Posted in Interests

Textiles Of India

Posted on by veeskitchen

DREAM WEAVES OF INDIA

Everyone says Paris is the fashion capital of the world. Or perhaps Milan is. Rome is. But if you ask us Indian women, we will say, India is the FABRIC CAPITAL OF THE WORLD. WEAVE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD. India may also be the ETHNIC HANDBLOCK PRINT CAPITAL OF THE WORLD. AND EVEN THE HOSIERY CAPITAL OF THE WORLD IN SPITE OF CHINA. No other nation on earth boasts of such a stunning range of fabrics and weaves of silks, cottons and blends (natural yarn) and none has the kind of Ethnic handblock prints and handcraft work that India has – hundreds or perhaps thousands of them strewn together right across the length and breadth of the nation sewing up a beautiful enchanting and magic carpet of colourful dreams. Handlooms still occupy a place of pride over mechanized textiles like rayon and polyester, the synthetic fabrics from the west. Indian cotton and silk BREATHE and are natural fiber. I love India for Her myriad colours, earthy native fabrics, weaves, ethnic motifs and traditional handblock prints and handwork as much as I love Her for Her ancient culture and heritage. INDIAN TEXTILES REFLECT OUR ORIGINAL CHARACTER AND INDIVIDUALITY. An open challenge to anyone to prove me wrong: come up with an equivalent exquisite fabric/print/handwork collection. Understanding the fabric of India may help one understand the very phenomenon and enigma called India.

Around the world Indians are going places as CEOs of multinational corporations, astronauts, medicos, scientists, mathematicians, engineers, teachers, nurses, techies… but if you look at the way we lovingly weave and wear, you will know why we Indians are able to make it good anywhere. Where does the inspiration spring from? Here is a peek into India’s Soul.

Pictures courtesy (!): Google Images

PART I : FABRICS AND WEAVES/THREADS OF INDIA

I confess to bad taste in clothes, wrong accessorizing and mismatch of colours so I must be the last person to attempt something like this. Still I wanted to document the varied, diverse fabrics of India as much (as I could recall) with their unique local dyes/hues and ethnic motifs. The kind of fabrics we have here in India is matchless, the desi cotton is our trademark. To others, clothes are matter-of-fact. Not for us Indian women. Every suit or kurtha/kurthi or top or a sari or even a salwar or pant an Indian Nari dons has a background woven into its history, with specific intricate details. Even in foreign labels like Marks & Spencer etc. abroad, we find the fabric happens to be basically Indian with finishing (tailoring) done in UK. Same may be true of Italian clothes as well. Chinese cotton is smoother than Indian with a clean machine finish: something that Indian fabrics may lack but that is exactly our plus point. Chinese cotton to me is one more industrial product. Never applies to my senses. Our desi pure cottons and cotton blends are coarser. Bangladeshi (Bengali) cotton could be the closest match. I also love the Pakistani lawn (as they call cotton) but I am not for their crowded patterns/designs. The fabric is super fine and flowy. The Pakistanis do not simply have the stunning range of fabrics that India presents to the world. So these are the four countries that dominate the world cotton and fabric market today.

Here I set about exploring what little I know from the fabric world. State-wise if possible.

TAMIL NADU: KANJIVARAM SILKS, ARNI SILKS, DHARMAVARAM SILKS, CHINNALAPATTU, COIMBATORE COTTON, CHETTINAD COTTON, SILK COTTON, MADURAI SUNGUDI, MADRAS CHECKS (COTTON SHIRTS)

KANJIVRAM, THE QUEEN OF WORLD FABRICS IS FROM KANCHIPURAM, NEAR CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU, INDIA. PREMIUM & NO. 1 SILK IN WORLD

KANJIVARAM, THE PRIDE OF INDIA

Let me start with Tamil Nadu, famous for its Kanjivaram silks (aka Kanchipuram or Kanchi), Arani silks (second grade), Chinnalapattu, Dharmavaram. These are just the silk varieties from my home base. Cottons include Chettinad and Coimbatore and Madurai. Wedding silk cannot be less than Kanjivaram silks for south Indian brides. Prices may range anywhere between 2,000 rupees to lakhs of rupees.

You have to be real rich if you want to stitch a suit in Kanjivaram silks. I do that once my silk sari ages. . For all special occasions and family weddings, silk is a must for us.

For paucity of space, I am leaving out the other silk varieties from Tamil Nad. Kanjivaram is most sought after through out the world. (In any case this is going to be one very long post). There are tourists who visit Chennai for the sole purpose of shopping for silk.

 

Silk and Cotton make an interesting blend in various ratios. That gives rise to hundreds of different cotton-silk tissues that are every woman’s delight. Jute Silk, Raw Silk, Silk Cotton are hot favourites.

So here I have merely covered the silk and silk-cotton blends from my home state sans any handwork like embroidery or mirror or bead work. Also leaving out dyeing works like tie-and-dye, Kalamkari like fabric paints, block prints etc that I shall try to cover under ‘Prints of India’ (part II). My first section to deal with only fabrics.

HOSIERY INDUSTRY OF TAMIL NADU: TIRUPUR

India (Tamil Nadu) may be the world suppliers of Jockey to Victoria’s Secret and other global brands when it comes to underwear. You may go for premium inners from Australia to America but remember all of them come from Tirupur textile units. Mostly. Only you end up paying 10 times more in the west for the under garments made in India.

INDIA ALSO COULD SHORTLY CLAIM TO BE THE DENIM CAPITAL OF THE WORLD INCHING PAST BANGLADESH SINCE THE ERA OF EXPORT TRADE TARIFF BENEFITS EXTENDED TO DENIM MANUFACTURE IN BANGLADESH AND PAKISTAN DRAW TO A CLOSE. I AM LEAVING OUT DENIM FROM THIS POST OWING TO LACK OF SPACE.

ANDHRA PRADESH: SEEMANDHRA & TELENGANA : UPPADA SILK, POCHAMPALLY, MANGALAGIRI

KARNATAKA: MYSORE CREPE SILK

Next Karnataka famous for its soft Mysore silk Crepe. As the name suggests, it is the only synthetic mix among the sea of pure silks and cottons otherwise you find in India.

KERALA: KASAVU

Kerala bride has to marry only in Kasavu sari whatever be her economic status. In all special occasions/muhurats, women in Kerala dress up only in off-white.

GOOOAAA !!! MELTING POT OF MANY AN ETHNIC HANDBLOCK PRINT AND FABRIC FROM ALL CORNERS OF INDIA

Haven’t heard of anything such as Goan fabric. Rest of India fabrics get a new style in Goa to suit the tastes of visiting foreign tourists.

MAHARASHTRA: PUNE COTTON, PAITHANI SILK

Maharashtra is famous for its Pune cotton. It is a very refined cotton compared to South Cotton.

MADHYA PRADESH: CHANDERI 

Chanderi silk and cotton are from Madhya Pradesh. Very popular with Indian women. A unique fabric going with a matching local ethnic print.

UTTAR PRADESH: BENARASI (Of course!)

Just as a south Indian bride may not marry in anything other than the coveted Kanjivaram, a north Indian bride may not marry in anything less than Benarasi.

Benarasi silks and cottons from Uttar Pradesh

BIHAR: BHAGALPURI AND TUSSAR

Note: Tussar silk is also weaved in Bengal.

Bhagalpuri from Bihar, next. Tussar is another unbeatable Bihar’s specialty. I have to confess, of all silk weaves, Tussar is my No.1 favourite. Tussar silk with hand embroidery is my favourite.

ORISSA: SAMBALPUR, BOMBKAI

Oriyan Sambalpuri is something I haven’t collected so far. Pending.

RAJASTHAN: KOTA & JAIPUR COTTON, BANDHEJ  (BANDHANI)

Jaipur kurthis are most affordable, very reasonably priced, with hand prints (like block prints). Very popular with Indian teenagers. Kota saris are most preferred cotton saris for working women.

GUJARAT: SURAT COTTON & KHADI , BANDHEJ (BANDHANI)

BENGAL : BENGAL COTTON & TUSSAR SILK AND COTTON , JUTE COTTON & SILK, BALUCHARI SILK

In my working days I mostly draped a Bengal cotton sari at least once a fortnight to office. Favourite with working women. Bengal cotton suits, again a favourite. As I have covered Tussar under Bihar and Jute under silks of Tamil Nadu, I am giving them a miss here.

KASHMIR: KASHMIR SILK, MATKA SILK, PASHMINA & CASHMERE WOOLEN AND RUGS AND CARPETS

ASSAM: MUGA SILK & TUSSAR SILK 

PUNJAB : KNIT WEAR & SPORTS GEAR, PUNJABI COTTON

 PART II: ETHNIC HANDBLOCK PRINTS & MOTIFS

AND NATURAL DYES OF INDIA

DABU PRINT FROM RAJASTAN / HAND BLOCK PRINT

Dabu print Kurthis are very popular with women. Handblock bed linen from India equally popular in fashion houses around the world, priced exorbitant.

PHULKARI FROM PUNJAB

KOLHAPURI JUTIS FROM MAHARASHTRA

JODHPURS FROM RAJASTAN

Kolhapuri Handmade Leather Jutis (Footwear) for Men & Women from Kohlapur, Maharashtra, one more Made-in-India produce that is world famous designer collection. Jodhurs from Rajastan originally need no introduction.

AJRAKH PRINTS, KUTCH, GUJARAT

BANDHANI PRINT FROM RAJASTAN, GUJARAT, KASHMIR 

TIE & DYE

BATIK

If Kanjivaram and Tussar are my silk favourites, Bandhini is my No.1 favourite hand print. I have Bandhani in everything: silk, cotton, georgette-crepe be it sari or kurti or stole.

KUTCHI MIRROR EMBROIDERY (MUTWA) FROM GUJARAT

APPLIQUE WORK (PATCH WORK) FROM ODISHA (ORISSA)

BAGRU PRINTS FROM RAJASTAN (JAIPUR)

Bagru is one more hand block print very popular with women.

LUCKNOWI CHIKANKARI FROM UTTAR PRADESH 

This is another addiction of mine.

IKAT PRINTS FROM ANDHRA, ORISSA, GOA AND OTHER STATES OF INDIA

IKAT TRIBAL PRINTS & MOTIFS

Many states in India weave Ikat in different local fabrics like silks and cotton. Ikat is very much in fashion everywhere. Some Ikat prints here.

KALAMKARI FABRIC PAINT FROM ANDHRA PRADESH: SEEMANDHRA/TELENGANA

NO other Ethnic work is as contemporary now as Kalamkari (and Ikat).

MADHUBANI FABRIC PAINTING FROM RAJASTAN, MAHARASHTRA & OTHER STATES

KHARI PRINT FROM VARIOUS STATES

MADRAS CHECKS FROM TAMIL NADU

One more World standard from Madras, Chennai. Next time you wear a checkered shirt, remember, it is named after Madras from its famous ‘Lungi’ check designs. If Kanjivaram is for women, Madras checks are for men. GET INSPIRED. WEAR MADRAS ON YOUR SLEEVE WITH MADRAS CHECKS!

SUNGUDI FROM TAMIL NADU

Sungudi is soft cotton from Tamil Nadu and Sungudi dying is unique and favourite especially among senior citizens. My granny always draped only a Sungudi cotton sari with sungudi dyed prints. Brings back loving memories of her. I do have sungudi kameezes, softest as they come.

ZARDOSI/ZARI WORKS ACROSS INDIA

Zardosi works in North Benarasis and Gold/Silver Zari borders in South Kanjivarams:

GOTA PATTI FROM RAJASTAN

 

KANTHA & JAMDANI WORKS FROM BENGAL

…….

and on and on and on……..,

There is much more. Suggestions/Corrections/Improvements welcome. Would like to add to this collection of mine 😀

But before I stop, want to add this: Some cotton varieties from India may need regular starching. Some silks may need dry cleaning. Following the wash instructions is very important when it comes to fabrics/clothes from India with/without ethnic hand work. Not only the weaves, even the dyes could be delicate. Exercise caution for wash.

What a stunning range of fabrics and weaves we have in India: from feather weight muslins to class Kanjivaram pure silks to roughly hewn Khadi cottons. A staggering array of dyes mostly natural/vegetable. Put together the desi flavour of ethnic motifs of each district from every state: and work out the permutations and combinations. There you go! And I have not even covered a fraction of the ocean called Indian Textiles world. This is just the natural fabrics. There is the other world of synthetics like Georgette, Crepes, Polyester, Nylon, Rayon, (Denim) etc., etc., that I do not even want to attempt…

So that can give you an idea about India. It is not about mere fabrics. It is not about just dyes and ethnic prints and motifs. It is much more than all that. None can summarize India. I am trying my bit that’s all. May be I have managed some 0.001%.

I do not want to comment on others but I find Chinese materials very inferior and artificial and cold and classless and without a character. Plain. But very, very flexible. That I have to give to the chinese: for marketing themselves best and for catering to every taste and for being most flexible and economical. Well, Indians cannot afford to be like that. India is too complex if this post of mine is any indication.

As for Pakistan lawn, I like the fabric but I find it very plain and uninspiring. Designers and designs are similar and predictable. No individuality. Cotton on the other side of Punjab is surprisingly soft (or probably imported) compared to the cotton that grows on this side of the Atari border. Pak lawn makers mix at least 10% of synthetic yarn with their cotton. 100% virgin cotton is hard to come by.  No special weaves or patent-worthy content like we have in India.

I guess most Indian desi original pedigree fabrics/weaves/threads/textiles/handblock prints are now patent protected, with Geo-Patent. For instance Kanjivaram silk saris from Kanchipuram, near Chennai.

Even our clothes should have a character. At least that is what I believe in.

As for Europe and America, they import fabric from India and China (also Bangladesh, Pakistan) and do the finishing (tailoring), customizing them to their regional tastes. Just as India is the back office of the world when it comes to the IT industry, India is also behind the fashion scene of the world very much although you may never guess…

Posted in Environment, Socio-Cultural

Stop Cruelty To Elephants In The Name Of Religion NOW !!!

