A story from the Chhandogya Upanishad.

In a hermitage deep in the forest lived the learned sage, Uddalaka Aruni with his son Shvetketu. When Shvetketu came of age, his father sent him to an Ashram for his education as was customary in those days. When Shvetketu returned home after twelve years of education, Uddalaka asked him, "What did you learn while in the Ashram, my son?""I learned everything that can be known, father," Shvetketu answered.When he heard this, Uddalaka became silent and thought, "What pride! Such conceit is born only out of ignorance. My son has not yet grasped the essence of the supreme knowledge of Brahman which brings humility."Shvetketu observed the change that came over his father and inquired, "Why did you become so quiet, father?"

"Dear son," replied Uddalaka, "You say that you know everything that can be known. Then you must know that knowledge or wisdom by which what is unknown becomes known and what is unseen becomes seen?"

"No, I don’t," replied Shvetketu. "But please, father, tell me about it."

Uddalaka lovingly said, "Well son, look at those pots and toys. They are made of clay. The potter takes a lump of clay and makes all kinds of different shapes out of it. So by knowing one lump of clay, one can know everything that is made of clay!"

"This is true for everything, son," continued Uddalaka, "If you know the fundamental structure of gold, you will also know all the ornaments made out of it. If you know a piece of iron, you know all the utensils made of iron."

To make things clearer for his son, Uddalaka headed towards the river while continuing his conversation, "Therefore, my child, you must get to know the essence of all things, the One that exists in everything in this Universe, the great power of Brahman."

"It is that same power which guides the river from the hills to flow into the ocean. That power then causes the water in the ocean to evaporate and form clouds which will produce rain to replenish the river, thus completing the cycle."

Pointing towards a tree which was chopped down by a woodcutter, Uddalaka said, "Take for example that tree over there. The sap, which is it’s life and enabled it to draw sustenance from the earth, is leaking out of it."

"Can you tell that one of the branches of the tree is dead?" questioned Uddalaka. "Each branch of that tree if deprived of the sap, which is it’s life, will dry up. And when the entire tree is drained of the sap, the whole tree will die."

While Uddalaka and Shvetketu were talking, they saw a dead body carried by a group of people for cremation. Uddalaka pointed towards the dead body and spoke to his son, "Similarly, my son, when life forsakes the body, the body dies, but the life itself does not die."

The son looked puzzled when Uddalaka explained, "My son, that which does not die is called the Atman and you are that Atman. The Atman is all pervasive and is present in everything that you see, living or nonliving."Uddalaka Teaching His Son the essence of Knowledge

"Why can’t I see this Atman which is all pervasive and in everything?" Asked Shvetketu.

To explain this, Uddalaka asked his son to bring a fruit which was hanging from a Banyan tree (a tree common in India which gives plenty of shade and bears small fruits).

Shvetketu picked a fruit from the tree and brought it to his father.

"Break it, son, and look inside," suggested Uddalaka.

"What do you see?" Uddalaka questioned.

"Tiny seeds, father," replied Shvetketu.

"Do you see anything inside?" asked Uddalaka.

"No! There is nothing there" responded Shvetketu.

"If there is nothing inside," said Uddalaka, "Then how can that tiny seed gives rise to this huge Banyan tree? That, Shvetketu, is the Atman, the essence of all things. The Atman pervades the universe, and, my son, you are a part of that universe."

"Well father, if we cannot see the essence, how do we know that it exists?" said Shvetketu with a puzzled mind.

"I shall explain that to you, my son" affirmed Uddalaka. "First put some water in that pitcher."

"Now bring some salt and put the salt in the water," instructed the father. Shvetketu did as his father asked.

"Keep the pitcher aside for now," said Uddalaka, "And bring it to me tomorrow morning."

Early the next morning, Shvetketu went to his father with the pitcher of water.

"Can you see the salt?" asked Uddalaka.

Shvetketu searched, and of course, the salt was no longer visible.

Shvetketu said, "No, father, it must be dissolved in the water."

"Now taste it from the top," instructed Uddalaka.

Shvetketu dipped his finger into the water and tasted the water from the top.

Uddalaka blessing his son Shvetaketu"It is salty," Shvetketu said.

"Now taste the water from the bottom," said Uddalaka.

"It’s salty there too, father" answered Shvetketu.

"Similarly, Shvetketu, as you cannot see the salt, you cannot see the essence. But it is always present everywhere."

Finally Uddalaka concluded, "My son, this omnipresent essence is called the Atman, which pervades everything. You too are that, Oh Shvetketu."

"I am grateful father," said Shvetketu and touched his father’s feet. "You have helped me gain the knowledge with which the unknown becomes known, the unseen becomes seen." ......................................

I have read a lot and tried to read into some deeper meaning of the stories from Chandyoga Upanishada and our past. Except for the Maruti Stotra nothing comes close to a scientific angle. Unfortunately my learned friends and teachers have been too dogmatic to their approach of oblique thinking. Now I feel these stories do not go to the root of the actual answers. Answers which can be validated by scientific fact and thinking out of the box. They are mostly philosophic expositions of intellectuals. When I related some of our epics to the translations of the Hieroglyphic stone tablets of Sumer, more than 30 thousand years old, so also the tribal evolutions in the bowel of civilization which is Kenya, I found startling similarities in the basic line around which these stories were woven.............................. ...............................

