The Kargil war between Bharat and Pakistan was in full swing. The enemy had gained an advantage by occupying high hills and dominating peaks stealthily. The Indian Army had brought in heavy howitzers and field guns, besides crack infantry units to dislodge the Pakis. In the pre-attack tete-a-tete with commanders of lower formations, the date and time of opening the blistering attack on the Paki enemy was to be decided. The commanding general, an enlightened man, set a date. Other officers demurred. It happened to be a Saturday. The next day was 13th of the month, not auspicious either said some. The General had a Vedic background. He knew that Saturday or shanivar was based on the word Shanaishchar which was indeed Parmatma's Vedic name and it taught men and women to inculcate patience. The ill-omen associated with the word was a bye- product of a superstitious belief. He, therefore, ordered the battle to begin on that Saturday. The Indian troops fought well, beat the Pa! kistanis and won the battle. The mantra about Shanaishchar had motivated the commanding general to keep superstition at bay and vanquish the foe. In the first chapter of the Satyarth Prakash , Swami Dayanand Saraswati has dealt with the subject at length. It is indeed helpful in motivating a man to act correctly. A mantra, recited and meditated upon, raises morale of military men sky high. A mantra motivates military men to go in for decisive action. Gaurav Sawant, formerly a print journalist and now an electronic media man, had the privilege of being in the Kargil war for its entire duration of 9 weeks in 1999. He has mentioned in his book, Dateline Kargil that before launching a frontal attack the soldiers prayed in makeshift temples and priests recited mantras from the Vedas and shlokas from the Bhagvad Gita to motivate them , raise their morale and instil in them a burning desire to WIN. Yogeshwar Shri Krishna was quoted time and again : Tasmad Uttishth kaunteya Yudhaya Krit Nishchayah , was the bottom line of sermons. It worked wonders. India won the war defeating Pakistan decisively. Indeed mantras motivated. When an army unit or a formation goes into battle, it has to win. Be a winner, a winner throughout. There is no prize, what to say of a trophy, for a runners up in a battle. A soldier who has no mental make up for a victory must be weeded out of the army lest he makes the will to win of other soldiers weak. A bad sheep infests the whole flock, so goes an old adage. It is as true today as it was in days of yore. No wonder commanders at all levels and at all times take suitable steps to raise morale of men sky high. Factors impeding building of a high degree of morale are eliminated ruthlessly. There is never a compromise on this issue because all commanders wish to win. No prize for losers, never! A mantra, in the form a talk or a recitation or a community singing is the biggest single factor in raising morale of men and winning battles. The word Mantra has passed into the English lexicon and is used across the seven seas. Napoleon, Emperor of France and a great strategist , said : Morale is three times as important as physical numbers. It steels the will to win. Pray, tell me who would not like to win. Indeed there is a tremendous stress , both mental and physical, among officers and men when they are in a theatre of war. Before a battle is joined in, there is a waiting period. That is the time of tremendous stress on minds of men. Here priests and purohits, besides officers at various levels, come into picture. They have to recite mantras, explain meaning and encourage greenhorns to meditate to make morale as uncrackable as finest steel. Indeed, a well delivered sermon on our soul being unperishable and that the soul is Anadi as well as Anant, motivates a martial man to make the supreme sacrifice for the noble cause he is fighting for. The motivation mantra lies in the lines of the poet when he wrote : How else can a man die better than facing fearful odds For the ashes of his forefathers and temples of his gods. Isn't that the finest form of mantra motivation? Indeed it is. FEAR is the greatest enemy of a fighting man. Fear of the unknown demotivates. Fear lowers the morale to such an extent that highly trained soldiers turn their tales when the battle is joined. In the 1962 India-China war in the NEFA (now Arunachal Pradesh), many a battle hardened infantry units and senior officers just ran away from the battlefield. There was no Mantra motivation. No one had disabused minds of men of the element of unknown