A couple of days back, I read about the death of an India student in UK, killed by strangers while on picnic with friends.
There had been many similar stories from Australia over the last years. In the beginning of the year, I remember reading the story of an Indian Student being killed and his body put in a sack and abandoned elsewhere. I knew this boy from his younger years as he was senior to my daughter in local Bhavan’s School. Son of a clerk working in a Hospital in the city, this brilliant boy went to IIT, Madras before going to US for higher studies. It is yet to be known on why he was killed.
There could be many reasons for Indian students becoming victims in distant lands. It could be racial issues, jealousy, love tangle, rivalries due to academic/professional matters or many other reasons. However it is very heart wrenching to hear stories like this.
The fact of the matter is that one is not safe in somebody’s land. These places do offer best higher education, excellent living conditions and possibly, the best of employment. But, howsoever the immigrant tries, he simply cannot truly merge with the total culture and traditions. The color of the skin, the language that one speaks and the living practices that he follows; make one stand out, mostly as a sore thumb. An African, an Indian, a Chinese, a Sikh all are so stereotypical that, they become butt of ridicule and humiliation for the locals and there is definitely discrimination. It could be very depressing.
Why do we need to speak about other nations? It is being practiced so lavishly here in India too. I remember staying and working in Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab & Haryana, in addition to being a union territory. My skin color and my language stood out and there were many instances that I had undergone discrimination from the hands of locals. There is distinct difference in the features of a north Indian and a south Indian. There, I was a Madrasi (for a north Indian, anyone comes from this side of the Vindhya Hills is a Madrasi), a ‘kala admi’ (black man) and someone who landed in those part of the world for the sake a livelihood. What more are needed to treat him as an outcast? Some of the experiences had gone so deep into my psyche that when I was working for the country’s leading computer company in Delhi, I was offered to be sent to California, USA on a job transfer, I refused it. My HR director called me a strange being to refuse a job in USA, the land of uncle Sam that everyone loves to settle down and of course, a land of plenty of opportunities. Instead I resigned from the job and returned to my home State to start the life of an entrepreneur.
One is in peace only when he is comfortable. Having worked in Delhi, Chandigarh and Bangalore, I have never felt comfortable in any of these places. This is an innate, internal feeling. To add to that is the discomfort when you are restricted to socialise only with your own family. After coming back to my own home State, I not only did grow professionally but socially too.
After having traversed this far in life, I am convinced that peace and happiness are the paramount things that one must aspire for. To enable that to happen one must be extremely in harmony with oneself and the surroundings.
And being in own place with own people, one derives that comfort.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
AN INDIAN HISORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Last week, I was welcomed to kickstart a seminar organised by by German Indian Business Centre (GIBC), Hannover at Hotel Gokulam Park in Cochin. This is what I delivered.
My first experience with Wolfgang Höltgen of GIBC was when he took the excursion of German SME CEOs to India. To them, I gave a historical perspective of India.
So I felt that in this meeting of introducing GIBC too, I would give a historical perspective to you the audience.
Recent genetic research indicates that the Indian subcontinent was subjected to a series of massive Indo European migrations during about 3500 BC. The Austro-Asiatic tribals or the Dravidians are hypothesized to have been the earliest inhabitants of India, while incoming Indo-European tribes may have displaced Dravidian-speaking tribals southward.
Linguistic evidence points to the Indo-Aryan languages as intrusive into South Asia, sometime in the 2nd millennium BC. Indo-Aryan migration into Punjab is thus approximately contemporaneous to the decline of the Indus-Valley civilization (what we call the Harappa – Mohenjo-Daro civilization)
The decline of the Indus-Valley civilization from about BC 1900 resulted in many Indus Valley cities being abandoned during the period, while many new settlements began to appear in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab etc. This shift by Harappan and other Indus Valley cultural groups; is the only archaeologically documented west-to-east movement of human populations in South Asia before the first half of the first millennium B.C.
The known Economic history of India begins with the Indus Valley civilization. The Indus civilization's economy appears to have depended significantly on trade, which was facilitated by advances in transport. The period was marked by intensive trade activity and urban development. By 300 B.C, the Maurya Empire united most of the Indian subcontinent. The political unity and military security allowed for a common economic system and enhanced trade and commerce, with increased agricultural productivity.
Then came the Silk Route which is referred to a historical network, extending from Europe through Egypt, Somalia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran or then Persia, Central Asia, Pakistan, Java-Indonesia, and Vietnam until it reached China. There existed both land and sea routes. Extending 6,500 km, the Silk Route gets its name from the lucrative Chinese silk trade along it, which began during the Han Dynasty by 200 BC.
