MUSEUM IS DEAD

                                               

Fortunately for last nearly 25 years, the museum movement in India has been gaining ground very fast. Besides the opening of new museums, in their outreach programmes, major ones among them stage conferences, seminars and discussions on important themes of museology, which by far creates much needed awareness in the public at large.  After all the public involvement is a challenge for the museum professionals. If the museum fails to attract the mass, it has failed in its mission, I think.

In this connection, in a lecture series, one programme was held at the local Habitat Centre on Sept. 17, 2016 on the theme entitled “The Dynamics of Culture Conservation: Institution Building Practices at BLD Museum and INTACH”. The prominent speakers were Jyotindra Jain, former Director, National Crafts Museum and Tasneen Zakaria Mehta of Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum. While delivering his lecture, Mr. Jain commented, “Museum is dead” which has baffled me. What did he mean? Has any new definition of museum been coined? We are not aware.

Since the covering newspaper report is laconic, one has to depend on his conjecture. We know that in the present age of technology and fast communications, the traditionally known areas of museum have been encroached upon. TV, Smart phone, internet, parks etc are attracting crowds which normally was in the museum kitty. Moreover, these media are in ones pocket to provide instant information. So who will spare a day to visit a museum? If the speaker referred to these, he was right, but only partly.

Like the above gadgets, the museum as such has also undergone a sea change. It is no more generally known ‘ajaibghar’. A couple of years back, the Museums Association of India, in its Patna annual conference had the theme of use of technology in museum. I remember that my presentation was entitled “Go Tech to save museum from wreck”. To cope with the changing situations, the museum field has also started adopting technology and diversifying its activities to embrace the common man. Moreover, since it has strongly been established over the years that the museum is also a centre for education, more and more writers, journalists, researchers and authors have jumped upon its bandwagon to explore this new and interesting subject.

In this light I feel that the museum is not dead. It is very much alive and kicking and will remain committed to the service of the community.

AGE OF PARALLELISM

For nearly last 50 years I have been observing that the society has refused to continue with the previous single track approach to its activities. Like the parallel economy, in other walks of life also this parallelism has strongly developed and by all probabilities appears to stay. Why we prefer to this approach ? What are the losses and gains of this new practice ? It is our duty to sit and think over. I am afraid, if we gave it a long rope, it will ultimately hamstring the primary institutions.
Previously, we sent our wards to government schools as there was no concept of any other alternative. Then came the so-called public schools which are practically private. They charge higher fees and teach in English medium. Still today in India, the general understanding is that a good knowledge of English opens the door of success. Particularly for competitive examinations, this foreign language becomes a decisive factor. Moreover, getting the children admitted in a public school also enhances the social status of their parents. Consequently, this experiment proved to be a booming business. Today parents run from pillar to post to get their children admitted to any reputed public school for which they have to shell out a good part of their hard earned money. The thing does not stop here only. Despite being in a good school, in the present age of cut throat competition, the parents send the students to coaching classes for better results. Coaching has developed into an industry today. Coaching is available right from class I to post-graduation and for civil service examinations and other professional lines like medical, engineering etc. In this race, the mother institution is left behind and the parents are getting impoverished.
If you come to health sector, once again this parallel practice has weakened the established  system. Government hospitals, which were previously the mainstay for all, is now meant for only have-nots. Anybody of some status goes to a private hospital. Since the fashion of cashless treatment is made available by the employers, or CGHS card rebate is permissible, the beneficiaries invariably will run to a private hospital where the accommodation is hygienic, crowd is less and even the doctors are amicable and more responsive. This private treatment has also run into menace of parallelism due to greedy behavior of several doctors. They will see the patients and advise them to come to their own clinic for special attention. Even otherwise, they will force the patients for tests to a particular laboratory which will give commission to the doctor.
Today for every other services like Aadhaar card, passport, election i/card, ration card, paying telephone and electricity bills etc services are available in the open market. You have not to go to the concerned offices having huge crowds and incooperative officials. This parallel service has its own drawbacks. The govt. officials deliberately avoid doing work because the agents will give them commission. Most of them in a telephone office, I have seen playing cards in the nearby lawns for three hours. In such a situation, work culture becomes a misnomer. What about the post office? The parallel courier service has made it redundant. Similarly mobile phone has replaced landline. Money transfer in banks has made moneyorder a thing of past.
I once again wish people to think over this developing parallelism or alternativism to decide its relevance to the society. For some comfort or false satisfaction, are we not killing the basic institutions?

SWEET IS SOUR

                                                

I remember my bitter experiences of 2006/7 when my wife developed cancer. Having diagnosed cancer is enough to create havoc in the family. Next steps are mammography, biopsy, operation, chemotherapy, radiotherapy followed by lifelong periodical monitoring. Then I had placed three posts in my blog My Turn, not as a professional expert, but just as a sufferer to share experiences with new patients so that they are encouraged to patiently undergo the entire treatment course and tide over this curable disease. Similarly, as a sugar patient for last nearly 20 years, I have read, heard, learnt   and experienced many tit-bits getting apprised of which, any sugar patient may benefit.

It may be added here that under the banner of the WHO, April 7 every year is observed as Health Day in which this year (2016), the theme was sugar because it has enveloped the world like an epidemic. The World Health Assembly was held for the first time in the year 1948 in Geneva where it was decided to celebrate this day. It was first celebrated worldwide in the year 1950. Since then this thematic annual event has been focusing on any one problematic disease. It has thus played a cataclysmal role in creating much needed awareness globally about a particular disease. 

Diabetes is a rapidly increasing non-communicable disease in several countries, mostly developing though top three are China, India and USA. It is a chronic, metabolic disease characterized by elevated levels of blood glucose, which over the time leads to serious damages to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys and nerves. The most common is type ii disease, usually in adults, which occurs when the body becomes resistant to insulin or does not produce required quantum of insulin. In the past three decades, the prevalence of type ii diabetes has risen dramatically. On the other hand, type I diabetes is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin. The patient is totally insulin-dependent. According to the WHO, today there are about 350 million people in the world diabetic.

This disease is also caused genetically. But in rest of the cases, it has been termed as a life-style disease. Obesity surely leads to high blood sugar conditions. Sedentary life style, food with heavy doses of fat, carbohydrate, sugar, alcohol, smoking and extra- protein intake pave way for diabetes. Early diagnosis and intervention is the starting point for living with diabetes. A series of cost-effective interventions can help people to manage their condition. These interventions include: blood sugar control through a combination of diet, physical activity and if necessary, medication, control of blood pressure and lipids to reduce cardiovascular risk and other complications.

From my experience I suggest that if you are diagnosed a diabetic, please purchase insulin syringe, random sugar checking kit and weighing machine so that you are not dependent on any outer agency. As suggested by your doctor, keep on using those aides and maintain a record of every result which will help your doctor to treat better. The patient has to exercise daily which may be walking, swimming, cycling Asanas, indoor games etc. The walk should be minimum for 30 minutes. This could be done even in your balcony or on the roof. One who walks for one hour, will find his disease always under control. He should have basic knowledge of diet so that only permitted items are consumed. Drinks and smoking will prove fatal.  Playing truant to medication is strictly disallowed. With this lifestyle, food, medicines and exercise management, despite diabetes, one can live his full life. I myself am double seven today.      

BEYOND THE PLATINUM JUBILEE

                                 

It is unfortunate that we take a lot of trouble for the education and settlement of our wards, their marriage, house construction, vehicle and many such things. We do so so that the next generation could lead a comfortable life. We are so worried for the next generation that we often forget ourselves. By the time one realizes this great miss, he has become old and diseased. Now the fate has dictated him to remain bed-bound and live the rest of life on medical care, if fortunate to have that. This pathetic state of affairs is there because he did not plan his post-retirement life.

Side by side with running the home and hearth, one can easily keep the safety valve working for the looming rainy days. The first requirement is to remain financially viable in the old age. If you have no pension, you are bound to build up with small savings a fund which may come to your rescue after retirement. If you have business, don’t be liberal to leave the entire earning in the hands of the issues. I have seen instances when the sons and their wives have chased away the empty handed parents. In the posh area of Delhi, named Defence colony, a widow was living in her spacious house and her son was settled in the States. Once the son came and convinced the mother to sell out this property and shift to States to live with him. She did accordingly. On departure, he asked the mother to wait on the main gate and himself secretly flew away. Now one can imagine the plight of that homeless old lady.

