ARJUN— Son of Indra/Zeus

I write about Arjun exactly after a year, I wrote about Karna. I can honestly say that many individual’s response against Karna put me off to write about Arjun. Arjun was someone who was born into privileges and had things easy compared to karna plus he had the blessing of Krishna, but these things should not be interpreted as the reason for correctness of so called greatness.

 

Pandav

The story of Arjun again cannot start or end without addressing curse on Pandu. Although, Arjun was known as Pandava but he was not the son of Pandu in biological terms.  Pandu was cursed by a sage that he will die moment he tries to have sexual relations with any woman who included his wives.

This curse was owing to the fact that Pandu had killed the sage and his wife while they were have intercourse mistaking them for a deer (I still cannot believe, how did THAT happen, it was hell of a mistake, though it has been documented that the sage had transformed himself as a deer and so did his wife, additionally they were doing their mating stuff when Pandu shot them)

The curse was:

“What you have done is a heinous act which does not suit a king. Even the worst of humankind would not have killed a mating pair of animals. I am Rishi Kindam and I usually roam the forests like a deer. You have killed me without any reason. You will not be blamed for killing a Brahmin as you did not know that I was one, but you killed me when I was with my wife, so I curse you that whenever you make love with your wife you will die immediately.”

So Pandu now unable to give birth to sons or daughter (now we don’t need to be all chauvinistic here) let go of his kingly duties and left for forest along with his two young wives.  The desire for a son was so huge for Pandu that he asked Kunti about the “gift” she can demand of any god and the gift was a son. The ancient text or should I say some priests give a very naïve interpretation of Mahabarat and the birth of these three sons plus Karna  (as though they just landed up in her arms and she caught them just like you catch a cricket ball, yeah right).

Kunti gave birth to 4 sons by 4 different gods, 3 were known as Pandavas after Pandu and that last son she gave birth to was by god Indra or sometimes referred to as Zeus by the Greek mythology ( India and Greece has a lot of shit in common) .

There is a word for such process , it is called niyoga an alternate to it would be something like artificial insemination, however in the case of niyoga there is proper intercourse between second man and the wife of the man who is impotent, so that the  woman can get impregnated and bear child, a practice employed in ancient India. (One can bet that the husband’s ego would be all but destroyed in this process, giving your wife to someone else so that he could impregnate her, not to mention enjoy her innumerable times in the meantime, authors have written that Kunti had seen the feeling of ecstasy in the face of her lovers, similar to the one she saw on Pandu’s face when he died after having sex with his second wife because of the curse .  I however feel that the fem-nazi of the world would be ecstatic of the situation an act which allows them to humiliate a man, there by propagating their view point of woman emancipation and empowerment, fascinating stuff.)

Some authors also quote this as the reason for Pandu’s frustration.

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Arjun’ s name and teachings

Mahabharat states that god’s sang when Arjun was born, this was owing to the fact that he was Indra’s son (Commander of gods like Zeus). He was trained in religion, science, administration and military arts by the Kuru and Dronacharya (who considered Arjun to be his best student).

Arjun also was called by many names:

• Arjuna – one of taintless fame and glow like silver (Argentum)
• Phalguna – one born on the star of Phalguna
• Jishnu – conqueror of enemies
• Kiriti – one who wears the celestial diadem, Kiriti, presented by Indra
• Swetavahana – one with white horses mounted to his chariot
• Bibhatsu – one who always fights wars in a fair manner
• Vijaya – victorious warrior
• Parth or Partha – Son of Pritha or Kunti. Incidentally his father is the Lord of Heavens, Indra.
• Savyasachi – Skillful in using both arms, ambidextrous.
• Dhananjaya – one who conquers bows (dhanu) referring to his skills as an archer.
• Gudakesa – One who had thick hair; gudha: dense and kesha: hair.
• Kapi Dhwaj – Having flag of Kapi (Monkey) in his chariot. (Arjuna’s flag displayed an image of Hanuman from a previous encounter)
• Parantap – one who concentrates the most, destroyer of enemies from his concentration

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Arjun and Krishna

Krishna’s role in Arjun’s life is of great importance and in my view far greater than Dronacharya’s presence.  Dronacharya was no doubt Arjun’s teacher who taught him warfare and made him a great archer. It was however, Krishna’s presence which saves Arjun many times and the knowledge of philosophy which Krishna provides to Arjun is in today’s era known as Bhagavad Gita, something which is of great importance to the South-Asian culture (not necessary to a term Hindu, on which I shall write).

Krishna’s connection to Arjun is also with the marriage alliance in which Krishna’s half-sister Subhadhra was married to Arjun, it is said that Krishna encourage the match of Subhadhra and Arjun. Through this union was born Abhimanyu (I must admit here that for longtime; I thought Abhimanyu was son of Draupadi, thank god he wasn’t, I donot like the character of Draupadi much owing to her egoistic behavior).

Krishna was however the reason for Arjun to marry Draupadi and reject Karna.

Krishna also plays major role in trying to get the rights of Pandavas, which led him to conflict with Duryodhan.  During the battle of Kurushetra, Krishna eggs Arjun to kill Karna owing to the fact that Karna was responsible for Arjun’s son’s death and Draupadi’s humiliation. Even though Krishna knew about the fact that there were many players in that scenario.

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Draupadi

Arjun’ story has another major character without mentioning whom Arjun’s life will not be complete. She is Draupadi. The wife of all 5 Pandavas, but there is a story behind it too.  In Draupadi’s “Swayam Varam” where a woman is allowed to choose her husband, Arjun along with his brother went there dressed as Brahmin. Duryodhan had come there along with Karna. In that marriage ceremony as task was required to be done, that is to pierce the eye of a fish with arrow. When Karna went to pick up the bow for the task, Draupadi insulted Karna by calling him son of a charioteer who dared thought of marrying a princess. Her exact words were “A man who live off a king’s goodwill, how can he protect my honour.” Krishna also played a spoilsport here by instigating Draupadi. At that very moment Duryodhan appoints Karna as the king of Anga.

Anyhow, after Karna was so called “debarred” by that egoistic Draupadi. Now enters Arjun, disguised as Brahmin.  Naturally he shoots well and wins. Here, it is tried to be said that he is Brahmin and his entry should be invalid, but again Krishna comes to rescue with his sweet talk.

Arjun then takes Draupadi to his home in order to show his new bride to his mother. He asks his mother to come out, so that he can show her what he has brought for her. His mother Kunti (full of accidental errors, read Karna) does another blunder by saying that “whatever you have got share it with your brothers”.  Whether, that was to the horror or to the delight of Draupadi, I leave that thought to the choice of the reader. Reader may also question that it was just an accidental error, why did they go ahead with it. Well, they were living a life that time in which whatever you say needs to be done, so kunti’s accidental error needed to be followed. However, Yudhistra (the wise one) could have prevented it by his sweet talk and understanding but I guess his desire lied elsewhere.

So now Draupadi won by Arjun became Panchali, the one with five husbands.

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Other Marriages:

Arjun is also married to Ulupi ( naga princess) and Chitrangadaa (Princess of Manipur). Both the sons by the respective princess were left with their mothers.

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Exile and Curse of Urvashi

The pandav were exiled after being humiliated for failing the game of dice in which they lost everything, their kingdoms and got their wife stripped (very honorable conduct). During exile they were cursed in the way that for year they have live in anonymity and if they were found somehow, they will have to begin their 13 year exile again. So not only they had to go on exile, the Pandavas were left with the game of hide and seek with kauravas who were in a hurry to find them and repose longer exile terms.

