HOLI HOLI HAPPY HOLI

HOLI HOLI HAPPY HOLI

By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM

By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant, VSM Holi is a major Hindu festival that welcomes the spring. Holi celebrates the new life and energy of the new season. The weather is balmy and there is fragrance all around. Holi encourages the healthy revelers to spring into action and achieve their individual and collective aims. Indeed, Holi is a vibrant festival that brings unadulterated joy of pleasing colours to the entire social fabric literally and figuratively.  Bharat, that is India, is a predominantly agrarian country. Holi is preceded by harvesting of a variety of crops and, therefore, it gives the farmers and their families a genuine springboard to go in for real merriment. The fresh grain is offered as ``aahuti`` to Agni when the Holika, bonfire is lighted. The roasted grains are given to the assembled men, women and children as ``yajna-shesh or prasad. Thus a predominantly social festival also assumes an agrarian touch.  Going by various legends about the origin of Holi one finds that the festival of colours is immersed in the literary and theatrical activities of the society in the entire country, mainly in the northern parts of India. In Hindi literature poems of Surdas recount the Holi – sprinkling of water colours – in the Braj Bhumi which was the scene of action of Yogeshwar Shri Krishna. Another legend talks of Prahalad, a child devotee of Lord Vishnu being chastised by his own father, Hiranakashyap who was an atheist out and out. The sister of the said atheist king, named Holika had a boon to walk through rising flames of fire and come out unscathed. Although miracles are illogical and the Vedic Dharm does not subscribe to it but some people believe that when the said sister called Holika tried to harm the devotee Prahalad by sitting with him in a lighted bonfire, it was he who survived and she was reduced to ashes. Lighting of the bonfire on the eve of Holi – Holi of sprinkling colours – reminds people of the evil being destroyed by burning and the Truth surviving against all odds. Some of these legends give religious roots to the festival of Holi.  Another version of the burning of the evil is sighted as burning of Kamdev, lord of passion by Lord Shiv. Indeed, Shiv is the Vedic name of the Almighty who inspires human beings to do good Karm and reap the harvest accordingly.  SOCIAL SOLIDARITY In order to move forward on the path of progress, a society needs cohesion. People need solidarity and unity of purpose. The festival of Holi provides a golden opportunity to the entire society to go in for a big-big celebration, without any discrimination of caste, creed, colour or sex. In celebrating Holi one is for all and all are for one. The King and the commoner are encouraged to embrace each other after sprinkling colours or applying dry colours on each other’s face.  In the sprinkling of colours there is a free flow of fun and frolic, mirth and merriment. Although social ``Lakshman Rekhas`` exist but they are crossed more often than not. One covers ones excesses by offering an excuse in a sentence saying ``Bura na maano Holi hai. ``(please do not take it ill, after all it is Holi). So say the young and the old alike. For a change there is no gender bias at all.  Old foes may make up and become friends by embracing each other on Holi. The festival may also bring a change of heart. Generally speaking it is for the better. HOLI AND HUMOUR Holi is humour in action. While humour is predominant, poems of amorous nature are not conspicuous by their absence. In fact recitations of love poems are encouraged in certain sections of the society. In some parts of the country, a day or two after the main festival of Holi gatherings are organised to celebrate ``ALL FOOLS DAY.`` It is a part of the weeklong celebrations in the merry making society. The continual merry making also promotes `hasya kavi sammelan or humour dominated poetic symposia. There is fun in ample measure. At the end of the day a jury of sorts selects ``dunce of the day``. This title is given to a man or a woman who says the silliest sentence or performs the most foolish act which will put an ass to shame. The person so chosen is crowned with a dunce cap, is given a seat of honour and is politely requested to perform a foolish act for the assembled audience once again. The dunce of the day is the focus of attention until the closure of the event. Of course, it is a part of the ongoing fun and frolic where no offence is meant and none taken.  The spring festival similar to the Indian Holi is celebrated in many other parts of the world too. Of course, in the Indian sub continent it is celebrated in March every year. Going by the Hindu calendar, the celebration is on the full moon in the month of Phalgun. A synonym of Holi is Phag or Phagwah, apparently a derivative of the month of Phalgun.  The Spring is around. If a spring comes, can Holi be far behind? So it is time for burning the evil and imbibing the noble. Celebration with gusto is an integral part of human nature. Man loves festivity. Dancing, singing and feasting form a part of Holi celebrations. Exuberance is in evidence all over. Indeed, the spirit of bonhomie and brotherhood emerges and provides social solidarity. Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant, VSM 609, Sector-29 Arun Vihar, NOIDA-201303. INDIA Tel: 0091-120-2454622 Mob: 0091-9811173590 Email: upvanom@yahoo.com Vedicupvan@ redifftmail.com

FORCED EXODUS OF KASHMIRI PANDITS SINCE ISLAM CAME.

