Mumbai Attacks: The Blame Game

In the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks, internet is replete with views on why India has often been the target of the Islamic terrorism. And one of the most oft repeated mantra has been that the oppression of Muslims and the plight of Kashmiris have been the casus-belli for the 26/11 and for all other atrocities preceding this terrible tragedy. This argument has been accentuated not only by apologists of Islam, but also by other moderate Muslims and Hindus alike. When it comes to oppression of Muslims in India, the statistics that Muslims are under-represented in every field actually justifies the case of the critics. But such an under-representation of Muslims has been often been ascribed to the hegemony of the Hindu majority as opposed to their own non-reformist principles.

On this politically correct backdrop the fact that has been blissfully ignored is that the Hindus as an Indian majority, have always celebrated and even eulogized the achievements of Muslims in many fields. Take the case of Bollywood and the likes of Shar Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and my personal favourite Amir Khan, have always enjoyed similar success and even in some cases more than that of their Hindu counter parts, which couldn't have been possible if not for the fanfare of the Hindu majority. Mohammad Rafi is considered as one of the most melodious singer India has been blessed with and he enjoyed the same success to that of his contemporary, Kishore Kumar. Naushad, the veteran music director and A.R.Rehman, the most influential musician of our times, are both Muslims and they have always enjoyed special place in the hearts of the Indians. Let alone Indian Muslims, even the Pakistani musicians such as Adnan Sami have been heartily welcomed and celebrated by the Hindus. The Indian classical musicians, such as Ustad Bismillah Khan, Ustad Zakir Khan and his father Ustad Allah Rakha, the great Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Parween Sultana have always enthralled the audiences with their soothing music and they always occupied similar place to that of their Hindu musicians such as Pandit Bhimsen Joshi and Pt.Hari Prasad Chaurasia.

Of the 41 Bharat Ratna recipients, the highest civilian award conferred to Indians, five of six have been awarded to the Indian Muslims and the other one went to the Pakistani national, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, also known as Frontier Gandhi. Moreover, three of the Indian Presidents- Dr. Zakir Hussain, Fakruddin Ali Ahmed and Dr.A.P.J Abdul Kalam, have been Muslims. Infact, Dr.Abdul Kalam has been voted the most loved president of India in a CNN poll, which would not have been possible if not for the love of majority Hindus. And finally, the Muslims have rarely been discriminated on their religious grounds in Cricket, the nations most loved sport. Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and Md.Azharuddin have captained India, let alone playing for the country and the contributions of Zaheer Khan, Yusuf and Irfan Pathan have been greatly appreciated by the Indian cricket lovers. From the above, we can say that Indian Muslims cannot be seen as oppressed, at least not to the level as portrayed by these critics. India firmly disagreed on George Bush's war on Iraq and a resolution was passed unanimously condemning the action of coalition forces and refused to allow the US to use its military bases and this has been barely mentioned by these critics nor has been seen as good gesture by the Islamic militant groups. And this resolution was adopted when the BJP led NDA government, considered as a communal Hindu party, was in power.
It is a common knowledge the militants groups such as JeM, LeT and Al-Qaeda have Pan-Islamic agenda, and Kashmir and Palestine are their trump cards. When it comes Kashmir, in my personal opinion, they still should be given an option for a plebiscite according the UN Mandate but a 60% turn-out to the local assembly elections, rejecting and sometimes even braving the calls of separatists, is an ample proof of their affinity towards democratic India.

And the reason why India has been often targeted is because it is a soft target, as I discussed in my previous article, thanks to our bickering and toothless politicians, who could not the address the internal security of this country despite several attacks.

And when it comes to oppression, in my view the dalits are more oppressed than the Muslims and as a Hindu I acknowledge the problem with our caste system which I strongly opposed in my one of my previous article: India needs a real change. It is time that Muslims take some responsibility for their backwardness and start addressing them and stop playing the victim.

A Slap In The Face

The memories of mayhem are indelible and the wounds of carnage are still fresh. The Mumbai attacks have re-ignited the nationalism that has been dormant since our independence and justifiably, the failure to prevent this massacre was swiftly shouldered on to our cosy politicians and never in the Indian political history are the politicians so vehemently vilified. This attack has slapped every thinking Indian on their faces, a strong gesture to wake up from the complacency and apathy and confront the stark reality of the dysfunctional and dangerous world that we are living in. The slap sobered up the drunken state that we are in and reminded us of the true colours of our lackadaisical and hopeless politicians. The slap was so resounding that we frantically started searching for answers for the thorny questions that we should have posed decades earlier. Sixty years after independence, the voter for the first time realized that he shot himself in the foot.

To give the fair share of credit to the politicians, could they have done any better? No government however efficient they may be cannot fully prevent a terrorist attack and 9/11, 7/7 and Madrid train bombings are few examples. But, there hasn’t been attacks on this scale since these happened in the west because the Western democracies have made the homeland security their national priority, and the key word here is PRIORITIZE. Where as in the case of India, some politicians can hardly spell the word let alone action it. While some of rabble-rouser politicians are busy prioritizing trivial communal issues for their narrow gains, a percentage of them have other priorities such as preparing to fight the impending criminal convictions that are pending in the higher courts. Shamefully, six of our politicians, the so-called MPs from hell (Shahbuddin, Pappu Yadav, Surajbhan Singh, Atique Ahmad, Afzal Ansari and Umakant Yadav) are serving jail sentences for crimes ranging from kidnapping to murder and they have other priorities as we can see. The Congress party’s priority since time immemorial has been to make sure that Nehru-Gandhi dynasty’s bloodline continues to lead the party and where as BJP’s priority has been to play to the tunes of the majority Hindu vote-bank .On the other hand all other parties’ sole agenda has been to make hay when the sun shines. In a nutshell our politicians cannot and did not get the priorities right.

The Indian poor is still precariously clinging to the poverty line by the barest of threads and on the other hand our judicial system is crumbling with overloaded cases that are decades old. A decent health system is virtually non-functional and beyond the reach of a common man and the police institution corrupt with thier infrastructure dilapidated and archaic. While the political system is rotten to its core, the internal security is in such a despicable state that terrorists can create havoc at their will and yet our bickering politicians have managed to prioritize none of the above. Thanks to the Mumbai attacks, the dissatisfaction among Indians has now reached overwhelming levels and it has now over flown in the form of anger and disgust against the politicians. This change is a welcome sign, a change which is long overdue. This is a slap in the faces of our imbecile politicians who for so long were in a long slumber, completely oblivious to the problems around them.

However, it would be a mistake of biblical proportions if we as citizens of India abdicate our moral responsibility for these attacks as we are to an extent accountable as any politician is. The politicians are what they are because of our vote. Like the turkeys voting for Christmas, we have voted for our politicians and we will have to bear the consequences. Moreover, the anger and frustration of the public against politicos that is so positively and frequently reiterated in the media is another positive change and the longer they manage to keep the wounds fresh the better, as this keeps our politicians under intense pressure. But amidst the fervour and jingoism, we are missing something here. The voices of change in the governance that we are frequently hearing in the aftermath of the attacks are the voices of the educated, english speaking working class which although a considerable representation, is not significant enough to bring about change in the political setup of India. More than sixty percent of Indian population live in villages, most of them unprivileged and socially deprived of the comforts we otherwise take it for granted, for whom terrorism is relatively insignificant compared to the penuries and hardship they face everyday , and their voices haven’t been heard at all amidst this turmoil. It is in fact their share of votes that actually plays a major role in deciding the fate of our country and our opportunist politicians have 60 years of experience and expertise in taking full advantage of their situation. Until, we do not succeed in bringing about a change and uplift this under privileged class, any noteworthy change in our political setup, would be a distant dream. Such an upliftment of our poor is only possible by a diligent, conscientious and visionary political governance and this is where we have the chicken and the egg problem.

