How India Changed after 1857 (Part-1)

Our PM Modi visited Myanmar recently and paid homage to Bahadur Shah Zafar at his tomb in Rangoon. That generated some media coverage on the Last Mughal Emperor. I was reading one such article in Jagran.

Rebellion of 1857 started on 10th May in Meerut and the revolting soldiers reached Delhi next day, meeting 81 year old Bahadur Shah Zafar requesting him to be their symbolic leader. On 12th of May, he became Emperor again and on 16th of May his green Flag could be seen on Lal Qila (Red Fort). The commissioner of Punjab setup a unit called Delhi Field Forces which reached Delhi's northern border by the end of May. The British forces faced massive resistance to their efforts to recapture Delhi. On 14th of September, they tried to capture the Red Fort again. Due to massive resistance on the streets, the British forces took one week to reach Lal Qila from Kashmiri Gate! On 20th of September 1857, the British forces captured Lal Qila again and arrested Bahadur Shah Zafar. Captain Hodson got 3 sons of Bahadur Shah Zafar killed near Delhi Gate (Shahjahanabad). Most sons of Bahadur Shah were killed and after recapture of Delhi, a lot of buildings, markets, schools and monuments were destroyed by the British forces.

It is estimated that 8 Lakh Indians died during 1857 rebellion while the British lost about 40,000 of their kin. This 'First War of Independence' was hell of a war, if one was taking part in it on either side.

One interesting aspect is how sections of Indians participated during the rebellion; particularly the 'martial class'.

The Sikhs of Punjab sided with the British to crush the mutiny. This comes as very shocking now, given the "patriotic" image Sikhs have. I remember reading how Sikhs had remained neutral and did not help the Maratha Empire when Peshwa forces came travelling 1000 miles from Pune to Delhi to counter the barbarian Ahmedshah Abdali during Third Battle of Panipat. The British definitely benefited by competing Indian forces like the Marathas, Sikhs, Rajputs and Muslims who did not help each other even strategically to counter the British; thanks to their own big ambitions and egos. Next, the Gurjars of UP went completely against the British. All the villages between Meerut and Delhi declared freedom and eliminated the British. Nahar Singh, the Jat king of Ballabhgarh revolted against the British. While Rajputs of rest of India rebelled against the British, e.g. Babu Kunwar Singh of Bihar was a popular force, Rajputana, meaning "Land of the Rajputs" did not join the rebellion in general. The British had given special privileges to the Rajputs, perhaps learning their importance from the Mughals; and it helped. And the Gurkha regiments supported the British too and fought against the mutineers playing an important role in Bengal. Bhumihar Brahmins fought against the British and the mutiny was in fact started by Mangal Pandey who was one of them. A lot of Zamindars who had got their status from the British did not join the mutiny, helping the British.

Btw, apart from Rajputana, the large princely states, of Hyderabad, Mysore, Travancore, and Kashmir did not join the rebellion too. In Jammu and Kashmir, Maharaja Ranbir Singh, son of the great Maharaja Gulab Singh (founder of Dogra dynasty), loyally sided with the British during the 1857 Rebellion.

Muslims played a key role in the mutiny, perhaps inspired by the fact that if the British vanished, Mughal rule would return. Hence they were suppressed severely after the mutiny failed.

What would be our armed forces if not without great sacrifices of Sikhs, Jats, Gurjars, Rajputs, Bhumihars, Gurkhas and Dogras who have a very long martial tradition? But by understanding history of 1857 rebellion, we realize that several of them sided with the British during 1857 which was our first big chance. Who killed those 8 Lakh Indians who died fighting the British?

Before 1857, British forces had around 3 Lakh Indian soldiers and only 50,000 British soldiers. Hence it is most likely that a rebelling Indian during 1857 mutiny was killed by an "Indian" soldier and not by a British.

(to be continued)

- Rahul

Also Read: How India Changed after 1857 (Part-2)

http://rahultiwaryuniverse.blogspot.in/2017/09/how-india-changed-after-1857-part-1.html

That Puppy on the Street

Last evening, I saw a small pup crossing the road inside our housing society.

There is this building below which there is a car parking. There is a lane in front of the building and on the other side of the lane there is this another car parking. I am sure these days more cars live on the ground than humans, who seem to be hanging in air eternally like the legendary 'Trishanku' did. Now, when we look at a car, what we see is a variety of a car - e.g. a good car or a bad car, a green car or an orange car, a battered car or a safe-until-now car, a car with a tilak on its forehead or a car named 'Mast Gurjar'; a dusty car or a rich car. But when dogs look at a car, they see only one thing - a home. A home which has four bathrooms near the four tires, one roof where they can hike and look down at their tribesmen, and one low-ceiling bedroom in which they can crawl into and just vanish. Even if the car just wakes up and tries to run away, the doggie sleeping below it would still remain unhurt and sleeping. And when you see a doggie chasing a car, be sure that it is not chasing a car but trying to get 'possession' of its home from a runaway builder!

