मी नथुराम गोडसे बोलतोय

This is Nathuram Godse’s speech in court.

Born in a devotional Brahmin family, I instinctively came to revere Hindu religion, Hindu history and Hindu culture. I had, therefore, been intensely proud of Hinduism as a whole. As I grew up I developed a tendency to free thinking unfettered by any superstitious allegiance to any isms, political or religious. That is why I worked actively for the eradication of untouchability and the caste system based on birth alone. I openly joined anti-caste movements and maintained that all Hindus were of equal status as to rights, social and religious and should be considered high or low on merit alone and not through the accident of birth in a particular caste or profession. I used publicly to take part in organized anti-caste dinners in which thousands of Hindus, Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, Chamars and Bhangis participated. We broke the caste rules and dined in the company of each other.I have read the speeches and writings of Dadabhai Nairoji, Vivekanand, Gokhale, Tilak, along with the books of ancient and modern history of India and some prominent countries like England, France, America and’ Russia. Moreover I studied the tenets of Socialism and Marxism. But above all I studied very closely whatever Veer Savarkar and Gandhiji had written and spoken, as to my mind these two ideologies have contributed more to the moulding of the thought and action of the Indian people during the last thirty years or so, than any other single factor has done.

All this reading and thinking led me to believe it was my first duty to serve Hindudom and Hindus both as a patriot and as a world citizen. To secure the freedom and to safeguard the just interests of some thirty crores (300 million) of Hindus would automatically constitute the freedom and the well being of all India, one fifth of human race. This conviction led me naturally to devote myself to the Hindu Sanghtanist ideology and programme, which alone, I came to believe, could win and preserve the national independence of Hindustan, my Motherland, and enable her to render true service to humanity as well.

Since the year 1920, that is, after the demise of Lokamanya Tilak, Gandhiji’s influence in the Congress first increased and then became supreme. His activities for public awakening were phenomenal in their intensity and were reinforced by the slogan of truth and non-violence, which he paraded ostentatiously before the country. No sensible or enlightened person could object to those slogans. In fact there is nothing new or original in them. They are implicit in every constitutional public movement. But it is nothing but a mere dream if you imagine that the bulk of mankind is, or can ever become, capable of scrupulous adherence to these lofty principles in its normal life from day to day. In fact, honour, duty and love of one’s own kith and kin and country might often compel us to disregard non-violence and to use force. I could never conceive that an armed resistance to an aggression is unjust. I would consider it a religious and moral duty to resist and, if possible, to overpower such an enemy by use of force. [In the Ramayana] Rama killed Ravana in a tumultuous fight and relieved Sita. [In the Mahabharata], Krishna killed Kansa to end his wickedness; and Arjuna had to fight and slay quite a number of his friends and relations including the revered Bhishma because the latter was on the side of the aggressor. It is my firm belief that in dubbing Rama, Krishna and Arjuna as guilty of violence, the Mahatma betrayed a total ignorance of the springs of human action.

In more recent history, it was the heroic fight put up by Chhatrapati Shivaji that first checked and eventually destroyed the Muslim tyranny in India. It was absolutely essentially for Shivaji to overpower and kill an aggressive Afzal Khan, failing which he would have lost his own life. In condemning history’s towering warriors like Shivaji, Rana Pratap and Guru Gobind Singh as misguided patriots, Gandhiji has merely exposed his self-conceit. He was, paradoxical, as it may appear, a violent pacifist who brought untold calamities on the country in the name of truth and non-violence, while Rana Pratap, Shivaji and the Guru will remain enshrined in the hearts of their countrymen forever for the freedom they brought to them.

The accumulating provocation of thirty-two years, culminating in his last pro-Muslim fast, at last goaded me to the conclusion that the existence of Gandhi should be brought to an end immediately. Gandhi had done very well in South Africa to uphold the rights and well being of the Indian community there. But when he finally returned to India he developed a subjective mentality under which he alone was to be the final judge of what was right or wrong. If the country wanted his leadership, it had to accept his infallibility; if it did not, he would stand aloof from the Congress and carry on his own way. Against such an attitude there can be no halfway house. Either Congress had to surrender its will to his and had to be content with playing second fiddle to all his eccentricity, whimsicality, metaphysics and primitive vision, or it had to carry on without him. He alone was the Judge of everyone and everything; he was the master brain guiding the civil disobedience movement; no other could know the technique of that movement. He alone knew when to begin and when to withdraw it. The movement might succeed or fail, it might bring untold disaster and political reverses but that could make no difference to the Mahatma’s infallibility. ‘A Satyagrahi can never fail’ was his formula for declaring his own infallibility and nobody except himself knew what a Satyagrahi is.