AUM

              READ & RESOLVE TO RESETTLE VICTIMS IN KASHMIR

                                                         By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM

If there is a Heaven on Earth, it is here, it is here, it is here, so said Firdaus, the Persian poet for the Iranian city of Isphahan. The Moghul kings in India found the valley of Kashmir so bewitching and enchanting that they had the said Persian couplet written in the Moghul gardens of Srinagar.

The Kashmir valley was regarded as heaven on earth with periodic disruptions during reign of cruel Afghan and other foreign kings from time to time. The cruelty, both mental and physical, was so devilish that many Kashmiri people, especially the Pandits- Shaiv Brahmins - chose to migrate to safer parts of plains in India rather than convert to Islam and continue living in their ancestral land with different faith, names and an alien cultural milieu. The bloodshed, disrobing of their women and dishonoring them was on such a massive scale that they deserted their original home and hearth in droves and it was given the name – Exodus of Aborigines. The last exodus happened in 1989-90 and continued for a couple of years.

The rest of India read about it in bits and pieces and forgot all about it until a patriot Kashmiri Pandit, a victim of Islamic terror himself despite his being a regular Army officer of the million strong Indian Army, was banished from the land of birth, his habitat consigned to flames and his old parents were abandoned on the road on a wintry evening in the snow laden cold valley. He is Colonel Tej K. Tik00, Ph.D. who refused to suffer in silence. He made up his mind to share the trials and tribulations of the unfortunate Kashmiri Pandits with the rest of the world who cared to listen.

 Most of the Kashmiri Pandits were shell-shocked that their neighbours joined the foreign terrorists as they professed the same faith, Islam, in terrorizing centuries-old Hindu friends. The Muslim Kashmiris went to the extent of threatening their Hindu Pandit neighbours to leave the valley for good but leave their youthful daughters behind to be ravished by JIHADIS of ISLAM and be converted to Islam. The KPs or Kashmiri Pundits were  made of sterner stuff and chose their own path of independence.

The Kashmiri Pundits have survived in other parts of Bharat despite no major help coming to them from the State of Jammu & Kashmir. The book titled “ Kashmir : Its Aborigines and their Exodus” written painstakingly with an eye on historical details by Colonel Tej K. Tikoo. He was commissioned in the First Battalion of the Naga Regt on completion of training at the Indian Military Academy, Dehra Dun. Colonel Tikoo knows professionally what insurgency is and indeed he knows from the land of birth, Kashmir, what Islamic terrorism is.

Where do we go from here? It would be wrong on the part of the Indian population to let the Kahmiri Pandits suffer in isolation in a remote village in the valley or in a crowded locality in Jammu without a proper roof over their heads. After all the Kashmiri Pandits are citizens of India and it is incumbent on the Govt of India that our unfortunate compatriots should get two square meals a day have a shelter overhead and a little petty cash for a rainy day. It should be the aim of the central govt of India and the State Govt of J&K to escort the Kashmiri Pandits and their families back to the Kashmir valley and rehabilitate them there with honour and dignity.

Men and women in the rest of India who have a barbed tongue must ensure that they have just a word of sympathy for our Kashmiri brethren and not dig old graves of history to say that they deserved what they eventually received. Allow me to say that the Kashmiri Pandits are our compatriots, our kith and kin and it is our sacred and moral duty to provide succor the needy brethren and sisters.

I salute the Kashmiri Pandits for their perseverance, resilience and love of the Hindu Dharma that they still profess despite adverse circumstances. May ISHWAR give them courage to walk on the difficult path of life as it is and May they live in happiness for  ever .

Email:  sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com            Mobile:  9811173590.

exodus of kashmiri Pundits took place seven times since advent ofII islam.

AUM

              READ & RESOLVE TO RESETTLE VICTIMS IN KASHMIR

                                                         By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM

If there is a Heaven on Earth, it is here, it is here, it is here, so said Firdaus, the Persian poet for the Iranian city of Isphahan. The Moghul kings in India found the valley of Kashmir so bewitching and enchanting that they had the said Persian couplet written in the Moghul gardens of Srinagar.

