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Indology And Indologists,

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 18:18:53 +0000

Indology and Indologists,a study in motives and people
(under construction)

The New Instalment Of The Bofor's Soap Opera!

Sun, 15 Jan 2006 04:23:36 +0000

The thread âNatwar Singh and The Hindu Parallaxâ was started mainly to highlight the biases in the Indian media establishment. It may sound cynical but stories about political corruption are passÃ©. Although the Natwar Singh story was a provocation, you would have observed that the Boforâs saga occupied a large part of the article. None expected that the next instalment of the soap opera would unfold so soon.

The Indian public was shocked by the unfolding Boforâs story when it did, as, in 1987, the sum of Rs 64 Cr (64 followed by seven zeroes) was beyond the ken of ordinary peopleâs imagination. Today, in hindsight, it appears minuscule in the light of other scams. For e.g., it pales into insignificance before the Rs 900 Cr (i.e. 900 followed by seven zeroes) worth of fodder (fodder here is not used as a metaphor as in cannon fodder but literally to mean fodder) which, one of the messiahs of social justice gobbled to hatao his own garibi.

But the anxiety with which the dynastyâs courtiers (euphemism for psychophants and guttersnipes) rush up to protect the Italian dowagerâs family and friends unerringly points the needle of suspicion! If a foreign minister was used as an errand boy earlier, the law minister is the tool this time. He knows better than the CBI. Quattrochi should not be inconvenienced. His acquittal takes time but donât you worry. It will be done. It will be done! For what use is the government if it does not protect the famiglia?

The dynasty follows time-honoured conventions in rewarding loyalty nay doglike devotion of its domestic help while consigning others that fail to measure up in - doglike devotion - to the doghouse! The late Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao forfeited his privilege of a cremation or a monument in the capital to which even the dynastyâs puppies are entitled to as he failed to pay obeisance in the court of the Italian dowager.

As you will doubtless remember the LM was rewarded, true to the dynastyâs code of honour, for his committed judicial pronouncements. Just as an election commissioner was rewarded for delaying the Kargil election with a Rajya Sabha seat.

If you feel there is an urgent need to evolve a convention or the enactment of a law barring high constitutional functionaries like judges and members of the election commission from accepting elective office, post retirement - forget it. The function of parliament is to undo resolutions against the dynasty.

All this makes fodder - not of the social justice variety - but for good old Geoffreyâs fiction factory. Again it may sound cynical, but it makes interesting bedtime reading, for nothing changes. So enjoy reading it again!

Natwar Singh And The Hindu Parallax!

Sat, 24 Dec 2005 03:35:55 +0000

Even big editors have small vanities. Mr. Natwar Singh, the foreign minister of India, telephoned the âbigâ editor of the âsecularâ newspaper, although it was to clarify his position vis-Ã -vis the Volcker report. The call merited front paging with a banner headline. In India that is Bharat the word âsecularâ defies dictionaries - but writing about it is digressing from the main theme. The BE did not have a crystal ball and could not know the twists in the tale which seem to continue to unwind.

Returning to our main story, there are two components in it. The first is Natwar Singhâs denial. What else do we expect him to do? He would and did. He still does although the âold faithful partyâ led him to the gallows in the larger cause. âCaesar is an honourable manâ and his honour should be protected even if one foreign minister is made an errand boy and another a fall guy.

Sometime in April 1987, the Swedish national broadcaster fired its Bofors. The salvo came in handy for one of Indiaâs greatest Machiavellians. For him all was fair in politics and power (power comes after politics in the dictionary - to use a hackneyed pun) including fragmenting the âbody politicâ in his pursuit of power. He used it to do a Brutus on Caesar. Caesar was dethroned but in spite of thundering protestations, could not regain his honour in his lifetime or after. The needle of suspicion still hovers in the direction of his grave. Caesar is (or was) guilty or not depending on your angle of vision - the perspective parallax (does it sound like an oxymoron?).

Shortly afterwards, Geoffrey Archer, the British novelist published a collection of short stories entitled âA Twist in the Taleâ. One of the stories in the collection is a spoof on Indiaâs Bofors saga. The story runs like this: The finance minister of a third-world country approaches a Swiss bank ostensibly to investigate the account one of his countryâs politicians had with the bank. The senior official of the bank whom the finance minister approaches refuses to confirm or give any details of the account. The finance ministerâs pleas in the name of ethics, morality, humanity and what have you and threats to close down all his countryâs accounts with the bank and even the threat to kill him were of no avail. The finance minister makes to give up and walk out but suddenly heists (pun intended) his brief case on to the table and says âhow about opening an account?â

In another part of the story two third-world finance ministers meet in an international conference held in one of their capitals. They become friends and the finance minister of the host country invites the other to his mansion for dinner. The guest marvels at the opulence of his hostâs mansion and wonders how he could build such an opulent mansion in so poor a country. The host takes him to the top of the building and shows him a nearby river and a dam on it. He asks him âdo you see the dam?â The guest replies he does. âWell! Ten percent of itâ, he says.

The next conference was held in the guestâs national capital and naturally the earlier guest now plays host and invites his friend to dinner. It was the turn of the other to marvel at the opulence of his friendâs palace. So the host takes him to the top of the building and points at the panoramic expanse of the nearby river. âSee the dam there?â he asks. âBut I do not see anything there!â replies his guest. âPrecisely!â says the host, âTen per cent of it!â

By the by, Geoffrey Archer believed there was no corruption in the first-world, till ...

Much water has flown the Rhine and Ganges since 1987. Indiaâs foreign minister was used as an errand boy to deliver letters to the Swiss requesting them to stall the Boforsâ investigation, as Caesarâs honour could not be sullied; the dynasty has done so much for the country. J. Nehru billed the nation for his stay in âYarawada gaolâ (as he loved to spell it) and collected an inexhaustible supply of post-dated cheques, which the dynasty is cashing.

A former Japanese prime minister was convicted for corruption. It happened in the Philippines, in Italy, in Israel and Britain. Two British Prime Ministers had to abdicate because of their cabinet colleaguesâ sexual misdemeanours - not financial malfeasance. In India such misdemeanours are not reported. After all in India that is Bharat the high and mighty have the privilege of different social codes of conduct. J. Nehruâs escapades with Edwina Mountbaten surfaced long after both of them met their maker.

In the US a President was convicted for spooking his opponentâs headquarters. In India, Indira (no, it does not mean Indira is India) famous for her keeping dossiers on her opponents did not have to do it. In India that is Bharat, law enforcement agencies are their political mastersâ fiefdoms. And fund collectors (e.g. Rustum Shorab Nagarwala and Lalit Narain Misra) disappear if their presence is inconvenient for their masters.

Now the second part of the press parallax. The countryâs socio-political philosophy is mind-boggling. The countryâs founding fathers wanted a casteless society. India today has myriad castes and they keep mutating. Today the political class is the Kshatriyas. All paths are cleared for their movement. The bureaucracy is the Brahmins. They preside over all social activity. The business class is the Vysyas. Everything spins around their money that pervades the ether. The rest - us all comprises the Sudras. The original Brahmins are untouchables today. What goes up has to come down in a topsy-turvy world.

The founding fathers wanted a secular society - meaning that the state has no religion. Indira inserted the word, which the founding fathers forgot to write into the constitution. When she declared a nineteen-month holiday for political parties and received all opponents as government guests - with the noble intention of running trains on time and her second son practiced castrating extra productivity - Indian parliament had to do something. India, today therefore competes with Saudi Arabia.

The press in India today mirrors the socio-political milieu including its hypocrisy with a few honourable exceptions but like internet passwords they too are case sensitive. A press baron is reported to have said âI can hire editors a dime a dozen, I want marketing managers who can sell the paperâ. A wise editor agreed that there is nothing called objectivity. Objectivity like beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder! Or objectivity like consistency is a virtue of the asses!

The Bofors saga was unearthed by Arun Shourie but taken forward by the âbig editor with the small vanityâ and his Swiss correspondent. They led us through the mazes of accounts routing and rerouting kickbacks. Indian governmentsâ lethargy and inactivity ended up in blank walls. No Caesar could be indicted for a âCaesar could do no wrongâ. That is the divine privilege Indian society confers on its political class.

Time has turned full circle. Now a âsecularâ government supported by workersâ angels (sounds like Marx and Engels, does it not?) is ruling. Natwar Singh has secular credentials. He wants to reverse the clock and take the country back to the days of the non-aligned movement and an independent foreign policy. An independent foreign policy in the lexicon of the workersâ angels is kowtowing to the dictatorships of the banana republics and the Orwellian paradises - a.k.a. the non-aligned movement. He supports Iraq and Iran not because they are great democracies but because they are Muslim nations. That gets votes for his party although Indian Muslims are appalled by the suggestion that for them a foreign nation - whatever its religion - is more important than their own national interest. All angels must come to the aid of the party - and - Natwar Singh called to clarify that he did not mulct. So âIâ believe he did not. Q.E.D. But then, in hindsightâ¦â¦â¦

In the end Natwar had to be excavated from the chair, with him kicking and screaming. There is a twist in the tale, which good old Geoffrey might some day add to his collection. Mitrokhin finally confirmed what many of us suspected all along, that some of those liberal hearts were paid to bleed like the crowds that are arranged to cheer our netasâ orations. Long live KGB! Matherani confirmed that a âliberalâ foreign policy could also be milked. Long live AMAM!

