Book Review of " Venus in India": great Erotic Literature

 ONE OF THE GREAT EROTIC BOOKS SET IN INDIA " VENUS IN INDIA" BY CHARLES DEVEREAUX

 

India is home to the best erotic literature and art in the world. Even the invaders who came to India were overwhelmed with Indian erotica and added their own concepts and experiences  to the formidable array of erotic literature available in India.

The British who came to India and ruled for about 200 years also had many erotic works penned by writers in India. One of the most erotic books written in India and relates the experiences of a British army officer titled "Venus in India" is one such work.

The book is supposed to be penned by an officer of the British Indian army called Charles Devereaux. But on research people have concluded that no writer by this name existed and also no such officer existed. However the authenticity of the book and the fact that it refers to the British-Afghan war of the late 19th century cannot be doubted. Researchers have now concluded that the book was probably authored by  Major Crommelin Henry Rickets, an officer of the British Indian army. His parent unit was the 5th Cavalry stationed at Madras, but he probably saw action in the Afghan wars. He served in the Indian army for 21 years and then retired. He probably took the pseudonym Charles Devereaux as he wanted to conceal his identity for writing such a erotic book. Never the less the book "  Venus in India" is one of the great erotic books set in British India.

The book faithfully describes army life in British cantonments and  their interactions with each other and the Indian maids who worked for them. The novel is in the form of a memoir of a young British officer in one of the cantonments in the North West Frontier. The writer does refers to Naushera, close to Rawalpindi. It relates the love episodes of this officer with 3 sisters who are daughters of a serving Army Major. There are sub plots as well and the sex encounters of the father (Major) with the Indian maids and other interesting episodes adds to the thrill of the book.

The book is written in excellent prose and in no way can be termed obscene and that is why it is considered one of the best erotic books of the 19th century. It also gives us a glimpse of army life. I suppose not much is changed in the Cantonments even now.

I will recommend this book for all to read. It can easily downloaded from the net or bought from Amazon. I have read it at least thrice and it never fails to enthrall me. So happy hunting.

Nehru Downgraded the Military Force of India

Nehru and the Indian Army

Updated on December 1, 2015

general Ne Win

Sir Claude Auchinleck

Background

When India achieved freedom in 1947, it inherited a highly professional army. At that time the C-in- C of the Indian army was a British general Sir Claude Auchinleck. .

He was followed by Sir Robert Macdonald Lockhart of the Sikh Frontier Force and Sir Francis Roy Bucher of the Scottish rifles. So long as these men were in charge as C-in- C, India, Nehru kept quiet. In 1949, he had his first swing at the army and promoted General KC Cariappa as C-in- C, superseding the more able general Kulwant Singh.

He followed up with the next chief of the armed forces General Rajendra Singh Jadeja and abolished the post of Commander in Chief and replaced it with COAS (Chief of Army Staff). This was a significant and shrewd move by Nehru as he at one stroke demoted the status of the army chief.

This was the beginning and after that Nehru’s distruct of the army increased. The fact is that all his life he had sat on satyagrah and civil disobedience movements led by Gandhi and had no comprehension of what is the role of the army  In short he lacked strategic vision.

Nehru's Paranoid Fear of a Coup

In the early fifties,  the countries adjacent to India, namely Pakistan and Burma saw military coups. In Pakistan General Ayub Khan seized power in a blood less coup that overthrew the civil government. 

The significance of the rise of Ayub Khan was not lost on Nehru and he began to make his own conjectures. The situation was made more complicated for Nehru, when in Burma General Ne Win sat in the driver’s seat. This was a surprise to Nehru as the Burmese were Buddhists and he could not understand how a pacifist country could allow an army general to become the supreme leader. 

Both these coups unnerved Nehru and he decided to meddle with army promotions to see that loyalist generals were promoted. He thus did tremendous damage to army command and control. In addition  the National President Dr Rajendra Prasad asked that the army be disbanded as it was a relic of imperialism.

Nehru did not disband the army but he set in motion command and controls that took away all initiative from the army top brass and he himself and his appointed defense minister Krishna Menon began to run the army. By these measures Nehru though to obviate a military coup, India and its defence be dammed.

Ill equipped Indian troops against China

Nehru's House Crashes

Nehru next appointed a supine General Thapar as Army Chief. He also shelved all proposals to modernize the army and no new weaponry in tanks or field guns were added to the army arsenal. In addition one of his cousins General BM Kaul was appointed a Lieutenant General and he used troops to build a housing colony, instead of carrying out battle exercises. 

