Enigma or Confusion

Years ago, through a kind Jyotish lover and friend, I was introduced to astrology and discovered a lot of kindred spirits. Some were into Jyotish, others were writers and poets and many more who were and still are just wonderful human beings. Over the years some of them shared their joys and sorrows, their successes and occasional failures too. Much changes in our lives over time and even our perception changes.To me, Jyotish has been a very interesting experience which recently I tried to capture in something I posted on one of my favorite internet mystic haunts! I share it with a wider and different readership here:Suddenly the teenager vagabonding about (now called 'chilling' I believe?) halted in his tracks! It was like very very early in the morning, brahma muhurta which his pureitanical parents had tried to impress upon him and inculcate into him the good habit of being up and about if he were to ever amount to anything, spiritually speaking, that is! Like most teenagers that really go for it with what serves their needs and strikes their fancy, this one too took that as the signal. He just overdid a bit. In order to be there at this “brahma muhurta party”, he stayed up all night, just in case! Teenage-souls can do that you know! Like learning Jyotish by themselves and successfully.
Now mind you, this TRUE tale comes from safer times when streets even at those early hours were truly safe and the bad elements just did not exist because there was a VERY SERIOUS and SINCERE chowkidar who kept patroling on his Hercules cycle painted deep green and sounding the human siren every so often, "Jaagtey RAHO!". Most villagers thought of Mishrajee as just a big nuiscence! “Now who in their right mind would ever come and rob us poor people? We barely have adequate barley, to speak of!”

Grumble and whine they did but no one dared to speak up to Misirjee, the Sipaheeji! Especially on the weekend, only SUNDAY back then and not the saturday-sunday that soft developed nation city dwellers now enjoy and would die for if it were to be taken away from them! Anyway, when Misir jee was seen waxing his Hercules mobile every so often, diligently going inch by inch over its deep green steely sheen and once in a while passing his waxy fingers (no protective gloves used in those days, folks!) over his symbol of manliness, his huge moustache which over the years was turning more grey than shiny perhaps due to the carnuba wax which though great on steel may not be equally forgiving upon human hair! ANYWAY the point was that at that point NO ONE dared to speak to him and passed by him with bowed heads and truly 'feigned' deference. Even the teenager who was just minutes ago tossing little rocks at the guava trees in Phalbaag. Even Misrajee knew all that and emitted an almost inaudible 'humph!' grunt and kept polishing his chariot of steel!

His reverie broken, the teenager's thoughts moved from useless reflections about Misir jee and the village folks and sleeplessness (The last one being not really a big problem!) to the mysterious, hazy bag that he could see from a distance. The bag was moving and seemed to be alive! Wonderstruck and afraid, the teenager stalled! His eyes growing wider and his young heart missing a beat or two, and not for the same reason as it did earlier when he saw his new lady teacher who would be teaching them math (!), but finally his youthful curiosity overpowered his fear. Gingerly, and carefully (whatever that word means to a teenager!) he proceeded, his heart racing wildly now! "Where is that blasted Misirjee when you really need him?", he thought for a fleeting juvenile scared moment! "Probably waxing his ...!". Teenagers can be so rude and wild when they let their imaginations run! JESUS!!

As he inched closer, the amorphous grey cloud of a bag became clearer even in the dim ethereal pre-dawn of brahma muhurta! Teenagers have such clearer visions even when it is dark! Don't you just hate that? They have so much going in their favor, so much vitality, so much promise, so much of everything, including longevity!

The 'bag' groaned! The teenager could now see that it was a very old woman. Her hair disheveled, body wrapped in a cocoon of old rags, newspapers and all kinds of insulating filth. If he was not so insensitive to smells (ever wonder how teenagers can dab so much perfume and deodorants and not swoon from it all?), he would probably have detected the distinct rot of death and decay. "How may I help you, grandma?" the kind at heart, well-raised youth asked. She smiled and said, "Beta, you shall carry me through your soul, always!". Suddenly, the youth realized that there was no one around, no bags no old woman. But there was this sense of heaviness within his inner self, not a burden-like heaviness but this sense of knowledge, or knowing what will happen next! And he was right! For within seconds he heard the shrill monotone, "Jaagtey raho!"

REALITY as he had always known was back. But was it really back?

MA GIVE ME eyes to see, a mind to understand what the eyes see, and a heart to keep the eyes and mind alive and engaged in serving YOU FOREVER.

The above signature line that I use when I post something on serious and sincere Jyotish forums, has always been a prayer of mine to the Mother Goddess of attainment and Mercy. When Jupiter moved into Sagittarius from Scorpio few months ago, I had written about the old Brahmin as he moved through a gandanta as the junction of water signs and fire signs have been called by some. Gandantas are way up in the FEAR scale with Kalsarpa yoga, sade sati of Saturn, badhakas, balarishtas, mangal dosha and mrityu bhaga. So much fear has been introduced into the great unwashed, in certain human minds and cultures that when the things get even slightly tough, the tough stop trying and get praying!

Recently we have witnessed an onslaught of yet another return to fundamentalist ways and thinking, puritanical views and almost a return to superstition that has been witnessed globally. Some of it has been the contribution of some decades of increasing cult-like mentality even when it pertains to Jyotish through their magical remedies and poojas and what not about which I have written again and again. Truth be told there has never really been in the last several decades, maybe longer any quality control in Jyotish. The recently in news Maharshi Mahesh Yogi (popularly referred to as MMY) and his camp had been vocally concerned about this and therefore over the decades past had proceeded to ‘Brand’ some of the Indian cultural items and learnings. Thus we hear of Maharshi Ayurveda and Maharshi TM (meditation) and also Maharshi Jyotish, all trademarked products and brand names!

http://www.india-today.com/iplus/1998_4/maharishi.html

The Maharshi’s simple message had always been: Live in Nature, Obey Natural Laws!

What could be more simple and wonderful, touching every sane heart and soul!

When MMY arrived in the West and recalled the prevailing confusion not only in his homeland but then amongst the youths that we now call “Flower Children”, it is easy to see why he would like to do a bit of a quality control exercise and reduce the overpowering confusion.

Jyotish has also had its confusion (according to some) and its rich cultural framework (according to others) which has included ancient Vedic, Arabic, some say also Babylonian (Hand et al) and perhaps other influences, some undoubtedly brought in during the many invasions that have fenestrated and arguably (according to Hindu scholars) enriched India’s cultural and religious mosaic over the centuries recent.

Lately, time and again, I hear about some factions in Jyotish trying to utilize MMY’s approach of simplifying things and creating “PURE” Jyotish. And, this has lead to the thinking that somehow there are distinct STREAMS of rules in Jyotish: The biggest black and white divide in the already beautifully integrated and already optimally functional Jyotish being the systems attributed to Parashara and Jaimini!

Parashara and Jaimini were perhaps two ancient Rishis whose actual eras are not known as also their mutual order of succession! Brihat Parasara Hora Shastra and Upadesha Sutram (also known as Jaimini Sutras, the title chosen by Sastri and earlier translators) are the two main bodies of work in Jyotish, the former written in straight forward Sanskrit language (as used in Satya Yuga perhaps?) whereas the latter is written in the Katapayadi style which utilizes a degree of encryption as it has been noted and characterized by contemporary students of Jyotish.

