Thirukkural – 419

 நுணங்கிய கேள்விய ரல்லார் வணங்கிய
வாயின ராதல் அரிது

nuNangiya kELviyar allAr vaNangiya

vAyinar Adhal arithu.

nuNangiya  kELviyar – Attentive listener

allAr – one who is not

vaNangiya vAyinar – a respected speaker

Adhal arithu – (he) rarely becomes

Listening to others is an essential part of any communication. There is a wise saying. God has given us just one mouth but two ears so that we listen more and speak less. Most of our knowledge is acquired by four of our sensory organs whereas mouth helps us in sharing our knowledge with others. In Tamil culture, we denote knowledge as kalvi/kELvi – (i.e.) study and listening. Knowledge acquired by listening to a Guru (Master) is considered supreme. A speaker, who regularly listens to others, inherently maintains a dialogue even when he is delivering a lecture on his own. This inherent dialogue and the ensuing respect for his expressions will be absent in a speaker who neglects listening to others.

An attentive listener, if one is not

A respected speaker, he becomes not

In one of my earlier blogs, I gave extracts from the book, ‘A Mathematicians Apology’ written by the great mathematician G H Hardy. Yes the same person who discovered our Ramanujan. In this book he talks about Fermat’s Two Squares Theorem, as below:

- – - “Another famous and beautiful theorem is Fermat’s ‘two square’ theorem. The primes may (if we ignore the special prime 2) be arranged in two classes; the primes

5, 13, 17, 29, 37, 41, …

which leave remainder 1 when divided by 4, and the primes

3, 7, 11, 19, 23, 31,…

which leave remainder 3. All the primes of the first class, and none of the second, can be expressed as the sum of two integral squares: thus

5 = 1² + 2² , 13 = 2^{2 +}  3² ,

17 = 1² + 4² , 29 = 2² + 5² ;

but 3, 7, 11, and 19 are not expressible in this way (as the reader may check by trial). This is Fermat’s theorem, which is ranked, very justly, as one of the finest of arithmetic. Unfortunately, there is no proof within the comprehension of anybody but a fairly expert mathematician.” – - -

Fermat’s Two Square Theorem looks nice and simple. But why should its proof also be nice and simple? I have given a proof here which I think is simple enough for all to appreciate.

In number theory, formal statement of Pierre de Fermat’s theorem on sums of two squares goes as below:

An odd prime p is expressible as

p = x² + y² ;  with x and y as integers, if and only if p =1 (mod 4).

Proof-1

Sum of two squares:

Case 1: Both numbers are odd

2m+1 and 2n+1

Sum of squares = (2m+1)² + (2n+1)²

                        =  4m²+ 4n²+ 4m+ 4n+ 1+ 1

                        = 4(m²+ n²+ m+ n) + 2 = 4k + 2 (say)

Case 2: Both are even

2m+2 and 2n+2 ( to avoid zero)

Sum of squares = (2m+2)² + (2n+2)²

                        =  4m²+ 4n²+ 8m+ 8n+ 4+ 4

                        = 4(m²+ n²+ 2m+ 2n + 2) = 4k + 0 (say)

Case 3: One is odd and the other is even

2m+1 and 2n+2 ( to avoid zero)

Sum of squares = (2m+1)² + (2n+2)²

                        =  4m²+ 4n²+ 4m+ 8n+ 1+ 4

                        = 4(m²+ n²+ m+ 2n + 1) + 1 = 4k + 1 (say)

Hence any number of the form 4k + 3 can never be a sum of two squares. This includes primes also. Hence one part of Fermat’s theorem is proved.

As per the second part of the theorem, the prime numbers of the form 4k+1 will definitely qualify to be sum of squares as per case-3 above. But we have to prove that they are always of the form x² + y².

Proof-2

In this proof, I am using another theorem by Fermat known as Fermat’s Little Theorem, which is given below along with proof.

Fermat’s Little Theorem.

Let p be a prime which does not divide the integer a, then a^p-1 = 1 (mod p).

Proof.

Start by listing the first p-1 positive multiples of a:

a, 2a, 3a, … (p -1)a

Suppose that ra and sa are the same modulo p.

Then, (r – s)a is divisible by p

Since prime p does not divide a, (as stated above), it should divide r-s.

This means r = s, (mod p), which cannot be true.

So the p-1 multiples of a above are distinct and nonzero,

Hence, they must be congruent to 1, 2, 3, …, p-1 (mod p),  in some order.

