Nadeem F.Paracha in The Dawn starts,
Daddy?
Yes, son.
Are we going to have a war with India?
Perhaps...
And ends with this sage advice, "Blow the TV set."
Sometimes I feel the same way, especially while watching Times Now, or is it CNN-IBN or NDTV?
I put the link up here earlier, and I do so again. Please look up DAWN.
Another article Kartikey recommends is by Tavleen Singh in Indian Express, where she writes, "The only people who have a problem defining India are liberal, English-speaking ‘secular intellectuals’ who usually don’t speak even a single Indian language".
That should not be a problem, but I think they want to stand out elitist of the elite class, but can't quite bring themselves to merge into the crowd of commoners. So, whatever commoners believe, they happily debunk it. India happens to be one, Hinduism another. In England, their counterparts rant against Christianity, and avoid the use of T-word.
In this context, I would like to draw attention to a blog post by David Godman. I liked it. And it shows the true face of India.
Per Westin, related to the King of Sweden, with a personal fortune of over eight million dollars in the 1940s, was inspired by Swami Vivekananda's Raja Yoga. He came to study philosophy at Banaras Hindu University, received Sannyas at Almora, and with a coconut shell for begging bowl, wandered the interiors of Tamil Nadu, and died in a village outside Madurai at the age of 35!
True to the style of a true Yogi, his end came thus:
This India has nothing to do with Hinduism, nothing to do with Territory or Race.
The urge of man to transcend his limitations, is the common thread that runs through India. We can call it spirituality or religion or hinduism or whatever. It is all that and much more. In my mind, Per Westin is the ultimate Indian.
I don't know whether you will agree, but if you read this post by David Godman, I will be surprised if you remain unmoved.
And the third link, Kartikey has provided is this: BBC report which says women of Banda area in northern Uttar Pradesh, who call themselves "gulabi gang" (pink gang), go around in pink saris after all those corrupt officials and boorish men with sticks and axes. Rough justice, but some justice in this land of 'unlikely democracy' (thanks, Tavleen)- unlikely, but real.
In this context, I would like to draw attention to a blog post by David Godman. I liked it. And it shows the true face of India.
Per Westin, related to the King of Sweden, with a personal fortune of over eight million dollars in the 1940s, was inspired by Swami Vivekananda's Raja Yoga. He came to study philosophy at Banaras Hindu University, received Sannyas at Almora, and with a coconut shell for begging bowl, wandered the interiors of Tamil Nadu, and died in a village outside Madurai at the age of 35!
True to the style of a true Yogi, his end came thus:
"It was summer and mangoes were just beginning to appear. Accepting some as an offering, he alluded to his forthcoming death by saying, ‘I will eat a nice mango now, but it will become garbage tomorrow morning’.
For more than an hour before his death he was completely withdrawn in a deep meditative state, with his hair standing on end. At his last moment he whispered ‘Let us go,’ and he left his body in true yogic fashion, through the fontanelle in the top of his head. Blood was seen to ooze out of a hole there."
This India has nothing to do with Hinduism, nothing to do with Territory or Race.
The urge of man to transcend his limitations, is the common thread that runs through India. We can call it spirituality or religion or hinduism or whatever. It is all that and much more. In my mind, Per Westin is the ultimate Indian.
I don't know whether you will agree, but if you read this post by David Godman, I will be surprised if you remain unmoved.
And the third link, Kartikey has provided is this: BBC report which says women of Banda area in northern Uttar Pradesh, who call themselves "gulabi gang" (pink gang), go around in pink saris after all those corrupt officials and boorish men with sticks and axes. Rough justice, but some justice in this land of 'unlikely democracy' (thanks, Tavleen)- unlikely, but real.
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