శ్రీ కౌముది నవంబర్ 2014

Intermarriage is not jihad, it is India

When Kareena and I married, there were similar death threats, with people 
on the Net saying ridiculous things about “love jihad”. We follow whatever
religion or spiritual practice we believe in.

Written by Saif Ali Khan | Posted: October 15, 2014 2:20 am | Updated: October 15, 2014 10:30 am

I am the son of a sportsman, I grew up in England, Bhopal, Pataudi, Delhi and Mumbai, and I am more Indian than any Hindu or Muslim I know because I am both. I wrote this piece not to comment on the masses or the problems of communalism in India and its villages, but because this is an issue that concerns my friends and their families.

It wasn’t peacefully accepted by anyone, initially, when my parents wanted to marry. The royals had their issues; the Brahmins theirs. And, of course, extremists on both religious sides issued death threats. But the marriage still happened — the fact that my grandmother also had to fight to marry the not-as-wealthy and therefore not-so-suitable nawab of Pataudi might have helped things along. We grew up on real-life romantic stories about our elders marrying for love and not worrying too much about tradition. And we were brought up to believe that god is one, with many names.

When Kareena and I married, there were similar death threats, with people on the Net saying ridiculous things about “love jihad”. We follow whatever religion or spiritual practice we believe in. We talk about them and respect each other’s views. I hope our children will do the same.

I have prayed in church and attended mass with Kareena, while she has bowed her head at dargahs and prayed in mosques. When we purified our new home, we had a havan and a Quran reading and a priest sprinkling holy water — no chances taken!

What is religion? What is faith? Does a perfect definition exist? I don’t know. But I know doubt. I’m intrigued by the politics of doubt. Doubt gives us faith. Doubt keeps us questioning what keeps us alive. If we become sure of something, then there is a danger of becoming fanatical.

Religion needs to be separated from a lot of things. Our religions are based on fear. The Old Testament spoke of a Promised Land for a people, but there were people already living there. The problem is still burning today. There have been too many atrocities committed in the name of god.

I know good people are scared of marrying their daughters to Muslims. They fear conversion, quick divorces, multiple marriages — basically, it suits the boys a bit more than the girls. All this is undoubtedly outdated. A lot of Islam needs to modernise and renew itself in order to be relevant. We also need a loud moderate voice to separate the good from the evil. Islam today is more unpopular than it has ever been. This is a great shame to me, as I have always thought of Islam as the moon, the desert, calligraphy and flying carpets, the thousand and one nights. I have always thought about it as a religion of peace and submission. As I grew older, I saw religion twisted and used so badly by men that I distanced myself from all man-made religion. I choose to be as spiritual as I can be.

Anyway, I digress. The good news is that no one needs to convert from their religion to get married. The Special Marriage Act, when applicable, is the paramount law of the land. If you marry under this, it is upheld over any religious law. It is truly secular.

The fabric of India is woven from many threads — English, Muslim, Hindu and many others. A major concern in today’s India is that we keep deleting our past. To say Muslims don’t have a role in India is denying their importance and contribution. It is like saying women don’t have a part to play in India. Why do we need to deny Islam? It’s what we are. We come with our mix. To deny this is to cheat us of our inheritance. I don’t know what “love jihad” is. It is a complication created in India. I know intermarriages because I am a child of one and my children are born out of it. Intermarriage is not jihad. Intermarriage is India. India is a mix. Ambedkar said the only way to annihilate caste is intermarriage. It is only through intermarriage that the real Indians of tomorrow can be truly equipped to take our nation forward with the right perspective. I am the product of such a mixed marriage and my life has been full of Eid and Holi and Diwali. We were taught to do adaab and namaste with equal reverence.

It is sad that too much importance is given to religion, and not enough to humanity and love. My children were born Muslim but they live like Hindus (with a pooja ghar at home), and if they wanted to be Buddhist, they would have my blessing. That’s how we were brought up.

We are a blend, this great country of ours. It is our differences that make us who we are. We need to get beyond mere tolerance. We need to accept and respect and love each other.

We are most certainly not a secular country. The intention was to become one and our Constitution has provided every framework to make that possible. But, more than six decades on, we have still not separated religion from the law. To make matters worse, different laws apply to different people, making it impossible for us to think as one. There are different laws for Hindus and different laws for Muslims. This is bound to create trouble.

I think we should have one law for all Indians, a uniform civil code, and we should all think of ourselves as one nation. All our religions must come later and be by the way. Teach our children about god and his thousand names, but first we must teach them respect and love of their fellow man. That is more important.

I stopped believing in the Tooth Fairy first, then Santa Claus, and finally, I really don’t know what I feel about a personal god. But I believe in love and in trying to be good and helping the world. I don’t always succeed and then I feel bad. My conscience is my god, I think, and it tells me that that one tree in Pataudi near which my father is buried is closer to god than any temple, church or mosque.

Saif Ali Khan is an actor and producer

Source: The Indian Express

Jobat: A hate story

                                 Joseph Pawar and Ayushi Wani

Written by Milind Ghatwai | Posted: October 12, 2014 12:30 am | Updated: October 12, 2014 8:13 am

Joseph Pawar and Ayushi Wani’s ‘marriage’ was ‘invalidated’ after 5 days in this MP town with rising Hindu right-wing activism. With police citing a court order, the two don’t know where to go for answers, says Milind Ghatwai

Kiya hai to poora karenge (If I’ve loved, I’ll go the distance),” says Joseph Pawar, speaking at an undisclosed location in Indore. That’s what Ayushi Wani, 35 km away at a shelter home in Ujjain, is counting on.

‘Married’ for five days, the 22-year-old Christian youth and the 19-year-old Hindu girl were separated forcibly on October 1 and their wedding declared “invalid” after Hindu right-wing activists took to the streets protesting against the alliance. Ayushi refused to go back to her parents while Joseph was taken away and warned not to return to his hometown Jobat. Ten days later, they fail to understand why it turned out like this.

It was four years ago that the affair began, when Ayushi and Joseph were together at a coaching institute in Jobat. The two went to great lengths to hide it from their families. More than the fact that they belong to different religions, they worried about the reaction of others. Jobat is largely a town of traders, about 200 km from the nearest big city of Indore. For its population of around 20,000, nearly 18,000 of whom are Hindus, the Thursday haat is the most exciting part of their week. Everybody knows almost everybody and social pressure can be hard to fight.

A decade ago, the region had seen the campaign of the BJP and other Hindu fundamentalist organisations against alleged conversion of tribals to Christianity by missionaries using money and other enticements.

Ayushi and Joseph had heard about the tension in the town at the time. So, they hardly met outside the coaching institute, staying in touch over the phone.

Often, the difference between their families would come up for discussion — his being poor and simple, hers aggressive because of their relative wealth.

