Copenhagen conference and story of a bowlful of milk

Copenhagen conference on climate change is just a week away. We expect all the leaders of developed and developing countries will gather there to decide some action plan to fight the climate change that has taken place in last century. But people have already started doubting whether any consensus can be achieved in this meeting. No doubt the data that is presented in various scientific articles is alarming. It is giving a call for immediate action. But all the wise men around the globe fail to understand. Why ? What is the reason for this negligence ? Let me tell a story.

Once upon a time in some part of India there was a king. He ruled his people nicely and people were happy with him. Rain used to be quite regular and the crop was plenty. No one was hungry and no one lived with any fear.

And a year came when there was no rain. Farming was impossible and people went to the king crying about the helpless situation they were in. Generous king decided to open all the granaries and distribute the grain for nominal cost and provide them other occupations for the year. The situation unfortunately continued for three consecutive years and the king was extremely worried. So the priest suggested 'Mahabhisheka' for the Shiva. So they decided to completely fill Shiva's pindi with milk and immerse him completely till he bestowed rain. Orders were given that on an auspicious monday, everyone will bring whatever milk produced at his home to the temple.

That day it was like a big festival. Everyone clad in nice clothes came to the temple. The king himself was the first to pour his share of milk. The priests were chanting shlokas and mantras to please the god of rain Varuna and the lord Shiva. The rituals started very early in the morning at sunrise and a big queue was formed to offer the milk. Everyone had brought the maximum he could and they themselves had not even drunk a drop of it. As the day progressed the temple began to fill with the milk and at noon it was almost full. Remaining was a part which appeared just a bowlful. But the milk was finished. People were extremely sad that they fell short by a very small amount. But the king immediately ordered some more from neighbouring places. And more and more cans of milk were brought and emptied only to find that a bowlful was still required.

The king got angry and sent his men to find out if there is anyone who has not brought milk to the temple. Who was the one who betrayed the entire village ? And they found an old lady who was feeding here grandchildren. They went to her place and demanded the milk. And she said she will come. Only a bowlful of milk was left in her house. She brought the milk and emptied. For everyone's surprise the Pindi was fully immersed. And the black clouds of rain began to fill the sky. People were happy once again and they went home praising the lord and the king.

The wise king was astonished by seeing this. What I could not do with hundred cans of milk, this lady achieved with just a bowlful ? What is the reason ? Next day he asked for the lady. And she spoke with very simple and calm words. "I have a regular routine of milking my cows. In the morning I let the calves free first and let them drink the milk. Then I go to milk cows and do it in a way to hurt them minimum. Then I thank them for milk and clean them. My cows give me a lot of milk. I feed my grandchildren first and also give share to Brahmacharis who come for Bhikshaa. If anything left, is then given to elder people of the house. You did completely reverse. On that day, by your order, calves were kept hungry and so were kids of the kingdom. Their mothers were unhappy and quarrels could be heard from every house. How could the God be pleased ?"

The failure of the Copenhagen conference will be due to this humancentric, selfcentred policy. What is the reason that we are worried for the climate change ? What are our motives and fundamental concerns in this issue ? As I see it western world is worried about a RESOURCE that will be finished very soon if we don't act now. The world will not be a habitable place for HUMAN RACE. There will be large economic changes that will be forced on us.

India gives a simple answer. We need to shift our focus form WE to the entire creation. I remember beautiful concept 'Goumata' in this context. Cow is considered mother and treated as holy in India. The reason typically given is because it provides us milk as food, cow dung is used as fuel, the bull used for ploughing and many others. But the underlying reason is different. God did not create cow so that humans will get milk. So that we can make fire and do cooking. Still we enjoy the benefits. So its Hindu way of thanksgiving by calling her mother. Similarly mother earth and nature was not created for us. It is not for us that environment contains exact amount of nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide. It is not for us that rivers flow and the monsoon cycles continues years after years.

So we don't have any right to forcefully snatch things from nature leaving permanent scars. We need to realise that we are just a part of this creation and living in harmony and experiencing this oneness is the solution for all this problem. This paradigm shift is what is required to make this world habitable. For us and for everyone.

Homosexuality! Do we accept it ?

Delhi high court's recent judgement legalising homosexual relations has created a stir in many spheres of Indian social life, especially religious one. And it has also shown a very rare unity amongst all religions. (DNA printed a nice cartoon on this a couple of days back). The gay community in India has uproariously accepted this judgement.

