Why did these geniuses want to leave their signatures (mudras) (like watermarks) everywhere?
Some time ago, Kanda Shashti Kavasam sung for Lord Muruga aka Subrahmanya, Lord Shiva’s second son was eye of a controversy. Every Tamil child grows up singing this ‘Kavasam’ and in fact, there is a scientific opinion on the popular Thamizh prayer that, the nuanced pronunciations in the lyrics can keep off Alzheimer’s, for the tongue twisters they are. The same is also said to be true of Sanskrit slokas and mantras such as Vishnu Sahasranama, Lalitha Sahasranama for instance, that are ages ancient. Repeated chanting of these can do wonders to your memory and delay aging process of the mind.
What caught my attention about the Kavasam uproar was that, how Bala Deva Raya signed the Kavasam composed by him at Thiruchendur, one of the six of the ‘Aru Padai Veedu’ – the shrines devoted to Lord Muruga throughout Tamil Nadu. ‘Bala deva rayan pagarndhadhai’ is the verse with which the devout signs off the Kavasam in his name that he first recited in the seaside Murugan temple famous for its Skanda Shashti celebrations during which time Lord Muruga rains arrows at Padmasura, the asura (demon) king, and the enactment continues to this day in the beach adjoining the temple drawing tens of thousands of Muruga bhakts throughout India for the annual occasion.
Hanuman Chalisa is similarly signed off by Tulsi Das.
Every keertan by Thyagaraja, one of the ‘trimurthis’ of Carnatic classical is signed by composer Thyagaraja with invariably the closing verse ‘thyagarajavinutha’ that’s his trademark mudra or seal. Few others who have left their signatures include Harikesanallur Bhagavathar and Purandaradasa.
Which made me think, how nicely and intelligently these great men have copyrighted their renderings in bygone eras!
I have not observed this branding practice in Thevaram, Thiruvasagam, Thirupugazh, Thiruppavai etc. Nor have I picked up anything of this kind in Meera bhajans etc. To my knowledge, few doyens who reigned supreme in the classical music arena have patented their compositions as did some from northern India with their Samskrit compositions – in their own unique way! Clever!
Just found this curious! None seems capable of resisting the lure of vanity! Not all of us want to go down into the oblivion without making sure that we will be remembered forever! I find this signature similar to an artist leaving his/her initials in the masterpiece he/she creates that may survive to eternity. Great kings etched their names into stone masonry on temple granite walls. Some emperors got engraved their vain glory to posterity on their marble tombs. Some in history did not have a chance to leave a signature, yet they remain in our psyche, not having been banished to obscurity. Time has always done justice to these heroes be them scientists or architects or medicos or mathematicians or literary geniuses. Or even noble princes. That is how we have Vedas, Upanishads to Yogas in our midst until today. We remember Sushrutha to Bhaskara. Valmiki to Agasthya. Some signs have been erased by invaders and marauders, some signs did not exist at all, and some survived the onslaughts to reveal to us the history as it unfolded through centuries.
Recently, a time capsule was buried under earth during the ground breaking ceremony for Ram temple at Shri Ram Janam Bhoomi in Ayodhya. That got me thinking and that is how i tied Kanda Shashti and other things to each other. Just connected the dots and found it all absolutely amazing. I shall keep looking for more signatures in whatever literary composition or sanskrit sloka or mantra i may come across for a telltale sign left by the author.
Finally I have this confession to make: i am good at nothing. A mere passerby. And I may be completely wrong.
After 8 years since it was released, i caught up with watching our superstar thalaiva Rajni Kanth’s Sivaji, tamil film, only last evening in Prime. Of course I have loved the songs tuned in by AR Rahman always, given a voice by S P Balasubramanyam. Rajnis pictures are gross (no pun intended) entertainers. I like him over Kamal Hasan in that, he seems to treat his heroines with a bit more of respect. In case of Kamal, I have the opinion that he is vulgar with his women on screen and makes you squirm in your seat. He can never become the family entertainer that Rajni is.
I have enjoyed Rajni’s Robot made by director Shankar in the cinemas starring Aishwarya Roy opposite him. In Sivaji, it was a visual treat watching the car fight scene although generally i abhor violence. Mostly switch off death scenes/violent scenes or fast forward. Switch off tv if they show macabre scenes or present gloomy news with disturbing visuals. No point in carrying that baggage in your mind. According to some people, i am already negative! The truth is, I block a lot of negativity from my life and focus much more on positivity than I really speak about. Never psycho or terror or scary pictures for me. To fill my home with positive vibes, I play bhajans, classical music etc., in an effort to offset any negative energy present. Mind is cleared of clutter.
As for art, i am no connoisseur of art but having a spouse with artistic leaning has helped me appreciate art better. Europe tour was much more enjoyable thanks to our familiarity with art, that way. While most tourists just walked past, we stood rooted for a time studying art and debating the artists’ mindset. Thanks to my husband who himself is a scrap artist as well (he is a self-taught amateur artist) and thanks to my friends who are Rangoli specialists, i am discovering the many facets of art such as myriad surfaces, tools etc., apart from about some remarkable art installations. The art installations are a challenge to our imagination. Thought provoking. They define a new plane of art taking art to another dimension.