The Kashmir valley was regarded as heaven on earth with periodic disruptions during reign of cruel Afghan and other foreign kings from time to time. The cruelty, both mental and physical, was so devilish that many Kashmiri people, especially the Pandits- Shaiv Brahmins - chose to migrate to safer parts of plains in India rather than convert to Islam and continue living in their ancestral land with different faith, names and an alien cultural milieu. The bloodshed, disrobing of their women and dishonoring them was on such a massive scale that they deserted their original home and hearth in droves and it was given the name – Exodus of Aborigines. The last exodus happened in 1989-90 and continued for a couple of years.

The rest of India read about it in bits and pieces and forgot all about it until a patriot Kashmiri Pandit, a victim of Islamic terror himself despite his being a regular Army officer of the million strong Indian Army, was banished from the land of birth, his habitat consigned to flames and his old parents were abandoned on the road on a wintry evening in the snow laden cold valley. He is Colonel Tej K. Tik00, Ph.D. who refused to suffer in silence. He made up his mind to share the trials and tribulations of the unfortunate Kashmiri Pandits with the rest of the world who cared to listen.

 Most of the Kashmiri Pandits were shell-shocked that their neighbours joined the foreign terrorists as they professed the same faith, Islam, in terrorizing centuries-old Hindu friends. The Muslim Kashmiris went to the extent of threatening their Hindu Pandit neighbours to leave the valley for good but leave their youthful daughters behind to be ravished by JIHADIS of ISLAM and be converted to Islam. The KPs or Kashmiri Pundits were  made of sterner stuff and chose their own path of independence.

The Kashmiri Pundits have survived in other parts of Bharat despite no major help coming to them from the State of Jammu & Kashmir. The book titled “ Kashmir : Its Aborigines and their Exodus” written painstakingly with an eye on historical details by Colonel Tej K. Tikoo. He was commissioned in the First Battalion of the Naga Regt on completion of training at the Indian Military Academy, Dehra Dun. Colonel Tikoo knows professionally what insurgency is and indeed he knows from the land of birth, Kashmir, what Islamic terrorism is.

Where do we go from here? It would be wrong on the part of the Indian population to let the Kahmiri Pandits suffer in isolation in a remote village in the valley or in a crowded locality in Jammu without a proper roof over their heads. After all the Kashmiri Pandits are citizens of India and it is incumbent on the Govt of India that our unfortunate compatriots should get two square meals a day have a shelter overhead and a little petty cash for a rainy day. It should be the aim of the central govt of India and the State Govt of J&K to escort the Kashmiri Pandits and their families back to the Kashmir valley and rehabilitate them there with honour and dignity.

Men and women in the rest of India who have a barbed tongue must ensure that they have just a word of sympathy for our Kashmiri brethren and not dig old graves of history to say that they deserved what they eventually received. Allow me to say that the Kashmiri Pandits are our compatriots, our kith and kin and it is our sacred and moral duty to provide succor the needy brethren and sisters.

I salute the Kashmiri Pandits for their perseverance, resilience and love of the Hindu Dharma that they still profess despite adverse circumstances. May ISHWAR give them courage to walk on the difficult path of life as it is and May they live in happiness for  ever .

Email:  sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com            Mobile:  9811173590.

LEARNING ROPES TO HAPPINESS ON INTERNATIONAL HAPPINESS DAY.

AUM

            LEARNING ROPES TO HAPPINESS

                     By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM

With the permission of our readers, may I say again : Happiness is a state of mind.  That explains why I say it aloud every now and then: old boy, your mental make up says that you may not live long to be a Centenarian. I dismiss the idea as it is hostile to my game plan. I command myself “ Get up, get going and learn from the experience of sages of yore to imbibe that and merge with the day-to-day life of modern times The difference between the Gurukul life of yore and the life in a modern Gurukul is tremendous. In the interest of the Vedic way of life ,we may abjure a comparison between the two. Both are products of the Vedic way of life but the long gap in time and living has made them two separate entities. . Remind yourself that Happiness Is yours just for the asking. Indeed there are certain pragmatic steps that the man or a woman seeking  happiness has to imbibe until It becomes his and her second nature.

Let us take a look at our time table of learning basic steps that would take us to our El Dorado where one lives and learns the basic ropes with eye set on the ultimate goal;  happiness.