Interestingly, neither Parashara not Jaimini mention one another. Parashara does mention other Rishis and ancient seers so it was not as if he had any issues with mentioning earlier Sages. I do not believe, to the best of my recollection, if Jaimini attributed or mentioned any of his predecessors. Not that attribution was an absolute requirement or norm lest someone misinterpret the last statement.

Parashara’s system includes rashis, nakshatras and is a fairly nicely organized body of fundamentals that have enabled many to learn and successfully practice astrology. Jamini’s system is a distinct and very rashi based sub-set and utilizes special karkas and has certainly an inimitable flavour as well as being very effective and useful in a pragmatic sense, similar to the system described by Parashara! Now, here lies the crunch! In BPHS, Parashara’s Magnum opus, Jaimini’s rashi, chara, pada system is included and does not seem like something that was “grafted” even though some would insist that it was so and publicly state so!

BPHS is a body of knowledge that is known to be available in several versions (all of which contain the “Jaimini” system though not attributed to any Jaimini or similar sounding Rishi). An obvious example of this would be the two popular translations by Santhanam and Sharma. Sharma’s version has more chapters and information and some would argue that Santhanam was working with a ‘culled’ or sanitized version while others would insist that Sharma’s version had material inserted into the original BPHS! Who really knows (or cares!)? Well some apparently do, it seems because recently I was informed by someone that there is a Jyotish group that has strong views about the black and white in Jyotish (an exploratory visit confirmed this!). Part of their welcome message includes the following paraphrased thinking:

~*~
Parashara and Jaimini are two distinct systems even if the divide between them is not always clear. Some have attributed to Prof. P. S. Sastri, author of Jaimini Sutram (English translation), as having stated that much of what we now know of Jaimini System has been inserted into BPHS and mixing up the two systems will lead to confusion in the minds of the ‘student’ .
~*~

Speaking of Prof. Sastri, he is known to be a jyotish scholar of gigantic proportions even extolled by none other than the illustrious iconoclast, the revered Shri KN Rao who wrote the foreword to Sastri’s UttarKalamrita. Uttarkalamrita, written by a South Indian named Kalidasa (quoting Sastri) tried in places in his text to ‘imply’ that he belonged to the court of Vikramaditya. Sastri states that the author or Uttarkalamrita was not really the Great Kalidasa who penned the great Indian love story and other poems. Anyway, Uttarkalamrita has some very unusual and unique rules and information about Jyotish not found elsewhere and obviously of a much recent vintage than Parashara and Jaimini, he included both systems in his writings. Whether he attributed both by names, I am not sure. Sincere students and researchers may wish to delve deeper.

What surprises and amazes me is this tendency on part of certain “jyotishis” to separate Parashara from Jaimini for reasons of “purity”! I can understand why individuals will want to distance Jyotish away from the Arabic-Tajic system or features of the Krishnamurthy Paddhati (which uses distinctly different western Placidus cusps at the beginning of a house, very non-traditional) or the magical-tantrik horary systems and so on, but separating Parashara and Jaimini reveals or perhaps *creates* an interesting anomaly, a puzzling display of schizophrenic behaviour of the planets!

It is almost like saying that in a chart of a male born on 12 January 1917, at 07:18 AM, IST, Jabalpur, Madhya Bharat, India the sun could only wear his Parashari hat of being the 8th lord placed in the 12th house (Vipareeta Raja Yoga, exemplified by a non-Brahmin rising to the ranks of a World Class Religious Leader of unmatched achievements in the spiritual field) while not also fulfilling the so called Jaimini role of Atmakaraka placed in the 12th house of Moksha and renounciation, willingly giving up worldly bonds and bindings while placed with rahu (darakaraka representing those one comes in contact with and influences -- other cultures and nations far away from one’s birth land) and venus the gnatikaraka and the dragon of luxuries and worldliness that shall always cloud the individual by association if not by proven infractions. Gnatikaraka has the flavour of enemies and one or more individuals who have venus (and rahu) prominent in their charts will be at loggerheads with the individual. But let us not go there at this time!

I personally think that such divisive and discriminatory mentalities that motivate some astrologers in positions of power and influence to introduce doubts that try to separate roles of the same planet into this or that portfolios and “never shall the twain meet” attitudes are unfortunately destructive at the worst and misleading at the very least. As in religion, Jyotish which had been heavily influenced by religious fervour, and for no good or useful reason, shall see such separatism and will create confusion and misrepresentation.

On a positive note, it is almost ironical that this in essence will make sure that Jyotish remains preserved and does not fall in the wrong hands, something that Varahamihira agonized over a lot (Attributes of an astrologer, etc.)! I have always firmly believed that Jyotish (or anything like it that has survived so long despite many ferocious attempts to bull-doze it!) has a built-in self-protecting mechanism. It will always be judged by the outcome. And the outcome simply is: Does it predict and help in the field or not? If it does not, due to a variety of reasons, then it will surely find its place in the mausoleum of history! I just hope that it does not turn out to be a premature death! That would be a shame and a big loss. But then again, weren’t the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Tibetan Book of Dead lost for a long time but just couldn’t remain lost forever! The Lord, as some *devotees* would say, moves in mysterious ways!!

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The Insanity of Allowing Short Selling in a Recession

Would you send your children to a nursery that was run by cannibals? Then why allow short sellers to crucify stock prices when they are at their weakest? Why does the SEC allow billionaire short selling Hedge Funds to control the destiny of troubled companies that sends them into bankruptcy when they may otherwise be saved given time to reorganize?Why does CNBC TV and other media outlets give massive time coverage, in most of their daytime segments, to short selling billionaires, who explain their propaganda, so that other speculators can follow their parasitical method of breaking company stock prices systematically down to devalued levels and many times bankruptcy? In the same manner as speculative propaganda drove up the price of oil to an unrealistic price of $147.00 a barrel, so called expert intellectualized propaganda is driving down stock prices to lower than the book value of many companies assets. This in turn causes massive layoffs in jobs. We all know jobs are lost in a recession; however, short selling is making it far worse.
With leveraged ultra short index fund, ETF's stock prices can be traded down in double quick time that adds oil to the fire of discontent. Therefore, it is preposterous to allow short sellers free reign when the USA is in recession. Surly, it is in most people’s interest to keep companies in business and employment at the highest level possible so that the recession can pass by quicker.

The remedy is for the government to immediately step in and demand the SEC halts ALL short sellers until the recession passes. In addition, all short positions should be covered within one week. This will send stocks up 2000 points and put a bottom under the markets. It will also save the jobs and companies that are now struggling to survive.

I recently enjoyed a French movie titled Avenue Montaigne that had some profound messages. In one scene, an actor explained to a young woman that just before the lights goes down she often observes people scrabbling for an empty seat that is closer to the stage. In their frenzy to get closer, they do not understand that if they get too close they will see less.

In the same way the short sellers need to realize the more money they are making by shorting stocks, the more pain they are inflicting on the whole of the world financial markets that follow the USA's lead.

Enough is enough and the government senators need to stand up for the peoples financial assets, moral values and be counted upon to do the correct course of action to stop short sellers in their vulture like tracks..

In the final analysis, this is a great time to be investing in substantial companies with strong balance sheets, great products, super management and services and no debt.

