Being Celebrated Internationally

Janani Janmabhumishcha Swargadapi Gariyasi (Mother and motherland are even more important than getting two heavens, by doing good deeds). These are the ethos of the land which is known to have a long tradition of equal love, respect and care to feminism. The tide of time and onslaught of varying degrading ideals did harm the harmonic balance of Indian society too. Yet, as we celebrate International Women’s Day today, India indeed has undergone a rapid massive change where the status of women now stands more pedestaled in terms of entrepreneurship, working conditions, security, benefits, awareness and opportunities.

Recent years have seen launch of many helpline numbers to assist women, various schemes aimed at raising awareness, better social promotion, more jobs, improving sex ratio and education status, more participation in fields of business, finance, science, judiciary, and especially in politics and sports. Recalling the beginning of such a tidal change, ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ is the first scheme that comes to the mind, an empowering initiative through which India has been able to work towards eradication of female foeticide and make girls socially and financially self-reliant through proper education. Another unique initiative is ‘Mahila-E-Haat’, a bilingual online marketing platform, which helps aspiring women entrepreneurs, self-help group and NGOs to showcase their products to the world. In 2017, GoI launched Mahila Shakti Kendras which acts as an interface for rural women so that they can approach the government to avail their entitlements through training and capacity building.

‘One Stop Centre Scheme’, popularly known as ‘Sakhi’, had come into being in 2015 with the ‘Nirbhaya’ fund to provide shelter, police desk, legal, medical and counseling services to the victims of violence. The STEP programme (Support to Training and Employment Programme) is providing skills and competencies to women, leading to employability and assisting them in various sectors like agriculture, horticulture, handicraft, computer handlooms, tailoring, skilling like spoken English, IT- computer, travel-tourism, hospitality, etc. Several financial programmes have also been launched by the government for women’s financial empowerment. Women entrepreneurs are being encouraged to take up challenges, initiatives and explore various possibilities lying all around. These include Mudra Loan for Women, Annapurna Scheme, Stree Shakti Yojana, Dena Shakti Scheme, Bhartiya Mahila Bank Business Loan, Mahila Udyam Nidhi Yojana, Orient Mahila Vikas Yojana Scheme, Cent Kalyani Scheme, Udyogini Scheme among others. To empower women, Government of India has taken many other important measures which include Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban & Rural), the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP), Ujjwala Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Vyay Vandana Yojana (PMVVY), Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG) supporting women and girls to be socially secure, the initiatives like Samagra Shiksha, Scheme of National Overseas Scholarship, Babu Jagjivan Ram Chhatrawas Yojna, Swacch Vidyalaya Mission to ensure that schools are girl-friendly especially for vulnerable sections of society and have adequate facilities in place to fulfill their special requirements.

Continuous encouragement being given to women, has resulted into countless women becoming parts of various sectors and services including defence. Women have also started dominating the corporate world enjoying all kinds of heights like CEO. Last year 2021, four women from India figured in Forbes list. Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister, India stood at 37, Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Chairperson, HCL Technologies ranked 52, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson, Biocon was at 72, and Falguni Nayar Founder & CEO, Nykaa figured at 88 in the list. However, Indian origin Kamala Harris, US Vice-President figured second in this list of 100 most powerful women in the world.

Clearly, all women-centric programmes are meant to encourage their participation in all kinds of activities including formal economy. For mothers and sisters of India, International Women’s Day needs to be looked at as a challenge to strive and become tall personalities of hope, compassion and success. With their tremendous work done in this country and abroad, they need to break the stereotype of only a housewife and become International women.

Observing The Cosmic Dance

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it Fate” – Carl Jung. Mahashivratri is considered one of the most important festivals towards this effort. “The Great Night of Shiva” is the most significant among twelve Shivratris, the fourteenth day of every lunar month or the day before the new moon. Who am I, What is my source, and Where am I, are the three most important and fundamental questions, any thinking human mind seeks answers to. Trinity of Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh is at the core of understanding one’s surroundings in Hinduism. Mahesh or Shiva is the Lord of destruction or evolution. Change is the very nature of nature, and this understanding is perhaps most vital aspect of a person’s intelligence.

