Watched this rare love story in tv but happened to miss the title and opening scene that I managed to find in You Tube. It was from Berg (the hero)’s bath tub scene that I watched the picture in the idiot box. Catching up with the first couple of reels on internet, I was amazed to discover how our censor board continues to edit steamy scenes for us Indian viewers!!! One would think by 2018, things must be different!
Anyway, having watched over a hundred times the debut picture of Kate Winslet the Titanic (of which I never tire), nothing prepared me for her middle-aged mature looks in ‘The Reader.’ She looks her age. The second part of hero character is played by Ralph Fiennes. I like him from his ‘Maid in Manhattan’ with Jennifer Lopez, another Hollywood romance favourite of mine. Like Richard Gere, Fiennes seems to have compassion written in his eyes… How important cast selection is, is something I learned from his role. Why do directors pick on certain actors. Why not others. Ralph Fiennes, from two of his films i have watched, seems to have an answer.
Googled Kate Winslet and found her to be born 1975. Not too young.
Powerful and bold script but totally understandable. I don’t know how I missed this one all these days. (Obvious reason: i watch most Hollywood films at home, in tv, never in cinemas. Cinemas are reserved for watching local Tamil ‘masalas’ with unruly and non-stop whistling Chennai ‘machis’ hahaha) ‘The Reader’ looks like an Academy award winner. No memory of it but I could guess right away that this one was different and well made.
We speak of unconditional love, but when you come across one it totally bowls you over. Such a rare gem to find.
As for Hanna Schmitz played by Kate Winslet, her obsession with perfection is baffling. OCD, the obsessive compulsive disorder. Could it be that? It is easy to hold her in contempt if not for her honesty and forthrightness and the false pride that convicts her for life.
In spite of the gravity (literally) of the crime she is tried for, one can deeply empathize with Hanna-Kate. The bubbly Irish tap-dancing Titanic girl has come a long way. Ralph Fiennes’s Micheal Berg character is equally crafted with care. I fell in love with this man. His sensitivity to Hanna moved me to near tears. Respect for the man who wouldn’t judge Hanna. The way Berg reads his love to Hanna is poetry. How Hanna matches his imagination teaching herself to read is a love letter by itself. The proud woman leaves a proud woman.
The Jewish daughter refusing absolution is understandable. May be here, we Hindus can take cue. May be this is the steely Jewish resolve.
The one who has played the junior Berg is perfect.
War movies have somehow been touchy : ‘The Schindler’s List’ and ‘Life is Beautiful’ .
Looking forward to watching this beauty a second time. Felt like reading a good book. Few films leave you with such a lingering after taste. Melancholy can be sweet.
Watched this mindblowing Tamil picture ‘Aruvi’ (waterfall). Only this Aruvi happened to be the name of a girl of 25 years. Brand new picture to hit the silver screen only in 2017. Very apt title because, that is how the character flows: at times bouncy and bubbly, at times listless and subdued. But Aruvi does make one hell of a sound: roaring sound. And the message is heard clear.
Debutante Aditi Balan plays the lead as Aruvi. The director Arun Prabhu Purushothaman’s debut venture couldn’t have been better. A star is born. Two stars really. Incidentally, learned of the director and heroine from Wiki. Missed the titles and the opening scene. The director has unwittingly set a very high bar for his second project.
Kudos to the director once more and the producer for daring to produce a film without a hero. Our heroine is the hero of the film.
Secondly, rare to come across such a flipping script… back and forth, back and forth, frames from the present juxtaposed against frames from memories(past) weaving an interesting and complex story. A dozen or so scattered life events captured in snatches spin a beautiful yarn of solid story of a middle-class family girl. The way it is done is what makes it different. This is a hitherto unexplored technique. The flashbacks become something you look forward to for any idea on what is about to come. The mystery lingers for a while.
The online reviews describe the story as a socio-political drama and I guess I can borrow their words here. I can elaborate more but prefer to hold, unwilling to give away the plot. I am hardly the type to turn to the last page to read first like some do. Reviews I skim barely not to get prejudiced about a film (or even a book) before I get to watch (or read) it without a clue. It was while watching the picture, I wanted to grab some vital info that I decided to read reviews. Wanted to catch up with the opening scene.
