Ramayana

I went on a trip to England and Doha last week. I visited many museums, libraries and churches. I saw more beautiful books in the last week than I hope to see in a lifetime. From Guttenberg's Bible to Flemish masters to original Shakespeare to Leonardo's manuscripts.

But the best one I saw on the last day of my trip. It is a richly illuminated Farsi translation of the Ramayana. Look at all the details in the picture. On the top right panel, you can see through the arch a horseman with his dog riding up the road. Parrots on the roof of the building. In the second panel, you can see a perfume stand and pan holder. The richly decorated mosaic, and colourful garments. The monk with the beads has central Asian features. The princes all look like Mughal princes.
Where did I see this manuscript? In the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, an unlikely place to find a Ramayana.

This lavishly illustrated manuscript of the Ramayana was commissioned by the Mughal queen Hamida Banu Begum (1527-1604 CE), wife of the second Mughal emperor, Humayun. Hamida Banu, and later Mughal queens and princes were great patrons of art, literature and architecture. Notables are Nur Jahan, Jahanara, Mumtaj Mahal. Many were also accomplished poets and fashion designers. Some of them took active participation in court politics, hunting and even wars.

We celebrate the life of Madame de Pompadour, and rightly so, for her patronage of art and literature, particularly for her help with the publication of the first-ever Encyclopedia. But we do not remember Hamida Banu. We Indians have a general amnesia for our history. In a way it is good. We tend to forget the past and focus on the future.

Hamida Banu was 16 years old when Humayun first saw her and fell in love. He wanted to marry her even though she was a Shia Muslim. But she flatly refused saying that she did not want to marry someone whom she had to salute every time she saw him. She wants to marry a commoner whose hand she can hold. Humayun immediately decreed a Farman that henceforth Hamida need not salute the emperor. These were not normal things in those days of strict obedience to the Emperor. Hamida also wanted to have a big dowry, because her father was not wealthy. Humayun at that time had lost his kingdom and was on the run. He did not have any money to furnish the dowry. The king of Multan loaned Humayun one lakh rupee to raise an army and recover his kingdom. Humayun used the money as Hamida’s dowry and married her. On the night of his marriage, Humayun, who was also an accomplished poet, wanted to read his new poem to his bride. He asked Hamida to listen to the reciting. Hamid said she was tired. She turned to the other side and slept. Poor Humayun read the poem to his sleeping wife. When he was done reading, Hamida turned back and told Humayun “You are a weak king but a strong poet.”

Humayun eventually recovered his kingdom. Till the end, he was devoted to Hamida. Their son Akbar became one of the greatest emperors of Hindustan, uniting the country and ushering in an era of unprecedented prosperity. When Humayun died, grief-stricken Hamida commissioned a magnificent tomb for her beloved husband. Do visit Humayun’s tomb in Delhi if you get a chance.

Oppression is my enemy

I have this book for some time. When I turn these pages, my eyes fill with tears, thinking about the suffering of a helpless nation under the most brutal oppressor.

These days, after seeing the absolute brutality of the Netanyahu government against the helpless Palestinians, I once had an impulse to burn this book and post the video on the Internet. Then good senses prevailed. I realized that I am not against Israel.

I AM AGAINST OPPRESSION.

• I am against the Nazis when they oppressed the Jews.
• I am against the British when they oppressed us, Indians.
• I am against Americans when they oppressed the Vietnamese.
• I am against the white South Africans when they oppressed the Black Africans.
• I am against Pakistani Muslims when they oppress their Hindu minority.
• I am against the Bramhins when they oppress the Dalits.
• I am against Israel when they oppress the Palestinians.

I know that the Government of Israel does not worry at the moment because the big brother America has their back.

But all oppressors think that way, and eventually, all crumble.

Israel’s war in Palestine

Israel says its objective is to finish Hamas. But even if that is possible, it will not end the conflict. Hamas has been here only for the last 18 years. The conflict is 75 years old. Israel killed 27 Palestinians in the West Bank last month. There is no Hamas there.

The only way to achieve peace is to stop the genocide, start a time-bound peace talk and implement a two-state solution in 2023.