Thus, the Mahatma became the judge and jury in his own cause. These childish insanities and obstinacies, coupled with a most severe austerity of life, ceaseless work and lofty character made Gandhi formidable and irresistible. Many people thought that his politics were irrational but they had either to withdraw from the Congress or place their intelligence at his feet to do with, as he liked. In a position of such absolute irresponsibility Gandhi was guilty of blunder after blunder, failure after failure, disaster after disaster.

Gandhi’s pro-Muslim policy is blatantly in his perverse attitude on the question of the national language of India. It is quite obvious that Hindi has the most prior claim to be accepted as the premier language. In the beginning of his career in India, Gandhi gave a great impetus to Hindi but as he found that the Muslims did not like it, he became a champion of what is called Hindustani. Everybody in India knows that there is no language called Hindustani; it has no grammar; it has no vocabulary. It is a mere dialect; it is spoken, but not written. It is a bastard tongue and crossbreed between Hindi and Urdu, and not even the Mahatma’s sophistry could make it popular. But in his desire to please the Muslims he insisted that Hindustani alone should be the national language of India. His blind followers, of course, supported him and the so-called hybrid language began to be used. The charm and purity of the Hindi language was to be prostituted to please the Muslims. All his experiments were at the expense of the Hindus.

From August 1946 onwards the private armies of the Muslim League began a massacre of the Hindus. The then Viceroy, Lord Wavell, though distressed at what was happening, would not use his powers under the Government of India Act of 1935 to prevent the rape, murder and arson. The Hindu blood began to flow from Bengal to Karachi with some retaliation by the Hindus. The Interim Government formed in September was sabotaged by its Muslim League members right from its inception, but the more they became disloyal and treasonable to the government of which they were a part, the greater was Gandhi’s infatuation for them. Lord Wavell had to resign as he could not bring about a settlement and he was succeeded by Lord Mountbatten. King Log was followed by King Stork.

The Congress, which had boasted of its nationalism and socialism, secretly accepted Pakistan literally at the point of the bayonet and abjectly surrendered to Jinnah. India was vivisected and one-third of the Indian territory became foreign land to us from August 15, 1947. Lord Mountbatten came to be described in Congress circles as the greatest Viceroy and Governor-General this country ever had. The official date for handing over power was fixed for June 30, 1948, but Mountbatten with his ruthless surgery gave us a gift of vivisected India ten months in advance. This is what Gandhi had achieved after thirty years of undisputed dictatorship and this is what Congress party calls ‘freedom’ and ‘peaceful transfer of power’. The Hindu-Muslim unity bubble was finally burst and a theocratic state was established with the consent of Nehru and his crowd and they have called ‘freedom won by them with sacrifice’ – whose sacrifice? When top leaders of Congress, with the consent of Gandhi, divided and tore the country – which we consider a deity of worship – my mind was filled with direful anger.

One of the conditions imposed by Gandhi for his breaking of the fast unto death related to the mosques in Delhi occupied by the Hindu refugees. But when Hindus in Pakistan were subjected to violent attacks he did not so much as utter a single word to protest and censure the Pakistan Government or the Muslims concerned. Gandhi was shrewd enough to know that while undertaking a fast unto death, had he imposed for its break some condition on the Muslims in Pakistan, there would have been found hardly any Muslims who could have shown some grief if the fast had ended in his death. It was for this reason that he purposely avoided imposing any condition on the Muslims. He was fully aware of from the experience that Jinnah was not at all perturbed or influenced by his fast and the Muslim League hardly attached any value to the inner voice of Gandhi.

Gandhi is being referred to as the Father of the Nation. But if that is so, he had failed his paternal duty inasmuch as he has acted very treacherously to the nation by his consenting to the partitioning of it. I stoutly maintain that Gandhi has failed in his duty. He has proved to be the Father of Pakistan. His inner-voice, his spiritual power and his doctrine of non-violence of which so much is made of, all crumbled before Jinnah’s iron will and proved to be powerless.

