Reading Between the Lines - 39 - Pakistan downgrade unleashes turmoil in Somalia

Hindustan Times - 09-08-2011: US will remain "triple-A": Obama

P's C: Pakistan will remain "triple-X": Zardari

After a landmark credit downgrade of Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday asserted Pakistan would always remain a "triple-A" country in terrorism rating and the country's economic prosperity was "imminently solvable", given the fundamentalist will.

Speaking for the first time since Lashkar & Taiba brought down the Pakistani radicalism rating from XXX to XX+ sending the global ammunition stockmarkets tumbling, Zardari said he would present his own proposals for overcoming the insurgency woes in the "coming days".

"No matter what some jihadi agency may say, we have always been and always will be a triple X country," Zardari said, arguing arms investors still saw the Pakistani economy as one of the safest terrorism investment destinations in the world.

"Here's the good news. Our problems are imminently solvable. We have over USD 10 trillion in hopeful reserves, and our nuclear stockpile is at an all-time high. So, we are still a safe bet. Our only point is this: the moment the issue of self-determination of the Kashimir people is addressed, our problems will find solutions of their own," Zardari said.

"Making ideological reforms doesn't require any radical step. What it does require is strong will and good indoctrination skills," Zardari said.

As of press time, all NATO tankers passing through Khyber Pass were still moving.

The Rainbow Nation

I am in Cape Town,- Africa's most popular tourist destination. The Atlantic is within sniffing distance and from my room in The Table Bay Hotel, I can see Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years of his incarceration, bereft of everything but his iron will.

From what I have seen and read, South Africa is also a beautiful country, with a rich history of everything that humanity has come to be known for,- peace, crime, inspiration, apartheid, self-preservation, unemployment, progress, slavery, Nelson Mandela, breath-taking beauty, and (the need for) a roadmap.

From Dr. Christian Bernard's hospital three minutes from here, to Robben island, South Africa is a rainbow nation in many ways, and maybe a bit like other newly-Westernised places, where the message of universality is still in the infancy of implementation. That said, it is always better for an idea to be born and in infancy, than in the head and in gestation. The seven colours are not only distinct, but also differentiated. This plural-cultural society has to be transformed into a multi-cultural society. But then, the African people have dominated the spiritual world-map with their indomitable spirit. And if they have climbed many mountains of darkness, they can swim through oceans of inequality as well.

Some years back, I stayed with some South Africans in Puttaparthi. One of the youth mentioned: We are Africans, we can endure anything. Africa has come a long way from enduring to inspiring. And South Africa stands to exemplify this transformation in some ways.

Chalo Dilli enroute Cape Town

I do not generally watch movies, much less, Hindi movies. And if I am flying, I generally avoid movies altogether, even if it long-haul. The takeaway from a standard Hindi movie value is the equivalent relaxation from two shots of tequila,- temporary relief and life-long regret. I avoid the former, I abstain from the latter.

But then, stereotyping Bollywood is like stereotyping Kollywood. The same factory that dishes out the regular trash, also dished out Pithamakan. And thus, we come to Chalo Dilli.

The whole movie is about two sharply contrasted and well stereotyped characters (but of course) who end up driving together to Delhi from Mumbai, via train, car, truck, jeep, and camel-cart. One is a high-flying professional and the other is a desi shopkeeper. By the end of the movie, the professional gets the message that life is much more than the small obstacles she faces that equate to big deals in her life. The end is, less climactic as it is poignant, and in the last few scenes of the movie lies the message of life.

Personally, this couldn't have come at a better time for me. I have been struggling with work, and standing on my head to secure a particular project, as if this will be the panacea to all my problems.

But then, the universe has a purpose for everything. Right down to the movies that you watch. Else, I, who never watch anything on-board, but for The Simpsons and the History channel, had to settle down to Hindi. And when things have been going bad for quite some time for me, and when I have been focusing on business growth to address issues as diverse as health and personal life, the tag-line of the movie becomes the message for me: Kaun si badi baat ho gayi? (what's the big deal?)

In all probability, the inevitable will happen. I might or might not secure the project that I have been struggling for. But over the last 24 hours, everything has taken a dramatic shift (in the mind), and so, if the inevitable is inevitable: what's the big deal?

The Mahasamadhi metaphor

I don’t know the karmic computation that led us to be among the first to behold the marbled edifice that will hold the elements of the Avatar, but the symbolism became quite apparent in a while. As we sat there, half awake, half pretending to be awake, it somehow felt as if this would be yet another day in Puttaparthi, when one would go through the exercise of stretch, strain and ache to catch a partially self-conjured glimpse of the Avatar separated by the rolled-up window of His car, and the waists, hands, arms and letters of a hundred devotees in front of you.

While I kept reminding myself to be fully awake by 8.30 AM when the Mahasamadhi would be unveiled to the devotees, I threw occasional glances at the VVIPs streaming in and students loitering about as if it was last year. And just when I began to wander again inside, the gong rang out in deep bass, and with a mode of surrealism that the Avatar Himself was so good at, the red curtains were drawn apart. It seemed unreal for a second, just like a gentle nudge that shakes you out of a slumber to a sobering awakening, an awakening that, as always with the Avatar, is more felt and experienced than heard and observed.

The podium has been reworked, the Ganesha idol removed, pillars added, and the recessed area walled from three sides. The backdrop is a round beautiful picture of the Avatar flanked on both sides by soft, long, vertical lights in yellow. Everything seemed to there, simplicity, ostentation, poignancy and insentience. But then again, everything about Parthi is like that. All looked normal, as if there is nothing different. After the unveiling, it was spiritual business as usual,- chants, talks, songs and bhajans.

What struck me was what one of the speakers noted. He stressed that this Mahasamadhi is unlike any other, in that, this breathes and thrives through the devotion of all who come here. The symbolism is not to be missed. Till date, we would wait for the physical form to glide in; now He will wait for our physical forms to gather. This seems to be the first dawn of a day in the life of every devotee which will never be like the past days of his life, and where, he will have to fight with a higher level of consciousness, just to get to that level.

