Bala takes the plunge | Author: Melvin Durai | Publisher: Hachette, India | ISBN: 978-93-5009-075-6 | Pages: 192 | Price: INR 195.00/$8.99

Book Review by U. Mahesh Prabhu

Engineering and medicine are the two most coveted professions by Indian parents for their kids. It won’t be improper to suggest that: the reason for India to have so many doctors and engineers owes more to parental pressure rather than an individual’s personal pleasure. There are several stories to be written in this regard. Nevertheless, most of these narratives end up running “blame-games”. Two Bollywood movies produced by Amir Khan, namely: “Tare Zameen Par” and “3 Idiots” though adored by youths; failed to impress their parents. “Bala takes the plunge” by a very talented humor-columnist – Melvin Durai – is a brilliant feat in this respect. It’s not just a good read, but also a work full of wit. And because it’s free of “blame-game” it bound to make a convincing read for parents too.

The story is about B. Balasubramaniam – “Bala” or “Bill” for short – who pursues a financially lucrative career as a “Director of Design Engineering” in an American enterprise specializing in health equipments, after receiving his degree in engineering from India. Even after achieving everything expected from him by his parents, there isn’t a sense of fulfillment within. He’s missing something, and badly. When he realizes that his otherwise nincompoop cousin Rajan has made a niche for himself as a musician and is composing music for a “Rajnikanth-starrer” besides having been engaged to his gorgeous cousin (from mother’s side) he feels pitiful for having not pursued his childhood dream – of directing a movie with Rajnikanth in the lead role.

After failing to find a wife “all-by-himself” from scores of online-matrimonial sites, from America; he embarks on a short trip back home owing to his parental pressures to meet prospective brides. When he sees that choices of his and his parents’ aren’t the same he finds himself in a dilemma; but is hell-bent upon choosing a gal of his choice. Of a sudden he happens to meet his childhood friend – Priya, who also happen to be his childhood crush. When he realizes that she too is a spinster with similar expectation from her spouse he falls in love and seeks to propose her.

Though overtly with a “usual looking” storyline this book – written with countless hilarious anecdotes; without offending anyone’s sentiments – is bound to be more than an obliging read. In a country where contradictions and criticism can cost dearly, Melvin’s genre and approach is smart as a whip and seems to suggest that “laughing out makes hell lot of a sense than fighting out”.

It won’t be improper to suggest that Chetan Bhagat has a worthy adversary, who not only makes things interesting but also makes his readers to fall from their chair in fits of laughter. Given, also, the fact that Melvin’s language is extremely lucid he is all bound to make his mark in contemporary Indian literature – sooner or later.

Book reviewer is editor-in-chief of Folksmagazine.com and distinguished fellow of Royal Asiatic Society (UK).

The present generation of Hindus owe much to Shivaji. Although he is famous throughout the length and breadth of India, in the West many Hindus, will not even have heard of him. This article is a tribute to the great King, whose life has had a profound impact on history, and who was an emblem of both courage and virtue.

Shivaji was born in 1627 in a turbulent period when the Hindu people were being oppressed and religiously persecuted by foreign invaders in their own homeland. The carnage included massacres of Hindus, the mass rape of Hindu women, Hindu children taken into slavery, the imposition of heavy discriminatory taxes on Hindus (the Jiziya tax) and the destruction of Hindu temples. Indeed, it seemed like Hinduism was in danger of dying out.

However, his mother, Jijabai raised Shivaji with high ideals of spirituality, heroism and chivalry by inspiring him with the great Hindu epics and heroes of the past ages. With his desire to rise to the defence of the Hindu civilisation and freedom now evoked, he was ready to live up to the seal he prepared for himself at the age of 12 inscribed with the words: \”Although the first moon is small, men see that it shall gradually grow. This seal befits Shivaji, the son of Shahaji.\”

From the age of 16, Shivaji began to undertake battles to liberate lands that were under enemy control. His mind was made up by this early age – he wasn\’t going to wait around or pray for a champion to be born to renew the rule of dharma. In one of his early victories he and a small group of friends captured a fort and renamed it Rajgad. With this and subsequent victories Shivaji became powerful and his army grew to thousands, giving him enough confidence to attack and liberate Mughal occupied territories (the Mughals were the most powerful dynasty in India and had most of North India under its control at that time). Shivaji fought with determination and strategic brilliance. He used guerrilla warfare to devastating effect, and made great advances against the much larger and heavily armed Mughal forces. At times Shivaji would enter into a strategic truce, giving him the opportunity to strengthen his positions in other areas, while planning his next offensive.

Shivaji understood that it is better to use cunning strategies and break a truce against an enemy that molested Hindu women and children and destroyed Hindu temples, than to abide by an honourable code of conduct towards the dishonourable enemy and risk losing the urgent cause he stood for. But while Shivaji was brutal against those who oppressed Hindus, he did not permit attacks against their women and children or places of worship. Shivaji stood for dharma; he used might as a tool to establish justice not oppression.