In celluloid pictures, i have been able to somewhat guess what can constitute art. By art here, i am not talking of award winning pictures. Art also need not have to be limited to scene settings. Art can be sublime as well relating to frames. For instance, the word ‘art’ hit me when i watched the car fight scene in Sivaji last evening. One thought in my mind then was that, this car fight sequence is like an art installation. Modern art. Abstract. The wastage hurt me nonetheless. Still I have to appreciate the stunts director and the screenplay-direction that came up with such a stunning and unprecedented scene for the first time in Tamil silver screen. Not ruling out the possibility of copying from Hollywood. Or even Bollywood. But knowing director Shankar and his originality, I have no doubts that this is his matchless ingenuity. This is what I thought of when watching ‘Robot’ dubbed in Hindi as well. Once I watched Shankar’s interview and the director said, how ideas keep popping up in his mind and how he imagines them in 3D and tries to visualize them in his mind’s eye and how he tries to match up film making with exactly what he pictured in his mind. This conceptualization that is strikingly similar to his visualization is what his pictures are all about. Great director of Indian cinema. Legend. Many of his Tamil productions are dubbed/remade in Hindi including Robot, Hindustani etc.
‘Prarthana’ the outdoor theatre also used to be my favourite drive-in cinemas by the sea (although the sea is invisible). I think now it is redundant. Not too sure how it is faring now in the digital age of Prime/Netflix and Inox cinemas. Looks like the scene is shot here. No copyright infringement intended. This is what sets Shankar’s films apart.
(This is a dubbed scene from Hindi version 😀 that hardly does any justice to the sequence. Better footage in Prime HD)
To me, anything with an aesthetic appeal to not only your eyes, but also to your heart and mind, qualifies as art. Art is ever evolving. One is reminded of Dan Brown’s ‘Origin’ with its gala science/art museum that is surreal. Art transcends levels and planes and is of a multi-dimension that is beyond one’s imagination here. I am lucky that i could expand my horizons of thinking where it concerns art. The possibilities are endless. The rustle of a leaf in the soft breeze is art as much as the buzzing bee about it. The gentle roll of the waves is an art as every beautiful twilight and sunset. Corona has spared us time to pause and take stock of art that is omnipresent about us 360 degrees. Nature or otherwise. And most importantly you don’t have to have this creative genius to reckon art for what it is. All it takes is the elusive eye that can wring art out of the ordinary.
Bringing out from backburners one more burning issue. Reason is, i caught even my Prime Minister talking of South Asia, not the Indian Subcontinent in our Independence day address after flag hoisting in New Delhi. I winced in pain. I know I am heard. So here I go:
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(originally penned on December 20, 2014) (with due edits and updates)
Excuse me, we are Indians, NOT SOUTH ASIANS, NOT EVEN BROWNS!
Robin Raphael sometime ago was under investigation by FBI for her alleged spy links during her stint as diplomat in Pakistan. She was well known for her staunch anti-India stance and she is credited with the introduction of the term ‘South Asia’ which region was until then referred to as the Indian Subcontinent. It was supposedly to end the ‘psychological’ superiority of Indians. But what beats me is, why do we Indians have to toe the line. We can continue to take pride in in belonging to/coming from our native Indian subcontinent. The new word çoinage of ‘South Asia’ was meant to appease Pakistan that hated being referred to as part of the great Indian subcontinent, that wanted no part of India whatsoever and no reference in any manner to India.
(Well guys, you cannot write Pak history without mentioning India but India need not have to mention you until 1947. You are one sentence for us, nothing more, in our history text books. Forever you will have to live under the shadows of the big brother India. Live with this now. You simply have NO identity sans India.)
Well how about the Indian Ocean! So how many nations on earth have an ocean named after them? Live with it guys, again, okay?!
The South China Sea is as petty as China-Chinese. The Indian ocean is vast, mighty, diverse, all consuming, all encompassing.
With ‘South Asia’ the West always wanted to refer to India and Pakistan in one breath. Whereas INDIA IS NOT PAKISTAN AND INDIA DOES NOT BELONG ANYWHERE WITH PAKISTAN. The repeated attempts of the west to tie India with Pakistan is showcased best with the successive presidents of US (and China) for instance visiting India and Pakistan always in one single leg of their journey much to New Delhi’s embarrassment. No America, we are not on same footing: India and Pakistan. And do not hop into your Airforce 1 dear American presidents and put your one foot here in India, with the other in Pakistan….
One more reason we Indians do not like the tour itinerary of visiting heads of the state from the west is, when you try to measure us India and Pakistan in the same wavelength at the same instance, you may lose your objectivity. You will never get the Indian perspective.
I have myself referred to ourselves as ‘South Asians’ sometimes but as much as possible I am trying not to do that. Neither are we Indians ‘brown people.’ I mean we are brown, but not when you try to bring us all together under the same umbrella with Pakistanis and Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans sorry. We are Indians, and Indians only.
The reason some immigrants in UK/US refer to themselves generally as ‘brown’ or ‘south asian’ is, they would rather like to pass off for Indian than Pakistani. Which is not fair to Indians. I am seeing this psychology even in Middle-east. Whereas NO INDIAN would refer to himself/herself as brown or south asian. And never as a Pakistani in a million years!
If India is South Asia, then Mexico is also America, is it not! Let us refer to Mexico as North America in our media!
India parted ways with Pakistan long back. Our children do not like to be referred to in the same context as Pakistan. We are different breed today, different culture, different society.
