Not High Growth. But Sustainable Quality Growth

As our software industry is getting tapered in the growth and job layoffs are knocking doors of almost everyone, I wondered how it all works. May be the growth was very fast and the industry expected the same run for some more time. But the dream run is over & hence a correction happening. And this dream run has taken many of the people in their 40s to the CxO s of even large companies. What does tapering the growth mean for them? Either come out & relax or do the same for 15-20 more years with job loss fear hanging overhead always. Both are scary proposition. Great professional run to the top, but on the personal front still in the middle, with lots of responsibilities laying ahead.

Now I thought let me ask my father who served state government in Agriculture department for 36 long years about his career. Some interesting things we talked and found out about the world and India in general. So I thought of jotting it down for reference. Here are my excerpts:

Me: Anna, I think my growth in company had been rather fast. I got promotion every 2-3 years and I got my first one in 1.5 years and an abroad assignment within 9 months. Was it like this in your career? When did you get your first promotion?

My Father: I think my first promotion was rather late. I got it after 16 years of service. After that it got fast. About every 5 years I got promoted to the next level.

The last promotion was not expected or expected to come later. But it is funny in Government. Some guy of same Jati of the Director of the department was awaiting promotion. The minister was of same Jati at that time. So the director pushed for his promotion before the Minister changes. So since that guy was junior to me, they had to promote me along.

Me: So why the first promotion so late? And then subsequent were so fast or rather consistent?

My Father: Mostly due to the World Bank intervention and advice to restructure the department. All graduates first joined the department as Assistant Agri Officer posted at village level. Then there were no Taluk level office nor District level offices nor posts. Only some 4-5 zonal offices for entire Karnataka.  And the reporting was to the BDO or Tehsildar. No direct reporting to the Zonal Agri office.

But all that changed with World Bank recommending Taluk level office, district level office, Zonal level office etc., More posts got created. The promotions became regular.

Me: What were you doing in your first 16 years?

My Father: Going around villages, meeting the farmers, advising them on the crops, what to sow, when to sow, when to water, how much to water, when to harvest etc.,

Me: Why would they listen to a fresh graduate with no field experience?

My Father: (retorting angrily) they are dumb, they are complete illiterates. They don’t know anything.

Me: What has literacy got to do with farming? His father will guide him.

My Father: No. They don’t know anything. What seed to buy. When to sow. How to sow. What fertilizer to put. When to water, how not to water etc.,

Me: Why should they buy seeds? They only grow it. Some portion they eat, some they sell and some they sow it back right?

My Father: No. That will not work. There are so many hybrid seeds in the market. It goes by acronyms, code words etc., It was so complex for the farmer, that department stepped in to buy the seeds and distribute it to the farmer. And the yield from those was not regenerating. So the farmer had to buy it again for the next season of sowing.

Me: Oh! So it was for advising on the Hybrid seeds. So was it part of the Green revolution?

My Father: Yes. That’s exactly it was.

Me: But you know now that Green revolution is criticized? It made soil stale. It made fields flooded. It made heavy chemical use on the food production and unhealthy for producer and consumer?

My Father: Yes. Now it is being questioned. The father of the Green Revolution Mr. Swaminathan says now “It is so unfortunate that the life giving agriculture has become life taking now”. Now he is a big proponent of Ever-Green Revolution which is family farming as per old methodology of organic farming, small land holding, multi cropping, etc.,. During Green revolution, he preached Mono Cropping, Chemical farming, Large land holding etc.,

Me: Why did India embrace Green Revolution then?

My Father: Oh! It was an absolute necessity. There was shortage of grains. India imported grains. Low quality grains came in from America, Russia & even Pakistan. There were even big land lords standing in queue in the ration shops for grains.

Me: Even I remember standing in Queue in ration shop. In fact we were waiting for items to come to the shop monthly. And many days I used to see it out of stock.

My Father: Exactly. Even government employees, salaried people, middle class people were dependent upon the rationed grains distribution. India was reeling under poverty. Our agriculture scientists looked at the Green revolution as a saviour. And under Indira Gandhi, India had to experiment with the Green Revolution techniques, newer Rice and Wheat varieties etc.,

Me: So now what? Not only did the soil health gone & local varieties gone; but even the farmer’s mentality is to depend on government for everything. Are they corrupted?

My Father: Yes. The farmer today is dependent completely on government for seed subsidies, loan, fertilizer, pesticides etc., Mono cropping, large farming, leased farming, all are problems. He is leasing his own land, working as a labourer in his own land and doesn’t have any rights over his own produce. The farmer is dependent further on Government for procurrement, storage, transport etc., the middlemen are as usual making a killing leaving the large farmer populace in lurch.

Me: So, Isn’t the department changing any course?

My Father: The funny thing is – I started as a trainee pushing chemical farming; my last assignment after 35 years of service was to start the research centre on the organic farming in coordination with the University.  So it took us to go in one direction for 30 odd years & wipe out our ancient knowledge & seed varieties. Now it may take another 30+ years to revive it back. It is inevitable; it must happen. Some modern techniques may remain for the good, but the essence of healthy farming has to come back. The biggest challenge is to change farmers mindset as it has become politics of appeasement & doles. They are lured by the short term gains. Also consumer’s pattern will dictate. It is going to be long and arduous journey. But it will happen and it must happen for the good of the humanity.   

