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Friday, March 31, 2017
A Typical Kashmiri Pandit Marriage
which
involves decorating the door of the houses of the prospective bride and
the groom by their respective aunts (father's sister). In the evening,
the bride-to-be follows an elaborate bathing ritual, during which her feet
are washed by her maternal aunt. After the bath, her eldest aunt decorates
her hands and feet with maenz (henna). Maenz is also distributed
among the relatives and neighbours. The women invited for this occasion
are served a delicious Kashmiri meal prepared by the waza. Dinner
over, all participate in a lively wanvun or music session. In the
groom's house, a little mehendi is applied on his hands as it is
a symbol of auspiciousness.
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
HARMUKH MOUNTAIN ADOBE OF LORD SHIVA (MADANO)
Harmukh Ganga Yatra The turquoise lake of Gangabal, also known as Harmukh-Ganga is situated at the height of around 13500 feet above sea-level. Since centuries, This pious lake has been revered by the Kashmiri Pandits(KP ).The pundits of the Kashmir used to climb-up to the mountain and immerse the ashes of the dead in the lake of Gangabal, and do the obligatory-“Shraddh”-of their ancestors. This lake is as pious as the Ganga at Haridwar.The length of the lake is approximately 3 kms and breadth is around 1 Km. Gangabal finds mention in “Nilmat puran” as well as “Rajatarangini”. Authors like walter Lawrence and Sir Francis Younghusband too have mentioned about holy lake Gangabal and its association with the “Shraddh”.Sir Francis has even mentioned that the date of the annual pilgrimage used to be the 8th day of waxing moon in the month of Bhadra. The Day was also known among the Kashmirian hindus as “Ganga-Ashtami”.Gangabal lake is situated at the base of the mighty Harmukh mountain. The perennial glaciers of the Harmukh are the main source of water to the Harmukh-Ganga as well as Nandkol Lake-which is some feet below the Gangabal.A rivlet joins the Gangabal to Nndkol. Rising close to 17000 feet above MSL, The Harmukh peaks dominate the view towards the north from a great part of the Kashmir valley.According to Rajtarangini of Kalhan, the Harmugh-Ganga was considered among the holiest “Tirthas” of the Kashmirian. The ancient name of the peaks is “HARAMUKUTA” meaning “shiva’s diadem”.Their height is supposed to be Siva’s favorite residence. Hence Kashmirian tradition stoutly maintains that Human feet cannot reach the peaks summit. The gangabal lake at 13000 feet is looked upon as the true source of the “Kashmir Ganga” or “Sind river” or “sindu”. The old name of “Nundkol” was “KALODAKA” or “Nandisaras”, and was derived from the legend, that makes the lake the joint habitation of both “Kala”, i.e Shiva and his faithful attendant-Nandi. From the latter, the whole collection of sacred sites takes the name “NANDIKHETRA” by which “Kalhana” usually designated it. It will be pertinent to mention here that the word-“Hindu” is the corrupted form of the river “Sindu”. The people who used to live on the banks of this river were termed by the foreigners as Hindus. Hence all the Hindus across the world owe their identity as a religious-sect- Hindu to the Harmukh mountain and the sacred lake of Gangabal-the true source of Sindu river.
Rajtarangini mentions, this holy lake was the final goal of the “Haramukutganga” pilgrimage, which used to take place annually in the month of “Bhadrapada”, and used to be attended by thousands of pilgrims. The bones of those, who had died, during the year, used to be deposited/immersed in the sacred waters of this lake.
It is also mentioned in some articles, that ,In earlier times, KP’s used to come here and do the Obligatory “Shraddh”(prayers offered to ancestors) and immerse the ashes of those who had died. Before, immersing the ashes into the lake, they used to stock the water for drinking and cooking, as immediately after immersing the ashes, the colour of the waters would change to Red, (because of some micro-organisms), thus making the waters unfit to drink or cook food in.
Ramradhan is the first pilgrimage centre about 5 kms from Wusan. Then the journey begins to Yamhear which is about 6-kms away. It is a steep ladder-like path and perhaps that is why it is called Yamhear (Lord Yama's ladder). The route is dotted with several other lakes and temples. There is the black water lake known as Bramsaar, Sukhnag, a hot water lake, and Dukhnag where pilgrims take holy dip. The other route is via Narannag on the banks of a rivulet called Krenk nadi where beautiful temples are located. Larakota king Laltaditya Muktapida had expanded and beautified the Jyestha and Bhutesha temples at Narannag. Another 41 km alpine track leads to the Gangbal Lake from northwest Shitkadi Sonamarg via Vishansar Lake, Krishansar Lake and Gadsar or Yemsar ( Lord Yama's) Lake.
