E D I T O R I A L   P A G E

EDITORIALS

Saddam is history
The pulling down of the gigantic bronze statue of Saddam Hussein at the imposing Paradise Square in the heart of Baghdad symbolizes the collapse of the Iraqi regime. It is immaterial whether he has escaped the precision bomb the Allied forces had targeted at him on Monday. 

All that glitters…
The glittering gold canopies and walls of Harmandar Sahib explain why it is called the Golden Temple. It is unfortunate that the gilding work started recently on the interiors of Harmandar Sahib has raised a controversy. All that glitters is not gold, it seems, and conservationists have raised their voice of concern.

It’s on-line gambling
The main argument the state governments promoting lottery business offer is that it is a major source of revenue earning. Thus, the Haryana Government’s decision, after completing the necessary formalities, to award a seven-year contract to Orbit Consortium for launching an on-line lottery will make the state richer. 

OPINION

Fifty years of US imperialism
A matter of concern for the world
Darshan Singh Maini
Though American imperialism in the classical mode (with the British Empire as model) has been taking form since the 19th century, and its territorial aggrandisement in the enlargement of its own frontiers has been well chronicled, its hour of arrival began soon after the end of World War II in 1945.

MIDDLE

Where Eves teased Adams!
Gopal Kaith
My daughter wrote her ICSE exam in March this year. And she balks at the idea of joining any college at Shimla. Today’s youngsters look for greener pastures in distant places. I suggest St Bedes. Her response is painful silence. This forces me into a flashback. A quarter century ago, I joined MA (English) in Himachal Pradesh University at Shimla.

OF LIME SUBLIME

The basic premise of meditation
Hardit Singh
The aim of meditation, ipso-facto the aim of human life, is to become Truth Incarnate — “Sachiara” by surrendering to God’s will and shedding one’s ego (Japuji 1, 2). Before embarking on his mission of liberating humanity from the restraints of religion, caste, creed and other dogmas of rites and rituals and to instill belief in the one formless and omnipotent God, Guru Nanak (1469-1539) made two significant pronouncements.

TRENDS & POINTERS

Cut calories, not carbohydrates
Low-carbohydrate diets cause rapid weight loss without side-effects, but researchers have found that restricted caloric intake and longer diet duration are the biggest reasons for weight-loss. According to a study from researchers at the Stanford University Medical Centre and collaborators at Yale University, there are no short-term adverse effects of the diet, but also that there is insufficient evidence on the diet’s long-term effects.

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

EDITORIALS

Saddam is history

The pulling down of the gigantic bronze statue of Saddam Hussein at the imposing Paradise Square in the heart of Baghdad symbolizes the collapse of the Iraqi regime. It is immaterial whether he has escaped the precision bomb the Allied forces had targeted at him on Monday. Few people will shed tears over the fate that has befallen the bully of Baghdad, who held the country in his tight fist for well over three decades. Even his ardent supporters on the Arab street would have been shocked by his megalomania as reflected in the huge statues and portraits that stuck out like a sore thumb all over Iraq. The irony of Saddam Hussein erecting that bronze statue, surrounded by dozens of monstrous columns, less than a year ago when thousands of Iraqi children were dying for want of medicines could not have been missed by even those who felt that he had been more sinned against than sinning. His co-religionists would have found his obsession for statues wholly repugnant, if not downright anti-Islamic. For millions of people who saw the jubilation in Baghdad over the fall of his symbols of power, it is the most powerful image that has come out of the Iraqi capital. They will ask: why have they turned against the dictator even before the war is over? It will be answered with a counter question: what have the Iraqis gained during his long rule? All that he could provide his people were misery and more misery. He wasted the country’s resources in wars that brought nothing to the people except indescribable hardship. The Shias and the Kurds found themselves unable even to assert their distinct identity, let alone play their due citizenship role. The regime benefited only Saddam, his sons and the likes of ‘Chemical Ali’. Small wonder that the Iraqis slapped his portraits with chappals.

