The Bahu of Bengal

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Sardar Patel

2012-01-29T13:30:00.000-05:00

Namaste,

Too often, Westerners associate India’s independence movement with only Gandhi and Nehru. IMO Gandhi and Nehru emasculated India. In my article The Assertive Indian, I said that Westerners should know about the efforts of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel toward India’s independence.

Source: hup.harvard.edu via Bahu of Bengal on Pinterest

Now, after reading His Majesty's Opponent: Subhas Chandra Bose and India's Struggle against Empire by Sugata Bose, great-nephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose (and grandson of Sarat Chandra Bose), I shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that strong personalities such as Netaji and Sardar Patel were at odds with each other. For one thing, Sardar Patel, as part of Gandhi’s wing, undermined Netaji’s becoming Congress President.

Source: Uploaded by user via Bahu of Bengal on Pinterest

More personally, and this was new to me, Sardar Patel’s family fought the terms of his older brother Vithalbhai’s will, which allocated a portion of his fortune to Netaji “for the political uplift of India and preferably for publicity work on behalf of India’s cause in other countries.” Vithalbahai Patel and Netaji met as they were convalescing in a sanatorium in Europe.

This is not to disparage the efforts of both Netaji and Sardar Patel toward achieving India's independence. Both men contributed strongly to India's independence in their own ways.

Note: this article contains a link to Amazon.com. The Bahu of Bengal is an Amazon.com affiliate, and by selecting the link and purchasing the book through that link, you support the work of this blog.

My response to the teacher and students

2012-01-22T00:00:00.000-05:00

Namaste,

It took me a while to compose my thoughts and respond to the kind note about my Sanskrit page, but this is how I responded:

Dear A-,

I was surprised - and delighted to get your email.

My website was formerly hosted by Yahoo! GeoCities, but when Yahoo! GeoCities ceased operations, I got a dedicated web site name and migrated to another web site host. However, it has been a long time since I last updated the site. I had actually forgotten about it until I received your email. Kudos to your student who found my website. She must have done a lot of digging online to find it.

India comprises 1/6th of the world's population. Its diaspora (the people who migrated outside of India) has made its presence felt in many countries around the world. Recently, I was surprised to learn that the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean is a woman of Indian origin. As you probably know, your Attorney General Kamala Harris has an Indian mother.

More importantly, India has exported its culture and thought to points eastward in Asia. You will see adaptations of Indian thought and culture in countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, Korea, and Indonesia. That is the takeaway that I would like your students to have.

In closing, I would like to thank you for presenting this course module and your students (especially the girl) for finding online resources on India and its languages.

Kind regards,
जूली मैत्र (this is my name written in Devanagari, the script used to write Sanskrit).

A kind note about my Sanskrit page

2012-01-15T00:00:00.000-05:00

Namaste,

Before I started this blog and adopted the screen name of Bahu of Bengal, I maintained a web site on India and Hinduism on Yahoo! Geocities. After Yahoo! Geocities closed, I got a dedicated web site http://merabharatmahanonline.com, but didn't update it. I had practically forgotten about it.

Saraswati - in her lowered hand, she is holding the Vedas

Recently, I received this nice note from a teacher who did a unit on world cultures on my Sanskrit page:

Hello there,My name is A ___ and I'm a teacher for some lovely students out at a charter school out in Northern California. I hope I'm not a bother, but I just wanted take the time to send you a quick thank you note on behalf of my class and myself for providing the resources on your site (http://merabharatmahanonline.com/sanskrit.htm). They just completed a "Cultures around the World" project and your page was such a great reference for their assignment, so from all of us, thank you!

As a small token of our appreciation, we thought we'd send along another helpful site that one of my students actually came across: http://languageshome.com/ It has a plethora of Indian language resources from Hindi to Awadhi, and was so great in teaching my students to basics of the different languages. Just thought it could be helpful to other students as well.

And if you wouldn't mind adding it to your other resources, I'd love to show my student who went above and beyond to find the site that her work was appreciated (maybe a little extra credit). Let me know what you think.Thanks again. And I hope you have a wonderful holiday!

Sincerely,Mrs. H___' class

Cultural heritage or natural heritage first?

2012-01-01T00:00:00.000-05:00

Protection of India's heritage, both cultural and natural, is one of the themes that the Bahu of Bengal covers on this blog.

Here is a story where development pits cultural heritage against natural heritage, titled Flamingos lost forever:

Flamingos at the Sewri mudflats near Mumbai

Source: lh5.ggpht.com via Bahu of Bengal on Pinterest

Construction work on the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link will damage the habitat for flamingos and migratory birds at Sewri, near Mumbai. An alternative route would be near Elephanta Caves, a heritage site where construction is limited.

Dev Anand dies at age 88

2011-12-05T19:10:00.001-05:00

Dev Anand died at age 88 on December 3 in London (December 4 India time).

Source: cinemachaat.wordpress.com via Julie on Pinterest

I had to include this because my husband had a crush on Tanuja.

Sad day for the music world

2011-10-10T12:27:00.002-05:00

Jagjit Singh dies at age 70

Thanks to my brother-in-law for locating this video.

A young Jagjit Singh

Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power

2011-10-01T00:00:00.000-05:00

Namaste,

I discovered the book Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power by Robert D. Kaplan through updates from the Asia Society. Its premise is that the locus of power will shift from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to the Indian Ocean. America will have to share power in the Indian Ocean. Monsoon also regards China's maritime ambitions as benign, which is nonsense.

These opinions are actually superfluous to the book itself, which focuses on the author's travels to countries in the Indian Ocean region. While I read the book from cover to cover, I have to say that I was turned off after Chapter 6, The Troubled Rise of Gujarat. The author describes the Muslims who burned Hindu pilgrims alive at Godhra as "victims of taunts." Who, then, were the Hindus pilgrims, many of whom were women and children, if not victims? It reminded me of the reporting of Rajiv Chandrasekharan (now National Editor of the Washington Post), which was tantamount to blaming the victims.

Pardon me for being hardened and not caring about the plight of Muslims who were displaced from their homes and survivors of those who were killed in the pogroms following Godhra, but I bet that Kaplan cares not one whit about the plight of Hindus in Pakistan, Kashmir, and Bangladesh.

Kaplan also ponders, is Narendra Modi a fascist? Kaplan ultimately comes down on the side that Modi is not a fascist, but calls him the "most dangerous politician in India." He also says that Modi suffered setbacks when the BJP did poorly in polls. This is not true. Modi continues to be popular, and those who live outside Gujarat see the good governance that he has provided to Gujarat and would like for him to become PM.

I would like to point out that Breaking India reported on a seminar hosted by Asia Society on, Is India Becoming a Fascist State? No wonder Asia Society promoted Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power.

Breaking India

2011-09-03T14:26:00.003-05:00

Breaking India

Namaste,

My blog is dedicated to the premise that India's nationhood is rooted in its Hindu culture. The book Breaking India by Rajiv Malhotra and Aravindan Neelakandan is about the forces that are fragmenting India. While Islamic radicalism and Maoist insurgencies are two of the forces that are fragmenting India, Breaking India focuses on the North-South divide, as evidenced by its subtitle Western Interventions in Dravidian and Dalit Faultlines.

Breaking India begins with a study of the construction of Aryan and Dravidian identities through the years and how this artificial divide was promulgated and led to setting different groups in opposition to each other. The book focuses on the construction of Aryan identity, rather than on deconstruction of the AIT - perhaps because others have done that, the authors don't say.

The most eye-opening part of Breaking India is about the roles that academia, evangelical Christian organizations, NGOs, "think tanks," and governments play in undermining India's unity. Shared interests lead to unlikely pairings such as left-wing intellectuals with evangelical Christian interests. There are also unlikely alliances between Maoists and evangelical Christian entities in India's "Red Corridor."

I recommend Breaking India to anyone concerned about India's unity, and encourage readers to go beyond the main text to read the appendices and endnotes. Appendix B highlights references to the Vedas in Tamil religious literature and Tamil familiarity with smriti such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata - a testament to the unity in Indian civilization. Appendix C presents the extreme case of what can happen when separate identities are constructed and put in opposition to each other: the 1994 genocide in Rwanda that pitted Hutus and Tutsis against each other. Parallels are drawn with the bloody civil war in Sri Lanka that pitted Tamils and Sinhalese against each other.

Breaking India has a dedicated website, www.breakingindia.com. Rajiv Malhotra's next book Being Different: An Indian Challenge to Western Civilization views Western civilization from the dharmic point of view. It will ship in late November.

Jana Gana Mana

2011-08-23T21:01:00.001-05:00

Namaste,

Yet another overwrought version of Jana Gana Mana, featuring well-known singers and instrumentalists. The extreme close-ups are annoying. Still I choke up. It is like a prayer.

The Silent Indian National Anthem

2011-01-26T12:35:00.009-05:00

Namaste,

You've seen the video of A.R. Rahman's overwrought production of Jana Gana Mana and the video of the little child's word-perfect rendition of Jana Gana Mana. Now watch as hearing-impaired children sign Jana Gana Mana. I choked up.

Happy Republic Day.

The Life of Sri Aurobindo by A.B. Purani

2010-01-02T19:19:00.008-05:00

Namaste,

Sri Aurobindo lived an amazing life. He was a scholar of Greek classics at Cambridge, college professor, revolutionary and nationalist, and a mystic. He left behind a prodigious output of writing, which was cataloged in the Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library (SABCL), published by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram.

Until I read The Life of Sri Aurobindo by A.B. Purani, I thought that his life could be neatly organized by his various careers and places of residence. Sri Aurobindo began his revolutionary activities at Cambridge, continued them through his tenure in Baroda and his stay in Calcutta, and effectively ended them when he departed to Pondicherry. Even after his withdrawal from politics in 1920, he continued to write cogently about worldly affairs. His sadhana साधना began as long ago as his stay in Baroda (1893-1906), intensified when he was imprisoned in Alipor jail, and culminated in Pondicherry. His life could not be as neatly compartmentalized as I had thought.

Through reading The Life of Sri Aurobindo, I also began to understand why his writings are so difficult to read. Jeffery Paine, author of Father India, told me that Sri Aurobindo ultimately wrote for himself. After I read the book, I came to believe that the problem is that Sri Aurobindo was trying to articulate in words and intellectualize mystical experience. He acknowledged,

What I write usually helps only the mind and that too very little, for people really do not understand what I write …

Another problem is that Sri Aurobindo invented new vocabulary. His levels of consciousness, for example, seem to correspond to the koshas कोश or sheaths of the individual.

I drew inspiration from Sri Aurobindo’s vision for India, Asia, and the world, which he wrote for the occasion of India’s independence, August 15, 1947, which was also his birthday. Other readers will find The Life of Sri Aurobindo revelatory and inspiring.

Christianity: West's default religion?

2009-12-21T12:04:00.006-05:00

Namaste,

I had to read and re-read Christianity: West's default religion by Sandhya Jain. On first reading, I took offence at the intimation that the problem of Islam should be sicced on the West – and it still bothers me.

Contrary to what the author says, the recent Swiss vote to ban minarets does not represent "a frontal return of Christianity." Europe is largely secular in its orientation and post-Christian (the same cannot be said about America). Since WWII, Europe has lost the will to fight, if it ever had the will to fight: the U.S. and British, in an opportunistic alliance with the Soviet Union, crushed Nazism on its Eastern and Western fronts. By abandoning Christianity, Europe has no ideology that can effectively counter Islam.

Western politicians have sold out their people through alliances with Muslim states for oil. The philosophy of cultural relativism has also eroded Western confidence in itself. I see the Swiss vote to ban minarets as a baby step by its citizens to reclaim its culture and its way of life. This does not mean a Christian resurgence in Europe, the return of The Crusades, and expanding missionary activities.

Upon re-reading this article, I do have to agree with the author on the following:

The Swiss vote has caused a frisson of excitement in traditional and secular circles in India, with some Hindus hallucinating about a ‘natural’ alliance with the Christian West to mutually crush Islam. This foolish hope once soared after the 2001 attack on the Twin Towers in New York, and Hindus in particular and Indians in general failed to comprehend why Pakistan emerged as the West’s leading non-NATO ally.

… Should Hindus respond to a Western Crusade against Islam, the result will be similar to our experience in World War II, where the 2.5 million-strong Indian Army won the war for the colonial West, only to be betrayed back at home. The British eventually quit India in 1947 only because of the military mutinies inspired by Subhash Chandra Bose, and they successfully cut up the nation before leaving, retaining critical territory in the form of a land bank called Pakistan …

Neither the Government of India nor Western government have the guts or will to stand up to Islam and its expansionist aims on society. Both are in denial. Even if there were awareness and will, India is not strong enough on its own. India will have to employ cunning (something it lacks and which Pakistan and China have in abundance) and enter into opportunistic alliances, as the Americans and British did with the Soviet Union in WWII.

The Vedanta Society and ecumenicism

2009-12-10T12:00:00.004-05:00

Namaste,

I received an email announcing new titles in the Vedanta Catalog. Prints of this picture of the Madonna and baby Jesus are offered for sale as a greeting card or art print:

According to the Vedanta Catalog,

It was in Jadulal Mallik's garden house where Ramakrishna first saw the painting. He intently studied the image of the Madonna and Child thinking of the wonderful life of Jesus. Rays of light emanated from the bodies of Mother Mary and the child Jesus, entering Ramakrishna's heart. The overpowering experience forced Ramakrishna to forget his Hindu awareness. He even forgot to visit the Divine Mother in the temple so strong was his love of Christ.

I agree with Pt. Vamadeva Shastri (David Frawley) that the Ramakrishna Mission ascribes too much to Ramakrishna's forays into other religions. According to him, Sri Ramakrishna's forays into other religions were highly unorthodox and lasted only a few days apiece: for most of his life, Sri Ramakrishna was content to be a priest for Kali at Dakshineswar.

On the basis of these brief forays into other practices, Vedanta temples are decorated with symbols of different religions. Swami Vivekananda expressed the need for a temple that united Hindus of all sampradayas under the symbol of "Aum."