Panic buying or selling always leads to large losses.
Decisions made by greed and fear will lead to doom laden anxiety.
If you are still following the advice of the experts who got you into the confused mess, the doom god may take you to an early grave in double quick time.
There is a switch on the radio or TV that turns it off, discover the benefits how it works. Get out of the habit of listening to the fear mongers. Everything good, bad or indifferent passes with time and this too will pass.In every human being, there is a spirit of love & joy that can weather any storm in harmonious tranquility and peaceful grace. That is the only true channel of authenticity to be aware and tuned into. A simple person understands when enough is enough and never goes hungry for authentic counseling by a higher power; whoever or whatever they deem that to be. However, a person who does not know when to stop consuming will always go hungry for more and more. This type of person will always be in want and lack the real treasures of heaven and earth.

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Heritage week

In line with World Heritage Week, celebrated worldwide from November 19-25 to protect and promote heritage monuments of religious, historical and cultural significance, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), in association with NGO Svayam, inaugurated the celebrations on Wednesday at Qutab Minar — India’s only “accessible” world heritage site. Entry for visitors on the occasion was made free and as a result the heritage site was flooded with tourists and students. The theme this time round was to showcase the accessibility aspect of monuments and also encourage children to bring their grandparents to heritage sites. As a part of this, chief guest Sminu Jindal, founder, Svayam, administered an oath to over 300 students from different schools of Delhi to preserve heritage and protect monuments from defacement and other damage. Sminu Jindal, founder, Svayam said, “It’s a cause to celebrate and heartening to see ASI’s initiatives in carrying out Svayam’s audit reports to make Qutub Minar — the very first world heritage site in the country accessible to people with reduced mobility. I look forward to making all heritage sites accessible with ASI support. Svayam plans to work on Red Fort and Taj Mahal next. Today, there are five access ramps all across the heritage site and a person confined to a wheel chair can move around the complex independently. Said K K Muhammed, superintending archaeologist, Delhi circle: “Of the three World Heritage monuments in the Capital, Qutab Minar is the first freely accessible one.”

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Focus On Schools

Is it easier to set up a primary school than an IIT? Of course it is, most people would say. The chairman of the PM’s scientific advisory council, C N R Rao, also thinks so. The HRD ministry’s decision to set up six new IITs has irked him. These new IITs are meant for Rajasthan, Orissa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Punjab. The IITs established in Patna and Gandhinagar are operating from makeshift campuses. Temporary arrangements have been made to run the other new IITs from the existing IIT campuses. This means stretching their infrastructure and other resources. As one of the architects of India’s science and technology policies, Rao is rightly concerned and one must respect his candour. What one finds sad and difficult to accept is the manner in which he has argued for better planning for their expansion. He has pointed out that it has taken India 50 years to take IITs where they are today, and then he says, according to newspaper reports: “After all it’s not like opening primary schools.ℝ Both these remarks offer us valuable insight into India’s failure to provide education of an acceptable quality to all children.
The attitude these remarks signify is quite common. No one needs to doubt the genuine validity of Rao’s anguish over the importance of maintaining IIT’s high standards. But his comparative frame, in which primary schools rank so low as to symbolise a hastily established IIT, deserves critical attention. His remarks have come at a time when public policy seems to be waking up from a century-long sleep. It was in 1911 that G K Gokhale had mooted a Bill in the Imperial Legislative Assembly to make primary education compulsory, at least for boys. The Bill was defeated, not just because the British didn’t want to provide a substantial budget for primary education, but also because several of the Indian members of the assembly didn’t want to suffer the loss of cheap child labour available for their huge farms and havelis. A century later India has no rajas but young girls continue to work as low-paid domestic servants. Tens of thousands of young boys work in urban sweatshops. In villages, children continue to work on family farms and girls stay out of school to look after younger siblings. Child trafficking is on the rise in several regions. Shantha Sinha of the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights has rightly argued for years that the problem has its roots in poverty but its solution lies in making education compulsory and improving school quality. Adequate provision for elementary education would also enable India to realise its full human resource potential. At present, India loses half of this potential before Class VIII. Compared to Gokhale’s time, more members of India’s elite classes appreciate these arguments, but not many recognise that starting a good primary school is as complex as setting up a new IIT. The pejorative reference Rao made to primary schools is not just offensive to those of us who serve children in our formal capacities; it also reveals a huge mental block in the mind of India’s highest-level development planners. The idea that primary schools can be established and run cheaply has been central to educational planning since independence. The idyllic myth of the village schoolmaster under a tree persisted for several decades after independence. It was as late as the 1980s when a scheme to equip every primary school with basic minimum amenities and at least two teachers was mooted under the name ‘Operation Blackboard’ (OB). The modest gains of OB and other initiatives taken in the years following the National Policy on Education (1986) were supposed to get consolidated under the auspices of the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP), but the opposite happened and contradictions multiplied. Enrolment increased, but the status of teachers and the quality of their training declined. During the 1990s the axe of fiscal rationalism fell on India’s children and their teachers. State after state recruited para-teachers, and Madhya Pradesh went to the extent of declaring career teachers a ‘dying cadre’. Those who objected to such changes were told that insecure, meagrely paid teachers produced better results than qualified career teachers. One also heard that multi-grade teaching had virtues that one-teacherper-class policy somehow missed, and so on. The net result was that primary schools lost whatever little right to dignity they had acquired over the first three decades of independence. Thousands of them could be set up without prior planning, exactly as Rao has indicated in his comment. A plea for comprehensive and sophisticated policy for children and their education sounds like asking for the moon these days. We feign ignorance of the complexity of the demands that little children make on the state, and not just on their malnourished mothers. If they are to be nurtured to live and participate in a vibrant democratic order, India will need to pay the same meticulous attention to the needs of a primary school as it does in the case of IITs. A primary school poses formidable problems of infrastructure and maintenance, teacher recruitment and training and so on. We have been used to running primary schools where 95 per cent of the expenditure goes into salaries. Investments in curricular capacity and training have traditionally been minimal. No wonder primary schooling in our country is usually an unpleasant experience. Creativity and imagination are neglected because these require sophisticated training for the teacher.