Shivaji died on 4 April 1680, from failing health, thought to be due to his vigorous and continuous struggle. His contribution to our history cannot be overstated. The poet Bhushan, who lived at the same time as Shivaji wrote: \”Kasihki Kala Gayee, Mathura Masid Bhaee; Gar Shivaji Na Hoto, To Sunati Hot Sabaki!\” [Kashi has lost its splendour, Mathura has become a mosque; If Shivaji had not been, All would have been circumcised (converted)].

After the untimely death, Aurangzeb the Mughal Emperor and his armies descended upon the kingdom to crush it, thinking that after Shivaji\’s death his warriors would be disheartened. However, Shivaji had inspired his followers to such an extent that not only did they weather this storm and saw Aurangzeb\’s death but went from strength to strength with Peshwa Baji Rao the First at the realm, and went on to unleash the final death blow to the Mughal Empire.
Shivaji\’s legacy can be seen alive to this day. For example, the profound benefits of Hindu spirituality, philosophy, Yoga, mediation, Ayurveda and art resonate not only in India but all over the world. But these practices and knowledge would only be found as partial relics in the museums and libraries like all other ancient civilisations had it not been for great Hindu warriors like Shivaji.

Lord Krishna is seen differently by different people. He is simultaneously a great teacher, a spiritual inspiration as well as a politician. On the one hand, he is Yogeshwara — the Lord of Yogas — while on the other hand he is called chit chor, a thief. On the eve of Janmashtami, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar tries to explore Krishna’s virat swaroop

Janmashtami celebrates the birth of Lord Krishna. Krishna’s birth on ashtami, the eighth day of a lunar fortnight or the half-moon, is significant as it indicates a perfect balance between the visible material world and the invisible spiritual realm. This signifies Krishna’s mastery over realms, the seen and the unseen.

The personality of Krishna is quite unique and difficult to fathom. He is simultaneously a great teacher, a spiritual inspiration as well as a politician. On the one hand, he is Yogeshwara (the Lord of Yogas — the state to which every yogi aspires) while on the other hand he is called chit chor, a thief. His behaviour encompasses both extremes and yet he remains a perfect balance of the extremes. The avadhoot by definition is oblivious to the world outside, while a materialistic person, be it a politician or a king, is oblivious to the spiritual world. But Krishna is both: He is Dwarkadheesh and Yogeshwara.

Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita: “People think of me as a physical embodiment. I am not the body; I am the consciousness which is present all over and in everything.”

Krishna is the embodiment of pure joy and bliss. What happens in the presence of pure joy and bliss? All complaints and anger vanish and life appears like a play, a game. Krishna could also tell lies and he troubled people around him. Then people would complain against him in anger. But the moment they came into his presence, all anger would vanish. For, Krishna everything was a game, or lila. If we look into his life, wherever he went, a fight or a war would occur there. Wherever he would go somebody would begin to fight, and he would stand there smiling at them, laughing at them.

Krishna is the symbol of all possibilities, the total blossoming of all aspects of the human, and the divine. It’s very difficult to really understand Krishna’s personality. The rishis called him the full embodiment of the divine, the totality, because all that a human could be is in Krishna.

It is said that Krishna used to steal butter. What does this metaphor signify? Butter is the final product of a process: The milk is first made into curd and then only the curd that is well churned becomes butter. Life is also like that; like milk or curd, life is the process of churning. So many events, happenings and instances are churning your life. And as your mind is churned and churned finally the butter comes out, which is the saintliness in you. And Krishna steals the saintliness! This means what? He loves the saintliness, he loves this mind that you have finally attained, a mind which is like butter, which is not hard or rigid — a mind which has reached its final state.

Why does Krishna carry a flute? You know, what you have in your hand indicates what you are inside. If you have a flower in your hand, it indicates you are like a flower. If you have a flute in your hand, you are like a flute — hollow and empty. Krishna holds a flute and his posture indicates his whole philosophy. One leg is firmly on the ground, the other is raised, poised; this is how dance can happen. When you are buried in the mind dance cannot happen. Dance is the joy of life and the life of Krishna is such a dance.

Then there is Radha, which means longing for the most beautiful thing. Radha became immersed in Krishna because that longing for the divine, that love for the divine was so total that even the divine could not stay without Radha. So, Krishna says, “I am playing the flute just for you.” Radhe-Shyam represents the infinity. Radhe is the individual life and Shyam is the infinite life. The infinity permeates every cell of the individual body and the entire creation is filled with life — that is Radhe-Shyam.

Krishna is the self of every being and when our true natural self shines through our personality, skills and abundance follow. As Krishna himself says in the Bhagavad Gita, he is the strength in the strong, the wisdom in the wise, the beauty in the beautiful and the dignity in the dignified. He is the very life force in every living being.

And Janmashtami is the day when you enliven that virat swaroop of Krishna in your own consciousness once again. Letting your true nature manifest in your day-to-day life is the real secret of Krishna’s birth.

