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Children’s Day: Celebrating the Joy and Rights of Children by Kamlesh Tripathi

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    “Every child is a different kind of flower, and all together they make this world a beautiful garden.” This fascinating popular quote reminds us of the uniqueness of each child and the collective beauty they bring to our lives and the world. Let the world be free from the shadow of the Pied Piper, who led the children away from their village to the top of Koppelberg Hill, never to return. The street in Hamelin, called Bungelosenstrasse (street without drums), is believed to be the place where the children were last seen. Ever since, music and dancing is not allowed there. Children’s Day, however, is a celebration meant to overcome such dark associations. It is supposed to build on powerful child characters such as ‘The Famous Five,’ the hit novel of Enid Blyton, where children, while holidaying in an old dilapidated lighthouse, recover a lost treasure all by themselves. But the quintessential example of children’s day could be from the escapades of young bubbly Krishna in Mathura and Vrindavan. Did William Wordsworth think of child Krishna when he wrote, “Child is the father of the man”?

    It is a day dedicated to celebrating children. The idea dates back to the early 20th century. The first official communique of Children’s Day was made in 1925 at the World Conference on Child Welfare held in Geneva, Switzerland. Since then, many countries have designed their own versions of the celebration. The day aims to raise awareness about children’s rights, their needs, and their well-being. Although celebrated on different dates around the world, the underlying message is universal: every child deserves love, care, protection, and the opportunity to grow in a safe and nurturing environment. While the day is often filled with fun and joy, its true essence lies in recognising that children are the future of the world.

    In 1954, the United Nations declared November 20 as Universal Children’s Day. This was done to promote global togetherness, increase awareness among children worldwide, and improve their overall welfare.

    In India, Children’s Day is celebrated to highlight children’s rights, education, and welfare. It is observed on 14 November each year, marking the birthday of the first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru was known for his fondness for children. On this day, many schools across the country organise educational and motivational programmes. Some schools declare a holiday, while others host fairs and cultural events for their students.

    The first Children’s Day was observed on November 5, 1948. It was referred to as the ‘Flower Day’. On July 30, 1949, “Children’s Day” received wider attention and was promoted through radio, print media, and cinema.

     In 1951, V. M. Kulkarni, a United Nations Social Welfare Fellow, was conducting a study on the rehabilitation of juvenile delinquents in the UK. He discovered that India lacked a systematic approach to support underprivileged children. Inspired by Flag Day in England, which raised funds for the ‘Save the Children Fund’ on the birthday of Queen Elizabeth II, he proposed that Pandit Nehru’s birthday be observed as Flag Day for raising funds for NGOs working for child welfare in India. Although initially embarrassed by the idea, Nehru eventually consented.

    Though Nehru’s birthday, on 14 November, was celebrated publicly for years, it was only in 1954 that the day was celebrated as Children’s Day for the first time. Thousands of school children attended the celebration held at the National Stadium in Delhi.

    In 1957, 14 November was officially declared as Children’s Day in India.     On November 14, 1957, during the celebration, white pigeons were released into the sky. That same year, the government issued a special notification, officially declaring 14th November as Children’s Day in India.   The Department of Posts and Telegraphs also released first-day covers and three commemorative stamps in honour of Bal Divas (Children’s Day).

Jawaharlal Nehru was fondly called Chacha Nehru (“Uncle Nehru”) by children. As Rabindranath Tagore once said, “Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man.”

Written and posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

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Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life-threatening diseases, especially cancer. Our posts are meant for our readers, including children and adults, and have a huge variety of content. We also accept donations for our mission. Should you wish to donate to the cause of cancer? The bank details are given below:

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24/10/25 Death of the donkey

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Its drastically cut population shows we are inhumanly unthankful for millennia of service

If it were happening to humans, you would call it genocide. The latest available census data for Madhya Pradesh shows that it’s left with only 3052 donkeys, an awful 94% decline since 1997. This ‘animalcide’, however, is not limited to one state or country. Read the TOI 24/10/25 editorial.

Posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

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Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life-threatening diseases, especially cancer. Our posts are meant for our readers, including children and adults, and have a huge variety of content. We also accept donations for our mission. Should you wish to donate to the cause of cancer? The bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

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Phantom Police

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(PHANTOM POLICE? TIMES OF INDIA EDITORIAL 11/10/25)

Seoul has a hologram cop. Not everyone thrilled.
He doesn’t quite crash land but takes form all of a sudden – a life-size apparition in uniform, if you find yourself in Seoul’s popular Jeo Dong Park. Don’t let him spook you – it’s only a hologram of a cop, appearing every two minutes between 7 pm and 10 pm to, well, spook those up to no good. Police claim the made-in-UK ‘assistant officer’ lowered crime rates in the bustling neighbourhood under Seoul Jungbu police station by as much as 22%, between Oct 2024, when the pilot was launched, and May 2025. The cop was officially posted in the park in Aug. So, if you’re wandering around, under the influence of whatever’s your poison, and itching to pick up a fight, well, chances are the sight of a ghostly cop could nudge you to abandon the idea. No need to break into a cold sweat or run, for he’ll disappear in two minutes.
So what does this hologram cop do if it comes across a fight? He can’t chase, let alone handcuff you. Yet, ‘Enhanced features’ are a work in progress. His role now is surveillance, a deterrent to low-key ‘impulsive’ crime. Privacy may be globally dead, but still, the idea hasn’t gone down well with everyone. Visitors find him annoying, while his ghostly presence is fast creating an urban legend of a ‘haunted park’. Clearly, tech-savvy policing is not yet a smooth walk in the park.

Posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

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Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life-threatening diseases, especially cancer. Our posts are meant for our readers, including children and adults, and have a huge variety of content. We also accept donations for our mission. Should you wish to donate to the cause of cancer? The bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

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The Book that brought Ponds to life was written by Anupam Mishra

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TOI article- 14/9/25 THE BOOK THAT BROUGHT PONDS BACK TO LIFE

