At the feet of the Mahakavi

 

YOGA SAKTHI

By Mahakavi Subramania Bharathiar

(an attempt by me to render in English at the request of a friend)

 By the strength of thine grace

the heaven and earth are ruled!

But is my penance with pain

and heart squeezing love

bound to drain out like water

poured out on a desert sand?

 

Won’t even a thought arise in your mind

would you so foolishly lend me this earth?

 

Proclaiming you as my refuge

and having struck on that in my mind,

Oh mother I cried out

to give me huge wealth and

to protect it, great righteousness.

 

But do you not hear those pleadings

and is it fair to let Truth slip off?

 

Oh Kali, great Chamundi,

Mistress of Aumkara and queen of my heart,

Shall I be teased around for days on end?

art not that the heart’s desire be achieved

at thine lotus feet

where I surrendered myself?

 

If they are granted not, rid me of this life

For, don’t you know, Oh dark blue one,

that with sorrow unending, my life shall not dwell?

 

Craving and churning food all day long,

weaving many petty and stupid tales,

weak at heart, embroiled in sorrow,

tormenting others with one’s own deeds,

greying and withering with passing days,

getting taunted by harsh words and then to die,

would a lot of mean and funny mortals do,

You thought I shall also fall away so?

 

I shall ask some boons of thee,

that thou shall give me straight away.

All effects of my past ill deeds

shall perish without arising.

I shall be made into a new life

with all my sorrows vanquished.

Intelligence made sparkling bright

and let me be in bliss for ever.

 

With the shoulders strengthened,

physical tire and illness driven out,

with a firm body that could withstand

even a slicing by a sword blade,

with a beaming face for all time,

like a lotus seeing the rising Sun;

teaching ways to overcome narrow sectarian paths,

exalted virtues of penance shall be granted.

 

Success in all endeavours

undertaken shall be granted

There shall be treasures for great deeds

and there shall be contributions from all around;

There shall be to the heart’s content

soothing music with energetic beats;

My singing and notes shall invigorate

vibrant grand pleasures of poetry.

 

To turn just stones to diamonds;

copper into glittering gold bars;

ordinary grass into rice fields;

pigs and boars as fierce lionesses;

and various ways of conquering earth

the nation that knew these techniques

shall have an unburdened great learning

for intelligent and a virile victory!

 

And make out of various alloys

Rich and variant things by labour;

Towards achieving these goals and to shine

To make the country proud

To quell the lethargy I may be strengthened.

Oh, mother would that be so daunting?

The dark falsities enclosing my mind

shall at once vanish all together.

 

Doubts shall vanish

Fear shall be vanquished

Repeatedly I seek thee –

That like lord Krishna took care of Partha,

So shall thee take direct charge of me

And million times I shall pray thee

That I shall be granted the leadership of the universe.

 

Long live the Mother,

Long live her grace.

 

Aum Kali, the great Chamundi,

Mistress of Aumkara and queen of my heart.

 

 

Every Pournami or full moon is beautiful.  

For those in love, it gives a new high.  For those in search of higher truths, it throws light towards enlightenment. The later are in love for the eternal.

Every enlightenment hands over a message.  It is received by the perceiver, on behalf of the entire humanity.

Once it is announced, then starts all trouble.

Those who are around the enlightened, throw up a wall around that person, in the name of protecting that person and the revelation.  And then they claim ownership over that person and the teachings.  It is up to them then to interpret it.  No one other than in that circle are entitled to interpret it.

Then on another full moon, another person has to get the message all over afresh again.  And the drama continues.

World over, in the name of religions and pontiffs, what has happened is only this.

I remember an incident (somewhere in the late 80s) when I had visited the Kanchipuram Sankara Mutt along with some high dignitaries with whom I had laid a precondition that I will not remove my shirt or bow before any one, unless I felt the urge within.