Hence, the most authentic way of celebrating Janmashtami is to know that you have to play a dual role — of being a responsible citizen of the nation and at the same time to realise that you are above all these roles and events; you are the untouched Brahman. Imbibing a bit of avadhoot and a bit of activism in your life is the real significance of celebrating Janmashtami.

When we are able to practise and develop a habit of becoming a witness to our thoughts, actions and their good or bad consequences like a non-reacting observer, we learn to live in the Krishna consciousness. When we develop the awareness of being in the body rather than being the body, we take the first step towards the Krishna consciousness. When we become aware of the truth that this body which we have taken in this life has a ‘specific purpose’ and start our journey afresh to find ‘that purpose’ we take our first step towards self-realisation, which is the Krishna consciousness.

Krishna’s charismatic personality has a universal appeal due to his teachings in the Bhagavad Gita. Imagine a man standing between the armies of Kouravas and Pandavas. The war is about to begin. Millions will perish in the following two weeks. He is teaching the essence of this universe to Arjuna through the Bhagavad Gita. Everyone around him becomes silent and still. He was known as Sthir Pragya, or the one with the still mind and stable conscious.

‘Self-realisation’ is an essential duty of all the individuals who have even once questioned their self. Unfortunately, the answer to this question is neither in big temples nor in hundreds of sacred shrines. The question has arisen from the deep self within and the answer also lies in the deep self within. There is no other way but to initiate the inner journey.

The inner journey is beautiful once we find the correct path. In ancient times there were gurus and enlightened masters who would selflessly help and put a true seeker on the right path. Today majority of the saffron-clad swamis and gurus act like business people and the path they show only leads to their luxurious five-star business centres known as ashrams. It is, however, not difficult to connect with the ‘inner’ guru. The Himalayan masters documented all the steps for the inner journey and passed them through the yogis of the tradition. Their work is available through many Vedantic philosophical texts and sutras.

For someone whose time is mostly consumed in mundane social obligations and who has neither the patience nor the inclination to study the classical texts, the following practice helps calm the mind. Sit in a silent corner of your home or office. Relax the forehead, eyes, eyelids, face muscles, mouth, tongue, base of the tongue, jaw, neck, shoulders, arms, elbows, hands, fingers and throat pit. Feel the touch and flow of breath in the nostrils.

In your mind say one while breathing out and two while breathing in. Stay with this breath awareness for 5-10 minutes. Now watch your mind. Observe its various thoughts without reacting to them. You have to simply observe. Do not react, suggest and take a string to further any thought process. If the mind is reacting to any noise or sound, do not encourage it to probe the origin of it. Just become an observer to all the thoughts without feeding them any reaction. In the beginning it may sound little frustrating, but eventually mind gets trained like any other part of the body.

Initially start this exercise for 5-10 minutes and gradually expand its time and scope. This process gradually teaches you to detach from unwanted and unnecessary negativity, thus initiating the process of self-realisation. This is like living in the Krishna consciousness.

By Asha Goswami

Lord Krishna is the most charming figure in the three worlds (vibhradvapuh sakalasundarasannivesham… tribhuvanakamanam). He is eternal, and is beyond time and space. He is the embodiment of the highest pleasure, beauty, glory and knowledge. He also signifies the ‘one who is tireless in action’ (krishnayaklishtakarmane). Krishna is, therefore, the most celebrated hero of Indian tradition, the most widely worshipped Indian deity and the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He was the embodiment of all sentiments (rasamurttiman), lord of love (smaromurttiman), beloved of mankind, lord of yoga (Yogeshwara) and a divine musician.

Krishna appears in Indian tradition with many colourings. He is interpreted differently by different people. He, thus, evokes men of different faiths. For instance, Buddhists treat him very much akin to their conception of black Mara, while Jains take him as the ninth Vasudeva and one of their Shalakapurushas. According to the Bhagavata ideology, Krishna fulfills the role of avatara in the form of ‘mayamanushya’, signifying one who is seemingly a man but essentially an incognito being — that is, an epiphany of the unfathomable divine in a mortal frame. While the Vallabhacharis profess that Krishna’s divine manifestation (Shreemurtti) takes place in the minds of the devotees, the Nimbarkis treat Krishna as identical with Brahma. The Ramanujas accept Krishna exclusive of his amorous apotheosis as Gopala Krishna in company with Radha.

Krishna’s birthday is celebrated each year as Janmashtami with ardent faith and veneration. This reminds us of the manifestation of the emergence of the supreme being in Mathura some 5,000 years ago on the eighth day of the dark half of the Bhadra month for the protection of the righteous and the destruction of the evil.

Even Annie Besant, a great theosophist, could not escape from Krishna’s charm. “When we think of Krishna we seem to hear the ripple of the river, the rustling of the leaves in the forests, the lowing of the kine in the pasture, the laughter of the happy children playing round the knees of their parents,” she writes in The Hindu Avataras. Such a revelation depicts Krishna as a unique god who signifies every possible human act — from an innocent childhood to a playful youth; from a noble king to a maverick politician.