ALBERT SCHWAITZER has observed people around and lived life as a pragmatic philosopher. He says :

                “ Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”

Happiness Is a state of mind characterized by contentment and satisfaction .Sources of happiness are diverse and unique. So are the people we come across. After having talked to men and women from different sections of the society both in India that is Bharat and abroad, it is found that certain common factors emerge. Let us take a look at them. I call those factors that lead to happiness as the Golden Nine.

GOLDEN NINE

Many observant friends and colleagues of mine, both in uniform and in the civil society have had an engrossing chat with me on the road that leads to citadel of happiness. I concurred with some and differed with others. Here I give a resume of what our common and combined operation and observations were. These Nine factors have been worked out and chosen after a brain-storming session.

UNSHAKABLE BELIEF IN ISHWAR

When I need Divine help, I pray for it. Believe me, the help was always around corner and came on time. Of course, I too never sat idle. I used to strive for a favourable solution and also pray to Param Pita Parmatma. There was a confluence of prayer and  purusharth. This kind of confluence never goes haywire. I took the first step to the rope and climbed clumsily but I did come to know the ropeway to happiness. Thus the journey that began that way refused to stop despite clumsy attempts o f second ladder of relations and friends to throw a red herring. As stated before, my wife chose to hover around me and so did the daughter. In India, that is Bharat blood is still thicker  and  stronger than  water.

Spiritualism  is worth looking for as a pillar of strength. There are no rituals but the belief in  the  Nirakar ISHWAR who is omnipresent and sees all without being seen firms up. Here is the natural reserve of strength that a supplicant may draw from as and when the need arises. Thus when a devotee has the divine strength to fall back upon, he cannot but be Happy.

POSITIVE THINKING

Positive Thinking is not mere absence of NegativeThinking. When one ceases to think or act in a manner that causes pain and grief or a loss to others no more due to an act or omission of the gentleman that is, we may say that the said person has given up Negative attitude to life and sailed to the state  where he or she entertains only Positive Attitude to life and letters. In this kind of frame of mind, there are no commas but full stops only. An individual with a Positive Attitude  to life cannot but be happy.

BE YOURSELF

Natural way of life is a happy way of life. Be yourself and never try to put up a  show. Please do not show off either because that show would be without naturalness. Happiness lives in a natural person but abandons a soul that shows off. An unnatural life or an unnatural act leads to punishment as they violate one law or the other. If you are your natural self, you are a happy man.

LAUGHTER IS LOVELY

The Reader’s Digest runs a column of jokes taken from all societies and published unedited. The jokes in their natural form are either a hit or a miss. In this case, I find that the joke was a  hit and guests had gone delirious. They are all happy men and women. Laughter is a piece of evidence to prove that the man who laughs a lot is indeed a happy man.

A good laughter strengthens the lungs and prevents cardio-vascular problems .Laugh a lot and effect a tremendous saving on medical bills. A healthy person is indeed a happy person.

LIVE IN THE PRESENT

Happiness follows one who lives in the Present. You feel the Present and you solve the problem of the Present. Those who live in the past lose touch with the Present and in due course of time become incompetent to tackle the present day crises. Those who live in the Future are invariably gripped with Fear of the Unknown. FEAR is the biggest enemy of Man. To overcome this, the VEDAS suggest chanting  o a Mantra and fortifying your beliefs to make your mind  ABHAY – free from  fear. A fearful person can never be happy. A fearless person will always be happy.

CULTIVATE CULTURE

Fine Arts, Music –vocal or instrumental ,painting or forming a word picture of an  event or individual are various branches of Culture. The culture has to be cultivated by an  individual because it  does not come on its own. In difficult times,  one may paint or sing or play on a musical instrument and divert the mind from problems that cause unhappiness. When unhappiness  or a  tense atmosphere is taken care of, a  relaxed atmosphere will replace a  tense situation. Happiness will follow as a natural corollary.

HAVE HEALTHY SEX

The sexual attraction draws a man and a woman close to each other. They not only admire each other but also touch gently  or grope into the forbidden zone. If both are adults, they proceed further in the privacy of a house or a garden and have sexual intercourse. That mutual act is indeed a source of joy. More of it gives more joy. So, having healthy sex between two consenting adult males in  the privacy of the house is now legal as per a judgement of the Delhi  High Court. Since sex is a source of joy, so go ahead and have more of it until you are happy and wish to enhance the state of sex-generated happiness no more.