Don’t the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans merit their own specific identity. Similarly INDIAN IDENTITY IS UNIQUE.
My appeal to the BJP government would be to initiate and promote usage of the term ‘Indian subcontinent’ once again in our midst, in our media, in our mindset and get rid of the ‘South Asian’ term.
Call me a racist, I don’t care. I reiterate my respects for everyone but I want individuality. India has her own currency notation. How many nations on earth have that – hardly a handful.
The Indian Rupee Symbol
Proudly Indian. Proudly Hindustani, Proudly Bharatwasi. I AM NOT SOUTH ASIAN, I AM NOT BROWN, I AM INDIAN AND INDIAN ONLY!And I am from the INDIAN SUBCONTINENT NOT SOUTH ASIA!How much the Hindu Dharma is proving to be an irritant, annoying the west and the islamists! Well WE ARE, AND WE WILL BE! Do what you can! Indian flag flies high in the space and in Dakshina Gangotri, Antarctica!
India in Antarctica. Dakshina Gangotri. Instead of Kashmir, Pakistan can root for a slice in Antarctica and Outer Space if you guys think India and Pak are one and the same. Offload that donkey Imran Khan in Antarctica ice! South Asian Bullshit. Don’t give us that crap. We are the Indian Subcontinent and Indian Ocean is our backyard playground!
I take this opportunity to clarify one more fact: been mentioning this in many of my posts:
MOGHULS WERE NOT INDIAN. WERE THE BRITISH INDIAN?Moghuls were barbaric Afghan tyrants and marauders who ravaged, looted India and that’s what they will remain to the native Hindu majority of this nation to eternity. Yesteryear Taliban precisely!
Sweden and Norway must allow immigrant muslims to form independent states in Scandinavia because this is what human rights is all about. Extremely pleased with happenings in the Swedish and Nordic nations. Valiant struggle for worthy cause! Noble mission! LIBERATE THE SWEDISH AND NORWAY MUSLIMS NOW!
Let Greta talk about human rights violation of Swedish and Norway muslims next time. On how the racist Scandinavian law enforcement targeted muslims. It is important for Swedish muslims and Norway muslims to have their own autonomous Sharia states within Sweden and Norway. India must do whatever in Her capacity to ensure just that. For a starter, we can offer to negotiate for a separate state for muslims in Sweden and Norway with respective governments.
Greta, what a dream come true to have the caliphates coming up in Norway and Sweden first and foremost in Europe! Every Human Rights Activist’s dream! Let us move towards realizing the vision! Looking forward to your opinion and lecture on this!
India should offer negotiations between minority Muslim groups and majority Nords for a peaceful settlement. Maybe an autonomous region for Muslims funded by Nordic taxpayers is the way forward. https://t.co/eYoTxTWF7M
Difference between a Hindu and a Muslim is….. BANGALORE.
And None can love India the way Hindus can. And never will muslims be capable of loyalty or gratitude ever. Biting the hand that feeds probably runs in their volatile blood.
No Hindu will have the heart or inclination to do to Bangalore what the muslims did.
Violence in Bangalore erupted after someone (names avoided) posted in social media, caricature of a self-proclaimed prophet. But beforehand, dirtiest caricatures of Hindu Gods and even of our PM were posted in social media by a ‘peaceful’ inviting equally dastardly (favourable) comments. The Hindu tweet was in response to the earlier muslim tweet.
No property was destroyed, no arson broke out and none was killed even if the Hindu gods were desecrated-degenerated by the muslim in social media but Bangalore burned when a single Hindu reacted very mildly despite blatant targeted provocation by the muslim miscreant.
Only absolute hate-filled useless and brainless humans can act so devilish and inflict so much of violence and loss of property under the circumstances. You can see this psychopathic streak in all islamic nations. The way the entire episode was orchestrated with the help of left leaning media was even more deplorable.
It shows, followers of bloody violence will NOT ever be civilized. They are the cancer of our nation, cancer of the world.
I breathe a sigh of relief that in my time atleast, India is still Hindu majority and not gone to these DOGS. In my secular, democratic nation, a Hindu gets booked for this worst series of events that shook Bangalore very recently. This is why we have to enforce with immediate effect Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and must also initiate steps towards building a Hindu Rashtra.
Also time to hunt down the Rohingya and Bangladeshi vermin in the country and send them packing. Not a single one of them must remain in Indian soil.
As i have mentioned before in my blogs, world reserves the best punishment for this senseless thankless community: SHAME.
In world history, their faith will always be demeaned, their lot will be shown disrespect, each and every one of them will be suspected of being a potential terrorist, they will not be trusted, they will be denied equality and dignity. History will record them as TERRORISTS, world will fear them, loath them not because they are heroes, but because they are cowards who will not stop from destroying, destructing because this is what their culture is about and this is what they are capable of given their low IQ (congenital). This is what their religious philosophy is about.
My heart bleeds and my blood boils when i think of what these terrorists did to Bangalore. Slave mentality of the converted sheep who have no identity, who have no shame calling the next door arab uncle their dad.
Prayers, Dreams & Aspirations of a Billion plus hearts and a Billion Hindu ancestors force-converted and/or massacred in Bharatha Varsha the Indian Subcontinent as we know today find fulfillment at last this August 5th of 2020. Raam Janam Bhumi Mandir is not just for Ram but for all of us of all ages and eras. Irrespective of our caste, creed, faith of the present that is, to those Hindu by race.
