Nehru's Defeat in Tibet

Momentous events took place in China and Mao and his communists seized total power. This was in 1949 and American puppet escaped with his life to Taiwan.In 1947, the British also left India and Nehru became prime minister. This was a catastrophe for India but a boon for Mao and China. In 1950 China attacked Tibet China –Tibet War 1950 Before China struck Tibet, Nehru did something extremely silly. He never realized the potency of military power. China had a free hand and they overran Tibet. When the Chinese army was advancing, the India Home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel wanted an Indian response to help Tibet, but Nehru did not agree as he saw China as a "historical friend".

As the Chinese occupied Lhasa, they assured Nehru that the autonomy of Tibet would be maintained. The Chinese took a firm grip over Tibet and began to make things difficult for the Indian consulate. Nehru was in fix as he had lost all bargaining power.The Chinese now suggested that the Consulate General in Lhasa be downgraded to a mere consulate arguing that the Indian mission in Beijing would have full access to Lhasa. Nehru again in his misplaced zeal that Tibet problem was a creation of British imperialism agreed. This was a most foolish mistake as India reduced its strength in Lhasa. In 1959 the Dalai Lama fled Lhasa with about a 1000 followers to India. After a 2 day trek, the Dalai Lama reached India and asked for political asylum. For once Nehru gathered same courage and granted political asylum to the Dali Lama. This was after he received secret information that the Chinese planned to kidnap him while inviting him to a concert in the military cantonment. In the same t period the local Tibetan people were up in arms against the Chinese in what is known as the Khampa rebellion.But it collapsed against brutality of the Chinese. The Chinese were incensed at the escape of the Dalai Lama and imposed severe restrictions on the Indian consulate. In 1962 the Chinese army attacked India, ostensibly to rectify the historical wrongs of imperialism still followed by India and Nehru. The Indian consulate was closed and sealed and the entire Indian staff sent to India. India thus lost its last foot hold in China. Nehru somehow never reacted to Chinese adventurism. The time to react was in 1950, when the PLA had invaded Tibet, but he was found having a nap. 60 years have elapsed and India is not permitted to have a consulate in Lhasa. In 2014 a request was made to reopen the Indian consulate, but China rejected it. India is thus persona non grata in Tibet and all the gains of the British and Young Husband were frittered away by Nehru. The Chinese still claim large tracts of Indian Territory. Not only this the Chinese have occupied 30000 square miles of Indian land in Aksai Chin.Thus at one stroke Nehru reduced India to a second rate power vis a vis China. I wonder whether history will forgive him.

What is ESP?The Power to Divine.

Some time back a book written by Peter Hurkos 'Psychic' was published. In this book Peter Hurkos claimed that during the second world war he was window cleaner in Holland. While he was cleaning a window a German Air raid took place. As per Peter, he fell off the perch and was rendered unconscious.

Once he recovered consciousness he realized that he had developed Extra Sensory powers of Perception.Thus he could visualize that the man next to him on the hospital bed was a British agent.He also had a fleeting vision of the Gestapo running towards the hospital.Accordingly he warned the agent about it. This particular episode only confirms what the Hindu yogis are saying all along.They say that man has certain sections in his brain which if activated can invest the man with these super extra sensory powers. They outline many methods which can help ignite these powers. These methods center on prayers, rituals and yoga. The last part also enjoins a man to remain celibate. Thus when you perform the Sir Asana - the head stand then over a period of time it may be possible to develop ESP powers. However one must remain celibate as the theory is that the sperms of a man who remains celibate go along the spine to the base of the head and form a flower there.In turn these life giving sperms help ignite sensory powers. Perhaps all this sounds far fetched but there are people in this world who have these powers. Some even claim that they can contact a departed soul. In this context the case of Ruth Montgomery is interesting.She was an educated lady and also wrote a number of books.She claimed the books written by her were dictated by writers from the spirit world. Even in Mumbai there are Moslem Pirs who are men of God who can read your mind with uncanny accuracy.There is one such worthy at Mohammad Ali road who requires the visitor to put his thumb in a small porcelain plate and then he will tell you why you have come and what your problem is. The world of ESP and the latent powers in man has as such so far not been subjected to scientific study.Most of the study is perfunctory and there is a need for scholars to sit down and evaluate all aspects of these phenomena. Perhaps this is the last frontier that needs to be crossed.

Comparing Two Works of Erotic Literature: The Perfumed Garden and The KamaSutra

Comparisons are always odious but sometimes they can stimulate the thinking process and lead an intellectual further on his path of seeking knowledge. The Perfumed Garden and the Kama sutra are two works that concern the sexual side of human life. Both were written in a bygone age and have stood the test of time.

