Why the hell Mughals built Taj Mahals?

Mughals are the pioneers of architecture in India but they don’t have a roof over their head now. What a pity for the former emperors of India? As I read this morning about how the descendants of India's last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, were rescued from a life of penury in Kolkata, I recollected my trip to five generations above this lady who was rescued and given a job at a government run PSU.

Bahadur Shah Zafar is the son of Aurungzeb who chose to live and die in penury. But it is a pity that the Mughal dynasty ensure their descendants live in poverty unknown and unnoticed. All the monuments they built are government properties. The only mistake they did was they built monuments that defied wisdom. They were great wonders that made the governments take it over and open it to public for a fee. Taj Mahal is just one among them.

Read Maharashtra Diary on Aurungzeb here

I have not seen the lady in question, Madhu, the illiterate great-great-granddaughter of emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. But I have seen the place where her great-great-grandfather spent his last days. I reached Ahmednagar to visit the place where Aurungzeb lived his last two years virtually in self-imposed penury. Aurungzeb is not my hero or the role model that I follow on Twitter, Facebook or Orkut. But my interest to learn about him was because he is the first person recorded in history who abolished taxes on commodities and inland transport duties. In today’s language, you can put this as abolition of Octroi and Commodity Transaction Tax.

Born as Mohyuddin Muhammad Aurangzeb on October 24, 1618, as the third son of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz, his aura and status is robbed by today’s generation. In Maharashtra and elsewhere he is displayed as a butcher who tried to destabilise India. Today’s political thugs know that there was no concept of India during those times and what Aurungzeb did was to unite the country ruled by innumerable kings, Rajputs and Peshwas. But if they reveal this truth, their political game of religious animosity and regional chauvinism will end.

Very few also have interest to know about his descendants. Why should they? When his own community fellows have not respected him, why should the people from ‘other side’ give him any due? In Ahmednagar the first thing I noticed was a bill board. ‘Alamgir Chicken, Mutton, Fish and Biriyani’, read the board of a small restaurant bang opposite the darghah which is a Madrassa now. For your information Alamgir is none other than Aurungzeb himself.

As far as I know, Aurangzeb was not selling chicken. Though he was a humble man, he deserves much more than the shabby place and unplanned concrete structure that the local Muslim organisations are building all around the dargah.

Bal Thackeray and the Muslim chronicles

This headline may be novelty for a few people but for those who know the political compulsions of Shiv Sena and its chief, it is a stale one. The story is how two Muslims doctors from Lilavati Hospital-Dr Jaleel Parkar and Dr Samad Ansari-rushed to his house administered him medical help at Matoshri and then brought him to the hospital's ICU in an ambulance.
And all these while the Shiv Sena have earned notoriety for spreading hatred against Muslims. If Shiv Sena hadn’t made its notorious hatred against Muslims and then against the North Indians, they would have perished long time back.

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This is because a few political parties thrive on issues, which has no relevance to the common man. BSP is another example. If caste system is eliminated from India, then Mayawati will not survive. If Marathas want their pie in Maharashtra, they put NCP in survival mode. The same way Shiv Sena is known for its negative and destructive politicking and only spreading hatred can do this. If you spread love, who on earth will vote for you? If love was a political symbol, Missionaries of Charity should be contesting the polls.
Bal Thackeray has a Muslim driver; his family consists of multi lingual multi cultural incumbents including his close ones. I had the opportunity to meet Suresh Thackeray, his brother’s son who was a Christian Missionary. He married a Malayali nurse and ran a school in Junagadh where the hardline Hindu zealots tried to snatch his booming school business from him by framing him in a case and then later some Christian leaders tried to snatch it under the disguise of saving him from the long hands of law.
Disgruntled, he left for Jharkand where he was preaching Bible and one day I learnt that he died in an accident. I don’t know whether it was a real accident or an alleged murder.
I also know a tribal girl from Narmada district who was brilliant in studies and applied for medical test in one of the colleges in Maharashtra. She was selected but was asked to pay the capitation fee. The nun who was accompanying this girl asked the trustee if there was a way out since they could not pay such a huge capitation fee. He replied that only the patron can help and he sent both of them to Matoshree.
She not only got the admission but Thackeray asked the school management to reduce her fees too. I am not aware where this girl is now but I know where that nun is. She is trying to get more such talented tribal children to various academic studies.
So don’t be surprised if Shiv Sena puts more hatred into the streets of Mumbai and still continues to get help from those against whom they have spread the hatred. This is Indian politics.

