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Friday,
August 16, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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What a contrast, indeed! Signs of strength |
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President’s style of functioning
Being with Iraq in its hour of need
US girls want to keep it
secret
Punjabi beauty to represent Britain
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What a contrast, indeed! THE
speeches made by President APJ Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee of India, and President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan on the occasion of their Independence Day (August 15 and 14) provide a fresh opportunity to the world community to see the difference between the approach of the leaderships on the two sides to the various problems facing the subcontinent. That India is a mature democracy with firm roots acquired over the past half a century goes without saying. When its leaders talk of Kashmir and cross-border terrorism they use a temperate language, reflecting their natural confidence and responsible behaviour in the face of a situation having serious dimensions. And they do not stop at that. They also talk of a grand vision to become a developed country besides ways to fight problems like poverty, diseases, housing shortage, illiteracy, infrastructure bottlenecks, floods and drought and other things which go to improve the living standards of the common people. Pakistan too is faced with these difficulties. In fact, most of the factors mentioned are common between the two neighbours. But General Musharraf’s speech hardly touches these problems. It is full of belligerent rhetoric on Kashmir, as if a solution to the issue will alleviate the suffering of the people of Pakistan. Even the tone and tenor of the speech do not show maturity on the part of the General-turned Head of State. His description of the coming Jammu and Kashmir poll as a “farcical” exercise and the foolish assertion that “ the intimidating presence of...Indian security personnel to force the Kashmir people to participate in the elections will further deny such elections any semblance of legitimacy” are provocative enough to further increase the tension on the border. He has expressed his desire for a peaceful solution to the Kashmir crisis but with the rider, “we want to make it abundantly clear that we will never be subdued by coercion.” Who has adopted coercive tactics? Can there be a worse coercive act than the proxy war launched by Pakistan? But, then, General Musharraf is a dictator. He cannot hide the reality by appearing in the garb of a civilian leader. He cannot talk in a rational manner. His every action is aimed at primarily safeguarding his personal interests. He has no time to attend to the matters which can change the economic profile of his country. Pakistan rarely had a mature leadership even in the past except for some brief periods. Its future too is not very reassuring from this angle. Thus, the subcontinent will continue to have this typical situation: positive thoughts coming from India with negative reactions from Pakistan. India may keep talking of reason and geo-political imperatives, but it is likely to get a response full of venom and arrogance from the other side. The trouble, however, is that the world community refuses to differentiate between reason and arrogance, between an approach that may put the entire subcontinent on the path to a high growth rate and a self-destructive one. Even the patron-in-chief of Pakistan, the USA, has never tried to put India in a different and superior class. The war-like situation that exists in South Asia will disappear only when the world community gives a serious thought to the basic issue discussed here. |
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Signs of strength DESPITE a gloomy global economic scenario, caused largely by the US slowdown, and a drought worst in 15 years to cope with at home, the Indian economy is displaying signs of strength. Bits of positive news are much needed when everything appears downbeat. An uplifting piece of information is that the FDI ( foreign direct investment) is significantly up at $60 billion, which is a record. Seen in the context of the 1991 crisis when India was forced to pledge gold to avoid default in payments and maintain its credibility in the global markets, it is an achievement. But compared with the FDI that China attracts year after year, it is peanuts. Since growth in a globalised economy is largely export driven, an aggressive approach is required, particularly on the part of states, to push exports and woo FDI. The exports are on the upswing, no doubt, but no where near the earlier high of 20 per cent growth rate and a huge potential remains untapped. The brakes on the