2013: Balancing the extremes

If you are reading this post then we have already called the "Mayan's doomsday bluff" and we are at the threshold of a New Year (2013 and Makara Shankaranti, as the case may be).  

Let me quickly wish you and your family a very happy, prosperous, healthy, fun-filled and peaceful New Year. I am sure some of you have been planning for the next year and I was wondering how the next year is going to be. 

As I looked around, I could only notice many of the nations and companies are either  looking down the economic abyss or staring into the eyes of other nations with an intention to fight for what ever reasons. I have been reading astrological forecasts for the oncoming months which predicts very high degree of civil unrest among citizens, warring nations, loss of peace and harmony, political instability, revolutions forcing government's fall and you can add other unpleasant things to this list. In fact it predicts difficult times from 15-Dec-2012 to till about 1st week of October 2013, with the worst period till 3rd week of Jan 2013.

Well, I had conflicting thoughts and those are very succinctly captured with some famous quotes below: 

Lets start with  Lao Tzu, who said, "Those who have knowledge, don't predict. Those who predict, don't have knowledge. Well its quite easy to reject the forecasts but what we see around us seems to confirm the prediction. In fact i would even ask as to what is so great about astrological forecasts as things are very evident. I fear, the protests in Delhi for the last few days seems to be early signs of what we may witness for much of 2013.

Consider Voltaire who quipped, "It is said that the present is pregnant with the future". As we see the present is pregnant with the seeds of conflict, poor governance, war mongering nations, economic meltdown, arrogant government, angry people, impatient minds and intolerant hearts. Then what 2013 would deliver is not a matter of rocket science / astrological forecast. Isn't? 

In any society conflicts are inherent, congenial, omnipresent and needs tolerance / acceptance and the ability to put up with extreme views. As HH Dalai Lama said, "In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher". I believe the ability to balance the extreme positions is a key leadership trait be it in an organization, government or life and it is probably more important in 2013. 

As a wise man said, "Good living is in balancing the extremes" and every change starts with the individual. So, what are an individual's extremes that one needs to balance? If you answer its his head and feet, you are wrong. An individual's extremes are his head and heart. So specifically for 2013, let me wish every one a cool head, a warm heart and an attitude to balance the extremes in life for a good living!.

Here are few lines from a Sanskrit poem called Mangala Prarthana: (meaning given below)

Swasthi prajabhya paripalayantham,

Nyayena margena maheem maheesa,

Gobrahmanebhyo shubhamasthu nithyam,
Loka samastha Sukhino bhavantu.

Kale varshathu parjanya,
Prauthwee sasya shalini,
Deso yam kshobha rahitha,
SAjjana santhu nirbhaya.

Aputhra puthrina santhu,
Puthrina santhu pouthrina,
Adhana sadhana Santhu

Jeevanthu sarada satham.

Sarvathra sukhina santhu,
Sarve santhu niramaya,
Sarve bhadrani pasyanthu,
Ma kaschid dukha bhag bhaveth.

Seasons greetings, Merry Christmas and a very Happy New year!

Happy reading!

Meaning:

Let all people live happily,
Let kings rule with justice,
Let cows and Brahmins live happily,
And let all the people of this earth live happily for ever.

Let the monsoon be timely and plentiful,
Let earth be covered with vegetation,
Let the country live without problems,
And let good people never have fear.

Let sonless people have son,
Let people with son have grand sons,
And let people who are poor or rich,
Live and see one hundred autumns.

Let people live with pleasure everywhere,
Let all people live without diseases,
Let every one feel themselves secure,
And let none have at anytime sorrow

Is Delhi the "Rape Capital" of India?

As always the media has been going ballistic (this time rightfully so) on the horrific rape news of a Delhi based doctor who was raped in a moving bus. For those who have an eye for such crimes stats, they would tell you that it is not anything surprising in India.

The statistics tell us that in 2001 one woman / girl is raped every 54 minutes and in 2011 it has worsened to one in 24 minutes. Now this is based on the crimes that are registered and if you have lived in India, you would agree that it is a general tendency not to raise these things in public unless there is a strong trigger. Having been ethics counselor in some reputed concerns, I can tell you the actual cases of sexual abuse and rape crimes should be far higher than what we see.