It was a good conversation, deep in some aspects though. Not able to cover everything in writing here. But what I realized is, the dream run of fast promotions and super growth will taper, super-fast exploitation of earth to produce more in less time taught man a lesson. Everything has its own pace in the universe. My father started a very slow career and it picked up pace fast. Mine started super-fast and don’t want to say more.

It is better we learn to respect & love earth and the elderly!! Happy Father’s Day!!!

What good are good Muslims for?

The subject is obviously discriminatory. But the subject has to be broached and discussed. We are Indians. No topic is a taboo for us.

We always feel guilty of blaming Muslims for lot of disturbances around the world and in our neighbourhood. As someone starts blaming Muslims for this & that, someone will defend that not all are bad. We know so many of our friends who are Muslims and they are all good. So it is wrong to stereotype them.

With so much terrorism all over the world perpetrated in the name of Islam, Muslims are victims of it more than others. So the good majority of the Muslims should raise up and voice against it and create strong organizations of like-minded folks to give strength to peace building. That’s our wish.

It is a well-known fact, that majority of people are good. Good people are in majority in any community, any locality, and any religion. It is true for Iraq and Syria too. It is true for even Pakistan. It is true in India amongst the Muslims too. Majority Muslims in India are Good people. They don’t harm. They don’t intend to harm. They like to live peacefully with their neighbours whatever their religion may be.

But the problem is they are silent against the bad Muslims. They will suffer indignation. But they remain silent.

The good Muslims in majority don’t form their own union rising against the bad Fatwa giving institutions (Ulemas), Fundamentalist policies. That will require taking on powerful institutions which is dangerous to their lives. So they let the bad policies rule them & meekly submit to it.

Do they do their good bit selflessly to the society?

We don’t see any organization from Majority good Muslims in times of distress, natural disasters, flood relief. We don’t see them active in any Medical, Health services. No lake rejuvenation, river cleaning drives, tree plantation drives etc., and we don’t see any selfless services organization working in the society from the silent Majority of good Muslims. Very few people from that community join other established organizations; NGO s working in these areas like Ramakrishna Mutt, Sri Sathya Sai Trust etc., Puttaparthi Sai Baba has even put up the crescent moon in their symbol of harmony to appease them. But still hardly anyone join them.

There are so many musicians from Muslim community. Their Musical heritage from Mughal period till date is a great asset in building Harmonious India. Do they have any trust or NGO with all good Muslims coming together to support, develop, project young talents? Do they shun and oppose the fatwa against young upcoming singing stars? In the recent past, young girls performing on TV in Karnataka, Assam were threatened by fundamentalists. The Dangal girl actor in Kashmir was threatened by bad Muslims. Was there any good Muslim organization coming in support of them? Did they give the young minds assurance that they are on the right path according to their religion?

Like many mutts & ashrams, any masjid or institutions supporting rural development, indigenous science, unani, Ayurveda, forestry, animal husbandry, water conservation efforts?

Any sports supporting organization from the Good Muslims in Majority? The Muslim community has great potential in Sports. Many Individuals from the community has held India’s flag fluttering high in International events. Will they form committees to support sports in their Madrasas or Urdu schools or communities? Will those good Muslims join hands to form union to financially support, award, reward their community high achievers in Sports?

What holds them back from forming small communities, unions to just keep doing selfless service to their own community, uplift them, make them mingle with the rest of the world?

If you know of any such organizations, pls share their good work. Support them. Encourage them. Let our Muslim brothers form good brave unions to develop sports, music, art & develop respect for other cultures through their culture. The service orientation is peaceful as it doesn’t really require them to come in conflict with any Fatwa giving high order organizations. They can silently service the people of the nation.

Will they protest against Bad acts of some Muslims?

Yakub Memon was convicted of wiring to bomb his own city to kill innocent people going to office, school and factory on a fine weekday morning. He was hanged to death by the Government of India. On the day of his funeral, there was another Great Muslim by name APJ Adbul Kalam cremated. Arguably there were more good Muslims at the funeral of the terrorist Yakub Memon than a nation builder like APJ Abdul Kalam.

How to explain this? Why do they make Hero of a nation destroyer? Why do they not have the consciousness of identifying who is good and who is bad? Why do they not disown & shun a convicted terrorist?

When Godse killed the Mahatma, every Hindu despised him. There was no organization which claimed their ideology killed the Mahatma. When it was pointed Godse attended RSS, they immediately disowned him. A killer, a terrorist can never be a Hero. Amongst the great majority of Hindus the consciousness of who is Good and who is Bad is clear. They come out in open to denounce and condemn a bad guy whether a Hindu or not.