I am actually very confused. I can't understand biological reasons for someone to be gay. I firmly believe that the natural function of sex is reproduction which cannot be achieved in this. Neither have I ever seen a homosexual dog or leopard. So I believe this is a tendency developed by human beings because of the attachment of feelings and emotions with the act. As human beings are animals with intellect they do not conceive these bodily pleasures as mere acts for fulfilling some hunger or bodily needs. A tiger will be as happy with a sheep as with a deer. There is no sense of deliciousness for him. Similarly one can argue that human beings don't get satisfied by mere act of having sex but we tend to make it 'Delicious'. In my opinion the idea of gay sex has arisen from this tendency.

The next question is why would someone develop such an orientation. As psychologists say, this has not been answered conclusively. Homosexual behaviour is not considered as psychological disorder or disease. Researchers try to find the roots of this behaviour in the structure of brain and there are some hints obtained from this work which may hold the clue to the answer of this nightmarish question.

Given this should I consider it as a abnormality ? Do I think its improper and not good for society and hence should be banned ? I am again confused. If such a tendency is developed in some person due to whatever reasons, won't it be injustice to him if we force him to be straight ? This question has to be answered with socio-cultural perspective. In India we always say that Artha and Kaama has to be bound by Dharma. (I will not go into details of meaning of Dharma. Just note I don't mean religion). According to Dharma sexual pleasures, or in fact any bodily pleasures are to be enjoyed, keeping in mind their original role.

In spite of all this I sometimes tend to feel that homosexuality is okay as many times its not the choice made by the person to be so. Just like a blind or a deaf, a homosexual person is just another kind of impaired whom we need not treat differently and should be given all the rights that a straight person has. But this argument has a limit. As with blinds we give them all the rights except having a driving license, we cannot allow gays to get married. I feel very uneasy with the idea of gay marriage. This is the most disturbing part for me in this judgement. I can accept homosexuality as a personal freedom especially because this tendency is typically due to reasons not in the hand of that person. But marriage is a sacred institution in India. Bride and groom marry not just to fulfil each others sexual needs in a socially acceptable way, but there is a greater cause to it. Once married they are liable to perform some duties towards each other, other family members and also rest of the society. As this is not possible in gay marriages, it should certainly be banned.

And so is the case of adoption. Which child will like a female father or male mother? Isn't it injustice to that small kid if he/she has been adopted by a gay couple ? Won't he be ashamed to bring his friends home ?

No way! On personal level homosexual relations can be accepted to some extent but legalising them and giving them family rights is definitely not acceptable in this part of the world.

Shivaji, Dadoji and Rationality of Indian Society

When I was in my fourth standard our entire history book was about Shivaji. Almost every child in Maharashtra and possibly in other states have heard stories of this great Hindu ruler. Everyone in childhood was fascinated about Shivaji, Tanaji and Bajiprabhu Deshpande and other members of his army. But the year when I was in fourth standard was different. It was Shivaji for the entire year. We all read stories of his early childhood and then how he migrated to Pune, about his training. Then various battles he won and strategies he developed. And ultimately his coronation, an event celebrated as 'HinduSamrajyaDina'. Every word of that book was read ardently and we used to discuss and wonder about various heroic deeds this great man performed. It was always a dream of every child to become a 'Maavla' or a soldier like the one in Shivaji's army.

Dadoji Konddev, in this story entered when Shivaji came to Pune from Bangalore with his mother. Shivaji was roughly twelve years old then. Dadoji taught him many things which included administration and law, commerce, various languages (including SamskRt) and military training. Some of these skills were taught personally and for some expert teachers were appointed which was managed by Dadoji. 

This is a history which I learnt in my school and has been taught to every other child till a year ago. Recently a person Sachin Godambe filed an RTI asking the references for this information. The information that the government made public after appointing a committee on this issue is "Dadoji was appointed as an administrator and overall mentor for Shivaji by Shahaji. There is no proof that says that he was his teacher." And now there is all political game started around.

The first question is why is teaching history important and which history should be taught to whom ? History teaches us about our glorious past from which we receive inspiration and also about our mistakes which warns us about possible future disasters. To achieve this history is unveiled at different levels for different people. Many simple looking events are magnified out of proportion just to have a moral impact on reader. A great care needs to be taken (and generally is taken) about what message is this information giving because of the style of presentation chosen. And yet it should always be remembered that the although we may give more or less importance to some event, we can not delete an event or add something new in the history which never actually happened. This is not just unlawful and untrue but also unethical and a sin.

