E D I T O R I A L   P A G E

EDITORIALS

Omar “held”, 19 to go!
OMAR Sheikh is one of the 20 persons on India's list of 20 criminals and till recently, General Musharraf was insisting that he was not in Pakistan at all. His "arrest" is an amateur stage show put up to convince the West that Pakistan has turned a new leaf after all.

Firm vote for poll alliance
VOTERS in 10 cities in Maharashtra have reaffirmed their faith in alliance politics. They tore up the old electoral map and rewrote it to tell the four main contesting parties that they demand a sort of two-alliance system – Shiv Sena-BJP combine and the Congress-Nationalist Congress one. This is evident from the final vote count.

Preventing train accidents
THE engineers of the Konkan Railway and the scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and the Department of Telecommunications deserve to be commended for having developed an anti-collision device (ACD) to avert serious train accidents.

OPINION

Ferment in the Muslim world
The chasm between the elite and street
G. Parthasarathy
DENOUNCING the regimes in Iran and North Korea as “an axis of evil” in his annual State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush proclaimed: “We are willing to engage in dialogue and we are quite willing to work with friends and allies around the world to deal with these kinds of regimes.” The speech sent a chill down the spines of leaders across West Asia and indeed across the entire Islamic world.

IN THE NEWS

New role for junior Abdullah
MINISTER of State for External Affairs Omar Abdullah will now be seen more in Srinagar than in Delhi. He is soon going to have added responsibilities as head of the National Conference (NC). This is in accordance with a well thought-out plan his father, Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, has devised, of course, with his son's approval. They perhaps believe that this is the best way to minimise the impact of the anti-incumbency factor during the Assembly elections due in October. 

• ‘Punjab ki bahu’ kicks up row

TRENDS & POINTERS

Look after your circulation with garlic
FOR thousands of years garlic has been thought to promote the health of the heart and circulation, and garlic supplements enjoy a perennial popularity. There is also now a wealth of scientific evidence showing that garlic has a range of health-giving properties that might help keep heart attacks and strokes at bay.

• Food on a plate for Valentine’s Day

OF LIFE SUBLIME

Waging a holy war within
Surinder Singh
LOOKING at the history of every country we find that war has always been the outcome of passions, follies and misconceptions and this confrontation has been considered an incurable malady. An essential feature of all wars is that each warring group thinks that it is right and the other one is wrong. But it is the common man who suffers the consequences of war.

1991 Peace: STANLEY PRUSINER

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

EDITORIALS

Omar “held”, 19 to go!

OMAR Sheikh is one of the 20 persons on India's list of 20 criminals and till recently, General Musharraf was insisting that he was not in Pakistan at all. His "arrest" is an amateur stage show put up to convince the West that Pakistan has turned a new leaf after all. It is obvious that his whereabouts were known to the authorities all along and they were deliberately staying away from him, as in the case of hundreds of other terrorists ensconced in Pakistan. Had he been wanted only in India, Pakistan would have continued to feign ignorance about him. It is only the Daniel Pearl kidnapping that forced the Pakistani authorities to haul him up. Equally significant is the fact that the arrest has coincided with the US visit of President Musharraf. The minimum expectation of Pakistan is that US pressure on it will ease. And as far as the maximum is concerned, that can come in the shape of liberal aid, and pressure on India to yield on Kashmir. What has been overlooked is the fact that two former ISI officials, Khalid Khwaja and Aslam Khan Sherani, have also been arrested in connection with the abduction of journalist Pearl. Both are suspected of having close links with jehadi groups and even Al Qaeda. According to a report in an American newspaper, Khwaja, a former air force officer, is said by Pakistani officials to have once served as a pilot for Osama bin Laden. Sherani had imparted arms training to anti-Soviet fighters in the early nineties. It will be interesting to watch how the USA reacts to the developments, particularly because a report in The Daily Telegraph has said that as many as eight former Taliban ministers are hiding in Pakistan and the authorities are quite aware of their whereabouts.

