WRITING IS A CONSTRUCTION JOB It is said, "Words are the tools of writing." But not quite so! Instead, words are the bricks and mortars we select and gather to build a structure. Its architecture and construction get initiative from our thoughts, opinions, feelings, emotions, perceptions, impressions, or sharing of information, knowledge, and experiences. Our learning faculty has a library of words accumulated from early childhood. We retrieve them from our memory cells to begin the composition of a story, novel, essay, poetry, and other literary and non-literary works or writing a simple personal diary. Moreover, comprehensive dictionaries offer thousands of words stacked in alphabetical order. Like bricks, words are cast in different sizes, but each carries its own identity and impact. In this semantic profile, words give an outlook and character to writing. Words are generous in their meanings or interpretations. They don't mind being replaced with other words. If a comment is incorrect or does not fit a writer's rigid demand, it offers a whole stockpile of alternative synonyms choices. Words are not writing tools, but when the skills of a wordsmith place them together, the whole composition becomes a tool by itself. Primarily, writing is the tool of communication that we need to complement speaking. But writing goes beyond spoken words. It stays longer or forever. Is writing hard work? Not really, as there are enough bricks in different sizes and shapes, along with a sound idea or subject matter, that a structure gets built, redesigned, or even renovated. The technicality of writing lies in its grammar and those minor but indispensable characters, called punctuation marks, offering control and disciplinary mechanism in this creative development. However, objectivity, sensitivities, and rationality are the basic guidelines in raising a writing structure. Moreover, writing involves diverse interests, information and flexibility to avoid mindset views. Specializing in one subject or genre need not ignore other issues, news, concerns or knowledge. Everything is interconnected. If these factors and feelings get neglected or discounted, writing gets stalled. Overall, writing offers good companionship. Novelist, and playwright Jules Renard, says, "writing is the only way to talk without being interrupted." (Number of "bricks" used in the construction of this writing: 357) -Promod Puri

INTEGRATION OF SCIENCES WITH POLITICS OPENS A NEW ERA OF GOVERNANCE

Leftists and Rightists are poles apart as per their ideological and political commitments. And they stick to their flagstaffs. In their old hats, the two political antagonists obsessively march on their idealized paths and parallel each other. Settled on their hard-line perches, they avoid spotting the changing ground realities. Leftists worldwide still cherish Lenin's socialism in Russia or Maoism in China without realizing none of the isms seem practised by the ruling elite in these two nations. Instead, their socialism paved the way for despotism. The dictatorships masked under socialism and communism in Cuba and Venezuela are other examples of Leftists' impulse and greed for power. And the same goes for people on the Right or far-Right side of the ideological mindset. There are Trumps all over the USA, Modi Bhagats, or his ardent followers in India. The ex-Philippine leader Duterte, Brazilian president Bolsonaro, and Hungary's Viktor Orban steer the same political wagons pushed by blind followers on the Right track. The leaders activate nationalism and patriotism on both fronts. And the mundane Janata, with their bullheaded pledge, think no more about how corrupt, powerful, greedy, or even brutal the systems, Left or Right, can be. After all, human psychology and behaviour influence the working of these divergent ideologies. The Left's lofty idealism and the Right's wealth promise stop far from Janata's expectations of prosperity and peace. Until now, the Left-Right doctrines and their political stripes are meaningless, notably for that section of humanity still toiling in poverty, hunger, and disease; discriminated against, exploited, and victimized in the class and caste-ridden backdrop. The promises of these political isms, which have more academic showcasing than their pragmatism, have not produced a peaceful and hunger-free world, and the environments are seriously damaged. Fraudulent presidents, prime ministers, autocrats, dictators, tyrants, narcissists, illiterates, and idiots have elected and re-elected themselves under democratic, socialist, and communist regimes. The vulnerability of the political systems got exposed. The reason is there is no mix or an insignificant mix of scientific rationales, philosophical foresight, and spiritual sanity in their foundations. In this exposed reality, the contemporary world must build a more pragmatic and bona fide path that can lead it beyond the Right and the Left binary. The challenge lies in getting out of the box. Nations across the globe have changed where the dilapidated Left-Right structures need either demolition or an extensive upgrade. If not, the global community demands an alternative political concept that applies to the community of nations while catering to their specific needs and identities. The neoteric concept, free from the polarized ideological conventions and practices, seeks an integrated and common-sense approach. It develops a system that encompasses the wisdom and philosophies of the political scientists, along with the knowledge, insight and prudence offered by the scientific, social and religious scholarships. There is a considerable gap between the dominant Left-Right political sphere and the knowledge and wisdom generated by the natural and social sciences. Political science must lead in this transformation to fill the gap. The academic faculty has to move from its traditional confines of suggesting strategies, analysis, guidelines on how to win power or govern, etc. The evolution of a new political ideology, which should be imperative, involves almost all the natural and social sciences, philosophies, metaphysics, and wisdom manifested in spiritual orders. In this integrated approach, the political spectrum of Marxism and Leninism, conservatism and liberalism, capitalism and socialism, or any simulated entities can be more acceptable to contemporary society than their present consent. Evolution in political ideologies is a hypothesis where political science can expand its studies to determine and encourage the involvement of basic and laboratory-based sciences, philosophical, critical, intellectual disciplines, and religious fundamentals in the political systems. Inspired by the fact that sciences and institutional faculties offer systematic and observable physical evidence and logical argumentation, the premise can build more feasible and pertinent political pathways leading to better management of civil society. As noticed in the Coronavirus pandemic, the constructive infusion of science or scientific evidence into a political system strengthens its policy decisions. It generates quality debate for overall benefits to society. A growing number of scientists worldwide seek their professional engagement in policymaking to ensure the political system maximizes the knowledge that science generates. Besides being in its observatory and analyzing tasks of dealing with governing systems, political thoughts, and studying political activities, political science must seek a plurality of social and scientific disciplines that offer creditable connections with human behaviour and environmental concerns. Moreover, political science can actively participate in developing and implementing political ideology. It can review whether a political gospel needs some updating or renounced altogether. The laws of physics, the formulas and equations in chemistry and mathematics, or the biological and physiological phenomena may or may not directly generate political thought, but their mechanisms guide its plausible acceptance. However, human psychology is one science that directly impacts inducing political thinking, its acceptance or rejection, and its implementation. Without going into detailed explanations, it is the study of individuals' emotional and behavioural sentiments and the community of people related to natural or human-made situations. Psychology gives an assessed value of a political ideology. The psychology of human nature or behaviour impacts the practicality of any political order and its idealism of achieving economic development and social and religious equality of people. After all, "the key to good policymaking is to understand human nature," according to Peter A. Ubel, an American physician and a proponent of Scientocracy. It is not "about a world ruled by behavioural scientists, or any other kind of scientists." Instead, he argues, "imagining a government of the people, but informed by scientists." However, I move further than that, where scientists take direct enrollment in developing a modern political structure that replaces the outdated orders from corrupted democracy to socialism or communism. And where rationales and purity of thought guide the formation of policies that also align with human psychology. -Promod Puri