US recovery have worked as a speed-breaker for Indian exporters. The FDI trickledown to India is largely on account of the low interest rates and corporate scandals in the USA coupled with the marked strength and growth of the Indian economy. Besides, India is opening up more and more areas like advertising, entertainment industry and print media to foreign investment. The other positive features of the economy include the low inflation rate, the more than comfortable position of foodgrains and recovery in the manufacturing sector. According to the latest figures of the Index of Industrial Production, industry grew by 4 per cent in the first quarter of this year against 2.2 per cent growth a year ago. Everything was going fine for the economy until nature intervened to spoil all calculations. Economists and analysts had got used to taking a normal monsoon for granted and none thought that
drought is not just a thing of the past. Caught off guard, the think-tank at the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) was quick to revise downwards its GDP growth rate figure to 3.1 per cent for the year 2002-03 from the earlier projection of 4.5 per cent. It may still be premature to pinpoint the drought’s actual effect on agriculture as clouds are back on the northern horizon, much to the relief of farmers. A real picture of the damage that rain deficit does to the economy will emerge after the rains are over and a dispassionate, scientific study is undertaken. What may be comforting to note is that as in the past drought years, GDP growth won’t slump to zero per cent and agriculture growth won’t turn negative. More than the drought, what hampers growth is the near paralysis that has struck the political leadership at the Centre. Non-economic issues have returned to the centre-stage. The reforms, except the disinvestment of PSUs, are off the agenda and populism is back. The recent giveaways worth Rs 1,000 crore are a pointer to the shape of things to come. Drought has been left as the Union Agriculture Minister’s problem. An integrated approach is missing to deal with the situation in coordination with the states. The only part of the reforms that has appealed to states is the easy way of collecting money by selling public sector assets. How well the bulging foreign exchange reserves and the proceeds from the sale of PSUs are utilised will determine the success of the reforms. |
A democratic paradox called India WHITHER Indian democracy? Cynics suggest that India is nothing but a living anarchy cast in a democratic mould. For that matter, even the noted economist and former US Ambassador to India, Prof John Kenneth Galbraith, once dubbed India as a functioning anarchy. Anarchy it is, no doubt. Everything looks chaotic and disorderly whichever direction one sees or whatever segment of governance we examine. Discipline is the antithesis of what is rightly known as the world's largest democracy. Looking at the near-miraculous working of the Indian system, a communist leader from Moscow once
remarked, "I have now begun to believe in God! Without the support and blessings of some invisible power it will be difficult to explain how India moves". This is very true. The Indian system is highly complex. That's the reason why computer-kissed solutions have proved unequal to the task facing us. Levels vary. So do the beliefs and attitudes. What is good for one region may not be so for the other. Inner contradictions seem to get sharper — and still sharper. Some of the man-made complexities carry traces of feudalism of the 16th century. These too are part of the new social milieu. The old order is surely changing. But age-old feudalism is giving place to neo-feudalism. The “New Class" lords have perfected the old colonial policy of divide and rule into a fine instrument of governance. Indeed, Indian strengths and weaknesses coexist and thrive merrily. There are gaps and gaps in the working of Indian democracy, even after the country having gone through the vigorous drill of holding as many as 13 general elections. Most of these gaps are man-made. Certain gaps are part of the natural process of evolution. In any case, malfunctioning of the system and its leaders are seen to be believed. Notwithstanding this grave malfunctioning of the system, it will be unfair to suggest that nothing moves here. It is, of course, a different matter that medieval practices exist side by side with jet age wonders. The latest missiles and nuclear warheads merrily coexist with the bullockcarts and rickety rickshaws. Despite numerous problems, the President and the Prime Minister provided the much-needed hope to the people by talking of making India a developed country by 2020 on Independence Day. Poverty-stricken faces glow on the reflected glitter of the rich. The slums struggle to survive under the shadow of imposing