Other reviews of The Hindus: An Alternative History

2009-12-05T12:00:00.001-05:00

Namaste,

To follow up on my review of The Hindus: An Alternative History, here are links to two other reviews:

Doniger Imagined History
The Hindu American Foundation poses two questions to Doniger and the Academy:

1) Do academics that study religion as non-believers share a responsibility to consider or respect the religious beliefs ascribed by adherents to their scripture?

2) Is Freudian psychoanalysis relevant to deconstructing scripture, its divine and human characters (the latter now dead) and its earliest believers (also now dead) from several millenia ago, and what, if any value do these interpretations offer?

Oh, But You Do Get It Wrong!
Aditi Banerjee fisks (deconstructs) the points that Doniger made in an interview with Outlook India. Banerjee writes in her introduction:

[Doniger] (1) falsely and unfairly brands all of her critics as right-wing Hindutva fundamentalists, and (2) grossly mischaracterizes (and misquotes) the text of the Valmiki Ramayana, calling into question her “alternative” version not just of the Ramayana, but also of Hinduism and Hindu history as a whole.

Ms. Banerjee notes that Doniger plays "both the sex card and the race card" to claim that her critics ("the Hindutva types") are discriminating against her. More accurately, Doniger plays three cards: religion (she's not Hindu), caste (she's not Brahmin, which follows from her not being Hindu), and gender (she's a woman).

The second part of Ms. Banerjee's opinion piece is a lengthy descontruction of Doniger's interpretation of Valmiki's Ramayana. Doniger's interpretation is rife with inaccuracies, error, and of course, her obsession with sex.

Review of The Hindus: An Alternative History

2009-12-02T12:46:00.010-05:00

Namaste,

The Hindus: An Alternative History by Wendy Doniger of the University of Chicago is really not a history at all. In her book, Doniger retells Hindu stories and provides snarky interpretations. One story is about fusing the head of a Brahmin woman onto the body of a Dalit woman. Doniger provides several variants of the theme of transposed heads.

As I read The Hindus: An Alternative History, I became aware of a pattern: it was as though several authors were writing as Wendy Doniger.

Chapter 18, Philosophical Feuds in South India and Kashmir: 800 to 1300 CE, follows the historical timeline, but is thematically out of place. This chapter discusses the influences that South Indian Shaivism and Kashmiri Shaivism had on each other. This topic could be the subject of its own book.

The whitewash of the plight of Hindus under Mughal rule in Chapters 19 and 20 should come as no surprise. Doniger dedicated her book to William Dalrymple, who romanticizes Mughal India. In her acknowledgements, Doniger singles out Dalrymple for giving her the inspiration to write this book. For a deconstruction of the coverage on Mughal rule of India in The Hindus: An Alternative History, read the essay Hinduism Studies and Dhimmitude in the American Academy by Professor M. Lal Goel.

On the other hand, Chapter 21, Class, Caste, and Conversion in the British Raj, is a sober, even somber exposition of the plight of Hindus and Hinduism under the Raj.

Chapter 23, Hindus in America, reads as though a high school student wrote it, as its skips through examples of how America pop culture has appropriated Hinduism. The chapter does not discuss the establishment of Vedanta centers (for example, St. Louis has had a dedicated building since the 1950s, and the presence of a swami since 1938), waves of Hindu migration to the U.S., acceptance in American society, or establishment of Hindu organizations and institutions, including temples. Although Doniger stridently defends her right as a non-Hindu to tell the story about Hindus and Hinduism, this is one chapter that a Hindu American should have written.

The changes in tone between chapters suggest that there were many writers. Doniger acknowledges the role of her students in contributing to individual chapters, but I suspect that there is more to it to that: namely, the time-honored tradition of having students doing the professor’s work. Call it Doniger's "transposed heads."

Doniger writes in her book The Hindus: An Alternative History, “…the wild misconceptions that most Americans have of Hinduism need to be counteracted precisely by making Americans aware of the richness and human depth of Hindu texts and practices” [page 653], which, according to her, is the purpose of her book.

After completing The Hindus: An Alternative History, I doubt that Americans who read this book without prior introduction to Hinduism would come away with any admiration for Hinduism. It saddens me that one of the appeals of this book to American readers is the dropping of references to pop culture.

I recommend The Hindus: An Alternative History only to those readers who have had a prior introduction to Hinduism. This book requires critical evaluation. Americans who would like a better understanding of Hinduism should consult sources like the Vedanta Catalog for good books on Hinduism. If I might be so immodest, I also recommend that they browse my website and blog, and shop my eStore for books about India and Hinduism.

Hindus who complain a bit too much

2009-09-29T15:27:00.007-05:00

Namaste,

Sheena Patel published this article Hindus who complain a bit too much on Hindu Voice UK, in which she criticizes efforts by Hindus to protest trivial issues.

Here is my response, as posted to the discussion forum:
>
I agree that some issues are not worth pursuing: for example, it was better to let “The Love Guru” die a natural death.

While I don’t agree with the tactics of Hindu Jagruti Samiti, I do agree with the objections to the crude portrayals of Hindu goddesses by painter (and sensationalist) M.F. Hussain. The New York Times published an article about M.F. Hussain, but treated Hindu objections as being puritanical about nudity. The Hindu American Foundation sought a response, but didn’t get any. The sad part is that the NYT article was written by an Indian with a Hindu name [Somini Sengupta].

I agree with Koenraad Elst’s comments, but I think that the rubric “fascist” comes from journalists and writers who apparently take their cue from Indian journalists and scholars who negatively label any Hindu group that’s the least bit assertive: for example, calling the RSS “chauvinistic.” Wendy Doniger is a good example: I’m reading her latest book The Hindus: An Alternative History, which features these labels.
>
ADDENDUM: I recommend Dr. Elst's article Hindu Studies: Warring with Words, as published in the July/August/September 2009 issue of Hinduism Today, as a guide for journalists and writers in covering Hinduism.

A tribute to Indian Independence Day

2009-08-15T12:00:00.008-05:00

Namaste,

A.R. Rahman assembled India's pre-eminent instrumentalists and vocalists for Jana Gana Mana, but this little child blows his overwrought production out of the water.

How I came to love Indian classical music

2009-07-27T12:00:00.006-05:00

When my brother-in-law and family visited the U.S. in 1995, he came back from California and brought back Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt's Saradamani CD from Waterlily Acoustics as a gift for me. Through that CD, I developed a fondness for Indian classical music, and have since seen many of the luminaries of Indian classical music perform in concert.

The Bahu of Bengal (R) with Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt

I was thrilled to tell Pt. Bhatt that I was introduced to Indian classical music through his CD and developed a real love for it.

Durga Temple hosts first ever Hinduism Meet in North America

2009-07-20T17:14:00.006-05:00

Published at the request of Rajan Joshi of the Forum for Hindu Awakening:

Ashadh Krushna Ekadashi, 5011

July 18, 2009

The first ever Hinduism Meet in North America was held by the Forum for Hindu Awakening at the Durga Temple of Virginia, near Washington DC today. The aim of the Meet was to promote an understanding of the unique spiritual science and scientific history underlying Hinduism, awaken to the misconceptions about Hinduism, demonstrate living simple practices and concepts of Hinduism in day-to-day life, preserve the sanctity of Hinduism from denigration and malpractices.

This historic event was inaugurated as per Hindu tradition by the blowing of the conch, recitation of auspicious verses, lighting of an oil lamp and recitation of Vedic mantras. The spiritual science behind all these actions was explained to the attendees.

Reston resident Bhavna Shinde observes the lighting of the wick lamp ... at the Forum for Hindu Awakening at the Durga Temple in Fairfax Station - Fairfax County Times

The unique feature of this Hinduism Meet was that it was broadcast live over the Internet. Hence, besides the 100 people who attended in person, over 250 people from around the world could attend it by watching the live broadcast.

The Hinduism Meet had the presence and blessings of many note-worthy people from various religious organisations. The media was also represented by the presence of members of Press from a local newspaper, an online radio station, an Indian newspaper and a TV station.

At the Meet, Dr. Siva Subramaniam, founding member of the Shiva-Vishnu temple, honored the speakers by presenting them Sanatan Sanstha’s Video CDs on the unique science behind Hinduism and spiritual practice, and the ‘Vishwa Hindu Ratna’ (Hindu Gem of the world) award. This award was presented to the speakers for their selfless and dedicated efforts for the cause of Hinduism.

There were thought provoking speeches, Powerpoint presentations and videos on maintaining a Hindu identity, Hindu practices like visiting a temple, the spiritual science underlying them, preserving various challenges faced by Hinduism today such as the threats to the existence of the ancient Rama Sethu bridge between India and Sri Lanka, denigration of Hindu Deities and Saints, and so on.

Rajan Zed, the acclaimed Hindu Statesman, spoke on how to be a good Hindu in the West and interfaith relations. Dr. M. G. Prasad, an active proponent of Hinduism spoke about the multi faceted Hinduism (Sanatan Dharma). Dr. Kusum Vyas, the founder and coordinator of the international Save Rama Sethu Campaign spoke on Ramsethu: the challenges and accomplishments. Maya Jairam of the Spiritual Science Research Foundation shared about the role of the spiritual dimension and Saints in all aspects of life. Dewang Gadoya of the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti spoke on knowing and peacefully protesting denigration of Hinduism concepts and symbols. Bhavna Shinde of the Forum for Hindu Awakening spoke on how to understand, live and preserve Hinduism in today’s busy times.

The Meet concluded with the singing of an aarati (Hindu devotional hymn) and note of thanks to everyone that helped in organising the Meet. During the aarati many attendees had the spiritual experience of spontaneous tears.

The Forum for Hindu Awakening is considering holding such Hinduism Meets in other parts of USA during the course of the year, to propagate the understanding, living and preserving of the spiritual science behind Hinduism concepts and practices. Visit www.forumforhinduawakening.org for more information.

Join my social networks

2009-06-12T12:16:00.005-05:00

First there were web pages, but web pages, particularly those written in static HTML, became too time-intensive to update. That's why I quit updating the static HTML on my website.

Next came blogs. Blogs, such as Mera Bharat Mahan, were much easier to update than traditional web pages.

But what if one wants to post and share occasional items of interest that don't need a lot of explanatory text? That's where social software, such as Facebook and Twitter, comes in handy.

I'm proud that my friends on BlogCatalog come from various parts of India. This blog is intended to have a pan-India scope.

Join my social networks listed on the widget on the sidebar at right: scroll down if necessary. Female voices are especially welcome!

Bengali patas

2009-05-04T12:00:00.002-05:00

Last Thursday, my husband and I went to an extraordinarily well-attended talk on and exhibit of Bengali patas at the Gandhi Memorial Center in Washington, DC. Patas, a Bengali folk art form, are hand-painted scrolls that illustrate stories.

Patuas roam from village to village to tell stories as they unroll the scrolls vertically (story panels go from top to bottom). Sadly, they are too often regarded as beggars (to understand, read this analogous story about kalamkari artists). The art of pata is local to the districts of Midnapore and Birbhum.

For us, no trip to India is complete without a visit to Birbhum, the home of Tagore's Shantinekitan, but this was our first exposure to pata. We are more accustomed to seeing batiks and terracotta objects in the stalls on the road between Shantiketan and Bolpur, the nearest train station.

Panel of a Bengali pat
Jetayu tells Ram about Sita's abduction

Many of the traditional Bengali patas cover episodes from the Ramayana. Natural disasters, such as floods, cyclones, and even the freak tornado are also covered. More recently, pats address social issues such as the status of women and AIDS: in fact, NGOs have commissioned patuas to create patas on social issues.

The pats that were exhibited at the Gandhi Memorial Center belong to Dr. Geraldine Forbes, a professor at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Oswego. Dr. Forbes has traveled through Bengali villages collecting patas for 30 years.

INDIA'S BISMARCK: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

2009-04-12T12:00:00.001-05:00

Cover of INDIA'S BISMARCK: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

I received an email from Indus Source, a book publisher in Mumbai, alerting me to the publication of INDIA'S BISMARCK: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, in response to my article The Assertive Indian.

INDIA'S BISMARCK covers Sardar Patel's career as a satyagrahi, creator of the Indian Administration Service (IAS), and Congress Party boss. Given their strong wills, it should not be surprising that Sardar Patel clashed with Netaji when Netaji presided over Congress, my article on The Assertive Indian notwithstanding.

The most important part of INDIA'S BISMARCK covers Sardar Patel's leadership as Unifier of India. He used Indian troops to compel accession of Junagadh (in Gujarat) and Hyderabad. His lasting achievement was the accession of 560 princely states to form the geographic whole that is India.

Westerners know about Gandhi and Nehru, but don't know about Sardar Patel. While the widely read Freedom at Midnight discusses Sardar Patel, his leadership as Unifier of India gets short shrift and ultimately, he is treated almost as an afterthought in the epilogue (Sardar Patel died in 1950, only three years after Independence). Even many Indians might not be familiar with Sardar Patel's accomplishments. I recommend INDIA'S BISMARCK to these reader audiences.

You may purchase INDIA'S BISMARCK on Amazon.com.

Being the Bahu of Bengal is no longer a joke

2009-03-08T20:01:00.005-05:00

I chose the screen name Bahu of Bengal as a joke. I extended that joke with a reference to Amitabh Bachchan, who worked as a shipping agent in Calcutta before he went into movies and met and married Jaya Bhaduri.

True, I am married to a Bengali and I have a loving relationship with my husband’s parents, who still live in Kolkata, so there’s the sentimental attachment. I realized that calling myself the Bahu of Bengal was something other than a joke when I reacted to this story about Muslims taking over a historic terracotta mandir in Bangladesh to build a madrassa.

Terracotta temple in Birgonj, Dinajpur, Bangladesh

We had visited this mandir (which is similar to those in Bishnupur, Bankura District, West Bengal) when we traveled to Bangladesh to see where my father-in-law was born and grew up. I was indignant and shocked to learn that this mandir has been appropriated to serve as a madrassa. These stories hit home when there's a personal connection.

