yet
ocean deep
asleep
peace within
i hold
forgiveness
letting go becos
i love him

nay
no returns
i do not ask
his heart to keep
today
chains of past
bind no more
love has freed

I am sorry for my neglect of posting, I have been busy, as the previous sentence implies.  I hope to pursue filming soon - but there are a few obligations and requirements I need to get done first - an unfinished project, something due soon, et cetera.

So, I am sorry, and I am looking forward to the days ahead (and wishing they be bright,) but as each day passes life seems to run along the river to a watershed - and who knows what happens then.

But I wish you all the best, and hope to spend some days in the near future filming our infinite dreams!

Most respectfully,

-B

P.S. And as for the title of this post - well, I'll let you figure that one out.

Those of you who are patient and dedicated can get my special surprise - hosting on an exclusive server. The criteria to get signed up:

1. You must have an active website, which previously received a minimum of 10 visitors per day on average.
2. Ads must have been placed at some point before the downtime.
3. You must be willing to further improve your ad placement (if possible).
4. You must reply to this comment within 2 days. Please include your website URL.

We can also look at getting your site online ahead of the others.

The March 14-18 national survey of 1,209 Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters gave Clinton, a New York senator, a 49 percent to 42 percent edge over Obama, an Illinois senator. The poll has an error margin of 3 percentage points.

Gallup said it was the first statistically significant lead for Clinton since a tracking poll conducted February 7-9, just after the Super Tuesday primaries.

Read the rest:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080320/pl_nm/usa_politics_gallup_
dc;_ylt=Apz65p1jAq41N9XdKxEAwgus0NUE

Who was Kalidasa? No one quite knows. After composing some of the best lyrical poetry ever, (in Sanskrit), little is known about him. His life lives in his works. Who was Ved Vyasa - the writer of Mahabharata? Or for that matter Valmiki! No one knows. About any one of these people.

Yet, whenever, India had needed, inspirations have come. To lead us ... असतो मा सद्गमय From untruth to the truth ... तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय ... From darkness to light ... मृत्योर् मा अमृतं गमय ... from termination, to eternity ...

Tipu Sultan unceasing opposition for more than 30 years (The Mysore Wars - 1767-1799) to the foreign rule before the 1857 War made the British rulers cautious about waging war in India. Immediately thereafter was the challenge of the Sikh qaum - led by Ranjit Singh. The death of Ranjit Singh in (1839) gave them another opportunity. Then followed the Afghan wars and the Sikh Wars (between 1839-1850). In 1857 was the India's first war of Independence.

From 1857 to the 1900, the British colonial government decimated Indian leadership. Bahadur Shah Zafar was sent to Rangoon. Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi. Ahalyabai Holkar. Tantia Tope. Leader after leader came to the fore. And India continued to redefine itself.

From feudal and hereditary leaders, the leadership slowly changed. From political to social. In parallel. In 1828, Raja Ram Mohan Roy formed the Brahmo Samaj. In 1875, Swami Dayanand formed the Arya Samaj. On 24th December 1892, Swami Vivekananda reached Kanyakumari - after travelling across India. He was entertained by rajas and the रंक (commoners) of his day.

Then followed the political leadership. Dadabhai Naoroji's (Congress President in 1886, 1893 1906) research and quantification of the British Loot from India started a new set of leaders against colonial rule - and a new definition of India. Tilak's demand for 'swaraj' and 'swadeshi' goods unnerved the colonialists. The colonial British Government deported Balgangadhar Tilak to Rangoon. He came back stronger than before. In other countries, when old leaders and rulers were removed or replaced, those countries descended into dictatorship, confusion, poverty. In India, we had wave after wave of leaders - and each time India moved forward. In a direction which has no precedents in world history.

What Happened In Other Countries

Why do Australia and Canada still acknowledge the British Queen as the head of the state? Spain has Juan Carlos I as its king! Did you know that Belgium has Albert II as it King? And Queen Beatrix rules over Holland (The Netherlands). King Akihito is venerated by the Japanese - and is the head of the state. Sweden is ruled by King Carl XVI Gustaf. Luxembourg has the Grand Duke Henri as its equivalent to a King! King Harald V lords over Norway! Queen Margrethe II rules over Denmark. The world still has quite a few monarchies - especially in the OECD. Why?

France removed and guillotined the monarchs - and they got Napoleon Bonaparte, as dictator! Russia tried - and they got 70 years of communist dictatorship. Italy asked King Victor Emmanuel III to go - and got Mussolini. The British exiled the Kaiser of Germany - and the Germans had to put up with Hitler thereafter.