 INTRODUCING “WALNUT RAITA”

My creative senses sometimes spill over to culinary passion.

The new creation offers an evolution in the popular Indian yogurt-based cool, refreshing and stomach-friendly item called ‘Raita.’

Replacing the traditional boiled potatoes, grated cucumber or ‘basin boondi,’ the new recommendation is walnut as the principal ingredient.

Chopped walnuts get introduced to the stirred yogurt along with salt, black pepper, powdered cumin seeds (jeera), and crushed fresh mint (Pudina) leaves. Otherwise, dried Pudina is ok too. I avoid using hot chilli powder. Instead, my choice is some raisins to give the Raita a tinge of sweetness.

As it is popularly said, in Indian food recipes, exact measurements are not required; a pinch of this and a pinch of that is all one needs depending on the taste.

In the Walnut Raita, the same rule gets applied. But if any of the ingredients overpower others, more yogurt needs to be added to balance everything.

Try the Walnut Raita; you may love the new entrant in the fine art of Indian cuisine.     

-Promod Puri

 HOME FRIDGE: MORE THAN A SMALL COOL FOOD WAREHOUSE:

 He (or she) belongs to the family of goods and gadgets that furnish and fills our homes' interior essentials. It is an item, almost indispensable in contemporary living, that we turn to the max when hungry or just yearning for something to devour.

The standalone entity is called the refrigerator, in short, the fridge.

The vital cool little warehouse helps manage the kitchen activities by providing a safe space to prevent the cooked or uncooked foods from being spoiled, besides a storage facility for all the leftovers.

While its inside presents a loaded and crowded account of our food preferences, the outer surface of the fridge door is the display centre of family pictures. It is an open mini-album of the latest snaps, particularly kids and grandkids and their crayon artworks. Or just for our favourite quotes, jokes or greetings.

Since the fridge door is generally booked for display only, its sides are handy to stick reminder notes for appointments with doctors, dentists, plumbers, handypersons, etc.

The fridge top is another space to put things out of reach for kids, a fruit tray, a banana hanger, etc.

With its tall rectangular personality overlooking the kitchen domain, the fridge, over the years, has not gone through many avatars in its basic functioning. However, fridges have changed colours; from turquoise and pink, which were popular in the '50s and early '60s, to harvest gold, avocado green and almond in the '70s, and then the rerun of white and black as the popular colours.

Fridges seldom break down, but buying a new one is always cool when they persistently refuse to offer their cool performance.   

My first encounter with a fridge happened back in the early '60s in  India during my teen years. Before, no gadget like this had ever been heard or seen by me. There was hardly anything unconsumed or over purchased in our big family of parents, brothers and sisters, and some drop-in relatives or friends in those early days.

