A Brief History of Hindutva
The trigger came in the form of a temple, in one of the holiest cities of the land. The temple had been destroyed almost 500 years ago to make way for a mosque. Now the people of the country wanted their temple back. The temple was important in itself, yes. But it was even more important as a symbol. A symbol of our great religion, civilisation and history. A symbol of the thousand years of barbarism inflicted upon us. A symbol of the need to end the nonsense called secularism and once again stand up as who we are.
What followed was a national movement of epic proportions – the greatest since the freedom struggle. The campaign for the temple created a new awakening. Indians started calling themselves by their true name: Hindus. No more apologising. No more feeling guilty or defensive for being the "majority community". We are Hindus. This is our country and our culture. And we will fight to take it back.
The movement created a tidal wave of nationalist fervour. The wave swept the nationalist political party, which had only 2 seats in a 545-strong Parliament, to power within just 15 years. The party may have lost later, and may be struggling today: with its own weaknesses and failings, and also with the division of Hindus by caste and language. But Hindu nationalism had taken a giant step, from which there was no going back.
A new threshold had been created, best illustrated by the temple/mosque question itself. The pulling down of the mosque was a violation of the rule of law, no doubt. But even the incident's most vehement critics were not proposing that the mosque be rebuilt. The debate had been taken to a new level.
A new spirit had dawned. Indians were now proud to be Hindus. An ancient truth was embraced: India is a Hindu nation, a Hindu rashtra. For a long time, this had been the chant of lonely voices in the wilderness. Now a sizeable section of the population accepted it. The people were finally beginning to call a spade a spade.
True, the journey has only just begun. There is still a long way to go. Hindutva is not yet the dominant ideology. But it is no longer a fringe ideology either. It is now one of the competing ideologies. Meanwhile the nationalist organisation continues its work – slowly, silently, but surely. It may take 10 years, 50 years or 100 years. But succeed we will. Victory shall be ours. Mother India shall once again sit on the throne she once adorned. Our Mother India – smiling, beautiful, radiant and glorious – giving light to the world and hope to mankind. It is only a matter of time.
(Concluded)
21 April 2009
20 April 2009
A Brief History of Hindutva - 2
A Brief History of Hindutva
When Gandhi became the supreme leader of the freedom struggle, it should have meant the triumph of Hindu nationalism. For he was a deeply religious Hindu, proud of his country's ancient heritage. But it was not to be. For some reasons, Gandhi did not have the confidence to make Hindu-ness, or Hindutva, the basis of Indian nationalism. The ideological vacuum was filled by Nehru (Gandhi's closest follower and chosen heir) with his secularism and socialism. It was left to a doctor from Nagpur to found an organisation that would keep alive the flame of true Indian nationalism. Hindutva, which should have been the dominant, mainstream ideology was instead marginalised and banished to the fringes.
In 1947, after half a century of struggle, India became free. Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty we are free at last! But the moment was bitter-sweet. Along with the joy came shock, horror and anguish. Mother India, our beautiful Mother India, was torn apart. Her right and left arms were chopped off from her body. Meanwhile the Congress became the dominant political party of independent India. It had disregarded the advice of its patron saint to disband itself. Enjoying a virtual hegemony, it imposed Nehru's secularism and socialism on the nation.
The nationalist organisation meanwhile soldiered on, now led by a zoologist-turned-sanyasi. In 1949, Nehru signed a pact with Pakistan agreeing to set up a "Minority Commission" and guaranteeing "minority rights" in the country. This shocking compromise with the nation's sovereignty, unity and integrity was the trigger for the birth of a nationalist political party, which had the blessings of the sanyasi.
For the next four decades the Congress ruled the country, implementing its "secularism", which in practice meant:
– Dividing the country into "majority" and "minority" communities, instead of uniting the country as one.
– Giving special rights to minorities, instead of giving equal rights to all citizens regardless of religion.
– Turning a blind eye to minority communalism, while branding any talk of majority welfare as "fascism".
– Creating and nurturing minority vote banks, while doing nothing to solve their genuine problems.
– Appeasing minority fundamentalists, and creating a separatist mindset in the minds of the minority.
During the freedom struggle and at the time of Independence, Indians had not embraced their identity as Hindus, preferring Nehru's secularism instead. Gradually they realised that something was seriously wrong with this "secularism", that this country was on the wrong track, and that they were being made fools of. As the cynicism and manipulations of the rulers continued unabated, the country started boiling beneath the surface. A correction became overdue. All that was needed was a trigger.
When Gandhi became the supreme leader of the freedom struggle, it should have meant the triumph of Hindu nationalism. For he was a deeply religious Hindu, proud of his country's ancient heritage. But it was not to be. For some reasons, Gandhi did not have the confidence to make Hindu-ness, or Hindutva, the basis of Indian nationalism. The ideological vacuum was filled by Nehru (Gandhi's closest follower and chosen heir) with his secularism and socialism. It was left to a doctor from Nagpur to found an organisation that would keep alive the flame of true Indian nationalism. Hindutva, which should have been the dominant, mainstream ideology was instead marginalised and banished to the fringes.
In 1947, after half a century of struggle, India became free. Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty we are free at last! But the moment was bitter-sweet. Along with the joy came shock, horror and anguish. Mother India, our beautiful Mother India, was torn apart. Her right and left arms were chopped off from her body. Meanwhile the Congress became the dominant political party of independent India. It had disregarded the advice of its patron saint to disband itself. Enjoying a virtual hegemony, it imposed Nehru's secularism and socialism on the nation.
The nationalist organisation meanwhile soldiered on, now led by a zoologist-turned-sanyasi. In 1949, Nehru signed a pact with Pakistan agreeing to set up a "Minority Commission" and guaranteeing "minority rights" in the country. This shocking compromise with the nation's sovereignty, unity and integrity was the trigger for the birth of a nationalist political party, which had the blessings of the sanyasi.
For the next four decades the Congress ruled the country, implementing its "secularism", which in practice meant:
– Dividing the country into "majority" and "minority" communities, instead of uniting the country as one.
– Giving special rights to minorities, instead of giving equal rights to all citizens regardless of religion.
– Turning a blind eye to minority communalism, while branding any talk of majority welfare as "fascism".
– Creating and nurturing minority vote banks, while doing nothing to solve their genuine problems.
– Appeasing minority fundamentalists, and creating a separatist mindset in the minds of the minority.
During the freedom struggle and at the time of Independence, Indians had not embraced their identity as Hindus, preferring Nehru's secularism instead. Gradually they realised that something was seriously wrong with this "secularism", that this country was on the wrong track, and that they were being made fools of. As the cynicism and manipulations of the rulers continued unabated, the country started boiling beneath the surface. A correction became overdue. All that was needed was a trigger.
19 April 2009
A Brief History of Hindutva - 1
A Brief History of Hindutva
For almost the whole of the second millennium, India was invaded, conquered and ruled by people from other lands – the Turks, Mughals and British – who brought with them their violence and intolerance. During this period India, and her soul – Hinduism, was bruised, battered and broken. Indians were subjected to a thousand years of atrocities, massacres, persecution and oppression. The result was they forgot their true greatness, their true history and their true identity. In short, they forgot who they were. Indian society limped along, barely surviving and holding on to its traditions. Then, in the 19th century, when the night seemed to be at its darkest, an awakening began. Seers appeared, telling Indians who they really were and reminding them of their true genius. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Dayanand Saraswati were the pioneers. They were followed by Swami Vivekananda and Aurobindo Ghosh. They all said the same thing. Their message was very simple:
"We are Hindus. Ours is the oldest surviving civilisation on earth. Our way of life is 5000 years old. For almost 4000 years, Hindu civilisation was the greatest civilisation in the world – having attained the heights of both material prosperity and spiritual progress. But we didn't keep our wealth to ourselves; we shared it with the world. We gave the world our knowledge and culture. We gave the world our philosophy, science, mathematics, art and literature. We gave the world lofty thoughts and noble ideals. For centuries this sacred land, Mother India, was the light of the world. But now she is in chains. And you, her children, have forgotten your true nature. Arise, o lions! You are descendants of gods and goddesses, sages and saints, kings and warriors. Arise, free your Motherland! Rediscover your true spirit and lost genius. Take your Mother to the heights of glory she once commanded. And be the shining light to the world that you always were. This is your role, this is your duty, this is your destiny."
Indians woke up and heeded the call. But the awakening was partial. The people did start fighting for their country's freedom. But the other half of the message – the message of Hindu nationalism – was ignored by the leaders of the freedom struggle. They were city-bred lawyers, products of the British education system. They were Macaulay's children: "a class of persons Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinion, in morals and intellect". They didn't want to have anything to do with the word "Hindu". Only one leader, Tilak, embraced Hindu nationalism.
For almost the whole of the second millennium, India was invaded, conquered and ruled by people from other lands – the Turks, Mughals and British – who brought with them their violence and intolerance. During this period India, and her soul – Hinduism, was bruised, battered and broken. Indians were subjected to a thousand years of atrocities, massacres, persecution and oppression. The result was they forgot their true greatness, their true history and their true identity. In short, they forgot who they were. Indian society limped along, barely surviving and holding on to its traditions. Then, in the 19th century, when the night seemed to be at its darkest, an awakening began. Seers appeared, telling Indians who they really were and reminding them of their true genius. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Dayanand Saraswati were the pioneers. They were followed by Swami Vivekananda and Aurobindo Ghosh. They all said the same thing. Their message was very simple:
"We are Hindus. Ours is the oldest surviving civilisation on earth. Our way of life is 5000 years old. For almost 4000 years, Hindu civilisation was the greatest civilisation in the world – having attained the heights of both material prosperity and spiritual progress. But we didn't keep our wealth to ourselves; we shared it with the world. We gave the world our knowledge and culture. We gave the world our philosophy, science, mathematics, art and literature. We gave the world lofty thoughts and noble ideals. For centuries this sacred land, Mother India, was the light of the world. But now she is in chains. And you, her children, have forgotten your true nature. Arise, o lions! You are descendants of gods and goddesses, sages and saints, kings and warriors. Arise, free your Motherland! Rediscover your true spirit and lost genius. Take your Mother to the heights of glory she once commanded. And be the shining light to the world that you always were. This is your role, this is your duty, this is your destiny."
Indians woke up and heeded the call. But the awakening was partial. The people did start fighting for their country's freedom. But the other half of the message – the message of Hindu nationalism – was ignored by the leaders of the freedom struggle. They were city-bred lawyers, products of the British education system. They were Macaulay's children: "a class of persons Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinion, in morals and intellect". They didn't want to have anything to do with the word "Hindu". Only one leader, Tilak, embraced Hindu nationalism.
14 April 2009
What Should I Do With My Life?
Excerpts from Po Bronson's book "What Should I Do With My Life?" (2003):
Asking The Question aspires to end the conflict between who you are and what you do. There is nothing more brave than filtering out the chatter that tells you to be someone you're not. There is nothing more genuine than breaking away from the chorus to learn the sound of your own voice. Asking The Question is nothing short of an act of courage: It requires a level of commitment and clarity that is almost foreign to our working lives.
The ruling assumption is that money is the shortest route to freedom. Absurdly, that strategy is cast as the "practical approach." But in truth, the opposite is true. The shortest route to the good life involves building the confidence that you can live happily within your means (whatever the means provided by the choices that are truly acceptable to you turn out to be).
Avoiding crap shouldn't be the objective in finding the right work. The right question is, How can I find something that moves my heart, so that the inevitable crap storm is bearable?
Every industry has a culture. And every culture is driven by a value system. One of the most common mistakes is not recognising how these value systems will shape you. People think that they can insulate themselves, that they're different. They're not. The relevant question in looking at a job is not What will I do? but Who will I become? What belief system will you adopt, and what will take on heightened importance in your life?
Not everything has to go right in order for it to work. His backup plans do not lead to different destinations, such as "If I don't get into business school, I'll be a schoolteacher." His backup plans lead to the same destination, and if he has to arrive late by a back road, that's fine.
12 April 2009
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Summary of Steve Jobs' commencement address at Stanford University (2005):
Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.
The first story is about connecting the dots.
You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
My second story is about love and loss.
I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.
My third story is about death.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
Stay hungry. Stay foolish. I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.
11 April 2009
On Media, News and Journalism
In 1958 legendary radio and TV journalist Edward R Murrow gave a speech to the RTNDA* about the state of the American news media. Many of the things he said are relevant for the Indian media (print and electronic) today:
The elaborate structure of networks, advertising agencies and sponsors will not be shaken or altered.
That your voice is amplified to the degree where it reaches from one end of the country to the other does not confer upon you greater wisdom or understanding than you possessed when your voice reached only from one end of the bar to the other.
I am seized with an abiding fear regarding what these two instruments (radio and television) are doing to our society, our culture and our heritage.
If there are any historians about fifty or a hundred years from now, and there should be preserved the kinescopes for one week of all three networks, they will there find recorded in black and white, or colour, evidence of decadence, escapism and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live.
One of the basic troubles with radio and television news is that both instruments have grown up as an incompatible combination of show business, advertising and news. Each of the three is a rather bizarre and demanding profession. And when you get all three under one roof, the dust never settles.
Or do we believe that the preservation of the Republic is a seven-day-a-week job, demanding more awareness, better skills and more perseverance than we have yet contemplated?
I am frightened by the imbalance, the constant striving to reach the largest possible audience for everything; by the absence of a sustained study of the state of the nation.
If the sponsor always, invariably, reaches for the largest possible audience, then this process of insulation, of escape from reality, will continue to be massively financed, and its apologist will continue to make winsome speeches about giving the public what it wants, or "letting the public decide".
*Radio-Television News Directors Association
The elaborate structure of networks, advertising agencies and sponsors will not be shaken or altered.
That your voice is amplified to the degree where it reaches from one end of the country to the other does not confer upon you greater wisdom or understanding than you possessed when your voice reached only from one end of the bar to the other.
I am seized with an abiding fear regarding what these two instruments (radio and television) are doing to our society, our culture and our heritage.
If there are any historians about fifty or a hundred years from now, and there should be preserved the kinescopes for one week of all three networks, they will there find recorded in black and white, or colour, evidence of decadence, escapism and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live.
One of the basic troubles with radio and television news is that both instruments have grown up as an incompatible combination of show business, advertising and news. Each of the three is a rather bizarre and demanding profession. And when you get all three under one roof, the dust never settles.
Or do we believe that the preservation of the Republic is a seven-day-a-week job, demanding more awareness, better skills and more perseverance than we have yet contemplated?
I am frightened by the imbalance, the constant striving to reach the largest possible audience for everything; by the absence of a sustained study of the state of the nation.
If the sponsor always, invariably, reaches for the largest possible audience, then this process of insulation, of escape from reality, will continue to be massively financed, and its apologist will continue to make winsome speeches about giving the public what it wants, or "letting the public decide".
*Radio-Television News Directors Association
10 April 2009
Rajiv Gandhi's "Power Brokers" Speech
At the centenary session of the Congress in 1985, Rajiv Gandhi delivered the inaugural speech in which he lashed out against his own party, calling it a party of power brokers. An excerpt:
But they (party workers) are handicapped, for on their backs ride the brokers of power and influence, who dispense patronage to convert a mass movement into a feudal oligarchy. They are self-perpetuating cliques who thrive by invoking the slogans of caste and religion and by enmeshing the living body of the Congress in their net of avarice.
For such persons the masses do not count. Their lifestyle, their thinking - or the lack of it, their self-aggrandisement, their corrupt ways, their linkages with the vested interests in society, and their sanctimonious posturing are wholly incompatible with work among the people. They are reducing the Congress organisation to a shell from which the spirit of service and sacrifice has been emptied.
We talk of the high principles and lofty ideals needed to build a strong and prosperous India. But we obey no discipline, no rule; follow no principle of public weal. Corruption is not only tolerated but even regarded as the hallmark of leadership. Flagrant contradiction between what we say and what we do has become our way of life.
