Our Heritage Revisited - Introduction to the Shruti texts

My book "Our Heritage Revisited: A glimpse into ancient Indian texts" is now downloadable on the sites of amazon across several countries. I thought of uploading bits of it on my blog. Here starts the first.

When asked which are the main religious texts that we Hindus follow, many of us draw a blank. These are not the commonly known Ramayan or Mahabharat which, though great expositions of Hindu religion, are epics or stories, not pure religious texts.

The primary reason for the confusion is that there is a vast multiplicity of thoughts and their resultant scriptures (texts) that have coexisted over centuries, giving rise to the inability or difficulty in mentioning a single or even a limited number of texts describing the Hindu religion and its associated practices and beliefs. Hinduism has emerged as a way of life, a philosophy encompassing varied traditions rather than a set of directives on which our religion is based. Hinduism does have some tenets and pillars but allows for many variations and viewpoints.

No single book leads to the principles of our religion. There are many sacred writings that are sources of Hindu doctrine. Ancient Hindu philosophy is represented in a corpus of texts where the authors and dates of the composition are typically unknown. The earliest knowledge that we have is of deep-thinking philosophers, and their literature is characterized by a deep and constant concern with man’s spiritual destiny as manifested by their rich philosophical concepts and the great epic poems written subsequently. Chief among these texts are those collectively known as the Veds (वेद), perhaps the oldest religious texts in the world. They consist mainly of praise / hymns to the gods of Nature as also instructions for the rituals of worship. The latest works within the class of texts known as the Veds, are the Upanishads and these are generally more philosophical. These Indian scriptures very loosely laid the foundation for most of India's philosophical schools.

Our Heritage Revisited : A glimpse into Ancient Indian Texts

Which are our Ancient Indian Texts?  Ever wondered.

A niece asked me this question and suggested that I write for her friends and peer group. And so was born the idea. It took about eighteen months for me to get it together, put it into shape and get it printed. But finally the work was done and so was born my first book “Our Heritage Revisited – A glimpse into Ancient Indian Texts”

It is a primer really, meant for the not-so-knowledgeable. Even though the topic itself has a multitude of books to cover, my attempt has been to ensure that the overview prepared is simple and lucid. It is meant to be an easy read, both in words and spellings, and in the few concepts covered.

And feedback has been great. People have been liking my effort and are asking for more copies to gift to friends and relatives and have also suggested to others to ask for their own copies.

More on this in my next post. Meanwhile any comments are welcome.

Nirbhaya, Gudiya ……… what are we doing to arrest a possible next?

After Nirbhaya, we have now had a Gudiya. God forbid there is then a Muniya and a Bitiya, or even a Munna and a Babloo. Let us have correct accountability and responsibility towards the rape cases.

There was a strong public reaction in December last year and a few leaders / politicians including our Prime Minister Shri Manmohan Singh said that they empathise. And reacting to the Gudiya outpourings by the common man – or rather the common women – Shri Neeraj Kumar, Delhi Police Commissioner also felt that it was a perception only that women did not feel safe in Delhi. My simple question to all of them is – how many times in the last say one year have young women and girls of their family travelled out on the roads after 8 pm - without any police or other escort? Are they willing to take up a challenge – let them ask a young girl of their family to go out and then ask her to travel back alone about 20kms on public transport – then let them get her (and her mother’s) perception of whether she felt safe. Only then can we have the beginnings of anything like empathy.

Then, as now, there has been a huge hue and cry with the public demanding the scalps of the Chief Minister of Delhi, the Home Minister, the Commissioner of Police et al. The Department of Internal Security, Ministry of Home Affairs deals with police, law and order and rehabilitation in the country. It is  headed by a Special Secretary who in turn reports to the Home Secretary. (http://www.mha.nic.in/uniquepage.asp?Id_Pk=27 ). I keep wondering – why is no one asking for elucidations from Shri R.K.Singh the Home Secretary and from Shri S. Jayaraman, the Spl. Secretary (Internal Security) and also what they are getting done through their counterparts in all the States -after all, these cases have happened during their tenure. The bureaucrats of our country such as those belonging to the Indian Administrative Services, have tremendous power in the government but rarely, if ever, are called into accountability. Their cadre is extremely strong and if they are made to feel vulnerable and answerable to the public, a lot of change can come about in India on a “fast track” basis. Also, the responsibility of law making is of our legislators’ viz. our politicians. For rape cases, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance 2013 has been passed by both Houses and signed by the President. Once a law has been made, the responsibility of execution gets passed on to the government officials – in this matter headed by the Home Secretary. Can we not shake him / them up to get results?