But when the fridge got introduced, it was love at first sight. Together our Kelvinator, coca-cola(the Original), and I comprised a relishing and refreshing company.

The tall, elegant and pride of the kitchen is indeed a boon on occasions when a sudden craving awakens us for midnight snacking, notably laddu, burfi, chocolate or anything sweet while everybody is asleep. That night-time break-in is heavenly.

But the heavenly feeling and the luxury necessity of having a refrigerator are denied to the overwhelming world's poor struggling for one meal at a time, with no money or space in their confined living place.

-Promod Puri

 

 

COMPLAINTS, PROTESTS AND 'SHIKWA'

Poet Sahir Ludhianvi says, "Aasman pe hai khuda aur zameen pe hum, the God is up there in the sky, and we are down here on earth." "Aaj kal iss tarf dekhta hai kum, nowadays, He sees less down this way."

Not only in recent times, He seems have not glanced for long, decades or even more, for what is happening all over the globe.

In his comments, Sahir asserts, "Aajkal kisi ko woh tokta nahin, these days, He does not restrain anybody, chai kuch bhi kijeya rokta nahin, do whatever one wants to do, he stops nobody." Ho rahe lootmaar, fatt  rahe hain bombs, looting, violence, killings and bomb explosions are ongoing."

Besides wars and armed conflicts, there is much direr and distress that humankind endures. For that reason, why God created the universe and life after all.

"Duniya bananye wale kaya tere mann main samai kahe ko duniya banai, oh the world's creator, what struck your mind that you created this world," poet Shailendra seeks some explanation.   

As one of the critical issues in poetry is protest, Shailendra's probe represents a genuine voice of protest before God when we look at the present grim scenes in nations after nations where humanity suffers.

 The world presents a chilling and pessimistic look from poverty, hunger, diseases and pandemics to human rights, wars, armed conflicts, gun violence, escalating refugee problems, degenerating environments, etc.

Philosopher-poet Muhammad Iqbal exposes these underlining bearings and makes a humble submission of griefs and grievances to God.

He calls this outcry before Him "Shikwa."

Hai Baja Shewa-e-Tasleem Mein Mashoor Hain Hum 

Qissa-e-Dard Sunate Hain Ke Majboor Hain Hum

 

It is true to say we are famous for our habit of submission,

We are helpless now in narrating our tales of pain,

 

Saaz-e-Khamosh Hain, Faryad Se Maamoor Hain Hum

Nala Ata Hai Agar Lab Pe To Maazoor Hain Hum

 

We are silent lutes, filled with anguished cries,

If our passionate cries come to our lips, then excuse us, for we are helpless,

 

Ai khuda shikwa-e-arbab-e-wafa bhi sun le,

Khugar-e-hamd se thora sa gila bhi sun le.

 

Hear, O Lord, from the faithful ones this sad lament,

From those used to hymn praise, a word of discontent.

 

With reverent calling, Iqbal pleads, "thora sa gilla bhi sun le, listen to a little complaint also," oh God.

Lamenting or complaining about His created 'Leela,' Shailendra makes a direct and bold satirical address to God. "Chupp chupp tamasha dekhe wah re teri khudai, covertly enjoying the show, salvo (in caustic tone) to your godliness."

The theology of resentment and protest does not mean complaining about God. It involves complaining to the Almighty, especially those stuck in poverty and suffering. After all, as Shailendra points out, "garibon ka asrae Khuda hai, God remains the hope for the poor."

In this sentiment, a pertinent query instinctively emerges about why He creates situations where humanity goes through voluminous suffering and devastation. Why does the good God allow or permit both manufactured and natural calamities and catastrophes and evils?

Are the evils and harms in this world part of God's manifestations in His ambiguous and apathetic scheme of things?

In personal situations like failures, losses, setbacks, defeats and downfalls, the Divine Being gets vindicated through the law of karma, "as you sow, so shall you reap." The blame goes to the individual, not Him.

But when large-scale tragedies occur by the actions of the few, as in wars, or by nature itself, like in pandemics, furious cyclones, devastating floods, etc., both causing collateral damage, the situations seek incriminating God through genuine complaints and protests.

Does God listen to these collateral outbursts and outcries?

As far as personal tragedies are concerned, all the religions and sermons encourage us to express that it is perfectly alright to complain and even express anger toward God. The readings from the holy books and the teachings from the priests and pundits assure us that God does not get upset. He listens to both the expressions of thanks and legitimate complaints.

However, does God attend to when large-scale disasters and the destruction and devastation of living and non-living environments occur?

If not, an absence of God rages in these situations.

His absence produced sombre feelings as places of religious conduct had their doors locked when people believed in some divine intervention while expecting a cure from science for the Covid-19.

The big question prevailed, where was God in the holy cities from Varanasi to the Vatican? The divinity of God was on the spot with the near shutdown of houses of gods.