The consolidation of Hinduism, thereafter the period of the brahmanic supremacy in it resulted the genesis of Buddhism and Jainism in India. Many famous kings ruled India at that time, Kings Ashoka, & Kanishka are some important names. The beginning of AD saw the revitalization Hinduism in India by the sage Adi Shankara.
During the first 1500 years of AD, India produced its classical civilizations. During this period India is estimated to have had the largest economy of the ancient and medieval world, controlling between one third and one fourth of the world's wealth.
From the beginning of the second millennium AD, India saw the invasion of Muslim warriors from Afghanistan, Persia and Mongol. Mohamed of Ghazni, Genghis Khan and Mohammed of Ghaur are the initial prominent invaders. In fact Genghis Khan, the fearsome Mongolian warrior of the 12th century, may have done more than rule the largest empire in the world; according to a recently published genetic study, he may have helped populate it too, It is estimated that he had close to 37 wives of which 6 were from Mongolia. During his invasions he killed the males and raped the women. It is estimated that legally & illegally he had sired close to 14000 children. An international group of geneticists studying Y-chromosome data have found that nearly 8 per cent of the men living in the region of the former Mongol empire carry Y-chromosomes that are nearly identical to that of Genghis Khan. That translates to 0.5 per cent of the male population in the world, or roughly 16 million descendants living today.
During this time came other Muslim Dynasties such as the Slaves, the Khilgis, the Tuglaqs, the Lodhis, and the Moghuls. Post the Mughals, The indigenous Marathas came into rule most of India.
India slipped into European colonial rule thereafter; the French, Dutch, Portuguese and later the British. It was plundered, looted and left totally squeezed of its wealth by the colonial powers particularly, the British.
After 350 years of the east India company and the British Raj, in 1947 our Country got independence and on August 14th midnight the country’s tryst with destiny started.
Then began The India within- the inward India with a heady mix of socialism, mixed economy, five year plans, the rules and misrules; sometimes dynastic democracy, and by 1991, India landed in the worst of its times - the Forex Crisis
The other contemporary parallel was the Soviet Union splintering into multiple nations as a result of Perestroika & Glasnost perpetuated by Michael Gorbechev
As said by one of the characters of Helen Keller, this worst of times was the best of times too. For India got opened up. LPG came into being.
By now two decades of Reform process had gone in here. India is now the IT POWER, Soft Power and the beginning of Transnational Indian commerce had started(The Tatas, Birlas, Ambanis, Mittals…)
However it was also times of worldwide religious fundamentalism & Global terrorism
That resulted in the failing America (9/11 and later economically). Now we stand at the failing Euro Zone.
In spite all these, Germany continues to be very strong. That is the Relevance of German India Business Centre or GIBC.
My first experience with Wolfgang Höltgen of GIBC was when he took the excursion of German SME CEOs to India. To them, I gave a historical perspective of India.
So I felt that in this meeting of introducing GIBC too, I would give a historical perspective to you the audience.
Recent genetic research indicates that the Indian subcontinent was subjected to a series of massive Indo European migrations during about 3500 BC. The Austro-Asiatic tribals or the Dravidians are hypothesized to have been the earliest inhabitants of India, while incoming Indo-European tribes may have displaced Dravidian-speaking tribals southward.
Linguistic evidence points to the Indo-Aryan languages as intrusive into South Asia, sometime in the 2nd millennium BC. Indo-Aryan migration into Punjab is thus approximately contemporaneous to the decline of the Indus-Valley civilization (what we call the Harappa – Mohenjo-Daro civilization)
The decline of the Indus-Valley civilization from about BC 1900 resulted in many Indus Valley cities being abandoned during the period, while many new settlements began to appear in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab etc. This shift by Harappan and other Indus Valley cultural groups; is the only archaeologically documented west-to-east movement of human populations in South Asia before the first half of the first millennium B.C.
The known Economic history of India begins with the Indus Valley civilization. The Indus civilization's economy appears to have depended significantly on trade, which was facilitated by advances in transport. The period was marked by intensive trade activity and urban development. By 300 B.C, the Maurya Empire united most of the Indian subcontinent. The political unity and military security allowed for a common economic system and enhanced trade and commerce, with increased agricultural productivity.
Then came the Silk Route which is referred to a historical network, extending from Europe through Egypt, Somalia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran or then Persia, Central Asia, Pakistan, Java-Indonesia, and Vietnam until it reached China. There existed both land and sea routes. Extending 6,500 km, the Silk Route gets its name from the lucrative Chinese silk trade along it, which began during the Han Dynasty by 200 BC.