We could converse with the Sri Jayendrasaraswathi and Sri Vijayendrasaraswathi, (who were the second and third in rank then) even with my shirt on.  But when we went to the dining hall, I was warned by a Brahmin serving food that unless I remove my shirt, food will not be served.  I had gone as a part of a delegation and there were much old (of more than 80 years) and venerable persons (One of them having been a close associate of Jayaprakash Narayanan) in the group. It was already 30 minutes past 2 pm and my refusal to remove my shirt would have lead to my walking out of the dining hall and I was sure that the others will find it embarrassing or they will also have to walk out along with me.  Hence, I had to bow to the demand.  My friend, to whom I had conveyed my condition, later approached me and said, ‘did you see Khomeni coming in the form of a Brahmin with a karandi (Ladel) in hand?’ (I should clarify here that my friend was himself a Brahmin)

Another day, I was at the Coimbatore Airport.  T.M.Krishna was also waiting for his flight.  He had written an article a week ago in the The Hindu demanding that the Muslim community also adher to certain rational norms (or something on those lines).  I told Mr. Krishna that even though his article was well intentioned, since he did not belong to that community, he may be mistaken. I also mentioned that inspite of all his efforts in fighting irrationalism in Hinduism, EMS was not appreciated when he tried to comment on Muslim practices. Mr. Krishna perhaps misinterpreted my reasoning as a rabid Hindu view and said that fanatics were there in all religions.  Before I could explain further, my name was called and I had to leave to catch my flight.

When in the millennium edition of the Indian Express T.J.S. George had written that the Western theologians depreciated the Oriental Religions by putting them on a lower pedestrian and to demonstrate that had quoted Dante as having placed Prophet only in a lower pedestrian, his argument, which was in favour of the Muslim religion was not understood and consequently a lot of copies of the news paper went up in flames.

This is what Arundati Roy also meant by her statement quoted at the beginning of this blog.

The really spiritual people have to come together against these vested interests.

Let the full moons enable and enlighten again.

The life and the message

 

When we take up the name of persons whom we revere, we think twice before we do it to see whether we are competent to take up the name.

But day in and day out, we use the name of Gandhi, both to claim his legacy as well as to denigrate him.

He was one person who had the guts to say that his life is the message.

His life for that matter, was an open book.  He was his own bitter critique.  And as a result of his perpetual self-criticism, he changed his views and said that which-ever was the latest and if in contradiction to an earlier one, it is to be taken an as his reviewed stand on any issue.

But that such contradictions were not generated out of opportunistic views, would be evident from his letters to close confidents like C.F.Andrews or his public debates in articles or speeches.

One primary criticism was that he was dictatorial and adamant.  The second, he was, to a point, particularly in getting convinced with sound logic and reason, at least to his own best judgment, before accepting anything.  But, when it came to politics, we see that he was more than once vetoed by the Congress party.  Considering that there could be no better alternative in the said situation, he had to keep quite.  The partition was once such big event.  That he was dictatorial, becomes untrue due to this reason itself. That he was open to suggestions, he would argue out his case and most patiently try to make the other person see his view point and never, ever, raised his voice to be heard or to suppress other voices.  Yes, when he felt helpless and that he was not able to compromise beyond a point, with the reality and what his inner self told him was the right path, he subjected himself to a fast.  For lesser mortals, such fasts were instruments to black mail.  But, for someone to undertake an indefinite fast, or a specifically declared 21 day fast, etc, are not gimmicks as of the present day.  It was a conversation with his God.  It was a way to come out of his spiritual dilemma as to ‘how far one could go if the path to be undertaken was diagonally opposite to what the inner self dictates’. He had declared that it was a moot point, as to how far one could go on like that.  It was one reason why he quit the Congress itself.

That those who were around him were not able to ignore his pangs, exhibited in the form of such fasts, was only due to the fact that they were bound to him due to his magnetism of ‘purity and truth’.

Cleanliness, purity and truth, were synonyms for him.  They were not to be exhibited, or practiced during specific dates or times.  It was a condition of life to be practiced and refined perpetually. 

If he were to be really understood for his ‘sadhana’, it could be done so only by understanding the personality of Acharya Vinobha Bhave, whom Gandhi had said was his Guru who had come in the form of his disciple.  The disciple was one of the foremost from the Brahmin community, who threw away his caste, his educational qualifications and threw himself into the sarvodaya movement, demonstrating what it really was, by carrying the human excreta of others on his own head. 