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Australia attack is India’s media creation

Indian media is hungry for news. So much so that they seem to be starved of their basic staple diet. So when they get anything – important or useless – they just grab on it and then show it as if it is the end of the world. The attack of students in Australia is also a media creation. They just went overboard saying the entire Australian population is against Indian students so much so that a jeolosy theory was also attached to it. It is the total failure of media to understand the very idea behind the attacks and avoid creating a panic. The Indian students in Australia just played to the gallery. I am told that a section of Indian media representatives forced them to take out a rally and block traffic so that they could get some visuals back home. The students just did it. Here is a letter that I read as a response to a news item in ucanews.com. And I completely agree to this.

Dear fellow Catholics,

Please be assured that the problem lies not with ordinary Australians but disaffected immigrant/refugee youth of Sudanese and Middle-Eastern origin. As the students have themselves described, their attackers are in the main "black men (Africans)" or "Middle-Eastern".
These immigrants/refugees have been warmly welcomed and embraced but they repay us with conduct such as this. One incident involved a Catholic nun walking down a Sydney street. She passed by two Muslim women dressed in their garb who turned on her, assaulted her, spat on her and tore the crucifix chain from her.
So please ignore the media there in India who have no idea at all. Our media, because of political correctness, refuses to describe the ethnicity of the attackers.
The Cronulla riots a few years ago came about with frustration by the locals with the lack of protection by the police from marauading Lebanese Muslim gangs who were brazeningly invading shops, restaurants, bars and cafes spitting and urinating on patrons and assaulting/intimidating all and sundry. One incident ibvolved a young mother who had taken her toddler daughter to the beach. The toddler was playing in the water when a gang of these militants came up to the mother and demanded that she cover up her daughter who was wearing a regular modest bathing costume. She refused and told them to go away. They did but returned a little later with knives. The young mother fled with her daughter.
A young fellow who had been away at sea for some weeks returned and was withdrawing money from a ATM. He was assaulted by one of these gangs and critically injured. He was repeatedly stabbed and the assault only stopped when the knife broke off in his back. These gangs hunt the streets at night looking for "skips", their term for Australians. Now they have turned their attention to easier marks- students from India.
My view is that these immigrants/refugees should return to their countries of origin and take their violent evil disruptive ways with them. Australia is a land of immigrants. I am second generation Irish-Australian. Everyone has assimilated. From Greeks, Italians, Lebanese Catholics/Christians,Russians,Eskimos,South Americans, South Africans (black and white), Mexicans etc etc all get along except for those from Muslim countries/areas.
The Government(s), politicans and police are afraid to control these Muslims for fear of being labelled "racist". This is the usual cry (yelp?) from the Muslims when they are criticized in any manner, rightfully or wrongfully.
So please when you read media reports do so with discerning wisdom.
In Christo frater,

John FG McMahon
Kolonga, State of Queensland
Australia

The Indian students pay a heavy amount of currency notes to get into Australia and many of them reach there not merely to study but to migrate and settle there permanently. It is not a cottage industry any more. It is a heavy industry and why should the Australian people reject the revenue they earn from the ‘poor’ Indian students who migrate thinking that India does not have the facilities to study. Most of these students go for pursuing a career in MBA or any other Business careers studies and end up in departmental stores packaging vegetables and groceries.

The other day I saw a girl in an NDTV talk show saying she has already spent some 50 lakhs in studying journalism in Columbia and this does not include her fee. How on earth she is going to recover this by working as a Journalist. I can understand if a doctor spends this money as he can recover it through surgeries day in and day out. But can she sit down and write day and day out stories and recover those amount. Sounds crazy. But after all I am a bad journalist and a glorified typist and I may not be the right person to understand it fully.