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Saturday hinted that there may be a shake-up at the topmost levels in the Delhi Police – shockingly not because the police again showed resistance in registering the FIR but in the wake of recent incidents, including protesters entering his house and their conduct against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. (http://zeenews.india.com/news/delhi/delhi-rape-mha-summons-delhi-police-commissioner_843814.html). If the Home Minister can feel outraged because of people entering his house – which is merely a physical object - imagine the feelings of the girls who are themselves violated. But the priorities of Shri Shinde are clearly different.

The objective of the Delhi Police, inter-alia is to - Uphold the law fairly and firmly; To prevent crime; to pursue and bring to justice Those who break the law …. And to be seen to do all this With integrity, common sense and sound judgment. (http://delhipolice.nic.in/home/about/dpcharter.aspx). While in these cases the police have certainly acted with promptitude to arrest the culprits they seem to have given dilution to their objective “To prevent crime”. And what about ”to be seen to do all this” The Police Commissioner felt that things had improved in the last few months as more cases were now being registered. (http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/ready-to-quit-if-it-helps-says-delhi-police-commissioner/article4643427.ece). He felt that this showed that the police are now more easily registering cases. But on what basis did he rule out other possible reasons – the surge could equally be because families are now increasingly coming forward to register the cases – or even because the number of cases has actually gone up?

The Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit was quite comfortable saying that in the case of Delhi, the Police does not report to her but to the Centre. While saying this why did she not cover the aspect that the Centre is governed by her very own party – if she could not convince her own party, what moral obligation or failure did she feel? And even if we had a different party at the Centre, was it not her responsibility to convince the Centre – or die doing so? Obviously she has not felt the problem as important enough.

 Jawahar Lal Nehru  suggested and got created Zonal Advisory Councils "to develop the habit of cooperative working” and “to create healthy inter-State and Centre-State environment with a view to solving inter-State problems” (http://mha.nic.in/pdfs/ZCS-CitiCharter-130710.pdf). This could be used to resolve this Centre-State issue where Shiela Dikshit feels her inability in respect of the Police - The Northern Zonal Council (of which Delhi is a member) has not met after 25.10.2005 i.e. for over seven years now. Apparently none of the Zonal Councils have met after 12.02.2007 - even thoughas late as for the financial year 2010-11 it even got a budget sanctioned. The Secretariat is functioning under administrative control of Ministry of Home Affairs. Bureaucrats are Advisors of the Zonal Council. So once again – what are our bureaucrats doing in this matter?

The answer to the problem that is now in the eyes of the public is neither simple nor single. While the reaction from the public has been strong in Delhi, as the Home Minister has pointed out, such instances are happening elsewhere too. A multi-pronged approach is essential for both short term and long term goals. To suggest a few steps, we need to have:

