varnam

For those of you who don't know the existence of The Palm Leaf, it is a blog focussed on Indian history, hosted here at varnam.org. Here is a sample of interesting posts from Janurary.

An important discussion in Indian history is if the Aryan invasion really happened? Did the Aryans bring ariculture to India.? According to research by Stephen Oppenheimer, Michael Petraglia and Hannah James, people migrated from Africa to the India and then to rest of the world and all non-African people are descendents of these people. Jonathan Mark Kenoyer who has been excavating in Harappa for many years thinks that there was no invasion and genetic studies agree with him. According to a study done at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Calcutta, Indians do not owe much genetic makeup to central Asians. Excavations done by the Archaeological Survey of India at Lahura-Deva in Uttar Pradesh has revealed that people in the Middle Ganga Valley started farming much before the Europeans.

Recent archaeological excavations led to the discovery of what is considered to be the oldest fort in Kerala. This fort was built by the kings of the Ay dynasty which ruled the land between Nagercoil and Thiruvalla from 7th to 11th century AD with Vizhinjam as the capital. From Kerala there were more details about the Kadakkarapally Boat which was considered to be a thousand years old, but turned out to be built sometime between the 13^th and 15^th centuries.

Such exciting discoveries are happening now and The Palm Leaf covers it all. Please add it to your blogroll.

Tags: harappa kerala Aryans Kadakkarapally Stephen Oppenheimer Jonathan Mark Kenoyer

What were Mahatma Gandhi's last words?

Tushar Gandhi:

Mahatma Gandhi's last words after he was shot by Nathuram Godse on January 30, 1948 were `Hey Ram', the Mahatma's great grandson Tushar Gandhi said here today.

He cited testimony of Sardar Gurbachan Singh given during the Gandhiji's assassination trial in 1948. "Singh said that after being shot at, Bapu folded his hands and I heard him utter `Hey Ram'", he said.

Abha Gandhi, on whose lap Gandhiji died, said Bapu did not only say Hey Ram once but the chant of Hey Ram went on for a few seconds he lived after being shot, Gandhi said.

Mahatma Gandhi did not utter hey Ram when he fell to the bullets of the assassin 58 years ago, Gandhi’s personal assistant Venkita Kalyanam.

In fact, he did not utter anything when bullets from Nathuram Godse’s pistol pierced his chest, Kalyanam, who was a witness to the shocking event, told a meet-the-press in Kollam.

Kalyanam claimed he was just behind Gandhi when he was shot dead in Delhi on January 30, 1948.

Ponniyin Selvan by "Kalki" Krishnamurthy, Macmillan India, ~1800 pages.

Who should be the king? This was the question that members and enemies of the Chozha dynasty were asking each other in 10^th century Tamil Nadu and the incidents around this episode forms the plot for R. Krishnamurthy's (pen name: Kalki) epic novel Ponniyin Selvan. This novel was first published in serial form in the Tamil weekly magazine Kalki from 1950 - 1954. Though Krishnamurthy wrote a large number of short stories, it was as a novelist that he got fame. He was also the first significant historical novelist in Tamil and his other works include Parthiban Kanavu and Sivagamiyin Sabatham.

Parantaka Chozha was succeeded by his second son Kandaraditha as the first son Rajaditha had died in a battle. On the death of Kandaraditha, his son Maduranthaka was a child and hence Kandaraditha's brother Arinjaya ascended the throne. After Arinjaya's death, his son Parantaka II, Sundara Choza was coronated. He had two sons, Aditha Karikalan and Arulmozhi Varman and a daughter Kundavai.

When the story starts, the emperor Sundara Chola is ill and bedridden. Aditha Karikalan is the general of the Northen Command and lived in Kanchi and Arulmozhi Varman (who would be famous later as Rajaraja Chola I) is in Sri Lanka in battle and their sister Kundavai Piratti lived in Chola royal household at Pazhayari.

The story is set in motion, when rumor starts that there is a conspiracy against Sundara Chozhar and his sons. One person who gets a glimpse of the Pandya conspirators is a warrior of the Vana clan Vallavarayan Vandiyathevan. Even though the book is titled Ponniyin Selvan, the hero of the book is Vandiyathevan, a friend of Adhitha Karikalan.