Krishna is mostly depicted as endowed with two elements. One as an avatara of Vishnu, playing his role with spiritual varieties; and, two as a history figure, maintaining high standards in life.

The Indian tradition holds an avatara as having two bodies — one which is eternal, supra-cosmic or spiritual, and the other being cosmic or material and temporary. Thus, the role played by Krishna as Lord Vishnu’s incarnation should be regarded as lila or a play in four acts on the world’s stage. Also, since Krishna’s historicity cannot be denied, one must also see him as historical character within particular time-frame.

For understanding his true revelation as an avatara of Vishnu, the acts of his lila must be comprehended. The first act portrays him as an object (vishaya) of the sentiments of bhakti. In this act, he acts as a child god, divine counsellor, friend, etc. He behaves according to people’s conception of God, which may vary from people to people. The second act depicts him as destroyer of the opposing forces which retard the evolution of good in the form of demons. This role he played throughout his life.

The third act shows him as a political adviser, guide and friend of the Pandavas. As a shrewd and wise diplomat and political statesman, he played an important role in the Mahabharata war and for rejuvenation of the contemporary Indian nation by uniting together its divided principalities.

The fourth act presents him as global teacher (jagadguru) — that is, not the teacher of one race, but the whole world. His Gita sermon can be called a comprehensive exposition of philosophy of conduct. It also calls for inculcating moral and spiritual values.

Of all the phases, the third act seems to be the lengthiest and shows the varied levels of his personae which he enacted in association with the Pandavas and wherein he stepped forward as their ambassador, and using his debating skill and oratory device to calm down enemies.

After having a glimpse of Krishna’s lila, one needs to focus on his historical life, which was grand in every aspect — as a charming boy, as an influential hero of his times, as best athlete, as an ideal householder and an ascetic. It seems that through his divine sense of duty he developed many extraordinary physical, mental and intellectual abilities which often credited him with miracles. No wonder, he could hear in Dwaraka Draupadi’s agony of shame and answer her prayers by lengthening her attire; he could bring back to life the dead sons of a Brahmin. His mastery in the use of weapons like mace, bow and disc proved him a great warrior who excelled his contemporaries — Drona, Bhishma and the Pandavas.

The Mahabharata and some Puranas record Krishna’s greatness right from the time of his birth when he could cast divine vision to his parents, Vasudeva and Devaki. The earliest phase of his life depicts him as an ideal, playful child, an incarnation of beauty, joy and love. As a boy endowed with extraordinary powers, he fought devils who often disturbed peace in Gokul and Vrindavan. He killed Kamsa, the tyrant king of Mathura who was also his maternal uncle. As grown-up, he proved an ideal householder, having a large family. He never got dismayed by family problems, and faced them with calmness and a sportive spirit. His inner consciousness always remained in blissful state of divinity (brahmisthiti), thus illustrating a new form of yoga — that one can performing sadhana even while doing domestic, social and political activities. By assigning this concept to the path of yoga, Krishna got the title of ‘mahayogi in active life.’

Last but not the least, Krishna’s eminence as a religious teacher could be envisaged from the Bhagavad Gita, which inculcates spirit of fellowship, love and devotion.

Due to his unique qualities and personal traits, Krishna is known by several names and epithets which may best serve as the measure of his greatness. He performed with perfection both his roles as a man and a superman.

– The writer is a Krishna scholar and renowned Indologist

After a novel based on the story of Karna, the tragic prince in the Mahabharata abandoned at birth, and a play from the perspective of Gandhari, the queen mother who lived life blindfolded after her marriage to a sightless prince, Nepal is now set to woo London with yet another interpretation of the timeless epic of love, treachery and war.

Indian translator and author Kurchi Dasgupta, who shifted to Kathmandu from Kolkata in 2005 — the tumultuous year that led to a series of sweeping changes in the former Hindu kingdom — will present Bishoy Mahabharat, her second series of paintings interpreting the epic that dates back to the 9th-8th century BC , at the Nehru Centre in London from September 7 to 10. The 18 paintings — in oil, gouache and mixed media on canvas — comes at a time the Nehru Centre, under the Indian Council for Cultural relations, is celebrating the 60th anniversary of India as a Republic.

The 36-year-old former CEO of the Society for the Preservation of Satyajit Ray Films in Kolkata says she began reading the Mahabharata in earnest from 2008 after she held a solo exhibition — World Cinema: A Dialogue — at the MP Birla Millennium Art Gallery, London.

“I had watched films for one year in preparation for the exhibition,” says Kurchi, supervising the packing of her paintings at the Imago Dei gallery in Kathmandu where she held a preview of the new Mahabharat series.

“It made me realise I did not have enough knowledge about my roots, the right perception of my location.”

She thought as a South Asian, if she were to “discover” herself and find her “true position in world history” she needed to focus on something that was essentially Asian and yet universal — the Mahabharata. The 19th century translation by Kishori Mohan Ganguli of the original Sanskrit text by sage Vyasa provided her the foundation for her first series, The Mahabharat: An Impression that was exhibited at the Siddhartha Art Gallery in Kathmandu earlier this year.

