Category Archives: Writings by Others

Why getting older is the best thing that will ever happen to us

An rticle in Daily Times of Pakistan – of Monday 24 March 2014

LINK:   http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/entertainment/24-Mar-2014/why-getting-older-is-the-best-thing-that-will-ever-happen-to-us

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While sitting around lamenting our millennial lives, a friend of mine shared this morsel of wisdom she”™d gotten from an older acquaintance. It was something like, when you”™re young you have time and energy, but no money. When you”™re middle-aged, you have energy and money, but no time. And when you”™re old, you have time and money, but no energy, Yagana Singh writes for Huffington Post.
Such is the quagmire of youth. While we”™re getting bombarded with messages telling us to YOLO, to “dance like nobody”™s watching” and love like we”™ve never been hurt before ”“ we”™re busy dealing with unemployment, wondering how to pay for our weddings and how to lower our astronomical student loan payments.
And the thing about having more energy ”“ well, I can”™t vouch for that. Consensus among my 20-something friends is we”™re tired. All.the.time. We”™re juggling young, new relationships, 60-hour workweeks in many cases and the pressure to maintain the illusion of having “a life”.
Truth be told, many of us are looking forward to aging and getting to a point where we”™ve passed most of life”™s major hurdles ”“ not spending our entire paychecks on the newest anti-aging serum to help us cling to our exponentially fading youth. Here”™s what we”™re looking forward to in older age:

1. Senior discounts. Because there”™s no I-still-live-with-my-parents discount or student-loan-repayment-discount.

2. Not worrying as much about things will “turn out”. After 50 or so, I”™m guessing most major questions of life have been answered. Will I find the right life partner? Will I have kids? Will everything be okay? My 65-plus father once told me that when he looks at young folks he feels sheer pity. Not what I was expecting to hear. But they”™re fit, healthy and able-bodied I said confusedly. True, he agreed. But they just have so many hurdles ahead of them that they can”™t even imagine. There are so many uphill battles they have yet to face. I”™m confident I”™ve already faced the worst of my problems, he said. Let”™s hope he”™s right.

3. More mature relationships (hopefully). As a young dater or novice boyfriend/girlfriend, everything is so much more fragile and every fight leaves you wondering if you”™re headed for a break-up that will cause the devastation of a nuclear bomb in your heart. I can”™t wait to celebrate my 30th or 40th wedding anniversary with someone I”™ve been through thick and thin with. Someone who has essentially watched me grow up. That”™s the sort of intimacy that easily trumps the passion and fireworks of a budding love.

4. You”™ve carved out a career. Hopefully. You”™re not developing ulcers wondering if the four years you spent in college were a complete waste, when you realise everything you learned in the classroom is not really helpful in your first job. With 8.2 percent of millennials facing unemployment, higher than any of the previous four generations, it”™s a very valid concern.
5. Looks aren”™t everything. They never should be, but let”™s face it, younger folks have more pressure to look a certain way. As if it isn”™t bad enough that everyone and their mother is posting selfies 24/7 on every social media network under the sun, we”™re also being told by make-up counter girls that we should start considering preventive aging potions. Oh ”“ and living in constant fear of Facetime calls.

6. There”™s nothing wrong with a 9:30pm bedtime. There are few things better than a good night”™s sleep. Spending a Friday night in a sweaty, crowded club and waking up with ringing ears the next day is not one of them.

7. You stop caring what others think. At 25, do I really care what teenagers or even underclassmen think about me? No. So at 65, I”™m guessing you couldn”™t care less what a silly 55-year-old thinks of you. Hence, the license to speak your mind. Whenever. Wherever. However controversial.

8. Fewer major life decisions to make. After doing a 180 and switching from my business degree to now an infinitely happier and fulfilling career in journalism, I often question how wise it is to let high school seniors decide what mark they want to leave in the world, when most of them haven”™t really been out in the real world. For many students, four years and $50,000 later, they end up disillusioned and trapped in their line of work. Besides that, you also have to choose your first car, home, city, political affiliation, and spouse. I have a hard enough time deciding what to eat for lunch or which Obamacare plan to choose.

ENVIRONMENTAL WISDOM IN ANCIENT INDIA

 

ENVIRONMENTAL WISDOM IN ANCIENT INDIA  

Long before ecology became the refrain of the global song at Stockholm and Rio, the ancient Indic heritage had already provided a spacious spiritual home for the environmental ethos. In the West, the term ‘ecology’ was coined only in the latter half of the 19th century from the Greek word Oikos, meaning ‘home’. But India has, throughout trackless centuries, provided an ample expanse of friendly space for an open and ongoing discourse of ideas. The Jain, Vedic and Buddhist traditions established the principles of ecological harmony centuries ago – not because the world was perceived as heading for an imminent environmental disaster or destruction, nor because of any immediate utilitarian exigency, but through its quest for spiritual and physical symbiosis, synthesized in a system of ethical awareness and moral responsibility.

The ancient sacred literature of the Vedas enshrines a holistic and poetic cosmic vision. They represent the oldest, the most carefully nurtured, the most elaborately systematized and the most lovingly preserved oral tradition in the annals of the world. Unique in their perspective of time and space, their evocative poetry is a joyous and spontaneous affirmation of life and nature.

The Vedic Hymn to the Earth, the Prithvi Sukta in Atharva Veda, is unquestionably the oldest and the most evocative environmental invocation. In it, the Vedic seer solemnly declares the enduring filial allegiance of humankind to Mother Earth: ‘Mata Bhumih Putroham Prithivyah: Earth is my mother, I am her son.’ Mother Earth is celebrated for all her natural bounties and particularly for her gifts of herbs and vegetation. Her blessings are sought for prosperity in all endeavours and fulfilment of all righteous aspirations. A covenant is made that humankind shall secure the Earth against all environmental trespass and shall never let her be oppressed. A soul-stirring prayer is sung in one of the hymns for the preservation and conservation of hills, snow-clad mountains, and all brown, black and red earth, unhurt, unsmitten, unwounded, unbroken and well defended by Indra.

The Hymn says, in prayerful thanksgiving and homage: Earth in which lie the sea, the river and other waters, in which food and cornfields have come to be, in which lives all that breathes and that moves, May she confer on us the finest of her yield. Earth, in which the waters, common to all, moving on all sides, flow unfailingly, day and night, may she pour on us milk in many streams, and endow us with lustre. May those born of thee, O Earth, be for our welfare, free from sickness and waste. Wakeful through a long life, we shall become bearers of tribute to thee. Earth, my mother, set me securely with bliss in full accord with heaven, O wise one, uphold me in grace and splendour.

The Vedic seers regarded the Earth as ‘sacred space’ for the consecrated endeavours and aspirations of humankind and for the practice of restraint and responsibility. This affirmative view of the inviolable sacred space in human consciousness is integral to the Vedas and the Upanishads. On it rests the Vedic vision of a world filled with the purity of the spiritual environment and the sanctity of environmental spirituality and morality. Such a world can only be sustained by ‘Satyam Brhat Rtam Ugram’, the severely exacting discipline of truth, harmony and rectitude, based on a conception of cosmic and comprehensive peace as envisioned in the famous Vedic Hymn of Peace:

We invoke and imbibe Aum, the primordial sound of cosmic Harmony and pray for: Peace and Harmony in Heaven; Peace and Harmony in the Sky and on the Earth; Peace and Harmony in the Waters; Peace and Harmony in the Herbs, the Vegetation and the Forests; Peace and Harmony among the Peoples and the Rulers of the World; Peace and Harmony in Spiritual Quest and Realization; Peace and Harmony for one and all; Peace and Harmony Everywhere and in Every Thing; Peace, True and Real Peace, Let that Peace repose in my inner space, Peace of Peace, Everlasting Peace, We pray for Peace.