So the pup crossed the road, went inside the car-parking below the building and made a noise. As soon as it made a noise, magic happened and four other pups looking identical to it appeared out of thin air!

What would have happened is this:

There is this big happy family of doggies living in that area. Only humans can be brainwashed by their governments into thinking that only 'small family' can be a 'happy family' while nature has designed all living creatures 'similarly'. Big is better! So this big family of at least five pups lived along with their mother, an occasionally visiting allegedly disloyal father and some dustbins full of trash. One fine evening, the puppies were all sleeping below the cars. The mother left them to go search for some food for herself. Four pups noticed their mother - which they see only as their 'source of food and love' - moving - and hence followed her. One of the puppies was left sleeping below the car. When it wakes up, it crosses the road in the direction of its favorite smell, reaches a point where its 'territory' ends, and then cries. Its brothers could hear it and hence they just jump in!

So the little fellow joined its brothers. And life goes on happily ever after.

Ever wondered how these little puppies which are nothing but lovely bundles of joy grow up to be nuisance spreading, barking, scaring and nothing but four-legged terrorists? Just look at us and you would understand. Life does it to all!

(C) - Rahul Tiwary

सहज को सहेजना और निकटता की दूरी - रामानंद 'दोषी'

स्व० रामानंद 'दोषी' (१९२१-१९७२) कवि, साहित्यकार और संपादक रहे हैं। उन्होंने 'कादम्बिनी' पत्रिका का संपादन भी किया और वह अपना संपादकीय 'बिंदु बिंदु विचार' के शीर्षक के साथ लिखते थे। सितम्बर १९६२ के अंक में उन्होंने जो लिखा है, वह बड़ा मार्मिक है:

"महीनों की दूरी मिनटों में लांघकर तुम मेरे पास आ गए हो। आदमी ने धरा का विस्तार सीमित कर दिया है। सागर की तलहटी में तुम्हारे कदम पड़ चुके हैं। प्रचंड वेग से अंतरिक्ष में उड़ान भरते हुए तुम मुझे सन्देश भेज रहे हो। आदमी ने दूरी पर विजय पाई है, व्यवधान की आन तोड़ दी है। गर्व से मेरा वक्ष फूल जाता है, दर्प-दीप्त नेत्र उठाता हूँ कि सहसा शर्म से गर्दन झुका लेता हूँ।

मेरी दृष्टि श्री अमुक पर पड़ गई है। श्री अमुक घर में मेरे पड़ोसी, कार्यालय में सहयोगी और जीवन स्तर में मेरे सहभोगी हैं, परन्तु हमारे बीच की दूरी कम होने में नहीं आती।

दिशाओं का विस्तार सीमित हो गया पर मन की दूरी पर अंकुश नहीं लगा। हमने असाधारण को सहज कर लिए है, किंतु हमसे सहज नहीं सहेजा गया।

हम एक महल बना रहे हैं, उसमे स्फटिक की दीवारें, मणिमुक्ता का फर्श, चन्दन के किवाड़, स्वच्छ नील सरोवर, सभी कुछ तो होगा। नितांत सहज होकर निर्माण में जुटे हैं हम। महल की तैयारी में हम जो बात भूल रहे हैं, वह यह कि उसमें रहेगा कौन? उसमें प्राण-प्रतिष्ठा जो करेगा, उस आदमी को बिगाड़कर महल को संवारना प्रगति नहीं है, फिसलन है - फिसलन, जो हमें तेज तो ले जाती है पर गर्त की ओर। 

अमुक भाई, दूर दिशाओं की ओर भी देखो, गहराईओं को भी रौंद डालो, अंतरिक्ष में भी राजमार्ग बना दो, पर आओ पहले मेरे गले से लग जाओ!

दूर की दूरी हम अकेले-अकेले भी पार कर लेंगे, किन्तु निकटता की दूरी हम दोनों के दूर किए ही दूर होगी।"

What to Make of 99% Return of Old Demonetized Notes to the RBI

After recent announcement that approx. 99% of demonetized Rs 500/1000 notes have returned to the RBI, media is busy mentioning it as a failure of demonetization. That makes me rethink about how it all happened.

First, Modi addressed nation on the evening of 8th Nov, 2016, announcing demonetization. In his speech, he put equal emphasis on how demonetization would try to address problems of terror-funding, fake currency circulation, hawala trade, along with of course black money and corruption. If you remember the first most visible impact of demonetization, apart from of course the long queues and lots of trouble to the public, it was an abrupt halt on stone pelting in Kashmir. Why did stone pelting stop? Next, we read news and saw pictures and TV footages of how old currency notes were thrown away in rivers, ponds, sewage and some were also burnt, and at some places were also distributed to the poor by making a road-side stall.

Next, a lot of such old currencies were deposited in the Jan Dhan accounts of poor people. We have statistics: 2.26 Crore new Jan Dhan accounts were opened immediately after demonetization was announced and total deposits in them doubled to Rs 87000 Crores. Was govt angry at it and tried to stop it? No, Modi asked people in his humor to let rich people deposit money in the Jan Dhan accounts; but do not to let them withdraw it; thereby keeping the money as their own. If Modi did not want all this money to return to the RBI, would he say that?

So, from where did this theory come – that govt did not want all the demonetized old currencies to return to the RBI?

This theory, like a lot others which are circulating, happened thanks to our media and its “TV Experts”. Just next day after demonetization was announced, I heard a “TV Expert” say that after demonetization only 80% of old currencies would return to the RBI and hence RBI’s balance sheet would become stronger. From where did this guy get this “80%” figure? Along with share-market experts and weather forecasters, these “TV experts” are the new “astrologers”. Masquerading pure fiction as expert commentary and cooked figures as statistics, these TV experts hide their ignorance with good language skills and are making good bucks. So, this theory that 20% old notes won’t return to RBI was started by the media and it spread widely since it was “easy to understand”. And now that it did not happen, media is busy putting govt/RBI on the spot, while hiding its own bad job. But we know.

We know that just after announcing demonetization, govt had launched its new black money declaration scheme called “Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana” which meant that the govt wanted old currency notes to return to the banks. It just wanted those currencies to return through the right channel and to serve the right purpose. That is why old notes were allowed to be used to pay loan EMIs, to be used in govt shops, cooperative stores, petrol stations, pay utility bills, etc too. Using the Garib Kalyan Yojna, anyone could declare one’s unaccounted money, pay approx. 50% tax and keep the remaining. If govt. did not want old currencies to return to the RBI, why would it launch this black money declaration scheme? It seems govt. was looking at long term goals like increased tax compliance and strategic maneuvers like changing games for terror and hawala funding rather than short term benefits like not allowing old currencies back to the banks and improving RBI’s balance sheet.

In fact, this whole “idea” that govt. should just scrap old notes, prevent people from depositing back old notes, and thereby make gains for the RBI - is so “sinister”. Did media expect or want our govt. to play such “tricks” with the people?

It seems govt. and RBI had clear plans for demonetization and they went ahead with their execution; while the media kept making theories and conducting TV debates.

As such I do not support demonetization because it created lots of discomfort to the common people and I think it was not worth it because of that reason alone. But when media says that it was not worth it “since old notes returned to RBI” I find it a ridiculous idea.

- Rahul

Rise and Fall of Babas; Prevalence of Numerous Sects in Hinduism and the Way Ahead

After recent news and controversies around some of them, 'Babas' have become completely out of flavor. Before the most recent one from Haryana, we had cases with Baba Rampal and Asaram Bapu also, making it look like a "pattern". Our human brain is designed to understand "patterns" and it reflects in the way we are talking about 'Babas' these days. Social media is filled with abuses written by some very educated and bright minds against these Babas. It is not surprising because social media is a means of expression, not a tool of education. But still, what are the lessons we are learning from the infamous 'Babas'?

If we look at their backgrounds, one thing is clear. These Babas were first generation entrepreneurs who ran their spiritual empires like corporate houses. And they lacked tradition, 'sanskara' and were married men with kids (i.e. were no sanyasis) before deciding to go spiritual. Baba Rampal (Original name: Rampal Singh Jatin) had a diploma and worked as junior engineer. He quit his job and started his sect (Satlok Ashram). And what does his sect teach? Among other things it teaches that Saint Kabir is the Supreme Lord; asks disciples not to visit Hindu temples and not to worship Hinduism's trinity of Brahma, Vishnu or Shiva! He is married and has two children.

Asaram Bapu (Original name: Asumal Thaumal Harpalani) was born in a Sindhi family in Sindh, Pakistan and migrated to Ahmedabad after partition. Being a school drop-out, he managed his father's coal and wood business for sometime. He is also married with two kids. Although his teachings are not controversial since he preaches Advaita Vedanta and Bhakti Yoga.

It is also not only a male phenomenon. For example we had Radhe Ma (Original name: Sukhvinder Kaur) who is a school dropout, got married at early age and used to stitch clothes to supplement her husband's income. Before of course joining a religious sect and becoming self-styled god-woman.

Now, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan is married with several children. His Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS) is a registered NGO and all Gurus of DSS have come from Sikh background. They have their own sect/religion and welcome people from all different religions. It is ironical that it is he who has triggered this "anti-Baba" feeling in the masses while he is not really a "Hindu Baba" per se.

And the worst part is: these Babas are not alone. The more you would know about different sects and their beliefs, the more you would get confused and 'uninterested' in religion. ISKCON for example is a very popular sect and we all visit its temples. But ISKCON sect does not consider Krishna as Lord Vishnu's avatar but it considers Lord Krishna as the Supreme God. Worshiping Lord Krishna is a different matter and we all do that - but not an avatar but Supreme Lord? Where does it leave our Lord Shiva? The sect considers Shiva as a manifestation of Lord Krishna! That changes everything!

If you visited the wonderful Akshardham temple; it belongs to Swaminarayan sect. Ever wondered who is Swaminarayan? He was born with orignal name of Ghanshyam Pande in Chhapaiya, Uttar Pradesh in 1781. At early age he joined Uddhav Sampraday which later became Swaminarayan Sampraday as Ghanshyam Pande became Swaminarayan. Followers of Swaminarayan sect believe that Swaminarayan is the complete incarnation of Lord Vishnu and more superior to other avatars.

And then there is Brahma Kumaris. Their name contains "Brahma" and then their preachers keep talking about "Shiva Baba" and it appears so nice to the Hindus. But go deeper and you would realize that the Brahma Kumaris is a full fledged "religion" in itself. They call their founder Lekhraj Kripalani as "Brahma Baba" and Shiv Baba is their Godfather (supreme being). Although most of their basic ideas are similar to Hinduism, there is lot of dogma about how world started, how it is going to end, and who will survive and how.

In the era of these numerous "modern" sects, older sects like Arya Samaj, Ramakrishna Mission etc appear to be "old fashioned". I wonder how many people from younger generation or in the cities are reaching out to them.

Although most interesting thing about Hinduism is that while its "diversity" would appear like its weakness (there are so many beliefs, so many deities, so many sects and hence Hindus are seldom united for any cause), it is actually a strength which has allowed it to "survive". It is common knowledge that a very large set of people are difficult to be kept in one piece and dividing them into smaller sets makes them easier to manage. I think such was the idea of having so many sects. But what if sects start preaching very different things; and try to make themselves break out into separate full fledged religions? It has happened with Sikhism in the past which had started as a sect within Hinduism. If it happens too often and starts giving unwanted results, then it has to be "curbed".

The solution is simple: "return to the roots". According to most central ideas of Hinduism, Supreme Being is called Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva when it creates, preserves and renews. If you see any sect trying to say one of these are higher than others, which essentially means that these three are different and one can be "higher" or "lower" than other; be warned against such upstarts. If you see any sect asking you to "worship" mere mortals like its sect leader, any guru or any imaginary being, be warned. Try to be as near to the ancient practices as possible. If Yagna is not possible, offer flowers and other items which symbolically mean the same (offerings). Try to visit temples of original deities like Shiva, Vishnu or Durga. Pick any one of the deities and keep your faith in one deity instead of making it a spiritual tourism - because the more you would wander, the less peace you would have. Try to read original scriptures but be warned against different versions written by different sect leaders with a political explanation of the meanings. Try to read Swami Vivekananda in case of any doubts, who has done a wonderful job in writing down his thoughts and conclusions on most of the things related to Hinduism. And if you are choosing a Guru, look for his family history and other things apart from competence and the advertising done around him.

Let us take the rise and fall of 'Babas' in a stride as an opportunity to do course correction. Let us also pardon them because they were mere mortals and prone to corruption. Let us watch ourselves instead to avoid any flaws and bad habits getting into us. Even those disgraced 'Babas' taught nice things to others; and hence teachings do not matter. What matters is: how much we get to practice the good that is shared with us.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.

- Rahul

Justice in Gurmeet Ram Rahim Case Leading to Mass Violence

With 30+ people dead, 350+ injured, including 50 women in serious condition, and with a civil-war like situation on the streets, after an unpopular verdict by a court; makes us wonder: "was it worth it?". Was it worth it?

Everyone knew including the court and govt of course, that an unfavorable verdict towards the cult leader would lead to this situation. It appears govt and police tried their best to avoid it and yet it turned out to be exactly the way everyone feared it would turn out to be. Only, we are not sure if the court and govt "feared" at all.

I tried to search internet to get some particulars about the case. In April 2002, an accusation was made in an anonymous letter that a woman including several others were sexually exploited by the cult leader for "3 years". Although there was no case filed by the victim, High Court ordered an inquiry in this case and after sometime HC handed over the inquiry to CBI. The ordeal went on for 15 years; during the time the victims were married to other men and were reluctant to share details. But somehow CBI was able to take statements of two women and other parties. None of the media reports, at least during my internet search, reveal about what proofs CBI collected, apart from of course the "statements" of the victims and some others.

After the ongoing case for 15 years, all of a sudden last month in July, as if due to a divine intervention, the court ordered "daily hearings" in the case. After daily hearings, arguments were closed and the cult leader was pronounced guilty yesterday. None of the media reports reveal particulars of the case like what proofs and evidences were presented, what were challenged, etc. In the era of 20-20 Cricket, we are now seeing "snap judgments". If justice delayed is justice denied, I wonder what "justice hustled" should be called.

What could have been done differently? First, there should not have been daily hearings given the sensitivity of the case. Rushed emergency-like proceedings were expected to "shock" the cult members, leading to social unrest and wide spread speculations. Taking it slowly over at least 6 months would have kept the tempers under control. Secondly, the proceedings of the case should have been briefed to the media, so that people would be aware of and in-line with gravity of the case, fairness of the proceedings and would not get shocked with what was to finally come out. Third, if cult leader was pronounced guilty, verdict on punishment should have been made on the same day, instead of giving 3 days to the chaos and if there was a possibility for the accused to get a bail, his bail application should have been processed on the same day. That would have pacified his agitating and grieving supporters while still keeping the records right.

As we know, this is a CBI court and the cult leader can still go to a higher court to get bail and challenge its verdict. So, was it worth it to let an impression be created as if this was the last straw and that there was no road ahead for the cult leader; leading to mass protests and violence?

Coming to media; while I read news report, I read how the cult leader worked extensively against social evils like drug addiction, helped families financially during daughters' weddings, worked a lot for women empowerment, etc. That does not help build a public opinion against the accused. And media reports which are totally lacking the particulars of the case proceedings, add to the chaos of anxious supporters.

To me, this whole episode appears to be a man-made disaster. While trying to uphold the "justice", the court rushed to decision resulting in shocked reactions of supporters. And worse - this is a trend. Centuries old practice of "triple talaq" was abolished abruptly after the court said it would do "daily hearings". I wonder what has gotten over the judiciary that it is rushing to give most shocking verdicts in most unexpected hurried manner. Next in line can be Ayodhya case which can go the "daily hearing" mode. Are the courts comforted by a strong national government at the center? No matter what the source of this "over confidence" is, it is a recipe of disaster.

Not the verdict themselves, but the manner in which these verdicts are being rushed to, needs review of the judiciary. Given the law and order situation in our country, communal harmony has always been the top agenda of our governments. But all these recent court orders which are being rushed to are linked with communal and religious faiths.

We can hail the court verdicts as victory of justice but we can't afford to lose our men and women like this. Justice for the sake of justice, ignoring the realities of the time, leading to mass violence and destroying the communal harmony in our country appears a better candidate for delaying rather than having it now and leading to disasters.

I would prefer justice delayed but taking public opinion along with it, rather than justice hustled to and leading to mass violence and protests.

I don't think it was "worth it" to have 30 lives lost and social unrest invited over the last 24 hours.

Let peace prevail.

- Rahul

एक भावुक दुनिया

एक इमोशनल यानि भावुक इन्सान के लिए ये जीवन कितना कठिन और दिलचस्प (एक साथ) हो सकता है - बाकी लोग कल्पना भी नहीं कर सकते। वह दुनिया को एक अलग नजरिए से देखता है। या यूँ कहें कि जहाँ बाकी लोग चीजें 'देखते' हैं, वो चीजें 'महसूस' करता है। 

जहाँ बाकी लोग यदि कहीं जाने से खुश और एक्साइटेड होते हैं, वह जो छूट रहा होता है उससे खेदग्रस्त होता है। और ऐसा बचपन से होता है। स्कूल के हर छूटते क्लास से, हर बदलने वाले स्कूल से, स्कूल के हर बच्चे से, स्कूल की दीवार से, उसके नाम से, उसके डरावने टीचर्स से, यहाँ तक कि खस्ताहाल स्कूल-रिक्शे से - हर किसी से उसका एक "कनेक्शन" हुआ करता है। मुहल्ले के चिल्लाने वाले खड़ूस बूढ़े पड़ोसी से, अच्छी बड़ी दीदी से, सारे के सारे चाचा-चाचियों से, मुहल्ले की पतली गली से, गली की हर मोड़ से, मोड़ के पास पानी से भरे गड्ढे से, बगल की टूटती दीवार से, दीवार के पास सूखे पत्तों की ढ़ेर से, ढ़ेर में कभी लगने वाली आग से निकलते धुएँ से, और धुएँ की महक से - हर किसी से उसका एक "कनेक्शन" होता है। और एक बार कनेक्शन हुआ तो अब बस - जीवन भर उसे साथ ही रहना है। जिस बात से लोगों को 'बुरा' लग सकता है - उससे वह व्यथित होकर रोता है। इमोशन्स और आंसुओं का बड़ा पक्का रिश्ता है, चाहे दुःख के हों या खुशी के। 

हालाँकि इमोशन्स एक तरह से इंसान को थकाते हैं और भावुक इंसान को ये बोझ बनकर खूब थकाते हैं, इनके कई फायदे भी हैं। अति-भावुक लोगों का इंट्यूशन (सहज बोध) बहुत स्ट्रॉन्ग (प्रबल) होता है - ये सच्चे और झूठे लोगों को बहुत जल्दी पहचान लेते हैं। ये सब जान लेते हैं। आप इन्हें अपनी सच्ची भावनाएँ समझा सकते हैं जो दूसरे नहीं समझ सकते। ये अक्सर विनम्र होते हैं और दूसरों की चिंता करते हैं। चीजों को गहन रूप से समझने के कारण अक्सर ये परफेक्शनिस्ट होते हैं। और ये बहुत क्रिएटिव (रचनात्मक) होते हैं। क्रिएटिविटी के अलावा इनकी इमेजिनेशन (कल्पनाशक्ति) कमाल की होती है - इसलिए इन्हें "आउट-ऑफ़-बॉक्स" विचार आसानी से आते हैं। चीजों को "महसूस" करने के कारण ये अक्सर ज्यादा "फुलफिल्ड" (अंदर से भरे-पूरे) रहते हैं। दूसरों को और कभी-कभी इन्हें स्वयं भी दया या सहानुभूति हो सकती है पर अक्सर इनकी 'अपनी दुनिया' बहुत ही क्रिएटिव और इंटरेस्टिंग होती है। और अगर इमोशंस को संभालना इन्होंने सीख लिया तो उसकी अधिकता से होनेवाले नुकसानदेह प्रभावों से वो अपने को बचा भी सकते हैं।

रिसर्चर्स (शोधकर्ता) बताते हैं कि इमोशनल लोगों का दिमाग कुछ अलग तरीके से काम करता है और विश्व में करीब २०% लोग अति-भावुक होते हैं। समय-समय पर हम सब अपने आप को अति-भावुक कह सकते हैं पर सच्चा भावुक व्यक्ति इसे कभी-कभी नहीं "हर समय" महसूस करता है। बाकी लोग बस उसके कुछ झलक ही देख पाते होंगे। 

अंत में बस ये कहूँगा - जीवन अगर "इंटरेस्टिंग" (दिलचस्प) है तो भावुक लोगों की दुनिया "निराली" है। इमोशन्स यानि भावों से ही इंसानियत नजर आती है और मानव समाज अपने सर्वोत्तम गुणों को आज भी बचाए हुए है। काश दूसरे भी थोड़े और संवेदनशील बनें ताकि उनकी दुनिया इनकी दुनिया से ज्यादा अलग न रह पाए।

- राहुल तिवारी 

[#Fashion] The Tilting Heads Phenomenon: Why Women Tilt Their Heads in Photos and Selfies

The latest fashion trend amongst women is an interesting tilt – women are increasingly seen tilting their heads sideways while taking photographs or selfies. It seems the conventional pose of facing the camera straight has been left for the bewildered men while women have started tilting their heads at varying degrees and looking at the camera in some mischievous ways which others can’t understand at all. Men are totally baffled about what has gotten into the female head. They could understand the ‘duck face’ as well as the ‘fish pout’ but now these tilting faces? It does not make any sense at all!

I tried to read what others think about it. Majority of observers say that it is just a body language which sends out a message of being ‘non-threatening’. But I think this is an 18^th century explanation to a 21^st century phenomenon. If women needed to indicate ‘non-threatening’ sign this way, they would have invented the ‘tilting head’ pose hundreds of years ago. Why wait for the Selfie cameras to arrive? Also, who are the girls sending ‘non-threatening’ signs to while they tilt heads in ‘selfies’?

When we tilt our head, it naturally makes our face appear leaner. So can this ‘tilting head’ phenomenon be attributed to a cover-up act by those with round faces which in turn indicates a ‘healthier’ person? (Btw, in the world of fashion, looking ‘healthy’ is a sin. To fit into those latest dresses, you need to appear a bit sick to get closer to your skeleton which is ‘size-zero’. When your mother or grand-mother starts worrying about your health you can be assured that your friends and peers would have started envying you.)

I used to believe in above theory until I saw my nephew. He is a cute little angel but when he appears in a photograph he tilts his head at one side and gives an expression of immense love and affection. Learning from his pose I came to conclusion about why women would tilt their heads. They think that the ‘tilting head with a smiling face’ pose sends out love and affection! But then why didn’t women of previous generation invent this pose? May be because they were too conventional – and looking straight in camera is a conventional pose.

For women of previous generation, the most important priority of life was to appear and lead life of a ‘good woman’. And hence even a slight tilt of head could be seen as digression and better be avoided. Women of this generation are least bothered about what others think of them while most bothered about how they are looking (which may appear ironical but it is not).

We can also look at it this way. Once upon a time, women lived under strict discipline and kept their heads ‘low’. Then came a generation of well-educated career women who kept their heads ‘straight’. And now comes a generation of women spoilt with choices like never before and hence they are tilting their heads ‘sideways’.

In the end, I think the most convincing answer would be – it is just a stupid craze. That is what most fashion trends are. After a while women would get bored tilting heads and they would start looking straight again. And then life would be simple again for some time.

- Rahul

[#Movies] Sarkar 3

There have been hundreds of gangster movies in the past and what new could the latest addition to the Sarkar Trilogy bring? And that is where Ram Gopal Varma and Amitabh Bachchan prove our doubts unfounded and have brought together another fine movie having all the brilliance of a thriller.

Sarkar series is our own Godfather series. Our Subhash Nagre has perhaps got more shades in his character than the legendary Vito Corleone had got. In Sarkar 3, Amitabh has become even more intense. Being the master patriarch and hero of the masses is not an easy job and it asks for sacrifices and subjects one to innumerable pain. Can a Don be as sensitive as Subhash Nagre is? Could a Don feel the pain of the poor mother who lost her child in a bomb blast, or goes through mourning because of some event in the city? Even Don Vito Corleone cared - but I doubt if he actually felt pain in the same manner as our "human" Don Subhash Nagar does. And that is perhaps the beauty of having come from the city of Mumbai.

Amitabh Bachchan has also sung one "Ganpati Aarti" in this movie and how brilliant it has become! It can be compared to Agnipath song "Deva Shree Ganesha" but is notch higher since Amitabh Bachchan is its singer.

One very interesting aspect of the movie is how brilliant other characters have also been in it. Ronit Roy as Gokul is as intense as Ajay Devgn used to be in some of his most brilliant movies and has proven him as one gem of a an actor. Manoj Bajpayee as Govind Deshpande, a sly politician reminds us of Rajneeti. And how about Jackie Shroff - a legend in himself? He has grown old but his charisma is still intact. There will never be another Jackie Shroff in Bollywood. Amit Sadh as Subhash Nagre's grand son is also brilliant - and this may be his one of the best acts. Yami Gautam as Amit's girlfriend is in a very different role from what she does, but she has done it very well. Another interesting character is Parag Tyagi as Raman - Ronit's mute brother. He should have joined WWE fighting with this Physique!

The best thing about Sarkar 3 is that it surprises you and keeps you guessing all through it and till the very end. Such brilliance is not often seen. The plot is balanced on its emotional quotient as well as has spirits of a crime thriller. The movie avoids showing graphic details of crime scenes and that is a welcome change. There are a lot of brilliant dialogues in it and there are several scenes which are acted just by eyes and expressions without any word spoken. Nothing about it is mundane. The coordination between camera, actors' expressions and the environment is just brilliant.

Sarkar 3 is another gem from the Sarkar series - perhaps even a notch better than the earlier ones.

- Rahul

[#Fashion] Thick Rimmed Geeky Glasses

So everyone is wearing "Thick (Black) Rimmed Glasses" these days. These are certainly the ongoing fashion trend. These glasses give a "Geek Look". And being "geek" is once again cool thanks to these glasses. Think of Satya Nadella - apart from his bald head what comes to your mind first when you remember him? Thick rimmed glasses! This is the revenge of the geeks.

I got my glasses when I reached high school. Studying long hours in the night under lamps and lanterns at home would naturally strain the eyes. But even without my brown carbon frame glasses I would have a serious "studious" look. But in the 80s when the air was pure and kids did not go to playschools, young folks seldom had glasses; and hence my specs created a buzz. So once I heard a friend talking to another - "I am also going to the Optical Shop tomorrow and I will also get one such carbon frame made for me - but with normal glass since my eye sight is alright". And guess what - in due course he indeed started wearing glasses! So much for the fake studious "look"?

Except these insecure kids who wanted to look geeky by wearing glasses, initially glasses were seen as unwanted burden. Look at our virtual heroes - from Super Man to Iron Man to Shaktiman to Rahul Gandhi - none of them wear any glasses at all, forget about wearing geeky glasses. Think of Salman, Hrithik, Ranveer or Ranbir - no one wears glasses. Hence the trend moved from carbon frame to slender silver /golden /titanium frames to half-frames and then to the "frame-less". The idea was to make the glasses subtle or unnoticeable. But then fashion trends move on a circle. And my friend who donned fake geeky glasses would have reached the corporate world and perhaps became insecure again and decided to do something about it.

The idea of black/brown thick rimmed glasses is to make those prominent and noticeable. These glasses would be the first thing to make an impression once you look at a person. Hence these glasses are also good for people with no natural facial feature being better than these specs; unless if you are Satya Nadella who has got his splendid shaven head. These thick glasses are also good for people of all types of complexions - whether light, dark or 'pimpled'. No wonder the trend is catching everyone like a flu!

The basic psychology behind these glasses is still amusing. Everyone wearing such glasses does not become geeky and intellectual just by the very act. But if wearing these gives them the self confidence and comfort which they seek, then what is wrong in it? Are not most other fashion trends from wearing high-heels to eye liners to keeping beards and wearing male-bracelets and getting tattoos of lions and tigers on our skin - all about trying to appear what we are not deep inside?

True intellectuals like Salman Rushdie, Arun Jaitley or Urjit Patel still do not wear such glasses. But then these are not men known for their fashion sense. And real fashion is not about being honest; it is always about being differentiated and confusing.

I still have no plans to wear these thick glasses. But not everyone is as self-content and unfashionable like me. And hence we shall have more people wearing these glasses in coming days, until one day when someone will recycle the trend of half-frame and no-frame glasses again.

- Rahul N. Tiwary

[#Personal] Looking Images!

You might have felt it too. It happens many times with us when somehow our thoughts are fixated about someone and we happen to see that person’s image in some unrelated person or thing. For example, as soon as I saw the picture of this little bird, what came to my mind? Image of my baby daughter!

Then I realized that the bird is looking a bit sad. So why should my daughter be sad? Because she is not with me and wants me to pick her up!

- Rahul

[#Journalism] Curious Case of Assault of an Air India staffer by a Shiv Sena MP

If you have frequently flown on Air India, you would have noticed that their staff would rank lowest in customer service. Their staff are often rude and treat you as if they are doing you great service by just letting you fly with them. For record, Air India was ranked as "third worst Airline in the World" just 2 months back (https://tinyurl.com/zop5uyx). It is in this background that I looked at the recent media-generated outrage against a politician for beating up an Air India staff with great curiosity and amusement.

I also noticed one thing repeated in all media reports - that the politician assaulted a "60-year-old duty manager". 60 years old and yet not retired? Oh yes - Air India was seeing an exodus of staff and hence a few years back it raised retirement age from 58 to 60. That is against the trend in sectors like airlines where younger and energetic staff is preferred. The media appeared to be highlighting the age of the duty  manager to garner public sympathy for him and against the MP. And it had to not mention the age of the MP which is 56 - just 4 years younger.

Next, the punishment suggested by media was of idiotic proportions. According to media, he should be sacked from parliament, banned by his party, not to mention named and shamed on national television for days and night - without caring about what adverse impact it could create on him and his family members. It reminded me the case of a tainted govt officer, whose family committed suicide after he was caught and received huge media attention. Any punishment should correspond to the gravity of the crime. The case should go to the court which should decide on the punishment; but media had already conducted "media trial" and need not bother about sanity.

The particulars of the case are interesting. The MP felt he was wronged (by not being given business class seat); hence remained seated in the aircraft after it landed; and declined to get down - something which is called "Satyagrah". Since the scuffle happened after planed had landed and no other passenger was on board, of course there was no threat to the other passengers.

Compare the case to what happened with popular comedian Kapil Sharma. Kapil was drunk and he abused and beat up his colleagues including Sunil Grower "in air" - and thereby was a threat to the flight as well as to other passengers. But no media houses asked for his ban from flying, or airing off of his TV show, or defamed him by playing the video 24X7. In fact a lot of TV news channels did not discuss this episode openly.

So why was the politician a recipient of such a bad press while the comedian was protected? Because of many reasons. The MP came from a background which is not trending. He is a tough looking male - member of a right wing political party without national presence - a politician who is not in power - all criteria made him ideal for victimization by the electronic media. On the other hand, Kapil is chubby and innocent looking - is a comedian with huge nation wide fan following - a man who is part of TV and Bollywood and hence highly powerful - all these factors make him ideal to play the victim rather than the assailant.

Thanks to the media, the rude staff of Air India are enjoying hero like status while an elected representative is paying huge price. What would be the repercussions of this event in the long run? If you are a customer of such government organizations - beware. Their spirits are high - if they can do this to an MP - who are you and me? Forget it. Just keep silence and tolerate all that happens with you - and then you are a good person. You may even come on TV someday.

- Rahul

... ~ गौरैया ~ ...

गौरैया - यह गोल-मटोल छोटी चिड़िया भला किसे अच्छी नहीं लगती होगी? मेरा विश्वास है कि गौरैया हम सब के बचपन की स्मृतियों का अभिन्न अंग होगी। मेरा बचपन तो छोटे शहर में गुजरा जहाँ झुंड-की-झुंड गौरैयाएँ आतीं, दाना चुगतीं और फुर्र से उड़ जातीं। बड़े शहरों में तो अब सिर्फ आलसी पक्षी कबूतर मिलते हैं - जो दूर से भले ही सुन्दर लगें, बालकनी और छज्जियों पर सिर्फ गन्दगी फैलाते हैं। गौरैयों से उनकी तुलना कहाँ! 

गौरैया इतनी सुन्दर शायद इसलिए भी लगती है क्योंकि वह छोटी होती है और इस कारण बचपन की याद दिलाती है। ज्यादा रंग बिरंगी नहीं होती, शायद इसलिए उसकी सादगी ज्यादा भाती है। उसकी आवाज भी 'चहचहाती' हुई बिल्कुल वैसी होती है जैसा उसका प्यारा सा व्यक्तित्व है।

आज 'अंतरराष्ट्रीय गौरैया दिवस' है जो कि हर साल २० मार्च को मनाया जाता है। यह याद दिलाने के लिए कि हमारे जीवन की आपाधापी में हम गौरैया जैसी पक्षियों को न भूल जाएँ और उनके प्राकृतिक वातावरण की कुछ चिंता जरूर करें। फादर-मदर-वुमन-डे जैसे विभिन्न दिवसों में से ये एक दिवस ऐसा है जो ह्रदय को वहाँ छूता है जहाँ और कोई दिन नहीं छूते। 

प्यारी गौरैया और उसके संगीत का आभार - हमारे बचपन में रंग भरने को सारी पक्षियों का आभार। 

- राहुल