While she started her Mahabharat series with some of its inimitable characters — its heroine Draupadi, who is forced to marry five brothers, the warrior-hero Arjun and his inimical rival, foe and stepbrother Karna — now she is focussing on incidents, regarding them as “symbols of the crises we go through life”.

The painting titled Draupadi, for example, shows an introspecting woman, her face covered by a gauze-like strip. “She remembers the scene where the Kaurava brothers tried to disrobe her in public,” the painter explains. “The cloth is also a reference to how women are not allowed to speak.”

Another painting, Sabha Parba, is inspired by that impetuous game of dice that made Yudhisthir gamble away his kingdom, his own self and four brothers and even his wife. But there are no figures in the painting, only the dice and the great hall of Yudhisthir’s newly built palace Indraprastha. “It was the palace that triggered the jealousy of Duryodhan and led to the game of dice. Such acts of greed and jealousy have continued down the ages. I have tried to show that the characters change but the props remain the same,” Kurchi says.

Kurchi’s Mahabharat paintings are not an attempt to tell the story visually. They are impressions dominated by an awed realisation about the cycle of time. “The Mahabharata is not just a tale of how a race, if not humanity, is wiped off the face of the earth — to be reborn and destroyed again and again, in rhythm with the cycle of yugas. It is also the tale of the rise and fall of time — through wars, destructions and rebirths of civilisations… keeping itself relevant for more than three millennia,” she says.

Kurchi, who began to focus on painting more than writing after she relocated to Kathmandu, says she is grateful to the city for giving her space and warmth. “If you respond to Nepal, you can appreciate the strong creative impulse here. Kathmandu, though a city, is laidback and your feeling of stress recedes. You begin to bask in its warmth and craziness, which is just like in Kolkata,” she says.

Source: IANS

India and China | Author: Prem Shankar Jha | Publisher: Penguin | Price: 599

The book takes a close look at politico-economic circumstances that made China a ‘hard’ power and India a ‘soft’ state, says Anil Bhat

As two major civilisations in the Asian theatre began their success story after the exit of the British Empire, they took different paths. While China remains, despite all reforms, authoritarian, India, no matter how divided and corrupt it may appear, has successfully survived as a democratic nation. And despite great disparities in development in general and defence in particular, there is much that China envies about India.

India And China dwells on differences and similarities between the growth patterns of the two countries. It examines the socio-political conflicts that the market has unleashed, and the successes and failures of the two countries in trying to contain each other. The authoritarian nature of the Chinese state ensured that the struggle between growth and equity remained mainly economic. In India, on the other hand, strong democratic institutions ensured that the struggle became political, and the goal of businesses was to capture political power so that policies furthering their interests could be enacted.

Despite rising trade, the author tracks the rapidly deteriorating relationship between India and China and is sceptical about the inevitability of the rise of both countries to global dominance in the 21st century. He also examines the impact of the US implicitly abandoning its dream of regaining unchallenged hegemony in the post-Cold War world.

A series of economic and political reforms initiated by Deng Xiaoping in 1978 led to a gradual implementation of a market economy and a degree of political liberalisation which loosened the leash put by Mao Zedong. But by early 1989, these very reforms led to the emergence of two groups of people who were dissatisfied with the Government. The first group included students and intellectuals, who believed that the reforms had not gone far enough — that the Communist Party of China (CCP) still retained socio-political controls. The second group included urban industrial workers who believed that the reforms had gone too far and caused inflation and unemployment which threatened their livelihood.

In what Jha refers to as “the first crisis of legitimacy”, tens of thousand students and workers peacefully marched in Beijing in May 1989, demanding democratic reforms and protesting against government corruption. When martial law failed to stop the demonstrations, the Communist Party decided to use the Army, sending not only troops, but also tanks to suppress pro-democracy supporters in Tiananmen Square on June 3 and 4. Students say more than 7,000 people were killed during that time.

The government conducted widespread arrests to suppress the remaining supporters of the movement, besides curbing whatever little freedom the media had. The violent suppression of the Tiananmen Square protest caused widespread international condemnation against the Chinese Government.

Jha studies the growth pattern of India and China with their problems like failure to reconcile growth with equity, neglect/exploitation of labourers, farmers and other deprived classes, impact of globalisation on them and various other aspects, backed with relevant charts and tables. China’s Tiananmen and many other unreported protest movements are more than matched by India’s insurgencies, which degenerated into terrorism, and the Naxal resurgence, which has affected 22 of 28 states and about six of them in a deadly grip.

China illegally claims 90,000 sq km of Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh; also, it controls 38,000 sq km of territory in Jammu & Kashmir. Worse, it has steadily encircled India strategically — from Pakistan and Myanmar to Nepal and Bangladesh. Pakistan’s deep water port at Gwadar, which is being developed by China, will provide it a strategic foothold in the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf. The port will also act as the downstream hub for pipelines linking to Central Asian natural gas fields through Afghanistan.

