The women

They blocked all her opportunities
and blame her as ignorant.

They left her only to God's grace
and blame her for mad faith.

They gave her no say in decision
and blame her as a fatalist.

They give her little time to think
and blame her as illogical.

Their laws wont work for her
and blame her as a cynic.

They gave her work nil value
and blame her as a minion.

They failed to give protection
and blame her as an offender.

They don't want her to be heard
and blame her as loquacious.

And when she seeks her rights
She is blamed as an outcast!

The Continuity & Unity of the Indian state

India has a very old civilization. There were contemporary civilizations in

other parts of the world, but all of them are now buried along with their

material remains. Indian civilization has showed excellent continuity till

today. India or Bharat – the name of the geographical entity north of the

Indian Ocean, got its recognition as a state right from the pre-vedic period.

Myriad kings ruled here, many kingdoms emerged and extinct. Many wars

happened. Yet a uniting force was keeping India together, assimilating

everything into its fold throughout the history. Individual efforts to form a

united kingdom by the rulers were sometimes superficial. That artificiality

eventually had to pay a heavy price when the subcontinent was cut into two

nations post independence. The vibrant society existing as the largest

democracy is an wonder. True are the words “The wonder that is India”.

The name India was used by the westerners to denote the area

beyond the river Indus. The Indus valley civilization flourished some two

thousand years before the current era. They had contacts with other

civilizations from then the name ‘India’ got a place in foreigners mind. It

became a sought after destination for trade attracted by its wealth, natural

resources and agricultural produces. In their desperation to find India via

sea routes many islands got the name as India. The islands off coast of

American mainland were named after India and later changed to West

Indies. They called the indigenous population of the American continent as

Indians and later changed to red Indians. Thus the name India got

recognition far and wide.

The consolidation of the land as a single state happened post the

Indus valley civilization by the legendary king Bharatha. His reign is called

‘bharathavarsha’. The name we Indians gave to our land ‘Bharat’ was after

this king. His kingdom encompassed the whole peninsular India, the

Northern plains, Kashmir and Pakistan. The stories of our epics Ramayana

and Mahabharatha happened in this period. The imprint left by then kings

and then culture in the Indian culture is very deep. Perhaps these epics are

the adhesives binding the numerous cultures together. The heroes of that

time Rama, Sita, Krishna, the Pandavas are the heroes even today. The

stories behind all our festivals traces back to this epic period. Not only that

these heroes are the gods of Hindus, but they are the links to tie all Indians

together. It is amazing that the story supposed to be happened in sixth

century BCE is still widely discussed, argued and criticized. Majority of Indian

literature developed afterwards have either visible or invisible links to these

epics. Many people interpreted it many ways –but still the core values

remain the same. Many people took the relatively unexplored but strong

characters in the story and made them the heroes of their creations. The

Bhagavat Gita, the essence of all the philosophies in a nutshell is still shown

to the outside world by the Indians proudly. Every Indian carries the sense

of belonging for this great works. Along with trade, Indian culture and the

epics also travelled to other countries. They also helped to get a unique

identification of the land of Bharata. If we go by the wisdom of the story, we

can see the scientific agricultural and artillery advancements that Indians

had in that age. The culture thrived to continue over the history but perhaps

it is only that scientific temperament we lost over time.

India was not ruled as a single entity throughout the history. Rather it was

fragmented for most of the time. The empires of Ashoka, the guptas and the

mughals covered the major portion of the subcontinent. In times of turmoil

and intense infightings, it is the geographical uniqueness that had held the

Indian state together. It is surrounded by Indian ocean on three sides in the

south. The mighty Himalaya is a barrier along its north west to north east

border. The Hindkush ranges forms the north western border. The

mountains and oceans effectively preserved the unity of the nation. The role

of Himalayas in uniting the nation is magnificent. The ruggedness and

mightiness of the ranges have shut all the cultural and territorial invasions

from the northern regions. Himalayas provide a distinct climate also. The

Hindkush ranges in the North West to south west is not as continuous and

inaccessible as the Himalayas. It is only through this gap that several

invasions happened. Roman & Greek empires had trade relations. Afghan

kings came and looted the treasure.  The Mughals came and made India

their home land. The most important invasion was that of the Aryans. These

emigrants settled along the Indus and slowly spread southwards and

eastwards covering the entire subcontinent. They gave a distinct dimension

to Indianism. They brought the vedic culture which became the inseparable

part of Indian culture. Even though Chinese culture was flourishing in the

north, except some intrusions along the Himalayas passes and the northeast

it did not trickled south to the Indian subcontinent. The relation isolation of

the north east India can also attributed to the Himalayas and its southern

extension as the poorvanchal. Usually the north east India was left out from

the dominions of the Indian Kings even the great Bharatan, Asokhan and

Mughal empire had left out this land. It was only the Guptas who had some

in-roots upto Kamarupa, the present Assam. The monsoon is a unique

climatic gift for India. Whether it is Apatanis of North East or Rajathanis of

North West, the tribals of central India or farmers of south India all will

eagerly wait for the arrival of monsoon every year. The rhythm of agriculture

in all regions is decided by the agriculture. Every Indian farmer is at the

mercy of the monsoon. The anxieties, the relief, the prayers of all peole are

common. The Himalayas play a major role in distributing the monsoon rains

over country. It ensures that all from its east to west receive rains. Barrier

has given India the distinct tropical monsoon climate not withstanding its

territorial extension over the tropical and subtropical regions.