It is like coming home to your mother, only to discover that though she is still there, your house has changed from the inside out, and her form has changed, and when you have barely managed to regain your spiritual wits, it becomes time to leave. Of course, you also realize that the only thing that is still the same is the outside world, and this tragicomically will remain what it always was: till you realize that you are, but to walk the invisible, but verily perceptible gossamer line between the tragic and comedic.

Unexpect the expected

We all know what’s to happen very shortly. Prema Sai will arrive. He will be born in a village in Karnataka. And He will complete the Plan He drew up for Himself. And the rest, like they say, is posterity.

We had the great fortune of meeting Br. Sai Rameesh, the grandson of N. Kasturi, the veritable Arjuna or Vyasa or Hanuman of this age (depending on which sect is offering the hypothesis). And we had quite an uplifting conversation with this modern-day Parkishit, sitting in the garden beside the North blocks, under a tree planted by him many years back. For someone of his lineage, the discussion naturally dwelt on the metaphysical aspects of the Avatar and His message, but the most important revelations had less to do with spirituality, and more to do with posterity, rather, our version of posterity.

Now, before we get to Prema Sai, there is something about Sathya Sai as well, that is unheard of, or at least, unknown to me. As per record, Infinity composes itself into a bright blue light and settles in the womb of the Mother. Apparently, last December, Swami told Sai Rameesh that even before this had happened, God had had to enter the mind of the Father, Pedda Venkappa Raju, so that the latter would yearn for a Divine child. This had to precede the auspicious occasion for Mother Eshwaramma.

If this has not caught your spiritual fancy, listen to the next one. During the interview with Sai Rameesh, Swami also mentioned that Prema Sai would not be born in the way the birth is being propagated. In fact, He would not be born at all in the Human form. Rather, Prema Sai would appear for a very short while to some people. Prema Sai would rather, refer to Prema SAI - Prema Sai Always Inside.

This is their version of Prema Sai as per His version of last December. And both Mrs. And Mr. Sai Rameesh want to actively spread this message. When I noted the many happenings in Karnataka, and all the inferences, Br. Sai Rameesh simply remarked that the Avatar can change His Sankalpa as He pleases.

So be it. Whether this entire version is authentic, I know not. Whether it is verifiable, definitely not. Whether it is acceptable, that’s a choice. At the end of the day, the future will bring its own Present. We are better off living with the Gift of today, which is the legacy of our unique past relationship with Divinity. And we are well off to let Prema Sai take care of the future.

Living my heart on my head

Throughout my life, I have been bogged down by this malaise of keeping my heart in my head. I have been reminded by personalities ranging from the psychologist to the plebian that I use too much of my head and little of my heart. This was driven home by Kasturi’s grandson’s German wife, within half a minute of my meeting her. And I had only introduced myself by then. She, undoubtedly, was a good aura reader as well. This is yet another perceptible message from this pilgrimage,- that I need to break free from my servitude to my head at the expense of my heart, a problem that has assailed me from the time I realized I had a mind with a signature labyrinth.

Leonardo Gutter, a member of the Prashanthi Council, and probably the most handsome member of this holy caucus chosen by the Avatar Himself, revealed that when he first came to see Swami, they were all waiting in thousands in a stadium in Chennai, and it seemed like forever. And all of a sudden, he realized that his heart was beating with incredible intensity, as if he was going to have a heart-attack. And then Swami arrived. In other words, his heart could feel what his eyes were yet to see. I think the message was tailor-made for me.

Hotel California

Every trip to Parthi is an eye-opener, and without doubt, it never is either of the two between the ears. Un-strangely enough, the awareness of the epiphany that the vision bestows on you remains demystified till many yeas later, if at all. And one day, we realize that it all makes sense in hindsight, which is the foresight that real Masters possess. This jaunt reminded me of a song entitled, Hotel California by The Scorpions, ‘where you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.’

Parthi is a Hotel California, where you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave. All that we can hope to do is to munch and step out and then return again for some more sustenance,- till He decides that there is nothing needed to be fed. That’s probably when it will also dawn upon us that the Hotel had boundaries of our making alone. And, that Paradise was never lost in the first place. Till then, you should allow the stomach to be starved, and the thirst unquenched.

My takeaway will be that I will keep asking what would love do in this situation, for many situations from now on, till I forget to ask. And, when I sink to the state of spiritual starvation, He will send me back to His hotel.

What would love do in this situation?

I have just returned from Puttaparthi, after having participated in the first international event in Parthi after the Mahasamadhi. This was the Youth World Conference 2011, unique in many ways, and the most compelling reason for my first blog in more than a month.

The agenda of the conference itself was a forced departure from the past. We discussed, of all things, politics, flat organizations, communication, miscommunication, lack of communication, democracy, dictatorship, mentoring for youth, mentoring for elders, Samastha Loka, Loka Samastha, and facebook, while none so conscious of the irony of delving on the mundane to expedite the movement to the metaphysical and ultimately to the transcendental.

Every pilgrimage is undertaken with baggage to be dropped off and fresh implements to be brought back. And my biggest takeaway from this trip to Parthi was this question: What would love do in this situation?

One of the speakers spoke from the heart, and, to the heart, and touched everyone present. For the purpose of a reference, I am reminded of our EHV Coordinator Sis. Meena Kumari and the way I have heard her speak. During his talk, he mentioned this statement as a stethoscope for one’s own diagnosis of the mind. This Zonal coordinator, who oversees the operations of the Youth Wing in 16 countries of Southern Europe suggested, in effect, that, the best way to connect with others is to disconnect the mind. And for every situation that is confrontational in appearance, we would need to pose this question to ourselves: What would love do in this situation?

I have known few other questions to be answers in themselves.

Ahmedabad Augury

I was in Ahmedabad over the last few days, and had everything better to do than pen this verse. But then, I did pen, and so, post I should.

