Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Peshawar Seize - End Support to Terror

It was well past midnight my time when my baby woke up crying indicating diaper time and me and my wife woke up to deal with our routine.  As my wife was getting our baby her time, I happened to read some updates on my phone and it would be least to say that my heart cried aloud.  It cried with the news update on Peshawar Seize by 6 Talibans and the death of 125+ children.  

The dastardly act by the Talibans would burn in the heart of those parents who lost their innocent children.  It would go down as an even in the history where the terrorism touched an all time low of killing innocent children who had nothing to do with terror or their activities.  And to top it up the terrorists state that they did what they did as Pakistan's Army attacked their hide-outs and hence they attacked a School for the Army to feel the same pain as the terrorists.  What a shame!! justifying a cowardly act with something more insane!!!

The whole episode just brings back the discussion point now on to the ever increasing Terrorist Activities which originate from Pakistan's soil and is more of reported to be Sponsored by Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). I just think and it actually pains me when I hear more and more of State Sponsored terrorism by Pakistan.  They have done enough after December 17, 1971 to resort to the State sponsored terrorism and try to destabilize peace and harmony in India and Afghanistan.  But what has it proved? What have they achieved from it?  I don't guess anything in specific.

The overall act of Sponsoring terrorism, allowing terrorist Camps in the NWFP as well as PoK regions, supplying arms and ammunitions to terrorists, letting World's Most Wanted Criminals to go scott free (read likes of Hafeez Saed) and then to top it up, just to show the world, become the Preferred Partner of US in War Against Terrorism to get few billion $$ of grant that they again syphon towards supporting terrorism.....a full circle....what do they get? I guess in the end they got Peshawar seize and there we all know innocent kids got butchered...

Would this not just be the right time for Pakistan to pull back all its resources supporting Terrorism and Stop sponsoring any terrorist outfit?  Would Pakistan as a nation for once would like to get together for the purpose of putting an end to the idiosynchronacy of a few.  Something that they resorted to and something that they started 40+ years back needs to be discontinued NOW.  

as Vikram Chandra tweeted well -  "16th Dec 1971 led Pakistan towards state-sponsored terrorism. 16th Dec 2014 should end that forever. "

Update 7AM PST: 135 killed 114 injured....all 6 terrorists succumbed to security forces retaliatory attack

Rohtak 'Braveheart' Sisters the Fallout of Bravery

After writing the previous article - Words From Thoughts: Rohtak 'Braveheart' Sisters and Social Media I happened to follow the developments around the Rohtak Sisters case and landed up on various videos on Youtube. Few of the videos are listed as below - 
  1. The final face of Rohtak Sisters
  2. Second Video Challenges Rohtak Sisters' story
  3. What is the truth behind Rohtak Sisters' story? Part I
  4. What is the truth behind Rohtak Sisters' story? Part II


Rest of the compilations can be checked on Youtube by Clicking Here

As I review the overall story and the Development along with the reaction of the two Sisters, it become quite evident to me that this is a nexus that is put in shape to extort money.  It is not just those two sisters - Pooja and Aarti, but their parents too are the partners in crime.  Another thing that comes to picture is the role of Police Officer who may be involved in the overall scheme of things but it not evident from the videos.  

The family of Puja and Aaarti doesn't just seem to be party to the overall case but seems to be the matermind behind the game of extortion by creating scenario where they charge someone for Molestation etc.  They are clearly abusing the IPC section 509, 294 and others.  

The acts that they have been party to have actually jeopardized the career and future of the youth involved / accused / targeted.  It is critical for the Law enforcement agency as well as Judiciary to review the evidences against them and take required action to set out an example that would help reduce such cases in future.  

The law is pretty harsh at this time that the accused is put behind bars without any investigation and with no provision of bail to this effect. That is fine to help thwart the real incidences, but what is the provision in the law for such cases where the females abuse the law for personal gains? 

The law makers need to seriously look at required amendments to help ensure that the real incidents are dealt with due care, but the hoax and noise is also cancelled out appropriately so that the law abusers do not abuse them for personal gains

Passenger Security and Cab Services

With the recent incident that unfolded a whole case of irregularities in the way Cab services in India operate, it has become critical for important for the Government to set down basic guidelines for the Cab Operations and bring it under organized sector.

Currently, there is no defined requirement for anyone to own a cab service.  There is a strong requirement to drive following improvements - 
  1. Ensure that every cab has a GPS unit fixed into it to help track where the cab is
  2. Ensure that every cab has a CCTV camera installed reporting the incidents inside the cab live to the Police Control Room or any other central location for that city.  These CCTV footage need to be securely stored
  3. Every Cab should have a distress call button that should immediately raise alarms with the Cab Service provider, Police Control room as well as the nearest surveillance unit 
  4. Ensure that every cab undergoes re-certification for the above units every 3 months
  5. Ensure that if any cab is not reporting onto the GPS map as well as camera console and distress call button is not working, the cab is declared unfit for operations. 
These are just a few pointers that would help thwart the issues as we have witnessed in case of Uber.  There may be many more that can be explored to help ensure safety of the travelers and government as well as the cab operators have to not just evaluate, but enforce these steps.

Additionally, it needs to be noted that the cab services need to be more diligent with following steps: 
  1. Conduct Independent Background Verification of the Cab Drivers they employ
  2. Conduct immediate review of all the complain received with a turn around time of 16 working hours.
  3. Immediate action needs to be taken to revoke duty of the driver against whom a complain has been received. This revocation may be turned over in case Driver is identified Not Guilty
  4. Report all incidents of serious nature to the nearest Police Station to ensure that the Driver if guilty is reported to Law and appropriate action may be taken against erring driver
If the above steps are taken and if the cab companies also conduct due diligence for the women safety measures, I would presume that there would be a sharp decline in the overall issue from cab services perspective and where cabs could be probable point of abuse.  It would only the time that would tell how much success would these measures see for this also would need to see honest and fair job delivery by the reviewers without resorting to corruption practices...

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Rohtak 'Braveheart' Sisters and Social Media

With the recent news on the reaction of two Rohtak sisters (aged 22 & 19), against a guy reportedly trying to molest them or engaging in eve-teasing, the social media went abuzz with praises for them.  The video showed them beating the guy in a bus with all they could gather - belts, slaps etc etc.  They were praised by everyone with rewards announced for them.  But hold it there, the same social media went abuzz criticizing them when the second video surfaced with them beating another guy in showering kicks and punches at him.

So why this sudden change in the stance by the Social Media?  Simply because Social Media was not the witness of the case, rather they were only the second hand recipients of the video footage that were shot in each case.  Funny questions that were raised included - why didn't bystanders capture the eve teasing?  Well, well, well doesn't the Social Media understand that the folks who record those videos are the bystanders who prefer to enjoy the "FUN" rather than broker the peace.  These bystanders do not know the background of the fight that they record, they record because they find it funny and nothing else.

I have a quick question to all the Netizens and the Social Media folks - If you were passing by and see couple of girls beating up a guy - would you be interested in knowing the reasin or would you sand their to enjoy the show...and may be record that scene to share with your followers and friends?  I would guess you would all opt for no.2 that is what happened in #rohtaksisters case and that is what we got to see in the two videos is and that is what the half truth is. 

Why do we the Social Media as well as Netizens get influenced by presumptions and live in a prejudice?  We don't know the complete truth and the complete case, still we ensure that we pass a judgement.....why that so? 

I think we all need to first know the truth from those who know it - the #rohtaksisters, the guys who got beaten up and the bystanders who were there watching the show live....and those who shot those videos.  I am sure there would have been something that would have lead some verbal bashing before the two girls chose to hit the guys....it would be better to know the pre-cursor to know the complete story  before jumping the guns and jumping to conclusions



Friday, November 21, 2014

Raising Kids and Quality Time

The idea to this post can be attributed to one of the discussion that I had with this colleague of mine.  It was just a casual discussion that I had with him on having the kids and raising them.  Incidentally while talking about my daughter, he asked if I would like to have another kid or may be few more.  My answer was straight forward may be another one to make it "Hum 2 Humare 2 (we two and our two)".

