Five Priorities for India to Become A Great Nation

India should consider its priorities in the new year while planning for its future. India is entering an important phase in this new year. India is also under new leadership. This is the right time to consider its priorities and decide its path for a bright future.

National Integration and Countering Regionalism

India has twenty nine states and each state has its border taxes and border checkpoints. When all the states are part of the national system, each state having its individual border taxes and tax outposts seems redundant. In developed countries border checkposts are only at the borders of the country, not each state or province. Movement of people and goods across states is seamless and convenient. Territorial integrity is important to achieve unified nationality. Integrated road system is essential for free transportation of people and goods for the country to develop economically and prosper. Prosperity of India before 1500s was due to this free travel. Nikitin, a Russian visitor to the Vijayanagara court of Krishnadevaraya remarked how convenient it was to travel within India, and how he was allowed to pass through different states (regional kingdoms in those days), finally reaching South India. In fact, the world famous Indian ocean trade system flourished on this free movement of peoples and goods. Modern state governments in India are fiercely protective of their regionalism, often reserving jobs, and educational opportunities for locals. Taxing goods at the border checkpoints is one of the major income sources for the states. India should develop a system of collecting state taxes at the point of final sale and remove the border checkpoints from all the internal state borders.

Introduce Uniform Civil Code

India has a civil code which is not uniform and changes from one social group to the other. For any country to progress on the path of development a uniform civil code is essential. A uniform civil code regardless of religion, caste, or geographical location are important for citizens to have equal opportunities, and be successful contributors to the economic, political and social development of the country. Countering inequality through universal civil code is essential to development. Developed western and Asian countries succeeded by having a uniform civil code. 

Counter Internal and External Terror Threats

Lack of Mechanism to handle terrorism and terror related crimes is an issue in India. Terror attacks, both internal and external are threats to sovereignty of a nation and should be treated as acts of war rather than simple crimes. Ordinary criminal courts are not suited to handle such terror threats. India should institute a mechanism to investigate and punish terror crimes under separate terror courts, and develop a legal system to handle terror attacks.

Commitment to Women's Development and Security

Equal representation of women in all walks of life is very important for India to become a developed nation. China's rapid progress is due to equal rights, and the equal opportunities afforded to women in all fields of work. Educational opportunities available to women are essential part of the development of a country. If India can bridge the gap for women it should have achieved a major part of its developmental goals. Missing women is one of the common points about India frequently noted by visiting Chinese executives. Protecting women from unwanted sexual and other assaults is important. A new women's legal code should be enacted to counter assaults on women in public places.

Infrastructure and Basic Sanitation Facilities

Infrastructure development is very uneven across India. Some regions of India have world class roads and communications while other regions do not have even basic road connectivity. Basic facilities such as electricity, water supply and sewage services are equally dismal in several regions of India. Unless all regions are developed equally concerning the infrastructure, communications, electricity, water and sewage, a country could not progress. Sanitation and sewage system exists in cities, but sadly the sewage flows untreated into the rivers of India causing immense pollution. Sewage treatment plants should be built, and all sewage water should be treated properly before letting it drain into the rivers. 

India dreams and envisions its arrival on world stage as a first world country. Every leader of India proclaims India's arrival on the world stage during his Independence Day and Republic day speeches. Same message is repeated in the states by the respective Chief Ministers. India's leaders promise and tell the public of India how close India is to becoming a super power like Japan, Or Singapore in Asia, and become the number one Asian country, and join the league of top nations of the world along with its neighbor China. However, India is bogged down by several constraints of its own making which are hampering its progress towards becoming a first world nation.

IS IT TIME FOR AN ASIAN TREATY ALLIANCE

SAARC (South Asian Association for Cooperation) represents an acronym that could not be easily understood. The acronym is a true representation of the hodge-podge of states that it includes. Other than geographical proximity its member states (India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan, Srilanka, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan) are completely different from each other in political, economic and social structures. It is strange that Myanmar is still not a member of this group. Similar is the case with NAM. India joined the Non Aligned Movement with Nehru's initiative with lofty goals, but due to the nature of states that joined it, there is very little that it accomplished. It exists only in name, while a number of its members are currently in conditions that are similar to civil war, no diplomatic or military initiative is undertaken by this group. Emerging crises have rendered the NAM become an association that holds periodic meetings with no significant contributions. 