Book Title: “Aaj Bhi Khare Hain Talaab (Ponds Are Still Relevant)” by Anupam Mishra
“Translated into eight languages and available in Braille, Anupam Mishra’s book has quietly sparked a revolution in water conservation across villages — one pond at a time”   
    What do you call a book that was first published without the author’s name on the cover, which has no copyright and encourages the reader to use it for free in any form, inspires common people to spend money from their own pockets and translate it, can be read in atleast nine languages, including Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, and also in Braille, has been broadcast by atleast 20 radio stations with over two lakh copies published, has almost become a holy book for water warriors and, yet, remains largely unknown to the educated public.
    Anupam Mishra’s ‘Aaj Bhi Khare Hain Talab (The Ponds Are Still Relevant)’ wasn’t launched in a farmhouse or nominated for major literary awards. But the book has become a movement. Spread over a frugal 119 pages, it reveals how ponds and lakes were fundamental to life and livelihoods across the country, and how their construction, preservation, and regeneration were embedded in community fabric-guided both by science and deeper philosophical values.
    First published by the Gandhi Peace Foundation in Hindi in 1993, the book continues to find fresh readers in new languages and forms. This year, it has been made accessible online in a disability-friendly e-text, says Kailash Pande of Delhi Blind School.
    Ramon Magsaysay award recipient Rajendra Singh says that at a time when headlines rapidly shift from drought to flood, the book remains as relevant as ever. “The change in weather patterns is an outcome of climate change and global warming. The book shows how to adapt to and mitigate the current crisis,” says Singh, whose NGO Tarun Bharat Sangh also shaped Mishra’s early ideas.
    Chasing Indigenous Wisdom:
    Aaj Bhi … was born out of Mishra’s extensive travels as a seeker and surveyor of India’s interiors in the 1980s. Mishra spoke less, listened more. A Gandhian by belief and environmentalist in action, he discovered a tradition of water-saving techniques in arid Rajasthan. In areas he couldn’t visit, Mishra sought the aid of friends and fellow travellers, naming each of them in the book. “The book harnessed indigenous water wisdom scattered across the country,” says social activist and old-time colleague Rakesh Dewan.
    At the turn of the 20th century, India had 11-12 lakh ponds, the book says. Mishra referenced the 1907 gazetteer to show that the princely state of Rewa in north-eastern Madhya Pradesh had 5,000 ponds. The early 20th-century Madras Presidency was home to 53,000 ponds. Who would believe that in the early 20th century, Delhi had 350 ponds, as a 1930 map illustrates. Dewan says that officers posted to Jabalpur during the British Raj were advised not to bring fans because the ponds there ensured a cool weather.
    The book also details the craft of building ponds and devotes a chapter to their anonymous creators. Mishra illustrates how, for centuries, communities such as the Odhs, the Gonds, and the Ramnamis had dedicatedly constructed ponds. Such acts often cut across the caste spectrum. Building ponds was also part of the financial system. “Those who built ponds in the kingdom of Gond rajas got a tax break. This tradition was strong in the Sambalpur region,” he writes. Digging ponds was among the punishments meted out by the caste panchayats of Bundelkhand. Ponds permeate every sinew of life.
    Deep Impact:
    Many found the addictive. Some finished it in one go and keep revisiting it. “People were mesmerised,” says Bhopal-based journalist Shabbir Quadri, who translated the book into Urdu and distributed it for free at madrasas and panchayats.
    Mishra, who passed away in 2016, would build a personal relationship with his readers. “I correspond with about 3,000-odd readers. The idea is to create awareness and build a movement through the book. You cannot do that without forming a long-standing relationship with them,” he told this reporter in 2004.
    One such reader was Surendra Bansal, then a freelance graphic designer in Punjab’s Malerkotla. He learnt about the book from a piece by journalist Prabhas Joshi in the ‘Jansatta’ newspaper. “I read that article four times and wrote to Anupam-Ji,” he says. “I didn’t have the address, so I just wrote, Anupam Mishra, Delhi”. Miraculously, the letter reached its destination. Mishra sent him two of his books with a handwritten note in his signature style.
    Bansal read the book and then translated it into Gurmukhi. He published it by selling off his prized cacti collection for Rs 11,000. “When Anupam-ji came to know about it, he first scolded me. Then he wept,” remembers Bansal, who now works for Haryana govt’s PR department. He has published five editions of the book in Gurmukhi. And he hasn’t stopped. Bansal regularly scans Punjabi magazines and sends free copies of the book to those he believes might be interested in water conservation. “I also distribute it to youth clubs and village libraries,” he says. Bansal has given away 6,200 copies so far.
    The book has also been used to groom community leaders. Aaj Bhi … was introduced as part of the syllabus in Chitrakoot’s Mahatma Gandhi Gramin Vishwavidyalaya. “It was taught to graduate students in 313 centres in a leadership course,” says retired civil servant B Rajagopal Naidu. The book was also part of the Hindi syllabus for graduates in Mumbai University between 2017 and 2019.
    Why It Still Matters
    Rajendra Singh, known as the ‘Waterman of India’, says Aaj Bhi … made a deep impact in MP and Rajasthan. Naidu, whose tenure as DM of Sagar in MP during 2002-04 was marked by a host of water management initiatives, says the book helped mobilise people and build awareness around check dams, and small drinking water ponds.
    He also remembers how the clean-up of Sagar’s sprawling Lakha Banjara lake got stuck due to a funds crunch. Help came in an unusual way. Film lyricist and Congres politician Vithalbhai Patel, who had penned the 1973 hit Bobby’s famous song, ‘Jhooth Bole Kawwa Kate’, went around every morning to the town’s different wards, asking people to donate Re 1 for the talab. The amount raised helped restore a huge portion of the lake.
    Such examples abound. Singh of Tarun Bharat Sangh, which constructed at least 7,500 ponds, says that dozens of initiatives were undertaken in Jodhpur and Barmer districts. “A sarpanch from Bikaner’s Nakhoda village called me after reading the book seeking help to build ponds,” he recalls.
    Chhatar Singh, a master of desert water conservation in Jaisalmer district, restored about 500 ponds, beris, and wells. A beri is a shallow well that harvests rainwater.
    “Reading the book, I felt my forefathers were talking to me. It was written in a way that inspired action,” says Chhatar, who was also impressed by Mishra’s book, ‘Rajasthan Ki Rajat Boondein (The Silver Drops Of Rajasthan)’. He explains Mishra’s approach: “If you had any doubts about building ponds,  Anupam ji would organise a gathering. He knew the answer, but would let the answer emerge from us.”
    Eastern Rajasthan’s Lapodia village is a famous conservation success story. Its head, Laxman Singh, read Aaj bhi… and encouraged fellow villagers to do so too. Impressed by its message of reviving traditional methods, they undertook a textbook application of rainwater harvesting and water management techniques to transform a sun-dried area into a village of three fecund ponds–Dev Sagar, Phool Sagar, and Anna Sagar, with a 300 bigha meadow.
    Laxman Singh says Mishra visited Lapodia twice every year for 30 years. “He was our guide and guru. Pehle woh insaan taiyar karte thhey, phir dharti (First, he readied people, then the land),” Laxman told this reporter in 2016. When the book’s Braille edition came out around 2009, Mishra visited Delhi Blind School, inspiring students to perform shramdan, or voluntary labour, recalls Pande.
    Academic Annie Montaut, who has translated ‘Rajasthan Ki Rajat Boondein’ into French, writes how even prisoners of a French jail could relate to Mishra’s lecture on water conservation. Some recalled their own childhood in Morocco. “I was surprised by the reaction; he wasn’t. Anupam-ji told me that he had learnt a lot from the uneducated,” she wrote in Hindi to Mishra’s wife, Manjushree, for an upcoming book in tribute to her husband.
    It is almost a cliché that a book can change your world. Mishra’s slim volume certainly reaffirms that adage. With global water shortage now an impending reality, the book’s significance has magnified in recent years. Today Aaj Bhi… is to water conservationists what Das Capital is to Marxists. A Ratna of Bharat, Mishra, never received even a Padmashri. But his book continues to usher in a silent revolution, one pond at a time.


Posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

Author, Poet, & Columnist

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https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

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Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life-threatening diseases, especially cancer. Our posts are meant for our readers, including children and adults, and have a huge variety of content. We also accept donations for our mission. Should you wish to donate to the cause of cancer? The bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

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Bhibhuti Babu The Writer of Pather Panchali

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TIMES OF INDIA: 15/6/25
WHY A SMALL JHARKHAND TOWN STILL ADORES THE WRITER OF PATHER PANCHALI