Britain terminated the Turkish Ottoman Empire - and Turkey got a benign dictator, Mustafa Kemal Attaturk, and then not so benign dictators - and is yet to recover! East Europe (Romania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Albania, etc) promptly started fighting with each other, within and without - after the kings were removed. China became communist after the last emperor - and still has a communist dictatorship. Iran, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, most of Africa, South America - same or similar story.

This history is why Canada and Australia cling to the skirts of British Monarchy.

Republican Democracy

America became one of the first successful Republican democracies - from 1789, when George Washington became the first elected President of USA. (70 years later there was a Civil War). America survived.

Israel, (propped up by massive US aid) is another country which has been a republican democracy for more than 50 years. Switzerland (with guaranteed neutrality from the European powers) is another in modern history to survive 50 years of republican democracy. Srilanka has been another country which has survived 50 years as republican democracy - but just about.

India is the youngest Republican democracy - and we have completed a historic 50 years as republican democracy - Jan 26th 1950, till date.

Gandhiji's Conquest

But before the republic, came the unification of India - the crowning achievement of Gandhiji. Not the political union (achieved by Sardar Patel) - but the ideological union!

Garibaldi (united Italy), Bismarck (united Germany), Simon Bolivar (liberated and united South American countries) were unifiers who succeeded with the help of armies.

Gandhiji (armed with a walking stick) unified a larger India (and Pakistan) without an army. An India and a Pakistan - bigger than what the largest empire in the history of the world, the British Empire could not conquer with its armies.

One Clean Break

To make a one clean break from the feudal-colonial past - and succeed! That is a dream - never before in the history of the world. India made history - by surviving for 50 years with a republican democracy.

In 1947, India was a feudal society with more than 500 Kings and (some) Queens at the time of Independence. (No, the British did not rule over all of modern India). Large parts of India also had to change from a colonial mindset.

How Is India Unique

However, no other country has 15 official languages.

Switzerland has only 4. Sri Lanka’s Sinhalas do not want to accept Sri Lankan Tamils as full and equal citizens - hence the 20 year old civil war.

Social Equality

The liberation of Blacks in the USA is a 1970s phenomenon. It took non-violent protests (Martin Luther King) and violent threats (Malcolm X) for some kind of real emancipation and equity to come in.

Blacks in the USA legally got full and equal liberty only in 1964 after President Kennedy's Civil Rights Act of 1964. Earlier in 1954, President Eisenhower had to send in the army (the National Guard). In the Cold War scenario, under international media glare, during the Little Rock School stand-off, Eisenhower (a Southerner himself) reacted. The Mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas closed down the school rather than de-segregate. De-segregation (between the Blacks and Whites) happened clearly and fully only by 1970-75. Non-violent protests by Martin Luther King (inspired by Gandhiji’s) till 1968 and violent threats by Malcolm X thereafter, made desegregation a reality. Not to forget Martin Luther King's assassination in 1968. The eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation during the Kennedy years produced the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

But, Gandhiji’s first step, after coming back from South Africa, (many decades before India’s Independence, Unification and the creation of the Republic) was to start social reform against untouchability.

Enforcement - or Help

India and America, created their own constitutions without external enforcement. Republican democracy in Germany was imposed by the Allied Powers - hence their record is blemished.

Religions

In most countries, religion divides. In India, we are different. India has the world’s second /third largest Muslim population. The Indian Christian population is equal to that of most majority-Christian countries - excluding just a few big one like USA, Russia, Mexico, Brazil, etc. Buddhists number nearly 50 lakhs. Sikhs, Parsis (Zoorastrians), Bahais, follows their own religion. Iranians, Armenians, Jews, Chinese have come to India - when persecuted in their homelands.

Racism! Anyone?

No, thanks!

India has the Caucasoid stock - spread over the North and West India; Australoid stock spread over South India and the Mongoloid stock spread over of East and North East. There is also a very small sprinkling of the Negroid stock - less than 1%.

The Challenges Ahead

The challenges ahead are defence and economics.

India’s defence unpreparedness is beyond comprehension. Worse, is the lack of threat perception. Indians (sadly and truly) limit their threat perception to the Pakistanis - and the Chinese. with the world’s largest private reserves of gold India becomes a target. The resultant global and emerging threats are unrealised. We spend billions of dollars on buying arms all over the world - but our domestic arms industry is starving.