Any association dictated by geographical proximity rather than political, social and economic ideals is bound to fail in the face of crisis, which is exactly what the SAARC is attempting to avert. Half of the nations that are members of this group are struggling with internal terrorist organizations, and some are still struggling to establish democratic states. India is the only stable, and established democracy in this group of nations. With the internal and external terror threats, and border disputes, it is impossible for this association to progress  beyond the basic economic cooperation. 

India if it plans to be member of an association for economic and defense cooperation it should look towards the Indian Ocean. India should take lead in developing an association similar to the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) by including East African nations and other states on the Indian ocean economic zone such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand,  and Australia. It could also include New Zealand and Japan, which could strengthen it further. Asia needs a powerful regional association of cooperation. These nations should cooperate not only in trade, but in military and defense strategy, jointly developing techniques to counter terrorist and military threats. 

Ministry of Yoga: A Step in the Right Direction

Ministry of Yoga: A Step in the Right Direction

Government of India took a step in the right direction by creating the ministry of Yoga. This is the first step to reclaiming and possessing India's true cultural heritage. Prime Minister Modi is upholding his promise to serve India, through this quest for true knowledge and heritage of Yoga, one of the greatest contributions of India. Yoga is an esoteric mind-body spiritual technique perfected in India as early as the early first evidence of Indian culture are traceable. Indus valley, as well as Vedic texts provide the first basic evidence, while the first text is Yogasutras composed by Patanjali, dated to about 600 B.C.E. Early lime stone statue of a man from Mohenjodaro in meditative stance (John Marshal identified him as philosopher-king) supports that meditative practices (known as yoga) were known during this period. Vedas also contains several reference to yoga, which will be discussed below. Traditional yoga includes practices that have come to be classed as Hathayoga, Pranayama, and Rajayoga, while earlier yoga included all of these three elements as part of the essential practice of yoga. However, modern yoga and its revival is to be credited to the West, which rekindled the interest of millions of individuals in the fascinating practice of yoga.

Origins of Yoga in India

 

A thousand years of colonial and alien rule has forced India to distance itself from its past, and especially its spiritual and religious heritage. Yoga has suffered most due to this neglect. Its origins are lost, and only cryptic references from the Vedas remain. Rigveda, the most ancient scripture in the world (Rigveda's  most ancient hymns date to 4600 B.C.E while the its latest sections date to 2300 B.C.E. although some place the latest portions between 2000-1800 B.C.E.) contains the earliest references to yoga. Vedic references note yoga, as a vehicle (conveyance), to visualize or to go beyond what can be seen or understood by the naked eye (the physical vision). Hence Yoga is also used in the sense of yukta (join or jointed) with the inner self-conscious (Atma-Brahma) to open the mind's (mana) eye. Opening this inner eye or the eye of the mind by ascending the vehicle of yoga is at the core of yoga practice referred in this early stage. This central goal continues to dominate the later quest of yoga known from Hindu tradition (also known from other Indian traditions such as Buddhist and Jain traditions, as well as other yoga practitioners such as Anatha Kesakambalin, etc.).  Life stories of both the Buddha (560-480 B.C.E) and the Jaina Mahavira (599-527 B.C.E.) mention their meeting with established yoga teachers, and their practice of yoga, as a path to enlightenment. Therefore it is clear that between 2000 B.C.E-600 B.C.E., yoga was practiced by sages, and those seeking true knowledge (atma jnana), although it is not clear if it was practiced by common people during this period. Yoga practice by common people only comes to us through the discussion of yoga in Bhagavadgita and Mahabharata (300 B.C.E). Yoga texts may have also existed during this early stage between 2000 B.C.E-600 B.C.E, however, only Patanjali's Yogasutras, and Samkhyakarika of Isvarakrishna are the only surviving texts known to us. While the Yogasutras, and Samkhyakarika provide the textual basis for the philosophical practice of mindful meditation. while physical discipline and postures are important to achieve perfection in this philosophical practice of mindful meditation texts avoid describing the postures, and leave it to personal practice under an accomplished teacher, lest it may lead to wrongful postures and become harmful rather than beneficial to the soul. This might have been the reason Mahabharata and Bhagavadgita confine to discussion of meditative and philosophical aspects of Yoga, but not physical postures.     