But that will never happen. Because this war is not about conflict and peace. This is about land and oil. Israel wants to occupy the whole of Palestine. Most prominent Israeli politicians publicly hold this opinion that the entire land from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea is Israel's God-given land and belongs to the Jews only. What they do not specify is what to do with the Palestinians, whether to exterminate or expel them. I guess it would be an 80-20 solution. They will kill 20% the rest 80% will flee. After that, they may also occupy some neighbouring lands like parts of Egypt and Syria and create an extended Jewish homeland. This is exactly the same vision that Hitler had to create a Lebensraum for the German Volk in Eastern Europe.

And they can do this because America also wants the same. America wants an aggressive, disproportionately powerful Israel to dominate the Middle East. So no Arab nation dares to challenge American interests in the Middle East. This guarantees a smooth supply of oil to America and its Western allies.

Sorry Palestine. No one is coming to rescue your children. Most of them are going to die.

Please read this.

Israel is a Colony

Imagine an alien lands at Raffa in Gaza this morning. What will he see? He will see an enormous army, equipped with the latest weapons, guns, tanks, planes, warships have blockaded a tiny strip of land about 35X10 km, densely populated by poor, deprived people with no army of their own, no food, no shelter. They are constantly being bombarded from the sky and from sea and land, their houses, schools, hospitals are being targeted indiscriminately, people are dying like flies, elderly people, women and children. And the whole world is cheering the powerful army to go ahead and finish the people of that land.
By reading this much everybody will start screaming, “No, no it didn’t start there. Hamas attacked Israel. They brutally killed innocent civilians, women and children, even babies. Israel has right to self-defence.”
But then why should the clock start on last Saturday? Two weeks before that Israel killed 11 Palestinians. Is it not true that the whole thing started because Israel imposed themselves on someone else’s land?
If collective punishment of 2.3 million people is allowed in the name of self-defence, if indiscriminate bombing of civilians, women and children is allowed because they were attacked first, then sure there will be some justification for what the Nazis did to others.
Believe me, this will not end here. Obviously, people of Israel do not want peace. They want more land. Every month Israel takes away thousands of acres of land from Palestine and builds new settlements. If I take a million dollar an acre, that’s like stealing a billion dollar from Palestine every month.
That’s what they are after, this loot of land. That’s why they keep electing leaders like Ariel Sharon and Benjamin Netanyahu. But then at least spare us the outrage. You WILL get bitten once in a while.

Get ready for the next attack, people of Israel.

India Vs Bharat

Lalu is a chor. He has many problems. But one thing you have to give him. He never, ever, not even once wavered in his one point agenda of fighting the fucking dangabaj BJP. With his uncanny political insight, he understood what threat BJP poses to the very foundation of this country. At least I missed it and now regretting it.
Political parties come and go. They are good or bad. Honest or corrupt. But no other party posed such a threat to the very foundation of our nation, of this six thousand year civilization.
This is why I am willing to look away from all of Lalu’s problems and willing to support him in his fight to save the soul of this land.
Calling this land Bharat does not make you a patriot. Understanding what Bharat stands for does. For that you need study, travel, listen to people, most of all love them. BJP only loves their narrow misconceived idea of India, which runs contrary to what this land and its people taught the world.

Tamas

I am trying to learn Hindi script. This would be a good start on the partition remembrance day.
When this came on TV, we did not have a TV set. I saw only bits and pieces of this series, which is good. Now I can read the book from scratch.
We should all read books like Tamas and Train to Pakistan. Not because our current leaders want to incite hatred against Muslims but because we should remember what a terrible price we have paid to have a country.
Pakistan is a fucked up country precisely because it was based on a religion. It is doomed to fail. We do not want to emulate Pakistan or its failures by making our country based on religion. We want to be a beacon of hope to the post-colonial world.

ChaWalla

What do you think the ChaWalla will do after losing 2024 election?
Of course he can go back to Gujarat and sell tea again.
But since he now has enough experience running Vande Bharat Trains, if he applies he should get the points man job for Vande Bharat :)

Monarchy

In the month of May this year, we got to witness two lavish and elaborate coronation ceremonies in two of the oldest countries in the world.
Monarchy may be a dying tradition, but in many parts of the world, it has great attraction.

