Hindu Name bearing Comrades,Prove your secular credentials!

Hindu Name bearing Comrades,Prove your secular credentials!

6/28/2007 3:40:23 AM HK
Thiruvananthapuram: If Sudhagaran is waging war against Hindus openly, M.A.Baby, the cultural Minister is waging it covertly.

The communist Ministers find immense pleasure in humiliating Hindus in the state. By announcing Raja Ravi Varma award to notorious painter M.F.Hussein initially and now by withdrawing the Sri Padmanabha Swami award, Baby gave a clear signal to Sudhagaran that he too is with him in competing to humiliate Hindus.

The decision to withdraw the award is taken because the award is in the name of a ‘Hindu God’!

Mahakavi Akkitham, who is also in advisory board of Kerala Sahithya Academy told that, No discussions were conducted and haven’t sought the opinion of other members before taking this decision. Cultural Organisation Tapsya vehemently criticised this attempt to humiliate the culture of Hindus in Kerala.

If the name of ‘Hindu Gods’ are a threat to secular nature of the state, then we urge Baby to rename his Party leaders bearing the Hindu God names. We request Achuthanandan(Lord Krishna), Kodiyeri Balakrishnan (Lord Krishna) and Pinarai Vijayan (Vijayan=Arjun) to prove their secular colour by shedding the present name as it violates the new ‘Secular Norms’ of their fellow Christian Comrade M.A.Baby.

K.Venugopal 6/28/2007 11:38:21 AM

There is another aspect to this. When Hindus converted to Christianity and Islam, they adopted Western and Arabic names respectively but when they 'converted' to Communism, they did not adopt Russian or Chinese names. What would have happened if they did? They and their subsequent generations would have gone completely outside the Hindu pale, as Christians and Muslims have gone. The same goes for atheist DMK too. Small mercy they retained their Hindu names and are Hindus at least by name! Many Christians, particularly in Maharashtra, retain Hindu names and have, maybe for this reason, not totally cut-off from the Hindu mainstream. Imagine if our Buddhist converts have Japanese names! So 'what is in a name?' is a pregnant question.

The “Nothing-to-do Man” – a challenge to all activists.

18:17 8/Jun/2007
2 Comment(s)

The “Nothing-to-do Man” – a challenge to all activists.

I had a few days back posted a blog quoting the “Nothing-to-do Man”’s letter upon retirement. In these days when people feel more restless upon retirement than when they were gainfully employed, he is an odd-man-out. Aren’t we ever trying to do more and more so as to gain more, whether monetary-wise, fame-wise or popularity-wise? But here’s this guy, who is well educated, was in a senior well-paid position in a leading oil-company in the Middle East, well liked by whoever came across him, turning down equally good offers that came to him to continue aboard, moving away from it all for the quietude of a spiritual life, without, of course, absconding from any of his family commitments. How does one live without doing anything?

Since this gentleman is not onto activity of any kind, except talking kindly whenever the philosophy of life is discussed in his presence (and of course, being dutifully of help to his wife in running the household!), we will have to coax him into becoming a blogger. That, I think, would enrich the discourse on this blogsphere.

In an attempt to coax him, I call upon bloggers to write as to whether they feel that in order to be happy, we have to be doing one thing or the other. This, I think, would provide him the ‘ammunition’ to come abroad on this blogsphere and point out the alternative. I assure you, then, we shall hear a voice of a different kind.

Sandil Srinivasan said...
7:58 PM 27/Jun/07

He needs to undertake anything at all, that he feels is reasonably achievable. At that age, expectations from life, and from others are lower. Blogging is a great way to channel out specific thoughts in his own arena, as well as have people read what he talks about. A great forum, and he really ought to go for it.

Watch, and thou shalt live forever!

venu10.rediffiland.com/
Thursday 28 June, 2007

17:25 23/Jun/2007
2 Comment(s)

All of us are alive. And we experience. They say we can experience everything, even near death, but not death. Do we really die? All religions believe in an after-life. In fact, Hindus believe in life after life ad infinitum. They also say what spoils life is our fear of death. Not just physical death, but death or end of a situation or circumstance that we like. And therefore we try to hold on to what we like or love – and prevent what we dislike from happening. Maybe the antidote is to let-go. This we can only if we turn from being possessors (of what we like) to simply ‘watchers’. Let’s watch life and its impact on us and let it be. Maybe in the watching, fear would drop off. And we shall know that we are deathless.