Hair and the clash of cultures

2009-03-04T12:00:00.002-05:00

The March 2009 issue of the fashion and beauty magazine Allure features an article The Locks Market about the global trade in human hair to make wigs and hair extensions. It focuses on the Tirumala temple in India, where Hindu women have their hair shorn as a gesture of humility and thankfulness.

Tirumala

The article describes the process that the hair undergoes from being shorn to being made into extensions. The hair changes hands from temple auctions to Indian hair brokers who sell it to Indian factories that sort, clean, and fumigate hair, which in turn sell it to wig and extension makers in Italy or Tunisia. Then the finished products are sold to distributors all around the world.

It’s a fascinating read, but it’s only part of the story. Orthodox Jewish women often cover their heads with a wig. A rabbinical ruling forbade the purchase and wearing of wigs from hair that came from Hindu temples such as Tirumala, which are regarded as polytheistic and idolatrous. These rulings also apply to getting rid of the wigs – one cannot sell them, as it only perpetuates the trade. When Orthodox Jewish women in New York discovered that the human hair in their wigs came from Hindu temples, they destroyed the wigs by burning them.

This article is cross-posted at More Than a Pretty Face.

Auroville

2009-03-01T12:00:00.000-05:00

As Sri Aurobindo went deeper and deeper in the spiritual life, he turned over operation of his ashram to The Mother née Mirra Alfassa.

Some years after Sri Aurobindo's mahasamadhi in 1950, The Mother had a vision for a utopian community to bring people from all over the world together for spiritual evolution. This was the beginning of Auroville.

An unpaved road lined with shops that cater to "counterculture" types leads to Auroville. On the day we visited, it was pouring, and the road was gutted. When we ventured out of the car, red clay mud clung to our shoes.

The centerpiece of Auroville is the Matrimandir, a dome-shaped building with a golden exterior. One can go inside the Matirmandir to meditate only at certain hours of the day, and then, only with permission. In fact, one can view the exterior of the Matrimandir only at particular hours of the day.

Matrimandir, Auroville

No flowers, incense, or images are allowed in the Matrimandir. If meditation is withdrawal from sense-objects, the Matrimandir enables it!

Mahakavi Bharathi Memorial Museum

2009-02-22T12:00:00.004-05:00

Sri Aurobindo was not the only nationalist to flee to Pondicherry. The Tamil Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathi also found refuge in Pondicherry.

My husband and I visited the Mahakavi Bharathi Memorial Museum and Research Centre in Pondicherry. It's not easy to find: our driver had to ask for directions several times before we found the museum.

Mahakavi Bharathi Memorial Museum and Research Centre, Puducherry

The museum is housed in the home where Bharathi lived in Pondicherry. It is very small, consisting of only three rooms. We went about the three rooms, and nothing was intelligible to us, as neither of us read Tamil. We mentioned this to museum staff, and they showed a well-produced video in English about the museum.

In one room, photographs of people who had influential roles in Bharathi’s life are hung on the walls. In the display cases are journals and other publications for which Bharathi wrote and served as editor. In the largest room, there is a large oil painting of Bharathi, surrounded by pictures of his family. In another room are letters he wrote to other notables.

Subramanya Bharathi

We love checking out museum shops, but alas, the only publications for sale were in French and Tamil. A few CDs of Bharatiyar kritis for purchase would have been great.

Sri Aurobindo Ashram

2009-02-15T12:00:00.004-05:00

The Union Territory of Puducherry (formerly Pondicherry) is a former French colony that provided refuge to Indian nationalists who fled prosecution under British rule.

Sri Aurobindo settled in Pondicherry in 1910 and stayed there until he left his body in 1950. He withdrew from politics and devoted himself to spiritual work in the forty years he lived in Pondicherry.

On a previous trip, we visited Sri Aurobindo Nivas in Vadodara (formerly Baroda), where Sri Aurobindo lived from 1893-1907. It was a logical progression that we visit the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry.

Our visit to the Ashram was a short one. We had darshan at the cenotaph for the Samadhi of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother.

Samadhi of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother

Then we went into the bookstore, which has a comprehensive collection of books by or about Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. In a room off the bookstore, the chair in which Sri Aurobindo is seated in the photograph below is preserved:

Mahabalipuram

2009-02-08T12:00:00.003-05:00

Last month, I realized a long-standing ambition to visit southern India. India is endlessly fascinating in its variety of ethnic groups and languages, and I believe that the common thread that runs through these groups is Hinduism.

My husband and I flew from Kolkata (Calcutta) to Chennai, from where we took road trips to Mahabalipuram, Puducherry (formerly Pondicherry), and Auroville.

In this post, I will discuss our visit to Mahabalipuram. Mahabalipuram hosts many rock-cut monuments that date to the Pallava dynasty of the 7th century CE.

Mahabalipuram is somewhat of an anomaly: while it is located in southern India, the monuments make references to the Mahabharata.

Arjuna's Penance

Arjuna is the emaciated figure standing on one leg on the upper left. Wikipedia states that one interpretation of the Arjuna's Penance relief is that "[Arjuna is] performing an austerity Tapas to receive a boon from Shiva as an aid in fighting the Mahabharata war. (The boon which Arjuna is said to have received was called Pasupata, Shiva's most powerful weapon)."

However, the Wikipedia account is not consistent with the account given in the translation of The Mahabharata by Chakravarthi V. Narasimhan, which is based on the critical edition from the Bhandakar Oriental Research Institute in Pune. In the latter account, Arjuna meets Shiva, who is in the guise of a hunter. Shiva bests Arjuna with his prowess with bow and arrow and hand-to-hand fighting, but nonetheless praises Arjuna's skills and bequeaths the Pasupata to Arjuna.

Above is the panch ratras, each dedicated to one of the Pandavas. From left (foreground) to right: Draupadi's ratha (resembling a thatched roof house), Arjuna's ratha, Bhima's ratha, and Dharmaraja Yudhisthira's ratha. To the right of the elephant is the ratha for the twins Nakula and Sahadeva, sons of Madri.

There is so much more to Mahabalipuram - for example, the rock relief showing Krishna's raising of Govardhan hill, the "Butter Ball," a huge rock resting precipitously on a slope, and the Shore Temple - that I encourage the reader to Google Mahabalipuram.

Mumbai: Islamist Terror's New Modus Operandi

2008-12-09T09:00:00.005-05:00

From the Middle East Times, an excellent article about the change in MO of Islamic terrorists.

One item stands out in particular:
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One of the main reasons for the terrorists switching tactics was to grab the world's attention. In fact as of last week before Mumbai, how many people knew that after Iraq India was the second country in the world most afflicted by terrorism? I would suspect not many. Nonetheless from January 2004 to today, over 4,100 people have died as a result of terrorist attacks in India.
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Indeed, I was angry at the media's indifference to bomb blasts in India. Bomb blasts had become commonplace. Even people in India had become indifferent. I had fallen down on the job. I had tracked the bomb blasts on Tagzania, but so many bomb blasts had happened, that I didn't keep up.

India with a backbone

2008-11-20T12:54:00.010-05:00

Piracy off the coast of Somalia is only beginning to emerge as a news story in the mainstream media (MSM). Somali piracy in the Gulf of Aden cripples international trade: one tenth of world’s seaborne petroleum and 16,000 vessels pass through the Gulf of Aden. Insurance premiums for commercial shipping have increased tenfold this year. Some shipping companies have already decided to go around the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) instead of going through the Gulf of Aden, thereby adding weeks to the voyage and increasing the costs of raw materials and manufactured goods.

A recurring theme of Mera Bharat Mahan has been the need for India to project assertiveness on the world stage. In the last two weeks, the Indian navy has flexed its muscle and successfully defeated Somali pirates.

According to this Associated Press report dated Wednesday, November 19, 2008:
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The ship… was crewed by heavily armed men, some carrying rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Behind it were a pair of speedboats — the sort pirates often use when they launch attacks on merchant ships in these violent seas.

What followed, officials said Wednesday, was a rare victory in a sea war against Somalia-based piracy that has become increasingly more violent, and where the pirates are ever more bold.

A patrolling Indian navy frigate [INS Tabar] quickly identified the vessel as a "mother ship" — a mobile attack base used to take gangs of pirates and smaller speedboats into deep water — and ordered it to stop and be searched.

In this Nov. 11, 2008 file photo made available by Indian Navy, Indian warship INS Tabar, right, escorts the MV Jag Arnav ship to safety after rescuing it from a hijack attempt by Somali pirates. The Indian navy says the INS Tabar dedicated to fighting pirates has successfully fought off an attempted pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden, sparking explosions and a fire on the suspected pirate ship late Tuesday, Nov. 18. (AP Photo/Indian Navy, HO, File)

"They responded on the offensive and said that they would blow up the Indian naval ship," Commander Nirad Sinha, a navy press officer, told reporters in New Delhi. Then the pirates opened fire.

… By the time the battle was over, the mother ship had sunk — the Indian gunfire sparked fires and a series of onboard blasts, possibly due to exploding ammunition — and the speedboats were racing into the darkness.

One was later found abandoned. The other escaped. An unknown number of people died on the mother ship, a navy statement said.

It's not the first success. Last week, Indian navy commandos operating from a warship foiled a pirate attempt to hijack a ship in the Gulf of Aden. The navy said an armed helicopter with marine commandos prevented the pirates from boarding and hijacking the Indian merchant vessel.
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Mera Bharat Mahan congratulates the Indian navy for taking on the Somali pirates - and winning!

The last Jews of Calcutta

2008-09-29T15:00:00.000-05:00

Beth-el synagogue in Kolkata

From the Associated Press via the International Herald Tribune, a poignant story about the dwindling Jewish population of Calcutta, as many Jews die or move away for better opportunities.

What the article doesn't mention, however, is India's acceptance of religious refugees. The story of the Parsis, Zoroastrians from Iran, is well-known. Calcutta (or Kolkata, as it's currently known) itself has absorbed Armenians as well as Jews - to say nothing about the Hindu refugees from Partition and the Bangladeshi war of 1971.

Case not closed

2008-09-26T18:00:00.000-05:00

In his indignant letter to The Indian American, Washington Post reporter Rajiv Chandrasekaran wrote that the Banerjee commission concluded that the Godhra atrocity was an accident. "Case closed" was the last sentence in his letter.

Not so fast. The Nanavati-Mehta judicial inquiry commission states the Godhra atrocity was a “pre-planned conspiracy,” thereby contradicting the findings of the Banerjee commission, and by extension, Chandrasekharan's conclusion. As Chandrasekharan claimed that he based his report on interviews with witnesses, the Nanavati-Mehta commission based its conclusions on over 100 interviews with witnesses.

The Vedanta of Adi Sankara

2008-07-24T18:05:00.004-05:00

Sankaracharya

In the second part of the July 19 lecture, Dr. Hebbar began discussing Vedanta as expounded by Adi Shankara (आदि शङ्कर). He spoke about the rope-snake illusion (rajju-ahi bhrama), in which one mistakenly perceives a rope as a snake in the dark. The way to correct this illusion is by shining a lamp onto the object.

The metaphysical interpretation of the rope-snake illusion is as follows:

The rope represents God
The "snake" represents gods, souls, and matter, that is, mulitiplicity
The illusion itself is Maya (माया)
The lamp represents spiritual discernment, or viveka (विवेका)

Maya and ignorance, that is, avidya conceal the real (the rope), project the false (the snake), and confuse the real and false (the person stumbling around in the dark).

Purva-Mimamsa

2008-07-24T18:00:00.001-05:00

I attended Dr. Hebbar's lecture on Indian philosophy last Saturday, July 20.

In the previous lecture on Saturday, July 13, Dr. Hebbar began talking about the (Purva-)Mimamsa system in terms of epistemology, or the study of knowledge. Last Saturday, he talked about Mimamsa ontology (the study of construction of reality), theology (the study of God), psychology (in its original sense as the study of the psyche), and soteriology (the study of salvation or liberation). He compared and contrasted the philosophies of Prabhakara and Kumarila, the two principal exponents of Mimamsa.

Observing the 25th anniversary of anti-Tamil riots in Sri Lanka

2008-07-24T17:55:00.001-05:00

This article from the International Herald Tribune discusses two exhibits that prod the Sinhalese majority to confront the civil war ignited when 2000 Tamils were killed in riots provoked by the killing of 13 soldiers.

One exhibit, by photographer Anoma Rajakaruna, features photos of Tamil victims of the riots and the civil war. The other exhibit features paintings by Chandraguptha Thenuwara that remind people of the peaceful doctrines of Buddhism, the dominant religion of Sri Lanka.

Where I've been, what I've been doing

2008-07-12T21:23:00.004-05:00

Hard to believe that it's been two months since I last blogged, which does NOT mean that I have been oblivious to hot button issues such as the aborted land transfer to the Amarnath shrine board or the Centre's lining up new support for the US-India nuclear agreement.

For the last month, I've been attending lectures on Indian philosophy presented by Professor B.N. Hebbar at Durga Temple here in Fairfax County. How I found out about the lecture series was something of a fluke. I subscribe to mailing lists from the local temples, even though I am not affiliated with a temple. A month ago, I received an email from Durga Temple announcing this series, and the lecture series was to begin that very day! I called one of the contacts listed, and he told me to just come on down, I could still get the second half of the lecture.

To date, Dr. Hebbar has covered Vedic Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism. Now he is undertaking a discussion of the six darshanas of Classical Hinduism: today, he covered Nyaya-Vaishesika and Sankhya-Yoga and began discussion of (Purva-)Mimamsa (as opposed to Uttara-Mimamsa, or Vedanta).

I'm going to be on vacation beginning tomorrow, but plan to blog on the lecture series when I return.

Jaipur bomb blasts

2008-05-18T17:07:00.008-05:00

Several days have passed since May 13, 2008, when a series of bomb blasts hit Jaipur. It would have been remiss of me not to recognize this event on the Mera Bharat Mahan blog, as I have frequently written about Islamic terrorism in India on this blog (I leave documentation of Naxal terrorism to Naxal Terror Watch).