History will judge whether the methods US President George W. Bush adopted in finishing the unfinished task of his father had any legal or moral sanction. The regime change he promised has been accomplished at the cost of thousands of Iraqi lives. In any case, it is the Iraqis who had to pay a price for retaining Saddam in power and a heavier price for pulling him down from his pedestal. If Saddam had any concern for their welfare, he could have abdicated his throne and averted the bloodshed. But he fancied himself as the modern-day Salahuddin, an Arab David against an American Goliath. Like all dictators, he was cut off from the people and had no clue of what they actually felt about him. He thought that once the Allied forces reached Baghdad, there would be street battles, which could not be won with cluster bombs and cruise missiles. But he misunderstood his own people, who were only waiting for an opportunity to show Saddam Hussein his rightful place – in the dustbin of history.

All that glitters…

The glittering gold canopies and walls of Harmandar Sahib explain why it is called the Golden Temple. It is unfortunate that the gilding work started recently on the interiors of Harmandar Sahib has raised a controversy. All that glitters is not gold, it seems, and conservationists have raised their voice of concern. Ever since the SGPC and the government came together to prepare a case for the nomination of the Golden Temple as a World Heritage Site through UNESCO, it was understood that any work done on the sacred building would be cleared by a committee of experts. This is necessary because the original structure has to be studied in detail. As with any building that is over a century old, the materials and the techniques used then are quite different from those in vogue today. The structure of Harmandar Sahib is made with limestone, which allows moisture to seep through and evaporate. It is because of this kind of construction that in spite of being surrounded by water of the sarovar, the basic structure of the Golden Temple has withstood the vagaries of time and weather.

The embellishments and the gilding work, however, need periodic refurbishing. Even a casual visitor to Harmandar Sahib can see that the copper nails used to fix the golden plates have oxidised, oozing a green paste at places. The plaster work has also decayed in certain areas and the main culprit is humidity, which is understandably high because the structure is situated within a lake. Over the years, there have been various attempts to maintain the Golden Temple. These have resulted in certain ad hoc measures like cementing areas where plaster has flaked off and using transparent chemical sealants to cover certain areas. Conservationists contend that this has resulted in the lime not being able to ‘breath’. The moisture content, too, has risen up to unacceptable and damaging levels in the building. It is, of course, understood that any work done on the Golden Temple should be in the form of kar seva by the public, but there is an urgent need to investigate the kind of intervention that is necessary and draw up a comprehensive plan with the help of experts, both national and even international, if necessary, before further restoration work is undertaken in the complex. Help from the experts would only make kar seva more effective and efficient. The SGPC is the custodian of the Sikh cultural heritage and it is expected that it will take the precaution of involving experts for undertaking further restoration work at the Golden Temple.

It’s on-line gambling

The main argument the state governments promoting lottery business offer is that it is a major source of revenue earning. Thus, the Haryana Government’s decision, after completing the necessary formalities, to award a seven-year contract to Orbit Consortium for launching an on-line lottery will make the state richer. The state will, as a Tribune report suggests, gain at least Rs 1141 crore during the contract period. Haryana is only following in the footsteps of Punjab and other states which already have launched on-line lotteries. But is this really appreciable? It is not in the interest of the people, if we closely examine the very idea of a state-permitted lottery. Making it on-line amounts to smoothening the road to social disaster. Lottery business is nothing but legalised gambling. Anyone who runs a lottery gains at the cost of the ordinary public. The questionable business shatters many homes while it lines the pockets of the private entrepreneur as well as the government concerned. Even if it is a legal activity, its very basis is the exploitation of the people’s weakness for making a quick buck without any fruitful effort. It is, therefore, immoral. It was the moralistic angle which prevented Haryana Governor Babu Parmanand some time ago from giving his assent to the Casino Licensing and Control Bill, 2002, aimed at allowing casinos in the state. He sent the Bill to the President without caring for the embarrassment caused to the Haryana Government. People in general have applauded the Governor’s stand as they still have great regard for old values. Promoting casino culture is also seen as an effort to allow the emergence of the crime mafia in a big way by developing a nexus with casino operators.