I saw on TV the police commissioner asking a reporter as to why you called "Delhi - the rape capital of India". We are as intelligent as we are informed and since our Media just shouts without any data, I decided to browse through some statistics and put together  this analysis.

1. The rape statistics of 2011 are as per the Home Ministry.

2. I analysed this against the female population in that state / city. I also analysed it against the size of the state / city.

3. I derived 2 ratios, Ratio of rapes per every 1000 females and Ratio of rapes every 100 Sq km.

Now, I wanted to make it clear that its shame on all the right minded Indians if we are  happy about less rapes in our state and more rapes in the neighbor states. We should be equally ashamed and unhappy about every crime that happens in any part of India.

But the tables show a very clear ranking. Delhi seems to be worse off and is worth calling the rape capital of India when you compare the ratio of rape in every 100 sq km specially. It is startlingly 10 times more than the 2nd ranked state which is Kerala and also more than the sum of all the ratios of other states put together.

Delhi ranks 5th in ratio per 1000 people, but surprisingly Assam leads this ratio across India. MP, WB, UP and Rajasthan seems to be worse off in absolute numbers of rape. I am not fully sure about the rape cases in Haryana.

There were multiple reactions from asking for death penalty to these culprits to emotional debates by our MPs. My thoughts as follows:

Capital Punishment: 

I think we should first hang the people who are already sentenced to death. Its a shame that the 20+yr old death sentences are still pending. What caste, creed, which community how much votes we will lose - every damn thing is a factor when it comes to execute a criminal. As a country we are impotent in executing death sentences. We have seen dengue mosquitoes are more effective than our justice delivery system but how can we depend on them always?

Political will: 
Its not long before the President of India (Mrs. Patil) and the HM (PC) colluded to pardon number of culprits which included child rapists and killers. This has happened in this year only. What do expect from these elected jokers when there is no political will to punish the culprits.

Experts say crime can be controlled effectively with the speed of justice more than the severity of justice. We have to speed up the justice delivery mechanism.

In my opinion nothing works more effectively than CASTRATION for such crimes. This way you disable them without the tool to repeat the crime. And just like the victim will live with a scar, the culprit also should live with one (or rather without one? :)).

I think we should request government to deploy mobile castration centers in specific areas and see the speed at which this menace can be controlled. Many like me would be more than glad to donate rusted scissors for this punishment.

Being a father, husband and brother, I want to see love, admiration, fear and respect in men's eyes and not lust when they see girls / women in this country.

Yours angry-sadly

Happy reading!

PS: Please ignore the word millions in the first table under female population. Its already given in millions. I am too lazy to change this in the picture :)

Surya Vamsa, Ravana's lineage and Srilanka's history!!.. Part 3

Lets look at some aspects which are widely debated:

• Ravana was a brahmin since he was born to a Brahmin Sage but had the qualities of his mother who is a Demon. How can one be a Brahmin and a demon? Though Ravana was born in a Brahmin family he was not a Brahmin by his deeds but was a demon by deeds. One of the important aspects of Hinduism is Karma theory, You shall reap what you sow!, places conduct over creed. So, conduct and deeds determines an individual and hence Ravana was called a demon king and not a Brahmin!.

• Unlike popular belief it should be highlighted that Rama was a Kshatriya and not a Brahmin. When Soorpanaka approaches Rama and asks him to marry her, Lord Rama refuses her and one of the reasons he gives is "I am a human being and it would not be apt to marry a demon pricesss".. வருத்தம் நீங்கு அரக்கர்தம்மில் மானிடர்
       மணத்தல், நங்கை! பொருத்தம் அன்று". Understandably Kshatriya male cannot marry a Brahmin girl as per Manu laws but a Brahmin male can marry a Kshatriya or Vaishya girl.

In Tamil Nadu there are some "rational" species which does not believe in Ramayan or Rama but claim that Ravana was a lower caste and Rama was a Brahmin and the entire story is of oppressive past India had. This along with the next argument needs to be trashed.

The next argument is Ravana was a Tamilian (Dravidian) and Lord Rama was a north Indian (Aryan) and hence Ramayana is all about Aryan supremacy story over Dravidians. The Aryan invasion theory has been comprehensively debunked and the other theory that Aryans migrated from Europe / Russian is also sent to dustbin at the same breath.