It wouldn’t help to be pessimistic in these difficult times, but on an optimistic note, I have to admit that we have made a decent start. But we need to keep the crank shaft moving until it catches enough momentum so as to bring about a change we have been aspiring for so long or else we would not do be doing any justice to the innocent lives that were lost in one of the most heart-breaking tragedies ever witnessed on the Indian soil.

A good voter for a better India

One of the most unconstructive traits of the Indians is their unquestioning devotion or extreme affinity towards anything, be it a person or religion, political party or a social system. This is apparent across the country, take the example of Rajanikanth, the superstar from Tamilnadu who is almost worshipped as demigod or Sachin Tendulkar, the cricket God of India, or consider the admiration of Bal Thackeray and his firebrand son Raj Thackeray by their followers, the so called Shivsainiks.

Such a blind fidelity is benign is some instances such as sports, but in most other this attitude is pushing India on a retrograde path. Especially in political arena whose dear siblings are money, caste, regionalism, corruption and political correctness, such an unquestioning loyalty gives free access to that party or its leader to adopt policies that are unconstitutional, tyrannical and dictatorial that could lead our country on a detrimental path. History has taught us two great examples of after-effects of such a fundamentalist and blind allegiance to its leader- the defeat of Japanese imperialism and destruction of Nazi Germany and on both these occasions the results were catastrophic. While Germany and Japan put behind their violent past and rose from ashes to become the most advanced countries of the world, we on the other hand are selling our souls by putting our beloved leader before the country. The people of India are unable to distinguish between the reel world and the real world as evident from the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, where chief ministers have usually been movie stars in their hey day. It took MGR and NTR, the late film veterans, a couple of hip movements in a rain song and a string of fake punches on few imaginary goons to seize power of these states. Once the power was seized, it was ever to stay in the same house.

We would like the head of the family to be a fair person and a role model but when it comes to choosing a leader of our state we blissfully ignore such questions by pledging adherence to someone we happen to admire, not because such a person is good thinker or a great leader, just because he has been an entertainer or in some cases, such a person happens to belong to same caste. This has been the trend not just with illiterate masses but even with university educated people. And if this continues and it is what likely looks like the case, India has a bleak future.

Discussion on Vedas & Science - Continued Part 4 and 5

For the first three parts of discussion please click on:

http://faithbuster.blogspot.com/2008/10/discussion-on-vedas-and-science.html

Part 4


Vj ~ What idiot would write of the evolution of any kind of life before knowing the origin of the soul and its purpose and the material cause of the universe? Well, if reading(Light of Truth) didn't do the job, then shouldn't that tell you how important practice (yoga) is necessary? I can honestly say, you are not looking for answers but to show off the ego, like all evolutionists do. Pandit Vishal was an Aryasamajee also, he claimed to have read all of Swami Dayanand's work, but on reading the Vishnu Puran he immediately returned to the fold of Hinduism. Wow! This shows that, the most abtruse science of the Divine is called WISDOM, it cannot be taught in any educational institution, nor can it be found in a science lab or a book, but can only be acquired through the practice of yoga (self-study by stenuous effort and practice).



Raj~ Sorry VJ for taking time in replying as I was busy with other things. I was never an aryasamajee in the first place. Anyway, I have shown in my previous discussion that laws on which you discarded evolution are not sound enough to debunk evolution and I came with examples to show you, but you weren’t convinced. You didn’t say what’s wrong with those arguments and your argument was that you have had similar arguments before. And you accused me of showing off my ego like all other evolutionists. Now, I am not an evolutionist although I subscribe to evolution, and evolutionists ,on the contrary have the humility to digest and accept the fact that humans are the 5th ape, and that we are no way different to any other animals. Any one who understands evolution will accept the fact that it takes one mutation of deadly virus like ebola to wipe out humans overnight and hence they immensely respect the power of nature.

What actually amazes me is that you base the vedic religion as scientific religion yet attack the same science when it contradicts your religion. For example, your website says that one of the tests for a true religion is :

It must be in harmony with science.Modern science has proven creation to be more than 6,000 years old, the earth is spherical and it rotates and revolves, contradictions to the Torah, Bible and Quran.

Actually, modern science has proved that the creation is 14 billion years old. Now, the same modern science has also proved that viruses and bacteria become resistant to a drug, and the underlying principle for this is one of the principle of evolution – A random mutation of virus into a drug resistant strain. Although experts agree that this is only the proof of Micro-evolution(changes with in the species) in action, not the Macro-evolution(Change of one species to another), nevertheless mutations such as these can give a logical idea of why Evolution makes sense.

What doesn’t make any sense is the fact that which according the Vedic religion, is that Man has always been there since day one of the creation and Vedas have been revealed to the purest of the men, the altruistic sages of Himalayas at the start of creation. As I have replied in my earlier mail that Swamiji’s The Light of Truth is a good book when it comes to debunking other religions. But, there are things in that book that makes little sense to me, and you think that is because I haven’t been practicing Yoga. I don’t need to know yoga to doubt anything, all it takes is a prejudice free inquiry and rational mind. For example, let us consider the following from the Chapter 8: Creation sustenance and dissolution of universe. The paragraphs in red are from the book and my objections are in green and please tell me how the practise of yoga could have changed my opinion.

PAGE 262 -263

29. The wonderful creation of the earth.
The earth studded with various kinds of precious stones and metals, the seeds of trees of a thousand different kinds* with their wonderful exquisite structures, leaves with myriads of different colours** and shades, flowers, fruits, roots, rhizomes and cereals with various scents and flavours*** none but God could create. Nor could any one except God create myriads of earths, suns, moon and other cosmic bodies, and sustain, revolve the regulate them.
An object when perceived produces two kinds of knowledge in the mind of the observer, viz., of the nature of the object itself and of its maker. For example, a man found a beautiful ornament in a jungle. On examination he saw that it was made of gold and that it must have been made by a clever goldsmith. In the same way, the wonderful workmanship and execution of this wonderful universe prove the existence of its Maker

Raj ~ So, the premise here is that, when you look at anything in this world, it raises two questions. The nature of the object and its maker. Applying the same logic, I could ask the same two questions about God: His nature- who is He? And what is he made of and his attributes etc. Secondly and more importantly, Who is his maker? If this intelligent universe needs a super-intelligent creator, the super-intelligent creator should have ultra-super-intelligent creator and hence we are in an infinite regress.
If you say that God doesn’t need a maker, then at least you agree in principle that not everything needs a maker and that is contrary to the initial premise .

Q.What was first created, man or earth, etc.?
A - The earth, etc., because without them where could man live and how could he maintain his life?
The above statement makes a supposition that Earth was created for man to live and to maintain his life. Hence, we see a purpose of creating Earth and other celestial objects, hinting a anthropocentric purpose of creation. I have always pondered, what is the need for creation of millions of galaxies, each galaxy consisting of billions of stars just like our sun with uninhabitable environments and the notorious blackholes, when all it needs is one big Earth and one big sun to place humans and no scriptures including Vedas, will never account for nor explain this. As the existence of such vast universe was only known in this century, it is hardly surprising that such a grand universe was beyond the imagination of authors of these scriptures.
Having said that the extent of knowledge of the solar system that our ancestors developed by the likes of Aryabhatta, Varahamihira, Bhaskara, Brahmadeva and other great Indian astrologists cannot be underestimated. We have developed our science on the accumulated intelligence of our forefathers and it would be a mistake of gargantuan proportions to forget their contributions they made to the world of science.



30. Was one man created in the beginning of Creation or more than one?
A - More than one; because souls, that on account of their previous good actions deserve to be born in the Aishwari - not the result of sexual intercourse - Creation, are born in the beginning of the world. It is said in the Yajur Veda, "(In the beginning) there were born many men as well as rishis, i.e.., learned seers of nature. They were progenitors of the human race." On the authority of this Vedic text it is certain then that in the beginning of Creation hundreds and thousands of men were born. By observing nature with the aid of reason we come to the same conclusion, viz., that men are descended from many fathers and mothers (i.e., not from one father and one mother).

