Posted in Political

Justice for Suchir Balaji

Hopefully the bereaved parents get justice for their son. Why does India care. Many of us have our children in the US, our families in the US. What happens there affects us back in India. Indian lives matter/Hindu lives matter. Especially after the careless way a kid was mowed down within varsity campus in Seattle last year by a police car, we realize what it means to be Indian in America and how precarious the condition of our kids may be.

Meanwhile watched this video on spurt in anti-India anti-Hindu sentiment in America, not because the community poses terror threat but because the Indian community is highly successful and is giving Americans a stiff competition in every field. India is lived in for 10000 years and we are not bothered whether the scientists in American universities can come up with carbon dating to establish facts. Well, let them tell us who founded Hindu Dharma, in which date. That is the antiquity of the faith that came from Shiva, the universal father, straight. Which is why we don’t have prophets or sons of God. WE HAVE THE GOD. Any civilization lived in for such a long period and invaded for centuries is bound to have traces of the trauma like India does. Its a miracle we still survive. And our ISRO scientists to medicos today have not run to America for some extra millions of greenbacks. They stay put right in India and do good with what they have. Little girls in India still are not keen to lose their virginity by 10-12 years like American girls and get laid by half a dozen boys by 20th year. Divorces are happening only in this generation in India. Almost zero percentage in my parents’ generation. Indian women are not getting into relationships by 50, 70, even 80 years with boyfriends. We live like ascetics and think of renunciation once our children grow up. We don’t wait for our children to leave home by 18. We spend our life savings on their education and future. We don’t start our day with beer instead of coffee. We are not okay with out children becoming KFC or McDonald waiters (no offence). Our kids succeed because of the monumental personal sacrifice on part of the parents. A three bedroom apartment in Chennai or Mumbai or Delhi may be more expensive than an independent villa in most cities in the US. Right mix of culture, heritage, modernity, conservativism, knowledge and more than that ancient wisdom – this is what makes us tick. I would underline the Hindu spirituality as the sole reason for our success. I was watching or perhaps reading this bit on ancient civilizations. The Egyptian, the Mesopotamia, the Greek, the Roman everything crashed because none of them produced the great Mahaans or saints like Hindu Dharma did. That strong sense of spirituality in Hindus is what keeps us going to this day.

So, throwing this open challenge to world researchers: WHO IS THE FOUNDER OF HINDU DHARMA. WHAT IS THE FOUNDING DATE. Why cannot you establish this simple fact when you can do carbon dating for millions & zillions of years old fossils of dinosaurs? You cannot because, Hindu Dharma was not founded by any human. Dharma existed in another plane of time which is what is continuing today. Its not easy to make outsiders understand anything about India or Hindu Dharma. They see the poverty and the crowds and the heat and the dust. But this land was the land of gold and diamonds over 3000 years back with established universities and dams and reservoirs and courts and poets whether Europeans were swinging from tree to tree.

A tourist guide in an Islamic country was saying this about Algebra. Of how Al Jabber was the name behind it. Its because even when calculus and trigonometry were invented by Hindus over 2000 years back, nothing was patented or claimed as our own. Whoever claimed anything first because the inventor/discoverer! Aryabhatta and Bhaskara were our earliest known astronomers who ISRO named our first satellites after.

Googled this:

Aryabhata’s major discoveries in the works not lost were the value of pi, that is 3.14, the heliocentrism of the solar system wherein he estimated the axial rotation of planets around the sun.

What was invented by Bhaskara?

Among the first discoveries made in his works was the computation of sines of angles of 18 and 36 degrees. Bhaskara-II is credited with discovering spherical trigonometry, a branch of spherical geometry used in astronomy, geodesy, and navigation calculations.

They were probably the world’s firsts to talk about space. Distance between the sun and earth was mentioned in Sanskrit scripture. However Hindus claimed nothing as their own as one by one everything got patented in Europeans’ names. Read this account on vaccination history: a British officer visiting an Indian village hit by small pox witnessed how blood was drawn from one afflicted with pox and anointed into another unaffected person slashing his skin, by village people. Quarantine was self imposed in the village which stopped the spread of the pox. Soon the small pox vaccination was announced in matter of months in Britain as their finding. India lost many of her discoveries/inventions over centuries to Europeans. From Jaundice medication to most ailments treated by Ayurveda, most are patented by the west as their own.