skyscrapers. Social tension is evident everywhere. Still, the show goes on, howsoever slow-paced. The democratic institutions stand out as the custodians of the people's interests, notwithstanding the distortions which have crept in over the years. Over 54 years of operational democracy has no doubt galvanished the moribund socio-economic system and generated new hopes as well as widespread frustrations. Progress is visible even in the rural sector. The rulers look prosperous. So do their hangers-on. But prosperity is not evenly distributed. The degree and level of awareness varies from place to place, depending on the nearness or accessibility of a village to the urban centres, the rate of literacy, the quality of local leadership, the traditional roots and exposure to the outside world, the communication network, and the interaction at the socio-economic levels. Whatever be the effectiveness of these socio-economic factors, the country today is witnessing a revolution of rising expectations, the net result of which is a growing resources crunch amidst burgeoning demands and pressures. Actually, the entire economy seems to have been caught in a never-ending cycle of pulls and counter-pulls that has culminated in new pressures on an already battered system. Some of the basic economic problems stem from poverty, which breeds more poverty by adding more underfed, undernourished babies. The Indian baby boom is the "productive face" of poverty. One Australia is added every year to the Indian population. No one seems to lose much sleep over this frightening scenario. The baby boom is nibbling into the extra wealth generated by the economic system, more than neutralising the economic gains viewed in terms of the GNP or the GDP. Poverty and gross disparities existing in the Indian society can be lessened by strengthening the capacity of the people to be self-reliant and helping the poorest to earn and attain socially acceptable levels of living standards by extending opportunities for gainful employment for them. This is practicable only if development projects are organised by competent and dedicated men "within the administrative hierarchies and governing structures". Most Indian problems have emanated in the past not from the whims or caprices of nature or from the malice of the Opposition but from the government's own managerial deficiencies and wrong priorities. What India needs is "management accountability" at all levels. The quality of administrative management holds the key to economic growth, whether it is a state enterprise or a private venture. A glaring feature of the economic scene is the growing politicisation of economic issues, which are decided not on merit but on political considerations. The results are bound to be lopsided. A hotchpotch approach can hardly raise the tempo and quality of growth. Nor can it eliminate poverty in the near future. More than policies, the distortion of priorities has also played havoc with the common man's dream. Take, for instance, a typical village. What are its basic needs? A health centre, a primary school, a gram panchayat, an all-weather access to a market centre, an economical, efficient communication system and drinking water supply. A potable drinking water facility not only saves time for village women who have to walk miles to fetch a pitcher of water but is also an insurance against water-borne diseases. Still, half of the country's villages have no provision for drinking water, simply because development priorities are mixed up. Look at the leaders who have come up as a result of the churning process of electoral politics. The first lot of leaders at the Centre and in the states mostly came from the educated class and the upper castes, largely dominated by Brahmins. Very soon the old order in the caste and class structure underwent a transformation, unfolding in the process a totally radical setting both at the Centre and in the states. Look at the phenomenon of the new class of leaders who have emerged from the grassroots, perfected the art of governance out-witting and outmanoeuvring the sophisticated class of urban leaders. Let me, first of all, talk about Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav, RJD President and former Chief Minister of Bihar, and his Chief Minister wife Rabri Devi. In the fifties, they would have been nowhere. They could not have stood the test of the upper class domination in Bihar. But it is a different setting today. Mr Laloo Yadav has not only graduated in politics but has also virtually outfoxed the upper caste leaders in the power game in Bihar. He is the darling of the media. Even in Parliament, when he speaks he is heard with rapt attention amidst bouts of laughter. He commands both contempt and admiration. In fact, he is modern India's dynamo, who, by his earthy common sense and rustic wit, has drawn