The picture is also refreshing in that, we get to see a real Tamil girl (or probably Mallu) playing the lead instead of a light skinned north Indian star. I have no problem with a Hindi speaking dubbing artiste from Bollywood heartland cast in a Tamil picture but it is good (and probably relief) to hear free flow of Tamil from a local heroine for a change – who looks dusky or tanned like Tamil people!!! Tamannah or Samantha or whoever can hardly fit into urban Madarasi role!
Tamil cinema audience are not new to satires-sarcasms from magazines (Tuglaq of Cho’s times not now) to films, but Aruvi takes you to a whole new level. It is an unbelievable mix of satire, sarcasm, humour, despair, helplessness, compassion, inclusiveness everything. Three cheers to the director for exposing the sham that the media is. Everything revolves around TRP ratings these days. No scruples. The script does not judge characters. The forgiving and somewhat cynic attitude when it comes to the heroine is a breather. Aditi Balan has done proper justice to the character she has played, with her immaculately perfect dialogue delivery. Tamil diction is too good. Absolutely no fancy costumes or make-up or any aggravated scene of violence or nonsense in the script. The heroine is like your girl next door. One can’t believe Aditi is a new comer. She has virtually lived the role and is reported to have shed some significant kilos before the final shoot for the closing scenes for a credible story line (with her emaciated looks). The make-over is out of the world, scored without a foreign make-up artist (unlike our Kamal Hasan’s who may come very pricey). The supporting cast have done a remarkable job to make the picture wholesome and truly entertaining.
Rarely we get to see pictures of this genre. Every time I lose hope about Indian film industry, something like this crops up like a promise for future.
The current breed of Tamil directors is awesome. Their story-screenplay-dialogue seem to be realistic. Hopefully they don’t remain the ‘one-film-wonder’ or become the casualty of ‘early burn-out syndrome.’
Aruvi is reported to have been shot entirely in a digital camera to cut costs to bare minimum levels which is something like a world record! This is not internet news. This was snippet news in between ads in the tv. A commercial hit, which goes on to prove that good scripts will find takers any day. Aruvi is a trendsetter of sorts. A treat to watch, lagging not for a second. Not your normal range film yet with the fast pace manages to make a lasting impression on you. I wish I had watched the picture in cinemas. The effect would have been even better. Very low production costs, high entertainment value, women-centric, with NO MALE LEAD/HERO, convincing, compelling story without unnecessary ‘add-ons’ and tags … these could make Aruvi, a strong contender for both national and international film awards. The rare intriguing picture that made me double up rolling with guffaws one minute and weep quietly the next.
Arab countries, Pakistan, Iran etc., are like Fixed deposits. You may keep them ‘untouched.’ But secular democracies such as India, UK, Europe, USA, Canada, Australia are like joint deposits, free for all. You can draw from indiscriminately and suck up their resources running them dry without disturbing your fixed deposits. Well, we will have to do something about that. That is why we need a Trump and a Modi in this world.
If you peruse the list aforementioned, the bottom most entry is the massacre of Goan christians by Tipu Sultan, the only non-Hindu community/group to be persecuted in Indian history. Irony is that, the Konkan (Goan) chrisitians were massacred for a second time, after their ancestors were a century or two earlier force-converted by the Portuguese invaders who mass-murdered the staunch Hindu. Every Goan church that stands today is idle witness to brutal extermination of Konkan Hindus who laid down their lives refusing to embrace Christianity.
Look at the false and misplaced pride of the Goan christians in modern times. Miranda. Alfonso. What nonsense. Surnames quite like the Black Americans who have adopted theirs from their erstwhile white slave masters. Can we get one single Goan christian to own up to this shame in present times?
IDENTITY CRISIS OF THE INDIAN MUSLIM. WHY TO RE-TELL THE TRUE INDIAN HISTORY, NO HOLDS BARRED
This post is penned without prejudice with only truth as the beacon showing the way. The point cannot be missed if one studies it subjectively than objectively. This write-up is aimed at making one meditate upon his/her true origin, history, bearing, culture, ancestry and heritage. Am I Arab? Am I European? Everyone from the minority community in India needs to put the question to oneself and answer it with all honesty. In case one is mixed Arab blood, of course, no one is stopping anyone from quitting India for good. But by no means will India give up a square inch from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. If you want to leave you are welcome to leave, but India stays. As she is.
