Y DO WE ALWAYS NEGLECT HILLS ??

Recently, for their demand of a separate state of Gorkhaland, the GJM (Gorkha Janmukti Morcha) was blocking the NH-31; and extending the blockade by an hour each successive day; this highway is almost like the neck of NE India ... it's like a gateway to sikkim and mountainous areas of North Bengal from the plains of Siliguri. Inspite of the great strategic importance of NH31, it was indeed shocking to see the negligence of the bandh and demands of GJM by the media, both print and electronic ...

I fail to understand y v only concentrate on the plains and treat hills only as entertainers for those living in plains (i.e. tourist destinations) ... we care for even 20 minutes of delhiites and make flyovers to reduce their travel time (and obviously, there's nothing wrong in that; kudos to Delhi governance for that) ; however, do we really care for so many hrs of blockade on the roads of highest strategic importance ?? and abt the condition of such roads ?? NH31, (or atleast the part that lies in West Bengal), is worse than most of the local roads in Delhi-NCR region ..

media was too busy covering the issue of Telangana, in minutest details (prob coz of the involvement of Hyderabad there); however the only news in print media that i could get abt duration of bandh declared by GJM was thru the local edition of Dainik Jagran (no news abt it even in the Kolkata edition of TOI while HT discusses the bandh with respect to the problems that tourists are facing in Darjeeling (click here)) ... and neither of them neways mentions the duration of the bandh on NH31 ..

i m not supporting (or opposing) GJM in their demand for a separate state ... all i feel is that there is more to hills than just tourism/tea/apples etc ... they deserve good roads and better infrastructure as much as ppl in plains do ... and the way media is informing ppl of the opinions/demands of both pro and anti telangana groups, the ppl in hills too deserve the same ... i met localites in Kolkata who r supportive of their cause for a separate statehood and also ppl in Siliguri who are against them ... so, whether their demand is legitimate or not cant be decided by just looking at one side of the coin ... though i wonder how many of my friends from plains even know abt the NH31 bandh and the reasons for GJM to ask for a separate statehood !!

however, i titled this blog as "Y DO WE ... " as i personally feel that media only shows what it can sell .. hence, media is just a reflection of what we want to see/read ... and if v concentrate on only plains and treat hills as just places of tourist attraction, y blame media for making news along that line ???

SOFT POWER OF INDIA

I recently saw one video of Shashi Tharror on ted.com where he talks abt the need of having soft power by nations. And this certainly is one of the best presentations i hv seen in recent times (apart from may be, the power of sixth sense, also available on ted.com). Basically, he refers to "soft power" as the capability to influence other nations independent of the "hard power" i.e. military strength, population or the economic growth or other such parameters. Certainly, hard power is not a field that India lacks (we hv 4th largest army in the world and r still growing @ a decent (if not gr8) pace, when the world has just witnessed one of the worst financial crisis since Great Depression), but soft power is something that India has championed over the last thousands of years. Thats y, the famous comment by Hu Shih, former Ambassador of China to USA: "India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border." Thats the extent of our soft power!! The hard power can certainly be attributed to the Govt and its initiatives; however soft power is something that can only be attributed to people.
The past several decades hv seen a tremendous change in the attitude of the World towards India. The drastic change in impression from a land of snake charmers and fakirs sleeping on nails to a land of computer gurus, business tycoons, and IT giants is certainly not possible with just hard power. Its not easy for the technical and higher educational institutes of a country, that was once thought to be a land of superstitions, to be rated equally to the topmost scientific universities of the world, all within a matter of a few decades, if not years. The last general elections in India was a very unique illustration in itself: a woman of Italian origin giving way to a Sikh PM, who was sworn in by a Muslim President (Dr APJ Abdul Kalam) in a country that's almost 80% Hindu; and this was not a demonstration to the world, it was just India being itself (Mr Tharoor rightly points it out in his talk).
Though some might feel that it's more of a glorified version of an "India Shining" initiative by the Govt of India, (as is obvious from the comments to that presentation); however I don't think this can be totally subscribed to. The problems being faced by the country are immense and gigantic, (and no one can deny that...there are many 'isms' to deal with), but amidst all that, does lie some "power" (call it soft or nething), due to which India is still moving ahead. We might talk of innumerable (and almost never-ceasing) differences in India; but one thing that India has proven is the fact that for a truly diverse society to not disintegrate (unity etc comes only later; and there were "learned scholars" who predicted that India would disintegrate in 1950s or 60s owing to such differences), it (i.e. the society) need not agree on all points; all that is needed is that we agree on the most fundamental principle i.e. how to disagree; how to survive without consensus .. we still hv to overcome many obstacles (a country can't be both a superpower and a superpoor simultaneously !!), however, the fact that as diverse a country as India, and with a multi party democratic set up, is still existing and developing is no less a miracle !! ..