Sir Walter Lawrence, the Settlement Commissioner of J & K State, has recorded about 100 years ago in his book "Valley of Kashmir" that Kashmiris in general believe that there is a mine of jewels and rubies in Harmukh. The inhabitants of the valley believe that wherever the Harmukh peak is visible in the Valley, the serpents of the place happen to be quite harmless, and on the other hand, the peak is not visible the serpents of the locality are poisonous and their bites are fatal. In Illaqa Pulwama where the peak is visible the snakes are quite harmless and at village Lar where it is invisible the serpents are poisonous.
Once a hermit tried to reach the summit of the Harmukh to see Lord Shiva face to face. For twelve years long he tried to scale the summit, but failed until one day he saw a gojar descending the summit. When the gojar approached him, the hermit enquired as to what he saw there. The gojar whose goat had strayed and for whom he had been searching, said that he saw a couple milking a cow and drinking the same in a human skull. They had offered some milk to him, which he refused to drink and when they departed they rubbed a little of the milk on his forehead. As the gojar indicated the spot on his forehead where the milk was rubbed, the hermit was extremely joyful and rushed to lick his forehead. It is said that the hermit got Nirvana and diasppeared from the place, to the entire surprise of the gojar and the gujjar was left rubbing his forehead in utter surprise and in some warm pain.. The legend is known as Hurmukhuk Gosoni.
Harmukh-Ganga pilgrimage was lost somewhere in the pages of History, until, APMCC/HGGT took the initiative in 2009 and re-organized the pilgrimage of Harmukh-yatra after a gap of more than 150 years. Though, a small group of KP’s sometimes used to undertake this journey before 1990. APMCC/HGGT charges only a nominal fee of Rs 100 towards the registration., Once the registered pilgrim reaches the Zeethyar-shrine in Srinagar, he/she becomes the responsibility of the organizers. The organizers of this yatra takes care of the Boarding, Lodging, food as well as the pooja for the “Shraddh” at Gangabal Lake
Sunday, March 26, 2017
The Architecture of Intellectualism
The Architecture of Intellectualism
Maharaj
Kaul
Often in intense and acrimonious,
earnest and righteous discussions among people, one of the participants cites
an authority in the defense of his argument, who he says is an intellectual.
Suddenly, a silence falls in the discussion group, both among those who know
who an intellectual is and, therefore, they feel bent by his weight, and those,
who form most of the people present, who are not certain who an intellectual is
and, therefore, are rendered silent. The concept of intellectualism is not
widely known.
The world intellect means the power
of knowing, as distinguished from the power to feel and to will. It means a
capacity for knowledge and also a capacity for rational or intelligent thought,
especially when highly developed. An intellectual is a person given to study,
reflection, and speculation. Also, a person engaged in activity requiring the
creative use of intellect. So, intellectual persons engage in high level
reasoning in the pursuit of acquiring definitive knowledge of something or in
pursuit of solving a problem. There are other type of problem- solvers: religious
people, psychics, poets, fortune tellers, and others who claim to solve
problems and make prophecies, which at times come true. But an intellectual has
to follow prior knowledge on the subject he is dealing with, use established
reasoning, based on established principles and rules, and scientifically
verified data. In the words of Einstein there should be an inner harmony and
external verification in postulating a new theory. So, an intellectual’s work
is harder than, say, a poet’s to make a projection of a phenomenon. In the
intellectual world a lot of things are still unknown but a religious person,
through divine connection, is able to know things without much thinking.
In modern times, as mankind has
advanced greatly in science and technology, man’s intellect has come to be
greatly revered. Religion, though for away from extinguishment, has been
diminished. Understanding based on verifiable facts and established scientific
principles is given the highest place in today’s man’s consciousness and in the
pursuit of understanding the material universe and the world. It is on the
strength of this consciousness that the edifice of science has been built.
Science is almost modern man’s religion. The reason that it is not a complete
religion is because science cannot help man in his many aspirations and in
psychological architecture and states. Though some people think that science
will become a complete religion one day but I think it will never become so.