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Women Moving Millions

The great 19th century novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe once claimed, "women are the real architects of society." A century later, noted anthropologist Margaret Mead said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Their words resonate for multitudes of women who have given generously of their time, talent and money to support others in need and to foster social change that benefits entire communities and nations. Today, women of high net worth are funding other women in record numbers and at unprecedented levels, according to the Women's Funding Network, a California-based umbrella organization for 126 women's funds on six continents. And, says the Network, "There's no shortage of sobering statistics that present a strong moral case for funding women." For example, worldwide, women constitute 70 per cent of the absolute poor - those living on less than a dollar a day - and they comprise over 60 per cent of people working in family enterprises without pay. In the US in 2004, approximately 13 per cent of women (more than 14 million) were living in poverty and 28 per cent of households headed by single women were poor. Many of these women are victims of violence. In the US, for instance, homicide is the top cause of death among pregnant women, and in Western Europe alone, about half a million women and girls from developing countries and countries with economies in transition are entrapped in the slave trade annually. Many women around the world also suffer from inadequate health care, poor housing, inequities in the workplace, and limited educational opportunities.At the same time, women control more than 51 per cent of personal wealth in the US today and they are set to inherit trillions of dollars more as the World War II generation begins to transfer its wealth. According to the 'Chronicle of Philanthropy', self-made women millionaires (those who earned rather than inherited their wealth) gave about seven per cent of their annual income in 2005, making them larger donors than their male counterparts. Data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) supports the fact that women give significantly more than men do.While mainstream, largely male-dominated, philanthropy still provides less than seven per cent of its grants to women and girls, women philanthropists are stepping in to fill the gap. They are supporting causes aimed at alleviating poverty among women and focusing on philanthropy designed to foster the kind of social change that improves life for everyone.It is this reality, coupled with women's growing financial clout that led two sisters, philanthropists Swanee Hunt and Helen LaKelly Hunt, to launch an initiative in November 2007 known as Women Moving Millions. Through a 'spark' gift of $10 million, the Hunt sisters catalyzed a partnership between the donor community and the Women's Funding Network in which women giving at historically new levels to women and girls will help propel the collective financial assets of women's foundations through the $1 billion mark. This will be achieved by raising $150 million in new gifts of a million dollars or more by April 2009. Nearly $70 million has already been raised."As women's control of wealth in the US continues to rise, now is the time to raise the bar on women's philanthropy and direct greater resources to women and girls," says Helen LaKelly Hunt, founder of The Sister Fund and co-chair of Women Moving Millions. "Women are giving at unprecedented levels in a global initiative for women. This is a historic moment in the world of women's philanthropy.""Over 80 per cent of grants made by women's foundations flow to women and girls with low or no income," adds Christine Grumm, President and CEO of Women's Funding Network. "Together, we are creating new opportunities for these women, which simultaneously boost the strength of their families, their communities and ultimately whole nations. Our work is showing that such a 'woman first' investment approach is the savviest way for donors to propel lasting community and social change."Most experts seem to agree. An article in 'The Economist' recently admonished, "Forget China, India and the internet: economic growth is driven by women." The World Bank concurs: its spokeswoman, Myra Buvinic, calls investing in women "smart economics".By the year 2010, women are expected to control 60 per cent of the wealth in the US, an unprecedented milestone in the empowerment of women. Women Moving Millions hopes, therefore, to double or even triple the number of women who make gifts of $ one million or more to a woman's fund by 2009. Calling the project a visionary partnership, the Women's Funding Network says it is "inspired by this new path in philanthropy" which aims "to make the leap from giving charitably to investing strategically in women, first and foremost"."We are united," it says, "based on our shared passions, instinct for democracy and belief in the power of women and girls to be vigorous agents of change on every pressing social issue we face today."

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Financial meltdown and media's role

When media gives more space to stock market crash, they give wrong message to the readers. As a result of such news, investors will sell their stocks at a loss and will also cancel their trading account. In the end, the markets would sink further..SENSATIONALISM IS the keyword of Indian media nowadays. Whether it is of celebrities or of aam admi, media will try their best to sensationalise the news to increase their readership or viewership.
But what is news after all? Today news is something, which provokes readership or viewership. In another word, we can say that in India news is like a Bollywood masala. When you add more and more recipe to it, the visibility becomes higher. In my opinion, these types of news only create panic among people. Panicked people take decisions out of their heart and not out of their mind.Recent financial crisis and the role of media Presently, the world is hit hard by recession. Stock markets across the world have plunged to all time low. Investors and traders are selling their stocks on loss. However, I believe that the situation has been created by the media to some extent. If we take the case of newspapers, they need huge headlines on a daily basis. Be it a brutal murder or an explosion or a stock market crash, they treat every story with the same sensationalism. And in the process, the actual truth gets lost.

When the media gives more space to stock market crash and less space to curative measures, they give wrong message to the readers. Readers are investors too and as a result of such news they will sell their stocks at a loss and will also cancel their trading account. As a result, stock markets would sink further. A balanced approach is needed when media deals with such highly sensitive news. Panic creation is not the duty of the media. Market sentiment is highly sensitive and it will react to every fraction of news event. As markets are the mirrors of the financial situation of the country, the media should be more careful while dealing with financial news. (There is a direct relation between the markets and the media, when the market is up, media will get more ad revenue and when the market is down their ad revenue would also go down).
Regional media The role of regional media in the current situation is also very crucial. As we have seen in the recent past, when anything related to market happens they give bold headlines saying that it is over and they would write baseless editorials about the situation. Actually, they are not trying to understand the real situation. They have only superficial knowledge about the financial situation so they write out of rumours.
Actually, such news would not effect experienced investors but it would hit the new investors hard. So the regional newspapers should also give a balanced approach to such news.

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IITF can serve the people better

The 28th India International Trade Fair (IITF) was inaugurated in New Delhi on November 14, 2008, by Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari. IITF is an annual feature and this 14-day event has been attracting large crowds from all over the country .THE AUTHORITIES should increase the duration of IITF to at least 30 days from the present 14 days. The timings should also be changed by keeping the fair open from 8 am till midnight. This will help cope with the ever-increasing rush at the fair. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) can also be requested to increase the frequency of its railway system. The fair has been held for the past 28 years without a break. However, all these years, there has been no improvement in temporal and spatial terms, as said earlier. The fair has been held on the same premises with no addition to floor space. The fair is on only for two weeks and is open to visitors only for ten hours a day. Most of these ten hours are earmarked for the business community. Other or general visitors are not allowed most of the time. This is inconsistent with the steep increase in population and the steep increase in the number of visitors who have been making it to the fair for the last three decades. Increasing the duration of the fair and increasing the visiting hours will reduce the rush and allow more people to enjoy the fair and benefit from it. The authorities should shift the venue of the fair to some other centrally-located city. It will benefit people from all over the country and spare the national capital of traffic-jam.

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ISRO plans ‘Mission Sun’

Soon after the success of Chandrayaan – I, ISRO is planning to send a spacecraft, named ‘Aditya’, to study the outermost region of the sun called corona. The organisation might launch sun mission during the next high solar activity period
SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH of Chandrayaan – I, India’s first mission has enhanced the enthusiasm of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists. Chandrayaan – I is about to land on the moon and close to reveal the mystery of moon. Within a month after the launch of the dream moon mission, ISRO scientists are planning for ‘Mission Sun’. ISRO scientists are reportedly designing a spacecraft, named ‘Aditya’, which is supposed to study the outermost region of the sun called corona. Talking to press, ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair said that Aditya is a mini satellite and the design is getting completed. “During solar maxim, which is happening, we would like to see the type of emissions which are taking place in the sun and how it interacts with the ionosphere and atmosphere and so on,” said Nair.Dr Jayati Datta, deputy programme director, space science office, ISRO, said Aditya is the first space based solar coronagraph intended to study corona.

