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Bad Manna - part 1

Forget Kissinger, India should use Arthashastra for world dominationby

Forget Kissinger, India should use Arthashastra for world dominationby Rajeev Srinivasan  Dec 2, 2014 07:21 IST

#Arthashastra   #Chanakya   #China   #Henry Kissinger   #Indian Economy   #InMyOpinion   #Mao Tse Tung   #US   #Vladimir Lenin   #World economy   #World GDP  

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There has been no end of self-congratulation by well-meaning Indians over the fact that grey eminence Henry Kissinger talked about Chanakya in his latest book. Sadly, this shows how we still need some white guy to validate us.
I, on the other hand, feel a little queasy, because I have been dreading the day the West discovers the Arthashastra. Because I have been hoping that it was our little secret, which we could use to, well, become number 1: more on that shortly. And because it means the gems of Indian thought have been accessed by the West, while their fifth columnists in India itself ensured that Sanskrit is destroyed in its birthplace.
That last, of course, is behind the godawful ruckus made by the usual suspects over the MHRD’s recent decision to restore Sanskrit to the Kendriya Vidyalaya curriculum. The venom with which these people attacked Sanskrit was a wonder to behold: and the word that leaped to mind was “crusade”. In action is the same cabal of leftists/religious fanatics who have conspired to denigrate Indian culture and civilization throughout the Nehruvian era.
The fact, though, is that despite the fact that Sanskrit is the liturgical language of Hindus (which is the primary reason the usual suspects are trying to kill it off), the body of non-religious writing in Sanskrit is enormous. In fact, it is likely that secular Sanskrit literature is greater in volume than that in any other classical literature, quite possibly as big as Greek and Latin put together.
Macaulay’s demeaning claim that all of classical Sanskrit literature had less value than a schoolboy’s shelf in Victorian Britain was pure self-deluding nonsense. If you take Sanskrit alone, and certainly if you take the manipravalam literatures (where there are words from another language – say Tamil or Malayalam – intermixed in), the amount of pure information is immense. That is the reason a number of schools and universities in the West have begun to teach Sanskrit (no, not love of India, sorry to disappoint).

Representational image

Of all these diamonds in our backyard -- for instance, Aryabhatiya in astronomy, Ashtadhyayi in linguistics, Mudrarakshasa in drama – quite likely the most sober, ruthless and practical is Chanakya’s Arthashastra. An exhaustive account of statecraft, this is astonishingly up to date even if you read it today, some 2500 years later. It stands to reason because human nature hasn’t changed much in a couple of millennia, apparently: people like power, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. As a practical manual of how to run a nation, the text is incomparable.
In fact, it also contradicts the occasionally-stated axiom (usually in hushed tones, as though it were a deep and important discovery) that the nation-state is a European concept, and that India is a civilization-state. Yes, it is true that there is a civilizational unity that holds all of India together, and it has been so since even before Chanakya’s time; yet, the day-to-day concerns of kings were exactly the same as elsewhere: the social contract with the public, and the strategic intent of empire-building.
In business literature, there are innumerable references to two strategists: Sun Tzu of China and his The Art of War, and von Clausewitz of Germany, and his On War. Sun Tzu is credited with having been the spiritual leader of China’s renaissance, and in particular the rise of military power.
An interesting thing about Sun Tzu is that much of his work is ambiguous and elliptical, so that you can see in it what you want to see. Nevertheless, it has been cited as a major influence by China’s Mao Tse Tung (especially his guerilla tactics), Japan’s influential shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu (who held the West at bay) and Admiral Tojo (who defeated the Russians in the Yellow Sea in 1905), and Vietnam’s General Giap (who defeated the French at Dienbienphu in 1954).
Similarly, von Clausewitz is cited as an influence on the West, although his main claim to fame is a misquote: “War is the continuation of politics by other means” (he actually said “War is a continuation of policy with other means” which is less Machiavellian, and less colorful). Prussian generals, and later the Soviet Union’s Vladimir Lenin, as well as China’s Mao Tse Tung, were fans of his theories, including those about ‘total war’. Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince was also a major influence on the way Western strategy has evolved.
And all these thinkers have been influential in the way business strategy has developed for example by Michael Porter at Harvard, who focused on competition, and later by CK Prahalad at the Michigan and David Teece at Berkeley, who focused on core competence.
In contrast, Chanakya has remained largely unknown in the West, and I have been happy that this is so, because the Arthashastra is simply superlative. I was astonished at the brutally honest realpolitik he espoused. For instance, Chanakya states categorically that your neighbor is going to be your enemy, sooner or later. This stands to reason, because there is ample opportunity for petty jealousies and animosities to fester. Just look at China itself: it has problems with its entire neighborhood.
And Chanakya may have anticipated Anatol Rapaport’s winning tit-for-tat strategy in the repeated Prisoner’s Dilemma game that diplomacy is basically all about.
Another Chanakyan gem is that if you are a minor but ambitious king you should engage with the Far Emperor, anticipating the day when you will need powerful, distant friends who have no immediate stake in disputes between you and your neighbor. You need to convince the Far Emperor that it’s better for him to ally with you, generally to the detriment of the neighbor.
That simple tactic is the essence of China’s munificence to many a (nasty) regime that is ostracized by the West for some reason or the other. China presents itself as the preferred Far Emperor, who will give them goodies like heavy weapons and diplomatic cover at the UN, rather than the other Far Emperor, the US, which will scold them.
That is precisely what India should do too: make itself the (benign) Far Emperor to various distant States biding the time they become more important. No, I don’t know which these States are. That’s why we have all these clever people in the Ministry of External Affairs.
Incidentally, the iron fist in China’s velvet glove is beginning to irritate some of its erstwhile clients, Exhibit A: Myanmar. This is an opportunity for India. Of course, this presupposes a strong military and a fair amount of money: without these, India cannot be an Emperor, far or otherwise.
To be honest, today India cannot compete with the de facto G2: US and China. But that’s no reason why we cannot aspire to create a G3 by 2020: US, China and India as three poles in a multi-polar world, more or less balancing each other out. As CK Prahalad notes, it’s not where you are now, but where you can be if you work towards a clear plan. This would be the very antithesis of non-alignment: you compete to get others to align themselves with you..

Delhiites breathing highly polluted air

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

inShare3

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  The Hindu India is the third largest polluted country in the world and its rapidly growing vehicle number is one of the known culprits of air pollution.
  
  
  Air pollution level four times higher than the permissible limit
  
  
  Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu on Friday got a first-hand report of just how poor Delhi’s air quality is — his court room reported air pollution level that was four times higher than the permissible limit.
  
  The air quality inside the Chief Justice’s court was determined using a handy air quality-measuring instrument by former Solicitor General Harish Salve. It was found that the particulate matter (PM) 2.5 – the worst among air pollutants, which gets embedded deep inside the lungs – was at 250 micro gram per cubic meter as against the permissible 60 micro gram per cubic metre.
  
  “The Supreme Court is located in Central Delhi, which is one of the greenest parts of the city, and even here the pollution level was found to be so high. This only highlights the vulnerability of the 17 million population of Delhi, who is in the midst of a major health emergency. Senior advocate Mr. Salve was appearing as amicus curiae in a PIL on maintaining air quality in Delhi and the instrument and manpower was provided by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE),’’ said CSE, associate director research and advocacy Anumita Roychoudhary.
  
