Thursday, March 19, 2009
T
Sue Grafton’s latest book 'T' begins slowly, but soon picks up speed. Solana Rojas is a conwoman who takes on different identities in order both to bolster her ego, a psychological need, and, more important, to make money. Posing as a nurse, she attempts to win the confidence of the relatives of the old, and once she has done this, to gain the property of the old and feeble. As usual, private detective Kinsey Malhone saves the day. Apart from being a good mystery, this book once again reveals Sue Grafton’s attempts to highlight some of the ills of society. She clearly shows how vulnerable old people are, and how difficult it is to get help for them, even in advanced western societies.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Trieu Au, an early woman rebel
Trieu Au, referred to as "the Vietnamese Joan of Arc", led a revolt against the Chinese in her country. She and her army won many battles before their final defeat in 248 CE. She once said:
"I will not resign myself to the lot of women, who bow their heads and become concubines. I wish to ride the tempest, tame the waves, kill the sharks. I have no desire to take abuse."
"I will not resign myself to the lot of women, who bow their heads and become concubines. I wish to ride the tempest, tame the waves, kill the sharks. I have no desire to take abuse."
Friday, February 20, 2009
Patience
'And obey Allah and His Messenger; and fall into no disputes, lest ye lose heart and your power depart; and be patient and persevering. For Allah is with those who patiently persevere.' (Quran, 8:46)
Monday, February 16, 2009
Reason
'I am and always have been one of those natures who must be guided by reason, whatever the reason may be which upon reflection appears to me to be the best.'
Socrates, in dialogue with Crito.
Socrates, in dialogue with Crito.
Friday, January 30, 2009
30 January: Death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi
(Extracts from The Spirit will Survive, Chapter 11 of my book, The Puffin History of India for Children, vol 2, 1947 to the Present)
“A glory has departed and the sun that warmed and brightened our lives has set and we shiver in the cold and dark”, said Jawaharlal Nehru on 2 February 1948, a few days after the death of Gandhi. “Let us be worthy of him”, he added. And truly Delhi was worthy of him, for his death stirred something in people’s hearts, all remaining violence ceased and peace was restored to the city.
A strange magic
What was the magic of this man, that he could bring peace in Calcutta and in Delhi both during his life and after his death? On his 78th birthday Sarojini Naidu in a radio broadcast tried to explain. She said , “Who is this Gandhi and why is it that today he represents the supreme moral force in the world?...(he is) a tiny man, a fragile man, a man of no worldly importance, of no earthly possessions, and yet a man greater than emperors..... This man, with his crooked bones, his toothless mouth, his square yard of clothing,... he overthrows emperors, he conquers death, but what is it in him that has given him this power, this magic, this authority, this prestige, this almost godlike quality of swaying the hearts of men?” She went on to say that it was the same quality as that of the great religious teachers of the world such as Christ, Buddha, Muhammad and others, and a great vision he had “that love and humanity would endure, grow and reach the stars”. In other words, perhaps it was his total honesty, his constant, unwavering search for truth and the pure love in his heart, that aroused love in others and brought out the goodness in people.
Born on 2 October 1869 at Porbandar in Gujarat, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi went to school in Rajkot and at the age of thirteen was married to Kasturba, a young girl. By the age of eighteen he had a son, and later three more. He went to England to study law, and after returning to India, he left for South Africa in 1893.
He stayed in South Africa till 1914 and during these years formulated his policy of satyagraha or non-violent resistance. He also developed his ideas on Truth, took a vow of brahmacharya or self-restraint and gave up all material possessions. His fame spread to India and by the time he returned in 1914 he was revered by the people and given the name ‘Mahatma’ or “great soul’.
In India,fter some initial experiments in satyagraha, he took up the leadership of the Freedom Movement in 1920. That long story cannot be told here, but he brought the common person into the struggle for freedom and let India peacefully to independence. Simultaneously he did a number of other things, training his followers to work for the development of the villages and trying to get rid of untouchability.
Gandhi’s basic ideas focused around two things, Truth and ahimsa or non-violence. He said he was “ a passionate seeker after Truth, which is but another name for God. In the course of that search the discovery of non-violence came to me.” Gandhi used these ideals both in the struggle for freedom and in his personal and inner life.
Gandhi was religious, but to him religion was something personal, as each person had a different concept of God. He was a Hindu, but he believed in the goodness of all religions. His favourite texts were the Bhagavad Gita and the Sermon on the Mount from the New Testament. About the relationship with other religions he said, “If I am a Hindu... I may not make any distinction between my co-religionists and those who might belong to a different faith. I would seek opportunities to serve them.”
He believed that material prosperity or wealth and possessions, did not help people to live happily or peacefully. People should be content if their real needs were fulfilled and should acquire and use only what they really required. Thus all would have whatever was required, no one would have excessive wealth. There would be peace and safety, for thieves and robbers were created by inequalities, by some people having too much.
