tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14854055233080806122024-03-15T00:54:11.313-07:00Kiran's Thoughts.. As IsKiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.comBlogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485405523308080612.post-5677480794597646542018-08-08T08:52:00.000-07:002018-08-08T09:16:29.408-07:00Leh - An Incredible High Altitude City<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>Leh! </b><br />
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The name we heard many times as the only major city in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir state in North India. But only when you get there, you will start realizing how amazing the place is! In fact, you will start realizing even before reaching there.<br />
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Here is why: Unless you fly to this remote city tucked in the Ladakh range of mountains in the Himalayan region, which is very expensive to begin with, you need to cross some of the world's highest motorable roads, no matter from which direction you come through.<br />
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We traveled from the southern road connecting to Leh. That is from Manali in Himachal Pradesh. It is one of the <b>most scenic and rugged roads you can find anywhere on the planet</b>. You will have all the adventure feeling you want - sharp turns, 20,000+ tall Himalayan peaks, glaciers, rushing rivers, lush green to no green mountains, snow covered dangerous passes, icicles that you can eat, road side camps, no petrol/diesel for 365 km!, and much more.. It takes a lot of time - for us nearly 2 full days to get to Leh. But it was all worth it. You get to pass through Rohtang Pass (13,000+ ft above sea level) initially and then Tanglang La pass nearing Leh. Note - <b>Taglang La is the world's third highest motorable road at over 17,600 feet above sea level!</b> (La in Boti language means mountain pass). Some claim Taglang La is the second highest road, but it is definitely a very high pass. <br />
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Some of the on road small eateries provide very comfortable blankets, pillows etc. for you to rest and catchup on some breathing, before indulging in tasty noodles and other food. <br />
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If you travel north from Leh towards <b>Siachen Glacier, the world's highest battlefield</b> now (close to 19,000 feet above sea level), you will pass through Khardung La pass. <b>Khardung La is the world's highest all-weather motorable road at nearly 18,400 feet above sea level,</b> leading you to Nubra valley and then Siachen base camp. Nubra is very special as it is probably the world's highest sand desert covered by snow covered peaks! You can take double humped camel rides or ride ATVs over sand dunes, in freezing temperatures. Keep in mind, many attractions north and East of Leh, need special permit and you should talk to a travel agent or read on the web before heading to Leh. <br />
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If you travel east from Leh towards the ultimate Pangong Lake (Tso in Boti language), you will have to cross <b>Chang La at nearly 17,700 feet above sea level, also the world's second highest motorable road.</b> Today, Pangong is 40% with India and 60% with China after 1950s and 1960s expansion of China. A salt lake at over 14,250 feet above sea level, is a dream come true for any adventure seeker and you will know what is chilly winds if you stay at a camp next to the lake overnight.<br />
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If you travel west from Leh towards Kargil and Srinagar on National Highway 1D, you will pass over Namki La (12,100+ ft) , <b>Fotu La - highest point </b>on Highway between Leh and Srinagar at 13,500 ft above sea level and other passes, which are also quite formidable at 12,000 to 14,000 feet above sea level. The most scenic one is Zoji La (11,600 ft) , which is closer to Srinagar and Amarnath cave's northern point (Baltal base camp). Just driving from Leh to Srinagar, you can spend 3 days enjoying Dras (Kargil war memorial), Sonamarg resort, Zero Point, Magnetic Hill and dozens of scenic attractions.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijUQK2hMto7ZaSTTPsVTdkY048YVrdy4IWGUWIgMAkXWT-IW9dltgEBv3PhnSztMRnlOBX4JuKTDRT_QyAUAaa3QcBfpzse-OsQ6rzrmT385yMsPc-mlMcBS_XddrttCTOv7UndJ03kn3U/s1600/Leh+%2528124%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijUQK2hMto7ZaSTTPsVTdkY048YVrdy4IWGUWIgMAkXWT-IW9dltgEBv3PhnSztMRnlOBX4JuKTDRT_QyAUAaa3QcBfpzse-OsQ6rzrmT385yMsPc-mlMcBS_XddrttCTOv7UndJ03kn3U/s320/Leh+%2528124%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a>So imagine.. no listen.. <i><span style="color: purple;">Leh has the world's <b>highest </b>motorable road in the north, <b>second </b>highest in the east, <b>third </b>highest in the south and a very high pass of 13,500 ft on the west. There is much more.. You can even see 21,000 ft+ peaks right from Leh!</span></i><br />
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Now you understand why I told it is very tough to get to this unique city by road, but it is worth every minute if you are brave enough to try! The best part? There is hardly any population there. Leh city, at 11,500 feet above sea level, has less than 35,000 people living permanently there, and they are very friendly to tourists. <br />
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You will need at least a week to fully see Leh and surroundings. If you have time and money, spend a month here. There is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leh#Attractions" target="_blank">so much to see</a>.<br />
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<b>Shanti Stupa</b>, built by the Japanese about 35 years ago, is one of Leh's main attractions. Whatever your duration is, keep 2 days to acclimatize to 10,000+ ft altitude. Else, you will develop breathing issues and major health upset. Also, if you have breathing issues, buy a small oxygen cylinder at a local medical store as soon as you reach Leh. Don't ignore low oxygen issues.<br />
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And, a Leh trip is not fully done, unless you take the legendary Royal Enfield's Bullet motor bike for a ride. 1000s of *crazy* folks drive all the way from Manali (south) or Srinagar (west) on their motor bikes, braving those tall snow covered peaks and dangerous slippery roads. But we took a short cut by just renting the bike in Leh and driving around the city and the national highway for fun. It is an incredible experience driving in the rugged mountains and vast uninhabited terrains. <br />
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Leh is probably the only main city in India today, where you can take a bath in the sacred <b>Sindhu (Indus)</b> river. I did that with my friends, and it was tough.. Water straight from Himalayan glaciers can be cold, but as a Hindu, I had to take the sacred bath. Sindhu is one of our 7 most sacred rivers, and the name Hindu, Hind, India are all probably based out of some variation of this great river. And there are many "Sangam" places like the place where Sindhu meets Zanskar river before flowing into Baltistan not in today's India's control.<br />
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Leh is known for its Buddhist architecture and history. And the monasteries across all the four directions I mentioned above, are worth seeing. Some of the world's most gorgeous view points are there in these monasteries.<br />
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And don't ever forget to visit the Hall of Fame military memorial for Indian soldiers in Leh. It is near Zorawar fort and on a breezy evening, your will have the time of your life paying homage to all those who laid down their lives for our secure future.<br />
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Did I tell, a 500 year old Sikh <b>Gurudwara Patthar Sahib </b>is a must-visit place near
Leh? Guru Nanak ji personally visited this place exactly 500 years ago. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2LJAGq4EOydIwbS6MYDKu1LYCjjFAj2bfMHXyjy97_JPS2Wi98B_0WQKxxD8M_nYwXNWOassutgyeJ3-A6EYetfBBdFVNjDtivsp2TxgIZlFysfJ68LD4HngRbfvU_k9oTHWvoG3tY89l/s1600/Leh+%2528104%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2LJAGq4EOydIwbS6MYDKu1LYCjjFAj2bfMHXyjy97_JPS2Wi98B_0WQKxxD8M_nYwXNWOassutgyeJ3-A6EYetfBBdFVNjDtivsp2TxgIZlFysfJ68LD4HngRbfvU_k9oTHWvoG3tY89l/s320/Leh+%2528104%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Leh! <span style="color: purple;"><b>Undoubtedly the most unique high altitude destination on the planet.</b></span> I have not even talked about 100s of high altitude snow trekking in Zanskar valley and other attractions around Leh for winter enthusiasts. <br />
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Kiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485405523308080612.post-89885077891230000332017-12-27T10:12:00.000-08:002017-12-27T10:13:33.143-08:00Karnataka 2018 Elections - Likely Key Issues<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Every election is a challenge in India. In a vibrant democracy, with lots of freedom allowed to express oneself, and with unique reservation, religion, language and other pertinent issues, you can expect every election to be colourful.<br />
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2018 Karnataka election is likely to happen in May 2018. Let's examine what are the potential issues on which this election would be decided. There are mainly two parties fighting 2018 election - Congress and BJP. But JDS has sufficient base in southern Karnataka, hoping to become a King Maker with 40 to 60 seats out of 224 in the assembly. As of the final week of 2017, things look quite murky with no clear winner capable of crossing the magical 113 mark. These are not in any order, as any issue can flare up as high-priority one on any given day!<br />
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<b>1) Kannada Pride:</b> Usually language is not a big issue in Karnataka elections. Mining, Corruption, inter-state issues, Caste etc. are the big ones. But expect a lot of language pride (Kannada aasmite) to show up in 2018. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyMjSxYu7nfvJTMtlV0mWO2uIADpW_O1TFa4DUSGVRa28v7sX3gAvRBz-u44QoSxFoG3I-lnpRHyP8Qqy5NlLTqZxEQbjrhnSjlgw1wYYu9oT75Hp-gj8VN28-0yJ3u2BRtj874HXZBH9_/s1600/Karnataka+2018+Election+-+Kannada+Pride.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="725" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyMjSxYu7nfvJTMtlV0mWO2uIADpW_O1TFa4DUSGVRa28v7sX3gAvRBz-u44QoSxFoG3I-lnpRHyP8Qqy5NlLTqZxEQbjrhnSjlgw1wYYu9oT75Hp-gj8VN28-0yJ3u2BRtj874HXZBH9_/s320/Karnataka+2018+Election+-+Kannada+Pride.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Image: IndiaTimes.com</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Advantage? Congress and JDS.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Disadvantage? BJP.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Where would it mostly affect? Urban and Semi-urban areas. Maybe up to 15 MLA seats. </i></span><br />
<br />
Why? Congress has worked for a whole year mobilizing various groups on social media and on the streets to show that Kannada is not given preference in may areas. NEET exams, new state flag, Metro train Hindi boards, central government offices not helping in Kannada, banks missing Kannada, railways not helping in Kannada and a whole lot. "Hindi Imposition" which is a Tamil Nadu trademark, slowly inching into Karnataka politics this time. The funny part is that most of this "imposition" was done between 1969 (nationalization of 14 banks) and 2010 (by which most regional languages had disappeared in Railways) by various Congress governments. But now it is easy to blame everything on Narendra Modi. So the game is on!<br />
BJP has not defended against this attack till now. The goal of JDS and Congress is to show that BJP is a Hindi imposing "North Indian party". And they are working very hard to paint that impression. <br />
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<b>2) Interstate Water Sharing Issues: </b>Kaveri is a permanent issue in Karnataka politics, but for a change, 2018 might not see any anti Tamil Nadu sentiment in campaigns. Because unlike 2016 which was a horrible year of drought, 2017 has seen excess rainfall. Also Jayalalithaa is no more, who was a permanent fixture in Supreme Court cases, dragging Karnataka into conflict year after year. Tamil Nadu is busy with internal broken party politics, and there is enough water in both states. The much talked about Mekedatu dam on Kaveri did not even take off. No one is talking about that failure of Siddaramaiah. Krishna water sharing has been smooth from Karnataka's side. Bhima is not an issue now. So the attention would be with the tiny state of Goa, which is hardly the size of one of the neighbouring districts of Karnataka. Mahadayi, which originates in Karnataka, flows west into Goa becoming Mandovi. There is a long pending drinking water project near Hubballi city which needs about 5% of Mahadayi water in a year. But as usual with everything in India, unnecessary complication has come in. The issue is very hot now. Something that could have been sorted out on a table in 30 minutes, 30 years ago, has become a Tribunal, Court, Politics and Emotional issue. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8m-HBTvs_-6bXiGYQ1MoUsgjIVSBo9jNHXPZV5lYcyPAw0rIcoEVL0n2yW6dwRby4V99O71t84u83osYlu1xbowHaNHCIt-gSObeFiiaU6H_YbUhxa3WEORz2i5MgxlerxWOa7G9nLtcr/s1600/Karnataka+2018+Election+-+Mahadayi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="618" data-original-width="800" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8m-HBTvs_-6bXiGYQ1MoUsgjIVSBo9jNHXPZV5lYcyPAw0rIcoEVL0n2yW6dwRby4V99O71t84u83osYlu1xbowHaNHCIt-gSObeFiiaU6H_YbUhxa3WEORz2i5MgxlerxWOa7G9nLtcr/s320/Karnataka+2018+Election+-+Mahadayi.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Image: Deccan Herald</i></td></tr>
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<span style="color: purple;"><i>Advantage? JDS.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Disadvantage? BJP and Congress.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Where would it mostly affect? North West Karnataka. Up to 35 MLA seats. </i></span><br />
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Why? For nearly 4 years, Siddaramaiah government did nothing except writing letters, giving speeches, and some delegation meeting. Now close to election, Congress is putting pressure on Modi to solve the issue directly. Because courts and tribunals would take forever, and it is easy to put the ball in Modi's court. On BJP side, Yeddyurappa met with Parrikar and Shah, worked some consolation out, but quick acting Congress has thwarted the entire thing. The goal is to put BJP in the guilty position saying that both central government and Goa government are BJP's, and they are not helping Karnataka. The funny part here is that Congress in Goa is playing the exact opposite card, trying to unseat Parrikar by painting him as anti Goa! In fact, the whole issue became a big problem after Sonia Gandhi gave a divisive speech in Goa ten years ago. Maharashtra also has a small part to play here. JDS is trying hard to saying both "national" parties have failed and it should be given a chance, while it failed to solve it when in power 12 years ago. Also JDS is also a "national" party technically :)<br />
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While politicians are doing all politicking, farmers are very angry - they are neither getting drinking water, nor the long term irrigation water. Two years, ago the anger was against Siddaramaiah for the brutal lathi charge his government ordered in Naragunda area. But now, it seems like the villain would be Yeddyurappa if something concrete does not come up. <br />
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<b>3) Farmer Suicide: </b>2014 through 2017 have been terrible years for Karnataka farmers. Suicides have occurred on three major river basins - Kaveri, Tungabhadra and Krishna.<br />
Easily, more farmers have committed suicide during Siddaramaiah's Congress regime, than many prior governments combined.. maybe a few decades worth of governments combined. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5sBmfYui-82dg-zIkar2f-dKSmax7cJGMhMp4-iK-nI0ScVd8CN7YCsYx0dUn3A2R4ZgaKTVxXptoxh_ARKSY2qpAJyMG4HQjD-2YvgfbtFa7HJvQHBYppwb9U4LgtwqjOWC-77NBZMOB/s1600/Karnataka+2018+Election+-+Farmer+Suicide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="823" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5sBmfYui-82dg-zIkar2f-dKSmax7cJGMhMp4-iK-nI0ScVd8CN7YCsYx0dUn3A2R4ZgaKTVxXptoxh_ARKSY2qpAJyMG4HQjD-2YvgfbtFa7HJvQHBYppwb9U4LgtwqjOWC-77NBZMOB/s320/Karnataka+2018+Election+-+Farmer+Suicide.jpg" width="219" /></a></div>
<b> </b><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Advantage? BJP </i></span><span style="color: purple;"><i><span style="color: purple;"><i>and JDS</i></span>.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Disadvantage? Congress.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Where would it mostly affect? Throughout rural Karnataka. Maybe 40 to 80 seats. </i></span><br />
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Why? 3515 farmer suicides is not a joke. And this number might not even be the total number, as many are talking of much higher number. Families have been destroyed. Farmers are very angry at Congress government for giving pittance as compensation. One farmer Vittal Arabhavi had consumed poison and committed suicide right across from Suvarna Soudha in Belagavi, when assembly was happening. All the ads that Siddaramaiah gives about how he has helped farmers, do not stand a chance if BJP and JDS inform voters that poor governance was one of the biggest reasons for such large scale farmer suicides. But for now, this is not a very hot issue, as other emotional issues have been raked up. It is up to BJP to delicately handle this issue and help farmers. Also, BJP has a long list of good schemes of central government like crop soil card, crop insurance, MUDRA loan etc, to inform the farming families. Loan waiver is an ever green topic. Siddaramaiah doing a small waiver on cooperative loans did not yield any dividend, and Congress will keep pressing for a bigger waiver from the central government on nationalized banks. Kumaraswamy of JDS has already played loan waiver card. Whoever wins farmers' vote in large pockets, will easily win 2018 election. But right now, the situation of Karnataka farmers is in pretty bad condition. <br />
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<b>4) Karnataka government in massive debt as a result of freebie governance:</b> This again is a result of copying Tamil Nadu politics by Congress. Everyone knows that from Amma canteen, to free rice to other freebie politics, was a trademark of TN politics.<br />
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This month news items showed massive debt numbers since Congress came to power in 2013.<br />
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News link: <a href="https://www.newskarnataka.com/bangalore/states-debt-may-cross-rs250-lakh-crore-by-the-year-end" target="_blank">Debt: more and more...</a><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><i>2013: when Congress came into power- Rs.1.12 lakh crores </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><i>2013-14 end -Rs. 1.36 lakh crores </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><i>2014-15 end- Rs. 1.55 lakh crores</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><i>2015-16 end- Rs. 1.80 lakh crores</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><i>2016-17 end- Rs. 2.05 lakh crores</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><i>2017- 18 end (expected)- Rs. 2.42 lakh crores</i></span><br />
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We are looking at Rs.38,000 debt over every head in Karnataka by the time this government finishes five year period.<br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><i>Advantage? BJP and JDS.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Disadvantage? Congress.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Where would it mostly affect? Urban Karnataka. Maybe 25 to 30 seats. </i></span><br />
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Why? This is a tricky topic. Though Siddaramaiah has made more debt than all other CMs since 1947 (then Mysore) combined, he is still within the magical 25% limit of GSDP. So he can always claim that there is nothing wrong as he is using it for tonnes of socialist freebie projects like Anna Bhagya, Ksheera Bhagya, Shadi Bhagya etc. Congress also keeps showing that they have managed better investment into Karnataka than even Gujarat, without going into details of how much of that is central government's investment. Also, it is not clear from the ads as to what percentage is actually finished implementation generating jobs.<br />
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BJP on the other hand, has to push hard to show how this has harmed the state's economy and in spite of so much loan, the state has not seen any major irrigation or infrastructure benefit. Bengaluru in particular can understand this, with 28 seats at stake here. But for now, BJP has not been successful in driving home this point, and most people are not talking about this major issue. Lack of visible job creation is an important matter, which BJP has not capitalized so far. <br />
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<b>5) Bengaluru Issues: </b>Since Bengaluru has over 10% of the seats in Karnataka assembly, it is vital for all the three contenders. Dismal state of Bengaluru in traffic, rain/flood/encroachment, lack of infrastructure, overflowing foam in lakes, has hurt the brand image of Bengaluru across the country and in many cities in the world. Garbage issue is still not solved. People literally got washed out in poorly finished drains. Traffic has been a joke across the city. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJEPY0KLXaQPEiRl8eB0K6lYkqEmWZGoyCdyumcNLeWgVxk3EWHoQrG55tve7RxStrqJIZ-i520ulwHRvyaNw_38kFgBXMXYgidmwNcJCjDncm4OE9hPNbeLJM3PvR1sLZ7JChQdyLOgn1/s1600/Karnataka+2018+Election+-+Bengaluru+rain.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="711" data-original-width="792" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJEPY0KLXaQPEiRl8eB0K6lYkqEmWZGoyCdyumcNLeWgVxk3EWHoQrG55tve7RxStrqJIZ-i520ulwHRvyaNw_38kFgBXMXYgidmwNcJCjDncm4OE9hPNbeLJM3PvR1sLZ7JChQdyLOgn1/s320/Karnataka+2018+Election+-+Bengaluru+rain.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Advantage? BJP.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Disadvantage? Congress and JDS.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Where would it mostly affect? Bengaluru - Up to 20 seats. </i></span><br />
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Why? Bengaluru elected BJP as the single largest party in 2015 BBMP corporation election. But Congress managed to snatch the Mayor seat from BJP by allying with JDS and managing overall majority using MLAs, MPs and MLCs. So naturally people are not happy with the setup. Bengalureans voted for BJP to form the local government, not Congress. So it is a big advantage in favour of BJP now, if they play the cards properly. Large scale infrastructure issues have dissuaded more companies to come into Bengaluru off late, with stiff competition from Hyderabad, NCR and other areas in India. Encroachment removal drive affected lot of poor people, while the rich and movie stars were spared. There is a lot of simmering anger among the Bengaluru city dwellers, who totally account for well over 60% of Karnataka's state revenues. But in return for so much tool, tax and cost they pay, they are getting pittance in return. Nothing worth mentioning has happened to show the world that the last 4 years were great for Bengaluru.<br />
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Congress on the other hand keeps blaming earlier BJP local government for loans. Congress is betting that populist schemes like Indira canteen (copy of Amma canteen of TN) will fetch lower middle class votes. Siddaramaiah is also very prompt in putting ads for any good news about Bengaluru, anywhere in the world - like the most dynamic city title, without thinking for a minute as to what was his government's contribution!<br />
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JDS can't say much as it is an opportunistic party which allies with Congress in Bengaluru, and with BJP in Mysuru!<br />
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<b>6) Youth belonging to Hindu organizations murdered across the state:</b> This is a big election issue as of now. Till now, these political murders were usually limited to Kerala in news. But more than 20 RSS, BJP and Hindu org people have been murdered since Siddaramaiah came to power. That has angered a lot of people. This month, a book written by famous Kannada Editor <a href="http://samvada.org/2017/news/state-wide-protests-on-rampant-increase-of-hindu-activists-killing-demands-for-nia-probe-and-ban-on-fundamentalist-orgs-like-pfi-sdpi/" target="_blank">Hariprakash Konemane came into news</a>.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;">The title reads - "Man Slaughters - Already 20. How many more?"</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCsQUlwmwqc13sc31DT74C90KbNtlb56RwKzz4Fwztbxq9HZRDEiwrv4vFYLlujINfXMWv79zSRGxc5-PI0R8qOnFRuJYLK0iCELjMc1tCf08-a43lx_fVaRfCPrAhAbwJ8hMarfdDZFPs/s1600/Karnataka+2018+Election+-+Hindu+killing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="385" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCsQUlwmwqc13sc31DT74C90KbNtlb56RwKzz4Fwztbxq9HZRDEiwrv4vFYLlujINfXMWv79zSRGxc5-PI0R8qOnFRuJYLK0iCELjMc1tCf08-a43lx_fVaRfCPrAhAbwJ8hMarfdDZFPs/s320/Karnataka+2018+Election+-+Hindu+killing.jpg" width="217" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Book cover: Samvada</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: purple;"><i>Advantage? BJP.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Disadvantage? Congress and JDS.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Where would it mostly affect? Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Bengaluru and more. Up to 40 seats.</i></span><br />
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Why? Almost every year, there have been multiple murders since Siddaramaiah came to power. Political murders were there before also, but why BJP supporters are angry this time is - there is no visible action against the extremist ideologies that are targeting Hindu activists. To make things worse, Congress government had dropped 175+ cases against the notorious Muslim organization PFI when BJP was calling for PFI's ban. And since then, the deaths have been hot news every few months, with blames going squarely to Siddaramaiah's head. On the other hand Congress has been vociferous in blaming BJP and its leaders for provocation and disrupting "communal harmony". The usual targets are Pratap Simha, Anant Kumar Hegde and Shobha Karndlaje. JDS can't talk much on this, as it has also lost its cadre to murders, but since it needs to be in power in Bengaluru with Congress, has not made much noise. BJP squarely blames Ramanatha Rai, Siddaramaiah, Roshan Baig and other Congress leaders for provocations. Overall, there is a lot of fear factor among Hindu activists, which might affect a large section of voting depending upon how politicians use the fear. Siddaramaiah is seen as someone squarely siding away from Hindu organizations with his open calls to fight "communal forces" meaning RSS and BJP in his language. Cow slaughter is one of the most discussed issues since 2013 when Siddaramaiah repealed an earlier bill of BJP for stricter slaughter controls. <br />
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In fact, <a href="http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/2017/dec/13/karnataka-most-communally-sensitive-state-in-south-india-1725863.html" target="_blank">Karnataka being declared as the most communally sensitive state</a> in 2017, is not going to help Rahul Gandhi when he campaigns here in 2018. Overall, law and order, women's safety, and related issues will pop up too. <br />
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<b>7) Leadership Quality: </b>Who is the strongest leader in Karnataka right now, is a big question. For Congress, Siddaramaiah is undoubtedly a tall mass leader now. With a weak High Command and Congress wiped out of most of India, Siddaramaiah's hands are stronger than ever. He also has not much competition from within Congress now as Mallikarjuna Kharge, DK Shiva Kumar, Janardhana Poojary, Parameshwara are not in a position to challenge him. He has projected himself as a mass leader for AHINDA (A = Minority, Hin = Backward Castes and Da = Dalit in Kannada) groups. Thought Yeddyurappa's KJP helped a lot in splitting BJP votes in 2013, a big credit is for Siddaramaiah's caste calculations. He is definitely a formidable force in Karnataka politics in 2018. Even though Congress has lost some stalwarts like SM Krishna, Srinivasa Prasad and Vishwanath, not much damage has happened on the ground for voter base. Even some serious charges against Siddaramaiah like expensive watch, de-notification, Lokayukta damage, ACB cases, nothing has dented his position as the top leader of Congress. Siddaramaiah also has a strong support among "Buddhi Jeevis" who have been cultivated with careful events and awards over the years. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD9dHCSgOT17QB88AOfxrvsTCNIazZrK7MPhHZx8LZw9S1I5M9cSB4mSX5fjFJqMdPCcwj8D9ehOVZ1H1DoMb-I-hgkXCO05fLENYx0aufqXk-ClBIGKGU_N-7SPnp80bajzOyskB3QAqD/s1600/Karnataka+2018+Election+-+BSY+Siddu+HDK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD9dHCSgOT17QB88AOfxrvsTCNIazZrK7MPhHZx8LZw9S1I5M9cSB4mSX5fjFJqMdPCcwj8D9ehOVZ1H1DoMb-I-hgkXCO05fLENYx0aufqXk-ClBIGKGU_N-7SPnp80bajzOyskB3QAqD/s320/Karnataka+2018+Election+-+BSY+Siddu+HDK.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pic: OneIndia</i></td></tr>
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<span style="color: purple;"><i>Advantage? None have distinct lead in the CM's race.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Disadvantage? Not much choice for any party.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Where would it mostly affect? Everywhere. Hard to quantify.</i></span> <br />
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BS Yeddyurappa is a top leader for BJP now, though not as powerful as he was in 2008 elections. He is nearing 75 years, so there is a lot of question mark on whether he would complete a term if elected as CM. But undoubtedly he is the only BJP mass leader now who can draw crowds in all 30 districts of Karnataka. His strength includes tremendous connection with voters across castes. He can attract diverse caste groups and commands respect of rural voters in many districts. But his biggest disadvantage is his corruption cases from 2010 and 2011 period. Though he is not convicted in any court of law, his brief jailing (for failing to get bail) has dented his reputation. Siddaramaiah talks about this all the time, and BJP is defenceless here. Though BJP has a RSS man as governor now, he is nowhere as lethal as Bharadwaj was when UPA was in power at the center. There are lots of young and emerging leaders for BJP like CT Ravi, Shobha Karandlaje, Anant Kumar Hegde, Pratap Simha to name a few. But none are close to CM's chair at present like BSY. He is BJP's biggest strength, yet the biggest weakness also now.<br />
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HD Kumaraswamy of JDS is a very clever leader. Deve Gowda has trained his son in political maneuvering very well. His strengths include mobilization of Gowda (Vokkaliga) votes in 4 to 5 districts of south Karnataka. That loyal voter base can easily get him 20% of the assembly seats. He is also clever to latch on to politically beneficial issues like CM's watch, Mahadayi, Minorities etc. But his weakness is the pan state reach. Also he is tainted due to previous mining and other cases against him. JDS is not having much base beyond old Mysuru region, and also his health is not in top shape as he underwent heart surgery recently. Overall a sure shot king maker, but a long shot king if JDS manages 70+ seats. <br />
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<b>8) Caste Equations:</b> Two major caste issues for 2018 elections would be Lingayat as separate religion, and inner-reservation within Scheduled Castes (SC).<br />
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For decades, the issue of Lingayats being separate dharma or religion outside of Hinduism had surfaced. But for 2018 elections, concrete plans have been put in place. Rallies have happened across the state and Congress party's ministers like MB Patil and Vinay Kulkarni have actively mobilized lakhs of people for separating Lingayats from Hinduism. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdCp_ij2J9Ea1u-ERiPR1_5vV-UWUWoZMUvAbwE-MUEaTQnhZVVWYFmxFCWTArTlFxJkjsACitRM4cjpCwMh4hYQiJpPChB4xSytyXif00GD7aIS0v7J3GRSG5Oxa_6RdBg08RaWWOMp-W/s1600/Karnataka+2018+Election+-+Lingayat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="660" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdCp_ij2J9Ea1u-ERiPR1_5vV-UWUWoZMUvAbwE-MUEaTQnhZVVWYFmxFCWTArTlFxJkjsACitRM4cjpCwMh4hYQiJpPChB4xSytyXif00GD7aIS0v7J3GRSG5Oxa_6RdBg08RaWWOMp-W/s320/Karnataka+2018+Election+-+Lingayat.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: purple;"><i>Advantage? Congress.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Disadvantage? BJP.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Where would it mostly affect? Mostly in North Karnataka. Up to 50 MLA seats. </i></span> <br />
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For decades, there was a debate as to whether Lingayats were different from Veerashaivas. There was also a debate on whether one or both of them are separate from Hindu Dharma. But this time Congress has openly taken sides and trying its level best to get Lingayats a petition for minority status. This has created massive rift within Lingayat - Veerashaiva community with 100s of Jagad Gurus from each side in verbal battle with the other section. It has not been pleasant to watch! Moreover, Lingayat - Veerashaiva has been together the biggest voting bloc for BJP, helping in more than 60 MLA seats during 2008 elections. This time, BJP has played a wait and watch position, which only time will tell if it helps BJP or not. Congress has already started smiling that it has split the biggest voting bloc of BJP. JDS has not much to gain or lose when it comes to this community as it has not much votes here. <br />
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The second caste equation is that of Dalits or Scheduled Castes. In Karnataka, there are mainly three groups of Scheduled Castes - The Right Hand, The Left Hand and the Misc Dalits. <a href="https://www.deccanchronicle.com/opinion/op-ed/030917/karnatakas-dalit-politics-at-the-crossroads.html" target="_blank">You can read here about</a> the 1960 Dalit organizations in Karnataka, and 100+ caste divisions within the SC group.<br />
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The potential big issue for 2018 election is the "Ola Meesalati" or Inner Reservation issue.<br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><i>Advantage? BJP</i></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Disadvantage? Congress</i></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Where would it mostly affect? In nearly 50 reserved constituencies. </i></span> <br />
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Since conducting caste census a few years ago, Congress government has not released the data. But is has access, so it is carefully working to avoid the inner reservation issue from flaring up. Initially Dalit CM issue had popped up, but Siddaramaiah cleverly pushed that to inconsequence. But off late, the non-Right-hand Dalits have been vocal in securing fixed percentage of reservation within the SC quota, which would be a huge blow to Congress. In 2018 elections, the right hand SC might support Congress, while the left hand SC might go with BJP. If the reservation quotas within Dalit quota are altered, there would be huge implications on voting pattern. JDS is not a big factor in Dalit politics at present, but you can never rule out anything.<br />
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Muslim and Christian votes would be mostly be with Congress or JDS, depending upon who plays better card. BJP has been kept away with constant rhetoric from Congress side on this matter. Tippu Jayanti was one such massive project to consolidate Muslim votes into Congress for 2018. To counter this, BJP might get one or two saffron clad candidates too!<br />
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<b>9) The Modi factor: </b>This is a pan-India factor, which will certainly have effect in Karnataka. But to what extent is a big question mark.<br />
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In mid 2013, BJP had lost a state election and was in terrible shape due to KJP and BRSC splits. Morale was very low. At that time, it was Karnataka that gave massive hope to Narendra Modi in south India by volunteers forming Namo Brigade. It was so successful, that literally lakhs of youth poured into work for Modi as PM. And they succeeded in shaping the opinion in favour of Modi in no time. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4sIXh8_NVJBCK5D4QMd6hyphenhyphenitrPeovx1QCuy0p7bbwfzmDo21l5O4L4xoQLZwQGpGEBfrD6zG0HhMER32_bM2VuJiUSkirv8Z-0urck3H4Vay9VJ3vYqlzSkzaI_Hrzv0wSFKcCNdYrS9l/s1600/Karnataka+2018+Election+-+Namo+Brigade.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4sIXh8_NVJBCK5D4QMd6hyphenhyphenitrPeovx1QCuy0p7bbwfzmDo21l5O4L4xoQLZwQGpGEBfrD6zG0HhMER32_bM2VuJiUSkirv8Z-0urck3H4Vay9VJ3vYqlzSkzaI_Hrzv0wSFKcCNdYrS9l/s320/Karnataka+2018+Election+-+Namo+Brigade.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Namo Brigade rally in Mangaluru - Youtube</i></td></tr>
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<span style="color: purple;"><i>Advantage? BJP</i></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Disadvantage? Congress, JDS</i></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Where would it mostly affect? In nearly 50 constituencies. </i></span> <br />
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A state that gave the highest MPs for BJP from south India, the state which is considered as a gateway for south India for BJP, has lots of potential for Modi. But the key is.. will people vote in state election seeing Modi's promises, work and face?<br />
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BJP leaders think very positively. Because a lot happens with just Modi's name on the ground. Even after 3.5 years, Modi remains a very popular PM for Kannadigas. But Congress thinks otherwise. It is painting Modi and Shah combo as outsiders, and just talk without action guys. Siddaramaiah has been particularly harsh on Modi in his speeches. JDS is not that vocal, as clever Deve Gowda is not letting people know which side the wind is blowing. Overall, if BJP manages to rekindle the NaMo Brigade energy across the state, Modi factor alone can change the results in 25 to 50 seats. Devolution of taxes, MUDRA yojana, farmer policies, Explaining Digital India in India's silicon valley, GST, Bank Accounts and 100+ other schemes can be carefully explained by 17 Lok Sabha MPs and 4 Rajya Sabha MPs of BJP here. But can they beat the perception battle launched by Congress against Modi using demonetization, "15 lakhs" and tons of other local factors?<br />
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Can Rahul Gandhi be a factor? Doubtful considering the current scene. But after the sudden temple run in Gujarat, nothing can be ruled out. <br />
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<b>10) Vote Division: </b>This is a part of every election. Congress is trying hard to divide the Lingayat vote bank of BJP. BJP is trying hard to dip into Dalit vote bank of Congress. A number of small parties are coming into fray with Kannada film star Upendra's party being the notable one. If they manage to get even 10% votes in 20 constituencies, that would directly affect BJP as most supporters of Upendra's party would be urbanites. There were news reports of Congress getting tacit support from SDPI on Muslim side.<br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><i>Advantage? Everyone</i></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Disadvantage? Everyone</i></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Where would it mostly affect? In nearly 100 constituencies.</i></span> <br />
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But BJP will be trying hard to use Triple Talaq to divide Congress party's trusted vote bank here. A couple of years ago, Hasana had a movement of Muslim ladies led by Banu Mushtaq, a Kannada writer, to enter a mosque for prayers. Both BJP and Congress are trying to dent into JDS' core vote bank of Vokkaligas/Gowdas. BJP has already tried to dent into Siddaramaiah's Kuruba vote base, using Rayanna Brigade. Congress is on a spree to give land to various caste groups to secure as much votes as possible. SC/ST would be the most crucial bloc along with Lingayat considering the various uncertainty right now. <br />
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But one thing is certain - Unlike Hardik Patel and others in Gujarat, there is not much of an unknown person's entry into election right now. All are time tested faces.<br />
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In fact, Development is not a key issue at all as of today! Unfortunately so. Caste will be a dominant issue. There might be more issues, but let me stop here for now.<br />
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Your comments, corrections and additional pointers are most welcome! Take this blog post as an attempt to get more people to talk of issues, and get a clear idea, rather than campaigning for any party or against a party. In short, take it easy :)<br />
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Kiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485405523308080612.post-61509184731753437552017-08-30T10:24:00.003-07:002017-08-30T10:24:31.231-07:00Do You Want to Trek to DoodhSagar WaterFalls? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Doodhsagar,</b> literally meaning an ocean of milk, is an inviting waterfall in Goa-Karnataka border. Mondovi (Konkani) or Mahadayi (Kannada) river falls from over 1000 feet here, going as wide as 100 feet in some places. There are multiple drops of the fall from the top, and most people enjoy the top half from a railway track, when they take a train that runs right past the falls.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOhuVPD456dHxHTC1Er7TtOWET3zSW3b5uYYrjvhv98pIUcdbMx8dHTnyyNPKadYjxAHTxDN-ZaAEiE4lKyMUpCafY-HGq_FQjcef3i2RK77cHh4d_vl504peR9_eisnE8DhR71ONEKn79/s1600/2017+Aug+-+Doodh+Sagar+Falls+%252864%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOhuVPD456dHxHTC1Er7TtOWET3zSW3b5uYYrjvhv98pIUcdbMx8dHTnyyNPKadYjxAHTxDN-ZaAEiE4lKyMUpCafY-HGq_FQjcef3i2RK77cHh4d_vl504peR9_eisnE8DhR71ONEKn79/s320/2017+Aug+-+Doodh+Sagar+Falls+%252864%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioUNeU4IO-ZNElrCShvTcYgSF2qqO4QsLKY7QGkN7JLXAjp3FW-fCJy102r5JXg24Qn2VZKqUdg5RDiSYILAFeACC77kx5EP4xNgWxM9e2tieBbu_LIjwTZpAjtBSyVJ6Kx57J3zaKerUZ/s1600/2017+Aug+-+Doodh+Sagar+Falls+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioUNeU4IO-ZNElrCShvTcYgSF2qqO4QsLKY7QGkN7JLXAjp3FW-fCJy102r5JXg24Qn2VZKqUdg5RDiSYILAFeACC77kx5EP4xNgWxM9e2tieBbu_LIjwTZpAjtBSyVJ6Kx57J3zaKerUZ/s320/2017+Aug+-+Doodh+Sagar+Falls+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>How to get there?</b> But we had other plans. We wanted to see the entire falls from the bottom. The entire 1000+ feet falls! It does take some effort as there are only jeeps, motor bikes or a 15+ KM walk as our only options. We chose to walk.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPC3qWVO0MSbf6i9PFgoLSL8ahl_Kf4oQTIsyP0JlrGDwST5C8EXEZU7COMRMsfFpRQDCmk-WbhtU3xvrRRdq-axK7lxsYUyy4oPmPFLWakFpx3Vbs-Vo0vaI7bpwIVbJHXOp3RhfkJqyv/s1600/2017+August+-+Doodhsagar+water+falls+-+map+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="746" data-original-width="850" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPC3qWVO0MSbf6i9PFgoLSL8ahl_Kf4oQTIsyP0JlrGDwST5C8EXEZU7COMRMsfFpRQDCmk-WbhtU3xvrRRdq-axK7lxsYUyy4oPmPFLWakFpx3Vbs-Vo0vaI7bpwIVbJHXOp3RhfkJqyv/s320/2017+August+-+Doodhsagar+water+falls+-+map+2.png" width="320" /></a>We took an overnight mini bus journey from Bengaluru to a place called Ramanagara in Uttara Kannada district. Reached Ramanagara (don't confuse with the more famous Rama nagara near Bengaluru) early morning and freshened up. Keep at least 8 hours to get to Ramanagara.<br />
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From Ramanagara, we crossed over to Goa state and reached a place called Colem (also Kolem).<br />
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From Colem or Kolem, during monsoon you can only walk or take a motor bike ride (one bike per visitor). We preferred to walk. Jeeps are available for parts of the journey, but not throughout as the path gets flooded beyond jeep's safe driving height.<br />
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<b>Trekking: </b> Start before 11 AM from Colem. You must target to reach the water falls before 3 PM. Else your luck might run out if it rains heavy or fog comes over. Remember, you will have to cross the river and streams many times. Even 30 minutes of heavy rain will raise the water level by a feet or two! We experienced over 1 feet difference within 20 minutes at the top. Carry a good first-aid box.<br />
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This is the starting point. Everyone in full josh!<br />
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The first 3 KM would be below the railway track and thick Western Ghats jungle. Remember, even if you take a jeep for a part of your return, you will have to walk back the same 3 KM stretch in the evening, so plan on coming here before sunset. Don't forget rainproof clothing, specifically for your mobile phones, wallets etc. It rains heavily in this part of Western Ghats rain forest. Torches will come handy for evening. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixzizoyQhQVHtQ9zpIIpW6bOgSI4TJ_L5b4k_UAV8kRnrzsrayB8o6W69rFQ01bfhyphenhyphenpyJX4IT6roNckxCbS8p1rTGDrIkt-QeQGWl4i80bZoLlQKvcQ29iW8da6M8UbrezwhoS9NKMxzOH/s1600/2017+Aug+-+Doodh+Sagar+Falls+%25286%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixzizoyQhQVHtQ9zpIIpW6bOgSI4TJ_L5b4k_UAV8kRnrzsrayB8o6W69rFQ01bfhyphenhyphenpyJX4IT6roNckxCbS8p1rTGDrIkt-QeQGWl4i80bZoLlQKvcQ29iW8da6M8UbrezwhoS9NKMxzOH/s320/2017+Aug+-+Doodh+Sagar+Falls+%25286%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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The path is beautiful. If you start early, you can relax next to streams, enjoy the views.. and if you are very lucky, you might catch a Bison or two from a distance! We saw one bison that was 600+ KG from a safe distance. <br />
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The track changes from rough jeep track to beautiful jungle tracks. In some places you can get lush green lawns! That's the best part of hiking during monsoon. Lots of greenery and heavy water flow making your trip worthwhile.<br />
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For those afraid of leech bites, you can carry thin plastic covers and tightly wrap around your shoe, socks and lower part of pants (see the left most person in a pic below). <br />
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If you go in a big team, you can have lot of fun. Just don't fall behind each much. Also do take a guide. Our guide was excellent. Click 100s of pictures. We had scores of good photographers!<br />
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If you don't want to walk, throughout the year you can avail motor bike facility. It would be almost the same price per person as trekking, minus all the fun of jungle trek.<br />
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The walking path is very beautiful. There would always be a small worry of a bison or leopard, but the guides will take you through safer ways. If you are nature lover, you can observe plenty of camouflaging insects, different types of birds, small reptiles and much more. <br />
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If you give yourself enough time to hike, you can relax and take lots of pictures next to streams and river along the way. It is totally worth it, particularly during intermittent rains. If our youngest champion could trek all along, you can feel assured that this trek can be done by most people, who can walk 15 to 20KM in one day. <br />
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Our guide spotted some wild mushrooms on the way. He quickly grabbed a few and gave it on the way to a house where our food was being prepared. We had the same mushroom curry, on the way back from falls! As fresh as it gets...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZHP55mzPX5IHkV8XQ-YOzZ64NRnoOR5VXHkXyHTR0G7xN5l5g7iWhANV6SReUtWqC5rehoGyEkWz37zep86i36ajSUz6L94_UDRLWeJ-oS3sRAcgi3zeEaOY6JT17cBl2s6yTd4AN70P3/s1600/2017+Aug+-+Doodh+Sagar+Falls+%2528191%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZHP55mzPX5IHkV8XQ-YOzZ64NRnoOR5VXHkXyHTR0G7xN5l5g7iWhANV6SReUtWqC5rehoGyEkWz37zep86i36ajSUz6L94_UDRLWeJ-oS3sRAcgi3zeEaOY6JT17cBl2s6yTd4AN70P3/s320/2017+Aug+-+Doodh+Sagar+Falls+%2528191%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
As we get closer to the falls, beyond the watch tower, the current gets tougher, and crossing becomes difficult. In one or two places, you might have to literally form human chains, or grab onto ropes put by volunteers. Be very careful with footing. One slip, and you might get washed down half a KM over rocks and boulders hurting seriously. Don't try any stunts here. If you feel unsafe, don't attempt any further. Go back to the watch tower and view from a safe distance. Water level here changes by hour. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbjZYvZHB-w01d_OnYHhmqOCWy2oOaFwM8lBfWFC26YrJEf6rGoVtbsurS_MsURhLeTwDoeUnOBfJ05rhIXUpVO5fRUHZH4x5UGdCl6-Ck1hSXAG_oGnn2syb_-pj_NeQQqQL3R0CnKlLQ/s1600/2017+Aug+-+Doodh+Sagar+Falls+%2528201%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbjZYvZHB-w01d_OnYHhmqOCWy2oOaFwM8lBfWFC26YrJEf6rGoVtbsurS_MsURhLeTwDoeUnOBfJ05rhIXUpVO5fRUHZH4x5UGdCl6-Ck1hSXAG_oGnn2syb_-pj_NeQQqQL3R0CnKlLQ/s320/2017+Aug+-+Doodh+Sagar+Falls+%2528201%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a> <br />
And the view after all this effort? Priceless!<br />
Many of our team members wished we reached an hour earlier to spend more time here. By the time we got here, it was time to pack up due to the risk of flash floods and more heavy rain. But even the 15-20 minutes we spent here were totally worth it!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu0aQSmM2A_YokvretEvR9OFbdUIRtERfX0LaT9DfyMyBYy-ksz_RgYrIPp3nY_q8X2leCmSnblpcBt85TBVM7T3nrjZVOu3J2c3yZ0ktgw8e7_-lbqJFlSuxFh8hz8Xippb1o0wYZifA6/s1600/2017+Aug+-+Doodh+Sagar+Falls+%2528207%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu0aQSmM2A_YokvretEvR9OFbdUIRtERfX0LaT9DfyMyBYy-ksz_RgYrIPp3nY_q8X2leCmSnblpcBt85TBVM7T3nrjZVOu3J2c3yZ0ktgw8e7_-lbqJFlSuxFh8hz8Xippb1o0wYZifA6/s320/2017+Aug+-+Doodh+Sagar+Falls+%2528207%2529.jpg" width="240" /></a> <br />
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This is the actual viewing tower, if you don't want to take a risk during the final stretch. It is safe to view from here in any weather. <br />
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And we did something we hadn't done before, after eating sumptuous lunch served by the guide's friend's family.<br />
16 people in one jeep!!