    Flanked by a restless Subarnarekha river and an unassuming railway line that runs through the small town, Ghatsila reminds you of idyllic Nischindipur, where Satyajit Ray’s iconic Pather Panchali (Song of the Road) unfolds. It’s a drowsy, almost diffident, place that seems to have been bypassed by time.
    Maybe the resemblance is not entirely coincidental. This is where celebrated writer Bibhuti Bhusan Bandyopadhyay, who penned the unforgettable Bengali novel, spent many creative years of his life and breathed his last at the age of 56 in 1950.
    The finest works of Bibhuti Babu, as every one refers to him in Ghatsila, include ‘Aparajito (Undefeated)’, ‘Aranyak (Of The Forest)’, and ‘Chander Pahar (Mountain Of The Moon)’. Director Shakti Samanta’s ‘Amar Prem’ (1972), a melancholic story of unrealised love, starring Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore, was based on a Bandyopadhyay short story, Hinger Kochuri.
    It has been 75 years since he passed away. But Bibhuti Babu remains Ghatsila’s calling card. Hotels are named after him. So are sightseeing spots, libraries and grammar schools. He is present even on restaurant menus. In fact, the writer is everywhere.
    Ghatsila is nestled in the lap of the Dalma hills in Jharkhand’s East. Singhbhum district shares a border with West Bengal’s Jhargram and Purulia districts to the east and north, and Odisha’s Mayurbhanj to the south.
    At the spot where NH 33 turns towards Ghatsila, the Jharkhand tourism department has built a hotel called Bibhuti Vihar. The town also has a Bibhuti Inn, owned by a businessman. A popular hotel on the banks of the Subarnarekha is named after a spot where the writer used to sit on moonlit nights, and that he had named ‘Ratmohana’ (charmer of the night).
    The house where Bibhuti Babu lived is located in Dahigora, now the poshest part of the town. The residence is called Gourikunj, after his first wife, who died during childbirth. The road leading to Gourikunj is called Apur Path– the road of Apu, the protagonist of the semi-autobiographical Pather Panchali.
    There’s more. A local society for the preservation of Bandyopadhyay’s house and his legacy is called Gourikunj Unnayan Samiti. Says its president, Tapas Chatterjee, “Nobody commands more respect than Bibhuti Babu in Ghatsila.”
    “Not an inch of his house was encroached upon, even though nobody lived there for 57 years. In 1950, when Bibhuti Babu died, his second wife, Rama Chattopadhyay, and son Taradas Bandyopadhyay, who was three then, left the town. Taradas ji gave us the NOC to construct this memorial in 2007, three years before his death. In between, the house lay in utter neglect and ruins.” Chatterjee said.
    The Samiti also runs a Bengali language grammar school on Sundays, called Apur Pathshala, and a library called Bibhuti Smriti Sansthagar in Ghatshila.
    A cultural festival is hosted every year on September 12 to mark the writer’s birth anniversary.
    The story of how Bibhuti Babu came to live in Ghatsila is fascinating.
    According to Chatterjee, a contractor from Ghatsila called Ashok Gupta had taken a loan from the writer when the latter was working as a teacher in Calcutta. Unable to pay him back in cash, Gupta decided to register the house in Ghatsila in Bibhuti babu’s name.
    “Bibhuti Babu wanted his younger brother, Nutbihari Bandyopadhyay, who was a doctor, to settle in this town and had visited Ghatsila in 1938. He fell in love with this house and the town and never returned.” Chatterjee said.
    Since he was already an established name in Bengali literature, many other Calcutta writers, including Sahitya Akademi Awardee Gajendra Kumar Mitra (1908-1994), Pramatha Nath Bishi (1901-1985) and Subodh Ghosh (1909-1980), also built homes in Ghatsila. Bimal Roy’s ‘Sujata’ (1960) and Gulzar’s ‘Ijaazat’ (1989) were based on stories written by Ghosh.
    However, all left in due course. Except Bibhuti babu, who stayed on and wrote some of his most famous works in this town.
    As a writer, Bibhuti Babu shared a special bond with the quiet jungles on the town’s edge, the free-flowing river and forest dwellers. He had witnessed the exploitation of natural resources in the name of development when he went to Bhagalpur in Bihar as the assistant manager of a forest estate in January 1924. That assignment left a lasting impression on the writer and funds mentioned in works such as ‘Aranyak’ and the essay, ‘Hey Aranya Katha kao (Oh Forest, Speak)’.
    Ghatsila is full of such natural spots, like Burudi dam, Phuldungri Pahar and the banks of the Subarnarekha, where Bibhuti Babu would sit with a pen and notebook for hours.
    Situated 54 km from Jamshedpur and 240 km away from Kolkata, Ghatsila is a favourite of tourists from Bengal. Nearly 80% of the population here, including tribals, now speak the Bengali language. The locals, however, rue how some things are no longer the same. “Earlier, tourists came for longer durations, a month or, at times even longer. They would rent out homes and stay like locals. Since they came here for a change of air, we called them ‘changers’,” said Rohit Kumar, manager of a private lodge in Ghatsila’s Phuldungri.
    The new-age tourists come for a day or two. The neighbouring hill town of Belpahari in Jhargram district of West Bengal offers better amenities and takes away a major chunk of tourists.
    But appreciation of the legacy of Bibhuti Babu isn’t confined to visitors anymore. Supriti Murmu, wife of prominent Jharkhand state agitation leader Bablu Murmu, says, “I was drawn to this town because of Bibhuti Babu. As a student of Bangla literature, we were influenced by his writings and wanted to experience the rural life he portrayed in his books.
    Supriti Murmu used to be a prominent left-wing student leader and was pursuing her graduation in Bangla literature in neighbouring Jhargram when her activism and her love for the writer brought her to Ghatsila in 1987. “I have been here since then,” she said.
Bandyopadhyay’s works and his love for the forest dwellers resonate with the local tribal population as much as his books appeal to the Bengali intelligentsia.
At Gourikunj, his real legacy is the bond shared by everyone. An artist from Bengal recently painted scenes from Bandyopadhyay’s daily life in Ghatsila on the boundary walls of the house. On his birthday anniversary, girls from tribal communities decorated Apur Path, the lane leading to the house, with beautiful Santhal patterns in the form of rangolis. Everyone and everything is coming together to celebrate their one and only Bibhuti Babu.

Posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

Author, Poet, & Columnist

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https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

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Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life-threatening diseases, especially cancer. Our posts are meant for our readers, including children and adults, and have a huge variety of content. We also accept donations for our mission. Should you wish to donate to the cause of cancer? The bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

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Should India Include All-Time Classic Movies in School and College Syllabi in This Digital Age? by Kamlesh Tripathi

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    In today’s digital world, where attention spans are shrinking and reading habits are on the decline, it is about time we rethink how we educate and connect with the younger generation. A powerful and often overlooked tool is the classic Indian cinema. Just like the manner in which William Shakespeare’s plays are studied in schools and colleges for their literary merit and social relevance, classic Indian films, too, deserve a place in our school and college syllabi.

    It is said that old books and films are windows to the past. They serve as mirrors reflecting the values, struggles, and ethos of a bygone era. A few months ago, on the occasion of Mother’s Day, while reminiscing about my late mother, I stumbled upon the evergreen classic ‘Mother India’ on television. Although I had watched it several times before, especially because my one-time close friend, the late Sajid Khan, had played a role in it as the young Sunil Dutt, this time it felt different. As if I wasn’t just watching the movie ‘Mother India.’ But I was watching the real India of 1957.

    The film tells the touching story of Radha, an impoverished, rural village woman who struggles against all odds to raise her sons in her husband’s absence. She encounters severe poverty, exploitation by a moneylender, and personal tragedy, yet she emerges as an emblem of strength, sacrifice, and moral integrity. In several ways, she becomes the archetype of the traditional Indian woman.

    Mother India is more than just a typical film. It holds cultural and social significance. It vividly depicts the struggles of rural India in the post-independence period. Watching this movie is like stepping back in time to understand what our ancestors endured. ‘Mother India’ is one of the many classics preserved in the archives of Bollywood, as well as in the regional film centres of Tollywood and Kollywood.

    There are many such classic, cult and epic films and TV serials like Dosti, Do Bigha Zamin, Guide, Haqueeqat, Gandhi, Sholay, Pather Panchali, Ramayana, Mahabharat, to name a few, that vividly capture different aspects of Indian life. It could be from social inequality, the British Raj, mythology, penance, the fight for India’s freedom or the wars with Pakistan and China. These films provide context, depth, and real-life visuals to what students might otherwise only read or cram in history or literature books.