Raj ~ So, it is technically possible for a man to be born without a sexual intercourse in the Aishwari, if a soul accumulates enough points through good actions so that you look into his DNA and you would see blanks. This is in breach of your natural laws and substantiates claims of Jesus Christ’s virgin birth.

31. In the beginning of Creation were men created as children, adults or old people or in all conditions?
A - They were adults, because had God created them as children they would have required adults to bring them up, and had created them as old men, they would not have been able to propagate the race, therefore He created them adults.


Raj ~ This completely threw me, VJ. So, one fine morning when God created Earth and Sun, guided earth on its orbit around sun, and created men from souls with previous good actions. So few hundred fully matured healthy humans descended onto Earth around Tibet. And I would assume they can read and write, probably Sanskrit . How do you then account for the Neaderthals and other prehistoric tools such as flint stones found in the caves of ancient human dwellers. If these well learned seers of nature are progenitors of the human race, how do you account for the bush tribes and pygmies of Africa. Please do not deny existence of Neanderthals, there is enough evidence that they exist.

33. Does not the belief of souls in lower beings impute partiality?
God put some souls in human bodies, while others he clothed with bodies of ferocious animals such as tigers, others with those of cattle, such as cows, others with those of birds and insects, other still with those of plants. Does not this belief impute partiality to God?
A - No, it does not impute any partiality, because He put souls into the bodies they deserved according to deeds done in the previous birth. Had He done so without any consideration as to the nature of their deeds, He would have been unjust indeed.

Raj ~ So, the impure souls were animals and pure souls were ancient sages, is it?

Could you please throw some light on at what time in creation were dinosaurs created? Unless you either deny that dinosaurs ever existed apart from in Steven Spielberg’s trilogy or that dinosaurs did exist and men happily cohabited with these giant beasts. None of the cave paintings ever found around the world had depictions of dinosaurs, but usually had paintings of domesticated animals such as bulls, horses and other wild animals. This shows that these cavemen didn’t have a clue about any other creatures other than those that were around them. Neither any of scriptures contains references about these pre-historic giants.
And how about microscopic organisms? Viruses and bacteria reproduce and kill humans, and we with our science try to stop their reproduction and kill them by using drugs. So what about souls of these viruses and bacteria? They are living entities how ever microscopic they may be and they get killed. Do they have souls? If they do, are they different to our souls and if they are not different , do they comply with the Law of Karma.


Page 271

39. What are the sun, the moon and the stars?
Q. Are they inhabited by man and other living creatures or not?
A - They are worlds inhabited by men and other living beings, The Shatpatha Braahman 14:6, 9, 4. says., "The earth, the water, the heated bodies, the space, the moon, the sun, and other planets are all called Vasus or abodes, because they are abodes of living beings as well as of inanimate objects." When the sun, the moon and other planets are abodes like our earth, what doubt can there be in their being inhabited? When this little earth of God is full of men land other living beings, can it ever be possible that all other worlds are void? How can myriads of other worlds be of any use unless they are inhabited by man and other beings? It follows, therefore, that they are inhabited.

Raj ~ This is where I almost started to think, this book is useless when it comes to science. So moon, sun and other planets are called vasus and swamiji here thinks they are inhabited as well. To be honest, I would give full credit to swamiji for taking a scientific approach of assuming a possibility of life somewhere in the universe but the idea that stars and sun could be inhabited is farfetched. Even moon and other planets in our own solar system are uninhabitable. But, again swamiji was coming up with ideas relating to the scientific knowledge of his times. But his conclusion follows the logic that is evident in the last two lines of the above paragraph. He asks-“ How can myriads of other worlds be of any use unless they are inhabited by man and other beings? It follows, therefore, that they are inhabited.”
This is exactly what I argued before, we know that myriads of universes and planets and moons in our solar system are uninhabitable and only logical conclusion is that they were not created for us. And I have no reason to believe that GOD created all these billions of stars.
Having said that, I believe that there is real possibility of extra-terrestrial life in this universe which takes us to the next question.

PAGE 272

40. Do they have the same bodies?Would men and other living beings in the other worlds have the same kind of bodies and bodily organs as they have here or different?
A - Most likely there is some difference in their form and the like, just as you see some difference in form, countenance, appearance and complexion among people of different countries as the Ethiopeans, Chinese, the Indians and the Europeans. But the creation of the same class or species on this earth and other planets is identical. The class or species that has its sense organs (as eyes) in some definite place in the body here (on this planet), will have them in the same place other planets; for it is said in the Veda, "Just as God created the sun, the moon, the earth, and other planets and the objects therein in the previous cycles of Creation, the same has He done in the present Creation." RIG VEDA 10: 190. He does not make any alteration.
Raj ~ The above logic makes sense in 19th century, but has no place in 21st century. Because even if life exists in another place in the universe, i would still think the life will have to evolve. It is statistically improbable for the life here to be similar to that of on the Earth.

41. Are the same Vedas revealed in the other worlds as in this?
A - Yes. Just as the policy of a king is the same in all the countries under his rule, so is the Vedic system of Government of the King of kings identically the same in all the worlds over which He rules.


Raj ~ This question doesn’t even arise unless we find the proof of extra-terrestrial life. And even if we find it, the chances of Vedas being revealed in the other worlds are as good as Christopher Hitchens going back to thiesm.


VJ ~ And you asked who would write of the evolution of any kind before knowing the origin of the soul and its purpose?

Raj ~ Well, I would say Physics comes first and then Metaphysics.


Finally, Swamiji says:

"The man who resolves, to stick to the truth at all costs, steadily rises in virtues. When his virtues raise his reputation and prestige, he becomes all the more a devotee of truth. This devotion to truth becomes an unerring source of power and greatness."
Raj ~ I absolutely believe this. Swami Dayanand Saraswati was one of the most prominent thinkers and reformers that India ever produced and his works were based on the knowledge that he had during his times. Science has advanced and so did we, and his book is not different to other scriptures, all written in light of limited knowledge our ancestors had possessed during their time. To claim a book to be true for all times is asinine, and this hold good for Gita, Koran, Bible, Vedas and even Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species. Who knows, a major breakthrough in science could prove Darwin wrong and as swamiji says, we have to stick to truth at all costs.

Part 5

Vj ~ Seems like a trend, you not sure of anything, even the existence of a Creator.

Raj ~ I am quite sure about some things, and i am unsure about some. As Bertrand Russel wisely said-"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt".I gladly admit that I am not sure of the existence of a creator, and i have no reason to believe that He does. If you think he does, then burden of proof is on you, not me.

Vj ~ Believe me, if "restrictions to the number of words" poses an impediment here, you are not going not going to get the truth anywhere else without it.This is my venue for propagating the truth and if your "spirit" is affected I suggest you reconsider.Natural Laws is one of the means of ascertaining truth, and if you have no interest in discussing the functions then there is nothing else to discuss.

Raj ~ I have been patiently discussing my objections to various issues on your website, and I am quoting where ever possible references from your site and the book 'The light of Truth' you cling to so dearly. You seem to completely ignore the points I raised and rather than answering to the questions i posed, all you are doing is resorting to non-sequiturs, red-herrings and ad hominem accusing me showing off my ego.Please reply, if you can, to my objections I raised in the so called Light of Truth of pages 262, 263 and 272 on my site.If you wish there is nothing to discuss, so be it my friend. Or probably you have nothing to answer.

A Discussion on Vedas and Science - Part1, 2 and 3

VJ Singh, is the moderator of the website www.vjsingh.com, and believes in One True Religion, The Vedic Religion in its pristine form. He claims he doesn't believe in Vedas but he knows the Vedic Religion is THE true religion. This is an extraordinary claim and an extraordinary claim needs extraordinary proofs. VJ Singh and his website has been influential in changing my views on religion a couple of years ago. I have utmost respect for this gentlemen and he has some very good logical explanations for various points he raises. Nevertheless, I do not agree fully with his views. I have published our discussion below, and I will update as we continue.