fear. No one had recited the relevant mantra, what to say of meditation, of the Yajurveda which runs thus : Abhayam Mitradabhayam Amitradabhayam Gyatadabhayam Parokshat, Abhayam naktambhayam Diva Nah Sarva Asha mum Mitram Bhavantu. May God make us strong enough not to be afraid of a friend or a foe. May we not be afraid of the known and the unknown . May we be fearless by day and by night. May we all make friends with one and all. Indeed many a man who knows this mantra and meditates on it certainly swears by its efficacy. This mantra motivates both in war and in peace. This mantra will motivate men and women of all age groups in all walks of life to be Fearless and develop a highly motivated personality. Cohesion is another important factor helpful in winning a war, what to say of a battle. The second mantra of the last sukta of the Rigveda comes in handy in building cohesion. It is effective in the civil life too. While on an Akashvani sponsored mission to do a five-part feature in Hindi for broadcast I found the batch of pilgrims a divided lot. The sangathan sukta mantra was given to all ladies and gentlemen on pilgrimage. They recited it before beginning the day's walking tour. Within a week or so all members were on talking terms with one another. They also shared the goodies that they had brought from their hometowns. Such is the motivating power of the mantra. Indeed, seeing is believing. Long years ago while on active service in the Army in Ladakh, My soldier friends and I were stuck on a makeshift road along the Pangong Tso, one of the biggest fresh water lakes in high altitude, on account of a sudden snowfall. Again the famous Yajurved mantra, so dear to Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati, was taken recourse to. Aum Vishwani Dev Saviturduritani Parasuv, Yad Bhadram Tann Asuva motivated us to act. The" durit" or the impediment in our path was removed and thereafter the patrolling was just smooth sailing. It was a personal experience of the efficacy of mantra motivation in the military.
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
LOOKING BEYOND KARGIL
The Kargil War memorial at Drass is the centre of attraction. 537 names of Martyrs are inscribed there. They were the brave hearts who “gave their today for our tomorrow”. The Indian nation is proud of them. The Kargil Kalash is the centrepiece of the memorial and the temple architecture around lends a spiritually dignified look. The memory of our martyrs is sanctified by floral and emotional tributes of loved ones who come from far and near. Tears well up their eyes, roll down cheeks and mingle with the dust where soldiers lived, fought for and made the supreme sacrifice. They are gone forever but their presence can be felt by their loved ones who find solace and spiritual peace by just gazing at the war memorial and the Kargil Kalash. The living and the dead have an emotional bond of love that is etched in the hearts, never to be erased.
Drass, located at the exit of the formidable Zojila pass as one travels from Srinagar to Leh-Ladakh, is the second coldest inhabited place in the world. The shelling of Pakistan artillery had converted Drass into a ghost town in 1999. The Indian Army restored Peace and it is a tourist town now. Siachen hotel is a landmark and it never closed its doors to journalists even at the peak of artillery duels. Along with the memory of martyrs the stories of Drass have become a part of history. Tashi Namgyal, the shepherd who first discovered Pakistan soldiers of the Northern Light Infantry in black clothes, is mentioned in every war related story. The savagery and cruelty of Pakistan in mutilating the body, gouging out eyes and cutting private parts of Capt Saurabh Kalia, a patrol leader arouse hatred for Pakistan Army commanders including General Pervez Musharraf, villain of the piece. The bravery of Capt Vikram Batra, JAK Rif and Lt Manoj Pande, 11 GR gladdens hearts of compatriots and applies balm to the emotional wounds. Celebrations to mark the Tenth anniversary of Indian victory over Pakistan brought both sorrow and solace to loved ones who came all the way from Nagaland, the North-East, the Punjab, Rajasthan , Jammu and Kashmir
and what have you to commemorate the war heroes who fought and fell but immortalised their saga of gallantry and sacrifice made above the call of duty. Many a touching and moving scene was witnessed and the Media made it a part of folklore to be narrated to children generation after generation so that India has a living string of brave hearts for ever.