  She added that air pollutions level across the Capital, including PM 2.5, PM 10 and nitrogen oxide were recorded four times the permissible limit. “Since October the PM 2.5 levels have remained significantly elevated and during smog episodes the levels have gone as high as three to four times the standards,’’ she added.
  
  While the World Health Organisation had earlier warned about Delhi’s air quality being very poor, health experts in the city has warned that PM 2.5 is an extremely fine particle (of less than 2.5 micro metre in diameter) that is linked with increased rates of chronic bronchitis, lung cancer and heart disease as they penetrate deep into the lungs and can pass into the bloodstream.
  
  “It is an undisputed fact that air pollution in Delhi is getting worse with each passing day,” said Ms. Roychoudhary. Doctors in the city, too, admit that air pollution has become a ‘health hazard’ and advised early morning walkers, children and those with health woes to be cautious.
  
  Delhi Medical Council member Dr. Anil Bansal said: “Breathing-related health issues, health woes among asthma, heart and blood pressure patients and infections are on the rise. The cool weather conditions and lack of wind have caused a spike in air pollution leaving the city gasping for clean fresh air.’’
  
  India is the third largest polluted country in the world and its rapidly growing vehicle number is one of the known culprits of air pollution.

Muslim prayers banned in govt buildings, schools in Xinjiang

Muslim prayers banned in govt buildings, schools in Xinjiang

Dec 1, 2014, 09.45PM IST TNN[ Saibal Dasgupta ]



Religious activities will now be restricted only to take place in registered venues like mosques. (Getty Images)


BEIJING: The restive Xinjiang region in western China has banned prayer meetings and other religious practices in government buildings, schools and business offices. It has also imposed steep fines on the use of mobile phones and Internet to disseminate messages that 'undermine national unity'.

Religious activities will now be restricted only to take place in registered venues like mosques. The new rules also disallow people from wearing or forcing others to wear clothes or logos associated with religious extremism.

But it was not clear what types of clothes and logos are being targeted.

The government's orders will affect Muslim employees, many of whom are known to conduct at least two of the day's five prayers in quite areas of office buildings during a work day, informed sources said. Many Muslims are also known to use mobile phones and computers to study or practice religion hymns, which are embedded in alarm clock and other software.

"An increasing number of problems involving religious affairs have emerged in Xinjiang," Ma Mingcheng, deputy director of the Xinjiang People's Congress and director of its legislative affairs committee, told the local media.

Chinese officials have earlier said that Xinjiang has seen a sharp growth in religious fundamentalism, which may be affecting young minds and turning some of them towards terrorism. The region, which borders Pakistan, is a hotbed of a violent separatist movement run by the East Turkmenistan Islamic Movement.

The new rules, which come into effect January 1, also prohibit people from distributing and viewing videos about jihad, or holy war, religious extremism and terrorism in or outside religious venues, and requires religious leaders to report such activities to the local authorities and police.

The region's local parliament passed a law on Friday stipulating penalties of between 5,000 and 30,000 yuan ($4,884) for individuals who use the Internet, mobile phones or digital publishing to undermine national unity, social stability or incite ethnic hatred.

The last major case of violence took place Shache county near the Pakistan border on Friday when 15 people were killed. Four were killed in knife attacks by the ultras, and 11 "mobsters" were killed by the police.

Last March, knife-wielding militants from Xinjiang killed 31 people and injured 141 at the Kunming railway station in southwest Yunnan province.

Barak Obama's visit to India

Barak Obama's visit to India twice during his tenure as President, a pledge to support India for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council and to sell high tech weaponry to India which is otherwie sold to only its closest ally is a clear indication of the US getting comfortable with India's rise as a global power.








Barak Obama's visit to India twice during his tenure as President, a pledge to support India for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council and to sell high tech weaponry to India which is otherwie sold to only its closest ally is a clear indication of the US getting comfortable with India's rise as a global power.

Israel and America have surged ahead of Russia as India's top choice of weapons exporters after a series of delays and mid-way cost escalation of signed military contracts with Russia. This is a lesson learnt by Russia the hard way by loosing billions of dollars to rival countries at a time when it deserately needs the funds to oil its military industrial base. Recent world sanctions led by the US has not only isolated Russia but has also pushed it closer to communist China.


Russian weapons for Pakistan ::
Since orders dried up from India, Russia was actively seeking new export markets for its military helicopters, fighter jets and tanks. Pakistan took advantage of the drift between India and Russia and requested for the purchase of Mi-35 military attack helicopters from Kremlin. The request was immediately approved by Moscow and the deal was signed after lifting an informal arms embargo.

India on the other hand had rejected the Russian attack helicopter which was on offer and instead opted for the state-of-the-art American made Apache Gunships which are much more stealthier and pack a deadly punch. It is also purchasing 15 Chinooks heavy lift transport helicopters. The helicopter deal alone is valued at $2.4 billion. Russia has literally lost an important source of revenue by aligning with India's arch rivals China and Pakistan.

Moscow still supplies 75% of India's defence equipment, followed by the US at 7% and Israel at 5%. It also provides India technical assistance with some of its more classified strategic programmes, such as its nuclear-powered attack submarines.


Strategic alignment of India and the U.S. ::
The U.S. had viewed India as an adversary for much of the Cold War era but in the past few years, America has been increasingly accommodating India in every sphere, may it be diplomatic or military. China's aggreive approach to territorial claims has sent alarm bells ringing in Washington which is desperately seeking for a new ally in Asia to counter the ever-growing China threat. The U.S. realised that India is the only country that can fill the void and it started making policy changes to get India on-board and create a new democratic world order.

It all began with the 123 Nuclear Agreement which allowed India to purchase Nuclear Fuel for its Atomic Power Plants without signing the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty). This brought the U.S. and India closer and laid the foundation for further military co-operation. In the past decade the US sold hi-tech weapons to India to the tune of $10 billion from almost nothing. The year 2014-15 will see the two countries move on from a buyer-seller relationship to co-designers and co-manufactures of weapon systems.

Co-production deals for advance weapons systems will promote closer integration of the US and Indian militaries as part of a broader goal of military, strategic, economic and diplomatic co-operation. It will also harness India's potential as a low-cost manufacturing hub and generate wealth for both the countries.

Both countries have an extremely vibrant space programme and 2015 will see them merging resources and assets for joint space exploration. NASA and ISRO have already confirmed on joint space projects in the coming months.

With a new extremely vocal and nationalistic government installed in New Delhi, the relationship between the oldest and the largest democracies is set to get stronger and bolder in the coming years. Prime Minister Modi has declared "modernisation" of India's armed forces as priority no. 1 and he is also eager to take advantage of the US offer of co-production and technology transfer deals which is logically the fastest way to catch up with China's growing military prowess.


The End of Non-Aligned Movement ::
India is slowly and steadily aligning with countries like the US, Israel, Japan, Australia, the U.K. and Vietnam all which have a problem with an unpredictable China. The notion of Non-Aligned Movement in Delhi's power corridors is fast fading and a new world order is coming into force.


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Article written by Darshil R Patel exclusively for Defence News.
Bsc. in CASFX (U.K.)
Email address: info@DefenceNews.in

Aurangzeb, as he was according to Mughal Records

Aurangzeb, as he was according to Mughal Records


This exhibition mounted by FACT - India contains, and is based on Firmans, original edicts in Persian issued by Aurangzeb, preserved at the Bikaner Museum, Rajasthan, India
































Aurangzeb


Aurangzeb, Emperor Shah Jahan's sixth son, was born on 24th October 1618 at Dohad in Madhya Pradesh, and wrested India's crown from his father before the end of June 1658, after defeating his brother Prince Dara Shukoh's armies, first at Dharmat near Ujjain (15th April 1568) and the second, led by Dara himself, at Samugarh on 29th May 1658. The War of Succession to the richest throne in the world was practically over with this victory, and Aurangzeb secured his position by making Murad, his brother and accomplice in his impetuous pursuit for power, his prisoner, by treachery, on 25th June. He had already made his old father Emperor Shah Jahan a prisoner in the Agra Fort (8th June 1658).