For clarity,VJ's response is in red font and mine in black.

Part One

Raj - Hi VJ, How are you?

Vj ~ Fantastic, my friend. I see you have made some progress - from dogma to atheism - very good!

Raj-We had a very brief discussion on Manu Dharma a couple of years ago when I was a staunch Hindu. Now the transition is fully complete and I am an athiest.

Vj ~ Way to go, man, it is better to be an atheist than a hypocrite.

Raj-I will go back to thiesm, should I find compelling evidence but it looks like that is highly unlikely at this point.

Vj ~ Evidence is what will eventually lead to the truth, but that evidence must be by your own effort (study and practice) and not from anyone else. I can only show you the way as Swami Dayanand did for us all.

Raj-Your site was very influential at that time when I had my doubts about Hinduism. I still have my doubts about the vedas, which you regard as primordial texts, for some reason, only revealed to ancient altrusitic sages of India.

Vj ~ I hope you still find it influential for it is the only way to the evidences you seek.

Raj -I would love to believe that Vedic texts are sacred and divine, and being an Indian, i would like to take great pride in it but i will set aside my judgement until proven so, and hence i thought of having a discussion with you on this subject.

Vj ~ "The less you know the more you believe." Bono. Belief belongs to dogmas like the one you just abandoned, so strive to know, instead.

Raj - I have other objections as well, the main one being your perpective on Evolution, which to me seems to be one of the most simplest yet the most powerful idea and you seem to disregard it.

Vj ~ Study evolution as discussed by me carefully and you will see that I have very good reasons for disregarding it.

Raj-I am not a biolgist and I am sure you are not either, but as this discussion progresses, i will try to come up with examples of why evolution makes sense(atleast to me).

Vj ~ It makes no sense at all to the wise, since it is a total breach to natural laws

Raj- Could you please throw some light on why you think the vedic religion is the true religion.

Vj ~ I don't "think" it is, I KNOW it is. I haven't found any yet who can contradict it. It is free of historical references and erroneous views.I

Raj- have written an article called - The god who failed consistently, please click the following link and most or some of the points I raised in the article holds good in the case of Vedas as well.

Vj ~ If the God or the Vedas failed anyone, it is one's own fault and not God or the Vedas.

Regards,

You can also read the above in VJSingh's forum:

http://pub36.bravenet.com/forum/3016436750/fetch/873491/

Part Two

Vj ~ Fantastic, my friend. I see you have made some progress - from dogma to atheism - very good!

Raj: Thanks, VJ. But, I was never really dogmatic, although I am a Brahmin I never could come to terms with the superiority of Brahmins as laid out by Hindu texts.My school was an Arya Samaj School named after Sanskrit Grammarian Panini, and thanks to the Sanskrit subject, my moral principles were firmly based on sayings of Bhartruhari, Vidhura and other scholars of Nitishatakas but not really on scriptures(Vedas included). Being an Aryasamaj school, there used to be a yagna(havan), every week, with the same vedic verses repeated again and again, of them we hardly understood. We didn’t have a slightest of clue what that was about and was boring as hell. That was as dogmatic as any other ritual that we commonly see in all other religions.

Vj ~ Way to go, man, it is better to be an atheist than a hypocrite.
Raj- Can't agree more.

Vj ~ Evidence is what will eventually lead to the truth, but that evidence must be by your own effort (study and practice) and not from anyone else. I can only show you the way as Swami Dayanand did for us all.

Raj - Truth based on solid evidence is truth irrespective of where it comes from. There are some evidences that we can verify and understand that are within our domain knowledge e.g. as in the case of gravitation. There are evidences that we cannot possibly see and understand fully well because we cannot master every subject, e.g. atomic theory, which can only be accepted as truth, because it has been firmly established as sound theory by expert scientists, Neils Bohr etc. Now how do I believe atomic theory is sound, because if it wasn’t, we wouldn’t be able to generate nuclear power if the fundamental principles of atomic theory were flawed. The Large Hadron Collider, a £5 billion experiment, successfully fired protons at speed of light to simulate an environment seconds after a big bang. This takes us to my next point, the big bang theory, which if it was just a maverick scientist’s imaginary theory, we will not have been able to simulate in a controlled experiment. I have no problem accepting evidence if it comes from someone else, if the evidence sounds logical.

Vj ~ I hope you still find it influential for it is the only way to the evidences you seek.
Raj – Your site is logical when debunking other religions. . Paradoxically, you claim your religion is in concordance with science, but it looks like you cherry pick scientific principles that supports the vedic religion and disregard other which clashes with yours.

Vj ~ "The less you know the more you believe." Bono. Belief belongs to dogmas like the one you just abandoned, so strive to know, instead.

Raj- Absolutely, and the more you believe, you believe even more. I have absolutely no qualms in accepting that the religion I left was dogmatic. It was a painful experience drifting away from the religion I was born in, but Truth is bitter, and I have the guts to swallow the bitter pill.

Vj ~ Study evolution as discussed by me carefully and you will see that I have very good reasons for disregarding it.

Raj – I did.This is what separates us and I have very good reasons not to disregard evolution. This makes the discussion more interesting, but if I can find truth, I do not mind losing the argument. Because, what matters is the Truth. Let us look at your claims of breach of natural laws.

VJ ~First breach of natural laws:If man had really evolved from a lower creature, then it was, as it were, a fact - a law which according to evolutionists, was unceasing in its operations under any conditions whatsoever. If the law was of a constant and permanent nature, ever working itself out, how was it that for thousands of years past, no lower creature had evolved into a human being.

There are two aspects in your argument that I see as flawed.
First, there is no law in evolution, which says every species out there on earth, eventually evolves and evolves, until it reaches its culmination point – ‘The Human Being’. I mean, there are no evolutionists out there, who propose a linear theory, Rat turns into Cat, Cat into a Dog, Dog into Donkey, Donkey into a Chimpanzee, and chimpanzee into a Human Being. As a matter of fact such an asinine theory is possible according to metaphysical laws of oriental philosophies(law of karma), where past and present deeds may dictate what one will be in next life but it holds no place in evolutionary biology.

**

Evolution produces a pattern of relationships A B C D among lineages that is tree-like, not ladder-like.

Secondly, The variables in the equation called evolution are Time , the Environment and the Random mutations. The environment itself is constantly changing. For example, at point in time called T1, let us say the environment is E1. But the environment is a complex equation in itself , made up of further randomly changing variables( Let us say atmospheric conditions -Rain, Sunlight, Wind, Snow, Magnetic field, the ecological parameters such as population of other species and number of different species etc.). At a different point in time say T2, Environment E2 is no way same as that of E1. Hence, any minor change, or a random mutation R1 in the characteristic of a species that helped that species to dominate in the environment E1, could actually be so pernicious in environment E2, that it could make that species extinct. That could give a great competitive advantage to other species and they start to dominate. Moreover, it is highly improbable, the same random mutation R1 will happen at time T2 in an environment E2. Hence, you cannot expect the mutations to proceed along the same line every time in every environment, ultimately trying to push every species towards mankind.
But, given enough time(which we had about 4 billion years), in right conditions, mutations in radically different sets of environments have produced almost the same kind of species. This is called convergent evolution.
**For example, birds and bats both have wings, while mice and crocodiles do not. Does that mean that birds and bats are more closely related to one another than to mice and crocodiles? No. When we examine bird wings and bat wings closely, we see that there are some major differences.

Bat wings consist of flaps of skin stretched between the bones of the fingers and arm. Bird wings consist of feathers extending all along the arm. These structural dissimilarities suggest that bird wings and bat wings were not inherited from a common ancestor with wings. This idea is illustrated by the phylogeny below, which is based on a large number of other characters.