Because our second jeep to return was parked 3 to 4 KM down the road,
and no one wanted to walk that much. So we had lot of fun with 16 people
in one jeep :)<br />
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We decided not to travel back 600+ KM overnight as you will be damp, tired and really need a good shower and sleep. We headed to the nearest big city, Belagavi on the Karnataka side. It took us about 2.5 hours to get here from Colem. We stopped at Khanapur for a nice paav bhaji, Dosa and other dinner items. <br />
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Rest well and then the next day would be a lot of fun. <br />
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Military Mahadev temple, Belagavi. There is a beautiful park with miniatures of all of Shivaji Maharaj's forts here to see. <br />
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Belagavi's Durga temple, fort and lake opposite to the fort.<br />
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Suvarna Soudha about 15 minutes south of Belagavi. Massive structure for assembly building and you can get a great view of Belagavi from top of this hill. <br />
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Then the historic Kittur fort and museum. You can spend hours listening to the guides explaining how India's first female freedom fighter fought the British army from here.<br />
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Overall.. Doodhsagar is in the middle of awesome attractions. Either you can head west after the falls to see the beautiful beaches of Goa, or head east to Karnataka for what all we saw, or head south again to Karnataka to more wilderness in the Western Ghats. Everything is within 2 hours of drive.<br />
<br />
Go out there and enjoy!</div>
Kiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485405523308080612.post-16333696309372114372017-05-16T10:00:00.002-07:002017-05-16T10:21:30.718-07:00CPEC: Does It Make Economic Sense For Pakistan?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b><span style="color: purple;">Introduction: </span></b><br />
<br />
The hottest topic during the past weekend was BRI (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt_and_Road_Initiative" target="_blank">Belt and Road Initiative</a>) or OBOR (One Belt, One Road). Basically China's mega project of Belt and Road Initiative, connecting dozens of countries and building infrastructure with a "win-win" proposal.<br />
<br />
One important part of OBOR has relevance to the Indian subcontinent. That is CPEC - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China%E2%80%93Pakistan_Economic_Corridor" target="_blank">China Pakistan Economic Corridor</a>. <br />
<br />
There are five parts to this writeup. Feel free to jump to any section that suits your interest as the writeup is quite long. If you have time, go through every section, including the videos and reading material links provided. You will need at least 5 hours to fully absorb the extensive research provided here, if you want to read and watch all the material provided.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: purple;"><u>Five parts in this writeup:</u></span></b><br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="color: purple;">General views from involved countries.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: purple;">Legality of a disputed area through which CPEC goes through.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: purple;">Misconceptions about CPEC in Pakistan.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: purple;">Strategic reasons for CPEC that would mostly benefit China only.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: purple;">Why both Pakistan and China are going ahead with CPEC? </span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<i><span style="color: purple;"><b>-----------------------------------------------------------------</b></span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: purple;"><b>Part 1: There are three general views about CPEC, from three concerned countries. </b></span></i><br />
<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>If you are <b>a Pakistani,</b> you will be talking about the bright future for Pakistan in CPEC and how Dollars will grow from trees in a generation! Of course, you will say Indians are jealous of Pakistan's upcoming massive development, and hence they are not joining OBOR or CPEC. By the way, CPEC is the largest investment promised to Pakistan since its formation in 1947! </li>
<li>If you are <b>an Indian,</b> you will focus on Gilgit Baltistan area of Jammu and Kashmir state, that is legally a part of India, but illegally occupied by Pakistani. You will also focus on Shaksgam valley and Aksai Chin as related areas of Jammu and Kashmir, illegally occupied by China. And, CPEC will eventually touch these Pakistan and China occupied territories that are legally a part of India due to 1947 J&K accession document. For India, this is a clear violation of its territorial sovereignty. </li>
<li>If you are <b>a Chinese,</b> you will talk about economic cooperation with all neighbouring countries, specifically linking Indian ocean with Pacific ocean with the great CPEC project and OBOR mega scheme. As a Chinese, you would say, keep politics out of economic project. </li>
</ol>
But let's examine CPEC part of OBOR in detail. I am liberally using an <a href="https://twitter.com/handle_anonymus/status/858005561056518145" target="_blank">excellent research posted on Twitter by an Anonymous poster</a> {@handle_anonymus}. Special thanks to that man or woman, who has enlightened us all, while keeping anonymous. I also did some in depth reading and watching videos over the days to understand more on this. So this blog will have a combination of info, but presented in a way that will give you a bigger picture. <br />
<br />
It does not matter if you support or oppose CPEC and OBOR. Just read to understand the ground realities and projections. Then give your opinion in comments, and specifically any corrections to the facts presented here. <br />
<br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><i><b><i><span style="color: purple;"><b>-----------------------------------------------------------------</b></span></i></b></i></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i><b><i><span style="color: purple;"><b>Part 2: </b></span></i>Why do you say that a part of CPEC route is illegal as per international laws?</b></i></span><br />
<br />
This is about the entry point of CPEC into Pakistan from China. The first 300 or so KM of CPEC passes through Jammu and Kashmir state, which is a legal part of India. You can refer to my earlier blog to learn about Gilgit Baltistan area - <a href="http://kiranasis.blogspot.in/2017/05/jammu-and-kashmir-reality-check.html" target="_blank">Jammu and Kashmir, a Reality Check</a>. I have provided maps and much more details about the overall regions and the "dispute" part. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: blue;"><i>"The multi-billion dollar
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is being touted as nothing more
than a 'black hole' as far as people of Gilgit Baltistan <span style="color: #38761d;">(shown in green in the map below)</span> are concerned. <a href="http://unpo.org/article/19063" target="_blank">Junaid Qureshi, a Kashmiri writer</a> raises voice against the CPEC project, which passes through Gilgit Baltistan, a disputed territory controlled by Pakistan."</i></span> </blockquote>
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<br />
In short, <i><u>neither China, nor Pakistan can ever claim that they OWN this Gilgit Baltistan area</u></i>, which Pakistan also called as Northern Areas. If this area goes to international court, neither China, nor Pakistan can ever produce Accession document, which is with India for the entire Jammu and Kashmir state, of which Gilgit and Baltistan are part of. <br />
<br />
<br />
<i><span style="color: purple;"><b>Why so much emphasis on Gilgit Baltistan, a part of Jammu and Kashmir state in India?</b></span> </i><br />
<br />
For those who have not studied or watched Gilgit and Baltistan area of Jammu and Kashmir state,<br />
there are some links here. It is a fabulously beautiful place on the earth!<br />
<br />
<br />
Watch the first 7 minutes and the last five minutes. You will see how CPEC is building infrastructure in Indian territory occupied by Pakistan. In India this is called as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir or PoK for short.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ5K_rF4AxE" target="_blank">National Geographic Documentary Pakistan China Economic Corridor One Belt One Road CPEC</a>.</div>
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<br />
Gilgit Baltistan is a paradise of Jammu and Kashmir lost by India. Illegally occupied by Pakistan and China (Shaksgam valley).<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxQOo14D7L4" target="_blank">An Aerial View of Northern Areas of Pakistan or Gilgit-Baltistan.</a> </div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OxQOo14D7L4/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OxQOo14D7L4?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><i>"China occupies more than 20,000 square kilometer of Gilgit-Baltistan (part of Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir) covering Shaksgam, Raskam, Shimshal and Aghil valleys" </i></span>- <a href="http://www.sharnoffsglobalviews.com/china-shaksgam-valley-191/" target="_blank">Senge Sering,</a> President of Institute for Gilgit Baltistan Studies.</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Read: <a href="http://www.sharnoffsglobalviews.com/china-shaksgam-valley-191/" target="_blank">China’s Interests in Shaksgam Valley</a></div>
<br />
As part of the Sino-Pakistan Frontier Agreement from 1960s, the Chinese authorities guaranteed India that it accepted Gilgit-Baltistan as a disputed territory and that the agreement was only provisional in nature and would be renegotiated once the dispute of Jammu & Kashmir was resolved. <br />
This is the main reason India is saying CPEC is violating its territorial sovereignty.<br />
<br />
This is how the Karakoram map highway was built between 1960s and 1980s first, and then being widened and strengthened during 2010s. India has objected to this many times in the past. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TQ0rbRh9KY" target="_blank">Nat Geo | CPEC Karakoram Highway | Insane Engineering </a></div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiNyXy8f4rU" target="_blank">Magnificent Karakoram Mountains - Fly-Through Tour in Google Earth </a></div>
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<br />
K2, the world's second highest peak is legally inside India per accession documents, but illegally occupied by Pakistan. See how beautiful it is. <br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzLWdNfNj-4" target="_blank">K2 with a Drone! </a></div>
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<br />
<br />
In short, Gilgit Baltistan is a paradise, a tough terrain and strategically very important for India, but under Pakistan and China's joint occupation now, as described above. <i><b>This is the core issue for dispute </b></i>and there is no way it would end anytime soon. <br />
<br />
It's always a possibility that India can block international loans to CPEC tomorrow, citing legality of the territory. It's quite possible and a big risk Pakistan is taking knowing well the reality of Gilgit Baltistan's accession to India history. <br />
<br />
<i><span style="color: purple;"><b>-----------------------------------------------------------------</b></span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: purple;"><b>Part 3: Is CPEC really helpful for Pakistan? Let's examine Five big misconceptions.</b></span></i><br />
<br />
For a minute let's say.. who cares about Indian opposition? Both China and Pakistan have nuclear weapons and there is no practical way India can wrestle Gilgit-Baltistan from Pakistan and China by force. India can play other tricks like water sharing cut off. But "we" can deal with them when they happen. "We" are going ahead with CPEC no matter what...<br />
<br />
In that case, ask again. Is CPEC really helpful for Pakistan? This is the core question for this blog. CPEC is certainly helpful for China as it is planning it. <br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>But for Pakistan? Is it worth the time, money, effort, international conflicts and much more?</li>
<li>Beyond politics, loans, technology etc... the big question is.. is this CPEC making economic sense to Pakistan, where most of the things are being built?</li>
</ol>
Now I will use the information from Twitter, <a href="https://twitter.com/handle_anonymus/status/858005561056518145" target="_blank">referred here</a>. I am going to present almost line by line that research from here onward.<br />
<br />
There have been many rationals provided for CPEC. Pakistanis think that
it would upend sea route and CPEC would become primary supply route for Chinese goods and thus when it is completed then Dollars will flow through canals! First I demolish <i><b><span style="color: red;">five misconceptions </span></b></i>that people may have about CPEC, and then ponder on why it is being built, and its ramifications.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><b><i>First misconception about CPEC: Cost of Transportation will become less</i></b></span><br />
<br />
The first misconception is that it would become a supply route to China by
upending sea route for goods supplied to and from mid-east. It is not so and I would try to prove it using approximations with data available from open sources.<br />
<br />
Distance between <a href="http://www.distancesfrom.com/cn/distance-from-Shanghai-to-Kashgar/DistanceHistory/3966250.aspx" target="_blank">Shanghai and Kashi</a> (Kashgar) = 5121 KM.<br />
Distance between <a href="http://www.distancesfrom.com/uz/distance-from-Kashgar-to-Gwadar/DistanceHistory/9759805.aspx" target="_blank">Kashgar and Gwadar</a> = 2747 KM.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/649241468155983939/pdf/579680WP0road0Box353787B01PUBLIC1.pdf" target="_blank">Average Trucking cost</a> per Ton per KM in China = 5 cents.<br />
<a href="https://www.iisd.org/gsi/sites/default/files/ffs_india_irade_trucking.pdf" target="_blank">Average Trucking cost</a> per Ton per KM in Pakistan = 1.8 cents.<br />
<br />
These cost are from a decade ago, and would have become 6 cents for China and 3 cents for Pakistan, just by taking inflation into account.This is the most conservative calculation as I am not
taking into account Hazard premium that nature of Terrain imposes on Pakistan (Karakoram Highway is <a href="http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/life/worlds-deadliest-roads-098394/" target="_blank">rated world's fourth most dangerous highway</a>) and the Hazard premium that China has to pay for transporting good through Takla Makan Desert, Kulun Shan mountains range and Altai Shan mountain range.<br />
<br />
But still let us calculate cost of transporting a Ton of good from Shanghai to Gwadar.<br />
<br />
Cost incurred in Chinese territory = 0.06 X 5121 = $307<br />
Cost incurred in Pakistani territory = 0.03 X 2747 = $82.41<br />
So total cost from Shanghai to Gwadar for a Ton of goods = $389.41<br />
<br />
Now let destination port be Dubai.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://unctad.org/en/PublicationChapters/rmt2015ch3_en.pdf" target="_blank">Cost of Transporting</a> Dubai to Shanghai = $820 per TEU.<br />
Since standard <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-foot_equivalent_unit" target="_blank">1 TEU</a> = 21,600 KG, the Cost of Transporting 1 Ton via sea from Dubai to Shanghai = $38.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.businessdubai.com/freight/freight.asp" target="_blank">Cost from</a> Karachi to Dubai for 1 TEU = $125 (rate for Gwadar are not available as port is not operational).<br />
So the cost of transporting 1 Ton from Karachi to Dubai = $5.787.<br />
Total cost of Shipping a Ton from Shanghai to Dubai via Gwadar = $395.<br />
<br />
Total cost of Shipping directly from Dubai to Shanghai = $38 <i><b>which
is 10.4 times less</b></i> than that of Transporting via Gwadar !! <br />
<br />
And this is not all. CPEC passes through Khunjareb Pass <a href="http://www.dangerousroads.org/asia/pakistan/3334-karakoram-highway-pakistan-2.html" target="_blank">which remain open only</a> from May 1st till December 31st of each year. So CPEC can't be the main route to anywhere.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><b><i>Second misconception about CPEC: China needs an energy Pipeline</i></b></span><br />
<br />
The second misconception is that China is constructing a pipeline from Gwadar to Nawabshah. It has lead to Pakistanis speculating that Gwadar is on path of becoming an energy. Their TV shows even pulled in Iran and Russia into the gas equation of CPEC.<br />
<br />
But it is not - reasons are here.<br />
<br />
If one look <a href="https://energeopolitics.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/china-central-asia-gas-pipelines.gif" target="_blank">at this map</a> properly, China borders Gas and Oil rich Central Asia and has three mega pipelines running from Central Asia to China, including the world's<b> <i>longest pipeline</i></b>. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH3qQII8PwimR8nf-7ugzaD6dBjzyLhKLDniGsGiUzuJBK9pKNzIMbT6X5QJSWuxn2Ef4PyllBYTVHGonuxNxBFXs_l7woiY1NcDOelx0th-_LD9v6Q8yls7SD1cs_BY0obEvByDOGDXai/s1600/CPEC+-+china-central-asia-gas-pipelines.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH3qQII8PwimR8nf-7ugzaD6dBjzyLhKLDniGsGiUzuJBK9pKNzIMbT6X5QJSWuxn2Ef4PyllBYTVHGonuxNxBFXs_l7woiY1NcDOelx0th-_LD9v6Q8yls7SD1cs_BY0obEvByDOGDXai/s320/CPEC+-+china-central-asia-gas-pipelines.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>This version of map does not show Indian borders accurately</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Of
anything that China needs, the least thing that China needs in East
Turkestan is Energy. It could get ample amount of it just from across
the border, some 100's of KM away. Note that <b>East Turkestan</b> is referred by China as its <b>Xinjiang </b>province, but <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Turkestan" target="_blank">there is a lot of controversy around that</a> involving the native inhabitants Muslim Uyghurs. This CPEC runs through Xinjiang province on the Chinese part.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><b><i>Third misconception about CPEC: It saves time</i></b></span> <br />
<br />
The third misconception about CPEC is that it could save time. This again is false. Let’s assume
the best possible conditions for a truck. A Truck would not stop anywhere (No rest for drivers, no checkpoints, no fuel or repair break)
and assume that a Truck runs 24 Hours at 30KMph, and I am neglecting time it would be needed to transfer goods in Gwadar.<br />
<br />
Time required for Travel = 262 Hours = 11 Days.<br />
<br />
Via sea, <a href="http://www.businessdubai.com/freight/freight.asp" target="_blank">the time required for transport</a> of a container from Dubai to Karachi = 5 days.<br />
So the total time required for overland transport when drivers and port handlers are supermen = 16 days.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.theodmgroup.com/calculating-container-shipping-time/" target="_blank">Time required to transport</a> a container from Dubai to Shanghai via sea = 15 Days.<br />
<br />
This was an outlier calculation. Let's be realistic. Assume that a driver drives for 12 hour per day, it would take and on average take a day extra to go through customs and refueling stop. It would take him 91.57 hours to reach Kashgar, which would be equal to 7.7 days or 8.7 days taking pit stops into account. That Truck would take 170 Hours to reach Shanghai from Kashgar. That is 14
days of driving and assuming two days for pit stops, 16 days. We assume that Gwadar is as efficient as that of Karachi, it would take 6 days <a href="http://www.mehrancorporation.com/clearance.php" target="_blank">to clear import formalities</a>.<br />
<br />
Thus the total time it would need to transport goods from Dubai to Shanghai via Gwadar would be <b>36 days, compared to 15 days</b> it would take to reach Dubai from Shanghai via Malacca!!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><b><i>Fourth misconception about CPEC: It could serve Western China </i></b></span><br />
<br />
There are two follies to this argument.<br />
The first being that western China is <b>sparsely populated</b> and the second being that <b>other seaports are closer</b> to those provinces. <br />
<br />
Following provinces are close to CPEC<br />
1. East Turkestan (Xinjiang): Area 1664900
Sq KM; Pop 22.09 million.<br />
2. Qinghai: Area 720,000 Sq KM; Pop 5.58 million.<br />
3. Gansu : Area 425,800 Sq KM; Pop 25.64 million.<br />
4. Inner Mongolia: Area 1183,000 Sq KM; Pop 24.82 million.<br />
5. Tibet: Area 1228400 Sq KM; Pop 3.145 million.<br />
<br />
Total area of these provinces = 5,222,100 Sq KM.<br />
This is 54% of Total area of China, and an area 6.6 times that of Pakistan; while its population is just 81 million which is 6% of Chines population
and less than half (0.44 times) of Pakistani population.<br />
<br />
This is the extent of <a href="http://www.china-food-security.org/images/maps/pop/pop_1_h.jpg" target="_blank">how sparsely populated</a> Western part of China is.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIbu8uiMw_SKl0n_HZDot314z-d-5dg_nqrV6-LJixVQNjB2_nB1TZYFVoKAb4qwKQRbYKsBItJhjjhAUaSZvI64HDS6OBI7WtrIm_vIGERjzLVG07dYwY1OQ_K3qLD73k2uUB50IfbbyG/s1600/CPEC+-+china-food-security+map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIbu8uiMw_SKl0n_HZDot314z-d-5dg_nqrV6-LJixVQNjB2_nB1TZYFVoKAb4qwKQRbYKsBItJhjjhAUaSZvI64HDS6OBI7WtrIm_vIGERjzLVG07dYwY1OQ_K3qLD73k2uUB50IfbbyG/s320/CPEC+-+china-food-security+map.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Chinese version of map does not show Indian borders accurately</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Pakistan shares border with <a href="http://enviro-map.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/Chinas-Gobi-and-Taklamakan-deserts.jpg" target="_blank">Takla Makan desert</a> of China.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoBxNVrEI1EklF5a98ZXObBzJxzWNV9VLN8gdxGgvYRBuF6S5rh8vv-jcG06gerjUf7IyvvhybS8we0PLQGi3wvKsrMxWMyJSgmKxhyphenhyphenrrMn9DI2OE4p9w6eV62Fi_ERb4V-Qf_6ljpjLsa/s1600/CPEC+-+Chinas-Gobi-and-Taklamakan-deserts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoBxNVrEI1EklF5a98ZXObBzJxzWNV9VLN8gdxGgvYRBuF6S5rh8vv-jcG06gerjUf7IyvvhybS8we0PLQGi3wvKsrMxWMyJSgmKxhyphenhyphenrrMn9DI2OE4p9w6eV62Fi_ERb4V-Qf_6ljpjLsa/s320/CPEC+-+Chinas-Gobi-and-Taklamakan-deserts.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Chinese version of map does not show Indian borders accurately</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A Highway & Economic corridors brings prosperity when Economic
depression of a region is due to that region being cut off from rest of the country. In this case, underdevelopment is <a href="http://www2m.biglobe.ne.jp/ZenTech/English/Climate/China/China_Climate_Map.gif" target="_blank">due to geographical factors</a>, not due to infrastructure factors. See this map closely for climatic regions of Asian eastern half. Clearly a large portion of CPEC's intended area within today's China is BWk (Desert) or ET (Alpine) areas with very minimal human population. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL1LuITVvCmueWRKecnNJgvMz-yc9uhQaD6VBARZ96YOJvzYinYZz4Nhd8CphGcX3FdTcBNyTRRsvDFIbV4Bpk0LSCDt5qvV56XUf0erC66awRS4hOdbMIQiHFM1mdv5MaT8e8JrW75GDk/s1600/CPEC+-+China_Climate_Map.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL1LuITVvCmueWRKecnNJgvMz-yc9uhQaD6VBARZ96YOJvzYinYZz4Nhd8CphGcX3FdTcBNyTRRsvDFIbV4Bpk0LSCDt5qvV56XUf0erC66awRS4hOdbMIQiHFM1mdv5MaT8e8JrW75GDk/s320/CPEC+-+China_Climate_Map.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Deserts, cold arid Plateaus, and mountains reduce your Economic
potential (unless you harness them for tourism like Switzerland).<br />
<br />
Now we come to aspect of distance between West Chinese cities and nearest seaports.<br />
<br />
CPEC is not airdropping in Western Qinghai so that it would have same effect on all of Western China. It is joining China in North-West corner of China, that is the western corner of
East Turkestan. The only provinces that it could affect are East Turkestan (Xinjiang) and its neighbours Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu in Western China, and Inner Mongolia in Northern China. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUi8UwsKs2B-voZRtHGgBPjmDCIDd0BpzJcJl42JKP_QMN7IMP4WpWv3gT-QzEirMEsBzetxxVcqSx_AnwJ9VR7KS20Q7Dj0ipkpSx_7xRXjYNsn7PnXHHrZ-KApcJSKMILZeKZ6x5g2m3/s1600/CPEC+-+China_provinces.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUi8UwsKs2B-voZRtHGgBPjmDCIDd0BpzJcJl42JKP_QMN7IMP4WpWv3gT-QzEirMEsBzetxxVcqSx_AnwJ9VR7KS20Q7Dj0ipkpSx_7xRXjYNsn7PnXHHrZ-KApcJSKMILZeKZ6x5g2m3/s320/CPEC+-+China_provinces.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Source: Wiki</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Many people would find it difficult
to fathom that some provinces (mostly in West China) are many times larger than even Pakistan itself. East Turkestan is 2.1 times
larger, Tibet is 1.54 times larger, Inner Mongolia 1.48 times larger Qinghai equal to Pakistan, and Gansu is half of Pakistan.<br />
<br />
Eastern part of Western China is further away from Pakistan than even Europe. For example capital of Shaanxi (Taiyuan) is as far
away from Islamabad by air (3559 KM) as Ankara (3600 KM).<br />
CPEC could not be used by people separated by 2 provinces from Pakistan. It is a non starter.<br />
<br />
But let’s present facts still.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #351c75;"><i>Take Shaanxi - Capital Taiyuan; Distance of capital from Islamabad = 4904.3 KM.<br />Distance of capital from nearest Chinese seaport (Tianjin) = 943 KM.<br />Distance of capital from Gwadar = 6644 KM.<br /><br />Take Ningxia - Capital Yinchuan; Distance of capital from Islamabad = 4337 KM.<br />Distance of capital from nearest Chinese seaport (Tianjin) = 1200 KM.<br />Distance of capital from Gwadar = 6077 KM.<br /><br />Take Chongquing (No capital); Distance of Chongquing from Islamabad = 5069 KM.<br />Distance of Chongquing from nearest Chinese seaport = 0 KM. This is considering the construction of Three Gorges Dam. Barring the largest cargo ships, ocean going ships could sail upto Chongquing. But still distance between Chongquing and
Shanghai is 1689 KM.<br />Distance of Chongquing from Gwadar = 6843 KM.<br /><br />Take Guzihou - capital Gulyang; Distance of capital from Islamabad = 5459 KM.<br />Distance of capital from nearest Chinese seaport (Beihai) = 796 KM.<br />Distance of capital from Gwadar = 7199 KM.<br /><br />Take Yunnan - capital (Kuming); Distance of capital from Islamabad = 5859 KM.<br />Distance of capital from nearest Chinese seaport (Beihai) = 1024 KM.<br />Distance of capital from Gwadar = 7635 KM.<br /><br />Take Sichuan - capital (Chengdu); Distance of capital from Islamabad = 4976 KM.<br />Distance of capital from nearest Chinese seaport (Chongquing) = 326 KM and (Shanghai) = 1968 KM.<br />Distance of capital from Gwadar = 6716 KM.</i></span></blockquote>
<br />
All these Western provinces that Pakistanis dream Gwadar would serve <b>are farther away from Gwadar than Western Europe</b> is from Pakistan by Road. Distance between Islamabad and Berlin by road is 6353 KM, and of Paris is 7300 KM; nearly of the order of distance of Gwadar from any of Eastern provinces of Western China.<br />
<br />
Anyway China does not even intend to use Gwadar for these provinces. It
already has a corridor via Myanmar to Yunnan province <a href="http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2013/07/29/map-chinas-new-energy-corridor/" target="_blank">for redundancy in 2013 itself</a>. <br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4kq6yL-cQPSkOeM60I7MsSO2fBBb5Z6fZ3Lx2UVn4lEsX9s4mjgx0gcWAAtLq5VgchHhtOUaO9iKtFrw8NdxgFpEfo9TAZWL6cTOVgiiMDqG8sZTmy22AUHQ7y2OiBc7rOfWx4Px1zxXo/s1600/CPEC+-+SHWE-Myanmar-pipline-map.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4kq6yL-cQPSkOeM60I7MsSO2fBBb5Z6fZ3Lx2UVn4lEsX9s4mjgx0gcWAAtLq5VgchHhtOUaO9iKtFrw8NdxgFpEfo9TAZWL6cTOVgiiMDqG8sZTmy22AUHQ7y2OiBc7rOfWx4Px1zxXo/s320/CPEC+-+SHWE-Myanmar-pipline-map.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><b><i>Fifth misconception about CPEC: It would develop East Turkestan (Xinjiang) </i></b></span><br />
<br />
Now we come to final dream of CPEC - that it would develop far west of China that is East Turkestan. This is pure day dreaming.<br />
<br />
The reason that East Turkmenistan is not developed is because most of <a href="http://www.travelwestchina.com/uploads/images/maps/xinjiang/img_takla-makan-desert-map.jpg" target="_blank">it is covered with Takla Makan desert</a>. near Pakistan border and Tien Shan mountain range in the north. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPFLc78MsBruZktm9ihM1U7eL77QvXUjqZORe8_t6tNM7JjYEFbsEjOYgiVBlNI7KyzhjfMNzI8q6l64B909wuVk9zFFgSKa2r93n7EgGNps31WbNyvOJtCI3baQHjrVIKfigz1XJIZGXF/s1600/CPEC+-+takla-makan-desert-map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPFLc78MsBruZktm9ihM1U7eL77QvXUjqZORe8_t6tNM7JjYEFbsEjOYgiVBlNI7KyzhjfMNzI8q6l64B909wuVk9zFFgSKa2r93n7EgGNps31WbNyvOJtCI3baQHjrVIKfigz1XJIZGXF/s320/CPEC+-+takla-makan-desert-map.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Inner Mongolia region is not developed because <a href="http://www.bluepeak.net/mongolia/assets/images/map-gobi.gif" target="_blank">most of it is covered</a> with Gobi desert.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR_u0SBGcBxuGHYwQ-Vz3YTyUhqUhkYWgaImuLfbCermuHyaQouqYydQOLe521GOxDe9QsAZJrOGBpt-ndlbbS9S9G4yDnKciNoAnGT9MInuQMDEHV4k17dk2YkuZbisLQcwcXEcnqL0sT/s1600/CPEC+-+map-gobi.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR_u0SBGcBxuGHYwQ-Vz3YTyUhqUhkYWgaImuLfbCermuHyaQouqYydQOLe521GOxDe9QsAZJrOGBpt-ndlbbS9S9G4yDnKciNoAnGT9MInuQMDEHV4k17dk2YkuZbisLQcwcXEcnqL0sT/s320/CPEC+-+map-gobi.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Quinghai is not developed because most of its is
mountainous with Kulun, Altun and Bayan Har shan mountain ranges.<br />
<br />
Gansu is not developed because its area is covered with Gobi desert and Quilian Shan mountain range. <br />
<br />
Tibet is not developed because it is <a href="http://www.ezilon.com/maps/images/asia/China-physical-map.gif" target="_blank">a barren cold plateau</a>.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3vGmpVWRuVZtx-yY1tmKakqWui5U_80gVo1S1mq9TKwbSqCSEIFE43rY8Y_oswu6UStREeIcsqQ1fljJVCLkxYLXsc6XVdUf_xuyXbRQ-kE4pO4MC-iZGiQR_Bhkm_g2My83D6RAPoo6U/s1600/CPEC+-+China-physical-map.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3vGmpVWRuVZtx-yY1tmKakqWui5U_80gVo1S1mq9TKwbSqCSEIFE43rY8Y_oswu6UStREeIcsqQ1fljJVCLkxYLXsc6XVdUf_xuyXbRQ-kE4pO4MC-iZGiQR_Bhkm_g2My83D6RAPoo6U/s320/CPEC+-+China-physical-map.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Chinese version of map does not show Indian borders accurately</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
These places have a low population density because of geographical
limitations. Desert and Mountains never support high population, and this is a basic economic rule that low population areas never have high growth potential (because of less number of producers and consumers). Barring discovery of oil, desert remains
civilization backwater, irrespective of how many road you build since their population supporting capacity is limited by some very basic factors, FOOD and WATER. Even if you transport food at great cost in this area, you would still have no water to support a large settlement.<br />
<br />
<i><span style="color: purple;"><b>----------------------------------------------------------------- </b></span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: purple;"><b>Part 4: Then WHY is China financing such a massive CPEC project?</b></span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: purple;"><b> </b></span></i> <br />
Now that we have put some misconceptions regarding CPEC out of way, we ponder on reasons why China is financing CPEC? There are<span style="color: red;"> <b><i>four key reasons. </i></b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><b><i>First reason for China building CPEC: Backup Trade route </i></b></span><br />
<br />
The first reason is that China is building an alternative trade route in case Malacca and Sunda straits are blocked by US Navy or Indian Navy during a war. You need to go through either <a href="http://globalbalita.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Straits-of-Malacca-Sunda-Lombok-e1457972018166.jpg" target="_blank">Malacca, Sunda, or Lombok straits</a>, if you want to travel from Pacific to Indian oceans and <a href="http://globalriskinsights.com/2017/03/china-overcome-malacca-dilemma-obor-cpec/" target="_blank">does not want to swing around</a> Papua New Guinea or Australia.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx-NOk14FRkUx7Ak32B-cPKHtlKdM_3ONYtAJCCCo1MENndGUyMIDD1HdeT6q6DRfEqu3zgtpbukvENQgzI_MAQgUg_aK3LO7jeRRJk0aTfpGPm40opbcxVRqsbslYrWkdQeVcwtXDXxv6/s1600/CPEC+-+Straits-of-Malacca-Sunda-Lombok-e1457972018166.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx-NOk14FRkUx7Ak32B-cPKHtlKdM_3ONYtAJCCCo1MENndGUyMIDD1HdeT6q6DRfEqu3zgtpbukvENQgzI_MAQgUg_aK3LO7jeRRJk0aTfpGPm40opbcxVRqsbslYrWkdQeVcwtXDXxv6/s320/CPEC+-+Straits-of-Malacca-Sunda-Lombok-e1457972018166.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Malacca, Sunda and Lombok straits of south east Asia</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
CPEC will provide China with alternative route, in case its sea trade is shut down by navies dominating the Indian Ocean.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><b><i>Second reason for China building CPEC: Excess Built-up Capacity </i></b></span><br />
<br />
The second reason for CPEC/OBOR is that China has excess capacity in Cement and Steel which it could not dump in market as most countries have started <a href="http://www.buyjunction.in/show/content/bjNonFerrous/China-s-Overcapacity-New-Projects-Banned-In-Steel-Cement-And-Aluminum_1" target="_blank">imposing countervailing duties</a> on Chinese dumping. China is dumping its excess Steel and Cement capacity in OBOR, which the recipient countries have to pay. European investment into China has decreased recently. In 2016 it dropped 23% - lowest in 10 years. Chinese market access issues causing it. So China looking elsewhere to make profits. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><b><i>Third reason for China building CPEC: Get Asian countries into Chinese debt </i></b></span><br />
<br />
The third is strategic reason. China is trying to bind Asian countries to
itself by investing in their infrastructure, investment that carry a steep rate of return, thus indebting them to China. This is not limited to Pakistanis as even Sri Lanka has $50Bn debt due to politically motivated Chinese investment in Hambantota done
during Rajpaksa’s time, which it is finding difficult to discharge. Tajikistan is also facing a similar issue with big loans from Chinese.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.firstpost.com/world/cpec-plan-made-public-nawaz-sharifs-march-towards-turning-pakistan-into-chinese-province-begins-3447654.html" target="_blank">CPEC plan made public: Nawaz Sharif's march towards turning Pakistan into Chinese province begins</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbqnWBDvWqc" target="_blank">Nothing much to gain for Pakistan. (A Pakistani TV debate)</a>: 104 Coal plants closed in China, but pollution would escalate in Pakistan. Then there is always the loan issue. <br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><b><i>Fourth reason for China building CPEC: Sweet deal in Pakistan </i></b></span><br />
<br />
The fourth reason is that China is getting a very sweet deal from Pakistanis for CPEC. See a number of news and analysis links here provided from Pakistani newspapers.<br />
<br />
Chinese banks provide loans for CPEC, which is constructed using Chinese cement, steel, and manpower thus <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1320028" target="_blank">effectively returning that money back to Chinese</a> economy.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://tribune.com.pk/story/1222526/delving-deep-fine-print-cpec-portfolio/" target="_blank">Pakistan pays 2-5% interest rate above Libor</a> (London Interbank Offered Rate), has taken sovereign guarantee for 18% RoR.<br />
<br />
Pakistan would be <a href="https://tribune.com.pk/story/1352995/pakistan-will-paying-china-90b-cpec-related-projects/" target="_blank">paying China $90 billion on a loan of $50 billion</a>!!! .. and that too when it has limited avenues to make money from CPEC,while dumping of <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1322243/sighting-land" target="_blank">Chinese goods would kill Pakistan industry</a>. Pakistan also <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1286698" target="_blank">has to pay for ancillary expenditure</a> like security from its pocket.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i><span style="color: purple;"><b><i><span style="color: purple;"><b>-----------------------------------------------------------------</b></span></i> </b></span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: purple;"><b>Part 5: Finally, then WHY are China and Pakistan going ahead with CPEC?</b></span></i> <br />
<br />
From Chinese perspective, it is simple. It knows that <i><b>Pakistan would not be able to pay its loan </b></i><br />
and eventually <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1306493/birth-of-another-dependency" target="_blank">China would come to own infrastructure and/or land</a> inside Pakistan. It is classical neo-colonialism. Make a country so indebted to you that it could not help but sell itself
to you. Pakistan would become a puppet of China completely :(<br />
<br />
To this effect, China is also making Pakistan <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1329651/pakistan-refuses-adb-loan-for-railway-as-china-becomes-sole-financier" target="_blank">drive out any alternative creditors like ADB</a> so that it does not have a competition in colonizing
Pakistan.<br />
<br />
Pakistan, on its part, is desperate for any investment, on
whichever term it comes with. Pakistan's Military is getting a share, its people have a hope that CPEC
would bring prosperity, and it also believe that if China own majority of assets in Pakistan, it would interfere in any future Indo-Pak war to save its assets.<br />
<br />
If you have analyzed the analysis so far, you would be shaking your head stating - "It is hard to understand the mentality of Pakistanis.... also love the meticulous planning Chinese have done to reap a windfall in CPEC!"<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><i>Do you agree with the analysis? Tell me your feedback openly and in a civil way, by leaving a comment.</i></span><br />
<br />
Thanks!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><span style="color: #783f04;"><i>Bonus Material:</i></span></u><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;"><i>Some <a href="https://twitter.com/vajrayudha11/status/858323715712581640" target="_blank">ancient Sanskrit names</a> of some cities of East Turkestan or Xinjiang province of China; </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #783f04;"><i>Karasahr - Agnidesh </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;"><i>Khotan - Kustana </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;"><i>Aksu - Bharuka </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;"><i>Kucha - Kuchina </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;"><i>Kashgar - Sailadesha. </i></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Kiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485405523308080612.post-23014385546567336112017-05-04T05:50:00.003-07:002017-05-04T05:55:45.161-07:00Jammu and Kashmir - A Reality Check<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Every day I keep seeing questions on Jammu and Kashmir. Who does it belong to? How did we get here? What are the solutions? Who is to blame?<br />
<br />
Let me answer the four most pertinent questions:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="color: purple;"><i>Will India be able to improve relations with Pakistan?</i></span></li>
<li><span style="color: purple;"><i>What is wrong with Kashmir, the Kashmir people, Hurriyat, and the governments of India and Pakistan?</i></span></li>
<li><span style="color: purple;"><i>Which nation does Aksai Chin belong to : China or India?</i></span></li>
<li><span style="color: purple;"><i>Why doesn’t India give Kashmir to the Kashmiris?</i></span></li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">----------------------------------------</span></span></span></span><b> </b><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><b>Part 1) Will India be able to improve relations with Pakistan?</b></span><br />
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">Pakistan
is a country built on a faulty foundation. The 2 nation theory wherein
Muslims can't live with Hindus (mostly) was their firm belief. But after
losing Bangladesh due to their own crime, that theory is now flushed.
Also, the gradual prosperity of Indian Muslims, who are living with
Hindus well for most part, has shocked the 4th generation of Pakistan
since independence. Economically, Pakistan is nothing in front of India. <u><i>Pakistan's economy is much less than just one state of India, that is
Maharashtra.</i></u></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Maharashtra" target="_blank">Economy of Maharashtra - $398 billion (in 2015)</a><br /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Pakistan" target="_blank">Economy of Pakistan - $271 billion (in 2015)</a></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">The only
thing that is keeping Punjabis, Sindhis, Pathans, Baluchs and others is
the artificially created hate against India (victim hood). India will be
able to improve relationship with Pakistan only to the extent of keeping
away mad Generals of Pakistan from actually triggering the danger buttons on
missiles. Beyond that, it is more of a stick, carrot, stick, carrot...
relationship. Because you can't have perfect relationship with someone
whose only dream is to destroy you.</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">---------------------------------------- </span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><b><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">Part 2) </span></span>What is wrong with Kashmir, the Kashmir people, Hurriyat, and the governments of India and Pakistan?</b></span><br />
<br />
Basically who is blaming whom..<br />
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">There is
nothing wrong with Kashmir. What we have is a dispute cultivated by
Britain and USA, during 1940s and early 1950s. Now it is an issue cultivated by China for its economic benefits and access to Arabian sea and Indian ocean via Pakistan. Even after 7 decades,
there is no end in sight. <br /><br />Kashmir is generally a term used for the whole of <b>Jammu and Kashmir</b>
state. The state as it was in 1947, is a big one. Today, 60% of the
state is within India, even after the Maharajah who ruled in 1947 (Hari
Singh) formally signed an accession document to merge his state into
India, like 100s of other Rajas. Pakistan has control of 30% which it
invaded in the form of "tribal" invasion. China has control of about
10%. China might have a bit more than 10% as, Pakistan in 1960s "gifted"
a lush green Shaksgam valley in the north, to China. <br /><br />The Maharajah of Jammu and Kashmir princely state signed with India in 1947 an </span></span><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">instrument of accession. That's it. J&K belongs to India eternally or at least close to eternity :)</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">This map (and another map in Part 3)
shows approximately the areas held by India, Pakistan and China. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">PoK =
Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and CoK = China Occupied Kashmir. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">These are
standard terms used in Indian parliament. Some also use PoJK and CoJK.</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrSgy8opbCc42IF6zkkvK816KRRZoAItmRWBPZ5kk8YZkpI2aYm3SIddyd4ruo1bIXzFx0K2hhr2MeRkzRACO-Be_cWDdyMrrNiXlD27nI9TOa4OR3KUtf980_ID_2tuJjX4wSNVz3-Yv2/s1600/Jammu+and+Kashmir+-+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrSgy8opbCc42IF6zkkvK816KRRZoAItmRWBPZ5kk8YZkpI2aYm3SIddyd4ruo1bIXzFx0K2hhr2MeRkzRACO-Be_cWDdyMrrNiXlD27nI9TOa4OR3KUtf980_ID_2tuJjX4wSNVz3-Yv2/s400/Jammu+and+Kashmir+-+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">Now coming to "Kashmir".. there are five distinct parts of Jammu and Kashmir state. <br /> </span></span><br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">1) Kashmir valley - Small valley around Srinagar.<br />2) Jammu - Southernmost part of J&K. Most populated place.<br />3) Ladakh - Eastern Himalayan hills. Has the world's highest motorable road etc. Very sparely populated. <br />4)
Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK): This has two distinct parts. One is
the southern strip along India's Kashmir valley, which Pakistan calls as
"Azad Kashmir". Then the bigger northern part which is Gilgit and
Baltistan. Now-a-days, these two areas - Gilgit and Baltistan, are
together termed as Northern Areas. <br />5) Aksai Chin (CoK) - North
Eastern J&K under China's control since 1962 war where Chinese
walked into this area. Aksai Chin is almost a desert where no one lives.
China also controls the lush green Shaksgam Valley (CoK 1 in the map),
"gifted" by Pakistan in 1960s, in return for things which you can
imagine. <br /><br />Only two of these five places actually have protests
and people movements today. That is Kashmir valley within India, and PoK
or Azad Kashmir in Pakistan. The former is larger and louder. The
latter is smaller, but simmering. Kashmir Valley has separatist groups
under a Hurriyat banner, which represents overall less than 5% of the overall Jammu
and Kashmir. But media projects them as the true representatives of
"Kashmiris". Some of them want to become independent and some opt for
Pakistan. On the Pakistan side, low key movements are there to join
India. They are not given much publicity in media. <br /><br />So if you
look at the overall picture, majority of Jammu and Kashmir is peaceful
or without any movements today. It's only the 10 to 20% of the overall
state, centered around the valley, that has disruptions. There are zero
problems in the large populated part of Jammu and Kashmir state, the
Jammu region. Jammu is predominantly <b>Hindu </b>and Ladakh is predominantly
<b>Buddhist</b>. That might explain why those regions have no issues with
India. <br /><br /><b>India blames</b> Pakistan sponsored terrorism and
support to separatism for all the problems. And they keep coming inside
India regularly. Almost every month you will see a gun battle, with
cross border infiltration bids being stopped. You also see many
demonstrations in Kashmir valley, with Hurriyat groups mobilizing 1000s
of Kashmiri Muslim youth to come against India. India's claim is, just
like 500+ princely states that signed the accession document, J&K
also signed. So the whole state legally belongs to India. That is the
final settlement. <br /><br /><b>Pakistan blames</b> India for all the
trouble. Pakistan talks of occupation by India. Pakistan goes back to
1940s and 50s when a three step process was discussed. It shows that
India had agreed to do a plebiscite for the whole state then considering
a war situation. But India says that one of the pre condition put by UN
was that Pakistan should withdraw from all the areas of Jammu and
Kashmir that it had army on. Pakistan refused to withdraw its troops. So
India conducted democratic elections in its part of J&K and the
matter is closed since then. </span></span><br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><br /><b>China does not openly blame </b>much, but quietly sides with Pakistan. After all China got parts of Jammu and Kashmir with almost no effort, and it wants Pakistan for its CPEC (economic corridor) to open a gateway to Arabian Sea/Indian ocean. Without PoK, China has no direct border with Pakistan, so it is vital from China's expansionist agenda to support Pakistan at any cost, even when Pakistan sponsors terrorism on large scale against India and other countries. China also keeps offering 'mediation' which India rejects every time within minutes. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">Hope this gives a glimpse of the
core issue. Frankly, the issue is not as bad as you see in the media.
More than 12 million people live on the Indian side of J&K today.
More than 10 million of those live peacefully. "Kashmir Problem" is
essentially a problem in a small part within Kashmir valley, of a huge
Jammu and Kashmir state.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">----------------------------------------</span></span></span></span> </span></span><br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span style="color: purple;"><b>Part 3: Which nation does Aksai Chin belong to : China or India?</b></span> </span></span><br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil3rIHTYQR3EbpLuuEa42xF5PeWUG5SM2mONu62GODrtB2re4pVhtYSxJdWEhZWbOs0TxcOnUAs0QJiWMJAHctLqpNENTHUtr9KI6s7_tvG6wblVaMkV7FpZf7uX_A7_PSeetw3-EnQGds/s1600/Jammu+and+Kashmir+-+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil3rIHTYQR3EbpLuuEa42xF5PeWUG5SM2mONu62GODrtB2re4pVhtYSxJdWEhZWbOs0TxcOnUAs0QJiWMJAHctLqpNENTHUtr9KI6s7_tvG6wblVaMkV7FpZf7uX_A7_PSeetw3-EnQGds/s320/Jammu+and+Kashmir+-+2.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span>
<br />
<div class="qtext_para">
Aksai Chin belongs to India.</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
Two reasons:</div>
<ol>
<li>It
was a part of Jammu and Kashmir princely state. In fact, the Maharajah
of Jammu and Kashmir had even constructed a fort at Shahidulla
(modern-day Xaidulla, a part of Xinjiang in China today), and had troops
stationed there for some years to protect caravans. So it was more than
Aksai Chin that was under Jammu and Kashmir ruler’s control.</li>
<li>It
was a part of 1865 Johnson line during British survey of India. William
Johnson, a civil servant with the Survey of India had drawn the
"Johnson Line" in 1865, which had put Aksai Chin into Jammu and Kashmir.
After 1947 October, Jammu and Kashmir joined India through a legally
signed accession document by the Maharajah. This was similar to 100s of
other Maharajahs who signed to accede to India during that year, which
British left India, creating India and Pakistan as two separate nations.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJwRhLnjtnvJ2y_vpECyWXEI1-B2BQlJ7yAKpmynZzYtzLYL8lQPRsBDxZ7Daax9FTgTF78sS9V-cKDpQxZGF1dCNZ4Kko2Z6p3kjOIGMfj4bhPCHipKRnApVwZPluskH_aJQyV7AJ8osn/s1600/Jammu+and+Kashmir+-+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJwRhLnjtnvJ2y_vpECyWXEI1-B2BQlJ7yAKpmynZzYtzLYL8lQPRsBDxZ7Daax9FTgTF78sS9V-cKDpQxZGF1dCNZ4Kko2Z6p3kjOIGMfj4bhPCHipKRnApVwZPluskH_aJQyV7AJ8osn/s400/Jammu+and+Kashmir+-+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></li>
</ol>
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">If you
look closely, Aksai Chin has borders with both Xinjiang and Tibet. Both
were not with China 70 years ago. Chinese call the 1949 occupation of
Xinjiang (a Turkish Muslim dominated province) as the “Peaceful
liberation of Xinjiang”. Before that in 1878, Chinese had “reconquered
Xinjiang” once. Not sure why they needed a second “liberation” in 1949.
They also term the 1951 occupation of Tibet by China as “Incorporation
of Tibet into the People's Republic of China”. In short, both are huge
central Asian regions and both were not a part of what we know as China
today, before 1949.</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqB7nZgijib9Sb7yivBIfum0qGXXw0S1Cls6CrUNQKOLEiRV_ggNrpzLzxqn7KoPZrr72LikTx1laRrihVqZTRojcCkmk_-pWbWRHqkStOB0Qj0eflOQSfYzUfWnbVyBMnv1VMYfMovyIo/s1600/Jammu+and+Kashmir+-+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqB7nZgijib9Sb7yivBIfum0qGXXw0S1Cls6CrUNQKOLEiRV_ggNrpzLzxqn7KoPZrr72LikTx1laRrihVqZTRojcCkmk_-pWbWRHqkStOB0Qj0eflOQSfYzUfWnbVyBMnv1VMYfMovyIo/s400/Jammu+and+Kashmir+-+4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span><br />
<div class="qtext_para">
Then how did India lose Aksai Chin to China?</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span><br />
<div class="qtext_para">
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">Because
post 1947 independence, India was going through a big turmoil. Civil
war, massive poverty and other issues had kept the first Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru busy with highly populated places, taking focus off
Aksai Chin which had almost no population. It was a barren land in the
high altitude of Himalayas, at the tip of Northern India. Moreover,
Tibet was a buffer state between India and China, and a friendly one. So
India had nothing to worry on Aksai Chin area. But the newly resurgent
China had just “incorporated” massive provinces of Xinjiang and Tibet,
and was building China National Highway 219. That highway runs through
Aksai Chin connecting Lazi and Xinjiang in the Tibet Autonomous Region.
