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World PeaceJesus Christ and Swami Vivekananda

Revolutionary Mystics

esus Christ and Swami Vivekananda are two outstanding revolutionary

mystics. What does the term revolutionary mean? It is about the thought, ideas and inspirations they preach, involving great change. And the word mystic signifies a person who seeks to know God through contemplation and prayer.

The following paragraphs will point out how Jesus and Vivekananda are revolutionary mystics.

There are two types of mystics: (i) Some mystics who are more concerned with themselves than with others. They are indrawn, engrossed in themselves, almost not taking any concern in the affairs of the world, (ii) There are others who are not comfortable with what they have accomplished but would like that others also achieve the same. They want to show the way to them on to that world of serenity and ecstasy which is theirs. In order to give them an experience of that serenity and ecstasy, they direct them, insist on them, entreat them, even force them, if needed. They will even let go their own lives for them.

They appear to be motivated by an influence from above to carry out this. Jesus and Vivekananda belong to the second group of mystics. They are called the revolutionary mystics in the true sense of the term.

When mature in years they started to manifest powers which obviously marked them as a menace to those in power and for that raison d’etre, as a spring of trust and succour to those who were sufferers of that supremacy.

Jesus and Vivekananda were no cognisant leaders of any political group, but their heart went out to those who were deprived and meek. People hailed them as the Messiah when they emerged. They, nevertheless, made it unambiguous that they had not come to abolish the decree; they had come to carry it out. They lived as if they had a unique pledge with God.

Through them God spoke and acted.

Jesus affirmed, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.’ Vivekananda declared, ‘If I have told you one word of truth, it was his (Lord) alone.’

Both these revolutionary mystics have given innovative inspiration about religion and spirituality. They told us to be pure and unselfish and that is the essence of religion. The secret of religion lies not in theories but in practice. To be good and to do good is the essence of religion. Unselfishness is God.

One may live on a throne, in a golden palace, and be perfectly unselfish; and then he is in God. Another may live in a hut and wear rags, and have nothing in the world; yet if he is selfish, he is intensely merged in the world. Virtue is that which tends to our improvement, and vice to our degeneration.

Man is made up of three qualities - brutal, human, and godly. That which tends to increase the divinity in us is virtue, and that which tends to increase brutality in us is vice. We must kill the brutal nature and become human, that is, loving and charitable. We must

transcend that too and become pure bliss. Both the noble souls have asked us to see good in everyone. In India we have a saying that the fly sits on filth as well as on honey, but that the bee seeks only honey and avoids filth. We should follow the example of bee, not that of the fly.

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

Jesus and Vivekananda ask us to correct our own defects before we try to correct our brother’s. We are hypocrites as long as we rationalise our weakness and find them worthy Of forgiveness, yet remain unwilling to bear with our brother’s imperfections. When we have cast the beam out of our own eyes, when our hearts are purified and we really have love for mankind, then we can tell others where they fail - not with malicious relish, but with sympathy and compassion. If we are really pure, how do we see the impure? For what is within, is without. We cannot see impurity without having it inside ourselves. This is the practical teachings they have taught us.

We learn from their profound teachings that the real spiritual man is everywhere. His love forces him to be so. Those to whom religion is a trade are forced to become narrow and mischievous by their introduction into religion of the competitive, fighting, and selfish methods of the world.

In all they said and did, the two revolutionaries’ chief concern was man. They described man as ‘the only God we believe in.’ Man, according to them, has immense possibilities, there being almost no limit to his growth. The task before man is to grow, to keep growing, despite constraints. The more a man advances, the greater are

the difficulties he has to face. The greatest man has to face the greatest difficulties.

Not to be daunted by difficulties is the test of a man. Their message to man is to aspire for the best, the highest. They lived their message. They were love personified.

However mistaken a man might be, however wrong his philosophy, they would not condemn him, nor make too much haste to correct him. Each individual is unique and each must grow in his own way-this was their understanding of man. Their concern was to see that each was struggling, struggling to grow.

This struggling was most important, for one could grow only when one struggled. Not to be content easily, not to be content with paltry things, but to aim high and to keep struggling till the best and highest are within one’s grasp, was their call to everybody.

Man’s achievements through science and technology are certainly stupendous, but man, being man, cannot stop there, he has to go forward, go on and on for ever. This is man’s destiny, his obligation.

But man is an alien to himself in the present age. He finds chaos within and chaos without, he has lost his sense of direction, and he does not know where he is heading. He has achieved much, but he finds what he has achieved can very well be his doom. He wants to love and to be loved, but something has gone wrong somewhere so that, instead of loving and being loved, he hates and is hated.

The greatest problem in the present age is the problem of human relationship. The relations between individual and individual, between nation and nation are warped by suspicion and distrust. There is no peace anywhere - at home, in society, or at the international level. Man is haunted by his own restlessness, his greed, anger, hatred, and jealousy.

Only the trail that Jesus and Vivekananda, in this age, have shown can save mankind. Theirs is the way of achieving the highest, the highest which is within and not without, the way of love.

Source – Bhavan’s Journal, Vol 55 No 18 April 20 2009

The resul t of every work is mixed with good and evi l . There is no good work that has not a touch of evi l in i t . Like smoke round the f i re , some evi l a lways cl ings to work. We should engage in such works as to br ing the largest amount of good and the smallest measure of evi l .

- Swami Vivekananda’S Work pp 173-176

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

Editorial PagePublisher & General Editor:

Gambhir Wattspresident@bhavanaustralia.org

Editorial Committee:J Rao Palagummi

Rajesh Katakdhondeditors@bhavanaustralia.org

Designing Team:Utkarsh Doshi

J Rao Palagummi

Advertising:info@bhavanaustralia.org

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan AustraliaSuite 100 / 515 Kent Street,

Sydney NSW 2000* The views of contributors to Bhavan Australia are not necessarily the views

of Bhavan Australia or the editor.

*Bhavan Australia reserves the right to edit any contributed articles and letters submitted for publication.

Copyright: all advertisements and original editorial material appearing remain the property of Bhavan Australia and may not be reproduced except with the written consent of the owner of the copyright.

Bhavan Australia - ISSN 1449 – 3551

Current Board of Directors of

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Austral ia

Office Bearers :

President Gambhir Watts

Chairman Emeritus Surendralal Mehta- President Bhavan Worldwide

Company Secretary Sridhar Kumar Kondepudi

Other directors areAbbas Raza Alvi;

Catherine Knox.

Sridhar Kumar Kondepudi,

Moksha Watts,

Homi Navroji Dastur, Executive Secretary and Director General

Jagannathan Veeraraghavan, Executive Director, Delhi

Mathoor Krishnamurti, Executive Director, Bangalore

Palladam Narayana Sathanagopal, Joint Director, Mumbai

Articles & Focus ThemesPolicy News (India) 6 Padma Honours for Bhavanites 29

Indian at a Glance 7Fundamental Rights Under Indian Constitutional Provisions

30

Rights Battered Alongside Economies 10 Value Education through Science 32

Mother: an Epitome of Sacrifice, Tolerance and Love

11Gandhian Approach to Growth & Development

34

The Elephant’s Choices 12 Demanding Accountability to Women 36

General Elections 2009 – At a Glance 14 Hon Kevin Rudd - Supporting India Students 37

Indian System Government & Elections

16 Indians Victim of Crime in Melbourne 39

Lord Buddha Embodied the Spirit of the Upanishads

24 An opportunity to learn from bitter experience 41

Culmination of Different Yogas into Buddhi Yoga

26 School helps children go green 43

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

Presidents Page

Gambhir WattsPresident, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Australia

Is Australia Racist?First and foremost I unequivocally condemn the publicly burning of the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s effigy in India. There can not be any justification whatsoever for that act of fanaticism. That ghastly act is unmistakably un-Indian and certainly against the Gandhian values and must be deplored by any sane person.

Attacks on Indian students and for that matter any students for whatever reasons are absolutely uncivilised and must be condemned by every Australian being, every Indian being and every other human being. I am not getting into any analysis of reasons for provoking the attacks. However I must say that this is an issue more of the law and order than racism. And it is heartening to note that the Australian police force and the governments are waking up and paying more attention on priority basis.

Australia, like any other country – India included, is off course a ‘racist’ country. That racism comes from the lack of understanding of the other cultures and the fear of the unknown. Not very long ago we actively pursued White Australia policy and all the administrative practices and procedures were designed accordingly. Today people from over 200 countries have made Australia home, many of them in the recent 3 to 4 decades. In the last decade a large number of refugees and asylum seekers from all over the world have been accommodated. In one of the previous issues of this magazine I had demonstrated how Australia is the most humanitarian society in the world.

This hugely diverse society needs time to settle and come to terms with the ever-changing mix of population. We need extra efforts from every community in understanding other cultures and thus create a better integrated national society. Taking cue from one of Mahatma Gandhi’s quotes on cultures (replacing India with Australia) I would like to say:

The ideal is a synthesis of the different cultures that have come to stay in Australia, that have influenced Australian life, and that, in their turn, have themselves been influenced by the spirit of the soil.

That demands tolerance and adjustments from all – the international students and new migrants included. If we want to cultivate a true spirit of democracy, we can not afford to be intolerant. Intolerance betrays want of faith in one’s cause. As Mahatma Gandhi says:

A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people. And: That Civilization based on nonviolence must be different from that organised for violence.

Indian students and the new migrants need to get involved in the Australian society and be a part of it sooner than later. Every university has a students’ union and students’ representative council and there is very effective and powerful National Union of Students. The Indian students must take active part in these student bodies and use those platforms for redressing their grievances, safety issues included. The university administration may use the student body as a platform for disseminating the vital information to the newly arrived students. In my opinion it is futile to have a separate ethno based students’ union or ‘federation’ especially which have non-students or ‘past’ students as members.

Greg Sheridian, Foreign Editor, The Australian has expressed his views on the recent spate of bashings of Indian students in Melbourne in an article published in the Australian on 4 June 2009. Many of the points rased by Greg are quite valid and relevant. However, I believe that the current issue has been blown out of proportion by all concerned specially the Indian Media. I really like Greg’s idea (in the last paragraph of his article) idea of a home visits scheme, where ordinary Australians invite foreign students far a weekend meal. After all, foreign students are not only dollars and cents they are also human beings.

I am aware that the Consul General of India regularly invites students to his home and that he has given them open invitation to visit him. We through Bhavan Cares are starting a scheme for the education (living in Australia) for the benefit of the foreign students. I urge all the community organisations to do so.

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

Policy News (India)TRAI recommends a lock-in for stake sale Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recommended a three-year lock-in period for stake sale by companies, which have recently got licenses, in order to restrict them from

making windfall gains overnight.

TRAI says no to broadcasters controlling distribution business. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recommended that broadcasters should not have any control in distribution operations and vice versa to avoid monopoly by a particular player. ‘Any entity with more than 20 per cent stake in a broadcasting company cannot own more than 20 per cent in a distributor and vice versa,” sTRAI said in its recommendations to the ministry of information and broadcasting.

RBI extends forex swap facility

Reserve Bank of India has extended the availability of forex swap facility till March 31, 2010 from June 30, 2009 earlier for maturities of up to three months for Indian public and private sector banks having overseas operations. RBI has raised

the interest rate ceiling on foreign currency export credit to help ease credit constraints. The central bank has raised the rate ceiling on forex export credit to London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) plus 350 basis points. Rate ceiling on lines of credit with overseas banks has also been raised from six-month Euro LIBOR plus 75 basis points to six-month Euro LIBOR plus 150 basis points.

FDI regulations relaxed

The government has put in place a liberal and investor-friendly policy on foreign direct investment (FDI) under which FDI up to 100 per cent is permitted on the automatic route in most sectors / activities. As per revised regulations, FDI up to 26 per cent, under the FIPB route, is allowed for defence production; no foreign airlines would be allowed to participate directly or indirectly in equity of an air service undertaking; FDI upto 49 per cent and investment by NRI upto 100 per cent is permitted in the domestic scheduled passenger airline sector; FDI upto 74 per cent and investment by NRI upto 100 per cent is allowed in non

scheduled airlines, chartered airlines and cargo airlines; FDI upto 74 per cent is allowed for telecommunications; FDI upto 26 per cent is permitted in publishing of newspaper and periodicals and Indian editions of foreign magazines, and FDI upto 100 per cent is allowed in publishing of scientific magazines/specialty journals and facsimile edition of foreign newspapers.

RBI extends timeline for FCCBs buyback

Reserve Bank of India has extended the timeline for companies to complete the buyback of their foreign currency convertible bonds from March 31, 2009 to December 31, 2009. In December 2008, RBI had relaxed the procedure for buyback of FCCBs by Indian companies, both under the automatic and approval routes.

SEBI reduces timelines for bonus issues

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) board has decided to reduce the period for completing a bonus issue to 15 days, where no shareholders’ approval is required as per the Articles of Association of the

company and to 60 days where shareholders’ approval is required as per the Articles of Association of the company. The board also decided to amend the DIP Guidelines to enable the issuer company making an IPO to declare the floor price or the price band at least two working days before the date of opening of IPO subject to wide dissemination of price band through newspaper advertisements, availability in websites and the like.

SEBI recommends mandatory details disclosures of pledged shares

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) board has decided to make it mandatory on the part of promoters to disclose the details of pledge of shares held by them in listed entities promoted by them in order to enhance the disclosure requirements. Such disclosures shall be made as and when the shares are pledged as well as by way of periodic disclosures. Necessary steps to amend the relevant regulations and the listing agreement are being taken. Details of pledge of shares and release/ sale of “pledged shares” shall be made to the company and the company shall in turn inform the same to the public through the stock exchanges.

Credits: BSENSEX April - June 2009

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

GENERAL PROFILE

POLITICAL PROFILE

Location: The Indian peninsula is separated from mainland

Asia by the Himalayas in the north. The Bay of Bengal in the

east, the Arabian Sea in the west, and the Indian Ocean to the

south surround the country.

Area: 3.3 million sq km

Geographic coordinates: Lying entirely in the northern

hemisphere, the mainland extends between latitudes 8° 4' and

37° 6' north, longitudes 68°7' and 97°25' east.

Capital: New Delhi

Border countries: Afghanistan and Pakistan to the

northwest; China, Bhutan and Nepal to the north; Myanmar to

the east; and Bangladesh to the east of West Bengal. Sri Lanka is separated from India by a narrow

channel of sea, formed by Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar.

Coastline: 7,516.6 km encompassing the mainland, Lakshadweep Islands, and the Andaman &

Nicobar Islands.

Climate: The climate of India varies from tropical in the south to more temperate in the Himalayan

north. In the southern region, the climate is tropical and warm. There are four seasons - winter

(December-February), (ii) summer (March-June), (iii) south-west monsoon season (June-September),

and (iv) post monsoon season (October- November)

Natural resources: Coal, iron ore, manganese ore, mica, bauxite, petroleum, titanium ore, chromite,

natural gas, magnesite, limestone, arable land, dolomite, barytes, kaolin, gypsum, apatite, phosphorite,

steatite, fluorite, etc.

Government type: India is a Sovereign Socialist Democratic Republic with a Parliamentary system of

Government.

Administrative divisions: Twenty-eight states and six union territories.

th

Constitution: The Constitution of India came into force on 26 January 1950.

Executive branch: The President of India is the Head of State, while the Prime Minister is the Head of

the Government and runs office with the support of the Council of Ministers who form the Cabinet.

