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.

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.

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!

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.

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".

Karmanyevadhikaraste

karmanyEvAdhikAraste mA phalEShu kadAchana
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.
kshurasya dhArA nishitA duratyayA
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."

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:

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

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)

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.

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! :-)

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.

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:

• 43,905 daily shakhas in 30,015 places**
• Weekly shakhas (milan) in 4964 places
• Monthly shakhas (mandali) in 4507 places
  

*As of 31 January 2009
**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

"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?

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.

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.

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.

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)

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

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.

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)

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

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.

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".)

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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."

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."

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

Vande Mataram

vandE mAtaram
sujalAm 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

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.

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)

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)

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.

Terror Hits The Rich - Finally

That this attack was different from previous ones has been commented on by most observers. Previous attacks were bomb blasts that got over quickly. This time terrorists took over several buildings in a city, and held them for a prolonged period (60 hours). There's another vital difference that few are talking about: This time the victims were rich people.

Among the targets were, for the first time, two luxury hotels. These were places frequented by the creme de la creme of the city: politicians, businessmen, movie stars and media personalities. True, many not-so-rich people (hotel staff, railway commuters, cops and soldiers) died in the attacks. But for the first time a significant number of rich people were also killed.

One can't help feeling that this government has been indifferent to terrorism partly because the victims were always ordinary people. Bombs went off in markets, temples and mosques killing the aam aadmi. The upper crust were safe inside their Z-grade cocoons, offices, mansions - and five star hotels. For the first time, the terrorists have struck where it hurts.

This reminds me of the movie Siege, in which New York City is subjected to a wave of terrorist attacks. The atmosphere becomes especially grim after a fancy theatre is blown up, killing many of the city's high society.

I know it is a little mean-minded to look at this in terms of rich and poor. But the sad truth can't be denied. Hopefully now the political, business, entertainment and media elite will lean on Soniaji and Manmohanji to do something about this existential threat. (By something, I don't mean providing Z-grade security to five star hotels)

S L Bhyrappa on Conversions

Eminent Kannada novelist S L Bhyrappa recently wrote an article on conversions (in the newspaper Vijay Karnataka). The hard-hitting essay, filled with facts and figures, provoked much controversy and debate. You can read the Kannada original or its English translation.

Ends and Means

Do the ends justify the means?

The means are the ends.
- Mahatma Gandhi

The ends is bullshit. The means is what you have to live with.
- The Corruptor (movie)

In the long run, it is only the 'minor' virtues that matter. Politeness is more reliable than compassion, just as fairplay is more important than the abstraction of justice. The 'major' virtues tend to disintegrate under the pressures of convenient rationalisation. But good form is good form. It is immutable in the storm of circumstance.
- Shibumi (novel)

Thoughts for the Day

Till now philosophers have only tried to understand the world. The point, however, is to change it.
– Karl Marx

It is the privilege and the curse of midnight's children to be both masters and victims of their times, to forsake privacy and be sucked into the annihilating whirlpool of the multitudes, and to be unable to live or die in peace.
– Salman Rushdie

Right-Wing Commentators

The English language media (ELM) in India is dominated by leftists, liberals and secularists. The right-wing commentator is a rare species in this country. There are very few writers* who can put forward the Hindu / nationalist / conservative / right-wing view on a subject in an intelligent manner. As a result, educated urban middle class Indians – who get their news and views only from the ELM – are exposed to only one side of the story (the wrong side). So the country's elite is being fed a steady diet of anti-national arguments and assumptions. The long-term effects of this phenomenon are worrisome, to say the least. Articulate spokesmen for nationalism are badly needed.

*The few I can think of are Arun Shourie, Swapan Dasgupta, Tavleen Singh, S Gurumurthy, Sudheendra Kulkarni and Tarun Vijay. Have I missed out anybody?

Madhavana Chittadali

Here is one of my favourite RSS songs (Kannada).

mAdhavana chittadali
araLidda chitragaLe
nannalloo nelesa banni.
jagadagala bittiyali
bhAratiya nettaripa
kAyakava kalisa banni
nannalloo nelesa banni.

rShi avanu naDedidda
sthira pathava hiDididda
guriyeDege neTTa drShThi.
kESavanu kalisidda
sangha sootradi heNeda
yuva manava muTTi taTTi.
avana kAryada tuDita
sarva sparSada miDita
nannalloo nelesa banni.
jagadagala bittiyali...

dESa oDeda A gaLige
naDeda nondede baLige
santa santaisi ninta.
sangha muriva tantragaLige
hiDida gurANi halage
kaTu unDa neelakanTha.
avana maNNina mamate
nOvu nunguva kShamate
nannalloo nelesa banni.
jagadagala bittiyali...

hindu bhAvava basidu
oDeda manavanu besedu
Ekateya kOTe kaTTi.
mElu keeLanu toDedu
naija dharmavu hoLedu
SrEShThateya Sikhara muTTi.
avana samarasa bhAva
jagava gelluva snEha
nannalloo nelesa banni.
jagadagala bittiyali...

