2nd Anniversary

My blog is 2 today!

It’s growing and growing well! I look back like a proud father, who’s worked hard, written a bit and read a lot. But it’s time to indulge in some nostalgia!

Blog was a geeky word and world for me, but I did dive into it, hoping to make some sense. Someone said, the best thing about a Blog is, you decide what you want to publish – No Editor! No editor and that too for a fresher in writing is music to ones ears. The long dormant creative juices started flowing and I penned my first few articles.

My wife was the first guinea pig when it came to reading what (or whatever?) I wrote. Her comments were like a medical capsule – sweet outside and truth inside! But she egged me on and I unleashed a barrage of articles in my Blog. Festivals, occasions and events all were associated with Mythology and occasionally I even expressed my views on some current affairs.

Some good friends started reading and forwarding and soon more and more people started liking it. From a few forced readers, (who had no choice) to 300 visitors a day in my Blog as of today; more than 250 articles in a span of 2 years – I don’t know if this is good, bad or ugly, but as they say – I’m lovin' it!!

Thanks to all of you who have been reading and a special thanks to those who are forwarding – where would I be without you guys?!?

Friday the 13th

The world is scared of today, today being “Friday the 13^th”, but not India. We have been living in such a situation for so many months and years now. The sinister day is just a personification of the state of times we live in –

• Any day can be a Friday the 13^th to molest women in crowded streets, with the cops doing nothing or much 
• Any day can be a Friday the 13^th for train blasts which can happen anytime and the victims left on the altar of justice to seek justice (today is the anniversary of the 13/7 blasts) and pick up the threads of their shredded life
• Any day can be a Friday the 13^th to remind us about the sorry state that we live in where women in some places are asked not to wear western clothes and use cell phone, as this leads to law and order problems 
• Any day can be a Friday the 13^th if we decide to go out and enjoy ourselves, as the moral cop is waiting on the sides with a hockey-stick to catch innocent merry makers, letting hard-nosed criminals pass by
• Any day can be a Friday the 13^th to remind us that we live in times when the politicians and the powerful enjoy themselves, both inside and outside the jails, and ordinary mortals are trying to make ends meet, without even saying “ouch” – some charge sheeted politicians can even plan to go to the London Olympics 
• Any day can be a Friday the 13^th for us to realise that our teaching institutes are turning to barbaric acts of discipline and scarring our children for a life time
• Any day can be a Friday the 13^th to tell us that today people can die in hospitals not for medical reasons, but political and negligence 

What is a Friday the 13^th when we live the day in and day out?

For those interested in the origins of the day, please read my previous article on the day - Friday the 13th!! This is Utkarsh Speaking: Friday the 13th!!

Caste System

A recent TV show has brought back the discussion on Caste System. Since childhood (which was quite a long time back!), we have read about the ills of Caste system, but am surprised to see the same thing being discussed and I recently found myself teaching my child about the same. The discussion brought up many things, besides the issue that is caste pre-decided? Does one inherit a caste based on his birth? To rephrase it, is caste more of an accident than choice? Was this how it was envisaged in the first place? 

Well, as they say, let’s begin at the very beginning….

According to the Purusha sukta (Purusha sukta is a set of hymns from the Rig Veda which deals with the subject of Creation); every aspect of the universe was created from the cosmic Purusha, man. From his mouth, arms, thighs and feet were born the four varnas, or classes’ of people, viz. Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. The apparent objective of this class-based society was division of labour. The Brahmins were to take the responsibility of teaching (which also involved research and upholding the religious and related institutions). The Kshatriyas were to take care of all the people, govern and provide security to their subjects. The Vaishyas were entrusted with carrying on the responsibility of business, which was farming and cattle-rearing, besides doing all such acts that generated revenue. Finally, the Shudras were to provide services which could be in the form of providing labour. Division of labour is not an unheard subject; rather all societies (and organizations) work towards this.

So far so good….

The ills started to be visible, when domination of one led to discrimination with the other. Of all, the Shudra was the most oppressed and discrimination led to their isolation from the mainstream. The foremost issue that comes up, is – is caste pre-decided? What if the son of a Brahmin is brave and capable of fighting for an army? What if the son of a Vaishya is intelligent enough to become a teacher? What if the son of a Shudra is able to transcend his caste into any of the other professions? 