This post also seeks to explain why Hindus will never accept followers of foreign invaders as their own or put their trust in them. The pain and sense of betrayal is acute when your own blood turns against you.
The Indian muslim may be suffering from ‘Stolkholm Syndrome’ – that which afflicts the vanquished generally. The enslaved. Disowning one’s pedigree and true identity is ‘Slave mentality.’ You just do not become ‘them.’ You will belong neither here nor there. This is one treacherous trait which for a relief, is missing in the Indian christian. Because unlike the Indian muslim, the Indian christian does not have a consolatory Pakistan to relate to. That makes Indian christians loyal citizens of India in spite of their conversion spree. We can handle conversion, but terrorism and disloyalty could be subversive. Which is why this attitude that is like a poison coursing through the Indian muslim community needs to be addressed earliest.
Indian children need to be told, the Moguls were none but yesteryear Taliban. That India had been subject to most horrid terror for over eight long centuries. That Taj Mahal is a monument of torture and death not love and was in all probability a Shiva Temple, and that Ram Temple in Ayodhya was demolished by the barbarian Afghan Babur but even at this time perhaps, an overwhelming 99% of Indians must have been native Hindus only. Conversions happened in the Punjab earliest followed by Uttar Pradesh, Bengal. Last to convert perhaps were ironically the Kashmiris, only by sword, in Aurangzeb’s time.
The Great Mogul Contribution to India: Bastards, Biryani Beside Mausoleums
Historical dates/events listed in this post may not follow chronological order.
The Great Hindu Genocide panned over 8 centuries that not even Hindus want to talk about, so why blame the Indian government or our neighbours with whom we have shared ancestry… The West is too preoccupied with their own selfish interests… the bloody history of Hindu persecution for nearly a 1000 years hardly merits interest in any quarter…
One can’t help but smirk at the misplaced loyalties of Indian muslims who never for one thing bother to voice their concern when Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh are decimated systematically that when in 1947, Hindu population in these countries stood at over 12% today it has climbed down to pathetic 3% or even less.
CURSORY GLANCE: THE CURRENTLY INTERNALLY DISPLACED REFUGEES (IDR): THE KASHMIRI HINDU PANDITS
Why should India bother about Rohingyas or Syrians when we have refugees in our own native soil – KASHMIR HINDU PUNDITS
Ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindu Pandits by muslim militants in the state of Jammu & Kashmir made the sons of the soil IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) in their own country (India) living in shabby tents in the outskirts of Delhi hoping to return to the valley someday.
By this logic, should muslim population in Tamil Nad someday exceed Hindu population, will we Hindus have to flee our homes like our Kashmiri Hindu brothers and sisters. Have the world media ever focused on them? On Yazidis? So why now talk about Rohingyas, Syrians?
THE PERSECUTION OF HINDU RACE UNDOCUMENTED IN INDIAN/WORLD HISTORY
The great Hindu holocaust happened over centuries through which millions of Hindus were butchered, force-converted, with Islam reaching the Indian shores from the Persian Gulf in the 7th century AD.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT TO MOHAMMAD GHORI, GHAZNI AND ALAUDDIN KHILJI
Mohammad Ghori invaded India for a record 16 times and lost every single time. He was pardoned every single time by the Hindu king Prithvi Raj Chauhan who sent him back which was the gravest error he committed. The final 17th time Ghori returned, and with the help of his father-in-law killed the very same Hindu king who graciously and magnanimously pardoned him for 16 times and raided and looted the famous Somnath Temple, unleashing in his wake a cold blooded reign of terror. Hindu custom of hoarding golds and precious stones is not limited to our homes; our temples until today are veritable banks of treasure that will put World Bank and IMF to shame. Google Padmanabhaswamy Temple and Tirupathi Balaji temple to have an idea of what gold and hoarding gold means to Hindus. Islamic invaders came to India for our riches. The same objective got the British later to Indian shores.
