Watched a you tube video where a tantrik spoke of realising Shiva. Not surprised as a practising Hindu. I have blogged about the ant and the boot story many times. The ant at the foot of a man cannot picture the boot of the man or the foot of the man or the man himself or the world behind him with the size of its brain cells. If it tries to exceed the limitations of its birth/janma faculties, the brains of the ant shall burst. In order to proceed further, the ant has to grow larger brains. In short, the ant has to evolve to next state of its existence for better perception of things. But if the ant does as a lowly creature break the ceilings of perception and happens to realize the boot of the man, the foot, the man and the world beyond, then the ant in its lifetime attains Nirvana. The ant merges with the supreme Jyothi or the super or collective conscience. Indian/Hindu saints have done that for centuries: from Ramakrishna Paramahamsa to Swami Vivekananda to Vallalar. Hindu Thamizh history is full of inspiring life stories of englightened men and women: the Nayanmar and Azhwars and others. However ignorance is a bliss. If you don’t have to concern yourself like one curious ant wanting to know what is beyond your realm in your present lifestate, then it is fine. Your world begins and ends with the boot mountain and universe in front of the ant-you! Otherwise this knowledge of the nether is attainable only upon giving up your physical body – upon your passing to the other world. Why is there now a frenzy to know more about Hinduism or Buddhism. Precisely this. Dharma keyed it in where the Abrahamics failed grandly. This is what led Annie Besant and others to India – to establish the key. We still have Besant Nagar as part of Chennai. Yes, the Hindu gods are realisable with powerful chants and some relentless upasanas (meditation practices or mind exercises) as the tantrik claims. Yoga is the tool that enhances your sensory perceptions and gives you the physical and mental fitness to handle the energy of deities you worship. Its much more to do with controlling your senses that can hone your power of perception. I have watched videos in you tube of practising Christians from around the world take to Hindu ways and seek deities. As a Hindu I believe that we live in a civilization that was lost and found. The helicopter markings in Kailasa temple for landing, the flying chariot of Ravana, the missiles mentioned in Ramayana and Mahabharatha, the Ram Sethu built by Lord Ram and ‘vanara sena’ discovered under the sea between Sri Lanka and India – all these are just a few pointers unearthed that suggest at an advanced civilization that once flourished in a different plane of time that was lost to an impending apocalypse. What we have today are remnants – pieces that we picked up and try to stitch together as Dharma. While so, it was disturbing to learn of research into transcendental meditation that paves way for a higher conscience like the (hypothetic) ant, breaking the glass ceiling and realizing the galaxy beyond its original imagination. Not everything is for marketing. The greatest accomplishment of Hindu Dharma is proof that the Abrahamics have wasted thousands of years chasing the wrong rabbit! Who says deities are formless. May be that’s why you cannot see or picture your imagined/cultivated desert god! Our deities are bodied and can be realizable the way they may be pictured. The temple rituals and pujas are merely the base of the pyramid called Sanathana Dharma. It is for beginners. You don’t get stuck up at this level if you want to see the higher dimensions. Hinduism with idol worship is easily relatable to simple folks – the peasants. The idols are mere focal point of our attention. If the mullah wants to make more out of that, then it means his entire nationhood is limited to the the tattered piece of his national flag. In short, an idol is to Hinduism what a national flat is for a nation. Representative. A symbol, no more. Just as we decorate the flag and celebrate it, we celebrate idols. Some religious forms came out in denial of existing, established ways of life. That is the basis of their survival. Anyway, most of the Hindu substance was guarded as ‘rahasya’ for centuries. Now with everything being googled, there is no more such a thing as ‘rahasya mantra’ that can be administered only to worthy few. However, the tantrik held out hope. Even if the evangelists want to seek Hindu deities with diligence covertly adapting Hindu practices, the number that can make it to the gateway for enlightenment for every age stays limited and thoroughly rationed! That’s some good news. Why a Hindu. This is why. A Hindu is a rare breed. As the world wakes up to the undeniable truth, Hindu spirituality gains momentum. Many ardent practising Hindus owe our growing faith to the ‘vibes.’ Hinduism is not sold door to door like Christianity is, like Stayfree and Harpic. Neither did Hindu Dharma spread by the sword the way Islam did and does. Seekers embrace Hindu Dharma finally on questioning themselves. Self realization is possible only with a tool such as Hindu Dharma. And as the tantrik says, an authentic guru with a good lineage can lead you up there. The global stars are not in India without a reason. It takes years for someone to get to this point. Being born a Hindu, you learn it growing up. You have the advantage of playing in the homeground so there is no excuse if it don’t use it well enough. If you are born in India a Hindu, you have to make most of it or you will be squandering a birthtime opportunity. Millions in India do remain ignorant still, pre-occupied with ritualistic worship and limiting themselves to their busy ant-life gathering and saving for a rainy day. Materialism has ruined things for Hindus. Our spiritual training has to give us the mental discipline and improve our capacity for ‘out of box’ thinking. Like the physical body can be trained to be fit, the mind can be trained to go beyond its limited faculties. Only sages and saints train themselves systematically to ‘realize the truth’ in their own lifetimes. How many of us have we laughed at the meditating Sadhus with the anthills growing around them (most as seen in old Tamil flicks). How many times have we poked fun of those who take ‘sanyas’ – the celibacy vows to become hermits. So if you are a non believer or an Abrahamic, do not force yourself. You are the ant that cannot imagine more than that level. You belong in the physical, tangible world. You need logic and reasoning and scientific proofs without which you can never see beyond the boot – to the hovering man or the world behind him. So the first obstacle in the thought process you have to do away with when it comes to finetuning your conscience is: dispensing with the sense of logic and be open enough to receive ‘vibes’ that may be illogical. Under other circumstances, only substances can give you the same result with hallucination or hypnosis. I am talking about the level of conscience that is realizable without substance use or abuse when you transcend realms. Not even those ants like me who know of the ceiling but who can do