But they (party workers) are handicapped, for on their backs ride the brokers of power and influence, who dispense patronage to convert a mass movement into a feudal oligarchy. They are self-perpetuating cliques who thrive by invoking the slogans of caste and religion and by enmeshing the living body of the Congress in their net of avarice.
For such persons the masses do not count. Their lifestyle, their thinking - or the lack of it, their self-aggrandisement, their corrupt ways, their linkages with the vested interests in society, and their sanctimonious posturing are wholly incompatible with work among the people. They are reducing the Congress organisation to a shell from which the spirit of service and sacrifice has been emptied.
We talk of the high principles and lofty ideals needed to build a strong and prosperous India. But we obey no discipline, no rule; follow no principle of public weal. Corruption is not only tolerated but even regarded as the hallmark of leadership. Flagrant contradiction between what we say and what we do has become our way of life.
09 April 2009
Shibumi
From Shibumi (1979) by Trevanian. A conversation between General Kishikawa and Nicholai Hel:
"He is a man who has all my respect. He possesses a quality of... how to express it?... of shibumi."
"Shibumi, sir?" Nicholai knew the word, but only as it applied to gardens or architecture, where it connoted an understated beauty. "How are you using the term, sir?"
"Oh, vaguely. And incorrectly, I suspect. A blundering attempt to describe an ineffable quality. As you know, shibumi has to do with great refinement underlying commonplace appearances. It is a statement so correct that it does not have to be bold, so poignant it does not have to be pretty, so true it does not have to be real. Shibumi is understanding, rather than knowledge. Eloquent silence. In demeanour, it is modesty without pudency. In art, where the spirit of shibumi takes the form of sabi, it is elegant simplicity, articulate brevity. In philosophy, where shibumi emerges as wabi, it is spiritual tranquility that is not passive; it is being without the angst of becoming. And in the personality of a man, it is... how does one say it? Authority without domination? Something like that."
Nicholai's imagination was galvanised by the concept of shibumi. No other ideal had ever touched him so. "How does one achieve this shibumi, sir?"
"One does not achieve it, one... discovers it. And only a few men of infinite refinement ever do that. Men like my friend Otake-san."
"Meaning that one must learn a great deal to arrive at shibumi?"
"Meaning, rather, that one must pass through knowledge and arrive at simplicity."
From that moment, Nicholai's primary goal in life was to become a man of shibumi; a personality of overwhelming calm.
Although they spoke late into their last night together about what shibumi meant and might mean, in the deepest essential they did not understand one another. To the General, shibumi was a kind of submission; to Nicholai, it was a kind of power.
Both were captives of their generations.
"He is a man who has all my respect. He possesses a quality of... how to express it?... of shibumi."
"Shibumi, sir?" Nicholai knew the word, but only as it applied to gardens or architecture, where it connoted an understated beauty. "How are you using the term, sir?"
"Oh, vaguely. And incorrectly, I suspect. A blundering attempt to describe an ineffable quality. As you know, shibumi has to do with great refinement underlying commonplace appearances. It is a statement so correct that it does not have to be bold, so poignant it does not have to be pretty, so true it does not have to be real. Shibumi is understanding, rather than knowledge. Eloquent silence. In demeanour, it is modesty without pudency. In art, where the spirit of shibumi takes the form of sabi, it is elegant simplicity, articulate brevity. In philosophy, where shibumi emerges as wabi, it is spiritual tranquility that is not passive; it is being without the angst of becoming. And in the personality of a man, it is... how does one say it? Authority without domination? Something like that."
Nicholai's imagination was galvanised by the concept of shibumi. No other ideal had ever touched him so. "How does one achieve this shibumi, sir?"
"One does not achieve it, one... discovers it. And only a few men of infinite refinement ever do that. Men like my friend Otake-san."
"Meaning that one must learn a great deal to arrive at shibumi?"
"Meaning, rather, that one must pass through knowledge and arrive at simplicity."
From that moment, Nicholai's primary goal in life was to become a man of shibumi; a personality of overwhelming calm.
Although they spoke late into their last night together about what shibumi meant and might mean, in the deepest essential they did not understand one another. To the General, shibumi was a kind of submission; to Nicholai, it was a kind of power.
Both were captives of their generations.
06 April 2009
Maharashtra Yatra - 2
8th January (contd)
Ellora is about 35 km from Aurangabad. It's about 500 years later than Ajanta. It has Buddhist, Hindu and Jain caves spread over some 2 km. We were shown only the four most important ones: caves 10, 12, 16 and 32. Cave 10 was a Chaitya, cave 12 a Vihara, cave 16 the great Kailasa temple and cave 32 a Jain cave. The guide's explanations help you appreciate what you are seeing. Kailasa temple is truly a marvel of India, second perhaps only to the Taj. You can't believe it's carved out of a single rock. After Ellora, we visited the nearby Grihneshwara, the 12th Jyotirlinga temple. The Linga is ancient, but the outer temple was built by Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore in the 18th century. Males who enter the sanctum sanctorum have to go in topless. We finished the tour with a visit to Bibi-ka-Muqbara, tomb of Aurangzeb's wife in Aurangabad. It's modelled on the Taj Mahal. It was evening when we got back. I checked my mail, had dinner, checked out of the hotel and boarded my bus to Bombay.
9th January
I got off at Dadar, took a train to Andheri and reached Kaddi's house by 7:30 am. The poor fellow had been woken up an hour earlier by a phone call from my dad. I had my bath, packed up and left for Dadar to deposit my luggage in a locker/cloakroom while I saw more of Bombay till 3:15 pm, when my train would leave for Nagpur. At Dadar, the TT told me that cloakroom was available only in VT, now CST. In Bombay, everything has been renamed as either VJ (Veermata Jeejabai) or CS (Chhatrapati Shivaji). I sighed and boarded a train to VT, where I did find a cloakroom. But it accepted only locked luggage. So I left my suitcase (which had a lock) and took my kit (which didn't have a lock) with me. I came outside and admired the station. Right across is the Corporation HQ, another beautiful building from the British era. Took a cab to Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, now the CS Vastu Sangrahalay.
I had 90 minutes to see the museum, 30 minutes for each floor. Check out the beautiful section on Indian miniature art. From the museum it was a 30-minute walk back to VT. Along the way, I saw the Rajabai Tower (tallest tower in the city), Stock Exchange and GPO. At VT, boarded a train to Dadar. I arrived 30 minute before the Sewagram Express to Nagpur was to depart. Amitesh and Nattu were waiting for me outside our coach. We spent the journey catching up with what each of us had been upto in the last 1.5-2 years. I wasn't too sad to leave Bombay. At first sight it's quite depressing: slums, poverty, filth. Especially for someone from Bangalore. But the people are nice and helpful. Not like Delhi.
10th January
The train reached 5 minutes early, at 7:15 am. There was supposed to be a guy from the hotel to pick us up. We called up Suchit, found out where the hotel was, and took an auto. At the hotel, we bathed and left as early as we could – the wedding was at 10 am. On the way we had to get the gift packed, which took quite a long time. The baraat arrived at the hall shortly after we reached there. The wedding was over quite quickly. We had lunch there and left for the railway station, where Amitesh had to book a ticket for Ahmedabad. Then we went to our hotel. Amitesh left at 6:30 pm, Nattu left an hour later. I was left alone.
11th January
There's nothing of note to see in Nagpur. There is one fort, but it's open to the public only on January 26 and August 15. So I left for Ramtek, 50 km away. There's a Rama-Lakshmana temple there, to commemorate their stay in that place. The temple is on top of a hill; the climb reminded me of the View-Point at Ajanta. There's also a Kalidasa Smaraka nearby, still under construction. Apparently, Kalidasa lived here for some time and wrote some of his works. It was afternoon by the time I returned to Nagpur. I boarded a bus to Wardha, 80 km away. Gandhiji's ashram (Bapukuti) at Sewagram is a short distance from Wardha. Near the ashram is a Gandhi exhibition. I then returned to Nagpur.
12th January
Woke up at 4 am, packed up, checked out and reached the railway station at 5 am to board the Gorakhpur-Bangalore Express at 5:25 am. I needn't have bothered; the train was 2 hours late. I bought a magazine to kill the time. Finally the train arrived. It was the only boring part of my journney. Maybe I was fed up – it was my third train journey in 8 days. Thankfully it reached Bangalore in time the next day, at 10:30 am. Then back to Tumkur for a long sleep!
Ellora is about 35 km from Aurangabad. It's about 500 years later than Ajanta. It has Buddhist, Hindu and Jain caves spread over some 2 km. We were shown only the four most important ones: caves 10, 12, 16 and 32. Cave 10 was a Chaitya, cave 12 a Vihara, cave 16 the great Kailasa temple and cave 32 a Jain cave. The guide's explanations help you appreciate what you are seeing. Kailasa temple is truly a marvel of India, second perhaps only to the Taj. You can't believe it's carved out of a single rock. After Ellora, we visited the nearby Grihneshwara, the 12th Jyotirlinga temple. The Linga is ancient, but the outer temple was built by Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore in the 18th century. Males who enter the sanctum sanctorum have to go in topless. We finished the tour with a visit to Bibi-ka-Muqbara, tomb of Aurangzeb's wife in Aurangabad. It's modelled on the Taj Mahal. It was evening when we got back. I checked my mail, had dinner, checked out of the hotel and boarded my bus to Bombay.
9th January
I got off at Dadar, took a train to Andheri and reached Kaddi's house by 7:30 am. The poor fellow had been woken up an hour earlier by a phone call from my dad. I had my bath, packed up and left for Dadar to deposit my luggage in a locker/cloakroom while I saw more of Bombay till 3:15 pm, when my train would leave for Nagpur. At Dadar, the TT told me that cloakroom was available only in VT, now CST. In Bombay, everything has been renamed as either VJ (Veermata Jeejabai) or CS (Chhatrapati Shivaji). I sighed and boarded a train to VT, where I did find a cloakroom. But it accepted only locked luggage. So I left my suitcase (which had a lock) and took my kit (which didn't have a lock) with me. I came outside and admired the station. Right across is the Corporation HQ, another beautiful building from the British era. Took a cab to Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, now the CS Vastu Sangrahalay.
I had 90 minutes to see the museum, 30 minutes for each floor. Check out the beautiful section on Indian miniature art. From the museum it was a 30-minute walk back to VT. Along the way, I saw the Rajabai Tower (tallest tower in the city), Stock Exchange and GPO. At VT, boarded a train to Dadar. I arrived 30 minute before the Sewagram Express to Nagpur was to depart. Amitesh and Nattu were waiting for me outside our coach. We spent the journey catching up with what each of us had been upto in the last 1.5-2 years. I wasn't too sad to leave Bombay. At first sight it's quite depressing: slums, poverty, filth. Especially for someone from Bangalore. But the people are nice and helpful. Not like Delhi.
10th January
The train reached 5 minutes early, at 7:15 am. There was supposed to be a guy from the hotel to pick us up. We called up Suchit, found out where the hotel was, and took an auto. At the hotel, we bathed and left as early as we could – the wedding was at 10 am. On the way we had to get the gift packed, which took quite a long time. The baraat arrived at the hall shortly after we reached there. The wedding was over quite quickly. We had lunch there and left for the railway station, where Amitesh had to book a ticket for Ahmedabad. Then we went to our hotel. Amitesh left at 6:30 pm, Nattu left an hour later. I was left alone.
11th January
There's nothing of note to see in Nagpur. There is one fort, but it's open to the public only on January 26 and August 15. So I left for Ramtek, 50 km away. There's a Rama-Lakshmana temple there, to commemorate their stay in that place. The temple is on top of a hill; the climb reminded me of the View-Point at Ajanta. There's also a Kalidasa Smaraka nearby, still under construction. Apparently, Kalidasa lived here for some time and wrote some of his works. It was afternoon by the time I returned to Nagpur. I boarded a bus to Wardha, 80 km away. Gandhiji's ashram (Bapukuti) at Sewagram is a short distance from Wardha. Near the ashram is a Gandhi exhibition. I then returned to Nagpur.
12th January
Woke up at 4 am, packed up, checked out and reached the railway station at 5 am to board the Gorakhpur-Bangalore Express at 5:25 am. I needn't have bothered; the train was 2 hours late. I bought a magazine to kill the time. Finally the train arrived. It was the only boring part of my journney. Maybe I was fed up – it was my third train journey in 8 days. Thankfully it reached Bangalore in time the next day, at 10:30 am. Then back to Tumkur for a long sleep!
05 April 2009
Maharashtra Yatra - 1
In 2003 I had gone on a trip across Maharashtra. Here is the mail I had written describing the journey:
Yesterday morning I returned from a 5000+ km tour of Bombay, Ajanta, Ellora and Nagpur. The excuse was a friend's wedding in Nagpur (on 10th January). He was my classmate at IIT Delhi.
I left on 4th night by the Udyan Express, which takes 24 hours to reach Bombay. I enjoyed my first train journey since I came home in November 2001. The best part is after Khandala and Lonavala. The ghats are beautiful, and there are several tunnels as well. I got off at Dadar. Kaddi arrived there to pick me up. We went by train to his company flat in Andheri, which he shares with a colleague. We spent the night chatting. It was 2:30 am when we slept. He made a few calls to his friends to get the information I needed to see Bombay and go to Aurangabad.
6th January
I woke up as early as I could and left for the Gateway of India, from where I could get a boat to take me to Elephanta Island. I took a local train to Churchgate, the last stop on the Western Line. From there a cab to the Gateway. A slight delay there: the cops held me up to let Vajpayee and Anerood Jugnauth pass through first. I got off and learned to my great disappointment that Elephanta was closed on Mondays. So I took a Bombay tour instead. It was 11 am by the time bus left. The 140 km tour covered some 7-8 places. Most of them were useless, like World Trade Centre, Nehru Science Centre, Hanging Gardens and Kamala Gardens. But Aarey film city, Mahalakshmi temple, Juhu beach and ISKCON temple were better. Taraporewala Aquarium and Prince of Wales Museum are also closed on Mondays. Moral of the story: don't visit Bombay on a Monday. The bus dropped me at Dadar at 8 pm. I had dinner and boarded a bus to Aurangabad, to see Ajanta and Ellora.
7th January
Reached Aurangabad at 7 am. Very few autos were available – there was an auto strike going on. Took one to a hotel. Learnt that there had been some violence the previous day: auto drivers had pelted buses with stones. So all tours had been cancelled for that day :-( I had just 2 days to see Ajanta-Ellora. And Ellora was closed on Tuesdays (Ajanta is closed on Mondays). So I paid through my nose for a cab to take me to Ajanta, 105 km away. I left at 9 am and reached there about 2 hours later. Vehicles are not allowed near the caves. You have to park about 4 km away and board a CNG bus from there. This is to protect the cave paintings from pollution.
There are about 30 caves, all of them Buddhist, carved over a period of some 500 years, starting from the 2nd century BC. They line the outer bend of a U-shaped gorge, carved out of the rock by a river. The caves consist of both Chaityas (shrines) and Viharas (monasteries). Some of the caves have paintings, which are the main attraction of Ajanta. Most of the pictures have been ravaged over the centuries by heat, cold, dust, etc. Some have been ruined our own hands: one cave's paintings have been replaced by Hindi and Marathi grafitti. Restoration work is going on to save the few that remain. Well, it's never too late... It takes 2-3 hours to see the place. Take a flashlight with you if you are going: it'll help you see the details of the paintings in the dim caves. I then climbed to the 'View-Point', the spot from where the caves were discovered by 2 Englishmen in the 19th century. It's worth the climb!
Back to Aurangabad in the evening. I was relieved to find out that tours were on the next day. I booked a tour to Ellora and also my ticket back to Bombay.
