Panchaamritam 1-5

Panchaamritam - 1

ONE

Meet Elango. Age 12 years. A helper in a roadside automobile mechanic's shop in T.Nagar, Chennai. A town bus speeds past him as he stands near his shop. Elango notices something unusual with the bus; he hears a sharp noise from under the running bus. Yes, the transmission rod - rear axle joint had broken and the bus was about to go out of the driver's control. Elango decided to raise an alarm. He started running along with the bus shouting "stop, stop!" The driver applied the brake and the bus ground to a halt. All the fifty-odd passengers got down and learnt that their lives had been saved by the efforts of Elango. They heaved a sigh of relief. When they looked for the one who saved them all, they found the boy walking back to his shop calmly. A traffic constable who witnessed all this ran up to Elango. In gratefulness he offered to buy a breakfast for him. Elango politely declined the offer and kept on walking toward his workspot.

(Based on a news item which appeared

in the Chennai edition of INDIAN EXPRESS in 1982).

TWO

Meet 14 year old Om Prakash. A roadside dweller of Jammu in Jammu - Kashmir state. Once G.M.Jagtiani, a journalist from Mumbai, engaged him to carry his luggage. He took pity on the boy and gave a little more money. Om Prakash won't touch it. He said he would not accept alms. Jagtiani, in appreciation, left a few copies of his booklet with Om Prakash; asked him to sell them and send him the proceeds after deducting a commission. A few weeks later Jagtiani received the due amount. He was overwhelmed and sent back the same to the boy as a token of his happiness over the lad's honesty. To his utter dismay the money came back with the note that the addressee was dead. Om Prakash had died of frost bite while he was asleep at the roadside in that Himalayan state.

(Based on a Letter To The Editor by Jagtiani published in the Mumbai edition of THE TIMES OF NDIA).

THREE

Dahipara. A hamlet of Orissa 5 kilometres away from the coast. It had - yes, had - a population of 1,050. Of these, 587 were killed by a super cyclone which devastaed 5 coastal taluks of the state in October 1999. Even as the survivers of Dahipara were trying to adjust to their life in makeshift polythene jhuggies in the relief camp, an earthquake struck parts of Gujarat. These villagers of Orissa managed to collect Rs. 7,000. This they promptly handed over to the Chief Minister of Orissa with a request that the amount be sent to the quake hit families of Gujarat.

(Based on a report in THE HINDU dated February 22, 2001)

FOUR

Meet the people of village Pokharan in the middle of the deserts of Rajastan. They have witnessed two underground nuclear tests, one in 1974 and the other in May 1998. Prior to the second test, one defence department official had a chat with some of the villagers. He hinted that some army men will be patrolling the place as a routine. To his surprise the villagers responded, "Sir, it is the bomb, is it not? We shall keep the secret. Don't worry." They did. Even the effforts of the CIA's surveilance satellites failed to locate the spot of implosion, media reports revealed later.

(Based on a 1998 INDIA TODAY cover story by Raj Chengappa).

FIVE

The intersection of the then Mount Road and Nungambakkam High Road in Chennai was once the 'Gemini Circle'. About 35 years back, on a busy hour, a man lay there on the roadside in a pool of blood, screaming for help. Seemed to be a road accident. Office-goers were rushing to their offices - after a split second glance at the man. Lakshmi had no office to rush to. Once her eyes fell on the pathetic scene, not a second was wasted. She threw aside the construction worker's 'bond' on her head with the spade and her lunch box in it. Gathered the victim, put him in an autorikshaw and sped off to the hospital. This timely step helped save the man. Of course, Lakshmi had to part with her tiny nose - ring made of gold to pay the auto fare. Add to this the loss of that day's wage which Lakshmi would otherwise have earned by dint of hard work at some construction site. But had she the mind to calculate it all? No chance.

(Based on a report in DINAMANI, a Chennai Tamil daily).

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Panchaamritam - 2

ONE

Shivanna,35, works on daily wages at depot 4 of the Majestic bus stand, Bangalore. All the same, his wealth is boundless. They call it honesty. It was October 12, 2001. While on job, he found an envelop among the parcels of a newspaper office. It contained a cheque for Rs.1.75 lakhs. He handed it over to the police.The city police commissioner patted him for his honesty and honoured him. This is actually a déjà vu experience for Shivanna. In 1997, he had found a Rs.43.67 lakh cheque at Majestic bus stand and had passed it on to the police.

(Based on a report in DINAMANI [Tamil Daily] of October 16, 2001).

TWO

Revathy Sankaran, a Chennai - based television artiste is also adept at a few fine arts. She is an exponant of quite a few folk art forms as well. But the mention of her hobby made Ramya, a mass communications post gratuate course senior student, sit up while the artiste was being interviewed by her: Revathy Sankaran said she collects human hair. With a purpose. Cancer patients lose hair and go bald at a very young age. Revathy noticed it during one of her solace-giving visits as a volunteer to the Cancer Research Centre, Adayar. She also learnt that the Centre has a gadget which converts locks of loose hair fed into it into wigs for use by patients. Then on, she never forgets to insist everyone she meets to carefully collect the hair that falls while combing the head daily and send it to the Centre. Ramya joined the hair donor brigade only too readily.

(As narrated by an eyewitness).

THREE

The human body has 186 bone joints which allow movements. Performing one Surya Namaskar done in ten steps activates all the 186 joints, says Dr.N.Gopalakrishnan, a senior scientist of CSIR, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, and adds, “the WHO has declared that Surya Namaskar is the king of all exercises”.

(Heard at a recent conclave of CHIDAMBARAM, a Chennai-based think tank).

FOUR

“Power corrupts and absolute power absolutely” – not at all in the case of Perumkarunai, the panchayat chairperson of Thellaru, a village near Kanchipuram in Tamilnadu centuries back. A case came up before her one day. Women of the village complained to her that a man tried to misbehave with them on their way to the river to take bath. The culprit was summoned. Perumkarunai pronounced a punishment on him: Everyday, starting the following day, he will have to sweep the entrance of the village Shiva temple clean and spinkle water there for forty days. The next day dawned. To the utter surprise of the villgers, their first lady was seen in front of the temple, broomstick and waterpot in hand, busy cleaning the entance in lieu of the culprit. She explained her action thus: “Yesterday I had to punish the culprit, which I did as a chairperson. As you all know, he is my husband and so to share his hardship, I decided as his wife to undergo the punishment myself.” No wonder the villagers honoured her with the tiltle ‘kudikkurai theertha naachiyaar’ meaning ‘the lady who remedied people’s woes’ and got it inscribed on a stone at the entrance of rhe Shiva temple.

(Based on a DINAMANI report about the rock edict).

FIVE

Meet Smt.Amudhavalli. She works as a graduate teacher in the G.R.M. Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Thiruvaarur (near Thanjavur) in Tamilnadu. Schools or families which want to establish a herbal plants garden, consult her and she happily comes forward with her expertise and distributes to them medicinal herb saplings free of cost as well.

(Information culled from a letter to the editor written by a reader[Smt.M.Chandrabai of Cholavaram] published by DINAMANI, Tamil daily, on October 16, 2001).

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Panchaamritam - 3

ONE

Imagine this: Dawn to dusk, a 64-year old person undergoes a self-imposed grinding schedule for seven months. Does not take rest even for a single day. All this, for the benefit of his village. End your imagination here. In Ayyampaalayam, Tiruchirapalli district, Tamilnadu, Bharat, river Kaveri flows girding the village. Wild shrubs grew all along the bank narrowing the riverbed. Thus, water flow was constricted. Also, the bushes consumed scarce water considerably. Shri.C.Valliyappan single-handedly weeded out the shrubs. He burnt them down so that they will not reappear. He thus cleared an 8 kilometre-stretch of the riverbed in all these months of ceaseless labour. Labour of love, of course. For all this, Valliyappan does not have any income worth mentioning and lives in a rented house in the village. The Tamilnadu state government, in appreciation, granted Valliyapan a sum of Rs.3 lakhs.

(Based on a news item in THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS, Chennai Edition, November 19, 2002).

TWO

The branch manager of Indian Bank, Kancheepuram, Tamilnadu, Bharat, was talking to press persons. At one stage, his voice choked. He was telling them the story of Mangalam. The story: One Shri.Elumaalai, a landless farm hand, had borrowed Rs.1,000 from the bank. Before he could repay in full, Elumalai died. His wife Mangalam managed to make both ends meet by working as a housemaid. She gathered cow dung, made cow dung cakes and sold them. She could thus save enough to remit the loan instalment month after month. The manager came to know the pitiable condition of her family. He offered to write off the outstanding part of the debt. To this the response of Mangalam was: “ Sir, if I do not repay in full, my husband’s atma will not attain shanti”. (Sorry, the last sentence cannot be rendered into English adequately).

(Based on a report in THE HINDU two decades back).

THREE

Vypeen. One of the islands off Ernakulam in Kerala. In early ‘80s, nearly ninety persons lost their lives in a hooch tragedy. Hundreds were hospitalised in the small town of Ernakulam. The hospitals soon ran out of their stock of saline solution. To keep up the level of first aid to the victims, doctors advised intake of large quantities of filtered tender coconut. The word spread. Within hours, bullock-cart loads of tender coconuts from the nearby villages were heaped in front of every hospital in the town. Courtesy: The owners of coconut palm groves. They had learnt of the tragedy. The SOS by the doctors was enough. Spontaneously they despatched the life-saving cartloads. They expected nothing in return but the lives of their neighbours.

