As the poll counting came to an end…the Congress led UPA emerged triumphant. While the members of the winning camp harped on every instant to lionize their triumph, the loosing camp was busy doing the ‘soul search’ and run, also, the blame game. In the world which we live in if something, at all, does matter that would be [Winning]. To win and not to loose, any soul would do practically everything under the sun.

Election is a process, putatively, where people of different views struggle to attain power to lead the country in the way in which they suppose would be prosperous. But is that really so?

If with a good and adequate proximity with nearly all the political parties one cannot but find an striking similarity among all the political factions. You have no idea about the kind of money which is pumped in during the canvassing process. And this money isn’t spent just like that. There is a repayment anticipated. And that repayment comes through kickbacks and other traduced and corrupt practices, which are mostly against the interest of this land and its people.

In his tenure the winning candidate has to do everything to earn back the money with interest. It scarcely counts, then, if the manner endorsed is effectual or otherwise. Even if it scathes the interests of this nation – who cares?!

The election which is to foresee nation ‘prosperous’ is simply lost in transit by the time all the MPs fight for a berth in ministry to earn bucks and return it to their masters, or for themselves, with a wonderful rate of interest.

Not just John F Kennedy but even his motto ‘Ask not what your country has done to you, but ask what you can do for your country.’ is dead. Forget others; would you at least worry to realize the innate entailing of the words of late JFK?

The ancient saying ‘YATHA RAAJA TATHAA PRAJA’ (Meaning: Like the king are his men), of Kautilya, is still nonpareil. The reason for the state of the nation being so is because in Democracy it’s the people who are the king(s). If the king(s) by themselves are corrupt, then…

Life has awe-inspiring ways to impart its lessons. And every lesson it imparts, is either with great “pain” or with extreme “pleasure”. Pain and pleasure are the most impending sentiments of life. You can seldom be glad with your pleasure, and similarly, can never be happy in presence of pain. But if you have had no pain where would have you realized the pleasure? It’s tricky, indeed. If you could sum up your lessons in life it would certainly tell you all but one thing: You have zilch within your purview. You have so little to do when circumstances are upon you.

Many, I have seen, have a life of pleasures filled to the brim and yet they aren’t satisfied. Even a minute thorn may seem to them as if a grand obstacle. Contrary to it I have seen also people who have outlived their pains so much so that “pain” is no more a pain. Agony is for them is in absence of pain. May seem strange, but it’s all but true.

After witnessing several instances if I have realized but one thing that would be: Pain is something which you don’t love and pleasure is something which is completely in contrary to the definition of former.

If you think your work is a pain, just promise yourself that you shall endure it and in no time will your feel the pain is paving way for the pleasure. Pain endured is pleasure sought.

Sometimes you feel you have nothing to do for the day and something really fascinating happens. All my days are the same. Each day I enter my office at sharp 8:00 in the morning and by the time I leave, somewhere around 12:00 in the night, there would have been so many changes.

Since I assumed my position as Director at Prabal I have had made a promise to myself. I want to see to it that I seldom let a day pass by without having learnt anything. I buy a lot of books and a major part of my investment goes in it. I read it or not, I just want to make sure that I have in my shelves enough of good books seeing which I can always recall how little I know and how much more, at the least, I have to read.

In my office I have 3 large shelves, designed well enough to keep books safe from dust and worms. Because they are fitted with transparent mirror anything inside is clearly visible. Every day I am remembered, while glancing at them, how little books do I have in my selves and second, I am sure, when they are filled, they will speak to me of how little I have learnt.

‘But life is something more than books.’ you may find many people saying this. But they say for a very simple reason to justify the very fact that they haven’t even read even one book. Honestly, I feel it’s a pathetic idea to call a person as an ‘educated’ who have read not a book in his life. ‘Oh don’t ask me to read books… I have lived life so long and I never felt the need of It.’ one proud gentlemen told me once. ‘But did he even read a book before he could conclude to such a rustic statement?’ I wondered, but seldom conveyed as I could realize how proud he was of his unrealized ignorance. That’s true people are not just ignorant these days but are also pompous about it.

