When a man loves a woman it Shows

There’s a photo that we can’t show here for reasons of copyright but you can definitely see it elsewhere on the world wide web .see it here (http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/portrait.asp?LinkID=mp03206&rNo=4&role=sit#

Taken by the legendary Henri Cartier Bresson, this photograph of Mountbatten, Nehru and Edwina - a personal favourite - has been all over of late. It has been pulled out to accompany reports on Pamela Mountbatten’s (Mountbattens’ daughter) just published book India Remembered: A Personal Account of the Mountbattens During The Transfer of Power.

Who cares whether Nehru and Edwina’s love was platonic or otherwise. How does it really matter to anyone beyond these three people frozen in time.

What matters is when you see a man wear just the expression Nehru’s wearing - the jester, desperate to catch the woman’s eye, trying to impress her, waiting for validation - you will know a man loves a woman.

The other thought that’s just popped into my mind, if the paparazzi would only get pictures that are so revealing…

The question thrown at me was "Are Gandhian ways of protest outdated?" It solicited the most obvious answers; ‘yes-outdated’ and ‘no-still relevant’. But I had a more pressing question to answer. When did I first meet Mahatma? Was it at a school function? A history lesson in class? A passing mention in a politicians campaign speech? Or did I question the identity of the bald man present on every currency I used to buy my chocolates? My memory fails me and like many others I don’t remember my first meeting with Mahatma.

But whichever way I met him; this man left a lasting impression. In my quest to know him better I found out that clad in a dhoti, with the support of a lathi and armed with truth and non-violence my Mahatma, ‘Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi’; for official records had led our way through the dark forests of slavery.

During my many more meetings with this man through ‘his experiments with truth’ and his journey ‘from Gandhi to Mahatma’, I realized that he was an apostle of truth, peace and non-violence.

Today this most celebrated citizen of India suffers from an identity crisis. Do we remember the freedom fighter… the lawyer… Bapu… the nanga fakir… the mahatma…the philanthropist… the father of the nation? How do we recognize him? Or do we recognize him at all?

While writing about Gandhi, I hate to lie. I have forgotten my Mahatma and his teachings. I vote for caste, kill for religion and worship fanatism. I create truths; structure lies and believes that the only way of survival is "an eye for an eye". I’m helpless. I can only silently watch my Mahatma die.

Its not just his ways, I fear soon Gandhi will be ousted. Sponged off our present! What’ll remain may be is his feeble presence in history.

Gandhi’s Gujarat burns in a communal fury, Jessica cries for justice, diplomats chalk out war plans, and soldier kills his fellowman. Morality is publicly raped and my nation weeps Gandhi’s death in as many different ways.

A candlelight protest to throw light on injustice… a hunger strike to save hundreds of lives … I resurrect from my Mahatma’s ashes… the phoenix of a nation on the rise!

As far as I can look back in the Indian political history, Ram has been a predominant political ace. Pre-independence he was used to fuel the two-nation theory. Post that, kind courtesy to the politicians’ favoritism, Ram has made countless wild card entries to election campaigns. Ram is a natural star campaigner. And the irony is that his role ends there… just as a campaigner. Ram holds a symbolic significance amongst the Indian masses for a lot more than just being one of the most popular heroes of hindutva. Ram for us translates into an ideal man… righteous and responsible ruler… an apostle of truth and forgiveness.

Ram is not just a religious figure. The mirage of Ram that our politicians are reflecting today is undoubtedly a myth. Ram would have never let Gujarat turn into a communal cauldron. He would have forgone power for the security of the masses. Ram ate out of Shabri’s leftover fruit to show that humanity is above caste. But the politicians who seek vote in the name of Ram believe in nothing less than sectarian politics. Ram chose vanvaas to power. And politicians today are fighting over a Ram mandir in Ayodhya just to gain political mileage and power.

It is unfair to reduce Ram to just religion and petty politics. Ram and his Ramayana is not just a grand epic or the most widely viewed spiritual tele-serial in the world. He is a powerful symbol of India’s social and cultural fabric, which are fundamental to our cultural consciousness.

Ram was never a guru and he never preached any religion. Ram showed us a way of life. It is not his religion but this way of life that has to become our faith and guiding principle.

Its time we stop believing in this political imposter in the name of Ram.

Banish him!!

The nuke deal controversy shows a chilling distance
between politicians and people 

The fracas over the Indo-US Nuclear deal, 123 Agreement and Hyde Act has revealed one chilling fact. It has revealed how easily the elite politics of Jawaharlal Nehru University and the India International Centre - politics that have no resonance with the people - can dominate parliament and government. It has also shown how so called "people’s representatives" are bizarrely removed from the people and how a complete non-issue has become a reason to talk of a change of government. The dangers of becoming distant from voters were revealed in the Shining India campaign of the NDA when debates in the CII and the financial papers were seen to be reflective of the entire country. Now there is a similar danger that the UPA government is becoming a prisoner of Lutyensland and confusing gossip sessions in Central Hall and strategic studies seminars with the concerns of Indian citizens.