The ecological philosophy of Jainism, flowing from its spiritual quest, has always been central to its ethics, aesthetics, art, literature, economics and statecraft. It is virtually synonymous with the principle of Ahimsa (Non-violence) which runs through the Jain tradition like a golden thread. Lord Mahavira said: ‘There is nothing so small and subtle as the atom, nor any element so vast as space. Similarly, there is no quality of soul more subtle than non-violence and no virtue of spirit greater than reverence for life.’

Compassion and reverence for life are the sheet-anchor of the Jain quest for peace, harmony and rectitude, based on spiritual and physical symbiosis and a sense of responsibility and restraint. The term Ahimsa is stated in the negative (a = non, himsa = violence), but it is rooted in a host of positive aims and actions which have great relevance to contemporary environmental concerns. It is a principle of compassion and responsibility, which should be practised not only towards human beings, but towards all animals and nature. The Jain scriptures tell us: ‘The Arhats (Venerable ones) of the past, present and future discourse, counsel, proclaim, propound and prescribe thus in unison: Do not injure, abuse or press, enslave, insult, torment, torture and kill any creature or any living being.’

Compassion and non-violence are the basis of the ancient Jain scriptural aphorism Parasparopagraho Jivanam (all life is bound together by the mutual support of interdependence). Lord Mahavira proclaimed a profound ecological truth: ‘One who neglects or disregards the existence of earth, air, fire, water and vegetation disregards his own existence which is entwined with them.’

Humanity’s ethical responsibility

In Jain evolutionary theory all souls are equal but are bound by varying amounts of asravas (karmic particles), reflected in the type of body they inhabit. The lowest form of physical bodies, like those of trees and vegetation, have only the sense of touch, yet are able to experience pleasure and pain, and have souls. Mahavira thought that only the one who understood the grave demerit and detriment caused by the destruction of plants and trees could also understand the meaning and merit of reverence for nature. (Even metals and stones might have life in them and should not be dealt with recklessly.) Above these forms of life are micro-organisms and small animals with two, three or four senses. The highest grade of animals, and human beings, also possess rationality and intuition. As a highly evolved form of life, human beings have a great moral responsibility in their mutual dealings and in their relationship with the rest of the universe. It is this conception of life and its eternal coherence, in which humans have an inescapable ethical responsibility, that made the Jain tradition a cradle for the creed of environmental protection and harmony.

The Jain code of conduct is profoundly ecological. Transgressions against the vow of non-violence include all forms of cruelty to animals and human beings. Many centuries ago, Jains condemned as evil the common practice of animal sacrifices to the gods. It is generally forbidden to keep animals in captivity, to whip, mutilate or overload them or to deprive them of adequate food and drink. Domestic animals may be roped, or even whipped occasionally, but always mercifully, with due consideration and without anger. Except for allowing themselves the judicious use of one-sensed life in the form of vegetables, Jains would not consciously take any life for food or sport. They are strict vegetarians, consuming neither meat, nor fish, nor eggs.

By taking the basic vows, the Jain laity endeavour to live a life of moderation and restraint and to practice a measure of abstinence and austerity. They must not procreate indiscriminately lest they overburden the universe and its resources. Regular periods of fasting for self-purification are encouraged. In their use of the Earth’s resources, Jains take their cue from ‘the bee that sucks honey in the blossoms of a tree without hurting the blossom and strengthening itself’. Wants should be reduced, desires curbed and consumption levels kept within reasonable limits. Using any resource beyond one’s needs or the misuse of any part of nature, is considered a form of theft. Indeed, the Jain faith declares unequivocally that waste and creating pollution are acts of violence. Accumulation of possessions and enjoyment for personal ends should be minimized. Wealth creation must have a philanthropic goal. Giving charitable donations and time generously for community projects is an obligation. It is this sense of social obligation that has led the Jains to found and maintain innumerable schools, colleges, hospitals, clinics, lodging houses, hostels, orphanages and relief and rehabilitation camps for the handicapped, old, sick and disadvantaged, as well as hospitals for ailing birds and animals. Wealthy individuals are advised to recognize that beyond a certain point their wealth is superfluous to their needs and that they should manage the surplus as trustees for social benefit.

In The Buddhist Declaration on Nature, The Venerable Lungrig Namgyal Rinpoche, Abbot of Gyuto Tantrik University, quotes Lord Buddha Himself: ‘Because the cause was there, the consequences followed; because the cause is there, effects will follow.’ He concludes that these few words show that happiness and suffering do not simply come about by chance. A human undertaking motivated by a healthy positive attitude constitutes one of the most important causes of happiness; it is, in the final analysis, rooted in genuine unselfish compassion and loving kindness, seeking to bring about light and happiness for all sentient beings.

The interdependence of nature

Lord Buddha’s vision and speech made him unexcelled as a sage and a teacher and as the Enlightened Being who saw the interdependence of nature and taught it to the world through his religion of love, understanding and compassion and his commitment to the ideal of non-violence. Buddhism and Jainism, perhaps as much if not more than any other traditions, rejected the notion of humankind as the exclusive centre of life and existence and repudiated the selfish anthropomorphic calculus of utility to human beings for the evolution of other forms of life. As the Venerable Abbot puts it, we should be wary of justifying the right of any species to survive solely on the basis of its usefulness to human beings.

He explains his view of the Buddhist philosophical system as one which propagates the theory of rebirth and life after birth, and shows that in the continuous birth and rebirth of sentient beings (not only on this planet but in the universe as a whole) each being is related to us, just as our own parents are related to us in this life. He points out that for all their limitations, our ancestors were aware of the need for harmony between human beings and nature; they loved their environment and revered it as a source of life and well-being. He quotes His Holiness The Dalai Lama in The Buddhist Declaration on Nature, in words which breathe and pulsate with the Lord Buddha’s ethical and ecological vision and have compelling relevance for our own time:

‘Destruction of the environment and the life depending upon it is a result of ignorance, greed and disregard for the richness of all living things. This disregard is gaining great influence. If peace does not become a reality in the world, and if the destruction of the environment continues as it does today, there is no doubt that future generations will inherit a dead world.

‘Various crises face the international community. The mass starvation of human beings and the extinction of species may not have overshadowed the great achievements in science and technology, but they have assumed equal proportions. Side by side with the exploration of outer space, there is the continuing pollution of lakes, rivers and vast parts of the oceans, out of human ignorance and misunderstanding. There is a great danger that future generations will not know the natural habitat of animals; they may not know the forests and the animals which we of this generation know to be in danger of extinction.

‘We are the generation with the awareness of a great danger. We are the ones with the responsibility and the ability to take steps of concrete action, before it is too late.’

The spiritual, ethical, individual and collective dimensions of human life constitute a continuum, encompassing the whole of the Indic heritage and transcending all segments and fragments. The Vedic, Upanishadic, Jain and Buddhist traditions perceived this and together built an enduring spiritual, intellectual and cultural foundation for an environment-friendly value system and a balanced lifestyle.