    It is about time the Government considers constituting a national panel to select a curated list of classic Indian films for inclusion in school and college syllabi. These films could be rotated class-wise or standard-wise, or stream-wise. They could be aligned with topics in history, literature, sociology, ethics, and more. The way Shakespearean plays are studied for their literary value and insights into human behaviour, Indian classics can also be studied for their cultural, emotional, and historical richness.

    65% of India’s population is under 35. Digital distractions are everywhere; therefore, classic films can be a more engaging add-on to traditional textbooks. Surveys show that young people today often struggle to read even 500 words at a stretch, but they can easily sit through a well-written storyline in a movie. Visual learning is known to improve retention and understanding. It makes classic movies an effective educational tool.

    This approach need not be limited to domestic films alone. Historical and biographical classics from Hollywood or other international cinemas, such as Cromwell, Nuremberg or Schindler’s List, could also be part of an extended curriculum. This will especially benefit students planning to work or study abroad. It will help them gain cultural and historical awareness about the countries they are headed to.

    Incorporating cinema into education doesn’t mean replacing books, but it would mean enhancing the learning experience. Students could watch in-syllabus films followed by classroom discussions, essays, or creative projects. It would not only build their analytical and emotional intelligence. It will also cultivate a deeper appreciation of India’s cinematic and historical heritage.

    Furthermore, in business and professional schools, an extracurricular cinema curriculum could be developed to help students understand global cultures, leadership models, historical contexts, and ethical dilemmas, all of which are frequently depicted in well-made films.

    Cinema is not just entertainment. It is a form of art that captures the values of society, its history, and love for humanity. Though Indian classic movies are rich in content, emotion, and social commentary, they are a forgotten treasure. They can educate, inspire, and connect the youth to their roots.

    In this digital era, where attention spans are short and reading habits are waning, integrating timeless films into the academic curriculum may well be the most impactful way to preserve our cultural heritage and prepare students for a more thoughtfully aware future.

Written and posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

Author, Poet, & Columnist

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https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

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Like it and Share it

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Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life-threatening diseases, especially cancer. Our posts are meant for our readers, including children and adults, and have a huge variety of content. We also accept donations for our mission. Should you wish to donate to the cause of cancer? The bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

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AGE AND ACHIEVEMENTS: 5 LIT LUMINARIES

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AGE AND ACHIEVEMENTS: 5 LIT LUMINARIES

    What is the right age to achieve something in life? Is 40 years, too little time, or adequate time to achieve something in life? Let us consider the lives of five luminaries of the 19th century who were more or less contemporaries and who became world-renowned figures in their short lifespans. Let’s start with Swami Vivekananda, an Indian Hindu monk, a spiritual guru and a literary luminary, lifespan 12 January 1863- 4 July 1902, a total of 39 years. Then you have the American writer Edgar Allan Poe, who was born on 19 January 1809 and died on 7 October 1849, a life span of 40 years, followed by the French writer Guy De Maupassant, born on 5 August 1850 and passed away on 6 July 1893, a life span of 42 years. On the rostrum, there is also Nikolai Gogol, a Russian writer of Ukrainian origin. He was born on 20 March 1809 and he died on 21 February 1852, a life span of 42 years. And last but not least, we have Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, a Russian playwright and short-story writer born on 29 January 1860, and he died on 15 July 1904, at the age of 44. They all left behind a phenomenal legacy of success and heaps of lessons for future generations within the ebbs and flows of their limited lifespan.

    The mean life expectancy in the 19th century was 40-45 years. Global life expectancy today is around 72 years. There are two offshoots to this. One, the subject authors lived for around ninety to a hundred per cent of the average life expectancy of those times. Two, they only lived for a minus-plus of some forty years – a period, perhaps, too short for any milestone achievement, barring sports and maybe some other careers. When we compare 40 years with today’s life expectancy, it is only 55%. So then, does life expectancy have anything to do with your major achievements? The case study of the quintet doesn’t say so. There are authors, poets, and literary figures from other countries too, who gained fame but died very young, prominent among them is John Keats, to cite an example, who died at the age of 25. So, isn’t it ironic that some in a short lifespan of 25-40 years made gigantic strides, while others couldn’t manage to do that even in a century?

    In the 19th century, when these five were alive, they witnessed watershed changes in their countries. Some major events were as follows: India had the First War of Independence in 1857. The British East India Company was replaced by the British Crown in 1858. Russia had the Crimean War between 1853 and 1856; the Caucasian War, between 1817 and 1864; and the capture of Tashkent by the Russian Army in 1865. In addition, Alaska was sold to the US in 1867; the Russian-Turkish War happened in 1877, and the Russian famine in 1891. Alexander III, the emperor of Russia, passed away in 1894, and the first congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) was held in 1898 in Minsk, now in Belarus. In America and Europe, slavery was abolished through an act; the First and Second Industrial Revolutions, which overlapped with the 18th and 20th centuries, respectively, led to massive urbanisation. Construction of the Suez Canal commenced in 1859, linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Indian Ocean through the Red Sea, providing a more direct shipping route between Europe and Asia. The Islamic gunpowder empires (Ottoman Empire, Safavid and the Mughal) were formerly dissolved, and European imperialism brought much of South Asia, Southeast Asia and almost all of Africa under colonial rule. It was also marked by the collapse of the Spanish, Zulu Kingdom, First French Empire, Holy Roman and the Mughal Empire.

    Even with all the hullabaloo in their country and continent, there was calm and composure in these five lit luminaries. They had a single focus, just like Arjuna’s concentration – the eye of the fish, and that was to keep writing till their last breath. Though born in a Bengali Kayastha family in Calcutta, Swami Vivekananda was inclined towards spirituality. He was influenced by his guru, Ramakrishna, from whom he learnt that all living beings were an embodiment of the divine self. Therefore, service to God could only be rendered by service to mankind. Anton Chekhov, even when he fell sick in 1885, kept writing till he died of tuberculosis in 1904. Some of them even had financial problems, leading to trying times to obtain education, and some even had to support their education by writing scripts for magazines and even by selling fish. Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, the second child of actors David and Elizabeth Poe. His father abandoned the family in 1810, and his mother died the following year. He became an orphan, yet he fought back to become one of the most formidable writers of short stories. When Maupassant was 11, his mother, an independent-minded woman, divorced her husband. Afterwards, Maupassant lived with his mother, who was the single biggest influence on him, but that entailed hardships. Gogol lost his father at the age of fifteen, yet he aspired to become a writer.

    The short lifespan of these great writers only teaches us that achievements are not a function of your age.

Written and posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

Author, Poet, & Columnist

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https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

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Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life-threatening diseases, especially cancer. Our posts are meant for our readers, including children and adults, and have a huge variety of content. We also accept donations for our mission. Should you wish to donate to the cause of cancer? The bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

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INTERESTING FACTS: WHEN INDIA GOT FREEDOM BUT DIDN’T KNOW WHAT ITS BOUNDARIES WERE

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At the conference in New Delhi where Lord Mountbatten disclosed Britain’s partition plan for India (left to right) Indian nationalist leader Jawaharlal Nehru (1869 – 1964), adviser to Mountbatten Lord Ismay, Viceroy of India Lord Louis Mountbatten, and President of the All-India Muslim League Muhammad Ali Jinnah. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

When India got freedom, but didn’t know what its boundaries were
TIMES NEWS NETWORK, 22.8.21


On the midnight of August 15, 1947, we knew that India had kept its tryst with destiny, we knew that the subcontinent had been divided, that we were now two countries, India and Pakistan, but what we didn’t know was where India ended and Pakistan began. The boundary lines were still unknown.

    That had been Viceroy Lord Mountbatten’s idea. He didn’t want the celebrations to be marred by recriminations on both sides. As if that was possible.