Nehru had lost almost 30000 square miles of Indian Territory to China, due to his failure to ask the army to occupy the vacant lands. The Chinese moved in and occupied the area known as Aksai Chin. Nehru woke up and without a thought asked the army to “throw out" the Chinese. It was an off the cuff remark, but China took it literally and struck across the Himalayan border.

The house built by Nehru crashed and his reputation as world leader was trashed. He lost face and after this defeat rarely ventured out of India as he felt shamed. But he had done great disservice to the nation by downgrading the army.

Black Emancipation in America : A Long Way to Go

My Thoughts on Black Emancipation After Watching the Movie'Lincoln'

In the movie "Lincoln'there is much talk of the 13th amendment. This amendment related to slavery. Slavery was an accepted norm in the USA and the church which is supposed to represent truth acquiesced with it. It is inconceivable that good farmers who kept hundreds of blacks as slaves were allowed to do so by the church. Perhaps the parsons forget to lecture them on race and piety in the Sunday sermons which were attend by hordes of white slave owners.

I have just seen the movie Lincoln. It’s a terrific movie and all credit to Lincoln who abolished slavery and tried to emancipate the black slaves. I say ‘tried’ as his dream looks to me not fully realized, at least in some parts of the USA. If you watch the movie there is much talk of the 13th amendment. This amendment related to slavery.
Slavery was an accepted norm in the USA and the church which is supposed to represent truth acquiesced with it. It is inconceivable that good farmers who kept hundreds of blacks as slaves were allowed to do so by the church. Perhaps the parsons forget to lecture them on race and piety in the Sunday sermons which were attend by hordes of white slave owners.

Where is the black man in America today? Is he completely liberated? If so why are so large a number of blacks turning to Islam? Icons like Muhammad Ali among others all were Christians till they converted. Obviously this point has not been looked at and most whites just shrug it away.

Let’s look at Louisiana. It’s a state with a large black population, but to my mind the racial divide is very much evident there. After the civil war Louisiana was under martial law, yet the fact remains that white Democrats blocked black voters from registering. How frightening this was, can be seen that in 1900 there were just 739 black voters in a population of which they constituted 47%. I don’t think this is funny and points to a fact that the whites never reconciled to black emancipation. Mind you Lincoln had been dead for 35 years at that time.

To get an idea of these lynching’s which continued till the sixties of the last century, the Tuskegree institute has estimated and recorded 3446 blacks lynched from 1882-1968. How many know that these lynching’s were a spectacle and advertised. More like a Roman amphitheatre where the Lions or gladiators killed unarmed people.This was a state where the most abhorrent crimes against blacks were committed. Crimes like lynchings and hangings. The Law enforces? They shamed their uniform by siding with the lynchers. Sometimes they arrested suspects mostly black on flimsy grounds and handed them over to a mob of lynchers all whites. I wonder where sanity had gone and where was the church?

Lincolns dream in a way has turned sour. The blacks constitute 12% of the population, yet constitute 50% of all prisoners in state prisons. There is no reformist streak as advocated by Gandhi or Buddha. It is naked power play of racial supremacy. The church is silent as the parsons and the men in flowing robes all acquiesced with these abhorrent practices.

Louisiana is on an edge even now and the poverty rate is 19.2% and a quarter of children live in poverty. A look at the child birth rates of blacks and whites is revealing. It is 5.7 for whites per 1000 births while for blacks it is 13.6. What does this mean? The civil war was over in 1865 and Lincoln dead for long, but despite Obama being the President of the USA a lot needs to be done. America could also stop preaching about equality and other things, till it sets it own house in order.

The Royal Enfield Motor Bike and India * 65

The Bullet is a vintage model that is loved by the public even in the 21st century.

The bike with which I am concerned is the Classic Bullet. This bike first made an appearance in 1939. The bike was further refined in 1948 and the 500 cc twin spark bullet was introduced. This developed 25 BHP power.The original Royal Enfield Company folded up in the UK and shifted to India. The bullet is now manufactured at its Chennai plant.The Royal Enfield is a marquee name in the field of motorcycles.lt traces its lineage to 1893, when it was founded by George Townsend to manufacture sewing needles and fishing hooks at the "Givry Works" in Redditch, Worcestershire, UK. From needles the proprietors went on to manufacture bicycle parts and later digressed to manufacturing of motor cycles.

