"KASHMIR--CURSE AND CURE OF ITS HISTORY"--EXCERPTS FROM SECTION ONE OF MY BOOK

Dear Readers,
I am posting SECTION 3 of Chapter1 of my book "KASHMIR--FOOTNOTES FROM HISTORY--Its CURSE AND CURE" to give you an insight into the minds of ORDINARY KASHMIRI outside the precincts of SRINAGAR. Read it , If there is a demand--I might post the entire book as a serialised blogs. It is stuck up with the Publishers for deletion of certain portions in Section THIRTEEN. I will post it later. The book is slightly different as it is based on a HISTORICAL IRONY which suggests that KASHMIR has undergone the domination of a religion every 780-800 years of its known history. They are called GRAND CYCLES of HISTORY. Each Grand Cycle is divided into three SUB CYCLES of 260-270 years. First one is ESTABLISHMENT & PATRONISATION by RULERS; Second one is CONSOLIDATION, PROGRESS & PROSPERITY; Third one is of DECAY & DEGENERATION. Currently, KASHMIR is in its FIFTH known GRAND CYCLE of history. It is of ISLAM DOMINATION. This grand cycle started in 1342 AD and its GOLDEN PERIOD of two sub cycles ended in 1820 AD--when MAHARAJA RANJIT annexed it from AFGHANS. Ever since its DECAY & DEGENERATION started and it will end by the END of 21st Century when SIXTH grand Cycle will begin. It is only then the normalacy will return. For full information on this you can read my SYNOPSIS of the book posted at the LINK:

http://rajee.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/04/kashmir-a-curse-and-cure-of-its-history.htm

Here I am posting only SECTION 3 of the book--It has 15 sections from history to dispute to theory of grand cycles and contours of Interim solution. If the response is Ok --I might post the entire book in blogs only.
Read on SECTION 3:-
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“AZADI”! A MATTER OF BASIC HUMAN NEEDS- HUNGER,



SHELTER AND CLOTHING!



The month of March 1998 covered India with a dense fog of political instability. The results of general elections in the country created strange bed-fellows. Rank opportunists joined hands to make a concerted bid to grab political power. Political ideologies were thrown to the winds and politicians of all hue and cries threw their masks and revealed their true faces. And nation witnessed, with utmost astonishment, that all of them were dyed in one colour – only one colour – that was the colour of political power. All of them rallied under two separate banners i.e. one, donned the colours of ‘Secularism’, the other of ‘Cultural Nationalism’. ‘The Secularists’ accused others as ‘Communalists’. The exponents of ‘Cultural Nationalism’ branded their opponents as ‘Pseudo – Seculars’. While one saw virtues in corruption, the others sang swan-songs in honour of regional satraps. Power, the political power, was the end game of politicians, while teeming millions; some say 400 millions’, from city – slums to remote villages; from railway tracks to Metro–pavements; from industry labourers to construction workers, all cried aloud for ‘Food, Shelter and Clothing’. But all their cries were drowned in the din and noise of the clichéd slogans of the politicians.
Witness some of these substitutes for ‘Food, shelter and clothing’ on offer by these political masters! One thundered unashamedly, “Communalism is more dangerous; corruption is not” and beat his chest repeatedly while adjusting and re-adjusting his ‘Gandhi-cap’ to hide his greyed hair. I wondered why there were no floods the same night at ‘Raj Ghat’ in New Delhi, because ‘Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi’ would have definitely cried the whole day in his tomb.
Watch the other one, who said, “These pseudo – secularists have plundered the nation over the last fifty years and they have fooled the masses. Corruption in high places is the biggest road block in our march towards progress and development.” I waited a whole fortnight to hear the sounds of gunfire from Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and Himachal Pradesh. (Remember Jai Lalita’s and Sukh Ram’s alleged corruption cases!) I was certain some people there would definitely face firing squads.
But, Lo! The reverse had happened. The people, one had expected to be in the line of firing squads, had actually taken the role of a firing squad. And the poetical mask of the hero of ‘Nehru’s prophecy’ in early fifties was off! Then again, though Jawahar Lal Nehru would have fretted and fumed with fire in his eyes in his peaceful abode at ‘Shanti van’ but his ‘Van’ (Jungle) was not on fire, as no one requisitioned the fire brigade when the lady from Chennai threw her weight behind the prophet of ‘Hate-Corrupt-Campaign’. This makes one feel that clichéd slogan of ‘food, shelter and clothing’ for every one is essentially a self-driven aphorism of our wily ruling class? And yet, violence-torn; poverty-stricken and corruption-tormented millions in this country look towards morally-bankrupt, ethically-deficient and scruples-lacking political leaders to do wonders for them.
And the people of the Kashmir valley, the poorest of the poor Indians, are no exception. Any one who sold them the dreams of ‘Food, shelter and clothing’ down the ages, they tagged along with him. If it was Sheikh Abdulla’s National Conference in Forties, they threw their lot with him. But while he and his ‘National – Conference –people’ became rich, the people became poorer. Then came ‘Bakshi’, ‘Sadiq’ and host of others. But no one did anything to change their lot. Frustrated and disappointed, they looked west and in came ‘Zia Ul Haq’s ‘Gillanis’, ‘Butts’, ‘Lones’ and ‘Maliks’ with hopes of a better life. And, so became ‘Zaved Mirs’, ‘Yasin Maliks’, and ‘Salaludins’, ‘Majid Dars’ the instant heroes of Kashmiris. Ten to 12 years, the people waited for them to deliver. They could see only Yaseen Malik’s trust of Rs one Crore or more’ or Amanulla Khan’s bludgeoning accounts in London. They watched ‘Gillanis’, ‘Lones’ and ‘Butts’ doing tango at the behest of ‘Zia-ul-Haq’s political descendants. Where were those promised basic amenities –the food, shelter and the clothing?
In the year 1998, they were as elusive as in the year 1342 AD or the year 530 AD or in the year 250 BC or in the year 1100 BC- when Lord Krishna, the great Aryan strategist of MAHABHARTA fame, beheaded Gonanda I, who was the ruling Naga king of the land (modern Kashmir) inhabited by the descendants of Neela Nag. I do not say this. Their history, as I read and as I was prompted and exhorted by Kalmuddin on March 14, 1998, to minutely understand it, speaks for them.
I repeat what Kalmuddin said to me on March 14, 1998, “Facts speak and I do not”. It was unique day in the Indian History too. This was the day when Sonia Gandhi ousted Sita Ram Kesari as Congress President and AIADMK supremo from Chennai had given her support to Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. This was the day, when lesser mortals like Kalmuddin and me met on the snow-covered heights of Shamshabari Range. And I wonder, if this was the day Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee realized the crown he picked up from the dusty lands of Indian Politics was studded with thorns and nails of his NDA (National Democratic Alliance) barbs. Perhaps one day, poet in him, will spill out the beans. This is my poetic hunch. I may not be right. And I never claim righteousness my forte alone. But I have a story to tell of my friend Kalmuddin’s sense of history. I must get on with it.

14 March 1998! The day was as bright as it could be on those snow-covered mountains of Shamshabari range. There was 12 to 15 feet of snow all around. We walked through those tunneled pathways, panting and grasping for breath, hoping for the summer to come soon. You see, in these snow-bound areas, life in winters is miserable. Hold on! I am not talking about Siachen Glacier, where I had been in 1986-87 winters. I do not know, at this stage, if I would be able to narrate those experiences. It is suffice to know it was a bit better here.

It must have been around 11 AM on 14 March 1998, when my Personal Assistant (PA), in–walked with the name of a civilian, who wanted to meet me. I was not keen to meet anyone till he said, “He is Kalmuddin from Kachhama”. “Oh!” I said, “Send him in”. After a few seconds, the frail and fragile structure of a shabby looking Kashmiri walked into my office. I looked at him. He looked at me. It was an instant chemistry. Perhaps an immediate connection had been established. But at that precise moment I was arrogance personified.

“Suna phir Kalmu! Aj kidhar ghum raha hai? Islamabad wale aj ki kar rahe ne Hindustan Vich? Phir kadon hat raha hai teri twarikh da parda? (Hullo, kalmuddin! where are you loafing around? what brings the man from Islamabad (Pakistan’s Capital, the appellation for Kachhama!) to Hindustan? So, when is your history unveiling itself?)” I shot these questions at him with deliberate intent.

“Janab! Badde aadmi ho! Majakh kar sakde ho. Asin ki tuswan de samne? Je janab di mehar ho jaye tan kuchh roti- kapde da heela ho jaye. (Sir! you are a big man. You can make fun of us. We are a small fry in front of you. If your Lordship is kind enough to give us some employment, it will go a long way to meet our basic human needs of food and clothing”). Kalmuddin rebutted me most humbly and made a request in a most dignified manner as he could do. (Our conversation was always in a mix of Urdu and Punjabi, but for the purpose of the readers of this book, hereafter, I will give the English translated version).

I was shaken by his simple but dignified rejoinder to my unwanted barbs at him. This was the second time he had the better of me. Re-gaining my composure, I said to him, “Who is this other man with you?”

“Sir! He is Gul Peer. He is an excellent carpenter. He is very good in errecting wooden structures “. Kalmuddin had quickly responded.

“But, where is your Noor Ahmed Shah? Has he not come back”, I asked.

“Sir, he will come. Definitely, he will come to you. He is a politician and he is a very busy man these days”. Gul Peer had opened his mouth.

“Kalmuddin! What employment can I give you? I have no jobs. Why don’t you approach Civil Administration?” I tried to evade them.

“Sir, You alone can do it. Civil administration will not do it. If they could do it why should there be unrest in Kashmir?” Kalmuddin was very emphatic.

“But Kalmu, my friend, I am not an employment agency. Why don’t you understand this?” I showed my helplessness.

“Sir, you are God. Keep us as porters or whatever you think. But if you want, sky is the limit”, he flattered me.

“When you want to exploit human ego”, they say, “Go and praise the man who can serve your purpose”. I knew Kalmuddin was doing exactly the same. I only wondered if Kalmuddin and his companion, Gul Peer, were convinced that I would fall prey to their flattery! In my life, I have always hated sycophancy. In fact it puts me off to the point of hatred. I detest it so much that I develop an instant despise for its practitioner. This is my failing and this is my biggest weakness. I often show it instantly whoever its practitioner might be. I, therefore, reacted very characteristically, “Listen Kalmuddin, first of all I am not god nor do I recognize religious gods what other people believe in. No, I am not talking about a Hindu God, Islamic God or whatever other kinds of Gods people talk about. I feel if there were some ‘Supreme – Being’, he ought not to be divided as a piece of cake amongst various known religions. He is ‘One’ and ‘the only One’ – who rules the world. It is the lesser mortals like us who slice him into pieces and make our own pieces of cake with icing as per our tastes.”

“We know it, Sir. You are the person who understands the true definition of ‘God’. Why do you think we are here? It is a matter of food, shelter and clothing for us. We are illiterate and we only understand that ‘God’ who can provide us all this”. Gul Peer had tried to soften me.

“But Gul”, I said, “I am not God, the way you people are demanding things out of me. I can not fulfill.”

“Yes! You cannot. When did we say you can? But it is people like you, who have to take a rationale view of our psyche; Kashmir and Kashmiris need a ‘Kashyap’. Can you be the one, Sir?” Gul Peer threw a red – herring.

“Kashyap was the one who rid this valley of Jallodhva-an ancient terrorist. Kashyap was a great sage of ancient times. To rid this valley of Jallodhva’s tyranny he worshipped for one thousand years”, Kalamuddin was elaborating.

I was now on unknown grounds. I was being sucked into an argument, I knew nothing about it. History has never been my forte. Here was a man quoting from history to make me realize how uncomfortable I was. But I did not give in and said, “Gul! Do not bully me with your knowledge. Give me time and I will know all about this. But what has history got to do with our present problem?”