Bird and bat wings are analogous—that is, they have separate evolutionary origins, but are superficially similar because they evolved to serve the same function**. Hence, there is a chance, very highly improbable it may be, that given enough time and provided environmental pressures allow for it, one or some of the species out there may at some point in time can evolve into species similar to that of human. But, as we dominate the earth and with deforestation and animal extinction at its highest rates, the chances of such a convergence is near impossible. Finally, even in the unlikely event of such a convergence say in 10 billion years time, our lifespan will not permit us to witness it.

VJ -Second breach of natural laws:The theory of natural selection is indicative of nature's imperfections. According to it Nature is still improving. This theory points out the absence in Nature at present of the best forms that it will produce in the future. Progression is always downward, a law.

Raj – No, VJ. Nature is constantly changing not improving. Theory of natural selection is a mindless machine, and it has no purpose.

Let us take this example of, peppered moths. Moths in England usually come in two colours, dark and light, and during the industrial revolution , because of the pollutants released into the atmosphere, the barks of the trees were covered in black soot. This gave the advantage to the dark moths, as the darker moths are harder to see by the predators on the dark backgrounds and lighter moths are conspicuous to the predators. Hence, the number of lighter moths started to decrease. In the later years, due to stricter climate control measures and advent of alternative power generation techniques, the cleaner environment gave the advantage to the lighter coloured moths, as the darker moths are easily vulnerable on relatively lighter backgrounds.

In this example, nature didn’t have a grand plan or a direction, it is not biased against any one moth, it just gave an competitive edge to the darker moths because of the man made industrial revolution, and gave an edge to the lighter moth when the green revolution started. Theory of natural selection gives the advantage to those species that can adapt well in a particular environment. As I pointed out earlier, as this environment always changes, sometimes drastically, even the powerful species become extinct in one shot. Take another hypothetical example, all it takes is one drug resistant mutation of the flu into a powerful ones, and you and I could be discussing this on our deathbeds. Nature just favours that virus over us, and there could be some people who are resistant to that virus. All the others will perish, and rest will pass on their resistance to their generation , and nature hands back the advantage to us. The progression is neither downwards nor upwards. In the case of computer industry, progression is always upwards, memory devices are getting better and better. A 1GB hard disk in a computer used to be man made wonder 15 years ago, and now I have a 32 GB external hard drive in my car keys. Our knowledge is getting better and better contrary to what you claim.

Vj ~ It makes no sense at all to the wise, since it is a total breach to natural laws
Raj – Just because one is wise doesn’t mean one has an open mind. Minds are like Parachutes, they only function when open. It needs guts and wisdom just not to know, but digest the truth. Evolution is a natural law in itself, let alone, breaching the other laws.


Vj ~ I don't "think" it is, I KNOW it is. I haven't found any yet who can contradict it. It is free of historical references and erroneous views.

Raj – That is your subjective experience. What historical references, VJ? I have no evidence to believe man existed in the Jurassic age, let alone, Vedas.

Vj ~ If the God or the Vedas failed anyone, it is one's own fault and not God or the Vedas.

Raj – Sorry VJ, but you could use this same argument to prove any scripture and any God. Let us say there was religious book called Jedi’s commandments, whose God was Darth Vader, the above argument looks like this.
If Darth Vader or Jedi’s commandments failed anyone, it is one's own fault and not Darth Vader’s or the Jedi’s.


** http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/evo101/IIC1Homologies.shtml

Part 3

VJ ~ I have read your blog and the arguments are no different from those who have engaged me already. Replying to you will be like doing it all over again.As long as we are considered intelligent beings, it is progress from a stupor state (lower specy).If it is truly your desire in seeking the truth, I suggest you take the time to first study the books on Swami Dayanand that is available on my site and then make rebuttals. Reading is essential but study of the correct knowledge and practice lead to superior reasoning.

Raj ~ The rebuttal I wrote in my is site is on the grounds on which you discredit Evolution.

You wrote:"If it is truly your desire in seeking the truth, I suggest you take the time to first study the books on Swami Dayanand that is available on my site and then make rebuttals."

You must have done the same, my erudite friend, you should have read Evolution prperly, if not master it, before you discredit it. I married my wife in Arya Samaj, and i bought Swamiji's Satyardha Prakash. It was that book that lead me to your site and my path to athiesm.

Vj~I discredited it on the grounds of natural laws, what do Darwinians know of the functions of these laws? What idiot would writie of the evolution of any kind of life before knowing the origin of the soul and its purpose and the material cause of the universe?

Raj~I have many unanswered questions in that book, and i will raise as i go along.

Vj ~ I can honestly say, you are not looking for answers but to show off the ego, like all evolutionists do.Pandit Vishal was an Aryasamajee also, he claimed to have read all of Swami Dayanand's work, but on reading the Vishnu Puran he immediately returned to the fold of Hinduism. Wow! This shows that, the most abtruse science of the Divine is called WISDOM, it cannot be taught in any educational institution, nor can it be found in a science lab or a book, but can only be acquired through the practice of yoga (self-study by stenuous effort and practice).

Part 4

Watch this space for my rebuttal.

Blind Date - Strictly for Elders

There were two elderly people living in a senior citizens’ home. He was a widower, she a widow. They had known one another for a number of years. One evening there was a community supper downstairs, and the two sat at the same table, across from one another. He gathered some courage and asked her, “Will you marry me?”
A few minutes later she answered. “Yes. Yes, I will.”

The meal ended and, with a few more pleasant exchanges, they went to their respective rooms. Next morning, he was troubled. “Did she say ‘yes’ or did she say ‘no’?” He couldn’t remember. So he picked up his telephone and called her, “I forget things easily noaways and I don’t remember as well as I used to. Last night when I asked if you would marry me, did you say ‘Yes’ or did you say ‘No’?”
“Why, I said, ‘Yes, yes I will’ and I did mean it dear”, she continued, “I am so glad that you called, because I couldn’t remember who had asked me.”

Cheerful news is hard to come by these days, and that’s why I want to highlight this particular one. VMAS (Vina Moolya Amoolya Seva - Priceless Precious Service, literally), a non-profit in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, is arranging India’s first marriage-convention, for seniors. India’s first senior blind date convention will take place on October 12th in Ahmedabad. For women participants, the registration comes with a gift of a railways fare, free local transportation, and complementary lunch.
VMAS, a marriage bureau that offers free services to those above 50, has so far garnered 600 male registrations and about 60 female registrations. Most of the male registrants are widowers or divorcees. Several female registrants, however are first-timers. Most of those women first-timers have led selfless lives, sacrificing their years for their families, younger brothers or sisters, elder parents or relatives, working to get others educated, staying home to support the elderly and the sick within the families. Now, with those responsibilities borne out, and at a juncture where their own lonely lives could afford the warmth and comfort of a companionship, these seniors have come forward, albeit shyly, to seek what they have missed so far.

More than a hundred years ago, in 1893, Dhindo Keshav Karve founded India’s first marriage bureau for widows. That institution became an ashram, a shelter for those Indian women who were outcast by society, and after a century of service to the Indian women, turned into India’s first women’s university - SNDT.

Just the other day, I wrote about the rising divorce rates amongst India’s newly married. Something tells me that the seniors gathering in Ahmedabad on October 12th, are not giving a hoot about that statistics. At a time when the elders in India are having to look ahead to lonelier lives away from their sons and daughters and in an era where the number of joint families is declining at a rapid pace, anything that brings happiness to our seniors is a heartening news. It surely lights up a romantic candle or two, giving hope to those who need it most, making their days and evenings a lot less bluer and a lot, lot brighter.

Courtesy: http://www.indiatime.com/2008/09/24/indias-first-senior-citizens-blind-date-convention/

The author(s) of this article is(are) not known but the site www.indiatime.com has some very good alternative viewpoints on various issues affecting India.

