Thursday, December 31, 2015

Comforts of Thar Desert, Rajasthan

Comforts of Thar Desert, Rajasthan

After visiting Jaisalmer fort in night, we have enjoyed the Dome of Nature lighted by the full Moon. Next day morning we took a journey of the Thar desert under the same Dome lighted by the Sun. 

The entire desert of Thar was vegetated by shrubs and arid trees, i.e., Kera, Aakda, Thor, Ber, lana, luni, Khejri, Israeli babool, etc.  Bhuyee, a small shrubs silver in colour, carry soft cotton type material. People use it for making pillows. There is human efforts in planting arid trees to stabilize the sand dunes. Good rains over past few years is giving a green cover to the desert. Global warming may be changing the geography of the desert.

After a drive of 57 kms, when we entered into the Desert National Park, a beautiful Tawny eagle took its royal flight in front of us. Larks (dholars), the birds I was searching from my school days (the story of lark and its chicks), were otherwise not seen due to its colour mix with the land, flying and welcoming us by the passing of the vehicle at both sides of the road. Goraiya..o..goraiya...the desert has preserved many house sparrows. They were settled like a bulb decoration on Khejri trees.

Finally we reached to village Sudasari, the maternity home of the Great Indian Bustard. The area rich in chaniyo, the golden grass, was fenced for protection of the bustard eggs. Protecting these invaluable eggs from desert dogs, lizards, cattle, crows, etc, the forest officials do celebrate the event of new chick born with joy and gratitude. Mother is the great protector of its chicks. Till the she bustard remains with the egg, no animal can dare to damage the egg. But when she fly away for food and water, the enemies eat the egg. The forest department has started planting of bajara etc, and created water holes to provide food and water to the mother within the maternity home, so that she save the egg till the birth of the chick.

The mother can give one bird per annum. It can lay 6-8 eggs (in case of damage of previous) but once it sat over one egg, it doesn't give another egg. Thereafter, she spends her entire time in protection and rearing of the egg. The chick become the size of the mother in 3 months. It has 20 years life.

To add to our luck, the forest staff located the birds. We travelled into the area. The route was flooded with tennis balls. Tennis balls? Plenty of Kateri fruits (medicine for bronchitis) look like truck loads of tennis balls spread over the desert.

After a twenty minutes drive, when we reached to the location, we saw the bird. Aha.. what a beautiful bird it was! We saw the Great Indian Bustard, first time in life. They were four walking in the grass land. Unnoticed of the near one, as soon as our vehicle reach near to it, all four took a flight like a jet plane with powerful humming sound. Watching the 14 kg weight Great Indian Bustards flying up in the sky, a memory of lifetime.

The Great Indian Bustard lives in this area of Thar, Kutch and Cholitan (Pakistan) desert. It is critically endangered as its population estimated in the area is 120, of which 32 in Thar, 22 in Kutch and rest in Cholistan. Poor bird may be facing enmity of people across the border due to its name, "Great INDIAN Bustard". Renewable energy poles of wind mills may not be their threats but the electricity greed line wires put their life in danger.

It's desert. You can see other animals too: spadfoot toad, sidewinder snake, desert snake, shovel snouted lizard, desert ants, pants, large ears rabbit, scorpios, wolf spider, etc. It has kangaroo rats (lifts front two legs like kangaroo) that live whole like without drinking water. The kidneys of desert animals concentrated urine, so that they excrete less water.

Like Kutch Bhunga, the people live in 
Jhonpa house of round shape. The round shape gives protection against wind and the temperature fall by 7 degrees inside the house in Summer. Obviously, people need heavy rajayee in winter.

While, we had our tea at the Jhonpa Duty House of the Forest Department, an Indian Roller came flying and sat on the top of the Jhonpa, greeting good luck to us.

The foresters caught 5 Spiny tailed lizards from the poachers. Their spines were broken by the poachers. It's a herbivorous reptile lives in burrow. It closes the bill from outside for the safety. Still the poachers manage to catch them. They are used for making "sandhe ka tail" the oil/fat is aphrodisiac, used for joints pain and other problems. Selfish humans play with the nature.

It's desert, without watching black bucks (Chinkara), sheeps, goats, cattle, the trip to desert can't be finished.

In the evening we had camel ride on the sand dunes of village Sam. The village was converted into a tent city, flooded with camels, cars and tourists. It was a good fun to walk, jog and taking selfy in the sand dunes.

There was a cultural programme in the tent area. Champe Khan of Magniar community and his team were entertaining the tourists. They started with Ganpati Stuti, "Maharaj gajanand aavoni...mari sabhama rang barsavoni". The organisers start serving pakoda and tea to the guests.

They welcomed the tourists with the song, "Kesaria balam padharo mare desh", followed by "Alida maro gorband (necklace of camel of the groom) nakhralo". When the groom go for marriage, riding a decorated camel, people mostly look at the gorband, the necklace of the camel, not much at the groom! 

Now the time for Holi song, "Holi khelan mai gayee..Holiya mai ude re gulal" with the holi dance of award winner artist Lila. A dance to keep the joints active and lubricated. 

Jogi.. jugal bandi on kartal of 4 wood pieces, nimbuda song to remind the king to carry lemon for the queen to save her beauty from the black magic. And at last, the famous Garaba dance, where the Gujarati tourists, the youngs, the olds, the children, start taking joyful rounds in the company of Champe Khan's team.

We had a delicious dinner of famous dal, bati churma of Rajasthan. Churma...unable to forget that sweet taste! 

We concluded the day with kadai milk and pan at Hanuman choraya before going to bed.

Tired of the day long joyful journey of the Thar desert, we didn't notice when we fell asleep at the Forest Guest House, Jaisalmer. 

Punamchand
26 December 2015

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Human sacrifice, a practice to repeal curse.

Human sacrifice, a practice to repeal curse.

The tradition of human sacrifices by the kings were recorded by falk songs, but the historians of the Kings failed to write them in history. I was searching for an evidence of human sacrifice of Megh Mayo in Saharshaling Lake in Patan Gujarat in the history of Gujarat. Except the derry of Maya on the bank of the lake and the remembrance of the event by his community for 1000 years, no other concrete evidence in any other form is available. 

As per the legend, Mayo, a young man of a backward community buried live (willingly) to repeal the curse of Jasma Odan. Jasma, a beautiful wife of Rooda Od (tank digger) cursed the Solanki King of Patan Siddhraj Jaisingh, who was captivated by her beauty and wanted to marry her. Due to the curse, the tank was not filled with water. To repeal the curse, a human sacrifice was needed. With Maya's sacrifice, the tank was filled with water. King Jaisingh, in return allowed his caste to stay with higher castes in the town.

The tradition of human sacrifice was further confirmed in Maherangarh Fort of Jodhpur, Rajasthan. It was built by Rathore King Jodha around 1460. He had to displace Cheeriya Nathji, the lord of the birds on the hill to build the fort. Cheeria Nathji cursed Rao Jodha with scarcity of water. With the request from the crown, Raja Ram Meghwal came forward and was buried alive in the foundations as human sacrifice to repeal the curse. In return, the Rathore promised to look after his family. It is believed that Raja Ram was Mehra, meghwar. Therefore, Rao Jodha named the fort Mehrangarh in remembrance of his sacrifice. Another school of thoughts believe that it was Mihir (Sun) garh, changed to Maherangarh, as the Sun has been the chief deity of the Rathores. But the previous tale is more probable looking at the affections of the Kings with their people. 

Do you know the story of Rathore King Hanwant Singh (29)? 

His father King Umed Singh died of appendicitis in 1947. Hanwant Singh became the King of Jodhpur at 24 Y age. He married to Krishna Kumari from Dhrangadhra State of Gujarat and was blessed with a son (the present King Gaj Singh). 