P.S. I personally dont think this post is a contradiction to any of my previous posts especially this one ...

INSPIRATIONAL REAL (OR REEL) LIVES !!

recently, there was a huge celebration in media and across the country of sachin completing his 20 glorious yrs in international cricket .. truly, a remarkable feat that goes to show his dedication and passion for the country and cricket ..

however, seeing the celebration on TV news channels made me wonder whether sachin has had only success in his lifetime ?? perhaps the only hardships and difficult times he ever faced were his tennis elbow problem and ofcourse the 99 WC when he returned from his father's funeral to hit a century against Kenya (indeed an inspirational story for ne one); however, there was no mention of the not-so-famous Sialkot test, which was the last in his 1st Test series against Pakistan, where he was hit on face by a Waqar's delivery and still continued to bat to save the test fr India; (i read it in an interview of K Srikant, who was the captain of Indian side then; click here to read the complete interview) ... one can be quite sure that there would be many more such instances, but since they do not belong to his glorious/glamorous years (which arguably, start from the famous sharjah series against team australia) most of us would be least interested in such stuffs; and the same reasons why media is not interested in such stuffs coz such stuff wont sell in today's consumerist world .. almost similar was the case when Big B recently completed his 40 yrs in B'wood ... and looking @ the media coverage made me wonder did he start his b'wood career with Zanjeer !! he gave up his job as a freight broker for a shipping firm in kolkata to move to mumbai in 1968 and Zanjeer came in 1973 ... but again, those 5 yrs, (when he appeared in more than 10 movies which, barring movies like anand, were not commercial hits) dont form a part of his glorious yrs, and so the lack of interest .. in fact, many of those reading this blog might be surprised to know that he even slept on the pavement and benches of Marine Drive (click here) during his initial days in mumbai!!

these legends are truly an inspirational story in themselves .. they hv written their own destinies with an effort that's characteristic of super humans, but y i made above comments is coz i believe many of us want to live in our world of fantasies where ppl become legends and earn name, fame, money and power without much of a struggle ... and in today's world of fast paced life, call it the side effects of globalization/commercialization or nething, but we want success easily and with little efforts .. and hence, these "success stories" are as well moulded to suit our fantasies: coz if these legends can do it without much struggle, so can we!! we probably want our b'wood actors (dont know what acts of heroism they do that we love calling them heroes) to succeed in their reel lives the way the likes of Sachin and Amitabh succeeded in their real lives so that we can draw an inspiration from their reel lives, knowing fully well that their hardships wont continue for more than 3 hrs!! (prob thats the reason we love to take inspiration from the movie lakshya by remembering the "tough times" Hrithik Roshan had in the movie but not the numerous real videos of army which are easily accessible) ...

AS I SEE THE FATWA AGAINST VANDE MATARAM

The recent controversial fatwa issued by JEU (Jamait-e-Ulema Hind) at its Deoband national convention meet, wherein, it asked all Muslims to shun singing Vande Mataram as some verses of the song are against the tenets of Islam (specifically Tawheed (Islam's faith in monotheism), as I read somewhere on the net), is rather unfortunate, to say the least.

The original Vande Mataram, as it appeared in Anand Math, was longer than the current version; however, the INC in its 1937 session decided to adopt only the first 2 stanzas of the song as the national song; as the later stanzas contained references where the motherland is likened to Goddess Durga and Laxmi. It was pointed out in the same session that the first two stanzas begin with an unexceptionable evocation of the beauty of the motherland and hence they would aptly make for the national song (for details, click here). Thus, its just the first 2 stanzas from the song "Vande Mataram" that comprise our national song. Hence, it's clear that the "objectionable" content of the original song "Vande Mataram" is no longer a part of our national song...

