Pragyan rover clicks Vikram lander!Pragyan takes a walk of 100 m near lunar south polevikram softlands for a second time taking a leap. a step for vikram, a giant leap for India
Pragyan the probe from Vikram lander has so far discovered oxygen, aluminium, titanium and sulphur besides other minerals on the moon’s surface closer to the south pole. India’s Chandrayaan 3 rover also has registered seismic activities (natural vibrations) in the lunar surface. As the rover has been put to sleep along with the lander during the moon’s night time, hopes are kept alive for the rover to wake up exactly after the 14 day interval, during the lunar day when its batteries can get charged from the solar power. A single lunar daytime typically lasts 14 earth days and a night in the moon extends to 14 earth days as well. Vikram also took a leap and soft landed again near the south pole, the darker side of the moon which is a remarkable feat for ISRO.
This page shall be updated when Pragyan and Lander wake up after their siesta and set on to discover water ice, essential for human colony at a future date in the moon.
Congratulations to world No.2 and silver medalist from my hometown Chennai again, the 17 year old Praggnaanandha who lost the final in the Chess world cup in Azerbaijan to world no.1 Magnus Carlsen (who he has beaten incidentally in an earlier occasion). Prag becomes the youngest chess player in world history, creating another record for India, to enter the Chess world cup final. Nee superaa varuja raja! You have your whole life ahead of you and you are so very young! Looking forward to another genius world No.1 chess player from Chennai again in near future after Anand. More than his game, I am bowled over by his humility -something missing in certain brash loud empty vessels. Watched a you tube video in which Anand says, fatigue got upto Prag as he never lost a game until the final. He lost the final to former world champion from Norway in a tie breaker.
Omg how balanced he is at the young age of 17!
Indian Parenting is all about this: we are enough. this is enough. we are good. this is good. This Indian mother showed the world what it is to be an Indian mother.
The VAN (SANRAKSHAN EVAM SAMVARDHAN) ADHINIYAM Act
Very disheartening learning about the Forest Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, passed by both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, the lower and upper houses of the Indian Parliament, that can make way for taking over of shoulder lands abutting forested areas for developmental activities of national importance (as claimed by the tenets of the bill). This means, highways can crisscross India’s forest reserves and wildlife sanctuaries in future without legal implications. Of particular concern is the virgin forestry we have in north eastern India that is home to myriad species of wildlife. The nation boasts of ecologically diverse zones from the Western Ghats (Nilgiris – the Blue Mountains) in the south with the primary rain forest reserves and the Thar desert in the west, the Sundarbans with its mangroves in the east and the mighty Himalayas in the north. Central India or the hinterland is home to a range of hills including the Vindhyaas and Satpuras and lakes and plateaus. The long peninsular coastline of India is rich with an impressive array of marine life. There are natural harbours and coral reefs and the world’s only surviving dugongs among others in our waters. Mountain ranges and valleys and passes and peaks of India together with rivers and streams and seas and islands and seasonal monsoons facilitate survival of a stunning range of flora and fauna, as next to Africa, only India has lions, tigers, leopards, elephants and single horned rhinos – the big five – in the entire world, and winged species gracing and sharing the congested land with some 1.3 billion strong human population. India is home to highest number of tigers in the world. Lion count is also on upswing. Conservation efforts are afoot but for every single step forward, the naturalists get pushed over by a dozen steps backward. What is the need for eco-tourism in a country like India where wildlife and humanity have to jostle for space and the man-animal conflict is getting worse with each passing day claiming lives on both sides. As someone has posted in the comments, this is clearly a DEFORESTATION move:
Even without the Bill, elephant corridors have been illegally but smartly taken over by those like Jaggi Vasudev in Tamil Nadu – right under the nose of both the central and state governments or perhaps under the auspices of our government. Ramdev & co., reportedly encroached on north eastern forests for Ayurvedic production unit. The environmental degradation we see in India is mindboggling with our rivers polluted and air toxic and soil poisoned. Now look at the further damage the Bill can do. Adani and Ambani can set up five star hotels without approval from Forest department right next to the wildlife sanctuaries and promote upscale tourism for celebs and page 3 socialites from India and abroad. Is it not the motive of the bill, after all? Who knows, whether Mahindra mooted the bill or any other business house. Agroforestry and afforestation are hogwash. Then there is the case of the tribals of India who have been living alongside wildlife right within our forest reserves or in settlements adjoining forest areas with their livelihood tied to the forests, traditionally for centuries. It will be piece of cake for Adani and Ambani to remove the tribes from their native lands and rehabilitate them in cramped neighbourhoods erasing their roots cleverly and systematically. A well planned strategy. Under the aegis of our prime minister himself, I hope? What a sad story. Following up NCF, Bird Count of India etc., I have been on a high noting the conservation efforts even if painfully aware that only a small percentage of it all succeeds. If I have it my way, a good portion of my meagre, petty and insignificant estate shall go to wildlife conservation in India (and NOT to temples). Its my wish and unregistered will (!) as of date. The kids can fend for themselves -god shall give them the strength.