Bhagavad Gita And Management

Mon, 26 Sep 2005 15:15:08 +0000

Bhagavad Gita and management

Mind is very restless, forceful and strong, O Krishna, it is more difficult to control the mind than to control the wind ~ Arjuna to Sri Krishna

Introduction

One of the greatest contributions of India to the world is Holy Gita which is considered to be one of the first revelations from God. The managent lessons in this holy book were brought in to light of the world by divine Maharshi Mahesh Yogi and the spiritual philosophy by Sr. Srila Prabhupada Swami who has popularised Bhgavad Gita and Bhagavatam thorugh out the world with his dedicated devotion until His death, ( Ons should read his autobiography then we can understand that He is also an incarnation of lord Krishna)) and humanism by Sai Baba. Maharishi calls the Bhagavad-Gita the essence of Vedic Literature and a complete guide to practical life. It provides âall that is needed to raise the consciousness of man to the highest possible level.â Maharishi reveals the deep, universal truths of life that speak to the needs and aspirations of everyone. Arjuna got mentally depressed when he saw his relatives with whom he has to fight.( Mental health has become a major international public health concern now). To motivate him the Bhagavad Gita is preached in the battle field Kurukshetra by Lord Krishna to Arjuna as a counseling to do his duty while multitudes of men stood by waiting . It has got all the management tactics to achieve the mental equilibrium and to overcome any crisis situation. The Bhagavad Gita can be experienced as a powerful catalyst for transformation. Bhagavad gita means song of the Spirit, song of the Lord. The Holy Gita has become a secret driving force behind the unfoldment of one's life. In the days of doubt this divine book will support all spiritual search.This divine book will contribute to self reflection, finer feeling and deepen one's inner process. Then life in the world can become a real educationâdynamic, full and joyfulâno matter what the circumstance. May the wisdom of loving consciousness ever guide us on our journey. What makes the Holy Gita a practical psychology of transformation is that it offers us the tools to connect with our deepest intangible essence and we must learn to participate in the battle of life with right knowledge.

The Holy Gita is the essence of the Vedas, Upanishads. It is a universal scripture applicable to people of all temperaments and for all times. It is a book with sublime thoughts and practical instructions on Yoga, Devotion, Vedanta and Action. It is profound in thought and sublime in heights of vision. It brings peace and solace to souls that are afflicted by the three fires of mortal existence, namely, afflictions caused by oneâs own body (disease etc), those caused by beings around one (e.g. wild animals, snakes etc.), and those caused by the gods (natural disasters, earth-quakes, floods etc).

Mind can be one's friend or enemy. Mind is the cause for both bondage and liberation. The word mind is derived from man to think and the word man derived from manu (sanskrit word for man).

"The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy."

There is no theory to be internalized and applied in this psychology. Ancient practices spontaneously induce what each person needs as the individual and the universal coincide. The work proceeds through intellectual knowledge of the playing field(jnana yoga), emotional devotion to the ideal(bhakti yoga) and right action that includes both feeling and knowledge(karma yoga). With ongoing purification we approach wisdom. The Bhagavad Gita is a message addressed to each and every human individual to help him or her to solve the vexing problem of overcoming the present and progressing towards a bright future. Within its eighteen chapters is revealed a human drama. This is the experience of everyone in this world, the drama of the ascent of man from a state of utter dejection, sorrow and total breakdown and hopelessness to a state of perfect understanding, clarity, renewed strength and triumph.

Introduction
Management has become a part and parcel of everyday life, be it at home, in the office or factory and in Government. In all organizations, where a group of human beings assemble for a common purpose, management principles come into play through the management of resources, finance and planning, priorities, policies and practice. Management is a systematic way of carrying out activities in any field of human effort.

Its task is to make people capable of joint performance, to make their weaknesses irrelevant, says the Management Guru Peter Drucker. It creates harmony in working together - equilibrium in thoughts and actions, goals and achievements, plans and performance, products and markets. It resolves situations of scarcity, be they in the physical, technical or human fields, through maximum utilization with the minimum available processes to achieve the goal. Lack of management causes disorder, confusion, wastage, delay, destruction and even depression. Managing men, money and materials in the best possible way, according to circumstances and environment, is the most important and essential factor for a successful management.

Management guidelines from the Bhagavad Gita
There is an important distinction between effectiveness and efficiency in managing.

Â· Effectiveness is doing the right things.

Â· Efficiency is doing things right.

The general principles of effective management can be applied in every field, the differences being more in application than in principle. The Manager's functions can be summed up as:

Â· Forming a vision

Â· Planning the strategy to realise the vision.

Â· Cultivating the art of leadership.

Â· Establishing institutional excellence.

Â· Building an innovative organisation.

Â· Developing human resources.

Â· Building teams and teamwork.

Â· Delegation, motivation, and communication.

Â· Reviewing performance and taking corrective steps when called for.

Thus, management is a process of aligning people and getting them committed to work for a common goal to the maximum social benefit - in search of excellence.

The critical question in all managersâ minds is how to be effective in their job. The answer to this fundamental question is found in the Bhagavad Gita, which repeatedly proclaims that âyou must try to manage yourself.â The reason is that unless a manager reaches a level of excellence and effectiveness, he or she will be merely a face in the crowd.

Old truths in a new context
The Bhagavad Gita, written thousands of years ago, enlightens us on all managerial techniques leading us towards a harmonious and blissful state of affairs in place of the conflict, tensions, poor productivity, absence of motivation and so on, common in most of Indian enterprises today â and probably in enterprises in many other countries.

The modern (Western) management concepts of vision, leadership, motivation, excellence in work, achieving goals, giving work meaning, decision making and planning, are all discussed in the Bhagavad Gita. There is one major difference. While Western management thought too often deals with problems at material, external and peripheral levels, the Bhagavad Gita tackles the issues from the grass roots level of human thinking. Once the basic thinking of man is improved, it will automatically enhance the quality of his actions and their results.

The management philosophy emanating from the West, is based on the lure of materialism and on a perennial thirst for profit, irrespective of the quality of the means adopted to achieve that goal. This phenomenon has its source in the abundant wealth of the West and so 'management by materialism' has caught the fancy of all the countries the world over, India being no exception to this trend. My country, India, has been in the forefront in importing these ideas mainly because of its centuries old indoctrination by colonial rulers, which has inculcated in us a feeling that anything Western is good and anything Indian is inferior.

The result is that, while huge funds have been invested in building temples of modem management education, no perceptible changes are visible in the improvement of the general quality of life - although the standards of living of a few has gone up. The same old struggles in almost all sectors of the economy, criminalisation of institutions, social violence, exploitation and other vices are seen deep in the body politic.

The source of the problem
The reasons for this sorry state of affairs are not far to seek. The Western idea of management centres on making the worker (and the manager) more efficient and more productive. Companies offer workers more to work more, produce more, sell more and to stick to the organisation without looking for alternatives. The sole aim of extracting better and more work from the worker is to improve the bottom-line of the enterprise. The worker has become a hireable commodity, which can be used, replaced and discarded at will.

Thus, workers have been reduced to the state of a mercantile product. In such a state, it should come as no surprise to us that workers start using strikes (gheraos) sit-ins, (dharnas) go-slows, work-to-rule etc. to get maximum benefit for themselves from the organisations. Society-at-large is damaged. Thus we reach a situation in which management and workers become separate and contradictory entities with conflicting interests. There is no common goal or understanding. This, predictably, leads to suspicion, friction, disillusion and mistrust, with managers and workers at cross purposes. The absence of human values and erosion of human touch in the organisational structure has resulted in a crisis of confidence.

Western management philosophy may have created prosperity â for some people some of the time at least - but it has failed in the aim of ensuring betterment of individual life and social welfare. It has remained by and large a soulless edifice and an oasis of plenty for a few in the midst of poor quality of life for many.

Hence, there is an urgent need to re-examine prevailing management disciplines - their objectives, scope and content. Management should be redefined to underline the development of the worker as a person, as a human being, and not as a mere wage-earner. With this changed perspective, management can become an instrument in the process of social, and indeed national, development.

Now let us re-examine some of the modern management concepts in the light of the Bhagavad Gita which is a primer of management-by-values.