During these 13 years for one year Arjun was forced to live like an eunuch owing to the curse of Urvashi (the hot as hell cheerleader of Lord Indra a.k.a Zeus, if you wish to imagine her beauty then go for the hottest  female you have ever seen in your life and now raise it to the power of 10, it is a mathematical thing).

Now imagine that this female whom everyone in the world is dying to mate with, Arjun in his righteousness shuns her advance. Question is what she will do now ? It would be usual what a hot as a hell furious woman would do, BURN the house down. She sent Arjun straight to her interpretation of hell, which is impotency for one year.

This was during the time when Arjun was invited to the kingdom of his father in heaven and he was staying there for some time after he was rewarded with various weapons by many gods.

It is during this year that he taught in Place of King of Virata to his daughter Uttra. Once the curse was complete the king wanted Uttra to be married to Arjun, but Arjun stated that as he has been her teacher it would not be right in the duty of Dharma, to which the king was displeased. In this situation Arjun offered a better solution of his son by Subhadhra (half sister of Krishna ) to be married to Uttra. This proposal was readily accepted by the King. Abhimanyu was married to Uttra when both were 14-15 years old (child marriage).

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Kurushetra war and Bhagavad Gita:

In this war Arjun was responsible for death of Bhishma, Karna and Jayadratha. The last one he held responsible of killing Abhimanyu.

Before the war began, Arjun was full of doubts of fighting his own brothers and teachers. To resolve this issue, Krishna came into picture in which he gave Arjun the knowledge of Dharma in which he told Arjun it was necessary for him to fight his cousins, grandfather and Teachers for greater good because all of them have forgotten true Dharma. Particularly they are supporting Duryodhan who is just after Pandavas due to ego of childhood, motivated by his evil maternal Uncle shakuni. Krishna also informs Arjun that where were these elders when your wife was being stripped, when your property was being taken away and when you were being humiliated by them.

In order to bring balance back to world, Arjun needs to fight them and kill them if needed, which included his beloved Great Grandfather Bhishma. He informs Arjun that it is his duty/ dharma to fight as he was a warrior.

In the war Arjun uses Shikhandi to kill Bhisma who was the reincarnation of princess Amba to whom Bhisma had refused marriage and she had set herself on fire. He kills Karna when Karna is armless (and riddled with curses of his life).

Arjun On management

Now this one is very interesting, Arjun is nothing without his two teachers Drona and Krishna. No doubt he had a potential since he was a child. It was however this potential which was harnessed by both of his teachers. Many authors write that Arjun was of clean image, well it is their interpretation.  Success of Arjun on management is someone who looks up to his/her teachers in their daily duty and asks for their advice, even if that advice pitches him/her against his family. In short who fights for Dharma or righteousness under the guidance of a mentor.

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Arjun in Today’s world

Arjun is someone born in prosperity and is gifted. The best analogy is a rich American kid, good in grades, goes to Ivy League University and then fights the so called “bad” world. In India too, it would be someone born in elite society and has all privileges but at the same time is intelligent too, unlike karna who was raised in poor family but was very intelligent.

PS: There was one anime movie also which came on Arjun the warrior prince, which I believe was a good effort. But was no box office success. The creators could have created Mahabharat on the line of Harry potter or Lord of The ring series in which there were 8 and 4 grand movies respectively.

To the Root —Rumi

Open your hidden eyes and return to the root of the root of your own self. —– Rumi

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Fana (self annihilation )

Khuda:

Aise na dekh apne mehboob ko e sahil,

ye jan-nisaar nigahen kahein kar de na tujhe  Fana  .

Sahil:

Mehboob hi jannat, mehboob hi shuraat,

mehboob hi ibadat, mehboob hi daulat,

mehboob hi pehchan, mehboob hi ab mera imaan,

karde, karde, karde-e- maula, bahaar-e-ishq, karde mujhe fana.               —— Diwane-e-sahil

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Translation to english :

God:

Donot  watch your beloved in such a loving way o dear sahil,

these beautiful eyes will lead to your annihilation.

Sahil:

My beloved is my heaven, my beloved is my success,

my beloved is my prayer, my beloved is my wealth,

my beloved is my identity, my beloved is now my faith,

do it, do it, do it my lord,  in this spring of love ,go ahead destroy me.                 —— Diwane-e-sahil

Gift — Mahabharat

A gift is pure when it is given from the heart to the right person at the right time

and at the right place and when we expect nothing in return     ———- Bhagavad Gita

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Writer’s Block

I am sure every writer goes through this. It is like you are unable to write or in my case do not have the mood to write. During this time every writer has varying thoughts as to the list of the things that he/she would write about. In my case, these are the things which I have mentioned that I will write and somethings(or topics) which come to my mind while traveling,walking or even observing people. Writing as we know is an art of expressing what you think, what you believe and what you want to convey.

When that communication aspect stops, even though the writer’s mind might be full of thoughts he/she wishes to express but is someway unable to express. This in my view is the writer’s block.  Dictionary provides us with the definition that

A usually temporary psychological inability to begin or continue work on a piece of writing.

I have even read that it is the inability to get inspired, possibly that might be true for some people. I however can assure reader, I donot have such problem. Therefore, should I conclude that it is just plan laziness and too much dependance on the dopamine in my mind (some people have fixation for such things) ?

The writer’s job as such is to get inspired, read stuff and create something which inspires others, preferably the future generations.

Writers to take a note of :

• Leo Tolstoy   (Morals guy)
• Rumi   (Sufi)
• Mark Twain     (A true teacher and an American literary great)
• J.K.Rowling   (ain’t she a pretty one)
• Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez    (what ever books I have read of his I am impressed)
• Orhan Pamuk
• Ayn Rand    (The one initiated the philosophy of  Objectivism)
• Aristotle    (Teacher of Alexander the Great)
• Charles Dickens
• Will Durant    ( Civilizations all the way)
• Premchand    (moral wielder)
• Jean-Paul Sartre
• Jack London
• Enid Blyton   (Read alot of her books)
• Nikolai Gogol
• Maya Angelou
• Noam Chomsky
• VS Naipaul
• Emily Dickinson
• Homer   (Inspirational stuff)
• Vyasa    (Author of Mahabharat)
• Kabir    (sufi)
• Bulleh Shah   (sufi)
• Ghalib
• Khan Abdul Ghani Khan   (A pashtun nationalist)
• William Wordsworth    (Born on 7 April 1770, awesome poet)
• Shakespear
• Christopher Hitchens   (electrifying)
• Bhagat Singh ( Some may contest him being mentioned a writer, he died young at 23 but whatever he wrote till that age is still inspirational stuff for a lot of people in south-Asia)
• Allama Iqbal  ( A great poet respected in South-Asia)
• Faiz ahmed Faiz
• Khalil Gibran  (American Lebanese writer, Prophet is awesome piece)

The above writers in their own ways have tried to make stories or poems which would inspire people, inculcate values in them, make then question things and norms. I however wonder how these men and women did when they went through writer’s block. I read that few writers just use to fill their pages with gibberish (even though those words might be full of spelling errors ) and some go into wild antics which can be termed plain crazy stuff. However when these guys bounce back they put in inspirational stuff, so is their NOT writing a part of writing good, a silence before the storm.

The best quote I found while thinking about it was by Charles Bukowski , who states

“writing about a writer’s block is better than not writing at all” .

Though I found another one, very interesting but maybe not much appropriate for high-nose polished beings.

Stated by the great Hank Moody that when you are not able to write anything,just say

Madafakaaaaa.

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The war Crime of which War ?