Similarly when some bad Hindus mob attacked a Muslim in Dadri recently, the entire nation condemned the mob attack. Every Hindu political leader across all parties, saints & institutions condemned the bad act. Even the so called Hindu extremist sympathizing BJP condemned the mob attack. One or 2 individuals from BJP who called Akhlaq as cow thief were disowned by the party as it is Individual remark and not wanted to be seen supporting such views as broader party view. Because, the broad base of Hindus despise this act of mob attack. The attackers are not known. Nobody celebrates the attackers as heroes. They are rotting in some police custody.

In contrast, when Muslims in very large groups come together to support Burhan Wanis, Afzal Gurus, Yakub Memons of the world who are destructors of humanity through terrorism, we don’t see any Organization or Group of Good Muslims to protest against the supporters and calling them wrong.

There are many young Muslims lured to join ISIS and other terrorist organizations abroad. Are there any parents’ organizations campaigning against these terrorist organizations? Exposing them and their hegemony and hatred for the world at large? Bringing awareness to their young kids about what is right what is wrong; what’s good and what’s not?

Do they reform their own society? Case of Triple Talaq

Triple Talaq issue is a social evil. By Islam, a lady can be thrown out of wedlock easily by uttering 3 times Talaq to her. When a lady comes out of wedlock, she becomes vulnerable in the society. The society looks down upon her. Even the normal people will become corrupt in their minds casting an evil eye on a shelter less lady. This causes individual trauma and social disharmony. A responsible society should reconcile and make them live together for long. Society should encourage strong marriage bonding. Religion should play that part of making harmonious long bonding in the marriage. If the religion makes way for easy breaking of the Marriage bond, then how can it be called a religion?

Some people say, it is not such a big issue. It doesn’t happen too often. Firstly, if it is not a big issue, then why not remove Tiple Talaq? Secondly, in one Mahila Police Station in Bangalore itself there are 300+ Triple Talaq cases pending. It is such a big issue, that women affected are knocking the door of the Supreme Court by forming their own groups. They are arguing that Triple Talaq is against Quran. The Muslim law board is fighting against the rights of these affected women. Should the good Muslims not protest? Should they not fight for the affected women? Should they not shun these Mullahs, Ulemas if they are creating social evils? Should they not transform and reform the society?

When Child marriage was found to be a social evil, many eminent Hindu reformers like Tilak, Gokhale proposed and rewrote the marriageable age. Many orthodox Hindus protested. But who remembers the protesters? The reformers are real heroes of Hindu society and nation today. When Dalit untouchability was at its peak, the Hindu society reformed so much, that Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar a famous Dalit was made the head of the panel to rewrite constitution. There is still Dalit discrimination here and there. But the Hindu society has continuous stream of reformers from Buddha to Sankara to Basavanna to many of the modern day seers the likes of Jaggi Vasudev!! And the good majority of Hindus simply embraces the right path lit by the reformer & shuns the social evils. The mass consciousness of Hindus easily differ the good from the bad and supports the good leader & his call for good actions in the society.

There have been almost no reforms in India’s Islamic society. No change to Triple Talaq; No ban on polygamy; No NGO or Institution in India advising the Muslim law board of the reforms in Islamic societies across the world. In many Islamic countries Triple Talaq and Polygamy are made illegal. Why not in India?

Good wishes to the Majority of the Good Muslims of India

Amongst the powerful rulers in the history of India, rather anywhere in the world, only Akbar comes across as one powerful Islamic leader who dared to reform some tenets of Islam. But nobody followed him further. That’s why British called him ‘The Great’ as he dared to reform. If at all, any reforms in Islam are possible, it is only in India it is possible. The Sufism which proposes love of Allah more than Jihad of everything else is surviving only in India. It originated in Iran. In Iran Sufis have no rights; In Pakistan & Afghanistan their shrines are destroyed. In Saudi and all other Islamic countries they are exterminated.

My wish is, the Good Muslims, who are in Majority, to rise and reform their own society. Embrace open culture of love & respect all. Oppose and shun all bad acts, actors and tenets of their philosophy. Support and encourage righteous leaders who defy fatwa giving institutions and embrace openness. Otherwise what good are those Good Muslims who don’t serve society selflessly, don’t oppose bad acts & bad actors, don’t reform their own society?

And to our Hindu & other good friends, please understand; No point just avoiding the topic brushing aside that there are good people. If you have good Muslim friends encourage to debate & open up. Let them do good. Let them become vocal against the terrorists, terrorism, terror in the name of freedom, terror in the name of religion. If religion teaches Jihad ask them to reform and redefine.

The Rise of A Yogi!!

With Yogi Adithyanath we have another great leader coming up from the ground to contend for PM of our country after Modi’s era. They are proving there is no dearth of leadership based on Ideology. These are not coming from the Dynasty. But they are coming purely based on the ideology that has held India together since many millennia. And that ideology is of selflessly servicing the society. That ideology is that of helping the downtrodden and ready to become a King from an Ascetic to clean the system. That ideology is to stand up against corruption, lawlessness. It takes a lot of courage to stand up against the lawlessness & cleanse it. You have to take it head on and face the consequences.

Yogi is charged as having his own small army and running a parallel system. How can he bring back law enforcement according to the constitution?