Sandil Srinivasan said...
7:57 PM 27/Jun/07
Contrary to popular belief that Indians are generally spiritual, it''s a hard fact, but Indians -- generally -- are more materialistic than Spiritual. It would take a lot of reconditioning to shift focus from the micro to the macro.

Dear Sandil, It might be that more Indians are material rather than spiritual. But spirituality (as opposed to the religious) is such a rare thing in other countries that spirituality seems to be overwhelming in India. About your usage of the words micro and macro, spirituality is actually about the micro and not macro solution if by these words we mean individual and social respectively. That is to say, the solution to the human problem is at the individual level and not social level.

Swami Ayyappan

Dear Hindu Icon,

I was trying to get an historical information but was not successful, though I checked the Net. During which period did Swami Iyappa live? I ask this because it is said that Vavar was a Muslim. Did Iyappa live after Mohammad? Please elucidate.

FORGOTTEN HISTORY OF INDIAN FIGHTBACK AGAINST ISLAMIC RULE

Khusro Khan – A Hindu convert briefly overthrows the Khilji dynasty in 1320In the early 14th century (1312) Gujarat was overrun by the Muslim tyrants of who had a century earlier occupied Delhi. As was customary, the Muslims slaughtered countless Hindu victims after every victory. They also carried off many beautiful women and handsome young man as captives, to be used as sex slaves. One such handsome child was Khusro Khan. This was not his original name when he was carried off as a prisoner at the age of eleven. Even at that tender age, he had chiseled features and was fair complexioned. He belonged to the Makwana sub-caste of North Gujarat.As was the custom, all captives were forcibly converted to Islam and brought up as slaves. After nearly fifteen years in captivity Khusro Khan forgot what his original name was. He only faintly recollected that he had a different childhood which he shared with the other captives from Gujarat.His stunning features and fair complexion evoked the perverted lust of his captor Sultan Allaudin Khilji’s perverted son, Qutbuddin Mubarak Khalji. He like his more notorious father Alauddin Khalji, were in love with their young male slaves. Qutbuddin Mubarak had a particular fondness for his slave Khusro Khan and as a teenager, Khusro was sexually abused by Qutbuddin Mubarak for eight years.Khusro seethed for revenge against this barbarity that robbed him of his childhood and early youth.In 1320, Qutbuddin murdered his ageing father Allaudin and crowned himself emperor. By then Khushro had acquired a position of influence over Qutbuddin. Khusro had also used this influence to gather other captives like him and had arm them to make up Qutbuddin’s bodyguard. Khusro often wanted to put a sword through the Sultan and kill him while he was doing the immoral act of publicly kissing him. All through his teens, Khusro was forced to publicly offer his body to the Sultan like a prostitute. He did this apparent cheer, but within himself he was seething with rage and had been choking up with a desire for revenge at the way the Sultan forced himself upon him and took advantage of him.During the struggle for power in 1320 when Qutbuddin murdered his ageing father, Khusro got his chance. Qutbuddin had put his trust in his partner in perverted sex, Khusro and put him in charge of guarding his royal quarters. Qutbuddin Mubarak excluded all his father’s men from important duties in the palace and the army.Taking advantage of his position and the general resentment for Qutbuddin, Khusro murdered Qutbuddin Mubarak Khilji, and crowned himself king and assumed the title Khusro Khan. And what was a shock to the whole of India, especially to the Muslims occupying Delhi was that Khusro declared himself to be a Hindu again!! When he ascended the throne, Khusro Khan was only nineteen years of age. The Muslim nobility was shell-shocked, but with the strong contigent of Gujarati converts around Khusro Khan, they were momentarily stunned into inaction. However, they began plotting the overthrow of Khusro Khan – who in their eyes was a Murtad who had abjured Islam.Eventually, after a year, a Muslim General Ghazi Malik (who later took on the title Giyasuddin Tughlak) murdered Khusro and re-established the rule of Muslims in Delhi. After a brief interlude of Hindu rule, Ghazi Malik founded the Tughluq dynasty. But this event proved that if the Hindus had the determination grit and shrewdness, they could overturn Muslim rule in India. A dream that was to be realized later by the Marathas when they marched in to Delhi in 1720.

Venu Gopal said...
7:11 PM 27/Jun/07
Marvellous piece of history. By your reckoning, if the British had not come, would the Hindus have decimated the Muslims and re-established Hindu rule in India? Was it because the by then weakened Muslim rulers could not defeat the British (and the Hindus were not yet militarily prepared to take on the British) that the British ruled India?