8th January
The Ellora tour started at 9:30 am. The ITDC bus was only half-full. 50% were foreign tourists. Our first stop was Daulatabad (Devagiri) Fort. It turned out to be more interesting than I expected. It has quite a history, being associated with the Yadavas, Mohammad bin Tughlaq and Allaudin Khalji. It's an impregnable fort, with hajaar booby traps and mazes. Then we left for Ellora.
Yesterday morning I returned from a 5000+ km tour of Bombay, Ajanta, Ellora and Nagpur. The excuse was a friend's wedding in Nagpur (on 10th January). He was my classmate at IIT Delhi.
I left on 4th night by the Udyan Express, which takes 24 hours to reach Bombay. I enjoyed my first train journey since I came home in November 2001. The best part is after Khandala and Lonavala. The ghats are beautiful, and there are several tunnels as well. I got off at Dadar. Kaddi arrived there to pick me up. We went by train to his company flat in Andheri, which he shares with a colleague. We spent the night chatting. It was 2:30 am when we slept. He made a few calls to his friends to get the information I needed to see Bombay and go to Aurangabad.
6th January
I woke up as early as I could and left for the Gateway of India, from where I could get a boat to take me to Elephanta Island. I took a local train to Churchgate, the last stop on the Western Line. From there a cab to the Gateway. A slight delay there: the cops held me up to let Vajpayee and Anerood Jugnauth pass through first. I got off and learned to my great disappointment that Elephanta was closed on Mondays. So I took a Bombay tour instead. It was 11 am by the time bus left. The 140 km tour covered some 7-8 places. Most of them were useless, like World Trade Centre, Nehru Science Centre, Hanging Gardens and Kamala Gardens. But Aarey film city, Mahalakshmi temple, Juhu beach and ISKCON temple were better. Taraporewala Aquarium and Prince of Wales Museum are also closed on Mondays. Moral of the story: don't visit Bombay on a Monday. The bus dropped me at Dadar at 8 pm. I had dinner and boarded a bus to Aurangabad, to see Ajanta and Ellora.
7th January
Reached Aurangabad at 7 am. Very few autos were available – there was an auto strike going on. Took one to a hotel. Learnt that there had been some violence the previous day: auto drivers had pelted buses with stones. So all tours had been cancelled for that day :-( I had just 2 days to see Ajanta-Ellora. And Ellora was closed on Tuesdays (Ajanta is closed on Mondays). So I paid through my nose for a cab to take me to Ajanta, 105 km away. I left at 9 am and reached there about 2 hours later. Vehicles are not allowed near the caves. You have to park about 4 km away and board a CNG bus from there. This is to protect the cave paintings from pollution.
There are about 30 caves, all of them Buddhist, carved over a period of some 500 years, starting from the 2nd century BC. They line the outer bend of a U-shaped gorge, carved out of the rock by a river. The caves consist of both Chaityas (shrines) and Viharas (monasteries). Some of the caves have paintings, which are the main attraction of Ajanta. Most of the pictures have been ravaged over the centuries by heat, cold, dust, etc. Some have been ruined our own hands: one cave's paintings have been replaced by Hindi and Marathi grafitti. Restoration work is going on to save the few that remain. Well, it's never too late... It takes 2-3 hours to see the place. Take a flashlight with you if you are going: it'll help you see the details of the paintings in the dim caves. I then climbed to the 'View-Point', the spot from where the caves were discovered by 2 Englishmen in the 19th century. It's worth the climb!
Back to Aurangabad in the evening. I was relieved to find out that tours were on the next day. I booked a tour to Ellora and also my ticket back to Bombay.
8th January
The Ellora tour started at 9:30 am. The ITDC bus was only half-full. 50% were foreign tourists. Our first stop was Daulatabad (Devagiri) Fort. It turned out to be more interesting than I expected. It has quite a history, being associated with the Yadavas, Mohammad bin Tughlaq and Allaudin Khalji. It's an impregnable fort, with hajaar booby traps and mazes. Then we left for Ellora.
03 April 2009
Yegdagella Aite: Mukundoor Swamiji
Noted Kannada writer Belagere Krishna Shastri (uncle of Ravi Belagere, the editor of "Hai Bangalore") worked as a school teacher for many years in several towns and villages across Karnataka. In 1950, while working in a village in Chikmagalur district, he heard about a wandering ascetic who could perform miracles and was 140 years old. People called him Mukundoor Swamiji. Krishna Shastri soon met the Swamiji, and became his close friend and admirer. He spent a lot of time with the Swamiji, travelling with him across Hassan, Chikmagalur and Chitradurga districts. The friendship came to an end in 1968, when the Swamiji passed away.
In 1995 Krishna Shastri wrote down his memories of Mukundoor Swamiji in a book called "yEgdAgellA aite" ("yogAdalli ellA ide" or "There is everything in Yoga"). It is a remarkable book about a remarkable man. Mukundoor Swamiji comes across as a Yogi, whose child-like simplicity and jovial nature masked his philosophical and spiritual depth. He used to travel from village to village and town to town, teaching people how to live and imparting to them the timeless wisdom of our civilisation. He had a unique gift of explaining abstract philosophical concepts to the simple village folk in their own language, using examples from their everyday life. The analogies and metaphors that he used to reveal the meaning of the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita and Vedanta are simply wonderful. Swamiji used to speak in a rough rustic Kannada that is rendered verbatim (with no attempt at "correction"), enhancing the charm of the book. Krishna Shastri also describes the beauty of the Malnad region eloquently. The Swamiji's love of nature is evident in every page.
Another thing that stays with the reader is the charm, beauty, simplicity and innocence of rural and small-town Karnataka of half a century ago. Today Karnataka boasts of being home to India's IT capital. But one can't help feeling that something precious has been lost in the pursuit of this progress.
This book reminded me of two books I have heard of, but not read: Paramahamsa Yogananda's "Autobiography of a Yogi" and Swami Rama's "Living with the Himalayan Masters".
In 1995 Krishna Shastri wrote down his memories of Mukundoor Swamiji in a book called "yEgdAgellA aite" ("yogAdalli ellA ide" or "There is everything in Yoga"). It is a remarkable book about a remarkable man. Mukundoor Swamiji comes across as a Yogi, whose child-like simplicity and jovial nature masked his philosophical and spiritual depth. He used to travel from village to village and town to town, teaching people how to live and imparting to them the timeless wisdom of our civilisation. He had a unique gift of explaining abstract philosophical concepts to the simple village folk in their own language, using examples from their everyday life. The analogies and metaphors that he used to reveal the meaning of the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita and Vedanta are simply wonderful. Swamiji used to speak in a rough rustic Kannada that is rendered verbatim (with no attempt at "correction"), enhancing the charm of the book. Krishna Shastri also describes the beauty of the Malnad region eloquently. The Swamiji's love of nature is evident in every page.
Another thing that stays with the reader is the charm, beauty, simplicity and innocence of rural and small-town Karnataka of half a century ago. Today Karnataka boasts of being home to India's IT capital. But one can't help feeling that something precious has been lost in the pursuit of this progress.
This book reminded me of two books I have heard of, but not read: Paramahamsa Yogananda's "Autobiography of a Yogi" and Swami Rama's "Living with the Himalayan Masters".
02 April 2009
Karmanyevadhikaraste
mA karmaphala heturbhooh mA te sangostvakarmaNi
Your right is only to work, and never to its fruits.
Don't be motivated by the fruits of work. Nor should you be attached to inaction.
This is perhaps the most famous verse (2.47) of the Bhagavad Gita. Many people have not read the Gita, but they are familiar with this shloka.
The shloka (and the philosophy of Karma Yoga) tells us to renounce the fruits, or results, of our actions. Exactly what are these "fruits"? In a narrow sense they could be tangible gains – like a salary hike or a promotion. In a broader sense they could be the achievement of one's life's ambitions – like wealth, fame or power. These are the things people usually mean when they talk about "fruits" or "results".
There is another, more fundamental, "fruit" of action that is seldom talked about in this context: the happiness, the satisfaction and the peace of mind that one gets from work. Does "fruits of action" include these as well? Is Krishna telling us that we should renounce these also?
Imagine doing a work and saying no even to the joy that we get from it. It is one thing to do good work letting go of money, power and fame. It is another thing to do it letting go of even the happiness that it gives us. Doesn't this sound heartless? Yes, it does. Some would argue that the satisfaction and peace of mind we get from good work are an intrinsic part of that work, and should not be seen as "fruits" of work. But if we really think about it, we realise that these are also "fruits" of work, and hence should be renounced.
Which brings us to perhaps the most fundamental, the most primordial, "fruit" of work – the sense of meaning and purpose that one derives from it. Are we to renounce this as well? Yes, that is what the Bhagavad Gita is telling us. This is Karma Yoga at its most severe level: working purely for the sake of work, and not for any other reason. The work itself is its own justification, and nothing else.
This looks more like a philosophy of meaninglessness and nihilism than like a philosophy of Truth and salvation. But that is how the Path is.
durgam pathah tat kavayah vadanti
The razor's edge is difficult to walk on
Likewise the wise say the Path is hard.
(Katha Upanishad, 1.3.14)
To become a Yogi one has to look the cold truth in the face. As Dag Hammarskjold said: "Never let success hide its emptiness from you, achievement its nothingness, toil its desolation. Your duty, your reward, your destiny are here and now."
31 March 2009
RSS - Social Service
Status of the social service activities of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in the country:
1,51,979 social service projects in 73,397 places.*
*Place = city/town/village
Break-up:
Source: Annual Report, March 2009
1,51,979 social service projects in 73,397 places.*
*Place = city/town/village
Break-up:
| Field/Sector | No of Projects |
| Education | 55,206 |
| Health | 38,758 |
| Self-reliance | 11,341 |
| Social | 46,674 |
| Total | 1,51,979 |
Source: Annual Report, March 2009
29 March 2009
Robert Kaplan on Modi, Gujarat and India
Robert Kaplan's profile of Narendra Modi in The Atlantic has all the usual lies and myths about the man, the 2002 Gujarat riots and Hindu nationalism. But it also has some interesting facts and insights.
On Modi:
His machine-like efficiency, financial probity, and dynamic leadership of the government bureaucracy have made Gujarat a mecca for development, garnering more internal investment than any other state in India. Migrants, both Hindu and Muslim, from throughout India have been streaming into Gujarat to find work at its expanding factories.
He is so honest that gifts for him are regularly deposited in the state treasury – a far cry from the corruption and nepotism that are so routine in Indian government.
By all accounts, after the riots, he manically dedicated himself to development, sleeping less than four hours every night, up at 5 am to check his e-mail and read the local papers, visiting about 3000 of the 7000 villages in the state, and empowering the lowest reaches of its bureaucracy through his slogan, "Less government, more governance."
On Gujarat:
Gujarat had experienced 10.2 percent annual GDP growth since 2002. It had eight new universities. In recent years, almost half the new jobs created in India were in Gujarat. The state ranked first in poverty alleviation, first in electricity generation.
He rolled off his accomplishments: "modern roads, private railroads with double-decker containers, 50,000 km of fiber-optic networks, 2200 km of gas pipelines, 1400 km of drinking-water pipelines to 7000 villages, 24-hour uninterrupted power in rural areas, the first Indian state with private ports, a totally integrated coastal-development plan, two LNG [liquefied natural gas] terminals and two new ones coming on line."
On India:
The British, by contrast, brought tangible development, ports and railways, that created the basis for a modern state. More important, they brought the framework for parliamentary democracy that Indians, who already possessed indigenous traditions of heterodoxy and pluralism, were able to fit to their own needs. Indeed, the very Hindu pantheon, with its many gods rather than one, works toward the realisation that competing truths are what enable freedom. Thus, the British, despite all their flaws, advanced an ideal of Indian greatness. And that greatness, as enlightened Indians will tell you, is impossible to achieve without a moral component.
(And that moral component is, of course, Dharma)
On Modi:
His machine-like efficiency, financial probity, and dynamic leadership of the government bureaucracy have made Gujarat a mecca for development, garnering more internal investment than any other state in India. Migrants, both Hindu and Muslim, from throughout India have been streaming into Gujarat to find work at its expanding factories.
He is so honest that gifts for him are regularly deposited in the state treasury – a far cry from the corruption and nepotism that are so routine in Indian government.
By all accounts, after the riots, he manically dedicated himself to development, sleeping less than four hours every night, up at 5 am to check his e-mail and read the local papers, visiting about 3000 of the 7000 villages in the state, and empowering the lowest reaches of its bureaucracy through his slogan, "Less government, more governance."
On Gujarat:
Gujarat had experienced 10.2 percent annual GDP growth since 2002. It had eight new universities. In recent years, almost half the new jobs created in India were in Gujarat. The state ranked first in poverty alleviation, first in electricity generation.
He rolled off his accomplishments: "modern roads, private railroads with double-decker containers, 50,000 km of fiber-optic networks, 2200 km of gas pipelines, 1400 km of drinking-water pipelines to 7000 villages, 24-hour uninterrupted power in rural areas, the first Indian state with private ports, a totally integrated coastal-development plan, two LNG [liquefied natural gas] terminals and two new ones coming on line."
On India:
The British, by contrast, brought tangible development, ports and railways, that created the basis for a modern state. More important, they brought the framework for parliamentary democracy that Indians, who already possessed indigenous traditions of heterodoxy and pluralism, were able to fit to their own needs. Indeed, the very Hindu pantheon, with its many gods rather than one, works toward the realisation that competing truths are what enable freedom. Thus, the British, despite all their flaws, advanced an ideal of Indian greatness. And that greatness, as enlightened Indians will tell you, is impossible to achieve without a moral component.
(And that moral component is, of course, Dharma)
28 March 2009
Pratijna - The RSS Oath
This is the oath (pratijna) given in the RSS to active workers:
In the name of Almighty God and our ancestors, I hereby vow that I have become a unit of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in order to protect our sacred Hindu Dharma, Hindu culture and Hindu society and to achieve the all-round development of the Hindu nation. I will do the Sangh's work sincerely with a selfless mind and with all my body, heart and wealth. I will observe this vow all my life.
Bharat Mata ki jai.
In the name of Almighty God and our ancestors, I hereby vow that I have become a unit of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in order to protect our sacred Hindu Dharma, Hindu culture and Hindu society and to achieve the all-round development of the Hindu nation. I will do the Sangh's work sincerely with a selfless mind and with all my body, heart and wealth. I will observe this vow all my life.
Bharat Mata ki jai.
27 March 2009
Happy New Year 5111!
Today is Chaitra Shuddha Pratipada – the first day of the year in the Hindu calendar. So today is the Hindu new year day.
This is the 5111th year of the Kali Yuga, and the 1931st year of the Shalivahana/Shaka era. The name of the year (Samvatsara) is Virodhi.
If you are in Karnataka or Andhra Pradesh, happy Ugadi!
If you are in Maharashtra, happy Gudi Padwa!
To everybody else, happy new year! :-)
This is the 5111th year of the Kali Yuga, and the 1931st year of the Shalivahana/Shaka era. The name of the year (Samvatsara) is Virodhi.
If you are in Karnataka or Andhra Pradesh, happy Ugadi!
If you are in Maharashtra, happy Gudi Padwa!
To everybody else, happy new year! :-)
26 March 2009
RSS Resolutions at ABPS - 2009
The Akhila Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for 2009 that concluded recently at Nagpur adopted the following resolutions:
1. War on terror: Crush terror networks
2. Policy of religious discrimination dangerous for national integrity
3. 500th anniversary of Krishnadevaraya's coronation
Here are some excerpts:
War on terror: Crush terror networks
The ABPS condones the death of a large number of people, including senior army and police officials, in the dastardly terrorist attack on Mumbai on 26 November 2008. It extols the gallant actions of the members of our counter-terrorism agencies that led to the capture of one and elimination of the other terrorists.
The ABPS calls upon the Government to:
- Enhance the counter-terrorism capabilities of our security agencies and equip them fully with the necessary retaliatory competence so that no future terror attacks are possible.