A living legacy

The value system reflected in the life and message of Mahatma Gandhi and the provisions of the republican Constitution of India of 1950 derived their spiritual and moral inspiration from the composite Indic culture. It was shared by different faith traditions and communities in India through the ages and often emulated and assimilated across the boundaries of religious affiliations. It is not only reflected in the Vedic, Upanishadic, Jain and Buddhist scriptural texts and other literature, but is part of the social ethos of these traditions and of other communities which trace their roots to them. The wide variety of sects and denominations which rose in India during the last two millennia have consistently dug and quarried from those Indic roots. The Sikh, Vaishnava and Bishnoi traditions and numerous other Bhakti denominations in mediaeval India – which give spiritual joy, comfort and guidance to millions of people in India and abroad – are fine examples.

The Indic environmental ethos declares that all aspects and phenomena of nature belong together and are bound in a physical as well as metaphysical relationship, and views life as a gift of togetherness and of mutual accommodation and assistance in a universe teeming with interdependent constituents. Agenda 21 has to be implemented with this sense of spirituality, morality and universality if religion is to play a significant role in creating and sustaining a momentum for ecological conservation in the hearts and minds of men, women and children.

The Indic approach to the environment is even today a part of the living legacy of India. That legacy often seems to be embattled and imperilled all around, and yet it is endowed with an uncanny and time-tested resilience. In that resilience, there is hope and promise for India and the rest of the world.

       

Written by:H. E. Laxmi Mall Singhvi.      

H. E. Laxmi Mall Singhvi is President of the World Congress on Human Rights, Indian High Commissioner to the Court of St James (London) and President Emeritus of the Authors’ Guild of India. He has been awarded the Interfaith Gold Medallion Award by the International Council of Christians and Jews.

 

Famines and cannibalism in Lahore

http://www.dawn.com/2003/10/05/fea.htm

   

   

   

Famines and cannibalism in Lahore

   

By Majid Sheikh

Over the last 2,000 years, Lahore, and the Punjab, have been hit by almost 20 major famines, with a ‘major famine’ being classified as one lasting more than three consecutive years. For the most the granaries of Lahore held out hope, but there have been grim times in the past, much more grimmer than we can ever imagine today.

If we look up the records and consult various history books, we will notice that Lahore has faced a ‘major famine’ after almost every 100 years on the average. The worst one lasted almost six years, and things were so bad that people wanting to get into the city were shut out and starvation reached a level where people had to resort to cannibalism to survive. Such a situation is difficult to imagine today, but this has happened thrice in our history. Every time the famine crossed the four-year mark, reports of cannibalism surfaced. On the one major occasion, during the worst famine to ever hit Lahore, people stopped going out alone lest they were waylaid and “eaten up.”

We must research and record these gruesome events to understand who we are, and what we have been through. In a way it also is the underlying reason of the way we behave even today as a collective lot. Lahore is definitely about magnificent buildings, with a history a few cities on earth can parallel; it is also about gardens, about poets, about universities. But more importantly, Lahore is about people. This city is what it is because of the people who have lived, and continue to live here. That is why what befell them needs to be told so that it never happens again. We have a habit of blotting out the scars in our collective lives, and the scars left by terrible famines need to be seen, to be felt, to be believed today.

These famines have certainly not been fleeting moments in our history, which goes back thousands of years. A lot of our folk songs, our collective behaviour patterns, all flow from such terrible events. The first recorded famine to hit Lahore was in the year 650. Though famine existed throughout the subcontinent in that year, people from far and wide in the Punjab came to Lahore and surrounded it thinking that its granaries had food for them. The Hindu Rajput Raja certainly was well stocked and he helped his subjects considerably. But people were dying on the streets, of sheer hunger. The next major famine to hit Lahore was in the year 879, when the granaries inside the city were attacked, and because of the law and order collapse, the famine spread. In the process the population had to be quelled with force by the Bhat Raja. Once order was restored, food was made available.

But the worst famine to hit Lahore was in 941, and it continued till the year 1022. This hit the entire Punjab as well as the entire subcontinent, and people died by the millions. One estimate is that 35 per cent of the population of the Punjab died in that famine. In Lahore the first reported case of cannibalism was in 947 (another source puts it in 946), and as the famine raged, more and more cases were reported. People began to hide their children. The population fell drastically and every day scores of dead would be found on the streets, dead from sheer hunger and exhaustion. One gruesome account tells of people being found with major portions of their bodies missing. Lahore was at its weakest. To add to our miseries, our Afghan ‘brothers’ launched their first major invasion, ruthlessly killing whoever stood in their way. They removed to Afghanistan a major portion of our scarce wheat and rice, even though our textbooks say they came to spread Islam.

Then there was, finally, relief, and a bumper crop followed after major floods hit the city and its surrounding areas. The land was well fertilized and for many a year bumper crops were reported. The granaries remained full and life returned to normal. In a way these prosperous times led Lahore to becoming a great city. The rise and rise of Lahore owes itself to the prosperity that bumper crops brought. This remains the pattern even today.

But by 1148 another famine hit Lahore, and it continued till 1159. Though it had spread all over India, where its effect was far greater, Lahore suffered as thousands died on its streets. Two good years followed and, before confidence could return, in 1162 another famine hit the city. Foreign invasions and famines seemed to come hand in hand. In 1344-45 the Great famine in India took place, when the Moghal emperor was unable to obtain the necessaries for his own household. The famine continued for years and millions perished.

In 1396 right up to 1407, The Durga Devi famine in India, lasting 12 years, took place. Lahore was devastated. Cannibalism took hold of the people and the habit of carrying an axe to protect oneself was established. One account puts it in perspective: “Today a neighbour’s young son went missing. On search his head was found in the next mohallah. He had been eaten up by the devils that people have become.”

But then super floods followed and life again returned to normal. The granaries of Lahore were known to be the largest in the subcontinent and the Moghals for this reason took a special interest in Lahore. Then came the Great Famine of Bengal from 1769 to 1770, and a third of the population (10,000,000) perished. It was a tragedy beyond comprehension. In this time period Lahore managed well, though in 1798 it had a very dry year. But in 1783 “The Chalisa Famine” took place affecting Lahore and Jammu, where thousands died. Though the city of Lahore managed to ration its wheat and maintain law and order, it was during this famine that the Kashmiri population moved to Lahore. Today we have a major Kashmiri population because of that famine.

In 1790 ‘The Doji Bara’, or skull famine, hit India. It was so called because the people died in such numbers that they could not be buried. According to tradition this was one of the severest famines ever known. This famine lasted four years and in this also cases of cannibalism were reported, but on a much smaller scale. It was during this time period that Lahore’s Mori Gate was built to remove the hundreds of dead for cremation on the River Ravi that flowed outside its walls.

After the ‘skull famine’ followed a series of major famines, which research now tell us took place because the British were taking over major stocks of our grains. This aspect of British imperialism has never been discussed. In 1838 an “intense famine hit North-West Provinces (United Provinces) of India in which 800,000 perished.”

In 1861 another major famine hit in Northwest India in which 500,000 died of starvation. In 1866 a major famine hit Bengal and Orissa in which one million perished. In 1869 a major famine affected Rajputana; one million and a half perished. In 1876 a major famine hit central and western India in which 5,000,000 died. Lahore was badly hit and its granaries were almost empty.

In 1897 yet another famine came about, while in 1899 right up to 1901 the last major famine hit Lahore. In this famine over one million people died in the subcontinent. In Lahore the last known case of cannibalism was reported from inside the Walled City.

Our people have seen terrible times. Famines have fashioned the way we behave, our insecurities are more ‘famine related’ than anything else. Thanks to modern transportation famines are a thing of the past, at least in Pakistan, unless we make a right royal mess of the way we manage our scarce water resources. But then that is politics. Imagine.

Story with management fundas….

                                                                                                                                                                                      2004  

An   interesting story for realising achievement in career and life.