Despite this region being nearly uninhabitable and having no resources,
it remains strategically important for China as it connects Tibet and
Xinjiang. The highway construction started in 1951 and the road was
completed in 1957. This was one of India’s biggest blunders, as they did
not “notice” this highway built through Aksai Chin, fully claimed by
it! By the time they lodged complaints with China, it was too late.</span></span></div>
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">
</span></span>
<div class="qtext_para">
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><br /></span></span></div>
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">
<div class="qtext_para">
So
China literally got 10s of 1000s of sq. KM of Aksai Chin area, while
India was sleeping or busy with internal issues. Now they are using it
as a bargain to get more strategic lands east of Himalayas.</div>
<ul>
<li>So Aksai Chin belonged to Jammu and Kashmir.</li>
<li>It became a part of India after Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India via a legal signature in 1947.</li>
<li>But
it mostly is under Chinese control since 1950s as India was “too busy”
to notice a massive highway being built by China through Aksai Chin.</li>
<li>It is officially termed as CoJK in India - China occupied Jammu and Kashmir</li>
</ul>
<div class="qtext_para">
There
is also another part of Jammu and Kashmir state of India, called
Shaksgam valley. That is not barren like Aksai Chin. It is a beautiful
lush green Himalayan mountain region, “gifted” by Pakistan in 1963 to
China for other “favours” extended by China. It is CoJK - 2 (China
Occupied Jammu and Kashmir part 2) in Jammu and Kashmir.</div>
</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV83_DnD13kGbRAp4Wf7I3aJWBljYKNtG5qUBP4Dd2dyiFRcL39ohN8v9JHwYjUf7ZVNgCRK_spqgC2MAOFIKC3b_5bAXMjYEbesB3iBD3PAPhZOxKlhSNdsQBNRb38QVkQZucZ7S8uMKJ/s1600/Jammu+and+Kashmir+-+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV83_DnD13kGbRAp4Wf7I3aJWBljYKNtG5qUBP4Dd2dyiFRcL39ohN8v9JHwYjUf7ZVNgCRK_spqgC2MAOFIKC3b_5bAXMjYEbesB3iBD3PAPhZOxKlhSNdsQBNRb38QVkQZucZ7S8uMKJ/s400/Jammu+and+Kashmir+-+5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="qtext_para">
Shaksgam
Valley must be the only land on this planet, which belongs to one
country (India) legally, but “gifted” by a second country (Pakistan) to a
third country (China) for other favours received!</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
So
Aksai Chin and Shaksgam Valley issues would remain a thorn between
India and China relations for decades to come.. if not longer.</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
Lastly,
not only Aksai Chin, but China technically has no business with
Himalayas. Even today, 94% of Chinese live east of the Heihe-Tengchong
line or Hu Huanyong line. Yes 94%!!</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSve-9LecYRYLro20BTvgSR_vX_ZPH_AeT-q9vX7LdYhsIxzXklv5RNjWzf74lXUDWJ9VKm7IAJ79xvrMwN7E9C5Cnrtf6AaBI3uuNOPFJ5FaLGGKAzn2t5mgeU4XTr-TGgkdezIygzZWZ/s1600/Jammu+and+Kashmir+-+6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSve-9LecYRYLro20BTvgSR_vX_ZPH_AeT-q9vX7LdYhsIxzXklv5RNjWzf74lXUDWJ9VKm7IAJ79xvrMwN7E9C5Cnrtf6AaBI3uuNOPFJ5FaLGGKAzn2t5mgeU4XTr-TGgkdezIygzZWZ/s400/Jammu+and+Kashmir+-+6.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><i>Sorry: J&K map is not accurate in this population density map found on the net.</i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">Look on
the Indian side. There are 100s of millions of Indians living within
100–200 KM from Himalayas all across its west to East length. So all
these claims of Tibet, Aksai Chin, Shaksgam valley, Arunachal Pradesh,
Xinjiang are fairly strategic and new from Chinese point of view,
without any basis from historic or population existence logic. The Hun
Chinese have historically been limited to the east of Hu Huanyong line.
And it holds true even today.</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">----------------------------------------</span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><b><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">Part 4 (Final): Why doesn’t India give Kashmir to the Kashmiris?</span></span></span></span></b></span><br />
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="qtext_para">
Kashmir is a small valley in the larger state of Jammu and Kashmir.</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<b>Jammu and Kashmir</b> is today divided among 3 countries - India, Pakistan and China.<i> </i></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="qtext_para">
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><i>Only one country has the legal instrument of accession signed</i> - that is <b>India.</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">
</span></span></span></span></span></span></blockquote>
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="qtext_para">
The Instrument of Accession is a legal document executed by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharaja" target="_blank">Maharaja Hari Singh</a>, ruler of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princely_state" target="_blank">princely state</a> of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jammu_and_Kashmir_%28princely_state%29" target="_blank">Jammu and Kashmir</a>, on 26 October 1947. By executing this document under the provisions of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Independence_Act_1947" target="_blank">Indian Independence Act 1947</a>, Maharaja Hari Singh agreed to accede to the Dominion of India.</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihBZsWcdhazekgKMxI8bgjPghyphenhyphenaSOsmRbZfOIroRyut1C08MkYl6SlDc7KYwG7HNkXPwn5sskusO-uNx7VciyI-Ht5g5LVbcodm8-QAB946T-pwqTaRZ8QWt0_-JNAyJ4oq5uTs6sfu7fR/s1600/Jammu+and+Kashmir+-+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihBZsWcdhazekgKMxI8bgjPghyphenhyphenaSOsmRbZfOIroRyut1C08MkYl6SlDc7KYwG7HNkXPwn5sskusO-uNx7VciyI-Ht5g5LVbcodm8-QAB946T-pwqTaRZ8QWt0_-JNAyJ4oq5uTs6sfu7fR/s400/Jammu+and+Kashmir+-+6.jpg" width="288" /></a></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjagmNXQ6xUnRP0K5pTpMpeECKb-aYGOotMTsLqJYwm3LINXnDM-0izhgvi7NoEZn1UvsUXAXnhDtChOdRLMWpRkmeekdyaRmg3ibZ_skb5izXYbU6EgEP4OeYoDnoWmnFGRhhazEPn2tJ9/s1600/Jammu+and+Kashmir+-+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjagmNXQ6xUnRP0K5pTpMpeECKb-aYGOotMTsLqJYwm3LINXnDM-0izhgvi7NoEZn1UvsUXAXnhDtChOdRLMWpRkmeekdyaRmg3ibZ_skb5izXYbU6EgEP4OeYoDnoWmnFGRhhazEPn2tJ9/s400/Jammu+and+Kashmir+-+7.jpg" width="298" /></a></b></div>
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">Just like
modern India was formed by 500+ such accession documents signed by
erstwhile Rajas, Nawabs, and other leaders, Jammu and Kashmir joined
India in 1947.<i> </i>Once a part of Indian union each state has freedom
within its territories, as defined by the constitution of India.
Compared to rest of Indian states, J&K has a lot more freedom and
autonomy. More than 200 constitutional amendments to Indian constitution
are not even applicable in J&K as of today.</span></span><br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR9xmGMDuAkOSU_ZhxG4Gc-rT_dq2ou7uNlb32tWCwGGrtl09ndLTxrGsXwq9PwWjKXThMW3beml9Nh3pw3L6VoRAHEYcvVggcAsnIHT3Gz5AfwmaFmdITe1zHWx4VPL3x_h8LczgTLbOy/s1600/Jammu+and+Kashmir+-+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR9xmGMDuAkOSU_ZhxG4Gc-rT_dq2ou7uNlb32tWCwGGrtl09ndLTxrGsXwq9PwWjKXThMW3beml9Nh3pw3L6VoRAHEYcvVggcAsnIHT3Gz5AfwmaFmdITe1zHWx4VPL3x_h8LczgTLbOy/s400/Jammu+and+Kashmir+-+8.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span>
<br />
<div class="qtext_para">
So
no matter how many decades this talk goes on, No Pakistani or No
Chinese can ever claim an inch of Jammu and Kashmir state, as the entire
state is a legal part of India due to the accession document.</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
Pakistan is illegally occupying Pakistani Occupied Kashmir (both Muzaffarabad region and Gilgit- Baltistan areas.)</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
China is illegally occupying Shaksgam valley (COK 1) and Aksai Chin (COK 2). See map at the top of this blog post for details.</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
So
Kashmir is already with Kashmiris. There are Kashmiri Chief Ministers
governing the state for decades. Just like a Kannadiga governs
Karnataka, a Odia governs Odisha, a Kashmiri is governing now.</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
Whatever
violence and trouble we have there is sponsored by Pakistan which is
illegally occupying a big portion of J&K. The moment China and
Pakistan vacate their illegal occupations, and return the entire J&K
to the rightful owner India, all problems would be solved immediately.</div>
<br />
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"> </span></span> </span></span><br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><i>PS: All images used in this blog post are found using public search on internet. All credits to original rights holders.</i></span></span><br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><br /></span></span></div>
Kiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485405523308080612.post-1541388794456857102017-05-04T04:23:00.002-07:002017-05-04T04:26:59.601-07:00History of Bengaluru<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
There was a discussion.. Which languages did Bengaluru speak historically? Who built Bengaluru?<br />
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">Since I
am born and brought up in Bengaluru, I have seen right my childhood many
languages and regions trying to “claim” that this city belongs to them
:) So nothing is new in asking such things, but maybe this would give
you opportunity to learn more on this amazing city of India that is
contributing Lakhs of Crores towards India’s economy today, each year. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">Let me take you back a 1000 years and give a tour of Bengaluru's history.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">Start with <b>Gangas</b>:
Ganga (shown in the map below yellow region), was a formidable south
Indian kingdom 1000 years ago. Their capital was initially north east of
Bengaluru (Kolara) and then moved to south west of Bengaluru
(Talakadu). History of Bengaluru starts with Ganga period.</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRbZ23Mno8j7qjkmc_pEaEHeHzobNhRs_tKWb83t4vMn74lP4DGW730lGb1cpq1UCOgwXeZ70cNyBp9Y-fsKicqM01xx-Zu0FE0qEWvAOpd7sUvHK7Bm0jGJ1IHX4JXNg2i-7hoooAH3n5/s1600/Bengaluru+History+-+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRbZ23Mno8j7qjkmc_pEaEHeHzobNhRs_tKWb83t4vMn74lP4DGW730lGb1cpq1UCOgwXeZ70cNyBp9Y-fsKicqM01xx-Zu0FE0qEWvAOpd7sUvHK7Bm0jGJ1IHX4JXNg2i-7hoooAH3n5/s400/Bengaluru+History+-+1.jpg" width="365" /></a></div>
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><i>Source: <a href="http://192.155.224.66/stage/akbi/volumes/kgv/akgv.html" target="_blank">Karnataka Gata Vaibhava</a> by Aloor Venkataraya. </i></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="qtext_para">
Then
came Hoysalas. The territory of Bengaluru was under Gangas till then,
but no city or town was in place. About 900 years ago, Veera Ballala,
the Hoysala King lost his way during a hunting expedition in today’s
Bengaluru area. It was a semi forest then. An old lady cooked beans for
the king and served the hungry man. He was so delighted that he called
that place, <b>Benda kaal-ooru in Kannada (ಬೆಂದ ಕಾಳ ಊರು)</b>, literally meaning in English, “the town/city of boiled beans”. That’s the most popular story of how the name got stuck. <i>Later BendaKaalooru became Bengaalooru and then Bengaluru. </i>All three have the same meaning in Kannada - the city of boiled beans.</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br />
Still it was nothing more than a small village then.</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
Then came <b>Kempe Gowda 1.</b> He was a paale-gaara (feudatory) of the mighty <b>Vijayanagara </b>kingdom,which
was ruled from Hampi in the center of southern peninsula. Vijayanagara
was the biggest Hindu kingdom of India 500 years ago. It’s capital Hampi
was the richest city in India 500 years ago.. Maybe it was among the 5
richest cities of the world reading the chronicles of how they sold
precious stones on street sides then. Vijayanagara was a <b>Kannada </b>and <b>Telugu </b>hybrid
kingdom, with both languages passionately claiming the mighty Krishna
Deva Raya - a good thing in India :) Maybe even Tulu people might join
the claiming race soon! As you can see, Vijaya Nagara (City of Victory)
occupied almost the entire south India, with extensions going into Goa
and Odisha at the peak. And Kempe Gowda being a part of Vijayanagara
rule, had his hand in the geographical center, including the future gold
mine, Bengaluru.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiIQvCr_2GPHJwpApq4ZjzeSmv5d1KzY_kg7wutsIgW2_bnz77KtxodTnyYe_4UVrVpG0KRbxK9QHr5ywDXJvdOyQGv6b6fVrzsi5QMoR_jXBPdr1rUx08ZDP7WpWbTk3za6xr9Mc8dTQR/s1600/Bengaluru+History+-+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="365" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiIQvCr_2GPHJwpApq4ZjzeSmv5d1KzY_kg7wutsIgW2_bnz77KtxodTnyYe_4UVrVpG0KRbxK9QHr5ywDXJvdOyQGv6b6fVrzsi5QMoR_jXBPdr1rUx08ZDP7WpWbTk3za6xr9Mc8dTQR/s400/Bengaluru+History+-+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="qtext_para">
Kempe Gowda built four watch towers marking the four boundary poles of Bengaluru.</div>
<ol>
<li>Lal Bagh in the south</li>
<li>Kempambudi Kere (lake) in the west,</li>
<li>Halasuru kere (lake) in the east, and</li>
<li>Mekhri circle area in the north.</li>
</ol>
<div class="qtext_para">
Today, Lal bagh still exists. You can go see the tower there. For the rest, you have to search a lot.</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
If
you walked around the Pete (in Kannada pete - ಪೇಟೆ - means shopping
area) area of Bengaluru three centuries ago, this is how you would have
seen. Even today, most of these Pete’s exist, with many remarkably doing
the same kind of business their great-great-great fathers did centuries
ago!</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
Bale-pete means bangle market and
Akki-pete means rice market. Every pete is either named after a
commodity name in Kannada, or a community/caste that did business there.
Uppara, Ganiga and Tigala are all community/caste names in Kannada.
Today, the most famous police station near the central Majestic bus
stand is Upparpete police station, retaining the historic name!</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZFdYz9WLnNbK0mJFDjI04upMj1VkFWBGqhAmG7Q6TawPtGlQCY72bI0Fop49BaVsgAFVjilqO5bWOhtaWIFEuzp4vkUHRTCXsEvsfNxZkvnSgWF1QVv9vYIoPFvXz-AaD160XbV1cWq7I/s1600/Bengaluru+History+-+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZFdYz9WLnNbK0mJFDjI04upMj1VkFWBGqhAmG7Q6TawPtGlQCY72bI0Fop49BaVsgAFVjilqO5bWOhtaWIFEuzp4vkUHRTCXsEvsfNxZkvnSgWF1QVv9vYIoPFvXz-AaD160XbV1cWq7I/s400/Bengaluru+History+-+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
Then
Bengaluru picked up growth well. A fort came up in the center. Got
reinforced. Marathas had their share of building the city center. Hyder
Ali and Tipu had their share of building. Some small villages that
existed with Chola influence in the north East (near Halasuru) got
absorbed into the main city. This area Halasuru derives name from Halasu
+ Ooru meaning the town of Jack Fruit trees. British pronounced it
Ulsoor. By now it was a very cosmopolitan city with great weather, good
commerce, well protected and many languages. So people started coming in
from all corners as it was the geographical center of south India.</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
This was Bengaluru about 250 years ago. Today, this circle is within the central 25% of the city.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPOac1j0bq6WjUiNf85tANFyRL6XPuFfyUpFp3MXzuJtHIQ75c59Zavwwj33lOJ3kEIdZui2XH-T1cfIcWpy9fEzV_yjr4qbmBDL8cbpJjC4Elfr4Q8jOQEc3UDbxbg88aFO4s3ow-MKLt/s1600/Bengaluru+History+-+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="381" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPOac1j0bq6WjUiNf85tANFyRL6XPuFfyUpFp3MXzuJtHIQ75c59Zavwwj33lOJ3kEIdZui2XH-T1cfIcWpy9fEzV_yjr4qbmBDL8cbpJjC4Elfr4Q8jOQEc3UDbxbg88aFO4s3ow-MKLt/s400/Bengaluru+History+-+4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><i>Source: <a href="http://guruprasad.net/posts/how-kempe-gowda-built-bangalore/" target="_blank">How Kempe Gowda built Bangalore.</a></i> </span></span><br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><br /></span></span>
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">Kempe
Gowda’s city was absorbed into Mysuru (Mysore as British called) kingdom
ruled from Srigangapattana (later Mysuru). This was after Vijayanagara
collapsed and Hampi was ransacked and pillaged by Sultanates of Deccan
plateau. What started as a small Mysuru (in yellow below), grew in
strength and peaked by 1782 when Hyder Ali had taken over from Wodeyar
rulers. Hyder Ali was employed by Wodeyars, but he tricked his way into
taking over a kingdom. At the peak of Mysuru, the boundaries reached
well into today’s central Telangana, half of today’s Tamil Nadu, half of
today’s Rayala Seema (AP) and northern Kerala. It did not however
contain the northern edges of Karnataka, which were firmly with
Sultans/Nizams of Deccan. Bengaluru started growing rapidly during this
phase with palaces, forts, gardens, trade etc.</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz2KL-OLWpSdZw-1Ual_JgykLybLUEe4nwC_4cCsA1ldfDRC3N1n4i1KjcVJirI5iG5xkbm6ghAaOd8F0Bq5AU-kKcYs21y8G2KFrBBjfiqTjPzr-RvroLgCoqK_tbioiUAZZC53LyyZVu/s1600/Bengaluru+History+-+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz2KL-OLWpSdZw-1Ual_JgykLybLUEe4nwC_4cCsA1ldfDRC3N1n4i1KjcVJirI5iG5xkbm6ghAaOd8F0Bq5AU-kKcYs21y8G2KFrBBjfiqTjPzr-RvroLgCoqK_tbioiUAZZC53LyyZVu/s400/Bengaluru+History+-+5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<i><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">Pic source: Wiki (John Bartholomew and Sons. Edinburgh - Lewis Rice, Mysore Gazetteer, Volume I, Mysore in General, 1897)</span></span></i><br />
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">Then Tipu
died fighting the British in a series of wars at the end of 18th
century. That was the biggest turning point for today’s Karnataka
region. <b>British divided the Kannada speaking areas into many dominions.</b>
They gave away the north western parts to Bombay (Marthas), North East
to Hyderabad (Nizam), south west, south and south east to Madras
(British). The might of Kannada empires since 4th century CE on the
western part of south India collapsed. Mysuru became a landlocked
dominion of the British empire and struggled over the next 150 years.
Kannada speakers got spread out into multiple provinces/states losing
unity and cohesion for the next 150 years. Since the original question
was related to Tamil, you can see that today’s Coimbatore, <i>Erode, Krishnagiri, Hosur, Palghat (Kerala now), Ooty etc. were all a part of Mysuru</i>
before British took them over, and merged with Madras. That was a big
turning point in the history of south India, languages, rivers etc. Even
the Mettur dam region in Tamil Nadu today, the biggest dam on Kaveri
river, was a part of Mysuru kingdom a little over 200 years ago. Most of
today’s south India’s river sharing, border overlaps, linguistic fights
etc. have roots in that major surgery that British did.</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1QfMnGKkEQuPqxhFIX1tbUR_8wLkfp7BLBzM4EzSBLdeXLvTjv0lthVUOCMeP8RvjkCYPwCbz-Qtp7GhyF2YMnf9W2ctR9qUHl4HeZyW7yusjLSY89vxBOjAeZ3DX4Wv7vLVFwn38Tl1T/s1600/Bengaluru+History+-+6.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1QfMnGKkEQuPqxhFIX1tbUR_8wLkfp7BLBzM4EzSBLdeXLvTjv0lthVUOCMeP8RvjkCYPwCbz-Qtp7GhyF2YMnf9W2ctR9qUHl4HeZyW7yusjLSY89vxBOjAeZ3DX4Wv7vLVFwn38Tl1T/s400/Bengaluru+History+-+6.gif" width="345" /></a></div>
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><i> Source: <a href="https://www.nationalgalleries.org/map.htm" target="_blank">The Tiger and the Thistle</a></i> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><br /></span></span>
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">Then what
British did was to let Mysuru keep the Bengaluru city proper (the Pete
area we talked about above). They build a big garrison and new
cantonment in the north east of the city. They loved the weather of the
city and lived in the cantonment. Since their capital was Madras in the
south, they brought in lots of Tamil and Telugu people into the
cantonment for various army and service related jobs. The oldest
engineering regiment of Indian army today, is incidentally from the same
cantonment area of Bengaluru (Madras Engineering Group), which is right
next o Halasuru lake! The map below is from 1914, by which, the new MG
Road had clearly divided the older Pete city of Bengaluru from the new
cantonment area of Bengaluru.</span></span><br />
<i><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><br /></span></span></i>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC6clX7BrHjMUd5Tk0mQ4b_nMX5KGEExLYqbq3XGa-V5BLBgqSAAKIre4mDCXYOZILi4ljXqkgtJN82yEZM2_ygsYxtpKKbeXKZSar6iKT0Joi3qrhJYBGnvR5T8I0nirlQ8VQwTGik5m7/s1600/Bengaluru+History+-+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC6clX7BrHjMUd5Tk0mQ4b_nMX5KGEExLYqbq3XGa-V5BLBgqSAAKIre4mDCXYOZILi4ljXqkgtJN82yEZM2_ygsYxtpKKbeXKZSar6iKT0Joi3qrhJYBGnvR5T8I0nirlQ8VQwTGik5m7/s400/Bengaluru+History+-+7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<i><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">Source: <a href="http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/baedeker_indien_1914.html" target="_blank">Baedeker Indien 1914 Maps</a></span></span></i><br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><br /></span></span>
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">Then the
city grew immensely after independence - primarily due to the
availability of technical resources, education and great weather. Today,
the city is the second biggest in India in terms of area (after
Dilli/NCR, though they have multiple municipalities), having 198 wards. The older pete parts of the city are
hidden in the central ward around 109 (Chikka pete). The cantonment area
of British is around ward 90 (Halasuru). The city has grown on all 360
degrees, almost reaching Tamil Nadu at ward 192 and 191. In the north it
is growing so fast now, that from the international airport in the
north, you can travel to Andhra Pradesh border faster than the southern
edge of the city!</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqxOr3xGcTMtTAX8hR0a3TmAkotBB2Nh0zLATJgEFPqTYNJmu3tWJ6fK9nO-om4H56oRfF9kepoVLz5-fLanOciBgNtiVpxvyRAX3iucfqKoMW5ddM3DBux3eWA-_eTUKNotqEIyQL-HXI/s1600/Bengaluru+History+-+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqxOr3xGcTMtTAX8hR0a3TmAkotBB2Nh0zLATJgEFPqTYNJmu3tWJ6fK9nO-om4H56oRfF9kepoVLz5-fLanOciBgNtiVpxvyRAX3iucfqKoMW5ddM3DBux3eWA-_eTUKNotqEIyQL-HXI/s400/Bengaluru+History+-+8.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<i><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"> Source: Maps Of India</span></span></i><br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span>
<div class="qtext_para">
The
city has grown so big today that you can almost walk to Tamil Nadu
(Hosur) in the south East from ward 192 (Begur). It is just around 10 KM
and in another 5 years, the city might actually grow right to Tamil
Nadu border!</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
Hope this long explanation gave
you a history of Bengaluru and Karnataka, how it got the name, historic
pete parts that thrived for 400+ years, historic boundary, British
arrival into cantonment, migrations and the 360 degree growth today.</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
In
summary, Bengaluru has always been <i><b>a Kannada speaking city</b></i> since Kempe
Gowda’s times. But it has absorbed Telugu, Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam,
Marathi, Tulu, Konkani, Hindi and much more over the centuries. Today it
has the largest population of migrants from North Eastern states in
south India. I don’t remember ever from my school days long ago, when we
had less than 5 languages in our class room :) During my college days, I
remember just in 5 KM drive from Majestic to MG Road, I could see
Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, English, Tamil and Malayalam movies in theaters,
all running house full!</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
So it is a a city for
everyone. Respect the diversity, respect the willingness of the city to
absorb people from all corners of India, and still keep harmony for most
part.</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
Enjoy :)</div>
<br /></div>
Kiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485405523308080612.post-19899492445520455002017-05-04T02:50:00.000-07:002017-05-04T02:52:06.555-07:00Why is Congress losing its ground in India?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
There was a question on Quora:<br />
<br />
<b>Why is Congress losing its ground in India?</b> <br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span id="__w2_F7x2vyY_text_snip_content"><span class="rendered_qtext">A
cursory look at the political map of India reveals that the Congress
rules some patches at the margins with only Karnataka, Punjab and Himachal
Pradesh left as the proper in-land states..</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVBR1WY9gwdn0-YErXSZAD7PZrdrZo4gtkvj761IRVI78WKcHrVAiwTgN1Z1Nciw3rnQP54I2IIw1VtROKwnQrNJcRrUv9dUNOFN4gytO9BBgcPppamADx3UXvU59sCSFXA5wUtJ1UQ8iC/s1600/Congress+decline+-+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVBR1WY9gwdn0-YErXSZAD7PZrdrZo4gtkvj761IRVI78WKcHrVAiwTgN1Z1Nciw3rnQP54I2IIw1VtROKwnQrNJcRrUv9dUNOFN4gytO9BBgcPppamADx3UXvU59sCSFXA5wUtJ1UQ8iC/s400/Congress+decline+-+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span id="__w2_F7x2vyY_text_snip_content"><span class="rendered_qtext">I tried to answer with March 2017 current assessment of Indian politics. See if you agree with me.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span id="__w2_F7x2vyY_text_snip_content"><span class="rendered_qtext"><br /></span></span></span>
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span id="__w2_F7x2vyY_text_snip_content"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="qtext_para">
Congress is losing during the 2010s mainly because of the following:</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<b>1) An ailing President, who does not give up the top post.</b></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
Sonia
Gandhi has been the President of Congress for nearly 20 years now. By
far that is the longest stint in Congress party’s history, even if you
go back to pre independence era. No one held for so long the top post.
Congress talks of Muslims, Dalits, Poor etc., but never thought of
giving the much coveted top post to any of them.</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Xwp6SGlxF4qF_HDgJcJEDI2aeFjv-MRAdKCmRG6Yhyphenhyphen2_RcC_xmwCvk0_CJm6g8U_p1u9qMi-JPLJiKw8p7HQ-qIhOslULb00IGV0jm1u8WpB68nYXWPJRWej16dQ4RhrxxVn6VoW_i1k/s1600/Congress+decline+-+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Xwp6SGlxF4qF_HDgJcJEDI2aeFjv-MRAdKCmRG6Yhyphenhyphen2_RcC_xmwCvk0_CJm6g8U_p1u9qMi-JPLJiKw8p7HQ-qIhOslULb00IGV0jm1u8WpB68nYXWPJRWej16dQ4RhrxxVn6VoW_i1k/s400/Congress+decline+-+2.jpg" width="400" /></a>Sonia
was doing well with well informed strategists for the first 10 years
into her presidency. But then her health has started giving way. No one
knows where she goes for medical treatment, what illnesses she has, who
pays, how serious is her condition etc. Only half news and rumours float
around. This is Congress party’s big weakness now. With a strong
unbeatable Amit Shah- Narendra Modi combo sweeping India, an ailing and
at times untraceable Congress President will weaken lot of plans and
strategy. When Modi can do 100s of big rallies and road shows in a year,
Congress can’t even match with 10 big rallies with Sonia as star
campaigner. That is hurting.</div>
<br />
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span><br />
<div class="qtext_para">
<b>2) A reluctant and incompetent Vice President</b></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
Rahul
Gandhi is undoubtedly Congress party’s biggest weakness now. His track
record is horrible, and in any corporate setup, such a Vice President
would have been fired long ago. But as Congress party always runs around
the Nehru-Gandhi family, he has to be kept in the center, with more
capable mass leaders running around him like electrons around a
Nehru-Gandhi nucleus!</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
Here is a famous joke about him floating on Twitter. It tells you everything in succinct terms.</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNxcwdxgAAfNCrtNe0IV0HMgLmF5NrlSyp3ApOAR_TP7JLVtPUa7PNrmSKe3Hz_FzB3pS0cl0IAIQCPpSIPP_krVZVe5YD9_ZZuLQ55CBVppHVKXCkIktRA1ExM7xNDJ7nM1n2b4E5rQTF/s1600/Congress+decline+-+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNxcwdxgAAfNCrtNe0IV0HMgLmF5NrlSyp3ApOAR_TP7JLVtPUa7PNrmSKe3Hz_FzB3pS0cl0IAIQCPpSIPP_krVZVe5YD9_ZZuLQ55CBVppHVKXCkIktRA1ExM7xNDJ7nM1n2b4E5rQTF/s400/Congress+decline+-+3.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span><br />
<div class="qtext_para">
And,
he also has the same problem as his mother. He disappears out of India
for longer periods without anyone knowing what is happening. You can’t
run a party successfully with millions of workers and supporters, if you
have mother and son combo at the top, be unaccountable in most cases
and untraceable on occasions.</div>
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span id="__w2_F7x2vyY_text_snip_content"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span></span><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span><br />
<div class="qtext_para">
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">And
interestingly, wherever Congress is still existing, like Karnataka and
Punjab, it is mainly because of capable local leaders like Siddaramaiah
and Amarinder Singh. Not because of Sonia or Rahul. Amarinder might even
have strategically kept Rahul out of Punjab campaigns recently.</span></span></div>
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<b>3) Lack of vision that matches with the vision of 21st century India.</b></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
Ask
any Congress loyalist. What are the top 5 schemes or projects for India
today? They will repeat the same things that were there during Indira
Gandhi’s time. But young India is demanding much more. Modi’s Jan Dhan
Yojana, Digital India, Standup India, Skill India are the kind of things
young India wants. Not the same old <i>Garibi hatao </i>slogans and
obsolete NREGA kind of artificial employment generation schemes of
Congress. The very reason Congress was reduced to just 7 seats in a 403
member assembly of UP recently, shows that people have totally dumped
Congress. Even the most loyal vote banks of Congress has been distancing
itself out.</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<b>4) Most of its core political strategy is taken away by BJP.</b></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
Congress
had great years between 1950s and 1980s. Mainly it was due to social
engineering across castes and religions, and pro poor socialistic
freebies. But now BJP has worked out its own social engineering. That
has made Congress vote bank disappear in most states. Secondly, India
has moved on and freebies don’t win elections anymore. India needs real
work like LPG cylinders in crores of rural homes, electrification of the
remotest villages, 10s of crores of new bank accounts, demonetization
that the poor perceive as hurting the black money hoarding rich.. Most
of Congress’ agenda and vote bank has been snatched by clever moves of
BJP. Also, Congress playing second fiddle to regional satraps like Lalu,
Mulayam and Karunanidhi is hurting even more. But who has time to sit
and discuss all these? See reasons 1 and 2 above to know the core
reasons again.</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<b>5) Unable to shrug off the SCAM taint.</b></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
During
this decade, Congress means 2G scam, Coal scam, CWG scam and a host of
other scams. It even made to recent UP election as SCAM acronym, but
unfortunately Rahul Gandhi did not even understand the severity of that.
He tried to snub Modi by owning SCAM acronym which made Rahul a
laughing stock. Results were there to see after a few weeks. Congress
decimated again. Congress needs fresh faces. Because right from Sonia
Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, all the big faces are scam tainted now. Sonia
and Rahul <b>are out on bail</b> in the National Herald corruption case.
So anytime Congress opens the mouth on corruption of other parties,
people will ask about Congress mega scams. That is hurting Congress at
perception level.</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<b>6) Last and most importantly, unable to make head or tail of how to handle the Modi TsuNaMo sweeping India.</b></div>
</span></span><br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span id="__w2_F7x2vyY_text_snip_content"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq2YOGszjKXTeXTY5Px2wadLOkMW-jb9hwUdcKjn9jaFC9SBcfKyn9FmAFoMpY9qJ2N2dzP9p-L7KhSEFRyJtvzjKKUJNfGVqviTUYi8U_YxSnUA1Sh5UwFE2FTZJDiyYWZtwvGcLxGMr4/s1600/Congress+decline+-+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq2YOGszjKXTeXTY5Px2wadLOkMW-jb9hwUdcKjn9jaFC9SBcfKyn9FmAFoMpY9qJ2N2dzP9p-L7KhSEFRyJtvzjKKUJNfGVqviTUYi8U_YxSnUA1Sh5UwFE2FTZJDiyYWZtwvGcLxGMr4/s400/Congress+decline+-+4.jpg" width="400" /></a>It
is so serious now that for every one person living in a Congress ruled
state, there are seven people living in a BJP ruled state. BJP has
almost hit 2/3rd of India in terms of state governments. And they are
nowhere near peak, as there is a lot of ground to still take over along
the eastern coast of India. Narendra Modi’s clean image, hard working
nature, and outstanding clarity in convincing a voter, is unmatched by
the opposition. The only thing Congress and its allies are doing is to
bad mouth Modi, which he is cleverly using to get even more votes!</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<b>So if Congress has to regain ground and relevance pan India, it has to:-</b></div>
<ol>
<li><b>Get
better leadership.</b> Rahul is not the right man and Sonia is one step
into retirement. Priyanka Vadra is just for guest appearance. Old
leaders like Kharge, Chidambaram, Gogoi, Digvijaya are not going to cut
any longer. Get 15 to 20 young and visionary leaders, with one pan India
appeal leader at the top. Nehru-Gandhi family’s charm has faded and
next in lines are not at all going to help Congress.</li>
<li><b>Get better
vision, </b>particularly more positive views to attract Indian youth.
Minority appeasement, caste combinations and scaring India of
RSS/BJP/Hindutva are so 20th century. Won’t work now.</li>
<li><b>Look at
long term planning for 2024. </b>Modi’s wave is so popular now, that they
stand little chance to challenge him in 2019 in the current
organizational setup. Keep in mind - Congress is BJP’s only alternative
nation-wide at present. AAP, TMC, DMK, ADMK, TDP, TRS, SP, BSP, RJD, SS,
SAD, JDU, JDS, CPM, BJD etc. can’t even win 5 seats across 5 different
states. Congress has the brand and ready made cadre pan India. It is
just in a self destructing mode due to horrible management at the top.
Start from top, and change will bring fruits by 2024.</li>
</ol>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span></div>
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span id="__w2_F7x2vyY_text_snip_content"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span></span><br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span id="__w2_F7x2vyY_text_snip_content"><span class="rendered_qtext"><br /></span></span></span>
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span id="__w2_F7x2vyY_text_snip_content"><span class="rendered_qtext"><i>PS: All images from Google Pictures. All credits to the original photographer or owner of the picture, who placed it for public consumption. </i></span></span></span></div>
Kiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485405523308080612.post-6569397735445124842017-05-04T02:24:00.000-07:002017-05-04T02:26:10.321-07:00Are there any solutions to the terrible Bengaluru traffic?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I saw this question on Quora sometime back.<br />
<b><i>Will Bangalore’s traffic problem ever be resolved?</i></b><br />
<br />
Plenty of good minds analyzed the issues and provided some answers. Since I am born and brought up in this city, and have been driving here since late 1980s, I thought I can pitch in to some extent.<br />
<br />
So reproducing my answer here.<br />
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext">Firstly, you should know the scale of Bengaluru traffic growth:</span></span><br />
<blockquote>
<div class="qtext_para">
<i>The number of vehicles in Mumbai is around 27,00,000.</i></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<i>The number of vehicles added by Bengaluru in just 8 years till 2016 is 29,00,000+.</i></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<i>That should tell a lot of things about why Bengaluru’s traffic problems are humongous.</i></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="qtext_para">
Today,
Bengaluru has close to 68,00,000 vehicles, which is the second highest
in India after Dilli metro area. But here is a big difference. Dilli
(NCR) has a huge metro train network (213 KM, 160 stations) almost
completely sponsored by the central government (pool of all states’
money). It also has a much bigger and wider road network built using
central money over the decades. There are still massive jams in Dilli,
but that is another discussion.</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
Coming to Bengaluru? Why are Bengaluru’s roads so heavily jammed all the time?</div>
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="qtext_para">
<b>1) The primary reason </b>is
that India has this awful 4 metro city policy for decades. That means,
only Dilli, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai were metro cities and they
qualified for various metro city related infrastructure and other
benefits. The other cities which grew up at equally or much faster rate,
like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Amdavad etc. did not qualify for the
metro city tag, and hence central assistance. That to some extent
seriously hampered the infrastructure in these second list cities. If
the central governments had provided even a basic suburban train system
covering the key areas of Bengaluru by 1990 or even 2000, things would
have been a lot different today. You have nothing to travel from
Banashankari to Yalahanka directly. You have nothing to travel from
Indiranagar to Vijayanagar directly (other than newly opened Metro). You
have to go on the road, or depend upon the new Metro which is
progressing at 5 to 10 KM pace per year, making it utterly useless to
reduce traffic.</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<b>2) The second reason is geography</b>.
Unlike Mumbai, Chennai or other coastal cities, Bengaluru (and
Hyderabad etc.) can grow 360 degrees. There is no river or sea or
mountain stopping the city from growing in all directions. So as of 2011
figures (Business Standard), Bengaluru urban district grew at an
unimaginable level of 46.68% between 2001 and 2011. That’s because the
city can grow 360′ and it literally grew on all sides. With more people
coming in from all corners of India, there is no way infrastructure can
keep up. No city in the world can handle a 46.68% decadal population
growth with timely infrastructure. With the heavy corruption in
Bengaluru’s civic authorities, it makes it even more susceptible for
lagging behind. The numbers below are not exactly metro area population,
but urban district as defined by the authorities.</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg53oa3YkDxuuGrGbAO5NfSmVu2t2uE23zDjwpwva4pLVIYIfqFK8BvFh8sElWAC6g1xyilKqysMzaD3oF8LMRrEqEVrUD4fKfai8NlZEzVpcSfMSrfnhBEXf-gBPp2a2JbILLmySUlEVA2/s1600/Bengaluru+Traffic+-+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg53oa3YkDxuuGrGbAO5NfSmVu2t2uE23zDjwpwva4pLVIYIfqFK8BvFh8sElWAC6g1xyilKqysMzaD3oF8LMRrEqEVrUD4fKfai8NlZEzVpcSfMSrfnhBEXf-gBPp2a2JbILLmySUlEVA2/s320/Bengaluru+Traffic+-+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><b>3) The third reason</b>: It is the massive IT industry which is exporting well over Rs.2,25,000,00,00,000 each year, is located mostly<b> in the east to south east corridor.</b>
And that is the area least well connected by any train system. None of
the current Metro tracks even go near the Electronic city (south East)
to ITPL (East) corridor. This primary IT corridor is well over 25 KM in
length (Electronic city, Bommanahalli, Silk Board, Sarjapur Road,
Marathahalli, Kundalahalli, ITPL, Whitefield). With more than 75% of the
city’s population staying in south, west, center and north, a huge
traffic jam gets created in any road that leads to IT corridor. Be it
Silk board, or KR Puram bridge, or HAL road.. you take a road and you
will see massive jams. It’s just volume. With India’s second highest
number of vehicles on the roads, and with just 18,000 KM of roads for 1
crore population and over 4000 sq KM area, you have a perfect recipe for
jams. Even though Bengaluru has the best Volvo AC bus system in India
(Dilli coming close enough), the narrow roads won’t let any bus cover
the distance in reasonable time.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn8C1x3eLkwdK_xV9J_dNfjZ4Y2hDOuUX0eoZrOOgtJopcXNarGGnYIqMFM3ZQWOrdzO8GK-jXR4PbS1PMZRolOB0STaehDIK-x0899QFxP3uGQuyzv6gWb7XBGS3T8Lx3eBTyO4T87BSO/s1600/Bengaluru+Traffic+-+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn8C1x3eLkwdK_xV9J_dNfjZ4Y2hDOuUX0eoZrOOgtJopcXNarGGnYIqMFM3ZQWOrdzO8GK-jXR4PbS1PMZRolOB0STaehDIK-x0899QFxP3uGQuyzv6gWb7XBGS3T8Lx3eBTyO4T87BSO/s400/Bengaluru+Traffic+-+2.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"><b>4) The fourth reason</b>
is that Bengaluru is the only city other than Dilli, which has both
North South Corridor and Golden Quadrilateral highway systems passing
through the city. Since Mumbai and Chennai road is one of the heaviest
traffic in India today, it was passing straight through the city causing
immeasurable jams. Now NICE road is to some extent relieving that via
bypass. But the Hyderabad to Kanyakumari north south traffic has no way
but to go through the city, causing heavy jams even in night times. Same
thing with Mysuru to Tirupati west to east traffic. No place to go
other than city. So lakhs of interstate transport and tour vehicles get
caught up in the jams, when ideally they should have been bypassing the
city at 30 KM outside the city.</span></span><br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguVIXT_NzoenjyTiJ-gz7gjwLHg05TkbvKepr_kllqlBdv1invbHWyapROgOHwrxgooehbyW2C4LyJ5E8YR1cQf3FotkE_ALCxll9fzEie2QVuTT_tNFbC1HhZLjF22Fai2Z7Zgp0NujHK/s1600/Bengaluru+Traffic+-+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguVIXT_NzoenjyTiJ-gz7gjwLHg05TkbvKepr_kllqlBdv1invbHWyapROgOHwrxgooehbyW2C4LyJ5E8YR1cQf3FotkE_ALCxll9fzEie2QVuTT_tNFbC1HhZLjF22Fai2Z7Zgp0NujHK/s400/Bengaluru+Traffic+-+3.jpg" width="368" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="inline_editor_value"><span class="rendered_qtext"></span></span>
<div class="qtext_para">
So those are the four biggest reasons for traffic jams.</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<b>Now what to do between now and 2025?</b></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<b>Action 1:</b>
Central governments neglected the infrastructure needs of Bengaluru
forever. Now it is too late, but at least they can do some national
highway periphery roads, rapid trains, elevated trains or at least 25%
of the money they give to Dilli Metro, to Namma Metro. Remember, Dilli
metro got Rs.5579 crore in 2016 budget, probably more than all other
cities’ metro projects in India. Central government should start
treating other cities also a bit better now, and give a few 1000 crores
to Bengaluru metro (and Hyd, Pune, Jaipur etc.) each year to help with
infrastructure. Nothing in the world can replace trains in terms of mass
transportation. Bengaluru Metro, elevated trains and suburban trains
should be the focus crisscrossing the city, creating at least 200
stations by 2025. That’s the BEST solution, else we are doomed. You
can’t just create enough roads or fly overs. They won’t solve the
traffic issue. You will see more than 1 crore vehicles in Bengaluru by
2025. Since the central government gets 10s of 1000s of crores in tax
revenue from Bengaluru each year, it should give back a big portion to <b>create world class train infrastructure</b>
of at least 500 KM. Right now Metro is just around 40KM and won’t help
in any traffic reduction. The state just does not have enough revenue to
invest 10s of 1000s of crores in building new train infrastructure. The
<b>center should also invest in giving bypass on the eastern side</b>
for North South National Highway that has no where to go today other
than the city. A 6 or 8 lane peripheral national highway on the eastern
side of the city, bypassing the current road systems will take away a
lot of big vehicle pressure from roads. In short, the city needs massive
amount of trains, and a full 360 degree bypass roads for interstate
traffic. Right now it has only about 120 degree real bypass (NICE, that
too super expensive toll) available.</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<b>Action 2:</b> The <b>state should work on satellite cities or small clusters</b>
using SMART or AMRUT city projects around Bengaluru. This is
particularly needed in the Hosakote to Sarjapur regions. Unless you make
people travel to IT corridor from east, rather than west, things won’t
improve.</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<b>Action 3:</b> The <b>state government should work on moving industries</b>
to the North West, South West or North. Western Bengaluru is heavily
populated (Basaweshwara Nagar, Rajaji Nagar, VijayaNagar, Mahalakshmi
Layout, Peenya), but the jobs are mostly in the south east and far east.
