PERUNGALUR-THE ABODE OF OUR KULA DEIVAM

The September weather was bracing, with a few rain clouds building up as we cruised along NH 67 in the little Ford, covering the 217 odd kilometers between the industrial city of Coimbatore and the ancient Chola-Pallava capital of Trichy. A four hour journey brought us to the city, whose skyline is dominated by the famous Rock Fort, the ancient temple sitting atop a massif around which the whole city is centred. After dumping our luggage at the conveniently located Hotel Royal Satyam (had zeroed on the place after a little research on Make My Trip and Trip Advisor) in Singarathope in the heart of the city, took a walk to the famous Rock Fort, which was a stone’s throw away from there. A brisk climb of the 344 steps leads us to the ancient Ucchi Pillayar Temple atop the 87 m tall basalt rock. Thereafter, after an early dinner retired early as we had to leave early next morning (25 September 2014) for Perungalur, the abode of our Kula Deivam or Clan Deity. Kalpana’s dad, a pious and meticulous man had already done a lot of research for us regarding our presumed Kula Deivam- Vamsodhdharakar an avatar of Lord Siva, whose temple was located in Perungalur, a town near Pudukottai.

We took the lovely Trichy-Tanjore 8-laner, NH 67 and branched off at Sanoorapatti on SH 99 onward to Gandharvakottai and thereafter turned right on NH 226 and drove on for about 18 km to reach our destination. The total distance is about 65 km and driving time is about 1 ½ hours.

Entrance of the Vamshodharakar Temple

Perungalur turned out to be a small non-descript town. After seeking directions form a few townsfolk, we turned off on the small road that passed through an arch which led us to the main temple of the town. The most prominent temple here is dedicated to Lord Siva and his consort, known as Vamsodhdharakar and Mangalambikai respectively. We located the disabled vadyar, who stays in a small house just outside the temple. As he led us to the temple, he gave us a brief on the history of the temple, which dates back to the Chola period. One of the rulers of Chola dynasty who did not have children offered prayers for progeny, before Lord Siva for continuance of his dynasty. In response to his prayers Lord told him to install a Siva Linga facing east and another facing west and continue his prayers to them. The Temple where the deity is facing west is in Perungalur. In due course Lord answered his prayers and blessed him with children to continue his dynasty. Thus the Deity here is called "Vamsodhdharakar" meaning "perpetuator of dynasty".

Vannimara Pillayar

The vadyar thereafter proceeded to explain us the method of offering prayers to the Kula Deivam- which was actually pretty complicated. However, he sent a little boy with us to guide us through the procedure. For starters, we were asked to first to take a bath in the temple pond and in our wet dress proceed to the Sri Vannimara Pillaiyar temple and offer our prayers and offerings including paddy grains, dhoti and coconuts. But as we reached the temple pond, to our horror we realized that it had been reduced to a filthy pond with hyacinth infested sewage water. However, to satisfy the priest we just took few drops of the water and sprinkled it on our head before clearing out of the place. The Vannimara Pillaiyar temple is situated below an ancient gnarled banyan tree on the banks of the pond. The idol appeared pretty ancient and was worn with years of offerings and abhishekams.

Lord Vamshodharakar

Scan of visiting card of the Vadyar

Thereafter, we proceeded to the main temple. The Vamsodhdharakar temple is itself poorly maintained and is littered with garbage and refuse. The priest lamented that there were no funds being provided either by the district administration or the Devasthan Committee. But it just struck me; a little daily housekeeping should be possible with the help of town volunteers and from the offerings received in the temple- only probably there was no will to do so. He proceeded to tell us that the two other temples in the town were the Urumanathar Ayyanar Temple (strictly for guys-no women allowed) and an Ayyappan temple. However, since we had not proceeded as per the elaborate rituals told by him (which involved among other things, proceeding to the Ayyanar Temple in wet clothes and thereafter visiting the main Vamsodhdharakar temple) , he told us that we could not visit the other two temples and could leave after visiting the main temple only. 