(Based on a front page box item carried by the New Delhi edition of THE STATESMAN daily).

FOUR

Five-year-old Lokesh is a pupil of Nidhi Vinay Mandir, a school in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, Bharat. He is a heart patient since birth. He needed a surgery costing Rs.80.000. His father, Radheshyam Kuril is a helper in a footwear shop and earns Rs.60 per day. Palak Munchal, the eight year old wonder singer of the same town, came forward to help Lokesh. She raised Rs.51,000 through her charity shows. The event was publicised by the media. Doctors of the Manipal Heart Foundation (MHF) in distant Bangalore heard about the case. They offered to operate Lokesh for free. MHF’s large-heartedness enabled Palak to offer the money to Lokesh’s family. Radheshyam Kuril, Lokesh’s father, requested that the money be used to help other children requiring heart surgery.

( Based on a report by N.K.Singh in INDIA TODAY dated July 31, 2000).

FIVE

Ramaiah’s daughter came back from school with headache one day. The school had no trees and so no shade for children to play. The hot sun had caused her headache. Then and there, Ramaiah resolved to plant one crore (yes,1 followed by 7 zeros) trees in his lifetime. In right earnest, he set out on his bicycle loaded with bags full of saplings. He went to each and every school in his Kammam district, Andhra Pradesh, Bharat. He related the value of each sapling to the school kids and exhorted them to take personal interest in planting, watering and guarding it. They responded in a big way. Soon the number of trees planted by Ramaiah’s unsparing efforts swelled into lakhs. The district authorities took note, and he was co-opted into the government body monitoring afforestation in the area.

(Based on an article in OUTLOOK newsmagazine).

Panchaamritam - 4

ONE

A remote hamlet in Nagapattinam district, Tamilnadu, Bharat, has made a giant leap into the pages of the record books. The people of Nagapattinam district, led by Nagapattinam district administration, planted 80,244 tree saplings at Naaluvedhapathi village in Vedaranyam taluk in the district, all in a matter of 24 hours on December 3,2002. The event was an attempt at ensuring a place in the pages of the Guinness World Records.They are already on their way to realise their dream. Of course, on their way, the villagers will have a lot more shade in hot sun.

(Based on newspaper reports the next day. Idea: Shri. Arun Venkat Ramamurthy).

TWO

During World War II, in early 1940s, Japanese forces bombarded Burma(Myanmar). Among several sections of the population which fled in haste was the Nagarathar community originally hailing from Chettinadu in Tamilnadu, Bharat. The main occupation of many belonging to Nagarathar community was pawnbroking (moneylending against mortgaged jewels). While fleeing for life, Nagarathar men carried along ornaments mortgaged with them by the Burmese. They trekked nearly 1,000 miles. Once in their native Chettinadu, these pawnbrokers appointed Gorkhas as security persons and protected the jewels during riots and robberies rampant in Chettinadu in 1942. Later, with permission from the Reserve Bank of India, they carried the jewels back to Rangoon and other places in Burma and meticulously returned every piece of jewellery to its owner to the utter surprise of the latter. For all this, it must be pointed out, on mere trust most moneylending transactions had been going on! It is a rock edict commandment in Velangudi, a village deep inside Chettinadu (now in Sivaganga district) that has instilled the inspiring trait of honesty in those Nagarathar moneylenders.

(Based on a reference in ‘CHETTINADUM SENTAMILUM’, a book by Somale published in 1984 by Vanathi Pathippakam, Chennai-600 017; Page 601).

THREE

While the microbiology department of the University of Kuopio in Finland is doing an impact assessment of cow urine on allergies induced by animal allergens, Shri. Virendra Jain of Indore, Madhya Pradesh, Bharat, buys 50 litres of cow urine from dairies, filters it by distillation and distributes it to the persons with various ailments from ‘stomach trouble’ to cancer who queue up in front of his house every morning. Three years back, Shri. Jain says, he had treated his mother’s cancer after ‘doctors’ gave up all hope. She survived and got rid of the cancer completely.

(Based on an OFFTRACK item carried by INDIA TODAY, May 21, 2001).

FOUR

It is daybreak. Sixty-year-old Shri.R.Muthuswami walks up to a house, invites the family living there to the village temple and walks back to the temple. When the family comes to the temple, he feeds them after they worship. He walks to nearby villages too to invite one family a day to the temple. This is part of Muthuswamy’s daily routine. Other aspects of his routine include helping about 100 village children of elementary classes in their lessons from 4 to 6 in the evenings, in the temple premises. He stays in the temple itself; only occasionally goes to his house nearby. Why Muthuswami has chosen this temple – centric life? Because it is he who built the temple in that village. His native village: It is Murungapatti in Salem district of Tamilnadu, Bharat. It took him Rs. 21 lakhs to construct the temple. The amount comprises donations from the villagers to the tune of Rs.15 lakhs and – this is important – Muthuswami’s retirement benefits (he served as an elementary school teacher from 1961 to 2001). Here, a little simple but inspiring arithmetic: On his retirement, Muthuswami had received Rs.7 lakhs. Of this, he gifted Rs.50,000 each to his two sons and the remaining Rs.6 lakhs to the son of Lord Shiva, that is Karthikeya, the presiding deity in the Murungapatti temple ! Add to this Rs.4,000 per month that he offers to the temple. This one is his pension amount !!

(Based on a DINAMANI report).

FIVE

Raghavaiah, the roadside cobbler. As any repairer of chappals and polisher of shoes is described. One fine morning, he started setting up shop – spreading his tools. On the platform near the Railway colony bus stop in Ayanavaram in north Chennai. Just then his eyes fell on a bag lying on the road. Raghavaiah picked it up. He found it contained Rs. 12,000 in cash and some documents and handed it over to the neighbourhood welfare association. Things moved fast after that. The owner of the bag was identified and was informed. He was called to Ayanavaram to take possession of his bag. One Palani was the owner. He intended the cash to be remitted as his daughter’s school admission fees. On recovering his bag in tact, Palani was greatly relieved. In gratitude, he offered a sum to Raghavaiah. Politely refusing to accept it, Raghavaiah started walking towards his roadside shop.To stitch torn chappals all day for a few rupees each.

(DINAMALAR,Tamil Daily, reported this event on 19-6-2002 and ANANDAVIKATAN, Tamil Weekly, featured it beautifully in its issue dated 7-7-2002. ‘CHENNAI MEDIA CENTRE NEWS’, a Tamil fortnightly, patted both these publications for having brought to light this great act of goodness of Raghavaiah).

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Panchaamritam - 5

ONE

The ministry of defence is working towards developing secret codes using Sanskrit (of late, spelt as Samskritam). The 'Panini methodology' of the language is to be applied in keeping the information under wrap. In his work Ashtaadhyayi, we find Panini’s method of coding in which maximum could be said in a little space. This involves two steps comprising a combination of 4000 sutras. First, a sutra once used in his work is never repeated, and is replaced by a code, says Dr. Prakash Pandey, assistant director for research and development, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan. Second, Panini created situation-based principles, termed adhikar sutras, wherein you find a change in code once in a few hundred words making it impossible for an intruder to comprehend anything. At this rate, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and all the hacks in Muslim countries may hasten to learn Sanskrit even before the Hindus do, to break the codes, that is! Even if a terrorist breaks a code using Panini methodology, he will not be able to decode, as he will not be in a position to decipher which code had been used for what purpose. This can really solve many problems that the ministry of defence faces for lack of a reliable coding system. Union home secretary N. Gopalaswami had announced that a software firm in Bangalore he had asked to develop a coding system after studying the methodology used by Panini, informed Dr. Pandey.

(Idea: Shri. Arun Venkataraman).

TWO

The following letter appeared in "Dear Abby," a syndicated column published in hundreds of U.S. newspapers: “Dear Abby, I am a Hindu woman living in the 'Bible Belt' [southern USA]. Many of my friends and acquaintances are Christians, and they are all wonderful -- except for one thing. Some try in small, subtle ways to convert me to their faith. With Christmas approaching, I know what's coming -- boxes of baked goodies with little brochures and pamphlets tucked inside all about Jesus and the Christian faith. I wish you would remind people that all of us in this diverse nation should respect the faiths of others. To try to convert someone to your faith implies that you consider your religious beliefs superior, and that is just plain wrong. I know these gestures are well meant, but I wouldn't dream of sending Hindu brochures with my holiday goodies. Abby, what is a tactful, but firm, way of dealing with this?" Signed, Happy Hindu In The Bible Belt. Abby's response: Dear Happy Hindu, much as you would like, you are not going to change people who feel it's part of their religious commitment to "save" you. Ignore the brochures and enjoy the goodies.

(Based on a CHICAGO TRIBUNE (December 21, 2002) feature under headline ‘American Advice Columnist Responds To A Hindu's Concern’).

THREE

A Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh, Bharat) boy has literally had his niche carved in the galaxy for his brilliant invention. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US, has named '12509 Pathak' - a recently spotted minor planet between Mars and Jupiter - after Madhav Pathak - a Class X student. "We feel proud to name the minor planet discovered by LINEAR programme in honour of students and teachers recognised by Science Service Programmes", says a letter from the Lincoln Laboratory, US. Pathak has earned the rare honour for his innovation 'Nova Front Face Braille Writer' that helps the visually handicapped to read and write from left to right like a normal person. The visually impaired person writes from right to left and then turns over the punched paper sheet to read what is written.The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research(CSIR) of India has got this invention of Madhav patented as co-assignee. Pathak is being awarded first prize, carrying Rs 50,000 cash at the CSIR Diamond Jubilee Awards, for 'Invention of School Children'. .He has also bagged the World Intellectual Research Organisation (WIPO) Award for the "Outstanding Student Inventor". (Yoga master of world renown, Shri. B.K.S. Iyengar too had been honoured likewise years back. The Ministry of Federal Star Registration, USA, had named a star in the northern hemisphere after the master. )

(Idea: Shri. Arun Venkataraman).

