One more Bomb Blast! So what.....

Am not sure of how many of you have been to Varanasi but if you haven’t been , please take my advice and do visit the place atleast once in this lifetime. The peace which one encounters amidst so much commotion in this town is unparallel. With a temple almost at every 100m one moves, holy chants will meet you anywhere you go. No am not writing this piece to glorify Varanasi. A bomb blast which took play around 10 days back in this holy city has forced me to do so. I know many of you won’t even remember that there was a blast which took place. As I have mentioned in one of my previous posts please excuse me for being so unimaginative so as to always put my analysis in points as below but then I am a Software Engineer and the community was never known for it’s imaginary skills. Please find below some of my thoughts on this and I am already asking for pardon if you find these a bit vitriolic as I am writing this in anguish.

1. Mr. Prime Minister own this or get lost: Well we have the most able and efficient PM. He has always condemned the blasts just within 24 hours. More than enough has been propagated and written about our respectable PM, his honesty, his integrity, his impeccable academics and what not. I am sorry but to me and to many other Indians all this bandied about him is just trash. Amidst all scams we have seen his honesty and integrity well enough. But I have a request to him atleast show some spine in matters related to Internal Security. We have lost count of number of blasts which has happened in last 6.5 years of your rule. And what have you done apart from giving state honor to Afzal and Kasab. A very basic rule I know is if you don’t punish an errant child for his wrong doing he will get encouraged and will keep repeating the mistakes. What has your Government done to instill fear in terrorist organizations? And did I ask you that while your government was so prompt in taking action against small and inconsequential Hindu organizations and arresting Pragya Thakur and ilk, why so much inaction in taking action where it mattered? Mr. PM you have failed miserably in almost all forms of administration. The least I expect from you is that you own the responsibility and do something concrete before the post is given to the Yuvaraj.


2. Home Minister, may I ask the color of this terror? :  P.Chidambaram only claim to fame is his foot in mouth disease. Very infamously he warned the country of incoming consequences of ‘Saffron Terror’. The despicable home minister has not bothered to tell the nation what has happened to investigations of various blasts which have happened in last so many years of UPA. Is this because all these blasts were not saffron in color. Or because the organization which was largely responsible for these blasts had a ‘Green’ color attached to it. It is surprising that when Indian Mujahideen has always claimed that they are the ones responsible for these blasts, the administration has always looked at other side and in a motivated move keeps harping about Saffron terror. And while I am writing this Yuvaraj has claimed to US ambassador that dangers that Saffron brigade poses to Indian state are far more than even LET poses. This is future PM to us. Rahul Baba these people know much more about India than you do. They don’t need your expert advice. But then we deserve it. It is we Indians who have been so blindly taken whatever the Gandhi Nehru clan gave to us which most of the time was not good for us, not good for state not good for anyone except the family.


3. Indian Media and their agenda : This is where I am most hurt. Politicians are meant to be wicked and they are doing what almost all Indians expect them to do.But media which is the watch dog of any country has let the Indians down so badly. Nira radia tapes have shown very clearly how so reputed and famous journalists well known for their guts to speak truth, to comment impartially, were hand in glove with the criminals. Ms Burqa Dutt has always known to be soft and partial to Congress, you see her on her on shows like ‘We the People’ on discussions related to terrorism and after discussions she would always make me feel as if Hinduism is the root cause of all terror in India. Quite commendable Ms Burqa Dutt. Anyways it is fashionable to be secular in India. And secular in India means majority bashing and minority appeasing.
The whole of media categorized this as a low intensity blast which killed just one.So it can be forgotten and put in a dustbin. Just 3 days later (the blast happened on 7th Dec) I could not see the blast or any news related on any channel. NDTV under the able guidance of Ms Burqa Dutt didn’t have the balls to even name Indian Mujahidden. And believe you me if this blast would have taken at even a small mosque then whole of media would have just taken the Hindu organizations to task without even slight evidence. Shows after shows would have run on TV with symbols such as OM and Trishul(Trident) as background. Now that I want a Crescent or green color for this news but which problem can be cured without identifying the root cause. Just because India is currently run by pseudo-secular people amply helped by a paid media which sees the other way, truth that India is plagued by terror from fanatic Islamic organizations won’t change. And our denial of this truth is the primary reason that we still are having blasts every other day. India has to first identify and then admit that there is a problem before curing it. Western world did that and not a single incident of even a small magnitude has happened in US since 9/11.