Goddess Mangalambikai

Bhairava

The main deity is Lord Vamsodhdharakar, who is in the form of a Siva Linga facing West. The sanctum sanctorum, though not well maintained at all, housed a very primordial and bare Siva Linga. After paying our obeisance to the Lord, we proceeded to the sannathi of Mangalambikai, a form of Goddess Parvati, whose ancient idol faces south. However, the sanctum sanctorum is again pretty poorly maintained. In the outer parikrama of the Temple another Ganesha known as "Khshema Pillayar" has a sannathi so do Murugan, Dhakshinamoorthy, Durga, Chandikeswarar and Bhairavar. After paying our respects to all the deities in the temple, we bid farewell to the vadyar and after offering him a ritual dakshina decided to visit the other two temples too.

Ancient Horse at Urumanathar Temple

Urumanathar Sannathi

No women beyond this point!

After checking out from a couple of villagers, we were able to locate Urumunathar temple which is slightly outside the town. This is an Ayyanar temple. Ayyanar is a village god who is primarily worshipped as a guardian deity who protects the village. His priests are usually non-Brahmins, who belong to mostly the potter caste. The temples of Ayyanar are usually flanked by gigantic and colorful statues of him and his companions riding horses or elephants. This temple is no different- a giant horse idol of a long bygone age guards the flank of the temple. Apart from this a large number of stone and horse idols probably erected over a period of hundreds of years cover the complete temple yard. The temple itself is very small and has a non Brahmin priest. The idols are in the form of abstract pindis (something similar to the main deity at Vaishno Devi). Apart from Urumanathar, there is a small temple of shakti some 100 yards ahead. However, no women are allowed beyond the periphery of the complex. Hence, Kalpana had to wait out in the car after coming till the giant Horse statue that I mentioned earlier. As per the priest, the name Urumunathar originates from the fact that Lord Siva changed his appearance or urumam to appease Parvati in the form shakti who in a fit of rage had ridden away with his army of  ganas  and was able to pacify her and hold her at that location along with the army.

Malayamarungar Temple

Inside Malayamarungar Temple

The third temple is that of Ayyapan in the form of Malayamarungar or Malayappan or Hariharaputhra Saastha. As per the vadyar there, Lord Ayyapan came down from the hills of Kerala (malai in this case refers to Sabari Malai) to appease his father Lord Siva (who was angry with him for some reason) and hence is referred to as Malayappan. As per the priest here, he is our kula deivam and not Vamshotharakar as claimed by the vadyar at the latter temple. As per him, this temple is much older than the Vamshotharakar temple (which was apparently built by later kings and got prominence because of royal patronage, whereas the Malayamarungar is an ancient temple of a much older age). He also stated that a large number of Brahmin families of whom Lord Malayamarungar was the Kula Deivam there was a tradition of naming the first born either Malayappan or Hariharan. Considering that these names figure in our family tree more than once, I wondered if this theory is actually correct and Malayamarungar could well be our family deity rather than Vamsodhdharakar. 

It was later confirmed by my eldest Uncle and the Patriarch of our family, Dr H Srinivasan, Padma Shri, that our kula deivam is indeed not Vamsoddharkar but Malayamarungar who had migrated from Kerala, but it is mandatory that whoever in our family visits Malayamarungar should also visit Vamsoddharakar and do the puja there. Interestingly, besides this he also has confirmed that, Srinivasa Perumal of Tirupathi is an additional kula deivam,

Since we had finished our visits to all three temples, we decided to head back to Trichy and onward to Coimbatore. We took the route through Pudukottai this time- 18 km on NH 210 until Pudukottai and thereafter for about 52 km on NH 226 up to Trichy. The road is again very good, though the traffic was certainly heavier than our incoming route.

On the whole it felt very good to go back to the ancient roots of the family and a detailed visit to the kula deivam temples at Perungalur did make us feel a little more spiritually empowered and somewhere closer to our ancestors, many of who had probably stood at the same space and prayed to the same Gods in another age and another time !  