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

Legislative branch: The Federal Legislature comprises the Lok Sabha (House of the People) and the

Rajya Sabha (Council of States) together forming both the Houses of the Parliament.

Judicial branch: The Supreme Court of India is the apex body of the Indian judicial system, followed

by other High Courts and subordinate Courts.

Population (as per 2001 census): 1028 Million

�Males: 532 million

�Females: 496 million

Density of population (2001): 324 persons per square

kilometer

Life expectancy at birth

�Males: 63.9 years

�Females: 66.9 years

Literacy rate: 64.84 per cent

�Males: 75.26 per cent

�Females: 53.67 per cent

GDP at factor cost (constant prices-1999-2000) 2007-2008: US$ 774.55 billion (Est.)

GDP at factor cost (current prices-1999-2000) 2007-2008: US$ 998.52 billion (Est.)

Per capita income (constant prices) 2006-2007: US$ 564.17 (Est.)

Per capita income (current prices) 2007-2008: US$ 772.43 (Est.)

GDP composition by sector: Services 56%, Agriculture 18.5%, and Industry 22%

Forex reserves: US$ 311 billion (for the week ended June 27, 2008)

Exports: US$ 155512.49 million (April - March, 2008)

Imports: US$ 235910.73 million (April - March, 2008)

Cumulative FDI inflows: US$ 79, 209 million (August 1991 to March 2008)

Top investing countries: Mauritius, USA, UK, Singapore, Netherlands, Japan, Germany, France,

Cyprus and Switzerland

Top sectors attracting highest FDI equity inflows: Services sector (financial and non financial),

computer software & hardware, telecommunications (radio paging, cellular mobile, basic telephone

services), construction activities (including roads and highways), automobile industry, housing and real

estate, power, chemicals (other than fertilizers), drugs and pharmaceuticals and metallurgical

industries.

DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE

ECONOMIC PROFILE

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

ADVANTAGE INDIA

�India is the world's largest democracy

�Progressive movement towards delicensing and

deregulation

�The economy has been growing at an average

growth rate of 8.8 per cent in the last four fiscal

years (2003-04 to 2006-07), with the 2006-07

growth rate of 9.6 per cent being the highest in the

last 18 years

�India is among the five countries sharing 50 per cent

of the world production (or GDP)

�FDI inflows have jumped by almost three times to US$ 15.7 billion in 2006-07 as against

US$ 5.5 billion in 2005-06

�According to a study by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), India's consumer market will

be the world's fifth largest (from twelfth) in the world by 2025

�Large pool of young skilled labour force, cost effective production facilities, large domestic

market

�Capacity upgradation in infrastructure, industrial base and intellectual capital

�Rationalization of both-direct and indirect tax structure

�Progressive opening of the economy to FDI

�Portfolio investment regime liberalized

�Liberal policy on technology collaboration

�Investor friendly policies

�Acceleration of the privatization process and restructuring of public enterprises

�Good network of research and development

�Economic and political stability

Source : Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

Rights Battered Alongside Economies

We hear little, however, of what is happening across Africa, Asia and the Pacific. In many nations, job losses can impact the fulfilment of rights such as housing, food, healthcare and education.

Our government, along with the governments of almost every developing nation, is spending countless billions on propping up corporations and in stimulus packages - none larger than the US$1.2 trillion package announced by US President Barack Obama.

In Australia, state and federal governments are also implementing plans to help out-of-work miners in Queensland and Western Australia. This is wonderful news - but spare a thought for miners in South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo, who can expect no such help from their governments. They too are losing their jobs as developed nations reduce demand for the minerals that underpin their economies and international companies withdraw investment.

In these countries a single salary can be the only source of income for an extended family. One person being laid off can literally mean starvation.

In a joint statement last year, Amnesty International and a coalition of non-governmental organisations urged developed nations not to lose sight of the world’s poor as they pour money into their own countries’ economic recovery packages. The coalition pointed out that the US$123 billion given to US insurance giant AIG at the start of the economic meltdown amounted to more than the US’s entire annual aid package to poor countries. It is also double what is needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals to reduce poverty by 2015, which at the present rate of progress will not be achieved.

The coalition warned of potential increases in human rights violations as economies shrink and increased social tensions lead nervous governments to clamp down on dissent.

In 2009 China sees the 50th anniversary of the 1959 uprising in Tibet, the 30th anniversary of the ‘Democracy Wall’ movement and the 20th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. It is no coincidence that progress on human rights made while the focus of world attention was on China during the Olympic Games last year is being wound back.

It began with a clampdown in December 2008 that

coincided with the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the launch of the 08 Charter, calling for democracy, human rights and an end to the dominance of the Communist Party.

Signatories to the charter were arrested and UDHR anniversary protesters rounded up. Amnesty International’s website www.amnesty.org was again blocked from Chinese viewers in January, along with 91 other sites.

Human Rights Watch has warned of a “race to the bottom” in rights protections and work conditions as employers exploit Chinese rural migrant workers desperate to retain their jobs. An estimated 20 million have already lost their jobs.

Human rights and aid groups also warn of humanitarian crises and human rights abuses to come if rich countries use the crisis as an excuse to cut aid and trade. During the 1972-73 recession global aid fell by 15 per cent, while in 1990-93 aid spending dropped 25 per cent. In February this year Ireland became the first major European country to cut international aid in the current economic crisis.

Human rights are not a luxury for good times. Rich countries will be following a myopic and self-defeating strategy if they focus solely on narrow financial interests.

It is against this tough economic landscape that Amnesty International will launch its Demand Dignity campaign in May, focusing on poverty as a key human rights issue.

- Ian Wynne

- Republished with permission from Amnesty International’s “Human Rights Defender” magazine

Lets get out Acts together. Australia needs Human Rights Act. Have your say - www.amnesty.org.au/yourhumnrights

As the full effects of the economic crisis bite deep in the early months of 2009, the world’s media is focused on job losses in Australia, in Europe and in America and the resulting hardship.

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

My mother had only one eye. I hated her. She was such an embarrassment. She cooked for students and teachers to support the family. One day, she came to my school to say hello to me. I was so embarrassed. How could she do this to me? I ignored her and ran out. The next day at school one of my classmates said, “Eeee, your mom has only one eye.” I wanted to bury myself. I also wanted my mom to just disappear. I confronted her that day and said: “If you are going to make me a laughing stock, why don’t you just die”? My mom did not respond. I was oblivious to her feelings.

I wanted to go out of that house and have nothing to do with her. So, I studied hard, got a chance to go to Singapore to study. Then I got married, bought a house and had kids of my own. I was happy with my life, and the comforts. Then one day, my mother came to visit me. She hadn’t seen me in years and she did not even meet her grandchildren. When she stood by the door, my children laughed at her. I screamed at her, “How dare you come to my house uninvited and scare my children. Get out of here now”.

And to this my mother quietly answered, “Oh, I am sorry. I may have come to the wrong address”. And she disappeared out of sight. One day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to my house in Singapore. I lied to my wife that I was going on a business trip. After the reunion I went to the old hut just out of curiosity. My neighbours said that she died. I did not shed a single tear. They handed me a letter that she had wanted me to have.

“My dearest son, I think of you all the time. I am sorry I came to Singapore and scared your children. I was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion. But I may not be able to even get out of bed to see you. I am sorry that I was a constant embarrassment to you when you were growing up. You see...when you were very little, you got into an accident and lost your eye. As a mother I could not stand watching you having to grow up with one eye. So I gave you mine. I was so proud of my son who was seeing a whole new world for me, with my eye. With love to you. -Your mother.”

What a mother’s love for her progeny. Vedas have said beautiful words: “Mother, you are an epitome of sacrifice, tolerance and love. You command our love and respect and are worthy of worship by your progeny.” She possesses rare virtues of faith, love, devotion, service, equanimity and purity. Bereft of worldly vices she desires to do good deeds every morning. The Shatpath Brahman says: “Matriman, pitriman, acharayavan purusho ved”. It means that a young child has the advantage of having three great masters - mother, father and Acharya - and is guided suitably to step into manhood or womanhood.

With the help of these masters, he or she becomes well versed in the art of life and is an asset

to society. It is the mother who plays a pivotal role. She is the first school where children spend the most impressionable period of their life. Woman in the role of mother plays an important role in making personalities of the children well-rounded. As a ‘nirmatri’, she shapes the household and as mother, she shapes her children. In Mahabharata, in reply to Yaksha’s question: “What is weightier than the earth”, Yudhisthira said, “Mother is weightier than the earth”.

Mother is the best creation of God. She is bearer of great strength. She has many roles to play. In the role of a mother, she can be likened to a Goddess. Emerson said, “Man becomes what his mother wants him to become.” “Nasti matri samo guru” there is no guru like mother. A mother plays an important role in upbringing a child. None can surpass in this aspect. Mother’s love towards her children is proverbial. It is rightly said that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. Mother is a wonderful gift of God. It is difficult to repay the debt of the mother. Let us pay our heartful respects to her. There cannot be a greater tribute to her than to follow her advice, ct on her dictums and extend all love and respect to her not only on one particular day, but throughout her life.

- L.R. Sabharwal

Bhavan’s Journal May 15 2009

Mother: an Epitome of Sacrifice,

Tolerance and Love

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

The Elephant’s Choices - By Shashi Tharoor*

New Delhi – A month after they first queued to vote in India’s mammoth general election, the country’s voters will learn the outcome on May 16. The election, staggered over five phases – involving five polling days over four weeks, rather than one “election day” – will determine who rules

the world’s largest democracy. Only one thing is certain: no single party will win a majority on its own. India is set for more coalition rule.

That may not be a bad thing. India’s last two governments each served a full term and presided over significant economic growth, even though they comprised 23 and 20 parties, respectively. Coalition politics gives representation to the myriad interests that make up a diverse and complex society, and ensures that the country as a whole accepts the policies ultimately adopted.

But coalition rule can also often mean governance of the lowest common denominator, as resistance by any of the government’s significant members to a policy can delay or even thwart it. In India’s parliamentary system, if a coalition loses its majority, the government falls, and keeping allies together can sometimes prove a greater priority than getting things done.

India’s national elections are really an aggregate of thirty different state elections, each influenced by its own local considerations, regional political currents, and different patterns of political incumbency. Soon after May 16, the largest single party that emerges will seek to construct a coalition out of a diverse array of victors from the various states.

Several outcomes are possible. The most likely is that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Indian National Congress, currently leading the government, emerges once again as the largest single party and assembles a new ruling coalition. The main alternative would be majority alliance put together by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by the 82-year-old Lal Krishna Advani.

But there is a third possibility: a motley collection of

regional parties, together with the Communists, gets enough seats to prevent either of the two big parties from forming a government. In that case, a “hung parliament” could see a “third front” coming to power as a minority government, supported tactically by one of the big parties. This has happened before – and each time, the government that resulted fell within a year.

Each alternative could have serious implications for India. Though the big parties are broadly committed to continuing an economic policy of liberalization and growth, the BJP is mostly focused on the well-being of India’s merchant class, whereas Congress wishes to redistribute enhanced government revenues to the poor through generous social programs. The left, which would strongly influence any “third front” government, are staunchly opposed to economic liberalization and wish to strengthen, rather than dilute, India’s large public sector.

In foreign policy, India’s growing closeness with the United States under both the BJP and the Congress has proved controversial at home, with leftist parties threatening to scrap the Indo-US nuclear deal and break defense ties with Israel if they come to power.

Should the regional parties dominate the government, domestic politics would strongly impact India’s foreign policy: the anger of Tamil voters over events in Sri Lanka, or of Muslims over Gaza, would be reflected in the government and therefore constrain policy options. The BJP has promised a more hawkish security posture than Congress in the wake of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, but when it was in power it conducted itself remarkably similarly to its rival, initiating a peace process with Pakistan.

The biggest differences among the various groupings consist in the tone and tenor of their respective visions of India. Congress remains a “big tent” party, committed to preserving India’s pluralism and conscious of the multiple identities and interests of India’s many peoples. The BJP, which accuses Congress of “appeasing” India’s minorities, hews to a staunchly Hindu-chauvinist line, and has received support from some of the most bigoted and intolerant sections of Indian society.

The “third front” involves assorted petty particularisms – parties representing the sectarian interests of specific castes, sub-regions, or linguistic groups. The danger is that such groups could accentuate the divisions of a fractious society, rather

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than pull everyone together in the collective national interest.

That would be a startling change from five years ago. The 2004 elections were won by the Congress party, led by a woman political leader of Roman Catholic faith and Italian descent (Sonia Gandhi), who made way for a Sikh prime minister (Manmohan Singh) to be sworn by a Muslim (President Abdul Kalam) in a country that is 81% Hindu. That single moment captured much of what elections have meant for this diverse democracy.

But the ultimate reality will remain that of a coalition government trying to make progress in a contentious polity. In India, policy changes require political consensus within the ruling coalition, labor laws are strongly defended by unions and political parties, and controversial decisions can be challenged on the streets, in the courts, and ultimately at the polls. Necessary policy reforms advocated by a ruling party are often held hostage to the prejudices of its allies.

So change comes slowly. But it does come, and once a policy consensus has been established, it tends to be durable. Indian democracy has often been likened to the stately progress of the elephant – ponderous in its gait and reluctant to change course, but not easily swayed from its new path when it does.

The elephant of Indian democracy will acquire a

new set of mahouts before the month’s end. Who they are will have a major impact on the fortunes and prospects of one-sixth of humanity. That alone makes the election results due on May 16 worth the world’s attention.

- Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2009.

*Shashi Tharoor, a former UN Under Secretary General, is also the Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs, India.

Chairman of Dubai-based Afras Ventures ���� ����� �������� �� ���� ������� ���������of India for the succession to UN Secretary-�������� ���� ������ �� ������ ���� ����� �� �����second out of seven contenders in the race.

Dr. Tharoor is also the award-winning author of nine books, as well as hundreds of articles, op-eds and book reviews in a wide range of publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the International Herald Tribune, Time, News week and The Times of India. He has served for two years as a Contributing Editor and occasional columnist for Newsweek International. Since April 2001 he has authored a fortnightly column in The Hindu and since January 2007 in The Times of India.

“ Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.

At the dawn of history India started on her unending quest, and trackless centuries are filled with her striving and the grandeur of her success and her failures. Through good and ill fortune alike she has never lost sight of that quest or forgotten the ideals which gave her strength. We end today a period of ill fortune and India discovers herself again. The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity, to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us. Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future?

Freedom and power bring responsibility. The responsibility rests upon this Assembly, a sovereign body representing the sovereign people of India. Before the birth of freedom we have endured all the pains of labour and our hearts are heavy with the memory of this sorrow. Some of those pains continue even now. Nevertheless, the past is over and it is the future that beckons to us now.

That future is not one of ease or resting but of incessant striving so that we may fulfil the pledges we have so often taken and the one we shall take today. The service of India means the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity. The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but as long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over...”

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Constituent Assembly, on the eve of India’s independence, towards midnight on August 14, 1947

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General Elections 2009 – At a GlanceThe results of the general elections 2000: A party wise distribution of seats is presented with the help of the tables and the diagrams given below.

The Electorate714 million voters will elect 543 Members of Parliament (MP) for Lok Sabha (House of the People or Lower House) this time. The size of electorate has increased from 671 million during the last General Elections in 004.