Again, where is God, the Savior, during the current period of severe crisis with an adamant global viral pandemic facing humanity and the human tragedies from Ukraine to Afghanistan, Africa, and South America.

His absence beyond the ritualistic and conceptual physical presence gets rightfully felt when we complain and protest about the dire state of affairs that wraps the entire humanity and its environment.

Scriptures are silent about that or blame the deeds of humankind where the innocent and the poor suffer the most.

Promod Puri

BOYCOTTS AND SANCTIONS:

Yes, the boycott is working. Since February, it has deprived Russians of their choice of burgers at MacDonald; they miss Pepsi too. The absence of Burger King, Starbucks, Kit Kat, Snickers, Mars, and M&M poses a challenging time that downsizes their snacking freedom. So are Carlsberg and Heineken. Dove, the soap, got its last wash. Canada Goose refuses to provide extreme weather protection. T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, H&M, Crocks, and Adidas have stripped the Russians from fashion wear and gear. The exit of Visa, Mastercard, and American Express poses aches and uneasiness with Ruble-loaded bulky valets and purses. Hyatt and Hilton are frightening to Russian kids as haunted houses.

Sanctions are working, too, not only in Russia but spread their impacts all over the globe. Pains and pinches, hardships and hunger strike the poor of the world, especially in African countries. The Ruble may be up, but the Russian economy is down and will hit bottom soon. Putin gets punished, along with most Russians, including the super-rich, Oligarchs. Their luxury yachts seized and mansions abroad will be shelter homes for the homeless. Russia’s bank assets in millions or billions, frozen like a solid block of ice, but the funds are liquid for the West and multinationals. Gas prices are smashing the records here, there and everywhere. Thanks to the sanctions, the Sheikhs are smiling, and so is the war industry, with skyrocketing profits. Keep the sanctions on that will work to bankrupt Russia someday this year, next year or beyond.

-Promod Puri

 

  

 HOW WE SPEND TIME:

How do we use time from the morning when we get up till bedtime?

The question is simple in its response by tallying all the activities from daily routine to daily grind with occasional or regular breaks of recreation and entertainment. Work, study, walk and exercise, eat and sleep, and the everyday chores, etc., make a sequence that confirms the logistic of the schedule.

Laundering, washing, cleaning, surfing the internet or the waves, travelling, trekking, etc., are all time-consuming hustles.

These constitute physical activities linked to our health, families, friends, society's needs, interests, obligations, and imperatives.

Time is a valuable but limited resource, only 24 hours. Out of it, we reserve a big chunk, 33 percent, on sleep during our lifespans.

Time-use in the real sense is a commitment toward social, economic, and other issues and affairs.

But "doing nothing," an expression we often hear, also gets a cut from time.

Perhaps, some bliss in this leisure non-act. "There is never enough time to do all the nothings" carries some ideology as time, if one enjoys wasting, is not a wasted time.  

Time for "doing nothing" differs from "killing time."

The latter is a tool to slay time by doing an aimless or dull activity like waiting at the airport when the flight gets delayed. Here, the time does not fly but seems quite stretched out.

 Still, time flows with activity.

When there is no physical activity, time grabs something from the thoughts generated in our mental faculties. It gets itself wrapped in all kinds of thinking originating from the realm of our cognitive senses. Mental productivity presents logical or illogical ideas or opinions, taking our time or wasting our time.

The topics of thought are varied, from old memories to relations with family, friends and foes, concerns or worries, bliss and joys, or just the simple pleasure of gossiping. Talking about other people's lives, behaviour, and temperament, good and evil (in their absence) offers the social indulgence that people find the time to get pleasure from it.

Also, in the time-consuming non-physical exercise are engagements and discussions on serious and trendy topics that are political, economic, social, or religious.

Altogether, time moves in the company of both physical and mental doings. To be precise, time gets divided between the two.  

The physical body can take a break when shifting from one activity to another. But the brain does not, being busy all the time. It invariably works. If it rests, it is dead. Close to 100 billion neuron cells are active in receiving and delivering messages, communicating with each other, creating and dispensing thoughts that the cerebral part of the body is a nonstop multi-tasking workshop triggering actions in the time module.

The brainwork goes while "doing nothing" or in the physical sense of dictating to do something in the environmental world.

Physical activities get considered obligatory as per our demands and urgencies. The mental deliveries of thoughts, ideas, opinions, reflections, or reasonings get channelized as how we use time or waste time in useful or wasteful thinking.

Meditation also takes time. But here, it does not bind itself with thought. The meditator tries to empty the brain without thought, retain a mantra or just an object of focus. The exercise seeks routes to halt thought production. Or it simply ignores the traffic of thinking to let it flow in and out smoothly.

Thought, task and time go together.

Thought itself is a task to devote or spend meaningful time in the personal company of self. After all, studying self or knowing the psychology of 'I' is worth spending some time.

by Promod Puri

 “WHO IN THE WORLD Am I?”