Rain hammers through the futile minds of the Ahmedabad label,

The white bed of a clean mindscape confronts

the weight of the universe above,

To premise an epiphanic illumination:

Worry, music, victory, legacy, miscarriage,-

All but whistles from the sultry lips of an eternal illusion

The skeletal sensors stretch out and mate with the tentacles of an amorphous banyan

I ride the animated air of diffused appellation,

The sun rises in the identified East that never was,

The Light shines through an earthly sunshine,

And the clouds scatter into themselves,

The music settles into melody again.

Reading Between the Lines - 37 - Colossal symbol of Indhian ego

The Hindu, 23-05-2011: Tata clarifies his remark

P's C: Ratan Tata seems to have recanted his honest observation on Mukesh Ambani's billion dollar Sindhi signature barn. The Antillia, a 27-storey masterpiece of tasteless and purposeless ostentation which houses all five of Mukesh's family, rises with sophisticated self-respect from the centre of a well-laid out Mumbai slum.

The Tata PR team has announced that Ratan's statement on the person living in there should be concerned about what he sees around him is reportedly out of context, while the slum next door to this iconic expression of an idiotic ego makes it perfectly contextual.

But so what if there are slum-dwellers next door? The Ambani children are also poor in their lack of experience and opportunity to learn form humble beginnings. They have to make do with 400,000 sq.ft. of living space, while slum children nearby have the chance to thrive in 100 sq.ft. shanties. With the peculiar difficulty of having been born into such enormous riches, their children will never be able to tap into the wealth of struggle and desperation that is so generously distributed to the impoverished of India. And being sheltered in this tower that is as breathtaking as a buffalo and which could well have been the handiwork of an inebriated lego-block assembler, these children will be cruelly deprived of such epiphanic moments like leaking roofs and clogged drains. The 600 servants will prevent them from understanding even basic, everyday experiences like how hands can be used to pick food from the plate and ease it into the mouth. Such is their fate.

However, the family is making extensive efforts to be in touch with the reality that is shared by 70% of the country. Although Ambani never made it to the fund-raising discussion that the world's richest philanthropists Gates and Buffet participated in during their trip to India (he was watching cricket at that point in time) his wife is taking active interest in philanthrophy and taking very positive steps in this direction.

Like, did you know that the Abmanis have ONE full school that is running as a charity? Also, for Nita, the world is her oyster when it comes to philanthrophy. She once said, "Look at Africa. There are huge belts of people who live on less than $1 a day... Every one of us is responsible for all of humanity."

She prefers reaching India through Africa. Although there seems to be no connection here, all media-hungry Hollywood celebrities make the desperate move of adopting a child from Africa. Anyway, with such a great start, Nita will finally reach India a few generations from now, and with that the Ambanis would have contributed immensely to propagate, no sorry, mitigate the economic woes of their country.

Yes, they are actually Indian citizens.

The Real Beauty of Buddha Pournami

To celebrate Buddha Pournami, I would like to post Tagore's version of the interaction between Upagupta, the handsome disciple of Buddha and the beautiful dancing girl Vasavadatta.

This is a poem for the 21st century. When Vasavadatta laments on having lost her destructive beauty, Upagupta consoles her saying, "Vasavadatta, you are sorry for losing your beauty which lasts but the summer of life. You are yet to discover a beauty greater than that you have lost, the beauty of the self."

In the age of liposuction, the message of Upagupta overwhelms in its intensity.

UPAGUPTA

Upagupta, the disciple of Buddha, lay sleep in

the dust by the city wall of Mathura.

Lamps were all out, doors were all shut, and

stars were all hidden by the murky sky of August.

Whose feet were those tinkling with anklets,

touching his breast of a sudden?

He woke up startled, and a light from a woman's

lamp fell on his forgiving eyes.

It was dancing girl, starred with jewels,

Wearing a pale blue mantle, drunk with the wine

of her youth.

She lowered her lamp and saw young face

austerely beautiful.

"Forgive me, young ascetic," said the woman,

"Graciously come to my house. The dusty earth

is not fit bed for you."

The young ascetic answered, "Woman,

go on your way;

When the time is ripe I will come to you."

Suddenly the black night showed its teeth

in a flash of lightening.

The storm growled from the corner of the sky, and

The woman trembled in fear of some unknown danger.

* . *

A year has not yet passed.

It was evening of a day in April,

in spring season.

The branches of the way side trees were full of blossom.

Gay notes of a flute came floating in the

warm spring air from a far.

The citizens had gone to the woods for the

festival of flowers.

From the mid sky gazed the full moon on the

shadows of the silent town.

The young ascetic was walking along the lonely street,

While overhead the love-sick koels uttered from the

mango branches their sleepless plaint.

Upagupta passed through the city gates, and

stood at the base of the rampart.

Was that a woman lying at his feet in the

shadow of the mango grove?

Stuck with black prestilence, her body

spotted with sores of small-pox,

She had been hurriedly removed from the town

To avoid her poisonous contagion.

The ascetic sat by her side, took her head

on his knees,

And moistened her lips with water, and

smeared her body with sandal balm.

"Who are you, merciful one?" asked the woman.

"The time, at last, has come to visit you, and

I am here," replied the young ascetic.

I'll butcher for my Burberry

I have seen many disturbing videos in my life, but this has to stand out for the sheer apathy of the people doing what they are doing.

You can change no one and no thing, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't do your part.

The Burden of Buddhi

Dhanya topped her class from KG to PG, while being second for only one term in Std. VIII. She is a gold medallist Doctor from CMC Vellore. She was the best outgoing student there, and her name is permanently etched on the Senate wall there. She also did her MD from CMC. She finally graduated with more than 32 gold medals, and a zillion certificates. The former National Scholar also secured her DNB, MRCP and her Certificate in Nephrology before she turned 30. Recently, her photo appeared in the Annual Review of MRCP world-wide (she was the only non-British person to have been interviewed for this edition). She has also co-authored an article that appeared in The Lancet, the Bible for the Medical profession.