“It stems from history.” Kalmuddin was curt and crisp.

“And what is it?” I made this mistake of asking him.

“Food, shelter and clothing”, he was quick.

“Back to square one? Where does it take us”, I said?

“What is being requested to your honour is to consider our case sympathetically.” Gul Peer announced.

“Alright, If I do find a job for you, what would you like to do, besides lecturing me on history”, I teased.

“If it happens, sir, our faith in real Allah! (God) will deepen. We will not look towards ‘man-made-Gods’ to seek solace”, Gul Peer stunned me.

“What? What? What did you say? What do you mean by ‘Man –Made- Gods”, I stammered?

“Our religious icons–who thrive on our general frustration! In the name of God and Freedom – who preach blood- shed”, Gul Peer made it so simple.

“Why only Kashmir? This is applicable in all parts of India, Perhaps the whole world. For ever, man lives in eternal ‘Ghettos-of-Mind’. His fear and frustration keep him constantly imprisoned into the four walls of a religion he acquires at the time of his birth. He can never break free of it. The label of birth becomes his identity”, I spontaneously said, astonished by my own words.

“You are right, Sir! It is our birth label, which we constantly identify and display but do not follow its principles. No religion tells you to rape women; kill other and hurt people. No religion asks you to hate others. Who was that famous Urdu poet, who said, “--------Religion does not teach you to sustain mutual animosity------- so on and so forth”, Kalmuddin said. “Oh! Yea. Doctor, Sir Iqbal Mohammed”, I said.

“You know Sir! His ancestors were Khoja Hindus of North Kashmir”, it was Gul Peer who surprised me.

“What? Doctor Iqbal Mohammed owed his ancestry to Kashmir? And he talked of India? What did he say, ‘----------Hindi we are and our nation is Hindustan-------”, I asked.

“Yes Sir! “Gul Peer affirmed.

It was almost 1230 AM. Our conversation was getting stretched. All the same, I was, by now, impressed with them. I mentally decided to employ them as porters. But I wanted to first check if they were really genuine. Therefore I had to break-off my dialogue with them for the day.

“All right. Kalmuddin, come over in a week’s time, I will do something for you”, I said.

“You are our only hope. Sir, you must give us a job”, Kalmuddin insisted.

“Ok! I will do something”, I dismissed them.

After the two-some left my office, I began to ponder if Kashmir – imbroglio was only a matter of food, shelter and clothing! It could not be. There was something more to it. What did Sigmund Freud say while laying the foundation of the theory of Psychoanalysis? He had said that man was in eternal conflict because of the clash in his mind of three elements i.e. Id (Innate desires), super Ego (Social censor) and external factors (worldly realities). I wondered, then, if social systems or even political systems too, were governed by the same principle. Much water has flown into Jhelum since Sigmund Freud first pronounced his theory in 1920.

But a question kept begging my mind. I asked myself, “How does one analyse Kashmir issue”. It gave rise to two more questions i.e. “What lies at core of the problem” and “Where does it begin”. Whenever I cobbled up an answer to one question, a few more questions sprang up. It was a series of these questions, which impelled me to go to the roots. Sure, I had to know the history of Kashmir from the ancient times to–date, to really understand the modern crisis. As Sigmund Freud explained and as Thomas Harrison reveals in his book, “I am ok, you are ok”, the behaviour and a conduct of a man is dictated by the impressions gained in the infantile years. And I am inclined to believe, as societies and polities are human driven, though collectively, yet the same principle must be applicable to them too. Each society and a polity must have its Id (instinctual desires), which are controlled by its super ego (National and political restrictions) and interacted upon by external factors (Geographic, regional, lingual and religious realities). Repression of Id during the infantile years by super Ego causes phobias and phobias when interact with worldly realities (external factor), it gives rise to personal prejudices which explains what seems to be irrational conduct of individuals, groups, communities, societies and political systems. Therefore the problem lies in the formative years. You can explain Indo-Pak relation with the help of this theory of Sigmund Freud. And in the case of Kashmir, I identify it with its early history as known to us.

It was this thought process, which made me critically examine the history of Kashmir and evaluate its present dilemma. Kalmuddin and Gul Peer were to provide initial insight into their history.
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IN MY TIMES; IN THY LAND!

Grand Pa! Grand Pa!! Where are thou?
Dare ye answer my questions so?
What kind of freedom ye sought?
Against foreign rule, whence ye fought;
Was it to obtain freedom of expression?
Or to assume the right of suppression?
Did it envision a license to kill?
Or ye meant ‘corrupt at will’!
Were ‘law’ and ‘out law’ to move hand in hand?
So ye desired, for my times, in thy land!



‘Complete Independence’ was the slogan,
If ye remember the ‘Lahore’ resolution;
Freedom came in forty-seven,
Whence ye ensconced safely in heavens;
How could ye see houses uprooted?
Transmigration of humans mooted!
Men were slaughtered, children maimed,
Blood gushed through alleys and drains;
Women smothered, girls raped in dust and sand,
That’s the freedom of thy times for my land!



Grandson! Grandson!! I hear thee lad,
Our dream was noble, some acts went mad;
Freedom we longed of a different kind;
Issues ye raise never crossed the mind;
Yes! We strived for freedom of expression-
Free of regional and communal passions;
‘Self -rule’ with dignity what we wanted,
‘Chaos’ and ‘disorder’ were not to be granted;
‘Freedom’ sought equality in all our schemes,
‘Religion’ and ‘regions’ were excluded themes.



Grand Pa! Grand Pa!! What thou raved?
A kind of obsession harbors each slave;
‘Freedom’ ye wept; ‘Freedom’ ye screamed!
Did thou know what real ‘Freedom’ means?
‘Foreign-rule-hate’ was the only one bond-
Tied ye till ‘independence’, not beyond;
Emotionally blinded, ye had no other vision,
‘Self-Rule-thought’ was a myopic mission;
Yes! A slave only longs to be free of chains,
Concern of the future is seldom entertained.



Thy idealistic logic of a secular polity -
An alien thought, was devoid of reality!
Fractured into regions, cut by religious lanes,
How could ‘Secularism’ mould it into one frame?
Self -interests emerged when freedom came,
Regional virus spread like forest flame;
Religious gulf widened, Language obfuscating,
‘Self-Rule-dream’ soon turned frustrating;
Each group promoted its selfish brand,
'Freedom’ so hailed for my times in thy land!



Grand Son! Grandson!! Thou forget thee history-
‘Tyranny’ and ‘infighting’ led to doom our ancestry;
‘Slaves?’ thou said, ‘yes, we were slaves’-
Of foreign intrigues, not mindless craze;
Thou are slaves of money and vicious thinking,
Thy mind is decaying, thy acts are stinking;
We laid down lives to make ye people free,
Ye kill thy brethren on a selfish plea;
Marriage have become thy money-spinning fads,
Evil rules the roost in thy times in my land.


Grand Pa! Grand pa!! I respect thee emotions,
But, surely, we differ on various notions;
Boast ye may of self-less ideals,
We promote our self with utmost zeal;
Ye dreamt of India as one big frame,
We segmented it as lingual grains;
Thy endless jail-sojourns sought no rewards-
‘Pass port’ they became to make us over-lords;
‘Selfless-sacrifices’ placed power in the hands-
Of self-serving families, of thy times in my land.



Freedom ye conceived of an utopian kind;
What we practice is freedom of mind;
Mind is free to think and perceive;
Whatever one deems, as one believes;
Thou shackled thyself in peaceful processions,
Our ‘Freedom’ hates such impotent obsessions;
Policemen are free to poke ‘under-trials’ eyes,
Crime in politics is a budding enterprise;
‘Free-for-all’ is the symphony of our cultural band,
‘Unshackled Freedom’ reigns my times in thy land.



Grandson! Grandson!! Hold thy tongue;
Such clumsy thoughts do make me dumb;
We won the freedom; ye enjoy its fruits,
What freedom we desired, ye corrupted its roots;
We renounced riches for freedom sake,
Thy passion is money, rest every -thing fake;
We steered the boat out of a stormy sea;
Ye are drilling holes on self -seeking plea;
Time ye stop running foreigner’s errand!
Lest India balkanize like ‘Soviet Land’.


Grand pa! Grand pa!! Ye do make a point,
Do ideals and ethics in our context count?
Yes! ‘Rama’ and ‘Krishna’ glorify television,
But their central diktat is no one’s mission,
Deadly wars followed, when women sacrileged
‘Sita’ by ‘Ravana’;‘Draupadi’ by ‘Kaurava-breed’.
Behold! Today no conscience is pricked,
If a girl fed to flames like a wooden-stick;
Shameful! Our culture has turned so bland,
What a freedom? For my times in thy land!



Right you are! Grand pa, you are right!!
Desensitized people deserve this plight;
Incest is common; mass rapes aplenty,
Being sister or daughter is just no warranty;
In temples and shrines no priests reside;
Butchers and sages together seek a hide;
‘Criminalized politics’ makes no one dazed,
For, money is ‘God’, as all other displaced;
Alas! Democracy runs on caste-creed brands!
Upturned morals rule my times, this mighty land!
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“I WANT TO MOTHER YOU!”—A SHORT STORY! -------PART TWO

Story So Far. Refer to Link:http://rajee.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/08/i-want-to-mother-you-a-short-story-part-one.htm

As Rajneesh was sitting in the departure lounge of the domestic terminal of Chennai air port after the security check-in, the names of Hashim Ali, Madurai, Chennai, Dubai, Hafeez, Sakeena and the ‘Dubai Times’ report of 23 July 2003, were, time and again, springing up in his mind in a disconcerted manner. He was desperately trying to connect the wires and get a complete picture. It was only in July 2006, he had left that organization. James had left in May 2003. It was James who handled that Operation ‘Games of the Foxes’ before he left the organization. A guy by the name of Hashim Ali was codenamed ‘FOX’ in this Operation. He was working, as a cover, with an oil company. He directly reported to James till he left the organization in May 2003. They used to often meet in Chennai only. But , for some reasons, FOX had to be moved out of Dubai. He had bungled one of the operations, where he failed to execute the most wanted criminal of India, who was living in Dubai under an alias. Some suspected that FOX had tipped of the guy himself before he carried out the failed operation. Amidst reports in April 2002, that he was working for ISI of Pakistan and was double crossing Rajneesh’s outfit, he was ordered to be extricated and terminated. The CHARMER of FOX was given this task and it was confirmed by the CHARMER to James, who had protested this and after the incident he left in May 2003. Thereafter, Rajneesh had never bothered to know about the case. May be, he no more considered its necessity.

Rajneesh now wondered if he was the same ‘Hashim Ali’ who was codenamed ‘FOX’ by his former organization? “So what”, he thought? “Didn’t ‘FOX’ directly report to him for some time”, he counter questioned himself? But he had a nagging doubt because as for as he recollected HASHIM was not a PETROLEUM ENGINEER and nor did he belong to Madurai. He had been recruited from Chennai in 1998. Oh yea! Wasn’t it James who had recruited him? So, was James hiding something from him? Do the wires connect to Chennai? Is it the key? Why did James bundle him out in a hurry from Chennai? Suddenly then, there was announcement for the Mumbai-bound passengers to move from ‘Gate No-3 ‘for boarding their flight. Rajneesh reluctantly got up and gave a one final look towards the city of Chennai. And he was on his way to the waiting passenger ferrying bus.

Jet Airways flight to Mumbai took off exactly as per schedule. Rajneesh had settled down in his seat next to the window. He looked at the city below. The city of Chennai, spread over an area of 181 square Kms (70 sq miles), had a rich history about itself. It was established in the 17th Century by the British and in 350 years or so it had come up as a big urban centre in the South. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal on the Eastern Coast of peninsular India. Till, the IT boom came, it was the most happening city of South India and was rightly called “The gateway to South India”. However, over the last two decades, it had lost its position of pre-eminence to Bangalore. Even Hyderabad was threatening to relegate it further in order of importance but the fall of Chandra Prabhu Naidu government In Andhra Pradesh had restored the balance.