That is a big puzzle that confronts us once in a while.

The question does not relate to our standing or relevance in society.

Nor does it search for an identity amid people. Or in the company of living and non-living environments, the universe, and the celestial world.

It is just establishing and developing the authenticity of Self.

It is an earnest attempt to find life under the true Self, personal values rather than assigned by external demands of society.

The exercise involves discarding the false Self that reflects our behaviour as perceived by others. In this exploration, we may see that the self-image created was false or fake to please others.

The authenticity concept arises from the insight that human beings generally live or exist in an inauthentic way.

Social relationships, cultural values, and norms construct an inauthentic Self. The recovery of the authentic Self requires a radical reexamination of cultural contexts, habitual lifestyles, and ways of thinking. It also involves a positive progression of authenticity across time.

Authenticity is a feeling that develops with its persuasive use; being true to Self and seeking what is morally good help create sincere and natural authenticity of Self.

-by Promod Puri

 INTRODUCTION OF GITA STUDY IN SCHOOLS WILL LEAD TO CRAM LEARNING FOR  KIDS:

Hindu holy book Bhagavad Gita has become part of school studies in Gujarat starting this year.

Other states in India ruled by the Bhartiya Janta Party are likely to follow the Gujarat lead in instituting Hindu religious beliefs among the students in their early years.

The introduction of 'moral education' through studies in Gita in the educational system as part of the school curriculum affirms the impression that such teachings would make students proud of India's traditions and glorious past.

Hindu nationalism indeed cheers such selective educational entries while overlooking India's secular fundamentals.

However, an equally concerning factor relates to the cognitional levels of kids from grade 6 to 12 as to how they will learn and discern the text in Gita.

Besides its ritualistic practices, Hinduism, where Gita occupies a central stage, needs mature handling in its study, interpretation, and insight.

Hinduism is also a democracy of conflicting, contradicting, and controversial thoughts and theories offered by its various schools of theological orders. Gita is not an exception but a part of such voluminous ideologies and disciplines.

Gita's most known message and compelling theme are Karma, which involves faithfully and sincerely performing our duties and obligations without attachment to results.

"You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, nor be attached to inaction. (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2, Verse 47)

In short, the Gita doctrine affirms only He governs the result or harvest of action or 'karma,' supposedly based on the merits and demerits of the Karm or activity.

Gita belongs to the Advaita Vedanta school of Hinduism.

In contrast to Gita's message, the Mimamsa school favours an unconditional release of an activity and its outcome from divinity. It rejects the involvement of the Supreme in creating action and its result.

Known for its philosophies based on hermeneutics, meaning critical interpretation, the Mimamsa is a pioneer of Hindu thought of realism and is a forerunner to Vedanta. 

Mimamsa argues that causation, the cause of action, is natural. And it is sufficient to induce the ultimate result. Accordingly, it is a futile exercise to engage divinity to initiate the cause and determine its outcome.

The old Mimamsa school finds common ground and relevancy in contemporary Hindu thought on the concept or the law of Karma. Moreover, it identifies its logical relationship with science. 

Newton's law of motion: Every action leads to a reaction and applies to Karma's law.

When we bring Newton's law or the law of Karma as propagated by the Mimamsa School into the classroom, it generates a conflict with what Gita proclaims. Students study with passion and some positive aims, but Gita poses a gospel uncertainty that arrests their aspirations.

Another critical point regarding the Gita reading by young students relates to the caste system.

While the contemporary Indian society struggles for the "annihilation of caste," Lord Krishna proclaims, "I created the four categories of occupations according to people's qualities and activities. Although I am the Creator of this system, know Me to be the Non-doer and Eternal." (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4, Verse 13)

We agree that the classification does not base itself on birth. Instead of people's qualities and activities, Gita's dogma gets easily perceived with Manu's birth-based caste divisions. The discriminatory lecturing damages the casteless social order envisioned through the moral education we expect the young students to receive.

Besides, as we move to the rest of the Gita chapters, we find them engaged in profound philosophies covering spiritual subjects, creation, preservation, and destruction of the universe; the flight into the celestial worlds of His multi-facet universal form; life after death, etc.

These chapters constitute many esoteric values that are hard to comprehend for school kids who lack critical enquiries and even for teachers trying to impart studies in Gita.

What will eventually happen with the aim of politically-motivated exploration of India's pride and glorious past through the Gita teaching program is that the students would do the rote learning or memorize the text as they do in most fundamental religious schools.

-Promod Puri

 

 

-Promod ONE BRAVEHEART MUST YIELD AND SURRENDER TO END THE HORRORS OF WAR:

Let him overpower and occupy Ukraine, amass more to his vast kingdom, paint the way he paints his 'red' sprawling empire.

The man is blazon with fake worries about NATO expansion threatening Russian security.

With that excuse, he marches his troops to Ukraine for expanded domination over more people and more land in the region.

But for how long would he carry on with his deeds of power greed?