After centuries of subjugation, finally the Hindu has woken up. Broken for 1500 years almost by the moslems and the British.

A normal/regular temple in south India:

The richness of some nations cannot be measured in terms of currency or even bullion. India is one such a unique nation. Its also the responsibility of Indian govt to change the image of India prevalent in the west. The same Americans who cannot afford to wait for months and years for cardio bypass, knee/hip replacement are also traveling to India for medical tourism! Chennai, my hometown, is a big draw with US citizens.

The way they discuss H1B really tears our heart apart. Its not worth it. Why are our kids flocking to this ungrateful America. What is in it for the soul there? NOTHING, A BIG ZERO. There is nothing holistic about America. Its too materialistic and fake. I can enjoy my holidays there but cannot even think of making a life there. Why can’t our children work for the mother country. It takes not just investment on part of the parents/mother country in economic terms, it also takes temperament, patience, atmosphere, nourishing environment of family values, strong sense of spirituality, inclination towards arts, crafts, classical music, dance everything, harmony that comes with contented living – to create a sweet great kid. This is the package India is sending abroad to the US, NOT JUNK LIKE I have seen in America. Look at their obesity! Half of them go for shopping to Walmart in buggies/carts because of overweight, living on disability pension.

I have never imagined myself poor, never thought of myself as poor but always have believed that I live in one of world’s richest countries with the best food, best family values, spirituality, art, classical music/dance, crafts, ancient temples over 2000 years old spread over acres the sculptures of which cannot fit into any museums, best clothes in natural cotton and silk fibres with ethnic vegetable dyes/prints/motifs rather than machine printed, – you name it, we have it. Bestest of jewelry. Its irritating when these Americans assume you are poor just because they live in a vast continent where space is abundant so that its cheaper for them to afford big villas. We in India have one of the best standards of living. Many tourists realize this soon.

Love your mother country: our children must realize this. Why do you want to work for these foreigners/foreign countries where you can never become the first grade citizen. Its okay to live in cramped homes and crowded cities and work for the progress of your mother country. The Indian community in the US is suffering for their own Karma of greed and selfishness of not giving back anything to the mother country that made them what they are today. They are stamping on your dignity, self respect and they air so much of open hatred for you – for being good and successful that is – and you want to work for America? For what? For having an empty 6 bedroom house? To die in hospice with nobody around you in your old age? To destroy your soul with no spirituality consumed by mindless materialism? Is this what our children are going to America for?

Posted in Political

Either way India wins!

Interesting to watch the MAGA civil war going on in America! Just remember, either way India wins! Suppose the lottery is to go and with no cap on H1B, there can be no stopping meritorious Indians. Many are now turning to Australia, Canada, Germany and the UK. From Sundar Pichchai to Satya Nadella and Indra Nooyi, Indians benefited from the pre-lottery system. The cap on H1B proved to be a dampener but on hindsight its been good for Indian nation as it acts like a stopper to incessant braindrain from India that is harming our country. Meanwhile Indian ethnic population constitutes about 1% of total American but contributes to 6% of the American GDP. A very literate and forward community, its not a surprise that Indian origin people are doing well not only in the US but also in UK, Australia wherever. Even in Middle East, the NRIs (Non Resident Indians) win hands down topping all other nationalities put together. Indian diaspora in general is one successful and upbeat community doing India proud. If you ask me the reason, I can cite only a couple from my own observation: Discipline chiefly, traditional family life with preserved values, and keeping out of controversies not wanting to get embroiled in trouble, choosing academics/economic development/arts and crafts/family life to fast life/vices. Nothing really special and very much the ordinary. But I do also see on other side how some nationalities ‘live it up’ once they can lay their hands on money.

