Durga Prasad Dash's Blog, page 9

India : The Zen Connection

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Today both Dhyana and its English equivalent Meditation are used in mutually exclusive dual senses. In spiritual context, or in the context of reaching higher state of consciousness, meditation means a state of pure awareness devoid of any thought or judgement. In ancient times Dhyana was used in that context only. But today the popular use of Dhyana is in the context of focus or paying attention. Yatrigan kripaya dhyana de …

The Latin word Meditatio, which means to think or ponder, is the root of the English word Meditation. The diaries of Marcus Aurelius that became the Bible for the Stoics are known by the name ‘Meditations’. The diaries contain his thoughts on a number of things most of which are not spiritual. So, with time the meaning of a word changes. Today both Dhyana and Meditation are used in the sense of their old and new meanings and mean different things in different contexts.

But the word that has not undergone any change in meaning or is not used in multiple contexts is the Japanese word Zen which is today considered as the ultimate of all meditation techniques.

The root of Zen is the Sanskrit word Dhyana. It is said that Buddha preferred to use Pali words over Sanskrit. The Pali word of Dhyana is Jhan. The disciples of Buddha first took it to China where it became Chan and finally when it reached Japan it became Zen.

Boddhidharma was the founder of the Chan School of Buddhism that became the precursor to Zen. Boddhidharma was supposedly a South Indian Prince. According to some he was a Brahmin of South India. After getting initiated into Buddhism he went to China to spread the message of Buddha. In China he came across a Shaolin monastery and after criticizing their practices wanted to reform them. The Shaolin monks did not listen to him and drove him away. But he persisted and the Shaolin masters gave in. He infused meditative elements to their practices and their movements became so graceful.

If Chan infused meditation into movements, when it reached Japan it flowered as Zen, making meditation a way of life. Today there are many schools of Zen in Japan, each with their own unique methods. Some Zen masters use various texts as aids. But, the basic emphasis in Zen is the direct experience and not making one a pundit of memorised knowledge. The ultimate Zen preaching is a preaching in silence, a preaching of silence.

Haiku master Basho was heavily influenced by Zen even though he did not become an ordained monk. It is not only Haiku, Zen has influenced many other philosophical and aesthetic concepts of Japan. If today Japan is known as a land of aesthetics, Zen has a lot to do with it.

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Basho’s haikus give you a taste of meditation. They do not trigger your mind to go on a thought trip. Rather the opposite happens. Today many are trying their hands in haiku. They try to be technically correct in following the syllable pattern. Technically they may be correct, but they neglect one element – Meditation. That is the reason their haikus feel so hollow even though they are technically correct.

Today Zen quotes are equally popular and are widely used. These are so popular that many other things are also peddled as Zen by the Internet intellectuals. I was amused to find this under the Zen quotes in a site:

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By the way, Lao Tzu was a Chinese philosopher and he had nothing to do with Zen except sharing a common alphabet.

Zen stories which are dialogues between masters and disciples or masters and wannabe disciples are also popular. The following one, which makes us realise the importance of unlearning, is my favourite:

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.
Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring.
The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. “It is overfull. No more will go in!”
“Like this cup,” Nan-in said, “you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”

Chan also travelled to other South Asian countries. But nowhere did it flower so much as in Japan. It was as if Dhyana completed its journey after reaching Japan, the boundary of the East. After reaching Japan Dhyana found its ultimate flowering and culmination.

Coincidentally, my AprilAtoZ journey finds its culmination here. I thank all my fellow travellers and readers who provided valuable feed back. Your encouragement kept me going. Thank you all.

PS : This is the last post (alphabet Z post) of my April A to Z challenge 2020. My theme this year is ‘Mera Gaon Mera Desh’ where in I explore various facets of India and also some places and events of India I have been closely associated with. All posts of the AtoZChallenge can be accessed here.

Yogic Texts of Hindustan

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The common understanding about yoga is that is a set of physical postures. It is also propogated as such these days. But in reality the physical posture of yoga, which is called as hathayoga to distinguish it from other forms of yoga, was a later development.

It is believed that many of the independent ancient texts about yoga have been lost. However some survived, maybe, due to their inclusion in Vedas or other epics. Scholars consider twenty such Vedanta texts as yoga related Upanishads. A few independent texts like Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and the Hathayoga Pradipika are still available. I have gone through four of such texts and I will give a brief note about each of them. Going thorough these gives one the necessary understanding of yoga and its various dimensions.

Bhagavad Gita

If you have read Bhagavad Gita you must have noticed that each chapter of the Gita is named as XXX yoga. The first chapter is named as Arjuna Vishada Yoga, the second chapter as Jnana Yoga and so on.

The contents of the Gita are actually part of the Bhishma Parva of Mahabharata and no such naming is noticed in the Mahabharata Text. Perhaps, this naming convention was developed later on when Bhagavad Gita became a popular separate text.

However during his advice to Arjuna, Lord Krishna makes frequent references to yoga. Since each of the eighteen chapters is named as some kind of yoga, it gives the impression as if Lord Krishna is talking about eighteen types of yoga in Bhagavad Gita. But he makes it clear that he is primarily talking about two types of yoga. This is clear from the following stanza:

श्री भगवानुवाच
लोकेऽस्मिन्द्विविधा निष्ठा पुरा प्रोक्ता मयानघ।
ज्ञानयोगेन सांख्यानां कर्मयोगेन योगिनाम्।।3.3।।
 
sri bhagavaan uvaacha
loke'smin dwividha nishthaa puraa proktaa mayaanagha
jnaanayogena saankhyaanaam karmayogena yoginaam // 3.3 //
 
Sri Bhagavan said:
Earlier I said about two kinds of commitment
which is followed in this world, O Sinless One.
Sankhyas are committed to Jnanayoga
and yogis are committed to Karmayoga.

If any other type of yoga can be inferred from the Gita it would come under any of these two broad categories. Of course Lord Krishan makes brief references to body postures, pranayama and meditation but gives no detailed guidelines regarding these. Maybe, the war field was not an appropriate place to give Arjuna a practical demo of yoga and pranayama. Most probably Arjuna was taught all these as part of his school curriculum. Moreover, being an impeccable archer, he must have been a regular practitioner of yogic postures, pranayama and meditation.