So by bringing in industries to the west (Magadi road), north west
(Tumkur road) or south west (Mysuru road), a lot of traffic problems can
be solved. It takes 2 hours to travel from Basaveshwara Nagar to
Whitefield today. If the industry was near Peenya, it would be 30
minutes! Another area to focus heavily is the northern side near the
Devanahalli area. If more people move north (water is a big issue
there), things might get a bit easy for south east.</div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<br /></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
Unless
a serious coordinated effort is done in these 3 areas, we are going
nowhere other than making jokes about Silk Board and KR Puram bridge
jams..</div>
<blockquote>
<div class="qtext_para">
<i>The latest was from near Silk Board..</i></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<i>Driver to a neighbour: “Sir, why are you walking home? Shall I give you a drop?”.</i></div>
<div class="qtext_para">
<i>Walker:
“I would have loved to come with you, but I am in a hurry to reach home
before my children come at 7 PM. So I am walking” :)</i></div>
</blockquote>
<br /></div>
Kiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485405523308080612.post-87649682725082468202017-04-07T07:01:00.000-07:002017-04-07T07:45:22.173-07:00Bandajey Waterfalls - Trek to a Gem of Western Ghats<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>Bandajey Arbi.</b>.. I never heard of this waterfall (Arbi in Tulu language means waterfall) before. A few weeks ago, friend Jeewan Prakash asked if I am interested in trekking to this hidden gem of the mighty Western Ghats. I said fine..<br />
<br />
A few weeks later, here we were.. sitting on top of a 200 feet+ waterfall, in the middle of a thick evergreen forest!! Life time experience to say the least..<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlEEbK-OE65wxkurDeW_QSLNRkKK42DZWBt0pJ_rSX9aeNhRRdCsD2osuwGfI6wQznHcbERv_r8CXogznbHVdY0A_hyPwPLmX1-1Hy_TlXiabkmrgQ4CBBXHXpa9nrglEMu8oaVDMT4wKU/s1600/2017+Apr+-+Bandajey+Falls+-+Over+fall.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlEEbK-OE65wxkurDeW_QSLNRkKK42DZWBt0pJ_rSX9aeNhRRdCsD2osuwGfI6wQznHcbERv_r8CXogznbHVdY0A_hyPwPLmX1-1Hy_TlXiabkmrgQ4CBBXHXpa9nrglEMu8oaVDMT4wKU/s400/2017+Apr+-+Bandajey+Falls+-+Over+fall.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
In summer the falls has less water, so we literally sat in the middle of the waterfalls. When there is more water during rainy season, where we sat is the center of a 50 plus 150 feet drop main water fall :) Call it craziness or adrenaline rush...<br />
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<br />
Now that's something you want to do.. at least some of you reading this. Right?<br />
<br />
I will tell you how to do it. It is not easy, but it is doable. If I can climb there, you can too.<br />
<br />
<b>Pick the right team:</b><br />
I would say ours was a perfect team. You need a Captain (Cp) and a Vice Captain (VC) who plan meticulously. Then you need a pace setter (Ps), a body builder (Bb), a photo expert (Ph), a stud for all tough occasions (St), two expert chefs (Ch and Ch), an expense master (Em), a story teller (St), a multi language singer (Sg), and finally someone to blog (Bl) the whole thing! These are only some of the primary traits that were displayed, and each person is a big time multi tasker ;)<br />
<br />
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<br />
Essentially a cricket team plus a commentator :)<br />
<br />
<b>Hard things first - Plan meticulously:</b><br />
Right from the tempo traveler, to the forest permission, to maps, to eating and drinking needs, to cloths, to guide, to health tips, to fitness preparation.. our Captain and Vice Captain did wonderfully well! It takes a few weeks to plan everything.<br />
<br />
<u>Preparation - Do NOT ignore this section:</u><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Do this trek only if all your team members can walk 20 KM in 24 hours (with breaks of course). Do not go in small teams. You should have at least 6 people. A multi talented cricket team size is ideal.</li>
<li>You will have to climb at least 3500 feet in altitude, maybe 4000 depending upon your route. If you take 10 feet as one floor of a typical Indian home, with 18 small steps, we are talking of climbing 350 floors of a typical home, or <b>climbing 6300 steps!!</b> My suggestion. If you haven't climbed a few 1000 steps or a medium size hill before, try that first and then go to Bandajey. This is a hard trek. So you should be able to walk about 20KM and climb at least 6000 steps, before you should attempt this.</li>
<li>You should be able to light fire by yourself and cook something that you can carry yourself. Remember, there is NO human settlement within half a day's climb or walk from this place. This area has elephants, wild boars and wild buffaloes. No fire, no security. Also, you should be able to assemble firewood yourself. </li>
<li><b>Take a guide.</b> Take forest permission. Google for the most current numbers and permission fees. Contact Jeewan Prakash on FB or leave a comment here with your email for further help. I can give you more info via email. If you make one wrong turn around a tree or boulder, you will get lost. No water and no food can kill you in these deep jungles. Do NOT attempt without a guide. </li>
<li>Carry more food and water than you need for 24 to 36 hours. It is OK to sweat a bit and carry extra load, than run out of water or food. At any point, each person should have 4 liters of water with him/her. You will get water only in 2 places where you cut across the tributary of Netravati river. Refill (with cloth as filter) every bottle. We did not see water source anywhere else during our 20+ KM trek.</li>
<li>Carry the best trekking shoe. Don't do the mistake that I did of hiking in running shoes. Carry a sleeping bag per person. Carry a knife for help and protection. Carry pain killers and muscle spray. Carry rubber bands, small tying thread, hats, monkey cap for night, powerful torches, preferably head band torch, fully charged mobile phones (though you get very little signal), a compass, an extra pair of light slippers, one light set of extra cloth, hiking sticks, mugs (water for nature's call), good cameras, bluetooth speaker for camp fire dance, light pataki (if you see elephants), lot of light snacks and dry fruits, raw carrots & cucumbers, sweet potato/corn/potato/onion for barbecue, noodles for main food, soup for energy, other things as per your need. Divide the entire supplies among yourselves so that no one carries more than 15 KG on back. It's a tough trek and when we went during summer it was 35'C+ heat! </li>
<li>If you are trekking after rainy season, ask the guide for more protection like leech protection. </li>
<li>Develop your own emergency contact mechanism. Particularly when trekking, develop some shouting mechanism, so that your other team behind or forward, can respond from even half a KM away. We had "eeee.. ooo..." and "oooo.. yeee'' shout. Watch the videos to hear that.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>Now that you planned well, the fun part.. the actual climbing </b><br />
<b>.. </b>and enjoying one of the best hidden secrets of mother nature!<br />
<br />
Divide your trek into 2 days. I have shown here the satellite view of the Western Ghats and where you will be moving approximately. The guide will take care of the actual route.<br />
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<br />
Try to get good sleep the previous night either in the vehicle or in a
hotel. Do not drink alcohol. Keep well hydrated and eat lots of carb
(rice, Idly, Neer Dose...). Your starting point would be Gowdara Mane (Gowda's house) near Mundaje village 5 KM from Ujire town. Search for ಮುಂಡಾಜೆ, ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ Pin code 574228. Travel leisurely and have good fun before the trek. We traveled overnight from Bengaluru and it took us 8 hours. Your mood should be very positive. Tip.. pick one of the KSRTC bus stand washrooms on the way for answering nature's calls. <br />
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<br />
<br />
<b>Day 1 - 10 AM </b><br />
All set.. let's start. Group picture at Gowdara Mane. Get your guide. Fill forest forms. Pay fees. Take permission. Eat well, drink as much water as you want. Then start. Our Captain Jeewan (Cp) and Vice Captain Bharath (VC) had meticulously got our bags with all essentials, even before our first group picture!<br />
<br />
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<br />
The first 2 hours would be a lot of fun. Thick evergreen forest and you will be enjoying the scenery a lot. Take lots of pictures. Walk as fast as you can. Remember, you can rest later, but this is a good warmup stretch. At the same time, do not let anyone get leg cramps. Rest where needed. You have enough time, unless it is raining. <br />
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<b>Day 1 - 1 PM: </b><br />
I was dripping wet with sweat... was getting very tired. And just then we heard water sound. You can't believe how happy we were! We literally enjoyed like children at this stream. This is the same tributary of Netravati that falls at the top from Bandajey falls. Joins Netravati a few KM downstream. Even on a hot summer day, the water was cold and felt like Amrita! Drink as much water as you can here. Fill up all your bottles again (use cloth as filter if needed).<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFTeC5R6tDic7EhngjxvrVXX9wDaJ_52DWU2g4pSTnaXZOqPOBT5xpXKybu-GVfCIQ-60BzhyphenhyphenpBlwzYYEPsJJjta4bUxjT8pv6O4_Jpp1inxEzjyHRW2Nm7OsMSYrk_bZP19B0NoyfNgky/s1600/2017+Apr+-+Bandajey+Falls+-+Forest+8.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFTeC5R6tDic7EhngjxvrVXX9wDaJ_52DWU2g4pSTnaXZOqPOBT5xpXKybu-GVfCIQ-60BzhyphenhyphenpBlwzYYEPsJJjta4bUxjT8pv6O4_Jpp1inxEzjyHRW2Nm7OsMSYrk_bZP19B0NoyfNgky/s320/2017+Apr+-+Bandajey+Falls+-+Forest+8.png" width="320" /></a><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoTofo2JXAU</div>
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<b>Day 1 - 4 PM</b><br />
This is the toughest time. You are almost out of heavy woods. Now you are getting into bald mountain tops. And it looks close, but it keeps getting steeper and tougher. And, you have to reach the waterfalls before it becomes dark. This is where the Pace Setter Anoop (Ps) and Body Builder Mahesh (Bb) becomes important. They push the teams and make you bring out your best, in time, so that you reach the destination for the night quickly. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR7xwOieoc_ewDaaTb5WThjsPTL-kjW-IsCTr2nyW96iZYf2BgyVg5ibGqTrbgZxXk0MQQaNyg7ut1R0IqMS4iHKeaw4utdbua_Lo-HhWeqY-7ag2Vi-LGOHxzopd4SuxFcAbRmzhyphenhyphenjlr2/s1600/2017+Apr+-+Bandajey+Falls+-+Forest+4.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR7xwOieoc_ewDaaTb5WThjsPTL-kjW-IsCTr2nyW96iZYf2BgyVg5ibGqTrbgZxXk0MQQaNyg7ut1R0IqMS4iHKeaw4utdbua_Lo-HhWeqY-7ag2Vi-LGOHxzopd4SuxFcAbRmzhyphenhyphenjlr2/s320/2017+Apr+-+Bandajey+Falls+-+Forest+4.png" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSVyY5s644r_ez287SzWcUJarLpHPix3qBWN_F_nenDatI9Z_cxQRRRuVYqtguqT4adQN3-Dmq-I3lflIA8YVRnkcVah4s-VrDuJsqiNK-ZoDSk06HSX-5jhZrO_bTYsAdE-z67A7rkwXc/s1600/2017+Apr+-+Bandajey+Falls+-+Forest+3.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSVyY5s644r_ez287SzWcUJarLpHPix3qBWN_F_nenDatI9Z_cxQRRRuVYqtguqT4adQN3-Dmq-I3lflIA8YVRnkcVah4s-VrDuJsqiNK-ZoDSk06HSX-5jhZrO_bTYsAdE-z67A7rkwXc/s320/2017+Apr+-+Bandajey+Falls+-+Forest+3.png" width="320" /></a><br />
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<b>Day 1 - 6 PM</b><br />
When you reach close enough to the falls, you will hear the water. But you won't be able to see quickly which path to take to the falls. The guide will help you here. It's another 10 minutes of steep climb and there you have.. Bandajey water falls! After a full day of trek, your joy would be unbelievable!<br />
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After taking a well deserved bath in the chilly waters of Netravati river's tributary, you are all excited to take a lifetime view from Bandajey water fall's top. Have a nice cold bath in the perfect jungle settings.<br />
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Watch this video for the view from top of the falls.<br />
<u><i>Be careful.. be careful.. be careful.</i></u> when taking videos or photos. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ma_YQgFfJ0</div>
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Then chill as much as you want seeing the sunset and clicking 100s of nice pictures and videos. Have song and dance on top of the falls. Scream as loud as you want. No one will hear you! You are in one of the most secluded places on this planet, with only animals and plants witnessing your song and dance. An entire day's effort would be rewarded with the fun you will have here. Oh.. don't forget to carry the longest possible selfie stick you can find. This is the place for selfie stick! Our expert photographer Lokesh (Ph) got us the best views, with pics clicked by Praveena, using the self stick brought in by Mahesh. <br />
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<b>Day 1 - 8 PM</b><br />
Cooking time! Remember the expert chefs that I introduced earlier. They would make sure that all the hungry stomachs get enough soups, noodles, sweet potatoes, potatoes and more. Prathap (Ch) and Lohith (Ch) were outstanding! Of course, everyone helps in the cooking process, starting with the guide who gets firewood and starts the fire. Remember, if you can't get good fire, you will have lot of difficulties next day. If it rains, be ready with some plastic covers, and some packet food for time being. We were super lucky though!!<br />
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And, nothing like hearing deep thoughts on Karna from Mahabharata, from our story teller Praveena (St). <br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>Day 1 - Midnight</b><br />
While sleeping in the night, try to keep one person awake or near the fire. If you carried any sound making equipment like light crackers, keep them handy. You never know when a thirsty elephant or buffalo approaches your camp site. We had our experienced guide who woke up at 2 AM to light bigger fire to keep us warm, and also to keep animals away. <br />
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<b>Day 2 - 7 AM</b><br />
We were lucky to have enough supplies left for the morning too. The one sleeping in the middle of the ground, next to the red shirt stud (St), is me. It is difficult to sleep on a forest floor with small stones and pebbles making difficult, but it is a rare and wonderful experience. The previous night's dance around campfire would have made you even more tired. And nothing like bed sweet potato, roasted in the left over fire!<br />
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Now without getting into more details, just be ready to answer your nature's calls, right in wide open nature :)<br />
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Before you leave the camp fire site, please make sure that you pick up all the waste things, particularly plastic and carry with you. Do not leave any fire out carelessly. Save the forest!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhzoMxbDkJABMCdHxQH_Kn2cD_moJ9loc9fC_CtBmzt4HBG8VxaSR5X5JCMjvaqjKeguYDOKU5EE4btvnwhqZPv9j9xzgkkF_B-Jp1-WiLVokupj9Z1wo6wvY4QF_jW5ImI3XI0NpZQ6K0/s1600/2017+Apr+-+Bandajey+Falls+-+Sleeping.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhzoMxbDkJABMCdHxQH_Kn2cD_moJ9loc9fC_CtBmzt4HBG8VxaSR5X5JCMjvaqjKeguYDOKU5EE4btvnwhqZPv9j9xzgkkF_B-Jp1-WiLVokupj9Z1wo6wvY4QF_jW5ImI3XI0NpZQ6K0/s320/2017+Apr+-+Bandajey+Falls+-+Sleeping.png" width="320" /></a> <br />
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<b>Day 2 - 9 AM</b> <br />
After an amazing effort of guiding us, lifting luggage when needed, bringing in firewood, showing us swimming areas, helping us cook food, keeping us warm with fire at night, and keeping wild animals away, <b>our guide Ganesh Naik </b>had to return home to Mundaje. So with tremendous thankfulness we said goodbye to him. Remember, this man climbs this mountain every week, and he can do in 1.5 hours!! A real Indian stud... If you want him as guide, contact us in comments, or on Facebook. He directed us for remaining trail, and headed back. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDPrnbZavtqRRJxGotmVDvrleK7khINI3U-JNbV5DTvljg5YuDakps2tsR1nmp14CLg_yRl7PBu2H1hzF4MynDegCmyb_IuMHBS68G78Yu3uryGoHdtTCNkGtwWHgUfqHcHFlMqJtKrBV4/s1600/2017+Apr+-+Bandajey+Falls+-+Guide.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDPrnbZavtqRRJxGotmVDvrleK7khINI3U-JNbV5DTvljg5YuDakps2tsR1nmp14CLg_yRl7PBu2H1hzF4MynDegCmyb_IuMHBS68G78Yu3uryGoHdtTCNkGtwWHgUfqHcHFlMqJtKrBV4/s320/2017+Apr+-+Bandajey+Falls+-+Guide.png" width="320" /></a><br />
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Soon, we were on our own, heading towards Durgada Halli village at the base of next mountain. But on the way, you will see dozens of world class views. Clouds, prairies, fully bald hills, windy cliffs, steep descent, patches of forest... In western ghats, once are above 3500 feet, finding trees is tough. The terrain becomes like grassland and weather windy and tough.<br />
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Here is one video while moving to next mountain.<br />
Trekking on the way to Balla Rayana Durga.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_atTVcV4nlY</div>
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You can dance, you can sing.. you can have leisurely fun as you know that your destination is just 4 hours away - provided you don't lose the way. Keep enough water and snacks all the way. Don't empty things ahead of time. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXpI43tsjORlFOVeIfa7X-Y_jInbIMYQj32zVCvUMaQB07xhwP-TguTvtRKVf8kP48o4pqiFBHh2V12KbIuOfdFi20-mNYZItztPbTjWMc57V-Lqbh3-zDF85ppRpzxYFGTY7xm_CPhf5A/s1600/2017+Apr+-+Bandajey+Falls+-+Jump.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXpI43tsjORlFOVeIfa7X-Y_jInbIMYQj32zVCvUMaQB07xhwP-TguTvtRKVf8kP48o4pqiFBHh2V12KbIuOfdFi20-mNYZItztPbTjWMc57V-Lqbh3-zDF85ppRpzxYFGTY7xm_CPhf5A/s320/2017+Apr+-+Bandajey+Falls+-+Jump.png" width="320" /></a><br />
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<b>Day 2 - 11 AM</b><br />
Maidhadi View Point or Phantom Hill. This is in my view the BEST view point. Clouds hitting the mountains, steep cliffs. <br />
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On a good day, you can view 50 KM towards Kudare mukha mountain range in Chikkamagaluru district. <br />
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You will be at around 4000 feet above sea level and literally above clouds!</div>
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Just be a bit careful.. the vertical drop will be least 500 feet if one slip happens.<br />
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This is how the heavenly view is from this point! See the video. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kbllolGxoRk/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kbllolGxoRk?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbllolGxoRk</div>
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<b>Day 2 - 12 PM</b><br />
Finally reached the highest point of the trek. The Ballarayana Durga. Ballaraya was a Hoysala Empire's chieftain sometime around 800 years ago. The durga or fort is named after him. <br />
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Click this link to see the video with Praveena's commentary -><br />
<b><a href="https://goo.gl/photos/nwWscirEo5TQ7Vj69" target="_blank">https://goo.gl/photos/nwWscirEo5TQ7Vj69</a></b> <br />
<br />
Standing behind the fort, we could observe a longer version of the fort, which resembled from a distance the Great Wall of China! At this point, you will get 100s of thoughts. How did our ancestors maintain a fort here. How did they defend it. The terrain is vast and harsh. In any direction if you have to get to a village nearby, it takes a lot of time. During monsoon season, it would be so tough to get here. Life would have been tough for chieftains and Kings/Queens trying to protect the Western Ghats landscape, where peaks are 4000 to 6000 feet tall! Remember, Western Ghats is India's tallest mountain range outside Himalayan territory.<br />
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<b>Day 2 - 2 PM</b><br />
After a tough 36 hours of trek, you are coming back to civilization, via a mini forest again. We had fantastic conversations from Vedanta to Cosmology on the way. Enjoy your journey! Make sure you have your driver's number handy and arrange ahead of time for pickup near Durgada Halli. There is no facility here after a long and tiring trek. Your driver and vehicle must be here on time. <br />
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Finally we are back to human civilization!<br />
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Then.. we drove 40 KM to Horanadu from there. Here our multi language Singer Karanth (Sg) kept us entertained with nice songs. There we took bath in Bhadra river and then took darshan of Annapurneshwari Mata. Of course, nice anna prasada they give in the temple to end our long trek.<br />
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On the way back to Bengaluru, more fun and conversations. Our Stud Jaya Shekhara (St) took us through history of Cuba and south America. Our Expense Master Vivek (Em) made sure everything is computed by Jeewan and Prathap accurately.<br />
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<br />
<u>You can watch more pictures here:</u><br />
<b><a href="https://goo.gl/photos/Ty9nkTuGTTfRxjUA7" target="_blank">https://goo.gl/photos/Ty9nkTuGTTfRxjUA7</a></b><br />
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In one video, <b>the entire trek</b> to Bandajey waterfalls summed up here in a minute.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/WwVoZu7x1sE/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WwVoZu7x1sE?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwVoZu7x1sE</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Here is another short summary of the whole trek in 90 seconds.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NvifxddTtRw/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NvifxddTtRw?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvifxddTtRw</div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><i>Vehicle cost from Bengaluru - Rs. 14000....</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><i>Food, Water and Other cost - Rs. 14000....</i><i> </i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><i>Meticulous planning, training and preparation - 21 days....</i><i> </i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><i>But the view you see from the top rock of Bandajey water fall... PRICELESS!!</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><i>There are some things money can buy.. for everything else, go trekking :)</i></span></span></div>
Kiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485405523308080612.post-51268433681884350322017-02-13T01:27:00.000-08:002017-02-13T01:32:22.889-08:00Airline Displays at Bengaluru Airport<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This one would be a very quick blog post, with pictures. And less words compared to my earlier blog entries. <br />
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During the past two moves through <b>Bengaluru's Kempe Gowda International Airport</b>, I noticed this. A few weeks ago, heard the same in a talk at Munnota bookstore in Bengaluru. So I told myself, why not? Let's really check how different airlines are advertising themselves via their <b>airport counters. </b><br />
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As of 2016, Kempegowda Airport in Bengaluru (BIAL) is the <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_busiest_airports_in_India_by_passenger_traffic" target="_blank" title="List of busiest airports in India by passenger traffic">third busiest airport by passenger traffic</a> in India, behind the airports in Delhi and Mumbai.
It handled over 2.22 crore passengers in 2016 with little less than
500 aircraft movements per day! The airport also handled about 314,060
tonnes (346,190 short tons) of cargo. So in short, I am talking of a very busy airport in India, which does fantastic commercial business.<br />
<br />
So these airlines operating from the third busiest airport of India, based in the capital of Karnataka, must be eager to get your business and mine. So I went to 12 airline counters next to departure and arrival gates. There may be more, but let's use these 12 as comparative examples.<br />
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Here is India's most used domestic airline today. Indigo.<br />
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Next, Jet Airways..<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVG5PpTgxwB6MjFzarkOkhclaS-dG17UxZjhGSYdY12ork1dUKxJWUaWjbKSezICBQjZ2kL5fqDsc2Um2b4sDcbbGxu9tfqK7XkYtxQxIRowMbnsvieanv-AN8uRZ-sQZkIGTkXFA0VDbL/s1600/Kempe+Gowda+Airport+-+Jet+Airways.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVG5PpTgxwB6MjFzarkOkhclaS-dG17UxZjhGSYdY12ork1dUKxJWUaWjbKSezICBQjZ2kL5fqDsc2Um2b4sDcbbGxu9tfqK7XkYtxQxIRowMbnsvieanv-AN8uRZ-sQZkIGTkXFA0VDbL/s320/Kempe+Gowda+Airport+-+Jet+Airways.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Then, Go Air. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy6NOqgPX-mgbyLyreHAeyN0NTRxK0x8WaBY8fjKOm9mZPmsAK-mlzmg1Ec4acE9nVJwMRoCzQgqTOHf4V9kBox-RMgzlbxFhSyzVaugmAXbqZQEh0wN2tU4Aen76Xb2JbNeP0JNDbi88o/s1600/Kempe+Gowda+Airport+-+Go+Air.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy6NOqgPX-mgbyLyreHAeyN0NTRxK0x8WaBY8fjKOm9mZPmsAK-mlzmg1Ec4acE9nVJwMRoCzQgqTOHf4V9kBox-RMgzlbxFhSyzVaugmAXbqZQEh0wN2tU4Aen76Xb2JbNeP0JNDbi88o/s320/Kempe+Gowda+Airport+-+Go+Air.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
Then walked over to Air Asia.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUUy0Xss8Fmbzz_nf6bPkButYkF7iOZqiQ9jIZ5VF_0iBOraSr5TBS19oXhdaRZdBRWO3QWa-seVRASykhpbfd0WFVbPgNJeuAoWt8OjrwUqPDY8NXOnIFnRjzsRe3RYlmceidmJsShWEc/s1600/Kempe+Gowda+Airport+-+Air+Asia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUUy0Xss8Fmbzz_nf6bPkButYkF7iOZqiQ9jIZ5VF_0iBOraSr5TBS19oXhdaRZdBRWO3QWa-seVRASykhpbfd0WFVbPgNJeuAoWt8OjrwUqPDY8NXOnIFnRjzsRe3RYlmceidmJsShWEc/s320/Kempe+Gowda+Airport+-+Air+Asia.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Then to SpiceJet..<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJYbkf71lrgffSi1JgwQXNh_jo_7lwHqbwkDXOxyZ3c9PR1uYoICCotIecbKP3ttvomAa0QumoQzW532gZhlEOFSHnDdBQYluZVBEPfkgSIl0A6bflhIstIgWzhd93pWEYVYEqDVCWW1F8/s1600/Kempe+Gowda+Airport+-+Spice+Jet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJYbkf71lrgffSi1JgwQXNh_jo_7lwHqbwkDXOxyZ3c9PR1uYoICCotIecbKP3ttvomAa0QumoQzW532gZhlEOFSHnDdBQYluZVBEPfkgSIl0A6bflhIstIgWzhd93pWEYVYEqDVCWW1F8/s320/Kempe+Gowda+Airport+-+Spice+Jet.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Followed by Air Costa</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXzALIXaTuZdFzEY9CVCyzlDbYf2Rptuu6RGfmGF7maKsd7HWd3yVJXFgW_QUIexW3iIzgaAG4D2QeSWN68hwPm-YUEJ3g3zBlSiVeWCecdhTZIaOiKRWnFTcZQ1mmNheOH0c956fQWlA4/s1600/Kempe+Gowda+Airport+-+Air+Costa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXzALIXaTuZdFzEY9CVCyzlDbYf2Rptuu6RGfmGF7maKsd7HWd3yVJXFgW_QUIexW3iIzgaAG4D2QeSWN68hwPm-YUEJ3g3zBlSiVeWCecdhTZIaOiKRWnFTcZQ1mmNheOH0c956fQWlA4/s320/Kempe+Gowda+Airport+-+Air+Costa.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Then the newcomer TruJet.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCC6au_n2vgBYPJ1EuufEeO74QYLDRBIM-VM0OGUpXmmRftUM_uKTV-6NOkl8H3S0ji_fnFTJdL7lQ-QXVpvlfFFXXKeMZTbcWQHlI8DL6ZtMVSR2K6Ja2-JVqlHX40vsYF_amGIDoZN7m/s1600/Kempe+Gowda+Airport+-+True+Jet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCC6au_n2vgBYPJ1EuufEeO74QYLDRBIM-VM0OGUpXmmRftUM_uKTV-6NOkl8H3S0ji_fnFTJdL7lQ-QXVpvlfFFXXKeMZTbcWQHlI8DL6ZtMVSR2K6Ja2-JVqlHX40vsYF_amGIDoZN7m/s320/Kempe+Gowda+Airport+-+True+Jet.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Lastly to Vistara another small domestic airline.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicXszm71Z06xDZRppovlwuDOtq1c33V30VkA8cEkqNx10ysGSfCfsABdivBlq7CTFlEDDQc30g4ViZxIyOrwixRmU7FB46GnZ622b2WUfil7E_FZB0ZhIR8yq_d58m1vM2oJeatpM9dge2/s1600/Kempe+Gowda+Airport+-+Vistara.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicXszm71Z06xDZRppovlwuDOtq1c33V30VkA8cEkqNx10ysGSfCfsABdivBlq7CTFlEDDQc30g4ViZxIyOrwixRmU7FB46GnZ622b2WUfil7E_FZB0ZhIR8yq_d58m1vM2oJeatpM9dge2/s320/Kempe+Gowda+Airport+-+Vistara.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Those are the 8 domestic airline counters that I visited.<br />
<br />
Then I went to a few international airline counters<span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: black;">, starting with the popular German airline Lufthansa.</span><u><br /></u></span><br />
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<br />
Then Air Arabia.. from West Asia. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicYX6YQxYJlo-wQ2mydxau2giDN7SaEH4K7wJ4zj3nTSfCxlWoh7o5UYJwBrkWBTG41DMUq90EfApwhOvmBBRcz8AY8Zh2NYxwCM9_iuifZy5TjhwnE6wSR64i3-jrhyphenhyphen-SMS1Di4lvbnj1/s1600/Kempe+Gowda+Airport+-+Air+Arabia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicYX6YQxYJlo-wQ2mydxau2giDN7SaEH4K7wJ4zj3nTSfCxlWoh7o5UYJwBrkWBTG41DMUq90EfApwhOvmBBRcz8AY8Zh2NYxwCM9_iuifZy5TjhwnE6wSR64i3-jrhyphenhyphen-SMS1Di4lvbnj1/s320/Kempe+Gowda+Airport+-+Air+Arabia.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Later Air France / KLM from Europe. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibO1DKyXYGLiYNHwan7tvyl6eIp02cO5dfAZ7vQYaGtA97XF-5Hm7BdDeHOxRQPHVN3kssB6kd3gtKK_xyvDWnwg5fe-FCruY2bm3OZnheMBoMOVMIQVdURqNF7G4dno-YeZQAOZeJbFPF/s1600/Kempe+Gowda+Airport+-+Air+France.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibO1DKyXYGLiYNHwan7tvyl6eIp02cO5dfAZ7vQYaGtA97XF-5Hm7BdDeHOxRQPHVN3kssB6kd3gtKK_xyvDWnwg5fe-FCruY2bm3OZnheMBoMOVMIQVdURqNF7G4dno-YeZQAOZeJbFPF/s320/Kempe+Gowda+Airport+-+Air+France.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
There might be more international counters, but I was tired and wanted to just get home.<br />
<br />
And finally, our dearest "India's National Carrier" Air India's counter.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHvcWi8KWtvdtZsaK2bSml8x2si44AbDhmtiM3Lu72B3kZMk3cZ9YBVGNRHPPjepLO-PYPEKJCtEIBak7hpxVlDv0vZOBh-oTzkmCGXiUbEBXK950jq0moc0vuyhQ8nAHvq2iskkTRSKeg/s1600/Kempe+Gowda+Airport+-+Air+India.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHvcWi8KWtvdtZsaK2bSml8x2si44AbDhmtiM3Lu72B3kZMk3cZ9YBVGNRHPPjepLO-PYPEKJCtEIBak7hpxVlDv0vZOBh-oTzkmCGXiUbEBXK950jq0moc0vuyhQ8nAHvq2iskkTRSKeg/s320/Kempe+Gowda+Airport+-+Air+India.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
Now... Did you observe carefully the 12 pictures posted above?<br />
<br />
1) ALL the 12 display boards at airport counters of these airlines, had <b><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">English </span></span></b>prominently displayed. That's because English is the language of business in Bengaluru for white collar crowd, and no one doubts it.<br />
<br />
2) Eleven out of the 12 display boards had a small <b><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Kannada</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span></b>writing. Kannada is the state official language where this airport is situated, and all the businesses respect the state language by putting a small mention of their name in Kannada. Those who can't read English, will use this. Though for most part it is ornamental in small font as most get their business done with English writing only.<br />
<br />
3) Only ONE airline put <b><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hindi </span></span></b>in the display. That too with equal size font as English, and positioned above English. Also, this was the ONLY airline which did not put Kannada on the main counter display. And most importantly, this was the ONLY airline whose staff is paid salary using the tax money generated from Karnataka.<br />
<br />
<b>I wonder.... </b><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>It is not about for one language or against one language. But how come 11 airlines, including the French, Arabian and German ones understand the basic business etiquette of Bengaluru, but India's <i>"national carrier"</i> does not? </li>
<li>Don't the Air India staff who work at the airport see other boards right next to them daily, and ask themselves.. how come we are ignoring Kannada and putting Hindi on the board, while none of the other airlines, including those from France, Germany or Arabia are doing it?</li>
<li>If Air India has to put Hindi display, let them put it. I don't think most people will have any issue with it. If you observed, Air Arabia from UAE is putting Arabic display in Karnataka and no one has issue with it. But Air Arabia <u><i>is also having common sense</i></u> to put a prominent Kannada display on the same board!</li>
</ul>
<br />
This is a classic example where business is NOT the primary purpose, but promotion and demotion of languages is... Very disappointed with this irresponsible attitude of Air India and more so because my tax money is paying such people's salary :(<br />
<br /></div>
Kiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485405523308080612.post-65753878230554928842016-09-19T02:55:00.004-07:002016-09-19T02:55:48.006-07:00If India has to hit terror factories in Pakistan, be ready for a war with China!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It is about 32 hours since the attack on Uri army camp in India, by Pakistani terrorists. There is tremendous amount of anger in India, specifically in the sections of society which I normally don't see overreact on social media.<br />
<br />
This was the front page of paper at my home - <span style="color: purple;">"<i>We have had enough!" </i></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2xEA9xVwSeHx4KXym4urCzF0CGkbwUXenpO00UB9vjL3XJEFynd-es8FhO1i3CebA4BdA6DmzCxbDU539ucCz0ZGgT8BLCaSK-gYURPy4MIaiOyP5hVK-1PjZG715dBhsr2Q_O4eHysuD/s1600/PoK+-+Uri+Attack.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2xEA9xVwSeHx4KXym4urCzF0CGkbwUXenpO00UB9vjL3XJEFynd-es8FhO1i3CebA4BdA6DmzCxbDU539ucCz0ZGgT8BLCaSK-gYURPy4MIaiOyP5hVK-1PjZG715dBhsr2Q_O4eHysuD/s400/PoK+-+Uri+Attack.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: purple;"><i>Front page of New Indian Xpress, the day after Uri Attack</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The overwhelming majority are screaming - Dear Prime Minister.. <span style="color: purple;"><b><i>do something. do quickly..</i></b></span><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>That "do" can be full fledged war. </li>
<li>It can be economic blockade.</li>
<li>It can be water stoppage for Sindhu and five rivers of Punjab going into Pakistan.</li>
<li>It can be surgical strikes inside Pakistan like India did inside Myanmar last year.</li>
<li>It can be as many as there are opinions on social media, papers and TV.</li>
</ul>
<br />
But the big question is.. <b>Can India attack Pakistan this week?</b><br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>I am sure there is military will power. </li>
<li>I am sure there would be enough political will power. </li>
<li>I am sure India has plenty of financial cushion to do this. (Pakistan's GDP is smaller than just one state's in India - Maharashtra)</li>
<li>I am sure internally there won't be much opposition to India for a small scale surgical strike. </li>
</ol>
<br />
But still.. 69 years of handling of Jammu and Kashmir by India is something we have to look at right now. Can India afford to hit Pakistan where it hurts the most, for Pakistan's obsession with Jihadi terror export all these decades?<br />
<br />
While I was looking for some pragmatic answers, amidst very loud war cries that I see in press, TV and social media, I happened to see this tweet set. A very thoughtful set of tweets by the user <span style="color: purple;"><i>@vadakkus</i></span>. From here onward, I am merely reproducing the fantastic probing analysis done by @vadakkus, <span style="color: blue;"><i>with very little info from my side</i></span>. Read it fully and then comment on what Indian government can do, should do, and most importantly, when to do. Vadakkus starts off a tweet storm on the entire Pakistan - India fiasco. There is more than what meets the eye here. And issue is NOT Kashmir. It also does not look like anything to do with Islam, Separatism, Human Rights, Army, AFSPA, Track 2 negotiation and many other things we hear on TV.<br />
<br />
It is must deeper than that.. Geo politics! <br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPkg4llBueX24QoluqXogXhnWgOtjstTXK3TmUcw7e57aW3wlDfg9VIu4mGIlWrBvzbtTeulRr9RTrN7k95E0j59jrADJoM6KG7iiJhXbT7lg-PgPc3bjS8Xski_diqRFBdmqroEP0OQSh/s1600/PoK+-+Vadakkus+tweet.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPkg4llBueX24QoluqXogXhnWgOtjstTXK3TmUcw7e57aW3wlDfg9VIu4mGIlWrBvzbtTeulRr9RTrN7k95E0j59jrADJoM6KG7iiJhXbT7lg-PgPc3bjS8Xski_diqRFBdmqroEP0OQSh/s400/PoK+-+Vadakkus+tweet.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<b>Why is Pakistan obsessed with Kashmir? </b>I have always wondered what makes Kashmir so attractive to Pakistan,
that they are willing to keep the issue burning forever. What IS there?<br />
<i>{Prem Shekhar, a well known Kannada columnist informed a few weeks that Pakistan had even offered to give up East Pakistan in 1950s, in return for Jammu and Kashmir on the sidelines of official discussions with India! So definitely it is not religion or Kashmiris.. it is much deeper than that. It was water sources then, but now much more deeper...}</i><br />
<br />
<b>Why is India so reluctant to hit back at Pakistan?</b> Also why does India always seem to be unable to retaliate to Pakistan in
kind (it should, totally) and pussyfoots around Pakistan, despite all the atrocities it commits in India from daily incursions in Kashmir
to the Mumbai attacks. They spend too much money on all this and the country, despite no visible revenue-generating industry
(terrorism no revenue) has managed to survive until today, develop nukes and has so much international clout? Where does it get its money from?
Why?? Why is India reluctant to strike? There must be reasons.<br />
<br />
Yes, water is an issue. The Indus and its tributaries. But where do they
get money to keep the issue alive? There is more to this than water. Today, someone told me about this thing and I was stumped about how
bloody obvious this is, and even then, NOBODY in India talks about this!<br />
<br />
<b>It is China... stupid.. It is China and CPEC: </b>The "thing" is the CPEC: China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. If you look
at it closely suddenly everything falls into place. Kashmir, Balochistan, India's unwillingness to strike, silence of international community, everything
else. Pakistan is just a front. <span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: purple;"> </span></i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: purple;">The real sponsor is hiding behind.</span></i></span><br />
<br />
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Maybe it is because Indian method of viewing everything in black & white. Pakistan sponsors terrorism to get Kashmir. It is not that simple. Pakistan kept the Kashmir flame burning until the 1990s to meet their
ends, when China conceived the CPEC and decided to take over. A bit on the CPEC as no one seems to have heard about it. China has a
huge geographic handicap: <b><u>no acces</u><u>s</u></b> to southern world oceans.</div>
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So Chinese shipments from Europe, Middle East, Africa have to travel all the way around India, Malacca and ASEAN. China has serious problems with most countries in that region due to its aggressive military posture. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzxbhMM4xNyriaR65P02XVzDTBqi8NLfU-rqcENOuZ1Cm75iPbuSkJgThCuPL9VCKN5SdWFUO-Rte9q5LcExFuto9qh2WfAhSXs0N9VV1g1UCZhWxD6llSYQbFXFr8kCCRNBD1CmnzjvRS/s1600/PoK+-+CPEC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzxbhMM4xNyriaR65P02XVzDTBqi8NLfU-rqcENOuZ1Cm75iPbuSkJgThCuPL9VCKN5SdWFUO-Rte9q5LcExFuto9qh2WfAhSXs0N9VV1g1UCZhWxD6llSYQbFXFr8kCCRNBD1CmnzjvRS/s400/PoK+-+CPEC.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: purple;">CPEC Need. Source - Twitter. </span><b><i>Please excuse since J&K map is not as per India's standards.</i></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b>Why Pakistan is so important for Chinese economy? </b>What if China could get a route through Pakistan to access the Arabian
Sea? That line in blue. Look at it, so much distance, money saved! That, is the CPEC. A corridor of highways and railways will run from
Kashgar in China to Gwadar in Pakistan (Baluchistan) on the Arabian sea near Iran border. And ALL the infrastructure and associated stuff for CPEC will be
constructed for Pakistan by China, free or cost or for negligible loans.</div>
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<div class="TweetTextSize js-tweet-text tweet-text" data-aria-label-part="0" lang="en">
<b>What is CPEC?</b>Four Six-lane Expressways from north to south Pakistan, four different routes.
All main railway lines being upgraded to 160 kph double. A six to eight lane super expressway Karachi to Gwadar and Hyderabad
Innumerable coal, thermal, solar and hydro power plants all across Pakistan. All of Gwadar, including a mega international airport!
Then Hospitals, schools, colleges, tech institutes, even a Metro line in Lahore!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="TweetTextSize js-tweet-text tweet-text" data-aria-label-part="0" lang="en">
And of course, the capstone: reconstruction of the Karakoram highway to six to four lanes. All projects listed here. Click, zoom and read. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTgkts_tGIMqlp8-Ev7yqSwG7bqvoaht8Su7iaLaH1g5QYyYvACMMrfaPDoeewOM6aFr0jPVK5B03RxzQDXpLCS-JQSxzwOi3uMHoSkrbIKGOK_ToxvdImFxohHbkg5ydrhwKwm8AZ7imD/s1600/PoK+-+CPEC+Map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTgkts_tGIMqlp8-Ev7yqSwG7bqvoaht8Su7iaLaH1g5QYyYvACMMrfaPDoeewOM6aFr0jPVK5B03RxzQDXpLCS-JQSxzwOi3uMHoSkrbIKGOK_ToxvdImFxohHbkg5ydrhwKwm8AZ7imD/s400/PoK+-+CPEC+Map.jpg" width="343" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: purple;">CPEC Map. Source Twitter.</span> <b><i>Please excuse since J&K map is not as per India's standards.</i></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="TweetTextSize js-tweet-text tweet-text" data-aria-label-part="0" lang="en">
<b>But why is Jammu and Kashmir involved here? </b> Now, on the Karakoram highway, this is where it matters most for India.
It connects China and Pakistan, though India! Through Jammu and Kashmir, which legally acceded to India in 1947 October. This is a route map of the Karakoram highway (grey). Look at the top, <span style="color: red;">inside the red circle</span>. It is Gilgit Baltistan area of Jammu and Kashmir state, which legally belongs to India, but illegally occupied by Pakistan. Keep in mind, China also occupies illegally the eastern and northern part of Jammu and Kashmir - Shaksgam valley (gifted by Pakistan in 1960s) and Aksai Chin (occupied by China in 1950s when it annexed Tibet).</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijKRCiWBBZAwb_b3OgiNbOoKgAcWDnjmFA0-ELnG2kIM2kaPyE_w-Lo2D0SHmN7kXYqPkrLc87AjpRB5Z5YTyFLs5f7Ll0ShNYiJXUrR2IQZXqqbLet21R3QMHpnPXErv0ufs8F9U-5g-D/s1600/PoK+-+CPEC+in+Gilgit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijKRCiWBBZAwb_b3OgiNbOoKgAcWDnjmFA0-ELnG2kIM2kaPyE_w-Lo2D0SHmN7kXYqPkrLc87AjpRB5Z5YTyFLs5f7Ll0ShNYiJXUrR2IQZXqqbLet21R3QMHpnPXErv0ufs8F9U-5g-D/s400/PoK+-+CPEC+in+Gilgit.jpg" width="316" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: purple;">Karakoram highway location. Map from Wiki.</span> <b><i>Not per India's J&K map standards.</i></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The highway passes through Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.
The red line is the LOC. Pakistan and China are connected through Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK for short). Pakistan calls this Gilgit-Baltistan area of Jammu and Kashmir, as Northern Territories sometimes. </div>
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<b>More on Karakoram highway:</b> Soon to be a 4/6 lane highway through some of the
world's toughest terrain. A high-capacity highway across the Himalayas!</div>
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<div class="TweetTextSize js-tweet-text tweet-text" data-aria-label-part="0" lang="en">
Now, though the CPEC is a recent thing, the idea had taken birth long
back. The Karakoram highway started building in 1959, opened in 1979! Possibly Pakistan had refused China access to Gwadar then as they could.
But now they have no other choice but hand over to China.</div>
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<b>Why CPEC?</b>
OIL: Gwadar is just 400 km away from Muscat and 500 from the Strait of
Hormuz through which all Gulf oil passes. 12 hours at sea! Proximity to Africa: China virtually owns much of Africa today. Billions
in investment, buys natural resources. Nothing better than this. Pakistan as a market: China will flood Pakistan and Gulf with its cheap products and make a windfall there too.
Proximity to new friend Sri Lanka.If USA/UK (control Malacca strait - Singapore) or India in Indian ocean decide to choke it, China will have no problem as it has CPEC. </div>
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<span class="ProfileTweet-action--favorite u-hiddenVisually"><span class="ProfileTweet-actionCount" data-tweet-stat-count="13"></span></span></div>
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But, all of CPEC and China's ambitions bearing fruit depends on the
Karakoram highway. That <u><i>depends on PoK continued to be occupied by Pakistan.</i></u> </div>
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<b>Money Involved: </b>With the CPEC, China has sunk close to 50 BILLION Dollars in Pakistan.