As i made my point, he looked quizzingly as if asking "Why only 2 or if I had any logic behind restricting myself to raise 2 kids?" As I sensed that I happened to elaborate on the reasons for my decision that can be well defined as - 

  1. I would want to provide quality time to my kids as they grow up.  just think of it this way - you have 24 hours in a day, you work for say 10 hrs, showers and getting ready take another 1 hour, Food etc take another 1 hour and you sleep for say 8 hours.  Now you are left with only 4 hours to spend with your kids.  So more the number of kids that you have, more is the division of these 4 hours of you by the number of kids.  This directly relates to Student to teacher ratio in a school.  If you would want to admit your kid in a school with better student to teacher ratio, then you should also ensure that you start from your home with good and quality time allocation to your kids.  Every kid needs your time and attention...plus you can't forget your wife who would also need her "ME TIME"
  2. I would like to do justification to each of my kid with respect to education and upbringing. These are directly related to the economies of scale where I would want to have more spend ability per kid rather than having too many kids and trying to balance my expenditure between them and still fighting to survive and meet their basic expenditures.  That mean with the limited income that one would have there is a need to do justice to ownself by helping oneself with limited commitments and liabilities.
  3. I would want to provide them their own space and their own independence by reducing the unrequired crowd at home. More the number of kids, more chaotic it could be and no one would get own time and space.  So the limit...
Though there had been another pointer by him that in US more kids mean more rebate in the income tax, but to counter that, the question that comes in - "How much do you save per kid from your income tax?" At the end, expenses for a kid are always more than what Income Tax rebate that you get. There has to be a proper balance between the money you can save v/s the expenditure that you would have towards the upbringing of the kid.

He seems to have bought my points and stated I do this article to have a wider debate on pros and cons of having too few or too many kids....


Sunday, November 9, 2014

Interstellar - Movie Review

Interstellar is a very intelligent science fiction that connects the dots between Gravity, Time, Astro-Science, Physics et al and weaves a pretty good concept for saving the mankind in future when the pollution and Nitrogen levels would reach unbearable levels. 

The whole set of sequences in individual capacity have been very neatly done, but the director and the editor failed to keep the movie tight between these sequences. 

The movie opens with a very farm like location owned by an agriculture enthusiast who has been a fighter pilot and an engineer and progresses on with him finding this ultra secret Area 59 sort location of Nasa and then him getting selected to lead a mission to find another habitat for human kind.  But I felt that the director spent a bit too long a time to build the base that made movie a bit too slow in the first hour.

Post that a lot of plot and continuity was lost in the discussions that were stretched a bit too long than required and at times the characters breaking out due to emotional stress. I felt this was being a bit too much.  

Another aspect that I felt should have been taken care of a bit more carefully was the aging of characters on earth and the aging of characters on the space mission.  As from the way I understood, it would take them 14 months for touching the orbit of Saturn from where they get on to the far side of the galaxy / universe, and spending 1 hour on a planet that side would be around 7 years back on earth (relativity and time equation). But I failed to understand how Cooper's age went of to touch 124 while returning to earth and then how come his daughters' age went off way high that she was under medical supervision.  It was a bit too far fetched point that I have not been able to weave.  Per my calculation, the total time that passed from the time the mission started to the time when these guys were returning would have been anything around 50 years or so, meaning Cooper should have been close to 90 or maximum 100 and his daughter should have been at the max be in her 60s.  

Overall a movie that has a very good story and script, but the Director and the editor failed to impress with their work.

Friday, November 7, 2014

Corruption - The Root Cause

Have often wondered what could be the root cause of the evil of Corruption?  The answer that often came to my mind relates to someone's work getting stuck and then the person tries to get work done by hook or crook and when even that doesn't work, they try to pay off the obstacle..buy convenience.

But yesterday, my whole thought process was literally taken up for a ride by what I saw in a movie "Bombay Talkies".  I was astonished at the way it changed my whole set of thoughts.  In the scene that I am referring, this small kid was trying to tell her father to pay up for her School Tour that would involve visit to historical locations et al. The father tried to evade the demand in various ways, but what he finally did made me feel sad about the state of affairs.  The father gets a gift for his daughter stating "this is for you as you would not be going to the History tour with your class." Literally he was trying to pay off her missing the important tour.  He offered her a Bribe?

Suddenly the whole fact on how the roots of corruption get so deep in our culture and society seem to have getting clear to me.  Though I had seen this "Paying off for not being able to meet child's demand", but had never thought in the directions that it can be one of those critical root causes of prevailing corruption practices.

I would rather prefer being straight forward to the child and tell him / her that I can't fulfill a request as I am not equipped to do so.  It would be better for handling reasonable / unreasonable demands as slowly they would understand something that can be addressed and something they need to live with. But paying off for one's ability is directly or indirectly equivalent to offering a Bribe....
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Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Haider-a-Bard by Vivek Kaul

The article is work of Mr. Vivek Kaul and I am simply reproducing it here with his due permission as I am in agreement with the case put forth by him.

The Movie Haider might get rave reviews, but has many technical glitches including lack of research by the Director as well as the Production House.  One can't simply adopt a novel and make a mvie without evaluating the one sided sob story by someone.  The Kashmir or Mid 90s and the Dance of death by terrorists is being hidden behind the magnificent portrayal of Indian Army as the villains.  The truth is something different and out there for us to explore!!! Yes because its hidden beneath the truth as being showcased by NGOs and the News Channels.....on the name of Human rights and supporting the minorities...............

Read on!!!
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So many reviews about movie Haider have been written on facebook by Kashmiris that a record of sorts has been created! 

I generally find film reviews grossly misleading. My go-to person for many things including movies is my all knowing son Billbichroo! 

Last time I read a local UK review of A movie called Slumdog millionaire was a huge mistake. I was sold it as the Feel Good Movie of the Decade ! 
It was anything but feel good for me! A grinding display of poverty is not my idea of feel Good feeling! 

So I asked my son yesterday, -Bil, this Haider movie is based on Hamlet. What happens in Hamlet? 
Everyone dies in the end Papa ! 
Oh!!! thanks Bill. 

Few years back in February I had gone to India & was looking for a book called Our Moon has blood clots by Rahul Pandita . This novel was autobiographical account of Hindus - Kashmiri Pandit (KPs) set during the turbulent times of 1989/1990 when the whole community of 300,000 odd KPs had to run for their lives from the violence unleashed by Islamic Terrorists , trained & financed by Pakistan, our eternal villain! 

Around the time , Rahul Kaul my childhood friend , who u saw swimming in Kashmir floods in a picture I posted few weeks ago , invited me to his apartment in Gurgaon for a dinner. 
During Kashmiri dinner n Single Malt jugglebandi I mentioned this book & Rahul said Vivek it is the KP side of story & Muslim side has been already been written by one Basharat Peer called Curfewed Nights ! 

Basharat Peer happens to be the co- writer of movie Haider set in Kashmir of 1995 when Basharat was still a teenager in Kashmir & Islamic terrorists ruled the valley by fear of AK 47 ! 

So what was Kashmir of 1995 like ? . Let me jog your memory with explanations for my overseas non Indian friends as well. 

Tourism in Kashmir collapsed following the 1995 abduction of six western men, including two Britons, Keith Mangan and Paul Wells, who were taken hostage by Islamist group Al-Faran. One American tourist escaped, but a Norwegian, Hans Christian Ostrø, was beheaded. How the other four died is uncertain to this day. 

The whole town of Charar-i-sharief got burnt down in 1995 , including its famous 650 year old Shrine , during the fierce encounter between Indian troops and Jehadi terrorists . 

To counter the Islamic Jehadis & their dreadful violence India raised a special force called Rashtriya Rifles who were soldiers & officers on secondment ( deputation) from Indian Army. 
They were raised to fight present day ISIS type Jehadis who took no prisoners 
They hit upon a great plan . Captain Mishra ( name changed) thought if a counter insurgency movement could be led by surrendered or compromised Ex-Jehadis some semblance of law & order could be restored in Kashmir which was run by the diktats of so called Mujahedeens & the like ! 

In summary they employed ex-thieves to catch old battle hardened thieves. 