Post Mauryan period, many foreign rulers invaded India from its North

West frontier. Many times their empire encompassed the areas of present

Afganisthan and beyond. Absence of a strong ruler divided the land among

many powers. Under the foreign rulers such as Kushanas, Satavahanas

Indians never felt being ruled by foreigners. They had freedom. Indian

people had accepted the tolerant foreign rulers.  They even Indianised them

giving Indian names and accumulating them to the existing caste structure.

These rulers encouraged the local arts, literature and culture. They brought

along with them their artisans and writers. Different style emerged and

flourished. The writers gave a vivid account of India their works were

translated into many languages and carried the fame of India worldwide.

Many Indian works were translated to other languages. From this

informations, the curious Europeans started expeditions to find this

beckoning land. Major portion of India was united again during the Gupta

age. It was a golden age for Indian art and literature. The unwritten

knowledge of generations were consolidated this time . The Epics, the Vedas

and the Upanishads were written. The Vedas are still regarded as the store

house of all ever known wisdom of the humans. The scientific achievements

that time are commendable. The yoga by Patanjali is the excellent work. The

Arthasatra is the text book for all the kings. The Abinjana sankunthalam is

the story of all people. The Ayurveda is still the basic treatment of all

Indians. The great works during this age is still today the binding force

among all Indians. The knowledge and authenticity of the works are

unchallenged till now and practiced even today. Still we are trading this

ancient knowledge to the outside world. Indianism got its unique nature and

character during this period. The Hinduism attained its modern form during

this period.

The contribution of the Hinduism as a uniting force is well acclaimed

Hinduism is a set of thoughts and practices evolved along with the history of

India. It evolve from the prehistoric nature worship, Harappan mother

goddess, vedic gods of Indra and agi , shavisim, vaishanivsm to include all

the tribal god and goddess in its fold. It gave a common religious form and

rules. Even Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism are also included in its vast

definition. It grew by taking, giving and sharing with all other regions that

come to India. The foreign religions adapted many customs and rituals from

the Hinduism and become Indian. This great power of assimilation is the

greatest strength of India to remain united with a myriad religions, cultures

and customs. The common festivals and common gods all over India is a

binding force. Himalayas is the abode of the god for all the Indians. The

Ganga is their holy river. The caste-structure is common all over India. The

caste system is so rigid that foreigners had more freedom to get assimilated,

than the Indians to move between the castes. This system divided Indians

among different social economic and occupational strata. Even though the

system preserved the horizontal unity all over India, the vertical

discrimination did harm to the social development. The lower strata termed

as untouchables are yet to be brought into the mainstream. Despite the

numerous policies and programmes of the government some sections of

people still facing difficulties to throwaway the shackles.

Muslims also made India their homeland during the Mughal reign. Even

as some Muslim invaders came looted India and returned, the Mughals saw

India as their own land. They never imposed new religion on their subjects

or curbed their freedom. After a period of political uncertainties, the Mughals

consolidated India to a single empire. Lot of cultural exchanges happened.

Mughal rulers had patronaged both Hindu and Muslim art and culture.

Hindusthani music, Mughal architecture, Hindusthani language evolved

during this period. Urdu, Persian got mingled with Indian languages. Apart

from the unfortunate incident of partition of India post independence,

Muslims never felt that India is an alien land . The Sufi movement tried

along with the Bhakti movement for a religious revival. Non-cooperation

movement and Khilafat movement fought together against the British.