However, still, the issue of whether or not to sing Vande Mataram is best left to an individual (as Supreme Court also observed); after all, merely singing a song doesn't make one patriotic .. however, there is a difference in making the singing voluntary and its quite the other thing to issue a religious decree against muslims singing the song .. while the former is explainable, the later makes it unnecessarily political and has probably best been described by Mr Swapan Dasgupta, in his TOI blog, as "doctrinaire intolerance" (click here) .. by issuing the fatwa, JEU has thus, violated one of the basic requirements of a democratic society, that of tolerance .. this fatwa is now being used by several extremist groups to make singing Vande Mataram a measure of "Indianness" of an individual ... when Home Minister P Chidambram, in his speech at Deoband convention, asked majority everywhere (including Australia!!) to protect minorities and their interests, he was absolutely right .. however, he prob touched on only one side of the coin .. coz the other side that he shud hv touched as well is: do the minorities organizations hv no obligations towards the society (not the majority) in which they live ? we studied in our civic lessons that rights and duties always go side by side ... are such lessons only for learning at school ?? ...

The issue, once raised before (in 2006; when UPA Govt made singing of Vande Mataram mandatory on September 7; to mark the 125th year of the song's creation; only to make it voluntary later) is again back in limelight; and the cts discussion of such religio-political issues at the national level politics sometimes amazes me whether all the social issues e.g. poverty, illiteracy, terrorism hv been resolved ...

DAMN U PAGE 3 CELEBRITIES !!

Recently, an article was published in TOI abt Booker prize winner and activist Arundhati Roy supporting the cause of Maoists and urging the Govt for an unconditional talks with the Maoists. (here's the article on TOI) ...

the aim with which the maoist organization started might not hv been totally wrong .. however, their recent activities have proven that they hv become nothing but cold blooded murderers & terrorists ... how else, could one explain the fact tht on "charges" of suspicion of a farmer being a police informer, the maoists killed his wife, his daughter, aged 12, and 2 other college students staying in their house as tenants .. even his 7 year old daughter was injured ... similarly, in another incident, a village girl was killed due to incessant firing by them on Ranchi-Jamshedpur highway... (here's the complete article)

however, the real shameful thing is the fact tht inspite of these and many others blatant acts of terrorism, they get full "logistic" support from page 3 specialists like Arundhati Roy ... and perhaps worse still, is the fact that, sometimes, civil rights activists and "intellectuals" even go to the extent of romanticizing their anti-law activities .. i still remember a political debate after a top Maoist propagandist Kobad Gandhy was arrested from delhi; in that, a participant, who was also a poet, from AP, went to the extent of comparing maoists to Legendary Hero Bhagat Singh, by comparing their fights for "justice".... how can killing innocent ppl be compared to taking the utmost precaution of making the bomb land in an empty area in the Hall ?? ...
also, y is it that these page 3 celebs only come in support of maoists/terrorists, etc and never in the support of ordinary men/cops/police officers and their families who are killed by them ... are all the human/civil rights reserved for those who hv no respect for human lives ... that's prob coz, these celebs know that supporting cops would never give them the attention of media the way they get when they romanticize maoists ...

PUN IN VEDIC MATHS

The not-so-famous Anustub Sutra is a wonderful pun in it's own right. It's so worded that it can bear 3 different meanings: and all of them quite apt. The first is a hymn to Lord Sri Krsna, the second is similarly is a hymn in praise of Lord Shri Shankara, and third, arguably, the best and most ingenious of all (from a mathematician's point of view), is the evaluation of PI/10 to 32 places of decimal, and more importantly, with a "Self contained master key" to extend the evaluation to any number of decimal places !!! (and remember, we are talking of a time when ppl would multiply 7 by 5 by adding 7 five times !! ) ...

On understanding it, Dr V P Dalal (of the Hiedelburg University, Germany) commented: "It shows how deeply the ancient Indian mathematicians penetrated, in the subtlety of their calculations, even when the Greeks had no numeral above 1000 and their multiplications were so very complex, which they performed with the help of the counting frame by adding so many times the multiplier ! 7 X 5 could be done by adding 7 on the counting frame 5 times !"