THE SIXTH TABLET OF SUMER TRANSLATED

To create a Primitive Worker, by the mark of our essence to fashion him! (Genetically Engineer)So was Enki to the leaders saying.The Being that we need, it already exists!Thus did Enki to them a secret of the Abzu reveal.With astonishment did the other leaders Enki's words hear; by the words they were fascinated.Creatures in the Abzu there are, Enki was saying, that walk erect on two legs,Their forelegs they use as arms, with hands they are provided.Among the animals of the steppe they live. They know not dressing in garments,They eat plants with their mouths, they drink water from lake and ditch.Shaggy with hair is their whole body, their head hair is like a lion's;With gazelles they jostle, with teeming creatures in the waters they delight!The leaders to Enki's words with amazement listened.No creature like that has ever in the Edin been seen! Enlil, disbelieving, said.Aeons ago, on Nibiru, our predecessors like that might have been! Ninmah was saying.It is a Being, not a creature!Ninmah was saying. To behold it must be a thrill!

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To the House of Life Enki led them; in strong cages there were some of the beings.At the sight of Enki and the others they jumped up, with fists on the cage bars they werebeating.

They were grunting and snorting; no words were they speaking.Male and female they are! Enki was saying; malehoods and femalehoods they have,Like us, from Nibiru coming, they are procreating.Ningishzidda, my son, their Fashioning Essence (DNA) has tested;Akin to ours it is, like two serpents it is entwined; (DNA structure)When their with our life essence shall be combined (genetic Engineering), our mark upon them shall be,A Primitive Worker shall be created! Our commands will he understand,Our tools he will handle, the toil in the excavations he shall perform;To the Anunnaki in the Abzu relief shall come! Remember Kunti and the Pandavas? Heres an extract from the stone tablets of Sumer as to how our race was enginered from Homus Erectus. From the ME formulas of Nibiru's essence only bit by bit could be attempted!In a crystal vessel Ninmah an admixture was preparing, the oval of a female two-leggedshe gently placed,With ME Anunnaki seed containing, she the oval impregnated;That oval back into the womb of the two-legged female she inserted.This time there was conceiving, a birth was indeed forthcoming!The allotted time for birth-giving the leaders awaited, with anxious hearts they resultswere seeking.The allotted time arrived, there was no birth-giving!In desperation Ninmah a cutting made, that which was conceived with tongs she drewout.

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A living being it was!With glee Enki Shouted.

We attained! Ningishzidda with joy cried out.In her hands Ninmah the newborn held, with joy she was not filled:Shaggy with hair all over was the newborn, his foreparts like of the Earth creatures were,His hindparts to those of the Anunnaki more akin they were.They let the two-legged female the newborn nurse, with her milk him to suckle.Fast was the newborn growing, what on Nibiru a day was, a month in the Abzu was.Taller the Earth child grew, in the image of the Anunnaki he was not;His hands for tools were not suited, his speech only grunting sounds was!We must try once more! Ninmah was saying. The admixture needs adjusting;Let me the ME's assay, with this or that ME make the endeavor!With Enki and Ningishzidda assisting, they repeated the procedures,The essences in the ME's Ninmah carefully considered,One bit she took from one, one bit she took out from another,Then in the crystal bowl the oval of an Earth female she inseminated.There was conception, at the appropriate time there was birth-givingThis one more in the likeness of the Anunnaki was;

They let his birth mother him suckle, they let the newborn to a child grow.Appealing he was by his looks, his hands to hold tools were shapen;His senses they tested, they found there deficient:The Earth child could not hear, his eyesight was faltered.Again and again Ninmah rearranged the admixtures, of the MEformulas she took bits and pieces;One Being had paralyzed feet, another his semen was dripping,

135

One had trembling hands, a malfunctioning liver had another;One had hands too short to reach the mouth, one had lungs for breathing unsuited.Enki by the results was disappointed. A Primitive Worker is not attained! to Ninmah hewas saying.What is good or is bad in this Being by trials I am discovering!Ninmah to Enki responded. To continue for success my heart prompts me!Once more an admixture she made, once more the newborn was deficient.Perchance the shortfall is not in the admixture! Enki to her was saying.Perchance neither in the female's oval nor in the essences is the hindrance?Of what the Earth itself is fashioned, perchance that is what is missingNot of Nibiru's crystals use the vessel, of the clay of Earth make it!So was Enki, with great wisdom possessed, to Ninmah saying.Perchance what is Earth's own admixture, of gold and copper, is required!Thus was Enki, he who knows things, prompting her to use clay of the Abzu.In the House of Life Ninmah made a vessel, of the Abzu's clay she made it.As a purifying bath she shaped the vessel, within it to make the admixture.Gently into the clay vessel the oval of an Earth female, the two-legged, she put,The life essence from an Anunnaki's blood extracted she in the vessel placed,By the ME formulas was the essence directed, bit by correct bit was it in the vesseladded,

136

Then the oval thus fertilized into the womb of the Earth female she inserted.

There is conception! Ninmah with joy announced. The allotted birth-giving time theyawaited.At the allotted time the Earth female began to travail,A child, a newborn, was forthcoming!With her hands Ninmah the newborn extracted; a male it was!In her hands she held the child, his image she examined; it was the image of perfection.In her hands she held up the newborn; Enki and Ningishzidda were present.With joyful laughter the three leaders were seized,Enki and Ningishzidda were backslapping, Ninmah Enki embraced and kissed.Your hands have made it! Enki, with a gleaming eye, to her was saying.They let the birth-giving mother the newborn suckle; quicker than a child on Nibirugrows he was growing.From month to month the newborn progressed, from a baby to a child he was becoming.His limbs for the tasks were suited, speech he knew not,Of speaking he had no understanding, grunts and snorts were his utterings!Enki the matter was pondering, what was done each step and admixture he considered.Of all that we had tried and changed, one thing was never altered! to Ninmah he wassaying:Into the womb of the Earth female the fertilized oval was always inserted;Perchance this is the remaining obstruction! Thus was Enki saying.Ninmah at Enki gazed, with bewilderment she him beheld.