Posted on by veeskitchen
some 5 elephants, 3 in the front row and 2 behind for Sri Bhagawati temple vela (pooram), cherukulangara, Thrissur – day March 28, 2013
some 5 elephants, 3 in the front row and 2 behind for Sri Bhagawati temple vela (pooram), cherukulangara, Thrissur – day March 28, 2013

(Originally published the 7th of April, 2013 in a private blog . Edited and Reblogged )

I have always been awed by the Pooram festivals of Kerala, my neighbouring state. The most famous one that attracts hordes of both local and foreign tourists is the Pooram Festival of Shri Vadakkunathan Temple in the town of Thrissur. This mega temple festival that falls in the end of the month of March stars over a dozen elephants parading the Temple Deities in hot, merciless summer sun of India to the loudest blares of ‘Pancha Vaadhyam’ – the five traditional desi musical instruments comprising drums and trumpets.

A devout Hindu, i am at loss to comprehend the logic behind this heartless, mindless cruelty inflicted upon these most beautiful and wisest beasts on face of earth, the elephants, in the name of religion.

Imagine what could happen to jumbos trotting barefoot in intense heatwave of over 40 C (over 100 F) with capstans weighing in tonnes on their breaking back, in front of tens of thousands of frenzied crowds to the ear-splitting thumping of the Pancha Vadhyam, with firecrackers bursting nonstop through the celebrations? Won’t the elephants feel claustrophobic in the first place for their size, away from their natural wild habitat?

During one of my trips to Kerala, I could attend the Pooram festival of a very small and beautiful temple in Thrissur – the Bhagwati temple of Cherukulangara.  Even in this small event, some five elephants partook in the festivities.  March was closing with April starting, and already the mercury was rising rather menacingly.

In the evening came the rudest shock: I was in the temple where in the backyards i saw the five elephants with feet chained loosely (the elephants i must admit looked healthy, well fed (which was a small consolation) and were not chained stiff; they could still amble about and i was relieved they did not look alarmed or disturbed. While Shakthi and Shiva are who I look upon like my beloved, respectful and benevolent parents, I wonder whether the same Mother Goddess of mine and the Father would approve of such inhumane torture and cruelty meted out to defenceless elephants in the name of religion in their holy abode.What is this other than man-invented frivolous ritual? )  The elephants were quietly feeding on leaves and fruits and seemed relaxed that somewhat pacified me. Given the hysteric beating of drums and the creaking of loudspeakers in highest decibels, i was slightly agitated. After all it was my first ever LIVE Pooram!   (In Bhagwati temples (Devi temples), Pooram is referred to as ‘Vela.’)

Elephants are mammoth species that subsist on vast swathes of moving space. That is how nature makes them as well as any other wild life: nomadic and free-spirited. How claustrophobic the gentle giants must feel within the confined spaces and congested quarters with granite flooring and barred ventilation, having been ‘tamed’ and ‘taught to obey’ with the ‘tanda’ (stick)?

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/heartrending-scenes-mark-burial-of-temple-elephant/article2647127.ece

The time was around 7 pm in the evening and then started the fireworks.  My  heart skipped a beat but maintaining a cautious distance from the elephants I still fixed my gaze on them to check if they were okay.  Thank God a million, the elephants seemed disinterested in the noise, the sound, the fanfare and continued feeding, unperturbed by the 500 wala and the 1000 wala crackers lighting up the skies for the next 1 hour or so.  I went back to my friend’s house in haste and even from a distance of 1 km could hear the bursting of the crackers.

That night my friend, a native of Thrissur, and I were talking of the fate of elephants in the country for a long time.  Mad pachyderms running berserk, going on rampage in our temple towns is not rare today in India especially in the state of Kerala. Under-fed in many cases in unbearable heat conditions, with their ‘mast’ season ignored and mating denied, where and who else can these giants vent their ire on?

What is the point in touting that some of us are vegetarians if we can knowingly inflict so much harm on other living species without an ounce of guilt.

Very few countries in this world are blessed to have elephants as native beasts and India is one such a rare country.  I feel blessed for this reason that ours is this ‘Punya Bhoomi’ where lions, tigers and elephants roam freely perhaps only next to Africa. We are lucky in the sense that in spite of all the self-inflicting damages we do to ourselves, we have a few of them still (luckily)surviving (and even flourishing as in case of Bengal Tigers and Gir Lions) to this date.  The Moghuls, the Maharajahas and the British occupiers have all had their share of trophies and the cheetah is long gone extinct since the British Raj days thanks to relentless hunting.  A few leopards are all we are left with in the extended cat family.  So its the first and foremost duty of every Indian citizen to ensure that these elephants, tigers and lions and  leopards are treated with utmost care lest they might go extinct right in front of our eyes. And in the event of such a worst scenario becoming a reality,  we can not excuse ourselves ever for the deliberate lapses that we never try to correct…  I for one thing cannot imagine an India without elephants… its too much for me…  But the wild life population in India is dwindling at an alarming rate.   Often I wonder, why God did not plant elephants as native species in America and/or Europe where they might be loved and cared for and best looked after (in present times)?

Do we Indians realize what a bountiful gift God has bestowed upon us?  What an insensitive lot we are…

While i have been awed simultaneously by the Pooram festivals i have watched in television over years, somehow it’s always been playing in the back of mind that this madness must stop sooner or later, at any and/or all costs.  Grateful to acknowledge, a good number of Keralites share a similar line of thought as mine. Except perhaps for the temple ‘Devaswoms’ of Kerala and a few oldies, i don’t believe anyone wants this ritual to continue with all their heart. Still it is even more complex now than ever before to draw curtains on this cruel custom as even churches and mosques in ‘God’s own country’ have joined the bandwagon to count on elephants to find an expression for their overt-religiosity.

I have not been to the Mysore Dushshera  either which is held annually in the Mysore Palace Grounds on the final Vijayadhasami day of the 10 day Dushshera Festival  (as Navrathri culminates to the climax closing throughout India), one of our major national/religious festivals.

In the ‘Dubare’ elephant camp in the state of Karnataka, i was told the elephants in the camp would be partaking in the annual Mysore Dushshera.   To be fair to our Forest Department, i concede, the elephants in this camp looked healthier too and well-fed, taking a daily dip in the river Kaveri that flows through these parts.

Later I learned, elephant calves in the forests of Kerala and Karnataka are routinely trapped and captured for the sole purpose of domesticating them to serve in temple festivals and Mysore Dushshera.

I have taken elephant rides in Thekkady and Munnar in Kerala, where domesticated elephants are used for elephant safaris and admit that I have enjoyed these rides.    I was of course told these are the elephants that strayed from the forest cover as young calves.  The ‘kumki’ or the trainer elephants are sometimes used to tame those wild rogue elephants that may stray into neighbouring/bordering villages destroying standing crops.

There is elephant safari even in Singapore Zoo (last heard it is scrapped).  In the zoos of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Doha, Qatar, i was pleased enormously in the first instance to see the Indian elephants enclosures, a natural reaction.  While in Malaysia, the elephants looked happy, in Qatar desert heat, the single lone Indian elephant seemed to be reeling under the extreme temperature and climatic conditions …. it looked so bored that I wanted to touch it and make it feel better … The elephants were gifts from India by the then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi on her diplomatic visits to these nations.  What a gruesome (!) idea of diplomacy.   Are elephants private properties to be gifted or traded in?

In Mysore zoo, the elephants are faring better, thank god for small mercies.  Perhaps this is the only zoo in India where the elephants are treated fair.  Weather seems to suit them and they are breeding well.   I have no complaints for a change on this zoo.

Even so the typical diet that a domesticated elephant may be fed with is not what it may chew upon in the wild: leaves and twigs and fruits and melons and even barks and shoots from trees and bushes. Instead what do we feed our pet elephant: jaggery balls and coconuts!

In Tamil Nadu, I am aware of some temples hiring elephants for festival season.   As a young girl, I have seen bedecked elephants walking down our streets asking for hand-outs, led by their mahouts.  The unthinkable scene of an elephant walking a busy street can happen only in India, even as cars and scooters ply by without stopping to take a second look…  I don’t know whether to be amused by that or feel sad….

Man-elephant conflict is forever on the rise because the elephant corridor in India is shrinking at an alarming rate and the water holes that are feeding and breeding spots for elephants are fast drying up.  The  beasts therefore have no option than to walk into human habitat foraging for food especially in scorching summers .

Here is an interesting article on an elephant photographer:

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-sundaymagazine/elephant-man/article4590009.ece

I share very much the photographer’s sentiments – like for  him, the elephant is my most favourite beast on planet Earth.  I also worship (!) elephants hahaha because i am a Hindu and to us, all animals and plants and even inanimate objects that help us in our lives are Gods, and elephant is our special god Ganesha Himself and none other!!!  I honestly see such a divinity in cows and elephants – may be because i have been brought up with such beliefs and may be because their benign nature seems to affect and touch my soul …

I can also understand fellow Indians’ emotional, spiritual attachment to elephants – most look at an elephant as a divine creature – which could be our greatest probem! And we are one of those families that still leave milk for snakes in Shakthi temples ! Our love and devotion and REVERENCE  for animals is so very complex, complicated that we are causing them more of  harm and making their existence miserable, a fact we are oblivious  to. The monkey menace in New Delhi and other cities of ours and the wandering cows in highways of India are glaring examples of what blind faith can do to a population.

My sincere wish is that, let the Pooram festivals of Kerala go on from millennium to millennium, but please play up the ‘pancha vaadhyam’  – the 5 musical instruments to the hilt and free the elephants into the wild where they belong !  This is what Lord Ganesha will want you to do, fellow Hindus, Kerala temple Dewaswoms, will you ever get it? The Pooram festival and the hapless trained elephants are big time money-spinners for Kerala tourism. The mahouts have to be educated and weaned off the vocation in a phased manner first followed by rehabilitation. A very complicated and sensitive matter we have here at hands – that which could have repercussions on the thriving of the local economy: a socio-political issue that presupposes a careful strategy on in-depth study and a smooth maneuver.

For those who would like to make parallels between Jallikattu and Elephant tourism: DON’T. It is not fair or equal.

I wish we have legislation introduced in India forbidding training of elephants for religious purposes and processions and ban on elephants from being raised as pets in wealthy homes or from being gifted to foreign countries where their adaptation could prove to be traumatic given the hostile local environment. I wish there is a statute that prevents capture of elephant calves from the wild and one that returns the domesticated tuskers back to where they came from: the wild.

And remember elephants are NOT our toys to play with and use for our amusements.  I am guilty as anyone here for enjoying the song ‘Jiya Jale’ pictured with the elephants in the background… but i wish this cruelty stops forthwith… enough is enough…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwoSBP_GiuQ

And what is the need to get elephant calves from the wild to be trained by the ‘kumkis?’   Let every single elephant calf or rogue elephant that strays into human habitat in this country be sent right back into the wild. Elephants are very much social creatures that roam about in groups, not ‘lone wolves.’ Separating them from their herds is enough to break their spirit in one swift blow.

Elephants belong in the wild, elephants are very wise, sensitive, sweet creatures… let them have their bit of private space on Planet Earth like you and me…  its their birth right.  Think of the world WITHOUT ELEPHANTS… can you?

_______________________________________________________________________

** This post excludes the serious issue of Elephant poaching, very rampant in Africa and also to some extent in India (or generally Asia). Recommended reading: ‘The tusk that did the damage‘ – a fictional work based on real life events, authored by Tania James.  Poaching for tusks poses the gravest risk to elephants of both Asia and Africa, threatening to drive them down to near extinction in a very short span of time in future – say some 20-30 years. 

** This post neither takes into account the elephant deaths recorded in India due to electric shocks sustained from electrified fences of farmers (thoroughly illegal) and rail accidents in elephant corridors. 

http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/assam-elephants-train-accident-4417752/

** Informative Read: https://www.scribd.com/document/338210912/HABITAT-MANAGEMENT-IN-THE-NILGIRIS-BIOSPHERE-RESERVES-AND-THE-ELEPHANT-RESERVES-OF-SOUTH-INDIA

Posted in Economic

WTO and India: Rethinking India’s Food Security

Posted on by veeskitchen
continuing tragedy of farmer suicide in India... who is responsible?
continuing tragedy of farmer suicide in India… who is responsible?

This is a post I blogged private (original date of publishing: August 6, 2014)  but in the heat of ‘Jallikattu’ protests would like to revisit the issue: Below is a reproduction of my original blog post with little editing here and there.

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

https://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/nine-reasons-why-indias-wto-081730068.html

 

‘Karuvelam’ trees also known by the name ‘Veli Kathan Mullu/Maram’ (the trees that are fences) were once the rage of rural Tamil Nad. These are easily breakable firewood found aplenty throughout the state. What we did not know of them was that, these trees were NOT native to India/Tamil Nadu. It was easy to have them in our villages for the dual purposes they served: cheap fuel and the much-needed thorn fencing they provided without requiring watering or nurturing. Veli Kathan Mullu was no fodder for cowherds/goat herds, unfit for grazing that made it farmers choice.

There is a conspiracy theory doing rounds in recent times, that in order to off-set India’s record farm productions, to make us a foodgrain importer, some vested ‘western’ interests got the species clandestinely to Indian soil. After 3-4 decades the effects – disastrous – are already showing. The water-table has since depleted to alarming levels and the rainfall to southern districts has receded to a bare minimum. Research established ‘the culprit’ behind the debacle of once-fertile agricultural farms turning into parched dry lands – the ‘Karuvelam’ trees ( botanical name ‘Prosopis juliflora’ ). There is also another theory going that Tamil Nadu’s Congress Chief Minister Kamaraj introduced the vegetation to the state in drought times to provide for cheap fuel in the countryside. Whoever is responsible, the damage is done and the effects are now devastating.

https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-the-British-spread-a-weed-called-Prosopis-Juliflora-Seemai-Karuvelam-Velikathaan-in-India

Now finally efforts are on to root out the trees completely from native soil and try cash crops first to air and test the soil and bring to it a fresh lease of life.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/pilot-project-to-root-out-karuvelam-trees-in-ramnad/article5353521.ece

Please also check out this Facebook page:

சீமை கருவேலம் எதிர்ப்பு இயக்கம் / Juliflora tree abolish movement.

This page is in Tamil and the posts in the page allege that the US is indirectly engaged in biological warfare in India, no less.

Links from the page (videos are in Tamil) explain how detrimental the trees are to Tamil Nadu agricultural holdings and even to our entire eco-system. Without mincing words, the page and videos blame the western forces for the invasion of these ‘alien’ trees in our midst.