What made the Hindu king pardon Ghori in a number of battles preceding the Somnath invasion? The adherence to Hindu Dharma. Hindu kings fought battles in Dharmic ways because India was already a very civilized society eschewing meanness, pettiness and cunning in every walk of life. The influence of Buddhism had also dulled the otherwise valiant Kshatriya spirit in our princes. Peace times reigned in Akaand Bharat and universities such as Nalanda and Taxila (now in Pakistan) invited aspiring students from all over the world. It is in this backdrop that one has to view the islamic invasion of India and the havoc the onslaught wrecked in the civilized Hindu society living in harmony.
Earlier in the 3rd century BCE, Alexander the Great had won over King Purushotham of Purushapura (today’s Peshawar) – counting on the Hindu king who he believed not to violate the ‘dharma’ of war as dictated by the Sanatana Dharma (Hindu) principles. Hindu kings did not fight after sunset, desisted from harming women, children and cattle, hesitated to kill and favoured pardoning the worst adversaries. It is the Dharma that proved costly for India in the end.
The greatest ‘sati’ in Indian history was committed when Alauddin Khilji, the barbaric slave invader defeated the Chithoor king to claim the throne. The Rajput queen Rani Padmini of Chithoor had posted sentries everywhere on her fort to get her the news of the battle. As soon as it was learned that the defeat was inevitable, the queen lit a big bonfire and some 14,000 Rajput women jumped live into the lit funeral pyre with the queen sacrificing their lives, unwilling to surrender themselves to Islamic invaders.
Hail Rani Padmini! It is because of the supreme sacrifice of those like her, that India today is still a Hindu majority country.
Muslims of Indian subcontinent are an intellectually dishonest community who cannot even bring themselves to admit to what is their true ancestry and heritage. It is is shocking that they have sided in history with India’s worst foreign invaders who can never become our heroes.
Indian curriculum speaks at length on winning independence from the British who ruled us for less than 300 years. Who still left us with great institutions and a legacy worth speaking of. What do we call the freedom from the Mogul invaders who made India their home, made us pay the Jiziya taxes, who took our women into their harems in hoards siring bastards, demolished and desecrated and looted our temples and massacred our forefathers for almost thousand years. Did the British commit any of these heinous crimes. Why understate the Mogul atrocities. If the British were foreign, were not the Afghan Mogul alien either. Only in India, invaders are depicted heroes in our text books and the natives are made to look inferior and at fault. Is there a word on colonialism in UK text books or on Indians in US even if it was they who colonized and ethnic cleansed many a native tribe?
History they say is penned by the victors, the way we know it. But there is this other side to the coin: the untold story of the slain.
You see the pattern is familiar with all Islamic states of the present which have had distinctive native culture before Islam vanquished them. These include Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt, Syria just to name a few. All these lands were glorious with arts and sciences flourishing before everything went up in flames.
Until the barbarians reached Greater India, what was the state of India like?
INDIA UNTIL 7 CENTURY CE
India was a conglomerate of smaller kingdoms still,
The idea of ‘Bharat’ (India) existed from time immemorial from what is today Afghanistan to the southern tip of the Indian peninsula Kanyakumari. India extended upto Tashkent,Taksha Khand in Sanskrit actually. It is the British-planted idea seconded by the Muslims that the former united us into one single entity which is untrue. Ram and Krishna and Shiva are as much part of our beliefs down south, east and west as for north and even Buddhhism and Jainism reached every nook and corner of the great Indian subcontinent as evidenced from the Chola kings deep down Coromandel south renouncing meat upon embracing Buddhism. A Hindu Pilgrimage started with Kashi/Varnashi in the north and ended with Rameshwaram in the south. The Shakthi-peets are spread all around Bharat including in today’s Pakistan and so do the ‘Shiva Stals.’ Kailash in Tibet and Vaishnodevi and Amarnath in Kashmir have been important Hindu pilgrimage centers for thousands of years. Adi Shankara of the Shankaracharya lineage from Kaladi, Kerala, established one of the five Shankara Mutts at Sri Nagar in the 7th century CE. Indic faiths renounced aggression and violence and promoted peace and harmony in ancient Bharat. India was a landmass rich and vibrant in culture, literacy, civilization, arts, sciences, crafts, cattle, wildlife, rivers, flora and fauna, spices and farm produce besides precious stones and metals. ‘Which is why Columbus to Vasco-da-Gama left in search of ‘India’ – a wholesome entity, not in clamour of finding a cluster of small, fragmented unruly kingdoms in lieu of India. The idea of India, the idea of Bharat is ancient over what is documented as human civilization.