Party Wise Division of seats

Party Winners/No of Seats Party TypeBahujan Samaj Party 21 NationalBharatiya Janata Party 116 NationalCommunist Party of India 4 NationalCommunist Party of India (Marxist) 16 NationalIndian National Congress 206 NationalNationalist Congress Party 9 NationalRashtriya Janata Dal 4 NationalAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 9 StateAll India Forward Bloc 2 StateAll India Trinamool Congress 19 StateAsom Gana Parishad 1 StateAssam United Democratic Front 1 StateBiju Janata Dal 14 State

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Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 18 StateJammu & Kashmir National Conference 3 StateJanata Dal (Secular) 3 StateJanata Dal (United) 20 StateJharkhand Mukti Morcha 2 StateKerala Congress (M) 1 StateMarumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 1 StateMuslim League Kerala State Committee 2 StateNagaland Peoples Front 1 StateRevolutionary Socialist Party 2 StateSamajwadi Party 23 StateShiromani Akali Dal 4 StateShivsena 11 StateSikkim Democratic Front 1 StateTelangana Rashtra Samithi 2 StateTelugu Desam 6 StateAll India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen 1 UnRecognizedBahujan Vikas Aaghadi 1 UnRecognizedBodaland Peoples Front 1 UnRecognizedHaryana Janhit Congress (BL) 1 UnRecognizedJharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) 1 UnRecognizedRashtriya Lok Dal 5 UnRecognizedSwabhimani Paksha 1 UnRecognizedViduthalai Chiruthaigal Katch 1 UnRecognizedIndependent 9 Independents

- Ministry of External Affairs - http://meaindia.nic.in/

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Indian System Government & Elections

President of IndiaIndia has a Parliamentary form of Government with the President is the head of the country. He / She is elected by members of an Electoral College consisting of elected members of both Houses of Parliament and Legislative Assemblies of the states, with suitable weightage given to each vote. The term of Presidential office is five years.

The President can proclaim an emergency in the country if he is satisfied that the security of the country or of any part of its territory is threatened whether by war or external or internal aggression or armed rebellion. When there is a failure of the constitutional machinery in a state, he can take the overall charge or any of the functions of the government of that state.

Vice-PresidentThe Vice-President is elected by the members of an electoral college consisting of members of both Houses of Parliament in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote. He holds office for five years. The Vice-President is Ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

Council of MinistersThe Council of Ministers comprises Cabinet Ministers, Minister of States (independent charge or otherwise) and Deputy Ministers. Prime Minister communicates all decisions of the Council of Ministers relating to administration affairs of affairs of the Union and proposals for legislation to the President. Generally, each department has an officer designated as secretary to the Government of India to advise Ministers on policy matters and general administration. The Cabinet Secretariat has an important coordinating role in decision making at highest level and operates under direction of Prime Minister.

The Legislative Arm of the Union, called Parliament, consists of the President, Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. All legislation requires consent of both houses of parliament. However, in case of money bills, the will of the Lok Sabha always gets privilege.

Rajya SabhaThe Rajya Sabha consists of 245 members. Of these, 233 represent states and union territories and 12 members are nominated by the President. Elections to the Rajya Sabha are indirect; members are elected

by the elected members of Legislative Assemblies of the concerned states. The Rajya Sabha is not subject to dissolution, one third of its members retire every second year.

Lok SabhaThe Lok Sabha is composed of representatives of the people chosen by direct election on the basis of universal adult suffrage. As of today, the Lok Sabha consists of 545 members with two members nominated by the President to represent the Anglo-Indian Community. Unless dissolved under unusual circumstances, the term of the Lok Sabha is five years.

State Governments The system of government in states closely resembles that of the Union Territories . There are 25 states and seven Union territories in the country

Union Territories are administered by the President through an Administrator appointed by him. Till 1 February 1992, the Union Territory of Delhi was governed by the Central government through an Administrator appointed by the President of India. Through a Constitutional amendment in Parliament, the Union Territory of Delhi is now called the National Capital Territory of Delhi from 1 February 1992. General elections to the Legislative assembly of the National Capital Territory were held in November 1993.

Political SystemThe political system of India is a multi-party system that means when more than two parties can realistically compete to become the government. In India, there are several national and state level parties. A recognized political party has been classified as a National Party or a State Party. National parties are those that are recognized in four or more states. They are accorded this status by the Election Commission of India, which periodically reviews the election results in various states. This recognition helps the political parties to claim certain unique ownership in the state until the next election review.

Political parties in India are classified as national and state (regional) parties based on their realms of influence.

National parties

�� Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)

�� Bharatiya Janata party (BJP)

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�� Communist party of India (CPI)

�� Communist party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M))

�� Indian National Congress (INC)

�� Nationalist congress party(NCP) Regional/State parties

�� There are approximately 52 regional parties. The most prominent among them are:

�� Telugu Desam in Andhra Pradesh

�� Asom Gana Parishad in Assam

�� Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in Bihar

�� Maharashtrwad Gomantak Party in Goa

�� National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir

�� Muslim League in Kerala

�� Shiv Sena in Maharashtra

�� Akali Dal in Punjab

�� All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu

�� Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and

�� All-India Forward Block and Nationalist Trinomool Congress in West Bengal

Also a large number of political parties are registered at the Election Commission, without having gained any recognition as National or State parties. In many cases registrations remain, although the party in question might have disbanded or merged into another formation several years ago. Currently there are about 718 such parties present in India.

Electoral SystemIndia is a constitutional democracy with a parliamentary system of government, and at the heart of the system is a commitment to hold regular, free and fair elections. These elections determine the composition of the government, the membership of

the two houses of parliament, the state and union territory legislative assemblies, and the Presidency and vice-presidency.

Elections are conducted according to the constitutional provisions, supplemented by laws made by Parliament. The major laws are Representation of the People Act, 1950, which mainly deals with the preparation and revision of electoral rolls, the Representation of the People Act, 1951 which deals, in detail, with all aspects of conduct of elections and post election disputes. The Supreme Court of India has held that where the enacted laws are silent or make insufficient provision to deal with a given situation in the conduct of elections, the Election Commission has the residuary powers under the Constitution to act in an appropriate manner.

Indian Elections - Scale Of OperationElections in India are events involving political mobilisation and organisational complexity on an amazing scale. In the 2004 election to Lok Sabha there were 1351 candidates from 6 National parties, 801 candidates from 36 State parties, 898 candidates fromofficially recognised parties and 2385 Independent candidates. A total number of 38,99,48,330 people voted out of total electorate size of 67,14,87,930. The Election Commission employed almost 4 million people to run the election. A vast number of civilian police and security forces were deployed to ensure that the elections were carried out peacefully.

Conduct of General Elections in India for electing a new Lower House of Parliament (Lok Sabha) involves management of the largest event in the world. The electorate exceeds 670 million electors in about 700000 polling stations spread across widely varying geographic and climatic zones. Polling stations are located in the snow-clad mountains in the Himalayas, the deserts of the Rajasthan and in sparsely populated islands in the Indian Ocean.

Constituencies & Reservation of SeatsThe country has been divided into 543 Parliamentary Constituencies, each of which returns one MP to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament. The size and shape of the parliamentary constituencies are determined by an independent Delimitation Commission, which aims to create constituencies which have roughly the same population, subject to geographical considerations and the boundaries of the states and administrative areas.

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How Constituency Boundaries are drawn upDelimitation is the redrawing of the boundaries of parliamentary or assembly constituencies to make sure that there are, as near as practicable, the same number of people in each constituency. In India boundaries are meant to be examined after the ten-yearly census to reflect changes in population, for which Parliament by law establishes an independent Delimitation Commission, made up of the Chief Election Commissioner and two judges or ex-judges from the Supreme Court or High Court. However, under a constitutional amendment of 1976, delimitation was suspended until after the census of 2001, ostensibly so that states’ family-planning programs would not affect their political representation in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas. This has led to wide discrepancies in the size of constituencies, with the largest having over 25,00,000 electors, and the smallest less than 50,000.Delimitation exercise, with 2001 census data released on 31st December 2003, is now under process.

Reservation of SeatsThe Constitution puts a limit on the size of the Lok Sabha of 550 elected members, apart from two members who can be nominated by the President to represent the Anglo-Indian community. There are also provisions to ensure the representation of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, with reserved constituencies where only candidates from these communities can stand for election.

System of ElectionElections to the Lok Sabha are carried out using a first-past-the-post electoral system. The country is split up into separate geographical areas, known as constituencies, and the electors can cast one vote each for a candidate (although most candidates stand as independents, most successful candidates stand as members of political parties), the winner being the candidate who gets the maximum votes.

ParliamentThe Parliament of the Union consists of the President, the Lok Sabha (House of the People) and the Rajya Sabha (Council of States). The President is the head of state, and he appoints the Prime Minister, who runs the government, according to the political composition of the Lok Sabha. Although the government is headed by a Prime Minister, the Cabinet is the central decision making body of the government. Members of more than one party can make up a government, and although the governing parties may be a minority in the Lok Sabha, they can only govern as long as they have the confidence of a majority of MPs, the members of the Lok Sabha. As well as being the body,

which determines whom, makes up the government, the Lok Sabha is the main legislative body, along with the Rajya Sabha.

Rajya Sabha - The Council of StatesThe members of the Rajya Sabha are elected indirectly, rather than by the citizens at large. Rajya Sabha members are elected by each state Vidhan Sabha using the single transferable vote system. Unlike most federal systems, the number of members returned by each state is roughly in proportion to their population. At present there are 233 members of the Rajya Sabha elected by the Vidhan Sabhas, and there are also twelve members nominated by the President as representatives of literature, science, art and social services. Rajya Sabha members can serve for six years, and elections are staggered, with one third of the assembly being elected every 2 years.

Nominated membersThe president can nominate 2 members of the Lok Sabha if it is felt that the representation of the Anglo-Indian community is inadequate, and 12 members of the Rajya Sabha, to represent literature, science, art and the social services.

State AssembliesIndia is a federal country, and the Constitution gives the states and union territories significant control over their own government. The Vidhan Sabhas (legislative assemblies) are directly elected bodies set up to carrying out the administration of the government in the 28 States of India. In some states there is a bicameral organisation of legislatures, with both an upper and Lower House. Two of the seven Union Territories viz., the National Capital Territory of Delhi and Pondicherry, have also legislative assemblies.

Elections to the Vidhan Sabhas are carried out in the same manner as for the Lok Sabha election, with the states and union territories divided into single-member constituencies, and the first-past-the-post electoral system used. The assemblies range in size, according to population. The largest Vidhan Sabha is for Uttar Pradesh, with 403 members; the smallest Pondicherry, with 30 members.

President and Vice-PresidentThe President is elected by the elected members of the Vidhan Sabhas, Lok Sabha, and Rajya Sabha, and serves for a period of 5 years (although they can stand for re-election). A formula is used to allocate votes so there is a balance between the population of each state and the number of votes assembly members from a state can cast, and to give an equal balance between State Assembly members and National Parliament members. If no candidate receives a majority of votes there is a system by which losing candidates

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are eliminated from the contest and votes for them transferred to other candidates, until one gain a majority. The Vice President is elected by a direct vote of all members elected and nominated, of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

Who can vote?The democratic system in India is based on the principle of universal adult suffrage; that any citizen over the age of 18 can vote in an election (before 1989 the age limit was 21). The right to vote is irrespective of caste, creed, religion or gender. Those who are deemed unsound of mind, and people convicted of certain criminal offences are not allowed to vote.

The Electoral RollThe electoral roll is a list of all people in the constituency who are registered to vote in Indian Elections. Only those people with their names on the electoral roll are allowed to vote. The electoral roll is normally revised every year to add the names of those who are to turn 18 on the 1st January of that year or have moved into a constituency and to remove the names of those who have died or moved out of a constituency. If you are eligible to vote and are not on the electoral roll, you can apply to the Electoral Registration Officer of the constituency, who will update the register. The updating of the Electoral Roll only stops during an election campaign, after the nominations for candidates have closed.

Computerisation of Rolls1998 the Commission took a historic decision to computerise the entire electoral rolls of 620 million voters. This work has been completed and now well printed electoral rolls are available. The photo identity card number of the voter has also been printed in the

electoral rolls, for cross linking. The printed electoral rolls as well as CDs containing these rolls are available for sale to general public. National and State parties are provided these free of cost after every revision of electoral rolls. Entire country’s rolls are also available on this website.

Electors’ Photo Identity Cards (EPIC)In an attempt to improve the accuracy of the electoral roll and prevent electoral fraud, the Election Commission ordered the making of photo identity cards for all voters in the country in Aug, 1993. To take advantage of latest technological innovations, the Commission issued revised guidelines for EPIC Program in May 2000. More than 450 million Identity cards has been distributed till now.

When do elections take place?Elections for the Lok Sabha and every State Legislative Assembly have to take place every five years, unless called earlier. The President can dissolve Lok Sabha and call a general election before five years is up, if the government can no longer command the confidence of the Lok Sabha, and if there is no alternative government available to take over.

Governments have found it increasingly difficult to stay in power for the full term of a Lok Sabha in recent times, and so elections have often been held before the five-year limit has been reached. A constitutional amendment passed in 1975, as part of the government declared emergency, postponed the election due to be held in 1976. This amendment was later rescinded, and regular elections resumed in 1977.

Holding of regular elections can only be stopped by means of a constitutional amendment and in

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consultation with the Election Commission, and it is recognised that interruptions of regular elections are acceptable only in extraordinary circumstances.

Scheduling the ElectionsWhen the five-year limit is up, or the legislature has been dissolved and new elections have been called, the Election Commission puts into effect the machinery for holding an election. The constitution states that there can be no longer than 6 months between the last session of the dissolved Lok Sabha and the recalling of the new House, so elections have to be concluded before then.

In a country as huge and diverse as India, finding a period when elections can be held throughout the country is not simple. The Election Commission, which decides the schedule for elections, has to take account of the weather - during winter constituencies may be snow-bound, and during the monsoon access to remote areas restricted -, the agricultural cycle - so that the planting or harvesting of crops is not disrupted, exam schedules - as schools are used as polling stations and teachers employed as election officials, and religious festivals and public holidays. On top of this there are the logistical difficulties that go with holding an election - sending out ballot boxes or EVMs, setting up polling booths, recruiting officials to oversee the elections.

The Commission normally announces the schedule of elections in a major Press Conference a few weeks before the formal process is set in motion. The Model Code of Conduct for guidance of candidates and Political Parties immediately comes into effect after such announcement. The formal process for the elections starts with the Notification or Notifications calling upon the electorate to elect Members of a House. As soon as Notifications are issued, Candidates can start filing their nominations in the constituencies from where they wish to contest. These are scrutinised by the Returning Officer of the constituency concerned after the last date for the same is over after about a week. The validly nominated candidates can withdraw from the contest within two days from the date of scrutiny. Contesting candidates get at least two weeks for political campaign before the actual date of poll. On account of the vast magnitude of operations and the massive size of the electorate, polling is held at least on three days for the national elections. A separate date for counting is fixed and the results declared for each constituency by the concerned Returning Officer. The Commission compiles the complete list of Members elected and issues an appropriate Notification for the due Constitution of the House. With this, the process of elections is complete and the President, in case of the Lok Sabha, and the Governors of the concerned States, in case of State Legislatures, can then convene their respective Houses to hold their sessions. The

entire process takes between 5 to 8 weeks for the national elections, 4 to 5 weeks for separate elections only for Legislative Assemblies.

Who can stand for ElectionAny Indian citizen who is registered as a voter and is over 25 years of age is allowed to contest elections to the Lok Sabha or State Legislative Assemblies. For the Rajya Sabha the age limit is 30 years.