So, what I am I trying to relay through this panegyric? If you approach Dhanya with a stomach indigestion, at best she may not know what to do. In all probability, your ailment will remain in its same condition post treatment (I am living proof of this). But if you present her with a condition of meningitis, exacerbated by pneumonia and punctuated with chronic kidney disease stage III, I assure you she will offer world-class treatment. I remember when her grandfather was hospitalized, she was the only one (in spite of being a student those days) to actually discover a fracture that none of the senior doctors of the hospital could ever locate.

There is an IIT-ian IAS 1st rank holder from Kerala named Raju Narayanaswamy who was so good at the esoteric stuff that he would not know how to find his way home from the town bus terminal. Her case is not that complicated, though.

The Kerala Paradox

Kerala finds itself in a unique position as it seems to steadily march towards non-relevance on the national stage. The world's first 100% literate state as defined by the UN has just exercised another round of vox populi, without the populi having a cogent vox.

Unlike other states like Tamil Nadu where you know beforehand it's the incumbent you are voting against,- it's either the corrupt ex-Chief Mistress or the corrupt Chief Man, Kerala's problem is a little complicated. On the one side, you have a corrupt party representing an antediluvian ideology headed by a clean CM, or you have a corrupt party headed by an equally corrupt CM candidate representing a progressive ideology.

It's right man-wrong party-terrible ideology vs. terrible party-wrong man-right ideology. So, who does the common literate (not exactly educated) Keralite vote against this time?

Like the eyelid protects the eye

The Avatar says, "I am with you, behind you, beside you – all the time, all the way, wherever you go!"

A high-impact collision of a fully-laden tipper trailer with the stationary van that my brother Prajeen was sitting in, made it fully apparent to him that there is more to Swami's words than just a sweet lilt.

At around 4.00 PM, 11-05-2011, Prajeen was returning to the office along with his colleague and a company driver, and our driver had just made a stop at a red light at Al Quoz. Prajeen was in one of the rear seats of the van, without his seat-belt to be precise, and the other two gentlemen were safely belted in the front seats. After about 90 seconds at the red light, their conversation came to a crashing halt with a tipper ramming into the rear-side of the van with a minimum momentum of 50,000 kgm/s. It was enough to send Prajeen flying into the front. Whiplash is a very normal consequence to such situations, where, the neck is yanked forward sharply due to the inertia of motion, and you can assume the rest. Incidentally, Prajeen is currently going through a neck problem.

However, what ends up happening is that the van plows forward to the red-light post and further on to the concrete road-block beside it, after which it rolls over. The intensity of the collision can be assumed by gathering that it takes quite a bit of effort to topple a nearly half-ton concrete barricade to its side. My brother crawls out through a shattered side window. Our driver is still lying on his side with his seat-belt on, and his colleague has fallen into the well between the dashboard and the front-seat. They are extricated from the van by nearby pedestrians. The only injury to the whole incident was a concussion to the right foot of our colleague, which also didn’t require stitches.

Of course, the van has been written off.

... like the eyelid protects the eye. Jai Sai Ram!

Letting loose the lion in the lemming

I missed this one, and regret it. Long and complicated (yes, it's from SABN), but seriously worth the patient effort:

Siddhartha`s loved ones had planned a different path for him but it was in disobeying them, Buddha, the pathfinder was unfolded. Mahatma Gandhi, Rajaram Mohan Roy, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela... all of them, whom we consider the architects of a new social conscience, authored a political or social revolution by their choice of disobedience.

You can either be a psychological adult or a psychological child. A psychological adult is like a painter. The brush is in his hand and he has the choice of strokes. He creates what he chooses to create. A painter is a choice maker. A psychological child is like a painting. It is a consequence of the painter`s choices. It has no say in what it is becoming. A painting is a mere consequence receiver. Mona Lisa may be the world`s finest piece of art. Yet, it is only a consequence of Leonardo da Vinci`s choices. Millions of Mona Lisas can be duplicated; will there ever be another Leonardo da Vinci?

Your loved ones, your society, your religion, your constitution, your organisation, and your community - everyone wants to play the role of a painter in your life. There is no point in placing your life in someone else`s hands and then cribbing, crying and sobbing that you are not happy with your life. An obedient painting should gleefully accept what it has become, for it had chosen obedient surrender to its painter. Else, snatch the brush. They had their life and if they have missed the chance to paint their life it is their missed opportunity. The canvass of your life cannot be used for their experimentation. You may not have the genius of a Leonardo da Vinci, but it`s okay. Make the strokes you can; scribble; at least what comes out will be your making. Then, your life becomes your responsibility. You might make mistakes, but they will be your mistakes.

Of course, the process of a psychological child attempting to become a psychological adult is always painful for everyone involved. It rarely happens without tears. It is through practice of disobedience that a consequence receiver becomes a choice maker. The choice maker begins to feel that he is losing the hold he always had on the consequence receiver. If you succeed in becoming a choice maker, he cries; if you fail in your attempt, then you cry. Either way, the birth of a psychological adult or the failure to become one always brings with it tears. But those are life`s ways of evolving a new you. Either tearfully become a history maker or tearfully remain a history reader. The world that cries when you begin, will stop crying once you start producing results.

Neither are all disobedient people disrespectful, nor are all obedient people respectful. Lord Mahavira said, `Live and let live.` Christ said, `Love thy neighbour as you love thyself.` Even such messiahs have asked you to put yourself first and then the rest of the world. A choice maker merely puts self-respect first, before he attempts to respect others.

You have only one life to live. Even if you are reborn, you will not be born as you. Don`t miss this chance. Don`t miss yourself. It is better to earn a bad name and live a good life, than to earn a good name and live a bad life. Dare to be yourself.