I have read various accounts, which differ in the number of victims and even the number of blasts. However, there were at least six blasts, which left at least 60 dead and 200 injured. The fact that these blasts took place within a short time indicates coordination, thus bearing the hallmarks of an Al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist attack.

I will leave editorializing for another day. In the meantime, I pray for the departed, the injured, and their survivors.

Ganges

2008-05-08T18:00:00.004-05:00

I was channel surfing (who says that the gene for channel surfing is on the Y chromosome?) and discovered a 3-part documentary called Ganges being shown on the Travel Channel. This documentary was produced by the BBC.

One recurring theme was the co-existence of humans and animals, whether it was thieving macaques in Rishikesh or ducks being herded. The most interesting part featured fishermen using tethered otters to chase fish (not that I support tethering creatures that were meant to swim free). The otters were kept hungry in order to chase fish. Once the fishermen made their haul, they lifted up the wooden framed net to make sure that the otters didn't get in. However, the otters were treated to the leftovoers.

India never looked so picturesque. While the ecological problems were discussed, we were not presented with images of pollution and misery. Instead, we were treated to images of the Gangetic dolphin swimming in the waters of the Ganges.

While I have not listened to NPR's radio documentary The Ganges: A Journey into India (broadcast in April 2008), it is evident from the text descriptions that NPR had a need (or an agenda?) to portray India as a problem country.

The TV documentary Ganges will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray in July 2008: pre-order now at Amazon.com.

Meanwhile, readers might be interested in the three-CD set Ganga: Music of the Ganges, which features folk music from Gurmukh to the Bay of Bengal, available now through Amazon.com.

The Hindu : From Indus Valley to coastal Tamil Nadu

2008-05-04T19:59:00.008-05:00

This article From Indus Valley to coastal Tamil Nadu from the May 3, 2008 edition of The Hindu notes that there are commonalities between arrow-like symbols on megalithic pottery from Nagapattinam district, Tamil Nadu and Indus Valley symbols.

Megalithic pottery from Tamil Nadu

The pottery from Tamil Nadu is said to be dated between 300 BCE and 300 CE, while the Indus script dates is said to be dated between 2600 BCE and 1900 BCE.

I have been meaning to write a review on the book The Aryan Debate, edited by Thomas R. Trautman. Trautman adheres to the traditionalist view of the origins of the Indian people, which posits that the Aryans migrated from outside India and that the Aryans post-date the Indus Valley Civilization; however, he gives respectful attention to scholars with alternative viewpoints. He bases his judgments on what the vaunted "community of scholars" says about what linguistics and archeology (with emphasis on archeological evidence about the presence of the horse in India) indicate about the origins of the Indian people.

Trautman believes that the Indus Valley script might be some version of Dravidian, but doesn't provide any evidence. Indeed, the articles on the Indus Valley script in The Aryan Debate iterate that there has been no successful decipherment of the Indus Valley Script. Trautman would likely take the similarities of symbols on the Tamil Nadu pottery and Indus Valley script as evidence that the Indus Valley script was some sort of Dravidian.

India's Genetic Map

2008-04-25T10:56:00.007-05:00

According to this article Genetic map blurs lines from The Telegraph (Kolkata), findings from the Indian Genome Variation (IGV) project indicate that various populations within India have intermingled throughout the centuries.

As noted in the article:

"Dravidian lineages have mixed with Indo-Europeans, Austroasiatics have mingled with Dravidians, and bridge populations in central India are blends of Dravidian, Indo-European and Himalayan groups."

and

"The analysis has also indicated that Kashmiri Pandits and Kashmiri Muslims are genetically similar and share genetic similarities with Dravidian groups. It has also shown that some Dravidian-speaking population groups in south India have Indo-European lineage."

Samir Brahmachari of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) says that the results of the IGV study recall Tagore's words in Bharat-tirtha:

Aryan and non-Aryan, Dravidian and Chinese... Pathan, Mughal/All have merged into one body.…

Might I also suggest that the findings also recall the words of Subramania Bharati?

She has thirty crores of faces, but her heart is one; she speaks eighteen languages, yet her mind is one.

Bottom line: It's time to put aside divisions among Indo-Europeans, Dravidians, and other groups to build a unified India.

IndianExpress.com :: Why Tibet matters

2008-04-21T12:36:00.020-05:00

From IndianExpress.com (via the IndiaPride mailing list) comes an excellent column by Sonia Jabbar on Why Tibet matters.

She cites two reasons why Tibet is important to India.

The first reason is that Tibet has preserved the knowledge that disappeared from India after the Muslim sacking of Nalanda and other centers of Buddhist education. This is an important consideration for this blog, which promotes conservation of India's heritage, be it natural or cultural, tangible or intangible.

The second reason is that India has treaty obligations with Tibet that she inherited from Great Britain when India became independent. As Ms. Jabbar notes, "... when two countries have concluded an agreement between them, China has no locus standi as a third country. A sovereign state is one that negotiates and sign treaties with other states. Once a state exists it cannot simply be wished away simply because another nation has invaded it."

The Brahmaputra Watershed from Watersheds of the World: Asia and Oceania

Ms. Jabbar further notes, "... one should be aware that China controls the headwaters of many Indian rivers that originate in the Tibetan platea." There have been longstanding concerns that China is planning to divert waters from the Brahmaputra to the Yellow River.

India Today's Top 10 Indians poll

2008-04-15T11:46:00.008-05:00

Found through the drisyadrisya दृश्यादृश्य (seen/not seen) blog was information about the poll conducted by India Today on the Top 10 Indian leaders.

I agree with drisyadrisya that this was not a scientific poll. India Today states, "The poll began on March 14 and ran for three weeks through the India Today website and SMS." If there were no means to disallow votes from those who had already voted (and I suspect there weren't), then this poll was subject to vote-stuffing.

Bhagat Singh

In descending order of percent voting:

Bhagat Singh - 37%

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose - 27%

Mahatma Gandhi - 13%

Sardar Patel - 7%

J.R.D. Tata - 4%

Indira Gandhi - 3%

Rabindranath Tagore - 3%

Homi Bhabha - 2%

Jawaharlal Nehru - 2%

Jayaprakash Narayan - 1%

As drisyadrisya noted, April 13, 2008 marks the 89th anniversary of Jallianwallabagh Massacre, which galvanized Bhagat Singh. So maybe the timing of the poll is why Bhagat Singh took top spot.

I don't mean to disparage the results of the India Today poll; indeed, I take heart in the fact that those who voted in the polls sought to promote assertive leaders.

Rethinking Gandhi

2008-04-03T09:38:00.007-05:00

Gandhi

I have made reference to Gandhi in scattered posts on this blog. Now comes another article from the redoubtable Sanjeev Nayyar on Gandhi, Christianity, and Ahimsa. In this article, Sanjeev cites Sri Aurobindo, who was critical of Gandhi throughout his life:
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“Some prominent national workers in India seem to me to be incarnations of some European force here. They may not be incarnations, but they may be strongly influenced by European thought. For instance Gandhi is a European-truly, a Russian Christian in an Indian body. And there are some Indians in European bodies!

Yes. When the Europeans say that he is more Christian than many Christians (some even say that he is “Christ of the modern times”) they are perfectly right. All his preaching is derived from Christianity, and though the garb is Indian the essential spirit is Christian. He may not be Christ, but at any rate he comes in continuation of the same impulsion. He is largely influenced by Tolstoy, the Bible, and has a strong Jain tinge in his teachings; at any rate more than by the Indian scriptures-the Upanishads or the Gita, which he interprets in the light of his own ideas.”
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Indeed, Gandhi's interpretation of the Gita is fanciful: he does not accept the need to take up arms against the forces of adharma.

Neo-Neocon is a blogger whose worldview changed after 9/11: she formerly was a liberal; after 9/11, she became, well, a "neo-neocon." In her article The varieties of pacifism: (Part I)–Gandhi’s absolutism, Neo-Neocon looks at Gandhi's extreme form of pacifism, in which he advocated collective suicide on the part of Jews in Nazi Germany and on the part of Sikhs and Hindus about to face massacres in Pakistan.

After hearing yet another hagiographic portrayal of Gandhi by a minister in a New Thought church, I told the minister that I disagreed with the portrayal as she greeted me in the receiving line following the service. She was nonplussed. I then forwarded Neo-Neocon's essay, with an apology for using that time and place to state my disagreement, to her by email. I never received a reply.

But then I'm a bit of a sh**-stirrer: certainly, I PO'ed Washington Post reporter Rajiv Chandrasekharan with my criticism about his reporting about Godhra.

Jodhaa Akbar

2008-03-08T11:30:00.002-05:00

I admit it: I have not seen Jodhaa Akbar. Still, I believe that banning or boycotting a movie is ultimately counterproductive, as people will become curious and want to see the movie, rather than let it die a natural death. Besides, the movie will be made available through YouTube or Google Videos: for example, the Bachchans successfully got the kissing scene between Aishwarya Rai and Hrthik Roshan in Dhoom 2 removed, after a PIL was filed and Rai was engaged to Abhishek Bachchan. However, the scene became freely available through YouTube.

From what I've read, the mainstream Indian media believes that the issue is the dubious historicity of the woman Jodhaa Bai. Anything beyond that is simply anti-Muslim sentiment, given that the story is a romance between the Muslim Akbar and the Hindu Jodhaa Bai: follow the line of questioning that interviewer Anuradha Sengupta puts before Jodhaa Akbar director Ashutosh Gowariker.

About the lack of reference to Akbar's harem, Gowariker says:

... the story in my hands had reached a length of three hours and 20 minutes. There are many more things in Akbar and Jodhaa's life that I would have loved to bring to the screen but I cannot because it goes beyond the scope of the film.

On the other hand, he says:

When I looked at the scope of the film, I realised I cannot bring it in because I think this kind of film needs the tehzeeb, the salaams, the duas, the announcements of an emperor coming into court. Because it is due to these that the right ambiance, the right atmosphere is created.

The main problem, as I see it, is that the film denies Akbar's persecution of Hindus, the abduction of Hindu women into his harem, and the Jauhar of women when defeat of the Rajputs at Akbar's hands was inevitable.

Samarth : Why are Indians divided ?

2008-03-05T18:42:00.002-05:00

From hindujagruti.org:

Dar-ul-Aloom's phony fatwa

2008-03-02T19:14:00.007-05:00

The Dar-ul-Aloom seminary in Deoband, Uttar Pradesh is the most influential school of Islamic learning after Al-Azhar University in Egypt. Moreover, Dar-ul-Aloom provides the ideological underpinning for the Taliban and Islamic terrorist movements in South Asia. Small wonder that Moorthy Muthuswamy said that its influence should be "neutralized."

Dar-ul-Aloom recently issued a fatwa (link found through MEMRI) ostensibly condemning terrorism. This article Deoband plays peace card; a few call it bluff from the Times of India reviews feedback from readers about the fatwa. While the article provides considerable space to opinions of those who are rightly critical about the fatwa and the motives of the Islamic scholars, it concludes with this statement:

For the majority though, the Deoband's initiative was an important step in the war against terror.

What I read in the Dar-ul-Aloom fatwa was a cursory denunciation of terrorism. As with a fatwa issued by American Muslim groups, no Islamic terrorist individual or group is called out by name and denounced. The principal concern of the Dar-ul-Aloom fatwa is the treatment of Muslims in India and around the world, not opposition to Islamic terrorism.

Hijackers free, helpers get life - Kandahar cuffs on trio after 7-year trial

2008-02-12T22:00:00.005-05:00

From The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) , February 6, 2008, comes this article Hijackers free, helpers get life - Kandahar cuffs on trio after 7-year trial, in reference to the December 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines flight 814.

The article notes:

The masterminds, Masood Azhar, Ahmed Zargar and Sheikh Ahmed Omar Sayeed, are still out. The three were freed in exchange for the 189 passengers held hostage in Afghanistan’s Kandahar for a week.

For many Indians, it was a matter of shame that there was no Entebbe-type of raid when the plane landed in Amritsar. That shame was compounded when then External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh personally handed over Masood Azhar, Ahmed Zargar and Sheikh Ahmed Omar Sayeed to end the standoff.

The Blame Game

2008-02-08T15:00:00.000-05:00

Sadanand Dhume wrote that "An increasingly radicalized neighborhood, fragmented domestic politics and a curiously timid mainstream discourse on Islam add up to hobble India's response to radical Islamic intimidation."

Here are two examples how fragmented domestic politics hobbles India's effectiveness in fighting terrorism:

From Naxal Terror Watch, which in turn found this article through Offstumped, comes this commentary Make Terror Victims the face of Anti-Terrorism Campaign, which criticizes the efforts of Congress and the BJP to prove that the other party has the worse record on fighting terrorism. The article argues:

By making the voice of the Terror Victims and the voice of those brave women and men in uniform who shed their lives fighting terrorism the Anti-Terrorism Campaign will not just have tremendous credibility but it would frame the public debate in the right terms.

This article Maya’s Intelligence Quotient from Hard News indicates that while there was advance knowledge of the terrorist attack on the CRPF camp in Rampur, the Uttar Pradesh government headed by Chief Minister Mayawati claimed that it had not received intelligence from the Centre. It also reveals other gaps in the state intelligence network. The article closes with this question:

If [terrorists] can attack a CRPF camp and get away, what is the fate of ordinary people?

Anuranan

2008-02-04T11:23:00.000-05:00

Rahul Bose as Rahul and Raima Sen as Preeti in Anuranan

It's not often that one finds Bengali language films playing in movie theaters in the U.S. (unless it's a retrospective of the films of Satyajit Ray), so on a lark, I persuaded my husband to take me to see Anuranan.

Anuranan is about two couples: the dreamy/poetic Rahul (Rahul Bose) and his wife Nandita (Rituparna Sengupta) and driven businessman/domineering husband Amit (Rajat Kapoor) and his repressed wife Preeti (played by Raima Sen, granddaughter of Bengali cinema legend Souchitra Sen). Gradually, Preeti finds that she can find expression for her interests in literature and nature with Rahul. The relationship has tragic consequences.

