E D I T O R I A L   P A G E

EDITORIALS

Return to tolerance 
ONLY he could have said it and President Narayanan said it with undiminished passion. He laid stress on his favourite themes. India’s is becoming an intolerant society; there has emerged a cult of violence in the wake of religious disputes and the benefits of development should reach the common man (implying that now they are not). He spoke his mind at a gathering of Governors, and one detailed newspaper report (many just ignored the meeting) suggests that the President’s were wasted efforts.

FRANKLY SPEAKING

OPINION

Changing pattern in Asia’s labour markets
By M.S. N. Menon
SUDDENLY, Indians are very much in demand all over the world. More so, IT specialists. It is said, India will be a super power in the field of information technology. This is quite a possibility.

MIDDLE

Casual wear
by Raj Chatterjee
THE road to the Sanjowlie reservoir in Simla. Shades of Rudyard Kipling. The ghost of Mrs Keith-Wessington plaguing her faithless lover. The tinkle of bells and the warning shouts of jhampanies in their magpie liveries. Though, I suppose, being a phantom rickshaw, you would neither see them nor hear them even if you walked through them.

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

Return to tolerance 

ONLY he could have said it and President Narayanan said it with undiminished passion. He laid stress on his favourite themes. India’s is becoming an intolerant society; there has emerged a cult of violence in the wake of religious disputes and the benefits of development should reach the common man (implying that now they are not). He spoke his mind at a gathering of Governors, and one detailed newspaper report (many just ignored the meeting) suggests that the President’s were wasted efforts. For one thing, he wants the Governors to use their moral influence to contain those divisive forces which are injecting disharmony in society, a force they have willingly lost. At this rate this ancient land is in danger of losing its heritage of nurturing a tolerant society. A section of the people tend to get easily provoked, and resort to verbal and physical violence has become the first option. As he sounds these warnings, he is giving voice to the alarm and anguish of old-time liberals and those who grew up in an ambience of social amity and cohesion. The President has emerged, by his conviction and deeds, as the authentic voice of this silent section. And he is a powerful moral force, and projects this everytime he resurrects the spirit of the Constitution. His style is not to attack any action but to defend healthy conventions. To this idealism President Narayanan has welded a dedication to stand by the poor and whom he now calls the “disinherited”. That is, to restore to those all that was taken away from them. This formulation radiates a moral fervour and urgency. Perhaps he convened the meeting more to unburden himself of these troubling thoughts than to socialise or hear reports written by the state governments to be read out by the Governors.

In the end that is what happened. The Governors had nothing to say on their own and were happy reeling off facts and figures provided by their governments. In the process, they missed an opportunity to discuss profound sociological and economic issues which the President had raised. This way they risked generating a general feeling that they have closed eyes and a closed mind. There could be two reasons for this ultra cautious attitude. One, most of them are nominees of the present regime and some of them are committed to the alliance line of thinking. So they had no incentive to align with a person who had caused acute embarrassment to the BJP-led government on two occasions. Two, prompted by the atmosphere of intrigue in the national Capital, somebody started a rumour that the President would use the conference to instigate the invitees against the Centre. This is laughable for many reasons, but precisely for that reason, it did the rounds. Gujarat Governor S.S. Bhandari repeated all the tiresome alibis of the BJP government. The attacks on Christian tribals and others in two districts were related to the routine clashes over conversion and nothing more. His government was very particular in protecting the minorities, he said. Others too were satisfied with the law and order situation, leaving the non-participants wondering what to make out of all the reports of rioting, arson and vandalism in places of worship of the minorities, murder and dalit massacre. These flat denials also put paid to any hope of the Governors acting as a moral restraint on the government and society.

No let-up in Yamuna pollution

DEAPITE the continuous grilling of the Delhi Government by the Supreme Court on the question of ending the pollution of the Yamuna, very little is being done in this direction. On Wednesday the apex court again passed severe strictures against the National Capital Territory Government, observing that there was total inaction in haulling up the polluting industrial units and ensuring a qualitative change in the effluents (over 27 million litres) being released into the river every day. The court pointed out a clear lack of policy on such a serious matter, political interference and collusion of government officials with the managements of the polluting units. This and certain other factors are frustrating the efforts of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee to take on the guilty units. On May 11 the court had slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 on the Delhi Government for non-compliance of its orders which could have gone a long way in tackling the pollution of the river. A few years ago it had ordered the relocation of all polluting units in the Capital. But nothing has worked so far.