    The British had long lost the opportunity for a peaceful and orderly handover of power. With the failure of the 1942 Cripps’ mission and then the three-member 1946 Cabinet delegation (with Sir Stafford Cripps playing the key role again), partition was inevitable. But how do you divide a subcontinent? Drawing the line was never going to be easy.

    The man chosen for the task was Sir Cyril Radcliffe, a man who hadn’t travelled further east than the Gibraltar. But it fell on this 48-year-old Inner Temple barrister to do this impossible task– and that, too, in just five weeks.

    While Radcliffe may have known little or nothing of India, he was, after all, the ultimate establishment man, which is probably why he was picked for the job. He had studied at Haileybury (Clement Attlee, the British Prime Minister then, also went to the same school) and then Oxford. After that, he had a brilliant career as a barrister. During the war, he had been director-general in the Ministry of Information, responsible for censorship and propaganda. It was Radcliffe who had run a campaign against Nehru’s sister Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit when she visited the United States. Radcliffe had also harassed P.G. Wodehouse ‘when he made ill-judged broadcasts while in German captivity’, wrote Patrick French.

    So, the Establishment Man reached India and began work as a ‘neutral umpire’ in New Delhi on July 8. He would live separately, guarded by a massive Punjabi armed with two pistols. He would take his own decisions; no one would be around to influence him. But it wasn’t such a secluded existence for Radcliffe, after all. He dined with British military commander Claude Auchinleck (maybe the Auk needed consoling; his wife had run away with his friend), Lord Mountbatten, Punjab Governor Sir Evan Jenkins and many other members of the British high society.

It’s hard to believe that Radcliffe did not discuss the boundary issue with the others, who all knew much more about India than he did. But more than anything else, Radcliffe had a cheat sheet. In February 1946, the ever-underrated Archibald Wavell, the Viceroy of India, was unceremoniously sacked by the British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, while sending in Mountbatten, as he had drawn up a contingency plan. Wavell knew what was coming. And he understood the need for a well-thought-out boundary line. Helping him were Reforms Commissioner V.P. Menon and Benegal Rau.

So, what did Radcliffe have to go with? Maybe some advice from veterans, Wavell’s map, and outdated census data. And with this, he had to divide a subcontinent in 36 days. Its people, villages, rivers, canals, roads. And to compound matters, the weather was frightfully hot, and Radcliffe came down with a bout of dysentery.

Seventy-four years later, it might be easy to say, ‘Poor fellow, he was only a lawyer with a brief; what more could he possibly have done? But in 1947, everything hinged on this lawyer and his brief. Would he award Gurdaspur to India or Pakistan? Would he really award a part of Ferozepur to Pakistan, so that it had better control over its water supply?

In fact, he almost gave away a part of Ferozepur to Pakistan. In the first week of August, during a lunch with his commissioners at a club in Simla, he said he would give Pakistan a part of Ferozepur because India was getting Gurdaspur. But that was not to be. When word got out, there was frenzied behind-the-scenes activity that made the ‘neutral umpire’ change his mind– and the boundary line — within days.

He handed over all the Awards to Mountbatten on August 13, but Mountbatten ruled that the Awards would not be made public till August 16. So, on August 15, a free India still did not know its exact boundaries.

When at 5 pm, on August 16, Liaquat Ali Khan, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel and Baldev Singh gathered in the Council Chamber of Government House, three hours after the Awards had been sent to them, no one looked happy. It would be months before things settled down. For the moment, freedom had arrived, and with it the horrors of Partition.

For Radcliffe, it was time to go home. He boarded a flight out on August 17. He never came back. Later, when a reporter asked him if he would ever like to visit India, he said: ‘God forbid. Not even if they asked me. I suspect they would shoot me out of hand– both sides.’

The piece also includes the following pictures and press clippings

**
PICTURE
SEPT 1947
REFUGEES CROWD ONTO TRAINS FOR PAKISTAN AS THEY LEAVE NEW DELHI
 **
PRESS CLIPPING
AUG 18, 1947
PUNJAB & BENGAL BOUNDARY AWARD ANNOUNCED
NO AGREED SOLUTION: WIDE DIVERGENCE OF OPINION

ASSENT TO CHAIRMAN’S OWN DECISION

DEMARCATION OF BORDERS OF DIVIDED PROVINCES

AUG 18
MOVES TO RESTORE PEACE IN PUNJAB… PINDI CUT OFF FROM REST OF INDIA
**
AUG 19
PUNJAB PROMISED AID IN SUPPRESSING DISORDERS… PLANS FOR IMMEDIATE CONCERTED ACTION FORMULATED
**
AUG 23
ENDING PUNJAB AND QUETTA LAWLESSNESS … PAKISTAN CABINET’S DECISION

Posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

Author, Poet, & Columnist

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https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

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Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life-threatening diseases, especially cancer. Our posts are meant for our readers, including children and adults, and have a huge variety of content. We also accept donations for our mission. Should you wish to donate to the cause of cancer? The bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

***

BOOK REVIEW: 21 UNBREAKABLE LAWS OF MONEY by Brian Tracy

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Brian Tracy says one of your major goals in life should be financial independence. One must aim to reach a point where one has enough money so that one doesn’t have to worry about money again. The good news is that financial independence is easier to achieve today. We are surrounded by more wealth and affluence than ever before. So, I picked up a book for you, written by Brian Tracy, “Twenty-One Unbreakable Laws of Money.” I have summarised the gist of the book into 12 points. Let’s begin.

  1. The Law of Cause and Effect

Everything happens for a reason; there is a cause for every effect. You can acquire whatever amount of money you really want if you will just do what others have done before you to achieve the same results. And if you don’t, you won’t. It is as simple as that. The most important expression of this universal law is that “Thoughts are causes and conditions are effects.” The most important principle of personal or business is simply this: You become what you think about most of the time.

  1. The Law of Belief

Whatever you truly believe, with feeling, becomes your reality. When you are absolutely convinced that you are a financial success in the making, you will engage in a behaviour that will make it come true.

  1. The Law of Attraction

You are a living magnet; you invariably attract into your life people, situations and circumstances that are in harmony with your dominant thoughts. When you develop a burning desire for financial success and think about it all the time, you set a force field of positive emotional energy that attracts people, ideas, and opportunities into your life to help you make your goals turn into realities.

  1. The law of Abundance

We live in an abundant universe in which there is sufficient money for all who really want it and are willing to obey the laws governing its acquisition. There is plenty of money available for you. There is no real shortage. You can virtually have all you really want and need. The first corollary of the Law of Abundance says that people become wealthy because they decide to become wealthy. The second corollary of this law says: People are poor because they have not yet decided to become rich.

Why aren’t you rich already? Write down all the reasons you can think of. Go over your answers one by one with someone who knows you well and ask them for their opinion. You may be surprised to find that your reasons are mostly excuses that you have fallen in love with.

  1. The Law of Time Perspective

The most successful people in any society are those who take the long-term period into consideration when making their day-to-day decisions. People with long-term perspectives are willing to pay the price of success for a long, long time before they achieve it. They think about the consequences of their financial choices and decisions in terms of what they might mean in five, ten, fifteen and even twenty years from now. As you begin thinking long-term and organising your financial life and priorities with your future goals and ambitions in mind, the quality of your decisions improves, and your life starts to become better almost immediately.

The first corollary of the Law of Time Perspective says: Delayed gratification is the key to financial success. The second corollary of this law says: Self-discipline is the most important personal quality for assuring long-term success. The third corollary of this law says: Sacrifice in the short-term is the price you pay for security in the long-term.

  1. The Law of Saving

Financial freedom comes to the person who saves ten per cent or more of his income throughout his lifetime. One of the smartest things that you can do is to develop the habit of saving part of your salary every paycheck. Begin today to save ten per cent of your income, off the top, and never touch it. This is your fund for long-term financial accumulation and you never use it for any other reason except to assure your financial future.