Fritjof Capra, one of the foremost proponents of the link between ‘Eastern philosophy’ and science, says “Hundreds of years ago, Indian artists created visual images of dancing Shivas in a beautiful series of bronzes. In our time, physicists have used the most advanced technology to portray the patterns of the cosmic dance. The metaphor of the cosmic dance thus unifies ancient mythology, religious art and modern physics.”

One of the fundamental issues of our scientific understanding of the physical world is the attempt to superimpose the principles of macro-physics onto the micro-world of atoms, subatomic particles and energy, where they fail spectacularly. Quantum mechanics is a hugely successful theory in modern physics and has led to far-reaching practical applications in our lives today. We still don’t know the basic explanation for some of its foundational predictions.

Fritjof Capra explained in The ‘Tao of Physics’, “The Dance of Shiva symbolises the basis of all existence. At the same time, Shiva reminds us that the manifold forms in the world are not fundamental, but illusory and ever-changing. Modern physics has shown that the rhythm of creation and destruction is not only manifest in the turn of the seasons and in the birth and death of all living creatures, but is also the very essence of inorganic matter. “According to quantum field theory, the dance of creation and destruction is the basis of the very existence of matter. Modern physics has thus revealed that every subatomic particle not only performs an energy dance but also is an energy dance; a pulsating process of creation and destruction. For the modern physicists then, Shiva’s dance is the dance of subatomic matter, the basis of all existence and of all-natural phenomena.”

The night of celebrating the changing apparent reality by fasting, singing, dancing and meditating, so that one comes closer to directly experiencing the changeless reality, Mahashivaratri, is celebrated across India and is a Gazetted Holiday.

Vigyan Sarvatra Pujyate

For popular science in India, it has been a roller coaster ride from ‘Vigyan Mandir’ experiment of 1953 to upcoming ‘ Vigyan Sarvatra Pujyate’ week-long celebration being held from February 22 to 28 simultaneously in 75 locations across the country. India is perhaps the only country in the world to adopt ‘scientific temper’ in its constitution. Article 51A(h), under Fundamental Duties, states, “[It shall be the duty of every citizen of India] to develop scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform.” The Science, Technology and Innovation Policy of 2020 states that in order for India to “march ahead on a sustainable development pathway …towards achieving an ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, a greater emphasis may be needed on developing traditional knowledge systems, developing indigenous technologies and encouraging grassroots innovations”.

Perhaps the implementation methodology of ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan’ is by celebrating various achievements in the field of science and technology over the 75 years, as being done over next week. It is refreshing to see popular science discussions are going to be held in various Indian languages, including Kashmiri, Dogri, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telegu, Odiya, Bengali, Assamese, Nepali, Maithili, and Manipur. The event would display the country’s scientific legacy and technology prowess that has helped find solutions to defence, space, health, agriculture, astronomy, and other sectors. The event is jointly being organized by the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Biotechnology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, Indian Council of Medical Research, All India Council for Technical Education, and Defence Research Development Organisation.

Vigyan Sarvatra Pujyate also aims to inspire India’s youth and help them navigate into building a progressive nation; bring to the fore stories of people in science and their achievements; reinforce the commitment of the scientific community towards the economic and social development of the country. It also highlights the work being done by the R&D organizations from across the country. In this post-COVID-19 world, it is absolutely certain that popularity of science has to reach grassroots in regional languages for any society to thrive.

Uplifting Indian Sports from Grassroot level

“Early catch and proper nurture, makes a medals winning culture” could be the adage adopted by India as it has started to make its mark in international competitions across various games and sports. To support sports saplings – 90 Extension Centres of STC (Sports Authority of India Training Centre), including 60 Khelo India Centres, and 10 Regular Schools which are part of the National Sports Talent Contest (NSTC), are operational under Sports Authority of India. Most of the Extension Centres are operational in schools across the country. Further, under the “State Level Khelo India Centre” vertical of the Khelo India scheme, 04 Kendriya Vidyalayas with residential facilities are operational as Sports Schools since October 2019. Under this vertical ₹1,50,000 per athlete per annum are provided towards expenses of onboarding, lodging, education, training, competition exposure, medical by the Government of India.