FOUR

S.Satyamoorthy(now 66) had to retire prematurely in 1993 since he suddenly lost vision in both eyes. He was working as Office Superintendent in Chennai Port Trust. He has been writing for children in Tamil magazines for decades under pen name ‘Pooram’. He is the recipient of several awards for his literary work. A native of Pudukkottai, he lives in Triplicane, Chennai. Every day, he ventures out taking the help of others, to teach Veda recitation to about 15 boys. “ I have learnt Vedas. One cannot learn Vedas with the help of printed books or pre recorded cassettes, you see”, says Satyamoorthy. On January 13, 2003, he was awarded ‘Vidya Seva Ratna’ by Kanchi Sankaracharya.

(Based on a DINAMANI report of January 12, 2003.)

FIVE

He was just 36. But, late Shri. Gulshan Kumar was so successful in selling his T-series cassettes that he reached the top of the list of Income Tax payers for 1992-93. The total amount that this staunch believer in God paid as tax that year was Rs. 3,94,88,913 (a little less than Rs. 4 crore). While other businessmen express their pride at evading taxes, Gulshan Kumar whose turnover that year was Rs. 200 crore, felt that paying his taxes was equivalent to charity. “I dreamt of the gods telling me that the best way to please them was through charity, be it through giving alms or contributing to the government’s coffers ”, he said. Shri. Kumar had started his career as a fruit - juice shop owner in Delhi; he was reportedly murdered by members of Mumbai’s underworld, for ignoring their extortion threat.

(Based on a ‘PEOPLE’ column item in

BUSINESS TODAY, October 22—November 6, 1993).

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Panchaamritam 21- 25

Panchaamritam - 21

ONE

Kids in school learn that the sun is 93 million miles from the earth and that the speed of light is 1,86,000 miles per second. Yoga may teach us about our Higher Self, but it can't supply this kind of information about physics or astronomy. Or can it? Professor Subhash Kak of Louisiana State University recently called my attention to a remarkable statement by Sayana, a fourteenth century Indian scholar. In his commentary on a hymn in the Rig Veda, the oldest and perhaps most mystical text ever composed in India, Sayana has this to say: "With deep respect, I bow to the sun, who travels 2,202 yojanas in half a nimesha." A yojana is about nine American miles; a nimesha is 16/75 of a second. Mathematically challenged readers, get out your calculators! 2,202 yojanas x 9 miles x 75/8 nimeshas = 1,85,794 m.p.s. Basically, Sayana is saying that sunlight travels at 1,86,000 miles per second! How could a Vedic scholar who died in 1387 A.D. have known the correct figure for the speed of light? If this was just a wild guess it's the most amazing coincidence in the history of science! The yoga tradition is full of such coincidences. (‘Yoga at the speed of Light’ By Linda Johnsen, Courtesy Yoga International ). Idea: Shri. Sanjeev Nayyar.

TWO

Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray's A History of Hindu Chemistry defies all summary. The father of modern chemistry in India had explored an unknown world of science hundreds of years ago. This monumental work of Prof. Ray has a history behind its completion. When he was a student at the University of Edinburgh during the end of the 19th century, he was fascinated by how much the ancients in the western hemisphere knew about chemistry. Young Ray became curious to know where Indians stood in this regard. He studied in detail the works of Charaka, Susruta and various standard texts of Ayurveda which escaped the ravages of time. French scientist Marcellin Berthelot's Alchemists Greece influenced him to write a letter to him, mentioning India's contribution in alchemy and its significance. Berthelot, while admiring Ray's views, made a personal request to provide him more information about ancient Hindu chemistry. Inspired, Ray began writing A History of Hindu Chemistry, incorporating, among others, the alchemical ideas described in the Vedas and the works of Charaka, Susruta and the Bhagbhata. He discussed the chemistry in the Siddha Yog and of Vrinda and Chakrapani, the entire tantric period -Rasaratna Samuchchayya and much else. Pandit Nabakanta Kavibhusana collated the Sanskrit texts. The second volume of the title, dedicated to the memory of Berthelot, was also a treasure trove. It described the works of Nagarjuna and various Buddhist alchemical texts. Going through it, any reader would be left with the impression that ancient Hindu chemistry was in some respects moredeveloped than even Greek science. The physical and chemical theories ofthe ancient experts, discussed by Prof. B N Seal, were an added attraction of the volume. According to Dr Robin Bal, owner of Shaibya Prakashan Bibhag, which has published the facsimile edition of A History of Hindu Chemistry, the title has got relevance even today. "Our nation has a splendid past and this should make our young generation feel proud of it," he said. The world has come a long way from the era of alchemy. We have entered a brave new world of chemistry, particularly after the completion of the Human Genome Project. Will the publication of A History of Hindu Chemistry serve any purpose today? "History is always important," said Bal. "I decided to reprint it as it has always been regarded as anauthentic source of our excellence in chemistry in those days."

From a review by Shri. Parthasarathi Chakraborty in The Telegraph on September 1, 2003

THREE

In the Bagaan region of western Garhwal in Himalayas, there exists a tiny fraternity speaking a language with a massive mix of ancient Samskrit words as old as 3,000 years. These people uphold Vedic traditions as well. Parts of the Samskrit vocabulary of Vedic age believed to have become extinct years back, are found to be in day-to-day use of the members of this fraternity. German linguist Claus Petertzolar, a professor at the Centre for South East Asian Studies in the Hydelberg University, has unearthed this fraternity dwelling in the upper reaches of river Toas on the border of Himachal Pradesh and Garhwal. This research could prove valuable in the study of history and anthropology. For example, the final outcome of this ongoing research could provide a new angle to the ‘Aryan invasion’ theory. Professor Petertzolar has spent two years living in the fraternity trying to make out the exact origin of this fratrnity.

Based on a report in the Hindi daily SWADESH, Indore,reproduced in Hindi fortnightly PATHA SANKET of January 8, 2003

FOUR

According to Romain Rolland, Vivekananda had said that being itself a science, Vedanta gives an honoured place for all physical sciences, whether physical sciences accept Vedanta or not. A few physical scientists of the West respond to vedantic truths today. Nuclear scientist Schrodinger quotes the profound dictum of the Chandogya Upanishad (6^th Chapter) which says, ‘You are That (infinite Atman) – Tat twam asi.’ So also, Professor J.B.S.Haldane, an agnostic British microbiologist who went to India and settled down, worked and died in Bhubaneswar, said in a lecture that when he went to Germany, he went to a microbiological laboratory of his friend. At the entrance he saw inscribed this Upanishadic message ‘Tat twam asi – You are That’, and he (Haldane) said that if any one in the audience could understand this truth and live it, he would be happy, and he would consider his lecture there as rewarded.

From a 1981 lecture of Swami Ranganathananda in Chicago (Courtesy: An Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta, publication, THE APPROACH TO TRUTH IN VEDANTA ).

FIVE

SETU, a fortnightly online news summary of Media Centre, Chennai, came out with this report in February 2003: “Coca Cola and other aerated soft drinks could now have competition in the form of 'kela-kela', a banana based, carbonated, healthy, ready-to-serve beverage developed by Thiruchirapalli-based National Research Centre for Banana, a leading agricultural research institute and a wing of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR). ‘A method has been standardized for the preparation of ready-to-serve banana-based juice and aerated soft drinks, which taste best when served chilled. The cost of production of these drinks is only Rs 2 or 3 per 250 ml bottle,’ said officials of ICAR in New Delhi”. Now, here is some heartening update of that news from Baba Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai. BARC has found the methodology to extract watery juice from kela pulp. That had remained a major challenge for scientists. The preservative substance to be used in the kela beverage will be human-friendly, because it will not contain any harmful chemical. Nor any irradiation method will be adopted, scientists of BARC say. That means it will not be ‘business as usual’ hereafter for what are hailed as the “cola giants”. Not only that. Thousands of tons of raw kela that had all these years been destroyed (since kela production in Bharat exceeds the domestic demand and there was no viable food processing technique for kela) will hereafter be gainfully used to prepare the proposed beverage. A kilo of kela yields 500 ml of juicy – and tasty – beverage.

Update based on a news report in the INDIAN EXPRESS.

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Panchaamritam - 22

ONE

Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, President of Bharat, in his celebrated autobiography WINGS OF FIRE, introduces one Sivakaminathan to the readers. Shri Sivakaminathan was a member of the team lead by Dr. Kalam (then with ISRO) that was working on SLV-3. The launch was slated for early 1980. Sivakaminathan was given the job of bringing a C-Band tranponder from Thiruvananthapuram to Sriharikottah. It is a crucial component for SLV-3, designed to keep sending radar signals from the moment the rocket is fired till it reaches the programmed altitude. The signals would be strong enough to indicate the condition of the rocket in flight. Dr. Kalam writes: “As the plane in which Sivakaminathan was travelling touched down at Chennai airport, the aircraft swerved from the runway and started running in a haphazard manner. A cloud of smoke surrounded the aircraft. All the occupants hurriedly jumped out through the emergency exit. Everyone was keenly intent on saving his own life. But one person was busy retreiving an item from out of his baggage and ensuring that it was safe. He was Sivakaminathan. He was among the last few who emerged from the cloud of smoke. The others, in fact, were the crew. Sivakaminathan was seen hugging the transponder close to his chest as he reached safety.” Dr. Kalam refers to the bravery of persons like Sivakaminathan as a varaprasadam for the Bharat’s space programme.