I have misplaced source of this story but I find it very inspiring.

An “Hare & Tortoise” competition Story

Story with management fundas….Once upon a time a tortoise and a hare had an argument about who
was faster. They decided to settle the argument with a race. They
agreed on a route and started off the race. The hare shot ahead and
ran briskly for some time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the
tortoise, he thought he’d sit under a tree for some time and relax
before continuing the race. He sat under the tree and soon fell
asleep. The tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon finished the
race, emerging as the undisputed champ. The hare woke up and
realised that he’d lost the race. The moral of the story is that slow and
steady wins the race.

This is the version of the story that we’ve all grown up with.

But then recently, someone told me a more interesting version of
this story. It continues.

The hare was disappointed at losing the race and he did
some soul-searching. He realised that he’d lost the race only
because he had been overconfident, careless and lax. If he had
not taken things for granted, there’s no way the tortoise could
have beaten him. So he challenged the tortoise to another race.
The tortoise agreed. This time, the hare went all out and ran without
stopping from start to finish. He won by several miles. The moral of
the story? Fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady. If
you have two people in your organisation, one slow, methodical and
reliable, and the other fast and still reliable at what he does, the
fast and reliable chap will consistently climb the organisational
ladder faster than the slow, methodical chap.

It’s good to be slow and steady; but it’s better to be fast and reliable.
But the story doesn’t end here.

The tortoise did some thinking this time, and realised that there’s no
way he can beat the hare in a race the way it was currently
formatted. He thought for a while, and then challenged the hare to
another race, but on a slightly different route. The hare agreed.
They started off. In keeping with his self-made commitment to be
consistently fast, the hare took off
and ran at top speed until he came to a broad river. The finishing line
was a couple of kilometres on the other side of the river. The hare sat
there wondering what to do. In the meantime the tortoise trundled along,
got into the river, swam to the opposite bank, continued walking and
finished the race.

The moral of the story? First identify your core competency and then
change the playing field to suit your core competency. In an
organisation, if you are a good speaker, make sure you create
opportunities to give presentations that enable the senior management
to notice you. If your strength is analysis, make sure you do some
sort of research, make a report and send it upstairs. Working to your
strengths will not only get you noticed, but will also create
opportunities for
growth and advancement. The story still hasn’t ended.

The hare and the tortoise, by this time, had become pretty good friends
and they did some thinking together. Both realised that the last
race could have been run much better. So they decided to do the last
race again, but to run as a team this time. They started off, and
this time the hare carried the tortoise till the riverbank. There, the
tortoise took over and swam across with the hare on his back. On the
opposite bank, the hare again carried the tortoise and they reached
the finishing line together. They both felt a greater sense of
satisfaction than they’d felt earlier.

The moral of the story? It’s good to be individually brilliant and to
have strong core competencies; but unless you’re able to work in a
team and harness each other’s core competencies, you’ll always
perform below par because there will always be situations at which
you’ll do poorly and someone else does well. Teamwork is mainly
about situational leadership, letting the person with the relevant core
competency for a situation take leadership.

There are more lessons to be learnt from this story.

Note that neither the hare nor the tortoise gave up after failures.
The hare decided to work harder and put in more effort after his
failure. The tortoise changed his strategy because he was already
working as hard as he could. In life, when faced with failure,
sometimes it is appropriate to work harder and put in more effort.
Sometimes it is appropriate to change
strategy and try something different. And sometimes it is appropriate to
do both.

The hare and the tortoise also learnt another vital lesson. When we
stop competing against a rival and instead start competing
against the situation, we perform far better.

When Roberto Goizueta took over as CEO of Coca-Cola in the 1980s, he
was faced with intense competition from Pepsi that was eating into
Coke’s growth. His executives were Pepsi-focussed and intent on
increasing market
share 0.1 per cent a time. Goizueta decided to stop competing against
Pepsi and instead compete against the situation of 0.1 per cent growth.
He asked his executives what was the average fluid intake of an
American per day? The answer was 14 ounces. What was Coke’s share
of that? Two ounces. Goizueta said Coke needed a larger share of that
market. The competition wasn’t Pepsi. It was the water, tea, coffee,
milk and fruit juices that went into the remaining 12 ounces. The
public should reach for a Coke whenever they felt like drinking
something. To this end, Coke put up vending machines at every
street corner. Sales took a quantum jump and Pepsi has never quite
caught up since.

To sum up, the story of the hare and tortoise teaches us many things.
Chief among them are that fast and consistent will always beat
slow and steady; work to your competencies; pooling resources and
working as a team will always beat individual performers; never
give up when faced with failure; and finally, compete against the
situation – not against a rival.  

       

Krishna Personifies The Modern Man

Krishna is more relevant and nearer the contemporary man of today than Rama.

Krishna is the harbinger of change and writes his own rules and laws ”“ he is therefore closer to our post-modern period where there are no constants or givens in society. Ram on the other hand represents the age of Satya, where self is subservient to the good of society. In effect, Krishna”™s attitude of detachment is diametrically opposite Ram”™s adherence to all social norms and rules.

Fun-loving, cunning, street-smart, flirtatious, detached and living life as he chooses ”“ with loads of attitude – Krishna perfectly personifies the modern man.  

Krishna is more relevant and nearer the contemporary man of today than Rama.

Krishna is the harbinger of change and writes his own rules and laws ”“ he is therefore closer to our post-modern period where there are no constants or givens in society. Ram on the other hand represents the age of Satya, where self is subservient to the good of society. In effect, Krishna”™s attitude of detachment is diametrically opposite Ram”™s adherence to all social norms and rules.

Fun-loving, cunning, street-smart, flirtatious, detached and living life as he chooses ”“ with loads of attitude – Krishna perfectly personifies the modern man.  

   

   

   

‘Lord Krishna spent 125 years on Earth’
   

Saturday, 11 September , 2004, 12:49

It was February 18, 3102 BC Friday at 02 hours, 27 minutes and 30 seconds in the afternoon when Lord Krishna left his earthly body for his heavenly abode – or so claims an ascetic after intensive calculations.

Swami Gyananand Saraswati of the Varanasi-based Adi Jagadguru Shankaracharya Vedic Research Institute also claims to have calculated exactly how many hours Lord Krishna spent on Earth and his precise age when the epic battle Mahabharata ended.

He says Lord Krishna spent 125 years on Earth and departed precisely 5,106 years ago. The ascetic scholar presented a detailed timeline of the life of the Lord before a gathering of scholars at Somnath temple in Prabhas Patan, 350 km from this Gujarat city.

   

He says his calculations are based on the study of various Indian scriptures, including Skand Purana, Shrimad Bhagawat Purana, Shri Vishnu Mahapurana, Matsya Parva and the epic Mahabharata.

He also referred to the astrological treatise Bhrigu Samhita for dating various events in Krishna’s life. He fed the data into a computer and used a special software to determine the longitude and latitude of various places mentioned in the texts.

He says Krishna died 36 years after the war of Mahabharata. “His age on the last day of the war was 89 years, two months and seven days. That tallies with the estimate of 125 years,” Saraswati asserts.

He claims that Krishna was born the 22nd day of the fourth month of the 863,874th year of Dwapar Yug, which was the eighth day of the second half of the Hindu calendar month of Shravan, the day Janmashtami, or the birth of Krishna, is celebrated.

Saraswati, who is at the Somnath temple complex for a traditional four-month sojourn of Chaturmas, declared his findings on Tuesday to coincide with Janmashtami celebrations.