India has rightly asserted that the arrest of Omar Sheikh only confirms that Pakistan was providing a safe haven to such fugitives. If Omar Sheikh can be arrested, so can be Dawood Ibrahim. But there is a lot of difference between "can" and "would". It is doubtful that Pakistan would show similar alacrity in the case of any of the other 19 criminals on the Indian list, unless Uncle Sam forces it to do so. For the time being, New Delhi must press for the return of Omar Sheikh, who was jailed in India in 1994 for kidnapping four tourists - three Britons and one American. He and two other prominent Islamic militants were released in 1999 in exchange for 155 hostages on an Indian Airlines plane IC 814 hijacked to Kandahar in Afghanistan. Again, it would be futile to expect Islamabad to concede the demand. Instead, Omar Sheikh might be handed over to the USA. Even that would be a considerable step forward because under current agreements, the CBI would have full access to the results of an FBI interrogation. Omar Sheikh had reportedly transferred $100,000 to Mohammad Atta for the World Trade Center attacks. His confessions will be invaluable in unravelling the December 13 Parliament attack and last month’s Kolkata incident. The return of Aftab Ansari from Dubai has already set the ball rolling. Ansari has confessed to his links with Omar Sheikh. 

Firm vote for poll alliance

VOTERS in 10 cities in Maharashtra have reaffirmed their faith in alliance politics. They tore up the old electoral map and rewrote it to tell the four main contesting parties that they demand a sort of two-alliance system – Shiv Sena-BJP combine and the Congress-Nationalist Congress one. This is evident from the final vote count. The Vidarbha region, for long a Congress bastion, has slipped out of its hold thanks to the breakaway faction led by Mr Sharad Pawar taking away a good share of its vote. The BJP-Shiv Sena combine won surprisingly in Akola, Amravati and fell short of a few seats in Nagpur. These are the three municipal corporations in the region. If the Congress and the NCP had put up a united show, they could have kept the Shiv Sena-BJP combine out of reckoning. The biggest shock for the ruling alliance in the state came from the industrial twin-cities of Pimpri-Chinchwad. It falls smack in the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency, a pocket borough of the Maratha strongman, Mr Sharad Pawar. His kingdom is shrivelling. The message is clear. He needs the crutches of the Congress to remain the undisputed and unquestioned leader of western Maharashtra.

For the Shiv Sena-BJP combine the electoral results are reassuring. The Sena has retained its base both in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and that in Thane. Thane is its exclusive preserve as the rioting in the wake of its leader Anand Dighe’s death in a road accident proved. It has also captured Nashik which witnessed communal riots some weeks back; obviously the two developments are interrelated. The local people saw an enemy in migrant powerloom weavers from UP and have banked on the Shiv Sena to stand by them. The second signal the voters of Mumbai have sent out is that they are looking to Sena leader Bal Thackray’s son, Mr Uddhav Thackray to lead the party in the near future. A new political dynasty has come up. The final message is the most important. No party can win an election either at the state level or at the civic level without a powerful electoral partner. The days of one-party dominance are dead and gone. This is true of Punjab, UP and Tamil Nadu. A new definition of federal politics with unforeseen consequences.

Preventing train accidents

THE engineers of the Konkan Railway and the scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and the Department of Telecommunications deserve to be commended for having developed an anti-collision device (ACD) to avert serious train accidents. Such a device was long overdue considering the fact that the country has been experiencing on an average one train accident everyday, excluding derailments and other operational and mechanical failures. Excessive dependence of the railway staff on the obsolete signalling system and the human factor would hopefully become things of the past. The ACD, comprising an automated microprocessor-based communication system, is expected to take over the present signalling system in the entire railway network. All railway engines, stations and level-crossings will be fitted with the ACD to prevent head-on collisions at high speed. The current signalling system suffers from a single-point failure when the driver is not alert or fails to observe the signal. Sometimes, signals too fail. Also, there are block sections where the driver does not even have the benefit of signals and proceeds blindly without knowledge of the conditions ahead. The ACD-fixed engines will be able to know about the track on which they are moving and without depending on the signalling system. In the case of movement on a doubtful track, the system sends ACD signals to the other engine coming on the same track within a distance of 3 km and restricts the speed of the engine to 25 km until they pass and confirm to each other of their tracks. The ACD will also help the driver to stop an approaching train by simply pressing a button from his cabin. What is more, even if a train’s ACD fails, ACDs of nearby trains will apply the brakes on the “rogue” train moving on the same or the other track. Incidentally, the ACD system has been tested on the Amritsar-Ludhiana section for over a year.