nothing about it can make a difference. Sadly for those like me, the inability looms like a tragedy as we realize we shall have to be reborn a thousand times to nurture a superior mind and break the birth cycle. By superior mind I do not refer to the scientific or engineering or money making business mind. By superior mind, I am referring to the ant brain that can break ceilings in its own lifetime and can transcend in to the other world. So as of now we are resigned to this state of existence nevertheless we try! Not adding fresh Karma to the load we already carry has a role to play in our punar janams (rebirths). Sometimes I wonder why are we Hindus so complicated. Why can’t we have simple food like the pizza or bread. Why should even our cuisine be so complex with so much of grinding and powdering and deepfrying and shallow roasting and masalas (spices) and lentils and a stunning range of veggies and food grains. But isn’t ours the best palate in the world. Exiting a world cup soccer match in Qatar via a mall, I looked around for restaurant table. The Indian Tandoor had a hundred plus waiting crowd comprising of multiple nationalities (that would have taken them hours before being served) whereas every other restaurant such as European, Chinese, Turkish, Arab etc., had table to spare. Why are our clothes so indigenous. That six yard unstitched piece of cloth that goes for a sari. That four yard unstitched white piece of cotton clothing that goes for dhoti for men. Would they ever dissappear from the face of the world? Why do we have our traditional native classical/folky music to dance to art and literary forms. What about our grand granite temple complexes? Why cannot we be so easily anglicized the way the Filipinos or even the Chinese are. In a similar way is fashioned the Hindu spirituality. It has labyrinths you have to traverse before you could get to the core. If you have to be discouraged by the skin and the pulp, you will never get to see the seed. The more materialistic you are, the farther you move away from the quiet world of inner awakening. As I said, some of us got the message but we have no way of going in there. We cannot figure out but we try to give our best. To those who haven’t a clue, its going to take that much longer to realize what is what.
Bone health for Indian seniors
Flew into Dallas from Doha where we had to transit for the next flight in five hours. Alighting from QA flight I noticed dozens of wheelchairs awaiting passengers. I wondered, whether there had been as many super seniors or senior citizens in the flight or whether I missed something. Doha/Dubai transit flights to the US almost always are full of Indian passengers. On previous occasions I have flown straight to Washington DC, Seattle and Miami. From nowhere I could recollect such a big bunch of attendants with wheel chairs waiting for passengers at the nexus of the aerobridge with the flight exit. In that small niche were cramped dozens of wheelchairs as men and women jostled up for space. I lost count after mentally picking up twenty minimum, lugging my cabin bag. It was time for immigration. Here I caught up with the wheelchairs finally for finer details. Around thirty of them, all for senior Indian citizens who had flown in probably to their children’s homes in Dallas. Texas boasts of very high number of Indian immigrants vast majority of who are IT professionals. Explains. Dallas especially is heavily populated with ethnic Indians. I am 53 myself and wondered whether I would end up in that special queue for wheelchair passengers some of who seemed as young as sixty. It was a disconcerting feeling to note that both Indian men and women, probably grandparents, had no general health and specifically knee strength to board long flights or stand waiting in serpentine immigration queues. It took us one hour. There were only two counters: one for regulars and one for wheelchairs. The third one was for American passport holders. I glanced at those who queued up in my own and noticed that there were many Caucasian women both in front of me and behind me. Quite a few of them were much older. They could have been European or British or Australian or South American/Mexican. I wouldn’t know the difference. But they were holding good. A couple of them were too old really – like in their eighties and nineties. Yet they held their forte, happily and cheerfully chatting away in French or Spanish or English or whatever. Neither can I pick up American or any other accented English. I understand only the Indian English! I could see straight away that they looked less tired from our Indian grandparents. Much older men and women from Europe/Australia or from wherever around the world could carry on not depending on wheelchair comfort. Our Indian elderly looked weakest and depleted of energy. The first onslaught could have started right with the flight food! I can understand this: from India it is more than twenty four hour flight to the US across the Atlantic or Pacific. It takes toll on the already physically unfit elderly of ours. Vegetarianism is the chief culprit behind knee damage. Most of us Indians do not want to admit to the offending truth. I run the risk as well but I cannot imagine myself touching even an egg. A couple of mothers of my son’s friends have already had knee replacement in their fifties. Many more are scheduled to go under the knife in next couple of years. Indians have inherited not only the narrowest arteries among the human race making us most vulnerable species to heart disease. We also have acquired knees and other joints with poorest strength. We have the weakest stamina that got computed into our genes after generations of shunning the red meat and limiting our food choices to vegetarianism or bare minimum meat and fish. We have the thinnest or sparse body hair. Brittle bones. Lifestyle conditions like blood pressure and diabetes are rampant among Indians mainly due to our food habits. The next almost viral complaint among us is the thyroid issue. Most of us seem to get it in our late forties or early fifties with the onset of menopause. Thyroid is a leading reason for developing other complications with our body organ functions. Is there an end to our voes. That Dallas airport scene with lines of wheelchaired Indian seniors is the reality we must face. What cannot be obtained with food nutrients can be to somewhat compensated with workouts. We can’t obviously fix our genes now. I am lagging on the physical fitness front as well. High time to return to Yoga and core strengthening and walking. I am in fact already picturing myself shortly in that wheelchair line and that scares me! No excuse for depending on wheelchair until at least you are seventy five and almost a super senior. We Indians have to rejig our daily menu to include bone strengthening minerals and add supplements to our routine if required. Quality of life is as much important. Physical independence also is quality of life that we must never compromise on. Screening for bone density must be annual and regular feature of masters checkup along with mammograms and pap smears and treadmills.