Next priority goes to health. In the struggle period, if one ignored his health, he will not only undergo endless physical miseries but will also end up being an agonizing liability for the family members. I have heard the family members wishing death for him. If a young man in the family or neighbourhood dies, people would, indicating about the old man, say that the death should have come to him. Hearing such piercing comments amounts to unbearably humiliation. Once one is of 40, he should remain conscious in advance to keep fit so that the family members did not suffer.

Old age is a period when one loses his utility and nobody wants to sit by his side and listen to him. It happens so with the individuals who did not plan to face old age. So, one should never say goodbye to creativity. He should definitely have some hobby or creative expertise which may keep him free of boredome. If he has knowledge of mythology, knows basics of music, has touch of penmanship, has interest in social work so and so forth, people will seek his company and the life will remain worth living. He should avoid being jealous, hateful, quarrelsome and non-cooperative. Instead cordial relations with kiths and kins and neighbours make life easy and liveable.

These tit bits are not new which generally educated people are not aware of. Most of them follow them. But myself being in mid-70s, I have given a waking call to them who are yet to realize this naked truth of old age. 

KEJRIWAL AND JUDICIARY FRIENDSHIP

The self proclaimed only honest politician of India, Arvind Kejriwal has become a darling of the judiaciary as he is being invited in the dock almost cvery month in connection with different cases. He makes haste in levelling charges to earn cheap popularity and  when the aggrieved party challenges, he falls flat. In the wake of the Godhra incident, Narendra Modi, the then Chief Minister of Gujarat was involved in about a dozen of cases. On the request of the complainants, at least two cases were transferred to Mumbai so that he could not influence justice being done. He came out of all with flying colours whereas the Delhi CM is learning hard the consequences of levelling baseless charges.

During Anna Hazare’s Lokpal agitation, Kejriwal had raised corruption charges against several politicians, mainly of the ruling Congress and hardly any could go to the court of law to bring the accused to book. Then he targeted Nitin Gadkari, the acting BJP President, who was in the fray to be duly elected party chief. At such a critical juncture, Kejriwal publicly levelled false charges against him and he had to back out from the party election. But Gadkari did not allow Kejriwal to run scot free. He filed a defamation charge. When in the court of law, charges were on the brink of getting proved hollow, he begged to be pardoned and Gadkaari did not press any more.

Some few months back, when the office room of Rajendra Kumar, IAS officer under Delhi Govt. was searched, Kejriwal felt crestfallen and out of vengeance,  bounced back and got a case filed against the then Police Commissioner, B.S. Bassi that the latter had illegally purchased  a flat at Rohini . The court has found no mala fide in the case and it has been discharged. Now it is upto Bassi to file a counter case of defamation, asking for a huge compensation. Who is now having the last laugh ?

You may be remembering that Kejriwal had used a defamatory word like ‘Thulla’ for the police. A constable, has filed a case against him under the plea that such demeaning remarks demoralized the police force. When Kejriwal realized the gaffe, he tried to retrace the boo-boo, but by then the judiciary  had taken cognizance. He has been summoned to appear in person on June 10. It does not behove of a public figure like a chief minister to face a constable in the court. But then so is our fighter CM.

In this connection, the hydrogen bomb is going to to be exploded by Arun Jaitley, who has filed a defamation case against Kejriwal and party for calling him corrupt. On behalf of the DCCBI also a case has been registered against the Delhi CM, charging corrupt practices in that cricketing body. Jaitley has demanded Rs ten crore as compensation. The day this case was filed in the Patiala House court, both the BJP and the AAP supporters had organized processions and demonstrations to prop up their leaders. Ram Jethamalani. the top criminal advocate and some leading practising lawyers belonging to the Congress are extending their legal consultancy to Kejriwal. No ideology is involved here. For the Congress, restless at opposition benches, any stick is handi to beat Modi. However, the unattached legal brains are privately expressing that Kejriwal is in deep soup.

The latest from this so-called honest politician is his RTI about Narendra Modi’s educational qualification. Gujarat University VC declared that with 63% marks, Modi had cleared MA in political science in first division. Now Kejriwal wants to know about the graduation result. When this is also available, he may not quit, instead may ask for high school and then primary school results. Thanks to the Delhi voters, who have elected an individual who has a lot of time to pursue such petty issues.  He spends so much time and resources on odd-even but does tot stop registration of diesel cars. Are not there any more useful other public works for the Delhi Govt?   

INDO-US RELATIONS AT A CROSSROADS

   In India, right since 1947, it is understood that the Republicans have been pro-Pak whereas the Democrats always nourished pro-Indian policies. The Republican Presidents gave huge economic aids and arms and ammunitions to Pakistan when the latter conceded to join the NATO. On the other hand, India as a proud nation maintained equi-distance from both the power blocs. Later, with Marshal Tito of earstwhile Ugoslavia and Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Pt Nehru had spearheaded non-alignment movement. As the time went by, India started going closer to the then USSR because pinpricks from Pakistan were badly disturbing her. Particularly from 1960 to 1980, the American bonanzas were so rampant that the military rulers of Pakistan waged wars against India in 1965 and 1971.
There was a break in this trend when Kennedy became the Democratic President. There was a rethinking that for a small country like Pakistan, to ignore the second most populated country of the world was not a wise policy. So, Kennedy started giving priority to India to the dislike of Pakistan. But to our misfortune, Kennedy was assassinated and his successor Johnson later lost to the Republican party. The two terms of Bush revived the undue espousal of Pak causes. During Clinton regime some improvements were marked in Indo-US relations, which went a step ahead under Obama. But, we have seen that the US was never strict to Pakistan on the terrorist issues. Entire POK stands converted into train camps for the Jehadis, infiltrating their groups into J&K for creating disturbances. When India moved USA, they would say that the evidences were not enough.
Now the next election is due in America. Hillary Clinton of Democratic Party and Donald Trump of the Republican Party are likely to emerge as presidential candidates..There are 22 lakh Indians in that country and several among them are holding good positions to influence the voters. We must judge the candidates on the basis of their track record. We definitely want a President who could help us to deal with China and Pakistan. While the Democrat candidate is evasive on these issues, the Republican puts forward his stand bluntly and boldly. Trump is very angry on the economic policy of China and has declared that he would not permit the Dragon the ’rape’ of American economy through excessive exports. Regarding Pakistan, he has declared that he would be the last person to tolerate Islamic Jehad. He would not hesitate to curb immigration of Muslims. The world today is badly suffering from Islamic terrorism and we would definitely like the West, led by the USA to come heavily on  such religious militancy. Therefore, we Indians should wisely think if we should meekly stick to our old pro-Democrat attitude.    In India, right since 1947, it is understood that the Republicans have been pro-Pak whereas the Democrats always nourished pro-Indian policies. The Republican Presidents gave huge economic aids and arms and ammunitions to Pakistan when the latter conceded to join the NATO. On the other hand, India as a proud nation maintained equi-distance from both the power blocs. Later, with Marshal Tito of earstwhile Ugoslavia and Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Pt Nehru had spearheaded non-alignment movement. As the time went by, India started going closer to the then USSR because pinpricks from Pakistan were badly disturbing her. Particularly from 1960 to 1980, the American bonanzas were so rampant that the military rulers of Pakistan waged wars against India in 1965 and 1971.
There was a break in this trend when Kennedy became the Democratic President. There was a rethinking that for a small country like Pakistan, to ignore the second most populated country of the world was not a wise policy. So, Kennedy started giving priority to India to the dislike of Pakistan. But to our misfortune, Kennedy was assassinated and his successor Johnson later lost to the Republican party. The two terms of Bush revived the undue espousal of Pak causes. During Clinton regime some improvements were marked in Indo-US relations, which went a step ahead under Obama. But, we have seen that the US was never strict to Pakistan on the terrorist issues. Entire POK stands converted into train camps for the Jehadis, infiltrating their groups into J&K for creating disturbances. When India moved USA, they would say that the evidences were not enough.
Now the next election is due in America. Hillary Clinton of Democratic Party and Donald Trump of the Republican Party are likely to emerge as presidential candidates..There are 22 lakh Indians in that country and several among them are holding good positions to influence the voters. We must judge the candidates on the basis of their track record. We definitely want a President who could help us to deal with China and Pakistan. While the Democrat candidate is evasive on these issues, the Republican puts forward his stand bluntly and boldly. Trump is very angry on the economic policy of China and has declared that he would not permit the Dragon the ’rape’ of American economy through excessive exports. Regarding Pakistan, he has declared that he would be the last person to tolerate Islamic Jehad. He would not hesitate to curb immigration of Muslims. The world today is badly suffering from Islamic terrorism and we would definitely like the West, led by the USA to come heavily on  such religious militancy. Therefore, we Indians should wisely think if we should meekly stick to our old pro-Democrat attitude. The time is ripe for such a rethinking.