Of course, China gets free access to all this infrastructure in Pakistan. With this, 20% of Pakistan's GDP is now Chinese. China has Pakistan now firmly by
the b***s, so much so that Pakistan can now be China's 24th province. With so much invested and at stake, China wouldn't even think twice
about ruthlessly suppressing any attack on Pakistan, <i><u>because they own it now.</u></i> </div>
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<b>Doesn't India know all this?</b> Of course India knows all this. If we were to attack Pakistan, we would
have to deal with China. <i><u>Pakistan is small fry. China is not.</u></i> </div>
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<b>Who would side with India?</b> Mostly nobody. Why? Because China is
involved. How international geopolitics work, most don't get that
either. USA wants to support us because China makes it nervous. But US
corporations are over invested in China, so Uncle Sam will look the other
way. Russia - Don't even think about it. Putin has enough troubles at home, and India's pandering to Obama hasn't got him amused. Europe will sit just and watch (because China), and all of the Middle
East will (clandestinely) support Pakistan for obvious reasons (Islam).</div>
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People think alliances between countries are forget like high school
friendships - on emotional grounds of some sort - No. Not at all. International friendships are always based on "how can I benefit by
allying", "what terrible can this guy do to me if I don't ally".</div>
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So, India will left out cold if it were to as much as touch Pakistan. We
will mostly have to take on BOTH Pakistan and China. Mostly. Can India take on both Pakistan and China alone? From two (or three)
flanks? We are surrounded by China's friends. What do we do? Dunno.</div>
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<b>A bit more on the Karakoram highway:</b> 1962, remember? What if the Chinese
were testing the Indian waters before building the highway? China could've walked through India. Still, they withdrew. They
were only testing India's resolve to defend PoK if it came to that. We have all but written off PoK. All Wikipedia articles tell all of PoK
as "Pakistan". Not Pakistan administered", but Pakistan. Hurts :(</div>
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Here is the Khunjerab Pass (PoK): the "top" of India, the border between India and China, but now Pakistan. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKt1B1h1AV6gyWUtxGN4rwdCG3uD1WRj4lRIywCuVI0M3nmwZu3WBovGt77oGrU3h89iDVKJ7Xxf2f6cNCXrsA3f2x_GCbRUMF0a47hZ7PJQtEKCOjdzVgnWuImRacyJTibz-fdoVfAM-Q/s1600/PoK+-+PoK+sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKt1B1h1AV6gyWUtxGN4rwdCG3uD1WRj4lRIywCuVI0M3nmwZu3WBovGt77oGrU3h89iDVKJ7Xxf2f6cNCXrsA3f2x_GCbRUMF0a47hZ7PJQtEKCOjdzVgnWuImRacyJTibz-fdoVfAM-Q/s400/PoK+-+PoK+sign.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A sign in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir - <span style="color: purple;"><i>Source Twitter</i></span></td></tr>
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Here is the Karakoram highway near Gilgit in India (PoK) and under construction somewhere in the mountains. It should be obvious by now that China does NOT want India to reclaim its land lost to Pakistan in 1947 and 1948 - the strategic Karakoram ranges in Gilgit-Baltistan area of Jammu and Kashmir. It is as simply as that!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9_WMqL92pQbJtpvF5aAEz5wjk6Kn9LB3Sy2vyywQN5T5T_QTYYOUlAswxVq3_-seoEJKiue8pZ-ubu3z4by5H-SMyejaIw5az94hZ4z9Adnw87-96KwseLn7i7hPqpXOolh7hyphenhyphenFeAHSy9/s1600/Pok+-+Karakoram+Highways.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9_WMqL92pQbJtpvF5aAEz5wjk6Kn9LB3Sy2vyywQN5T5T_QTYYOUlAswxVq3_-seoEJKiue8pZ-ubu3z4by5H-SMyejaIw5az94hZ4z9Adnw87-96KwseLn7i7hPqpXOolh7hyphenhyphenFeAHSy9/s400/Pok+-+Karakoram+Highways.png" width="376" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Karakoram Highway in PoK part of Jammu and Kashmir state. <span style="color: purple;"><i>Pics - Twitter</i></span></td></tr>
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Here is the entire map of the Karakoram Highway from Kashgar to Rawalpindi. Look where all it passes through. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig0VizhFzkRsjPWC6PaKCCR9wjkUTANk9ExLfdUoRWL1cYh-RRTr0kqh9RqYy602GpEhw2UkbVZb9MA3fOHVeUEzvQP8btuApT3VKdXr0hf57LhLB9DTMOGVwIDl2LvT3Hh4_yqpXqs1-T/s1600/Pok+-+Karakoram+Highway+Map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig0VizhFzkRsjPWC6PaKCCR9wjkUTANk9ExLfdUoRWL1cYh-RRTr0kqh9RqYy602GpEhw2UkbVZb9MA3fOHVeUEzvQP8btuApT3VKdXr0hf57LhLB9DTMOGVwIDl2LvT3Hh4_yqpXqs1-T/s400/Pok+-+Karakoram+Highway+Map.jpg" width="278" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Karakoram highway map. <span style="color: purple;"><i>Source - Twitter</i></span></td></tr>
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<b>China owns Pakistan for most part today:</b> CPEC and all associated stuff are called "China-Pakistan Friendship"
something or the other. No friendship there. Just Chinese business. China is not doing business with Pakistan. It is running its business in
Pakistan. It is running Pakistan. <u><i>China pays for protection.</i></u> If things get push to shove, China can tell US: "We will nationalize
your businesses if you don't tell India to withdraw". What will we do? </div>
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What we should first realize is that there is no Pakistan. <span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><i>There is only
China. Pakistan is just a front. </i></span></span>We should deal accordingly. <i><u>It is in China's interest to keep Kashmir burning.</u></i> If there is peace in
the valley, India MIGHT set its eyes on PoK. Chinese know that India has a strong Prime Minister today who can think of that. China does not want India to even think of getting PoK back. Of course, China did not light the Kashmir fire, but it certainly looks
like it is them who keeps it burning that no consensus is reached. So, in addition to water, religion, ego, demographics and so on there is
one more reason behind the Kashmir unrest: China and CPEC. </div>
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<b>Is dialogue with Pakistan sensible? </b>It is utter foolishness to think that in such a case we can resolve this
through dialogue! We talk one thing while issue is another! Issue is NOT what we think is the issue! We and our govt should first
understand this. I am sure they have. Hopefully they aren't helpless. <i><u>China is waging a proxy-proxy-deceptive war</u></i> which we cannot understand or prove or blame. We need to mobilize some other way.</div>
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<b>War with Pakistan? </b>Vadakkus said at the end - I am not generally not a warmonger, but this has gone too far. We should
strike. Do something. I only wish something be done about those 17 Indian soldiers who were killed without any provocation. They didn't have to die. Take on both China and Pakistan. Maybe. Can we? I don't know what we should do. Hopefully our hands aren't tied and
someone is coming up with a plan to hit them. Hopefully. </div>
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<b>Baluchistan's role:</b> Why Pakistan got all worked up when India raised Balochistan? Gwadar is in Balochistan. Much of CPEC infra passes through Balochistan. The CPEC is China's hope at lifting its sagging economy and securing its
strategic position in the region. Its future maybe depends on it. Karakoram- Hindukush- Pamir region since ancient times been strategically
sensitive. The Silk Road. China wants control of the new Silk Road. If India were to take PoK we would squeeze the Karakoram Highway shut. <u><i>No more CPEC, Silk Road. China done for.</i></u>
That is the whole game. Highways are primary military conduits rather than civilian. Whoever controls the highway controls the region. </div>
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<b>Ultimately.. </b>Pakistan's ultimate aim is to establish an Islamic caliphate. Apart from this China helps them through CPEC. You might disagree with Modi et al but please support the govt right now in whatever action it takes. Politicking can wait. Wait two more months before taking any harsh decisions. Things might change post November.</div>
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What do you think India should do now, after reading this fully?</div>
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Kiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.com310tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485405523308080612.post-21593041271308895192016-09-14T04:19:00.000-07:002016-09-14T04:19:39.166-07:00Kaveri: Current Situation in Karnataka's Dams<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>Background: </b>It is the second week of September 2016. A very bad week in south India. Lot of disturbance, violence, animosity etc. It is that season of the year where Supreme Court gets involved and Kaveri is a big topic. This year, it went way worse than the previous few years due to many reasons. <br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>In 2012, I had written a comprehensive writeup on what is the Kaveri issue, what are the issues from Karnataka's side, what are the issues from Tamil Nadu's side, and how this can be solved in the long run -<b><i> <b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://kiranasis.blogspot.in/2012/10/kaveri-river-water-sharing-what-are.html" target="_blank">Kaveri River Water Sharing : What Are The Solutions?</a></span></span></b> </i></b>I had listed 10 solutions, based on what I read from experts. Now more solutions have come up too, like desalination. </li>
<li>In 2016, The same has been used in this better articulated Quora answer. - <i><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.quora.com/How-can-the-Cauvery-Kaveri-river-issue-be-solved/answer/Shreenivas-Hegde" target="_blank">How can the Cauvery (Kaveri) river issue be solved? </a></span></i></li>
</ol>
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For those who want long term solutions, and <b>points of view from both states</b>, please spend time in those links, and also check out references from each. You will learn a lot about actionable steps!<br />
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<b>This analysis is Not for YOU:</b> And those who are busy distributing violence videos, sarcastic or insulting memes, chest beating that Kaveri is only "ours", please continue doing that. <span style="color: purple;"><i>Don't read this any further.</i></span> Because my intention is not to discuss any point that is fruitless when it comes to final water sharing details. I am more focused on actual figures, statistics and actionable steps.<br />
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<b>What is the water situation in Karnataka in September 2016?</b> Now the rest of this writeup would be purely showing the water situation in Karnataka's Kaveri basin as of September 13th, 2016. This is fully using <a href="https://twitter.com/ainvvy/status/775687445719298048" target="_blank">a fantastic analysis done by a Twitter user</a> named <b>V Vinay </b>- <span style="color: purple;"><i>@ainvvy </i></span>. He calls himself a curious academic entrepreneur. Again, all the information provided from this point on wards, <span style="color: purple;"><i>is only from Karnataka's dams</i></span>, as I did not see any qualitative analysis or data from Tamil Nadu's dams. If you know, please share in the comments and I will update here. <br />
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<b>Names of Dams: </b>Mr. Vinay managed to download the daily inflow and reservoir levels at the 4 Karnataka dams: Harangi, Hemavati, KRS, and Kabini.<br />
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<b>Water Measurements: </b>Before getting into the data, we need to understand TMC and cusecs. For
historical reasons, the measurement is in terms of cubic feet. 1 cubic feet is roughly 28.3 litres of water. <b>cusec </b>stands for cubic feet/second.<span class="username js-action-profile-name" data-aria-label-part=""> O</span>r as <span style="color: purple;"><i>@sheksis</i></span> joked, 28 Bisleri bottles/second... More relatable :)</div>
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<b>What did Supreme Court say on 12th September 2016 in the modified order? </b></div>
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The current SC order for example asks Karnataka (KA) to release 12,000 cubic feet of water every second. <b>TMC </b>is a thousand million cubic feet, which is a billion cubic feet of water. This is <span class="st">1,000,000,000 = 10<sup>9</sup> = 1 billion cubic feet. Also, important to note that this has NO component of time involved here. It is just a measure of water. </span></div>
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<span class="st"></span>So if 10,000 cusecs of water is released for a day, it amounts to 0.86 TMC of water. 15K cusecs amounts to 1.3 TMC a day.</div>
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<span class="st"><b>In Human usage terms:</b> </span>To get a sense for these numbers, how much of water is used for
drinking, washing cloths, bathing etc. In other words how much water is needed for human in Indian terms, per day? It is usually taken to be about <b>100 Litres per person per day</b>. This translates to a little over 3.5 cubic feet of water. Do not compare with other countries where more water is available per capita. <span class="username js-action-profile-name" data-aria-label-part=""><span style="color: purple;"><i>@abhicrux </i></span>said, </span>135 liters/person/day is used for standard hydraulic calculations. All uses included. Rural south India gets less than 100 liters today. So we will go with 100 liters on the average side per person, in a water starved south India. </div>
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<b>Drinking Water Needs of Karnataka's Kaveri basin:</b> The estimated number of people in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mandya and other Kaveri basin areas is about 1.6 to
1.8 crores. This amounts to about <u>0.063 TMC of water a day.</u> Let's call it drinking water, even though it is for other daily use purposes too. Essentially anything that is not related to irrigation which is the primary user of Kaveri water. Note that not all parts of Bengaluru get Kaveri water. This computation is only for the areas getting Kaveri today.</div>
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Taken over a year, it amounts to about 24 TMC of water. This is the
water that the state needs to have to take care of drinking water needs. Of course, there will be losses of all sorts, so the figure is likely to be more like <span style="color: purple;"><i>35-40 TMC</i></span>. Losses are usually in the form of evaporation loss, distribution loss and leakage from dams and pipes. <br />
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<b>Water in Dams of Karnataka:</b> Now let us get back to the 4 dams. Harangi has a storage capacity of 8 TMC, KRS in Mandya district has 45 TMC. This is the biggest and the most important reservoir in south Karnataka. Hemavati has 35 and Kabini has 16. That totals to about 104 TMC that can be stored MAX by Karnataka at any given point of time. With around 750 TMC of water estimated for Kaveri river as a whole in a good monsoon year, this is <u>about 14% of Kaveri water</u> that can be stored by Karnataka, at any point in dams.<br />
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This is the capacity. Current levels as of September 13th 2016 are at about 5 in Harangi and about 10 in the remaining three. They add up to <b>35 TMC in total</b> across ALL dams in Karnataka on Kaveri basin. All these are computed with live storage of water without getting into dead storage analysis (which amounts to water that can't be released from dam at the bottom). An additional discharge at the current levels of 12000 cusecs to TN over the next 8 days will mean 8.3 TMC of water. Since some of the water will surely be released for other purposes, and with some inflow, the likely level in 8 days is 25 TMC. Again <b>25 TMC in total</b> across ALL dams in Karnataka on Kaveri basin. This 25TMC is what we will have to survive with until June-July of 2017 when you will see south west monsoon filling in dams again. That is <u>at least 9 full months</u> with 25 TMC of water, if no further rains happen :(<br />
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<b>What about farmers in Karnataka?</b> Forget irrigation using above mentioned water levels. Farmers are screwed in Karnataka for this year! You need 100 to 150 TMC of water for irrigation for rest of the year in Karnataka. Not sure if they could even get one full crop this year, while Tamil Nadu is planning for the second crop now, and might get a third crop also early next year. This is the fundamental reason why Karnataka was burning for days in September 2016. <br />
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<b>Dynamics of Dams and Inflow Analysis: </b>Let’s look at the dynamics of the dams. Vinay's data starts from 2011. So we have about 5.5 years of data. Here is a table of the total inflow into various dams. Kabini has small capacity but matches Hemavati in inflow. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-kbDs90j-z1JPh_dQCoZSbMHthAK5uQKiPzxEe2cdpkfXCR9II6HNh4gl89VJcHZlzAbXUMWVc43U1FtyNehY66HTQBFcr4pvscGcB-KPYY-Im8kKmK1Cr8npfH7DOBy38FXqlvclfDNO/s1600/Kaveri+2016+Blog+-+Dam+storage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-kbDs90j-z1JPh_dQCoZSbMHthAK5uQKiPzxEe2cdpkfXCR9II6HNh4gl89VJcHZlzAbXUMWVc43U1FtyNehY66HTQBFcr4pvscGcB-KPYY-Im8kKmK1Cr8npfH7DOBy38FXqlvclfDNO/s400/Kaveri+2016+Blog+-+Dam+storage.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
As you can see, Harangi and Hemavati sit behind KRS, while Kabini is ‘independent’ and joins later.<br />
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Keep in mind that some outflow from Hemavati can be inflow to KRS, etc. Vinay focuses on KRS and Kabini to look at the data more closely.<br />
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Here is Kabini. Most of the water in the <span style="color: purple;"><i>months of June to September</i></span>.<br />
And then the inflow dies down. Look at September. This time we are done through about 10 days. And the inflow has been a mere 1.5 TMC!<br />
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Likewise, KRS dam near Mysuru, has got an inflow of 3.3 TMC for the first 10 days of this month. Will it hit 10 for the month?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzuRkpaxqHyHl8aAr_ZHbyoW4h4ZRfbBIwfwpIeD13vjaiFhAQOlHFCYrniLpe-6ahWeIBElazdU1PqxYD6pS8KFH5HVyMPF9upGgpcB_1NW-onCBWju3AmxbhSS6CN9CVYP-UgyRP9Z6q/s1600/Kaveri+2016+Blog+-+KRS+dam+inflow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzuRkpaxqHyHl8aAr_ZHbyoW4h4ZRfbBIwfwpIeD13vjaiFhAQOlHFCYrniLpe-6ahWeIBElazdU1PqxYD6pS8KFH5HVyMPF9upGgpcB_1NW-onCBWju3AmxbhSS6CN9CVYP-UgyRP9Z6q/s400/Kaveri+2016+Blog+-+KRS+dam+inflow.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Then Vinay plotted the reservoir level and inflow for KRS. This graph is revealing. Notice how the reservoir level shoot up at monsoon (where the inflow is
heavy) and how it progressively decreases until the next. There are small inflows in between, but noting compared to what happens during the monsoon.<br />
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And notice the 2016 inflows and reservoir levels. It is quite pathetic.
So the usual inflow after monsoon will also be limited this year. Usually, post September of any year, the inflows are about 25-30 TMC. We don’t see it
happening this time. But we don’t have enough data to predict.<br />
<br />
<b>What's for Karnataka for rest of 2016 and first half of 2017?</b> It is going to be a very tough year at this side of Karnataka. Farmers are already ditched for 2016. Drinking water might be barely sustained at the current storage levels, for the next 9 months. See above graphs and inflow analysis.<br />
<br />
Vinay says that Tamil Nadu gets two monsoons and has better groundwater than Karnataka. Some people are disputing this two monsoon theory, but what Vinay means is that Tamil Nadu gets both South West and North East monsoons. Remember Chennai floods in 2015? That was the North East Monsoon season.<br />
<br />
After reading this analysis, it became very clear why Karnataka farmers
and Kaveri delta drinking water users, are absolutely outraged at the
current situation of draining the remaining precious water from dams.
Every TV channel in Karnataka is saying the same thing - We have no
drinking water.. why are we being forced to leave the remaining water
for growing 2nd crop in Tamil Nadu? Drinking water takes precedence over
everything else when it comes to human needs. <br />
<br />
<b>Any Suggestion for Politicians of TN and KA? </b>The two states need to demonstrate better sense than landing in court
every time there is a distress. Lack of sagacity is the problem. For those who say the Supreme Court would have ‘looked’ at the data and come to
the conclusion, Vinay says, he does not know. These graphs don’t seem to suggest so…<br />
<br />
There is more in the data, but Vinay says that he will take it up on some other day. Vinay got all these data using a simple python program… shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes for a programmer to write.<br />
<br />
Let's stop here, hoping wisdom prevails all around. I don't think a blog or set of tweets can change politics, courts or tribunal happenings, but this is only meant for common people like you and me, to understand the dire situation in Karnataka today.<br />
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Source of Data for Karnataka's dams and water levels: <a href="https://www.ksndmc.org/Reservoir_Details.aspx" target="_blank">https://www.ksndmc.org/Reservoir_Details.aspx</a><br />
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I wish I could find similar data on Tamil Nadu's dams starting with Mettur for September 2016, to see how good or bad the situation is for Tamil Nadu farmers. Again, if you have similar data from TN, please do share. <br />
<br />
Thanks again, Mr. Vinay for a classic analysis. <br />
<br /></div>
Kiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.com50tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485405523308080612.post-87120584566443798612016-08-28T04:18:00.001-07:002016-08-28T04:21:16.143-07:00Meet Captain Naveen Nagappa - Kargil War Fighter<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Jammu and Kashmir is again in news.<br />
<br />
50 days of curfew, non stop media coverage, 10s of crores of Rupees coming from Pakistan to sponsor stone pelting, anti India slogans in the so called "human rights" events, with natural reaction against anti nationals from Desha Bhakta students on streets, and much more. So I attended the well publicized and very well attended <b><a href="https://nilume.net/" target="_blank">Nilume event</a> </b>today in Bengaluru. This Nilume group is the most active group of Kannada bloggers today <a href="https://www.facebook.com/nammanilume/" target="_blank">with 1000s of highly creative writers</a>. I went there to understand the situation from three different angles:-<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>One from police angle narrated by the former Commissioner of Police of Bengaluru city, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shankar_Bidari" target="_blank">Mr. Shankar Bidari</a>. </li>
<li>Second from a researcher, professor and journalist angle narrated by the popular Kannada writer <a href="http://premashekhara.blogspot.in/" target="_blank">Mr. Prem Shekhar</a>. He has also written books on Jammu and Kashmir.</li>
<li>Third from a Kargil war veteran, <b>Captain Naveen Nagappa,</b> who fought valiantly to protect India's sovereignty in the Himalayan hills in July 1999. </li>
</ol>
I was thoroughly impressed with Mr. Bidari and Mr. Prem Shekhar's narrations. They covered the issue from human rights, army morale, history, blunders of Nehru, British and US bias, geo-politics and war perspective. They were outstanding. Between them, they spoke for over 2 hours, so I will try to narrate their talk a little later on Facebook and Twitter. I knew both of them and admired them for years. Awesome gentlemen!<br />
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Here, I want to jump straight to Captain Naveen Nagappa. Honestly, I did not know about him till date. Shame on me! I did not know about a valiant Indian army man who not only fought bravely at Kargil protecting us, but also survived a serious injury to tell us the story. But it is never too late. So you can learn more about him here..<br />
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It was January 1999. A young Engineer from Karnataka called Naveen had joined Indian Army, instead of going to do Masters Degree in Engineering. He had great dreams of protecting our Bharat and had become a part of 13th Jammu and Kashmir Rifles group. This was the group of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikram_Batra" target="_blank">Late Captain Vikram Batra</a>, of "Yeh dil maange more" fame. This battalion got numerous awards during the war for supreme sacrifice. Our of the 4 Param Vir Chakras awarded during Kargil war, two were given to his JK Rifles unit. <br />
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While he was just getting started with his army career, General Musharraf and Pakistanis were planning and executing something sinister. They were breaking the Gentleman's agreement between India and Pakistan of vacating the 16000 feet plus altitude hills during extremely bitter winter periods. They were not only occupying the Kargil heights, but also were building bunkers and getting ready to shell Indian army's vital Siachen and Leh supply routes from Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir state.<br />
<br />
Things came out open in May 1999. But June Indian army was fighting to capture the hills back, one by one. When Naveen's team was sent in early July to capture a vital hill, he was put in reserve. <br />
Point 5140 was where the big battle was starting. Captain
Batra and team had already fought there, but Naveen was not given a
chance to fight. His team was sending radio signal, including "Yeh dil maange more" kind of awesome slogans. But Naveen was not fighting in the open. He desperately wanted to. <br />
When his team was given a big task for 3rd and 4th July 1999, he went and pleaded his chiefs like General Yogesh Kumar Joshi. Naveen pleaded that he did not leave his chance for Masters in Engineering, and come all the way to Jammu and Kashmir borderline, to just stay in the reserve. He wanted to fight. His boss asked - You are here only for 6 months in the army. Not only your safety, but also the safety of 120 people who are with you matters, with your split decision. It is not easy. But Naveen did not quit. He kept on requesting and finally got the stamp of approval to lead a mission.<br />
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Super excited, Naveen was on the mission to liberate "Point 4875" near Kargil. Captain Batra had told Captain Nagappa one simple thing - "Naveen, you take care of your men, and they will take care of you". So Naveen started his expedition with JK Rifles' war cry - "Durga Mata Ki Jai"!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggnS-etmE_jmVOruVQeiYjF8D_h4i7pGi-2JkARLWKjV47AQlanY1GUikx6Y5vaOtUznLGqZI-rKj4YSnH15CEPcHLV9vnSt8MHfurNwl78g2-MlZsQCcAYi1KqRmdUuS2FjnCk2X5I5AW/s1600/Tiger-hill-768x329%255B1%255D.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggnS-etmE_jmVOruVQeiYjF8D_h4i7pGi-2JkARLWKjV47AQlanY1GUikx6Y5vaOtUznLGqZI-rKj4YSnH15CEPcHLV9vnSt8MHfurNwl78g2-MlZsQCcAYi1KqRmdUuS2FjnCk2X5I5AW/s400/Tiger-hill-768x329%255B1%255D.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Location of Point 4875. <span style="color: purple;"><i>Source: http://lazydesiauthor.com</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We have heard more of Tiger Hill and other popular named hills. But a few of these numbered hills were vital to get to the top of Kargil mountains where Pakistanis had setup bunkers, so that they can be kicked out of Indian side of Jammu and Kashmir. So the battle started on 4th July 1999. Incidentally the day of Vivekananda and US independence too! Personally, I had just crossed oceans at 38,000 ft to get back to India that morning, but had no clue that supreme sacrifices were being made exactly at that time by the brave jawans of India. <br />
<br />
Naveen and team had followed the same buddy system that army follows. Everyone who goes out in the night for attack, is paired with another brave soldier. Their job is to make sure that if something happens to one, the other would take care of it. Naveen had just seen his buddy suffer badly the previous night. But there was no going back. He had to fight on 4th morning, 4th night, 5th morning, 5th night, 6th morning, 6th night... They had to melt water from snow capped mountain for drink and eat some energy food carried with them. They could not move easily as the enemy was in higher location and had clear sight of them. But their mental power carried them. Why? They had heard about how Pakistanis had tortured <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saurabh_Kalia" target="_blank">Late Captain Saurabh Kalia</a> and team who had gone on a fact finding mission earlier. They had heard about the gory details of brutally Pakistanis had taken out organ by organ of the brave Indian soldiers who were taken as Prisoners of War. They had heard about how after torturing in the most inhuman ways, Pakistanis had shot Kalia and team at point blank, before "returning" the bodies to India. When you hear such barbarism and brutality of your enemy at front lines, you just get the energy to hit back. No question of fear or family or tiredness. That was Captain Nagappa and team during those extremely difficult moments of July 1999.<br />
<br />
They kept fighting bravely. And then a grenade landed in front of Naveen. He was trained on how to handle a grenade when it lands. Usually you have 6 to 10 seconds. A grenade can kill everyone within 10 meters radius. So the first instinct of Naveen on 7th July morning was to just pick it up and throw it away. But a body that has been fighting non stop for 100+ hours can't really throw a grenade back 100s of feet as they show in movies. Unfortunately, the grenade came back after hitting a boulder.. Now Naveen had 2 to 3 seconds!!<br />
<br />
His thought was - Anyway the explosion will happen now. I have no chance of escaping. At least, let my upper body go back home in one piece, rather than piece by piece in a bag. So he hid his upper body from grenade and exposed only his lower body. Booooom.. the explosion happened and before he knew what happened, he was in severe pain. His legs were hit. But in a conflict zone, you can't just get away after being injured. Any movement will attract more bullets. So he controlled his extreme pain of both legs being damaged and still fought on. But his team observed and asked him that he should crawl from the mountain to the bottom slowly. He did not agree, but they convinced him that he had to do it as he was seriously injured. With great reluctance, Naveen left his team to fight further, and crawled back to the lower heights very slowly. As you can imagine, he would be in tremendous pain and losing blood rapidly. Still he made to the bottom. The first thing he did there was to remove his snow shoes which are below the knee, but above the ankle. And then he realized how hard he was hit as his blood turned a few feet of snow around him red! He had literally spilled half of his body's blood for Bharat Mata, in an un-named hill, 1000s of KM from his home.. what a spirit! Still he wanted to fight barely having consciousness. <br />
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Even there, you can't expect a quick evacuation as the enemy was a higher position, observing everything. So it took lot of time. Finally after hours, he was given basic treatment and taken to the nearest helicopter. With great reluctance, he had to head away from the fighting zone, in the army helicopter taking him to Srinagar. And when the chopper took off, at a lower height to avoid firing from higher hills, he was losing consciousness due to heavy blood loss. Just then his chopper flew past Point 4875 for which he almost sacrificed his life. And there the Indian national flag, the tricolour was flying proudly!! After watching it from the army chopper, under lot of sedatives to kill the pain, he finally closed his eyes in total satisfaction. YES!! My boys have done what I went there to do......... What a relief!<br />
His mind was - <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><i>"Naveen.. You have left a legacy behind.. whatever happens after this is irrelevant. Whatever role you were meant to play, you have played. You have created history".</i></span></blockquote>
<br />
Then he spent 21 months in the hospital undergoing treatment. He had to undergo 8 surgeries. He got the <b>Sena Medal</b>. His spirit kept him going even when the bravest of human minds crumble when hospitalized for such a long time. <br />
<br />
And he narrates one other thing from his hospital stay. The mother of his close friend from army came from Dilli to visit him. She had lost her son during the same battle. Naveen could not sleep the prior night as he did not know what to tell that Maa, about her son. He could not digest that fact that he was alive, but his close friend soldier had made the supreme sacrifice for India. She came and met him. He talked with his "aunty" with lot of respect. They talked for 2 hours, but she never asked about her son not returning. Naveen could not take it anymore when she was about to walk away. He asked her.. "Aunty.. I am extremely sorry that I could not get your son back, while I survived myself". She told in a calm way - "Naveen.. it is the best honour for a mother to see her son wrapped in a tiranga. I am proud of my son". No need to highlight that when Naveen narrated this today, he got loud claps from the emotional audience in Bengaluru.<br />
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Why am I writing all these 17 years later? Because when I was busy building my high paying corporate career in 1999, these young men, some younger than me, were busy shedding their precious blood drops for Bharat Mata. As I am typing this, I am sure 1000s are taking extreme risks in the Himalayan mountains, rough seas, dangerous central Indian jungles and much more. During every real estate purchase we do, ever mall purchase we do, every road trip we take, every party we enjoy, every cricket match we cheer for, every political rally we attend, every TV show we watch, every birthday party of kid we celebrate.... there is an Indian army soldier making a split second decision whether to sacrifice his upper body or lower body because that grenade is about to explode. Either he is facing the situation in real, or training hard in drills. Sooner or later that situation would come for many brave fighters as we are surrounded by internal and external enemies. <br />
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Hold these brave soldiers with the highest respect. We have NO IDEA of what they go through.. when you can't even take out your shoe for hours to check if your bleeding legs are still attacked to the knees or not, THAT is sacrifice for mother India. That is what 1000s of these Jawans are paying with their blood for our safety each year.<br />
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Oh.. did I tell you that all the tall promises politicians made to him - nothing has materialized till date :( You can hear his narration here, from an earlier event.<br />
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You can read about another <a href="https://unsungwarheroes.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/captain-naveen-nagappa-sena-medal/" target="_blank">narration of meeting with Captain Nagappa here</a>. They have posted one memorable picture from Kargil times.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaoKO8IrZMCPX1OjEr7HSRopILeUwxUcUSaZO4WeGy2lHCfKkoODYhZj0aEjXkuxsTgtMC2pfWTNBTK6hyphenhyphenDw_c0rojZptHRqxbVjd_tfcIvB4FHyAJk7lH9L1GfVCcITMgr7Z2pNXGr4iY/s1600/11196511_850525368335918_1888413631_o%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaoKO8IrZMCPX1OjEr7HSRopILeUwxUcUSaZO4WeGy2lHCfKkoODYhZj0aEjXkuxsTgtMC2pfWTNBTK6hyphenhyphenDw_c0rojZptHRqxbVjd_tfcIvB4FHyAJk7lH9L1GfVCcITMgr7Z2pNXGr4iY/s320/11196511_850525368335918_1888413631_o%255B1%255D.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The next time you hear some nincompoop talk of "human rights" or "azaadi" slogans against these brave Jawans, just ask them to go speak to brave sons of Bharat Mata like Captain Naveen Nagappa in Bengaluru. I can take them personally.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHhGuTBmfDDmeEmlnbh_7DRYy90q5QI45ETb4nBG0XkoPlCNQxnhjv-63fjXi6w59JKuVMAG_rPkA3x5wfWjRyWe-i9zEbWZbQgNI8pe_W1SQe_xhDl22MtXqb4CkqJ_oX6SHMBfgSN5Ct/s1600/Captain+Naveen+Nagappa+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHhGuTBmfDDmeEmlnbh_7DRYy90q5QI45ETb4nBG0XkoPlCNQxnhjv-63fjXi6w59JKuVMAG_rPkA3x5wfWjRyWe-i9zEbWZbQgNI8pe_W1SQe_xhDl22MtXqb4CkqJ_oX6SHMBfgSN5Ct/s320/Captain+Naveen+Nagappa+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Freedom is not free. It takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears to protect it. DAILY!<br />
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Kiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485405523308080612.post-39954763442343483782016-05-24T04:00:00.002-07:002016-05-24T06:14:47.289-07:00Propaganda Against Venkaiah Naidu.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It has been a long time since I blogged on any topic. There were many chances, but I procrastinated and lost the interest eventually.<br />
<br />
But today, I got a chance. So enjoy reading :)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh60x5ngWZSl1SNvtRNJ1ytXebmqVZmNcTqSFpq7e95fEeXVXGy_5z8DBr-V7qZejjCiDei60Uny5m8Sy1ZYCJzeUDhrK5b0zMzWVONxiP2gOaSUu5BJCwWOU_kW_EMh10le_W9dffQItW5/s1600/Venkaiah+Naidu+-+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh60x5ngWZSl1SNvtRNJ1ytXebmqVZmNcTqSFpq7e95fEeXVXGy_5z8DBr-V7qZejjCiDei60Uny5m8Sy1ZYCJzeUDhrK5b0zMzWVONxiP2gOaSUu5BJCwWOU_kW_EMh10le_W9dffQItW5/s320/Venkaiah+Naidu+-+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Venkaiah Naidu flagging off Namma Metro. <i>Pic: Indian Express</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
For the past week or so, social media in Karnataka is abuzz with Venkayya Sakayya (enough of Venkaiah) kind of messages. First there was a big column in Vishwavani. It was followed by other news paper reports and countless memes floating on Facebook and Twitter. TV stations also might be picking it up by now. The core message was to force BJP to not give Venkaiah Naidu, a fourth term to Rajya Sabha from Karnataka. For a casual observer, Venkaiah Naidu is usually in news whether in parliament or his rhyming word speeches, or his frequent photo ops for important events. <br />
<br />
Initially I was not interested in this. Didn't read or comment much on this. But when I saw that it was a well organized movement, just posted one casual tweet.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8F-dmsQ7i7sQDTYJPsTKG0r-IRmlBVii1O-kPhx0rGJi0TU9mCIb_2CD0BZwLoWzVcIZHGqUeE8_kNK0blemJQFoDqThRPlyf-bWuCiB_H-b4ZIVQM86kjjxT2o9YEV8IW8oBpanCw_cK/s1600/Venkaiah+Naidu+-+tweet.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8F-dmsQ7i7sQDTYJPsTKG0r-IRmlBVii1O-kPhx0rGJi0TU9mCIb_2CD0BZwLoWzVcIZHGqUeE8_kNK0blemJQFoDqThRPlyf-bWuCiB_H-b4ZIVQM86kjjxT2o9YEV8IW8oBpanCw_cK/s320/Venkaiah+Naidu+-+tweet.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Of course, my focus was Congress supporters who were sending me tweets for a week. I knew quite well that BJP and JDS supporters were also in this campaign. But I thought I will handle them later :)<br />
<br />
Posted a similar message on FB too. I thought it was just one off post on this topic and time for a good night's sleep.<br />
<br />
I was surprised with the reaction. It was from all corners. Highly popular FB poster <a href="https://www.facebook.com/vivekshettym" target="_blank">Vivek Shetty</a> picked up this tweet and posted on FB where it went viral. Within hours, 100s of reactions started pouring in. I tried to answer a few dozen initially. Then it became difficult to keep up. Emotions were flying around.. Some abused me.. Small number praised me. Most argued that it is a bad choice to support Naidu.<br />
<br />
The fact of the matter is - I have no favourites among the 12 Rajya Sabha MPs from Karnataka. Rather, I hardly care. For me Legislative Council, Rajya Sabha, Governors' offices and President's office are things that are mostly ceremonial. I don't spend much time talking about them. Hence I was very surprised at the amount of interest by youth, particularly the emotion part! How can anyone be so interested suddenly on as trivial thing as reelection of a Rajya Sabha MP? Every 2 years, RS keeps getting people coming and going.. No one really pays much attention, but this was different.<br />
<br />
Here is how things went parallelly across Facebook and Twitter. Let me sum up.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple;">I said:</span> Indira Gandhi was also an outsider. So what's the big deal with Venkaiah?<br />
<span style="color: red;">They said:</span> So you are saying BJP can do the same sins that Congress did? What happened to Party with a difference tag?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple;">I said:</span> Not that way. From when did we get so touchy about "outsiders" in Karnataka? Sonia Gandhi won in Ballari (which she dumped quickly). Many "outsiders" have gone to parliament from Karnataka. Why suddenly touchy about Venkaiah's fourth term?<br />
<span style="color: red;">They said:</span> Lok Sabha is different from Rajya Sabha. Here you are nominating, and not getting elected directly.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple;">I said:</span> OK. Then how do you feel about Chikkamagaluru, Karnataka, born Jairam Ramesh going to Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh? He was in RS for 12 years since 2004. Isn't that case exactly reverse of what you are opposing? How do you justify Manmohan Singh becoming India's PM from Asom's RS quota? <br />
<span style="color: red;">They said:</span> Who cares? That is up to people from AP or Asom to oppose.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple;">I said:</span> So you are OK with Sonia Gandhi winning from Karnataka. You think it is their problem if someone elects a Karnataka born person to RS from their state. What is your core issue with Venkaiah?<br />
<span style="color: red;">They said:</span> He does not work for the development of Karnataka. He is too partial towards AP.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple;">I said:</span> OK. Let's examine facts. You know that Karnataka has a quota of 12 RS MPs. Have you even examined how all 12 have done before shooting on Venkaiah?<br />
<span style="color: red;">They said:</span> Again, he has not done anything for Karnataka. That's the point.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple;">I said:</span> Let's go to details. Here are the 12 MPs from Karnataka in Rajya Sabha as of May 2016. Number 9 is vacant as Vijay Mallya was allowed to quit a few weeks ago. Have you done any comparison of how Naidu has fared against the rest? Keep out "Bhakt", "Sanghi" and other blah blah from discussion. Let's compare people across all parties.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLrb55T8t3ibO_-rEV-kqNIxqcDw9v24g1DakTPas6gq24ke_WiVRRBzaD6PvxLgliM_1VxiU-JQ7mqqZQRgFQHK-MxiWw0DUP2kMz_1GLszjfHSj6xnUMuY2iIZfMuGobjAhy76PX7Vs2/s1600/Venkaiah+Naidu+-+List+of+Karnataka+RS+MPs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLrb55T8t3ibO_-rEV-kqNIxqcDw9v24g1DakTPas6gq24ke_WiVRRBzaD6PvxLgliM_1VxiU-JQ7mqqZQRgFQHK-MxiWw0DUP2kMz_1GLszjfHSj6xnUMuY2iIZfMuGobjAhy76PX7Vs2/s400/Venkaiah+Naidu+-+List+of+Karnataka+RS+MPs.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">List of Karnataka RS MPs - May 2016. <i>Source Wiki</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: red;">They said:</span> We know that Venkaiah has not given any money towards Bengaluru's development projects. See Vijaya Karnataka and other paper articles.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple;">I said:</span> Let's go straight to the parliament website. The <a href="http://mplads.nic.in/rshtml/rsstat10.htm" target="_blank">link is here</a>: Then dig into Karnataka MPs using the MPLADS funds. These funds are sanctioned by the government frequently, based on the amount requested for their constituency's development activities. Venkaiah has done a very good job in using 92.35% of the allocated funds, while Rajeev Gowda of Congress has a zero in the utilization percentage! How can you say Venkaiah is not working when there is an MP listed right next to him with zero development funds utilization in 2 years?<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjam8Wq849mghvVV0Kt7zC64AYAswIy-PiCtd9XoE4GdmA6xOSIdtiB-Me6A_x-6iCngoo9dPWONp87dI74DJxKU5g1O4kNE4lryWyb11_ZgV2I7OMqC3WwXowGaGmEwy-MeUJr5esGBObJ/s1600/Venkaiah+Naidu+-+MPLADS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjam8Wq849mghvVV0Kt7zC64AYAswIy-PiCtd9XoE4GdmA6xOSIdtiB-Me6A_x-6iCngoo9dPWONp87dI74DJxKU5g1O4kNE4lryWyb11_ZgV2I7OMqC3WwXowGaGmEwy-MeUJr5esGBObJ/s400/Venkaiah+Naidu+-+MPLADS.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Usage of MPLADS funds by Karnataka RS MPs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: red;">They said:</span><i> *Silence for some time*</i>. Yes, it does seem impressive for Venkaiah. But he uses the funds in Andhra. He adopts villages there.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple;">I said:</span> As far as I know, the funds are for the constituency specified by the Rajya Sabha website. He can't use it in another state.<br />
<span style="color: red;">They said:</span> Whatever.. He is too focused on AP. He adopts villages in Andhra, but not in Karnataka where he is an MP from. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple;">I said: </span>Are you sure? Just go to <a href="http://saanjhi.gov.in/saanjhimis/reports/Dreports/SummarReport_chosenGP.aspx" target="_blank">Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana website</a> and see which village he has adopted. It is from Devanahalli, north of Bengaluru city. He might have adopted a village in AP after the cyclone in 2014, but not under Adarsh Gram Yojana. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRw80tVBkRDUirWYEEtMHwysd4vPKW22Ku9QyJoH4257fLQQIaaPeIv0-v6EDDIIlAPbcMcSaTgNeyrX160mxEFOS49gjcrqBhZ5w6Eo9LXm4J0m956B9KUR7mFUvmavxkhL7UPpXr9V8o/s1600/Venkaiah+Naidu+-+Village.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRw80tVBkRDUirWYEEtMHwysd4vPKW22Ku9QyJoH4257fLQQIaaPeIv0-v6EDDIIlAPbcMcSaTgNeyrX160mxEFOS49gjcrqBhZ5w6Eo9LXm4J0m956B9KUR7mFUvmavxkhL7UPpXr9V8o/s400/Venkaiah+Naidu+-+Village.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Village Adopted by Naidu</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="color: red;">They said:</span> Oh! We were told by 100s of people that he adopted Andhra village. Anyway... he does not speak Kannada. He does not talk in the parliament about Karnataka matters. He does not wish for Karnataka Rajyotsava.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple;">I said:</span> That's a valid point. We can tell him to wish. We can ask him to pick up matters. For that matter, even Sonia Gandhi who won from Ballari, does not wish for Rajyotsava as far as I have seen.<br />
<span style="color: red;">They said:</span> Just because Congress does some mistakes, why BJP should do it? It was NDA that changed Rajya Sabha rule to elect people from other states.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple;">I said:</span> That's not what I know. MS Gurupadaswamy of Mysuru, got elected to Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh (1966-72).
Forget NDA, even BJP wasn't born!<br />
<span style="color: red;">They said:</span> <i>*Silence*</i>. But it is wrong from federal structure. We should only send people who are from that state to Rajya Sabha. Enough of money bags and outsiders using our state and not doing anything for us.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple;">I said:</span> Just to give an instance (not comparing with Venkaiah in any way) - Dr. Ambedkar was from Bombay. Got to parliament from Bengal. Bengalis didn't
ask..you failed to get elected from home state. Why should we help?<br />
<span style="color: red;">They said:</span> Hmmn.. we were told that it was BJP that tweaked rules. In any case, both BJP and Congress are useless parties that surrender to Dilli High Command. We wish a regional party like JDS stands up for Kannadigas. High commands
enforcing candidates in spite of opposition from people is not right.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple;">I said:</span> Do you even know the kind of people Deve Gowda's Janata Dal sent to Rajya Sabha? <br />
<span style="color: red;">They said:</span> Better people than Hema Malini or outsiders that national parties send.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple;">I said:</span> What did the "local" Janata Dal do? Sent Sindhi Ram Jethmalani, Tamil MAM Ramaswamy and Telugu Kupendra Reddy to Rajya Sabha! Some said they even supported Malayalee Rajeev Chandrashekhar's candidacy (I don't remember properly). How do you justify them?<br />
<span style="color: red;">They said:</span> Now you are deviating.. It is not about language. Reddy is local to Bengaluru at HSR Layout.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple;">I said:</span> So is Venkaiah now. He is a voter from Malleshwaram area. Indian constitution considers him as a resident of Karnataka. So what's the issue?<br />
<span style="color: red;">They said:</span> Frankly, he does not speak for Karnataka issues. He never spoke for Kalasa Banduri issue. He is too focused on AP issues. Why doesn't he go there and get elected?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple;">I said:</span> Now you are talking about real issues. So far I had not come across any valid comparison to be made to other MPs. Let's go further. Let me ask 5 questions on how other MPs from Karnataka have performed recently in Rajya Sabha. Here I go..<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimlCbrCeFuFncB4T5P9sxWq12iHHRTENTDXAoTqiqAeX2wlu5aMOnZv_wXprOMBuJedMLWZbZlnfa0SAvtOzQaZsOjOzqnlCNV5TvrGAxIQGUXDsgth3nqY8NJem3ScNMan0MgV3qJG0-p/s1600/Venkaiah+Naidu+-+Other+MPs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimlCbrCeFuFncB4T5P9sxWq12iHHRTENTDXAoTqiqAeX2wlu5aMOnZv_wXprOMBuJedMLWZbZlnfa0SAvtOzQaZsOjOzqnlCNV5TvrGAxIQGUXDsgth3nqY8NJem3ScNMan0MgV3qJG0-p/s320/Venkaiah+Naidu+-+Other+MPs.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: red;">They said:</span> *Silence for some time*. You should ask the editor of papers who campaigned against Venkaiah to answer this.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple;">I said:</span> It is not about the editor of newspaper. It is about facts. If you are measuring Venkaiah using some parameters, why not ask the same for others? If you are opposing Venkaiah Naidu's Rajya Sabha reelection, oppose
based on data. Show how other 12 Karnataka RS MPs have done better.<br />
<span style="color: red;">They said:</span> This might be a game played by Congress with the help of Media in Karnataka. There could be reasons right from the dynasty at the center of whom Venkaiah is very critical. After media took over, BJP supporters too joined in.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple;">I said:</span> I have not seen anyone telling how Rajeev Gowda (zero MPLADS usage) or Rahaman Khan (no MPLADS used in 14 Mon) are better. How come no one is campaigning against them them? Development is for the state. Who does is secondary. <br />
<br />
But as you can imagine... most have made up their mind. I only saw more arguments like he has not done anything, to vocal abuses.. I don't care much about abuses. That only shows the weakness of those who abuse. <br />
<br />
But I left these discussions shaking my head.<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Frankly, I don't care if Venkaiah Naidu goes to parliament from BJP again. </li>
<li>Frankly, I don't care whom Congress or JDS send. At the end it is usually the most influential or money bags that become Rajya Sabha MPs or MLCs at state. We know that!</li>
</ul>
But what I care is:-<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>how much MPLADS funds is used to Karnataka, by those who are sent. </li>
<li>I care how much attendance they have. </li>
<li>I care about what kind of debates they participate in. </li>
<li>I care about the end result - their constituency's development. What's the use of MPs getting reelected 3-6-9 times from their constituencies, but people continue to live in poor conditions? We have plenty of such examples in Karnataka. </li>
</ul>
<br />
It was too late by the time I realized that too many people have fallen to media propaganda. I have nothing against those who angrily reacted to my tweets or posts.
At the end, I want the <b>development</b> of Karnataka, as much as they want.