He has built a group of selflessly serving youth organization called Hindu Yuva Vahini. He does support & works for VHP. He is calling for joining hands across all religions and caste to build an iconic temple for Sri Ram in its original place where it was destroyed by the marauders 5 centuries back.

He & his group do respect the Law of the Land. But the Police, the Law enforcement agencies do not have independence & strength in implementing the law & order. They are weakened by the goondas running the Jungle Raj in UP till now. The goondas run their own business of extortion, abduction, threat and terror. When normal hard working people are under threat, and police are reduced inefficient, there is not law & order.

The volunteers with good intention serve the tribals, labourers, and downtrodden people. They set up healthcare units. They help in getting government schemes, ration card to these people. They help in getting children education through government system. These enable and empower the downtrodden. They become empowered & raise questions and rights against the extortionists & goondas who contract these labourers to high profile industrialists, large farmer, estate owners. This creates clashes and police reduce to be spectators as they are under threat of suspension from the powerful people running the politics of the area. These clashes are reported by outsiders as goonda wars. But the stakeholders are the normal people who know who is in support of them. Democracy gives them an opportunity to voice their support silently and through secret ballot.

So through the good service works and taking head on violently when and where required on to the law breakers, Yogi has emerged the people choice over the years. Now with the peoples stupendous mandate and the state machinery at his hands, it is a double edged sword. He has to deliver. And he has a huge state machinery to turn around to service the people. It is chance. But it is a very big responsibility. Peoples expectations are stupendously high.

What guarantee he will reinstate law & order? Will he give freedom to Police to act by the books of Law?

This is a hypothetical question. Answer lies in the ideology through which he has come elected. It is based on Hindutva Ideology. Hinduism says: “Sarve Janah Sukhino Bhavanthu”; “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”. Now as an election slogan they have adopted is the same “Sabka Saath; Sabka Vikas”.

But this is basically answered looking back on our history. In the Mughal’s period, the law keepers perpetrated atrocities targeting the Hindus. They all went to their Guru – Guru Arjan Singh the 7^th Guru of the Sikh order. He took up the lawful route to raise the question of atrocities committed by the armies on the normal citizens. But the law keeper Jahangir promptly followed Islamic ideology to behead him.

Next the same kind of atrocities continued. When the Kashimiri Pandits were given ultimatum to convert to Islam by Aurangzeb, they approached their Guru – Guru Tegh Bahadur. He took up their cause to take up legal fight with the Mughal Emperor. True to his religious diktat, he promptly jailed him and later beheaded him.

This meaningless legal route and getting beheaded was not really helping the normal faithful people of the country who looked up to their Guru for some peace. So Guru Gobind Singh the 10^th Sikh Guru started a Khalsa movement. He called for selfless sacrificing group of volunteers to form the army. And this army fought for the political dominance. Thus a saint became a political head of the people. A saint picked up sword for restoring peace. He gained independence of many areas seceding from the Mughal Empire. And in his areas, based on the ideology of equality to all, he maintained peace and prosperity to all including the Muslims. When he restored peace, the same officers, takedars, killedars, who were running the administration of the country in local areas continued. But, now with much more confidence in the law enforcement due to independence given to them to follow the written principles. When principles run the country, the whims and fancies of individuals do not confuse and change course of the country. It will follow predictable principles in letter and spirit.

Same is the case with the Raise of Shivaji. He rebelled against the lawlessness under the Bahmani Sultans. He appealed to the Mughal Aurangazeb to reconcile. But he promptly put him in jail. Shivaji made a miraculous escape and installed himself as the Chatrapati. Under his rule, there was benevolence. The normal people wished his era to continue for long. The peace returned. Law was implemented in letter and spirit with independence of interference by the powerful.

These people were principled. Their principles were strongly hinged on Rama and Krishna’s Ideology. Rama and Krishna themselves lived this ideology of fighting demons for protecting the rights of the common man. And in our India, this will keep repeating. The bad is always there in the society and rises often. The bad people are there in Hindus, Muslims or any other sect. When the bad rises slowly, the good becomes weak and silent. But soon, the good will emerge again and rise against the bad and re-establish. This is India. All our Heroes are keepers of Good. Good means selfless service to the humanity. And all our stories end with Jaya. Vijaya of Good over Evil.

This is not the case of just one leader/party overthrowing another. In the examples of Mamata Bannerjee overthrowing CPM rule; or in Kerala one time Left comes to power, another time UDF comes to power; similarly in Karnataka one time BJP or JD and one time Cong comes to power; But the common man is still getting exploited. In these examples, the ideology is not based on giving freedom & rights to the common man. But it was about just yanking power for self. 

For example in West Bengal, with the CPM overthrow by Mamata everyone expected a cleaner governance. But the common man who was shaved off his earnings by hafta, goondaism, extortion etc., still faces the same. He has not got independence to do business and keep his earnings as per law. Because the power struggle was not based on ideology of transferring power to the common man. But it was just yanking power for self. 

In Yogi's case, it is similar to the Ideological wars of Guru Gobind Singh, Shivaji, Rama & Krishna. The power struggle is not for self but to give the power to the common people to lead normal life and remove threats from the bad elements. The bad elements to be under threat by the state Police who will be given independence to implement law by the books independent of nepotism. 