As you know Hanwant Singh reluctantly signed the instrument of accession to India and when Mountbatten had left the room; he pointed a fountain pen over Mr. Menon which was a .22 Calibre pistol and cried with the voice, "I will kill you if you betray my people...' 

He pleaded in the communal tension period of 1947, that the Hindus and Muslims of his state are like his two eyes. And if anyone were to get hurt it would be like blinding him. No untoward incident happened. He personally led a peace march through the city and begged each one to stay. "You are my children! You cannot leave! You cannot insult me!" And they stayed.

He was very popular King. If instrument of accession terms continued, Rathores would have continued as popular King of Jodhpur kingdom even today. But the accession deed was converted into merger deed by Nehru and Sardar. Hanwant Singh participated in the general elections of 1952 through his party of independents. When Nehru had threatened to revoke the purses if the Princes entered politics; he, a mesmerizing orator campaigned. "I have you, my people. Raise your hands, my privy purse!" And they did. He campaigned for 14 hours a day.

26 January 1952, a day of counting of votes. He flew in his two seater air plane from constituency to constituency for the results. His love wife actress Zubaida (Vidhya Rani) was with him. And may be due to tiredness or overwhelmed with joy of sure victory, or may be due to technical faults, (or a sabotage?) the plane came down to a low height, hit with the wire and crash in the dusk of the day, 26/1/1952. The couple died. The results were announced. His party won all 4 parliament seats and 31 of 35 assembly seats. Jodhpur State cried that night losing their affectionate King Hanwant Singh Rathore. 

Human sacrifice was a practice followed in ancient period to repeal curse as well as for speedy completion and long life of the building/lake. 

The community which offer such sacrifices was later known as "Meghwal or Meghwar", those who have power to bring back the rain from the clouds through prayer. Megh in Sanskrit meaning clouds and rain, and war meaning descent or who bring back.

Drought was considered a curse of the innocent victim. And that was repealed by the sacrifice of another innocent! The mortal lives of the lower caste were sacrificed for the immortal prestige of the Kings. Tradition prevailed.

Punamchand
29 December 2015

Monday, December 28, 2015

When I lost my "Mother" on 23 May 2001

When I lost my "Mother" on 23/5/2001

2001 AD was a painful year for our family. I was on earthquake relief duty to Bhuj-Kutch from 27/1/01.

We were living in Gandhinagar in one category below house since August 1995 and were unable to get a change of entitlement. But when the house was damaged due to earthquake on 26/1/2001, Laxmi, my wife met the then CM and with the help of the Secretary R&B and Finance ACS Shri G. Subbarao, a house was allotted in Sector-20, where she moved with luggage without any external help.

I could return home from Kutch duty in the first week of April 2001 to attend my brother-in-law who was seriously ill. Dhawal was writing his 12th science annual exam without our support. My father suddenly developed stomach pain and died in VHS on 12/4/01. We generally avoid VHS but due to the advice of Dr. Tejas Patel, the mistake was committed and we lost him untimely. Due to his death, my mother went into the shock, declared her departure date of 12th May 2001.

After completing father's rituals, we tried to stabilize her. She was a patient of chronic bronchitis. On 9th May morning, she had a complaint of uneasiness. Knowing her will power and declaration of death, fearful we admitted her in Kakadia hospital, Bapunagar. In the evening of 10th, she developed breathing problem. As there was no ventilator free at Civil Hospital, we moved her to Shreya hospital as per the advised of the visiting doctor, Pulmonologist Dr. Parthiv Mehta. At Shreya, he applied an American handy ventilator support for few hours which doesn't require tube insertion in nostrils. She was survived and crossed the date 12th May. On 13th morning, she equated me with Lord Shiva, who stopped her departure second time. But after two days she again had problem of breathing. The handy ventilator was applied but it stopped working after an hour. She was moved on regular ventilator. She was stabilized and started responding through eyes. But next day in the morning, Dr. Mukesh Patel, the assistant doctor removed her ventilator without our knowledge for a trial learning of the side effects of removing the ventilator. Within a minute, she starved for oxygen. The ventilator was applied again but she couldn't recover. She went into coma. The lady doctor hit her chest many times with force to bring her consciousness back, broke her ribs. She developed pneumonia through cross infection in the hospital.

All round exploitation by hospital business started with room rent, ventilator charge, medical reports, blood tests, costly prescription of expensive injections that were going into the pockets of the nurses who used to keep away the family members while attending the patient. It goes back to the store at the medical store on ground for resale. My wife caught them red handed with the theft of injections.

At last, when all the chances of her survival failed, we requested the doctors to remove her ventilator. She was discharged from the hospital with a heavy bill of Rs. 1.75 lakh. She was moved to home. And after 3 hours of life she left the world at 8.30 PM on 23 May 2001.

We lost both of our "Living Gods" on earth in 42 days.

Many of our relatives, friends, staff, officers shared our grief including 4-5 IAS colleagues of our cadre. The IAS association EC of that time was busy in cancellation of our house allotment as it was allotted as a special case!

Punamchand
28 December 2015

Sonar Killa, the Living Fort of India

Sonar Killa, the Living Fort of India. 

Famous film director Shri Satyajeet Ray made the fort popular in 70s with only 10 minutes shot of it in the film "Sonar Kella (The Fortress)". Boby Deol's film "Nanhe Jaisalmer" was also shot here. Made from golden yellow sand stone, the shining fort has been inhabited by the descendant families of the warriors, the brahmins and the Jain families as well as by the shop keepers, service providers, hoteliers, hawkers, etc. And the tourists in thousands. It's a world heritage site. It is one of the largest fortification on Trikuta Hill in Thar Desert. It attracts the tourists with its shiny look under the bright Sun rays, evening look of Sun set light. The display lights illuminate its spectacular golden look in night. 

Got it? It is the only living killa of India, the Jaisalmer Fort of Rajasthan. The Bhati Rajput King Jaisal laid its foundation stone during his rule in 1146-56 AD. His successors completed the construction of the fort. More than 800 years have been passed but the fort has maintained its shine, colour and newness. Sandstone is soft, therefore, the sculptors prefer it for beautiful carving, making window, archway, doors, balconies etc, in different shapes and make the buildings royal. 

There is a Well in the fort. It is said that when Lord Krishna and Arjuna were passing through, Arjuna become thirsty, therefore Lord Krishna made the well with his Sudarshana Chakra. The Bhati rajputs are yaduvanshis and known as descendants of Lord Krishna. 

The Raj Mahal (Royal Palace) of the King has many rooms. The Bed room of the King is probably 20'x15'. One can imagine the size of one of the kings through the size (length and width) of the robe hanged over the hanger. However, the cot has only 5.5' length. As the King had to live always under the tension of attacks by the enemies, he might had been sleeping by keeping half of his body on the cot and resting the legs on the floor!

The life of the Queen in the palace may be royal but it was like a house arrest. The poor lady couldn't move with the freedom of her mind. As she has to live her entire life in the fort, she had to pass her time playing some games of chopat.

The King, the warriors and the Brahmin families lived here. Brahmins were performing multiple roles. They were the teachers, advisors and well wishers of the King. The combination of Rajputs and Brahmins, one with a sword in the hand and another with a rule book in the hand was unique. A warrior and a guide working together to rule over people to protect the "Dharma"!!! And without finance, nothing moves, therefore, the jains, the financiers of the King, the merchants, also live inside the fort. 