Shah Jahan survived his confinement by nearly eight years and the disgraceful manner of his burial (Exhibit No. 5) will ever remain a stigma on this unscrupulous son Aurangzeb's advent to the throne in his father's life time was not welcomed by the people of India, because of the treacherous manner it was achieved; but public opinion became all the more hostile towards him when Prince Dara Shukoh, the favourite son of Shah Jahan, the translator of the Upanishads (Exhibit No. 2), and a truly liberal and enlightened Musalman, was taken prisoner on the Indian border, as he was going to Persia. Dara was paraded in a most undignified manner on the streets of Delhi on 29th August 1659. The French Doctor, Bernier, was an eye-witness to the scene and was deeply moved by the popular sympathy for Dara (Exhibit No. 3) which so much alarmed Aurangzeb that he contrived to have a decree from his Clerics announcing death-sentence for his elder brother on the charge of apostasy (Exhibit No. 4).

Throughout the War of Succession, Aurangzeb had maintained that he was not interested in acquiring the throne and that his only object was to ward off the threat to Islam, which was inevitable in case Dara Shukoh came to power. Many, including his brother Murad, were deceived by this posture. After his formal accession in Delhi (5th June 1659) he posed as a defender of Islam who would rule according to the directions of the Shariat, and with the advice of the Clerics or Ulama for whom the doctrines, rules, principles and directives, as laid down and interpreted in the 7th and 8th century Arabia, Persia and Iraq, were inviolable and unchangeable in all conditions, in all countries, and for all times to come.

One of the main objectives of Aurangzeb's policy was to demolish Hindu temples. When he ordered (13th October 1666) removal of the carved railing, which Prince Dara Shukoh had presented to Keshava Rai temple at Mathura, he had observed 'In the religion of the Musalmans it is improper even to look at a temple', and that it was totally unbecoming of a Muslim to act like Dara Shukoh (Exhibit No. 6, Akhbarat, 13th October 1666). This was followed by destruction of the famous Kalka temple in Delhi (Exhibit No. 6, 7, 8, Akhbarat, 3rd and 12th September 1667).

In 1669, shortly after the death of Mirza Raja Jai Singh of Amber, a general order was issued (9th April 1669) for the demolition of temples and established schools of the Hindus throughout the empire and banning public worship (Exhibit Nos. 9 & 10). Soon after this the great temple of Keshava Rai was destroyed (Jan.-Feb. 1670) (Exhibit No. 12) and in its place a lofty mosque was erected. The idols, the author of Maasir-i-Alamgiri informs, were carried to Agra and buried under the steps of the mosque built by Begum Sahiba in order to be continually trodden upon, and the name of Mathura was changed to Islamabad. The painting (Exhibit No. 13) is thus no fancy imagination of the artist but depicts what actually took place.

This was followed by Aurangzeb's order to demolish the highly venerated temple of Vishwanath at Banaras (Persian text, Exhibit No. 11), Keshava Rai temple (Jan.-Feb. 1670) (Persian Text, exhibit No. 12 and Painting, Exhibit No. 13), and of Somanatha (Exhibit No. 14).To save the idol of Shri Nathji from being desecrated, the Gosain carried it to Rajputana, where Maharana Raj Singh received it formally at Sihad village, assuring the priest that Aurangzeb would have to trample over the bodies of one lakh of his brave Rajputs, before he could even touch the idol (Exhibit No. 15)

Aurangzeb's zeal for temple destruction became much more intense during war conditions. The opportunity to earn religious merit by demolishing hundreds of temples soon came to him in 1679 when, after the death of Maharaja Jaswant Singh of Jodhpur in the Kabul Subah, he tried to eliminate the Rathors of Marwar as a political power in Rajputana. But Maharana Raj Singh of Mewar, in line with the great traditions of his House, came out in open support of the Rathors.. This led to war with both Mewar and Marwar during which the temples built on the bank of Rana's lake were destroyed by his orders (Exhibit No. 23, Akhbarat 23rd December 1679) and also about three hundred other temples in the environs of Udaipur. (Exhibit No. 25, Text), including the famous Jagannath Rai temple built at a great cost in front of the Maharana's palace which was bravely defended by a handful of Rajputs (Exhibit Nos. 20, 21).

Not only this, when Aurangzeb visited Chittor to have a view of the famous fort, he ordered the demolition of 63 temples there which included some of the finest temples of Kumbha's time (Exhibit No. 22). From Marwar (in Western Rajasthan) alone were brought several cart-loads of idols which, as per Aurangzeb's orders, were cast in the yard of the Court and under the steps of Jama Masjid (Exhibit No. 19). Such uncivilized and arrogant conduct of the Mughal Emperor alienated Hindus for ever, though they continued to be tolerant towards his creed.

In June 1681, orders, in a laconic two-liner, were given for the demolition of the highly venerated Jagannath Temple in Orissa (Exhibit No. 24, Akhbarat, 1st June 1681). Shortly afterwards, in September 1682, the famous Bindu-Madhav temple in Banaras was also demolished as per the Emperor's orders (Exhibit No. 27, Akhbarat, Julus 26, Ramzan 20). On 1st September 1681, while proceeding to the Deccan, where his rebel son Prince Akbar, escorted by Durga Das Rathore, had joined Chhatrapati Shivaji's son, Shambhaji, thus creating a serious problem for him, Aurangzeb ordered that all the temples on the way should be destroyed. It was a comprehensive order not distinguishing between old and newly built temples (Exhibit No. 26, Akhbarat, Julus 25, Ramzan 18). But in the district of Burhanpur, where there were a large number of temples with their doors closed, he preferred to keep them as such, as the Muslims were too few in number in the district. (Exhibit No. 28, Akhbarat 13th October 1681). In his religious frenzy, even temples of the loyal and friendly Amber state were not spared, such as the famous temple of Jagdish at Goner near Amber (Exhibit Nos. 30, Akhbarat, 28th March and 14th May 1680). In fact, his misguided ardour for temple destruction did not abate almost up to the end of his life, for as late as 1st January 1705 we find him ordering that the temple of Pandharpur be demolished and the butchers of the camp be sent to slaughter cows in the temple precincts (Akhbarat 49-7).

The number of such ruthless acts of Aurangzeb make a long list but here only a few have been mentioned, supported by evidence, mostly contemporary official records of Aurangzeb's period and by such credible Persian sources as Maasir-i-Alamgiri.