While China’s military expenditure remains shrouded in secrecy and its numbers in personnel and weapons are far higher than India’s, what its armed forces lack is the longstanding experience in war, insurgency/terrorism, etc.

With Sino-Indian bilateral trade touching $60 billion and the two economies recovering from global recession, there is strong interest among the two nations to build a strong relationship. Also, though the trade between the two flourished, despite last year’s dip, India is deeply concerned about mounting trade deficit. In 2008, bilateral trade was estimated at $52 billion and in 2009, despite the global economic slowdown, it stood at $44 billion. The first two months of 2010 have shown 55 per cent increase as compared to the previous year.

Towards the end, the author contends that as both India and China get transformed into capitalist states, they face a great challenge of harmonising their interests.

It’s indeed an interesting book to read.

– The reviewer is editor, WordSword Features & Media

Capital phenomenon | Author: Sidharth Mishra | Publisher: Allied Publishers Pvt Ltd | Price: 250

Termed a political history of Delhi between 1998 and 2009, the book ends up focusing on the rise and rise of Sheila Dikshit, and rightly so, writes Rajesh Singh

At first glance, the cover of the book is a bit mystifying. It promises us a political history of Delhi covering the period 1998-2009, but the blurb on the front flap reduces the scope to the rise and rise of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. But then, since no objective analyst can deny the

pivotal role she has played in the Capital’s politics, whether it is in keeping the BJP at bay or decimating her rivals within the party, perhaps equating the recent history of the State to her personal and political charisma is not such a brazen attempt at eulogy.

What makes her even more enigmatic is the manner she has trumped her foes. To borrow a phrase of a US official, she has used the scalpel rather than the hammer to floor them, thus escaping the charge of indulging in ruthless politics. That she has become a capital phenomenon, even her adversaries do not deny. What they wish is that the phenomenon ends soon.

Besides projecting Dikshit’s prowess, the book also serves as a useful reference guide to those interested in Delhi’s politics. Since it is a collection of articles from a column that author Sidharth Mishra has been writing for The Pioneer, it takes the reader to events and people that may now be fading from public memory but are useful to remember for a closer political understanding. The common thread that runs through the collection is an attempt to unravel the Chief Minister’s brand of politics. Interestingly, the author supplements his effort by quoting instances of how she has over the decade managed to counter opposition from within her own party. It does appear from the book that she faced bigger challenges from within than from the Opposition. It is a reflection both on how easily the BJP appears to have caved in to her charms and the desperation of local Congress leaders who, with her continued rise, feel more and more marginalised.

Mishra has an interesting observation to make: That Dikshit gave Delhi to the Congress at a time when party stalwarts elsewhere like Ashok Gehlot and Digvijay Singh were falling by the wayside and the NDA was on the rise. From taking over for the first time as Chief Minister in 1998 to 2004 by when she had effectively consolidated her hold, the BJP and its allies were on the upswing. As the author says in an article of April 2004, “Last December, when four States went to poll, three ousted the Congress but Delhi retained the Sheila Dikshit-led government.”

The achievement becomes even more remarkable when one remembers that just four years before that victory, she was down in the dumps with the Congress losing all the seven Delhi seats in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections. A lesser leader would have collapsed, but Dikshit emerged stronger from that debacle. In the 2004 parliamentary polls the party under her leadership won back six of the seven seats. The author, in all fairness, credited the BJP’s VK Malhotra for his victory from South Delhi, for the “focused work” the veteran leader had put in.

Dikshit’s detractors may have been stumped by the revival but they were far from done. The author tells us how, even after scripting a grand success, she had to wait for over 10 days before the party high command named her the Chief Minister for a second term. Clearly, her rivals within the party worked overtime to deny her glory in victory. But here the reader is left asking for more. Mishra does not recreate the backstage drama that went on in a bid to deny her the chief ministerial post.

Mishra recounts several more instances when the Chief Minister had to tackle covert and at times open rebellion to her leadership. In some cases, like when her detractor Subbash Chopra was made Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president or when another opponent Rambabu Sharma was given much prominence, rumours were that the high command itself was keen to clip her wings. Even high-profile leaders like Jagdish Tytler and Ajay Maken, the author says, are alleged to have played a part in the campaigns to denigrate her leadership.

So much so that even some bureaucrats in the early days of her reign caused her trouble by failing to follow orders. The author narrates the case of Omesh Saigal, who as Chief Secretary had been reportedly flouting government instructions. Ironically, she found relief under the NDA regime, when her demand for his transfer was promptly accepted by then Home Minister LK Advani.

If Dikshit remained right on top despite all the rug-pulling, it was, Mishra says, because she had managed to strike a chord in the hearts of the average Delhi voter, who variously saw in her a dynamic leader, a sympathetic sister and an understanding mother. Despite her elderly woman status, she connected naturally with the younger generation, something that her opponents like ML Khurana failed to do. That is how, the author tells, she managed to project herself as a harbinger of “change in culture”.