As with many Bengali offerings, Anuranan is replete with quotations of songs and poems of Tagore. In the way that Anuranan deals with a woman who finds (non-sexual) self-expression through a man other than her husband, it recalls Satyajit Ray's films Charulata and Ghare-Baire, both based on stories by Tagore.

Birth of the Maitreya

2008-02-03T22:30:00.000-05:00

Book cover for Birth of the Maitreya

Birth of the Maitreya by Bani Basu, with translation from Bengali to English by Sipra Bhattacharya, is a novel that reminds one of the Mahabharata in its scope and range of characters. Part I sets the stage and introduces characters from all walks of life; Part II, which is much shorter than Part I, provides the denouement.

The novel is set around 500 BCE, during the lifetime of Gautama Buddha. Essentially, it is about the efforts of Chanak and Tishyakumar to encourage alliances among kings and establish righteous rule. Notable in this book are the debates about the dharma promoted by Gautama Buddha and that of what we now refer to as Hinduism, in terms of caste, Vedic ritual, asceticism, and self-defence and ahimsa.

Without betraying too much of the story (notably about what happens to Chanak and Tishyakumar), the ending is tragic, characterized by fighting among kings, palace intrigues and coups, and failed aspirations. At the same time, the Persian army is advancing toward India. (I can't help drawing parallels with India today: the infighting that characterizes politics prevents a unified response to external threats.)

Still, the novel ends on a note of hope for new life: in this way, it recalls Peter Brook's film adaptation of the Mahabharata, in which Lord Krishna saves the life of one woman so that the human race can continue.

You may find a preview of Birth of the Maitreya through Google Books.

Lost Temples of India

2008-01-17T18:07:00.000-05:00

Here's another reason for my wish to travel to southern India: this video The Lost Temples of India, which was presented on The Discovery Channel:

The above video is Part 1 of 6. Parts 2 through 6 are also available.

My criticism about this documentary is the dramatic ominous music background for the temples, which contrast with the reposeful music on the segments showing the Taj Mahal. What statement is that making? Still, there are awe-inspiring views of the temples at Thanjavur (Tanjore) and Madurai, both in Tamil Nadu.

The Beautiful South

2008-01-17T16:52:00.000-05:00

Jog falls in coastal Karnataka

I've had a longstanding wish to go outside of Bangalore and explore southern India. This collection of photo essays on coastal Karnataka and Coorg by Vimla Patil (from eSamskriti, which is a treasure trove of photos and essays about India) make me want to travel all the more:

Coastal karnatakas two heritage districts Udipi Gokarna and Jog Falls

Coastal Karnataka: Shringeri and Karkal

Travel to Coorg

To find the photos, you will have to scroll down the frame.

8 killed as terrorists attack CRPF centre in Rampur

2008-01-01T18:43:00.000-05:00

Mera Bharat Mahan's dreary task of documenting terrorist attacks in India:

From The Hindu, 8 killed as terrorists attack CRPF centre in Rampur: Uttar Pradesh police suspect the involvement of Lashkar-e-Taiba.

"Eight persons including seven jawans were killed in a pre-dawn terrorist attack on the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Group Centre in Rampur in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday."

The article goes on to say that central intelligence agencies had alerted the UP government about terrorist attacks on the camp, only 5 days after the UP courthouse blasts.

drisyadrisya: Neighbours envy, Owners pride!

2007-12-29T20:24:00.003-05:00

From the drisyadrisya दृश्यादृश्य blog, this article Neighbours envy, Owners pride! is about Narendra Modi's recent election victory in Gujarat. The author identifies two factors that led to Modi's victory: the Congress Party's playing the Hindutva card and the efforts of the ELM (English language media) to defame Modi.

The author notes:

As a Malayalee, having seen the devil and deep sea alternately ruin such a beautiful state, I have to admit.... I envy Gujaratis, I envy Modi. I have seen most youth complain about their state's government - and rightly so many times. But a majority of my Gujarati friends, seem so proud of their government. They put youtube videos showcasing Gujarats rapid development on their orkut..... I am sure, some of them, if not most, also hope that what Sardar Patel was denied will be made up by Modi - if not immediately, some day, may be after Advani !

I can sympathize with the author's point of view. As the author has seen his native Kerala ruined by the Communists, my husband has seen how the Communists have ruined his home state of West Bengal.

Even Modi's foes acknowledge that he's been successful at attracting foreign investment: the Wall Street Journal claims that Gujarat has received 25% of foreign investment in India. People from Gujarat describe Modi as a good administrator (albeit dogmatic) and a clean politician, rather an anomaly in India. Could it be these qualities that make Gujarat a good bet for investment?

Jihad in India: an interview with Moorthy Muthuswamy

2007-12-16T21:50:00.000-05:00

Moorthy Muthuswamy

Terrorism in India has been a recurring theme on Mera Bharat Mahan. I have mapped terrorist attacks in India at Tagzania and have presented views of Sadanand Dhume and others about India's susceptability to terrorism. From FrontPage Magazine via Jihad Watch, here is an interview with Moorthy Muthuswamy, Ph.D., author of The Art of War on Terror: Triumphing over Political Islam and the Axis of Jihad.

Salient points from the interview:

Terrorism is a humanitarian issue. According to Dr. Muthuswamy, "millions of Indian children are going hungry and getting malnourished due to economic bleeding imposed in the name of Islam."

Political Islam is the enemy. It is based on the trilogy of the Qu'ran, Hadith (documented sayings and actions of Muhammad), and Sira (biography of Muhammad). Dr. Muthuswamy elaborates, "We are now further identifying the enemy: a political ideology of conquest that inspires terror, mosques as the nodes that spawn jihad and axis of jihad [Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Pakistan] as the main backer nations of the ideology and the nodes."

Jihad has forced out non-Muslims in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Kashmir. This pattern has been re-enacted in Muslim majority areas of India itself.

"… Sonia Gandhi’s Congress party, according to Indian intelligence, has been infiltrated by jihadists. Due to the policies enacted by Manmohan Singh’s government, jihadi infiltration into Indian institutions is escalating, including its paramilitary forces.…"

"It is a matter of time India is hit in a major way … Strikes on India’s nuclear reactors, oil refineries or call-center infrastructure, for instance, is bound to make devastating economic impact and make hundrends of milions more of its children go hungry, and destitute and set the stage for India’s ireversible destruction andeventual Islamization."

Dr. Muthuswamy notes that India has the right under international law to take pre-emptive strikes when faced with a "blatant and long-pattern of genocide by an enemy." Don't hold your breath for that to happen. Israel had the political will to bomb Saddam's nuclear reactor, as it expected that Saddam would unleash nuclear weapons on Israel (Col. Ilan Ramon, who perished in the Space Shuttle Discovery mission with Kalpana Chawla, was one of the pilots on the mission to take out Saddam's nuclear reactor). India's current leaders do not have that political will.

Sri Aurobindo on Hinduism

2007-12-12T11:19:00.000-05:00

Found through Hindu Press International:

Sri Aurobindo

Hinduism gave itself no name, because it set itself no sectarian limits; it claimed no universal adhesion, asserted no sole infallible dogma, set up no single narrow path or gate of salvation; it was less a creed or cult than a continuously enlarging tradition of the Godward endeavor of the human spirit. An immense, many-sided and many staged provision for a spiritual self-building and self-finding, it had some right to speak of itself by the only name it knew, the eternal religion, Sanatana Dharma. Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950)

UPDATE: This item has been cross-posted at Savitri Era Open Forum.

Treating Kala-azar

2007-12-10T21:19:00.000-05:00

Kala-azar, also known as "black fever," is a disease transmitted by sand flies. OneWorld Health, a non-profit pharmaceutical company, describes kala-azar as:

a deadly disease transmitted via the bite of an infected sand fly. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is the most dangerous of the three manifestations of disease caused by the Leishmania parasite. VL is associated with fever, weight loss, enlargement of the spleen and liver, and anemia. If left untreated, it is nearly always fatal.

This video is the first of 6 videos comprising the documentary Kill or Cure? Visceral leishmaniasis, which was presented on BBC TV in June 2007 (the other videos may be found at YouTube). OneWorld Health has been working with doctors in India to test Paromomycin Intramuscular (IM) injection as a treatment for kala-azar and with Hyderabad-based Gland Pharma to manufacture the injectables at cost to make the treatment affordable to victims and their families.

Mera Bharat Mahan commends the Principal Investigators and Gland Pharma for developing solutions for fighting kala-azar in India.

India’s Pernicious Politics of Backwardness

2007-12-08T15:13:00.000-05:00

Arun Shourie

Economist, author, and disinvestment minister under the BJP Government Arun Shourie is among India's best thinkers. Most everything he writes is worthwhile reading.

This article India’s Pernicious Politics of Backwardness from the Asian Tribune is a review of his book Falling Over Backwards: An essay against Reservations and against Judicial Populism.

In his book, Shourie not only slams politicians for promoting reservations, but also faults the judicial system for legitimizing the aims of the politicians. Shourie claims that politicians and the courts have subverted Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution of India, which refer to discrimination and equality of opportunity, respectively (the link is to a Word document; to quickly locate the referenced Articles, use View > Document Map and select "Right to Equality"). IMHO it seems that the clauses within Article 16 provide a means to enable caste-based reservations.

There is no one solution to casteism. I do favor promoting education and training among all so that they can compete on a level playing field. I also agree with Shourie's recommendation to make the individual not the group "the unit of State policy." In this case, it should be verified that an individual suffered discrimination in hiring on the basis of caste by examination of systematic hiring practices: if discrimination has been discovered, provide for remedies for the individual, rather than extend caste reservations.

Falling Over Backwards may be purchased through third-party sellers via Amazon.com

India Appeases Radical Islam - WSJ.com

2007-11-28T20:09:00.000-05:00

In this article India Appeases Radical Islam from the November 27, 2007 edition of the Wall Street Journal, Sadanand Dhume addresses the UP courthouse bomb blasts and cites terrorist attacks that I have mapped: the August 2007 blasts in Hyderabad, the July 2006 train blasts in Mumbai, and October 2005 bomb blasts in Delhi.

He argues that "An increasingly radicalized neighborhood, fragmented domestic politics and a curiously timid mainstream discourse on Islam add up to hobble India's response to radical Islamic intimidation." Nothing new here for people who follow these issues, but the significance is that these issues are being addressed - however cursorily - in a prominent newspaper.

NOTE Some access to the Wall Street Journal online is available only to subscribers.

Bomb blasts in UP

2007-11-26T20:21:00.000-05:00

According to the New York Times (via The Jawa Report) "At least 13 people were killed and more than 60 were wounded Friday [November 23, 2007] in a series of nearly simultaneous bomb blasts outside courthouses in three cities in northern India, the authorities said."

tagzaniapaste
2007-11-23 tagged map by user - Tagzania

St. Louis doctor closes practice to work in India

2007-11-26T18:57:00.000-05:00

Here's an inspiring story about Dr. Santosh Gupta, who is closing her medical practice in St. Louis to work at the RKM Hospital in Hardwar:

Local Doctor Leaves to Save Lives
created: 11/23/2007 5:52:23 PM
updated: 11/23/2007 10:27:40 PM
By Kay Quinn

KSDK - It's a story that will have you questioning what it really means to be successful and fulfilled in work and in life.

A local doctor is closing her West County medical practice so she can care for the poor and sick half a world away.

Dr. Santosh Gupta is at the pinnacle of her profession. Her young patients, many with diabetes or other metabolic problems, consider her part of the family.

"She helps me get better," said Elizabeth Behan, on a recent visit see Dr. Gupta.

For 32 years, this pediatric endocrinologist has treated the children of St. Louis. She and her husband have raised two children. But she's giving it all up for a 100 year old hospital that serves the poor in Haridwar, in the foothills of the Himalayas in northern India.

"It's a 150 bed hospital but on a given day there are 300 patients, if you count the patients on the bed and under the bed," says Dr. Gupta.

She's volunteered in India before. But it was her daughter who found RKM Hospital while on a volunteer mission. The facility is unlike any you will ever see in the U.S.

Dr. Gupta says initially her decision to work in India was a difficult one. She was overwhelmed by the poverty and questioned whether she could work in the hospital.

She called her daughter, Sandhya, with her doubts.

"I said I think I made a mistake," recalls Dr. Gupta of that phone call with Sandhya. "She said do you have a chair? I said yes. She said, the fabric is torn? I said yes. She said you have a table? I said yes. She said, the paint is chipping? Yes. She said, is it clean? I said yes, it is."

"She said just give yourself three weeks and you'll get used to it, believe me you won't see it," said Dr. Gupta. "And three weeks later, I didn't notice it."

As inspired and energized as she is by her new calling, Dr. Gupta is sad to leave her patients here.

"It's very hard. There's part of me that says I with I could do both," says Dr. Gupta.

Many now write her notes and bring her donations.

"One little girl has decided to collect money for diabetic in India," says Dr. Gupta, "and I can just imagine every time they put a penny in there, they were thinking about helping a diabetic in india."

But her heart is also with her patients in India. Like a young woman named Poonam who Dr. Gupta saved from a diabetic coma on her last trip.

"She said why do you have to go back?" recalled Dr. Gupta. "And I said I'm not going back, I'll be back in January. And she said its a long time, so it's that kind of thing."

So she keeps in touch long-distance and worries about the hospital, thousands of miles away.

"I heard last week that they had to close the ICU and neonatal ICU because of lack of nurses."

It may seem like the ultimate sacrifice. But Dr. Gupta says she's doing this for purely personal reasons. Giving it all up, because by serving others, she is fulfilled.

"I just like the idea of working where I forget myself," says Dr. Gupta. "That's the most reward, that I get so engrossed that I just forget about myself."

It's a living example of the power of the human connection.

Dr. Gupta and her husband plan to leave for Haridwar in January. They'll stay at least four months this next time, but and plan to return each year for at least six months.