Around a year ago, they started talking of taking the next step. Ayushi was entering the final year of her B.Sc. at a Jobat college, while Joseph had begun a General Nursing Midwifery course at Indore’s Index Nursing College.

By then, their families had discovered their relationship. While Joseph’s sisters got around to accepting Ayushi, her family said a straight no. They also started pressuring her to marry a person they had identified.

On September 25, the two slipped out of their respective colleges and ran away to Bhopal, where they got married at an Arya Samaj temple.

The same day, after Ayushi didn’t return from college, her family lodged a case of kidnapping against Joseph. Soon, members of the RSS and Hindu Jagaran Manch started protests, threatening to launch an indefinite bandh if the couple were not traced by October 1.

They demanded that Joseph be arrested and that force be used to get Ayushi back to her parents.

In the afternoon of October 1, Ayushi and Joseph, who had been traced to Bhopal, “surrendered” at the office of the Superintendent of Police, Alirajpur. By then, tension had spread from Jobat to this place 35 km away. With hundreds of Hindu right-wing activists gheraoing the Alirajpur SP’s office, the police, under pressure, declared the marriage “invalid”, arguing that Joseph was not a Hindu and the rituals at the Arya Samaj temple meant nothing.

When Ayushi refused to go back to her parents, the protesters demanded that Joseph convert to Hinduism, under the Freedom of Religion Act that mandates a one-month prior notice before conversion. Her parents were present at the SP’s office; his relatives were not informed, though his sisters reached on their own after hearing about what had happened.

Ayushi was driven in a police jeep to Ujjain, and moved into a shelter home run by an NGO under a government scheme. Suspecting threat to his life, police kept Joseph in custody before escorting him to Indore to a relative’s place in the wee hours of the following day, accompanied by his two sisters. Joseph was told not to return to Jobat.

Alirajpur became a district only in 2008 and has only two Assembly seats, Alirajpur and Jobat, both represented by BJP MLAs. The municipal bodies and cooperative societies in Jobat are all controlled by the BJP.

The town has less than 1,000 Christians and only slightly more Muslims. Among the Hindus, the dominating communities are Wanis and Rathods. The Wanis are mostly traders or advocates.

Amkut, a village in Alirajpur, last saw violence in 2004 after a minor girl’s body was found on the premises of the CNI Church. Jobat MLA Madho Singh Dawar claims there have been sporadic incidents since then.

Joseph’s house is located right behind the church, which is now under police protection.

He is the only son and the youngest of four siblings. Their father Sunny Jacob passed away last December, while their mother, who is paralysed, moved out of town following the protests. Joseph and his sisters had a difficult childhood as Jacob, partially disabled, struggled to make ends meet from the earnings from his flour mill.

“Our father was a simple man. He never ventured out because of his disability,” says Savita Singh, Joseph’s sister.

All the three sisters work as nurses, and helped fund Joseph’s education. They had been planning to send Joseph to London to join his eldest sister’s husband, who is also in the same profession.

While Savita works as a nurse at a government hospital in Jobat, her husband Nigam Raymond owns a poultry farm and some agricultural land. He had sought a Congress ticket in the Assembly elections of 2013 and later tried to fight as an Independent.

Less than a kilometre away lives Ayushi’s family, among the more affluent families of Jobat. Her father Rajkumar Wani runs two adjacent cloth showrooms from the ground floor of his house. Ayushi, who has done her entire education in Jobat, has two younger sisters.

Joseph’s sisters say they are surprised at the courage he has shown under pressure. Overweight as a child, he faced constant teasing.

The name he was given then, ‘Dumdum’, stuck on into youth, while on his Facebook page, he appears as a lanky youth with many posts on facing separation and opposition in love. The only departures are a photograph of a suicide note with a girl’s slit wrist next to it, and Amitabh Bachchan aiming a pistol into the camera with ‘DON’ written underneath.

Since October 1, his Facebook page has been drawing only insults. “Jobat ke Hindu uska intzaar kar rahe hein. Yuva Sena pooch rahi laal top kha bhag gaya (The Hindus of Jobat are waiting for him. The Yuva Sena is asking whether he fled after the protest),” wrote Ashish Rathod in separate messages.

When Joseph posted a video and photograph of his wedding ceremony, he was swamped by threats. “I deleted the post,” Joseph says. Ironically, he smiles, he had very few friends and most of them were Hindus.

Seeing him face such anger, Savita says: “Joseph is so timid that even the idea of an electric current makes him fearful. I don’t know how and where his affair began.”

Talking about the day they were brought back to Jobat and separated, Joseph says: “The protesters kept talking only about religion and caste.”

Adding that his love gives him strength, he says: “They pelted stones at my house in Jobat and threatened to burn the church. My sisters received threats to their lives. But I am not going to budge. I want to be with Ayushi.”

Pointing out that police did not even call them to Alirajpur after the couple “surrendered”, Savita says: “In what capacity were the RSS, Bajrang Dal and BJP members intervening?”

Savita tried to make the same argument at the SP’s office, reasoning with the protesters that Christians had not taken to the streets when there were cases of Christian women marrying Hindu men. She says a “leader” told her: “That’s your problem. You should have protested. Then this (Joseph’s marriage) would not have happened.”

That was the first time the sisters actually met Ayushi, though they had seen her fleetingly around town. Savita was impressed. “My brother may waiver, but Ayushi won’t. She is such a bold girl,” says Savita.

However, while Joseph’s sisters have accepted Ayushi, her family shows no signs of relenting. Her distraught father Rajkumar says he wants her to marry within the community. “We will wait for her to return to her senses. She even refused to recognise me at the SP office. Let her spend a few days away and she will realise her mistake,” says the father, adding that Ayushi’s mother is inconsolable and her blood pressure has shot up.

Ask him why they are opposed to Joseph, and the Wanis say while they are “pure vegetarian”, his family eats “mutton and fish”. Adds Rajkumar,

“Had we known of her affair, we would have long nipped it in the bud.”

More than the Wanis, though, it is Hindu right-wing activists who are in the forefront of the protests, insisting on talking on behalf of the family.

“Christians are bad people,” says Shailesh Wani, a right-wing activist who claims to be Ayushi’s cousin. “They roam around doing nothing. Joseph does not earn anything. If his sisters stop giving him pocket money, how will he and Ayushi survive?”

Vani also demands action against the Arya Samaj. “Shouldn’t they be banned for conducting such marriages despite the court judgment?” he asks.

Other activists allege that unions like the one between Joseph and Ayushi are a conspiracy to increase the Christian population. While Ayushi is an adult now, she was “brainwashed” when she was 15 or 16, they allege.