Cartnarc and now the Parknarc !
Since the basics and essentials are good and well taken care of in wealthy nations, they seem to invent reasons to complicate lives as otherwise it can be very boring and uninteresting, lacking the kind of excitement that can pump up your blood and give you the unbeatable adrenaline rush. These yankies yearn for social issues and have it in them to crusade for ‘just causes’ like for instance, returning the shopping cart to its proper place in the supermarket/shopping malls! Or parking proper within the slot! A battalion of secret service agents who call themselves ‘cart narcs’ seem to take themselves too seriously in the US. (I am told its actually a one man army that tries to take many avatars!) They take it upon themselves to approach the offending shoppers who fail to return the shopping cart and leaves it untethered wherever it suits them, leading to chaos in the traffic in the parking lot. Oh the parking lot! Whoever parks haphazard or wouldn’t park proper their car within the parking slot and parks where there is a ‘no parking’ sign may be taken care of by the Parknarcs just the way the erratic shoppers leaving their carts unattended get taken care of by the cartnarc! Some shoppers may leave their carts in the pavements alongside freeways/highways, irresponsibility at its peak. Our cartnarc appears like apparitions in front of these lazy shoppers and lecture them on the importance of returning carts to their slots in the malls. To the rude or insolent shoppers, he may try to sneak and stick the sticker that reads, ‘I don’t have the habit of returning my shopping cart to where it belongs!’ on the trucks/cars the shoppers drive. A parknarc does something similar with wayward (!) parkers! Funny. A mock exercise, still I marvel at the excuses conjured up in one’s imagination to ‘see problems’ and the rebellion in some (!) to quell the trouble before it gets out of hand! Yeah big issues : the unattended shopping cart and careless parking! Sometimes I do wish we have matters as trivial as this occupying our minds in India. For us the days start wondering whether we shall have power interruptions in scorching summers, whether the corporation would turn off the water supply, whether busfare/trainfare is to be hiked, etc. We belong in two separate worlds really. Long live the Cartnarc and the Parknarc ! I do love them really! Watched a few videos that were interesting! Google to find out more on them.
Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway
Watched this moving flick in OTT platform. Real life story of a Bengali woman from India who moves to Norway with her husband on her marriage. Trouble brews on the arrival of her second child when Norwegian government appointed child supervision authorities (?) begin paying her home visits. For them apparently, everything Indian seems to be offensive and unsafe. In India, force feeding children, feeding babies with hands, eating with hands, kids sleeping in the same bed as parents – all these are very normal. Even spanking the kids is considered normal and actually happens! The Norwegian authorities regard this as human rights violation (!) and forcibly take the 3-4 year old son and 5 month breast fed baby daughter of Mrs. Chatterjee to put them into foster homes where they say the children may have a safe and better environment to grow up. How will a mother react to the circumstances? Mrs Chatterjee’s natural outbursts and enragement are misused to frame a false case accusing her of being mentally unstable and unreliable when it came to taking care of her children. Then start the crusades of Mrs. Chatterjee who takes on the Norway govt and Velfred, the child care trustees of Norway in getting back her biological children. Norway seems to be good at everything except for human emotions and humanitarian considerations. Its heartwrenching to see the mother fill bag after bag of breast milk, refrigerate it and pass on to her little baby not even weaned off mother’s milk. The authorities promptly do NOT feed the baby the precious milk. Mrs Chatterjee’s husband comes across as the most uncaring and typical male chauvinistic pig that INdia produces in tens of thousands. He is more focused on his citizenship papers and is unmoved by the plight of his own infant children or that of his wife. Court room after court room follow as Mrs Chatterjee violates unintentionally immigration laws trying to flee Norway and enter Sweden. She is deported while the children’s custody is passed on to her brother-in-law who lives with her hostile in-laws. The unmarried bachelor with no childraising experience gets paid big time (rs. 80 lacs in matter of 14 months as revealed in the court by the Norwegian attorney) on being entrusted with the custody of the children the papers for which are signed by Mrs Chatterjee on her husband’s persuasion as she remains unaware of the consequences. Finally after a two year hiatus, the heartbroken mother is reunited with her biological children in Indian courts that take cognizance of her trauma and nullify the Norway ruling. (Well Norway court laws are null and void in India, why can’t these guys get that). In this real life story, our late external affairs minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj played a vital role that helped in bringing the children back to India. It is alleged that Velfred is a scam which puts the immigrants’ children in the hands of local Norwegians who get paid hefty for raising the foster children to fit in their so-called ‘Norwegian society.’ Its cruel and heartless willfully separating the newborns, toddlers and infants from their biological parents and entrusting them from biological parents and entrusting their charge with strange cold foster homes, not all of which are conducive to healthy child raising. How civilized are these nations really that call themselves first world countries. The basic human emotion, compassion, empathy, sensitivity – these are absent in these highly developed societies where the human heart seems to be made of steel and stone. They seem to have absolutely no respect for cultural ethos of immigrants. Scandinavian countries want immigrants to boost their population but their greed is that, they do not want the children to be raised with native cultural values. Mrs Chatterjee now lives in Kolkata, divorced I guess, happily with her two children.
