Rishikesh

The Government of India has announced that per capita income of Indians has reached an average of $2 per day. However, the poverty line is not far behind. It stays at $1 per day. This set me thinking about so many things. Hmmm. What would Steven Levitt say about this?

Rishikesh Bahadur Desai Create Your Badge

I wrote this to initiate a discussion in the media appreciation group Column9, on the Digital Rights Management bill scheduled to come up in the winter session. My friend and digital evangelist NAM Ismail of Prajavani was supposed to speak to the group about it. This piece was to break ice. Whenever I think of my friend Ismail, I am reminded of an old joke. There was this nerdy university professor who was always looking for new things. He began work on a new dictionary of English, in which each word had the exact opposite meaning. Thus, in his dictionary, `go’ became `come’, and `fast’ became `slow’. He got so involved in creating the dictionary that he began speaking the new found language. This led to a situation where people laughed at him whenever he spoke, and he laughed at them whenever they spoke. I don’t mean to say this is what explains Ismail’s enigmatic, omnipresent smile. Now, Ismail wants to talk about DRM. As he has tried to explain it, it has become Dead Rights Managem...

-The problem with religion is that most people end up discussing conversion. It is like a discussion on agriculture stopping at the monsoons. Conversion is a phenomenon that can be endlessly debated. But the truth is that conversion has been inevitable throughout history. Conversion of individuals or at the levels of the masses, have always brought change in this world. Most reformers have either converted to a new faith or created waves of proselytism. Buddha was a Hindu Kshatriya, who influenced half the world, from Afghanistan to Japan. He was born a Hindu, but famously changed his mind. Similar are the stories of Mahaveera and Guru Nanak. Can we time travel and annul all such attempts? Will the world be any better then? Anyone who has visited a church cant miss the letters INRI inscribed on The Cross. The Latin inscription expands as IESVS·NAZARENVS·REX·IVDÆORVM, and translates as ``Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews’’. So why are Christians talking about Jesus? If the Fable of A...

I tried to find out what is Love Jihad. First I thought it referred to the fights at home, with your college sweetheart whom you married after a long courtship. If such people were to be hanged, as someone in Mangalore has suggested, I would be among the first to leave this world. Later, I read an article and found out that it was something to do with marrying girl from a different community. Even then I would be hanged, as I am a follower of Shankara and my wife’s ancestors were from Udupi, the land of Madhwacharya! Ismail says he does not know who coined the term. I know. Well, almost. ``Love Jehad’’, is a catchy blurb. I strongly suspect this was born in a news room. Newsrooms are places where people argue on what is creative and what is destructive. And as you know, all arguments don’t lead to the truth. There seems to be a sudden surge in the number of people who believe something like Love Jihad exists. I don’t know whether Manoj Night Shyamalan, who makes films about the `fear o...

Here is an interesting story about Bodhisatva and Charvaka. Buddha was reborn a monk. One day, he was wandering in the jungles surrounding the Anantha Pindaka Buddha Vihara. He saw that an ugly looking man was sitting under a tree, eating something. The man looked at Bodhisatva and asked him who he was. Bodhisatva introduced himself. Charvaka replied: ``Oh you are the famous monk who sits for hours in the Vihara doing nothing and begs for food!’’ I am Charvaka the famous agnostic. I am eating a chicken I stole from a farmer’s backyard. Here is the pot of ghee I stole from a shop’’. Charvaka invites Bodhisatva for lunch. And then, the two enjoy a lunch, chatting and joking. This is Bodhisatva legend and not all of them are true. But then, I was reminded of this story when US President Barak Obama wished he would dine with Mahatma Gandhi. I am sure Gandhiji would have accepted the invite if he were to be alive. He would have carried his favourite dishes; peanuts, goat milk and ground whe...

“In this land of Gandhi, it appears that nobody follows Gandhi… Follow the Gandhian principle of ’see no evil’. Why do you not simply switch off the TV? “We have very good advice for you. You have got two judges sitting here who do not watch TV at all. It will certainly help. Individual ideas of morality are not the business of the court. We are not sitting here for moral policing… You approach the Parliament and get the remedy. “The courts cannot be expected to deal with issues that involve different individual perceptions.” “Our culture is no so fragile that it will be affected by one TV show. Moreover, nobody in his individual capacity can be allowed to take upon the social order and ask for directions. “You are asking us to entertain an area which deals with perceptions and opinions. Further, morality yardsticks are to be decided by the government. We cannot decide the issue. We are not sure whether the show has brought out the truth of many people but it is certain that it has bro...

Hindustani music maestro Gangubai Hangal is dead. There was only one Gangubai. No one can take her place. This is what I can manage to say today.

Social Media in Plain English from leelefever on Vimeo .

Twitter in Plain English from leelefever on Vimeo .

Missing Bachelor parties? Those by -two coffees and endless discussions on unimaginable topics? Read this newsletter for all such crazy stuff. Available in downloadable PDF format, this makes good reading. http://adur.org/category/times-of-bachelors/

Is this good news? Impressed by the moderately high percentage of voter turnout in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections, the Supreme Court on Friday refused to agree that voting should be made compulsory. “The percentage of votings over the years have gone high and in some states like Kerala, there have been 86 per cent of voting,” the Bench comprising CJI K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam observed. “The literacy rate is going up and people are conscious of their rights,” it observed, ruling out the suggestions that water and electricity supply be snapped to compel voters to exercise their right. “Can a voter be compelled physically to go to polling booths?” the Bench sought to know from counsel Prasanna Kutty appearing for petitioner Dr Atul Sarode from Maharashtra.

