I happened to come across the post of Devdutt Pattanaik and as usual the man did not disappoint with his lines. In these lines he explains the dilemma of present day people. The desire for Perfection. It may well stand for parents who all want their sons and daughters to be engineers or doctors (most importantly from IIT, AIIMS, Harvard, Stanford , Oxford or Cambridge not that I hold anything against those who are already in there). Then the leftist utopians who want society perfect in their opinion and so with the Ultra-right wings who want society as per their choice and with their interpretation of perfection (in India’s case to determine who is higher and who is lower by birth , a viewpoint which Hindutva propagating elitist Brahmins do have (RSS ones to be specific has loads of them) and neither far behind are Jihadist/Ultra Right Islamist/ Wahhabis /Salafist who want their interpretation on world for everything, same holds true for Ultra right Christians (belonging to various thoughts of schools which includes Roman Catholics, Methodist, Protestants etc) and Ultra-right Jews)
This quest for “perfection” and every individuals own interpretation is without doubt a cause of conflict, however it does not mean that so called “imperfection‘ should be forced down the throat of others who disagree.
Let us ponder over it, for example some parents will let their child go through emotional and psychological roller coaster so that child may reach their interpreted perfect state (sometimes such quest is also termed as Child Abuse) .
A girlfriend/ boyfriend would “test” their counter parts to an extent that their relationship breaks (Cause of an abusive relationship). We desire ideal teachers even though we might know the he/she might have prejudice against us owing to color, caste and religion ( reminds me of battles of Karna and Eklavya in Mahabharat).
Mothers who would make child’s life miserable in order to make her daughter a perfect girl ( someone with things which she was not able to posses or achievements she was not able to get and then finally get this daughter of her a ‘perfect‘ match) or the son whom she wishes to convert into her interpretation of a perfect man, when she feels let down by all other men in her life including her brothers and father. The craving for that self made idealism or perfection would make her go to any extent. The most important point here being that this state of perfection is her self made or thrust upon her by some vindictive souls (a complexity of today’s world).
I may not be wrong in my observation that intolerance breeds from not willing to accept diversity, not willing to accept that if she has three sons, all three will be different. Someone might like a Nike shoe, someone an Adidas one and someone a Jordan shoe. Will her belief in a particular brand (say Nike) make her other two sons imperfect in her view point and if so, should it ?
Then again, my words above can be interpreted by my naysayers as my desire for a ‘perfect’ mother.
Talking about the concept of ‘perfect Husband‘, females usually identify such when they start comparing their spouses with their successful fathers, brothers or her sister’s husbands (in short brother-in-laws). This idea of perfection only goes till those beings with which she has close contact (thereby making her obliviate of the fact of other interpretations of perfection). Usually it is also effected by how much easier her life the person in question has made which is fueling the cause of comparison that she makes with respect to her “not so perfect” husband. This desire however does causes her misery. Something which Devdutt Pattanaik mentions in above lines.
The perfect wife, well I guess for this many can be accused including the so called role models. Every individuals interpretation of a perfect wife varies from the physical looks:
most importantly what is her eye color: Blue, grey, green, Brown , Black or each eye has different color. Her hair color also matters: Red, black, blonde, brown, white, does she color her hair often like purple or green”
to her habits :
Is she cleanliness oriented, does she rides bikes, does she climbs mountains, does she plays extreme sports, is she feminine stay at home type, Is she a late riser, does she eat non-veg, does she wears traditional clothes or revealing ones ,does she uses colorful abuses 🙂 , does she smokes and drinks, most importantly does she NOT nagg ?
to possessing skill sets:
notably is she like Nigella Lawson while baking, can she help in her man’s work, help with presentations and all, Can she manage the finances, does she poses motherly qualities,Is she knowledgeable, fields of qualification…. ?
to her money:
Is she rich even though she might be not so good looking and pain in the ass and whose money is that her Daddy’s or her own ?
to her education:
MIT,Yale, Princeton, Columbia,Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, Cornell, UCLA,AIIMS, John Hopkins, IIT, blah blah blah…… but for some no education and hot figure does wonder just like a white paper, you can write whatever you want without questions asked.
Finally who is her DADDY (it makes men decide whether their life will be miserable one or a pleasant one if they end up accidentally with her :D)
Now coming to those who govern the nation the Bureaucrats and Politicians. For latter part I would refrain to comment because it is a waste of time but for former it needs to be understood that any system can never be perfect. No matter how automatic your response gets still that ‘perfect‘ Bureaucrat will never be there. Even for that matter the interpretations of perfections would keep on changing or evolving. Example the profit margins, idea of success, the time Bureaucrat needs to devote to Public (that risks him/her being ‘imperfect’ husbands or wives). The idea of economic success on which he/she works. No doubt there are certain principles which needs to be followed but interpretation of the actions vary. Example an uptight one might be loathed for not being flexible, a flexible will be loathed for not being uptight, a reformist will be loathed for sidelining traditionalist and a traditionalist one will be loathed for not being a reformist. Left, center and right wing ideas do play a part here but then each one is perfect in their own ways for those who follow them.
Coming to starting remark made by Devdutt Pattanaik, I have read enough to understand that in Indian Mythologies two characters are most important Krishna and Ram, I would like to believe that none were perfect (though it might seems that I am doing it to justify my own imperfection and Ultra-right wing might not accept this view point). I ask when such imperfection lie among ‘gods’ then why should a MORTAL man be forced to be a symbol of perfection ?
No wonder Anti Hero’s of today are a rage as none are perfect ones but full of flaws, few I would like to mention who I like:
Danny Archer in Blood Diamond (played By Leonardo Di Caprio )
Michael Corleone in Godfather (Played by Al Pacino)
Batman in Batman series by Christopher Nolan (Played by Christian Bale)
Xander Cage in xXx (Played by Vin Diesel)
Sherlock Holmes (played by Robert Downey Jr)
John Rambo (Played by Stallone)
Captain Jack Sparrow (Played by Johnny Depp )
Don Draper in Mad Men (Played by Jon Hamm)
Nicholas Brody in Homeland (Played by Damain Lewis)
The ‘Great’ Hank Moody in Californification (Played by David Duchovny, Mathaaa Fackkaa)
Dexter Morgan in Dexter (Played by Michael C Hall )
Michael Scofield in Prison break (played by Wentworth Miller)
Tony Soprano in Sopranos (Played by James Gandolfini)
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 16th 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, 3rd 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.
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. Rabia-ud-Durrani 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:
Arabs: This one some Pashtun tribe claims decent from Arabs.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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 752or 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 ?
Blogging for over three years you tend to realize that writing via keyboard is no way an easy business. There are innumerable typing errors that one goes through, sometimes there are spelling mistakes or sometimes there are punctuation mistakes. Hell yeah, there are grammatical mistakes too. The other bloggers have also time and again pointed this issue out that the first draft is like an ugly child you never wanted to have. Then with the due passage of time the writer realizes that like not everybody can get a Miss Universe/ A Prince charming for marriage, he/she tends to start modifying, enhancing and correcting the “beauty/lad” that you end up with.
The first draft for me is always written in a hurry, in haste and I have been in the past guilty of printing it without reading or re-reading it. Thereby causing an eyesore to the reader and developing a view point that I might be intellectually challenged (which I have no issue if it gets me the company of a beautiful, blue-eyed compassionate lady) 🙂
Reviewing the draft takes time which the writer or more importantly a lazy writer would like not to give in. The first draft, it is well know is the process of getting the ideas out of your mind onto paper. The ideas could be as ludicrous and as contemptuous either.
The first draft hold a deep meaning in the life of a writer, sometimes painful, sometimes irksome and sometimes satisfaction.
Few lines to give true essence of first draft are:
The first draft is like a run of a horse on the plains of Oklahoma, wild yes, but with an essence of freedom
The first draft is like first lines you tell to your eternal crush, always twisted and wrong but full of love.
The first draft is like first steps taken by a baby in this world, always shaky but full of amazement.
The first draft is like the 1st exam that you give, possibly tough but without expectations and with excitement.
The first draft is like wannabe poet’s words, still not up to the mark but full of emotions.
The first draft is like the revolutionary’s first fight, lacking on experience but high on idealism.
The first draft is like the teacher’s first class, lacking practice but full of optimism.
The first draft is like the first child of a woman, painful yes but full of hope.
The first draft is like the first war of a soldier, dangerous yes but an adrenaline rush none the less.
The first draft is like the first Olympic medal for an athlete, a fight against odds but realization of dreams eventually.
The first draft is like the first words which come out from a child, trying to tell something but not knowing whether it could be understood correctly.
Therefore, for those who subscribed to my blogs and have put up with my “first draft” blunders, I guess you would forgive me. As I have a habit of correcting and re-correcting them (my posts). It is never similar to the day it was published. Little modifications are done now and then, but I think a loyal and good reader will let it pass.
PS: I completed this post in my first draft, therefore be ready for some changes 🙂
( I am just joking, this for a change would be first and last draft for this post, though I donot promise that for other posts to come.) 🙂
It has been a while since I watched Alain de Botton talk on TED.com talk about Atheism 2.0 and most importantly his idea of Institutionalizing atheism. He is curious like many as to how the world over religions work. The various components they employ which are so similar in pattern.
How the religions are so efficient in getting the jobs done or more importantly get ideas across ?
Thing which fascinated me more was when he said that organizational capabilities of various religions could be studied and employed on the corporate scenario.
One wonders the amount of efficiency one could achieve and it also gives deep insight into how many spiritual gurus use organizational building skills to build and strength their religions. It made me think that religion as whole is an amalgamation of music therapy, counseling therapy, group counseling, color therapy, meditation, building exercise strategies, loss coping exercises and confidence building exercises.
His comment which stood out and set the course for the 20 minute speech was very interesting (something of a view which I kind of subscribe to)
I think there is an alternative. I think there are ways — and I’m being both very respectful and completely impious — of stealing from religions. If you don’t believe in a religion, there’s nothing wrong with picking and mixing, with taking out the best sides of religion. And for me, atheism 2.0 is about both, as I say, a respectful and an impious way of going through religions and saying, “What here could we use?”
what strikes most in his conversation is a different view point that he brings into Atheism and how many people appreciate little things in many religions and are not harsh and dismissive about them out right. They however choose to dwell over them, choose to think about them and see how it is impacting many people’s lives and how psychologist (more so behavior psychologist ) could learn from such studies of human society.
The points being that people enjoy many holidays like Christmas carols, Diwali light, the colors of Holi, the mysticism of sufi saints (their poetry and songs to be precise), the hard-work oriented martial and spiritual nature of the Sikhs and constant evolutionary, inquisitive and peaceful learning of the Buddhists. The most important point being that CULTURE of any nation leads to the guidance and morality which is build in the people (children to be precise) and sustained through their life via ritualistic norms.
Finally, while having a conversation with the host , Alain de Botton talks how we can agree to disagree, which is a trait which could certainly handy in Democracies of the world and in handling sensitive issues.