MAN IS WHAT HE EATS

Mind is the man. The way you eat, what you  eat and how much you eat will determine your mental make-up and  physical  body. One of the  Vedic Rishis who was also a  physician  had  recommended to both the masses and the classes all about  the food  intake. In  anutshell,his advice was:  Eat  what is beneficial  to mind and body. Thus healthy diet of green leafy vegetables, no red meat  and over-spiced dishes,a lot of fluid and abjuring junk  food was described  as  a source of happiness. Secondly, eat less than what your stomach  can accommodate. Finally ,eat food bought with money earned by the sweat of brow and not by murdering the moneyed men.

Indeed, a lot of emphasis was placed on a lean diet, a healthy diet and an honest purchase of food. Well, it is this kind of food that may be joy-generating.

HEALTHY MIND IN HEALTHY BODY

Right from childhood I have been hearing from the school counselors that a systematic daily exercise will keep the body fit and a mental exercise will not let mind be lethargic. Since everybody wishes to live long ,one patiently listens to the piece of advice that  is repeatedly given by  both the PT instructors and other teachers. However, words are  not enough to see you through. Practice and practice will  make a man  healthy. Health  and  happiness  are twins. A healthy man is a happy man._________________________

Postal Address:

UPVAN,   609, Sector 29,  NOIDA  -201303,  INDIA.  Email:  sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com

Mobile:  0091-9811173590.

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Pt. GURUDUTTA VIDYARTHI MEMORIAL VEDIC RESEARCH AND REFERENCE LIBRARY INAUGURATED ON SHIVA RATHRI DAY(MARCH 10) AT VELLINEZHI (KERALA)

A Vedic research library dedicated to great Vedic scholar and Arya Samaj Missionary Pandit Gurudatta Vidyarthi (1864-1890) named 'Pandit Gurudatta Vidyarthi Memorial Vedic Research and Reference Library' was formally inaugurated at Arya Samajam, Vellinezhi on 10 March 2013 (Shivarathri - Rishibodhotsav day) by renowned sanskrit scholar Dr. PK Madhavan, President of Vidyabharathi, Dakshin Kshethra. The inaugural function was presided over by Sri.ON Damodaran Namboothirippad. This library consists of all four Vedas (with bhashya), Brahmanas, Aranyakas, Shad darshanans (Nyaya, Vysheshika, Yoga, Samkhya, Poorva Meemamsa, Vedantham), Brahma Suthram, Manusmrithi, Upanishads, Valmeeki Ramayan, Vyasa Bharatham, Sathyarth Prakash, Rigvedadi Bhashya Bhoomika and other vedic literatures of Maharshi Dayanand Saraswathi and Arya Missionaries like Pt Lekhram, Gurudatta Vidyarthi, mahatma Hansraj, Swamy Shradhanand etc. Apart from that  many vedic periodicals published in different languages will also be available for open reading at this library. Dr. PK Madhavan, the great scholar and educationist in his inaugural address said that the Vedas which is acknowledged as apaurusheya (eternal) by our learned Acharyas are a treasure of all knowledge (Rathnakara). He also called upon all Keralites to take seriously the clarion call of the social reformer Maharshi Dayanand Saraswathi i.e. 'BACK TO VEDAS' and propagate that knowledge for the benefits of all. The function was started with a Rigvedic Hymn recited with traditional Kerala swara style by Sri. KM Parameswaran, former Sub Editor of Kesari Weekly. KM Rajan welcomed the audience and V Govinda Das spoke on thanks ceremony. Sri. VN Sankaranarayanan, S Sreedhara Sharma, V Ramakrishnan and RSS Ottappalam Jilla Karyavah Sri. KM Sreedharan also spoke on this occasion. A Seva samarppan fund from Arya Samajam, Vellinezhi was handed over to Sri.Jayaprakash who is suffering from cancer disease by Sri.ON Damodaran Namboothirippad soon after the library inauguration.

   A brihath Agnihothra and Maharshi Dayanand Anusmaran function was also held on the occassion of Rishibodhothsav (Sivarathri) before the start of Library inauguration.