In ‘Target’ as I was browsing through for sunblocks with stronger spf, i came across lotions and creams and shampoos marked ‘made by African Americans,’ ‘handmade by Native Americans’ and ‘made by Mexicans’ that surprised me. Not really, because I recalled having seen this on earlier occasions. I am back after an year and the town is different. The hypermarket was midsize. There were aisles promoting beauty/makeover brands/cosmetics made by the minorities that was impressive. Every society seems to be doing its bit to help whoever needs a helping hand. Reservation quotas exist in every corner of the globe where inequalities exist. The injustices demand that they be redressed so that we can have a just an equitable society where everyone can prosper. To compete on equal footing as a mature society therefore becomes the basic criteria. The blue collar workers of America are not doing the janitor’s job or waiting at the tables at restaurant or plumbing or driving trucks owing to their birth/caste credentials. Rules are simple: if you don’t do well in school, expect to clear tables and bill at KFC or Tacobell. Unless otherwise you have trust funds to take care of you, that is. Nobody mows the grass in cemetary because his father and grandfather used to do that. Immigrants who are semiskilled may have to start from the bottom of the ladder. Otherwise, there is standardization to a great degree when it comes to education. Fairly competitive out here in America. India is hardly anywhere close to imparting that kind of equality and social justice to all sections of her populace. The sanitation workers, the graveyard staff, the chakkilis (footwear repairmen) and even the housemaids in India are what they are only BY VIRTUE OF THEIR BIRTH or what we call the caste prejudice, as ‘nobler occupations’ were systematically denied to them for millennia. Almost hundred percent, the blue collar workers in India are doing their ancestors’ job. Formal education was denied to them until the turn of the century. The most backward and the scheduled lists had to fight a legal battle to win their entry to schools and universities in British India. The discrimination practised for thousands of years put them at disadvantage for centuries. The reservation earmarked for them is not concession but compensation. Furthermore, those from the fringes of Indian society and the ones at the lowest rungs of our economic ladder are not enrolling their children in posh or creamy schools. What is open for them are the corporation or municipal schools where the medium of instruction could be local language. How do you even pit these poorest and weakest sections among us with the IIT and IIM savvy elitist groups. Reservation is a means to hasten the pace of progress by way of encouragement so that nobody is left out. The aim of reservation is INCLUSIVE GROWTH that sometimes may leave collateral damage in its wake. There is no other way out. When the center gave in to reservation demands of the forward communities, it committed a grave error of injustice. The affluent and the literate population of India have been making strides without the aid of reservation. However, hopefully one no more has to hear the whining against quotas that has been sounding since the day of India’s independence. I have personally witnessed how the first generation literate quota, the job reservation quota etc., have benefited the most vulnerable among us. Reservation is the greatest incentive that incites the rural poor to risk education with the promise of a future prosperity. When the fruits of a democracy percolate down to grass roots, the faith in the institutions of the nation gets reinforced. A possible civil war at a later date could be averted. Battles are fought over resources after all. So far as India is concerned, thanks to decades of reservation, there is increased participation at every level of those from each and every background. The marginalized communities and those in the fringes are visibly mainstreamed. Level playing ground is a society’s mark of civilization.