So, man’s intellect has gained a high stature. Therefore, an intellectual is
highly regarded because it means learning on the scientific basis, which is
based on a foundation of knowledge resting on concrete facts and principles and
cognizant on any new evidence. The claims of science have to be provable, if
they do not meet this test they are expunged from the body of science. There
are no favorite theories in science, each one has to stand on its legs of
verifiable facts and well-established principles.
Many learned people believe that
Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity is the greatest feat of
intellectuality. It took about ten years to develop. Einstein’s Special Theory of
Relativity was completed in 1905 and it is considered as the first floor of a
two-story house, while General Theory of Relativity is the second. Special
Relativity dealt with the relativities of motion and time. Any uniform motion
when looked from another uniform motions is different and, therefore,
synchronicity is not an automatic phenomenon. Time is always measured in
relationship with something. So, both motion and time are relative, not
absolute. Newton thought otherwise. One of the deductions from Special
Relativity is the most famous scientific equation, E = MC (square). It implies
that an enormous amount of energy is stored in a small amount of mass. But this
energy can be very difficult to release because of the enormous engineering
difficulties needed to do so. This equation was the precursor to the start of
the atomic age. Two small atomic bombs thrown on the Japanese cities of
Nagasaki and Hiroshima in August, 1945 destroyed huge number of human lives and
material structures.
General Theory of Relativity (1915)
developed the theory of the gravitation (the first developed after Newton). In
Einstein’s understanding gravity is a curvature of space-time in which the
objects of universe lie. To see a pronounced effect of the space-time curvature
consider an object like our earth near a star like our sun. The rotation of the
earth round the sun is an example of the former following the space-time curve
near the latter, which before General Relativity Theory was simply a
gravitational attraction between the two objects. It is based on this
understanding Einstein predicted that even a ray of light will bend near the
sun by a certain amount he calculated. Now, in the earlier understanding light
was the straightest thing in the universe there was, because it was massless
and therefore unbendable in presence of a mass. In 1919, during a solar
eclipse, two teams of scientists verified Einstein’s claim. One was sent to the
island of Principe, South Africa, and another to Brazil. Both teams obtained
data that was reasonably close to Einstein’s prediction. These teams were
organized by the British astronomer, Arthur Eddington. Britain and Germany at
that time were in war with each other and therefore this scientific effort was
greatly hailed as step toward peace and friendship between the two.
The above description of Einstein’s
work was only given to indicate some extraordinary works of one of the supreme
intellects of the mankind. Let it not be misunderstood that every intellectual
has to be at the level of Einstein. Any person who frequently indulges in
intellectual activity at a developed level is an intellectual. Let us say there
is a professor of physics, with a Ph.D. in it, who teaches in a college. This
does not automatically make him to be an intellectual, because mere teaching,
even at graduate level, is not intellectual enough. On the other hand if he
indulges in research, at a good level, he is an intellectual. A man may be
intelligent but he may not be an intellectual. Here is an example to illustrate
the difference. An intelligent man may know all the facts of the formation of
stars but if he does not know the theories behind the facts and cannot answer
new questions, even if on speculative basis, about the formation of stars, he
is not an intellectual. Let us take another example: we have a mechanic who can
fix problems occurring in a household refrigerator but he does not know the
scientific principles of refrigeration and temperature control. He is an
intelligent person but not an intellectual. Also, in this case, an engineer who
knows the scientific principles of refrigeration and temperature control does
not qualify to be an intellectual. He has to be indulging in the research on
the new problems in these fields to qualify to be so. Ability to solve
difficult and new problems in a field or fields of knowledge is a significant
element in the definition of an intellectual. Because a man may solve old
problems by the sheer power of his memory, but an intellectual is a thinking
person in his significant and well-established field of inquiry, who can either
solve or speculate on the new problems in it. There are intellectuals also who
come from the fields of philosophy, arts, sociology, and others. Actually, one
can be an intellectual without belonging to any established field, just as a
thinker in general human and other non-established fields. The point is that
man has to be learned, a thinker, and right in most of his thoughts. General
people often get disappointed when they see that the intellectuals have not
solved many great problems in the world: religious intolerance, inhuman
conditions in many parts of the world, distrust among many people, etc.