The second is economics. The world trade systems, financial agreements, currency management continue to drag down India - and many other countries. Navigating these uncharted waters successfully is the other.

And I am sure that another set of new leaders will arrive and take India forward to another level.

Sooner - not later.

Are there any real life monarchs left in any 'advanced' countries? What role do they play? Will a modern country follow these monarchs? Surprisingly, Europe has not removed any monarchs in the last 50 years.

Why do Australia and Canada still acknowledge the British Queen as the head of the state? Spain has Juan Carlos I as its king! Did you know that Belgium has Albert II as it King? And Queen Beatrix rules over Holland (The Netherlands). King Akihito is venerated by the Japanese - and is the head of the state. Sweden is ruled by King Carl XVI Gustaf. Luxembourg has the Grand Duke Henri as its equivalent to a King! King Harald V lords over Norway! Queen Margrethe II rules over Denmark.

The world still has quite a few monarchies - especially in the OECD.

Why so many monarchs

After all monarchy is relic - an institution that should be dead! Right?

Monarchy is not cheap. Monarchs are expensive to maintain. Monarch's can also be embarrassing - especially the family. Just look at Princess Diana - her saga of bedroom romps and adultery became a reality show - before reality shows were born (Endemol, the Diana estate is coming after you!). If they are figure heads, why waste time - and money!

The Difficulty Of Removing Monarchs

France removed and guillotined the monarchs - and they got Napolean Bonaparte, as dictator! Russia tried - and they got 70 years of communist dictatorship. Italy asked King Victor Emmanuel III to go - and got Mussolini. The British exiled the Kaiser of Germany - and the Germans had to put up with Hitler thereafter.

Britain terminated the Turkish Ottoman Empire - and Turkey got a benign dictator, Mustafa Kemal Attaturk, and then not so benign dictators - and is yet to recover! East Europe (Romania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Albania, etc) promptly started fighting with each other, within and without - after the kings were removed. China became communist after the last emperor - and still has a communist dictatorship. Iran, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, most of Africa, South America - same or similar story. The Nepalese have not got their history wrong. Just look at Afghanistan next door - after the King Zahir Shah was removed.

This history is why Canada and Australia cling to the skirts of British Monarchy.

Republican Democracy

The modern desirable is Republican democracy - and every country wishes for one! Very few succeeded. A republican democracy does not have a titular king - hereditary or otherwise. The head of the state is elected - directly or indirectly.

America became one of the first successful Republican democracies - from 1789, when George Washington became the first elected President of USA. 70 years later, the strains were showing - North versus South. America was on the verge of Civil War - the main cause of which was the desire of the Southern states to remain independent (due to tariff issues) or at best as a loose confederation - not a federal union (actually slavery was a side issue).

Israel, (propped up by massive US aid) is another country which has been a republican democracy for more than 50 years. Switzerland (with guaranteed neutrality from the European powers) is another in modern history to survive 50 years of republican democracy. Sri Lanka has been another country which has survived 50 years as republican democracy - but just about.

India is the youngest Republican democracy - and we have completed a historic 50 years as republican democracy - Jan 26th 1950, till date.

Gandhiji's Conquest

But before the republic, came the unification of India - the crowning achievement of Gandhiji. Not the political union (achieved by Sardar Patel) - but the ideological union!

Garibaldi (united Italy), Bismarck (united Germany), Simon Bolivar (liberated and united South American countries) were unifiers who succeeded with the help of armies.

Gandhiji (armed with just his walking stick) unified a larger India (and Pakistan) without an army. An India and a Pakistan - bigger than what the largest empire in the history of the world, the British Empire could not conquer with its armies.

One Clean Break

To make a one clean break from the feudal-colonial past - and succeed! That is a dream - never before in the history of the world. India made history - by surviving for 50 years with a republican democracy.

In 1947, India was a feudal society with more than 500 Kings and (some) Queens at the time of Independence. (No, the British did not rule over all of modern India). Large parts of India also had to change from a colonial mindset.

Why Is India Unique

However, no other country has 15 official languages. No other countries even had the courage to think of that.

Various US state governments outlawed all languages - except English. This was finally set aside after the matter reached the US Supreme Court (read Meyer vs Nebraska). The USA gathered some courage to start timidly with more than English only after seeing India's success with 15 languages.

Switzerland has only 4. Sri Lanka's Sinhalas do not want to accept Sri Lankan Tamils as full and equal citizens - hence the 20 year old civil war.