Sush shouts back

Without retaliation, evils would one day become extinct from the world -- Anonymous.True, that. And evil lives up to expectations. Here's the BJP hitting back at the Sena for making their pick on the basis of regionalism. And Sushma Swaraj, a woman who tends to invite more respect than criticism, isn't exactly pleased.
"We are pained over the decision. It was not proper to take a decision concerning the next President of India based on regionalism"Which brings me to a topic of discussion -- on *what* basis is the decision made after all? Qualification? Reputation? Potential? Race? Culture? Religion? Skills? Authority? Arrogance? Humility? Diplomacy?What I need, as a citizen of this nation, is more transparency on the entire process. This is a figure who overlooks most national issues. This is a figure who has a reputation of being a rubber-stamp, but actually has potential to make a huge, huge difference. This is a figure that needs to match the arrogance of the West with the humility and love of the East, yet be firm. The toughest job in India, and heck, it better be the best choice.Oh -- and choices -- apparently Pratibha Patil isn't the best. Neither is Shekhawat. Kalam's ruled out. Oops -- we're a nation in doubt of who's the ideal choice. Mega oops. Somewhere down the line, I'd like to see Pavan K Verma in the seat.For now, a certain Gandhi must be giggling to herself -- two decades of bonding, shattered by a Presidential candidate? Brilliant!Whoever said the Italians couldn't play politics ...
Venu Gopal said...
6:50 PM 27/Jun/07
Sandil, You are a master writer. And the saying you''ve quoted, "Without retaliation, evils would one day become extinct from the world." is quite true. But since we are normally nothing but our ego, we need evil so we can go on evil-bashing trips. It soothes our ego. Long live evil!

Rules from God for 2007

stacysin.rediffiland.com/
Tuesday 19 June, 2007

15:48 14/May/2007 7 Comment(s)
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Rules from God for 2007
1. Wake Up!! Decide to have a good day. "Today is the day the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" Psalms 118:24
2. Dress Up!! The best way to dress up is to put on a smile. A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks. "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at outward appearance; but the Lord looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7
3. Shut Up!! Say nice things and learn to listen. God gave us two ears and one mouth, so He must have meant for us to do twice as much listening as talking. "He who guards his lips guards his soul." Proverbs 13:3
4. Stand Up!!...For what you believe in. Stand for something or you will fall for anything.. "Let us not be weary in doing good; for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good..." Galatians 6:9-10
5. Look Up!!... To the Lord. "I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13
6. Reach Up!!... For something higher. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, And He will direct your path." Proverbs 3:5-6
7. Lift Up!!... Your Prayers. "Do not worry about anything; Instead PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING." Philippians 4:6

Venu Gopal said...
7:53 PM 19/Jun/07
There is so much of inspiration in the words of the bible as in other scriptures and works of literature. But why do missionaries propound the fallacy that Jesus alone is the saviour?

Bal's to ban Orkut

Bal's to ban Orkut
Oh, c'mon -- this is real foolish. Of all the issues our nation has to deal with, banning a website? Er -- hello -- where are the priorities? Are the Sena blind? Don't they see the pro-India communities on orkut at all?Incidentally, who are these folks to ban Orkut in India -- or for that matter, any site at all? Are these the custodians of our cyberspace? Why not just snub this?And, hey, does this mean that in this cover-up of freedom to express, no one can speak against a force like the Sena? Besides, does it really matter? To each their own, after all, and what *really* matters is how issues are dealt with on the soil, rather than in virtual orkutville. And will the mere banning of a website ensure the death of the anti-Seniate waves across India? Sh-ure it will. Like di Caprio suggests in The Departed -- 'these are questions, you know', and the Sena ought to ask themselves a few. Oops -- and here goes my iLand space. Banned. 'Coz I spoke out loud against them.Democracy, this. Yeah, rrright. And we shall vote.
Venu Gopal said...
3:09 PM 12/Jun/07
Absolute freedom (to do anything we want) would be available only in our minds. Once we step out into the world at large, we have to ensure that we do not trespass others'' freedom. This, of course, would ever be a tricky situation - for one man''s meat is another''s poison. However, now that the Internet has come along, I think it is vital that we leave this never-before kind of space absolutely free for all and any expression without any restriction whatsoever. The internet must be safeguarded as the most sacrosanct space for free speech available to man. It is our best bet to launch war against all fascist tendencies. Therefore, though we may disagree with what is in the net, we must defend with all our might the net''s freedom – never mind the Shiv Sainiks.

The 'Nothing-to-do' man.