He has also worked out a chronology of the temple, one of the Dwadasha Jyotirlingas or the 12 most important temples of Lord Shiva. The temple has been reconstructed many times in its history.

The present temple was constructed in 1951 at the behest of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the first home minister, and the idols were installed by India’s first president Rajendra Prasad.

   

 

The Jain Wedding Ceremony

Jainism dates to 600 B.C. Jains, having shared the subcontinent with Hindus for more than 2,500 years, have developed a strikingly similar marriage tradition.
 
THE book, Jain Vivaha Vidhi, describes Jain marital practices, but the rituals carried out vary within every Jain community. Regardless of variance in ritual, Jain marriages serve as the couple’s expression of their intent to live together for life and the community’s expression of support.

Pre-Wedding Rituals
Several days before the wedding, the matruka sthapan and kulkar sthapan are held. In the matruka sthapan, heavenly goddesses are invoked by sacred prayers and called upon to take up temporary residence in the bride’s home. This ensures the happiness and fertility of the couple. Kulkar sthapan is a similar ritual for the groom’s home: the seven gods are called upon by prayer and asked to take up temporary residence in his home. This ritual ensures the happiness, fertility and maintenance of family traditions for the couple.

Seven days after the wedding, another ceremony is held to gratefully send off the deities in both homes. In the days before the marriage, the skin of both bride and groom is regularly massaged with perfumed oil, turmeric and other substances to beautify them for the marriage. Pujas for the couple’s well being are also performed in the local temple.

Jain marriages are performed under a mandap. In the days before the wedding, this structure and a vedi (altar for the sacred fire), are made during mandapa-vedi-pratishtha. The mandap is built at the bride’s home although it is often moved to a hired hall for the marriage ceremony itself.

The Wedding Day
Similar to the Hindu traditional bharaat, Jains include a groom’s procession in the wedding festivities. Traditionally the groom would arrive on horseback, but present day processions are normally done in a car until the last hundred metres. The party then walks the rest.
As the procession comes to the marriage hall, the Jain Brahmin conducting the wedding will chant a mantra for the arriving groom. The mantra praises Lord Adinath, the originator of the arts, customs and institutions of humankind.

The bride welcomes the groom with a traditional garland. He then stands on a small stool while the bride’s mother and other ladies welcome him by waving a lamp in front of him and offering him a length of red cloth. The groom then enters the mandap, on his way stepping on two earthenware bowls placed in his path. This guards against evil spirits influencing the ceremony.

The Wedding Ceremony
Inside the mandap, two chairs are placed. The groom enters first and sits on the left-hand chair. The bride then enters, often led by her maternal uncle and sits as well. A series of prayers are then spoken asking for the protection and blessings of the gods.

After the prayers, hasta melap is performed. In this joining ceremony, the Brahmin will place a single cloth garland around the couple’s necks. Following the garlanding, the bride’s parents wash the groom’s feet, wipe them and dress them with flowers. The groom is then given sandalwood paste and other auspicious items to hold. The priest then places the bride’s hand into the groom’s. Linking the two together for life, he will say:

“Aum Arham. O Jiva you are the one with soul. May you two become partners with the same time, mind, karma, shelter, body, action, love, desire, wishes, joy, sorrow, longevity, with the same hunger and thirst. May you have similar progress; may you enjoy the same good things; words, forms, scents, touch, ashrava, bandha, sanvara, nirjara, moksha (effects of karma). May you obtain a lasting relationship and unity by way of this joining of hands.”

After hasta melap, the goddess Lakshmi is honoured in the toran pratishtha ceremony. The priest first gives rice, sandalwood and flowers to the bride’s parents saying, “AUM HRIM, SHREE, NAMO, worshipped by all, respected by all, the most important one. O Goddess, please fulfil our wishes.”

The bride’s parents then throw the mixture on the arch of the mandap, the toran. The couple’s heads are then anointed with holy water as the following prayer is spoken: “AUM ARHAM. You have now occupied these seats. You are together for a noble purpose. May you bind yourselves in an eternal bond. ARHAM AUM”

Toran pratishtha is followed by vedi pratishtha, a prayer in honour of the gods of Kshetras (directions and fields). After Vedi Pratishtha a sacred fire is lit in a small vessel on the vedi (altar). A prayer accompanies this ritual action, called agni sthapan: “AUM HTAM HRIM HROM. I bow to the sacred fire, shining like pure gold, whose big flames radiate the eternal light, energy and virtues, whose vehicle is the goat and who consumes the offerings. O fire god, come and stay in this kunda SWAHA.”

Offerings are then made to the fire God asking him to take the offerings and pass them on to the gods, the nine planets and the heavenly bodies. The offerings, placed into the fire, are ghee, betel nuts and certain grains and seeds.
Following the offerings, the couple’s heads are anointed with water in a ceremony called the first abhisheka. As he anoints the couple the priest says, “AUM ARHAM. You have now occupied these seats. You are together for a noble purpose. May you bind yourselves in an eternal bond. ARHAM AUM”

After this first abhisheka, the lineage’s of the bride and groom are announced in the gotrachar ritual. After the bride and groom state

their lineage’s, the declaration of marriage is read by the priest finishing with, “May these two be granted peace, contentment, prosperity, and wisdom. ARHAM AUM.”

The couple is then given rice, flowers, incense and mithai (sweets) and they in turn offer them to the fire god in a puja.

Gotrachar is proceeded by the four rounds; the couple circles the sacred fire four times. Prior to this, however, the bride’s brother gives them both handfuls of rice that they alternately give to the priest as they pass. The priest offers the rice into the fire. Specific mantras are spoken for each round.

Mantra for the First Round:
“AUM ARHAM. Without beginning is the world”¦is the soul”¦ is time”¦ is attachment. Anger, ego, illusion, greed are associated with the body and different Karmas. There are words, forms, liquids, smells and touches which are desirable or undesirable.

“You have joined each other in front of the Siddha, Kevali, other Gods, Fire, men and women, Rulers, People, teacher, father and mother and other relatives – so please encircle this fire.”

Mantra for the Second Round:
“AUM ARHAM. ‘Illusion Karma’ lasts for a long time. It adheres firmly and cannot be eliminated easily. Twenty-eight types of this Karma include anger, ego, deceit, and greed in different degrees and different time-spans. Other things like feelings associated with mind and body are longer lasting too.

“This love and joining together is also the fruit of your past karma; may it last as long as this world lasts. So please encircle this fire.”

Mantra for the Third Round:
“AUM ARHAM. There are karmas related to feelings of comfort and discomfort, hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling, touching – all these could be a good experience or a bad experience. May you have all good health and experience.

“Before the fourth round, kanya dan is performed. In this ritual, the father of the bride offers his daughter to the groom. The priest first gives grains of jav, tal, a small bit of grass and a drop of water to the bride’s father. He then says a mantra, stating first the date, time and place and then the following to the groom: “This bride who is arrayed in the best of clothing, best of jewellery and carrying a fragrant, beautiful garland has come to you. The bride’s father is handing over his beloved daughter to you. Please accept her.”

The grooms says, “I take thee.” The Brahmin then says, “Truly taken. Let there be peace, wealth, comfort and contentment. Let there be happiness.” The priest then recites the wedding vows and the couple accepts them. Following their acceptance, the priest directs the couple to circle the fire. At this point, the groom will say “I take thee,”to the bride and the bride’s father will give the jav, tal, grass and water mixture to the bride and groom. After receiving the mixture from his new father in law, the groom will say, “I have now taken thee.”

After kanya dan, the fire is circled for a fourth and final time.