It is through Vandiyathevan that we meet most of the characters in the novel such as Arulmozhi Varman, the prince whom all the people loved and Periya Pazhavetturayar, the chancellor who married Nandini when he was sixty. During his youth Aditha Karikalan had fallen in love with Nandini, but she turned vengeful after Aditha Karikalan killed Veerapadyan (who was either Nandini's father or brother) and vowed to destroy the Chozha dynasty. We also meet Kundavai Devi, who after hearing the news of the conspiracy sends Vandiyathevan to Sri Lanka to give a message to Arulmozhi Varman to come back immediately.

When I heard about podcasts for the first time, the immediate reaction was to who would want to listen to some guy saying something using a microphone and some audio recording tool. Already there are many terrible blogs and if such people switched to talking, it would be just more noise. I was pleasantly surprised to listen to many podcasts, some Indian, some American, some amateur and some professional and realized that I was so wrong about this, as wrong as the Main Stream Media was about bloggers. I want to share some podcasts which are now part of my regular listening schedule.

Let me start with the only two Indian podcasts which are in my list. Both of them are done by amateurs, but the programmes have a professional quality.

• A Podcast about Indian Music by Amit Varshneya: The first program I listened to in his series was the one on disco themed songs and was hooked. This program was an analysis of all the disco songs of the 70s and 80s with songs from Rishi Kapoor movies like Karz, Hum Kisi Se Kam Nahi and the songs of Nazia Hassan. This program usually has a bunch of songs either based on a theme such as Music Director or the best songs of the month with commentary by Amit


• M-POD by Jo: This Malayalam podcast is a talk show on news, music, literature etc. The episode I liked was the interview with Pradeep Somasundaran, of Meri Awaz Suno fame, where he talks about his association with music director Raveendran and general news about the music industry. In case you did not know, Jo is a talented singer himself. (just listen to this song even if you don't understand Malayalam)


• KQED Forum with Michael Krasny: The only station my car radio is tuned to is 88.5 FM, the National Public Radio station. Even though there is a liberal bias to most of the programs, it covers a wide range of topics with great depth. Forum, one of best programs on NPR is broadcast from the station here in San Francisco is very topical and covers everything from what is happening around the world to interviews with authors. Forum is one hour long, sufficient enough to overload you with information.
  
• News Hour with Jim Lehrer Jim Lehrer is the grand daddy of American broadcasting and this hour long daily news is broken into segments where just a few issues are covered, but in depth.
  
• Science Friday NPR has a daily talk show called Talk of the Nation. On Friday's it is called Science Friday and very topical science events are discussed.
  

Tags: Podcasts

Travel along a path taken by a historical figure is always exciting and many books have been written about those trips. For example Walking the Bible is a journey from Egypt to Jerusalem along the path followed by Moses. Chasing Che is a motorcycle trip along the route that Che Guevera took.

Last year some researchers attempted a bronze age trade route from Sur in Oman to Mandvi in Gujarat in a bronze age boat.

Recently there was a new book, Ten Thousand Miles Without a Cloud by Shuyun Sun which follows the path taken by Huen Tsang, the Chinese pilgrim who toured India during in the 7th century.

Now four Buddhist selected from Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao are planning to retrace the steps of Huen Tsang.

The group will carry valuable gifts for Nalanda, including a Liuzu altar sutra embroidered on silk, a Sakyamuni statue and a copy of an ancient Chinese book, "records of the western regions of the tang dynasty" by Xuanzang`s disciple Bian Ji.

"The embroidered Liuzu altar sutra is the most valuable gift as it is the only sutra originated in China," said shi Zhongyao, secretary-general of the trip organizing committee. "Others were all translated from Sanskrit," he added.

In the late autumn of 628, monk Xuan Zang started his journey to South Asia. He walked 25,000 kms and spent 19 years [Retracing Zang`s journey to India]

Unlike Huen Tsang, these folks don't plan to walk all that 25,000 on foot since they don't have time for it. Still it would be an interesting journey and I hope someone makes a documentary on it, similar to the Walking the Bible series on PBS.

What makes Indians laugh? According to Albert Brooks, it is the other guy. In an interview on Fresh Air, he talks about how he traveled to India and got a crew of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs to film - Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World. The Hindus would tell him Sikh jokes and Sikhs would tell Muslim jokes.

He then talks about his experience in filming in India, where he had to get permission from various authorities in at various levels to film. Then there was no crowd control and once he had to pay a bunch of Indian Army reservists to hold people back so that they would look into the lens. Indians love Americans which was like a surprise for him. He reasons it out by saying that all Indian anger is perpetually directed at the British and so Americans are considered friends.

The only question I have is, if he was looking for comedy in the Muslim world, why did he go to India?

Listen to the interview here.