On his 78th birthday Gandhi received streams of visitors and birthday messages and congratulations from all parts of the world. But he felt condolences would be more appropriate because there was only agony in his heart. Once he had wished to live 125 years, but now in this atmosphere of hatred and killing, he had lost this desire. He said that if it was God’s will, he would live a little longer, but in his heart his cry was to “take me away from this ‘vale of tears’ rather than make me a helpless witness of the butchery by man become savage”. Gandhi felt that people no longer listened to him or followed him. Yet in his last fast and death the magic and mystery of his ability to touch people’s hearts, was seen once again.
Value today
Gandhi knew his life would end some day, and in his last days he even wished to depart from the world. At the same time he felt that his ideals were eternal. He said, “The spirit will survive the dissolution of the body and somehow speak through the millions”. Perhaps, some day, his vision will be fulfilled. With the spread of education and the internet, his concept of the ideal village could become a reality. There would then be few crowded cities and less pollution. The environment could be better protected. If people had fewer needs and less greed as well as honesty, there would be enough for all. And if everyone followed Truth and non-violence, had love in their hearts, and helped and served those of other religions, India would become an ideal land, a model for the whole world, as Gandhi had once dreamed.
“A glory has departed and the sun that warmed and brightened our lives has set and we shiver in the cold and dark”, said Jawaharlal Nehru on 2 February 1948, a few days after the death of Gandhi. “Let us be worthy of him”, he added. And truly Delhi was worthy of him, for his death stirred something in people’s hearts, all remaining violence ceased and peace was restored to the city.
A strange magic
What was the magic of this man, that he could bring peace in Calcutta and in Delhi both during his life and after his death? On his 78th birthday Sarojini Naidu in a radio broadcast tried to explain. She said , “Who is this Gandhi and why is it that today he represents the supreme moral force in the world?...(he is) a tiny man, a fragile man, a man of no worldly importance, of no earthly possessions, and yet a man greater than emperors..... This man, with his crooked bones, his toothless mouth, his square yard of clothing,... he overthrows emperors, he conquers death, but what is it in him that has given him this power, this magic, this authority, this prestige, this almost godlike quality of swaying the hearts of men?” She went on to say that it was the same quality as that of the great religious teachers of the world such as Christ, Buddha, Muhammad and others, and a great vision he had “that love and humanity would endure, grow and reach the stars”. In other words, perhaps it was his total honesty, his constant, unwavering search for truth and the pure love in his heart, that aroused love in others and brought out the goodness in people.
Born on 2 October 1869 at Porbandar in Gujarat, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi went to school in Rajkot and at the age of thirteen was married to Kasturba, a young girl. By the age of eighteen he had a son, and later three more. He went to England to study law, and after returning to India, he left for South Africa in 1893.
He stayed in South Africa till 1914 and during these years formulated his policy of satyagraha or non-violent resistance. He also developed his ideas on Truth, took a vow of brahmacharya or self-restraint and gave up all material possessions. His fame spread to India and by the time he returned in 1914 he was revered by the people and given the name ‘Mahatma’ or “great soul’.
In India,fter some initial experiments in satyagraha, he took up the leadership of the Freedom Movement in 1920. That long story cannot be told here, but he brought the common person into the struggle for freedom and let India peacefully to independence. Simultaneously he did a number of other things, training his followers to work for the development of the villages and trying to get rid of untouchability.
Gandhi’s basic ideas focused around two things, Truth and ahimsa or non-violence. He said he was “ a passionate seeker after Truth, which is but another name for God. In the course of that search the discovery of non-violence came to me.” Gandhi used these ideals both in the struggle for freedom and in his personal and inner life.
Gandhi was religious, but to him religion was something personal, as each person had a different concept of God. He was a Hindu, but he believed in the goodness of all religions. His favourite texts were the Bhagavad Gita and the Sermon on the Mount from the New Testament. About the relationship with other religions he said, “If I am a Hindu... I may not make any distinction between my co-religionists and those who might belong to a different faith. I would seek opportunities to serve them.”
He believed that material prosperity or wealth and possessions, did not help people to live happily or peacefully. People should be content if their real needs were fulfilled and should acquire and use only what they really required. Thus all would have whatever was required, no one would have excessive wealth. There would be peace and safety, for thieves and robbers were created by inequalities, by some people having too much.
On his 78th birthday Gandhi received streams of visitors and birthday messages and congratulations from all parts of the world. But he felt condolences would be more appropriate because there was only agony in his heart. Once he had wished to live 125 years, but now in this atmosphere of hatred and killing, he had lost this desire. He said that if it was God’s will, he would live a little longer, but in his heart his cry was to “take me away from this ‘vale of tears’ rather than make me a helpless witness of the butchery by man become savage”. Gandhi felt that people no longer listened to him or followed him. Yet in his last fast and death the magic and mystery of his ability to touch people’s hearts, was seen once again.