India became increasingly dependent on the vigilantes...Groups such as the Jammu and Kashmir Ikhwan...drawn from some 3,000 former Kashmiri jehadis who surrendered to the Government. Paid monthly salaries of up to 12,000 rupees ($200), and allowed to keep their weapons, they acted as informers, leading soldiers to militant hideouts. ( as is seen in the opening scenes of Hiader the movie ) 

The Rashtriya Rifles (RR) army became the surrendered militants' main income source,---
The Ikhwanis thus became the eyes and ears of the army, identifying terrorists among the people of Kashmir during 'crack down' of a particular area as shown in the movie when the Surgeon is identified by the masked surrendered Ikwani ! 

In many cases personal scores were settled & innocent people were identified by these Ikwanis to RR for interrogation in a Special place near Oberoi Palace Hotel called Papa 2 , called Mama 2 in the movie. We were pointed to this building , now a state guest house by our Shikarawala / boatman who was given away to RR by his cousin because of previous family feud ! Fortunately for Gani his loyal mother wept bitterly in front of Army commander who trusted her story & released Gani to safety ! Gani is still my mobile phone friend ! An honest Shikarawala who does not even take a tip ! 

Have a glimpse of Gani. Enjoy his kathbath with us in 2012,before you read this Mother of all reviews ! ;-))) 


Those were very difficult & testing times for many innocent Kashmiris & Indian Army. 

It is to the credit of Indian Army that the back bone of Jehadi led Azadi ( freedom) movement was broken as the Jehadis had local population led to believe that Azadi was round the corner. 
Around the same time many Jehadis made lot of money from extortion & kidnappings etc amongst the Kashmiri people & many Kashmiri Muslims also migrated out , truth be told ! 

Movies like Haider are very easy to see but difficult to understand if you don't know the background & the setting like a Harry Potter film where reading the novel before hand makes it easier to understand the characters & the storyline 

Haider will thus mean different to different viewers depending on their level of understanding of the Kashmir situation c. Mid 1990's 

The story of Haider movie is pretty straightforward. 

Haider has been sent away to Aligarh for education to escape recruitment by Jehadis as was common those days . His surgeon dad gets a dreaded Jehadi as a patient with appendicitis. Doctor operates on him at his own home & he is supergrassed ( see below) by his own brother who lusts for his wife ! 

The Surgeon is immediately identified by a Ikwani ex Jehadi in a Crack down parade & bundled out by Security forces. 
Hidden militants in his house start firing on the Security forces who blow up his home by a shoulder fired rocket. 

Meanwhile Haider returns after his education & finds his mom in a room with her brother- in -law singing songs to each other. Haider does not like this situation & wants to know & find his missing father. 

Heroine of the film , a police bigwigs daughter , tries to help him & finds a Militant ready to help Haider. This militant has been in torture chambers & interrogation cell with his dad. 
Both are thrown in Jhelum river to drown. Surgeon drowns but the dreaded militant escapes to tell Haider that his uncle was the informer of his dad. 
Haider tells his mom about his dads death & subsequently his uncle proposes marriage amongst few songs & drama !

The movie climaxes in death of Heroine . Uncle , & other baddies being killed by mom who blows herself n others as a suicide bomber ! 

In the closing titles of the film , Indian Army is thanked for their role in helping Kashmiris in recent floods , as an afterthought after painting them as real villains in the movie ! 

Was the Producer or Director guilty of something ! 

I am really surprised that this movie got passed the scissors of Indian Film Censor board ! 
You castigate your own security forces in worst possible way , when they were only trying to wrestle back Kashmir for India from the violence unleashed by Jehadis & still censor board finds the movie fit for U certification -- they must be busy eating free Samosas n chutney rather than grasp the obvious message of the movie ! 

Movie does not show Jehadis as saints but does paint Security forces as villains. 

I have not mentioned about the omission of any reference to Kashmiri Pandits in the movie who by 1995 were no where to be seen in the valley , having been ethnically cleansed by 1990 ! 

As with Curfewed Nights , Basharat Peer has been leader of the pack by co-writing this movie which will surely be followed by a Kashmiri Pandit all singing all dancing feature film penned by a Rahul Pandita amongst us ! 

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'Supergrass is a British slang term for an informer, which originated in London. Informers had been referred to as "grasses" since the late-1930s, and the "super" prefix was coined by journalists in the early 1970s to describe those informers from the city's underworld who testified against former associates in a series of high-profile mass trials at the time.

Swachh Bharat - Mission‬ to Clean India

In Continuation from my previous post related to this topic: Clean India - Modi's Drive

Much of fanfare, many Facebook posts, many Whatsapp forwards, many tweets and the end result achieved - a Hype created on the Clean India Drive or Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan. So where do we go from here and what would be the net result achieved from this? Do we really get to see a Clean India? I would be highly skeptical for the end results unless we see a good motivation for the Government Officials to actually adhere to this and make cleanliness a way of life.

Yes, Cleanliness needs to be embedded into our way of life.  Enough initiatives have been taken and enough steps have been taken to try and create a Clean and Green India, but every time we land up in the same soup of dirt and waste.  This time the Prime Minister has come forward and has shown a commitment towards clean India, but then would this be just a Drive initiated and long forgotten, I presume NO.  The Prime Minister must review the progress of the initiative that too on a monthly basis.

There are states that have already taken positive steps towards cleanliness and to top them is Maharashtra seconded by Rajasthan. Prime Minister should take a leaf from the steps taken by these two states and take a step to mandate certain action points that may be - 
  1. Any Panchayat Candidate / Representative must have a WC at home
  2. All Corporator must ensure to have a Sulabh Shochalaya in their wards
  3. All MLAs and MPs must be responsible to ensure that part of their Development Funds is used to ensure that there is a Waste Disposal Unit in their Constituency
  4. All MLAs and MPs along with Corporators and Panchayat representatives must ensure that every household in their areas get substantial amount of Drinking Water
  5. Collectors and Commissioners must be provided with budgets to ensure that they are able to manage and maintain Sanitation Facilities
  6. Performance Bonus must have a line-item to stress on the responsibility to maintain sanitation standards
  7. Chewing of Tobacco and Use of Any tobacco product must be banned at all Government and Private offices - these create one of the biggest nuance with custom designs and colors on the Office Walls
  8. Specific Smoking Stations must be created for smokers and smoking in 20 - 25 feet perimeter of any building / enclosure / shade must be banned. 
  9. Littering at Public place must invite a fine of minimum Rs. 1000 or Public Service for minimum 7 days. Repeat Offenders be sentenced to minimum 1 month of rigorous imprisonment
  10. If Enterprises would want to sponsor certain steps in public and private venture, they must be encouraged and tax soaps may be considered for participating organizations
  11. Railway Ministry may consider phase-wise updgradation on toilets in the Passenger trains.  The rail coach factories may upgrade the toilets to bio-degradable toilets and thus reducing the waste that is seen around on the railway tracks across the country.
May be there are lot more measures that can be considered and implemented. However, a few basic steps to review the progress and a few additional steps as suggested above may result in lot more achievement than expected.  But certainly, nothing can be achieved without setting up a monitoring and review mechanism and active participation from each one of us.

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Shame on Bollywood for Lack of Research

Bollywood has time and again proved to be a set of shameless and valueless creatures.  Though I have friends in there, but I still feel that among some protagonists, there is a huge bunch of Jokers around who have no respect for the society or for the culture.  My this opinion has been reaffirmed by the makers of movie "Haider". 

I used to be really impressed with the way Shahid Kapoor has acted in the movie and was awaiting for the movie, until today.  So what happened today made me boycott this movie completely and I am not going to watch that unless certain section of the movie are censored or removed.  These sections are those which portray the Martand Sun Temple as the seat of Devil.  This is a huge mockery of our culture, our tradition and our religious sentiments.  They could have made use of at least some basic research that wouldn't have taken much time as the Internet is full of information on Martand Sun Temple.  In fact in a brief 2 minutes I stumbled on so much information that I had to think what to read what not to read.  And I had to take time to summarize the overall content. 

