Mark Twain called India "mother of history". It is said that every nook and corner of this country has a story to tell. Yesterday i.e 17th February was the day of martyrdom of Vasudev Balwant Phadke.

He was born in a small village called ...Shirdhon in Konkan. As an accoutant in Indian Army he saw first hand the partial treatment to Indians. The culmination came when denied leave to see his ailing mother, he coulnd'nt even attend her funeral. The incident hurt him so deeply that he left the job to understand the reasons of slavery.

Touring Maharashtra he was exposed to the severe exploitation of farmers and their suffering in the famine. One thing led to another and soon he was giving lectures in different cities to awaken people about the dire straits the nation was in. As is the case the educated and well off people did not support him. It is said that he was almost driven to madness due to apathy of people.

That was when he started contacting tribals and rural folk and was impressed by their simplicity and devotion. He organised an army and started looting government treasury to raise an armed rebellion. He issued notices and rewards on killing of government servants, signing them off as Prime Minister to Chatrapati of Marathas.
The cunning and ruthless Englishman were quick to notice the danger and they used imperial might to crush him.

Finally disheartened and suffering from high fever he was captured alone and sentenced to life imprisonment in far away Aden. But the torch of freedom was inexhaustible so he escaped with heavy chains, but was captured again. Finally on this day in 1883 he sacrificed his life far away from his beloved motherland.

Netaji's 117th birth anniversary

It's strange that there was not a whimper on 23rd January, the 117th birth anniversary of Netaji (Subhash Bose) while the whole country goes on celebration on an actor's or cricketer's birthday.

Netaji was the King of revolutionaries. Starting with Congress and it's disobedience and non violent methods, he did not lose sight of the ultimate goal. As a free spirit he was devoted to the idea of India's freedom and not to any particular way.

When paens are sung for the non violent freedom movement of India.It must be remembered that we got independence in 1947, Myanmar & Ceylon in 1948,in early 50s the whole of South-East Asia was breathing free air. So if the movement was so strong only in India, how come our neighbours too enjoyed the party. The answer to this question is Second World War and the death blow given by Germany and Japan to the Anglo-French empires. Great Britian did’nt come out “Great” after the war and was in no position to rule over the world. So the hurry to leave the land and partition it to suit their ambitions.

In case of India, Netaji’s Azad Hind Fauj (INA)of( Indian prisoners of war) played a key role. It sowed the seeds of revolution in the armed forces on which the British empire rested safely. It was this army which had made them the rulers of India, saved them in 1857 and even won laurels in first and second world war. The moment our gora sahibs realised that the army won’t support them against their countrymen, they knew their time was up. In an epic struggle Netaji escaped from Calcutta to Afganisthan and then Germany. Not able to reach India from there he circumnavigated half the globe to Japan and raised the banner of INA from there.

Let us remember his fierce dedication to our motherland and sing “kadam kadam badhaye ja”

On Makarsankranti

Today is 14th January, Makarsankranti, the day when sun moves to Northern hemisphere and hence an auspicious day for us. But it is an important day for us all Indians. It was on the same day that the third battle of Panipat was fought in 1761.

It was a clear conflict among the rising power of Marathas (read national) and waning power of Afghans (read foreign).The moment Marathas started knocking o...n the gates of Delhi from 1719, the Mughal power started getting uneasy about the rise of so called kafirs. But the momentum of Bajirao, his son Nanasaheb and Raghunathrao was impossible to relent. Within 12 years of death of Aurangzeb, Marathas became the owner of central India and started expanding in all directions. By 1740s they were in Bengal and Orissa and in 1758 they achieved the pinnacle when saffron flag flew over Attock after a gap of 1000 years. They became the defacto rulers from Attock to Cuttack and Delhi to Tanjavur.

It was in this background that Mughals started conspiring to bring down the national movement which was clearly eclipsing them fast. Najib khan invited Abdally who had been crushed by Marathas previously to avenge his defeat and also get a huge loot from the prosperous land. He kept a smoke screen of friendship with Marathas and revealed his plans when Abdally was near Delhi. The northern flank of Marathas in Punjab collapsed and the responsibility fell on Dattaji Shinde, who was mecilessly murdered by Najib while protecting his motherland.