The author devotes a major part of the book to underline that she succeeded despite various odds. There is no dispute with that. But something must have gone wrong for so many of her early supporters to turn against her. Even if conceding that some of them wanted to push an agenda that was unpalatable and she aborted such efforts, all of her detractors could not have been always wrong. The author could have also brought into focus her drawbacks.

So, despite all the scheming and plotting against her, Dikshit has had the last laugh. The last of these last laughs was when she led the party in Delhi to a resounding victory in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, with the Congress sweeping all the seven seats. But, now she faces a huge challenge to her famed competence: The successful organisation of the Commonwealth Games. Her government is under the scanner for making a mess of Delhi in the garb of modernising the civic amenities ahead of the Games. Deadlines have gone by unmet and there is little evidence yet of her famed strong and decisive hand.

Dikshit’s political foes have been waiting for an opportunity to unmask her enigma. Will the Commonwealth Games provide that occasion? The author will be as eager as any one else for an answer.

Unusual words of creativity.

By Poorwa Kamat Tarkar

This is a story of the Moon and the Sun… Luna and the Sol Invictus. Of how their story begins… For aught you have wondered, why the Sun offers its light to the moon each evening, and why during the high noon hours, blistering heat rains down on the soily terrains of the Earth, you’ll find the answers here, as the truth unveils of the wronged and the recompense thus offered…

Luna was a Goddess, a lady of the stars, a heavenly body all envied. She was from the Heavens, descended the skies to rein the soil far below her, to catch the eye of romantics and to make the fair maidens sigh so sadly…

But the descent had cost her so, for she had defied the Gods when she left their abode. Walked out on the grand ceremonies, turned her face away from the mighty Lords of the Blue, pained by the suffering of the beings on the soil, and allured by the love they shared for that abound near them…

And the price had placed her very existence at stake, pulled her off the charts of the Godly fames, cast her into eternal darkness… The very soils which had lured her out of the Heavenly Plains shielding her from the Light, casting a shadow on her soul, draining away all the beauty she had to be hidden in chasms, the target of cast-away asteroids and meteors…

Sol was the Light, the source of Life, the One to give nourish to all who needed it. The Great One, Invincible, Indestructible, Impregnable… The Gentle One, Kindness abound, ever-willing to Provide, to Sustain, filled with an energy of love and bright shadows…

There was but one goal in his life, and that was to smear all around Him with a blotch of Shine, a smirk of hope, a smudge of delight. And there was but one lady in his life, the one who had descended from the Great Plains of the Skies… For a Divinity more filled with love He had not encountered before, ready to sacrifice all to be for those who needed Her more, agreeably accepting the statement which cast her off the High Seat, the place for which all others strived…

But by placing her off the charts, the Gods had forsaken not only the Deity, but also the Light, for the shadows she was in gave the Grand Sol not even a thread of link to the Goddess who had claimed his heart… The distance separating them countless years…

And then the Sol thundered, his anger much against the Gods who had wronged an innocent..! For innocent was Luna, her pure heart only yearning to be of relief to the Beings of the soil, and not to insult the abode of the Gods…

The curse of the Godly Spirits had cut into her immortality, rendered her tearful and a great ocean of snow began to be formed on the soil she guarded so preciously… Avalanches rose, Soil Plates tore, Volcanoes erupted and the once peaceful land of the soils froze all over..! And before long, the Sol had withdrawn into Himself, a blue hue marking the dank atmosphere around his rule…

He refused to nourish, rebuffed life, knew not to care for the World, which had collapsed into darkness… The great creatures which roamed the soils settled in deep caves. Others simply froze mid-swim when the once fluid ocean turned to thick ice.

The Earth, sister of the blissful dwelling of the Gods, ardent worshipper of the Sol Invictus… She bore the ache with pride in her stride.

And the Gods feared, for without the Light, there was nothing… Only darkness, clammy surroundings…  And they pleaded to the Sol to return, pleaded to the Luna for mercy.

And the ever-forgiving Luna twinkled at them from the darkness into which She had been cast. The Gods could not retract their curse once it had been cast, but they did repent their foolishness, the haste with which they blamed the Blameless… The pain they had inflicted on the Earth… And this lessened the curse, and brought Sol out of his self-imposed exile.

And ever since, the Sun has shone ever-so-brightly each day… More so at Noon as that is when the Gods settle for their ceremonies, and He burns their seats, forcing them to sit on pearly chairs, signifying the Moon’s blush…

And each evening, the Earth shifts so that Luna and Sol may meet, and the Sol Invictus lends his Light to the Goddess… Until one night each month, the God’s curse banishes Her into the darkness… Until one night each month, the curse is deflected to bring Her into the Light… Declaring the Deity to be Invincible… Invictus…

Journey into America: The Challenge of Islam | Author: Akbar Ahmed | Publisher: Brookings Institution Press | ISBN: 978-0-8157-0387-7 | Price: $29.95 (HB)

Book Review by U. Mahesh Prabhu

When Muslims in democratic societies demand for “a room for Islamic prayer”, for “liberty” to wear head scarf or call for newspapers “to refrain from publishing Mohammed’s cartoons”, Islam’s apologists support them by referring to “freedom of faith”. By comparing Islam to other religion(s) and by presenting arguments like “What would you do if you were not allowed to practice your own faith!?” they smartly deceive those without any idea about Islam besides making them declare that “Islam is a religion of peace.”