The British Colonial administration tried to take control of India by removing an entire generation of royalty - Bahadur Shah Zafar, Tipu Sultan, Rani Lakshmi Bai, Tantiya Tope, Rani Ahalyabai et al. This should have left India rudderless, with a vacuum at the top - based on European history.

But what was unprecedented in the modern world history, was a new band of first-generation political leaders who cut their against the British. Balagangadhar Tilak, GK Gokhale, Motilal Nehru - and of course, Gandhiji.

Universal Suffrage

In India, universal suffrage in 1950 started from the the very first election in sovereign India.

Universal suffrage came to the USA, Britain, France, Belgium, Canada, Australia after a long struggle. The USA had to pass the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920; Italy in 1945; Canada in 1940; France gave women the right to vote in 1945; Switzerland in 1971 gave its women the right to vote in all elections. These “advanced” countries, gave women the right to vote after a long struggle. India had universal adult franchise from the very first day - without any female activism.

Social Equality

Black emancipation in the USA is a 1970s phenomenon, 30+ years ago event - and not 200 years ago as this article in New York Times seems to make out.

It took non-violent protests (Martin Luther King, inspired by Gandhiji) and violent threats (Malcolm X) for some kind of real emancipation and equity to come in. In the Cold War scenario, under international media glare, during the Little Rock School stand-off, Eisenhower (a Southerner himself) reacted.

Reluctantly,in 1954, he sent in the National Guard to Little Rock, Arkansas for some kind of de-segregation. The Mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas closed down the school rather than de-segregate. The eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation during the Kennedy years produced the Civil Rights Act of 1964. For a 100 years after the American Civil War, the Black people in the USA were still subject to 2nd grade treatment - any measure of liberty came only after 1964.

But, Gandhiji's first step, after coming back from South Africa, (many decades before India's Independence, Unification and the creation of the Republic) was to start social reform against untouchability.equal

Enforcement - or Help

India and America, created their own constitutions without external enforcement. Republican democracy in Germany was externally imposed - by the Allied Powers. Singapore has used extreme laws to disallow any other party and leaders to pose a challenge to the ruling party and get elected. When Japan took the first step away from LDP rule, with a non-LDP government, after 45 years of LDP rule - it took Japan 20 years to recover.

Religious Divide ...

India has the world's second /third largest Muslim population. The Indian Christian population is equal to that of most majority-Christian countries - excluding just a few big one like USA, Russia, Mexico, Brazil, etc. Buddhists number nearly 50 lakhs. Sikhs, Parsis (Zoorastrians), Bahais, follows their own religion. Iranians, Aremenians, Jews, Chinese have come to India - when persecuted in their homelands.

Racism anyone?

No, thanks!

India has the caucasoid stock - spread over the North and West India; Australoid stock spread over South India and the Mongoloid stock spread over of East and North East. There is also a very small sprinkling of the Negroid stock - less than 1%.

Hence, to have a functioning republican democracy without a break for more than 50 years puts India in a different league.

The Challenge Ahead

The challenges ahead are defence and economics.

India's defence unpreparedness is beyond comprehension. Worse, is the lack of threat perception. Indians (sadly and truly) limit their threat perception to the Pakistanis - and the Chinese. with the world's largest private reserves of gold India becomes a target. The resultant global and emerging threats are unrealised.

The second is economics. The world trade systems, financial agreements, currency management continue to drag down India - and many other countries. Navigating these uncharted waters successfully is the other.

Does India have the intellectual leadership and strategic intent to create solutions?

Post Script

Interestingly, Arun Maira, wrote in Times of India, on 20 Feb 2008, one month after this post, " Our Constitution gave the right to all adults, regardless of race, religion, sex or income to vote. It was a very bold step. Blacks in America got their rights later, and women in India got the right to vote even before women in some Western European countries did." He continues, "Therefore, we must give thanks to those who brought us safely from independence to 1991 and built our foundations."

Unfortunately, he goes on further to say, "The only inclusive national party we have perhaps is the Congress party, which helped create the country we now celebrate." His advice is that one party, the Congress, should give India a vision. It does not matter, which party he selects. India's vision, my dear, Mr.Maira I thought was made by all of us.

Are there any real life monarchs left in any 'advanced' countries? What role do they play? Will a modern country follow these monarchs? Surprisingly, Europe has not removed any monarchs in the last 50 years.