Shak Dwip Mak Bhojak Brahmins do worship of Lord Vishnu in the Laxminath Temple. The idols of Lord Vishnu and Laxmi, decorated with Diamonds and Gold ornaments are very attractive. The atmosphere inside the temple is very peaceful. There is a beautiful Jain Temple in the fort. 

Havelis of merchants carry very  attractive carvings. There is a Haveli of Salam Singh. He was the divan of the King. During the draught period, he used to land money to Paliwals at high interest rates and when the Paliwals failed to repay, he used to exploit their girls and women. But when he demanded the wife of the Chief of the Paliwals, the Paliwals vacated all the 84 villages in one night and left the Kingdom.

We started our journey to Jaisalmer at 8AM from Gandhinagar, had our lunch of delicious Rajasthani Thali (Ker Sangri, gatta, dal tadka, raita, bajra rotala with labalab pure ghee, jaggery, curd, fried green chilli, salad, papad) at Brahman lodge Barmer at 2PM and reached Circuit House, Jaiselmer at 5.30 PM. 

The rooms were booked but it was cancelled due to HC judges visit and some guests of present and ex CM. The Collector was on HQ leave for 2 days. 

The manager opened a room for us for waiting like RAC. At the counter, one MLA from Haryana, a member of the Housing Committee, was fighting with the manager for settlement of his bill. He had Occupied 3 rooms and wanted to pay the rent of only 1 room. But the manager didn't surrender and took the payment of all 3 rooms.

At last our reservation issue was sorted out after two hours and we were given 2 rooms in Forest guest house, at Gajrup Sagar village, little away from the city. It has 4 rooms and support staff of Forest. But the mess up of booking helped us in liaison support of the Tehsildar during the tour. 

After dumping our luggage, we took a tour of the Fort in the night. Healthy and beautiful Children were playing in the streets. Some shops and restaurants were open for the customers. We saw the well made by Lord Krishna. There is open space in front of the Raj Mahal and Chamunda Devi temple. On Dashhara day, the King used to sit in public on the chair kept up on the right side stairs of the palace, the open space occupied by the people and the puja of Chamunda Devi was performed with the sacrifice of he buffalo. We took a round of babaji ka dhuna, laxminnath temple. We could see the city view and the Gadisar lake in dark from a corner of the fort. 

When we were on the way to the Jain Temple, heard a sad news of an accidental death of a Jain man. His dead body was coming. He went for a delivery of his wife to Jodhpur and met with an accident, collided with a truck. The pregnant lady survived but her loving husband died. The distance between Jaisalmer to Jodhpur is 270 kms. There is maternity services available in the city but some people prefer to go to Jodhpur for better care. Some corners of the fort were crying after this very sad demise. In another street, some people were cooking food for the "barma vidhi" of one decreased person of their family. The sadness of the family multiplied next day with one more death of another brother and the eldest brother went into shock was shifted to hospital by a Chhakda rickshaw (fort 108). 

After completing a walk of the fort, we had our dinner of vegetables, tandoori roti, khichadi-kari at Desert Bite Restaurant, and before closing the day, we had our dessert of kadhai milk at Prabhu Tea Stall and a Pan mithai of Vasu Pan Shop at Hanuman Choraya.

Tired of the day journey and visit of the fort we went into the deep sound sleep in a very peaceful night at Forest Guest House, where the only sound was of earth spinning! 

When we woke up on Christmas morning, the nature welcomed us with the dawn chorus and golden white spray of morning colours in the sky of the eastern horizon. 

Punamchand
25 December 2015
Jaisalmer

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Political Integration of India

Political Integration of India

"India as a British dependency should be one and indivisible." -Lord Dalhousie (GG 1848-56). 

When British were leaving, India was a country of 28% Muslims, 22% depressed (15% Harijans and 7% tribal), 5% others (Shikhs, Jains, Parasi, Christians, Buddhist, etc) and rest the four varna Hindus.

Cultural boundaries of India can be marked from Hindukush in the West to Japan in the East and from Kashmir in North to Indonesia in the South. But political integration of India have been recorded in the history during major four periods: Mauryan Empire, Mughal Empire, British Empire and Indian Democratic Union. The previous three were the empires of Kings/Emperor by sword/bullet and the present is the empire of People by ballot.

India was a complex country. Foreigners and invaders came here for gain but merged (except the whites) into the cultural diversity of the country. But socially it remained divided into groups and subgroups though it has passed through the influence of many religion, i.e., Hinduism, Budhism, Jainism, Muslim, Shikhism, Christ, etc. The saints and seers established places of pilgrimage in all parts of the country and did many things that promoted its social, cultural, economic and religious unity. But politically the country was never united. During the reigns of Chandragupta and Ashoka, India had to a large extent become unified under one central command but even so a small bit in the South remained outside the empire. Akbar and Aurangzeb made the central rein big but strength of sword were deciding the boundaries of the states/country. It was only when the English came that for the first time the country became one from Dibrugarh to Karachi and Kanya Kumari to Kashmir under the paramountcy of British. 

Robert Clive won and Warren Hastings consolidated the British ascendancy in India, but Wellesley extended it into an empire through his policy of subsidiary alliances. Lord Dalhousie made it a bigger India under a central control through his policy of doctrine of lapse. Following the Rebellion of 1857, the direct rule of British Crown was established in India by GoI Act 1858. British Crown was the ultimate suzerain for both the India, i.e., British India, Princely States India. Princely States were governed on the principle of paramountcy and as per the individual treaties, of less or more autonomy. 

British Parliament, under the pressure of Indian freedom movement, democratized India by political process/reforms through the Government of India Acts of 1909, 1919, 1935; Indian Independence Act 1947.

The failure of Crips Mission Plan, riots and civil war type situation created after the "Direct Action Day" (16/8/1946), unacceptably of Cabinet Mission Plan, made the partition of India inevitable. 

Gandhi was able to defused the depressed group through Poona Pact of 1932 between Dr. Ambedkar and Pandit Madan Mohan Malavia. He praised Shikhs quoting one shikh is equal to one and quarter lakh people. Jains, Buddhist, Christians, Parasis, etc, were not a threat. But Gandhi failed against the leadership of Quaid e Azam Jinnah, Muslim League and their followers. British tried to keep the Country united through Cabinet Mission Plan of 16/5/46 with a weak Centre and powerful Provinces with autonomy. Constituent Assembly and Interim Government were formed but Muslim League was not ready to cooperate. Gandhi's voice of sticking to the Cabinet Mission Plan and telling British to leave India first so that Hindu and Muslim settle their issues mutually, without the third party, was unheard by all. His weapons of truth and non violence of brave were unable to find solution and the violence of the weak took over the reins of the masses. Jinnah signed the document of peace with Gandhi, but that didn't stop violence as Muslims saw their Pakistan nearby in the clouds of insurgency. The law and order of the Country was fully disturbed. Provincial Governments and Interim Government at Centre were unable to control riots. Tired and aged leaders had lost courage to fight against the situation. The public opinion was against the unity of the Nation. Therefore decision of division of the Country was taken jointly by the Congress, the Muslim League and the British Government. 

British lost their younger generation in two World Wars. They had no men and money to hold India. Therefore decided to leave but divided the Country to control the communist influence of Russia.

The problem of British India was resolved through creation of Pakistan. But merger of Princely States to either of the domains was a big challenge.

As paramount power British exercised exclusive control over their foreign affairs and made all 562 Princely States, their dependent for internal peace and  security of the State. They were governed through political/ resident political officer. 

British had established a policy of isolating Indian Kings from each other and from rest of the world, but in 1920, Chamber of Princes was established to integrate them. GoI Act of 1935 tried to unite the princely states under a Federal Government but was abandoned in 1939 due to outbreak of WW-II.