TWO

Even in these days of rampant judicial activism, the hitopadesam offered by Justice M.Karpagavinayakam, a judge of Chennai High Court, is something unique. His upadesam was directed at Shri.Ranganathan, an MLA of Congress Jananayaka Peravai headed by Shri.P.Chidambaram. Ranganathan had sought anticipatory bail in a case accusing him that he threatened a farmer by pointing a gun at him in a land deal quarrel. The judge granting a conditional anticipatory bail to the MLA, ordered that the MLA should sign not at any Police Station or Court but present himself daily, from September 29 till further orders, in front of the Director of Thakkar Bapa Vidyalaya, Chennai, and sign a register there. It is a historic Gandhian institution offering vocational training to Harijan youth. Prior to that, the judge ordered, Ranganathan should go to Madurai and stay there from September 22 to 26 and sign a register daily in front of the Secretary of the Gandhi Museum there and that arrangements should be made for his access to the library there so that he may go through the Gandhian books available there. The learned judge surmised that the Court did not want to punish the representative of people by making him sign at a police station or a court, but wanted to give a chance to the MLA elected on the ticket of a party having Gandhian ideals as its basis, to reform himself into a good person to be able to serve his constituency better. The MLA should realize that his responsibility was to serve the people, the judge concluded. (Based on a report in DINAMANI, September 18, 2003).

THREE

Meet the couple Shridhar – Kalavathi. Both are scientific officers working for Indira Gandhi Atomic Research Centre, Kalpakkam, Tamilnadu, Bharat. Together they spend upto Rs. 40,000 every year on the education of Harijan children living in the adjoining village, Vaayalur. Their speciality: they make the children stay with them in their house. The children grow with the son and daughter of the couple. Says Kalavathi: “Durairaj and Bhaskar who studied staying here have completed an ITI course. Manoharan and Ramesh are doing B.Sc Physics now. Elumalai is an engineering diploma student.” Adds her husband Shridhar: “We were conducting coaching classes for children in Vaayalur. There were too many dropouts at class 8 due to poverty. So, we took children of class 9 to 12 eager to study further under our care. Jaiprasad has scored 402 out of 500 in SSLC this year (centum in maths). He is now in class11”. There is smooth equality in Shridhar’s household with his mother Smt.Suguna caring for all in the family lovingly. Shridhar had to struggle much in his boyhood to pursue his studies; he had to work as a shop assistant in the evenings because his father had left his job as a lecturer in English. (Based on a DINAMANI report of July 28, 2003).

FOUR

At the crematorium in the Ambernath municipality near Mumbai, Maharashtra, Bharat, the dead are cremated using a type of gas extracted from logs of firewood. Earlier, 250 to 300 kgs of firewood were required to cremate a body. The gas method has brought the requirement down to mere 80 to 100 kgs. This first-in the-country technique was made available by the efforts of the Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI). Even useless bits of wood can produe the gas and so, felling of trees for this purpose could be avoided. Cremation of a body using firewood costs Rs. 900, whereas just Rs. 300 is enough to cremate a body using the gas. (Based on a report in Mumbai Vishva Samvad Kendra’s bulletin VICHAR-SAMACHAR, August 10, 2003).

FIVE

It so happened that a worker of Hindu Seva Pratishthana (a movement training seva-vratis or full-time social missionaries), after using the public toilet at the bus stand of Basavana-Bagewadi, Bijapur district, Karnataka, gave two rupees to the watchman and left the place. However, the watchman called him back to give him the remaining change. When the worker told him to keep it, the watchman replied, “No sir, a few days back, my child after returning from the sishu mandir (run by seva vratis) as usual sitting on my lap told me, ‘Our mataji today told us that the money earned by immoral means is like poison and that earned through legitimate means is like Amrit’. Since that day I have stuck to that principle.” Saying this, the watchman returned the change to the worker. (From the book, RSS: A VISION IN ACTION, Page 222); Compiler-Editor: Shri.H.V.Seshadri).

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Panchaamritam - 23

ONE

An IAS officer. Let us call him Durairaj. He heads a state government – supported cooperative bank with branches all over the state of Tamilnadu. On a particular occasion, nearly 100 vacancies in the organisation were filled up. But how? Durairaj brushed aside the transfer threat that is common on such occasions. That is how a ‘pliable’ officer is brought in, to handle the recruitments “benefitting” vested interests. Durairaj went ahead with the scrutiny of the applications and conducted the interviews. Addressing the selected candidates he said, “Look here, you are all here by virtue of your merit and nothing else. Take heart”. It goes without saying that not a single rupee changed hands by way of bribe in the entire process. I asked Durairaj later, “Did you have to suffer for the honest stand that you took?” He laughed heartily. Said, “Only others had to”.

(Late Shivaramji Joglekar, a veteran RSS pracharak, has recorded this anecdote. ‘Durairaj’ is one among the 1,000 honest persons in Chennai metropolitan city whom Shivaramji could spot in an informal survey in the mid 1990s.)

TWO

Meet Shri J.Sundaresan, 48, a professor in the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, US. He has designed a T shirt that tells a physician all about the wearer’s body temperature, blood pressure level, pulse rate, Oxygen level, etc., via a monitor attached to it. The T shirt is manufactured using cotton-polythene yarn, with optic fibre filaments criss-crossing the fabric. The tips of the optic fibre filament act as sensor spots. They measure and communicate the wearer’s clinical particulars to an attached pocket size control box, which, in turn, passes on the data to the hospital monitor. The wearer too can read those on the monitor of the control box itself. Thus, a son sitting in the US could read the blood pressure of his father in Bharat who wears the T shirt with the help of an internet connection. This way, the unique T shirt helps save lives by constantly monitoring the various body functions of patients. Sundaresan says he is now at work on developing a T shirt that accommodates a camera and a mike. TIME and NEWSWEEK have hailed his invention. Sundaresan is a native of Salem, Tamilnadu, Bharat.He did B.Tech at the Alagappa Chettiar College of Technology, Chennai. After his M.Tech, he did his Ph.D in US, where he lives now.

Based on a DINAMANI report on July 17, 2003.

THREE

An unnoticed page from history: In 1908, an additional sessions judge, an Englishman by name Pinhey, sentenced the great freedom fighter V.O.Chidambaram Pillai, of the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company fame, to 40 years of imprisonment and the indomitable Subramaniam Siva to ten years. THE HINDU condemned the verdict.as “monstrous”. Later the paper strongly attacked the repressive measures of the Britishers in arresting the Editor of the respected Tamil daily SWADESHAMITRAN, Shri G. Subramania Iyer. Naturally, friends of the then Editor of THE HINDU Shri Kasturi Ranga Iyengar, were worried. They anticipated reprisal on THE HINDU by the bureaucracy. Some of them advised Iyengar to follow the example of poet Subramania Bharati (the de facto editor of INDIA weekly known for its bitter attacks on the British rule) and voluntarily leave for Pondicherry, held then by the French, to be safe; he could return when the trouble had blown over. Salem C. Vijayaraghavachariar, an intimate friend of Iyengar’s family also met the Editor. When the two were alone, they wanted to know each other’s mind most dispassionately. For this purpose, they decided that each should write on a piece of paper what he thought the best policy to adopt in the circumstances. Vijayaraghavachariar wrote on his slip of paper: “An editor, if he wants to honourably discharge his duties, should not be afraid of imprisonment or even loss of life.” Kasturi Ranga Iyengar had written on his slip that he was not going to be daunted by anything coming in the way of his following his principles and putting his ideas into practice. They were mutually happy to discover their like-mindedness.

Source: KASTURI RANGA IYENGAR by V.K.Narasimhan, published by Publications Division, Government of India, in 1963 as part of their ‘Builders of Modern India’ series.

FOUR

In the year 2000, motorcycle makers of Bharat were a worried lot. A number of them had announced plans to launch dirt-cheap Chinese bikes, fearing that such dumped motorcycles would swamp the Indian market. The Confederation of Indian Industry and Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which had lobbied vigorously to block the onslaught, say dumping by China is no longer an issue. But how did the miracle take place? To begin with, Indians beat the Chinese at their game of aggressive pricing. Three years ago, the entry-level price of Indian motorcycles was Rs 31,000, and there was talk of Chinese motorcycles being launched at Rs 25,000. Since then, Indian firms have brought down the entry-level price to Rs 26,000. Monto's Chinese bike, the Cosmo Blaster, in contrast, is available for Rs 30,000. Leading automobile companies like Bajaj Auto and LML had scouted the Chinese industry to source components but could not find anything worthwhile. Far from being annihilated by China, Indian manufacturers currently hold potential export orders worth $10 billion. Interestingly, Bajaj Auto now plans to produce a bike in China, with components supplied from India. "The Chinese are delighted with our quality and price," Bajaj Auto vice-president (business development and marketing) R L Ravichandran said. Moreover, the Chinese could not deliver quality products. According to Pankaj Gupta, director of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, Chinese products failed because of India's stricter emission norms. The same goes for tyres. On average, the life expectancy of a Chinese tyre is at least 20 per cent less than its Indian counterpart.