Is Violence necessary to overthrow an authoritarian rule? How then Gandhiji could win through legal, non-violent, peaceful persistent battle? He never picked up a gun.

It is the British narrative. Their propaganda mechanism is emphatic almost flawless. People even today think British rule was benevolent and argue and write about it. Even today, British believe they uplifted the Indians. Many Indians think the same. Their propaganda is such strong that it may seem impossible for us to master and defeat them in that.

British atrocities are unparalleled. Shashi Tharoor in his recent books & hugely popular talks going viral in social media, writes they were as bad if not worse than the Germans in killing people except they don’t burn them and keep their records and then claim it. British are polished in killing through policies & not keeping a count of it.

The protests against their misrule was raising. They handled the protesters with iron hand. The likes of Tilak was jailed for long in distant Mandalay; Subhash Bose was jailed in Mandalay in Burma for long term; He was later house arrested; He finally escaped out of the country in disguise; Veer Savarkar was chained and put in distant Andaman in a dungeon.

But to the world British claimed their rule was democratic. They needed Congress to represent people. They listened to people through Congress. Gandhiji was a perfect leader for them. He was a mass leader. He connected well with people of all class and caste. People thronged to him because he could connect well with them. He talked people’s ground level problems like untouchability, illiteracy, water, employment in villages through khadi gramodyog etc., He created a mass movement, mass appeal; He was a true leader of the masses.

At the same time he was not hard on British. He launched Non-Cooperation movement in 1930. There was a minor clash in a village called Chauri Chaura in UP. British chided him, why he is turning violent? Does he have any control over the crowd? He immediately called off the nation wide non-cooperation movement. So in future, whenever Gandhiji was jailed for any reason by the courts, British authority released him on pretext of health or any other silly reason, in less than an year to come to mingle with the masses. Their propaganda was to respect Democracy and respect Gandhiji.

Then the whole world plunged into the WWII. Gandhiji opposed India to join. But nevertheless British pulled India into it. Nethaji Subhash used this opportunity, took the reins of INA and stormed towards British India with Japan’s assistance to free India from British. This rattled the Congress who was considering a safe option of taking over the India’s reins after British or continuing under them. So Gandhiji called for Quit India. Till now, Gandhiji being non-violent calling for non-cooperation, suddenly turned violent calling Quit India. He had written in Hind-Swaraj in 1900s and I agree with him that British need not quit. They are welcome to assimilate as any others from all the world who have assimilated in India as long as they live peacefully and democratically. But now in 1942, he suddenly took a U turn on non-violence. During Quit India movement, many violent outbursts happened across the country. Several Police stations, rail stations, post offices were burnt in outburst. It did not move Gandhiji. It reminded British of the 1857 horrors of the War of Independence. They are smart. They said we’ll give independence. But how? They raked up the issue of Muslims demand for a separate state. They told Gandhiji that Jinnah is adamant. They released Gandhiji from jail to go and negotiate with Jinnah. Gandhiji’s mission diverted. British mission accomplished. (Referenced from ‘India Wins Freedom’ by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad)

So it is a British narrative, that India got Independence through Non-Violence. It is questionable. That narrative is well carried forward by the Congress. It is a good narrative for primary education & it should stay there. But for adults & college education, it should evolve more deeply questioning.

Gandhiji stood for Non-Violence. But Non-Violence alone did not bring Independence. So he also ultimately authorized violence for Independence through a strong slogan – Do or Die.

Gandhiji definitely deserves to be the Father of our Nation purely for bringing about the mass movement and awareness about Independence movement amongst the masses & eradicating social evils. He is also an icon of Non-Violence. We need such icon for a peace loving nation like ours. But we should not forget so many other leaders who architected the Independence movement for us. 

This article is not an endorsement of violence. Violence is wrong. But when the ruler rules by violence perpetrated on the normal hard working people, only Non-Violence will not help to restore peace. Somebody needs to fight 'Do or Die'. The good people should openly support if possible or at least secretly support through secret ballot. 

Europeans formula to dominate the world

Europeans started exploring the sea routes all over the world around 15^th, 16^th century. Then they over threw all forms of civilization, tribes in America and Australia by their brutal force. Some remnants of the old civilization and tribes remain completely confined and controlled in those continents today. The original inhabitants of these continents are confined in areas “ranges”. They are completely relegated as just museum pieces. They have nothing of their own country, constitution, leaders, and ruling. They are at mercy of the occupied Europeans completely.

In Asia and Africa also Europeans took political power. They controlled for most part of 18^th and 19^th century. Their greed to control earthly resources all over the world created conflict and flared up into 2 major world wars in the 20^th century. It was centered in Europe but spread to include others due to their Imperialistic ruling all the world. After 2^nd world war by 1945, they realized their own people are suffering due to fight for perishable and limited resources. Also India exemplified, concerted synchronized “Indian National movement” by both armed resistance and non-violent mass movement. The Indian Independence in 1947 triggered a series of successful ‘National Independence Movement’ across the Asia and Africa. Today almost all countries across Asia and Africa are politically Independent. They have their own leaders governing. They have their own constitution, laws, property rights and controls over their resources.