Keeping in view the usefulness of ACDs, funds should not pose a problem even if the railways require over Rs 90,000 lakh to execute the project in the entire country. The railways are already collecting cess from passengers towards the Special Railway Safety Fund. Revenue can also be generated from other sources like disposal of scrap, abandoned rolling stock and surplus land. According to the present indications, it would take at least three years for the railways to link the entire country with ACDs. This enjoins a special responsibility on the railways to impart necessary training to the staff on technological upgradation and integrated operational maintenance. Special safety drives, more and more user-operated level-crossing gates and replacement of dilapidated bridges have also become necessary. Railways have become a strained system today; they can no longer afford uneconomical new lines or trains introduced purely on political and populist considerations. A lot of money can be saved on this account and diverted towards improving safety and general amenities at the stations and in the trains so that passengers can travel comfortably and safely. The focus should be on improving facilities in all classes and categories of trains, not just the Shatabdis and the Rajdhanis.

OPINION

Ferment in the Muslim world
The chasm between the elite and street
G. Parthasarathy

DENOUNCING the regimes in Iran and North Korea as “an axis of evil” in his annual State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush proclaimed: “We are willing to engage in dialogue and we are quite willing to work with friends and allies around the world to deal with these kinds of regimes.” The speech sent a chill down the spines of leaders across West Asia and indeed across the entire Islamic world. The ruling elites in these countries, many of whom depend heavily on American security and economic assistance, have been confronted with the rage of their peoples at what is perceived to be American insensitivity to the plight of the Palestinians. Any American attack now on Iraq or Iran may well lead to a situation when these regimes may be destabilised by the force of public anger. The situation across the Muslim world is volatile, with ruling elites caught in the cross-fire between American pressures on the one hand and public rage on the other.

India cannot remain unaffected by these developments. The recent deportation of wanted terrorist Farhan Malik alias Aftab Ansari by the Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Makhtoom, establishes the crucial importance of the nearby Gulf countries to our security. One should not forget that it was because of our friendly relations with Sheikh Mohammad that the Dubai authorities immediately deported the terrorists who had hijacked an Indian Airlines aircraft in 1984. The six member countries of the Gulf Coordination Council (GCC) are located barely one thousand kilometres from our shores. Nearly 1.3 million Indians live and work in these countries. Industrious and disciplined Indians are trusted in these countries and increasingly preferred to their Pakistani counterparts, who are regarded as politically troublesome. Kerala does have longer links with the Arab Gulf states than Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province or Punjab. Likewise, Iran will remain a crucial player in the strategic equations in the region. Its role in the emerging situation in Afghanistan just cannot be ignored or brushed aside.

India faces an important diplomatic challenge in this volatile situation. This emerges from Pakistan’s concerted effort to draw parallels between the Palestinian cause on the one hand and its territorial ambitions in Jammu and Kashmir on the other. Pakistan avers in these countries that both Palestine and Kashmir are issues where Muslims face injustice because of the non-implementation of UN resolutions. While General Musharraf swears loyalty to Mr George Bush and his war against terrorism, his diplomats in West Asia speak of an emerging “Israeli-Indian-American Axis” (described by General Musharraf’s jihadi-oriented friends in Pakistan as a “Jewish-Hindu-Christian Alliance”). Our neighbour buttresses all this by scaring the Islamic world with allegations of extensive nuclear, military and strategic cooperation between New Delhi and Tel Aviv. The message that General Musharraf has been sending to his Arab friends is that it is nuclear-armed Pakistan alone that can protect and guarantee their interests in the face of the New Delhi-Washington-Tel Aviv Alliance. It is not surprising that there is no dearth of people in the Arab world who join General Colin Powell in swearing by General Musharraf’s professed good intentions.

New Delhi’s decision to send parliamentary delegations across the Arab and Muslim world to share its concerns and explain the reasons for its growing tensions with India’s western neighbour was made in the background of these developments. This initiative was both welcome and timely. Recent escalations in tensions and violence between the Israelis and the Palestinians have caused deep concerns across the Arab world. As the Palestinians were trying to break out of their economic isolation by constructing a harbour in Gaza with European assistance. Israeli tanks and bulldozers destroyed the concrete foundations of its buildings. The entire project lies shattered. The Palestinians believe that Israel is determined to throttle all attempts they make to develop into a viable economic entity. The Israelis, in turn, suspect that Mr Yasser Arafat’s present moves are tactical and that he still harbours ambitions to destroy Israel. They point to his inability to root out extremist elements like the Popular Front for the liberation of Palestine, the Islamic Jihad and the Hamas. The recent seizure of a large consignment of arms quite evidently meant for the Palestinian Authority has only fuelled Israeli suspicions and clouded the prospects of an end to violence and a resumption of the dialogue process.