But many things seep into history books just because details are not known. With new evidences available, these stories are sometimes falsified. Unfortunately they are now attached with the sentiments of the people and there is a resistance for change. Also the elements which aim to divide the society to gain some petty benefits exploit these findings. Sachin Godambe case I feel is one such case. It is not his academic interest to know about these details about Dadoji, but rather he (and the group behind him) wants to give a casteist colour to this entire affair. Their motives are not clean which can be seen from their websites and blogs. Rather this group wants to eliminate any references to Brahmins in history, denying even the just importance. There is no doubt that Shivaji himself never tolerated this petty quarrels amongst our own kins and wanted to unite everyone under the saffron flag, which does not belong to any particular caste but rather is the flag for entire Hindu society. Many brahmins were at important posts in his kingdom as were many mahars (dalits). And the reason that this could happen was they were not brahmins or mahars but were just Hindus.

Unfortunately people are playing dirty games on the name of the great Shivaji and scholars like Jayasingh Pawar are supporting this nonsense. People like him need to understand that the information can be used for wrong motives as well. Knowledge although in itself is not right or wrong, it can prove to be either way depending who is having it. And this Viveka needs to be done by the knowledge giver or Guru.

Another important thing I feel Indians need to learn is the rationality. We need to accept the truths in history as they are. Knowledge about a mistake committed by a person I revere, does not reduce my faith towards him. Neither does my faith hinder me to hear some uneasy truths. I accept the great man as a human being who can falter sometimes although is definitely venerable. This rational outlook towards history is very much needed. It not just makes one proud of one's history but makes him so educatedly. People should be made aware of their correct history which can never let them fall in traps made by people like Sachin Godambe.

Who is minority ?

Election fever is everywhere in India and all the parties are throwing up promises like anything. This is is typical scenario in India and this has been happening for last 50 years. So now we are used to it. The main difference this time is a clear dichotomy of the choice voters have. Either you go for Congress led alliance or B.J.P. led one. And one of the main issues that differentiates these two camps is the policy over minorities. Unfortunately the issue comes many a times only for election and is discussed only from a political viewpoint. Never has it been discussed apolitically in the light of Indian ethos.

The word minority means a section of society which has a somewhat different identity than the major section. Typically this word is used in case of two different groups having been come together for some mutual benefit on the basis of some mutual understanding, this nexus may be political or apolitical in nature. The two groups may have different aspirations on the issues other than the binding issue (The issue on the basis of which they have come together). These different aspirations lead to differences and eventually division in most of the cases.

In case of India, the word 'minority' is typically used in terms of religious minority. In particular, Christians and Muslims are typically addressed by this term. It is interesting to note here that in India also live people of Parsi religion and a few Jews. Also there are people of innumerable religions which come under the umbrella of Hinduism, but are different than the mainstream. Hardly any of these groups are referred as minorities in common terminology.

The question I wish to ask is, why these two communities think that they are minority. As the minority is supposed to have issue that differentiates them from majority and which is indispenseble or can not be compromised. But in India, it has been observed through history that different religions are not really treated differently in any social affair. We can look for Maurya period when Buddhism was on high. India as been the land of great philosophical and spiritual debates. But never have been the wars fought on this issue. Indian people are truly tolerant in this issue.

Secondly we always keep saying that India is a nation with "unity in diversity". Unfortunately we just remember the diversity and forget to recognize the underlying thread of unity. We may have different faiths, different languages, food or costumes. But essentially we are one people. We all are the children of this great nation, standing tall as the guiding pole for many aspects of social life, through a long history. And we need to be proud of our great heritage which forms this interlink between apparently different parts of this society.

Hence the correct policy towards minorities, if any, should be in a direction to integrate them in the mainstream society, without forcing them to give up their individuality. This really can not be achieved by appeasement policy of political parties. This rather increases the drift by creating insecurity amongst majority section of society, and therefore hostility. Through education, it should be imbibed that we are one society, brothers and sisters of each other, not some different groups just come together for some mundane benefits.

And if still there is no way of intermingling different sections, then the conflict is unavoidable. And majority section cannot only be held responsible for this conflict. In fact rather minorities are more responsible in most of the cases, as they behave rather intolerantly in these situation.

Thus I would say, the key of eliminating the minority issue is in the hands of minority. They must try to be in unison with the majority section. Although its the responsibility of entire society, it is more on the shoulders of minority section. In my dream, I see India with no minority and Indians as hundred percent majority.