Mantra for the Fourth Round:
“Attachment to the world is due to Mahoniya, Vedaniya, Nam, Gotra and Ayu Karma (several karma types).

“Inflow of karma actions, bondages and pleasures are inter-related. This is how your joining together is a natural and binding result of your karma.”

After the fourth round, the bride and groom change seats: the groom now on the right, and the bride to his left. The priest then says, “Lord Adinath was married by this same ritual and got happiness. May you be happy.” With this, he sprinkles vakshepa on the couple’s heads. The bride’s father then gives water and tal to the groom with the words, “Please take this.” Ritually, the groom responds with, “I have taken it. I have accepted it.” The water and tal are then taken by the priest and sprinkled on the bride. This entire tradition, from the priests words of Lord Adinath to the sprinkling of the water and tal is called vakshepa.

A second abhisheka ceremony proceeds vakshepa. The priest addresses the couple wishing them well: “O man and wife! Your marriage has taken place by the unavoidable fruit of your previous karmas. It cannot be altered. It cannot be avoided. You have gone through this because of previous karmas. May you obtain unbroken, undisturbed peace, happiness and all-around joy.

“O children! You two have been married. Now you two are equal in love, experience, happiness and good conduct. You are two friends in happiness and misery, in virtues and faults. May you become equal in mind, speech and action, and in all the good virtues.”

Following this address, the couple’s hands are released in a ceremony called kar-mochan. A mantra is spoken for this release: “AUM ARHAM. You are the life. You are bonded by Gnanavarniya, Darshnavarniya, Vedaniya, Mohaniya, Ayu, Nama, Gota, Antaray Karma (the kinds of karma). Your karmas are bound by their character of quality, quantity, peace and binding power. May you obtain moksha by way of progressing on the fourteen gunasthan (stages of spiritual ascent). ARHAM AUM.

“You have released your hands but your love is unbroken.”

With this, the hands are released and the bride’s father offers a symbolic gift to the groom.

A blessing from the priest follows kar-mochan. He says: “We congratulate you on your marriage. May the gods of heaven grant you the blessings of prosperity, joy, wisdom and love forevermore. Whatever gods we have invited, we say farewell to you and request that you return when required for a similar auspicious occasion. If we have been guilty of any faults in these rituals, please forgive us.”

With the priest’s words, the wedding is concluded. The couple are sent off by their relatives and head first for the temple and then for the bride’s home.

Doctor Natubhai Shah, Chairman of the Jain Sangha of Europe, was extremely helpful as an informational resource in the writing of this piece.

Man’s inhumanity to man

DAWN (Pakistan Newspaper)     -11th May 2004

 


Man’s inhumanity to man

 

By F.S. Aijazuddin

The Allied governments are fortunate that Lord Russell of Liverpool is not alive to document their atrocities in Iraq. Edward Russell, later Baron Russell of Liverpool, was a soldier, a military lawyer and later, combining these skills, he compiled a damning indictment of the brutality of the Axis powers – Germany and Japan – during the Second World War.

His book on the Nazi crimes against humanity was published in 1954 under the title “The Scourge of the Swastika”, followed a few years later by a companion volume on the Japanese atrocities in the East titled The Knights of the Bushido. Had Lord Russell been alive, he would found it difficult to resist completing a hat-trick with a third volume, this time on the unspeakable, indefensible behaviour of the Allied troops against their Iraqi captives.

The pictorial disclosures during the past few days in The New Yorker magazine and in Britain’s The Daily Mirror newspaper have been an assault on the senses of every decent-minded human being, whichever side of the Iraqi divide they happen to be on.

The cumulative effect of each horrific image, piled one on top of the other, like the naked Iraqi prisoners forced to create a human pyramid for their captors to surmount, has been to release a reservoir of revulsion against a war that had no cause, and brutality shown to defenceless prisoners that has no precedent, except during the days of the Nazis and their infamous concentration camps.

No Iraqi, however gullible, could have been satisfied to hear the evasive, bland, almost callous admission of responsibility by Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld during his testimony before a Congressional hearing on Capitol Hill on May 7. It was less an admission of guilt than a forewarning that the Pentagon had yet more horrific photographs and even videos up its sullied sleeve.

Only the Pentagon would know what they contain. It might be best that only the Pentagon knows. Any more images, however cathartic they may be for the psyche of the Americans or titillating for viewers, could only serve to inflame human consciences. Mankind is not wood nor stones, but men.

Never in the history of human conflict has there been a clash without pain or suffering, a wound without blood, a death without grief. What has been happening at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad though has nothing to do with human conflict.

Everything that happened to the inmates in the jail was not the result of impulsive behaviour by bored prison guards. It was deliberate, it was organized, it was orchestrated, and then systematically photographed and filmed, a soft-porn S & M video set in an Iraqi jail.

That it was done – as Secretary Rumsfeld has explained – not by US regular troops but by prison security guards hired by the Pentagon to do their dirty work has been offered as a sop to the American people. That is a specious, callous evasion.

In effect, the Pentagon is saying that it has, as it has other services during this war (profitable for profiteers), subcontracted acts of inhumanity. It has used the US taxpayer’s dollars to pay for perversion.

After 1945, the German people claimed that they knew nothing of the horrors being perpetrated in their name within the concentration camps. They never knew of the Jews arrested in their neighbourhoods.

They never heard the trains transporting them to Auschwitz and Buchenwald. They never saw the smoke from the chimneys of overworked crematoria. They never smelt the corpses left rotting for the Allied soldiers to find and bury, using bulldozers to push stacks of bodies into mass graves.

The American public will never be able to make that excuse. Every atrocity has been photographed and filmed for their benefit. Sixty years ago, in July 1944, there was a botched assassination attempt by a Col.

Count von Stauffenberg and his accomplices on the life of Hitler. The conspirators were hanged from hooks, using piano wire to prolong their agony. Their suffering was filmed by the Gestapo to show Hitler. The humiliation of the Iraqi prisoners is the modern equivalent.

It is clear that the use of subcontractors in this war has not been out of operational exigencies, nor to free fighting troops for the front. It is part of a strategy that extends from the United States to Iraq and Afghanistan, with a stopover at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, a stratagem to hoodwink the American public and keep justice blindfolded. It is the headstone of a policy to keep everything indefensible about the war out beyond the jurisdiction of the US or international courts.

The American base at Guantanamo Bay was obtained by the United States as a quid pro quo for withdrawing its forces from Cuba in 1901. The Platt Amendment, as it is known, under which the base was acquired was repealed in 1934, but for the past 70 years the United States has remained there, an unwelcome tenant. That base is now like Monaco or Liechtenstein, a legal haven, providing legal immunity to those who need it, which in this case is the United States government that can keep citizens of any country (including Pakistan) beyond the reach of any authority save its own arbitrary one.

The wars in Iraq and in Afghanistan, no matter what western leaders may maintain, are not for the rights of the Iraqi or the Afghani people. Power may well come though the barrel of a gun. Democracy does not, as every military discovers to his own cost and the cost of his hapless nation. The traumas in Iraq and Afghanistan are one-sided sallies, the unrestrainable actions a strong bully intimidating a weaker victim. They are not even media wars. They are wars fought to catch the attention of the media. The pen may on occasions be as mighty as the sword, but the mightiest weapon of all in modern warfare obviously is the tell-tale camera. Through its images, the world has become more than a distant participant; it has become a voyeur, an accomplice in man’s deliberate inhumanity to fellow man.