I have been thinking about writing on this topic ever since longtime, It was after the beheading of the India soldier of Rajputana Regiment by Pakistan Army in collusion with the Jihadist elements that made me relook at the scenario. The incident of January 8 in Mendhar area of Jammu and Kashmir, kind of brought the memories of Kargil war 1999. It was however reported that last year too, two Kumao regiment soldiers of Indian army were beheaded in same manner, but the news was subdued of their death or specifically of their beheading.

The situation of Kargil in 1999, a time when I just entered into my teens was not fully documented or reported, it was only on internet that I was able to find complete information about the scenario. A young 22 year old army captain Saurab Kali of 4 Jat regiment deployed on his first mission, fresh out of military academy along with his 4 other fellow soldiers were captured by Pakistani army and Jihadist elements in 1999  who had infiltrated into the India territory of Kargil, Kashmir to capture vital Land mass (their operation was much in lines with Indian operation in which Indian had captured siachen Glacier in 1984, this is the view that comes out from Pakistani media).

Torture and execution:

Anyhow, the torture he and his fellow soldiers went through was evident from the mutilation of bodies which were received. Captain Kalia and his men were in captivity for over twenty-two (May 15, 1999 – June 7, 1999) days, their bodies were handed over by Pakistan Army on June 9, 1999. The postmortem revealed that the Pakistan army had tortured them by burning their bodies with cigarettes, piercing ear-drums with hot rods, puncturing eyes before removing them, breaking most of the teeth and bones, fractures of the skull, cutting the lips, chipping of nose, chopping off limbs and private organs of these soldiers besides inflicting all sorts of physical and mental tortures and finally shooting them dead, as evidenced by the bullet wound to the temple. The postmortem report also confirmed that injuries were inflicted ante-mortem (before death).

When the same situation came again in Jan  2013, it just got me thinking. I wondered how could someone do such a dastardly act, the main question in my mind was “what motivates” such people.The guy who did that mutilation was a soldier of Pakistan army, but is yet to be identified. Certain section in India went gaga about what NOT to do in such situations which included an actor (a profiteer and an ideological whore, I presume  you have to be later in order to be former) and few journalists with his ideological swinging.  Most of the “self-proclaimed” liberal in both sides of the country always are found quoting that, we share same gene pool infact we are pretty much the same ethnic stock.  Then why would one do such a thing?

Upon going through such thoughts and discussing with my fellow mates, the answer I got was that it is not got to do with Pakistan army but rather with the idea of Islamic supremacy/ Salafism/ Wahhabism or a desire for nationalistic supremacy of Pakistan. Such scenario were a common sight during Mughal Raj and Pakistan or should I say Pakistani Army establishment has a hangover of the past (they take deep pride in their forefathers’  so called “ruling” of India, even though more south Asian Muslims reside in India than in Pakistan and many in large numbers serve in Indian army forces and Intelligence agencies.)

Still the news was disturbing and brought back the stories of two famous executions in similar style during Mughal Raj, one was of Sambhaji, eldest son of Shivaji (first Maratha Ruler and a Hindu) and the second one was of Sardar Banda Singh Bahadur, a Sikh disciple of Guru Gobind Singh (10th Sikh guru). However, I would also like to mention Dhulla Bhatti, a Muslim Rajput (RobinHood of Punjab in 16^th century) who was killed in the same scenario as William Wallace of Scotland whose story was immortalized in the Hollywood movie, Braveheart.

Sambhaji: 2nd Maratha King:

He was the eldest son of Shivaji, founder of Maratha Empire who laid the seeds of Marathi nationalism and his followers captured much of present Indian land. At the age of nine, Sambhaji was sent to live with Mughal commanders, as a political hostage for a treaty King Shivaji had signed with the Mughals. When he came back he proved his abilities, he was a good warrior and an able commander who won 128 battles and lost none. He was famous and hated by Mughals for “Scorched earth” tactics which involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area. It is a military strategy where all of the assets that are used or can be used by the enemy are targeted, such as food sources, transportation, communications, industrial resources, and even the people in the area. The practice can be carried out by an army in enemy territory, or in its own home territory.

Sambhaji did not have a very smooth relationship with his father King Shivaji and was imprisoned too and had equally tough time in ascending to the throne as there were many opponents to him.

The 1687 Battle of Wai, Maratha forces were badly weakened by the Mughals. The key Maratha commander Hambirao Mohite was killed, and troops started to desert the Maratha armies. Sambajiraje’s positions were spied upon by Shirke clan Marathas who had defected to the Mughals, and in February 1689 Sambhaji and 25 of his advisor were captured by the Mughal forces of Muqarrab Khan on 1 Feb, 1689.

Execution:

He along with his captured men was brutally tortured for over a fortnight. The torture involved plucking out their eyes and tongue and pulling out their nails. The later part involved removing their skin. On March 11, 1689, Sambhaji was finally killed, reportedly by tearing him apart from the front and back with ‘Wagh Nakhe’ (‘Tiger claws’, a kind of weapon), and was beheaded with an axe. His torture and execution was done at Vadhu on the banks of the Bhima river, near Pune. People of Maharashtra, a state in India still remember him as a great warrior who fought for them and is lauded for his bravery. He was 31 years old when he was executed.

Sardar Banda Singh Bahadur

He was born into a Rajput family of Kashmir and owing to a freak accident had given up world life in his early 20s. It was after his meeting with Guru Gobind Singh that he became a Sikh and took up arms to fight against Mughal tyranny. From 1707 till 1716 at the time of his death, he struggled to fight against Mughal tyranny. His exploits and wars were against those Mughal who were so much consumed by power that they killed anyone who opposed them, which included noted Sufi saints . Sufi are the most liberal Islamic followers and don’t believe in material possession, unlike the Mughals of that time who took away everything that you had as per their wish. Hence forth many Sufis use to clash with Mughals over the later’s behavior towards masses.

Banda Singh even established the first Sikh state. There was one war in which he fought wazir khan of sirhind, in that battle he was joined by many Sikhs and Hindu jats, Gujars and Rajputs of about five thousand which propelled his army to a number of 50000 and won the battle against a well-trained army whose leader had issue jihad against them. Wazir Khan was killed.

Bahadur Shah, the Mughal emperor son of Aurangzeb journeyed northwards from Deccan to punish Sikhs as he has been in war with Marathas over there. Fearing that some Sikhs might not have smuggled themselves into the royal camp disguised as Hindus, Bahadur Shah ordered all Hindus employed of imperial forces to shave off their beards. Emperor Bahadur Shah’s order, issued on December 10, 1710 was a general warrant for the faujdars to “kill the worshipers of Nanak, i.e. Sikhs, wherever they are found. Banda Singh was chased out of every corner of Punjab and he took refuge in the Shivalik hills. There he got married to a daughter of hill chief.

He raided again into Mughal Empire but the numbers of Mughal army overwhelmed him. Later he was eventually captured after a siege of eight months in which some left him and remaining of his defenders ran out of ammunition and food. They tried to exist on boiled leaves and the bark of trees, and were gradually reduced to mere skeletons. Then on 17th December, 1715, Abdus Samad shouted across the separating moat, that he would not allow any killing by his men, if Banda opened the gate to the fortress. When Banda ordered the gate be opened, the Mughals rushed in to spear or stab as many as three hundred of the half-dead and helpless defenders. About 200 were captured alive and handcuffed in twos. Banda Singh had chains round his ankles and his wrists, and was then locked in an iron cage.