In spite of this political independence, the Europeans dominance is still persistent and in fact increasing in all countries in all spheres of life. It is an important study for sociologists and economists to delve. Firstly all the universities, institutions, think tanks & intellectual lot are modernized. That means westernized or Europeanized. And these institutions will carry forward the legacy of European intellect. In this article we’ll just scrape the top surface of their deep rooted dominance.

Global and Local

One concept which Europeans have conveniently used to dominate the world is – Global Vs Local. By terming something as local they belittle it. Generally they market their ideas as anything European is Global. All others are local.

The local things are considered as not job generators and economically unviable. So it is relegated as last resort for poor performers in academics. For example: Study of language, study of art & architecture, study of water management, study of local economics, local administration & governance, local medicine, local food & agricultural practices etc., Everything is relegated as backward now.

Medicine & Medical Science

For example, the Tulsi leaves, Curry leaves are miraculous medicinal plants. But they are local perishable medicine. So no global market, no big industry, no money circulation etc., but if you extract chemical out of it, add preservative chemical, package it as tonic or tablet then it becomes globally marketable. Then it takes the global status. Money cycle will be there. Economics counter will be there. So Globalization means money cycle. Money cycle means measurable economics.

But anything locally grown and consumed doesn’t create an economic cycle. So these local things will stay relevant still due to the passion of the general people. But the Government, administration doesn’t fancy it. Now, only after Independence Ayurveda is studied as Science. There are institutes, degrees, universities in Ayurveda studying it as medicinal science. But still government support for chemical Pharma industry, Pharma institutes, degrees, medical degrees aligned with allopathic medicine is dominant. Because there are global players in that. It has global industries with global markets. The research funded by Government in this rather destructive science can be diverted to more harmonious science for people friendly areas. But they don’t; because, it is not global. It doesn’t attract money by Global standards.

Even in cold countries and continents like Europe, America there are medicinal plants and other means to handle medicinal needs. But there is not enough focus and research. They are also relegated as local, tribal etc., by vested interests.

Administration & Finance of Local Resources

In pre-british era we had Rama Rajya conceptualized by all Kings all over India which was more of “Grama Swarajya”. The administration was local. The financials were completely localized. There was no Central loan, state loan, World Bank loan for tank building, road building. They had to manage their own resources. Because they had rights over their land, forest, river etc., Kings were asking what people wanted and let them use it if it was in their territory. For example Chitradurga, Bellary, Kolara are rich in minerals. They were rich then also, and are rich now also. During that time, the locals made their own rules of how to extract gold, aluminum, iron etc.,. They had caste based professions for these work. The communities had access and rights to these resources accordingly. There was local demand and market for them to extract, manufacture and sell. The locals made their own guild, community, rules, regulations, etc., King approved their self-made rules. If the King was cruel and levied wrong rules and taxes, then people used to revolt and depose him with their own leader who gives equal rights to all communities.

Today, if a locality is rich in minerals, it belongs to some state or central government. They don’t give it to locals. They auction & contract it through complex tender and other underhand means to ‘Individuals’. The giver of land doesn’t have any local interest; the taker doesn’t have any local people’s interest. Both have money as the only common interest. So with an Iron hand they handle local unrest through police, paramilitary etc., they extract local resource and export globally. Then it will be considered Globally acceptable norms of the trade and manufacturing. The ‘Individuals’ involved become rich leaving the locals lurching for rights & basic needs.

Manufacturing by large destructive Industrial means is considered Global. Mining & Mineral extraction by large earth mover machines is considered as Global standard.

In the ancient India metallurgy was far superiorly developed. Large scale metal & alloy manufacturing & export are recorded in history studying Silk routes. This was made possible by people’s guild’s, communities etc., And also it was due to people’s ant like culture of working together contributing small ways for a big cause together. So they could construct large edifices, bridges, tanks, dams, forts & temples. Also they could export quality metals. It was harmonious and people friendly. Now it is completely ignored due to Globalization in which Individual interests over rule people’s interests.

Tribal, Local, Regional, Colloquial, Dialect, Cult etc.,

The above are some of the words to describe anything indigenous, locally developed culture, science, methods, processes or theories by the Modern educationists and Intellectuals.

By describing such they would put a stop for any further studies, interests or investments in those areas. By these descriptive words they would give a special emotional status, putting it on a pedestal and putting away from the common living.

So in every area the European stamped Global standards & processes over rule the local way of dealing things. We can observe this in Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Economics, Sociology, Legislation, Judiciary, Philosophy etc., In every one of these areas there is rich heritage which can harmoniously meet People’s needs. We just have to find our roots and enhance it.

But unfortunately we are in this vicious Globalization cycle. This helps some individual entrepreneurs, business men to become exorbitantly rich. It will widen the gap between the rich and the poor. Those rich will influence Government & Politics. And ultimately they even influence institutions, research, by pumping money further into destructive science and engineering rather than harmonious science, philosophy etc.,. And they in turn stamp Global markets, Global economy, Global markets, Multi-National Companies only as the savior of any country.