Datta said, ’Aditya’ would be the first attempt by the Indian scientific community to unravel the mysteries associated with coronal heating, coronal mass ejections and the associated space weather processes and study of these would provide important information on the solar activity conditions.Further she added, “A basic understanding of the physical processes and continuous monitoring would help in taking necessary steps towards protecting ISRO’s satellites either by switching them off or putting them on a stand-by mode as warranted by the background conditions.”The temperature of the solar corona goes beyond million degrees. From the earth, corona can be seen only during total solar eclipses mainly due to the bright solar disc and the scattering of the sunlight by the earth’s atmosphere. One has to go beyond the atmosphere to be able to mask the bright solar disc and study the corona.According to space scientists the temperature of the solar corona goes beyond a million degrees. Corona can be seen from the earth only during total solar eclipses, due to the bright solar disc and the scattering of the sunlight by the earth’s atmosphere. The sun, which is highly turbulent and dynamic, sends out large chunks of charged particles and emits highly energetic electromagnetic radiation in all directions. To study the corona one needs to go beyond the atmosphere to be able to mask the bright solar disc. Work towards ‘Mission Sun’, Aditya, has already started with the involvement of ISRO scientists and premier national research institutes in the country. Aditya would be equipped with space borne coronagraph and it would study the coronal mass ejection and consequently the crucial physical parameters for space weather, such as the coronal magnetic field structures, evolution of the coronal magnetic field etc. Besides, the satellite will provide completely new information on the velocity fields and their variability in the inner corona, having an important bearing on the unsolved problem of heating of the corona.ISRO is planning to launch Aditya mission during the next high solar activity period. The space organisation, however, has not yet confirmed exact date/time of the launch of the mission. The new mission of ISRO scientists is really a commendable and brilliant step. Through their ambitious projects, the Indian space scientists are working hard to take the country to a new high

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‘Neo-journalism’ dangerous for the profession

THE LAST two decades have seen a mushroom growth of the Fourth Estate in the North-eastern region in general and Assam in particular. There is no doubt that due to this haphazard growth, the demand for mediapersons has increased, but their functioning in general has fallen short of the set journalistic norms. With information technology witnessing a fast pace of development, the media houses have not been able to get competent and trained workforce to cope with the increasing demands of this ever expanding and fast changing sector. The vacuum created by such situations has given birth to ‘neo-journalism’. This is just a ‘stopgap’ arrangement for the unemployed educated youths.
The majority of media houses take advantage of the burgeoning unemployment problem (especially among the educated youths) and engage inexperienced people to do those jobs, which require expertise and technical and language skills. But the moot point is that such people lack the primary knowledge of professional ethics. Nor do they have even the basic experience of interacting or communicating with people, which is a vital point to be developed in public relations – an inseparable part of journalism.

To cut a long story short, they demonstrate a poor exhibition of their ethical behaviour. What, of course, they are unnaturally very sure of, is that their job is quite ‘glamorous’. This ‘neo-journalism’ is harmfull for the profession in all respects.
As of today, one comes across instances of many conflicts between the media and other sections of society. One of the reasons for such irritants is the violation of the basic norms of journalism. It hardly needs reiteration that a pen-pusher or a journalist should remain ‘restrained’ in the most trying of circumstances. This, to say the least, is in the interest of gaining confidence of the people in the profession.
With regards to reporting, the less said the better. There are a number of cases of reports leading to controversies. At the other extreme are the readers who remain a confused lot in so far as the authenticity of the news is concerned. This happens mostly because of the ‘one-sided’ reports that appear in the print media and most of which are ‘syndicated’ (filed by people who may not have the requisite journalistic background).
The plight of the journalists in particular and the Fourth Estate in general can also be traced to other ancillary reasons. A significant aspect of modern-day journalism is the ‘hire and fire’ policy that is really very dear to most of the managements of the media houses. For minor mistakes, employees lose their jobs and that too even without a show cause notice. The poor innocent scribe fails to get his legal dues as well, in the long run. In all such cases, the media houses have the upper hand. The employees find themselves on the receiving end. In short, this noble profession continues to be badly insecure despite all the charms.
A large number of mass communication institutes are doing field work and preparing a number of journalists year after year. But they have not been able to make much progress in achieving their aims. Most of such institutions fail to even gauge the merits of their students. And, what more can one expect with the basic aim of most of these media training institutes. They are just need desperate to mint money depriving their students and that too at the cost of providing elementary education to their students. One thing is for sure, though these so-called institutes of media will never be able to supply the industry the trained and experienced manpower, if they cannot mould the minds of the students and subsequently create a true and ethical interest on the sector among their students. The motto should be to create the ‘right’ class of the journalists.

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A re-look at religious conversions

In Indian secularism you have to be open to the idea that the religious demography of the country will not remain static. The Constitution guarantees us the right to practice and propagate our faith and that includes soliciting people to convert..I WAS holding off writing this article for a while. Now that communal passions in the country seem to have cooled down to a certain degree, this would be a good time to have an objective analysis of the ’religious conversion’ debate. This, I believe, is extremely important because the problem at hand is intrinsically linked to the fundamental notion of India. We are a country that practices a unique brand of secularism that is found nowhere in the world. Every other country that holds the ideal of secularism sacred equates the same with the principle of separation of religion and state. But in India secularism means a state that gives each and every religion equal space. There is a fundamental difference which can be highlighted by juxtaposing India and the United States. In the Unites States when they say America is a secular country they mean that irrespective of your religion, race or ethnicity, you are an American first and as an American you are entitled to the opportunities that the United States provides for you.

In other words, in the US, or for that matter any country that says it practices secularism, a person’s religious background is of no consequence to the state. A person is free to practice any faith that he or she wants because it is inconsequential.
However, the Indian version of secularism is totally different. Secularism here means that a person has every right to freely practice and assert his or her faith. Religion in India is recognized as an integral part of our lifestyle and an inherent feature of our culture. As a result what this means is that the state of India acknowledges a person’s religion and would like to ensure that that person has no obstacles in practicing his or her own faith. In short, Indian secularism seeks inclusiveness of all religions whereas the secularism that is practiced elsewhere aims at keeping religion at bay. That being said let us get to the crux of the problem. What we are witnessing today is symptomatic of our interpretation of secularism. But before I proceed let me make it clear that I have no problems with the same. I believe that this form of secularism is something that we should preserve and it is with this understanding that I put forward the following hypothesis. The recent violence against Christians in Orissa and in other parts of south India has been largely understood to be a blowback against the vociferous conversion activities of Christian missionaries. It has been alleged that these missionaries indulge in forcibly converting people through allurements and deceit. This is also the position that political parties such as the BJP and other right-wing Hindu fundamentalist organizations have taken. What is surprising, however, is that a large section of educated Hindus who have condemned the violence have done so with a caveat that the conversion activities of the Christian missionaries must be somehow regulated. For the stand that more and more people are increasingly taking is that yes India is a secular country, yes a person should be free to practice his or her faith, but conversion activities should be best avoided and that the religious demography of the country must remain by and large constant.
Well I say this is all bunkum. If you believe in Indian secularism then you have to be open to the idea that the religious demography of the country will not remain static. The Indian Constitution guarantees us the right to practice and propagate our faith and that includes soliciting people to convert. In fact, to say that you are free to practice your faith but not preach the same is a misnomer. Freedom of religion is freedom of religion and there are no half measures in the same. Now coming down to this entire business of the ’methods adopted to convert people’. Nobody in their right senses will support forcible conversions or conversions through deceit. If someone puts a gun to your head and tells you to convert or if someone creates such circumstances for you that you have no other choice but to convert against your own free will, then let me tell you that there are already laws against the same. You cannot make anyone do anything through intimidation or blackmail. As soon as someone does that it constitutes crime under the Indian Penal Code. Such crimes have nothing to do with religion and are, in fact, civil offences that warrant suitable punishment. Hence, there is already a judicial mechanism and a law and order machinery in this country to take care of cases of forcible religious conversion. But what about conversions through allurements?As I understand it there is nothing wrong with religious conversions through allurements. If a Christian missionary or an Islamic organization is giving me loads of money to convert to their respective religions, they are well within their rights to do so. Banning the same will be like banning commercial advertising. If the makers of Suzuki cars have the right to entice me with a Sony home theatre if I purchase a Maruti 800, then the Dalai Lama foundation also has the right to lure me into becoming a Tibetan Buddhist with the promise of free supply of Smirnoff Vodka. The point is that this is not blackmail because I have the free choice to say no. Those who argue that the poor of Orissa’s KBK region and Kandhamal have no choice but to accept Christianity and call that blackmail, are simply wrong. First of all it cannot be called blackmail because poverty and hunger in Orissa’s backward regions are not the creation of Christian missionaries and is due to the failure of successive state administrations. Second, even if we assume that the charitable work that the Christian missionaries are doing there is being done with the vested interest of converting people, then too I do not see what the fuss is about. If the starving poor, for whom the administration has done nothing, are being fed in the process I honestly don’t see the reason for complaining. The people who are being fed will surely not complain, and if that is the case then why should anybody else have a problem? Yes, ideally the Church should feed people without telling them to convert and if certain missionaries are doing the opposite then all that means is that there is room for debate and reform within the Church itself. But there is nothing illegal that these missionaries have done so far and no Christian convert in Orissa has complained of being cheated by them. It is the VHP and the Bajrang Dal that has done the complaining and worse. Killing, raping and rendering people homeless is non-negotiable. These organisations have shamed us all and have injured the very spirit of our secular society. It is they that need to be banned.