The birth place of Ravana is not mentioned in any scriptures as Tamil Nadu or Sri Lanka nor it is said that Ravana's mother tongue is Tamil.  It is popularly believed that Ravana was born in the current day village of Bisrakh, closer to Noida in North India. Geographically Ravana is more north Indian than Lord Rama as Noida is north of Ayodhya :). Please note that he displaced Kubera and captured Lanka.

To my knowledge there were no linguistic divide as we see now between Tamil and Sanskrit. Any Sage or author seems to have mastered both the languages and it was like 2 eyes for them. They did not claim that one eye is superior nor they claimed that the right  eye came from left eye. Those who make those arguments are mentally blind.. Let me give some perceptions about it:

• Sage Agasthiyar who is the head of Tamil Sidha parampara and also the chief disciple of Lord Muruga - the origin of Tamil, was sent to South India by Lord Shiva and he was not a native of South India. Yet he created so many works in Tamil and Sanskrit. The famous AdityaHridayam sloka in Ramayanam where Sage Agasthiya tells the secret to win Ravana is in Sanskrit. The Lalitha Sahasranamam told by Sage Agasthya to Hayagreeva is in Sanskrit. These are couple of examples i can draw.

• Ravana was known for his singing and Veena playing abilities. His valor was unheard of and excelled in many things. He also is attributed for lots of works in Tamil and Slokas in Sanskrit too. Listen to this Shiva Tandava Stotra believed to be composed by Ravan in Sanskrit. Like Mantras, this was also supposed to be sung in one breath. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwMyiDbQrjY You can check out Ravana's breathing rhythm and how he could have sung the entire song in one breath here in this article.. http://ragsgopalan.blogspot.in/2012/10/breathing-rhythm-of-king-dasarath-lord.html

• Lets look at Poet Kambar. He enjoyed the Valmiki Ramayan in Sanskrit, the Alwar pasurams and then created Kamba Ramayanam. Recollect this,

நாரணன் விளையாட் டெல்லா நாரத முனிவன் சொல்ல

வாரணக் கவிதைசெய்தா னறிந்துவான் மீகியென்பான்

சீரணி சோழநாட்டுத் திருவழுந் தூருவச்சன்

காரணி கொடையான் கம்பன் றமிழினாற் கவிதை செய்தான்.

• Sage Vashishta has created songs in Tamil and of course his works in Sanskrit are very well known.

Now to summarize:

• It really should not bother us whether Rama is a Aryan or Kshatriya or Brahmin and whether Ravana was a Brahmin or Demon or Tamilian. The message is more important than the messenger. That's one of the important aspects of Hinduism.

• As per Vedanta, at one stage Lord Rama or Krishna or for that matter any name or from ceases to be relevant. Hence the message also ceases to be relevant at the highest stage. At the worldly life it is ones choice whether to believe or dismiss these as just stories. But if one argues about facts of the case then we need to depend on what is written by Sages like Valmiki and not draw wrong conclusions.

•  Languages like Tamil and Sanskrit have been there for eons and have flourished as two eyes giving us vision about science, literature, metaphysics, arts and what not. Why should some one claim that one is superior over other? The petty political considerations may not vanish from this earth but it is important that it is countered in the right way with facts and then leave it to the intelligence of the readers.

• I believe no one can claim to protect these languages or heritage. In the cycle of evolution not just languages and civilizations but even demigods come and go. If it serves some petty political purpose to play one-upmanship, then i don't give a damn about it and here I rest my case.

Happy reading!

The article which prompted me to write this article is given below and i thank the individual to encourage me to write this :).

இராவணன்

-----------------

இரா – இரவு.

வண்ணன் – நிறம் பொருந்தியவன்.

இரவு நிறமான கருநிறம் கொண்டவன் என்று பொருள். பெயரிலேயே தமிழன் என்று உணர்ந்தாலும் சில மூடர்களுக்கு இராவணனை தமிழன் என்று உணரமுடியவில்லை.

இராவணன் தமிழன் -

ராவணனைப் பற்றி பேச முற்படுகின்ற போது, முதலில் அவன் இனம் எது வென சொல்லிவிடுதல் நலம். ஒரு வலைப்பதிவர் ராவணணை சிங்கள அரசன் எனச் சொல்லியிருந்தார். இன்னொரு வலைப்பதிவர் ராவணனை பிராமணன் எனச் சொல்லியிருந்தார்.