For the simple reasons that
Bharat (India) is the birthplace of Hindu Dharma
Raam is a household name in India thousands of years after His times.
Ram is the son of the soil, not Jesus or Mohammad. Applies to Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka as well. Dare me! The latter two are your next door mamas/chachas NOT YOUR DAD !
India (read Hindus) never invaded foreign territories or force converted natives or massacred/ethnic cleansed them the way islamists and crusaders have done. Sanathana Dharma did not have to be spread by the sword. We were an advanced, literate and civilized society, wealthy, much more than mere self-sufficient. Dharmic Hindus and Buddhists had turned to inner self for Nirvana over external gratification. And that was centuries, millennia before the barbaric invaders struck. Hindus did not have to steal, plunder and murder for gain like the Abrahamics (the faithfuls that descended from Middle East) (more precisely the turks and arabs). Every single masjid and mausoleum in Indian subcontinent (including today’s Pakistan) was built over razed Hindu mandir ONLY, spilling the blood of native Hindu ancestors. https://www.dharmadispatch.in/culture/suffer-for-60000-years-in-the-gutter-as-a-worm?fbclid=IwAR29Hcbpl4Mm0T3keKlUz3IV0r1thHhJjXHiA2U_-bdWdCQcB-OQo21I9Q8
Ram Janam Bhumi Mandir is not in Arabia or America or Australia or Africa or Europe.
Every single Hindu’s aspiration is Ram Mandir in punya Ram Janam Bhoomi – and that is the aspiration of a billion and more from around the world
55 countries live telecast the Ram Mandir Bhumi Pujan which reflects the global sentiment on Ram Mandir
No invader is worth our Ram least of all an afghan following desert cult with no connections whatsoever with India whose bloody savagery plunged us Hindus into unspeakable misery for over 500 years, broke our hearts to smithereens, who plundered this nation, massacred us natives and force converted our forefathers, and today have the converted minorities turned and pitted against us after centuries undermining the unity of this nation – whose name I do not even want to invoke on this auspicious occasion… just that for the sacrilege he committed his motherland is paying a heavy price ever since – and that’s Karma.
Finally India has for prime minister a brave soldier, son of Mother India, who is unapologetically Hindu, who is a proud Hindu…
A billion pairs of eyes watered today, speechless, a billion hearts brimmed overwhelmed … An emotional moment for the entire Hindu diaspora spread across the globe…
Court ruling made the accomplishment possible but there are exemptions and exceptional conditions, circumstances and situations in our lives, in the community we are part of, in the society we belong to, that need not have to adhere to/comply with institutional decrees and laid-down norms. These are the matters of heart and faith and truth. If the invasion and desecration of Ram Mandir can be justified as the prevailing dharma (law) of those times, then reconstruction of Ram Mandir and institution-resurrection of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya also similarly can be justifiable as the dharma (law) of present times. Finally law is what you interpret with changing times. Victors invariable pen the recorded history, never the vanquished who may have a story to tell as well.
I am for Ram Mandir in Ram Janam Bhumi, Ayodhya. Simpletons like me do not care for Hagia Sofia or whatever. What matters is India. What we want is Ram Mandir. India is none of those other nations. A Hindu is not an Abrahamic. Our Gods were our forefathers who walked down the Himalayas, not descended from Middle East.
An interesting snippet from history (unverified source):
Suryavanshi Kshatriya families in Ayodhya and adjoining 105 villages will start wearing turban and leather shoes after a gap of 500 years. The reason for this is that their resolve to rebuild the Ram Temple which was destroyed by Babur will be soon fulfilled. Turbans are being distributed to every homes of Kshatriyas in these villages. Public meetings are also being held for the same purpose.
After the Ram Temple was attacked and destroyed, the ancestors of the Suryavanshi Kshatriyas had taken an oath that they would not wear a turban on their heads, use umbrellas and wear leather shoes until the Ram temple was rebuilt. Apart from Ayodhya, Suryavanshi Kshatriyas live in 105 villages in the neighboring Basti district. All these Kshatriya families consider themselves as descendants of Bhagwan Rama.
Let me do a copy-paste recap job on New Education Policy 2020 from the social media.
New Education Policy 2020
1. 10+2 board structure dropped 2. School structure will be 5+3+3+4 3. Up to 5 pre school, 6 to 8 Mid School, 8 to 11 High School, 12 onwards Graduation 4. Any Degree will be 4 years 5. 6th std onwards vocational courses available 6. From 8 to 11 students can choose subjects 7. All graduation courses will have major & minor Example – science student can opt Physics as Major and Music as minor. Any combination can be chosen 8. All higher education will be governed by one authority. 9. UGC AICTE get merged. 10. All University government, private, Open, Deemed, Vocational etc will have same grading and rules. 11. New Teacher Training board will be setup for all kinds of teachers in the country, no state can change 12. Same level of accreditation to any college and based on its rating college will get autonomous rights and funds. 13. New Basic learning program will be created by government for parents to teach children up to 3 years in home and for pre school 3 to 6. 14. Multiple entry and exit from any course 15. Credit system for graduation, for each year student will get some credits which can be utilized when a break is taken in course and could come back again to complete the course. 16. All school exams will be on semester basis twice a year. 17. The syllabus will be reduced to core knowledge of any subject. 18. More focus on student’s practicals and application of knowledge 19. For any graduation course, if a student completes only one year, will get a basic certificate, if complete two years, then will get Diploma certificate and if completes full course then will get degree certificate. So no year of any student will be wasted if a break is taken in the course in between. 20.All the graduation courses fee of all Universities will be governed by single authority with capping on each course.