Compared to that, later, most unfortunately, people who do not clean their own toilets or who engage others to clean their own clothes and undergarments, come out in public and pose for photos with brooms in hand and clear pre-planted garbage in some public places. 

But Gandhi, never sought publicity.  He never ran after journalists, whether Indian or Foreign.  He had his own instruments to get in touch with the masses and if anyone wanted to test him or question him, he always made himself available.  More than anything else, he could speak even through his silence.

He never prepared himself for such meetings with journalists. Appointments were given and kept in the midst of his routine work – whether spinning on the charka, whether when going through the daily correspondence or whether when going for his routine walks.  If anyone missed an appointment due to being late for some reason, he never found fault with them, but accommodated them in the nearest possible slot which was next available, without putting away the appointment given to anyone else.  It is to be noted that he did not go out of the way to cut any one else's appointment, to accommodate a late comer, however big he or she might be.

Such grandeur on the part of a half-naked-fakir, sitting for most of the part of his life in hut like ashrams, or on some public places or in the jail, is something, that cannot be created by PR work.

Though he never used severe language against those opposed to his views or movement, his words were clear and concise.  They carried the weight of his soul and hence, he need not have to repeat them, but those around him were affected by it and repeated it like a mantra.

There are umpteen instances where those who approached him had done so with doubts, cynicism, mixed feelings, antagonism or curiosity, but were all drawn to his simplicity, clarity, child like honesty and indomitable spirit.

If at all he was not having a ready reply to a question posed to him, or if the question had been tormenting him too and he had not been able to get an answer to it himself or if he felt that the questioner would not understand the answer from his point of view, he never tried to browbeat the questioner by any methods of arguing, shouting, evading, posing a counter, etc.  He simply kept quiet.

Self confidence is often criticized as egotism.  But, real ‘ego’ is the effulgent self which cannot be destroyed by fire, water or anything else.  And those who do not know its greatness are bound to confuse it with the arrogance of the mind.

When we think that such a man’s name and legacy could be used for advertisement, self-projection, symbolism or even for articulation of his complete anti-thesis, we can only blame ourselves, for not having taken the pain to go through his life, which he truly called as his message, in-spite of the entire life being recorded live, elaborately, by himself and those around him, almost on a day to day basis.

Thirukkural 108 (retold in English) in the light of Avayar

#Thirukkural is one of the seminal works in Tamil Literature.  Though it is referred to by various authorities and scholars, it has not gained as much in-depth attention as it ought to have got in respect of determining Social and personal values.  Even within Tamilnadu, it is not in common use by the ordinary citizens and students, as much as any other work of its nature would in any other language.  

The Thirukkural consists of 1330 couplets of  seven words in two lines each.  It is divided into 133 chapters, which are in turn divided into #Aram (Righteousness or #Dharma) consisting of 38 Chapters and 380 couplets, #Porul (Wealth or #Artha) consisting of 70 chapters and 700 couplets and #Inbam (Bliss or #Kama) consisting of 25 chapters and 250 couplets.  

Apart from the depth of the subjects handled in the above said 1330 couplets, the tightly woven style and the crisp manner in which it has been delivered, the relevance of the subject to every day life is very note worthy.  In spite of that, if it has not gained as much attention as the #Arthasashtra, or The #Prince, or the #Art of War, it has been felt that it did not have an easily understandable English translation in couplet form.

In an attempt towards this, on a path which very many have already travelled, I also embarked almost 23 years ago.  

During the travel, however, I felt that the couplets could be re-classified into Aram, Porul, Inbam and #Veedu (Dharma-Artha-Kama-Moksha) with the 108 Chapters of Aram and Porul itself in the light of a poem by Saint #Avayar.  I have explained it in the preface.

Smt. #M.A.Susila, a Tamil Scholar, Writer, Translator of great works including that of #Dostoevsky and a Retired Professor has been kind enough to go through my attempt and approve of it with a large heart. 

Shri. #C. Rajendiran of the #Voice of Valluvar family has given his good wishes.

I owe a lot to Dr. N.V.K Ashraf and Shri. V. Gopalan for their valuable guidance and help in finalising the translations. 