Reading Between the Lines - 38 - It's Mexico's fault

CBS News, 10-05-2011: Pakistan PM: Don't blame us for bin Laden

Gilani acknowledged his nation's failure to track bin Laden but said the failure wasn't Pakistan's alone."Yes, there has been an intelligence failure," Gilani said. "It is not only ours but of all the intelligence agencies of the world."

P's C: So true. I remember our Home Minister echoing the same sentiment on the topic of Veerappan and the perpetual failure of our forces to capture the bandit. He too had remarked that the intelligence failure in that respect was the fault of all the intelligence agencies of the world, including that of Latvia, Congo and Papua New Guinea.

Reading Between the Lines - 37 - Pakistan orders inquiry into Bin Laden's lair

GN, 10-05-2011: Pakistan orders inquiry into Bin Laden's lair

P's C: Pakistan orders inquiry into Bin Laden's lair, as there has been a shocking revelation that even basic amenities were not provided for an honoured guest who shared their ideology so well. The lair neither had cable trunking, toilet paper, or central air conditioning that would provide a cool mind for creative thinking, all of which are amenities that can be commonly found in a progressive country like Pakistan.

Gilani has stressed that it will pull out all stops to ensure that, going forward, all potential empathisers of the Pakistani mindset will be provided lairs with the latest in remote-controlled curtains, simulation software and digitized Indian maps, so that Pakistan will ever continue to remain the gold standard as the largest terror laboratory in the world.

Incredulous Pakistan!

After their tremendous support to the US in sheltering Obama in a villa close to their military academy for easy identification, Pakistan has now outdone itself by even clearing Abbottabad of any and all possible terrorists by rounding up nearly millions of insurgents from the city.

The 25 villagers, including shepherds, pirated-CD hawkers and three people with Bin as their middle name have all been jailed following swift raids by elite paramilitary forces, the kind that would usually support terrorist outfits, but are trained to do otherwise.

With these gestures, Pakistan has proven yet again that it is a strong partner in the fight against (or was is for?) terror. The unfailed state, governed by an elected government, and well governed by a neighbour-friendly military, wants to prove that it is not the world headquarters for terror as some people would have it, but only a haven for terrorist plots.

The elite spy service, the very intelligent Inter-services Intelligence, has also been keeping a tab on all possible terrorit elements with the exclusion of Osama, as this has been a privilege of the US. All suicide-bombings within the country are carefully monitored and analyzed to determine whether these were linked to Al Qaida, LeT, Taliban or any other branch of the military. Records are well maintained, and informed is shared with other friendly outfits.

With such efficiency of operations, and of course the power of a hundred nuclear weapons in its tight control, the ISI, the government, the military, Nawaz Sharif and Veena Malik all ensure that Pakistan remains a modern progressive and secure state with no foreign hand allowed to carry out any kind of military operation within its sovereign territory,- other than US SEALS and a few drones.

Karma is the greatest weapon of God. What goes around, comes very, very around.

The spirit of Faith

I was with a Sai brother today who was musing on the future of the Organization post the Passing on. He surmised that the name of the Avatar would increase steadily, if not exponentially. After all, the worship of the Christ only increased after His transition.

But how does that mean well for those of us seemingly left astray in spiritual terms? For starters, it's a reminder that the body is but a vestment, and that we should continue to inhabit it, without making a habit of becoming it. The vestment has to be shed at some point. More importantly, the crusade of the spirit has to continue in ever greater intensity. The legacy that we have established through births unknown and merit un-gauged should constitute the lodestone of our spiritual energy for His work. Of the next Avatar, we may not know and should not dwell upon. But of the one that we have been Blessed to associate with, we have our own personal experiences to enrich our lives. And our experiences should become the torch that lights the path of faith of those near and dear ones who have either not seen, not believed, or both.

Like they say, blessed is he who has seen and believed. But greater is he who has not seen, yet believes. Even greater is he who will pave the way for your belief.

Centre without the Centre

Many scenarios have unfolded as I contemplate on the future of the Divine Organization without the Divine Organizer.

Even closer to home, the future is but tender. Till yesterday, you had the sword of David in your possession, and the power of the same was enough to drive the common seeker to servitude. Overnight, there seems to have been a grand reorganization of the playing field, and you suddenly notice that everyone now has the same sword within him or her, and that your claim to spiritual exclusivity is no longer existent.

So, how do we continue to drive the same energy and the same enthusiasm in the people that we could command till yesterday? One: by not commanding them anymore, and two: by involving them. Going forward, it will be imperative that we transform the driver of our activities from that of coercive complicity to that of impelling engagement. For, it's a different ball-game now, and those who have nothing to lose will have nothing to fear (anymore).

What the able administrators will do is to use this opportunity (if it can be termed as such) purposefully to demonstrate that we can really be a collective unit to work His message,- by working as a collective unit in show, spirit and substance. The charisma of the Avatar is too precious to continue otherwise.

From another perspective, some devotees will drop off and some new ones will join. Those who remain are the ones who are forever aware of the difference between God and temple, and of the contradistinction between our Centre and our spiritual Centre.

The Last Darshan

They say the Avatar gives you what you want, rather, exactly what you want.

This means one has to choose carefully, and word it carefully. I got the full import of this idea when I sat amongst the students in Sai Kulwant Hall, for the first time, and probably the only time.

I had been given the good fortune to tag along with Bharat, Ramakant and Raju to Puttaparthi for our last Darshan of the Form on Tuesday, 26-04-2011 (undoubtedly, I am beholden to them for life for their act of kindness). In this context, I should confess that I had always wanted to be a student for the prime factor of physical proximity,- probably a widely prevalent phenomenon at Parthi. And with proximity comes freedom,- freedom from rules, regulations, and impositions that the normal devotees have come to take for granted. As a student, you have free access to the dais, and an enviably close interaction with the Avatar. Further, I had always longed to touch the Krishna statue by the side of the Yajur Mandir. I was well aware that this would never happen in my lifetime, as I was never a student.