So that’s how today we, which means, the entire world’s all sovereign countries are under the grip of European (neo-American) idea of Globalization. This will further the “Money” (economic) Interests of those few ‘Individuals’ & MNC s.

However it is detrimental for the people of the countries. It is high time now, the people across countries lead by India to drive another Independence Movement to find their roots in every area for harmonious people oriented theories and practices. 

Hindu Philosophy is Karma Theory Based; Not God Based

Swami Vivekananda famously said in the Chicago Parliament of all Religions “We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true”.

In Hinduism we worship millions of Gods. And we accept all religions as true religions.

So what binds us Hindus together?

What binds Hindus together is the sense of Dharma. Dharma simply according to Swamiji is “Be Good and Do Good”. In simple terms, a good deed is one which does Good to many & harms less and is done with deep devotion & love towards the almighty. What is a good deed is the deeper subject of Dharma. And Vendantha is a deep study of explaining Dharma.

Through good deeds you perform in your given life, you earn Punya and bad deeds give you Paapa. This is the simple Karma Theory. There is a famous Samskrutha Sookthi to say the same: “Paropakaraya Punyaya; Parapeedanaya Paapaya”. Which means doing good to others earn Punya and troubling others earns you Paapa.

According to the Hinduism, the Jeevathma (soul) inside the body is deathless. The Jeevathma gets the body to perform Karma. The Jeevathma takes many births in different bodies. Through performing Punya Karma in each birth it goes on becoming higher soul nearing the ultimate God & attaining moksha a state of no more re-births on the mortal earth. This is just a basic of Vedantha. Vedantha is very deep and wide further. Different philosophies emerge from this basic theory.

So Hinduism is very much based on the Karma theory. And different Gods according to different people’s faith only play an aid in doing good to all & earn Punya.

Why then in India we still have separate religions when we accept all in our bosom?

Hindus accept all religions as true doesn’t mean, western religions accept KARMA theory. Most of the western religions are “GOD based” religions and not “Deed based” religions. So they consider religions are different based on the GOD they worship. 

Here is how in a 2 by 2 matrix we can depict the Hindu philosophy and Western philosophy of journey of the human soul beyond the earthly life. In the Hindu philosophy of cycles of rebirth, the soul through the body has to earn “Punya” to get freed from the cycle of rebirths and attain salvation (Moksha). But in the western philosophy the soul simple goes to heaven or hell based on the God the human being worships.

Why then some India’s Indigenous Religions consider themselves separate from Hinduism? Viz., Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs etc.,?

All the Indian origin religions lay most emphasis on the Karma theory & not on GOD theory. They also believe in rebirth & salvation through Good deeds. But the main difference is they don’t accept Vedas as ultimate truth, although they take several theories from it. And they lay overemphasis on those core theories, and does not appreciate the need for diversity in Dharma & Karma.

For example, in Jains, they lay over emphasis on Ahimsa(Non-Violence). So they don’t perform Kshatra dharma. Because it hurts other beings. For them, even performing agricultural activities is considered sin, as it overturns soil killing many organisms. So mostly the Jains are in trade only.

For example, Buddhists lay over emphasis on Thyaga (renunciation) & sanyasashrama & bhiksha (seeking alms). This Hindus believe will weaken the society due to low emphasis on economic activities.

In Hinduism, there is Chatur-Ashrama and Chatur-Varna. Every individual has to perform both. All the Indian religions are offshoots of Sanatana Dharma. But these offshoots don’t comply to these Varna and Ashrama theory in full. A very brief of these is given here:

Chatur-Ashrama:

• Brahmacharya – Child going through the learning of the life aspects, Dharma, Shastra, Itihasa etc.,
• Gruhastha – The family rearing, economic activity to sustain family
• Vanaprastha or Sanyasa – Teaching post learning and gaining immense life experience
• Vruddhashrama – Preparing to leave the body & performing penance

Chatur-Varna:

1. Brahmana- Wondering about the world; Learning the philosophy, science behind it. Understanding Dharma & Karma to lead society in righteous way
2. Kshatra – Protecting Dharma, fighting evil. It may call for punishing, killing the evil doers
3. Vaishya – Harnessing the god gifted resources for the well being of the entire society
4. Shoodra – Doing everyday chores, cleaning activities;

Over the centuries, in Hinduism, the communities performing primary activities aligned to one of these Varnas became Jatis (castes). They lived harmoniously for several centuries. But the society drew line of rigidity of untouchability amongst these Jatis often.  But Indians being very open minded and freedom lovers, got themselves uplifted through continuous reforms in the society through Saints like Sankaracharya, Basavanna, Guru Nanak, Chaitanya etc., There came a reformer in every region almost every century to set right the rigid caste system. Even today we have several faults in our society & several saints working through the society to unite people and remove the fault lines.

Why then are conflicts, violence, and intolerance still in India?