ஆனால் நான் மதிக்கும் ஜெயமோகன் தனது வலைப்பூவில் காளிவிளை ராஜா’ எழுதிய சீரிய ஆய்வுக்கட்டுரை பற்றி குறிப்படும் போது, விளவங்கோடு வட்டம் மருதங்கோடு பரக்குன்று, அகத்தீஸ்வரம் வட்டம் தெக்குறிச்சி போன்ற ஊர்களில் அதற்கான தடயங்கள் உள்ளன. இங்கெல்லாம் இராவணனை தங்கள் குலமுன்னோராக போற்றும் மரபு சில குடும்பத்தாரிடம் இருந்துவருகிறது… இராவணானால் எழுதப்பட்ட தமிழ்ச் சுவடிகள் சிலவும் இவர்களிடம் இன்றளவும் உள்ளன என்கிறார்.

ஆதாரத்தின் சுருக்கம் –

1.குமரிமாவட்டத்தில் உள்ள நாடார் அல்லது சான்றோர் சாதியினரே ராவணனின் குலத்தவர்.

2. சான்றோர் சாதியில் முந்நூற்றுவர் என்ற பிரிவு உள்ளது.ராவணனின் படைப்பிரிவை முந்நூற்றுவர் என கம்பன் சொல்கிறார். அது இவர்களே.

3. ராவணன் சீதையை சிறைவைத்த இடம் குமரிமாவட்டத்தில் உள்ள மிஞ்சிறை என்ற ஊரே. இது உண்மையில் ராவணப்படையினரான சான்றோர் சாதியால் முன்சிறை என்று சொல்லப்பட்ட இடம்.

4. சான்றோர்கள் கேரளத்தில் ஈழவர் என்று சொல்லப்படுகிறார்கள். அவர்கள் ஈழத்தில் அதாவது ராவணனின் இலங்கையில் இருந்து வந்தவர்கள் என்பதற்கான ஆதாரம் இது.

5.ராவணன் மனைவி மண்டோதரி சான்றோர் குலத்தவள். அவள் அப்பா மயன். இவர் குமரிமாவட்டம் விளவங்கோடு வட்டத்தைச் சார்ந்தவர்

6. இந்த மயன் மாபெரும் பொறியியல் மேதை. ஆகாயவிமானம்[வானூர்தி] போன்றவற்றைக் கண்டுபிடித்தவர். மயனச்சிற்பி என்றும் இவருக்கு பெயர் உண்டு. ஐந்திறம் போன்ற அரிய நூல்களை இவர் எழுதினார்

7. திருவிதாங்கூர் மன்னர்கள் சான்றோர் குலத்தவரே

ஆதாரங்களாக புலவர் குழந்தை எழுதிய ராவண காவியம், அரக்கர் நூல் [ஓலைச்சுவடி] கோயிலூட்டம்மை வழிபாடு -இராவணேசுவரன் பூசை [பதிப்பாசிரியர் சு.செல்வகுமார் 2004] குமரிமாவட்ட எழுத்தாளர்கள் யார் எவர் -மயன் மற்றும் திரு பாஸ்கரன் வைத்தியர் நேர்காணல் ஆகியவை சுட்டப்பட்டுள்ளன.

ராவண காவியம் -

ராவணன் தமிழன் என உறுதி படக் கூறவே ராவண காவியம் இயற்றப்பட்டது. கம்பனின் சொல்வழக்குகளில் மயங்கியதால் தமிழர்கள் பலருக்கும் இக் காவியம் சென்றடையவில்லை. கடவுள் மறுப்பு கொள்கையில் தீவிரமாக இருக்கும் தி.க வினரும் இதை கவணத்தில் கொள்வதில்லை.

இதன் சாராம்சத்தில்…

இரண்டாம் கடல்கோளுக்குப் பின்னர்த் தோன்றிய இலங்கையிலிருந்து தமிழகத்தை ஆண்டு வந்தான். தமிழர் இனத் தலைவனாகிய விச்சிரவாவு. அவன் மனைவி கேகசி. அவர்களுக்கு இராவணன், கும்பகன்னன், பீடணன் என்ற மூன்று ஆண்மக்களும் காமவல்லி என்னும் ஒரு பெண்மகளும் பிறந்தனர். தன் தந்தை விச்சிரவாவுக்குப் பின்னர் இராவணன் தமிழகத்தை ஆண்டான்.