Execution:

He was produced before the Mughal Emperor along with 740 sikhs where he was mocked for being a king. The execution of Sikhs went on for 7 days. Banda Singh was then given a short sword and ordered to kill his own son 3 year old Ajay Singh. As he sat unperturbed, the executioner moved forward and plunged his sword into the little child cutting the body into two. Then pieces of flesh were cut from the body and thrown in Banda’s face. His liver was removed and thrust into Banda Singh’s mouth. The executioner then pulled out Banda’s eyeballs with his dagger. While Banda sat still, the executioner took his sword and slashed off his left foot, then both his arms. Finally, they tore off his flesh with red-hot pincers and cut his body up into pieces. These details of the torture are given in full, by the following writers such as Mohammed Harisi, Khafi Khan, Thornton and Elphinstone. Banda Singh Bahadur was 46 years old when he was executed.

Dhulla Bhatti

He was a Muslim Rajput from a warrior tradition and was a bitter enemy of Akbar, 3^rd Mughal Ruler.  His clan would not bow down to the then Mughal Emperor Akbar’s authority. Their pride was such that they refused to pay any taxes and refused to acknowledge Akbar as their ruler. When Akbar came to Lahore, he ordered the execution of all the rebels. Dhulla’s father and his grandfather were both killed. To instill fear into the hearts of the common man, Akbar got their skins stuffed with wheat hay (toori) and hung the dead-bodies on the main door. This death was so gruesome that even now to instill fear in north India, same story is repeated either to children or to enemies.

When this all incident happened Dhulla wasn’t even born, his mother was pregnant with him. He was never told of the cause of his father’s and grandfather’s death till he was a young man. There are many stories to justify this but the major theory is that at the time Dulla was born, Akbar’s wife gave birth to Salim (who would later become Emperor Jahangir). But Salim was a weakling and on doctors’ suggestions Akbar brought in Ladhi (Dhulla’s mother and a strong Rajput woman) to his palace in Delhi and made her to breast feed Salim. So both Dhulla and Salim were practically brought up by Ladhi and were milk-brothers. In adolescents, these two had a good friendship.

During a later period in his life Salim came to him as he had fallen out with Akbar and instigated Dhulla against Akbar. With salim’s help Dhulla built up an army and use to raid the caravan of Akbar’s merchants. He used to then distribute these items to the poor, thereby leading to a popular support for him in masses. It is believed that Dhulla had restored the prestige/Honour of an innocent girl whose modesty was outraged (she was rapped) by a Mughal general by marrying her off to one of his fellow commanders. He had also adopted her as his daughter.

Dhulla’s uncle Jalaludin was envious because of the rising popularity of his nephew and complained to Akbar against Dhulla. The final nail in the coffin came when Dhulla captured Akbar’s two wives that infuriated Akbar so much that he sent an entire Army to capture him. The overwhelming numbers of Mughal army went against him and he was captured.

Execution:

Dhulla Bhatti gave them a fierce fight but eventually was captured and executed William Wallace way, where his body parts were cut one by one and his both arms and legs were sent to four corners of the Empire. His body parts were sent to all the regions of the Mughal Kingdom as a sign of a warning of the things not to do. There was one Sufi saint close to Dhulla Bhatti who tried to stop his excutions and for which he got into trouble with the police chief there at the spot of execution, the sufi saint’s name was Shah Hussain, he belonged to Dhudha clan of Rajputs. So this story also points out that Muslims in a whole were not in accordance with Mughals as many considered Mughals as foreigners and exploiters.Dhulla Bhatti was in 40s when he was killed along with his son.

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Conclusion:

The stories of these three brave men are synonymous in one thing that all died fighting for freedom at the hands of self-obsessed people who used religion and their power as a tool for propagating authority or in the words of scholars: Islamic supremacism (this stands true for Aurangzeb even though for Akbar that might be a subject of debate.) One knows that those associated with Mughal kingdom would never accept it as the war crimes but rather as punishments, which includes those Hindus who were Mughal subjects. The irony of the situation was that most non-Muslim officers were in the time of Aurangzeb’s court, but this doesn’t obliviates him of his genocidal actions towards Sikhs and Hindus who demanded freedom.

So my final question remains and most importantly that associated with the current scenario, are we still at war with that supremacist enemy,with whom our ancestors fought ?

There was another point which came out in the discussion:

Before Islam came there were fights between Hindus and Buddhist, as I guess it was in the nature of Humans to fight and more importantly those who lived in the region in todays world know as north India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The region of Afghanistan and Pakistan was full of Buddhist culture, something which has been documented and authenticated by the art facts found in the region (even though many  Islamist or Ultra Nationalist in Pakistan want to deny it and try to link themselves as descendants of Arabs, in short propelling their inferiority complex in comparison to an Arab).

Whatever may be the religion, for 5000 years this region of North India, Pakistan and Afghanistan have been in conflict with each other and with those who came from out site. So coming back to the main question, are these events part of small battle or recent war or rather it is part of an ancient war which has been going on for thousands of years.

For me and my debating circle, it seems like the ancient war is still carrying on, not that I am supporting it or condemning it but rather just observing it. Capt Kalia’s family fights for his death being recognized as war crime according to Geneva Convention, which I donot know when it will be accepted in UN.

One thing is sure that war crime of such kind has been part and parcel of South Asian history and nobody cares about it till the time it hits you.

References:

http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Banda_Singh_Bahadur

http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Guru_Gobind_singh

http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Dulla_Bhatti

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-12-16/india/35850145_1_nk-kalia-capt-saurabh-kalia-pakistan-interior-minister

http://www.firstpost.com/india/they-didnt-just-pluck-your-eyes-out-capt-saurabh-kalia-538436.html

http://www.hindujagruti.org/news/4404.html

http://sikhyouth.com/biographies/religious/banda-singh-bahadur/

The Wait — Rumi

One day your heart will take you to your Lover.
One day your soul will carry you to the Beloved.
Don’t get lost in your pain, know that one day your
pain will become your cure. —-Rumi

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Teacher — Shams Tabrizi

There are more fake guides,
teachers in the world than stars.
The real guide is the one who makes you see your inner beauty,
not the one who wants to be admired and followed.            ——— Shams Tabrizi

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Safi Pashtuns

There is a story which goes about Pashtuns, more importantly about Safi Pashtuns. This story infact became the focal point for Pashtun nationalism and led to the creation of present day Afghanistan (the more appropriate word would be, this story or this event implanted the seeds for independence for Pashtuns).

The story goes as following:

During the time of Aurangzeb (6th Mughal Ruler), Revolt was triggered when soldiers under the orders of the Mughal Governor Amir Khan allegedly attempted to molest women of the Safi tribe in modern day Kunar. The Safi tribemen retaliated and killed the soldiers. This attack provoked a reprisal, which triggered a general revolt of the most of the tribes. When news reached Aurangzeb that his general was killed, he appealed to the tribe to hand over the killers , but the naturally elders refused and challenged the Emperor. This was owing to their stance of Pashtunwali.

To be Noted:  I wonder how he would have reacted if his wife or daughter might have been subjected to such a treatment. Aurangzeb would have subjected such men to inhuman torture, a torture which would have been invented for those men only. Aurangzeb was a hypocrite, this event adds significance to those voices against him.

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Soon Aurangzeb set out with a large force against the Safi and their allies from other Pashtun clans namely Khattak, Afridis, Shinwari, and Mohmands in the command of Khushal Khan Khattak which was at that time the tribal chief of Khattak tribe. Afghan sources claim that Aurangzeb suffered a humiliating defeat, with a reported loss of 40,000 Mughal soldiers who were killed in the battle and with only four men, including the Governor managing to escape. These events occurred during 1672. This story stands out precisely because it shows the culture of Pashtunwali in it, where Honour for a Pashtun is supreme. Violating that Honour means death, especially if violating the honour of Pashtun women (An ideology also incorporated among many north-Indian warrior communities).

