Whatever happened to the Hindu quality of modesty and humility?
I keep getting press-releases from one Rajan Zed, who is apparently a leader of great stature and substantial achievement. Zed is an Indo-American leader who was invited to read historic first Hindu prayers to the Nevada Assembly and the Nevada Senate, as well as the United States Senate in Washington DC.
This seems to be one of his major claims to fame, followed by regular press-releases he issues on various subjects on Hinduism. Most of his statements are confined to the misuse and abuse of Hindu icons, offensive use of language and so on and so on and so on...
Now, there is nothing wrong in that. We do need stalwart statesmen such as Zed to keep the Hindu ball rolling (do we really, I can hear a few voices asking in the background).
One thing I do find a bit irritating about his statements is that he keeps issuing comments about what is happening in Britain. There is no doubt that he has every right to be concerned about what is happening to Hindus in any part of the world, but surely he cannot claim to understand the issues of British Hindus as well as British Hindus themselves? Yet, in utter isolation, without any reference to British Hindus themselves, he keeps issuing statement after statement about our situation here. Most of them do not even help our cause here, but simply relegate themselves to the 'uh-oh, yet-another-statement-from-the-Zed-PR-machinery' pile.
But every time he issues a statement, I cannot help chuckling in amusement and raising my eyebrows in embarrassment. That's because he always describes himself in his own press-releases as an 'acclaimed Hindu statesman'.
That brings me to my original point - whatever happened to Hindu modesty and humility?
Should one describe onself in the choicest words of praise?
Perhaps you should not read too much into this. The chap is full of energy and plays an active role in dozens of organisations fighting the Hindu corner with aplomb and ease.
But I just wish he can stop describing himself as an 'acclaimed Hindu statesman'. Publicly displaying one's high opinion of oneself is a bit cheesy and embarrassingly corny, to say the least!
Tuesday 30 June 2009
Sunday 14 June 2009
Bust up in Brum
My employers are quite generous - although they make me work in Birmingham three to four days a week away from home, they put me up in a serviced apartment right in the middle of the city centre.
I mean - how much more convenient can you get? I step out of the apartment and I am right there in the heart of Birmingham's coolest streets loaded with shops, restaurants, train stations, bus stops, malls, supermarkets, cinemas and all kinds of things a person living alone wants at arm's length.
This morning however I work up with a rude shock.
At around 7.00 AM, there was screaming and shouting outside. I popped my head out of the window, and to my horror discovered a young man (Indian or Pakistani) standing outside the club opposite my apartment covered in blood. He was swaying around while two policemen held him and two other men watched.
I became aware of another group of caucasian men and women standing twenty yards away, held in check by another group of policemen. It was quite apparent that there had been a fight between the two groups and the young Indian (or Pakistani) man had taken a rap.
There was a lot of shouting and screaming going on. The two men who were standing next to the blood covered victim gesticulated rudely at the caucasian men (and women) standing further away and used the choicest of four letter words. Not to be daunted, they responded in a similar fashion, while the police tried to restrain both parties.
In the meantime, the blood covered young man swayed a bit more and sat down suddenly on the ground. A scantily clad girl detached herself from the other group and came running to the Asian group, and I could see that she was actaully crying and pleading about something.
Four policemen had actually cornered the blood-covered youngster into a doorway and he suddenly sprang up and swore at them, "I am the victim damnit... do you hear? I am the victim. And yet you w**kers are holding me from all sides while the guy who hit me is standing there looking completely free."
The Police tried to restrain him back, while he became even more hysterical.
A few minutes later an ambulance roared into the street, and the young man was escorted promptly into it.
Exactly six seconds later, he sprang out of the ambulance without his shirt and started jumping up and down while the police ran behind him.
"Why is the guy who did this to me not getting arrested then ei?" he screamed at the police. "Why are you restraining me while he is free? Why is he not in this police car on his way to the station?"
The police had their best wooden expression, which they had probably spent years perfecting before being let loose on our streets.
In a few minutes the hysterical man was bundled in, the ambulance roared away, and the police hovered on taking a few more notes from both the parties that were left behind.
They put up a police tape all round the club - probably to gather forensic evidence later.
The incident set me thinking - Britain seems to be heading towards an overdrive based on alcohol, sex and drugs. Clubs and pubs have become breeding grounds for violence and frustration, not just entertainment and music.
From what I gathered during the screaming and shouting, the violence had erupted over a girl.