If India did not exist before, then UK did not either if you cut out Scotland, Ireland, Welsh etc piece by piece. Neither did Greece exist but there was Sparta, Athens, Troy. Italy never existed but Florence and Rome did individually. There was no Saudi Arabia until some 60-70 years back. In a very similar fashion, India has always existed as a single nation united by a common culture and civilization, in world history. It is mischievous to refer to us as ‘South Asia’ – a planned strategy with ulterior motives. Indians/Hindus must always try to refer to India as the Indian subcontinent. None will dare to refer to China as East Asia.
Persians called us ‘Hind’ – the land of the Hindus. The Europeans called us ‘India.’ We are neither India nor Hindustan. We are Bhaarath.
‘Bharat’ is named after King Bharatha, renowned ancestor of Lord Ram, who ruled India well, whose name is still popular when it comes to naming Hindu newborn boy babies.
One of the first casualties of the invasions from central Asia/Middle east was the Nalanda University.
The Nalanda University
The renowned international university at Nalanda, seat of advanced learning, was vandalized and reduced to ruins, ransacked in a heart-wrenching manner with the barbarians reaching Indian shores for the first time. Please give it a thorough read.
Nalanda University is a single proof of what a knowledge society Hindu-Buddhists were. It may be unbelievable to many that once upon a time, Afghanistan was a peace loving Buddhist country.
It has taken centuries for us Hindus to break out of the jinx and rediscover our hidden potential. We have just started with reclaiming our lost glory. It is the foremost duty of every single remaining Hindu to ensure that our great and unique Hindu gene pool is not further tainted and degenerated.
Before Islam came to India, Aryabhatta had already invented the calculus, trigonometry (the Pythogorus theorum). Sushrutha had performed world’s first plastic surgery. Bhaskara was the world’s first astronomer. And even Kamasutra, the world’s greatest and No.1 sex manual until today had been penned by Vatsayana. Chankya had written the first every political-economic text book of the world ‘Arthashastra’ which is still prescribed syllabus in leading international management schools. The Hindus had already given the world ‘the zero concept.’ There was no field untouched by ourgreat Hindu scholar ancestors. Only they did not know of the concept called ‘patenting.’ Neither did they know about ‘visas’ that the Europeans conveniently invented after they had done with a visa-free home run for centuries in Asian, African nations.
This is the reason our earliest satellites were named after Aryabhatta and Bhaskara.
The ancient medicine system in India was Ayurveda, practised until today in India, the dances were Bharat Natyam and Kuchupidi and Odissi and Mohiniyattam etc, the music was Hindustani and Carnatic, the musical instruments were native and traditional like the Sitar and the Veena and the Mridangam for instance. Art was at its best – living examples being the Ajanta and Ellora caves dating back to thousands of years. Hindu sculpture and architecture,one of the finest examples being Hampi for instance, are never played up as much as the monotonous and lifeless Mogul themes – you only have to take a tour of South India to discover what a great heritage we have. And about engineering marvel. The Tamil Chola king Karikala raised the ‘Kallanai’ world’s first documented stone dam against river Cauvery in 2nd century CE and the same stands good to date. Tamil Grammar was penned in the 3rd century BCE by Tholgappiyar. Back to back if you compare north with south, the civilization was matching and advanced.
Ancient Hindus were very cultured, advanced for their age but were too gentle, complacent and peace-loving to their own detriment.
Yoga and meditation are our heritage handed down over centuries, perfected and pracised for eonsand thus Hindus had nothing but GOOD to give the world.