About Martand Sun Temple: - Built in 500 CE Martand Sun Temple is located near Anantnag in Kashmir and was dedicated to the God Surya. Today the ruins of the temple still lie there between the beauty of nature and with hardly many living around in the area.  The temple displayed a great architectural design highlighting the wonders our then architects used to create. It holds a very high place in the world's great architectural designs.  The temple presents to us the most memorable and beautiful work done during the regime of King Liladitya of Surya Dynasty. Though much of the other ruins of that time are not to be found around, the remnants of big Martand temple exemplify the glory and the skills that were invested to build it.

Below are a few images of Sun Temple as captured by various photographers - 



And now, please refer the pics below where the depiction of the same temple has been as a Devil's seat - 

I would let your wisdom work and decide if you want to let this portrayal insult our culture and the tradition. Just think if it were one of other religious places, by now we would have been suffering from Riots.....

For me I am not in to let this happen..So What's your take???





Monday, September 29, 2014

Pseudo Secularism and Yellow Journalism show

The most recent news from Indian journalism is the criticism of Rajdeep Sardesai's much deserved slap gate episode. Interesting point in the whole report is the video that has been referred by the journalists stating "Rajdeep Sardesai manhandled by mob at Madison Square Garden. The Video referred rather shows Rajdeep hitting someone in the crowd and it so seems he forgot that crowd doesn't have a face, he indeed has with a name. 

The Video projecting the truth that Rajdeep Sardesai was the first one to get abusive as well as attacking the other guy - Rajdeep Sardesai Slapped at Madison Square

As if that was not all that the practitioners of Yellow Journalism started condemning the act and when I voiced my view point one (not so respected) Bengali (not so) gentleman started bashing me on Twitter calling me names and cursing me. I thought of giving it a pass, but he seemed to have a sleepless time as he was not successful in getting his antidote of cursing :-)).  He came around to me on Twitter in another 3 hrs later seeking if I am wiser than before. Huh that man went ahead calling me a Hindu Extremist because I said I don't support his yellow journalistic thoughts. Apparently he heard a mouth full from me and hope could sleep after that :-)) may be my words worked as his sleeping pill :-)) may be he is used to get a dose daily before he gets sound sleep. I don't blame him for that, Yellow Journalists and Pseudo Seculars need that dose. 

So what this episode boils down to? Why am I writing about it? Truly two very good questions that must be answered. So let me try answering them one by one. 

  1. The episode reestablished my viewpoint that the journalism in India is at all time low. Why should a senior journalist like Rajdeep Sardesai give a provocative statement standing between the crowd. Did he run out of his wits or did he think he would get away from this ad usual? Rajdeep Sardesai was wrong in his approach and making a communal / racist remark in US where he can be prosecuted.
  2. The episode followed by the twitter word of exchange with the chap I mentioned above reestablished my thoughts that there are a lot of Pseudo Seculars who would stand up for Rajdeep. They would not think twice before opening their mouth and will speak as if they have foot in mouth disease. 
So where do we go from here? When Media, the fourth pillar of democracy would be polarized and would resort to yellow journalism, what trust would we have on them?  

Seriously,  we the people of India whose heart beats for the nation should show these guys the door and shout boycott them totally. We should stand for our nation and for fair and righteousness. Enough of Pseudo Secularism and Yellow Journalism. 

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Clean India - Modi's Drive

It's pretty impressive step that Prime Minister of India has taken a pledge for Clean India.  When he had declared his intent on the Independence Day, I was a actually not convinced that he would be acting so fast.  But with the declaration coming on this week where he cancelled the National Holiday of October 2, and declared that this would be the day when he would start the Clean India Drive, I was impressed.  Truly impressed for the selection of the day and the selection of the task to start on that day.

Apparently I was updated about the news by my wife when she said "Modi mein Dum Hai" and I was surprised as she was never a supporter of Modi.  But then the way she elaborated on the "Swachha Bharat Abhiyaan", I was convinced that she was not being sarcastic for her statement.

After that discussion, when I searched on the news on this topic, I thought, the clean India Drive would not be complete unless the weed in Bureaucracy and the weed in society is cleaned.  The statement that made me think this way is "Remove Unwanted stuff from Government Offices".  So if I have to look at the literal meaning of the statement, I would see throwing out any unwanted "stuff" including corrupt officials and those lazy buggers who would n't want to move things at the speed they need to be.  Identifying the corrupt officials is nothing tough, just that you would have to identify the pending files in the government offices and then work with the respective claimants, Business Houses or the parties to get the required support.  This drive may seem to be tough, but then the Parties who cooperate would be assured that their files would be processed faster.

There could be two impacts of this Drive with the steps I am suggesting, either the government officials would fall in line to follow clean work ethics or they would pave way for the youngsters providing employment opportunities for them. This would also set precedence for the rest of the officials to "Either Work or Go".  

Cleaning the Weed in Society would be a more uphill task and we all know that unless we rise above the Castism, Regionalism and Religious Fanaticism, none of the Government with even the most able Governance mechanism may be able to help clean the society and make our nation a better place to live.  Here, we all would have to stand and pledge to ourselves -

"We the Law Abiding Citizens of India stand by our Prime Minister and the Law Enforcement Agencies to help clean the Societal Weed.  We promise to our Motherland that we would help make our nation a better place to live by standing tall against societal injustice. We would not be afraid of harassment by the hands of Law Enforcement Agencies and will duly report such harassment to the Authority Designate.  We will work our level best to ensure that our contribution results in a secure and safe living environment for our future generations."

Friday, September 26, 2014

नवदुर्गा

नवरात्री के पावन पर्व पर
तेरे मात्र स्वरुप को मैं नमन करता हूँ
तेरी महिमा मैं सबको अब सुनाता हूँ
माँ अम्बे अब में तेरी ही गाथा गाता हूँ


शैलपुत्री रूपं वंदना
वन्दे वांछित लाभाय, चंद्रार्ध्क्रित्शेखरम| 
वृशारुधाम शूल्धारम शैलपुत्रिम यशस्विनिम

English - I worship Goddess Shailputri to fulfill my wishes, who is adorned with crescent moon on her head, rides on a bull, carrying a trishul and is illustrious.


ब्रह्मचारिणी रूपं वंदना
दधाना कर पदाभ्यामाक्षमाला कमण्डलु| 
देवी प्रसीदति माई ब्रह्म्चारिन्यानुत्तमा

English - O Goddess Brahmcharini, who holds rosary and Kamandalu in her hands, please on me.


चन्द्रघंता रूपं वंदना
पिंडज प्रवारुध चंद्कोपस्त्र्कैर्युता|
प्रसादम तनुते माध्यम च्न्द्रघ्तेती विश्रुता||

English - O Goddess Chandraghanta, who rides on Tiger, angry on enemies, holds many weapons in 10 hands, be propitious to me.


कुशमंदा रूपं वंदना
सुरासंपूर्नम कलशं रुधिराप्लुतामेव च|
दह्दना हस्त्पद्माभ्याम कुशमंदा शुभदास्तु मे||

English - Goddess Kushmanda who holds two pitchers full of Madira and Blood in her lotus hands, be propitious to me.


स्कन्द माता रूपं वंदना
सिहसंगताम नित्यं पद्मांचित कर्द्वया|
शुभदास्तु सदा देवी स्कंदमाता यशस्विनी||

English - Skandmaata, who rides Lion with Kartikeya, holds lotus in her two hands and Varmudra in one hand, be propitious to me


कात्यायनी रूपं वंदना
चंद्रहासोज्ज्वल करा शार्दूल्वार्वाहना|
कात्यायनी शुभम दद्याद देवी दानवघातिनी||

English - Devi Katyayani, who holds Chandrahaas Sword and other weapons in her ten hands, rides on Lion and destroying demons, be propitious to me


कालरात्रि रूपं वंदना
एक्वेनी जपकर्न्पूर्ण नग्न खरास्थिता|
लम्बोष्ठी कर्णिका करनी तैलाभ्याक्त्शार्लिरिणी||
वाम पादोल्लासल्लोह्लाता कन्ताक्भुशना|
बर्धन मूर्धं ध्वजा कृष्णा कालरात्रिभयकारी||

English - This mantra describes her form. She is naked, rides on an donkey, long tongue, lustrous body, wearing ornaments in legs like lightning, black in color, unlocked hair, big eyes and ears and very dangerous looking.