There was so much frustration and anger involved.
The Bhagavad-gita, that book of timeless wisdom spoken by the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna declares:
kama esa krodha esa rajo-guna-samudbhavah
mahasano maha-papma viddhy enam iha vairinam
"It is lust only, Arjuna, which is born of contact with the material modes of passion and later transformed into wrath, and which is the all-devouring, sinful enemy of this world."
His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder of ISKCON explains in his purport to this verse that when a living entity comes in contact with the material creation, his eternal love for God (Krishna) is transformed into lust, in association with the mode of passion. Or, in other words, the sense of love of God becomes transformed into lust, as milk in contact with sour tamarind is transformed into yogurt. Then again, when lust is unsatisfied, it turns into wrath; wrath is transformed into illusion, and illusion continues the material existence. Therefore, lust is the greatest enemy of the living entity, and it is lust only which induces the pure living entity to remain entangled in the material world.
The Bhagavad-gita scientifically explains how lust and anger lead to loss of intellect and utter bewilderment:
dhyayato visayan pumsah sangas tesupajayate
sangat sanjayate kamahkamat krodho 'bhijayate
krodhad bhavati sammohah sammohat smrti-vibhramah
smrti-bhramsad buddhi-nasobuddhi-nasat pranasyati
"When a man dwells in his mind on the sense objects, an attachment for them arises. Desire is born of that attachment. From desire anger is born.From anger comes delusion, from delusion springs failure of memory. From wrecked memory results the ruin of the understanding and then he perishes."
The incident in the pub arose because a few men dwelled on a sense object which awoke desires. When there were obstacles placed in the fulfilment of their desire their anger led to violence. It was all fuelled by their alcoholic indulgence and in reality this leads to the forgefulness of one's originally blissful and eternal spiritual position.
As I was about to close the window I noticed another young man standing next door. Like me, he must have been a silent witness. He suddenly looked at me and smiled as if to say, "What a fuss!"
I noticed that in the early hours of the morning, he was sipping an alcoholic drink too.
I smiled back.
I mean - how much more convenient can you get? I step out of the apartment and I am right there in the heart of Birmingham's coolest streets loaded with shops, restaurants, train stations, bus stops, malls, supermarkets, cinemas and all kinds of things a person living alone wants at arm's length.
This morning however I work up with a rude shock.
At around 7.00 AM, there was screaming and shouting outside. I popped my head out of the window, and to my horror discovered a young man (Indian or Pakistani) standing outside the club opposite my apartment covered in blood. He was swaying around while two policemen held him and two other men watched.
I became aware of another group of caucasian men and women standing twenty yards away, held in check by another group of policemen. It was quite apparent that there had been a fight between the two groups and the young Indian (or Pakistani) man had taken a rap.
There was a lot of shouting and screaming going on. The two men who were standing next to the blood covered victim gesticulated rudely at the caucasian men (and women) standing further away and used the choicest of four letter words. Not to be daunted, they responded in a similar fashion, while the police tried to restrain both parties.
In the meantime, the blood covered young man swayed a bit more and sat down suddenly on the ground. A scantily clad girl detached herself from the other group and came running to the Asian group, and I could see that she was actaully crying and pleading about something.
Four policemen had actually cornered the blood-covered youngster into a doorway and he suddenly sprang up and swore at them, "I am the victim damnit... do you hear? I am the victim. And yet you w**kers are holding me from all sides while the guy who hit me is standing there looking completely free."
The Police tried to restrain him back, while he became even more hysterical.
A few minutes later an ambulance roared into the street, and the young man was escorted promptly into it.
Exactly six seconds later, he sprang out of the ambulance without his shirt and started jumping up and down while the police ran behind him.
"Why is the guy who did this to me not getting arrested then ei?" he screamed at the police. "Why are you restraining me while he is free? Why is he not in this police car on his way to the station?"
The police had their best wooden expression, which they had probably spent years perfecting before being let loose on our streets.
In a few minutes the hysterical man was bundled in, the ambulance roared away, and the police hovered on taking a few more notes from both the parties that were left behind.
They put up a police tape all round the club - probably to gather forensic evidence later.
The incident set me thinking - Britain seems to be heading towards an overdrive based on alcohol, sex and drugs. Clubs and pubs have become breeding grounds for violence and frustration, not just entertainment and music.
From what I gathered during the screaming and shouting, the violence had erupted over a girl.
There was so much frustration and anger involved.