India has wisely chosen to express its support for Mr Arafat in the present situation. It is Mr Arafat alone who commands the respect and stature to be a force for moderation in the Palestinian leadership. New Delhi would do well to make its views on this issue clear to both its Israeli friends and the Americans. There can be a constructive behind-the-scenes role for us in the West Asian peace process. It is after all our desire to see that Israel is guaranteed peace and security within the recognised boundaries alongside a viable Palestinian state. It is not in India’s interest to see Palestinian frustration lead to the radicalisation of its leadership or to the destabilisation of friendly Arab governments. But, at the same time, our Arab friends will have to be persuaded that Pakistan’s agenda is exclusively to depict the Palestinian issue in religious terms in consonance with the pernicious two-nation theory, that divides nations and peoples on religious grounds. The Arab states and their restive media should not fall for the Pakistani ploy of equating the occupation of Arab lands with its territorial ambitions on Jammu and Kashmir. Syria and Algeria are Arab countries that have cautioned against such Pakistani moves in forums like the OIC. Arab states like Jordan are acutely conscious of the damage that Samuel Huntington’s thesis of the “Clash of Civilisations” has done to their international image after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Pakistan’s policies only serve to give credence to Huntington’s view. These are views that India and the bulk of the Islamic countries totally reject. This point needs to be repeatedly stressed.

New Delhi has been far too secretive of its ties with Israel and allowed Pakistan to exploit Arab suspicions and fears. There is nothing that either India or Israel require from each other in the nuclear field. China has developed long-standing cooperation with Israel in the transfer of conventional weapons and technology. It should be quite obvious that given the long-term American restrictions on weapons and technology transfers we have to look predominantly to Russia and France for sophisticated military hardware. But given China’s acquisitions from Israel and the continuing Pakistan-China military nexus, there is obviously going to be a need for us to buy weapons and defence technology from Israel — items that cannot be acquired from our existing sources of supply. This has not and will not affect the principled position that we have taken in supporting efforts in the United Nations and elsewhere for a just and durable settlement of the West Asian crisis. One hopes that after all-party delegations have visited the Gulf states, our friends in the Arab world will understand that foreign policy in India is based on a wide national consensus that is premised on certain basic principles, even as it remains flexible to meet the challenges posed by changing global equations.

A senior Pakistani leader was recently asked by his Arab counterpart from a country that is suspicious of American intentions about how Pakistan felt at being drawn into the US-led alliance against terrorism. The Pakistani said that his country was most uncomfortable with its present situation and that it had been intimidated and forced by the Bush Administration to fall in line. This is not what General Musharraf has been telling the western world, particularly his American friends. Pakistan’s rulers and diplomats will hopefully learn that you can fool all people for some time and some people for all time. But you cannot fool all people for all time.

The writer is a former High Commissioner of India to Pakistan.

IN THE NEWS

New role for junior Abdullah

MINISTER of State for External Affairs Omar Abdullah will now be seen more in Srinagar than in Delhi. He is soon going to have added responsibilities as head of the National Conference (NC). This is in accordance with a well thought-out plan his father, Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, has devised, of course, with his son's approval. They perhaps believe that this is the best way to minimise the impact of the anti-incumbency factor during the Assembly elections due in October. If this factor is handled with sufficient care, no political force may be able to weaken the NC's hold over power in Jammu and Kashmir.

If the plan works on the expected lines, Mr Omar Abdullah, in his early thirties, may also take over from his father as Chief Minister. The senior Abdullah intends to play a different role and from the national capital. But the exact details are yet to be known. In any case, the change of the NC leadership may be a smooth affair, and good for the future of the party as well as the state.

The younger Abdullah has been shaping well ever since he entered politics. He came into the limelight in 1998 when he successfully fought the Lok Sabha elections, winning the Srinagar seat with a respectable margin of 70,000 votes. He was inducted into the Vajpayee ministry as a novice. But he discharged his duties confidently and with the necessary seriousness. Coming from a well-known political family has been an advantage for Mr Omar Abdullah. Political permutations and combinations are nothing strange for him. He has seen such developments since his very childhood. Though born in Roechester, Britain (his mother is an English), he has been brought up mostly in India. He had his early education in Srinagar and at Lawrence School, Sanawar. He was shifted to Delhi to join St Stephen's College for higher studies. But somehow it did not suit him, and he had to get admission to Mumbai's Sydenham College. Somewhere he met Payal and married her.