DR V HARIHARAN- A FREEDOM FIGHTER, SOCIAL REFORMER AND PIONEER OF THE COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT

Dr V Hariharan, 1941

Our grandfather, Dr V Hariharan a true Gandhian, freedom fighter, social reformer and a pioneer of the cooperative movement in India, was born at the turn of the 19th Century in a small town in South India. From there on his journey as a young man smitten by Mahatma Gandhi's call for freedom, incarceration as a political prisoner, being the only modern medical practitioner in a small town, foray into politics in a newly independent India, eventual disillusionment and finally putting his heart and soul into the cooperative movement is a story as monumental as that of India itself in the first half of the last century. Only it has so far never really been told. An educated and modern professional of his times, he himself never believed in either showcasing his work and contributions and gaining mileage out of it. It is probably because of this he found himself a misfit in the dirty grind of politics in Independent India and quit politics after dabbling in it for some time.

Birth and Early Days

Childhood Photo c.1905

He was the eldest of the eight children born to S Venkatarama Iyer (1872-1932) and Meenakshi. He was born at Bellary in the erstwhile Mysore State on 23rd March, 1899. His father , who started his career as clerk at the Tehsildar office at a salary of Rs. 12/- per month, had by this time become a Tehsildar himself. Hariharan was so named after the family deity, Ayyanar of Perungaloor (a village located between Thanjavur and Pudukkottai). He had his schooling at Bellary, Harpanahalli and Madras.


Medical Practice and Move to Arni

Wedding to Janaki, 1928

After completing SSLC in 1915, he enrolled in Royapuram Medical School, Madras (precursor of the present Stanley Medical College) in 1916 and became a Licensed Medical Practitioner (LMP) in 1921. While at Madras, he became very close to the family of his cousins (his mother's sisters' seven children, who later settled at Kanchipuram), whose eldest son was P S Srinivasan, also an LMP became his role model (Dr Hariharan later named his eldest son after him). He spent about an year, with him to gain work experience, and then set up practice at Tiruvannamalai. In 1928, he was married to Janaki (second daughter of K Krishna Iyer, Shorthand Reporter of Sub-Inspector rank and attached to the Shorthand Bureau, Police Department and located at Vellore).

He wound up his practice at Tiruvannamalai within an year as he developed severe gastro-enteritis. He went back to Kanchipuram to convalescence. While debating as to where to re-start medical practice, some prominent persons from Arni (near Vellore) approached Mr Krishna Iyer, and suggested that his son-in-law may settle down at Arni, a small town of silk weavers, as there was no modern medical practitioner there. That led to his coming to Arni in 1928 where he stayed on till 1969.

Mahatma Gandhi and the Freedom Movement

Jail Badge 1932-33

How he got involved with the freedom struggle and politics is not clear. Probably it was the influence of his hostel room mate during Medical School days, S Venkataraman ( law student and youngest brother of S. Satyamurti, a well-known Congress leader of Tamil Nadu and Leader of Congress Legislators in the Central Legislative Assembly, famous for his acerbic oratory and ready wit, and one of the founders of Suguna Vilasa Sabha of Madras) and his cousin and role model, Dr PS Srinivasan, at Kanchipuram, that around 1929 he became an active worker of Indian National Congress, besides building up a fairly flourishing medical practice. At that time there were no modern medical practitioners in and around Arni, for at least 100 sq. miles. By 1931 he had become such an enthusiastic Congressman that, despite pleadings by his father against it, he joined the Non-cooperation movement (Satyagraha) launched by Mahatma Gandhi and was imprisoned for one year from February 1932 to February 1933, first at Vellore Central Jail and then at Madurai Central Jail.

Office bearers of Arni Town Club with S.A.Venkatraman,
Collector, North Arcot District 