Every candidate has to make a deposit of Rs. 10,000/- for Lok Sabha election and 5,000/- for Rajya Sabha or Vidhan Sabha elections, except for candidates from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes who pay half of these amounts. The deposit is returned if the candidate receives more than one-sixth of the total number of valid votes polled in the constituency. Nominations must be supported at least by one registered elector of the constituency, in the case of a candidate sponsored by a registered Party and by ten registered electors from the constituency in the case of other candidates. Returning Officers, appointed by the Election Commission, are put in charge to receive nominations of candidates in each constituency, and oversee the formalities of the election.

In a number of seats in the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabha, the candidates can only be from either one of

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the scheduled castes or scheduled tribes. The number of these reserved seats is meant to be approximately in proportion to the number of people from scheduled castes or scheduled tribes in each state. There are currently 79 seats reserved for the scheduled castes and 41 reserved for the scheduled tribes in the Lok Sabha.

Number of CandidatesThe number of candidates contesting each election steadily increased. In the general election of 1952 the average number of candidates in each constituency was 3.8; by 1991 it had risen to 16.3, and in 1996 stood at 25.6. As it was far too easy for ‘frivolous’ candidates to stand for election, certain remedial measures were taken in August 1996, which included increasing the size of the deposit and making the number of people who have to nominate a candidate larger. The impact of such measures was quite considerable at the elections which were subsequently held.As a result, in 1998 Lok Sabha elections, the number of candidates came down to an average of 8.74 per constituency. In 1999 Lok Sabha elections, it was 8.6, and in 2004 it was 10.

CampaignThe campaign is the period when the political parties put forward their candidates and arguments with which they hope to persuade people to vote for their candidates and parties. Candidates are given a week to put forward their nominations. These are scrutinised by the Returning Officers and if not found to be in order can be rejected after a summary hearing. Validly nominated candidates can withdraw within two days after nominations have been scrutinised. The official campaign lasts at least two weeks from the drawing up of the list of nominated candidates, and officially ends 48 hours before polling closes.

During the election campaign the political parties and contesting candidates are expected to abide by a Model Code of Conduct evolved by the Election Commission on the basis of a consensus among political parties. The model Code lays down broad guidelines as to how the political parties and candidates should conduct themselves during the election campaign. It is intended to maintain the election campaign on healthy lines, avoid clashes and conflicts between political parties or their supporters and to ensure peace and order during the campaign period and thereafter, until the results are declared. The model code also prescribes guidelines for the ruling party either at the Centre or in the State to ensure that a level field in maintained and that no cause is given for any complaint that the ruling party has used its official position for the purposes of its election campaign.

Once an election has been called, parties issue manifestos detailing the programmes they wish to

implement if elected to government, the strengths of their leaders, and the failures of opposing parties and their leaders. Slogans are used to popularise and identify parties and issues, and pamphlets and posters distributed to the electorate. Rallies and meetings where the candidates try to persuade, cajole and enthuse supporters, and denigrate opponents, are held throughout the constituencies. Personal appeals and promises of reform are made, with candidates travelling the length and breadth of the constituency to try to influence as many potential supporters as possible. Party symbols abound, printed on posters and placards.

Polling DaysPolling is normally held on a number of different days in different constituencies, to enable the security forces and those monitoring the election to keep law and order and ensure that voting during the election is fair.

Ballot Papers & SymbolsAfter nomination of candidates is complete, a list of competing candidates is prepared by the Returning Officer, and ballot papers are printed. Ballot papers are printed with the names of the candidates (in languages set by the Election Commission) and the symbols allotted to each of the candidates. Candidates of recognised Parties are allotted their Party symbols.

How the voting takes placeVoting is by secret ballot. Polling stations are usually set up in public institutions, such as schools and community halls. To enable as many electors as possible to vote, the officials of the Election Commission try to ensure that there is a polling station within 2km of every voter, and that no polling stations should have to deal with more than 1500 voters. Each polling station is open for at least 8 hours on the day of the election.

On entering the polling station, the elector is checked against the Electoral Roll, and allocated a ballot paper.

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The elector votes by marking the ballot paper with a rubber stamp on or near the symbol of the candidate of his choice, inside a screened compartment in the polling station. The voter then folds the ballot paper and inserts it in a common ballot box which is kept in full view of the Presiding Officer and polling agents of the candidates. This marking system eliminates the possibility of ballot papers being surreptitiously taken out of the polling station or not being put in the ballot box.

Since 1998, the Commission has increasingly used Electronic Voting Machines instead of ballot boxes. In 2003, all state elections and bye elections were held u s i n g E V M s .

Encouraged by this the Commission took a historic decision to use only EVMs for the Lok Sabha election due in 2004. More than 1 million EVMs were used in this election.

Political Parties and ElectionsPolitical parties are an established part of modern mass democracy, and the conduct of elections in India is largely dependent on the behaviour of political parties. Although many candidates for Indian elections are

independent, the winning candidates for Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections usually stand as members of political parties, and opinion polls suggest that people tend to vote for a party rather than a particular candidate. Parties offer candidates organisational support, and by offering a broader election campaign, looking at the record of government and putting forward alternative proposals for government, help voters make a choice about how the government is run.

Registration with Election Commission

Political parties have to be registered with the Election Commission. The Commission determines whether the party is structured and committed to principles of democracy, secularism and socialism in accordance with the Indian Constitution and would uphold the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India. Parties are expected to hold organisational elections and have a written constitution.

Elections 2009

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Recognition and Reservation of SymbolsAccording to certain criteria, set by the Election Commission regarding the length of political activity and success in elections, parties are categorised by the Commission as National or State parties, or simply declared registered-unrecognised parties. How a party is classified determines a party’s right to certain privileges, such as access to electoral rolls and provision of time for political broadcasts on the state-owned television and radio stations - All India Radio and Doordarshan - and also the important question of the allocation of the party symbol. Party symbols enable illiterate voters to identify the candidate of the party they wish to vote for. National parties are given a symbol that is for their use only, throughout the country. State parties have the sole use of a symbol in the state in which they are recognised as such Registered-unrecognised parties can choose a symbol from a selection of ‘free’ symbols.

Limit on poll expensesThere are tight legal limits on the amount of money a candidate can spend during the election campaign. Since December 1997, in most Lok Sabha constituencies the limit was Rs 15,00,000/-, although in some States the limit is Rs 6,00,000/- (for Vidhan Sabha elections the highest limit is Rs 6,00,000/-, the lowest Rs 3,00,000/-). Recent amendment in October 2003 has increased these limits. For Lok Sabha seats in bigger states, it is now Rs 25,00,000. In other states and Union Territories, it varies between Rs 10,00,000 to Rs 25,00,000. Similarly, for Assembly seats, in bigger states, it is now Rs 10,00,000, while in other states and Union Territories, it varies between Rs 5,00,000 to Rs 10,00,000. Although supporters of a candidate can spend as much as they like to help out with a campaign, they have to get written permission of the candidate, and whilst parties are allowed to spend as much money on campaigns as they want, recent Supreme Court judgments have said that, unless a political party can specifically account for money spent during the campaign, it will consider any activities as being funded by the candidates and counting towards their election expenses. The accountability imposed on the candidates and parties has curtailed some of the more extravagant campaigning that was previously a part of Indian elections.

Free Campaign time on state owned electronic media By Election Commission, all recognised National and State parties have been allowed free access to the state owned electronic media-AIR and Doordarshan- on an extensive scale for their campaigns during elections. The total free time allocated extends over 122 hours on the state owned Television and Radio channels. This is allocated equitably by combining a base limit

and additional time linked to poll performance of the party in recent election.

Splits and mergers and anti-defection lawSplits, mergers and alliances have frequently disrupted the compositions of political parties. This has led to a number of disputes over which section of a divided party gets to keep the party symbol, and how to classify the resulting parties in terms of national and state parties. The Election Commission has to resolve these disputes, although its decisions can be challenged in the courts.

Election PetitionsAny elector or candidate can file an election petition if he or she thinks there has been malpractice during the election. An election petition is not an ordinary civil suit, but treated as a contest in which the whole constituency is involved. Election petitions are tried by the High Court of the State involved, and if upheld can even lead to the restaging of the election in that constituency.

Supervising Elections, Election ObserversThe Election Commission appoints a large number of Observers to ensure that the campaign is conducted fairly, and that people are free to vote as they choose. Election expenditure Observers keeps a check on the amount that each candidate and party spends on the election.

Counting of VotesAfter the polling has finished, the votes are counted under the supervision of Returning Officers and Observers appointed by the Election Commission. After the counting of votes is over, the Returning Officer declares the name of the candidate to whom the largest number of votes has been given as the winner, and as having been returned by the constituency to the concerned house.

Media CoverageIn order to bring as much transparency as possible to the electoral process, the media are encouraged and provided with facilities to cover the election, although subject to maintaining the secrecy of the vote. Media persons are given special passes to enter polling stations to cover the poll process and the counting halls during the actual counting of votes.

Source - Election Commission of India

www.eci.nic.in.

National Portal of India http://india.gov.in

Compiled By – Veena Sashikumar

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

Lord Buddha Embodied the Spirit of the Upanishads

he foundation of Indian values, culture and religion is found in the Upanishads (vedanta). Buddha’s teachings stand closest to the spirit

embodied in the Upanishads. His teachings can be appreciated better with proper knowledge of the Upanishads. Some books written about Buddha or Buddhism have been critical of the Vedic religion confusing it with the later practices of animal sacrifices and tantric rites.

Many Western authors have understood the misrepresentation and have been unbiased in their outlook. Mr. Edmund Holmes in his book, ‘The Creed of Buddha’, deduces that Buddha’s scheme of life and ideas of spiritual philosophy have found its highest expression in the Upanishads. He adds: “Buddha accepted the idealistic teaching of Upanishads -accepted it at the highest level and in its purest form, and took up himself, as his life’s mission to fill the obvious gaps in it.”

Again, in his introduction to the Philosophy of Upanishads, Homes says: “The unity of the all pervading life, in and through its own essential spirituality -the unity of the trinity of God and Nature and Man is, from man’s point of view, an ideal to be realised rather than an accomplished fact. If this is so, if oneness with the real, the universal, the divine self, is the ideal end of man’s being, it stands to reason that self-realisation, the finding of the real self, is the highest task which man can set himself. In the Upanishads themselves, the ethical implications of their central conception were not fully worked out. To do so, to elaborate the general ideal of self-realisation into a comprehensive scheme of life, was the work of the great teacher whom we call the Buddha”.

In the West, the idea is still prevalent that Buddha broke away completely from the spiritual idealism of the Upanishads that he denied God, denied the soul, and held out to his followers the prospect of annihilation as the final reward of a righteous life. The misconception, which is not entirely confined to the West, is due to Buddha’s agnostic silence having been mistaken for comprehensive denial.

Prof. Radhakrishnan sets forth the relation of Buddhism to the philosophy of the Upanishads in the following words: ‘The only metaphysics that can justify Buddha’s ethical discipline is the metaphysics underlying the Upanishads. Buddhism helped to democratise the philosophy of the Upanishads, which was till then confined to a select few. The process demanded that the deep philosophical truths, which

cannot be made clear to the masses of men, should for practical purposes be ignored. It was Buddha’s mission to accept the idealism of the Upanishads at its best and make it available for the daily needs of mankind. Historically, Buddhism means the spread of the Upanishad doctrines among the people. It thus helped to create a heritage which is living till the present day”.

Swami Vivekananda in his book, Bhagawan Buddha and our Heritage,’ finds there is no confusion or contradiction with the Vedantic teachings and Buddha’s doctrine. In his book, Buddhism, Phys Davids has brought out the close relationship between Buddhism and Vedanta.

The religion of Buddha lives on the devotionalism of the Hindu Bhakti concept. Even in the prestige enjoyed by the Hindu philosopher Adi Sankara, some have been an indirect influence of Buddhist thought. At the same time, many meditational and yogic practices and the use of mystical diagrams (mandalas or chakras) in Buddhism have been derived from Hinduism. Buddhism has adhered to the beliefs prevalent in India at that time on the aspects of Dharma and Karma. The words, Aryans, Deva, Brahmacharya are borrowed

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from Vedanta with the same meanings, but expounded clearly.

The Upanishadic teaching and those of Buddha both talk of destruction of the separate ego sense (Ahankar), cessation of cravings, attainment of spiritual purity and final liberation. Here are a few selected examples.

(a) The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says that the result of our actions produces rebirth. The Buddhist doctrine believes that while at death different parts of the individual are scattered to their different sources, Karma remains to cause new existence.

(b) Buddha brought about the difference between the false self and the self in an episode called ‘Yamaka’s heresy’. This is parallel to what Sage Yajnavalkya told his wife Maitreyi about the oneness of the self and the absolute Self (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad-H-4,12-14).

(c) The verse I.II-3 in Kenoupanishad says that Brahman cannot be comprehended as an object of knowledge. He can be realised only as subject in all knowledge. True knowledge is intuitive experience (samyoga darsanam). Buddha says ‘those who see me in any form, or think of me in words, their ways of thinking is false. They do not see me at all. Buddha is rightly to be understood as being the nature of law, he cannot be understood by any other means (Vajrachedika Sutra - XXVI-38).

(d) The verse II 1.13 in Mundaka Upanishad, and earlier verses say that, knowledge of Brahman (Supreme Self) should be sought from a teacher, who is learned in the scriptures. He should also be a man of realisation.

Buddha says, ‘The Brahmana (vedic scholar) whose self has been cleansed of sins, who is free from conceit, whose nature is not stained by passion, who is self controlled, who has studied the Vedanta, and lived a chaste life is, indeed, the man who can expound the Brahman’.

(e) Katha Upanishad (II-d.ll) mentions that ‘yoga’ is the steady control of senses. Then, one becomes a pramatta (undistracted). In Buddhism, all virtues are said to be centred on apramada. Keenness is the way to eternal life; slackness is the way of death (Dhammapada 21).

f) Verses 11.2.7 and 11 of Mundaka Upanishad affirms that the seeker after truth and the spiritual excellence forsakes all interests in rituals and ceremonies, which has been elaborated by the ritualistic part of the Vedas, knowing them to be useless in the search for

the highest truth. Buddha says (in Udana 1): “The path of sacrifice and rituals are very frill boats. The fools who rate them high and indulge in enter the cycle of birth and death, again and again. But the wise with the tranquil minds live in the forest as mendicants practising austerity and faith.”

There are many other examples to prove the point of similarity between Vedanta and Buddha’s teachings. When Buddha asks his followers to put out the fires in their hearts the monstrous fires of infatuation, greed and resentment, he is emphasising the three virtues enjoined by the Upanishads.

In another place he states that the Absolute is beyond prediction. It is the Shunyata (nothingness) of the Buddhist. Buddha (according to Amara) is an advaya vadin (advocate of no duality). This is the same as Adi Sankara’s ‘Advaita’ philosophy (non- duality).

Gandhiji says: “An examination of the contents of Bhagwad Gita shows that it is saturated with

the teachings of Upanishads”. At the same time, Lokmanya Tilak has cited considerable evidence from Pali and other texts that the Gita exercised great influence in the growth of Mahayana Buddhism.

According to Vedanta, Brahmanirvana is the freedom from the subjection of the law of

Karma. In Buddhist text this is called ‘nirvanadhatu’, beyond the three worlds. In short, the way Buddha described the contents of his realisation (in Majjhima

Nikaya, Satta 26) and the way he expounded his four noble truths, one can easily see the parallels in Upanishads. Both define mukti

or nirvana as a state which ensures when avidya (spiritual blindness) and

all its attendant effects are destroyed.