In Palavakkam, a suburb of Chennai, the stretch of beach sees Olive Ridleys laying eggs in the shore. To encourage the turtle breeding and to not confuse the hatchlings with too much illumination in the darkness of the night, the street lights are strictly switched off. This ensures that the turtle hatchlings make their way to the sea in their still unsteady tiny feat. The neighbourhood volunteer self-styled environmentalists help the stranded ones reach the waters safe. Olive Ridleys breed through stretches of the eastern Coromandel coast of India. The state pf Orissa is another popular pick for them with its pristine virgin beaches with minimum recorded human footfall. As awareness kicks in, locals now make sure that the olive ridley hatchlings survive. And therefore the south east coast of India remains the olive ridleys’ favourite destination when it comes to breeding. To encourage the adult female turtles to lay their eggs in the beach sand, the switching off of street lights is encouraged and practised. This shows that we are a responsible society willing to go the extra mile to see that wildlife is nurtured. Conflicts arise mostly when there is damage to property and/or loss of human life as it happens in the elephant corridors where human settlements bifurcate forest reserves.
Anyway, that is how my interest in olive ridleys happened. For sighting, one can plan an outing. This extraordinary adventure is open for city dwellers without pinching their pockets.
It sounds implausible that the cousins of Olive Ridleys, the Green Turtles must be behind the environmental destruction caused by disappearing seagrass meadows with their mass feeding frenzy?! It comes as a shocking surprise that sometimes specific wild flora and fauna may turn out to be the agents behind driving to extinction many other co-existent wild species vying for survival in the same shared environment or eco-system. Of course, if wheat and paddy are widely cultivated and thriving crop species today, once upon a time they must have been the weed that drove to extinction better cereals/food grains. Like the poultry and cattle, maize and wheat are winners by mere mindless propagation. Green turtles to me sound like these hollow winners of the ecological war. Besides, it is news to me that the seagrass can capture and block at least eighteen percent of global carbon. It means the seagrass may be having a direct and significant role in oxygen quality in planet earth. Precisely this seagrass is fodder for dugongs, green turtles and other sea creature that mostly graze them to extinction. Reading of the green turtles in swarms feeding on the leaves and then even digging out the roots of the sea grass, one is reminded of the human greed. Green turtles have no geographic home ground. They are on the move for the entire span of their lives moving enmasse from one atoll to another, in search of seagrass, their staple food. They circumnavigate the earth thus from Cuba to Indonesia, India to Maldives and Pacific islands. In India, for a while, the Lakshadweep lagoons served as their feeding grounds before they grazed them seagrass meadows to near extinction. And then they were gone. Refer/recommend the book ‘At the feet of the living things’ yet again, authored by research scholars backed by NCF Aparajitha Dutta and others.
Seagrass meadows, the savannahs of the ocean are also the ecosystems that sustain a plethora of fish families besides supporting the turtles, dugongs and the like. Correlated to the corals and the mangroves, the seagrass meadows play a vital role in sustaining living organisms in the planet. Kudos to research scholars and NCF, India for coming up with unconventional ideas to protect and propagate sea grass and thus saving it from total extinction in this part of the world.
Mother nature maintains a delicate balance: the green turtles have to survive and the seagrass meadows also must flourish giving earth a chance to breathe. The key to Planet Earth’s survival lies under the oceans: in the profusion of seagrass meadows that absorb the excess carbon from the atmosphere and keep it all locked down fathoms beneath them cleaning up the oceans.
Wow now I do wanna go for snorkelling! I didn’t capitalize on a dozen chances I got in life, out of … er.. kind of phobia 😀 but then what a terrible loss this is. I must, the next time opportunity presents itself.