The Bhagavad-gita, that book of timeless wisdom spoken by the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna declares:
kama esa krodha esa rajo-guna-samudbhavah
mahasano maha-papma viddhy enam iha vairinam
"It is lust only, Arjuna, which is born of contact with the material modes of passion and later transformed into wrath, and which is the all-devouring, sinful enemy of this world."
His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder of ISKCON explains in his purport to this verse that when a living entity comes in contact with the material creation, his eternal love for God (Krishna) is transformed into lust, in association with the mode of passion. Or, in other words, the sense of love of God becomes transformed into lust, as milk in contact with sour tamarind is transformed into yogurt. Then again, when lust is unsatisfied, it turns into wrath; wrath is transformed into illusion, and illusion continues the material existence. Therefore, lust is the greatest enemy of the living entity, and it is lust only which induces the pure living entity to remain entangled in the material world.
The Bhagavad-gita scientifically explains how lust and anger lead to loss of intellect and utter bewilderment:
dhyayato visayan pumsah sangas tesupajayate
sangat sanjayate kamahkamat krodho 'bhijayate
krodhad bhavati sammohah sammohat smrti-vibhramah
smrti-bhramsad buddhi-nasobuddhi-nasat pranasyati
"When a man dwells in his mind on the sense objects, an attachment for them arises. Desire is born of that attachment. From desire anger is born.From anger comes delusion, from delusion springs failure of memory. From wrecked memory results the ruin of the understanding and then he perishes."
The incident in the pub arose because a few men dwelled on a sense object which awoke desires. When there were obstacles placed in the fulfilment of their desire their anger led to violence. It was all fuelled by their alcoholic indulgence and in reality this leads to the forgefulness of one's originally blissful and eternal spiritual position.
As I was about to close the window I noticed another young man standing next door. Like me, he must have been a silent witness. He suddenly looked at me and smiled as if to say, "What a fuss!"
I noticed that in the early hours of the morning, he was sipping an alcoholic drink too.
I smiled back.
Sunday 7 June 2009
Will someone do something about the British weather please?
Everything in the UK is great - except for the weather.
I mean - here we were, enjoying perfectly fine weather sunning it out in the 25 degree heat, and the next day, it pours like a thingummy-come-torrential-flood. Someone should tell the weatherman (or the weather-woman in these days of political correctness) to just make up his (or her) mind.
The worst part of the rain is my utter helplessness in mowing my lawn. If it pours for days on end, the grass starts growing faster, and in all its wet resplendence it defies the blades of my lawn-mower.
Of course, right now my lawn looks like some tropical jungle. This is because while the sun was shining I was out cycling on the canal tow-path. And now that the rain has announced itself as the main deterrent to any lawn-mowing desires I had left, I am unable to swing a blade in its direction.
When I was holidaying in India, I got used to walking around in bermudas, t-shirts and flip-flops at 9PM in January. I was just about getting used to doing that last week, and the weatherman (er - the woman?) decided to turn.
I must admit - Lord Sutch of the ex-Monster-Loony-Raving-Party had made an election promise that, if practically possible, would have made me vote for him and no one else.
He had made an attractive promise in one of his manifestos, way back in the 1990s. The Party had declared that if it was elected, it would tie a rope around Cornwall and tug the British Isles back by 20 degrees South. The idea was for us rain-harrassed and cloud-covered Brits to have the same weather as sunny Spain.
If only that was possible, Britain would be the best place one could ever wish for!
And if wishes were horses, beggars would ride....
I mean - here we were, enjoying perfectly fine weather sunning it out in the 25 degree heat, and the next day, it pours like a thingummy-come-torrential-flood. Someone should tell the weatherman (or the weather-woman in these days of political correctness) to just make up his (or her) mind.
The worst part of the rain is my utter helplessness in mowing my lawn. If it pours for days on end, the grass starts growing faster, and in all its wet resplendence it defies the blades of my lawn-mower.
Of course, right now my lawn looks like some tropical jungle. This is because while the sun was shining I was out cycling on the canal tow-path. And now that the rain has announced itself as the main deterrent to any lawn-mowing desires I had left, I am unable to swing a blade in its direction.
When I was holidaying in India, I got used to walking around in bermudas, t-shirts and flip-flops at 9PM in January. I was just about getting used to doing that last week, and the weatherman (er - the woman?) decided to turn.