And I have not even mentioned a word on the Vedas and the Upanishads….
But what happened to us all in between the 7th century and the 17th century CE when the British colonized India?
India was culturally crushed, spirit broken. Hindus massacred, demoralized with women and homes taken over. Hindu progress was stalled, Hindu thinking was brutally snapped and Hindu creativity and brains stampeded upon.
THE MOGUL ERA
Mirror Mirror on the wall, who was the cruelest of them all? Aurangzeb? Tipu Sultan? Alauddin Khilji? Ghori? Ghazni? Sad discussion in the Quora:
Who were the Moguls. Only predecessors to today’s Taliban. India is victim of terrorism for centuries, rest of the world welcome to the reign of chilling terror! For the sins of ignoring Hindu agony, rest of the world, pay at leisure.
The mogul architecture and the mogul era literature/poetry are over-emphasized in Indian history over the Golden age of Guptas. India was a glorious and vibrant civilization with Emperors Ashoka and Kanishka and Chandragupta Maurya whose reign extended to most parts of south Asia in their times. The south remained relatively peaceful under the Vijayanagara Empire and Chola , Chera and Pandya dynasties about which our history books hardly speak a word.
What is Urdu. A dialect, cross-breed of Persian and Sanskrit, sanskrit basically. Hindi is like the colloquial form of Sanskrit, the language of the Hindu gods. Hindi language still adopts the same script as Sanskrit, the same ‘libi.’ Urdu may sound romantic when infused with Persian, i have no idea sincerely because I can manage a smattering of Hindi and read and write Hindi but my grasp of fluent Urdu is minimal. If anything, this is the only achievement of mogul era – Urdu language and literature. Other than Biryani and Korma that is. What else is there to gloat about other than perhaps miserable mausoleums. The British played up the Indian muslims only because the two shared the same Abrahamic roots from Jerusalem. The pillars of the Qutub Minar are all pillars of the Hindu temple razed, so can our muslims take pride in such a vain and vandalized monument. What was the state of science and mathematics and arts in the same mogul period. A BIG ZERO.
The selfless sacrifices of the 9th Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur: They say in India, the Sikhs are Hindus’ protectors, and they took up swords to defend Hindus and protect the rest of us from conversion so that we remain and live as Hindus until today. In short, the Sikhs stopped the spread of Islam in a big way with Punjab.
Bow my head in respects to Sikh Gurus, and all Sikhs in general, who are the true saviours of Hindus, and whose religious duties include securing and safeguarding Hindus as per their scripture ‘Guru Granth Sahib’.
HOW CAN MOGULS BE DEEMED INDIAN?! NO CHANCE. THEY WERE THE TALIBAN & AL QAEDA AND ISIS ROLLED INTO ONE EVEN CENTURIES BACK. NOMADIC DESERT CULT CAN NEVER APPEAL TO HINDUS SORRY. NOT IN A MILLION YEARS.
It is this Tipu Sultan the most barbaric among Islamic rulers who was portrayed as a hero in the disputed tv serial made in his name, much to the angst of native Hindus. The very recent Bollywood picture ‘Padmavathi’ featuring Deepika Padukone was based on real life story of Chithore Rani Padmini who committed ‘Sati’ – and whether or not the film sought to put across the brave Rajput spirit and blood, it did in a very perverse manner try to paint Alauddin Khilji in better light which is shameful. Most disgracing. (True, I have not yet watched the movie. But any attempt to justify the invaders’ position is sadistic that we Hindus, persecuted for centuries for no fault of ours can do without).
Ancient Hindu history will break your heart if anyone bothers to give it some thought. Let us not Hindus forget who we are and what we are. Hinduism is all encompassing, passive ideology but let that not make us weakest souls on earth. Let us forgive, but not forget. Let us co-exist but let us not compromise. We owe our individuality to the world benefit.
Taj Mahal: the true story
How many in the world will believe if we are to claim that even Taj Mahal was once perhaps a marble Shiva Temple. For one thing, there is no muslim monument in India or anywhere in the world bearing the name ‘Mahal’ which is a typical Hindu word given for palacial structures. Throw open the Taj to world renowned historians – let them lay bare the truth.