Sengol/Raj Danda installed amid controversies next to speaker
The Aadheenams of the most ancient temples of Tamil Nadu that have seen the Cholas had their day when the ‘Sengol’ of Thamizh (Chozha) kings was installed by our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in India’s new parliament building that was inaugurated with Sarva Dharma (all faith prayers) yesterday. Those who have grown up listening to Odhuvaar singing to Kapaleeshwara or Karpagaambal or Valleeshwara or even Abirami of Thirukadaiyur or Meenakshi of Madurai etc., may know that the Odhuvar tradition is now a dying tradition in our temples. Most temples not only in Tamil Nadu but also in all parts of INdia are controlled by the respective state governments that shamelessly use the Hindu temple fund for financing even the salaries of masjid workers for instance as we see in Kerala. Whereas the poor archakas of the temples are left high and dry with inadequate salaries, the government officials who have no connection with the temples drive latest sedans and SUVs drawing handsome pay packets. In Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirumala, there were even Christians employed in the Devastanams who were ready to fight legal battles for retaining their jobs. This is the true cost of secularism. Temples under the Aadheenam may be free of state government clutches but how are they deploying the funds from the temples under their administration from their overflowing coffers. How many temples in Kumbakonam, Mayavaram etc., are in dire need of basic repairs? Some temple towers (gopurams) that are over 1500 years old are even on the verge of collapsing. Worst maintained and not kept clean. Bribes in the abode of god, be it temple under Tamil Nadu temple and charitable trust (govt department) or those under the aegis of the Adheenams are a dampaner but I understand that special darshans are crowd management tactics. What melted my heart was hearing Thevaram and Thiruvasagam chantings reverberating from our seat of governance in Delhi. Most ancient mantras in Thamizh, the verses have the antiquity and sanctity and aura of the ages old Sanskrit scriptures. It was especially enthralling to note the Odhuvar attached to Kapaleeshwar temple, Mylapore play a pivotal role in the ‘grihapravesh’ or the housewarming ceremony. Interestingly the new parliament of INdia is triangular shaped representing the most powerful Sri Yantra. Two inverted Triangles overlapping each other represent union of Shiva and Shakthi: the static energy and the kinetic energy that is the driving force. Shiva is latent, Shakthi is the force.
Ref: How the Bitra Floating Marine Reserve was born – by Rohan Arthur and T R Shankar Raman , from ‘At the feet of living things’ -edited by Aparajitta Datta
Always amazed by fish spawning frenzy spotlighted by underwater videos that we come across in Animal Planet etc. Never knew it had a scientific name: FSA (Fish Spawning aggregation). What is more surprising is learning that India has a Floating Marine Reserve (among a handful) at Bitra, Lakshadweep group of Islands falling under the Union Territory, off Kerala coast, in the Arabian sea.
the greed of the fishermen: catch from FSAa glorious FSA near a coral reef
Some of the books I have read on the wildlife in India were authored by wildlife research aspirants who were gathering material and evidence for their doctorate. The Bitra Reserve apparently was born thanks to the efforts of two such ambitious and enthusiastic PhD candidates of Fisheries who had chosen Bitra for their studies. I am blogging this from a series of essays on Indian wildlife conservation efforts in about a quarter century until the 1990s. Some articles lie outside the purview of the scope of the book obviously, because the Bitra scene is from very recent. One of the group of islands of the Lakshadweep archipelago, Bitra is an impoverished fishing island where naturally fishing continues to be the way of life. The two researchers Rohan Arthur and T S Shankar Raman venture into this sleepy fishing center and stumble upon the FSA off the reefs of Bitra sea. They discover in the year close to 2012 that there is the FSA (fish spawning aggregation) ritual happening under sea near the reef where the square tails aggregated in tens of thousands to spawn their litter. A rare event in Indian territory, the Fisheries guys congregate with the locals and take steps to preserve the FSA from damages of fishing.
Seriously I wish they hadn’t tabled their findings! In a bid to submit their papers for their diplomas, they have given away the precious info to the locals that they seem to exploit for commercial gains. The earliest boost for their venture was the kudos that came from the Fisheries department itself that went against their grain. The department seconding to save fish is anathema to their founding principles and motto. No wonder, the plans fell flat in their face as the local fishermen refused to comply with the restrictions and started fishing vigorously in the delicately balanced marine eco system with the mother boats that made a killing catch every season of spawning (around new moon day a particular time of the year). Thus in matter of ten years the FSA fish count has dropped by over 90% . Human greed knows no bounds. Educating the local fishermen, bringing the awareness is a slow process but can work in the long run. Hopefully by the time realization dawns, there are still square tails left out in the Arabian sea/Indian ocean to make it to the Bitra reef for their annual appointed FSA.
Will the center look in and do something decisive about the protection of the Bitra reef and FSA therein? #narendramodi
I am banking on our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji on saving the floating marine reserve at Bitra and the annual FSA, saving the square tail and other fish species from extinction in near future. FSA is way of nature. We shall be making or breaking the natural cycle in Bitra shortly as frenzied fishing activity near the reef can drive the fish away from the FSA pool which for some evolutionary/geographic/scientific reason has been natural selection for the fish species since ages.