In obedience to the Quranic injunction, he reimposed Jizyah on the Hindus on 2nd April 1679 (Exhibit No. 16), which had been abolished by Emperor Akbar in 1564, causing widespread anger and resentment among the Hindus of the country. A massive peaceful demonstration against this tax in Delhi, was ruthlessly crushed. This hated tax involved heavy economic burden on the vast number of the poor Hindus and caused humiliation to each and every Hindu (Exhibit No. 18). In the same vein, were his discriminatory measures against Hindus in the form of exemption of the Muslims from the taxes (Exhibit No. 31, Akhbarat 16th April 1667) ban on atishbazi and restriction on Diwali (Exhibit No. 32), replacement of Hindu officials by Muslims so that the Emperor's prayers for the welfare of Muslims and glory of Islam, which were proving ineffective, be answered (Exhibit Nos. 33, 34). He also imposed a ban on ziyarat and gathering of the Hindus at religious shrines, such as of Shitla Mata and folk Gods like Pir Pabu (Exhibit No. 35, Akhbarat 16th September 1667), another ban on their travelling in Palkis, or riding elephants and Arab-Iraqi horses, as Hindus should not carry themselves with the same dignity as the Muslims! (Exhibit No. 36). In the same vein came brazen attempts to convert Hindus by inducement, coercion (Exhibit No. 41) or by offering Qanungoship (Exhibit No. 44, 45, 46) and to honour the converts in the open Court. His personal directions were that a Hindu male be given Rs.4 and a Hindu female Rs.2 on conversion (Exhibit No. 43, Akhbarat 7th April 1685). “Go on giving them”, Aurangzeb had ordered when it was reported to him that the Faujdar of Bithur, Shaikh Abdul Momin, had converted 150 Hindus and had given them naqd (cash) and saropas (dresses of honour) (Exhibit No. 40, Akhbarat, 11th April 1667). Such display of Islamic orthodoxy by the State under Aurangzeb gave strength and purpose to the resistance movements such as of the Marathas, the Jats, the Bundelas and the Sikhs (Exhibit No. 46).

On the 12th May 1666, the dignity with which Shivaji carried himself in the Mughal court and defied the Emperor's authority, won him spontaneous admiration of the masses. Parkaldas, an official of Amber (Jaipur State) wrote in his letter dated 29th May 1666, to his Diwan. “Now that after coming to the Emperor's presence Shivaji has shown such audacity and returned harsh and strong replies, the public extols him for his bravery all the more …” (Exhibit No. 37). When Shivaji passed away on April 1680 at the age of 53 only, he had already carved a sufficiently large kingdom, his Swarajya, both along the western coast and some important areas in the east as well.

Aurangzeb could never pardon himself for his Intelligence in letting him escape from his well laid trap and wrote in his Will (Exhibit No. 48) that it made him 'to labour hard (against the Marathas) to the end of my life (as a result of it)”. He did not realize that it was his own doing: the extremely cruel manner 'even for those times - in which he put to death Shivaji' son, Shambhaji (Exhibit No. 38) made the Maratha king a martyr in the eyes of the masses and with that commenced the People' War in Maharashtra and the Deccan which dug the grave of the Mughal empire.

Till the very end Aurangzeb never understood that the main pillars of the government are the affection and support of the people and not mere compliance of the religious directives originating from a foreign land in the seventh-eighth centuries.

His death after a long and ruinous reign lasting half a century, ended an eventful epoch in the history of India. He left behind a crumbling empire, a corrupt and inefficient administration, a demoralized army, a discredited government facing public bankruptcy and alienated subjects.

MOTHER OF INDIAN THOUGHT IS SANSKRIT WHILE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO EXPRESS THAT THOUGHT IS THE DUTY OF THE REGIONAL LANGUAGE.

• MOTHER OF INDIAN THOUGHT IS SANSKRIT WHILE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO EXPRESS THAT THOUGHT IS THE DUTY OF THE REGIONAL LANGUAGE. THE ECOLOGY OF EDUCATION : As an ecosystem is interconnected and reacts inside a closed system with each other in good or bad, so also the ecosystem of education. The thought "What will other say if I don't speak English" should be replaced by the thought," what will other think if I don't speak in my mother tongue and Sanskrit my Bharat's ancient heritage that has permeated each and every thought process for which I just use my mother tongue as a transporter transporting a message instead of goods. So, our SMRITI IRANI should replace western language by direct aid in billions from their country by Indian language so has a Indian language based ecosystem emerges and the Head of companies will automatically recruit more and more people with solid mastery of technology through their mother tongue. If JAPAN and CHINA can do marvels in engineering even beating Europeans example in manufacturing fastest train , why can't our scientifically solid Sanskrit or our mother tongue with which we are so familiar, can not enable us to learn technology ? Besides, people like me are in millions who regret of having been brainwashed in English and French neglecting a scientific and technological thought through regional language and Sanskrit for studying ancient Vedic texts. Who will not love to read texts directly Sanskrit, sadly they have been deprived of this possibility by the conditions that prevailed when they were students. So, my thought is born out of the collective womb of Sanskrit as my mother tongue is born out of the collective will to communicate efficiently, in a crystal clear , limpid, fluid way with my fellow man. So, if Sanskrit is a national consciousness or the MOTHER OF INDIAN THOUTHT of Bharat (all great Tamil literature had been impacted by MAHABARATA and RAMAYANA. Example : KAMBAN the greatest Tamil poet has created a sacred work "KAMABA RAMAYANAM" inspired from VALMIKI RAMAYANAM) then mother tongue is the father whose responsibility is to dress the naked thought with his language from his region where destiny has planted him. The fight between Sanskrit and Tamil is useless, Unity is the urgency of the hour and only a national response can chase away the cunning missionaries from our soil. MOTHER OF INDIAN THOUGHT IS SANSKRIT WHILE THE RESPONSABILTY TO EXPRESS THAT THOUGHT IS THE DUTY OF THE REGIONAL LANGUAGE.

Now, buy a Tata Value Home at Housing.com with an online payment of Rs 30k

Real Estate Nov 25, 2014
Now, buy a Tata Value Home at Housing.com with an online payment of Rs 30k



Tata Value Homes, a subsidiary of Tata Housing, has tied up with realty portal Housing.com to sell homes online.

The partnership will allow customers of Tata Value Homes to use Housing.com's 3D rendering platform 'Slice View' to check the properties offered by the former.

Tata Value Homes has listed its four projects in three cities, including Bengaluru, Chennai and Pune, on the portal and the average price of the flats is around Rs 30 lakh. This partnership also marks the portal's entry into direct selling of first homes to customers, Housing.com

Co-founder Advitiya Sharma said "The 'Slice View' 3D platform will revolutionise the way customers buy properties, as it aims at bringing full home search experience online," he said.

Housing.com currently has rental and resale properties listed on its website. "This is the first time that we will be actually assisting a developer in selling first homes," Sharma said.

Tata Value Homes, which started selling homes online last December as a part of Google's Online Shopping Festival, has also tied up with Snapdeal.com and launched its own e-commerce platform tatavaluehomes.com to sell its properties online.

"While the Indian consumer has matured over the last few years and is accepting online as a platform to purchase homes, we believe our partnership with Housing.com will enhance the overall experience of the consumer in completing his online home buying experience," Tata Housing CEO & Managing Director
Brotin Banerjee said.

Pre-registration opens starting today to make a booking for the apartment of choice from Wednesday, November 26 until Sunday, November 30th by making an online payment of Rs 30,000 on Housing.com.

Tata Value Homes has so far sold 700 homes online, generating over Rs 300 crore in the value, which is almost 45 per cent of its sales. When asked about the revenue sharing model for the companies, Sharma said, "We cannot disclose the details about revenue sharing. But for Housing.com, it will be a transaction-based revenue model, which is unlike our traditional listing-based model. Going forward, we expect this new segment will have a larger contribution in our revenues."

The portal, which has already raised funds from PE players like Helion Venture Partners, Qualcomm Ventures and Nexus Venture Partners is looking at another round of funding from SoftBank Corp.