In the past few decades, the country has seen exponential growth in sports. As it has pulled its socks by way of providing sports infrastructure at the grassroots level to help athletes to become professional, results have started to show by providing the world with a glimpse of the multisports nation. Further, Sports and Physical education are also responsible for healthy individuals. Now, as per the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), Health and Physical Education is a compulsory subject up to Xth Class, and an optional subject at Higher Secondary Stage. Educating school students about physical education prepares them to deal with the basic nuance of the Human body and further develop a sense of responsibility towards their health. Fit India Movement works with the vision that a healthy individual is far more productive for the nation.

National Sports University, established in Manipur, is a first of its kind university that aims to provide athletes and individuals to nurture into world-class athletes. The university will uplift education in the areas of Sports Sciences, Sports Technology, Sports Coaching, besides functioning as the national training centre for selected sports disciplines. The National Sports University will cater to students and sportspersons from all States and UTs. Financially supporting these efforts is also one of the main pillars behind successful infrastructure. On the similar lines, The Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports has released a total fund of Rs.87.65 Cr to date including Rs.5.49 Cr during the current Financial Year 2021-22 for establishing/construction of the main campus and for the functioning of the temporary campus of the National Sports University, Manipur. Such efforts at the university level will further push the Indian sports ecosystem to the next level.

 

Unifying India through Melodious Voice

She will not speak again but her songs will continue to represent the mood of the nation for generations to come. Bharat Ratna Late Lata Mangeshkar (1929-2022) will remain perhaps the most iconic figure instrumental in the amalgamation of British provinces, various princely estates, zamindari estates and Jagir into one nation, India.

Over the last 70 years, her songs became part of everyone’s everyday life, as thanks to successive technological advancements, music is in office, while walking, alone or with a friend, to relieve stress, to refresh the mind, to celebrate, to mourn – and she sang them for all occasions. It is a scientific fact that Music does wonders to our mental, physical and spiritual advancement. Lataji‘s songs gave us mental peace, satisfaction, positive thoughts, increased attention, enhanced productivity and creativity. Her songs accompanied Indians on their walks, gym and yoga classes and surely helped with health, as research has shown that blood flows more easily when music is played and it relieves symptoms of depression, stimulates memories, and manages pain. Patriotism is a natural outlet of spiritual progress, and her songs have been the instrument to honour mother India.

Lataji treated music as a sacred ritual, as she removed her footwear every time she entered a recording room. She was trained in Bhendibazar gharana under Ustad Aman Ali. Her rendition of songs after Indian classical music definitely helped in preserving the cultural identity of the land. She sang for stars of Hindi and over two dozen other languages, as every female actor wanted to lip sync to her songs, every music composer, director wanted a piece of her work. Her family? List of siblings consisted of all-legendary singers and composers-Asha Bhonslae, Meena, Usha, and Hridaynath Mangeshkar.

PM Modi represents every Indian when he said, “I am anguished beyond words. The kind and caring Lata Didi has left us. She leaves a void in our nation that cannot be filled. The coming generations will remember her as a stalwart of Indian culture, whose melodious voice had an unparalleled ability to mesmerise people.”

Truly, She leaves a void in our nation that cannot be filled.

 

Changing Sports and Games Paradigm

The recent success at the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics showcased that India is no longer dominated by Cricket. Seven medals in the Olympics and 19 and Paralympics demonstrate amply that there is a lot of potential for other sports in the nation. Schemes like TOPS and with government support, the nation can achieve new heights. These successes seem to have ushered in new and big development in the Indian Games and sports Arena.

India is the host for the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup for football for the second time in history and it begins today. The blue tigresses will take on Iran in the opening match of group A. “Our Goal for All” is the official tagline of the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup. Hosting after 42 years, the matches will be played in India in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, and Pune. Next year, India will be hosting the Men’s Hockey World Cup for the fourth time. Around this time next year matches will be played in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.

Another interesting, and green, development is the potential formula E World championships being hosted in India in the city of Hyderabad. The Telangana state and formula E have signed a letter of intent to make Hyderabad the official candidate city for hosting formula E racing. This will be a fantastic opportunity to usher in electric cars and to showcase the green progress in Telangana. Formula E is an all-electric racing series while Formula 1 showcases hybrid races with internal combustion engines powered by fossil fuels. Formula E racing aims to transfer technologies from the race track to the road and inspire innovations to fix the climate crisis as we see India is taking rapid strides towards the sustainability goals for ensuring a healthy planet for future generations.