DAK THE FOLK ASTROLOGER

In 2011, I had attended an international conference on Intangible  Heritages of Kerala at Kaladi (birth place of Adi Shankaracharya), Kerala. Dr. Venugopal, DG, National Natural History Museum, New Delhi had organized the same. In that 5-day programme, the topic for one day was Kerala   Monsoon. It was very informative and interesting. Not only the eminent weather scientists but also traditional weather forecasters were also invited. When I heard some traditional weather forcasting data of the farmers, I was immediately reminded of Dak. I recited some of his couplets and the Keralites were surprised. When I informed them that just on the atmospheric condition of Shravan Shukla Saptami from the sunrise to the sunset, Dak could forecast the weather for the following one year on which the agriculture of Mithilanchal heavily depended round the year with nearly 90% exactness.
Since then I have been making hectic efforts to know more about this farmer astrologer. While I was a high school student in 1950s, I got a copy of Dak Vachnamrit which I got by rot within a week and retained for nearly two decades. Today I hardly remember his any prophetic poetry nor the booklet is available. Meanwhile, I have read materials on Dak in books of D.C. Sarkar, R.N. Tripathi and  Kapileshwar Jha (1905,Darbhanga) besides some tidbits from elsewhere. Through his extensive studies and on the spot visits, Dr Sarkar found Dak lore prevalent in entire north India from Assam to Rajasthan. I feel, agriculture being the mainstay of Indian economy till early 20th century and the same being heavily dependent on monsoon rains, in all geographical regions there must have been weather forcasters, commonaly known as Dak. Even today Shankaracharya has become an institution.
Somewhere Dak is known to be the son of Varahmihir whch is erroneous as he was living in 6th century AD. Some believe that the Ghagh tradition is also attributed to Dak. A few scholars believed that he was contemporary of Humayun and Akbar which also does not stand to the acid test of history. His sayings in local dialect also does not support this contention. With this elimination process, historians have given the verdict that there was no historical person by the name of Dak.
About the correctness of his unscientific forecasting, Dr. Sarkar had a solid proof. A farmer in Assam told him that he could make correct forcast of rains six months in advance. Explaining his methology, he explained that seeing the fog condition of the winter, according to his observatory calculations, rains would take place exactly after 190 days. The people around supported the claim. Similarly, despite being illiterate, Dak was a keen observer of cloud, sky, fog, wind conditions etc and made almost correct forecasts for the local farmers.
Some scholars have placed him in 14th/15th century. I personally believe that there was definitely a person named Dak in Mithilanchal as late as in 19th century AD. I know things since 1946. At that time, the old villagers had on their lips some chaupayees of Ramcharitmana, a few shlokas of Gita and Chanakya Nitidarpan, bhajans of Laxminath Gosain and Dak Vachnamrit. Sayings of Dak were available in pure Maithili. Somewhere I have read that he was a Maithil Brahman. But I differ.  At the end of one forecast, it is mentioned, ‘Kahi gel Dak gowar’. That clearly says that he was born in a Yadav agricultural family. ‘Kahe Dak sunu Dakni’ also makes it clear that he himself was also a family man. In his forecasts the names of dogs, cow , plough , bhat and several ethnic Mithili words support him being a Maithil. The language used by him is definitely different from Vidyapati Padavali of 14th century AD. So, I have guessed and placed him in 19th c. AD (subject to correction).
He is an asset of Mithila and it is our duty to research and re-establish him honourably.

WHERE IS DOUBLE STANDARD

                         

It is an easy tactic to raise accusing fingers against ones enemy to malign him in public estimation and earn popularity. In recent years, in Indian politics, two persons have emerged strongly exploiting this plank. They are Arvind Kejriwal, CM/Delhi and Dr. Subramanian Swamy, MP/RS/BJP. However, a brief analysis of their methods would show the motive behind so that one can locate who is having double face.

We may recall the heydays of Anna Hazare when the Jantar-Mantar and Ramlila grounds used to receive massive public gatherings demanding Lokpal. Anna followed a policy of raising public issues without ever entering into the dirt of politics. Arvind Kejriwal (AK), Kiran bedi, Prashant Bhushan, Shanti Bhushan, Sanjay Singh, and others used to address the crowd who lustily cheered them. Taking the lead, AK became more popular. Then he started diverting to build up his own image to jump into electoral fray to advance his secret political agenda. He started gathering unchecked corruption charges against the bigwigs in the Congress as well as BJP. He targetd Salman Khursheed, Sandip Dixit Robert Vadra, and Nitin Gadkari. He tried to prove that the entire ruling party was corrupt and if given chance, he would stem the rot. Did he take any one to court and follow up? On the other hand , Gadkari filed a defamation case and AK had to lick the dust. Even today, he is running to judiciary in connection with defamation case filed by Arun Jaitley whom he had called corrupt. We know that his charges are so baseless that even the  reputed legal brain of Ram Jethamalani will find it difficult to rescue him.

On the other hand, Subramanian Swamy (SS) is a one-man brigade. Without any trepidity, he has been puting the sharks of Indian politics to dock for last twenty over years. He is a qualified legal expert better than many practising advocates. He meticulously does his homework to marshal evidences so that the accused was not allowed any leeway. He has fired his salvos at Jaya  Lalithaa, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Ahmad Patel, Motilal Vohra, P Chidambram, Oscar Fernande etc. Unravelling of 2G spectrum and coal scams are credited to him. While the AIADMK supremo, was convicted, jailed and is out on bail, Raja and Madhu Koda are still behind bars. others are finding the judicial noose tightening around their neck. At present he is very calculatedly following the National Herald case in which the authentic documentary evidences show the accused on a slippery turf. Oppose the wrong wherever it is visible, is his gospel. He joined the Rajya Sabha in the present session and next day moved a privilege motion against the leader of opposition/RS, Ghulamnabi Azad for misleading the House. Azad had wrongly claimed that the UPA had blacklisted Agusta Westland and that the PM had secretly met his Italian counterpart tp strike a deal on Agusta. He has declared to corner the corrupt so long he was alive.

In the above background, though both have been doing the same thing, the modus operndi makes their character open before the public. Yesterday, in connection with the Agusta Westland case, AK was charging that Modi will never arrest Congress President. Today, the court has framed charges against Navin Jindal in coal scam. Jindal is his friend and he is on record to have received contribution for election from him. Has not he got through the last Delhi Assembly election by dint of scam money? How does he propose to atone for?     

NATIONAL NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM FIRE

                                

 Any museum, anywhere in the world tells the history of culture. So whenever there is any damage to any museum, natural, like in Nepal or manmade as in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, it hurts the museum world badly. Earlier I had written an extensive article in my blog ‘My Turn’ entitled West Asian Heritages in jeopardy giving a detailed account of merciless vandalism of archaeological objects in West Asia. On the heels of the same, the devastating fire in the National Natural History Museum, New Delhi has further shocked us.

In the night intervening last Monday/Tuesday, this incident of fire took place. Actually, located near Mandi House, this building belongs to FICCI which is rented out to this prestigious museum. In this 5-storey building, the fire took place on the top floor which later engulfed other areas. It is one of the two such national level museums in the country and so the loss of artefacts is by far a massive cultural loss. Though commissioned only some 25 years ago, the museum personnel had done a meticulous job for collecting rare objects. Some objects being the only available piece in India, the fire has caused an irreparable loss.