The talk is about H1B. How about sending the Indian doctors home?? India can do well with that move really. You know what it takes to produce a single efficient doctor in a third world nation like India? Do you know the cost we shell out to produce an IIT graduate/IIM graduate. Ask Indra Nooyi and Sundar Pichai. These are exactly the kind of people who bled our nation raw and then chose to give back nothing to motherland. And here these guys now debate on H1B. Who do you think will be the loser if you cap H1B? Who do you think will stand to gain if you turn our kids back from America? That guy Sriram Krishnan from SRM, Chennai – what do you think made him what he is today.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/every-fifth-immigrant-doctor-in-us-is-an-indian/articleshow/111006377.cms#:~:text=Of%20the%209.9%20lakh%20doctors,all%20immigrant%20doctors%20are%20Indians.

These Americans have nothing to say about the mother country that loses Her sons and daughters to utterly materialistic societies with no concern for humanity or social welfare. Its painful at times to think of what India is losing big time.

On the other hand, it can also make a mother happy to see her children prosperous and living a life of dignity and success.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/man-returns-from-us-after-a-year-finds-mother-s-skeleton-in-mumbai-flat/story-eNSLRdKhdRsZU5jA0wwHCL.html

How many thousands of old and aged parents back in India living a lonely life. They save every penny sleeping on thin mattresses, eating humble meals, forgoing holidays, cutting back on comforts and luxuries, living in cramped homes so that their children can have a better education and better future. Have you seen Pichai’s house that was sold by his father recently? Just 2-3 km from my home. Do you know what it takes to send an Indian kid to the US for MS/Phd. More than the tuition fees paid through bank loans on pledging your home, it takes a heavy heart on the part of the parents to see off their kids in the airport flying thousands and thousands of miles away across oceans. Mothers bleed from their hearts. Fathers don’t know what to do with their sparse savings and investments on retirement and the small house they worked for a lifetime to build. Visits to America become rarer with age. Home is EMPTY. At first the children visit home/India annually. Then slowly the visits stop. How many old people die alone in India with their children living in luxury villas in the Bay Area or wherever. Father dies, mother dies – and then go into freezer box until the son arrives from America for cremation. This is what India is giving America. This is the sacrifice of Indian parents behind every H1B that is issued by the US. If America can turn down some Indian kids, they will be doing a big favour to their poor Indian parents.

STEM also includes the medical aspirants. Curiously America never talks about sending back Indian doctors or cutting their quotas. Medicos from India receive red carpet welcome wherever they go. Easily our Indian doctors outclass others as we observe in foreign countries. The medicos are the hardest to create, cultivate/train. They are the priciest.

In spite of giving so much to America, India is still preparing to take on the world with the second line of defence. So long as our own children don’t turn against us with their policies and politics, its fine.

To most of us who have our children in the US, US also feels like home. Especially me, I am a resident of three countries India, Qatar and America (visiting), that borders blur for me nowadays. When you live half your life outside your country, it becomes increasingly less and less important to alienate between nations, people, culture, languages and faith. Its this point I am reaching in life.

Posted in Political

1971 Recap

The Indo-Pak war of 1971 resulted in creation of a new nation Bangladesh. India bifurcated Pakistan into two, carving Bangladesh out of East Pakistan. In the Bangladesh war of liberation from Pakistan, over 3 lakh women in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) were raped. Lakhs of men lost their lives.  It was India’s foray into the war that changed the scenario and Pakistan lost the war with their military commander Gen Niazi surrendering to India. A record 93,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendered to India on defeat.

Smt. Indira Gandhi was India’s prime minister then who was mocked by Henry Kissinger and Nixon. India cut Pakistan neatly into 2 pieces as America watched. India has still not forgotten 1971 Indo-Pak war in which America was siding with Pakistan and was ready to wage a war against India. It was Russia’s warnings that dissuaded America from attacking India on behalf of Pakistan, where our American brothers later on found a hiding Laden! Since then the world has come a long way. America now knows who is who and India too knows who is who. Things have since cooled down and there is a lot of goodwill today between India and the US. But strangely the equation with the US is of equal strategic importance to India today as with Russia. We live in an age where its in the best interests of India to have the goodwill of every nation on earth and no adversaries. We want peace.

https://www.deccanherald.com/india/henry-kissinger-called-indira-gandhi-bitch-indians-bastards-2791186….