Intellectuals have said all the right things about these global problems but
they are so large that they need a change of heart and mind in the involved
people, helped further by political and cultural leaders. Mankind is still
immature even with the emergence of the modern civilized man in the last five
thousand years. A hundred years from now the world may be a safer and more
tranquil place than it is now. But, alas, the present generations will not be
there then.
POSTED BY : VIPUL KOUL
EDITED BY : ASHOK KOUL
Friday, March 17, 2017
A great evaluation of the attributes of Kashmiri women done by Shri Kapil Bhat. No doubt, they are easily distinguished from the women of other communities
A
great evaluation of the attributes of Kashmiri women done by Shri Kapil
Bhat. No doubt, they are easily distinguished from the women of other
communities.
B L SadhuOn Wed, Mar 15, 2017 at 8:12 PM, Kapil Bhat <kapil.bhat@gmail.com> wrote:
10 Things that Make Kashmiri Women Special
1. Beauty
Kashmiri
women are beyond beautiful. Almost every woman in Kashmir is above
average when it comes to beauty. There is beauty in their simplicity and
in their sophistication.
2. Maazrath
Our
women are the most hospitable creatures ever born on the face of this
planet. They are very friendly and generous when it comes to serving
food to friends, guests and even strangers. You can feel their warmth in
their wide open smiles while they feed you food. Na na myoni marun
chui,byaakh piece pae khyon) Whenever we Kashmiris have guests come
over, there are mini wars going on over food in the guestroom. Our
mothers make sure they win the war and that your plate is clean and
mouth full.
3. Wohwu
Kashmiri
women have a very unique way of offending people and venting out their
anger. Kashmiri women don’t even exactly spout obscenities.Their word
abuse is extremely funny. They would call you a phatwangun (a burst out
Brinjal/Eggplant ) and you could still get offended to unimaginable
levels. Another one of the many is ‘Pae buth wasith’ (May your face
fall)
4. The ‘Mubarkas’ tradition
Women
in Kashmir follow this tradition very religiously. Whenever there is
any good news in the family or in the neighborhood, they rush to their
houses to congratulate them with three to four bags of goodies. It might
contain fresh fruits,fresh pastries from the famous confectionaries in
town or packets of almonds and candy.
5. The Rain of Almonds
Whether
the good news is someone getting married or passing matriculation exams
or cracking a professional entrance examination, Kashmiri women will
shower you with almonds, candies and the signature ten rupee notes,
pleated in a fancy fashion.
6. Burning the Persian rue popularly called Isband or Isphand
Kashmiri
women burn the Harmal seeds or the Persian Rue in their kangris
(earthen pots full of burning coal,used to keep one warm in winters) and
make loved ones sniff its fumes to save them from the evil eye. They
consider it as folk medicine for all ailments and use it in spiritual
practices.
7. Vartaav
On
weddings, Kashmiri women carry colorful envelopes and load it with cash
money as a token of love for the bride or the bridegroom. Do not be
surprised if it is an odd number of notes.Their favorite numbers are
1,11 and 21.
8. Wanwun
The
Wanwun is a unique way of singing on weddings.They joyfully make two
singing groups, divide the verses of a song amongst the two groups and
each group sings them alternately.They include the mother,the father,the
uncle,the aunt and almost everyone in the song. They’ve mastered the
art of playing ‘tumbakhnaaris’ which are one form of desi earthen drums,
open on one side and sing to its loud beats.
9. Lovely Expressions
Kashmiri
mothers will take all the misfortune of their children upon them.They
say things like ‘Laegsai balaai’ (May all your misfortune be upon me
instead of you) and ‘Vondmai zu’. If you are a Kashmiri, you sure are
well acquainted with these loving expressions.
10. Wazwan
The
Wazwan is so loaded with different varieties of food,mutton in
particular, that it gets too much to eat just for one meal. Earlier
Kashmiri women used to carry plastic bags with them and sneak in the
extra food, and try not to be seen,to avoid the embarrassment. Now they
are provided with fancy resealable zap bags to take the extra food home
and relish it with the uninvited members of the family (Like a boss ! )
Their love, simplicity,chastity and hospitality is irreplaceable.
They are all about love and sacrifice.
And
you don’t even have to be a Kashmiri to notice how warm they are, it
reflects in their selfless smiles and on their innocent faces.
There definitely cannot be anyone like a mother, specially a Kashmiri mother.
And I am sure you all agree.
