The Mulatto, an Archaic Word that Signifies an Offspring of a Black- White Relationship

 I have been reading a lot about the deep south in America. I learn't about the Mulatto from books on that region.Mulatto is an archaic word not much in use these days as it reminds people of slavery. but it is part of the dictionary. I remember one of my girl friends laughing and telling me that she was a mulatto ! That made me think and I realized that Mulatto was a term to denote an off spring of a relationship between a white and black of either sex. But in real terms particularly in the deep south of the USA , it was a one way relationship with black women and white men, who were the masters.
With the advent of slavery in the south and the large mansions and plantations, it was inevitable that the white masters would exploit the women on the plantations. This continued for a good part of a hundred years, till the concept of the black man as a bonded slave weakened. Black women who were young and comely were invariably exploited by the white master and his son for their pleasure. A lot many women had children who were termed mulatto’s. The sad part was that these Mulatto girls who were very beautiful again slept with their white masters in an incestuous relationship. In fact in New Orleans Mulato girls were in great demand by the whites.
As far as the Negro male was concerned, relationship with a white woman was taboo, as the whites guarded their women zealously. But some times a relationship did occur, the consequence of which was death for the black man. This is beautifully brought out in the novel ‘To kill a Mocking Bird', also made into a movie with Gregory Peck.
The Mulatto was an anachronism of history, and it is good that the word has gone into disuse. Its certainly not a credit to the whites in America and the Christian religion, that condoned these acts of the whites. The repercussions are there now in the form of Black militant organizations and the conversion of the Blacks to Islam.Perhaps this was inevitable

Can India have a Popular Uprising Like in Egypt ?

I sometimes wonder the reason for the Hindus( Majority of Indian population) being so subservient and obedient.  They accepted Moslem rule for 900 years and British rule for 200 years. It is a wonder that a large population of crores was governed by a comparative handful of people. Social scientists must study this aspect of the Hindu ethos. Why was there not a mass upsurge, that could have thrown these invaders in the Arabian sea. But it did not happen and that is a fact of history.
This is not to deny that individual warriors and local insurrections were not there, but by and large the masses remained passive and accepted their fate. A particular galling example is the massacre carried out by Timur-e-Lang, who in an invasion of India massacred 100,000 Hindus in North India in 1398. 
Perhaps this stoic acceptance of their fate has something to do with their religion and the caste system.  The religion as a philosophy is fine, but it teaches that the actions of man govern his future and killing an animal or a man is crime that will be punished. Secondly the caste system divided society and one class of people were not allowed to bear arms.
 But times are changing and there is awareness that people power has some meaning.  But the Hindus of India have a long way to go to change an ethos that has governed them for thousands of years. As such on the face of it a mass agitation like the one in Egypt does appear unlikely. There is rampant corruption, fissiperous tendencies and yet the masses have not done anything.  We have ministers who have swindled the nation for thousand's of crores of rupees and yet  the popular reaction is sadly missing. Frank Moraes wrote about the 'meek and mild ' Hindu, A man content to live his life the way it is, as it is 'written in the fate'. This concept must go and Hindu social reformers must change this ethos. There is the RSS, but it is not the vehicle to bring about the required change. We have to await a social reformer who will bring this about.

Why are American Negroes Converting to Islam ?

 Recently, I recieved a email from my friend in the USA that his neighbor a African American had converted to Islam. I was intrigued by this and realized that a lot many Blacks are converting to Islam. We must remember thatGeorge Washington led the war of Independence and the United States became a free country in 1776. America was virgin land and the white settlers opened up the country with plantations and factories. Thus there was a need for cheap labor. To get this cheap labor, a nefarious scheme to abduct and kidnap black men was commissioned. These Blacks were kidnapped from the African continent and brought to America to work on the plantations and estates. There status was that of slaves.

The masters of these slaves were all white men who regularly went to Church and were good Christians. The priests who gave sermons from the pulpits, found nothing wrong in this slavery of the black man.  These so called men of God did nothing about this. The civil war brought no respite and this slavery continued in the deep south. But over a period of time with the advent of 2 world wars a slackening of the hold on the Blacks was evident and a civil rights movement gathered steam as the Black man bid for his rights.

The transition was not easy and white supremacy organizations like the KKK appeared who killed blacks without compunction. The sad part is that these men  were good Christians and yet the black man was discriminated against. The Christian religion has a lot to answer for the state of the Black man in America for nearly 200 years or more.

There was bound to be a backlash and now the Blacks are converting to Islam. It started with Cassius clay becoming Muhammad Ali and now it has grown like ivy.This conversion is a failure of the Christian religion which is not a white mans preserve, as it has happened in America.

When will Muslim Pakistan Learn that Fomenting Terrorism Does not Pay

  I have been wondering that 2010 was perhaps the worst year for Pakistan, as it was besieged by a series of terror attacks. Pakistan was a creation of the British who wanted to leave India a truncated state. They pampered MA Jinnah and carved out an Islamic state. However the state created in 1947, had no history behind it  and to survive they created a bogey of 'Hindu India' .As a follow up Pakistan, started fomenting acts of terrorism against India. General Zia ul Haq was the man who refined the terror angle against India.. But in 2010 the same terrorism has bedeviled the country itself. With rampant corruption and also floods, 2010 is in real terms an extremely bad year for Pakistan.
One of the reasons for this upsurge in terrorist activity is a reaction by the Taliban to the attacks by the USA with drones. The watch word is revenge. Thus the Taliban and its ally Al Qaeda have with great ferocity attacked civil and military targets. The result is that over 2000 people were killed and thousands injured in 52 suicide attacks during the last year. Starting with the terror attack at Lakki Marwat which killed 90, there was no let up and attack after attack took place, that included an audacious attack on a mosque in Rawalpindi.