The only reason why people read today is to say wisely ‘for the heck of it.’ They read to pass in their exams to win marks. Once the marks are obtained and the certificate is received, they hardly touch a book again. To be in their own words ‘After all, what is the need?’ Many consider the ones with degree to be ‘learned fellow’. That is certainly not so.

Today’s education, I firmly believe, imparts not knowledge but information. Information is time sensitive. Once the time is passed away you can’t use the information. You cannot use your information of using a 386 Processor computer in the age driven by Intel Dual Core Processors. Or can you?

There is so much to write. But I have recently decided not to write lengthy researched and thoughtful articles as I have given up writing as a profession. I would certainly appreciate if someone would take this idea and write a detailed thesis on it. No acknowledgements needed.

It was to be just another day at one of the bookstore, where I go, of course, to buy books and not just to ‘window-shop’. But it turned out a bit different experience for a very simple reason.

As browsed through the scores of books under various categories under the new release segments just a few paces from there, at the billing counter, a lady customer appeared. Somewhere in her 30s she had a very cute kid along. She presented to the counter a book for billing. ‘That would be 300 bucks madam.’ said the vendor while handing over the bill, furthering ‘How would you like to pay? Would you like do the payment by cash or credit card?’

‘Err…’ looking a bit skeptic, lady presented a piggy bank ‘By this.’ Everyone standing in the queue was looking more strangely. ‘My daughter has saved for several months, from her pocket money, to buy this book and she wishes to pay from her piggy.’ The young kid’s was a face to see.

This attracted not just mine but everyone’s eye ball. I was so moved, for a while. The mom was really teaching her kid the value of money, something which we are mostly forgetting.

It added more to my pleasure when a very sweet lady, employee of the store, patted the girl back saying. ‘How sweet of you… so you buy things with your hard earned money.’ The girl, though filled with shyness, would turn to her mom but convey to the lady ‘I don’t earn. I save it.’

I was so moved. The child could distinguish, and well, between ‘Savings’ and ‘Earnings’. And the kid was barely 5-6 years old!

There is truly something to learn and realize… from every person… no matter how young or old he/she might be.

By U. Mahesh Prabhu

It is not easy to listen to something with which you are in total disagreement with. And it, obviously, seeks patience. Patience is a great virtue. Without it it’s absolutely up hilling to achieve something worthwhile.

People of our times are frustrated and there can be only little doubts about it. Frustration isn’t a healthy sign. It leads to confusion and ultimately to chaos. The only rationale for men to support insane and irrelevant acts against the ethical norms of a society, by goons, is this frustration.

Frustration is a sophisticated phenomenon. Should it be resolved there needs to be a timely attention. Given a frustration isn’t resolved it is sure to result in chaotic situation capable of causing destruction, beyond repair.

Couple of months back Mangalore was in news for all wrong reasons. Few people, obviously frustrated, lost their minds and attacked a pub for its ‘assault’ on their ‘faith and culture’. These men were frustrated, and truly. Their reason for frustration, it was clear, none was interested to know. Fellow members of the media fraternity took the matter head on. They were interesting in it for its tendency to increase their TRP and Readership levels.

‘Tablianization of Mangalore’ is how they began describing a truly petty issue. The Congressmen and Communists wasted no time to hurl their ‘criticism’ and abuses on the state government. It was a mad-mad run for settling political scores and it was chaos all around.

Amidst all, none, neither the media nor the politicos were interested in resolving the dispute. And a meagre incident was blown completely out of proportion. Who was at fault? If the media is to be believed it ought to be ‘Sri Ram Sena members’ who led the assault, the Congress and Communists blames it on BJP and BJP spits on all for the issue.

On 26th of March 2009, quiet a few months after the incident of attacks on Pub in Mangalore, I was invited to attend a panel discussion at UGC-SAP sponsored seminar at Mangalore University. The topic upon which I was supposed to speak upon was ‘Media, Culture and National Integration’. Other speakers on the panel had more or less similar topic to embark upon but somehow everyone was squaring upon the Mangalore Pub attacks. It was truly saddening. I was truly unable to understand the reason for this.

