Digestable People

I am grateful to Mr. Rajiv Malhotra whose many talks and books and the occasional email have awoken and inspired not only me but numerous  other people.


One can possess things but not people. 

Yet Husbands try to possess their wives and vice versa, together they try to possess their children. Employers seek to own their employees etc. Marketeers want to entrap their customers, and governments want to possess their citizens. Everyone is trying to literally possess, control and exploit  everyone else. 

Not only do they try to possess, they wish to eat and digest them completely. Most people make it easy by blindly, meekly and senselessly submitting to the expectations of powerful and dominating people making themselves easily digestible.


Powers that be, colonialists and rulers have always used this very effectively as do school teachers, military, political, religious, and community leaders. 

Get conformance from people, digest, get conformance, digest, chomp, chomp, chomp, burp!

       

 

This is why people who do not conform by thinking and behaving as per the wishes of the powerful, have to be destroyed if they cannot be possessed. To set an example and to deter non believers who might have thoughts of their own non conformists are ridiculed, isolated, locked up, expelled, and better destroyed. 





Not merely killed the non conforming individuals and groups will be crucified, burnt at the stake, quartered, and tortured in myriad ways and that too in grand public displays. 

Gandhi ji appeared to have little regard for the things the British valued greatly, personal liberty, is a case in point.

The British threatened him with imprisonment, and violence, and smilingly not only Gandhi ji but numerous of his followers marched into prison and did not flinch or recant when Police and soldiers rained blows on them.

The language also changed. When he was asked by the British, what do you want, he replied "Swaraj". How do you hope to get it? "By Satyagraha" Gandhiji replied.

The British were flummoxed, they were now hearing new words, they were encountering radical thoughts and philosophies, unrecognisable patterns of behaviour. Gandhi ji was impossible to digest.


Gandhi ji was a peoples leader, he appeared to live in simplicity, and want nothing but freedom for his country and her people.. Gandhi ji had the backing of the Indian political set up, the businessmen and even the policemen and soldiers. He was also the officially nominated leader of the Indian National Congress.

Though they wanted to be rid of this irritatingly complex mind in a simple fragile body. The British had no choice but to deal with Gandhi ji because he had the popular mandate. He was invited to come to Britain for talks and also to meet King George.

The Britishers banged their heads against the walls in exasperation at this strange and stubborn Indian, physically so frail but spiritually so Himalayan. While Gandhi ji maintained and respected all social protocols, he insisted on wearing the traditional farmers 'dhoti' and thick homespun cotton shawl and sandals. He also took along his white goat whose milk formed a staple part of his diet.

He was indigestible, refusing to be overpowered or awed by British royalty and made his point bluntly but politely that it was high time the British left India to Indians.

Britain however refused to accept Indian demands to leave India. Had Gandhi ji prevailed and had remained the leader of the Congress, India would have been free much earlier and still one people rather than the gruesome outcome of partition that took place. Unfortunately Nehru and Jinnah were both too eager to be the leaders and were easily manipulated and managed by the British.

The war against tyranny by the British for which they got global support could not provide either moral justification or legitimacy to continue with an immoral colonial policy. Eventually India got her freedom because India become unmanageable by the weakened and chastised British, and it was also the moral thing for the British to do.

The lessons are many but some are significant for all people in all lands.

1. Do not be a digestible person, group or even country.

2. India needs Indian solutions based on Indian aspirations to tackle uniquely Indian challenges. 

3. Inappropriate solutions imported at great cost and implemented by people with little or no understanding of Indian needs has always been counterproductive, wasted enormous resources and stunted Indian development. 

4. Understand oneself, the strengths and weaknesses one possesses and then take the right steps to meet the genuine aspirations of the people.

My fellow countrymen and women, awaken, realise, arise and build a greater and noble India, and a better, kinder, wealthier world. Cherish and honour the freedom you have been gifted by the efforts and sacrifice of so many named and unnamed individuals.

I congratulate all Indians on this Republic day. 