The consolidation of Hinduism, thereafter the period of the brahmanic supremacy in it resulted the genesis of Buddhism and Jainism in India. Many famous kings ruled India at that time, Kings Ashoka, & Kanishka are some important names. The beginning of AD saw the revitalization Hinduism in India by the sage Adi Shankara.
During the first 1500 years of AD, India produced its classical civilizations. During this period India is estimated to have had the largest economy of the ancient and medieval world, controlling between one third and one fourth of the world's wealth.
From the beginning of the second millennium AD, India saw the invasion of Muslim warriors from Afghanistan, Persia and Mongol. Mohamed of Ghazni, Genghis Khan and Mohammed of Ghaur are the initial prominent invaders. In fact Genghis Khan, the fearsome Mongolian warrior of the 12th century, may have done more than rule the largest empire in the world; according to a recently published genetic study, he may have helped populate it too, It is estimated that he had close to 37 wives of which 6 were from Mongolia. During his invasions he killed the males and raped the women. It is estimated that legally & illegally he had sired close to 14000 children. An international group of geneticists studying Y-chromosome data have found that nearly 8 per cent of the men living in the region of the former Mongol empire carry Y-chromosomes that are nearly identical to that of Genghis Khan. That translates to 0.5 per cent of the male population in the world, or roughly 16 million descendants living today.
During this time came other Muslim Dynasties such as the Slaves, the Khilgis, the Tuglaqs, the Lodhis, and the Moghuls. Post the Mughals, The indigenous Marathas came into rule most of India.
India slipped into European colonial rule thereafter; the French, Dutch, Portuguese and later the British. It was plundered, looted and left totally squeezed of its wealth by the colonial powers particularly, the British.
After 350 years of the east India company and the British Raj, in 1947 our Country got independence and on August 14th midnight the country’s tryst with destiny started.
Then began The India within- the inward India with a heady mix of socialism, mixed economy, five year plans, the rules and misrules; sometimes dynastic democracy, and by 1991, India landed in the worst of its times - the Forex Crisis
The other contemporary parallel was the Soviet Union splintering into multiple nations as a result of Perestroika & Glasnost perpetuated by Michael Gorbechev
As said by one of the characters of Helen Keller, this worst of times was the best of times too. For India got opened up. LPG came into being.
By now two decades of Reform process had gone in here. India is now the IT POWER, Soft Power and the beginning of Transnational Indian commerce had started(The Tatas, Birlas, Ambanis, Mittals…)
However it was also times of worldwide religious fundamentalism & Global terrorism
That resulted in the failing America (9/11 and later economically). Now we stand at the failing Euro Zone.
In spite all these, Germany continues to be very strong. That is the Relevance of German India Business Centre or GIBC.
MY GITA, HIS TOO
Just read that in the Siberian court, part of the Russian State alitigation has started to ban the sale & proliferatiion of BHAGAWAD GITA there. What they are trying to ban is the Russian translation of Bhakta Prabhu Pada’s (ISKCON) commentaries of GITA. Yesterday there was a furore about this in the Loksabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament.
For Indians particularly the Hindus, GITA is the most sacred of their scriptures. GITA has the status of Bible or Koran, though it is much older than the two. Originally brought out in Sanskrit, some 3 to 4 millennia ago, it has now been translated to most of all languages of the world. So many seers, saints and learned men had written their own commentaries on the contents of Gita. In every Indian Language, you will find minimum hundred different versions of GITA commentaries done by various personas.
What actually is GITA? The epic MAHABHARATA, written by Sage Vyasa, describes the life and times of Pandavas & Kauravas, the cousins who quarrelled a lot on who will rule India and to decide the same, eventually they went into war. It was sort of an all India war with other neighbouring kingdoms joining either of the teams. Lord Krishna joined up with Pandavas based on their request with a pledge that he will not do the fighting but will act as a charioteer and thus he drove the chariot of Arjuna - the third of the Pandava brothers and the most accomplished warrior among them. On the very first day, as he reached the war zone lead by Krishna in his chariot, he saw his Godfather, Elders, Gurus, Cousins, Acquaintances and all standing on the other side. He came into deep guilt consciousness of fighting and killing them and out of sheer pain decided not to fight by letting go his weapon. At this point in time, Krishna said the words of wisdom that is contained in GITA. These words were said to motivate Arjun, to let his guilt go away and to tell him what is right and what is wrong. GITA is fairly an elaborate advice. After listening to Krishna, Arjuna let go his remorse and got charged up and motivated to fight the war. In the end, the Pandavas won the Kurukshetra war (Kurukshetra is the place where the war took place. The place exists in the Haryana State of North India)
Though it was a motivating wisdom of Lord Krishna, exhorted to his friend Arjun to fight the war, GITA is considered by every Hindu more metaphorically than as a war advice. Typically it is all about overcoming the war of life and coming out victorious in the end. It contains the fundamental definitions of everything. And also the HOWs of everything. It is indeed delivered by the ONE who had mastered everything in life. It could be considered as THE ULTIMATE UNIVERSAL ADVICE that one could get in life. That is the reason; it had been translated in every language of the world.