As a child he dreamt of becoming a pilot. But that remained a mere dream because he later realised that he could be more useful to his country and family as a politician. That seems to be a correct decision. Whenever there is a discussion on Kashmir and Mr Omar Abdullah is one of the participants, he makes it a point to bring in issues relating to the economic development of his state. One hopes he will concentrate on this aspect of the Kashmir problem with greater resolve when he is going to move over to Srinagar as the new helmsman of his party.

‘Punjab ki bahu’ kicks up row

Filmstars coming to the rescue of political parties in the elections is not a new phenomenon in India. They do have a magic appeal and people throng election meetings just to have a glimpse of them in real life. There are occasions when filmstars have attracted a sizeable chunk of votes in favour of the candidates or parties they had campaigned. There are also examples when filmstars had miserably failed to translate the mammoth crowds they had attracted during the meetings into concrete electoral gains.

As in the earlier elections, this time too political parties have pressed into service filmstars like Amitabh Bachchan (for the Samajwadi Party), Govinda, Preity Zinta, Poonam Dhillon and Reena Roy (the Congress), Hema Malini and Shatrughan Sinha (the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal). One actress that kicked off a controversy this time is Hema Malini. Her legitimacy to campaign for a political party is being questioned as she is the Chairperson of the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC). The “Dream Girl” of yesteryear and wife of superstar Dharmendra had actively campaigned in the just-concluded elections in Punjab. She introduced herself as “Punjab ki bahu” and sought people’s votes to “strengthen the hands of Prime Minister Vajpayee”.

The Election Commission has taken note of the complaint filed by a women’s body against Hema’s participation in the electioneering. Since it is not clear whether the NFDC post she is holding now is an office of profit, Nirvachan Sadan has asked the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to clarify whether Hema’s campaigning is in contravention of the NFDC Charter and the service rules. The CPI and the National Federation of Indian Women’s Delhi unit have pointed out that Hema cannot identify with any political party. Under the election laws, government servants holding office of profit can neither contest elections nor canvass for votes.

Thirty years in the film industry as a prolific actress and over 2,000 solo dance performances make it difficult to make Hema a specific slot, Hema the dancer or Hema the actress. Of course, she sallies that dance is her raison d’etre. She has learnt three classical dance forms from South India, Mohini Attam from Kerala, Kuchipudi from Andhra Pradesh and Bharatnatyam from Tamil Nadu from three distinctive gurus. Over the years Hema and her betis, Esha (herself an upcoming actress) and Aahna, have been staging ballets like “Sati”, “Parvati”, “Savitri”, “Durga”, “Meera” and “Draupadi”. In these ballets, she proved her credentials both as an extremely competent dancer and a consummate actress.

In any case, it is difficult to speculate what action the Election Commission would take against Hema if it is confirmed that the NFDC post is an office of profit.

TRENDS & POINTERS

Look after your circulation with garlic

FOR thousands of years garlic has been thought to promote the health of the heart and circulation, and garlic supplements enjoy a perennial popularity.

There is also now a wealth of scientific evidence showing that garlic has a range of health-giving properties that might help keep heart attacks and strokes at bay.

The terms ‘heart attack’ and ‘stroke’ refer to death in part of the heart muscle and brain respectively. The majority of these events are related to the formation of small blood clots called thrombi, which can plug an artery and block vital blood flow. Thrombi are formed from clumps of tiny blood components called platelets.

One of aspirin’s effects in the body is to reduce the tendency of platelets to stick together, and it is this action which is believed to be behind its supposed ability to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.

But studies show that, just like aspirin, garlic reduces the tendency for platelets to gang up and form thrombi. Even a single dose of garlic appears to have blood-thinning potential.

What’s more, garlic has also been shown to have what is known as fibrinolytic activity, which means it helps to dissolve thrombi and other unwanted clots in the body. The ability to both prevent and dissolve artery-plugging thrombi suggests that garlic offers real potential to protect against heart attacks and strokes.