Multiply all these congruencies together and we find,

a*^.2a*^.3a*^.…*^.(p-1)a = 1*2*^.3*^.…*^.(p-1) (mod p)

or, a^(p-1)(p-1)! = (p-1)! (mod p).

Divide both sides by (p-1)!

            a^(p-1) =  1 (mod p).

Hence proved.

By Fermat’s Little Theorem, for a prime number p, and for any number a not divisible by p,

a ** (p-1) = 1 (mod p),

If p=1 (mod 4), then p must be of the form p = 4k + 1

Hence we may write, for any prime p of the form p = 4k + 1, and for any number a not divisible by p, by Fermat’s Little Theorem,

            a ** (4k) = 1 (mod p),

i.e.      

a ** 2k = +1 or -1 (mod p), depending on the value of a. [Note: -1 (mod p) = p-1]

Now let us take one value of a, for which, (a ** 2k) = -1 (mod p)

(The proof for existence of such a value for ‘a’ is given in the end)

So, (a**2k + 1) is divisible by p, = f*p, say.

(i.e.) (a**k + j1)(a**k – j1) = f*p

Let us say p is a prime in complex domain also. Then p divides at least on of the complex numbers on the left hand side. Then it should divide its conjugate also. Then it should divide the difference also. i.e. p divides ‘j2’, which cannot be true. Hence p is not a prime in complex domain. This means p has complex factors though it is a prime in real numbers domain.

Let,

(p + j0) = (x +jy) (r+ js)

= (xr-ys) + j(yr+xs)

i.e. (yr+xs)= 0

i.e. yr = -xs, and s = -yr/x

and p = xr – ys = xr + y²r/x = (r/x)(x² + y²) 

Since p is prime, r/x =1 and p = (x² + y²) 

Hence proved

Examples 

a. Consider p =13 = 4*k + 1, k=3

2 ** 2k = 2**6 = 64 = -1|mod p

(2**2k + 1) = divisible by p = 5 * 13

(2**3 + j1)(2**3 – j1) = 5 * 13

Substituting, 5 = (2-j1)(2+j1) and 13 = (3+j2)(3-j2)

We get, (8 + j1) (8 – j1)= (2 – j1)[(3+j2)(3-j2)] (2 + j1)

b. Consider p=17 = 4*k + 1, k = 4

3**2k = 3**8 = 6561 = -1|mod p

3**2k + 1 = divisible by p = 386 * 17

i.e. (3**4 + j1)(3**4 – j1) = (19+j5) [(4-j1)(4+j1)] (19 – j5)

Proof for existence of a value for ‘a’ such that (a ** 2k) = -1 (mod p)

Consider a taking values a = 1 to p-1, none of them divisible by p.

Consider the sum,

4k                           4k

∑ (a+1)**(n+1) = ∑  a**(n+1)  +  (4k+1)**(n+1)

a=0                       a=1  

We can write,

(a+1)**(n+1)

          = a**(n+1) + (n+1)C1 a**n +  (n+1)C2 a**(n-1) + ……+  (n+1)Cn a + 1

So, the above summation may be re-written as

4k                          

∑[(n+1)C1 a**n +  (n+1)C2 a**(n-1) + ……+  (n+1)Cn a] + (4k+1)

a=0

                                                                                    = (4k+1)**(n+1)

Realising that p = 4k+1, we get,

4k                          

∑[(n+1)C1 a**n +  (n+1)C2 a**(n-1) + ……+  (n+1)Cn a] = p**(n+1) – p = 0|mod p

a=0                             

In short we may write,            Sum(n) = p**(n+1) – p = 0|mod p

The above equation is true for all values of n, n = 1 to n.

Hence,

Sum(1) = ∑ ₀^4k 2C1 a = p**2 – p = p(p-1) = 0|mod p;

                                     i.e  ∑ ₀^4k  a = p(p-1)/2 = 4k(4k+1)/2: a known result.

And,

Sum(2) = ∑ ₀^4k [ 3C2 a**2 + 3C1 a] = p**3 – p = p(p**2 – 1) = 0|mod p

                        Using the above result for Sum(1), we get ∑ ₀^4k  a**2 = 0|mod p

And,

Sum(3)=∑ ₀^4k  [4C3 a**3+ 4C2 a**2 + 4C1 a] = p**4 – p = p(p**3 – 1) = 0|mod p

                        Using above Sum(1) and Sum(2), we get ∑ ₀^4k  a**3 = 0|mod p

And so on . . . . . .