However, as a result of the court's order, nearly 3000 polluting units have stopped functioning, and action has been initiated against hundreds of others. But the court has been kept in the dark about thousands of units releasing dangerous pollutants in the river in a clandestine manner. The truth is that there is no complete list of such units simply because the government is not interested. There are certain basic reasons why the apex court's initiative has failed to produce the desired results. The politicians of all variety do not want any polluting unit to be closed down or to be shifted to an area where it will be difficult for workers to remain on the rolls of their factories. This may not only result in the loss of job of over eight lakh workers but also affect the vote-bank of many politicians. The police and the officials connected with the departments concerned are not interested in the compliance of the court order because the situation that has arisen has provided them with a good opportunity to add to their monthly income. But pollution, whether of the Yamuna water or the entire environment of the national Capital, is a serious matter and the court is genuinely concerned about it. It is not the court's business to suggest ways to tackle the problems arising out of its orders, as it has already pointed out. The government should see to it that all 22 drains dirtying the Yamuna discharge only treated effluents into the river. In the wake of a 1995 Supreme Court order, at least 16 sewage treatment plants were to be set up in different parts of Delhi. But till date only eight have been completed and five of these are functioning properly. This clearly shows the lack of seriousness on the part of the government about checking the pollution of the river and hence its one excuse after another before the apex court. The judges will have to bring the government — which means the ruling politicians and the officialdom — to its knees to save the river serving as the life-giver for the Delhiites. In any case, non-compliance of an order of the Supreme Court of India by a government or its agencies is a deeply disturbing matter. The court must not allow the government to go scot-free. 

FALLOUT OF AUTONOMY POSTURES
Is a bold, creative response feasible?
by Hari Jaisingh

DR FAROOQ ABDULLAH has at least forced the issue. No wonder, one major fallout of the controversial autonomy issue thrown up by the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly is that Centre-State relations have once again come into sharp focus, and rightly so.

Dr Abdullah’s autonomy rhetoric is, of course, part politics and part compulsions built in the situation. In a never-ending state of drift, Kashmir’s murkey political life has all possible explosive elements which can be ignited by vested interests any time.

Perhaps, one cannot solely blame the Chief Minister for the prevailing complexities. Kashmir has for long been festering and waiting for a solution. But the politicians have only made a mess of it.

From a simple demand for autonomy, things have gone from bad to worse. Violence has begotten violence and has virtually paralysed everything. The state is in the grip of terrorism, the most insane course one can think of. However, all these could have died a natural death had it not been for the support the militants have been receiving from Pakistan.

For Pakistan, it is a war against India by other means. To the military junta at Islamabad, it is the “unfinished business of Partition”. The idea of the ruling class there is to bleed India white.

It will, therefore, be a mistake to underestimate the capacity of Pakistan to wage this proxy war. It has already kept it up for more than a decade, and does not seem exhausted. How is one to explain this? The answer is very simple. The entire terrorist activity is being financed by the flourishing narcotics trade.

If such a proxy war is unprecedented in history, India’s tolerance of it also is unprecedented. As Union Home Minister L.K. Advani said recently, India has great capacity to take these blows.

True, but the blows are becoming unbearable. And the price that the country has paid for this proxy war is perhaps greater than what it has paid in all the four wars with Pakistan. And yet the harsh fact is that in all these 50 odd years, India has not been able to find a way out of the bloody situation.

Mr Advani has now chosen to mobilise world public opinion against terrorism, especially against State-sponsored terrorism. He should, however, realise that no country will be ready to put out bush-fires for others. Israel definitely knows how to combat terrorism. But do we have the political will of the Israelis? The other country which fully understands the implications of sponsored terrorism is Russia. It is fighting a similar war in Chechnya for the very good reason.

To come back to Dr Abdullah and his demand for autonomy, I have no desire to get into an argument with him about its legitimacy. However, I would wish to make one point. If the 120 million Muslims in the rest of the country can trust the Indian polity, India’s Constitution and the democratic system that we have and all the assurances of a secular outlook, then there is no reason why the Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir should see things suspiciously, and that too under foreign provocation. This is all playing with the fire.