Well that may be but what needs to be seen in the context is that many new religions were formed on those very doctrines, nibbling on the salads and reforming the old views and loop holes, eg : Christianity from Judaism, Islam from both Christianity and Judaism plus other local religions, Buddhism and Jainism from Hinduism and Sikhism from Islam and Hinduism. So may be he (Alain de Botton ) is about to form a new religion as the host suggested or he has given us good reason to think about religions and how they are build and sustained. One can say that then it amounts to very fascinating piece for sociology lecture though not sermon (as I doubt sermons are up for debates) 🙂
The other day I was reading a very interesting article about the Media’s role in India and most importantly how politics of our nation is defined by our media or one should say redefined.
Following is a list compiled by very enthusiastic Indians who I think have done a commendable job. Therefore somehow convinced with their efforts. I choose to put the list up on my Blog. Let me tell one thing, This list was DEFINITELY an eye opener.
Notes/Disclaimer:
Information gathered is from Internet sources, and hence a simple Google search can give you further information or evidence of the association.
For adding or changing relationships please post a reply with a reference, I will update the first post.
There is no intention to portray this as authentic or reliable, as the information has been pieced through internet/public source of information. I do not claim the information is 100% correct. I have made enough effort to present the information with maximum honesty.
Because of the nature of data research, it is quite possible some names could be confused with another, so if an association is wrong, please post a reply with a reference. It will be corrected.
I respect the privacy and integrity of all humans. So any inferences you make is of your own. Use this information at your own risk.
If you are going to distribute these associations, please distribute them along with this disclaimer.
The LIST
Suzanna Arundhati Roy is niece of Prannoy Roy (CEO of NDTV)
Prannoy Roy sits Council on Foreign Relations’ International Advisory Board.
Mukesh D. Ambani also sits on CFR’s International Advisory Board.
Mukesh is MD, Reliance Industries Ltd.
Prannoy Roy married to Radhika Roy
Radhika Roy is sister of Brinda Karat (CPI(M))
Brinda Karat married to Prakash Karat (CPI(M) – General Secretary)
Arundhati Roy meets Ghulam Nabi Fai in London and reiterates independence of ‘Kashmir’ from India. (June 2011)
Fai is arrested by FBI in July 2011
Prakash was part of debating club in Madras (Chennai).
N.Ram, P.Chidambaram & Mythili Shivaraman were part of this group.
This group started a magazine “Radical Review”.
CPI(M)’s senior member of Politburo and Parliamentary Group Leader is Sitaram Yechury.
Sitaram Yechury is married to Seema Chisthi.
Seema Chisthi is the Resident Editor of Indian Express
Burkha Dutt works at NDTV
Prabha Dutt was mother of Burkha Dutt.
Prabha Dutt was a chief reporter for Hindustan Times.
Bahar Dutt is sister of Burkha Dutt.
Bahar works for CNN-IBN as an Environment Editor.
Rajdeep Sardesai was Managing Editor at NDTV
Rajdeep Sardesai married to Sagrika Ghose
Sagarika Ghose is daughter of Bhaskar Ghose.
Bhaskar Ghose was Director General of Doordarshan.
Sagarika Ghose’s aunt is Ruma Pal.
Ruma Pal is former justice of Supreme Court.
Sagarika Ghose’s another aunt is Arundhati Ghose.
Arundhati Ghose was India’s permanent representative/ambassador to United Nations.
Rajdeep is now Editor-in-Chief at CNN-IBN
CNN-IBN is a tie up between GBN (Global Business Network) and Turner International.
GBN is a Network 18 company.
CNN is one of Turner International’s asset.
Sagarika also works at CNN-IBN as senior editor and as an anchor.
Dilip D’Souza was member of PIPFD
Dilip D’Souza’s father was Joseph Bain D’Souza.
J.B.D’Souza was former Maharastra Chief Seccretary and activist.
Teesta Setalva member of PIPFD
Teesta Setalvad married to Javed Anand
Teesta and Javed run Sabrang Communications.
Javed Anand is General Secretary of Muslims for Secular Democracy { ?? }
Javed Akhtar is spokesperson for Muslims for Secular Democracy
Javed Akhtar married to Shabana Azmi
Karan Thapar owns ITV
ITV produces shows for BBC
Karan Thapar’s father was General Pran Nath Thapar COAS during 1962 war, when India lost under his watch.
Karan Thapar was very good friend of Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari.
Benazir Bhutto was Pakistan’s Prime Minister.
Benazir Bhutto’s father was Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
Z.A.Bhutto served as Pakistan’s President.
A.A.Zardar is the current Pakistani’s President.
Karan Thapar’s Mama (maternal uncle) was married to Nayantara Sahgal.
Nayantar Sahgal is daughter of Vijayalakshmi Pandit.
Vijayalakshmi Pandit was sister of Jawharlal Nehru.
Romesh Thapar is Karan Thapar’s cousin.
Romesh founded “Seminar” published from N.Delhi.
Valmik Thapar is Romesh’s son.
Valmik is married to Sanjana Kapoor.
Sanjana is Shashi Kapoor’s daughter.
Valmik is an Indian Natural Historian, expert on tigers and written several books.
Romilla Thapar is aunt of Valmik Thapar (niece of Pran Thapar)
Romilla is a Marxist Historian.
Medha Patkar is a leading spokesperson for Narmada Bacho Andolan.
NBA was helped by Patrick McCully of International Rivers (formerly Internal Rivers Network.)
Angana Chatterjee was on the board of IRN
Dipti Bhatnagar was an Intern/Volunteer at IRN.
Dipti Bhatnagar is an activist at NBA.
Dr. Angana Chatterjee part of PROXSA
PROXSA mother-ship of FOIL
ASHA endorsed by FOIL
Sandeep Pandey co-founder of Asha for education (ASHA)
Dr. Angana Chatterjee is married to Richard Shapiro
Richard Shapiro is Director and Associate Professor of the Grad. Anthropology Prgm at CIIS.
Richard was barred from entering India in 2010.
In 2009, Angana and Richard attended the 10th International Kashmir Freedom Conference (IKFC).
IKFC was organized by Kashmir American Council (KAC) to Internationalize Jammu & Kashmir.
Ghulam Nabi Fai is the Executive Director of KAC.
Fai was arrested in July 2011 by the FBI, leveling several charges.
Fai was the conduit of Pakistan’s ISI to funnel money into USA for lobbing US Politicians against India.
Fai also was involved in funnleing money into Jammu & Kashmir aiding Terrorists.
Dileep Padgaonkar attended on of the KAC ‘International Conferences’.
Dileep is one of the three interlocutors for Jammu & Kashmir.
Kuldip Nayar attended on of the KAC ‘International Conferences’.
Delhi High Court Chief Justice Rajinder Sachar attended on of the KAC ‘International Conferences’.
Rajinder Sachar was appointed by Manmohan Singh to head a high level Committee.
This Committee prepared a report on the socio-economic & educational conditions of Muslims in India.
Gautam Navlakha attended on of the KAC ‘International Conferences’.
Gautam joined Angana and others under the umbrella International People’s Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice (IPTK).
KAC conducted a conference in 2009 in Washington DC.
The conference was attended by Howard Schaffer.
Howard along with his wife Teresita have written books on J&K, with US-Pakistan relationship as the basis.
Tereista and Howard have been US Ambassdors to India, Pakistan, Srilanka and/or Bangladesh.
Tereista is the co-founder of the website site SouthAsia.comShubh Mathur co-wrote a letter with Angana on ‘Humanitarian Crisis in J&K’
Biju Matthew is co-founder of FOIL.
Vijay Prasad is co-founder of FOIL.
Vijay Prasad co-authored with Angana Chatterjee and wrote against IDRF.
ASHA has association with AID
AID works with FOSA
FOSA started by a Pakistani – Ali Hasan Cemendtaur.
Amitava Kumar associated with FOIL
FOIL & FOSA opposed California Text Book Edits.
California Text Book Edits was opposed by Michael Witzel.
M.Witzel is Wales Professor of Sanskrit at Harvard University.
Rahul Bose is brother-in-law of Khalid Ansari.
Khalid Ansari is the Chairman of Mid-Day Group of Publication based in Mumbai.
Khalid Ansari is Chairman of M.C.Media Ltd.
M.C.Media Ltd. has a join-venture with BBC for FM radio brodcasting.
Khalid Ansari’s father was Abdul Hameed Ansari.
A.H.Ansari was a freedom fighter and active Congressman.
Dr.John Dayal worked as a journalist with the N.Delhi edition of Mid-Day.
Narasimhan Ram is the Editor-in-Chief of ‘The Hindu’.
N.Ram was part of a CPI(M) debating club along with Prakash Karat
N.Ram’s first wife was Susan.
Susan, an Irish, was in charge of Oxford University Press publications in India.
N.Ram and Susan’s daughter is Vidya Ram.
Vidya Ram is a journalist.
N.Ram is now married to Mariam.
N.Ram, Jennifer Arul and K.M.Roy participated in closed door Catholic Bishops Conference of India in Thrissur, Kerala.
Jennifer Arul is the Resident Editor and Bureau Chief in South India for NDTV.
Jennifer Arul is Chief Operating Office for Astro Awani – Indonesian news and information channel.
Jennifer Arul is also Managing Editor and COO of “NDTV Hindu”.
NDTV-Hindu is a Chennai specific channel from NDTV and “The Hindu”.
K.M.Roy was a reporter in “The Hindu”
K.M.Roy is the General Editor of the group of the “Mangalam” Publications.
Mangalam Group of Publications was started by M.C.Varghese
K.M.Roy received the “All India Catholic Union Lifetime Award”
All India Catholic Union’s National Vice President is Dr.John Dayal.
Dr.John Dayal is also Secretary General of All India Christian Council (AICC)
AICC’s President is Dr. Joseph D’souza
Dr. Joseph D’souza founded Dalit Freedom Network (USA)
Dr.Joseph D’Souza participated in the inaugural Religious Freedom Day
The Religious Freedom Day was attended by former Republican Sentor Rick Santorum
AICC claims Confederation of SC/ST Organizations (India) as a sister organization.
AICC claims Christian Solidarity Worldwide (UK) as a sister organization.
AICC claims Release International (UK) as a sister organization.
Release International states it supplies bibles and literature to meet the need of growth and evangelism.
Dalit Freedom Network’s partner’s with Operation Mobilization India.
OM India’s South India Regional Director is Kumar Swamy
Kumar Swamy is the State President of Communal Harmony Committee.
Kumar Swamy serves with Karnataka State Human Rights Commission.
OM India’s North India Regional Director is Moses Parmar.
Moses Parmar serves as North India Public Relations officer of the All India Christian Council (AICC)
OM seeks to plant and strengthen churches in areas of the world where Christ is least known.
OM ministries work with Dalit-Bahujan people in India.
Operation Mercy Charitable Company (OMCC) grew out of OM India
OMCC works with Dalit Freedom Network.
DFN has Dr. Kancha Illaiah on its Advisory Board.
Dr. Kancha Illaiah is a Professor in Osmania University, Hyderbad.