Lottery proponents say there is no harm in letting people try their luck in an organised manner, having the protection of law. After all, we in India still see an element of luck in almost every activity we undertake. Moreover, the lottery also brings moments of joy to most participants. That is true. The problem, however, begins when those investing their hard-earned money become addicted to lotteries. Initially, they spend a small amount. But as the addiction grows gradually, they waste a substantial part of their earnings in this sordid business. If they are short of funds, they even borrow from friends and relatives. Ultimately, they are caught in a situation from where it is difficult to come out. This often leads to broken homes and a chaotic atmosphere in the family. Is this what any government should promote?

OPINION

Fifty years of US imperialism
A matter of concern for the world
Darshan Singh Maini

Though American imperialism in the classical mode (with the British Empire as model) has been taking form since the 19th century, and its territorial aggrandisement in the enlargement of its own frontiers has been well chronicled, its hour of arrival began soon after the end of World War II in 1945. With the British Empire weakened and almost in tatters, the only Western power that could step into the geo-political space and carry the imperial flag was the United States of America. The war had, in fact, helped it become the biggest ‘super power, with its nuclear arsenal as its monopoly.

A great democracy, the dream of its earliest settlers culminating in the Jeffersonian doctrine, had begun to lose its true character. While preserving and extending the forms of freedoms in a democracy, it was already beginning to think loudly of its promised role in history. The concept of its “manifest destiny” had been suitably redefined to suit its new role in world politics. Thus began its imperialist journey with the Korean War in the early fifties, and that adventure heralded the death of the Monroe Doctrine, and the birth of neo-imperialism.

Having become a military power of awesome dimensions, America took upon itself the task of shaping the post-War world in accord with its imperialist vision. No wonder, after the Korean adventure, whose baleful effects still keep the two Koreas divided, and an American Army of “occupation” in control of South Korea, the US as the world’s new gendarme jumped into the fray when France, defeated comprehensively, was driven out by the Communist armies from northern Vietnam. The American story of rout and humiliating exit, and of their inhuman atrocities while retreating, is well-chronicled in histories, novels and Hollywood films.

The brief reference to that war is only meant to bring to the reader’s notice the fact that what we are seeing in Iraq today is a logical step in the begemonic-imperialist politics of the United States. The Vietnam war produced in America diverse reactions — from rabid chauvinism to spirited revolt of the youth against American adventurism. With the Soviet Union as a powerful ideological magnet, the American conservatism and embedded fascism in a section of its retrogressive society produced its twisted answer in the shape of McCarthyism, a witchhunt of all radical thinkers and writers. A bully and a Machiavellian demagogue, Senator Joseph McCarthy emerged on the scene as a chastiser of all manner of free thinkers, and though that menace could not retain its impulse and power after some years, it had done irreparable damage to the concept of the American Dream. Arthur Miller’s moving play, “The Crucible”, dramatised vividly, though symbolically, how witchhunting of the Establishment’s foes has been a national sport since the Salem Trials of the 17th century. As he put it, the play was a peep into the “darkest Africa of our society”.

The social consequences of the American trauma in Vietnam, and the rampaging McCarthyism in its wake had soon enough served to create a sense of revulsion and revolt against the American Establishment. The “hippies”, “the flower children” and the university youth in open defiance had become by the mid-sixties an unnerving nightmare for the Nixon Administration. I saw all this happen at America’s most prestigious university, Harvard, where I was a Fulbright visiting Professor in 1969-70. In sum, the youth of that period, repudiated the ideals of affluence and other “idols of the market place”. They openly questioned the morals of corporate America. And in this regard, what the Harvard Professor of Biology, George Wald, a Nobel Laureate, called “Pentagonism” in an address was the citadel the youth had to challenge to prove their authenticity. As Professor Wald, elaborating the argument put it, American society at heart had all along been a violent society with a cowboy image, and Pentagon always needed shooting wars in one part of the globe or another to sustain its huge armament industry — the ultimate source of all American power. Thus, the CIA had to engineer wars if only to feed that Holoch.