Value today
Gandhi knew his life would end some day, and in his last days he even wished to depart from the world. At the same time he felt that his ideals were eternal. He said, “The spirit will survive the dissolution of the body and somehow speak through the millions”. Perhaps, some day, his vision will be fulfilled. With the spread of education and the internet, his concept of the ideal village could become a reality. There would then be few crowded cities and less pollution. The environment could be better protected. If people had fewer needs and less greed as well as honesty, there would be enough for all. And if everyone followed Truth and non-violence, had love in their hearts, and helped and served those of other religions, India would become an ideal land, a model for the whole world, as Gandhi had once dreamed.
Monday, January 26, 2009
26 January: Today is Republic Day
A republic is a country that elects the head of the state, that is, the highest person in the government. In August 1947, India had full independence, but acknowledged the British king as the symbolic head. On 26 January 1950, India became a republic and a sovereign nation. Her own constitution, which had been completed on 26 November 1949, was formally adopted. From now on the government of India, and many of India’s programmes and policies would be based on this constitution.
A great day
It was a great day and celebrations in Delhi began the previous night, with a mile and a half long torch-light procession. The whole city was decorated with arches, flowers and flags, and with multi-coloured electric lights on bushes and trees, it was transformed into a fairy-land.
In the morning a grand ceremony took place in the Darbar Hall. There the outgoing governor general, Rajagopalachari, and the new president-to-be, Rajendra Prasad, sat on golden chairs crowned with Ashokan capitals, with a stone statue of the Buddha behind them. Watched by 700 distinguished guests from India and abroad, the governor general read the proclamation announcing the birth of the new republic. Then the chief justice administered the oath of office to the new president, 31 guns boomed in celebration, and the Presidential flag unfurled on Government House, now renamed Rashtrapati Bhavan.
One journey is over, another begins
In a message to the nation on this day, Jawaharlal Nehru said, “Undoubtedly, January 26, 1950, is a day of high significance for India and the Indian people. It does mean the consummation of one important phase of our national struggle. That journey is over, to give place to another and more arduous journey”. Nehru saw the struggle to build a new nation as a journey, a road to be travelled on.
(extracted from my book The Puffin History of India for Children, vol 2, 1947 to the Present. This book tells the story of the new nation and its ongoing journey.)
A great day
It was a great day and celebrations in Delhi began the previous night, with a mile and a half long torch-light procession. The whole city was decorated with arches, flowers and flags, and with multi-coloured electric lights on bushes and trees, it was transformed into a fairy-land.
In the morning a grand ceremony took place in the Darbar Hall. There the outgoing governor general, Rajagopalachari, and the new president-to-be, Rajendra Prasad, sat on golden chairs crowned with Ashokan capitals, with a stone statue of the Buddha behind them. Watched by 700 distinguished guests from India and abroad, the governor general read the proclamation announcing the birth of the new republic. Then the chief justice administered the oath of office to the new president, 31 guns boomed in celebration, and the Presidential flag unfurled on Government House, now renamed Rashtrapati Bhavan.
One journey is over, another begins
In a message to the nation on this day, Jawaharlal Nehru said, “Undoubtedly, January 26, 1950, is a day of high significance for India and the Indian people. It does mean the consummation of one important phase of our national struggle. That journey is over, to give place to another and more arduous journey”. Nehru saw the struggle to build a new nation as a journey, a road to be travelled on.
(extracted from my book The Puffin History of India for Children, vol 2, 1947 to the Present. This book tells the story of the new nation and its ongoing journey.)
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Manimekalai: A Young Woman on a Buddhist Path
ebook of summary and analysis available:
Manimekalai: A Young Woman on a Buddhist Path www.amazon.com/dp/B01H00JODG
https://read.amazon.in/kp/embed?asin=B01H00JODG&asin=B01H00JODG&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_PgnyxbJ18HPQ5
A Tamil text of around the second century CE, now with a new summary, along with an introduction and analysis.Read this fascinating book to learn about Buddhism, life in early South India, and an extraordinary young woman.
The book can be read on kindle, or by downloading the kindle app free on any device.
Manimekalai: A Young Woman on a Buddhist Path www.amazon.com/dp/B01H00JODG
https://read.amazon.in/kp/embed?asin=B01H00JODG&asin=B01H00JODG&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_PgnyxbJ18HPQ5
A Tamil text of around the second century CE, now with a new summary, along with an introduction and analysis.Read this fascinating book to learn about Buddhism, life in early South India, and an extraordinary young woman.
The book can be read on kindle, or by downloading the kindle app free on any device.
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