True, the Kashmiris generally react emotionally. This is the reason why Kashmir and its politicians have to be tackled with tact and restraint. Perhaps the Union Cabinet ought to have kept this point in view while spelling out its response to the June 26 resolution.

It is, however, good to see some realistic response from the Central leaders. The presence of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister at the funeral of Dr Abdullah’s mother in Srinagar was a nice gesture. Equally significant is their fresh initiative for a dialogue on the autonomy issue with the Chief Minister.

While handling this complex task, New Delhi must not lose sight of the fact that Dr Abdullah continues to be the best bet for India, both at home and abroad. I have stated this a number of times while discussing the roots of the Kashmir problem in the hope that the country’s ruling elite will try to learn from past mistakes and apply correctives intelligently so that the wrong side of history does not get repeated.

Shifting the focus from specific issues of Kashmir, it will be worthwhile to activate the official response system to have a new look at Centre-State relations. Already, varied voices have surfaced, giving mixed signals. This may throw up new problems for the authorities in New Delhi.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has sought the revival of “a true federal structure spirit”. How far this will be different from the 1973 and 1975 versions of the Anandpur Sahib resolution is not yet clear. It is a matter of time before the Shiromani Akali Dal takes a firm position.

Assam Chief Minister Praful Kumar Mohanta has called for “a radical restructuring” of Centre-State relations and demanded total devolution of powers — minus external affairs, defence, communications and currency — to the States.

With the dominance of regional parties in the polity, several Chief Ministers belonging to different regions want the Union to be more federal in character. There are sharp differences among them on the questions concerning Articles 256, 257 and 365 which Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has described as important for the unity and integrity of the country. Who is right? Mr Vajpayee? Or, the State leaders who want more powers to keep themselves politically kicking?

It must be said that Dr Abdullah has succeeded in reviving some highly sensitive issues connected with Centre-State relations, and it will be difficult for the ruling alliance to overlook them.

True, some of the issues raised now had been examined in depth by the Sarkaria Commission. It suggested several measures. But in the absence of the requisite political will, some of its crucial recommendations got lost.

The problem with the country’s ruling elite is that they tend to work within a rigid framework. They lack vision. They do not possess the ability to see things beyond today. Most of the existing problems convey their own tragic tales of non-responsiveness and the absence of a serious application of mind to tackle them.

Take, again, the case of Kashmir. The rulers at the Centre are equally to blame for the mess we see in the valley and beyond. Had they been prompt in solving the problem firmly and decisively with foresight, we would have been sitting pretty in Kashmir.

In fact, in every area of national activity, we find that the rulers avoid taking hard decisions. This is a major weakness in the polity. It is hardly realised that problems do not get solved this way. Rather they get complicated. The malaise continues, even though new players come in the place of the old ones. I do not know how we shall be able to correct this weakness. This requires concerted efforts and the sincerity of purpose.

In any case, the controversial facets of Centre-State relations need urgent attention and a national debate. Problems will not whither away by suppressing them. It is necessary to be firm and innovative in dealing with men, matters and issues in today’s changing environment.

We are now wedded to the concept of liberalisation and globalisation. We have also accepted in principle the need for financial, economic and administrative reforms. Still, we are either lopsided in our approach or slow in responding to the much-needed changes in the system.

This reflects poorly on the ruling elite’s attitudes. It is rather disquieting that while this country is going hi-tech and has acquired global attention for its high class technical manpower and professional skills in information technology, India’s working system as a whole is moving at the speed of a bullockcart.

What is required is a new response system and radical changes which will put India in a 21st century mould. A little tinkering here and there will not suffice. Viewed in a larger framework, it is essential to have a freshness of approach, bold initiatives, an integrated policy thrust and honest pragmatic programming.

It needs to be borne in mind that every Indian problem is multi-dimensional and, therefore, cannot be fitted into a single, pre-determined frame.

What the country needs is honest and right answers to its problems and the commitment to carry along every citizen, irrespective of his or her religion, caste, community, language or ethnic background.

In today’s complex socio-political scenario, the policy-makers have no choice but to evolve a more creative approach to Centre-State relations, Kashmir included. For the present, the best course will be to refer the Assembly’s resolution to the Constitution Review Commission as suggested by Dr L.M. Singhvi, the BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP.