In taking this circutous route to the present war of aggression against Iraq, I had a point to make. American imperialism has been slowly but surely subduing all those countries or nations which had sought to stand up to its bullying geo-politics. And in this way, we may now see how the Bush doctrine of war against terrorism can turn into an extension of McCarthyism. To cow down or browbeat any ruler or state that thwarts America’s advance towards unipolar hegemony becomes thus an obsessive concern.

The war in Iraq, despite the heroic defence of the motherland by nearly all its nationals, has been moving towards an American victory amidst confusing reports put out by the media on either side. But the post-war scenario which the war council of Mr Bush, Mr Powell, Mr Rumsfeld and Ms Rice has prepared in advance is not going to be in accordance with its expectations or dreams. If anything, the American influence in the Arab world is going to weaken considerably, for there will be more Saddams and Bin Ladens around to spoil the American party. Their decision to keep the UN out of the post-war administration in Iraq may not prove easy. But if the UN efforts to thwart the White House-Pentagon dreams fail, then the world body may be deemed as another war casualty like the League of Nations before. And this ominous development is not a matter of Iraq’s survival only. It is also a matter of deep concern for the rest of the civilized world.

As things become clearer, more and more, the contemplated American statute may include, among other things, the following rights:

(a) The UN rules will not apply to the United States.

(b) It would be the US privilege to start a war without the sanction of the Security Council.

(c) It may declare any state “terrorist” and compel other states to treat it as a political pariah.

(d) The US alone would have the right to exercise the privilege of “hot pursuit” which means, for instance, that India would be denied that right, should Pakistani terrorism and depredations in J&K become a visible threat to the integrity and safety of the Indian Union.

One aspect of the American war of aggression in Iraq has gone somewhat unnoticed. American costs in dollars — over 100 billions — would be recovered within a few months of the occupation. Already, over 25 per cent of the money needed to feed the war machine has been coming from the client Arab States, above all, from the petro-dollar-rich Kuwait. For the rest, the American oil companies have drawn up elaborate plans. The Americans are, if anything, hard-nosed business-men. So, the war ledgers will be kept plus under all circumstances.

But are things going to be according to the American scenario or game-plan? One may choose to differ. History is not, and has neverbeen, a sum of dictates and decrees touted by any power, whatever its resources and strength. There is no such thing as “white” history. The dialectic of circumstance, contingency and conditionalities creates its own imponderables. And if the European Union powers, particularly France and Germany, prove a counter or parallel force, and the dollar supremacy is challenged by the euro, the dream of America to make the 21st century “an American Century” may come to grief sooner than some imagine.

MIDDLE

Where Eves teased Adams!
Gopal Kaith

My daughter wrote her ICSE exam in March this year. And she balks at the idea of joining any college at Shimla. Today’s youngsters look for greener pastures in distant places. I suggest St Bedes. Her response is painful silence. This forces me into a flashback. A quarter century ago, I joined MA (English) in Himachal Pradesh University at Shimla. It was a class of about 30 students. The numerical strength of girls and boys was fifty-fifty.

Most of the boys were country cousins from country colleges. They coordinated and coalesced easily. Three boys were from Shimla. I was one of them. And I was a loner. The other two were from the same college. And they were real chums. They always moved and appeared together. At times in tandem. Mostly in toe. The one who led was a little cold in temperament. And the other who followed was quite genial and warm. This earned them the secret sobriquet of CW friends, And a distorted Shelley’s comment, “ If Mr Cold comes, can Mr Warm be far behind?”

But the class was completely dominated by half a dozen damsels from St Bedes. They were elegant, eloquent and ethereal. Some of them quite buxom, bold and beautiful. One of our classmates fell in love with the most beautiful girl. He was ready to prostrate before her. She jilted him rudely. He went to his room in the hostel in a state of anguish and agony. There he drank a bottle of brooze and made a bonfire of his books. That was before the second semester began. We never saw him again.

Eveteasing is a serious problem in co-educational institutions. But in our class, the river flowed in the reverse direction. The Bedians seemed to have a very low opinion of the country cousins. They thought that most of these boys would drop out after the first semester results. But a smart English professor had a different and inflated opinion of his students. “The students of English literature constitute the cream of the university. You should strut, (like Chaucer’s Chanticleer, I thought) not walk,” he advised the whole class. How ironic! Only the girls strutted. The boys were rather creaky and sneaky.