The particular case of interest to us is, when n = 2k.

Using same successive logic as above, we get,

                        ∑ _a=0 ^4k  a**2k = 0|mod p  - – - – - – - – - -  A

As stated at the start, by Fermat’s Little Theorem,

            a ** (4k) = 1 (mod p),

Hence,

a ** 2k = +1 or -1 (mod p), depending on the value of a.

Equation A above means, (a ** 2k)|mod p, equally assumes

both values of +1 and -1, for ‘a’ varying from 1 to 4k.

Thus proved

Please see below  a write-up on the condition of our holy Ganga.

Ganga River

Extracted From: http://www.gits4u.com/water/ganga.htm

          Today, over 29 cities, 70 towns, and thousands of villages extend along the Ganges’ banks. Nearly all of their sewage – over 1.3 billion liters per day – goes directly into the river, along with thousands of animal carcasses, mainly cattle. Another 260 million liters of industrial waste are added to this by hundreds of factories along the river’s banks.  Municipal sewage constitutes 80 per cent by volume of the total waste dumped into the Ganges, and industries contribute about 15 percent. The majority of the Ganges pollution is organic waste, sewage, trash, food, and human and animal remains. Over the past century, city populations along the Ganges have grown at a tremendous rate, while waste-control infrastructure has remained relatively unchanged. Recent water samples collected in Varanasi revealed fecal-coliform counts of about 50,000 bacteria per 100 milliliters of water, 10,000% higher than the government standard for safe river bathing. The result of this pollution is an array of water-borne diseases including cholera, hepatitis, typhoid and amoebic dysentery. An estimated 80% of all health problems and one-third of deaths in India are attributable to water-borne diseases.

            The sacred practice of depositing human remains in the Ganges also poses health threats because of the unsustainable rate at which partially cremated cadavers are dumped. In Varanasi, some 40,000 cremations are performed each year, most on wood pyres that do not completely consume the body. Along with the remains of these traditional funerals, there are thousands more who cannot afford cremation and whose bodies are simply thrown into the Ganges. In addition, the carcasses of thousands of dead cattle, which are sacred to Hindus, go into the river each year. An inadequate cremation procedure contributes to a large number of partially burnt or unburnt corpses floating down the Ganga.

 
            The industrial pollutants also a major source of contamination in the Ganges. A total of 146 industries are reported to be located along the river Ganga between Rishikesh and Prayagraj. 144 of these are in Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) and 2 in Uttrakhand. The major polluting industries on the Ganga are the leather industries, especially near Kanpur, which use large amounts of Chromium and other toxic chemical waste, and much of it finds its way into the meagre flow of the Ganga.  From the plains to the sea, pharmaceutical companies, electronics plants, textile and paper industries, tanneries, fertilizer manufacturers and oil refineries discharge effluents into the river. This hazardous waste includes hydrochloric acid, mercury and other heavy metals, bleaches and dyes, pesticides, and polychlorinated biphenyls highly toxic compounds that accumulate in animal and human tissue.

    
            However, industry is not the only source of pollution. Sheer volume of waste – estimated at nearly 1 billion litres per day – of mostly untreated raw sewage – is a significant factor.  Runoff from farms in the Ganges basin adds chemical fertilizers and pesticides such as DDT, which is banned in the United States because of its toxic and carcinogenic effects on humans and wildlife. Damming the river or diverting its water, mainly for irrigation purposes, also adds to the pollution crisis. 

I was very disturbed to read the above report. If this is the condition with Ganga, the holiest of our rivers, what about other rivers?

Please read my poem on rivers by clicking on the link below

rivers

Please read my blog http://lvnaga.wordpress.com/2008/08/08/once-there-were-rivers/

L V Nagarajan/ 5th April 2009

ஆரா இயற்கை அவாநீப்பின் அந்நிலையே
பேரா இயற்கை தரும்.

AarA iyarkai avA neeppin annilayE

pErA iyarkai tharum

annilayE -  stand taken          

neepin –  to avoid

avA     -  desire (greed)

Aara iyarkai – of insatiable nature

Tharum -  will bestow

pErA iyarkai – (a mind of) steady nature

All desires are not bad. There are some desires (or needs) which can be met and satisfied, totally, like hunger, thirst, love, shelter etc. We cannot say the same thing with desire for money, power, lust etc. Such desires are by nature insatiable. If we do not take care to avoid such desires of insatiable nature at some point, it will keep our mind totally restless and may even lead us to destruction.