NATION IS PROUD OF MEDIA
In 1999 the Media, especially the electronic media, brought battles to bedrooms in every nook and corner of the country. The Media helped Indians unite for a national cause against their arch-enemy – Pakistan. Every Indian, child and adult, did something or the other to promote war efforts. School children, both boys and girls, heard and felt proud of chivalry of Vikram Batra when he said “yeh dil mange more” and went into attack on enemy bunkers time and again. He was unwell and yet he volunteered to kill some more bandits from across the border. How many did he kill is just anybody’s guess. The number exceeded the guess. Lt Manoj Pande, ex-student of Sainik School, Lucknow did not ask for respite or evacuation despite serious wounds until the objective, Khalubar peak was captured and our Tricolour unfurled. On hearing saga of chivalry every child wanted to join the Armed forces and become a Batra or a Pande. What a pleasant surprise it was to see in person, face to face in Drass, some young officers of both the sexes who in their student days were inspired by the heroes of Kargil War and succeeded in their mission of earning the right of wearing army uniform. Indeed it was a national and everlasting gain beyond the immediate gains of beating back bandits from Pakistan. The Indian Media can rightfully claim a share of gains beyond Kargil in winning over the youth to the uniformed services.
WILL PAKISTAN PLAY PRANKS
Why is Pakistan so fond of hitting below the belt? It is because they do not possess courage or capability of hitting above the belt. War is a game of gentlemen. If one is not a gentleman one will not play the war game as per rules. In that case a”stab in the back” becomes a state policy. Pakistan has been doing that all along. However, to let the world know that they do not play foul, Pakistan takes recourse to spinning yarns and telling lies. Compulsive liars they are and must never ever be trusted – that is the line of thinking among those who know history and can read evil men’s minds. Pandavas failed to read Kaurava’s mind and paid for it dearly. Who wants to be a Pandav of today? Not the youth of India. Let us take a look at the peace proposals of the Vajpayee govt to Pakistan. Didn’t Musharraf answer peace in Lahore with war in Kargil? He sent into Kargil officers of Pakistan Army and said that they were freedom fighters. Now he admits facts but it is toolittle and too late.When the Indian Prime Minister was still in Lahore, the buzz of war preparations could be heard in Skardu, the central fort of erstwhile Gilgit Agency of Maharaja of Kashmir, for launching Pakistan officers and troops into Drass, Kargil, Batalik and Mushkoh valley. Despite warnings of the past, if any Indian leader is still planning peace with Pakistan, I am afraid he will be writing his last will and testament. One wonders why some peaceniks wish to commit Harakiri. If someone is bent upon doing so, let him make arrangements for his own funeral.
Rudyard Kipling wrote: East is East, West is West; the twain shall never meet. I have no inclination to comment on that but with an apology to the poet, I shall say “India is India, Pakistan is Pakistan; the twain shall never meet. I have no intention of undermining the efforts of pro-peace with Pakistan elements this side of Ravi, but I may venture to write with a sense of responsibility of a septuagenarian that what the peaceniks are doing is an exercise in futility. Peace and friendship should have two partners equally keen to make friends. If one side is keen on friendship and the other is either lukewarm or hostile by word and deed, the ship of peace will be on the rocks like a non-consummated marriage. The top echelon of both civil and military in Pakistan have a mindset that is India hater and India baiter. Pakistan had launched as many as four attacks on India since 1947 and was badly beaten in all four. So, they have an axe to grind. Some one or the other in Pakistan wants to avenge something or the other and place India at the receiving end. They always fail because their attempts to bring India to her knees have been at best Quixotic. And how silly on their part that they continue charging at the windmill! Let the Spaniards rejoice that their Don Quixote has found a permanent residence in a country called Pakistan.