The message of Buddha, which is full of exhortations towards sacrifice and love for the benefit of all mankind is most relevant for us. Today, we are suffocating under age old and meaningless thoughts and desires. We need such immortal teachings to free us from these to what the learned call mukti or liberation, and peace

- K.R.K. Moorthy

Bhavan’s Journal April 30 2009

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Culmination of Different Yogas

into Buddhi Yogaerived from Yuj (to unite), the Sanskrit word ‘Yog’ is the origin of the English word yoke, meaning to unite, to attach, to join. It

indicates the methods by which human beings can get united, attached, joined with the Supreme Reality and get out of the transmigratory cycle Sansaar.

Yog is thus a path of self-realisation and liberation, a system whereby man’s internal nature can be purified and made to ascend to a higher order of perfection. It refers to linking our consciousness with the Supreme Truth. The methods are many but the goal is one.

The term Yog has been used in such a general way to denote so many varied things that there is confusion about it. In the terminology of the West, it is referred to as Yoga and implies practice of body postures (Yog Asans) aimed at keeping the body fit, which is the third limb of sage Patanjali’s Ashtaang (eight limbed) Yog, also called Raaj Yog. The three Yogs primarily treated in the Bhagwad Gita, quintessence of Sanaatan Dharma Vedaanta philosophy are Gyaan Yog, Karm Yog and Bhakti Yog.

However, in the colophon at the end of its 18 chapters each one has been named some sort of Yog. Other Yogs we come across are Naad Yog, Shabd Yog, Kundalini Yog, Kriya Yog, Mantr Yog, Naam Yog, Jap Yog, Sahaj Yog, Abhyaas Yog, Anaasakti Yog, Dhyaan Yog, Saankhy Yog, Sannyaas Yog, etc.

According to Vedaant concept five Kosh (sheaths) are

super-imposed on the Aatma. In the order of increasing grossness these are:

(1)Aanandmay Kosh (Bliss Sheath);

(2) Vigyaanmay Kosh; (Intellect or Buddhi Sheath);

(3) Manomay Kosh (Mind Sheath);

(4) Praanmay Kosh (Vital energy sheath); and

(5)Annamay Kosh (Fodo Sheath

i.e., physical body).

When one realises that he is not the body, he sees that birth and death belong to the body. When one realises that he is not the Praan, he sees that hunger and thirst belong to the Praan. When one realises that he is not the mind, he sees that sorrow, happiness and attachment belong to the mind. When one realisesthat he is not the Buddhi or intellect the problem of Sansaar is ended. He then realises Aanand (eternal bliss) and then attains Moksh (salvation).

Indriyani parany ahur indriyebhyah param manah Manasas tu para buddhir yo buddheh paratas tu sah -B.G.-III-42

“The senses are subtle (compared to inert matter) but subtler than senses is the mind; subtler than mind is the Buddhi and the Aatma is even subtler than Buddhi”.

The various forms of life can be graded according

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to the life sheaths possessed. Vegetable life has primarily food sheath, germ life has food and vital energy sheath, egg-born and womb-born lives have food, vital energy and mind sheaths, and finally human life has the intellect sheath in addition. Buddhi is missing or not developed in the lower forms of life; and thus they do not have the discrimination necessary for partial freedom of action i.e., no free will; and consequently do not form Karm Yoni - they are only Bhog Yoni.

Each one of the different sheaths super-imposed on the Aatma is identified with His consciousness which is pure consciousness in reality. The bliss sheath has spiritual consciousness, intellect sheath has intellectual consciousness, mind sheath has mental consciousness, vital energy sheath has life or nervous consciousness and food sheath has material or body consciousness.

Also, according to Vedaant concept, three Sharirs (bodies) are super-imposed on the Aatma. In the order of decreasing subtleness these are:

(1) Kaaran Sharir (Casual body)

(2) Sukshm Sharir (Astralor subtle body)

(3) Sthool Sharir (Gross or physical body)

(4) The Kaaran Sharir is formed of the Aanandmay Kosh; the Sukshm Sharir is formed of the next three i.e. Vigyaanmay Kosh, Manomay Kosh and Praanmay Kosh; and the Sthool Sharir is formed of the Annamay Kosh, Vigyaanmay Kosh, Manomay Kosh and Praanmay Kosh, so to say, form the link between the causal body and the gross body, with Vigyaanmay Kosh relating to Buddhi or intellect being close to causal body and Praanmay Kosh close to gross body.

The three Yogs primarily treated in the Bhagwad Gita and Sage Patanjali’s Raaj Yog are complementary. Depending on one’s innate nature a combination of all these is apparently the best approach for a person to attain Supreme Reality.

‘tarn tarn niyamam asthaya | prakrtya niyatah svaya -B.G. VII-20

“Guided by their own natures men resort to respective diverse observances”.

One should have an understanding (Gyaan Yog) of the Supreme Reality, Aatma, Prakriti, etc. which shall help him in doing actions (Karm Yog) without attachment to the fruits and keep beyond the three Guns and the dualities of pleasure-pain, gain-loss, etc.

He can thereby surrender himself to the Supreme

and worship Him (Bhakti Yog) with loving devotion asking for His grace, without which self-realization is not possible.

The first two limbs of Raaj Yog i.e., Yam (morality) and Niyam (discipline) are a must as preliminaries for any spiritual advancement; the next two viz: Aasans and Praanaayam keep the body, senses and the mind fit and alert for spiritual practice; while withdrawal of the mind from sense objects and meditation on the Supreme as defined by Pratyaahaar,

Dhaarna and Dhyaan, the fifth, sixth and seventh limbs leads to the eighth limb, of Samaadhi, which has been described in the Bhagawad Gita as follows:-

yatro’ parmate cittam niruddham yogasevaya

yatra cai’va’tmana tmanam pasyann atmani tusyati -B.G. VI-20

“When with intellect quieted by Yog practice, thought completely ceases, when man sits content within himself, rejoicing in the self, Aatma having seen Aatma “

sukham atyantikam yat tad buddhigrahyam atindriyam vetti yatra na cai ‘va’ yam sthitas calati tattvatah

- B. G. VI-21 “Where he experiences endless bliss beyond the senses, which can be realised by Buddhi alone. Thus established, he never swerves from the Truth”.

Gyaan Yog and most of Raaj Yog practices are performed on the mental plane. Mind is extremely

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fickle in its normal state and comes to stillness either in non-thinking or deep-thinking state. Because the mind always thinks of those things to which it is attached. All attachments are to be eliminated for nonthinking.

Raaj Yog meditation practices aim at this to bring peace in the mind.

Gyaan Yog deep thinking on abstract ideologies like “I am absolute” or “I am divine” gets temporary peace in the mind, but does not provide contentment. Deep thinking on account of deep attachment is only possible with feelings of love, but no wordly object or person can satisfy one’s desire for perfect love. Divine love alone can still the mind by deep thinking. The ignorant wish for transient worldly pleasures, the learned think of getting perfect peace and liberation from worldly miseries, but the wise choose to receive divine love.

Buddhi Yog is the natural culmination of other Yogs in that it relates to the highest Vigyaanmay Kosh level.

All the other Yogs have the purpose of purifying the intellect and keep the aspirant receptive and in readiness for the stage of Buddhi Yog, which is achieved only as a result of Hi grace (Prasad).

tasam satata yuktanam bhajatam pritipurvakam dadami buddhi yogam tarn yena mam upayanti ta -B.G. X-10

“To those ever attached to Me, worshipping Me with affectionate devotion I give Buddhi Yog whereby they come to Me”.

It is through Buddhi Yog that man can attain to Aanandmay Kosh, a stage just next to realisation of the Supreme Reality. In the Bhagawad Gita Lord Krishna particularly recommends this resorting to

Buddhi Yog.

Cetasa sarvakarmani mayi samnyasya matparah buddhiyogam upasritya maccittah satatam bhava

-B.G. XVII-57 “Dedicating all actions to Me with your mind, be intent on Me; and resorting to Buddhi Yog, fix your intellect ever on Me”

- Maheshwarachary M.P. Varshney

Bhavan’s Journal 30 April 2009

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Padma Honours for Bhavanites

This year’s Presidential Civilian Honours list had an unprecedented number of awardees belonging to the Bhavan parivaar. This is surprising because Republic Day honours were always a matter of political preference rather than worth. If the latter had been the yardstick, hundreds of veteran Bhavanites would have adorned the walls of the national hall of fame. All the same, it is gratifying that distinguished members of the Bhavan family are catching glimpses of ruling classes with their own political and parochial squint.

We present below the Bhavan awardees who figure in the Padma list. Needless to say they are an adornment to the Bhavan and whatever they touched they made it glow.

Padma ShreeDr. Mathoor Krishnamurti, Director of Bangalore

Kendra of Bhavan and a dedicated Bhavanite for over 40 years, he was founder Director of the London Kendra of Bharatiya Vidy a Bhavan, which, under his leadership, has become the cultural hub of the British capital with distinguished British statesmen actively associated in the Kendra’s growth and activities. | In Karnataka, he is actively

engaged in opening Kendras in various District Headquarters besides promoting awareness of scriptural wisdom and spiritual knowledge among the entire Stretch of Kamataka through the medium of TV. The national honour is a fitting recognition of Mathoorji’s services in this regard.

Dr. John Marr, a long time member of the Bhavan’s London Centre, whose knowledge of Indian history and culture, is arguably more than that of any Indian scholar. An Indologist who studied classical and carnatic music and could give a whole concert. It is hard to imagine a more worthy ambassador for Indian art and culture in the West. Bhavan parivaar feels pride that honours of Indian identity has been bestowed on an Englishman of exemplary scholarship and culture.

Dr. P. Jayaraman: What Mathoorji was to the London Kendra Dr. Jayaraman was to the New York Kendra. Indeed, he has been the most acknowledged and distinguished face of the Bhavan in America for decades. He ideally fitted into Kulapati Munshi’s dictum that Bhavan’s work is God’s work. The national honour is just recognition of Dr. Jayaraman’s services to the large community of non-resident Indians in America. Bhavan family is proud of Dr.P.Jayaraman’s acquisition of this national honour.

V. P. Dhananjayan and Shantha Dhananjayan, the peerless dancing duo of Kalakshetra who together have spent a lifetime dedicated to spreading the art of Indian dance not only to the younger generation of this country but also to the

rest of the world. The Dhananjayans have spawned three generations of talented dancers. Both are members of the Executive Committee of the Chennai Kendra of the Bhavan devoted to fine arts. The Bhavan parivaar extends its heart-felt greetings to the Dhananjayans.

Lord Hamid, a Peer of the British Empire, a staunch friend of the Indian community in England and above all, a senior Trustee of the London Kendra of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan has won national recognition with the award of Padma Bhushan this year.The Bhavan family extends its hearty greetings to Lord

Hamid.

Begum Bilkees Latif, social worker of Hyderabad and a close associate of Bhavan is the Chairperson of Bal Bhavan Board and a Founder member of the Indian National Trust for Art and Culture (INTACH)

- Bhavan’s Journal May 15 2009

D r M a t h o o r K r i s h n a m u r t i

D r P. J a y a r a m a n

V. P. D h a n a n j a y a n

& S h a n t h a D h a n a n j a y n

L o r d H a m i d

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

Constitution of IndiaIndia, also known as Bharat, is a Union of States. It is a Sovereign Socialist Democratic Republic with a parliamentary system of government. The Republic is governed in terms of the Constitution of India which was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26th November 1949 and came into force on 26th January 1950.

The Constitution provides for a Parliamentary form of government which is federal in structure with certain unitary features. The constitutional head of the Executive of the Union is the President. As per Article 79 of the Constitution of India, the council of the Parliament of the Union consists of the President and two Houses known as the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and the House of the People (Lok Sabha). Article 74(1) of the Constitution provides that there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as its head to aid and advise the President, who shall exercise his functions in accordance to the advice. The real executive power is thus vested in the Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as its head. The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the House of the People (Lok Sabha). Every State has a Legislative Assembly. Certain States have an upper House also called State Legislative Council. There is a Governor for each state who is appointed by the President. Governor is the Head of the State and the

executive power of the State is vested in him. The Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister as its head advises the Governor in the discharge of the executive functions. The Council of the Ministers of a state is collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly of the State.

The Constitution distributes legislative powers between Parliament and State legislatures as per the lists of entries in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution. The residuary powers vest in the Parliament. The centrally administered territories are called Union Territories.

Fundamental RightsThe Constitution offers all citizens, individually and collectively, some basic freedoms. These are guaranteed in the Constitution in the form of six broad categories of Fundamental Rights, which are justiciable. Article 12 to 35 contained in Part III of the Constitution deal with Fundamental Rights. These are:

1. Right to Equality: All men are born equal and therefore they should be treated equally. All Citizens are equal before law. There is no discrimination of any Citizen on the basis of caste, religion, sex or place of birth. Equality of opportunity is guaranteed to all in matters of public employment. However, there are certain

Fundamental Rights UnderIndian Constitutional Provisions

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laws, which protect the interests of certain weaker sections of the society. For example, the socially and Economically Backward Classes, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are given reservation in employment, School and College admissions, etc. Article 17 of the constitution deals with the Abolition of Untouchability.

2. Right to Freedom of speech and expression, assembly, association or union, movement, residence, and right to practice any profession or occupation (some of these rights are subject to security of the State, friendly relations with foreign countries, public order, decency or morality);

3. Right against exploitation, prohibiting all forms of forced labour, child labour (Children below 14 years shall not be employed to work in any factory or mine or in any dangerous works) and traffic in human beings;

4. Right to Freedom of Religion: Free profession, practice, and propagation of religion. Freedom is given to all religious bodies to manage their affairs. The Government does not interfere in the religious practice of the people except to maintain public order.

5. Cultural & Educational Rights: Right of any section of citizens to conserve their culture, language or script, and right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice; and

6. Right to Constitutional Remedies: This enables the citizens to go the Supreme Court directly when there is any violation of the Fundamental Rights.

Fundamental Duties: According to the 42nd Amendment passed in 1976 a set of Ten Fundamental Duties of citizens was included in the Constitution of India. They are:

1. To abide by the Constitution and respect the ideals and Institutions.

2. To respect National Flag and National Anthem,

3. To realize and follow the essential ideals of Non-violence, Democracy and Secularism,

4. It is the duty of every citizen to preserve the rich heritage of our Culture,

5. To protect the Sovereignty, Unity and Integrity of our Nation,

6. To safeguard public property,

7. To defend our Country even at the cost of our life,

8. To protect Natural Resources,

9. To avoid Dowry, Gambling and other Social evils.

10. To strive towards excellence in their respective spheres of activity.

Directive Principle of State PolicyThe Constitution lays down certain Directive Principles of State Policy, which though not justiciable, are ‘fundamental in governance of the country’, and it is the duty of the State to apply these principles in making laws. Our Constitution makers realized the need for improving the condition of the poor, illiterate, the socially and educationally backward masses. Part IV of the Constitution explains the Directive Principles of State Policy. They aim at promoting the Social Welfare of the people.