At age 69, going to be 70 in October, heaven prohibits, he would not live and rule till eternity.

Underneath this universal truth lies the percept nothing is permanent in this world.

What looks to be permanent today prepares the stage for the following change.

However, till the next stage, with a mind of a demolition derby, the Russian behemoth levels whatever comes in front of him, the residential buildings, schools, hospitals, etc.

The infuriated spree continues, bringing miseries, calamities, and devastation to the country he wants to be under his arms.

But in this crusade, humanity gets crushed, people die, collapsed buildings transform into graves.

Continuous strikes and thunders of missiles and bombs make the citizens homeless and refugees in minutes; millions in desperation seek shelter in neighbouring lands.

Worst of all, when we grasp for a moment the feelings of an innocent child gazing at the rolling scene of devastation, destruction, and deaths.

If asked, "do you know or understand all this, and why the war around?"

The answer is naive "No!"

Children have rights too that include their survival and best interests.

At least for the sake of a tender, ignorant child, representing the next generation inhabiting the planet earth, the call of humanity seeks an immediate stop of the brutal war, even if it means to surrender.

Surrendering sounds like defeat.

But in this defeat lies the victory, a liberation from the horrors of war.

Surrender is an ethical and moral imperative that blocks the right to kill on a massive scale.

Wars, after all, are crimes against humanity.

One brave heart must raise the white flag to end the havoc and bloodshed called war.

 

 THE CASE FOR WORLDWIDE ABOLISHING Of THE ARMED FORCES AND DISMANTLING OF ARM FACTORIES

In this article, I'm not going into the genesis of the Russia-Ukraine war. Neither do I debate if 'de-Nazification' in Ukraine carries any rationality. Or Ukraine battles the Russians to save its democracy. And around in the region from the onslaught of Putin's autocracy.

But to briefly re-portray the very nature of war and the reckless role armed forces play executing the deadly and destructive aftermaths in their offences and defences operations.

In these consequences, humans behind the machines indiscriminately kill fellow human beings. In reality, they bury their consciousness before the dead gets buried. Flattening the buildings a few moments before was live with people, old and young, children and toddlers who run out for safety. They die in the rubbles as cemeteries, seriously getting hurt and crushed during the dreadful moments. Survivors become homeless and refugees. In just a few minutes, the brutalities of war create miseries and calamities that people endure for a long time.

In the deafening din of almost non-stop shelling, birds cage themselves in the safe corners of bombed and razed buildings. They look up, a battleground in the sky.

As in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, most wars get triggered by one single authority. Armed with their deadly military hardware, from fighter planes to rolling tanks delivering their gunfire, the brutal march of the combating forces opens with indiscriminate killings and destructions.

The whole scenario draws a horrible and devastating look. The war we can helplessly see live on TV screens and I-phones, a melodrama of catastrophes created with all the advanced and sophisticated artillery and machinery enacted by battle 'heroes.'

It presents the cruel nature of war. Its tragic impacts are much more severe than accomplishing the stated and symbolic aims of self-defence and the 'just' motive.

Leaders can talk and talk and talk. But with mindset commitments, there is no resolution. War becomes a necessity because there is no trust in human nature.

Humanity suffers as nations step into senseless fights, hoping that war will bring peace. It does not.

They say wars are necessary when every other option becomes impractical. True?

Instead, the statement poses a real challenge to our ordinary intelligence, considering that war is not an option either. 

Wars are crimes against humanity. The tradition of war eliminates our peace and safety irrespective of our diverse nationalities. In this commitment, the contemporary global society, to which we all belong as one humanity, must resolve to do away with the menace of war. It is a blight on humanity in this age while we collectively pride ourselves on intelligence, knowledge, and scientific achievements.

The consequential resolution demands that every nation on Earth dissolves its armed forces. No young man and woman thus ever enter the profession that is knowingly a destructive and murderous job.

The resolution in red letters also demands worldwide shut down of manufacturing factories producing weapons of mass killing and mass disastrous. With a sole focus on profit, these manufacturers supply weapons indiscriminately to both sides, the aggressor and the aggressed. The trillion-dollar war industry will collapse, but let it be, to save humankind and our environment.

The concepts of no armed forces, no manufacturing of weapons of all sorts, are not ideological, utopian, bizarre or new. Twenty-four countries globally, from Costa Rica to Ireland, already have demilitarized themselves, some of them decades ago. Nor do they have the manufacturing plants to produce all the soft and hardware contributing to the horrors of war. These wise nations present a world's role model without violent, destructive, and deadly conflicts.

Let us do it for peace to ourselves and our environment.

-by Promod Puri

 

 

 BURQA, HIJAB CUSTOM NEED REVIEW

Muslim students and teachers forced to remove their burqas and hijabs in Karnataka and other BJP-ruled states led to considerable controversy in India. Both say wearing these outfits is their fundamental right to cover their bodies the way they want or according to their social or religious customs or traditions.