LEARN ABOUT BT COTTON AND OTHER Genetically Modified (GM) CROPS/SEEDS AND KARUVELAM TREES FROM THE FOLLOWING VIDEO AND HOW A PLANNED ORCHESTRATION OF BIOLOGICAL WARFARE AGAINST INDIA IS ON FOR DECADES CHRONICLED BY THE WESTERN FORCES. (Wish this video runs subtitles in English). 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY607N4Ddoc (

One more on court order on rooting out of Karuvelam trees:

 

When the trees were initially planted in TN (none knows where they came from to this day), the villagers took to them eagerly given the level of our rural poverty. The ‘karuvelam’ trees saw to that the kitchen fires burned, literally, which was and has always been a major issue with rural India till this day. In ’70s or ’80s, the availability of fuel to far flung districts was scarce and the costs were steep. So the popularity of the ‘Karuvelam trees’ as fuel-efficient fencing trees in the state went unprecedented.

The Karvelam trees, extremely invasive, spread faster than wildfire and soon they spread upto river basins. Not only did they, over decades, suck out the complete water table from our agricultural ‘bhoomi’, they also preyed on the very moisture content in our atmosphere. ‘Tanjore delta’ is the ‘rice bowl’ of Tamil Nadu and now what we have is, farmers selling agricultural lands to realtors because of increasingly failing crops.

The wake-up call has come a little late, still better late than never.

Any similarities we have here with BT Cotton, a GM crop we have in India today?

For a fact we know how many farmer suicides are instigated in this country by failure of crops due to unpredictable monsoons. BT-cotton takes credit for causing maximum life loss in the states of Telengana and Maharashtra as well as in rest of India, being a direct import from the west (read US).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers’_suicides_in_India

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-seeds-of-suicide-how-monsanto-destroys-farming/5329947

One only needs to google to find out the scale of tragedy when it concerns farmer suicides in this poor nation of ours.

http://www.newindianexpress.com/columns/Failure-of-Monsanto-Bt-Cotton/2013/12/06/article1930013.ece

http://www.hindustantimes.com/business-news/ministry-blames-bt-cotton-for-farmer-suicides/article1-830798.aspx

While I am hardly a qualified expert to speak on the subject, from what I have read and learned (from media) over years, I can surmise these facts:

  • BT cotton is a GM crop imported from multinational corporations in the west/USA. The seeds need to be imported at high cost from America whereas the local indigenous cotton crop seeds are distributed free to Indian farmers by our government.
  • BT cotton seeds are like ‘china product.’ One-time use only. Use and throw. Cannot be harvested for re-use at a later date.
  • Most Indian farmers harvest a good portion of the seeds for future use. This is not the case with BT cotton or for that matter, with any GM crop. The farmers’ independence and security are forever compromised.
  • The patent for the BT cotton seeds and other GM crops will always be the property of these corporates and thus not only our farmers but even the Indian government could one day come to be at the mercy of the west/ In short, we could be held to ranson as a nation. Food security is one of our strongest points. And if there is going to be threat for that basic assurance to our masses, then none can save India ever.

Recall the Hollywood picture ‘10,000 BC’ here and how the picture ends: the film’s hero character D’Leh returns to his tribe with success – and with a handful of gifted grains/seeds for harvest from his friends/allies.

Highlights how harvested seeds, native to the soil, are always important to any nation. The harvested foodgrains/seeds are India’s future.

The american corporations have scrounged millions & millions of dollars out of poor, dying farmers in India  (watch the above documentary). Just like Amway did, like in rural Andhra Pradesh to cite a case.

(Amway India is another track i will take up later).

See what Monsanto has done to South America here:

http://naturalsociety.com/what-the-monsanto-law-in-south-america-has-done-to-farmers-rights/

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-complete-history-of-monsanto-the-worlds-most-evil-corporation/5387964

This is the same Monsanto that has entered India by illegal means and is killing Indian soil with a vengeance:

http://seedfreedom.info/how-monsanto-wrote-and-broke-laws-to-enter-india/

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http://ajitvadakayil.blogspot.qa/2012/05/monsanto-and-farmer-suicides-in-india.html

 

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  • BT cotton, the GM variety yield may be good and promising in the first couple of years. Thereafter the graph drops significantly as we have seen in the states that took to BT cotton farming. Bollworm which plagues the BT cotton gets pesticide-resistant in a very short period that leads to subsequent crop failures. The fact that this observation was NEGLECTED to be mentioned by US marketing to India goes a long way to prove how aggressive our modern day invaders are. And how gullible or corrupt perhaps Indian government has been always, sadly.
  • Given the high cost of acquiring the GM seeds coupled with uncertain monsoons and inability to tackle the bollworm infestation, thousands of poor farmers have been driven to suicide in Telengana, Maharashtra and Gujarat. The other complication is, once the soil gets the BT cotton plantation, it turns averse/hostile to native cotton varieties. This is like cancer – our own genes on a mutiny against our physical body leading to our ultimate death and destruction.
  • BT cotton seeds is patented and held to ransom by US corporations – so if GM crops is what India is to go after in a large scale, we are now having a trailer of what is going to come next. The native harvested seeds will be lost forever with the ‘antibodies’ multiplying and multiplying to an extent that our own defences will be down and become the weakest – an unmitigable loss to the nation and humanity.
  • BT cotton is a small example of how the west can twirl us around their fingers. While I have never come across a direct case of BT cotton farmer, over the years I have been watching a no. of tv news reports and newspaper findings and researches that point to the scenario. I believe in them because they have no reason to lie. This is not like an isolated incident either. This is a widely spread critical issue that has drawn the national headlines for the right reasons.

This blog is in response to the one on GM BT-Cotton that I recently chanced upon. While I welcome others views, I am surprised and hurt to see how our own blood is turning against us for ‘short term gains.’ So this is how the British came to usurp entire India. They played one small ‘Rajah’ against another – his neighbour, who gave in to excessive greed and selfishness. In the end, they/we all lost and how they/we lost!

What about other GMO vegetables and fruits like tomato and brinjal. These GMO food can contain genes from pigs and cattle – which can have significant altering effects on the very metabolism of us Indians, leave alone our vegetarian/religious orientation. We know of the ‘Mad cow’ disease which is not a surprise when you go against nature feeding the cattle with GM feed that contains meat products among others. When the cows, herbivores by the law of nature, ingest something that their metabolic system can never agree with like meat and chicken formula, their genes only have to mutate awful and gory, do we have a choice.  Who says the results are not proved in the labs.  And why should not they ever be suppressed or forged by vested interests/multinational corporations. Imagine the calves being born to these GM-formula fed cows and the genetic havoc they can wreck/unleash in the process. Imagine these calves growing up into cattle, giving birth to next generation with their original genetic composition turning awry. So are they the cow or cattle we know anymore? Or are they wolves in sheep’s clothes literally. This way, the whole biological/ecological chain can be affected in a manner unthinkable – and who knows where this will lead the world to. No wonder the beef products from the cows fed on GM food lead to ‘mad cow’ disease. Okay, this is all my deduction only, hahaha.

Soya bean is another GMO product that we can all do without. Touted to be an anti-cholesterol food, local doctors contend, if consumed largely under 40 years, the soy beans can lead to infertility in men.  Not 100% everything soy is GMO but the GMO Soy beans have invaded everywhere.

So what are the long term effects of GMO foods in us humans. Already we are seeing an unprecedented spurt in the birth of autistic and spastic children in the country which we blame on use of fertilizers and pesticides. They say, GM seeds/crops have not reached India in a big way, but everytime I see a big eggplant or whatever in the markets, I have these misgivings. Because, Indian produce are by nature diminutive in size compared to the western produce. Indian vegetables and fruits come in compact sizes with a detectable and favourable taste – because I have had chance to sample them and cook then in both Malaysia and Qatar for years now. I have had a chance to compare the same vegetables that are grown in different climatic conditions, different geographic locations etc etc. While my views can be easily dismissed as ‘coming from a housewife’ I have this ‘life experience’ that not even the experts in the field may have. So over-size vegetables and fruits in Indian markets alarm me always. Some stores sell imported ones – Personally I take a great care never to buy the wax-coated rich-looking ‘Washington apples.’ Rather it is always the demure and unattractive local desi ‘Shimla’ apples for me.

So essentially this is the difference between desi and foreign.

As for long term use of pesticides and fertilizers, we all know of the Punjab and Kerala story:

http://www.cseindia.org/userfiles/endosulfan_kerala_story.pdf

‘Endosulfan‘ is now banned in India, but not before a Kerala happened.

The Punjab episode is equally heart-wrenching.

http://indiatogether.org/poison-health

For one thing, Indian farmers are poor and mostly illiterate, and it is not easy to educate them about the ill-effects of indiscriminate use of pesticides and fertilizers. But the case of GM crops like BT cotton is altogether different.

Overall, it looks like there has been some systematic, concentrated efforts to demoralize the Indian farmers that can have a direct impact in our food production and national food security.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/indias-tough-stand-at-wto-reflects-modis-foreign-policy-goals-as-well-as-his-domestic-ones/articleshow/39132777.cms

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/foreign-trade/india-wont-back-wto-trade-protocol-unless-food-security-concerns-addressed/articleshow/39004564.cms

India is tired, fighting a lone battle – with no SAARC nation to give us support. We fought and won the ‘Basmati’ case, we are fighting for everything Indian and desi from patents for neem to turmeric (haldi) to everything while our neighbours would rather sleep over these life issues and save their energies for ‘Palestine’ that is of zero consequence to the entire Indian subcontinent. What a waste.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/india-wins-the-basmati-patent-case-but-the-trademark-issue-remains/1/231076.html

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/battle-over-basmati-rice-renews-debate-on-indias-stand-on-intellectual-property-rights/1/231120.html

http://www.rediff.com/news/aug/23tur.htm

Remember the ‘keezhanelli  keerai’ (a type of greens) that is Ayurvedic/Siddha medicine that has traditionally been used for centuries in India for treating jaundice (hepatitis). The allopathy medicine uses the same elements in this traditional greens – so what is India’s intellectual loss already is incalculable. Daytime robbery is what is taking place in our nation right in front of our eyes and we are all helpless watchers.

http://lex123.hubpages.com/hub/Medicinal-uses-of-Kizhar-Nelli

Today poor Indians are buying patented ‘keezhanelli’ – allopathic medicine – at exorbitant costs to get treated for hepatitis.

Every nation on earth has its own interests to protect first. So if the west would want India to be accommodating to their self-interests, India in a similar fashion reserves her right to enforce her stand in WTO to ensure the food security of this 1.2 billion nation. To ward off the BT crops and seeds will be our greatest challenge in the forthcoming years/decades. It makes one wonder about small, gullible nations that must have already fallen prey to ‘powerful demands.’

 

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Activists-oppose-field-trials-of-genetically-modified-crops/articleshow/36118323.cms

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PS: I am not a farmer neither do I own agricultural lands (prohibited anyway by law from owning farmlands as urban citizen of this country), nor am I a qualified expert to speak on the subject. This blog is merely a matter of interest to me, a housewife, with no background. In fact I unearthed this one from ‘Trash’ and re-did it to post it today, as the issue gathers momentum at the center. I am NOT a member of any political party or NGO.

 

Posted in History-Culture

The Scientific Hindu

Posted on by veeskitchen

Evolution in Hindu Philosophy and Scientific Temperament in Ancient Hindu:

Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva form the trinity of male Indian Gods just as their consorts Saraswathi, Lakshmi and Shakthi (Parvathi) form the female trinity. Maha Vishnu as we know, is the nurturer of this universe created by Brahma while Shiva is the destroyer. Destruction is as much part of evolutionary cycle in Hinduism as creation and survival are.

The ten Avatars of Maha Vishnu are Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Parashurama, Rama, Balarama, Krishna, (Buddha), Kalki.  (Buddha finds mention in north Indian version.  In south we include Balarama instead).

If you look at them closely, they may reveal to you the evolution pattern, which may or may not be provable scientifically for reasons I am addressing towards the end of this post.

The significance of the avatars (avatar is a sankrit word meaning incarnation) is that, Mahavishnu is Matsya (fish) (aquatic) in His first avatar. He is Kurma (tortoise) that can adapt to and dwell on both water and land (amphibian) in the second one. In the third avatar He is Varaha (boar) – the mammal that digs earth. In the fourth, He is Narasimha (half naran or human and half simha or lion). In the 5th avatar He is human – Vamana, but dwarf. Only in the sixth avatar of Parashuram, He is a complete human being still not fitting into a perfect civil society. The Varaha form of Vishnu was worshipped in temples in south until the turn of last century when finally Hindus moved to subtler avatars.

Even in Tirumala-Tirupati, there is first the shrine for Varaha avatar of Vishnu before you may proceed for darshan of Lord Balaji. Varaha and Narasimha worship continue in Andhra Pradesh (and in other southern states) till date on an even keel with Balaji worship.

http://gotirupati.com/aadhi-varahaswamy-temple/

Only in Rama avatar, we have full formed perfect human societies that are civil and disciplined as per unwritten Indian history. Ram is human form and is not defined as divine. He was the king of Ayodhya, born in a Kshatriya kula, and all the places He visited stand by the same name until today in the same geographic locations mentioned in the legend.

Krishna, the most popular form, followed next. Krishna was raised in Yadhav kula (herder) and again the places and events and characters mentioned in His life fit the bill perfectly. You can see the similarities here between Krishna and Jesus Christ. Even Christians will have to accept Krishna lived before Christ, the shepherd. So if anyone copied anyone, you may infer who copied who. The similarities do not end here. The shepherd Krishna while grazing his cattle always is playing the flute, as legends have it, surrounded by Gopikas (young lasses) none of whom He marries. In fact it is this image of Krishna that is most popular among Hindus captured in myriad media over ages. This reminds one of nuns of the church who claim to be the brides of Jesus.

Every avatar of Vishnu is supposed to be a constituent part of a Yuga after which the world stood to be destroyed by a ‘pralayam’ or what you may call Ice Age (natural catastrophe such as ocean wall crumbling over landscape or earthquake or fire for instance). Ignorance could be behind some poking fun at the scientific genius of ancient Hindu, but this is how evolution unfolded as per Hindu philosophy.  ‘Everytime you may need me when Adharma gets too much to handle, I shall return’ said Lord Krishna, an avatar of Lord Vishnu in Bhagwad Gita, in the Mahabharatha war.  (Also this is part of my everyday prayer to the Lord.)

Paritranaya sadhunam vinashaya cha dushkritam.

Dharma sansthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge……..