Based on a rport in the REDIFF ON THE NET (August 9, 2003)

FIVE

Acharya Shyam Upadhyaya was honoured this year (2003) with a ‘Samskrita Mitra’ award by the Human Resources Development Ministry, Government of India. He is an advocate who practises in the courts in Kashi – in Samskritam – for over twenty years now. The Acharya renders the atmosphere in the courtroom fully Sanskritised in no time. He manages all the proceedings of the cases for which he appears in Samskritam. If the magistrate or the other party has any difficulty with any of his Samskrit words, the Acharya comes up with the etymology and also makes his sentences as small as possible till the court comprehends his argument. The magistrate’s chamber is invariably crowded with eager advocates whenever he expounds his case in Samskritam. He was moved immensely when the judgement in the very first case he fought in Samskritam went in his client’s favour. That was in the year 1976. The Acharya says it was the yearning of his father, also an advocate, that cases should be argued in Samskritam as well. Whatever case he argues now is only in Samskritam, even if it were in the Supreme Court. The Acharya is now busy training the nearly 1,000 advocates attached to the Kashi courts to affix their signatures in Samskritam. The target he has set for the next 5 years is to train 10,000 advocates in the courts in Uttaranchal to sign in Samskritam. On Samskrit Day every year, he oganises a Samskrit program in the court precincts.

Based on a report in RASHTRA DEV, Hindi fortnightly, dated September 25, 2003.

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Panchaamritam - 24

ONE

Railway accidents seem to have lost their news value. But not the one that happened on October 7 around 12.55 in the night at a level crossing in Munneerpallam near Tirunelveli. A train rammed against a truck that had been left in the middle of the track after it had a breakdown. The assistant driver of the train was killed in the accident and 25 passengers sustained injuries. The news, rather the good news, part of this episode is the alacrity of the Tirunelveli District Collector Suneel Paliwal. As soon as information reached in the dead of the night, he rang up the Revenue Divisional Officer and sent him to the government hospital with instructions to reach medical help to the victims on the spot immediately. Next, the Collector called in the Fire Service people and asked them to hasten with relief work. After that, the dutiful Collector spoke to the Superindendant of Police regarding the accident (The SP, of course, had received information). Next, the Collector called the managing director of the State Transport Corporation and got him deploy buses to transport the affected people to the government hospital and other places. Having done all this, the Collector set out to visit the accident spot, only to find out that his personal assistant was not around. So, he went to the residence of the assistant, picked him up and made it to the spot even before the railway authorities could reach the place.

Based on a report in DINAMANI dated October 12, 2003.

TWO

The Vanavasi hamlet Madoor, situated 28 kilometeres from the hill station Yercaud, Tamilnadu, Bharat, was in the news when all the goats in the village were sold and they were herded away. This was in order to enable the afforestation programme by the forest department. The vanavasis are naturally grateful to the forest department which has installed a deep borewell of 340 feet and provided water distribution to the hamlet from an overhead tank. The villagers stand to benfit in 10 different ways for their unique co-operation. Some are: 1 lakh saplings planted on 300 hectare, 60,000 percolation trenches dug to harvest rain water, etc.

Based on a DINAMANI report

THREE

Years back, in October 1962, when China invaded India and when clashes in the India – China border took place, Shri.Chaman Lal Chaman, a correspondent of Kenya Brodcasting Corporation was in India for a week to cover the developments following the clash. When he returned to Kenya, he was given a hero’s welcome at Nairobi airport by a large number of Indians domiciled in the African country. Shri.Chaman Lal drove straight to a reception in his honour at the city hall, where he spoke about his experience in India. He informed the predominantly Indian audience that India needed funds to fight China. At once, Indian women in the audience offered their ornaments without any hesistation. A huge amount was collected on the spot. When he reached his residence, Chaman Lal was in for a pleasant surprise. His wife, who had been to the recption, had offered her earring made of gold to India’s defence fund.

Based on media reports in October 2003,

citing an item from archives posted in www.historytalking.com

FOUR

India was home to a large variety of wonderful dogs. History ha it that when India was invaded by Alexander, huge Indian dogs attacked lions and tigers Alexander, in fact, took a few dogs with him from our country. I had a breed of dog called Jonangi which is beautiful, friendly, faithful and awonderful guard dog. I bet it was better than any foreign breeds. It is easier to maintain an Indian breed. Many foreign breeds suffer from skin infections, liver problems and so on because of the different climatc condition and food. Unfortunately, many still lack knowledge about the Indian breeds. There are lovely breeds like Pasharis, Rajapalayams, the Himalayan sheep dog, gaddi, Bhuttia, Shanekota, etc.,I have heard, on my trips to the Ganges that each village in the Himalayan ranges has a dog which is a kind of protection to the village. There are many heroic stories of how these dogs fought panthers, cheetas, hyenas, etc. We need to revive these breeds instead of imposing defective foreign breeds on our country. Let the pride of being an Indian show in our pets as well.

From an article by Shri Pullela Gopi Chand,

the former badminton national champion,

in THE NEW SUNDAY EXPRESS, dated February 9, 2003.

FIVE

1.Loganathan (36) of Nanjundapuram, works as a welder in the Essem Engineering Company in Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, Bharat. His monthly income of Rs. 2,500 is not sufficient to give money to poor students so that they could continue their studies (a passion with him). He took up the additional job of cleaning the toilets of his office that yielded Rs. 400 per month. He deposits that in the bank. Out of this fund he finances 10 students. This goes on for quite a few years. (DINAMANI, July 8, 2003). 2. Shri Subramanian of Vishnupuram (Nanninlam taluk, Thanjavur District, Tamilnadu) is a history teacher who has retired from service in the Nannilam Government Boys higher Secondary School two years back. Even after his retirement, he teaches history to students in class XII at the Government Girls Higher Secondary School in the same town for free. He has declined the honourorium that was offered to him by the parent teacher association of the school. “ At this stage I look upon teaching as my Dharma” says Subramanium. (DINAMANI January 27, 2003). 3. Teachers of Schools run by Chennai Municipal Corporation continued to teach in their respective classes even after they (118 of them) had been dismissed by the Government for participating in a strike in July 2003. these were teachers of schools situated in Tiruvanmaiyur, Koiambedu, Magazinepuram, Vyasarpadi. They were driven by humanitarian consideration. The quarterly examination was also round the corner. The Corporation, too, permitted them to attend teach. (DINAMANI July 13, 2003) 4. In Kadirampatti, near Erode, Tamilnadu, educated citizens of the village volunteered to teach the children of the village under the shades of the trees. The local Pachayat elementary school was locked following an indefinite strike by teachers. These volunteers, all graduates, are old students of the same school which is there for over thirty years. The mid-day meal for the children is cooked right on the roadside. Every household in the village contributed rice, pulses and vegetables. This beautiful local initiative was later picked up by villagers of adjoining Nanjanapuram, Rayapalayam, Koorapalayam, Veppampalayam, Vannankattuvalasu and Pichchandanpalayam.

(DINAMANI October 10, 2002)

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Panchaamritam - 25

ONE

Occasionally we find the note 'Avoid gifts' at the bottom of wedding invitations. Here is a rare kind of such a note: 'In case you are particular in giving a gift, let it be a cheque -- drawn in favour of 'armed forces personnel welfare fund'. That one was found in the invitation card of the wedding of Shri. Parijat, son of Shri. J.C.Sharma, Secretary, Foreign Affairs, government of India. The note had effect. Guests avoided giving gifts to the newlywed couple. But donations to the Jawans' fund totted up to Rs. 1.50 lakhs on that auspicious day in the last week of May, 2003. Sharma had served in the 1971 war with Pakistan and had received Sena medal. His happiness was doubled when bride Archana's family too appreciated the gift arrangement. Archana's father Shri. Ravi Rana is a retired Colonel. Deputy Prime Minister Shri. L.K.Advani, among others, attended the wedding reception.

(Based on a report in DINAMANI, May 30, 2003)

TWO

Sashirerekha runs Akshara Fun School in R.S.Puram, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, Bharat. 100 kids in the age group of 2-3 study here. Medium of instruction is English. But the school staff interact with the children in their respective mother tongue -- Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, etc. All festivals are celebrated in the school. Competitions including those in games are conducted. "As the school functions within the precincts of my house, parents admit their kids in full faith", she says. Okay. What is specal here? Sashirekha cannot move her limbs and needs help even to take food or change her dress. She was hit by Rheumatoid when she was 15. She was an athlete in her school. But soon all that became things of the past. Every joint in her body gave her unbearable pain. She was taken to the US for treatment. During her 2-year stay there, she received training in teaching pre school kids. On her return, she had relief for ten years and she launched the school. Her family backed her. Now, crippled completely, Sashirekha manages to visit the school all the same, only to withdraw for a bit of rest when the pain shoots up.

(Based on a DINAMANI report by G.Menakshi; March 11, 2003.)

THREE

The people of Kollugudi, a hamlet in Sivaganga District, Tamilnadu, Bharat, are in the news. The reason: they give up the joy of celebrating Deepavali by bursting crackers year after year. This is because, Kollugudi is a bird sanctuary. More than a dozen variety of European birds visit this place in their hundreds during winter. To escape the severe cold of the Northern hemisphere. The villagers appreciate that birds are scared by the sound of crackers and therefore, have voluntarily given up the practice of buying crackers in spite of their children’s insistence. This is because they seem to love the birds more than their children. The same norm is observed even during occasions like weddings, and festivals when normally fireworks form part of the festivities.