Are hijab and burqas integral to Islam? Certainly not.

In some Muslim countries like Kosovo, Azerbaijan, Tunisia, and Turkey, the hijab is banned in schools, universities, and government buildings. In other Muslim countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, Brunei, Maldives and Somalia. However, in Muslim countries like Iran and Afghanistan, the hijab is required.

Despite utmost respect for individual freedoms, as long as these do not harm society, I can accept wearing the hijab, but not the entire body covering from head to toe with a burqa.

Both seem to be mandatory creation of men in the traditional patriarch societies where they curtailed women's freedoms.

And over the centuries, these dictums became the accepted norms for women to cover their bodies.

The burqa and hijab custom has created a mindset attitude among Muslim women that it is their freedom to wear these items. They seem caught up in this tradition created by men.

Muslim women sticking to the burqa-hijab custom need to rethink. These outfits are not healthy as their non-exposure denies them the essence of getting vitamin D from the sun rays, the only source that supplies the essential vitamin.

Muslim men don't wear burqa and hijab. Why this custom applies to only women?

-Promod Puri

 REMEMBERING LATA THRU SOME OF MY MOST FAV SONGS:

I belong to the generation that grew up listening to Lata Mangeshkar without missing any single day. All India Radio, Vividh Bharti and Radio Ceylon were the main channels beaming Lata's melodious voice, an inseparable part of daily life. If our radio was off, I could still listen to her songs from the neighbour's receiver.

She sure dominated music waves of film songs and captured the genre for several decades until she reached her most senior years. I enjoy Hindusthani film songs, and Lata is the main reason for this indulgence.

Lata sang over 25,000 songs composed by talented music directors like Naushad Ali, S.D.Burman, Shanker Jaikishan, O.P. Nayyar, Khayam, C. Ramchandra, Vasant Desai and many more. But it was music director Ghulam Ali Haider who first discovered the unmatched talent of Lata. And he is the one who got credited with initiating her singing career. "Ghulam Haider is truly my godfather. He was the first music director who showed complete faith in my talent", Lata once remarked about her mentor.

In her death, my memories go back to her ever luminous gems. The list is endless, but several songs have itched permanent residency in the musical sockets of my flashback mind. My favourite list of Lata's classics is quite long, but here are some of them: Aye ga aane wala, yeh zindagi usi ki hai, tum na zane iss Jahan mein kho gaye, Rasik balma, Hothon Main Aisi Baat, Aaj Phir Jeene Ki Tamanna, Chup gaya koi re, dekho who chand chupke karta hai kaya ishare, Kahan le chale ho bata do mussafir. Besides Hindi-Urdu songs, Lata sang in all the languages of India.

Lata has gone into eternal sleep, but the song she left behind, which is another of my fav, is a lullaby in the Dogri/Pahari language:

tu malla tu,lok panan thikrian, badam panne tu.

• Promod Puri

 (A Satire)

IN CANADA:

I want to imbibe and enjoy absolute freedoms in the land of “the true North strong and free.” In these freedoms, I don’t want any mandatory restrictions. I want to drive my car without any speed limits, 10 km to 250 km or more per hr. on the highways or in the city. If I injure or kill anybody that is my right. I hate restrictive traffic signs, “no stopping,” “no parking,” etc. These pose bumps to my freedom to move. I want the liberty to have guns and the right to be racist.

I want absolute freedom in “the land of North strong and free.”

-Promod Puri

WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE WORLD!

Today's world is in turmoil, violent, disturbed, depressing and daunting.

Although we can say, it is an era of peace with fewer wars or battles compared to most known world history. But never-ending combats and conflicts dot all across the globe.

The largest of the world's hotspots show concentration in Africa and Asia, with territorial disputes and civil wars. And most of them are within the boundaries of each country for political reasons or regional freedoms based on ethnic disparities or discriminations.

From Afghanistan to Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya and a few more, Myanmar and Kashmir, including occasional skirmishes between India and Pakistan, the everlasting fights between Israel and Palestinians, the world presents an agitated and vicious scenario that seems to be eternal.

We see violent political instability in Iraq and Lebanon, Burkina Faso, Boko Haram in Nigeria, the civil war in the Tigray region of Ethiopia and Islamist militancy in Pakistan. The American continent has its share, too, with the mad surge of far-Right extremism in the USA, the criminal violence in Mexico, and the political instability in Venezuela. Is Cuba peaceful facing record unemployment and extreme food shortages while the protests and dissent are clipped the moment these emerge?

Brewing in this global conflict pot is the power showdown over Ukraine between Russia and NATO, led by the United States.

The global spread of civil battles and conflicts, with no end in sight, is not only confined to bombing and shelling, killings and destruction of properties but results in extreme hardships for the people. The refugee crisis escalates along with starvation and disease, where millions have died over the years. Sanctions could leave more Afghans dead, including children, Afghanistan is an example of the 20 years of fighting between Taliban and American forces.