It is a 350 cc bike which has a classical look of the fifties. A 500 cc version is also manufactured, but it is costlier and gives a lower mileage per liter of petrol. The 350 cc is thus more popular. The 350 cc Bullet is powered by a 4 stroke engine with a single cylinder having a 4 speed gear box. It develops 18 bhp@5000 rpm. In contrast the Royal Enfield Classic 500 also has a single cylinder, 4 stroke engine but delivers a power output of 27.2 BHP and 41.3 NM torque. The 500 cc bullet has a maximum speed of 130KMPH. The bike is available in Blue, Red and Black colors.

The Classic bullet generally comes with a kick start but the new ‘thunderbird 'model the Enfield have a self start option. The bike is very good for all types of roads and can be even used on the village trails so common in the sub continent. The bike has a front telescopic fork and sturdy rear shock absorbers which help in giving a smooth ride. The bike is excellent for long drives where it cruises on the highways with power and a good road grip.An improvement is made over the earlier models with interchangeable wheels and disc brakes. This makes for a smoother ride on the road. An innovation in the bike is aneutral gear foot lever which allows you to select neutral directly from second, third or fourth gear by pressing this lever with your foot.

The Bullet has a lower pick up and acceleration compared the newer Japanese bikes. However Fuel economy is reasonable with the bike giving about 30-35 km on a liter of petrol city driving conditions. On the highways you can get over 40 km to a liter.


One advantage of buying a Royal Enfield in India is the easy availability of spare parts with an extensive dealer network. In addition all models meet emission and noise requirements as specified by the government. The Royal Enfield Bullet 350 is essentially a rugged motorcycle that has proven itself for over forty years in the toughest of conditions. In India it is priced at about 100,000 rupees and for its price is a good buy.

 The Madras plant manufactures about 25000 bikes a year and a lot many are exported to England. In addition the Police and Army use this bike extensively. The bullet is vintage material and in case one has the desire to drive a vintage and sturdy bike the Royal Enfield bullet is your best bet. The best part is that you can hit a pot  hole at 80 KM an hour and you will be none the worse for it. It is certainly a bike for all seasons and roads.

Field Marshal Ayub Khan Pakistan President and the Starlet Christine Keeler

Ayub Khan and the Starlet Christine Keeler

  Field Marshal Ayub Khan was the first military general to lead Pakistan. This is certainly a well deserved title, but the General was also a flamboyant man who lived life to the hilt. He frequently traveled abroad and one of his favorite places was London.

In London he was often the guest at the imposing estate of Clivedon in Buckinghamshire. One may wonder what the Pakistan president was doing at this estate. ? Unlike later Pakistan presidents like Zia and Mushraff who dabbled in sending Jihadi fighters into Kashmir, Ayub Khan was more interested in other matters. This concerned a string of girls who frequented the swimming pool at Buckinghamshire. The girls were allowed to swim in the pool with the condition that to swim it had to be in the nude. This was loved by the girls who frolicked nude in the pool.

This was to the liking of general Ayub Khan who loved to swim and have fun in this pool. It was here he met Christine Keeler. This girl was a beautiful and sexy model. In addition she was not averse to sex with anybody and one of her lovers was the war minister John Profuma.

Christine Keeler met Ayub Khan at this pool and she was mighty impressed with the tall and heavily built Punjabi. In fact in an interview later she complimented the looks and masculine charm of Ayub Khan. He may have also swum with Rice Mandy Davis, a girl one third his age.

Christine Keeler was involved in the sex scandal of the early sixties that led to the suicide of Dr Ward. But Ayub had nothing to do with the suicide of Dr Ward. He was a simple man , out for fun. One can't grudge him that ! 

Chamar Regiment must be Re-inducted in the Indian Army

The Chamar Regiment and the Case for its Revival

The Chamar’s are classified as a backward community. They constitute about 50 million Indians and have a history of being warlike. Basically Chamar’s are cobblers and belong to the lower castes. The Indian army, in particular the Infantry battalions are mostly caste based. Thus we have the Sikh, Jat, Gurkha, Rajput, Dogra, Maratha, Mahar and Punjab regiments. All the regiments are from the higher castes except the Sikh Light Infantry regiments which are the scheduled caste Sikhs often referred to as Mazhabi Sikhs.

Caste Based Regiments

The Caste based Armies have the stamp of the British rulers and were created during the hey day of British rule and conform to the British interpretation of the Martial races. But that is beside the point as the British who were a shrewd judge of Character also created a fighting regiment from the lower castes. This is the Chamar regiment.

During the Second World War the British were looking to expand their recruitment policy as more men were needed to fight the Japanese Imperial Army. At the same time they kept the concept of the Martial race in the backdrop.