USA FOR PEACE IN AFPAK REGION

AUM
AMERICA FOR PEACE IN AFPAK
By Brigadier(Retd) Chitranjan Sawant,VSM

America has not forgotten its old friend, the late Hosni Mubarak who had ruled Egypt with an iron hand putting leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafist in prison . But times have changed. The Arab Spring brought up new leaders whom Arabs like and love too. We know that 25 per cent of all Arabs live in Egypt. So, Egypt matters.
The Obama Administration realised, that there was no point in backing the discredited generals loyal to the Mubarak regime as giving them arms would amount to pouring US dollars down the drain.
Consequently the Americans are now talking to the new Egyptian President, Mohammad Morsi of Muslim Brotherhood who was put in prison by Hosni Mubarak for his Islamist views and anti-American tirades.
Morsi has changed too. His education in California long ago and a study of global perspective helped him realise that the Art of Diplomacy means knowing and pracising concept of Compromise. He did not let the orthodox Islamist theory of keeping the Western world out of a bon-homie foreign policy. It is he who extended the hand of friendship to the United States and Obama was wise enough not to spurn the offer.
Now Obama and Morsi are happily smoking the Peace Pipe and the commerce between the two countries is growing.
Of course, it took a lot of convincing of boys back home in Washington DC to realise that the winds blowing from banks of the Nile was a changed one. There is now fragrance of peace and democracy. The days of oligarchy and aristocracy are gone, perhaps forever. Moreover, America has nothing to fear by befriending Arabs. The old rival, Soviet Union has disappeared from the global stage and its substitute, Russia is too involved internally in Chechnya and in building its economy to interfere with American plans of befriending Egypt.

WILL MIDDLE-EAST BENEFIT

Is this new policy of Obama Administration likely to be extended to the entire Arab world? Well, even President Obama is not sure about it and that too in the election year. His supporters predict his victory at the hustings but his rival candidate his not sitting idle. The last wo debates gave the incumbent President a thumbs up but that is not enough to say that his success in getting a second term in the White House is a sure shot.

Be that as it may, left to himself, Obama would like to carry on with the Peace plan in the Middle-East and befriend the entire Arab world. The specialists on Anarchy and Terror have realised that keeping the have-nots at arm’s length is just driving them into the arms of active insurgency and Osama bin-Laden style terrorism. So, the terror-specialists are of the opinion that keeping the Arabs out of the tent is potentially dangerous. So why not give them an elbow room inside the tent and keep your areas of interest out of harm’s way.

Indeed most of the Arab world is in turmoil at present. Syria and lebanon may be left to fend for themselves. The royal houses of Saudi Arabia and Jorden stand beholden to the United States for stability and are prepared to enlarge their shopping list on cash payment in hard currency to make America the sole beneficiary. Thus it would be in America’s interest, financial and political, to maintain status quo there.

One may safely predict that the insurgents and terrorists would not like to launch a frontal attack on positions where they are most likely to burn their fingers.

AFPAK  POST  2014

Turning our attention to Afghanistan and Pakistan post 2014 when the bulk of the NATO forces would have returned home leaving Afghans to fend for themselves, we find that there is a likelihood of  complete chaos and disorder prevailing all around. This prediction is not a product of a pessimist guiding a group discussion and forcing a line of action as per his pessimistic thought and the resultant action thereof. Indeed the American military strategists who had whole heartedly supported the line of action being pursued by President Barrack Obama wherein he had made a two-stage plan to be followed by action, have now no intention of eating the crow by revising the  strategy in Afghanistan in the closing  months of the decade long disastrous campaign that cost Uncle Sam rather dearly in terms of men, money and material.

Now it is too late to analyse afresh  the final military plan of the US armed forces that carried the stamp of approval and it meant   SURGE NATO TROOPS, DISSIPATE THE TALIBAN AND THEREAFTER WITHDRAW FOREVER. Well the Surge went off well, although it did not reach the optimum number. Nevertheless, the Dissipation of the Taliban remained a Distant Dream. The planned Withdrawal of the NATO forces is proceeding as per plan. The first and the third parts of the plan are fine but it is the botched up Second part of defeating the Taliban that did not take off the ground and is staring the NATO commanders in the face, rather menacingly.

The NATO top commanders have to translate their sound plans into action on ground  to avoid a Vietnam-type fiasco that overwhelmed a proper military withdrawal from Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City forcing the American GIs to run helter- skelter. The closing months, nay weeks of war on Terror in Afghanistan needs be kept under firm control and not let Islamic guerillas go berserk. The best weapon to subdue the Islamist troops is a liberal use of flame throwers or any other gun or howitzers that might burn the Taliban troops beyond recognition. The moment massive attack by flame throwers is in  evidence, the Taliban terrorists run helter-skelter so that their bodies are NOT burnt beyond recognition. In case their bodies are burnt completely, they would not be recognized on the Day of Judgement when Allah dispenses justice for the life thereafter.