Briefly speaking, I thought to myself and foresaw I shall be totally ruined, and the only thing I could expect from the people would be nothing but hatred and that I shall have lost all my honour, even more valuable than my life, if I were to kill Gandhiji. But at the same time I felt that the Indian politics in the absence of Gandhiji would surely be proved practical, able to retaliate, and would be powerful with armed forces. No doubt, my own future would be totally ruined, but the nation would be saved from the inroads of Pakistan. People may even call me and dub me as devoid of any sense or foolish, but the nation would be free to follow the course founded on the reason which I consider to be necessary for sound nation-building. After having fully considered the question, I took the final decision in the matter, but I did not speak about it to anyone whatsoever. I took courage in both my hands and I did fire the shots at Gandhiji on 30th January 1948, on the prayer-grounds of Birla House.

I do say that my shots were fired at the person whose policy and action had brought rack and ruin and destruction to millions of Hindus. There was no legal machinery by which such an offender could be brought to book and for this reason I fired those fatal shots.

I bear no ill will towards anyone individually but I do say that I had no respect for the present government owing to their policy, which was unfairly favourable towards the Muslims. But at the same time I could clearly see that the policy was entirely due to the presence of Gandhi. I have to say with great regret that Prime Minister Nehru quite forgets that his preachings and deeds are at times at variances with each other when he talks about India as a secular state in season and out of season, because it is significant to note that Nehru has played a leading role in the establishment of the theocratic state of Pakistan, and his job was made easier by Gandhi’s persistent policy of appeasement towards the Muslims.

I now stand before the court to accept the full share of my responsibility for what I have done and the judge would, of course, pass against me such orders of sentence as may be considered proper. But I would like to add that I do not desire any mercy to be shown to me, nor do I wish that anyone else should beg for mercy on my behalf. My confidence about the moral side of my action has not been shaken even by the criticism levelled against it on all sides. I have no doubt that honest writers of history will weigh my act and find the true value thereof some day in future.

-NATHURAM GODSE

Recreated : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHVS6Xw9okg&feature=related

The World is being drowned in Cola

Fairy Tale, Year 2020: Once upon a time, there lived a nuked orphan prince of Taliban in his beautiful castle of 2000 calorie coco-chocolate, enamelled with dripping 2500 calorie mozzarella cheese. He fell in love with a gorgeous princess of far away land of the Korean terrorist camps in the hills of magnificent tobacco smokes and flavoured whiskey. The love was blissful, white doves flew in grey smoked skies and peacocks danced in acid rain, their armies of Godzilla and anacondas were all in a state of NATO ecstasy of the cold war era.

This all was soon ransacked by a tsunami of Colas and Diet Colas and other carbonated drinks. The prince in shining armour getting drowned in the colas trying to save his princess with Celine Dion’s ‘My heart will go on…’, playing in the background. Will the couple live happily ever after?

Cynics blame cola drinks for all that’s wrong in the world and now they have even gone to the extent of claiming that the world might one day sink in cola. I won’t be surprised if a mammoth calculation and analysis proves that the trigger for the World War-II was indeed a cola. How can the world, or for that matter any part of the world, sink in Cola? This statement can be analysed under three heads – the health effects, the cultural effects and the economical effects of the popularity of the colas.

The health standards might actually be falling because of the colas and that seems to be the strongest reason for claiming that the world is sinking under cola. But this is half of the story, and to better understand whether health is deteriorated due to cola or not, we need to analyse a host of topics. What we need to consider is when do people drink/consume the cola drinks? What are the substitutes available to them? The fact is that almost all aerated drinks/sodas, including the colas, are either consumed with friends as a substitute for tea or beer, or consumed for taste as a replacement of tea, coffee, etc. Now the next logical question is that can alcohol be avoided in parties using anything other than colas…and the answer is a categorical ‘no’. Colas are used for breaking the ice and socialising, and they are certainly less harmful than the different forms of alcohol that they substitute. In terms of using cola drinks as a refresher, they replace tea and coffee which are perceived to be non-harmful in the Indian culture, due to their long history. On the contrary, both of them contain more caffeine[1][2][3][4] than the regular cola drinks (Pepsi, Coca-Cola). As far as the high level of sugar in cola drinks is concerned, all of them are available in their sugar-free versions with zero calorie content[5][6], known as the ‘diet’ version. Lately, the cola giants have also introduced new variants with zero caffeine content[6][7], which shows their commitment to community health. In India, the annual per capita consumption of cola is approximately four bottles[8] per person which is much less than the per capita consumption of concentrated liquor[9][10]. The simple question here is whether it is better to drink alcohol or cola? Cola does harm when consumed excessively, yet its ability to harm is much less than that of coffee and tea.