Marathas had to avenge his death and a huge army started from Pune under the leadership of Sadashivrao Bhau.His movement were slowed down due to huge contingent of non soldiers as a result he was stuck around rivers in monsoon. It somehow happened that the 2 forces were locked in such a way that Marathas blocked Abdally's return to Afghan land and he blocked Marathas return to South.Shuja-ud Daulah, Nawab of Awadh sided with Abdally in name of jihad and hence he recieved fresh reinforcements and supplies but Marathas were left with their supply lines cut off in the hostile cold of North.

It was in this desperation that the 2 sides collided in Panipat, in initial few hours the battle was tilted toward Marathas but the sudden killing of Vishwasrao and disappearance of Sadashivrao, caused the whole formation to collapse and ultimately to the rout.Almost 1.0 lac fighters gave their life defending their motherland in a war which could have been won if all the forces including Rajput had sided with Marathas against Abdally.

It wiped out the Afghan factor from Delhi politics and created a power vaccum for a few years, Marathas were back in the game under the able leadership of Madhavrao in late 1760s.But the ultimate benificiaries were the Englishman who without firing a shot gave a major setback to their biggest competitor in India. The lesson remains the same that only UNITED WE STAND and is more relevant today when the anti corruption movement is divided into 2 pitched groups who are fighting among each othe while the big daddy of corruption watches merrily.

On martyrdom of Fatehsingh/Zorawar singh

26th December is a day to be remembered. It was on the same day that youngest sons of Guru Gobind Singh sacrificed themselves on the altar of freedom. How young anybody will ask ? They were 7 and 9 years to be precise. When caught by Mughals treacherously they were taken to Sarhind and presented in court. They would have been pardoned if they had accepted conversion .But they were tiger cubs ...and refused any conversion. After facing torture for many days they were martyred. Guru Gobind Singh sacrificed all his sons for cause. Finally taking inspiration from him Banda Bairagi avenged the death of his sons by ransacking Sarhind. Fatehsingh and Zorawarsingh would be always an example of sacrifice. The other event is birth of Sardar Udham Singh who avenged the Jallianwala bagh massacre by killing Mr Odwayer who ordered the firing on helpless mob. It is really necessary to know this history so that we know the sacrifices given for a so called non violent independence struggle.

On Swamiji''s 151st birth anniversary

Swami Vivekananda, the name itself is fiery and electrifies us when we read him or see his photo. The same effect was felt by all great men like Gandhiji or even foreigners like Romain Rolland. Britishers could not establish link but every revolutionary they arrested had a copy of Vivekananda's speeches or thoughts. Such was the impact of this man who was aptly named as cyclonic Hindu monk. He awakened us about the glory of our motherland and the dire straits in which it was languishing due to foreign rule. To achieve greatness he clearly proclaimed that India should be politically freed first. To free our motherland he exhorted his countrymen to have muscles of iron and nerves of steel and courage which could see death in it's face and still have unshakeable faith. Although he lived for 39 years and only 2-3 years in India after achieving fame as Swami Vivekananda he shook us to our core due to his tremendous passion for country and Hinduism. We should pray to him to get an iota of his passion for the country on his 151st birth anniversary.

16th of December

In all the talk of government formation,we have forgotten an important day like 16th December. It was on this day that we gave a crushing defeat to Pakistan and created a new nation of Bangladesh.

We created a world record of taking surrender of 93000 prisoner of war. For once we took offensive stand and even superpowers with all their nuclear weapons couldn't change the outcome.

What we won on the battlefield was lost on the table. We signed a useless Shimla agreement not even asking for PoK or war damages. Swarna Singh has commented that at the summit, Indira was behaving as if she was the loser while Bhutto was behaving like a winner. A long period of slavery has broken our very confidence that we can WIN.

May this day remind us that WE CAN.

Bharat mata ki jai!!!!!

On Gandhi Jayanti..