Nor does Lord Krishna bother to define yoga. By all accounts, in Bhagavad Gita yoga is used in the sense of the ways and the means to achieve higher consciousness. Some achieve it by sharpness of intellect (jnana yoga). Some by various physical activities including doing their ordained duty without attachment (karma yoga). Of course these are not strict dichotomies. The karma yogi has to know the basics of jnana yoga and vice versa.

Bhagavad Gita can be taken as a text of higher yogic science. It is sometimes referred as containing the essence of all the Upanishads. Only those who are already familiar with various philosophical concepts prevalent in those days can understand it without any assistance.

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is not a text about body postures. However, Patanjali does define yoga. Patanjali makes a dissertation of human Psyche and how to deal with it.

Yogaschittabritti nirodhah – yoga is control of the tendencies of the mind. That is how Patanjali defines yoga. Chittta, in a broader sense includes the emotions. Perhaps there is no other ancient text that approaches the inner faculties of human beings in such a scientific way.

Hathayoga Pradipika

As the name suggests this is the book about body postures. It is a compilation yogic practices of the Natha Sampradaya. It is one of the few surviving texts on hatha yoga.

In ancient times, yogic practices were transmitted through guru- sishya parampara and at a later time some of them were compiled. However, even today there are many yogic practices that you would not find in any book.

Higher yogic practices should be done under the guidance of a Master. No doubt today it has become difficult to find a proper Guru. But if one is interested to gain any depth one must take pain to find one. In fact if one is genuinely interested in spirituality (and not the associated hyped up power trips and other worldly benefits) one will find one’s master. As they say in the Zen traditions: when the student is ready, the master appears.

Yogasara Upanishad

Sara means summary. As the name suggests it gives a summary of yoga. It is one of the shortest treatise on yoga – only thirteen sutras.

I first came across it from a talk of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

Shivananda Ashram has put an online version in their website.

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In Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras reference to God is made only once and that too as an alternative method to attain Samadhi. If you do not believe in God, it is fine. You can use other methods. Patanjali does not compel you to believe in God or any of the concepts related to it. He says, “Come and do these things. Have the experience and know what it means to be a yogi.”

I don’t think even a hardcore atheist will find anything objectionable in it.

PS : This is the alphabet Y post of my April A to Z challenge 2020. My theme this year is ‘Mera Gaon Mera Desh’ where in I explore various facets of India and also some places and events of India I have been closely associated with.

All posts of the AtoZChallenge can be accessed here.

The X-factors of Hindustan

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India may have hundreds of X factors that distinguish it from other countries. For this post I have taken three broad factors which in themselves will cover a whole range of other factors. Of course India has also many negative aspects. But when we talk of X factors, it should be positive. After going through the post, the reader may also suggest what X factor they have noticed in India.

Diversity and Multi-culturalism

To gauge India’s diversity and multi-culturalism fairly it should be compared against other large nations like China, Russia, US, Brazil or Australia. Large nations have high probability of being diverse.

Maybe, other big nations are diverse in terms of geography, but when it comes to people no country is as diverse as India. No other country has so many languages, so many religions including their sects and sub-sects, such range of differences in dress, food and cultural celebrations. Visiting India is like having glimpses into so many different worlds.

This diversity is observed not only across India but also in different regions. Take the case of Odisha. The coastal Odisha and the tribal Odisha are two different worlds even though some times the physically distance is negligible. Odisha itself may have more than fifty dialects.

While granting citizenship a direct or indirect condition of many European countries is that you must assimilate with their culture. Countries like Switzerland make it explicitly clear. US has a lot of migrant population. After after some years they usually become Americanized and assimilate with their culture. But all those who came to India over the last two millennia have continued to maintain their distinct identity.

Such diversity has often confused those who tried to find out something that they could call as distinctively Indian. India was a multicultural country even in ancient times. Its ability to integrate all contradictory and conflicting elements and make them exist side by side without trying to assimilate them is perhaps something that is distinctively Indian.

Birth Place of all Dharmic Religions

All religions have their own distinctive qualities. However based on certain similarities and place of origin the prominent religions have been divided into two groups – the Dharmic religions and the Abrahamic religions. Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism that originated in India are known as Dharmic religions. Religions like Judaism, Christianity and Islam that originated in the middle east come under the group of Abrahamic religions.

The concepts of karma and re-birth are the common elements in all the Dharmic religions even though they have significant differences in their underlying philosophies. The Abrahamic religions do not believe in karma and re-birth.

Jianism , Buddhism and Sikhism have some elements of Vedanta in them. Over the years the Dharmic religions took elements from one another and influenced one another. Coincidentally, for legal purposes Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs are considered as Hindus. E.g. Hindu Succession Act is applicable also to Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs.

Both Hinduism and Buddhism influenced the cultures of Asia. The South East Asian countries are predominantly Buddhist. However they have a Hindu past still they follow a mixture of Hindu and Buddhist traditions. China and Japan absorbed many elements of Buddhism and integrated them with their existing cultures.

Yoga, Ayurveda and Meditation

Yoga, Ayurveda and Meditation originated in India and today they have emerged as strong health care alternatives. With their basic premise that the mind is not different from the body, they provide a holistic system of treatment and preventive health. Even though they do not have answer to all the modern maladies, they can complement well with other methods of treatment for speedy recovery. Their role in preventive health care has been proved beyond doubt.

Yuval Noah Hararai in his book – 21st Lesson for Twenty First Century – writes that a group of Jews in his country have started claiming that Yoga was invented by the Jews. In US and other Western countries Yoga is widely practised. But rarely did they attribute its origin to India till 21st Jun was declared as International Yoga Day due to the initiative of PM Modi. Yoga is also practised in many weird ways in the US and many strange practices are being passed for as yoga. So there is Hot Yoga. Then there is Nude Yoga and so on.

Some years back companies in US tried to patent Neem and Haldi even though such elements have been used in Ayurveda for thousands of years. All such things happen when we don’t lay claim to our own heritage.