Its earlier name was Madras. In 1996, it was changed to Chennai. It is believed the name Madras had a Portuguese origin from the village of MADRASPATTINAM which was established by them around 16th century. This village was located North of the fort of St. George. The name of MADRAS was derived either from a village established by them by the name of Madre de Deus or from the Maderios family who had consecrated the ‘Madre de dues’ Church in Santhome in 1575 AD. The name Chennai had been derived from another village called CHENNAAPATTINAM, again located close to the fort of St. George. The British had named this village after they had acquired it in 1639 AD from the king of Chandigiri through his chieftain CHENAPPA NAYAKA. They named the village after him. While the British administration preferred to address the city as MADRAS, the local sentiments were with the name CHENNAI. This duality in its name was removed in 1996 when its name was changed in tunes with the local population.

Rajneesh realized Chennai was a vast city. It could easily hide in its womb anyone who wanted to lead a nondescript life like Sheela Devi, aka Sabeena alias Shanta. It had a large economic base ranging from automobile industry to health care to software and financial services. The Chennai City is the SECOND largest software exporter of India. It accounts for almost 11 percent of the income of Tamil Nadu. It had 30 percent of India’s automobile Industry and 35 percent of auto parts manufacturing Industry. It caters for 50 % of India’s Leather exports. The city had a literacy rate of 80 percent as against the national average of 64percent. The city acted as a magnet for employment seekers and they swarmed it, as daily transients of around five lakh people. It is not for nothing Chennai is also called “DETROIT OF SOUTH ASIA”.

Rajneesh once again surveyed the disappearing landscape of the city and was convinced that it could easily be a safe heaven for all those who wanted to establish sleeping modules for Al-Qaida, LTTE, SIMI , HM, LET and host of other ‘Violence Perpetrating Organizations’. Only thing the members of their module had to ensure was to lead a normal and decent life, seemingly, as law-abiding citizens. No one can suspect them. It had, of late, become a hub of recruitment centre and parking place of ‘silent agents’ by the intelligence agencies, both Indian and foreign. Rajneesh, too, had indulged in this exercise, when with NASH.

Even as head of one of the MUSK (Most Unique Serpent Killers) Units of NASH (National Agency for Secure Homeland), he had authorized operations to eliminate silent agents of TANO (Terrorist and Anti-National Organizations) operating from Chennai. Hardly anyone in India or outside knew of NASH and MUSK. Everyone thought all these intelligent games were played by RAW, which was merely an intelligence gathering arm of the government of India.

NASH was created after the assassination of Sh. Rajeev Gandhi, and MUSK was its sub-unit. Initially, it had got volunteers from Army and other paramilitary forces. Officers were all from the army. Rajneesh and James were from the same unit in the army. In fact Rajneesh was the commanding officer and James was a very senior company commander when they both came over to NASH. They were all trained as ruthless killers in the specially erected school at Indore—which later shifted to Belgaum in Karnataka. From 1995 onwards, they started direct recruitment, both officers and EXECUTIONERS. Everyone was specially picked, trained for three years. Till about 2000 AD married men could join the organization but later the rule changed and only bachelors were recruited both as officers and men. They were thoroughly regimented and brain washed to dispel all emotions and remain loyal to the nation. Their emotional disposition was almost negligible—they were the carbon copy of UNIVERSAL SODIERS of the movie by the same name. On the orders of their CHARMER (one who handled the executioner) they were to just do the task without any forethought. CHARMER is the designation of a person who handles and operates five EXECUTIONERS of the MUSK (MOST UNIQUE SERPANT KILLERS). Five such CHARMERS are under a BOSS. Ten BOSSES made a WING. Two wings, EXTERNAL and INTERNAL, made a MUSK unit. NASH had three MUSK Units. Rajneesh had commanded No 1 MUSK Unit and James was his deputy.

MUSK was the executing arm of NASH. It had a license to eliminate anyone who was considered operating against the interests of the country. Generally members of TANO were their targets. Its operations were EXCLUSIVELY TOP SECRET. The National Security Advisor (NSA) and only the Prime minister of India knew of its existence. The director of NASH reported directly to NSA. The permission for operations in the foreign land was given by NSA on approval from the Prime minister. However, the operations within the country were approved by the NASH Director but the permission was given by MUSK head. As a cover, it was part of the METEROLOGICAL department’s weather forecasting unit. No one could get the wind of its existence. The members of this organization were deeply motivated, die-hard Indians. They were required to execute even their own relatives if found indulging in anti-national activities.

Members were allowed to leave after 10 years service. After they left, they were helped to get top jobs in the civil career by the organization. However, they were life long members and could be re-mustered any time. They were on contract never to reveal anything to anyone. If found out they were to be quietly executed. The executive members of MUSK were not allowed to marry for ten years after recruitment. It was a ruthless force with its members as highly trained sharp shooters and One-shot-Killers (OSK). Each member had to pass this OSK test in a specific assignment by MUSK head. It was here in Chennai that Hashim Ali had passed this test in 1998, when he had eliminated his own uncle, Shiraj Ali, a South India head of ISI module. He was thereafter whisked away to Dubai as a silent MUSK member -in-wait for further assignments. He had belonged to Chennai. His family lived here. He frequently visited it and had his relevant contacts. Chennai was now on the mental screen of Rajneesh.

In 2008, economy of the town was booming after the software industry had made its mark in the world. A large crop of IT professionals had sprung up in the city. They were very very mobile people—coming and going, like the flashes on the digital camera screens, from all over the world. Thus, the silent agents could keep lying dormant here without detection. In 2001, out of the total population of around 4.5 million, the city had a migrant population of about 9, 37000. This was around 21.5 percent of the city population. Approximately, 25% of the migrant population was from outside the state and it ought to cause a serious concern to security experts and all those entrusted with the task of crime and violence prevention.

Rajneesh knew all these relevant facts about Chennai from his past experiences It was always on the surveillance screen of NASH and was regularly frequented by MUSK Executioners and Charmers in search of their potential targets. Since 1991, Chennai had been recognized as a safe heaven for the silent operatives of TANO, who used to slip into the city after a major strike elsewhere and lie doggo here for sometimes. Rajneesh always wondered why there were no communal riots in Chennai despite a sizeable population of minority communities? Why was it an exception while Hyderabad and Bangalore did burn, in communal fires, occasionally? Was it the TANO managed peace and harmony, he had wondered? But currently, he was concentrating hard on HASHIM ALI & JAMES connection of Chennai? What was it?

According to Rajneesh’s fading memory , in the Operation ‘GAME OF THE FOXES’ , the last operation handled by James before he prematurely left the job voluntarily, he had claimed that the ‘FOX’ or so called HASHIM ALI was successfully extradited from Dubai to India. Then who was that Hashim Ali whose death was reported by DUBAI TIMES on 23 July 2003? What is all this? Rajneesh was definitely uncomfortable with himself.

At about this time, the voice of the pilot from the cockpit announced the landing of the aircraft at Mumbai airport. Rajneesh, after getting out of the aircraft straight reached the enquiry counter of Indian airlines. There was a flight to New Delhi at 2345 hours and the seat was available. Around 1.45 AM, the next morning, Rajneesh had landed at the domestic terminal of Indra Gandhi Airport. Having got his luggage, he left for New Delhi railway station and by 3 AM he was at his destination to catch the early morning SHATABADI to Chandigarh. The train left at 7.40 Am and Rajneesh slept out the three and a half our journey to Chandigarh. Thus, by 1200 hours, almost 21 hours later than his GREAT ESCAPE from Chennai he reached his home.

As soon as he entered the house, his wife asked, “What happened to James?”

Surprised, Rajneesh counter questioned,” Why? Nothing. What makes you ask this?”

“Mrs. James rang up from Chennai. She said that he had not returned home after he went to drop you at the airport” Mrs. Rajneesh informed.

“Strange? He had gone back home after dropping me at the airport”, Rajneesh said alarmingly.

“Whatever, you better speak to Celina James” Mrs. Rajneesh advised.

Rajneesh immediately dialed residential telephone of P S James and got connected to James residence. Some male voice answered the phone,” Yes, it is PS James Residence “

“I am Rajneesh speaking from Chandigarh—a friend of James—may I speak to him or his wife” Rajneesh replied.

“I am inspector Rajan Iyer of Chennai Police department. I am sorry to inform you Mr. PS James is no more.” The voice on the other side spoke very gently.

“What? How? What happened?” Rajneesh was shocked.

“He met an accident yesterday while driving back to his residence from the airport. It was a hit and run by some truck. The truck and the driver are not traceable. Some eye witnesses say his car was banged from behind and pushed down the slope.” Inspector Rajan clarified.

“May I speak to Mrs. Celina James?” Rajneesh requested.

“Sorry, sir! She is not in a state to speak—just half an hour back we had brought the body home from the hospital” inspector Rajan intimated.

“May I speak to any of her relatives” Rajneesh further requested.

“None here at the moment---you might like to ring up later. I am sorry we have to complete certain formalities here.” Inspector Rajan cut short the conversation and disconnected the line.

Rajneesh was awfully disturbed? He wondered whether it was a genuine accident or it was orchestrated one. Why should it be James? Was it Shanta, who arranged this accident? He was really puzzled and mind stopped functioning. He started glancing through the pages of Times Of India—Chandigarh edition. As he was going through Page 3 of the News paper, he found a news item on Chennai. His eyes stopped at the headline. He looked at it again, it screamed:

“A MEGA SEX SCANDAL ROCKS CHENNAI!”

Rajneesh‘s eyes began to scan the news item in a hurry. It was a news story filed by Bhootlingam Minakashi Sundaram Pillai---Chennai based special correspondent of TOI. The story read:

“On a specific tip-off, police had yesterday raided a house in Nungambakkam area for the alleged involvement of the lady occupant in flesh trade. A female Informer had intimated the police that two customers had just walked in. However, the police found the two persons in the house claiming to be working for a detective agency. They claimed they had been engaged by some ex-intelligence officer of the Government of India, probably RAW, to do a background check of a lady who had left 15 minutes before they had broken into. It is strange that a mutilated body of a middle aged woman was also recovered from the bathroom of the house. The woman has been identified from her passport as a Pakistani national, who had been illegally staying in India over the last nine years.

Reliable sources in the police have intimated that the woman had been living under an assumed name of Sheela Devi. Her actual name was Sabeena. As per her passport and other papers recovered from the house she had come in October 1998 to visit her younger sister Sakeena, married to an Indian, Hashim Ali of Madurai, who had worked in Dubai. She had a six months visa to stay in India. Her younger sister joined her husband in Dubai in March 1999 and Sabeena‘s 17 years old son too went away with her. Sabeena was alleged to have returned to Pakistan in March1999 but, presumably, she did not. She stayed on in the house of Hashim Ali, illegally. It seemed her brother-in-law had helped her in this. Hashim’sparents did not like her activities. Therefore, in June 2003, when Hashim Ali and his family were allegedly killed in Dubai by some miscreants, she shifted to Chennai. Over the past five years she had been living in the city. She led a luxurious life for a single lady without any source of income. She had told her neighbors that she was financially supported by her business man son in Dubai. She was very polite and soft-spoken. She was very helpful to her neighbors. Sometimes, she helped them financially, too. She did some social service and she had opened up a welfare home for the poor and needy women in the Pallavan Nagar. In this connection, a lot of women used to visit her daily. The name of the ‘welfare home’ was”SHEELA DEVI WOMEN’s WELFARE and EMPOWERMENT TRUST”. The activities of this welfare home were strange. The police also raided this welfare home. They recovered a lot of Pornographic material and Blue films of young girls. It seems a multi billion rupee sex scandal was being run by this Pakistani woman with the help of some local leaders and government officials. Police is of the view that full investigation might throw up some big names. Informed sources within police had intimated to this correspondent such a sex racket could only be run with the help of some intelligence agencies. It----------------------------------“Blah---blah---it went on.