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In the name of God

So much goes on in this country in the name of religion. It makes me wonder, where did we go wrong? Has the government at the Centre failed in maintaining the secular nature of our country? Will things improve in the near future?.
EVERYDAY, FOR the past few days, the newspapers have it. A report on how Christians in Kandhamal are being targeted by the Bajrang Dal and VHP. Animated reporters and newsreaders on TV have been talking about how violence has gripped the region rendering hundreds homeless and forcing them to live in relief camps. Riots, politics, the blame game, religion…this news story had all the elements to make the headlines. But there was something which happened in Kandhamal which put the entire nation to shame. A nun was gang raped by the Bajrang Dal activists.On August 25, the second day of the anti-Christian violence, a mob of 40-50 men, shouting Jai Bajrang Bali, came looking for her at a house where she and a Christian priest had taken shelter. In the nun’s own words, “I hid myself under the staircase while the crowd was shouting, ‘Where is that sister? Come, let us rape her, at least hundred people should rape her.’” In minutes, the nun was found, beaten mercilessly and subjected to gang rape. One man stood on her left hand and another on the right throughout the ordeal. Isn’t that ridiculous?This barbarous crime was committed by so-called followers of Lord Hanuman and protectors of Hinduism. Does Hinduism justify going wild and raping a Christian woman?
So much goes on in this country in the name of religion. It makes me wonder, where did we go wrong? Has the government at the Centre failed in maintaining the secular nature of our country? Has the Naveen Patnaik-government failed to handle the situation? Should the Bajrang Dal be banned?As the blame game of politics continues, can’t just someone ask those monsters, “Ghar pe maa behen nahin hai kya?”

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Super Fast Palak Paneer

Even though I try my hardest to make food using fresh veggies and make something interesting, there are those nights when I get home from work either too tired or too late to be bothered with trying to wrap my brain around anything too complicated. Last night was one of those nights.Since I still had a half block of tofu left over from making pasta the night before, I decided to make a bit of a vegan version of palak paneer. It's sort of the ghetto vegan version, let's be honest.

I love Palak paneer with a passion, so my convenience foods are typically cans or packages of Indian food of the just-heat-it-up variety. Yummy and fast. I especially love the Jyoti Madras Sambar and Delhi Saag.I just so happened to have a can of the Delhi Saag (mustard greens, spinach, ginger, lemon juice and spices) in my pantry yesterday. Armed with a can of that, some leftover tofu and some Indian basmati rice, a meal was born.

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The Malegaon precipice

Whatever may be the facts of the case, the aftermath of the inquiry in the Malegaon blasts has already become an ominous watershed in our politics. Much of the debate has centred on peripheral issues: the semantic squabble over what this kind of terrorism should be called, if the facts turn out to be true. Then there is the numerical worry: if true, how widespread is this kind of activity? But these questions simply deflect attention from the seriousness of the crisis. We are now moving towards a monumental tragedy. To see how deep the rot is, just think of the following five issues. Fringe groups and secessionist movements question the legitimacy of the state, but despite imperfections India survived as a legitimate state. But now the amazing thing has happened. Every single mainstream political party (repeat: every single mainstream political party) now openly questions the legitimacy of the state. Some political parties believe the state apparatus is unfair to minorities, some say it is grossly manipulated to assault the majority.
Each questions the methods, techniques, objectives and impartiality of the state. They disagree on everything else, but on one thing they are agreed: you cannot take the state at face value; it is out to persecute, trap, and conspire against someone or the other. Essentially, this is the state we are in.
After the BJP is done with what the state is supposedly doing to Hindus, and after the UPA is done with what it is doing to Muslims, does the Indian state have any shred of credibility left? If the mainstream political parties don’t trust it, what can we say to anyone else who questions the legitimacy of the Indian state, like the Kashmiris? Most states lose legitimacy because they are found to be manipulating the facts. We have pulled off the remarkable feat of rendering the facts irrelevant. No matter what the facts, the state has been declared untrustworthy even before it can render a final verdict. Can you imagine any political society surviving if all its main political parties acted as if the state were fundamentally untrustworthy? Second, political discourse has now locked itself into a vicious circle. Members of the BJP, such as Rajnath Singh, have committed themselves to the absurd proposition that innocence and guilt can be settled purely by definition. A large number of religious leaders, including Baba Ramdev whose contribution to public health is more...

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Every broken Coriolanus revived

It is often said that we know nothing of Shakespeare’s personal views. This is largely because he had such a genius for expressing almost every possible human type from within... and [we] cannot know what a man thought who was able to see every question from every possible angle, and who never once appeared in his own guise... Moreover, his plays show moral problems; they do not preach their solutions... I think, however, that the unknowability of Shakespeare’s views can be exaggerated. We can safely deduce... that he was not puritanical in his views, but neither was he an amoralist. In politics... he was neither a utopian nor a complete cynic. Moreover, since the dramatic effect of his plays depends on the plausibility of his depictions, when he shows the crowd as foolish, fickle and frenzied, we must suppose that he thought this to be at the very least a plausible depiction. Shakespeare was no friend of tyranny, but neither did the multitude ever appear heroic in his works. In his last tragedy, Coriolanus, Shakespeare examines political life in as unsparing and unsentimental a way as Machiavelli. Coriolanus [is] devilishly proud and utterly disdainful of the lower orders... Unfortunately, after his great victory at Corioli, Coriolanus stands for the office of Consul. [To] be elected he needs the approbation of the plebeians...

Shakespeare [has] not simply made a mistake with Coriolanus, in showing him to be an empty vessel filled up by activity. He is showing us a type that appears to me to becoming more common: someone for whom public adulation [is] a kind of scaffolding that keeps the whole edifice of the personality upright, that prevents the ego from crumbling into nothingness... Coriolanus does indeed hold the people in contempt; but it is not true that he wishes to establish his own dictatorship, as the tribunes later pretend. And the tribunes, while goading the people on, pretend that they are moderates, intent upon holding the people back. Has political life really changed very much since Shakespeare’s day...? If anything, it seems to have regressed towards it...