While in Jail, sometime in 1932, he lost his father. His father was a diabetic and had an injury in his foot due to a nail pierce, which became septic and gangrenous and he succumbed of a consequent massive infection. Dr Hariharan was refused permission by the prison authorities to visit his father on his death bed or to do the funeral rites (as the eldest son) after his death. This hurt him very badly leaving  a lasting sense of regret and anguish that resulted from that refusal. During his sojourn in the jail, Janaki shifted to Anantapur to her Father-in-law's house along with the eldest child Srinivasan (later Dr H Srinivasan) who was about 2 to 2 1/2 years old at that time. After his release from jail he returned to Arni and found another modern medical practitioner, that too an MBBS degree holder (not a Licentiate-a  qualification considered  inferior to the medical degree) had moved in and set up his dispensary next to his own old one and many of his old customers had been taken over by this rival which meant that he had to start from scratch once more and spend a lot of effort to build up his practice anew. This experience led to his not taking a holiday for many many years for fear of losing his patients to his rivals in the profession. Further, he continued to be politically quite active and became President of the Town Congress Committee, then of the Taluka Congress Committee and a member of the District Congress Committee. Mahatma Gandhi visited Arni twice, once in 1932 and the second time in 1934. During his second visit in which he was accompanied by Dr Rajendra Prasad. Gandhiji's visits aimed at boosting Harijan upliftment and the movement for the boycott of Simon Commission, Gandhiji visited Dr Hariharan's residence and held extensive consultations with him, as the latter was already actively involved in the upliftment of the impoverished weaver community of Arni. He thereafter did not extensively  participate in the Quit India movement launched by Gandhiji against the British Raj and opposing India's participation in World War II in 1942. However, he developed Socialist leanings through his friend V C Natesa Chettiar, and came in contact with  V. Subbiah (the Secretary of the Communist Party of French India, Pondicherry) whom he helped when the party was banned during the early part of World War II and he had gone underground.

Role in Post Independence Politics

With K Kamaraj & Kothandarama Chettiar 1949

After the dawn of Independence, he continued working for the Congress Party and was actively involved during the First General Election of India (though he was not given the Party ticket). He also came in close contact with K Kamaraj when the latter became the second Chief Minister of the Madras State in 1954.

However, subsequently he found it difficult to continue in Congress politics as by his own admission he felt that one had to be a sycophant to 'big' leaders like K Kamaraj to advance in the Party. His being a Brahmin, further did not help his cause as anti-Brahminism was fast emerging as the new slogan in politics in Madras State.  Therefore, during  the second  General Election of 1957 he quit the Indian National Congress and set up S A Meenakshisundara Mudaliar as an independent candidate against the Congress candidate W S Srinivasa Rao. The former however lost the election. It was then that Dr V Hariharan decided to quit active Politics and his energies in the Co-operative Movement.

The Cooperative Movement

His post political life was devoted to Co-operative Movement for the uplift of poor weavers. He had started his work among the silk weavers of Arni, organized them into a Silk weavers co-operative which would help them secure silk yarn and jari (mainly from Surat). His socialist leanings might have prompted him to do this work, and possibly his interest in the plight of Silk Weavers might have commenced from his earlier days at Kanchipuram, a well-known centre for weaving  Silk sarees.

Staff of District Co-operative Marketing/Ware Housing Corporation

In addition to being the head of the Cooperative Silk Weaver Society, he was also the President of Cooperative Building Society. He personally ensured that the plans for the Weaver Colony were successfully implemented during 1960-65. He was actively involved in setting up the Arni Consumer's Co-operative Society and the Arni Co-operative Store which is still very successfully running at Thatchur Road,Arni and also was actively involved in setting up and running the Arni Town Co-operative Bank, the North Arcot District Co-operative Bank as well as the District Co-operative Central Store.

Death and Legacy

Tamarapatra Awarded in 1972

As he developed health problems, he left his beloved Arni, his home for over 40 years and shifted to Madras in 1969. He was awarded the awarded Tamarapatra (copper inscribed memento), the highest recognition given to the leaders of India's freedom struggle, for his invaluable and significant contributions to the Freedom Struggle of India in 1972 (on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of Independence) by the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. The weaver colony in Arni, founded and personally supervised by him until completion  has been re-named as Hariharan Nagar in his honour.

He passed away on 6th August 1977 at Madras due to Kidney related ailments.

He had six sons and two daughters. His eldest two sons H Srinivasan and Rajan Hariharan followed his footsteps into the medical profession. The former is an internationally reputed Leprologist and a Padma Shri awardee and the latter a gastro-entrologist. The third son Ramani Hariharan joined the Indian Army and actively participated in the 1965, 1971 and IPKF operations, finally retiring as a Colonel in the Intelligence Corps of the Indian Army. The others too excelled in various fields of profession.