Modern Yoga

Modern society found reliable and quantifiable value in practicing yoga, for mental and physical well being of an individual, which is at the core its revival in the West as well as India.  However, India should be conscious of Yoga in its true practice and evolution, and support a holistic understanding of Yoga as a spiritual and physical practice, but not entirely driven by utilitarian goals of health, and beauty.

The following book may be useful in understanding the research and publications available on yoga: Callahan D. Yoga : An Annotated Bibliography Of Works In English, 1981-2005 / Daren Callahan (Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co. Inc., Publishers, c2007). This book includes 2,400 scholarly and popular works on Yoga, which only goes to show the popularity of yoga as a subject of popular study and practice in modern world. Physical ailments from multiple sclerosis to arthritis, blood pressure, heart attack and numerous other issues. Yoga is especially found to be helpful to individuals suffering from depression and PTSD. It is this utilitarian perspective that brought yoga to fame recently in the last fifty years. Yoga is found to be helpful in a number of health issues at the same time it is also noted for boosting self confidence and body image of practitioners. The positive benefits of yoga made it a favorite activity  for a number of practitioners in the United States, and the Western hemisphere in general. Therefore yoga has transformed in the modern practice as a therapy, and a physical exercise, although it is also practiced for spiritual benefits occasionally. Recent book Yoga : the art of transformation by Debra Diamond et al., published the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery on the occasion of the exhibition Yoga: The Art of Transformation, October 19, 2013-January 26, 2014, broadly discusses the background and practice of yoga with illustrations (Organized by the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery.

Path Forward Yoga community hopes for help and support from the ministry of Yoga in its development and practice. The Ministry of Yoga, would be served well to invite proposal from various community members of Yoga practice, as well as scholarly and research groups for the development of Yoga, and its practice. As a new ministry, it will be challenge to develop an all encompassing program at the outset, but seeking cooperation and advise from various practitioners might help it evolve a right action plan. One aspect that needs to be considered carefully is preserving the integrity of Yoga in age of commercialization. Aspects of commercialization should be curbed, and a clear path of understanding and synthesis between the traditional path of Yoga and modern practice of Yoga should be established. A priority of the ministry of Yoga should be finding and digitalizing all available texts and resources of Yoga and making them freely available to Yoga practitioners.

An International Day of Yoga! What About India!!

There have been a number of talks on the subject of creating an international day for Yoga, ever since Prime Minister of India, Mr. Modi has called for it during his address to the United Nations General Assembly. We have 365 days in a year, and have a number of days marked for a variety of issues ranging from something as simple as Coffee to issues as serious as  HIV/AIDs. Whats with naming one more day for something? It could be easily done. But the bigger question is what is it going to do for Yoga? Yoga flourished and survived without any support or recognition from governmental agencies in India or any other country for that matter until now, and I am sure it will continue to do so in the future. 

If India is so concerned about Yoga's recognition, and practice internationally, he must be equally concerned about its recognition and practice in India. Millions of children in India have grown up in India without knowing what is yoga, and how or why it is practiced. It is still common to grow up in India and be ignorant of yoga. National education, and museums do not recognize Yoga as a subject. Part of the blame rests with national and state governments and public education system.   

Public education system has no place for physical education or yoga for that matter. Public buildings do not have play areas or yoga rooms. Bus stations, railway stations, or airports, and parks or recreational centers do not have any facilities such as yoga rooms. Yoga, and the practice of yoga has received better attention and facilities in the Western countries than India through voluntary support.

If India is interested then the government must take immediate measures to include Yoga in the mainstream Indian educational curriculum, and facilitate the construction of Yoga rooms in the public buildings, and support Yoga gurus who dedicate their lives to the practice and teaching of Yoga. 

Why not have a national Yoga day in India? May be one day could be marked as a national holiday for yoga. May be it will be conducive to include Yoga in the physical education curriculums, and holds regional and national competitions to support development of Yoga programs in India. Developing educational materials, and including yoga exhibits in museums would also be helpful. 