Last weekend of mine was kinda out-of-the-world with the live concert of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Sunidhi Chouhan here in Doha. The venue was Lusail stadium, the largest one where the World cup FIFA 2022 is to be held this November-December. So that was a double dhamaka again for me: to look up the grand stadium closeup and to listen to my favourite musical sensations. Needless to say, the event drew thousands and thousands of excited fans, 80% of who were naturally Indians and the rest were perhaps a mix of Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Nepalis. It looked the entire subcontinent had turned up at Lusail for the show. The evening saw us taking the metro that was unusually overcrowded for that time of the day. Lusail is closed to vehicular traffic because of the ensuing world cup football matches, so metro became obvious choice with everyone. Right in the metro station I could see the crowds thronging and without saying I knew everyone was headed only in one direction: Lusail. For the first time, in my life I watched and attended an event so huge, huge, mammoth in my living memory in Qatar that saw thousands of residents queue up and gather at a single site. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. But I thought I must get used to the idea. This was a sample. More is yet to come with the world cup commending on November 19th. From the metro, we walked to the stadium in Lusail where there were already lines roped off. The entry to the stadium was through different gates from the nearest vantage point as per your seat number. We had started at least two hours earlier from home. We joined a circuitous queue that took us through security protocols and FIFA event app/ticket checking before we were let into the stadium. Omg, what an architectural marvel is the stadium. I clicked (as expected!) numerous pix and selfies both in and outside the stadium and shot some videos of the musical nite as well. The Bollywood music was befitting gala opening to be organized in the stadium where the screens went up perhaps for the first time. I have never been to a football stadium before and I was more interested about the lightings, the seatings, the rows of seats, the walking corridors, the roof (that was partially open, to be closed fully in event of weather change like rain in a moment’s notice). I could see the hundreds and hundreds of fans in beeline reaching their assigned seats. There was a light snack available in the corridor. The musical was a grand success. Once the screens came down, we were back on our way to the metro station on foot. While we had walked almost 2 km to get into the stadium, we walked over 4 km to reach the metro after the concert got over by 10 pm. It took us one hour or more to wind through the maze of queues and reach the metro rail finally. The crowds had swelled the long and endless lines seemed but kept moving forward all the while in an orderly fashion. But I was really impressed by the way things were handled by Qatar. I am used to crowds in India. But here in this part of the world, this kind of gathering of crowds is something unheard of and unseen. The discipline of the masses bowled me over. And the organization and the methodology were simply impressive. Foolproof security and ID checks at various levels initially had gone very neat. I liked the way the crowds were allowed in batches to the metro station after the show to avoid stampedes. After all, we have just had a stampeding tragedy news coming in from South Korea. Whether it came to security checks or crowd management or the metro rail efficiency, Qatar proved the best in my opinion. I am giving the state the credit because I know, they are new to this unlike us in India. It takes enormous and skilled manpower, patience, meticulous planning, training, dryruns and diligence to manage this so well and keep things flowing smoothly. The execution part is vital. The evening proved that the little peninsula nation is so well run and capable. I became very proud of Qatar where I enjoy residency status. It was a moving experience for me. But why should I be surprised. I have seen how the country fared during the gulf crises a few years back. Overnight the milk and the groceries ran out in the supermarkets but the government imported 4000 jersey cows from Australia in matter of days and started the dairy farm right away in the middle of the desert, milking the cattle in aircon environments. In no time, the groceries and provisions reached the tiny country by sea and none of us ever suffered or lacked for anything. I have to make mention that, the difference in costs was NEVER PASSED ON to us residents. This is such a dear and sensitive thing to do, you know: not passing on the extra burden to the public most of who were expats. For that one gesture I shall remain eternally grateful to Qatar. We continued to live safely and securely the normal life and we never footed extra penny. Through the crisis, there was never a loose canon shot by way of careless talks by officials concerned as they stoically maintained the fragile peace which was their motive. Those in power remained extremely responsible. Hats off Qatar. There is a lesson here for all of us. I do lose my cool so easily and I take out my ire on all and sundry if I have to! Its that easy to provoke me and each trigger sends me trailing further backward. That tight self control and wisdom we saw in Qatar was rare and precious. That maturity is rare. Qatar proved to me once again at Lusail why this tiny dot of nation is respected worldwide and is doing so very well. The unprecedented or perhaps expected crowds were handled professionally without the history or advantage of experience, late that evening by the volunteers who deserve a pat on their backs.