Monday, March 13, 2017
Supreme Court rejects HC ruling: No sovereignty for J-K outside Constitution of India
Supreme
Court rejects HC ruling: No sovereignty for J-K outside Constitution
of India
Indian Express
The bench called
it “disturbing” that various parts of a judgment in appeal by the J&K High
Court spoke of the absolute sovereign power of the state.
The bench also clarified that J&K residents are “first
and foremost” Indian citizens. File/Express Photo by Shuaib Masoodi
Snubbing the Jammu and Kashmir High Court for asserting the
state’s “sovereignty” and “sovereign powers”, the Supreme Court Friday said
J&K “has no vestige of sovereignty outside the Constitution of India”. A
bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and Rohinton Nariman also rejected the J&K
High Court’s view that the J&K Constitution was equal to the Constitution
of India.
“It is clear that the state of Jammu & Kashmir has no
vestige of sovereignty outside the Constitution of India and its own
Constitution, which is subordinate to the Constitution of India… they
(residents of state) are governed first by the Constitution of India and also
by the Constitution of Jammu & Kashmir,” the bench said, referring to the
preamble of the Constitution of J&K, 1957.
The bench called it “disturbing” that various parts of a
judgment in appeal by the J&K High Court spoke of the absolute sovereign
power of the state. “It is necessary to reiterate that Section 3 of the
Constitution of Jammu & Kashmir, which was framed by a Constituent Assembly
elected on the basis of universal adult franchise, makes a ringing declaration
that the State of Jammu & Kashmir is and shall be an integral part of the
Union of India. And this provision is beyond the pale of amendment,” the judges
said.
The bench also clarified that J&K residents are “first
and foremost” Indian citizens. “It is therefore wholly incorrect to describe it
as being sovereign in the sense of its residents constituting a separate and
distinct class in themselves. The residents of Jammu & Kashmir, we need to
remind the High Court, are first and foremost citizens of India… permanent
residents of the state of J&K are citizens of India, and that there is no
dual citizenship as is contemplated by some other federal Constitutions in
other parts of the world,” it said.
The top court pointed out that it was constrained to observe
these because in at least three places, the High Court, in its judgment, “has
gone out of its way to refer to a sovereignty which does not exist”.
Underlining that the quasi-federal structure of the
Constitution of India continues even with respect to J&K, the bench said:
“Article 1 of the Constitution of India and Section 3 of the Jammu &
Kashmir Constitution make it clear that India shall be a Union of States, and
that the State of Jammu & Kashmir is and shall be an integral part of the
Union of India.” It said the J&K Constitution has been made to further
define the existing relationship of the state with the Union of India as an
integral part thereof.
The court said this while deciding a legal question on
whether the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and
Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (SARFAESI Act) will be applicable to
J&K or the law was outside the legislative competence of Parliament since
its provisions would collide with Section 140 of the Transfer of Property Act
of J&K.
SARFAESI Act entitles banks to enforce their security
interest outside the court’s process by moving a tribunal to take possession of
secured assets of the borrower and sell them outside the court process. The
High Court had said that the state has absolute sovereign power to legislate in
respect of laws touching the rights of its permanent residents qua their
immovable properties.
After the State Bank of India appealed against the High
Court order, the J&K government submitted in the Supreme Court that this
law encroached upon the property rights of permanent residents of the state and
must be read down so that it will not be permissible to sell property belonging
to a permanent resident of the state to outsiders. It was also argued that
Parliamentary legislation would need concurrence of the J&K government
before it could apply to the state under Article 370.
But the Supreme Court bench shot down these arguments,
saying SARFAESI Act deals with recovery of debts due to banks and financial
institutions, which is relatable to a subject under the Union List and
parliamentary legislation did not require concurrence of the state government
since the Centre had power to make law on this subject.
“Entries 45 and 95 of List I clothe Parliament with
exclusive power to make laws with respect to banking… the Act as a whole would
necessarily operate in the state,” the bench said, adding that the SARFAESI Act
had itself made a special provision for sale of properties in J&K.
The bench, however, made it clear that any provision of the J&K Transfer of Property Act will have to give way to the central law in case the former is found repugnant. “It is clear that anything that comes in the way of SARFAESI by way of a Jammu & Kashmir law must necessarily give way to the said law,” it said, adding that its judgement had no effect on Article 35A, which confers on permanent residents of J&K special rights and privileges regarding acquisition of immovable property in the state.