the attention not only of his voters in Bihar but also of the educated people all over the country. There are, of course, some paradoxical elements in his rise. He has managed the strings of power with all its corrupt overtones. Power has corrupted him. Perhaps total sweep in the corridors of power in Bihar has certainly corrupted him absolutely. He was very much involved in the fodder scam and all other malpractices which have virtually become the new dharma, a sort of standard practice of most politicians in the country. But what is remarkable is that he has fought the battle in his own meticulous style. Interestingly, he has successfully graduated himself in the elite class. The pomp and show with all vulgar trappings seen at the wedding of his daughter recently in Patna, in a way, speak volumes for the vibrant nature of Indian democracy. It allows one to grow by means fair or foul. It allows the low-caste and the downtrodden persons to find their way towards upward mobility. This was also true of Giani Zail Singh, who, though belonged to the modest background of carpentry, made his way to the highest position in the Indian Republic. The same is the case of Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam who belongs to the modest middle class in the Tamil Nadu countryside. He is a class by himself and has come to occupy the highest office in the country on the strength of his merit. Take the case of UP Chief Minister Mayawati, a Harijan leader. Her rise has been equally spectacular. Today, she is the most sought-after politician in Uttar Pradesh. The very fact that even BJP leaders have gone out of their way to woo her shows her newly found strength. This can be possible only in an Indian democracy. She now calls the shots in UP. Prosperity is writ large on her face. She symbolises the new hope of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and other backward classes. This means a lot in the conservative society of UP. Uttar Pradesh is, of course, a paradox in itself. It thrives on contradictions and sharp variations in socio-economic gaps of the poor and the rich and the haves and the have-nots. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, for that matter, are the two states where votebank politics has been used crudely to the advantage of politicians like Ms Mayawati and Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav. No wonder, everything seems to be in a state of flux. All the same, Indian democracy moves on merrily. You may call it anarchical or whatever you like. But there is a system even in this anarchy. The most remarkable tribute to Indian democracy is provided in the way the democratic process has created stirrings right from the grassroots upward. What is needed now is faster economic growth, fair social order, credible governance with transparency and accountability in all areas of operations. Herein lies the real challenge for democratic India |
President’s style of functioning
Nevertheless, the country’s Missile Man in his new role as the First Citizen has rattled the Atal Behari Vajpayee government that he has a mind of his own. His two-day visit to Gujarat at his own initiative, the first outside Lutyen’s Delhi after assuming the high office of President on July 25, is without parallel. Its significance has not been lost on the minorities and the affected people of Gujarat. If one was a man-made calamity, Dr Kalam made it a point to also see first-hand the rehabilitation measures for those affected by the devastating earthquake last year — a natural calamity. That he chose to visit a state which witnessed the gruesome happenings of Godhra on February 27 which in turn fuelled heart rending communal strife in Gujarat close on the heels of the three-member Election Commission’s visit, bewildered the caretaker Narendra Modi government in Gandhinagar. In all this, Dr Kalam did not miss out on his tryst with school-children. In identifying himself with the teeming millions, Dr Kalam was casually attired in a full-sleeved shirt and pant — another first for a President. The President was pained and shocked with what he saw coupled with the widespread unhappiness with Mr Modi’s style of functioning in the post-Godhra scenario. The President has desired that much more needs to be done to sooth the ruffled feathers of the riot-scarred. The import of Dr Kalam’s visit to Gujarat has not been lost on the masses and now there is a clamour that he should visit Jammu and Kashmir as well which has been plagued by terrorist violence for more than a decade. It might not take long in coming. The Vajpayee government can surely count on the new President springing surprises much to its chagrin and embarrassment. General Khanduri’s