Last Sunday in his Man Ki Baat even our PM highlighted the fact that we accept our own traditional methods only after they come back to us via West after being ratified there. In stead, why can’t we do scientific research on our own effective traditional methods and ratify them?

Of course there is no need to blindly accept everything of past. At the same time it does not make sense to consider everything of past as useless. After all, Thomas Alva Edition had no hesitation in saying that he was standing over the shoulders of the giants of the past. China has also admitted that while treating Corona they used traditional methods side by side with modern medical methods.

By the way, Israeli Professor Yuval Noah Harari, whose books provide beautiful insights into the past, the present and the future of human civilisation, is a regular practitioner of Vipassana.

What according to you is the X- Factor of India?

PS : This is the alphabet X post of my April A to Z challenge 2020. My theme this year is ‘Mera Gaon Mera Desh’ where in I explore various facets of India and also some places and events of India I have been closely associated with.

All posts of the AtoZChallenge can be accessed here.

From Wholeness to Wholeness : three types of mathematics

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In my previous post I have given some idea about vedanta or the Upanishads which are the foundations of India philosophy and spirituality. Most of the stanzas of the Upanishads do not subject themselves to easy understanding. That is also one of the reasons why many epics were written so that the common man can also have some glimpses into the the mystic world of the ancient Rishis.

As far as the evolution of the Indian thought system is concerned, zero has been as much a mathematical concept as a mystic one.  The whole philosophy of Buddha is based on sunyata – nothingness. By using zero (Sunya), numbers have multiplied their own value. Finally a way has been found to make something out of ‘nothing’.

In eastern philosophy, existence was conceived of as the paradox of being and nothingness. Buddha’s view was that the whole existence is a great void, it is all empty and nothingness. Then came Shankara who said there is fullness in everything – the existence is pervaded by Brahman.

While ‘nothingness’ was the basis of a rebellious religion and philosophy, ‘nothing’ was the starting point in the evolution of mathematics. On this background I am tempted to divide mathematics into three realms.

First of all, is the logical sequential common sense mathematics where two plus two is four. It has tremendous use in our day to day affairs. All scientific progress and commercial transactions are based on this. This is the mathematics that we learn as a part of curriculum in our educational institutions. Let us call it the logical mathematics.

Secondly, there is this mathematics of the group dynamics or for simplicity let us call it the dynamic mathematics. According to the logical mathematics if one person does x amount of work in a day and another does y amount of work in a day, then both will do x+y amount of work. However according to dynamic mathematics both will do much more than x+y amount of work. Whenever two people work together they create a third force in the form of group dynamics or synergy that adds something to the total output. Of course if this third force is negative, then the total output will be less than the sum of individual outputs. If two people are able to lift a stone to a height of one meter it does not mean that one person will be able to lift it to a height of half a meter. One person may not be able to lift it at all.  When a bird flies with its flock in a formation it uses less energy than it would do for the same distance if it flew individually. The synergy among the birds is such that even a sick and weak bird is carried along once it is a part of the formation.

Maybe, the Hindi proverb –Ek aur ek gyarah ( one plus one becomes eleven) – is based on this principle of group dynamics.  

Then, there is the mathematics of the transcendental or the mathematics of the mystical experience.  Here is the first declaration of the Ishavashya Upanishad:

Purnamadah purnamidam purnat purna mudachhate.
Purnashya purnamadaya purnamevavashishyate.

(That is whole, and this also is whole. For only the whole is born out of the whole;
And when the whole is taken from the whole, the remainder is whole.)

Even though it is difficult to understand this sloka with our logical mind, some indications can be given. For example  water can be divided but not ‘liquidity’. When a jug of water is taken out from a bucket full of water the quality of liquidity in either of these two different containers is neither improved nor downgraded.

Or let us take another example. There is a rose plant. We cut a branch and plant it at another place where it grows into a plant again. When we cut a live plant what we are actually taking out is the tree-ness or the essence of the tree. However the tree-ness or the essence of the first tree remains whole at the same time the new branch also grows into a whole tree. We cannot say that by cutting the earlier tree the wholeness in either has been affected.

We can also see it in the context of transmission of knowledge. When a teacher whole heartedly  transmits knowledge, his knowledge does not get diminished. When a competent teacher transmits knowledge to a receptive student, purnat puna mudachayte is no more confined to the pages of a book as a mystic impracticable concept.

Maybe, that is that reason many educational institutes have included it as part of their logo.

PS : This is the alphabet W post of my April A to Z challenge 2020. My theme this year is ‘Mera Gaon Mera Desh’ where in I explore various facets of India and also some places and events of India I have been closely associated with.

All posts of the AtoZChallenge can be accessed here.

Vedanta and the Villains of our epics

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If you think that the use and popularity of grey characters in movies and literature is a recent phenomenon, you have to think again. It may well have its first inception back in the vedic ages.

Even though not many in number, in India there are temples dedicated to Ravana. In many versions of Ramayana, Rama sends Lakshmana to go to Ravana and learn from him the basic lessons of life before he dies. Even in Valmiki Ramayana he is depicted as a mahajnani – a person with immense knowledge. After all, his father was none other than Maharishi Vishraba.

If we trace Ravanas’ back story past a few lifetimes, we see that he was someone very close to Rama. In his abode in Baikuntha, Lord Vishnu has two gatekeepers – Jaya and Vijaya. As part of their natural duty once they stop a group of Rishis from entering the abode of their master who was taking rest. But this does not go down well with the Rishis who curse the gatekeepers to lose their high pedestal in Baikuntha and take birth as mortals in the earth. Later on when Lord Vishnu interferes their punishment is commuted to three lifetimes.

Lord Vishnu also takes this opportunity to do his Leela. First they take birth as Hiranya brothers in Satya Yuga and become the reason for Vishnu’s Nrusingha Avatar. In Treta Yuga they take birth as Ravana and Kumbhakarna and become the reason for Lord Vishunu’s Rama avatar. In Dwapara Yuga they are born as Dantavakra and Shishupala who are killed by Lord Krishna only to regain their position in the Vaikuntha to stay close to Lord Vishnu. Thus Jaya and Vijaya play their part in the Leela of Lord Vishnu.