Well, we have this adage that goes like, ‘if you live long enough, you will see even your monumental success turn into abject failure.’ In case of India-Bangladesh relationship, this is what has happened for India. Just see the plight of the Bangladeshi Hindus today. If the world media is going to suppress or bypass the Hindu genocide news, then be ready to live the same brutal reality when it happens to you someday.

Posted in Political, Welcome to my blog!

Russia Vs Ukraine.

Bhagavad Gita is misquoted in Oppenheimer. Well I haven’t yet watched the picture. But in an English fiction (by Ken Follet?) I recall reading about the developments leading to the atom bomb that stopped the World War II.Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan were bombed and until this date, there has been no other parallel act of violence and bloody mass murder to this scale in written history. The award goes to America always and the Caucasians to be specific. No other race in the world is capable of this kind of mindless destruction. In fact this was the reason I stopped reading Ken Follet. He kind of justified whatever Americans did and never elaborated the Japanese point of view. The word ‘terrorism’ wasn’t yet invented, lucky for Americans. Lucky for the Germans too is it not? Lucky for South Africans. For neither the holocaust nor apartheid got labeled as terrorism! Lucky for colonists from Europe as well even if they wiped out to extinction numerous aboriginal races in Australia, Latin America, Northern American and Africa. Look who is preaching.

If you read Arthashastra from 3rd century BCE penned by Chanakya which is a standard textbook across the globe and reference book until now on politics, administration, governance and diplomacy, you will learn that Hindus follow(ed) a four fold method when it came to waging war. First of all wars needed to be avoided at all costs. We followed the ‘Sama, Dhana, Bedha, Dhanda’ the four steps that helped in preventing wars between nations. First method was Sama which meant coming to truce with dialogues and understanding. Negotiations may be made to resolve issues. Trade pacts and treaties may be signed. Even marriage alliances may be forged to have peace at any cost, to bring hostilities between two warring nations to an end. This was a widely adopted practice throughout world history including in India. This was why the very religious and pious Hindu Rajput kings from Rajasthan entered into marriage alliances with the Mugals. Jodha Akbar precisely.

When the first method failed, we went to the next step. This was Dhana – and this meant gifting or giving up something to appease your adversary which meant a sacrifice on your part. You would have to sometimes cough up a big price. You do it anyway to maintain peace. It may mean among other things, giving up territory. The smaller princely states may agree to become vassals paying taxes and excise duties to a larger kingdom with dominant king or emperor. This may they do, unwilling to take on powerful adversaries. Indian princely states of Mysore, Trivandram etc., became vassals to the British raj paying a handsome sums to the British periodically. When first two ways failed, the third one came to rescue. Bedha means to differentiate or give differential or even preferential treatment to different parties and tactfully secure peace. Bedha is therefore NO level playing field. This is nothing but the knack of diplomacy. For instance, the ‘divide and rule’ method practised by the British during the British Raj days by having different sets of rules or laws for the Hindus and Muslims to maintain stability can be said to be the effective ‘Bedha’ diplomacy that helped them deal with two volatile and sensitive communities. In some cases, the Bedha can be stretched to playing up two parties against each other for the benefit and peace of the mediator. This is how traditionally hostile nations or arch rivals/adversaries are created in colonies: by pitting friendly communities living together in harmony for centuries, against each other. Erstwhile neighbours become deadly enemies overnight.

The fourth and the last resort would be Dhanda or the punishment of taking up the wand (or arms) to strike a blow: which meant waging war on your adversary. Only when all other channels of diplomacy failed and the demands of the adversaries were unjust, the fourth method was resorted to. So that is how ancient India treated adversaries and waged wars. Which was why Hindu kings lost to the Islamists and the British who were never bred on the kind of ethics or codes of conduct when it came to war, like our far advanced,literate, civilized and progressive societies of those times.

India never annexed foreign territory. Hindu kings were also pioneer ship builders and seafarers. The Hindu Chola Kings reached upto Indonesia (Bali is still Hindu) and even China, with the world’s largest Hindu temple being Angkorwat in Cambodia (which was later converted to Buddhist) but spread Hindu Dharam by peaceful means not by bribe (as Christians do) or by sword (as Islamists do). King Vikramaditya reached upto today’s Saudi. Merchants from south (Tamil Nadu) sailed upto Rome even before the birth of Christ trading goods and merchandise.