The student fraternity, I found, was completely disembarked and divided over the matter. The lecturer, moreover, I found, were completely one sided in their discussion – making the situation worse. I felt sad, absolutely; when a boy was completely sidelined for having spoken in favour of the men who led the Pub attacks. Not just was he sidelined, but also was abused. It was saddening. I intervened and protested. ‘Are you going to fight till eternity for your ideological supremacy or are you interested in resolving the matter?’ I declared. It worked, interestingly. I fought for that man, not because he supported the pub attacks but because the constitutional right he had to stand by them. He was a minority there and none were interested in supporting him. And everyone was tying to settle scores on him. They attacked as if he was one of the attackers. Fortunately, it seemed, as if my intervention worked. Was I lucky? Who cares?!

We the Indians have an attitude of running arguments endlessly. But seldom do we end it with agreements? At the end of discussion we simply return to our homes and lie on our beds with more feelings of vengeance and hatred towards people who disagree with our point of view and thoughts.

Every seminar is run with an intention of enabling people to understand the dynamics of any issue. But what I am witnessing off-late is something which is quiet in complete contradiction to it. Speakers and resource people enforce their thoughts and ideologies on those young minds. These seminars are being turned increasingly into places of settling scores and enforcing beliefs and even spitting venoms.

I am but impressed to imagine a stark and contrasting future of this nation. Our youth are in a complete paradox. Instead of applying their own minds they are spending more time in accepting ideologies of men, with glamour, – blindly.

Of what use is the freedom offered by the constitution if it is not used by men to think freely? Zilch!

When Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur was arrested for her alleged involvement in the Malegaon blasts case, my inbox was bombarded with tons of email which promised  ‘evidence’ in this regard. The people who mailed me were of course, the ones who sympathized with the ‘Mujahids’ a. k. a. ‘freedom fighters’ – better known as ‘Jehadis’.

Without trashing those mails outright, I managed to patiently go through them in detail. Interestingly, apart from the abuses against the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Hindu Jagaran Manch (HJM), and others, they contained hardly anything else. The contents were certainly not able to prove the Sadhvi ‘guilty’.

The Sadhvi’s case is still in a court of law and until then it should be understood that she is only an accused and/or suspect and NOT a ‘culprit’ as some are trying to portray her as. In staunch contrast against the Sadhvi episode is the terror attack on Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Hotel. I wish to consider in this regard the column by M J Akbar, entitled ‘Mumbai Attacks’.

“A good section of Mumbai’s underworld today consists of Muslims who entered it because they were denied a place in the ‘white economy’,” you will find him saying in the column. Further on he adds, “Terrorists may have a religion but death has none. In the first list of dead issued by JJ Hospital, the name next to Karkare was that of Mastan Qureshi. There were six Hindus, four Muslims, and two foreigners, presumably Christians on that list.” He also states “India is a tough nation. No one should have illusions about that. It has fought Muslim terrorists in Kashmir, Sikh terrorists in Punjab, Christian terrorists in Nagaland, and Hindu terrorists in Assam…”

Reading this, I wonder what is one to make of it? It is evident to me now that all the terror-sympathizing intellectuals in this country are not at all sad about the evil deeds committed by people of their faith. They don’t want to apologize—come what may. Instead, they are keen on justifying their acts of violence! Any person who dares to disagree with this statement will find himself in a soup as was evident in the double standards displayed by the terror-sympathizers in the mainline media over the Sadhvi issue.

When the Sadhvi was arrested, they portrayed the whole episode in such a way as to tell the Hindus ‘look… look… your people too are no different’. They wanted the Hindus to put their heads down as they hurled their abuses and justified the acts of violence by the Mujahids.

Perhaps distinguished intellectuals like my friend MJ Akbar fail to understand the fact that when Sikh terrorists were rampant, the majority of Sikhs never sympathized with them. Similarly, Hindus and Christians in other parts of the country have no sympathy for the terrorists in Assam and Nagaland, respectively. MJ is completely wrong when he was recently found stating in a summit that ‘No other Muslim from India, other than Kashmir, sympathizes with the Kashmiri separatists.’ If only he goes into more detail will he realize that there are enough and more of Madrassas with Muslims sympathizing with Kashmiris.  Even Mangalore, the place from where I am currently writing this column, in the southern most part of the country and miles away from Kashmir, is not spared!