You may be reminded of a story about a man who was gifted by God, that all the lands he runs over will be his. The man started running, claiming a lot of land under his tiring feet, but poor fellow, he could never stop running, thinking of lands he may ‘lose’, by not continuing his run, ……  , till he finally dropped dead.

That is the AarA iyarkai avA (desire of insatiable nature) you should avoid.

Desires are by nature insatiable. Avoiding them will bestow peace on you.

A Mathematicians Apology is the title of a book written by the great mathematician G H Hardy. Yes the same person who discovered our Ramanujan. Here he used the word apology in the meaning of defense, justification or explanation, not so much as regret or confession.  Here are some passages from the book for the benefit of my friends.

- – - “The beauty of a mathematical theorem depends a great deal on its seriousness, as even in poetry the beauty of a line may depend to some extent on the significance of the ideas which it contains. I quoted two lines of Shakespeare as an example of the sheer beauty of a verbal pattern, but

After life’s fitful fever he sleeps well

seems still more beautiful. The pattern is just as fine, and in this case the ideas have significance and the thesis is sound, so that our emotions are stirred much more deeply. The ideas do matter to the pattern, even in poetry, and much more, naturally, in mathematics; but I must not try to argue the question seriously.” – - -

- – - “It will be clear by now that, if we are to have any chance of making progress, I must produce example of ‘real’ mathematical theorems, theorems which every mathematician will admit to be first-rate. And here I am very handicapped by the restrictions under which I am writing. On the one hand my examples must be very simple, and intelligible to a reader who has no specialized mathematical knowledge; no elaborate preliminary explanations must be needs; and a reader must be able to follow the proofs as well as the enunciations. These conditions exclude, for instance, many of the most beautiful theorems of the theory of numbers, such as Fermat’s ‘two square’ theorem on the law of quadratic reciprocity. And on the other hand my examples should be drawn from the ‘pukka’ mathematics, the mathematics of the working professional mathematician; and this condition excludes a good deal which it would be comparatively easy to make intelligible but which trespasses on logic and mathematical philosophy.” – - -

- – - “Another famous and beautiful theorem is Fermat’s ‘two square’ theorem. The primes may (if we ignore the special prime 2) be arranged in two classes; the primes

5, 13, 17, 29, 37, 41, …

which leave remainder 1 when divided by 4, and the primes

3, 7, 11, 19, 23, 31,…

which leave remainder 3. All the primes of the first class, and none of the second, can be expressed as the sum of two integral squares: thus

5 = 1² + 2² , 13 = 2^{2 +}  3² ,

17 = 1² + 4² , 29 = 2² + 5² ;

but 3, 7, 11, and 19 are not expressible in this way (as the reader may check by trial). This is Fermat’s theorem, which is ranked, very justly, as one of the finest of arithmetic. Unfortunately, there is no proof within the comprehension of anybody but a fairly expert mathematician.” – - -

- – - “I wrote a great deal during the next ten years, but very little of any importance; there are not more than four or five papers which I can still remember with some satisfaction. The real crisis of my career came ten or twelve years later, in 1911, when I began my long collaboration with Littlewood, and in 1913, when I discovered Ramanujan. All my best work since then has been bound up with theirs, and it is obvious that my association with them was the decisive event of my life. I still say to myself when I am depressed, and find myself forced to listen to pompous and tiresome people, ‘Well, I have done one the thing you could never have done, and that is to have collaborated with both Littlewood and Ramanujan on something like equal terms.’ It is to them that I owe an unusually late maturity: I was at my best a little past forty, when I was a professor at Oxford. Since then I have suffered from that steady deterioration which is the common fate of elderly men and particularly of elderly mathematicians. A mathematician may still be competent enough at sixty, but it is useless to expect him to have original ideas.” – - -

Yes, Mr. Hardy discovered Ramanujan. But did he do enough to save him from his ailments? I am not so sure, even after reading two biographies on Ramanujan. Apart from obtaining an FRS, Ramanujan did not get anything substantial from the UK government. The fact remains, that if not for Hardy, Ramanujan might well have died as a clerk in Madras Port Trust.

(By the way, Fermat’s Two Square Theorem looks nice and simple. But why should its proof also be nice and simple? A subject for a future blog.)