Let me add about the various commentaries/interpretations made on the GITA verse by various people, saints and seers included. Sanskrit today is not a spoken language. Having come out eons ago, the words in GITA does not come out with a standard set of meaning. Thus, different commentators of GITA used different meaning to the words of wisdom that contained in the original. That is why every commentary looked and meant different to people. May be cults like ISKCON has propounded its own versions of the understanding of the text. It may be possible that in some of those interpretations, it must have come out as a war cry, making certain governments of the world to look at it sternly.
Most of the epics and scriptures of the past has these challenges. The interpretations of the text become very contextual and the meaning also varies accordingly. Look at the Bible. Luke, Mathew and John had commented it differently. There are different interpretations to Koran by various sects of Muslims. So ultimately, commentaries, explanations and interpretations of the scriptures come out the way the interpreter wants it.
Therefore, I said in the caption; My GITA, HIS TOO………………
For Indians particularly the Hindus, GITA is the most sacred of their scriptures. GITA has the status of Bible or Koran, though it is much older than the two. Originally brought out in Sanskrit, some 3 to 4 millennia ago, it has now been translated to most of all languages of the world. So many seers, saints and learned men had written their own commentaries on the contents of Gita. In every Indian Language, you will find minimum hundred different versions of GITA commentaries done by various personas.
What actually is GITA? The epic MAHABHARATA, written by Sage Vyasa, describes the life and times of Pandavas & Kauravas, the cousins who quarrelled a lot on who will rule India and to decide the same, eventually they went into war. It was sort of an all India war with other neighbouring kingdoms joining either of the teams. Lord Krishna joined up with Pandavas based on their request with a pledge that he will not do the fighting but will act as a charioteer and thus he drove the chariot of Arjuna - the third of the Pandava brothers and the most accomplished warrior among them. On the very first day, as he reached the war zone lead by Krishna in his chariot, he saw his Godfather, Elders, Gurus, Cousins, Acquaintances and all standing on the other side. He came into deep guilt consciousness of fighting and killing them and out of sheer pain decided not to fight by letting go his weapon. At this point in time, Krishna said the words of wisdom that is contained in GITA. These words were said to motivate Arjun, to let his guilt go away and to tell him what is right and what is wrong. GITA is fairly an elaborate advice. After listening to Krishna, Arjuna let go his remorse and got charged up and motivated to fight the war. In the end, the Pandavas won the Kurukshetra war (Kurukshetra is the place where the war took place. The place exists in the Haryana State of North India)
Though it was a motivating wisdom of Lord Krishna, exhorted to his friend Arjun to fight the war, GITA is considered by every Hindu more metaphorically than as a war advice. Typically it is all about overcoming the war of life and coming out victorious in the end. It contains the fundamental definitions of everything. And also the HOWs of everything. It is indeed delivered by the ONE who had mastered everything in life. It could be considered as THE ULTIMATE UNIVERSAL ADVICE that one could get in life. That is the reason; it had been translated in every language of the world.
Let me add about the various commentaries/interpretations made on the GITA verse by various people, saints and seers included. Sanskrit today is not a spoken language. Having come out eons ago, the words in GITA does not come out with a standard set of meaning. Thus, different commentators of GITA used different meaning to the words of wisdom that contained in the original. That is why every commentary looked and meant different to people. May be cults like ISKCON has propounded its own versions of the understanding of the text. It may be possible that in some of those interpretations, it must have come out as a war cry, making certain governments of the world to look at it sternly.
Most of the epics and scriptures of the past has these challenges. The interpretations of the text become very contextual and the meaning also varies accordingly. Look at the Bible. Luke, Mathew and John had commented it differently. There are different interpretations to Koran by various sects of Muslims. So ultimately, commentaries, explanations and interpretations of the scriptures come out the way the interpreter wants it.
Therefore, I said in the caption; My GITA, HIS TOO………………
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