But be warned: many of garlic’s therapeutic properties are believed to be lost during cooking, meaning that for maximum benefit, garlic needs to be taken raw. Since garlic thins the blood, it can increase bleeding tendency. The Observer

Food on a plate for Valentine’s Day

Many believe in the power of certain foods to evoke lust. But really, it’s not what you eat that is sexy, it’s the way you eat it.

While some must ply their partners with oysters and asparagus to guarantee attention, others need do nothing more than slowly lick a stray crumb from their lower lip.

The list of aphrodisiac foods is longer than you might think, but they fit loosely into one of three categories. Those that contain natural stimulants such as the phenylalanine in chocolate, those that are sensuous in the mouth such as oysters and ripe figs, and those to which legend is attached. While some prefer chillies and ginger, others swear by broad beans and brazil nuts. Avocados and porridge are thought to raise testosterone levels.

Cardamom does it for some — and with good reason. The little black seeds contain not only two androgens (the hormones that increase sexual desire in men) but cineole, a compound known to stimulate the central nervous system. Ginger, a close relative, is the food world’s Viagra. The Observer

OF LIFE SUBLIME

Waging a holy war within
Surinder Singh

LOOKING at the history of every country we find that war has always been the outcome of passions, follies and misconceptions and this confrontation has been considered an incurable malady. An essential feature of all wars is that each warring group thinks that it is right and the other one is wrong. But it is the common man who suffers the consequences of war. He feels helpless in the matter. He is faced with the dilemma: “Why should I suffer for the misdeeds of those who were foolish enough to wage a war?” He goes to holy places and repeats. Shlokas or Mantras a million times but is unable to rid himself of the question: “Why should I suffer?”

All holy wars are fought in the name of religion or an ideology which teaches that we should not take the tyranny of the other lying down. We must face the enemy and kill or be killed. The death, destruction and misery caused by a war is not easily erased from memory. We keep piling more and more weapons to be ready for another more destructive war. And the process continues for all times.

The history of all religious or ideological wars shows that generally it is the person at the helm who tries to infuse the spirit of bravery or valour in the minds of his followers and motivates them to die on the battlefield. By way of recompense, the fighter is assured of a seat in heaven. Whether that actually happens or not, cannot be ascertained. Scriptures prompt us not to have a feeling of guilt about killing the enemy. The fighter is told that it is the duty of the virtuous to destroy those who are perpetrating vice.

When the scriptures contain a prayer requesting God to save us by killing our ‘enemy’, are we not prejudging that so and so is a vicious enemy, who is victimising us and that he should be killed? In other words, the judgement is rendered by the mortal while God is only told to carry out our decision like an executioner. Would it not be proper to leave it to God or nature to decide whether someone is virtuous or vicious and whether to reward or to punish him, if at all God is engaged in this type of exercise?

I feel that a mortal with his limited intellect, should leave everything to Nature and remain content with quietly observing whatever is happening in this ever-changing world of matter.

When collective wars have failed to improve matters, what kind of a holy war is required to be waged by each one of us? All of us are a compendium of vices and virtues. Nobody can claim to be 100 per cent clean. So why not get up and start waging a war within us? We must look ourselves in the mirror of our souls boldly without fear or remorse. Anything that may have been done in the past, was done in circumstances prevailing then and our power of understanding at that stage. There is no need to feel guilty and hammer our psyche with words like, “I am a sinner, the greatest sinner on earth, O God, forgive me, save me”.

By doing so one keeps living constantly in the past, a past which is gone. We are what we are today and after realising our shortcomings, we should improve ourselves for the future. The efficacy of mature atonement lies in silence within. We should identify our vices in the shape of ego, anger, arrogance, avarice, back-biting, greed, crookedness, envy, hatred, lust, hypocrisy, snobbery, jealousy, suspicion, revenge, etc and try to abjure these negative traits. Simultaneously, we have to imbibe the sublime virtues of life like benevolence, charity, tolerance, equanimity, tranquility, forgiveness, generosity, humility, kindness, love, righteousness, selfcontrol, serenity, silence and the like.

As we progress in our Sadhana (practice) with determination and effort, we feel lighter by throwing off the debris which we have been carrying all our life. The best part of such a holy war within is that for this crusade we need no weapons because we come under the umbrella of the supreme force, through which no aggressor can penetrate. This is the benefit of the war waged by the higher-self against the little-self. Let me close with some couplets of an Urdu ghazal:

“Jung jaari hai mere andar bhi

Khud ko khud se jhagharhte dekha hai.