Several fire tenders were pressed into service which doused the flame after five hours of struggle. Though there was no casualty, but some fire-fighters have sustained burn injuries. All the living and retired personnel, associated with the opening of this unique museum are lamenting the shocking damage. On the other hand there is a strong public hue and cry to find out the cause and fix the responsibility for any administrative lapse. Dr. Venugopal, Director said that the fire preventing mechanism was in place. The FICCI authorites claim that from all angles, safety arrangements were there and the building had clearance from the concerned authorites. However, the firemen pointed about a defective power connection. They also complained that the hydrant was defective. Since artefacts fetch huge payment in the international market, as we have seen the ISIS doing in Syria, possibly some insider, out of greed might have committed the mischief. On the other hand the possibility of short-circuit, normally known cul[rit, also cannot be ruled out. The truth will emerge only after an effective enquiry.

Meanwhile the situation demands adequate preventive measures to stop such a recurrence. The Cultural Minister visited the spot and revealed that in Delhi there were 34 museums under his ministry and assured to conduct safety audit to ensure that no such painful incident occured if manmade. Seeing what happened in Tamil Nadu after the Tsunami, our step should also target natural calamities. We cannot stop earthquake, flood, torrential rains etc but we can definitely apply preventive measure to minimize the loss.   

MYSTERIOUS SINO-INDIA RELATIONS

  

The perceptible thaw in the Sino-India relations, consequent upon the India visit of the Chinese President, about a year ago, appears getting eroded. The existing lukewarm state of affairs leave the observers of the developments in these two countries quite confused. Political analysts are of the opinion that while China has created a façade of warmth, simultaneously she is working overtime to encircle India by befriending Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Maldives. The Xinjiang-Gwadar corridor through an ambitious tunnel is yet another calculated move to give pin-pricks to India. At the same time it leaves no stone unturned to hoodwink India in several international fora.

About a year back, in my blog ‘My Turn’ , I had written a post on ethnic disturbances in Xinjiang province of China. The issue is, once again alive affecting our bilateral relations. Earlier, Indian move in the UNO to hold Azhar Mahmud of Pakistan as a terrorist was vetoed by China giving a setback to Indo-China relations. In this backdrop, when Dolkun Isa, a Uighur leader applied for Visa to attend a conference at Dharmshala, HP, India did not hesitate to oblige. Then China pointed out that Isa was wanted as Red Corner Notice was issued against him and immediately India had to retrace its steps. The issue is being hotly debated. While some accuse India succumbing to Chinese pressure, others call it that responding to that notice is our international obligation.

We know, Xinjiang is the last Chines province in north  -west. Its main population is Uighur Muslims (90%). They speak a separate language, contiguous to Turkish. The overall Uighur culture is quite different from mainland China. Over the years they have been enjoying autonomous status. The things took a  bad turn since 1990 when the Beijing started settling Hans from eastern provinces in Xinjiang. This not only disturbed the demographic equations but also denied the job opportunities to the original settlers. Since then the Muslim youth have taken to militant methods to seek autonomy. Isa is the head of the World Uighur Congress which is struggling to safeguard the interests of the sons of the soil.

According to serious political analysts, these developments are the result of some undercurrent diplomacy. India has been charging China of its misuse of veto on a baffling issue of terrorism. Finding itself all alone on the issue, China appears ready to soften its stand with the rider that India should block Isa's visa. Moreover, despite the developmental hype of last one decade , China is down the hill and the melting down of its currency has compelled the dragon to look for lift from others. On the other hand, despite the worldwide inflation, Indian growth has been satisfactory, enabling the country to boldly stand and handle diplomatic challenges.  

In last two years, the present Indian politics, under the leadership of Narendra Modi, has left a niche on the international arena. The world is listening to us. Even othetrwise, on defence, nothing is being left to be desired. Expected monsoon bounty is bound to give us yet another boost to say more loudly what we have to say. Let China also listen. 

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                                                (Money by hook or crook)

In the present day rat race for money, the earners see just the money and the society does not see the source. This creates a confusion. The ongoing debate on black money and white money is enough to indicate that all paper or plastic currencies are not the same. I am reminded of a comment of a Roman Emperor Vespanius, who succeeded the accentric Nero in 68 A.D. Once on night patrol of the capital city, he saw people collecting urine from a public toilet. On enquiry, he learnt that this human waste liquid was being used by weavers to give shine to clothes. He applied his logic and at once imposed tax on human urine as it was being used for commercial purposes. When his son, later complained being teased by his friends referring to this dirty money, he took out a coin from his pocket collected as tax on toilet and putting it under his son’s nostril enquired if it carried any urinary smell. When the son replied no, he quipped, any money is money. This ancient joke-like truth appears like a childish argument. Money in a brothel and in the hands of a philanthropist are not the same as their sources are diametrically opposed.

The above background has been given to rightly judge the personality of celebrities in India, who allow their name and popularity to be used in advertisements to fleece the meek  public. The righteous decision of M.S. Dhoni, taken only a couple of days back to back out from brand ambassadorship of the Amrapali Group of housing society has stirred up hornet’s nest. Amir Khan’s contract of ambassador of Atulya Bharat campaign was annulled immediately after he went public admitting that there was intolerance in India. A similar comment by another filmi icon, Shahrukh Khan, brought him loss at the ticket counters when his film was released. What about other iconic persons like Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Saina Mahiwal, Priyanka Chopra so on and so forth ? Has the public ever thought of punishing their bundlebajee on screen by promoting bogus products ?

In the present day adworld, there is an accepted trend of associating the products with celebrities to add public acceptance. In last at least fifty years, I have seen all top filmi heroines recommending the use of Lux soap for smooth and shining skin whereas none ever personally used the same. Benani cement has hit the market only recently  and any civil engineer will tell you that the life of cement is 50 years,but Big ‘B’ says it is for centuries. If any cream can turn black into white skin, at least the opulent in Africa and Latin America could have definitely made tryst with this trick. Still Yami Gautam has become a top model by promoting fairness cream.  Despite massive ads orchestrating wonderful results of Colgate in dental hygine, tooth decay is rampant in India. In newspapwers we regularly see adds, recommending Japanese capsule and oil for enhancing male vitality. Has ever any authority tried to bridle such fantastic claims ? Who suffers ? Definitely the gullible public. Should public figures allow their status to be used for such immoral business?

Earning by promoting bogus products is same as those of dacoits, swindlers, pick-pockets, tax evaders, crash money lenders, terrorists and other similar anti-social elements. The public awareness has to be created as the govt alone may not tackle this white-sin effectively. While the icons should first check and speak for only genuine items, the public should not shirk resorting to legal punitive measures if the claim found hollow. 

NOSE, LEG AND THIGH

                                                

In course of their stay in Delhi, the English Prince William and his wife Catherine Middleton ( it was larrer’s first visit) saw different historical places including the Raj Ghat. But  on April 11, 2016 while they were offering wreath on the Amar Jawan Jyoti at the India Gate, the skirt of the Duchess of Cambridge went up with the strong seasonal westerly and several smart photographers shot those private moments. One national newspaper gave this visual a lead position on the front page. It has spread like a wild fire and several TV channels are staging debates on the moral norm of journalism.

I am reminded of an incident of mid-1960s, when in a public meeting at Kalahandi in Orissa, a miscreant pelted a stone at Mrs. Indira Gandhi and her nose sustained a minor fracture. There was a great hue and cry, with a wide and blistering criticism of the incident so much so that a section of the press which had earlier trumpeted India as a cultured country for having elected a lady prime minister, lost no time to to go for volte face and declared that it did not smack of any civilized society. I remember that the most polpular English daily of Bihar, The Indian Nation (now defunct) carried an interesting editorial, “Cleopatra’s Nose”. The editor had argued that had the nose of Cleopatra not been that shapely and sensuously charming, Caesar might not have blindly fallen in love and the history of the Roman Empire and for that matter entire world could have been different. Did that hurt nose later turn the sufferer grow  revengeful with her vindictive face in June 1975?

Now a genuine question is what the photographer/editorial team of that news paper intended to communicate to the readers by showing her unintentional exposed lower extremities? In a strong wind, anybody’s (either gender) loose lower or upper garments can go haywire and miss the exact position. Should this ordinary incident of day-to-day life be given this hype? Will a photographer show the same smartness if the lady happens to be his close relative? The flap of the Prince’s coat also went up without inviting any lens.

