takes care of that.Parents today want their children to be "modern".In their dictionary,westernized and modern mean the same.

Our government seems convinced that India,which constitutes (1/6)th of the world's population,can be developed from outside.So,it has allowed FDI in multi-brand retail.The educated Indian takes pride in using English.The unlettered Indian looks at English in disgust.Either way,they look at English as a status symbol,not as a language.This is the extent to which imperialism has sunk into our flesh,into our DNA and mixed with our genes.Even our names are westernized when they appear online("Ams" for ambarish,"Ham" for Hamsalekha and so on).Independence for the nation must translate into freedom for the people.has it happened in India???

How i wish i could get "yes" for an answer....................

On the contrary,we seem to be all too eager to snuff out the very idea of India.Our government itself does it all the time.I fail to understand how we can do all this,and yet claim to be independent.Youngsters have actually started considering India as just yet another piece of land in which states are administered by a union for the purpose of administrative convenience.It is scary to think of what the future will be like for India,if the present trend continues.........

I would like to end this post with these soul stirring words of Swami Vivekananda,
"Shall India die?Then from the world all spirituality will be extinct,all moral perfection will be extinct,all sweet-souled sympathy for religion will be extinct,all ideality will be extinct;and in its place will reign the duality of lust and luxury as the male and female deities with money as its priest;fraud,force and competition its ceremonies;and the human soul its sacrifice.Such a thing can never be..............Will she die?This old mother of all that is noble or moral or spiritual,the land which the sages trod,the land in which Godlike men still breathe and live?I will borrow the Anthenian sage and follow you,my brother,through the cities and villages,plains and forests,of this broad world-show me such men in other lands if you can."

May God lead this nation from darkness to light;from the bad to the virtuous;from ignorance to knowledge;and from the cusp of death to the glory of life.

May peace prevail.......................

P.S:With this post,the series India under siege comes to an end.I would like to thank my readers for their comments,emails and support.Criticisms and suggestions are always welcome.......

India under siege-VII

I write this post,at a time when you are probably gritting your teeth , cribbing about the 5-sms-per-day rule implemented by the Indian government. One of the effects of the ban has been that it has made one and all to sit up and take notice if the Assam problem.i had been to the barber's today morning , and there too we had a discussion about the problem.

A customer was telling,"The north east people are savage in nature.See what they have done to the muslim community....."

The barber responded , "That's right.It is because of them that we have this sms limit".

"Hmm...the entire nation is affected because of their mischief .Dunno where they get their violent nature from......"

Another customer chipped in,"I've heard that those people have dogs for food .From this we can understand why they are so violent in nature."

"Dogs as food?Well,well....interesting......."

The barber who was attending me asked,"You people are pure veg,right?"

I simply nodded,expecting to get taunts and jibes from one and all that am so used to getting these days,thanks to my Brahmin-hood.

Thankfully,they stuck onto the main theme and continued to deliberate about the north east problem.

And,believe it or not,the word 'Bangladesh' was not mentioned even once.I wish I had the tenacity to speak out my thoughts then and there.But,given my shy nature,i refrained from doing so.

The shop owner asked the person attending to me to get on with the job.

I was lost in thought......

The reason for the unrest in Assam was primarily the illegal infiltration of Bangladesh citizens into India.The infiltration was so high that,in certain areas,the infiltrators constituted almost 75% of the population.This badly affected the ethnic community,the Bodos to such an extent that it threatened their livelihood.

The Indian government,instead of taking steps to prevent infiltration,turned a blind eye,hoping to cash in on the Muslim vote bank created as a result of the illegal migration.The local muslim population,instead of siding with the local bodos,sided with the illegal infiltrators.

The Indian government,decided to issue Aadhar cards even to the infiltrators,arguing that the Bangladeshis were living on Indian soil,unmindful of the fact that their occupation of Indian soil was illegal as per India's own laws.

This callous attitude on the part of the Congress government led to the riots in Assam.

The radical muslim groups,sided with the infiltrators and sent threatening sms es to North East people living in their locality.This created a fear psychosis and led to large scale migration of the North East origin people to their home lands.

Faced with criticism from all sides,the Indian government gave a knee-jerk reaction to the problem and limited the number of sms es to 5 per day for a period of fifteen days.

Still,there is not even talk from the government about infiltration.There is just an appeal to maintain peace.The Congress president Sonia Gandhi , stressed on the importance of maintaining religious and social harmony.She sounded as though the problem was due to some recent dispute.This is what the Congress does all the time.It addresses the effects.Not the root cause.

It is interesting to note that Bangladeshis infiltrate even to Myanmar,not just to India.This also resulted in riots.But,Myanmar,on the other hand,dared to call a spade a spade.Myanmar doesn't speak in favour of the illegal infiltrators,inspite of having there being pressure from all sides.myanmar's military strength is no match for the miltary might of other nations .Still,Myanmar deals with its issues in its own way.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,expresses "grave concern" about the Assamese violence but doesn't even mention the terror unleashed by instigated Muslim youth in Mumbai.Vote,votes and more votes.......This is what politicians want.Even if it means destroying the religious and cultural fabric of the nation.

I wanted to tell all this to the people inside the barber's shop,but some how i could not muster the courage to speak to the elders.So I just kept mum and paid them the 80 rupees they charged for hair cut and shave and came out of Singapore saloon,still lost in thought.

(To be continued)
P.S:I thought of ending India under siege on Aug 15th,but the existing political scenario has forced me to put off my plans.....So,yes,am not not done with you,as of yet.Happy reading :P