New Party, New Flag, Old Politics

Having been a fan of Chiru since my pre-adolescent years, like millions of other fans, I have been anxiously paying attention to his entry into the political arena. Having witnessed his foray into politics, as his fan and well-wisher, I must admit it was a lacklustre performance. Having said that, his speech might have pleased his scores of fans who attended the meeting and those who were watching live on TV. But, there exactly lies the catch where they probably have put the love for their film star and his party above the country. Indian masses have this notoriously dangerous obsession either with a political party or a film star and they would be willing to vote, and they had in the past, without even considering the agenda and this was true in the case of the Late N.T.R and MG.R. On their first day, these two late veterans must have made exactly the same promises that Chiru made and according to some sources the inaugural speech for NTR and Chiru, was compiled by a same person, a prominent film writer. When you look back at those pledges made by NTR and MGR- unfortunately neither they nor their promises survive today.


But, his altruistic motives for entering into the politics cannot be questioned. He proved himself to be a committed social worker by establishing eye and blood banks in the state. And he has a rare trait that is seldom found in fellow politicians- he has clean record and is a non-controversial figure, at least for now. On the day of announcing the party, he promised to change the fate of the state but didn’t delve further into how intends to achieve that. That announcement of his kick-started a mass exodus of opportunists from other parties- Mr. Hariram Jogiah, Mr K. VidyadharRao and his confidant M.R.D Balaram, a liquor baron, factionist Mr.Bhooma Nagireddy etc.and scores of others have now announced their loyalty to Chiranjeevi .

But I think Chiru is treading on a slippery slope by warmly embracing these opportunistic elements. There was hardly any screening process for the eligibility into his party and the only one looks like one had to be political leader already with some influence. Take the case of Mr.Bhooma Nagireddy, who has been accused of murders, intimidation and had cases of non-bailable arrest warrants for contempt of the court and has about 15 cases pending in the court. In the other case of M.R.D.Balaram, who could be a potential candidate from Eluru, being a close confidant of Kotagiri Vidyadhar Rao, had Rs. 1 lakh reward for information leading to his arrest, in connection with Operation Kolleru , and was previously arrested for serving the meat of 62 migratory birds in a feast that he hosted in Kolletikota village.

With all due respect to Chiru, he lacks the political acumen and his mentor Dr.Mitra although a well informed and educated individual, is probably not weighing up the opportunities and strengths properly. There is absolutely no guarantee that the likes of Nagi Reddy and Balaram, share the same vision that of Chiranjeevi and worse they don’t give a hoot about welfare of the state and social justice. These people will not give Chiranjeevi the freedom or the flexibility to actively pursue his agenda if they conflict with their personal interests. If Chiru and Dr.Mitra fail to select right members for their party, Prajarajyam will be another party, just like TDP and Congress, with a different name and a flag , not one that Chiru envisages.

Chiru in his speech, claimed that it was not his intention to grab the power by whatever means but to serve the people because people have requested him to come into politics. If Chiru is so confident in his ability and peoples’ will, he must not worry about recruiting influential people in his party with mediocre backgrounds but should try to infuse young, educated and visionary intellectuals. But unfortunately, it looks like his strategies point towards only one direction- to win the coming assembly elections next year. Although, there is nothing wrong with trying to achieve that, but in doing so he is still relying on the same old political figureheads. Unlike, Loksatta party, where the nomination of party candidates has been very careful, transparent and thorough, nomination of candidates in Prajarajyam party, I feel, is being hastened with little insight and vision, for short term political gains. Having said that, Chiru could still win the election and become the CM, but I doubt if his party members will contribute to the fulfilment of his vision of Sampoornandhra Pradesh.

Get Real, India

On the eve 61st Independence Day, of the many greetings I received, there was one remarkable thing that was common to all the messages. Most of the greetings showered praises to the skies on greatness of India. One message read “1600 languages, 30 states, 6400 castes, 6 religions, 1.2 billion people, 1 great country”. True indeed. The other one extolled Indian achievements and read - “India never invaded a country in 10000 years of history, the value of Pie was calculated in 700 B.C” and so on. Some messages resorted to appeal to authority, one eulogized, “If it were not for India where zero was invented, we would have still been in dark ages said Albert Einstein” and quotes opinions from a number of western thinkers and scientists. It is not uncommon nor unnatural to relish and revisit the Indian achievements on a day of national importance but what I see is a sense of supercilious superiority and unwarranted complacency which in a way reeks of low self-esteem.

If we look back, pacifying our egotistical inner selves and examine our achievements in the last 61 years , one is bound to confront the sad reality that, the post-independence generation is one of a failed one, with few exceptions. Let us look at some of them to get things into perspective:

Corruption

According to the annual survey by the Berlin-based organization Transparency International(2), Finland, Denmark, and New Zealand are perceived to be the world's least corrupt countries, and Somalia and Myanmar are perceived to be the most corrupt and India ranks a poorly 78. The index defines corruption as the abuse of public office for private gain and measures the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among a country's public officials and politicians. The scores range from ten (squeaky clean) to zero (highly corrupt). A score of 5.0 is the number Transparency International considers the borderline and India has a score of meagrely 3.5. And for those who think that score is acceptable, these are the list of countries with a better score than India and some of them are African Nations, also like India victims of colonization and apartheid.

Botswana
Macao
Costa Rica
Tunisia
Ghana
Samoa
Namibia
Senegal
Suriname

Children’s welfare

According to Unicef's latest State of the World's Children's report, India has the worst indicators of child malnutrition in South Asia: 48% of under fives in India are stunted, compared to 43% in Bangladesh and 37% in Pakistan. Meanwhile 30% of babies in India are born underweight, compared to 22% in Bangladesh and 19% in Pakistan. Unicef calculates that 40% of all underweight babies in the world are Indian. Put all that in hard numbers and the figures are stark. Fifty million Indian under fives are affected by malnutrition. A quarter of all neo-natal deaths in the world, (2.1 million) occurred in India, says UNICEF Report 2007 .

According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, India has the highest number of street children in the world. There are no exact numbers, but conservative estimates suggest that about 18 million children live and labour in the streets of India’s urban centres. Mumbai, Delhi and Calcutta each have an estimated street-children population of over 100,000. The total number of Child labour in India is estimated to be 60 million, equal to the population of UK.

Poverty

Although the poverty has declined in the last few decades, one-thirds of population of India still live below the poverty line as shown in the table below.

Poverty Indicators

Number of rural poor - 250 Million (Almost equal to population of USA)
Poor as % of total rural population, 2000 - 30.2 5
Population living below US$1 a day (%), 1990-2002 - 34.7%
Population living below US$2 a day (%), 1990-2002 - 79.9%
Population living below the national poverty line (%), 1990-2001 - 29%

India accounts for 40 % of the world’s poor (more than in the whole of Africa) and its fiscal deficit is one of the highest in the world. India ranks way down at 96 among 119 developing countries included in the Global Hunger Index (GHI). Ref: IFPRI Country Report on India

Discrimination in Judiciary

India’s subordinate courts have a backlog of over 22 million cases while the 21 high courts and the Supreme Court have 3.5 million pending cases (2006). Every year a million or more cases are added to the arrears. At the current speed, the lower courts may take 124 years for clearing the backlog. There are only 13 judges for every million people.(*)
Dr Jayaprakash Narayan of Loksatta said: "Nobody in India dares to go to a court of law unless one wants to stall some decision by way of a stay order or to harass someone. If you have the misfortune of going to a civil court and if you have the good fortune of getting a verdict delivered during your lifetime, you must be lucky. If you lose the case, you lament in public and if you win the case, you cry in private. It is a tragedy for both, goes the folklore in Andhra Pradesh"

Women Rights

Women to men ratio is feared to reach to dangerous levels by the year 2020 as female foetus killing is rampant. Ten million girls have been killed by their parents in India in the past 20 years, either before they were born or immediately after, according to a report. On an average one Indian woman commits suicide every four hours over a dowry dispute. Rape is the fastest growing crime in India. Every hour Indian women face two rapes, two kidnappings, four molestations and seven incidents of cruelty from husbands and relatives [National Crime Records Bureau Report 2006]

Road Accidents

India accounts for about 10 percent of road accident fatalities worldwide and the figures are the highest in the world. Indian roads are poorly constructed, traffic signals, pedestrian pavements and proper signage almost nonexistent. The other reasons are encroachments, lack of parking facility and ill-equipped and untrained traffic police, corruption and poor traffic culture. According to World Bank forecasts India’s death rate is expected to rise until 2042 if no remedial action being taken. The number of road accidents in China dropped by an annual average 10.8 per cent for four consecutive years from 2003, despite continuous growth in the number of privately owned cars*.