"We cannot divulge details about the fund raising plans as it is still in the process. We will be utilising our funds for expanding our presence in newer cities and take the count to 300 towns from the current 45. Also, we will be spending on marketing," Sharma added.

Gita and Arthashastra embodied Indian tradition of realpolitik

The world according to Gita: Millennia before European thinkers, Gita and Arthashastra embodied Indian tradition of realpolitik

World order in Hindu cosmology was governed by immutable cycles of an almost inconceivably vast scale — millions of years long. Kingdoms would fall, and the universe would be destroyed, but it would be re-created, and new kingdoms would rise again. The true nature of human experience was known only to those who endured and transcended these temporal upheavals.

The Hindu classic the Bhagavad Gita framed these spirited tests in terms of the relationship between morality and power. Arjuna, “overwhelmed by sorrow” on the eve of battle at the horrors he is about to unleash, wonders what can justify the terrible consequences of war. This is the wrong question, Krishna rejoins. Because life is eternal and cyclical and the essence of the universe is indestructible. Redemption will come through the fulfillment of a preassigned duty, paired with a recognition that its outward manifestations are illusory because “the impermanent has no reality; reality lies in the eternal.” Arjuna, a warrior, has been presented with a war he did not seek. He should accept the circumstances with equanimity and fulfill his role with honor, and must strive to kill and prevail and “should not grieve.”

While Lord Krishna’s appeal to duty prevails and Arjuna professes himself freed from doubt, the cataclysms of the war — described in detail in the rest of the epic — add resonance to his earlier qualms. This central work of Hindu thought embodied both an exhortation to war and the importance not so much of avoiding but of transcending it. Morality was not rejected, but in any given situation the immediate considerations were dominant, while eternity provided a curative perspective. What some readers lauded as a call to fearlessness in battle, Gandhi would praise as his “spiritual dictionary.”

Against the background of the eternal verities of a religion preaching the elusiveness of any single earthly endeavor, the temporal ruler was in fact afforded a wide berth for practical necessities. The pioneering exemplar of this school was the 4th century BC minister Kautilya, credited with engineering the rise of India’s Maurya Dynasty, which expelled Alexander the Great’s successors from northern India and unified the subcontinent for the first time under a single rule.

Kautilya wrote about an India comparable in structure to Europe before the Peace of Westphalia. He describes a collection of states potentially in permanent conflict with each other. Like Machiavelli’s, his is an analysis of the world as he found it; it offers a practical, not a normative, guide to action. And its moral basis is identical with that of Richelieu, who lived nearly two thousand years later: the state is a fragile organization, and the statesman does not have the moral right to risk its survival on ethical restraint.

The Arthashastra sets out, with dispassionate clarity, a vision of how to establish and guard a state while neutralizing, subverting, and (when opportune conditions have been established) conquering its neighbors. The Arthashastra encompasses a world of practical statecraft, not philosophical disputation. For Kautilya, power was the dominant reality. It was multidimensional, and its factors were interdependent. All elements in a given situation were relevant, calculable, and amenable to manipulation toward a leader’s strategic aims. Geography, finance, military strength, diplomacy, espionage, law, agriculture, cultural traditions, morale and popular opinion, rumors and legends, and men’s vices and weaknesses needed to be shaped as a unit by a wise king to strengthen and expand his realm — much as a modern orchestra conductor shapes the instruments in his charge into a coherent tune. It was a combination of Machiavelli and Clausewitz.

Millennia before European thinkers translated their facts on the ground into a theory of balance of power, the Arthashastra set out an analogous, if more elaborate, system termed the “circle of states.” Whatever professions of amity he might make, any ruler whose power grew significantly would eventually find that it was in his interest to subvert his neighbor’s realm. This was an inherent dynamic of self-preservation to which morality was irrelevant.

What our time has labeled covert intelligence operations were described in the Arthashastra as an important tool. Operating in “all states of the circle” (friends and adversaries alike) and drawn from the ranks of “holy ascetics, wandering monks, cart-drivers, wandering minstrels, jugglers, tramps, [and] fortune-tellers,” these agents would spread rumors to foment discord within and between other states, subvert enemy armies, and “destroy” the King’s opponents at opportune moments.

The Arthashastra advised that restrained and humanitarian conduct was under most circumstances strategically useful: a king who abused his subjects would forfeit their support and would be vulnerable to rebellion or invasion; a conqueror who needlessly violated a subdued people’s customs or moral sensibilities risked catalyzing resistance.

The Arthashastra ‘s exhaustive and matter-of-fact catalogue of the imperatives of success led the distinguished 20th-century political theorist Max Weber to conclude that the Arthashastra exemplified “truly radical ‘Machiavellianism’ . . . compared to it, Machiavelli’s The Prince is harmless.” Unlike Machiavelli, Kautilya exhibits no nostalgia for the virtues of a better age.

Whether following the Arthashastra ‘s prescriptions or not, India reached its high-water mark of territorial extent in the third century BC, when its revered Emperor Asoka governed a territory comprising all of today’s India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and part of Afghanistan and Iran.

Excerpted from Henry Kissinger’s book , recently published by Penguin India World Order: Reflections on the Character of Nations and the Course of History

What is a wow experience package for a guest/tourist at Chennai's December Season 2014

Mylapore Times Newspaper

What is a wow experience package for a guest/tourist at Chennai's December Season 2014 if he/she is based in Mylapore? Given that the person will attend concer...ts 4pm onwards. Here are some of our tips; share yours please
- Join the margazhi bhajans - 6 am
- Breakfast at Karpagambal Mess - 7 am
- Tour Sri Kapali Temple - 7.30 am
- Walk down mada veedhis - 8am
- Coffee break @ Sangeetha/Mylapore Mocha. 9 am
- Explore old Mylapore in Mundakakanni Amman Temple zone -
- Explore San Thome, down Kutchery Road
- Lunch/ Sapaad @ sabha canteen.

'Putin's tigers' to help restore habitat in China, Russia

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Kuzya is seen in the still from a footage captured in a nature reserve in the Lesser Hinggan Mountains in early November. (Internet photo)

With Siberian tigers entering from Russia, China's Lesser Hinggan Mountains in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang may see a restored habitat for the big cat, reported the Shanghai-based the Paper on Nov. 17.
Amur or Siberian tigers formerly roamed throughout the Lesser Hinggan Mountain before human activities destroyed their habitat decades ago. "Even after we developed an efficient monitoring system, we have never seen any Amur tigers," said Jiang Guangshun, deputy-director of the Feline Research Center, State Forestry Administration.
"The fact that Kuzya is here means that tigers are back in the forest, and that the tiger's habitat is being restored," said Jiang.
Kuzya is one of the three tigers Russian president Vladimir Putin released in the remote Amur region in Russia's far east back in May. It was believed to have swum across the Amur river and entered China early in October.
The tiger was spotted in early November with a far-infrared camera that the authorities placed in the region, thrilling conservationists in both China and Russia. Meanwhile, images of another one of "Putin's tigers," this one named Ustin, were captured on Nov. 14 on Heixiazi island, which is split between Russia and China, according to the State Forestry Administration. Ustin was released in June and has followed Kuzya's footsteps, entering China for the winter.
According to the International Herald Leader, an outlet run by the official newswire Xinhua, scientists in both China and Russia have urged their countries to launch cross-territorial projects to protect the endangered animal. Jiang said one already has. Some of the conservation areas on both sides of the China-Russia border have signed agreements to connect their natural reserves both physically and in terms of cooperation to jointly protect the animals.
Logging has been forbidden in major forests in Heilongjiang since April. Neighboring Jilin province will follow suit. Forests there are believed to create corridors for the tigers and with proper restoration they are expected to help restore and expand the tigers' habitat, said Jiang.
Yang Daode, an expert in biodiversity, said cross-border reserves may help expand the tigers' habitat and establish ecological corridors in China and Russia that allow tigers to roam and mate. "It must be a good thing that tigers have come," said Yang.
China and Russia set up an Environmental Protection Cooperation Sub-committee in 2006 that oversees activities of cross-border environmental and biodiversity areas, natural hazards crisis management, and water quality monitoring and maintenance.
The tiger used to range through Siberia, North Korea and northeast China. The big cat was on the brink of extinction as of the mid-20th century but its numbers have gradually increased as China and Russia have joined efforts to save them from extinction beginning in the 1990s. Currently there are about 500 of the tigers in the wild, though fewer than 20 are believed to be in China.
References:
Jiang Guangshun 姜廣生
Yang Daode 楊道德