By 1939, Congress official stance was that the states must enter independent India, on the same terms and with the same autonomy as the provinces of British India, and with their people granted responsible government. Gandhi made it clear that the Princes under the new regime can exercise only such powers as trustees can and as can be given to them by the Constituent Assembly. Thus the people of the States become as much part of independent India as the people of British India. Nehru denied acceptance of divine rights of the Kings and declared that any princely state which refused to join the Constituent Assembly would be treated as an enemy state. 

On 15 August 1947, British India was granted independence as the separate dominions of India and Pakistan. The British dissolved their treaty relations with more than five hundred princely states, who were encouraged to accede to either India or Pakistan, while under no compulsion to do so. 

Lord Mountbatten declared that British Government would not grant dominion status to any of the princely states, nor would it accept them into the British Commonwealth. He played a crucial roll creating indirect pressure over the princely states to join either of the domain.

Jinnah didn't get his dreamed Pakistan and was annoyed because he got only ‘a maimed, mutilated and moth-eaten Pakistan’. Jinnah ran after the birds in the bush, leaving the bird in hand began to tempt Jodhpur, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Hyderabad, and even far-off Travancore to become independent or to accede to or ally with Pakistan.

The merger started on 28 April 1947, when the states of Baroda, Bikaner, Cochin, Gwalior, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Patiala and Rewa took their seats in the Constituent Assembly. King of Travankor abandoned his plan of independence after the attempt of assassination of his Diwan. 

Sardar Patel and VP Menon initiated the process of integration of India defusing the 3rd option of independence the Kings had under the Indian Independence Act 1947. They took a conciliatory approach of friendship, emphasis the unity of India and common interests of both, invited the princely States as equals.

The process of merger of Princely States into Union of India is a great story of step by step diplomatic moves of our great leaders.

Step-1 (Standstill)

Burma was directly administered from 1937 and Ceylon (Shri Lanka) was a separate Crown Colony, Nepal and Bhutan were never a part of British Indian empire, and Maldives had been a protectorate therefore remained unaffected by the partition. 

Standstill Agreement for continuance of pre existing agreements and practices were signed with Bhutan and Sikkim. Nepal rushed to UN as precautions to maintain its independent status. J&K signed standstill with Pakistan on 14/8/47.

The GoI entered into a treaty with Bhutan in 1949 that Bhutan would abide by the advice of the GoI in the conduct of its external affairs.

Step-2 (Accession, Instrument of Accession)

The Government of India Act 1935 introduced the concept of the Instrument of Accession, wherein a ruler of a princely state could accede his kingdom into the 'Federation of India'. The federation concept was initially opposed by the Indian princes, but accession of all the princely states was almost complete when World War II occurred. 7th Schedule, Federation Legislative List1, of GoI Act 1935

At the time of independence, three types of Instrument of Accession were prepared. The states which had internal autonomy ceded three subjects to the GoI : Defence, External affairs, and Communications. Other signed a different Instrument of Accession, which vested all residuary powers and jurisdiction in the GoI. The intermediate signed a third type of Instrument, which preserved the degree of power they had under the British.

In absence of support from the British, and popular internal pressures, between May 1947 and the transfer of power on 15 August 1947, the vast majority of states signed Instruments of Accession.

The Instruments of Accession provided that the princes would not be bound to the Indian constitution as and when it was drafted. It guaranteed their autonomy in all areas that were not ceded to the Government of India. Rulers who agreed to accede would receive guarantees that their extra-territorial rights, such as immunity from prosecution in Indian courts and exemption from customs duty, would be protected, that they would be allowed to democratise slowly, that none of the eighteen major states would be forced to merge, and that they would remain eligible for British honours and decorations.

Step-3 (disputes)

Travancore (present Kerala) PM was the first one, declaring it as independent country to be runon American system. The Maharaja was popular for his development initiatives including first public transport services. The agitation of communists was crushed but after the attempt of the assassination of the PM CP Ramswami Iyer, the State merged with India on 1/6/49, with establishment of the Maharaja as Rajpramukh.

Jodhpur and Jaisalmer were offered sheets of paper to write down their terms, which Jinah would sign. Jaisalmer refused but Hanwant Singh Jodhpur came close to signing. He was persuaded through the arguments of communal violence by Mountbatten and Menon, and somewhat reluctantly agreed to accede to India. After the signature, when the GG left the room and Hanwant Singh pointed a pistol over Mr. Menon. 

Junagarh Nawab signed Instrument of Accession to Pakistan on 13/9/47 but Aarzi Hakumat agitation, army intervention in October 1947, Nawab flee to Pakistan, Shamaldas Gandhi signature on Instrument of Accession followed by a referendum on 20/2/48 brought Junagarh back to India. Similarly, Manavadar acceded to Pakistan on 24/9/47, returned to India by a referendum on 20/2/48.

Kashmir Maharaja was in dilemma of joining either of the domain or to remain independent, but after the attack of Pakistanis with weapons creating grave emergency over his State, he signed the Instrument of Accession to India on 26/10/47. 

Hyderabad remained independent and was joined to India after departure of Mountbatten by military operation, "Operation Polo" over the Nizam and Razakars in September 1948. Plebiscite was conducted to join it to India.

Bhopal Nawab, a friend of Mountbatten and Jinnah, remained separate but realized the will of people and signed the merger to India on 30/4/1949. It was declared 'Part C' State and Shri Shankar Dayal Sharma, the lead agitator for freedom became the youngest CM of Bhopal.

Step-4 (Merger-1)

Princely Unions were created between 1947 and 1949 with the merger of small princely states to make them viable administrative units. It has dissolved the very states whose existence India had only recently guaranteed in the Instruments of Accession. All rulers lost their ruling powers, save one who became the Rajpramukh of the new union. In return for agreeing to the extinction of their states as discrete entities, the rulers were given a privy purse and guarantees similar to those provided under the Merger Agreements.

Meantime, the light of India, Gandhi was assassinated by Godse.

Through this process of merger, Patel obtained the unification of 222 states in the Kathiawar peninsula of his native Gujarat into the princely union of Saurashtra in January 1948, with six more states joining the union the following year. Madhya Bharat merged on 28 May 1948 from a union of Gwalior, Indore and eighteen smaller states. In Punjab, the Patiala and East Punjab States Union was formed on 15 July 1948 from Patiala, Kapurthala, Jind, Nabha,Faridkot, Malerkotla, Nalargarh, and Kalsia. The United State of Rajasthan was formed as the result of a series of mergers, the last of which was completed on 15 May 1949. Travancore and Cochin were merged in the middle of 1949 to form the princely union of Travancore-Cochin.

Subsequently, each of the princely unions, as well as Mysore and Hyderabad, agreed to adopt the Constitution of India as the constitution of that state, thus ensuring that they were placed in exactly the same legal position vis-à-vis the central government as the former British provinces.

Step-5 {Merger-2 Instrument of Merger (Instrument of Attachment)}

Democratisation still left open one important distinction between the former princely states and the former British provinces, namely, that since the princely states had signed limited Instruments of Accession covering only three subjects, they were insulated from government policies in other areas. 

After a meeting in Delhi in May 1948, Rajpramukhs of Princely Unions signed new Instruments of Accession which gave the Government of India the power to pass laws in respect of all matters that fell within the seventh schedule of the Government of India Act 1935. The paramountcy of the GoI was restored. The Rajpramukhs were made monarch, de facto no different from those of the Governors of the former British provinces, thus giving the people of their territories the same measure of responsible government as the people of the rest of India. 

The princely states were granted Privy-purse, a compensation (money) for giving away their properties and revenue-generating assets to Government of India. For some of the princely states, Privy purses are so huge that it ranges up to 20 lakhs per month in 1947.