One day the smart and friendly professor converted his class into an entertainment period. “Give us a folk song,” he said to a country cousin. “No sir, I don’t sing now. I used to sung!” replied the country cousin. Whether it was a tongue slip or not, the Bedian band sang amidst peals of laughter, “He used to sung, yaar!”

Another country cousin, who had come closer to me, couldn’t help sharing his humiliation with me. “Yaar, bahut jhand ho gayi aaj apni,” he said. He was walking back to the classroom after a break. He found the Bedian brigade swaggering ahead of him near the postoffice building. They saw, smirked, slowed down and spread a little to form a human blockade. He tried to cross through the small chinks which the Bedians promptly plugged. To beat a retreat and take another route would have been a funnier option. He was too modest to request them to make way. So he sauntered in silence. He succeeded in slipping through a chink just in front of the classroom. And the Bedians sang in chorus, “Thank God!”

However, the boys did much better academically. This amazed and dismayed the girls. They shed their sneering and jeering attitude after the first semester, but continued to be aloof and uppity. The difference between the girls and boys was that the former had style and the latter had substance.

I don’t know what the fair ladies are doing now. The experience of life has matured and mellowed many of us. If they chance to see the two gentlemen today, they may give a gasp. And learn a couple of lessons. One, it is not wise to underrate your classmates. Two, have plenty of fun, but not at the cost of classmates. The two gentlemen made it to the prestigious Government Services. They are pretty senior and competent officers. Gone are the days of sneaky gait and creaky tone. Instead of sneers, they are now used to a surfeit of “salaams”!

OF LIFE SUBLIME

The basic premise of meditation
Hardit Singh

The aim of meditation, ipso-facto the aim of human life, is to become Truth Incarnate — “Sachiara” by surrendering to God’s will and shedding one’s ego (Japuji 1, 2).

Before embarking on his mission of liberating humanity from the restraints of religion, caste, creed and other dogmas of rites and rituals and to instill belief in the one formless and omnipotent God, Guru Nanak (1469-1539) made two significant pronouncements. One about the concept of God as spelled out in the Mool-Mantra and the other about the oneness of humanity: “Na koee Hindu na Mussalm” — God does not recognise any religious distinctions, all are one to Him.

On hearing these slogans, the local Lodhi king asked Guru Nanak to join him in his Muslim prayer (namaz). After the prayers, Guru Nanak told the king and his kazi that their prayers had not been approved as their minds were wandering, thinking about the care of a foal or buying horses. Stunned at Guru Nanak’s power of divination, they sought his guidance. He advised them that prayers without concentration and feeling of God’s presence are not of much value.

The reasons for a wandering mind during meditation are three fold. First, the mind is neither conscious of its origin of being a spark of Divine Light, nor of its goal of life. Second is the mind’s negative condition resulting from past and present immoral deeds and actions. Third, the mind, being of a vagrant and volatile nature, is oriented towards worldly passions, attachments, and sensual pleasures. One who controls one’s mind wins the world. (Japuji 28). The first step towards clarity in meditation is to purify the mind and cultivate godly qualities like truthfulness, contentment, campassion, etc. The most potent detergent to cleanse the mind is the rubbing in of Ram-Naam (simran) and service (seva) of His creation by noble deeds (Japuji 21).

A basic premise of meditation is the strong belief in the existence and reality of God in every soul and in all inert matter. We do not perceive Him owing to our limitations pointed out above and the formless nature of God. His omnipresence is like the invisible electromagnetic waves which are ever present in the atmosphere but require a proper receiver like a telephone or television to interpret them. A cleansed, pure and stilled mind is a mirror that receives God’s reflection.