Utilisation of available resources
The first lesson of management science is to choose wisely and utilise scarce resources optimally. During the curtain raiser before the Mahabharata War, Duryodhana chose Sri Krishna's large army for his help while Arjuna selected Sri Krishna's wisdom for his support. This episode gives us a clue as to the nature of the effective manager - the former chose numbers, the latter, wisdom.

Work commitment
A popular verse of the Gita advises âdetachmentâ from the fruits or results of actions performed in the course of one's duty. Being dedicated work has to mean âworking for the sake of work, generating excellence for its own sake.â If we are always calculating the date of promotion or the rate of commission before putting in our efforts, then such work is not detached. It is not âgenerating excellence for its own sakeâ but working only for the extrinsic reward that may (or may not) result.

Working only with an eye to the anticipated benefits, means that the quality of performance of the current job or duty suffers - through mental agitation of anxiety for the future. In fact, the way the world works means that events do not always respond positively to our calculations and hence expected fruits may not always be forthcoming. So, the Gita tells us not to mortgage present commitment to an uncertain future.

Some people might argue that not seeking the business result of work and actions, makes one unaccountable. In fact, the Bhagavad Gita is full of advice on the theory of cause and effect, making the doer responsible for the consequences of his deeds. While advising detachment from the avarice of selfish gains in discharging one's accepted duty, the Gita does not absolve anybody of the consequences arising from discharge of his or her responsibilities.

Thus the best means of effective performance management is the work itself. Attaining this state of mind (called ânishkama karmaâ) is the right attitude to work because it prevents the ego, the mind, from dissipation of attention through speculation on future gains or losses.

Motivation â self and self-transcendence
It has been presumed for many years that satisfying lower order needs of workers - adequate food, clothing and shelter, etc. are key factors in motivation. However, it is a common experience that the dissatisfaction of the clerk and of the Director is identical - only their scales and composition vary. It should be true that once the lower-order needs are more than satisfied, the Director should have little problem in optimising his contribution to the organisation and society. But more often than not, it does not happen like that. (âThe eagle soars high but keeps its eyes firmly fixed on the dead animal below.â) On the contrary, a lowly paid schoolteacher, or a self-employed artisan, may well demonstrate higher levels of self-actualisation despite poorer satisfaction of their lower-order needs.

This situation is explained by the theory of self-transcendence propounded in the Gita. Self-transcendence involves renouncing egoism, putting others before oneself, emphasising team work, dignity, co-operation, harmony and trust â and, indeed potentially sacrificing lower needs for higher goals, the opposite of Maslow.

âWork must be done with detachment.â It is the ego that spoils work and the ego is the centrepiece of most theories of motivation. We need not merely a theory of motivation but a theory of inspiration.

The Great Indian poet, Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941, known as "Gurudev") says working for love is freedom in action. A concept which is described as âdisinterested work" in the Gita where Sri Krishna says,

âHe who shares the wealth generated only after serving the people, through work done as a sacrifice for them, is freed from all sins. On the contrary those who earn wealth only for themselves, eat sins that lead to frustration and failure.â

Disinterested work finds expression in devotion, surrender and equipoise. The former two are psychological while the third is determination to keep the mind free of the dualistic (usually taken to mean "materialistic") pulls of daily experiences. Detached involvement in work is the key to mental equanimity or the state of ânirdwanda.â This attitude leads to a stage where the worker begins to feel the presence of the Supreme Intelligence guiding the embodied individual intelligence. Such de-personified intelligence is best suited for those who sincerely believe in the supremacy of organisational goals as compared to narrow personal success and achievement.

Work culture
An effective work culture is about vigorous and arduous efforts in pursuit of given or chosen tasks. Sri Krishna elaborates on two types of work culture â âdaivi sampatâ or divine work culture and âasuri sampatâ or demonic work culture.

Â· Daivi work culture - involves fearlessness, purity, self-control, sacrifice, straightforwardness, self-denial, calmness, absence of fault-finding, absence of greed, gentleness, modesty, absence of envy and pride.

Â· Asuri work culture - involves egoism, delusion, personal desires, improper performance, work not oriented towards service.

Mere work ethic is not enough. The hardened criminal exhibits an excellent work ethic. What is needed is a work ethic conditioned by ethics in work.

It is in this light that the counsel, âyogah karmasu kausalamâ should be understood. âKausalamâ means skill or technique of work which is an indispensable component of a work ethic. âYogahâ is defined in the Gita itself as âsamatvam yogah uchyateâ meaning an unchanging equipoise of mind (detachment.) Tilak tells us that acting with an equable mind is Yoga.

(Bal Gangadhar Tilak, 1856-1920, the precursor of Gandhiji, hailed by the people of India as "Lokmanya," probably the most learned among the country's political leaders. For a description of the meanings of the word "Yoga", see foot of this page.)

By making the equable mind the bed-rock of all actions, the Gita evolved the goal of unification of work ethic with ethics in work, for without ethical process no mind can attain an equipoise. The guru, Adi Sankara (born circa 800 AD), says that the skill necessary in the performance of one's duty is that of maintaining an evenness of mind in face of success and failure. The calm mind in the face of failure will lead to deeper introspection and see clearly where the process went wrong so that corrective steps could be taken to avoid shortcomings in future.

The principle of reducing our attachment to personal gains from the work done is the Gitaâs prescription for attaining equanimity. It has been held that this principle leads to lack of incentive for effort, striking at the very root of work ethic. To the contrary, concentration on the task for its own sake leads to the achievement of excellence â and indeed to the true mental happiness of the worker. Thus, while commonplace theories of motivation may be said to lead us to the bondage or extrinsic rewards, the Gitaâs principle leads us to the intrinsic rewards of mental, and indeed moral, satisfaction.

Work results
The Gita further explains the theory of âdetachmentâ from the extrinsic rewards of work in saying:

Â· If the result of sincere effort is a success, the entire credit should not be appropriated by the doer alone.

Â· If the result of sincere effort is a failure, then too the entire blame does not accrue to the doer.

The former attitude mollifies arrogance and conceit while the latter prevents excessive despondency, de-motivation and self-pity. Thus both these dispositions safeguard the doer against psychological vulnerability, the cause of the modem managers' companions of diabetes, high blood pressure and ulcers.

Assimilation of the ideas of the Gita leads us to the wider spectrum of âlokasamgrahaâ (general welfare) but there is also another dimension to the work ethic - if the âkarmayogaâ (service) is blended with âbhaktiyogaâ (devotion), then the work itself becomes worship, a âsevayoga" (service for its own sake.)

Along with bhakti yoga as a means of liberation, the Gita espouses the doctrine of nishkamya karma or pure action untainted by hankering after the fruits resulting from that action. Modern scientists have now understood the intuitive wisdom of that action in a new light.

Scientists at the US National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, found that laboratory monkeys that started out as procrastinators, became efficient workers after they received brain injections that suppressed a gene linked to their ability to anticipate a reward.The scientists reported that the work ethic of rhesus macaques wasn't all that different from that of many people: "If the reward is not immediate, you procrastinate", Dr Richmond told LA Times.

(This may sound a peculiarly religious idea but it has a wider application. It could be taken to mean doing something because it is worthwhile, to serve others, to make the world a better place â ed.)

Manager's mental health
Sound mental health is the very goal of any human activity - more so management. Sound mental health is that state of mind which can maintain a calm, positive poise, or regain it when unsettled, in the midst of all the external vagaries of work life and social existence. Internal constancy and peace are the pre-requisites for a healthy stress-free mind.

Some of the impediments to sound mental health are:

Â· Greed - for power, position, prestige and money.

Â· Envy - regarding others' achievements, success, rewards.

Â· Egotism - about one's own accomplishments.

Â· Suspicion, anger and frustration.

Â· Anguish through comparisons.

The driving forces in today's businesses are speed and competition. There is a distinct danger that these forces cause erosion of the moral fibre, that in seeking the end, one permits oneself immoral means - tax evasion, illegitimate financial holdings, being âeconomical with the truthâ, deliberate oversight in the audit, too-clever financial reporting and so on. This phenomenon may be called as âyayati syndromeâ.

In the book, the Mahabharata, we come across a king by the name of Yayati who, in order to revel in the endless enjoyment of flesh exchanged his old age with the youth of his obliging youngest son for a thousand years. However, he found the pursuit of sensual enjoyments ultimately unsatisfying and came back to his son pleading him to take back his youth. This âyayati syndromeâ shows the conflict between externally directed acquisitions (extrinsic motivation) and inner value and conscience (intrinsic motivation.)

Management needs those who practise what they preach
âWhatever the excellent and best ones do, the commoners follow,â says Sri Krishna in the Gita. The visionary leader must be a missionary, extremely practical, intensively dynamic and capable of translating dreams into reality. This dynamism and strength of a true leader flows from an inspired and spontaneous motivation to help others. "I am the strength of those who are devoid of personal desire and attachment. O Arjuna, I am the legitimate desire in those, who are not opposed to righteousness," says Sri Krishna in the 10th Chapter of the Gita.