Now the most interesting factor in all this was that Aurangzeb himself was married to a Pashtun woman named Rabia-ud-Durrani, also known as Dilras Banu Begum, though “official” accounts state that she was a decendant of Safavid dynasty. Pashtuns have Indo-Iranian origination, so things are hazy when the writers are writing what “master” wants. I say this because such reports have been made about other guys also.This is done to show “higher breed” of the person concerned. Thereby validating his/her rule or authority much like an irrepressible power and propelling feudal command. Liaquat Ali Khan is mentioned as descendant of King in Iran well infact he was a muslim Jat, whose forefathers were given enormous land by Aurangzeb.  She died in child birth in 1657; Aurangzeb had married her as a child in 1637. I am sure that she must have told Aurangzeb about Pashtunwali and Pashtun code of conduct. Though what fails me is that Aurangzeb’s insensitive nature towards the Pashtun men who fight for honour of their women (and more importantly those alike Pashtuns whom he butchered). It seems in this case he was more inclined towards making Pashtuns submit rather than hear them out. This nature of his is seen while dealing with Jats, Rajputs, Sikhs and Marathas too, which eventually led to crumbling of his Mughal empire.

Currently the Safi tribe is well known for resistance to the Taliban regime, and many fierce clashes have broken out between the two.

 Ancestry of Safi Pashtuns:

The ancestry of the Safis reaches back to the inhabitants of the ancient kingdom of Gandhara, and they are related to the neighboring Nuristanis. Besides Pashto, some clans of the Safis speak a Kohistani Pashayi dialect. More could be found after performing genetic test and DNA analysis but given the current state of Afghanistan it might not be possible. They basically reside in the region of Kunar Province is in the northeastern part of the country. The capital of the province is Asadabad. It is one of the four “N2KL” provinces (Nangarhar Province, Nuristan Province, Kunar Province and Laghman Province).

Pashtuns Genealogy:

There have been constant fights between many scholars who claim Pashtuns as the descendants of their respective races/ communities naturally so given fierce warrior independent nature of Pashtun. Though there might be possibility of mixing of races in Pashtun and formation of new clans which came into being during 5-10 Century AD.

Following are the people who lay claim on Pashtuns:

1. Indo-Aryans/Indo-Europeans/Indo-Iranians or South Asians of Northern region.
2. Jews more importantly Israelis
3. Arabs: This one some Pashtun tribe claims decent from Arabs.
4. Greeks: The Pashtuns of Peshawar region show genetic similarities with Indo-Greek traits as many claims that they are descendants of Alexander‘s army.

Politics behind Pashtuns Genealogy and Genetics:

Now any sane and logical person can understand that political significance of it.

1. If Israel (Jews) justifies their claim, they can inspire Pashtuns to fight Arabs and Iranians. Not to mention pacify them from fighting Jews and turning against Palestine.
2. If Iran justifies the claim then it is simple that Wahabbi ( Saudi ideology) will be pumped out and Shia Ideology could be brought in or any sunni Ideology which is not anti-Iran.
3. If Indo-Aryans justify the claim they can stop Pashtuns from being a tool in the hands of Wahabbi and Salafi elements whose main job is get more land and more people in their religion (Not to mention kill infidels and take their women ,violate these women to be precise).
4. If Arabs justify their claim or as some Pashtun tribes want to claim, then they could become an asset in the hands of Wahabbi or Salafis. The puritan form of Islamist who preach Islamic supremacy (The fundamentalist Arabs then infuse Wahhabi and Salafi ideology in Pashtun youth and brain wash them to perform suicide attacks ).

Whatever may be the outcome of this “political”  struggle, following words hold true for non-Pashtun people in the region who have watched Pashtuns for thousands of years.Sometimes in amazement, sometimes with respect and sometimes in form of an enemy.

The words could be best summed up are:

You will never find more noble, honorable and loyal friend

And neither will you find more honest and fierce enemy.

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Target 3 Billion: Innovative Solutions Towards Sustainable Development

The book talks about PURA : Providing Urban amenities in Rural Area. It talks about various social entrepreneurs who took a challenge or a task to transform their respective villages and societies. Dr Kalam along with Mr Srijan Pal Singh provides the readers with various steps which could be taken to eradicate poverty in the world by using PURA as a tool for development.

The book starts with mentioning about the other human kind which has no access to good life and lack basic amenities like portable drinking water and basic medical supplies.

Then Dr kalam talks about the vision of 2020 that he had set out when he was the president of India. A target he set that needs to met, in which all the indians would strive to make our country a developed nation by 2020.He talks about a form of socio-economic revolution that needs to take place.He rightly focuses upon the cause of rural to urban area migration.

He focuses on youth of India who could play a major role in this aspect in eradicating poverty. He talks that rural India is an opportunity and challenge at the same time for young entrepreneurs who could bring a socio-economic change.

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Dr Kalam provides a list of sustainable features which needs to be undertaken to offer solution to the problem:

1. Economic sustainability
2. Technological sustainability
3. Social Sustainability
4. Environmental Sustainability
5. Value Sustainability
6. Learning and adaptability

He talks how technology could become a major driving force to meet the goal.He also states that environmental conditions should not be harmed in the due process.

Agriculture and PURA:

In another part of the book Dr Kalam and Mr Singh give a detailed viewpoint as to how PURA could be used in agricultural sector.Since rural economies are largely dependent upon agriculture the world over, the work could begin from there to eradicate poverty buy unleashing the potential of agriculture.Both talk about the second green revolution and how India needs another green revolution in which these agro-businessmen of India could play a major role.They then provide information about the many case studies in this field. eg Chitrakoot PURA and WARNA cooperative sugar factory.

They also talk about the Milk revolution which needs to come again. India being that largest producer of the milk in the world and Indian dairy providing 13% employment and 5% to national GDP. The figures are provided to show the potential of Indian milk industry.India has 283 million cattles in the world more than any. Cattle breeding,cattle health care, cattle food and nutrition,processing and marketing of of milk is talked in detail.

Social Transformation and PURA:

Mr Kalam talks about the gap in the Rural and Urban amenities in detail. He provides a bunch of stats in this regard. Here he talks that how technology,management, entrepreneurship and investments need to be used optimally to create a revolutionary change in this decade.Society based on knowledge and skill could be used to utmost advantage in India.There are case studies of social entrepreneurs who made a huge change to society. They also talk how there needs to be building of value based society.

Eco-Friendly sustainable development:

They devote an entire chapter on how the development must be made on Eco-friendly terms. Any development which is done by harming the environment is not right and should be avoided. Climate change and reforestation is talked in detail. The use of renewable energy could be employed for power generation and they talk about the vision 2030 for global energy.

Community driven sustainable development:

In this part Public private community partnership model is talked. The role of community action is been talked in length.

The four fold participation by the community is talked:

1. Planning
2. Execution
3. Sustenance
4. Growth

Then there are case studies about the barefoot doctors of China which were part of Chinese rural health care movement (started in 1950s). It’s success is talked and how it could be used. Child journalist who create a voice for the community are also in another case study where “Bachhon ki pahel” news bulletin is mentioned. They talk about other organization too such as Magarpatta community, samaj shilpi dampati and female health volunteers of Loni.Emphasis is made on youth to meet the target.

Enterprise creation leading to empowerment:

This was the chapter which interested me the most where social entrepreneurship is talked. This focuses on how enterprises could help eradicate poverty and PURA could be useful tool in it. Micro, small and medium enterprise’s role is looked in depth. A constructive environment which is beneficial for all is talked about which could be built using an enterprise network. Technology’s role is again mentioned and given a prime importance.

Certain PURAs are talked in detail to give a perspective into the way working could be, namely:
1.    Chitrakoot PURA
2.    Periyar PURA

Working culture of Toyota and Fabio Rosa’s work towards bringing sustainable energy to Brazilian villages is also mentioned.