These stories highlight two important thoughts of Hindu philosophy. The ancient seers realised and emphasised the inter-connectedness and the oneness of the existence. According to them the individual consciousness is not different or separate from the universal consciousness. To say it in layman’s term you are not separate from God. Actually the vedantic concept of God is quite different from the concept of God in other religions. According to vedanta, which is the foundation of Hindu philosophy, there is no God which is different from you. There is no God who is sitting out there either to punish you or redeem your sin. Tatwamasi – thou are that.

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Take the example of the wave and the ocean. Sometimes the waves seem to be different from the ocean. In fact at the surface level each wave has a temporary existence, but deep down they are not different from the ocean.

The symbol of Natraj and his cosmic dance is another beautiful illustration. The dance and the dancer are not different. The universal consciousness is the dancer and we are all his dance.

The second aspect that the above stories highlight is the concept of Leela. The cosmic dance of Natraj is also a kind of Leela. The stories connected with Rama are often called as Rama Leela. Same way, we have Krishna Leela. The purpose of God’s avatar is to do Leela. Gods come down to play. The whole universe is nothing but the play and display of consciousness. Inside the subatomic particles waves carry on their dance. Sometimes they go here, sometimes they go there. Sometimes they are visible, sometimes they are not visible. It is amazing as to how close vedanta can be to the concepts of modern physicists. No wonder, Albert Einstein was familiar with Vedanta and many other concepts of Indian philosophy.

In an earlier blogpost also I have illustrated the connection of advaita vedanta to the story of Diti and Aditi and the birth of Gods and Demons as depicted in our epics. Thus, many of the stories in our epics are based on the concepts of Indian philosophy which has its roots in vedanta. By the way, Bedanta is another name for the collection of Upanishads.

Upanishads are the foundations of Indian philosophy. Today they number more than 200, but twelve of them are know as the principal upanishad. They are known as vedanta because these were found at the end of the vedas. When the vedas were classified and compiled the texts of each of the four vedas included one or more of the twelve principal upanishads. This is interesting because in principle and essence, vedas and upanishads are the opposites of each other. But embracing the opposite and making it part of oneself has been the culture of India since time immemorial.

Even the hardcore Hindus don’t seem to have the right idea about the contents of the vedas. Often I come across social media posts where the circulator demands that ‘vedas should be part of school curriculum’. They don’t know what actually are the vedas or what is there in vedas that should be included in school syllabus.

Vedas together with Brahmanas contains hymns and other details with regard to the conduct of puja, yajna and other religious rituals. Vedas are part of karma kanda and upanishads are part of jnana kanda. Karma kanda is the domain of the priests who conduct various religious rituals and sanskaras.

Ancient Indian knowledge was also divided as parā vidya and aparā vidya. Parā means the other side. The Hindi word paar comes from this word. Parā vidya is knowledge that takes you to the other side, from the material world to the spiritual world. Aparā is knowledge that helps you imrpove in this world. Vedic hymns are prayers for prosperity in this world. So Vedas are part of aparā vidya while Upanishads are part of parā vidya.

The messages of our epics contain both parā and aparā vidya. The epics have many layers and elements. They seek to illustrate the mystic truths of vedanta. They have historical elements, they have ethical elements, social elements, elements of individual dharma and so on. Those who interpret the epics only from one angle are like the proverbial blind men of ‘The Elephant and The Blind men’ story.

Is any of your friends named as pāramitā? I hope that now you understand the meaning of her name. What more, once you understand the concept of parā and aparā, you can better appreciate this popular oldie.

PS : This is the alphabet V post of my April A to Z challenge 2020. My theme this year is ‘Mera Gaon Mera Desh’ where in I explore various facets of India and also some places and events of India I have been closely associated with.

All posts of the AtoZChallenge can be accessed here.

Odisha and its People : the Unknown, the Unique and the Ugly

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Where is Odisha?

To write about unknown Odisha is a difficult proposition because, for someone not from Odisha everything about Odisha may be unknown. In my interactions with common men during my travels in India I have found that the North Indians think it is somewhere in South India and the South Indians think it is somewhere in North India. Some typical conversation may run like this:

‘Where are you from?’

‘Odisha’.

‘Odisha? Oh, I remember, it is in Puri. The land of Sri Jagannath’.

‘Sorry Sir. It is the other way round. Puri is in Odisha.’

‘Oh, is it?’

If the person is of secular mindset it may run like this:

‘Where are you from?’

‘Odisha’.

‘Odisha? Oh I remember. Your Chief Minister is Biju Patnaik. Isn’t it?’

The politician who was also upright and a daredevil

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Biju Patnaik was the Chief Minister of Odisha twenty five years back. He was a multifaceted personality. His uprightness, flamboyance and dare devilry elevate him to the status of a Super Hero in Odisha. Even though he played key roles during India’s freedom struggle, he is more celebrated in Indonesia than in rest of India. When Indonesian President Suharto was facing a coup and needed to be rescued, Biju Patanaik played Rambo. Coincidentally his native village G. Nuagan is three kms from my native village Nua Mahulia

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One thousand years of glory

No doubt Subhash Chandra Bose was a Bengali and he spent his preparatory years as a freedom fighter in Kolkata. But Odisha has its claim over his legacy since he was born in Cuttack and had his early education there. In Cuttack there is a museum dedicated to his life and works. Apart from this museum, the 1000 year old city has plenty of historical connections to vouchsafe for its own legacy. Known for the intricate sliver filigree work, the famous annual Bali Jatra is held here.

Tourists on a short visit to Odisha usually skip Cuttak even though it is just 30 kms away from Bhubaneswar. In spite of losing its state capital status to Bhubaneswar in 1948, Cuttack continued to be the intellectual, entertainment and financial capital of Odisha. As a child quite often I woke up or went to bed with the signature tune of All India Radio followed or preceded by “Akashvani Cuttak”. Those days if you are standing in front of one of those popular street food shops in Cuttack, chances are, you could rub shoulder with a popular film actor.

