A person...

A person I Love - .....
A person I Hate - .....
A person I Adore - .....
A person I Despise - .....
A person I wish to run away with - .....
A person I wish to run away from - .....
A person I want to kill - .....
A person I want to die for - .....

Surprisingly all the blanks can be filled with the same name :D

Kashmir...

During the time of partition Kashmir was ruled by  Maharaja Hari Singh. Like many other kings during his time he wanted to retain the rule of Kashmir, by refusing to join India or Pakisthan. Jinnah, expected Kasmir to join Pakistan, as more than 75% of the residents were Muslims. Once Jinnah started suspecting foul play by Hari Singh, he tried to conquer Kashmir using Pathans. Pathans attacked kashmir on 22nd Oct 1947. Since the Pathans were more interested in looting than conquering the capital city Srinagar, Indian govt got ample time to plan and defend Kashmir. Fear of Kashmir falling to Pathan's attack plus the tactics of VP Menon made Hari Singh to sign the treaty to join Indian Dominion. So Kashmir became a part of India, because Hari Singh wished it to be, neglicting the wish of his country men. Courtsey for this information - Freedom at Midnight (Larry Collins and Dominic Lapier)


Since then Kashmir has withessed hell a lot of wars. It is a place which has never known peace. A beautiful hell. That's what Kashmir is right now. As usual, now also Kashmir is in news for all wanted and unwanted reasons. We are ready to file petitions against people who say Kashmir has never been an integral part of India. Are we not getting too emotional on the subject? Of course for a South Indian like me, Kashmir is a beautiful heaven which belongs to my nation and I am proud of it. And that's just what it is. A heaven which doesn't affect me much. The problem has a direct impact only on the residents. And they are not so proud of the fact that they belong to a diverse nation called India. No one can blame them for getting tired of all this war life, that too for a span of over 60 years. So what is the soultion? Is it "Azadi" as Kashmiri's youth demands (see here). But Kasmir is also facing the problem of youth bulge. According to that article in Hindu, 64% of the population of Kashmir falls under the age group of 18-30. That is a very dangerous age group. Immensely strong willed and with great visions, but without the experience for the journey to achieve that vision. Even if Kashmir is granted freedom, how long can they survive independent, with two powerful and "loving" neighbours like India and Pakisthan. Do these people who demand independence have a clear vision of the huge responsibilities that will be entrusted on their shoulders once they gain freedom?

Its really a complicated situation. Even if India grants freedom, Kashmir will not be able to bear the heat of the gained freedom. I don't think there will be an immediate solution to the political situation there. Neither India nor Pakisthan will budge from their stand. But is there a way to restore normal life to citizens of Kashmir, pulling the military attacks and all such stuff to background? Tough call... But I feel it might not be impossible. I am not a Chanakya to suggest effective means of solving this problem. But self employment and self sustainance is something that can be promoted.

It's high time, India shed the emotional attachment that we always upholds in the issue. We should start thinking in a practical way, and that too one which will be beneficial to the citizens too. But I strongly suspect if anyone will care for the inhabitants, when the place at stake is the beautiful Kashmir :(

An interesting mail conversation :)

A mail conversation which happened some time back... Sorry merie darling, for not asking ur consent...:)

Hi friends,
After reading Kite Runner the second time, I got inspired to know more about the real happenings in Afganisthan :) On the first read I went through the main story only. But the second time (that is this time) the incidents hit me more than the central thread of the story. So I did a bit of googling on Hazaras in Wiki :)
Today I had a conversation with ullikka about Hazaras. He gave me this web page to look intohttp://www.hazaranet.com/who.html
Interestingly I navigated from this page to this one belowhttp://www.hazaranet.com/why.html
Is it not a bit sad that some people from Christianity, use helpless victims to increase the number of Christian desciples. Exploitation of adverse situations by relegious instuitutions is ridiculous.I don't mind anyone's relegion as long as he/she doesn't preach his/her belief on me. I have seen this kind of frenzy to preach on one of my cousin who is an ardent "Sai Baba" desciple. I have nothing against Baba. Maybe he is a great man, reincarnation of Krisha himself as they say (I have never been to see Baba nor experienced him, so I can't praise or criticize), but what if all I need is a Krishna idol rather than the reincarnation of Krishna. Why do people have this tendency to pull others also to their own chosen path? Is it because of the fear of being alone if the chosen path is wrong??? Or is it the good will to show the good path to the next person as well??? I hate preachings and that web page left me sad :(
If you people are busy don't even think of replying. I am idle so my mind has turned into a pretty dirty workshop :) But ajeesh as u r bedridden ur thoughts are welcome:-)
Merie, no offence against your relegion, I like Christianity in its true sense and more than that I like Christ as a God I can relate to more than Krishna or Vishnu. But these kind of attempts from so called Christians is pathetic :(
Soumya