However, the same great ancient genius, poetry and literature, of which each and every Indian shud be proud of, is being used to demean Vedic maths by calling it communal ... and even if our pseudo secular leaders are so much concerned abt "censoring" such "communal" stuff, even then, our ancient sciences could be taught without such literary genius as well i.e removing all such puns etc from it ... in my opinion, this literary stuff adds on to the beauty of the subject and prevents it from becoming dull; however, it's not necessary to be taught ... isn't it shameful that we feel shy to acknowledge our own greatness in several domains when the entire world is gng crazy after them ?

we had almost forgotten योग unless it returned to us as "योगा" .. hope such is not the case with Vedic Maths ...

THE GREAT AUSTERITY RACE OF OUR POLITICIANS ..

Recently, there has been quite an uproar abt politicians trying to show austerity by travelling in economy class (and "tweeting" abt it) or in 3rd AC (and making a news when some kid throws a stone at the train) etc... well, they r prob trying to show their solidarity with the "aam admi" who is forced to live such a life.. well, to say the least, i dont think that austerity is a virtue in the eyes of the poor, they are forced to lead such a life ... it might be in the eyes of the rich, who hv got all the luxuries in the world and would lead the life of an austere for some time (remember, its not forced upon them) and finally revert to their original lifestyle ... but the same cannot be said abt the poors or the aam admi who has no other option ...

and then, who doesn't know abt the luxuries that politicians enjoy.. i m not saying there is nething wrong in that; when SRK can charge Rs. 7 crore for a 3 day add shoot, aren't our politicians eligible for allowances that they enjoy for running such a big and vast country ... so, in my opinion, its better if media, instead of giving importance to their austerity drive, concentrates on their performance ...

SHAME ON INDIAN MEDIA OR SHAME ON THEIR AUDIENCES ???

I got a mail a few days back abt how, in Nov 2006, media completely neglected the ultimate sacrifice of Major Manish Pitambre - who became a martyr in an Anantnag (Kashmir) encounter with Suhail Afzal, divisional commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen, who topped the list of most wanted terrorists at that time - while highlighting (or rather celebrating) the release of Sanjay Dutt in the TADA case where he was found guilty of possession of armoury. (The entire mail could be found on the following blog: http://satyameva-jayate.org/2006/12/09/munnabhai-vs-manish-pitambare/; plz go thru it atleast once if u hvn't already read it). The incident mail referred to was long back (it occured in Nov 2006) but i forwarded it to many in my contact list and even had some kind of discussion on it ... The subject of the mail was "SHAME ON INDIAN MEDIA"; however after having the discussion, I m not sure is it the fault of Indian media or is it WE, the people, who shud be blamed ...
i mean, lets accept the fact that media has become a business today and it shows what it's able to sell...what else can u expect when we hv so many 24X7 News Channels running, all claiming to be "India's No 1" or "Sabse Tez" etc ... there is indeed a lot of fight amongst them for the so called "loyal" audience ... and in such a scenario, they just can't show news which doesn't sell ...
and isn't it true that the "loyal' audiences of media would rather listen to some news on Indian cricket eg, who hit how many sixes in a match b/w India and XYZ or some b'wood gossip rather than read abt the hardships which our army officers and jawans face almost daily ? after all, what effect does it hv on us if chinese armies incur into our territories and loot the bordering villages, or an Indian technology is being patented by some foreigner, and other such issues ?? these are meant only for some half-an-hour discussion on some national news channel, isn't it ?? and how many of us would prefer a magazine that mentions the gallantry award recipients of the country, and the heroic deeds for which they got it, to some bollywood masala magazine which details out when and where a 'couple' were last seen together ??

Time for SACH KA SAAMNA (with yourself, ofcourse) , r v ready ???

INDIA'S BIGGEST EVER SEARCH ??

Billed as "India's Biggest ever search" with 5000 jawans, an ISRO remote sensing aircraft, a Sukhoi, 14 search & rescue choppers, the forest department police, paramilitary forces & Chenchu tribal guides mobilized within 3 hours of late Mr. YSR, the ex CM of AP, going missing...being the CM of a state, he prob deserved all that (and i m not being sarcastic here) ... but then, did Mumbai not deserve a better response during those dreaded 60 hrs @ the time of 26/11 attack ?? y is it that we have to follow so many protocols even in situations of national crisis like Mumbai attack and not when something happens to a VVIP ?? couldn't NSG have got the clearance it needed faster and thus reached mumbai b4 those crucial 19 hrs when everything in case of Mr YSR was done within 3 hrs of him gng missing?? i m not against him given such a treatment; but yes, if the govt could do this much for a missing CM, surely it could have done much more for the worst terror attack on the financial capital of the country...