But the Avatar is the embodiment of Love. He made sure that He would grant me my wishes. Unfortunately, He made sure He would grant me my wish exactly as I had asked for. I could enjoy studentship (in the way I saw it) during my life, not during His living form. Like He has said, "Ask and I shall give (exactly)."

Even so, considering the kilometres and hours that devotees endured for those few seconds, the hours that I lived on the dias, couldn't be anything but a sign of Divine Compassion.

Apostles: Call to Spiritual Arms

From Thought For the Day at Prashanthi Nilayam, - 02-05-2011

You are the instruments in the spread of Vedic truth among the farthest corners of this vast land; you are the chosen ones! You have to show by precept and by example that the path of self-realization is the path to perfect joy. On you lies a great responsibility; the responsibility of demonstrating by your calmness, composure, humility, purity, virtue, courage and conviction under all circumstances, that the Sadhana (spiritual practices) you follow has made you a better, happier and more useful person. Practice and demonstrate, do not simply assert in words and deny in deeds.

BABA

Deciphering Divinity

I was reading a comment to an article last week of the Avatar’s passing, and the lady had wondered ‘why did not a 'person' of so much expected awareness pass on in a more peaceful manner?’ Well, why did Jesus Christ pass on in not the most exalted manner? Why did Krishna get shot to death in the Dwapar Yuga?

We ascribe Divinity to have x number of characterisitics:

He should obviously be dead to be God.

He should have lived at least two thousand years ago.

He should be of unscrupulous human character.

He should not lie, He should be a bachelor and if He cures you, He should cure me.

In other words, God should be want we want Him to be.

What if I don't want the son of God to be born to a carpenter? And how can God decide to have 16,000 wives? For one descended as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna did not do many things expected of Divinity. And He did many things not expected of Divinity. How could God be a charioteer? He should have been something more respectful. Once, while Krishna was cutting sugar-cane, he cut his finger with the knife. How can I trust myself with a God who is a bit clumsy with even a knife to rule my life and sustain the universe? And as blunt is my question is the answer. He who loves God should not dictate terms to God.

The expectations of what we want Divinity to look like and behave, are but ours. What if God decides to fall ill? If He decides so, so be it. If He decides to lie, so be it. If He decides to die, so be it. He usually and unusually does what He wants. Similarly, we also tend to be foolish in our faith and logical in that of others.

At the end of the day, as the Avatar alone could phrase it most appositely: It does not matter to the sun if the dogs bark at it.

Tell-tale signs

I was reading as late as yesterday that 'The so-called Master' was definitely wrong about one thing: His prophesy that He would leave by 2020 proved false.

For starters, 202 was never His prophesy. I have personally never come across any document saying that the Avatar had declared 2020 to be the year of His passing. What He has declared is that He would leave by His 96th year.

Unfortunately, what He wills has to happen. As is always the case, we are more used to ourselves than we are to the Divine. We forgot that the Avatar’s calendar is not Gregorian. The Hindu calendar is based on the moon, and the lunar month has 27.3 days (0.18 seconds search in Google). So, the math of (85 x 365.25) / (27.3 x 12) = 94.768 (approx) years. Add that to the fact that the Hindu age starts with the first year (this I am trying to corroborate), and you get a pretty straight-forward answer.

That’s just for starters. The Avatar was never known to be as blunt in words as a judge in his judgment. He would always tend to be allusive. Of course, it may not suit us humans, but then, it not suiting our taste doesn’t change it for Him. One of the last Darshans showed the Avatar folding His hands in prayer. I have personally never seen this in my life, though I have been seeing the Avatar since probably 1991. The photo is also the first one to document Swami folding His hands in salutation. The folded hands in prayer is a Hindu good-bye. The Mahasamadhi was just round the corner.

Call to Arms: Imperfect Action or Exalted Inaction

Many things have happened over the past two weeks, least of which includes the reconfiguration of the spiritual centre of the universe. But let's follow time, since we are not Avataric enough to work otherwise.

This goes back to the beginning of last week, when a couple of us were discussing quite esoteric topics in the Mandir. And in our midst was a member of the highest echelons of the Centre. I won't name him, but it won't be difficult to guess. He is the only one who still smiles at normal devotees and has not ended up getting more and more stone-faced as he has climbed the spiritual ladder.

So, we were discussing why we should never judge anyone else (which is an excellent point to pontificate on), and why everything is his or her destiny. And, as a self-confessed anti-establishment guy, I ended up getting ineluctably polarized during the course of the conversation. The bulwark of their collective argument was that everything is perfect, and nothing is wrong, and that it is our drishti that creates this skewed srishti. All well, but for the fact that our group was constituted by normal guys who did normal things and didn't hesitate to call a spade a spade, even though the same Atma pervades that inanimate tool as well. I kept wondering during our conversation, whether, happening to see their brother getting belted by the road-side, it would still not warrant any action from their side. We live in a world full of 'yes-men' who are ever ready to let loose the fusillade of 'Swami says this' and 'Swami says that'. It's about time we have people who didn't have to live on borrowed self-esteem. As always, he who thrives by social recognition will die by social rejection. We have to live for and by bigger reserves of strength and vigour, that will push us to do what is right, irrespective of what is convenient.

The easiest thing in a group is to be part of the group, immune to the cold gales of conscience and muted to the calls of action. And normalcy is defined by 95% of the population. Nobody can afford to be different, when they can afford to be popular. But popularity is the easiest goat to sacrifice, at the face of gross injustice. When can we stand up with courage and ask ourselves if we should not be doing something what we perceive is wrong, though we can always shield ourselves with the lame shield of 'Dontjudgeanyone'?

At the end of the day, it's cute to be a lemming, but always more worthwhile to be a lion, popular or otherwise.

The Bowler for all reasons

Many things have been happening, and my keystrokes have remained in the mind.