In Mahabharatha war that cannot be dated (anywhere from 6000 to 10000 years ago BCE), the Kauravs refuse to give Pandavs even five houses, leave alone five villages or provinces. When all means of negotiations fail, the Mahabharatha war, the greatest war of all times, ensues. Interestingly, an array of supersonic missiles find a mention in the Mahabharatha. Very casual reference to surface to surface, surface to air, air to air missiles with descriptions on speed and distance and accuracy! They are called Astras in Sanskrit. Astrology and Astronomy could have had sanskrit root words for names.

The Pandavs are unable to overcome hesitation because, who they are taking on war for territory, were their own blood, their first cousins. It is at that time Lord Krishna who is the charioteer for Arjuna explains that sometimes, ADHARMA HAS TO BE TAKEN DOWN WITH EQUAL ADHARMA. :Like how a thorn must be pulled out with a thorn. Dharma is the way forward but sometimes, Adharma also must be practised for the sake of establishing Dharma. It is in this context Krishna says that, He himself is death. After Krishna’s ‘upadesh’ Arjun is ready to fight the Mahabharat war and takes up arms to wage war against his cousins. The Pandavs go on to win the Mahabharat war killing all their cousins. But in the process none of the children of the Pandav survive either. So this is the bitter end of a war.

By deliberate misinterpretation of our sacred texts and by out of context quoting, some forces and especially world media want to create a wrong impression on Bhagavad Gita, which is much older than the Bible or Koran. Its exact date of writing is unknown. We believe it to be over 6000 years old – as ancient HINDU DHARMA THAT HAS NO FOUNDER, NO VATICAN OR MECCA, NO BIBLE OR KORAN AND NO FOUNDING DATE but that which continues to be the one and only continuous and unbroken civilization on planet Earth until now.

Are we staring at a third world war? Irresponsible on part of any nation that abets wars. The costs are too high and the collateral damage will have to be borne by the rest of the whole world. Russia has a moral highground in the matter no doubt. Its none of the business either for America or Europe. War mongering is no more small mischief. It can be a big, big irreversible mistake.

Swastika is Hindu symbol. The set of inverted triangles too is a Hindu symbol. All that is now associated with wrong parties.

Posted in Political

A little too late, still better late than never…

Watching Amaran, felt my blood boil as Indian armed forces were denied the basics such as bulletproof vests and bulletproof vehicles even as they guarded the Line of Control securing our borders. Something as fundamental as a bulletproof jacket could have saved the life of Major Mukund Varadarajan. Our armed forces faced the worst and most hostile adversaries: the Pakistanis and the Chinese armed to their teeth. Our services are poorest paymasters. Only in recent times, ever since PM Shri Narendra Modi ji took over as our prime minister, our armed forces are getting their due.

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/after-9-year-wait-indian-soldiers-to-finally-get-bulletproof-jackets-1834945

Better late than never:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/auto/news/deadly-indian-army-vehicles-made-by-mahindra-tata-motors-armoured-safari-to-marksman/articleshow/104746694.cms

For decades, the Indian jawan fought our enemies without proper security backup such as bulletproof vests or bulletproof vehicles. Its only since 2018, they have access to these lifesaving basics. PM Modi also implemented the long pending OROP, the One rank one pension scheme irrespective of the cadre a defence personnel serves as and his retirement date from services. This is a massive reform aimed at benefiting the veterans.

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2071572

Posted in Political

India’s Bangladesh Headache.

Why should the head of an Islamic state seek asylum in India, the Hindu country. Why couldn’t Sheikh Hasina flee to Pakistan or Saudi. What made Dalai Lama seek asylum in India. What made the Jews and Zoroastrians feel safe in India. That is the beauty of Sanathana Dharma, Hinduism, that eschews violence and adharma. Bharat is a sanctuary to all those repressed and on the run.