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That was what happened when we had gone to watch a cricket match in Barabati stadium, Cuttak way back in 1987. After the match we went to a small non- descript hotel for evening snacks. A bunch of popular film actors entered the hotel and sat next to us. They did not play lead roles. But I don’t think even in those days Asrani or Pran could have such a luxury of entering a street corner hotel and leaving it without getting mobbed. We were surprised by the unassuming and the as usual attitude of the actors and the people around.

kahan gaye woh log?

Those days the film directors and the actors were not professionals in the sense that they were not dependent upon the movies for a living. Most of them had day jobs. But the movies they made had distinctive artistic quality to it. They reflected Odia society and the marks of originality was distinct. Over time actors and others became professionals. The result is that today, I find hardly any Odia movie that is watchable or has any mark of originality. I am not generalizing it as old vs. new. But I wonder whether barring Bollywood and the South Indian movies, this is the case with other regional movies.

I feel that sometimes professionalism takes away the passion. As a result it is possible that instead of evolution we witness devolution and degeneration.

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The man who kicked stardom to become a monk

My alma mater Khallikote college, Brahmapur cannot boast of a Nobel laureate. But during college days we used to feel proud to be associated with someone who did not have any distinctive academic credentials. His name is Sriram Panda, Odia superstar of the 80s and presently an ordained monk of Bihar School of Yoga. He used to do modelling for Cavenders Cigarettes and perhaps for indirect marketing had a lot smoking scenes in his movies.

According to him this was also a reason for him to become a monk as he wanted to redeem some of the damages he might have caused by inspiring his fans to smoke. If this is so, then it is a rare gesture of social responsibility in an age when celebrities hardly bother about the harmful impact of the brands they are promoting.

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Why is Odisha so underdeveloped?

During my interactions many people ask me ,”Why is Odisha so poor and underdeveloped? ” Many of of them even don’t know that Odisha has a glorious past, that its kingdom once spread from the Ganges to Godavari.

Odisha’s present day predicament has both historical and geographical roots. After the fall of Mukunda Deva, the last Hindu King of Odisha in 1568, the main rulers of Odisha were never based in Odisha. It met with the same fate as that of any remote province which is away from the main power centre. To make matters worse, the British divided the region into three for administrative convenience. The southern districts were merged with Madras Presidency, the northern parts with Bengal, and the western parts with the Western Province. Odisha became further neglected since the representation of Odias in governance was negligible.

The odia regions of the Bengal province were the worst effected during the great famine of 1866. Then the Odias realised the extent of neglect they have been subjected to. The demand for a separate state based on language grew. After long and protracted struggle, Odisha became a separate province officially on 1st April 1936.

Barring the plain coastal districts, which constitute about 20% of Odisha, other regions are mountainous and full of forests. Approximately 80% of Odisha’s agricultural produce and other economic activities happen in the 20% of plain coastal areas. The coastal districts are also the areas which are developed educationally and have higher population density. Unfortunately these coastal districts are the ones that have been regular victims of cyclones and floods. Before 1990 cyclones were occasional. But in the last two decades these have increased in frequency and severity pulling Odisha back in terms of development.

In spite of the increase of cyclones and floods over the years, the Odisha administration has been doing remarkable job in minimizing the loss of life. Even though in India such things get less publicity, the efforts of Odisha administration has not gone unnoticed by the international bodies who have expressed their surprise over such efficient management.

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Odisha’s Unique temple architecture

Odisha’s huge old temples in Puri and Bhubaneswar have escaped the fury of cyclones so far in spite of being the tallest structures in the area. Most of these old temples were built from eleventh to fourteenth century.

Odisha had its own unique style of building temples which was quite different from the styles found in other parts of India. If you have visited temples in various parts of India including Odisha, you must have noticed this.

In case of the Sun Temple at Konark, the details of planning and the progress of construction were recorded in detail in palm-leaf manuscripts and luckily these were discovered from a nearby village during the previous century. It is one of those few instances where records were maintained and have been discovered.

Odisha – a treasure house of pristine places

Odisha’s tribal and other areas of non-coastal districts can be heaven for those seeking non touristy places where nature is at its best. Of course you have to put up with certain inconveniences in terms of infrastructure. Then, that is what keeps pristine places pristine.

In this series I have covered some aspects of Odisha’s culture and history. I have tried my bit to highlight many lesser known aspects of Odisha. It is not possible to cover all of them in a blog post or even a book. Fact is that even I am yet to experience many aspects first hand. In this series I have highlighted those aspects I have been connected with or experienced. In spite of staying out of Odisha for the last three decades I have tried my best to keep in touch with its culture and literature. Let me see if in the coming years I am able to have more such first hand experiences.

PS : This is alphabet U post of my April A to Z challenge 2020. My theme this year is ‘Mera Gaon Mera Desh’ where in I explore various facets of India and also some places and events of India I have been closely associated with.

All posts of the AtoZChallenge can be accessed here.

Train Travel in India

Having briefly mentioned in a previous post about the opportunity train travel provides to meet with alien characters, I intend to write a full post about it. Moreover this series may feel incomplete without such a topic since train journeys are so much part of our real and reel life. Talking of reel life who can forget the Dada Muni’s Rail Gaadi … Rail Gaadi …

It is such a wonderful rapping ode to the railways. But you can’t spot a train in this song. Similarly, I had not seen one till perhaps I was thirteen and had not rode one knowingly or unknowingly till I was fifteen. I got the first opportunity when I traveled from Brahmapur to Sunebeda as part of our school NCC group. We boarded a passenger train at 9 in the night without knowing when we would reach the destination.

But, then who bothered about the destination? We were in teens. For most of us it was the first train journey. Next day also there was no chance of getting bored as the train threw us one spectacular view after another as it passed through the pristine landscape of Koraput District known for its forests, hills, brooks and tribal life. I have written about this journey in detail in an earlier post about a memorable meal.

The first goods train ran in India in Madras in 1837. Then in 1856 the first passenger train ran from Mumbai to Thane. Railways was introduced in India for the purpose of carrying goods for various commercial activities and to earn direct revenue by ferrying passengers. Thereafter rapid expansion started and by the end of the nineteenth century all the major cities and regions were connected by a network of rail lines.