CIRCUSES IN INDIA: A DIS-BALANCED ACT?

The Great Golden Circus is on show in Gandhidham and a couple of Sundays back I took my 6 year old child to watch it. The last time I visited a circus was many, many years ago, probably 35 years or so, when I was about her age. Circus is wholesome, old fashioned early 20th Century form of entertainment where everything is in flesh and blood and the sights and sounds are absolutely real and not some far flung fantasy being beamed through a TV or computer screen. However, barring a few elephants, horses and parakeets, there were no wild animals, no dare-devil acts and no crowd - just the shimmering costumes of the artistes to remind you of the days when a circus was the most awaited event in town. All this a far cry from my distant childhood memories of of a ring master cracking his whip and making the most ferocious of big cats look tame- a scene so inspiring that at that point of time i had probably considered it as a real macho career option when I 'grew up'!  

The exit of wild animals from circus brought in the first gloom a decade ago. With no tigers jumping through rings of fire or lions playing ball, the circus began losing its magic. This compounded by rising maintenance costs, misplaced pressure from animal right groups and the onslaught of electronic entertainment instruments available conveniently and at affordable prices, sounded the death knell of this grand form of entertainment.

With wild animals gone, it is left to humans to run the show. Hence, a circus typically has endless people-performances in quick succession. Artistes double up with different stunts. 

There were a plethora of 'acts' though. From Nigerians performing gutsy aerobatics to women from north-east displaying daring spear exploits. But even for these, there were no takers - just a handful of visitors huddled in small groups watching the show. Most of these were bored parents accompanying their children.

The Circus owners are a beleaguered lot. They say their love for the pantomime keeps them going but with no animals and no guests, life is getting only more difficult with every new show. Also, there is little or no support or sops being extended by the government to keep this art form alive. In fact, I recently read that the plugs had been finally pulled off from the only official government-aided Circus Training Academy in Kerala.

To survive even another decade into this Century, the Circuses will have to tweak their antiquated USP and find other ways to get in the crowds and the moolah. May be include some bizarre performances or just get the animals back. Agreed, that circus animals are treated shabbily but nothing comes close to hearing the loud roar of a tiger or a lion while seated just a few feet away!!

BUSINESS ASHRAMA: A UNIQUE ISLAND OF ETHICS

Just the other day I was having a casual chat with our HR Head over the issue of Business Ethics and the relevance of the ancient concept of ‘dharma’ in modern day businesses. He happened to mention about a small Indian Company located in Belgaum in Karnataka known as Polyhydron. Frankly, I had heard about the company for the first time, but what he told me after that struck a deep chord in me and thereafter I did a lot of looking up and reading on the company and the unique system of unparalleled (at least in India) business ethics followed by it. This whole article is about this business unit which can be described as a symbol of honesty and ethical practices- a true "Business Ashrama".

The company had modest beginnings in 1987 when the Late Suresh Hundre, established this unit and was its CMD until his demise in 2013. In his own words he envisioned the company to be “a place for grooming karmayogis based on an experiment of integrating spirituality with business which produces excellent results.”

The comprehensive Vision Statement of the company says: “We will create an island of excellence through focus on customer, employee-empowerment and continuous improvement. Polyhydron will nurture an ethically managed organisation. We will not exploit our customers, suppliers, government, society and nature”.

The company does conduct routine business activities like manufacturing, marketing, finance, HR etc. but with a refreshing difference. Be it any field of activity, the emphasis is on honesty, ethics and empowerment to the true sense of the words. In manufacturing, a worker on the shop-floor can reject a material if not found up to the mark and he is the final authority. While marketing their products no attractive concessions or discounts are offered to the customers and the stress is on quality and value for money. In FY 1995-96, the company’s turnover touched Rs.5.75 crores without offering any discounts and the company paid complete corporate tax of Rs.1.5 crores. The emphasis is not to save or steal tax and a tax consultant who offers to devise methods to ‘save’ tax is not welcome. The company rather takes pride in paying higher tax every year as the same is a true sign of their growth and continuous improvement.