The assertiveness of the Indian government in the case without hurting the bilateral treaties with Norway is remarkable. Sushma was an asset to us the NRI community who live outside India. She took best care of us. We miss you, Sushma ji, none can replace you. Her warmth and care for the workers of Indian origin and her help in bringing trapped Indian women home from dangerous and unsafe zones around the world speak of her immaculate record.
India is not in any way inferior to Norway. We need not be like you at all. We are what we are. We all forcefeed our kids if they don’t eat properly for their own sake. We spank our kids. Our kids sleep with us parents in the same bed, until atleast they turn ten years. Whatever we do, we have the best interests of our children at heart. That is why we don’t have Mother’s day, Father’s day in Hindu society. Our parents live with us in one single JOINT family. We take care of our aged parents and do not banish them to condos or nursing homes. Bloody hell Norway. Only rakshas (demons) will take away a breastfed baby from her biological mother and put the infant in foster care. Is this even civilization. Is this what you call human rights? ARe you guys even human.
Years back this story was splashed across our mass media and print media. Its good to revisit this story as it has relevance even today as more and more Indians work/live abroad. Why are the Europeans and Americans wandering in Bikini in Bali. Why can’t you then adopt to Balinese culture and wear their native clothes.
In whole of this picture, the ruthlessness of the nation called Norway came through. They are very cold and heartless and think inferior of Asian nations and culture. Well, Norway you have everything except for HUMANITY. That is your problem. You have to be a monster to separate a 5 month old breastfed baby from her biological mother and put her in foster care when there was no criminal charges against her.
The case helped open many more pending cases in EU etc. While so, you see the pedophiles, child molesters etc., roaming the Asian cities. Most of them are from these advanced and so-called civilized nations only. They fly all the way to Thailand and Sri Lanka to have sex with minor children.
Asians have better family values. Family is one. Much more affectionate having no shame in exhibiting their emotion. There are things that can never be bought off. One such a precious gifts is the love of a biological mother. Throughout the picture as Rani Mukherjee played the title role, my eyes were pregnant with tears. The travails and shame and the indignity she suffers, the way she fights on nevertheless with such a courage for the sake of her children – these are proofs that these slinky Norwegian women can NEVER EVER match up to an Indian mother when it comes to sensitivity or emotion or love or care. Norway has to do a self-analysis to determine where they went wrong.
Finally, its not just a win for Mrs Chatterjee, its victory for India as India stamped her foot down and made her stance clear. It was a very proud moment as we refused to take nonsense.
Rani seems to have bloated but gave a stellar performance as usual. A natural, she is a treat to watch.
Highly recommended. Norway may find itself in quandary, so it be. Immigrants are not your slaves. Even America and Australia are nations of immigrants only. Neither are immigrants an inferior race. Everyone is abled differently that is all. We are gifted differently. Parenting style varies even within the confines of a society. There is no rule book to follow when it comes to parenting. The underscore is that, the child should feel SAFE AND SECURE AND LOVED AND CARED for by the biological parents. There is no substitute for biological FAMILY. There is no point in raising children in divided families or abusive families or violent families where the children may be pacified with games and gadgets to compensate for lack of love. Children growing up in India may not have the latest toys but they are blessed with parents devoted to them who cherish them, NEVER NEGLECT THEM, but raise them with total dedication, love, care and cultural values. An Indian mother is epitome of self sacrifice. We in India live for our children. They are our wealth. I have no ambition in life except to see that my family is well fed and happy. I have no shame in admitting that the whole purpose of my existence is for my family. My kids are my world. In their success and happiness I see my own. I don’t want individual glory. I am an Indian mother and now a grandmother.
The Aadheenams have their day.