-by Promod Puri   

 

 GETTING INVOLVED WITH MINDFULNESS

Staying in an environment exclusively reserved for the self leads towards an experience called mindfulness.

Residing in this environment are the present moments connected to what one is doing, cohering internally with one's own body and mind while keeping an absolute awareness of breath's inhale and exhale flow.

Mindfulness is the idea of being present within yourself at the moment while the world's traffic of events moves on.

It is a practice of being intensely aware of what the person is sensing and feeling in a moment, without interpretation or judgement.

Based on ancient Buddhist practice, it was popularised in the mid-'70s by Thich Nhat Hanh, a world-renowned monk from Vietnam who died on January 21, 2022, at the age of 95.

In his book "You Are Here,"  introducing the concept of mindfulness, he emphasized what we're experiencing in our bodies and minds at any given moment and not dwell in the past or think of the future.

He stressed the awareness of the breath by repeating internally, "I'm breathing in; this is an in-breath. I'm breathing out; this is an out-breath."

According to Hann, peace, happiness, joy, and true love get realized only in the present moment.

Mindfulness slightly deviates from meditation that it can be practised anytime, with closed or opened eyes, without any guru-given mind-focussing mantra. Or even when engaged in routine chores like doing dishes. The idea is to focus on the activity and be fully present. Another example is exercising on a treadmill or bike.   

Living in the present and being involved within does not mean disengagement with the world. Instead, mindfulness with total concentration still keeps the people connected with the surroundings that do not disturb them.

The subtility of mindfulness rests on the essential human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we're doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what's going on around us.

-by Promod Puri

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 MOTHER INDIA:

She is a symbol of Mother India, fighting for the poor, fighting for the Dalits, fighting for justice, fighting for human rights, fighting for the voice of dissent.

In all these concurrent battles, she got caught up in the web of sweeping “anti-terror” laws that landed her in prison.

After spending three arduous years in a Maharashtra jail, Sudha Bharadwaj was released on bail early last month in a trial. The government accused her of participation in the infamous 2018 Bhima Koregaon case.

(Bhima-Koregaon is a small village in the Pune district of Maharashtra, linked with a crucial facet of Maratha history. On January 1 each year, members of India’s marginalized Dalit community gather at Bhima-Koregaon to mark a battle in 1818. The Dalits sided with the British colonial army to defeat Hindu upper-caste Peshwa rulers.)

While personally facing the ordeal of prison life in its most downgrading and inhumane environment, she helped and fought for fellow prisoners facing dire situations, especially during this ongoing Corona pandemic.

Sudha Bharadwaj, 60, is a committed activist.

For the last three decades, she got herself actively involved in struggling for the landless and extremely poor against their eviction and exploitation in the mineral-rich state of Chhattisgarh.

Sudha Bharadwaj was born in Boston, USA, to well-known academic parents.

She gave up her US citizenship to dedicate her life to work for tribals in Chhattisgarh and for the Dalit cause. With a law degree and as a professor at the National Law School in Delhi, she decided to use her credentials and dedicate her life to securing dignity and justice for the most disadvantaged section of the Indian population.

-Promod Puri

 

 In God We Trust:

The four-word phrase appears on all American currency.

The fact is, rather than God, the Trust lies in honouring the printed value of a currency note as promised by the signature of the U.S. treasury secretary.

God does not play any role in the legality of the legal tender.

So why does God's commitment inscribed on all the United States currency, since 1938 on coins and 1957 on printed money?

It refers to the mix of politics and nationalism to coin the expression "in god we trust."

It was initiated and still supported by the Christian nationalism that wants governments and people to "trust in God"; through the medium of money.

The paper money and the coins have thus become an ongoing vehicle to establish and promote the message that the United States is a theistic state who believes in God or trusts in God.

For that reason, the logo becomes the national motto embedding God's commitment. But it appears nebulous and carries no monetary promise when displayed on all the U.S. currency.

Opponents of the phrase argue that it amounts to a governmental endorsement of religion and thus violates the First Amendment's establishment clause.

However, federal courts have consistently upheld the constitutionality of the national motto. Whereas, in Judaism and Christianity, the official motto "In God We Trust" is not found verbatim in any verses from the Bible. 

A 2003 poll stated that 90% of Americans support the "In God We Trust" inscription on the U.S. currency.

 

Proponents have extensively argued for the inclusion of the national motto in more settings, grounding it in the traditional invocations of God that they say have now become an element of civil religion and should express the will of the founders, who believed in God.

Over the years, from coins to paper bills, the national motto's usage and presence have expanded to other visible mountings, especially on motor vehicle licence plates. Currently, about 24 states offer the choice without any additional fee. In God, We Trust is poised for more rides as more states are in line to get the national motto on the licence plates.

In God We Trust is more like an established tradition that is neither religious nor secular that cannot be masked, especially in the rising ultra-Right American culture.