DFN has William Armstrong on its Advisory Board.
William Armstrong is a former US Senator from Colarado (Republican).
William Armstrong is currently the President of Colorado Christian University.
Colorado Christian University’s one of the strategic objective is to share the love of Christ around the World.
DFN has Udit Raj on its Advisory Board.
Udit Raj claims Joseph Pitts as a great friend of India.
Joseph Pitts is a Republican US Congressman from Pennsylvannia.
Joseph Pitts sent a letter to Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State USA, requesting USA to deny visa to N.Modi.
Joseph Pitts has led a Congressional delegation to Pakistan & India.
Joseph Pitts is Founder and Co-Chairman of the “Kashmir Forum”.
Joseph Pitts along with Congressman John Conyers introduced legislation condemning actions of N.Modi.
John Conyers is Congressman from Michigan’s 14th congressional district.
The 14th district contains Dearbon, a major city.
Dearbon has the largest Arab Americans for a city of its size.
Udit Raj is member of National Integration Council, Government of India.
Udit Raj is National Chairman of Buddha Education Foundation.
Udit Raj is National Chairman of All India Confederation of SC/ST Organizations.
Udit Raj leads Dalit International Foundation
Udit Raj leads Lord Buddha Club.
Udit Raj was part of an international Steering Committee on Kashmir
Majid Tramboo promoted the Steering Committee.
DFN has Baroness Caroline Cox on its Advisory Board.
Baroness Caroline Cox is Deputy Speaker, House of Lords, England.
Suhasini Haidar is daughter of Subramanian Swamy
Suhasini Haidar is daughter-in-law of Salman Haidar
Salman retired as Foreign Secretary in 1996.
Salman was later appointed as High Commissioner to the UK.
Salman was also India’s ambassador to China.
Salman has written weekly columns for “The Statesman”.
Salman was Minister/Deputy permanent representation of India at UN.
Salman directed South Asian Political Initiative, a Ford Foundation funded project.
Nadira Alvi married V S Naipaul
Nadira Alvi, a journalist, is sister of recently assassinated Maj Gen Amir Faisal Alvi, the ex-chief of Pakistan’s elite SSG
“Resalat” is a Tehran-based Persian daily.
“Ettela’at” is another Tehran-based Persian daily.
“Resallat” and “Ettela’at” signed MoU with “Siyasat” and “Munif”
Siyasat and Munif are Hyderbad, Andhra Pradesh based dailies.
Toseeh is another Persian daily.
Toseeh has tied up with Vaarta.
Vaarta is one of the dailies from A.G.A.Publications Pvt Ltd.
A.G.A Publications Pvt Ltd is one of the companies in Sanghi Group
Sanghi Group was co-promoted by Gireesh Sanghi with his brothers.
Gireesh Sanghi is Congress M.P, Rajaya Sabha
Gireesh Sanghi is All India Vaish Federation National President.
Mahendra Mohan Gupta is on the Advisory Board of AIVF
Mahendra Mohan Gupta is Chairman of Dainik Jagran Group
Ramoji Group is headed by Ramoji Rao
Ramoji Rao is Founder & Chairman of Eenadu
Eenadu is the largest Telugu news daily in Andhra Pradesh.
Ramoji Group also owns ETV Network.
ETV Network produces content in Telugu, Bangla, Marathi, Kannada, Oriya, Gujarati, Urdu & Hindi.
Ramoji is reported to be close to Chandra Babu Naidu and supported of Telugu Desam Party.
Ushodaya Enterprises Pvt. Ltd’s parent company is Ramoji Group.
Blackstone Group is reported to have invested Rs600 crore in UEL.
Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd brings out The Deccan Chronicle newspaper.
DCHL also brings out “Andhra Bhoomi” a telugu newspaper.
DCHL also brings out “Asian Age.”
DCHL became a publishing parter of “The New York Times”.
DCHL began publishing ‘The International Herald Tribune’
T.Venkatram Reddy is the Chairman of DCHL.
T.Venkatram Reddy is fromer MP, Rajhya Sabha from Congress.
M.J.Akbar was Editor-in-Chief of Deccan Chronicle and Asian Age.
M.J.Akbar is Founder and Chairman of the fortnightly the Covert.
M.J. Akbar worked at ‘Times of India’, ‘Sunday’ & ‘The Telegraph’
M.J.Akbar was an Congress MLA from 1989 to 1991.
M.J.Akbar joined The Brookings Institution, Washington in 2006, as a Visiting Fellow on U.S. Policy Towards the Islamic World.
M.J.Akbar was a member of the ‘Forum of Islamic Scholars and Intellectual’ held in Makkha al-Mukaramma in 2005.
M.J.Akbar’s wife is Mallika Joseph.
Mallika Joseph worked at Times of India.
Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy is the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.
YSR Reddy is from the Congress party (INC).
YSR Reddy’s father, Raja Reddy, setup a degree college and a Polytechnic in Pulivendula.
YSR Reddy has said that his one year study at Andhra Loyola College (ALC), a Jesuit institution, influenced him so much that he handed over the Pulivendula colleges to the Loyola Group.
The YS family has established several educational institutions in Andhra Pradesh.
YSR Reddy’s daughter is Sharmila.
Sharmila married Anil Kumar, Anil Kumar converted to Christianity after the marriage.
Anil Kumar set up ‘Anil World Evangelism’ and is an active Evangelist.
YSR Reddy’s son is YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
YS Jagan is a youth Congress Leader.
YS Jagan is Chairman of Jagati Publications Pvt. Ltd.
Bhumna Karunakara Reddy is close to YSR Reddy.
Karunakara Reddy is the Chairman of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam.
JPPL publishes the newspaper Sakshi.
Chandra Babu Naidu has claimed that Lanco group was forced to invest in JPPL.
L. Sridhar is alleged to have made the investment from Lanco Group.
L Sridhar is Lanco Infratech’s Vice Chairman
L Sridhar’s brother is L.Rajagopal.
L.Rajagopal joined Congress in 2003.
L Rajagopal is the son-in-law of P.Upendra.
P.Upendra is a former Minister from Congress.
Lanco Group’s Chairman is L. Rajagopal
Andhra Prabha is a telugu newspaper started in 1938.
Andhra Prabha is owned by The New Indian Express Group.
Andhra Jyothi is a telugu newspaper.
Andhra Jyothi’s Managing Director is Vemuri Radhakrishna.
SUN TV Network is owned by Kalanidhi Maran.
Kalanidhi Maran is the Chairman & Managing Director of SUN TV Network.
SUN TV network owns: Sun TV, Gemini TV, Teja TV, Surya TV, Kiran TV, Udaya TV, Surjo TV among other channels.
Kalanidhi Maran owns the tamil daily ‘Dinakaran’.
Dinakaran was started by a former DMK Minister K.P.Kandasamy.
Kalanidhi Maran’s brother is Dayanidhi Maran.
Dayanidhi Maran was Minister of Communications and IT in the UPA government.
Kalanidhi Maran’s father was Murasoli Maran.
Murasoli Maran was a Union Minister from the DMK party.
Murasoli Maran edited a tamil daily ‘Murasoli’.
Murasoli Maran was an editor to ‘The Rising Sun’ a English weekly.
Murasoli Maran as a publisher published the following tamil magazines: Kungumam, Muththaram, Vannathirai & Sumangali.
Murasoli Maran’s uncle is M.Karunanidhi.
M.Karunanidhi is Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, from the DMK party.
M.Karunanidhi launched Kalaignar TV in 2007.
M.K.Azhagiri owns Kalaignar TV.
M.K.Azhagiri is M.Karunanidhi’s son.
M.K.Stalin is another son of the M.Karunanidhi..
M.K.Stalin was named after Joseph Stalin.
Joseph Stalin was the authoritarian leader of the Soviet Union.
M.K.Stalin is the Minister for Rural Development and Local Administration in Tamil Nadu.
Kanimozhi is one of the daughters of M.Karunanidhi.
Kanimozhi was a sub-editor for the ‘The Hindu’.
Kanimohi was Editor in Charge of ‘Kungumam’ a tamil weekly.
Kanimozhi became a Rajya Sabha member in 2007.
Kanimozhi conducted programs in SUN TV and Vijay TV.
Kanimozhi’s second husband G.Aravindan is Singapore based Tamil literary figure.
Dina Thanthi a tamil daily was founded bu Si.Pa.Aditanar.
Aditanar’s second son is Sivanthi Athithan.
Sivanthi Athithan owns Dina Thanthi.
Aditanar had launced the tamil evening daily ‘Malai Murasu’.
Aditanar set up Malar Publications Ltd.
Malar Publications Ltd. Brings out the tamil evening newspaper Malai Malar.
Balasubramanian Adityan son of Sivanthi Athithan managers Malar Publications Ltd.
B.Adityan set up ‘Air Media Network Pvt Ltd’ (AMN)
AMN is into cable distribution, content productions and broadcasting.
AMN owns AMN TV
AMN has produced content for FM radio, All India Radio, Doordarshan, Vijay TV.
Dina Mani is a tamil newspaper.
Dina Mani is owned by The New Indian Express Group. (NIEG)
NIEG owns Kannadaprabha, Andhraprabha, Malaylamvarikha, Indiavarta and Expressbuzz.
NIEG also owns Cinemaexpress & Tamilanexpress
STAR Vijay TV is a tamil TV channel.
Vijay TV is owned by STAR TV
STAR TV is owned by News Corporation based in Hong Kong.
News Corporation is owned by Rupert Murdoch.
Fox Entertainment Group is a subsidiary of News Corporation.
FEG owns Fox News Channel, in USA.
Fox News is a conservative, pro-church Republican Party channel in US
News Corporation owns the The Wall Street Journal
Jaya TV is a tamil TV channel.
Jaya TV is owned by Jaya Network.
Jaya Network is owned by J.Jayalalitha
Jayalalitha was the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (AIADMK party)
Makkal TV is owned by Makkal Tholaikatchi
Act Now for Harmony and Democracy’s (ANHAD) Founding and Managing Trustee is Shabnam Hashmi
Shabnam’s father was a freedom fighter.
Shabnam went to USSR on a cultural exchange scholarship for six years.
Shabham is married to Gauhar Raza.
KN Panikkar is a Founding trustee of ANHAD
Panikkar is an Indian Marxist Historian.
Panikkar was the Vice Chancellor of Sree Sankarcharya Sanskrit University, Kalady, Kerala.
Panikkar received Homi Bhabha Senior Fellowship.
Panikkar was awarded Padma Bhushan.
Harsh Mander is a Founding trustee of ANHAD
Harsh Mander is a Human Rights activist, author and was in the IAS.
Harsh Mander was close to Ajit Jogi
Harsh Mander, born into Sikh faith, was in-charge of the relief camps in Indore during the 1984 riots.
Harsh Mander served as Managing Director of SC/ST Finance Corporation.
Harsh Mander was the Director of ActionAid India.
Ajit Jogi was the Chief Minister of Chhatisgarh.
Ajit Jogi is from the Congress party (INC).