A sign in China Courtesy www.engrish.com

This is a publicity poster of the movie `Watchmen'. The character admitting that she goes out at 3 am to do stupid things, is Silk Spectre-2, a Superhero who saves the world from evil. Is that a comment on the growing girl power in this country and the so called vigilante groups trying to stop them in the name of culture? Think.

Follow the Kama Sutra or Die! Angalore (with an M or a B): Activists of a self –styled pro-Hindu vigilante group called the Jai Hanuman Sena barged into an apartment complex here late on Saturday night and beat up young men and women who were trying to produce babies, but ``not in the manner and style prescribed by Hindu scriptures’’. At least three men and four women were injured and were admitted to a nearby hospital. The activists said most of the men and women were not following the Kama Sutra(``Principles of Endearment''), the sacred Hindu book that teaches people how to ensure a lineage of pure Hindus. The book has been an all- time global best seller and is considered a work of pure and unpolluted sentiment. This is because it was written by a Karma Yogi (``a guy who had no time for marriage’’). What was outrageous, one attacker told TV cameras waiting outside, that most young men and women were unaware that such a text existed. ``Why should they follow the West in every...

The reasons I uploaded the Bhajan in the last post: The poem is by Meera Bai, a Hindu Queen The singer is Ustad Munawar Ali Khan, a Muslim   It is about Lord Krishna who was born to a Hindu OBC family. He is worshipped by Hindus, some of whom happen to be those who consider themselves the upper castes. Who said the world is not multi-coloured? The song was made popular as some Hindi film writer got inspired by its first line. An Indian actor known for his height also contributed to its popularity.  The beauty of the original poem was thus lost.  

ಬುಧವಾರ, 4 ಫೆಬ್ರವರಿ 2009 (10:59 IST) ಡಾ. ಎಲ್. ಬಸವರಾಜು -ನಮ್ಮ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದ ಕೆಲವು ಭಾಗಗಳೂ ಅಶೋಕನ ಆಳ್ವಿಕೆಗೆ ಒಳಪಟ್ಟಿತ್ತೆಂಬುದನ್ನು- ರಾಯಚೂರು ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯ ಮಸ್ಕಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮತ್ತು ಕೊಪ್ಪಳದಲ್ಲಿ, ಚಿತ್ರದುರ್ಗ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯ ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಗಿರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ, ಸಿದ್ಧಾಪುರದಲ್ಲಿ ಮತ್ತು ಜಟ್ಟಿಂಗ ರಾಮೇಶ್ವರದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿರುವ ಅವನ ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮೀಲಿಪಿಯ ಪ್ರಾಕೃತ ಭಾಷೆಯ ಶಾಸನಗಳು ದೃಢಪಡಿಸುತ್ತಿವೆ. ಮತ್ತು ಆ ಶಾಸನಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ವತಃ ಅಶೋಕನೇ ಹೇಳಿಕೊಂಡಿರುವಂತೆ - ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಶ್ರಮವಹಿಸಿ ಅವನು ತನ್ನನ್ನು ತಾನೇ ಧರ್ಮಸುಧಾರಣೆಯ ಕೆಲಸದಲ್ಲಿ ತೊಡಗಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದರಿಂದ - ಜಂಬೂ ದ್ವೀಪದ ಯಾವ ಜನ ಬೌದ್ಧಧರ್ಮದೊಡನೆ ಬೆರೆಯಲಾಗಿರಲಿಲ್ಲವೋ ಅವರೆಲ್ಲಾ ಬೆರೆಯಲು ಸಾಧ್ಯವಾಯಿತೆಂದೂ - ಈ ಧಾರ್ಮಿಕ ಸತ್ಫಲಗಳನ್ನು ಕೇವಲ ಉತ್ತಮ ಸ್ಥಿತಿಯಲ್ಲಿರುವವರೇ ಅಲ್ಲ ಕೆಳಸ್ಥಿತಿಯಲ್ಲಿರುವವರೂ ಪಡೆಯುವಂತಾ ಯಿತೆಂದೂ ಆಶಾದಾಯಕವಾಗಿ ಆ ಅಶೋಕನು ಆಡಿರುವ ಆ ಮಾತಿನಲ್ಲಿ- ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದ ಅಸಂಖ್ಯಾತ ದಲಿತ ವರ್ಗದ ಜನರೂ ಬೌದ್ಧರಾಗಿದ್ದರೆಂಬುದನ್ನು ಸೂಚಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಹೀಗಾಗಿ ದಲಿತರಿಗೆ ಈ ಬೌದ್ಧ ಧರ್ಮವಾದರೂ ಮಾನ್ಯತೆಯನ್ನು ಕೊಟ್ಟು ಅವರ ಆತ್ಮವಿಶ್ವಾಸವನ್ನೂ ಆತ್ಮಗೌರವವನ್ನೂ ಹೆಚ್ಚಿಸಲು ನೆರವಾಯಿತಲ್ಲಾ ಎನ್ನುವಂತಾದರೂ ಅದು ವೈದಿಕರಿಗೆ ಕಿರಿಕಿರಿಯನ್ನೇ ಉಂಟುಮಾಡಿದಂತಾಗಬಹುದು. ಅಶೋಕನು ತನ್ನ ಹಲವು ಶಾಸನಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ತನ್ನನ್ನು "ದೇವಾನಾಂ ಪ್ರಿಯ" ಎಂದು ಕರೆದುಕೊಂಡಿರುವುದನ್ನು ಆ ವೈದಿ...