new assignment Maj-Gen B.C. Khanduri is busy and on the move. As Minister of State for Surface Transport, he has been entrusted with the task of fulfilling Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s most cherished dream — the six-lane Golden Quadrilateral linking Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai — the North-South corridor connecting Kashmir to Kanyakumari and a similar East-West corridor connecting Silchar to Saurashtra. General Khanduri knows the task is not easy, especially when funds are difficult to come by in building a highway to prosperity. Being an officer of the engineering core of the Indian Army, he is familiar with the nuances of road-building. Educated at Allahabad University and the College of Military Engineering in Pune, General Khanduri describes national highways as “not only arteries of the economy but also the backbone for cultural exchange, social equality, national unity and integrity.” He was entrusted with the task of changing the face of the entire road sector in the country a good two years after the Prime Minister had made the
announcement of the ambitious project to a rousing welcome in October, 1998. He took charge in
November, 2000, after his predecessor Rajnath Singh took over the mantle of Chief Ministership in Uttar Pradesh. General Khanduri’s active political career began only in 1991 when he was elected to the 10th Lok Sabha, during which period he was also the Chief W1ip of the BJP. He was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998. Being a late entrant into active politics has not been a deterrent, and his popularity can be
gauged from the fact that his name was recommended by the state BJP unit for the Chief Minister’s position during the Assembly elections in Uttaranchal earlier this year. |
Being with Iraq in its hour of need THE bully is at it again — this time intimidating Iraq and its President. It is a war of nerves. Bush Sr. had a good case for the first Gulf War: Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait. But Bush Jr. has none. The world does not accept what he says. Not even his friends and allies (Tony Blair is the sole exception). They say the idea of an invasion of Iraq is “ludicrous” (King of Jordan). Even the US administration is divided on the issue. There is conflict between Pentagon and the State Department. Where does India stand? We are noted for our confusion. But on this there must be no confusion. We must steadfastly oppose military action against Iraq, for it is a violation of its sovereignty. There is no case against it. But we are for democracy in Iraq. We have a good reason for it: it is the absence of democracy in the Islamic world which has spawned fundamentalism and terrorism. We have suffered the most from these barbaric forces. We know what we are talking about. So, Iraq must be democratised. If Saddam has to go for it, so be it. America is largely responsible for the medieval conditions of the Islamic world. It bottled up most of the Islamic countries in its own interest and prevented their evolution into modern democratic countries. We have the worst one in our neighbourhood. It is time we uncork the bottle and release the victims. It is America’s claim that it promotes democracy. How can it, when its goal is hegemony? Unilateralism? More so, when it has its own national interest at stake in a country? There, it is in cahoots with monarchies on unpopular dictators because they are amenable to American pressures. Prof. Edward Said says: “The US has made its peace with an Arab state system that is basically undemocratic and oligarchical.” Which is why the younger generation of Arabs is up in arms against America. They say America is the source of all their problems, that it says one thing and does something contrary. The world can remain mute for some time while America pursues its national interest. But it cannot do so for ever. It is time to tell the Americans to get off the back of the Islamic world — to uncork the bottle. The idea of “preventive war” is a new, but dangerous concept. In trying to exercise it, America gains arbitrary power over the world. And it has seized upon terrorism as a convenient alibi to make “preventive war” acceptable to the world. If this is conceded, it will be the greatest disaster, for America will use this power to advance its own interests. Iraq is not a terrorist state. It has done little to promote either fundamentalism or terrorism. It is countries under US patronage — Saudi Arabia and Pakistan — which have promoted fundamentalism and terrorism. And Iraq is not Afghanistan. It has 21 infantry divisions, 4000 tanks and 300 combat aircraft. It can cause great damage to America and its allies and friends. What is worse, it can disrupt the oil economy. During the last Gulf War, India had to repatriate 170,000 Indians at great expense. The world is in no position to pay for these damages. India has much to lose in trade and investment. Bush tells us that Saddam is acquiring mass annihilation weapons. Powell says that the issue is not weapon inspection, but disarmament of Iraq. And experts are of the view that Iraq can never develop the delivery system as long as America keeps a watch from the sky. Then what is the real motive behind the