 

Kshama karo bapu, vachan bhang ke hum apradhi,
Rajghat ko kiya apavan, manzil bhule yatra aadhi,

Atalji wrote this poem after the fall of Janata party government. But isn’t it really applicable to all of us. Who was Gandhiji any ways a politician, patriot, leader, social reformer, author or as the Nobel prize committee described him “political saint”. We sing paens to his contribution, but what was his contribution? In a simple way he made the freedom movement broad based. He had the courage to declare in Congress session that freedom does not only belong to clever barristers of Bombay or Delhi but to the masses who live in lacs of villages of India. The lawyer he was, he won’t have missed the ordinance by which Englishman had disarmed the whole country after 1857, making armed revolution an impossibility. Thus civil disobedience or non cooperation through non violent means were the only effective ways to overthrow the empire.
...
But his vision didn’t end at freedom it encompassed the very path Bharat should take after independence. When returning from second round table conference he was asked that what he thought about western civilization? He pondered for a while and said “I think it is a good idea”. In his book Hind Swaraj which is now more than 100 years old, you would know his thoughts on development models. He questions whether development just means living in bigger/better houses with more comforts or is it the development of MAN. It is said that he commented once that if Indians followed western model of consumerism (??) they would plunder earth like locusts.

It was his unshakeable faith in India which prompted him in saying that Egypt is lost, nobody knows about Greece or Rome, Japan has turned to west, nothing can be said about China, but even though ruined India is still throbbing in it’s bosom. People make mockery of his idea of swadeshi or gram swaraj but will have to turn towards it one day if the world is to be saved from the mad rush of consumption.

It is very fitting that his true follower was also born on the same day.
Vande Mataram !!!!

On inauguration anniversary of Rock Memorial: 02nd Sept 1970 

How many of you have seen or heard about Vivekananda rock memorial at kanyakumari and how many of you know about Eknathji Ranade???
Probably very few, Eknathji was secretary of RSS when he was relieved of his responsibilities to construct a memorial for this great son of motherland (swami vivekananda). The story of construction is as magnificent as the memorial.
He was not interested in just raising money from a few individuals for this great endeavour,so he formed district level committees and collected 1 Re each from 1 crore Indians.
When the progress started,Christians objected to the project stating it was St Xaviers rock. The government as usual capitulated and declared an inquiry which came out unequivocally in favour of memorial. In the meantime Eknathji submitted a signed memorandum from more than 350 MPs to Shastriji who was pleasantly surprised and took up the matter with Nehru who had to relent.
When the pace picked up,anti Hindi or north agitation picked up and it was demanded that instead of vivekananda (north Indian) ,thiruvalluvar's memorial would be more apt. But Eknathji was not someone to relent,he convinced Karunanidhi, the then chief minister to approve the memorial.
Finally after 7-8 years of effort on this day in 1970,the memorial was a reality.

On punyatithi of Lokmanya Tilak : 1st August

 

The other day when I was talking to a group of kids,I asked them about Tilak,and they looked me with a question mark. I was amazed....
Anyways who was this man a social reformer,educationist,journalist,philosopher,politician,patriot or a ma...thematician or all rolled into one.
Britishers rightly called him "father of Indian discontent" and why would'nt they. Can you imagine a journalist who could ask in editorial "has the government lost it's head" or openly give lectures on Shivaji's killing of afzal khan which reminded people of the foreign rule. He had very practical notions about fight against injustice so even being non violent he was inspiration behind armed revolutionaries like Chapekar brothers and Savarkar.
When sentenced to rigorous imprisonment in Mandalay he produced a master treatise on Gita called "Gita rahsya".Let us remember him on his 93rd death anniversary and ask for an iota of his courage and dedication for motherland......

 

On Ashadhi Ekadashi (19th July):

Tommorow is Ashadhi Ekadashi, for many people it is just another day. But it is a very special day in Maharashtra, millions of people from different parts of the country forgetting their cast and creed throng to Pandharpur to see their belo...ved VITTHAL. The wari as it is called has record of being at least 800 years old. Why is gathering of simple and many illiterate people such a big event?

India is a unique country of having such gatherings across the country and owing allegiance to one saint or another. This country has witnessed a galaxy of saints across country like Dnyaneshwar, Namdeo, Tukaram in Maharashtra, Narsinh Mehta in Gujarat, Meerabai in Rajasthan, Guru Nanak in Punjab, Tulsidas, Surdas, Kabir, Ravidas in UP, Chaitanya in Bengal, Shankardeo in Assam, Ramdas, Kanakdas, Purandardas in South. Our history has not acknowledged their due contribution or probably our Marxist historians cannot see it. They were born at times when Dharma was locked in Sanskrit and become a monopoly of few. Society was divided into as much fragments as imagined and become embroiled in superstitions. Moreover they could see that it was falling short of challenges ahead in form of foreign invasions which would have been a death toll for this country.