HINDI CHINI BYE BYE

i m writing this post after listening to a debate abt "Chinese incursions in India" on CNN-IBN where diplomat Mr. G Parthasarthi, CPI(M) leader Nilotpal Basu and Defence Analyst and Rear Admiral (retd) Raja Menon, were invited....well, its really sad to hear the views of CPI(M) member abt this latest buzz...just like Mr. Tony Blair was referred to as American Foreign Minister during Iraq war, similarly these communists are proving themselves to be nothing but sycophants of Communist China...on the issue of the article, published on the website of China International Institute for Strategic Studies (CIISS) (it's an influential think tank that advices Beijing on global and strategic issues), wherein a chinese strategist Zhan Lue urges Beijing to take some action to "break down India into 20-30 independent states with the help of friendly countries like Pakistan, Bhutan, etc and to support military outfits like ULFA etc", CPI(M) member suggested it to be the work of some maniac and completely rules out any threat to Indian security and integrity @ chinese hands (i dont know how cn a maniac publish an article on the site of CIISS; when even a comment that u post on some news article in TOI website is reviewed by the editor b4 it is published)....
on the contrary, according to Mr Parthasarthi, China is a country that would respect us only when we show it our hard power i.e. not just militarily but economically ("show them growth rate of 10% for next 10 consecutive years" is what he said) as well...chinese know abt our soft power (i.e. our educational institutes, English speaking population, and a democratic setup) and they acknowledge it as well.. but that is not enough as without our hard military power, we just dont matter to them... we prob believe that force and such extreme measures shud be used only when all diplomatic measures and negotiations have failed; however chinese hv time and again proven that using force is a part of their negotiation efforts...

i agree that China is our neighbour and there are issues where India and China can (and should) co-opearte for the betterment of both and also the region; but gone are the days when "HINDI CHINI BHAI BHAI" was the slogan ... we have already experienced the bitter truth in 1962 war when China occupied Indian terrirtory; and as if that were not enough, we have had China opposing a ban on LeT in UN (God knows y ?), making life difficult for India during Nuclear Deal with US; and laying claims to Arunachal Pradesh....besides, its support to Pakistan, both politically and militarily, is well known....now, the time has come to realize that India-China hv to move forward, but not with one (read China) dictating its terms and conditions to other...so, lets not repeat the mistake that our first PM Mr. Nehru did: pretending a problem does not exist when actually, it does...

the entire discussion, and especially the views of Shri Parthsarthi and Mr Menon, reminded me of a Hindi poem, शक्ति और क्षमा, that i read some time back...following is an excerpt from it:


क्षमा शोभती उस भुजंग को
जिसके पास गरल हो
उसको क्या जो दंतहीन
विषरहित, विनीत, सरल हो ।
.
.

सच पूछो , तो शर में ही
बसती है दीप्ति विनय की
सन्धि-वचन संपूज्य उसी का
जिसमें शक्ति विजय की ।

सहनशीलता, क्षमा, दया को
तभी पूजता जग है
बल का दर्प चमकता उसके
पीछे जब जगमग है।



P.S. The entire debate can be found at:
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/ftn-china-a-bigger-threat-than-pakistan-for-india/100882-3-p0.html

WHAT AN AMAZING WEEKEND !!!

wow!! what a weekend i hv had....