CONTROL & CONTAIN PAKIS

It is wily Pakis that have been the major  source of trouble for the NATO in Afghanistan. Their military commanders have a suppressed desire to rule Afghanistan from the capital of Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. They have their eyes fixed on the battle scenario post 2014 when the NATO, read Americans, would be gone for good. Then the Pakis would let loose their cruel forces to maim and kill fiercely independent Afghans and hold their sway from Oxus river (Amu Darya) in the North to the Hindu Kush mountains in the South-East and Kandahar in the South-West. They had tasted the fruit of their imperial designs when the USSR had withdrawn from Afghanistan lock stock and barrel after a decade long strife against the Mujahideens.

It is time the United States built an international opinion against Pakistan ruling the roost in Afghanistan. Indeed that would be disastrous for the global peace process and a booster for the Islamist terror movement at an international level.

Admiral Mike Mullen, now retired, had gone on record to say that Pakistanis are liars and must not be trusted. The Admiral was of the opinion that Pakis bite the hand that feeds them and who else could have a more bitter experience in this regard than the United States of America.

The United States of America owes it to the posterity NOT to let history repeat itself in the AFPAK region lest the Islamic Taliban terrorist hatch their evil plans there to destabilize the Free Democratic World.

Email:  sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com         Mob. 0091- 9811173590.

Postal Address:  Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM (Retd), UPVAN  609, Sector 29, NOIDA INDIA.

DELIBERATIONS ON SEXUAL OFFENCES AGAINST WOMEN

AUM

       DELIBERATIONS ON SEXUAL OFFENCES

                                             By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM

The sexual offences against women are on the rise, why? Because our legislators and administrators are busy amending the existing laws on the subject and making them punishable so that sentences to be handed down by courts of law mean a longer period of incarceration. The law makers have a notion, right or wrong, that it would be a deterrent and keep a potential rapist or a molester away from girls and single women when they are out in the street unprotected. Unfortunately, they ignore the most important point there.
CHANGE THE MINDSET OF POTENTIAL CRIMINALS. CHANGE THE THOUGHT PROCESS OF YOUNG MEN AND LET THEM LEARN ABOUT SUBLIMATION OF SEX. DHARM PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE BUT THE SO CALLED SECULARISTS KEEP DHARM AT ARM'S LENGTH.THUS THE SOCIAL ORDER BECOMES VULNERABLE AND WOMEN SUFFER MOST.

IS MORALITY DEAD ?

The Vedic Thought, a sound base of our human society, and from where emanate human values, are indeed essential as a subject of study for adolescents so that they become human beings. A doubting Thomas may confront a Humanist at a corner in a dark alley and ask menacingly; aren’t we human beings? If we are not human beings, what are we? Why do you keep on teaching and preaching: let us be human beings. As it is, most of us are confused people. You, men of religion, are making confusion worse confounded by asking men and women to be human beings.

The Humanist or the Vedic preacher kept his cool and said calmly; my friend, you caught hold of my color, roughed me up and showere questions in a menacing manner. I could have followed suit but I did not do so. Something in my mind cautioned me: old boy, you are a human being and this kind of bullish behavior belongs to the animal kingdom t5hat lies in dark and deep abyss where the Sun never shines and its rays never penetrate. It is indeed Rakshas raj over there. Pray, tell me, how can a human being live and survive in that nocturnal world? We are human beings and our human values never flourished there. Let us withdraw from the Rakshas Raj and move over to the well lighted part of the existence so that we live like Human Beings as commanded by the Vedas and achieve what has been laid out for us in the Vedic injunction, MANURBHAV – BE A HUMAN BEING. The VEDAS enjoin on the humans  MANURBHAV and to achieve that goal we have to rise above the animal instincts and passions that degrade us, take away from us human values of life and leave us to obey our own animal instincts. Thus it is Eat, Drink, sleep, indulge in sexual gratification; live for the Self and not for the Society.

Once a man or a woman is well dined and treated to choicest wine, the person craves for passionate sex with no holds barred. The strong wine inside the head makes a man as sensuous as a devil or a she-devil. Gratification of sex, willy-nilly, becomes the be all and end all of life. It is here that sex and violence join hands, human values are thrown to winds and nothing in this world remains sacrosanct. Sexual intercourse with anyone anytime, irrespective of human relationship gains the upper hand to misguide minds of men transformed as Rakshasas. There is no control at all over thought and action. Committing sexual offences thereafter is just a natural corollary of the preceding action and reaction.