Owing to few brave free-thinking intellectuals and to the internet; the world is slowly, yet steadily, awakening to see the true face of Islam. Islam’s myth-busters – often branded as “Islamophobists” by their critics – are doing a brilliant task by stripping this savage faith of its “peacefulness” thereby placing Islamic apologists in a great quandary. Any observer on this subject can firmly claim that Islamic apologists’ arguments are falling far from “convincing people”. “Journey into America: The Challenge of Islam” by Akbar Ahmed is a book which seems to follow the maxim “If you can’t convince them; confuse them”.

Instead of utilizing his journeys across Americas, funded mostly by Brookings, to win over radicals in his faith and asking them to stay away from its’ grave beliefs, he conforms his meetings only to those who can toe his line(s) or present arguments to suit his’. The perspective in which he presents facts like “subjugation” of native Indians by early Americans with regard to advent of Islamists is pretty confusing and appears as if it is written to suggest that “What Islamists are doing to Americans is what Americans have done to their natives.”

Ahmed’s arguments are not straight; there are several perversions. Apparently his arguments are more against the Islamic critics than against the Islamic radicals. Author, who was once a Pakistani High Commissioner to United Kingdom, is also a Chauvinist Pakistani Muslim attributing the “great Mughal Empire” being responsible for greatness of Indian subcontinent in the past. What he certainly fails to inform – for obvious reasons – is that founder of Mughal Dynasty Babur was an invader who too looted the wealth of Indians just like Ghazni Muhammad. He grossly undermines the unprecedented contributions of Hindus, Buddhists, Zoroastrians and even Jews in making of this land besides not mentioning persecution of these people by generations of Mughal kings – from Babur to Aurangzeb.

The critics of Islam often question the sincerity of Koran with regard to its honesty while dealing with Kafirs (read non-Muslims). Critics of Islam often ask apologists as to why in the Koran are there verses like “Then your Lord spoke to his angels and said, ‘I will be with you. Give strength to believers. I will send terror into Kafirs’ hearts, cut off their heads and even tips of their fingers.” (Koran 8:12) Apologists like Ahmed often retort with another verse reading “Listen to what they (Kafirs) say with patience, and leave them with dignity.” (Koran 73:10)

Akbar Ahmed himself claims in the book about getting into a “fierce arguments with radical Muslims”. While they quote him “harder” verses; he retorting to them with “milder” ones. However, what he doesn’t disclose is the fact that: Because Koran is filled with contradiction such as above it provides a method to resolve the problem through abrogation.

Abrogation in Koran suggests that later verses are stronger than the earlier verses. However, both verses are still true, since the Koran is the exact and precise word of Allah. In the two verses, above, the second verse is earlier than the first verse and is therefore weaker; it is always so. The earlier weaker good verse is abrogated by the later stronger but bad verse. Now why Ahmed and several other Islam’s apologists never speak of existence of this system in Islam? Perhaps learning about Al-Takkia may offer some perspective. Following quote found in Bukhari 5, 59, 369 says it all:

Mohammed asked, “Who will kill Ka’b, the enemy of Allah and Mohammad?”

Bin Maslama rose and responded, “O Mohammad! Would it please you if I killed him?”

Mohammed answered, “Yes”.

Bin Maslama then said, “Give me permission to deceive him with lies so that my plot will succeed.”

Mohammad replied, “You may speak falsely to him.”

Also, the prophet of Islam has said clearly in Bukhari 4, 52, 268 that “Jihad is deceit.”

Ahmed’s book has nothing worthwhile with regard to resolving the crisis that is fast gripping United States. What author asks in this book is for “provisions” and “liberty” for Muslims to practice their faith and follow their “holy books”. But what about phrases in these very “holy books” which call for killing of Kafirs (non-Muslims)? Why is the author trying to ignore all inconvenient questions posed against Islam’s apologists by their critics – repeatedly? Why is he only trying to invoke the guilt in Americans by recalling their “bloody past”?

True, Americans did commit excesses upon the natives. But it is also equally true that very descendents of these people are today looking upon them with respect and dignity. But have the decedents of the Prophet of Islam or his followers apologized for the excesses committed by them (and still being committed) upon Pagans, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews and Sikhs in any country where Islam is dominant? If that be so, why people across free thinking world, including America, without any knowledge of Islam claim it to be a “religion of peace” or even compare Islam with their faith? Why are they playing into the hands of stealth Jihadists and Islamic apologists so easily? It is time to realize that “Ignorance is NOT a bliss” – not any longer!

Author is Editor of Folksmagazine.com and Fellow of Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, London (UK).