Rajneesh stopped reading it. He did not want to read it further though the story was now getting murkier. He knew this mysterious woman is some ghost from the past. But what was it? Has she managed James accident? “What lay ahead?” he thought. And there was a lot. Any moment, he could be in the police net. In fact, he had lot to answer to the police. A question would be asked on his hurried departure from Chennai. No one will listen to him that it was James who bundled him out. But, as usual, the dead men do not speak. This was no defense.

He had no time to disentangle himself from the web he was in. He was reminded of his oft-quoted advice to his ‘CHARMERS’ and ‘BOSSES’ as the MUSK head which had said, “LISTEN, dear friends, ONCE YOU ARE IN THE BUSINESS OF ‘KILLING AND BE KILLED’ THERE IS NO WAY OUT OF IT. THERE IS NO ESCAPE. YOU KILL OR YOU WILL BE KILLED. AND THE GAME GOES ON.” Rajneesh knew there was no escape from the past. He must move fast before it caught up with him. He had made up his mind and made a move.
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“I WANT TO MOTHER YOU!”—A SHORT STORY!-------PART ONE

“I want to mother you”, Shanta was straight and to the point.

“Mother me? Have you gone nuts? Do you know my age?” Rajneesh was heckled.

“I know I am younger to you by many years but I have that urge to call you a son”, Shanta came out matter of factly.

“Excuse me, madam! It is a strange proposition. I am not agitated but I feel it is a bit stupid for a young girl, I suppose in ‘mid-30s’, to think like this” Rajneesh tried to reason it out.

“There are no specific reasons. Give it a thought. I will see you again.” Shanta was curt and crisp and walked away with equal haste, leaving Rajneesh dumbfounded.

Rajneesh was flabbergasted with the strange wish of this young and a beautiful lady. He had never encountered such a situation in life. Rajneesh was a sixty years old, a retired government employee. Post retirement, he did some private jobs as a CEO of a hospitality company. But he had left the job because of his mother’s serious ailment, who expired in June 2007. He had a well settled family---both children married and well settled abroad. His rich old father of 82 years was still alive. After his mother died, he did not feel like picking up another job. Instead, he had taken up to blog writing on the NET in a big way. It was here he came across this young lady, who, too, wrote blogs. She used to occasionally make comments on his write-ups, never finding any worthwhile substance in it. Rajneesh too used to reply in the same tone and tenor. Initially, it caused some disturbance but later it became fun time. Rajneesh always looked forward to Shanta’s comments on his write-ups. When ever she commented, Rajneesh replied her in equal vitriolic intensity. The verbal tug- of- war carried on for some days. Then, suddenly, one day Rajneesh got a note from Shanta. It shook him. The note read:

{“Hi, son!

I liked to read ur fire at MIKHAL GAUTAM’s post.
Good. Keep it up.
‘Maan na maan mein thera mehmaan’ (You were uninvited guest!),
Altho' u don't like it, I have adopted u as my son and so I am ur mom ,
My blessings, altho I am many urs younger to u..”}

Rajneesh thought it was a taunt and a new offensive by Shanta. He was though not amused yet he kept his cool. He did not know the reason for such a ridiculous line of action by a young lady who could be publicly ridiculed by the recipient of this type of a note. He realized what a faux-pax she had created for herself. But Rajneesh had decency running in his blood and he opted to calm her down. He replied:

[“Dear Lady,

I am not agitated. Your choice for adoption is good. I assure you won’t regret.]

As brought out earlier, Rajneesh deliberately had not indulged in cheap thrills to say that his father urgently needed a company as he was alone after the death of his mother. In all fairness, he was a man of dignity and honor and could control his emotive reactions. All the same, he wanted to know about the mental health of the lady and learn as to why was she behaving like this? He sent her another note:

“Dear lady,

I have been seriously thinking about your mental health. I do not know but I have an uncanny feeling that you have developed some kink in your cerebral tissues. You better have it straightened. I suggest you better visit a psychiatrist. Thanks.”

Shanta was no less cool—in fact she was aggressively sarcastic. Pat came the reply:

“Thanks Son.

I have accepted your suggestion. I would go to a psychiatrist after I have met you. Would you not like to do this small thing for your mom? Come on son, come over to Chennai—ur mom”

Rajneesh had not expected this. He realized that she was really under an impression of causing him discomfort and was enjoying it, too. He had known she had belonged to Chennai. It was there in her profile besides a beautiful snap in all whites. She looked exaggeratedly smart and beautiful. But Rajneesh had known that such snaps were not the real ones; later encounter with her proved him right, though her stunning beauty had impressed him. It had proved his impression that the photos on the blogs were generally fake—particularly in case of young girls and boys. Only OLDIES had the audacity to post real snaps of theirs. Rajneesh concluded that her photo in all whites might not be the true definition of this lady called SHANTA.

In her profile page she had given no other details about self. There was a jamboree of meaningless words and phrases padded there to describe herself. It was usual confusion from a restless mind. There was no denying the fact that she was very passionate about her writings. She wrote really from her heart. She had a solid reasoning power but she was too stubborn in her thoughts to accommodate other’s point of view. She lacked flexibility. Anyone who commented adversely on her blog was recipient of verbal lashings—unheard and unexpected. No one dare point out faults in her write-up and frankly speaking, none ever did.

This is where Rajneesh had faulted. He happened to comment on her blog saying,” It is too simplistic a solution to be implemented in your dreams only.” This was the beginning of her anger. Like a wounded tigress, she pounced on him with all guns blazing. And, thus, began the spat which had brought Rajneesh to this meeting with her in Chennai.

Rajneesh had been staying with his friend PS James—an HR Head in a MNC. He had known him from his earlier profession. James was his junior. But ,somehow, he did his MBA from Punjab University in 2005 AD, after he had left the Govt job, in May 2003. Both had remained in touch. James lived in Pallavan Nagar of central Chennai. As Shanta had informed Rajneesh that she lived in the Nungambakkam Area, James was requested by Rajneesh to organize the meeting in a close- by decent restaurant. Accordingly, James fixed the meeting in the ‘Apoorva Sangeetha Fast Food’ joint on the Nungambakkam High Road. The table was booked in the left rear corner of the main hall. James had booked another table for himself some distance away. He had also hired TOP DETECTIVE agency to do a background check on Shanta. Mr. Rosy Cherian of the detective agency was keeping company with James. The other sleuths were in contact with Cherian on the mobile. They had been all watching the ‘Rajneesh-Shanta’ duo in conversation for the last half an hour or so.

As soon the meeting broke and Shanta left, James asked the sleuths to follow her and find out all the details. Rajneesh told James as to what all had happened and she had asked him to come over to the same place the following day. Both the friends were confused on the strange desire of this lady. It was James who concluded:

“Rajneesh, I think either she suffers from mental disorder or what you call schizophrenia or she is really up to some very big game. Both ways you better watch out and disconnect at the earliest”

“I agree James. I sincerely feel she is a psychic case---she couldn’t be ‘Matahiri’, could she be?” Rajneesh was expressing his honest impression.

“Come now, do not run amuck with your imagination? I do not think but there is something fishy about her. Did you notice her shifty eyes—staring left and right from the corner of her eyes, like a person scared of something” James replied.

“Anyway! What ever? We will wait for the report by the sleuths of Top Detective Agency before I decide to meet her again” Rajneesh had made a decision.

James too agreed. Both of them came back home. They had dinner at home and settled down to retire for the day. Next day, at about 0900hours, when Rajneesh opened his Lap Top, he found a note from Shanta. It read,”Do not act smart, son. I am your mom. No smart acts with me. You better behave lest I-------“ At about 1000 hours, same day, Rosy Cherian rang up James on the mobile:

“We are in deep trouble”, Cherian was sounding disturbed.

“Why, what happened?” James enquired.

“Our two detectives, who were trailing Shanta, have been arrested by the police and charged for murder” Rosy Cherian disclosed.

“What? Who has been murdered? Shanta? How? What were your men doing there?” James was firing a volley of questions rapidly.

“You see, they trailed Shanta to her Nungambakkam residence or so called residence. The lady went inside and came out after some 15 minutes. This was a god sent opportunity for them to search the residence. They entered the house by breaking the lock. Some body saw them and rang up the police. While they were still searching the house, police came and found a mutilated body of an old lady, known as Sheela Devi of around 56 years, in the bath room. Our boys were arrested for the murder for the further investigations” Rosy Cherian clarified.

“So, now what?” James sought clarification.

“We have informed the police about the employment of the agency by you to check the antecedents of Shanta. Police checked in the neighborhood and to our surprise no such women lived there. Neighbors informed the police that Old lady had only one son who lived in Dubai. He was doing some business. The old lady had come to live in the locality some five years back. She was very friendly and very amicable in her disposition towards the neighbors. She seemed to be pretty well- off financially. Perhaps, she was getting a good help from her businessman son in Dubai” Rosy gave the further information.

“Ok, what do we do now? Do you want me to come?” James posed a query.

“You will have to, sir. You see, we would have handled it but for another twist”, Rosy Cherian.

“Another twist? What is that, Cherian? Kindly do not talk in riddles?” James was irritated.

“Sir, what has happened is the problem regarding the passport found of this murdered lady. According to her passport issued in Pakistan, she is Sabeena Bano from Lahore, Pakistan. She had come to India in 1998 to meet her younger sister, Sakeena, married to an Indian Hashim Ali of Madurai. “Rosy Cherian began to give the backgrounder on SABEENA and SAKEENA. He stated thus;

Hashim Ali was a petroleum engineer in Dubai, wherein September 1990, he had met SAKEENA and her elder sister Sabeena, both living there with their Pakistani Parents. Sabeena was elder to Sakeena by 10 years. Sabeena was married to a Pakistani in 1980. Sakeena married Hashim Ali in 1991, despite parental objections. She came to India with her husband after she started getting threats from her parents. Sakeena’s parents, it seemed, shifted to Pakistan in 1992. After some times, Sakeena’s parents reconciled and they allowed both the sisters to communicate. Accordingly, Sabeena came to India with her 17 years old son to meet her younger sister. Hashim Ali had gone over to Dubai, the same year. He had taken with him Sabeena’s son, too. Then after six months, Sakeena went away to Dubai to join her husband and her elder sister seemingly returned to Pakistan. However, strange things happened in the year 2003. Hashim Ali and Sakeena were found murdered, along with their two children, in their flat in Dubai. Their nephew, Mohammed Hafiz, who lived with them, was missing. ‘Dubai Times’ had reported on 23 July 2003,the murders with a rider that it could be the handiwork of some Intelligence agencies as allegedly Hashim Ali had worked with Indian intelligence agency, RAW. Hashim’s Indian parents approached the Indian Govt for a thorough probe by Dubai Police. But no one paid heed to their requests and the matter was seemingly left to procrastinate. And it soon went out of public scrutiny. All this information police had obtained from Hashim Ali’s aged parents in Madurai, who only identified Sabeena from the passport. But the face was so badly mutilated that they could not say with certainty. They were cut off with Sabeena and suspected her son’s hand in the murder of their son and daughter-in-law along with their grandchildren.

“Sabeena had supposedly left India in March 1999. But it seems, she did not and stayed on in India. She shifted to Chennai under the assumed name of Sheela Devi. Her son, Mohammed Hafiz, who would be around 27 years old, had gone to Dubai with his uncle and never came back to India. Sheela Devi alias Sabeena was a very active lady. She had all the modern gadgets in her apartment. There was a desk top computer along with a lap top, lying in the house. It seems she used to write blogs under the pen name of Shanta.” Rosy Cherian gave further information.