(A DINAMANI report, October, 2003)

FOUR

1. Meet Shri.K.Sambandam, a student of class V at the evening school in Iyyampettai, Kanchipuram, Tamilnadu, Bharat. His age is just 75. He is a regular for three years. He has stopped selling lungies as his health did not permit. But no such bar for his scholastic pursuit. He is seen reading aloud laessons from class V Tamil textbook a energetically as his classmates the age of his grandchildren. "He does all his homework promptly", says his class teacher Arunagiri. There seems to be no such thought as, 'what use studying at this stage?' passing through Sambandam's mind; "I shall go on studying as far as I can", he says. (DINAMANI, July 28, 2003). 2. Also, meet Shri. Prahlad Mishra, 87, of Kendrapada, Orissa, Bharat. He is a retired Samsritam teacher. What engages him all his retired life is his translation work. For the last 10 years, he has been rendering the entire Mahabharata epic into simple Oriya language in verse form. So far he is done with 13 volumes. 12 more volumes remain to be done and he hopes that it could be completed in 2 years. "There was a break in the work because of my ill health. I have managed to print 2 volumes. Paucity of funds impedes the work of printing the finalised script of 10 volumes", he says. His lifetime savings and his retirement cash benefits were all spent in the translation work he adds.(DINAMANI, July 6, 2003).

FIVE

It was October 13, 2003. A Christian girl and a Muslim youth get married at a Hindu temple. Their families oppose. Police comes to their protection. The girl, Mary Alishya, is an 18-year old college student. The youth, Hussain Shareef, is 22 years old and works as a tailor in a garment export factory. This unique marriage took place in Periyapalayam, Amman temple, the Kuladevata of Chennaiites. The boy and the girl were neighbours and they eloped when parents of both opposed the proposal. After marriage, they sought the help of the police. Joint Commissioner (North), Shri C. Sylendra Babu directed his men to ensure the safety of the couple. The police summoned the family members of the couple and tried to broker a peace. At the end of it all, the couple decided to live alone. The police have warned the parents not to harm the couple.

(Based on a report in THE HINDU, October 14, 2003).

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Panchaamritam 16- 20

Panchaamirtam - 16

ONE

Dr Umesh Zadgaonkar and Alka Zadgaonkar, who heads the applied chemistry research unit at G H Raisoni College of Engineering at Nagpur, claimed their process technology converts plastic waste into of distillates containing gasoline, kerosene, diesel and some other petro-products. All one has to do is to mix the waste plastic with coke and catalysts, which the two claim to have developed, and heat the mixture in a 'specially-designed' container. In the laboratory, they converted three kg. waste plastic into three litres of petrol and related products, though it can be upscaled depending on the requirement. The Nagpur-based couple have received provisional patent from the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). The Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP) at Dehra Dun and the Indian Oil Corporation have recently prepared a confidential report on the potential of the new technology, which is being evaluated by petroleum experts. The mixture contains 35 per cent petrol fraction, 25 per cent kerosene fraction and 30 per cent diesel fraction. The rest is a combination of other lubes, Alka Zadgaonkar said, adding that all types of waste plastic have been successfully converted into fuels at the laboratory.

Based on a report by Kalyan Ray in the Deccan Herald, April 20,2003.

TWO

Chennai businessman Shri. Suresh Kamath hired Shri. S.M. Parthasarathy as a trainee programmer in July 1992 mainly because he felt sorry for him -- Parthasarathy's right leg was crippled by polio. But Parthasarathy worked so hard and did so well that Kamath realized that hiring handicapped people wouldn't just be doing them a favour, it could be good business too. Today 40 of Kamath's 475 employees are handicapped. Kamath is also unusual in that he has installed ramps, extra railings and special toilets in his office for the benefit of his handicapped employees. "In fact," says Parthasarathy, now a senior executive in he company, 'Suresh is like a big brother to us. And he never makes us feel that we're different in any way".

Based on a report in Reader's Digest, June 2003

THREE

The Made in India Show organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Sri Lanka last month has generated business inquiries worth Rs. 495 crores. Over 130 Indian ompanies participated in the five-day exhibition. The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Ministry of Industries and the Ministry of Commerce & Consumer Affairs, Government of Sri Lanka supported it. The high point of the show was "Enterprise India" which showcased a varied range of consumer products from garments, textiles, to household products. A CII release said that the "Enterprise India Show" saw an overwhelming response from the Sri Lankanconsumers. The visitor turnout was beyond expectation as it crossed the over sixty thousand mark. After the tremendous response received from the show, CII is planning to hold this event annually at Colombo, the release added.

Based on a report in The Hindu

FOUR

Reuters Health has reported that many people turn to yoga to relieve stress, and new study findings suggest they're doing the right thing. U.S. researchers discovered that after a single session of yoga, levels of the stress hormone cortisol dropped, even in people who were trying yoga for the first time. Dr. George Brainard of the Center of Integrative Medicine of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and colleagues measured cortisol levels before and after a 50-minute yoga session. Brainard and his team found that cortisol levels decreased more after a session of yoga than after the rest period, even on the first day of practice. Further research will have to determine whether the decrease in cortisol after yoga is sustained, and whether that hormonal change has a positive effect on health. "My suspicion is that the answer to all that may well be yes," Brainard said. The research is being presented this week in Philadelphia at the 85th Annual Meeting of The Endocrine Society.

Based on a despatch by Shri. Alison McCook, June 19, 2003.

FIVE

This happened in Madurai, Tamilnadu. Railway employee Kuppan died. His wife Thangam had left Kuppan and had been living with a man named Maari who had a wife already. In 1950, Kuppan brought a woman by name Shenbagam into his life. Kuppan-Shenbagam begot four children. The position at the demise of Kuppan was that legally Thangam was eligible for the settlement money from the Railways. I (Shri. K.S.Subramanian, the then Divisional Accounts Officer), on the other hand, felt, on Dharmic grounds, that the money should go to Shenbagam. An attempt was set in motion to find a just solution. Through the labour welfare inspector, Thangam wss brought to my office. Even before I started explaining things, Thangam firmly declared: “ Sir, I will not touch a pie. This money must go to Shenbagan who has lived with Kuppan for fifteen years and is left with four kids, all of them girls. Tell me what I should do now to that effect. If ever I lay hands on this money, my family and children will be doomed.” Her nobility touched my heart. Thangam signed the papers and received the money only to hand it over in toto to Shenbagam whom I had summoned to my office. Thangam proudly walked out of my office after rejecting my advice to accept at least a small share of the amount for the trouble she took.

An anecdote from a Tamil article by Shri. K.S.Subramanian, former manager, Asian Development Bank. Courtesy: DINAMANI, June 6, 2003.

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Panchaamirtam - 17

ONE

Ancient Hindu books speak of offsprings imbibing skills as well as qualities even while staying inside their mother’s womb. Abhimanyu and Bhakta Prahlada are examples for this. Nowadays, scientists have established that the personality of a child could be moulded even while in the womb. That means, during pregnancy the would-be mother needs, in addition to adequate nutrition, a proper ambience. In the Bharat of yore, this was no problem, thanks to the joint family system now being edged out by the nuclear family arrangement. Today, the young wife in the nuclear family has to fend for herself, bereft of the loving care of an odd aunt or grandma who used to be around. She misses even her own mother now. So, the lonely pregnant lady in the house sits glued to the idiot box that keeps spewing violent scenes all the 24 hours, risking the babe in her womb imbibing all that. A group of RSS shakha-trained social workers in Vidarbha, in central Bharat, the MATRU SHAKTI KALYAN KENDRA, have found a way out. They have launched the project GARBHA SAMSKAR KENDRA in two places in Nagpur, where expectant women can avail, in addition to doctor’s advice and diet prescribed by nutrition experts, regular practice of Praanaayaama and necessary yogasanas. There they can listen to Bhakti Geet. Can join the Bhajan. Or listen to ennobling stories. As expected, these Kendras are getting good response from among young mothers-to-be.

Based on a report in the Hindi fortnightly RASHTRA DEV (June 30, 2003)

published from Bareily, Meerut and Dehra Dun.

TWO

In a significant development, India today (June 2) decided to stop taking bilateral aid from most countries, except a few major ones, and prepay Rs. 7,490 crore worth of external debt this year in the face of ballooning foreign exchange reserves, now at over $80 billion. ``The Finance Ministry has decided to discontinue receiving aid from partners other than Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, the European Commission and the Russian Federation,'' an official announcement said. This is a follow-up of the budget announcement, it said adding that smaller bilateral aid from 14 countries totalling Rs. 7490.77 crores would be prepaid. The 14 countries comprise the Netherlands, Canada, Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Belgium, Austria, Kuwait, Spain, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Australia, the Russian Federation, Czech and Slovak. India's total outstanding bilateral debt from 20 countries as on March 31, 2003, stood at Rs. 66,316.07 crore. Barring outstanding from Japan, Germany, the United States and France totalling Rs. 58,825.30 crore, the remaining Rs. 7490.77 crore worth of aid is being prepaid. There were no outstanding bilateral debt liabilities to the United Kingdom and Norway, the statement said.