It is claimed that after Ajit Jogi, a tribal Christian became the CM the rate of Christian conversions has gone up.
Harsh Mander received the 2002 ‘Rev. M.A.Thomas National Human Rights Award’
Rev M.A.Thomas National Human Rights Award was awarded by Vigil India Movement.
Shubha Mudgal is a trustee of ANHAD
Shubha’s parents Skand and Jaya Gupta were professors of English literature at Allahabad University.
Shubha’s grand-father Prof. P.C.Gupta was also a professor at Allahabad University.
Shubha’s first husband was Justice Mukul Mudgal of Delhi High Court.
Shubha is currently married to Aneesh Pradan, a tabla player.
Shubha received Padma Shri.
Shubha has received several awards in the field of music.
Kamla Bhasin is a trustee of ANHAD
Kamla is an Indian feminist.
Kamla was a lecturer in the Orientation Centre of the German Foundation for Developing Countries, Bad Honnef, West Germany.
Kamla was the Development Secretary of Seva Mandir, Udaipur.
Saeed Akhtar Mirza is a trustee of ANHAD
Saeed Mirza is a writer and director in Hindi films and television.
Saeed Mirza’s father is Akhtar Mirza
Akhtar Mirza was a noted film script writer.
Asianet Communications Limited (ACL) has a majority stake in Asianet TV.
ACL is owned by Jupiter Entertainment Ventures Limited (JEVL).
JEVL is a subsidiary of Jupiter Capitals Ltd.
The other media outlets of ACL are: Asianet News, Asianet Plus, Best FM 95, Asianet Suvarana, Suvarna News, Asianet Sitara and Sitara News.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar is the Chairman & Editor-in-chief.
Rajeev Chandrasekar entered Rajya Sabha in 2006.
Rajeev Chandrasekar’s uncle is M.K.Narayanan
M.K.Narayanan is National Security Advisor
M.K.Narayanan headed the Intelligence Bureau from 1987 to 1990.
Malayalam daily, Mathrubhumi, is owned by M P Virendrakumar
Virendrakumar is a MP through Janata Dal (Secular), from Kerala
In Kerala, Deva Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular) party is a constituent of Left Democratic Front
Latest Editor of Mathrubhumi is Kesava Menon
Kesava Menon was the Associate Editor of The Hindu before taking up this position
Shashi Tharoor is an Indian Diplomat.
Shashi is the son of late Chandran Tharoor.
Chandran was a journalist working for Amrita Bazar Patrika of Calcutta.
Chandran headed “The Statesman” in 1959.
Shashi Tharoor is going to contest as INC (Congress) candidate in 2009.
Ishaan and Kanishk are twin sons of Shashi.
Ishaan lives in Hong Kong and works for “Time” magazine.
Kanishk lives in London and works for “OpenDemocracy”.
Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan is a sister of Shashi.
Smita Tharoor is another sister of Shashi.
Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan is daughter of Shobha.
Ragini is the editor of “India Currents”.
Shobha writes in “India Currents”
India Currents is an Indian American monthly.
Shashi’s first wife was Tilottama Mukherji from Kolkata.
Tilottama was/is a journalist and scholar.
Sahshi’s second wife is Christ Giles, a Canadian.
Christa is Deputy Secretary of the United Nations Disarmament Commission.
Mukundan Unni was Shashi’s maternal uncle.
Tharoor Parameswar was Chandran Tharoor’s elder brother.
Parameswar was the founder publisher of the Indian edition of “Reader’s Digest”.
Param resurrected & presided the Advertising Club of Bombay.
Param was also the Advertising Manager of Amrita Bazar Patrika.
Shobhana Bhartia is the Chairperson and Editorial Director of Hindustan Times group
Shobhana is the daughter of KK Birla; grand daughter of GD Birla.
KK Birla joined INC (Congress) party in 1984.
KK Birla was later elected Rajya Sabha member in 1984.
Shobhana is married to Shyam Sunder Bhartia
Shyam is the Chariman of Jubliant Organosys Ltd, a Pharma company
Shyam is the son of late Mohan Lal Bhartia.
Shamit Bhartia and Priyavrat Bhartia are their sons
Shamit is a Director at the Hindustan Times group.
Shobhana was nominated for Rajya Sabha in 2006.
Shobhana is politically affiliated to INC (Congress).
She was nominated by UPA headed by Sonia Gandhi.
Shobhana was a 2005 Padma Shree award. This was after UPA formed the government in 2004.
Priyavrat is a Director at the Hindustan Times group.
Shamit heads franchises of Dominoes Pizza and Hot Breads.
Shamit also looks after the chain store ‘Monday to Sunday’
Shobhana is a close family friend of Scindias.
Late Madhavrao Scindia was a Minister from the INC (Congress) party.
Jyotiraditya Scindia is Madhavrao’s son.
Jyotiraditya is a MP from the INC (Congress) party.
Karan Thapar writes a weekly column in Hindustan Times.
Vir Sanghvi writes two columns ‘Counter Point’ and ‘Rude Food’
Barkha Dutt writes the column ‘Third Eye’
Sonal Kalra is a editor of HT City a supplement of Hindustan Times and writes a column.
Pallavi Aiyar is Brussels Correspondent for Business Standard.
Pallavi was formerly China Bureau chief for “The Hindu”.
Pallavi is the daughter of Swaminathan Aiyar.
Swaminathan Aiyar is a Consulting Editor for Economic Times.
Swaminathan regularly writes for the Economic Times & Times of India.
Swaminathan is a research fellow at Cato Institute – a libertarian think-tank in Washington DC.
Swaminathan acts as an occasional consultant to the World bank.
Swaminathan claims he is a “liberal atheist” and married to a Parsi – Shahnaz.
Swaminathan’s brother is Manishankar Aiyar.
Mani served in IFS for 26 years.
Mani was a diplomat before he came to work for Rajiv Gandhi in 1989.
Mani is a member of Indian National Congress, and held various Cabinet posts.
Joseph Bain D’Souza was CEO of a housing project in which Mrinal Gore, PB Samant and Suresh Narvekar were trustees.
– N. Ram was a founder of Students Federation of India, CPI(M)’s student wing.
– N. Ram’s niece is married to Dayanidhi Maran.
– Joseph D’Souza is the head of All India Christian Council.
– Dalit Freedom Network operates out of a church in Colorado. Melody Divine is part of DFN and Melody Divine works for Arizona Congressman Trent Franks.
– Joseph D’Souza is listed in Pat Robertson’s 700 club, a group for fundamentalist Christians.
– Dalit Freedom Network is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.
Now for those of you who think I am accusing someone in the above post or creating a political furor. Well NO, none of that kind. I am just exercising my DEMOCRATIC right given by the CONSTITUTION of India, to know about the truth and how democracy work. Since many of the top notch people already know about how we work or where we live and most importantly who are our relatives, so that they could manipulate opinions against us.(again the paranoid side of me taking over), so one choose to keep oneself well informed.
When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams
as the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God’s sacred feast.
All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life’s heart.
But if in your fear you would seek only love’s peace and love’s pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love’s threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.
When you love you should not say, “God is in my heart,” but rather, “I am in the heart of God.”
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.
Mahabharat is one of my favorite mythological books along with Iliad. Somehow I find it more real compared to Ramayana. Although many in India regard Ramayana as “the” book, I personally beg to differ. For me Ramayana symbolizes bondage but Mahabharata unleashing of spirits and thoughts, for someone who does not like bondage much, Ramayana might not excite much (Though I guess that talk might be blasphemous to some. I would just say it is the choice of having something spicier ).
Mahabharat offers a variety of characters whom we in this present world could relate to and I would be trying to give my own understanding of the characters as time goes on, hoping to find some answers myself too in the process. Additional to that I can say Business Sutra reignited my interest for it providing a different perspective and a deep insight into Mahabharat. I enjoy the Business Sutra very much started on CNBCTV18 in which Devdutt Pattanaik talks about mythology. I can honestly say that it is a delightful experience listening to him. I have rarely seen someone describe and enlighten people about Indian manuscripts and old age text like he does and use it in terms of management.
In the coming posts I would talk and think about certain characters which made me think and question. For a list they would be as follows:
Bhishma
Karna
Arjun
Yudhishtar
Bhim
Krishna
Duryodhan
Shakuni
kunti
shantanu
Ganga
Nakul and sehdev
Draupadi
Durshashan
Balram
Ghatotkach
Barbarika or Khatushyamji
Abhimanyu
Dhitrashtra
Gandhari
Pandu
Satyawati
Dronacharya
Sanjay
Vidura
Now one would try to start it generation by generation but would dare say that it would not always be that restrictive……. It may vary as per my admiration for the character (and mood) so bear with me who ever will read it,apologies before hand if it puts you off. It will be more in terms my understanding of these characters…
The winters in Delhi more so importantly in national capital region is something most north Indians look forward too. The arrival of winter in its truest sense is defined along with arrival of a certain smell which many enjoy, the smell of flowers blossoming.
Saptaparni tree in full bloom has this smell which is just calming and perfect. This however is not true for entire day, but rather sets in during the night ( usually after 6, when the dark sets in). Therefore in order to catch the smell I deliberately leave office late.
The remarkable part however is how much old men enjoy this so much.The other day when I bought some stuff from an old man ( who might be above 65 I think) and had a conversation with him about the smell and he told me about the whole Saptaparni tree. The thing which struck me most is that old people are like an ocean of knowledge and so many stories which certainly “younger” aged people may not be. The young and youth however rarely gives them chance to let it go or vent out. ( barring ANNA HAZARE ofcourse)
On a side note, speaking about this “ocean of knowledge” :
Now this is something I would say that I have seen from a personal experience. I have a friend (who if reading will understand that I am talking about him), the equation that he shares with his grandfather makes me question alot. For eg, whenever I have seen him sit next to his grandfather (which is behest of only when his grandfather has called him). The situation he shows via his body language is that he seems to be having a constipation problem (atleast that is how his face becomes) or he is under tremendous stress. Mind you now this grandfather of his is very “refined” and “all class” but somehow he is not able to speak freely in-front of him. Since he being the eldest of all the cousins , he kinda sets the standards which are followed by his young siblings. ( so you see how the others might have similar issues, emulating him).I on the other hand seem to have good rapport with his grandfather , may be because I donot shy away from speaking my mind and listening, whereas my friend here has this fear.
Now I speak on this because old people both men and women have so much stories to tell you, it is a shame that not many appreciate that now days.
Coming back to the topic, the winters have special connection to north India and many enjoy it. Now the bathing is the fun part, I for one bath with cold water till the time in winter I can and have the will power to do so. Most would say that is just ridiculous but well there are some points to counter that too.
It cools your body and mind.
The circulation of blood is better.
You don’t feel that cold.
You can enjoy winters with just a shirt and trousers on.