The bench, however, made it clear that any provision of the J&K Transfer of Property Act will have to give way to the central law in case the former is found repugnant. “It is clear that anything that comes in the way of SARFAESI by way of a Jammu & Kashmir law must necessarily give way to the said law,” it said, adding that its judgement had no effect on Article 35A, which confers on permanent residents of J&K special rights and privileges regarding acquisition of immovable property in the state.
THE SHOOTER WAS ISLAMIST AASHIQ HAMMAD
THE SHOOTER WAS ISLAMIST AASHIQ
HAMMAD
The nonpareil Judicial Watch does it again by exposing
the media and government cover-up surrounding the Fort Lauderdale shooter, who
converted to Islam and reinvented himself as Aashiq
Hammad.
Leftists will deride the source in
the manner that they took down conservative think tank founder, David Horowitz,
and Center for Security Policy CEO and former assistant secretary of defense to
Ronald Reagan, Frank Gaffney, yesterday at the Jeff Sessions for Attorney
General hearing.
You
decide.
However, if you're grateful for Judicial Watch’s tenacity here (and
elsewhere), please go to their website and donate to this remarkable
organization that is doing the job of the FBI. Also see Judicial
Watch Pinch-hitting for the FBI.
Janet Levy,
Los Angeles
Ft. Lauderdale airport shooter had converted to Islam before joining the Army
by WorldTribune Staff, January 11, 2017
The
gunman who killed five people at the Ft. Lauderdale Airport had converted to
Islam and created a “jihadist identity” for himself prior to joining the U.S.
Army, according to public records.
Esteban
Santiago took on the Islamic name Aashiq Hammad, downloaded terrorist propaganda
and recorded Islamic religious music online, records show, according to a report
by the gotnews.com investigative news site.
The
newly uncovered information linking the shooter to radical Islam flies in the
face of the official story from authorities that he is a mentally ill Army
veteran who became unhinged after a tour of duty in Iraq.
“This
is pertinent information that the Obama administration apparently wants to keep
quiet, bringing up memories of the Benghazi cover up, in which the president and
his cohorts knowingly lied to conceal that Islamic terrorists attacked the U.S.
Special Mission in Libya,” Judicial Watch said on Jan. 10.
Besides
taking on a Muslim name, he recorded three Islamic religious songs, including
the Muslim declaration of faith (“there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his
messenger”) known as the Shahada. He also posted a thread about downloading
propaganda videos from Islamic terrorists on a weapons and explosives forum.
The
investigative news site connected the dots between Santiago, who is of Puerto
Rican descent, and Hammad, an identity he created in 2007.
“Traditional
mainstream media coverage promotes the government rhetoric that omits any ties
to terrorism even though early on a photo surfaced of Santiago making an ISIL
salute while wearing a keffiyeh, a Palestinian Arab scarf,” Judicial Watch
noted.
In
a letter to Ft. Lauderdale’s mayor and commissioners, a prominent businessman
and longtime resident of the city slammed county and federal officials for
covering up that “Aashiq Hammad," not Esteban Santiago, attacked our city and
county.”
The
businessman, respected Ft. Lauderdale real estate entrepreneur Jim Morlock,
specifically names Broward County’s elected sheriff Scott Israel, Florida
senator Bill Nelson, the first to identify Santiago as the shooter on national
television, and congressman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, ousted last summer as
Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair over a scandalous plot to damage
Bernie Sanders during the primary.
“Since
when does a U.S. Senator (Bill Nelson), not law enforcement, be the one to so
quickly release this terrorist’s Hispanic name but nothing about his more
relevant Islamic background?” the letter asks. “Obama must have told Sen. Nelson
to keep this from looking like a Muslim terrorist attack during the last 12 days
of his watch. Bad for his legacy.”
Morlock
goes on to state that it’s “better to portray this atrocity as white Hispanic
Alaskan mental Iraq war vet gun violence.”
Morlock’s
letter goes on to reveal that Santiago lives within walking distance of the only
mosque in Alaska, was radicalized before he entered the military and was
knowingly allowed to serve despite his Islamic sympathies thanks to “Obama’s PC
military.”
Judicial
Watch said Morlock’s letter “poses interesting questions, including why this
Muslim terrorist chose Ft. Lauderdale out of all the nation’s airports and who
Santiago knows in Broward county, which has a large and growing Islamic
community.”