The crux of the matter is that Muslims are in sympathy with the terrorists—if not all, a majority of them. If I am wrong, why don’t we find enough Muslims to take a definite and hard stance against those Jihadists? The Darul-Uloom of Deoband, the ‘great’ Islamic seminary which recently promised of a ‘fatwa’ on terrorism, which was greatly publicized by some sections of the media, is yet to materialize. No one dares to question those in the seminary as to why haven’t they till date issued a fatwa on any of the terrorists? It’s a different that Darul-Uloom is by itself a fanatic-manufacturing centre which also happened to inspire the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

The Muslims are today looked at with a great amount of disbelief. It’s certainly not a healthy sign. But who is to be blamed for this? Hindus, Christians, Buddhists? Who, in particular, would they like to blame? They have but themselves to blame for the very fact that they have leased their brains out to their fanatic clergy and intellectuals who have always thrived on their troubles.

Intellectuals like MJ, who by blaming people of other faiths and governance can seldom gain anything but more skepticism for Muslims. They have a greater responsibility on their shoulders with all the charisma and respect they possess. They make themselves liable to scrutiny when they seek ‘compassion’ for terrorists and ‘criticism’ for people like the Sadhvi.

Terror is certainly not the way out. Be it for Hindus or for Muslims, or any other faith. We need to equivocally disown it, in all forms. There can be no peace if we hand a gun to a deprived child. We cannot call ourselves wise if we give two different sentences to people of two different faiths.

Muslims are not in the clutches of an ‘inferiority complex’ as MJ was quoted saying at the Jamat-e-Islami meeting in Hyderabad. They have in them a ‘superiority complex’, for they believe they are ‘Allah’s chosen ones’, again – if not all, then most. This has to stop. They have to come to terms with modernity, as people of other faiths have done. And distinguished people like MJ have a moral responsibility to play a pivotal role in this regard. But sadly, it seems they want to continuously thrive on the pathetic situation of their own people. By sympathizing with secessionists, separatists, and terrorists, they are helping themselves lose their case.

If you think Obama’s full name is ‘Barack Obama’ then you are half right. His middle name, which is hardly flashed in the media, is ‘Hussein’. Thus his complete name is ‘Barack Hussein Obama.’

By U. Mahesh Prabhu

Muslims today are being looked upon with strange skepticism. And conditions are certainly getting worse for even those Muslims who are nowhere near the ideas of the fundamentalists. Without doubt, the situation is absolutely frustrating for Muslims. But how can we ever free the Muslims from the clutches of such suspicion? How do we enable them to lead a normal life, in India at least? Are Muslims and non-Muslims doing their share to restore this dignity? These are some of the fundamental questions that seek answers and are yet unheeded, or lost in discussion.

It has to be agreed that terrorists who are carrying on ‘jihad’ or ‘holy war’ are Muslims. They have but one objective—glory to Allah and to the Prophet Muhammad. Their ideologies are formed very much by the verses found in the Holy Koran. And because it is so, every time there is a blast, anywhere in the country, the administration first suspects those who belong to this faith. To tell them otherwise or prevent them from taking precautionary measures by way of mass demonstrations in public and the media will only strengthen the existing skepticism of non-Muslims.

Recently, when a ban was imposed on the Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), its members are said to have formed yet another outfit named ‘Indian Mujahideen’. They sent several mails claiming responsibility for the blasts across the country. When police began arresting the suspects, Muslim organizations, especially pressure groups, raised objections.

The media took up the ’cause’ and began calling it ‘police brutality’. However, not a word was said about those innocents killed in the blasts who had nothing whatsoever to do with the state of affairs. The Muslims’ protests began to gain momentum. ‘They are innocent’, they asserted, time and again. But they have no proof about the ‘innocence’ of the arrested either. Muslim journalists and intellectuals began writing of the failure of the system.