“Ok, I am coming to the police station.” James cut him short.

All this while, Rajneesh was listening to their conversation with a visible tension on his face. He spoke,”Are we in trouble?”

“Yes, big trouble, I suppose. I do not know who was that lady you met in Apporva Sangeetha Fast food joint but the Shanta who wrote blogs has been found murdered” James replied.

“Then, who is this lady who sent me a note this morning if Shanta is dead.” Rajneesh queried.

“Yes, there is a point—a sensible one. If Shanta is dead—then who is this other Shanta who sent you a note? She should be the real shanta who we are trying to find out.” James said thoughtfully.

“What is our course of action?” enquired Rajneesh.

“I suppose, I engaged the detective agency to spy on your SO CALLED SHANTA. So, needle of suspicion will fall on me. You be out of it for the time being. I will have to seek anticipatory bail immediately. The question I have to answer is as to why did I hire the TOP DETECTIVE agency to do a background check on Shanta? Why did I? Should I tell them the truth now or wait for some fog to lift? Who was that stunningly beautiful lady around 30’s who met you in the restaurant? Is she the real Shanta?” James did some brain storming.

“I think she was. And I think she had some ulterior motive. “Rajneesh put two and two together.

“Yes, she did have. She had all the information on you. She had some score to settle with you. Do you remember our stint in -----? Oh my god it is the same old story, Sir,---remember the GAME OF THE FOXES” James was talking as if he had found an answer.

“Yea, So what dammit? What the hell? How does it connect here?’Rajneesh was worried.

“Right, let me handle it here, sir. You stay out of it. You fly out to Chandigarh, today itself. I will try and handle it here. I f need be, I will contact you there. Go way, Sir” James announced the decision.

Within minutes of this decision James and Rajneesh were heading towards the Chennai airport —the third largest airport in India after Mumbai and New Delhi. James was keen to ensure that Rajneesh was out of Chennai, when he met police with Rosy Cherian. He had no specific plans but only to discuss the latest note to Rajneesh from Shanta—who was not dead. He had got all these Shanta NOTES to RAJNEESH forwarded to him to tell the police that Shanta—the fake name on the blogs is not dead. It might have been someone else who had been staying with that old lady and using her computer and laptop to establish acquaintances. But why did she kill Sabeena aka Sheela Devi? What score she wanted to settle with Rajneesh? These were probably the questions, readers might think, occupying James mind when they arrived at Chennai airport. There was no flight to Delhi. Luckily, an immediate jet airways flight to Mumbai was there. James cajoled Rajneesh to board the flight to Mumbai and then go to Chandigarh.

Having bid farewell to his friend, James was racing away to Nungambakkam in his Honda Civic. There were tons of thoughts criss-crossing his mind. He, allegedly, had a challenge before him. He was required to unravel the mystery of Shanta and that other lady whom Rajneesh had met the previous day.

--------------------------------------------------TO BE CONTINUED IN PART ‘TWO’
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‘ARYANS’, ‘DRAVIDS’AND ‘NAGAS’---SOME LIES, SOME MYTHS AND SOME LEGENDS-PART TWO

In Part One, I had stated that VEDIC KNOWLEDGE in India pre-existed the arrival of so- called ARYANS. I had also gone on to say that the MYTH of ARYA, as a race, was created by Europeans or more particularly the GERMANS, who were looking for a racial supremacy. Therefore, when in the early twenties of the last Century, such magnificent archaeological sites as HARAPPA and MOHANJO-DARO were excavated, they were immediately linked to something superior which had imported itself from outside to the Indian mainland. People, like MAXMULELLER and MORTIMER WHEELER, could not believe that ancient INDIA could have had created such ARCHITECTURAL WONDERS IN URBAN DWELLING. Western Scholars, trained and educated on the biblical beliefs that the universe was created only around 23 October 4100BC, could not think of the world existing prior to this. In time and space,they reduced everything to within 2000BC and originating from Central Asia. Thus, based on the flimsiest of grounds, the theory of ARYAN INVASION and CONQUER was floated when a mount of dead bodies was found at MOHANJO-DARO. It was assumed that they might have been slaughtered by the SUPERIOR ARYANS. This myth led to the emergence of a SUPER MYTH on the supremacy and superiroity of a great ARYAN & VEDIC KNOWLEDGE, imported from outside. New archaeological excavations and the interpretation of the ORAL HISTORY reveal that the MYTH and the SUPER MYTH, both, were a cruel joke on the ANCIENT GREATNESS of INDIA.

I have already highlighted in Part One that ARYANS were only a lingual fraternity of SANSKRIT speaking people, who probably used it as a title to add honour and dignity to self. They did not belong to one particular race as is true of ENGLISH SPEAKING PEOPLE of today. Also, it would be pertinent to note that they did not come as a one big migration or invading hordes but as a trickle and gradually their numbers multiplied. Who can deny that SILICON VALLEY in CALIFORNIA, USA was bursting at seams today with growing population of INDIANS and ASIANS? What would you say, 500 or 1000 years hence, if the demographic shift takes place in their favor----and you have more of HINDI, Chinese or TAMIL speaking people there? I suspect something of this nature happened in ancient India in the late HARAPPAN period around 2800-1900 BC. The people speaking crude- sanskritic- dialect came as TRADERS from Central Asia and began settling down. It is a different matter that after coming to the LAND OF SAPTASINDHU they might have contributed towards the further development of the existing VEDIC KNOWLEDGE.

By the way, we call this knowledge "VEDIC" for ease of understanding and also because it was SANSKRITISED by the Sanskrit speaking people who were enamored by its greatness and depth. More ever, the main fact is that the PICTORIAL SCRIPT of the INDIGENOUS INDIANS, like the HARAPPAN SCRIPT, was too difficult for the general public to understand. Sanskrit language had become to ancient INDIANS what English language is to modern India. I would also like to emphasize here THAT THE REAL, ACTUAL AND INTELLIGBLE DEVELOPMENT OF SANSKRIT TOOK PLACE ONLY IN THE ‘SAPTA SINDHU REGION’. It was perfected by PANINI in the first Century AD and he created a GRAMMAR for it. Prior to this, SANSKRIT was the poor sister of AVESTAN ZENDA of ancient Persians. It was crude and without a proper script. Before PANINI perfected the script and the grammar, there was a tradition of ORAL TRANSFER OF KNOWLEDGE from one generation to another generation. GURUKUL SCHOOLS excelled in this.

It has now been established that origins of Indian civilization go back to the end of last ICE AGE, which geology tells us was around 10,000 years back. The SARASVATI River in the post 'ICE-AGE' era, and the main site of URBAN RUINS in ancient INDIA, say around 80 percent of the excavated sites, is well documented in the VEDIC LITERATURE. Old Rig Vedic litereature talks about the river from the "MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA". This phase is primarily between 5000BC to 8000BC. There is a general belief that a seismic upheaval around 4500 BC diverted its two main tributaries, YAMUNA and SATLUJ towards their current courses. This river, which was generally 6-8 KMs wide, at times up to 14 KMs, was very deep with a fast flowing current. It is assumed that between 3000BC and 1900BC, the river was gradually dying and drying. After another upheaval around 3000BC, the river used to disappear in a place called VINASHNA in the deserts of Rajasthan, where a series of lake formed themselves. The water level having further reduced, the river began to dry up and it is estimated it ceased to flow around 1900BC. RIG VEDA, HAS ITS MENTION SOME 60 TIMES WHILE THE GANGES IS ONLY ONCE. The cessation of the river SARASWATI (1900BC) corresponds with the decline of the HARAPPAN CIVILISATION. It was the drying up of the River SARASWATI that caused the ababndonment of HARAPPAN CITIES and not any invasion by some SUPER RACE. It was these ECOLOGICAL changes that led to the fall of Harappan Civilisation.

Most Western historians and some Indians too, say that RAMAYANA STORY was enacted around 1900-1500BC, that is post-SARASWATI period. Based on the same analogy, they assign MAHABHARTA the date of around 1000BC. I find major lacunae with these theories. It is that they do not take into account VEDIC RISHIS or seers such as VASHISHTA , JAGDAMBI and VISHAVMITRA, who are the creators of RIG VEDAS. So, how can these RISHIS be post SARASVATI?
This river has now been identified, through satellite imagery, as a PALAEO channel, running now along the dry channel of River GHAGHAR of Haryana –Rajasthan in India and River HAKRA in SINDH, Pakistan. It allegedly started from HAR KI DOON in UTTARANCHAL and flowed, along with its tributaries DRISHTAVADI, YAMUNA, SATLUJ etc, through KURUKSHETRA, PAHEWA, SHATRANA, SIRSA, KALBANGAN, SURATGARH (all in India) HAKRA and LOTHAL in Pakistan. Major archaeological sites have been found along this channel of the mythological river. This falsifies the super myth of INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION. It is now referred to as SARASVATI VALLEY CIVILISATION.

'Sarasvati River' has been the cradle of ancient Indian civilization. It was the FOUNTAIN HEAD of the SAPTA-SINDHU REGION. It must be noted that there was nothing 'ARYAN' or 'DRAVIDA' about this civilization. In the words of Dr. DAVID FRAWLEY and Dr. NAVRATNA S RAJARAM in their book, “HIDDEN HORIZONS”, the concepts of ARYANS and DRAVIDA races have no scientific and archaeological basis. To quote them: “ ------------The late ancient Aryan and Dravidians migrations, postulated to have taken place c.1500BCE (3500Before Present), into India from Central Asia of WESTERN Linguistic theories, occur too late, after populations and cultures were already formed, to result in the great changes attributed to them. Besides, no records of such proposed invasions or migrations have yet been found. Archaeology, literature, and science, including genetics, all contradict it. ----------------------------”

To put it simply, ARYANS were SANSKRIT SPEAKING people and DRAVIDIANS were non-SANSKRIT SPEAKING people. This was initially when crude Sanskrit was spoken before it was developed by PANINI. The word DRAVIDA is found first time in written form in a SIXTH CENTURY SANSKRIT TEXT, called TANTRIKAVARTIKA by KUMARILA BHATTA , to describe people who were inferior or lacking in knowledge and who spoke unintelligible language. This was the time, when, after the decline of BUDDHISM and emergence of GUPTA EMPIRE, HINDUISM had been given RELIGIOUS CONNOTATION with the confluence of SHAIVISM and VAISHNAVISM. This was also the time when the movement for the revival of SANATAN DHARMA would begin.

However, the word ‘DRAVIDA’ came into extensive modern use in the last half of the 19th Century when a BRITISH AUTHOR, Robert Caldwell, picked up the word from this SANSKRIT TEXT to describe the people of SOUTH INDIA—as they thought all SOUTH INDIANS speak TAMIL or DAMILA or DRAMILA. Thus, such a simplistic identification of the people is an example how SANSKRIT SPEAKING PEOPLE would have disfigured the originality of the NON-SANSKRITIC KNOWLEDGE. Actually, the idea of DRAVIDA created the myth of their migrations prior to ARYANS from Central Asia. The man behind this was CALDWELL, who regarded them as SCYTHIANS people because of some affinities between DRAVIDIAN LANGUAGES and CENTRAL ASIAN LANGUAGES.