The Election Commission has put a limit on election expenses. In the case of Parliament Elections, the election expenses in all the major states are limited to Rs. 25,00,000 for each constituency. But everybody including the election commission knows that this rule is rarely respected by any candidate including those of the recognized political parties. The actual expenses by each serious candidate exceed several crores of rupees. There are many questions here for which nobody seeks answers: what is the source of such money being spent in the elections, how do these candidates or political parties plan to recover such amounts spent, how do these political parties (including the opposition) create funds for the next election, are there any accounting or auditing of such funds? This is one area where all political parties, ruling and non-ruling, collude together and keep the people in the dark, both literally and figuratively. It is illegal money that is spent illegally as above. No finance minister ever questions the legality of such big sums of money or its nexus with illegal and criminal activities in the country. No surprise then, that Indians hold about Rs. 6,40,000 crores in Swiss Bank accounts, according to an official report by Swiss Government !. Unless election expenses are actually reduced to a more reasonable level, there is no way to reduce the influence of criminals on party politics and to help a meaningful democracy emerge in India. Now let us try and see what is the reasonable level of election expense is for a parliamentary candidate. Let us make an election budget. Hopefully this will help some people seriously thinking of contesting the elections, say as independents.

The election expenses can be put under many heads as below:

The above planned estimate of expenses is based on calculations as given in the Appendix. These estimates can be adjusted according to actual field conditions and the types of constituencies, urban, semi-urban or rural.

We, as voters, should not expect the candidates, especially serious independents to spend the above amount, out of their pockets. Then it becomes an investment for them and naturally they will look forward to profiting from his office as elected member of the house. This will lead to growing corruption. Hence as voters we should donate major portion of the above amount. Here is guide to independent candidate to mobilize resources for the above amount:

From 10 proposers at Rs 10,000 each                                        -  Rs   1 Lac

From 10 major industrialists and land lords at Rs 40,000 each – Rs. 4 Lacs

From 30 major business men @ Rs. 20000 Each                      -  Rs. 6 Lacs

From 100 major shop owners @ Rs. 6,000 each                        - Rs. 6 Lacs

From 500 small shop keepers and business men @ Rs. 500     – Rs. 2.5 Lacs

From 5000 well employed people @ Rs. 100 each                    - Rs. 5 Lacs

From Rallies, public meetings, and road shows @ Rs. 500       - Rs. 0.5 Lac

(10 x 3000, 25 x 500, 100 x 80)

Total                     - RS. 25 Lacs

We may not be able to collect all this at one stretch. The candidate should create an election fund to be managed by one of his supporters. He should send appeals to all prospective doners. He should publish periodic accounts of the fund’s income and expenses. As his presence on the election scene gets stronger, more and more people will come forward to contribute.

Election Count down and Cash Flow

Campaign Strategy:

Apart from organizing public meetings, rallies and road shows, a candidate should also have separate face-to-face meetings with different sections of society as below:

a)      Politically and socially active people of the constituency

b)      Teachers and college students

c)      Farm labourers and other workers

d)     Artisans like, masons, carpenters, painters, black smiths and gold smiths.

e)      Fabricators and owners of small workshops and garages

f)       Hoteliers, restaurants and shopkeepers

g)      Senior citizens

h)      Women activists and women associations

i)        Religious groups (Care to be taken to avoid appeals on the basis of religion)

j)        Cultural groups and troupes

k)      Employees from Govt and private enterprises

l)        Tax payers…..etc.  

The above will help him understand his constituency better and would also help him draft his manifesto (which will be released just two weeks before the election date).

During the campaign, care should be taken to avoid association with criminals and corrupt people in general, especially the already notorious ones. One should also avoid being identified with any special interest groups or any vested interests.

It is earnestly hoped that this draft budget for election expenses will encourage honest and socially active independents to come forward to fight the elections and the corrupt political system. We should reduce the need to spend so much on elections to make it as a democracy for the people, of the people and by the people. The people should aspire to do more than just vote. Of course more importantly all people should vote. Jai Hind!

Moral Policing: This has been rendered as a dirty word, especially after the recent happenings in Mangalore. Lots of people have written for and against the so called ‘pub culture’. Saris and chaddis of pink colour have been exchanged. When the dust has settled down, it is time to look at ‘moral policing’ with a more clear vision. I present to the readers excerpts from three reports which appeared coincidentally on the same Mumbai issue of Times of India dated 9^th February 2009. They are:

Pub as a sign of freedom

   It is clear that what happened in Mangalore was terrible and the perpetrators of the crime must be punished. Our problem is increasingly not that we are becoming more intolerant as a society (a favourite question for TV panel discussions), but that we are becoming more tolerant of symbolic intolerance. We tolerate publicity seeking nonentities too much, giving them way too much leeway in mounting these symbolic assaults on basic freedoms. We are afraid of giving them salutary punishment and end up creating monsters who gradually turn real.