You know how much the Communists are for freedom of speech. So long as you are not searching for Tibet or Falun Gong, you are free to use Google in China. Their brothers in Kerala too love freedom of speech and they show their affection by pouring oil on people.

Recently the Director of All India Radio (Kozhikode) made some remarks against V.S.Achyutanandan, the head honcho of the Kerala Communists and it did not go well with the monkey brigade called DYFI.

Black oil was poured on C.P. Rajasekharan, Director of All India Radio (AIR), Kozhikode, as he came out from the Town Hall in Vatakara in the district on Thursday. A group of persons, said to be Democratic Youth Federation of India workers, shouted slogans against Mr. Rajasekharan after pouring the oil. [AIR Director comes under attack]

You probably have heard of the California textbook controversy where a bunch of Americans are teaching Hindus about Hinduism. The controversy is over what should be taught in a sixth grade textbook on religion. Should it talk about all evils of Hinduism or should it present a sanitised version?

Rajeev Malhotra in an article with Vidhi Jhunjunwala argues that if other religions like Islam, Judaism, and Christianity are allowed to present sanitised versions of their religion, Hindus should also be allowed the same rights.

For instance, the textbooks say that Hinduism considers women to be inferior to men, but ignore biases against women in Islam, Christianity and Judaism. The textbooks focus on “Hindu atrocities” against certain groups, but do not point out that Islamic, Christian and Jewish societies have similar issues. The clergy in Islam, Christianity and Judaism are treated as credible experts and their religious texts are assumed to be stating historical facts, while Hindu texts are depicted through the pejorative lenses of critics and called “myths.”

While attempts are being made to teach about “Hindu horrors” against minorities, the same academicians are not lobbying to add textbook sections on “Islamic genocides” in South Asia, “Islamic terrorism” worldwide, or “Christian holocausts” of Native Americans: The non-Hindu religions are coddled with political correctness and “sensitivity.” In order to be true to their field of study, academicians should apply the same “human rights” criteria to all religions equally.

The controversy of the Mohammed cartoons should compel concerned citizens everywhere to balance intellectual freedom with intellectual responsibility. Whatever may be one’s position in this debate, it must be equally applied to all religions or else it would be hypocrisy[Academic Hinduphobia]

While many species are becoming endangered, one tribe that is increasing in population is the Moral Police in India. In case you have not heard, they will tell you what you can speak and what you cannot. You need their permission to hold your wife's hands or to express your love. Now they are dictating what dresses women can wear.

Wearing a T-shirt can be dangerous as a girl student of the prestigious Aligarh Muslim University realised last week. For daring to wear what she wants to, Najma (name changed) is being threatened by fellow students who claim the sole right to interpret what is moral in Islam.

She has been told to replace the T-shirt with kurta and dupatta and to stop her campaign for an effective mechanism in the university to address complaints of sexual harassment.

AMU’s moral police have also found fault with Najma’s practice of sharing meals with boys at canteens. ‘‘Girls are not expected to be seen in public places,’’ she has been told. Najma defied such instructions and she and a group of students formed a cultural group, Saada, and raised issues related to gender[AMU moral cops target girl for wearing T-shirt on campus]

When we say Indus Valley Civilization, we usually refer to the sites of Mohenjo-Daro and Harrappa located in present day Pakistan. Those are not the only ones though for Harappan sites have been discovered in other parts of India as well. Recently the first Harappan burrial site was discovered in Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh. In 2004, a Harappan site was found in the town of Bagasara in Gujarat. This site which dates back to 2500 B.C was found to have a shell making workshop, fortifications, and knives with bone handles.

Now archaeologists have found the ruins of a city dating back to Harappan times at Farmana Khas in Haryana.

He said that with the discovery of the ruins of Indus-Saraswati Harrapa civilisation on the banks of ancient course of river Yamuna, the belief has been further strengthened that it has been the civilisation of the people, who belonged to the era of Rigveda. The ruins related to the same civilisation have also been found at Sanoli in Uttar Pradesh along the ancient course of river Yamuna. [Harappan city buried in Haryana's Rohtak district]

He said the site of the discovery, popularly known as Daksh Khera, was spread over 32 acres and the ruins were under a three-metre high hillock. He said the city would have been located on the banks of the river Yamuna, that could have been flowing through the area in ancient times. Ruins from the Harappan era have also been found at Sanoli in Uttar Pradesh along the ancient course of river Yamuna, he said. [Ruins of Harrappan city found in Haryana]

There are various theories on Kerala's relation with the Jews. According to oral tradition Jews established trading contacts with Kerala during the time of Solomon. There are other traditions which claim that Jews came to Kerala during the time of King Nebuchadnezar of Babylon in 500 BC, the time of Buddha. According to Romila Thapar in her book Early India, the Jews came to India in the tenth and eleventh century AD.