महागौरी रूपं वंदना 
श्वेते वृशेसमारुधा श्वेताम्बरधरा शुचिः|
महागिरी शुभम दद्यान्महादेव प्रावददा ||

English - Goddess Mahagauri who rides on white bull, wear pure white clothes, giver of happiness, be propitious to me


सिद्धिदायिनी / सिद्धिदात्री रूपं वंदना 
सिद्ध गन्धर्व यक्श्द्येरासुरैरामारैरपी|
सेव्यमाना सदभुयात सिद्धिदा सिद्धिदायिनी||

English - Goddess Siddhidatri who is worshipped by Siddha, Gandharva, Yaksh, Gods, Demons etc., holds Conch, Chakra, Gada and Lotus in her hands, giver of all siddhis and victory all over, be propitious to me

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Terrorism - Jihad - Sex

This article is a bit bitter in the nature and hence if you feel you might be offended by the content, please do not read further.


Terrorism has been in a rise for ever. Earlier we had regional terror outfits and now it so seems that the terrorism has become just another profession with the terrorists getting certain amount of salaries to carry out their duties. Interesting point is the way they talk about post martyrdom payments and money that is paid to the families should they die. The phenomenon is not just limited to one or two regions, it has actually propagated across the globe.  

Another factor that has been on a rise has been the terrorist outfits declaring starting of their operations in a specific geography - ref: Al Qaida declaring Indian Outfit to operate and spread terrorist activities in India.  It seems as if one company is aspiring to open its overseas branch and hence has given an advertisement of recruitment and their intent of defining their business charter.  Seems that these guys are now becoming more business savvy and want to operate Terrorist outfits as business organization.

Today at lunch, I was having an interesting conversation with my colleagues where they were speculating why the terrorism has cropped up like cancer in society? If God created mankind then why on the name of God some religious fanatics call for Jihad and then call it as their duty to serve God and save religion? Don't they think that what they are doing is actually destroying the beauty of the Creation of God? Some of the very interesting comments came around during the discussion and I am trying to quote them here for the readers to think on those lines - 

  1. In Shrimadbagwad Geeta, Shri Krishna had said that you are only the means and the actual cause of all the misery and then death is me the God.  So if we go by that, the terrorists have been created by God to bring say the ecological balance (LOL). Yeah they kill the innocents and then they are in turn killed by the Security Forces.  Its like Chicken is first raised to get egg as well as the source for chicken dishes, but when they overgrow, they are butchered....So Terrorists can be compared with God's means to cause mass massacre and then as chickens that outgrow the numbers to then be butchered
  2. Al Qaida may not as such be successful in India as there are way too many terror outfits already present in India. Also, with the failure of those terror outfits and after seeing the fate of associated terrorists, the youth seems to have been losing their interest in joining terrorist outfits.
    1. My counter to this was, even if .0001% of youth proceed on the path of terrorism, in India that would mean roughly 1270 youth and that's hell lot to create some serious trouble
    2. Even though Al Qaida may fail to recruit fresh blood, they may go ahead and replicate the M&A strategy of business and actually end up merging IM and other similar smaller operatives with Sleeper cells. Result availability of Larger set of sleeper cells.
    3. Al Qaida though may have had a fall out with ISIS, but that would not mean that Al Qaida may not replicate the Jihadist Sex strategy of ISIS. 
My third point triggered another branch of discussion and my colleagues were a little not too amused with the concept of Jihadist Sex.  But that is a very interesting development initiated by ISIS from the time ISIS occupied geography in Iraq has been declared as Caliphet.  Apparently ISIS has been able to recruit quite a sizable number of women operatives to sexually serve the ISIS male operatives. They have been reported to have recruited these females through their targeted social network contact points on twitter etc.  And most of the females as they have targeted have been from Western World.  Though as per the reports they have also forced the households in their occupied territories to bring all unmarried females to them to help them in Jihadist Sex.  

It so seems that these religious fanatics behind the propagation of concept of Jihad might have realized that most of their terrorism operatives have not reported back to them after execution on the "72 Virgins" and hence they have devised this new strategy to lure the youth to resort to terrorism.  Money, Martyrdom and Women, what else those guys would need? For after death, they wouldn't be witnessing whether they are seen as heroes or villains......

But the nexus of Terrorism and Jihadist Sex is certainly a cause of concern as if the reports are to be believed, the females are lured in for Monthly salaries against their services....that is no good as that is doing nothing by increasing the counts of Flesh Trade in the name of Religion....yeah these females need to understand that they are subject to exploitation in name of the God and Religion and that they would get nothing in the ends except for lost identity....

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Writing - Passion or Inspiration

Writing is an art, a skill and a form of expression that we all love. Some of us resort to it for our passion to write, some write to impress, but writing is something that certainly pleasures the both the writer and the reader.

Some write with a flow of thoughts whereas some write as they get inspired by others. But writing certainly is an art that follows the saying "the show must go on"

So, whether you write for passion or write as you are inspired by whosoever your inspiration is, do write.  Someone who reads or somewhere who admires your writing, would be elated. Writing never turns your history but surely remains your skill. 

Writer and writing never depart from each others company. The face of passion or inspiration may change, known may become anonymous but the art of writing must stay and it must produce something that people love to read.

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Singham Returns v/s HJS

With "Singham Retuns" Ajay Devgana and Rohit Shetty once again came together to provide with a Full Entertainer with power packed Script. The Story revolves around the concept of Black Money, Politics and the So Called Priest who use to be a street side goon.

The Movie has already garnered interest from the time the trailer was released and the most interesting part of the whole drama that unfolded was request by Hindu Jagriti Manch (HJS) to ban the movie.  HJS sighted the reason that the Movie depicts Hindu Priest in the Bad light.

Now, my question to HJS is - Shouldn't they be looking at the way street side goons step towards Dharma Darbar and become Dharm Guru to indulge in Money Laundering etc?  We have had many cases in real life where these Dharm Gurus have crossed the limits of Dharm and indulged in Adharm. Fe of the Cases can be highlighted - 
  1. Asaram and his son involved in molesting female disciples
  2. Murder of Priest in one of the Rich South Indian Temple
  3. Particular Swami involved in disappearance of his Guru and then becoming the front end spoc of a multimillion medicinal trade 
  4. Dharm Guru indulged in terror acts with chargesheeted in cases of bomb blast...
If we look at the above cases and many such other cases, we would find that malice does occur in the name of Divinity and we can't ignore it.  What the depiction of Dharm Guru in Singham returns is nothing but depiction of the Dark Reality with Dramatization added.  What HJS is required to look at is the intended malice by these Dharm Gurus who's tricks of trade to hide behind Dharm is are not justified.

Singham Returns just highlights the harsh reality in Dramatized manner, but what should we be looking at?  the intended message to save the Dharm and Society from such goons (भेड़ की खाल में भेडिये) or should we try to stop the message from propogating to the mass by trying to depict that Dharm is insulted?

I would choose the first one and will support the movie that is trying to drive home a message against Black Money as well as the Malice in Dharm....

Sincere Request to HJS to relook at the case and try to understand the reality



Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Joy of Sharing

A test that was conducted as part of social experiment and that asserts that those who have more don't wanna spare as they think they would then have less than what they have at current......

And those who don't have anything or those who don't have much are not afraid as they are the ones who dig when they are thirsty...they know they have nothing to loose.....and they believe in god and sharing....they know that sharing is divine....

Joy of sharing is something that many of us modern day people don't know....we are too conservative and selfish to share anything from our joy to our food to our knowledge.....Most of us have forgotten the older saying - Sharing increases your portion......people now actually have started completing the saying by adding their own perceptions....

It's high time for us to Learn to Share and Learn to earn the Joy of Sharing.....

Saturday, June 14, 2014

MOST SHOCKING HUMANITY EXPERIMENT - BLEED TO DEATH - MUST WATCH ...