In conclusion
The despondency of Arjuna in the first chapter of the Gita is typically human. Sri Krishna, by sheer power of his inspiring words, changes Arjuna's mind from a state of inertia to one of righteous action, from the state of what the French philosophers call âanomieâ or even alienation, to a state of self-confidence in the ultimate victory of âdharmaâ (ethical action.)

When Arjuna got over his despondency and stood ready to fight, Sri Krishna reminded him of the purpose of his new-found spirit of intense action - not for his own benefit, not for satisfying his own greed and desire, but for the good of many, with faith in the ultimate victory of ethics over unethical actions and of truth over untruth.

Sri Krishna's advice with regard to temporary failures is, âNo doer of good ever ends in misery.â Every action should produce results. Good action produces good results and evil begets nothing but evil. Therefore, always act well and be rewarded.

My purport is not to suggest discarding of the Western model of efficiency, dynamism and striving for excellence but to tune these ideals to India's holistic attitude of âlokasangrahaâ - for the welfare of many, for the good of many. There is indeed a moral dimension to business life. What we do in business is no different, in this regard, to what we do in our personal lives. The means do not justify the ends. Pursuit of results for their own sake, is ultimately self-defeating. (âProfit,â said Matsushita-san in another tradition, âis the reward of correct behaviour.â â ed.)

A note on the word "yoga".

Yoga has two different meanings - a general meaning and a technical meaning. The general meaning is the joining together or union of any two or more things. The technical meaning is âa state of stability and peace and the means or practices which lead to that state." The Bhagavad Gita uses the word with both meanings.

M.P.Bhattathiri.

Let us go through what scholars say about Holy Gita.

"No work in all Indian literature is more quoted, because none is better loved, in the West, than the Bhagavad-gita. Translation of such a work demands not only knowledge of Sanskrit, but an inward sympathy with the theme and a verbal artistry. For the poem is a symphony in which God is seen in all things. . . . The Swami does a real service for students by investing the beloved Indian epic with fresh meaning. Whatever our outlook may be, we should all be grateful for the labor that has lead to this illuminating work."

Dr. Geddes MacGregor, Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Philosophy University of Southern California

"The Gita can be seen as the main literary support for the great religious civilization of India, the oldest surviving culture in the world. The present translation and commentary is another manifestation of the permanent living importance of the Gita."

Thomas Merton, Theologian

"I am most impressed with A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada's scholarly and authoritative edition of Bhagavad-gita. It is a most valuable work for the scholar as well as the layman and is of great utility as a reference book as well as a textbook. I promptly recommend this edition to my students. It is a beautifully done book."

Dr. Samuel D. Atkins Professor of Sanskrit, Princeton University

"As a successor in direct line from Caitanya, the author of Bhagavad-gita As It Is is entitled, according to Indian custom, to the majestic title of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. The great interest that his reading of the Bhagavad-gita holds for us is that it offers us an authorized interpretation according to the principles of the Caitanya tradition."

Olivier Lacombe Professor of Sanskrit and Indology, Sorbonne University, Paris

"I have had the opportunity of examining several volumes published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust and have found them to be of excellent quality and of great value for use in college classes on Indian religions. This is particularly true of the BBT edition and translation of the Bhagavad-gita."

Dr. Frederick B. Underwood Professor of Religion, Columbia University

"If truth is what works, as Pierce and the pragmatists insist, there must be a kind of truth in the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, since those who follow its teachings display a joyous serenity usually missing in the bleak and strident lives of contemporary people."

Dr. Elwin H. Powell Professor of Sociology State University of New York, Buffalo

"There is little question that this edition is one of the best books available on the Gita and devotion. Prabhupada's translation is an ideal blend of literal accuracy and religious insight."

Dr. Thomas J. Hopkins Professor of Religion, Franklin and Marshall College

"The Bhagavad-gita, one of the great spiritual texts, is not as yet a common part of our cultural milieu. This is probably less because it is alien per se than because we have lacked just the kind of close interpretative commentary upon it that Swami Bhaktivedanta has here provided, a commentary written from not only a scholar's but a practitioner's, a dedicated lifelong devotee's point of view."

Denise Levertov, Poet

"The increasing numbers of Western readers interested in classical Vedic thought have been done a service by Swami Bhaktivedanta. By bringing us a new and living interpretation of a text already known to many, he has increased our understanding manyfold."

Dr. Edward C Dimock, Jr. Department of South Asian Languages and Civilization University of Chicago

"The scholarly world is again indebted to A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Although Bhagavad-gita has been translated many times, Prabhupada adds a translation of singular importance with his commentary."

Dr. J. Stillson Judah, Professor of the History of Religions and Director of Libraries Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California

"Srila Prabhupada's edition thus fills a sensitive gap in France, where many hope to become familiar with traditional Indian thought, beyond the commercial East-West hodgepodge that has arisen since the time Europeans first penetrated India.
"Whether the reader be an adept of Indian spiritualism or not, a reading of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is will be extremely profitable. For many this will be the first contact with the true India, the ancient India, the eternal India."

Francois Chenique, Professor of Religious Sciences Institute of Political Studies, Paris, France

"It was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us"

Emerson's reaction to the Gita

"As a native of India now living in the West, it has given me much grief to see so many of my fellow countrymen coming to the West in the role of gurus and spiritual leaders. For this reason, I am very excited to see the publication of Bhagavad-gita As It Is by Sri A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. It will help to stop the terrible cheating of false and unauthorized 'gurus' and 'yogis' and will give an opportunity to all people to understand the actual meaning of Oriental culture."

Dr. Kailash Vajpeye, Director of Indian Studies Center for Oriental Studies, The University of Mexico

"The Gita is one of the clearest and most comprehensive one, of the summaries and systematic spiritual statements
of the perennial philosophy ever to have been done" __________________________________________Aldous Huxley

"It is a deeply felt, powerfully conceived and beautifully explained work. I don't know whether to praise more this translation of the Bhagavad-gita, its daring method of explanation, or the endless fertility of its ideas. I have never seen any other work on the Gita with such an important voice and style. . . . It will occupy a significant place in the intellectual and ethical life of modern man for a long time to come."

Dr. Shaligram Shukla Professor of Linguistics, Georgetown University

"I can say that in the Bhagavad-gita As It Is I have found explanations and answers to questions I had always posed regarding the interpretations of this sacred work, whose spiritual discipline I greatly admire. If the aesceticism and ideal of the apostles which form the message of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is were more widespread and more respected, the world in which we live would be transformed into a better, more fraternal place."

Dr. Paul Lesourd, Author Professeur Honoraire, Catholic University of Paris

"When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous."

Albert Einstein

"When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day."

Mahatma Gandhi

"In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad-gita, in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial."

Henry David Thoreau

"The Bhagavad-Gita has a profound influence on the spirit of mankind by its devotion to God which is manifested by actions."

Dr. Albert Schweitzer

"The Bhagavad-Gita is a true scripture of the human race a living creation rather than a book, with a new message for every age and a new meaning for every civilization."

Sri Aurobindo

"The idea that man is like unto an inverted tree seems to have been current in by gone ages. The link with Vedic conceptions is provided by Plato in his Timaeus in which it states 'behold we are not an earthly but a heavenly plant.' This correlation can be discerned by what Krishna expresses in chapter 15 of Bhagavad-Gita."

Carl Jung

"The Bhagavad-Gita deals essentially with the spiritual foundation of human existence. It is a call of action to meet the obligations and duties of life; yet keeping in view the spiritual nature and grander purpose of the universe."

Prime Minister Nehru

"The marvel of the Bhagavad-Gita is its truly beautiful revelation of life's wisdom which enables philosophy to blossom into religion."

Herman Hesse

"I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavad-gita. It was the first of books; it was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"In order to approach a creation as sublime as the Bhagavad-Gita with full understanding it is necessary to attune our soul to it."

Rudolph Steiner

"From a clear knowledge of the Bhagavad-Gita all the goals of human existence become fulfilled. Bhagavad-Gita is the manifest quintessence of all the teachings of the Vedic scriptures."

Adi Shankara

"The Bhagavad-Gita is the most systematic statement of spiritual evolution of endowing value to mankind. It is one of the most clear and comprehensive summaries of perennial philosophy ever revealed; hence its enduring value is subject not only to India but to all of humanity."

Aldous Huxley

"The Bhagavad-Gita was spoken by Lord Krishna to reveal the science of devotion to God which is the essence of all spiritual knowledge. The Supreme Lord Krishna's primary purpose for descending and incarnating is relieve the world of any demoniac and negative, undesirable influences that are opposed to spiritual development, yet simultaneously it is His incomparable intention to be perpetually within reach of all humanity."

