BARBARITY OF PAKISTAN

Every few years, the Pakistan Army appears to be afflicted by an itch. It is probably an itch for a masochistic kick in its pants. And when it gets this itch, it does the only thing it has been taught to do - it attacks Indian soldiers unprovoked.

Very recently the Pakistan Army shot dead two Indian soldiers walking in Indian territory. Not being content with the shooting, they lept upon the bodies of the soldiers and defiled and mutilated them in a horrible manner-- cutting off the head of one of the soldiers and taking it with them to Pakistan. And all this in the 21st century.

While the family members of the dead Indian soldier weep for the head of their dearly departed beloved, the Pakistani's are not even bothering to return the head - and are brazenly denying that the incident ever happened!! This is another itch that the Pakistan army has - the itch to tell lies openly and brazenly.

The Indian Army on the other hand has a record of perfect gentlemanly behaviour during and after a war, sticking to the rules of the Geneva Convention.

In 1971 over 90,000 Pakistani soldiers had been caught by the Indian Army after being defeated in war. Not only were the prisoners treated with dignity but they were returned back to Pakistan unharmed and in good health.

It appears that for each good act of the Indian Army, known for its gentleness, the Pakistani's respond with unprecedented brutality.

Even now the Indian Army has acted with remarkable restraint despite the fact that tempers are running high at this brutal killing of their soldiers.

What is the matter with Pakistan? Why does it do all this? The general consensus is that the Pakistani army wishes to make its presence felt on the civilian government that runs their country, and each little provocation on the Indian border becomes another feather in its cap.

Ultimately of course the Pakistani Army kicks out the civilian governments and takes over. They stand unique in history in hanging one of their own Prime Ministers, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

But if its another kicking that the Pakistani Army is looking for, then this time the Indian Army has a long boot, and they might not be in a mood to let off the Pakistani Army with just a light kick.

THE CD OF LIFE

How often have we watched CDs of films that we like, and how often have we re-wound them to certain scenes that we especially enjoyed, scenes of joy, pathos, deeply moving sensitive points. How often have we finished watching the film and then laid it aside in our desk knowing that it is there to watch again, whenever we feel like it.

But the CD of life that is unfolding itself before us bringing events and emotions and the pathos of life, is a one way CD - we cannot re-wind any part of it, no matter how much we like to. We cannot re-wind and re-play even one second of this moving film. Whatever scenes come before us are gone forever, lost to us, they are no longer ours, we have no possession or control over them.

How we reacted in all these scenes of life that came before us forms the CD of our life - irrevocable, gone and done forever, each and every moment, each and every second, lost, and receding further and further from us till it gets lost in the sands of time.

How carefully we have to play our parts, how sensitively we have to use the time allotted to us in this drama of life, knowing that each little smile, each little frown, all the love given and all the love lost is going and going forever. In fact each and every breath that you take is going forever, you cannot bring it back,each and every heart-beat is tapping away its own existence forever.

It is not something you would like to take chances with, for it shall never come again. You cannot rewind and replay and re-enact any of the parts of this drama or this moving film on the stage of life.

Or, all having said and done, we shall find ourselves, saying with Omar Khayyam, the poet:

Ah, Love!

Could thou and I with fate conspire

And grasp this sorry state of things entire

Would not we shatter it to bits

And re-mould it nearer to the heart's desire

But sadly we cannot conspire with Fate to re-wind, re-play or edit and change this CD of life. So treat each and every moment with the greatest amount of respect. It is very precious and will never come again.

THE MASTER GURU AND THE DANCING GIRL

It appears that the attraction for women has always been a powerful malaise that has gripped mankind since ages!

Some of the stories that appear in the Hindu scriptures almost parallel some of the stories of the Old Testament. In the Old Testament there was the story of Salome the dancing Girl who was annoyed at being rejected by the Prophet John the Baptist and had him slain.

In the Hindu Scriptures there is the story of the Greatest Master Guru - a Maharishi - of all time, a great prophet and holy man, by the name of Vashishta.

It was said that when this Master Guru meditated, the Cosmos shook with the vibrations of his mantras. Even the gods were afraid of the meditative powers of the Powerful Guru, the Maharishi Vashishta. Whenever he meditated their thrones shook as if an earthquake had hit them.

In fact the gods were scared that the Maharishi would advance so much on the spiritual front that they would lose all their thrones in heaven and that the Maharishi might be made the Ruler of the Heavens by the Almighty Creator, pleased with his meditations.

There was only one way - and that was to break his meditations, to render his penances and austerities null and void, by placing a break on them. And so they tried everything, from earthquakes to thunderstorms and floods -- but nothing would break the Master Guru's meditations who sat through these calamities of nature, his legs crossed underneath him and his eyes closed, lost in a world of his own mantras - which were giving the gods goose pimples.