I believe there is a sign board at the entrance of the company which says “We do not pay bribes”. There are numerous tales of Government Officials and Inspectors who were refused bribes and were asked to be absolutely forthcoming about their observations as the company decided to take the observations as a free critique and improve shortcomings rather than take them otherwise. This underlying policy in words of Late Mr Hundre is “Honesty is not the best policy. It is the only policy. We are honest, we are transparent and we do not pay any bribe.”

Management of the unit is simple. It is based on “mutual trust” and in the unit there are only two layers i.e. the management and the workers- there are no supervisory staff. All the employees are expected to be honest and follow ethical practices. Everybody in the organisation knows the figures of net profit, material cost, labor cost, tax paid to the government, excise paid, payments made to the suppliers etc. Even outsiders like government officials and customers have access to this information. Anybody in the organisation can challenge any voucher! There are no “debtors’ no “creditors”. Obviously there are no bad or doubtful debts. Suppliers are paid the moment the material is accepted and customers pay immediately on delivery.

This concept of “Business Ashrama’ and complete empowerment is unique as is the method by which Polyhydron distributes gains. The wealth created is first calculated and then 30% is shared with employees, 5% with shareholders, 1% with society and balance 64% remains in the business for growth. (of course, this is all after the payment of corporate tax as per existing rules)

With industries and corporations world-wide facing the problems of frauds, trust deficit and mismanagement, Polyhydron undoubtedly is an example of “Value-based Management” and a role model to the world in this ancient yet novel concept of spiritual management.

THE LEGEND OF BABA HARBHAJAN SINGH

Our Country is an ancient land with ancient legends. Tales of guardian shrines and  beliefs bordering the supernatural are  commonplace in India. Many of these legends are prevalent in mountains and in-hospitable locales, which more often than not have the brave soldiers of the Indian Army as their only residents. I had the good fortune of visiting one such shrine 3 years back- the shrine of Baba Harbhajan Singh- the unofficial guardian saint of the rugged land of Eastern Sikkim, which I visited last year. The legend of the Baba and his Shrine perched high up at the base of the famous Nathula Pass is one of simple faith and honest belief, which drives and motivates the men of the Indian Army guarding those dizzy heights. It is an amazing tale which I just could not resist sharing with the readers.

The tale begins on February 9, 1966 when Sepoy Harbhajan Singh got enrolled into the Punjab Regiment. Enlisted in the Army at an early age, the young soldier found himself posted on the misty heights of the Sino-Indian border near Nathula Pass. The year 1968 saw heavy rainfall and vicious floods in the region. On 4 October, 1968, while escorting a mule caravan from his battalion headquarters at Tukla to Deng Chukla, he fell into a fast- flowing stream and was washed away. The search for his body continued for a couple of days but was abandoned due to inclement weather.

Legend goes that a few days hence, Harbhajan Singh appeared in the dream of one of the Officers of his unit. In the dream, he informed his colleague that he was no longer alive and told him the exact spot where his body would be found. He asked him to construct a Samadhi at the spot where his body would be found. After saying that he would always patrol in the area and never give up being a soldier, he disappeared. The man woke up and dismissed the dream as a manifestation of his grief for Harbhajan Singh’s loss. It wasn’t until another member of the same unit had the same dream down to the last detail that suspicions were aroused. It seemed an incredible coincidence that two people could have dreamed the same sequence of events. When a search party was dispatched to the spot that had been described in the dream, late Sepoy Harbhajan Singh’s body was found. He was cremated with full military honours and a Samadhi was made at Chhokya Cho as per the wishes that he had expressed in his dream. The first part of the dream had been accurate and what about the second half about remaining a soldier forever? 

Soon reports of a man seen patrolling the area began filtering in. Soldiers deployed in the area would talk of a lone uniformed man on horse patrolling the region. Forces on the other side of the border confirmed these reports and claimed that they too had seen the ghost rider. Over the years, soldiers in the area began seeing Harbhajan Singh in their dreams where he instructed them of loopholes and unprotected areas from where the Chinese could attack. His instructions generally proved to be accurate and the legend of Baba Harbhajan Singh grew. 