Why do Australia and Canada still acknowledge the British Queen as the head of the state? Spain has Juan Carlos I as its king! Did you know that Belgium has Albert II as it King? And Queen Beatrix rules over Holland (The Netherlands). King Akihito is venerated by the Japanese - and is the head of the state. Sweden is ruled by King Carl XVI Gustaf. Luxembourg has the Grand Duke Henri as its equivalent to a King! King Harald V lords over Norway! Queen Margrethe II rules over Denmark.

The world still has quite a few monarchies - especially in the OECD.

Why so many monarchs

After all monarchy is relic - an institution that should be dead! Right?

Monarchy is not cheap. Monarchs are expensive to maintain. Monarch's can also be embarrassing - especially the family. Just look at Princess Diana - her saga of bedroom romps and adultery became a reality show - before reality shows were born (Endemol, the Diana estate is coming after you!). If they are figure heads, why waste time - and money!

The Difficulty Of Removing Monarchs

France removed and guillotined the monarchs - and they got Napolean Bonaparte, as dictator! Russia tried - and they got 70 years of communist dictatorship. Italy asked King Victor Emmanuel III to go - and got Mussolini. The British exiled the Kaiser of Germany - and the Germans had to put up with Hitler thereafter.

Britain terminated the Turkish Ottoman Empire - and Turkey got a benign dictator, Mustafa Kemal Attaturk, and then not so benign dictators - and is yet to recover! East Europe (Romania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Albania, etc) promptly started fighting with each other, within and without - after the kings were removed. China became communist after the last emperor - and still has a communist dictatorship. Iran, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, most of Africa, South America - same or similar story. The Nepalese have not got their history wrong. Just look at Afghanistan next door - after the King Zahir Shah was removed.

This history is why Canada and Australia cling to the skirts of British Monarchy.

Republican Democracy

The modern desirable is Republican democracy - and every country wishes for one! Very few succeeded. A republican democracy does not have a titular king - hereditary or otherwise. The head of the state is elected - directly or indirectly.

America became one of the first successful Republican democracies - from 1789, when George Washington became the first elected President of USA. 70 years later, the strains were showing - North versus South. America was on the verge of Civil War - the main cause of which was the desire of the Southern states to remain independent (due to tariff issues) or at best as a loose confederation - not a federal union (actually slavery was a side issue).

Israel, (propped up by massive US aid) is another country which has been a republican democracy for more than 50 years. Switzerland (with guaranteed neutrality from the European powers) is another in modern history to survive 50 years of republican democracy. Sri Lanka has been another country which has survived 50 years as republican democracy - but just about.

India is the youngest Republican democracy - and we have completed a historic 50 years as republican democracy - Jan 26th 1950, till date.

Gandhiji's Conquest

But before the republic, came the unification of India - the crowning achievement of Gandhiji. Not the political union (achieved by Sardar Patel) - but the ideological union!

Garibaldi (united Italy), Bismarck (united Germany), Simon Bolivar (liberated and united South American countries) were unifiers who succeeded with the help of armies.

Gandhiji (armed with just his walking stick) unified a larger India (and Pakistan) without an army. An India and a Pakistan - bigger than what the largest empire in the history of the world, the British Empire could not conquer with its armies.

One Clean Break

To make a one clean break from the feudal-colonial past - and succeed! That is a dream - never before in the history of the world. India made history - by surviving for 50 years with a republican democracy.

In 1947, India was a feudal society with more than 500 Kings and (some) Queens at the time of Independence. (No, the British did not rule over all of modern India). Large parts of India also had to change from a colonial mindset.

Why Is India Unique

However, no other country has 15 official languages. No other countries even had the courage to think of that.

Various US state governments outlawed all languages - except English. This was finally set aside after the matter reached the US Supreme Court (read Meyer vs Nebraska). The USA gathered some courage to start timidly with more than English only after seeing India's success with 15 languages.

Switzerland has only 4. Sri Lanka's Sinhalas do not want to accept Sri Lankan Tamils as full and equal citizens - hence the 20 year old civil war.

The British Colonial administration tried to take control of India by removing an entire generation of royalty - Bahadur Shah Zafar, Tipu Sultan, Rani Lakshmi Bai, Tantiya Tope, Rani Ahalyabai et al. This should have left India rudderless, with a vacuum at the top - based on European history.

But what was unprecedented in the modern world history, was a new band of first-generation political leaders who cut their against the British. Balagangadhar Tilak, GK Gokhale, Motilal Nehru - and of course, Gandhiji.