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What, in truth, are you saying? Of him she an answer required.Of the birth-giving womb am I speaking! to her Enki was responding.Of who the fertilized oval nurtures, to birth-giving carries;In our image and after our likeness to be, perchance an Anunnaki womb is required!In the House of Life there was silence; words never before heard Enki was uttering!They gazed at each other, about what in each other's mind they were thinking.Wise are your words, my brother! Ninmah at long last was saying.Perchance the right admixture in the wrong womb was inserted;Now where is the female among the Anunnaki her womb to offer,Perchance the perfect Primitive Worker to create, perchance a monster in her belly tocarry?So was Ninmah with a trembling voice saying.Let me of Ninki, my spouse, of that inquire! Enki was saying.Let us her to the House of Life summon, the matter before her lay outHe was turning to depart when Ninmah put her hand on his shoulder:No! No! to Enki she was saying.The admixtures by me were made, reward and endangerment should be mine!I shall be the one the Anunnaki womb to provide, for good or evil fate to face!Enki bowed his head, gently he embraced her. So be it! to her he said.In the clay vessel the admixture they made,The oval of an Earth female with Anunnaki male essence they put together;The fertilized egg into the womb of Ninmah by Enk was inserted; there was conception!138The pregnancy, by an admixture conceived, how long will it last? toeach other they wondered.Will it be nine months of Nibiru, will it be nine months of Earth?Longer than on Earth, quicker than on Nibiru, travail came; to a male childNinmah birth was giving!Enki the boy child held in his hands; the image of perfection he was.He slapped the newborn on his hindparts; the newborn uttered proper sounds!He handed the newborn to Ninmah; she held him up in her hands.

My hands have made it! victoriously she shouted.Now this is the account of how Adamu (Adam in the Bible) by name was called,And how Ti-Amat (Eve in the Bible) as a counterpart female for him was fashioned.The newborn's visage and limbs the leaders carefully examined:Of good shape were his ears, his eyes were not clogged,His limbs were proper, hindparts like legs, foreparts like hands were shaped.Shaggy like the wild ones he was not, dark black his head hair was,Smooth was his skin, smooth as the Anunnaki skin it was,Like dark red blood was its color, like the clay of the Abzu was its hue.They looked at his malehood: Odd was its shape, by a skin was its forepart surrounded,Unlike that of Anunnaki malehood it was, a skin from its forepart was hanging!Let the Earthling from us Anunnaki by this foreskin be distinguished! So was Enkisaying.The newborn to cry was beginning; to her chest Ninmah closely drew him;Her breast to him she gave; the breast he began to suckle.139Perfection we did attain! Ningishzidda with elation was saying.Enki at his sister was gazing; a mother and son, not Ninmah and a Being, he was seeing.A name will you give him? Enki inquired. A Being he is, not a creature!Ninmah cast her hand upon the newborn's body, with her fingers his dark red skin shecaressed.Adamu I shall call him! Ninmah was saying. One Who Like Earth's Clay Is, that will be his name! (Adam in the bible part of genesis 1 where he did not have the power ofcreation)...........................................

The Seventh Stone tablet of Sumer they go on to say how this power of Procreation was given to Adamu. (The Bible Genesis 2) Kunti in the Mahabharata? More learning and reading is required....

Homo sapiens were Genetically Engineered? Striking Resemblances Mahabharata and The Stone Tablets of Sumer

The birth of Dronacharya from the Mahabharata

The birth of Dronacharya, the Guru of the Pandavas and Kauravas in the Mahabharata, is very interesting. It would not be wrong to say that Dronacharya is the first test tube baby in the world. Rishi Bharadwaja is the father of Dronacharya and mother is an Apasara name Krithaji. One evening Rishi Bharadwaja was getting ready to do his evening prayers. He went to the Ganga River to take his usual bath but was amazed to find a beautiful woman bathing at his usual spot in the river.On seeing Rishi Bharadwaja, the beautiful Apsara Krithaji got out of the Ganga River wearing a single loin cloth. Rishi Bharadwaja was moved by the heavenly beauty of the Apsara. Overpowered by the moment, the sage involuntarily emitted his semen. The Rishi collected this sperm in a clay pot and stored it in a dark place in his Ashram. Drona was born in this pot. 'Dronam' means pot and 'Dronar' is one who was born from the pot.

The Birth of the first genetically engineered male on Earth (Adamu or Adam) as Decsribed in the Sixth Hieroglyphic Stone tablet (Translated by Dr Ezra Sitchin) found in Sumer which is more than 30,000 years old.

In the clay vessel the admixture they made,

The oval of an Earth female with Anunnaki male essence they put together;

The fertilized egg into the womb of Ninmah by Enki was inserted; there was conception!

138

The pregnancy, by an admixture conceived, how long will it last? to

each other they wondered.

Will it be nine months of Nibiru, will it be nine months of Earth?

Longer than on Earth, quicker than on Nibiru, travail came; to a male child

Ninmah birth was giving!

Enki the boy child held in his hands; the image of perfection he was.                        