Step-6 (Republic-1)

The new Constitution of India, for "Union of States" came into force on 26 January 1950, categorized the units in four classes: Part A (9 States, the provinces of British India headed by Governor); Part B (8 States: J&K, Hyderabad, Madhya Bharat, Mysore, PEPSU, Rajasthan, Saurastra and Travancore-Cochin, headed by Rajpramukh); Part C (8 States included both the former Chief Commissioners' provinces and some Princely States, and each was governed by a Chief Commissioner); and Part D, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which were administered by a Lieutenant Governor. Balcanization of India was stopped. 

PM Nehru gave full freedom to his DyPM Sardar Patel in his work of integration of India. After completing the greatest roll of building a big nation India, Sardar Patel died on 31/12/1950.

Step-7 (J&K)

J&K was an important territory from the beginning as it has international borders with newly created Pakistan, Soviet Union and China. It's large area of gilgit scardu, etc, were under the direct control of British through a long term lease deed with the Maharaja. Sheikh Abdullah, a friend of Nehru started Quit Kashmir Agitation against the Maharaja. When he was arrested on 15/5/47 and put into jail, Nehru came to Kashmir as his defence counsel. Nehru's entry into the state was blocked by the PM of Kashmir Ramchandra Kak. Nehru was arrested on 22 June and kept at the Dak Bunglow in Domel, close to Muzzafarabad. Nehru returned to Delhi after two days following summon of Gandhiji. It was a native State of Nehru. The Maharaja had signed Standstill Agreement with Pakistan on 14/8/1947. It was therefore kept with the PM in the Ministry of External Affairs, I presume. 

After the attack over Kashmir by Pakistan, it was acceded to India on 27/10/1947 through the Instrument of Accession of four subjects: Defence, External affairs, Communications and Ancillary. Nehru took up the issue to UN with the consent of the GG. As the pre condition of restoration of normalcy as per the UN resolution for plebiscite didn't meet on ground, it couldn't materialized. GoI published a White Paper on J&K in 1948. (Sheikh Abdullah was made PM of J&K on 5/3/48). Later Art 3 of the Constitution of India made J&K as the integral part of Union of India with a special status given under Art. 370 of the Constitution of India. 

On 8/8/1953, the PM of J&K, Sheikh Abdullah was dismissed as PM by Dr. Karan Singh, the Sadr-I-Riyasat of J&K. The DyPM Bakshi Gulam Mohammad (Architect of Morden Kashmir) became PM of J&K. Sheikh Abdullah was arrested and put in jail. Kashmir Conspiracy case was framed against Sheikh Abdullah in 1958. He remained in jail for 11 years. The case was withdrawn in 1964 as diplomatic decision. Under the rule of BGM, the Constitution of India was adopted by J&K legislative assembly in 1956. Therefore, the white paper got abolished, as the unity and integrity of the nation is part of the basic structure of the Constitution of India. The PM of J&K became CM. Governor was appointed by the President of India. The so called mistake of Nehru going to UN in 1948, got rectified in 1956. 

Step-8

Pondicherry and Karaikal were merged with Republic of India by a referendum in October 1954. A treaty of cession was signed in May 1956, ratified by the French National Assembly in May 1962, de jurecontrol of the enclaves was also transferred.

Step-9 (Republic-2)

To complete the process of making whole of India a Republic, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru appointed the States Reorganisation Commission (Fazal Ali Commission) in December 1953 to reorganise the Indian states. The parliament debated the report of the Commission, passed the bill and the States Reorganisation Act was enacted on 31 August 1956. Under the 7th Constitutional Amendment, changing the basic structure, the existing distinction among Part A, Part B, Part C, and Part D states was abolished. The distinction between Part A and Part B states was removed, becoming known simply as "states". A new type of entity, the union territory, replaced the Part C or Part D state. The Rajpramukhs lost their authority, and were replaced as the constitutional heads of state by Governors. These changes finally brought the princely order to an end. 

Nehru played a crucial and lead role in merging North Eastern States of Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, etc, into the Indian Union.

Step-10

In 1961, the Constitution of India was amended to incorporate Dadra and Nagar Haveli into India as a Union Territory.

Step-11 

The last of European colonies Goa was merged with India by defeating Portuguese garrisons the Indian Army on 19 December 1961. UN Security Councilpassed a resolution calling on India to withdraw its troops was defeated by the USSR's veto. 

Step-12 (All equals)

The personal privileges of the princes—the privy purse, the exemption from customs duty, and customary dignities were abolished by Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi in 1971. India victory over Pakistan in 1971 cut Pakistan into two with a creation of new nation Bangladesh.

Step-13

Government of India signed first a Standstill Agreement and then in 1950 a full treaty with the Chogyal of Sikkim which in effect made it a protectorate which was no longer part of India. India had responsibility for defence, external affairs and communications, and ultimate responsibility for law and order. In April 1973, anti-Chogyal agitation broke out and protestors demanded popular elections. The Sikkim police were unable to control the demonstrations, and Dorji asked India to exercise its responsibility for law and order and intervene. India facilitated negotiations between the Chogyal and Dorji, and produced an agreement, which envisaged the reduction of the Chogyal to the role of a constitutional monarch and the holding of elections based on a new ethnic power-sharing formula. The Chogyal's opponents won an overwhelming victory, and a new Constitution was drafted providing for Sikkim to be associated with the Republic of India. On 10 April 1975, the Sikkim Assembly passed a resolution calling for the state to be fully integrated into India. This resolution was endorsed by 97% of the vote in a referendum held on 14 April 1975, following which the Indian Government amended the constitution to admit Sikkim into India as its 22nd state.

Conclusion:

The most credit of merger of Princely States goes to the Bismarck of India the Iron Man Sardar Patel the Deputy PM (Minister of Home Affairs, political head of the department), his Secretary (the right hand) Rav Bahadur Vappala Pangunni Menon (Constitutional Adviser and Political Reforms Commissioner to the last 3 British Viceroys, administrative head of the department) and the Governor General Lord Mountbatten for their diplomatic moves and getting the Instrument of Accession signed; but we shall not forget the other important players and stake holders of the story; the PM of India Jawaharlal Nehru, the ruling Congressman party, the Kings of the States, the bureaucrats, the people and their leaders of the respected States and the environment of democratic freedom in the Country created by the freedom Struggle lead by Gandhi.

One must take a note of the situation of law and order prevailing in the Country, the exchange of people in millions, loss of lives in thousands, war with Pakistan, etc, kept all the major key players Gandhiji, Mountbatten, Nehru and Sardar busy in savings lives and properties with heavy stress on head. 

Having secured the accession, they then proceeded to, in a step-by-step process, secure and extend the central government's authority over these states and transform their administrations until, by 1956, there was little difference between the territories that had formerly been part of British India and those that had been part of princely states. 

Simultaneously, the Government of India, through a combination of diplomatic and military means, acquired de facto and de jure control over the remaining colonial enclaves, which too were integrated into India.

The mergers and cession of powers to the Government of India between 1948 and 1950 contravened the terms of the Instruments of Accession, and were incompatible with the express assurances of internal autonomy and preservation of the princely states which Mountbatten had given the princes and finally with the annexation and merger of the Princely States, the strongest Republic of India was established from 26 January 1950. 

What India lost by way of Pakistan, she more than made up by the merger of the states.

Never in the history, the Country was under one umbrella of people's rule of ballots, what we enjoy at present.

Long live Democracy.

Punamchand
22 December 2015

NB: 
1. In formation of word PAKISTAN, there was no place for Bengal, therefore, East Bengal came out of it in 1971!