The contribution of Indian railways to India’s freedom movement cannot be undermined. After coming back from South Africa Gandhi himself traveled all over India by train to take a first hand account of people of India. It became possible to organise huge all India congregation of freedom fighters. Print material carrying the atrocities of the British and appeals for united fight against the Raj could be circulated with ease across regions.

After independence the railways in India thrived while it collapsed in Pakistan and Bangladesh. But for the Indo-pak Samjhouta Express and the Indo-Bangladesh Maitree Express, the railways of these two neighboring countries would have become extinct. Of course the railway scene in Bangladesh is getting revived with the help of India and other countries. But, in Pakistan it is getting worse and may face extinction soon with the future of Samjhouta Express in jeopardy.

Like me, have you ever dreamed on these lines? You are sitting on a train. Suddenly the track vanishes. Or the train derails but you have escaped. Or, the train stops and then it would not move for hours and hours. Or, you missed the train but you are running and hoping to catch it at the next station. If yes, get ready for glimpses into similar real life train travel through this BBC documentary. If you are interested in documentaries this is a good one to watch to while away the idle hours of lock-down. It is about the last frontier train of Nepal from British era connecting India and Janakpur – the sasural of Lord Rama. Of course now Janakpur has been connected by Indian Railways with new tracks and trains.

After I joined the defense service train travel became frequent. It is not possible to recall all such travels but some incidents leave their imprint in memory. For example the first time I travelled with fellow recruits to the training centre. We had no reservation and two of us shared the upper berth of a general compartment for the overnight journey to next connecting station. My face had to adjust with his feet and his with mine. Of course such experiences repeated a couple of times afterwards when I had to travel without reservation on emergency.

I remember this occasion when the whole coach crowded around a lone radio to listen to the live commentary of a final match involving India and Pakistan. All of us behaved as if we had been neighbors for years. Coincidentally India won and the train erupted with celebrations. Those were the pre-cell phone days. Now a days everyone especially the young ones are mostly lost in their own worlds with their cell phones and earphones.

On one occasion I was sandwitched with Marwari Pilgrims who had booked all the seats in the coach except mine. When their group leader approached me I was as usual expecting him to request me to exchange my seat with his relative in another compartment. He said, “Sir, please don’t book lunch”. He did not wait to hear my response.

When the train halted at a station before lunch time, a group entered our compartment and distributed packed lunch to every one including me. They would listen to none of my protests with one elderly lady reminding me of my grandmother and how she used to force feed me. Though vegetarian it was no ordinary lunch packet. ‘Must have come from a star hotel in the town‘ I assumed. After the lunch it was desert time. Then there was a pan session too. The same thing was repeated at dinner and next day breakfast.

The people who brought lunch were their relatives who had settled down in the locality. One of the co-passengers told me that the railways had played an important role in the spread of Marwaris through out India. You would not find any town or city in India that is connected by railways but does not have any Marwari.

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One of my paternal uncles is also an ex-military man. Once I narrated to him about a boring 30 hour train journey from Delhi to Brahmapur. He laughed and narrated to me about the seven day train journey he had from Assam to Hyderabad. In his time express and direct trains were few and he was further restricted in his choice of train because he was travelling with his family and his transfer luggage.

Indian railways is on a continuous path of progress. It has been able to connect with many remote and difficult parts of India. There has been marked improvement in services and cleanliness over the years. In spite of the availability of cheap air travel, trains continue to be the popular mode of long distance travel in India.

Do you have any train related personal anecdote to share? In case you have written a blog post about it you are welcome to share in the comment.

What happens when you don’t understand Sanskrit

So, what does really happen if you are an Indian and don’t understand Sanskrit?

Chances are, you may grow up to be a fake mythologist like Devdutt Pattanaik. It is a matter of shame that Indians grow up reading the interpretation of our mythologies and other scriptures of only western authors and then grow up to become self styled experts in it.

In contrast even though I don’t agree with the opinions of many western scholars on Hinduism, I respect them for the fact that they take so much pain to learn Sanskrit. For an Indian it is easier to learn Sanskrit because there are many common words. But it is not easy for a westerner. I will write a separate post about different kinds of westerners who study Sanskrit. All of them don’t do it because they love Indian culture. Nevertheless, I appreciate the amount of pain they take to master the language.

Pattanaik’s misleading interpretations are detailed in this video. Of course his fans may say, “So what?”. His books are bestsellers and are ubiquitous – found at Railways Stations, libraries, front racks of book stores and even on the tea-poy of your friends’ houses.

Then, so are the books of Chetan Bhagat. He too is a much sought after guest in every literature festival held in India. Yes, I said LITERATURE festival.

Or, you may not realize that your child’s name has a negative connotation. Of course it is a different issue, if like Saif and Kareena, intentionally you name your child after a character who is hated in the society you live in. But quite often people are not aware of the implication of the names. I came across a colleague who had named his son as Diti Kumar. I asked him why he had given such a name. He said, “Oh, it sounds so good. Isn’t it?”.

I said, “It sounds so good. No doubt. But do you know the meaning?”

“No. I never thought about that. One of my relatives suggested it. I liked it. Moreover, it fulfilled the condition of the astrologer that his name should start with alphabet D.”

Rishi Kashyapa had two wives. One was Diti and another Aditi. Both of them were sisters. Diti became the mother of all the Rakshashas, and Aditi of the Devas.

This is not a simple mythological story to explain away the birth of Demons and Gods. It has deep philosophical and psychological roots. Another word for the demons is daitya which is a derivative of dvaita. The word diti also comes from the word dvaita and the word aditi comes from advaita. In advaita vedanta the primordial origin of everything is attributed to the non-dual consciousness.

Advaita vedanta emphasiyses the oneness of everything. If things originated from one thing, things will go back to one thing. In concept, this is something similar to the Big Bang theory of the origin of Universe. Before the Big Bang, the universe was just one atom.

Advaita does not exactly mean one. But it is the nearest our rational mind can understand this concept. Advaita means non- dual. Maybe we have to get to that mystical state of the ancient Rishis to understand what are the alternate meanings of non-dual other than one. If they meant one they could have said ekah, not advaita.