If you are in debt and ten per cent is too much for you, start by saving one per cent of your income and living on the other ninety-nine per cent. When you become comfortable living on ninety-nine per cent of your income, increase your savings rate to two per cent.

7. The Law of Conservation

It’s not how much money you make, but how much money you keep, that determines your financial future. Many people make a lot of money in the course of their working lifetimes. Sometimes, during boom periods, people greatly exceed their expectations and make more money than they ever thought possible. The true measure of how well you are really doing is how much you keep out of the amount that you earn.

Calculate your true net worth as of today. Make a list of all your assets and value them at the amounts you could actually get for them if you had to turn them into cash quickly. Add up all your bills, credit card balances and mortgages and then subtract them from your assets to get your net worth today. Now divide the number of years you have been working by your net worth. The result is the net amount you have actually earned each year after your costs of living. Are you happy with it? If not, start doing something about it today.

  1. Parkinson’s Law: Expenses rise to meet income

Parkinson’s Law is one of the best-known and most important laws of money and wealth accumulation. It was developed English writer C. Northcote Parkinson many years ago, and it explains why most people retire poor. This law says that, no matter how much money people earn, they tend to spend the entire amount and a little more besides. Their expenses rise in direct proportion to their incomes.

  1. The Law of Investing

Investigate before you invest. This is one of the most important of all the laws of money. You should spend at least as much time studying a particular investment as you do earning the money to put into that particular investment. You have worked too hard to earn it and taken too long to accumulate it. Investigate every aspect of the investment well before you make any commitment. Ask for full and complete disclosure of every detail. If you have any doubt or misgivings at all, you will probably be better off keeping your money in the bank or in a money market investment account.

The corollary of the Law of Investing says: If you think you can afford to lose a little, you’re going to end up losing a lot. Another corollary of the law of Investing says: Only invest with experts who have a proven track record of success with their own money. Invest only in things that you fully understand and believe in. Take investment advice only from people who are financially successful at taking their own advice.

  1. The law of Compound Interest.

Investing your money carefully and allowing it to grow at compound interest will eventually make you rich. Compound interest is considered one of the greatest miracles of all human history and economics. Albert Einstein described it as the most powerful force in our society. When you let money accumulate at compound interest over a long period, it increases more than you can imagine.

The first corollary of this law says: The key to compound interest is to put the money away and never touch it. If you ever touch that money, you lose the power of compound interest, and though you spend only a small amount today, you will be giving up what could be an enormous amount later on. If you start early enough, invest consistently enough, never draw on your funds and rely on the miracle of compound interest, it will make you rich.

An average person earning an average income who invested Rs 1000 per month from the age of 21 to age 65, and who earned a compounded rate of 10% over that time, would retire with a net worth of 1,11,80,000. Begin a regular, monthly investment account and commit yourself to investing a fixed amount for the next five, ten or even twenty years. Select a company with a family of mutual funds and investment instruments, and keep your money working, month after month and year after year.

  1. The Law of Accelerating Acceleration

The faster you move towards financial freedom, the faster it moves towards you. The more money you accumulate, the more success you achieve, the faster money and success seem to move towards you, from a variety of different directions. Everyone who is financially successful today has had the experience of working extremely hard, sometimes for years, before they got their first real opportunity. But after that, more and more opportunities flowed into them, from all directions.

The first corollary of the law of Accelerating Acceleration says: 80% of your success will come in the last 20% of the time you invest. This is a remarkable discovery. Just think! You will achieve only about 20% of the total success possible for you in the first 80% of the time and money that you invest in an enterprise, a career or a project. You will achieve the other 80% in the last 20% of the time and money that you invest.

Peter Lynch, the former manager of the Magellan Mutual Fund, one of the most successful mutual funds in history, would often buy the stock of a company that did not increase in value for several years. Then it would take off and go up ten or twenty times in price. This strategy of picking stocks for the long term eventually made him one of the most successful and highest-paid money managers in America.

  1. The Law of Real Estate

The value of a piece of Real Estate is the future earning power of that particular piece of Real Estate. The value of any piece of Real Estate is determined by the income that can be generated by that property when it is developed to its highest potential from this moment in time onward into the future. A piece of property may have sentimental value to a particular owner, but its dollar value is directly related to its future earning power.

There are vast areas of many large cities where property values are declining because growth and development have come and gone, and will probably not return. Every day, men and women are selling homes and properties at less than what they paid for them, or losing them to foreclosure because these properties have declined in earning power and therefore in value.

The first corollary of real estate is: You make your money when you buy it, and you realise it when you sell. This is very important. It is by purchasing a piece of Real Estate at the right price and under the right terms that you can sell it at a profit. Many people think that they will make their money when they sell the property, irrespective of how they purchased the property or at what price. The more carefully you investigate a piece of Real Estate and the more thoroughly you prepare a purchase offer, the more likely it is that you will get the kind of deal that will enable you to sell that Real Estate at a profit later on.

The second corollary of the Law of Real Estate is the location: The three keys to real estate selection are location, location and location. Your ability to choose a piece of real estate in an excellent location will have more of an impact on the future earnings of that real estate than any other decision that you take.

Another corollary of the law of real estate is: Real estate values are largely determined by general economic activity in the area and by the number of jobs and the level of wages. Generally, property increases at three times the level of population growth and two times the rate of inflation. When you purchase property in a fast-growing community, you are virtually ensured of above-average increases in value.

Conclusion

There are four keys to success with money. First, earn as much as you possibly can. Do everything possible to excel in your field so that you are paid extremely well for what you do.

The second key to money is that you hold on to it as much as you can.

The third key to money is for you to reduce and control your costs of living. Buy less expensive items. Put off important buying decisions for a day, a week or even a month so that when you finally do make the decision, it is a good one. All wealthy people are very careful with their money and their expenditures. That’s how they became wealthy.

This is a wonderful time to be alive. It has never been more possible for you to make more, save more, accumulate more and grow your money faster than it is today. Your job is to take full advantage of the wide range of opportunities that are available to you. Your job is to apply these laws to fulfil your financial destiny and become wealthy in your working lifetime.

Written and posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

Author, Poet, & Columnist

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https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

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Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life-threatening diseases, especially cancer. Our posts are meant for our readers, including children and adults, and have a huge variety of content. We also accept donations for our mission. Should you wish to donate to the cause of cancer? The bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

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Publications of Kamlesh Tripathi

BOOK TITLE: GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

(The book is about a young cancer patient. Now archived in eight prestigious libraries of the US, which include Harvard College Library; Harvard University Library; Library of Congress; University of Washington, Seattle; University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Yale University, New Haven; University of Chicago; University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill University Libraries. It can also be accessed at MIT through Worldcat.org. Besides, it is also available for reading in the libraries and archives of Canada; the Open Library; Cancer Aid and Research Foundation Mumbai; Jaipuria Institute of Management, Noida, India; Shoolini University, Yogananda Knowledge Center, Himachal Pradesh and Azim Premzi University, Bangalore and the Library of Cancer Aid and Research Foundation, Mumbai. The title also finds a mention in a book titled ‘Enduring Cancer: Life, Death and Diagnosis in Delhi’ by Dwaipayan Banerjee, published by the Duke University Press).