The ‘Nothing-to-do’ man.
[Many years ago, my friend in a foreign country had to leave his job. On that occasion, he had written an open letter to all his colleagues and friends. I revisited his letter after many years and have his permission to share it with the bloggers at Rediffmail. I may add that it has been over a decade since he left his job and he has very much kept his word. He has not been doing much since, not because he retired with a pile of money, but because he has become free from the trap of doing.]

After a 13½ years long association with . . ., I will be leaving on . . . Working with . . . has been a unique experience. The friendly, informal and down-to-earth interactions with various people have been a source of joy for me throughout my association with the company. It is a culture that I shall cherish wherever I go. You might be perhaps curious to know as to what I shall do henceforth. Frankly speaking, I will be on a pursuit to drop all pursuits. I have always been asking myself: Why am I doing what I am doing? What is it that I really want? And what is that which is going to eliminate all wants and urges and bring in a state of full contentment and completeness?. This has brought in a process of unwinding in my life and now I remain fully convinced that for fullness - the final home-coming - I have absolutely nothing to do, nothing to know and nothing to seek, as all pursuits are controlled by mental connections, caused by delusion. As Tao says: Sitting silently, the grass grows by itself, the sun shines by itself, the rain falls by itself and the river flows by itself. The entire realm of knowledge is summed up with a simple comment: Do not push the river.This understanding has emboldened me to live my future life without any ambitions, without any plans, without any schemes and without any fixations - moment to moment in a state of let-go. Thus, being a “mainstream drop-out”, my life is going to be a journey along a different path, or a pathless path.My address in India will be . . .If you happen to visit India any time, you are welcome to come and spend a few days with me and have exposure to a different lifestyle. Although I may not be able to offer you the comforts that are available here, I can give you one guarantee – what I have you too will have.

AttiDude said...
9:11 PM 7/Jun/07
how does he sustain his daily life?? but its amazing that someone cud actually do it...great!

Dear AttiDude, He is indeed an amazing guy. Keeping body and soul together is not a monetary problem for him. But then minimal expense is not a problem for a large number of us. The question is, what do we do after we have fed ourselves? Do we have any other hungers? If we have, then mark it - they are all hungers of the mind and not the poor body. Even the body needs so little if we go by the stomach. It is the tongue that makes us want much more. And so on and so forth.

Sandil Srinivasan said...
8:59 PM 7/Jun/07
:-) What finally happened?

Dear Sandil,

Finally, he lived happily ever after. Dear Sandil, this person is the genuine one. He stays in Pune. His phone number is 952065208490. I call him from Mumbai. Therefore you may have to change the initial numbers if you are calling from a different town or maybe you don't have to because the phone, I think, is a mobile. Anyway, do try to speak him. You'll find him refreshing.

Abhishek Shandilya said...
7:51 PM 7/Jun/07
What happened to him then? I want to meet him.

Dear Abhyishek,

You are in luck. The “Nothing to do” man stays in Pune. I understand you also live in Pune. I call him on 952065208490 from Mumbai. You could probably drop the first few digits if you are calling from Pune. Do call him and strive to meet him.

World Environment Day

hindutva.rediffiland.com/
Wednesday 6 June, 2007

By hindu icon 18:35 5/Jun/2007 0 Comment(s)
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WORLD ENVIORMENT DAY
WISHING U ALL WORLD ENVIORMENT DAY.a day to look back and see wat we hav done to mother earth.let us all just go back to our birth and visualise the earth we inherited from our forefathers and look at wat we r handing over to our wards.the kind of destruction wrought on earth by us should put us to shame.we r heading the dinosour way i.e to our extinction.we all as children of MAA BHARATI hav the responsibilty of bringing back semblance of equilibrium by applying the principles of VEDAS in our life and by that prompting the world to act.VANDE MATRAM.
Venu Gopal said...
9:23 AM 6/Jun/07
The Vedas talk about being in harmony with nature while the Semitic religions talk about exploiting nature. Am I correct or fair in making such a sweeping statement?