Be a stud (okey, that I included because I needed a 5th point 🙂 )
The things which make me like winters more is that you can actually enjoy tea or coffee ( though I like to avoid the latter). The school time was however different. In my school one had to get up at 5 am, since my school bus was there at 6 am ( which I without doubt use to ALWAYS miss and had to go to another bus stop to catch it). In schools winters were best for all kinds of stuff ( now don’t get naughty, I haven’t mentioned anything) .
People with their blazers and sweaters. Studs with just shirts on……… (they wore trousers too, just in case people might get a wrong visual) and girls well now that depended on alot on which “gang” they were in. ( plus I donot wish to talk school gossips on my blog).
The college however was more “adventurous“, since engineering rarely is “boring”. It is always a fight there. The winters were “accepted” with semester exams, which many fought hard “bravely“. Reaching the examination spot was the most awesome part of the whole day. Guys jam packed in cars studying like hell and the “driver” guy who was usually one of us, listening to the lectures. The fogs were just outrageous which usually arrived in the months of December and January. ( it has not arrived yet otherwise I would have put the pic).
The most notable part of the winters in national capital region or NCR is that evenings use to come early. At 5 pm things are dark. If you are in plains with not many building, then you in direct attack of chilly winds.
The winters have just begun………. I hope to see loads of fog and hope that one can get good pic which one could post on the blog…… WINTERS, definitely is the time to be.
Regarding the last post and most importantly regarding the ARYANS and SCYTHIAN. There has been a substantial finding by many scholars, who classify Scythians as a sub-family of Aryans. As these Scythian were the Eastern European-Indo-Iranian proto people who migrated into north India in 2 century BC. There is always a likelihood of being identified differently from the original Aryan natives in India who have been living there since 4ooo BC. ( atleast of what is known.)
The Pashtuns, Yakuts,Ossetians, Kazakhs and Jats claim their linage from Scythian WAR-LORDs which is substantiated, but that may not be true or Rajputs who claim “PURE” Aryan blood ( They might be a product of ancient Aryans who came to Sub continent earlier, they have no connection to Scythians but must be part of larger Aryan family). Pashtuns for one are part of eastern Iranian bloodline, with Greek DNA added. Jats also are a by product of Eastern-Iranian bloodline. Jats are a Scythian-Aryan ethnic group with traces of Greek ancestry( Though the historical records showing as Scythians, a sub family of Aryans. They are classified as Indo-Aryan ethnic group by modern day scholars).
As history show that prior to Scythians , Indo-greeks use to rule north-west Indian sub continent. These kingdoms were defeated by the Scythian warriors, who then married many Indo-greek and Indo-aryan women. The formation of a “new” race in sub-continent took place.
There are a few links which one would like to offer, for those who wish to read about Scythians:
They represented the equality as they fought along side their men in battlefields. In the current central Asia one could only find the traces of such equality.The act of war was one in which the Scythian women are said to have participated in equally with the men. Scythian women were tattooed like their mates, and the ancient historian Diordorus commented that Scythian women ‘fight like the men and are nowise inferior to them in bravery’.
It has been recorded that Scythian women had to kill three enemies in battle before marrying, and that a mastectomy of the right breast was performed on female infants so that their pectoral muscle wouldn’t weaken and they would be able to brandish a sword better.
(Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and north Indian genesis)
Some phenotypes of current south Asia seem to keep the track of this ancient migration from Central Asia occurring during bronze age.
Young Kalash woman from the Chitral district of north-western Pakistan
Sharbat Gula, the famous Afghan girl whose photograph was on the cover of the National Geographic.
Afghans from the village of Deh-e Hazara
Wakhi girl from the extreme east of Afghanistan, a region located between the south of Tajikistan, the west of China and the north of Pakistan
Afghan kids in Jalalabad (Afghanistan)
Afghan children from Panjshir
Little Hazara girl (Afghanistan)
Young girl from the north of Pakistan
Man from the north of Pakistan
Pashtun boy from Pakistan
Man from the Chitral district (North Pakistan)
A teenager from northern Pakistan
The south of Asia was the homeland of bright and famous ancient civilizations, culturally and linguistically Indo-european, especially India (of the Indo-aryan linguistical family) and Iran (formerly known as Persia, of theIranian linguistical family).
It was at the end of the 18th century, that sir William Jones realized the relation between European languages and south Asian languages such as Sanskrit, inaugurating then the existence of the now famous Indo-european language family theory.
Latin, for instance, has many similarities with Sanskrit. Indeed, how couldn’t we link words such as vox (voc-is), “voice“ in Latin and vac in Sanskrit (also “voice” ; found in many other Indo-european languages, e.g. Tocharian vak/vek or Hittite huek), candor (“bright whiteness” in Latin ) and candra, “moon” in Sanskrit, ignis (“fire” in Latin) and agnis (“fire” in Sanskrit, Agni also being the god of fire – also ugnis in Lithuanian and ogon’ in Russian, all meaning “fire“), Latinjugum (meaning “yoke“, also derived from the same proto-indo-european word) and Sanskrityugam, giving the word “yoga“ (also in the ancient greekzugon, Tocharian yuk or Hittiteyukan, among many examples), Latinnebula and Sanskritnabhas (but also Hittitenepiš, Germannebel and Russiannebo, for instance, meaning all either “cloud“, “mist” or “sky“), or pater (“father” (a word also related) in Latin) and pitar in Sanskrit (also the ancient greek pater or Tocharianpacer, and many others). Likewise, we can find some similarities between the declension suffixes in both languages (examples : -ibus at the plural dative and ablative cases in Latin and -ebhyas in Sanskrit in the same cases).
When it became obvious that most of the languages of Europe and most of the languages of south Asia were related, then started the search for an explanation to such an astonishing geographical extent. Many theories have been erected to try to solve the puzzle of the origin of the extent of this language family and to discover the original population responsible for this situation and their ancestral homeland.
The Kurgan hypothesis explains the repartition of the Indo-european languages in Eurasia by the successive migrations of pastoralist populations living north of the black sea (in what is nowadays east Ukraine and south Russia), whose arrival is visible in the archeology. In this theory, the early Indo-iranians originated in the region between Russia and north-westKazakhstan between 2,500 BCE and 2,000 BCE (the Abashevo culture of Russia is also considered possibly a good candidate for the origin of the proto-indo-iranian language by some (The fact that it was influential in the origin of the Sintashta site (a site just east of the Ural mountains often considered as having the oldest visible expression of indo-iranian practices) could support this view as well)) and were subsequently found in the Andronovo culture of central Asia. Also, the fact that the Andronovo culture was followed by the Indo-iranian-speaking Scythians/Sakas (who clearly seem spawned from it (there is an archaeological continuity between these cultures)) seem to clearly make this theory the most logical one.
The Gandhara grave culture of the north of Pakistanis also seen as the advance of Indo-iranian populations in south Asia. The presence of proto-Indo-iranian loanwordsin Finno-ugric languages (such as Estonian and Finnish) and in languages from the east of the Caucasus can be seen as supporting this theory of the Indo-iranian ethnogenesis (Interestingly, among the terms that the ancient Finno-ugric language borrowed to the ancient Indo-iranian language seems to be the “arya” word (source)).
A spreading of the Indo-european languages in Eurasia from neolithic agriculturalist populations seems very unlikely as the proto-indo-european language had words for the wheel (examples : Latinrota, Sanskritrathas, Irishroth and Lithuanianratas (a root also meaning sometimes “chariot” in a few languages)) and a metal (examples: Latinaes (bronze), Sanskritayas (iron), Gothicaiz (brass; coin) and old Norseeir (bronze), among others), which seems to exclude, de facto, the oldest typical neolithic time. The fact that the stem for “horse” (*ekwos ; the satem version of it in Sanskrit is ‘asva‘) is also present in the original language, the proto-indo-european language (a root visible in these few examples : Latinequus, Mycenianiqo, Gaulishepos, Tokharian Byakwe or old Irish ech), also excludes both south Asia and neolithic as the geographical origin and the time of the proto-indo-europeans, as the horse was apparently absent of south Asia until the last part of bronze age (this animal (as domesticated one) was apparently also absent of south-west Asia and in a big part of Asia minor until the same historical time (informations about the horse domestication)).
The study of ancient Indo-iranian languages also seems to support an origin of this language family from outside of India (source).
An Indo-iranian ethnogenesis in the steppes of central Asia is still currently the most popular theory among the specialists.
The Gandhara grave culture, located in the north of Pakistan in the Swat valley, sees the arrival of the horse in south Asia during bronze age and a few points allows for a (still controversial and hypothetical) link with the early Indo-aryans. The funerary practices, for instance, show several similarities with other supposedly Indo-european practices and there are many similarities with the Andronovo culture traditions. They also could fit quite well with the RigVedic descriptions. These traditions are clearly the mark of a change in this region, at this time.
In the Kurgan theory, the first Indo-iranians supposedly arrived around 1,800 BC-1,600 BC in south Asia from central Asia. These populations were apparently in large part of Europoid type as hinted by several studies (see the central Asia article), which seems confirmed by the admixture estimates of south Asian populations that do have an european component even if in low quantity (examples here or here (or here for a higher resolution of the latter) | source : dienekes.blogspot.com)
Within a geographic continuum going from the south-east of Tajikistan, eastern Afghanistan (especially Nuristan) down to the north of Pakistan, the Europoid phenotypes are more frequent. The area is also apparently the place of a (slightly) higher frequency of the haplogroup Y-DNA R1a1a than in the neighboring areas.
Little child from the Chitral district of north Pakistan
Supporting the theory of migrations from central Asia into south Asia, the presence ofthe very mutation (mutation T-13910 of the lactase phlorizin hydrolase (LCT) gene) providing the lactose tolerance (here more precisely the lactase persistence) among European populationsis also found in south Asia, especially in the the north-west of India (source). This clearly shows that south Asians and Europeans share a specific mutation and as such as specific relation of which west Asians are excluded (this allele is obviously only very marginal and residual among west Asians and likely the result of Indo-european migrations of little demographic impact).
Approximative frequency and spread of the lactase persistence T-13910 allele of the LCT gene. We can see that South Asians and Europeans share a specific mutation for lactase persistence. A correlation of that allele with Y-DNA haplogroups R1a1a, R1b1a2 (ex-R1b1b2), R1b1c (ex-R1b1a) and at least haplogroup mtDNA H (quite visible in north Africa on the map) seems obvious. (click to see bigger)
The dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) gene, with its known human-specific derived alleles that can facilitate haplotype reconstruction, presents an important locus for anthropological studies. The three sites (TaqIA, TaqIB, and TaqID) of the DRD2 gene are widely studied in various world populations. However, no work has been previously published on DRD2 gene polymorphisms among North Indian populations. Thus, the present study attempts to understand the genetic structure of North Indian upper caste populations using the allele and haplotype frequencies and distribution patterns of the three TaqI sites of the DRD2 gene. Two hundred forty-six blood samples were collected from five upper caste populations of Himachal Pradesh (Brahmin, Rajput and Jat) and Delhi (Aggarwal and Sindhi), and analysis was performed using standard protocols. All three sites were found to be polymorphic in all five of the studied populations. Uniform allele frequency distribution patterns, low heterozygosity values, the sharing of five common haplotypes, and the absence of two of the eight possible haplotypes observed in this study suggest a genetic proximity among the selected populations. The results also indicate a major genetic contribution from Eurasia to North Indian upper castes, apart from the common genetic unity of Indian populations. The study also demonstrates a greater genetic inflow among North Indian caste populations than is observed among South Indian caste and tribal populations.