Time will never erase the image of a hooded Arab prisoner, arms held akimbo, like some figure of in a crucifixion, with electrodes attached to his hands in place of metal nails. Two thousand and four years ago Pontius Pilate was required to adjudicate in a case on a matter of jurisdiction. Like Rumsfeld, he washed his hands of culpability in public. US Gospel singers once sang a Negro spiritual reminding their audience of that earlier atrocity: Where were you when they crucified my Lord?

Will future generations of mankind ask of us: Where were you when they electrocuted an Iraqi?



The ghost of Vietnam comes haunting

 

By Omar Kureishi

Last week the 50th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu was commemorated in Vietnam. Dien Bien Phu marked the end of French control of Indochina, an epic battle that stirred the imagination and gave great heart to those who were still trying to shake off colonial rule.

Ho Chi Minh may have been a communist but he was also a nationalist. The Viet Minh had fought the French, not for an ideological abstraction, but for the inalienable right to be their own masters in their own homeland.

Dien Bien Phu turned out to be a false dawn for a new and stronger enemy emerged to take the place of the French and the Vietnamese people were at war once again.

It would be a savage war and would claim millions of Vietnamese lives, three to four million at a guess-estimate, and bring untold hardships to a poor peasant-people, those who were children when the war had started had become young men and women when it ended.

Vietnam has all but been forgotten, its memory is not even an embarrassment. But it is being increasingly recalled to provide an analogy as more and more people are fearing that Iraq could become “another Vietnam.”

Winning the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people was also one of the objectives and there too it was felt that this laudable objective could be speeded up by B-52 bombers dropping napalm on villages and hamlets, by using Agent Orange to clear the jungles and, of course, good, old fashioned combat which could lead to some unavoidable massacres as My Lai but it was all in a noble cause.

The South Vietnamese had to be saved from themselves, saved too from the old man who sat in Hanoi who wanted to exchange the freedom of the Vietnamese people for the slavery of communism.

There would have been much to reflect upon as the 50th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu was commemorated. On display, along with other memorabilia was some heavy American guns. They were a soft reminder that the hearts and minds of the American government at that time was with the French and not with a people who were fighting for their freedom.

In 1964, I had taken leave from PIA and in the company of a then relatively unknown Swiss photographer, Rene Burri, had gone to China. After a few weeks in China, I had gone to Japan, to see the difference between the two systems.

Socialism seemed to be working for the Chinese and capitalism for the Japanese, a point I made to Edwin Reischauser, the American ambassador to Japan. I had met him through the good offices of our own ambassador, the late Lt-Gen Khalid Shaikh.

Reischauser had made it clear that he could not spare more than half an hour. The meeting lasted much longer than that. After some polite formalities I asked him point-blank: “Why are you in Vietnam? “. I told him that I wanted Reischauser the scholar to answer the question, not the ambassador.

I didn’t want to know about the domino theory nor how the spread of communism could be halted through the use of military force. He gave me a long, rambling answer but he didn’t seem convinced himself.”

International politics has a logic of its own,” he said. I could not help feeling that he was uncomfortable with the standard line that Washington DC was putting out.

There are similarities between Vietnam and Iraq. The mistakes of Vietnam are being repeated in Iraq. I happened to be in New York when Robert S. McNamara’s book In Retrospect came out in 1995. I bought a copy of it. I read it in one go, on the long flight back. I have re-read the book. McNamara was an even more powerful secretary of defence than Donald Rumsfeld.

He was a hawk on Vietnam in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, he passionately believed that the fight against communism was worth the sacrifice of American lives, he saw it as a divine mission, some God-given right to spread the gospel of democracy.

He seemed to be at peace with his conscience even as the slaughter continued but he writes, “something changed my attitude.” He felt a need to unburden himself, to free himself.

In Retrospect is an acknowledgment of his errors and those of the administrations he served, a mea culpa, the apology that the United States did not offer officially.

“We of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations who participated in the decisions on Vietnam acted according to what we thought were the principles and traditions of this nation.

We made our decisions in the light of those values. Yet we were wrong, terribly wrong. We owe it to future generations to explain why,” he writes in the preface of the book. He quotes the ancient Greek dramatist Aeschylus: “The reward of suffering is experience.”

The reward of suffering may be experience but what good is experience if it is erased by a new set of circumstances or what appear to be a new set of circumstances? Though there is still the same divine mission, the same God-given right to spread democracy, the same theology of good guys and bad guys.

I watched Donald Rumsfeld’s appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee on television. The bluster was not there and he seemed suitably contrite which is different to being actually contrite.

Since the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prisoners took place on his watch, he accepted the responsibility but it was a vague, distant, a token acceptance like the chairman of Japan Airlines taking the responsibility for the crash of one of its aircraft.

The thought crossed my mind whether Donald Rumsfeld too would write a book like Robert McNamara did and admit that “We were wrong, terribly wrong.” It also struck me why the Iraqi prisoners had not been declared “illegal combatants” that unique condition that sends prisoners into a legal limbo, beyond the reach of any law. There would not then be any photographs and videos and other sundry evidence of acts of cruelty beyond the call of patriotic duty.

 

What it takes to be a world power

March 12, 2004

What it takes to be a world power  

By Yashwant Sinha  

Prosperity and economic clout rather than war and aggression will be the key determinants of status in the world community.  

THE TERM `Great Power’ or `Major Power’ should be seen in a modern 21st century setting and not in its historical context. India does not subscribe to the conventional idea of power. India approaches the notion of power with an alternative vision.  

India’s power capabilities are a guarantee of the freedom and security of its people who constitute one sixth of humanity. For us, power is a means of advancing the welfare of our people and a tool for preserving and consolidating the autonomy of our foreign and domestic policy. Moreover, as befits India’s history and the traditions of its post-independence foreign policy, our pursuit of power is firmly anchored in an international mission aimed at eliminating the scourge of war, protecting international law, strengthening the U.N. and striving for a new deal for developing countries whose people constitute the large majority of the world.  

India’s recent achievements in terms of hard power are many. They include the development of a nuclear deterrent; military modernisation; rapid economic growth with a rate expected to reach over 8 per cent this year; transition from a food deficit, aid receiving nation with limited foreign exchange reserves to a food exporter and aid giving nation with the sixth largest foreign exchange reserves in the world; major advances in areas of high technology and global recognition of India’s huge reservoir of young and world class human resources.  

Traditionally, military might has been considered the most important of the various ingredients of power. However, the use of force in naked pursuit of national interests is no longer a viable objective for moral as well as pragmatic reasons. Power in the 21st century will flow from a well-run economy. Prosperity and economic clout rather than war and aggression will be the key determinants of status in the world community.  

It has been argued by some that India’s decision to develop nuclear weapons was purely a political act aimed at enhancing its status in the world by breaking into the exclusive nuclear club. This is a fallacy. In a world where weapons of mass destruction are still to be eliminated, nuclear weapons sadly remain the ultimate guarantor of a nation’s security. It was the imposition of an imperfect non-proliferation order, evidence of which is all around us, that compelled us to make the transition from nuclear abstinence to that of a reluctant nuclear power. India is a mature nuclear power, which takes the responsibility of possessing this awesome capability very seriously.  

To turn to soft power, India’s influence has spread far and wide since ancient times on the strength of our culture, religion and philosophy. As the land of Gandhi and as a nation that won its independence through a struggle unique in the annals of history, India has an international image that few others can claim. Similarly, our leadership of the Non-Aligned Movement, our contribution to virtually every major activity of the United Nations, including over 36 peace-keeping operations involving around 67,000 troops, and our consistent espousal of the cause of developing countries is well recognised by the international community.  