brouhaha? The real motive is, the USA wants a puppet regime in Iraq so that it can control Iraq’s oil and gas resources. This will not be possible while Saddam remains in power and while the Baathist party is able to influence the course of events. So they must go. But can the people of Iraq reconcile themselves to America, which has been the cause of their suffering for a long decade? One figures speaks volumes about the effect of American and UN sanctions against Iraq: between 1900 and 2000 the per capita GDP of Iraq fell from 3100 dollars to 250 dollars!. Iraq claims that it has more oil reserves than Saudi Arabia — about 250 billion barrels against Saudi Arabia’s 200 billion barrels. There are other attractions which make Iraq’s oil worth having. It is almost on the surface. It means less money to exploit the oil. And the oil is near the coast. Which means much saving on transport. These factors make Iraq more attractive than the Caspian region. Iraq is not happy with India. So we are told by its Ambassador, Salah Al-Mukhtar. He says that India is a “neutral”, that this is not what Iraq expects from a “friendly” India. He asks: “If friends don’t stand by a friend in a time of need, what are friends for?” Strong words! Perhaps he will recall India’s record. When Britain and France invaded Egypt, it was India which went out of its way to defend Egypt. India paid heavily for it. And yet neither Egypt nor any other Arab country spoke in defence of India during the Chinese aggression on India in 1962. And it is a well-known fact that India has gravely offended the world Jewry by its partisan policy on the Palestine issue. Yet the Arab world has not even admonished Pakistan for its policy of hostility to India, for waging a proxy war on India. Be that as it may, India is not going to change its policy towards the Arab world. But it cannot hurt its own interests in the pursuit of that policy. No government in India can justify it before its people. At the back of the West Asian crisis is the Palestinian problem. The USA has contributed much to keep this crisis alive. Says Thomas Friedman in The New York Times: “Israel’s goal must be a withdrawal from those areas captured in the 1967 war; otherwise, it will never know a day of peace; and it will undermine every legitimate efforts of the USA to fight terrorism around the world.” So if the USA is to succeed in its war against terrorism, it must solve the Palestine problem. A war between Iraq and the USA will be welcome to only two parties: the terrorists and the military rulers of Pakistan. For obvious reasons. It will distract the USA from its main task of waging a war against terrorism. |
US girls want to keep it secret MANY
sexually active girls would shy away from being tested for the AIDS
virus or other sexually transmitted diseases if laws required parents
to be told when they were prescribed contraceptives, a study said on
Tuesday. The survey of girls aged 12 to 17 visiting Planned Parenthood family planning clinics in Wisconsin found 59 percent would delay testing or treatment for AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases if a law was enacted requiring parental notification for prescription contraceptives. In the survey of 950 girls published in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association, the majority who would stop using sexual health care services if a law existed said they would not stop having sex. Many also doubted they would switch to condoms or other non-prescription alternative contraceptives.
Reuters Dog grabs spotlight at summit As U.S. President George W. Bush addressed top executives, academics and shop owners at an economics summit on Tuesday, one aide curled up under a desk and took a nap. Labrador retriever QuintEssential, a helper dog for wheelchair-bound participant Lucinda Harman, had to be roused from a deep slumber during a panel on health care security so Bush could greet him. “If the President was going to greet anyone, I knew it was going to be QuintEssential,” said Harman, an educational consultant. “Everybody loves that dog.” Harman, attending the economics meeting on the campus of Baylor University in Waco (Texas), suffers from a disease that gives her loose joints. She relies on the dog for a wide array of tasks from removing clothes from the washing machine to helping her if she chokes on food. QuintEssential did rise to meet the president, who gave the dog a scratch behind the ears. Bush said he could understand why the retriever decided to hide under a desk. “He was afraid I was going to give a speech.”