- Enact stringent laws on the lines of POTA and MCOCA. Give assent to the anti-terror laws enacted by some states, like Gujarat and Rajasthan.
- Destroy the local support network in the form of sleeper cells and terror modules.
- Strengthen the intelligence gathering network and create a unified command for combating terror.
- Train various agencies, including media and civilian population, in counter-terrorism measures.
- Not allow political considerations to overshadow the battle against terror.
Policy of religious discrimination dangerous for national integrity
The ABPS considers it highly unfortunate that... policy makers, instead of trying to build a cohesive society on just and equitable principles, are dividing the society for narrow political benefits overlooking the grave implications for our national security and integrity.
The ABPS reiterates that preferential treatment to a section of our society on the basis of religion is against our Constitution. It is time that fair-minded Muslims and Christians come forward to oppose these policies openly.
The ABPS demands that all reservations, concessions and privileges based exclusively on religion be abolished. It urges all Indians to make the society aware of the impending dangers of such policies and exert pressure on policy makers to abandon them.
500th anniversary of Krishnadevaraya's coronation
The ABPS considers the coronation of Krishnadevaraya, the renowned emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire, in 1510 CE as a defining moment in the history of India. Krishnadevaraya ascended the throne on Magha Shukla Chaturdashi in the year 1431 of Shalivahana Shaka (24 January 1510).
The ABPS believes that celebrating the 500th anniversary of the coronation of emperor Krishnadevaraya will revive the memories of a golden phase in the history of our country and infuse pride and confidence in the minds of the people - the younger generation in particular. Hence it appeals to all Indians to organise a variety of programmes to throw light upon the glory of the Vijayanagara Empire.
The ABPS appeals to the state and central governments:
- To take immediate steps to remove all encroachments on the historical site of Hampi, the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire.
- To protect and preserve the site, with all its sacred places and monuments.
- To develop the site, which has been declared as a World Heritage Site, so that it brings back the inspiring memories of the Empire and gives a true picture of the golden period of our history to Indian and foreign visitors.
- To bring out a commemorative stamp to mark the occasion.
1. War on terror: Crush terror networks
2. Policy of religious discrimination dangerous for national integrity
3. 500th anniversary of Krishnadevaraya's coronation
Here are some excerpts:
War on terror: Crush terror networks
The ABPS condones the death of a large number of people, including senior army and police officials, in the dastardly terrorist attack on Mumbai on 26 November 2008. It extols the gallant actions of the members of our counter-terrorism agencies that led to the capture of one and elimination of the other terrorists.
The ABPS calls upon the Government to:
- Enhance the counter-terrorism capabilities of our security agencies and equip them fully with the necessary retaliatory competence so that no future terror attacks are possible.
- Enact stringent laws on the lines of POTA and MCOCA. Give assent to the anti-terror laws enacted by some states, like Gujarat and Rajasthan.
- Destroy the local support network in the form of sleeper cells and terror modules.
- Strengthen the intelligence gathering network and create a unified command for combating terror.
- Train various agencies, including media and civilian population, in counter-terrorism measures.
- Not allow political considerations to overshadow the battle against terror.
Policy of religious discrimination dangerous for national integrity
The ABPS considers it highly unfortunate that... policy makers, instead of trying to build a cohesive society on just and equitable principles, are dividing the society for narrow political benefits overlooking the grave implications for our national security and integrity.
The ABPS reiterates that preferential treatment to a section of our society on the basis of religion is against our Constitution. It is time that fair-minded Muslims and Christians come forward to oppose these policies openly.
The ABPS demands that all reservations, concessions and privileges based exclusively on religion be abolished. It urges all Indians to make the society aware of the impending dangers of such policies and exert pressure on policy makers to abandon them.
500th anniversary of Krishnadevaraya's coronation
The ABPS considers the coronation of Krishnadevaraya, the renowned emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire, in 1510 CE as a defining moment in the history of India. Krishnadevaraya ascended the throne on Magha Shukla Chaturdashi in the year 1431 of Shalivahana Shaka (24 January 1510).
The ABPS believes that celebrating the 500th anniversary of the coronation of emperor Krishnadevaraya will revive the memories of a golden phase in the history of our country and infuse pride and confidence in the minds of the people - the younger generation in particular. Hence it appeals to all Indians to organise a variety of programmes to throw light upon the glory of the Vijayanagara Empire.
The ABPS appeals to the state and central governments:
- To take immediate steps to remove all encroachments on the historical site of Hampi, the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire.
- To protect and preserve the site, with all its sacred places and monuments.
- To develop the site, which has been declared as a World Heritage Site, so that it brings back the inspiring memories of the Empire and gives a true picture of the golden period of our history to Indian and foreign visitors.
- To bring out a commemorative stamp to mark the occasion.
24 March 2009
RSS Annual Report - 2008
The annual report of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for the year 2008 was presented at the recently concluded Akhila Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha in Nagpur.
Status* of RSS activity in the country as per the report:
**Place = city/town/village
Other highlights of the report:
Obituaries
Special programs
Relief activities
State of the nation
Call to the nation
Status* of RSS activity in the country as per the report:
- 43,905 daily shakhas in 30,015 places**
- Weekly shakhas (milan) in 4964 places
- Monthly shakhas (mandali) in 4507 places
**Place = city/town/village
Other highlights of the report:
Obituaries
- Senior RSS workers
- Eminent Indians
Special programs
- Sankalp Sammelan at Sullya taluk in Karnataka
- District Sammelan at Indur - Sarkaryavah's visit
- Sarsanghachalak's visit to North Bengal
- Sarsanghachalak's visit to North Karnataka
- Sarsanghachalak's visit to Madhya Pradesh
- Swarna Bharat Sankalp at Indore
- College students' activities in Kerala
- College students camp in Jaipur province
- Boys camp in North Bengal
- Sanghatan Shaktikaran camps in Jabalpur province
- District level camps in Gujarat
- First public program by RSS in Shillong
- Tour by province-level leaders in Western Andhra
- Prarthana practice fortnight in Bilaspur
- Surya Namaskar mahayagna in Gorakhpur province
- Gramotsav in Mandu Khand of Jharkhand province
- Boys' program in Pune - Sarsanghachalak's visit
- Homage to 1857 martyrs in Jabalpur
- Brass instrument training camp at Gwalior
- Ghosh (band) camp in Konkan province
Relief activities
- 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack
- Bihar floods in August
State of the nation
- Amarnath land row and agitation
- Murder of Swami Laxmanand Saraswati
- Malegaon blast case - "Hindu terrorism"
- 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack
Call to the nation
23 March 2009
"Lead India" Winners Join BJP
The Times of India group had held a talent search-cum-reality show last year called "Lead India". The purpose was to find "new leaders" for India. R K Misra from Bangalore won the contest, while Devang Nanavati from Ahmedabad was the runner-up. R K Misra (43) is an entrepreneur and an alumnus of IIT Kanpur. Devang Nanavati (38) is a lawyer at the Gujarat High Court.
Now comes the kicker. Both Misra and Nanavati have joined the BJP. Why? Nanavati says he was "immensely influenced by BJP's political ideology for the last seven years but felt now it was the time to join the party formally and be more useful for it". Misra says "NDA's focus on development and good governance during 1998-2004 is what inspired me the most to join the party".
When "Lead India" concluded, Times of India must have been very pleased with the results. Misra and Nanavati are both young, urban, educated and successful professionals. This is India's generation X. This is the brave new India. This is both TOI's self-image and its target audience. It couldn't have asked for better spokesmen for its liberalism and secularism. And what do these nice boys do? They run and join the BJP. Yes – the communal, Hindu fundamentalist and fascist BJP. Very bad, very bad. What will happen to this country?
Now comes the kicker. Both Misra and Nanavati have joined the BJP. Why? Nanavati says he was "immensely influenced by BJP's political ideology for the last seven years but felt now it was the time to join the party formally and be more useful for it". Misra says "NDA's focus on development and good governance during 1998-2004 is what inspired me the most to join the party".
When "Lead India" concluded, Times of India must have been very pleased with the results. Misra and Nanavati are both young, urban, educated and successful professionals. This is India's generation X. This is the brave new India. This is both TOI's self-image and its target audience. It couldn't have asked for better spokesmen for its liberalism and secularism. And what do these nice boys do? They run and join the BJP. Yes – the communal, Hindu fundamentalist and fascist BJP. Very bad, very bad. What will happen to this country?
22 March 2009
Shri Mohan Bhagwat
Shri K S Sudarshan (77) has stepped down as Sarsanghachalak (chief of the RSS). He has handed over the reins to Shri Mohan Bhagwat (58), who was till now serving as Sarkaryavah (general secretary).
Mohanji is the 6th chief in the 83-year-old history of the RSS. Previous Sarsanghachalaks were:
1. Dr K B Hedgewar (1925–1940)
2. Guruji M S Golwalkar (1940–1973)
3. Balasaheb M D Deoras (1973–1994)
4. Prof Rajendra Singh (1994–2000)
5. Shri K S Sudarshan (2000–2009)
Mohanji is a veterinary doctor from Chandrapur in Maharashtra. He became a pracharak in 1975, at the age of 25. He will be succeeded as Sarkaryavah by Shri Suresh Joshi (61), aka Bhaiyaji Joshi.
This was announced at the Akhila Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS), which is underway at the RSS headquarters in Nagpur.
Mohanji is the 6th chief in the 83-year-old history of the RSS. Previous Sarsanghachalaks were:
1. Dr K B Hedgewar (1925–1940)
2. Guruji M S Golwalkar (1940–1973)
3. Balasaheb M D Deoras (1973–1994)
4. Prof Rajendra Singh (1994–2000)
5. Shri K S Sudarshan (2000–2009)
Mohanji is a veterinary doctor from Chandrapur in Maharashtra. He became a pracharak in 1975, at the age of 25. He will be succeeded as Sarkaryavah by Shri Suresh Joshi (61), aka Bhaiyaji Joshi.
This was announced at the Akhila Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS), which is underway at the RSS headquarters in Nagpur.
21 March 2009
Narendra Modi
Swapan Dasgupta on Narendra Modi (in November 2007):
The real tragedy of Modi is that his audacious bid to reshape the rules of governance and politics has been overshadowed on the national stage by an obsessive preoccupation with Hindu-Muslim issues.
Modi has presided over a period of double-digit economic growth in Gujarat. It has won him the lavish appreciation of industry and made Gujarat the most favoured destination of private investment. Yet, what has been insufficiently highlighted is that the success of Gujarat owes a great deal to Modi's success in demolishing many of the ideological obstacles to market-oriented economics. Some of his more notable successes include: statutory curbs on government fiscal profligacy; curbing wasteful expenditure through a 9 per cent cut in non-plan expenditure over five years; carrying out radical reforms in the power sector that has led to profits for the 'unbundled' power companies and ensured generous power supply to rural Gujarat; and, most important, amending the draconian Industrial Disputes Act to make labour laws in the special economic zones receptive to market conditions.
Modi has been one of India's foremost modernisers. He has transformed Gujarat into an entrepreneur-friendly state and given India a foretaste of the potential benefits that can accrue from a government committed to economic freedom. His critics are right: Modi is India's only genuine right-winger.
Ironically, Modi's difficulties have arisen from this unwavering commitment to efficiency as a principle of governance: "Minimum government and maximum governance". The political culture of India, cutting across parties, is rooted in patronage and self-gratification. In defying these pressures – an important example is resisting political interference in Gujarat's hugely successful public sector units – the chief minister has been portrayed as arrogant and insensitive to political compulsions.
Modi is an inept pragmatist. He could easily have bought peace for himself by making expedient compromises, as politicians are expected to do. In being fanatically uncompromising and, at the same time, maintaining the highest standards of personal integrity, he has shown the possibilities of an alternative approach to politics.
The real tragedy of Modi is that his audacious bid to reshape the rules of governance and politics has been overshadowed on the national stage by an obsessive preoccupation with Hindu-Muslim issues.
Modi has presided over a period of double-digit economic growth in Gujarat. It has won him the lavish appreciation of industry and made Gujarat the most favoured destination of private investment. Yet, what has been insufficiently highlighted is that the success of Gujarat owes a great deal to Modi's success in demolishing many of the ideological obstacles to market-oriented economics. Some of his more notable successes include: statutory curbs on government fiscal profligacy; curbing wasteful expenditure through a 9 per cent cut in non-plan expenditure over five years; carrying out radical reforms in the power sector that has led to profits for the 'unbundled' power companies and ensured generous power supply to rural Gujarat; and, most important, amending the draconian Industrial Disputes Act to make labour laws in the special economic zones receptive to market conditions.
Modi has been one of India's foremost modernisers. He has transformed Gujarat into an entrepreneur-friendly state and given India a foretaste of the potential benefits that can accrue from a government committed to economic freedom. His critics are right: Modi is India's only genuine right-winger.
Ironically, Modi's difficulties have arisen from this unwavering commitment to efficiency as a principle of governance: "Minimum government and maximum governance". The political culture of India, cutting across parties, is rooted in patronage and self-gratification. In defying these pressures – an important example is resisting political interference in Gujarat's hugely successful public sector units – the chief minister has been portrayed as arrogant and insensitive to political compulsions.
Modi is an inept pragmatist. He could easily have bought peace for himself by making expedient compromises, as politicians are expected to do. In being fanatically uncompromising and, at the same time, maintaining the highest standards of personal integrity, he has shown the possibilities of an alternative approach to politics.
18 March 2009
Charlie Chaplin Statue Illegal
Over the past few days, the media has been crying itself hoarse over "Hindu extremists" blocking the erection of a Charlie Chaplin statue near Udupi.
Turns out the statue is illegal.
The New Indian Express, in a report titled 'Proposed Chaplin statue flouts CRZ norms', says:
The organisers of the film, House Full, had neither applied for the licence from local gram panchayat nor moved papers to obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the department of Coastal Regulatory Zone... any permanent construction within 500 metres from the seashore amounts to violation of the CRZ norms.
Then what's the fuss all about? Storm in a teacup. Much ado over nothing. The whole thing is a non-issue. Go home and sleep, everybody.
Turns out the statue is illegal.
The New Indian Express, in a report titled 'Proposed Chaplin statue flouts CRZ norms', says:
The organisers of the film, House Full, had neither applied for the licence from local gram panchayat nor moved papers to obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the department of Coastal Regulatory Zone... any permanent construction within 500 metres from the seashore amounts to violation of the CRZ norms.
Then what's the fuss all about? Storm in a teacup. Much ado over nothing. The whole thing is a non-issue. Go home and sleep, everybody.
15 March 2009
Aurobindo's Letter to His Wife
In 1905 Aurobindo Ghosh wrote a letter to his wife Mrinalini Devi. Here are some excerpts:
I think you have understood by now that the man with whose fate yours has been linked is a man of a very unusual character. Mine is not the same field of action, the same purpose in life, the same mental attitude as that of the people of today in this country. I am in every respect different from them and out of the ordinary. Perhaps you know what ordinary men say of an extraordinary view, an extraordinary endeavour, an extraordinary ambition. To them it is madness; only, if the madman is successful in his work then he is called no longer a madman, but a great genius. But how many are successful in their life's endeavour?
Among a thousand men, there are five or six who are out of the ordinary and out of the five or six one perhaps successful. Not to speak of success, I have not yet even entirely entered my field of work. There is nothing then for you but to consider me mad.
I have three madnesses. The first one is this. I firmly believe that the accomplishments, genius, higher education and learning and wealth that God has given me are His.
My second madness has only recently seized me. It is this: by whatever means I must have the direct vision of God.
My third madness is that while others look upon their country as an inert piece of matter – a few meadows and fields, forests and hills and rivers – I look upon my country as the Mother.
Half my life has been wasted – even the beast finds fulfilment in stuffing his own belly and his family's and catering to their happiness. I have three hundred million brothers and sisters in this country. Many of them are dying of starvation and the majority just manage to live, racked by sorrow and suffering. They too must be helped.