The Aadheenams of the most ancient temples of Tamil Nadu that have seen the Cholas had their day when the ‘Sengol’ of Thamizh (Chozha) kings was installed by our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in India’s new parliament building that was inaugurated with Sarva Dharma (all faith prayers) yesterday. Those who have grown up listening to Odhuvaar singing to Kapaleeshwara or Karpagaambal or Valleeshwara or even Abirami of Thirukadaiyur or Meenakshi of Madurai etc., may know that the Odhuvar tradition is now a dying tradition in our temples. Most temples not only in Tamil Nadu but also in all parts of INdia are controlled by the respective state governments that shamelessly use the Hindu temple fund for financing even the salaries of masjid workers for instance as we see in Kerala. Whereas the poor archakas of the temples are left high and dry with inadequate salaries, the government officials who have no connection with the temples drive latest sedans and SUVs drawing handsome pay packets. In Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirumala, there were even Christians employed in the Devastanams who were ready to fight legal battles for retaining their jobs. This is the true cost of secularism. Temples under the Aadheenam may be free of state government clutches but how are they deploying the funds from the temples under their administration from their overflowing coffers. How many temples in Kumbakonam, Mayavaram etc., are in dire need of basic repairs? Some temple towers (gopurams) that are over 1500 years old are even on the verge of collapsing. Worst maintained and not kept clean. Bribes in the abode of god, be it temple under Tamil Nadu temple and charitable trust (govt department) or those under the aegis of the Adheenams are a dampaner but I understand that special darshans are crowd management tactics. What melted my heart was hearing Thevaram and Thiruvasagam chantings reverberating from our seat of governance in Delhi. Most ancient mantras in Thamizh, the verses have the antiquity and sanctity and aura of the ages old Sanskrit scriptures. It was especially enthralling to note the Odhuvar attached to Kapaleeshwar temple, Mylapore play a pivotal role in the ‘grihapravesh’ or the housewarming ceremony. Interestingly the new parliament of INdia is triangular shaped representing the most powerful Sri Yantra. Two inverted Triangles overlapping each other represent union of Shiva and Shakthi: the static energy and the kinetic energy that is the driving force. Shiva is latent, Shakthi is the force.
Shani Shingnapur
Shani Shingnapur near Nashik, Maharashtra was very much in news for the controversy surrounding women being debarred from performing the Abhishek ritual to Lord Shani (Saturn). The Shani murthy (idol) here is swayambu (erupted out of earth on its own). Tripti Desai led the march from the forefront to win rights for women to conduct/perform rituals for Lord Shani with their own hands on par with men. I had an opportunity to visit the shrine in the month of April. Saturn phase is on for me right now. To spell it out in Thamizh, ‘ezharai nattu sani’ going on for me. Its tenure is for 7.5 years. This is second time in my lifeline that saturn rules the house in my horoscope. This is on for over an year now. Shani period is supposed to be physically and mentally and even financial exhausting to most. A very testy period in one’s life where we may be facing health woes. We may get ourselves entangled in unnecessary troubles. So I exercised the privilege of anointing Lord Shani with sesame oil with my own hands and perform the abhishegam to Him during my visit to His temple. My two friends still disapproved of my move. There were about a hundred devotees. While most men performed the abhishegam, there was a general reluctance among the women to come forward for the ritual. Only a handful of us dared. The men (husbands) restrained their wives and daughters and stood in queue to partake in the ritual. But nobody frowned when some of us women stepped forward for the ritual. The fee for the ritual is 500 bucks. The oil price was 80 or 90 bucks. The ticket issuing clerk had a disapproving smirk pasted on his face as he handed out the token to me. I hoped to please Lord Shani asking Him to soften His blows or at least give me the physical mental strength to bear shocks and upsets if it comes to that. To anyone who questions change of age old customs, I would like to remind that once upon a time, women were not even allowed to attend schools, not divorce, not remarry. Women did not get a share of family estate/inheritance. There was even the heinous practice of Sati in India. Its not you and I who decide what should happen when. As a total believer, I trust that it was perhaps Lord Shani Himself who decided that the time was ripe for women to perform rituals for Him with their own hands. அவனன்றி ஓர் அணுவும் அசையாது. Whether it is Shani or Lord Aiyappa, the move or decision to grant women entry is decided by the deity not by humans. As an unshakable believer in and follower of Hindu Dharma, this is where I differ from my friends’ view point. My Kerala friends cannot agree with the reforms naturally. By change in norms, I do not state that any disrespect has to be shown to the deity. In Sabarimala, the court case was interestingly filed by a Kerala muslim for entry of women into the hill shrine while no muslim woman can ever share the mosque space with the men. Not a single petition is filed in Indian courts to win the muslim women their equal rights. The women who first broke barriers in Sabarimala were also non Hindus – with a muslim/christian woman throwing a used/soiled sanitary napkin on Lord Aiyappa when with police escort she became the first fertile woman to set her foot in the holy shrine of Lord Aiyappa. Can you imagine a non muslim desecrating an islamic place of worship and getting alive with it. This is my Hindu India. This is the level of our tolerance. We Hindus give police protection to muslim/christians to go in and desecrate our places of worship in the name of democracy and secularism. It broke every Hindu heart when the kind of desecration the woman subjected our supreme deity to, came to light. We left the offenders to their Karma. While I am for equality of sexes and women’s rights, this is a clear case of mischief no doubt. Its good that a film like Kerala Story happened. An eye opener. After the Sabarimala sacrilege, the very next year the entire Kerala state was flooded and crores and crores of property were lost. Washed out. When Lord Aiyappa is ready to receive women devotees in His abode, trust Him to move the earths and the skies not just the courts to make it happen. Lord Aiyappa is viewed as Naishtika Brahmachari by Hindus.