Dvaita or the feeling of duality is the cause of all troubles. When you feel separate, it gives rise to a host of other negative feelings. In its extreme you behave like a demon. At the same time the demons don’t come from different planets. They are just your step brothers. In case of Demons and Gods, the father is one and only mothers, who are symbolic of upbringing, are different. By portraying them as such did the ancient seers try to give a message that it is the upbringing that makes the difference between two who are born into similar circumstances?

By the way mythologists like Devdutt Pattanaik would not know it. Apart from being ignorant in Sanskrit and Indian philosophy, they are more interested in finding out the erotic or the casteist elements in our mythologists.

Or, you may end up buying a book of Devdutt Patnaik and chances are that that like the Bollywood dumbo Sonam Kapoor that is the only book on Indian epic you read in your life time and think this is it. Now, I know it all.

If you know a little bit of Sanskrit, chances are that, if at all you are inspired to read books like Bhagavad Gita or the Upanishads, you will prefer to read its interpretation along with the Sanskrit original stanzas. In such cases you will easily catch if the author has made any drastic deviation from the intended meaning of the stanza even if you are not an expert in Sanskrit. In future if you get to read Bhagavad Gita by Devdutt Pattanaik you will know that it was anything but a book about Bhagavd Gita.

If you know any of the Indian Languages, it is not difficult to learn the basics of Sanskrit. Most of the literary words of any Indian Language have their roots in Sanskrit. Even a classical language like Tamil which is older than Sanskrit and originated independent of Sanskrit has many Sanskrit words integrated into it subsequently. (Teacher in Sanskrit is Acharya – in Tamil it is Achiriyar)

As an Indian knowing Sanskrit connects you with your roots. It makes you understand the words of your own Indian language better. Once you are armed with Sanskrit, no Devdutt Patnaik can fool you with twisted interpretations of Indian philosophical and mythological concepts.

PS : This is the alphabet S post of my April A to Z challenge 2020. My theme this year is ‘Mera Gaon Mera Desh’ where in I explore various facets of India and also some places and events of India I have been closely associated with.

All posts of the AtoZChallenge can be accessed here.

Her Majesty’s Royal Service – Making Sense of the British Raj

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When it comes to interpretation of the British Rule in India there are two schools of thought. The popular view is that it was an era of darkness. Then there are intellectuals who attribute everything that is good in modern India to the colonial rule.

The Popular View

After Shashi Tharoor quit his international career and entered Indian politics he has been in news more for wrong reasons than the right ones. When he became a minister he preferred to stay in a five star hotel even though he was allotted with a government Bunglow. If the British thought Indians and dogs belonged to the same category, he thought Indians and cattle belonged to the same category.

An unlikely candidate though he is to slam the British way of life, Indian politics makes you do strange things. So he wrote a book called ‘An Era of Darkness’ giving detailed accounts of how the British looted India. I appreciate the pain he/his team has taken to dig out facts from various archives. However there is some propoganda angle too in this book. Tharoor tries to portray the Mughal period as if it was some kind of an economic utopia.

However from the first hand accounts of Travellers to India during Mughal period it can be inferred that the common men of India led same miserable lives whether it was during the British era or the Mughal period. During Mughal period the wealth of the country did not go out. But there was hell and heaven difference between the lifestyles of the aristocrats and the common men.

If the British drained the wealth of India, the Mughal rule was a period of intellectual drain. Being religious fanatics they encouraged only particular types of art, architecture and points of view. It was the death of scientific outlook and near death of multiculturalism in India. Perhaps, this was one of the reasons why Mughal empire itself crumbled.

The Contrarian View

What I describe here as popular and contrarian are from the point of view of an Indian. For a patriotic British or European the opposite would hold true. The official British Historian would make it all look like as if they did a great service to this country of primitive people.

Winston Churchill during his Parliament speeches made frequent references to Indians as those primitive people. According the them it was they who taught us civilization. Of course it is a different story that when great epics like Mahabharata were being written here in India, guerrillas and monkeys ruled over the island called the Great Britain.

But there was one Indian that Winston Churchil particularly liked. Later on this Bengali Bhadralok who spent most part of his very long life in India became the darling of the British intellectuals. He was not only recruited into Her Majesty’s Royal service as an honorary member, but also offered British citizenship which he gladly accepted.

He was non other than Nirad C Choudhury whose maiden book – ‘Autobiography of an Unknown Indian’ – became popular because of the controversies it created. Later on his supporters came up with the usual alibi that people objecting him had not read his book but were merely reacting after going through the dedication which proclaimed – ” … Because all that was good and living within us
was made, shaped and quickened by the same British rule.”

But I have read his book. He has not hidden his fascination for things British and his disdain for things Indian. Nirad C Choudhury went on to win numerous honours and awards from the west. We must remember that to win a western award (including the Nobel), being excellent in your artistic skill is not enough. You also have to subscribe to a certain point of view. Show me an author, a film director or an artist who has either criticized western values, or highlighted the good things of the east and survived to win such an award. There are still many aspects on which the west continues to be blatantly racist.

The Closing View

I read ‘Autobiography of an Unknown Indian’ many years back. Even though I did not agree with Nirad Babu on many issues, maybe I loved some his insights. Or else I would not have finished his book which may not be easy to do considering the long winding sentences and the frequent digressions in his books.

Maybe, I have also digressed a lot in this post. Now coming to the main issue … Well before that let us take this short digression.

Some Japanese historians think that the Nuclear bombing of Hiroshima was a good thing to happen in the context of the situation of those days. It was a necessary evil. Of course the Americans meant all evil only. While bombing it was not their purpose to cause some long term good to Japan.

The bombing of Hiroshima brought an immediate end to the world war. Had there been no bombing, the war would have prolonged. Had the war prolonged, Japan would have met the fate of Korea. The north half of Japan would have been a communist country with close links to Russia and the south half a capitalist country with close link to the US. Like the Koreans, half of the Japanese would have become enemies of the other half.