What they did was totally revolutionary in nature. The first thing they did was decoded Dharma for common people like us in form of Dnyaneshwari, Abhang gatha, Ramcharitmanas, Dasbodh, Dohe, Bhajans and what not. Secondly they went around nook and corners, preaching it and acting as a shining beacon of light when the society was groping in darkness. They claimed that GOD, can be called by any name and it is not only in idols but it is everywhere in all your fellow beings and creatures. To love them and help them is the real worship. Thus they were real social reformers and laid foundation of an equal society. Instead of running away from world for GOD, they preached that HE can be realised by doing our karma and surrendering everything to HIM. Thus they consolidated faith of society in itself and made them courageous to fight back injustice and invasions. They should always be a guide for us in current testing times of today.

 

On Gudipadwa (Hindu New Year)
Some men are born prodigal, today i.e the first day of new year is the birthday of Dr K B Hedgewar, founder of RSS. Very few people know him or mostly misunderstand him outside the so called SANGH PARIVAR.
He was born in a poor family and l...ost his parents at an early age due to plague. At the tender age of 8 he refused to eat sweets distributed in school for diamond jubilee of Victoria rule. He was rusticated from school for instigating students to sing VANDE MATARAM during visit of education inspector. When studying MBBS at Calcutta he joined Anushilan Samiti for armed revolution in India. Even after returning to Nagpur and being a doctor which could have easily given him all the comforts of life, he dedicated it to the cause of motherland. After closely observing armed revolutionaries and Congress movement he came to the realisation that nobody was attacking the root cause of slavery, which had led this nation of continental proportions with all the resources and great men into such an abyss, which was disunity and lack of national character.
Thus he founded RSS on Vijayadashmi in 1925. Even during early days every member of RSS used to take oath of striving for complete independence of motherland which invited the wrath of british government and all government servants were banned from participation in RSS which our governments are continuing till now. Within 15 years , in 1940 before his death RSS had reached every state of undivided India and had impressed stalwarts like Gandhiji, Patel, Madan Malviya with selflessness, character and discipline. This was the result of tapascharya of a selfless man for making his motherland attain it’s lost glory....

 

On Shivjayanti (March 30)

Today is 363rd anniversary of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj according to Hindu calendar. A young lad of 16 years took oath at Raireshwar along with his few friends of creating a free kingdom where there would be rule of law for all alike. Pursuing this life long oath within 28 years after facing life threatening dangers, he creates Swarajya defeating Adilshahi, Qutubshahi and Mughals, top 3 powers in the country.

Our Marxist historians like Nehru termed him only a Maratha warrior and even going forward a bandit. But when Shivaji was asked about his dream, he is said to have replied that he wants to free his motherland from Manasarovar to south of Kaveri, was'nt it a Pan Indian movement which Bajirao and Madhavrao Peshwa took forward.

When Grant Duff, a Britisher was asked that how could you rout the Marathas within 18 years, while Aurangzeb who riegned over the largest empire in Asia at his time could not do in 27 years. He is said to have replied that when Aurangzeb arrived in Maharashtra, the legend of Shivaji was fresh in mind of Marathas but when britishers came the legend had been forgotten in 100 years. Such was the impact of this MAN.

But it is sad to note that outside Maharashtra very few people know about him or are taught about the contribution he made to INDIA......HE was and will be THE REAL INDIAN IDOL......

 

On Sambhaji Maharaj's martyrdom day-:

It was exactly yesterday i.e 11th March , 324 years before ,Aurangzeb brutally murdered elder son of Shivaji, Dharmveer Sambhaji Maharaj. His eyes were gouged, tongue removed and then he was hacked to pieces and thrown off to dogs. Aurangzeb had imagined that by killing the Chatrapati he could kill the freedom movement of Maharashtra.
But that was not to be, Shivaji's life and Sambhaji's martyrdom... had kindled the torch of freedom in Marathas, within 4 months Santaji Ghorpade in a daring raid took away the golden tower on Aurang's tent. Within 10 years "mountain rats" had spread from Narmada to Kaveri. Aurang lost all hopes and died an old man of 92 in Aurangabad in 1707.
The same Aurangzebi mindset still persists, with beheading of soldiers, bomb attacks and innumerable treachery. But people who do'nt learn from their history always tend to repeat it.