Many other shrines were also attacked and among them were the Datta Durbar shrine in Lahore and the Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine in Karachi. In addition a terrorist attack on the Ahmadiyya sect killed over a hundred people of that community. Along with terrorism a politicized army and the Army chief dictating government policy is a matter of concern. Thus the Pakistan government cannot oppose the army which want India to be classified as enemy no 1, even if the Taliban and Al Qaeda run amok in the rest of Pakistan.

All this points to a heady cocktail of death and destruction with the army still feeling despite all the mayhem that ‘Hindu India’ is the greater threat.   Only deterrent action by India can nip this menace.

Who is the Greatest Hindu Warrior From History

This is a question that is difficult to answer as depending upon perception one can opt for any warrior from Porus who stopped Alexander to Hari Singh Nalwa who brought havoc on the Afghans in the North West. Then we have Shivaji Maharaja who battled the Moguls and Guru Gobind and Banda Abrader who also fought the Moslem tirelessly. But among all these warriors my vote will go to Samrat Hemchandra Vikramaditya, popularly called Hemu.


I vote for Hemu because of the peculiarity of his reign and the period he lived in. It should not be forgotten that Hemu lived at a time when the Hindus were bested in all battles by the Moslems. In such a scenario he was like the phoenix that rose from the ashes and fought the Moslems. It is in record that Hemu won 22 battles against the Moslems on the trot. No Indian king ever had won so many battles against the Moslems. He was also the first Hindu who after 350 years was crowned as Emperor at the Purana Quila. A painting of that period shows that even Afghan and Moslem chiefs paid homage to Hemu. In fact his fame spread far and wide and Historians have recorded that the Moslems had the element of fear when they faced Hemu.At the battle of Chhapparghatta in December 1555, Hemu routed the Bengal forces under Muhammad Shah, who was killed in the battle

Hemu was thus a great warrior. Let us now come to the second battle of Panipat which he fought against Akbar and his General Bairam Khan. Much has been written about this battle, but perhaps Hemu would have won if an act of providence had not come on the side of the Moslem army. Hemu suffered an arrow hit in his eye .This was just by chance and he was rendered unconscious. And the Moguls could rally and turn the tables on Hemu. I sometimes wonder whether it was the wish of the divine that the Moslem should rule over Hindustan. I can see no explanation for the defeat of Hemu except that it was fated for Moslem rule to be established in India.

But now after a lapse of 500 years we can look back at Hemu and admire him as the greatest of the Hindu warriors.

The Hand and the Horoscope * 78

Recently I read a book 'Numerology by the eminent Astro Palmist Katkar. I was thrilled to read that the writer while in Bombay in the late forties of the last century was staying in a hotel.There he was approached two men who wanted to see his palm.This the astro numerologist readily consented. The men began to write some numbers on a piece of paper, keeping the hand in focus.

Katkar records that in about 15 minutes the men drew his  horoscope from the palm.It was an astounding feat says katkar to see the men casting an horoscope from the palm.This shows that the palm has a lot of mystery and is connected to the Astrological sciences.

The study of the palm and forecasts from it are in the realm of Palmistry. This is an ancient science, but to cast an horoscope from the hand shows that the hand and its lines have a deeper meaning.  Generally the left hand is associated with God given qualities and the right shows the actul developments. But it is a vast science and needs a lot of study.  I myself have studied this science for over 3 decades and can vouchsafe that one can make uncanny predictions from the lines on the Palm.

Samrat Hemchandra Vikramaditya( Hemu)-Napoleon of India

 A lot many people haven't heard of Samrat Hemchandra Vikramditya popularly called Hemu. However for Hindus he is a beacon, the man who shook the Moslems and was the last crowned King of North India at Delhi.


The Second battle of Panipat

This battle in 1556 is in effect the the last stand of the Hindus against the Moslems. It was fought between s between Akbar the Mughul ruler and Samrat Hemu, the Hindu King at Delhi.

The Hindu General Hemu had won a succession of victories against the Muslims and he entered Delhi and had himself crowned as King in the Purana Quila –the fort built by Sher Shah Suri. It was the first time a Hindu ruler had worn a crown at Delhi in 350 years. This was a poignant moment in Indian history as Hemu ascended the throne in the Purana Quila. Prior to this the great Hemu had shown his prowess on the battlefield and had won 22 successive victories against the Moslems. This is unprecedented in Military History and for the first time the Moslems were scared to face Hemu. This it places Hemu on the pedestal of the great warriors among the Hindus.

Conduct of the Battle


Hemu straight away went on the offensive. Repeated charges by the elephant corps of Hemu soon had the Mughul army in disarray. Despondency set in and the Mughul were thinking of breaking battle and retreating.

Hemu proved he was an able commander as he directed the battle from the vantage point of his elephant skillfully. There is no doubt that Hemu was heading for victory. But then providence took a hand and a stray arrow hit the eye of Hemu and he was rendered unconscious. This had a deleterious effect on his army as the army seeing their commander incapacitated lost heart and frittered away their advantage.

Last Word

The Mughul thus converted a lost battle into victory. After the battle a semi conscious Hemu was brought before Akbar who beheaded him. Some historians claim that Akbar himself did not behead Hemu, but that is inconsequential as he was present there at that time. Akbar and the Mughus thus re-entered Delhi, but the exploits of Hemu earlier on proved that the Hindus were as brave as anybody. Let us salute Hemu !