And then the gods came up with a brilliant idea. They called the most beautiful, and sensuous dancer in heaven, Menakshi, and pleaded with her to go down to the earth and to break the meditations of the Master Guru bent upon creating havoc in the Universe.

And so, it is written that the beautiful dancer Menakshi went down to earth, to the spot in the forest where the Maharishi Vashishta was meditating, and began a sensuous dance in front of him.

The sound of her bangles and anklets went into the ears of the Master Guru and the delightful fragrance of her perfume went into his nostrils.

The Master Guru opened his eyes but slightly to see what was going on, although he had a fairly good idea that it had to be a woman, and then his eyes opened wide, and then wider and wider until they popped open - as he saw Menakshi execute some of her most enticing dance numbers before him.

And the next instance - to hell with meditation - as the Master Guru used all his athletic, Yoga powers to leap up from his cross legged posture into a hop, skip and jump, and a pole vault, that brought him into fair embrace of the damsel. As a matter of fact he so lost control over himself that he was going around in circles chasing Menakshi, while becoming a part of the enticing dance himself.

The gods clapped with joy and dropped rose petals from heaven on the dancing couple. At last they had broken the unbroken meditation of the Master Guru and brought him down to earth.

Their thrones in heaven were safe. Never again would they feel threatened by the mystical vibes of the Master Guru, who had slid backwards one notch to become an Ordinary Guru from a Master Guru. Fallen a prey to the perennial temptation, woman.

Years later Mao Tse Tung the Chair of the Chinese Republic wrote in his Master Red Book that men in politics should beware of the enticement of the opposite sex which could make them go crazy.

DONT BE SURPRISED AT INGRATITUDE

You must have noticed how often in life you have been very good and kind to people, helped them when they were in distress, given them a shoulder to lean upon, and been more than a good friend. And all this happened when they were in need and you were in a position to help them.

You must also have noticed how, after some time, the same people change their attitude towards you when they are no longer in need.

At first their visits to your home become less and less, and later their telephone calls and emails become infrequent to the point of disappearing altogether.

The Final Clinch is when they do not even send you New Year's Greetings. And then you know you are out of their minds altogether, and you wonder what you had done to make them so distant.

Actually the fact is that it was not your fault at all.

The fact is that what had brought them to you was their need, and now that the need no longer exists, you dont exist either.

This is human Nature.

Gratitude does not remain ingrained in the human mind for long.

As a matter of fact gratitude is not a basic human feeling like love, anger, fear, courage, selfishness or unselfishness etc etc.

It is not part of human nature and it does not "stick " there for long.

As a matter of fact what is part of human nature is ingratitude.

So dont be surprised when people are not grateful for what you did for them-- remember ingratitude is ingrained in the human mind and is part of human nature.

You dont want anything from them, not even gratitude, you were simply being good and helpful, but it is indeed hurtful for you to see them simply walk away when you have fulfilled their needs. That is where the expression "being dropped like a wet rag" probably came from.

People are not grateful to God for the beautiful world he gave to them as a gift without asking. On the contrary they go against his laws of love, mercy and justice, and use his gifts to oppose his laws upon earth.

So if people can make bold as to not to be grateful to God Himself, then small wonder that they are not grateful to you for any favors you may have done to them in life. So be not surprised.

THE KING AND THE HARLOTS

Here is a parable on a King and harlots in his kingdom which shall instill greater respect for the women who the world considers as fallen women in the world.

The King had passed a Law that all women of questionable character, harlots, would be given capitol punishment.

A group of women were caught by the officers of the King and produced in his court.

The leader of the group, known as the Harlot Queen spoke before the King even as he was about to pass the death sentence on them.

"O King! The same God who created you also created us.

The same God who made you a King made us harlots.

It was His Will that you become a King and His Will that we become harlots.

"If following His will is wrong -- and if you must give us the death sentence for following His Will, then pass the same death sentence on yourself also for following His Will!"

The king was so shocked on listening to these words, that pangs of conscience gripped him and he set them free.

One fails to appreciate the tremendous amount of good that the harlots of the world do in quenching the desires of men who would otherwise go on a rampage of raping innocent girls. Small wonder that many countries have legalised their profession.

LORD CHRIST AND THE FALLEN WOMAN

This incident about Jesus Christ has often touched me to the core.

A woman was condemned to be stoned in the public place because of her status in society as a fallen woman.

As the people gathered there picked up stones to fling on her, Lord Christ appeared on the scene and said:

"Stop! He who be without sin amongst you, let him cast the first stone!"

And the crowd was shocked into silence, and did not cast a single stone at the woman.