Education system to be at par with education in modern countries and future of our children to be brighter.
My Comment:
If New Education Policy is indeed implemented successfully, it will prove to be a turning point in Indian history for the better. Long since overdue. Vocational education and training to be at par with academic studies, which is a welcome move. Education will cease to translate to mere book knowledge. Practical application of one’s learning will gain impetus. School and college drop-outs will be minimal. Education being equally skill-based and on even footing with academic proficiency can ensure dignity of labour and bring about a more equitable society in the long run. Special children will stand to benefit. Knowledge imparted to be qualitative. Quality of manpower will see tremendous improvement. Holistic approach to Education. Development can be wholesome. We can have a far mature society in the making.
However the new policy sounds too very ambitious, but then knowing Modi and his demonetization and Balakot surgical strike and even the implementation of NEET for Medical entrance throughout India in one stroke and of course the revoking of article 370 in Kashmir, I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets things rolling as soon as possible, beginning with teachers’ training on war-footing basis (this is more important than going on war really), upgrading our schools’ infrastructures, overhauling the entire education system which is in kind of a mess… although I can’t rule out the possibility of the first few batches becoming the experimental scapegoat… Streamlining such a massive machinery of education is no easy task in India, especially given the very brief time frame…. then again I pin my faith on the one-man-army called Modi. No, he isn’t really a one-man army or your usual sycophant surrounded by gibberish fools. I understand, a totally dedicated, devoted team of thousands of engineers and medicos and technocrats and scientists and educationists and bankers and others work for PM Narendra Modi fashioning his policies for the nation over which the bureaucrats and Delhi Babus of the ministry have hardly a say. This education policy so well outlined could be the brainchild of such an expert team. How to standardize education in rural and urban dwelling. A big challenge here.
Environment Impact Assessment Draft 2020
The best efforts ploughed in by our prime minister with the New Education policy 2020 may come to a naught if EIA (Environment Impact Assessment) 2020 is to be enforced as well.
The draft EIA paves way for environment clearance for future (foreign) (mega) investments in India without adequate notification and assessment of the impact on nature and wildlife in India. Most of the protective measures instituted so far for safeguarding the natural environment in India can be bypassed, should the EIA draft 2020 be approved. This means, our rivers can get even more polluted or even be sucked up dry, and India can be completely depleted of its natural resources such as water, minerals, metals and forest wealth in no time. If the draft EIA is facilitated at the behest of MNCs, then in less than hundred years, India could become the next Somalia so that the present generation capitalists can live life kingsize.
Every highway bisecting the elephant corridor in India is one more nail in the coffin of India’s natural environment. Shiva can never become the Adi Yogi turning back pachyderms descending down the Velliangiri Hills of the Blue Mountain (Eastern Ghats) of southern India. Their home is lost. Pathanjali the ancient Yogic Guru, can have nothing to do with the Ayurveda brand promoted by destroying the forests of Assam. This is the only Dharma that I can reckon with.
One of the best things about Nehruvian era was the unwavering protection of our reserve forests that are the natural habitat of some of world’s most endangered and exotic species of wild life, animals, birds and plants. These are the very lungs of India in this 21st century. India’s forest cover has remained vastly untouched over decades. Disturbing or encroaching upon Reserve Forest range and/or harming wildlife are non-bailable criminal offences. Forests department is very much functional. Which is why actor Salman Khan got into legal trouble when he shot the blue buck, a native species.
Indira Gandhi directed the Project Tiger which is bearing fruits today. India accounts for maximum number of tigers in the wild in entire world. India is also home to over fifty percent of the world’s elephant population.
Elephant population in the country is estimated at 29,964 as per the census conducted in 2017. The South Region accounted for 14,612 followed by North East with 10,139 elephants. The tiger population across the country is estimated at 2,967 as per the 2018 census
The current government has a policy for compensatory afforestation when prime forests are claimed for development purposes. However in truth, the secondary forests can never make up for and match the primary forests limb to limb. Despite our best and no holds-barred conservation efforts, forest cover in India is steadily shrinking, with loss of natural habitat for our wildlife reported every single day from every corner of the country.
Prime Minister Modi’s ‘Man vs. wild’ with Bear Grylls seems a cruel joke now.
The rich bio-diversity we have in India is unparalleled in any other part of the world, except for Africa. Gir Lions to Asian elephants, and Bengal Tigers to Single horned Assamese Rhinoceros, with the spectacular array of flora and fauna we boast of, along with the brilliant plumage of avian population co-existing with the 1.3 billion strong humankind is a miraculous feat we can find nowhere on earth. Well, I remember once driving through the sandalwood forests in Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. Sheer magic in the air. For how long shall we have this precious cherished gift? Man-Wildlife conflicts are on rise but so far we have been able to arrive at a truce. For the first time in Indian history however, nature stands to be beaten black and blue and man will trudge on merciless, leaving in his wake the carcasses of rotting wild elephant and tiger…
The price we have to pay for wanting to become the next China!