It is here that things have gone haywire. The caste system was purely for division of labour and if someone was good in another area, they were not stopped. There have been examples of such crossing of caste barriers which have gone down well with the-then powers-that-be and nobody has quite raised even an eyebrow. Let us see some examples –

Sage Vishwamitra – Vishwamitra was a Kshatriya ruler, Kaushika. Once King Kaushika stopped by the hermitage of Sage Vasishta, who ensured that the King and his army were treated to a lavish meal. Kaushika was surprised at the arrangements and enquired of the Sage about such arrangements. The sage told him about his calf, Nandini who had provided for everything needed for the meal, and that the calf was the daughter of Lord Indra’s cow, Kamdhenu. On learning this, the King asked for the calf as he could do more justice to its powers than a sage in a remote hermitage, and even agreed to pay a price for her. When the sage declined form parting with it, Kaushika tried to take it away by force. Sage Vasishta, then through his yogic powers waged a war with the army of the King and soon took the King as a prisoner. The sage pardoned Kaushika and let him go. Kaushika then learnt a lesson that power was not in physical strength or in an army, there was greater power in knowledge and from that day, he started his quest for this power in the form of penance. To cut a long story short, after many trials, he was accorded the title of Brahmarishi by none other than Sage Vasishta himself. An example of a Kshatriya becoming a sage and being accepted by the community.

Parashuram – Parashuram was not a Kshatriya, but all that we know of him has to do with wars and battles. His rage against the Kshatriya caste is well known and is said to have spent a lifetime in eliminating the Kshatriyas from the face of the earth. Whatever one knows about Parashuram, has got to be with his acts of warfare and his teaching the said skills to some of the well known characters of Mahabharata, like Bhishma, Drona and Karna. His association with axe as his weapon is also well know. 

Dronacharya – Dronacharya in the epic Mahabharata was born as a Brahmin. His youth was spent in poverty, but he trained under Parashuram, and was an expert in the arts of weapon and warfare. Later he goes on to become the military teacher for the Pandavas and Kauravas and was also a general during the war of Kurukshetra. A Brahmin, who was an expert in the art of war and weapons.

Finally, an example from History.

Chandragupta Maurya – Chandragupta was a Shudra, but went on to become the ruler of the Magadh Empire and he was brought in to rule, by none other than a Brahmin, Chanakya. Chanakya had to face strong criticism and opposition from the then clergy who opposed this move of his, but Chanakya argued and stood his ground. During one such argument, he is supposed to have said that the caste system, did not allow anyone to inherit ones caste based on ones birth, but it had more to do with one’s ability and capability. Chandragupta went on to become the founder of the Mauryan Empire and was also credited to be the first unifier of India and one of the finest Emperors that India has seen.

Detractors will say that the caste bias existed in the epics which I have quoted, and is visible when Dronacharya declines from teaching the likes of Karna and Eklavya saying that they couldn’t take training under him since they were not Kshatriyas. I would see this not as an issue of caste, but more as a case of favouritism. Arjuna was Drona’s favourite and he wanted him to be the best archer and that was the driving force behind not training the two. 

This brings us back to the issue of caste system as many of us know it. The ills of caste system and the exploitation started centuries back. This happened when the interpretation was changed from a logical division to the politics of division. The masters of interpretation became the twisters of many a fate. Once the practice of Sati had sanction in religious texts, but it did not find any place in a modern society. Human sacrifices and animal sacrifices have given way to symbolic sacrifices of vegetables. Many such aspects have been given a decent burial and we have moved on, without hurting anybody’s religious sentiments. 

Why can’t the same happen to the caste-system, which has outlived its time and relevance, if any?

The God Particle

The Higgs Boson Particle or the God Particle has stirred a hornet’s nest in the sense that its opened or rather re-opened the debate of religion and science. The triumphant images of Scientists feeling euphoric about the yet-to-be-declared-great-discovery-but-nearly-there, is seen to be believed. Being Indian, I too felt great and the next day read much about Satyendra Nath Bose (the only thing common between us is that we belong to the same state!) & Einstein (nothing common between us!) and indulged myself in some scientific reading and felt good. 

But then somewhere, the I in me questioned me as to why was this so important? Just how will my life change due to this yet-to-be-declared discovery? Okay, I don’t understand the full implications of this concept, but then was I living without it quite well and happy, if I may add so. Just how has Mr. Einstein’s “E=mc²” helped me in life, except to add to my troubles when I was in school? If Newton had not told me about gravity, would I be balancing apples in the air? I would still keep then in my fruit-bowl and if today I have my feet firm on the ground, then it has more to do with my upbringing than gravity! 