PTI / THE HINDU (June 3, 2003)

THREE

Chennai-ites would watch, amused, two gentlemen in shorts and T-shirts, riding tricycle carts early in the morning. The carts would be carrying saplings. Since most Chennai streets were barren, the two men were kept extremely busy. The tricycle journey that started 15 years ago continues, albeit a bit sluggishly, since Chennai faces a water crisis these days. For years, the two men were considered eccentric, but they are perhaps the unsung green heroes of Chennai. By profession, V Subramanian was a banker at the Reserve Bank of India, while Dr R Madhavan is a practising paediatrician. They started their endeavour by planting saplings on the street on which they lived. Then they moved to the next street, and the next, and so forth. By the end of the first year, they had planted more than 400 saplings. The twosome started the Environmental Society of Mandaveli. They renamed it Global Greenways [Phone: (+91-44) 2493 8368/2493 7060] as their area of operation began spreading. "Earlier, we used to cycle down noting the width of the streets and chose the trees accordingly. But, after a few years, many people recognised our work and started calling us to specific places," says Subramanian. Initially, they collected the saplings from the Corporation of Madras (as Chennai was then known) but soon began their own nursery. Dr.Madhavan has added his own touch -- he gifts saplings to all his patients. Fifteen years later, they might have personally planted more than 15,000 trees in various areas all over Chennai. Over and above that, they have distributed thousands of saplings. “When my patients to whom I have gifted saplings come and tell me, 'Doctor, they are big trees now. Thank you', I feel satisfied," says Madhavan. The two have now turned their attention to flowering plants. "Wouldn't it be wonderful if people could see flowers on the streets in the mornings? The streets that have big trees can also have flowering plants," says Subramanian.

Based on a The Rediff Special feature by Shobha Warrier (June 27, 2003). Idea: Sudha

FOUR

Bharat is mahaan not simply on account of lofty philosophies, but because of men and women who live them – like Shri. Pawan Kumar of Chandigarh. His six-year old son Vicky Kumar is suffering (in the year 2000) from a rare disease, Bruton’s Syndrome, A common form of PID (Primary Immune Deficiency). His is an affliction of the immune systemand stops producing disease-fighting anti-bodies. Normally, this disease surfaces only after the child is six months old when immunity gained from the mother is exhausted. Thereafter the child needs to be given an injection once in a month, a single dose of which costs Rs. 5,700. But Pawan Kumar’s monthy salary is just Rs. 4,500. He was finding it impossible to give his son the life-saving medicine. At this stage, in answer tohis appeal for help, the Red Cross Society of Finland sent him 1,000 vials of the injection valued at Rs. 12 lakh as a personal gift. Pawan Kumar kept just 120 vials for his son and donated the rest to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research of Chandigarh, one of the four centres in the whole country which can detect the dreaded PID.

Based on a report in INDIA TODAY, January 7, 2000.

FIVE

On his way to work every morning, V.Mani would see women milling around Bangalore Central Jail waiting to meet their husbands imprisoned inside. "Many of the women would have young children with them," Mani says, "and they'd be there with them even in biting cold or rain." Since most of the jail inmates were hardened criminals serving long sentences, Mani wondered what kind of future their kids would have. After he retired in 1998 as an assistant general manager with RBI, Mani decided to use his savings to convert his home into a free hostel for the children of prisoners. Though mothers were initially hesitant to send their kids, today Mani, his wife and five social workers look after 31 boys between the ages of two and 11. Apart from providing them with food and shelter, Mani also ensures that they are admitted to good schools. Every three months Mani, 66, takes his wards to meet their families and show them how they're progressing. "Most of the kids are doing well," Mani says, "and some have even topped their class."

Courtesy: Reader's Digest, June 2003. Idea: Raghuramji.

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Panchaamirtam - 18

ONE

Meet Sudha Patel. Age 21 in 1995. It was in that year that she defeated all seven candidates pitted against her in the Panchayat polls and became the youngest village Sarpanch in the country. Her village Champa, situated 120 kilometres from Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Bharat, consists of 493 families. Sudha recognizes everyone in all the families by his or her voice. Yes, she is blind. That way, she became the first blind woman Sarpanch in the country. Her memory is extraordinary. She has managed to establish a hospital, a school with computers to boot and a rehabilitation centre for the blind and handicapped in her village.

Based on a report in the EAST & WEST, January 2002, cited by Swami Gautamananda, President, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, in his convocation address in the Vivekananda College, Chennai on February 17, 2003. Courtesy: SRI RAMAKRISHNA VIJAYAM (August, 2003), Tamil monthly of the Math.

TWO

Ever Heard Of Bone Donation? A bone bank will soon be organised in Chennai, to cater to the needs of Orthopaedic surgeons to facilitate bone transplants. Dr. Mayilvahanan Natarajan, an Ortho expert of the Government General Hospital, gave this information. He has done, for the first time in India, bone transplantation successfully last week on a labourer Shri. Sivakumar, whose knee was affected by cancer. The affected bone was removed and instead of implanting a costly metal plate as is usual, a bone bought from the bone bank in Columbo was grafted. So, after blood donation, eye donation and cadaver donation (deha daanam), now it is bone donation.

Based on a report in DINAMANI of July 9, 2003

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Remada village in Orissa's Jharsuguda district having a population of about 1,000, was the scene of camaraderie among local tribals (Vanavasi Hindus) and Muslims, who have joined hands to organise Rath Yatra every year for nearly 100 years now. Located on the edge of the vast Hirakud reservoir, the village sported a colourful look on Friday July 4, 2003. 'Gond' tribals are the majority inhabitants of the village but the 15 Muslim families play a key role in the festival. In fact, the village headman (locally known as gountia), Mohammed Zamiullah, takes upon himself the task of organising the festival. Before the construction of the Hirakud dam the villagers used to visit Rampella, another village on the other side of river Mahanadi, to participate in the Rath Yatra there. But when the river was in spate it was difficult for them to cross over. This led the then Gountia of Remada, Mohammed Waras to hold the festival in the village itself. The tradition has continued for about a century now, says noted writer Kumar Hassan. Hindus also reciprocated the feelings of the minority community in ample measure by joining their festivals. Mohammed Khalil and Maulana Mustquim Khan, gountias of the village have also written many plays and prayers based on Hindu mythology, Hassan said.

Based on a report posted in www.expressindia.com on July 4, 2003.

FOUR

It was a Nav Durga festival with a difference – at Barada in Ambala district of Haryana. Akhand Jaap of Maha Mantra was held. A 7-kund Havana Yajna was performed allright. The village Sarpanch Shri. Ashok Kumar Bansal, an RSS swayamsevak, made the difference. Inspired by the principles of brotherhood taught in RSS shakhas, Shri. Bansal saw to it that nine girls from Harijan families were worshipped as representing aspects of the Divine Mother during the festival. The head priest of the Yajna washed the feet of the girls and another priest applied kumkum on their foerhead. Rajput youths and Vaishya families offered worship to the anointed girls. All this took place in the village Shiva temple. Devotees belonging to all castes sat together and partook prasadam with delight. Throughout the 8-day festival all sections of Hindu society participated with great enthusiasm, mingling with one and all.

Based on a news item in the English bulletin

DESHIYA SAMACHAR (July-August 2003), Chennai.

Originally from a Hindi weekly ADHISHTANAM of Dehra Dun.

FIVE

The head of the Experimental Mechanics division of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala, Bharat), Shri. T. Chelladurai, has laid claim, in January 2003, to developing a method of predicting earthquakes a number of days in advance. He says he uses the Acoustic Emission (AE) technique now being used at the VSSC for conducting structural integrity tests. According to Dr. Chelladurai, the AE method of identifying active stresses in a material could also be used to identify and measure stress waves emitted by pressure points in fault lines beneath the earth’s surface. The entire country could be covered in an AE sensor grid at acost of Rs. 1,000 crore by 2006, he added.

Based on a report by Shri. G. Mahadevan in THE HINDU of January 24, 2003.

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Panchaamirtam - 19

ONE

1. Two villagers lost their lives due to severe diarrhoea on November 30, 2002 in village Kalleri near Veraiyur in Tiruvannamalai district, Tamilnadu, Bharat. Ten more were in a serious condition and they grew anxious, as there was no vehicle to transport them to the Government hospital in Tiruvannamalai. Inspector of Police, Veraiyur, Shri. Nurul Ameen, learnt of this. Accompanied by sub-inspector Shri. Satyamoorthy, he put them all in a police van and quickly drove to Tiruvannamalai. Villagers were all praise for the cops for playing the role of drivers, to save precious lives (DINAMANI December 1, 2002). 2. On November 4, 2001, Shri. Ramachandran, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Srivilliputtur, was returning in a jeep after a survey of flood-hit villages. As the jeep crossed the Vathirayiruppu bridge, he saw an old woman of 65 about to drown in the flood. He at once jumped into the river and struggled for nearly three hours to save the woman. He did succeeed at last. A few youths joined him in this endeavour. (DINAMANI Novenber 5, 2001). 3. Shri. Alexander, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), in charge of the camp for Srilankan refugees in Mandapam, Ramanathapuram district, was seen teaching algebra and English to 60 children of refugees daily from 6.30 PM to 9.30 PM in front of the local church (He had served as an English lecturer early in his career). In addition, he has appointed, at his expense, three teachers. He guided the refugees in getting rid of 20,000 kilograms of plastic waste in the camp premises and beatifying it by planting 200 saplings (DINAMANI, December 12, 2001). 4. Former DGP Shri. Vaikunth has adopted Paranur, a most backward hamlet in Chengalput district. He is busy in works to fulfill basic needs such as drinking water, roads, education and healthcare for the hamlet with a population of 2,500. He has also donated furniture worth Rs.1,20,000 for the benefit of 250 students of the nearby Kattangolathur Panchayat Union Middle School (BHARATAMANI, Gandhian Tamil Monthly, November, 2002).