Torture and massacre of minority Hindus in Pakistan is no news. Hindu population in Pakistan stands decimated and is on the brink of extinction in their very native soil. From over 12% in 1947, it is now under 1% which must explain the systematic Hindu persecution in the country. Everyday news from Pakistan is of abduction and rape of Hindu girls who are then sold to prostitution and/or converted to Islam forcibly married to muslim men. Even so, two recent videos that surfaced in social media shed shocking new insights into cruel fates of Hindus hanging by bare threads for survival in Pakistan.
One is of the demolition of a wall of a Hindu temple in Islamabad, Pakistan by Pakistani muslims. A second is of a Pakistani Muslim father looking on proudly as his child not even about 10 years, threatens with killing every Hindu if the Hindu temple is constructed in Pakistan. The boy of such a tender age already bears the markings of a perfect future global terrorist, clearly a terrorist in the making.
(A third is the brutal killing of a Pakistani Hindu man butchered to pieces. It is a gruesome video that I opt not to share.)
Obviously, both might not have made to headlines in any Arab news agency or to the media news like BBC or CNN.
Well, there is now a fourth video surfacing, of a 1700 ancient Buddha desecrated and destroyed in Pakistan, with Pakistanis stepping on the Buddha with their foot. Heart-stopping footage. How about getting some return respect of same degree for their own belief system now. I have grown up believing that whichever civilization or nation that desecrates Hindu/Buddhist temples/Gods live to realize their past Karma the way we see today in Afghanistan, Iraq etc., and this video could be the ultimate proof of why this deep-rooted Hindu philosophy of justice is proving to be true. Hindu-Buddhists are passive by nature and in India’s history of over 10,000 years, we have hardly invaded a foreign nation. Never plundered by aggression and destroyed native cultures and decimated the original sons of soil, to live a proud and opulent life the way Islamists have done. Even today, India’s conflicts are about protecting our own sovereign territory. Defensive, over offensive. Which is why whether China or Pakistan, their future generations will pay back their bad Karma one day.
The British were in India for 300 years, but they never razed a single Hindu temple. Temple histories and edicts in some cases reveal, how the British were in awe of Hindu Gods. Quite a few of them paid obeisance to ancient Hindu temples and contributed towards their upkeep. Prime example, Eri Katha Ramar temple, near Madurantakam, Tamil Nadu.
The other day I was watching Vox You Tube video on Kashmir. Not a single mention of the massacre and ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindu pundits in 1990 by the Kashmiri Muslims who hunted down and chased away the Hindus overnight, burning villages and towns, raping Hindu women and killing in cold blood the Hindu men who dared to stay back. The Kashmiri Hindus who fled the valley have ever since been living as refugees (IDP) (Internally displaced persons) in refugee camps near Delhi, with their homes and wealth and belongings taken over forcibly by Kashmir muslims. How can a media report ever be complete without an honest mention of them. However Burhan Wani made it to the Vox report. Not surprising.
All these go on to show how mainstream media is paid media and how journalists don’t hesitate to sell their soul if it can butter their bread. Intellectual Honesty: not a characteristic trait of any political columnist or journalist or media person/house.
There is no way we passive Hindus can win against this kind of hatred, barbarity and cruelty. But we win when we defy them in every way, refusing their supposed maker, denying their faith, disrespecting their community, cold shouldering them in international arena and isolating them, and forever branding them as terrorists in our hearts and minds. The universe has awarded these violent perpetrators of inhumane crimes SHAME. Their bloody brutality will go down in recorded history, forever tainting their origins and beliefs and customs and general life. World will always nurture this phobia against them and treat them with indifference. May be this is the best punishment of all.
India leads the pack with Covaxin, the indigenous Coronavirus vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech labs of Hyderabad, undergoing clinical/human trials, promising the much-sought over relief in near future. However critics rule out success anytime before 2021.
A second Indian pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila too bagged DCGI approval for human trials for the Corona vaccine developed by them.
Two Indian vaccine hopefuls thus among total fourteen research labs/pharmaceuticals to enter Phase 2 of human trials for Sars 2/Covid 19 Vaccine to date.
Interestingly, Bharat Biotech is founded by a Tamil farmer’s son Shri. Krishna Ella who has had humble origins quite like ISRO chairman Dr. Sivan, also hailing from rural background in Tamil Nadu (not to leave out late Dr Abdul Kalam, the nuclear scientist turned President from Rameshwaram, tip of the Indian subcontinent).
India also developed indigenous Corona testing aid that minimized testing costs in May that led to far more and wide spread testing to root out the virus. This saved the nation precious foreign exchange, preventing import of testing kits.
Pune virologist Minal Bhosole develops India’s first indigenous Corona testing kit
India leads the world in Vaccine and Pharmaceutical manufacturing and export. Incidentally, India was/is also supplying the world with Hydroxychloroquine now discontinued by WHO for Covid 19 treatment (although some like Brazil continue with the administration). So it is no surprise that India is a frontline contender for invention of the Corona vaccine. After all, the world’s first ever plastic surgeon was a Hindu.
There has been the news of Dr. Sudha Seshayyan developing Corona vaccine at Dr. MGR Medical University, Chennai, with no latest updates.
Hopefully our research scientists prove their critics wrong this time over with their development of vaccine in short period. India will be doing the world a great favour.