When the Islamic terrorists were prevailing on the Pakistan establishment to grant one concession or the other and the govt did not muster courage to say No, Americans toyed with the idea of having a tight control on the nukes there. General Mirza Aslam Beg, the then Army Chief was asked what would he do if the Americans take away all the nukes, the General said with aplomb “I shall bomb India with a nuke before surrendering them to America.”It certainly shows the hate-India mindset of Pakistan’s top brass. The Peace Proposals may now be thrown to the wind, if you like. I hope someone is listening in the MEA in the South Block so that the Prime Minister is spared the trouble of travelling to his home village in Pakistan for a back-slapping get-together.
A CRY FOR MODERNISATION
Thinking beyond Kargil, modernisation of our Armed Forces is the crying need of the hour. Admittedly, the much maligned Bofors guns won the war for us in Kargil. Of course, it is Man behind the gun who matters more than the gun. In India’s case both have to be modernised. The Bofors howitzers ( gun is a misnomer) are 22 years old and outdated. Spares are rarely available. Man behind the gun has to undergo new training in tactics and his personal weapon, rifles, has to be new with a lot of fire power and easy on assault. Bunker busters are needed too so that precious lives of trained soldiers are not squandered in busting bunkers. Well, the list is long. Let us proceed step by step and buy or make at home world class weapon system and equipment so that another misadventure by Pakistan costs her dearly.
Strategically speaking, a unified command of the three services is urgently needed. However, vested interests stall the process before it begins. An officer in the rank of a Field Marshal or an equivalent rank to head the CDS may be appropriate but the mythical ghost of a military coup sends shivers down the spine of those who matter. Thus the proposal of a Combined Defence staff and its Chief is back to square one. The snake and ladder game between the services and the bureaucrats is a never ending one and the political head just is an onlooker from the outskirts. He comes and goes – that is the political scenario with which Services are not concerned. What about the nuke in India? Who controls the Command? Who will say: Push the button and fire the Nuke? Not the Army, nor the Navy nor the Air Force. The three Chiefs of Staffs are not even on the periphery of the decision making process. What happens if there is an Emergency? God alone knows, not the services. Let us pray: God is in His heaven and all is well with the world. Aum Shantih Shantih Shantih.
Authored by Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
Drass, located at the exit of the formidable Zojila pass as one travels from Srinagar to Leh-Ladakh, is the second coldest inhabited place in the world. The shelling of Pakistan artillery had converted Drass into a ghost town in 1999. The Indian Army restored Peace and it is a tourist town now. Siachen hotel is a landmark and it never closed its doors to journalists even at the peak of artillery duels. Along with the memory of martyrs the stories of Drass have become a part of history. Tashi Namgyal, the shepherd who first discovered Pakistan soldiers of the Northern Light Infantry in black clothes, is mentioned in every war related story. The savagery and cruelty of Pakistan in mutilating the body, gouging out eyes and cutting private parts of Capt Saurabh Kalia, a patrol leader arouse hatred for Pakistan Army commanders including General Pervez Musharraf, villain of the piece. The bravery of Capt Vikram Batra, JAK Rif and Lt Manoj Pande, 11 GR gladdens hearts of compatriots and applies balm to the emotional wounds. Celebrations to mark the Tenth anniversary of Indian victory over Pakistan brought both sorrow and solace to loved ones who came all the way from Nagaland, the North-East, the Punjab, Rajasthan , Jammu and Kashmir
and what have you to commemorate the war heroes who fought and fell but immortalised their saga of gallantry and sacrifice made above the call of duty. Many a touching and moving scene was witnessed and the Media made it a part of folklore to be narrated to children generation after generation so that India has a living string of brave hearts for ever.