(Loosely translated this means:

“For the up-liftment of the good and virtuous,
For the destruction of evil,
For the re-establishment of the natural law,
I will come, in every age….. “
The human face of the God  becomes more visible with each passing/progressive avatar. Rama, the seventh is most popular equaled only by the eighth avatar Krishna. Even Rama and Krishna are mortals but not Parashurama, the one before them. As per legend Parashuram lives until today, deep in meditation in the Himalayas.

Check out the Hindu Yugas:

Tretha Yuga of Rama, Dwapara Yuga of Krishna… The earliest or the first one was Satya Yuga and the last and the current one is Kali yuga. After Kali (Kalki Avatar) we will have to get back to Satya Yuga – which means we will have to begin all over from the basics: from the aquatic. So what does this convey: that human society today is capable of self and total destruction that we shall be erased off the face of earth and the earth will have to start afresh once again from the scratch – without human race. Homo sapiens may evolve in due course … the survivors after the Kali Yug catastrophe may be just the amoeba… and the organisms shall mutate and form new species with time…
It is not an exaggeration when we say we invented the Phi . The speed of light is indeed mentioned in Hanuman Chalisa. Just as we first defined the whole number ZERO
Whether all this is hoax or not is left to the individual to decide. May be not accurate working to the last decimal but closest approximation.
And I don’t even want to revisit certain established facts of how Sushrutha was the world’s first plastic surgeon or how Aryabhatta, the world’s first known astronmer probably and how Baskara invented calculus and trigonometry a long time before Pythogorus gave us the theorem.
Modern India’s first/earliest satellites’ were named ‘Aryabhata’ and ‘Baskara’ as a mark of respect and tribute to these great scientific and math brains.
Ancient Indian medicine ‘Ayurveda’ is in practice even today and India’s gift to the world YOGA requires no introduction. Although Pathanjali, the sage is credited with giving us Yoga, Hindus believe Yoga came to us directly from Lord Shiva. Just like Bharatnatyam, our classical dance which Shiva danced first. What about our classical music forms and traditional musical instruments? How do we establish to the world where and how these originated?  Hinduism is timeless.
 
Here is more food for thought: Krishna is more remembered for the Mahabharatha war and Ramayana sites have been recently excavated in Sri Lanka. No culture is free of myths entwined and enshrined into its formative history and Hinduism is no exception. Myths notwithstanding, most parts and characters and places of both Ramayan and Mahabharat tally completely with written records by sages and/or information passed verbally over centuries. If this is disputable, then how do we explain Vedas for which there are no written records and everything about them and Upanishads are mere recollection from verbal recitations (vocal transitions) passed over generations for thousands of years?
This simple truth explains the antiquity of Hinduism that has no known founders and most importantly, Sanathana Dharma is not the product of private whim and fancy of any self-proclaimed prophet.
The evolution process explained in Hindu philosophy always surprised me as a kid – the parallels one can draw with Darwin’s theory. I learned of Noah’s Arc very late in life. But Hinduism predates all this by many thousands of years obviously.
The last known avatar of Maha Vishnu was Buddha (although down south we cite Balarama with Krishna as the 8th and 9th avatars of Vishnu) as per some beliefs.
And we are stated to be currently in the last Yuga – the Kali Yuga as per Hindu philosophy before Earth shall be destroyed once again in total summation when Adharma reels its ugly head beyond a decent and permissible level.
Our bedtime stories in those days as kids revolved around Ramayan and Mahabharat with their branch stories, not to leave out the pre-curser : the Dasavathar of Maha Vishnu among other things:

How world evolved and how the human form came at last after the aquatic, the amphibian, the mammal, the semi-human and the mal-formed human (Vamana): although our ancestors did not talk about genetic mutation, what they have passed on to us as Hindu history/philosophy is phenomenal and pre-dates clearly the Darwinian times.

Amazing. Ram and Krishna were the perfect ‘nara’ avatars finally when world became a civilized place inhabited by perfect human societies. Still even these worlds were annihilated when their societies fell apart due to greed, war and destruction.
My granny used to round off the stories frightening us with the finishing touch: about the impending Pralayam – or a natural catastrophe that will finally submerge the entire world. When it is time for Kalki avatar, it could be the fire that extinguishes life and not water. In the present times of Kali Yug, crimes will increase manifold and man will eat man.
But the avatars always make us realize how wise our ancestors were. When I was narrated the Dasavathar of Vishnu in the 1970s in my younger years, I had still not learned of Ice Age, Dinosaurs etc. We had no animation pictures then nor as many science fiction writers.  Steven Spielberg was still years away from making his ‘Jurassic Park’ and the information age was yet to set in (with the onset of the ’90s).

Let us consider river Saraswathi. Prayag or Allahabad(as Moghuls changed its name) is the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswathi.

This is what we have been believing for centuries. However Saraswathi is only by name – in actual there are only 2 rivers mingling at this point. But in last few years scientists have unearthed Saraswathi river long gone dry under the earth in Rajasthan. How can the same names continue for eons? Saraswathi is one supposeld myth scientifically disproved or rather proved ‘to have been in existence.’

Only a ‘pralayam’ (catastrophe of an unspeakable magnitude) could have submerged Saraswathi that flowed in India in ancient times of which our scriptures all speak that was lost to a trickle that finally dried up with the last ‘pralayam.’ Fragments of human civilization could have still remained to be picked up by barely surviving human race enabling us to get back to civilization as the excavations at Mohenjodaro and Harappa stand to reveal.
The link speaks of ‘movement in tectonic plates’ as the ‘pralayam’ that occured in the said age, over 10,000 years ago. Hindu history gets authenticated with the date because ‘Saraswathi’ still goes for many a girl child’s name in India and Saraswathi is worshipped as Goddess of Wisdom/Learning in the country even in this 21st century. A single name gives the clue to the prevalence and usage of Sanskrit language with proper grammatical structure and hints at an advanced and mature civilization of those times.

Hinduism is not complete myth, only there is good or perhaps even substantial exaggeration at times which is fine. Why not, when one may believe in Noah’s Ark, the Immaculate Conception and in Resurrection after death of Jesus Christ?

The Kali yug is the most critical of all and it seems we as universe, are heading to the climax, with ‘adharma’ (injustice) rearing up its head like never before, with crimes soaring and with man killing man with a vengeance.
We do not know when precisely Kali Yuga will come an end – actually there are date calculations if we bother to learn. Every avatar supposedly lasted for a few millions of years.
This is copy & paste job from Quora: It shows with clarity how evolution progresses and how more evil human kind gets with each successive yuga.
  1. Matasya Avatar – > Life originated in sea , fish is the first Vertebrates
  2. Kurma – > This represents Amphibians , could survive on both and and water
  3. Varaha -> Wild land animal – complete transition from water to Land , next milestone in evolution
  4. Narasimha -> conceptualisation of Homo Sapiens , the next big thing on the part of evolution
  5. Vaman -> Short human being , Still not complete evolved
  6. Parsuram -> Living in Jungles , Started Using weapons
  7. Ram -> Moving to civil societies , learning to living as community , Various Skills developed , still not corrupt
  8. Krishna -> Society advancement in Political field , more complexity added , manipulation , greed .
  9. Budha \ Mahavir \ Balram\ Jagannath \ Mohini > On the path of enlightenment , more evolved human being , trying to find answers within (many people blasting me for incorrect representation of this avatar. Avatar is not important, the message is.)
  10. Kalki ->Human advanced to the level of self – destruction .

https://www.quora.com/How-real-are-the-10-avatars-of-Vishnu-dasavathara

Interesting discussions out there. However I believe in the 10 avatars although I may not believe in Buddha as an avatar. Balarama is who is more acceptable to me.

As for someone (Himanish Ganjoo)’s comments on everything being a loose weaving of legends, the commentator must be aware by now of the discovery of Dwarka also under the Gujarat coast.

https://www.scoopwhoop.com/inothernews/ramayana-actually-happened/#.cfrz6o34m

http://www.peppystory.com/articles/photographs-that-prove-the-existence-of-ramayana-1278

Another comment by ‘Anonymous’ clarifies why there are no evidences (like skeletons) excavated: for the simple reason Hindus/Indians cremated their death. Our philosophy is NOT to be a burden on Earth for an extra moment once we pass through our time in this mortal world. Nothing of us must remain on earth. Leave without evidence.

Besides, upto Ramavatar, the other avatars of Vishnu may be termed somewhat ‘pre-historic.’

No lie can be propagated without an element of truth in it for tens of thousands of years. Those faiths that were founded by mortals/individuals who commanded desert tribes and cults today are more in human memory for the reason they are recent developments and therefore it became possible to record their scientific history in a medium acceptable to us in this 21st century.  Hinduism crossed this stage long, long back that we outlived our own history and evolution into a decent society many, many times since then. We have been reborn in last 5000 years to get to where we are today.

None of this however will find its way into our history text books and none of this will be authenticated by western scholars either for obvious reasons: it debunks the Aryan-Dravidian theory and makes the semetic cultures sound feeble and foolish. Over all it makes the Indian/Hindu History morally and intellectually superior that none wants to admit to. All civilizations go through phases and India was in the grip of such a terror reign for 800 years under Islamic invaders and another 300 under the British.

Picked up this link on Takshasheela, the world’s oldest university (now in Pakistan) which is a world heritage site:

 http://www.sanskritimagazine.com/history/takshashila-the-worlds-first-and-oldest-university/

Kailasa Temple at Ajanta and Ellora Caves for instance: advanced for the age that foretells of a very mature and intelligent civilization. How many millenniums must the structure be old contrary to the archeological beliefs that it is from between 5-10th CE. While parts of the complex could date back to 5th century, the most ancient Kailasa temple belies all archeological theories and is estimated to have belonged from another age, and probably from another plane of time? Could it have been an elusive survivor from a previous catastrophe/’pralayam’ that for instance swallowed Dwarka that lies under the sea today and buried river Saraswathi?

The question raised in the documentary is whether Kailasa was then created by Aliens/supernaturals? Now we have the legend of Ravana’s ‘Pushpaka Vimana’ that could fly. So when Kailasa was indeed possible for ancient Hindus, why could not Ravan have his Pushpaka Vimana.

Could the producer of the video have been reluctant to give credit to a superior Hindu civilization that pre-dated all other civilizations and was much more advanced to be lost forever to be founded over once again – whose remnant is the Kailasa temple we have until today? This is a very much plausible and likely scenario given the findings of Dwarka and Saraswathi.

This is what the Christian/Islamic cultures/thoughts have been trying to do to Hindus/India : undermining us of our scientific genius, unwilling to give our ancestors credit for their glorious civilization and denying the world authentic Hindu history.

The Kailasa temple bears an ‘X’ mark for aerial view, which means is it from an age when someone could fly over? In an other plane of time, an other age, when legends say, Ravana took Sita in Pushapaka Vimana to Sri Lanka, does it ring like myth now to your ears (after Kailasa)? Was India’s unwritten ‘itihaas’ the real lost world?

Where on earth you have a precedent like you have in India with a culture/civilization dating back to over 10,000 years easily? Can you pin down Hinduism with an exact date of birth or founder?

If I am a proud Hindu today, this is why I am. If I believe in Pushpaka Vimanas and in Hanuman Chalisa, this is the reason. Inspite of relentless conversions and demonizing of Hindu Gods, the fact is Christians and Muslims of India have a strange attachment and belief with/to Hinduism and their Hindu ancestors. The awe of Hinduism never ceases from caressing their soul. 

 
Posted in Women & Family

Health Watch For Girls & Guys Under 35

Posted on by veeskitchen

Recently someone conceived through IVF (which is as normal these days as normal conception whereas normal conception is now like a miracle for urban Indian couples by the way) and the first thing her gynaec asked her to do was to stay away from restaurant and processed food, insisting on home food and fruits and nuts. In fact, the girl was asked to stop eating out right away when she approached a fertility clinic after being married for a couple of years. Until then the girl had been practically eating out almost every weekend. Working for a multinational IT company made matters worse with coffee machines and carbonated drinks and potato chips and fast food available aplenty to the staff working at all odd hours round the clock – sleeping through day time and keeping awake entire night going against the biological clock. How do you expect these stressed young couples always panicking about deadlines they have to meet in work – to engage in any act of procreation. They drop dead in their bed the moment they arrive home. The lucky ones have parents or in-laws to take care of their homes. For the rest, it is restaurant take-aways or home delivery for dinner.

No wonder not just this girl but many in Chennai today, women under 35, happen to come up with polycystic ovaries or fibroid in their uterus. This is the direct implication of foods loaded with chemical preservatives served in restaurants: with artificial colours and synthetic flavours. Reheated oil is not new. How many meat eaters are aware, even the top-of-the-line restaurants may procure poultry/meat mostly frozen that are shortly about to expire their shelf life. The day the restaurants serve you the menu, the meat you may consume already could be beyond the date of expiry, but the restaurants still tend to get away because they are violating no law of the land. Frozen food fast approaching expiry date are sold by supermarkets at throwaway prices which are bulk-purchased by restaurants. Now take into account the steroids injected into the poultry along with vaccines… If at all you have to have meat, look for country chicken or mutton.

Rather than wanting to be young, we ladies who are 40 or 45+ today are relieved we had a narrow escape living this kind of precarious life in our 20s and 30s.

Admittedly even vegetables and fruits and greens today contain residual pesticides/sprays but hopefully a good rinse in running water or Indian way of cooking at very high temperatures in direct fire helps in warding off most of the harmful chemicals.

Today if our children are fine, it is because we parents ate healthy food when we were young. We preserved our bodies and kept out toxic substances that could have had a damaging effect on the physical and mental health of our children.

What a harm the Pizzas and Colas and KFC chicken are inflicting on young Indians. Already in last few years there is a big spurt in children born with learning disabilities and other impairments. A good percentage of kids born after the millennium especially after 2005 are at least mildly autistic. With the air and ground water polluted to the maximum, what is happening to India’s future generations?

Whereas today, for younger generation, it is fashionable to eat out at the latest trendy restaurant – never thinking of future implications. It is not a one-off dining experience. It is year round, for every weekend, for decades. What happens with the cumulative effect.