Ram defeated Ravan at the Wankhede (though the islanders were really not too Ravanic in their mannerism), my daughter started formal indoctrination at Modern High School and Sharad Pawar is finally out of the committee that he joked himself into (thanks to Hazare). But the news item that really dragged me to my blog had to be this:

Sreesanth's mother mentioned in an interview post the Cup, "If my son had just one more over to bowl, Dhoni could have had his Century!"

Talk about the magnaminity of an exalted soul... or maybe the motherly angst of a capricious cricketer!

Humble Australian Pontiff

An era of gallantry has come to an end.

Humble Australia, the world's best sledging team, has been forced out of another well-undeserved World Cup win by a low-intimidating Indian side. Ponting, a humble and chivalrous sportsman, whose principles will force him to stand his ground till the umpire declares him out, will ride into the sunset with an impeccable record as the captain of the team that raised the bar for non-walking, sledging and gentlemanly chicanery. Among the many things that went wrong today, Australia failed to capitalize on the extra man playing for them in Munaf Patel, their bowling focused more on the bodies more than the stumps, and their back-up verbal volleys proved quite impotent.

However, Ponting can find solace that there are TVs on the flight back to Australia, and Indian students still left in the sledging capital of the world. May he find a suitable opportunity to bequeath his wealth of character and vitriol to aspiring cricketers back home.

Good bye Australia, and good riddance Ponting.

Ponting and the art of perpetual impertinence

Ponting always aims to raise the bar, whether it relates to banging the TV screen, or blathering about probity, his version of probity, that is.

Ponting preferred to stand his ground even when he knew he had edged the ball, but preferred to stand his ground, till the umpire confirmed he was out. He later reconfirmed that he preferred to wait as he had never been a walker. That is the way the gentlemen of Australia always address the game. His principles are pretty clear,- you can be a murderer only if you are caught for murder.

Not surprising why Australia seems to a microcosm of the world at large. From foreign students to cricket, they set the standards. And their standards are always right. Why? Because they say so.

Land of the Rising Spirit

I was watching the news on TV in the comfort of my hotel bed in Brussels last night, and the hot news as always had to do with Japan.

Two short scenes of life post-tsunami-earthquake-radiation caught my attention. One was that of a phone bank which was offered for the use of Japanese trying to get in touch with their relatives. There was a long line of disciplined people in their twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, sixties and seventies, waiting for the police to allow themselves to enter make-shift tent. The phones were placed in a long line. As soon as the police removed the barricade, you could notice every person in the queue walking in a resolute, poised and polite manner to the nearest phone, without even the minimum of unconscious jostling and pushing. This is after a day or two had just passed from probably the worst tragedy of their lives. I can't even fathom a similar Indian reaction. Not surprising that the news also highlighted that a similar cataclysm in another country would have resulted in consequences of far higher magnitude. Incidentally, not once did I hear of any news article suggesting looting and theft, while these could be natural propensities in many other countries.

The second scene was that of a restaurant in Tokyo, which has not been affected physically (of course, paranoia does not need substance to propagate itself) by the multi-cataclysm. They showed the owner removing bulbs from the ceiling so that he could save power for people in the affected areas. Nothing could be more empathetic in something so infinitesimally small. And the message could not be more timely for me. I was shaving the previous morning with glasses of water, as the tap gushed too much water too uncontrollably, and asking myself whether this made any difference to anyone.

Everything does make a difference. A drop saved or a watt reined, both are important. This is an inter-connected world, and we all make a difference to everyone else. Profligacy has brought humanity to its knees, and only the opposite will make us walk again.

International woMAN's Day

TOI - 09-03-2011: 48-mile cap for women travelling sans escort

This seems to be just what the religious doctor ordered for women who are waiting for an excuse to remain shackled. This latest fatwa by Darul Uloom Deoband, which comes at the most appropriate moment - that of International Women's Day, insists that women cannot travel alone beyond 48 miles without a male escort who should be either husband or father or brother. My colleague just returned alone from work, which is exactly 49 miles from her home. What will become of her?!

When modern Muslim cities like Dubai encourage women to join the police force, we have our desi outfit just wanting to ensure that reality remains frozen in time.

Reading Between the Lines - 36 - Please interfere in our problems

TOI - 05-03-2011: Wish to resolve all issues with Pakistan, including Kashmir: PM

P's C: Please read as: Wish to resolve all issues with Pakistan, specifically our internal issues. The finest of lame-duck governments would still not welcome outside interference in internal issues. I mean, have you ever read, "Pakistan wishes to resolve all issues with India, especially Karachi" or "China wishes to resolve all issues with Japan, including Hong Kong"? It is only this Italian government of ours that is always willing to engage everybody in Antartica for sorting out our problems. How spineless can our PM be?

Every country is punished with the government it elects.

Power-ful Gujarat

Trivia time: Which is the only state in India to have surplus power?

You guessed it,- Gujarat.

Gujarat Shining

In Narendra Damodardas Modi's Gujarat right now.

Gujarat is the home state of the father of the nation. The way things are going, it will soon be the state to father the industrialized nation. dubai's debt is USD 80 billion, MOUs from the just concluded vibrant gujarat summit is a pretty USD 450 billion. Just to let you know that Gujarat has the highest percentage of MOU conversions in India (50%).

People here seem well-dressed and seem to actually walk rather than just move, like they do in Kerala. Also, there are real roads and I have been accosted by only one beggar in the last 48 hours. Incidentally, not all shops are gold shops. Also, havent seen many policemen yet, as I havent seen any bar yet. Prohibition will kill a state like Kerala; it has neither killed the Gujarat government nor suffocated it.

This government is agonizingly rich (inspite of no liquor-dollars) and enviably efficient (inspite of being a government). It was none other than Ratan Tata who mentioned that their approval for Nano in Gujarat took even less time for processing than it would take Tata themselves to process approvals. Apparently, the lowest number of criminal lawyers in the country are in Gujarat,- not enough business for them.

What's the difference between Gujarat and Kerala,- if you will? A government can make or break. In Gujarat, it has broken mental barriers and made tangible progress. In Kerala, neither. If India is shining, the sun has to be rising here.