The Kama sutra written in Sanskrit is the older book having been complied in the 2nd century in reference to the Julian calendar on the Christian Common Era. It probably dates to 101-200.The author of the Kama sutra is supposed to be Vatsyayna. However we know very little about the author except that he was a Brahmin. The purpose of writing the book was to show a way to realization of God. The perfumed garden on the other hand was written in Arabic and came much later. The book is credited to Sheik Nefzaouj and was compiled in the 16th century. Not much is known of the Sheik either. It has no pious intentions like the Kama Sutra but is plainly written with the idea of arousing sensual pleasure. However both books were translated by Richard Burton an English man and we must remain forever indebted to him for his painstaking effort. The western world has not produced any ancient erotic manuals, perhaps because of the straight jacket approach of Christianity and the earlier puritan approach. But the eastern manuals recognized the sexual side of man and the result is two great masterpieces of erotic literature. Both the books though dealing with sex have followed different approaches. The perfumed garden is more like a story book with nearly 22 stories as part of the text. These are erotic stories and the effort of the sheik is to integrate them with the main text and bring out the essence of the sexual nature of man. They also serve as a guide for attaining extreme bliss- for one cannot deny the fact that the sex act by itself is the most potent form of pleasure in the world.

Vatsyayana's Kama sutra on the other hand is a relatively clinical book. The book represents a different culture and is closely entwined with religion. Hindu philosophy has recognized tantra and sex as a form of achieving god and the authors main purpose is an exposition of this aspect of the Hindu religion. The book reads more like a manual or treatise and reading it one can glean that the books intentions are different from the book written by Sheik. As per the original translation of Burton in 1883 the Kama sutra has 1250 verses distributed over 36 chapters which are further divided into 7 parts. The book deals with all aspects of sex including types of women, the sexual poses, diets for rejuvenation and a host of other sex matters. It is a monumental work and one can glean a lot of knowledge from this book. The perfumed garden on the other hand is pure erotica and reads more like a fairy tale book. It engrosses the readers with its stories. Interspersed with the stories is good advise on all matters relating to sex. Over the centuries both books have been read and reread any number of times and are a source of intense gratification to most readers. It is a moot point that most works on the sexual side of mans relationship with a woman has emerged from the orient. I will recommend reading both the books -nothing can be better than that.

BOOK REVIEW, Jaswant Singh's ' Jinnah, India, Partition,'

Jaswant Singh's latest book 'Jinnah, India, Partition' is a scholarly work. Jaswant, who hails from Rajasthan, a desert state on the western border of present day India, is an ex- Indian Army officer who as a Major resigned his commission to pursue a political career. He was a founder member of the BJP the Hindu revivalist party. Jaswant is generally regarded as an authority on matters of defense and national security. He rose to prominence in the BJP and was selected by Vajpayee to be the Foreign Minister during the erstwhile BJP rule during 1998-2004.

Jinnah is like a red rag to a bull for most Indians and politicians. Hardly a book has been written about the founder of Pakistan by any notable Indian. Thus Jaswants book fills a void and makes an attempt to understand the mind of Jinnah and his equation with the Hindu leaders of the congress viz Patel, Nehru and Gandhi. The book is lucid and well written. His interpretation of the sordid and tortuous period of partition in 1947 is well presented. Jinnah now given credit for Pakistan was not really a communalist at all. Remember his opposition to the Khilafat movement supported by Gandhi? But he was out maneuvered by the Hindu Leaders Gandhi and Patel and slowly his mind accepted the two nation theory. Who is to blame for this transformation? Jaswant writes with flair and brings out the hand of Nehru and Patel in this transformation. India may well have remained united only if Nehru in his greed to become the Prime Minister had not played into the hands of the British. Jaswant lucidly brings about the transformation of Jinnah from a nationalist and secularist to the sole spokes person of Indian Muslims. But he is able to give no definite answer. Singh brings out the fact that Jinnah was not a hater of Hindus, but was only allergic to the Congress party and its Hindu leaders Gandhi and Nehru. Many Indians will not agree with this. The responsibility of partition has to be squarely shouldered by Nehru who had the ear of Gandhi at that time. Jaswant has thus stoked the embers and the flame has grown so high that it has consumed him. The BJP has expelled him and Jaswant is in no man's land for writing something that is anathema to most Hindus. But Jaswant needs to be complimented for writing something that will give fresh food for thought to intellectuals. One can disagree with Jaswant's assessments but can't afford to ignore it. The prose is simple and on the whole the book is well written. It's worth a read by any person who is interested in the sub-continent.

A Book on Werewolves by Patricia Briggs-Fair Game

Patricia Briggs is a famous American author. She is a writer of fantasy novels and has been writing since 1993. She has created a fantasy series of novels known as the Mercy Thompson fantasy series. These novels are set in an urban back ground in the United States. Briggs is 48 years old having been born in 1965. She published her first novel ‘Masques’ in 1993 and has followed up with many more.