The East India Company was founded in 1600 as a Joint Stock Company. Like Google, Facebook, Reliance or any other ltd company of today its purpose was to show good results year on year and see that its shareholders prospered. To further its business interests it started meddling in local politics. Like any good business house does these days. After the Battle of Plassey in 1757 the Company’s hold over India was complete and it continued till the Sepoy mutiny. Subsequently, like many company’s do these days after sharp fall in their share prices, the company filed for bankruptcy and the Queen took over. So, informally till 1857 and formally till 1877 India was not ruled by the Britain, but by a joint stock company established in Britain.

Even though the rule of India passed from the hands of the company to the crown, it was managed in similar fashion as any country would run a public sector enterprise. Fromm beginning to end India was a business venture for the British.

They did what any company does. If a company does not get skilled man power, it gets whatever man power it can get and trains them. The British started English education in India because they needed lots of clerks to keep record of company affairs. Any company also needs good infrastructure. So the British constructed Railways to take raw material to ports and bring finished products of England from the ports to the hinterlands.

The Britsh never bothered to unite India. Before going they realized that it has become a huge country that might emerge as an alternate power centre to the west. So they divided it into two and the two in course of time became three. But had there been no British rule, and there after no Sardar Patel, maybe, this subcontinent might be host to 300 countries.

So perhaps, the British rule was a necessary evil, like the bombing of Hiroshima.

PS : This is the alphabet R post of my April A to Z challenge 2020. My theme this year is ‘Mera Gaon Mera Desh’ where in I explore various facets of India and also some places and events of India I have been closely associated with.

All posts of the AtoZChallenge can be accessed here.

The Quitters of Hindustan

[image error]image source: resanskrit.com

Scene I

In my first post of the current series, a reader has asked about how Odisha fell from its high pedestals of fine arts, affluence, power and glory. The presence of large number of huge temples of architectural grandeur indicate to affluent times in the past and to be affluent the kings must have been powerful. The kings were in fact powerful. In fifteenth century the empire of King Kapilendra Deva spread from the Ganges in the north to the regions of Godavari in the south.

But Kapilendra Dev’s grandson Prataparudra Deva was made of different mettle. Under the influence of Chaitanya, Prataprudra Dev became more interested in bhajan kirtan than administering the kingdom. He became a Krishna devotee, but not the Krishna that prevented Arjuna from becoming a deserter. According to many historians this was the turning point in history that saw the gradual downfall of Odisha’s empire and glory.

But all the Hindu kings who were spiritual were not escapists. Even the earlier kings of Odisha were spiritual. But they did not neglect their duties. We have the example of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji. His spiritual Guru Samarth Ramdas encouraged him to be a karmayogi like Arjuna. In addition to being a highly skilled warrior and military leader, Chhatrapati Shivaji maintained high ethical standards. The Mughal army butchered, looted and raped the conquered irrespective of who they were. But Shivaji took care to spare the non-warriors of the enemy territory.

Scene II

Cut to twenty five years back. Travelling by train is a good way sometimes to strike friendship with alien characters. I was travelling from Lucknow to Bhubaneswar and as companion of my front seat I had a monk. I had never known a monk from close quarters. Of course, during my childhood days I myself wanted to be a monk.

When he learnt that I am from defense, he developed a strange affinity towards me. He opened up more when he learnt that I have some interest in yoga and spiritual matters. During our conversations I asked him a couple of times about how he became a monk. He avoided answering it till the last hour of our journey. He said that like me he wanted to join the defense. In fact he had joined one of the Defense Forces. But unfortunately, according to him, during training period there was an instructor who was very cruel to him. After tolerating it for months he could take it no more.

I said, “So you are a deserter.”

“No, no. This is how destiny works. I was destined to meet with my guru this way and understand the true essence of Krishna-tatwa. I feel so lucky.”

“No you are not”, I said. “First of all Krishna was too late in coming to your life and secondly when he came he gave you a wrong impression about himself.”

“What do you mean?”

“See, like you perhaps Arjuna also wanted to become a deserter. Of course he had different reasons. But luckily for him Krishna was available for him on time. He would not let Arjuna become a deserter. “

“I think you don’t understand Lord Krishna. To understand him you have to be his devotee. Look here”, he brought out a book from his bag and continued, “Look here. My guru has written this book on Bhagavad Gita. And this is the only original interpretation of Bhagavad Gita.”

Again I laughed and said, “Shall I tell you one thing. I have come across thousands of books on Gita. And at least two hundred of them claim to be original interpretations. So how do you know which is the original original interpretation. “

“Actually you should come and meet my Guru. It is not easy to meet with him. But I will make some arrangement. You should also see our Ashram.”

“Thank you. I would love to. Ashrams are beautiful places and one should spend a few days every year in an Ashram to rejuvenate in body and spirit. But now coming to the topic, even though there are thousand of contradicting interpretations of some of the messages of the Gita but there is no contradicting the fact of what happened to Arjuna after he listened to the Gita. Remember Arjuna got the Gita advices directly from Lord Krishna without the help of any translator or interpreter.”

“What do you mean?”

“Arjuna wanted to leave the war field, go to the jungle and live the life of a renunciate. After listening to the discourse of Lord Krishna what did Arjuna do? Did he pick up a pair of cymbals doing bhajan kirtan for the rest of his life or did he tighten his Gandiva to fight out the righteous war?”

My friend fell silent. He did not talk to me for the couple of hours left for us before we disembarked. Even while getting down he did not repeat his invitation to come his Asrham even though I would have liked to.

Scene III

Cut to a couple of years back. A few crooks in our society were taking the society to ransom by their open mischief. When I raised voice, even though everyone was suffering, only a couple of them came forward to stand with me. There was this particular irritating elderly man whose refrain was, “Only Lord Krishna can now save our society. What else can we do?” Nevertheless the few of us continued our fight till things became normal.

Later on one day when I met with this elderly gentleman I said, “You are wrong about Lord Krishna. Now he is not going to come and save us. Maybe as a child, Krishna fought others’ battles. But when he grew up he refused to fight others’ battles. Rather he made others fight their own battles.”

PS : This is Q alphabet post of my April A to Z challenge 2020. My theme this year is ‘Mera Gaon Mera Desh’ where in I explore various facets of India and also some places and events of India I have been closely associated with.

All posts of the AtoZChallenge can be accessed here.