Those like Saudi are used to hosting nations and millions of visitors for Haj like events.
To those who are not well informed on crowd management, even India is a great lesson. In every mandir/temple we have queues. Hindu temple festivals draw crowds in hundreds of thousands. In Tirumala Tirupathi, everyday darshan headcount could be anywhere between 60000 to 120000 devotees. So I am used to chugging it out in serpentine queues for hours. Every single Hindu pilgrimage place round the year records millions of footfalls. After all India hosts Kumbhamela, the largest congregation of human race on planet Earth every 12 years from very ancient times. Even the pandemic did not prove to be a dampener to the Kumbh attendees from across the world. To close the festival eventfree, without the scourge of an epidemic and without or bare minimal casualty is a tremendous feat. Kumbh is not a single day event. It goes on for 12 days. I have always thought that crowd management in India needs applause. Unlike the systematic crowd management that I witnessed in Doha last week, India’s masses cannot be controlled so easily. Our masses are semi literate or totally illiterate which makes matters worse. It takes a lot of voluntary discipline to make any rallying event a grand success in my country. There is the official presence and security network no doubt – by way of para military and police forces apart from health facilities and travel arrangements and lodgings, yet the mammoth crowd managements that is so regular in India is unseen in any other part of the world. Kumbh is on for millennia – from time immemorial.
There are ways to control crowds within limited spaces which is why we have ‘paid darshan’ in temples. Okay, it may not be exactly ethical but sometimes screenings such as these are absolutely necessary to filter masses and regulate crowds. Mob violence is very easy to spark in a nation as diverse and volatile and socially sensitive like India. I felt better to notice that a similar crowd management is practised in the Vatican to regulate crowds with charges introduced at every stage including to the tour of the cupola. The methods devised may always not be desirable but the results are worth sharing.
I did mingle in the crowds at the Disneyland in Florida in the US.
Crowd management is an important lesson in governance. Mostly the third world countries are good at it in my opinion! May be this has got to do with the masses having the practice of queuing up for rations and awaiting their turn with patience! Whatever. In case of India, the queueing, the waiting, the stalling is happening for years, centuries now. Unless there is this inbuilt discipline in the masses, this is just not realizable. Remember the crowds in our trains and buses. The mobs in our festivities. Through all that chaos, something still seems to be working!
When a flight lands, we Indians always would want to disembark first, throwing patience and discipline to wind. Whereas you can see those from the first world nations rooted to their seats waiting for the rest of the air passengers to ease out. I always would wonder why should we Indians be so impatient. But the airplane is a very negligent sample really that cannot be projected on a huge population of one billion plus on a vast subcontinent like ours. I would rather, the inflight psychology is kind of standard deviation or variation to our general crowd management statistical history. Which is why stampedes are more common in more civilized parts of the world than ours. A little more numbers, these foreigners start feeling claustrophobic losing their mind. It doesn’t take much for them to panic and start the pandemonium ending in a typical disaster. Its almost as if such a tragedy would be waiting to strike.
Of the wide range of immunities we Indians develop, survival in crowds is priceless. We are so used to bodies pressed to bodies, sweating, with our hot breaths on each other’s nostrils that not even the pandemic could ravage us the way it did across the globe. We were warned of a catastrophe but we got out lightly barring for a few episodes during the second wave which took a terrible among the world countries.
World can do with a single Hindu nation, no doubt. After all there are dozens of Islamic and Christian nations and even a Jewish one. There are Buddhist countries. It is of course sad that Nepal which was the only Hindu realm in the world has gone communist. India, where the world’s most ancient faith – the one and only unorganized religion the universe has ever had – has every right to proclaim Herself a Hindu Rashtra. India is the cradle of human civilization. Hindu dharma was born here and began flourishing right in our soil. Hindus are not warriors by race and have no significant history of invading others or enforcing their culture by sword as it has happened with the Abrahamic fold. India will be doing the world a favour by promoting soft power that is Hindu philosophy. We are not seeking a Hindu nation in Africa or America or Australia or Arabia or Europe. We are seeking a Hindu nation right here in India that we did not even seek during 1947 partition.
