Mamata Banerjee---painting Kolkata blue

Mamata Banerjee has a plan--she wants Kolkata to be painted blue. Jaipur is the pink city, so why shouldn't Kolkata be the blue city? It brings back memories of the emergency of 1975-77. Very few may remember or even know, that at this time an order was passed to paint Dehradun blue. As the deadline approached, house painters were in great demand. Frantically, everyone was getting the buildings painted, often an inky, watery blue. Dehradun's ferocious monsoon, with incessant rain, is well known. Soon all the buildings had strange smudged streaks of blue, with the earlier colour showing through. The emergency ended. With another monsoon the blue was all washed off, the buildings were dirty and streaky. Finally they were repainted in their original colours.

The wolf and the goat -- a true story

In village Namner, in Dausa district of Rajasthan, India, a wolf from the neighbouring forests, chased a goat. The goat, running away, fell into a well, and the wolf, following, fell in too.
Both spent the night there. Did they communicate? Did they make friends? Whatever they did, the wolf did not attack and kill the goat.
The goat kept bleating, and in the morning villagers gathered around. Officials of the forest department reached there. Using ropes, they managed to bring both animals up, unharmed. The wolf was released and raced for shelter into the forest. The villagers hate wolves, but persuaded that it was only a hyena, they let it go. The goat was returned to its owners.
{the story is reported in several newspapers]

A cow has breakfast

The car was parked near a nondescript small restaurant in Dehradun, and I watched the scenes around me. A black cow, looking dirty and uncared for, came and stood with its front legs on the single stair leading to the restaurant. Soon a young worker, perhaps just out of his teens, came and fed the cow with left over rotis and naans. Another young worker came and put a pile at the cow's feet. It did not take her long to eat them all--there must have been twenty to thirty rotis, left over from the previous night's dinner. The two workers went inside, and the cow eyed the huge bag of tomatoes on the counter. Catching it with her teeth, she dropped it to the ground and began eating them. A worker from a neighbouring shop called out to them, and the two young fellows came out. They pushed the cow away a bit, picked up whatever they could, and then urged the cow to finish off the squashed tomatoes at her feet. Sorting through what they had picked up, they even threw her a few more squashed ones.
Such a pleasant sight--they were amused and not angry, and allowed the cow a good breakfast.

Prayer from the Atharva Veda --on freedom from fear

As Heaven and Earth are not afraid, and never suffer loss or
harm,
Even so, my spirit, do not fear.
As Day and Night are not afraid, nor ever suffer loss or harm,
Even so, my spirit, do not fear.
As Sun and Moon are not afraid, nor ever suffer loss or harm.
Even so, my spirit, do not fear.
As Brahmanhood and Princely Power fear not, nor suffer loss,
or harm,
Even so, my spirit, do not fear.
As Truth and Falsehood have no fear, nor ever suffer loss or
harm,
Even so, my spirit, do not fear.
As What Has Been and What Shall Be, fear not, nor suffer loss
or harm,
Even so, my spirit, do not fear.

Prayer from the Rig Veda

1. THERE are the Dawn and Night, the grand and beauteous Pair,
Earth, Heaven, and Varuna, Mitra, and Aryaman.
Indra I call, the Maruts, Mountains, and the Floods, Adityas, Heaven
and Earth, the Waters, and the Sky.
2 May Dyaus and Prthivi, wise, true to Holy Law, keep us in safety
from distress and injury.
Let not malignant Nirrti rule over us. We crave to-day this gracious
favour of the Gods.
3 Mother of Mitra and of opulent Varuna, may Aditi preserve us safe
from all distress.
May we obtain the light of heaven without a foe. We crave this
gracious favour of the Gods to-day.
[10.36.1-3; trans. Griffith]

Nakusha--the unwanted girl

Nakusha sounds like a pretty name, but it means 'unwanted'. Many in rural Maharashtra name their unwanted girl-child 'Nakusha'. Its better than killing them at birth, but still it is a reminder to the girl throughout her life, that she was not wanted, that a boy was what the parents were waiting for.
In Satara district of Maharashtra state, 226 Nakushas were identified, and in a joint move of the zila parishad [district council]and a welfare organization, and with the permission of the parents, were renamed Aishwarya.