****************************

How to push back the waves and waves of immigrants battering down the border. The spillover to India is going to have an immediate impact on our border states. Hindus are turning into minority in the seven sister eastern states of India with illegal Bangladeshi immigrants legalizing their residency and taking over villages. Its against the natural setting of predominantly Hindu India. The Rohingya muslims have made Kashmir their home. These disturbing factors are going to work against the majority Hindu state very soon as the muslim population in India thanks to unchecked refugee inflow is going to tip the already precariously balanced apple cart. In the state of Kerala we may be having a situation. Hindus have been reduced to mere 33% or even less and without family planning, the Kerala muslim population seems to have exploded. Wherever the native population has to dip, it is not going to bring in good news. The democracy of India in incumbent upon the demography of India. Hindus continue to have one or two kids maximum. Funny I don’t think that the idea of installation of Bhairava temples in the borders of India is strange at all, as suggested by a renowned Tantrik. With age you believe 100% in holistic ways to find remedy for situations including political and defence matters. With the Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina in India seeking asylum (hopefully on her way to UK), expect some 1.3 crore Bangladeshi Hindus to be hunted down by violent mobs. Any trigger in their political system, the Bangladeshi Hindus face instant backlash – with the women raped and the men murdered in the cold blood. Even temples get demolished and the temple priests hacked to death. The priests are the chief targets. All this for what? India investing heavily in Bangladesh. Bangladeshis given medical visas to get subsidized cataract surgery to cancer treatment in India. Our hospitals are teeming with their patients.

What kind of a state is that the head of the state must flee for life. This is not how masses in mature democracies conduct their affairs. Mass public looting looks scary. Most Islamic countries are societies where jungle laws prevail and the mob unrest is allowed to progress to extreme levels of even ousting the head of the state. Protests may be viewed legal so far as they remain peaceful and don’t turn violent causing damage to lives and public property. Arson is simply inadmissible. There seems to be a collapse of law and order in Bangladesh.

Had this conversation with a Zara shop girl. I said the quality of Zara is not what it used to be. The Filipino girl who was billing, whose face I don’t remember, said that is because the denim is now from Bangladesh NOT India and even the t shirts and tops were. To cut costs Zara moved factory to Bangladesh as India is expensive. Result: quality compromise. This is very much apparent in last few years. For a fact I shop for brands only when there is a sale. Even Zara fittings have gone haywire.

Why can’t nations take care of themselves and not disturb other societies. India needs to seal her borders and if possible install a barbed wire fence. This is where I can appreciate Trump! It is also time to check the sops offered to Bangladeshi citizens in India while our own are poor. Modi government must remember: whatever you do to this kind of society is WASTED. It will be naive of India to expect gratitude or understanding from Bangladesh or Maldives because they are not Hindus. At the end of the day they will belong with the Umma. In Tamil we say ‘vizhalukku iraitha neer.’ If Tamil nadu once upon a time had Srilankan refugees, they were all Hindus and they were very eager to get back to the island nation once things cooled down. Every single one of them has left the Indian soil. That is it about Hindus. While we can empathize with Bangladeshi Hindus whose ancestors have faced worst and violent brutality of the masses, India cannot take on 1.3 crore of them. Plus in the garb of the Hindus it will be mostly the Bangladeshi muslims who will be sneaking in.

This is just the first acid test. SEcond test will be when Pakistan may break up (eventually). That is going to be the defining moment for India. The breakup of Pakistan with refugees knocking at our doors could threaten us with a breakup as well. Guess in one of my posts I have expressed this concern of just not me but most Indians. India is sandwiched between two very violent and bloody and poor and backward Islamic nations. Its going to consume every single ounce of our nerves to plan and be ready for such a situation. I hope the country will be then in good hands like Modi’s. If a rat like Rahul Gandhi must be in charge, then forget Bharat Matha. What the mugals could not do, what the British could not do – this maniac will do ushering in the death of India and extinction of Hindus with his cunning and ulteriorly motivated stewardship.

Who can change destiny. I believe even nations have destiny. From since I read the book ‘Sapiens’ by Yuvah Noah Harari, the best way out of Hindus is to go extinct like the Parsis than live in a world run by ….

Posted in Political

Both Kamala and Usha have their roots in Chennai, India.