During 26/11 strike senior Hindustan Times columnist Mukul Keshavan opposed the campaign by Hindu operatives against Hindu Terrorism hoax by saying that “because malegaon is a low magnitude attack, it can not be treated as some low magnitude sin”.Totally agree, but Mr. Mukul could not or did not display his guts in case of a criticism on Islamic Terrorism. Any condemn-article from his side was not found even in twitter micro bog. So this is the reality of the courageous journo.But this time without waiting for confirmation our national level journo had indirectly tried to somehow drag the Hindus. Mr. Arnav Goswami of Times Now stated in a discussion forum just after an hour that the attackers claiming themselves Indian Mujahideen may not be authentic. The statement was sugar coated by saying that they meant to say that they wanted to verify whether this group is alive or not. But his only aim was to drag Hindu possibility when he said “in the letter nowhere mentioned something wrong about majorities’ misdeeds.” Bulshittttttttttttttttt


4. Can someone ask Digvijay Singh to shut up? : Without sounding jingoistic and emotional this guy should be killed or put to death as soon as possible. Just t o regain his lost place in political circle he is uttering absolute trash day in day out and sadly no one is taming him.He used Karkare’s death to appease minority.And got rightly rebuked by his widow. But this shameless guy shows no remorse. He goes to Azamgarh and sympathises with terrorists and their families instead of doing so with the policemen who lost their lives in Batla House case. His misgivings are endless and are making the atmosphere so vitriolic that if he is allowed to do so for some more time situation in India will be very dangerous. And this time while the Blasts took place and should have got all attention from media and government should have been cornered, this guy comes in, speak some trash and diverts all attention. Smart move for the party and the government.


5. We the People, need to come out of deep slumber: Whatever I have mentioned above doesn’t absolve us the populace of India of it’s share of blame. Indians to me are the most selfish, self-centred people in the world. We care the least for anything which doesn’t concern us directly. The urban India is too busy in pursuing its dreams and rural India is too busy in making its ends meet. The Educated middle class has an opinion but it never votes. We get fooled by leaders sorry politicians like Rahul Gandhi who has mastered the art of hibernating. He will come out in public, give some Kodak moments, go to some remote village,
take a ride in a Mumbai local etc. All very good for image building Mr PM in making. But what about real issues? You didn’t utter a single word on CWG and 2G Scam. I want to know if the scams of these magnitudes cannot force you to come out and speak then what will? So we all know your acting and theatrical skills now. But what about the junta who still goes mad at the mere mention of Rahul baba. Agreed we want a young leader with some fresh ideas to take the nation to greater heights but why it has to be him? In his own party there are several young bright leaders who are not given any media attention just because all media coverage is concentrated on Rahul Baba. We as a nation should be extremely careful in making choices as to who will lead us. We should be more vocal, more aware, and more participative in the process of governance. We should question, discuss, blog, tweet, do whatever is convenient to put pressure on government. We should be reading lot of history to know about our culture.
All in all we should be good citizens who are not to be fooled anymore. All these last years especially with this government majority religion has been portrayed so very badly. In last 1000 years or so the Hindus have been so tolerant (or coward) that they embraces everyone who came, who attacked, who pondered. And when someone raises his voice he is called a Right Wing activist or a terrorist these days. I will request all you readers to be not carried away by the agenda followed by some self serving politicians and be aware and proud of the culture and legacy they have.

I think it has already become too long and preachy. I again ask for pardon but will request you to read and ponder over this. Am not taking any sides here. These are musings of a guy who thinks a lot about the nation. Please comment on the post if you feel you have a point to make.


Love,
Saket.

Rewind to the Childhood Days

Around Christmas time every year I usually go to Mumbai as my nephew’s birthday falls on 31st Dec and he being the first kid in the family enjoys the privilege of most loved child. But since last 2 years I was forced to break the ritual (someone from nana nani family had to be there).Instead the kids along with parents have visited us and we have celebrated the last week of the year together. So since the last week is just around and the kids have sounded so excited (as always) about being with their Mama, I thought to go shopping to gift the kids to make celebrations a bit more merrier. So here I was in Landmark to search for some suitable things for the kids. The new age kids put forward before you such a complex dilemma when you want to give them a game, toy etc.