The Lakes Are Still Alive' by Anupam Mishra is helping villagers rediscover ancient water-conservation methods.

WATER HARVESTING

For more than 20 years, a slim book has helped Indian farmers become self-reliant in water

'The Lakes Are Still Alive' by Anupam Mishra is helping villagers rediscover ancient water-conservation methods.

Nivedita Khandekar

Photo Credit: Nivedita Khandekar

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This year, in the parched district of Mahoba in Bundelkhand, in southern Uttar Pradesh, where persistent drought has led to large-scale migration over the past decade, several ponds were full of water even before the monsoon began.

These are ponds that farmers began building in March 2013 as part of the Apna Talaab Abhiyaan (Build Your Own Pond Campaign), which was started by local non-profits and activists from New Delhi, and supported by the district administration, with the aim of making farmers less dependent on the vagaries of the monsoon.

Most of these ponds, which filled up during last year's monsoon, retained water until March, while the larger ones had water even until it began raining again this year. By July, almost 400 ponds in the district had been constructed.

"Anupamji and his book inspired us," said Kesar Singh, a Delhi-based activist working in the district, when asked why farmers began this project. He was referring to Aaj Bhi Khare Hain Talaab (The Lakes Are Still Alive), written by Anupam Mishra, an environmentalist associated with the Gandhi Peace Foundation, who edits Gandhi Marg, a Hindi magazine published once in two months that propagates Gandhian thought.

Twenty years after it was published, the slim copyright-free volume, written in lucid Hindi, has inspired scores of farmers, government officials and activists across the country to use a variety of simple methods to make their communities self-reliant in water.

Published in July 1993, the book is a useful compendium of traditional rainwater harvesting practices across India. The book, accessible online, has described how decentralised water storage systems such as baolis (step wells), kuis (wells with small diameters), chaals (very small water body along a slope, typical of Uttarakhand), johads (tanks that are fed by earthen check dams), ponds, tanks, wells and lakes, can help communities withstand drought.

Traditional methods

Traditionally, farmers who depended entirely on rainfall could grow only one crop a year. Only those who had their own water source, such as large wells or water bodies nearby, could plant another crop. In time, access to dams and canal networks, as well as tube wells that drew from groundwater, enabled many farmers to plant two to three crops a  year.

But in many places, the drawbacks of these these irrigation systems  became apparent. Villages sometimes constructed so many bore wells that the water table sank too low to make it economic to extract. In other instances, the water was contaminated. Dams and canal networks, for their part, came with enormous construction costs and displaced thousands of people.

Rather than inundating large areas, displacing people and then spending on transporting water from far away, Mishra realised that de-centralised methods work better in the long run. The simple but more effective method, he felt, ought to be: catch rain where it falls.

In his book, Mishra describes traditional methods that communities across India used to take care of their water resources. "The British introduced piped water systems and dams, and then the government took over water bodies, cutting communities off," Mishra writes in his book. "Unfortunately, after Independence, our planners did not rectify the situation."

For instance, in Rajasthan, a state with very little rainfall, communities always had kuis,
baolis and johads but have have atrophied over the years. Mishra and others like him stepped in to remind people to rediscover traditional practices.

Decentralised water storage systems can also be built in cities. "But Delhi and Mumbai does not care because these cities know they can bully resource-rich areas and get their water," said Mishra. "Yet they will also have to learn, sooner or later."

Experiments with water

Mahoba is only of the more recent examples of a community becoming self-reliant in water after using the traditional methods mentioned in Mishra's book. Dewas in Madhya Pradesh and Lapodia in Rajasthan are two other, older examples.

In 2004, Lapodia and its environs in Rajasthan’s Alwar district were facing drought for the sixth consecutive year. While there was large-scale migration from most villages, Lapodia was spared because it had for more than a decade been working to revive two of its large tanks and developed pastures for its livestock near the water bodies.

It had done so with the help of Tarun Bharat Sangh, a non-profit working for water conservation and empowerment of communities in Alwar district. The group was founded by Rajendra Singh, who won the Magsaysay award in 2001, for his work on water conservation. He is all praise for Mishra's book.

"The book has an important place in today’s India when it comes to community-based water management," said Singh. "It offers insights into technical, social and cultural aspects, all three of which combined to spur the fabulous art of lake-building."

Other examples abound. Across India, more than 40,000 water bodies have been built spurred by the book, estimates Mishra. There are almost  2,500 lakes in the Thar desert area, Mishra says. Inspired by the book, four large tanks were repaired near Chennai, while the Karnataka Jal Sanghe renovated and constructed several ponds and lakes.

Mishra’s inspiration

Mishra started thinking about self-reliance in water in the early 1980s, when he was travelling through Rajasthan. He was impressed by the several kunds, tanks and lakes in some places that he came across that were fully functional even in the scorching summer.

Soon afterwards, he travelled through Goa. There, he saw that the lush green paradise was slowly turning into a concrete jungle with resorts, hotels and private homes coming up in places that were catchment areas for water. There, he noticed that after the monsoon, water stocks decreased drastically. Tankers were needed to supply water to many villages as the groundwater had depleted rapidly after monsoon.

"I was impressed by the fact that a place such as Rajasthan that had such little rainfall had immense respect for every drop of water," Mishra said. "In contrast, Goa, where the rain god was sending a bountiful monsoon, was suffering due to faulty practices.”

The comparison set him thinking, travelling, meeting people and trying to understand what different communities were doing with water. In 1991, he started writing the book.

Free distribution

From day one, Mishra decided that the book would be free of copyright. Over the years, as more people discovered the book's value, they printed it themselves, some selling it for a profit, others for a cause.

So far, the book has been translated into a dozen Indian languages. Bharat Gyan Vigyan Prakashan, a Delhi-based publication house, brought out 25,000 copies in 1995, followed by publishers from Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, whose government also printed 25,000 copies, and Maharashtra.

Two years ago, Farhad Contractor, the founder of Sambhaav , a non-profit that that has promoted community-based rainwater harvesting in the Thar desert area for the past 25 years, printed it and gave several hundred copies to Mishra for distribution.

"We need to understand that not everything can be bought," Contractor said. "This book is basically communities' knowledge that we want to share. It has inspired and mobilised scores of people. We thought that it would be good if those who actually work on ground read it."