With strict enforcement of certain fundamentals of course, India can be Hindu desh by constitution. NO SPECIAL RIGHTS OR PRIVILEGES TO HINDUS ON BASIS OF BIRTH OR CONVERSION. EVERY INDIAN CITIZEN MUST BE ON EQUAL FOOTING BE HIM/HER A HINDU OR CHRISTIAN OR SIKH OR MUSLIM.The soul of India is eternallyHindu, no doubt about that. Even so, there are some disturbing posts in social media such as this one:
However I wouldn’t go by the vote count. After all, this is just limited to the world of Twitterati. Like exit polls that hardly predict exact election results, this post can be nothing more than the standard deviation, the variation we inevitably sample from a whole lot. Hopefully. This is a dangerous trend. It makes me wonder whether even aspiring for a Hindu rashtra is dangerous business. I guess it is unfair to expect India to stay neutral and secular when our minorities will stay opposed to family planning citing religious reasons, will refuse to come under the umbrella of one single common statute for all Indians irrespective of faith, etc. So when you expect to be governed as per your faith, it gives rest of Indians a sense of insecurity. Widespread missionary activity sponsored by foreign church and propagated by local evangelists is another reason why Hindus want to go for a constitutionally Hindu nation. In which case I would still want every Indian citizen to enjoy equal fundamental rights.
FREEWILL CANNOT BE THE PREROGATIVE OF ONLY THE SECULAR AND DEMOCRATIC STATES. FREEWILL MUST PREVAIL UNIVERSAL INCLUDING AND ESPECIALLY IN THE ISLAMIC BLOCK WHERE CONVERSION MAFIA MUST BE GRANTED A LICENCE TO PREACH AND PROPAGATE OTHERS WAYS OF LIFE. UNLESS AND UNTIL THAT CAN HAPPEN, THERE IS NO POINT IN SERMONIZING ON EQUALITY AND UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD. India and America and Europe allow and practise such a freewill. When reciprocation is denied, expect the curtailment of freewill in some pockets. Why cannot there be a Hindu banking in Pakistan or Saudi for instance if we have to have Islamic banking in India.
As a Hindu nation,
India can deem christian conversion mafia illegal and punishable by law.
Enforce strict family planning for muslims
Maintain Hindu majority 80: 20 versus others/non-Hindus. India’s democracy is dependent on India’s demography. Now that is the golden rule.
Remove the word ‘secular’ from our constitution in the first place. It was after all inserted by ex PM Indira Gandhi in 1976
Stringent action against any Hindu who may provoke/assault non Hindus safeguarding minority rights and restoring in them a sense of security.
No special concession for Hindus. All citizens to enjoy equal fundamental rights.
Unfavourable support to Hindus will prove to be counter productive. It will dilute our quality and promote mediocrity and substandard. If Hindus have to survive, we have to cultivate a competitive spirit. The moment you eye concessions, your edge is gone. Meritorious must win. Even in our neighbouring country sometimes they let the best brains to prevail irrespective of their religious orientation.
Some of us have our children living in foreign countries. I wouldn’t rule a backlash!
Secular democracies are like joint bank accounts from who anyone and everyone can draw out indiscriminately. India is a classic case. But Islamic nations are private accounts and fixed deposits that none can touch. Tell me then why we must have joint accounts in that case. Why can’t the Hindu account become a fixed deposit, recurring deposit, private account locked for years, with zero withdrawal option! Just a thought to illustrate, what is expected unfairly of secular nations like India.
India can continue to remain a secular democracy when all Islamic nations in the world also constitutionally become secular democracies with their royalties suspended. Now that is fair game.