NATION IS PROUD OF MEDIA
In 1999 the Media, especially the electronic media, brought battles to bedrooms in every nook and corner of the country. The Media helped Indians unite for a national cause against their arch-enemy – Pakistan. Every Indian, child and adult, did something or the other to promote war efforts. School children, both boys and girls, heard and felt proud of chivalry of Vikram Batra when he said “yeh dil mange more” and went into attack on enemy bunkers time and again. He was unwell and yet he volunteered to kill some more bandits from across the border. How many did he kill is just anybody’s guess. The number exceeded the guess. Lt Manoj Pande, ex-student of Sainik School, Lucknow did not ask for respite or evacuation despite serious wounds until the objective, Khalubar peak was captured and our Tricolour unfurled. On hearing saga of chivalry every child wanted to join the Armed forces and become a Batra or a Pande. What a pleasant surprise it was to see in person, face to face in Drass, some young officers of both the sexes who in their student days were inspired by the heroes of Kargil War and succeeded in their mission of earning the right of wearing army uniform. Indeed it was a national and everlasting gain beyond the immediate gains of beating back bandits from Pakistan. The Indian Media can rightfully claim a share of gains beyond Kargil in winning over the youth to the uniformed services.
WILL PAKISTAN PLAY PRANKS
Why is Pakistan so fond of hitting below the belt? It is because they do not possess courage or capability of hitting above the belt. War is a game of gentlemen. If one is not a gentleman one will not play the war game as per rules. In that case a”stab in the back” becomes a state policy. Pakistan has been doing that all along. However, to let the world know that they do not play foul, Pakistan takes recourse to spinning yarns and telling lies. Compulsive liars they are and must never ever be trusted – that is the line of thinking among those who know history and can read evil men’s minds. Pandavas failed to read Kaurava’s mind and paid for it dearly. Who wants to be a Pandav of today? Not the youth of India. Let us take a look at the peace proposals of the Vajpayee govt to Pakistan. Didn’t Musharraf answer peace in Lahore with war in Kargil? He sent into Kargil officers of Pakistan Army and said that they were freedom fighters. Now he admits facts but it is toolittle and too late.When the Indian Prime Minister was still in Lahore, the buzz of war preparations could be heard in Skardu, the central fort of erstwhile Gilgit Agency of Maharaja of Kashmir, for launching Pakistan officers and troops into Drass, Kargil, Batalik and Mushkoh valley. Despite warnings of the past, if any Indian leader is still planning peace with Pakistan, I am afraid he will be writing his last will and testament. One wonders why some peaceniks wish to commit Harakiri. If someone is bent upon doing so, let him make arrangements for his own funeral.
Rudyard Kipling wrote: East is East, West is West; the twain shall never meet. I have no inclination to comment on that but with an apology to the poet, I shall say “India is India, Pakistan is Pakistan; the twain shall never meet. I have no intention of undermining the efforts of pro-peace with Pakistan elements this side of Ravi, but I may venture to write with a sense of responsibility of a septuagenarian that what the peaceniks are doing is an exercise in futility. Peace and friendship should have two partners equally keen to make friends. If one side is keen on friendship and the other is either lukewarm or hostile by word and deed, the ship of peace will be on the rocks like a non-consummated marriage. The top echelon of both civil and military in Pakistan have a mindset that is India hater and India baiter. Pakistan had launched as many as four attacks on India since 1947 and was badly beaten in all four. So, they have an axe to grind. Some one or the other in Pakistan wants to avenge something or the other and place India at the receiving end. They always fail because their attempts to bring India to her knees have been at best Quixotic. And how silly on their part that they continue charging at the windmill! Let the Spaniards rejoice that their Don Quixote has found a permanent residence in a country called Pakistan.
When the Islamic terrorists were prevailing on the Pakistan establishment to grant one concession or the other and the govt did not muster courage to say No, Americans toyed with the idea of having a tight control on the nukes there. General Mirza Aslam Beg, the then Army Chief was asked what would he do if the Americans take away all the nukes, the General said with aplomb “I shall bomb India with a nuke before surrendering them to America.”It certainly shows the hate-India mindset of Pakistan’s top brass. The Peace Proposals may now be thrown to the wind, if you like. I hope someone is listening in the MEA in the South Block so that the Prime Minister is spared the trouble of travelling to his home village in Pakistan for a back-slapping get-together.