   And then, there is the larger question. It is one thing to uphold the principle that every individual has the right to exercise his or her freedom to do whatever is legal, including having a drink at a pub without being questioned, molested or beaten up. Drinking as a sign of freedom is one thing, but to literally promote the
cause of drinking is quite another. No one can be prevented from drinking, but that doesn’t quite translate into everyone being encouraged to do so. The principle needs vigorous upholding, the practice not necessarily so. Just as banning depiction of smoking on screen can be opposed as a violation of a basic freedom, but that cannot mean we should promote the act of smoking—we cannot confuse the principle with the practice.

 
   From the looks of it, we live in a time when it is important to celebrate things like bar girls, drinking, sexual openness as marks of freedom. The same fervour does not extend to issues like the right to dissent or the right to free information (the RTI is the result of action by committed groups and not any mainstream media action). The idea of freedom seems to have gone through an interesting transformation. In popular imagination, it no longer exists as an idea in its capitalized, lofty avatar and is instead pursued as a set of pleasurable activities in our everyday life. Freedom has implicitly become synonymous with the freedom to have fun without hindrances or challenges.

And who can challenge the fact that what we called the middle-class Indian way of life till a few years ago, looked upon drinking as an undesirable social evil. It is not unnatural for a large part of India to be uncomfortable with a change that they are neither prepared for nor comfortable with. That doesn’t give them a right to beat up people, but surely they have a right to hold that view and pursue all legitimate means of promoting their beliefs. To dismiss these by labelling them as right wing reactionaries who are coming in the way of India’s progress could well be an act of self-deception.

Freedom comes from being independent-minded, and that means liberation from biases of all kinds and the ability to genuinely appreciate all sides of an argument.

 
santoshdesai1963@indiatimes.com

‘Governance has to be consensual’

   Justice Chandrachud said there are “essentially three forces that are shaping the times we live in—politics, economics and technology”.

 
   A networked society is increasingly becoming the trend and the assumption in such a scenario is that equal access to information and technology will enable good rule of the law.

 
   Yet, he said ironically, “these are also the times when it is commonplace for women to go for a drink to a pub after a hard day’s work only to be pulled out and thrashed in the name of shaping the morals of society’’, and also the times “where you have a government banning a movie only because it can’t control a likely outcry or when “15 policemen are killed by Naxalites’’.

 
   “As a result, there is a huge disjoint, as it were, between a society and the self-proclaimed protectors of morality,’’ he said.

 
s.deshpande@timesgroup.com

Universal Religion Is Moral Behaviour

Acharya Mahaprajna

The word ‘religion’ is ingrained in our psyche. It is because of over familiarity that people feel less inclined towards religion. Today religion is acceptable only on the basis of experimentation. At one end are people who want forever to keep to tradition. They do not want any change. At the opposite end are those who reject religion. Both these extreme viewpoints are incapable of creating a balance.

 
   If acceptance of the hereditary character of religion is not desirable, its rejection is altogether undesirable. No one who thinks in the language of unity, harmony and love can ever reject religion. In the absence of understanding the distinction between institutionalised religion and religion as spirituality, people make the mistake of rejecting religion.

   A religion divorced from spirituality is shackled by externally imposed rules. Religion ought to be the culmination of independent awareness and not an imposition. When people regard themselves as Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs, they do so because of genealogy, not religiousness. Genealogy can be a source of inspiration to religion; it cannot be its soul. The soul of religion is spirituality. Only that person is religious who experiences spiritual awakening, irrespective of genealogy.

   No system of government can pose a challenge to a religion that is spiritual. The question of protecting religion arises only when religion is supposed to have an existence separate from that of the religious person. Bliss and spiritual alertness are the soul of religion.

   Morality is a relative term. If socially approved mores are deemed morality, their form can never be unchanging. Morality as end-result of religion is assessed not by social beliefs but by personal purity. There is no place for exploitation, oppression, arrogance and frenzy in the behaviour of a religious person. Propriety, truthfulness and simplicity constitute morality. Shall we call him religious who does not reflect the spirit of religion in his behaviour?

   Religion is first reflected in morality and only later in worship. Will a mansion without a strong foundation endure? Can a structure build on worship without morality be able to afford proper protection? In the absence of morality, the place of worship will tumble and religion will not be safe on this earth.