[pastmists : interestingly, among the populations being the closest of the north Indian upper castes, in this specific study, we find the Chuvash people (a Turkic-speaking people of Russia whose haplogroups and autosomal profile reveal they are still largely from the ancient “Europoid” autochthonous non-Turkic substrate) [pastmists: the Finns and even the Russians are close too, seemingly confirming this view] living west of the Ural mountains, where was located the already mentionned Abashevo culture, during bronze age. Is this a sign that the Aryas had come from populations in this general region (and of this historical culture), or maybe more generally from a region close to the Ural mountains?]
Aishwarya Rai, famous Indian actress
Asko Parpola, a Finnish scholar, evokes a few points supporting the migration of Indo-iranian populations in India during bronze age in this excerpt of an interview:
Hindu.com : “Some Indian scholars feel that the Indus Civilisation is Aryan [i.e. Indo-iranian] and connected with the Rig Veda. You are a Vedic scholar and you specialise in the Indus script too. So what is your reaction to this standpoint?”
Asko Parpola : “Rigvedic hymns often speak of horses and horse-drawn chariots, and the horse sacrifice, ashvamedha, is among the most prestigious Vedic rites. The only wild equid native to the Indian subcontinent is the wild ass, which is known from the bone finds of the Indus Civilisation and depicted (though rarely) in its art and script. The domesticated horse is absent from South Asia until the second millennium BCE. Finds from Pirak and Swat from 1600 BCE show it was introduced from Central Asia after the Indus Civilisation. The earliest archaeological finds of horse-drawn chariot come from graves dated to around 2000 BCE in the Eurasian steppes, the natural habitat of the horse. There are also ancient Aryan loanwords in Finno-Ugric languages spoken in northeastern Europe (for example, the word for ‘hundred‘ in my own language Finnish is ‘sata’ [i.e. the same word than in Indo-iranian]). Some of these Aryan loanwords represent a more archaic stage of development (that is, are phonetically closer to the older Proto-Indo-European language) than Rigvedic Sanskrit. It is very likely that these words came to Finno-Ugric languages from Proto-Aryan spoken in the Volga steppes [i.e. in Russia].”
Although often contested, some sentences from the RigVeda, the oldest holy book of Hinduism, are interpretable through an ethnic lense. In this text, the enemies of the Arya, the Dasa, are often associated with the darkness and blackness and sometimes the literal words of black (or dark) skin are written.
Example from the Mandala IX, hymn 73 :
5. “Blowing away with supernatural might from earth and from the heavens the swarthy skin which Indra hates.”
which can be opposed to the following sentence from the Mandala I, hymn 100 :
18. “The mighty Thunderer [i.e. Indra] with his fair-complexioned friends won the land, the sunlight, and the waters.”
A few of such instances can be found in the RigVeda.
Young Indian boy from Rajasthan
Young orphan girl from rajasthan
Young orphan girl from Rajasthan, a region of north-west India, whos the sister of the girl above
Young Indian girl from Kashmir, northwest of India
Although rare, blue or green eyes are findable in India. The Buddha, a prince of the north of India living in the 6th century BC and whose real name was Siddhartha Gautama, is said, in the oldest written source of Buddhism, the Pali canon, to have had very blue eyes (“abhi nila netto” literally meaning “very blue eyes“). Similarly, Bodhidharma, an Indian monk of the 6th century AD, founder of the Zen Buddhism, also credited with the martial arts tradition of the Shaolin temple, was nicknamed “the blue-eyed barbarian” by the Chinese.
Little Indian schoolgirl from Uttaranchal, a region of the north of India
Young men from the north of India
Girl from the north of India
Indian girl
Sikh girl from Bangalore (India)
Indian woman from the Madhya Pradesh (India)
Pakistan
Little Kalash girl from the Hindu-kush (North pakistan)
Little Kalasha girl of the chitral district of North Pakistan
Little Kalash girl from Chitral (North Pakistan)
Kalasha children (North Pakistan)
Young Kalash woman (North pakistan)
Young Kalash man (Chitral, north-west of Pakistan)
Kalash baby from Romboor, Chitral district
Kalash kids, Chitral
Kalash woman from the north of Pakistan
Kalasha woman and her baby (Pakistan)
Little Kalash girl with red hair from Chitral, Pakistan
In the north of Pakistan, some individuals also frequently show a strikingly europoid appearance. The most well-known of these populations where theses characteristics are visible are the Burushos of the Hunzavalley (speaking a non-indo-european language, Burushaski) and the Kalash (or Kalashas, like the former name of the Nuristanis of eastern Afghanistan) a population of the Hindu-kush speaking an Indo-iranian language. The Kalash, the Burusho and the Nuristani claim to be descendants of the Alexander‘s army (another legend of the Kalash also claim a link with the Kushan) but so far the genetic tests have not seen any link with Greek or Macedonian populations (Very few tracks have been found among the Pathans (a.k.a. Pashtun) of Pakistan though). It is quite possible that these south Asian populations are actually partly the visible remains of the ancient Indo-iranian populations that probably came from central Asia during bronze age and mixed with the local populations, as the DNA tests have revealed that populations of bronze age south Siberia, strongly supposed to have been early Indo-europeans, had such characteristics.
Pakistani children of Karimabad, Hunza Valley (Pakistan)
Young Burusho girl (left) of the Hunza Valley (north Pakistan)
Young girl from Hunza (north Pakistan)
Isolated people of the Hindu Kush mountains in the north of Pakistan (in the Chitral district), the Kalash are a polytheistic ethnic group speaking the Kalash language, a Dardic language (a language group considered as a subgroup of the Indo-aryan language family) of the Indo-iranian language family. Their traditions are said to be close to the ancient pre-Zoroastrian Iranian and ancient Indian Vedic traditions.
Little girl from Herat, Afghanistan, not too far from the Iranian border
Little child from Afghanistan
Blue-eyed Afghan man from Herat, a city not far from the north-east Iran border
Young Afghan from a refugee camp in Iran
Little Afghan girl
Picture of an Afghan boy from a refugee camp in Semnan, Iran
Hazara girl from Central Afghanistan
Hazara children, Afghanistan
Young Hazara boy (Afghanistan)
Young Afghans
The words of Zoroaster (a.k.a. Zarathustra), the famous Persian sage, described the place of origin of the Aryans (Aryanam Vaejah) in terms that led some historians to believe he was maybe referring to a place in central Asia (excerpt from “The Cambridge ancient history“ by John Boardman)
Individuals with Europoids features, though rather rare, are findable in these regions as well, like in all the regions where Indo-european languages have been spoken or are currently spoken. It can probably be seen as a legacy of bronze age migrations from central Asia, (and originally from the north-east of the black sea, according to the Kurgan theory).
Little Pashtun girl from the Tribal area
Pashtun man from Afghanistan. It seems that the term “Pakhta” in the RigVeda is a reference to the ancestors of the Pashtuns (a.k.a. Pakhtuns or Pathans), hinting to the ancient existence of this ethnical group in this region.
In the eastern part of Afghanistan, in a region named Nuristan (formerly known as Kafiristan), Europoid phenotypes are not that rare. The Nuristani (previously known as Kalasha before their conversion to Islam in 1895) are a people living in a very remote and isolated mountainous region of east Afghanistan, in the Hindu-Kush mountains. They maintained their very old pre-islamic traditions, believed to be derived from the antique Indo-iranian traditions of yore, and were polytheistic before being conquered and islamized in the end of the 19th century. They are speaking in a specific branch of Indo-iranian language family (sometimes perceived as having evolved from an archaic branch of the family (i.e. spawned from a different branch than proto-iranian or proto-indo-aryan within the indo-iranian family)).
Little Nuristani girl (Afghanistan)
Nuristani boy from eastern Afghanistan
Little Nuristani girl (1971)
Nuristani girl (notice the tattoo reminescent of the Hindu Tilak/bindi)
Nuristani Girl of Afghanistan (the tattoo resembles the Hindu bindi (or tilaka))
Little girls from Nuristan
It is interesting to note that the regions where the Europoid phenotypes are the most frequent are also the most isolated places where population movements and mixing was much rarer.
Some people believe these Europoid phenotypes are actually the results of rapes by the USSR army during the invasion of Afghanistan that took place from 1979 to 1989. Though, it is very unlikely for several reasons :
It’s already difficult to imagine the Russian army changing the face of Nuristan (especially such an isolated and difficult to access mountainous region), in 10 years – especially since it was a region it didn’t control.
There are photographs of Nuristani from before the Russian invasion such as this one from 1971 (8 years before the invasion) .
Europoid phenotypes are found way further in Asia (north-west China, India, north Pakistan, etc…) that in the area the USSR troopers operated, even though they are not frequent.
We know by archeological findings and ancient DNA that individuals with such characteristics existed deep into Asia (and it seems confirmed by a few Mummies as well) not so far from these regions (more will be said about this in the next articles).
We have ancient writings that confirms that such features are found in these regions from a long time. For instance, a Chinese buddhist monk from the 7th century describes the population of a kingdom in what is nowadays either south Tajikistan or north-eastern Afghanistan where most of the people had blue eyes (source : Si-Yu-Ki: Buddhist Records of the Western World | the page before the excerpt can be found there in searching “Ta-mo-si-tie-ti“)
Kurdistan :
The Kurds are a people located partly in Turkey, north Syria, north of Iraq and north-western Iran and speaking an Iranian language. They are generally associated with the antique Medes, an ancient “Persian” people having likely brought the ancestor of the Kurdish language in this region. Haplogroup Y-DNA R1a1a is found at a low frequency in west Asia, except among the Kurds where this male lineage reaches about 20% of the local male population.
Here are a few examples of europoid phenotypes found among the Kurdish population :
Two Kurdish boys from northern Syria
Little Kurdish boy
Little Kurdish child
Kurds
Peshmerga warrior Kurd with his Daughter
IRAN:
Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf (Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf), Mayor of Tehran
Ayatollah Yazdi, former minister of justice of Iran
(IRAN, Afghanistan, Pakistan and north Indian genesis)
One of the brightest civilization of south Asia, Persia (note that Iran is also often considered as located in west Asia), was Indo-european – from the Indo-iranian branch. Most of south Asia is nowadays speaking Indo-european languages from the Indo-iranian branch (comprising three branches : Indo-aryan, Nuristani and Iranian). The name “Iran” itself is etymologically derived from “Aryanam” meaning “(land) of the Aryans” (source), “Aryan” being … Read More
This trip was in planning for a longtime (2 years to be specific) but for different location that too Amritsar. Lack of resources (namely bike) and lack of motivation (namely people interested) were the hindrance in not getting possible. Though one fine day Hardeep Singh and Sahil Singh decided enough is enough and will begin their own voyage from Delhi.