Kamala Harris and Usha Vance both have their roots in my hometown Chennai, India. I can give this to them being a south Indian woman myself 😀 : They must have substance! Its American politics so its alien subject for me. Another Indian origin man with roots in south India Vivek Ramaswamy was also in the fray but bowed out. The three have not reached this level in the US without merit. Kudos to the Indian American community! Recently Elon Musk heaped praise on Indian origin engineer Ashok Elluswamy for being the reason behind auto pilot innovations in Tesla. Way to go! Another Indian origin NASA astronomer Sunita Williams is caught up in trouble in the space. Let us hope and pray she lands safe.

Posted in Political

Wokeism: What happened to Elon Musk’s son/daughter.

Wokeism is the rage of the day. Overhyped. I can’t look at it in one dimension. Those who have suffered persecution for centuries/generations will know. But taking it to extremes is a reason for worry. As Rajiv Malhotra discusses in his channel, this issue of taking wokeism too far like for instance when it comes to gender identity and therefore rendering the sexual orientation irrelevant, we may be treading into very dangerous territory. In fact, we may be going right against nature and in particular biology. Chemotherapy destroys the good and the bad cells in cancer patients. Wokeism is something like that. However with the bad, we cannot afford the good to be swiped down in real world we live in. You cannot nullify all that has happened up until today. That can only take us back to square one. However the racial and religious grounds remain tense global matters. In India we have lefties with radical views. Everything must have an anti theory for them. We are looking at a ‘free for all’ scenario – dope, booze and sex without censorship. To an extent we all are for equitable social justice. But history cannot be undone. Transgenders are recognized as third sex even in India and every application form for university or employment or banking or even train/flight booking gives the third sex option for choice. But parents do have a legal hold and say on their children until they turn 21. Losing an adult child can be painful. I am not a big fan of Elon Musk but in this one case, my sympathies are with him. May be someday there will be truce. For a brief phase, estrangement between parents and kids can happen. This is not unusual, rather part of the growth process for the teens. And this is not a permanent status in one’s life. Its my reckoning that Musk takes it as a personal affront that his son should choose to become a woman. America seems to be trendsetter in every field: from silicon breast implants and egg donations to surrogacy, sex change surgeries and all, and once you go down this lane, there can be no end in sight.

Surrogacy must be reserved for those who cannot medically conceive a fetus: not for those who are physically capable. You see even the Bollywood stars like SRK, Aamir Khan etc., going for surrogacy to have not their first but third, fourth kids. Tamil actress Nayanthara in perfect physical shape and fertile age BYPASSED LAWS and had twin boys by surrogacy. Meanwhile, govt of India preferred to look else where. When values are trodden upon for material/business reasons, when a mother would not even want to carry her biological children in her womb so as to sell her body without disfigurement to make more money, then what is there left in that society to hope for? I wouldn’t say India is any better than Europe of US. My autowala used to say, ‘amma you don’t look for these things. you keep searching for any hidden temple on the way! that is why you are missing what is going on all around you!’ He pointed to me a young guy sprawled face down on footpath with drug overdose. My heart skipped a beat. We have blatant misuse of surrogacy concept in India. Drugs are available in kirana shops. Modi govt has lost total control. Is ineffective when it comes to dealing with dope issues. Under DMK, Tamil Nadu is witnessing a hitherto unseen spike in use of spurious drugs. What is the law enforcement doing. Taking commissions from ganja dealers? Laws must also be spruced up to allow surrogacy only for a first child to medically unfit couple incapable of conceiving on their own. Recently there was a case of a young man expiring on surgery table on careless administration of anesthesia for hair grafting. In productive years, why are our youth pre-occupied with frivolous superficial matters? A friend told me that a girl from Delhi or Punjab (not sure) who was attending a deemed university in the city sold her eggs to buy an I phone. I couldn’t believe this happened in Chennai.

However, there is a tendency among the Musk-Trump tent to brush everything under the carpet in the name of ‘wokeism.’ One only has to recall the suffragettes, Martin Luther King etc., to be reminded why it is at all necessary. The coinage may be new but the concept is not. We live in a fairly decent era in the present thanks to the rebellions and coups of our ancestors: bloody or bloodless.