Having read the above reports, one can see clearly the concepts of social behaviour, morality and spirituality. They are in a way interlinked. Religion does not enter the picture here, at least, not yet. Having agreed that morality is important for the development of an individual, it quite clearly needs a mentor, a period of introspection and some training. Shall we say we need a guru, not necessarily a religious one? Then we would not need the self-proclaimed protectors of morality and we can show them the door. We will be our own police to protect our morality. Yes we need moral policing, but it has to be from our own realized self. Moral Policing is, after all, not a dirty word.

In Times of India dated 11th Feb 2009, Mr. G. Parthasarathy, a former diplomat, has written an article on Sri lankan issue. The first part of the article traces the violent history of LTTE and Prabhakaran. In the next section, he warns India and the rest of the world not to take LTTE and Prabhakaran lightly. He also warns about the fallouts of such an attitude in Tamil Nadu, India and rest of the world. In the last section, he enumerates a precise solution for the Sri Lankan problem. He strongly advices India and the rest of the world to enforce the implementation of these steps on Sri Lankan Government. I have given below the extracts of the last part of the article. Will India listen? 

“New Delhi has to work with the international community to address Tamil aspirations. Sadly, past Sri Lankan efforts to forge a consensus for a political settlement have failed. It would be important for Sri Lanka to implement the provisions of the “Constitution of the Republic of Sri Lanka Amendment Bill” of August 3, 2000, and effectively end human rights violations of innocent Tamils. The implementation of this Bill, together with enforcement of the 13th Amendment of the Sri Lankan Constitution, 1988, will largely address Tamil concerns. Tamil would join Sinhala as an official language of the country and there would be a merger of the northern and eastern provinces with a single provincial administration headed by a chief minister. The merger will remain in force till a referendum in the eastern province is held to decide whether its people want a separate province.”
   ”Recent developments in Nepal, Bangladesh and Maldives have shown that democratic change is best effected when India works together with the US, the EU and Japan, who are major aid donors, to address issues of democratic freedoms. With Sri Lankan armed forces surrounding Kilinochchi, the operational capital of the Tamil Tigers, the US government said: “The US does not advocate that the government of Sri Lanka negotiate with the LTTE. However, we do believe that a broad range of Tamil voices and opinion must now be brought into the political process, to reach a political solution that Tamils inside and outside Sri Lanka see as legitimate”. The major aid donors and India share a common interest in democratic freedoms, stability and ethnic harmony in a united and pluralistic Sri Lanka.” 

For reading the full article please follow the link below

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOI/navigator.asp?Daily=TOIM&login=default&AW=1234450749578

L V Nagarajan

Democratic Revolution

 By the people, of the people and for the people.

It was a day in July 2008, when political corruption was demonstrated in the central hall of Indian Parliament. I felt so disturbed I wrote a blog giving my thoughts on electoral reforms that could put democratic process back on track in India. (http://lvnaga.wordpress.com/category/indian-politics/)

One of my friends, who read the blog, appreciated the suggested reforms. But he said that these reforms have no chance of being implemented because it is basically against the interests of those who are supposed to implement the same. They will kill these proposals with glee. Even the honorable speaker looked the other way when the enquiry was ordered for money-for-vote scam in the parliament in July 2008. The present political system should be dismissed lock, stock and barrel before we can introduce any reforms in our political process. We cannot wish away the politicians. We the people will have to work within this system to overthrow the same. It has to be done democratically and that is what I call democratic revolution. General elections for choosing the next parliament is just round the corner. This is the best time for us the citizens to act. We should defeat all political parties in these elections!

Can we do anything at all? Yes We Can!

If at all any body can do any thing about this it is only we, the citizens. We can consider it as the second freedom struggle- freedom from the tyranny of politicians, freedom from the biased press, freedom from the pseudo intellectuals, freedom from thugs and criminals who are given free entry into our political process, freedom from corrupt bureaucrats and freedom from greedy business men.

Can we fight these people? Yes We Can!

It is not sufficient for India to have one Obama. We need many Obamas. Let us think of a few ways how we can defeat this system with the resources we have. The biggest resource we have right now is “The Parliamentary Elections – 2009”. This is the best tool we have to drive out this political mafia from our system. We should remember the present government is already a minority government. In the last elections only about 58% of the eligible voters voted. Congress party led by Italian born Sonia Gandhi obtained only about 26% of the votes polled, i.e., only about 15% of the eligible voters. The BJP led by Lahore-born Advani polled even less than this. Other smaller parties shared the rest of the spoils. 42% of the eligible voters did not vote at all. Assuming only half of these people voted for good independent candidates, the political parties would have all lost the elections. Under these circumstances, if we use the full potential of the electoral tool we have, we can drive out all these people who are colluding with each other to sustain this defective, fault-ridden, corrupt system to their advantage.