While attempts are on to get it published in such a manner that it could be easily available for those within Tamilnadu as well as outside, at an affordable price, I am giving below my preface and the review of the work by Smt. M.A.Susila, for those interested in the subject:

Review and Preface to Thirukkural 108 Retold in English

-Manimohan
Coimbatore

The Great Ganges

 

If someone asks whether the #Ganga is polluted or pure, the answer will depend upon which part of the Ganges, one is asking about.  Till the great river reaches Rishikesh, it is pure.  After that, pollution starts. (I don’t know whether it has started to be polluted from Rishinkesh itself now)  The one who is at Allahabad or Varanasi may say that the River is sacred, but cannot deny that it is polluted at the same time.  The one who has not traveled beyond Rishikesh with the river may not agree that it is polluted at all.  Someone living on the banks of the river with all its pollution, may feel frustrated that in spite of crores of rupees spent to clean it up, the menace continues.  If he is not getting any benefit out of the river, but is only affected by its pollution, he may say that it is better that the water body be dried up so that atleast the stinging pollution and its ill effects could be done away with.

Not only #Sanathana dharma, but all great religions have high spiritual aspects at their pinnacle, but have been infested by numerous pollutants down the stream.  Whether the sages of the Himalayas, the Sidhas of the Vindhyas or the Prophets of different parts of the world, they have revealed what has been glimpsed by them at great altitudes. Spirituality has been the hallmark of all searches. 

Sage after sage have repeated that all rivers lead to the sea.  But, yet, like babes quarrelling that one’s mother is superior to that of others, the so called followers quarrel with others.  None of them are actually following the real Masters.  Instead of travelling down the lane, they have put up tents on the ways and started bickering over territorial rights. Every religion has been called a way.  But when one stops travelling, there is stagnation and pollution. 

‘Ekam sat, vipra bahuta vadanti’, will be repeated like a mantra.  But the next moment, there will be a quarrel that it can mean so only in some specific religion or language.

Whenever there is a quarrel over whether sanathana dharma is great or not, I am reminded about two stands regarding Brahminism (which was how Sanathana Dharma was referred to in Tamil Nadu).

One was by #E.V.R.Periyar.  He said that he was not against Brahmins, but was against Brahminism.

The other stand was by the great Tamil writer #Jayakandan.  He said he was against Brahmins, but was for Brahminism.

Now, both the above statements may appear to be contradictory.

But on a closer examination of the back ground against which each of them spoke, one will understand that what Periyar meant by Brahminism was the degenerated practices injected by the Brahmin cult, which included castisim (or varnashrama), discrimination against women, etc.  When he said that he was not against Brahmins, he meant that he was not against those individuals, whom he saw as victims of their faith, but was only against their faith system as such.

On the contrary, Jayakandan says Brahminism as the quintessence of Upanishadic teachings.  He felt that it was the pinnacle of the Hindu faith system.  His argument was that the degeneration was caused by the people who practiced it, or rather did not practice it, but only paid lip sympathy to it.

Now, we come back to the question of whether the Ganga is clean.

While Jayakandan stands at Rishikesh, Periyar stands at Allahabad or Varanasi.

Once we understand their stand points, we can reconcile the seemingly contradictory stands.

Once, we resolve that there is pollution and that it has to be cleaned up, there is no more need to quarrel.

If one is going to argue that there is no pollution, then he is ignorant.  There is no point in arguing with him. If one is to argue that even if there is pollution, because it is sacred, we have to put up with it, then again there is no point in arguing with him.

There has not been a greater proponent of the greatness of Hinduism or Vedantism or Sanathana Dharma than Swami #Vivekananda.  Yet, there has not been a greater critique than him, to point out the ills of our system.  He called for a root-and-branch reform.

If we have to safeguard a system, the pollutants of the system have to be removed first.  In Ayurveda, medication is started only after a purging of the stomach. 

But the problem is that we continue to delude ourselves or allow others to delude us for their gains.

If someone calls for a root-and-branch reform today, we say that they are out to destroy.  ‘How can the root be changed and then the plant or tree survive?’ That is our emotional take.  We presume that we are rational too.