Universal Suffrage

In India, universal suffrage in 1950 started from the the very first election in sovereign India.

Universal suffrage came to the USA, Britain, France, Belgium, Canada, Australia after a long struggle. The USA had to pass the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920; Italy in 1945; Canada in 1940; France gave women the right to vote in 1945; Switzerland in 1971 gave its women the right to vote in all elections. These “advanced” countries, gave women the right to vote after a long struggle. India had universal adult franchise from the very first day - without any female activism.

Social Equality

Black emancipation in the USA is a 1970s phenomenon, 30+ years ago event - and not 200 years ago as this article in New York Times seems to make out.

It took non-violent protests (Martin Luther King, inspired by Gandhiji) and violent threats (Malcolm X) for some kind of real emancipation and equity to come in. In the Cold War scenario, under international media glare, during the Little Rock School stand-off, Eisenhower (a Southerner himself) reacted.

Reluctantly,in 1954, he sent in the National Guard to Little Rock, Arkansas for some kind of de-segregation. The Mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas closed down the school rather than de-segregate. The eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation during the Kennedy years produced the Civil Rights Act of 1964. For a 100 years after the American Civil War, the Black people in the USA were still subject to 2nd grade treatment - any measure of liberty came only after 1964.

But, Gandhiji's first step, after coming back from South Africa, (many decades before India's Independence, Unification and the creation of the Republic) was to start social reform against untouchability.equal

Enforcement - or Help

India and America, created their own constitutions without external enforcement. Republican democracy in Germany was externally imposed - by the Allied Powers. Singapore has used extreme laws to disallow any other party and leaders to pose a challenge to the ruling party and get elected. When Japan took the first step away from LDP rule, with a non-LDP government, after 45 years of LDP rule - it took Japan 20 years to recover.

Religious Divide ...

India has the world's second /third largest Muslim population. The Indian Christian population is equal to that of most majority-Christian countries - excluding just a few big one like USA, Russia, Mexico, Brazil, etc. Buddhists number nearly 50 lakhs. Sikhs, Parsis (Zoorastrians), Bahais, follows their own religion. Iranians, Aremenians, Jews, Chinese have come to India - when persecuted in their homelands.

Racism anyone?

No, thanks!

India has the caucasoid stock - spread over the North and West India; Australoid stock spread over South India and the Mongoloid stock spread over of East and North East. There is also a very small sprinkling of the Negroid stock - less than 1%.

Hence, to have a functioning republican democracy without a break for more than 50 years puts India in a different league.

The Challenge Ahead

The challenges ahead are defence and economics.

India's defence unpreparedness is beyond comprehension. Worse, is the lack of threat perception. Indians (sadly and truly) limit their threat perception to the Pakistanis - and the Chinese. with the world's largest private reserves of gold India becomes a target. The resultant global and emerging threats are unrealised.

The second is economics. The world trade systems, financial agreements, currency management continue to drag down India - and many other countries. Navigating these uncharted waters successfully is the other.

Does India have the intellectual leadership and strategic intent to create solutions?

Post Script

Interestingly, Arun Maira, wrote in Times of India, on 20 Feb 2008, one month after this post, " Our Constitution gave the right to all adults, regardless of race, religion, sex or income to vote. It was a very bold step. Blacks in America got their rights later, and women in India got the right to vote even before women in some Western European countries did." He continues, "Therefore, we must give thanks to those who brought us safely from independence to 1991 and built our foundations."

Unfortunately, he goes on further to say, "The only inclusive national party we have perhaps is the Congress party, which helped create the country we now celebrate." His advice is that one party, the Congress, should give India a vision. It does not matter, which party he selects. India's vision, my dear, Mr.Maira I thought was made by all of us.

Are there any real life monarchs left in any 'advanced' countries? What role do they play? Will a modern country follow these monarchs? Surprisingly, Europe has not removed any monarchs in the last 50 years.

Why do Australia and Canada still acknowledge the British Queen as the head of the state? Spain has Juan Carlos I as its king! Did you know that Belgium has Albert II as it King? And Queen Beatrix rules over Holland (The Netherlands). King Akihito is venerated by the Japanese - and is the head of the state. Sweden is ruled by King Carl XVI Gustaf. Luxembourg has the Grand Duke Henri as its equivalent to a King! King Harald V lords over Norway! Queen Margrethe II rules over Denmark.

The world still has quite a few monarchies - especially in the OECD.