Rushing towards rupee convertibility
by Balraj Mehta

THERE seems to be a rush to the convertibility of the Indian rupee. A series of steps have been taken to pave the way to achieve this objective.

Nearly all sectors of the economy have been opened up for 100 per cent foreign investment which will be free of the obligation to earn foreign exchange to balance the repatriation of their profits. Direct foreign investment to set up units of production in India has been redefined to include mergers and acquisition of the existing Indian companies. The Indian corporations have been allowed to raise funds for investment abroad. The free inflow and outflow of currencies is what convertibility is all about.

It is remarkable that the move towards rupee convertibility has been speeded up when the exchange reserves of India have decreased by more than a billion dollars in the last 10 weeks and the exchange value of the rupee has eroded further at the same time by nearly 3 per cent. These measures seem to be a prelude to the convertibility of the rupee, if not formally but substantially. The NDA government is evidently desperate to realise the target of attracting 10 billion dollars of direct foreign investment — the only target that seems to be sacrosanct for it.

The exchange value of the rupee and the size of the exchange reserves before the launching of the so-called market-friendly liberalisation-globalisation policy were determined by the inflow of “aid” from the developed world and multilateral credits from the IMF and the World Bank. The build up of the exchange reserves from a precariously low level in 1991 has been mainly on account of commercial borrowings, basically NRI deposits and financial inflows for speculative trading on stock markets. This too was possible because of the sharp devaluation of the rupee by more than 20 per cent. The exchange reserves so accumulated have not and could not have been used for productive investment. They were kept as a “safety net” to avoid the repeat of an acute external payments problem. As a former Governor of the RBI again and again emphasised, the “vicious cycle of low (domestic) savings coupled with consequential low investment” persisted even as exchange reserves were burgeoning. Domestic private investment in spite of incentives remained sluggish. But outflows of foreign exchange on account of interests on foreign loans and profits of foreign investment kept the exchange rate of the rupee constantly under pressure.

Those who smartly staged a switch from panic over the exchange crisis in 1991 to plan for full convertibility of the rupee in the mid-1990s obfuscate the fact that India’s balance of payments position is still far from comfortable and is quite fragile. The full convertibility of the rupee can be feasible and Indian business interests can enter the global market as investors in an effective and meaningful manner only if and when the inflation rate in India is down to a reasonable level and a strong export thrust can meet external payments obligations, including the servicing of the country’s huge foreign debt.

A road map was drawn up by a committee of the RBI three years ago for the full convertibility of the rupee. It was totally devoid of realism. An attempt to tread this road was found to be cluttered with formidable hurdles. To rush towards full convertibility of the rupee when other economic, social and political priorities have acquired even greater importance and urgency is to be foolhardy.

The committee of the RBI delineated a series of steps that would have to be taken for full convertibility to become acceptable and meaningful. These included the reduction of the fiscal deficit of the government to 3.5 per cent of the GDP. The deficit is still above 10 per cent. The inflation rate was to be brought down to 2 per cent per annum over a reasonable period of time. There are indications of another price spiral. Another condition set by the committee was that the so-called non-performing assets of the commercial banks, the outstanding debts of corporations that have to be serviced by the grant of fresh loans should be reduced to 5 per cent of the total bank advances. The non-performing assets have, however, increased to formidable proportions. The public debt of the government, instead of coming down, has also increased to cripple the ability of governments at the Centre and in states to directly promote economic and social development.

Meanwhile, the private corporate sector has been unable and also unwilling to generate resources, from within or from the market, for investment and economic growth. The full convertibility of the rupee, it is evident, therefore, can offer only an overwhelming opportunity to foreign capital to occupy commanding positions in the Indian market and control the nature and direction of the economic growth process. This is what has actually been happening and what provides the driving force for the eagerness of the NDA government headed by Mr A.B. Vajpayee to go one big step after another towards full convertibility. It indeed appears to be a desperate bid on the part of the self-styled economic reformers inside and outside the government to queer the pitch for pushing the market-friendly liberalisation-globalisation programme to its logical conclusion.