Already we have pumped too many vaccines into our kids – that they have as such only a 50-50 chance for natural conception, the understated side-effect of life-saving vaccinations. Not to speak of the perils from radiation emitted from gadgets like mobile phones and laptops and appliances including microwave ovens… 

The wrong kind of health and food supplements promoted in this country is further worrisome. Energy drinks are nothing but steroid and sugar 200 times over. Soya, the much touted super food, is GM (Genetically Modified) basically that can have a detrimental effect on the hormones of young men and women. Under 40 while you are in your productive years, it is not advisable to consume soya on a regular basis. It could make one go sterile.

Its true India has made remarkable strides in last 20 years, but often makes me wonder at what cost? Our men are dying of cardiac arrest at the age of 25 and 27 years and our women are reaching their menopause by even 29 these days.

The side-effects are felt like after-shocks after a mere 20 year since the opening up of the Indian economy.

What is making us forego our balanced, rich and diversified traditional food and opt for junk from the west? Is that affordability?

Recently I got my hair treated for severe hair loss. For the first time in my life I stepped into a unisex salon where the hair stylists gave me multiple options including going for straightening but out of the lot, I selected Keratin because it was stated to be organic, from Brazil. I am uncertain how far this is true but the word ‘organic’ worked for me. Not that keratin is helping in anyway. But after research I found that it is believably a better option than other chemical treatments. (On double-checking it is scary to note that any kind of hair treatment involves administering carcinogen in your scalp even if the names of chemical compounds may differ.)

Next to me I saw young girls tweaking, colouring their hair with chemical dyes (even if its Loreal it is still chemical). One was undergoing straightening. She said it was her second time and she could not have been over 20. I understand, the process involves a lot of chemical use, with the strong serums rubbed into your scalp to be absorbed by your skin cells. What a toxic thing to expose your body to, at such a tender age. I shuddered – even at 48, I was nervous about hair treatment. I am still wondering about the side-effects although I was assured mine was totally organic. Is it worth it. What if like Angelina Jolie, we are carriers of BRCA gene predisposed to cancer?

What about the long term effects on young girls subjecting themselves to such an unhealthy (formaldehyde) treatment?

What about the girls who undergo facial? Got my first at the age of 36. Upto 35 years never been into a beauty salon. Yes, we girls are old world plain Janes and we have poorest dressing sense and we are terrible in grooming and accessorizing, but it is also a fact that we the ladies on wrong side of 40s are much more fitter and looking a lot younger to heavily made-up and cosmetic-dripping 20-35 girls of today. Our faces have not matured beyond our age. One main reason is staying away from chemical cosmetics and relying heavily on coconut oil, henna, egg, haldi, sandalwood, neem etc that are our cheap and best and natural beauty aids. The other reason is our healthy dietary habits. And even if some of us do not get to work out on regular basis, we still undergo physical exertion by way of domestic chores, always on our feet to serve our families. No word to add for working women.

Girls, throw the ‘Dove’ soap out of your windows. Along with the shampoo and conditioner. Lipsticks have lead content while dyes contain arsenic or its equivalent substitute. Go desi, switch over to Margo, Chandrika, Himalaya and/or even Pathanjali brand neem soaps, sandal soaps, haldi soaps etc that are not only desi but come laden with least toxic chemicals. The more international you may go like Loreal and Pantene, the most toxic substance is what you end up buying. Desi cosmetics like Lakme are known safe players. Go for Lakme Kajal and skin care, if at all you have to. Do not use anti-ageing concoctions even if its Olay: these are very complex formula, remember they are very addictive and your skin could get even more elastic if you stop using them.

And if you can, wear loose fitting clothes that can breathe – like cotton if you are in a tropical country like India. Tight fitting clothes such as denim restrict blood flow to vital organs of our body and raise our body temperature.

It angers me to see mothers get their daughters as young as 6-10 years for haircut and grooming for weddings, birthday parties etc. Well, none of my friends did that to their daughters! Do not use anything other than a mild moisturizer in your face until 35 years. Even that light application, do not start before 20 years. Coconut oil before you shower will do.

Our health is in our own hands. Distracting little girls diverting their attention towards grooming will prove to be counter-productive. In an age when the girls have to achieve academically, they will instead start focusing on trivial, banal issues. They will grow up more conscious of superficial appeal.

Eating out and grooming: attractive to everyone not mere young ladies. Just ask housewives, how much we long to go out and eat and shop because we are bored of eating our own food day in and day out? It is not entirely possible to stop eating out – but make a conscious effort to cut down the number of times you may eat out.

Make a serious attempt to eat at home during weekends and shift the eating-out day to mid week for starters. Gradually it must be possible for you to minimise if not quit eating out even in midweek.

Eat a rich diet of vegetables, fruits, greens, nuts, sprouts, whole grains, pulses, millet and fish and lean meat that are a good source of minerals, proteins and anti-oxidants. Avoid the processed and baked and the deep-fried. Would you believe that we in the third world nation called India,still eat a lot better and balanced and healthier meal than those in the west? Our milk is fresh and pasteurized for not longer than 2 days. Most of our fish and meat are fresh and not frozen. Our vegetables and fruits plucked are barely a few days older before they reach our dining table. In reality, we are having a feast at home, fit for kings. Sadly, not many Indians reckon this truth. None in the world gets to taste the 5 rasas in their tongue like we Indians do: salt, sweet, sour, bitter and savoury. And which other cuisine combines and infuses the benefits of a plethora spices and seeds and exotic veggies and roots like ours does.

As for cosmetics, just quit it. Enough is enough. I am more worried about the powerful chemicals that may enter our body through hair dyes, face creams, shampoos etc. Shampoos: go for the mildest and desi.

Even those of us with cleanest habits still get cancer. I am not saying this is a 100% foolproof method of staying healthy for the rest of your life. But at least let us make a sincere try.

Recently got to check out Pathanjali toothpaste : full lavang (clove) like I have never tasted in any foreign brand toothpaste like Colgate, Closeup, etc. Many of my friends have moved over to Pathanjali.

There is no harm in parents telling their sons and daughters the harmful effects of junk food and chemical cosmetics. It is time we have a frank word with our children: it is time girls learn how anything and everything they do in young age will have an effect on their reproductive system in future. I don’t hesitate telling my son what I have to on the subject.

After 40, when your domestic duties are at least 50% accomplished, you may feel free to freak out, but even then keep a limit. By this time, your kids will be in high school or college, still you will be doing them a great favour by staying healthy.

And finally, WORK OUT! Exercise! Do anything that you are comfortable with: walking, swimming, cycling, aerobics, dance fitness, Yoga, Pilates, etc. This truly is the only beauty aid that cleanses your system from within. Keep your body and mind healthy reading books and with other interesting hobbies like music and art. Fitness is wholesome when you give it a holistic approach.

Last word: A happy mind is a healthy mind. A healthy body and mind is a reflection of your inner beauty.

Posted in Women & Family

Five Sixers And One Dot Ball…

Posted on by veeskitchen

Recently two Indian American kids hogged the limelight in social media for winning the annual Spelling Bee contest in the United States.  A regular phenomenon now that’s no more a surprise. After all, this is the 9th consecutive year an Indian origin kid has claimed the prestigious title in America, one more feather to our cap, given that we are increasingly acknowledged now as a nation of human potential over anything. Gone are the days when foreigners conjured up images of snake-charmers and elephants whenever and wherever the name ‘India’ cropped up. It is undeniably an exhilarating feeling that the NRIs in the Middle-East may as well concede. The global Indian has arrived. It started with the IT boom in the ’90s and as India started churning out record number of physicians, scientists, engineers and techies to service around the world and we became the world’s largest ever back-office even as China became the universal shopping front for swiss knives to cell phones.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/us-canada-news/Two-Indian-Americans-joint-winners-of-US-Spelling-Bee-championship/articleshow/52470573.cms

So it is no coincidence that Chennai-born Sundar Pichai is heading Google or Indira Krishnamurthy Nooyi chairs the world Pepsico. Or that Satya Nadella of Microsoft is from Andhra Pradesh.

The Indian footprint is there even in outerspace – from the moon to Mars.

Successful Indians have raised the bar for rest of us mere mortals to follow suit, especially the younger generation. Only resources are shrinking faster than ever before and the rat race is killing already.

As accolades for the young wizards of Spelling bee poured in at both international and desi media, there was finally a kind of oasis like sanity amid the blare of all the pomp – which read like the most sensible thing I laid my hands on in quite sometime. Basking for too long in the glory of Nadellas and Pitchais, the latest updates on Spelling Bee had bored me down with its insipidity and stale content until there was this break that came as a breather (though probably from over an year before):

http://www.indiawest.com/letters_to_editor/the-problem-with-indian-kids-winning-spelling-bees/article_ffff7a3a-1518-11e5-bfc5-ffcd73e827d3.html

Follows on the heels of Abhishek Bachchan trolled not long ago in Twitter ‘(Five sixers and One dot ball’)  (the dot ball referring to him obviously) in the awards ceremony of the recently concluded World Cup T20 Cricket, for sharing the stage with stalwarts like his father Amitabh and Sachin Tendulkar, the doyen of Indian cricket. Now, why should Abhishek turn out to be as successful or as exactly as his superstar dad? The two men grew up in entirely different set of circumstances, so the environment that shaped them must have had a marked difference. Bachchan junior won my sympathy for the unrealistic expectation the nation pinned on him, trying to cast him in the same mold as his father. Very unfair comparison and cruel to an extent. Let him be him. Just him. Why are we Indians obsessed with the father-son succession story? Fathers may leave impressive footprints that sons may sometimes willingly follow, but why should the younger men have to travel the same journey as their illustrious fathers.

Not that I am a fan of Abhishek or his ilk including the Kapoors. The junior Bachchan is equally to blame for the embarrassing episode, for taking his undue place in a stage that did not befit him.

Still, extrapolating the single Bachchan story, it is easy to generalize the prevailing panorama in the Indian diaspora. Indian parents are pushing their kids beyond a decent boundary ‘to go and get’ and the strain is showing.

The unabated suicides at Kota, Rajastan of IIT aspirants among young Indians is a trigger for this post.

http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2016/06/01/life-and-death-in-kota_n_10232456.html

There is not a month that goes by without a fresh suicide story from the otherwise nondescript dusty town in the desert state of India that shot to its fame with its ‘distinguished feat’ of creating record number of IIT entrants. The heart-wrenching suicide notes penned by promising young talents to their over-ambitious parents underscores the insensitivity of us parents. The case of a young girl ending her life on clearing the IIT-JEE part I, qualifying for the advanced, raises troubling questions. There is a huge emotional cost to pay here.

But Kota hardly surprises me.  Witness to equally grueling round-the-clock rigours of IIT coaching centers in Ongole, the head quarters of Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh where children from the surrounding villages and towns got enrolled for months and at times years bidding to crack the IIT-JEE, the very arduous exercise of trying to tackle the entrance in a dogged manner would make me think. Coming from a city like Chennai, I least expected a laidback ‘taluk’ like Ongole to boast of IIT calibre children, and by this I mean no disrespect to rural communities. To my utter surprise and shock, not only was Andhra teeming with IIT aspirants, their success rate was also much over and above what you may generally expect to see in urban metros like Delhi, Mumbai or Chennai.  The key to the puzzle lay in the grind the teenagers were subject to. The preparation was not scientific as it was laborious; it was more like kind of systematic, a foolproof method by which you just couldn’t go wrong.

A mother myself of a young man who is pursuing his higher studies, I am painfully aware of the stress the younger generation are subject to, at a very early stage in their lives compared to how we ourselves fared in the same age. The shocking statistic of over 15-20 fresh engineering graduates from his class sporting a receding hairline highlights certain socio-physical factors that desperately seek our attention, the primary reason being environmental degradation and resultant poisoning and pollution of our soil, air and water; the  other equally important cause is the accumulated stress. The pressure starts right from high school. But hair-loss is hardly something we need to worry about when we have more pressing issues on hand: more than 3-4 boys had elevated blood pressure levels and type-2 diabetes when they had to undertake medicals in their final year, when they’re hardly 21 years old. It is this vital observation that upsets the cart, a clear pointer to the health of our nation. What kind of young India is in the making?

If we dig deeper, pressure for Indian kids starts right by 3 years. Indian school curriculum is heavy right from the start and it is not a surprise that by the age of 5 years in primary school, our kids can not only read and write full sentences in English language along with doing some basic arithmetic like addition and subtraction, they are also ready to learn a second language and move on to writing answers to printed questions in exam halls. The second languages are invariably local tongues such as Tamil etc which are tougher to master with advanced grammars. From standard 6 joins the third language as per the 3-language formula. Some say, this is the reason Indian kids perform well in foreign universities. The grueling exercise prepares them the best to stay ahead of many of their peers from around the world.

Most kids do adapt to the syllabus to various degrees, but there is also a handsome percentage in each class who cannot keep up. It is precisely this mass that is left behind in the rat-race that grows increasingly restless . There are now Montessories and IB schools that are steadily gaining popularity in Chennai and other cities. Although expensive, for those who can afford them the schools open a new vista of knowledge and holistic learning with a motivating curriculum. ‘Special children’ cannot be having it any better.

IIT may be worth it for those kids that have the aptitude. If children have the potential, there is no reason to stop them from applying the same to their advantage. But if kids show a lesser inclination to academics, it is unwise to put them through run-of-the-mill tech courses where 100% employment is still not feasible. The kids feel miserable and even depressed at times.

Where is the time to pursue hobbies like art or music these days for our children? It is only IPL that has saved cricket in India. Otherwise you won’t be seeing so many boys out there in the hot sun playing street cricket. IPL is a money spinner, a game-changer, so when I was talking to a kid he said, he did not want to play for Team India but said he wanted to pursue his dream of a stint in IPL! It is enough if you reach up to first division, you will be in for reckoning for IPL teams. Other than that, interest is waning in sports and other extra-curricular activities in Indian children. After standard 9, all other avenues are closed to them forever.

The news that the Swiss were voting for a fixed income as per government provisions came as a pleasant surprise last week. Even if the citizens voted down the referendum, it is laudable that the state wanted to spare their countrymen the drudgery of structured occupation so that they would be able to devote more of their time, energy and resources in passionate, creative pursuits of what really make for a happy humanity. After all, ancient man only hunted for his basic needs although later on, he went on to make his life as well as that of his community more comfortable. Human civilization did not dictate work-life as a mandatory doctrine for ages and centuries that rolled by. This present 9-5 routine is a very recent evolutionary phase. Homo Sapiens are the only species on earth that have to ‘work’ in order to make a living.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/Money-for-nothing-Swiss-vote-on-basic-income-for-all/articleshow/52603391.cms

What a refreshing perspective of life. If all us are going to have to become physicians, engineers and astronauts, who will do the masonry, carpentry, hospitality, nursing, teaching, tailoring, accounting, why even scavenging works for us? How can we still hope to run the show???