Meanwhile, the popularity of the shrine was also growing. It gained significance as a religious spot and people came with the faith of having their problems solved or their infirmities cured by the Baba who had come back from the dead. The Samadhi dedicated to Harbhajan Singh consisted of a three room complex where a bed would be laid out for him and his uniform and boots would be displayed for the visitors. Caretakers of the Samadhi would swear that each morning the bed sheets would be crushed as if someone had slept in the bed the previous night and the carefully polished boots would be soiled and covered with mud.

Story also goes that the Baba was promoted posthumously and finally ‘retired’ a few years ago as a Honorary Captain. A pay check would be sent home to his mother in Kapurthala every month and more interestingly, he would go home on annual leave on September 14 every year. Soldiers would pack his trunk with basic essentials and ‘Capt Harbhajan’ would be accompanied by two soldiers all the way to Kapurthala by train and brought back after a month the same way. This tradition continued for many years until he ‘retired’.

The Samadhi dedicated to Harbhajan Baba is located amidst a beautiful panorama of high mountains broken in places by gushing waterfalls and dotted by multi-coloured shrubs. Taxi drivers and soldiers passing through the area generally stop at the Samadhi to pay obeisance to the revered Baba. Not doing so is supposed to bring bad luck. Devout believers from all over Sikkim and Bengal visit the Samadhi bringing the sick and the elderly in the hope of a miracle. They bring bottles of water and take back those lying there. It is believed that water left at the Samadhi over a period of time turns to holy water and is capable of curing ailments. In fact, I carried a few bottles back home including one for an ailing uncle.

In a society that is dictated by tradition and supported on the pillars of faith, it is not uncommon to find a legend of this kind. Perhaps the Chinese are just as devout as we are, because at the monthly flag meetings between the two nations at Nathula, even they set a chair aside for Harbhajan Baba!

As the red Chinese flag flaps in the icy winds next to the tricolour, a lone figure perhaps stands and watches- ever alert, ever watchful, ever zealous, and ever protective of his country’s honour. A zeal that has lasted beyond death!

THE NATIONAL WAR MEMORIAL OF INDIA: TOO LITTLE TOO LATE?

One afternoon about a 10 years ago, I happened to be travelling through the town of Tula about 200 km from Moscow. At the town centre was an impressive structure which quite looked like a military commemorative. I was pleasantly surprised to see little school children in smart uniforms lined up opposite the structure. Out of curiosity I told my driver Dmitri (who thankfully spoke some English) to stop, so that I could observe the proceeds. I suddenly saw as to what appeared to be a newlywed bride and groom come up to the structure and stand and bow in reverence. I was mystified and asked Dmitri as to what was going on. What he told me really warmed my heart as a soldier. The ‘structure’ was the local war memorial at Tula which commemorated all the soldiers form the region as well as all the Russians who died fighting in the famous ‘Battle of Moscow’ of World War II. As per local tradition in many cities of Russia, newly-weds always pay obeisance at the local war memorial immediately after the formalities at the church were over. Dmitri added that over 9 million Soviet soldiers and reservist males died defending the Fatherland in WW II, so much so that the number of women in the Soviet Union was much higher than the number of men after the Great War.  

It has been a decade past since that incident, but it all came back to me today, when there is talk going on in our country on a National War Memorial being approved for construction in New Delhi. Far from being elated, I was actually ashamed and saddened that the 67 years, 6 major conflicts and numerous insurgencies since independence do not seem to have awakened the Nation’s collective consciousness as a whole regarding the aspect of respecting the soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice in the defence of India. The demand for such a memorial should not be coming only from the armed forces but from the citizenry as a whole.

Whilst we have precious real estate in Delhi wasted so wantonly as memorials for politicians with dubious histories and almost zero National contribution, it has taken almost 7 decades for the Armed Forces to even reach the stage of ‘in principle’ approval of the Memorial. I daresay that even our colonial masters- the British had more gratitude for the Indian Soldier as is evident from beautiful and serene war memorials constructed for the soldiers of the British Indian Army in New Delhi (India Gate- which we continue to use as the adhoc National War Memorial), Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata and Kohima in India and a number of other places overseas such as the Neuve Chapelle Memorial in France, Florence Memorial in Italy and so on.