Why so many monarchs

After all monarchy is relic - an institution that should be dead! Right?

Monarchy is not cheap. Monarchs are expensive to maintain. Monarch's can also be embarrassing - especially the family. Just look at Princess Diana - her saga of bedroom romps and adultery became a reality show - before reality shows were born (Endemol, the Diana estate is coming after you!). If they are figure heads, why waste time - and money!

The Difficulty Of Removing Monarchs

France removed and guillotined the monarchs - and they got Napolean Bonaparte, as dictator! Russia tried - and they got 70 years of communist dictatorship. Italy asked King Victor Emmanuel III to go - and got Mussolini. The British exiled the Kaiser of Germany - and the Germans had to put up with Hitler thereafter.

Britain terminated the Turkish Ottoman Empire - and Turkey got a benign dictator, Mustafa Kemal Attaturk, and then not so benign dictators - and is yet to recover! East Europe (Romania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Albania, etc) promptly started fighting with each other, within and without - after the kings were removed. China became communist after the last emperor - and still has a communist dictatorship. Iran, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, most of Africa, South America - same or similar story. The Nepalese have not got their history wrong. Just look at Afghanistan next door - after the King Zahir Shah was removed.

This history is why Canada and Australia cling to the skirts of British Monarchy.

Republican Democracy

The modern desirable is Republican democracy - and every country wishes for one! Very few succeeded. A republican democracy does not have a titular king - hereditary or otherwise. The head of the state is elected - directly or indirectly.

America became one of the first successful Republican democracies - from 1789, when George Washington became the first elected President of USA. 70 years later, the strains were showing - North versus South. America was on the verge of Civil War - the main cause of which was the desire of the Southern states to remain independent (due to tariff issues) or at best as a loose confederation - not a federal union (actually slavery was a side issue).

Israel, (propped up by massive US aid) is another country which has been a republican democracy for more than 50 years. Switzerland (with guaranteed neutrality from the European powers) is another in modern history to survive 50 years of republican democracy. Sri Lanka has been another country which has survived 50 years as republican democracy - but just about.

India is the youngest Republican democracy - and we have completed a historic 50 years as republican democracy - Jan 26th 1950, till date.

Gandhiji's Conquest

But before the republic, came the unification of India - the crowning achievement of Gandhiji. Not the political union (achieved by Sardar Patel) - but the ideological union!

Garibaldi (united Italy), Bismarck (united Germany), Simon Bolivar (liberated and united South American countries) were unifiers who succeeded with the help of armies.

Gandhiji (armed with just his walking stick) unified a larger India (and Pakistan) without an army. An India and a Pakistan - bigger than what the largest empire in the history of the world, the British Empire could not conquer with its armies.

One Clean Break

To make a one clean break from the feudal-colonial past - and succeed! That is a dream - never before in the history of the world. India made history - by surviving for 50 years with a republican democracy.

In 1947, India was a feudal society with more than 500 Kings and (some) Queens at the time of Independence. (No, the British did not rule over all of modern India). Large parts of India also had to change from a colonial mindset.

Why Is India Unique

However, no other country has 15 official languages. No other countries even had the courage to think of that.

Various US state governments outlawed all languages - except English. This was finally set aside after the matter reached the US Supreme Court (read Meyer vs Nebraska). The USA gathered some courage to start timidly with more than English only after seeing India's success with 15 languages.

Switzerland has only 4. Sri Lanka's Sinhalas do not want to accept Sri Lankan Tamils as full and equal citizens - hence the 20 year old civil war.

The British Colonial administration tried to take control of India by removing an entire generation of royalty - Bahadur Shah Zafar, Tipu Sultan, Rani Lakshmi Bai, Tantiya Tope, Rani Ahalyabai et al. This should have left India rudderless, with a vacuum at the top - based on European history.

But what was unprecedented in the modern world history, was a new band of first-generation political leaders who cut their against the British. Balagangadhar Tilak, GK Gokhale, Motilal Nehru - and of course, Gandhiji.

Universal Suffrage

In India, universal suffrage in 1950 started from the the very first election in sovereign India.

Universal suffrage came to the USA, Britain, France, Belgium, Canada, Australia after a long struggle. The USA had to pass the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920; Italy in 1945; Canada in 1940; France gave women the right to vote in 1945; Switzerland in 1971 gave its women the right to vote in all elections. These “advanced” countries, gave women the right to vote after a long struggle. India had universal adult franchise from the very first day - without any female activism.