Every single Hindu temple was desecrated over which the Moguls built mausoleums including the Babri Masjid – built by Babur for his boy love reportedly. For the followers of Islam in India that destroyed the shrine of our Lord Ram, until very recently we Hindus were paying out of our tax money to subsidize their Haj pilgrimage to Mecca.
As for Indian text book writers, there is an urgent need to revisit history and revise our history text books. How about describing Babur as Afghan in black and white for the plundered and marauder that he was. How about a description of Aurangzeb’s treatment of Guru Tej Bahadur and how he converted Kashmiris at the point of his sword. How about the bloody terror unleashed by Tipu Sultan in the Malabar that the carnage he committed in Kerala-Karnataka coast in mere 17 years outdid what Aurangzeb could manage in 50 long years? It is essential that the world must know what happened here in India. And more than the world, Indian children have a right to know the truth and Indian muslims and christians must come to ‘acknowledge’ what is what. Is it time for the government to open up the dark and secret chambers of the Taj for further investigations by a world archaeological panel.?
India is a secular democracy but it is imperative for every Indian muslim to acknowledge how he/she came to be in the first place. This is the only way forward, as the onus lies with the Indian muslim to allay the inborn fears of Hindus who have endured terror and agony for centuries that there exists this trust deficit in between the two communities to this day. Every time an Indian muslim identifies himself/herself with an Arab cause, the more betrayed and insecure shall Hindus feel that we would want ‘the bhais’ out.
This is merely the tip of the iceberg: in continuation of posts on the scourge of Conversion in India. Limiting the scope here to North East and Kerala.
The British did not decamp in entirety from India in 1947, with the Christian missionaries in the country opting to stay put spreading the gospel. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s Congress government apparently had no issues on that. Prime minister Nehru, with his communist Defence minister and cabinet ally V R Krishna Menon who could be singly held responsible for Sin0-Indian war of 1962, was bent on projecting the secular face of India at the expense of conversion of vast majority of North East Indians to Christianity, in miraculous span of a couple of decades. The Christian missionaries who were by this time deeply entrenched in the hilly tracts of the east Himalayan states, did not stop with their evangelical work in sovereign Indian soil. They were also actively engaged on the other hand in abetting openly the Nagas to seek their independence from the newly constituted Indian union on the basis of religion to whose ’cause’ the British government claimed to be ‘sympathetic.’ The economic and military support that armed the Nagas to the teeth must have misguided the Nagas. It is no surprise that the British when they left India also generously offered similar ‘friendly pacts’ to small Hindu princes whose kingdoms were unilaterally fused with the union of India, by the sheer will of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Home Minister and Deputy PM. Kashmir is a case in point. Kashmir would not have gone to the United Nations if not for India’s last serving British Governor General, Mount Batten. Lessons learned from Kashmir probably helped India when it came to dealing with Nagaland. British journalists were writing of the ‘Naga plight’ in their national dailies (among other concerns of theirs about India whose survival was predicted not beyond ‘five years’ by none other than prime minister Winston Churchill.) The British government no doubt underestimated the newly resurgent independent India, advising the young Indian nation to ‘let go of the Naga.’ Phizo, the chief rebel Naga leader of NNC (Naga National Council) was granted political asylum in Britain. Ever since, Nagaland has been a thorn in our flesh, with our tribal brethren alienated from us on widespread conversion, wanting to sever ties with the Indian republic. Nagas have exercised their adult franchise in the past with rest of India, yet the divisive lines have always been left open like festering wounds.
This tweet gives one a picture of the level of Christian conversion taking place in Nagaland from before 1947 and how it went unchecked for decades after independence, with foreign missionaries pumping in NGO funding and extending moral support.
Once a majority of populace in any state in India is converted to non-Hindu/non Indic such as Abrahamic with Middle Eastern origin, it may be possible to entrap/enroll them in larger schemes such as ‘Breaking India’ missions. Nagaland could never have been independent but would have been absorbed by China. Kashmir can never been independent. Its strategic location would make it the next Afghanistan in no time (if not for India). The buffer states of Kashmir and North East India do not only function as shock absorbers securing and safe-guarding the rest of India, but are also preventing themselves from turning into next casualty, on the strength derived from Force India.