The Directive Principles of State Policy direct the Government to

1. Secure all its citizens an adequate means of livelihood,

2. Make all material resources beneficial to the common good,

3. Prevent concentration of wealth,

4. Ensure both men and women get equal pay for equal work,

5. Prevent child labour,

6. Make provision for free legal aid to the poor,

7. Organise village panchayats,

8. Secure the right to work, education and public assistance to the unemployed, aged, sick and disabled,

9. Provide maternity relief to working women,

10. Promote cottage industries,

11. Secure uniform civil code,

12. Provide free and compulsory education for children of 14 years of age,

13. Promote the education and economic condition of the scheduled caste, scheduled tribes and other weaker sections,

14. Raise the standard of living and improve public health,

15. Organize agriculture and animal husbandry,

16. Protect and improve the environment,

17. Safeguard forests and wildlife,

18. Protect monuments of historical interest,

19. Separate judiciary from executive and

20. Promote international peace and security.

Reference: National Portal of India -

http://india.gov.in;

Complied by: Veena Sashikumar

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

Value Education Through ScienceAll education will be reduced to nothing if it is not built on the

foundation of pure character. - Mahatma Gandhi

aw of inertia which states that a body cannot change its state of rest or motion unless it is acted upon by an external force, is not only

true for physical bodies but equally true for human beings.

We all have inertia in our thoughts and oppose new ideas initially however good they be. We also initially oppose new discovery or invention due to the inertia factor, even if they are handy and useful. We all remember that when the pressure cooker or the LPG gas came into the market, it was not accepted initially.

People believed that food cooked in the pressure cooker or LPG gas was harmful to health. But now we see how convenient they are for housewives, who cannot think of working in the kitchen without the two gadgets.

We see a lot of difference in the approach and thinking between the old and new generations. One of the reasons is that the old generation is not ready to change and does not appreciate the thinking and life style of their children. I do not suggest that we should accept whatever is new, but we must respect new ideas if they are good. We should not be myopic in our attitude and become victims of the inertia factor.

The same applies to the new generation. Whatever is old is not outdated or irrelevant. It has its own virtues, which should be respected. If we remove inertia from our mind, the gap between the old and new generations will be narrowed.

The inertia may be related to ego. We know that too much ego comes in the way of harmonious relationship among human beings. It is not good for health. When we overcome the inertia, the body starts moving, exactly in the same way when we overcome the ego, and the life will start moving smoothly.

It is not only inertia but there are other laws of physics or for that matter the laws of science that are equally true for human behaviour and relationship. They convey the message for inculcating values among human beings. To substantiate the view, I mention a few examples:

1. Friction: We all know that friction opposes relative

motion between any two surfaces and a lot of energy is wasted in overcoming the force of friction. Even then though a nuisance, it has an essence, a value that sustains life. Similarly, no person is useless. Every person or every child, however useless he may be, possesses one unique quality. As teachers, it is our responsibility to recognise that inner quality and nurture it. A student may be very poor in the academic subjects, but may be bright in non-scholastic subjects like fine art, craft, music sports etc. We must identify that talent and give an opportunity for him to excel in such traits. Once he excels in that, he will gain

confidence and start doing well in other areas too.

2. Newton’s Laws of Motion:

(i) The first law of motion which states that a body cannot change its position of rest or motion, unless acted upon by an external force, can be interpreted that unless efforts are put in, success cannot be achieved. Success can

be achieved through hard work. Success achieved through short cuts or ignominiously will be

temporary and will not last long.

(ii) The second law states that the rate of change of momentum is directly

proportional to the applied force and the change takes place in the direction of the

force. This can be beautifully interpreted that the amount of success achieved is directly

proportional to the efforts made. Further, if the efforts are positive, the success will be positive. Needless to say that negative efforts will bring negative results.

(iii) The third law which states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction aptly unfolds the secret of the success of interpersonal relationship. We all know that if we do good to others, they will be good to us. In fact, we see the reflection of our behaviour in others.

3. Laws of Elasticity: We know that every body behaves as an elastic body within the elastic limit. When the limit is crossed, the body becomes plastic. Similarly, we must ensure that our behaviour remains within the limits of decency. Once we cross this limit, unpleasantness sets in, so we should observe discipline and restraint in our behaviour.

Then it will make our lives harmonious and enjoyable. We must, therefore, never cross the limits of decency.

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4. Vibration of Strings: A sitarist cannot produce a melodious note if the wires are loose and the tension is zero. It is only when the wires are stretched that the melodious sound is produced. Likewise, if there are no challenges in life, it is dull, we cannot achieve anything significant. It is only when stretched or challenged that the best comes out of us.

One of the greatest cricketers of the current era namely, Sachin Tendulkar brings out the best in his batting when the target set by the opponent is insurmountable. We should not be cowed down by challenges however big they are. Rather we should face them boldly with determination.

5. Nuclear Reaction: If the nuclear reactions are controlled it gives enormous amount of energy. On the contrary, if uncontrolled, it brings destruction and disaster. We should control the indefectible energy of a child and channelise it in the positive direction. If the energy is properly channelised, it may create wonders. However, if that energy is not properly channelised and becomes uncontrollable, it may have disastrous effect not only on the child but on society as well.

6. Chemical Reaction of Na & CI: We know that sodium cannot exist alone in normal condition and chlorine is a poisonous gas, but when they react with each other, they lose their own property and produce common salt, which gives life to all of us. Likewise, husband and wife or any two human beings should harmonise in such a way that they sublimate their egos. Once their individual ego disappears, they will not only make their life sweet and enjoyable but make this place a better one to live in.

7. Co-Valiant Bond: The co-valiant bond in diamond which is allotrope of carbon, is formed by the sharing of electrons. We can make this world beautiful by sharing everything, which God has given to us. Sharing ultimately gives us blissful joy.

I have quoted only a few examples from science which can be linked to value education, though there are numerous examples not only in science but in other disciplines which can be used for imparting value education.

It is true that values are not ‘taught’, they are ‘caught’.

They have to be lived and practiced. Though value education can be imparted in a formal and direct manner the best way to do so is through informal way i.e. through the teaching of different subjects. For example, in social studies, appropriate values could be introduced through causes and effect of wards whereas in mathematics, values on inherent beauty could be explained through geometric forms.

In art subjects, appreciation of beauty contained in the creation or production of art could be pointed out. In science, the nature of a certain phenomenon can be used to unveil the value of truth.

As a matter of fact, through in every subject some sort of value could be introduced in an indirect manner, it however calls for imaginative teaching on the part of the teacher. A teacher has to be innovative and open-minded.

“The end of all education, all training should be man-making”, said Swami Vivekananda.

If education fails in this purpose, it is of no use. “The knowledge, which purifies the mind and heart, is alone true knowledge and all else is only negation of knowledge”, said Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa.

All our efforts should therefore, be concentrated on man making. It is our endeavour to accord a very important place to value education in our schools.

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan firmly believes that by imparting right type of values in the young generation and by training both their minds and hearts, the youth can face any challenges with courage, conviction and honesty. This will be a tribute to Founder President K. M. Munshiji, who established Bhavan.

Character is the soil on which all else must grow: Men should be honest, faithful to their word, respect mutual obligations, be kind to one another and value spiritual good above personal gains. -Rajaji

R Saxena, Indian National Awardee & Director of Bhavan’s Shikshan Bharti

Bhavan’s Journal April 15 2009

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

The activity of man to satisfy his elementary needs must not merely produce the material goods, but should be conducive towards the growth and development of his own personality.

Gandhiji recorded, “The remedy of all the problems lies in true education.” True education should prepare the people for life and so it should centre round some activity of the individual. It is a system calculated to develop the whole personality of the individual.

It gives information correlated to some activity preferably an economic creative work. This system will have a stability of its own. Such education will be helpful in developing culture, which will pervade the life of the people. True education is education for peace. It moulds the character, thinking and expression of the individual. And in this way it becomes not only a means of developing the individual himself but becomes the main stay of the nation’s culture.

The teaching profession, under true education, is a nation-- building occupation. It needs men of devotion, sacrifice and vision. Gandhiji propounded his theory of true education on the “Philosophy of Work,” which comprises of two parts.

1. The hard repetitive labour; and,

2. The pleasurable enjoyment of results.

These two parts should go hand-in-hand to give expression to personality. The repetitive hard labour may even be 99 per cent of the work while the other may be hardly one per cent. Even then, he holds, the hard part of it is necessary to develop self-discipline.

In India of permanent and widespread unemployment and poverty, one can earn his livelihood by working in village industries without having to leave his home.

The village is the unitary organism of the body politic and its state of health affects the whole nation. It is the training ground of our future statesmen. It is the hand that feeds the nation economically.

If it is to make its valuable contribution to the building of our nation, it must be restored to its pristine glory and function. It must remain an integral unit of our political, economic and social life.

“Man hours are money”, says a slogan. To this Gandhiji added, “I believe that labour, and not metal, is real money. And labour backed by paper is good

as, if not better than, paper backed by gold. Gandhiji held, “Man is the supreme consideration.” Neglect of human labour cannot be tolerated as it is contrary to human progress and civilisation.

Under the capitalistic system, a few would corner the wealth, become fabulously rich and would control the functions of the government. Under communism, the state would assume supreme authority in all matters. The people would never get their legitimate freedom of action to develop themselves morally, culturally and economically. Hence these systems would not suit conditions in India. It is worth mentioning that Gandhiji was not against machineries, large-scale factories and industrialisation.

He has conceded places for these in our economy, but had subjected them to certain conditions:

1. They must not deprive people of employment.

2. They must not exploit the villages or compete with village crafts.

3. They must help the village artisan to reduce his drudgery and improve his efficiency.

4. They should not tend to make atrophied the limbs of man.

Gandhian Approach to

Growth and Development

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

5. They must not lead to monopoly or concentration of wealth and power in a few hands and they must not lead to exploitation of either national or international interests.

6. And when involving large capital or large number of employees, they must be administered wholly for the public welfare.

Gandhiji was seriously concerned with the growth of constructive work organisations such as Village Industries Association and Harijan Sewak Sangh etc.

The goal of constructive work organisations should not be to provide economic relief to the unemployed or poor, but to build up a nonviolent social order. Thus we should plan the programmes in our country to satisfy our needs and we should be careful to choose the most scientific method and the most progressive ways.

Nature works in mysterious ways and demands its own time. A man in a hurry can neither be progressive nor scientific. To solve the problems of unemployment and remove the poverty in India, we should encourage village industries and decentralised production. Industries which answer all or most of the following conditions may be considered village industries:

1. Those that manufacture indispensable articles needed in the villages and for the villagers.

2. Using processes within the easy reach of villagers.

3. With the help of tools and implements falling within the financial capacity of the villagers carrying on the industry.

4. Utilising local raw materials.

5. With the aid of human or animal power.

6. Meeting the demand of local and nearby markets.

7. Not causing displacement of labour or unemployment among wage earners.

According to Gandhiji, the conception of economic growth should revolve around the villages and villagers. What contributes to villager’s welfare is primary and everything else secondary. Whatever the merits of a plan may be, if it fails to give employment and thereby direct the due share of wealth produced towards the villagers, it will stand condemned.

The result of economic activity is wealth production for consumption by consumers. Wealth is usually

produced by the intelligent use of the means of production and the application of human talent or power. Planning should consist in the rational co-ordination of three factors. We may express this mathematically thus:

W = E + M

Where ‘ W’ stands for wealth, ‘E’ for employment of human talent and ‘M’ for means in the shape of tools, equipment and capital.

In this equation, keeping ‘W’ constant, if ‘M’ is large, ‘E’ will have to be small and vice-versa that is ‘E’ and ‘M’ vary inversely. Therefore, in planning, our first step will have to be the ascertaining of the availability of ‘E’ and ‘M’. When we look around our country, we find ‘E’ in abundance while ‘M’ is very scare and therefore, if our planning is to be effective we have to lay our foundation stone on labour and not on capital.

OM Prakash Dubey

Bhavan’s Journal April 15 2009

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

Demanding Accountability to WomenWomen are extremely vulnerable to shifting patterns in global markets in the absence of measures that protect them. This vulnerability came to the forefront during the food crisis since women not only assume primary responsibility for feeding their families but also contribute as much as 50 to 80 percent of agricultural labour in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Similarly, women’s employment and migration are also shaped by global trends. The “brain drain” from South to North of people with tertiary education has recently become feminized, with more professional women migrating than men. This has implications for women’s economic leadership in developing countries. These and other findings are presented in Progress of the World’s Women 2008/2009, Who Answers to Women? Gender and Accountability, released by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). UNIFEM’s biennial flagship publication reveals that much stronger accountability mechanisms for tracking progress on gender equality are needed in order to meet national and international commitments to women’s rights. To date, women are outnumbered four to one in legislatures around the world; over 60 percent of all unpaid family workers globally are women; women still earn on average 17 percent less than men, and about one-third of women suffer gender-based violence during their lives. In some parts of the world, one in 10 women dies from pregnancy-related causes even though the means for preventing maternal mortality are cost effective and

well known.

Gender gaps on this scale are symptomatic of an accountability crisis. The report points out that accountability mechanisms work for women when they can ask for explanations and information from decision makers and, where necessary, initiate investigations or get compensation. Women must be included in oversight processes, and advancing women’s rights must be a key standard against which the performance of public officials is assessed and, if necessary, sanctioned.

Progress of the World’s Women 2008/2009 provides an assessment of each of the MDGs from a gender perspective and focuses on five key areas where urgent action is required to strengthen accountability to women: politics and governance, access to public services, economic opportunities, justice and the distribution of international assistance for development and security. In each of these areas the report details means of building state capacity — or good governance — from a women’s rights perspective. Yet the publication also points out that multilateral aid and security institutions can do much more to meet their own commitments and standards on gender equality. To date, no agreed system-wide tracking mechanism exists within multilaterals such as the UN and the international financial institutions to assess the amount of aid allocated to gender equality or women’s empowerment.

A Time to Come TogetherThe burgeoning financial crisis that came to a dramatic head in September 2008 after more than a year of volatile food, energy and commodity prices compounded a series of shocks already being felt around the world.

As daily headlines chart the ups and downs of stock prices and chronicle the failures of financial institutions and industrial giants, the international community must reflect on what is at stake for the millions in developing countries who had benefited from the strong growth of the past decade. It must also assess the plight of the poor, who did not reap the benefits of this global growth. We cannot afford to run the risk of further reversing progress towards achieving the MDGs, eight development goals agreed upon by the world’s leaders to halve extreme poverty by 2015.

As UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has stated, ensuring that aid goes to the poorest countries will be crucial in preventing the economic crisis from becoming a crisis of human development and security. April 2009 saw the wind up of the much anticipated G20 London Summit, where leaders reaffirmed previous commitments to increase aid and help countries achieve the MDGs. They also committed significant new resources for the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and promised to make resources available for social protection, investments in long-term food security and addressing the threat of irreversible climate change.

The time has arrived for the international community to live up to the commitments made to the world’s poor to ensure that their needs are not forgotten and their voices are heard.

Source – United Nation Development Program Annual Report 2009

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

Australia takes very seriously its reputation as a safe destination for international students. The Government condemns all attacks of this sort, whoever is the target.

More than 90 000 Indian students in Australia are welcome guests in our country and more than 200 000 Australians of Indian descent are welcome members of the Australian community. The Government is working closely with State Governments to ensure that the perpetrators of these crimes are brought to justice and that relevant government agencies are responding to these crimes to protect all students and others in our community.

The National Security Adviser, Duncan Lewis, has chaired the first meeting of a new Inter-Agency Taskforce to coordinate the Australian Government’s response.

This Taskforce will include senior officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department of Education and Workplace Relations, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and the Attorney-Generals’ Department.