On death anniversary of Swatrantaveer Savarkar (26th February)-:
Today is the 47th remembrance day of Swatrantra Veer Savarkar,a revolutionary,poet,author, philosopher,politician,social reformer par excellence. Even his contribution in any one of the field would have made him great son of mother India, but he devoted all his skills to the cause of motherland.
 -First nationalist to refer to 1857 revolt as First War of Independence and not as Sepoy Mutiny
-First Indian whose case was referred to International Court of Justice,Hague because britishers arrested him illegally on French land while he was trying to escape from ship.
-Visionary who thought that there should be a naval base of India at Andaman in 1911 so that our navy can control Malacca strait, which GOI established in 1998.
 -Was awarded 2 back to back life imprisonment of 48 years to Kalapaniand referred as 'D' dangerous category prisoner because of threat to empire
- Refuse to take oath for completion of Barrister because it involved allegiance to English emperor so was not awarded the degree
 - When under restriction in Ratnagiri started reform activities to remove evil practices like untouchability in Hinduism
- First to recognise the end motive of Muslim League whom Congress was molly coddling with which will lead to partition...
I will fall short of words to describe his greatness......
 BHARAT MATA KI JAI

RAJ,YOU ARE RIGHT!!!!!
The heading might sound strange even repelling to someone. Raj and even Sena want to control the influx of outsiders to Mumbai and even issue permits for entry. But Raj is not making any unlawful demand.

Do you know that even in INDIA you have to get a permit to visit certain parts, it might be shocking to you is’nt it?

Well Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram, three out of the seven sisters can’t be visited if you do'nt have a permit issued by their state governments. Even of you are an INDIAN citizen.

I realized this when I went to visit Arunachal Pradesh. I tried to get a permit in Kolkata and as usual the bureaucrats told me a 100 rules and turned it down. Dejected I changed my plans and decided to visit another location. But on train to Guwahati I met an old friend of mine who works in AP and he gave a laugh when I told the reason of changing my plans. To cut the story short, in Guwahati I met a travel agent who arranged for my permits within few hours even without any document and they were ready at the checkpost of AP.

What does the story imply, that such barriers when put for general public just become a tool for bureaucrats to fleece money ,but what does it impede? a full national integration. It is like blocking a blood vein leading to a gangrene. Who had put this in place you would naturally ask. Our colonial rulers had invented this system so that their beloved missionaries could carry on the conversion unabated. But our free rulers have’nt felt it for past 60 years. The result , Nagaland and Mizoram are 100% Christians and AP is also losing it’s tribal heritage. Both the states have several terrorist organizations demanding sovereignity.Same is the case with Kashmir where you cannot buy a piece of land if you are not local because of article 370.

So RAJ, this demand will not serve anyone, if it does it will be to those who cannot believe that a land of so diverse faiths, cultures, language and geography is but one GREAT NATION.

PS: in the next blog about AMAZING ARUNACHAL!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ek baras bit gaya.....
A year has gone by and lot many things have changed after 26/11,US president has changed,Loksabha election and Vidhansabha election in Maharastra have gone by.
But the memories remain etched of Jihadi terrorists unleashing a carnage at CST station,the Taj and Oberoi.The mayhem has been equally matched by our response of initial anger,then frustration and now forgetfulness.

The response has'nt changed because of our pride that we are tolerant society but the reality is we are forgetful and coward.Pakistan attacked us in 1948 and occupied 1/3rd of Kashmir and still identifies it as Azad Kashmir but even after passing a resolution in 1994 in Loksabha that we will recover every inch of occupied land we have'nt moved anywhere.In 1965 we had moved till Lahore but we backtracked and in 1971 after a resounding victory we let Pakistan off the hook with a useless agreement that did'nt achieve anything.Chinese side also tells the same story.
And now after ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Kashmir,and innumerable bombings and attacks we are still not able to retaliate.

The main reason is public sentiment is not sharp and hot enough to force the government.Did we punish Pt Nehru or Indira or Rajiv for thier colossal blunders or are we even realizing it now.Just contrast this with a nation 1/100th of our size i.e Israel,even now Moshe the 3 year old toddler who lost his parents in 26/11 attack is a sensation,the nanny which stood by him in the attack has been honored and for past 3 years it is still fighting a pitched battle to bring back a single soldier captured by Hezbollah.Jews beacuse of the holocaust and the persecution of 2000 years very well know the value of motherland and freedom.But Hindus think it is free and easy although our struggle has been raging for almost 1200 years and is smeared with blood and tears of brothers and sisters.