“I feel our country has an uncanny way of bringing out extremes in her people.  I suppose, it is because Indians have been both afflicted and enriched by centuries of migrations.  Loyalty to different rulers has dulled our capacity for a single allegiance. Instead, we have developed an extraordinary ability to be compassionate and cruel, sensitive and callous, deep and fickle, all at the same time.  To the untrained eye, we may appear colourful and picturesque, to the critical eye, we are but shoddy imitations of our various masters.”

  These are the words of #A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, in his book, ‘Wings of Fire’.

Unless we are able to come out of this psychological mess, we may not be able to make much headway, socially or spiritually.

 

Realisation and Independence

 

It is very difficult to think about Independence Day, without thinking about Gandhi.

It is not that he alone was responsible for the Independence.  There were very many before him who had sworn the seeds, nurtured it and even went unnoticed and unsung.  There were millions who travelled along with him.  Some of them were known, many, as usual as it happens in such mass movements, have remained mere numbers.  There were several youngsters, during his lifetime itself, who worked in different directions, but towards the same goal. 

Independence from the British was a consequence of the collective efforts of all these persons.

The pulverizing of Great Britain during the Second World War might have fastened the exit of the British.  It was inevitable even otherwise.  Rajaji famously said that the British decided to hand over power because they knew that otherwise they would not have had any power to hand over.

Gandhi had however himself accepted that a non-violent struggle or a passive resistance could have had no effect, if it had been against another power like France.  It could work because the British were conscious of their image.

And the Gandhian movement, essentially was focused on making the English man feel that he was in the wrong.

Gandhi’s employment of passive resistance was directly downloaded from the Bible.  It was superimposed upon the Gita, as per his own interpretation.  That is why he said that if he did not have the Gita, he would prefer to have the Sermons on the Mount.

When there were so many others involved in the freedom struggle, why then is it that we are forced to focus on the half-naked fakir?

It is because he comes to epitomize the best possible political figure that our culture could throw up.  He is a symbol of very many great qualities, which we even shudder to think of.  Even discounting some of his human frailties, he remains unsurpassed in his stature so far.

Apart from the great regard that a sensitive and cultured person like Tagore had for him, the appreciation he was able to receive from the greats like Einstein and G B Shaw, it is the reverence he drew from a person like Vinobhaji that makes me feel his greatness all the more.  Those who have known the personality of Vinobha ji can alone be able to appreciate this. Gandhi himself called Vinobhaji his spiritual heir.  He also said that he was his Guru who had come in the guise of his disciple.

The leftists (to some extent Nehru also included in that group), those like Ambedkar (including Periyar), those opposed to passive resistance (Bose, Bhagat Singh, Sri Aurobindo), the Muslim League and the Hindu Mahasabha were all opposed to Gandhi.  Every group had their own reasons.  Gandhi was at the center of all this.

Without that central point, the other points could not have had a connecting link.  That is the crucial role that Gandhi played.  He was not the point of compromise.  He was the point at which the extremes could come to some point of reconciliation.

And yet, the point was pecked at a very tall place.  The standards that could not be met by any other person, then nor since, in public life. The transparency that he maintained was saint like. Not that of the present-day saints.

The pangs that the man suffered, every moment of his life, till his very death, have been recorded in detail.  First by himself, in his ‘My Experiments with Truth', then by his Personal Assistants, Shri. Mahaev Desai first and then by Pyarelal and Kalyanam.  Apart from that, there are very many anecdotes, interviews and his own prolific writings and speeches.  Each one of them give an insight into the turmoil his mind was going through, in search of Truth and to gain self-rule through self-respect, for the Indian masses.  He was essentially a spiritualist, a communist and also tried to hang on to his roots, which were to some extent fundamental. Some of his most intimate turmoils have been recorded in his letters to C.F. Andrews. 

The present generation has to at least occasionally try to go through these, to understand, what a turbulent life he had led to reach where he had.

And then, one will be forced to understand that we have not come across another such person and is not possible in the near future.  

He was a person who could get the participation of the masses, without giving them any promise.  Particularly, no promise of wealth or power.  If at all he promised, it was only that they were to suffer and without any outer limit.  And in spite of that, if people gathered in huge numbers to participate in his passive resistance, the magnetism of the man speaks for itself.