Jobat MLA Madho Singh Dawar backs the charges, accusing Christians of luring away Hindu girls. “Inka kaam hi hai (that’s what they do),” he says. When asked about relationships between Hindu boys and Christian girls, he says, “The boys don’t marry, but just ‘keep’ the girls.”

It is statements such as these that worry CNI pastor Emmanuel Ariel. “The right-wing groups feel emboldened now, thinking they won’t be harmed either by the state or Centre. The Congress used to comment on such matters before but after losing elections, they have stopped raising their voice. There’s no one to keep such groups in check.”

The pastor, who sought police protection, says the activists threatened to harm the church. Wary of the fallout on the larger community, the church didn’t get involved, he says. “Even we are against inter-religious marriages because they create friction. But Hindu right-wing activists should have protested before Joseph’s house and not before the church. We did not want to get involved because it concerns an individual, not the community.”

The spokesperson of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Madhya Pradesh, Fr Johny P J, however, asks how the police can declare a marriage between two adults invalid. Even the Church conducts such marriages without asking for caste certificates, he says. “The only condition is that children born out of wedlock are raised in the Christian faith.”

Retired district judge Renu Sharma backs this, saying only courts can declare a marriage valid or invalid. “Police may have segregated the couple to restore law and order, but the girl, who is a major, was free to go anywhere. There was no offence even if the marriage was declared invalid,” she notes.

Even if the high court has issued a guideline for marriages at Arya Samaj temples, and the procedure was not followed in this case, only courts can take a call on the matter, not police, she adds.

Joseph’s family is thinking about moving the Madhya Pradesh High Court to seek Ayushi’s custody. Joseph claims that after the marriage at the Arya Samaj temple, they had also gone to the Bhopal Municipal Corporation to get it registered, suggesting it made it legal.

He won’t talk about whether he would convert to Hinduism, as demanded by the Hindu right-wing.

Ayushi says he doesn’t need to, just so to please others. “What right do they have to interfere?” she adds, talking about the protesters, some of whom even threw stones as she was being taken away from the SP’s office in a police jeep.

Sharing space at the shelter home with two minors whose partners are in jail on “kidnapping” charges, Ayushi says: “Some of them used to tease me by dropping hints about our affair. I knew something would go wrong, but did not imagine things would come to such a pass.”

When she refused to return to her parents, her relatives and the activists told her Joseph could never provide for her, and that he lived on Rs 2,000 given to him by his sisters. Ayushi says money does not matter to her and that she would rather live with Joseph than go back to her parents who, according to her, want her to marry someone else. “They would have confined me to the house and never allowed me to step out again.”

Smiling and crying in equal measure, Ayushi points out that she has neither the clothes nor the jewellery of a new bride. But she is resolute that she took the right step. Had she kept mum before the police or gone back to her parents, she fears what the protesters would have done to Joseph. “They wanted me to implicate him… They want Joseph behind bars,” she says.

Both Ayushi and Joseph worry about the future, and how they would find a way back together from where they are now. “I never thought something like this would happen to me,” says Joseph.

Ayushi stresses she is ready to “do anything to go back to him”. And, if that is what it takes, “I am ready to practise both religions.”

THE LAWS

Freedom of Religion Act

An amended form of the previous anti-conversion legislation. The new law, brought in the state by the BJP after it came to power, requires those seeking to convert and the priest presiding over the conversion to notify a district magistrate a month in advance. The police station concerned then has to find out if force was used or money offered for conversion, on the basis of which the district magistrate would allow conversion.

Arya Samaj order

In May 2013, the Madhya Pradesh High Court issued guidelines for the Arya Samaj management to follow before allowing weddings on their premises. Arguing that marriages without parents’ consent were creating social problems, the court said the management should take written applications from a would-be bride and groom, before fixing the wedding date for a week later. The management should then inform the parents, through registered intimation, the date and venue of the proposed ceremony, and five relatives each from both sides should be present for it. The court also ordered that the police station and collector of the district where the groom and bride live should also be notified.

Special Marriage Act

A Central legislation, it allows couples to marry irrespective of the religion they belong to. Under it, marriage is a contract. Once the couple apply, a notice, inviting objections within a month, is displayed at the office of the collector concerned.

Source: The Indian Expres

శ్రీ కౌముది అక్టోబర్ 2014

Hinduism losing its benign face… no one at top stepping in: Nariman

Express News Service | New Delhi | Posted: September 12, 2014 10:14 pm

Nariman said he agreed that the central govt had done nothing to act against 

tirades by individuals or groups against members of religious minorities.

Nariman said he agreed that the central govt had done nothing to act against tirades by individuals or groups against members of religious minorities. Nariman said he agreed that the central govt had done nothing to act against tirades by individuals or groups against members of religious minorities.

Hinduism is losing its benign character because a few people believe that it is their faith that has brought them political power — and because their belief has not been contradicted by “those at the top”, Fali S Nariman said on Friday. The constitutional expert, one of India’s most respected jurists, was delivering the annual lecture at the National Commission for Minorities.

“Traditionally Hinduism has been the most tolerant of all Indian faiths. But — recurrent instances of religious tension fanned by fanaticism and hate speech has shown that the Hindu tradition of tolerance is showing signs of strain. And let me say this frankly — my apprehension is that Hindusim is somehow changing its benign face because, and only because it is believed and proudly proclaimed by a few (and not contradicted by those at the top): that it is because of their faith and belief that HINDUS have been now put in the driving seat of governance,” Nariman said.

He said that while he welcomed a single-party majority government at the Centre, he also feared it because of past experience with majoritarian governments.

Nariman said he agreed that the central government had done nothing to act against tirades by individuals or groups against members of religious minorities. After the lecture, asked about the silence of Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla on hate speeches, Nariman bluntly said: “You should ask her that.”

Heptulla had presided over the function. “I would respectfully suggest that if we minorities (through the statutory body set up by Parliament ) do not stand up for the rights of minorities and protest against such hate speeches and diatribes how do we expect the government to do so? A majoritarian government is elected and exists mainly on the vote of the majority community. On the other hand the commission is an independent statutory body. Its chairman is not a minister of government. And though it receives grants from the Central government it is not expected to be a mere mouthpiece of that government,” Nariman said.

He lauded the role played by the Supreme Court in upholding minority rights on many occasions, terming it a “Super Minorities Commission”, but he said that the judicial outlook had undergone a gradual metamorphosis since the early 1990s when the BJP first introduced the phrase “appeasement of minorities” in the political lexicon to describe the Congress’s attitude towards minorities.

“The label stuck; ‘minority’ became and has become an unpopular word. And after the same political party had included in its Election Manifesto in the general election of May-June 1991 the party’s resolve if and when it came into power to amend Article 30 to the disadvantage of minorities, ‘minority rights’ got less and less protected by Courts (including the Supreme Court of India) than they were before,” Nariman said.