In
2015, Judicial Watch obtained records from the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement (FDLE) that show an Al Qaida terrorist who helped plan several U.S.
attacks lived in Broward County and graduated from the local community college
with a degree in computer engineering. His name is Adnan G. El Shukrijumah, but
he also had a Hispanic identity, Javier Robles, and for years he appeared on the
FBI’s most wanted list.
In
2012, Judicial Watch reported on a terrorist front group’s demands that Broward
County public schools close twice a year to celebrate Islamic holy days,
illustrating the influence that Muslims have in the region.
The Final Frontier – Dialogues Between Mother and Son
The Final Frontier – Dialogues
Between Mother and Son
Author – Dr K L
Chowdhury
Reviewer – Col (Dr) Tej K Tikoo
“The Final Frontier – Dialogues Between Mother and Son” is the latest book
by Dr. K L Chowdhury (Peacock Books, New
Delhi- Feb., 2017, Atlantic Publishers and
Distributors (P) Ltd.). It is an unusual
work comprising 105 poems in the form of dialogues written over a 4-year period
(September 2007 to October 2011). The dialogues take place between a mother,
who is ageing and sick, and her son. What makes them interesting, arresting
and, at times, surreal is the fact that the son is also the doctor of his
mother, who obviously is not just like any another patient for him. She has been
a constant companion, a source of strength and an ocean of love; a mother who
showered her blessings not only on her own children, but on the entire extended
family; a mother who welcomed with open arms everyone that came to her door
step.
But with her ageing and illness, the paradigm of roles and relationships
between mother and son undergoes dramatic transformation as new existential
problems crop up every so often. The mother of a sagely visage, an exemplary
life of nine decades, an institution that exuded love, compassion, strength,
courage and inspiration, is slowly and inexorably nearing her end. The son, a renowned physician with more than five decade experience as a
physician, teacher and researcher, is now the main companion, care giver and
doctor to his mother.
The dialogues capture the irony and agony of the situation wherein the doctor-son
can’t reconcile to the fact that beyond a point a human body, no matter how precious
and dear, must give up the spirit (soul, if you may). Each poem relates to a
specific situation or condition, a mood or a thought process, an introspection
or philosophical reflection. Through the dialogues the author delves deep into
the ethical and spiritual dimensions of life, trying to penetrate the heart of
the riddle which hides within it life’s unsolved mysteries. What also emerge
are the conflicts and hard realities staring him in the face. At one level, his
actions are dictated by the level of his competence as a medical professional
of long standing, tending to a patient afflicted with severe maladies. At
another, he is torn by the pangs of pain that he suffers as a son, seeing his
own mother slipping away, waiting for deliverance. The transformation from
being a doctor issuing instructions to care-givers, into a care-giver himself,
tests the author’s mental, physical and spiritual strengths to their limits.
According to the author, “It transformed me as a doctor, a care- giver and a
human being.”
The opening poem starts with a prayer that expresses motherly love in
words that only a mother can.:
I pray for health and happiness of
my children and my kin
Peace, amity, and prosperity for all
humanity…
As for myself, I ask Yama to take me
while I am hale and hearty
And when it is time for the final
journey
I pray for you to be there to lend
me your shoulder.
When her son finds her in deep contemplation she explains her nostalgia about
Kashmir in graphic terms:
Thinking of Kashmir,
my son,
And all the years we lived there.
Now it looks like a distant dream,
Water down the river…
And when he exhorts her not to burden her mind with the memories of a place
from where they were exiled, she seeks solace in the lap of her
motherland:
Can we forget our roots; can we
sever the spiritual bonds?
Kashmir will always live in us as long as
breath is there;
Her memories are like a mother’s lap
Where you find the ultimate solace.
She goes on to add that memories connect us with the past; that ‘there
can be no present sans one’s past’. She reminds him to consult the almanac (Jantari)
to regulate the day to day activities of life – a fast on Ashtamis, lighting a
lamp on the Amavasya, eating vegetarian on Poornimas, and performing Shraada on
her husband’s anniversary— remarking that such observances are necessary to
break the monotony and to lend life some meaning and colour.
Her compassion is profoundly on display when, while riding a boat on the
Vitasta, she pays the boatman for the entire catch of fish, and asks him to throw
the fish back into the sacred river so that they could continue to live in its
bosom.