Habib Tanvir : The man who spoke without opening his mouth

I still remember Habib Tanvir inviting me on my request for an interview in Bhopal some four years back and then not speaking a word for almost an hour. From today, I am saddened that he will never speak at all. The highly talented playwright and theatre director Habib Tanvir died at the age of 85 this morning.
And when he spoke, he threw his frustration at the Gujarat riots asking me whether it is possible for any person to kill the other without any reason. “After all what is religion? How can you be swayed by political figures to kill each other. I just cannot understand,” he put his silent mould again for another quarter to half an hour before asking me to sit on a chair. I was sitting on the ground till then in his theatre room as he was thinking of a new play. All his character actors, most of whom were from the nomad tribes, waited breathlessly to hear a word from him at the Naya theatre premises.
Agra Bazar and Charandas Chor were his famour creations but I was not interested in his plays. I was more interested in his comments on the Gujarar scenario as he planned a play on the massacre. I wanted to know the angle of the act and whether the play will indict Narendra Modi, the alleged mastermind behind the riots.
Soon I felt he was almost into a siesta. I asked the actors standing in front of me whether it was true. I asked them without opening my mouth in action languages that neither they could understand nor I could communicate. “No,” came the reply from one of the youngest actors. Tanvir stood up and that when I came to know that he can walk well.
It was 3 hours by then and I could get no bytes for my radio story. I insisted that I need him to speak and only then my mission will be accomplished. He opened his mouth very well and spoke clearly his mind. I have his sound safely kept while some of them went with the story that was broadcast. But now those sounds will be archives forever. My tribute to this silent man.

TRAVEL: Pune Via Baramati, Sasvad, Jadhavgadh

It was the last leg of my tourney to the western Maharashtra. Next day I have to reach back home. The tour was part of my pilgrimage of basics of reporting that I want to retain forever. It was an attempt to meet different characters of people in different areas. More so it was legroom from the routine office atmosphere that I am subjected to every day.
It was also to see the sugar belts of the region where India’s agriculture minister and prime ministerial aspirant, Sharad Pawar was nurtured first and then he went on to nurture many more Pawars.
And as we discussed about a fort that was turned into a hotel on the way from Baramati, I said it should be an import from Rajasthan where the second and third commanders of the Indian ruling class established big forts, which are seven star hotels now. For the record, Fort Jadavgadh was built in 1710 by Pillaji Jadhavrao a Maratha General in the army of Chatrapati Shahuji. In 1784 Jadhavrao died but the palace, located at a height of 2511 ft above sea level, remained with the family and never went to the government control. Jadhavrao’s name is also mentioned in Bombay Presidency Gazette (1885) Volume XVIII, Part III and he has been described as a villain for the DNT’s or the de-notified tribes called the Ramoshis.
These DNT’s were engaged in crime and Jadhavrao was appointed to arrest the crime rate of these tribes. He is said to have plundered scores of Ramoshis to death in his quest to rein in the terror. That was a slice of history. But it was very recently that Vithal Kamath, the owner of Kamat’s chain of restaurants took it over to run it as a heritage hotel. The only difference, perhaps, is that here he serves liquor and meat where as all his other chains are pure vegetarians. After all royals were carnivorous. I haven’t come across any such fort turned hotel in Maharashtra. So we took a turn just after Sasvad towards the fort, parked our small car among the big, expensive and mighty vehicles already parked down and climbed to the reception area. We were welcomed by live life king size bugle as if we were to be crowned as the kings of the palace. Yes we felt like one as the girl at the reception put a vemillion paste on the forehead and welcomed us. The next moment we were left as paupers when she announced that we have to deposit Rs 500 per person before getting in. Whatever the expenses we incur inside will be deducted from this amount. Obviously we never had any intention to spend Rs 1000 for an evening that we never had in our hands as we had to rush back to Pune for some other work. Welcome to the world of rich.
But hey, what the hell are you doing here? I initially thought she was whispering this to me as I said a polite thank you to get down to the dismay of the white wardrobed and turbaned durbaris outside the gate. They did not show the same warmth they exhibited when we got in. As a famous historian said, exits are always painful than entry. No, actually it should be the other way round. Never mind because no historians have said this but I have just made it for myself. Having said this, it should be mentioned that because this is privately held, it is well maintained.
However, I did not understand the slogan they have coined. Ladh, Jhaghadh, Aage Badh that loosely translates into Engage, Fight and March Ahead. Now what has this to do with this heritage building or its history is something beyond my comprehension. May be they are repeating what we did today. Climb up, ask for rates and have a fight with the reception and then march ahead towards the exit route. So we did the same as we got down the ghats towards Pune into the chaos and traffic of a developing city, we left behind the sugar cane fields, the fresh aroma or rains mixing with thirsty mud and the cool breeze and not to forget the series of Kolhapuri Misals.
From Diaries from Maharashtra 2009