Nagaland geography is another critical point. Sandwiched between China and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), Nagaland and the even the rest of the north-east, is a security issue for India. The unsolved Naga equation has been an irritant for Indian nation for long. The entire North East India is a sensitive strip.
One cannot help quoting in this context, the UK’s war with Argentina at the start of the 1980s, for Falkland Islands which must legitimately belong to the South American nation. The havoc the British have wrecked in their erstwhile colonies leaving loopholes deliberately unplugged with an intent to cause trouble at a future date, is now coming to surface as evident in Sri Lanka, Malaysia etc where (violent) communal strifes have erupted in recent years. The Englishman played one ethnic group against another before going back home for good. Legacy of the British policy of ‘Divide and Rule.’
The BJP win in Nagaland raises hope. The Nagas have finally come home. It may not be too late either to correct the injustices and mistakes committed by the Congress government for 60 long years in the Seven-Sister-States of India. A ‘Gharwapsi’ is our legitimate right. A reversal of the conditions back to pre-missionary era should hardly raise the liberals’ eyebrows.
The BJP sweep in North East leaves Kerala as the single and only remaining Communist state of India. The 20+ years of Communist regime in the state of Tripura has been brought to a close.
Like the North Eastern India, Kerala too is victim to calculated and widespread conversion (to Christianity).
In the case of Kerala, I am to deal with a peculiar issue here that hardly draws the attention of our government or agencies that it deserves.
I have been been following a few Elephant care groups in the social media Facebook. The unnatural, abnormal concern of foreign nationals for the Indian elephants sparked my interest. It is with utmost certainty that I can vouch that, one hundred percent all the Elephant care groups in India are Evangelical missions sponsored by foreign church. To mention a case in point: Kerala Suffering Elephants. A quick browsing of the group’s content and members will reveal the vested interest of these foreign Christian evangelists/missionaries strangely in Indian elephants that are employed in service of Kerala Hindu temples (for centuries now as part of local custom and traditions). Now the domesticated elephants in Kerala are not restricted to Hindu temples; Churches and Mosques too use elephants for their festivals, however one finds no mention of Elephants maltreated and misused in non-Hindu places of worship.
The Christian missionaries in India are starting to feel the pinch, as the Modi government has successfully blocked the funding of hundreds of fake NGOs who were dubiously funding conversions in India. Kerala Communist government turns a blind eye to the shocking horror and reality unfolding in the state which could have a drastic impact on the future of the state which was overwhelmingly Hindu even at the time of our independence. Today, the Hindus of the state have been reduced to a minority due to flawed communist policies giving a free hand to overseas missions to carry out uncontrolled and unregulated conversions.
With one after the other most avenues of funding closed, it is easy guess that the evangelists both local and foreign are targeting the Hindu temples using the Indian Elephants as their front. I am an Elephant lover myself. However it is not difficult for me to blow the cloak of the evangelist missions who are trying to wage a war on India on a different and altogether unbelievable front.
While the concern for the endangered species is appreciated, is it not ironic that almost all the foreign members of the Kerala Elephant groups happen to have church connections. In a recent post in one more Elephant care group based in Africa, it was revealed how some fake Facebook groups in Europe and USA were duping the gullible, inviting them to fund Elephant conservation.
The multi-pronged threats faced by India from every direction one can think of, is alarming. The missionaries are clearly cooling their heels waiting for the return of the Congress government which will undoubtedly give them a free run with funding for conversion in the country. Unabated conversions were happening until the BJP formed the government. Even as of today, illegal conversions are taking place in every state of India including Tamil Nadu. The last time I visited home, I was shocked to learn two of my friends’ maids had been bribed to conversion by ‘Aseervadham’ church in Anna Nagar, Chennai. In Pulla Avenue, I was witness to evangelists going shop to shop offering bribes for conversions to petty shop owners and pavement stall holders.
This when they talk about the Saffron surge and VHP and Shiv Sena and RSS and Hindutva. Right under the nose of Bharatiya Janata Party.
vijiravindran's 