Let the readers judge the role of the press by asking whether it wanted to show the exposed body of the celebrity or the news that they paid homage to the martyrs? Which  one carried the priority?     

WAIT FOR REALLY WET MONSOON

                                

Misfortune of monsoon did not give any relief in last two years of the NDA Govt. It did not only paralyse the agricultural sector but the people at large in many parts of the country have been struggling hard for scarce potable water to keep themselves alive. As a result, a huge amount had to be diverted for disaster management, hampering the overall economic growth. The affected lot hardly knows the scientific reason of this natural calamity and lay the blame at govt’s door. After reading some authentic weather forecasts, now I can assure the suffering lot that the coming monsoon will be really wet and ‘achchhe din’ will shower.

Seeing some data regarding percentage of rainfall since last June, it is evident that it has been deficient every month. The lifeline of ndian agriculture, the monsoon plays truant due to oceanic wind conditions, often known as EL Nino, LA Nina etc. Both of them are major factors for rain or drought in the land mass of Indian sub-continent. When the EL Nino is strong, it suddenly increasres the temperature of the equatorial Pacific ocean surface which obviates the chances of wet cloud formation. The abnormal heat evaporates them into the sky. This monsoon hide and seek in last two years has been keeping Indians in several regions thirsty. This fatal thirst is due to end within three weeks.

As against the EL Nino effect, there is yet another but opposite wind condition in the same area of the Pacific ocean known as LA Nina. When it is prevalent, it creates a cooling atmosphere which helps the clouds to be pregnant with watery contents and rain. The forecast says that by now, the AL Nino has started being down the hill and by April end it will give way to the matching opposite LA Nina conditions. The weathermen say tha this welcome scenario will be in full swing by Aug.2016 when almost all parts of thirsty India will take a sigh of relief. We know that despite many other auxiliary measures to augment water supply, the monsoon rain is our mainstay.

In this backdrop, we may expect adequate rainfall, though with some tolerable delay. No ‘yagya’, no ‘ashtyam kirtan’ just sing “Hey monsoon, come soon”.   

TRUTH ULTIMATELY SURFACES

                                

On our great institutions including the Parliament, the Sanskrit mantra, ‘satyamev jayate’ is boldly written and displayed. While defining this famous sermon, volumes have been written which sometimes confuse the common man. I venture to explain that it simply means, you may hide the truth but ultimately it is bound to surface despite the length of involved time . This gospel truth is well visible in the present Indian polity.

It is a fact that Narendra Modi alone swayed the Indian electorate at the hustings in 2014 and after a long gap, the country got rid of the bitter experiences of coalition governments. His poll eve assurances impressed the voters so much that they mercilessly shortened the height of Congress, RJD, JD/U, BSP etc. These crestfallen political outfits adopted a one-point programme since he took oath to fulfil those expectations including return of black money in foreign banks. The pressure was so high that in their view, the entire hawala money was in Modi’s pocket and he was not distributing it among the public.

Despite this damaging campaign, two opposite winds kept on blowing in last 18 months. Firstly, the NDA govt. lost no time to embark on very common projects touching the last man in the queue. The projects pertained to LIC policy for all at govt cost, all subsidies directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries, ‘beti bachao, beti padhao, massive rural electrification and road communication. The benefits are directly reaching the concerned and the dirty middlemen, who minted money, to their dismay, found the heyday blowing in the wind. Futuristic bold steps in defence, foreign trade, foreign policy, education, industrialization, ‘make in India, Startups etc. after the required gestation period, have started fructifying. As a result, the people so far rearing high expectations, have started getting the feeling that the ‘achchhe din’ are round the corner.

Secondly, the money launderers are getting the noose tighter round their neck. The smart ‘jamai babu’, an expert of land deals, is in dock in Haryana. Those involved in scams including Coalgate, are foreseeing the writing on the wall via judiciary. Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Motilal Vohra, and a couple of others have been caught for fleecing National Herald property in Delhi, Lucknow, Mumbai and Panchkula (Haryana). Courts have taken notice, courtesy Dr. Subramanian Swamy and they being on a slippery wicket, are shaky to defend themselves. On the other hand P. Chidambaram, via his son Karti is also in a deep soup.

Thus, by now, both truth and untruth with regard to Indian politicians have started coming on surface. While the positive works of the NDA govt. is becoming evident everyday, its critic are taking an unceremonious nosedive.

    

POPULIST BUT NOT SO POPULIST

Being a distant observer of political developments, some ideas struck my mind which are small enough to miss a headline in any publication of any standard. Alone they do no matter but together they give a picture that the men at helms have heart  for the suffering sections.
What is the difference between Pt. Nehru and Arvind Kejriwal? Strange question? Nehru was in a haste to industrialise the country for its financial strength so that it could carve out a niche on international plane. The world class steel factories in Durgapur, Bhilai, Rourkela and Bokaro were conceived by him. Similarly several fertilizer, petro-chemical in Barauni and heavy engineering factories in Ranchi saw the light of day during his tenure. We are reaping their good harvest after half a century. Since they were long term projects, which take time to come on the ground, the men on the street felt having been left in lurch. Similar fate of this policy, later awaited chief ministers like Chandrababu Naidu, O.P. Chautala and some others who had to vacate their position.
Taking a cue from this, the Leftists in West Bengal tried another logic. They found that the Bengali Bhadralok had remained lukewarm to their violent processions, demonstrations and repeated strikes . So to activae the deprived sections became their top priority. They allowed the educational institutes to deteriorate so much so that the Calcutta University, internationally reputed, became a sick boy of Asia. Finding it worth, Lalu gripped this trick. He not only allowed universities and colleges to die a slow death but cared a fig for pot-hole ridden roads as he found that his electorate had no four-wheelers.
Loopholes in above parochial logics became evident very soon as both the ruling regimes had to lick the dust. Politicians now started thinking that they should work for the common man and they found road, water, electricity and education touching everybody’s life. The new experiment came in Gujarat where road  connectivity and  electrification came on the top. Then came Nitish’s tenure in Bihar where road construction was so intense that he got through in the following election easily. Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi went a step further. The day he took oath in Delhi, he announced concession in power bills. The beneficiary public were so moved that in the following election AAP had a cakewalk. He is trying  a similar idea on water front.
In this backdrop, one more such down to earth trend has come to notice which pertains to the women of procreating age group. It is our backward mind set that we hesitate to talk about toilet, sex and periods. At the same time it is a fact that every woman does not remain normal during periods. She is ill and irritating. Not only her family members should understand and cooperate but also her employer and colleagues should have a feeling heart. I am happy to know that in some countries and even in some states in India including Bihar, such ladies are  permiitted two-day off per month. Maternity leave and periods off are not to appease a woman. As a matter of fact it is society’s respect to motherhood. Such a social welfare measure is welcome and more and more should be tried to embrace one and all.

GENDER DISCRIMINATION

                         

From my childhood, one thing which lingers to emain baffling is relegation of women to the category of second grade citizens in almost 5,000 years of human civilization. Nobody ever paused to question the society to claim to be civilized  despite deliberately keeping half of the population ignorant. Besides a few negligible oasises, by and large it has remained patriarchal in which the fair sex played the role of second fiddle. Particularly after the advent of Islam, in which veil sytem has the sacrosance of a faith tenet, they were pushed behind the walls and public appearance was almost banned. Even in other cults, barring a counted few exceptions, women were not permitted to come on the fore as public figures. Generally, this pitiable scene was in vogue as late as till the first half of the last century.

In many developed and rich countries like France and Saudi Arabia, they were denied franchise till recently. We are all born of mothers but the dominating males have decided that the presence of women in religious places will make them impure. Islam does not permit them entry into mosques. What is the male attitude towards the female members of the families of Caliphs? In some other religions also this discrimination is prevalent. Ladies have no enytry in the Shabrimala pilgrimage of South as well as Shani temple Sidnapur. Under this bias, rarely you will find women pandit, purohit, mullah, maulvi or Shankaracharya. The society having goddesses galore being so faithfully adored befools itself by pushing the womenhood behind.