Focus of attraction : Violences

Early this week, a young woman of around 28 years made a harsh decision. She decided to jump from the terrace without any notice to any one. She succumbed to her injuries hours later leaving a stunned husband and an innocent 2 year old kid to the mercy of virtually no one. They live opposite to my kitchen and I have this girl a little uncomfortable with her mother in law. Not as serious as to jump to death, though.

Exactly two years before this date, another girl jumped fatally and that was for some other reason. I was wondering how life is taken so silly by people. They leave behind trauma and pains for the survivors. In today’s world, life is cheap and it comes so easily, fast and furious.

Counseling in matters of domestic quarrels and negotiations across the table for national problems comes as the last resort now. The first weapon is to either kill one or to go on killing others. In either cases the methodology is wrong. But then there are lacunae too. For public causes, the main criteria is public attention. So if you want a separate state, the best way is to create violence. If you ask the government politely, this is most likely to be unheard forever. Violence attracts attention and more violence puts the league in terms of a larger negotiating table. Today the world is following this formula and let’s see how long this will get on with

God’s corporate communication department

Now corporate communication has become inevitable part of all the business including that of godliness. Everything needs to be promoted and so who else than the chattering corp com guys. But since the self proclaimed saints cannot be publicly seen as promoting themselves, they do it through other ways. Asaram Bapu is a very recent example. His PR department swung into action and impersonated a name called Anil Shah, B.Com, L.L.B. (hons) and wrote the following letter to all the media in Gujarat. Here is the reproduction:

I just came across these two files regarding experiences of bhakta of Asaram Bapu. In this era of science, we just can't believe that such things could happen, but since one is the experience of a scientist of ISRO, even science has to kneel down before such incidents.
I wonder, why you Gujarat Media are so prejudiced against Asaram Bapu. I'm not a follower of him, but i believe in Sai Baba of Shirdi. I visit shirdi every weekend from Mumbai. thats my fix routine since years. not only me, but today, lacsof educated ppl from all over the country like me visit shirdi every now and then oftenly.
When i read the above experiences, I recollected the movie that i had seen far back of Shirdi Sai Baba. In the starting of the movie, when a doctor's son was very badly ill, a man recommended him to take darshan of Baba's temple in shirdi. then the person replied that I don't believe in such things, i'm an well educated doctor. then the person replied, that my friend, if you are a doctor, then I'm a Scientist !!! I too didn't believe in such things, but then my life changed....
When Baba was there in Shirdi, few ppl followed him, but there were also many ppl in the shirdi village, who humiliated Baba like anything. they used to say all kinds of rubbish to Baba, but Baba would always work for the welfare of the village, even saved the whole village ppl including those, who abused him, from the cholera disease that had widely spread in the nearest villages.
Today Baba is not there, but even on his samadhi and the Dhuni, which was started by Baba, ppl visit there and get benefitted from there. How much better it would have been if the ppl of that time, would have taken the benefit of the holy man, when he was Alive.? How good it would have been if they would have been followed the path of bhakti as per Baba's teachings ? how much benefit the villagers and the other ppl of nearby villages would have got, if they would have followed his preachings ? If Baba was able to enlighten the lamps with just mere water, He would have also enlightened the lamp in the heart, if one would have followed him.
Likewise, today, When we come across such experiences of followers of Asaram Bapu, my eyes became wet..... that why is media playing such a role to defame Asaram Bapu ? why is the media so prejudiced against him. what does saints like Sai Baba or Asaram Bapu have taken from the society, they have always given good preachings and the life of ppl have changed after following their preachings....
I beg to you with my wet eyes, that please don't drag the society away from such saints. Please don't part the society from taking benefit of such holy saints. hope my letter and above experiences open your eyes.
jai Baba