Beirut and the big-daddy

itsandil.rediffiland.com/
Saturday 2 June, 2007

By Sandil Srinivasan 01:16 2/Jun/2007 0 Comment(s)
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Beirut and the big-daddy
While YouTubin', I came across this message of peace, from a band I love, and for a conflict I've followed from birth. The preface, for those who know little about this blogger, is that I was born and lived all my life in Dubai, before finally connecting to the roots effectively, and relocating back to India in August 2006. Since then, there's been little media coverage (in my backyard, atleast) of the Arab conflict -- and understandably, as our nation has its own set of issues to deal with. And while I focused on understanding issues local to me, from the OBC reservations to stray dogs in Bangalore, Beirut went entirely off my radar. That, until my uncle (who's a Lebanese) arrived in Bangalore this April, for a thirty-day vacation. They may come across as the not-so-intelligent, violent lot, and that's very ironic, because Arabs are generally peace-loving and God-fearing.I can go on and on about the conflict there, from the Palestine uprising, to targeted attacks by (and on) Israel, to Iran funding Hezbollah, to the Syrian presence in Lebanon -- sigh. Rather, you'd wiki/google it all. But what I'd definitely get into, is the occidentalism, the ideas that persist around the Arab world, and a lot of that has rubbed off. Where, for Pete's sake, is the oh-so-concerned-about-the-rest-of-the-world America? Where are the peace-keeping forces? Why doesn't that region get enough humanitarian support, funding, infrastructure? The UAE Red Crescent have been doing a good job, almost from day one of the conflict, but it requires international reaction, recognition, awareness and support. Especially from the US of A.Wait, maybe I'm being unfair to the continent. I retract my statement -- so, where the freakin' hell is the United States of -- er -- Bush. And oops, there's the conflict of interest. It's no secret, that the USA and Israel are quite 'friendly', to say the least. This whole ball-talk of the 'war on terrorism', anti-terrorism units, retaining peace -- sigh, that's one helluva cover-up. The ground reality, if one's willing to investigate and find out, is harsh. Very harsh. The difference this time around, is that the 'custodians of peace' inflict terrorism on 'lesser-beings', through war and rampage.And in this whole militarysexual harrasment of Lebanon, the quiet, inactive United Nations serve as silent brokers to the whole setup. They facilitate, they support, but with a touch of diplomacy.On the streets, we call them pimps.My uncle, who's a Maronite Catholic, and has obvious apprehension towards the military-might of Hezbollah, always spoke against that unit, that 'bunch of radical Shiites'. Today, he hangs his head in shame, and sadly admits that his nation is now being protected by the Hezbollah. Hence -- he's forced to support the 'militant outfit'. Militant-shiliant. Hezbollah, for the record, run a political party, an official television broadcast channel, and an unofficial radio service in Lebanon. After dragging all that material above, here's my point: we (India) need to be more selective in who we pick as allies -- ethically, environmentally, politically, and from a military standpoint. We need to strike a decent balance between how much we allow other (less-ethical?) nations to dictate, control and contribute to our growth and expansion. And, for a country with relatively lesser religious-conflict these days in the context of our population, perhaps we have a lesson or two to teach, or a message of peace that can reach out. Until then, I'll leave you folks with this open thread on whether you think that having Bush as our big-daddy is healthy for our people, or not. Maybe our leaders should stop sucking up to him.And for those retarded folk who do love the 21st century's American-flavoured Hitler, hate-mail is welcome.
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Venu Gopal said...
10:50 AM 2/Jun/07
Arabs are no less than others are when it comes to greatness. Lebanese are particularly brilliant. They are a very colourful people. Such a beautiful country and with many vigorous and cultured communities. Alas, the balance tilted in Lebanon when Muslims took to Islamic fanaticism in the 70s and their fratricidal war with the Lebanese Christians ensued, reducing large parts of Beirut, particularly, to rubble. Even here, it was not a direct Muslim-Christian war. There was much aligning and de-aligning amongst disparate forces. All wars or battles are brutal and inhuman, but the Lebanese, being what they are, infused much romanticism about the whole affair. Finally, it was the Druze, who though counted as Muslims, but is decidedly of different orientation, who brought the war to a decisive end. (Please correct me if I am wrong.)

Venu Gopal said...
10:27 AM 2/Jun/07
While India should have close relations with the Arabs (which it already has, particularly to appease the Muslims at home), if we had aligned with Israelis from the beginning, they would have helped us in our agricultural endeavors and we might not be having farmer suicides today. Israel could also have been our major military supplier. But we chose to recognize Israel only when even the Arabs began to do so. This is a result of Indian polity being not genuinely secular but only pseudo-secular. Today, America can offer us far more economically than other countries. Moreover, we are both democratic countries, which cannot be said of the Arab block. Therefore, we must pursue closer relationship with America and be wary of undemocratic (or partially democratic) religious regimes like Iran.

slipperyways nMe said...
10:40 AM 2/Jun/07
bush or mush...... no better....but this is american policy. if bush had not been there, would have been someone else......even if Bush goes, the next president will be same...US will continue to dictate the world through its policies...which does not show any sign of change...till now....