For this voyage Hardeep Singh got a Bullet Enfield (India’s most reliable bike) but there was a problem it was in a bad condition but with high spirits the two Singhs started their journey.
First day into the journey:
4:30 pm
Hardeep Singh : I got the bike but the clutch is not working…but we will still make it.
Sahil Singh : Paaji I hope that destination is Amritsar and not heaven…..
5 pm
Hardeep Singh and Sahil Singh got some accessories for the bike namely mirrors and got its head light checked, hoping it would work for the whole journey….
6 pm
Hardeep Singh and Sahil Singh get on to GT Karnal road chatting about what they will do , making plans….
Hardeep Singh : I think we will reach Amritsar by 1 am but if we donot stop much in between…..but we will eat in Ambala first…(apparently Hardeep Singh says there is a good dhaba in Ambala famous for non-veg)
Sahil Singh : OK Paaji ,the food must be good rest no issue, chak de paattee….
6:30 pm
somewhere after sonepat (in Haryana)the Bullet gives in…….
Hardeep Singh and Sahil Singh wait for some trolley to help with bullet but villagers ,it seems were scared…….
Sahil Singh (calling one uncle driving tractor in particular) : Bachcho ki help kar do uncle tractor mein bike chadda do..
Uncle replying: I have to go I am getting late…..(as though he had to make food for the wife and he zipped off…..)
7 pm
Sahil Singh and Hardeep Singh wondering: why they even began this trip?
In the mean while an auto guy comes along with a vintage auto carrying his passengers, he offers a ride to the nearest mechanic for Rs 40, the two Singhs are delighted.
The best part that a rope given in the hands of Sahil Singh and Hardeep Singh….
Hardeep Singh and Sahil Singh (singing and Haryana crowd watching dumbfounded) : Yeeee dosti hum nahiiii choddengee………..
8 pm
Upon getting the bike fixed the duo reaches Ambala where they eat at Puran’s Dhaba. They have nice dinner with all the delicacies. The non-veg was certainly good as Paaji mentioned.
There both of them talked about the condition of the bike.
Sahil Singh: Paaji, I think we will make it to amritsar by 3am, I think.
Hardeep Singh(replying) : Are you kidding I doubt it might even reach Chandigarh…. I think we should go to Chandigarh instead….
Sahil Singh : Paaji but the dream of going to Amritsar on bullet will remain a dream then….
Hardeep Singh : OOO koi nahi, we will make it next time with better bike…
( 2 years on still no sigh of new bike and no sign of the trip to amritsar….)
9 pm
After leaving Ambala the two Singhs start their redirected journey to Chandigarh. In between ,upon going out side of Ambala city the two realized that headlight of the bike was not working.
Sahil Singh : Paaji the light in not working , what to do… ?
Hardeep Singh : No problem we will make it to Chandigarh and then get it fixed.
In the journey on the highway with no head light on just 20 mins had passed when :
Sahil Singh : watch out Paaji, there is a barrier in front of you….
Hardeep Singh : OOOOOO Teriiiiiiiiiiiii………….
The bike goes skidding in the barrier , BAAAAM …….. luckily both survive…..(quite an experience though)
Passer by: OO no worry ji, it is a daily happening that 3-4 bikers fall down here, consider yourself among those royalty….
Hardeep Singh: Why doesn’t people take it away… ?
Passer by: Construction is going on, besides who has the time….. plus it is good this way at-least people can see the work is going on in this region.
Sahil Singh (wondering as usual) : wow nice…..you need to fall from a bike to be a royal…no pun intended.
11pm
Both eventually reached Chandigarh , it was cold at night so it was decided to crash night in some ok motel in sector 19 . I guess.
Hardeep Singh : now let us sleep and in the morning we will go to sector 22 market and hopefully see some totaas….
Sahil Singh: Paaji sector 22 really has tottaas…
Hardeep singh: the whole Punjab has totaaas , I doubt sector 22 might not have.
Sahil Singh and Hardeep Singh order some menu to their room and then sleep dreaming about the tootaas they will see in the morning.
Next Day
Both ventured out to Chandigarh sector 22,21,19,18,16,13,14………etc……etc…..etc……
10 am
market closed
Hardeep Singh : I guess it will take some time to open.
Sahil Singh : Where will we eat ?
10 :30 am
the two Singh see KFC OPEN !
Sahil Singh : Paaji kahaaannnnnaaa !
Hardeep Singh : wajii waa,Chak de patteee….
11: 30 am
Went to that Booring children park in chandigarh……
Hardeep Singh : I reckon someone died here making this ……
Sahil Singh(agreeing) : No wonder considering the sad state…..
12 pm
Enjoying the Chandigarh and the tootaaas of course…
While we were enjoying the bike breaks down again, and now both have to carry it to a mechanic…. Whole one hour wasted in the process.
Sahil Singh : Paaji apni toh kaat gayiiii….
Hardeep Singh : No problem next time we will come with full PROTECTION……
1 pm
The journey back to Delhi begins and sahil Singh takes the CHARGE of driving the bike.
Sahil Singh : first time bullet that to Chandigarh to delhi , awesomeee…… (no Barney intended)
Hardeep Singh : Only till Ambala………
Sahil Singh : why Paaji…… ?
Hardeep Singh : because I want to live………
Sahil Singh : Ok , we shall see..
3 pm
At karnal Sahil Singh gives away bike to Hardeep Singh fully satisfied and after innumerable negotiations since Ambala to karnal……(in which process Hardeep Singh’s heart beat broke all records)
Sahil Singh : Here Paaji enjoy, my bumm is really hurting sitting on the bike so long….
Hardeep Singh : That sore bum will remind you of you ride to Chandigarh, lol….. next time be ready for Ladakh from delhi….. and thank you for letting me live……
The return journey didn’t had much of the flavor as of the going one. But none the less we reached home (Delhi) at 5pm and saw Indo-Pak bus being escorted by the police vehicle (certainly being a priced catch).
The journey was full of fun and excitation, hopefully will be better next time when a new bike be taken along and the destination spot even farther. (not one whose clutch plates were not functioning properly). A journey with a friend is always cherished and good for life long memories.
Over the last few days watching Lalit Bhanot preside over news conference is nothing short of a comedy. It is quite remarkable that people like him “full of caliber” are running Indian sport for so long. Kalmadi might be a target of nation’s ire but certainly Mr Bhanot is doing what ever in his capacity to “OUT RUN ” him after all 22 years of being head of athletics federation must come handy somewhere.
His comments have been so ecstatic that even Bollywood script writers might be turning up to him to write some comedy for their movies.
some of his comments are :
1. The famous hygiene comment:
“These rooms are clean to both you and us,the delegates want certain standards in hygiene and cleanliness which may differ from our perception,what is good for us might not be good for them. See everyone has a different standard of cleanliness. “
2. The monkey comment which he made upon being asked by a foreign reporter about the racial profiling of indians as “monkeys” by south african swimmer.
“There are monkeys in that area and we are trying to get them out,which are present almost everywhere in Delhi.”
(Both, Fennell and CGF CEO Mike Hooper, couldn’t hide their laughter before explaining Bhanot what the question actually meant.)
Now the real problem is that India does not has just one Mr Bhanot but rather numerous of his kind who just like to be heads and enforce their standards of cleanliness onto others.Now though it seems that his friends and Indian government cannot take any more of insult and has “clipped his wings” and he would not be presiding over the meetings.
Whatever might be the outcome of this game for International media ,Lalit Bhanot experience would certainly be one of its kind.
The commonwealth were supposed to be the stepping stone on which India would have announced their arrival, the stage where world could see the power India has become but what it is turning out to be is a quite another story. The likes of Mr.kalmadi who have been sticking to their respective organizational seats for over 10 years each are now showing their true capability of getting things done, that is NOTHING.
The case is much graver as it affects the image of India which is been dented by these individual’s action.The organization they used to bring such name to India is Indian Olympics association. What it has done till now is a mystery to many ( even to sports person who will be represented India). Thing which they surely have done as pointed out in forgoing media is that it has projected a view that “Indians are not good managers and a land of snake-charmers certainly cannot pull off a sporting event of such magnitude“. Mr.Kalmadi and his old friends will take it lightly because after all at their age it is beyond to see what this action or inaction has done for future generations of India.
It seems these very sports administrators wanted to make some quick buck BCCI style but they forgot for that they need to have eligible people around who certainly have understanding of managing big events, not someone who is dormant and incapable of moving or thinking .
Though yes Mr. kalmadi and co didn’t waste any opportunity in saying big words like the village the athletes will stay will be better that in Beijing, those Chinese will be laughing their asses off what they must be hearing about the present condition of games village where only dogs and workers are having fun, shitting and sleeping where ever they want. The problem lies basically with the way our departments work namely MCD. This department is something which I have grown hearing as the most corrupt and backed by it brother department DDA which actually thinks that it is a stud department in whole of delhi and PM or CM stand nothing in front of them ( seems like dabang got inspired by them).
Delhi CM shiela dixit has been saying this for last 7 years to split MCD into 7 bodies on the basis of the districts of delhi namely
North-west
South-west
South
East
North-east
West
Central
This was not possible because those heading MCD this time were BJP and MCD runs a parallel govt to delhi govt. Their efficiency is well known. DDA for instance is an organization on its own and doesnot reports to delhi CM. These bodies must be made accountable and need to be broken and made to report to CM.
As far as Olympics bid that Mr. kalmadi wanted ,well given the scenario of commonwealth games in his esteemed leadership, that can only happen on his grave. The world body will in no way give such a bid to an incompetent organizing committee. In short only sports professionals must be allowed to run any of such organizations rather than those who wish to be just HEADs of various sports bodies for record holding purposes. Some one pointed to me that Mr. Vijay Malhotra of BJP has been head of Archery Association of India for 37 years , well that says it all.
The standing of the esteemed individuals is as follows :
Vijay Kumar Malhotra
Archery Association of India
President-37 years
K.P. Singh Deo-Rowing
Federation of India
President-26 years
Lalit Bhanot
Athletics Federation of India
Secretary General- 22 years
Jagdish Tytler
Judo Federation of India
President-20 years
S.S. Dhindsa
Cycling Federation of India
President-15 years
V.K. Verma
Badminton Association of India
President-12 years
B.S. Adityan
Volleyball Federation of India
President-12 years
Abhay Singh Chautala
Indian Amateur Boxing Federation
President-10 years
Ajay Chautala
Table Tennis Federation of India
President-10 years
Dig Vijay Singh
National Rifle Association of India
President-10 years
Yashwant Sinha
All India Tennis Association
President-10 years
Birendra P. Baishya
Indian Weightlifting Federation
A new boss for the body banned twice for doping
In order to do something for nation so that this games could really be something is 1st removal of such individuals so that their record spree could be stopped after all they are no Sachin Tendulkar representing India.
I have been watching and observing over many years of my life usage of one word to a wide extend. The word is used by very distinct set of human beings which span across genders, cast, nationality, color, religion and professions.