1. Studies to ascertain some patterns and some causes, and the various steps taken to address the problem. This could be State wise since literacy levels, demographic patterns and impact of local pressures may vary significantly. 
2. Studies may be undertaken to prepare profiles of the victims and of the perpetrators. 
3. NGOs could get involved in obtaining feedback on the experiences of the victims and their families in registering the FIRs, in recording the statement of the traumatised and in getting treatment in hospitals.
4. All political parties may take strong action against any of their party-persons making derogatory remarks. 
5. The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha (and equivalent counterparts in the States) may decide how they would treat errant MPs and MLAs. MLAs may involve Zila Parishads, sarpanchs and the panchayats in their areas for creating a social impact. 
6. The Ministry of Human Resource Development may take steps so that all teachers across the country give repeated talks on the dignity of the individual; the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare may do this through NGOs. 
7. While the cases are yet to be proved, the alleged perpetrators in the case of Gudiya were found to belong to villages or have strong familial links in other states. Is this a chance situation or are they migrant population with no steady base? 
8. There have been a lot of discussions on the punishment to be awarded to rapists / brutal rapists. It must be remembered that the person who has been raped suffers not just physical and mental trauma, but for the rest of her life, and through no fault of hers she would also suffer negative attention or even ridicule from society at large. A quid pro quo would require the perpetrator to face not just physical and mental suffering, but also society’s ridicule for the rest of his life – a public castration would perhaps met this requirement with the added advantage that hardly any man would be willing to have some hours of “enjoyment” if he is to deprived of his manhood forever. 

The above are just a few suggestions; the great minds in our country could come up with several more ideas, all of which must be tried concurrently. But for this to happen we need leadership.

If only we had a strong and caring Prime Minister, Home Minister, Home Secretary and Special Secretary, Internal Security in the Union Government (and their counter parts in the States). Or even anyone of them being strong and really really concerned,

(An excellent post on this issue appears  on a blog : Another I liked is available here - do read these to get different perspectives and thoughts)

India, sans accountability of the elite class – our bureaucrats

A mail going around in my circle commented upon the Lokpal recommended by Anna Hazare as not being accountable to anyone. While not going into this issue, the thought that came to my mind was whether we really have accountability in our country.

The most recent instance of a true farce has been our President accepting the mercy petition and commuting the death sentence of a man (Tidke) who had died five years ago! And the ridiculous argument given was that the file was moved only 2-3 years ago? But why was the file only moved 2-3 years ago? Obviously the plea had been filed, at the very latest, in 2007. So who was responsible for the delay of the intervening period? And if the pardon was accorded only now, what was the new development which took place which allowed a decision to be FINALLY taken –unless of course it was the Supreme Court looking into these delays. (http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/India/Death-by-waiting-India-s-mercy-plea-debate/Article1-833887.aspx) And the rationale in according the decision very obviously was NOT the petitioner’s behaviour till date. The president’s office has also clarified that all the cases had been examined by the Home Minister and that they were fully satisfied that the government had tendered its advice properly. (http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3570321.ece).  But the moot question is – who is responsible for the entire situation which has resulted in the country’s highest office becoming a laughing stock? I have not read in the newspapers of any action being initiated against anyone.

We have another infamous case of the appointment of Mr. Thomas as the Chief Vigilance Commissioner. While I have commented in detail on this case in an earlier post (https://sahaas.blogspot.com/2011/03/does-probity-of-pm-and-others-allow.html), which officials of the State and Central Government were hauled up for both the delay and the blunder? No one!!

Then let’s look at the ‘demise’ of Air India, due to sheer mismanagement and wrong decisions. It has been run by bureaucrats for several decades – but who has heard of any probe into the causes of the failure or of any bureaucrat being questioned in this matter?

And there is the case of construction being permitted in Noida Extension and then stopped by the court. Who is bothered about the sufferings of the general public who have booked flats there? And which officials were involved in the granting of permission in the first place – have they been penalized in any manner? Such cases are innumerable - one can just go on and on.

The administration of the States rests with the IAS. But look at the way they turn a blind eye to the most obvious – the pitiable condition of departments they manage – the roads, the encroachment of pavements, the illegal colonies to name only a few. When we have the tragic case of Mahi, or of elephants being hit on the highway, the names of the private individuals involved surfaces immediately, but in matters of officialdom, all is shrouded in a veil of secrecy.

Like in all other matters, we have good bureaucrats and bad ones – why as a country have we given up our rights to have this class too in the dock, just like any other government employee, for cases of malafides, poor decisions, procrastinations, crass negligence, turning a blind eye to wrongs and last, but not the least, an inability to administer and run efficient departments and organisations - forget they being examples for others to emulate?