Different schools of thought strive to realise God through varying forms of practice. These include the concentration on visible objects (idols or pictures), on an objectified form of God’s on energy points in the body (the forehead, heart, or navel), and on the written or printed name of God (Waheguru, Ram, Allah). God being formless cannot be installed in any shape or object, visualised and confined to any particular point or place (Japuji 5). But most traditions stress the use of sound as one of the most effective meditative aids. Just like a snake gets charmed by the sounds of a flute, our consciousness gets attuned to God by the vibration of His name and shabad kirtan. This is why the entire Sri Guru Granth Sahib has been composed in ragas.

Meditation in its rudimentary form is coordination of the sense organs — tongue, ears, and eyes with devotion radiated from the heart. The tongue recites or sings, the ears hear, and the eyes visualise the presence of God (Japuji 8 to 15). Our soul consciousness soaked in the sound of the Ram Naam or shabad gets absorbed in the Super Consciousness, God. Devotional singing, particularly in a congregation, is the highest form of meditation which concentrates all our sense organs and connects us directly to God, and helps us to experience God-Consciousness which exists within and all around us.

Once, Bhagat Nam Dev was admonished by his friend, Bhagat Terlochan, for being continuously engrossed in his work at the cost of his prayers. “Hands and feet to work and heart to God,” Nam Dev replied, “is the essence of meditation.” When questioned on how to concentrate on God whilst at work, Bhagat Nam Dev answered: “As a kite flyer, a girl carrying water on her head, or a goldsmith working on ornaments, keep their minds on their tasks even when talking to their friends, so does a devotee subconsciously remains attuned to His love while occupied with normal work. Yearning for love of God is so intense with His devotees, like Guru Nanak, who maintains that “He alone lives who loves God,” and “A breath without His remembrance goes to waste.”

Meditation is loving, adoration and the feeling of God’s presence within and beyond us all the time. It is not confined to recitation and His remembrance alone; it embraces the entire gamut of life. Surrendering to His will, cultivation of good habits (truthfulness, compassion, etc.), and being happy under all conditions, add to the development of the meditative mind and through it a deepening connection to the Oneness of God and humanity.

TRENDS & POINTERS

Cut calories, not carbohydrates

Low-carbohydrate diets cause rapid weight loss without side-effects, but researchers have found that restricted caloric intake and longer diet duration are the biggest reasons for weight-loss. According to a study from researchers at the Stanford University Medical Centre and collaborators at Yale University, there are no short-term adverse effects of the diet, but also that there is insufficient evidence on the diet’s long-term effects.

“Low-carbohydrate diets have been extremely popular as of late, and the lay press has suggested they’re a safe and effective means of weight loss. While these diets are effective in the short term, weight loss results from reduced calories, not carbohydrate restriction”, said lead author Dena Bravata, social science research associate at Stanford’s Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research.

However, numerous medical associations and physicians have expressed concern that these diets are too high in fat and can lead to kidney and liver problems and other health risks. Despite their popularity, little evidence exists on the efficacy and safety of low-carbohydrate diets. “Information on older adults and long-term results are scarce at best and this should be kept in mind when looking at our findings”, noted Bravata.

The researchers’ meta-analysis found that people on diets of 60 or fewer grams of carbohydrates a day did lose weight. But the weight loss was associated with restriction of caloric intake and longer diet duration, not with reduced carbohydrate intake. It also found that the greatest weight loss occurred among those participants on diets with the highest baseline weight and lowest caloric content.

“The greatest predictors of weight loss appear to be caloric intake and diet duration. The findings suggest that if you want to lose weight, you should eat fewer calories and do so over a long time period”, she added. The researchers found no significant adverse effects on cholesterol, glucose, insulin and blood-pressure levels among participants on the diets. ANI 

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

I thank thee that I am none of the wheels of power but I am one with the living creatures that are crushed by it.

Like the meeting of the seagulls and the waves we meet and come near. The seagulls fly off, the waves roll away and we depart.

We read the world wrong and say that it deceives us.

Your voice, my friend, wanders in my heart, like the muffled sound of the sea among these listening pines.

Let life be beautiful like summer flowers and death like autumn leaves.

The hills are like shouts of children who raise their arms, trying to catch stars.

Rabindranath Tagore, Selected Poems.