Even if others beat us in the race, India will still be the manufacturing hub for most vaccines developed in other parts of the world ironically and coincidentally!
However, Indian citizens have every reason to believe, we will be receiving our own indigenous corona vaccine in future for our immunity. Our vaccines are anyway exported to most of the world for prevention of Polio and Measles to Ebola and Malaria.
India will still be in a position to make free indigenous vaccines available to poorer nations. This will be our greatest service to humanity. This is our Karma. I don’t want to think of India being in a competitive race with the US or Russia or China when it comes to developing the vaccine. I would want India to take the vaccine to the poorest of the poor nations that cannot afford the import costs of vaccines from the first world countries. Pranaams to our medical fraternity and selfless scientists who are spearheading a great revolution. Will not push you, but will wait for you to come out with your precious life-saving gift for the entire humanity. Thank you so much!
Vaccine from Russia: Sorry but excuse me, never heard of a successful vaccine on human trial completion done on 20 individuals 😀 May be that is total population of Moscow 😀
Lever is dropping the word ‘fair’ from its fastest moving fairness cream brand in the Indian market, ‘Fair & lovely.’ And I have a confession to make: it is something i can’t do without either. My tube of Fair & lovely is really like my foundation/moisturizer that I wear whenever I go out (MRP < Rs.100/-) That is my make-up maximum. Otherwise at home, I use natural Ayurvedic moisturizers or skin nourishing lotions. The foreign brands that I have experimented with are Body Shop and Loreal (not in India) but i have slowly come out of these. None of these are fairness creams. Meant only for skin maintenance/repairs. Basic minimum. Why I use Fair & lovely is that, it is non-greasy and gives a smooth finishing comparable to or even better than any expensive foreign brand foundation that one may use (which may cost over 1 k or 2k). Mine is cheap and best and non-allergic. I hate Lever company but I like this product of theirs. Vanity is not healthy but wanting to look crisp must be okay. I appreciate Kangana’s stand and adore her uprightness and non-materialistic attitude. Nandita is another classic black beauty. Tamil cinema has had dusky women like Saritha, Suhasini, Sujatha for leading ladies. The fairest ones from Madras like Vaijayanthimala, Hema Malini, Rekha, Jaya Prada and Sri Devi went to Bollywood rejected by Tamil filmdom (except for Sri Devi and Vaiji)! That must tell you something…
Never owned a mascara or foundation in my life, never will. It is good to know I have like minded friends from school who share similar values. Have never owned a make-up set. May be lipsticks and eye pencils in the loose and face compacts. That completes beauty routine (for parties only) for some of us.
Many of us go for facials. In my case, I started with visiting beauty salons very late in my life – after my 36th year. I go for mostly gold facials once or twice an year that are turmeric based. In India, we get herbal/Ayurvedic facials which is our greatest advantage. These can bring a glow to our face without making us appear fairer. The de-tan is natural. I don’t think removing the tan is by itself bad. It’s like removing the top soil grime, nothing more. It can’t make you permanently fairer. Maximum a shade lighter, that is all. But I learn, there are now expensive toxic methods to completely change/replace your skin, if you so wish. Yes, you can buy somewhat permanent fairness these days (that may last upto years). I can name a few Bollywood heroines and Tamil Nadu women politicians who have supposedly gone for such skin treatments. This is the reason some salons have cosmetic dermatologists in their payroll.
While condemning the clamour for fairness, we have to know the difference: it is nothing wrong in wanting to look good and presentable. Neat and nice. Most of us middle-class and middle-age women are for like reparation and skin maintenance only. Our age demands it.
Even for hair, so far I have not resorted to chemical dyes. Only the natural henna. Most of my friends are like me. India again has the home turf advantage here. We have shampoos that are non-soap based. Completely natural. (I am limiting myself to skin colour in this post).
More than that, any accentuation to fairness is vain and distasteful. I don’t even attempt it because I believe in myself first. I don’t want to look paper white like South East Asians or Arabs or Europeans or Americans because I am not them. I am Indian, and I am a Madarasi, a Tamil, and I am proudly dusky. Someone married me for what I was, what I am. And that someone is a responsible man, not just any tom-dick-harry. Like in my case, for most girls, skin colour plays no significant role in our life as far as India is concerned. I graduated, got a decent job, married – all in my chocolaty brown skin. Briefly for a while, my skin colour was refered to as ‘wheatish’ in my Kundali (horoscope) around the time of my marriage. Never before or after that.
So that is why I was pretty much offended that the Fair & Lovely commercials showed as if we women got anything and everything done capitalizing on our looks and gender. Which is so much untrue. It is an insult to our very womanhood, this downplaying of our hardly won battles and success stories. Such a belittling way to portray women. The ads need a tweak first. Their grand lies do more harm than flatter.
what a damaging ad.
The south is pretty comfortable in dusky tone. Let north Indians stop calling us Kalia. The north easterners are called ‘chinkis’ by north Indians as well (for their resemblance to chinese).
But fair or dusky, I do have the habit of rubbing a lemon slice in my face regularly to de-tan naturally. We use haldi (turmeric meant for grooming purpose; this haldi is bit different from the haldi we use in our kitchen) and chandan (sandal paste) and coconut oil for skin toning and improvement down south.