To every Indian parent who relentlessly pushes his/her kid to perfection, I would like to ask, ‘why didn’t you do it yourself???!!!’

 

 

Posted in History-Culture

God’s Own Initials

Posted on by veeskitchen

God’s Own Initials : Pillayar Suzhi & Other Holistic Hindu Symbols

No Hindu puts down a thing in paper with pen-pencil without first marking the ‘Pillaiyar Suzhi’ – to Lord Ganesh (Pillayar is Thamizh name of Ganesha). It is custom even otherwise to begin anything and everything in our culture after offering obeisance to Ganesh first. Ganesh worship precedes all rites and rituals which follow up later. One of the strict advices we are issued before our school board/university exams is ‘not to mark our papers with the ubiquitous Pillayar Suzhi’ (habitual with most of us) – specific instruction from our teachers and invigilators supervising the halls. We Hindus associate Knowledge with spirituality; Knowledge leads to liberation; Knowledge is the ultimate truth, the enlightenment we seek. And the light that dispels darkness called ignorance is the He & She for us. After all who would worship text books and instruments of writing and machine tools and musical instruments, and why even the automobiles, the way we do in India! For one thing this represents the respect and love a Hindu inculcates from birth both for animate and inanimate objects. Then again, it symbolizes the significance we impart to acquiring wisdom that we have a designated Goddess heading the department, Saraswathi! I bow to her here for the supreme knowledge that She is and for what She bestows us with.

So from such a point of view we can derive at the curious custom of inscribing the Lord’s initials on our papers first – be it in the answering sheets in examination halls or in our accounting ledgers.

There are various ways we inscribe the Pillayar Suzhi. We each indigenise it to certain degree, to our style of writing. The first alphabet a Hindu child ever writes is this Pillayar Suzhi – with his/her mother or teacher holding his/her hand at the tender age of 3 years. Until recently our children wrote the alphabet in food grains on first day at school marking fertility and auspiciousness in learning and gaining wisdom. Even today many schools in India follow the tradition.

Origin of Pillayar Suzhi: The practice is since the ages when wise men wrote the Hindu scriptures in parched palm leaves with dried twigs/iron nails millenniums before. Pillayar Suzhi on top of the leaf was for testing whether the leaves were dried to optimum level before starting to inscribe in them. The suzhi that came with a stroke and curve and dot and line in its full form served as the judging sample for discarding/taking leaves for valuable inscription.

Pillaiyar Suzhi therefore came to mean beginning of scheme of things in general. On Diwali day which is the Hindu new year, traders open their new books after inscribing ‘Shree’ with words ‘Shubh Labh’ (auspiciousness & prosperity) flanking the Shree Mantra. In the place of Pillayar Suzhi, there is the tradition of inscribing ‘Om’ Mantra or the ‘Shree’ Mantra on top of a page in North Indian communities. ‘Shree’ not only refers to the Goddess of Wealth & Prosperity Lakshmi but also to Ganesh again. So either way, nothing moves in India without Ganesh’s consent.

Other famous Hindu symbols around the world include the ‘Swastika’ and the set of 2 Inverted Triangles overlapping each other. These are powerful as we know them today.

Kolams (in the south) and Rangolis (colourful Kolams done in north) are very precise arithmetic and geometric calculations, basically scientific in principle. The vibrant drawings they are, kolams are a varied expression of spirituality, a celebration of holiness whenever festivity is in the air. A work of aesthetics, the kolams are a visual pleasure for the right connoisseurs.

Anu’s Maargazhi Kolams: a page devoted to the passionate hobby of a friend who does a commendable job the entire Tamil month of Maargazhi (Dec 15 – Jan 14), the winter season. What a wonderful way to preserve, showcase and popularize our culture.

Check out Anu’s labour of love at

https://www.facebook.com/Maargazhi-Kolam-by-Anuradha-1010399552360135/

The kolams that still adorn every doorstep down south were meant to be mental practice for women who drew them with exact precision every morning in front of their homes to greet their ‘adhithi’ (guests). The kolams are good for nimble fingers even in today’s modern computer age, and weaving your way through the intricate maze-like artwork, mapping it out mentally with calculated precision could postpone the onset of Alzheimer’s in women. One sees innovative concepts in kolams keeping with changing times. The inner creativity (of the artist) – the ingenuity, the discipline, the harmony, the patience and the calm execution may well be important management lessons for youngsters today. Besides, the back-breaking exercise in early morning by itself is an uncharted but effective fitness regimen. It is a shame a good majority of us educated woman have given up the habit of drawing kolams.

Rangolis are more colourful creations compared to south Indian kolams (normally done with ground rice flour which doubles up as favourite food for winged visitors and insects and other pests.) Our ancestors had a reason apparently for every ritual we have adopted in our way of life. There is no Holy or Diwali celebration without adorning your home and carpeting your living with a Rangoli first.

Pookolam as the name suggests are floral kolams specific to Onam celebrations in Kerala. A group of women get together to create this enchanting masterpiece of peace and tranquility which is a feast for sore human eyes.

Which brings us to those special and divine kolams we reserve for the Puja (altar) in our homes. These are not for public display or to be stepped upon by foot.

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

The ambitious among us are also into computing the ‘Kubera Yantra’ kolam in our spirituality quotient! Literally meaning the Hindu magic square, it is scientific and one more proof to ancient Hindu genius. Yantra in sanskrit means ‘instrument’ or tool. The Tantra-Yantra-Mantra have imbedded cosmic elements which can have an effect on our beings.  The astronomical, astrological derivations are not anyone’s fancy imagination but constitute a strict discipline of science.

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

The Hindu heritage is vast as the ocean and its depths. We shoulder the tremendous responsibility of keeping alive our precious traditions and passing on the wealth to future generations without a break. ‘Sanathana Dharma’ is not around for over 10,000 years without a logic. How many of us cherish our bountiful inheritance.

The scope of this post is enormous.

Om Shanthi ! (Peace)

Posted in Books

Review: ‘Gandhi Before India’ by Ramachandra Guha

Posted on by veeskitchen

Making of the ‘Mahatma’

Took me a solid 45 days to 2 months to read up Ramachandra Guha’s ‘Gandhi Before India.’  The author has taught at Yale, Stanford, Oslo and also the London School of Economics. Winner of Sahitya Academy and Bharat Bhushan awards in India among others, featured in Prospect magazine’s list of world’s most influential thinkers, it is a tad too much for me to even attempt reviewing the outstanding work the book is.  If at all I am doing it, it is because I want to spread the word, make more people read the class writing of the author that befits the matchless and inimical social life and works of Mahatma Gandhi.  I am trying my hand at non-fictions only from very recently. They are kind of difficult to hold your interest – so the author has a huge responsibility of sustaining the flow in readers (like me who are bred on staple diet of English fictions).

And most certainly I have not read up the ‘Collected Works’ of Gandhi which is a compilation from various archives in India, South Africa and England. Neither have I read Raj Mohan Gandhi,  one of Gandhi’s well known biographers and his grandson. Yet I can imagine the extent to which Mr. Guha pushed  himself with research to dig up archives ranging from as far as Haifa in Israel unearthing evidences that eluded other resourceful eyes, I bow to his brilliant professionalism first over even Gandhi!

Such an accurate recording of history is of great relevance in today’s world of Donald Trumps, in the light of Paris and Brussels from recent times. Another category that must not miss the detailed study is the widespread Indian diaspora that has made every nook and corner of the globe their home. The NRIs need to know how they came to earn their respect in their adopted  homelands on fair and equal footing with the white races and how and where and why the story began. Last but not the least is India’s younger generation who have lost touch with anything concerning Independence movement. The trails have turned cold now and there is nothing by way of inspiration to motivate them ahead. Highschoolers get to learn bare outlines in history text books which is insufficient in my opinion. This hardly does any proper justice. I for once until now never knew Gandhi the way I do now. I have come to know what we are missing.

Schools can stock Mr. Guha’s book in library. Or if I am the Education minister, I would like to make it a part of the curriculum – the Non-detailed English subject.

The book traces Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s early life in South Africa which constitutes the part I of his social life nonetheless. The India part is clearly like an after-thought. Gandhi was already an established social activist in South Africa before he returned to India for good in 1914. A barrister by profession who graduated at the Inner Circle of London, his first broad based association is with the Vegetarian Society in London where he pursues a degree to become attorney-at-law. A chance offer to represent a Gujarati Muslim client in South Africa in a court battle takes him to the African nation where he spends a good 20 years of his life, his 30s and 40s, starting his profession as the first qualified lawyer representing the Indian community in the continent.

As the book unravels, it is impossible to dismiss the conclusion how South Africa shapes the Mahatma like India could never have. From Porbandur to Rajkot and Mumbai and London to Durban and Johannesburg, Gandhi turns out to be a well-traveled and enlightened man, not confined to the narrow spectrum of castes and regional prejudices of India of a bygone era. The peculiar circumstances Gandhi is thrown in, the expat Indian melodrama which is fairly new in foreign soil, friendship with foreigners of varied hue from different backgrounds, his firsthand experiences with the proletariat classes, the trader community and others alike, his correspondence with Tolstoy who sufficiently influences his thought process…  all chisel a young lawyer intent on building a lucrative legal practice on alien soil into one of world’s foremost social reformers of the century. The books he reads, the health practices he preaches, the strict code and ethics of life he adheres to, the editor he is of a press over a 100 years back, the quiet but persistent rebel  yet just and fair he metamorphoses into, Gandhi rides many horses as the author rightly words.

Gandhi’s published book(s) in English and Gujarathi ‘The Home Rule’ and ‘Hind Swaraj’ make him one of India’s foremost established and well-read writers. His editing and publishing of ‘Indian Opinion’ from late 1800s in South Africa again makes him a pioneer in print-media, for ahead of his contemporaries easily. His writing style (as evidenced from his published letters quote unquote Mr. Guha) is fluent and classy and flawless.  There is a slight subordination which irritates the 21st century Indian Me when Gandhi addresses his British administrators. May be the deference has to do with protocol he couldn’t do without but it could also be because Gandhi strikes you basically as a very earnest man who wants to solve issues rather than complicate them. As the book flows, we can summarize how Gandhi wants to avoid controversies, make peace, is willing to go submissive and yield, is averse to treading confrontational paths.

It is in South Africa Gandhi spearheads the ‘Satyagraha’ or ‘Passive Resistance’ movement for the first time in 1907 as the local government gets tough with immigrant population like Indians and coloureds. When Gandhi coins the word, he is still unaware of the Passive Resistance spoken of by Henry Thoreau. The Transvaal Indians unwittingly become the first Satyagrahis in south African/Indian/world history.

Thereafter Gandhi carries forward the nonviolent struggle with the help of a host of Indians of all castes and creed as well some Europeans especially Jewish friends like Henry Polak and family, Kallenbach, Sonja Shlesin, Doke and others. Among Indians he interacts with Tamils, Gujarathis, Parsis, Muslims, Christians and others in the same wavelength. The exposure educates him on the plurality and melting pot that India is which is a reason for his pan-India approach to things (to come later).

The South African odyssey is not easy in that the Satyagrahis who are plantation workers to traders and housewives, all Indians come together irrespective of their ethnic background, to seek voluntary arrest and throw themselves into gaols to shame their cruel administrators into submission.

Gandhi is an exceptional leader in that he practices what he preaches. The way his sons court arrest and difficult times he gives his family and his wife in particular sheds light into the kind of selfless man who is born to lead.

I have always wondered about his ‘brahmacharya’ and the books seems to dwell on a few points for me to dispel certain doubts. In fact the book enables me to even understand WHY MODI?

After prolonged struggle that stretches the Indian community’s mental strength and economic ability, Gandhi is able to successfully secure a repeal of the draconic Asiatic Law by General Smuts that which enforced a $3 tax on Indians and made the Asian weddings null and void.

During the entire course of time, the original and majority inhabitants of South Africa, the blacks, seem to have been brushed under the carpet not merely by the British-Boers but also by expat Indian community including their leader Gandhi. The leader of the Indian masses in South Africa belatedly gives them the due recognition which the author smartly records into his writing (fair enough). John Dube and other African leaders do not seem to be chummy with Gandhi like the way some Europeans seem to have managed to.

Indian history makes a mention of Dadabai Naoroji, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and his mentor Ranade along with V D Savarkar, but we never knew who to place where. Thanks for the clarifications, Mr. Guha! There is a Ranade library in Luz, Mylapore and I was aware Ranade was a freedom fighter but never pushed myself to learn  who he was.

The other real life characters like Raichand Bhai, Pranjeevan Metha, Parsee Rustomjee, Thambi Naidoo etc., have also been suitably highlighted by the author. You bet this is the first time I have heard of them.

Interesting to find a mention of Dr. Annie Besant of Home Rule movement in India after whom Besant Nagar is named in Chennai with its beautiful beach stretch. J. Krishnamurthy is also a thinker and philosopher many of us follow until today. Thanks for shedding some light on the Theosophical Society of Madras, Mr. Guha.

India owes a lot to the Tata name but it comes as a surprise that (the senior) Ratan Tata was already a great contributing figure to India’s glory and a philanthropist   The story continues to date. The Ambanis and Adanis of today can draw a lesson or two from the Tata values.

Most of us Tamils grow up underrating ourselves for not doing enough for the nation – be it during the independence struggle or even in securing and safeguarding the Indian nation in present times by way of impressive enrollment in our armed forces. For the first time, I feel better on learning of the Tamil involvement in south African struggles even if we are generally aware of the Tamil interest in African soil.

Tamil diaspora is spread around the world thanks to the British who took the able-bodied Tamils of South India along with the Chinese and planted them as indentured labour in not just South Africa but also in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Fiji, Mauritius etc. Today’s ethnic issue in Sri Lanka is a direct result of this thoughtless act. While granting independence to the island nation of Sri Lanka, the British discounted the Tamils who had made Sri Lanka their home for over 2 centuries as ‘minorities’ who were reduced to fighting for their voting rights on the departure of the whitemen.