Let me make it clear that, there was nothing rebellious about my Shani access or worship. I am a practing Hindu and I considered it a blessing to get nearer to Shani Bhagwan. I was full of reverence and faith.
Defining Moment For Pakistan.
When Pak PM Shri Shahbaz Sharif went aghast that the inferno that the nation saw in last few days reminded him of the 1971 war (with India), there was perhaps a a ring of truth to his words. Pakistan is off bounds for average Indian citizen. Our inputs are from media. However in our recorded memory, this is the first time ever that the Pakistanis went up in arms against their much feared armed forces which was brave of them. Imran Khan, who was illegally stripped off his premier post for batting against their army, was let off by the Supreme court after his illegal arrest by the law enforcement/security. The incident incited violence in the major cities that saw smoke billowing out of raging fires from buildings set ablaze, including on one of an army commander. Pakistan army has been directly behind the wars with India (read: without a justifiable rationale) that cost the nation dear – including the last one at Kargil. Musharraf, Pakistan’s ex general turned self-styled president was single handedly responsible for the unnecessary and costly blunder that set the relationship between the two hostile neighbours behind by a couple of more precious years. It reflected to us Indians, the sheer irresponsibility and inefficacy of their army chiefs and their ruling power as the Nawaz Shariff government at the center watched helpless and fell in line with the overruling army general. It underscored for us one more time, WHO IS THE BOSS in Pakistan. Soon Sharif was exiled to Saudi and Benazir was assassinated. Has Pakistan had a single prime minister who retired gracefully and in peace with wisdom to offer to the next democratically elected top man taking over the mantle from him or her? History has shown that whoever takes the chair either gets exiled or assassinated or his/her term truncated. Imran Khan’s case was the last as he too left the term incomplete. The Pakistan public reaction to the jungle rule of their armed forces comes as a breather. Pakistan military are infamous for their relentless corruption. The quickest way to prosperity is through enrolment in their army, whereas in countries like India, a career in the barracks is frowned upon by the youth normally. Our government has to entice young men and women to consider a stint in our armed forces with attractive sops. Army connections win one business contracts and licences in Pakistan. Army is the be-all, do-all. The all powerful Pakistan army also is the wealthiest organization in their country not surprisingly. Their spy agency will put those like we have in India to shame. Such a network! Pakistan has some good points such as their spy agency, cricket, hockey, ghazal, mountaineering etc. Pakistan natural resources mostly remain untapped. A vast potential herein has been sold over the counter just-like-that to Chinese who have taken over the Gwadar port for access to the Arabian sea. Pakistan is reeling not only under IMF loans but also against a burgeoning Chinese credit that they have to pay through their teeth. Media attributes the lawlessness to Imran Khan in Pakistan but as Pakistan national currency hovered at 299 rupees against US$ last evening, it is palpable that the public unrest is also manifestation of a peaking frustration as the cost of living is no more under control in their country and hooliganism is only the natural outcome of mass paranoia of the countrymen fearing famine and hopelessness in near future. As Pakistan stares at bankruptcy, we Indians keep our fingers crossed and await developments. For a healthy Pakistan is in Indian interests.
Western standard is NOT gold standard.
It is not packaged milk fortified with artificial vitamins that is good. It is the cow’s milk or buffalo milk that directly reaches your home without pasteurization, still warm from the beast’s udder that is healthy and good. Indians/Hindus have access to the latter mostly. A peeled orange fruit can never be compared to chemical orange drink with added preservatives and colours.
It is not refrigerated vegetables that are good. Pre-cut veggies are worst. It is buying your groceries on everyday basis and NOT refrigerating them that is healthy. We Indians do the latter.
It is not the frozen meat that is hygienic. It is the fresh cut meat and poultry that Indians have access to that is healthy.
It is not packaged/pre-cooked/tinned/canned food with printed expiry date that you can reheat on oven that is good. It is the freshly prepared food in your own kitchen that is best. We Indians spend hours doing that everyday at home.
All our herbs and spices and nuts and millets make for wonderful feast. Bland pizzas are insipid and tasteless. Indian food makes for gourmet cuisines anywhere and everywhere.
It is not the toilet tissue paper you wipe your asses with that is ideal. It is the water wash with health faucet that is best and most hygienic practice and we Indians do just that. Not only are not we hurting the environment with printing tonnes and tonnes of tissue paper, we are also using water which is the best medium for cleaning any surface. Water is replenishable natural resource that gets topped up with the arrival of monsoon.
Soaking in bathtub may sound luxurious but it is rinsing under a running shower that is hygienic standard.
It is not bottled water that is bacteria free. It is the running water off the tap that is best.
Swimming pools and golf courses and grazing fields for beef cattle are the worst environmental hazards. Hindus are not consumers of beef the production of which drinks up most of the surface water and scrapes earth of its greenery.
It is not sedan that is comfort. It is walking or cycling that is good.
It is not the air-conditioner that is healthy, it is rather the room temperature.
It is not the makeup that is cool, it is the natural way you look that is uber cool.
Eating with forks and spoons are not marks of sophistication or that of a civilized society. It is eating with hands that speaks of the human-food holistic connection. Eating is a spiritual experience for Hindus.