The crux of the Indo-US nuclear debate is as follows. The Pro-Deal argument is that it opens a door for supply of nuclear fuel without India having had to sign the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. This is truly an enormous concession given the fact that nuclear proliferation is such a dominant US and international concern. If the deal goes through, India will be able to buy nuclear equipment not just from the US but also from France and Russia. The deal will give India electricity, high technology and catapult the economy into high growth. An economy growing at eight and a half per cent needs electricity above all and the deal will bring bijli to Bharat. By way of example, experts cite that almost 80 per cent of France’s electricity supply is nuclear. China too has invited bids for four nuclear power plants between 1000 and 1500 MW at Sanmen and Yangjiang.

The Anti Deal argument is that the deal is too expensive, it will make India dependent on the US for fuel supply, and India will become a servant of America which bombs and invades countries at will. In response, the pro-Deal argument says, most Indians support America anyway. The biggest foreign investors in India are American. By the end of the Cold War over a million Indians were resident in the US as opposed to almost zero in the USSR and few Indians perhaps have yet learnt the Cossack dance or the works of Anton Chekhov. The Indo-US deal is only an affirmation of the massive people-to-people contacts that already exist between India and America: government has simply followed where the people have led.

But has any politician or leader bothered to explain what the deal means or does not mean to the people? Has the Prime Minister addressed the country on the deal? Has the leader of the Opposition talked to the people? Does the Indian voter even have a right to know what the deal is? In a television story recently, most MPs confessed they couldn’t tell 123 from 420.

The artificial ruckus over the Indo-US nuclear deal is an unfortunate example of completely disconnected politicians and perhaps an equally disconnected media, both entities united in their JNU-IIC mentality. The Left is supposed to uphold "people’s issues". If the Indo-US deal is a "people’s issue", please can the people be informed why? The Left says it will launchc mass agitations against the deal. What will be the slogan that will galvanise the Indian masses? "You don’t send your son to America; let only the bureaucrats kids go?"

Apart from the nuke deal, here are some other issues that perhaps parliamentarians can turn their attention to. Bihar is experiencing the worst floods in 30 years. 3 million have lost their homes. Thousands are living on highways, or under trucks and government relief consists of throwing bags of sattu at those who have lost everything. On the flood debate, parliament could not even get a quorum. In Chennai, the garbage disposal problem is so acute, that residents in certain localities can’t sleep at night because of the stink. Urban infrastructure be it in Chennai or Mumbai or Kolkata is almost non existent. Poverty has still not been banished. According to a shocking recent report, 836 million Indians live on a per capita income of less than Rs 20 per day. For 40 million Indians per capita income has improved only from Rs 9 per day to Rs 15 per day.

Here’s something else MPs can think about. More than forty died in the twin blasts at Hyderabad last week, many of them students. What did the Hyderabad police do after the blasts? Did they immediately cordon off Lumbini Park and Gokul Chat Bhandar and seal the bomb blast site? No. Did they launch a methodical investigation to track down the culprits? No. What happened instead? The bomb blast site became a tourist spot for visiting VIPs, bystanders and the media. VIPs from YSR Reddy to Jana Reddy to LK Advani tripped over bits of crucial forensic evidence, roaring, "Bring back POTA" or "the HUJI is to blame!" A dog was seen sniffing at blood. Camerapersons were seen dashing about.

Is this not just a little bit ridiculous? When the London terror threat occurred this year, what did we see? Did we see the British Prime Minister grandstanding at the bomb blast site screaming out a political speech about how Pakistan has hatched the plot? What’s the first thing we see about bomb blast sites in London and New York? We see yellow police tape cordoning off the evidence. Media and VIPs are strictly forbidden. The police go about methodically tracking evidence. By contrast, India has lost the highest number of lives to terrorism (after Iraq), over three thousand Indians have died since 2004 in terrorist attacks and India’s police are still fire-fighting on terrorism. Bringing back POTA or blaming the ISI are only highly visible rhetorical flourishes, what is needed instead are substantive steps and a professional realization that the 21st century terrorist is winning, leaving India’s 19th century police force to scratch their heads. Do the MPs care?

The blame immediately shifts to the media-both print and electronic. It’s the media that’s responsible. The media does not show floods, the media does not show poverty, the media sensationalizes blasts; the media is luring politicians to become trapped into a hall of mirrors where reality doesn’t matter. Is this true?