ஆஞ்சேநேயர் ஸ்லோகம்

ஆஞ்சேநேயர் ஸ்லோகம்
புத்திர் பலம் யசோ தைர்யம் நிர்பயத்வம் அரோகதா |
அஜாட்யம் வாக்படுத்வம் ச ஹநுமாத் ஸ்மரணாபவேத் ||
...

விளக்கம் :-
புத்தி, பலம், புகழ், உறுதிப்பாடு, அஞ்சாநெஞ்சம், ஆரோக்கியம், விழிப்பு வாக்குவன்மை இவையனைத்தையும் ஆஞ்சேநேயர் தன்னை வழிபடுபவர்களுக்கு அருள்கின்றார்.
சாதரணமாக இவையெல்லாம் ஒரே இடத்தில் அமையவே அமையாது. நல்ல புத்திமான் ஆரோக்கியம் இல்லாமல் இருப்பான். பெரிய பலசாலி மண்டுவாக இருப்பான். இரண்டும் இருந்தாலும் கோழையாக, பயந்தாங்ககொள்ளியாக இருப்பான். எத்தனை திறமை இருந்தாலும் அவற்றை பிரயோகிக்கிற சுறுசுறுப்பு, விழிப்பு இல்லாமல் சோம்பேறியாக இருப்பான். பெரிய அறிவாளியாக இருந்தாலும் தனக்குத் தெரிந்ததை எடுத்துச் சொல்கிற வாக்கு வன்மையில்லாமல் இருப்பான். இந்த மாதிரி ஏறுமாறான குணங்கள் இல்லாமல் எல்லாகுனங்களையும் ஒரே இடத்தில் பொழிகிறார், ஸ்ரீ ராமதூதன் , ஆஞ்சேநேயர்.

Why Mysore university approves "south Asian institute of advanced Christian studies

Why Mysore university approves "south Asian institute of advanced Christian studies course on "how to convert north Indians"!  Why govt owned BHEL donates to south Asian institute of advanced Christian studies to teach "how to convert north Indians?»

http://www.saiacs.org/Research-NorthIndia.html

http://www.saiacs.org/Academics-Intro.html

http://fcraonline.nic.in/fc3_verify.aspx?RCN=094420397R&by=2011-2012

‘Gita my basis for counselling Hindus in U.S. military’

NRE Savings Account - 4% Interest,Tax-Free & Repatriable. Highest Return NRE A/c. Apply Now! kotak.com/NRE-Account

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Narayan Lakshman

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  The Hindu US President Barack Obama honours Indian-American Pratima Dharm, for her contribution for Hindus in the US Military, at a function in the White House, Washington D.C.
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  The Hindu Pratima Dharm hugs her mother during a function, where she was honoured for her contribution for Hindus in the US Military, at the White House, Washington D.C.
• 
  The Hindu Indian-American Pratima Dharm was appointed last month as the first ever Hindu chaplain of a U.S. university

Narayan Lakshman

As The Hindu’s correspondent in the USA, Narayan Lakshman takes an unflinching look at all that’s great and ugly in American life from an on-shore perspective. Tweet him at @narlak.... »

TOPICS

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defence

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religion and belief

hinduism

Indian-American Pratima Dharm speaks of her deep links with India, and shares her thoughts on Hindus in the U.S. military and the kind of leader she hopes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be.

Indian-American Pratima Dharm has been a pioneer on multiple counts – last month she was appointed as the first ever Hindu chaplain of a U.S. university and in 2011 she made history after the Pentagon named her as its first Hindu and inter-faith chaplain.

She served in the U.S. military through some of the hardest times faced by its soldiers in the battlefields of Iraq, and she counselled many of them afflicted by PTSD, steering them away from suicide, and helping them reclaim their familial relationships. She also participated in humanitarian aid missions into the Kurdish regions of northern Iraq, an experience that left her with a lasting ties to the people there.

In a conversation with Narayan Lakshman Ms. Dharm spoke of her deep links with India and the principles of Hinduism that she associates with her upbringing in the country, and also shared her thoughts on Hindus in the U.S. military and the kind of leader she hopes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be.

Your appointments as a Hindu chaplain at a major U.S. university, and before that as an inter-faith chaplain in the U.S. army were unprecedented, and made headlines in India. By way of background could you tell us about how you came to take up these roles, and what links you have with India?

I grew up in northern India, primarily Maharashtra and some parts of Gujarat and I ended up doing some parts of my schooling and my college education in Mumbai. So I still have ties with India because I have family members from both from my side and my husband’s side in India. My husband’s family is in Bangalore and Chennai. We visit India so that our children remain connected to all their family in India.

My appointment in the U.S. army came about with my years of training as a chaplain, studying for it in the U.S. I have a master’s degree in psychology from India and in the U.S. I have a master’s degree in theology and years of training to become a chaplain.

I am hoping that many others could follow [the path of inter-faith chaplaincy in the U.S. military] because I have always believed that there should be a freedom to choose whichever religion a person wishes to follow as a path to god, or to understanding their lives or understanding themselves.

There were scores and scores of South Asians that practiced Hinduism [in the U.S. military] even before I became a Hindu chaplain. But becoming a Hindu chaplain facilitates that mood and practice of their faith by the celebration of various Hindu festivals, Hindu sacraments and the Hindu way of life, which is very new here in the U.S.

As I transition out of active duty I have just accepted an offer to get into Georgetown University, which I believe is the first [U.S.] university to have hired a Hindu chaplain.

Could you tell me more about the scores of Hindus in the U.S. army?

There is absolutely a growing number of Hindus, not just from India, but from Trinidad, Guyana, Fiji, Surinam, and the West Indies. There are so many Hindus that come from all over the world and they part of the U.S. military – not just the army but the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and the Public Health services.

All of them have a growing number of Hindus and there is that level or feeling of comfort that it is ok to practice your faith openly.

Do you think that before you came on board or some years ago, it was harder for them to practice their religion freely and if so is that changing now?

What I am referring to is a psychology or state of mind where you can practice your faith but when you live in a majority surrounding that does not understand your faith, most people tend to keep it to themselves.

For example they may celebrate Diwali at home or in temples but definitely not think of doing that in the military, in the sense that they would not be understood.

Since I came on board, I admit that it has been a struggle for me, at least for the first three or four years, just to get that educational piece out, so that [the non-Hindus in the military] could be educated about Hinduism.

All they knew about Hinduism was yoga, which comes from swamijis, gurujis and various sampradayas [religious tradition]. But Hinduism is really deep and is a way of life. It is very different from most Western religions. It does not have the same set of boundaries in that one Hindu may practice differently from the other.

It is really common that your sampradaya may be different or your family social history may be different, and that determines how you practice your Hinduism. That is absolutely alright, because there is so much variation in Hinduism because it is one of the oldest religions and over time it was shaped and it has also taken in a lot.

The tendency in Hinduism has actually been to absorb over time – it has taken in a lot of elements and yet there is room enough for every kind of thought to float and exist at the same time, which is very new for Western religions.

Do you think that Hinduism is gaining more acceptance and is becoming more widely understood in the U.S., or in the military as you’ve seen it?

To answer you very honestly it will be years before it is understood more fully. There are a lot of perception [issues] and my work is to work on the perception part of it and it can be a struggle because sometimes you can feel frustrated that it is a big task. But I feel a call – that it has to be done. I feel it is a natural place for me to do that and I felt no regrets doing it. I pray that that would create the space for many more Hindus to practice their faith and not feel conscious about it. That has been the idea behind it.

Was there an option for you to continue this work or did you choose to leave active service and move into a university setting?