You don’t have to hit the gym at all if you are a practitioner of Hatha Yoga. When you have nothing to call your own, gym will become your refuge.
We even have the Hindu martial arts. We don’t have to take up karate or taekwondo.
It is not brands that are great. It is the ethnic weaves and motifs that I wear as an Indian so proudly that are the best clothes to wear. Our clothes represent our culture, history, heritage. I am wearing my India on my sleeve for the whole world to see.
It is not the synthetic fibre that is fashion. It is natural yarn cotton and silk that I drape myself with that are most environment friendly.
If you are hooked on to western music or western soap as an Asian/African or anyone, it means you don’t have native/desi/local talent. There is a big void – you don’t have authentic pedigree culture. You have not enough of creativity.
If you are watching only the Hollywood pictures, then again your local talent pool sucks. You don’t have ingenuity to produce even quality entertainment.
If you do not have local classical music or dance or art or literature scene, it means you are rootless. You lack imagination. You are forced to appreciate the foreign stuff for you have no alternative.
Anglicization is not culture. It is wearing a bindi in crowded New York or in Arab soil that is culture. Now that is some identity. English language has given me its share of advantages but it shall never become my Thamizh or Sanskrit or Hindi. Thamizh and Sanskrit are older than Latin and are still around. That is the antiquity of my Hindu culture.
Westernization does not make you superior to anyone. In fact it renders the opposite. It makes you a worthless duplicate.
Duplicates galore: a smatter of English words, two or three short reels from western soaps and metal/hard rock do not make anyone cultured or civilized. In fact it looks pathetic on you. A cheap imitation.
If you are Asian/African but are always clothed in western trousers and shirts, it means you have nothing original. You are a copycat who has no sense of self respect or self esteem.
If you are following Christianity or Islam, it means even your Gods were imported or thrust upon you by your barbarian invaders who destroyed your roots and rendered you bastards. I am a Hindu, a pedigree, a non convert, an original. Don’t try to talk me down. A Hindu is a Hindu is a Hindu.
We in India know what we are doing. We Hindus know what we are made of. Wherever we go, we add value to that society. We don’t tear up our adopted homelands with violent terrorism. Hindu Dharma is not here as the one and only longest surviving civilization for over ten thousand years without a break for nothing.
We in India appreciate foreign culture but we never forget what we are made of. We know our value. We know of our authenticity and pedigree. Proud Hindu anyday. We never robbed nations. The muslims and chrisitians did that for survival. We nurture wildlife and rivers and flora and fauna. We worship nature. We have not survived to this day with the sword. We usher in peace and wisdom wherever we go. SANATHANA DHARMA (HINDUISM) is a way of life. Not a violent cult that sprang up with a self appointed nomadic ‘son of god’ or ‘prophet.’ We Hindus have no founders, no founding date. That must tell you something.
Proudly brown. Happily dusky. I am Indian. I am Hindu. I am my natural self. I don’t have to pander to your definitions of beauty or class. I have both, much more than you can ever dream of. I am me. I don’t become your definition of me. In fact you smack of intense jealousy if you are preoccupied with me. Because I couldn’t care less about you. As I tan walking around the vast ancient temples of ours, my heart swells with pride. I belong. I have roots, unshakable roots. I therefore am.
India shall live to eternity and shall remain eternally Hindu. Brook no nonsense fellow Hindus. Rub commonsense into the cowards. Tell them, show them what is genuine, what is fake. Throw their rubbish to where it belongs: in the garbage bin of their closed minds.
When someone looked at my cotton washable handkerchief with disbelief having been born out of the ’tissue’ culture, I could see what the world has come to. The fakes have taken over the world. The bottled water, the canned milk, the frozen food, the tinned fruit pulp, the tissue for wiping your bum, the disposable nappies rather than cloth nappies – now all these are more appreciated and thought of to be better and hygienic substitutes to the naturals. The way we convince ourselves that the fakes are the best is what is more troubling. For we can awaken a sleeping man but not someone who pretends to be asleep.
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Why is India still under-developed, over populated and not anywhere near China.
You have to live in the Hindu society to learn why India is backward. It s never the bhogic life for us like the Americans. Our philosophy is Yogic, which means we spend hours in temples, puja, meditation etc – none of which the Chinese do whose only aspiration is materialistic.
This country has been lived on for tens of thousands of years as we are home to stunning range of flora and fauna, wildlife, rivers, mountains, plains, valleys, sea coasts etc., that India was one of the chief cradles of human civilization. The temples I visit each are over an acre easily, and some thousand, two thousand years old. That is our antiquity. Some streets are here for hundreds of years. Ideal geo climatic for centuries that has turned worse in recent years only thanks to global warming, the land of gold and diamonds, agrarian primarily where an array of arts and crafts were nourished by the kings, it is no wonder that India accounts for a sixth of world human population.
But then, are we asking anyone to feed us. We export rice, wheat, fruits, nuts, spices after FEEDING ONE POINT THREE BILLION MOUTHS here. Which is something. Critics of India must check whether they can just manage that simple feat.
Under Threat: Bitra: Floating Marine Reserve, India.
