I AND MY WORDS

 A man once boarded the wrong train and ended up in Tamil Nadu near Arunachala in Tamil Nadu, a holy pilgrim site that has moved many a seer and saint. He was told by a lot of people to go visit the site and meet a man named Ramana Maharshi.  The man, an avowed communist and atheist, had always baulked at the idea of religion. However, since he had heard so much by then, he decided to go and meet him.  The minute he stepped into the ashram of Bhagavan, he could not control his emotions. Something took over him. Meeting Maharshi he did not know what happened to him. Bhagavan said nothing, and yet he was impacted heavily by the meet. His whole outlook to spirituality and religion changed in a minute.  He took Bahgavan's blessing and returned home to Kerala. Took up Sannyas and started to work for society. That man later became famous as Swami Chinmayananda, the founder of the Chinmaya Mission.

Indian Border troops and Chinese troops at Nathu La (Image Courtesy: Brookings ) For two days now, the news cycles have been abuzz about the happenings of the midnight of 31 Aug 2020, when unlike the pre-emptive move of two days back earlier to the chagrin of the Communist China’s People’s LIberation Army (PLA), Indian military pushed in battalions of Special Forces to take over strategic points on the southern bank of the Pangong Tso. This extremely erudite move has literally defanged the PLA’s capabilities to throw a surprise or even use their traditional swarming tactics which need an element of surprise to succeed. While this is not the first time that India has dared to stare back the PLA behemoth in its eye, there are reasons to be cautiously jubilant. Lessons Learnt from Operation Falcon Applied Truly Well While experts like Nitin Gokhale will certainly contribute much more to the discourse with their enriched and accurate ground reporting, it would be very important to point o

Padmanabhaswamy Temple Verdict is a Starting Point (Courtest New Indian Express) Indian Express and Pratap Bhanu Mehta always seems to be obsessed with the moot point of why Hindu community even bothers to seek control or seek reform in any way, or asks the system that be to respect and uphold traditions of the Hindus at large. A new example has turned up in the master ‘commentary’ of Pratap Bhanu Mehta on the Padmanabhaswamy temple verdict of the Supreme Court that Mr Mehta finds distasteful. Anything related to Hindus has always been distasteful for the duo, and one cannot wish that away even if given the magical wand that could grant these wishes. However, his unwieldy language and contorted arguments have once again been thrown up to somehow not only make the waters muddy, but to also defend the institutionalized discrimination and call out the ‘hatred’ of the Hindus of anything that puts savages like them into their place by granting them the privilege of civilization and rule of

GSLV MK3 (from ISRO ) Under the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat reform package, one important step of the Narendra Modi government was the opening up of the Indian space sector to private participants beyond the half open door that was available till then. Several people were very happy, and rightly so – private sector participation has importance in propelling space research in several countries which have significantly developed space programs. However, what it indirectly did was also put a spotlight on the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in particular and the Indian space program in general, of which an honest, sobering analysis has been long overdue. The Indian space program has been an evolution into itself, and has seen several important successes. However, it is also important to have a realistic assessment of where the program today stands compared to other nations in the game. The outlook of the space race is not just about the civilian aspect, but also includes military cons

(Courtesy: India TV) The Indian government’s decision to put 59 applications originating from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has literally sliced through the Chinese economic propaganda of ‘interdependence and harmony’ that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its propaganda arms, especially Global Times has been boasting about since the soldiers’ clash in the Galwan valley. This hits the Chinese where it hurts them the most, since these application developers and software companies represent the high-end Chinese software and hardware prowess that was being used to project CCP’s soft power push of an advanced hi-tech society, an alternative to the democratic virtues and ideals that mean so much to countries like India. One must bear in mind that this step has not come out in isolation. Concerns about Chinese apps have been doing the rounds for months on a stretch now, with politicos and people alike raising questions on privacy concerns arising from them. Policy experts have not

Sushant Singh's death has left a void in many people hearts. Even those who vaguely knew him in a personal level feel the loss of Sushant as someone very personal today. As someone whose brilliance could have taken him anywhere to great heights, he had a zeal, a passion for art, and wanted to touch new heights, inspired by the greats of cinema in India and abroad. He did whatever it took to reach the pinnacles of success, only to be denied a seat at the high table by the hoi polloi of a film industry that never really welcomed him, that wanted to have nothing to do with a misfit like him.  However, what people have perhaps thankfully gotten to talk about since the incident is nepotism. Nepotism is everywhere. Publishing, cinema, politics, work - you name it, it's there. The pretensions of nepotism's non existence is a charade that has gone on for too long, and perhaps has been mocked at more often than not. The truth is that we don't mind nepotism in India as a rule. &q

"एक बात का ध्यान रखना है सभी को। कोई भी बहु बेटी इन मुसलमानों के हाथ जीवित न लगे। अगर हो सके तो पिता उन्हें स्वयं मार दें, भाई अपने हाथों से उनका गला घोंट दे - हमारी लाज को इस तरह हम कतई न हारेंगे, जीते या मरते। जो बाप या भाई न कर सके, तो बेटियां बहुएं अपने आप किसी कुएं में कूद कर जान दे दें, या चाक़ू से अपने आप को रेत कर या घोंप कर अपनी लाज की रक्षा करें।" सुखमनी रोने लग पड़ी। नौ साल की इस लड़की को मृत्यु से बहुत भय था, पर उस पगली को कौन समझाता के लाज खोने का, नाक काटने से जो मान का नाश होना था, वो उससे भी बढ़कर था? कई महिलाओं ने अपनी सिसकियाँ दबा लीं, कुछ ने कड़वे घूँट पी कर हामी भरी, और सब जत्थे चल पढ़े। ऐसा ही एक जत्था किशोरी लाल और उसके भाई कन्हैया का था, जिनके साथ सरला और सुखमनी और माँ चाची भी थे। मशाल की रौशनी में गति से चलना थोड़ा कठिन था, और वह भी पीछे की ओर से सुखोचक से निकलना था। हिन्दुओं के इलाके का पलायन पता नहीं कैसे थम सकता था, जब तक के वह जम्मू नहीं पहुँचते, चाहे कोई गाँव ही पहुंचे। शायद शिवजी का आशीर्वाद था, के चुपचाप सारे हिन्दू सुखोचक से निकल सके, और कोई हरकत नहीं