I joined the army during the war and during a war you owe them a minimum of eight years of service, which I have done.

You are referring specifically to which war or year?

The present war, which has been going on since 2001, in Afghanistan, and [more broadly] the war on terror since 9/11.

Where were you deployed to?

I was deployed to Iraq, for a year.

Were you directly exposed to the pressures of combat operations there? If so, what did you experience, and what was your role in that context, as an inter-faith chaplain?

Absolutely, yes. My role was exactly to take care of my soldiers, my command and all the soldiers that fell under it, which is almost 5,000 soldiers. It was also to take care of my soldiers who were spread out throughout the battlefield, and the battlefield was really huge – it was spread throughout Iraq.

So I would go either by road or by flight to reach out to the soldiers, to take care of them. There was a lot of combat stress that you deal with in a war zone and when you take care of your soldiers you work with them on many, many issues.

Suicide prevention is one of the highest areas of concentrated education and training, especially within the army, because it has such a high rate of suicide particularly due to the effects of this war, which has been very long.

It has taken its toll, physical and emotional, on the soldiers, and on their families as well. As a chaplain I do a lot of individual counselling as well as counselling for families. Trying to save marriages was honestly the bottom line because we wanted to make sure the soldiers were happy, peaceful, in a fulfilling relationship so that when it comes to the mission, they are mission-ready, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

That is our job. So we come up with different programmes to enhance that, because the battlefield breaks you down, a lot.

We also do worship services. I did a lot of humanitarian foreign aid missions for the Kurdish people, almost 12 of them, to provide them with medical supplies, toys, musical instruments, clothes, shoes, books, school supplies and a gamut of things we took to them. It was very well received.

Given your faith and background rooted in Hinduism, how do you help people deal with the fallout of war that you mentioned?

I was trying to make sense of the war within my faith condition. War is not untoward even though India particularly has not gone to war for thousands of years against any country.

Really you have the start [of India engaging in warfare] with the Mahabharata and the Ramayana – so we did have wars and we have a historical basis for that.

It is also very much part of the Bhagwat Gita – how we make sense of war and what is your duty towards that. We do have a lot support for that from the Hindu tradition, to make sense of war. For me, that was my basis, to go to war and to be able to offer the best of myself.

In terms of the Bhagwat Gita, [the basis for war] is explained by the words of Shri Krishna to Arjuna trying to bolster him and try to see the real from the unreal. Hinduism gives us that basis to live in this world.

You have the four pillars of Hinduism – dharma, artha, kama, and moksha – those are the pillars on which the entire faith stands. It is a guide to us [about] how we live in this world – we are called to do our duty, we are called to find a purpose in this world.

We are also called, in our daily duties, as we perform our dharma, to always remember where we come from, and that is the only reality that we meditate upon, the ultimate truth, the Brahman.

That is our strength, to always be mindful of that. When we forget, we have conflict and there is an unsteadiness as to how we respond to the current situation.

War, similarly, is very much a part of this world. Hinduism, like other religions, teaches that there is no war beyond that, other than the reference that we see in the puranic scriptures to the battle between the devas fighting with the demons.

But really, the guiding principle is to live in this world as if things are temporary. This too shall pass and we are here to do our duty.

That basis is so much present in the words of Lord Shri Krishna. I am from the Vaishnava tradition and the words of Lord Shri Krishna are so meaningful to me.

That’s what I gave to the soldiers, and yes, I did counsel Hindus during the war in Iraq. My basis was the Bhagwat Gita.

Iraq was obviously an important part of your life and work earlier. What do you make of the situation there now, for example the rise of Islamic State (IS) and the turmoil that Iraq and Syria have been plunged into?

It is really sad, because that is a chapter that we closed when we came back. War is not something that stops when you have left the war zone. You continue on with what you take away from the war. And you always take away [something] from the war.

It’s something like divorce. Divorce is like a war and a lot of my soldiers faced that. But even when the judge and the couple have signed those papers the war is not over, or the marriage is not totally over emotionally, for both sides. People tend to struggle with the remnants of divorce and its aftereffects for years to come.

Similarly with war soldiers continue to carry a part of that [with them after they have left the battlefield]. With me too it is normal to carry a part of that, and in my case it was the area that IS is in right now, where I did a lot of humanitarian aid missions – the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

My experience was the different faith groups there existed very peacefully and most of them had an acceptance of each other’s differences – Muslims, Christians and so-called pagans, who are actually quite similar in their beliefs to a lot of sampradayas, even Hinduism.

So it is not sad from the religious point of view but the human perspective. That is, not so much that a person of a similar religion is being affected, but that another human being is getting hurt and they’re not able to live based on what they believe in.

I was very well received [in the Kurdish region] and they have a very positive view of Indian people. I was very surprised to be invited into their homes – they just opened their hearts and homes to me.

That was actually a very beautiful part of my war memories – that I was able to have those connections. The sadness is even more that I am not there [now] as a lot of the work that was done then has been undone. My heart and my prayers go out to the people, that they would be safe. It is quite heart-wrenching to see that.

Looking now at India, what do you think the recent election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the rise of the BJP means for Hinduism broadly? Do you have any thoughts on the state of Hinduism as it is in India today, both as a religious concept or as a political concept, increasingly?

I am very happy that Narendra Modi is [the Prime Minister], not because he is a Hindu or that he represents Hinduism, but in terms of his righteousness. I pray, given what little I do know of him, that he is indeed righteous.

Hinduism has had a lot of leaders in the past. Historically, our books are really about the righteous leader and the one who is not righteous should not be on the throne.

That is what I carry forward with me – the righteousness that I learnt from within my faith tradition, the sanatan dharma. That is the strength of Hinduism. If that righteousness is carried forward, that will be wonderful, not only because of the righteousness itself but because Hinduism can co-exist with so many different religions.

I pray and my hope is that it will continue, because that is the greatness of India – that it has accommodated so many religions and that is the beauty, the heart and the greatness of Hindus and Hinduism.

That is my war and fight here as well, and the struggle, that Hindus need to be accepted for who they are, without changing and shaping their Hinduism for anyone; or that if Hindus became the majority anyone else had to shape themselves. Really, we have to coexist.

So first, I stick to the fact that I pray that Narendra Modi proves himself and he has so far, and he continues to prove himself on the grounds of being a righteous leader who fights for truth and stands for truth, honesty and integrity.

My grandfather was a Gandhian and we have made a lot of sacrifices. The same thoughts and the values continue with us even in the U.S., that we stand for integrity and honesty. These are also principles given to me from the sanatan dharma, but do I say every Hindu is like that? No. Is every Christian like that? No, but it is a choice that you make, even as a Hindu, to be righteous.

I pray that Narendra Modi would make that as a daily choice, which it seems like he does, and that India would be able to follow true as a nation and be righteous as well. Our scriptures tell us that all the time as a reminder, and people forget in a wave of passion but really, every leader will come and go. Why do we remember Ram today? It is because he was righteous.

It is a very, very difficult place to be in, even Bhishma failed, because he took sides. The beauty of Hinduism is that it teaches us not to take sides. It is such a beautiful religion and way of life that it says ‘You always pick the righteous, you always pick the right path, you always do the right thing. There is no other way but that.’

narayan@thehindu.co.in

Keywords: Georgetown University, Hindu chaplain, Pratima Dharm, U.S. Army’s first Hindu chaplain, suicide prevention, US military, inter faith chaplain, PTSD war veterans, Iraq war