Realization of PURA:

In this part the steps towards implementation and realization of PURA are talked about. The many organizations or people who could setup PURA and worked are talked. It talks more about policy.

The people whom they mention could set up PURA and help realize the dream of poverty-less nation are:

1.  Government
2. Individual/NRIs
3. Entrepreneurs
4. Industry
5. Village cooperatives
6. Academic institutions
7. International organizations and NGOs

It is mentioned that ministry of rural development in may 2010 launched national PURA program under private public partnership with an active role for panchayati raj institutions. The funding plans of the projects are also provided in detail.Rest of the book talks about that PURA cooperation could bring changes in development and result in the development of 21st century.It is a good book in understanding a solution that Dr Kalam brings about for solving the issue of poverty in the world and particularly in India.

The Elephant Paradigm: India Wrestles With Change

The book is a combination of various articles written by the author over the years. Possibly from mid 1990s to 2002. The author essentially is of capitalist mind and offers solutions based on that model. The author also tries to convince people that capitalism must be sold to people like “Fabian socialism” of Nehru was sold to masses in 1950s. Even though acknowledging the short comings of the capitalist ideology, the author debates that it is the best system forward.

Being the ex-CEO of Procter and Gamble(India) , the author does provides an insight into various issues from the side of a capitalist. I however believe that the author missed out a concept called “social entrepreneurship” or “responsible capitalism“, which one believes should have been talked more in his book. I must say that I was horrified by couple of his suggestions and at the same time sympathetic to some, particularly about export industry .

Author is educated in Harvard University (in 1950s if I am not wrong) , he does bring along a certain mindset. I however believe that his understanding of certain issues were elitist per say ( both social and economical ) even though the author tries to pinpoint to the reader that he is NOT elitist, on this part I would beg to differ with him.

Author also focuses a lot on philosophers and their view points, I presume that is an educational hazard that the author has to live with (since the author did Philosophy honors from Harvard university) and so he uses the names of many western philosophers in putting his view point across. I would have liked if he would have quoted more of Indian philosophers.

The author also makes a point that he is a liberal in every sense ( I presume it is fashion these days to say so), I for one evoke author’s concern towards the reform of the rules and allowing entrepreneurship to be encouraged. It is an average book if any body wishes to read it. I was drawn to it after reading India Unbound by the author. I however doubt that I would be reading any other of his books soon. None the less , some books recommended by him will certainly be on my list for the book TO-READ.

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Hyderabad IV – Paradise restaurant

Moving along further, we reached on paradise restaurant which was suggested to us by the locals at SD road, after we had inquired about good places to eat. Paradise restaurant was built in 1950s and had a movie theater along with it. It seems that the theater’s name was paradise. Over the years the theater gave name to the restaurant, the Biryani of paradise became so famous that Hyderabadi Biryani became synonymous of Paradise’s Biryani.

The present paradise is more of a building block on a corner which includes a

• Paradise restaurant: platinum and normal (we ate in normal one).
• Paradise Bakery
• Paradise Take away

The famousness of Paradise could be seen from the fact that the bus stop near the restaurant uses its name and many buses have route names Paradise. I and my friend thought of eating chicken Biryani and Mutton Biryani (it was on his instance as I was pretty over with just chicken Biryani itself). Thereafter we tried the bakery offered by Paradise. The royal Kulfi and the faluda shake were important items which we HAD to try.

There was this clip board/information bulletin which talked about the origination of Biryani in Hyderabad Deccan and who brought it here. It also talked about the way Biryani has evolved observe the years and the local touch that it has got.

The word Biryani has a Persian origination and from there it went into Afghanistan and then to Mughal culture. Aurangzeb (The notorious Mughal Ruler) brought it into the Deccan when he invaded it.

Irani chai without doubt was another menu item which we were not willing to miss. After having a good lunch, we thought of moving to Hussein sagar lake that we could go on a boat ride. Since we were unable to find the direct bus and were not willing to pay to the cab or auto driver, we choose to march onto Hussein sagar lake (well actually it was my friend’s desire/decision) and I marched on.

The whole walking process was 8 km long and we made directional mistake.This caused an added effort to us. Since we were more like tourists therefore we didn’t mind the effort but my feet, well they were surely complaining and protesting. It was as if they got squeezed.

We walked through the Marriott Hotel, then past Ambedkar Bhawan and a small Buddha Temple (which was in pathetic condition). Then we went onto Lumbini Park which is in front of Andra Pradesh Secretariat,past NTR garden towards Indira Gandhi statue. From there we took a right turn towards people plaza and finally came to a still on Food court which had pretty much everything (subway,cafe coffee day, sultans, KFC and other local restaurants).

The pic below I took it infront of Marriott Hotel. The temperature in Hyderabad is usually good and varies from 18 to 31 degrees. However on the lake side, due to the water and winds blowing, it tends to be cooler.The clouds parting from the sky and view of the entire lake is indeed majestic.

There is however one thing which bugged me when I was walking down the necklace road, which is that Hussein sagar lake is not maintained properly. There are instances of water pollution there. People it seems believe that nature especially the water bodies can absorb anything, literally ANYTHING (sic).

The boards on the pedestrian street showed that there is a Japanese company project going on, but clearly things were in a mess. Either the Indians were faster in throwing the garbage into the lake compared to the Japanese removing it ( if that is true, Indians surely know how to beat Japanese) or nobody really cares about the entire mess.

There is a boat club too on the Hussain Sagar lake, which I was not able to notice in my prior visit to the Lake in 2010. This time however I found it. The view from the side of Marriot Hotel was peaceful one. I remember that few days before Rahul Dravid had come to the boat club. The boat club requires a membership card to enter, without that one cannot use their Premises. One was also able to view Caucasians (white men and women) jogging around the Hussain sagar lake which also has this pedestrian walking place.

The IMAX 3D theater also falls in the vicinity and apparently this is the first of its kind in Hyderabad, so the youth come there in large numbers including the IT people who have thronged onto the city in the last decade or so. There is a food court on the road to of IMAX near Hussein Sagar Lake which offers many restaurants/fast food / cafes.

From there on, one could board the ferry. The ferry cost no more than Rs50/- Per person.  We boarded it in the evening when the sun was settling. The Buddha statue was lit up with lights and it looked beautiful. Last time I came was during his hour of day too, that is evening.

Evening usually is the right time for any person to go at Hussein sagar. The other suitable time is  in the morning but I doubt that the boat club and the ferry offer their services then.

Raiders from the North (Empire of the Moghul #1)

The book is an interesting take on Babur, his fights and battles. It starts from 12-year-old Babur listening about his ancestor Timur from his father who is a king but is not that rich (Timur plundered Delhi and his soldiers raped and killed many during the rule of Tughlaq dynasty  in 1398).

 The main characters which go along with you throughout the book are:

• Esan Dwalat: Babur’s maternal grandmother
• Khanzada: Babur’s older sister
• Kutlugh Nigar: Babur’s mother
• Shibani Khan: Babur’s arch rival, leader of Uzbeks and a nemesis of Babur’s people
• Baburi: Babur’s close friends
• Wazir Khan: Milk brother to Babur’s father , guide and mentor to Babur.
• Kasim : Babur’s ambassador
• Baisanghar : Babur’s father-in-law who helped Babur capture Samakhand
• Maham: Babur’s favourite wife and mother of Humayun and daughter of Baisanghar.