But I was more focusing on the parameters they used and the facts they
checked. Some points might be valid, but the overall way in which Venkaiah was made a soft target was strange. Before I raised the data from Rajya Sabha website, most did not even know that there are RS MPs in Karnataka with low to zero MPLADS usage. Media propaganda is very powerful! A fair movement would have been to put all 12 RS MPs side by side, and show why Venkaiah failed in certain areas.<br />
<br />
No one did that, or at least I have not seen it! If you did.. let me know. Naidu might be a big failure in reality, but no one is presenting that in a fair manner, with parameters that can be applied to other MPs too. After all, a state's development can't be done by one MP. It is a collective effort. Ultra regionalism without using data to compare MPs, can be dangerous in the long run. Every state would end up doing it, which hurts the nation as a whole. <br />
<br /></div>
Kiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485405523308080612.post-23480036016642616232015-10-29T01:56:00.003-07:002015-10-29T02:11:30.166-07:00Samanya Praja and His "Changed" Dilli...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Once upon a time, Samanya Praja, a man in his middle ages, lived in a middle class suburb of India's capital Delhi. He was very frustrated with Indian politics. He wanted change. He was feeling angry at 1000s of rapes happening in his city. He felt like kicking the politicians indulging in 2G, CWG, Coalgate and a thousand other scams. He used to tell his family that he has lost hope in the Idea of India. He felt very pessimistic at the prospects of jobs, progress and security of his son and daughter. He was concerned on how his wife and himself would get any quality healthcare in Delhi, after seeing corruption from cradle to grave in the society. <br />
<br />
Then came a messiah.. A self declared corruption fighter named Arvind Kejriwal. A man who worked as a government babu, but miraculously managed to avoid transfer in his entire career.. a Guinness record in corrupt India! He always sat next to famous people of the society like Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev. He dressed like Samanya Praja, so there was a lot of connection. The simple shirt, the basic pant, a chappal, no big car, very pleasing mannerism.. Praja got very attracted. He heard Arvind a few times. He got very inspired at "Brashtachar khatam karo" slogans. He convinced himself and his family that this man can change Delhi. This man is the answer to all ills they had seen so far. They paid close attention to the charming words of Kejriwal. The most impressive speeches were always on how the highly corrupt Sheila Dikshit would be sent to jail if Kejriwal comes to power. They cheered when they heard that rapes would be stopped in Delhi. They loved it when they heard that Delhi would be a clean and green city. Praja jumped when they heard that they would be getting cheaper electricity 24*7, no more slums in Delhi, cheaper and reliable water, clean roads, children getting free WiFi, lots of new schools, upcoming great hospitals, perfect Lokayukta and Lokpal systems, perfect harmony in the society, absolutely no cheating by MLAs, security for senior citizen... oh the list was so long.. it felt like a Utopian dream world was just knocking on the door of Delhi..<br />
<br />
Then a tragic accident. One bad evening, Samanya Praja got hit by a drunken driver. He descended into coma.<br />
<br />
After great effort by doctors and his family, he woke up just before Diwali of 2015. The family cheered and prayed to Durga mata profusely. Thank you Devi ma.. Our Samanya Praja is back in walking state after sleeping unconscious for a long time.<br />
<br />
After 4 hours of cheers, juice and light food, Praja asks.. Where am I? What date is it? How are things?<br />
His family slowly answers them.<br />
<br />
By evening, he got curious on how things are. He was thrilled to learn that his ideal politician Kejriwal had become the CM by winning the election by a huge margin. He was like.. Oohhooo!! His wife said.. Jee.. relax. You still need some rest for a week. Don't get excited. Praja was still cheering. You don't know dear. I waited for this moment for years. I hope Delhi is now a great place!<br />
<br />
His wife and kids didn't show any smile. He got worried. He asked his son. Did you get the WiFi? He nodded left to right. He asked his daughter. Are girls safer now in Delhi? Rapes have stopped? She got tears.. Pappa.. it has gotten worse. Even 2 and 5 year old girls are not left now. Oh! Praja is shocked. He asked his wife. Is Sheila Dikshit, the horribly corrupt woman who ruined Delhi, in Tihar jail? She just looked down. He got furious now. No WiFi.. no safety for women.. no jail for Sheila? What the heck?<br />
<br />
After 10 minutes of silence, he continued. Is there a Lokpal? Son nodded no. How about a Lokayukta sending all corrupt to jails? No daddy.. We only got a name-sake Lokayukta a week ago. We had none till now. So far no jail for any corrupt. Praja is furious.. then at least tell me that Arvind's government is working well. No corruption in the MLA circle. Right? His daughter got angry. Pappa.. this Arvind cheated us badly. His MLA gang is full of crooks. Law Minister went to jail for Degree fraud. More are about to go to jail for degree frauds. Former law minister is about to go jail for beating up his wife. His own MLA was caught in corruption needing a firing on live TV - just like for everything involving Kejriwal, his MLA firing also needed TV camera and action! His MLAs are now VIPs with big cars. Kejriwal himself got a 5 bed room bungalow after all preaching earlier of no bungalows. They spent 100s of crores on just giving radio and billboard ads. They kicked out Prashant Bhushan, Yogendra Yadav and other uncles with whom you were on roads doing dharna earlier. This guy has become a power hungry dictator.. Worse, he has no portfolio under him, so that he can keep doing 24*7 drama across India, while our roads are full of stinking garbage. And there are still lots of slums and they are getting bigger. No new school or hospital in sight. I can't see any new job creation for Engineers, Commerce Graduates or Scientists. Traffic is getting worse. Yamuna is still full of froth. Road rage is very high. In fact, Kejriwal's party law makers like Alka Lamba were seen vandalizing a shop. Nothing pappa.. I repeat nothing.. got better after years of listening to Anna and Kejriwal speeches. <br />
<br />
Praja is now really feeling dizzy. After months of coma, what he heard made him even more weaker. What are you telling children? At least tell me that he has not allied with any corrupt politician. His wife got furious now. This guy is an ally of Lalu Yadav's ghatbandhan.. the same chara chor who went to jail!! Worse.. even the 2G scam tainted Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are in the same team for which Kejriwal is campaigning in Bihar! What more you want? <br />
<br />
Praja became unconscious!<br />
<br />
When he woke up after 10 minutes. His daughter gave lemon juice and told. Pappa.. we got fooled. That Sheila was corrupt, but she was 100 times better than this drama guy. Kejriwal and his irresponsible gang even watched a poor farmer from Rajasthan commit suicide 30 feet in front during a speech, but still didn't stop their speech blaming central government and police. This CM has no respect for the police who protect us. He even called them criminals and "thulla". All he does is keep fighting with police, Lt Governor, Home Minister and Prime Minister. Sometimes he gets mad at press too, in spite of his entire career being built by press and TV. I have never been cheated mentally like this before. He raised our hopes on every corner. Got our votes. We worked with his topi gang on streets for months. Now, all we get is ads using our own money, to blame the central government. We could have done that free, sitting on our sofa.. We Indians are experts in blaming politicians in our homes, for generations. Why did we need a Chief Minister who has no portfolio, spending crores of our money, to blame government that we are experts in blaming ourselves? <br />
<br />
Then power went off. It took 5 minutes for the critical machines to get generator power. Mosquitos were biting his tender skin. His wife was worried about Dengue and screaming to put a coil to prevent mosquito bites. By then the exhausted Praja had gone back to coma. </div>
Kiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485405523308080612.post-34172436539484620082015-09-08T10:26:00.000-07:002015-09-08T10:26:14.081-07:00Dear Goverments, please keep off Hindu Temples<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span data-offset-key="2vln5-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$2vln5.0:$2vln5-0-0"><span data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$2vln5.0:$2vln5-0-0.0">Tonight, went to Samaya TV to discuss on the news that the famous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharmasthala_Temple" target="_blank">Dharmasthala Manjunatha temple</a> was being considered to be taken over by the govt. </span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="95b99-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$95b99.0:$95b99-0-0"><br data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$95b99.0:$95b99-0-0.0" /></span></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="3ok7-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$3ok7">
<span data-offset-key="3ok7-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$3ok7.0:$3ok7-0-0"><span data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$3ok7.0:$3ok7-0-0.0">One senior Jyotishi told things about the Kshetra. Not much arguments.</span></span></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="an8af-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$an8af">
<span data-offset-key="an8af-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$an8af.0:$an8af-0-0"><span data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$an8af.0:$an8af-0-0.0">The core arguments were between me and Talakadu Chikka Rangegowda. It was well anchored by Aravind. This is my second presence as a panelist in Aravind's show. </span></span></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="djp6h-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$djp6h">
<span data-offset-key="djp6h-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$djp6h.0:$djp6h-0-0"><br data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$djp6h.0:$djp6h-0-0.0" /></span></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="2v2be-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$2v2be">
<span data-offset-key="2v2be-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$2v2be.0:$2v2be-0-0"><span data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$2v2be.0:$2v2be-0-0.0">As usual, the pro government take over arguments were on "mismanagement", "Why should Jains run Hindu temple", "there have been complaints against the Dharmadhikari" etc..</span></span></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="bdce6-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$bdce6">
<span data-offset-key="bdce6-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$bdce6.0:$bdce6-0-0"><br data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$bdce6.0:$bdce6-0-0.0" /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQCFynWkZggYoLAJoCOO88g0PGwLTf6yViRzXDjidrpE-KKair07u9KXS7DuP4UIPXcJ4GYJJYm0DAkVknReYNYseKOsW2BAsWl6G_Md-eUzR12cH-e94vs6qcs5VkS_3STnJY91vLOBTL/s1600/K+-+Samaya+TV+-+Dharmasthala+discussion+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQCFynWkZggYoLAJoCOO88g0PGwLTf6yViRzXDjidrpE-KKair07u9KXS7DuP4UIPXcJ4GYJJYm0DAkVknReYNYseKOsW2BAsWl6G_Md-eUzR12cH-e94vs6qcs5VkS_3STnJY91vLOBTL/s320/K+-+Samaya+TV+-+Dharmasthala+discussion+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="bdce6-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$bdce6">
<span data-offset-key="bdce6-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$bdce6.0:$bdce6-0-0"><br data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$bdce6.0:$bdce6-0-0.0" /></span></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="6n8i7-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$6n8i7">
<u><span data-offset-key="6n8i7-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$6n8i7.0:$6n8i7-0-0"><span data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$6n8i7.0:$6n8i7-0-0.0">My points were:</span></span></u></div>
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<span data-offset-key="38sfa-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$38sfa.0:$38sfa-0-0"><br data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$38sfa.0:$38sfa-0-0.0" /></span></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="8s9tv-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$8s9tv">
<span data-offset-key="8s9tv-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$8s9tv.0:$8s9tv-0-0"><span data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$8s9tv.0:$8s9tv-0-0.0">1) I am a Bhakta of Dharmasthala temple. I go there voluntarily. I give money on my own. I trust the good work is done by the Trust headed by a Jain. I have absolutely no issue that they are Jains. They are running awesome anna dana. Kitchen Annapurna featured in June 2015 Mega Kitchen National Geographic Channel. Their educational and other institutions are doing wonderful job. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharmasthala_Temple#Pergade_family" target="_blank">For 800 Years, Jain Bunt Heggade Pergade family</a> has administered it splendidly. 21 Dharmadhikaris have come to this seat till date. Government's job is to provide basic facilities and govern. I drove 15 KM to the studio and 10KM were in "Kattale Bhagya" power cut. When the govt can't take care of basic things, why they heck are they wanting to take over well run temples? </span></span></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="6oeip-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$6oeip">
<span data-offset-key="6oeip-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$6oeip.0:$6oeip-0-0"><br data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$6oeip.0:$6oeip-0-0.0" /></span></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="ctjnb-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$ctjnb">
<span data-offset-key="ctjnb-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$ctjnb.0:$ctjnb-0-0"><span data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$ctjnb.0:$ctjnb-0-0.0">2) pSeculars always want Hindu temple money by giving some or the other excuse. Let's stop this now. <a href="http://www.karnatakatemplesyatra.kar.nic.in./homepage/index.jsp" target="_blank">Why should govt control 35,000 Hindu temples</a> in Karnataka? Why should other states like TN control similar count of Hindu temples? Are all these having mismanagement? There are 164 A category and 283 B category temples with KA govt. Were all these managed by "other religions", before take over? Govt just wants money. And some excuse. I gave examples of how very simple excuses were used by governments to take over cash cows. </span></span></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="7sb51-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$7sb51">
<span data-offset-key="7sb51-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$7sb51.0:$7sb51-0-0"><br data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$7sb51.0:$7sb51-0-0.0" /></span></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="euo6n-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$euo6n">
<span data-offset-key="euo6n-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$euo6n.0:$euo6n-0-0"><span data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$euo6n.0:$euo6n-0-0.0">3) Talking of mismanagement, there was <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/3-priests-among-5-main-accused/" target="_blank">a murder of a Church father</a> (KJ Thomas) in Bengaluru. There were large scale Wakf land grab <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karnataka_Wakf_Board_Land_Scam" target="_blank">amounting to 2 lakh crore as reported by Anwar Manippady</a>. Should the govt take over churches and mosques/dargahs citing mismanagement, murder or other issues?</span></span></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="23sv9-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$23sv9">
<span data-offset-key="23sv9-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$23sv9.0:$23sv9-0-0"><br data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$23sv9.0:$23sv9-0-0.0" /></span></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="as2er-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$as2er">
<span data-offset-key="as2er-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$as2er.0:$as2er-0-0"><span data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$as2er.0:$as2er-0-0.0">4) When I heard that only Hindus should manage Hindu temples, I showed that<a href="http://bangalorerural.kar.nic.in/english/muzrai.asp" target="_blank"> Mohammed Ali, First Division Assistant appointed</a> by the govt in Bengaluru Rural district to manage Mujrai or Endowments department. I don't want a Muslim to manage Hindu temples. Hindus have managed for 1000s of years, and will easily manage ourselves. This argument seriously hurt Mr. Gowda as he saw the hypocrisy of opposing Jains, but having been forced to support Muslims!</span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="8vo82-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$8vo82.0:$8vo82-0-0"><br data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$8vo82.0:$8vo82-0-0.0" /></span></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="f3ca8-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$f3ca8">
<span data-offset-key="f3ca8-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$f3ca8.0:$f3ca8-0-0"><span data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$f3ca8.0:$f3ca8-0-0.0">5) If there is a big issue with Dharmasthala, people can file an FIR file. If no action taken approach the Magistrate directly. Or file PIL file if land is an issue. Why is the police there? Use them. Instead, trying Govt executive order to grab temple is not something we will allow. </span></span></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="5m863-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$5m863">
<span data-offset-key="5m863-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$5m863.0:$5m863-0-0"><br data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$5m863.0:$5m863-0-0.0" /></span></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="90hk7-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$90hk7">
<span data-offset-key="90hk7-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$90hk7.0:$90hk7-0-0"><span data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$90hk7.0:$90hk7-0-0.0">6) I gave examples </span></span><span data-offset-key="90hk7-2-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$90hk7.2:$90hk7-2-0"><span data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$90hk7.2:$90hk7-2-0.0">of <a href="http://indiankanoon.org/doc/1302762/" target="_blank">Sahasralingeshwara temple of Uppinangady fighting</a> with Karnataka Govt's Mujrai department's 1997 act. The 2007 judgment clearly said that the Endowments act itself is unconstitutional. Google for "Karnataka High Court Sri Sahasra Lingeshwara Temple vs State Of Karnataka on 8 September, 2006".</span></span></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="em63f-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$em63f">
<span data-offset-key="em63f-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$em63f.0:$em63f-0-0"><br data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$em63f.0:$em63f-0-0.0" /></span></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="8fel8-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$8fel8">
<span data-offset-key="8fel8-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$8fel8.0:$8fel8-0-0"><span data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$8fel8.0:$8fel8-0-0.0">The judgment concluded: </span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="8fel8-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$8fel8">
<span style="color: purple;"><i><span data-offset-key="8fel8-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$8fel8.0:$8fel8-0-0"><span data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$8fel8.0:$8fel8-0-0.0">"We have already ruled that the Act is hit by Articles 14 and 26 of the Constitution of India. We have further ruled that it is not possible to severe them. Hence, we deem it proper to strike down the entire act and consequently strike down the notification as <b>un constitutional.</b>" </span></span></i></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="8fel8-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$8fel8">
<span data-offset-key="8fel8-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$8fel8.0:$8fel8-0-0"><span data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$8fel8.0:$8fel8-0-0.0">Use this wherever you see temple issue with govt. Governments can't and should not take over temples. </span></span></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="dv7bs-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$dv7bs">
<span data-offset-key="dv7bs-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$dv7bs.0:$dv7bs-0-0"><br data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$dv7bs.0:$dv7bs-0-0.0" /></span></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="fgqg0-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$fgqg0">
<span data-offset-key="fgqg0-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$fgqg0.0:$fgqg0-0-0"><span data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$fgqg0.0:$fgqg0-0-0.0">7) I also gave the example of Chidambaram Natarajar temple in Tamil Nadu. <a href="http://www.newsbharati.com/Encyc/2014/1/10/SC-frees-Chidambaram-Nataraja-temple-from-rule-of-TN-Govt" target="_blank">The judgment of 2014 January 10th, gave Podu Dikshitars a big victory in a century old case</a>. If Endowments department of a state govt takes over a temple there should be a reason. Merely issuing show cause and circular is not right. Once you take over you will have 2 years or so to rectify it; notification should mention what reason - only take over mismanagement of temple affairs. This was Dr. Swamy's famous case. The 1951 take over of TN govt was deemed unlawful. Dikshitars had printed temple constitution in 1849 itself. Was opened to all castes of Hindus. This point stumped the others and there is not much they could say on this. </span></span></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="ea100-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$ea100">
<span data-offset-key="ea100-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$ea100.0:$ea100-0-0"><br data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$ea100.0:$ea100-0-0.0" /></span></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="9clsa-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$9clsa">
<span data-offset-key="9clsa-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$9clsa.0:$9clsa-0-0"><span data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$9clsa.0:$9clsa-0-0.0"><b>Overall;</b> My repeated stress was that Hindus have freedom of religion like everyone else. If there are issues, let other parts of constitution address them (like theft, mismanagement etc.). So called secular government taking over temples violates <a href="http://indiankanoon.org/doc/367586/" target="_blank">Articles 14</a>, 25, 26 and 27 of Indian constitution. <i><u><b>As a Hindu, I don't want any temple to be managed by the government</b></u></i>. Government's job is to take care of power, water, security and other basic necessities. Hindus know how to manage temples and they have been doing it for 1000s of years. Leave our temples alone.</span></span></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="1bomi-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$1bomi">
<span data-offset-key="1bomi-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$1bomi.0:$1bomi-0-0"><br data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$1bomi.0:$1bomi-0-0.0" /></span></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="42t1o-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$42t1o">
<b><span class="_5u8n" data-offset-key="42t1o-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$42t1o.$42t1o-0-0" spellcheck="false"><span data-offset-key="42t1o-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$42t1o.$42t1o-0-0.$42t1o-0-0"><span data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$42t1o.$42t1o-0-0.$42t1o-0-0.0">#KeepOffHinduTemples</span></span></span></b></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="6cdno-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$6cdno">
<span data-offset-key="6cdno-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$6cdno.0:$6cdno-0-0"><br data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$6cdno.0:$6cdno-0-0.0" /></span></div>
<div class="_209g _2vxa" data-block="true" data-offset-key="fsn6l-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$fsn6l">
<span data-offset-key="fsn6l-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$fsn6l.0:$fsn6l-0-0"><span data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$fsn6l.0:$fsn6l-0-0.0">I think it went on well. If a video is uploaded by Samaya News, I will share here. </span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="f79ol-0-0" data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$f79ol.0:$f79ol-0-0"><br data-reactid=".6u.1.1.0.1.0.0.$editor0.0.0.$f79ol.0:$f79ol-0-0.0" /></span></div>
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Kiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485405523308080612.post-48760872206519867342015-08-22T10:28:00.000-07:002015-08-22T10:28:19.843-07:00Saraswati River and Origin of Name Bhaarat<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I am now reading the Land of Seven Rivers book by Sanjeev Sanyal. Some interesting facts about Saraswati river and origin of name "Bharat" follow. I will be brief, as I don't want to type the whole chapter 2 of the book here. You have enough material here to get inspired and read the full book yourself :) <br />
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Saraswati was the mightiest river of Indian known history. Even Sutlej and Yamuna were tributaries of Saraswati. <br />
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Archaeology talks of Mohenjodaro (Mound of the dead), Harappa, Dholavira
and others of Indus valley civilization. Rig Veda was part of the same civilization. It was not some horse mounted "Aryans" came from central Asia and destroyed this, by attacking the "Dasa" or "Dasyu" people. In fact, the greatest Aryan king of Rig Veda is a person named Sudasa. His name and his father's name has 'dasa' in them! Arya was never a racial thing. It meant, polished or sophesticated.<br />
<br />
Harappan or Indus Valley civilization stretched from 3500 BCE till 1400 BCE. "Aryan
invasion" from north west is a myth. Drying Saraswati ended Harappans and not any invasion.<br />
<br />
5) Today's Ghaggar river in Haryana is ancient Saraswati's remnant. It's a very small remnant of the mighty Saraswati river that once supported Rig Vedic age & Harappan cities.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilGF6zyoVrLv3rRJtvBb7YOmsUVMpK6TBjl_eEDesvECWvlNsMAzZjR1vv5_2vwN_Mdp8s1xIy5nq7TAbIGVrZ20Qlcwj42m9EphkUXmD6zYjvpPzbFrHiDipO-77dhllfYr4eZqNFg_Sb/s1600/600px-Ghaggar_river_in_Panchkula%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilGF6zyoVrLv3rRJtvBb7YOmsUVMpK6TBjl_eEDesvECWvlNsMAzZjR1vv5_2vwN_Mdp8s1xIy5nq7TAbIGVrZ20Qlcwj42m9EphkUXmD6zYjvpPzbFrHiDipO-77dhllfYr4eZqNFg_Sb/s320/600px-Ghaggar_river_in_Panchkula%255B1%255D.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ghaggar river</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
More on Ghaggar -> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghaggar-Hakra_River" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghaggar-Hakra_River</a><br />
<br />
Harappans have unique connection to today's India-> Namaste, Sindhur,
construction in 5:4 ratio, weights mentioned in Arthashastra, Chess etc. They are all continuous cultural things from Indus valley civilization to 21st century India.<br />
<br />
Rig Veda praises the might Saraswati river at least 45 times. Ganga only
twice & Sindhu (Indus) rarely. It's very obvious that Veda was composed near Saraswati, and not anywhere outside India carried by "invaders".<br />
<br />
Rig Veda's Nadistuti Sukta clearly explains geography of ancient India.
Starts from Ganga and goes till Kabul river in the west.<br />
<br />
Read -> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadistuti_sukta" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadistuti_sukta</a> <br />
<br />
It comes in Rig Veda 10.75.<br /><br />Verse 5 mentions rivers from east to west:<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li> Ganga</li>
<li> Yamuna</li>
<li> Sarasvati</li>
<li> Sutudri</li>
<li> Parusni</li>
<li> Asikni</li>
<li> Marudvrdha</li>
<li> Vitasta</li>
<li> Arjikiya</li>
<li> Susoma</li>
</ol>
<br />Verse 6 mentions north western rivers:<br /><br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li> Trstama</li>
<li> Susartu</li>
<li> Rasā</li>
<li> Shvetya</li>
<li> Sindhu</li>
<li> Kubha</li>
<li> Gomati</li>
<li> Krumu</li>
<li> Mehatnu</li>
</ol>
<br />Anyone who studies Rig Veda's Nadistuti Sukta, would immediately reject "Aryan invasion" theory. It's that clear!<br />
<br />
Rig Veda was definitely composed before 2600 BC when Saraswati was
flowing mightily. Also, no mention of iron, so it was bronze age.<br />
<br />
There is a major battle called the Battle of ten Kings in Rig Veda: Sudasa of Bharata tribe under Rishi Vashishtra, fought 10 kings under Rishi Vishwamitra's guidance.<br />
<br />
Read -> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Ten_Kings" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Ten_Kings</a><br />
<br />
Trtsu-Bharata tribe fought these tribes:<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Alinas</li>
<li>Anu</li>
<li>Bhrigus </li>
<li>Bhalanas</li>
<li>Dasa </li>
<li>Druhyus </li>
<li>Matsya </li>
<li>Parsu </li>
<li>Purus </li>
<li>Panis </li>
</ol>
Battle of ten kings of Rig Veda was the start of Indian civilization.
Bharata tribe (from Haryana) won. India became "Bharata Varsha"! In a way, we are all Haryanvis in some way :)<br />
<br />
Sudasa under the brilliant leadership of Rishi Vashishtha, won and became the <b>first Chakravarti of Bharat (India)</b>. Chakra (wheel)
varti means his (chariot) wheels can go anywhere. A true monarch!<br />
<br />
Most of the losing tribes in the Rig Vedic war, went westwards. Dhruhya
(Afghanistan), Puru (Porus), Pakhta (Pashtun of NWFP, Pakistan), Parsu (Iran). Later Mittani (Mesopotamia) , Yezidi (Syria, Iraq) etc. all were further movements. R1a1 gene link with Indian Hindus is clearly visible even today.<br />
<br />
4600 years ago, a great earthquake & after effects, made Yamuna move
east to Ganga and Sutlej west to Sindhu (Indus). <b>Saraswati dried up gradually,</b> killing the first major urban civilization of India. Harappans or the Vedic people started migrating east towards Ganga and west towards Sindhu in large numbers.<br />
<br />
The end of Rig Vedic era is very close to the end of Harappan
civilization. Essentially, Vedic was a part of bigger Indus valley area.<br />
<br />
It's most likely that victorious Bharata tribe invited Rishis from all
tribes to meditate and compile Vedas on the banks of Saraswati. It happened over generations and finally we have the Rig Veda. All of today's Indian subcontinent is culturally linked to Bharata tribe
of Rig Veda. It became Bharata Varsha or the land of Bharatas, later becoming <b>"Bhaarat"</b> - 1st major civilization of India! Frankly, I learnt about the exact detail of Bharat only today!<br />
<br />
Again, my special thanks to Sanjeev Sanyal for amazing research in the Land of Seven Rivers book. Now back to reading further chapters:) <br />
<br />
<i><b>Some further links shared by Twitter friends:</b></i><br />
<br />
<i>a) When I said, The end of Rig Vedic era is very close to the end of Harappan
civilization. Essentially, Vedic was a part of bigger Indus valley area, a friend shared that this is factually correct. Nicholas Kazanas provides hard proof -> <a href="http://www.omilosmeleton.gr/pdf/en/indology/RPSSC.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.omilosmeleton.gr/pdf/en/indology/RPSSC.pdf</a></i><br />
<br />
<i>b) Another friend says - Even Shrikant Kalgeri gives good evidence in this regard. Just Youtube for links. </i><br />
<br />
<i>c) Then a friend says, the battle of ten kings in Vedas is nicely described by Ashok Banker in his novel Dasarajna.</i><br />
<br />
<i>d) Another friend commented on the Bharata tribe part. He says, presume you would have listened to the "Bharata Darsana" by Sri.Vidyananda Shenoy. He reiterates the same fact. </i><br />
<i>Here is the link to Bharata Darshana amazing series of talks in Kannada -> <a href="https://soundcloud.com/vasishta-shastry/bharatha-dharshana-vidyananda" target="_blank">https://soundcloud.com/vasishta-shastry/bharatha-dharshana-vidyananda</a></i><br />
<br />
<i>e) Another friend shared - Here is an article from IISC journal Current Science :
Saraswati – the ancient river lost in the desert - <a href="http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/oct25/articles20.htm" target="_blank">http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/oct25/articles20.htm</a></i><br />
<i><br />f) Then another friend says - Bharata tribe were experts in Alloys. They were using Tin, Zinc, etc., Approximately 1500 years before silk route the Maritime Tin route existed. Our ancestors sourced tin from present Israel!</i><br />
<br />
<i>It just kept coming.. My twitter friends are just amazing. I stopped taking links after this :)</i><br />
<i> </i></div>
Kiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485405523308080612.post-55400415319941602912015-08-06T07:23:00.002-07:002015-08-06T07:24:44.952-07:00Sadbhavana Sunday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
At an event on Saturday night, my friend Gokul gave a pamphlet. Hey, tomorrow, there is a pilgrimage tour, do you want to go? I was like to which place?<br />
<br />
In Bengaluru!<br />
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I gave a strange look. In Bengaluru? That too a day long pilgrimage? Then saw the details and got excited. Why not? So was on the pilgrimage bus at St. Mark's road at 7.30 AM. It was a good decision because I was going to enjoy the day thoroughly.. In what I call in Modi's lingo as "Sadbhavana" Yatra :)<br />
<br />
This is organized by a Catholic Christian group in Saint Mark's Road.
Most of the occupants of the bus were Christians, but there were some
Hindus like me. There was one Muslim and one Buddhist. More than the
composition, it was the interest of the people in other modes of
worship, that was important.<br />
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All the areas we went are tracked in this map. <br />
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<b>1) Shri Dharmanatha Shwetambar Jain Temple, Jayanagar. </b><br />
<br />
Jainism for me is one of the Guru Paramparas of Dharmic India. But politically it is a different religion. There are two kinds of Jainism. <a href="http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-b-w-Shwetambars-and-Digambars-Jainism" target="_blank">Shwetambara and Digambara</a>. We went to a Shwetambara temple where the prime deity is Shri Dharmanatha. He is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharmanatha" target="_blank">fifteenth Tirthankara</a> among the 24 highly revered Jain Gurus. It was nice to see women putting pastes (Shri Gandha?) to various parts of murtis, the swastikas drawn with rice, the pious women monks who were busy in prayer and much more. This is a prayer place for many Rajasthanis in Karnataka. <br />
<br />
Devi Padmavati's temple is in the back. Nakoda Bhairav and many <a href="http://www.herenow4u.net/index.php?id=86145" target="_blank">other murtis exist in this temple</a> complex. Beautiful white marble temple with soothing bhajans :) <br />
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<b>2) Mahabodhi Buddhist Temple, Gandhinagar.</b><br />
<br />
This <a href="http://www.mahabodhi.info/#" target="_blank">Buddhist temple</a> was getting decorated by the time we went in the morning, for their special Sunday prarthana. It's a beautiful temple with a Bodhi tree (Peepal). I saw some idols of Buddha gifted by Thailand as Thai language were written at the bottom. This center has mostly North East Indian people settled in Karnataka. This center follows the <a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/theravada.html" target="_blank">Theravada sect of Buddhism</a>. Theravada as far as I know is a synonym for Mahayana type of Buddhism, which is different from Hinayana or "smaller vehicle" Buddhism. Buddhism again for me is a different Guru parampara in Dharmic traditions, but technically it is a religion now.<br />
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It was so nice to hear nearly 2500 year old Pali language prayer being
sung in a melodious way. You have to follow men and women sections in
the temple and a great place for meditation. 2500 year old glorious Indian culture comes right in front of your eyes hearing the powerful Pali hymns! </div>
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We also got nice breakfast served by the Buddhist monks. Our favourite Uppittu was made nice by the North Eastern friends :)<br />
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<b>3) Yaqeen Shah Wali Dargah, Palace Road. </b><br />
<br />
Dargah is a type of Islamic place where a Muslim Guru or Peer's tomb exists. Not every sect of Islam accepts Dargahs, and some term these as UnIslamic.<br />
<br />
This Dargah in my view is maintained by Sufi sect of Islam. If not, Shias. We were treated well here. There are restrictions. Women can't enter the main Dargah part, but can come near. Head cloth is suggested for men and women. <br />
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I went inside and stood next to the religious man here who sings praise or prayer. It was a soothing song and he later translated. He explained that on behalf of everyone who was there, irrespective of faith, he prayed for their welfare. I was particularly interested in the hand figures, and what they represent. The symbolism of these Hand signs and other rituals performed here had lot of Hindu influence. <br />
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There is a small mosque also in the complex where they read Namaz. Had a lot of discussions with the Dargah staff on who was this peer, how many centuries ago this tomb came up, difference between Sufi and Sunni Islam and much more. They were open in answering all. Served nice tea too later. <br />
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<b>4) Catholic Chapel, Thomas Town.</b><br />
<br />
The next visit was to <a href="http://www.cbci.in/NBCLC.aspx" target="_blank">NBCLC</a> - National Biblical, Catechetical and Liturgical Centre. This is a very different type of Christian complex. It is not a typical Church, but a full <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inculturation" target="_blank">inculturation center</a>. For some inculturation is a good thing after Vatican 2 in Christianity where the European cultural way is making way for native - here Hindu, cultural way for Christians. For those who oppose this, it is a process of stealing from Hinduism. We can have that debate some other time, but let me just narrate the experience there.<br />
<br />
Everything is "Hindu"ised here. From names of buildings to dress to window pane drawing to gopura (top of Chapel).. I mean everything! Building names are Sacchidananda, Brahma vidya, Shanti sadan etc. You won't find a saree wearing Mother Mary sitting in padmasana, with and Indian dressed baby Jesus like this anywhere else in the world. <br />
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Here, the resident sister explaining the central point of the Chapel. The whole building and the central God and Jesus concept is built on Hindu <a href="http://www.sahajayoga.org/chakrasandsubtlebody/?mode=text" target="_blank">Kundalini Chakra</a> concept. It is just narrated in a different way, which you might not find in the Bible. <br />
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A Catholic lady from Mumbai who was with us, explained that at the start, Christians find it difficult to pray in a place like this with Indianized (Hindu-ized) symbols. But later they feel much more home than a European style Church. I was explained how multi cultural symbols are so essential for Christianity in today's world. I talked to a few Fathers/priests too who told the same thing. There are courses conducted here in inculturation for Christians from around India. <br />
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<b>5) Guru Singh Sabha Gurudwara, Halasuru.</b><br />
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The next stop was by mid day to Sikh Gurudwara. Here, cloth over head is mandatory. They provide it right in the front, and even tie to your head if you wish. I found the discipline of Sikh devotees simply amazing. Men, women and children come inside in strict lines and bow before the Granth Sahib (holy book). There's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granthi" target="_blank">a Granthi</a> who reads from the Guru Granth Sabhib book. There were narrations in Punjabi language on heroes of Sikhism, how weapons are needed for self defence, how to sing Kirtans and praise the Gurus and more. I think the term for singing before meal was Ardas. I also saw people having a small knife as a part of the 5 basic tenets of Sikhism, called Kirpan. Women too had turbans in some cases. <br />
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This is one place where we spent maximum time. I heard many songs or Bhajans. They were sung melodiously and they were so close to how we sing bhajans at Hindu temples. Again, I found this just another Dharmic place, but we are told it is a different religion. I felt completely at home even though I understand only basic Punjabi. <br />
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The most impressive part of Gurudwara was after the soothing prayer session. There is a community kitchen called Langar, where anyone can go and prepare food. There is free food served for anyone who comes, no questions asked. Just keep a cloth over your head and take food obediently the way everyone else takes. I was amazed at how 100s of people, men and women - went about contributing to food preparation. The amazing discipline in preparation, serving (every serving is praised on Wahe Guru), and cleaning up. It's like you can be anything in this Gurudwara. You can sing, preach from the holy book, clean, cook, keep shoes, volunteer at gate... anything! A truly open system. <br />
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I had never seen in my life, well to do middle class people coming and cleaning up plates after lunch, with bare hands. Never.. These are well to do middle class people. I literally saw people using thumbs to wipe out the plate after we ate, to remove every single grain or vegetable piece onto other containers. They probably don't waste a single grain. Just amazing! And next step was another bunch of volunteers cleaning up with water and making the plates ready for the next round. <br />
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After enjoying a great prasad (offered food) at Gurudwara, I was thoroughly satisfied with what I saw. The discipline and Bhakti at a Gurudwara is something you just have to see for yourself!<br />
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<b>6) Masjid al Nur, Halasuru.</b><br />
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The final stop for me was the Sunni Muslim mosque. It's a big and grand mosque built not many years ago. We went at a time when Muslim prayer, or Namaz was not being read. So we had a chance to go on a guided tour, well conducted by a friend of mine, Syed. Head cloths over head are mandatory during prayer, but was kept optional for visitors on guided tour. Also, for women, there is a separate prayer hall opposite to the main mosque. <br />
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Unlike other places of worship we visited, this Mosque had lots of questions from the team. People asked questions right from namaz direction, to where women assemble, to what's inside <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaaba" target="_blank">Kaaba</a> etc. Syed answered everything very patiently and showed us things. Right from Wazu, where you use water to clean before prayer, to how prayers work, how many times, why pray, what are the key tenets of Islam and much more. <br />
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The team came out much more educated about Islam after this trip. Of course, we were served nice soft drinks and biscuits outside the mosque. <br />
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<b>In summary...</b><br />
The pilgrimage was later going to Hindu place of worship after this, but I had to drop out due to another engagement. I am not unfamiliar with Hindu temples and ashramas anyway :)<br />
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All <b><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/110981894709471519856/SadbhavanaSunday#" target="_blank">pictures in here</a></b> if you have more time.<br />
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Some more videos if you want to watch:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Buddhist: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFCPtDFCBzE" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFCPtDFCBzE</a></li>
<li>Catholic: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tleki95ZtG8" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tleki95ZtG8</a></li>
<li>Catholic: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo9IOz4ix_k" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo9IOz4ix_k</a></li>
<li>Sikh: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiU4qhstVkQ" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiU4qhstVkQ</a></li>
</ul>
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So here is the final collage.. A memorable day wherein I learned a lot about fellow Bharatiyas! After all, we are all very close to each other as humans, and once we understand the differences clearly, we can find ways to co-exist with minimal friction. The primary goal of every mode of worship is to make you a better human. That's what is Sad (good) Bhavana (feeling or intention) :)<br />
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Try it once.. You can do it yourself, of go with an organized pilgrimage. Contact Ashirvad, 30, Saint Mark's Road in Bengaluru for the next trip. <br />
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Kiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485405523308080612.post-38423939096693188512015-07-17T04:56:00.002-07:002015-07-17T04:56:09.739-07:00The Kannada History of Maharashtra<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhww-gBuqrzHoNMC5NtEhJt4EEi3-IlbChJ7yiUE8dfFPlXGt6hw_vjJMi-hhJLgQrtqNhVGE0LijWnQAIycH3uJ2cpF5CQonj22IirKX0cm40yyGPBXMRreBPfqk8LXLExOmIB88bc7bYn/s1600/K+with+Chidananda+Murthy+-+Jijnasa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhww-gBuqrzHoNMC5NtEhJt4EEi3-IlbChJ7yiUE8dfFPlXGt6hw_vjJMi-hhJLgQrtqNhVGE0LijWnQAIycH3uJ2cpF5CQonj22IirKX0cm40yyGPBXMRreBPfqk8LXLExOmIB88bc7bYn/s320/K+with+Chidananda+Murthy+-+Jijnasa.jpg" width="320" /></a>Dr. M Chidananda Murthy is a researcher, historian and scholar par excellence. Even at age 84, he has great grip of his research and presents his papers with amazing clarity. He has <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._Chidananda_Murthy#Works.5B5.5D" target="_blank">published a long list of papers and books</a> throughout his life, and lots of debates happen on his findings. His strong support to Hindutva in particular makes his opponents very uncomfortable. His research on Tipu Sultan in particular, <a href="http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/article1348114.ece" target="_blank">exposed the other side of Tipu</a> which self-proclaimed seculars had a very hard time digesting.<br />
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I have met this extremely gentle human many times. I am thoroughly impressed with his ability to research into Indian history in a precise manner. <br />
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Today, I came across his column. <i><span style="color: purple;"><b>"Earlier Karnataka was three times the size of today's Karnataka"</b></span></i>. If you can't read the font properly in the image below, use this link to <a href="http://epapervijayavani.in/Details.aspx?id=22644&boxid=15739254" target="_blank">read the Vijayavani epaper</a>. <br />
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The focus of this article, with lots of historical proofs is to inform that during ancient and medieval periods, Kannada speaking areas were from Kaveri delta in today's central Tamil Nadu till Godavari in Nashik area of Maharashtra. As with everything in history, there would be for's and against's to such claims. But I thought it would be useful to give a quick translation so that those interested further in research, can pursue the topic. <br />
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Some snippets from his article, which extensively focuses on today's Maharashtra, and its Kannada past in many areas. Here are some districts of Maharashtra for which the Kannada influence has been researched and presented by Dr. Murthy in this article.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Districts of Maharashtra covered in this article. <i>Pic: NIC</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Sri Vijaya's Kavirajamarga from 850 CE, has given 8th and 9th century CE description that Karnataka, or the land of Kannada speaking people, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kavirajamarga#Biography" target="_blank">extended from Kaveri to Godavari</a>.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHP0grVbNGmqoc42r11BThsWapJRhl13yRgbdZJBKzwrn9WKvXN2VyNu5oYoV-1Xe_Pny2g9fH2wb5cF93Qrs-dURgUIf7_NN2oy4WRAck8hH_gqHkmrmFPVjdQvqOGO7usN7yYgbyu_4X/s1600/Kannada%252B-%252BMarathi%252B-%252B4%255B1%255D.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHP0grVbNGmqoc42r11BThsWapJRhl13yRgbdZJBKzwrn9WKvXN2VyNu5oYoV-1Xe_Pny2g9fH2wb5cF93Qrs-dURgUIf7_NN2oy4WRAck8hH_gqHkmrmFPVjdQvqOGO7usN7yYgbyu_4X/s320/Kannada%252B-%252BMarathi%252B-%252B4%255B1%255D.png" width="304" /></a><br />
Sham. Bha. Joshi, Raja Purohit, and Alur Venkata Rao have done extensive research supporting the geographic claims of Sri Vijaya.<br />
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Chidananda Murthy has written "Bhashika Brihat Karnataka - From Nilagiri to Nashik". <br />
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Deshabhakta <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinayak_Damodar_Savarkar" target="_blank">Veer Savarkar</a> is from <b>Nashik </b>district. His father's place is Bhagur. His mother's place is Kothur. Notice "Ur" or "Uru" in both places, that are distinct Kannada names. Savarkar's family dog was named "Kariya" (Darkie or Blackie in Kannada). Savarkar's father used to call Vinayak as "Balam Bhatta" during younger days. That name is very popular in Karnataka.<br />
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Maharashtra's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahanubhava" target="_blank">Mahanubhava pantha</a> (sect) was started during 13th century by Shri Chakradhar swami. Chakradhara's guru was Gundama Bhatta. Gundama is a medieval Kannada name. <br />
<br />Nashik district has a distinct tribe called <a href="http://www.deccanherald.com/content/439873/039region-godavari-cauvery-once-karnataka039.html" target="_blank">"Hatkar Kaanadi" people</a>. Maybe they are named that way because they lived in Huts and spoke Kannada (Kaanadi). Per Chidananda Murthy, they are the native people of Nashik from ancient times. Even today that tribe speaks sentences like:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Ninge magadir yaanayudu? (How many children do you have?)</li>
<li>Nange ain magadir, eddu magardir aaidu (I have 5 sons and 2 daughters). </li>
<li>Nange maneg hogadu usiraat (it is time for me to go home).</li>
</ul>
Here, magadir, magaLdir, usiraat (avasara) are all old Kannada words. Similarly Hatkar Kaanadi people use kundal (hair), ba (mother) and many other words showing that North Maharashtra's Nashik area had Kannada population 1000 years ago.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQh91AOvCEx1Gkye4kyeOMd8OEioDjHnfxVlUtzZZWZo0IhUio-Yyg8R2C3zus9-gFXoJg8AOCf6NwNq26lpbfIrN5TWLAXzlMfGpmNf-kx9OsvOXGsYve2gfQoLJMexyDXyhnA1fj_On3/s1600/Karnataka+malabar+hills+-+Mumbai.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="68" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQh91AOvCEx1Gkye4kyeOMd8OEioDjHnfxVlUtzZZWZo0IhUio-Yyg8R2C3zus9-gFXoJg8AOCf6NwNq26lpbfIrN5TWLAXzlMfGpmNf-kx9OsvOXGsYve2gfQoLJMexyDXyhnA1fj_On3/s400/Karnataka+malabar+hills+-+Mumbai.png" width="400" /></a>Next, Murthy tells about <b>Mumbai</b>. A famous place today in Mumbai, <b>Malabar hills</b> is per him named after "male" people. In Kannada Male (maley) means hill. British would have used this for the hilly people (ghaati) who lived there. In 1818 (or 1819), when a new British person <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountstuart_Elphinstone" target="_blank">Mount Stuart Elphinstone</a> was appointed as the Governor of Mumbai, Malabar hills people submitted a letter in Kannada welcoming him. British used the word "Canarese" or "Kanarese" to describe Kannada speakers. That's why they named Uttara Kannada and Dakshina Kannada districts as North Canara and South Canara districts. <br />
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Some evidences suggest that Mumbai's original inhabitants, the KoLi people, spoke Kannada centuries ago. BA Salettur has opined that long ago, today's Mumbai area was inhabited by Kannada speaking people.<br />