He slapped the newborn on his hindparts; the newborn uttered proper sounds!

He handed the newborn to Ninmah; she held him up in her hands.

My hands have made it! victoriously she shouted.

Now this is the account of how Adamu by name was called,

And how Ti-Amat as a counterpart female for him was fashioned.

The newborn's visage and limbs the leaders carefully examined:

Of good shape were his ears, his eyes were not clogged,

His limbs were proper, hindparts like legs, foreparts like hands were shaped.

Shaggy like the wild ones he was not, dark black his head hair was,

Smooth was his skin, smooth as the Anunnaki skin it was,

Like dark red blood was its color, like the clay of the Abzu was its hue.

They looked at his malehood: Odd was its shape, by a skin was its forepart surrounded,

Unlike that of Anunnaki malehood it was, a skin from its forepart was hanging!

Let the Earthling from us Anunnaki by this foreskin be distinguished! So was Enki

saying.

The newborn to cry was beginning; to her chest Ninmah closely drew him;

Her breast to him she gave; the breast he began to suckle.

139

Perfection we did attain! Ningishzidda with elation was saying.

A contrary view on re- naming Delhi roads with special reference to Aurangzeb.

A contrary view on re- naming Delhi roads with special reference to Aurangzeb.

I hold Dr. Abdul Kalam in an extremely  high esteem and he was very dear to me. Yet I feel in the expanding Capital Delhi some other new upcoming and suitably grand road should have been named after him, rather than renaming of Aurangzeb road as  the most revered and most respected "Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam" Road.

The reasons for selecting "Aurangzeb" Road for the change are not very convincing. They range from the Emperor being a Muslim Fundamentalist, to being  intolerant of other religions, even an idiotic leader who valued his outdated medieval religious beliefs over practicality.

The worst thing you can do in history is to indulge in absolutism. The roads of New Delhi were named after Indian Emperors by the British. Aurangzeb was one of them. For the Good or Bad. Changing names, renaming roads etc is not going to help anybody or make a qualitative difference. Embrace your history for what it is.

An Interesting Excerpt from "QUORA"

The noted Indian scholar and historian, Dr Bishambhar Nath Pande, ranked among the very few Indians and fewer still Hindu historians who tried to be a little careful when dealing with the Muslim rule in India that lasted for almost 1000 years. Dr Pande passed away on 1 June 1998 and Impact International of London (July 1998) wrote the following obituary which we think sheds some light into some of the myths on Indian history, such as on Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, created by the British with the clear objective of divide and rule:

The noted Indian scholar and historian, Dr Bishambhar Nath Pande, ranked among the very few Indians and fewer still Hindu historians who tried to be little careful when dealing with the Muslim rule in India that lasted for almost 1000 years. Dr Pande passed away on 1 June 1998 and Impact International of London (July 1998) wrote the following obituary [at the end of the article], which we think sheds some light into some of the myths on Indian history, such as on Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, created by the British with the clear objective of divide and rule:

The Muslim rule in India lasted for almost 1000 years. How come then, asked the British historian Sir Henry Elliot, that Hindus 'had not left any account which could enable us to gauge the traumatic impact the Muslim conquest and rule had on them'? Since there was none, Elliot went on to produce his own eight-volume History of India from its own historians (1867). His history claimed Hindus were slain for disputing with 'Mohammedans', generally prohibited from worshipping and taking out religious processions, their idols were mutilated, their temples destroyed, they were forced into conversions and marriages, and were killed and massacred by drunk Muslim tyrants. Thus Sir Henry, and scores of other Empire scholars, went on to produce a synthetic Hindu versus Muslim history of India, and their lies became history.

However, the noted Indian scholar and historian, Dr Bishambhar Nath Pande, who passed away in New Delhi on 1 June 1998, ranked among the very few Indians and fewer still Hindu historians who tried to be a little careful when dealing with such history. He knew that this history was 'originally compiled by European writers' whose main objective was to produce a history that would serve their policy of divide and rule. Lord Curzon (Governor General of India 1895-99 and Viceroy 1899-1904, d.1925) was told by the Secretary of State for India, George Francis Hamilton, that they 'should so plan the educational text books that the differences between community and community are further strengthened'. Another Viceroy, Lord Dufferin (1884-88), was advised by the Secretary of State in London that the 'division of religious feelings is greatly to our advantage', and that he expected 'some good as a result of your committee of inquiry on Indian education and on teaching material'. 'We have maintained our power in India by playing-off one part against the other,' the Secretary of State for India reminded yet another Viceroy, Lord Elgin (1862-63), 'and we must continue to do so. Do all you can, therefore, to prevent all having a common feeling.' In his famous Khuda Bakhsh Annual Lecture (1985) Dr Pande said: 'Thus under a definite policy the Indian history books text-books were so falsified and distorted as to give an impression that the medieval [i.e. Muslim] period of Indian history was full of atrocities committed by Muslim rulers on their Hindu subjects and the Hindus had to suffer terrible indignities under Muslim rule. And there were no common factors [between Hindus and Muslims] in social, political and economic life.'