May this be wake up call and make us realize that'Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty'

Missing the message!!!!!!!!

Kolkata is now cooling off after the hectic days of DURGA puja,lots of pandals,lots of art and creativity.The best of bengali creativity at work be it pandals or themes.But the thing which struck me and probably would have also reminded others that DURGA puja is basically worship of strength.

See HER idol and you will be filled with vigor,locks of hair flowing,eyes filled with rage,all hands with weapons to be used for destruction of the wicked.In fact Vijayadashmi resounds even by it's name of victory over evil.We worship crores of gods by different names DURGA,KALI,MAHADEV,RAM,KRISHNA and others.All you notice, carry some form of weapons and what message does it gives us?

To worship strength,to crave for victory in all fields.To understand the difference between good and evil,to give best effort to avoid bloodshed,like Ram and Krishna did by negotiating,but when the need arises and it becomes clear that desctruction of evils like Ravana,Duryodhana,Kansa,Mahishasura is for the larger good go whole hog for it.

If we learn this message from our GODS then only we will be truly worshipping them.Our independence struggle and our misconceptions of AHMISA (non violence) have developed a feeling that weapons,strength is only brawn and non violence places us on a higher plane against the enemy.After independence some people even argued that we should not have any army to defend because it is against non violence.

The message is clear to worship weapons and even to posses it.We had a tradition of possesing weapons and worshipping them on Vijayadashmi.But Englishman after seeing the revolt of 1857 and how the commoners used these weapons against them,disarmed the nation and made it illegal to posses them.The result is a nation in which goons,naxalites,jihadis get weapons from anywhere and terrorize people,but the commoners who can fight them off with weapons are disallowed to do so.

Even in terrorist affected states when commoners were given weapons and formed into VDC(Village defence committees) they have shown miraculous results.The recent example is of a girl slaying a LeT terrorist single handedly.Even the world's oldest democracy USA allows possesion of weapons and has'nt repealed it once even after so many accidents (remember alcohol was banned in 20's in USA but not weapons).

The need in INDIA is to relax control on weapons so that the thriving black market is wiped off and the weapons go in to the hands of people who use it for the nation rather than against it.

Six decades or Six thousand years......

62 years are a flash for a country which has evolved over a thousand years. It has it’s share of happiness and tears. Last thousand years have seen more of tears than smiles.But exactly 62 years ago on this day we received a fractured independence because of partition. It was a day of joy because we were free again but also of sorrow because a large part of our beloved motherland was being separated from us. Different times of our history have had different heroes who changed destiny. I am going to talk of those times-:

In recorded history the first person to imagine this nation of continental proportions was CHANAKYA who after seeing Alexander’s invasion and our weaknesses, decided that the only answer was a strong centrally controlled empire which is aware that this is one nation from Hindukush to Bay of Bengal. Chandragupta Maurya, his disciple and the founder of Mauryan empire mad this a reality and so India enjoyed invasion free centuries till Ashoka. He might have been the inspiration behind Sardar Patel who amalgamated the princely states to create a unified India.

The period which is referred as Golden Age of India or which coined the term of Golden sparrow about India was the Gupta Empire. The nation was in forefront in arts, literature, science, trade and was brimming with prosperity. It had invasions from Huns but the emperors stopped it at the gates and even gave their lives for it. The same time needs to be revived again where INDIA is at the forefront of all aspects of life.

Then were the dark ages starting from attack of Muhammad Bin Qasim in 712 AD on Sindh and our millennium long struggle for freedom. The unified front formed by armies of 17 kingdoms against Mahmud Ghazni’s nephew who also came for plunder but had to pay his life for the misadventure shows that united we stand and divided we fall. When all was lost and the barbarians ruled the roost and nobody imagined of taking them to task, saints reinforced our faith. Tulsidas, Kabir, Nanak, Meerabai, Dnyaneshwar, Namdeo, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the list is long who taught us not to lose hope but keep faith in DHARMA and slowly but surely fight back for it’s glory.