Zindgi ko baarhaa mein ne

Mushkilon mein sanwarte dekha hai”.

How to combat exam stress
O. S. Shekhawat

EXAM stress is like mist around learning conclaves of your brain. It not only blunts your power to memorise but hijacks general body comfort. You are taken over by recurring fits of irritation when parents and relatives ask you about your exam preparedness. You find terribly lacking in power and control over your mind and body. Plus tense neck, clutched shoulders and lack of proper sleep worsen the situation.

Like all dangers we can always build defence against stress too. It can be a board exam, entrance test, interview or college examination. Stress can be managed both at physical and mental levels. Here are some practical tips tried and suggested by professionals of global repute.

In the process of life neither happiness nor anxiety lasts forever. They occur to us on alternatively changing periods.

When you feel gloomy think that you were just getting out of the unhappy phase and good time was forthcoming. Say to yourself that stress is impermanent and unstable. Don’t people enjoy risk while doing adventure ? Everything bad has a positive outcome also. This is called Pollyanna technique.

Under stress most often we are driven away by the thoughts of not performing well. When you think, visualise “success and progress” and not “failure and blocking.”

To relax, close eyes and visualise yourself chasing butterflies in a flower spotted, cool, green garden. Be a bird flying over the snow covered hill tops . Feel watching fish at play with your legs dipped in cool lake water. Stay

Meditation is a time tested Indian technique with which modern world is benefiting the most. There are more than hundred techniques to meditate. If you don’t know any specific method, try this.

Sit erect, close your eyes and let loose your eyeballs, neck, shoulders.. back up to toes one by one. Think of a white spot on your forehead and concentrate. Feel that all your stress is draining out through this spot and the place being filled by bright sunlight. Repeat five times.

Discuss difficult questions with friends and exchange views. Most challenging topics become your dear friends when shared and mutually elaborated.

Breathe in, count 10 and breathe out. Do it for 3 to 5 minutes. Relax.

Pull in stomach muscles tightly, count five and release. Relax.

Physical exercise is a wonderful stress buster. An hour’s play (skate, cycle, swim, badminton etc.) or a rigorous walk gives your body a refreshing blood flow and an extra dose of oxygen to your brain cells which is vital to fight stress.

Spend your time in open air as much as possible. Open air has no indoors- like smells and is rich in the elements which keep our physical energy at higher level. You can have your afternoon study sessions in the balcony, roof top or a corner of a public park. When you are indoors , keep ventilation on.

Your favourite smells like lavender, musk or oils make your body relax to some extent.

Coffee or tea may arouse your nervous system for some time but they leave you more stressed at the end.

Milk, mashed potato, bread, lettuce, raw vegetables and fruits help body in maintaining its natural level of ease. Avoid white sugar and sweets. However, you can enjoy few bites of chocolate because the theobromine content in it neutralises the negative effect of sugar.

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

Without a sense of infinity behind everything, the beautiful flowers of life would wither away or rot without maturing into lovable full-grown fruits.

Evidently, the creator must be greater than his creation, but much of his greatness is hidden in his infinities and eternities. The world is what appears to us at the moment of our contact with it, but its extensions are hidden from us. They are revealed increasingly to time in its unrolling moments.

There is no one person on whom things entirely depend and yet in given circumstances they often do depend. A general truth and its relative application are separate factors in life, and both have to be recognised in their own place and in the totality of things.

Many of the fruits of life have to be enjoyed with the eyes and ears and their rasas, absorbed directly by the inner being. They are the vitamins of well-being and growth.

One who possesses the rare diamond is proud of his possession. One who found it is proud of his find and good luck. One who cut its many-hued facets and made it into a jewel of splendour is proud of his skill and art.

But who has bestowed so much value to a piece of stone so that all those who behold it or touch it are proud and happy of this rare grace?

— Jayantilal Parekh, Sri Aurobindo’s Action, September 1995

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The man is honoured because he works,

If he sits idle he is but an honourable ass.

— Ameer Khusrau vide Mushir-Ul-Haque, “Ameer Khusrau: A Social Rebel”

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Expect poison from the standing water.

— William Blake, The Marriage of Heavan and Hell

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Blessed is he who finds happiness in his own foolishness.

— Chinese proverb.