Ramanuja

The Bhagavad-Gita is not seperate from the Vaishnava philosophy and the Srimad Bhagavatam fully reveals the true import of this doctrine which is transmigation of the soul. On perusal of the first chapter of Bhagavad-Gita one may think that they are advised to engage in warfare. When the second chapter has been read it can be clearly understood that knowledge and the soul is the ultimate goal to be attained. On studying the third chapter it is apparent that acts of righteousness are also of high priority. If we continue and patiently take the time to complete the Bhagavad-Gita and try to ascertain the truth of its closing chapter we can see that the ultimate conclusion is to relinquish all the conceptualized ideas of religion which we possess and fully surrender directly unto the Supreme Lord.

Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati

"The Mahabharata has all the essential ingredients necessary to evolve and protect humanity and that within it the Bhagavad-Gita is the epitome of the Mahabharata just as ghee is the essence of milk and pollen is the essence of flowers."

Madhvacarya

Yoga has two different meanings - a general meaning and a technical meaning. The general meaning is the joining together or union of any two or more things. The technical meaning is âa state of stability and peace and the means or practices which lead to that state." The Bhagavad Gita uses the word with both meanings. Lord Krishna is real Yogi who can maintain a peaceful mind in the midst of any crisis."

Mata Amritanandamayi Devi.

Karma, Bhakti, and Jnana are but three paths to this end. And common to all the three is renunciation. Renounce the desires, even of going to heaven, for every desire related with body and mind creates bondage. Our focus of action is neither to save the humanity nor to engage in social reforms, not to seek personal gains, but to realize the indwelling Self itself.

Swami Vivekananda (England, London; 1895-96 )

"Science describes the structures and processess; philosophy attempts at their explaination.-----
When such a perfect combination of both science and philosophy is sung to perfection that Krishna was,
we have in this piece of work an appeal both to the head annd heart. " ____________Swamy Chinmayanand on Gita

I seek that Divine Knowledge by knowing which nothing remains to be known!' For such a person knowledge and ignorance has only one meaning: Have you knowledge of God? If yes, you a Jnani! If not, you are ignorant.As said in the Gita, chapter XIII/11, knowledge of Self, observing everywhere the object of true Knowledge i.e. God, all this is declared to be true Knowledge (wisdom); what is contrary to this is ignorance."

Sri Ramakrishna .

Maharishi calls the Bhagavad-Gita the essence of Vedic Literature and a complete guide to practical life. It provides âall that is needed to raise the consciousness of man to the highest possible level.â Maharishi reveals the deep, universal truths of life that speak to the needs and aspirations of everyone.

Maharshi Mahesh Yogi

The Gita was preached as a preparatory lesson for living worldly life with an eye to Release, Nirvana. My last prayer to everyone, therefore, is that one should not fail to thoroughly understand this ancient science of worldly life as early as possible in oneâs life.
--- Lokmanya Tilak

I believe that in all the living languages of the world, there is no book so full of true knowledge, and yet so handy. It teaches self-control, austerity, non-violence, compassion, obedience to the call of duty for the sake of duty, and putting up a fight against unrighteousness (Adharma). To my knowledge, there is no book in the whole range of the worldâs literature so high above as the Bhagavad-Gita, which is the treasure-house of Dharma nor only for the Hindus but foe all mankind.
--- M. M. Malaviya

bhattathiry@yahoo.com

ref. bbt.org, kamakoti.org, amritapuri.org, mahrshi.com, sai.org,chinmaya.org, vivekanada.org,neovedanta/gospel.com,spirituality.indiatimes.com

The Great Rising Of 1857 - Part I

Fri, 23 Sep 2005 14:31:52 +0000

The Great Rising of 1857 - Part I
By Anand K

Is The Indian Media Secular?

Tue, 13 Sep 2005 06:29:59 +0000

Ed Murphy And Political Ccs

One of Ed Murphyâs witty aphorisms spoofing the lives of corporate citizens says that sometimes the only important things in an inter office memo are the âccsâ.

A popular pastime of Secular Feminists and sundry intellectuals is to bash the Hindu scriptures, like the Ramayana. Bashing Hindu scriptures is a safe pastime, as it does not entail in raiding newspaper offices or issuing Fatwas.

Ramayana may be quoted as an example of male chauvinism or as the story of a King who upheld the noblest principles of democracy; a King who valued the word of a lumpen citizen as more estimable than familial ties.

The story of Satyabahma who fought a battle alongside her Consort may be quoted as an example of gender equality.

During a philosophical debate between Adi Sankara and the scholar Mandanamishra, the latterâs wife acted as a referee.

Gargi and Maitreyi were held in as high esteem as sages Vasishta and Viswamitra for the profundity of their philosophical knowledge.

Take your pick.

An axiomatic question that we should ask ourselves is - should we view the scriptures through the prism of twenty-first century values.

If yes, why are not scriptures of all faiths subjected to such tests?

Or should we venerate them as repositories of ancient wisdom and draw such lessons that are congruous to our times.

If the objective of Wonderings is a âccâ to the new Catholic bossâ¦

After all neo-converts are expected to be more loyal than the King (or should we say the Queen)!

A correspondent for the majorityâ¦

Traditionally, the media has correspondents specializing in business, finance, sports, science and politics. Did you hear of special correspondents for minorities in Gujarat and the majority in Kashmir â no, not minorities in Kashmir because the Kashmiri Pundits do not deserve human rights let alone minority rights?

But this ultra-secular news channel has both: a correspondent for minorities in Gujarat and a correspondent for the majority in Kashmir.

The correspondent for the majority in Kashmir holds court on Sundays, where a select audience is treated to acceptance of her pet theory about a political process in Kashmir. Her theory, like the Gujral doctrine, all but allows Kashmir to become an independent nation - if Pakistan allows it - that is.

She nimbly leads the captive audience up the garden path, manipulating, filtering and swatting opinions inimical to her theory. Forget the directive principles of state policy enshrined in the Constitution. Ironically, the programme flaunts the frontispiece of the same constitution as its banner.

â¦And another for the minorities!

The correspondent for the minorities has been busy for over ten months reporting about the atrocities committed by the majority community in Gujarat, in sentences liberally sprinkled with phrases like ââ¦in a senseâ, ââ¦at one level â and ââ¦at the end of the dayâ

For him communal riots have suddenly become âpogromsâ, and âgenocideâ. He and the rest of the secular intelligentsia forbade any allusion to the initial incident that triggered it all Godhra -. They would rather bury the dead of Godhra quietly and praise the Indian citizen for his unwavering commitment to secularism and for not being provoked by such incidents, unfortunate though they were.

The incident would then merit a mention if the channel had time after all the âsecularism is under threatâ stories.

The aftermath of Godhra was condemnable but to say that the Karsevaks asked for what they got â gruesome death â is secularism, Indian brand.

Objectivity a matter of principleâ¦

Why should we object when the media was just doing its duty, viz. reporting? No, we should not â but should we not know when reporting ends and where comment begins? News formats are cleverly constructed making the dividing line between news and comment as porous as the Indo-Bangladesh border.

Our correspondent for the minorities advances on Mamata Banerjee, thrusts his mike into her face and asks if she would now withdraw support to the central government. The channel built up a frenzy over the VHP march to Ayodhya, and, captured it âexclusivelyâ on camera. VHPâs foolhardy venture caused it to score a self-goal when the Supreme Court reversed its earlier decision about the undisputed site in Ayodhya.

The ultra-secular news channel put out a report about the VHP getting millions of dollars of foreign aid that was used for sectarian purposes. They found a Dr. Matthew; about as credible as the other âDoctorâ, who saw the Ansal Plaza encounter, who compiled a report about it.

â¦Or an optical illusion?

While the ultra-secular news channel was showering encomiums on the CEC for the conduct of a peaceful election with a turnout of 42%-43% in Kashmir, the BBC correspondent in Srinagar denounced it as an exaggerated Indian government figure and the voter turnout would not exceed 15%. Do we dismiss this as a difference in perspective between Indian (even if they are ultra-secular ) and foreign meida with their biases and pet axes to grind. The Beeb, in the past, did show clips from Chechnya in a programme on Kashmir!

When did these champions of secularism visit the camps outside Jammu or Delhi in which Kashmiri Pundits reside and report about the living conditions there, in the last fourteen years?

Of a Court Martialâ¦

By the by, while the secular parties and the secular media were pillorying Narendra Modi and the BJP for criticizing the august office of the CEC, our secular CEC himself found it necessary to appear on SAB TV and explain his conduct. Calling a senior IAS officer a âJokerâ, was an Americanism. The admonition to the officer âyou should be ashamed of yourselfâ was not for public consumption, but eavesdropped by the media. Had they, in the secular media, known this, they would not have reported it.

â¦And Secular Marshals!