In India we have several natural fault lines based on caste, creed, language, region etc,.  So it leads to eruption of violence & conflicts often. But these are short lived and incidents here & there. Immediately the more mature Hindu saints, strong community leaders intervene and bring peace between the warring communities. We have plenty of Utsavs, Melas, Celebrations, in every region that the differences are diluted and communities reconcile soon & join hands in peace. For example, Jallikattu is one classic example which binds all castes together. Onam boat races bring people of all castes together for a peaceful sporty competition. Like this every region has plenty of events to bring people together in life’s colourful celebration spirit.

But intolerance is something different. It is permanent. It is preached. It is religion based. And it is God based.

The religious duty of the follower determines the Intolerance, Tolerance & Acceptance of different gods in the communities as pictured below:

As depicted before the western religions which are God based, spread in India today, are the Intolerant religions.

The preacher of an intolerant religion energizes the follower to convert from one god faith to the other god faith. This is religious duty of the follower of that religion.

It may be a religious duty to that religion follower. But the Hindus must understand that the faith conversion is a social evil. It destroys the social fabric of harmony. It must be resisted and opposed. It erases the local deities & culture. It removes self-esteem, pride of their race, region, saints, heroes & their locality. The foreign soil becomes pious but their mother land becomes bland.

In Hindus, there is nothing called faith conversion. It is only faith enhancement. If a new saint comes, we don’t convert, but we worship him also. He also doesn’t advise us to discard our current god and convert our faith to the new god he proposes. That’s why you see a Sai Baba follower doesn’t stop going to a Vithoba temple or a Sadguru’s Shishya doesn’t stop visiting Thirumala temple.

But over the centuries the Indian Christians or Muslims have erased their family deities & cultures from their families.  They do not tolerate any other faith mixing up in their families. This is by & large. Of course few exceptions here & there can be found.

Local connect to the GRAND NARRATION of Hinduism

In the western religion, since there is one God and one Prophet or incarnation, One holy place in the world, only that part of the world is sacred land. All other land is bland to be only exploited for pleasure.

In Hinduism, it is different. When Swami Vivekananda lands in India from his successful overseas travel, he pours handful of sand on his head. He famously says ‘Every grain of soil of Bharath is Sacred’.

How every locality has a powerful goddess or a god and yet they belong to the grand narration of Bharata? Yet they are all related & not creating ethnic animosity? Who made this grand narration of Bharata?

Our Rishis travelled across our land. They lived with every tribe atop hills, by the side of rivers, towns and villages. Everywhere they found an indigenous powerful deity. The Rishis paid full respect and did penance in front the deity. This built trust & confidence amongst the locals that their deity is most powerful in the world as a seer from another land pays so much respect. The Rishi then tells, that 'this deity is nothing but my deity only. I worship her in another name. I have seen her incarnation in many other places'. Thus Madhurai Meenakshi becomes Mysore Chamundeshwari becomes Kolluru Mookambika becomes Kolkata Kali Devi becomes Jammu’s Vaishno Devi. Thus a grand narration of 58 Shakthi Sthala s are culturally, devotionally connected. Similarly Chaturdhama. Similarly Dwadasha Jyothirlinga. And the list in innumerable.

Similarly our Ramayana, Mahabharata are Grand History of our Nation. And every corner of India has a story related to Hanuman, Bheema, Rama, Krishna etc., In Devarayanadurga, you will see a small fountain made by Lakshmana for Rama to put his Nama called Namada Chilume. Near Thirthahalli you will see a Bheemana katte to bring water nearer to Draupadi’s hut!! Then there is Mauritius which is nothing but the body mass of Mareecha thrown away into the ocean by Rama! When Ramayana spread throughout Thailand, Indonesia, Malaya, Combodia etc., you can hear the narration of Hanuman crossing the local river there also! So the locals feel proud of their river, land, mountain and its sacredness!   

The visionary Rishis have connected the Great Grand Bharatha in an astonishingly peaceful, beautiful way. Thus every land has a very powerful deity. It encouraged people to become very proud of their deity and very indigenous local culture built around that deity.

Yet that Local Culture doesn’t remain local creating ethnic conflicts. But, it connects to the GRAND NARRATION of Bharata in a very peaceful & beautiful way.

Contrast this with the western philosophers & prophets. They didn’t respect local indigenous culture to make them feel proud. For example, in Islam, Prophet Mohammed launched Jihad (Peaceful & Violent) against the local Idol worshipers and Nature worshipers calling them Kaafirs. Similarly the Bible describes the Indigenous European culture as Pagan Systems and calls it derogatory. So the followers of these religions focus more on conversion of the faith from one to the other creating conflict in minds of the followers. The conflict in mind translates to violence outward. Love of people, love of local culture becomes secondary & spread of some foreign culture becomes primary for them.  

Many educated Indians believe it is the British who united India. It is such a stupidity. They divided India. They divided us by religion. They divided us by caste. They divided us by language. Every which way they made us feel guilty of ourselves. They called us chaotic, idiotic. What a pity some of us still believe them?  

It is time for us now to celebrate local culture, respecting and connecting to the entire world’s culture. We must together join hands and defeat the divisive forces. Only India can show the way. For that we must believe in ourselves and have great pride of our diversity showcasing a great unity.