But can we do it? Yes We Can!

I have evolved a process to take this democratic revolution to its ultimate success. It can ofcourse be refined further by greater minds and be executed by stronger leaders. I have summarized the process of democratic revolution in the following ten steps.

 1. Let us all take a vow not to vote for any political party in the next elections. At worst we will only vote for the best of the independents who are contesting.

2. Let us form small groups of activists within our parliamentary constituency. This citizens group will, from right now, search for a suitable independent candidate and encourage him to contest the elections with our support. You may evolve a set of criteria for selection which may include- educational qualification, social awareness, record of service, popularity with the local people etc.

3. The man we select will naturally not be able to spend as much as a political party. Hence we should start a constituency-wise Election Fund on his name and obtain donations from the people of the constituency. This will make the people feel that the candidate is a ‘people’s candidate’, owing allegiance to People and not to any political party or leader.

4. We should give widest publicity to the asset-statements supplied by all the political candidates at the time of their nominations. People should know the so called representatives of the poor people- how wealthy they are and how did they obtain this wealth. We should educate the public – how much the political candidates are spending for getting themselves elected and how do they propose to earn them back.

5. During campaigning we should publish periodically the running expenses on elections as incurred by our ‘people’s candidate’. Make the people understand how much others could be spending compared to the expenses of ‘people’s candidate’.

6. The citizen’s groups in each parliamentary constituency should meet and draft a people’s charter, which will become the election manifesto for ‘people’s candidate’.

7. All over India there are many organizations like AGNI (www.agnimumbai.org) who wish to empower the people in the political process. We should approach them for help in this process.

8. All the inducement (legal and illegal) to the gullible voters are paid out of money illegally obtained by the political parties from the governmental process. They are people’s money both in the case of ruling parties and the opposition parties. This fact should be brought to bear on people’s minds as a major reason for rejecting them.

9. People should be educated that their vote is secret. Even after accepting inducements forced on them (some times by taking a satya-praman in return), they can vote freely to any one he or she likes without any fear or guilt.

10. The citizen’s group should keep close touch with the local election officer and apprise him of the election irregularities committed by political parties.

Can we really do all this? Yes We Can!

We should be able to suggest some independent, good and efficient people around India who could be supported to contest the next lok sabha elections as an independent. I am starting the list with ten people – I expect others to add to it and make it at least to three hundreds.

1. Kasturi Rangan – Aero-space scientist, Scientific Adviser to GOI.

2. Narayana Murthy – Chairman Infosys.

3. Justice Srikrishna – Retd. Supreme Court Justice

4. Medha Phatkar – Environmental activist

5. Burkha Dutt – Journalist

6. Rahul Bose – Actor

7. Revathi – Actress, had contested elections earlier as an independent.

8. Chandrashekar – Former Thane Municipal Commissioner responsible for Thane development.

9. Prof. M S Swaminathan – Agricultural Scientist and Ecologists, Magsaysay award winner.

10. G R Khairnar – Former Deputy Commissioner of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation

Let us add more people to this list. Let us include people from rural areas also all over India. Let us add this up to at least three hundreds.

YES, WE CAN!

Jai Hind

L V Nagarajan

20.01.09

வகுத்தான் வகுத்த வகையல்லால் கோடி
தொகுத்தார்க்கும் துய்த்தல் அரிது.

VahutthAn vahuttha vahai allAl kOdi

ThohutthArkum Thuythal arithu.

VahutthAn – The Devisor or the designer

Vahuttha Vahai allAl – away from the ways and means decreed

kOdi ThohutthArkum – Even for those who have earned millions

Thuytthal – to consume and enjoy

Arithu – is next to impossible

Here the poet talks of three activities of economics. Thohutthal – collection, Vahutthal – Distribution, Thuytthal – Consumption. One may earn and accumulate wealth. He may even plan and distribute the wealth in his own way. But what he can on his own consume and enjoy, is already decreed by God. Nothing more and nothing less. We may compare this with the present day saying: “Dane dane par likha hai, Khanewalleh ka naam” – (i.e.), in each grain is engraved its eater’s name.

Except by the way decreed by the Eternal Designer, even a person who has earned millions cannot enjoy his wealth any more or any less.