Ref: How the Bitra Floating Marine Reserve was born – by Rohan Arthur and T R Shankar Raman , from ‘At the feet of living things’ -edited by Aparajitta Datta
Always amazed by fish spawning frenzy spotlighted by underwater videos that we come across in Animal Planet etc. Never knew it had a scientific name: FSA (Fish Spawning aggregation). What is more surprising is learning that India has a Floating Marine Reserve (among a handful) at Bitra, Lakshadweep group of Islands falling under the Union Territory, off Kerala coast, in the Arabian sea.
Some of the books I have read on the wildlife in India were authored by wildlife research aspirants who were gathering material and evidence for their doctorate. The Bitra Reserve apparently was born thanks to the efforts of two such ambitious and enthusiastic PhD candidates of Fisheries who had chosen Bitra for their studies. I am blogging this from a series of essays on Indian wildlife conservation efforts in about a quarter century until the 1990s. Some articles lie outside the purview of the scope of the book obviously, because the Bitra scene is from very recent. One of the group of islands of the Lakshadweep archipelago, Bitra is an impoverished fishing island where naturally fishing continues to be the way of life. The two researchers Rohan Arthur and T S Shankar Raman venture into this sleepy fishing center and stumble upon the FSA off the reefs of Bitra sea. They discover in the year close to 2012 that there is the FSA (fish spawning aggregation) ritual happening under sea near the reef where the square tails aggregated in tens of thousands to spawn their litter. A rare event in Indian territory, the Fisheries guys congregate with the locals and take steps to preserve the FSA from damages of fishing.
Seriously I wish they hadn’t tabled their findings! In a bid to submit their papers for their diplomas, they have given away the precious info to the locals that they seem to exploit for commercial gains. The earliest boost for their venture was the kudos that came from the Fisheries department itself that went against their grain. The department seconding to save fish is anathema to their founding principles and motto. No wonder, the plans fell flat in their face as the local fishermen refused to comply with the restrictions and started fishing vigorously in the delicately balanced marine eco system with the mother boats that made a killing catch every season of spawning (around new moon day a particular time of the year). Thus in matter of ten years the FSA fish count has dropped by over 90% . Human greed knows no bounds. Educating the local fishermen, bringing the awareness is a slow process but can work in the long run. Hopefully by the time realization dawns, there are still square tails left out in the Arabian sea/Indian ocean to make it to the Bitra reef for their annual appointed FSA.
Will the center look in and do something decisive about the protection of the Bitra reef and FSA therein? #narendramodi
I am banking on our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji on saving the floating marine reserve at Bitra and the annual FSA, saving the square tail and other fish species from extinction in near future. FSA is way of nature. We shall be making or breaking the natural cycle in Bitra shortly as frenzied fishing activity near the reef can drive the fish away from the FSA pool which for some evolutionary/geographic/scientific reason has been natural selection for the fish species since ages.
India doubles her Tiger population.
India Tiger Count tops 3000. Now pegged at 3167 as per latest census .
As we celebrate 50 years of Project Tiger in India that was rolled into motion way back in 1973 for conservation of Tiger the national animal, it emerges that India has recorded a doubling of the Tiger population since 2010. The thirteen tiger countries of the world met at St Petersburg in Russia at an international tiger conservation forum, the Global Tiger Summit where it was decided to boost tiger breeding doubling their count in the next twelve years by 2022. India achieved the target well within time. India accounts for 70% of the tiger count in entire world. Bengal Tigers and tigers from across India have seen a surge in headcount in the various wildlife reserves and sanctuaries spread around the country. India is also home to the native (Gir) Lions, (Indian/Asian) Elephants and a stunning array of wildlife – both flora and fauna. To those who ask why is our population 1.3 billion, this is the reason. For millennia we had the ideal weather conditions that nurtured both human race and the wildlife that helped them breed and thrive healthy and happy in this part of the world. As man and beast jostle for space in this cramped peninsular subcontinent of ours in modern times, conservation efforts are proving to be an increasingly tougher job. A highly bio-diversified country, India boasts of both the snow peaks of the Himalayas as well as the Thar deserts; the serene beaches of the south; the mangroves; the biosphere of the Nilgiris or the western ghats that are home to widest range of avian population in their rainforests as well as exotic fauna such as the sandalwood trees; the eastern jungles recording highest rainfall in the world per year. The elephant corridors and the tiger corridors of this country have been here for thousands of years, from long before recorded human history. Only in recent times they have cut short or taken over by human greed. As our prime minister visited Bandipur sanctuary in Karnataka from where he drove into Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary in Tamil Nadu right through the forests in recognition of the golden jubilee year of Project Tiger, the nation celebrates the big cats of the country with enthusiasm and vigour. Last year saw the re-introduction of Cheetah in India, brought in from Namibia. The native cheetahs of India were hunted down to extinction by the British (who are behind the extinction of many species of wild life) alongside the erstwhile royals of India.The nation mourning the loss of life of one precious fertile female cheetah was compensated with the arrival of four healthy cubs from a cheetah mom late last week.
The Tiger countries of the world: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia (locally extinct), China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR (locally extinct), Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand, and Viet Nam (locally extinct).
Rounding off with some adorable shots from the Tiger reserves of India. The disturbing image is that of the tourists, but then the tourists pay for the tiger conservation efforts.
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