Infrastructure

From roads and railways to ports and airports, and from power plants to hydrocarbon infrastructure, India ranks among the lowest in the world in terms of infrastructure availability. With red-tapism and corruption many projects are still on hold and takes considerable amount of time to realize. Recently, a 500m bridge(3) across the Torsha river in West Bengal took 55 years to complete after its first survey in 1953. A report by world bank ranked India 177th in the subcategory of Enforcing Contracts and it added that India's ease of doing business overall rank 120th (out of 178), which, although a substantive improvement over its previous rank of 132nd, still reflects a generally poor business environment. On the infrastructure front, the World bank came down heavily on the country saying "with severe power shortages, congested roads, and poor quality railways and ports, deficient infrastructure is a major binding constraint to trade activity in the country(4)."
One of the prominent Indian industrialist Laxmi Mittal once said that he chose to acquire steel plants abroad than in India as he didn’t want to spend half his life time chasing Babus and Netas.

Social reformers and contributions to science

India, after 1950’s, stopped producing great personalities like Tagore, Tilak, Bose and Gandhi and the social reformers like Rajarammohun Roy, Dayanand Saraswati and Jyotirao Phule are merely confined to high-school history books. Looking back at the Indian Noble laureates , Dr. C.V .Raman and Tagore were the only Indians, who received Noble prizes for their work in pre-independence times. Although, the post-independence India produced four noble laureates, Hargobind Khorana(b.1922),Subramanian Chandrasekhar (b.1910), Amartya Sen(b.1933), all of them born at least a decade before India gained Independence and Mother Teresa(b.1910), was not even born in India. Moreover, all the three post-independent noble laureates were awarded noble prizes for their work predominantly in western universities, unlike Raman and Tagore. In comparison, Hungary, with a population 10 million and after a near devastation in WW II, has produced 8 noble laureates(1) since 1947 compared to 4 that India produced with a population of a billion people.

Conclusion:

I am proud of contributions of ancient India and achievements of Charaka, Susrutha, Aryabhatta to the field of science . Our ancient literature especially that of Kalidasa, Bhartruhari is probably one of the best in the world. Our ancient schools of thought, like, Yoga, Samkhya and Vedanta are sophisticated philosophies that captured the imagination of many and Buddha, the most revered personality in the world was Mother India’s proudest son. But we are committing a serious mistake of driving ahead by only looking at the rear mirror – overtly emphasising our historical achievements and blissfully ignoring the present state of affairs by burying our heads in the sand. China is overtaking us in every field not by vainglorious statements but by actions, and the brilliance and exuberance of the Olympics opening ceremony must have hushed even the extremely optimistic loudmouths, who think India will eventually be a superpower. By the way, China currently bagged 44 gold medals and we have one and it is time we showed some humility and restraint. Unlike our father’s generation which failed us, as I have discussed in my previous blog, our current generation has a greater responsibility than ever, needless to say, ability and the means, to inspire our future generations to work for a better India.

Happy Independence Day to all.
_____________________________________________________________________

1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_laureates_by_country
2http://www.infoplease.com/world/statistics/2007-transparency-international-%20%20%20corruption-perceptions.htm
3 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7518043.stm
4http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Restrictive-trade-regime-gets-India-poor-WB-ranking/324548/
* http://escapefromindia.wordpress.com/

India needs a real change

An impecunious woman in her seventies was pondering at the impeccable interiors and arrogant ostentation of the shopping mall situated at the centre of Hyderabad, a cosmopolitan city in Southern India. Having spent impoverished decades begging at the same place, she has witnessed, if not understood, the transformation of India like no other. Cell phones have replaced the aging telephones, and the emerging technologies have transformed the way the Indian institutions work. Despite an unprecedented development in the last decade socially, technologically and economically, little did her position change and even if it did, it plummeted further below the poverty line. Little known Indian firms on a global stage such as Tata and Mittal have made valuable inroads acquiring multi-billion dollar western firms such as Jaguar and Corus steel and in spite of the rusting infrastructure, automobile and aviation sectors are the fastest growing sectors. This dichotomy or rather the stark contrast between the flamboyance of the mall and breakneck speed of expansion on one hand and the hunger and the indigence on the other is more likely to hit a foreigner in the face but for the city dwellers it is a common sight and barely of any consequence to their hectic lives. Besides this poor woman’s ever deteriorating poverty, there are other things that haven’t changed much and are worsening in line with her destitution. The most important one is the caste system and the apologetic attitude of the public towards this crude and primitive social system.

The caste system here that I am referring to has little to do with the Brahminic Varnashrama Dharma system i.e. the division of social structure according to Brahmanas, Kshtriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras as this stratification is a class system as opposed to caste system known as Jatis. The merits and demerits of the class system and is beyond the scope of this article as well as my knowledge domain and the caste system will remain the focal point in this critique. Moreover, my criticism focuses more on people’s attitude towards caste rather than caste system itself but I thought I wouldn’t be doing justice to the criticism without understanding the origins of the Jati(caste) system.

In the course of early Indian history, various tribal, economic, political and social factors led to the consolidation of the existing social ranks which became a traditional, hereditary system of social structuring[1]. It operated through thousands of exclusive, endogamous (practice of marrying within a social group) groups, termed Jāti. People of different Jatis across the spectrum from the upper castes to the lowest of castes, tended to avoid intermarriage, sharing of food and drinks, or even close social interaction with other Jatis. Given the diverse cultures across India with numerous tribes and clans with their own languages and dialects the Jati system has a socio-biological explanation and I think it was a natural outcome of innate xenophobic tendency i.e. (dislike against the genetically dissimilar out-group and nepotistic favoritism towards the genetically similar in-group). In Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing, author James Waller argues that all human beings "have an innate, evolution-produced tendency to seek proximity to familiar faces(we could argue in this case castes) because what is unfamiliar is probably dangerous and should be avoided[2]. And this would have made sense and probably was advantageous for the community as a whole and would have fostered close relations among a particular caste. Over the generations this practice was passed down to the younger generations and it is least surprising that the caste system is still widely prevalent in India.

But in the current day India, this caste system blended with a potent mix of money and caste superiority, has transformed from a mere inter-social community to a political instrument with devastating consequences. At its infancy, what was purely an endogamous group has developed into a rigid and fundamentalist ideology which in many cases with muscle and economic power manifested itself into mainstream politics of the state. The disastrous effects of caste politics is eloquently put by Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan –“ political parties are fanning the flames of hatred, engineering riots and fragmenting society on the basis of caste, and undermining the Constitution. While countries around the world strove for unity among peoples, political parties in India were consciously perpetuating and accentuating divisions for narrow political ends[3]”.Besides the caste system’s foray into the political stage, the country is in such a pathetic state that majority of people draw their self-esteem, self-respect and identity just by belonging to a particular caste. Hailing the superiority of caste is part of everyday conversations and children are being raised with a constant brain washing of caste superiority which accounts to nothing less than child abuse. Children grow up into adults with false sense of grandiosity and lack of empathy towards other castes or communities which could result in militant outfits such as Ranvir Sena. The caste system is an anachronistic and a regressive ideology in the 21st century and very little is being done to defeat it.