Therefore, Dr Pande was extra careful. Whenever he came across a 'fact' that looked odd to him, he would try to check and verify rather than adopt it uncritically. He came across a history text-book taught in the Anglo-Bengali College, Allahabad which claimed that 'three thousand Brahmins had committed suicide as Tipu wanted to convert them forcibly into the fold of Islam'. The author was a very famous scholar, Dr Har Prashad Shastri, head of the department of Sanskrit at Calcutta University. Tipu Sultan (1750-99), who ruled over the South Indian state of Mysore (1782-99), is one of the most heroic figures in Indian history. He died on the battlefield, fighting the British. Was it true? Dr Pande wrote immediately to the author and asked him for the source on which he had based this episode in his text-book. After several reminders, Dr Shastri replied that he had taken this information from theMysore Gazetteer. So Dr Pande requested the Mysore University vice chancellor, Sir Brijendra Nath Seal, to verify for him Dr Shastri's statement from the Gazetteer. Sir Brijendra referred his letter to Prof Srikantia who was then working on a new edition of the Gazetteer. Srikantia wrote to say that the Gazetteer mentioned no such incident and, as a historian himself, he was certain that nothing like this had taken place. Prof Srikantia added that both the prime minister and the commander-in-chief of Tipu Sultan were themselves Brahmins. He also enclosed a list of 136 Hindu temples which used to receive annual grants from the Sultan's treasury. It transpired that Shastri had lifted this story from Colonel Miles' History of Mysore which Miles claimed he had taken from a Persian manuscript in the personal library of Queen Victoria. When Dr Pande checked further, he found that no such manuscript existed in Queen Victoria's library. Yet Dr Shastri's book was being used as a high school history text-book in seven Indian states, Assam, Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. So he sent his entire correspondence about the book to the vice chancellor of Calcutta University, Sir Ashutosh Chaudhary. Sir Ashutosh promptly ordered Shashtri's book out of the course. Yet years later, in 1972, Dr Pande was surprised to discover the same suicide story was still being taught as 'history' in junior high schools in Uttar Pradesh. The lie had found currency as a fact of history.

The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb (born 1618, reigned 1658-1707) is the most reviled of all Muslim rulers in India. He was supposed to be a great destroyer of temples and oppressor of Hindus, and a 'fundamentalist' too! As chairman of the Allahabad Municipality (1948-53), Dr Pande had to deal witha land dispute between two temple priests. One of them had filed in evidence some farmans (royal orders) to prove that Aurangzeb had, besides cash, gifted the land in question for the maintenance of his temple. Might they not be fake, Dr Pande thought, in view of Aurangzeb's fanatically anti-Hindu image? He showed them to his friend, Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, a distinguished lawyer as well a great scholar of Arabic and Persian. He was also a Brahmin. Sapru examined the documents and declared they were genuine farmans issued by Aurangzeb. For Dr Pande this was a 'new image of Aurangzeb'; so he wrote to the chief priests of the various important temples, all over the country, requesting photocopies of any farman issued by Aurangzeb that they may have in their possession. The response was overwhelming; he got farmans from several principal Hindu and jain temples, even from Sikh Gurudwaras in northern India. These farmans, issued between 1659 and 1685, related to grant of jagir (large parcel of agricultural lands) to support regular maintenance of these places of worship. Dr Pande's research showed that Aurangzeb was as solicitous of the rights and welfare of his non-Muslim subjects as he was of his Muslim subjects. Hindu plaintiffs received full justice against their Muslims respondents and, if guilty, Muslims were given punishment as necessary.

One of the greatest charges against Aurangzeb is of the demolition ofVishwanath temple in Banaras (Varanasi). That was a fact, but Dr Pande unravelled the reason for it. 'While Aurangzeb was passing near Varanasi on his way to Bengal, the Hindu Rajas in his retinue requested that if the halt was made for a day, their Ranis may go to Varanasi, have a dip in the Ganges and pay their homage to Lord Vishwanath. Aurangzeb readily agreed. 'Army pickets were posted on the five mile route to Varanasi. The Ranis made journey on the palkis [palanquins]. They took their dip in the Ganges and went to the Vishwanath temple to pay their homage. After offering puja [worship] all the Ranis returned except one, the Maharani of Kutch. A thorough search was made of the temple precincts but the Rani was to be found nowhere. 'When Aurangzeb came to know of this, he was very much enraged. He sent his senior officers to search for the Rani. Ultimately they found that statue of Ganesh [the elephant-headed god which was fixed in the wall was a moveable one. When the statue was moved, they saw a flight of stairs that led to the basement. To their horror they found the missing Rani dishonoured and crying deprived of all her ornaments. The basement was just beneath Lord Vishwanath's seat.' The Rajas demanded salutary action, and 'Aurangzeb ordered that as the sacred precincts have been despoiled, Lord Vishwanath may be moved to some other place, the temple be razed to the ground and the Mahant [head priest] be arrested and punished'. (B N Pande, Islam and Indian Culture, Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, Patna, 1987) Dr Pande believed in the innate goodness of human nature.

Despite all that senseless hate and periodical outbreak of anti-Muslim violence after independence, he remained an optimist. When one of the worst riots took place in 1979 in Ahmadabad, in which more than 2,000 Muslims were killed and 6,000 houses burnt, Dr Pande travelled there to see whether there was 'any humanity still alive'. Yes, it was in one locality, Mewabhai Chaal, where he found that all the houses had been burnt down. Did they all belong to Muslims? No. Only 35 belonged to Muslims; some 125 belonged to Hindus, he was told. So, it meant, the arsonists came in two different waves; one destroying the Muslim houses and the other the Hindu houses? No, it was only one wave, said Kalayan Singh. That one, there, he pointed out to smoke billowing from what used to be his house and his tyre-shop. He was a Hindu and he had lost property and business worth 200,000 rupees. The miscreants had asked him to point out the Muslim houses so they could spare the Hindu houses. Kalyan Singh refused, and watched as the mob set fire to all the houses - including his own. How could I betray my Muslim neighbours? he asked Dr Pande rhetorically. Dr Pande also went to the Muslim students hostel. One-third of its residents were Hindus. "Come out all you Hindu students," yelled a murderous mob gathered outside the hostel. No, we won't, shouted back the Hindu students and locked the gate from inside. In the event, the entire hostel was evacuated by the army and then left to the mob to loot and burn. The Hindu students were told they could take with them their books and research papers.