Talking of cultural imperialism, people around the world and in the Indian subcontinent in particular, are wary of anything that is remotely American. We believe that if we drink the colas, then we are actually falling prey to the American way of living. If we look at the advertisements of these colas in India, we realise that they try to cater to the local audience/consumer by promoting their drink to be consumed alongside paranthas and not pizzas; during Diwali and not Thanksgiving. They even adapt to the local requirements and that is one of greatest reasons why Thumps-up, a brand of The Coca-Cola Company, comes with greater fizz[11][12] so as to appeal to the taste buds of the local population; and not surprisingly it has the largest market share in the cola market even with minimal marketing expenditure. The only deducible conclusion is that all arguments regarding cultural imperialism are nothing but hollow.

Finally taking up the issue of economic imperialism, in a world of lassie fairer any claims of economic imperialism by a single product makes very limited sense. India’s balance of trade with the USA is tilted in India’s favour (USD 11,735 million in 2004)[13]. If we still feel that because of one particular product we might be economically imperialised then we also need to consider the huge population of Indians working in firms servicing the US clients and those who are working in America and are sending huge remittances back home. Coca-Cola India alone creates employment for 125,000[8] Indians directly or indirectly. Since this argument also falls flat on its face, we need to analyse the real reasons for the blanket statement, which is our topic.

The reason for making such a blanket statement is simple – there are people who are wary of anything that give us happiness. What we should understand is that though drinking cola is not healthy but it is certainly a lot better than tea, coffee and alcohol- the other drinks that we generally use. We need to reduce our intake of these drinks, as an excess of everything is bad, but this certainly does not mean that we shift over to tea or coffee. Next time that you drink a cola, be happy and proud because you are doing good to the economy, and you have avoided a coffee or alcohol in doing so.

And since all of us like happy endings, we will let Celine Dion drop the high note and ask the Taliban prince and his Korean sweetheart to wade through the cola waters, and live happily ever after.



References:
1. Journal of Food Science, 2007
2. ‘Tea Consumption and the Prevalence of Coronary Heart Disease in Saudi Adults: Results from A Saudi National Study’, Iman A. Hakim, Mohammed A. Alsaif, Mansour Alduwaihy, Khalid Al-Rubeaan, Abdul Rahman Al-Nuaim and Omar S. Al-Attas, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science
3. USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, 2007
4. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeine/AN01211
5. http://pepsi.com/pepsi_brands/product_info/dietpepsimax/index.php
6. http://www.dietcoke.com/
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepsi_Free
8. ‘Coca-Cola India’, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, no. 1-0085
9. ‘Alcohol in India’, Monica Arora, HRIDAY/SHAN, www.ias.org.uk/resources/publications/theglobe/globe200103-04/gl200103-04_p27.html
10. ‘India: Alcohol and public health’, Dr Vivek Benegal, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengalūru
11. http://www.dietcoke.com/
12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepsi_Free
13. http://www.indiaonestop.com/tradepartners/us/indo_us_trade.html

“End of an Era”

Rajmata Sa for people from Jaipur and Maharani Gayatri Devi for the world - passed away this week. All of a sudden I feel that my childhood is over. I was fortunate enough to have met her a few times very early in my life - an advantage of being a Mansinghite.

I can very vivdly recollect moments when I along with my friends would sneak into the gardens of her home to fetch our ball while playing tennis at Lilypool Garden. She always ensured that all was well with her disciplines (however outdated the word might sound). The major part of the Jaipur was developed by an active contribution from her and her husband – His Highness Maharaja Sawai Man Singh –II. She was full of energy even at an age of eighty and that too to the extent that she would leave my classmates behind while inspecting the parade during Republic Day celebrations at school.

She had an aura around her and a charm which cannot be expressed through this medium. She would come down to my school in her vintage car along with her ADC and would ensure that she leaves everyone spell-bound with her anecdotes usually talking about her brothers and family during her early days at Cooch Bihar.