Dr. Gupta and her husband have started a foundation to increase awareness about the epidemic of diabetes in low-income communities in India.

It's called Manav Seva Foundation: Service to Humanity. It's objectives also include providing practical instruction for the prevent, early detection, and treatment of diabetes and heart disease for low-income patients in India and to improve the delivery of health care in rural areas of that country.

To learn more about the foundation, e-mail Dr. Gupta at santoshgupta@charter.net. ...

As I noted previously, too often it seems that only foreign organizations, particularly Christian groups, undertake humanitarian efforts in India. The RKM Hospital, where Dr. Gupta will work, is run by the Ramakrishna Mission. This story, which was broadcast on St. Louis's KSDK TV channel, provides the opportunity for many to learn about homegrown humanitarian efforts in India.

We wish Dr. Gupta and her husband success in their new endeavor!

Diwali greetings from Mera Bharat Mahan

2007-11-13T20:00:00.000-05:00

Indian Unrest Ensnares a Doctor - WSJ.com

2007-11-13T19:33:00.000-05:00

The Wall Street Journal featured an article about Naxal terror in its Monday, November 12, 2007 edition. The article focuses on Dr. Binayak Sen, who was charged with passing notes from an imprisoned Naxal leader: Indian Unrest Ensnares a Doctor - WSJ.com.

This article will be available to non-subscribers until November 20. Access after that date, access will be provided only to subscribers to WSJ.com.

More than just the Mahatma

2007-10-16T10:51:00.000-05:00

This article More than just the Mahatma by Sanjeev Nayyar, which was published in the September 24, 2007 edition of the Hindustan Times, echoes many of the thoughts in my article The Assertive Indian:

More than just the Mahatma
Savarkar, Subhas Bose and Bhagat Singh left a legacy that India can be proud of. A re-evaluation of Gandhi’s role in India’s independence is necessary to give other leaders due credit.

In his article, Nayyar re-evaluates Gandhi's role by providing evidence that ahimsa did not lead to India's independence. He then discusses the contributions by Veer Savarkar and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose to the freedom struggle.

Vināyak Dāmodar Sāvarkar

If anyone in the West knows anything about Savarkar, they probably learned it through Freedom at Midnight by Larry Collins and Dominique LaPierre. Collins and LaPierre portray Savarkar as a homosexual and intimate that he was guilty of conspiracy in the assassination of Gandhi, even though he was exonerated of the charges.

October 2007 - Two more bomb blasts to report

2007-10-16T09:11:00.000-05:00

Back to the dreary task of documenting terrorist attacks in India:

tagzaniapaste
2007-10 terrorist attacks tagged map by user - Tagzania

Thursday, October 11: A blast at sufi shrine of Khawaja Moinuddhin Chishti in Ajmer, Rajasthan killed two, injured nine.

Sunday, October 14: A blast at a cinema hall in Ludhiana, Punjab killed six, injured 32.

Zoom out to see locations of these bomb blasts in India.

Dr. L. Subramanian in concert

2007-09-26T20:29:00.000-05:00

If The first ever Indian and American Achievement Awards program disappointed, the same cannot be said about the Fairfax (VA) Symphony program honoring India's 60th anniversary of independence that featured Dr. L. Subramanian, his wife Kavita Krishnamurthy, and two of his three children.

Dr. L.Subramanian and son "Ambi" with supporting musicians

The program opened with traditional Carnatic music, featuring Dr. Subramanian and his teenage son "Ambi" on violins. Additional musicians performed on Mridangam (drum), Ghatam (clay pot), Kanjeera (tambourine), and Morsing (jews harp) [the links are to audio clips from Swar Systems that demonstrate the sounds of these instruments - ed.]

Kavita Krishnamurthy and stepdaughter Seetaa Subramaniam performing Freedom Symphony

The rest of the program featured three of Dr. Subramanian's compositions that fuse western and Indian music styles: Global Symphony, Freedom Symphony, and Turbulence Concerto. Freedom Symphony, which was billed as a world premiere, featured poems of Rabindranath Tagore (Jodi Tor, a favorite of Gandhi, in Bengali), Subramanya Bharati (Acham Illai, in Tamil), and Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (Vande Mataram, in Sanskrit) set to music. We were seated near the stage, where we were thrilled to see and hear Kavita Krishnamurthy at such close range.

The entire program was awe-inspiring. I don't think that I'll hear or see such a program again.

NOTE: I am indebted to Cathy Smith, Director of Marketing, Fairfax Symphony, for the photos and supporting information.

The first ever Indian and American Achievement Awards program – a qualified success

2007-09-24T20:36:00.000-05:00

On Thursday, September 13, my husband and I went to the first ever Indian and American Achievement Awards program held at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. The organizer, Cinemaya Media Group, will have to rethink this event if they hope to host a second Indian and American Achievement Awards program. The fault was not the performers – heavy hitters such as dancer Birju Maharaj, santoor maestro Shiv Kumar Sharma, singers Ajoy Chakraborty and M. Balamuralikrishna, and – as a late addition to the program – A.R. Rahman, with his hair cut short. You may see a Flash presentation of pictures from the event at Cinemaya Media Group's web site - a better view than what we had, since we had balcony seats!

Ambassador Ronen Sen introduced the program, but as he went through the list of performers on the program, his speech became increasingly halted. Awards presentations were alternated with performances lasting 30-40 minutes apiece. When it was announced that A.R. Rahman was one of the nominees for an award in media, arts, and entertainment, it was a foregone conclusion whom the awardee would be. He was one of the few awardees to receive his award in person.

A large venue such as the Kennedy Center Concert Hall is not amenable to Indian music, which had been traditionally performed in courts and music rooms. We would have liked to see Birju Maharaj and his female partner perform an extended dance. My husband said that the sound system was not properly adjusted during the segment featuring Ajoy Chakraborty and M. Balamuralikrishna: indeed, I heard the rhythm-perfect interplay between M. Balamuralikrishna’s south Indian mridangam player and Ajoy Chakraborty’s tabla player very clearly, but not the vocal interplay between the two singers.

Most of the audience (the hall was only half full) left after Ajoy Chakraborty and M. Balamuralikrishna’s performance and did not stay for the last award presentation. At best, the first ever Indian and American Achievement Awards program was a qualified success. If the organizers hope to host a second Indian and American Achievement Awards program, I recommend that they choose a smaller, more intimate venue (I like Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University) and present the awards at the beginning of the program so that all the audience can be on hand. Then the audience and awardees can relax and enjoy the performance.

Did India invade?

2007-09-09T10:45:00.000-05:00

One of the truisms about India (spread by Swami Vivekananda, among others) is that it never invaded another country. Yet this commentary Ancient Indian Logic, from The Telegraph (Kolkata) via Sarve Samachar, ostensibly about Communist opposition to U.S.-indian joint naval exercises in southeast Asia (Malabar 07), suggests that India did spread its culture through Southeast Asia not only through commerce but also through invasion.

Poor Calcutta - A commentary on Mother Theresa in the New York Times

2007-09-09T10:02:00.000-05:00

Mother Teresa

During the same discussion in which one of the participants opined that had Gandhi lived during Jesus's time, he would have been regarded with the same reverence as Jesus, my husband voiced his criticism of Mother Theresa and the shame that she brought on Calcutta, where he grew up. One person said that all great people are criticized, while another person didn't see anything wrong with Mother Teresa's promoting Roman Catholic orthodoxy. This commentary from the New York Times echoes my husband's criticisms.

Poor Calcutta - New York Times
By CHITRITA BANERJI
Ten years and one beatification later, the tunnel vision of the news media continues to equate Calcutta with the destitution and succor publicized by Mother Teresa.

The author rightly notes the massive influx of refugees into Calcutta after Partition and after the Bangladesh war of independence. Many of my friends are surprised to learn that Calcutta has also provided a home for Jewish and Armenian refugees, among others.

Some explanations why India has frequent terror attacks

2007-09-03T21:10:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday's twin bomb blasts that killed 43 in Hyderabad scarcely received any notice in western media. Perhaps it's because such incidents are all too familiar in India.

I was particularly haunted by the three bomb blasts that happened in Delhi in October 2005, given that the Sarojini Nagar market is within 15 minutes walking distance of my brother-in-law's home and that his family often shops there. This article Hyderabad blasts timed for Vinayaka festival from TOI notes that as with last week's bomb blasts in Hyderabad, the October 2005 Delhi blasts were timed before a festival, namely Diwali.

As with every terrorist strike, there is the usual debate on how to prevent another terror attack. Tavleen Singh, in her column A Violent History (found via Naxal Terror Watch), notes, "...we are losing the war against the jehadis who target India with increasing frequency is because successive governments, both in Delhi and our state capitals, have done nothing to fight back." She cites Ajai Sahni, Editor, South Asia Intelligence Review (SAIR), who notes in his article Hyderabad Déjà, Déjà, Déjà Vu that India has too few police and "deficiencies of capacity" in intelligence. Tavleen Singh notes that more police would not be enough and then places blame on those in her profession who hamstring investigations: "If [police] enter Muslim neighbourhoods in search of clues they are charged with racial profiling and for this we in the media are more to blame than the politicians. We make the loudest protests without realising that the result is that the jehadis are winning the war against India."

The unfortunately titled We're our own worst terrorists, again from TOI, intimates that additional police would not be enough by putting the blame on bribery and corruption endemic at all levels of government in India:

It is often said that India is a 'soft', insteadof a 'hard', state. This means that we, collectively and individually, arewilling or unwilling accomplices to a flagrant flouting of the laws of the land. From the street constable who can be bought for Rs 50 to let an errant trucker or motorist go free, to a chief minister who, indicted in a scam, can openly defy the legal system by saying that he is answerable only to the 'court of the people’, the Indian state — as exemplified by its representatives at various levels — is commonly seen to be up for sale or otherwise open to subversion from within.

Time and again, our top law enforcement agencies have been reprimanded by the judiciary for hopelessly bungling or inexcusably delaying investigations with regard to crucial criminal cases, be they terror related or otherwise.

The inevitable suspicion arises as to whether the perpetrators of such acts enjoy political or other patronage which puts them out of reach of the truncated arm of our law: they are above or beyond the law...

A 'hard' state has to learn to be tough on itself first, in upholding its own rule of law and being seen to do so, before it can be tough against terror. Do we — should we —build the political and ethical sinews to do this? It’s a question for our collective conscience. And till we decide, we’ll have to learn to live with terror from outside, and our complicity with it within.

I have updated my map of terrorist attacks in India to include the most recent bomb blasts in Hyderabad.

Naxal Terror Watch

2007-08-17T12:12:00.000-05:00

This report India celebrates independence from Associated Press was published on Yahoo! and in many newspapers. While I get frustrated by mainstream media (MSM) reporting on India (barring business reporting) because of its negativity, I feel that it is worth noting that the article mentions Muslim insurgencies in Kashmir and violence in the Northeast. However, it ignores persistent terrorism by Naxalites. Fortunately, the Naxal Terror Watch blog fills that void with frequent updates. I have now added Naxal Terror Watch to my blogroll on Bloglines.

The Assertive Indian

2007-08-15T20:09:00.001-05:00

with apologies to Amartya Sen and his book The Argumentative Indian

Today is the 60th anniversary of India's independence and I thought that I would share some thoughts about leaders for independence.

Many of our friends think that Gandhi was a saint; in fact, one person opined that if he had lived in Jesus's time and stories about him had accumulated over the years, as with Jesus, that he would be regarded with the same reverence as Jesus. However, Gandhi, and those who promote his legacy, especially in the West, have created the unfortunate impression that India and Indians must be docile. Whenever Indians act assertively, it's met with shock and then condemnation.

As for Nehru, he created a travesty of major proportions when he threw the fate of Kashmir to the UN. The Maharaja of Kashmir was offered the same terms of accession as given to rulers of other princely states. He dithered, until marauding Pathans from Pakistan compelled him to throw his lot with India. And for that, many Pakistanis refer to him as a "Hindu despot"! An acquaintance from India mentioned that he had a friend in the Indian army who, along with his fellow soldiers, were stunned when Nehru commanded the army to stand down, rather than fight in Kashmir. A former army officer told us that India could take Kashmir in 7 days if there were the political will.

Most of our non-Indian friends know about Gandhi and Nehru, but have never heard of assertive Indians like Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Sardar Patel. Could Netaji's volunteer army marching from Burma have had more to do with Indian independence than Gandhi's satyagraha? A war-weary Britain was unwilling to fight in one of its possessions following WWII. As for Sardar Patel, he did more for integration of India than anyone.

It's time to make Netaji and Sardar Patel better known in the West - it will change perception of India and Indians.

Reuters - Pilgrims destroying the Himalayas: experts

2007-07-13T09:37:00.000-05:00

This news item was ultimately overshadowed by the news that three protesters disrupted the Hindu prayer before the U.S. Senate, the first time a Hindu prayer was offered. Originally, this article had the charged title Hindus destroying the Himalayas, which reflected badly on Hindus and Hinduism.

This is one article that I wish that I didn't have to print, but it is in keeping with one of the themes of this blog, namely, protection of India's heritage:

Pilgrims destroying the Himalayas: experts

By Sheikh Mushtaq
Thu Jul 12, 10:41 AM ET

Hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims flocking to holy sites in the Himalayas are fouling fragile mountain ecosystems with rubbish, human waste, air pollution and the deforestation that comes with development.

Hindus believe the Himalayas are the abode of Lord Shiva, the god of destruction and regeneration, and devotees trek through treacherous mountain passes every year to seek Shiva's blessings at various holy shrines.

But a rise in pilgrimages to these once pristine areas have made the region a dumping ground for hundreds of tons of garbage and human waste which is contaminating nearby rivers, environmentalists say.

"Increased pilgrims to these areas is definitely taking its toll on these once beautiful and clean areas," said Shruti Shukla from WWF India.

"Plastic rubbish is found littered everywhere, nearby rivers are filled with human waste and roads have been built bringing in daily buses packed with pilgrims which is contaminating the air."