India’s track record as a democracy; the success we have achieved in welding together an extraordinarily large and diverse society into a nation, our fiercely independent judiciary and vibrant press also stand out in any international comparison. Moreover, yoga and Indian food, music, cinema, fashion, dance, writing, etc. are all riding the high tide of globalisation and winning new friends for India in far corners of the world. The success of our IITs and IT industry has spawned a novel stereotype of an Indian as a workaholic computer whiz kid. Ambitious forays into foreign lands by our trade and industry are also resulting in the slow but steady emergence of `Brand India.’  

Three important aspects deserve further elaboration. Firstly, India is a unique model of democracy plus economic growth in the developing world. The success of Indian democracy is important not only for its intrinsic worth but also because economic progress built on the foundation of popular participation and rule of law is likely to be much more sustainable. Moreover, as India’s developmental efforts take deeper root and we succeed in taking education, health and infrastructure to our rural areas, we will add significant new numbers to our scientific and technical workforce and that in turn will impart further momentum to economic growth. More than any other factor, it is India’s silent revolution in the field of rural development and women’s empowerment, which will catapult India to world status.  

Secondly, India’s self-perception has shifted from that of a weak developing country to that of a great power in the making. This constitutes a huge mental leap for India. Thirdly, India’s foreign policy has never been as complete and comprehensive as it is today. Throughout the Cold War, we were estranged from the West in general and the U.S. in particular. Today, we enjoy a very good relationship with not only the United States but also all major Western powers. And, this has not been at the cost of our traditional friendship and strategic partnership with Russia or any other country, including our developing country partners of Africa, Latin America and Asia. Further, we are now even thinking the unthinkable. Differences with China and Pakistan, which have festered for decades, are being addressed in a straightforward and pragmatic manner as never before. There is a new dynamic in South Asia with the signing of the SAFTA. SAARC is exploring how progress can be made towards an economic union, including a common currency. And, work has already commenced on transport and energy corridors that will criss-cross Asia with India as its hub.  

In any discussion on a country like India emerging as a major power, it is but legitimate that we ask the question ”” can India afford this? It is my firm view that the Holy Grail cannot be India’s unless and until we address our domestic economic and social issues. These problems are a drag on our ambitions and must be conquered through determined national effort.  

However, pursuit of power in the international community and the need to address pressing tasks at home are not exclusive of each other. Our efforts in the international and domestic fields complement and supplement each other, especially so in a globalised world. The speed with which we address our domestic challenges will add to our influence in the international community and vice versa, the more we emerge as a power in the world, the more we will be able to contribute to the strengthening of our economy.  

Further, unity and social harmony within the country is a sine qua non for India’s progress in the international arena. India’s biggest strength is its secular and multi-cultural ethos. The fact that India’s Muslim population is the second largest in the world and that its Christian minorities outnumber the entire population of many European countries is a badge of honour for us. To damage our heritage of tolerance and pluralism or to waver in upholding these principles is the biggest setback that can occur to our great power ambitions.  

While India has sought to change existing power equations in the global order, it has essentially been a status quo power that does not seek to upset the existing order through violent means. India does not resort to export of terrorism or proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Of all the members of the Al-Qaeda arrested so far, not one has been from India. We are not part of the NPT. But we believe in and uphold the broader non-proliferation goals of the treaty. We do not seek to snatch territory from others or re-write the history of our sub-continent. We criticise the developed world for its unfair economic policies. At the same time, we seek to engage the North in dialogue and to appeal to their reason and wisdom. India has repeatedly drawn attention to the undemocratic character of the permanent membership of the U.N. But that has not prevented us from working with the Security Council and its members in advancing the goals of the U.N.  

There is no doubt that the road ahead is long and arduous. Like all matters of international politics, the rise of India will depend not just on India’s actions but also on how the rest of the world responds to this development and the objective circumstances of the coming decades. Nevertheless, India has started a confident march in the right direction and we are determined to succeed in reaching our goal.  

As a major power, the values that India will seek to spread in the world and the goals that we will strive to achieve will be the same values and goals that infuse our national and civilisational experience. India will always stand for democracy within and amongst countries. It will act as a pro-active agent of peace. India will continue to strive for international equity and justice. It will be a champion of the free movement of goods, services and persons across national frontiers. Finally, by combining democracy with economic growth and by successfully managing its pluralist society through an open, transparent and participative process, India is already setting an example for the rest of the world.  

(Adapted from an address delivered in New Delhi on March 12, 2004.)  

   

Mother India

How could it not, for to quote Mark Twain,

“India is,
the cradle of the human race,
the birthplace of human speech,
the mother of history,
the grandmother of legend,
and the great grand mother of tradition.
Our most valuable and most instructive materials
in the history of man
are treasured up in India.”
 
 
“Mother India has marked us deeply and only for the better – for all time.”
 
By  

‘Mother India Has Marked Us Deeply …’
Statement by the US Ambassador announcing his decision to return back to the USA.
ROBERT D. BLACKWILL

Moksha myth

Op-ed ”“ Pioneer (Indian Newspaper)

   

http://www.dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=OPED&file_name=opd4%2Etxt&counter_img=4

                                           Moksha myth

AP Malhotra    
In our scriptures, there is a proposition outlining the parametres of a person’s conduct as he ages. One is expected to gradually dissociate oneself from the miasma of human life and move towards renunciation. To progressively withdraw from activities that bind the soul to things material and carnal, and focus on life’s spiritual aspects. To manoeuvre the bodily vehicle on this path and aspire to achieve the ultimate destination, where the soul is perceived to attain final liberation from an unending cycle – what is called Moksha.    

     
That withdrawal will lift the fear of death, which pervades the human psyche as an all-encompassing apparition throughout life, and prepare him for the inevitable union with the superior force must have been the essential idea behind this thought. But is this the way it works? My own experience is that it cannot.    
     
After what would undoubtedly entail monumental will power, a person may eventually manage to evade the worries on account of carnal and material desires, but the renunciation of relationships seems out of the realm of an individual’s power. As the old adage goes, if children are an investment, then their children are the interest element, and the interest is better than the actual.    
     
I am seeing this unfold in the life of my parents. Uprooted like millions of others with Partition, they managed to do well, more so in terms of securing good education in their separate lives before marriage. History burdened my father with liabilities, which truncated the dividends fate had charted for him, despite his impeccable nature. But he rose to the occasion, sacrificing the sheen of his future for the sake of familial lustre.    
     
These, my mother took as her own after matrimony and together they displayed immense fortitude. When it was time for self-gratification, they were busy rearing their sons, foregoing personal comforts, to ensure for them the best education of those times, to put them on a steady wicket from where the only limitation to the extent of their leap will be their own destiny. After settling them into matrimony, one might think that life would slow down a little.    
     
Being blessed with three grandchildren, in the range of eight to 13 years, I find them comprehensively engaged in their lives as well; the attachment is now stronger than ever. While still maintaining an austere lifestyle for themselves, they demonstrate a high degree of panache while shopping for their grandchildren, be it clothes, which are occasion specific, be it toys or generally pampering them. They exult in their success and comfort them in despair, making their small issues look as if they are the most important things in the universe, although when viewed in isolation they will be deemed trivial. A deep rooted sense of satisfaction is visible in their misty eyes, as they see their grandchildren flower into good human beings.    
     
I see no renunciation in them, at least in terms of love for their children. I only discern a re-dedication for the family; a willingness to do a second innings for their sake, a prayer for their prosperity. They move on tirelessly, defying age and its manifestations, oblivious to what they have already achieved in what has truly been a remarkable life.