Source: The Indian Express

Eat mangoes to lower your blood sugar

IndiaToday.in  New Delhi, September 9, 2014 | UPDATED 19:23 IST
 

By consuming just 10 grams of mangoes daily you can help manage your high blood sugar, particularly in obese people, a new study has found.

Researchers have found that regular consumption of mango by obese adults may lower blood sugar levels and does not negatively impact body weight.

"We are excited about these promising findings for mangoes, which contain many bioactive compounds, including mangiferin, an antioxidant that may contribute to the beneficial effects of mango on blood glucose. In addition, mangoes contain fibre, which can help lower glucose absorption into the blood stream," said Edralin Lucas, associate professor of nutritional sciences at Oklahoma State University and lead study author.

"Our results indicate that daily consumption of 10 grams of freeze-dried mango, which is equivalent to about one-half of a fresh mango (about 100 grams), may help lower blood sugar in obese individuals," said Lucas.

Participants completing the 12-week study included 20 adults (11 males and 9 females) aged 20 to 50 years.

The researchers found that after 12 weeks, participants had reduced blood glucose, and this glucose lowering effect was seen in both males and females.

No changes were observed in overall body weight, hip or waist circumference, waist to hip ratio, percent fat mass, and lean mass, researchers said.

However, hip circumference was significantly lower in males but not females. BMI tended to be higher in females but not males after mango supplementation, although these results were not statistically significant, they said.

"We believe this research suggests that mangoes may give obese individuals a dietary option in helping them maintain or lower their blood sugar," said Lucas.

The study was published in the journal Nutrition and Metabolic Insights.

Source: indiatoday

A bed of flowers or a pile of cow-dung?

September 7, 2014

Raghu Murtugudde

We occasionally run into some people who are eternally optimistic, flitting across life like a hummingbird darting among flowers and savouring nectar.

And then there are some who seem eternally miserable with nothing positive to say about anything or anybody, evoking the image of a worm writhing inescapably in a life that is like a pile of cow-dung.

What makes some so happy and trusting while some others so melancholic and suspicious despite being surrounded by loving family?

This can be especially painful when someone close to you is not only of the morose disposition but also advancing in years and needs to be looked after.

The western world has made the transition into a societal structure where the old are pretty much expected to check themselves into a retirement home and take care of themselves. But a country like India is still in transition from a generation that expects to be taken care of by their children, to a new middle-aged generation that sees the inevitability of not being able to count on their children during their own impending old age.

This responsibility of caring for aging parents and grandparents comes with a cultural narrative that makes it sinfully disrespectful to say anything negative about elders. Yet, with the nuclearisation of families the practicality of the situation is that many of the elderly end up living on their own.

Why this cultural obsession about not facing the reality that unsavoury persons are not just out there creating instability elsewhere but they could be close relatives as well? We are all human, after all. Would we be better off understanding how trust and respect actually manifest among humans?
The trust molecule

A hormone called oxytocin is shown to be the trust molecule, and it is associated with feelings of mutual trust. It is also known as the cuddle or love hormone, as it spikes during orgasm. It is most active during childbirth and breastfeeding. Experiments done with oxytocin sprays show enhanced levels of trust and cooperation.

Oxytocin release happens for most people with a simple smile from a stranger leading to small conversations and likely friendships or even mutually beneficial transactions.

Trust levels are generally found to be higher in richer countries than in poor countries. Of course, it is known that the poor are subject to higher levels of cognitive constraints or difficulties in making rational decisions since self-control is a limited quantity; one big decision in the morning can make it harder to make more difficult decisions during the rest of the day, leading to a catch-22 situation of being trapped in difficulty with trust.

So how does this relate to pessimistic personalities or even abusive behaviour towards one’s own family members? Many individuals, for example those suffering from autism or with brain damage, can have low oxytocin levels or an inability to assimilate oxytocin like normal people. This can lead to sociopathic behaviour in extreme cases or simply result in an utter inability to form trusting social interactions in the most benign cases.
Sensitivity reset

Research indicates that the lack of a secure family environment or a sense of isolation and insecurity may reset the sensitivity of an individual to oxytocin release. Any feeling of not being trusted is found to cause elevated levels of testosterone release and an aggressive or confrontational behaviour among men with these brain dysfunctions. The nuclearisation of families is possibly causing a sense of isolation and unpredictability among the elderly and must definitely be exacerbating abusive behaviour with old age for those who may already have an oxytocin deficiency.

Most of us know someone — often a close relative who seems to be sociopathic and even oblivious to the suffering of his own child or grandchild — who is aggressive to the extent of being grossly abusive on a daily basis. The cultural norms and expectations place a cruel burden, especially on care-giving woman members of the family, forcing them to tolerate atrocities from the ‘elderly’. It is not sufficient to explain away cruel behaviour as a medical condition. Sadly, it is often not even possible to treat these conditions with anti-depressants or other palliative drugs because of the social stigma of consulting a psychiatrist. It is time for us to accept that life need not become a pile of cow-dung and we need not get stuck till the dung dries and the worm dies. Death is inevitable but it can be a pleasant journey to the destination. It is time to accept the frailties of the human mind and face the reality that even our own relatives can be afflicted with psychological disorders.

ragu@essic.umd.edu

Source: The Hindu

శ్రీ కౌముది సెప్టెంబర్ 2014

Nothing Vedic in ‘Vedic Maths’

Opinion                                                                                                     September 3, 2014

C. K. Raju

Advocating ‘Vedic mathematics’ as a replacement for traditional Indian arithmetic is hardly an act of nationalism; it only shows ignorance of the history of mathematics

Gujarat has made it compulsory for school students to read the texts of Dinanath Batra, endorsed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to news reports, Mr. Batra has now proposed a non-governmental education commission which will Indianise education through, for instance, Vedic mathematics. The Minister for Education has also mentioned Vedic mathematics as part of her agenda.

Ignorant of tradition

One appreciates the desire of these people to work for Indian traditions. But where in the Vedas is “Vedic mathematics” to be found? Nowhere. Vedic mathematics has no relation whatsoever to the Vedas. It actually originates from a book misleadingly titled Vedic Mathematics by Bharati Krishna Tirtha. The book admits on its first page that its title is misleading and that the (elementary arithmetic) algorithms expounded in the book have nothing to do with the Vedas. This is repeated on p. xxxv: “Obviously these formulas are not to be found in the present recensions of Atharvaveda.” I have been pointing this out since 1998. Regrettably, the advocates of “Vedic mathematics,” though they claim to champion Indian tradition, are ignorant of the actual tradition in the Vedas. Second, they do not even know what is stated in the book — the real source of “Vedic mathematics.” Third, they are unaware of scholarly writing on the subject. When education policy is decided by such ignorant people, they only end up making a laughing stock of themselves and the Vedas, and thus do a great disservice to the very tradition which they claim to champion.