The letter ends here

Alas ! the corp com of God’s Own Men (GOM) failed to create any magic on the media. It is a tragedy that Indians need saints to prosper in this age of moon mission. They don’t need Gods anymore and therefore the replacement strategy of GOM have prospered all over the country. It is applicable now to each and every religion where these GOM adores the bedroom and drawing rooms. The last straw is perhaps the PR work

Shoe String Victims

Here is the list of victims of the latest craze of shoe hatred. The list is likely to increase in the year 2009 as the UN has declared it the "Year of Shoes"

Victims	Shame Level	Impact	Weapon Used	Action Taken
B S Yeddyurappa	Low	Low	Paragon Slipper	Forgiven
Manmohan Singh	Medium	Low	Worn Out shoe	Forgiven
P Chidambaram	High	High	Sarojini Market shoe	Forgiven
L K Advani	High	Medium	Worn Out shoe	Forgiven
Naveen Jindal	Medium	Low	Kolhapuri Chappal	Forgiven
Jeetendra	Low	Very Low	White Slipper	Forgiven

India’s ‘age old’ problems

India’s young and vibrant population will be disappointed to hear Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi’s predicament that Advani will be BJP's prime ministerial candidate in 2014 elections too.
Though he himself knows that this cannot be any way politically correct for him in his endeavor to get the Delhi throne, he has no choice but to endorse it.
But this brings attention to the ages of our politicians. Advani is 81 now and in the next election he will be 86. We all know that when people reach old ages, they begin behaving like children.
So can we give a country of one billion plus to be managed by kids?
Old age people have difficulty in walking which most of our politicians have. They also develop confusion and incontinence, which is true in the case of Advani and MMS. Both have the tendency to forget what happened in cabinet meetings.
They also develop balance, concentration and memory problems as well as urinary incontinence. This is nothing but a neurological disorder called normal pressure hydrocephalus.
In short you may soon see prime ministers and leader of opposition in wheel chairs. Don’t be surprised if they run the government from hospital rooms. They are better than those who run from jail rooms. Also do not be surprised if they trigger something crazy.
After all we have elected them. We had no choice for a younger alternative.

Vote with conviction, courage. Really?

“The political class always plays to the gallery. They get their votes from the poor, but the services are delivered to the rich.”
I finished reading this sentence this morning in a Times of India article stating the difference of approach of authorities towards the death of two school children. One a rich girl and the other a poor one. While television cameras had their OB vans for even the parents meeting in the Modern school for Akriti’s death, the poor girl Shanno was forgotten altogether by everyone including the media. Since I read this article, I must say, with the exception of a few sections of media.
But who are these poor who cast their votes? Why do they vote for candidates with such a poor record? No answers. More than 80 per cent of India’s stamp on ballot paper (or machine) comes from the poorest of the poor. The middle class, upper middle class and the elite class doesn’t vote. If they vote, their votes do not make any difference to a majority of the parties.
Though this is the fact of life, most of the amenities are made for those who have never seen a polling booth. Take the case of caste equations. While most of the reservations for Scheduled Caste in government jobs are enjoyed by the Upper Middle Class among the Dalits, the poor and the underprivileged are the people politicians vie for during election campaigns.
Do we have people with the courage and conviction to stop this reservation for those whose two to three generations have already reaping in the dividends of reservations and pass it on to those who could never come up in the social ladder? Not even Mayawati, the self styled Messiah of Dalits have the guts to do this.
So can these under-privileged Dalits raise a voice and take the steam out of the candidates? Yes, they can. But what is the alternative for them? India’s political system is built in such a way that any such move will be suicidal for any party.
Getting votes is a game completely different than any of us can even think of. In every election many forward looking and clean candidates come forward to stand as independents. Most of these lots are highly educated and doesn’t believe in any party ideology and hence they stand as independents. But they end up losing even their deposits. The Indian voters don’t have the maturity or will to vote for such candidates. They just sulk into the party politics bringing in another set of jokers.
So even if one has to choose with a difference with all the courage and conviction, we really don’t have a choice. Mind you, India is world’s largest democracy with very little choice.