TWO

1. K. Sowmya and V. Vishwadhara Meenakshi, fourth year Electronics and Communications students at St. Joseph Engineering College, Chennai, have designed a gadget that can tell you what smell it is. They call it ESTER (Experiencing Smell Through Electronic Reality). It is a computer-aided application involving languages ‘C’ and Visual Basic. They have developed software as well, for this application. The smell signal is conveyed via ESTER to the software installed in the computer, which in turn, finds out the exact smell. The girls say that ESTER will be useful in monitering the dosages of medicines to be administered to patients (DINAMANI July 8, 2003). 2. The smear test used to determine cervical cancer, most common among women of the lower socio-economic group, is not feasible in India as the population is high. But the Cancer Institute in Adyar, Chennai, has a low cost alternative. It is CITRON (CI stands for Cancer Institute), an indigenous machine that can be installed at primary health centres and in district hospitals, according to Shri. D.Rajkumar, Director, Research Wing. Introduced in year 2000, the machine costs Rs. 10 lakhs. The cost per patient is Rs. 1,000 for eight sittings (THE HINDU, January 24, 2003). 3. The author of the book, Unofficial Guide To Ethical Hacking, Shri. Ankit Phadia is just 15 years old. Lakhs of copies of this book, written by this class XII student of the Delhi Public School, R.K.Puram, have sold out across the globe already. His website that tells you all about computer hacking is visited by one lakh persons every day. It has a membership of 15 lakhs. The second book by Ankit, Network Security – A Hacker’s Perspective, has also been released. With an alarming increase in cyber crimes and cyber terrorism, this book becomes all the more relevent as it gives details of the way hackers operate and the methods to steer clear of them (SANGH MARG, Hindi monthly, Rohtak, November, 2002). 4. Deep is the name of the new method to generate cooking gas and electricity from farm ‘waste’ like cowdung, dry stalks of plants, etc. Haryana’s young scientist Dr. Shivdarshan Mallik and Shri. Jagram Singh of Hanumangarh, Rajastan have evolved this method after ten years of intensive research. The Deep cooking gas will cost just Rs. six and the Deep electricity will be available at just 50 Paise per unit, claim the two researchers (PATH SANKET, Lucknow, July 8, 2003).

THREE

Here is yet another, but not-so-well-known, method of raising subsoil water level. Along the bed of a river or canal, pits are dug. The depth varies from 2 metres to 10 metres depending upon the volume of flow. On the base of the pits, tubes measuring upto 60 metres are driven. When the flood comes, the water arrested in the pits is taken deep down into the earth. It seeps into the earth down below and thus helps raise the water table. The Central Ground Water Board calls it the ‘Injection Technique’ and plans to implement it in full swing in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh so that the fast depletion of subsoil water there could be arrested and further falling of water level could be prevented. Already ‘Injection Technique’ is harnessed in Sangroor, Patiala, Ropar, Moga, Jallundhar and Amritsar districts in Punjab and Mahendragarh, Kurukshetra and Panipat in Haryana. Shri. D.S.Saini, senior scientist with the Ground Water Board, says that agriculturists from places where this scheme is implemented have reported a rise in water table (SANGH MARG, Rohtak, June 28, 2003).

FOUR

During the third week of June, 2003, Chairman of the National Minorities Commission, Shri. Tarlochan Singh was touring north Gujarat, to hear complaints from minority communities regarding so-called survey of the Christian and Muslim populations. He agreed to act on a few of their demands. But he pulled up the Christian and Muslim leaders for their behaviour. Reacting sharply to the complaint that Narendra Modi government was dragging its feet in the matter of rebuilding the Durgahs damaged in last year’s riots in the state, Shri. Singh cited a parallel. He said, “Why should you wait for the government to rebuild your Durgahs? They damaged Akal Takht and then they renovated it. But we (the Sikhs) pulled it down, and on own, built it up all over again” (SANGH MARG, June 28, 2003).

FIVE

Shri. Vincent Moreau has never met the Indian Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani. Nor is he possibly aware that it was Advani’s initiative that enabled his reunion with his family in his hometown. But if there is one single person who is responsible for this French national’s release from the Tihar (Delhi) jail, it is none other than this senior BJP leader. Moreau was arrested under the Narcotics Act some years ago and sentenced to a ten-year imprisonment. When he was serving the sentence, he was found suffering from AIDS. Efforts by the French embassy to secure his release failed to move the jail authorities; they maintained that he was getting adequate treatment at the jail hospital. The matter was brought to the DPM’s notice during his visit to France in February 2003. Advani promised to recommend Presidential pardon for the AIDS patient. He was as good as his word. President A.P.J.Abdul Kalam responded positively to the suggestion and granted pardon on humanitarian grounds (ORGANISER, March 2, 2003).

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Panchaamirtam - 20

ONE

A monumental number of law-suits in India was a blot. In 2001, there were about 34 lakh cases pending in the various states. It was then that the concept of fast-track courts was conceived. The idea was to create about 1,700 such courts with judges hired for two-year periods from the ranks of the retired and the bar. The scheme was allotted Rs.500 crores or about $200 million. This may seem a vast sum but it made economic sense. There were over 12 lakh under-trials in the country and they were costing the state Rs.240 crores a year for even the basic amenities they received. About 450 of the 1,700 courts came into being by late 2001. As of date, over a 1000 are functional and out of the nearly 20 lakh cases referred to them, they have disposed off 78,000. In Sep 2002, the scheme was beginning to have, its impact on crime situation as the number of heinous crimes had come down, particularly in Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Some impact had also been felt in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar." In May 2003 came the news that the Parliamentary Standing Committee --comprising of members from all parties and headed by an opposition member-- has expressed its satisfaction.

Based on a report in THE HINDU, June 8, 2003. (Idea: Arun).

TWO

As New York reeled under a severe power cut, the action of an Indian restaurant owner there earned much praise for traditional Indian Hospitality. When the lights failed Thursday (August 14) night, several restaurants downed their shutters. Those that remained open doubled or tripled their prices but the stranded had nowhere else to go. As ATM Machines did not work and credit cards became useless, those with a little cash had a tough time. But in the greedy jungle, 'MADRAS MAHAL' on Lexington Avenue owned by NITIN VYAS offered free meals to the hungry. More importantly, it provided FREE cold water when the going rate for a small drinking water bottle was 5
Dollars compared to usual 1 Dollar. The restaurant served rice with Punjabi dish 'Channa Battura' and tea that was much in demand. Even on Friday afternoon, there was a queue of hungry people outside the restaurant waiting for a free meal.

THE TIMES OF INDIA, Bangalore Edition, August 17, 2003. (Idea: Badri).

THREE

India, with its strong presence in the chain of assembly operations, is seen emerging as the most preferred destination for international sourcing of textiles after quota removal from December 2004, according to Cidex Trade Fairs managing director Norbert Schmidt. Cidex is the Asian arm of Messe Dusseldorf GmbH and KolnMesse International GmbH, Germany’s two leading globally acclaimed exhibition organisers to help international garment buyers source their requirements from India. It is in this scenario that the forthcoming Indian Apparel Contrat (IAC), jointly organised by Cidex and the Confederation of Indian Apparel Exporters (CIAe), would help Indian producers and some of the leading global buyers come together and explore the possibilities of buying garments from India. CIAe president Amit M.Goyal said: “The Indian textile industry has huge potential for growth and there is enough room for all the segments of the industry to play their legitimate roles in their own areas of competence.” India, like other countries, has been successful in exports in the international market and there has always been fierce competition and this success can be attributed to the fact that India has a strong raw materials base, and excellent entrepreneurial skill.

Based on a report in the FINANCIAL EXPRESS, July 20, 2003.

FOUR

Dilipkumar Lakhi and Radhakishan Damani, both in their early 50s, pay enough income tax to equal the annual turnover of a small-to-medium sized firm. Neither are celebrities in the conventional sense nor do they wield much influence if it were not for the returns they file, the duo would be as anonymous as any person who passed you by on the street today. But they are the highest individual income tax payers in Mumbai, and thereby among the highest in the country. In the previous fiscal, Lakhi is said to have paid Rs. 6 crore, the highest by any person in Mumbai. And according to sources, the difference between him and Damani, who was the second highest taxpayer, is marginal. Incidentally, Mumbai's third highest taxpayer happens to be film star Hrithik Roshan.
Lakhi has been dealing in stocks for over 30 years; Damani is into retailing these days and has set up a chain of supermarket stores that dot the city's western and central suburbs. Navin Chandra Mehta, president of the Diamond Traders Association, is all praise for Lakhi, who began as a small trader and now operates out of an office at Opera House. The Income Tax department's target for the last fiscal was around Rs. 91,000 crore, and collections at Rs. 89,000 crore are relatively close to the figure.

Based on a report in the INDIAN EXPRESS, June 10, 2003.

FIVE

Here is the story of a mosque in Vidhisha in Madhya Pradesh that is a contrast to the Babri case. That mosque was bigger than the structure Babar had erected in Ayodhya. Till August 1991, regular namaz was taking place in that mosque. But due to heavy rains the mosque collapsed in September. From the debris, a large number of broken and mutilated idols of Hindu gods and goddesses were recovered. Some idols were seen dangling from the roofs. That the mosque had been built by destroying a temple had become self-evident. Immediately the Muslims stopped offering namaz and abandoned the mosque. The Archeological department then excavated the site and established that it was a 7th century Shiva temple, renovated in the 11th century. Aurangazeb had demolished that and the mosque was built on it. Today it is not a mosque. It is a great tourist attraction now.

Information found in Shri. S.Gurumurthy’s article in

THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS (Chennai) of July 11, 2003.

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