The power of the Kshatriya is not the only one; there is also the power of the Brahmin, the power that is founded on knowledge. This feeling is not new in me, it is not of today. I was born with it, it is in my very marrow. God sent me to earth to accomplish this great mission. The seed began to sprout when I was fourteen; by the time I was eighteen the roots of the resolution had grown firm and unshakable. I do not say that the work will be accomplished during my lifetime, but it certainly will be done.
(Link courtesy Nithin)
I think you have understood by now that the man with whose fate yours has been linked is a man of a very unusual character. Mine is not the same field of action, the same purpose in life, the same mental attitude as that of the people of today in this country. I am in every respect different from them and out of the ordinary. Perhaps you know what ordinary men say of an extraordinary view, an extraordinary endeavour, an extraordinary ambition. To them it is madness; only, if the madman is successful in his work then he is called no longer a madman, but a great genius. But how many are successful in their life's endeavour?
Among a thousand men, there are five or six who are out of the ordinary and out of the five or six one perhaps successful. Not to speak of success, I have not yet even entirely entered my field of work. There is nothing then for you but to consider me mad.
I have three madnesses. The first one is this. I firmly believe that the accomplishments, genius, higher education and learning and wealth that God has given me are His.
My second madness has only recently seized me. It is this: by whatever means I must have the direct vision of God.
My third madness is that while others look upon their country as an inert piece of matter – a few meadows and fields, forests and hills and rivers – I look upon my country as the Mother.
Half my life has been wasted – even the beast finds fulfilment in stuffing his own belly and his family's and catering to their happiness. I have three hundred million brothers and sisters in this country. Many of them are dying of starvation and the majority just manage to live, racked by sorrow and suffering. They too must be helped.
The power of the Kshatriya is not the only one; there is also the power of the Brahmin, the power that is founded on knowledge. This feeling is not new in me, it is not of today. I was born with it, it is in my very marrow. God sent me to earth to accomplish this great mission. The seed began to sprout when I was fourteen; by the time I was eighteen the roots of the resolution had grown firm and unshakable. I do not say that the work will be accomplished during my lifetime, but it certainly will be done.
(Link courtesy Nithin)
14 March 2009
Right-Wing Indian Blogs
Here are some right-wing Indian blogs I have come across:
1. Offstumped by Yossarin
2. Seriously Sandeep by Sandeep
3. Satyameva Jayate by Shantanu Bhagwat
4. Varnam by Jayakrishnan Nair
Right-wing = Hindu/nationalist/conservative
1. Offstumped by Yossarin
2. Seriously Sandeep by Sandeep
3. Satyameva Jayate by Shantanu Bhagwat
4. Varnam by Jayakrishnan Nair
Right-wing = Hindu/nationalist/conservative
12 March 2009
Conversions: A Priest Confesses
From the 'New Indian Express' (12 March, 2009) – Page 1, Hubli Edition:
Fr Confesses to Lured Conversions in Churches
Express News Service
Bangalore, March 11
In a revelation that could have widespread ramifications, Father Joseph Menengis, priest of St James Church in Mariyannapalya, Bangalore, confessed before the Justice B K Somashekhara Commission of Inquiry on Wednesday that idol worship was being performed in churches to attract Hindus and convert them to Christianity.
The Commission is inquiring into the recent attacks on churches across the state. Menengis said, "Hindus believe in idol worship. So to attract them to Christianity, idol worship is performed in churches."
During cross-examination by Satishchandra, advocate appearing for Hindu organisations, the priest said that "despite idol worship being prohibited in the Bible, we have idol worship in churches."
"The duty of every Christian is to convert non-Christians to Christianity by any means", he told the Commission.
St James Church was attacked by miscreants on 21 September, 2008.
During cross-examination, the priest confessed that "no girl students, including Hindus, are permitted the use of kumkum, bangles or flowers. In our institution, we have moral science textbooks. But it does not contain texts regarding the Bible and Jesus", the priest added. The Commission has requested the priest to submit the textbook to it.
The priest has denied the allegation that St James Church had encroached upon four acres of land on Mariyannapalya and he denied the allegation that the festival conducted in June was only to attract Hindus. "I am not blaming the CM, BJP and Bajrang Dal for the attack on our church", he said.
M Mallesh, inspector of Hoskote police station, and M Giriprasad, constable of dog squad, also deposed before the Commission. During cross-examination, Giriprasad said, "After the attack on St Mary's Church in Bangarpet, Kolar district, I accompanied the dog squad. But the squad failed to give clues about the miscreants who attacked the church. It is false that while inspecting the spot, the dog stopped at the house of a Congress leader from Kolar", Giriprasad said. The Commission has adjourned the hearing to March 12.
Note:
1. As far as I know, no other English newspaper has carried this story. 'The Hindu' has this: "Dog did not lead to Congress office".
2. Even the 'New Indian Express' has not carried this story on its website. That is why I have reproduced the entire article here.
Fr Confesses to Lured Conversions in Churches
Express News Service
Bangalore, March 11
In a revelation that could have widespread ramifications, Father Joseph Menengis, priest of St James Church in Mariyannapalya, Bangalore, confessed before the Justice B K Somashekhara Commission of Inquiry on Wednesday that idol worship was being performed in churches to attract Hindus and convert them to Christianity.
The Commission is inquiring into the recent attacks on churches across the state. Menengis said, "Hindus believe in idol worship. So to attract them to Christianity, idol worship is performed in churches."
During cross-examination by Satishchandra, advocate appearing for Hindu organisations, the priest said that "despite idol worship being prohibited in the Bible, we have idol worship in churches."
"The duty of every Christian is to convert non-Christians to Christianity by any means", he told the Commission.
St James Church was attacked by miscreants on 21 September, 2008.
During cross-examination, the priest confessed that "no girl students, including Hindus, are permitted the use of kumkum, bangles or flowers. In our institution, we have moral science textbooks. But it does not contain texts regarding the Bible and Jesus", the priest added. The Commission has requested the priest to submit the textbook to it.
The priest has denied the allegation that St James Church had encroached upon four acres of land on Mariyannapalya and he denied the allegation that the festival conducted in June was only to attract Hindus. "I am not blaming the CM, BJP and Bajrang Dal for the attack on our church", he said.
M Mallesh, inspector of Hoskote police station, and M Giriprasad, constable of dog squad, also deposed before the Commission. During cross-examination, Giriprasad said, "After the attack on St Mary's Church in Bangarpet, Kolar district, I accompanied the dog squad. But the squad failed to give clues about the miscreants who attacked the church. It is false that while inspecting the spot, the dog stopped at the house of a Congress leader from Kolar", Giriprasad said. The Commission has adjourned the hearing to March 12.
Note:
1. As far as I know, no other English newspaper has carried this story. 'The Hindu' has this: "Dog did not lead to Congress office".
2. Even the 'New Indian Express' has not carried this story on its website. That is why I have reproduced the entire article here.
08 March 2009
DESTINY
"Accept your destiny and go ahead with your life.
You are not destined to become an Air Force pilot.
What you are destined to become is not revealed now but it is predetermined.
Forget this failure, as it was essential to lead you to your destined path.
Search, instead, for the true purpose of your existence.
Become one with yourself, my son! Surrender yourself to the wish of God."
– Swami Sivananda to Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen (in 1958 at Rishikesh)
You are not destined to become an Air Force pilot.
What you are destined to become is not revealed now but it is predetermined.
Forget this failure, as it was essential to lead you to your destined path.
Search, instead, for the true purpose of your existence.
Become one with yourself, my son! Surrender yourself to the wish of God."
– Swami Sivananda to Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen (in 1958 at Rishikesh)
06 March 2009
ಮಾತೆ ಪೂಜಕ ನಾನು ಎನ್ನಯ
My all-time favourite song...
ಮಾತೆ ಪೂಜಕ ನಾನು ಎನ್ನಯ ಶಿರವನಿಡುವೆನು ಅಡಿಯಲಿ
ನಿನ್ನ ಕೀರ್ತಿಯು ಜಗದಿ ಮೆರೆಯಲಿ ಒಂದೇ ಆಸೆಯು ಮನದಲಿ ||ಪ||
ಎಡರು ತೊಡರುಗಳೆಲ್ಲ ತುಳಿಯುತ ಮುಂದೆ ನುಗ್ಗುವೆ ಭರದಲಿ
ನಿನ್ನ ನಾಮ ನಿನಾದವಾಗಲಿ ಶ್ರಮಿಪೆ ನಾ ಪ್ರತಿ ಕ್ಷಣದಲಿ
ನಿನ್ನ ಗೌರವಕೆದುರು ಬರುವ ಬಲವ ಮುರಿವೆನು ಛಲದಲಿ
ಜಗದ ಜನನಿ ಭಾರತ ಇದ ಕೇಳಿ ನಲಿಯುವೆ ಮನದಲಿ
ನಗುವ ನಲಿಯುವ ನಿನ್ನ ವದನವ ನೋಡಿ ನಲಿವುದು ಎನ್ನೆದೆ
ನಿನ್ನ ದುಃಖಿತ ವದನ ವೀಕ್ಷಿಸೆ ಸಿಡಿವುದೆನ್ನಯ ಹೃದಯವು
ನಿನ್ನ ಮುಖದಲಿ ಗೆಲುವು ತರಲು ನೀರು ಗೈಯುವೆ ರಕ್ತವ
ಎನ್ನ ಕಣಕಣ ತೇದು ಬಸಿಯುವೆ ಪೂರ್ಣ ಜೀವನಶಕ್ತಿಯ
ನಿನ್ನ ತೇಜವ ಜಗವು ನೋಡಲಿ ಉರಿವೆ ದೀಪದ ತೆರದಲಿ
ಎನ್ನ ಶಕ್ತಿಯ ಘೃತವ ಸತತವು ಎರೆಯುತಿರುವೆನು ಭರದಲಿ
ಮಾತೃಮಂದಿರ ಬೆಳಗುತಿರಲಿ ನಾನೇ ನಂದಾ ದೀವಿಗೆ
ಬತ್ತಿ ತೆರದೀ ದೇಹ ಉರಿಯಲಿ ಸಾರ್ಥಕತೆ ಈ ಬಾಳಿಗೆ
ರುದ್ರನಾಗಿ ವಿರೋಧಿ ವಿಷವನು ಭರದಿ ನಾನದ ನುಂಗುವೆ
ಜಗವ ಮೆಚ್ಚಿಸಿ ಅದರ ಹೃದಯವ ನಿನ್ನೆಡೆಗೆ ನಾ ಸೆಳೆಯುವೆ
ಸೃಜಿಪೆ ಜಗದಲಿ ನಿನ್ನ ಪೂಜಿಪ ಕೋಟಿ ಕೋಟಿ ಭಕ್ತರ
ಕೀರ್ತಿ ಶಿಖರದಿ ಮಾತೆ ಮಂಡಿಸು ಅರ್ಪಿಸುವೆ ನಾ ಸರ್ವವಾ
ಮಾತೆ ಪೂಜಕ ನಾನು ಎನ್ನಯ ಶಿರವನಿಡುವೆನು ಅಡಿಯಲಿ
ನಿನ್ನ ಕೀರ್ತಿಯು ಜಗದಿ ಮೆರೆಯಲಿ ಒಂದೇ ಆಸೆಯು ಮನದಲಿ ||ಪ||
ಎಡರು ತೊಡರುಗಳೆಲ್ಲ ತುಳಿಯುತ ಮುಂದೆ ನುಗ್ಗುವೆ ಭರದಲಿ
ನಿನ್ನ ನಾಮ ನಿನಾದವಾಗಲಿ ಶ್ರಮಿಪೆ ನಾ ಪ್ರತಿ ಕ್ಷಣದಲಿ
ನಿನ್ನ ಗೌರವಕೆದುರು ಬರುವ ಬಲವ ಮುರಿವೆನು ಛಲದಲಿ
ಜಗದ ಜನನಿ ಭಾರತ ಇದ ಕೇಳಿ ನಲಿಯುವೆ ಮನದಲಿ
ನಗುವ ನಲಿಯುವ ನಿನ್ನ ವದನವ ನೋಡಿ ನಲಿವುದು ಎನ್ನೆದೆ
ನಿನ್ನ ದುಃಖಿತ ವದನ ವೀಕ್ಷಿಸೆ ಸಿಡಿವುದೆನ್ನಯ ಹೃದಯವು
ನಿನ್ನ ಮುಖದಲಿ ಗೆಲುವು ತರಲು ನೀರು ಗೈಯುವೆ ರಕ್ತವ
ಎನ್ನ ಕಣಕಣ ತೇದು ಬಸಿಯುವೆ ಪೂರ್ಣ ಜೀವನಶಕ್ತಿಯ
ನಿನ್ನ ತೇಜವ ಜಗವು ನೋಡಲಿ ಉರಿವೆ ದೀಪದ ತೆರದಲಿ
ಎನ್ನ ಶಕ್ತಿಯ ಘೃತವ ಸತತವು ಎರೆಯುತಿರುವೆನು ಭರದಲಿ
ಮಾತೃಮಂದಿರ ಬೆಳಗುತಿರಲಿ ನಾನೇ ನಂದಾ ದೀವಿಗೆ
ಬತ್ತಿ ತೆರದೀ ದೇಹ ಉರಿಯಲಿ ಸಾರ್ಥಕತೆ ಈ ಬಾಳಿಗೆ
ರುದ್ರನಾಗಿ ವಿರೋಧಿ ವಿಷವನು ಭರದಿ ನಾನದ ನುಂಗುವೆ
ಜಗವ ಮೆಚ್ಚಿಸಿ ಅದರ ಹೃದಯವ ನಿನ್ನೆಡೆಗೆ ನಾ ಸೆಳೆಯುವೆ
ಸೃಜಿಪೆ ಜಗದಲಿ ನಿನ್ನ ಪೂಜಿಪ ಕೋಟಿ ಕೋಟಿ ಭಕ್ತರ
ಕೀರ್ತಿ ಶಿಖರದಿ ಮಾತೆ ಮಂಡಿಸು ಅರ್ಪಿಸುವೆ ನಾ ಸರ್ವವಾ
27 February 2009
The Spirit of India
'India Today' magazine once ran a series of promos with India as the theme. The first in the series was a beautiful poem on (what I would call) the spirit of India. If memory serves me right it went like this:
In India, to be a complete man, you have to be half a woman.
Opposites are complimentary, not contradictory.
Softness is not weakness. Logic does not conquer love.
Giving is as important as receiving.
And death is merely the beginning of another life...
India has always had a grasp of the immutable Truth.
An all-embracing view of life.
A wisdom that recognises the oneness of man and his universe.
Values that speak not just of a glorious past,
But are also the foundation of an equally resplendent future.
Which, by the way, are one and the same.
In India, to be a complete man, you have to be half a woman.
Opposites are complimentary, not contradictory.
Softness is not weakness. Logic does not conquer love.
Giving is as important as receiving.
And death is merely the beginning of another life...
India has always had a grasp of the immutable Truth.
An all-embracing view of life.
A wisdom that recognises the oneness of man and his universe.
Values that speak not just of a glorious past,
But are also the foundation of an equally resplendent future.
Which, by the way, are one and the same.
14 February 2009
Mission: India Superpower
The RSS's mission is to make India a superpower. This sentiment is beautifully expressed in these lines:
Hum ne use diya tha
Samskrutik uccha simhasan
Maa jis par baiti sukh se
Karti thi jag ka shaasan.
Ab kaal chakra ki gati se
Wah toot gaya simhasan
Apna tan man dhan de kar
Hum kare punah samsthapan.
(From the song "Hum kare rashtra aradhan".)
Hum ne use diya tha
Samskrutik uccha simhasan
Maa jis par baiti sukh se
Karti thi jag ka shaasan.
Ab kaal chakra ki gati se
Wah toot gaya simhasan
Apna tan man dhan de kar
Hum kare punah samsthapan.