Ancient India had movement of people from North to South and vice versa more freely. This is evident as you read the the immediate period in the aftermath of last ICE AGE. Peninsular India was the place where humans lived and cultivated. It is only when glacier melting raised the sea levels that people moved north into plain vacant areas, along the water bodies.Thus, through this Northward migration of peoples & cultures from South India, at the end of 'Ice Age', that the SARASVATI RIVER CIVILISATION WAS CREATED around 8000 BC—which was primarily NAGA CIVILISATION. But this Civilization had the best of both the regions i.e. North and South. As oral history tells us that the greatest of Rig Vedic Rishi, VASHISHTHA was the younger brother of AGASTYA –who is considered a great dominant seer in South India and Tamil Nadu It is also known that seer AGASTYA has supposedly composed 25 hymns for RIG VEDA..It establishes the fact that proto-Vedic and proto-Tamil cultures were closely related. It is further important to note that people from south like TURVASHAS and the YADUS are also mentioned in RIG VEDA as are PURUS of North India.

Anthropologists, Archaeologists and historians have now veered round to the view that the populations in the late ICE AGE were centered in the coastal areas and not along the rivers. In fact these populations preceded the river civilizations some thousands of years. Surprisingly, the historians and anthropologists have found that these sites were located not in CENTRAL ASIA, EURASIA or Europe but in the COASTAL REGIONS OF PENINSULAR INDIA or particularly now submerged LAND MASS of “SUNDA LAND”—also called GREATER INDIA. It is said that agriculture was first started in this region and when the temperatures rose at the end of Ice age, water level rose about 400 feet, submerging most of SUNDALAND—which had included whole of present day South Asia including Thailand, Myanmar and land up to INDONESIA, ANDEMAN & NICOBAR, SRILANKA etc, the people migrated to North West Region which became SARASVATI RIVER basin. Thus, began the saga of river civilizations.

HARAPPAN seals tell the story of this MUTATION of KNOWLEDGE. I would like to draw your attention to seals depicting YOGIC POSTURES—such as MULBANDHAASANA of YOGA on a seal. It is by a three headed deity who is also called PASHUPATINATH or Lord Shiva. I have said in my earlier write-up that NAGAS WERE followers of Lord SHIVA. Take another seal of SWASTIKA or SVASTI-KA meaning maker of welfare. These seals have been extensively found in Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. There is a seal with five SVASTI-SIGNS—which finds mention in Rig Veda and ‘Yajur Veda’. Again, the UNI-CORN or one horned animal seal found extensively in all the archaeological sites. It could be a boar. In Mahabharata it is described as ‘one horned’ or “EK-SHRINGA” This VARAH or BOAR seal has references in Rig Veda, ‘Yajur Veda’ and Mahabharata. Again, there are several seals as well as terra-cotta figurines demonstrating various YOGIC POSTURES. They are available on the WIKIPEDIA article on HARAPPAN SEALS. All this goes to show that HARAPPAN had this knowledge prior to the coming of so-called ARYANS. There is an artifact discovered which can be interpreted as OM sign. It is ‘bow-shaped’ with ashavattha tree leaves adorning it. I conclude from all this that VEDIC KNOWLEDGE was available to HARAPPAN people who dominated the SARASWATI –SINDHU region and who had migrated to this region from the COASTAL AREAS at the end of last ICE AGE.

Now the question arises who were HARAPPANS? Were they ARYANS or DRAVIDIANS? My answer is BIG NO. Ancient history, tradition, anthropology, literature, archaeology knows none as ARYANS and DRAVIDIANS. At best ARYA was a title used by aristocratic and educated people who spoke PERFECTED SANSKRIT—a language of the elite. I would rather say the crude language was used by the traders and adopted by ancient INDIAN SCHOLARS to replace the unscientific and difficult pictorial language of SARASVATI region. Today AMERICANISED English has overshadowed the Queen’s English. So must have been the case of INDIANISED SANSKRIT- which could have overshadowed AVESTAN ZENDA or CRUDE SANSKRIT.

‘Dravidian’ was a myth created by a SANSKRIT scholar to identify NON-SANSKRIT SPEAKING people as a derogatory reference. It later was used by BRITISH scholars to describe people of PENINSULAR INDIA. Some Sanskrit texts referred to five DRAVIDAS—or PANCH DRAVIDAS i.e. GUJRAT, MAHARASHTRA, KARNATKA, TAMIL and TELGU. It was basically to describe five regions of peninsular India. Neither ARYANS nor DRAVIDAS were a race to acquire that unique status. I would further like to reiterate that SANSKRIT, in crudest form, came to INDIA as a language of the TRADERS from the Central Asia and Iran as did English. It is known now that HARAPPAN had trade links with Egyptians, Sumerians and Iranians. It was reformed and developed in India and then utilized to transpose the KNOWLEDGE from PICTORIAL SCRIPTS to its improved version. So, who were HARAPPANS?

As a simple answer I would like to say they were ‘ancient Indians’—who had migrated from the coastal regions to SAPTA SINDHU REGION at the end of last ICE AGE, when bulk of SUNDA LAND or THE GREATER INDIA was submerged into the rising ocean. They were agriculturalists and URBAN DWELLERS who lived along the water bodies such as lakes and rivers. They knew the importance of water as they had developed agriculture in the coastal areas. Discovery of an urban city in the ‘bay of cam bay ‘ or “KHAMBHAT BAY” off the coast of Gujarat testifies this theory. Carbon dating suggests that city was submerged around 7500BC. This is around the time ICE AGE came to an end. Similar discoveries are being reported from near Chennai. And they were the ancient INDIANS. Let us not talk of color and complexion. Climate, weather and geographic features play their part. American speaks their English through nasal sounds whereas English men speak differently. The geography does have its impact on your speech.

I firmly believe that people of SARASVATI-INDUS region were the carrier of VEDIC KNOWLEDGE as NAGA PEOPLE. They were followers of LORD SHIVA—who had the entire region mapped by his temples. His followers believed in drinking SOMARAS, an intoxicant, and relished non-vegetarian dishes. They believed living happily in the present. EAT, DRINK, and be MERY was their basic philosophy of life. Natural upheavals between 4500 BC to 2000BC led to their cities being devastated. It is during this period that trading jamborees of people from WEST began to settle in the region where vacuum was created by the migration EAST and SOUTH of the NAGAS. Even Ramayana mentions that Lord RAVNA was worshipper of LORD SHIVA---he is alleged to have offered his head in YAGNA to lord SHIVA one thousand times. It is also truism that RAVNA was a most LEARNED KING—he was known to have the knowledge of FOUR VEDAS. At the time of his death, Lord RAMA and LAXMAN go to RAVNA to get the final Lesson of life. And what did he tell them: “NEVER BE HAUGHTY”. I reckon Ravna was a NAGA KING.BALMIKI, who wrote Ramayana was a CHANDAL—a NAGA. Mythology talks about them as DANAVS or DASYUS, DAITYAS, RAKSHASHAS etc. This is the time when NAGAS had withdrawn from SARASVATI region to down south and East and they had established their own kingdoms. Perhaps geography, weather and climate affected their color and complexion.

‘Mahabharata’ too, makes a mention of these NAGAS in a most derogatory sense—when it paints them as demons or dangerous people. There are three stories in Mahabharata about them. One is lord Krishna, as a child, overpowering a KALIYA NAAG on the banks of River Yamuna near Mathura. He has been depicted as half human and half snake. I am sure he must be some NAGA chieftain who lived near the river. Then there is a mention of ARJUNA marrying a NAGA girl ULUPI in MANIPUR during ‘Pandav’s’ 14 year exile who gave birth to his son. She ought to be a human if ARJUNA married her and got a son through her. Then we come to the famous YAGNA by JANAMAJAY, grand son of ARJUNA, who in his zeal to revenge his father’s killing by a NAGA Prince, TAKSHAK, took a vow to eliminate NAGA race from the earth. He systematically carried out ETHNIC CLEANSING—like what happened in KASHMIR some years back when Kashmiri Pundits (KPs) were made to vacate the valley. He went on to ravage the beautiful city of TAXILA—in Pakistan. This is the only instance I find of ARYAN butchery of the HARAPPAN people. Ethnic Cleansing has historical precedence in Indian Context.

So, who were Nagas? I think it needs to take into account historical, archaeological, anthropological and mythological tales to form an opinion. It would be better if I do it separately in another blog. I will do it in PART THREE.



------TO BE CONTINUED IN PART THREE
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‘ARYANS’, ‘DRAVIDS’AND ‘NAGAS’---SOME LIES, SOME MYTHS AND SOME LEGENDS-PART ONE

Who are Dravidian people? Are they ethnically same? Do they owe their origin to South India? Strange questions I ask and strange answers I will give. I will quote from known written sources but deduce based on what the ORAL HISTORY of the people would dictate to me. Firstly, DRAVIDIAN PEOPLE are neither one nor ethnically same. The origin of the word is interesting. As I Go through WIKIPEDIA article, it makes certain amusing observations. These are:-

-The word first time finds mention in SANSKRIT TEXTS in and around seventh century AD. It was used by KUMARILA BHATTA in his book TANTRIKAVARTTIKA. It is alleged the word was used to describe TAMIL LANGUAGE. It was an Englishman, namely, Robert Caldwell, who used this phrase to describe people of South India. He coined the term DRAVIDIANS in the 19th Century. How ironic—there are people in South India whose ancestors coined this dergatory term to describe lowly people but today they as descendants of 'ANCIENTS GREATS' are also clubbed into the same category.

-The Origin of the word DRAVIDA is attributed to the Sanskrit word “DRAMILA” or “DAMILA”, which later corrupted to Tamil or Tamil speaking people. It has been done by Linguists and they have gone to the extent of equating these words with TAMIL or TARMIZ. However, I have a different definition. I personally feel the word has been coined out of old Sanskrit and ancient PERSIAN words. There is a Persian word “DRI-CHE-SHAK”, meaning undoubtedly or without doubt. Here, DRI stands for WITHOUT and ‘SHAK’ for ‘DOUBT’. Even in SANSKRIT the word ‘DRI’stands for “LACKING- IN”. The word DRAVID is made of two Sanskrit words “DRI” and “VID”. DRI, as explained, would stand for ‘Lacking-in or poor’ while “VID” means KNOWLEDGE. Thus DRAVID was a person who did not have the knowledge. It was used to refer to people who were considered INFERIOR---as till a few years back or even today, NON-ENGLISH speaking people are viewed. It was not referring to a race or one ethnicity but was used as a derogatory term.

-Robert Caldwell, a renowned linguist, in his book “Grammar of the Dravidians or the People of South India, published in 1856, recognized 73 Dravidian languages spoken from South India to Baluchistan(PAKISTAN),Western Iran, Afghanistan and Urals. It is now believed they were the people who established Pre –Aryan or the HARAPPAN civilization .I call it the civilization of NAGA people who were the worshippers of lord Shiva. The VEDIC knowledge belongs to them which had been usurped by the ARYANS because by that time, say around 1900 BC to 2800 BC NATURAL UPHEAVALS had devastated the NAGA CIVILISATION. Anyway at this stage, dates are not important.

The more I dig into VEDIC and ARYAN myths and legends, the more I am astonished at the written volumes of BRITISH-INTERPRETTED accounts of ancient Indian History. I do not blame the BRITISHERS for this gaffe but the obedient servants of HIS MASTER’s VOICE---the genre of modern Indian historians of colonial and post-colonial era. My pointer is towards the callous neglect of the ORAL HISTORY while interpreting ancient Indian history. There was a need for a deliberate effort to establish a linkage of ORAL HISTORY with the archaeological sites. The BRITISHERS couldn’t have done this. They did not understand the local facts of customs, traditions, folklores, food habits and the development of language and local dialect to include, sayings, maxims, phrases and the grammar. Let me explain my point regarding the impact of historical events on language, dialect, customs, traditions and children games. I will do so with some examples from rural Punjab of yesteryears to show as to how do games, phrases and idioms evolve?