One of the panelists that âcourt-martialedâ the CEC in the programme writes two thousand word articles about âsecularism under seizeâ. Her first paragraph has an innuendo that becomes suspicion in the second and by the logic of the first two becomes fact in the third. The rest of the article flows from the first three sequentially and logically. The last paragraph of the article leaves the reader in no doubt as to where he should look for, for recruiting demons and other evil spirits when he needed them. They are, according to her, without a doubt, in the membership of the Bhajrang Dal, the RSS and the VHP, a.k.a. the Sangh Parivar, in the lexicon of the secular media. Prosecutor, Judge and Jury all rolled into one and the judgement delivered in a jiffy! Another distinguished columnist wrote a dissertation (no less) in one of the more secular newspapers, about Narendra Modiâs culpability for violation of international human rights laws and his liability for instant arrest if he set foot on Belgian soil. Again, Prosecutor, Judge and Jury all rolled into one and the judgement delivered in a jiffy!

Killings in Kashmir, Amarnadh, Aksharadham, Kaluchuk and other places are merely to be toted on the tickers as statistics. They do not merit dissertations and application of human rights laws.

Thousands of Hindus were killed in the last twelve years. Eight hundred million were killed in five centuries from the ninth to the thirteenth centuries.

âShushâ¦â do not talk about such lore - the secular intellectuals arraign you for invoking the dead past.

The dead did not complain; the living do not object. That is Hindu passivity, the Hinduâs eternal belief in the infallibility of his fate.

The Jews came to India when they were driven out of Palestine in 70 A. D. Hindus welcomed them with open arms.

Jesuit priests came to India in the seventh century to propagate their religion. Hindus did not resist them â they were welcomed!

The Zoroastrians, original inhabitants of Persia, like the Jews, were persecuted. They sought asylum in India and have been living here, in peace and tranquility.

Do the Hindus need lessons in secularism?

This article was written two years ago but has not lost its topicality as bashing Hindu scriptures and meida biases continue.

Will India Survive As Bharat?

Wed, 31 Aug 2005 09:27:59 +0000

India that is Bharat (India is perhaps the only country in the world to have two official names), like the Ganga that symbolises her, meanders on in spite of continuous assaults on her political, cultural and religious institutions. These assaults are by political parties, which subsume national interest to their greed for power, their contrasting approaches towards issues that concern the majority and minority religions and their cultures and traditions and their subjugation of the intellectual community into endorsing their dominant political philosophy - by patronage or ostracism. The dominant philosophy of Indiaâs political class may be summed up as the political equivalent of commercial sex work.

Hidden agenda in Kashmir?

The sequence of events that built up the Kashmir imbroglio makes out for an unmistakable case of ineptitude, political myopia and vanity. First, at the time of partition, the Maharajah of Kashmir affirmed that his state would remain independent and not join either India or Pakistan. When Pakistan tried to annex the state by infiltrating tribal raiders, the Maharajah offered accession of his state to India. The instrument of accession that the Maharajah signed was valid under international law and had no strings attached to it.

India sent her armies to liberate Kashmir from its aggressors. Mahatma Gandhi was reported to have come out of the Birla House in Delhi where he was camping and blessed the Indian airforce planes that were over-flying to liberate Kashmir. Indian army beat Pakistan in the battle and was ready to liberate Kashmir.

Thus far the progression of the story was linear with a simple cause and effect sequence. Then some bizarre things began to happen. India, instead of liberating Kashmir, called a unilateral cease-fire of the winning army. A new article - the now infamous article 370 - though the instrument of accession did not call for it, was added to the Indian constitution. The matter was referred to the UN - again, though not called for by the instrument of accession.

The instinct for self-flagellation of Indiaâs political masters was not only to haunt her for over fifty years but virtually opened a Pandoraâs box. First India weakened her case in international fora. Second, she was oblivious to the loss of Baltistan, Gigit and other northern areas, which slipped out of her hand along with Kashmir. And third, article 370 lead to the introduction of slew of cankerous articles that gave the northeastern states the same dubious status as Kashmir. The advent of Jihad culture on the world stage that originated in West Asia engulfed the Kashmiri Hindus and made them refugees in their own country. India winked at the phenomenon in West Asia and winks at the plight of the Kashmiri Hindus - her political institutions culpable and her intellectuals hypocritical.

Did Jawaharlalâs overweening ambition to win a Nobel peace prize script our pernicious Kashmir policy?

Tolerating treason?

Could you imagine, at the height of the Falklands war, the Communist Party of Great Britain supporting Argentina? If it did such an act would have been described as high treason. Strong public opinion chastised even the punctilious BBC in its reporting of the war.

In India that is Bharat, not only could a political party get away with supporting the enemy during the Chinese war of 1962, but forty years into the future usurp an aura of respectability that would give it a stranglehold over many public institutions. Today it is a state within a state that enjoys awesome authority and no responsibility.

Placatory scripts!

The UN mandated the formation of Israel in 1948 but India that is Bharat did not recognise the state for fear of alienating her native minority population. How recognising a state in west Asia for which its constituents fought for over two millennia would go against the interests of Indiaâs minorities boggles imagination. Rather than cultivating a friendship with Israel that has so much to offer, India that is Bharat indulged a club called the Non Aligned Movement comprising mostly banana republics and totalitarian states. India that is Bharat finally got round to recognising Israel after China did.

Would Britain re-write its history eulogising Napoleon to please the French minority? In India that is Bharat, half a century after Sardar Patel ordered the restoration of the Somnath temple a celebrated historian re-writes history amounting to an apologia for Mohamed Ghaznavi who destroyed it.

White-livered fourth estate!

Not a whimper is heard when newspapers routinely publish derogatory critiques on Hindu mythology, films routinely lampoon Gods and other mythological figures and rationalists have a field day lambasting them. Newspapers and intellectuals cry foul when some social organisations protest against such insensitivity. They are dubbed obscurantist and even fascist.

Offices of all four English language newspapers in Bangalore a.k.a. Indiaâs Silicon Valley were vandalised at one time or other for publishing something the principal minority religion considered blasphemous. There were no cries of âfreedom of expression in perilâ. The victims promptly published apologies. After one of those episodes, an eminent columnist went into hiding till the fury subsided.

Who do you think was responsible for Salman Rushidie becoming a fugitive to eternity? A very revered, eminent journalist, champion of freedom of expression and conscience keeper of (Indiaâs version of) secularism.

Reformation abroad and apartheid at home!

There are three kinds of nations in the world. In first world democracies every religion enjoys equal status vis-Ã -vis the state, probably with a slight but understandable tilt towards the majority religion. Therefore no one would take exception when the president of the US takes oath on the bible when sworn into office or lights a Christmas tree on the eve of Christmas. After the break up of USSR, nations in Eastern Europe abandoned the dead religion called communism and moved into this category. In the theocratic states only the dominant religion is - allowed to be - practised in public.

India that is Bharat belongs to the third category - alone in the world - where there is an undeclared apartheid against the majority religion. Unbelievable? But true! Every child is initiated into school after a prayer to Saraswathi the goddess of learning. Yet Saraswathi Vandana or invocation to the goddess of learning was not allowed in a conference of Education Ministers. The received wisdom was that it would offend the sensibilities of a minority religion. Now look at the contrast. During the holy month of Ramjan every two-bit politician and his uncle - of the majority religion - dons a fez cap and hosts at least one Iftar party.

The Indian State cannot serve a superior courtâs summons to a Muslim cleric. But a state government gave Hindus a Diwali gift last year by arresting one of their most revered pontiffs. The stateâs law enforcement agencies (literally) stage-managed an Entebbe type commando operation with machine guns helicopters and aeroplanes to arrest a harmless Sanyasin at a cost of twenty million rupees. If only they were as zealous and volunteered their prowess when an Indian Airlines plane was hijacked to Afghanistan!

Demographic Invasion

Berlin wall was dismantled in 1990 so the two Germanies could unite. This year the French rejected a common EU constitution not because they feared losing a few plumbing jobs to the Polish but because they feared their culture and identity might be smothered in the enlarged EU. The Dutch followed suit.

In India that is Bharat, a report about fifteen to twenty million Bangladeshi illegal immigrants swamping all over the land is dismissed as paranoia of a fanatic Hindu fringe. Fifteen to twenty million is more than the population of many European nations. Just to give an idea by contrast, the three Baltic republics Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had a combined population of 2.7 million when they seceded from the erstwhile USSR

These examples demonstrate how cultures seek to consolidate and protect their identity from atrophy.

What is culture? Why should a nation seek to preserve its cultural ancestry? What will happen if power hungry political Ã©lites seek to erase a nationâs cultural ancestry to perpetuate themselves in power?

This is not the end of this article but the beginning of a - hopefully - lively debate!

Should We Re-write Indian History?

Fri, 26 Aug 2005 13:15:18 +0000

Should we re-write Indian History?

