Farewell to the H-word

Farewell to the H-word

from Usual Suspects by Swapan Dasgupta

Hindutva is posing a serious image problem which distracts attention from the other attributes of the party. Hindutva may be a backdrop but if the backdrop grabs all the (negative) attention, the everyday message of the party is lost.

There are times when a term becomes a block and an obstacle. Clause 4 became a block for the Labour Party and "dictatorship of the proletariat" for the Communists. Both were shelved.

The BJP should quietly shelve Hindutva in the same way as Nehru shelved Gandhism and Narasimha Rao dispensed with socialism.

Enlightened nationalism and modernity should become the two defining attributes of the BJP. Otherwise the party faces a growing marginalisation for its inability to move with the times.

AFTER 62 YEARS, THE RAJ IS BACK IN A NEW AVATAR

AFTER 62 YEARS, THE RAJ IS BACK IN A NEW AVATAR

India Retold

Is this development sudden? Have we all not seen it coming for a long time? When the self-appointed Royal Family of India has been practicing this for decades and even aggressively promoting smaller princely families within the Congress party, is it any surprise that this cancer has now spread to the whole polity, save the Left and, to some degree, the BJP?

This so-called "democracy" that Rahul Gandhi is ushering into the Congress is no more than a variant of the democratic sham that the British had introduced to humor and inflate the egos of a few Indians, and then use them to perpetuate their Raj. Rahul's exercise similarly places him and his family on a pedestal completely beyond reach of everyone else. It also does not upset the pecking order of other political princes lower down the order. All that is does is that it allows a few "peasants" to compete with each other to reach somewhat higher positions where they can become more visible to the Crown Prince who can then pick a few of them every now and then and give them an entry into the exclusive club of lower placed dynastic families. By doing so, he hopes to earn their everlasting gratitude and, at the same time, keep the existing minor royal families on their toes and within their limits.

Obama represents real democracy at its best. For an Obama to happen in India, all routes that lead to and that perpetuate dynastic rule have to be ruthlessly cut. The rot started from the very top and it is only from there that its elimination has to begin.

Look at the irony. At a time when Nepal has removed its king and Bhutan's king has started the process of handing power over to the people, India has accelerated its regressive descent into dynastic Raj. And the vanguard of this decay is India's supposedly liberal and modern media, and its so-called intelligentsia.

what, why and how of Hindu identity ?

What is Hindu Identity?

transcript of a talk on Hindu identity
by Rajiv Malhotra of Infinity Foundation

Hindu Identity

But we have many sacred texts, not one. Some people ask me, what is your book? And I tell them, we don’t have a single book, we have a whole library! Because of the very nature of revelation, the experiences of our ‘rishis’ and idea of living enlightenment in our tradition, we have an inexhaustible supply of enlightened gurus all through our history. Hence, we Hindus have a huge corpus of spiritual knowledge.

So these are the three issues: Why Hindu identity is needed, what is the Hindu identity, and how do we project it? The ‘what, why and how’ of Hindu identity are the important issues that I feel Hindus have not dealt with enough.

Hinduism Offers Mutual Respect, Not Merely Tolerance

Luckily, Hinduism does not have this problem because Hindus do not claim exclusivity. Instead, they offer mutual respect rather than just tolerance.

And this is something that the Hindus can contribute to the world very proudly as one of the most important things that the world needs right now.

Hinduism has mutual respect to offer to other faiths, not merely tolerance. So this resolves the first major hurdle to having a Hindu identity. It provides the answer to the question: “Will Hindu identity be a source of divisiveness, tension and conflict?” In fact, with more Hindus claiming a Hindu identity which sets the example of positive mutual respect for each other, that would actually help reduce tensions.

Hyphenated Identities are Acceptable

Therefore it is perfectly ok for you as a bonafide American to be a Hindu at the same time. It does not undermine your ‘American-ness.’

Assert Your Identity as a Hindu

The problems in explaining Hindu identity to other people is not from the Americans’ side, but from our side because we Hindus shy away from asserting our religious identity.

We have deliberately chosen not to talk about our identity with people of other faiths.

Is Hinduism Against Identities?

An idea persists among Hindus that the Advaita philosophy has taught us non-dualism and therefore there is no such thing as my individual identity.

In response to this argument of “dualism means no identity,” the Hindus should argue that in the Gita, Arjuna is asked by Krishna to take claim of an identity. There are Kauravas and Pandavas. To carry out his dharma, Arjuna has to be a Kshatriya. All these are identities. Being a Kaurava or Pandava is an identity. Being a Kshatriya is an identity. Arjuna is in fact told by Krishna that you have work to do and you cannot run away from your work and duty in the name of non-dualism. This is the message of Gita.

The solution to this obstacle is that we have to bring our spiritual knowledge into our daily lives and perform a ‘lila.’ In a lila, you have to have an identity because you are performing God’s work in this world that is only possible through adopting a unique identity.

This issue involves living the full life, not only the spiritual life but also the social life. It involves carrying out one’s dharma, playing the lila in this world and performing a particular role which involves having an identity. There is an ultimate reality which is non-dual and there is also a provisional reality (material word) which is our kurushetra, karmashetra and dharmashetra where we have to perform roles and therefore we have to have an identity.