I will talk about this some day later but while scouting something for them I happened to pick a game which instantly made me nostalgic and brought upon so many memories. The name of the game will do the same to all of you who read this. The game was Snakes and Ladders and this is when I thought of writing this.

I had an inkling about the fact that the game had it’s origins in India but not to much detail. This clue I got from a note present in the game. Here is the first clue I got :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakes_and_ladders#cite_ref-Mathematical_Gazette_1-1

Some excerpts from the above mentioned link are here :

Snakes and Ladders originated in India as a game based on morality called Vaikuntapaali (stairs to Vaikuntha) or Paramapada Sopanam (the ladder to salvation). This game made its way to England, and was eventually introduced in the United States of America by game pioneer Milton Bradley in 1943.

“…The game was played widely in ancient India by the name of Moksha Patamu, the earliest known Jain version Gyanbazi dating back to 16th century. The game was called “Leela” – and reflected the Hinduism consciousness around everyday life. Impressed by the ideals behind the game, a newer version was introduced in Victorian England in 1892, possibly by John Jacques of Jacques of London.

Moksha Patamu was perhaps invented by Hindu spiritual teachers to teach children about the effects of good deeds as opposed to bad deeds. The ladders represented virtues such as generosity, faith, humility, etc., and the snakes represented vices such as lust, anger, murder, theft, etc. The moral of the game was that a person can attain salvation (Moksha) through performing good deeds whereas by doing evil one takes rebirth in lower forms of life (Patamu). The number of ladders was less than the number of snakes as a reminder that treading the path of good is very difficult compared to committing sins. Presumably the number “100″ represented Moksha (Salvation). In Andhra Pradesh, snakes and ladders is played in the name of Vaikuntapali.. “

Some more research gave me an idea about a book written on this game and the idea behind the game. This book by Harish Johari titled : “The Yoga of Snakes and Arrows” gives an insight on the meta-physicality attached to the game. As almost everything in ancient India was, this game too has an intriguing spiritual aspect. Some excerpts from the book are mentioned below:

“Four things are necessary for one or more to play Leela: the Leela book and game board, a die (of karma) and a significant object that belongs to the player, such as a ring, to serve as the player’s symbol during the game. Each of the seventy-two squares on the board of Leela represents a virtue or vice, an aspect of human consciousness or a plane of being. The players’ progress is dictated by the fall of a die corresponding to the forces of karma. The seven planes through which the player must pass before he reaches the eighth plane – the plane beyond all planes – are the seven chakras. Leela is not merely an entertainment but a serious method of understanding the phenomenal world of Maya (Illusion), and the spiritual nature of our individual self that leads us to the journey towards liberation.

The saints who invented this game used the game-board to recognize the present state of their own being. By playing the game time and again they consciously observed which snake brought them down and which arrows took them up. Observing their own inner self, they could tell whether they had understood what it is to be not involved. The uniqueness of Leela – the game of self-knowledge – is that it is a study of scriptures and discovery of the self at the same time”

Some more information about the game related to the spiritual aspects of the game :

“The ladders represented virtues and snakes vices. In the original game square 12 was faith, 51 was Reliability, 57 was Generosity, 76 was Knowledge, and 78 was Asceticism. These were the squares were the ladder was found.

Square 41 was for Disobedience, 44 for Arrogance, 49 for Vulgarity, 52 for Theft, 58 for Lying, 62 for Drunkenness, 69 for Debt, 84 for Anger, 92 for Greed, 95 for Pride, 73 for Murder and 99 for Lust. These were the squares were the snake was found.

The Square 100 represented Nirvana or Moksha.”

And please find below a picture of the game board as it was in ancient times.

I am not sure about you all but atleast I had no idea that the game which we were so much indulged in as kids had so much aura attached to it.

And did I tell you that I walked out of the store with just one game and yes it is Snakes and Ladders.

Please do comment on how you found this post.

Love,
Saket