Science is so important and my folks would yell their lungs out whenever they saw my Report card in school (oops, I guess, the cat is out of the bag). In Physics they taught me to use a Vernier Caliper and I never got a single reading right and thank god that I have never needed to use it in my life time. I never needed to see things in Reflections or Refractions; I see them straight, as they say, in-the-eye! The Organics and Inorganics of the Chemistry that my teacher in school struggled with, only made me more Physical (with agitation) then and over time the problems only Compunded and got me into my Elements! Biology was trifle helpful as it told me how to grow plants, which I do only in my namesake balcony and introduced me to some important body parts like the kidney and liver, which needs to pumped with you-know-what regularly and my other body parts which are of great use to me. The teacher did teach me about the brain too, but I guess I lost it to all the science that my folks wanted me to master, to no significant practical use in my later life. 

But then back to Higgs-Boson. The world and its neighbor are going gaga (not the Lady this time) about it and I am yet to fathom all about the atoms, or is it the particles? After all the discussions on the telly and the stuff in the newspaper, I understood that the whole thing has something to do with mass and matter. At my stage in life and the people I get to move around, we only understand mass, the bulk of it and matter, the lack of it, and the fact that in many of us, it is inversely proportional!

Well I made my efforts to understand the Higgs-Boson and I understand one thing, there is nothing godly about it, so let’s leave the gods out of it. The gods had nothing to do with the Big Bang Theory; rather I am quite sure that they feel offended about the theory as it undermines their efforts! Gods and their champions have taken ages to put together a theory which is so simple and understandable, no intricate formulae, no thesis and no having to learn the same thing for many years to master it. It is as simple as – “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” As recorded in the third verse of the Book of Genesis. I do understand however, that if all were to follow theology, then the worshipers of Science would lose their jobs, so let’s not be as unfair as that. Let this balance between Science and Theology exist as precarious as it can be and lets cheer the finding of a particle just as we celebrate the birth of a god. What do we mere and merry mortals have to lose? 

As far as god is concerned, when the discovery of so many particles has not overthrown him from his current position, this one will not make even an iota of difference. So dear god, have no fear, we mortals have our standards very clear, when we send our children for their Science exams, we tell them to pray to you first, don’t we? 

We call it a win-win coexistence!

Abhimanyu’s Death

Yesterday, we read about the death of Abhimanyu which seemed to be part of the war-strategy of Lord Krishna. Did he seem like a villain who was out to eliminate the young Pandava princes and get them to sacrifice each of them and leave the Kuru clan with no survivor (except Abhimanyu’s unborn son, Parikshit)?

Not exactly! Yes Abhimanyu was killed as a part of a plan, but a plan which was way beyond the battlefields of Kurukshetra.

Before it was time for Vishnu to take the mortal birth of Krishna, each of the gods were expected to contribute towards the massive destruction that was expected on earth, i.e. in the war of Kurukshetra (as they say, everything is destined). Many sources say, that the Pandavas, who were the sons of gods, were actually the representatives of the said gods (like Yudhishtir represented Dharma, Bhima represented Vayu and Arjuna represented Indra, etc.). As a part of this design, Abhimanyu was the reincarnation of Chandra, the Moon-god’s son, Varchas.

As an arrangement, Chandra did not want to part with his son for too long and so had agreed to part with him only for sixteen years and also wanted his son to be known as a hero. This was known to Krishna, and thus he is supposed to have ensured that Abhimanyu died a heroic death at the young age of sixteen and leave the world and go back to his father, Chandra.

The fact that the death of Abhimanyu was the turning point in the war has been well accepted by one and all. The death of his favourite son, from Subhadra, made Arjuna cry for blood and bring out the warrior in him.

This should be seen as the utilisation of a useful piece of information for a larger cause – a great skill to possess in the field of strategy. The vows of Draupadi, the hardships they had to undergo, the treachery and the unfairness meted out to them, besides Krishna’s rendition of Gita had not quite had the desired effect on Arjuna that was needed in the kind of battle that was being fought. Abhimanyu could have been eliminated as any other death in the battlefield, but the way he got killed, roused the passions and anger in a relatively cold Arjuna who was not fighting to his potential and was avoiding all the seniors of the Kaurava army. His death changed the whole attitude of Arjuna and there was no looking back thereafter.

Many scholars have also opined that this could have also been done to serve as a lesson to one and all that half knowledge is dangerous and that wars have to be fought through a combination of strategy and bravery, not just the latter.

So can we still blame Krishna for the death of Abhimanyu, or should we see as a masterstroke in the master plan?