2. Sardar Patel and VP Menon maintain the bond in departure. Both died on December 31; in 1950 and 1965 respectively.

Monday, December 21, 2015

When I lost my "Father" on 12 April 2001

When I lost my "Father" on 12 April 2001.

Dr. Tejas Patel, Padmashri, delivered a speech in the function of HH Pramukh Swami's 95th birthday celebration at Sarangpur on 19 December 2015. His narration of pacemaker surgery on HH Pramukh Swami with local short timer anesthesia looking at the risk of sedation, once again opened a painful corner deep in my heart in which I lost my father due to the carelessness of the Doctors of VS Hospital, Ahmedabad in the afternoon on 12 April 2001.

My father Khemchand (80 Y) had complained of stomach pain in the left abdominal in the morning on 10/4/2001. Initially he thought, it may be a constipation problem, but when the pain didn't subside he contacted me in the afternoon. With the very high regards and trust we straight away went to the clinic of Dr. Tejas Patel at Paladi. After checking the problem of angina pain, he had advised me to admit my father in VS Hospital under the personal care of his assistant doctor visiting the hospital everyday. He gave courage to my father to not to worry and he will live for another 7 years. We were greatly relieved from the stress. My father always happy with the nature of Dr. Tejas Patel told me that he didn't offer tea to him this time.

We went straight to VS Hospital and took admission in ICCU as per his advice but against the will of my father. After the first aid and dopamine drip that night was passed well. Second day my father wanted to go to home because he wished to leave the world from our home. I met the HoD Dr. Bhupesh Shah in the afternoon for his discharge but he said no to us looking at his unstable and non movable condition. He advised me to wait for a day and trust the Doctors team for the care. I contacted the then Municipal Commissioner through phone for help in treatment attention but he was not available. I told his PS to bring the matter to his notice but nothing was heard from that side. I was there in the hospital till 11 PM that night. But severe back pain due to long standing of the day compelled me to return home. Keeping two nephews at the hospital, I left for Gandhinagar with a note to phone me in case of emergency.

Once my father knew that I have gone, he started a fight to return home. The nephew instead of calling me, called my elder brother from nearby house in Ahmedabad. The doctor on the duty wrote a prescription of drug and injected my father. It was a sedation drug. He went into the sedation. Next morning on 12/4/2001, he woke up at 7.30 AM, and again asked to return home, but the doctor on duty gave another injection of sedation. That was deadly.

Unaware of the events in the hospital, when I reached VSH at around 10 AM, my father was in Coma. The drip was removed. Morning dose of drugs remained as it is at the corner.  The doctor on duty Dr. Salim was reading a book. I asked him about his condition but he was least interested to talk. He told me that he is in a condition of a tired horse. When I asked him about the reversal treatment for the sedation, he replied no treatment except to wait. I tried to argue, why did the doctor injected sedation drug to the heart patient twice? There was no answer. I knew the seriousness because the doctor was very cautious in giving anesthesia dose to him while operating him for orchiodectomy few months ago.

I tried to approach the Head, Dr. Bhupesh Shah, but he was in OT. I contacted Dr. Tejas Patel and he advised me to wait for the sedation drugs recovery and also advised not to go for any surgery at this age with the condition of his heart. Helpless I was, praying God to bring my father in consciousness.

I got the discharge papers ready to leave the hospital as soon as my father come in consciousness.

At around 2.30 PM he became conscious little bit. His hands and legs were cold like ice. His head was feverish. He asked who we are and again went into unconsciousness. The doctors other than Salim who was reading book, were not available.

At around 3 PM couple of junior doctors came and saw the state of his condition. One lady doctor shouted she will not give sedation injection any more. A experience nurse looked at my father and told me that this is not sleep, he is dying. A tremor of fear passed through my body. My legs started stumbling. And within few minutes suddenly his body lifted little up, his left eye moved clockwise and he collapse in seconds. My father died. Suddenly two doctors came rushing and gave electric shocks but failed to recover.

He was in need of rest. He was in need of a cup of tea. He was in need of passing his urine and stool. He was in need of warmth from the family members. But the careless Doctors on duty killed my father through sedation drugs. He might have died after some hours, days, months or years, but that was not his natural departure moment, I believe.

We accepted the verdict as the will-act of God. But whenever I hear some discussion about the heart care, my heart goes into deep pain because the event has been recorded in my subconscious brain very sharply.

Punamchand
20 December 2015

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Let Live and Live (जीने दो और जीओ)

Let Live and Live (जीने दो और जीओ)

Population exploitation has compelled the Indian farmers to move for hybrid seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides to produce more to feed them and generate GDP for the Nation. However, it's share in GDP is declining.

With population increase, the dispensaries and hospitals are increasing. Life style, environment, and longevity of age added many new diseases in the list. And the food generated through hybrid seeds with the use of chemical fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, etc, has played major role in killing pancreas and liver of humans at early age. In fact the food is affecting all the organs of the body.

Look, we are talking about humans only. The modern agriculture is killing the nature to feed the humans. It has changed the ecology and made the land poisonous.

What do we need for better cultivation? Good seeds, fertile earth, moisture and safety from insects and pests. And this is possible without the use of hybrid seeds, chemical fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides.

Don't you believe this? Come and visit Sardar Patel Farm at Kathwada, Ahmedabad (20 kms from Gandhinagar), where a Cardiologist Dr. Dinesh Patel (+91 98 25 332814) and his wife are doing organic farming in 150 acres of land.

He has followed a simple principle, Let Live and Live (जीने दो और जीओ). We are known to the phrase Live and Let Live, keeping the human first in the Centre. But if we keep the other creatures in the centre allowing them to live first, human being a part of the eco system automatically survive with better food and better health.

His tolerance of other creatures of mother nature is paying him more dividends than his practice of cardiology. All are working in his farms. The 20 labourers work for 8 hours a day as daily wagers, but he has free workforce in plenty, working for more hours and some are working 24x7.

Who are they?

The cattle egrets start working from the morning to late evening eating insects of the farm. After taking the crops, the left out roots become the food for the microbes. Termites are happy enjoying dry stems, do not damage the crop. The earthworms are making natural manure in bulk using the earth, roots, dung-feces of animals and birds. The roots, leaves and left over maintain the moisture of the land. There is ample food for all living in the farm. As there stomachs are full, happy they are in turn make the land fertile and productive to generate enough organic food for the humans free from chemicals. The blue bulls understand the language of love and limit themselves to the assigned area for their needs.

He selects plants for seeds and use them. The production cost except the limited electricity bills for irrigation and wages to labourers, all most zero. He has developed a beautiful nursery with varieties of plants and dairy to produce organic milk and ghee. The organic products earn him higher price, all most double or triple compared to the normal stuff. Whatever they produce, that is consumed by the market. As a result he earns more from the farm than his practice of cardiology. And his life in a house in the farm living with nature is much better than a life of city of a jungle of concrete.

Tolerance promotes non violence.

Now his farms has population in billions: microbes termites, pests, insects, birds (egrets, peacocks, parrots, etc), animals (buffalos, blue bulls, dogs, rabbits, etc). His farms has organic food in terms of vegetables and cereals.

Can't we go back to the Indian original method of organic farming?

Save nature, save humans.

Punamchand
13/12/2015

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Are we heading towards WW-III

Are we heading towards World War III ?

With the terrorists attacks the world peace and harmony has been disturbed. The have nots are challenging the haves. The incidents of killing of innocent people are increasing. Religion has been used for brain washing of the younger generation.