125 years of Jawaharlal Nehru

125 years of Jawaharlal Nehru

This Nov 14 marked the 125th birth anniversary of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru. India's first prime minster. He was a towering personality and his contribution to our freedom struggle and to the formative years of India's development and growth is significant if not immense.

Like all great men he had his shortcomings and weaknesses, and there were many. So what? Which person does not have his or her failings?

Humans have a tendency to commoditise everything. If God, heaven and hell  can be sold by people why not a colourful former prime minister of India? We have and continue to shamelessly dehumanised Mr. Nehru. We use, misuse, and abuse him and his contribution.

There are two ways to dehumanise someone: By either  dismissing them or by idolising them.

The Congress party dehumanised Mr. Nehru over 60 years by endlessly glorifying and idolising him. Every thing possible, be they monuments, infrastructure,  populist social welfare schemes,  designed to garner votes were named after Mr. Nehru. The Congress party has been for quite a long while a party dominated by sycophants. They could hardly care for Mr. Nehru or his beliefs. It was only important for the party to see how to exploit 'Brand Nehru', and to appease Nehru's descendants now called the Gandhi family. 

The Gandhi family's only claim to fame is that they are blood descendants of Mr. Nehru. Having achieved little by their own efforts, they need brand Nehru to remain relevant so they too encouraged and overused Mr. Nehru's name. As a result few people care about Nehru or his achievements. What a shame.

The current BJP led NDA government wish to dismantle all things that can help the Congress party and its brand value. 

The NDA government by acts of omission and commission have created  so much negativity on this exceptional man who devoted his life to India and her people.  
They too are guilty of dehumanising Mr. Nehru but by dismissing him. What a shame. 

That Mr. Nehru led India in his own dictatorial style within a democracy his contribution cannot be simply dismissed. If India today is an emerging superpower, and amongst the only post colonial country to have never had a military coup, a lot of credit goes to Mr. Nehru and his guiding hand.

It is easy to be judgemental of someone 46 years after he has passed away. Does it seem worthy of the people of this great land which has taught tolerance to the whole world to be so critical and disrespectful of so exceptional a man? Like him or hate him, Mr. Nehru cannot be ignored and should not be dehumanised.


By praising him excessively or by judging him too harshly, by crediting him with all our successes or placing blame on him for all of India's current problems, we achieve nothing except to be undignified and wasting resources on a fruitless debate. Life moves forward not backwards. Let us build a new and better world for our children. 

Let us on this day say a small prayer for this man in appreciation for his immense contribution and a big prayer to find the wisdom to learn from his mistakes and to forgive him for his blunders.

How to choose a General?

Soon after getting freedom from British rule in 1947, the de-facto prime minister of India, Jawahar Lal Nehru called a meeting of army officers to select the first General of the Indian army.

Nehru proposed, "I think we should appoint a British officer as a General of Indian Army as we don't have enough experience to lead the same."

Having learned under the British, only to serve and rarely to lead, all the men in uniform and civilians present nodded their heads and agreed

However one officer Nathu  Singh Rathore asked for permission to speak. Nehru was taken aback by the independent streak of the officer, he asked him to speak freely.

Rathore said ,"You see, sir, we don't have enough experience to lead a nation too,  so shouldn't we appoint a British person as first PM of India?"

You could hear a pin drop.

After a pregnant pause, Nehru asked Rathore, "Are you ready to be the first General of The Indian Army ?"

Rathore declined the offer saying "Sir, we have a very talented army officer, my senior, Lt. Gen. Cariappa, who is the most deserving among us."

This is how the brilliant Gen. Cariappa became the first General  and Rathore became the first ever Lt. General of the Indian Army.

My thanks to Lt. Gen (retd) Niranjan Malik  (PVSM) for this article.

The characteristic of courage with a sense of duty and honour displayed by Lt. Gen. Rathore, is increasingly rare to find, unfortunately even in our armed forces.

Most people in present day society suffer from bone problem, too much in the head and too little in the spine.