Most of Briggs characters are sheer fantasy, sometimes bordering on the absurd. A reader is hard put to visualize the tales written by her as having any realism. Briggs makes an attempt to get reader attention by presenting a bizarre and unrealistic scenario. Her novel ‘Fair Game’ can be classified as a fantasy and presents werewolves in human garb. These werewolves have now revealed themselves and are a part and parcel of everyday life in the United States. One can appreciate a fantasy, but to write about a subject where werewolves are accepted by human beings and organizations like the FBI will tax the imagination of the reader. As per the writer the werewolves have now as a clan revealed themselves to humans. In ‘Fair Game’, The FBI approaches two werewolves to help solve some mysterious killings in Boston. The two werewolves are Anna Latham and Charles Cornick. These two werewolves are in love. Charles is the dominant werewolf, while Anna has a quality of being able to calm other werewolves. The FBI is unable to solve the mysterious killings and these two werewolves help out. As they investigate they find that the persons killed are werewolves and it dawns on the duo that somebody is targeting persons who are werewolves. This lends urgency to their efforts to track the killer. The killer now targets the two werewolves Charles and Anna, who themselves are in great danger. This is supposed to be a thrilling tale, but many readers will find the entire theme of the novel implausible and reading it would mean entering into a fantasy world which just cannot exist. One reads fantasies, but to read a fantasy as a real time action novel is bound to tax the imagination of any reader. Patricia Briggs does try and present a thriller. The plot is racy and the book is eminently readable. If a reader can forget about the absurdity of the plot, he or she may well be able to enjoy the book. All one has to think is that it is a fantasy. Briggs has latched on to the American fascination for werewolves and created an entire series of books on the subject. Generally such fantasies have a momentary moment of glory and then fade away. Patricia Briggs was born in Butte, Montana, USA. She has during her life time lived in many cities in the North West of the USA. Presently she resides in Washington State. Her first novel ’Masques’ was not a success, but it has been re-issued again. Some of her books notably Blood Bound and Iron Kissed have been on the New York Times best seller lists.

Tamil Girls and Fairness

A look at the Tamil screen shows that the heroines are fair skinned. I have yet to see a dark skinned heroine on the south Indian screen. Even Jayalalita when she was a star is milky white in complexion. These milky white complexioned stars contribute to a beauty culture in South India where skin-whitening creams outsell Coca-Cola. Yet the fact is that most Tamil and south Indian girls are dark complexioned. I wonder why a dark complexioned girl cannot strike out in the Tamil film industry. One aspect that is overlooked is that the ancient scriptures, epics, or folk tales in Tamil or for that matter in any Indian language, the good character is always portrayed as being fair in complexion. A beautiful princess is always without fail described as being fair and white as snow. This is a dangerous portrayal as it is suggesting that the fair are fair dealing and the dark complexioned has evil intentions. This view has been expressed by Shyamala Bhatia, an associate professor in history at the Bharati College, University of Delhi. If you add that the white race ruled India and their women were white than it becomes clear why the concept of fairness being superior is embedded deep within the Indian psyche. But even after the white rulers went away, India‘s concepts of beauty has not changed. Thus milky-complexioned Tamil stars to a massive market for skin lightening creams, the notion that white means beautiful is all pervading in South India. The word for fairness in Hindi is “GORI” and in Tamil it is நேர்மை Nērmai. I am afraid it will not go from the South Indian psyche. I will close with a small anecdote. I had been called to give a guest lecture to students on the Law in Madras University. After the lecture I expected to be asked questions about the legal aspects of the lecture. Unfortunately all the girls surrounded me asked me what I did to keep my skin fair. I was non plussed,as I don’t do anything and I am as I am.

France on the Back Foot on Submarine Deal of US and UK with Australia

Why did France recall its ambassadors to the U.S. and Australia? This is a manifestation of big power politics and also the bruised ego of France. Let us understand that France had signed a submarine deal with Australia. These were conventional submarines but the deal appears to have been considerably delayed. In any case France was going to earn close to $60 billion.

Once the United States and the UK decided to confront China they needed a frontline partner in the Pacific Ocean and hence chose Australia because it is still having strings to the United Kingdom and recognizes the queen as its head. In other words it's part of the Anglo-Saxon crowd. Obviously the French suffered badly because the deal which the Americans and the British gave to Australia was for nuclear submarines a technology which the Americans have not shared only with one other country in the world during the last 60 years and that is the UK. This is the second country they will be sharing nuclear technology; thus France was taken out of the loop of big power politics and made to look like a small bird on the global stage. At the same time the realization dawned on the French that they are not part of the global power scenario therefore France decided to show its displeasure by recalling it's Ambassador from Australia and USA but it is not going to help anyway.