There is a hotline to provide support, information and advice to Indian students who are the victims of crime. The hotline is staffed by volunteers who are fluent in English and Hindi and the volunteers have received training from Victoria Police. The number is 1800 342 800.

We are serious about ensuring the safety of Indian students as we are serious about the safety of all visitors to this country. Our resolve is reflected not just by our condemnation of recent attacks against Indian students but by our practical action in conjunction with the States and the Indian community in Australia.

- www.pm.gov.au (Prime Minister of Australia website)

Supporting Indian Students

Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia

Roundtable Meeting hosted by the Premier of New South WalesIndian international students in New South Wales

ith a view to prevent occurrence of the Melbourne events involving attacks on the Indian students in New South Wales the Premier Nathan Rees

called and hosted a meeting between the Ministers, agencies and Australian Indian leaders on 5 June 2009.

“International students, and indeed all Australians, should be able to study, work and enjoy our state’s rich cultural life in a safe and secure environment,” said Mr Rees.

The Premier urged members of the Indian Community to report all incidents of violence because it helps the Government and Police to identify patterns of behaviour and target resources where they are needed. After deliberations with the community members Mr Rees promised to take immediate steps to combat crime against the students working together in a meaningful partnership between Government and Police, academic institutions and the community.

The Premier announced the establishment of a working group. Chairman of the Community Relations Commission Stephan Kerkyasharian will lead the working group and put together a practical package for international students containing advice and assistance on studying, working and living in NSW. Mr Rees announced that similar gatherings would be convened quarterly to review the safety situation and said “We have a number of mechanisms to ensure this dialogue with the community is successful”.

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

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Reports of further incidents of attacks, on Indian students in Melbourne and Sydney, have generated extreme concern, in Government of India. To convey this, at the highest levels, in Government of Australia, the Indian High Commissioner to Australia, along with the Consul General in Melbourne, had detailed meetings, with the Premier of the State of Victoria, John Brumby and other ministers - as also Police officials, on Thursday 28 May.

It was conveyed to them, that Indian students, have been feeling that vicious attacks against them, have been increasing and that, there is an urgent need, to reassure them.

Separately, in telephonic conversations, when the Australian PM Kevin Rudd called Prime Minister and Australian FM Stephen Smith called EAM, to convey their congratulations, on their assumption of office, in the new Government, our concerns at attacks, on Indian students were conveyed suitably, in respective telephonic conversations.

The Australian High Commissioner, was called in to the Ministry when, the deep anguish and continuing concern, of the Government of India, about the students’ welfare in Australia, was conveyed. The High Commissioner gave details, of the several steps, that the Australian authorities are taking, to address, the safety issues, concerning the Indian students studying in Australia.

It was conveyed to the Australian High Commissioner that, continuing sense of unease and insecurity, for Indian students in Australia, can have an adverse effect, in a sector that holds much promise. Certain steps that the Australian side could take, in addition to those that they have initiated, were also discussed and conveyed to the High Commissioner.

The Indian High Commissioner and Consul General in Melbourne, visited the injured Indian student, Sravan Kumar Theerthala, at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. They also met his friends and other students, who had been injured in the incident, on the night of 23/24 May. Sravan Kumar is being given, the best possible medical treatment, though his condition continues to be serious. Separately, other students who had been injured in Melbourne and Sydney, have also been met, by the Indian High Commissioner.

Australian authorities have conveyed, their clear commitment, to ensuring the safety and well-being, of Indian students in Australia. Meanwhile Indian High Commissioner in Canberra, as also, the Consuls General in Sydney and Melbourne, are taking steps, to put a series of cautionary measures, on their respective websites, including do’s and dont’s. A section of the website, specifically devoted to the students, would advise them, on how to report incidents, even of a minor nature, to enable the Indian officials, to take up, their specific complaints with the concerned Australian authorities.

The High Commissioner and the Consul General are in close and constant touch, with the Indian students in Australia and will continue to extend all possible assistance.

Separately, a guide for prospective students, going to Australia, listing out, all the relevant information, to coordinate action on their welfare, is under preparation. The Australian authorities, have assured that they will be taking, additional steps, to ensure the safety and security, of our students and to reassure all concerned, that Australia continues to be, a safe country to study in.

Statement by EAM on attack on Indian students in Melbourne

I have been appalled by the attack on our students in Melbourne. Our Consulate General in Melbourne has been in touch with the students affected and with the State police.

One of the students, Sravan Kumar Theerthala, is seriously injured and is currently in the Intensive Care Unit.

Our High Commissioner in Canberra has rushed to

Melbourne to take stock of the situation and to ensure that the student who has been seriously injured receives the best possible treatment and that the authorities ensure that the culprits are brought to book.

We will also impress upon the Australian authorities that such attacks should not be permitted and that it is their responsibility to ensure the well-being and security of our students studying in Australia.

- Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, India

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

Indians Victim of Crime in MelbourneThere’s nothing new about Indian students being attacked in Melbourne. The motives of such attacks may have changed of late and certainly, the amount of publicity they generate have increased dramatically, but the attacks themselves are definitely not a new trend. Back in the middle of 2007, Victoria Police had noticed an ‘over representation of Indian victims of robberies in the western suburbs of Melbourne’, which really was a euphemism for the alarming number of attacks and robberies where Indian students were specific targets. Most of these attacks were unprovoked and back then, Victoria Police had responded with a crackdown to curb such incidents. In the course of just a few months of this targeted operation called ‘Operation Spoon’, 600 offences were recorded against Indian victims, and 60 offenders were charged.

Sadly, this may only be the tip of the iceberg. Many Indian students choose not to report incidents to the police, for fear of their student visa being revoked or their permanent residency application in the future being compromised. Some Indian students don’t trust the police and others think reporting a robbery is a waste of time since they will never be compensated for their monetary loss. Most of these fears are unfounded, but perceptions are hard to break and as a result, several crimes go unreported. Even so, the police, community groups and educational institutions have launched many preventive measures over the last few years – information sessions, forums, DVDs, telephone helplines etc, but unfortunately, these attacks have continued unabated. Authorities maintain that these attacks are more ‘opportunistic’ rather than racially motivated -- a case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Until recently, this seemed like a very logical explanation, since most students stay back late at university to study or work till late at night, working the so-called graveyard shift. They tend to use public transport and walk back home from the train or bus station. They tend to be found alone at odd hours and have often been described as ‘soft targets’ since they carry valuable items.

But a new trend has emerged of late with almost all recent victims of such crimes reporting that they were racially abused. Simple robbery does not seem to be the real motivation behind the recent attack against Baljinder Singh – he was stabbed after he handed over his cash. In the case of Shravan Kumar and his friends – they weren’t walking alone on poorly lit streets; they were in their own house enjoying a private party when gatecrashers broke up the celebration. Again, racial slurs were mouthed. This is definitely a new trend, and a cause for alarm, since

Australia, especially Melbourne is known worldwide for its cosmopolitan spirit and its friendly people. I have lived here for a better part of two decades and would like to think that attacks with racial overtones are isolated cases, and definitely not reflective of the mainstream Australian population. Even though the past few attacks on Indian students have been reported as racial attacks, its important not to hype them too much, since I still believe race is a secondary or latent issue – there clearly are other reasons behind these unsavoury incidents.

So why are students of Indian background being specifically targeted? Other overseas students face similar circumstances as them, and certainly, there are more Chinese students studying in Australia than Indian, so why are the latter still ’over-represented’ in the crime rate? The claim of the authorities that Indian students tend to ‘display items of wealth’ by carrying mobile phones, i-pods, laptops and other valuables has started to wear really thin. These aren’t items of luxury, in fact, these are almost items of necessity in today’s world. Perhaps every other commuter in the train or bus would be carrying the same.

The first reason for rising crime against Indian students is the exponential growth of the student population in Melbourne and its surrounds – greater the number of Indian students, higher the probability that they unwittingly become a victim of crime. Of the 80,000 odd students of Indian origin currently enrolled in Australian colleges, well over half are studying in the state of Victoria. They live mostly in the western and north western suburbs of Melbourne, which also happen to be lower socio-economic areas, with comparatively higher levels of youth unemployment and crime. Then there is the issue of Indian students funding their university fees and other expenses by working menial jobs at ungodly hours. A majority of students coming from India don’t have a wealthy background and don’t have the luxury of social security payments or allowances like the local Australian youth here; so, a job is a necessity. But, is it practical to expect the students to go to their place of employment with a few friends in tow, so that they don’t travel alone at odd hours? Then there is the issue of adopting the local etiquette, which a lot of Indian students perhaps don’t even see the need for understanding, let alone adopting. If you take a train to the western suburbs of Melbourne these days, more than half the train is occupied by Indian youth, many playing loud Bhangra music, talking and laughing raucously during the journey – something that doesn’t conform to the local culture here. Perhaps it’s the sheer number of the Indian students, perhaps it’s

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

Statement on OIC Foreign Ministers meetingWe note with regret that the OIC has chosen to comment on India’s internal affairs during the 36th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers held in Syria on 23rd – 25th May 2009. The OIC has no locus standi on India’s internal affairs.

We also note with dismay that in the Resolution adopted, the terrorist attack on Mumbai in November, 2008, has been referred to as a mere “incident”.

It is most unfortunate that the spectre of terrorism confronting the international community, of which the attack on Mumbai by elements from Pakistan was an extreme manifestation, is not being unambiguously addressed by the OIC. We strongly reject such resolutions.

- Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, India

their mannerisms, or perhaps their omnipresence as cab drivers, service station operators and call centre operators, which at a time of the global financial crisis makes the Indian student more vulnerable.

But it’s no use finding fault with the Indian students here and trying to push the blame on the victim for attracting crime. This is a serious law and order issue and undoubtedly, visible police presence, surveillance and crime prevention measures have to increase. Also, perpetrators need to be punished heavily for their crimes. Most students are disheartened by the seemingly lenient punishment meted out to offenders, and there is a need for a stronger deterrent. The local Indian community does try to provide social and psychological support to Indian students, but there is a vast need for formalised student services. After all, education is an industry in Australia, being the third largest revenue earner for the country – surely some of the revenue generated can be channelled back to deal with student issues like accommodation problems, exploitation, psychological/health problems etc. There have been calls for establishment of an Ombudsman’s office for international students, which maybe a good starting point.

Perhaps the Indian government needs to be more active in advocating for the rights of Indian students in Australia too – I believe that if Australian students were targeted in any country around the world, racially or otherwise, the Australian government would have stepped in immediately to protect their nationals. The Prime Ministers of both countries have already talked about the issue in the wake of the recent attacks, but a sustained dialogue needs to be maintained. In the current situation however, the reputation of the Australian education industry is at stake and the Australian government needs to apply much stricter quality control standards on both -- the agents that send students from India to Australia and the universities that provide the educational courses here. And ultimately, all colleges and universities that enrol these students and bring them to Australia in the first place, need to be made more responsible

for student welfare. The students are their ‘charges’ and they have a duty of care to provide information, help and support to overseas students, who pay them good money for their education.

The Indian students on their part, have made it amply clear that they won’t be satisfied by empty promises anymore. They don’t want to be seen as mere cash cows and are demanding better services. The spontaneous outpouring of thousands of Indian students in the heart of Melbourne on May 31-June 1, clearly showed their angst. Although the protest turned a little ugly towards the end, which may cost them some public sympathy, even so, their demands have been articulated clearly. But the danger is that Indian students should not continue to feel disenfranchised and their problems must be addressed soon – if not, they may begin to take things in their own hands, which will needlessly complicate a very difficult issue. Already, there are unconfirmed reports of vigilante groups of students operating in Melbourne and Sydney; if social trends like that aren’t checked, then the situation can spiral out of control. It’s also important that the media, especially the Indian media exercises restraint while reporting these matters. Continuous round the clock coverage on all media outlets has created a mass hysteria in India, with people paranoid about the welfare of their loved ones in Australia. There is absolutely no need for that. This isn’t the time for knee jerk reactions or heated emotions; it’s a time for concrete action. The need of the hour is judicious judgement, otherwise a constant reference to the race card may eventually become a self fulfilling prophecy.

Manpreet K Singh

Executive Producer, Punjabi Program SBS Radio

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

An opportunity to learn from bitter experience

When I first arrived to study at the University of Sydney from India in the middle of 2005, I had to attend four orientation sessions as an international student. At most of them, I was told that Sydney was not the safest city in the world. I was told that I should take certain precautions when walking in certain parts of the city, or anywhere really late at night. From then on, I always had an inherent and latent fear of being attacked while walking late at night along neighbourhood streets. Four weeks ago, I was attacked by two 16-year-old boys seeking my money as I made my way back from work. It was a mugging attempt in Glebe, apparently not uncommon, and thankfully I passed through it relatively unscathed.

I don’t believe it was racially motivated, and similarly, I suspect most attacks on international students are not. We must be careful not to assume they are, just because the victims are of a different race to their attackers. The recent coverage by the Indian media is important, but it is not surprising. Attacks have not been uncommon in Australia, but the Indian media picked it up recently because one news media outlet there ran the story. Everyone else jumped on the bandwagon.

I am certainly not arguing specific attacks - mainly in Melbourne - were not racially motivated. Sometimes attacks on foreign students are and sometimes they are not. Where they are racially motivated, it is not just the Indians or South Asians who suffer, but everyone in the university community and wider Australian society. For me, this university, city and society have been friendly ones. Consequently, the panicked reactions I hear from India - with a prominent actor rejecting their honorary degree from a Queensland university, and Indian parents refusing to send their children to Australian universities - seem a bit over the top.

The celebrity might do well by making a statement, and the media does well by reporting it, but these reactions could make the situation worse and not support a strategic change which is needed to make the experience of international students better. At this time, we need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. How do we make it easier for international students to integrate better with the communities in which they study? How do we raise their awareness? Can we do more to make Australians more accepting?

These issues have been bubbling along for most of my time in Australia. When I was the international students’ officer with the Students’ Representative Council, I came across numerous cases of student exploitation from other private colleges and universities. I found

discrimination in other forms, including in the workplace and finding accommodation. There are various ingrained and systematic issues, which need to be carefully examined and considered. They don’t include refusing honorary degrees and evacuating students. Before the attacks came to light, the National Union of Students and the Federation of Indian Students of Australia were - and still are - discussing how to make higher education more inviting for international students here. My own union and the University of Sydney work hard to make the transition for overseas students easier, and provide opportunities for them to engage with locals.

But more can be done. The Federal Government needs to regard this controversy as an opportunity to overhaul safety, integration and improve enforcement of the Education Services of Overseas Students Act, which governs how institutions teach. This Government has a real opportunity for extensive consultation with students, to improve the lot of international students and protect the lucrative returns to the Australian economy that flow from there.

Education is Australia’s third-largest export, but remains the most tenuous if taken for granted. The Education Minister, Julia Gillard, needs to do more than just rely on a survey of international students on their way out of the country to be satisfied all is reasonably well. She needs to engage with them when they are here.

What we are seeing in India and here is the result of advocacy and activism from arguably the best-organised international student community. There are many other international student groups who have no voice, who may as a result suffer far worse persecution.

If Australia wants to avoid significant economic fallout, if it still wants Indian students to come here despite the overwhelmingly negative media coverage in India, the Government must strategically address the challenging bigger picture of international student experience. This is no time for a token effort, not for the industry, not for the victims and not for Australia as a whole.

- Reproduced from Sydney Morning Herald 3 June 2009; Opinion Section

- Ruchir Punjabi is an international student from India and is the president of the University of Sydney Union.