A CRY FOR MODERNISATION
Thinking beyond Kargil, modernisation of our Armed Forces is the crying need of the hour. Admittedly, the much maligned Bofors guns won the war for us in Kargil. Of course, it is Man behind the gun who matters more than the gun. In India’s case both have to be modernised. The Bofors howitzers ( gun is a misnomer) are 22 years old and outdated. Spares are rarely available. Man behind the gun has to undergo new training in tactics and his personal weapon, rifles, has to be new with a lot of fire power and easy on assault. Bunker busters are needed too so that precious lives of trained soldiers are not squandered in busting bunkers. Well, the list is long. Let us proceed step by step and buy or make at home world class weapon system and equipment so that another misadventure by Pakistan costs her dearly.
Strategically speaking, a unified command of the three services is urgently needed. However, vested interests stall the process before it begins. An officer in the rank of a Field Marshal or an equivalent rank to head the CDS may be appropriate but the mythical ghost of a military coup sends shivers down the spine of those who matter. Thus the proposal of a Combined Defence staff and its Chief is back to square one. The snake and ladder game between the services and the bureaucrats is a never ending one and the political head just is an onlooker from the outskirts. He comes and goes – that is the political scenario with which Services are not concerned. What about the nuke in India? Who controls the Command? Who will say: Push the button and fire the Nuke? Not the Army, nor the Navy nor the Air Force. The three Chiefs of Staffs are not even on the periphery of the decision making process. What happens if there is an Emergency? God alone knows, not the services. Let us pray: God is in His heaven and all is well with the world. Aum Shantih Shantih Shantih.
Authored by Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
Sunday, July 26, 2009
ARYA SAMAJ PERINTHALMANNA OBSERVED KARGIL VICTORY DAY!
The Arya Samaj Perinthalmanna has observed the Kargil victory day on 26th July 2009. A vaidika agnihothram and special offerings with 'vaidika rashtra gaanam (Yajurvedam 22-22) was performed. In his prabhashanam, Acharyan Kizhanellur Parameswaran Namboothiri has paid the homage to those martyrs who gave supreme sacrifices for defending our frontiers. He emphazied the need of inculcating the ideals of nationalism and dedication for protecting our borders as mentioned in our glorious vedic literatures.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
OBSERVING VEDA PRACHARA MASAM!
Arya Samaj Perinthalmanna is observing the Malayalam month of ‘Karkkidakam’ as ‘Veda prachara masam’. During these period Sapthahik sathsang, vaidika agnihothram, classes on various vedic topics and Sanskrit vyakaranam will be conducted on all Sundays. In addition to this an essay competition for college students on the subject of ‘The significance of Vedas in present times’ is planned. The first three winners (I/II/III) decided by the Acharya Sabha will be given suitable prizes and certificates. All participants will be given attractive consolation prizes. The essay should not be more than two pages and the students are requested to submit their age proofs and a certificate from their respective colleges stating that they are the students of that particular college along with their articles. The essay should reach by 10th Aug 2009. For more details contact at aryasamajperinthalmanna@gmail.com. Om krinvantho vishwamaryam!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
ASHTADHYAYI VYAKARANAM CLASSES
Weekly Vaidika Agnihothram and Sathsang will be held at Arya Samaj Perinthalmanna on all fridays at 8 AM. A study class on Ashtadhyayi vyakaranam will be conducted after the yagya by renowned vedic scholar Acharya Kizhanellur Parameswaran Noamboothiri on third fridays of each month. This friday we will have this class. Interested students may contact us at aryasamajkerala@perinthalmanna.com, aryasamajkerala@gmail.com or mobile No.9446575923,9747127726 for more details.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
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