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Supreme Ganesha

Ganapati Itaguli's piece of art, which he says, portrays three faces, (a dancer, Ganesha and a bird). Can be seen at Delhi Art Gallery

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IITF Delhi

India International Trade Fair is organised every year in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi from 14th Nov. to 27th Nov., which provides an unique platform to showcase progress and potential of the State in various sectors.
CSIDC is the nodal agency for construction & management of Chhattisgarh Pavilion in IITF, New Delhi. Since 2001 Chhattsgarh State is participating every year in IITF. Chhattisgarh has won Special award in 2001, Bronze in 2002, Silver in 2003, Special Award in 2004, Silver in 2005 and Bronze in 2006.

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Saffron Terror

Hindu Terrorism Two years on, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested Sadhvi Pragya Thakur. In Madhya Pradesh, Mahashtra and Gujarat, a number of other Hindutva extremists have been detained for interrogation. They have reportedly found solid evidence of the existence of an elaborate, well-ramified terrorist network, which they suspect was involved in several recent bombings in different States, including the blasts in Malegaon and in Modasa in Gujarat in September.
A relook at terror If the police succeed in substantiating their allegations, the government will have to radically revise its view of terrorism, which it sees primarily, if not solely, as the work of extremist organisations such as the Indian Mujahideen, the Students Islamic Movement of India, the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, many of them linked to Pakistan/Bangladesh. The government will also have to go after or ban Hindutva groups such as the Bajrang Dal, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Sri Ram Sena and, above all, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), which mentors them and to which they are affiliated. At the centre of the recently discovered Hindutva extremist network are, allegedly, Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, her accomplices Shyam Banwarilal Sahu and Shivnarayan Singh Kalsangar and others such as Sameer Kulkarni and Ramesh Upadhyay, a former Army officer. Even more important are the organisations to which they belong, including the Hindu Janajagaran Manch and the Sanatana Ashram in Panvel and the Bhonsala Military School in Nashik run by the Central Hindu Military Education Society, established in 1935 by B.S. Moonje – a Hindutva zealot and former Hindu Mahasabha president – who was close to RSS founder K.B. Hedgewar but well to his right. The terrorist involvement of some of these organisations was detected in 2006 when the ATS of the Maharashtra Police investigated an accidental bomb explosion on April 6 in the house of RSS member L.G. Rajkondwar in Nanded, not far from Malegaon. Bajrang Dal activists Naresh Rajkondwar and Himanshu Panse were killed while attempting to fabricate a bomb along with fellow-extremists.
The ATS filed a charge sheet in August 2006 in which it established the existence of a Bajrang Dal-centred terrorist network. This network was responsible for terrorist bombings in November 2003 at a mosque in Parbhani in Maharashtra’s Marathwada region and in August 2004 at mosques in Jalna and Purna in the same region. The bomb that went off accidentally at Nanded was apparently meant to be used at a mosque in Aurangabad. The Marathwada-based extremists were trained in bomb-making near Pune, in Goa and at the Bhonsala Military School, where an RSS camp coached more than 100 participants in the use of firearms and in martial arts. According to the ATS, this operation was part of a large conspiracy to target Muslims and create an impression that Muslim extremists would kill other Muslims to provoke disaffection, widen the communal divide and stoke extremism.
This would play straight into the hands of the Hindutva forces, which would attribute all acts of terrorism, including diabolical ones directed at Muslims, solely to Muslims.
The September 2006 bombings in Malegaon outside a crowded mosque after the Friday prayers fit this pattern to a T. Ironically, the police held Muslims responsible, ignoring all material evidence and important clues: the victims were exclusively Muslims observing Shab-e-Barat, or remembrance of the dead, in an adjoining graveyard; the bicycles in which the bombs were planted had Hindu names painted on them.
The police overplayed the “telltale” use of RDX explosive although only one of the three forensic laboratories detected its presence. The Union Home Secretary, no less, had ruled RDX out. But RDX is no Muslim monopoly. It can be procured by any determined group. Shortly after the explosion at Nanded on April 6, the Secular Citizens’ Forum and the People’s Union for Civil Liberties in Nagpur and the Movement for Peace and Justice in Nanded collected photographs that, according to them, showed a bomb-fabrication operation run by the Bajrang Dal. The pictures proved that the local police tried to cover up Bajrang Dal-VHP involvement by planting firecrackers to suggest that the blast was not caused by bombs. They also ignored the planting of false beards to suggest that the perpetrators were Muslims. They played down the fact that a second bomb was recovered from the same place.
Diluted charges The activists specifically warned of an imminent attack by Hindutva militants but were ignored. Soon thereafter, Malegaon happened. The Nanded case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation. According to anti-communalism activist Teesta Setalvad, who moved a Right to Information application to get hold of the CBI’s charge sheet, the CBI considerably diluted the terrorism-related charges and presented the Nanded explosion as an isolated incident unconnected with the Sangh Parivar and delinked from a larger conspiracy. It then pleaded its “inability” to proceed with the investigation. Since then, Sangh Parivar activists have been implicated in other explosions that took place while bombs were being fabricated in places as varied as Kanpur and Tenkasi, besides Nanded again. There have been any number of instances of Bajrang Dal activists distributing trishuls – four million in Rajasthan alone, according to former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot – forming anti-Muslim suicide squads, and training members in the use of firearms. They have brazenly owned up to the recent ethnic cleansing operation against Christians in Orissa and to intimidating other minorities. The Indian state’s response to these manifestly illegal and obnoxiously communal activities has been soft, if not supine. This has encouraged the most vicious and aggressive Hindutva forces to step up their offensive, thus further alienating our already threatened and beleaguered minorities.

Patriotic extremists? The government’s reluctance to bring Sangh Parivar fanatics to book is premised on the belief that Hindu extremists are somehow more “patriotic” and, therefore, less evil than Islamist extremists. This is a Hindu-majoritarian, anti-secular view. It presumes that Hindus, by virtue of being the majority, are quintessentially more committed to the Indian nation than Muslims or Christians, and hence deserving of sympathy. This repugnant presumption profoundly misrepresents and seriously violates India’s civic nationalism, which is based on the modern concept of equality of all citizens irrespective of their religion or ethnicity. It is incompatible with our Constitution’s foundational values. In reality, the Sangh Parivar is not committed to the Indian nation but to the “Hindu nation”, in which the minorities must accept a subordinate, second-class status. Powerful refutation of this presumption was offered by the barbaric burning alive of Graham Staines and his two children in Orissa by Bajrang Dal activist Dara Singh; the Gujarat pogrom; and other gory episodes of violence against Indian citizens and offences against India’s plural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious foundations.
BJP’s responsibility Militant majoritarianism has held sway in India over the past 20 years and created great fear and insecurity among Muslims. Hindutva’s rise has deeply affected official thinking and given India’s counter-terrorism strategy an Islamophobic edge. A significant number of police and intelligence officials, both serving and retired, have embraced hard or soft Hindutva. Muslim alienation from the government has never been greater. This is especially so where Muslims have been harassed or treated with suspicion, as after the Batla House episode. The lion’s share of the responsibility for this unacceptably deplorable state of affairs rests with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), many of whose members seamlessly walk in and out of the front organisations of the RSS, and whom the RSS uses at will. Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, for instance, was a leader of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) for nearly a decade and campaigned for the BJP during the last Assembly elections in Gujarat. Her associates have a similar relationship with Sangh Parivar organisations.
It simply will not do for the BJP to pretend that it is unconnected to these organisations and individuals or, more egregiously, that there can be no “Hindu terrorist” because Hinduism is inherently tolerant and incapable of a fundamentalist interpretation. Indeed, Hindutva embodies intolerance in its most malignant form. The Indian state will further damage its already frayed secular credentials unless it stops being pusillanimous and musters the courage to take on the Sangh Parivar while protecting the minorities. It must ban the RSS, the Bajrang Dal, the VHP and other extremist groups; prosecute BJP and ABVP members who have links with them; and cleanse its police, security and intelligence apparatuses of communally inclined personnel. No less important, it must set up a high-level commission on the Gujarat pogrom and other recent communal atrocities to punish the guilty. The ruling coalition has failed to reaffirm a secular agenda in a credible way. Unless it acts with determination and despatch, Hindutva hatred and prejudices will undermine interreligious harmony and tear this society asunder.