Dr Pande met a young DSc scholar, named Desai, who had left behind his more than three years' labour, a ready-for-typing dissertation, to be burnt by the arsonists. Desai said he couldn't think of saving his thesis while some of his Muslim friends were in similar position with their theses. A noble soul! Dr Pande who had been looking for humanity found it there as well. The inhumanity did not lie in the Indian nature, but the nature had fallen victim to the evil heritage of colonial history. Few realised how 1000 years of their history had been stolen from them. Many tended to buy the fake and doctored version handed down to them as part of their colonial heritage. Some even saw a little political advantage in this trade. Dr Pande heard a leadingHindu Mahasabha politician and religious leader, Mahant Digvijaynath, telling an election meeting that it is written in the Qur'an that killing a Hindu was an act of goodness (thawab). Dr Pande called upon the Mahant (High Priest) and told him that he had read the Qur'an a few times but didn't find such a statement in it, and he had, therefore, brought with him several English, Urdu and Hindi translations of the Qur'an; so would he kindly point to him where exactly did the statement occur in the Qur'an? Isn't it written there? said the Mahant. I haven't found it; if you have, please tell me, replied Dr Pande. Then what does it say? It speaks about love and brotherhood, about the oneness of mankind. What's jihad then? What is jizyah? How then India got partitioned? The Mahant went on asking, and Dr Pande kept on explaining, hoping the Mahant would correct himself. However, the Mahant's ideas were fixed, in prejudice and in ignorance. Dr Pande himself had been a senior member of the ruling Congress party which he had joined at a very young age. He was a disciple of Gandhi, a friend of Nehru; he had taken part in each and every non-cooperation movement against the British and gone to jail eight times. The Congress was supposed to be an all-Indian nationalist platform and yet Dr Pande's party was hardly free from the bias and ignorance of a cleverly deconstructed history.

The rise of militant Hindutva tendency is only recent, but before it all became overt, the Congress itself was doing the same, albeit a little covertly. All the horrific anti-Muslim carnage took place during more than four decades of Congress rule. The doors of the Babari Mosque were opened for Hindu worship during the tenure of Nehru's grandson, Rajiv Gandhi. The Mosque itself was pulled down during the regime of another Congress Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao. Dr Pande was, however, just one individual. That made his work all the more important, not just from the Muslim but from the point of view of the entire country. India's deconstructed history is like a time bomb; unless it is defused, India cannot survive in one piece. Not for very long.

Bishambhar Nath Pande born on 23 December 1906 in the Madhya Pradesh of Umreth; member UP Legislative Assembly (1952-53); member UP Legislative Council (1972-74); twice member of the upper house, Rajya Sabha (1976 and 1982); Governor of Orissa state (1983-88); recipient of the highest national award Padma Shri (1976); author of several books, including The Spirit of India and The Concise History of Congress; died in New Delhi, 1 June 1998.

INDIA has some real problems on hand

Have a look at the funeral procession of Abu Quasim a TOP LET Commander who was gunned down in Kashmir. A group of militants participated in funeral prayers of Lashkar commander Abu Qasim in south Kashmir and offered him a three-volley salute on Thursday.
Police sources and locals confirmed that militants participated in last rites of Abu Qasim at Bugam village in Kulgam district.
Amid massive pro-freedom sloganeering by mourners, the militants fired volleys in air to honor Qasim, they said.
Such honoring ceremonies were a routine during militant funerals in early '90s when armed insurgency was at its peak in Kashmir.
See the people who have thronged the funeral procession all Muslims showing a mind boggling solidarity with a top terrorist. It indicates the shape of things to come. 

The starting point of Terrorism is the assumption that violence is a virtue in itself and a powerful means to solve social or political problems. Terrorism can be healed only when such people understand the mistaken non logic of any ideology that inspires terrorism and incites to violence—and when they realize that going along with it can never get them anywhere. Until those ideologies’ errors and contradictions are revealed, all measures taken against terrorism can be short-term. Terrorism will emerge again, in different places and under different circumstances, behind a different mask. Unfortunately it is very difficult to change human perceptions upon which are based on the world view of individuals. Over a period of time these perceptions become beliefs and finally the absolute truths for individuals.

Importantly, the root cause for people to lean towards terrorism has to be eradicated. The prime cause which along with abject poverty is : Lack of Food and shelter, Lack of Financial and Physical Security,  Unfulfilled Social needs and Self Respect.  

The counter terror operations are now called as WAR ON TERRORISM. Instead these operations should be treated as a counter terrorism/counter insurgency. The implication is that WAR means indiscriminate force and counter insurgency would mean adequate force with little or no collateral damage. In addition the emphasis must be on isolating the terrorists/insurgents from their support base and NOT destruction of supporting people. 

An insurgent without the support of the local population is like a fish out of water. To achieve this we must also take advantage of political intervention and economic tools. Unfortunately as far as India is concerned, more than 50% politicians are criminals themselves, with charges as serious as murder, attempt to murder, extortion, dacoity and misappropriation of Government funds to the tune of crores of rupees.  to name a few. 