EDUCATION AND UPBRINGING

Mind is the Man. Let your mind be on the right track and let it guide your action, believe me when I say that you are not likely to go wrong anytime anywhere. When an individual has gained the mental strength through righteous action preceded by righteous thought, he or she will not succumb to sexual temptation, irrespective of the beauty, sensuous expression through words, signs or symbols, voluptuous body and ramp-like gait. One sided signal is not enough to persuade the other partner to have sex with anyone, anytime or anywhere. A man or a woman observing Brhmacharya that includes abstinence from sexual intercourse and intake of sensuous food and drink like red meat and alchohol, smoking or chewing tobacco, sprinkling of perfumes and talking with a kind of voice and mannerism that incites sexual instinct and encourages a man or a woman to go in for sexual activity of varied nature.

The syllabus made for modern system of education may be laying emphasis on grooming an officer, a bread-winner for the family but has little to say about making our finished product a complete man or a woman. There is little to learn by watching a senior teacher, a role model or the head master or head mistress discharging duties as a head of the institution. There is hardly any practical training or grooming to bring up the student as a future hwad of the family where he or she protect their children from molesters or rapists. The cases of close relatives or resident teachers casting an evil eye on the tender child under his charge are now growing by leaps and bounds. Anoushka Shankar, a daughter of Ravi Shankar the Sitar maestro has gone on record to say how , as a child, she was sexually abused by a male relative in whom her parents had implicit faith. It brings us to the point that parents have to be extra-vigilant in protecting their children from close relatives and friends who remain on the prowl to prey on innocent children.

The mother, the father and the Teacher form a triangle to educate, protect and groom a child of theirs. It is reiterated in the SHATPATH BRAHMAN, A COMMENTARY ON THE YAJURVEDA, WHEN IT SAYS:

Matriman, pitravan ,Acharyavan purusho Veda

And that places the responsibility for teaching, educating, protecting a child from sexual abuse etc on mother, father and the Guru.

Unfortunately, the coordination among these three is missing in the modern system of education and the child goes unprotected in the wide world where predators are out looking for a human prey both in day time and at night.

PREVENTION FROM PREDATORS

Prevention is better than cure. Vigilant parents and teachers will not let a potential molester go anywhere near a child. Watchful parents will take preventive steps to protect their adolescent children from going to late night parties unprotected and unescorted. Arrangements should be made to protect the children from vagabonds who are out at odd hours in uninhabited areas. Now new devices like chilly-spray and long nails have been marketed so that girls buy and keep them in the hand purse to use as a weapon of defence. It would be a good idea for the schools to teach and train both boys and girls in unarmed combat for self protection. Karate, judo, wrestling and method of raising an alarm to attract the attention of passers-by are some of the in-house protection methods that must be practiced.

Imparting knowledge of sexual abuse, methods of prevention or protection and an inkling into basic law that prevents women from being raped by unsocial and anti-national elements. A knowledge of sequence of rape activity will give girls self-confidence and they will not be stunned as and when the rapists start their illegal activities. A little knowledge of law, that is section 376 Indian Penal Code will give the victim confidence to resist because the social order and Law are on her side to protect her. Even anonymity is maintained so that the girl is not brought into disrepute.

The mental make up of men folk needs to undergo a tremendous change. The change has to be brought about on two fronts. The mental make up of potential rapists and molesters has to be changed by a brain-washing procedure. Later, a brainwash of the prospective bridegroom is also required so that he has no mental blockage in marrying a girl who was ravished by other men elsewhere. Let bygones be gone and look forward to living life anew and afresh. If the ravished girls are rehabilitated in the social order, the cases of post-rape fear will disappear. Moreover a rapist must never be considered a hero in society but must be looked down upon. This will decrease the number of sexual offenders in future.

Our social and religious reformers have a major role to play in changing the mindset of an average citizen. Both men and women should be encouraged to be bold, develop self-confidence and not to say DIE, just in case an untoward event takes place. Remember, there will be a bright and sunny morning again tomorrow, the night of gloom will be over and remember ISHWAR for protection and support. The future is bright, my friends.

Email : sawantchitranjan@yahoo.com        Mobile:  9811173590.