Passive resistance, he had defined again and again.  It was no substitute to weakness or cowardice.  It was being able to be above them.  He himself was acutely aware that the majority of the masses were of course not above that.  Yet, he continued with his struggle.  ‘Walk alone’ was the command he got from his poet-philosopher-friend.

And, indeed, in spite of being surrounded by a mass of people, he was all alone.

And those who still claim that even without him, we would have gained our freedom, are like those who would say that a wheel can still run without an axle.

When the social fabric is under threat, now one by one of those different strands which were opposed to his position have started to find how much his stand is vindicated.  Now, we are forced to go back to him to retain whatever we have gained so far.

Better late than never.  Otherwise, we will be sucked into the abyss, never to return.

ON ‘THE CROOKED TIMBER OF NEW INDIA’

 

On seeing the release of the book, I decided to buy it, not necessarily to read it, because I almost knew what it was about and have heard many episodes of the author’s ‘Midweek Matters’ and have had a fairly good idea about his thought process and concerns but because I knew that it will contain data and important instances quoted, which will be indeed a document on important socio-politico-economic events of the last decade.  This I anticipated because, in the episodes of the ‘Midweek matters’ I had seen that the author came out with well researched data and quotes and his expressions were not emotional, but one of deep concern.  The author could not be branded a political activist, an economist, a sociologist, journalist, etc.  But he was all of these in parts.

The very of ‘Crooked Timber’ is seen to date back to Immanuel Kant, wherein human basically held to be like a crooked timer and could not be straight, without inspection.

The author of this book perhaps believed that it was natural for the nation to become of crooked timber, if not inspected, questioned and put on the right path.  That way, the book does not disappoint.

Before I get into some of the specific issues dealt with in the book, as a prelude I should say that the book is a record of current history – to stand against propaganda material.  It speaks with facts and data.  It quotes the source of the information and data.  Hence, it is not essays, merely conveying the impressions of the author. 

 Most of the essays are those that have come out as episodes of ‘Midweek Matters’.  The essays are not important just because they are a record or make a remark over the events from 2014, but because they compile the facts and data to prove it. It supports our worst fears, looks at reasons behind or beneath it.

Now some of the observations in the book and comments wherever found necessary (which are put within brackets):

In the Introduction the author says, ‘The Modi regime is obsessed with untrammeled power to do as it pleases.  Democracy is a nuisance’.

 (No it is a vehicle for them to convince the society that they are doing everything in a democratic manner.)

He says, ‘The lofty remarks of their lordships during court hearings and in lectures outside the court rooms are rarely reflected in their judgments and orders.’

(They are also part of the system.)

Further he says, ‘The BJP chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, the largest state in our Republic, openly said that the 2021 electoral fight in his state was between 80% and 20%, thus framing the election as a fight between the Hindu majority and Muslim minority’.

 (Was it not L.K.Advani who understood and spoke about the ‘bandwagon effect’?  Then how can his followers not be expected to take full advantage of that?)

Then he has said, ‘…China continues to enjoy the fruits of its recent incursions and sit pretty on a major chunk of our territory unchallenged.  But the Prime Minister tells the nation that there was no incursion at all.  Hardly anyone calls him out.’

 (What is there to call out?  Every one, knows.  Every other day, even Subramaniam Swamy tweets about it.  But ordinary people are not bothered whether or not a blade of grass grows in the occupied territory.)

He speaks about ‘Transparency in electoral bonds scheme’.

 (Yes, they are transparent.  Collecting money in the name of the party is not corruption – when done in a legal frame work, which they alone can use.)

He laments that, ‘The government does not share information with Parliament about farmers’ suicides; or the deaths of migrant labourers during the COVID waves and the brutal lock down of 2020; or the loss of jobs due to the pandemic and the loss of lives due to lack of access to hospital beds and oxygen cylinders; or the level of unemployment in the country’.

 (How does one expect all this when they have not been able to count the notes that came back?)

He observes, ‘Between 2016 and 2019, 79% of the funds released went only into media advocacy.  A mere 21% actually went towards any concrete initiative for the education, health and welfare of girls’.

 (One should be happy that it helped those in the media to earn their bread.)

He concludes, ‘To criticize the government or the BJP is to be anti-Modi, and, therefore, anti-national, unpatriotic.’