I believe strongly that we all have to look and feel beautiful inside out. Insides first. Physical workouts are the best way to beautiful self. That by itself takes care of all our beauty concerns. Physical stamina and fitness will automatically radiate to our skin and face. Similarly if we are happy than brooding, that reflects in our face as well. This kind of radiance one can spot readily in newly married women, pregnant ladies etc., for instance.
Next comes our food habits. Vegetarian food habits delay the ageing process. Infuse lots of fresh greens, vegetables and fruits and wholegrains, pulses and nuts in your everyday diet and see the difference. While this may have nothing to do with your skin colour, you can notice a telltale welcome change in your skin tone. After all that, there is the gene factor.
When the foundation deep inside is firmly rooted, the superstructure will be good, in my opinion.
I am always for a healthy sheen and skin. I can’t believe some women spend obscene sums on chemical beauty and make-up products. Mostly these are other Asian women from Middle East and Far East Asia who indulge so much in frivolous superficial beauty. You can never catch an Indian woman spending such indecent sums on vanity – except for in some rare cases of north Indian women. Kerala women like it best to appear with coconut oil dripping from their faces hahaha! Tamil Nadu slightly better than that! But I love and respect the fact that they couldn’t care less!
I guess Indian women invest more in precious gems, gold, diamonds and in silks when it comes to clothes. And real branded accessories that are worthy of the price. I have seen such an elitist shopping interest in our NRI women abroad. Our tastes are eclectic.
Times may be changing even for us Indian women but certain things ingrained in us by our grandmas hardly leave us so easily. We are still a very traditional community adhering to our own set customs and values.
As someone who never used a chemical soap for the first ten to twelve years of her life (besan for skin and shikakhai for hair), I can vouch for the healthy effects of our natural beautifying ingredients right from our kitchen shelves. These are tips passed over generations. I still follow the ritual of soaking in coconut oil head to foot twice or thrice a week, at least for an hour before shower. Rain or shine. I believe this is the best natural anti-ageing treatment that we can give ourselves within the four walls of our home. And it costs very minimum. Only the pure cold pressed unbranded coconut oil from our nearby farms (in India).
Ayurveda has natural nourishing beauty products that can improve skin tone and de-tan us without the harmful side-effects of imported chemical brands. To my knowledge, many Indian women and beauty salons in India make good use of these.
I figure that, women spend more on vanity when they lack the sense of security and self-confidence. Also when they may have forgotten their roots and tradition and are westernized. Indian women are well placed generally and may still be culturally oriented. Well accomplished careerwise, well qualified and settled early in life. My view is that, therefore our women don’t need to look to hooking men or retaining men or even dating men! By 25-26 we are mothers already, taken. We start our lives pretty soon. Delayed marriages are happening of late in India, even so our women are extremely smart. Very few accord extraordinary importance to grooming, at least down south. When there is solid substance, why do you need any other crutch. In south India, being coffee brown is natural. No big deal. I come from the land that gave the world the Sundar Pitchai of Google, Satya Nadella of Microsoft and Indira Nooyi of World Pepsico. What role our Indian skin colour played in the global success of our sons and daughters?
India ladies: beauty with brains. Both Mars Mission rocket scientists as well as successive Miss World/Miss Universe title winners. With the brown skin.
Prejudices exist everywhere. In Arab countries, we cannot even pronounce our Hindu Gods’ names in public. Cannot openly pray/worship. Is n’t this far worse than racism. What ethical rights Islamic nations have in even condemning racism in any part of the world. Pot calling the kettle black.
Before talking so much about ‘Black lives matter’ – let every nation on earth turn secular and democratic first. Black Lives Matter or Islamophobia merit discussion in some societies only when they reciprocate 100% equally and justly whatever freedom they expect to enjoy in open secular democratic countries.
Within India, as I said, the distinction is there between the north and south. In fact, i have faced racism more in my own country whenever I have come across north Indians, over foreigners abroad. Of course, this kind of racist remarks have been mostly harmless. Either that, or we down south are thick-skinned.
Having said that, I like to feel beautiful inside out and have always considered myself beautiful! I don’t need certification from anyone on that! Beauty also lies in the eyes of the beholder. To groom well effortlessly is my mantra. I mean, to groom decent. In India, i feel no need to use even perfumes that block our sweat glands! India is airy lol! Even when it comes to clothing, i prefer desi yarns and weaves and natural vegetable dyes. Ethnic motifs, ethnics clothes. A sari is the most beautiful and sexiest fashion statement in the world! If women are gifts, then the sari is the best gift wrap indeed! I feel most beautiful when I drape my sari.
BE ORIGINAL, BE BEAUTIFUL, WEAR YOUR ATTITUDE IN YOUR SLEEVE. BE JUST YOU. Most importantly , do not become cheap imitation of the west. Music or clothes or food or culture, uphold your native heritage. Stand out. Let your individuality do the talking. You just don’t become ‘them.’
Feminism is oversold and so-much cliched. I am NOT a feminist. I am me. I don’t consider it wrong to want to look good. As I said, any obsession with this beauty concept is though unhealthy. Fixation on these distractions will waylay us on our journey to reach our true goals in life.
I remember my granny saying, ‘Karuppe azhagu, kandhale ruchi’ which translates into ‘black is the most beautiful and the (browned) crust (in the pan) is always the tastiest (in food).’
Hahaha!
Actually, i don’t even feel the need to justify or defend my brown skin that I am too very comfy in.
vijiravindran's 