Air India - Human fuel needed to be airborne

Air India's pilots, engineers, cabin crew, ground staff etc. have not been paid salaries for several months. And these are the human beings that are the most essential components of the airline to keep aeroplanes flying. The woes of the staff came to my knowledge recently when I was travelling; one of the airhostesses narrated the plight. I wondered if the salaries of CMD and directors of Air India were also stopped! It would be very unlikely as senior bureaucrats would have been hurt. It is sensational to learn from the Minister of Civil Aviation that the government made a mistake by merging erstwhile Air India and Indian Airlines (Indian) and the post merger actions by the government and the airlines had many gaps in making the merger a success. For the mistakes of bureaucrats and politicians and some others involved in the decision making, the consequences are passed onto the employees of the airlines who are expected to quietly accept them.

I watched a discussion on TV yesterday (Who killed Air India on The Buck Stops Here) and was stunned to hear the views of Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh and of some others in the panel. The Minister said that the government and management were responsible for the wrong decisions leading to the failure and that, though the Dharmadikari report was submitted in January, they will still take a few months to START discussing it. Despite this, he feels it is the Unions and employees who have to realise that they have a stake in Air India’s survival. He says he empathises with them but also that he expects them to continue to be  - silent sufferers? The panellists like Manish Tiwari, a Congress MP and R P Rudy, BJP (ex Civil Aviation Minister) said many things in a similar vein and that the government has walked the extra mile and it is the pilots who need to ask themselves the questions. I have nothing to do with Air India but I definitely have HUGE issues with such remarks. Those who were pontificating against the pilots – have they looked at the issues consequent upon one single action – not getting salary regularly, on time. As a retired salaried person I can well understand the difficulties faced if there are delays of even a few days in getting the salary. What do they expect the Air India staff to do – go around with a begging bowl to their friends, relatives and neighbours?

I wonder for how many days, salary was not paid to the administrative staff of the civil aviation ministry, the Minister of Civil Aviation himself, the CMD and other members of the Board of Air India etc.?  And here also count in the perquisites since that comprises their major remuneration. So let’s try an exercise – for six months do not pay the top brass in the Ministry and the board of Air India their salary and perks – and so during this period, no medical facilities unless they are paid for, no conveyance facility but you still have to reach office on your own, no telephone or mobile, and most important of all no house to stay in – after all the landlord would have evicted you because rent has not been paid. Let their children face the embarrassment of frequent reminders for fees in front of their classmates. And let loaners come knocking at the doors since EMI is delayed. And additionally let them get a permanent bad credit history. And then, with something like a level playing field so that we can see true empathy, let them air their views in such open debates.

And look at the justifications – that just because the ground staff and Air hostesses did not go on strike despite not getting paid, it was wrong for the pilots to go on strike. I wonder what point was being made – that just because some victims of child abuse or some rape victims do not speak out, it is wrong for any child or rape victim to speak out or to lodge a complaint. How ridiculous can you get?

There was a comment that the pilots are well qualified and if they were so dissatisfied they could easily look for another job. Maybe that is why the pilots spoke out, the airhostesses and ground staff could not muster the courage. And just because the politicians and bureaucrats who took the wrong decisions are “not qualified”,they are apparently entitled to remain in their seats, get their salary and perks and their promotions, without being accountable to anyone.

Courts have held “no work, no pay”. Why not “No pay, no work”? But obviously such expectations are only one sided?

So very many wrong decisions were taken – a very small one being that of changing the name to “Indian” and repainting this on the Aircraft without looking at the cost and its impact on payload,  (please see an earlier post of August 2011 Air India on ventilator ).

And the Minister was quite righteous while saying that Air India needs to be closed down and that the merger decision was a mistake. But this mistake was not made by the pilots or the ground staff, yet he feels that what he says is only correct. This decision was taken by the politicians and bureaucracy – let’s hear how many bureaucrats and politicians are being punished for this – how many of them, past to current, have lost their jobs, their pensions and their reputation? Or, as is usual, have the politicians and bureaucrats got accolades and plum postings and it is the hapless victims of these wrong decisions who, the present politicians and bureaucrats feel, can justifiably be further punished?