Nostradamus predicted Third World War of 27 years of devastation, an Antichrist, the King of Terror will create the horror of deaths that the very earth will cry put of pain. Apart from conventional fights bacterial and nuclear weapons will be used. The Antichrist will take over Europe. Unlike Hitler's "rain of blood," he will use a "rain of blood and milk." A major nuclear confrontation will occur in the Middle East. Draught on earth and fire from sky. The times will be extremely violent and traumatic.

The death of a world leader in Middle East will coincide with the appearance of a comet. When the second Pope is assassinated, the Antichrist will begin his European campaign. The final pope (French) will be a tool of the Antichrist.

And like previous two world wars, Russia will its alliance (three brothers: Russia, Europe and America) diminish the power of the Antichrist.

Who was/is the Antichrist, the King of Terror? Osama Bin Laden, Sadam Hussain or the head of ISIS? Is the Antichrist yet to emerge and come to full power? He is from Middle East. He will be educated in Egypt. The Antichrist will be in action near the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, and the Arabian Sea. The Antichrist will take Thursday as his day of reverence. He will study and emulate Hitler and his techniques avidly to try to surpass him. Before the Antichrist comes to full power, it will appear that other leaders are above him and in control of the power structure. In reality the Antichrist will be using them as stepping stones in his quest for world power.

What was/is the starting date of this 27 years of war? 9/11 (2001) or US attack on Iraq (2003)? Attack over New York city and US having democratic President predicted. Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Middle East, Russia, France, Greece, UK, US and Europe are predicted to be involved in the war. The Antichrist will rise from Syria/Iraq.

Surprisingly, the present fights are going on in that area predicted. Will the next President of US be from Democratic in January 2017? Are we progressing towards nuclear war? If September 11, 2001 is considered a starting date and the war to end in 2028, then we are yet to see the worst time on the earth.

Like his 50% predictions went wrong, let Nostradamus is proved wrong.

Let Peace prevail on earth.

Punamchand
5 December 2015

How to open path of Development?

How to open path of Development?

Make in India is a tiger leap of our present Prime Minister. If succeeds, it will transform the economy and will resolve many problems of India.

How could our entrepreneurs sustain with high production cost at home and against the dumping of cheap goods and machines by the Chinese and other countries?

People's expectations from governments are increasing. Govt spending is increasing, putting pressure to generate more revenue through taxing or borrowing. The stress of the governments mostly passed on to the tax payers.

Gross NPA of our banks will reach to 6% and the assets under stress will be around 12%. How could the banks take risk of landing? Informal sector is dying without funding and organised sector is drying up resources through NPA.

Some entrepreneurs instead of focusing on competitiveness by quality improvement and cost cutting, spend more wisdom on doing irregularities.

I remember one discussion on startup companies, the entrepreneur boy was questioning the space and money utilized by government functionaries. Not only the salary, but the per capita cost of building, furniture, transportation, communications, perks and facilities, etc, is very very high, compared to their output.

Corruption in the system add on to the cost of the products and services.The Elections are getting expensive. Party funds!

All put together make the products and services expensive that can't compete with the international competitors.

We can't become "make in India" through the "western style life in India".

India lives in villages and in urban slums. Unless we make all our BPL and little above BPL houses the centres for making goods and services of the local needs through informal sector development, our problem of poverty and unemployment will continue.

Rightly mentioned by one of the seniors that Agriculture sector needs focus through technological innovations, and making it attractive profession for the youngsters.

We copy more and innovate less. Our R&D spending is very low. Our machines are costlier than the machines of China. China under the stress of depression may dump loads in India. I have witnessed less attendance of Chamber representatives in Guangdong business delegation visit because they were afraid of the entry of Chinese companies in the products they manufacture.

Our electronics, electrical appliances, cosmetics and other goods are flooded with the make in foreign companies. It is ok till they are produced in India and the profit is reinvested in India. Otherwise, they are new forms for East India Companies, not political but will bring Economic Slavery to us. FDI for gambling in share market is not a good investment.

We need investments, need technology, but not the goods and services made by the foreigners. When shall we use all goods and services made in India? Made in by our demographic dividend, the young India. Just for 10 years, the whole economy will be transformed. Swadeshi has big power.

Punamchand
29 November 2015 

UV Light Treatment for Vitiligo

UV Light Treatment for Vitiligo.

I have a friend, Narendra. He met me first in 1994. He had no skin problem. But later after 10 years, he had developed white spots over his hands, that spread over to his face, chest and other parts. When he shifted to Mumbai in 2014, within 6 months, his whole body became white. 

He tried all therapies, allopathy, ayurved, homeopathy, etc, but the medicines used to aggravate his problem more. 

He had Leukoderma-Vitiligo the skin whitening disease. It is a gradual loss of pigment melanin from the skin layers resulting white patches on the surface of skin. It doesn’t make any organic harm as it is caused neither by germs nor due to bad blood but a distressing skin disease. Scientists believe that vitiligo may be an autoimmune process in which the body destroys its own pigment. Methods of establishing a complete cure of vitiligo or leukoderma have been insufficient in the modern science.

Tired of all treatments, at last, Narendra opted for the newly invented UV Light Treatment ( Rays A&B) recommended by his dermatologist. He had to visit the centre 3 times per week for this phototherapy treatment. It's like UV rays (a,b) bath of few minutes. Within a month his body started repigmenting and after the treatment of 6 months, except some patches on hand his whole body become normal. His vitiligo stopped spreading. The doctor considered it a permanent care and touch wood, he is going okay these days. However, home units are available in the market to continue the treatment at home. 

UV Light treatment is currently considered the "gold standard" when vitiligo covers 20% or more of the body. This process is slow, working from the outer edges of each patch inward, so regular vitiligo light therapy twice a week for a year or more. 

For information.

Regards,
Punamchand
10 December 2015

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Swan City Vadhwana, Mansarovar at Home

Swan City Vadhwana, Mansarovar at Home

Vadhwana a medium size irrigation lake located some 25 km away from Vadodara on Chotpudepur road as well as on Dabhoi road. It has been found an ideal location for roosting by the Swans of Himachal Pradesh and Mansarovar. It's a paradise for migratory birds.

There are two types of swans here; Gaj Hans (Greylag Goose) and Raj Hans (Bar Headed Goose). Swans coming from Mansarovar are called Raj Hans and the others coming from HP are called Gaj Hans. When it become too cold at Manasasarovar (4,556 m above mean sea level), the highest fresh-water lake in the world, the swans migrate to the plains. And during this journey some have found their roosting place at Vadhwana, Gujarat.

Swans feed in the water and on land. They are almost entirely herbivorous, although small numbers of aquatic animals may be eaten. There are paddy farms around that provides ample food to these migratory birds. Some of them are repeaters, come every year. Some come with the cygnets. The cygnets become visitor during their adulthood.

Swan is one of the metaphors most used by Indian mystics. It's a vehicle of Goddess Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge and wisdom. Sometimes it happens, a swan forgets the way to go back. It forgets that it has a home somewhere, starts living by the side of dirty rivers, dirty ponds, muddy places. Similarly, Man is lost, has forgotten his home of God, living in the dirt of Maya. We are the Hansas of Mansarovar (Lake of Humans), in which we shall drink milk/pearl (good things) and leave the water (dirts) like the Hansa. Like it's feathers don't get wet in water, the saintly persons are not attached to the world of Maya. Those who attain this quality are called, Param Hansa.

हंसः श्वेतः बकः श्वेतः को भेदः बकहंसयोः
नीरक्षीरविवेके तु हंसो हंसः बको बकः।

(Meaning: A swan is white, a stork is white. What's the difference between the swan and the stork? When it comes to the knowledge of water and milk, a swan is a swan and a stork is a stork.)

Are you lost in thoughts?