The modern form of the unity of India got structured during the colonial

perod. The British east India company came here for trade and gradually

started territorial acquisitions. During the rule of lord Dalhousie, the major

portion the subcontinent came under British rule. India which was deeply

disintegrated after the fall of Mughal Empire got a territorial unity. But this

imposed unity was rather artificial because it was the greediness of the

colonialists that bought the vide area including Myamar and North West

province under single rule. First time the whole north east was integrated to

India. Later separate administrative units, boundaries were drawn as per the

convenience of the rulers. Thus the culturally and ethically connected

population was separated across the borders. The roots of secessionist

movement and insurgencies along the Indian Border States can be traced to

this un empathic marking of boundaries. In the name of administrative

convenience, British adopted divide and rule policy. The united Bengal was

divided on religious grounds into two. The seeds sown by this policy grew

into very large thorny bush and bleed India. But the repressive British rule

helped to unite the Indians. The idea of India as a single nation got into the

blood of every Indian. The social reformers tried to arise the people by

trying to revive the old glory of India. The cultural and religious renaissance

efforts emerged. all this gave India the sense of unity and urge to end the

foreign rule. The ideals of the struggle the non-violence, ahimsa and

satyragraha was drawn from our culture. On positive side the british rule

had helped to achieve an administrative unity. They introduce a common

legal system first railway line, telegraph, postal system, connecting language

and a framework for the government. Unlike other foreign rulers, British

never saw India as their homeland. They never patrone Indian arts or

culture. Other than the missionary work, they never tried for cultural

exchanges. Their sole motive was economic exploitation, the common anger

against the colonial rule brought forward people from all wakes of field - the

peasants, students, lawyers, soldiers, merchants into the national struggle

for freedom under the leadership of Gandhiji.

The post colonial India saw a great divide in the unity. The land was

divided among India and Pakistan. After a painful separation and massive

communal violence, India has emerged as a vibrant democracy. India saw

secessionist movements in Punjab, Kashmir and Nagaland. The economic

growth has helped to accumulate all. The land of extremes is united by a

common economy. The majority do subsistence agriculture. Cottage

industries the handicrafts and art works show a common nature all over

India. Service sector has become the largest. We are still trading our soft

skills as we did right from the prevedic times.

The topography, culture, society, economy, climate, religion are the

uniting forces of India. Almost all rulers ruled here have encouraged cultural

and religious assimilation. The underlying thread of unity connecting the

nuke corner of India runs very deep. The thread is both temporal and

spacial. The spacial connection gives all Indians the feeling that they are

part of one family.  The temporal connection runs through the history and

gives us the sense of belonging and ownership to our culture. The seemingly

unmentable cut in this weaves happened in 1947. The true Indian spirit still

hopes for the reunion of the parted relatives into a single state as existed

during the Bharatavarsha.

Memories

The memory tree is with its grand canopy,

Sprawled over even with a single trunk.

The boughs into branches and then into twigs

And finally into narrow stems it have grown.

Here each branch is each each experience

The foliage of memories spurts on them

As time passes they may fall off

but the imprints as branches are there forever.

They are growing in all the directions

Some are dead and some are dormant-

that spring again with a gentle touch.

Some are strong and some are weak

And some have fruits and blossoms!

I looked at my tree, standing some three feet away

I saw the buds, flower and fruits

and the spreading branches too.

A flattering voice appeared and disappeared -

I want to pluck some foliage

and remove it forever!

One moment I leaned back, gained strength

to hug the trunk with force and

shook it again hard and hard.

The pearls - the water drops that the leaves saved

from the last rain

fell all over me broken as tiny droplets

save even single leaf !

My wet face looked up the memories 

and they laughed at me;

We wont fall down how hard you try-

Thus said their smiling faces .

They are so strong now and ever not to fall 

I was exhausted and stood there

resting upon the trunk watching the leaves

that swung in the wind.

My legs didn't have the strength to hold

and I slipped down;

I sat there leaning on the tree unaware

when slipped to sleep.

All the memories together carried me to

many many wonderlands

That were unknown hitherto for me.

I wandered here and there

silently, until a sparrow chirruped at me

sitting on its branch .

What is there in a "sari" ?

Sari or the 5-6 metre length single piece of cloth is considered as the standard wear of women in India. Why our women are wearing this lengthy, cumbersome cloth even us our men shifted to the stitched pants and shirts? It is because the society tells them it is their attire. I will see this as a kind of social control. In many parts of India this attire is must for a married women and if she tries any thing new, it is looked down upon. 

One fact I am not able to apprehend is about on what basis our people is advocating sari? Surely it is not based on comfort. For physical work it is the most inconvienient wear. One may tell that it is the most suiting for a lady, she looks good in it etc. Its all about the look not the convenience. They may tell it is the most decent. But in my opinion sari is the most sexiest wear. It is the most exposing. The ground of advocating it on the basis of 'looking good' presents an chauvinist viewpoint.

There are schools which prescribes sari as mandatory wear for lady teachers. Why the same school allows the male teachers to come in pants and not make doti mandatory? The teachers standing before the adolescent students should always be conscious when she is wearing a sari which not a full covering attire. They can better opt for other garments and be confident while standing in front of the children. 

A similar case can be shown in 'parda'. The attire has in origin in Arab countries where the climatic conditions forces them to wear a full covering dress. We can see the men in these countries also in full covered attire. But they adopted the same dress for women in other countries where as the men cleverly shun it in other regions. Why women is not given freedom to select an attire suiting the climatic conditions?

Selecting a dress for their women by the society presents nothing but the control the society exercises over them. I am not finding any other logical basis for this imposition. They cry for women empowerment and freedom should start from the basic freedom of the personal choices to select the appropriate and convenient clothing.