The Lost Decade

Yesterday I was telling my friend that the decade from 2004-2014 was the most propsperous in Indian history since Shah Jahan. Of course, I was speaking in jest.
This morning I thought of checking on the data and see how much truth is there to this hunch.
You can see for youself what an opprotunity we lost in the last decade. The grey bars indicate the projected value that we would have achieved had we grown at the same rate.

I remember back in 2008-9, most big business leaders used to speak of India-China while speaking about their business growth and global expansion. Of course, India was far behind China even then. But at least we pretended to compete. But now no one speaks of India-China together any more. It seems we are relegated to a lower league.

Update: This is uncanny. I just asked ChatGPT this question "Which one is the most prosperous decade in indian history?"

Bye Bye Modi

People of Karnataka are too cultured, educated, sophisticated people to be swayed by these thugs.

South India has shown us the way how to get rid of hatred, toxicity and violence from public life.

It is up to the rest of the India to follow the lead and send these frauds back to Gujarat where they belong.

Dear Leader

More projects were completed during the time of Dr. Manmohan Singh than our dear leader.

But I do not recall Dr. Singh coming going to every single project to inaugurate them, stopping the main highways for the events.

For example, when Bangalore Airport was opened in 2008, it was an awe-inspiring project compared to the projects of the time. Or the Bangalore metro in 2011, or the NICE Road. They were just opened to the public. Done.

Now every drain, every dustbin, even before they are ready, must be inaugurated by the dear leader. He will come from Delhi with 50 planes, 500 cars, 5000 security personnel, and 500 journalists. The city stops for 12 hours for the smooth travel of our dear leader. Then the public has to wait for another six months for the project to be complete.

Other prime ministers spent money on finishing the projects. The dear leader not only spends money on projects, but he also spends an equal amount of money in educating us about how great our country has become under his leadership. Then he spends our money to thank himself for the great work he is doing.

Thank you our dear leader.

BJP

A few days ago, Rahul Gandhi asked a simple question to Narendra Modi.

“How much money Adani paid to the BJP?”

He was sent to jail.

I have a simple question for Narendra Modi.

“Who pays for these front page ads?”

We don’t need an answer. We know the answer.

Modi is Scared

Remember them? Narendra Modi destroyed her life, her career, and her family just to win the Bihar election.

Remember Disha Ravi, Aryan Khan

Narendra Modi is scared of young children. He will send to jail anyone who he considers a threat to his power.

Tomorrow Narendra Modi may take away your daughter for posting a video or writing a blog.

Next time you vote, please think.

Rahul Gandhi

Now I know he is the most honest politician in the world.

How do I know that?

They sent him to jail for making a political attack on Mr. Modi.

Imagine what they would have done to him had they found even the slightest evidence of corruption against Rahul.

They would have crucified him.

Modi and Adani

Rahul Gandhi asked a simple question in the Lok Sabha.

How much money did Adani pay to the BJP?

Of course, they did not give him any answer. Instead they switched off the broadcast of the Lok Sabha TV.

Why?

Because Mr. Modi knows that this question is the answer.

Pappu the Martyr

Until yesterday he was “Pappu”. No one, not even me, paid any attention to what he had to say.

Now Mr. Modi’s personal vendetta has made him a martyr. He now joined a long list of Gandhi Martyrs who sacrificed their lives for this country.

Now he is the new hope. The center of a fearless resistance movement who is fighting to protect the sole of India.

Carry on, Mr. Gandhi. We are with you.

No power in the world could take away our freedom for long, not even the mighty British. What chance dose a mean-minded, vengeful, short sighted politician has?

The Pursuit of Happiness

This is all I wanted from life. A clean bed, a clean bathroom, enough food to fill my belly, and a house full of books. I never doubted that I would attain this life. I never wanted anything more from life.

We are human because we have a brain, which makes us different from animals. I believe life is best enjoyed using our brains. So I try to feed my brain, with stimulating ideas, beautiful literature, music, art, traveling to places.

I am not against people finding other ways of enjoying life. But this is how I enjoy life.

All I hope is that I have plenty of time to pursue my happiness.