I think this is the central issue, the central source of confusion which is preventing a lot of people from claiming a Hindu identity. The sooner a conversation starts to clarify these points in the minds of the Hindus, the better.

Aung Sang Suu Kyi: just quit Myanmar

Aung Sang Suu Kyi: just quit Myanmar Sandhya Jain Ms. Suu Kyi’s husband, late Michael Aris, was a white Briton and her two sons, Alexander and Kim, are British citizens. With her entire family belonging to another nationality, and also another faith (Christian) Ms. Suu Kyi is a Myanmar citizen by formality only, being the daughter of Gen. Aung San. With her sharply pro-western tilt, she has no right to aspire for political leadership of a country which the West desires to exploit for its mineral wealth, and reduce to a de facto colony. The still largely Buddhist populations of Thailand and Myanmar are currently under pressure, as are large parts of China. But whereas Beijing shows some signs of awakening to the threat by reviving the nation’s Confucian roots, there is little or no recognition of danger by the monasteries in Myanmar. Monks are easy to rent for pro-democracy (sic) demonstrations. This trend of imposing dual citizens (natives married to white Christians) upon the non-monotheistic world that has barely recovered from the colonial depredations of the 19th and 20th centuries needs to be firmly rebuffed. The new Myanmar constitution rightly denies the right to contest elections to citizens married to foreigners; so Ms. Suu Kyi should call it a day. Prisoner without a conscience Nobel allurement The non-white, non-Christian world has now woken up to the danger of marriages of political leaders to foreign nationals, and is no longer impressed by awards and certificates – these are increasingly perceived as badges of intellectual slavery and political subordination. Myanmar plans to hold elections under its new constitution in 2010; ideally the lady should be removed from the nation before these are held. Intrusion for subversion A western foothold in Myanmar would put pressure on both India and China, and it is high time these two large Asian neighbours began to look out for their mutual interests and concerns, rather than aggravate foolish rivalries.

interesting conference on 'indian management'

interesting conference on 'indian management': do submit proposals

from Shadow Warrior by nizhal yoddha

Call for Submissions for the Inaugural Conference of the Indian Academy
of Management (IAOM), to be held at XLRI - Jamshedpur, India

Indian Management: Past, Present and the Future

The thoughts of Indian management could arouse a collection of scripts
among Indian and international practitioners and researchers that could
range from Rama Rajya, Yudhisthara's rule and Krishna's wisdom; Canakya, Chandragupta, and Ashoka; Babar, Akbar, and Aurangjeb, Gandhi, Nehru,and Patel; to Tata, Birla, and Ambani.

NEED FOR THIS CONFERENCE

India was an economic superpower until 1760, and accordingly led the
world with management ideas and practices. But much of that was lost
with its colonization and the struggle to shed the colonial ideas in the
last 250 years. India is now again emerging as an economic power, and
business schools are focusing on the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and
China) nations instead of the Triadian market of US, Europe, and Japan.
Thus, it is important to further focus our research energy on Indian
management and reveal about what is unique about Indian management -
good or bad, effective or inefficient, beautiful or ugly.

Relief work by Hindu Samhati---Aila Devastation

Relief work by Hindu Samhati---Aila Devastation

from HINDU SAMHATI by Hindu Samhati

Relief work by Hindu Samhati at Sandeshkhali, North 24 Parganas after Aila–storm Devastation.

“Affected by the Secular Seva (relief-work), many organization are going several times to Sheikh Para of Muslim Community. But nobody dare to step in the Bhangipara Village, a mixed area of Tribal Sarder People and Scheduled Castes both Hindu in religion.”- an aggrieved Jagannath Sarder stating their situation with a demand of some medicines for his ailing neighbour and family members.

The realization of Jagannath Sarder has a conformity with other Hindu victims of Aila-struck zone. Moreover the Muslim dacoits are venturing to loot every thing from the locked and temporarily left houses of the Hindus in this chance. Even such gangs are trying to enter into the habitated Hindu areas in night time.

Tapan Kumar Ghosh, President, Hindu Samhati instructed the HS Relief Team to stand and support firmly for the Victim Hindu People including others without any discrimination to the ideals of Bharatiya way of Seva Dharma.

The Hindu Samhati Relief Team requires more dry-foods, medicines for fever and diarrhoea, ORS, disinfectants, water purifier tablets or drops and funds for running its relief work in North & South Bengal.

गुलाम आस्ट्रेलिया के लोग हमला करके साबित क्या करना चाहते है ?

गुलाम आस्ट्रेलिया के लोग हमला करके साबित क्या करना चाहते है ?

from Darvaar दरवार by dhiru singh {धीरू सिंह}

दुनिया के छोटे से छोटे देश आज आजाद है लेकिन आस्ट्रेलिया और न्यूजीलैंड की राष्ट्र अध्यक्ष आज भी बिर्टेन की महारानी है । यह गोरी चमडी के गुलाम मानसिकता के लोग अपनी गुलामी में खुश है ।

आस्ट्रेलिया पर भारत को अपनी तरफ से लगाम कसनी चाहिए । उसका बहिष्कार होना चाहिए ख़ास कर क्रिकेट में भी । हमारी टीम एक देश के ख़िलाफ़ खेले नाकि दुसरे देश के गुलाम देशो के साथ भी । कठोर कदम उठाना ही चाहिए सरकार को ।