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

From Bhavan’s Journal May 3 1959 Reprinted Bhavan’s Journal May 15 2009

6.8 March 2009

The Way to God

Sri Panrimalai SwamijiGod is sugar-candy to those who have faith in Him; but a lump of stone to those who do not have that faith. Among God’s creations, only an infinitesimal portion of human beings pine to see Him face to face. The rest are immersed in the miasma of material comforts. They are in hot, meaningless pursuit of sensuous, transient pleasures. They seldom stop to dwell on the All-Merciful, All-Pervading God-He who is devoted to the devotees; He who slaves for His slaves. Man’s history is studded with shining instances of God descending on earth in the service of His devotees. The puranas tell us how Mother Earth, unable to bear the burden of the growing number of selfish and sinful mortals, appealed to God to destroy the erring ones. Human birth is a precious, priceless blessing of the Lord. We are born after passing through endless cycles of births and deaths as a result of good conduct and unswerving devotion to the Lord. It, therefore, ill-becomes human genius to waste this glorious opportunity on earth; the duty before mankind is to realise the purpose of life by devotion to God.

The Lord Appeared As Krishna

Swami SivanandaCosmic Consciousness is not an accident or chance. It is the summit, accessible by a thorny path that has steep, slippery steps. I have ascended them step by step the hard way; but, at every step I have experienced God coming into my life and lifting me easily to the next step. I can look back now upon the whole period of my stay in Malaya as a single event in which God came to me in the form of the sick and suffering. People are sick physically and mentally. Some lead to miserable life, unable to face death; some invite death and commit suicide, unable to face life. If God had not made this world merely as a hell where wicked people would be thrown, to suffer, and if there is something other than this misery and this helpless existence, it should be experienced. It was at this crucial point in my life that God came to me as a religious mendicant who gave me the first lessons in Vedanta. The positive aspects of life here, and real end and aim of human life, were made apparent. This drew me from Malaya to the Himalaya. God came to me in the form of all-consuming aspiration to realise Him as the Self of all.

Indian Influences on the Western Mind

C. R. Pattabhi RamanIt is fascinating study to trace Indian influences on what is called the western world. It is now being realized on

all hands that India led the way and excelled in Astronomy, the first of all sciences since the dawn of civilisation. In 1671, Bernier, the French traveller, carried a translation of the Upanishads in Persian to France. He was followed by several French missionaries and German Jesuits who published translations of ancient Indian books. So far as France is concerned, reference has already been made to Voltaire. Hindu thought is similarly traceable in Victor Hugo, Lamertine, De Lisle, Zola, Flaubert, Anatole France and Paul Valery. In Russia ever since the Czarist days there has been a sustained effort to study the Indian epics and in Indological studies. In England we see close resemblances in Shelley’s Promotheus Unbound to the Hindu concept of Dharma. Dr. Annie Besant proclaimed that India was the mother of eternal wisdom. She did much to raise our country in the estimation of the world. In Concord, Masachusetts, there gathered many

men of letters who heard him read to them the Gita and the Upanishads. Thoreau exclaimed after reading a Hindu classic, “I cannot read a sentence in the book of Hindus without being elevated.”

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

School helps children go greenocated in an urban village less than a kilometre off the Noida-Greater Noida expressway, Gaia is a playschool for children between 18

months and four years. One step inside its wood and glass door transports you to a world that shuns the concrete city outside. Gaia in Greek, means Mother Earth and the school lives up to its name. Built on half an acre, picture-perfect Gaia has a spartan feel. A cobbled, winding path from the reception leads to two brick and slate-roofed huts that work as classrooms. On either side of the path is lush, green grass dotted with animal sculptures carved of wood. Geese and ducks chatter happily at a pond as children and their carers feed them bread. There is also an aviary with birds and rabbits, a wooden sandpit and a decent sized aquarium.

“We were sure we didn’t want an exotic, modern look to Gaia. We were determined to design the school from a child’s perspective. It was a daunting task till we saw a five-year-old child paint. We realized that whenever you ask a child to paint scenery, they all draw some huts, a winding path or river, greenery and animals. We had our solution because we believe in a direct touch with nature,” says Aditi Jain, who co-owns Gaia. Aditi explains the innate connect we enjoy with nature. She says if you carefully look at children, they are on a constant discovery of the five elements which they experience through their five senses. Gaia is designed to help these curious minds explore without the fear urban children and their parents often have of nature. Students are taught to take care of trees that give them shade, plants that give them flowers and water that quenches their thirst. For those running Gaia it was imperative the school be designed as environmentally friendly. Coolers were used in place of energy inefficient air conditioners. The wooden floors are all weather, and give natural insulation in the harsh extremes of Delhi’s summer and winter. The duck ponds aid ram-water harvesting. The ponds are located at a level lower than the rest of the school. Rainwater makes its way there and helps groundwater recharge. In the second phase of the school’s construction, air will be pulled from under the earth through wind tunnels to cool the entire building. Nature is a big component of the school’s curriculum. School begins at 9 am with a nature walk for around 90 little students through trees and plants. There are rare black guava plants, citrus fruit trees and bamboo saplings. The day ends at 12 noon after an unstructured bout of play in the sand pit or the garden.

For Gaia, it has been tough but fulfilling to go green in this era of aggressively promoted modern schools with climate-controlled buses, centrally air conditioned

classrooms and cutting-edge digital teaching aids. “It has been tough to live with financial constraints. But at the beginning itself we decided we would not seek a school that would rake in profits. Gaia has not been built for that. We could have increased capacity by putting floors on top of another. Instead, we have huts that are stand alone. Many parents are appreciative of our go green efforts. But we do get parents worried that the heat could be bad for their children or that they could be allergic to sand. We ask them whether they had AC classrooms and haven’t they turned out just fine.” says Ashok Talwar, a professional photographer and filmmaker, who co-owns the school and is responsible for much of its design and visualisation. It was also a challenge, Aditi says, to get the right teachers on board. “Teachers in mainstream playschools are used to a certain way of teaching. I have had to train them to understand learning cannot be taught. You have to let students experience what you say. It wasn’t easy for them to reorient themselves. Together, I, my teachers, and our students learn every day.” Gaia’s teachers now create their own songs and nursery rhymes with nature playing muse. In a poem titled ‘Mother Earth’, the sun is hailed as a glowing father, ram takes on the role of a big sister, and wind is a force-bearing brother. Of course. Aditi ensures her students also learn the well-defined basics of alphabets, numbers, colours and shapes that mainstream schools look for in new admissions. Gaia has picked up through word of mouth in the last year. The tuition fee is Rs 3,000 per month. At the time of admission, the school takes another Rs 12,000 by way of registration and other charges. Ashok and Aditi are determined to grow the school to Class 5 in the next few years. The odds are with them. With what they have managed in Gaia, nurturing is definitely something that comes easy to them.

- Shreyasi Singh

Credits -Civil Society Vol6 No6 April 2009;

Bhavan’s Children Section

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

If you throw garbage And amass water All the ���������������������������!����"�������

Arup Mondol, 10, and Rita Das, 8, recite this ditty as they march through Rishi Aurobindo, a slum in Lake Town, Kolkata. Both are members of two local children’s troupes, Ahladi (Beloved Ones) and Dakabuko (Daredevils) who propagate social messages through song, dance, theatre and verse.

The children are outspoken, insouciant with loads of attitude. People are getting the message.

“My schoolmate’s mother is up to no good,” says 16-year-old Rimpa Malone. “She keeps condemning her daughters. She doesn’t want them to study beyond primary school. I had to tell her how dangerous all this can be for the health of her girls.”

“Uncle next door beat aunty every night. I told him he should never beat her, ever. He was shocked that I could confront him like this. But, believe me, he has never beaten her again,” says Priyanka Saha with a sense of satisfaction.

The two groups, Ahladi and Dakabuko, have been

organized and trained by Prayasam, an NGO founded by Amlan Kusum Ganguly in 1998. While working for the Lutheran World Service, Ganguly noticed most slum children stayed away from programmes meant for them. He wondered why. His investigations revealed that the children suffered from preventable diseases like stomach ailments, malaria and skin infections. Their parents didn’t have the time or money to consult a trained doctor . so they would take their children to quacks.

Prayasam carried out a survey in Rishi Aurobindo to gauge people’s knowledge of health and hygiene. Around 18,000 people lived here. Just 20 per cent washed their hands before they sat down to a meal. Around 15 per cent believed in covering cooked food. Mosquito nets were used by only 15 percent. Twenty per cent of residents wore slippers when they walked on the road. And 85 per cent indulged in spitting everywhere. As for baths, only 20 per cent had a regular shower and a change of clothes. Not surprisingly, 20 percent of the population regularly suffered from chronic gastroenteritis and malaria.

Daredevils make a clean sweep

D a r e d e v i l s a n n o u n c i n g h e a l t h m e s s a g e s i n R i s h i A u r o b i n d o s l u m

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

Ganguly realized that awareness had to be created on health and hygiene.

At Rishi Aurobindo he collected a group of young children or an Ekjot. He trained them to be ‘area health minders’. Banking on his skills as a choreographer, Ganguly taught the children music, dance, lyrics and rhyme. The children’s troupes also learnt how to draw cartoons with a message and puppetry. Things were done inexpensively and imaginatively. So puppets were crafted with rubber balloons and papier mache.

The area health minders, renamed Dakabuko, started using their newly learnt skills to prevail on people to keep their environment clean.

Of course, getting people to mend their ways overnight was an ambitious venture.

A big open space inside the slum was used as a garbage dumping ground. “We wanted to convert it into a playground since we had nowhere to play. Municipal trucks were making many rounds, collecting garbage regularly. All it required was to motivate people to collect their garbage in personal vats for the municipal truck,” explains Shibashis, one of the first area health minders Prayasam trained.

Shibashis and his friends put their heads together and composed some catchy lyrics. One of them was: May it be green May it be neat May it be clean Your home, my home Breathe in the air that’s clean

They recited these lyrics outside every door. Every time slum residents came to the open space to dump garbage, the children would request them not to do so. Their persistence paid off and soon the place was free to be turned into a playground.

Gastroenteritis was the next big thing the Daredevils took on. Since contaminated water was the cause, the children used handbills and posters to tell people how to purify their drinking water. These were placed strategically near tube-wells and shops. The posters and handbills also told people how to use oral re-hydration therapy to arrest gastroenteritis.

The Daredevils ensured parents took little children for their polio drops. “Although the polio drops were

given on Sundays, a convenient day for working parents, the tendency in our slum was to avoid taking the child,” say Srabonti Pal and Rimpa Saha. Dakabuko staged street plays and put up posters in the open quadrangle where adults gathered every evening. On the day polio drops were being administered, the troupe kept strict vigil to ensure that every child below five years of age got immunized.

In a year’s time, the slum colony became a more habitable place with cleaner drains, less garbage and healthier residents.

Once the area health minders transformed Rishi Aurobindo colony, they began spanning out to adjoining slum colonies. At the moment, Dakabuko’s work covers nearly 60 government and municipal schools in Lake Town. The municipality and DFID fund the venture.

Ganguly understood the need to tackle social issues which impacted health, like child marriage. Girls were married off at a tender age and became mothers in their early teens. This led to anemia and malnutrition. “We had to get parents to value their girls. And we needed to instill self-worth in young girls,” he says.

Ganguly then set up Ahladi as a media resource group to project the enlightened face of the slum community to the outside world. He identified five enthusiastic boys and girls and taught them Indian classical dance. They also learnt yoga, make-up and colour aesthetics. Ganguly took up compositions which addressed issues like domestic violence, child marriage and materialism. Each theme was explained to the children. In 2003, Ahladi gave its first performance. Since then, Ahladi has been performing at noted venues, including the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre.

Ganguly has used compositions by noted poets like Shankho Ghosh, Rabindranath Tagore and Subodh Sarkar as well as music by Shubha Mudgal to get the message across.

- Rina Mukherji

Credits - Civil Society Vol6 No6 April 2009;

Entries for the Bhavan’s Indian Cultural Awards 2009 are open and will close on 17 July 2009.

The awards ceremony will be conferred at a special dinner on 19 September 2009.

The categories for the Awards are :

Classical Dance School Orchestra GroupCommunity Service - Organisation Singer FemaleSinger Male Community Service - IndividualCommunity Service - Senior Citizen Community Service IndividualStaged Group Performance Dancer - MaleDancer - Female Visual Artist FemaleVisual Artist Male Folk Dancing SchoolSpecial Achievement Documentary FilmActorThe awards will recognise the achievements of individuals and community groups in various fields such as performing arts, community service and documentary films.

w w w. b h a v a n a u s t r a l i a . o r g

Download nomination form from www.bhavanaustralia.orgApplications must be sent to :Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan AustraliaGPO Box 4098Sydney NSW 2001Ph: 1300 BHAVAN (1300 242 826)info@bhavanaustralia.org

Indian Cultural Awards 2009

6.11 / 6.12 May / June 2009

Holy & WiseEkam Sdvipra Bahudha Vadanti - That is one whom the learned cal l differently - Vedanta

The Test of Bhavan’s Right to ExistThe test of Bhavan’s right to exist is whether those who work for it in different spheres and in different places and those who study in its many institutions can develop a sense of mission as would enable them to translate the fundamental values, even in a small measure, into their individual life.

Creative vitality of a culture consists in this: whether the ‘best’ among those who belong to it, however small their number, find self-fulfilment by living up to the fundamental values of our ageless culture.

It must be realised that the history of the world is a story of men who had faith in themselves and in their mission. When an age does not produce men of such faith, its culture is on its way to extinction. The real strength of the Bhavan, therefore, would lie not so much in the number of its buildings or institutions it conducts, nor in the volume of its assets and budgets, nor even in its growing publication, cultural and educational activities. It would lie in the character, humility, selflessness and dedicated work of its devoted workers, honorary and stipendiary. They alone can release the regenerative influences, bringing into play the invisible pressure which alone can transform human nature

KulapativaniBe Fearless

Young men, pursuing studies, are afraid of hard discipline and well-planned persistence; and yet they want good careers and feel frustrated because they fear that they may not secure them.

A farmer is afraid to part with his crops cheaply but demands cheap cloth and cement; a merchant is afraid to pay income-tax, but claims soaring profits; a politician fears the loss of his position or office, but demands that others should accept him as a leader, his word as law, his outlook as truth.

In order to provide against this widespread fear we want things to be made safe and easy. We want cheap degrees and easy careers; a home which is not a heaven of mutual understanding but a temple of pleasure with no responsibility. We want the State to provide cheap food, good profits, provident funds, old age pensions, equality enforced by courts of law, justice regulated by parliamentary majorities, and peace with armaments to provide against the fear of aggression. So obsessed are we with fear all over the world that, instead of meeting it squarely, we invite a mighty collective fear to secure for us freedom from fear. We undermine inner strength in the interest of an external strength of a social order in which only materialistic resources are taken into account.

The result is that fear destroys the moral and spiritual foundations of life, which only come from a fearless habit of mind..

“But the New Testament produced a different impression, especially the Sermon on the Mount which went straight to my heart,” Gandhi relates in his autobiography. “The verses ‘But I say unto you that ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man take away thy coat let him have thy cloak too,’ delighted me beyond measure.”

“[Jesus] has been acclaimed in the west as the prince of passive resisters,” Gandhi explained. “He was the most active resister known perhaps to history. His was non-violence par excellence.”

- Martin Luther King III

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