Don't think much. Pick up the key and drive down to Vadhwana. There is an interpretation centre of Forest Department, three watch towers with binoculars facility, couple of rooms for freshening up and a small restaurant to refreshments serving pakoda, paratha, soft drinks, tea-coffee. If getting late, they will serve you lunch too. You may enjoy the picnic with family and friends.

There are 147 varieties identified at Vadhwana lake: goose, grebe, cormorant, shoveller, darter, spoonbill, stilt, teal, kingfisher, etc. In the last census 32372 migratory, 10086 resident migratory, 10692 resident, 2441 others (total 55591) birds have been counted at Vadhwana lake. Some are local, some are Indian migratory and some foreigners coming from Tajikistan and Europe.

Visit and enjoy the Swan City Vadhwana, watching Mansarovar Hansa at Home.

Punamchand
9 December 2015

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Who divided India?

Who divided India?

The decision of partition was formally taken in the meeting of the leaders of major parties on 2/6/1947. Therefore one has to go through the major events from January '47 to 2/6/47.

Muslim League fought the General Elections in 1946 on the extreme demand of Pakistan and won total 425 Seats in provinces (it won 177 seats in 1937 elections), but could form Government only in two provinces Bengal and Sindh.

Punjab had 2.8 crore population; 1.6 Cr Muslims and 1.2 Cr non Muslims. No party won clear majority in 1946 elections, therefore a coalition Government of Unionist Party was formed (Unionists 16, Congress 48, Akalis 21, + independents) under Mr. Khizr Hayat as PM of Punjab. Muslim League with 77 members started disturbances to pull down the government.

In January the Punjab government imposed ban on Muslim League National Guards and the RSS. League launched intensive agitation against coalition government on 24/1/47. The ban was withdrawn on 26/1/47 but League continued its agitation.

Meantime, Muslim League nominee in Central Government Ghazanfar Ali Khan (Health) delivered a fiery speech in Lahore on 7/2/47 said: "Mohammed Bin Kassim and Mahommed of Ghazni invaded India with armies composed of only a few thousands and yet were able to overpower lakhs of Hindus; God willing, a few lakhs of Muslims will yet overwhelm crores of Hindus."

Liaquat Ali, the Finance Member of the Central Government issued a statement against Punjab government on 14/2/47.

On 15/2/47, Lord Mountbatten became Viceroy of India. He came with a mission to give freedom to India. The last attempt of uniting India under Cabinet Mission Plan had failed. Nehru was his Vice in the Viceroy Executive Council holding External Affairs and Commonwealth portfolio. Sardar Patel was in charge of Home, Information and Broadcasting portfolio. And Liaquat Ali Khan was holding Finance, was blocking all the decisions of the government. The government was not functioning smoothly.

On  February 20, 1947, the British government announced that it would withdraw from India by June 1948.

On Gandhi's front, he was in Kazirkhil-Haimchar, Noakhali. His yajna/sacrifice of brahmcharya for self purification, sleeping with Manuben created uproar in public and many of his dearest associates including Sardar Patel, Kishorlal Mashruvala, Kriplani, Rajgopalachari, his son Devdas, etc, were angry with him.

"Ever since my coming to Noakhali, I have been asking myself the question, 'What is it that is choking the action of my ahimsa? Why does not the spell work? May it not be because I have temporized in the matter of brahmacharya?'"-Gandhi's discussion with Thakkar Bapa, 24/2/47.

Under the pressure of colleagues, he had to postpone his yajna, but his dharma commands lost some weight. In fact Manu stopped sleeping with Bapu after a pathetic letter from Thakkar Bapa.

The boycotting of each other communities was serious in Bihar. It went into riots. Muslims were under threat. Their properties were looted and girls abducted. Gandhi moved from Noakhali on 3/3/47 and reached Patna, Bihar on 5/3/47. After a short stay in Patna, he visited the riot affected areas and villages. He wished to move to Punjab, but couldn't go before the fire of hatredness extinguish in Bihar. He returned to Delhi on 30/3/47. He called on the Viceroy at 9 am on 1/4/47.

Due to direct action force of ALML (77/175 seats) as single largest party, the Unionist Parties government under Sir Khizr Hayat had to resigned on 3/3/47 (the first day of budget session). Mandot of League made no serious efforts to form ministry. The province was put under Art.93.

After 34 days agitation of League, on 3/3/47 night a large non Muslims meeting was held at Lahore at which violent speeches were made. On 4/3/47 riots broke out in Lahore. On 5-6/3/47, riots broke out in Multan, Rawalpindi, Amritsar, Jullundhar. On 6-7/3/47, riots spread to rural areas.

Anti Pakistan statement by Master Tara Singh, procession of shikhs shouting slogans Jinnah Murdabad, scarcity of clothes and sugar and its black marketing by non muslims, rumors of impending attack by a large shikh army, etc, worsen the situation further.

In a fortnight, Punjab experienced widespread urban and rural outbreaks of violence resulting in an estimated 3,500 (overwhelmingly non-Muslim) deaths,  widespread abductions of non-Muslim women and forced conversions of non-Muslims, looting and arson and  more than 40,000+ non-Muslim refugees. There was no Gandhi in Punjab to extinguish the fire.

Within days the Congress demanded the partition of the Punjab (this demand in effect meant that even if India as a whole remained united, the Congress position was that Punjabi Hindus and Sikhs wanted the Punjab province partitioned).

On 1/4/47 Gandhi met Viceroy Lord Mountbatten and proposed to
invite Jinnah to form a government of his choice at the centre and to present his Pakistan plan for acceptance even before the transfer of power under Mountbatten’s umpireship, not as Viceroy but as man.

In the evening (1/4) prayer meeting, as soon as Manuben uttered a first word of Kalma a man stood up and raised objection. Thereafter, every prayer meeting in the evening there used to be objections on uttering kalma of Quran and questioning on atrocities of Muslims by refugees from Punjab.

A draft agreement was prepared on 4/4/47. League had launched large scale invasion of Assam using Muslim immigrants to alter the communal ratio of population. Lawlessness incidents were increasing in Noakhali. On 4/4, Congress Executive Committee of Bengal and Hindu Mahasabha has made a demand for partition of Bengal.

On 7/4/47 Gandhi proposed to the Viceroy go to Punjab for peace efforts.

On 11/4/47, Gandhi wrote to the Viceroy that he failed in convincing Nehru and the members of Congress Working Committee to execute the compromise formula. His last attempt to keep the Country united failed. He was no more a command in the Congress. He proposed to leave for Patna and left for it by train on 12/4/47 night.

On 14/4/47, Lord Ismay held a meeting of Governors to review situation and discuss Partition proposal.

Sir E Jenkins, Governor Punjab, had noted on 16/4/47:

"With two or three possible exceptions no British official intends to remain in the Punjab after the transfer of power. Six months ago the position was quite different; but we feel now that we are dealing with people who are out to destroy themselves, and that in the absence of some reasonable agreement between them the average official will have to spend his life in a communal civil war." -

The joint Statement of Gandhi and Jinah to establish peace in the country on 6/5/47, didn't work.

Mr. VP Menon played a key role. He had worked with 4 Viceroy and was known to the political problem in depth. Sardar Patel in charge of Home was monitoring Law and Order condition in Punjab, Bengal and rest of the Country.

The draft of partition scheme was seen by Sardar Patel some two months before Nehru saw it on 1/6/47. Therefore, the partition decision (informal) within Ministry(!) date may be considered around April 1947. Riots and Civil war type condition created through direct action by AIML had left no option except the partition, whether some one would have agreed or not. Finally, partition was agreed upon on 2/6/47 and was announced on 3/6/47.

India was divided to establish peace and to save lives and properties of the people. It was destined.

Punamchand
1 December 2015
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