I must admit - Lord Sutch of the ex-Monster-Loony-Raving-Party had made an election promise that, if practically possible, would have made me vote for him and no one else.
He had made an attractive promise in one of his manifestos, way back in the 1990s. The Party had declared that if it was elected, it would tie a rope around Cornwall and tug the British Isles back by 20 degrees South. The idea was for us rain-harrassed and cloud-covered Brits to have the same weather as sunny Spain.
If only that was possible, Britain would be the best place one could ever wish for!
And if wishes were horses, beggars would ride....
Saturday 6 June 2009
hum ho haa heee - yet another cabinet reshuffle
After being bored to death by the expenses scandal (I mean do we really care which MP purchased what kind of toilet seat and claimed how much back, for heaven's sake?), we now have the survival drama.
What will happen to Gordon? Will he survive or will he not?
The spate resignations from Cabinet Secretaries last week probably added to the worried look the PM had on his brow during the last press-conference. But he seems to have survived - for now at least.
But like Hazel Blears who proudly displayed a brooch that said "rocking the boat" as she walked out on him, the EU election results may well do just that - and rock the boat.
If Labour comes a dismal fourth, will the rebel MPs put up and shut up? Will Cameron increase the tone of his call for an immediate General Elections? Will Brown buckle or will he buck up?
Questions.. questions questions... and all we have to do is to wait till Monday for the answer, when the EU elections results start coming in.
At the end of the day, I know that whoever comes to power, one thing will remain: this Government and future governments will continue to treat the Indian faith traditions (Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism) as an 'after-thought'. They will continue to speak to us on a 'tokenistic' basis, while they maintain conscious rigour and characteristic robustness in engaging with the Abrahamic traditions.
No doubt, the Abrahamic traditions have a claim of historicity - after all Christainity has been around here for more than any other religion; Judaism has been here sevaral hundred years before the Indian faiths even dared to show their face; and Islam has received special attention for all kinds of reasons.
However, Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists are often left feeling left out while attention on the Abrahamic faiths is steady and consistent.
Only a few months ago I was at a reception organised by the Communities and Local Government Department. Although they had laid out sumptous tables with kosher and halal meals, not a morsel of food was suitable for an orthodox Hindu who would only eat strict vegetarian food that did not contain onions or garlic. Jains of course would have had an even more difficult time since they eat nothing that is grown under the ground. The dietary rule is only an illustrative example of how Hindus keep getting sidelined - the list can go on.
But to cut the long ramble short - what difference does all this talk about expenses and Gordon's survival make to the Indian traditions who are an afterthought? Hum, ho, haa hee - not much, me doth think!
What will happen to Gordon? Will he survive or will he not?
The spate resignations from Cabinet Secretaries last week probably added to the worried look the PM had on his brow during the last press-conference. But he seems to have survived - for now at least.
But like Hazel Blears who proudly displayed a brooch that said "rocking the boat" as she walked out on him, the EU election results may well do just that - and rock the boat.
If Labour comes a dismal fourth, will the rebel MPs put up and shut up? Will Cameron increase the tone of his call for an immediate General Elections? Will Brown buckle or will he buck up?
Questions.. questions questions... and all we have to do is to wait till Monday for the answer, when the EU elections results start coming in.
At the end of the day, I know that whoever comes to power, one thing will remain: this Government and future governments will continue to treat the Indian faith traditions (Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism) as an 'after-thought'. They will continue to speak to us on a 'tokenistic' basis, while they maintain conscious rigour and characteristic robustness in engaging with the Abrahamic traditions.
No doubt, the Abrahamic traditions have a claim of historicity - after all Christainity has been around here for more than any other religion; Judaism has been here sevaral hundred years before the Indian faiths even dared to show their face; and Islam has received special attention for all kinds of reasons.
However, Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists are often left feeling left out while attention on the Abrahamic faiths is steady and consistent.
Only a few months ago I was at a reception organised by the Communities and Local Government Department. Although they had laid out sumptous tables with kosher and halal meals, not a morsel of food was suitable for an orthodox Hindu who would only eat strict vegetarian food that did not contain onions or garlic. Jains of course would have had an even more difficult time since they eat nothing that is grown under the ground. The dietary rule is only an illustrative example of how Hindus keep getting sidelined - the list can go on.
But to cut the long ramble short - what difference does all this talk about expenses and Gordon's survival make to the Indian traditions who are an afterthought? Hum, ho, haa hee - not much, me doth think!
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