The Himalayan mountain range stretches across India, Bhutan, China, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan and is often referred to as the "Roof of the World."

There are several popular Himalayan pilgrimage sites -- including Amarnath in India's Kashmir region, Gangotri, Kedernath and Badrinath in the northern state of Uttarakhand, as well as Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar in western Tibet.

Cashing in on India's economic boom and a rapidly growing middle class, many tour operators are now offering package tours to holy Himalayan sites.

The commercialization of pilgrimages, some of which offer helicopter rides, has brought in hotels, guest houses, restaurants and roads.

Efforts have been made to clean up sites like the Amarnath shrine, where devotees flock to worship an ice stalagmite which forms every year and is believed to be a form of Shiva, but local volunteers say more needs to be done.

"Last year we tried to clean a portion of the track, but our efforts can only be termed as a drop in the ocean," said Mohammed Ashraf, president of Jammu and Kashmir Mountaineering Club.

Environmentalists say Gangotri, the origin of the Ganges river which Hindus believe to be sacred, has become a shanty town filled with filth left by around 800,000 pilgrims a year.

Experts say trees are being chopped down for firewood and to make way for hotels and roads, and human interference is even speeding up the melting of glaciers.

"It is not just greenhouse gases which are leading to melting glaciers, but it is also increased human activity and development in the Himalayas," said Syed Iqbal Hasnain, a glaciologist from New Delhi's Centre for Policy Research.

"These ecosystems are very, very sensitive to human interference and over two billion people in the region rely on the rivers which are fed by these glaciers."

(Additional reporting by Nita Bhalla in New Delhi)

As Francois Gautier, another Westerner who writes about India, notes in his book Arise Again, O India!:

That India is a vast dump of garbage, not because it is too poor to process it and store it properly, BUT BECAUSE IT DOES NOT CARE, BECAUSE THE TAMAS IN THIS COUNTRY IS SO VAST, SO DEEPLY INGRAINED IN THE COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS, THAT NOBODY GIVES A DAMN FOR THE OTHER.

And we can infer from the Reuters article, they don't give a damn about the abode of the gods.

Yes, the Government can, and should, take such measures such as limiting the number of pilgrims, providing latrines, and even make examples of litterers who get caught by punishing them with fines and jail. Similarly, shrine boards, tour companies, and charitable organizations that serve pilgrims can do more to protect the abode of the gods. Ultimately, the pilgrims themselves should take responsibility. If appeals to the environment won't work, then perhaps reminding the pilgrims that this is the abode of the gods might work.

Human Rights Group Censures Eleven Countries for Abuses Against Hindus

2007-07-11T11:25:00.000-05:00

The Hindu American Foundatio n (HAF) has announced the release of its report Hindus in South Asia and the Diaspora: A Survey of Human Rights 2006. This 200-page report covers Bhutan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir.

HAF is one organization that has its act together. I was privileged to part of their delegation for the 2005 Government Outreach Day, when we met with representatives of the Department of State and U.S. Representatives and their staffers.

Unfortunately, there are critics of HAF, such as Vijay Prashad, whose Letter to a Young American Hindu claims:

In the Diaspora, there was some reflection of this change in the Indian political landscape. The far Right moved to consolidate its agenda despite changes within India – closer ties between Indian American lobby groups and pro-Israeli lobby groups, to sharpen the idea that the Indo-Pakistani problems can only be resolved in the Israeli fashion, through force; the creation of the Hindu American Foundation (whose main campaign in 2004-05 was the Diwali resolution, and who was an active leader of the California textbooks campaign); an assault on scholars of India and Hinduism, led this time by the Infinity Foundation. [my italics]

Note that Prashad (willfullly?) does not cite the work that HAF has done in documenting human rights abuses against Hindus and taking its case to the State Department and Congress, often to Congressional representatives and staffers who are hostile to India and Hindus.

Arise Arjuna: Seeds of Terrorism: Economic Disparity or Ideology

2007-07-05T11:24:00.000-05:00

Islamic Rage Boy in Kashmir:
It's not the economy, stupid!

It's been a long time since Atul Kumar has blogged on Arise Arjuna, but for some reason, this article showed up when I viewed news feeds for favorite India blogs in Bloglines:

Arise Arjuna: Seeds of Terrorism: Economic Disparity or Ideology

This article is meaningful today, as it debunks the idea that poverty and the desparation it causes drives people to terrorism. The example of Kashmir illustrates the author's point.

Terror Unbound: 14 years old Hindu youth burnt alive

2007-06-29T13:31:00.000-05:00

A truly heart-rending story about a Hindu youth from a West Bengal village whom Muslim miscreants set on fire: Terror Unbound: 14 years old Hindu child burnt alive.

The victim's father fled Bangladesh to escape persecution, only to rediscover it in his adopted village in West Bengal. The family has since relocated to Kolkata (Calcutta).

My mother once asked me where the street dwellers in Kolkata came from. I told her that I assumed that most of them were economic refugees who were fleeing poverty in rural Bihar and West Bengal. Now I wonder if many of them fled terrorism such as that experienced by Samrat Mondal and his family.

Dhimmi Watch: Fitzgerald: Non-Muslims in India and the "wrong signals"

2007-06-18T16:03:00.000-05:00

Sen scratching his head: "Now where did that elephant go?"

A good article by Hugh Fitzgerald in Dhimmi Watch, companion to the Jihad Watch website:

Non-Muslims in India and the "wrong signals"

I particularly enjoyed the skewering of Amartya Sen:

For every mordant truth-teller such as [V.S.] Naipaul, or for that matter such apostates as Anwar Shaikh and Ibn Warraq, there are a hundred, such as Amartya Sen, who acquire a reputation in one field, and then proceed, as natives of India, to present themselves as experts on Islam, its tenets, and the history of Islam.

Sen's views seem to be a result of a formative experience he had as a youth, when a Muslim man was attacked outside his family's home and lied dying: for more, see In Conversation with Amartya Sen. This experience, as horrific as it was, and his collaboration with a Pakistani economist, probably inform his anti-Hindutva views.

However, Hindus were victims of communal riots in Bengal. In the interview, Sen stated that there are no longer Hindu-Muslim communal riots in Dhaka. Could it be that few Hindus still reside in Bangladesh? The Hindu population in Bangladesh has gone down precipitously, due to well-documented incidents of discrimination and attacks on Hindus and their places of worship.

Hindu-perpetrated violence is an easy target: unlike Muslim terrorism, which is global in its reach and intimidates all, it is confined within the borders of India. There is no comparable risk in denouncing Hindu-perpetrated violence as there is with denouncing Muslim terrorism. Hindu-on-Muslim violence within India is also an irrestible cause for human rights organizations to prove that they are not anti-Islam or anti-Muslim.

On reporting on Godhra and its aftermath

2007-06-07T16:00:00.001-05:00

Found in IBN blogs:

The Curse of Being a Hindu in Modern India
In this article, Saurabh Saksena ponders why the media focused only on Muslim victims of the Gujarat riots and not on the victims of the train fire in Godhra.

After reading a cover story on Washington Post reporter Rajiv Chandrasekharan in The Indian American, I hastily sent a letter to the editor about an article that Chandrasekharan wrote about Godhra, in he essentially blamed the victims of the Godhra train fire for their fate. In my letter, I quoted at length commentary by Varsha Bhosle and Rajesh Srinavasan (with attribution, of course) on Charndrasekaran's article.

Imagine how startled I was to see an edited version of my letter published in the next issue of The Indian American. Then imagine how overwhelmed I felt when a rejoinder by Chandrasekharan was published in the following issue, in which he told the editor that letters such as mine should not be published. He alternatively praised and blamed Indian media for the coverage of Godhra and its aftermath. He congratulated himself on interviewing many parties, including perpetrators, observers, and officials after the events. He said that Bhosle's and Srinavasan's commentary was written soon after the event, when passions ran high, when in fact, the commentaries were further removed in time, as they were reactions to his reporting.

Chandrasekharan's letter showed how thin-skinned and petty the mainstream media (MSM) can be when it is challenged. No wonder people are turning their backs on the MSM.

Jihad Watch: Islamic jihadists kill five Hindu road workers in Jammu and Kashmir

2007-06-07T08:11:00.000-05:00

From the indispensable Jihad Watch web site:

Islamic jihadists kill[ed] five Hindu road workers in Jammu and Kashmir in March 2007.

Rājauri has now been added to our terrorism map.

The Constitution of India and the secular state

2007-06-06T08:20:00.000-05:00

As I have stated before, India is (or rather, should be) a secular state (राज्य, rajya), but a Hindu nation (राष्त्र, rashtra). However, several articles in the Constitution of India obstruct the realization of India as a secular state.

Here is an excellent letter to the Hindustan Times by Sanjeev Nayyar, founder of the eSamskriti web site, about minority rights in the Constitution of India and the implications:

esamskriti- Marking lives less ordinary
The term minority is not defined in the Constitution. Nowhere in the world, except in India, is a minority defined by religion or caste. Is anyone listening?

The subject articles, Articles 25-30, may be located in http://lawmin.nic.in/legislative/Art1-242%20(1-88).doc. To quickly locate these articles in Microsoft Word (I use Word 2002), select View > Document Map. Articles 25-28 may be found under the heading Right to Freedom of Religion; Articles 29-30 may be found under the heading Cultural and Educational Rights.

PS eSamskriti is a treasure trove of essays on Indian culture, history, and philosophy and photographs. Check it out!

Seva for orphans

2007-06-04T19:50:00.000-05:00

It often seems that Indians don't take care of their own, and that only foreign organizations undertake humanitarian efforts in India. Here, however, are two indigenous efforts to provide homes for orphans, found through Hindu Press International:

Mayor Of Delhi Visits Home for Kids Orphaned And Displaced By Kashmir Terrorism - Twenty-three children orphaned by terrorism in Kashmir are receiving instruction in Hinduism, in addition to food, clothing, shelter, and education in other studies. According to Shri Rakesh Gupta, if these children were not adopted and looked after by the society, they might fall into wrong hands, "resulting into a disastrous situation for the Hindu society and the nation itself."

Project Hope and India Heritage Research Foundation Open Orphanage for Tsunami Orphans - "An orphanage for the tsunami orphans has been constructed in Cuddalore by Project Hope, the organization founded by H.H. Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, Spiritual Head of Parmarth Niketan Ashram, Rishikesh and Bollywood star Vivek Oberoi, operating under the auspices of India Heritage Research Foundation, Rishikesh." This project will pair orphans with widowed or abandoned women, thereby providing love and comfort for all (take that, Deepa Mehta!)

In a subsequent post, I will highlight the efforts by Indians, in conjunction with non-profit organizations, to wipe out two major scourges: leprosy and kala-azar (black fever), more formally known as Visceral leishmaniasis (VL).

Tagore in Hindi

2007-06-04T18:30:00.001-05:00

UPDATE 2007-06-04: This article was replicated on Blogs - Gadar - Film Information without attribution.

Rabindranath Tagore

Outside of his native Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore is probably best known for Jana Gana Mana, India's national anthem. Now there are two efforts in making his work better known outside of Bengal.

DD One began a weekly series of Tagore's songs on May 13. The series is broadcast at 10:30 PM IST and will run for a year. According to Indiantelevision.com,

... A unique aspect is that Gurudev's compositions have been translated into Hindi while retaining the originality of the musical and lyrical flavour of Tagore.

The songs have been rendered by some of the best known voices - both classical and popular. Some of the singers include Anup Jalota, Anuradha Paudwal, Bhupinder Singh, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Vinod Rathore, Suresh Wadekar and Mitali Singh.

Somnath Chatterjee (CPI-M), Speaker of the Lok Shaba, who represents Tagore's Shantiniketan and surrounding areas, also released a DVD (the first of a series) of songs of Tagore. No word on how or even if these DVDs will be made available to the public.

The second effort is a CD called "Mere Mann Main Dhadkan Main" to be released by T-Series. Hindi versions of Tagore's songs are sung by Indrajit Dasgupta, a government tax official, and narration preceding the songs is provided by Amitabh Bachchan. Bollywood actors Ashmit Patel and Rituparna Sengupta (who is also a veteran of Tollywood, that is, the Bengali film industry) will be featured in a video.

Mere Mann Main Dhadkan Main was announced with great fanfare this past January. At that time, it was said that the recording would be released in February. Nothing happened. Now, with renewed buzz, it seems that the release might be imminent. I couldn't find anything on the T-Series web site.

Google to Digitize 800,000 Books at Mysore University

2007-05-24T19:03:00.000-05:00

One of the recurring themes here on Mera Bharat Mahan is the protection of India's heritage, be it natural or cultural, tangible or intangible. From Hindustan Times via Hindu Press International:

Google will digitize 100, 000 manuscripts, many inscribed on paper and palm leaves, held by University of Mysore. Topics cover ayurveda, mathematics, medicine, science, astrology and economy. In addition, Google will digitize 700,000 books held by Mysore University. All digitization will be done free of charge.

This is wonderful - using modern technology to protect traditional knowledge.

Common Myths About Hinduism

2007-05-21T08:23:00.000-05:00

For me, India's nationhood is based in its Hindu culture. To put it another way, India is (or rather, should be) a secular state (राज्य, rajya), but a Hindu nation (राष्त्र, rashtra) (Thanks to Santhosh for providing the Sanskrit words).

This article Hinduism is Not a Religion: Common Myths About Hinduism from about.hinduism.com neatly makes these points: in particular, read the sections A Culture More than a Religion and A Common Faith of the Indian Subcontinent. The only section that I quibble with is Hinduism is Not Really Polytheistic! I agree with Sita Ram Goel that terms such as "monotheistic" or "polytheistic" are terms adopted from revealed religions that divide and confuse.

Homegrown terrorists

2007-03-15T09:55:00.000-05:00

A good article from Sulekha on the changing tactics of terrorism: Terror 'outsourced' in India.

Terrorist groups are relying more on native Indians to carry out terrorist attacks using crudely assembled bombs, whereas previous attacks were carried out by Afghan mercenaries or Pakistanis who used sophisticated weaponry.