 
Thanks to Varun to have brought this out.  In my personal capacity, I have done this in past and am ready to do it again.  I have even given CPR when felt it was required.  Yes, Cops may ask many questions and people around may think that that's one biggest harassment they would have to deal....but just need to understand that the harassment is worth it if you can save a life.....

Monday, June 2, 2014

हिंदुत्व के गुणकारी प्रभाव

हिंदुत्व के बारे में अलग अलग लोगों की अलग अलग विचारधारा है| कुछ इसे अत्यधिक सहनशील धर्म मानते हैं तो कुछ इसे रूडिवादी ठहराते हैं| १९९२ में अयोध्या के अध्याय के बाद हिंदुत्व को लोगों ने और भी नकारात्मक दृष्टि से देखना शुरू किया| २००२ में गोधरा काण्ड के बाद गुजरात में प्रज्वलित हिंसात्मक विचारधारा ने हिंदुत्व के बारे में लोगो की नकारात्मक विचारधारा को और भी बल दिया| किन्तु क्या हिंदुत्व वास्तव में इतना हीन धर्म है? अगर इस प्रश्न का विश्लेषण किया जाए तो उत्तर होगा - "नहीं"| हिंदुत्व में बुराइयां नहीं अच्छाइयां ही अच्छाइयां हैं| 

यदि हम हिंदुत्व के बारे में ग्रंथों में पढ़ें तो पाएंगे कि हिंदुत्व से बढ़कर वैज्ञानिक धर्म और कोई नहीं है| पर-धर्म आक्रमण ने प्रगतिशील हिंदुत्व को पतन की और मोड़ दिया एवं बदलते समय के साथ हिंदुत्व के लाभदायक गुणों को हमने खुद भुला दिया| आज हम मांसाहार, मदिरापान अत्यादी जैसी आदतों से परिपूर्ण हिंसात्मक प्रवत्ति के शिकार हो गए हैं| किन्तु क्या कभी हम हिंदुत्व के बारे में पढ़कर हिंदुत्व की अच्छाइयों को संसार के सामने लाने के बारे में विचार करते हैं? उत्तर साधारणतया "नहीं" ही होगा|

मेरे इस लेख में मैं हिंदुत्व की चंद लाभदायक बातों का विश्लेषण कर उन्हें संसार के सामने प्रस्तुत करने की चेष्टा कर रहा हूँ| यदि आप रूचि रखते हैं तो आगे पढ़े एवं हो सके तो इस लेख को अपने परिजनों एवं मित्रो को भी पढाएं|
_____________________________________________________________

हिंदुत्व के गुणकारी प्रभाव - 

१. स्वास्थ्य की महत्वता

अन्य धर्मों से अलग हिंदुत्व जीने कि एक राह दिखता है| हिंदुत्व आपको स्वस्थ रहने के तरीके सिखाता है| योग-अभ्यास, प्रतिदिन स्नान-ध्यान, मांसाहार से दूरी इत्यादि नियम आपका स्वास्थय संतुलित रखते हैं एवं आप निरोगी काया के स्वामी बन निरोगी जीवन जी सकते हैं| स्वास्थय समन्धित अन्य नियमों में धर एवं आस-पड़ोस में स्वछता बनाये रखने का नियम भी अत्यंत महत्वपूर्ण है|

२. संसार में शान्ति का प्रचार

हिंदुत्व में हम ये कभी नहीं सुनते कि केवल एक हिन्दू ही स्वर्ग में जाएगा अथवा केवल हिन्दुओं के भगवन ही तारक हैं...इत्यादि इत्यादि| हिंदुत्व तो केवल यही कहता है कि आप अपने कर्मों को इसी जनम में भुगत के जाओगे, कि सारे पथ अंत में एक ही ब्रह्म में विलीन होंगे| 

ॐ असतो मा सद्गमय
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय 
मृत्योर्माम्रतम गमय 
ॐ शांति शांति शंतिही||

यदि आप स्मरण करने का कास्ट करेंगे तो केवल हिंदुत्व में ही कहा जाता है - 

सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः सर्वे सन्तु निरामयः
सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु, माँ कश्चित् दुःख भाग्भवेत||

३. वातावरण के प्रति निष्ठां

यदि आप इस बात पर ध्यान दें कि कितने मंदिरों के प्रांगन में उद्यान होते हैं, पेड़ पोधे लगे होते हैं, शीतलता का अनुभव होता है, तो आप स्वयं इस बात को नहीं नकारेंगे कि हिंदुत्व सही में वातावरण प्रियता को बढ़ावा देता है| हिंदुत्व में पेड़ पोधो को जो महत्वता दी गयी है उसका यदि विश्लेषण किया जाए तो अपने आप आपको ज्ञात होगा कि वट-वृक्ष, पीपल एवं तुलसी के अपने गुणकारी प्रभाव होते हैं एवं उनका अपना एक महत्व है| साथ ही ताम्बुल का उपयोग भी स्वथ्कारी गुणों में सम्मिलित होता है| 

यदि पेड़ पोधो से हट हम जीव जंतुओं के प्रति हिंदुत्व के व्यवहार को देखें तो पाएंगे कि हिंदुत्व में ना केवल गाय को, अपितु सिंह एवं सर्प को भी वाही सम्मान एवं आदर मिलता है| मुझे आज भी स्मरित है कि घर में पहली रोटी गाय की एवं फिर कुत्ते की और उसके बाद अन्य परिजनो के लिए रोटियाँ बनती हैं| इससे यही प्रतीत होता है कि हिंदुत्व में घर एवेम घर के बहार रह रहे जीवों का भी ध्यान रखने के विचार को प्रोत्साहित किया गया है||

४ कला के प्रति रुझान 

हिंदुत्व में कला को प्रोत्साहित करने का अपना भाव है| हिंदुत्व में कलाकारों को प्रोत्साहित किया जाता है एवं उन्हें आगे बढ़ने के लिए प्रेरित भी किया जाता है| नृत्य एवं संगीत का हिंदुत्व में अपना अलग स्थान है एवं हर त्यौहार में नृत्य एवं संगीत को सम्मिलित किया जाता है| यह कहना अतिश्योक्ति नहीं होगी कि हिन्दू त्यौहार बिना नृत्य अथवा संगीत के माने नहीं जा सकते| हिंदुत्व की हर शाखा में नृत्य एवेम संगीत कला का अपना एक अलग प्रारूप है एवं हर प्रारूप का अपना एक अलग ही आनंदमयी अनुभूति है|

५. स्त्री प्रारूप की वंदना

हिंदुत्व में स्त्रियों को उंचा स्थान दिया जाता है| घर के हर बड़े / छोटे निर्णय लेने में उनके विचार भी समझे जाते हैं| हिंदुत्व में देवताओं के स्त्री प्रारूप "देवियों" की भी पूजा अर्चना की जाती है| सम्पूर्ण समाज में स्त्रियों को सम्मिलित कर उनको आदर सहित, भावनापूर्ण सम्मान दिया जाता है|

केवल हिंदुत्व में ही स्त्री के परित्याग को समाज पति का दोष मानता है| पत्नी परित्याग की प्रथा भी मूलतः हिन्दू प्रथा नहीं है|

६. हिन्दू ग्रन्थ 

हिन्दू ग्रन्थ एवं शाश्त्र अपने आप में स्वस्थ एवं शांतिपूर्ण दिनचर्या का महत्व हमारे सामने रखते हैं| जैसा कि मैंने उपरोक्त पन्तियों में लिखा है, हिन्दू ग्रन्थ वैज्ञानिक सोच एवं समझ को बढ़ावा देते हैं| यदि हम सहस्त्रों को सही समझ के साथ दैनिक प्रयोग में सम्मिलित करें तो हमारे जीवन एवं आचरण का उत्थान ही होगा|

७. परिवर्तन के लिए कोई दबाव नहीं

हिंदुत्व में अन्य धर्मो की तरह धर्म परिवर्तन के लिए किसी पर कोई दबाव नहीं हिय जाता| हिंदुत्व में मंदिरों में अथवा धर्म सभाओं के प्रवचनों में धर्म परिवर्तन नहीं "आत्म परिवर्तन" का प्रचार किया जाता है|