The Chamar Regiment

The British High command opted to have a Chamar regiment and history records that the 1st Chamar regiment was created in 1943. Among the Officers who became famous from this regiment are General Joginder Singh and Field Marshal Ayub Khan. It must be understood that the officer cadre of the regiments was not exclusive to that cast and could be from any caste and religion. This is followed even now.

Chamar Regiment in World War II

The Chamar regiment was thrown into battle as a part of 15 Corps which was commanded by lieutenant General Alexander Frank Christison. The Chamar regiment fought well and was part of the Japanese defeat in the battles of Kohima and the Arakan campaign. The Chamar regiment was part of the 268 Indian brigade which was commanded by Brigadier Dyer.

The Chamar regiment along with 15 Corps helped lift the siege of Kohima and followed up with battles with the Imperial army in the 2nd and 3rd Arakan. The 3rd Arakan campaign led to the capture of Rangoon in May 1945. The roll of honor at the War Memorial in Rangoon lists the Chamar regiment. No greater honor can be more than this, as it is an acknowledgement that the Chamar regiment fought bravely and helped drive the Imperial army from Rangoon.

However after the dropping of the Atomic bombs and the surrender of Japan many troops became redundant and were demobilized. In 1946 the Chamar regiment was disbanded due to economic reasons.

Last Word

The question that we must all ask is whether this regiment can be reconstituted. With a plethora of regiments based on caste, it will be a good gesture to re-incorporate the Chamar regiment. This will make the Indian Army more broad-based. As the British had constituted the Chamar regiment, it will only be carrying on what the British did and we accepted. Hence there is certainly a case for reviving the Chamar Regiment.

The TU-160 M2 is the Backbone of the Russian Bomber Fleet 62

The Russian Strategic Bomber TU-160 is Back as the TU -160 M2

Updated on January 19, 2016

The Begnning

In 1981 the cold war was very much on and the Soviet Union had as yet not bit the dust. At this time the Russian design team launched the TU-160 a supersonic bomber capable of a speed of Mach 2.05.

The plane appeared on the scene in 1981 and and created more than interest in the West. It was the world largest combat aircraft and initially about 39 of these machines were bulit.. The aircraft was designed at the Tupelov aircraft works , then located in Ukraine.

The TU 160 remained in service , but when the Soviet Union broke up, the TU 160 became almost redundent and Boris Yesltsin forbade further development of the plane as it was felt that a strategic bomber was not needed

The latest version

The Plane is Re- Launched.

Technical details of the plane are available on any aircraft website. But one can say that the plane was the biggest combat aircraft in the world. During the time the aircraft was in mothballs, 3 machines were purchased by US-based Platforms International Corp for lunching space vehicles. In addition 19 TU 160 also referred to as Blackjacks, remained in Ukraine custody. Some were scrapped, but others were sold back to Russia.

In 2007, with Vladimir Putin at the head of Russia as president, a review of Russia's strategic role began to take place. Putin dreamt of restoring Russian power and accordingly signed a decree to re-induct the Blackjack as well as develop the combat aircraft further. Putin also flew in a TU- 160. The Russian air force as per reports now operates about 16 of these machines.

In 2014 overhaul and modernization of the Blackjack bombers began at the Tupolev plant. The aircraft were fitted with new radars and navigation equipment. It is a tedious and costly process and by 2020 the Russian Air Force will have about 20 of these upgraded bombers.

In 2015 the Russian MOD announced plans to launch production of the TU-160. The planes to be launched will have new engines, new radars and new avionics. These aircraft to be ready in the future have been given the number TU 160M2. Essentially though the look of the plane will be similar, it will be a new aircraft. The development of the new combat aircraft has alarmed America and the EU. It is one aircraft that can strike deep in the western areas. Matters are not helped by the fact that in 2006 the Russian Defense ministry announced that a Black Jack could enter the arctic area undetected by US radar. This necessitated a review by the US AF.

Putin in a TU-160

The Future

The clock has turned again and once again the Russians are back to their projection as a great power. In such a scenario the development of the TU 160 is essential.

From a purely aviation point of view the development of the new blackjack will whet the appetite of aviation lovers. It’s a beauty to see this variable geometry plane fly at Mach 2 at over 2000 Km an hour. It will also restore Russian pride in them and show the world that Russian technology can produce such a plane.

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Last Word

The plane no doubt is a lethal weapon, but it has some built in operting drawbacks. Firstly the plane is not armed and is the first Russian combat bomber that does not carry any armament. This by itself would be a drawback in case the plane is unescorted. Secondly the plane does not incorporate the latest "stealth technology" , hence it's penetration of sophisticated defences is suspect.