Yes, it is possible that the police have made these arrests without any basis. But it should not be forgotten that it is equally possible that these Muslims can be terrorists having contributed, directly or indirectly, to the blasts. But just saying they aren’t terrorists is of no use. If the police lack convincing evidence to prove them culprits, then the Muslim protestors are no better either as they have no evidence to the contrary. In the face of opposition, they just claim ‘Muslims and Islam are under threat!’ What nonsense!
There are several cases of atrocities being committed by people in uniform. But I have never found any logic in saying the entire system is corrupt. It’s an insane idea. Even if the entire system were to be corrupt, then the sufferers would not just be Muslims but also Hindus, Christians, and in fact, every single citizen of this nation. It would no longer be an issue of a particular religion; it would the matter of an entire nation which would have to be addressed by everyone together. Such ‘police atrocities’ don’t affect just Muslims, but people of all faiths. Given this, why individualize the whole issue? And what is the point in making this a ‘reason’ for their resorting to arms?

India is a secular nation. But its secularism isn’t one that is imported from the west. India’s secularism is where ‘every religion is looked upon as equal’. Every religion has equal rights, or better put, is supposed to have equal rights. But to be true, it is certainly not so. Being a democratic nation where heads are simply counted and never weighed, vote bank politics is our way of life. Today, India is home to the world’s second largest Muslim population, after Indonesia. And because their population is high, and ever increasing, their votes are simply invaluable to the politicos.

By pocketing Muslims with privileges, they can rule this country. It is no wonder that several governments in turn, have endowed several privileges upon Muslims. Indian Muslims have the special provision of following their Islamic law through the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB). The Indian government gives Rs 10 billion in salaries for ‘imams’ in mosques and Rs 2 billion in Hajj subsidies. No other, country, not even Muslim nations, in the world endows such privileges on their Muslim citizens. This is contrary to the situation of Hindus, who are deprived of privileges, even after their temples being nationalized. Yet, there seem to be no sense of satisfaction among the Muslim masses. ‘Yes, we are given privileges; but only on papers’, they reprimand. But even if that is true isn’t it possible for them to fight it in a court of law?

What justice are those Muslims who join Jihadi organizations, or sometimes Naxal movements, across the country, hoping to get? Justice? What kind of justice? The movements are supported by Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, and some Arab nations, who have a terrible record of human rights violations themselves. You just have to read their history and current state of affairs to know what they are. No one has the word ‘liberty’ truly engraved in their constitution and even if written, it’s fairly invisible or never brought into force.

If Muslims think the judiciary is unfair then, there are legal means within the constitution to set it right. If there can be a way to bring arms into this country, then can’t there be a way to restore the judicial system, should it have ‘gone wrong’, as contested?

Muslims are criticized by most of Indians today, and not just Hindus. ‘Criticism’ because they are feeling threatened and they aren’t being convinced enough. It’s not hate, but apprehension, and an uncertainty. They are also in no mood to assail Muslims. They want words that can prove their worst fears as ‘untrue’, and they aren’t getting it.
If Muslims are to talk about the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition, Godhra, and all that, they should also not forget that there are non-Muslims who have lost their lives and loved ones. If Muslims have suffered then the non-Muslim populace of this land has suffered no less.

I wish to recall an instance from the pages of the history of India. When the freedom struggle was on and a great population was following Mahatma Gandhi, there was a section of youth, from all parts of society and religion, who were not content with him. They rebelled against his ideas and started a violent revolutionary movement. But they respected life and their violence was limited. It so happened that Gandhi had to take a stance as to whether he was with or against Bhagat Singh’s death sentence. He was very clear in his stance and said ‘I can’t support violence in any form’, and thus, never intervened even when the revolutionary and two of his comrades were hanged.

The Indian media is a great fan of Mahatma Gandhi. Whenever there is violence, the name of Gandhi pops up. ‘The Mahatma died again’, they will say. But when it comes to following his principles, why don’t the media shun talking ‘good’ about the terrorists? Why can’t the law take its course? Every culprit will claim his innocence, but that is not a credible reason to support a terrorist.

Muslims cannot complain about lack of support from the media. They cannot complain lack of privileges from the government, either. But they can complain of injustices whenever and wherever they might have occurred. They have that right. But by trying to justify terrorists, I fear they are antagonizing and even instigating non-Muslims. Thus, the protest undertaken by the Muslims of India is completely out of context and is working against them. And unless Muslims shun the violent members of their community; they will never be able to win the hearts of the masses of this land—ever. This IS an uneven ado.

Author is Editor-In-Chief of upcoming apolitical and illustrated family magazine FOLKS and Fellow of Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, London (UK).