८. कोई कठोर हठधर्मिता नहीं

हिंदुत्व अपने आप में नरमपंथी है| हिंदुत्व में कोई कठोर नियम नहीं हैं एवं यह केवल और केवल आपके ऊपर निर्भर करता है की आप क्या करना चाहते हैं| हिंदुत्व में बलपूर्वक अथवा छलपूर्वक आपसे नियमों का अभ्यास नहीं करवाया जाता| हिंदुत्व में यह भी नहीं कहा जाता कि अमुक दिन मंदिर जाना है अथवा अमुक दिन नहीं जाना है| हिंदुत्व पूर्णतया आत्मचिंतन एवं स्वनियम के सिधान्तों को महत्व देता है| 

९. जीव जंतुओं का आदर करना

जैसा के पहले भी लिखा है, हिंदुत्व केवल मित्र एवं परिजनों के आदर का ही भाव नहीं देता, अपितु यह सर्वजन आदर एवं कल्याण की भावना का प्रचार करता है| केवल हिंदुत्व में ही सर्वजन को देवत्व का प्रारूप माना गया है एवं यह माना गया है कि हर जीव में देव बसते हैं| हिंदुत्व में "नमस्कार" अर्थात "नमन संस्कार" का मूल कारण ही यही है कि सर्व जन में उपस्थित देवत्व को नमन / प्रणाम किया जाता है| हर जीव में देव प्रारूप का आदर करना ही हिंदुत्व का सार है|

१०. हिन्दू विधि-विधान 

हिन्दू विधि विधान अपने आपमें एक वैज्ञानिक प्रयोग हैं| यदि हम विश्लेषण करें तो हर श्लोक, हर चालीसा, हर आरती को पढ़ने का एवं उच्चारित करने का अपना एक विधान होता है| कुछ विशिष्ट उदहारण - 

  • ॐ का उच्चारण पूर्णतया श्वास पथ का व्यायाम प्रारूप है| ॐ की सिद्धि नाभि से ले कर मष्तिष्क तक का व्यायाम कहा गया है 
  • हवन भी अपने आपमें एक वैघ्यानिक प्रयोग है| हवन के उपयोग में लाइ जाने वाली हर सामग्री एवं हवन प्रज्ज्वलन से होम तक हर प्रक्रिया वैज्ञानिक रूप से महत्व रखती है| हवन अपने आपमें वातावरण शुद्धिकरण का एक प्रयोग है|| 
  • हनुमान चालीसा का पाठ शरीर में ऊर्जा एवं साहस का संचार करता है 
  • गायत्री मंत्र अपने आप में एक प्राणायाम है 
११. हिन्दू त्यौहार 

हिंदुत्व में त्यौहार लोगों को मिलाने का कार्य करते हैं| साथ ही यदि हम त्योहारों पर गौर करें तो सारे त्यौहार कृषि-प्रधान एवं ऋतू बदलाव का समागम हैं| हर त्यौहार उल्लास एवं ऊर्जा संचारित करता है एवं कुछ क्षणों / दिनों के लिए ही सही, कास्ट एवं पीड़ा मुक्त करता है|

यदि हम कुछ त्योहारों का विश्लेषण करें तो पाएंगे कि हिंदुत्व पहला ऐसा धर्म है जिसमें वित्तीय-वर्ष समाप्ति का प्रावधान है| दीवाली पर वैश्य अपने नए बहीखाते शुरू करते हैं| इसी प्रकार होली, दशहरा, नवरात्री एवं अन्य त्योहारों का अपना एक ओचित्य है|
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हिंदुत्व के उपरोक्त गुणकारी प्रभावों पर आपकी टिपण्णी की प्रतीक्षारत - मयंक 





Thursday, May 29, 2014

Jammu Kashmir and Article 370 - An Assessment - Part II

Continuing from Jammu Kashmir and Article 370 - An Assessment - Part I

I hope you have had a good read from the Part I of this series. It would be important now to focus on the aspects of Article 370 from the Constitution of India that gives Autonomous Status to J&K with its on Penal Code and Constitution.

The Article 370 as it reads for itself "Temporary Provisions with respect to the State of Jammu and Kashmir" never proved to be temporary till date and day by day is becoming more permanent fixture to the Constitution of India.  Though way back in October 1949, Maulana Hasrat Mohini had raised a question - "Why this discrimination please?" to which the Answer by Mr. Ayyangar was "For a variety of reasons J&K , unlike other princely states was not ripe for integration as India and Pakistan had been at war over J&K, and although there has been a ceasefire, the conditions still were unusual and abnormal. Part of State's territory is in hands of rebels / enemies."

So that laid the foundation that was then casted over with some concrete agreements and negotiations leading to inclusion of Article 370 in the constitution of India.

The clause by clause coverage of Article 370 - 
  1. Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution (a) the provision of Article 238 shall not apply in relation to the State of J&K;
Note: Article 238 has been Omitted by Constitution by 7th Amendment Act 1956. So this clause seems to automatically seem to stand Null & Void

  1. (b) the power of Parliament to make laws for the said State shall be limited to,(i) those matters in the Union List and the Concurrent List which, in consultation with the Government of the State are declared by the President to correspond to matters specified in the Instrument of Accession governing the accession of the State to the Dominion of India as the matters with respect to which the Dominion Legislature may make laws far that State; and (ii) such other matters in the said Lists as, with the concurrence of the Government of the State, the President may by order specify.

Note: Since than a series of Presidential Orders have made most Union Laws applicable to the State of J&K, thus eroding this section in particular. Today there is NO institution of India that does not include I&K within its Jurisdiction.

  1. (c) the provisions of article 1 and of this article shall apply in relation to that State; 
  1. (d) such of the other provisions of this Constitution may apply in relation to that State subject to such exceptions and modifications as the President may by Order Specify: Provided that no such order which relates to the matters specified in the instruments of Accession of the State referred to in Paragraph (i) of sub-clause (b) shall be issued in consultation with the Government of State: Provided further that no such order which relates to matters other than those referred in the last preceding proviso shall be issued except with the concurrence of that Government.
  2. If the concurrence of the Government of the State referred to in paragraph (ii) of sub-clause (b) of clause (1) or in the second proviso to subclause (d) of that clause be given before the Constituent Assembly for the purpose of framing the Constitution of the State is convened, it shall be placed before such Assembly for such decision as it may take thereon. 
  3. Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this article, the President may by public notification, declare that this article shall cease to be operative or shall be operative only with such exceptions and modifications and from such date as he may specify: Provided that the recommendation of the Constituent Assembly of the State referred to in clause (2) shall be necessary before the President issues such a notification.
Note: Interesting portion here now is the Sub-clause 1 (d) was exercised in 1956 when the Constituent Assembly of J&K passed the resolution of Accession to India.  So now if we look at that sub-clause, it is another section that stands Null and Void.  So eventually the Clause (1) of the Article is practically defunct.....

To have a deeper look at the Clause (2) of the Article, J&K State Constitution as framed in 1956 and last amended in 2002 (29th Amendment) has a preamble - 
WE, THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR, having solemnly resolved, in pursuance of the accession of this State to India which took place on the twenty sixth day of October, 1947, to further define the existing relationship of the State with the Union of India as an integral part thereof, and to secure to ourselves- JUSTICE, social, economic and political; LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and' worship; EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among us all ; FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity of theNation; IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this seventeenth day of November, 1956, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION. 
Further in Part II of the Constitution of J&K it reads - 
Extent of executive and legislative power of the State:- The executive and legislative power of the State extends to all matters except those with respect to which Parliament has power to make laws for the State under the provisions of the Constitution of India.
So if we actually review the whole case, there is nothing from Article 370 that has anything that is valid for the date the controversy over it is brewing.  I am not sure what is the use of this particular Article 370 any more?

Why are politicians so whimsical to make statements that would help only insurgents and not the Citizens / Residents of the State.

The Article 370 for itself provides for omitting this article from Constitution by the way of a Presidential Order.  the only catch is with due support from the States Constituent Assembly....and with the both Ruling and Opposition Parties in J&K opposing that move....it seems a bit difficult a situation.