It's about Golwalkar Guruji, and is written by Mukundji - pranth pracharak of South Karnataka.

Of Birthdays and the Hindu Calendar

All these years I was celebrating my birthday, like most people, as per the Gregorian/Christian calendar. This doesn't make any sense. We should be celebrating our birthdays, and other anniversaries, as per the Indian/Hindu calendar.

From henceforth I have decided to celebrate (that is, whatever little celebration I can cook up) my birthday as per the Hindu calendar. For the record, my birthday falls on Kartika Shuddha Dashami. You can use this calculator to find out your birthday as per the Hindu calendar.

So what day were you born on? :-)

President Barack Obama

President Barack Obama.

Say it out loud.

Then look at the man's face.

This is not some Hollywood movie.

This is the real world.

Take a deep breath.

Let it sink in.

Yes, it has really happened.

Hindutva Vs India's Three Enemies – 2

Note that the three forces are antagonistic to one another. Communism is a staunchly atheistic ideology, opposed to all religion. Islam and Christianity are absolutist faiths, each believing that it alone is the one true religion. But in India they have all come together for one purpose – to fight their common enemy: Hindu nationalism. Sounds fanciful? The next time there is a transgression by one of the three forces, notice how there is a loud silence from the other two. The next time there is even the smallest victory for Hindu nationalists, notice how the three forces condemn it in one voice. Has there ever been a more cynical and opportunistic alliance?

The great tragedy in this country is that secularists and liberals – wittingly or unwittingly – have become part of this unholy nexus. Secularists and liberals happen to dominate the English language media (ELM) in India. Consequently, the ELM has also become a tool in the hands of this unholy nexus. An institution that should be a beacon of modernity has become the handmaiden of the most regressive forces imaginable.

Thus we see Hindu nationalism on one side and Communism, radical Islam and evangelical Christianity on the other side locked in a struggle over the future of this country. Secularists and liberals must be on the right side in this struggle. We Hindu nationalists, for our part, must reach out to them and try to win them over. Hopefully, once they understand the true nature of India and Hinduism, they will join hands with us. But with the three enemies there can be no negotiation or compromise. Only a fight to the finish.

I know this is not a very pleasant subject to talk about. Most of us would rather ignore the problem. But, as I have said above, the facts are there for all to see. Even if we do recognise the problem, we are reluctant to
a) talk about it openly
b) do something about it.
The reason for a) is our Hindu sensibilities. We Hindus are polite to a fault. For us, not offending others has become more important than speaking the truth. But political correctness is a luxury we can ill afford when the very survival of our nation is at stake.

The reason for b) is we think these are abstract and distant threats that will not touch us directly. Let nobody be under any illusion. The danger is here and now. It can strike us any moment. We must act – if only to protect the lives and well-being of our loved ones. As Edmund Burke said, "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle. The only thing required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."

PS: I don't know when – or if – I'll be posting again.

Hindutva Vs India's Three Enemies – 1

Who are the opponents of Hindutva? The people most virulently opposed to Hindutva are:
1. Communists
2. Islamic fundamentalists
3. Christian missionaries
4. Nehruvian secularists
5. Western-style liberals

Let's take the last two: secularists and liberals. The same person is usually both, so this is effectively one group. These are, for the most part, patriotic and well-intentioned people. Their opposition to Hindutva stems from their misunderstanding of India and Hinduism. They see Hindutva as a communal ideology and hence oppose it. This is bad enough. What is worse is they are so consumed by their fear and mistrust of Hindutva that they have turned a blind eye to the real enemies of the nation, and even made common cause with them.

Which brings us to the first three groups. Among these there is no misunderstanding of Hindutva. On the contrary, they have understood Hindutva correctly. That is why they are so vehemently opposed to it. They know that Hindu nationalism is the one force that can resist and defeat their evil designs in India (and also, God willing, the world).

Our communists routinely sabotage any measure that will make India stronger and more prosperous. Meanwhile their masters (the Chinese) continue to encircle our country and arm our enemies. Islamic terrorists have long moved beyond J&K. Now they target the whole country – setting off bomb blasts in our cities regularly, killing hundreds of our people. Christian missionaries have been abetting separatist insurgencies in the North East for a long time. They also aggressively convert our tribals, producing communal disharmony and violence.

So these are the three threats to India (and also the world at large):
1. Communism
2. Radical Islam
3. Evangelical Christianity

Many people dismiss such talk as paranoia and fear/hate-mongering. But the facts are undeniable. One has to be blind not to see them. This is not about fear/hate-mongering. This is about opening our eyes and acknowledging the grim reality. Golwalkar Guruji had alerted us to these three threats long ago. And now we see a new, and alarming, development: these three forces are coming together.