21st century media like all technology is an amoral being; its avalanche of images is anarchic. Floods, parties, police brutality, fashion, riots, food, starvation, murder, justice, cocktails, nuclear debates, media provides the democratic noise of everything Indian, the media caters to all tastes. The media plays its role, politicians must play theirs. It is unfair to blame the media for the politicians own lack of self belief and confidence to remain committed to the needs of voters. That a JNU-IIC debate could so completely dominate national politics over the past few weeks even setting off a chain of events predicting the government’s fall, is only a little short of a farce. The in-house elitist chatter about the Hyde Act, 123 Agreement at a time of floods, collapse of urban infrastructure, bomb blasts and a horrifying poverty report reveals a grim truth: that India’s powerful are closet-monarchists whose contempt and scorn for the people is so deep seated that they prefer to live in fortresses from where the public can barely be seen.

(This article first appeared in The Hindustan Times)

The Praying Hands

Below is a touching story about DURERS Praying Hands that is circulated widely.

It tells of DURER doing his creation in appreciation of a brother who went to work in the mines to support Albrecht’s education

Back in the fifteenth century, in a tiny village near Nuremberg, lived a family with eighteen children. Eighteen! In order merely to keep food on the table for this mob, the father and head of the household, a goldsmith by profession, worked almost eighteen hours a day at his trade and any other paying chore he could find in the neighborhood. Despite their seemingly hopeless condition, two of Albrecht Durer the Elder’s children had a dream. They both wanted to pursue their talent for art, but they knew full well that their father would never be financially able to send either of them to Nuremberg to study at the Academy.

        After many long discussions at night in their crowded bed, the two boys finally worked out a pact. They would toss a coin. The loser would go down into the nearby mines and, with his earnings, support his brother while he attended the academy. Then, when that brother who won the toss completed his studies, in four years, he would support the other brother at the academy, either with sales of his artwork or, if necessary, also by laboring in the mines.

        They tossed a coin on a Sunday morning after church. Albrecht Durer won the toss and went off to Nuremberg. Albert went down into the dangerous mines and, for the next four years, financed his brother, whose work at the academy was almost an immediate sensation. Albrecht’s etchings, his woodcuts, and his oils were far better than those of most of his professors, and by the time he graduated, he was beginning to earn considerable fees for his commissioned works.

        When the young artist returned to his village, the Durer family held a festive dinner on their lawn to celebrate Albrecht’s triumphant homecoming. After a long and memorable meal, punctuated with music and laughter, Albrecht rose from his honored position at the head of the table to drink a toast to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice that had enabled Albrecht to fulfill his ambition. His closing words were, "And now, Albert, blessed brother of mine, now it is your turn. Now you can go to Nuremberg to pursue your dream, and I will take care of you."

        All heads turned in eager expectation to the far end of the table where Albert sat, tears streaming down his pale face, shaking his lowered head from side to side while he sobbed and repeated, over and over, "No …no …no …no."

        Finally, Albert rose and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He glanced down the long table at the faces he loved, and then, holding his hands close to his right cheek, he said softly, "No, brother. I cannot go to Nuremberg. It is too late for me. Look … look what four years in the mines have done to my hands! The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and lately I have been suffering from arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast, much less make delicate lines on parchment or canvas with a pen or a brush. No, brother …
for me it is too late."

        More than 450 years have passed. By now, Albrecht Durer’s hundreds of masterful portraits, pen and silver-point sketches, watercolors, charcoals, woodcuts, and copper engravings hang in every great museum in the world, but the odds are great that you, like most people, are familiar with only one of Albrecht Durer’s works. More than merely being familiar with it, you very well may have a reproduction hanging in your home or office.

        One day, to pay homage to Albert for all that he had sacrificed, Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brother’s abused hands with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward. He called his powerful drawing simply "Hands," but the entire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and renamed his tribute of love "The Praying Hands."

        The next time you see a copy of that touching creation, take a second look. Let it be your reminder, if you still need one, that no one - no one - - ever makes it alone!

Once upon a time, there was an island where all the feelings lived: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all of the others, including Love. One day it was announced to the feelings that the island would sink, so all constructed boats and left. Except for Love.

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Happiness passed by Love, too, but she was so happy that she did not even hear when Love called her.

Suddenly, there was a voice, "Come, Love, I will take you." It was an elder. So blessed and overjoyed, Love even forgot to ask the elder where they were going. When they arrived at dry land, the elder went her own way. Realizing how much was owed the elder,

Love asked Knowledge, another elder, "Who Helped me?"
"It was Time," Knowledge answered.
"Time?" asked Love. "But why did Time help me?"
Knowledge smiled with deep wisdom and answered, "Because only Time is capable of understanding how valuable Love is."

short inspirational Parable Of The Pencil - Pencil story

Never allow yourself to get discouraged and think that your life is insignificant and cannot make a change.