Babur as such had 5 wives and many concubines, the name of his 5 wives mentioned are:

• Ayisha: 1^st wife older than Babur, daughter of chief of Mangligh clan. She never accepted him and had a lover prior in her own people with whom she eventually marries after leaving Babur.
• Maham: Daughter of Baisanghar, the man who helped Babur win Samarkand.  Babur marries her to show respect to Baisanghar in addition to the fact that his 1^st wife abandoned him for her lover.
• Gulrukh: Mother of kamran and Askari. Grand-daughter of Bahlul Ayyub, Vazir of Kabul.
• Bibi Mubarak: Daughter of the chief of Yusufzai clan (A Pashtun clan)
• Dildar: Mother of Hindal

The author’s name Alex Rutherford is the pen name for Diana Preston and her husband Michael. Both studied at Oxford University reading History and English respectively. I believe that the act of humanizing Babur and the fact Babur is shown crying would definitely be a mind of a woman at work. Since that emotion riddled sequences are the ones which they so much like.  Therefore I guess that the husband and wife duo had their work cut out, very well.

Babur is a descendent of  Timur and Genghis Khan both. I however think that the book is romanticism of Babur. It shows him in humane form. Shibani Khan an Uzbek and arch rival of Timur princes is shown as barbarous man who was sexually assaulted and kept as a boy toy by an old Timur noble. This was when he was captured in a battle but Shibani Khan kills that noble and escapes, pledging to kill all Timur princes ( I think a fair deal if we look what Timur descendents did to Shibani khan and his people).

Babur is also saved many times by luck as his uncles, Rulers at Samarkand and Kabul gift him his kingdoms as they have no male heir. Shibani khan demands Babar’s sister’s hand in marriage as a price of leaving Samarkand unharmed, when he invades Samarkand (which is a tough issue for Babur). The author writes that Babur wept at being not a man/feeling impotent as he was unable to protect his sister’s honor,especially when he visualizes/imagines Shibani Khan touching the soft white skin of his sister (which is again human attempt though reality of the situation was not written or recorded in Babar’s auto-biography.Babur at that time was 19 Years old and his sister was 21 years old). His sister was returned to him by the Shah of Iran as the Persian Army killed Shibani Khan.

Babur again returns to Samarkand but as a puppet of Shah of Iran who asks him to convert to Shia Islam instead of Sunni Islam. His refusal leads to his loss of the city once and for all. During this period Baburi and Babur have differences. Therefore Baburi leaves Babur’s side and goes away. Babur is left all by himself without the men he could really trust. Baburi eventually returns after 7 years bringing Turkish canon along which he uses to conquer Hindustan (a land of infidels as he use to call it).

There he fights Sultan Ibrahim Lodi (A Pashtun Ruler). Whose armies he is able to defeat (as apparently it is full of infidels, very amusing). During this war he loses his close friend Baburi. After killing and defeating Ibrahim Lodi, Babur becomes the Emperor of India. Here too he fights of many fractions within, Namely Lodi’s mother Buwa who curses Babur.

Then there are fights with Rana sangha of Mewar, an old ruler famous for many bruises on his body along with many of his wives and concubines. This he wins by calling Jihad.  There is an attempt on Babur’s life by Poisoning but Babur is able to overcome it, it was  by Buwa, Ibrahim Lodi’s mother. He eventually dies praying for his son Humayun’s recovery.

I think it is a good book for fun-history purposes but the author himself/herself writes that he/she has fictionalized it. Though 70% is facts based on Babar’s auto biography.

I might read rest of the parts too but not soon, probably in a year or two.

Hyderabad III —Irani Chai

There are couple of things that you ought to try when you come to Hyderabad (the cybercity earlier also known as city of pearls), the cuisine of Hyderabad is one of them. Hyderabad is famous for its Biryani pan-India but Irani chai doesnot fall much behind. There is an interesting story behind Irani chai’s origination in this region.  It is said that Persian immigrants came to Mumbai’s port in last century and prior to that for better life and trade purposes. From Mumbai they migrated to pune and then to Hyderabad. Along with them came the concept of Iranian Chai.

The culture of Hyderabad has got so consumed by Irani chai that I doubt any other form of tea (chai) is made here. They say that the difference in Irani chai and rest of the tea style made in India varies in the making/ preparing process. The tea leaves are boiled in a separate container along with water and milk is also boiled in separate container. Then while serving to the customers they pour in first the milk then the liquid solution made out of tea leaves. This process is seen in many places which still retain that Iranian touch. However with the advent of fast life, things have changed in way of serving that the tea is already poured in a container, ready to serve. Then it is just poured out, no first milk and then tea leaves solution long process.

If you talk to the café owners about difference in tea style they say that Irani chai is very different from the tea you get in Udipi restaurants and darshinis. Udipis add 3-4 litres of water to every litre of milk. They pour milk, water, tea powder and sugar in the same vessel and as soon as the colour changes they take it off the stove. They don`t let the tea brew like they do in Irani chai making process.

The tea cost in the range of Rs 5-20 depending on the place of drinking. It is said that SD Road (Sarojani Devi Road) in secunderabad is a good spot to find all these cafes. Honestly, SD Road is no special; it might have been the place where the initial Iranian settler settled but now you can find Irani chai in many restaurants and the Irani cafes have given way of Baristas, Café coffee days and now starBucks is coming to town.

Though while travelling on SD Road, I did find certain bakery shops and the original Garden Restaurant established in 1952 (near the clock tower) which is very famous for Irani chai (atleast during the inception period). In the same very lane you can find café coffee day and subway providing competition.

Any trip to Hyderabad certainly goes unfinished if you haven’t had a sip of Irani chai, plus the whole Iranian angle does add a sense of exotica to it. Reaching the place isn’t tough if one wishes to go by public transport. There are buses which go directly to secunderabad and will land you on the door step. The location that any one needs to mention to reach SD road is the clock tower. Secunderabad as city is 200 years old and is also know as the twin city of Hyderabad (or more like a satellite town). It was founded in 1806 AD. Secunderabad was developed under the British rule and basic purpose for it was Cantonment for military purposes. Indian army and Air-force has a base there and it still continues to serve the purpose as a Cantonment.

Moving further I along with my friend went onto Paradise Restaurant which is famous for its Biryani, it is hardly 1 km walk from clock tower at SD Road. There too Irani chai is served as usual (like I said that Irani chai has taken over all the teas of Hyderabad and has kind of monopolized the region, though certain pockets of resistance do remain).

Secunderabad had a famous James street developed by the British for shopping purposes much like connaught place was developed in Delhi. Though James Street was wisely changed into MG Road (namely Mahatma Gandhi Road). It is still the hotbed of shopping in Secunderabad. On this very road lies the famous Paradise Hotel formed in 1953.

The traveling from SD Road near clock tower to Paradise restaurant is straight forward, there is a bazaar which comes in between whose name I was not able to gasp. They say about Paradise restaurant that it was established in 1950s, there use to be a cinema hall there. Over the years the cinema hall vanished and the restaurant business started to boom. Thereby creating a brand of Paradise Biryani.

Russell Means

I first saw Russell Means in the movie named The Last of the Mohicans, he played Chingachgook. Chingachgook was the last Mohican chief. His son was killed by a Huron. Therefore he outlived his son and was known as last Mohican. I must say that the aura of the movie itself was remarkable and so were those people who played those characters. His appearance kind of made me think more about Native Americans. The movie itself was my second introductory movie into Native American culture after “The Legends of the falls”.  Internet or more importantly Google came as a big help in finding more about him. It was reported that his life was dedicated to the Native American people’s plight.  He was a member of American Indian Movement (AIM) and played an active role in civil rights campaign.