BOOK TITLE: ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

(It is a book on ‘singlehood’ about a Delhi girl now archived in Connemara Library, Chennai and Delhi Public Library, GOI, Ministry of Culture, Delhi; It is also available for reading in the Indian National Bibliography, March 2016, in the literature section, in Central Reference Library, Ministry of Culture, India, Belvedere, Kolkata-700022)

BOOK TITLE: AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

(This is a fiction written around the great city of Nawabs—Lucknow. It describes Lucknow in great detail and also talks about its Hindu-Muslim amity, which is the undying characteristic of Lucknow. The book was launched at the Lucknow International Literary Festival in 2014. It is catalogued and included for reading in Askews and Holts Library Services, Lancashire, U.K; Herrick District Library, Holland; Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, USA; Black Gold Cooperative Library Administration, Arroyo Grande, California; Berkeley Library, University of California; The Peshastin Public Library and The George Public Library near Washington, a Northern Central Washington Libraries branch; the Flagstaff City-Coconino County Public Library in Arizona in the US and the Salina Public Library, Kansas, USA.

BOOK TITLE: REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

(Co-published by Cankids–Kidscan, a pan-India NGO and Shravan Charity Mission, which works for child cancer in India. The book is endorsed by Ms Preetha Reddy, MD, Apollo Hospitals Group. It was launched at the Lucknow International Literary Festival in 2016).

BOOK TITLE: TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

(Is a story of an Indian salesman who is humbly qualified. Yet he fights his way through unceasing uncertainties to reach the top. A good read, not only for salesmen but for any reader. The book was launched on 10th February 2018 at Gorakhpur Lit-Fest. Now available on Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

BOOK TITLE: RHYTHM … IN POEMS

(Published in January 2019. The book contains 50 poems. The poems are about our day-to-day life. Poems from this book have been published in Shillong Times, Bandra Times, Bhavan’s Journal and Arunachal Times and Goan net. The book is available on Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha).

BOOK TITLE: MIRAGE

(Published in February 2020. The book is a collection of eight short stories available on Amazon, Flipkart and Notion Press)

BOOK TITLE: AWADH ASSAM AND DALAI LAMA … The Kalachakra

(It is the story of the man who received His Holiness The Dalai Lama and his retinue in 1959 as a GOI representative when he fled Tibet in 1959. The book was launched on 21st November 2022 by His Holiness The Dalai Lama at Dharmshala. The title is archived in the library of the Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR) Government of Tibet, Tibet Policy Institute (TPI) and the personal library of His Holiness The Dalai Lama. The title is also archived in The Ohio Digital Library, USA. It was recently included in the digital library of the world-renowned company APPLE. Included in the library of Friends of Tibet and Maharashtra Mitra Mandal Library in Bandra, Mumbai.

(POEMS, SHORT STORIES AND ARTICLES OF KAMLESH TRIPATHI PUBLISHED IN NEWSPAPERS, JOURNALS AND MAGAZINES)

THE TIMES OF INDIA

Speaking Tree: 1. Basant Celebrates Ma Saraswati, Shiv, And Spring 1.2.25; 2. Mahashivratri: A Night of Divine Illumination, 26.2.25; 3. Kabir Spun Indic Syncretism Through His Dohas, 12.6.25;

BHAVANS JOURNAL

Short stories, Book reviews and Articles published in Bhavan’s Journal: 1. Reality and Perception, 15.10.19; 2. Sending the Wrong Message, 31.5.20; 3. Eagle versus Scholars, June, 15 & 20, 2020; 4. Indica, 15.8.20; 5. The Story of King Chitraketu, August 31 2020; 6. Breaking Through the Chakravyuh, September 30 2020. 7. The Questioning Spouse, October 31, 2020; 8. Happy Days, November 15, 2020; 9. The Karma Cycle of Paddy and Wheat, December 15, 2020; 10. Power Vs Influence, January 31, 2021; 11. Three Refugees, March 15, 2021; 12. Rise and Fall of Ajatashatru, March 31, 2021; 13. Reformed Ruler, May 15, 2021; 14. A Lasting Name, May 31, 2021; 15. Are Animals Better Teachers? June 16, 2021; 16. Book Review: The Gram Swaraj, 1.7.21; 17. Right Age for Achievements, 15.7.21; 18. Big Things Have Small Beginnings, 15.8.21; 19. Where is Gangaridai?, 15.9.21; 20. Confront the Donkey Within You 30.9.21; 21. Know Your Strengths 15.10.21; 22. Poverty 15.11.21; 23. Top View 30.11.21; 24. The Bansuriwala 15.1.22; 25. Sale of Alaska 15.2.22; 26. The Dimasa Kingdom 28.2.22; 27. Buried Treasure 15.4.22; 28. The Kingdom of Pragjyotisha 30.4.22; 29. Who is more useful? 15.5.22; 30. The White Swan from Lake Mansarovar 30.6.22; 31. Bhool Bhulayya 15.9.22; 32. Good Karma 30.9.22; 33. Good Name vs Bad Name 15.10.22; 34. Uttarapath—The Grand Trunk Road 1.12.22; 35. When Gods Get Angry 1.1.23; 36. Holinshed’s Chronicles 15.1.23; 37. Theogony 15.2.23; 38. Poem: Mother 14.5.23; 39. The Nag Mandir 30.6.23; 40. The Story of Garuda 30.7.23; 41. Janmabhoomi vs Karmabhoomi 31.8.23; 42. The Ghost Town of Kuldhara 15.9.23; 43. The Tale of Genji 15.10.23; 44. The Soul Connection 1.12.23; 45. Book review: Jungle Nama … a story of the Sundarban 16.3.24; 46. Book review: A Forgotten Chapter 16.5.24; 47. Exploring Ancient Egypt, 1.8.24; 48. The Story of Dhruva, 16.8.24; 49. Two Hundred Years of Tea in Assam 16.9.24; 50. The Cosmic Messenger 16.10.24; 51. Biblioburro: The Four-Legged Library 16.11.24; 52. The Cologne Cathedral 1.1.25; 53. Gandhi to Mahatma 16.1.25; 54. Huxley’s Take on Translated Works 16.3.25; 55. Ernest Hemingway’s Iceberg Theory 1.7.25;

THE SHILLONG TIMES

Articles & Poems: 1. Poem: Happy New Year 8.1.23; 2. Poem: Spring 12.3.23; 3. Poem: Right and Wrong 20.3.23; 4. The Gush of Emotion—Writing, 26.3.23; 5. The Nag Mandir, 7.5.23; 6. Poem: Mother 7.5.23; 7. Poem: Rain Rain 9.7.23; 8. Poem: You Come Alone You Go Alone 6.8.23; 9. Poem: Rain Rain (Second Time) 10.8.23; 10. Poem: Guru Teacher 1.10.23; 11. Poem: Autumn … The Interim Heaven 15.10.23; 12. Poem: Happy Diwali 12.11.23; 13. Overcoming Blindness: Learn it the John Milton Way 10.12.23; 14. The Happy Prince and The Happy Man’s Shirt 31.12.23; 15. Annus Mirabilis -2024 7.1.24; 16. Gandhi to Mahatma Gandhi- Incidents that Shaped Gandhi in South Africa 28.1.24; 17. Poem: Together But Not Made For Each Other, 11.2.24; 18. The Birds Bees and The Spiders of Nicholas Guildford and Jonathan Swift 25.2.24; 19. The Overcoats of Nikolai Gogol and Ruskin Bond 10.3.24; 20. The Ethnic Colours of Holi 24.3.24; 21. A Lesson from Dalai Lama, 21.4.24; 22. Poem: Morning Walk 28.4.24; 23. Trip to Rhine Falls, Switzerland, 19.5.24; 24. Poem: Hurt 2.6.24; 25. Poem: Your Conscience Was My Sign On 16.6.24; 26. Poem: The Eerie Ways of Time 7.7.24; 27. Poem: Celebrating the T20 World Champions 14.7.24; 28. Read to Rise above mediocrity, 4.8.24; 29. Poem: Desire vs Reality 11.8.24; 30. Jack Ma’s Pristine Advice to Employers, Employees and the Youth 22.9.24; 31. Tagore and Kipling 3.11.24; 32. Poem: Merry Christmas 22.12.24; 33. Poem: The Sunset Point, 5.1.25; 34. Cancer Warning Labels on Alcoholic Beverages, 12.1.25; 35. Poem: Hope … In the Arc of Twilight, 19.1.25; 36. Basant Panchami celebrates the Arrival of Spring 2.2.25; 37. Poem: The Falling World Order, 9.2.25; 38. A Peep into Native American Literature, 23.2.25; 39. Poem: Good day, Bad day 9.3.25; 40. Reincarnation of Dalai Lama in a free World, 6.4.25; 41. Ambedkar: Fighting the Caste Monster, 13.4.25; 42. Switzerland: The Scenic Mount Titlis & Lucerne 18.5.25; 43. Poem: A Ray of Hope 8.6.25; 44. Poem: Monsoon Melodies 27.7.25;