Restoration of a mosque by a Hindu king

It is interesting to note that most kings and rulers of the past considered it their duty to protect the religious monuments and the people of all communities. The Dharma Shastras, the ancient law books, stated that it was the duty of the king to protect his subjects. Thus the Manu Smriti says: ‘The lord created the king for the protection of all.’ (Manu Smriti, 7.3).
One such incident is revealed in the work of the medieval (twelfth-thirteenth century) historian Muhammad Awfi. According to him , when he went to stay in Khambayat (modern Khambat) located on the sea-coast in Gujarat, he lived with a community of Muslims, among whom were a large number of foreigners, mainly traders and merchants, from different lands. Awfi records that this Muslim community lived in perfect harmony with their non-Muslim neighbours, but they told him about some trouble they had had in the past.
Khambayat was part of a kingdom with its capital at Nahrwala (also known as Anhilwara, modern Patan). Muslims, Hindus and Zoroastrians lived in Khambayat. In the time of Raja Jai Singh (probably the powerful twelfth century Chalukya ruler Jayasimha) the Muslims constructed a new mosque in the region. Awfi states that some Zoroastrians instigated the Hindus in the region to attack the mosque. Local Hindus then set fire to the mosque, and killed 80 Muslims in the vicinity. Ali, the khatib of the mosque, went to Nahrwala to complain to the Rai (Raja Jai Singh), but the Rai’s courtiers did not give him access to the ruler. The khatib then sat under a tree along the route the rai was to take for a hunting expedition. As the rai approached on his royal elephant, the khatib manged to reach him, and begged the Rai to listen to his story. The khatib had composed his story in Hindvi verse, and narrated all that had happened to the Rai.
The Rai listened carefully. He forgot about his hunting expedition. He first asked one of his courtiers to take care of the needs of the khatib, until he summoned the latter to court. Then returning to the court, he left everything in the hands of his vazir, and told him he would be away for some time. The daily darbar too, was suspended.
The rai selected a camel, and set off for Khambayat. In one night and day, he managed to cover 40 farsangs (80 miles) and reached his destination. There, disguised as a merchant, he entered the city in the evening. Moving through the markets, in the course of conversation, he enquired about the Muslims and the mosque, and came to know that the khatib’s story was true. Then the Rai filled a vessel with sea-water and returned to his capital. The next day the darbar was held, and the khatib was called to narrate his story. A group of non-Muslims began to dispute the story. Then the rai asked for the vessel of water to be brought, and asked the people there to taste it. As they did so, they realised from its brackish nature that it was sea-water, and that the Rai himself must have gor it from Khambayat. Then the Rai said: ‘ Since the dispute took place between people who belonged to different religions, I could not trust any person for investigations, and therefore I myself enquired into the case. The Muslims have been subjected to tyranny and killed mercilessly. How could people who reside in my country and have been granted full security, be oppressed.’ He then ordered that the leaders of the castes involved in the demolition and killing be punished, and that a hundred thousand balutras (type of coin) be paid for restoration of the mosque.
This is not a unique case. There are other instances of Hindu kings protecting their Muslim subjects, and of Muslim kings protecting non-Muslim subjects and their religious monuments. For instance, during the time of the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II, Sikhs were allowed to build shrines at historic sites in Delhi, and granted Rs. 300,000 for this purpose, even though construction at one of the sites involved the demolition of a mosque that had been built there. At the time of Partition, the nawab of Bahawalpur made attempts to protect his Hindu subjects, though owing to the general frenzy, he could not quite succeed.
[Awfi’s account is based on the translation of I.H. Siddiqui].
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