(From the song "Hum kare rashtra aradhan".)
09 February 2009
Hindu Nationalism and Economic Freedom
I had suggested that Hindu nationalism and economic freedom are (or should be) the two key components of right-wing Indian politics. The first provides the political-cultural agenda, while the second provides the economic agenda. What is the nature of the relationship between the two? Is it just a marriage of convenience between the alternatives to the Nehruvian system (secularism + socialism)? Or is there a more natural and harmonious relationship?
If there is one value that Hinduism has stood for in its 5000 years of history, it is freedom. Freedom of thought, freedom of belief, freedom of practice and freedom of worship. This freedom was not confined to religion and philosophy. Hinduism being a holistic way of life, this central value of freedom permeated other spheres of human activity as well – including politics and economics. True, the political and economic freedom enjoyed by people in ancient India was very limited by today's standards. But it was the best that could be achieved in the monarchical state of the agricultural era.
Freedom is a central Hindu value. And freedom includes not just political freedom, but also economic freedom. So Hindu nationalism (Hindutva) and economic freedom are perfectly consistent with each other. The two are complimentary ideologies/doctrines. Together they form what should be the core of right-wing politics in India.
Right-wing = Hindu/nationalist/conservative
If there is one value that Hinduism has stood for in its 5000 years of history, it is freedom. Freedom of thought, freedom of belief, freedom of practice and freedom of worship. This freedom was not confined to religion and philosophy. Hinduism being a holistic way of life, this central value of freedom permeated other spheres of human activity as well – including politics and economics. True, the political and economic freedom enjoyed by people in ancient India was very limited by today's standards. But it was the best that could be achieved in the monarchical state of the agricultural era.
Freedom is a central Hindu value. And freedom includes not just political freedom, but also economic freedom. So Hindu nationalism (Hindutva) and economic freedom are perfectly consistent with each other. The two are complimentary ideologies/doctrines. Together they form what should be the core of right-wing politics in India.
Right-wing = Hindu/nationalist/conservative
08 February 2009
Rise of the Indian Right
In 1947 India became free after a thousand years of foreign rule and slavery. It was a golden moment, and an opportunity to reclaim our lost genius and resume our civilisational mission. But it was not to be. Jawaharlal Nehru, our first Prime Minister, was an Indian only in name. Mentally, culturally and intellectually he was a Westerner. So instead of building a modern nation on the foundations of our ancient civilisation, he foisted two alien ideologies on us: socialism and secularism.
Socialism and Nehruvian secularism were the two great frauds perpetrated on Independent India. Socialism denied us our economic freedom, shackled our entrepreneurial energy, and kept us poor. Nehruvian secularism completely disregarded Hinduism's tolerance and universality, deprived Indian nationalism of its positive content, and gradually degenerated into pseudo-secularism (anti-Hinduism).
It took us more than four decades to even begin to get rid of these two plagues. Two cataclysmic events (in two consecutive years) struck decisive blows against the great Nehruvian consensus. The first blow, against Nehruvian secularism, was the rise of Hindu nationalism – expressed in the Ayodhya movement of 1990. The second blow, against socialism, was the economic reforms of 1991. The Ayodhya movement of the late 1980s reached its climax in 1990 with L K Advani's rath yatra. The movement – and the response to it – marked the awakening of a nation. Indians became aware of their identity and proud of their history, culture and heritage.
Together these two events signalled India's shift to the right: the first one politically, and the second one economically. Note that these two developments are independent of the fluctuating political fortunes of the BJP. The BJP will continue to win some elections, and lose some others. But Hindu nationalism and economic freedom are here to stay. Victor Hugo said, "The invasion of an army can be resisted, but not that of an idea whose time has come." Hindutva and economic freedom are ideas whose time has come.
Achin Vanaik wrote an insightful article in 2001 on the rise of the Indian Right. Though it is a Leftist critique, it is still worth reading.
Socialism and Nehruvian secularism were the two great frauds perpetrated on Independent India. Socialism denied us our economic freedom, shackled our entrepreneurial energy, and kept us poor. Nehruvian secularism completely disregarded Hinduism's tolerance and universality, deprived Indian nationalism of its positive content, and gradually degenerated into pseudo-secularism (anti-Hinduism).
It took us more than four decades to even begin to get rid of these two plagues. Two cataclysmic events (in two consecutive years) struck decisive blows against the great Nehruvian consensus. The first blow, against Nehruvian secularism, was the rise of Hindu nationalism – expressed in the Ayodhya movement of 1990. The second blow, against socialism, was the economic reforms of 1991. The Ayodhya movement of the late 1980s reached its climax in 1990 with L K Advani's rath yatra. The movement – and the response to it – marked the awakening of a nation. Indians became aware of their identity and proud of their history, culture and heritage.
Together these two events signalled India's shift to the right: the first one politically, and the second one economically. Note that these two developments are independent of the fluctuating political fortunes of the BJP. The BJP will continue to win some elections, and lose some others. But Hindu nationalism and economic freedom are here to stay. Victor Hugo said, "The invasion of an army can be resisted, but not that of an idea whose time has come." Hindutva and economic freedom are ideas whose time has come.
Achin Vanaik wrote an insightful article in 2001 on the rise of the Indian Right. Though it is a Leftist critique, it is still worth reading.
07 February 2009
RSS Pracharak
Job description of an RSS pracharak ~
Work:
1. Start new shakhas
2. Improve existing shakhas
3. Bring new people to shakhas
4. Spread RSS's ideology (nationalism)
Salary: Rs Zero
Facilities:
1. Food, clothing, shelter
2. Basic expenses (soap, paste, etc)
3. Travel expenses (bus, train, etc)
Location: Anywhere in India
Duration: As long as you wish
Marital status: Single
(There are currently 2000 RSS pracharaks all over the country)
Pracharak = full-time worker with more than one year's experience
Vistarak = full-time worker with less than one year's experience
Work:
1. Start new shakhas
2. Improve existing shakhas
3. Bring new people to shakhas
4. Spread RSS's ideology (nationalism)
Salary: Rs Zero
Facilities:
1. Food, clothing, shelter
2. Basic expenses (soap, paste, etc)
3. Travel expenses (bus, train, etc)
Location: Anywhere in India
Duration: As long as you wish
Marital status: Single
(There are currently 2000 RSS pracharaks all over the country)
Pracharak = full-time worker with more than one year's experience
Vistarak = full-time worker with less than one year's experience
05 February 2009
Dr Shivakumar Swamiji
Siddaganga Mutt is a religious institution near Tumkur. Here 8000 children from poor families are fed, clothed, sheltered and educated (all free of cost). These children come from all religions, castes and languages. The Mutt also runs 130 schools and colleges in Karnataka.
The man behind this modern-day miracle is Dr Shivakumar Swamiji. Swamiji became head of the Mutt in 1930. Since then his life has been a saga of struggle, sacrifice and service. Through education he has helped to lift lakhs of people out of poverty in Karnataka (my father is one of them). A silent revolution indeed.
Today Swamiji is 101 years young and still going strong. He is the embodiment of Basavanna's teachings: kAyakavE kailAsa (work is worship) and dayavE dharmakke moolavayya (the source of Dharma is compassion). Saint, scholar and servant of humanity – my humble salutations to this great soul.
The man behind this modern-day miracle is Dr Shivakumar Swamiji. Swamiji became head of the Mutt in 1930. Since then his life has been a saga of struggle, sacrifice and service. Through education he has helped to lift lakhs of people out of poverty in Karnataka (my father is one of them). A silent revolution indeed.
Today Swamiji is 101 years young and still going strong. He is the embodiment of Basavanna's teachings: kAyakavE kailAsa (work is worship) and dayavE dharmakke moolavayya (the source of Dharma is compassion). Saint, scholar and servant of humanity – my humble salutations to this great soul.
04 February 2009
NDTV and Freedom of Speech
On 27 November 2008 an amateur blogger named Chyetanya Kunte wrote a post criticising NDTV anchor Barkha Dutt for her coverage of the Bombay terrorist attacks. The post later disappeared from the blog. On 26 January 2009 an unconditional apology to Barkha Dutt and NDTV appeared on the blog.
What happened? Did NDTV threaten Chyetanya Kunte with legal action? If the matter had gone to court I think the blogger would have won. But the last thing an 'aam aadmi' wants is a long and expensive law suit. So he did what he thought was best for him and his family (he is married with two kids).
Does this look like a case of arm-twisting and goondagiri? Did NDTV resort to the same tactics it accuses far-right groups of using? This is the channel that lectures the Right on freedom of speech.
I am reproducing in full Chyetanya Kunte's original blog post:
(No, I don't have written permission from him. But I doubt if he is in a position to give such a permission; so I'll go ahead anyway.)
Shoddy Journalism
Appalling journalism. Absolute blasphemy! As I watch the news from home, I am dumbfounded to see Barkha Dutt of NDTV break every rule of ethical journalism in reporting the Mumbai mayhem. Take a couple of instances for example:
In one instance she asks a husband about his wife being stuck, or held as a hostage. The poor guy adds in the end about where she was last hiding. Aired! My dear friends with AK-47s, our national news is helping you. Go get those still in. And be sure to thank NDTV for not censoring this bit of information.
In another instance, a General sort of suggests that there were no hostages in Oberoi Trident. (Clever) Then, our heroine of revelations calls the head of Oberoi, and the idiot confirms a possibility of 100 or more people still in the building. Hello! Guys with guns, you've got more goats to slay. But before you do, you've got to love NDTV and more precisely Ms Dutt. She's your official intelligence from ground zero.
You do not need to be a journalist to understand the basic premise of ethics, which starts with protecting victims first; and that is done by avoiding key information from being aired publicly — such as but not limited to revealing the number of possible people still in, the hideouts of hostages and people stuck in buildings.
Imagine you're one of those sorry souls holed-up in one of those bathrooms, or kitchens. A journalist pulls your kin outside and asks about your last contact on national television, and other prying details. In a bout of emotion, if they happen to reveal more details, you are sure going to hell. Remember these are hotels, where in all likelihood, every room has a television. All a terrorist needs to do is listen to Ms Barkha Dutt's latest achievement of extracting information from your relative, based on your last phone-call or SMS. And you're shafted — courtesy NDTV*. If the terrorists don't manage to shove you in to your private hell, the journalists on national television will certainly help you get there. One of the criticisms about Barkha Dutt on Wikipedia reads thus:
During the Kargil conflict, Indian Army sources repeatedly complained to her channel that she was giving away locations in her broadcasts, thus causing Indian casualties.
Looks like the idiot journalist has not learned anything since then. I join a number of bloggers pleading her to shut the f••• up.
Update: In fact, I am willing to believe that Hemant Karkare died because these channels showed him prepare (wear helmet, wear bullet-proof vest) in excruciating detail live on television. And they in turn targeted him where he was unprotected. The brave officer succumbed to bullets in the neck.
Update 2 [28.Nov.2300hrs]: Better sense appears to have prevailed in the latter half of today — either willfully, or by Government coercion**, and live broadcasts are now being limited to non-action zones. Telecast of action troops and strategy is now not being aired live. Thank goodness for that.
Update 3 [30.Nov.1900hrs]: DNA India reports about a UK couple asking media to report carefully:
The terrorists were watching CNN and they came down from where they were in a lift after hearing about us on TV. — Lynne Shaw in an interview.
*Oh, they have a lame excuse pronouncing that the television connections in the hotel has been cut, and therefore it is okay to broadcast. Like hell!
**I'm thinking coercion, since Government has just denied renewing CNN's rights to air video today; must've have surely worked as a rude warning to the Indian domestic channels.
What happened? Did NDTV threaten Chyetanya Kunte with legal action? If the matter had gone to court I think the blogger would have won. But the last thing an 'aam aadmi' wants is a long and expensive law suit. So he did what he thought was best for him and his family (he is married with two kids).
Does this look like a case of arm-twisting and goondagiri? Did NDTV resort to the same tactics it accuses far-right groups of using? This is the channel that lectures the Right on freedom of speech.
I am reproducing in full Chyetanya Kunte's original blog post:
(No, I don't have written permission from him. But I doubt if he is in a position to give such a permission; so I'll go ahead anyway.)
Shoddy Journalism
Appalling journalism. Absolute blasphemy! As I watch the news from home, I am dumbfounded to see Barkha Dutt of NDTV break every rule of ethical journalism in reporting the Mumbai mayhem. Take a couple of instances for example:
In one instance she asks a husband about his wife being stuck, or held as a hostage. The poor guy adds in the end about where she was last hiding. Aired! My dear friends with AK-47s, our national news is helping you. Go get those still in. And be sure to thank NDTV for not censoring this bit of information.
In another instance, a General sort of suggests that there were no hostages in Oberoi Trident. (Clever) Then, our heroine of revelations calls the head of Oberoi, and the idiot confirms a possibility of 100 or more people still in the building. Hello! Guys with guns, you've got more goats to slay. But before you do, you've got to love NDTV and more precisely Ms Dutt. She's your official intelligence from ground zero.
You do not need to be a journalist to understand the basic premise of ethics, which starts with protecting victims first; and that is done by avoiding key information from being aired publicly — such as but not limited to revealing the number of possible people still in, the hideouts of hostages and people stuck in buildings.
Imagine you're one of those sorry souls holed-up in one of those bathrooms, or kitchens. A journalist pulls your kin outside and asks about your last contact on national television, and other prying details. In a bout of emotion, if they happen to reveal more details, you are sure going to hell. Remember these are hotels, where in all likelihood, every room has a television. All a terrorist needs to do is listen to Ms Barkha Dutt's latest achievement of extracting information from your relative, based on your last phone-call or SMS. And you're shafted — courtesy NDTV*. If the terrorists don't manage to shove you in to your private hell, the journalists on national television will certainly help you get there. One of the criticisms about Barkha Dutt on Wikipedia reads thus:
During the Kargil conflict, Indian Army sources repeatedly complained to her channel that she was giving away locations in her broadcasts, thus causing Indian casualties.
Looks like the idiot journalist has not learned anything since then. I join a number of bloggers pleading her to shut the f••• up.
Update: In fact, I am willing to believe that Hemant Karkare died because these channels showed him prepare (wear helmet, wear bullet-proof vest) in excruciating detail live on television. And they in turn targeted him where he was unprotected. The brave officer succumbed to bullets in the neck.
Update 2 [28.Nov.2300hrs]: Better sense appears to have prevailed in the latter half of today — either willfully, or by Government coercion**, and live broadcasts are now being limited to non-action zones. Telecast of action troops and strategy is now not being aired live. Thank goodness for that.
Update 3 [30.Nov.1900hrs]: DNA India reports about a UK couple asking media to report carefully:
The terrorists were watching CNN and they came down from where they were in a lift after hearing about us on TV. — Lynne Shaw in an interview.
*Oh, they have a lame excuse pronouncing that the television connections in the hotel has been cut, and therefore it is okay to broadcast. Like hell!
**I'm thinking coercion, since Government has just denied renewing CNN's rights to air video today; must've have surely worked as a rude warning to the Indian domestic channels.
03 February 2009
Right-Wing Commentators (contd)
I had once ranted about the paucity of right-wing commentators in India. In America also the mainstream media (MSM) is predominantly liberal. But they try to do a balancing act (or assuage their guilty conscience) by regularly giving some space to the opposing/conservative viewpoint. New York Times and Washington Post – the two most prominent (and liberal) newspapers in America – have a tradition of featuring a couple of conservative columnists. The New York Times has David Brooks and William Kristol, while the Washington Post has Robert Novak and Charles Krauthammer.
It looks like the Times of India – India's #1 liberal-secular newspaper – was trying to emulate its American cousins when it hired Swapan Dasgupta and Tarun Vijay.
It looks like the Times of India – India's #1 liberal-secular newspaper – was trying to emulate its American cousins when it hired Swapan Dasgupta and Tarun Vijay.