The circumstances are similar in Malaysia with the exception that Malaysian Indians (predominantly Tamil) have a healthy company in (mainland) Chinese who were brought to the south east Asian nation to work in tin mines when the Indian labourers were working the rubber plantations. The British administered the same ‘divide and rule’ policy as in India and Sri Lanka and Malaysia is simmering even today thanks to the mischief. Leong Quinn of China is the Chinese face of the south African Asiatic struggle. After Gandhi returns to India, the nation and China take to two different paths to affirming their political and social status in emerging world scenario.

Neither of the two have it easy though.

Fortunately it is not India or China or Malaysia or Sri Lanka that the occupiers wanted to make their home. It’s unfortunately Africa that was geographically in the temperate zone and not in hot and sultry tropics like Asia did. For the same reason, the Americas became their next home where (native) Indians turned out to be lame ducks like African tribes in the Dark continent.

What bothers is, Gandhi never seeks equal footing for Indians with Europeans in anything in South Africa. Given the point of time, probably this was a pragmatic approach by him that satisfied every quarter and let peace prevail. But the infinite patience he suggests for waiver of $3 tax on Indians following protocols via councils and cabinets makes us wonder whether the same virtue is also Gandhi’s Achille’s Heel. To those of us Gandhi critics who grew up skeptical of his ways, it sounds so not without a justifiable reason.

The self-interest of the British is amazing. What a greed. They have had a jumpstart in a visa-free era but were still shrewd enough to put one into practice when it came to immigration to their own native lands. What we see in France or Belgium today is not even 1% of what the Europeans did to the natives of Asia and Africa and even Americas over centuries when we had no wifi internet to telecast the ethnic cleansings live 24 hours.

Being a Hindu thus places you in a neutral position – of not belonging to either of the Abrahamic faiths that are both anathema to the ancient Bharatiya culture of India spanning over 10,000 years.  Gandhi was blessed with the rare ability of seeing only the good thing in others but the doctrine of his won’t see us through 21st century if we are to close our eyes to injustices and imbalances of the present day.

The book is an exceptional read that not merely Indians but also scholars worldwide must make a point to assimilate and meditate upon, it is also a treasure-house of information on the Father of the Nation that even his ‘Collected Works’ is reported  to have missed (by way of some important mails, etc).

Good research Mr. Guha. Like Gandhi, you are also a skillful writer though I cannot say the same about your speeches that I have listened to in You Tube ! Excellent indexing of the proofs (mails), newspaper clippings and other correspondence, hats off to you for the depths you have plunged to extract valuable information. There is not an extra word and every claim of yours is appropriately validated with a documentary evidence thereof. There is virtually no page turning without citations here or there, referenced by books, quotes, newspapers, photos pertaining to the era.

I shall be passing on the book to my son Mr. Guha – although I am not sure if he will have the ‘housewife’s patience’ that I so freely and readily nurture!

As a concluding note I can say, there is no statesmanship without personal suffering and sacrifice, without the gift of patience and perseverance. In times of one-man-up-ship with regards to armaments and defence strategies and technological feat and material well-being, the book on Mahatma Gandhi reiterates and reserves the primitive rights of natives to scoff at the so-called civilization which does not measure more than westernization.  Unlearning certain modern day methods will go a long way in restoring long lost peace in the world. 200 years later and 100 years after Gandhi preached simple and basal way of life, things have changed to beyond redemption levels but there are checks we can introduce in places to make the world a better place to live in.

Posted in Women & Family

A Ready Reference Handbook For Every Family

Posted on by veeskitchen

This International Woman’s Day Cultivate Awareness Ladies! Because Ignorance Is NOT Bliss!!

On Women’s Day March 8th, this is what I want every Indian woman to know: where exactly she stands and what is the corresponding status of her family in case of any unforeseen eventuality/emergency crisis. Well, I am not talking about something we are all totally unaware of. In fact, quite a few of us must have put into practice something like what I am going to suggest herein. I am blogging this piece for those who have not yet been as thoughtful.

So this is a winding post, I must caution but I hope it is worth a quick browsing.

An expat Indian worker died in service with his currency balances locked into foreign bank accounts in Middle East. That was when his wife (and the rest of us) came to know, there are no nomination facilities in this part of the world. The balance (that was substantial) in her spouse’s account stood to be frozen and later transferred to a welfare fund (that keeps swelling owing to many such an unfortunate and untimely death). The couple did not share a joint account and the lady did not know the card details of her husband either. The sudden demise of the head of the family dealt them a twin blow: emotional as well as financial.  Overnight the family found themselves at the mercy of others, having been denied access to what rightfully belonged to them. With school going children and the woman being a housewife, it couldn’t have gotten worse.

This is an eye-opener for all of us out there. A woman/mother/wife/daughter needs to know what is going on with the man of her life. I would suggest, it is imperative for even the children getting to know what is the family position.

The following is a check-list I am trying to make up. It is better if both spouses share all issues among themselves. They say, making hard copy and maintaining one is risky. I guess, it is a must to have a hardcopy, like a summary of all our savings and investments. Such a physical evidence can be taken care of personally the way we handle our passports and IDs for instance with diligent care.

Make a hard copy like a Diary with following entries (even if you have gone green completely) for the sake of your beloved ones. Who knows when it could come in handy (God forbid). Educate your younger children on the relevance and drop a hint where in the event of any unforeseen accident or health issues, they might find help in financial matters. If the children are over 18, include them in family discussions. Let them get the complete picture, it is high time.

A HANDBOOK  OF REFERENCE FOR MAINTENANCE OF FAMILY RECORDS/ACCOUNTS 

INDEX I

What the Hard Copy of Handwritten Diaries and Back-up of Soft Copies like saved Mails/Hard Discs/Pen Drives must contain:

  1. Make a list of all your bank accounts: SB (savings bank), NRI (non resident Indian), RD (recurring deposit), FD (fixed deposit) etc. Include the Account name, Number, Bank address, Debit/Credit card number, PIN, the 3 digit CVV code, the Internet Banking User ID, Password, Transaction Password, Registered Mobile No., Registered Mail ID, Phone Banking Code, Phone banking password. Update the Relationship Manager’s phone number everytime for quick access. This will enable your family to operate your account in distress situations when they could be facing crunch of funds.
  2. Make sure your register NOMINATIONS for all your Bank accounts. In India, one can still go for Legal Heir Certificate and Succession Certificate,  even if it is mandatory to register nominations in the first place. Update your nominations when your relationship status changes. That is, when you marry, you may update the legal nominee as your spouse and the second nominee as your kid (minor or major) etc. For each bank account you list, add the nominee names in the diary.
  3. PF (provident fund) accounts have to have nominations. Make sure you share the PF account and nomination details with your family through the diary.
  4. Make a list of your other liquid assets such as Shares in Equity Markets, Mutual Funds, Bonds etc. This is no more possible in physical form. Share your Demat account details with passwords in the diary you keep. Update password everytime you change it.
  5. Make a list of your Immovable Properties/Real Estate investments. List them one by one as per order of value and importance. Let each entry include, a detailed description of the property as to whether it is a parcel of land/plot or house/flat with complete address. Include the distinctive property ID, the date of registration, the address of the registrar’s office, the Patta No., the registered document no., the latest EC (encumbrance certificate no.) and in whose name it is registered. Add details if it is mortgaged with EMI commitments.
  6. Make a list of your Life Insurance policies. Update it on every premium subscription. Let the recordings include the date of maturity and premium amount. Include riders if any on the policies like Critical Illness apart from death benefit. This is very important. Now that we pay premiums online, add the User ID to log in to the insurers’ website with password. Save the premium receipts online either in mail boxes or in your computer. If you are in touch with your agent, include his/her phone number.
  7. Do not forget to file nominations for each and every of your life insurance policies.
  8. Make a list of the Health Insurance policies of the family members with renewal dates and risks/conditions and sum covered. Most urban Indians hold Cashless Medical insurance policies in which case, let the health cards be kept at an easily accessible and retrievable place of safety. Let the children know about the cards. Do not forget to renew health insurance every year when it is due. It could come handy if any of us should suffer a sudden heart attack or stroke or accident or such misfortune or mishap. However young the kids could be, they must be educated about the health policies and must be told about the health insurance cards for cashless and spot hospitalization. As health policies are also payable online, save the relevant mails in separate e-folders.
  9. Let your children know your health conditions: whether you suffer from lifestyle diseases such as Blood Pressure, Diabetes or Cholesterol or heart condition etc.  Write down your prescription medicines and dosages clearly mentioning at what intervals they must be taken. Please include details of drugs allergic to you. A short gist of previous history can also be included. Give the name of your doctor/hospital/consultant with address and phone number.
  10. Make a list of Vaccination histories thoroughly for each family member and update each new vaccine administered.
  11. Libel Suits if any also have to be brought to the attention of your children. Please do not leave any ugly surprise for them. Give details of your attorney and make a gist of the pending cases.
  12. Make a list of your Vehicles with their Insurances (with renewal date), RC book, Road tax details. Note down the phone number of your Car/Bike insurance agent and office.
  13. Make a page for jotting down all of your Driving Licence numbers – be it for bike or car. Add the renewal dates.
  14. Create a page for details of your PAN (Permanent Assessment Number) cards (for all adults in the family over the age of 21 years).
  15. Note down the details of your Ration (PDS) cards with zone number, serial number, issuing office, circle.
  16. It is now important to list even our Aadhar cards with distinctive individual ID numbers.
  17. Both spouses must be able to operate all Bank Lockers (the contents of which could be hinted to your children if they are minor). Ask your kid to sign for joint bank locker operation the day he/she turns 18. Take your adult children to banks and demonstrate to them the locker procedure. Introduction to ATM can be by pre-teen years.  Maintain a record of your annual visits for reference even if you sign in the bank register.
  18. If you are unsure about allowing access to your adult children to your bank lockers, allow them access to one of them if you have more and gradually introduce them to others. Keep the key and access permit to the other inaccessible lockers in the accessible ones.
  19. Make a list of Bank Locker contents briefly.
  20. A page mentioning the Bank Locker numbers is important. Let your know children where the bank locker keys are in safe-keeping at home.
  21. If you have a Will registered, let your legal heirs know of its existence. If there is no animosity/conflict of interests in the family, I see no reason to keep it hidden. Let them know where to find the will (whether it is safekept in bank locker or at home).
  22. Make a gist of Property Taxes paid. What corporation circle, zone. What is the property ID. Tax amount, paid upto which date. Update Corporation official phone number if possible. Now that the taxes are paid online, add the Login ID applicable for the corporation website with password for easy access. Make sure to save the paid receipts in e-folders either in your mail box or in computer or both.
  23. Make a list of Water taxes, Sewage taxes paid with details of corporation zone/circle and property ID. Add the Internet Login ID with password. Save the electronic receipts.
  24. A Jewelry list is a must. If you hold the purchases receipt, please note down the value of your gold/diamond ornaments. The jewelry list can include diamond, gold, silver, other precious stones and any other valuable ornament piece/articles.
  25. Do you have a House insurance. Share the details in case of theft, fire etc.
  26. Any debtors/creditors the family must know about
  27. Details of Pension policies with or without death benefits with maturity details. Remember to record your nomination for the policies.
  28. School/University certificates – date of registration/graduation, serial number, issuing authority etc.
  29. Work details like original Appointment letters, letters of appreciation and other service records
  30. Antique collections of any value with description
  31. Passport details updated periodically
  32. Have you delegated Power to anyone and registered the same? Details of Power vested in who, when, valid upto when must be entered. Are you standing in as POA (power of attorney) for anyone. Details please.
  33. LPG details with Consumer No., LPG agent number and contact phone and address
  34. Loan details. Housing loan/car loan EMIs, names of the banks/lenders, tenure of the loan(s), pre-closure if any, part-payment made etc.
  35. Land line phones/Mobile phones – connection/user name details.
  36. And aaawww, as a typical NRI on and off for last few years I have omitted including filing of your Income Tax Returns!!!  Most important of all in India! Make an entry everytime with brief particulars. A folder for IT returns filed.
  37. Any Fines/Penalties paid? Make a list.

It is wise to prepare both soft copies and hard copies of the important particulars and mail them to your spouse/children IN GOOD FAITH. Hopefully we all are blessed with sweet kids not wayward ones. Trust is the main factor. If there is a trust deficit in the family, kindly do not share. Instead, details can be listed in the diary and the existence of the diary could be confided to someone trustworthy – with information of finding it where should any emergency arise.

Children need not be revealed the complete details either. It is sufficient if they are told about the diary and where to find it in times of sudden crisis.  Sons and daughters over 18 must be shown the book/diary/record and given a soft copy of their own.

Don’t take the secrets to your grave leaving your family stranded.  Weaving one’s way through legal tangles is a messy and long drawn-out affair. A drain of our time and energy. Rather than bereaving for the departed, the legal heirs could be cursing the spirits for making it hard for them!

Make 1 or 2 hard copy diaries and store them in your Godrej almirah or any other steel safe in the house which is fire-resistant.  Lock up one in your bank locker. Let your kids and spouse know about it.

Send the soft copy to your family members and ask them to save it with password protection. The same can also be stored in hard disc/pen drives out of reach of others who are not family.

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The Financial Security of a family lies principally in mutual and trustworthy sharing of information and proper planning.

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INDEX II

What should you put away in Bank Lockers:

  1. We Indians mostly reserve bank lockers for stashing gold/diamond jewelry. Now that property values have appreciated to sky levels in our cities, it is prudent to use the lockers first for safe-keeping your legal documents. If you can afford bigger size lockers, get them to put away safety the property files in proper order. File each property document neatly in individual labelled folder with brief description detailed on the front fly. This will make it easier for the legal heirs to retrieve papers, if it comes to that. Use different folders for each property. Let every folder include the original registered document with all other originals like the Patta and EC.
  2. All original Life Insurance and Health Insurance policies
  3. Original Pension policies and PF originals
  4. FD originals (if any) but these are mostly soft copies only now
  5. Any other legal paper pertaining to pending court cases
  6. Original School/University certificates
  7. Original Employment certificates
  8. Original car RC book, life time tax receipt etc. Make sure to change/update this folder every time you switch your car/bike.
  9. Any other original bank documents /share certificates etc if any
  10. Loan documents if any – property or car (original signed) with original receipts for pre-closures/part-payments
  11. Original POA if you are representing legally anyone and attested copies in case you have issued POA to any party
  12. One hardcopy of handwritten diary with the afore mentioned paritculars neat and legible as listed in Index I
  13. Finally if there is space remaining in your lockers, you may use it for stashing jewelry that you seldom wear!