Indiaâs history, for the secular establishment, begins in the tenth century AD after Mohd. Ghaznavi embarked on his pilgrimage. According to celebrated leftist historians his repeated visits to Hindu temples had nothing to do with religion. Mohd. Ghaznavi merely wanted to set right social imbalances because temples in those days were centres of social activity. His second laudable objective was to take away wealth that was hoarded there and not used for the welfare of the masses.

Our commie friends have been doing it - redistribution of wealth - for over seventy years till people in many countries felt that they had had too much of a good thing. That is why their historians feel a kinship with the Mohd. Ghaznavis.

Genghiz Khan and Tamarlene too were social reformers who showed the kafirs the path to direct and hassle-free salvation.

In the first decades after independence, school children had a template answer for questions about the rule of various emperors in their history question papers. All of them had had roads laid, trees planted, ponds dug and rest houses constructed for travellers. The child had to fill in the name and the answer was equally applicable to Ashoka, Kanishka or Sri Harsha.

The mogul rulers beginning with Babar reformed administration, established benign, people-friendly governance and instituted civic amenities. They did not demolish temples. If you say they did, prove it by giving us a ride in time travel and show it happening.

Emperor Aurangazeb in his magnanimity permitted kafirs to practise their religion and live peacefully by paying a small tax. British historians distorted facts by calling it Zaziya to sow dissension and âdivide et imperaâ. That is why - for Aurangazebâs magnanimity in permitting kafirs to practise their religion and live peacefully by paying a small tax, not British historians distorting facts by calling it Zaziya to sow dissension and âdivide et imperaâ - many cities in India commemorate his name.

Leftists can explain away events and - diametrically opposing views - with great felicity through Marxian dialectics. They could teach Goebbels a thing or two about propaganda. The mystery behind modern advertising executives wearing scruffy looks and crumpled clothes might be traced to their Marxist background.

Thus Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1954, Poland in 1962, Czechoslovakia in 1967 and Afghanistan in 1980 were historical necessities. The reason for American intervention in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Afghanistan and Iraq was her imperialist expansionist designs and vulgarity of greed.

Query our Marxist friends about the purges of political opponents during the regimes of Stalin, Kruschev and Mao they will scorch you with their looks. Ask them why China massacred several thousand of her own civilians in Tiannamen square using not just machine guns but tanks and armoured personnel carriers, they reply that they do not have adequate information on the subject but that it might be capitalist westâs propaganda to malign Marxist progress. But fully informed they are on the exact number of civilians killed in American precision bombing of Iraqâs military targets during the liberation of Kuwait.

George Orwell did not foresee that his native land would in five decades realise his Minitrue, the ministry of truth. For the benefit of those who have not read Orwellâs Nineteen Eighty Four, his fictional communist paradise in the novel, named Oceania, had a Minitrue, the ministry for truth.

Orwell wrote the novel to open the eyes of the English middle class intelligentsia, which was toying with communism, a romantic idea of the time. Orwellâs novel delivered his timely warning with telling effect and put paid to a perilous turn the nationâs history could have taken. George Bernard Shaw was reported to have said âIf you are not a socialist below forty, something is wrong with your heart; if you remained a socialist after forty, something is wrong with your head.â

Orwellâs other novel Animal Farm also a spoof on communism, too, is a must read for lovers of democracy. Animal Farm begins with an ironical revolt of the animals that usurp the state with the cry âAll animals are equalâ. The animals got wiser and the commandment was amended to âSome animals are more equal than othersâ. This statute change created a pyramidal caste system in the âAll animals are equalâ society. The societyâs fat cats at the apex lived in opulence and luxury while the rest of the citizenry had to live on subsistence rations.

Orwellâ disguise was too thin - if the irony was too wry - for us not to miss his target. You can allow your imagination run riot by visualising many contemporary caricatures from the novelâs characters.

Returning to Nineteen Eighty Four, Oceaniaâs language was Newspeak. The objective of Newspeak was not to extend but diminish the range of thought. For example the word free has a limited meaning: free of lice, free of pests etc. In Newspeak, thinking of freedom other than that was allowed by Engsoc was thoughtcrime, punishable by death. Engsoc or English Socialism was Orwellâs euphemism for communism.

The function of Oceaniaâs Minitrue, was to constantly re-write history to suit the current philosophy and objectives of the rulers of Oceania. The nationâs history was constantly re-written and - all - copies of the previous versions were destroyed.

While the closet, crypto, pseudo and other species of the genus commie and their fellow travellers have been contributing their mite to re-writing Indiaâs history for over fifty years, the government of West Bengal has instituted a Minitrue for sanitising Indiaâs history. For WBâs Minitrue speaking or writing of Indiaâs past, which is contrary to the commie parivarâs worldview, is Saffronising history.

Fifty years after Sardar Patel ordered the restoration of Somnath, the celebrated historian, Romila Thapar felt the need to re-write history, an apologia for Mohd. Ghaznavi, who destroyed the temple. Contrast this with A. J. P. Taylorâs attempt to put the Origins of the Second World War in what he considered was the proper perspective, by tracing allied vacillation and turning a Nelsonâs eye over German rearmament. The British polity did not avidly lap it up but dismissed it as an overzealous attempt to defend the devil.

The role of the media in shadowing prevailing hypocrisy (euphemistically called political correctness) might be the subject matter of another article. But the distinction it accorded Romila Thaparâs de novo history vis-Ã -vis another chronicle by a Belgian journalist must be mentioned. Most newspapers and periodicals (except India Today, which published an objective review) eulogised the authorâs thoroughness in researching facts - probably awed by - and reviewed her eminence rather than the book. In stark contrast, Koenrad Elstâs book on the discovery of a massive temple by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) under the demolished mosque in Ayodhya was largely ignored (again with the honourable exception of India Today). No honourable publisher would publish Elstâs book for fear of treading a politically incorrect line.

Jawaharlal Nehru leading the pack of leftist historians, in his Glimpses of World History, had this to say of an eyewitness account of the grandeur of the Vijayanagar Empire: âWhat a scandalous waste of riches!â The eyewitness was recounting a royal wedding in which a splendid carpet, six miles long, studded with diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires and other precious stones was laid for the marriage procession. Why did Nehru single out the only Hindu Empire in the South for such a derogatory attack when all through his book he lavished praise on China?

In his popular novel, The Prize, Irving Wallace noted that three thousand years ago the Hindu surgeon Shusrutha performed the modern equivalent of plastic surgery by transplanting skin from a girlâs thigh on to her burnt face and reconstructing her nose. Wouldnât you call that Saffronising history? For how can India claim such advancement before she became secular and acquire what our commie parivar fondly calls the composite culture?

Exploring Religious Conflicts?

Sun, 21 Aug 2005 21:28:03 +0000

Exploring Religious Conflicts? RAND as New Religious Media (NRM) --Dr. S. Kalyanaraman
-Dr. S. Kalyanaraman

I Want To Go To Hell

Sat, 13 Aug 2005 06:54:29 +0000

Kamal, whom Americans call Camel, is a not-so-hapless Hindu friend that lives in the Bible belt. He always looks forward to the opportunity of meeting the next missionary. Camel believes that beauty is in the eyes of beer-holder and enjoys reading Osho. Here is a conversation he had with a Christian missionary:

Missionary: Hi Camel, donât you want to save yourself?
Camel: Save myself from what?

Missionary: Save yourself from hell. Do you know that if you donât accept Jesus Christ as your savior and get baptized, you will go to hell forever?
Camel: I see. My parents died Hindus. So did my grandfather, who also occasionally smoked marijuana. Will they go to hell?

Missionary: [Feigning pity] Yes, I am so sorry to say this, but you have the chance to save yourself and your family.
Camel: What about my drinking buddy from the West Coast? He gets drunk and calls God filthy names.

Missionary: [Red in the face] Jesus Christ! He will certainly go to hell.
Camel: My parrot? She enjoys sex with her boy parrot friend?

Missionary: Terrible! She will go to hell with her boy parrot friend. Jesus really, really hated sex. Anyone that enjoys sex will burn in hell forever.
Camel: I see. That brings up the question about me and my wife. We have mastered all but two techniques of Kamasutra. How will Christ judge us?

Missionary: Very bad, very bad. When good Christians have sex even they canât tell it happened. Really good Christians castrate themselves. Please, please accept Jesus, give up sex and be saved from hell.
Camel: [After a moment of reflection] You know what, I want to go to hell.

Missionary: [Now confused] You want to go to hell? I donât understand this.
Camel: Yes. What will I do in heaven anyway? You have your Jesus Christ, very moral Christians like yourself and certainly no sex and no calling names in heaven. I will get bored in a day. Now that you have confirmed that everyone I like â my wife, parents, grandfather, drinking buddy and parrot â will go to hell, I want to go to hell and have a nice time with them. I donât want to go to heaven even by mistake. Can you please tell me how I can ensure that I will go to hell?