The fond hope is that foreign capital flow to India will increase and become brisk. Whether this will fructify is a moot question. But in spite of all the cajolery and blandishments, the flow of foreign capital into India is still far below the expectations of the reformers. The full convertibility of the rupee is, however, also applauded by interested quarters, tongue in cheek, as a facility for creating investment opportunities for Indian private and even public investment abroad. But for a country with scarce capital and enormous unsatisfied needs of its large population for goods, services and infrastructural facilities, the first call on available resources must be investment directed to meet the requirements of domestic development and satisfaction of essential consumption needs of the people. India is already burdened with huge foreign debt and payments liabilities. It is estimated that with full convertibility of the rupee, these liabilities will exceed $ 50 billion as against the exchange reserves of around $ 35 billion.

What must not be cavalierly ignored, however, is that far from strengthening, foreign capital inflows tend to weaken the balance of payments position of the country.

Casual wear
by Raj Chatterjee

THE road to the Sanjowlie reservoir in Simla. Shades of Rudyard Kipling. The ghost of Mrs Keith-Wessington plaguing her faithless lover. The tinkle of bells and the warning shouts of jhampanies in their magpie liveries. Though, I suppose, being a phantom rickshaw, you would neither see them nor hear them even if you walked through them.

It was on this road that an Italian restaurateur once had a ballroom on the first floor of a building just before you come to Lakkar Bazaar where they still make walking sticks and wooden toys. Years later, the place became a skating rink where all you heard was the grinding drone of wheels and the nervous laughter of teenagers as they turned and twisted to save themselves from falling flat on their faces.

But, in the early ‘30s of which I write, it was the rendezvous of the elite, the bureaucrat and the boxwalla, the senior official from Gorton Castle and the stripling from AHQ.

To the “dansant” on Wednesday evenings you could go dressed in a lounge suit or, if you had hurried thither straight from your files, in your flannels and tweed jacket, the undress uniform of the pre-war civilian and soldier.

The late dance on Saturday nights was a different matter. The burra sahibs and their ladies would have been less surprised to see a man in striped pyjamas on the dance floor than one who wasn’t wearing a dinner jacket and black tie.

I did not possess a D.J in those days (I have one now, in moth balls). It was my last year at college in Delhi and I was up for a short vac. I also happened to be interested in a young lady with whom I had made a Saturday night tryst at Davico’s, which was the name of the restaurant.

We got up to dance, but we did not go very far. The portly and immaculately dressed manager tapped me on the back as I turned a corner and asked me to sit down. I knew the reason and wished with all my heart that the beautifully sprung floor would open and swallow me up. My partner’s face turned red with embarrassment and I could see the reproach in her eyes. Feeling sick, and very small, I led her back to our table.

That was all of 65 years ago. In 5 and 4-star hotels and ‘high-class’ restaurants you will still see notices that say “national dress or lounge suit essential,” a rule more honoured in the breach than in its observance.

The bush-shirts you see in dining rooms and on the dance floors these days become more colourful and “surrealistic” each summer. I wouldn’t have the nerve to wear one of them even on a Sunday morning at the club. But then, alas, I am no longer young!

Changing pattern in Asia’s labour markets
By M.S. N. Menon

SUDDENLY, Indians are very much in demand all over the world. More so, IT specialists.

It is said, India will be a super power in the field of information technology. This is quite a possibility.

Be that as it may, what about the Indian worker — the man with simple to middle level skills? How is he doing in the Asian labour markets?

The answer to that is: not badly. In fact, he is also in demand — for his skill, as also for his sincerity.

What of his short and long-term prospects? With 3.2 million Indian workers (30 per cent of the total work force) in the Gulf, his was the prominent figure in the expatriate community. But the construction industry, the most labour intensive, although less paying, is no more the main activity of the region. It used to absorb millions of foreign workers. That phase is over. The emphasis now is on service industries (like retail trade, banking, insurance, catering, hotels, etc) There is also talk of starting non-oil industries.

The Arabs resented the high visibility of foreign workers. They wanted their numbers reduced. There was talk of going in for capital industries. But the service industries, which have high priority at present, are no less labour intensive. There is still talk of Arabisation. But for the next two decades or so, this will have hardly any effect.

As for the oil industry, with production level almost frozen, it cannot absorb more labour. In any case, not more than in thousands. And one cannot think of re-training these foreign labour to reduce the workforce without inviting laughter.