The dialogues include some tragic-comic moments too. While she is
irretrievably confined to bed, she experiences nightmares that the son fails to
address. She finally resorts to the age-old remedy of driving away the spirits
by slashing the air in front of her with a knife that she later places under
her pillow before going off to sleep. When the doctor-son dismisses it as a
mere superstition, she innocently explains the logic:
That is what our ancestors did
When the djins and goblins
Teased and terrorized them;
That is what has worked for me.
As time passes by, and prolonged confinement leads to worse
complications, the shadow of death looms large in the son’s mind. But he is lovingly
mentored by the suffering mother:
Everything that goes up has to come
down;
Life that has been lived has one day
to end.
Everything that is born has to
wither away and die;
Life is a chance in a million but
death is a certainty.
However, the sanctity of life is re-emphasized time and again. She
herself proclaims that the Persian aphorism, ‘it is a good bargain to get rid
of a tooth in pain’, cannot be applied to something as precious as life, which
must be ‘nurtured to the very end.’
In an emotionally charged and philosophically rich conversation, the
pain and anguish of the son is mirrored in the dialogues, as aging and decay,
faith and skepticism, and life’s true meaning and the mystery of death become
subjects of deep contemplation.
A turning point occurs when the mother tragically suffers a hip
fracture, immobilizing her completely, rendering her condition more poignant. The
son is overtaken by helplessness and frustration, and, sometimes, a deep sense
of guilt and self-mortification. But the mother, even in her suffering remains
calm and uncomplaining to spare him the agony.
Care-giving now turns into a formidable task – doing up her hair, taking care of the bowels
and bladder, changing the dress, making the bed, stanching the sores and cleaning
up the pus oozing out of the recalcitrant ulcers. The son’s angst reaches the
acme when mother lapses into long periods of silence, speaking not a word for
hours and days on end. One time, when he ponders about the inscrutability of
his mother’s suffering, providence sends succor in the form of a friend’s
visit who tries to comfort him thus:
“Your mother has always been gentle, kind and compassionate.
God has chosen her specially, for only the noblest suffer thus.
Yet, look how blessed she is, for He has also arranged
To post you at her service – her own son, and doctor –
One of the best in town.”
On her ninety-third birthday, while she is in bed and totally unaware of
the event, the son goes into deep reflection as he remembers what his grandfather
had once philosophized about birthdays:
“What is there to celebrate when it is time to cogitate?
Why make such a hullabaloo to beguile ourselves on birthdays
Unless we are happy to have come a year closer to the journey’s end?”
Knowing well what providence has in store, the author soliloquies, “Old
age, sickness and death are great levellers. They respect neither status nor
pedigree; they humble all equally.” But he is so much pained by remorselessness
of ageing and a chronically bedridden existence that he questions the desire of
longevity in humans and even wishes for sudden end for himself when it is time:
O fate,
give me a flash death!
Give me a
heart attack, or a fell stroke!
Give me a
fatal accident, or a lightning bolt!
Pray spare
me the poison cup of longevity.
As the end draws near, mother suffers seizures. The son is shocked by the
terrifying event involving his own mother. He captures the pathos of the
situation thus:
“I have no count of seizures that I have treated all my life;
No count of the times I have given intravenous shots;
But it seemed now as if
I was handling a seizure first time in my life.”
She rallies, but not for long. Nearly three months after the seizure,
“Dharmaraja (the Lord of death), the curer of all the maladies of body, mind
and spirit, took her in his embrace.”
Thus, ends the earthly journey of a noble soul that enriched those whose
lives she touched with her sterling qualities of head and heart.
The last section in the book are an exploration into the sanctity and
sentiment related to the rituals of dying —the cremation, the gathering of
ashes and their immersion and the post-funerary rites. The book, however,
closes with the last poem, the receipt of the death certificate from the
municipality, which appropriately enough brings the curtain down on the life of
saintly person who was like a Chinar tree that shielded her family and others
with a soothing shade all her life.
“Mother, you never got a certificate in life/notwithstanding your many
talents
Nor do I know what use to you / this document from the municipality
For your history does not end with it / nor did it begin with your birth.”
The author, nevertheless, is no wiser in demystifying ‘death’ and
therefore, appropriately closes the book with Bhagvad Gita’s oft quoted verse:
“There never was a time you were not;
There never will be a time you will not be.”
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