Nothing can be more ironical than the fact that even today; India honours its war heroes by placing wreaths at a memorial that was added on to a relic of the British Raj. The Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate in New Delhi was and remains an after-thought rather than a true National War Memorial to honour the memory of more than 20,000 soldiers who have died on duty. Independent India’s rulers never thought it fit to erect a monument equally, if not grander than the India Gate, to honour the memory of our soldiers, airmen and sailors who died since 1947.

At the Amar Jawan Jyoti, we perfunctorily salute the ‘Unknown Soldier’ but fail to remember the soldiers who died battling India’s enemies. Each of them had a name, a face, a regimental identity. All that, and more, is obliterated by our half-hearted gestures. What remains is a sense of bitterness among the loved ones left behind by our men in uniform.

National War Memorial proposals have been made time and again but successive governments have dragged their feet. To add to this, there has been dogged resistance by the bureaucracy and the Delhi Urban Arts Commission and other such Anglophile forums which instinctively reject anything that may seem to alter the colonial vista of Lutyens’ New Delhi. The last time we heard about the proposal was more than two years ago when the then Defence Minister AK Antony stated hurdles in the way of building a National War Memorial had been removed. Since then there had been a pregnant silence until In July 2014 the Narendra Modi Government finally announced plans to construct a National War Memorial around the canopy in front of India Gate and a National War Museum in adjoining Princes Park. Whether this is another empty political rhetoric or truly a sincere promise- only time will tell.

The callous and insensitive attitude towards a National War Memorial by the Nation as a whole, has definitely left a deep feeling of hurt in those who gave their sons, daughters and loved ones to fight and die for the nation and also resulted in poor appreciation of their sacrifice amongst generations of Indians- totally opposite of the Russian example that I have quoted above. We are no doubt proud of our Armed Forces, but that by itself is not enough. It is time for us as a Nation to overtly express gratitude to our men and women in uniform. A grand National War Memorial in the National Capital to honour the martyrdom and perpetuate the memory of the martyrs would be a small token of acknowledging that debt of gratitude until then it will remain as a blot on our collective conscience as a people.

OLD LADY...WE WILL MISS YOU

As the ubiquitous Ambassador Car a.k.a Amby fades off into the history books after a monumental life cycle of about 59 years on the Indian roads, I cannot but feel a pang of sadness and nostalgia as the grand old lady of the Indian roads has been an inseparable part of our life, be it childhood, the growing up years or professional lives.

From the green Amby that my uncle had in Calcutta of the late 70s to my Dad's 'office car' to all the immaculately polished black 'staff cars' during my years in the Army, the bulbous, boxy and unmistakably ugly car with an undersized rear glass, tail fins from a different era and notoriously poor quality control was well nothing short of family- something which was always around.

I still remember a childhood trip to Darjeeling with Mom and Dad in the early -80s. You had only WW II vintage Landrovers and Ambassadors operating there since the Premier Padmini (the only other car available) was unable to climb the steep roads of the hill town. Also the cavernous boot made it an ideal choice for being India's favourite taxi for a long time.

For years, the car symbolised all that was India- big, noisy, hot (no AC!), inefficient -but still running! It was (and still is) the favourite barge for many a top bureaucrat and politician and a white Amby with a lal batti has long been perceived as a symbol of power especially in Delhi.

As its maker HM announced indefinite closure of its Uttarpara plant citing low sales and losses on 25 May 2014 it surely brings down the curtains on a glorious chapter in the history of automobiles of the country. When Bajaj Auto had quietly ceased production of the equally iconic 'hamara Bajaj' Chetak range of scooters (which powered entire generations of post independence middle class India), the same sense of nostalgia was never evoked as the scooters had undergone several changes over the years both in looks and technology, but the Old Lady of Uttarpara has largely remained unchanged since she first rolled out in the 50s barring a change in the power-plant from the original BMC derived Push-Rod engine (early models used to have a logo proudly proclaiming OHV!) to an Isuzu sourced engine sometime in the early 90s..

Just to cut the long story short....Old Lady - We will miss you!