Below is a map of terrorism in India that I created:

tagzaniapaste
terrorism tagged map by user - Tagzania

I invite readers to make this map more complete by registering with Tagzania and tagging locations of terrorist attacks with "terrorism" and "India." I also request that readers identify source URLs for your information as documentation under Resources.

Two worthwhile essays to read

2007-03-04T13:33:00.000-05:00

Indians are most unpatriotic people
Kashmiri pandit warns against a second partition of India

The dreaded "H-word"
"Anish Shah analyses the psychology behind the widespread tendency of many Hindu-inspired spiritual or yoga groups to vehemently deny any connections with Hinduism," in this editorial from Hindu Voice UK.

Health Minister says that India will be polio-free in 3 years

2006-12-20T15:56:00.000-05:00

I've always tried to project a positive image of India to my western friends, but how can I when publications such as the Financial Times describe Uttar Pradesh as an exporter of polio and the image problems (to say the least) that public defecation pose in India's bid to host the Commonwealth Games?

India says will be polio-free in three years - Yahoo! News

Best wishes for a joyous and blessed Diwali

2006-10-20T19:01:00.000-05:00

To all my readers and friends,

Best wishes for a joyous and blessed Diwali

The Hindu : New Delhi News : Delhi's Durga Puja to have authentic Bengali feel

2006-09-27T21:35:00.000-05:00

An article from The Hindu about celebrating Durga Puja in Chittaranjan Park (AKA "Chitto Park" "Little Bengal") in Delhi, where my brother-in-law and his family lives:

Delhi's Durga Puja to have authentic Bengali feel

Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

PICTURE OF DEVOTION: Artist Tapan Saha from Kolkata giving final touches to an idol of Goddess Durga in Delhi . Photo: Sushil Kumar Verma

NEW DELHI: Preparations for Durga Puja across the Capital are coming to an end. Hundreds of artisans from West Bengal who have been camping at Chittranjan Park in South Delhi for the past three months are now giving finishing touches to idols of various goddesses for the festivities that are due to start from September 28.

While the smaller idols are being brought by various Puja samitis from West Bengal, the larger ones are being made here in Delhi itself -- albeit with mud brought from the eastern State. Even the clothes that would adorn the deities and the decoration and jewellery they would wear are being specially brought from West Bengal.

At 12 different places

The chairman of the Chittaranjan Park Mela Ground Durga Puja Samiti, Virender Kasana, said Durga Puja in the colony would be celebrated at 12 different places and the preparations have been going on for about three months now.

"Even the music players are being called from West Bengal and waterproof Kolkata style pandals made of bamboo are being erected to provide the festival a very traditional look,'' he said.

With cultural events such as stage shows and film screenings due to be held daily during the festival that would run up to October 1, Mr. Kasana said about one lakh visitors are expected at the pandals each day.

For the devotees, bhog (prasad) of the Goddess would also be provided each night.

To facilitate easy movement for people during the period, many roads in the area would be closed for vehicular movement. A major cleanliness drive has also been launched under which all streetlights, roads and footpaths are being repaired, construction debris is being removed and water arrangements are being made for the visitors.

In view of the high threat perception, Mr. Kasana said a meeting has been held with the area Deputy Commissioner of Police. And for fire prevention, the Delhi Fire Service has been urged to make adequate arrangements in the form of providing fire tenders near the pandals. Use of gas cylinders within pandals has also been restricted and all pandals are being made with two wide entrances and exits with open spaces in between to minimise the impact of any mishap.

Let's pray that the festival season will pass peaceably. Last year, Delhi suffered 3 bomb blasts, including one at a busy market within walking distance of Chittaranjan Park.

Michigan temple burnt to the ground

2006-09-26T21:03:00.000-05:00

Below is a story that escaped not only my notice, but also that of Hindu Press International and the Hindu American Foundation. I found out about it only after browsing a news feed from the blog of Detroit-based political conservative commentator Debbie Schlussel.

Debris and a charred house next door were all that remained Tuesday from an Aug. 22 fire that destroyed the Bangladesh Hindu Cultural Center and Temple in Hamtramck. The cause of the fire was still undetermined. (RASHAUN RUCKER/Detroit Free Press)

Fire destroys Hindu temple; officials seek clues to its origin
No clues yet, says Hamtramck fire chief as members seek a new place to worship.

Members are still in shock and left scrambling for a place to worship after a fire burned the Bangladesh Hindu Temple to the ground.
A steady stream of worshipers flocked to the charred remains of the 3-year-old temple Wednesday afternoon. Only two walls remain after an all-night fire that struck as members prepared for a religious festival in September.
"It's more than a (temple)," said Utpal Dutta, 50, of Troy, who took his two children to the scene so they could understand the impact.
"It's a people gathering place. It's all the people coming together. I feel very sad. The people put so much effort into building this thing, and now it's down the drain."
Federal investigators said it may take more than a week to know what sparked the blaze that started about 11:15 p.m. Tuesday and took eight hours to control. FBI and U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Department agents joined the probe.
"We don't have any clues yet," said Hamtramck Fire Chief James Szafarczyk. "I hope we can catch the person, and if it wasn't a person, what caused this. This could be just an accidental fire."
The blaze could be seen for blocks, said Maher Obeid, 18, who lives in the city. "It was really scary to see the flame in front of your eyes.
The Bangladesh Hindu Temple, which has a membership of about 200 people, was at Grayling near Lumpkin, about two doors down from the Holbrook Elementary School inside a former Ukrainian Democratic Club, Szafarczyk said.
Szafarczyk, temple members and others in the neighborhood said there have been no reported problems in the area.
Perhaps Michigan's most diverse community, Hamtramck is home to about 25 ethnic groups. Asian Indians make up about 5.5 percent of the city's 23,000 residents, according to census figures.
A $5,000 reward is being offered by the Michigan Arson Prevention Committee to anyone with information about the fire. People should call (313) 876-8777.

Hamtramck's City Council voted to allow the Bangladeshi al-Islah mosque to broadcast the Muslim call to prayer.

Sadly, this tragedy did not bring members together:

Social tensions in the congregation, which at one time had 100 families, also have taken their toll. A conflict among castes -- the hereditary social classes in Hinduism -- exploded into a major split shortly after the fire.

Disagreements about money and status also fueled the discord, and now the congregation has only 45 families, fewer than half of what it had before the fire.

- from Wanted: New place to worship.

Those who wish to help the Bangladesh Hindu Temple may send monetary contributions to:

Hamtramck Hindu Temple Donation Fund
c/o National City Bank
11300 Jos. Campau
Hamtramck, MI 48212

Categories: Hindu, Temples

New Bird Discovered in India

2006-09-13T19:17:00.000-05:00

Bugun liocichla

An amateur bird-watcher has found the first new bird species to be discovered in India in over 50 years. The species was discovered at a sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh, in India's northeast, bordering China. The species has been given the name Bugun liocichla, after the Bugun, a tribal people living on the border of the sanctuary. The bird is 8 inches (20 cm) in length.

Categories: India, wildlife

Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma

2006-09-11T08:36:00.000-05:00

Last night, my husband and I attended a concert featuring Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and his son Rahul at the University of Maryland. This is the third time that we have seen Pandit-ji: we first saw him in Kolkata at the Calcutta Club and then we saw him perform with Ustad Zakir Hussain at George Washington University. The first half was devoted to ragas and the second half to a "light classical" piece that ran non-stop for 45 minutes. The stamina! The virtuousity!

The concert supported Asha, an organization that seeks to provide education to needy children in India.

Tulsi: The Holy Power Plant

2006-09-11T08:31:00.000-05:00

An article from About Hinduism on Tulsi: The Holy Power Plant

Categories: ayurveda

Bomb blasts kill 37 in Maharashtra

2006-09-08T12:29:00.000-05:00

37 people are killed and 100 injured in two bomb blasts, including one at a mosque, in the Muslim majority city Malegaon in Maharashtra.

tagzaniapaste
malegaon tagged map by user - Tagzania

For more, read 37 killed, over 100 hurt in Malegaon blasts from The Hindu.

Categories: India, Maharashtra, Malegaon, terrorism

The artist formerly known as Aasish Khan

2006-09-04T19:56:00.000-05:00

Aasish Khan, the son of sarod master Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and a sarod master himself, has created a firestorm by changing his surname to Debsharma, declaring himself Hindu, and claiming that the family never converted to Islam. His father, who is now 84 and settled in California (where he has a much younger son Alam by his American wife), is very distraught over Aasish's decision.

Aasish Debsharma né Aasish Khan

What was the motivation of Aasish Debsharma né Khan? Was it fear in the post-9/11 environment, as this TOI article Post-9/11, fear has gripped all artistes suggests?

The article quotes at some length the views of lyricist and self-styled activist Javed Akhtar (and husband of actress and self-styled activist Shabana Azmi), who said that "people are overreacting in the West. In all these seven years of presidentship, all that George Bush has managed to do is to make this an insecure world." Hmm ... Javed Akhtar should be more concerned about Pakistan's recent decision to rescind his visa than about George W. Bush, particularly as he and his wife have made many overtures for closer ties with Pakistan.

I have a hard time believing that Aasish changed his name out of fear in the post-9/11 environment. Changing his name doesn't change his complexion or ethnic origins. He has upset his father and will probably incur the wrath of Muslims for his decision.

BTW Aasish is not the first member of his family to change his name from Muslim to Hindu. His aunt became Annapurna Devi, Ravi Shankar's first wife.

Categories: Music, Hindustani

Holland should not owe India an apology

2006-08-28T09:35:00.000-05:00

Much has been made about the detention of 12 Indian businessmen in Holland after their behavior, which included "using cellphones, attempting to pass cellphones to other passengers and unfastening safety belts while belt use was still required," lead to their flight to Bombay being returned to Amsterdam under military escort (see The New York Times).

The fact that the passengers were visibly Muslim, with Muslim beards, scullcaps, and robes, only added to the alarm. Muslims are behind most transnational terrorism in recent years. That said, it must be admitted that Indians can be unruly fliers:

An Indian Airlines attendant who flies on the Kolkata-Bangkok sector says, "These so-called educated passengers do not switch off their cell phones when they are asked to do so, and still make calls when the plane is ready for take off or is landing. Before the plane halts, they jump up from their seats and open the baggage. They ignore the 'seat belt on' signs. It's really tiring to attend to such passengers."

Having flown on the route between Kolkata and Bangkok, I can vouch for what the flight attendant said. That flight was one of the most unnerving flights I had ever taken. Upon return, I wrote a letter of complaint to both the travel agency organizing the trip and Indian Airlines. I recalled taking the travel agency to task for claims about the quality of tourists that booked with them, and referred to the tourists as "louts and boors." Of course, I received no reply.

Safety instructions are not enough. Rules need to be made that violations of safety instructions will result in the plane being diverted and passengers violating safety instructions will be removed from the plane, and need to be stated as part of safety instructions.

The Netherlands should not owe India an apology for detention of the 12 passengers.

Another mockery of Hindu gods

2006-08-28T09:28:00.000-05:00

Here is a mockery of Sri Vishnu.

These people wouldn't dare make fun of Muslim symbols, would they? No, they would be subject to death threats, or at least demands for apology and a shakedown from the Council on American Islamic Relations.

Twenty-first Century India: It is not the job of the US to stop Pakistani terrorism against India

2006-07-26T09:33:00.000-05:00

An excellent article from the blog Twenty-first Century India: It is not the job of the US to stop Pakistani terrorism against India.

Unprincipled politicians in India are counting on the short memory of Indians concerning terrorist attacks in India.

GoI blocks blogs hosted by blogspot.com

2006-07-24T16:30:00.000-05:00

I've been away from blogging here, so I didn't get to cover the Bombay train blasts. Mostly, we've been preoccupied with my father-in-law's health problems.

The Indian government's lame response was to block access to blogging domains that terrorists might access such as blogspot.com.

UPDATE According to Sandhya Jain, the GoI banned certain Hindu websites and blogsites "as the first concrete governmental action in the face of such a murderous attack on civil society":

In all, the government has blocked about 18 websites to supposedly check the spread of terror and hate messages on the Internet in the wake of Mumbai’s serial blasts. It is being claimed that the websites could be used by terror groups to communicate and spread provocative messages. The government did not announce the ban officially, and it was the ISP providers who confirmed receiving the site-blocking order. The premier blog site, Blogspot.com (http://blogspot.com/)) has been blockaded and this sent the entire blogging community into acute disarray, as technical reasons have forced a blanket ban on all blogs, since specific pages on the blogspot.com cannot be blocked; only the site can be jammed [italics mine].

Sandhya Jain then recommends actions that users can take to get around GoI jamming of Blogger:

Since the move is reminiscent of the Emergency—the anniversary of which passed barely three weeks ago—anxious bloggers have urgently sought (and found) solutions to the crackdown on freedom of speech. One is to visit www.guardster.com and use the free proxy at the bottom of the page; this will ensure that the Blog sites work without a hitch. Additional proxy sites can be found on this site and there is also www.econsultant.com/proxylist/index.html. One enterprising citizen has suggested using the anti-censoring site of our friendly neighbour, Pakistan. It seems that all blogspot blogs can be accessed at http://pkblogs.com a site created by Pakistani bloggers to bypass blockades by the Islamabad regime. Now that is a confidence building measure!

Found through the Pseudo-secularism blog. Please share this information with anyone affected by this blockade.

wcco.com - Repaired After Vandalism, Hindu Temple Debuts

2006-07-08T08:57:00.000-05:00

Good news.

Three months ago, vandals entered the new temple for the Hindu Society of Minnesota and destroyed parts of the walls and icons that were shipped from overseas. The temple is now ready for worship...

For more, read wcco.com - Repaired After Vandalism, Hindu Temple Debuts (found through Hindu Press International).

This blog had reported on the vandalism in our April 11, 2006 posting.

Still from video about opening of the temple of the Hindu Society of Minnesota

Also check out the video about the opening of the temple from the WCCO website.

Categories: Hindu, Temples