It is something which comes out as the last resort to get things going in your way if the opponent you are targeting is bit gullible and has a stamina for inferiority complex with a mediocre background. Frankly i have seen it used with a subtle style should i say but definitely with a purpose to annihilate.
The word is Education.
It is used in various ways depending upon the users desire to phrase it in the sentence.
case 1:
Two girls are having fight over things which they believe in the one from a “better school” throw a sentence at the other to make her fill guilt so that she could walk away with a victory.
The words are :
I am educated and you are not so get lost.
(The objective here is to make the one who is bugging you go away, citing your “education”)
case 2:
A tentative seller comes to a house knowing fully aware of the condition of the occupants abd he tries to offer you giving this sentence “ you see educated people usually buy such stuff and since you seem very educated this one is specially for you saved.”
(The objective here is too fool those people who wish to get a high status in society via education)
Case 3 :
The brash yet rich youngsters filled with cash from their daddies barley being able to pass school thought let me point out “A GOOD school” usually throw this education speech.In colleges too that certainly doesn’t change, there have been instances of certain individuals from the prestigious colleges doing shit of a course there but bragging to others about the education. Thereby commanding authority or at least trying to do so.
Some how One has come to a conclusion that education is the most over-rated word in the human history of human race.
Some instances which one would like to offer
RSS has very educated ppl but still they support crime against muslims.
( Ajmer bomb blast acussed as per news reports.)
Muslims are very educated in World but still they hate america and want to destroy it for what it is doing in Middle east.
Israel , a very powerful states full of educated ppl, still they have human rights violation in Palestine issue.
Germans were very educated but still they hated and killed jews in 1930s and 1940s.
US had civil rights issue where Blacks were not given rights and still there are gang wars in US on the basis of racial lines.
US is full of educated people but many there believe that all Muslims are terrorist.
US has civil rights issue where Hispanic americans have been stereotyped by the white ‘educated’ population.
Australia : the racist crimes, there are educated ppl there.
So in short what is REAL Education is it some word or more of an ego flying here and there of some people so that they could get away in any argument. ?
I can’t help but quote mahatma Gandhi here for his own dilemma on this situation
The real difficulty is that people have no idea of what education truly is. We assess the value of education in the same manner as we assess the value of land or of shares in the stock-exchange market. We want to provide only such education as would enable the student to earn more. We hardly give any thought to the improvement of the character of the educated. The girls, we say, do not have to earn; so why should they be educated? As long as such ideas persist there is no hope of our ever knowing the true value of education. – Mahatma Gandhi
There have been numerous initiates all across the globe to improve education , let me jus say that there are certain things for sure which education helps improves :
Help upgrade the family status
Betters life expectancy
Better income
Travelling
Better Heath services
Knowledge is power
Luxurious cars
Preferably marriage to a soul mate
understanding of things better
Independence.
Now of the above which i have mention some may also fall in dubious categories, eg information : who says getting information from the “RELIABLE” source which you believe are feeding you with correct information. There are books written with a specific objective to brain wash or the very newspaper that you subscribe may be a tool for propaganda purposes by some organization or political party, without you even knowing. The news channels that you watch we all know are MAD after TRPS , who knows the information that they are giving is “RIGHT” ?
The doctor who prescribes you drug may have hidden agenda behind it because he gets kicks from the pharmaceuticals company or the very research paper that you have read may have been funded by a pharma company to populate the drug it is making. The recent case of Super-bug named after New Delhi the hidden agenda also needs to be seen. Your ideological books are another issue.
Make no mistake that I am NOT against education , I rather encourage it but Education is not the only answer to this complex worlds’ problem but yes it is a start. So for those “EDUCATED PEOPLE” around the world the Journey has just begun.
There has been raging debate over the whole topic of honour killing which is usually associated with the female choosing the partner they want to marry and the law it seems is siding with the “elopers” or should I say “lovers“. It is their fundamental right to do what ever they want, a quote used bit too much , though one guesses that they never heard FREEDOM IS NOT FREE (Engraved in Washington, US)
The pseudo-intellectuals of the country have classified this phenomenon as barbaric with some even going to the extent to say that these caste people are dumb.Nalini Singh on Times Now said that these “uneducated traditional people associate family honour with women’s body” . Undoubtedly the little speech she gave would fit with the self appointed “modern ” groups, but can it really or will it really be acceptable in any traditionalist (read backward) society.
For the last few months our news channels seem to be buzz with the couples eloping and then asking for the police protection. Some news channels in this “post-modern era” wish to be “modern” and want to help them out without understanding the complete story behind them, but who gives a shit when TRPSare soaring man( good money for vacations abroad).
In a way it is seen as that these very couples are the REAL Indians and the offsprings out of such a union will be the REAL face of MODERN India as they would eradicate old customs which reportedly some consider to be ANCIENT or MEDIEVAL (read Not India rather a barbaric land after all doggies wanna be like their British masters).
Therefore wishing to establish MODERN customs in this post-modern era. ( Read power hold and vote banks of future politicians, maybe journalists with a difference, may be me)
For starters these modern thinks are outdated themselves. One have also read regarding some lines in the news papers stating that “She Trusted and he betrayed” citing references to the brother who betrayed his sister. One would not like to go into the whole murder angle as murder is unlawful and religious text too denounce it but certainly in this quote “She Trusted and he betrayed”.
What is trust to begin with ? Is it the liability only of the male to keep (in this case brother). Is elopement not breach of trust from girl’s side (though the pseudos have answer to that too)?
A brother, father , mother and even other sisters when feel that things are going smooth and if one of the siblings goes out on a daily routine to get with daily chores in which she/he might have to go out of the vicinity of her/his family members. The family happily awaits her/his arrival that she/he would come at so and so time , usually mothers have this TRUST on daughters more. If the girl never turns up, the family does takes a hit and a manhunt is launched for her safety but the soon realize that she has infact married and wants them to accept her along with her “new husband”. Will this action not amount to the statement that “THEY TRUSTED AND SHE BETRAYED” or “He TRUSTED and she BETRAYED ” ?
Whereas if the boy never turned up, well for that we have line ready “She TRUSTED and he BETRAYED” (in this case mother is betrayed one guesses ? )
Is the media not selective of what they are portraying , some maybe trying live their “dream to be Heros” ? Undoubtably people might say it is love and people have it is different ? Really , I thought it is more about sex(the mating game, probably DISCOVERY andNATGEO did get it wrong bullocks).
The fundamental rights are none the less prevalent after all every body has got the right to get laid (barring some, i guess Khap should be that) but shouldn’t there be a conversation between the respective parties or the dialogue is considered futile and mind you doesn’t the young generation gets inspired by such acts and follow suit( ie DDLJ syndrome, thought louvveeed the movie, I hope not sounding gay ?).
Some would debate it is good if they do and would be elated with such a thought but the big question is what sect do these people belong too and what ideology are they trying to propagate ( are they Pakistani funded sect trying to destroy Indian culture or better US funded social workers pouring in Dollar culture like they do in Iraq or Afghanistan and plz don’t throw Indian constitutional value, because many who speak such tone are actually the biggest perpetrators.)
In all one really doubts the whole view presented regarding the whole betrayal thing and believes it is more of personal views full of judgments being aired by the media and especially some channels who believe in Populous than Popular News where in fact the are airing their own views just to get better TRPS.
Lastly folks who shout over the roof top about love, first look into the definition of love then look in to love for opposite sex and third it is not love but rather SEX that both are after and using different vocabulary for same feeling would not fool many. The fall out of this MODERN view is that lower middle class parents are feeling threatened and they are asking for reduction of marriage age.
I guess the best way for the law makers should be is to take the girls away from the families or communities they feel potentially “threatening” and keep them in foster homes till they are 18 year or have blossomed so that they can marry their sexual-mate (sic .. sorry love), because otherwise these “daughter-owners” will “destroy constitution of India” and usually these potential destroyers consist of these bloody warrior races named jat, rajput, gujjar or Ahir.
WONDER WHAT THE FUSS is all about ? What the f*** is this selective targeting of girl by muslim report shit( some guys are doped all the time).
After all isn’t the job for these lowly educated to just die for the nation whereas rest “educated” lot can teach love to the younger more “understanding” lot (did i say females ).
Anyway , why the hell am I writing maybe I want to be the jurno-politician and want to have my article written which the editor threw to dustbin or simply because i am a loser or may be someone NEVER in love, picK your thought and who cares till the girl getting laid is not your daughter or sister. JAI HIND and JAI MAHARASHTRA (thought of wooing shiv sena too 🙂 ) !
For centuries there has been a perception that it is best to have mating of tall, dark and handsome man and young, beautiful and white girl. The fixation of White female and black male doesn’t seem to stop at some particular continent , country or culture.
It is usually the case that every mother wants a “white daughter in law” for herself, that is purely in skin color terms since everyone desires better looking offsprings of the union.This thinking gives way to perception that “white” is superior color or a color of peace. In India for ages the royals have white skinned and good looking and over the years the two century old rule of british have cemented it.
In the west however the debate was more racially charged one, though now there are many white woman marrying black men, visa versa might not be true. It is also debated that white woman is the ultimate trophy for the black man who has not forgotten his enslavement days and bad behaviour by the white man. As in all culture men desire the forbidden and having sex with “master’s wife, daughter or color relative “ is absolutely no no. Once you have them the black male does feels accomplished. Something which could not be said in the case of general majority of white male and black female relationship.
Similarly in India the debate is of lower caste or races which have been subdued by stronger or superior races. No matter what “social workers” might say but getting on with the female of stronger race is the ultimate aphrodisiac for male, It does gives them a kick to bed them or even think about it. As men for always have a craving for power and best way since the ages of Adam and eve in order to nullify other men’s power is mating with female of the powerful race or class.It gives a feeling of equality to those who have been oppressed, as always in every society it is the female which is the most valuable for men.Some say it is power, some say they view females as commodities but one would differ and simply say it is desire to have an off spring with same value system. (probably the reason that majority in Countries marry within the country) This can be the case of language, race, color, religion, school and even locality.
Though those wanting to create a “new” identity probably because they feel left out might ‘fight’ this ‘INJUSTICE’(Honestly it is more of a perception).The problem comes when these “new” and ‘self appointed propagators of modern thought’ start to selectively target families of females and try to pull them in their own ‘new community’, a backlash takes place, irrespective of the regions whether United States, Europe or Asia.
There was a theory that once rotated that if all the ‘beautiful’ married each other barring blond, brunette, black or red haired look ,adding to the skin color our society will be divided into two species those beautiful brown skinned(as blonds and whites would be extinct) and those who are ugly (those who were not so beautiful but mated on the basis of human body’s lust).
Even going by those standards the ‘new modern ideology’ is a failure as they are propagating discrimination something which they accuse others of. None the less this would not stop a dark or black male to pitch for mating with the “white fairy princes’ as everybody wants to be ’EQUAL’ (not to mention satisfy lust and equalise power).
INQUISITION 