28 January 2009
Debating Hindutva
3 Indian Take readers have voted that Hindutva is a communal ideology in this month's poll. I invite these 3 readers (and others also) to send me any questions/doubts/queries they have about Hindutva. If you don't have any questions you can jot down your points on "Why Hindutva is a communal ideology" and send them to me. You can either e-mail me or put them up as comments to this post. If you don't want to reveal your name you can put up anonymous comments.
I will try to answer the questions and criticisms to the best of my ability. I want this blog to be a forum for discussing and debating Hindutva; I don't want it to become a one-way street.
I will try to answer the questions and criticisms to the best of my ability. I want this blog to be a forum for discussing and debating Hindutva; I don't want it to become a one-way street.
23 January 2009
Obama, Vajpayee, Leadership
Barack Hussein Obama never ceases to amaze me. Just when I think I have seen the best of him, he goes one better. In the last two years I have read almost every major speech of his. Each time I have felt the same admiration and respect. His inaugural address on January 20th was a classic. The speech was vintage Obama – the breadth of vision, the deep understanding of his country's history and traditions, the lofty ideals, the clear spelling out of today's challenges, and the inspiring call to his countrymen to face them bravely. This was a true leader talking to his people.
As I read the speech I felt happy for America, and a little sad for my own country. I couldn't help wondering: When was the last time an Indian politician spoke like this? In the Indian context I have heard such noble ideas and sentiments being expressed only in the lectures (bouddhiks) given by senior RSS leaders. Has even a single Indian politician given a single speech like this? The only example I can think of is Atal Behari Vajpayee's 'Musings from Kumarakom' in 2001. It was not a speech but an article (part one and part two). And though it did not have Obama's soaring rhetoric, it was inspiring in its own way.
As I read the speech I felt happy for America, and a little sad for my own country. I couldn't help wondering: When was the last time an Indian politician spoke like this? In the Indian context I have heard such noble ideas and sentiments being expressed only in the lectures (bouddhiks) given by senior RSS leaders. Has even a single Indian politician given a single speech like this? The only example I can think of is Atal Behari Vajpayee's 'Musings from Kumarakom' in 2001. It was not a speech but an article (part one and part two). And though it did not have Obama's soaring rhetoric, it was inspiring in its own way.
22 January 2009
A Right-Wing Revolution
In May 2007 Jonathan Chait wrote a brilliant article titled The Left's New Machine. It was about America's liberal bloggers (the netroots), and how they changed their country's politics.
Excerpt:
Conservatives have crowed for years that they have "won the war of ideas". More often than not, such boasts include a citation of Richard Weaver's famous dictum "Ideas have consequences". A war of ideas, though, is not an intellectual process; it is a political process. As my colleague Leon Wieseltier has written, "If you are chiefly interested in the consequences, then you are not chiefly interested in the ideas." The netroots, like most of the conservative movement, is interested in the consequences, not the ideas. The battle is being joined at last.
As we have seen, the netroots movement has climaxed with the election of Barack Obama. The liberal revolution has culminated in the establishment of a new liberal order.
In India the situation is exactly the reverse of America. Here the Left is the establishment, and the Right is the underdog. Can we hope for something similar (to the netroots movement) to happen here? Can the Indian Right take a leaf out of the American Left's notebook? Can we have a right-wing revolution in India?
*Right-wing = Hindu/nationalist/conservative
Excerpt:
Conservatives have crowed for years that they have "won the war of ideas". More often than not, such boasts include a citation of Richard Weaver's famous dictum "Ideas have consequences". A war of ideas, though, is not an intellectual process; it is a political process. As my colleague Leon Wieseltier has written, "If you are chiefly interested in the consequences, then you are not chiefly interested in the ideas." The netroots, like most of the conservative movement, is interested in the consequences, not the ideas. The battle is being joined at last.
As we have seen, the netroots movement has climaxed with the election of Barack Obama. The liberal revolution has culminated in the establishment of a new liberal order.
In India the situation is exactly the reverse of America. Here the Left is the establishment, and the Right is the underdog. Can we hope for something similar (to the netroots movement) to happen here? Can the Indian Right take a leaf out of the American Left's notebook? Can we have a right-wing revolution in India?
*Right-wing = Hindu/nationalist/conservative
20 January 2009
The Right-Wing Movement
In May 2007 Swapan Dasgupta wrote an insightful article about the state of the right-wing movement in India. What he said is relevant even today:
"After it first tasted power at the Centre in 1998, the BJP leadership went out of its way to acquire social respectability and shed its outlander status. Dispelling all fears of India being turned into a Hindu fascist state, the Vajpayee Government moulded itself as a conventional Right-of-centre regime.
Looking back, the NDA Government's tenure was marked by many missed opportunities. To my mind, two are particularly glaring. First, in focussing on the co-option of an establishment that had been nurtured by the Congress over five decades, the BJP lost sight of the need to craft a counter-establishment.
Second, in attempting to forge an elusive consensus, the BJP proved incapable of grasping the simple truth that compromises were being made by only one side. The BJP owed its spectacular growth after 1989 to its willingness to question the fundamentals of the great Nehruvian consensus. When it abandoned this combativeness for short-term respectability, it lost momentum.
In the process, the project of evolving a robust, intellectually vibrant Right-wing tradition also fell by the wayside. The Indian Right still awaits its moment."
"After it first tasted power at the Centre in 1998, the BJP leadership went out of its way to acquire social respectability and shed its outlander status. Dispelling all fears of India being turned into a Hindu fascist state, the Vajpayee Government moulded itself as a conventional Right-of-centre regime.
Looking back, the NDA Government's tenure was marked by many missed opportunities. To my mind, two are particularly glaring. First, in focussing on the co-option of an establishment that had been nurtured by the Congress over five decades, the BJP lost sight of the need to craft a counter-establishment.
Second, in attempting to forge an elusive consensus, the BJP proved incapable of grasping the simple truth that compromises were being made by only one side. The BJP owed its spectacular growth after 1989 to its willingness to question the fundamentals of the great Nehruvian consensus. When it abandoned this combativeness for short-term respectability, it lost momentum.
In the process, the project of evolving a robust, intellectually vibrant Right-wing tradition also fell by the wayside. The Indian Right still awaits its moment."
17 January 2009
The New Indian Order
By Tarun Vijay:
"The creators of a new Indian order will certainly do it better. Have power, will win. That's the key to success. India is struggling hard, is bleeding and yet showing winner's traits. This inner strength is essentially the civilisational gift, which runs into our veins. Call it Hindu or anything else. It is the defining life force of all of us. Eliminating terrorism ruthlessly, recapturing land lost to the enemy neighbours, rejuvenating the economy and infusing new blood into our educational and agricultural sectors are the new markers of our unstoppable journey to power-peak.
"I see clearly a rise of the intense Hindu values once the present young generation takes over. To me, the Hindu Right remains the last hope and an instrument to revive the glory and the wonder of India. And we know, the best and the brightest still are found in the various folds and facets of this segment, if we can train our eyes to look beyond the political organisational framework.
"If those who qualify from IITs and IIMs leave their lucrative options abroad to join RSS work in Meghalaya or Port Blair, then we still have hopes for India's rejuvenation. If the youngest force on this earth finds a suitable job to work for scheduled castes and tribes as RSS pracharaks, then no power on this earth can stop the ongoing march of the people who believe in the good of all sans borders of faith, caste or creed.
"The most delighting factor of a new Indian order is the young faces in the camps of Swami Ramdev, in the discourses of Sri Sri, in the congregations of Mohan Bhagwat (the youngest CEO of the largest Hindu organisation on this planet), or glued to the deep knowledge banks of K S Sudarshan (chief of the Hindus' greatest consolidation).
"Temple or no temple, gods or no gods, the only factor that must matter is the survival of a Hindu India – unabashedly, unapologetically assertive and Himalayan in its heights. It means everyone. It means all faiths and colours."
"The creators of a new Indian order will certainly do it better. Have power, will win. That's the key to success. India is struggling hard, is bleeding and yet showing winner's traits. This inner strength is essentially the civilisational gift, which runs into our veins. Call it Hindu or anything else. It is the defining life force of all of us. Eliminating terrorism ruthlessly, recapturing land lost to the enemy neighbours, rejuvenating the economy and infusing new blood into our educational and agricultural sectors are the new markers of our unstoppable journey to power-peak.
"I see clearly a rise of the intense Hindu values once the present young generation takes over. To me, the Hindu Right remains the last hope and an instrument to revive the glory and the wonder of India. And we know, the best and the brightest still are found in the various folds and facets of this segment, if we can train our eyes to look beyond the political organisational framework.
"If those who qualify from IITs and IIMs leave their lucrative options abroad to join RSS work in Meghalaya or Port Blair, then we still have hopes for India's rejuvenation. If the youngest force on this earth finds a suitable job to work for scheduled castes and tribes as RSS pracharaks, then no power on this earth can stop the ongoing march of the people who believe in the good of all sans borders of faith, caste or creed.
"The most delighting factor of a new Indian order is the young faces in the camps of Swami Ramdev, in the discourses of Sri Sri, in the congregations of Mohan Bhagwat (the youngest CEO of the largest Hindu organisation on this planet), or glued to the deep knowledge banks of K S Sudarshan (chief of the Hindus' greatest consolidation).
"Temple or no temple, gods or no gods, the only factor that must matter is the survival of a Hindu India – unabashedly, unapologetically assertive and Himalayan in its heights. It means everyone. It means all faiths and colours."
06 January 2009
Samuel Huntington and Hindutva
Samuel Huntington, author of Clash of Civilisations (1996), is no more. Before reading his book I had been interested only in philosophy, and not in religion. Some snobbery was at work here: 'high-brow' philosophy vs 'low-brow' religion. But Clash of Civilisations powerfully brought home the importance of religion in today's world. I realised I had some catching up to do. I re-read the Bhagavad Gita and read the Quran. I also brought a Bible from home, but didn't make much progress with it.
Samuel Huntington's achievement was to remind people that our world is made up of civilisations – civilisations based on specific religions/cultures. His book was an important blow against secularists and multi-culturalists. He correctly identified India as a Hindu civilisation. Not that Hindutva needs an endorsement from a foreign scholar. But some Indians accept the truth about their country only when it is stated by a Westerner, especially an American.
PS: "Clash of Civilisations" has an interesting history. In 1989 – the year the Berlin Wall fell – Francis Fukuyama (a student of Huntington) wrote an article in the National Interest called "End of History". The article argued that history had ended with the triumph of free-market democracy. 3 years later he expanded his article into a book of the same name. The next year his teacher wrote an article in Foreign Affairs called "Clash of Civilisations". It argued that history was far from over, and that religion/culture would play a central role in the post-ideological world. The article provoked a lot of controversy and debate. 3 years later Huntington expanded his article into a book of the same name.
Samuel Huntington's achievement was to remind people that our world is made up of civilisations – civilisations based on specific religions/cultures. His book was an important blow against secularists and multi-culturalists. He correctly identified India as a Hindu civilisation. Not that Hindutva needs an endorsement from a foreign scholar. But some Indians accept the truth about their country only when it is stated by a Westerner, especially an American.
PS: "Clash of Civilisations" has an interesting history. In 1989 – the year the Berlin Wall fell – Francis Fukuyama (a student of Huntington) wrote an article in the National Interest called "End of History". The article argued that history had ended with the triumph of free-market democracy. 3 years later he expanded his article into a book of the same name. The next year his teacher wrote an article in Foreign Affairs called "Clash of Civilisations". It argued that history was far from over, and that religion/culture would play a central role in the post-ideological world. The article provoked a lot of controversy and debate. 3 years later Huntington expanded his article into a book of the same name.
03 January 2009
India's Greatest Kings
Question: Who were the greatest kings of India?
Answer: Ashoka and Akbar.
Our textbooks and our establishment (i.e., Marxist) historians have been parroting this line for many years. Sometimes explicitly – like the Q&A above. Sometimes implicitly – these are the only two kings whose names are suffixed with 'the great'.
But is this correct? What makes a king 'great' anyway? We can list the requirements that must be met for a king to be called 'great':
A) A reasonably large kingdom
B) A reasonably long rule
C) Military strength
D) Peace and stability
E) Economic prosperity
F) Achievements in arts and science
Even a casual glance at India's history reveals the following kings who meet these requirements comfortably:
1. Chandragupta Maurya (320 - 298 BC)
2. Samudra Gupta (335 - 380 AD)
3. Harshavardhana (606 - 647)
4. Pulikeshi II (610 - 642)
5. Amoghavarsha I (814 - 878)
6. Rajendra Chola (1014 - 1044)
7. Krishnadevaraya (1509 - 1529)
8. Chhatrapati Shivaji (1674 - 1680)
9. Ranjit Singh (1780 - 1839)
So we see that India has had many great kings. Then why this obsession with Ashoka and Akbar? One can guess what the answer is. Amartya Sen does us a great favour by stating it explicitly in his book Argumentative Indian. He says: "India's two greatest kings were Ashoka (a Buddhist) and Akbar (a Muslim). So how can anybody say that India is a Hindu country?"
Yes. That's what this is about. By upholding a Buddhist* and a Muslim as the only two great kings of India, the Leftists seek to deny Hindu India its glorious past and its legitimate claim to greatness. Thereby they seek to deny this country its true heritage and its true identity. What a lie! And what a motive behind that lie! The fraud – and the cynicism behind it – takes one's breath away. But the Ashoka-Akbar myth is not an exception. It is just one of a multitude of lies churned out by the Leftist propaganda machine in its war against this country's soul.
*There's another lie here: saying that Buddhists are not Hindu.
PS: The last two kings in the list may not meet requirement F. But we must remember the special circumstances and the special contributions of these two kings: They established independent kingdoms at a time when the country was in the clutches of foreign rulers (Mughals and Afghans + British, respectively).
Answer: Ashoka and Akbar.
Our textbooks and our establishment (i.e., Marxist) historians have been parroting this line for many years. Sometimes explicitly – like the Q&A above. Sometimes implicitly – these are the only two kings whose names are suffixed with 'the great'.
But is this correct? What makes a king 'great' anyway? We can list the requirements that must be met for a king to be called 'great':
A) A reasonably large kingdom
B) A reasonably long rule
C) Military strength
D) Peace and stability
E) Economic prosperity
F) Achievements in arts and science
Even a casual glance at India's history reveals the following kings who meet these requirements comfortably:
1. Chandragupta Maurya (320 - 298 BC)
2. Samudra Gupta (335 - 380 AD)
3. Harshavardhana (606 - 647)
4. Pulikeshi II (610 - 642)
5. Amoghavarsha I (814 - 878)
6. Rajendra Chola (1014 - 1044)
7. Krishnadevaraya (1509 - 1529)
8. Chhatrapati Shivaji (1674 - 1680)
9. Ranjit Singh (1780 - 1839)
So we see that India has had many great kings. Then why this obsession with Ashoka and Akbar? One can guess what the answer is. Amartya Sen does us a great favour by stating it explicitly in his book Argumentative Indian. He says: "India's two greatest kings were Ashoka (a Buddhist) and Akbar (a Muslim). So how can anybody say that India is a Hindu country?"
Yes. That's what this is about. By upholding a Buddhist* and a Muslim as the only two great kings of India, the Leftists seek to deny Hindu India its glorious past and its legitimate claim to greatness. Thereby they seek to deny this country its true heritage and its true identity. What a lie! And what a motive behind that lie! The fraud – and the cynicism behind it – takes one's breath away. But the Ashoka-Akbar myth is not an exception. It is just one of a multitude of lies churned out by the Leftist propaganda machine in its war against this country's soul.
*There's another lie here: saying that Buddhists are not Hindu.
PS: The last two kings in the list may not meet requirement F. But we must remember the special circumstances and the special contributions of these two kings: They established independent kingdoms at a time when the country was in the clutches of foreign rulers (Mughals and Afghans + British, respectively).