Everyone learns how to add, subtract, multiply and divide in school. Why should we replace those algorithms with “Vedic mathematics”? Will that Indianise education? No. The standard arithmetic algorithms actually originated in India, where they were known by various names such as patiganita (slate arithmetic). However, the word “algorithm” comes from “algorithmus”: the Latinised name of al Khwarizmi of the 9th century House of Wisdom in Baghdad. He wrote an expository book on Indian arithmetic called Hisab al Hind. Gerbert d’Aurillac (later Pope Sylvester II), the leading European mathematician of the 10th century, imported these arithmetic techniques from the Umayyad Khilafat of Córdoba. He did so because the primitive Greek and Roman system of arithmetic (tied to the abacus), then prevailing in Europe, was no match for Indian arithmetic. However, accustomed to the abacus (on which he wrote a tome), Gerbert was perplexed by algorithms based on the place-value system, and foolishly got a special abacus (apices) constructed for these “Arabic numerals” in 976 CE. Hence the name “Arabic numerals” — because a learned pope amusingly thought there was some magic in the shape of the numerals which made arithmetic efficient.

Later, Florentine merchants realised that efficient Indian arithmetic algorithms conferred a competitive advantage in commerce. Fibonacci, who traded across Islamic Africa, translated al Khwarizmi’s work, as did many others, which is why they came to be known as algorithms. Eventually, after 600 years, Indian algorithms displaced the European abacus and were introduced in the Jesuit syllabus as “practical mathematics” circa 1570 by Christoph Clavius. These algorithms are found in many early Indian texts, such as the Patiganita of Sridhar or the Ganita Sara Sangraha of Mahavira, or the Lilavati of Bhaskara II. So, advocating “Vedic mathematics” as a replacement for traditional Indian arithmetic is hardly an act of nationalism. On the contrary, it only shows ignorance of the history of mathematics. Spreading this ignorance among future generations will weaken the nation, not strengthen it.

The techniques of “Vedic mathematics” are designed for mental arithmetic, traditionally used by lower caste artisans such as carpenters or by people like Shakuntala Devi. There are many other such systems of mental arithmetic today. If that is what we intend to promote, we should first do a systematic comparison. We should also be honest and refrain from using the misleading label “Vedic” which is the main selling point of Bharti Krishna Tirtha’s system, and which attracts gullible people who infer value just from the wrapper.
Suppressing real Mathematics

Promoting the wrongly labelled “Vedic mathematics” suppresses the mathematics that really does exist in the Vedas. For example, Yajurveda 17.2 elaborates on the decimal place value system (the basis of Indian algorithms) and some of those names for numbers are still in use, though terms such as arab (arbudam) have changed meaning. That passage shows that the place value system extends back to Vedic times, and it was a late acquisition only in mathematically backward Europe.

Likewise, the theory of permutations and combinations is built into the Vedic metre (and Indian music in general), as explained in various texts from Pingala’s Chandahsutra to Bhaskar’s Lilavati. The aksa sukta of the Rgveda gives a beautiful account of the game of dice, which is the foundation of the theory of probability. The romantic story of Nala and Damayanti in the Mahabharata further relates dice to sampling theory (to count the number of fruits in a tree).

More details are in my article on “Probability in Ancient India” available online and published in the Elsevier Handbook of the Philosophy of Statistics. However, all these scholarly efforts are jeopardised, for they too are viewed with suspicion.

We need to change the Western and colonial education system, especially with regard to mathematics. Traditional Indian ganita has much to offer in this process, but “Vedic mathematics” is definitely not the right way.

Wrong solutions like “Vedic mathematics” persist because an insecure political dispensation values the politically loyal over the learned who are loyal to the truth. (“Merit” apparently is important only in the context of reservations.) Such political processes are historically known to damage real traditions.

As I wrote over a decade ago in my book The Eleven Pictures of Time, those who attain or retain state power through religion are the worst enemies of that religion, whatever be the religion they claim to represent: Christianity, Islam, or Hinduism.

(C.K. Raju is author of Cultural Foundations of Mathematics. He was professor of mathematics, and Editorial Fellow of the Project of History of Indian Science, Philosophy and Culture.)

Source: The Hindu

Home no more: when parting is such sweet sorrow

August 31, 2014

Vinod Jain

                                                                                       The Hindu

The bags were all packed; the furniture was stacked in a corner. The curtains, the fans, the family photographs — of his parents, of him with his wife just after his wedding on a trip to a quiet hill station, the one he liked the most, of his children with their spouses, of his granddaughter — had all been taken down. The rooms were empty, the walls bare.

He had signed all the papers with the realtor the previous day. He remembered how the realtor was shaking his hand vigorously, mumbling something about a deal well done, while he looked at him blankly, speechless and not knowing how to respond.

The packers will now come and shift the meagre belongings, the ones still left with him. He would be moving out the next day.

He walked about the empty rooms in a trance. Each wall, each corner, had its share of memories; the family space, where they had held birthday parties for their children and later for his grand-daughter; the terrace, where he had helped them out with their studies; its far corner, where he had helped his grand-daughter sail paper boats during the rain, which invariably turned turtle and sank near the drain.

He remembered the morning tea he would have with his wife on the terrace. She would point at the swallows that would gather on the malshree tree near it, and the koel singing there during the summer months. The swallows had disappeared lately; he didn’t know why. Someone told him it was because of a mobile phone tower in the vicinity.

He looked at the kitchen, now bare. Not so long ago his mother and later his wife had cooked the evening meals on the fire here, making chapatis while the entire family sat around it warming itself in the cold winter nights.

He once again lingeringly looked at the room, where not so long ago he and his wife had performed the griha pravesh ceremony. They had slept on its floor that night. A small Ganesh idol and an earthen pitcher were placed in its corner.

He looked out towards the small garden and the lawn that he and his wife had painstakingly tended to over the years. His wife was very fond of the flowers and their small garden.

He looked out at the tall kachnar tree, which they had planted together years ago. It would blossom, soon after Basant Panchami with its silver-and-mauve flowers. Come Holi and its leaves would begin to pale and fall: one by one, a few at a time sometimes. But the bell-shaped flowers would bloom, even as its branches gradually became bare. Day after day, it would be a fascinating sight. The tree would be bereft of all its leaves, while the flowers would be in full bloom, like small, delicate cotton balls, tucked away gently amidst the craggy twigs in those crimson and gold evenings in March. It seemed to symbolise life itself. Life, which struggles to grow and blossom — despite impossible odds, despite the realty of the all-pervasive evil around it.