New face of RSS

Last month we witnessed the change in the supreme leadership of RSS. Shri Mohan Bhagwat took over as Sarasanghachalak from Shri K. S. Sudarshan. According to the constitution of RSS, the selection of Sarasanghachalak is not by majority vote but rather the existing Sarasanghachalak appoints the new one in his place. This is quite contrary to the other posts in RSS. E.g. Sarakaryavah or general secretary is elected by the Pratinidhi Sabha, and his tenure is three years. 

Shri. Bhagwat is sixth Sarasanghachalak of RSS. History tells us that whenever RSS gets a new Sarasanghachalak, we see the organisation taking a new turn. It can be considered as 'progressive unfoldment' of the organisation towards its final goal. In 1925 when RSS was founded it actually worked on single point program and that was Shakha. Although Dr. Hedgewar, the founder of RSS himself was very much active in national politics, he just quit that, and all the fame and glory that comes through, and decided that strengthening nationalistic mindset among the people is the top priority job now. He took the organisation from Nagpur based small group to a national level organisation.

In the era of newly independent India, RSS had become a national level organisation, which started to branch out in various field of social life and the entity called Sangh Parivar these days came into existence. ShriGuruji led RSS in this period to make it a national level power which could not now be neglected on any issue. This was very aptly proved in the time of emergency, when RSS was the main force behind the movement. Balasaheb, the third chief and Rajjubhaiya, the fourth one, gave two new facets to the organisation, viz. social amalgamation (removing barriers of jaati) and service. It is not that these issues were not addressed by RSS previously. But as the organisation acquired more strength, it started to assert on various issues more emphatically. E.g. by making a monthly sevaa din mandatory for all shakhas. In Sudershan ji's era, RSS saw even further branching with focus on issues like Integral Humanism and Dharmajaagaran.

In this period, RSS not just expanded in terms Shakha, but also branched in almost all fields that touch the social life of a common Indian man. Today one can easily say that organisation of sangha parivar are at forefront on any issue in India. RSS even as videsh vibhag or foreign branch which works within Hindus settled abroad. It also emerged as the most trusted organisation when comes any calamity, be it natural like tsunami or man made.

The new chief is relatively of young age when we compare him last two chiefs viz. Rajjubhaiyya and Sudershanji. Hence it is expected that he may remain in the place for a longer tenure. Former two sarasanghachalaks held the post for only 6 and 9 years respectively. But Shri Mohan Bhagwat is expected to have longer timescale at hand and hence make more clearer impression on Indian history.

But in this process, RSS has also acquired some permanent foes. The main reason for this enmity is the philosophy of hindutva. The unification scheme of the Indian society is hindutva, according to RSS. It believes that it is the way of life for people in India, not a religion practised by a fraction. (It is interesting to note that the word India actually comes from Hindusthan, which means land of hindus). Unfortunately the word hindu is wrongly associated with issues like casteism, inferior treatment to women, hatred towards religions of non-Indian origin etc. And this has been purposely done by forces who do not wish India to rise and stand tall and strong at world scenario. Hinduism is not some stagnant philosophy but it by its very nature is ever changing flow of life. It keeps on adapting and assimilating new currents and sometimes leaves behind ashes of some old, inconsequential traditions. RSS has been on forefront in last 75 years in bringing the new currents in hindu society, like the removal of untouchability. If one reviews various movements run in this country towards eradication of untouchability, we find RSS to be most successful amongst all. And this was even acknowledged by Mahatma Gandhi when he had visited a RSS camp. It is probably the only organisation in India, political or non-political, where no decisions are based on caste of its members, which is unfortunately not seen even in some sectarian groups which declare themselves caste free single society.

RSS has never cared much about the criticism on it. It rather believes in drawing a bigger line and lets the people of this nation make decision. And people have trusted RSS on numerous occasions. People have rather started to look towards RSS as THE organisation which can bring some positive changes in the country. This makes RSS even more responsible. With its ever growing and far reaching power, people have started to believe that RSS is the solution to many problem currently Indian society is facing. And with a new chief in chair, much younger than earlier one people expect change with RSS in pivotal role.

It is expected that the history will take a new turn in next decade the signs of which have started to appear as ripples in world economy and ever growing terrorism. The new leadership has a tough period ahead and the Indian hopes may get pointed towards it. As Savarkar had once said there is no blue print of hindu nation. But definitely it is now the time to assert the fundamentals and form a firm, strong society which can endure all kinds of attacks. And I hope under the new leadership RSS will emerge as the backbone of this nation and India will prove Manu's Ship for the world.