THE ASSAM TRIBUNE

Article: 1. The Magic of Reading 11.12.23; 2. Gandhi to Mahatma 29.1.24; 3. Geography of Solitude 8.4.24; 4. A Lesson From Dalai Lama, 22.4.24; 5. A Source of Inspiration, 29.4.24; 6. The Four-Legged Library, 12.5.24; 7. Age and Achievement, 10.6.24; 8. Read … To Rise Above Mediocrity, 1.7.24; 9. Crusade for a College, 25.8.24; 10. Hemingway’s Iceberg Theory (Panorama) 27.9.24; 11. Short story: Love in the Air, 20.10.24; 12. Short story: The Prick of Conscience, 5.1.25; 13. Lost in translation, 6.1.25; 14. Travellers’ tales 20.1.2025; 15. Audit your days 17.2.25;

THE ARUNACHAL TIMES

Poem: 1. Hope—In The Arc of Twilight, 13.8.23; 2. Poem: Spring 3.3.24; 3. Poem: The Morning Walk 10.3.24;

BANDRA TIMES, MUMBAI

Articles & Poems: 1. Poem: SPRING, 1.4.23; 2. Poem: Mother, 1.6.23; 3. Poem: Rain Rain, 1.8.23; 4. A Lesson From Dalai Lama, 1.6.24; 5. Read to rise above Mediocrity 1.8.24; 6. Poem: Merry Christmas 1.12.24; 7. Poem: Happy New Year 1.12.24; 8. The Enduring Colours of Holi 1.2.25; 9. Poem: Global Warming, 1.4.25; 10. Pahalgam Carnage 1.6.25; 11. Life Lessons 1.6.25;

THE GOAN NET NEWSPAPER

Poem: 1. Autumn – The Interim Heaven, 6.10.24; 2. Reader’s Rewind 17.11.84; 3. Reader’s Rewind: The Irony of Tash Moustache or Mooch 5.12.24; 4. The Sunset Point 22.12.24; 5. Reader’s Rewind: The Joy of a Morning Walk, 3.1.25; 6. Harmony in creation 26.1.25; 7. Poem: What is truly Good for me? 2.1.25; 8. Poem: We both were left behind, 9.2.25; 9. India Afloat like Ship of Theseus, 23.2.25; 10. Maha Shivratri: A night of divine illumination, spiritual awakening, 26.2.25; 11. Poem: Good Day Bad Day, 2.3.25; 12. After Birth, Death is the First Spiritual Tip, 30.3.25;

CITY ESSENCE MAGAZINE

Three Love Stories: A Comparison, July 7. 2025;

SRIJON MAGAZINE

Articles & Poems: Poem: 1. Global Warming 1.5.25; 2. India Afloat Like The Ship of Theseus 1.5.25; 3. Reincarnation of the Dalai Lama In A Free World.

ARTICLES IN THE DIGITAL MAGAZINE ESAMSKRITI

Aritcles: 1. 29.12.2020: Indica by Megasthenes; 2. 14.3.22: About The Dimasa Kingdom Assam; 3. 10.12.22: Grand Trunk Road–Uttarapath; 4. 5.10.23: The Ghost Town of Kuldhara Near Jaisalmer;

(ALL THE ABOVE BOOK TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE ON AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

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Pakistan: An Atrocious Copy-Paste Master … by Kamlesh Tripathi

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Operation Sindoor was launched on 7 May 2025, in retaliation for the brutal terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on 22 April, in which 26 civilian tourists lost their lives.

    Pakistan is an atrocious copy-paste master. After having lost the plot, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif implemented several measures to create a false image among the Pakistani public that they had emerged victorious. This, despite their Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) having called his Indian counterpart to request a cessation of hostilities.

    After the temporary suspension of armed hostilities, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Adampur air base in Punjab on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, to boost the morale of the armed forces. Modi’s visit came just days after Indian armed forces executed Operation Sindoor with clinical precision. Air Force Station, Adampur, was one of the active bases during the mission. PM Modi was welcomed with chants of “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and “Vande Mataram,” as air warriors and soldiers celebrated the operation’s success. Copying the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s move, Shehbaz Sharif also decided to visit the forces. However, lacking the courage to do so effectively, he merely stood on a tank to address them. He was widely ridiculed and trolled for this: Khet mein tank, jeet ka prank.

    The Government of India formed seven all-party parliamentary delegations to visit various countries as part of a strategic diplomatic outreach, aiming to garner international support and convey India’s stance: that India is a peace-loving nation suffering from terrorism originating in Pakistan. As expected, Pakistan mimicked this move too, sending a delegation under Bilawal Bhutto abroad to falsely portray Pakistan as a victim rather than a perpetrator of terrorism.

    But this act of imitating India isn’t new for Pakistan. It began with Mohammad Ali Jinnah himself. In his piece ‘Ranade, Gandhi and Jinnah’, Dr B. R. Ambedkar describes Gandhi and Jinnah, noting that Jinnah and the Muslim League copied Gandhi and the Congress even before India’s independence. The Qaid-i-Azam of Pakistan simply followed Gandhi’s lead. The politics between these two iconic figures became a contest of one-upmanship from Jinnah’s end. If Gandhi was the Mahatma, Jinnah had to be Qaid-i-Azam. Pakistan has always believed in copying India, a pattern visible even during Jinnah’s lifetime. Jinnah didn’t innovate; he imitated Gandhi.

    Politics in the hands of these two great leaders turned into a competition of extravagance. If Gandhi was known as the Mahatma, Jinnah insisted on being known as Qaid-i-Azam. If Gandhi had the Congress Party, Jinnah ensured the existence of the Muslim League. If the Congress had a Working Committee and an All India Congress Committee, the Muslim League had to have its own Working Committee and Council. A session of the Congress was inevitably followed by one of the Muslim League.

    If the Congress issued a political statement, the Muslim League had to issue one too. If the Congress passed a resolution of 17,000 words, the Muslim League’s resolution had to be at least 1,000 words longer. If the Congress President held a press conference, the Muslim League President followed suit. If the Congress addressed the United Nations, the Muslim League made sure not to be outdone.

    Gandhi insisted Jinnah admit he was one of the Muslim leaders; Jinnah insisted Gandhi admit he was a Hindu. This dynamic is clearly depicted in Ambedkar’s piece, ‘Ranade, Gandhi and Jinnah’.

    During the partition, Jinnah and the Muslim League imitated Gandhi and the Congress Party. This could have been a great moment for the Congress to reflect, mock, and point out Pakistan’s persistent habit of mimicry, showing that the mindset of Jinnah and the Muslim League carried on into the Pakistani state post-partition and portraying Congress as the lynchpin of India.

Instead, the Congress began mimicking Pakistan—and in doing so, fell from grace. Big opportunity lost.

Written and posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

Author, Poet, & Columnist

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https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

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