There was a game in rural PUNJAB, some 3-4 decades back, which the young children used to play. In this game, they drew out a square on the ground. Divided it into five rectangles from top to bottom. The third and fifth rectangles were further subdivided vertically into two equal rectangles each. The own side of the side is called ‘GHAR’ (Home). The far side is called ‘SAMUNDAR’ (THE SEA). And then they throw a dice sequentially from the HOME SIDE rectangle first and go towards the SEA SIDE rectangles step by step. Each time they have to go hopping on one leg to the rectangle where the dice is lying and push it out of the square. It is done in turns. Should the dice go out sideways or land in the opponent’s square—the player is considered out. Should you successfully bring the dice out of the square---you own the rectangle where you had thrown the dice. There are two players or two teams. It is called “ADDEE –CHHARAPPA”, meaning “HEEL- HOPPING”. Now, how would you interpret this game? If I write it, for your convenience as “ADDEE-CH-HARAPPA”, then, what would you say? Let me translate it for you: HARAPPA UNDER MY HEEL. Are you raising your heckles? Why not? This is what the game means—if you follow its basic characteristics.

Go to SANGHOL—an archaeological site of HARAPPAN period---near Chandigarh, some 60 kms South West of it on the road to Ludhiana. They say it lay on the banks of river SATLUJ when it was a tributary of river SARASWATI. The excavations reveal that it was a well planned city—which one day, some distant time in the past, just banished. The folk lore says that it was the outcome of the curse of a woman of the village. They tell you the story of the curse of a widowed girl of the village who, being harassed and troubled, wanted the TOWN to cave in---or in typical Punjabi word---“NIGGHAR JAAVE”. And Lo! It caved in one evening with the sound “GARH—GARH—GARH---GARH---GARH”. Is the name “GHAGGAR”—the name of the dry stream—alleged to be ancient SARASWATI CHANNEL based on this sound “GARH ---GARH---GARH”? Just think about it? Go to Ropar, some 50 Kms WEST of Chandigarh on the road to Jalandhar/Hoshiarpur. It is on the banks of river SATLUJ as it comes out of the Shivalik Hills. The excavations, there too, tell a similar story. How about Chandigarh itself? The museum in the Punjab University tells the story of its linkage with Harappa sites. In India, the story of our historical evolution has been greatly mystified in our attempt to glamourise our past based on certain epochal stories. We tend to be emotional in claiming everything as indigenous. Let me illustrate this in succeeding paragraphs.

Take the case of evolution of Hinduism. I t must be understood that unlike other religions, it was not founded by any MESSIAH, PROPHET or a SAINT. It evolved itself by the confluence of various TEMPORAL PHILOSOPHIES, both indigenous and external. It graduated from geographical identity to religious identity over 1000 years. Primarily, it emerged with the synthesis of two diametrically opposite philosophies---SHAIVISM and VAISHNAVISM. While SHAIVITES were NON-VEGETERAIANS; VAISHNAVITES are VEGETARIANS. Even today KASHMIRI PANDITS—the Staunch SHAIVITES ---eat MEAT and that too ‘HALAAL’ and not JHATKA’. ‘Shaivites’ had Lord Shiva as its presiding deity; Vaishnavites had Lord Vishnu. ‘Shaivites’ believed in LIVING LIFE HAPPILY TODAY---thus their guiding principle was: EAT, DRINK and BE MERY. Vaishnavites believed in the betterment OF FUTURE through ‘GOOD DEEDS TODAY’.

SHAIVISM is indigenous and VAISHNAVISM is imported. In the times bygone, both of them were competitive temporal philosophies. In the history of ‘Chalukyas’, a dynasty ruling in the peninsular India around 1000-1200AD, there are instances of kings patronizing SHAIVISM and prosecuting the Vaishnavites. It is alleged that one of the Chalukya kings, namely Kullothunga Chola II, had removed the statue of Lord Vishnu from the SHIVA shrine at CHIDAMBRAM. History and EPOCHS tell us that LORD SHIVA had been the most revered deity of ancient India. The mythical RAVANA of RAMAYANA was worshipper of LORD SHIVA. Balmiki, who wrote, original RAMAYANA was a CHANDAL—who were SHIVA followers. But, over a period of time the competition between SHAVITES and VAISHNAVITES has gone and both of them merged to create HINDUISM---which further gave birth to Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism.

Both of them had so well meshed into one another, today, that it laid the foundation of the basic two TENETS of TOLERANCE and PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE of Hinduism. Their merger gave rise to the concept of COLLECTIVE WISDOM and MULTIPLICITY of GODS---so as to give freedom of choice in religious matters. They had merged so well that each lost its individual identity. The emergence of HINDUISM, around 530 AD, did exactly the same to INDIA what GLOBALISATION was doing to the WORLD, today. I may add here that the emerging “INDIANISM or INDIANESS” of today, might have the finer characteristics of al prevailing major religions in India, as did HINDUISM in the 6th Century AD. Geography and climatic environments do play their part in shaping the course of history as for as traditions, customs and lingual peculiarities are concerned. The point is we have to study our history in unison with ORAL TRADITIONS, ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCES and AVAILABLE WRITTEN RECORDS.

The excavations of the archaeological sites and historical monuments do not tell the true tale of our HISTORY unless we take into account the folklores, food habits, dresses, traditions, customs and lingual dialects. All this make oral history besides some written accounts. Purely basing your judgment on the artifacts discovered gives out only a disconnected and disconcerted story. Most of the ancient Indian History has been interpreted on the bases of potteries and metal works and ‘periods’ have been assigned by a process of elimination. This is amongst the reasons that after the excavations at HARAPPA—the ancient history has fallen prey to the reasoning and argument whether HARAPPA was PRE-VEDIC / ARYAN or POST VEDIC. Equally ironical is the fact that it has been dubbed as INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION—whereas it might be SAPTA SINDHU or NAGA CIVILISATION.

Who were Aryans? I agree with ROMILLA THAPAR on their LINGUAL IDENTITY. I am not going to indulge in the debate whether they were indigenous or from outside. Before I go further, let me ask you some pertinent questions. Who are the ENGLISH SPEAKING people of modern India? Are they ethnically one? Are they fair complexioned or dark complexioned? “What silly questions”, some of you would say? Yes, they are very very silly and stupid questions. Frankly speaking, they are as stupid as has been the case of the ARYANS identity with some superior ethnicity or VEDIC KNOWLEDGE. How did English language come to India? It was not of Indian origin. Today, a major chunk of URBAN India, reads, writes and may be, speaks English. It does not make them ethnically one. Linguistic uniformity does not represent ethnic connectivity. Same is true of ARYANS. It only speaks of their Lingual affinity and not of racial. I would say same of the word, “DRAVID”.

Let me emphatically state that there were no ETHNIC identities of the words ‘ARYANS’ or ‘VEDIC’ and ‘DRAVID’. The DRAVIDS do not have even the lingual similarity. They might include ‘EARLY ARYANS’, ‘NAGAS’ and various nomadic tribes who lived in the forests of a region EAST of ‘SARASWATI-SINDHU’ basin. As I have stated above, ‘DRAVID ‘was a word concocted by SANSKRIT speaking ARYANS to represent NON-SANSKRIT SPEAKING people. It had the similar connotation as the ENGLISH SPEAKING PEOPLE of today have towards NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING native PEOPLE. It had some derogatory and disrespectful implications—like CRUDE, BARBARIAN or an uneducated person might be referred to. I will come back to it a little later.

‘Aryan’ is a word used for people who spoke probably, a crude dialect of a language now recognized as SANSKRIT. They were the people who branched off from a tribe which migrated to ancient PERSIA from steppes of Central Asia. ‘Crude Sanskrit had many similarities with ancient Persian language AVESTAN. SANSKRIT was reformed and perfected around FIRST CENTURY AD by PANINI---“SAMAST KRIT---meaning PERFECTED”. It is after this that dissimilarities might have cropped up in the two languages. Modern day IRAN (ancient PERSIA) derives its name from the word ARIANA. It was in the 19th Century and early 20th Century that the word was glamorized, by GERMAN SCHOLARS who, too, claimed to be descendants of the same tribe. It was thus accorded an ethnic supremacy—which was exploited by HITLER to discredit Jews and other European people.

When ‘Harappa’ and ‘Mohan Jodaro’, both in Pakistan, were excavated around early 20th Century, a myth was woven around the supremacy of ‘Aryans and Vedic’ people, based on the architectural greatness of these two towns. In the absence of any available written historical records, it was assumed that crude and brute people of India could not have such an advanced civilization in the past. No attempt was made to seek a connection with ORAL HISTORY of the land. Thus a theory of ARYAN INVASION and CONQUER of INDIA was forwarded and accorded legitimacy. Thus was created a myth of VEDIC PEOPLE and INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION. To this, confusion was added by some INDIAN SCHOLARS who claimed INDIA as the origin of VEDIC or the ARYAN PEOPLE. Both were eccentrically wrong.

The word VEDIC or VEDAS has it roots in a SANSKRIT word ‘VID’, which means knowledge and education, as explained previously. Thus, the VEDAS do contain KNOWLEDGE but it PRE-EXISTED the arrival of ARYANS. The four VEDAS have their amplifications given in BRAHMANAS, PURANS, UPNISHADAS and ARYANIKAS. This knowledge belonged to people who lived in the region called SAPTA SINDHU and ALP-GANHSTHAN (AFGHANISTAN). They were neither ARYANS nor DRAVIDS—they were SAIVITES—or the followers of Lord SHIVA or what I would say “NAGA PEOPLE”. Mythology tells us that NAGAS owe their origin to RISHI (SAINT) KASHYAP. These RISHIS used to live in the forests with their families---the ARYANAKAS are the explanatory notes by them on various forms of VEDIC LITERATURE. Rishi KASHYAP or KASHPYO in GREEK is reported to have given his name to CASPIAN SEA and KASHMIR. There are different mythological stories to be told but at some other times. Here, suffice to say the descendants of KASHYAP still exist as a CASTE amongst Hindus. They claim themselves as KASHYAP RAJPUTS but worked as WATER BEARERS or PLANQUIN BEARERS in the good old days.

The Naga civilization was spread from modern day Afghanistan to East up to Assam and Kashmir in the North to Karnataka in the South. They generally lived along the water bodies such as lakes and rivers, that is why also called ‘WATER PEOPLE’. Bulk of the civilization was around rivers SARASWATI -SINDHU and their tributaries. Ninety percent of the HARAPPAN sites are located in this region. These people had trade links with the west right up to Greece, Mesopotemia and River Oxus or AAMU River.

They had their own script---closer to BRAHMI or PRAKRITI which resembles more with Indo-Dravidian or Tamil or South Indian Language. Some 434 characters have been identified. It needs to be deciphered. Efforts are on to do so. The seals recovered at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro tell the tale of family histories. Most prominent one is of a UNICORN BULL—not a known animal species these days. I will come back with some detailed interpretations of these seals.

----TO BE CONTINUED IN PART TWO
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4500 BC-A GREAT UPHEAVAL THAT CHANGED SOUTH ASIAN HISTORY?

SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS!


Prior to the great NATURAL UPHEAVAL of 4500BC, which changed the landscape, what would have been the history of region that is called SOUTH ASIA and AFGHANISTAN today? We can only make certain assumptions based on archaeological studies, archaeological sites and folklores or what they say is the oral history.

The oral history is not only folk songs but the language, the dresses, the lingual dialects, typical traditions, the special food habits and many more things which leave their SIGNATURES on HUMAN STORY without finding a mention in written form or chronicled by those who marvel at history. HISTORY IS NEVER WRITTEN FOR THE PURPOSES OF SOME "TRUTH MISSIONS "OF THE FUTURE. IT IS WRITTEN TO DENIGRATE THE VANQUISHED AND GLAMOURISE THE VICTOR.