Things look a bit better in certain pockets. In the hilly and mountainous regions like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, North East etc. women work shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts. Similarly, for female, the conditions are comparatively better in Kerala and West Bengal for two reasons -  some sort of matriarchal families and spread of education. Due to these two leading factors, the male and female demographic ratio never became pathetic like in some other states including Haryana. This also leaves a hint that if the govts stressed female education, the gender bias will peter out by and by.

The above points further disturb me that despite nearly 70 years of political freedom, in India, the participation of women in governance has been negligible. If the illiterate and criminal family members of politicians could be ministers, why not the common ladies? Today there are hundreds of illiterate ladies working as mukhiya, sarpanch and panch. Then who are delaying 33% reservation to them. Known senior leaders of RJD and SP are on record to have opposed any such move tooth and nail. Are not their own family ladies occupying important positions in states and at the Centre? Are they keeping their daughters illiterate?  Can they claim to be democrat? Is this a healthy trend for our democracy? Jara sochiyega !

BUDGET 2016/17 AND REACTION ON BEATEN LINES

                                

Once again there was a budget today (2016/17) and it passed off on beaten lines. Now a days not only the Lok Sabha telecasts live the budget presentation by the Finanace Minister but all the major news channels devote the whole day on its coverage including comments from different angles. Most of the opposition political parties leaders, economists, businessmen, journalists and the people at large are approached for their comments. The sumtotal is that in these comments there is nothing factual. The ruling combination pats itself on back for presenting a pro-people budget whereas the opposition disposes it off as a ‘vakvas’.

First of all it will not be out of place to talk about the rail budget of Prabhu. The first to comment was Dinesh Trivedi of TMC who said that such a useless budget should not be next time presented which only spoiled the time of the Lok Sabha. A party which has been a party to stalling the proceedings of the Parliament for last nearly two years, talking about the value of the time of the House appears like a joke. Has he not been drawing pay without work for nearly three sessions? Secondly, I remember that after her shifting to West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee passed the mantle of railway minister on Trivedi. The first budget of his career boomeranged on him. When he raised the train fair, the TMC supremo was so angry that his budget proposals were turned down by her, he was divested of his ministerial assighnment and Mukul Roy was brought in. Trivedi, whose budget was discarded by his own party leader, has no face to pass such a discouraging comment against Prabhu.

Today, on general budget, I heard the comments of Laluji, K.C.Tyagi, M. Kharge, Sanjay Nirupam, Yogendra Yadav, Raghav Chadha  and could come to a conclusion that Jaitely is a fool and they are the experts on economic matters. Is really the present FM a duffer in the economic matters? What expertise is Lalu having in this subject. Just to humiliate Modi, he, as the then railway minister had made an uncalled for decision of constituting Bannerjee Commission to enquire into the Godhra incident. The tendentious report was thrown into the dustbin by the SC as already a commission constituted by it was in the job. What action was taken agains Lalu for squandering public money? It is FM’s second budget. Last year also this bunch had made a similar dismal comment. Despite that and also despite the global inflationary trends and droughts in eight states, the economy grew at 7.6% which clearly shows that their comments carry no depth.

Even as a layman, I can say that the thrustline of this budget is common people, kisans, women and children. By going back to villages, Jaitely has given a slap to the leaders who decried the NDA dispensation as a govt. of suit-boot. If the CPM and Congress are so expert in governance, then why they were chased out of their hinterlands? Nearly 30 years of Left rule in Bengal left the state in economic disasters showing that they had either no knowledge of economic development or they just left the public in lurch to line their own pockets. We find only under the TMC rule, things have started coming back on right track. What economic development was experienced by Bihar in 15 years of RJD rule? If possible, Lalu may say that Rabriji was  better than Jaitely in financial matters.

In this backdrop, my view is that in these two opposed streams, the public should not get confused. They should have faith in their govt. and remain assured that even if there was no turnaround, the overall picture will not be worse than the last year. Despite some price rises here and there, the economy is strong, it is in right direction with stewards endowed with honesty and commitment.      

DEAR DAUGHTERS, LISTEN !

                                

As an elderly person, this evening I have decided to leave a lesson/advice for the Bihari women in general and Maithils in particular. It is a fact of life that in perhaps all communities in Bihar including Muslims, the marriage of a daughter, due to high cost involved, has become a lifelong harassment for the beleaguered parents. They are extra alert to get rid of this burden as soon as possible. In case, any couple has more than one daughter, he is destined to remain poverty stricken for his whole life. Not only that, even today in India gender bias, male dominance and treatment of fair sex as second rate citizens, compel the womenfolk to remain at the receiving end all the time.

The scenario being so, even intelligent girls find their academic career disrupted. Often the society would try to convince her that marriage being the main ‘sanskar’ for a lady, she should not skid it as the education could be pursued even after that. This futile logic,though  succeeds to sway her innocent mind but, her God gifted talent is lost in the uneven barren field of family life. In her husbands house, not only he, but every other family member nourishes high expectations of her.By the time she learns to tune herself to the chores of making morning tea for the father-in-law, make up husband’s sister, evening massage of the mother-in-law and cooking, she becomes pregnant and the next three years are sacrificed over the painful  family raising exercises. All these commitments are so demanding that her academic hobbies are lost like a feeble stream in a desert. This deterioration is so much that ultimately she also starts behaving lik thee old illiterate mother-in-law. As a result, intellectually there is no development of the family.

The ladies, who have been caught in this predicament, I wish them to give a chance to my experiment with my two daughters. Despite seeing them involved in ‘grih karaj nana janjala’, I always encouraged them not to lose their literary touch. My two advices, to start with were to regularly read a newspaper and spare some time to read any authentic book of their choice. The Niti says, ‘anbhyasevisham shastram’. So this regular literary touch should at no cost be overlooked. Then they should try to give vent to their creativity and explore their projection in press or electronic media. By the time children gain age, she would be in a position of devoting more time to this mission. It is a fact that not only the mother-in-law and husband, even the son/daughter will try to discourage her. Despite these dissuading forces, she should remain honest to this mission.

The encouraging result of this policy has started accruing to my family. My middle daughter, Anjana a qualified mass communication personnel, started her career in the TV and even today as a PR of Singapore, has been sharpening her penmanship. My youngest daughter, Aparna, a double Post- Graduate, has, of late turned to the social madia. Her poetic acumen has suddenly made her a prolific poetess. In her poetry, you will have a luring touch of Hindi, Urdu and Persian words and phrases. Within a year she has composed over 150 poems which are warranting encouraging comments from scholarly friends. I am glad to know that some publishers have approached her to get a book published. Like her, her eldest sister, Archana is also active in the Poetry Society. It gives me adequate pleasure that they are equally deft in prose as well. Now a days, free of child rearing, they have a lot of time to concentrate on their creativity. When I come across them being praised by reputed men of letters, I felt vindicated.

To all such girls, who were caught in the whirlwind of unwanted marriage and family raising, I honestly request to try this tip. Believe me, it will change your personality and redeem your literaray love. If this could influence any daughter, it would make me personally happy at heart.       

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY

                             (Education  and politics  at cross  purposes)

The entry of politics through unionism in universities started sometimes in 1960s. Over the years, since the political parties have started influencing students to their respective ideologies, things have been deteriorating day by day and the real purpose of imparting education appears to have been lost somewhere. The worst example of this syndrome is the premier university viz. JNU.

The JNU was established under a law of Parliament in 1969 as a central university to impart a new system of education and research. The first unit was the Centre of Historical Studies in 1971. The pioneers of this prestigious centre were eminent historians like Bipin Chandra, Romila Thapar, Satish Chandra and S. Gopal. By chance they all happened to be influenced by Leftist ideologies. Today there are ten schools and four other branches in the JNU but its students union, by and far has remained under the control of the students, subscribing to the Communist political thoughts. Other two unions are sponsored by the Congress as well as the RSS. While in the DU, ABVP(RSS) and the Congress supported union are strong, in the JNU it is a ding-dong battle for superiority between the Communist influenced SFI and AISA on the one hand and the ABVP on the other. The present students union in JNU has Kanhaiya Kumar as its president who is under CPI influence.