The kachnar used to have a short blossom. It would be over within a fortnight. But by then, it was the turn of the amaltas, standing next to it. Its lemon-yellow flowers would fill out one whole corner of the garden. In the hot April afternoons, they would shimmer with an almost ethereal quality: like a Van Gogh Painting.

And then, when the summer heat was really on, the majestic Gulmohar in the far corner would turn flaming red. Its brilliance would match the flaming sun, up in the heavens. And, as if not to be overshadowed by the giant Gulmohar, the lowly lilies, which had lain supine for almost the whole year, would suddenly come alive, stand erect and burst into off-white and brick-red flowers. The whole garden would become a riot of colours, a feast for the eyes.

In another corner was the bael tree. People would come reverentially during the month of Shravan to a pick up a few leaves from it for the Siva temple. And, then there was the jamun tree, which would bring in the neighbourhood children, for a handful of jamuns picked up with a surreptitious glee.

The kachnar was, however, his favourite. He felt a strange kinship with it, he knew not why. Perhaps because it symbolised life itself, which struggles to grow and blossom. He had often just stood and stared at its fragile beauty as those crimson and gold evenings in March disintegrated outside.

His children had left for distant shores for a ‘better’ life. They had their careers to look after. He wondered where he had failed them. His wife had gone home several years back. They would be shifting him to an old age home with all ‘modern’ facilities, all for a reasonable package. He looked once again at the walls, the photographs, the terrace. And he just stood and stared at the garden uncertain of the days that were to unfold ahead, uncertain of the road he was to follow.

Will the kachnar tree continue to blossom in silent memory of someone, who had often stood and stared at it in admiration in those crimson and gold evenings like a lone morning forest star? Long after, the deep would have claimed him back into its own.

vinodjain30@gmail.com

Source: The Hindu

Indian marriages are now made in Mauritius

Indo-Asian News Service | August 28, 2014 1:15 pm

Mauritius, the Indian Ocean island that is home to a sizable Indian diaspora, is targeting this segment in a serious manner, a senior official said.

With destination weddings catching up amongst rich Indian families, which in turn rakes in good money for hotels and others, Mauritius, the Indian Ocean island that is home to a sizable Indian diaspora, is targeting this segment in a serious manner, a senior official said.

“We have started talking to wedding planners in India. We took a group of wedding planners from here to Mauritius and plan to take another group soon to showcase what Mauritius offers,” Mauritius Tourism Development Authority (MTDA) deputy director Vijaye Haulder told IANS here.

Haulder, whose forefathers hailed from West Bengal and settled in Mauritius several generations ago, is here to conduct road shows in four Indian cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore. He said Indian wedding planners or organisers would also be given handsome incentives that are offered to meetings, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) operators from India.

“Duty free liquor is also offered,” he added.

Mauritius is a well-known wedding destination for European celebrities and sportspersons.

“In the case of Europeans or other nationalities, the wedding group would be not more than 10-15 people. In many cases only the to-be-married couple would come here. But Indian weddings are different,” Haulder said.

He said the size of Indian wedding groups coming to Mauritius ranges between 350 and 800.

Such a large size bodes well for Air Mauritius – the sole airline flying direct to Mauritius out of India – the hotels and other tourist players there.

Haulder said around 8-10 Indian weddings are now being held in Mauritius. According to him, annually around 10 celebrity weddings happen in Mauritius. The celebrities are from varied fields – movie actors (China, Japan, Hollywood), football players and others.

Queried about promoting such weddings among Indian celebrities, he said: “We are open. We can have it free of cost. It would be a brand building exercise for us among Indians.”

While celebrities would like to have their wedding in privacy, they do talk about it in their social media, which is a good branding activity for Mauritius Tourism, Haulder said.

“It is not only marriages, even engagement ceremonies and pre-engagement photography is being done in Mauritius by Indians,” said Medha Sampat, founder, Knack Marketing, a travel marketing and representative company in Mumbai.

The company is the India representative for Sun Resorts Ltd that runs star hotels in Mauritius.

Sampat said the Indian wedding group size would be between 200 and 500 people, giving good food and beverage revenue to the hotels.

Normally members of Indian wedding groups would spend two or three nights in Mauritius.

Meanwhile, Mauritius Tourism hopes to attract around 60,000 Indians to Mauritius this year, up from around 58,000 people who travelled there last year.

According to Haulder, the island nation is confident of attracting more than one million tourists this year up from over 900,000 who visited in 2013.

“It is a medium-haul destination (travel time around six hours) and has got a European feel. It is a year-round tourist destination. The hotels and resorts are on the beaches and one need not go out in search of a beach,” Vivek Anand, MTDA country manager-India, told IANS.

He, however, agreed that in terms of air fare Sri Lanka and the Maldives are much cheaper destinations.

Anand said Mauritius is a family destination where there are fun and adventure activities like submarine rides, undersea walks, walking with the lions et al for the entire family.

Air Mauritius connects Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore with Mauritius with its Airbus A-330 aircraft.

Source: The Indian Express

For the love of God

Navin B. Chawla
August 26, 2014

UNDYING SPIRIT: Mother Teresa was optimistic that the Missionaries of Charity 
would remain committed to providing for the poorest of the poor. Picture, by noted 
photographer Eddie Adams, shows Mother Teresa and an armless child at her order’s 
orphanage in Calcutta in 1978.

We need to take a leaf out of the book of Mother Teresa’s continuing work to better understand why we are still so shamefully placed on the Human Development Index

Kusum was a child of about six when I first saw her in one of Mother Teresa’s ashrams, very close to where I live. Two things struck me at once. The first was that she was crippled and the second was her lovely smile. In those days, I went quite often to that Home, and little Kusum was always there to greet me. I soon learned that she would never be able to stand on her feet because of her many disabilities, and so the Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity would wait on her hand and foot. They fed her, bathed her, dressed her in new clothes every morning, and carried her to the toilet every time she needed to go. They changed her clothes each time she inadvertently soiled them. Painstakingly, she learned to say “Hello” to me when I came by and one day I was delighted to hear her add “uncle” to complete her little sentence. The Sisters had found Kusum somewhere between two busy roads where she was being forced to beg for alms.

On the afternoon that they found her, it was pouring with rain and the drenched child had a wracking cough. They looked for a parent or a guardian. They found none. They reported the matter to the local police. They needed to take her to a hospital for medical attention. After she stabilised, they brought her to their ashram, where she joined about 60 children who all suffered from mental or physical disabilities. More than one orthopaedician to whom she was taken opined that her legs had broken either in an accident or perhaps deliberately. But when anyone asked her who had done this to her so that she could be made to beg, she would burst into tears. That was the only time she would cry. For the rest of the time, Kusum’s smile would invariably reach her eyes.