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Talking further about Mumbai, the marriage treaty of Charles II of England and Catherine of Braganza, daughter of King John IV of Portugal, placed Bombay in possession of the British Empire in the 1660s, as part of dowry of Catherine to Charles. Dr. Murthy says that in 1670, when the British brought in new law in English, they translated it into Portuguese and Canarese (Kananda) to help the inhabitants or Bombay. Goa during those times also had many Kannada speakers. In 1737, a British writer has described Kannada as a language of "lower class" people of Mumbai. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJRmNN7DU0pwseIc0j877AsEzp4-Olaoj7n3lh-y31Z7pqapo-aPZ17eTKRduwAd-We8yQVD5z06S4sclYbCfPLeUvmW7XUbMzXboFdQuLd6pR961rGMD3EsyJQHi1oXivFbhzbIqDL8ca/s1600/Karnataka+Map+-+1909+and+1940.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJRmNN7DU0pwseIc0j877AsEzp4-Olaoj7n3lh-y31Z7pqapo-aPZ17eTKRduwAd-We8yQVD5z06S4sclYbCfPLeUvmW7XUbMzXboFdQuLd6pR961rGMD3EsyJQHi1oXivFbhzbIqDL8ca/s400/Karnataka+Map+-+1909+and+1940.png" width="400" /></a>Dr. Murthy presents two maps - One from 1909 (English and Kannada) and one from 1940 (Marathi text book), that indicate the contemporary Karnataka of those times. The 1940 text book map published by British government, named "Arvachin Karnataka" (Modern Karnataka) has <b>Belagavi/Belagav</b> in it. The 1909 clearly is much larger than what Karnataka is today. It includes today's <b>Goa, Belagavi, Kolhapur</b> and even <b>Solapur </b>in Karnataka. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5tGGYaFWaIUXOL1wFGbhrclUMraC2OLXpcK2tH4kCmre-yjEIPqryoRbqIVv1bXY4pPRQtmLHJgscTW0ZWT_m0iZKO5PPGageXF8INjps1QF28cbV5MNaF2IvBZ_zpA4XA9aOgaDY6k7v/s1600/949px-Karnataka_1956_Reorg.svg%255B1%255D.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5tGGYaFWaIUXOL1wFGbhrclUMraC2OLXpcK2tH4kCmre-yjEIPqryoRbqIVv1bXY4pPRQtmLHJgscTW0ZWT_m0iZKO5PPGageXF8INjps1QF28cbV5MNaF2IvBZ_zpA4XA9aOgaDY6k7v/s320/949px-Karnataka_1956_Reorg.svg%255B1%255D.png" width="296" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Post 1956 Karnataka - <i>Map: Wiki</i></td></tr>
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Of course, the districts were merged into administration of various neighbouring kings or provinces during British era. You can compare that side by side with Karnataka since 1956 States Reorganization done by Jawaharlal Nehru's government to get an idea of districts within today's Karnataka and the ones which are with other states today. <br />
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Dr. Murthy continues district-wise in Maharashtra. He says that betel leaf growers of Nashik are "Tigula" people, the same ones found in Karnataka speaking Kannada or Tamil. South Maharashtra's districts like Solapur, Kolhapur, Nanded, <b>Sangli </b>etc. have most of their ancient shila shasana (inscriptions) in Kannada.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYD02oZ9FUG4ElEGWvSHwLXkoQ7sedkQw3C97-Ob3ql8itJkEkd180pvgwPNCkZVK0CvIRjbBMB8raat2TzNpR1oCqjcZsXwe0QQIxSrWnZr0rKTn0YBcFhCSH12jKins2g9fBLahR4d8M/s1600/555px-Siddheshwar-mandir-solapur._1%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYD02oZ9FUG4ElEGWvSHwLXkoQ7sedkQw3C97-Ob3ql8itJkEkd180pvgwPNCkZVK0CvIRjbBMB8raat2TzNpR1oCqjcZsXwe0QQIxSrWnZr0rKTn0YBcFhCSH12jKins2g9fBLahR4d8M/s320/555px-Siddheshwar-mandir-solapur._1%255B1%255D.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shri Siddheshwar Temple, Solapur. <i>Pic - Wiki</i></td></tr>
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<b>Solapur</b>'s village deity (grama devata) is Shri Siddheshwar. His name was Siddha Rama, and he was a vachana writer 800 years ago. His father was Muddu Gowda. They are from Moradi village of Solarpur. Moradi or Mordi in Kannada means small hill. Vachanas are Kannada literature of Lingayat or Veerashaiva community. So the Kannada origin of Solapur goes back centuries or even millenium. <br />
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In <b>Nanded, </b>common people call laying foundation for a new house as "Kesaru Kalliku". (In Kannada, Kesaru = wet mud, Kallikku = put stone).<br />
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Solapur district has a very famous temple for Vithoba or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vithoba_Temple,_Pandharpur" target="_blank">Vitthala in Pandharpur</a>. Marathi scholar RB Shere clearly attributes Kannada origin to Vithoba. Sant Dnyaneshwar in one of his Marathi abhangaha screams - "O Vithala.. You are Kaanadi (Kannadiga).. Hence you are not hearing my pleas". You can read more on <a href="http://kiranasis.blogspot.in/2014/11/kannada-and-marathi-overlapping-history.html" target="_blank">Sant Dnyaneshwar, Marathi and Kannada in my earlier blog here</a>. In the famous <b>Pandharpur </b>temple, the last song sung for Lord Vithoba after all puja is in Kannada - to put him to sleep. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJro8H0hx1yCCsR2kkAmNfZrEzw8ynUGXi1qEI9VGfR3M8wNjISPO3TXh-tRJqCR_Ptm8LYgUPkdF6mshTZVFZ3piXNAa6uIVlbGoUvYbJPtkX4w_P-cU7pr7wZSb4Qp9oGV-PU1Cb5EJz/s1600/Khandoba%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJro8H0hx1yCCsR2kkAmNfZrEzw8ynUGXi1qEI9VGfR3M8wNjISPO3TXh-tRJqCR_Ptm8LYgUPkdF6mshTZVFZ3piXNAa6uIVlbGoUvYbJPtkX4w_P-cU7pr7wZSb4Qp9oGV-PU1Cb5EJz/s320/Khandoba%255B1%255D.jpg" width="224" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Khandoba or Mailara. <i>Pic - Wiki</i></td></tr>
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Jejuri near <b>Pune </b>has the famous Khandoba temple. Khandoba is a Marathi name for Mailara, a very famous name for Shiva in Kannada. If you travel in North Karnataka, especially Hoovina Hadagali area, millions of people worship Shiva in the form of Mailara or Mailara Linga, with almost exactly same description as Khandoba. In Khandoba's major festivities, people near Pune even today shout "El Koti Ughe" or "Khande rayaca Elkot". Here "Elu" and "Kote" are Kannada words meaning Seven forts.<br />
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Coming to literature, at the feet of Bahubali's statue in <b>Shravana Belagola</b> in south Karnataka, there's an inscription "Shri Chavundaraje karaveeyale". This from 983 CE, is believed to be the earliest Marathi inscription ever found. But Kannada was existing for centuries before that. Per Dr. Murthy, Marathi existed in the northern regions of Godavari by then. So this inscription was for those people, along with Kannada and Tamil inscriptions for other people visiting this place. Till 12th or 13th century, most of today's Maharashtra below Godavari river were Kannada speaking areas. Badami Chalukyas, Kalyana Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas and many more were ruling over these areas. It was only since the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seuna_%28Yadava%29_dynasty" target="_blank">Yadavas of Devagiri</a> about 800 years ago, that Marathi spread widely into today's southern Maharashtra area, replacing Kannada (and some Telugu).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7MAxUKkqn6BFD4CITejQHRKv4EcE1MfVfzpTJoZ5ZSpfH9iZxeUrhORNPhcgOEnbVXQ96kktX8VlGDOCTCz0IOgXbX4eZ8kmFSlKM_HDc_lgQylWicUsA62dPQHzU1SsUMT1UPtiTKJoZ/s1600/Karnataka+elephanta+caves+-+Mumbai.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7MAxUKkqn6BFD4CITejQHRKv4EcE1MfVfzpTJoZ5ZSpfH9iZxeUrhORNPhcgOEnbVXQ96kktX8VlGDOCTCz0IOgXbX4eZ8kmFSlKM_HDc_lgQylWicUsA62dPQHzU1SsUMT1UPtiTKJoZ/s320/Karnataka+elephanta+caves+-+Mumbai.png" width="231" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Source: Wiki</i></td></tr>
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The famous <b>Elephanta </b>caves near Mumbai, were built and temples carved by Kannada kings - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephanta_Caves#History" target="_blank">Chalukyas and Rashtrakutas</a>. Before that,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulakesi_II#Battle_with_Harsha" target="_blank"> Pulikeshi II had fought</a> Harshavardhana at Narmada banks itself, going far north of Godavari river. And the only battle Harsha lost in his life was this one!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_kZRvtK2QUnPHGDFuioiV6u9wrXl7_nEPiTOYHZ3xxP6kQRWlg9zzIq_G9HSESuaL1aKF4jj4rFPx4YWBvQ0Xi55z_tDczNYANhYDm4rOM-7fHk6JNyNZt3JeLdIEEndsRVCLcCyDIG5_/s1600/800px-Ellora_Kailash_temple_overview%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_kZRvtK2QUnPHGDFuioiV6u9wrXl7_nEPiTOYHZ3xxP6kQRWlg9zzIq_G9HSESuaL1aKF4jj4rFPx4YWBvQ0Xi55z_tDczNYANhYDm4rOM-7fHk6JNyNZt3JeLdIEEndsRVCLcCyDIG5_/s320/800px-Ellora_Kailash_temple_overview%255B1%255D.jpg" width="301" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">World famous Kailasa natha temple, Ellora. <i>Pic: Wiki</i></td></tr>
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Chalukya emperor Pulikeshi's inscriptions are found in the world <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulakesi_II#Pulikeshi.27s_death_and_legacy" target="_blank">famous Ajanta caves</a> today in north Maharashtra. It was during Chalukya and Rashtrakuta empires <b>Ajanta </b>and <b>Ellora </b>became great centers of arts and temples. The world famous Kailasa natha temple in Ellora was built by Kannada <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kailasa_temple,_Ellora" target="_blank">king Krishna I before 774 CE</a> using a unique top to bottom rock chiseling technique. It is estimated that about 400,000 tons of rocks were scooped out over hundreds of years to construct this monolithic structure!! The contribution to Ajanta, Ellora, Elephanta, Solapur, Pandharpur, Kolhapur and many other areas of Maharashtra by Kannada kings and people is immense. <br />
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Then Dr. Murthy goes into the vocabulary of Marathi language. There are lot of Kannada origin words there. Olage or Oule (inside), Kolu (stick), Tupa (ghee), Mudila (before, first), Oli (letter), Konth (weapon), Balanti (mom or newborn), Aḍakitta (nutcracker), Akka (sister), Anna (brother), Veergal (stone inscription for a martyr), Mechu (small sword like device), Hon (gold)... If you go into depth, you will find that Marathi has a Kannada or Dravidian foundation from ancient and medieval times, but the upper structure is that of Aryan language. Even today's Devanagari script being used as a standard to write Marathi, is an adaptation of recent centuries. For almost a millennium <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modi_alphabet" target="_blank">Modi alphabets were used to write Marathi</a> (and occasionally Kannada in Maharashtra). <br />
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Per Dr. S Srikanta Shastry, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satavahana_dynasty" target="_blank">Shatavahana empire</a> that ruled over Maharashtra 1700 years ago, had lot of Kannada (and Telugu) impact.<br />
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Then Dr. Murthy finally mentions about <b>Ananthpur</b> and <b>Chittoor </b>in Andhra Pradesh, and <b>Dharmapuri</b>, <b>Salem </b>and <b>Nilgiri </b>areas of Tamil Nadu, to cover the ancient Kannada links. <br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><i>The purpose of me translating this is <u>not for any</u> political reason. I have good friends from every language. I just found it historically interesting to see the linguistic overlaps. In some cases, I have added a few words of my own, giving additional Wiki or other links to establish better connection. Just like any case involving neighbours in India, you can also find the other side of overlap, if a research is presented properly. </i></span><br />
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Kiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485405523308080612.post-40277511786115593792015-07-06T07:44:00.000-07:002015-07-06T07:44:26.374-07:00The Amazing Tamil Nadu Temples <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
If you have a desire to see the glory of Hindu Dharma, via medieval or ancient temples, Tamil Nadu is the place to go. There's no second thought about it. Luckily, most massive temples have been retained in the original shape and splendor, when unfortunately many other states in India couldn't during foreign invasions. I made five trips in the past five years and an opportunity came for a sixth trip - a trip with lots of temples to see in TN and PY. I immediately grabbed the invitation of friend Bharath and got into the vehicle.<br />
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Let me narrate some interesting things about each place we visited last weekend.<br />
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First of all, our interest is in covering all the five <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancha_Bhoota_Stalam" target="_blank">Pancha Bhoota Sthala Linga</a> or Pancha Tatva Linga. There is one major and historic temple dedicated for each of the five basic elements of nature as shown in an image from Wiki here. Three months ago, we had seen the Agni Linga temple in Thiruvannamalai. This time we aimed at three, but ended up doing two. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHzZb6zR4SVbuNCgW3QdxBKdBahsPgCp8pTIIDgcLtAqxWQBkXbSo6cu7dQUlGJNOxMaaw3nf9e_5sgLNumN-dOiMg4pJnLxngHnJcbNHKUjZlhlOXL5xDD5wtkgN8USstnNYtQ8NgoS3Y/s1600/2015+Jun+-+Tamil+Nadu+Trip+-+Pancha+Bhoota+Linga.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="107" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHzZb6zR4SVbuNCgW3QdxBKdBahsPgCp8pTIIDgcLtAqxWQBkXbSo6cu7dQUlGJNOxMaaw3nf9e_5sgLNumN-dOiMg4pJnLxngHnJcbNHKUjZlhlOXL5xDD5wtkgN8USstnNYtQ8NgoS3Y/s400/2015+Jun+-+Tamil+Nadu+Trip+-+Pancha+Bhoota+Linga.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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So we got started, in an anticlockwise road trip, heading straight to Tiruchirapalli or Trichy, the place of our first Shiva Linga temple - Jambukeshwarar. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrRvlNl4p2YbueILglgeMANAF9c2eE2rp9ZX7nbM7xNvrIxnXH3WdrindX5nxzzJLJW8hvBkDWraTTl-3musWmunwPNFXvSEp-jVJ0W5hvqN16p5sAZ4Aet9hXsFpLH3RyKzxcMYBV5VAD/s1600/2015+Jun+-+Tamil+Nadu+Trip+-+Map.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrRvlNl4p2YbueILglgeMANAF9c2eE2rp9ZX7nbM7xNvrIxnXH3WdrindX5nxzzJLJW8hvBkDWraTTl-3musWmunwPNFXvSEp-jVJ0W5hvqN16p5sAZ4Aet9hXsFpLH3RyKzxcMYBV5VAD/s400/2015+Jun+-+Tamil+Nadu+Trip+-+Map.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Once we finished eating chapati at the local restaurant, we started asking common people in Trichy. Where is Jambukeshwara temple? Five queries and no one answered properly. Then I found that we were asking in the wrong way. Made some calls and found that we should be asking for Thiruvanaikaval Kovil (Kovil in Tamil = Temple). Got the answers immediately. I must say that common people in Tamil Nadu have always been very helpful and friendly. We just have to figure out some basic Tamil speaking skills.. that's it. Kovil = Temple, Perumal = Vishnu, Siva = Shiva, Periya = Big etc... <br />
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To our surprise, we booked a hotel within half a KM from the great <b>Srirangam Vishnu temple</b>, which is not far from the Jambukeshwara temple. We set out to see Shiva temples. But our first visit next morning had to start with Vishnu Bhagawan! That's called divine planning.<br />
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So we were there to see sleeping Lord Vishnu (Ranga natha) in our proper uniforms :) <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOd_h6tk8wYy_IgW-vmGZYfNLhbe3MRplMPlfAGN3AELUvnLG5ZzULrNmVpmxowFHEj1Ij29a9lS6sXB57Vi8WK4XGoa7-_DlN7Q0twpq990BkbzfNeEQW0-rcnHRbMoKKCcvKj7rcqxJW/s1600/Srirangam+-+1000+pillar+mantapa.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOd_h6tk8wYy_IgW-vmGZYfNLhbe3MRplMPlfAGN3AELUvnLG5ZzULrNmVpmxowFHEj1Ij29a9lS6sXB57Vi8WK4XGoa7-_DlN7Q0twpq990BkbzfNeEQW0-rcnHRbMoKKCcvKj7rcqxJW/s320/Srirangam+-+1000+pillar+mantapa.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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You will be amazed at the vast nature of this Srirangam temple complex. This is one of the Tri-Ranga (3 Rangas) along the Kaveri river. The first one being Sriranga Patnam near Mysuru, the second one at Shivana Samudra near Gaganachukki falls and the third one being this <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srirangam" target="_blank">Srirangam near Trichy</a>. There were nine massive gopuras/traditional doors from the street. There is a 1000 mantapa (pillar) auditorium. There's the (jiva) samadhi of the famous Vaishnava Guru Ramanujacharya. There must be at least 50 smaller temples within the complex itself.<br />
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It will take a full day just to pay proper visit to each deity within this massive and ancient temple complex. Our friend Nagesh chanted Purusha Sukta in one of the Rama temple and we were elated along with the local Purohit. Great darshan, great food (paid, not free) and a wonderful place to visit. <br />
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Next stop, the <b>mighty <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jambukeswarar_Temple,_Thiruvanaikaval" target="_blank">Jambukeshwara temple</a></b> for water tatva of Shiva. And to our total surprise, we entered right when the abhisheka was happening in the main temple. It was fabulous to sit outside the small garbha gudi (sanctum sanctoram) of the temple, besides small holes in the wall, and watch the pouring of liquids over this very ancient Linga, and then decorating it with various pastes and cloths.<br />
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This temple has interesting history involving an elephant and a spider worshiping the Linga.<br />
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They do very nice Gow-puja (Cow Worship) in this temple after the main abhisheka.<br />
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And of course, the thing which caught my eye was this.. We can discuss that some time later.<br />
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So our first major Shiva temple was done. Vishnu had called us even without our planning at Srirangam. Time to head east to the glorious UNESCO heritage city of Tanjavur. No surprises here. The massive ~13 feet tall <b>Shiva Linga (Brihadeswarar)</b> in one of the greatest buildings ever built by ancient and medieval world - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brihadeeswarar_Temple" target="_blank">the BIG temple</a>. You have to visit this place to understand the immense technology Indians had 1000 years ago. In this Kaveri river delta area devoid of any big granite mountainous, Chola empire got a massive 81,600+ KG stone, and hoisted it above 200 feet. The total height of the gopura or vimana on the temple is 216 ft (66 m) high. Just imagine the technology to do this 1005 years to be precise? No where in the world you can find such a massive feat, which is living even today surviving tsunamis, earthquakes and of course, human invaders!<br />
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And of course, Bharat makes it look small.. really small :)<br />
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I felt like... I am witnessing 1000 years of Bharatiya history in just a few minutes.. Awesome and proud experience. Felt so good about our ancient shilpis, rajas and everyone who left us such great legacy.<br />
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If you have time, <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/110981894709471519856/2015JuneTamilNaduTempleAndBeachTrip" target="_blank">please browse through lots of pictures in here</a> to know how happy we were during this entire trip, particularly the Tanjavur Periya Kovil (Big Temple) visit.<br />
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Next stop.. Kumbakonam. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumbakonam" target="_blank">A city of temples</a> where there are 188 temples within the municipal limits of a small town of 1,40,000 people. And if you include smaller temples, they say over 1500 temples are there in and around this city of temples!! Of course we wanted to visit a lot, but had time for only one. The <b>big <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adi_Kumbeswarar_Temple" target="_blank">Adi Kumbeswarar temple.</a></b> We had a wonderful time here watching many unique things. The pujari showed us the place within the temple where the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raghavendra_Swami" target="_blank">great Raghavendra Swamy</a> had sat and meditated. They also showed the Devi (Durga) with nandi in front of her, not lion/tiger. They showed us a slight tilt of the main Linga and told that it's because of this kona (angle) of the kumbha (one above linga), it is named Kumbha Konam. You also have 9 temples around Kumbakonam, for each Nava graha (nine planets in Hinduism). We surely needed a week, just for this temple town!<br />
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We had to then drive into Puducherry enclave within TN, near Karaikal beach in the night. Our next stop was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tirunallar_Saniswaran_Temple" target="_blank">Tirunallar Saniswaran Temple</a> at <b>Tirunallar </b>in Puducherry Union Territory. The specialty here is that 1000s of people come to take a dip in the pond, and leave their wet cloths on the banks of the pond, to get away from Lord Shani's wrath. <br />
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We followed what 1000s do. A proper bath in that pond, giving arghya to Surya deva early morning from within water, leaving our cloths, and then heading to the ancient temple in the town.<br />
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Just like the 100s of other big temples in Tamil Nadu, we had walk past many arches (gopuras) and finally get a beautiful darshan of Shani Deva. And to get a bonus, we were allowed to do a full Rudra abhisheka at a Shiva temple behind the Shani temple. Our Nagesh, the knowledgeable purohit, made us do abhisheka on the spatika Linga that he had carried from Bengaluru. It was a divine experience chanting the Vedic Rudra and Chamakam at this ancient temple. We loved every moment of it. Best part, I could do this on Ekadashi day, which is now my fasting day :)<br />
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Now overwhelmed with temples after temples, we took some beach breaks. It was emotional visiting the <b>Karaikal Tsunami memorial</b>, remembering the 1000s who perished during the 2004 mega Indian ocean Tsunami. <br />
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Now time to head north. Next stop Chidambaram mega dancing Shiva temple. But since it opens only in the evening, we had time for some fun trip through the mangrove filled <b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pichavaram" target="_blank">backwaters of Pichavaram</a></b>. Our "vocal" skills and funny hand movements came handy when going inside the shallow mangrove backwaters :)<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_Lirk7o8m4" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_Lirk7o8m4</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOR-afBLF3I" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOR-afBLF3I</a><br />
Even our boatman started off -> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sKRynDomgE" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sKRynDomgE</a> <br />
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Playing in the backwaters, climbing up some mangroves and paddling the boat was really fun. I am told that this is the <i><b>world's second largest</b> </i>mangrove wetland!<br />
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And our boatman told us that this is the same mangrove area where the famous Kamal Hasan song from the movie Dasavataram was shot.<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM-r6CP_uY4" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM-r6CP_uY4</a><br />
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Next stop, the great <b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thillai_Nataraja_Temple,_Chidambaram" target="_blank">Chidambaram temple</a></b>. This great Hindu temple of South India that has held its prominence for over 2000 years is a must visit place for any temple enthusiast. The Shiva in here is associated with the Akasha (or sky/ether) tatva (essence) among the pancha bhootas (five basic elements sustaining life). This holy temple has been built and repaired by Pallava, Chola, Pandya, Vijayanagara and Chera kingdoms over the past 2000 years. <br />
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And, I insist that you learn more about the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thillai_Nataraja_Temple,_Chidambaram#Significance_of_the_temple_design" target="_blank">significance of Chidambaram temple's design</a>. Focus on why the roof has been laid by 21,600 golden tiles with the word Shiva nama inscribed on them representing 21600 breaths!!<br /><br />
Around the 9th minute of this famous video of Carl Sagan - Cosmos of India, you can see the description of Nataraja (Dancing Shiva), for whom this Chidambaram temple is dedicated to. <br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ugyrzr5Ds8o" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ugyrzr5Ds8o</a><br />
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All I can say is... Srirangam, Jambukeshwara, Tanjavur, Kumbha Konam, Tirunallar Shani and now Chidambaram Nataraja. Overwhelming architecture, significance and puja tradition for millenium.<br />
Incredible trip!! How can I forget the awesome tender coconut water in <b>Kadalur</b>, to break the Ekadashi fast? :)<br />
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Lastly, how can we end up such a fabulous trip without some fun in water? That too when we are close to the Goa of the east coast, <b>Puducherry</b>? We stayed at a nice resort right on the beach, danced in the beach at midnight, saw sun rise at the beach, offered arghya to Lord Surya after a swim, and then had super fun in the resort pool.<br />
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<br />Lastly, visited the pious <b>Aurobindo Ashram</b> at Puducherry.. A small and silent zone in the French legacy town.<br />
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<br />While returning via <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annamalaiyar_Temple" target="_blank">Tiruvannamalai</a>, another great Shiva temple (Agni link) which we had seen 3 months back, we had some nice fun on the road trip too.. like watching this crazy scooter driver -> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxubUk-Xrl4" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxubUk-Xrl4</a><br />
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Overall.. great fun. If you want historic temples, amazing Dharmic puja traditions in Sanskrit and Tamil, and fun beaches, head to these places I have listed. You will have a great time.. guaranteed!<br />
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Now that 3 of the 5 Shiva Tatva temples covered this year, hoping to do the other two - Kanchi (in TN) and Kalahasti (in AP) soon. Om Namah Shivaya!</div>
Kiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485405523308080612.post-23238848768992622982015-05-14T09:29:00.001-07:002015-05-14T09:29:24.983-07:00Late HV Sheshadri Explains What Is True Dharma<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
RSS leader Dr. Mohan Bhagawat was mentioning about the late HV Sheshadri. An interesting narration. Let me see if I can type it keeping the same interest that he generated in the talk.<br /><br />Once HV Sheshadri of RSS was traveling in a bus in Karnataka. He was the Karnataka pranth pracharak. A well dressed and educated man boarded the bus, and sat next to HVS. They got into hello-hello chats. The man talked about his MCom education, employment at a bank, his family etc.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix63nJDdoFtOAfoLm7E13qTx8l877Po2prqnmLKEMbZx2q7i8imvMMvnpQm4WyP2ALFLtLn-zQUcAXjFFi984n6-wsh5IxmsOSPPOmZhL9FdOlw3mxPQkSDGVmJjU6EVSvAUY9_ywhEBWz/s1600/HV+Sheshadri+-+RSS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix63nJDdoFtOAfoLm7E13qTx8l877Po2prqnmLKEMbZx2q7i8imvMMvnpQm4WyP2ALFLtLn-zQUcAXjFFi984n6-wsh5IxmsOSPPOmZhL9FdOlw3mxPQkSDGVmJjU6EVSvAUY9_ywhEBWz/s320/HV+Sheshadri+-+RSS.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr. Mohan Bhagawat with the Late HV Sheshadri in the background. <i>Pic - Samvada</i></td></tr>
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Then he asked HVS. "What do you?"<br />HVS: "Nothing. Go from home to home, tell good things. Serve the society. Pretty much that's it". <br />Passenger: "Then how do you take care of your family?"<br />HVS: "I am not married. I don't have a family to take care of". <br />Passenger: "So you don't have a family. You don't earn anything. You have no duty of raising a family.. what's the use of your life? You are not an asset to the society". <br /><br /><span style="color: purple;"><i>Both kept quiet for some time....</i></span><br /><br />HVS: "That's the way I am.. BTW, can you tell the names of your 8th generation from father's side?"<br />Passenger: " I don't know"<br />HVS: "Mother's side?"<br />Passenger: "Not sure. We know only 3 generations for shraddha (Vedic ritual for the dead) purposes. Never thought of it.".<br /><br /><span style="color: purple;"><i>Both kept quiet for some time....</i></span><br /><br />HVS: "Do you know about Swami Vivekananda? The monk who...." <br />Passenger: "Of course.. Who doesn't know the Swami? I have studied many times about him. Here are some details....."<br />HVS: "Was he your relative?".<br />Passenger: "How can that be? He's from Bongo and I am from Karnataka". <br />HVS: "Oh.. maybe you met him?" <br />Passenger: "Are you joking? I was born 50 years after his death!"<br />HVS: "Maybe he visited your village sometime back?"<br />Passenger: "No. Never".<br /><br /><span style="color: purple;"><i>Both kept quiet for some time....</i></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swami. <i>Pic - Wiki</i></td></tr>
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HVS: "Strange... Swami Vivekananda was not your relative. You have never met him. He never even came near your village. And he was from generations before you. But still you know a lot about him. You also should know that he never earned any money. He didn't support his family the way you do. He never got married. He didn't raise kids. But everything he did in his life was for the society.. for the people.. for the country.. for the humanity. He lived his life per Dharma, to the perfection. <br />
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On the other hand, your family's 8th generation before you did everything you are saying as valuable to the society. They got married. They raised kids. They educated them. They earned. They passed on things so that you are prospering today. Still you don't even know their names!!"<span style="color: purple;"><i> </i></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><i>Both kept quiet for some time....for a very long time...</i></span><br />
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The passenger seriously felt something in his heart. He apologized to HV Sheshadri and asked why this kind of thing happened.<br />
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HVS: "See.. it happens with all of us. We focus only on the material benefit for the immediate family. But that's not everything about Dharma. In the real sense, Dharma is all about <i>Dharana</i> or <i>carrying. </i><span style="color: purple;"><i>Dharayati iti dharma</i></span>. We alone getting educated, enjoying or prospering in life is not enough. We should take the society with us. Some of us can take smaller load and some like the Swami can take massive load. But our efforts must be to take everyone with us on the path of prosperity. That is the true Sewa. And, Sewa or selfless service is the best Dharma. Hence our lives must be dedicated as a <i>daana</i> or gift, for the humanity. Try to think more on why some of us make Sangha and its Sewa as the topmost priority in life and dedicate ourselves towards the society".<br />
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Needless to say.. the passenger had nothing else but total respect to HV Sheshadri!<br />
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Kiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485405523308080612.post-57438108098952058492015-05-01T09:44:00.000-07:002015-05-01T09:44:07.512-07:00The Physical India - Amazing Place!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Recently, I spent some time understanding the physical India and the tectonic plates movement. This was right after the devastating earthquake in the Himalayan region killing over 6000 already in Nepal and close to 100 in India.<br />
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My key question was - Why is the Himalayan region so susceptible to earthquakes? But while understanding that, I had a good revision of the entire physical features of Indian subcontinent. Right from 12 crores years back to today, and the projection 10 crore years into the future!<br />
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Sharing some highlights for those interested in our Bharata Varsha, Bharata Khanda and Jambu Dweepa :)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDnXCR1SBuJ8oRwjUDfjmnDWrTz99NSpL16hAFnPwl6WjiDYpZQh62bS-iSNOZuDqT-kGzjPu7frKPPVRSkcPLyFTeG7ywlK-ID-oy9YgYj1YXfal_bSO8KjW-YanVsgY5arIxv6Pvvk1S/s1600/India+-+location+change+on+earth+in+22+crores+years.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDnXCR1SBuJ8oRwjUDfjmnDWrTz99NSpL16hAFnPwl6WjiDYpZQh62bS-iSNOZuDqT-kGzjPu7frKPPVRSkcPLyFTeG7ywlK-ID-oy9YgYj1YXfal_bSO8KjW-YanVsgY5arIxv6Pvvk1S/s1600/India+-+location+change+on+earth+in+22+crores+years.png" height="400" width="335" /></a>12 crore years back, India was fairly close to today's Antarctica's location. Trace our Indian subcontinent's movement right from Antarctica region to northern hemisphere pushing the Eurasian tectonic plate up here. India moved from Antarctica region close to African east cost to middle of the Indian ocean to colliding with the Europe-Asia plate and to pushing Himalayas up and reaching the place today. <br />
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Where would Indian subcontinent be 10 crores years from today? Pretty much the same place as it can't push any considerable distance. But the western half might expand, while the eastern part might get submerged per the scientific projections.<br />
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Watch this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGcDed4xVD4" target="_blank">video</a> for a graphical representation of what I am trying to say. <br />
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Here's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSWZI8VZjTA" target="_blank">another video</a> giving a closeup look at the most recent 5 crore years. <br />
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Isn't it amazing to see how India changed the Asian continent, and most importantly gave the planet earth, the most amazing Himalayas (Hima = Snow, Alaya = Mountain, in Sanskrit)? Out of the top 15 peaks in the world, ALL are in the Himalayas. If India had not traveled from the tip of southern pole to northern hemisphere, planet Earth would have been a much boring place without giants like Mount Everest, Kanchanjunga, K2, Kailash mountain etc..<br />
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If your interest in tectonic geology has gone up, don't miss this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDqskltCixA" target="_blank">awesome video</a> on how Earth was formed, how earth's land surface came up, how continents formed - split - rejoined - split again.. Amazing journey over 10s of crore years!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpImUQJ6o3n7OrB7R7_1YksDpYoUkdZ9ekAKNc_KET-kG7mMoaZnUgmwUq51cIOxX4z0-SNMAPpOqqwWzFieddWWdgwJtmIf57LaBE4N4fB0UMATlceo5dMQB96jcurlSRC1CBm2xyoiio/s1600/Physical+India+-+Asteroid+-+Dinosaur.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpImUQJ6o3n7OrB7R7_1YksDpYoUkdZ9ekAKNc_KET-kG7mMoaZnUgmwUq51cIOxX4z0-SNMAPpOqqwWzFieddWWdgwJtmIf57LaBE4N4fB0UMATlceo5dMQB96jcurlSRC1CBm2xyoiio/s1600/Physical+India+-+Asteroid+-+Dinosaur.jpg" height="151" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Asteroid impact</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Now that your thirst for tectonic plates, earthquakes, Tsunamis, island formation, Himalayas etc. is quenched, let's move on to more India specific things. I was reading this morning more connection between a very historic event that wiped out Dinosaurs 6.5 crores years ago, and the rise of Deccan plateau over which I am sitting and typing this today. Why did Deccan plateau rise? Also, note that India was not exactly where it is today, as 6.5 crore years ago. It was still somewhere near Equator, making the massive asteroid impact point on the western hemisphere, directly antipodal (exactly opposite place of the sphere in the other side) to the Deccan plateau today. <br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA6MY03S6ZUYQxyM7gQx3iEJlt7WkLfPdU7xBi5dIQdf6BodZFd-KMu0tIhXwVDdYdyfMZv_UXkV-0yekpsttbIpEUuCJMbb0ZSIQJ09LWBR16g6mtbo2NtcXAlqAZ-7OcSTJXyyHQp-Uo/s1600/Physical+India+-+Yucatan+penisula+-+Deccan+plateau.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA6MY03S6ZUYQxyM7gQx3iEJlt7WkLfPdU7xBi5dIQdf6BodZFd-KMu0tIhXwVDdYdyfMZv_UXkV-0yekpsttbIpEUuCJMbb0ZSIQJ09LWBR16g6mtbo2NtcXAlqAZ-7OcSTJXyyHQp-Uo/s1600/Physical+India+-+Yucatan+penisula+-+Deccan+plateau.png" height="232" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yucatan peninsula (impact point) and Deccan plateau. <i>Pic: enchantedlearning</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW1yXhEfFsy3jF9t9PCqm04hzSoQHxn6R1qMbB37qgPAuyddOBZcgGuyi-jxyZNJ9kp0YCMbIZcD7hcauMeYDQHMdFc4UVJTjEtw5LNd0m1EfQNN2DAvr9SO-HuCqJ4Vp9DgBCekHHG7zS/s1600/Physical+India+-+Antipodal.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW1yXhEfFsy3jF9t9PCqm04hzSoQHxn6R1qMbB37qgPAuyddOBZcgGuyi-jxyZNJ9kp0YCMbIZcD7hcauMeYDQHMdFc4UVJTjEtw5LNd0m1EfQNN2DAvr9SO-HuCqJ4Vp9DgBCekHHG7zS/s1600/Physical+India+-+Antipodal.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pic: Wiki</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Here is a simple depiction of what is antipodal point when you take a sphere.<br />
<br />
Here is the interesting article that describes how the largest Deccan eruptions, referred to as the Wai subgroup flows, which produced about 70% of the lavas that now stretch across the Indian subcontinent from Mumbai to Kolkata. These researchers argue that the impact likely triggered most of the immense eruptions of lava in India known as the Deccan Traps, explaining the <a href="http://www.thenewsreports.com/dino-killing-asteroid-said-to-have-triggered-volcanic-eruptions-across-the-globe/15924/ravi" target="_blank">“uncomfortably close” coincidence between the Deccan Traps eruptions and the impact</a>, which has always cast doubt on the theory that the asteroid was the sole cause of the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.<br />
<br />
For those not familiar with the Deccan traps, here is a beautiful sight.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRit_kVoPT_m6ei1aQCCzIkop5660KmUXGVjBC1zgSTmC2d7Czo6un5TODuAUYoq0V-YASjGVGJCf8HJgoM14IQQSX-UXpLYbcySYMqil5VKe_noRt7MGEFM_nzkChxm3S72b1N8T89ctY/s1600/Physical+India+-+Deccan+Traps.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRit_kVoPT_m6ei1aQCCzIkop5660KmUXGVjBC1zgSTmC2d7Czo6un5TODuAUYoq0V-YASjGVGJCf8HJgoM14IQQSX-UXpLYbcySYMqil5VKe_noRt7MGEFM_nzkChxm3S72b1N8T89ctY/s1600/Physical+India+-+Deccan+Traps.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deccan Traps - <i>Pic. Wiki</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So we learned quickly about the tectonic plates, the great movement of Indian subcontinent from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere, and the amazing connection between the Dinosaur extinction asteroid impact, and the Deccan plateau. Keep in mind, we are talking of extremely high amount of volcanic eruption into the atmosphere right from India, between today's Mumbai to Puri, and Nagpur to Bengaluru region!<br />
<br />
Now comes the most important question. <b>Why is India termed a "subcontinent"?</b> Was it just a fancy name due to the amazing diversity of languages, cultures and other diversity? Or was it something beyond that?<br />
<br />
Well, I found my answer today. India is called a "subcontinent" because it is the <b>only country on the planet that has ALL the six types of physical features</b> described on planet earth. Wow.. exciting isn't it? Let's find out what are those six physical features and their subcategories.<br />
<br />
<b>Feature 1: Mountains.</b><br />
India is home to all types of mountains described in physical geology. India is home to one of the <u>world's oldest</u> fold mountain called Aravalli range spreading across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Dilli. India is also the home to the<u> world's newest</u> mountain ranges, the mighty Himalayas. India has the Western Ghats, one of UNESCO's eight biological *hot spots* of the planet, among other mountain regions. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY-_LUc8VEy5p29k71C3K3blZxohScPj_3smTamqtvA3ecMqKF2cUBFDrQreOcpaN9cn0j1EkDhf1x5SEbT-rbivY5DVhSgS25BlQFQ6HyJxe4kH6IlbLE_YWZt0_IXuVtgJNTRiJ6jvkt/s1600/Physical+India+-+Mountains.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY-_LUc8VEy5p29k71C3K3blZxohScPj_3smTamqtvA3ecMqKF2cUBFDrQreOcpaN9cn0j1EkDhf1x5SEbT-rbivY5DVhSgS25BlQFQ6HyJxe4kH6IlbLE_YWZt0_IXuVtgJNTRiJ6jvkt/s1600/Physical+India+-+Mountains.png" height="152" width="400" /></a></div>
Watch this <a href="https://www.blogger.com/Part%201:%20https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeUc9cja2Yg" target="_blank">educational video to learn about the mountains</a> of India. Right from the coldest mountain region to the tropical mountain regions are there in India. This video shows a very interesting sub section of the four cross sections of the might Himalayas, taking you right from the plains of north India to the Mount Everest, to the Manas sarovar holy place, to Tibetan plateau. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aeUc9cja2Yg/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aeUc9cja2Yg?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="color: purple;">Tip: Do you know about a place just north of Jammu and Kashmir (not in India), that is called a *knot*, because four of the world's great mountain ranges start from there, including Himalayas? See the videos here. </span></i></blockquote>
<b>Feature 2: Plains. </b><br />
India is home to some of the most fertile plains on this planet. The Indus planes, the Gangetic planes and the Brahmaputra planes of North and North-East India are amazingly diverse. <b><br /></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCBIPoVRgh7nNt-xTov9tiVulYEy_FY37Ur3u3ez2-6-9Ybed7ru__-CELMrNfvSPi7HBnkN1nf_ONTHI6xDMXoaLMxQN4vDRZc01i0oefMQ2UXTd9ZzGnDVC27cwCSVuBMduXSFBD2rnj/s1600/Physical+India+-+Plains.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCBIPoVRgh7nNt-xTov9tiVulYEy_FY37Ur3u3ez2-6-9Ybed7ru__-CELMrNfvSPi7HBnkN1nf_ONTHI6xDMXoaLMxQN4vDRZc01i0oefMQ2UXTd9ZzGnDVC27cwCSVuBMduXSFBD2rnj/s1600/Physical+India+-+Plains.png" height="270" width="400" /></a></div>
<b><br /></b>
Watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U_o7-zgT1M" target="_blank">this video</a> to learn everything you want, about the plains of India, how they were formed and the difference between each section of plains.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1U_o7-zgT1M/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1U_o7-zgT1M?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Tip: Did you know that India converted most of Tarai or marshy plains
of North India into agricultural fields since 1947, to settle and feed
the large group of refugees who came in during partition?</i></span></blockquote>
<b>Feature 3: Plateaus.</b><br />
India is home to some of the oldest plateaus on mother Earth. We already talked of Deccan plateau earlier. Did you know about the economic importance of the Chhota Nagpur plateau and its incredible deposits of iron and other valuable ores?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqjaevkCxszzKbPvr0D5NxCx9euaV0eTnehZcTPtnInHLOSeEqys3rhBWwM_4SpInhZgLBTeYL77vH3Bt0X0o9fiHENpJr3wpkNF1-AUwKw4vKPRRaz_bsjIyyiH85tIXak2qNn2Ci9zh7/s1600/Physical+India+-+Plateaus.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqjaevkCxszzKbPvr0D5NxCx9euaV0eTnehZcTPtnInHLOSeEqys3rhBWwM_4SpInhZgLBTeYL77vH3Bt0X0o9fiHENpJr3wpkNF1-AUwKw4vKPRRaz_bsjIyyiH85tIXak2qNn2Ci9zh7/s1600/Physical+India+-+Plateaus.png" height="259" width="320" /></a></div>
Watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz7rf_XW8NU" target="_blank">this video </a>to know all you want about plateaus.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Pz7rf_XW8NU/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Pz7rf_XW8NU?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Tip: Did you know that Deccan plateau and Chhota Nagpur plateau of India are the two, that NEVER were submerged under sea over 100s of millions of years? Not even during the four major ice ages or after ice melting! Extremely rare examples of always being above sea level places, yet never below the ice sheet places.</i></span></blockquote>
<b>Feature 4: Deserts.</b><br />
India is home to both hot and cold deserts. The coldest deserts are in the Leh/Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, while the hottest deserts are in the Thar region of Rajasthan. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilAiZ_eaO0wZjr3TxcbEpRBxcpspocbwxz70foTyrnl5cQ4unpFg_DdsOKctHcUS_yDIdoBV64wWHV1ObIRvrgnhIV56Th46Gw-DAiPF_u4ru3807Jc_wUfaK-0Vi02q5R8xZrBTsnW2rB/s1600/Physical+India+-+Deserts.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilAiZ_eaO0wZjr3TxcbEpRBxcpspocbwxz70foTyrnl5cQ4unpFg_DdsOKctHcUS_yDIdoBV64wWHV1ObIRvrgnhIV56Th46Gw-DAiPF_u4ru3807Jc_wUfaK-0Vi02q5R8xZrBTsnW2rB/s1600/Physical+India+-+Deserts.png" height="271" width="320" /></a></div>
Watch this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuwuUtEE_N0" target="_blank">video about deserts</a>.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Tip:
You can comfortably drive from one of the coldest deserts on the
planet, Ladakh, to the one of the hottest deserts on the planet in
Bikaner area, in just 24 hours by road. Where else can you find such
diversity?</i></span></blockquote>
<b>Feature 5: Coasts.</b><br />
India
is home to over 7000 KM of coastline. This is the seventh longest
coastline for a country in the world. Also, the coasts are very historic
and very diverse connecting 3 seas and one ocean. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh29BuHhTSRhGbssuCL64pYXUyriYi0l_p2dr4A8a6PbGmfkmjdbSQy2gE0LECI5Z_IQm3Q3stFmOKqkTv92JdJtXxkt5jiJCeeY31A0WJ6zPSDm8upIUaoKqcPDKevP-yxdN3CdRLoTBGd/s1600/Physical+India+-+Coasts.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh29BuHhTSRhGbssuCL64pYXUyriYi0l_p2dr4A8a6PbGmfkmjdbSQy2gE0LECI5Z_IQm3Q3stFmOKqkTv92JdJtXxkt5jiJCeeY31A0WJ6zPSDm8upIUaoKqcPDKevP-yxdN3CdRLoTBGd/s1600/Physical+India+-+Coasts.png" height="170" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Watch this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuwuUtEE_N0" target="_blank">video about coasts</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fuwuUtEE_N0/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fuwuUtEE_N0?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Tip: Some coastal areas of India like Dwaraka in Gujarat, trace their history back to 10000+ years of continuous human settlement.</i></span></blockquote>
<b>Feature 5: Islands.</b><br />
India
is home to both Volcanic and Coral islands. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLry36w0EhA5lTXNWGdyrkgjgkzz98gJR0yyuumEGX9xSNUNSichvnqZhEf5HkfcD2hiuz7raHAiXTQlCfW28rcUv1w83O4cTPfYjB1iPPkvj4cpXUVS0gH1qoz51WU2fIYZyQA7srfAg8/s1600/Physical+India+-+Islands.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLry36w0EhA5lTXNWGdyrkgjgkzz98gJR0yyuumEGX9xSNUNSichvnqZhEf5HkfcD2hiuz7raHAiXTQlCfW28rcUv1w83O4cTPfYjB1iPPkvj4cpXUVS0gH1qoz51WU2fIYZyQA7srfAg8/s1600/Physical+India+-+Islands.png" height="205" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Watch this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuwuUtEE_N0" target="_blank">video about islands</a>.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Tip: Traditionally we say Kashmir to Kanyakumari as describing India. But the physical southernmost tip of India is Nicobar islands - a point called Indira Point that is more than 1 degree latitude south of Kanyakumari!</i></span></blockquote>
Isn't India one of the most amazing countries of India?<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The world's largest democracy.. </li>
<li>the country with the world's largest number of tigers.</li>
<li>Has the world's biggest gathering of humans called Kumbha Mela (over 10,00,00,000 participated last time) repeating every few years. </li>
<li>A historic and traditional calendar that has all six seasons. </li>
<li>Home to the world's oldest continuing civilization. Vedas chanted the same way they were chanted 5000+ years ago!</li>
<li>The source of 70% of the world's spices, making the world a truly *spicy* place :)</li>
<li>The world's most diverse linguistic country with 15 languages being spoken by at least 1,00,00,000 people. </li>
<li>A country where marriages have been sacred, instead of being contracts for 1000s of years. </li>
<li>The only country on the planet where Jews were not persecuted, ever!</li>
<li>The first country on the planet that sent a mission successfully to Mars in its first attempt.</li>
<li>The world's largest postal service network.</li>
<li>Among the four religions with 1 billion+ adherents on the planet, two originated in India.</li>
<li>The list continues endlessly..</li>
</ul>
But most importantly.. India is the ONLY country that is also a subcontinent! You leaned why :)<br />
</div>
Kiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485405523308080612.post-13358433693413542432015-04-14T06:33:00.000-07:002016-08-17T02:28:10.163-07:00Ten Things about BR Ambedkar That You Probably Didn't Know<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar is a tall figure of 20th century Indian history. Popularly known as Babasaheb, the details about his careers as a lawyer, politician, constitution framer, social reformer and an economist are well known. He's an inspiration to crores of young Indians today of various classes and ideologies. <br />
<br />
But there are<b> ten snippets about this famous man, that are not quite highlighted</b>. Time to take a look at them. I will provide references for each as to where I learned about them, and if any of them need correction or contention, please post comments with authentic references. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: #351c75;"><b>1: Dr. Ambedkar stood for Sanskrit as the official language of India.</b></span><br />
<br />
This is not a well known fact, but it is a fact. In 2005, this was revealed by Chamu Krishna Shastry, a well known Sanskrit proponent in India. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><i>"Dr Ambedkar himself <b>wanted to sponsor Sanskrit as the official language</b>
of the Indian union along with his supporters Dr BV Keskar, deputy
minister for external affairs, and Naziruddin Ahmed. He moved an
amendment draft on September 10, 1949. The resolution had to be
withdrawn due to political pressure."</i></span></blockquote>
Reference: <a href="http://intellibriefs.blogspot.in/2005/04/ambedkar-wanted-sanskrit-as-official.html" target="_blank">Ambedkar wanted Sanskrit as official language</a><br />
<br />
It is anyone's guess as to who might have exerted " political pressure" on Ambedkar in 1949 to withdraw that historic resolution, which could have changed India in an different direction. Ambedkar's strong support to Sanskrit is something to ponder upon, for those who consider Sanskrit as an "Aryan" language of upper castes, that should not be supported. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: #351c75;"><b>2: Ambedkar is actually a Hindu Brahmin surname. </b></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2nay8AtbVvx57lyOahWH3rJQmh1O4Lx0XBfsSULpINJj5QZoEIhIH1nZoZPg1_HiZk3_ZrYp6xa49D5pIFCz8T0gXNbPNAX7odgdDOSoJuyy6ZGrquzA3PBwOPP0du1lzIjL60QOFelbH/s1600/Ambedkar+-+Ambavade+village.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2nay8AtbVvx57lyOahWH3rJQmh1O4Lx0XBfsSULpINJj5QZoEIhIH1nZoZPg1_HiZk3_ZrYp6xa49D5pIFCz8T0gXNbPNAX7odgdDOSoJuyy6ZGrquzA3PBwOPP0du1lzIjL60QOFelbH/s1600/Ambedkar+-+Ambavade+village.png" width="295" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Image from Wiki</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Bhimrao's original surname was <i>Ambavadekar</i>. It comes from his family's
native village name in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra, even though he was born in today's Madhya Pradesh region. In Marathi, it is a common practice to add "kar" to the village name as the surname. <br />
<br />
In this writeup in the Outlook, Smruti Koppikar describes how his favourite Hindu Brahmin teacher, Mahadev Ambedkar, changed his surname from 'Ambavadekar' to his own surname
'Ambedkar' in the school records. The respect Bhimrao had for his <b>teacher Mahadev</b>, ensured that his borrowed surname continued for rest of his life! It tells us that Bhimrao respected all castes - his fight was against caste discrimination, and not Hinduism or any particular caste. <br />
<br />
Reference: <a href="http://www.outlookindia.com/article/Bhim-Eklavya--/263871" target="_blank">Bhimrao Sakpal Ambavadekar became Bhimrao Ambedkar</a> <br />
<br />
<span style="color: #351c75;"><b>3. Ambedkar's father was a Vegetarian</b>. </span><br />
<br />
This one really surprised me. In the recent days, whenever there's a protest against ban on cow slaughter, you will invariably see an Ambedkar picture and beef eating "ceremonies".<br />
<br />
But after reading Vikram Doctor's blog on the Economic Times, I stumbled upon two surprising details. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><i>"Nor is it correct to equate all upper-castes with vegetarianism and all
Dalits with eating meat – <b>Dr.Ambedkar’s father,</b> for example, was
vegetarian."</i></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><i>"I’m not sure <b>if Dr.Ambedkar became vegetarian </b>when he converted to
Buddhism – Keer’s book doesn’t seem to make this clear and there is a
surprising lack of other biographical material."</i> </span></blockquote>
It looks like being a Kabir Panthi, Ambedkar's father Ramji was certainly a vegetarian and teetotaler. It also kind of implies that Babasaheb might have become a vegetarian coming from that family and also a vegetarian during the later part of his life. Something that needs a bit more research. And those who follow Ambedkar's path, this is something critical to ask - why was his father and (likely) himself vegetarian? <br />
<br />
Reference: <a href="http://blogs.economictimes.indiatimes.com/onmyplate/the-dalit-meanings-of-food/" target="_blank">The Dalit Meanings of Food</a><br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #351c75;">4. Nehru prevented Ambedkar from entering Lok Sabha. Jan Sangh got him to Rajya Sabha.</span></b><br />
<br />
Ambedkar contested Lok Sabha election twice. Both times Nehru's Congress made sure that he was defeated. Babasaheb
Ambedkar contested from Bombay North in the first Indian General
Election in 1952 but lost to the Congress candidates Narayan Kajrolkar,
who had been his assistant once. He tried to enter Lok Sabha
again in 1954 when he contested the by-election from Bhandara but he was
placed third in the ballot won by Congress. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><i> "In 1952, the Congress defeated Ambedkar in the parliamentary seat of
Dadar in Bombay. It is strange that <b>Jawaharlal Nehru did the sin of
campaigning against Ambedkar</b> during the elections.”</i></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><i>"The reason behind this was the Congress mentality of devaluing him.