(Something all powerful rulers right from Indira Gandhi and their supporters propagated.) 

In the chapter about the Pandemic, the author has pointed to the fact that any criticism against the government handling or mishandling the pandemic is projected as an attempt to defame Bharath.

(Yes, the same thing that was done when Domnique Lapire wrote ‘The City of Joy’.)

In the Introduction itself he has said, ‘Our democracy is in crisis, our social fabric is torn, our economy is in peril, and we are being dragged back to the dark ages’.

(But when those exercising adult franchise are more on emotional issues, how do these issues concern them?)

The book says that the dark elements that swim below in the surface are being summoned to increase animosities and cleavages that lie dormant in a stratified and diverse society like India.

The world over, right wings have resorted only to his method.  They try to instigate the animal instincts.  The leaders of earlier generations, atleast after the ‘age of reason’, had tried to make people rise up to higher levels, by overcoming their base instincts.  But, now to allow the base instincts of one set of people to play against that of other and make use of the divide is ‘Chanakya tantra’. 

The rise of the BJP and the Hindutva in India has also been helped by the twin tower blast and Mumbai and Parliament attacks.  This enabled BJP to sharpen their anti-Muslim propaganda by focusing the nature of terrorism and its’ colour.  On this aspect, the Muslim community needs to become all the more vigilant and ensure that its’ youth do not get carried away in the stream of emotions and counter emotions. 

The basic problem in any society is that whenever a group is organized, whether in the name of community, caste, ideology, language, or anything else, the others who do not belong to that group and who do not have any other group which is as much organized, start looking upon the organized group and its people with fear and envy.  The Muslim community like the Sikhs also is a well knit community with strong bonds of brotherhood.  On the other hand, the Hindu community does not have a common bond.  It is a loose-knit one, with no single prophet, no single holy book, no single philosophy or outlook and even a single way of life, to be defined.  The smaller groups within the Hindu community which are organized on lines of the caste structure, get pulled down by other caste groups.  Thus, they are not a match to the Muslim community which is organized.  The Christian community also by its different churches and interpretations of the Bible are also similarly placed.

However, those who know Islam also know that it also has different streams within and a dialogue between the different faiths is the only method to bring a lasting solution to human problem created due to different faiths. 

But, that concept of peaceful co-existence is not desired by vested interests who want to make quick money and power.

The book gives a detailed study on how the theory that Muslims will overpopulate compared to Hindus and take over India is a flawed one, based on hard statistics.  Its analysis of the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of different communities, over a period of time is worth noting.

The book points out that connecting Hinduism to India and India to Hindi are part of the great plan. 

On reading about how the Modi government survived on propaganda, I was reminded of what a veteran told me in 2013 – that Modi was only emulating what Karunanidhi and DMK did in early 60s and 70s. 

The author states that people like Angela Merkel of Germany are living examples that self-confident and accomplished leaders and their parties do not show themselves as extraordinary and superhuman beings. 

-But, even the Germans fell for the macho man image of Hitler.  Indians are still prone to Hero worship.  They tend to depend upon one or the other avathar to come to their rescue.

The author under the chapter ‘Egocracy’, Digital Freedom and Data Privacy’ gives important inputs regarding how dangerously compromised our personal data is.  It is rightly pointed out that while Government wants data for surveillance, business requires it to make money.  He also points out that Government cannot be sole custodian to declare what is fake news.  But most of the BJP supporters will not agree with that, until BJP is out of power.

In the chapter, ‘Poverty data and data poverty’, the author points out how 108 economists and social scientists from around the globe have expressed concern over the loss of credibility of Indian economic data.  He also points out that while tech giants amass enormous amount of our personal data to manipulate our decisions and make money, Government on the other hand does not want to give access to us to it so that we are kept in the dark and confused so that political discourse is manipulated.  He concludes by saying, ‘Both the State and Capital ar working by stealth to construct and economic and political future for us – without our consent.  Both need to be combatted.’  THIS IS VERY SERIOUS AND IMPORTANT.