“Implementers like us hardly ever ‘adopt’ an area in the country to see if the schemes that look good on our files are being implemented on the ground”

Kusum could well be the child whom we see from the comfort of our cars, when we stop at a traffic intersection. We react with disgust (“Why doesn’t the government do something about these beggars?”) or a sense of guilt, as we either give the child some money or look in another direction, hoping the traffic light will change to enable us to speed away. But while we salve our consciences in some way or the other, we seldom, if ever, do anything to help with our own hands.

Providing lifelong care

Little known to most of us, there is an intrepid band of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity Sisters and Brothers who spread out each day into streets, slums and ghettos. They do so not just in our cities, but also in urban clusters in 136 countries. They rescue the homeless. They feed the hungry. They treat the sick and leprosy-affected. They rescue abandoned children like Kusum from predatory streets and provide them lifelong care with the love they should have rightfully received from their real mothers — who cast them aside because the children were either challenged, deformed or illegitimate. The Sisters perform these daily miracles without expectation of reward or favour.

For the 23 years that I knew Mother Teresa, I witnessed the growth of her organisation till it had covered almost 600 orphanages, old age homes, leprosy and feeding stations, and schools and homes for the dying, in 123 countries. However, I used to worry about what would happen to the Order that she had founded when she passed away. I had seen many Orders decline steeply after their charismatic founders died. In the course of writing her biography, I felt the need to ask her how an organisation that had grown exponentially during her lifetime could possibly survive without her at the helm.

The first time that I attempted to do so, she did not answer, but instead pointed a finger heavenwards. A few weeks later I tried again, but this time she just laughed my question away. It is very awkward for most of us to repeatedly discuss the death of a parent or elderly relative or a friend with the person directly. But as a biographer, I had to persist. On the third occasion, she finally gave me her answer. She told me that I had visited so many of her “homes” — in India, in Europe and the U.S. Her Sisters everywhere did the same kind of work, wore the same saris woven by ex-leprosy sufferers, lived and worked the same rigorous schedule; yet Mother Teresa was not everywhere. And then in a gentle dig, she asked why her organisation could not be as well organised as one in the government. She added a crucial caveat. As long as the Missionaries of Charity remained wedded to its special fourth vow — that of providing wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor — and did not end up serving the middle classes or the rich, “we will be all right,” she said.

Many friends have asked me how Mother Teresa’s organisation has fared over the years since her death in 1997. My answer is based on the underlying spirit of the Sisters and Brothers of her Order whose abiding faith in God is their anchor. That is what propels these brave and always cheerful women and men to step out each day to scour the streets for those who have fallen by the wayside. For in the act of rescuing or caring, they are one with their God. Mother Teresa once explained this to me simply but meaningfully. “You can, at best, look after a few loved ones in your family. I can look after everyone, because for me they are all God.” This also helped in explaining her answer to a rich lady who visited her and saw her cleaning the ulcers of a leprosy patient. “I can never do this work for all the money in the world,” the lady said. “Nor can I,” answered Mother Teresa cheerfully. “But I do it for my love of Him.”

Divorced from reality

Ending this on a less cheerful note, after 41 years of experience in the government, I have had to conclude that the world of bureaucrats and planners, of which I too was a part, remains divorced from the reality of our poor. While we are still determining where to draw the poverty line, implementers like us hardly ever “adopt” an area in the country to see for ourselves if the schemes that look good on our files are being implemented on the ground — in whole or even in part.

Arguably, we need to take a leaf out of the book of the Ramakrishna Mission, or of Baba Amte’s and Mother Teresa’s continuing work, to better understand why we are still, 67 years after our Independence, so shamefully placed on the Human Development Index.

Five years ago, Kusum developed several complications related to her early deprivation. She died in a city hospital where the Sisters rushed her. She had enjoyed just a dozen years of love and security. She was just 18 when she died.

(Navin B. Chawla, former Chief Election Commissioner, is the author of Mother Teresa: The Authorized Biography. Today, he commemorates Mother Teresa’s 104th anniversary. E-mail: navinbchawla@hotmail.com)

Source: The Hindu

On Sikhs being a part of Hindus

In a country that takes pride in its many religions, cultures and customs, with each being unique and distinct, bunching up many of them under any one umbrella doesn’t seem to be taken too kindly. Earlier this month, it was RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat who received a lesson on the same.

Following his statement on “Sikhs being a part of Hindus”, he got a rather stern letter written by Minority Commission of Delhi member, Harvinder Singh Sarna, who noted: “Sikhs have their own way of worship and separate identity.”

He went on to add: “This is against the spirit of the Constitution and against the spirit of Independent India. In the Constitution those who have written it have recognised minorities – Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhist, etc.’’

“I request your good self that this statement should be taken back and no such statement should be issued in the interest of the country,” Mr. Sarna concluded.

Source: The Hindu

Over 300 Survivors and Descendants of Survivors of Victims of the Nazi Genocide Condemn Israel’s Assault on Gaza

As Jewish survivors and descendants of survivors and victims of the Nazi genocide we unequivocally condemn the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza and the ongoing occupation and colonization of historic Palestine. We further condemn the United States for providing Israel with the funding to carry out the attack, and Western states more generally for using their diplomatic muscle to protect Israel from condemnation. Genocide begins with the silence of the world.

We are alarmed by the extreme, racist dehumanization of Palestinians in Israeli society, which has reached a fever-pitch. In Israel, politicians and pundits in The Times of Israel and The Jerusalem Post have called openly for genocide of Palestinians and right-wing Israelis are adopting Neo-Nazi insignia.

Furthermore, we are disgusted and outraged by Elie Wiesel’s abuse of our history in these pages to justify the unjustifiable: Israel’s wholesale effort to destroy Gaza and the murder of more than 2,000 Palestinians, including many hundreds of children. Nothing can justify bombing UN shelters, homes, hospitals and universities. Nothing can justify depriving people of electricity and water.

We must raise our collective voices and use our collective power to bring about an end to all forms of racism, including the ongoing genocide of Palestinian people. We call for an immediate end to the siege against and blockade of Gaza. We call for the full economic, cultural and academic boycott of Israel. “Never again” must mean NEVER AGAIN FOR ANYONE!

Source: IJAN 

Added Read:

Jewish Holocaust survivors from around the world call for justice in Gaza

President Pranab Mukherjee greets nation ahead of I-day: Full text

IndiaToday.in  New Delhi, August 14, 2014 | UPDATED 19:40 IST

President Pranab Mukherjee

Fellow citizens, on the eve of 67th anniversary of our Independence, I extend warm greetings to you and to all Indians around the world. I convey my special greetings to members of our armed forces, paramilitary forces and internal security forces. I also congratulate all our sportspersons, who have participated and won laurels in the recently-concluded Commonwealth Games held at Glasgow.

