I AND MY WORDS

As devout Hindus around the world in their millions celebrated the return of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya in a new mandir , it is fitting that Jai Shri Rama is the new zeitgest. People greeting each other with the name of Rama sets a new standard of vocabulary. And this is what gets me thinking about a less discussed incident in the mists of time that makes me wonder every time - what if...? Orchha in the ravines of Chambal on the Madhya Pradesh side of Bundelkhand has been the stronghold of Bundelas for long. The beautiful but haunting hamlet today was once the capital of the Bundelas, and housed many such amazing structures, The historic town sits on the banks of river Betwa. Founded in the 16th century by the Bundela Rajput Chief, Rudra Pratap, the city is a major tirtha for its Rama Raja Mandir, where Shri Rama is worshipped as the King of Orchha and gets a 21 gun salute every evening after the aarti . Rama Raja Temple of Orchha (credit: Kandukuru Nagarjun  ) The story of the temp...

Erstwhile Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, K. Karunanidhi, launching the free colour TV scheme in 2006 (source: Rediff ) Recently, a storm unleashed itself on Twitter, as a famous YouTuber came on a popular podcast and made a bizarre claim. Free television distribution, it seems, led to improvement in the outcomes of women. And that is good economics. While I don't watch things all the time, what caught my fancy was the defence of the absurdity since. One journal paper was quoted by the YouTuber in question, and was touted as proof of good economics also being associated with freebies. Again, I usually don't comment on freebies, because I think all freebies as a rule are bad. Freebies raise the cost of service across the economy, create greater entry barriers for the poor that they are supposed to serve, and eventually distract from actual welfare spending on such issues as healthcare and education. However, the absurdity on this was so high that I wanted to write for a change. On...

"भुला! ये खैट पर्वत किस ओर पड़ेगा?" उस लड़के ने ऐसे देखा, मानो साँप सूँघ गया। "मुझे नहीं पता," इतना कहकर वो एकदम तेज़ी से चलने लगा, और क्षण भर में भाग कर अदृश्य सा हो गया। दीपक और उसका मित्र वरुण दोनो ने यह निर्णय किया था के वो अंधविश्वास के विरुद्ध मुहिम छेड़ेंगे। दिल्ली में विज्ञान विषय पढ़ने के बाद उनका दैवीय शक्ति, भूत, अभिचार, इन सब को संदेह से देखना आम बात थी। फिर क्या था -, सत्यशोधन समाज की सदस्यता लेकर उन्होंने जगह जगह जाकर अंधविश्वास के विरुद्ध जागरूकता फैलाने का काम शुरू किया। अभी भी कॉलेज में ही थे, लेकिन शेष समय में जगह जगह जाकर समाज का काम करना उनकी पहचान बन गया था। "कमाल है," वरुण ने एक सिगरेट निकाली और लाइटर से सुलगा कर एक कश भरा। "तीसरा व्यक्ति है, जो बिन बताए चला गया," यह कहकर वरुण ने सिगरेट को दीपक के साथ साझा किया। दीपक ने उस सिगरेट से एक कश भरा, और लौटा दिया। टिहरी के खैट की यह यात्रा बहुत ही कठिन होती जा रही थी। यातायात की समस्या, फिर सड़क की दुर्घटनाएं, ऊपर से लोगों का असहयोग। सब कुछ ही देख लिया था, लेकिन चलो, ऐसा ही होता है...

माँ, कौन हूँ मैं? तू आज बता क्या असल मेरी पहचान है? बेटी तू शान ए डोगरा है डुग्गर से ही तेरी पहचान है तवी की तेज़ धार बावे की माता तेरी शान है बाहु के किले का सूरज जंबु की तेग की धार है डीडो के क्रोध की ज्वाला, और ब्रजदेव की वीरता की अंगार है शिव के माथे का चंदन रघुनाथ कुल का आशीर्वाद है नीला रानी का सतीत्व तू है तू गुलाब सिंह का स्वाभिमान है मालदेव की तलवार का लोहा है तू भाभोरी सुरजदेव वफादार है रणजीत देव की बुद्धिमता तू भारत की पहरेदार है इन गलियों में छुपी हरेक कहानी यह सभी तेरी पहचान हैं तो क्यों मुझे आज छोड़ा मां? क्या मुझसे नहीं तुझे प्यार है तुझमें कोई कमी नहीं बेटी मेरे दोषों का तुझपे प्रहार है तेरे लिए हम लड़ न सके, और अब अब जर्जर तेरी हर दीवार है हरि सिंह सा तुझको छोड़ दिया भूल गए सब तेरी पहचान हैं ब्याह में तुझको यादें दीं पर जोड़ा तेरा तारतार है छत झूल रही अंतिम पग पर तेरी नीलामी का इंतज़ार है मुझे पता नहीं मैं क्या कहूं सिर झुकने को आया आज है डुग्गर धरोहर होना था तुझे अब होटल का तुझसे निखार है सोचा, तुझे मिलेगा प्यार, मगर तुझे बेचा बीच बाजार है तेरे आंसू की गर्मी की ये जलन...

Once again, the bogey of Uniform Civil Code (UCC) has come to the forefront of political deliberations. UCC is being seen as some kind of panacea for a variety of problems that the Hindus face in India. The worst part is that many right minded Hindus seriously believe that UCC will be some kind of game changer in this country. This, when fact remains that UCC does nothing to solve the challenges of Hindus and their second class status in India. Nevertheless, one must realise that UCC does more harm to Hindus than good, and a few good and solid reasons exist for this.  For this, let us have a look at what is being pushed for in the Uttarakhand draft of the UCC bill. As per twitter discussions, these are the thirteen key features of the bill: 1: Polygamy will be banned. 2: The age of marriage of girls will be increased so that they can graduate before marriage. 3: Declaration of live in relationship will be necessary. Parents will be informed. 4: In succession, girls will get an equa...

As the brouhaha on the rightful restoration of the Dharma Danda or Sengol handed over in 1947 by the Adheenams of Tamil Nadu continues, one cannot help but wistfully remember a man whose civilisational roots held up and influenced this nation underneath the currents in ways we can only appreciate today. C Rajagopalachari, or Rajaji as he was known, was the brain behind the Sengol , thanks to his vast expanse of knowledge that was able to recall the traditions of the Chola empire of yore. This very Chola empire had deep connections with Ganga, Aryavarta, Jambudvipa and the pancha tattva of the cosmos among other innumerable Dharmic concepts. Even though he was called the Southern General of Mahatma Gandhi, the outlooks on Hinduism, Dharma, and its role in society were vastly different. Be it in the recensions on Mahabharata and Ramayana or his thoughts on the Upanishads, one senses this deeply. A lecture delivered in Patna in 1953 on the relevance of Hinduism as a religion for mo...

Kanta Devi, an erstwhile VDC Head in village Choura Kot, district Reasi (courtesy: Daily Excelsio r) The recent outrage and noise following the Dangri massacre of Hindus by terrorists brought to focus a rather interesting feature of the security apparatus in Jammu's hilly region of Rajouri and other such regions in and around the Chenab region. A major question asked in the entire debate was the conspicuous absence of the Village Defense Committees (VDCs) and their inability to fight off terrorists. Of course, people have at best only heard about VDCs, and there is little by way of popular writings till very recently that I have come across on this subject, so I am going to attempt to capture some critical moments of the emergence of VDCs, their role in fighting off militancy, some attempt at explaining their success, and how since 2010 there have been attempts to actually de-arm these groups, one way or the other. Tracing the Origins After the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits ...