New Year 2009

Wishing everyone a wonderful New Year 2009.
May this bring happiness and joy to everyone.

Mumbai - Lonely Planet Description

Measure out: one part Hollywood; six parts traffic; a bunch of rich power-moguls; stir in half a dozen colonial relics (use big ones); pour in six heaped cups of poverty; add a smattering of swish bars and restaurants (don’t skimp on quality here for best results); equal parts of mayhem and order; as many ancient bazaars as you have lying around; a handful of Hinduism; a dash of Islam; fold in your mixture with equal parts India; throw it all in a blender on high (adding generous helpings of pollution to taste) and presto : Mumbai.

An inebriating mix of all the above and more, this mass of humanity is a frantic melange of India’s extremes. It is the country’s financial powerhouse and its vogue centre of fashion, film and after-dark frolics. Glistening skyscrapers and malls mushroom amid slums and grinding poverty, and Mumbai slowly marches towards a brave new (air-conditioned) world. But not everyone made the guest list: more than half of the population lives in slums, and religious-based social unrest tugs at the skirt of Mumbai’s financial excess.
Only once the initial shell shock of Mumbai’s chaos subsides, can one start to appreciate the city’s allure: a wealth of Art Deco and grand colonial relics; cacophonic temples; warrens of bazaars; and the odd spiritual bastion of tranquillity. In Mumbai you can dine at some of the finest restaurants in the country, and work off the appetite gyrating at ultrachic bars alongside Bollywood starlets and wannabes. With a pinch of gumption, a dash of adventure, an open wallet and a running start, there’s no excuse not to dive into the Mumbai madness head-first

Agni

Romesh Chunder Dutt (1848-1909)
Agni, or the Fire

Lighted Agni flames forth high,
Flings a radiance on the sky,
And his lustre, glorious, bright,
Mingles with the morning light.
And Visvavârâ chants her holy prayer,
Faces the east, and brings her gifts to Fire!

Lord of Eternity! Lord of skies!
Presiding Lord of sacrifice!
Agni! Whoso worships thee,
By him with thy blessings be!
Whose blazing altar sacred Agni lights, --
Affluence dwells with him and pious rites.

Agni! On the altar shine,
Flames and radiance bright be thine!
Grant us wealth with thy red flame,
Quell our foes, increase our fame!
Invest our homes with blessings from above,
And link our men and wives in bonds of love!

Agni! On the altar shine,
Flames and radiance bright be thine!
And I lift my pious hymn
To thy bright effulgent beam!
Bounteous god! Red lustre e'er be thine,
Flame on our altar, glorious and divine!

With pious hands we light thy flame,
With pious lips we chant thy name!
Invoke unto our sacrifice
The glorious bright gods of the skies!
For thou art Priest in every pious rite,
And makest gifts to gods with radiance bright!

Then let us unto Agni pray,
And he our offerings will convey!
And let us unto Agni sing,
And he the radiant gods will bring!
Priest and God! to thee we humbly pray,
Our pious offerings to the gods convey!
Notes
1] "Rig Veda, V. 28" (Dutt's note.)"Agni is the god of Fire; the Ignis of the Latins, the Ogni of the Sclavonians." -- Muir's Sanscrit Texts."All the names of the Fire and the Fire-gods were carried away by the Western Aryans; and we have Prometheus answering to Pramantha, Phoronus to Bharanyu, and the Latin Vulcanus to the Sanscrit Ulka." -- Cox's Mythology of Aryan Nations.The hymn translated below is one of peculiar interest, because it is said to have been composed by a pious lady, Visvavârâ." (Dutt's notes.)
29] "`As no sacrifice could be performed without fire, Agni, or fire, was called the invoker of the gods.' -- Civilisation in Ancient India, vol. i. p. 85." (Dutt's note.)

To India - Sarojini Naidu

To India

O YOUNG through all thy immemorial years!

Rise, Mother, rise, regenerate from thy gloom,

And, like a bride high-mated with the spheres,

Beget new glories from thine ageless womb!

The nations that in fettered darkness weep

Crave thee to lead them where great mornings break . . . .

Mother, O Mother, wherefore dost thou sleep?

Arise and answer for thy children's sake!

Thy Future calls thee with a manifold sound

To crescent honours, splendours, victories vast;

Waken, O slumbering Mother and be crowned,

Who once wert empress of the sovereign Past.

Sarojini Naidu

गायत्री मंत्र - The Gayatri -The Holiest Mantra of them all...

॥ ॐ भूर्भुवः स्वः तत् सवितुर्वरेण्यं भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ॥

The essence of the scriptures...the holiest of holys... thekey to the universe... the great purifier...the gayatri mantra.

As scientific as I am and agnostic as i truly maybe, even an atheist at times... I feel the gayati mantra is the key to the spiritual wisdom of the ancients.

It has been passed down to us through the mists of time and has been the pillar of faith and strength for millions.

"May we meditate on the glory of Him who has created the earth, the nether world and the heavens (i.e. the universe), and may He guide our intellect"

Winter Solstice - Uttarayan- उत्तरायण

Yeah It's Winter Solstice the longest night of the year. The smallest day is done and the days will only increase in length from now on... until the summer solstice that is..

Uttarayan has begun.

The Maha Mrutyunjay mantra

॥ ॐ त्रयम्बकं यजामहे सुगंधिम पुषटीवरधनम उर्वारुकमीव बंधनाम मॄर्तयोर मोक्षीय मामृतात ॥

\\*\\ konkani क्रिसमस विशेस \\*\\

ॐ
नाताळाचो शुभिच्छा ।
कोंकणीन्तु बरयता आनी तुम्मी सरवांक हांव नातालाचों सुभिच्छा दित्ता ।
देवू तुमका बरें कोरों।
आम्चीगेलांन्तुं आम्मी उल्लेयलॅरी आन॒नी बरय्लॅरी आम्मी कोंकणीक चड वाडोचाक जात्ता ।
जय हिंद ।

East Pakistan Embankments- Philatelic History

East Pakistan dissappeared into oblivion on the 16th of December 1971.

The Mukti Bahini and the Indian forces liberated Bangladesh -The Land of the Banglas.

West Pakistan and its Punjabi establishments had gone into overdrive to show that its erstwhile eastern wing was still a part of the Pakistan federation and so many stamps, first day covers and bank noted were issued in Bengali and Urdu.

Inspite of all these superficial efforts there was no warmth in the heart of the west Pakistanis for the eastern wingers.

Our west bengal was flooded with Refugees and Indira Gandhi decisively stepped in and when West Pakistan attacked us we respeonded tooth and Nail and helped the Mukti Bahini to liberate themselves to form the New state of Bangladesh.

This First day cover is therefore part of the philatelic history of a country which showed that religion alone cannot bind people.

Gandhi & Churchill- The epic rivalry that destroyed an empire and forged our age- Arthur Herman

Book Review.

Gandhi & Churchill The epic rivalry that destroyed an empire and forged our age.

Arthur Herman.

This book focuses on the alledeged extensive rivalry between Gandhiji and Churchill. I supose it should be the rivarly between Churchill and Gandhi!

Churchill was surely given the run for his money by Dear ol' Gandhiji.

Anyway the book is a nice flick through for its snippets of history and a British perspective of Gandhiji. It has great pictures of Gandhi and Churchill andother leaders of our Independence movement.

£25

Publisher : Hutchinson London

ISBN 9780091797164 (Hardback)

ISBN 9780091921323 (trade paperback)

Huchinson

Best wishes for a happy Christmas

Especially Wishing all our Christian Konkani friends and all other konkanis and everyone else a wonderful Christmas and a very happy new year.

Our father in Konkani for you....

Churchgate, Bombay, India

This is a picture of the old Church-gate. The gate facing St Thomas' church in the ex- walled city of Bombay. The walls came down in 1862 as the city was growing and most of the mainland territory was under british rule and hence the threat of attack was less.

The only part of the walls of bombay that still survive is a small part on the back side of the St George's hospital. This obscure bit of Bombay's history is sometimes hidden by a few hutments.

A tribute to the people of Bombay, Mumbaikars over the generations....

Good Morning... This is the Taj Mahal hotel.....

I heard this story on NDTV and it goes straight to the heart.

On November the 27th at 3 am when the terrorists were causing mayhem and the Taj was in flames a relative of someone in the Taj who could not get through to his relative on the mobile called the reception desk at the taj.

Inspite of all the bullets and chaos... a lady picked up and said good morning this is the Taj mahal hotel...

Wow... Hats off to the sense of duty this person has. In the midst of life threatening mayhem she continued to do her duty.

India I am proud of you.

STUPID PAKISTANIS

It might sound like a cliche that an indian like me is criticising Pakistanis but read on ...

Do these terrorists not understand that while they are out to kill the Hindus and Jews their own country has some of the worst infant mortality rate, one of the poorest literacy rates a very bad per capita income.

Where as 2.6 babies dies in every 1000 in Singapore, 69 die in Pakistan (Worse than Zimbabwe 55 and the Sudan 64!). India does 55!

The adult literacy rate in Pakistan is 49.9 percent! 50 percent of pakistanis, one in two is illiterate!!!! It is 161 st in the list of literacy. India is 145.

40 innocent Indian Muslims, and 130 other non muslim innocent people died in the November 26th attacks.

Conspiracy theories about Hindus and Jews abound in Pakistan.

The monoculture of Islam alone had left these pakistanis with no exposure to people with varying beliefs and hence those who are non muslim are ALL suspect of pogroms against Islam.

If they are so good in collecting money for terrorism, I wish they would use thier money to save those 69/1000 muslim childen who die in Pakistan. I wish they would understand their inhumanness and their sheer stupidity.

I wish ordinary Pakistanis would stop these conspiracy theories about Hindus and Jews as seens in the letters to the editors in Newspapers such as Dawn.

I wish the Pakistani establishment would stop asking for proof before acting and putting these stupid, inhuman terrorists into jail.

This is not for India but for their own self first.

I hope some miracle happens and these STUPID pakistanis get some buddhi (Sense) and use their laws to crack down on these terrorists.

If they do believe in Islam then there is a God above watching!!!!

It is the Infant mortality rate that needs to be sorted ... the terrorists should be in Jail.

Excerpt from 'Geetanjali' - Rabindra Nath Tagore

Where the mind is without fear and the head held high;

Where knowledge is free;

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;

Where words come out from the depth of truth;

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;

Where the mind is led forward by Thee into ever-widening thought and action;

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
by Rabindranath Tagore

Aou Ben Adam- A poem I loved in School- Leigh Hunt

Abou ben Adam

Abou ben Adam (may his tribe increase!)
awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight of his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
an angel, writing in a book of of gold.
Exceeding peace had made Ben Adam bold,
And to the Prescence in the room he said:
"What writest thou?" The vision raised its head,
And, with a look made of all sweet accord,
Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord."
"And is mine one?"said Abou, "Nay, not so,"
Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerily still, and said, "I pray thee, then,
Write me as one who loves his fellow men."
The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night
It came again, with a great awakening light,
And showed the names whom love of God had blest,
And lo! Ben adam's name led all the rest.

- Leigh Hunt

Bangle sellers - Sarojini Naidu

The Bangle Sellers

Bangle sellers are we who bear
Our shining loads to the temple fair...
Who will buy these delicate, bright
Rainbow-tinted circles of light?
Lustrous tokens of radiant lives,
For happy daughters and happy wives.
Some are meet for a maiden's wrist,
Silver and blue as the mountain mist,
Some are flushed like the buds that dream
On the tranquil brow of a woodland stream,
Some are aglow wth the bloom that cleaves
To the limpid glory of new born leaves
Some are like fields of sunlit corn,
Meet for a bride on her bridal morn,
Some, like the flame of her marriage fire,
Or, rich with the hue of her heart's desire,
Tinkling, luminous, tender, and clear,
Like her bridal laughter and bridal tear.
Some are purple and gold flecked grey
For she who has journeyed through life midway,
Whose hands have cherished, whose love has blest,
And cradled fair sons on her faithful breast,
And serves her household in fruitful pride,
And worships the gods at her husband's side.
Sarojini Naidu

Urbs Primis In Indis - BOMBAY

India's First City- Mumbai

WELCOME TO BOMBAY- A 40s Leaflet

An Interesting leaflet welcoming visitors to Bombay issued by the Hospitality committee.

I think this immediately post independence. This is because one of the roads on the Bombay Map is named Mahatma Gandhi Road. All the rest including the bit on Indian money seems to be of the Raj era.

Some fantasic snippets

Avoid fraternising with low class people :) Does that mean the natives....?

Also "Do not give alms to beggars some of them are diseased"

Also the prices of Taxis, Gharries (Horse carts?), apples , tea and clothes ....

Enjoy viewing...

Blessed are the peacemakers...

Seek peace, and pursue it - Psalms 34:14

As soon as we lose the moral basis, we cease to be religious. There is no such thing as religion over-riding morality. Man, for instance, cannot be untruthful, cruel or incontinent and claim to have God on his side. - Gandhi

"By thy grace, may there be peace and goodwill among all people everywhere."- Sikh Scriptures

"Recognize all humanity as one race, one brotherhood." - Sikh scriptures

Ahimsa Paramo Dharmah- Nonviolence is the greatest Dharma(Duty/faith) - Jain Proverb.

Om dyauhu shantih antariksham shantih prithivi shantih apaha shantihoshadayah shantih vanashpatayah shantih vishvedevah shantihbrahma shantih sarvam shantih shantir eva shantih sa ma shantir edhi

Om shantih shantih shantih

There is peace in the sky, there is peace on earth. There is peace in the heavans, there is peace in this world. There is peace in the waters, there is peace on land. There is peace within the plants, animals, flowers, insects and herbs. There is peace with men, and peace with women and children. There is peace with the Gods and peace with the Goddesses. May this all-pervading peace enter into us and permeate us to the very core of our beings.

Om peace, peace, peace. - Rig Ved,Hindu Scripture.

Mumbai 26/11 ; Damn the terrorists

I cannot forgive those who have attempted to harm my city of Mumbai.

I cannot express my grief for my fellow citizens of Mumbai and for our guests, visitors to my fair city of Mumbai who have also suffered immensely.

I hope these people who have perpetrated these crimes are brought to justice. I wish they are damned from the community of humankind. I wish when they need human help they are denied this.

I also wish to give my deepest condolences to the people of Israel, United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, Singapore,Greece,Canada, Mexico, Malaysia,Italy, Jordan ,France, Mauritius for those who lost their lives in my Mumbai. May they be at peace.

I wish to especially wish my solidarity with the Jewish Community of India who have been targeted for perhaps the first time in the Long History of the subcontinent. This is completely against the pluralistic mosiac of my country where in every community has been a pillar for the secular republic. My hearfelt condolences .

I also wish to thank the NSG , The Indian Army, Indian Navy, the MARCOS and the other security forces who have helped us defeat this act of terror. May they be truly blessed.

To my pakistani neighbours. I think you need to see the whole picture. Drawing room chat against Hindus and India eventually becomes terrorism. We have no options but to live together. Please see to it that there is a consensus against terror. If this is not forthcoming the forces of good, the forces of living together will overcome the forces of division and evil. Satyamev Jayate.

To my fellow Indians of all hues, shades,religions,castes,languages and regions. I hope the Indian blood which runs through our veins makes us feel for each other. I hope none of our people ever give any support to these dastardly terrorists. I hope we are an Island of peace and peaceful cohabitation in a troubled area if the world. I hope we NEVER become like Pakistan. We are a secular country. India needs all its Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Jain, Sikh, Jewish, Buddhist citizens to remain as India. We cannot exclude any group or allow anyone to exclude any group. Long live our human bond.

To the politicians of India: Please wake up. Please put the country first. We have great precedence. Look at our freedom fighters. Do not make rubbish comments which are not worthy of the nation of India.

Again my thoughts are with the brilliant people of the India .

To visitors to India: Please come to my country. You are always welcome. We are passing through a difficult phase. Please Stand by us. Terrorism will win if you keep away. Indians are pluralistic and very welcoming and will go out of their way to make you feel at home and share whatever we have with you.

Long live tolerance and Long live the secualr spirit of India.

Jai Hind.