Then came a galaxy of warriors and statesman Rana Sanga, Bappa Rawal, Rana Pratap, Prithviraj Chauhan, Chatrapati Shivaji, Samabhaji, Bajirao, Chatrasal, Krishnadevraya , Lachit Badfukan , Guru Gobind Singh, Ranjitsingh who took the barbarians to task and made them realize that if there was any divine right to rule this beautiful country it was vested with HER SONS and not for people who came from other side of Himalayas. When it was just felt that freedom was in our grasp came the calamity from West and again there was a two century long independence struggle which brought us the happy-sad day of today.

It will be fully happy only when the river which hosted one of the oldest civilizations in the world and gave us our identity is back in our fold.


VANDE MATARAM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hindus Hindutva and Politics
2009 election results are out almost 45 days back and it is amply clear that it is the most stable government after 1996 as largest party has crossed the psychological barrier of 200 seats.BJP is defeated for second time in row and analysts have pounced on it saying it is high time to dump HINDUTVA and be a moderate party.

In a nation of 80% Hindus and third most followed religion (??) in the world can it be really dumped.The situation has risen because we Hindus have stopped asserting it and have wrongly equated it only with Shiv Sena,Bajrang Dal or even BJP.Hindutva or Hinduism is a way of life as honorable Supereme court has ruled in one of it's proceedings.The confusion is basically out of ambiguity between SECULAR and Equal Respect for all Religions.Secularism is seperation of religion from politics and it came from West because kings wanted to overthrow the papal authority.But India always have had kings who bowed before holy men and showed equal respect for all religions.

Hindutva is something which encompasses every aspect of life be it politics,education,economics,spirituality.Today when battlelines are being drawn in our neighbourhood it is Hindutva's VASUDAIV KUTAMBAKAM (whole earth is a family)philosophy which can save the world.When the earth is warming up beacause of our haphazard model of development it is Hindutva's holistic view which says SARVE BHAVANTU SUKHINAH, SARVE BHAVANTU NIRAMAYAH....(let everybody be happy and healthy)can guide mankind.Communism has died 20 years back and capitalism has had it's Pearl Harbour it is Hindutva which can give the world a new view of development.

So instead of dumping BJP should take Hindutva in much more rigor and also make the country realise what it stands for.Swami Vivekananda said that if the word HINDU has lost it's sheen it is beacuse of us so let us strive and make it so glorious that the word HINDU will be the best word conceived in any language.

The day that was 10th May
We all know and say that public memory is short, it tends to forget for it’s own loss. But if the memory loss is so acute that it makes us forget key events of our history then it is a disorder. Not stretching the suspense far the day I am talking about is 10th May. Still questions will arise what is so special about that?

It is so special that should be marked with gold because our first war of independence started on this day i.e 10th May 1857.The day decided was 31st May and the planning was meticulous a simple roti was the symbol which was circulated through villages, cities and cantonments. Everybody consuming roti had to take oath of fighting against the foreigners and Bahadurshah was the leader of the war. But circumstances went otherwise and soldiers in Meerut went on a rebellion on this day and before the gora sahibs could sit up and notice the whole North India was up in arms.

Although the plan did’nt go well still it was enough to shake the company raj to it’s roots.Even Lord Canning the then Governor General noted “ If Scindias of Gwalior join I will have to pack off”. Almost 100 thousand soldiers forgetting their caste & creed fought as sons and daughters of our beloved motherland. It produced a galaxy of leaders Nanasaheb Peshwa & Tatya Tope from Kanpur,Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi, Kunwarsingh from Ara, Ahmedshah from Audh and a lot of others. But their own brethren like Sikhs fought against them and South India did’nt create a whimper. Englishmen with their superior technology ,skills and imperial backing took almost a year to douse of what was the most serious challenge to their power after Marathas.

They failed but in act not in vision. They had a clear vision of free India and wanted it at the cost of even their kingdoms, families and lives. They did what they could to the best of their efforts and finally all of them except Nanasaheb who vanished gave the last measure of dedication i.e life for the dearest cause of Independence. It is to those that we should look upto when in doubt that what can a aamadmi like you and me do for a country of continental proportions not only in size but in problems.

If you have a clear vision like them and are ready to give your full measure of devotion you will change the course of history like they did.

P.S: Even 11th & 13th May is an important day can you tell me why especially for India?