When pop morality defines your spirituality, then your access to god could become a sham for you at best and a tragedy for another. People go to Ajmer, Pushkar and other pilgrimages, give alms to beggars and somehow believe they have gained the goodness of divinity and now all their sins are gone! Begging in Ajmer is a Rs. 10 crores business. In a 15 day Urs at the Khwaja Garib Nawaz Dargah, the total earning amount to USD 2.2 million... that's a cool about $150k a day!! Read more
A woman walks into a store and sees trousers and short skirts. Decides to buy both. One for office and another for her party. She has a choice. Some guys see her in the trousers and admire her figure while some guys see her in short skirt on the dance floor and admire at her dance moves. Is the attitude of the beholder based on the dress of the object or the situation and the beholder's response to it? However, in another culture, a Prophet uses the pretext of divinity to enforce a dress code. [Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin: "The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Allah does not accept the prayer of a woman who has reached puberty unless she wears a veil." Book 2, Number 0641]. Now, this lady can no longer wander into a shop and buy the dress from the shelf she pleases. She has been told by one "Messenger of God" whom somehow the God, formless and un-named that he insists, somehow keeps speaking to in his ears. That this formless and un-named is somehow so bothered about the dress code of a special category of a special species in one of the tiniest specks of this entire Universe, is intriguing and probably a discussion for another time. Read more
Yash Pal graduated with a degree in physics from Punjab University in 1949 and was awarded a PhD degree in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1958. During a long academic and research career he served as a visiting professor at the Niels Bohr Institute, the California Institute of Technology and the Danish Space Research Institute. Yash Pal has held several prominent positions during his career which includes Chief Consultant, Planning Commission (1983-84), Secretary, Department of Science & Technology (1984-86) and Chairman, University Grants Commission (1986-91).Yesterday, Yashpal Committee report on Renovation and Rejuvenation of Higher Education (embedded below) was accepted by Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal. It is an interesting document and a well times one. According to the foreword, this document has full backing of PM Dr. Singh and the HR Minister Sibal. A lot of years back, I had once watched in interview with Prof. Yashpal. He is a scientist with interests in arts. So, the interviewer asked him about his varied interests to which he replied that at the end of his life he did not want to look back and see only one road on which he had walked. He wanted to wander on the sideways and smell the beautiful flowers and watch the streams also that were away from the main road. That one answer of his has impacted me a lot over my years of growing up. I think this report includes that thinking. The report is very wide ranging - from structure of the Indian education to the examination system to the inequities to how a good and high level University should be structured. He has taken his learnings from MIT and Caltech to fashion the next generation of the Indian Universities. There is also an admittance on the peripheral education structure of donation colleges that proliferate the Indian landscape. There is also the acceptance of the uselessness of the traditional Undergraduation degree courses - which has taken a long time coming. There is also the push to a more robust and meaningful vocational strata of education. Read more
I know my generation was really impacted by Michael Jackson and his breakdance. How did the "King of Pop" affect you? Read more
Today there was a big protest at the Baharestan Square - which is a very important place for commerce in Tehran. According to the some eyewitness reports, there were 500 police/armed Government men came armed with sticks and guns and started shooting and beating the protestors. Many were thrown over from the pedestrian bridge there. A woman whom CNN interviewed called it a massacre. According to other reports as well, there were many who were shot. Today, in a way, was probably THE most cruel crackdown and massacre in Iran since the current crisis began. Where is Iran headed? Well, now the current fight has changed. People do not respect the Clerics in Iran much - at least the middle class urban folks - I have talked to some and they at least make fun of them. Ahmednejad, in that sense, was a breath of "fresh air" for them. He was a person of common means and a very educated person. And he led a military based Government. The fight between Moussavi and Ahmednejad was between Islamists and Militarists. Many sided with one of the other, more because they were either sick of Ahmednejad or liked him.. and not necessarily because they wanted more power to the Islamists. Read more
Received this from Jasleen Matharu.. it is hillarious.(although I am not sure of the authenticity of the letters as claimed in the text of the joke). Read more
SPIRITUAL HAPPINESS Read more
BJP is in turmoil these days. It is going through an internal struggle within itself, which is heartening, rejuvenating, if done well, and damning to many things that have come up in their stable. With BJPs existence is the issue of RSS and also of Hindutva. RSS & Hindutva and its relevance I believe, that beginnings of RSS were on the right lines and the need of the hour at that time.. but the way it was out-foxed by Nehru and party, and then it remained in denial about the change in situation on the ground.. took it to where it is today. Every organization has to sync up with its own environment. RSS was primarily a group/network that prophesed "Hindu Ethos" and fought for Hindu rights in the aftermath of "Direct Action Day" that Jinnah & Party pertpetrated in 1946-47. That gave it legitimacy. Its contemporary rise with Arya Samaj movement and cross germination, gave it the spiritual/religious underpinning and popularity as well as a reformist zeal. Over the years, Shakha - or the morning exercise assembly, became an important element of RSS and something that inculcated movement for physical well being. Just as Arya Samaj prophesed, RSS pracharaks also understood that only harping of "Spiritual Enlightenment" in a physical world will not cut it. A person needed all-round development - Physical well-being, education excellence and Political awareness. But as time went on.. and the banning of Jan Sangh and RSS was used by Nehru to ensure a virtual monopoly on Indian politics, while dividing the largest voting community - especially by encouraging anti-national traitors in the Communist parties (who were arrested for betrayal of India in Indo-China War). Over the years, RSS became a reaction to that negative campaign and actions. It did not rejuvenate itself. Read more
This website - Pakistankakhudahafiz.com - (or God take care of Pakistan) comes up with interviews of Zaid Hamid and Hamid Gul, two of the most fanatic and viral characters in Pakistan today. They also happen to be role models for many a youth. Zaid Hamid, however, is strategically - from his past - of not much use. Hamid Gul, inadvertantly, gives away a lot of clues and insights into the thinking and workings of ISI. The way he explains how an attack on India could bring together "friends" - by which he means Taliban and Pakistani Army.. and the way he describes his relationship with US and CIA and how Pakistanis orchestrated attack against the Soviets and also how in event of war, Pakistan will gladly use the weapons from US against India.. is very interesting and insightful. He is prone to high ego and says things that give out more than they conceal. In any case, there is also an element of entertainment because of the high degree of contradictions in his rhetoric! For example, he explains how Pakistan was the "Superior" party in the Afghan War.... and still blames the US of "abandoning" Pakistan after their "use". Everything he says is testimony of how Pakistan USED US.. not the other way around!! Therefore, it is important to listen into these recordings. Part 1 Read more
IMMEDIATE POSITIVE RESULTS IF DONE WITH CARE AND DISCIPLINE Read more
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