Make a habit of recording physically your daily expenses if you have not so far. Let it be in Excel sheet if that’s how you may want it. 

An Excel sheet, by the way, is a precise and scientific method of maintaining family records like real estate holdings and bank account details.

INDEX III

What you must have at home in Steel Safe:

  1. Copies of all the above mentioned documents/papers you put into Bank Lockers. Just like in bank lockers, make a file folder for each entry separately. The only difference should be that, the bank lockers contain the originals whereas the steel safe at home has the photocopies. In short, copies of all listings under Index II.
  2. Bank locker keys in a distinctive pouch that the children must know about with numbers of the lockers clearly earmarked
  3. Minimal jewelry
  4. Taxes paid if any. Online taxes are applicable only in last 7-8 years. If you have any hardcopies from the past, put them away in bank lockers and store at home their photocopies. For property/water/sewage taxes paid – store the print-outs if you take one. I don’t.
  5. Original passports with multiple copies
  6. Original Ration cards with good number of photo copies
  7. Original Aadhar cards with good number of photo copies
  8. Copies of School/University certificates
  9. Copies of Employment certificates
  10. Old Salary certificates
  11. Copies of loan documents
  12. Copies of POA issued/standing in for
  13. Original Health Insurances Policies and Cashless Medical Insurance Cards
  14. Vaccination Records original
  15. Other Health/Medical records like previous histories/hospitalization 
  16. Original Driving Licences with good number of photo copies
  17. Copies of RC book of your car/bike and Life Road Tax paid
  18. Original car/bike insurance with third party cover plus some copies
  19. Passport size photos of all family members – multiple copies
  20. Original LPG booklet with copies, and one or two latest LPG refill receipts if possible
  21. Vacation ownership holdings – with copies
  22. Warranties of electronics, kitchen equipment, furniture etc
  23. Land line/Mobile phone connection Customer ID number/details
  24. Satellite tv subscription details
  25. AMC contract details for Water Purifier, Air Conditioner, Pest Control etc
  26. Lift Insurance/AMC details (if applicable)
  27. Maintenance charges records (in case of apartment residents)
  28. Club subscriptions
  29. Details of School/College fees paid with original receipts
  30. Any other substantial payment made/remittance received
  31. Original receipts of Fines/Penalties paid
  32. Rental receipts
  33. Original Agreements with copies made
  34. Income Tax Returns filed
  35. One hard copy of handwritten diary of all the listed items under Index I

It is better to file the details in separate individual folders with flaps briefing on the contents for ready reference and easy access. I prefer this method to huge box office files.

The keys to your steel safe must be kept in place known to your spouse and children but at the same time inaccessible to house maids/drivers/repairs persons/frequent visitors/relatives and guests.

Workings wives MUST share details with their husbands and housewives do have a right to know what the family stands to lose if faced with emergency crisis. I don’t see why children over 18 years should be excluded from sharing family particulars either. Under-aged minors can be briefed and told about the diary and precocious ones can be let into the ‘inner circle.’

Finally it is all for the family. Not many Indians are aware that an Indian male can leave more than one direct legal heir: his wife, his children and his mother. Bitter family disputes have since made the government and our banks strictly enforce the nomination facility. Unfortunately quite a few Indian men are in the habit of keeping their women in the dark when it comes to their economic standing.

Women’s Empowerment?

Ladies, you have every right to get the correct picture of your financial standings. If you have been kept away from these very important and necessary family details, demand to know of them. Educate your children and bring in an awareness. Maintain meticulous, systematic records in chronological order. Your future generations will thank you!

CAUTION FOR NRIs. 

How many of you are aware that nomination facilities are unavailable in some countries like in Middle-East for instance. Please repatriate your savings to mother country in that case for your own sake and the sake of your family, leaving a safe margin for comfortable living in the host country where you are a temporary guest (as employee). Share all account details with Internet Login ID, ATM password etc with your spouse and grown-up children.

Keep your loan commitments to the minimum even if foreign banks offer you attractive lendings at very reasonable rates of interests. Remember these are constraining traps which can prevent you from leaving the port of your employment at your will anytime you wish.

May there never arise an emergency situation in your life! But it is better to stay prepared in case of any eventuality, is it not.

How many diaries to make:

One for the Bank Locker, One for the Steel Safe at Home and One for handy reference that you can tuck into wardrobe for instance – for easy retrieval. It may be prudent to include even your e-mail IDs and passwords. But please take care that the sensitive records stay out the eyes and reach of any/all outsiders other than family members. Minors like under-aged kids can be hinted about the diary whereas the adults must have 100% awareness.

Soft copies to be password protected and saved in mail boxes in registered E-mail IDs or in Computer/Hard Discs/Pen Drives. Preserve them the way you take care of your physical IDs and Passports. Stay alert.

Before writing this up, I did reflect on the sensitivity of the information we could be sharing in diaries/soft copies. Is it worth the risk. I guess it is, because online transfers are safer with OTP (one time password)s generated with every single transaction in your registered mobile number. Still it will be prudent to exercise due caution and keep the material out of reach of anyone other than trusted intimate family members.

Posted in Women & Family

Feminism Within Four Walls…

Posted on by veeskitchen

WOMEN ARE BORN-SISSIES! Blame it on our XX chromosome!

 

What is Feminism.

Feminism to me is more about women opting for a flying career – not as air hostesses but as captains aboard. How many women out there even as Ground Staff – in Civil Aviation/Aerospace Engineering.

How many of us including me, among women, would opt for a Maritime career with 15 months at the sea at one go or for a posting at an Offshore Drilling platform should opportunities surface. The answer is ZERO even among the most liberated amidst us (from the west). Applications are called for from eligible qualified men, never women. And not surprisingly there is not a murmur of protest. FROM FEMINISTS. Busy donning the receptionist/secretary role?

Once talking to a man who flies weekly to an unstable man-made island in the middle of nowhere trusting his life with a rickety chopper that dispatches regularly his crew, I came to know temperatures exceeded 70 C in (the offshore or otherwise) oil rigs. Weather permitting, the men who subsisted on rationed food in pigeon-holed quarters could return on time to their families. There have been instances when they  were forced to stay back for extended periods disconnected to the rest of the world when things went wrong in the horizon (literally). Similar is the working condition in African countries, risky in their own way with physical and health threats and also being employed in uncharitable desert regions.

Occupational hazard is steepest when it comes to high altitude projects like building bridges – which are mostly undertaken by men. Same goes with sub-surface jobs. Again, the earnest window cleaners happen to be men, don’t they? Any takers among women for fishing? Stinks? Fisher-women I guess are more likely hawkers? Priestesses are fine but who among us is coming forward for a stint in burial/cremation ground?

Women are surgeons, astronauts, train drivers (in India) and flight lieutenants (as they come from the bold and daring army background like in most cases). Otherwise the statistic is hardly flattering. There are women mountain climbers, arctic expedition scientists (good number in HBO than in reality), marine biologists, archeologists yet there are also so, many, many things women are NOT yet. Or would rather BE NOT. BY CHOICE.

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SOFT SKILLS HAVE TURNED TO BE THE URBAN INDIAN WOMEN’S FORTE, THE TERTIARY SECTOR – THE PREFERRED MEDIUM OF SECURE EMPLOYMENT AND ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE. CORPORATE LEADERSHIPS OVER CHAMPIONING MIGHTY PHYSICAL CAUSE COULD WELL BE A SORE WEAKNESS

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Women entrepreneurs seem to be content designing clothes and homes, baking among other nubile lady-like things. Appropriate for the sex and the society they come form.  PhDs are for Economics mostly over Nano Technology. Literature over Logic. Challenges like these make us truly ‘the flower power.’

How many ladies are really upto running a garage for instance,  getting their hands and feet dirty. Oh yes, there are the peasant women milking cows in the shed! And there are those farm hands.

How many young girls are keen to take up boxing (the picture Irudhi Suttru (Saala Khadoos in Hindi) is an inspiration for this post) or weight-lifting. Cricket is for ‘gentlewomen.’

Claiming equality with men, we though would like to spare ourselves from seeking equal hardship when it comes to working as foremen in factories  -to say so. We would rather leave the dirty, dangerous jobs to the men!

How many girls in our cities and villages enroll for mechanical or civil engineering. Why should they when there are safer options like chemical, electronics, electrical and information technology and architecture. Those few who do venture, invariably shut themselves into air-conditioned cabins restricting themselves to planning and such docile assignments. The tough work is for the boys. Field work is routinely left to men, east or west.

But look at how many Beauticians we have. Women Choreographers. Camera women. Directors. Writers. ACTIVISTS !!! Activists :these come in all colours, shapes and sizes ! We have maximum aspiring women here with many more waiting in the sidelines  to become the self-appointed ‘voice of nation’ as we see. Clutching the mic that is. (One Smriti Irani is what it takes to quell a 1000 or more Barkha Slutts, ladies. Know what to make out of your life).

How many women in the lower-middle class strata opt to work as simple as courier-women (even if in India there can’t be a teenage girl in the present who cannot ride a moped/scooter). As medical representatives. As marketing executives or travelling sales personnel. There are some in Chennai, and ofcourse there is one in my relative circle who is a successful rep selling surgical instruments minting good commissions, still these are avenues women generally seem to avoid stepping into.

How may women TTRs in overnight trains covering long distances through different states from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Goa to Assam?

I am a woman, have had a working woman for mother who never spent a day in kitchen, and I am the fourth generation literate woman from both sides – parental and marital. Still I lacked, and lack still the courage to venture into anything physically taxing, exhausting the way men in our families so readily do. I am hesitant to step out of my comfort zone – and not necessarily security is always the question. Four generations of seeing the light has not made me strong enough and weaned me from weaknesses – imagined and physical both.

Why cannot we women still push borders and get ourselves do the unconventional jobs. Who will stop us from pulling a cart or lifting a sack of grains. From changing a fused bulb to fixing a leaking faucet. I don’t think women are made fragile. It is more of a mind-matter.

Easiest to become gossipy Journalists. Make-up artists. Teachers. Doctors. Cooks. Tailors. Nurses. Domestic servants. Sans any unforeseen risks, I see. You may also dress up as an added bonus 🙂 Arts and Aesthetics are alluringly feminine.

Equality only in pay checks? Equality only in treatment? Equality not when it comes to sweating as hard and sincere as men?

The best excuse we can give is women sitting in board meetings. I have had enough of Indra Nooyis and Chanda Kochchars, thank you. I have had an overdoze of even Sania Mirza and Jhumpa Lahiri and Nandita Das and Latha Mangeshkar and ofcourse Sunita Williams.  Not to leave out Indira Gandhi to Kiran Bedi. I want a woman mason. A woman carpenter. A woman house painter. A woman plumber. A woman electrician. That is someone I failed to be. My friends failed to be.

Women apprentices should be working the labs and the lathes alike. Women trainees must be willing to leave their cozy air-conditioned offices to serve in inhospitable environment, the way men dare to. Who and what prevents us from taking responsibilities, donning the unenviable role the way men have.

These are grey areas I see even women of the west seem to be shy of, not coming abreast with men. If there is any presence at all, it is negligible and hardly worthy of mention. Whereas there are male chefs, male hair-stylists, male dancers (hehe even gigolos – but i am yet to meet one 😦 ) so what do we have to show among women for male equivalents in a variety of traditionally male-dominated professions.

This is the reason I condone feminists. Women like Arundathi Roy and Barkha Dutt make me revolt. First one is a one-book wonder who capitalized with sensationalizing incest. The second one – well you know. It is exactly the kind of feminism they have come to represent that I detest fiercest.

I am impressed to what length a working professional male or a male labourer can go. Can exert himself willingly: physically and mentally. ALL FOR THE FAMILY.

Whereas we women still want to exchange night shifts with male colleagues in IT industry. Where do we go from here.

Excuse me, this is most definitely meant NOT to be a reprieve for rapists and wife-beaters. As much as I hate men, I also adore men. Love their sense of humour, happy-go-lucky attitude, gossip-free banter… Even a 20 minute chat with a well-informed man with a funny bone is enough to make your day … whereas women continue to disappoint me …

Very elite among us forsake domesticity and kitchen duties – because we think we are above it all. Very rare to see women who think otherwise. Juggling home and office is not piece of cake for every woman.

Driving or swimming is not a feat, Miss. It is mandatory in this 21st century CE. Sense of independence is every woman’s inheritance by birth. Gene. You may have lost it in transition but acquiring one is not a privilege.

I am a Varahi worshipper. She is war chieftain 🙂 I love Parvathi’s hold over Shiva. (I didn’t want to mix religion in this post but couldn’t help it. As much as I revere Saraswathi and Lakshmi, the reigning queens of wisdom and wealth, I am for the strong, fiery, aggressive and dominating form of Mother Goddess – the Shakthi who is no non-sense. She means Power and I am her loyal devotee.

But I know, this is face value. What we women have to still do is EVOLVE. Equality to me is a totally different plane. Equality is not just about bringing in your share of bread. Raising a family is part of the package.

Men in my life have helped me grow in their own way.

Women have been the anchor in my life. But i will not let any man be defaced by one Nirbhaya BBC story.  Women have been subject of abuse of various kinds, but I shall not let that cloud my judgement on men. Good men.

Men view women as sex objects not because we kindle their imagination, but because we are proving to be sissies, acting like ‘Alice in Wonderland’ – looking lost and helpless. Women seeking concessions are shameless.

I am sick of reading the typical feminist-authors, the so-called self-righteous advocates of women’s causes. With a couple of gloating women activists they complete the picture: one of perpetual lament, pleading tone, unconvincing anger and weak claims.

Women have been on the defensive  long enough. Time to get offensive. Counter offensive. Playing victim for too long – at the receiving end. Isn’t it time we break out and into every other male bastion.  The first thing we will have to do is STOP dreaming the Fairy tales. So long as we act ‘damsel in distress’ waiting for ‘the prince in shining armour’ to come to our rescue like we are the Snow White, Cinderella and Rapunzel (and rightfully seeking ladies’ seats in buses and trains), I do not see a hope.

Emancipation is not just about trotting around in faded jeans and carrying placards in protest rallies. IT IS ABOUT LIVING A MAN’S LIFE, IF YOU CAN THAT IS.

So dear Feminists, stop your shrill cry now wanting more, acting selfish. Break new paths.  Throw the stones of excuses behind you. Walk free.