A year ago, in Goa, the local Muslims chased out a Maulavi from UP who began to preach hate in peaceful Goa! In the end community opinion is the best check on extremism-  either Christian, Hindu or Muslim. Insurgents or terrorists both attempt to gain the support of the local population through an appeal to an overarching ideology and by demonstrating their ability to overturn the status quo through violence. When the activity becomes worldwide we tend to call it as terrorism. It is definitely never an act of war.

While military action is necessary, it is not a sufficient condition for success. “A counter insurgency effort that does not respond to legitimate internal socio-political concerns and deals only with military capabilities is ultimately destined to fail.” There is also a risk that too much military action (particularly if it is indiscriminate) can be counterproductive. A theme running throughout discussions on counter insurgency operations is that “smaller may be better” when it comes to the actual employment of military forces.

Our PM and his misgovernment has really screwed up every where. On top of that the icing on the cake is, the babus are hell bent on alienating the Army from Government. I pity the future of this Nation our "Bharat Varsha" Bash on Mr. Modi figure out what more damage you can do to the fabric of this great country. Cast Cow communal divide, Army to the dogs so also the Veterans. Bash on Mr. Modi 3 cheers.

ON BEING A HINDU ANYWHERE IN THIS WORLD

Sometimes I did wonder why at school assembly I had to sing hymns in praise of the Lord. 
Praise my soul the king of heaven to his feet my tribute bring,
Ransomed healed restored forgiven (converted another meaning)
Who like me his praise should sing 
Praise him praise him 
Praise him Praise him
Praise the everlasting King......
Then end with prayers
Followed by
Our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thine will be done etc etc....
ending with "Through Jesus Christ our Lord."

One day during divinity period ( in my times it was compulsory in our school later non Christians were not required to attend) I questioned my master why is salvation through only Jesus Christ alone? Why not through Mohammed? Or through our Sahastra kote hindu gods? 

The answer was 6 of the best at the end of the DIVINITY period. Mind you normally we used to be caned often in school, but the after divinity class caning's left us whimpering, like suddenly Jesus had blessed the Master with more strength in his Arms. At night we were afraid to show our stinging , red welted backsides to our parents as we were afraid we would be removed from our beloved "Bishops School". 

I am not ashamed to say that at a point in time we started looking down upon Hindu Gods and Goddesses as "what stupidity" How can some body be a vayu Putra (son borne by the wind) Agni Putra (borne of fire) Yet we never questioned and took it as gods own truth that Jesus was born of a Virgin. 

May be Christians know how to convert so smoothly that we never did realize what happened. Though luckily I was of a questioning bent of mind, in fact most of us were, so little damage was done. Yet the maximum damage which occurred was a loss of faith. We became atheists !!!! The author down below has written a very nice article and has subtley conveyed the inner anguish she feels at the situation today. Please do read.

Shared from Facebook.

Written by a lady named "Anurita Anupam" residing in London.

A must read for all INDIANS  : -

I am confused as a Hindu who wants to stay secular and each day this confusion increases……Yes I am born as a Hindu in India , went to a Christian school ….celebrated Diwali at home but Christmas in school with equal fervor. Visit to a Cathedral or hearing Bible verses never instilled any fear that my religion is at stake …because as a Hindu I am supposed to be secular and accept all religions.

In India its fashionable to be a secular Hindu….
But I really wonder aloud today, what would have been the reaction in media and our so called intellectuals if a school run by a Hindu trust or organization had opened a school amongst Christianity dominated area and had sung verses from Gita or Mahabharata!!! All hell would ha ve broken loose for sure.
14 years of education in a Christian run school did not make me a Christian ..I am still a Hindu but I have one more reason in my life to be happy when its Christmas …

As a Hindu if I can handle 33 crores of Gods and deities, I can definitely handle few more Gods and still be a Hindu…I don’t fear ..I am a Hindu …I imbibe ..i don’t run away ….but what am I supposed to do when I see my Muslim and Christian friends refusing Prasad/or rejecting getting a tilak done on their forehead…how many of Muslims and Christians have visited ..Vaishno Devi or Tirupati…

Now …just ask how many Hindus have visited Ajmer Sharif or Deva Shareef or Swarna Mandir or Cathedral. Is so called secularism, has to be only a Hindu’s responsibility !
If India has to be secular then state should not interfere with religion …but then why should my tax money has to go for Haj subsidy ..Is that not a special favour to one religion.This is my question …but as a Hindu am still confused….if just one Haj subsidy allows my Muslim brothers and sisters to be happy then am happy to still let them do it. I would love to hear stories of their trip ….am happy to say “Eid Mubarak”…I don’t fear because I am Hindu .

Why my so called intellectuals never blamed successive governments for allowing such communalism …why they never returned their awards ….
Why St Stefens in Delhi is allowed to give preference only to Christian candidates while hiring ……They exist on a piece of land which belongs to INDIA and not to Hindus, Christians or Muslims …then preference to anybody on the basis of religion is communalism and not secularism.

Why authors and scientists and people like Dibakar Bannerjee never protested against St Stefens ?