 

As per the website http://www.thenewamerican.com which seems to be anti- Russell Means

In 1972, Means and his AIM cohorts occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington. They ransacked its headquarters causing $3 million in damages but were given $66,000 by federal officials when they were forced out. The federal Office of Economic Opportunity awarded AIM $400,000, and funds were given to the group by the World Council of Churches and other “religious” groups. In 1973, Means and his AIM cronies led hundreds of other recruits in a takeover of the village of Wounded Knee, South Dakota. They occupied the area for more than two months and were eventually forced out after a small war was waged in which several Indians were killed and a federal official was severely wounded.

To be noted:  nearly 80 years earlier, Wounded Knee was the site of an 1890 massacre of scores of Lakota men, women and children by U.S. cavalry troops in what was the final major clash of the American Indian wars.Russell Means was there to protest against that massacre.

I also read different side of him in many articles which call him a spiritual leader for his people and someone who gave Native Americans their PRIDE back. He was born into Oglala Sioux (or Lakota as he was known internationally) community on November 10, 1939 Wanblee, South Dakota, U.S. Undoubtedly anyone who fights a system which criminalizes their community and more importantly takes away their land, will also be branded criminal as they are “trouble” creators.

On September 25, 1973, Means spelled out his and AIM’s revolutionary plan during an AIM rally at the University of Minnesota. Appearing with professed communist Angela Davis at his side, he announced that his goal included separating from the United States and building a new nation within our country’s borders. He stated:

If I become president of the Oglala Sioux tribe of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, we will take the first steps to eradicate the United States of America’s influence from our land. The methods, of course, depend on the cooperation of various countries that we are already in the process of talking to; various countries who will recognize our sovereignty and deal with us as international partners.

If their cooperation is assured, then when I become president [of the new country], I will abolish that office. I will abolish the Tribal Council, the Tribal Constitution, and the Indian Reorganization Act, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Public Health Service, the white ranchers and farmers of the Pine Ridge Reservation.

Then we will sit down in diplomatic negotiation with the United States of America to settle up for the western half of South Dakota.

The website http://www.thenewamerican.com goes onto say that Mr. Russell Means never “apologized” for his actions against the country. Wow.

Going by what he did back then was quite revolutionary, I as an Indian (South Asian) was certainly not aware of the plights of Native Americans or as Mr. Russell Means liked to call his fellow people “American-Indians”. The world usually sees what the American media tells us to see and more importantly things which Hollywood wants us to see.   Mr. Russell Means might be radical (violent too for that matter) to some but his actions were to raise awareness about his people that was HIS greater massage.

His fellow Native American friends remember him more generously:

He’s a leader of all tribes—a spiritual leader—and a warrior. He was not originally a warrior, but all the injustice that happened to the American Indians and Canadian Indians—the system made him into a warrior just like Crazy Horse, Sundance Chief Leonard Crow Dog, AIM’s spiritual leader, told Indian Country Today.

Those of  us who grew in 1990s and watched Disney’s Pocahontas (1995) and its sequel Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World (1998). These were the major introductory anime films in native american culture for kids of the decade and those to come. Here too he played a major part, giving voice for the part of  Pocahonta’s father, Chief Powhatan.

He died on October 22, 2012, aged 72 at Porcupine, South Dakota, United States. His death was due to esophageal cancer. Many Americans will remember him as a man who was able to polarize their world on Native American issue and I would remember him as the man who was instrumental in introducing the real Native American culture to me, through his movies, speeches and writings.

The finger ?

I really have a question in my mind after watching my hits on the blog and traffic flow on 6 Oct 2012. Usually my blog is very relaxed and tends to get 200-300 hits on average days worldwide, but that day on 6 Oct 2012. It went WILD with 1024 hits, for a time I thought it must be 1024 bytes of memory.

If we look at the above pic “imaginatively” , the stat standing out really seems to be like a finger standing up, atleast that was what my friends suggested to me when they saw the stats page.

The amazing thing being that I got maximum hits from Canada ie 752 or as many north Indians like to call KANEDA (a slang word for Canada motor-mouthed by village bums in north India)

I fail to understand the correlation between  6 Oct 2012 and KANEDA going viral on my blog !

Surprising to me is why would that be ? Is someone trying to tell me something or as It appears on my stats window, SHOWING ME THE FINGER  ?

The Madman —Kahlil Gibran

The following lines are from the book “The Madmen” by Khalil Gibran, one of my favorite authors:

DEFEAT

Defeat, my defeat, my solitude and my aloofness;

You are dearer to me than a thousand triumphs,

And sweeter to my heart than all worldglory.

Defeat , my defeat, my self-knowledge and my defiance,

Through you I know that I am yet young and swift of foot

And not to be trapped by withering laurels.

And in you I have found aloneness

And the joy of being shunned and scorned.

Defeat, my Defeat, my shining sword and shield,

In your eyes I have read,

That to be enthroned is to be enslaved,

And to be understood is to be leveled down,

And to be grasped is but to reach one’s fullness

And like a ripe fruit to fall and be consumed

Defeat, my Defeat, my bold companion,

You shall hear my songs and my cries and my silences,

And none but you shall speak to me of beating of wings,

And urging of seas,

And of mountains that burn in the night,

And you alone shall climb my steep and rocky soul.

Defeat, my Defeat, my deathless courage,

You and I shall laugh together with the storm,

And together we shall dig graves for all that die in us,

And together we shall stand in the sun with will,

And we shall be dangerous.

Brothers

There have been many movies made on the life of soldiers all across the globe. Few dealing with the post traumatic stress of the war. The war doesnot always returns a soldier home in glory, sometimes for some soldiers the horrors that they encounter in war remains with them. The most important thing of all is the suffering of the soldier’s family namely wife, children and Parents.

I think I saw Brothers (2009) movie in 2011. The story and concept is really nice and deals with real issues. It deals with an American soldier who is given up for dead in Afghanistan war but return home with post traumatic stress. There is uneasy feeling with his wife and his two young daughters since his return. The main characters are played by Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman.  Tobey Maguire plays the role of the soldier, Natalie Portman is his wife and Jake Gyllenhaal is his good for nothing brother, who is criticized by his father for not being like his elder brother.

The story deals with Tobey Maguire’s character feeling that his wife slept with his brother, this issue gets fueled when his own daughter shouts on him saying that “you are just mad, that mom would rather sleep with uncle tommy than you” . ( I bet that would send any man into madness leave alone a soldiers who goes out to protect and fight for his nation.) Eventually Tobey’s character opens upto his wife after been taken to mental hospital, as previously he tried to commit suicide. The problem being that he killed his fellow American soldier in Afghanistan. The movie truly captures the emotions of a soldier and his family, it also speaks about how lives of men (soldiers to be precise) are tough if only the world is willing to listen and understand them. The silent pain that they go through for the nation and the people they love and want to protect.

This movie was earlier made in danish as Brødre directed by Susanne Bier. Staring Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Connie Nielsen and Ulrich Thomsen. Connie Nielsen is the partner of Metallica band drummer Lars Ulrich. She also started in the Gladiator as Marcus Aurelius’s daughter.

It is good movie and one would recommend it to people. Though it had a moderate success at the box office grossing $43 Million on a budget of $26 Million.

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Drunk —Rumi

Every question I ask is about you,
Every step I take is towards you.
I slept well last night
but I woke up drunk.
I must have dreamt about you. —Rumi

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wandering and lurking

Reblogged from Cedric Bernardini:

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That is all my job and the weather are allowing me to do these days. the patterns are as follow: days off= unsettled weather. work days=sunny and warm. I watched 3 seasons of "breaking bad" which I highly recommend. I drunk a few bottles of red wine. got fat , unfit and lazy. I went on nice short walks-climbs and witnessed radical climbing at the world cup, the chamois habitat, clouds and mountains, dog fight.

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