When our Indian politicians and bureaucrats decide to shoot their big mouths off target, nobody can shut their nonsense and filth up. So damaging were the recent off-the-mark remarks that have sparked a fury in the Middle-east undermining India-GCC bonhomie that took years or perhaps decades to foster. So much so that our late external minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj could quote from Sanskrit at the OPEC meet where Pakistan was kept at bay. Foundation stone for Hindu temples in the Emirates were laid by ruling Arabs. Just imagine the clout India has been enjoying in the epicenter of Islamic fraternity. Millions of Indian citizens are gainfully employed in the gulf nations repatriating valuable foreign exchange over years. Indians own business enterprises, Indians run hospitals to supermarkets. Indians are successful entrepreneurs. Indians are doctors and engineers to shopkeepers and teachers. Indians are SAP professionals. Indians are bankers. Indian community is far better placed among the whole lot of expats – some 100+ nationalities, who constitute the workforce in various capacities in GCC countries. Indians enjoy unparalleled prestige and respect in the Arab world that took years and Himalayan efforts to earn. And a majority of Indians making a living in Islamic nations are HINDUS. India’s traumatic history has left some scars no doubt but we are now invested in mutually beneficial economic and productive activities in the Middle East, that has offset many a bad memory kept alive only thanks to our textbooks. In today’s context especially when world economy is sluggish and employers are cutting corners giving pink slip to long serving staff without batting their eyelids, GCC nations are doing a great job employing not just Indians but blue and white collar workers of every race, hue and faith without a discrimination.
We expat Indian Hindus feel safest and securest living in Arab countries over living in crime-ridden India. We are respected, treated fair and well provided with. We enjoy world class medical and other amenities for FREE. The Arab governments take good care of us. For most of us NRIs, it is the inevitability of returning to India for good someday that seems like a nightmare.
Exactly what is the contribution to Indian economy from the Silicon valley NRIs in the US. From the Patels of hotel chains. It is always the expats employed in Arab countries who fill India’s coffers with foreign currencies and gold bullion. It is the NRIs from middle east who drive the stock markets and real estates up with their substantial investments. Who is buying the gold bonds, debentures, retirement plans and insurances the way the expats from gulf nations do. Suppose the NRIs in the gulf nations are to be displaced, can India find suitable placement for every single one of them returning home. Its not just economics, employment in gulf also guarantees India longtime peace and spares India from civil-war like grave economic situations. The harsh truth is that, the core industry of India still cannot absorb the quantum of fresh graduates Indian universities are churning out year after year. Where will all these young men and women fit in. Partly Indian government’s headache finds a panacea in job markets open for Indian citizens in gulf countries. Unlike the US, UK, Australia and Canada who want only the creamiest Indians leading to braindrain in India, the gulf countries provide scope of better and fruitful engagement for our middle level grads and even factory and site workers. To absorb and train a healthy chunk of the core industry workers produced by India is the greatest service the GCC countries render to India. Once upon a time, it were the Keralites who comprised the maximum percentage of Indian expat community in the gulf countries. Now, there is representation from every corner of India in gulf nations. Representation found a new meaning, I mused, when I struck up a conversation with Bhutan women in a shopping mall in Qatar. There are the blue collar workers employed as site workers, chauffeurs, cooks, shop assistants, nursing staff etc., who may be otherwise jobless in India plunging the nation into misery and chaos.
Will Nupur Sharma or whichever loudmouth find jobs for millions of Indians gainfully employed in GCC countries, in India. What is the need to upset the applecart? Highly irresponsible. Years of diplomacy and political correctness and goodwill have finally come to a naught thanks to such an insensitive ignoramus. The cost of this hostility will be borne by the labour class and working class Indians working in GCC countries. Every single loose canon shot by careless Indian politicians damages the political goodwill hard-earned by the Indian diaspora over years. It only takes a moment of sheer callousness and thoughtlessness to destroy such a precious relationship that India has been traditionally enjoying with Arab countries. Our media guys are bastards. Jealous outright. They would rather see the NRIs suffer because these guys are now sweating it out in our tv studios. They will do anything to inflict damages. Then there are the TRP ratings for sensationalizing non-issues. India never took sides when the GCC countries were divided over Qatar. Top brass in India as well as GCC nations are aware of the significance of the strong ties enjoyed by both sides. It is time for Modi government to shut some loudmouths tight. India has been a great ally to Arab countries walking the tightrope, never missing a foot. Hopefully this matter dies quietly the soonest. India can do without these debilitating controversies. This is no good.
Is this a local Indian issue: May be. Media still has to play a responsible role. Sometimes the architects of riots are none but the Indian media. The ones who must be booked are the anchors who did the lead and the producers behind the stories.
vijiravindran's 