01 January 2009
Shri K S Sudarshan
I am just back from Bagalkot, where we had a two-day meeting for the RSS workers of North Karnataka province. The meeting was graced by the presence of the Sarsanghachalak (chief of the RSS) Shri K S Sudarshan.
In the last session of the meeting the Sarsanghachalak answered questions asked by the attendees. The questions were on diverse topics ranging from the global economic crisis to climate change and terrorism. The Sarsanghachalak answered each question patiently and in great detail, impressing everybody with the breadth and depth of his knowledge. But for me the real kicker was the last five minutes, in which he spoke about how India is poised to become a great nation once again.
As I listened to him, a strange feeling swept over me. It wasn't just the clarity and logic of his words (there are others who are also clear and logical). It was more. It was the wisdom of a man who had gone beyond knowledge. It was the simplicity of a man who had gone beyond complexity. For the first time in my life I felt I was in the presence of a rishi – a sage. Till now I had only read and heard about rishis. For the first time I felt I was sitting in front of one, seeing his face and hearing his voice*.
Sudarshanji (77) has been a swayamsevak for 68 years, and a pracharak for 54 years. They say great men are not born but made. Made, that is, by years of single-minded service, sacrifice, dedication and devotion. I am not an emotional guy who is swayed easily. But even a hard-nosed engineer like me is forced to admit that this is not an ordinary man.
People usually refer to the Sarsanghachalak as 'RSS leader' or 'RSS chief'. But he is not just a leader or a chief. He is a sage, a rishi.
*The only other person about whom I feel like this is Dr Shivakumar Swamiji of Siddaganga Mutt.
In the last session of the meeting the Sarsanghachalak answered questions asked by the attendees. The questions were on diverse topics ranging from the global economic crisis to climate change and terrorism. The Sarsanghachalak answered each question patiently and in great detail, impressing everybody with the breadth and depth of his knowledge. But for me the real kicker was the last five minutes, in which he spoke about how India is poised to become a great nation once again.
As I listened to him, a strange feeling swept over me. It wasn't just the clarity and logic of his words (there are others who are also clear and logical). It was more. It was the wisdom of a man who had gone beyond knowledge. It was the simplicity of a man who had gone beyond complexity. For the first time in my life I felt I was in the presence of a rishi – a sage. Till now I had only read and heard about rishis. For the first time I felt I was sitting in front of one, seeing his face and hearing his voice*.
Sudarshanji (77) has been a swayamsevak for 68 years, and a pracharak for 54 years. They say great men are not born but made. Made, that is, by years of single-minded service, sacrifice, dedication and devotion. I am not an emotional guy who is swayed easily. But even a hard-nosed engineer like me is forced to admit that this is not an ordinary man.
People usually refer to the Sarsanghachalak as 'RSS leader' or 'RSS chief'. But he is not just a leader or a chief. He is a sage, a rishi.
*The only other person about whom I feel like this is Dr Shivakumar Swamiji of Siddaganga Mutt.
26 December 2008
Heroes of Modern India
Who are the greatest men/leaders of modern India? Here are my heroes of 20th century India:
1. Swami Vivekananda
For awakening India after 1000 years of foreign rule and slavery.
2. Mahatma Gandhi
For leading India's freedom struggle.
3. Dr K B Hedgewar
For founding the RSS to organise Indians on the basis of nationalism.
4. Guruji M S Golwalkar
For building the RSS into a mighty nationalist organisation.
5. Sardar Patel
For unifying India into a nation-state.
6. Jawaharlal Nehru
For nurturing India's democracy.
7. Dr B R Ambedkar
For being the architect of India's Constitution.
8. Lal Bahadur Shastri
For being the father of India's Green Revolution.
9. M Vishweshwarayya
For pioneering industrialisation in India.
10. A B Vajpayee
For bringing nationalism to the centre-stage of Indian politics.
11. L K Advani
Same as above.
12. P V Narasimha Rao
For converting India from socialism to capitalism.
13. Dr Manmohan Singh
Same as above.
14. A P J Abdul Kalam
For being the father of India's missile program.
Inspiration for this post: This list of Nandan Nilekani's heroes.
1. Swami Vivekananda
For awakening India after 1000 years of foreign rule and slavery.
2. Mahatma Gandhi
For leading India's freedom struggle.
3. Dr K B Hedgewar
For founding the RSS to organise Indians on the basis of nationalism.
4. Guruji M S Golwalkar
For building the RSS into a mighty nationalist organisation.
5. Sardar Patel
For unifying India into a nation-state.
6. Jawaharlal Nehru
For nurturing India's democracy.
7. Dr B R Ambedkar
For being the architect of India's Constitution.
8. Lal Bahadur Shastri
For being the father of India's Green Revolution.
9. M Vishweshwarayya
For pioneering industrialisation in India.
10. A B Vajpayee
For bringing nationalism to the centre-stage of Indian politics.
11. L K Advani
Same as above.
12. P V Narasimha Rao
For converting India from socialism to capitalism.
13. Dr Manmohan Singh
Same as above.
14. A P J Abdul Kalam
For being the father of India's missile program.
Inspiration for this post: This list of Nandan Nilekani's heroes.
19 December 2008
Vande Mataram - English
Here is my shot at an English translation of Vande Mataram:
I salute the Mother
She of clear water, delicious fruits and fragrant breeze
She of green vegetation, the Mother.
She of white moonlight and lively nights
Adorned by trees with blooming flowers
She of sweet smile and beautiful speech
Giver of joy, giver of boons, the Mother.
Her billion throats roaring with a fearsome voice
Her billion arms wielding a billion swords
Mother, who says you are weak?
Possessor of many powers, I salute the protector
Fighter of enemies, the Mother.
You are knowledge, you are religion
You are my heart, you are my soul
You are the breath in my body
Mother, you are the strength in my arms
Mother, you are the love in my heart
Your image is worshipped
In each and every temple.
You are Durga, holding weapons in her ten hands
You are Lakshmi, sitting on lotus petals
You are Saraswati, the giver of knowledge
I salute you, I salute the pure and incomparable one
She of clear water and delicious fruits, the Mother.
Dusky, innocent, smiling sweetly and wearing jewels
The earth, the nurturer, the Mother.
I salute the Mother
She of clear water, delicious fruits and fragrant breeze
She of green vegetation, the Mother.
She of white moonlight and lively nights
Adorned by trees with blooming flowers
She of sweet smile and beautiful speech
Giver of joy, giver of boons, the Mother.
Her billion throats roaring with a fearsome voice
Her billion arms wielding a billion swords
Mother, who says you are weak?
Possessor of many powers, I salute the protector
Fighter of enemies, the Mother.
You are knowledge, you are religion
You are my heart, you are my soul
You are the breath in my body
Mother, you are the strength in my arms
Mother, you are the love in my heart
Your image is worshipped
In each and every temple.
You are Durga, holding weapons in her ten hands
You are Lakshmi, sitting on lotus petals
You are Saraswati, the giver of knowledge
I salute you, I salute the pure and incomparable one
She of clear water and delicious fruits, the Mother.
Dusky, innocent, smiling sweetly and wearing jewels
The earth, the nurturer, the Mother.
17 December 2008
Vande Mataram
vandE mAtaramsujalAm suphalAm malayaja SeetalAm
sasyaSyAmalAm mAtaram
SubhrajyotsnA pulakitayAmineem
phullakusumita drumadala Sobhineem
suhAsineem sumadhura bhAShiNeem
sukhadAm varadAm mAtaram
kOTi kOTi kanTha kalakalaninAda karAlE
kOTi kOTi bhujairdhrta kharakaravAlE
abalA keno mA eto balE
bahubaladhAriNeem namAmi tAriNeem
ripudalavAriNeem mAtaram
tumi vidyA tumi dharma
tumi hrdi tumi marma
tvam hi prANAh SareerE
bAhutE tumi mA Sakti
hrdayE tumi mA bhakti
tOmAra i pratimA gaDi
mandirE mandirE
tvam hi durgA daSapraharaNa dhAriNee
kamalA kamaladala vihAriNee
vANee vidyAdAyinee namAmi tvAm
namAmi kamalAm amalAm atulAm
sujalAm suphalAm mAtaram
SyAmalAm saralAm susmitAm bhooShitAm
dharaNeem bharaNeem mAtaram
08 December 2008
The Hindu Phenomenon
I recently came across this remarkable book called "The Hindu Phenomenon" by Girilal Jain. Girilal Jain was the editor of the Times of India during 1978-88. Surprisingly he was a supporter of Hindu nationalism. He was one of the few intellectuals who welcomed the Ayodhya movement of the late 1980s. "The Hindu Phenomenon", a collection of six of his essays, was published in 1993.
The work, though slightly disjointed in some places, is impressive. Ambitious in its scope, it tries to understand Hindu nationalism (a modern ideology) by placing it in the context of the last 1000 years of India's history. Throughout the book the author makes many loaded statements, without giving detailed facts and arguments to support them (possibly due to the posthumous nature of the work). Still, his conclusions are very insightful and offer a lot of food for thought. The breadth of the author's reading is also quite impressive.
The work, though slightly disjointed in some places, is impressive. Ambitious in its scope, it tries to understand Hindu nationalism (a modern ideology) by placing it in the context of the last 1000 years of India's history. Throughout the book the author makes many loaded statements, without giving detailed facts and arguments to support them (possibly due to the posthumous nature of the work). Still, his conclusions are very insightful and offer a lot of food for thought. The breadth of the author's reading is also quite impressive.
07 December 2008
History of Hindutva
Though Hindutva is a much-discussed subject, there is hardly any decent material on its history – either on the web or in print. The one exception seems to be Jyotirmaya Sharma's "Hindutva: Exploring the idea of Hindu nationalism" (an anti-Hindutva book; I have not yet read it).
Based on my limited reading, I feel Hindutva – and its evolution – can be best understood by studying the thinkers who shaped the ideology. These are:
1. Raja Rammohan Roy (1774-1833)
2. Dayanand Saraswati (1824-1883)
3. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (1838-1894)
4. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (1836-1886)
5. Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)
6. Aurobindo Ghosh (1872-1950)
7. Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856-1920)
8. Veer Savarkar (1883-1966)
9. Dr Hedgewar (1889-1940)
10. Guruji Golwalkar (1906-1973)
Based on my limited reading, I feel Hindutva – and its evolution – can be best understood by studying the thinkers who shaped the ideology. These are:
1. Raja Rammohan Roy (1774-1833)
2. Dayanand Saraswati (1824-1883)
3. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (1838-1894)
4. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (1836-1886)
5. Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)
6. Aurobindo Ghosh (1872-1950)
7. Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856-1920)
8. Veer Savarkar (1883-1966)
9. Dr Hedgewar (1889-1940)
10. Guruji Golwalkar (1906-1973)
02 December 2008
Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati - 2
Kandhmal's Father
- Was a friend, philosopher and guide for the tribals. Often accompanied them to government offices and police stations so they would not be exploited.
- Pioneered forest conservation in the district. Declared forest as the village property.
- Believed in the conservation of tribal culture. Restored the tribal deity-place (Dharani Penu, or Mother Earth) in tribal hamlets. Conducted several rath yatras among the tribals to create awareness about their culture, traditions and rights.
- Staunchly opposed cow slaughter. Toured Orissa many times taking the message of cow protection to the people. Staged several dharnas, protests and hunger strikes over the issue.
- Was a formidable force against conversions by Christian missionaries in the district. Believed that conversion uprooted the tribals from their culture and their land.
- Convinced repentant converts, who had been converted by fraud or inducements, to go back to their original religion.
Is it any wonder that the tribals of Kandhmal worshipped him as a living God? Is it any wonder that they responded with such fury when their beloved Swamiji was so brutally murdered?
*Source: Truth Behind Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati's Murder (Publishers: Viswa Sambad Kendra, Bhuvaneshwar)
- Was a friend, philosopher and guide for the tribals. Often accompanied them to government offices and police stations so they would not be exploited.
- Pioneered forest conservation in the district. Declared forest as the village property.
- Believed in the conservation of tribal culture. Restored the tribal deity-place (Dharani Penu, or Mother Earth) in tribal hamlets. Conducted several rath yatras among the tribals to create awareness about their culture, traditions and rights.
- Staunchly opposed cow slaughter. Toured Orissa many times taking the message of cow protection to the people. Staged several dharnas, protests and hunger strikes over the issue.
- Was a formidable force against conversions by Christian missionaries in the district. Believed that conversion uprooted the tribals from their culture and their land.
- Convinced repentant converts, who had been converted by fraud or inducements, to go back to their original religion.
Is it any wonder that the tribals of Kandhmal worshipped him as a living God? Is it any wonder that they responded with such fury when their beloved Swamiji was so brutally murdered?
*Source: Truth Behind Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati's Murder (Publishers: Viswa Sambad Kendra, Bhuvaneshwar)
01 December 2008
Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati - 1
Here is some information* on Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati, whose murder in August triggered the violence in Orissa's Kandhmal district.
Early Life
- 1926: Born in Orissa's Angul district.
- 1951: Became a sanyasi at the age of 25.
- Meditated in the Himalayas for a few years.
- 1968: Returned to Orissa to take part in anti-cow slaughter and anti-conversion movements.
- Decided to stay back in Orissa, at the request of social activists like Bhupendra Kumar Basu, and continued social works among the tribals and Dalits of Phulbani district (now Kandhmal).
Social Works
- 1969: Set up his first ashram at Chakapada, which soon became the centre of his social service activities.
- Renovated the Birupaksya, Anandeswar and Jogeswar temples with the help of locals.
- Established a Sanskrit school on gurukul pattern (later upgraded to a college).
- Established Sankaracharya Kanyashram, a residential school in Jalespatta for underprivileged girls.
- Was awarded the title of 'Vedanta Keshari'.
- Was awarded the Vivekananda Seva Puraskar.
- Introduced Satsang in all the villages of Kandhmal district.
- Founded Seva schools at Tulsipur and Banki in Cuttack district.
- Founded ashrams in Angul, Koraput and other districts.
- Started night schools for adults and working children.
- Spearheaded anti-liquor movements through his Satsangs. As a result, many villages (like Katingia in Udaygiri tehsil) gave up liquor completely.
- Persuaded tribals and other non-farming communities to take up modern agriculture and grow hybrid crops. Example: G Udaygiri Block in Kandhmal district produces high quality French beans today.
- Formed the Vegetable Cooperative Society for farmers at Katingia village.
Early Life
- 1926: Born in Orissa's Angul district.
- 1951: Became a sanyasi at the age of 25.
- Meditated in the Himalayas for a few years.
- 1968: Returned to Orissa to take part in anti-cow slaughter and anti-conversion movements.
- Decided to stay back in Orissa, at the request of social activists like Bhupendra Kumar Basu, and continued social works among the tribals and Dalits of Phulbani district (now Kandhmal).
Social Works
- 1969: Set up his first ashram at Chakapada, which soon became the centre of his social service activities.
- Renovated the Birupaksya, Anandeswar and Jogeswar temples with the help of locals.
- Established a Sanskrit school on gurukul pattern (later upgraded to a college).
- Established Sankaracharya Kanyashram, a residential school in Jalespatta for underprivileged girls.
- Was awarded the title of 'Vedanta Keshari'.
- Was awarded the Vivekananda Seva Puraskar.
- Introduced Satsang in all the villages of Kandhmal district.
- Founded Seva schools at Tulsipur and Banki in Cuttack district.
- Founded ashrams in Angul, Koraput and other districts.
- Started night schools for adults and working children.
- Spearheaded anti-liquor movements through his Satsangs. As a result, many villages (like Katingia in Udaygiri tehsil) gave up liquor completely.
- Persuaded tribals and other non-farming communities to take up modern agriculture and grow hybrid crops. Example: G Udaygiri Block in Kandhmal district produces high quality French beans today.
- Formed the Vegetable Cooperative Society for farmers at Katingia village.
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