This is a great lesson to those who preach the doctrine of being "holier than thou" and speak of women of easy virtue as being sinful and being objects of disdain.

It is an incidence that portrays the dignity of women.

It is an abject lesson to those who look upon the sins and faults of others while ignoring their own.

Lord Christ had also said:

"Why lookest thou at the mote in thy brother's eye when thou hast a beam in thy own!!"

"Judge not, lest ye be judged!"

Yes, whether it be Lord Krishna or Lord Christ, these Great Incarnations of God upon the earth knew of the dignity of women, and how men should look upon them and treat them.

Today if a girl is raped, she can easily become the object of disdain of the so called "society" of our time, where the ladies "with class" will consider themselves on a superior level of human existence.

It is this attitude towards raped women which has made many raped women take their own lives in desperation.

Maybe it is time to go back and have another look at the Scriptures again, to read about Krishna and Jesus Christ all over again and to see what great human values these incarnations of God stood for.

It is about time we went beyond selfishly seeking salvation in heaven from these Great Souls but rather followed their teachings on the worldly plane to make the world a better place to live in.

LORD KRISHNA AND RAPED WOMEN

India is a land where almost all the Hindus worship Lord Krishna as God Incarnate and thousands of temples are erected across the land to worship him.

People know Lord Krishna to be God because he revealed Himself to be God in a massive revelation, written down in the Holy Geeta of the Hindus, in which the Lord showed that he was limitless and All powerful, Beyond Space and time, saying: "Behold! I am God without a beginning and without an end!" - as the entire Cosmos, all of space and time, all of creation and existence unfolded itself before the eyes of the beholder.

His miracles abounded as he healed countless suffering souls and raised many from the dead, as the melodies of his flute spread peace and love into the hearts of people, and as tears flowed down from his eyes for the sorrows of the world.

People still worship the Mountain, Mount Gobardhan which he lifted with his little finger to save a township from a terrible storm, and which was just one amongst his awesome miracles upon earth.

Invincible, and valiant, he was chivalrous to the extreme and respect and venerated womankind. His love story with his devotee and beloved, Radhe is immortalized in all the temples of India.

Yet far from asking people to love him, Lord Krishna would say:

"I love those who love each other more than I love those who love me!"

"He who sees me in everyone and everyone in me is never separate from me nor I from him!"

"Setting aside all other paths, seek thou a refuge in me!"

People offer prayers to him and get the answers they are seeking and feel his love and compassion come down to them and believe salvation to be a final union with him.

But there is an aspect of Lord Krishna which people here appear to have forgotten or not paid much attention to -- and which is so important in the context of the rape of women going on in the land.

There was a time when Lord Krishna waged war against one of the most evil kings of that time, Jarasandha. The man had plundered and pillaged many a kingdom.

It was said that he and his armies had imprisoned and raped several women over the years, all of who were rotting in his fortresses and prisons.

Lord Krishna heard of the plight of the imprisoned women and waged war against Jarasandha and defeated him. Thereafter he set the women free.

However the women told him that they were all going to drown themselves in the sea because they had been raped and dishonored by Jarasandha and his men.

Raped women were looked down upon as "fallen women" and no one would even come near them far less think of marrying them. In fact their entire lives were ruined, to be lived in ignominy and disgrace. So they had decided to commit mass suicide.

Lord Krishna who was the living epitome of Love and Compassion and venerated women could not bear to see the women kill themselves.

In an unprecedented gesture, Lord Krishna declared that he was marrying all of them! That henceforth he would be known as their husband and that they would live in settlements that he would make for their habitation close to his palace.

And a mass marriage ceremony was performed, which was not just a symbolic marriage but a real ceremony with the proper chanting of Vedic rites by respectable pandits and priests. The aghast pandits and priests had no option but to obey Lord Krishna. Such a thing had never been done before. Lord Krishna had over- stepped the boundaries of accepted norms and religious customs.

Thereafter the raped and dishonored women lived lives of dignity and honor in the settlement made by Lord Krishna, under the divine shelter of Lord Krishna as their powerful husband till the end of their days.

When people look down upon any woman who has been raped and feel that she is not respectable enough to be married into a good household, then let them remember Lord Krishna and the supreme sacrifice he performed, to preserve the dignity and honor of womanhood.

And he did this at a time when he was worshiped as God Incarnate by many. He did not care what people would think or say about him or how history would look upon his act of merciful compassion.

People must remember their own legacy and the legacy that Lord Krishna left them of preserving the honor and dignity of women at all costs.

If nothing else, then let the rapists know that Lord Krishna will never forgive them for dishonoring women-- and they can expect his golden discus of annihilation to come at them in the end of days. Lord Krishna was not one to compromise with evil and always brought all evil doers to justice. Let all rapists in India remember that.