In the chapter,  ‘Subhas Bose and New India’s Legacy Raiders’, the author seeks to show how BJP has tried to misappropriate the legacy of Subash Bose and Patel by using them against Nehru. ‘But the New India that was announced in 2014 has concocted a folklore, which recruits Gandhiji, Patel and now Bose, along with Sarvarkar and Godse, to serve its crafty narrative of patriotism.  It is not troubled by the conflicting ideas of India these men held, as long as it can fire the gun off their shoulders at Nehru, who they believe with the persons who denied them a Hindu Rashtra and who may do so again through his continuing legacy’, says the author.

But on this I feel that either the author does not want to admit, or admit now, that it is Gandhi who is their main target.  How can a party which thrives on their majority-based claim accept that Right is might and how can they accept that Ends do not justify means?  It was and is Gandhian philosophy which stands in the way of Hindu Rashtra.  They know that in their hearts.  But do not want to say that openly until Nehru is demolished.  That is why they carry Godse on their shoulders.  The attack on Nehru is only like their propaganda against pseudo-secularism.  After it reaches the subconscious mind of the average Indian, they will go for the next step.

On the JNU culture and the students being concerned about all world affairs, the author seeks to know whether it is wrong.  Yes, in the eyes of those who think that students are supposed to think only on lines that they are taught, that discipline is a sine quo non for learning, culture of questioning is anathema.  They may, for sake of argument say that in the ancient India students questioned their masters to learn.  But that was only on the subject.  Not on morality or such things.

In the chapter on sale of PSUs and VIZAG ‘STEAL’ the author makes a very important observation that it is a myth that PSUs cannot perform and that private sector will flourish.  He gives numerous examples and data for that.

In the chapter on ‘Who killed Father Stan Swamy’, the author gives the complete history of legislations which have led to this situation and concludes that all political parties are directly and indirectly responsible for this.

In this connection, questions asked about why the Supreme Court of India convenes special hearings even on holidays when it comes to cases regarding very important persons but many are languishing in jails as under-trials, becomes very relevant. It is something very serious and needs attention of any concerned citizen.

Regarding the attitude of selective speak of the PM and how he conducted Manki Bath during the pandemic, selecting only a few who survived and not anyone who had lost their near and dear to the pandemic, I was forced to think that we should thank our stars that some family who had lost their kith or kin to the pandemic had not been brought up to thank whatever the government did, inspit of their loss ‘which was purely due to bad karma or fate’.

The present regime survives only because of people who want them to ‘teach the others a lesson’, as the author concludes in his last chapter.

This is precisely the problem.

The underlying and hidden animosity of the majority community towards the ‘others’ who are organized, is the real issue to be dealt with.

There have been in the horizon great philosophers and social activists who could rise above petty politics.  They were those who did not seek power, wealth or fame.  The nation requires such personalities, only if we should come out of the crisis.

The real problem is not what we are in today.  It is regarding how we are to come out of the hole. There is a famous adage: Every successor makes the predecessor better.  That way, we have to be wary not only about what if BJP or Modi continues after 2224, but also about whether the next incumbent, even if replacing BJP would be able to set the wheel back.

Already, many of the political parties are falling in line with Hindu appeasement.  This is the inverse of what was being done earlier – as if nothing of Hindu matters.

Between the two extremes of 'India was good for nothing until the British came' and that 'India was the Vishwaguru and everything was known to the Indians all along in human history', rationality requires to stop and think, what was known and what was not.  Then, the present position is to be assessed.  What if my grandfather knew something, but it has no relevance for my present stature – intellectual or economic or cultural.  How does past glory alone matter?

In an environment with social dis-harmony and mutual hate and suspicion between groups and communities, no economic progress can take place.  On one hand seeking foreign investments and on another hand bashing anything foreign unless it falls within our likes would be riding on two horses, without a cart.

The insightful points made by former Home Secretary G.K. Pillai in the interview with Karan Thapar is exactly on these lines.  He emphasizes that not only Hindus, but those with secular outlook in all religions have to speak out, otherwise, our next generations will be in deep trouble. 

People of other faiths have to stop their Hindu bashing – whether openly or within the confines of their closed meetings.  Hindus have to revert back to their real secular roots.

I have deliberately not covered all aspects in the book so that if anyone is interested in reading it, my observations should not stop them from that.  It is to be read and preserved.

Hope more like Parakala Prabhakar come out to stem the tide.