The confused missionary promised to come back when Camel gets sober and Camel is still waiting. Can some other Christian missionary please guide Camel to hell?

Through A "Looking Glass" - Affairs Of ISI

Fri, 12 Aug 2005 16:33:30 +0000

Through A "Looking Glass" - Affairs of ISI
By Veera Vaishnava

P-6 And Nuclear Truth

Tue, 26 Jul 2005 20:54:59 +0000

P-6 and Nuclear Truth
By Narayanan Komerath

Red Flag In "cool" San Francisco

Tue, 19 Jul 2005 17:49:12 +0000

Red Flag in "Cool" San Francisco
By Veera Vaishnava

Majid Menace Memon

Wed, 06 Jul 2005 02:35:53 +0000

Majid Menace Memon

Many gullible Hindus of India don't know who are traitors of India who are sitting right among them, even though they (traitors) are not disguised as such, but once again, Hindus are what they are -- gullible, nonchalant, busy folks working for loaf of bread and a packet of bidis.

I am sure they did not ponder much either about recent news report of one Majid Memon being shot at, nor did they invoke any interest as to who is this Majid Memon and why he got shot at.

Majid menace Memon is aÂ five star criminal lawyer of Mumbai who lives in a Posh Bandra residence (Almira Road) who mostly takes the notorious Muslims as their clients for a hefty fee when the case involves extortion or murder, but does not charge much when this staunch Muslim criminal (himself) thinks that Islamic Ideology is involved as was the case with ghatkoper Bomb Blast, Muslims who became free due to his subterfuge which is his baye hath ka khel --Â easy job..

He is also assisting many Muslims involved in Bombay Bomb Blast which he thinks was more of a retaliatory attacks than a crime in itself. The guy is well entrenched with high level people of the society and has strong connection with Muslim Mafia who he needs to change the outcome of the judicial act. According to informed sources he is connected with ISI and Ibrahim Dawood with whom he speaks through third party phone (never uses his Nokia).

The guy is a tax cheat who collects higher amount of lump sum value abroad whenever he goes to Dubai-London-Singapore-Hongkong he gets paid there. Here is how he handles his cases with four pronged modus operundi:

Rule number one: Few judges are friendly with him who he takes them into confidence and corrupts them by hefty bribe.

Rule number two: When a perticular judge is away from his clutches, he has his Muslim Mafia henchmen who call the judge over the phone and threaten him/her for their life.

Rule number three: The crucial factor in any case is witnesses and key witnesses. He tries to bribe them.

Rule number four: When everything else fails vis a vis witness, he threatens those witnesses with murder through his henchmen.

Don't think he makes miracle with the law being a criminal attorney, he himself is a criminal who employs these outlaw tactics on such crucial subjects as witnesses along with those judges that he knows.

In the case of Ghatkoper Bomb Blast, the bus conductor was a key witness who in the beginning had said that he had seen couple of potential murderers that he can identify, but when the time came for him to identify those -- he failed, more, the guy became hostile, started non cooperation with prosecution -- clear cut sign that he was bought with money or coerced with threats. And with his negative testimoney, all those accused are roaming free, not only that, they are thinking to sue our government for wrongful confinement.

He did the same maneuvers with one of his client name DESAI who had murder charges on him and he set him free -- no witness came forward to prosecutions rescue and the guy walked free despite claiming to the police that he did murder his American wife during interogation/confession.

Its high time our intelligence agencies (CBI) grill this attorney and tape his e mail/voice mails to find the facts and bring him closer to justice sooner than later.

Enough said.
Keshto patel

Buckle Up India

Sun, 03 Jul 2005 22:32:15 +0000

Buckle up India

What is a biggest Item of export of the United states of America to the rest of the world?
Is it corn meal, levi Strauss, Rayban glasses, Coke, Marlboro? Sadly none of it!

Its US Dollar stupid!

When it comes to currency, USD is the king with the colorful crown after the EU federation has vanished out of the radar with trillions of US Dollars floating in 223 countries, (US not included with its 13 trillion economy and several trillions of cash within its borders) This factor provides a buoyancy for its monetary system.

Since more than 60 percent of the Import-export is invoiced in USD, which includes OPEC and its oil which is routed through american banks (Japan quotes in yens), and those 223 countries of the world maintain 75 percent of their reserves in USD, there is nothing that is going to rattle USD in a near future.

It takes just 4 cents to print one hundred dollar bill, it means each barrel of oil costs just about two cents to US Government. Incredible yet true when you consider that USD is not even a legal tender, meaning its not backed by gold. President Nixon had delinked USD from the gold reserves in 1971 knowing fully no one is going to ruffle their feathers.

What happens if US is asked to pay back its trillions of dollar at once? Nothing!

US Government would simply say "payable when able" and nothing the rest of the world can do to remedy the situation, for it would jeopardize the global economic outlook which would be in chaos, should there be any direct confrontation between the creditor and debtor (USA -- the most heavily indebted country of the world which owes in trillions) there would be a domino effect. If the engine of the world growth fails, the world economy would collapse in default.

And the USA has realized this with its unbridled Dollar printing power!

Thus the US monetary hawks are silent on paying back their trillions, they don't have minor intention of paying back such a humongous sum which carries about 245 billions in interest alone which the USA coughs up every year, yet keeps on borrowing half a trillion every year to stay afloat on books at least.

China has 175 billions in treasury bonds of the United States along with Japan which may cut both ways, one being that, it (China) might be thinking it would have the leverage, should it legally choose to dump those securities at once.

But on the other hand, US lets in billions of Chinese cheap imports by closing its eyes, and this could change drastically, it could stop it with one presidential decree of the United States. But this would not happen for the sake of global economic harmony, against which every nation small or big would stand to loose, Japan and Germany included.

Cuba and Venezuela are trading barter by not involving US Dollar which would involve US banks and this irks the State Department who are after senior Chavez, while poor Fidel is on his last legs anyway.

One of the biggest reason that US invaded Iraq was that Saddam had said he would stop trading his oil in US Dollars, reckoning that Iran might follow the suite and erode the USD, it attacked Iraq as we know, there were no WMDs neither Al Qaida involved.

US, with its 13 trillion economy is collecting enough taxes from its citizens and thus is in a position to squander the money on future wars with no questions asked, considering that Iraq war was illegal yet nobody is ready to impeach Mr. Bush.

As far as India is concerned, the US of A is just providing a lip service and nothing else to it, whereas on the other side they are providing sophisticated avionics and nuclear delivery platforms to our arch rival Pakistan who is busy burning midnight oil to somehow destabilize us Hindus.

Is it not a mockery that a terrorist country with a tin-pot as their head be known as US friendly with NATO assistance and India being declared a flawed democracy ? http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/mar/10rajiv2.htm

Keshto's Crystal Ball has more to it than what meets the eye on US-India relation of charlatan nature involving subterfuge. India is Lucky that US is busy within Iraq, Afghanistan, followed very soon by Iran.

US is not going to go back on its goal of depriving Indians of their rightful place under the Sun by coming up with Joshua Project, declining support for India's candidacy in UNSC, denying it dual use technology, nuclear fuel for its reactors for energy and other coercive/diplomatic veiled threats delivered from time to time.

US has got all the monetary muscle and the resolve, both the ingredients are crucial to invade any country. India's top echelons have already probed US intentions of malafide nature towards India, hence our General Padmanabhan wrote a book -- The Writing On The Wall reads: âIndia Checkmates America 2017â. When our top brass writes such book with a foresight who clearly says "US will prove to be a threat to India," we must imagine what is coming ahead within couple of decades.

But are we prepared?

There is a secret understanding of US top brasses with Pakistani hawks to destabilize Hindu India with its (US) nod and wink. UN designated terrorist Dawood Ibrahim who also has his foot prints involved in Sep-11 is left untouched by USA why?

Because its in US interest to diminish Indian progress, it wants India to be destabilized, Modis and Advanis rebuffed, Hinduism eroded, replaced by Christianity. And this is what exactly Dawood with ISI and his henchmen in India is doing -- fleecing Hindus with phone calls, sending RDX, pimping our top film actresses to shaikhs of UAE, sponsoring Islamic terrorism through remote control and what not. And this is exactly what USA wants Pakistan to do vis a vis India, to make its (US) job easier.

What you saw in the news of how a British newspaper did a sting operation on Indian call center is a tip of iceberg of what is about to surface in the later months. There is a conspiracy to destabilize Indian call centers and its outsourcing industry beyond recognition. There are many state forces involved into it, key among them from London and Washington. Against this onslaught, Indian security forces should do their own sting on call center employees, they (employees) should be made aware to not fall under any trap before hand, there should be stiff penalties coupled with prison term for such an employee to save this industry from being poached by foreigners who envy such a novel concept that Hindus have come up with great success.

Make USA think twice on hegemony subject.
Its time Indians brood about it!
By thinking 3D.
Keshto Patel