Overall, Article 370 is does neither seem to be standing relevant in present time, nor does it seem to be applicable to / favoring the situation of J&K.....It just is fueling further separatist sentiments and keeping the Kashmir Pandits away from where they belong.

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References:

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Jammu Kashmir and Article 370 - An Assessment - Part I



The latest development on Kashmir comes in from the Statement of Minister of State for PMO India Mr Jitendra Singh that Government is was open to debate on Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K),while making it clear that efforts would be made through this exercise to "convince" the "unconvinced". A sharp reaction from Mr. Omar Abdullah the Chief Minister of J&K came in stating that either Article 370 stays or J&K wouldn't me part of India.

Now that's a very bold statement by Mr. Omar Abdullah that certainly would fuel a lot more controversy than helping the new Government handle the situation on J&K front. 

However, before we get into the controversy in brewing it is important for us to understand the History and what led Article 370 find a place in the Constitution of India....

So, looking back at the history, we find that the Article 370 was worked out between the then Prime Minister of J&K Mr. Sheikh Abdullah and Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India. This certainly was a mistake from Mr. J.L. Nehru as he overstepped the into the Portfolio of the then Home Minister Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel. (Let's Term it as Mistake 1). Incidentally, the commission and omissions of Article 370 could be explained either by Mr. J.L. Nehru (not possible) or anyone who might be alive (distant case or I may be day dreaming). But these commissions and omissions are responsible for the Controversy surrounding J&K and we have been suffering the consequences for last 67 years now.

Another blunder was the clause to Article 370 that any change to this article would be brought in only after concurrence of J&K assembly (Let's Term it as Mistake 2). Why? if J&K is supposed to be integral part of Republic of India, why does J&K assembly be intervening? This clause certainly was inducted to please Mr. Sheikh Abdullah who happened to become Sardar-e-Riyasat after doing away with the monarchy as he always wanted to for his hatred towards the then Hindu King of J&K Mr. Hari Singh. It is to be noted that the accession of J&K to republic of India was approved by J&K assembly only in 1956 after all the changes in J&K ruling front were introduced and Mr. Sheikh Abdullah was designated as Sardar-e-Riyasat. 

Mr. J.L. Nehru promised that Article 370 would be a temporary measure (a False promise) but there was no timeline defined for the review and owing to the causes mentioned in the previous paragraph, it never got reviewed for changes / repeal. Certainly another blunder by Nehru.

Nehru then brought in Mr. Gopalswamy Ayyangar (erstwhile PM of J&K) to help deal with the newly coined Article 370 and take it to the Constitution committee. Sardar Patel opposed but then Mr. J.L. Nehru made a statement on Dec. 27, 1947 that can be called as Mistake 3

“Gopalaswamy Ayyangar has been especially asked to help in Kashmir matters. Both for this reason and because of his intimate knowledge and experience of Kashmir, he had to be given full latitude. I really do not know where the States Ministry (Sardar Patel’s ministry) comes into the picture except that it should be kept informed for the steps taken. All this was done at my instance and I do not propose to abdicate my functions in regard to matters for which I consider myself responsible. May I say that the manner of approach to Gopalaswamy was hardly in keeping with the courtesy due to a colleague.”
Apparently Sardar Patel got miffed with the development and resigned from his post and the matter was then taken up with Mr. M.K. Gandhi to resolve the tiff between Mr. Nehru and Sardar Patel.

On the other hand the proposal for Article 370 was rejected by the Constitution Committee as well as the Working Committee of Congress. Mr. Nehru then had to turn to Sardar Patel to get the Article included in the Constitution and this is where Sardar Patel erred to support Mr. Nehru and succeeded in convincing the Constitution Committee and Congress Working Committee. (Mistake 4)

In 1947 itself Mr. Sheikh Abdullah was arrested by King Hari Singh on the charges of Sedition and Mr. Nehru is said to have pleaded his case (Mistake 5). It is said that Mr. Nehru too was arrested while trying to enter J&K then. Later on Aug. 9, 1953, Mr. Nehru himself had to have Mr. Sheikh Abdullah arrested on Sedition Charges, but Mr. Nehru let go the option of repealing Article 370 (Mistake 6). A golden opportunity lost....

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References:

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Economic Policy and New Government


So, after a long time we are going to see a stable government at Center.  In the previous two coalition government tenures, we saw the policy reforms going from dirt to dogs and the economy of the country though doing good from one aspect, not to good from the Inflation as well as Foreign Currency reserve perspective.

The markets are upbeat, the Gold Price seems to be easing, Rupee seems to be appreciating (though marginally), but what does that mean for a Common man in India?  

As a common man from India my eyes are set for the outcome of Prime Ministers Swearing in Ceremony. My guess is most of us from the Middle class would be interested in knowing what is in store for us from the Financial and Economic Development perspective?

Yes, it would be very interesting to see who would be appointed as the Finance Minister and who would be at the helm of Economic affairs in soon to be announced results.  Through some of my discussions with few friends and colleagues, they opined it may be Mr. Jaitely or Mr Shourie. I would say, Mr. Jaitely may be appointed as Law Minister but certainly would not be the right choice. Mr Shourie for  that matter would be more appropriate as the Finance Minister as he has that experience on Economic front and has worked with World Bank too.

Saying that, coming back to view the aspects of what would be the expectation of a common man to have better control on their financial status?  The common man that generally makes up the Middle Income Group and is mostly salaried would like to see reforms in the Income Tax bracket with may be following Raise the Income exempt from Tax to say 300,000 / 400,000 / 500,000 for Male / Female / Senior Citizen categories
  • Raise Limit under Section 80 C to 20,000 from current limit of 100,000
  • Revise the Tax brackets as revision suggestion above would mean that till the salary of 500,000, there would be no tax. So the revise slabs should ideally look like - 
    1. Salary from 0 to 300,000 - No Tax
    2. Salary from 300,001 to 1,000,000 - 10%
    3. Salary from 1,000,001 to 2,000,000 - 20% (flat)
    4. Salary from 2,000,001 and above - 30% (flat)
In the suggested slab above, the reason I mentioned "Flat" is that at current the calculation of Income tax is prorated basis, that means if an individual has a Salary of 1,500,000, the Tax calculation is on the slab basis and the upper limit of Tax is applicable only on the portion of Salary exceeding the limit.  but that way, the calculations actually do not seem to be appropriate to me

  • Revise the limits for LTA, Conveyance Allowance, Medical Reimbursement and HRA as the current limits have been there from ages and they have lost relevance in the ever changing world.  
    1. LTA should be made an yearly affair from two times in four years
    2. Conveyance Allowance of 800/month seems to be pea nuts for the escalated cost of commuting.  I should be hiked to say 2500 for those who own a Two Wheeler and 5000 for those who own a Four Wheeler
    3. Medical Reimbursement needs to be more connected to the health conditions and should be slabbed for various cases than just the general slab today.  Suggestive Slabs could be - 
      1. General Physician / Medicine related expenditures - 25000/household/year
      2. Specialty Cases not including Oral Care - 75000/household/year
      3. Oral Care - 10000/household/year
    4. HRA also needs to be revised to meet the current market driven conditions with ever escalating rental prices
  • Revise the Deductions for Housing Loans as the prices in this sector have sky rocketed and the interest rates have been really fluctuating to touch the higher end. the limit that is currently 150,000 on the interest being payed needs to be revised to something in the vicinity of 500,000. 
  • Revise the Income Tax limits for the Income from Agriculture
  • Tax on Banking Transaction - this certainly doesn't seem to be a good way of taxation as then there would be more in Cash Transactions that could boost the Black Money coffers
  • There are also other provisions including deduction of tax at source for deposits yielding interest of more that 10,000.  That limit also needs to be reviewed as women and Senior Citizens get troubled by that.  In certain cases even harassed.  
I would expect that the Newer Government would look at this aspect of the changes to be brought in the Income Tax Regime.  However, I would also like to highlight that the Government would also need to look at overhauling the Tax regime as a whole to ensure that the whole burden doesn't fall back on the so called Middle Income Group that pays the tax as they earn.