The Jews of Cochin say that they came to Cranganore (south-west coast of India) after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. They had, in effect, their own principality for many centuries until a chieftainship dispute broke out between two brothers in the 15th century. The dispute led neighboring princes to dispossess them. In 1524, the Moors, backed by the ruler of Calicut (today called Kozhikode) attacked the Jews of Cranganore on the pretext that they were "tampering" with the pepper trade. Most Jews fled to Cochin and went under the protection of the Hindu Raja there. He granted them a site for their own town that later acquired the name "Jew Town" (by which it is still known).

Unfortunately for the Jews of Cochin, the Portuguese occupied Cochin in this same period and indulged in persecution of the Jews until the Dutch displaced them in 1660. The Dutch Protestants were tolerant and the Jews prospered. In 1795 Cochin passed into the British sphere of influence. In the 19th century, Cochin Jews lived in the towns of Cochin, Ernakulam and Parur. Today most of Cochin's Jews have emigrated (principally to Israel).[The Virtual Jewish History Tour]

Among the ancient graves outside the synagogue, stand a tombstone which dates from 1264, making it the oldest Hebrew inscription found in India. The oldest such document is regarding a wedding that took place in the synagogue in 1812. [Kerala showcases its Jewish history, treasures]

For choosing the guest for India's Republic Day celebrations, the Foreign Office was give a specific set of criteria. First, the guest had to be a dictator and second, he had to be responsible for the death of very normal people.

Since our leaders are elected, the theory was that it is nice to have a guest who is chosen by other divine powers. It is a Yin/Yang thing. There were few people who matched this criteria, like Yasser Arafat, Joseph Stalin, and Chairman Mao. The Foreign Office tried to contact them, but were informed that they were all dead. The Foreign Office has put a tender to update their database.

Then they found that the Saudi King is alive and he met the criteria perfectly. It was only recently that hijackers from his country had crashed planes into the twin-towers, Pentagon and Somerset County, Pennsylvania killing 2986 innocent Americans. Saudi Arabia's other main export, Wahhabism had successfully created terrorists all around the world and were killing innocent civilians in the name of a God. Saudi Arabia was also an important buddy of Pakistan and that sealed the case.

When this King visited India, no one found the need to protest and no one called him a murderer or terrorist. When the President of United States visits India, people are lifting heavy words like "imperialism, neo-colonism, " and throwing on unsuspecting public. The protests are mainly by the Communists, the same set of people who murder people in the name of Mao and pour oil on women for standing in elections.

In a bid to sensationalize the burning of effigies and protest marches, newspapers have come up with headlines like "Indians protest the visit of Bush". While there are thousands of Communists and Muslims protesting the visit, it should also be noted that the remaining billion people are not protesting this visit. In fact, a vast majority of Indians have a positive image of America and consider President Bush as a friend of India.

Fareed Zakaria sums it well when he says

But India has many more ideologues, who are fighting against its forward-looking prime minister, Manmohan Singh. First there is the Foreign Service bureaucracy, which seems stuck in the 1950s—using stale concepts like nonalignment, colonialism and Third World solidarity. (No, this is not a joke, they really do think this way.) Add to them India's nuclear scientists, who have gotten very comfortable in their cloistered world. As in any protected industry, the scientists don't want to be exposed to international transparency, largely for fear that it would reveal that their products and processes actually are not cutting-edge. Then there are India's communists, who are in some ways stuck in the 1850s, when Karl Marx was writing his tracts on class conflict, for whom reflexive anti-Americanism is still a guiding principle.[Nixon to China, Bush to India]

Since the Purana Qila also houses the Delhi zoo, George Bush's audience will be a few hundred caged animals and an approved list of caged human beings who in India go under the category of "eminent persons." [.] So what's going to happen to George W Bush? Will the gorillas cheer him on? Will the gibbons curl their lips? Will the brow-antlered deer sneer? Will the chimps make rude noises? Will the owls hoot? Will the lions yawn and the giraffes bat their beautiful eyelashes? Will the crocs recognise a kindred soul? Will the quails give thanks that Bush isn't travelling with Dick Cheney, his hunting partner with the notoriously bad aim? Will the CEOs agree?[The Ink of Fury]

See Also: Landmines Under Trucks, Yet Another Harthal