Wokeism for just purposes in a peaceful manner must be okay. You cannot put a blanket ban on every protest, every banner, every social cause. Some of the issues may be sensitive and may warrant action. Things will work out fine in the long run. The younger generation has no patience left to wait for such a day. Injustices are balanced by nature in course of time. Time alone can bring justice. We have reservations in India to compensate for centuries of caste discriminations. Every tilt to one side will correct itself given some time gap. America too has done a lot for restoring social justice and equality among genders and races. Human rights SUPPOSEDLY matter more over there!

Sometimes I am glad and relieved I am 55, and we grew up in a nice sweet innocent and warfree world. Chennai was good old Madras then, resembling a huge village. So green, unpolluted. We never knew the meaning for the word ‘violence.’ Not even biriyani was there! Never happened to watch a street fight. Dance, music, academics, art, temples – this was what life was about. Sometimes I wish I could return to the 80s when my peers all had rosy teen years. It was the last of safe times we were seeing perhaps, little did we know then. Our world was insulated from the harsh world reality of bloodshed and material greed. Our parents led a simple but satisfying and happy life.

I always factor in the variance – the standard deviation which accounts for a small percentage of noncompliance – the nonconforming. We need these odd balls to practise our tolerance. Variety after all is the spice of life. The diversity is what is the beauty of our existence than the boring monotony/familiarity. Once upon a time, Hindu women had to throw themselves into the funeral pyres of their husbands who passed away. Burnt alive. Probably a woke mind virus afflicted Raja Ram Mohan Roy to take up the social cause and correct the situation, right Malhotra ji? WAs India’s freedom struggle wokeism? The women and the shudras of my country had to fight legal battles to enrol in schools and universities. Nobody called it ‘woke’ but it was the need of the hour. When we skip or postpone righting the wrongs, we are inviting civil wars. However we can attempt to improve the situation than call for dismantling the establishment. Therein lies the difference.

SEx change in Hindu history Mahabharatha: SHIKANDI. Fifteen to ten thousand years back, India/Hindus recognized transgenders who even changed sexes supposedly. Both Malhotraji and Musk must note.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikhandi

Poor Vivian/Xavier. We can all speak from the lectern. Post comments in social media. But what to say to a kid who is all confused about sexual orientation. It can be baffling. If this is not suicidal then what is. Someone is born a transgender not by genetic disposition or any disease. It is just a single chromosome going freak when the sperm breaches the egg. It can happen to anyone. Any normal healthy couple can beget a transgender kid irrespective of their race or religion or caste. Nobody to blame: not the genes or the family tree, not the community. Just one of those unpredictable accidents of nature. If Musk cannot understand even now, then its better that, that child of his is lost to him. Denial will someday hopefully lead to acceptance and understanding. All of it does not boil up to wokeism. Seriously we observe that there is a lot of mind related problems in the US. People care more for dogs and cats over fellow humans. We are all for wildlife and domestic pets – and in fact our forefathers did not bring any species whether human or flora or fauna to extinction like the Brits and other Europeans did. But if you have enough love to show for humans, the mind will be free on that one monumental expansion touching so many lives. There can be fewer counselling sessions and less medication. Regrettably India is walking down the same road.

Have all the freedom on earth – subject to limits. Your freedom ends when you stamp on your neighbour’s foot. EVerthing in moderation. Never take law into your hands. Go by the law. Play by the rules. Pieces will fall into their places with time. This is my final word for wokeism.

Posted in Political

Onion Politics.

Missed the Indian onions in Doha in last few months. Never settle for the Chinese. Sudan onion was there along with a few more. But there is simply no substitute to the great Indian onion! Spicy with its natural pungent odour, for garam masala gravies and for hot, simmering Indian curry, there can be no better alternative. Others come sweetish. Even as I was wondering why the famous fiery Indian onion was conspicuous by its absence, it registered in me that the Indian Lok Sabha elections were scheduled for April-May! Onion price rise turns masses against ruling government! Onion is emotion for India! Smart move by the Modi govt stopping onion export so foreign countries including the GCC nations had to switch over to other secondary options. Not only the Indian onion, a few more specifically Indian things sought out by international shoppers went missing from the supermarket shelves since the year beginning. Finally as phase by phase the elections are on, the onion is released by the Indian govt for supply in the overseas markets.