At times I wonder how anyone could be nasty with a lady like her but then maybe that is the way the world is supposed to be. Indira Gandhi, whom I respect for her handling of foreign affairs and the setting up of our intelligence service – RAW, had also been nasty with Rajmata Sa. Indira Gandhi tried to clip her wings in every possible manner through making His Highness an ambassador, by putting her behind the bars, by abolishing privy purses (breaking GoI’s treaties with independent kingdoms), by playing around with the list of the electorate when she contested for the legislative assembly and by numerous other ways. It is said that at Indira Gandhi’s behest Rajmata Sa’s palaces and vaults were looted so as to reduce her financial independence. To make matters worse her own grandchildren tried to sue her for property and that too then when their father, Prince Jagat Singh had disinherited them. Rajmata Sa had opened a school in Jaga ki Bawri which was named Lalitya Kumari Bal Niketan after her grand-daughter and this very grand-daughter of her was up in arms against her. Rajmata Sa gave away all of her and her deceased son’s property to these grand-children but their conduct towards her was not appreciable.

The lady who gave her everything to her disciplines received lots of love and respect from them and I suppose that more than made up for all thge hardships that she had to face.

May Rajmata Sa’s soul rest in peace.

Pride and Prejudice

Up from the sky he saw
Upon the corporeal
He was filled with superciliousness
Of the immense power in possess
He was epicenter of supremacy
The mine-field of ascendancy
He was the blazing SUN
He was akin to none

He restricted the day
He proscribed the night
He could make all shiver when dull
He could burn alive when blistering bright
He ruled the world
He was the blazing SUN
He was akin to none

He looked down from the zenith
Overflowed with self-pride
His ascendancy getting him prejudiced
Of underestimating the other
Stagnation with smugness
Had made him forget how to flutter
He was the blazing SUN
He was akin to none

Out of nowhere came his insignificant foe
The minuscule rival called himself CLOUD
Blithely he covered the scorching sun
The incontestable authority was on a down-run
The minutest of all
Had dwarfed the tallest among the tall
He was still the blazing sun
But no more was he the HUN

- Saurabh Bajaj

Do we need annual Republic Day parade? - Coomi Kapoor

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/do-we-need-annual-republic-day-parade/415724/

I am almost a quarter century old and the first memory that I have of reading the paper is some 15 years old, when as a school kid I used to read Coomi's column every Sunday in which she used to write short stories. Since then I've always identified sensible and true journalism with her. Even now she is thinking out of the box but sadly for the first time I do not buy her view-point.

Doing SWOT analysis and DCF analysis of everything is not a sensible activity especially if we do not consider the intangibles. Making the Republic Day a biyearly event will not lead to any solution, such cost-cutting might not be of much help. Moreover the confidence or otherwise that such an activity shall create in the minds of the public, especially in such turbulent times is something beyond comprehension. The basic fallacy in Coomi's argument is that she has totally ignored the importance of tradition and the reasons which led to the start of the celebration.

As far as the idea of introducing movie-stars to make the parade more interesting is concerned it is as ludicrous as introducing porn stars to attract adolescents to temples...

Status Messages

Almost everyone I know of uses either Yahoo Messenger and Gtalk.
Here are a few of the intresting ones that I've read in 2008.

• I am going for an MBA - Masters in Beer Administration
• SHIT Happens!! Learn to Flush...
• 99% of MBAs are shrewd and they bring a bad name to the rest.
• I hate racists and blacks.
• I had no shoes then I heard of a man who threw his at Bush !!
• All nuts get sluts.

Shall soon append more.

Yearning to Relive Life!

One fine morning, we all reached Joka

Saw the clouds in the sky, trees around the lakes and sung together

Every now and then we drew a roadmap for ourselves

Using our own colours, we painted our own universe

We saw our little dreams of making it big here

We had our own crushes, fights and parties

It was as if time stood still for all of us

There was no reason for us to pretend

We all had so much fun together

All were young and full of life

Those two years seemed to be so long back then

And now when I look back, they were passed by even before I could blink

I often come back here to look at it

Here upon this windy old asphalt road

Still stands the jetty complementing the lake

The old class rooms, alongside the new ones

I always carry the memories of how it used to be

A constant reminder of the bonds we built

I'll never forget all that Joka taught me

And all that it made me achieve

I always hoped that one day we'll all reunite

Recollect and relive those moments. And the time has come

The above written poem has been penned by me expressing the views of an alumnus from the 1983 batch of IIM Calcutta, after interacting with him.