The gaming industry, particularly mobile gaming, in India has witnessed a growth of around 40% in 19-20. 86% of this market consists of mobile phone users. The gaming sector in India is growing faster than most media sub-sectors – including cinema and home entertainment, audio, and more. Recently, The Government of India announced that it will set up a National Center of Excellence for Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics to create a world-class talent pool in India to cater to the Indian as well as a global industry.

Physical to electric to digital, Indian sports are sure to come back strongly in post covid world.

Courage and Strength for Freedom

What a fantastic day to remind us that Freedom is the most cherished thing. In the celebrations of the return of Mahatma Gandhi or Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, Parkash Parab on the birthday of Guru Gobind Singh Ji and also on the occasion of Ramana Maharshi Jayanti, we are continuously reminded of the immense struggle to achieve freedom.

Martin Luther King Jr has said that “Freedom has always been an expensive thing . History is fit testimony to the fact that freedom is rarely gained without sacrifice and self-denial.” Young Indians need to dwell on his remarks that “There is nothing more majestic than the determined courage of individuals willing to suffer and sacrifice for their freedom and dignity.”

While celebrating the Pravasi Bharatiya divas, it is worth noting that India is among the very few countries which has an extensive and evolving policy framework for engagement with diaspora. Youth, both from India as well as the diaspora community, have made a remarkable journey in innovation, technology and creativity and PM Modi‘s priority is to build everlasting links with the Indian diaspora the world over. India’s capabilities always benefit humanity and it has been at the forefront of mitigation of global challenges specially against colonialism and terrorism which gave strength to the world to face these menaces.

One must always remember Ramana Maharishi’s message of absolute freedom coming out of self-inquiry where he demonstrated a life of absolute consciousness. People across the world are struggling with hectic ambition and stressful loneliness and one sure way of total freedom is delving upon “Who am I?” and following the teachings of Bhagwan. He has said that “…Freedom is not somewhere else…The real freedom is only knowing the Self,within yourself. Concentrate, and you will get it.”

In his life of 42 years, when an ordinary youth is bogged down with issues of settling in life, Guru Govind Singh ji sacrificed his entire family to save the dignity and heritage of the Motherland. Wielding the mighty power of his Kripan, not to terrorise, but to defend against the oppressive and brutal Mughals. A true democrat, he established the seat of the Panj Payaras, an order that had place for all, beyond the barriers of religion, caste, creed or gender. Prime Minister Modi has shared that starting this year, 26th December shall be marked as “Veer Baal Diwas” as a tribute to the courage of the Sahibzades and their quest for justice.

Some of the enemies in today’s times are different and one urgent fight for youth today is against substance abuse. COVID-19 has exaggerated the problem and reportedly more people are using drugs due to the economic downturn. Recently, the chief Justice of India NV Ramana has also expressed serious concerns over youth getting addicted to drugs. He said, “I am alarmed at the reports of an increased number of youth falling prey to intoxicants. I urge them to disassociate themselvesFrom substance abuse. Your mental and physical health is in your hands.” The fight to freedom is indeed manyfold and challenging but perhaps the most important thing to do in life.

Reviving the might of Meerut

The earliest mentions about Meerut can be traced in Ramayana, where the land used to be known as “Maya Rashtra”, or the capital of May danav, the King of the demons. His daughter Mandodari became the queen consort of Ravana of Lanka. Close to Meerut’s Northeast, is a place where the remains were found of the ancient city of Hastinapur, the capital of Pandavas of Mahabharata, which was washed away by Ganges floods. The city also contained a Harappan settlement known as Alamgirpur, which was believed to be the easternmost settlement of the Indus valley civilisation. The land had been a centre of Buddhism too, during the reign of the Mauryan Dynasty. Having been at the center point location of northern India, it has also witnessed muslim conquests between 11th-17th century AD incessantly. Finally, during the British Raj, it is from here that the Indian Rebellion of 1857 against the British East India Company, was started. This first war for Independence gifted an immortal fame for the city. But the damage this land witnessed for decades because of the frequent riots later on, left the city dry and dreaded.