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Aloo Karare!!

The humble potato is Delhi's delight during the winter months. And aloo chaat, is the best form in which the potato can be consumed in this part of the world, at this time of the year.As the temperature drops to the season's lowest, I sit down and close my eyes. I see a photo slide of the various foods that I'd love to gorge on this winter (as any other). Aloo chaat, shakarkandi, jalebis from Chandni Chowk, mom-made halwa, kaanji (the blood red spicy drink made from bleeding carrots), and what not flash before my eyes.I happened to visit the Ham House (known to people as Hamilton House), aloo chaat wala twice in the past two weeks and thought of talking (read writing) about him here. As the name suggests, the chaat wala sits (in a corner) outside the Hamilton House, Inner Circle, Connaught PlaceI've been having the alu chaat made by him ever since I've been visiting Connaught Place. A visit to Connaught Place is rather incomplete without a nibble at this spicy snack, priced slightly high at Rs.20 for a plate.Vijay is the man who carries forward the legacy of his father and elder brother of selling the famed chaat.

And it has been 35 years since Delhiites have had the pleasure of gorging on it. Vijay also does a fruit chaat for you, if you want. During winters he also does the sweet potato or shakarkandi to please your tatse buds. But nothing beats the humble potato: diced, fried, spiced up (mild spicy to fiery hot) and served hot. Ahaaa! Yummm! And yeah he faced the axe from the Supreme Court when the street food vendors and stalls were asked to be removed. Later, everything fell in place (only for old players like these) and now he sells chaat to you legally. :)

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Yamuna winding river of sorrow drowns in sewage

A young girl paddles on the Yamuna, which, according to an expert, is badly polluted by Delhi residents with "a flush and forget mindset".

BEGINNING at dawn under the belly of an old wrought iron bridge, Somnath Dantoso, 12, drops a dumbbell-shaped magnet from his boat built from rubbish into Delhi's Yamuna River.It is a routine he has done daily for four years. The magnet sinks about 10 metres below the river's inky surface and on a good day clings to about 50 rupees worth of coins that commuters toss in for good luck."When people stop throwing coins I'm going to open a grocery shop," Somnath says. "Otherwise I'll do this the rest of my life."The Indian Government has spent 20 billion rupees trying to clean the polluted Yamuna, yet the stretch where young Somnath works is so contaminated it can hardly sustain marine life.Garbage cascades down its banks and gives off the stench of a cesspool, blighting a river that extends 1376 kilometres from the Himalayas to the holy Ganges. From 1993 to 2005, pollution levels more than doubled, and they continue to rise."The river is dead — it just has not been officially cremated," says Sunita Narain, director of the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, one of India's top environmental watchdog groups.What went wrong with the Yamuna is increasingly characteristic of India's major cities: unchecked urban growth combined with poor government oversight.

The problem is not only in Delhi, which dumps 57 per cent of its waste into the Yamuna."It's a national challenge," says S. V. Suresh Babu, from the CSE, who points out that 80 per cent of India's urban waste goes into rivers. The top 10 most expensive river clean-up sites in India are so polluted they exceed the level for safe bathing.The costs aren't only in the clean-up. According to Dr Shreekant Gupta, a professor at the Delhi School of Economics specialising in the environment, the cost of environmental damage in India is equivalent to 4 per cent of national income, when factoring in lost productivity from death and disease (water-borne diseases are India's leading cause of child mortality).The problem in Delhi pivots on the frightening fact that only 55 per cent of the city's 15 million residents are connected to the city's sewerage system. The rest flush their bath water, waste water and just about everything else down pipes and into drains that empty into the Yamuna. "We have a flush and forget mindset," Ms Narain says.Today Delhi is home to 5 per cent of India's urban population but has 40 per cent of the country's sewage treatment capacity. Despite the massive capital outlay, 11 of the 17 sewage treatment plants are under-used. A quarter of the plants run at less than 30 per cent capacity.According to Arun Mathur, chief executive of the Delhi Jal Board, the government agency responsible for providing drinking water and disposing of waste water, the problem has been the decrepit state of the city's sewerage system, which fails to deliver the sewage to the plants. Mr Mathur explains that the treatment plants cannot work to capacity "because the sewer lines are silted and settled … and are corroded".
Delhi has 6000 kilometres of sewerage lines, but it is the system's main lines that have fallen into disrepair over the years, backing up the peripheral lines. The challenge for Mr Mathur is the unplanned neighbourhoods — the sprawling growth of Delhi that is unconnected to the system. The sewage from "1500 unplanned colonies find its way into the drains and the river", he says and shakes his head. According to the CSE, 75 to 80 per cent of the river's pollution is a result of raw sewage. Combined with industrial run-off, it totals more than 3 billion litres of waste a day, a quantity well beyond the river's assimilative capacity.The frothy mix is so glaring it can be viewed on Google Earth.The matter is now in the hands of the Indian Supreme Court — notorious for legislating from the bench when government bureaucracies fail to act quickly, or at all. On May 8, the court approved a new proposal from the Delhi Jal Board to build interceptor sewers diverting the sewage flowing from unconnected parts of the city to the sewage treatment plants. The plan is estimated to cost another 20 billion rupees.But experts such as Ms Narain believe throwing more money into building sewage diversion and treatment infrastructure is a waste of time. India's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, seems to agree, coming down on the side of innovation over new construction. In a speech delivered on World Water Day, March 22, he called on India's scientists, technologists and engineers to redesign the flush toilet.

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Chandrayaan project an investment for future

Rejecting criticism over high costs for the Chandrayaan-I project, former ISRO Chairman K Kasturirangan said it was a good investment for the future. "With the population explosion, the demand for land, a scarce material, will go up in future. We have to look for other sources for this. Chandrayaan-I is to look for water availability on the Moon so that human settlements can be created," he told an international seminar on space applications. He said the Moon's environment was almost similar to that of the Earth and human habitations would become a "real possibility in the future." The success of Chandrayaan-I has enthused the country's young scientists. He said with water and land becoming scarce materials, space technology should be applied for enhancing productivity of agricultural sector. Space could provide timely information on weather, global warming, environment and ecological system. This information would go a long way in helping the farmers and tackle the issue of food security.He said space was the place for future generations to stay and cost effective transport system should be developed. Resources should be mopped up for this purpose, he said, adding priority should be accorded for this.Private educational institutions, like the Satyabama University, which co-sponsored the seminar along with the ISRO, should do their mite for encouraging research in space.
Chancellor Jeppiyar said the university would soon create a space research cell, with the ISRO's collaboration. He sought Kasturirangan's help in developing the centre as one of excellence.Over 180 papers were presented at the three-day seminar which concluded on saturday

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