NavDharmyug

'There is a crack, A crack in everything; That is how The Light gets in.' Wrote Leonard Cohen, in his song Anthem. I have been meaning to write a review of the book by Rahul Roushan called Sanghi Who Never Went to a Shakha. I was not getting around to it, the dark shadows of deaths floating around in this resurgent wave of Corona Pandemic, where each man has been reduced to an isolated island of life in the middle of a dreadful sea of unknown. Apart from that it was the structure of the book which was confusing me. Is it a memoir? or a non-fiction tome of political history?  It would come across often that Rahul does not want it to be taken as a memoir. But then he also does not want it to be taken as a political history of say, India since the Nineties. It is in a sense both. Is it a beautiful book? Is the prose enchanting, the structure captivating? I would say no. But then a memoir is not supposed to be beautiful. It is supposed to be brutal. A memoir is not a reflection of ...

“The end may justify the means as long as there is something that justifies the end.” – Leon Trotsky So said the thinker and writer who put his intellectual heft behind the communist revolution in Russia. When we look at the protests against the citizenship amendment act (CAA) across the country, we wonder if there is any single argument which justifies the end these anarchist protests seek. Under the leadership of Aam Aadmi Party, which took a cue from the West Bengal’s TMC rule, the National Capital of Delhi stands like an isolated island of anarchy, cut-off from the relatively peaceful UP and Haryana. As the lawmakers like Amanatullah Khan of AAP in Jamia build fake narratives to create riotous mobs, an ugly spectacle of unscrupulous and immoral politics is for everyone to see. Delhi Government puts to use Waqf Board money to fight legal case for those convicted of violence in Delhi and other states; in West Bengal, Mamata Bannerjee government assures compensation to those who ...

बच्चों में कोई भेद नहीं  अनदेखे ख़्वाबों की दो आँखें, जिन्होंने स्वप्न देखने की आयु से पूर्व दु:स्वप्न देख आँखें मूँद लीं। जो क़दम अभी चलना ही सीखे थे, लड़खड़ा कर थम गए। बचपन के घुटने की हर खरोंच, व्यस्कों के गाल पर एक तमाचा है। धर्म के आडंबरों से अछूता बाल मन जो मंदिरों और मस्जिदों को अपनी आत्मा में रखता था, धर्म की दरारों पर अपना नन्हा शव छोड़ निकल पड़ा। कहीं दूर,दग्ध शरीर के ताप से दूर, जब यह अकलुषित हृदय पहुँचा तो एक और निष्पाप दूधिया आत्मा दिखी, जिसकी पलकों के कोरों में उसकी आँखों के जैसे ही अविश्वास से सहमा हुआ अश्रु रूका था। एक दूसरे के गले लग कर दोनों बाल मन दरिया के टूटे बाँध की तरह बह निकले। घाव बाँटे, एक दूसरे के हृदय में चुभी धरती की किरचें निकाली और न देखे हुए स्वप्नों का श्राद्ध रचा। उसने थमती हिचकियों में अपना नाम बताया - असीफा । और दुख के साथी की ठोड़ी थाम कर कहा - " मत रो, न्याय होगा।" धरती की तरफ़ नन्ही गुलाबी उँगली दिखा कर कहा- “देख, भले लोग लड़ रहे है मेरे लिए, न्याय होगा। तेरे लिये भी लड़ रहे होंगे। तू मत रो” ...

Ever sat down in the dark of the night besides vast and violent river Ganga and watched a lonely earthen lamp floating its way into oblivion? When I look at the way world has changed in the recent centuries, and two leading younger religions overwhelmed the globe, I often feel, India as that singular, silent lamp floating amid turbulent waves in a hostile world. When I look at the way things happen all around, makes me believe even more on that.  We mostly look at the small, mischievous gestures and wave it off as routine impertinence of the intellectual elites. But the meanings often are deeper and the game, much bigger. We always think a small piece does not matter, a little giveaway here and there, after all, life is but a criss-cross of well-meaning mutual compromises. But what we miss is the key term- mutual. Unless it is mutual, it is not compromise, it is subjugation, even if it means yielding an inch. That is what Five villages meant for the Pandavas in The Mahabhar...

A great Guru, a master, a true Teacher needs no defense. He is not running a shop which needs defending. But a real Guru represents something bigger than his person. A real Guru holds within him knowledge distilled across the centuries. That is why he will be attacked, that is why he needs to be defended. A Learned master will not hand you over stale, second-hand knowledge. He will equip you with an ability to find your own facts, test your own truths, so you could breath in a free air and find for yourself the invigorating fragrance of truth. Truth comes in various forms and hues. What is true for me, may not be true for "Not-me". Indian philosophy for centuries has searched the truth thus. A true teacher will not set up a Dera and tell you the rules to follow. He will set you free. He will tell you " This is my way. What is your way ?" and will also tell you that there is nothing called " The Way ". A true teacher will not set himself on a pulp...

                         सनातन- The Continuum      सतत सूर्य सनातन का, न होगा अस्त, विश्वास रख।     सकल निरंतर सत्य है,यह धर्म शाश्वत, विश्वास रख।       शब्दों का भीषण कोलाहल,        कुतर्क का कुटिल न्याय है।       इतिहास का गौरव भी जैसे       विस्मृत सा इक अध्याय है।       राष्ट्र-भाषा, राष्ट्र-भूषा      कारण बने उपहास के।     राम राज्य में राम के    अब भी हैं दिन वनवास के।      वर्ण का और वर्ग का     यह भेद एक षड्यंत्र है।     इक धरोहर, एक राष्ट्र     धर्म का यह मंत्र है।     है निरंतर धर्म यह    आरंभ है ना अन्त है।    सत्य-शोधक धर्म है यह    अनवरत जीवन्त है ।   भोले की मस्ती ओढ़ ले   तेरा गगन, तेरी धरा,   तू सत्य का संवाद है,   संशय ना कर मन में ज़...

The discussion of supposed fight for supremacy of Hindu majority, has once again taken center-stage with the Hindu religious guru and political leader, Yogi Adityanath winning the election in the most populous state in India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi . The media, in its own wisdom and driven by its own self-interest, shocked, surprised and saddened by a definitive win by right-wing ideology, as the intellectuals, prodigies of carefully crafted communist ecosystem calls it, went into overdrive to denounce the results. The usual trend of nitpicking began. Some were smartly obtuse about it, with fake stories, mistaken identity and stuff like that; others, too shocked to hold on to the pretense of neutrality declared war, claiming to take the role abandoned by a week, wily opposition. The sight of a man clad in saffron was enough to make these self-proclaimed guardians of collective national intellect melt down like sudden shame. A decision by the Apex c...

Languages live and die with human interests. Language does not have with in it to carry itself through public apathy. Language cannot survive vacuum and apathy. One of the biggest loss of the 21 st century is the death of languages. While technology has been one cause of it, religious appropriation and attribution is another important reason. Suddenly we have Latin for Christians, Sanskrit for Hindus and Urdu for Muslims. Absolutist religions have brought clash of civilization to our doorsteps. This reflects in the election of Donald Trump in the US and the books on Islamic supremacy being in best-sellers in France. It is not totally unfounded. Technology connects the mankind in unprecedented manner. Therefore, famines of Bengal in 18 th and 19 th century could not cause mass transfer of humanity from Asia to Europe nor could most bloody of wars in 7 th century push people westwards, as much as it could today. One can easily call names to people who are simplistic and intelle...