This disturbed perspective about the city started to change after 2014, when the present government saw the potential of Meerut to become the super-district of UP. The city is on the wheels of unprecedented development since then, with mega projects like Rapid Rail, expressways, IT HUBs, sports facilities being inaugurated and planned. The construction of the ambitious Delhi-Meerut Rapid Rail Transit System is being done with a power-pace across the district.

The Ganga Expressway (594 km in length) project is also in the pipeline, which will directly connect Meerut (Western UP) to Prayagraj (Eastern UP). Work is also underway for the establishment of an IT Park in the city, land (~2.5 Acre) for which has already been provided by the Meerut Development Authority. All these projects are not only going to give a boost to employment, but will also strengthen connectivity.

The foundation-laying ceremony of the ‘Major Dhyan Chand Sports University’ in Meerut, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, is an example of this. After almost three decades, the city had the privilege of welcoming India’s Prime Minister (fourth time) on its soil. The first PM to visit the city was Jawahar Lal Nehru, followed by Indira Gandhi and later, Chandrashekar Singh in 1990-91.

Meerut, already popular as the world’s manufacturing hub for top quality cricket goods, had provided the shot puts and javelins that Swapna Barman (heptathlon), Tajinderpal Singh Toor (shot put) and Neeraj Chopra (javelin throw) used to win their gold medals in 2018 Asian Games. With the opening of this sports university, Meerut will have all the tools to not just cater to sports industry and businesses, but also provide a strong, accessible platform to many sports enthusiasts in the region. The sports goods export share of the city already closes to one-third of the total figure. In addition to this, a combination of world-class sports equipments and intense all-sports training environment at the new university, holds a potential to change the sports landscape of not just the city, not just the region, but of the entire country.

Another outcome of such a developmental expansion is the employement and encouragement among the youth, belonging not just to Meerut but to nearby villages, sister-towns and neighbouring districts.

It is rather interesting to see how the land of Meerut, that has held significance in the ‘Treta’ Yug, the ‘Dwapar Yug’, the Harappan era, and the colonial era, is shaping up in the New Modern India.

 

VIVEK – New India: Modernity meets Tradition

Vivek or the ability to discriminate operates at two levels – between wrong-right and between temporary-permanent. Usual definition of Vivek is in the context of knowing what needs to be done and what doesn’t. When more and more members of a society do what is right then it’s a modern developed society. Yardstick to measure this is harmony among various interest groups of society.

In 2021 India has reached a level of self belief under the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi where this poor country is not only achieving its emission targets before time but also showing the biggest polluters or so called advanced economies mirror at world stage. India has reached a level of self sufficiency or Atmanirbharta where this poor country has not only vaccinated a large population but also donated huge amount to other needy countries in the world. Knowing what needs to be done given the time, role And place is perhaps the best display of Vivek which is also called following one’s dharma in other words.

Then there is this ability to discriminate or Vivek in regards to the biggest question of life, who we are. What is permanent and what is temporary? Aatma or soul is the name given to the permanent aspect of us and Anaatma or Maya is the name given to the material or temporary aspect of us. Every living creatures experience of non-dying or tendency to ignore death all around and yet longing to be here permanently stems from the permanent aspect of its being.

The material aspect of every being is continuously changing. Millions of cells are dying and regenerating continuously, thoughts and emotions too are changing continuously. The ability to discriminate between the permanent and changing aspects of one’s life is true Vivek as defined by Aadi Shankaracharya in life changing book Vivekachudamani (crown jewel of Intellect). In November his 12-foot statue at Kedarnath was inaugurated by PM Modi who declared “India now aims high”. He said that Indian philosophy talks about human welfare, sees life in a holistic manner as projects worth ₹130Cr were also launched alongside.

There is a certain sense of hypocrisy when so called right-wing grossify and limit all pervading permanent aatma to only temples etc. Some of my friends on left wing are more honest though when they accept the hypocrisy of ignoring the experience of aatma altogether and of believing only in material truth. Year 2021 saw rise of New India where large scale implementation skills were demonstrated with Vivek of right or wrong. Year 2021 saw rise of New India where modernity meets traditional wisdom, Vivek of temporary and permanent. One key enabler of this New India is its current Prime Minister Narendra Modi.