Reuters |
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Punjabi beauty to represent Britain THE Indian world of Britain has found what it believes will be its trump card for the Miss India Worldwide crown to be held in South Africa in October. Twenty-four-year-old Suky Kaur Sangha, an IT student from Leicester in the Midlands, about 160 km north of London, who was crowned Miss India UK at a contest in Birmingham over the weekend, will represent Britain at the contest. The contest seeks to link the world of non-resident Indian (NRI) beauties, “or beautiful women with brains and talent”, as the organisers of the show insist. The event has not quite captured the imagination of most NRIs though. The Symphony Hall in Birmingham that has a capacity of about 1,000 was less than a third full when the event took place. A late start in the hope that more people might roll in did not help. But Suky was a clear winner from the word go. The 20 participants paraded about looking bright and lovely, and showing off their Western dresses. It was in the next stage — when participants were asked to showcase their talent wearing Indian dresses — that Suky shone. Most participants danced to a Bollywood number. Suky chose instead to recite a poem by Rabindranath Tagore, “Ungrateful Sorrow”. Suky was the tallest of the contestants and her presence and poise put her above the rest. “I was really shocked and so surprised, I couldn’t believe it,” Suky says. “It was like a dream, all my effort and hard work had paid off. I am really proud and honoured to have won this title. It has still not sunk in, all the finalists were really great.” Suky’s parents were in the hall for the event. “When I saw my parents, they were so happy and proud of me, I had to fight to hold back my tears.” After the initial parade and the talent exhibition, the top five were brought on stage and asked a question each. Suky was asked what makes her British and what makes her Indian. “British, first because of my passport,” she said, amidst applause. “I was born and brought up here, I am a part of its life and its rituals. I’m from the minority here, but I feel a true British citizen.” And Indian, she said, because “my parents brought me up with a sense of Sikh history and culture, and I learnt family values of respect for people, and I learnt the values of our Indian tradition”. The applause at the end of that made the judges’ task easy. TV comedian Nina Wadia from “Goodness Gracious Me” and Radio One DJ Rajesh Mirchandani compered the competition, officially described as a competition among “Women of Substance”. Previous winners of the competition have won some lucrative contracts. Parveen Sian, Miss India UK 2001, won a contract modelling for De Beers, the diamond giant with a near global monopoly. Suky is hoping her title will lead to a flood of offers for modelling and endorsements of a wide number of brands. “I am looking forward to representing the U.K. in the Worldwide Finals and will be working really hard,” Suky said. “There is a great sense of responsibility with this title and I will carry it with great dignity and grace.” Sarika Sukdev, reigning Miss India Worldwide from South Africa, added: “I think you have a worldwide winner in Suky.”
IANS |
The Buddha, the Exalted one said: Monks, I know of no other single form by which a man’s heart is so enslaved as it is by that of a woman. Monks, a woman’s form obsesses a man’s heart. Monks, I know of no other single sound by which a man’s heart is so enslaved as it is by the voice of a woman. Monks, a woman’s voice obsesses a man’s heart... Monks, I know of no other single form, sound, scent, savour, and touch by which a man’s heart is so enslaved as it is by the scent, savour and touch of a woman. —
Anguttara Nikaya. From The Book of the Gradual Sayings (translator F.L.
Woodward)
*** Even the name of females is captivating and agitates the mind. The woman can subdue with passion the heart of even the ascetic who has conquered the senses. What to say of men whose senses are not controlled? Many princes have been ruined through attachment to women eg. Indra, Dandakaya, Nahusha, Ravana and others. —Shukraniti
*** Do not become infatuated on looking at the physical beauty of a woman. Think that her physical body consists of nothing but the same flesh and blood. To think of women, to see them with lustful look, to speak about their qualities and actions, to praise their beauty, to cut jokes with them and to touch them are all considered as enjoyments of women. Hence, a true brahmachari should abandon these eight kinds of sexual activities. —Selections from Sri Shankara
*** There are men who allay today’s trials and avert tomorrow’s troubles. Befriend and look after them. —The Tirukkural
*** Taking delight in defrauding others yield the fruit of undying suffering when these delights ripen. —The Tirukkural |
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PRESIDENT
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is not a “copy book” Head of State like R. Venkataraman. There are inherent limitations in the President trying to intervene in a given situation because of his duties and responsibilities as enshrined in the Constitution. The President is primarily bound by the advice of the Union Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. This has been underlined in no uncertain terms by Dr Kalam’s immediate predecessor in Rashtrapati Bhawan Mr K.R. Narayanan.