This politicization of educational institution is at its worst in the JNU. We understand that the leftist parties prepare articulate students and get them admitted in the JNU. They have special briefing that studentship is their façade whereas the real objective is to baptize others as fellow travelers. They are seen often organizing processions, demonstrations and even strikes on any political or petty issues. They purposely  avoid passing in the exams so that they could continue their political activities for years together. The worst part is that they occupy hostel rooms and do not vacate despite pressure. Some of the leftist faculty members encourage them to pursue their ideological brief. Several communist political leaders including Sitaram Yechury and Prakash Karat have been JNU alumni.

In this backdrop, these elements organized a programme on Feb. 9, 2013 in their university to protest against the hanging of Afzal Guru, a year ago, who was involved in the Pak terrorists' firing in the Parliament campus. One who has faith in the Constitution and judiciary, should not do so because after prolonged 13 years of police investigation and judicial process, he had been hanged by the Supreme Court. They raised slogans like: 1) kitne Afzal maaroge, har ghar me Afzal rahata hai. 2) Pakistan jindabad. 3) Kashmir ko azadi do. 4 Bharat ki barbadi tak jung chalega. This programme became viral on social media. Is not it an anti-national activity and disobedience to the court?

Next day, in a TV debate, some spokespersons of opposition political parties including Mr. Tyagi of Congress decried the Centre for not arresting these anti-national students and committed that he would file a case against them. The BJP spokesperson Dr. Patra was afraid that if the Govt. went ahead with this action, the opposition might make a volte face. It happened exactly in the same manner. On Feb. 14, D. Raja (CPI), Sitaram Yechury(CPM), Rahul Gandhi (CONGRESS) and K.C. Tyagi (JDU) visited JNU when Kanhaiya Kumar had been arrested and other named accused had gone underground. They supported the involved students and argued that it was an attack on freedom of speech worse than in Emergency days.  Some of them had called on the Home Minister to register their protest. The H.M. clearly mentioned that while no innocent will suffer, at the same time no mischief monger would be spared.

The incident is bound to have its repercussions as the Delhi police is determined to nab the ones who are evading arrest. It appears to be another instance of picking any stick to beat the NDA Govt. There are clear indications that the opposition which is disturbed at the good performance of the Modi Govt. and is not having any reasonable isuue, is bound to grab the JNU development to create disturbances in the ensuing Budget Session of the Parliament. The people have to watch it closely and come out with their stand as ultimately it is they who will suffer. 

MUSEUM AND ARCHAEOLOGY

                                                  MUSEUM AND  ARCHAEOLOGY
                                                                    - Bageshwar  Jha

The All India Museums Annual Conference of the Museums Association of India was held in Kanchi Hotel, Egmore, Chennai on Jan.30 – Feb1, 2016, hosted by the Advance Research in Conservation, Heritage, Excavation, Museum and Inscriptions Society of Tamilnadu (ARCHEMIST) with Dr. Justice A.K.Rajan Former Judge, Madras High Court as the Chief Guest, Dr. K.N. Dixit, Jt. D.G. (R) as Guest of Honour and Dr. R. Naga swamy, Former Director, State Department of Archaeology, Tamilnadu who delivered keynote address. On this occasion Dr. T.S. Sridhar, a former bureaucrat and President, ARCHEMIST, Dr. P.K. Sharma and Dr. Anand Burdhan, President and Secy.respectively of the MAI, Dr. R. Thiyagarajan, HOD (Sanskrit, Presidency College Chennai, Dr. Lourduswamy, Superintending Archaeologist,ASI, Chennai and Dr. Vinod Daniel, Chairman, AusHeritage, Chennai were also present. About 70 delegates confabulated for two days on the stipulated theme: "Role of Archaeology in the development of Museum Movement in India"
At the outset Dr. Sridhar welcomed the delegates and wished that his ARCHEMIST, established in 2013, will look forward to a better cooperation with the MAI in locating, conserving and displaying our heritage items. After that Dr. Sharma and Dr. Burdhan apprised the audience of the activities of their Association in last one year. They revealed that only 32 members launched the MAI in 1943 which has gone upto over 700. Since then, by and large they have been able to hold the annual conferences and  publish the journal regularly.
Dr. Justice A.K. Rajan, while inaugurating the conference recalled his long association with the Govt. Museum, Chennai since he was just a minor. He claimed to have seen several globally famous museums in other countries. He felt that a museum, besides its artefacts treasure, should have an attractive facade to draw the visitors and lamaented that the Govt. Museum, Channai has yet to cover a long distance in this respect. He claimed that Tamil, since 200 BC, after Sanskrit is the oldest Indian language and the museum should project this intangible heritage as well. Dr. K.N. Dixit, and Dr. Vinod Daniel also spoke on the same lines and emphasised the need of Indian museums having global outreach. Dr. Daniel argued that if the onion price rise could topple a govt.why there should not be the same commitment expressed when there is loss to a museum, whether natural or man-made.
There were two other important functions in this inaugural session. Like in the past, the MAI gave Life-Time Achievement Award to Dr. K.N.Dixit (above) and Dr. P. Iamperumal, Director, Tamilnadu Science and Technology Centre. The dignitaries on the dias also released the Journal of Indian Museums, 2015.
In the post-lunch period, there were two technical sessions. The first was presided over by Dr K.N. Dixit in which there were six presenters including Dr. Vinod Daniel (Trends in Museums: A Global Perspectie", Dr. Ambika Patel, Sayaji Maharaja University, Baroda (Archaeology in the making of Museums ... Perspective from Indian context), Ms. Saswati Choudhary, Archaeologal Depatt., New Delhi (Archaeology denotes authentic museum building), Dr. Indrani Bhattacharya, HOD, Museology Depatt, Calcutta University, Kolkata and Mrs. T.M.T. Pushpa of Govt Museum, Salem (Contribution of Archaeological Objects in the development of museums with reference to Salem Museum).
In the second session, with Dr, Supreo Chanda of Kolkata in the Chair, there were only two speakers, namely Prof. R. V. Ramana of Baroda and Ms. Falguni Pal a research fellow of Calcutta University. They all discussed points connected with their own museums. In the evening there was a colourful cultural programme in which Bharatnatyam, Kathak and Kuchipuri dance items were presented including one by a Chinese artist.
On the second day, Jan.31, the forenoon technical session was presided over by Bageshwar Jha, Curator, Sulabh International Museum of Toilets, New Delhi in which seven delegates including Dr. Anamika Kundu Saha of 24 Parganas, W.B. presented their papers. The afternoon session was chaired by Dr. Indrani Bhattacharya in which there wre as many as nine papers. After that, two representatives of the Pest Control of India (PCI) gave a special presentation on how to save artefacts from turmites and other harmful pests.
On the conclusion of the academic sessions, the MAI office bearers conducted the annual General Boidy meeting mainly because the biennial election was due. The Life Member delegates , as per rules, dropped four office bearers who were absent and elected their replacements. The GB, in view of the good work done by the present Exe. Com., decided to retain the present ones including me for another term of two years. For the Journal Dr Supreo Chanda of Kolkata was elected the Editor.
On Feb. 1,2016 the delegates were taken on a sight seeing tour to Dakshinchitra and Mahabalipuram, which was a pleasant experience for them. On return to the hotel, they gathered in the lobby and celebrated the 75th birthday of Bageshwar Jha which wa adjudged as s a nice gesture of the organisers.