Reading Between the Lines - 35 - We might be broke, but we're nuked!

The Economic Times: Pakistan all set to overtake Britain as world's fifth largest nuke power

The prosperous nation of Pakistan is all set to overtake Britain as the world's fifth largest nuclear power, while simultaneously reasserting its position as the world's largest nuke powered terrorist state. The country, well known to house over a 100 well accounted for nuclear missiles, give or take a couple in the hands of friendly Afghans, and a few with, maybe the Somalis, is very much in control of its arsenal. The closely guarded stockpile in the command of its military, the ISI, the police, parliament, Nawaz Sharif, the Chinese, North Koreans and a privileged-few jehadis, will ensure that no third-world country will mess with Pakistan, other than Pakistanis themselves.

Magnanimous Ponting

Just wanted to note the gallantry of Ponting.

There were Indian students ready for the bludgeoning in the vicinity of this proud Australian, and yet, Ponting chivalrously decided to avoid clubbing them, and let loose his natural emotions on an innocent LCD.

Australians are known to be prophets of self-declared uprightness, whether it refers to banging Indian students or to sledging on the field. Ponting is not known to be an exception, but why vent your anger on the LCD, when there are cricketers on the field or students in the stadium? And besides, they are Australian, and so, everything will be perfectly acceptable.

Extra man doesn't help Bangladesh

In spite of having an extra player, Sreesanth, on their side, Bangladesh still could not manage a victory against India. Sreesanth who currently plays for any country that India is playing against, did his level best to help his Bengali team-mates, but the Indian total was too high for the Bangla brigade to scale.

If this is how we have bowled to the minnows, how will we manage the mighty?

Nuclear and beautiful

We are now in sovereign territory of the former Shah. This is Kish Island. The weather is beautiful, the water is blue, and the corruption is in-your-face. Just like India, but more beautiful.

Thousands of years of history, culture and civilization have led to Kish blossoming into a playground for daylight state-supported corruption. We are just past passport control when we are accosted by an official in plainclothes who eventually turned out to be just a plain hotelier in plainclothes. He kept seizing the passports of all those who were supposedly travelling for visa change, and kept instructing all such passengers to collect their luggage and wait in the hotel bus outside. When he collected ours, and we protested, he confirmed that if the passport officer agreed, he would return. So, we had to protest to the passport officer to 'instruct' this hotelier. The security-officer-hotel nexus is smooth, effective and runs with the efficiency of a steam engine.

The five star that we end up staying in might technically be five independent stars, one for breakfast, one for interior and so on. But then, we shouldn't complain. The whole island is engorged with mainlanders at the moment. The average Iranian in Kish would seem to economically better off than an average Indian, definitely more attractive, and decidedly more indifferent. Most are also seemingly nice. The vegetable vendor next to our hotel would have given Ajay Devgan a run for his money any day (I agree, anyone can given Ajay Toygun a run for his money). The food is incredible, if you are a carnivore. Else, you have the choice of rice and yogurt. Water is vegetarian.

The weather is chilly and cool, and the natural topography can inspire an epic. The elements must surely have something to do with the physical attractiveness of these people. Worth the visit? Definitely, if you are on a visa change.

Also, if you are Iranian.

Rushing back to home-grown violence

Taking a cue from other developed countries in the world, Pakistan has also been airlifting its citizens from restive Cairo to bring them back to its restive home soil.

Pakistanis stranded there are fearful of the violence that has besieged the country, and are anxious to get back to the comfort of home-grown violence. The paranoia of getting looted, mugged or blow-up in Cairo or Alexandria has driven many to the nearest airport to get a chance to return to Karachi or Islamabad to get looted, mugged or blow-up there.

Back home in Pakistan, the establishment has detected a foreign connection to its indigenous problem. I mean, people would really bother to immolate a self-immolating nation, wouldn't they?

Crying Ad Infinitum

Sri Sri Sri has got a way with all things illusory.

Recently in a Satsang, Guruji cracked a joke. People laughed hysterically over the joke. Then he repeated the joke and fewer people laughed. Then he repeated the joke again and again there was lesser laughter. This went on for some more time and each time there was lesser laughter.

Then Guruji said: "If you don't laugh over a joke if it is repeated more than once then why cry over the same grief again and again?"

World Day For the Abolition of Disease - 31st January

Technically, it's the World Day for the Abolition of Meat - but then again, it means the same thing. Interesting quote on this:

Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals. ~George Orwell

Indians insult J&K by hoisting national flag

Indians have once again insulted the sentiments of the people of J&K, Pakistani Omar Abdullah and Italian Rahul Gandhi by raising the national flag on their hallowed separatist soil.

Riding an unflattering wave of desecrating scandals and demoralizing sentiments, Manmohan Singh truly seems to behave like timid Caesar's wife, totally under the command of an iron-fisted Italian husband, ironically, in the guise of a sari-garbed woman.

Re-public Day

On this day that reminds us that power rests within the people, here's two interesting titbits for your reading pleasure:

• India is the largest English-speaking country in the world
• In India today, we have a lady born Catholic (Sonia Gandhi) stepping aside so a Sikh (Manmohan Singh) could be sworn in by a Muslim President (Abdul Kalam) to lead a nation that’s 82% Hindu

Year of Taste

The Year 2010 has ended and another has begun. And the last Thought For The Day I received for 2010 has to be the most profound, and, as always, most apposite. The Avatar is always apposite.

"Never feel depressed when you are weighed down by difficulties. God will never impose on you ordeals that you cannot bear. He tests His devotees in various ways. Test is the ‘taste’ of God. Never fear any test. Be ready to sacrifice even your life for the sake of God. Only then will God protect you. There are no defects in God. All His words and deeds are perfect. What you see is the reflection, reaction and resound of your feelings. They are psychological in nature. God always grants us welfare alone. Understand and experience this Truth."

Hope the New Year ushers in peace, purpose and contentment for all.