it started off with me gng to bang airport to receive Gaurav Tekriwal (plz read my previous post if u haven't heard his name yet) on saturday morning....fortunately, his flight was on time and i dint hv to wait for long....had a chat with him for almost an hour in the cab...was really good to meet someone with such a clear idea of what he is aiming for....and what a nice chat that was...our first stop was the house of Mr. V G Unkalkar, who is a very senior person in Vedic Maths...i could clearly see the mark of a brilliant and
genius yet very down to earth and humble mathematician in him...it was indeed a pleasure talking to him...a quiet, and prob introvert, but yet razor sharp with his mathematical skills and explanations shud define him the best...has already written a book on Vedic Maths and the second one is also almost over...always wanted to meet a mathematician like him...we spent several hours in his house and then went to meet Shakuntal Devi mam in her house...also picked up Mr. Srivatsa on our way, who himself is a great scholar in this field and has a wealth of practical experience with him...a chat for just 10 min with him is enough for one to gauge his depth of knowledge.......neways, we reached Shakuntala mam's house in the evening and what an experience it was...who could say that she has grown old with time??...she is as energetic as anyone far younger than her age...her mental strength & determination to open a college in Bang is really appreciable...her personality and aura reminds me of one excerpt from one of Dr Kalam's book wherein he states the fact that people retire not when they cross a certain age but when they feel they cant do anything worthwhile now....she invited us to meet her the next day (ie Sunday) as well....and we did go there when she made us see her college building that's coming up at quite a fast rate ...

this was really a fabulous weekend for me...met so many great mathematicians in 2 days...i was always very much interested in Maths, and Vedic Maths in particular, since my childhood days....but never thought that i could be so lucky...in bang, i have made trips to various nearby places on almost every weekend but this weekend was really special....absolutely enjoyed every bit of it....

FOR HOW LONG WILL IT CONTINUE ??

hi all....

well, have u ever heard the name of Albert Clay...mostly not, rite ?? well, he is a retired pharmacist in USA who has a copyright of VERTICAL CROSS WISE METHOD of multiplication against his name (registered as TXu001325432 in the U.S. Copyright Office)...yes the very method of India's own Vedic Maths...(if u hv any doubts regarding the authenticity of the method being developed in ancient India, then plz go thru chapter 2 of the Vedic Maths book written by Sri Bharati Krsna Tirtha Ji...the method is nothing but a direct application of "Urdhva Tiryak sutra" of Vedic Maths)...hey, but y r we finding patent being given to Mr Clay so hard to believe ?? and what's wrong in that ?? i mean, now, Vedic Maths has also gone west, just like basmati rice, turmeric and Yoga...

if u missed out the "bonanza" and are hearing such news for the first time, dont wry..i as well could have been one of u had it not been for 2 reasons:
1) efforts put by Gaurav Tekriwal to make this issue known to everyone...congos to u man....
2) me subscribing to Vedic Maths Forum India blog of Gaurav (http://vedicmathsindia.blogspot.com/)

I made the above comments as our media is too busy tracing the bollywood masala i.e. who's dating whom; and may be who recently got a haircut etc and other such "most imp" (read non-sense) issues of the day but has no time for such "frivolous" topics....after all, when very few paid any attention to patents of basmati rice and Yoga, then who will have time to raise any hue and cry over the patent of Vedic Maths methods ?? and hey, do we even know what they are or have we ever tried to discover the amount of wealth that's hidden in those 16 sutras ??

till now, as far as i know, an article related to this issue has been published in 2 newspapers:
1) DNA,Mumbai: August 17, 20009
http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_india-fights-for-vedic-math-copyright_1282923
2) Deccan Chronicle: August 25, 2009
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/tabloids/indians-upset-over-vedic-maths-patent-069

well...again, y dont national level news agencies like NDTV, CNN-IBN and TV TODAY come forward to support this cause ?? prob they themselves are not aware of this coz no celebrity is involved here...

as Deccan Chronicle writes: When it comes to the controversy over the Vedic Math formula, Satish expresses an opinion which many will echo: “I personally believe that the case would be much stronger if the government of India challenges the copyright and supports the cause of the Vedic Maths forum.” But will it do tht ?? i mean, has govt ever done nething to promote Vedic Maths in the first place that it shud now try to take the issue of copyright further ?? has Vedic Maths been introduced in any Board (national or state) till now ?? not that I m aware of..plz do update me if i m wrong ...

i still remember, when i was small, i had the book that i mentioned b4 in my post....and i gave it to one of my friends back in school, who commented that if only students knew how good this system of mental maths is, they would be absolutely crazy for it...

all i can say, friends, is that plz do help Gaurav Tekriwal in every way possible in carrying this issue of copyright further...for how long CAN WE let it continue ???