The idea seems far fetched, but I still think, another disturbing consequence of the caste system is the dowry system. I would not go so far as to claim that the dowry system is the direct by-product of the caste system but would have certainly fuelled this practice. In the male dominated where female infanticides were (and still are) ripe along with restrictions on widow marriages and Sati, endogamy which forms the basic foundation of caste system, would have created a stiff competition for bridegrooms, which in effect would have made the dowry system a common and lucrative practice. But the sad reality is that despite our moral standards have changed, it is utterly disgraceful and shameful that dowry is still rampant and often a customary phenomenon in the present day India. Slavery and apartheid, in today’s world are seen as the vilest of ideas, yet dowry and caste system which are a form of a slavery and apartheid are being practiced by every section of Indian society, rich to poor, lower class to higher class, uneducated to educated families alike.

We have entered into a new era of technology and innovation. We have such an easy access to information and knowledge that in unprecedented in history, and we have more understanding of the world than our ancestors and parents do, yet all we do is follow and rehash old stupid traditions, all in the name of respect to our elders wisdom and keeping up with our culture. I think our current generation has greater responsibility than ever, needless to say, ability and the means to inspire our future generations to free India from the clutches of caste system and the barbaric dowry system. We should tell our children that equality and empathy for others is what makes a man and gives him respect and esteem, but not the inherited caste. Marriages within the same caste should be discouraged if not completely shunned and the arranged marriages should be dumped in the dustbin of history. The oft repeated statement “we as parents know who is a better partner for our children” should be replaced by “we raised our children not to be imbeciles and but to be mature enough to take control of their own lives”. We should learn from Germans, who have defeated Nazism in just over fifty years and from Japanese, who alienated themselves from imperialism and grown into a major economic power from the brink of total destruction. I honestly think we can do the same and clean the caste politics and the social system of India, but do we have the guts to do it?



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste
2 http://www.reference.com/search?q=xenophobia
3 http://www.loksatta.org/englishsite/pr/2008/pr_bjy.htm

My Experience with the Ayyappa tradition

It was a rainy evening in the month of November 1998; it almost had rained for three hours with intermittent bursts of thunder. The power was out, nothing unusual in India especially in Elure, a small but a bustling town in the state of Andhra Pradesh. After hours of downpour, the rain settled to a mere drizzle which compelled me for a refreshing cuppa. I reached for my black jeans, a black cotton shirt and started walking bare-footed towards a cafeteria at the end of my street. Yes, bare-footed, not because I didn’t want my adidas shoes to be soaked in the rain-water gushing out of the deplorable and dilapidated sewage system, it was because I was under a vow, called Ayyappa Mala, a highly popular six hundred years old tradition, taken by hundreds of thousands of devotees, for 41 days to observe austerities and abstain from carnal pleasures before visiting the temple of Lord Ayyappa, a popular bachelor God, in the state of Kerala. Although not popular with North-Indians, this weird yet benign vow is a ubiquitous phenomenon in South. For those who are alien to this vow, a little introduction should suffice.

This vow is taken for 41 days usually in the month of October and a festoon called ‘Mala’ is worn around the neck to mark the start of the vow and once the vow is taken; one is called “Swami”-meaning Lord Ayyappa Himself. An ideal Swami abstains from drinking, smoking, non-vegetarianism and sex. The attire changes to a black dhoti/trouser and a black shirt and the footwear must not be worn. Swamis are supposed to get up before sunrise, take a bath with cold-water and visit every temple that is within the walking reach. Through out the day, Swamis are supposed to perform poojas- customized sets of unintelligible rituals masquerading as prayers, at every available opportunity. At the end of 41 days, usually in January, Swamis start on a pilgrimage to Sabarimala, the abode of Lord Ayyappa, with no less intensity and fervour than the Muslims on their pilgrimage to Hajj. After visiting Sabarimala and having offered prayers to Lord Ayyappa, the vow ends. Life returns to normal and the nicotine, alcohol, meat and other intoxicants that were missed for 41 days are replenished in a day or two. Needless to say, it is a hectic season for prostitutes at home and enroute, and this cycle continues every year.

I arrived at the cafeteria and the generator there was screaming at high decibels shattering my ear-drums but that’s the best place to get a hot tea. “A strong tea” –I said to the bearer and as I ordered I witnessed some raised eye-brows. “Here we go, a high-tech Swami who wears jeans”-commented my friend who just happened to visit the café for his cup of tea. “How on earth could you wear jeans and have a cup of tea while you are on the vow….aren’t you sinning?”-satirically asked my friend. It was news to me that wearing jeans and drinking tea are seen on par with smoking and consuming alcohol. Jeans were non-existent during the olden days when the practise originally started nor the concept of tea until Chinese introduced it to the British- I said to my friend and I asked him-“ how about driving a bike , using a computer or using a mobile phone, are they allowed?. He didn’t have any answers but argued that my argument didn’t stand. Anyway, it was the first time I took this vow that too upon persistent pestering from my Mum and although I was aware of major tenets of the vow I failed to grasp a few trivial ones, too trivial that I started to realize the ludicrousness of the vow. I neither stopped wearing jeans nor stopped drinking tea and returned from pilgrimage a few days later. Although my pilgrimage that year was successful and was still a believer, I wasn’t very happy about my pilgrimage and didn’t repeat my vow the next year. A few years later I migrated to UK, my views on religion changed and my transition from a believer to a secular humanist, albeit at times painful, was a rewarding and gratifying experience.

A couple of months ago, I was casually browsing through the BBC site on news on South-Asia, I came across a column which read “India actress defiles shrine” and to my surprise and chagrin the shrine was none other than Ayyappa temple in Kerala. And guess what sort of ridiculous act of this actress had defiled the shrine? – “she had unwittingly touched the idol of the deity”. Women who are fertile are barred from the temple because the legend has it that Lord Ayyappa, to whom the temple is dedicated, was a confirmed bachelor. A Minister in the Kerala state government ruled by inherently atheistic Communist party has also taken a serious view of the actress's statement and hinted that she would be prosecuted if found true. I wasn’t taken aback at this Minister’s demeanour as such political correctness, needless to say corruptness, is one of the malignant traits of India’s political leaders but what does surprise me is the expression of explicit misogyny that too in this part of country which boasts 99% literacy. Anyway, this prompted me to expose the absurdity and irrationality of this Ayyappa tradition.

It is really sardonic and at the same time paradoxical that, Lord Ayyappa, cannot stand the presence of His own creation – the fertile women. If a mere presence of fertile women would desecrate the sanctity of the most powerful Being, we can rationally construe that fertile women are more powerful than the most powerful which discredits the omnipotence of the God. Fertility is the raison d’etre of our continuing existence and it is ironical that such an instrumentally critical bodily function rather than being recognized, if not exalted, is being vilified in the name of this tradition.

Coming to the vow itself, I hardly understand the underlying sensible philosophy in why one should take a vow for 41 days abstaining from all carnal pleasures and return back to normal after breaking the vow. Of course, if the vow were to mean abstaining from alcohol and smoking for ever, if not sex, the temple would have already been closed. Most of the pilgrims, especially from the poorer economic classes spend thousands of rupees, twice, thrice and in some cases many times their monthly gross wages to travel to the temple in Kerala. And once one starts taking a vow, usually the vow is repeated every year - a perennial and recurring financial burden on the poorer households. Besides, the sanitation amenities are so repulsive that it is a honeymoon haven for viruses and bugs alike and most of them end up with infections which incur additional health costs, especially for those poorer pilgrims for whom decent healthcare is beyond their monthly income. If this were not enough, daylight robbers in disguise of shopkeepers and traders extort as much money as possible from the pilgrims with total impunity. The transportation facilities are often highly perilous and hundreds of fatalities are reported every year, yet again, most of the victims are from the poorer sections of the society trying to get the temple by means of inexpensive but dangerous and illegal trucks.

It looks like only beneficiary of this tradition is the Ayyappa Temple trust.