BHANGARH: A HAUNTED FORT

                                                            -Bageshwar  Jha
In course of our continuing campaign for collecting toilet related artefacts for the Sulabh International Museum of Toilets, we were in the Bhangarh Fort on Jan.23, 2016.  Bhangarh, at a distance of 235 KM from Delhi, is located in Alwar district of Rajasthan. It is constructedquite in accordance with the established fort architecture of the period in the foothills of the Aravali range of hills. If you try to find out the names of haunted palaces and forts of the world, you are bound to come across the Bhangarh Fort which has created a great attraction for the tourists, indigenous or foreigners. In the beginning itself, the tourists are told that the premises remain open only from the sunrise to the sunset because once it is dark, the spirits haunt the area and something strange may happen with the one who ignored this limit.
Though the internet shows it built in the 17th century, the Archaeological Survey of India puts its date in the second half of the 16th century. According to the ASI records, the fort was built by Raja Bhagwant Das, the then ruler of Amber (Jaipur) and later on it was made capital of Madho Singh, brother of Raja Man Singh (July 15, 1611 – Aug.28, 1667). Madho Singh was diwan in the court of Mughal Emperor Akbar (1556 -1605).
The remains at Bhangarh consist of fort walls, gateways, markets, Chhatris, tombs, havelis, temples, and royal palace. As a matter of fact, the construction had three layers of peripheral walls for security reasons. Being devout Hindus, they had built temples, dedicated to Hanuman, Gopinath, Somesvara, Keshav Rai and Mangla Devi, all in Nagar style of temple architecture. The Gopinath Temple, just near the main gate, stands still erect and due to conservation work done by the ASI is in quite good healt. The wear and tear of over 400 years are not visible. However, this sacred place is not receiving devouts and the regular worship rituals are also not conducted also because of the mystery, no pujari has courage to stay there particularly after it is dark.
The outer periphery of the fort complex has four gates, named as Lahori Gate, Ajmeri Gate, Phulbari Gate and Delhi Gate. The royal palace, known as diwan-e- khas of the Mughals, was in seven storeys of which only four ar still extant. The whole construction is mainly of stone and partly bricks. Marble has been rarely used on floors and door linings. The toilet is a hole in the wall in a corner room through which faeces fell outside. The same room, like in modern flats, had bathing space also in the other corner. We could see a small water tank on that level in the middle, having mechanism for rain-water harvesting.
About the fort being a haunted place, known to the locals as “bhoot bangla”, there are two stories. According to the first story, a sage named Baba Balanath lived in that area. When the fort was under construction, he warned that no building should be taller than  his so that no shadow fell on his temple. If it was not taken care of, he thundered, the whole complex would be ruined. His warning was ignored and as a result the worst happened.
The second story is about a wizard also called a ‘tantrik’ whose small temple atop the northern hill, overlooking the fort palce is still there. The story is that he had a crush for the princess named Ratnavali. She was so beautiful that many princely suitors were proposing. It was a one-sided love as the princes had no  attraction for the tantric. The  princes, at that time 17, came out for shopping. As a matter of fact, from the entrance to the palace door, the one-KM long road had houses on both sides for shops, armym and the people giving other professional services including the courtesans. In one of the shops, when she was purchasing ‘itr’ (perfume), the tantric who was watching her, came there and offered a special potion taking which she would lose control on herself and start liking him. The princess, intelligent as she was, got a hint of the mischief. She threw the small container having the mystery liquid and on a big  round boulder lying aside. The buolder started moving fastly and hit the tantric. While dying, he gave a curse that the entire fort will be ruined. Sometimes later, the Mughal army attacked from the northern side and vandalized the fort. Since then, both of them who could not meet while alive,  are wandering in the campus of the desolate fort.   

DAL KA HAAL

               For last one year, the sky-rocketing price of lentils has been disturbing everybody as it happens to be an important ingredient of the traditional Indian thali whether you are in Northern or Southern part of the country. Can a Gujarati live without dal-bati? Will anybody in south tolerate sambhar disappearing from his menu? On the other hand, in Bihar and Bengal legume is the inseparable partner of shining white rice in the plate on the dining table. If you are in Mithilanchal part of Bihar and it is an occasion festive or hosting an important guest, any lentil will not do, it has to be arhar dal, sprinkled with desi ghee. If in such societies dal goes beyond the reach of common man, the bickerings are bound to be there.
In this backdrop, the search of a new variety of arhar dal by the agro-scientists has come as a much awaited good news. The scientists of Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa have brought into being an audable variety which is scoring multi-sided improvements on the traditional breed. In Bihar and UP farmers plant the traditional  crop in June/July and harvest it after 250-280 days in March/April. The new variety takes only 120 days and gives the same 20 quintal yield per hectare. Normally in Bihar, the field of arhar remains engaged for nearly ten months which makes arhar costly. When the maturing period is shortened, the field is available for some other crop to the benefit of the farmer.
Going a step further, it is said that the traditional plant is taller with several branches which not only creates problem in spraying pesticides but the grains do not ripe at a time. As a result at the time of harvesting, some branches may have still raw grains while others will be in flowering stage itself, causing loss to the farmer. The new crop plants are short and straight which make spraying exercises easier and the grains of the whole plant matures simultaneously. Though not popular in South, this crop is grown also in Maharashtra, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh etc. For the timebeing, the research centre is giving seeds to Punjab to grow it and if successful, even registered private units will be allowed to    produce it for seeds. It is hoped that the cultivation of arhar of this new breed will start on mass scale by 2018 and will be available to the people at large for consumption. It will no more remain a luxury for the common man. The country will feel obliged and urge upon these scientists to explore avenues to enhance products of other crops as well. Its patenting is bound to bring us sufficient foreign exchange as some other countries are also having arhar cultivation.

BIHAR''S SUPER CHIEF MINISTER

I have been a keen watcher of socialist movement in India in general and Bihar in particular since the first general election of 1952. Over the years I could study the politics of R.M. Lohia, J.P. Narayan, Acharya Kripalani, Hem Barua, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lohiaite products of post-Emergency like R.V. Paswan, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nitish Kumar, Sushil Kumar Modi and others. The most perceptible trait of these political leaders has been that each of them is a leader in himself resulting in the continuous erosion of party discipline and its resultant repeated truncations. We know that the Emergency compelled the main non-Congress political parties to come together under the umbrella of Janata Party, sponsored by JP. The word Janata became so popular that despite several fragmentations of the party, the name of every group retained it, like Janata Party, Janata Dal, JD/U, JD/S, BJP and RJD. The remnant Janata Party, headed by Subramnian Swamy finally merged with the BJP and today there is no political party of this name.
Another trait observed  in these earstwhile socialists is that at the time of elections they come together and part ways immediately after that as everyone could not be made a minister. If we leave these old aspects, we can add a new one that all of them have developed strong faith in family rule for which they had been chastising Nehru-Gandhi family. You may refer to Mulayam, Lalu, R.V. Paswan and some others. It has been stretched so much that when Lalu had to resign, ignoring qualified party leaders including Prof. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, he installed his illiterate wife as the new incumbent. In the last parliamentary election, SP in UP could win only five seats and all of them happened to be of Mulayam family. In the last assembly poll in Bihar, Lalu got his both sons elected and both of them are in the ministry, the younger being the DY CM. Moreover, Lalu has plans to send his wife and daughter to  the Rajya Sabha.
These being the charesterics of socialist brand leaders, the Bihar watchers like me, made a forecaste that both Nitish and Lalu had joined the Great Alliance to say goodbye to one another before long as the clash of interests was bound to be there. Nitish wants to cling to chief ministership at any cost and Lalu goes out of proportions to prove that he is the real boss.
The information is there that the revenue collection in Bihare is much below the target. The developmental projects are held up for want of fund. The govt. is persuading the Centre to release the funds assured in course of electioneering. The Centre on the other hand is reluctant to oblige as it is afraid that the Nitish govt might divert the money to other use like giving payment to its employees. The sufferers of earlier RJD rule’s jungleraj were forecasting that Lalu’s victory would usher in jungleraj part ii, which has already ensued. The murder of three engineers connected with road construction has made the investers wary. The overall law and order situation is already worsening.
In this background, there is an unannounced war between Lalu and Nithish to prove who really matters. Nitish has plans to experiment mahagathbandhan of like minded parties in other states so that in 2019, he could emerge as a strong PM prospectl. On the other hand, at no cost, Mulayam is inclined to give this space to anybody else. In Bihar, despite being disqualified for electoral posts by the SC, Lalu has started spreading his wings to project himself as the super CM. He not only directs his both sons to abide by his dictates but also goes on surprise visits of public institutions to monitor their performance. The local BJP leaders have taken an objection to these unparliamentary developments and urged upon Nitish to compel Lalu to behave. We remember that before the election, when Lalu was criticizing BJP and JD/U, Nitish had warned him to remain within limits as he was a convict, out on bail. It is unbelievably true that the same CM has to meekly tolerate the same Lalu assuming bigger than a life size proportion of super CM.