As Europe tightens the immigration laws, the Middle East and Gulf labour market has become highly competitive. And sources for manpower have changed over the years. In the mid-seventies, at the onset of the oil boom, workers from South Asia dominated the labour flow. Ten years later, the majority of workers came from South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia. The flow from these countries became a flood during the Asian economic crisis. Now that the crisis is over and recovery has begun, the flow has abated. And the flow from South Asia has again picked up. This time, it is mostly to the service sector, which calls for higher skills.

Wages have undergone significant reforms. Today, wages reflect not so much the skills as the country of origin of the labour force. Thus, Malaysians get the highest wages because back in Malaysia they have a higher standard of living and get higher wages. (Workers from Singapore are hardly to be found in the gulf region). The Philippines and Thais come next. Indians and Bangladeshis come after that. Nepalese and Indonesians are a little above Sri Lankans, who come last of all. Employers have their preferences. For example, British and American companies prefer South Asians who have a working knowledge of English. South Koreans and Japanese employ a variety of workers. The Arab companies naturally prefer Arabs if they are available.

There are 3.2 million Indian workers in the Gulf and Middle East, of whom 2.5 million are from Kerala. Interestingly, 1.2 million Indian workers are in Saudi Arabia, a country known for its strict orthodoxy. It is said that Muslims who go for the Haj often stay back. As a result, when amnesty was declared by the Saudis in 1997 for illegal workers, about 40,000 Indians applied for repatriation, most at the expense of the Government of India.

It is true the Saudis prefer Indian workers because they have better skills. In fact, recently Saudi authorities expressed a desire for Indian technologies and Indian technical hands. Saudi businessmen are of the view that there is need for a new assessment of India-Saudi relations.

There are problems in other Gulf states, too. UAE, the second most favoured destination, for instance, almost closed entry three years ago. And it has resorted to Emirisation of its labour force. The idea is to fill up 80 per cent of the higher paid jobs with local labour.

There is a reason for this change of policy. According to the Gulf Cooperation Council, the rate of unemployment in the Gulf region is growing, and it is expected to be about 9.5 per cent by 2005. Then, there are other reasons for the caution. The Kuwait government, for instance, accuses foreign workers for the political and social unrest in Kuwait. Qatar had to resort to large scale retrenchment for economic reasons causing considerable problems.

In Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, there is growing shortage of labour. So flow of workers from these countries to the Gulf has lessened. In any case, workers find wages in the Japanese market more attractive. It can be three to five times more than what they can get in the Gulf. But there are many problems in Japan, especially for illegal workers, who are thoroughly exploited. Japan deals more harshly with illegal workers than the Arab world. Foreign workers can hardly pay the health insurance in Japan.

Hong Kong continues to be an attractive labour market for mainland Chinese. In spite of restrictions, the flow from mainland China continues and is threatening to spill over to other regions of the world.

As for South East Asia, foreign workers are not welcome in most of these countries. Illegal immigration, however, is still attracting people to Singapore and Malaysia.

According to the ILO, there are 100 million workers on the move in various parts of the world. Of this, a third are to be found in Asia. But ILO figures do not include illegal workers. The problem of illegal workers is an rampant in Asia as in Europe and America. Most of the Gulf states throw them out regularly. Only recently Saudi Arabia threw out 350,000 workers. Iran is to deport about two million workers, of whom 1.5 million are Afghans. This is perhaps the most unfortunate part of emigration. Even the Chinese are now in the racket of exporting manpower illegally. For extortion and criminality, they are the most ruthless, says the US State Department. About 100 million Chinese workers are going to be on the streets if China decides to close down the sick public sector industries. This will create one of the greatest crisis in Asia, the ramifications of which cannot be even thought of China’s eyes are on Central Asia.

Emigration to the Gulf has not invited such criticism because it brings a huge amount of foreign exchange through remittances. But it is time ILO gave some more thought to making the export of labour less traumatic.

Central Asia is going to be the preferred destination during this century. It will be the most dynamic region. With its low population, Central Asia can provide employment to millions. India has traditional relations with this region.

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

Sincerity is non-action (in action).

— Krishnananda Shastri, Maharishi Veda Vyasa Pranitam Shri Garuda Puranam, Introduction

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Without God, life is like a school without a teacher. It is a wire with no current passing through it; it is a body with no soul.

— Sathya Sai Baba