Currently am residing in a country which claims with pride that we are a Christian nation and the world media doesn’t target it at all. Britain easily refuses permission to create a Mosque higher than St Paul's Cathedral… A Mosque which will be built by their own citizens living and working in this country, but BBC doesn’t run a documentary on the plight of Muslims being tortured and not given equal rights in Britain !! They don’t get a lecture from Obama to embrace secularism as yet!!
However , in India I still don’t support demolishing a Mosque which was built by an Invader !! A nation with 80% of its population as Hindus has taken more than 60 years to built a Temple for their deity. As a Hindu I would still support a Temple and a Mosque together there …..rather than just a Temple …I don’t boast my religion ….. and I Don’t believe that I am the best…I believe that all are equal for I am a Hindu.

If my son has to marry a Christian girl tomorrow ..I will not ask the girl to convert…I have no such concept ..but my son will have to convert to Christianity just to marry the girl of his dreams ….is that not communalism which is openly being practiced by minorities in India ….!! If inter-caste marriages are supported then why not inter-religion ……let there be true secularism in India …..and not this blurred version of secularism, created by pseudo –intellectuals !!

I have no award to be given back …no talent to make a documentary or debate the issue on a TV channel. But my belief that God is one and all religions should be respected gets shaken everyday in my Mind….As a Hindu …am I being taught to stay oppressed in India ? Is that secularism??

I am a woman, a Hindu woman, who wants to teach her son to respect all religions …and want to tell him that if you light a candle in a Church, bow your head in a Mosque, do seva in a Gurudwara…. You will not cease to be Hindu …….for you are a Hindu and always will be a Hindu .You will never learn to fear .

Yes I am…… confused …..but I still don’t fear for I am a Hindu .I will not eat Beef but will not support a ban on it !! but please don’t mock my religious feeling by doing a Beef –Party just to mock me !! at least that much I can expect .

If you want to return your award then return it and say that you‘ll accept it back only when beef –ban is removed, haj subsidy is stopped, polygamy among muslims to be declared illegal, no special reservations for any minority in their institutions ...., triple Talaq to be stopped and no compulsion of change of religion in inter –religion marriages !!

Girish Karnad wants Bengaluru Airport named after Tipu Sultan...

People have lost their lives in the present over this naming/renaming shit. History will not be affected but our present sure is. What difference does it make if a road is called Jawaharlal Nehru Marg or a Tippu Sultan Marg or Dakshin 23 road? Or an airport as Bengaluru International or Tippu Sultan International or a whatever? I think we have more important and far reaching issues at hand which require more attention of this non governance Government and these so called luminaries of our August Societies. 

Left to me I would have named all Airports/Railway Stations after the cities/towns in which they exist. All roads by directions that is East/West/North/South with ascending or descending Numbers. I teach in a University and Colleges. In my discussion with future Generations I find their priorities totally different and rightly so. They don't give a damn as to what road or airport or garden or fly over or whatever is named after whom or what, as long as they have a road or a station or an airport in place as part of a well designed and well developed infrastructure. Who cares a shit. 

It is only those who are have beens, People/parties who are fond of being in the lime light and who are out of it now and cannot go gracefully into the sunset, try to rake up these non issues. These and other kinds of Dinosaurs are extinct. The sooner they realize this or are made to realize this fact the sooner can this Nation move on.

Over 1,200 Army officers refuse to give a day's salary to PM Relief Fund for J&K floods

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/49742212.cms?from=mdr&utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Here we go again........Headlines for the prestitutes.
Babus would be more cunning they would not have allowed the exchequer to cut a days pay as donation to flood relief. No sir !! They would have said we will physically donate what ever we want to. Even if they had refused it would not have made headlines.
Every Indian thinks including the Government of the day and the Babus, that the meaning of discipline for the Indian Army is "Never protest even if your private life is trampled upon, your respect ground into the dust, you are made to suffer all indignities by making you do tasks which are not written in your service rules, your rights as a soldier are not respected and you should bend backwards at every occasion and situation though
un-warlike but likely to dishonor the nation."

Are we the Army the only people who have to bear the mantle of discipline? Why should Army Officers be forced to donate a days pay without consent, when donation by itself means voluntary? So also The Army Act does not over ride constitutional norms of right of freedom and dignity.
This is precisely where our learnt behavior requires to change or our dignity and self respect will get trampled at every nook and corner. Surely discipline under the Army Act does not include that.

I would say gone are the days when the Commanding Officer could get things done in the grey area between the Army Act and the Constitution of India, "Co Sahib ka hukum hai". Hence the new breed of Officer has to get savvy in Modern day Command and adjust to nuances which mean grey areas in the Infantry school Pamphlet on Leadership, issued to us during Junior Command Course and the Army of the future.
Many people think we are being mean minded, question here is all actions of the government and the polity are linked. If a soldier can lay down his life for an ungrateful government which declares on top of that "you are paid to die so what is the big deal?" A days pay in an officers or a jawans life is peanuts.
What the Government should understand and retrospect, "are the underlying feelings and unrest it has bred into the Army due to its stupid babus and self antics, without realizing the long term implications causing severe damage in the long term of the defense forces?".
Having said that I as a veteran do admit that personally 30 years ago, if a days or a weeks pay was cut for flood relief or what ever (which did happen at least 3-4 times), the thought of protesting would never have occurred to me. Possibly because my mind set was we are superior beings, so what if the Babus and the government shafts us at every corner. Typical attitudes drilled into Indian Officers of the British Army, which have become standards of indoctrination at all of the Training Institutes of the Indian Army.
Wake up friends times have changed, you cannot Command today's Army with the Manual of Military Law under one Arm and somebodys Annual Confidential Report under the other.

Col Ajay Ukidve(retired)