Hey Soumya,
I was very busy this weekend.However, I had marked this email specially for reminding me to reply.
I dont know personally about which is the association behind.
As you might know there are several divisions of Christianity.
I belong to Catholic church, which nowadays as a principle does not believe in these kind of activities.
We beleive more on actions.The bible also mentions that as a Christian our actions should speak for ourselves.
I can quote the example of two people I know personally who is working for poor and underprivileged and never converted anybody.
I am replying just to you, becos both of them does not want to get publicity for this kind of work.
First is Mr XYZ.He is working in Vincent de Paul society(which is an organization part of our church) which helpes poor people, familiés(basically they adopt very poor families providing them everything that they need...) and students whether they are Hindus,Muslims or Christians.He is working in that area in his part time for the last 35 years.he has never preached or forced anybody to convert to Christianity.(The organization conducts several awareness sessions for poor women about slef help groups, nutrition for food,breast feeding etc etc )
Second is Mr ZXY, a priest working in Bihar(and nowadays Jharkhand) to provide lower caste people with education.
He has been working in India for past 43 years(knows Hindi,Bihari and English) trying to uplift conditions for poor by educating young children.The children from low caste are not allowed to go to govt schools there by landlords.
He has not converted anybody from Hinduism to Christianity.
But as he is working there, he knew very closely about events in Orissa.
Why did lower caste people want to get converted to Chirtsinity there?The situation there is completely different from Kerala.
Low caste people are really like slaves for high caste landlords.They are not allowed to go to school.
they are an oppressed division of society.They wanted to change their lives through education.
Thats why they wanted to change their religion from Hinduism to Christianity, to escape from a life of opression under landlords and ignorance.
I do know that there have been errors by some Christians communities where they offered money in exchange of conversion.
But basic problem is the deep rooted caste system that exist in those regions.
And about preaching by Christians, I have my reservations against it.
But last Saturday I attended the ordination of a priest from Equador in Helsinki.
Equador is a country in South America where youth are affected by drugs, violence and gun traficcking.
In his thanking speech, he mentioned that if the preachers didnt preach he would have ended up as a criminal in the streets of Equador.
Also in our Parish, a Muslim woman Haja from Liberia is studying to become a Catholic now.The conversion as an adult to become a Catholic is a long process where you have to learn with a priest for several months.In between the studies, if you feel that it is not the right path for you, you can go back to your old faith.She mentioned that for the first time in her life, she felt so much happiness when she knew about Jesus and started talking with our Parish priest Fr.Paulo.She identifies herself more with the Christian values than with the Muslim beleifs that she grew up in.Nobody forced her to come and meet Fr.Paulo.She just noticed how we as a people behave in the society.
If the speech or preaching changes the life of an individual for good and makes him or her realise path to truth , I would support the speech.
However, as I mentioned before conversion to Chirstianity just for money is a wierd and stupid concept for me.
Luckily, the Catholic church is not supporting that beleif.
Quite a long mail.
Your reply is welcome.
Cheers,
Merie


Wow Merie... After a long time I am reading such a long mail. Thanks a million :)...
One thing I want to tell in advance is this discussion is not against Christianity. Whatever little things I have read in bible I felt is pure and truthful. But its this human phenomenon of preaching that I don't like :(... Its not only there in Christianity, but in all other relegions, though its a bit more common in Christianity.
Among its all other flaw there is one big flaw (or maybe merit) in Hinduism. There is no structure of code or conduct for a Hindu. I would like to quote the famous writer Anand here "Hinduism is a culture not a relegion". Going to temple is not mandatory, praying is not mandatory and the concept called conversion to Hinduism never existed. (I think now Hindu priests have also come up with some conversion methods, I am not so sure about the details). As you rightly pointed out this exactly is one reason why Hindus (mostly oppressed class people) want to convert to Christianity. They live in a community where the relegion does not bind them together. There is no Sunday mass or such gatherings where people are bound together by the solidarity of their relegion. Oppressed class have suffered so much that the solidarity of a relegion is such a welcome change to them. They believe that they will raise their standard of living by this conversion. But the sad fact is even though they convet to Christianity their plight remains the same. You yourself know that ur family will never accept anybody other than a pu.ka.ku. So what did these people gain by conversion? If you check in attapadi and such hill ranges in Kerala, you can find a lot of people who have been converted but gained virtually nothing (except some momentary financial gain)out of the conversion. Their status in society remains the same.
Conversion in its right spirit is always welcome. It should come from inside you rather than from outside forces. Its a matter like changing ur state of living or as in ur case nationality of living :D Madhavi Kutty's conversion to Kamala Surayya I believe is a right example of conversion though many people including her own children were against it.
A true humanist is the one who can inspire self confidence in a fellow being which will in turn help him to live a self dependent life with respect and love for his own self, lifestyle, background, culture and heritage.
I believe what Mr XYZ and Mr ZXY is doing is the right spirit of christianity. They are not concerned about the relegious bkground of the people they serve, but try only to uplift the sad conditions of their life.
But mostly what is happening in most part of India is that oppressed people are helped by christian missionaries and in return they are to convert to christianity. We have a social organization in our office. Initially I have been to some of the old age homes and schools as part of this organization. When I talked with some of the inmates they told me their names have been changed to "Mary", "Anna" etc and nobody calls their real names. Its not a big issue. They are being taken care of properly, given food, sheltered. Change of name or relegion doesn't matter to them any more. But some how I felt sad. I liked the sisters who were running that organization. I liked everyone there. They were kind (real kind not "show off" kind) and loving. But why are they so adament on this conversion part I can never know. I never dared ask them, bcoz I can never afford to shelter all those people and serve then so lovingly. So I guess they have to pay this small price. But somehow I feel that small price in not rightful and it pricks my conscience at times (like the time i drafted that first mail) :(
There is another doubt also. If a person cannot understand and appreciate his own relegion in full sense, how will he be able to understand another relegion?
This is a stupid world. Stupider than me :(... It drills into you a sense of right/wrong and finally puts you in a position to wonder what is right and what is wrong.
Now a days other relegions are also catching up with this process. Hindus and Muslims have also started to gather more desciples to their own relegion using even worser techniques :( What is the purpose of all this is one thing I never can understand :(
I guess its time I found my own "saukaryathinulla" God like Kochu Thresya did :)
Thanks a lot dear for such an exciting conversation. After all conversation is all I do :(

PS: No offesnse meant to any relegions.