Friends, freedom is a celebration; independence is a challenge. In the 68th year of freedom, we have reaffirmed the power of our individual and collective liberties by electing through a remarkably peaceful electoral process, a stable government with a clear majority for a single party, after three decades. The increase in voter turnout to 66 per cent from the last election's 58 per cent shows the vitality of our democracy. This achievement has given us an opportunity to take up the challenge of governance by reforming the policies, practices and systems of governance so that the enormous aspirations of our people can be fulfilled with vision, commitment, integrity, speed and administrative capability.

Stagnant minds create immobile systems which become roadblocks to growth. India demands creative thinking in governance that enables fast-track development and ensures social harmony. The nation has to be placed above partisan impulses. The people come first.

In a democracy, good governance is exercise of power for efficient and effective management of our economic and social resources for the well-being of the people. This power has to be exercised within the framework of the Constitution through the institutions of state. With the passage of time and changes in the eco-system, distortions do appear making some institutions dysfunctional. When one institution does not function in the manner expected of it, phenomenon of overreach sets in. While some new institutions might become necessary, the real solution lies in re-inventing and restoring the existing ones to serve the purpose of effective government.

Good governance is critically dependent on rule of law, participatory decision-making, transparency, responsiveness, accountability, equity and inclusiveness. It calls for wider involvement of the civil society in the political process. It calls for deeper engagement of the youth with the institutions of democracy. It calls for quick dispensation of justice to the people. It calls for ethical and responsible behaviour from the media.

A country of our size, heterogeneity and complexity calls for culture-specific governance models. It calls for cooperation in the exercise of power and assumption of responsibility, by all stakeholders. It calls for constructive partnership between the state and the citizen. It calls for taking a responsive administration to the door step of every hut and habitation in the land.

Fellow Citizens, the decisive challenge of our times is to end the curse of poverty. The focus of our policies now has to move from alleviation of poverty to elimination of poverty. The difference is not mere semantics: alleviation is a process; elimination is a time-defined objective. In last six decades, the poverty ratio has declined from over 60 per cent to less than 30 per cent. Even then, nearly one-third of our population still lives below the poverty line. Poverty is not a mere statistic. Poverty has a face, which becomes unbearable when it scars the visage of a child. The poor cannot, and will not, wait for yet another generation to see the very essentials of life - food, shelter, education and employment - being denied to them. The benefits from economic development must percolate down to the poorest of the poor.

In the last decade, our economy grew at an average rate of 7.6 per cent per year. Though the growth rate was subdued at below 5 per cent during the last two years, I sense renewed vigour and optimism in the air. Signs of revival are visible. Our external sector has strengthened. Fiscal consolidation measures are beginning to show results. Notwithstanding occasional spurts, inflation has started moderating.  However, food prices still remain a matter of serious concern.  Record food grains production last year helped agriculture sector to grow at a healthy 4.7 per cent. Employment has increased by an average of about 4 per cent per year in the last decade. Manufacturing sector is on the rebound. The stage is now set for our economy to move on a high growth trajectory of 7 to 8 per cent, which is essential to ensure the availability of adequate resources for equitable development.

Fellow Citizens, economy is the material part of development. Education is the essential part of it. A sound education system is the bedrock of an enlightened society. It is the bounden duty of our educational institutions to provide quality education and inculcate the core civilizational values of love for motherland; compassion for all; tolerance for pluralism; respect for women; performance of duty; honesty in life; self-restraint in conduct, responsibility in action and discipline in young minds. By the end of the Twelfth Five Year Plan, we would have achieved a literacy rate of eighty per cent. But would we be able to say that we have provided quality education and skills to our children to be good citizens and successful professionals?

Our thoughts are influenced by our environment. "Yadrishi Bhavana Yasya; Siddhir Bhavati Tadrishi". It means, "Whatever are one's thoughts, so will be the outcomes". Clean environment breeds clean thoughts. Cleanliness is a mark of self-respect. Ancient travellers like Megasthenes in the 4th Century BC, Fa Hien in the 5th Century AD and Hiuen Tsang in the 7th Century AD, when they came to India, have written about the efficient administrative systems, with planned settlements and good urban infrastructure. What has gone wrong with us now? Why can't we keep our environment free of filth? The Prime Minister's call to honour the memory of Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary, by making India a clean country by 2019 is commendable, but it can be achieved only if each Indian converts this into a national mission. Every road, every path, every office, every home, every hut, every river, every stream, every particle in the air around us can be kept clean, if we but cared just a little. We must nurture nature, so that nature continues to nurture us.

Though an ancient civilization, India is a modern nation with modern dreams. Intolerance and violence is a betrayal of the letter and spirit of democracy. Those who believe in the poison drip of inflammatory provocation do not understand India's values or even its present political impulses. Indians know that progress, economic or social, is difficult without peace. This may be the appropriate moment to recall the great Shivaji's letter to Aurangzeb when the latter imposed jizya. Shivaji told the emperor that Shah Jehan, Jehangir and Akbar could also have levied this tax "but they did not give place to bigotry in their hearts, as they considered all men, high and low, created by God to be examples of the nature of diverse creeds and temperaments". This 17th century epistle of Shivaji carries a message, which is universal. It must become a living testament that guides our behaviour today.

We can least afford to forget this message at a time when an increasingly turbulent international environment has sparked off rising dangers in our region and beyond, some clearly visible, and some crawling out of the debris of unprecedented turmoil. Across parts of Asia and Africa, attempts are being made by radical militias to redraw the maps of nations to create a geography for theocratic ideology. India will feel the heat of blowback, particularly as it represents the values that reject extremism in all its manifestations. India is a beacon of democracy, equilibrium, inter-and-intra faith harmony. We must defend our secular fabric with vigour. Our security and foreign policies must combine the steel of strength with the velvet of diplomacy even as we persuade the like-minded as well as the hesitant to recognise the substantial dangers that breed within indifference.

Fellow Citizens, our Constitution is a consequence of our democratic culture, which reflects our ancient values. It pains me to note that this great national asset is becoming increasingly vulnerable to rash excess. Our right to freedom continues to flourish, and may that always be the case, but what about our duty to the people? I sometimes wonder: has our democracy become too noisy? Have we lost the art of contemplation and calm thinking? Is it not the time to restore the grandeur and glory of our institutions that have sustained and nourished our beautiful democracy? Should not Parliament again become the great hall of sombre thought and well-debated legislation? Should not our courts of law become temples of justice? This calls for collective action by all the stakeholders.

A nation is very young at 68. India has the will, energy, intellect, values and unity to claim the 21st century. The vision to win the battle of freedom from poverty is set; the journey will seem formidable only to those without conviction. As an old saying goes, "Sidhir Bhavati Karmaja", which means, "success is born of action".

Now is the time for action!

Jai Hind.

Source: indiatoday