I rarely believe the written words of historical write-ups because they are not only sing-song melodies in honour of the VICTOR but also they only highlight the ONE-SIDED-STORY. Look at it: HITLER IS DEMONISED after the Second World War but he was as good or as bad as BUSH was in IRAQ in 2003. And of the two similar acts, one was villain and the other is a hero. As and when the world history is rewritten dispassionately, it might turn out that HITLER was a MESSIAH of AFRO-ASIAN nations, who could shed the YOKE of COLONIALISM in the wake of SECOND WORLD WAR STARTED by HITLER. Pick up any HISTORICAL BOOK, you will find it GLAMOURISED by the victors, for, vanquished have no glory. I discount written history.

This land called SOUTH ASIA and modern AFGHANISTAN was the cradle of a great NAGA CIVILISATION lost to mankind during the great NATURAL UP- HEAVAL of 4500 BC--some 6500 years before. It was more advanced and knowledgeable than the marauding hordes of so called ARYANS who came EAST in search of PASTORAL LANDS and livelihood. They were not INVADERS but usurpers of a great civilisation devastated by a NATURAL CALAMITY in and around 4500 BC.

Nagas, not the inhabitants of modern day Nagaland, were the worshippers of LORD SHIVA. They followed SHAIVITE CULTURE--which was not the part of VEDIC CULTURE or the VAISHNAVITES. Their confluence, along with BUDDHISM and JAINISM, gave birth to what you call today HINDUISM. It was born around 530 AD--exactly 5000 years after the great UPHEAVAL.(You might like to know as to how the word HINDU and its RELIGIOUS CONNOTATION CAME ABOUT. Kindly read my blog on HINDUISM. The link is :- http://rajee.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/12/is-hinduism-an-evolved-euphemism-for-a-people-or.htm)

Two of the modern HINDU GODS are of DARK COMPLEXION. Did you ever wonder as to why? It is my belief that they were NON-ARYANS and NON-VEDIC but were assimilated into VEDIC and ARYAN PHILOSOPHY because of the richness of their SPIRITUAL THOUGHTS. They are Lord SHIVA and Lord KRISHNA. Kindly do not think they were DRAVIDIANS. It is a derogatory term concocted by ARYANS. Its root are two SANSKRIT words "DRI" & "VID". "DRI" stands for "POOR" or "LACKING" ,as in 'DARIDRA', and "VID" is KNOWLEDGE or EDUCATION. So, the word DRAVID was concocted to show the NATIVES as POOR or LACKING in KNOWLEDGE. They were considered as INFERIOR. This was done to subjugate the natives. The Naga people were of not of fair complexion due to climatic and geographical pecularities--they might have had semi-dark or brown complexion as is today. But Aryans coming from the COLDER REGION were of WHITISH COMPLEXION. Therefore, they could not have had brown or Semi-dark complexioned gods as are LORD SHIVA and LORD KRISHNA. My belief is that they belonged to NAGA race.

Nagas, according to mythology, were the descendants of KASHYAP RISHI--A sage whose second wife was called KUDRU. It is said KUDRU gave birth to creatures who were "half-humans and half-snakes". It is a poetical description--I reckon they had ROUND and SPHERICAL EYES and were VERY REVENGEFUL in attitude and such they were called NAGAS or SERPANT type. Their presiding deity Lord Shiva, has a curling COBRA around his neck-----this, too could have given them the name NAGA. Kashyap's son NEELA NAG was their king and they mostly lived around water bodies--like lakes or ponds and rivers. We know all civilisations prospered around great rivers. River JHELUM (VITASTA--Vedic name) in KASHMIR and SARASWATI Rivers were their famous abodes. 75% archaeological sites of ancient India have been found around the submerged and lost channel of MYSTICAL SARASWATI which sprang from HAR KI DOON in Uttaranchal, ran along the course of a modern day GHAGHAR in HARYANA and RAJSTHAN, and then drained out into the sea near LOTHAL in GUJRAT.

The name KASHMIR is derived from KASHYAP--from KASHYAP MAR--because saint KASHYAP had helped his son NEELA NAG to eliminate a great tyrant JALODHAV or JALDEV who had troubled NAGAS in modern day Kashmir. It is a nice story. Some of you who are interested to know this might like to read my blog on Kashmir. Prior to this it was called "SATI DESH'--after the name of SATI--- the consort of Lord Shiva.The link to my blog on KASHMIR is:-
http://rajee.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/04/kashmir-a-curse-and-cure-of-its-history.htm

Nagas were NON VEGETARIANS. They believed in eating meat dishes and drank alcohol without inhibitions. Even today the PANDITS (so called HINDU HIGH PRIESTS) of KASHMIR eat MEAT and IF YOU PLEASE, THEY RELISH 'HALAAL' and NOT 'JHATKA' . The last one might be the environmental impact of last 650 years. But these PANDITS are the descendants of KASHYAP's NAGAS. The NAGAS were 'happy -go- lucky' people and they believed in DANCE and MUSIC. The finding of dancing girl at HARAPPA bears testimony to this. Lord Shiva was known for his dance and music--even in his anger he resorted to TANDAV NRITYA. They were, therefore, NON VEDIC and NON ARYANS. The NAGA civilisation was scattered along and between the GREAT INDUS (SINDHU) and GREAT SARASWATI. It later spread to EAST and SOUTH. This land was also called SAPTA SINDHU---THE SEVEN RIVERS. You wil find Lord SHIVA temples from modern day Pakistan in the west to North East in the EAST and from KASHMIR in the NORTH to MAHARASHTRA in the South.

This great civilisation of NAGAS finds a mention in VEDIC literature too, though in a disdainful manner. You might have heard that at the end of MAHABHARTA --the great grandson of ARJUNA, PARIKSHAT was killed by a NAGA prince called TAKSHAK. Though mythology says it was a serpent. But if you go before this period into KRISHAN LILA--you hear of how Lord Krishna had overpowered a "Naga Rogue" called KAALIA. I do not believe they were not HUMANS. They were demonized by the victorious Vedic people who wanted to establish the superiority of their own culture. TAKSHILA in Pakistan was a great city of learning and it belonged to Nagas. Later, BUDDHISTS made use of that knowledge. Today, it is in ruins and being robbed off its HISTORICAL SPLENDOUR by ILL-INFORMED and uncouth Pakistani Government.

Let me also tell you that SAPTA SINDHU LAND was the HEAVENLY DESTINATION for outsders as USA is today or MAY BE CHINA and INDIA would be in years to come. History always reverses its course after a given period. Therefore, people from the steppes of CENTRAL ASIA came in as migrants--looking for occupational opportunities. They came and got merged. The cities of the region of SAPTASINDHU, along SARASWATI and SINDHU Rivers, offered great opportunities to every one. It was the land of plenty. And then suddenly---

---The GREAT UPHEAVAL of 4500 BC took place. River SARASWATI disappeared along with its flourishing cities--whether it was HARAPPA, LOTHAL, PEELI BANGA, SANGHOL (Indian Punjab), Ropar (Indian Punjab) or many more such sites. Even modern day CHANDIGARH is set up on the great ruins of NAGA CIVILISATION. Punjab University has certain artifacts which were picked up when CHANDIGARH was established in the 50's. Archaeologists believe it could be on a long lost Harappa culture. Remember just 10 kms to the east flows the GHAGHAR--which was considered to be main channel of SARASWATI. Some 45 Kms WEST of it is ROPAR on the banks of river SATLUJ--which was once the tributary of river SARASWATI along with River YAMUNA. SANGHOL--another archaeological site is some 50 Kms away towards SW of Chandigarh.

River Yamuna and river Sutlej were the great tributaries of SARASWATI. After the UPHEAVAL they took a different turn to the EAST and WEST respectively. SANGHOL was located on the original path of River SATLUJ. Both Yamuna and Sutlej Rivers joined SARASWATI south of modern day PATIALA--some 60 Kms south of it. This UPHEAVAL WEAKENED and destroyed bulk of NAGA CIVILISATION. But the migrations from the WEST continued--and they were people of a LINGUAL FRATENITY---SANSKRIT------it was not a race but SANSKRIT speaking people who came to this land. They are called Aryans or VEDIC. They did not come as CONQUERERS or IN ONE GO--they came in a trickle and got spread. They picked up the knowledge from the NAGAS and assimilated into their own. It is something like the SILLICON VALLEY of USA today. It is humming with IT Indians there. Who knows 1000 years later what would be the demography?

Naga script is of some 434 characters--it has not been deciphered--it will unfold many myths once it is deciphered and one of them is on VEDIC KNOWLEDGE--It is mostly PLAGIARISED from LONG LOST NAGA CIVILISATION. I request you all to read JOHN KEAY's HISTORY of INDIA--though he does not come to any conclusion but he does make a point on the meaning of word ARYANS.

The incoming ARYANS--the estranged brethren of ancient PERSIANS settled around AFGHANISTAN (ALPGANSTHAN--old Sanskrit name) and the ruins of River Saraswati. Dr Rajesh Kochhar--ex Surveyor General of India and a renowned Archaeologist --in his book VEDIC HISTORY of INDIA --says there are similarities in the VEDIC PEOPLE and Ancient PERSIANS. The two languages, SANSKRIT and AVESTIC ZENDA have many commonalities.

Now I come to the enactment of two EPICS---RAMAYANA and MAHABHARTA.There are theories on their dates of occurrence and regions where they were enacted. Ok I will discuss it later in some other blogs but I leave you with pinching thoughts:

(a) MAHABHARTA might have occurred around 1000BC--KALHANA's RAJTARANGINI and NEELAMAT PURAN needs to be read.

(b) Ramayana, if it occurred before MAHABHARTA as is the general HINDU belief, then, it was enacted in present day AFGHANISTAN. The warm water port of GWADAR might have had the original Lanka. Look at some facts--

-----RAVNA MANDIR at JODHPUR; MANDODARI's village in RAJSTHAN;

------LAHORE in PAKISTAN was established by Lord RAM's elder son LUV.

------KASOOR again in PAKISTAN was set up by KUSH--SITA's second son.

-----SITA took her last breath at RAM TIRATH, near AMRITSAR in PUNJAB.

------BALMIKI who wrote original RAMAYANA lived at RAM TIRATH.

------RAM TIRATH was then along the river RAVI--one of the seven rivers
of SAPTA SANDHU.

-----The story of UTTARAKHAND in RAMAYANA was added later by BALMIKI.

----- If BALMIKI is the originator---how could he know about a place near
modern AYODHYA--He could have never gone there---the area was totally
undeveloped?

------Aryans as they went EAST from WEST they took the names of
GEOGRAPHICAL Places with them--right upto KAMPUCHEA, MALAYASIA,
THAILAND and INDONESIA. Do you know about the AYODHYAS there?

----River SARASWATI had disappeared much before the arrival of ARYANS
into SAPTASINDHU region---they began coming around 5000BC. By 1900-
2000 BC they had fully grown into a NEW and a RICH CIVILISATION over
the RUINS of NAGA CIVILISATION. The VEDIC SARASWATI is in
AFGHANISTAN--the river HEMLAND. Dr Rajesh Kochhar calls the mystical
SARASWATI as VANASUR SARASVATI.\

----They assimilated the NAGA KNOWLEDGE into their own and presented
it as VEDIC KNOWLEDGE. It could happen to IT KNOWLEDGE of India of
21st century.

(c) Ramayana, as an episode, might have happened around 1500 to
1900 BC at a very small scale. Rest might be glamorization by poets and
authors. Everyone has picked up the threads from BALMIKI who lived at
RAMTIRATH.

DISCLAIMER This is only my EMPIRICAL KNOWLEDGE based on some studies of HISTORICAL BOOKS and visit to HISTORICAL sites. If you do not agree. FINE. But do think about it. Do not believe in REGIMENTED and RITUALISED KNOWLEDGE. I can talk about more things on RAMAYANA and MAHABHARTA but suffice for the day.
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