Social Equality

Black emancipation in the USA is a 1970s phenomenon, 30+ years ago event - and not 200 years ago as this article in New York Times seems to make out.

It took non-violent protests (Martin Luther King, inspired by Gandhiji) and violent threats (Malcolm X) for some kind of real emancipation and equity to come in. In the Cold War scenario, under international media glare, during the Little Rock School stand-off, Eisenhower (a Southerner himself) reacted.

Reluctantly,in 1954, he sent in the National Guard to Little Rock, Arkansas for some kind of de-segregation. The Mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas closed down the school rather than de-segregate. The eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation during the Kennedy years produced the Civil Rights Act of 1964. For a 100 years after the American Civil War, the Black people in the USA were still subject to 2nd grade treatment - any measure of liberty came only after 1964.

But, Gandhiji's first step, after coming back from South Africa, (many decades before India's Independence, Unification and the creation of the Republic) was to start social reform against untouchability.equal

Enforcement - or Help

India and America, created their own constitutions without external enforcement. Republican democracy in Germany was externally imposed - by the Allied Powers. Singapore has used extreme laws to disallow any other party and leaders to pose a challenge to the ruling party and get elected. When Japan took the first step away from LDP rule, with a non-LDP government, after 45 years of LDP rule - it took Japan 20 years to recover.

Religious Divide ...

India has the world's second /third largest Muslim population. The Indian Christian population is equal to that of most majority-Christian countries - excluding just a few big one like USA, Russia, Mexico, Brazil, etc. Buddhists number nearly 50 lakhs. Sikhs, Parsis (Zoorastrians), Bahais, follows their own religion. Iranians, Aremenians, Jews, Chinese have come to India - when persecuted in their homelands.

Racism anyone?

No, thanks!

India has the caucasoid stock - spread over the North and West India; Australoid stock spread over South India and the Mongoloid stock spread over of East and North East. There is also a very small sprinkling of the Negroid stock - less than 1%.

Hence, to have a functioning republican democracy without a break for more than 50 years puts India in a different league.

The Challenge Ahead

The challenges ahead are defence and economics.

India's defence unpreparedness is beyond comprehension. Worse, is the lack of threat perception. Indians (sadly and truly) limit their threat perception to the Pakistanis - and the Chinese. with the world's largest private reserves of gold India becomes a target. The resultant global and emerging threats are unrealised.

The second is economics. The world trade systems, financial agreements, currency management continue to drag down India - and many other countries. Navigating these uncharted waters successfully is the other.

Does India have the intellectual leadership and strategic intent to create solutions?

Post Script

Interestingly, Arun Maira, wrote in Times of India, on 20 Feb 2008, one month after this post, " Our Constitution gave the right to all adults, regardless of race, religion, sex or income to vote. It was a very bold step. Blacks in America got their rights later, and women in India got the right to vote even before women in some Western European countries did." He continues, "Therefore, we must give thanks to those who brought us safely from independence to 1991 and built our foundations."

Unfortunately, he goes on further to say, "The only inclusive national party we have perhaps is the Congress party, which helped create the country we now celebrate." His advice is that one party, the Congress, should give India a vision. It does not matter, which party he selects. India's vision, my dear, Mr.Maira I thought was made by all of us.

First period was crazy.  Because the teacher had to install a JAVA thing onto the computers.  So we had to sit and do nothing for it. 
Second period was slow, because I have already finished the book, so I just pretended to follow along.
Third period was boring as hell-as always-and I ended up standing there for about 20 minutes, doing nothing.  I hate that aspect of the class.  The working out part I like.
Fourth was damn slow.  We read from the textbook.  And, of course me being me, I read ahead on my own, but the teacher still had me read aloud.  He's new this year, and hasn't quite caught onto the fact that I read ahead and am ahead of them and have no idea where we are, even though I'm still paying attention.  Oh well, whatever, the teacher doesn't teach anyways. 

So anyway, now it's 5th period.  And I'm listening to musics on Deezer. 
Weirdest thing this morning.  Before I even got out of bed this morning, I was awake, just not out of bed, I had a song in my head.  Got stuck all morning till I left the house, and a little after that too.  Guess what song it was?  "Gimme More" by Britney Spears.  I will never let myself live it down.  Well, worse than that....Freshman year, Valentines Day, I woke up with "Beautiful People" by Marylin Manson stuck in my head.  No problem with the song, but on Valentines Day?  So wrong!