India's Oceanic Nostalgia

India Rediscovers its Ocean World

At one time in history India had close to a hundred and fifty port cities. Port cities are in fact the greatest cultural centers with stimulating environment that inspired poets, artists, dancers, and musicians alike. India's wide open shores were its treasure houses of arts and literature for over two millennia. In fact, India's ocean shores graced the titles of more than one emperor of Ancient India. the Satavahana emperor, Gautamiputra Satakarni proudly proclaimed himself the 'Trisamudradhipati,' meaning 'lord of the three oceans,' proudly claiming control over the complete ocean shore of India. Dvaraka might have been submerged in the ocean, Puhar might have been consumed by fire, but their memories endure. Is it this memory that is propelling India to propose project 'Mausam'?

Project Mausam is initiated by Union Ministry of Cultiure, with supporting work from Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts (IGNCA). Mausam is especially and appropriate name, as a natural phenomenon that connects India to its oceanic neighbors. Proposal is submitted to the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO at the Doha conference on 20th June, 2014. Hopefully UNESCO sees the connections in the Indian Ocean region and recognizes it with official seal of approval. 

India should not just stop at rediscovering its past in the oceanic world, but start recreating contacts and construct communication and transport networks to sustain and develop renewed relations with Indian ocean region. India should construct a tunnel bridge to Andaman Islands, and from there onwards to Bali, Thailand, and Cambodia on the East Coast, and renew ocean liners to Africa on the West Coast.  

India Must Develop Indian Ocean-Red Sea-Mediterranean Ocean Route to Europe

India Must Rediscover Its Ancient Trade Routes

India's greatest geological advantage is its largest Indian Ocean Coastline. In fact India has the largest coastline in Asia. India must rediscover its premodern trade routes in Indian Ocean and must redevelop them to its trade advantage. It should even consider under sea pipelines from the Middle East for oil and natural gas transportation.

Firstly, developing safe ocean trade is easier, and cheaper than road and rail network in a rough terrain. That is the reason Rome-India trade flourished between 300B.C.E-300 C.E. The trade was greatly advantageous to India, because of the monsoon winds which made the ocean travel safe and fast. India even traded with it middle eastern and African neighbors through its ocean route. Red Sea voyages, passing on to Mediterranean Ocean was recounted in number of historical accounts.

Secondly, with the modern technology it is easier and cheaper to build and maintain undersea pipe lines. India should abandon it plans of land based pipeline network through Pakistan. These lines are being laid in a highly volatile region, for two reason. Firstly, geographically this is located in a seismically active zone, and secondly, the region of Pakistan is politically volatile.

India should abandon all plans of taking part in the Silk Road- or the like connections being developed between China, and Pakistan, leading up to Europe. India does not have to depend on a road network outside its borders to increase its trade. India already has an open coastal trade, only waiting to be reconnected. There are several reasons Silk Road could be disastrous to trade, and development of India, but a couple of the important reasons can be considered here.

Firstly that China is overly zealous when it comes to protecting its trade interests, and investments. So expecting a co-operation from China is futile. Even though trades contact are allowed it could almost be expected to be unilateral, and biased in favor of China. Secondly that India could not be in positing to guarantee safety, due to the volatility in Pakistan's political condition and hence may have to pay a large human capital for marginal gains.

Finally it is advantageous for India to develop its own trade routes which have contributed to its success in the past. Modi government should plan its expansion on the Oceans, not on the land!

Oprah is Quick to Denigrate, but Fast to Commercialize India!

Oprah Chai Tea @ Starbucks This Mother's Day!

I was still trying to wake myself, and vaguely awake when I heard this commercial today in Opra's own voice urging everyone to drink Chai tea to rebuild America! It may have been playing for some time on TV and other media, may be. I don't know. I am not an avid TV watcher so I only heard it for the first time today, and of course it completely took me by surprise. I did not expect Oprah to attach her name to anything Indian after that denigrating TV episode she did on India for OWN a couple of years ago. She was not even impressed by the dinner hosted by the Bacchans! What surprised me most is her introduction of Indian tea (in America it is Chai tea, after India's word for tea, Chai) as a must have beverage for America, after she denounced everything Indian so badly! Apparently that could not come in the way of commercial interests.

Here is what I thought about her episode at that time:
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7513177102900805991#editor/target=post;postID=4892123716207523141;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=19;src=postname

I don't know what the old-time  Chaiwala, Modi thinks about this! A new more business savvy tea seller on the block!