Later, <b>the role played by Jan Sangh in getting him elected for Rajya
Sabha</b> from West Bengal is not hidden from anybody,” - Arvind Menon, BJP.</i></span></blockquote>
So much for "love" of Ambedkar by Congress party.<br />
<br />
Reference: <a href="http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhopal/babasaheb-was-close-to-jan-sangh-says-bjp.html" target="_blank">Babasaheb was close to Jan Sangh, says BJP</a><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #a64d79;"><i>Edit on 17th August 2016 - The reported claim by BJP above (see reference) was challenged by many people. Some are giving credit to Muslim League and JN Mandal of Bengal too. But the common theme is still that Congress did not help Dr. Ambedkar, but others did. </i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #351c75;"><b>5. Bhimrao's second wife was a Hindu Brahmin.</b> </span><br />
<br />
Ambedkar met Dr. Sharada Kabir, a Saraswat Brahmin, when he needed medical treatment in the late 1940s. He married her on 15 April 1948, at his home in New Delhi. His first wife had passed away a decade ago. Doctors recommended that he needed a companion who was both a good cook and a possessor of medical knowledge and could thus take care of him. She adopted the name Savita Ambedkar and took care of him for the rest of his life.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNYMr3JUncrRbobMsng0sQjTyqU-rIwIyoSFKRL68ArqS4j5SyKbDhlK6pBGYWIbh-cDdw_o51LEnl7fdlyY4brXwpmg4Kyb-YSJq09pNiZGkDknms1lzEq_Wi6mA_VVSEOx4Uz4gapMto/s1600/Ambedkar+-+Savita+wife.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNYMr3JUncrRbobMsng0sQjTyqU-rIwIyoSFKRL68ArqS4j5SyKbDhlK6pBGYWIbh-cDdw_o51LEnl7fdlyY4brXwpmg4Kyb-YSJq09pNiZGkDknms1lzEq_Wi6mA_VVSEOx4Uz4gapMto/s1600/Ambedkar+-+Savita+wife.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pic: photobucket</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It is unfortunate that any political or NGO conversations regarding Ambedkar quickly turn into anti-Brahmin mode, when his borrowed surname is that of a Brahmin and his wife who served him during most needy years, was a Brahmin woman. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: #351c75;"><b>6. Ambedkar was not against Hindutva or RSS. </b></span><br />
<br />
Ambedkar actually claimed Hindutva for the Dalits (untouchables or depressed classes) in 1927.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="color: purple;">"Hindutva belongs as much to untouchable Hindus as to the touchable Hindus. The temples must be open for all. Efforts were made for the growth of Hindutva by Brahmins like Vasishta, Kshatriyas like Krishna, Vaishyas like Harsha and Shudras like Tukaram. The same amount of efforts for Hindutva were pitched in by untouchables (Dalits) like Valmiki (of Ramayana), Drishthara of Vyadha Gita, Chhokamela and Rohidasa. We have brave Sidnak Mahar kind of untouchable who fought for protection of Hindutva. Both touchable and untouchable Hindus have served the Hindu temples built in the names of Hindutva. So everyone has the right to enter them."</span></i></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidxfQ0sOu7bgX7FQyJgG2DEuU53YySD-H2EqUf5SwtG2q07k93tjadetNILkJ-d1xJAABqH6tsK7ZFTcscczvXbyeyAGr6kVSUVSb2o2EMxaW_J8GtURNOPHWYMMbBywXM9Hmz5UF5Av5f/s1600/Ambedkar+-+Hindutva+-+Book.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidxfQ0sOu7bgX7FQyJgG2DEuU53YySD-H2EqUf5SwtG2q07k93tjadetNILkJ-d1xJAABqH6tsK7ZFTcscczvXbyeyAGr6kVSUVSb2o2EMxaW_J8GtURNOPHWYMMbBywXM9Hmz5UF5Av5f/s1600/Ambedkar+-+Hindutva+-+Book.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSd6ySwasSLhHzHAl1B12g1z2m9aq_0QAfh4I866Qz6qmqND7lmJO30w2IgBP9e2STUPoUfRWzH-PuS5En3QcOdVDl67Fm7OfKRjaQdDwEZucjN3sJ1tnS3EoSR_u_6AzjP6t-VGnOMGHe/s1600/Ambedkar+-+Hindutva+-+statement.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSd6ySwasSLhHzHAl1B12g1z2m9aq_0QAfh4I866Qz6qmqND7lmJO30w2IgBP9e2STUPoUfRWzH-PuS5En3QcOdVDl67Fm7OfKRjaQdDwEZucjN3sJ1tnS3EoSR_u_6AzjP6t-VGnOMGHe/s1600/Ambedkar+-+Hindutva+-+statement.png" width="279" /></a></div>
<br />
He also also praised Hindutva ideologue Veer Savarkar's efforts to eradicate caste discrimination in his Janata paper in 1933.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><i>"Savarkar's efforts to uplift Dalits are as noble and effective as Gautama Buddha's"</i></span> </blockquote>
Ambedkar even visited RSS camp and praised them.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><i>"Ever conscious of Hindu movements supporting Sanghatan – social solidarity, <b>Dr.Ambedkar visited RSS camp in Pune in May 1939</b>. He expressed his satisfaction: “I am surprised to find Swayamsevaks here moving about in absolute equality and brotherhood without even caring to know the castes of others."</i></span></blockquote>
References:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Essays on Dalits book <a href="https://books.google.co.in/books?id=Z5_dERFH6jMC&lpg=PA72&ots=LU-UkCKJh9&dq=ambedkar%20hindutva%20belongs%20to%20untouchables&pg=PA72#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank">by Raj Kumar, page 72</a>. </li>
<li>Kannada Prabha 14-Apr-2015 page 7, by Tejasvi Surya. <a href="http://epaper.kannadaprabha.in/PUBLICATIONS%5CKANNADAPRABHABANGALORE%5CKAN/2015/04/14/ArticleHtmls/14042015007009.shtml?Mode=1" target="_blank">Need to save Ambedkar from pseudos</a></li>
<li>Bodhi Sattva’s <a href="http://centreright.in/2012/04/bodhi-sattvas-hindutva-part-4/#.VSzw05O3Shk" target="_blank">Hindutva: Part 4</a> by Aravindan Neelakandan. </li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #351c75;"><b>7. Ambedkar's strong views on Muslim society's evils, Christianity and Partition of India.</b></span><br />
<br />
When some Dalit youth were supporting the anti-India Razakars of Hyderabad after independence, Ambedkar told them not to take that path:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnM29GSxEm-yPbU5hVQ_qFDdaQ6Z9JlY11zSVZFkAWeFmDcAER0GHeStqq_uvoYr6z3kjKvPBecoLtQMU1R8-ziv-hpV1RXlSLLZSljgnEYsFsi96CTrbS1aAy6uOlIK59j-c4ExMBg60j/s1600/Ambedkar+-+Razakar+Hyderabad.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnM29GSxEm-yPbU5hVQ_qFDdaQ6Z9JlY11zSVZFkAWeFmDcAER0GHeStqq_uvoYr6z3kjKvPBecoLtQMU1R8-ziv-hpV1RXlSLLZSljgnEYsFsi96CTrbS1aAy6uOlIK59j-c4ExMBg60j/s1600/Ambedkar+-+Razakar+Hyderabad.png" width="320" /></a><span style="color: purple;"><i>"Hyderabad state's scheduled castes must not support the Nizam or Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen under any circumstance. <b>No scheduled caste member should join hands with anti India forces</b>, bringing disrepute to their castes"</i></span></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
If you read Ambedkar's book, chapter 10, you would start seeing his absolutely rational arguments condemning the evils of Muslim society in pre-partitioned India.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Read chapter 10 for instance which has a sub title ;- <i>Muslim Society is even more full of social evils than Hindu Society is</i>. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="color: purple;">"the <b>Muslim woman is the most helpless person</b> in the world."</span></i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><i> "<b>No words can adequately express the great and many
evils of polygamy and concubinage, and especially as a source of misery
to a Muslim woman</b>. It is true that because polygamy and concubinage are
sanctioned, one must not suppose they are indulged in by the generality
of Muslims; still the fact remains that they are privileges which are easy
for a Muslim to abuse to the misery and unhappiness of his wife."</i></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"<span style="color: purple;">Take the caste system. Islam speaks of brotherhood.
Everybody infers that Islam must be free from slavery and caste. Regarding
slavery nothing needs to be said. It stands abolished now by law. But while
it existed, much of its support was derived from Islam and Islamic countries.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="m02"></a>While the prescriptions by the Prophet regarding the just and humane treatment
of slaves contained in the Koran are praiseworthy, there is nothing whatever
in Islam that lends support to the abolition of this curse.</span></i><i><span style="color: purple;">.... But<b> if slavery has gone, caste among Musalmans
has remained</b>. As an illustration one may take the conditions prevalent
among the Bengal Muslims." </span></i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><i>"There can thus be no manner of doubt that the Muslim
Society in India is afflicted by the same social evils as afflict the Hindu
Society. Indeed, the <b>Muslims have all the social evils of the Hindus and
something more</b>. That something more is the compulsory system of purdah
for Muslim women."</i></span></blockquote>
Regarding Pakistan, if you read the Chapter 14 of the same book, you can clearly see that he wanted transfer of Muslims to Pakistan (east and West) with non Muslims back to India from there.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><i>What about its workability? The scheme is not new.
It has been tried and found workable. It was put into effect after the
last European War, to bring about <b>a transfer<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="m05"></a>
of population</b> between Greece and Bulgaria and Turkey and Greece. Nobody
can deny that it has worked, has been tried and found workable.<b> The scheme
I have outlined is a copy of the same scheme.</b> It had the effect of bringing
about a transfer of population between Greece and Bulgaria and Turkey and
Greece. Nobody can deny that it was [=has] worked with signal success.
<b>What succeeded elsewhere may well be expected to succeed in India.
</b></i></span></blockquote>
The most recent Organiser special edition on Ambedkar notes his view about Christianity and Islam, and conversion in general:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Ambedkar <b>was against Dalits converting to Christianity or Islam </b>because
he believed that “if the numbers of Muslims and Christians rise and it
will cause danger to India.”
</i></span></blockquote>
References:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Kannada Prabha 14-Apr-2015 page 7, by Tejasvi Surya. <a href="http://epaper.kannadaprabha.in/PUBLICATIONS%5CKANNADAPRABHABANGALORE%5CKAN/2015/04/14/ArticleHtmls/14042015007009.shtml?Mode=1" target="_blank">Need to save Ambedkar from pseudos</a></li>
<li>Book: Pakistan or the Partition of India by BR Ambedkar - <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/ambedkar_partition/410.html#part_2" target="_blank">Chapter 10</a> and <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/ambedkar_partition/514.html#part_6" target="_blank">Chapter 14</a>.</li>
<li>Ambedkar <a href="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/politics/ambedkar-a-pioneer-like-savarkar-malviya-says-rss/article7093188.ece" target="_blank">a pioneer like Savarkar, Malviya</a>: RSS. </li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #351c75;"><b>8. Ambedkar's openly opposed Article 370 of Nehru's Congress, for Jammu and Kashmir. </b></span><br />
<br />
Ambedkar opposed Article 370 in the Constitution, which gives a special status to the State of Jammu and Kashmir, and it was put against his wishes. Balraj Madhok reportedly said, Ambedkar had clearly told Sheikh Abdullah:-<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><i>"You wish India should protect your borders, she should build roads in your area, she should supply you food grains, and Kashmir should get equal status as India. But Government of India should have only limited powers and Indian people should have no rights in Kashmir. <b>To give consent to this proposal, would be a treacherous thing against the interests of India and I, as the Law Minister of India, will never do it.</b>" </i></span></blockquote>
Reference: <a href="http://www.ambedkar.org/jamanadas/KashmirProblem1.htm" target="_blank">Kashmir problem from Ambedkarite Perspective</a>, by K Jamanadas.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #351c75;"><b>9. Ambedkar was a confirmed enemy of Communists, in his own words!</b></span><br />
<br />
Read this excerpt from a book on India. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><i>In another context, presiding over a District conference of the Depressed Classes at Masur in September 1937, Ambedkar declared that <b>he was a confirmed enemy of the Communists</b> who exploited the labourers for their political ends, and there was no possibility of joining them. </i></span></blockquote>
Reference: Book Perfidies of Power: India in the New Millennium, <a href="https://books.google.co.in/books?id=Ijwd6mCqpOYC&lpg=PA54&ots=CKOz_6UFqO&dq=ambedkar%20confirmed%20enemy%20of%20communists&pg=PA54#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank">by P Radhakrishnan, page 54</a>.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #351c75;">10. Ambedkar warned India against China's aggression on Tibet and beyond. </span></b><br />
<br />
The Time issue dated October 22, 1951, noted:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><i>“<b>Ambedkar is the first
important Indian official who has openly attacked Nehru</b> for being too
friendly to China and not friendly enough to the US”.</i></span></blockquote>
On China he disagreed with the Tibet policy and the enunciation of
Panchsheel. He said:-<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><i>“If Mao had any faith in the Panchsheel, he
certainly would treat the Buddhist in his own country in a very
different way. <b>There is no room for Panchsheel in politics</b>”. </i></span></blockquote>
Reference: Ambedkar’s views on foreign policy, <a href="http://www.newindianexpress.com/columns/article58431.ece" target="_blank">by Harish Parvathaneni</a> <br />
<br />
Hope you gained some insight after reading these today. Anything else you want to share in comments?<br />
<br /></div>
Kiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.com88tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485405523308080612.post-60295313560084750232015-02-19T06:57:00.000-08:002015-02-19T06:57:12.979-08:00Barack Obama - Jews, Muslims, Christians and Atheists can claim him!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I was reading about Barack Obama's family today. What really confused me was the sheer number of religious combinations in his immediate family. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAxZEDviFIlpacQuSh8UCgtj7G1lJhVo4yNPuzgZym3hN7QXVzH8VfL_YKwZs2aav6HSTJSnQZA6xvUv9g4cY7HEVYEvIGmQBSxfDyvIU5fcHckvBOfTIZegrgAaexQ7PWXzR6FS5VNjfu/s1600/Barack+Obama+-+Buraq+Horse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAxZEDviFIlpacQuSh8UCgtj7G1lJhVo4yNPuzgZym3hN7QXVzH8VfL_YKwZs2aav6HSTJSnQZA6xvUv9g4cY7HEVYEvIGmQBSxfDyvIU5fcHckvBOfTIZegrgAaexQ7PWXzR6FS5VNjfu/s1600/Barack+Obama+-+Buraq+Horse.jpg" height="249" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buraq. <i>Source: Wiki</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
First of all Barack sounds very much like the Arabic Buraq, the al-Buraq horse which carried Prophet Mohammed. It is an unmistakably <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Muslim </span>name. <br />
<br />
Barack could also be derived from Barak, the son of Abinoam, a military commander in the Book of Judges of the Bible. So very easily this can be termed as a <span style="color: blue;">Jewish </span>or <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Christian </span>name. <br />
<br />
Barack Obama's paternal grandfather Onyango had converted from African tribal religion to <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Catholic Christianity</span> first. Then he converted to <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Islam</span>. He had at least three wives. Barack senior was the son of his second wife Akumu. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIjT-9uSp58IXvYIjjgkWa_RpXHaiDOG85FHWpORdHRLvIczffbCDT2VbYL1ylDXAJsvEYQxdDIcXFC9XV0V9-mvcfhzP-maP_Bny1h8PAz-htOzoPlAlowfGxGRQYMibVyr_iHk2lZ21I/s1600/Barack+Obama+-+father.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIjT-9uSp58IXvYIjjgkWa_RpXHaiDOG85FHWpORdHRLvIczffbCDT2VbYL1ylDXAJsvEYQxdDIcXFC9XV0V9-mvcfhzP-maP_Bny1h8PAz-htOzoPlAlowfGxGRQYMibVyr_iHk2lZ21I/s1600/Barack+Obama+-+father.jpg" height="217" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barack Obama Senior. <i>Pic: History</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Barack Obama's paternal grandmother Akumu had to convert to <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Islam</span>, and took the name Habiba upon her conversion. She was Onyango's second wife. Later she left him and remarried in Tanzania. <br />
<br />
<br />Barack's father, Barack Obama senior, was raised a <span style="color: #45818e;">Muslim</span>. His name was Baraka. He rejected <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Islam </span>soon and converted <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Anglican Christianity</span>. Had 3 wives in his life.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTjLOf54RmK8gzcgtgLp5vyEY-9_oJW6Vlf4ae5qzzA3wo_iSIK5f5HlZ9km8K4pKgqk5ogBEnV7onRyu6Fh5hoW8OPSaiCfxD1PxDk7t1MYfYhwiuLhqFsj8KVlICHsREW63rwPPxLU3y/s1600/Barack+Obama+-+Step+father.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTjLOf54RmK8gzcgtgLp5vyEY-9_oJW6Vlf4ae5qzzA3wo_iSIK5f5HlZ9km8K4pKgqk5ogBEnV7onRyu6Fh5hoW8OPSaiCfxD1PxDk7t1MYfYhwiuLhqFsj8KVlICHsREW63rwPPxLU3y/s1600/Barack+Obama+-+Step+father.jpg" height="192" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barack Obama's mother, step father and step sister. <i>Pic: Barackobama.net</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Kezia Aoko was his first wife. Kezia had many children. One of them, Bernard, which she claims was from Barack senior, converted to <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Islam </span>as an adult. So Bernard, Barack's alleged half brother, raised a <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Christian</span>, but later became <span style="color: #45818e;">Muslim</span>. Later in life Barack Senior rejected <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Christianity </span>and became an <span style="color: #cc0000;">atheist</span>. Sarah Onyango Obama, Barack senior's sister, is still a practicing <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Muslim </span>and terms herself as a strong believer in <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Islam</span>. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifVShdLbJwkT55eahhcjjLrPY7UfYBRg6TBGbqbcjJVMtpIbIT3QpXi2hYNruJIgxjp_zvxHbT65T9SQeQLoLSx237rmOz1HGhViTHaSUMqM83QjZ4PUQWuUHjXQBfYG09KgEfGi6Uq0k2/s1600/Barack+Obama+-+maternal+grand+father.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifVShdLbJwkT55eahhcjjLrPY7UfYBRg6TBGbqbcjJVMtpIbIT3QpXi2hYNruJIgxjp_zvxHbT65T9SQeQLoLSx237rmOz1HGhViTHaSUMqM83QjZ4PUQWuUHjXQBfYG09KgEfGi6Uq0k2/s1600/Barack+Obama+-+maternal+grand+father.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grandpa Stanley, Barack's mother and step sister. <i>Pic: Wiki</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Obama's mother Ann Dunham was from a family of <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Baptist and Methodist Christian</span> combination. She was supposedly an <span style="color: #cc0000;">atheist </span>or at least a skeptic non-practicing <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Christian</span>. Later in life, Ann married Lolo Soetoro, a <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Muslim </span>from Indonesia. They had a daughter named Maya, a <span style="color: #a64d79;">Hindu </span>name going to Advaita school of philosophy of Vedic <span style="color: #a64d79;">Hinduism</span>! <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQNzJUTe1UlpVi6T9QcoO3YN0cMAWkyNLNlDvhOX3B_wCwZ8csDEqCD6v0rl8KWYltT67btLdyoUWeTotjwk2-3nGbQgpvD-9YUVCQJdR4Cjf56AhbXyHnzxbPv59kxTIEf6a7d1Lz1cec/s1600/Barack+Obama+-+Jew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQNzJUTe1UlpVi6T9QcoO3YN0cMAWkyNLNlDvhOX3B_wCwZ8csDEqCD6v0rl8KWYltT67btLdyoUWeTotjwk2-3nGbQgpvD-9YUVCQJdR4Cjf56AhbXyHnzxbPv59kxTIEf6a7d1Lz1cec/s1600/Barack+Obama+-+Jew.jpg" height="300" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barack Obama's maternal side was Jewish? <i>Pic: henrymakow</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Obama's step mother (his dad's third wife) was a <span style="color: blue;">Jewish </span>woman Ruth Beatrice Baker. She's not the only <span style="color: blue;">Jew </span>in Obama's close family circles. Barack's wife Michelle's first cousin Capers Funnye, Jr also converted to <span style="color: blue;">Judaism </span>after feeling that <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Christianity </span>was imposed on his ancestors who were slaves from Africa. <br />
<br />
There's a lot written on the internet about Barack's maternal grandfather Stanley Dunham. Even though by most accounts his family is described as <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Unitarian Christian</span> (they kind of don't believe that God is three different entities, which Christians usually believe in), there are many which suspect that <a href="http://henrymakow.com/is_obama_literally_americas_fi.html" target="_blank">his family was secretly <span style="color: blue;">Jewish</span></a><span style="color: blue;">. </span><br />
<br />
There are many who secretly brag that Barack Obama is in fact America's first <span style="color: blue;">Jewish </span>President, as <span style="color: blue;">Jews </span>trace religion from mother's side. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOfLi3KfeqUjKuX287Hy5TCcMLzKFNespQHi6091_kiCLlggnJ7dsEHppwwjbhNGiZ2OyJ_kU_j0w4JL4WtJ3RN05ttcwqo6NZA4tiX_uoBiRAUXcReZFB76gN5tiQUGPG0ZrSRcW6rDVl/s1600/Barack+Obama+-+Half+brother+Mark.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOfLi3KfeqUjKuX287Hy5TCcMLzKFNespQHi6091_kiCLlggnJ7dsEHppwwjbhNGiZ2OyJ_kU_j0w4JL4WtJ3RN05ttcwqo6NZA4tiX_uoBiRAUXcReZFB76gN5tiQUGPG0ZrSRcW6rDVl/s1600/Barack+Obama+-+Half+brother+Mark.gif" height="194" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mark Ndesandjo, Barack's half brother - Jewish. <i>Pic: Blogspot</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Barack's step brothers Mark and David were born to this <span style="color: blue;">Jewish </span>woman Ruth Beatrice Baker. She is from a Lithuanian <span style="color: blue;">Jewish</span> descent. After Barack Obama senior, she married a Tanzanian <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Christian</span>. Mark Ndesandjo, Barack's half brother married a <span style="color: #783f04;">Chinese </span>woman later. You can guess what would be her religion addition into this family from China - <span style="color: #741b47;">Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism</span> etc. <br />
<br />
Coming to the big man now.. Obama - Lists himself as a <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Christian</span>. He says that he was not raised in a religious environment as a child. He claims his father at the time of his birth was a confirmed <span style="color: #cc0000;">atheist </span>and his mother was a non-practicing <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Methodist+Baptist Christian</span>.He also says that his step father, though from Indonesian <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Muslim </span>family, was a man who did not find religion that useful. But as an adult Obama picked up <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Christianity</span>. By the time he became the President of the most powerful country of the world, he was claiming - <span style="color: purple;"><i>"I am a <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Christian</span>, and I am a devout <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Christian</span>. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life."</i></span><br /><br />
The latest is that Barack Obama prays at the African <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Methodist Episcopal Church</span>. Methodists are historically linked the Protestant form of <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Christianity</span>. <br />
<br />
<u>Now here is the real confusion and conflict:</u><br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Obama has links to <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Islam</span>, <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Christianity </span>and <span style="color: blue;">Judaism </span>in his immediate family. All three Abrahamic religions kind of claim him in some way or another. He also has links to those who reject religion like <span style="color: #cc0000;">Atheists </span>directly from his father. </li>
<li>In strict <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Islamic </span>terminology, Barack's father is an apostate. Born <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Muslim </span>family, but rejected <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Islam </span>and converted to <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Christianity</span>. Forget medieval times, this warrants death penalty in many countries even today! </li>
<li>In strict <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Christian </span>terminology, Barack's father rejected <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Christianity </span>too to become an <span style="color: #cc0000;">atheist</span>, which would anger fundamentalist <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Christians</span>. Barack's mother too was a non practicing <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Christian </span>when Barack was born. Also, Barack's paternal grandfather had converted to <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Catholic Christianity</span> first, but later rejected it in favor of <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Islam</span>. <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Catholics </span>would not be happy at all. During medieval times, this warranted death penalty! More so, <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Christians </span>would be unhappy that Barack's mother Ann married an Indonesian <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Muslim </span>later. Barack's half brother Bernard converted to <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Islam </span>from <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Christianity</span>.</li>
<li>To make both fundamentalist <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Muslims </span>and fundamentalist <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Christians</span>, Barack Obama's father married a <span style="color: blue;">Jewish </span>woman as his third wife! Now her son is married to a Chinese woman of unknown religion. Also, Barack's wife's cousin is a convert to <span style="color: blue;">Judaism </span>now. Muslims would be more unhappy knowing that Barack's step father did not really practice <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Islam </span>when Barack was young. </li>
<li>And to make strict <span style="color: blue;">Jews </span>unhappy, Barack's step mother married a man who had rejected <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Islam</span> and <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Christianity </span>both, but did not accept <span style="color: blue;">Judaism</span>. They would also feel unhappy, Barack's maternal grand father is rumored to have <span style="color: blue;">Jewish </span>connections, which was never publicly announced (Maybe world war time?).</li>
<li>So we have many forms of <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Christianity</span>, <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Islam </span>and <span style="color: blue;">Judaism </span>in the mix. We also have Chinese unknown ideology and atheism involved. And the name Barack itself can be claimed by <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Muslims</span>, <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Christians </span>and <span style="color: blue;">Jews</span>.. all together for different reasons. </li>
<li>To make it even more spicy, I mean really spicy as in the historic land of spices, Barack Obama's grandfather Onyango had traveled to India during British rule. Who knows, what <span style="color: #a64d79;">Hindu, Jain, Buddhist or Sikh</span> connection he might have picked up there! Barack's step sister Maya already has a <span style="color: #a64d79;">Hindu </span>name :)</li>
</ol>
<br />
Barack family's religion topic is surely a controversial issue. Isn't it?<br />
<br /></div>
Kiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485405523308080612.post-48289750703821343972015-02-12T03:40:00.003-08:002015-02-12T03:40:54.766-08:00How to win election with Lies, Fraud and BrainWash: The AAP Style.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Yes, you read it right.. this article is about how to win election with Lies, Fraud and BrainWash, following the immensely successful model of AAP in Dilli-2015.<br />
<br />
At the same time, I understand democracy, respecting the verdict of people, work done on the ground by AAP volunteers etc. I have nothing to speak negatively about those. Those who supported AAP can certainly celebrate and rejoice.<br />
<br />
This is only to highlight how shady methods were employed and how they succeeded. Throughout this writeup, a series of social media posts would be used. All credits to the original posters. The reason they are cited here is only to prove some points. Also, I hope all the pointers posted by them are accurate and done with due diligence. If anything is inaccurate, please point out in the comments for the benefit of myself and other readers.<br />
<br />
<b>1: Pre-emptive strike on your opponent with rumour-mongering:</b><br />
Of course a blatant rumour. AAP started putting Jagdish Mukhi as BJP's CM candidate long before the election. One this was a clear rumour as BJP never declared him as the BJP CM candidate. Second, this was unethical as you don't put your opponent party people's pictures on your posters, without their permission. Maybe illegal too. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXpEQ7Vg50ucVvQVoTUZii3LEU2IxVShwiJwGopz8TIh-cc9sSNBNlAHhyphenhyphenFk_q51D3pCl3bRC2ZdtzXY4rFglFIIH4y1WH3ghduzjCpUyi5HvSX2ZH-et1lAtdKa6tLXZ0-2nMUigk23ig/s1600/AAP+Lies+2015+-+Jagadish+Mukhi+poster.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXpEQ7Vg50ucVvQVoTUZii3LEU2IxVShwiJwGopz8TIh-cc9sSNBNlAHhyphenhyphenFk_q51D3pCl3bRC2ZdtzXY4rFglFIIH4y1WH3ghduzjCpUyi5HvSX2ZH-et1lAtdKa6tLXZ0-2nMUigk23ig/s1600/AAP+Lies+2015+-+Jagadish+Mukhi+poster.png" height="282" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Image: India Today</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This was followed by a series of such speculations about a dozen possible "CM Candidates" of BJP. Finally they settled down with Kiran Bedi when she was announced officially by BJP. That too, using her picture without her permission, calling her "opportunist", when Kejriwal himself had betrayed Anna Hazare with opportunism. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPQ0nLL4s-LtghE_14X_a27OvWqy2Dee5ezMHX7DlQNUE6QdWYFxwwp5QryhgzEya3ej8M2gGYVPk383mu0VsKgM0w2oHXDtnrZOCjX5q3bxSsyqSGW-N4C8ZWhoJujTBYv5qPmEitkThv/s1600/AAP+Lies+2015+-+Kiran+Bedi+poster.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPQ0nLL4s-LtghE_14X_a27OvWqy2Dee5ezMHX7DlQNUE6QdWYFxwwp5QryhgzEya3ej8M2gGYVPk383mu0VsKgM0w2oHXDtnrZOCjX5q3bxSsyqSGW-N4C8ZWhoJujTBYv5qPmEitkThv/s1600/AAP+Lies+2015+-+Kiran+Bedi+poster.png" height="261" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Image: Dailmail.uk</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The idea was to create massive confusion in the minds of voters about
your opponent. A guerilla tactic.. Highly unethical, but who can tell
that to AAP? They did succeed in creating confusion within BJP camp that showed up in results later. <br />
<br />
<b>2: Fooling Modi supporters about Modi for PM, Arvind for CM:</b><br />
Let's face it. Everyone knows what a massive wave was there in 2014 for Narendra Modi. Dilli gave 7 out of 7 MP seats to BJP. So AAP had to reinvent. They started a fraud campaign on their website and Youtube/Facebook/WhatsApp videos about Modi for PM and Arvind for CM. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1fE6NgzDr1yahFOeXvAIys_h-WqhjXi3kC83SXum40OSJWFFw6LLtjE3MKL29kE-RnTsL2qKT3FtXJyj6tuYQk10_2sgdJVB56IcEts_fgPDTiDCTB3cdo_nId1oJVUfmHjeVvrKmmVkX/s1600/B9e3UOdCQAE2tVu%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1fE6NgzDr1yahFOeXvAIys_h-WqhjXi3kC83SXum40OSJWFFw6LLtjE3MKL29kE-RnTsL2qKT3FtXJyj6tuYQk10_2sgdJVB56IcEts_fgPDTiDCTB3cdo_nId1oJVUfmHjeVvrKmmVkX/s1600/B9e3UOdCQAE2tVu%5B1%5D.jpg" height="182" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
They were exposed on Twitter, and had to roll this back. But the subtle impression was built on Modi supporters who were undecided on the Dilli government part. Hey, this does not sound like a bad idea, coming straight from AAP website.. that's how a first time voter might think.<br />
<br />
Again, an unethical and blatant fraud. You don't put such things without taking permission from BJP to use Modi's pictures.<br />
<br />
<b>3: Blatant misinformation about the sensitive Black Money topic:</b><br />
Not just AAP, but their partners in crime, Congress too used this extensively.<br />
<br />
Lies were planted in an organized way in social media, mainstream media, political circles, and even all the way to the parliament sessions. What were those lies?<br />
> Modi has promised to deposit Rs.15 lakhs per person after retrieving black money. <br />
> Modi has promised that within 100 days of coming to power, this would be done.<br />
<br />
Watch this video and decide for yourself. It clearly exposes the lies propagated by highly iresponsible leadership of Congress and AAP against Modi. I have watched a few more of Modi's 2014 campaign videos and from what I know, nowhere he made the 100 days kind of promises. <br />
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/UOa04NN1M_Q/0.jpg" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/UOa04NN1M_Q?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
Video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOa04NN1M_Q" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOa04NN1M_Q</a><br />
<br />
This particular topic made a huge impact in the minds of the middle class that had voted for BJP or sympathetic to BJP. It confused them to come extent about BJP govt's intentions and lured them towards AAP which promised a very "clean" government. BJP did not do a good job in telling people that Modi government had done its work before June 2014, submitting to Supreme Court monitored SIT, all the necessary documents. It is a court matter now which the government is actively pursuing. <br />
<br />
<b>4: Fooling people about "clean" politics and candidates being really "aam aadmi".</b><br />
After confusing people about BJP (NDA) government at the center, AAP kept on repeating that they are very clean. Unfortunately, educated voters did not do fact checks.<br />
<br />
Here are some that they should have checked.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>They should have asked AAP - How clean are your candidates?</i></span><br />
The reality was that, when the "bad" Sheila was CM, Dilli assembly had 43% MLAs with criminal cases.
When "good" Kejriwal becomes CM now, it would be <i>just</i> 34%. Nothing to be proud of. AAP fooled Dilli on this front. <br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzF25lzAmvblPeoukP2aygTgYBg1XqfWs82LbqtWDOLY4can4hXQnqSxUgGKdYAsKz6aDfxXT6-yBx0_XuuuV_ayYybzT0FTPW9MCurYDtt8bkwsl-IZcv2cSb0GO8fjKkczI0lq3Wcroq/s1600/B9kzGzTCEAEW0EW%5B1%5D.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzF25lzAmvblPeoukP2aygTgYBg1XqfWs82LbqtWDOLY4can4hXQnqSxUgGKdYAsKz6aDfxXT6-yBx0_XuuuV_ayYybzT0FTPW9MCurYDtt8bkwsl-IZcv2cSb0GO8fjKkczI0lq3Wcroq/s1600/B9kzGzTCEAEW0EW%5B1%5D.png" height="120" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<i><span style="color: purple;">They should have asked Arvind Kejriwal.. how clean is your criminal record sir? </span></i><br />
This "very clean" Yug purush has 4 serious IPC cases and 43 other IPC cases against him as per Delhi Election Watch website.
Is that a very "clean" politician profile? <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiaPyu7Z67BQ4M23xd7kKaK5pPvL-0p9RnF9nWgAkqbOEDDBw97nreA-aAW5v-yCc7_cvkrj6PjMn9MUQ1LNNqfBcp-lfSbvhbh4lbUmLiSBjnricBYGMznRsUAQn9o_N755a8Y_gwCNLJ/s1600/B9kxbXcCAAAiGsn%5B1%5D.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiaPyu7Z67BQ4M23xd7kKaK5pPvL-0p9RnF9nWgAkqbOEDDBw97nreA-aAW5v-yCc7_cvkrj6PjMn9MUQ1LNNqfBcp-lfSbvhbh4lbUmLiSBjnricBYGMznRsUAQn9o_N755a8Y_gwCNLJ/s1600/B9kxbXcCAAAiGsn%5B1%5D.png" height="195" width="400" /></a></div>
If you don't trust me that's OK. At least find out what Prashant Bhushan did internally at AAP side about the dubious money and muscle power that was being given ticket in the name of "aam aadmi". Read why Bhushan was furious about 12 candidates in particular -> <a href="http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-prashant-bhushan-questions-arvind-kejriwal-on-candidate-selection-2055256" target="_blank"><i>http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-prashant-bhushan-questions-arvind-kejriwal-on-candidate-selection-2055256</i></a><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>They should have asked how "aam" are your aam aadmi candidates?</i></span><br />
They didn't. So now Dilli has some extremely rich people as MLAs, while the drama was all along about being "aam aadmi" or common people. <br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Parmila Tokas declared assets of just Rs. 88 crores! </li>
<li>Naresh Balyan - 58 crores. </li>
<li>Kailash Gahlot - 38 crores. </li>
<li>Naresh Yadav - 27 crores.</li>
<li>....... and so on.</li>
</ul>
In comparison, India's per capita income is still well below Rs.1 lakh
per year. How many years does it take for an "aam aadmi" to earn 1 crore
at that rate?<br />
<br />
BTW, the same Naresh Balyan was quizzed by police for the large scale illegal liquor distribution allegations.<br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><i>They should have asked how qualified your candidate are?</i></span> <br />
Remember when Om Puri was launching scathing attack on the educational qualification of MPs when Arvind Kejriwal was with Anna Hazare movement? Now, we have an assembly in Dilli, wherein 34% of the MLAs have not gone to college!!<br />
<br />
So 1 in 3 MLAs is an "anpadh" and "ganwar" as Om Puri screamed with same gang! How hypocritical.<br />
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See how easy it is to fool the gullible, even in the capital of India! In contrast to these super rich "aam aadmi" MLAs, the "pro-rich" Narendra Modi is 52 times poorer than AAP MLA Parmila Tokas.<br />
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<b>5: Character assassination of India's Prime Minister over a suit.</b><br />
There were many different ways PM Modi was targeted throughout the campaign. I would not get into the subtle social media attacks on his child marriage's wife which was construed as "disrespecting women". There were very derogatory images circulated which are better left out here. But one thing I must speak about is the controversy created over Modi's "10 lakh or 15 lakh Rupees suit" during US President Obama's visit to India. <br />
<br />
It all started with the discredited Times of India running a story in late January about the so called "Nine Lakh Rupees" suit that Modi wore while Obama was here, which had his name embroidered. AAP and Congress picked up on this, along with some discredited media houses. They ran a full fledged campaign everywhere, including social media trends about this suit. 9 lakh suit.. 10 lakh suit.. 15 lakh suit.. Some irresponsible speeches were also given like that of Rahul Gandhi where these lies were repeated in a Goebbels method. <br />
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When all was done and dusted, the same Times of India brought in a small paragraph of "clarification" and "regretted" for the false news. <br />
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So in reality, the suit material was a gift given to Modi by a fan. He did not pay any lakhs from his pocket or using government money. He had it stitched in Gujarat. I doubt if he even knew that it had his name as embroidery, but that's a separate topic. It is NOT a crime for a world respected head of state to wear good cloths, that too when gifted by a fan. But this AAP campaign threw so much muck into the campaign painting him as an "agent of rich", completely obscuring the track record of a man from very poor background who rose one step at a time in his life. Highly negative and immoral campaign was launched against Modi, that fooled lakhs of voters. <br />
<br />
The same Modi had donated most of his savings and gifts in Gujarat as CM, for the education of daughters of poor people of India. Read more on that here -> <a href="http://www.narendramodi.in/narendra-modi-donates-the-gifts-he-has-received-in-2012-towards-girl-child-education/" target="_blank">http://www.narendramodi.in/narendra-modi-donates-the-gifts-he-has-received-in-2012-towards-girl-child-education/</a><br />
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There was a brilliant and emotional post on the social media today, that exposes the blatant character assasination method of AAP in Hindi. My apologies for not translating it, but if anyone wants, you can do it in comments. <br />
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In summary, a poor man who sold tea as a child, who spent 3 decades with nothing more than 2 or 3 sets of cloths traveling across India, who slept wherever nature offered space for him, who ate at places wherever food was available, a very humble and down-to-earth man, was projected via negative campaign as an arrogant rich man who wears 10 lakh rupees suit using a phony news paper article of Times of India. And, this is not the first time Times of India did hit jobs on Modi. They had done it with "Rambo act" during Uttarakhand floods too. To his credit, Modi has never sued these hit jobs of media. <br />
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<br />
<b>6: Negative campaign against a very successful NDA government's first 9 months:</b><br />
<br />
An extensive campaign was launched that Modi government has not done anything in the first 8 to 9 months. And many lakh voters believed it due to the poor countering mechanism of BJP. There was a systematic misinformation launched at slums about land acquisition bill, about the government spending a lot, whereas it was actually saving expenditure. False information was spread on inflation and GDP, when they were actually being corrected well. Last but not the least, the Jan Dhan Yojna which has brought financial inclusion to over 11.5 crore poor Indians in 4 months (a record in human history in terms of numbers for 4 months), was painted as negative!<br />
<br />
So, Modi did not do anything substantial in 9 months as claimed by AAP and Congress?
Read this impressive list shared by @rajji3351 user on Twitter. <i>(the last 2 words are not in good taste, but I am just using what was shared)</i><br />
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If you have more time, read through how Modi changed the global perspective of India in a very short time. Here is my blog written a few months ago -> <a href="http://kiranasis.blogspot.in/2014/12/how-modi-is-changing-global-perspective.html" target="_blank">http://kiranasis.blogspot.in/2014/12/how-modi-is-changing-global-perspective.html</a><br />
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<b>7: Allegedly receiving dubious funds while screaming that other parties have shady funds:</b><br />
Social media was abuzz with #AAPFundingScam a few days before the election. Of course, this was brushed aside by the self-professed "honest" AAP with a bravado to "arrest me". When you screamed for years that BJP and Congress gets shady funding, how come you ran a campaign with shady funds too? Social media was abuzz for months with very dubious transactions shown on AAP website. Just search around and you can find 100s of such examples.<br />
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But this one about 2 crore of dubious fund was important. Not surprisingly now AAP has received an IT notice. <br />
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And @nayanchandra who shared this, claims that not only that they had this notice before the results, but also deliberately leaked it after results, to cry foul about "vendetta politic".</div>
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Very concerning matter as a whole which Dilli voters completely missed. </div>
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<b>8: Scaring people with rumours about EVM tampering:</b></div>
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This was again a well thought out dirty trick of AAP. Throughout the campaign, even during prior elections, they kept on saying BJP and Congress are giving money and liquor. This time, Kejriwal got<a href="http://www.thehindu.com/elections/delhi2015/election-commission-directs-kejriwal-not-to-ask-voters-to-take-bribe/article6827086.ece" target="_blank"> chided by the election commission</a>. But rumour mongering did not stop. Kejriwal himself lead the rumour mongering about electronic voting machines (EVM) being tampered by BJP!</div>
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<br /> So all those who screamed about EVM tampering, would accept that they were tampered in favour of AAP, after the massive 67 seats result?</div>
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Dirty politics at its lowest level by AAP.</div>
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<b>9: #KejriMaths - The dubious mathematics that fooled voters:</b></div>
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<b><br /></b>2015 Dilli election was primarily won with a barrage of promises of free things and subsidies. Water, Electricity, Wi-Fi, homes, VAT.. you name it and AAP claimed it would give either free or at a high subsidy. Unfortunately, the voters of Dilli did not scrutinize the claims. </div>
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<span style="color: purple;"><i>They did not ask.. Boss, where would you get money?</i></span></div>
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For starters, the most latest annual budget of Dilli is only Rs. 36,766 crores.
This is a semi-state that lives up for most part on the money of Indian union, contributed by all states, including some of the poorest states like Odisha and Bihar. Being the capital region, the roads, trains, airports and pretty much every form of infrastructure is built mostly using the Union of India's money, unlike Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai etc. who have to build mostly using their local tax money. No one in Dilli loudly asked.. even at basic Rs.10,000 per CCTV, Kejriwal has to find Rs.15,000 cr just for his CCTV promise. Mumbai spent over 900 crores just for 6000 odd CCTVs. Where would you get that money?</div>
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Here is a well analyzed article from Business Standard that exposes the highly dubious freebie plan of Kejriwal and company. You can see, late of course after the damage is done, that most promises in the manifesto of AAP were camouflaged or with poor mathematics.</div>
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Now many news outlets are doing post-mortem. Here is one such post mortem. Five crazy promises of Kejriwal that are next to impossible to implement -> <a href="http://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/5-points-from-the-aap-manifesto-that-bjp-fans-might-find-hard-to-believe-230125.html" target="_blank">http://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/5-points-from-the-aap-manifesto-that-bjp-fans-might-find-hard-to-believe-230125.html</a></div>
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<a class="twitter-timeline-link" data-expanded-url="http://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/5-points-from-the-aap-manifesto-that-bjp-fans-might-find-hard-to-believe-230125.html" dir="ltr" href="http://t.co/AYZaC8UF4Q" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/5-points-from-the-aap-manifesto-that-bjp-fans-might-find-hard-to-believe-230125.html"></a><a href="http://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/5-points-from-the-aap-manifesto-that-bjp-fans-might-find-hard-to-believe-230125.html"><span class="tco-ellipsis"></span><span class="invisible"></span></a></div>
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Nothing explains the impractical nature of these over ambitious promises, as this small writeup that made rounds extensively on Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter. </div>
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<a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KejriMaths?src=hash"><b></b></a> </div>
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Good luck Dilli, trying to find money for this #KejriMaths!<br />
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Reading the @ramaraoKP shared news paper link, it is amply clear that the Santa Claus Kejriwal has promised the sky, but didn't tell that his account has no money! <br />
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Expecting lots of Dharmacracy now about how "Modi is not giving money"? Light.. sound.. action!</div>
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And, a lot of young folks voted AAP for the "free WiFi". But the fine print is emerging now after the election. This is shared by @vickymackdown<small class="time"><a class="tweet-timestamp js-permalink js-nav js-tooltip" data-original-title="3:32 AM - 12 Feb 2015" href="https://twitter.com/vickysmackdown/status/565835862097682432"><span class="_timestamp js-short-timestamp js-relative-timestamp" data-long-form="true" data-time-ms="1423740756000" data-time="1423740756">.</span></a></small></div>
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Only 30 minutes free.. Not for any house, office, mall etc. Even when available, Facebook, WhatsApp, Email, Twitter would be restricted. I am sure these fine prints were not in the manifesto or public ads before the election. </div>
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After reading all these.. I am reminded me of that famous ad.. <span style="color: purple;"><i>No Ullu banaoing :)</i></span></div>
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But too late for Dilli public. </div>
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<b>10: Unholy partnership with a single minded greed for power:</b></div>
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To get into power in Dilli, AAP pretty much used every possible corner available.Who cares if Mamata Banerjee herself is in a serious mess with <b>Saradha scam</b> running into 1000s of crores? We will take her support! Interestingly, her party MP was in forefront talking against Church attacks, that were mysteriously hapening right before the election. Who cares is communist ideology is opposite to Mamata, for power in Dilli we will take CPM support too. Who cares if Owaisi family is highly controversial with anti Hindu communal speeches? We are all same here fighting "communal BJP". Who cares if Nitish Kumar has a dubious record of backstab politics and caste politics in Bihar, we want their support. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLrTY8drz5WftIrH9dvtzlY-Snpt7Skqx48m2GDWLGSfPPyUXpVq2YZTRTbhymOXVhNpot1qUhZqqK7nPvD8RmzZO1USBy4BPSUb7Zx206zU_7dgvTWuqRRTmL5RczsQckseTYLvz6ACLn/s1600/B9axRzICIAAq-kv%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLrTY8drz5WftIrH9dvtzlY-Snpt7Skqx48m2GDWLGSfPPyUXpVq2YZTRTbhymOXVhNpot1qUhZqqK7nPvD8RmzZO1USBy4BPSUb7Zx206zU_7dgvTWuqRRTmL5RczsQckseTYLvz6ACLn/s1600/B9axRzICIAAq-kv%5B1%5D.jpg" height="286" width="320" /></a></div>
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Importantly.. who cares if we said we have nothing to do with religion. Our people will visit Church priests and openly tweet their support. We also got support from the controversial Imam Bukhari, but for publicity, we want to stay away. </div>
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What was that again? Secularism means separation of church and state (politics). But for power, we will go with anyone as long as they are against BJP :)</div>
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And AAP even gave tickets to highly controvesial people like Amanatullah Khan, who did not hesitate to insult Ashok Chakra awardee, Martyr Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma within hours of getting elected! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4TliDYLGYeZ1LCY7W_2Q8_tsRALOWxLx2oGoF0xvZJCsZ6AV32C-d94YqowqfJG00yACGJxaSiQuXZVGvT3BpDlid-O1Ki8Lf-kIR-6t5Fc_oDdF_o0taVBdxNr9r7JCJ5K9Uj7hrS2jO/s1600/B9gY9cJCcAARI2h%5B1%5D.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4TliDYLGYeZ1LCY7W_2Q8_tsRALOWxLx2oGoF0xvZJCsZ6AV32C-d94YqowqfJG00yACGJxaSiQuXZVGvT3BpDlid-O1Ki8Lf-kIR-6t5Fc_oDdF_o0taVBdxNr9r7JCJ5K9Uj7hrS2jO/s1600/B9gY9cJCcAARI2h%5B1%5D.png" height="150" width="320" /></a></div>
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As long we are keeping BJP out, everything else is fine! Who cares about ideology, religion-mix and other factors. "We" would even play caste politics twisting an ad of BJP that talked about a gotra. </div>
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<u>In summary:</u></div>
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AAP tried every trick available - whether it was unethical, immoral, illegal, outright impractical.. doesn't matter. As long as BJP is defeated. And they succeeded. </div>
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But it was not as bad as media projected for BJP. As @durgaramdas computed:</div>
BJP in 2013 assembly elections of Dilli got 26,75,857 votes which resulted in 32 seats.<br />
BJP in 2015 Dilli assembly elections got 29,36,390 votes, but only 3 seats.<br />
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That's because BJP retained it's assembly vote share. What really happened was the ganging up of everyone else against BJP, particularly the Congress voters who deserted Rahul Gandhi fully. <br />
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That's only a consolation for BJP. But the real failure of BJP was in not being able to counter the long list of lies, frauds and outright misinformation braiwash campaign that was launched in 2015 Dilli elections. Hope they learn. Goebbles method has been used extensively against BJP here and the same can be replicated in the upcoming state elections if BJP is not careful. <br />
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I also hope AAP learns from the mistakes and compromises they did during this election. The trust of youth power of Dilli on them is quite huge. They should deliver now. How they deliver is up to them, without blaming Modi or BJP!<br />
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Kiran KShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410963824919626970noreply@blogger.com13