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BOOK REVIEW: INDIA’S GREATEST SPEECHES by Nitin Agarwal

August 19, 2025article, book corner, book launch, book launch aadab lucknow, book review, Uncategorizedabhinav bindra, apj abdul kalam, ar rahman, art, atal bihari vajpayee, azim premji, greatest speeches, indira gandhi, jrd tata, kamlesh tripathi, mahatma gandhi, mother teresa, narayana murthy, pandit deendayal upadhyay, photography, rabindra nath tagore, sachin tendulkar, sarvepalli radhaakrishnan, shah rukh khan, shaheed bhagat singh, subhas chandra bose, summer, swami vivekananda, travel, veer damodar savarkar, viswanathan anandshravancharitymission

Hi friends. I’ve just finished reading this book titled ‘India’s Greatest Speeches’ compiled by Nitin Agarwal. The publisher of this book is Grapevine India Publishers Ltd. The title was published in 2014, but it got to my hands late. The price of this book is Rs 195. It comprises 325 pages. Most of these speeches are available in the archives. Yet, I would say Nitin has done a good job of providing them in a readymade platter. The selection of speeches and the introduction of the personality before each speech is also quite absorbing. At times, we feel we know a celebrity quite well, but when you start reading about them, you feel otherwise.

Overall, it’s a stimulating collection of thoughtful speeches delivered by some of the most prominent personalities of India. But then, one viewpoint could be, why read these speeches at all? What do you gain from them? Well, let me tell you. Behind every speech lies the covert and overt accomplishment of the personality. Rather, the essence of an orator’s personality, which knowingly or unknowingly, directly or indirectly comes out for the betterment of the common man. There is a verse in the Gita that says, ‘Masses follow the classes.’ Moreover, speeches often silhouette the inveterate mindset of the orator. It, at times, even doubles up as a mini biography of the personality.

Set to inspire, the book includes some of the most stirring and eloquent addresses by Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Mother Teresa, JRD Tata, Abdul Kalam, Narendra Modi and many other influential Indian leaders.

The book starts with a short insight from the Bhagavad Gita. It then goes on to cover twenty-five speeches of 23 cynosure personalities of India. One will find a good amount of historical perspective in some of the speeches. Almost all speeches are loaded with aspects of challenge, failure, success, struggle, decision making, telling tough tales and life lessons and ultimately, the making of those towering personalities.

An interesting pattern that inadvertently emerges from the book is the ground feel of what India and the bigwigs of India were, towards the end of the nineteenth century, when Swami Vivekananda delivered that famous speech in Chicago in 1893. And it extends to almost a decade and a half after independence, say 1965. It also gives you a flavour of how India changed after 1965, because of the altered mindsets of Indian personalities, which included their viewpoints, their values and even their ambitions.

The world today has become extremely complex. Competition has intensified, and struggles have become longer and even tougher. Global perspectives have taken over issues, and nothing is isolated; most things are transparent. The speeches post 1965 in the book reflect that in some way or the other. The collection of speeches extends from 1893 to 2014.

There are two speeches of Mahatma Gandhi delivered in the years 1912 and 1922. When you read these speeches, you get an eerie feeling as to how different India has become since then. Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s famous and daring statement before the Lahore High Court Bench exhibits his jasba … passion for his motherland–India. The narration is a bouquet of important speeches.

In the year 1937, Veer Damodar Savarkar, then president of Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, delivered a speech in Karnavati defining Hinduism. There are other master pieces from Tagore in 1941, and Dr Radhakrishnan in 1947. Then you have the famous speeches of Subhas Chandra Bose—Give me Blood and I promise you Freedom, and Nehru’s ‘Tryst with Destiny.’

In the year 1948, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel delivered his famous speech at Calcutta Maidan on the unification of states. Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, a very important leader of Jana Sangh (now BJP) in the year 1965, addressed a full house on Integral Humanism.

One is really moved by the humbleness of Mother Teresa when she made that historic speech in 1979 upon the acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize, and JRD Tata’s superlative speech in the year 1982 on his Historic Flight Re-enactment, and the famous speech of Mrs Gandhi, her last in 1984, after which she was assassinated.

Who can forget Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s famous 2001 address at the United Nations General Assembly? And, Natayana Murthy, in 2007, during the pre-commencement address at New York University, describing his volatile journey.

There are two Speeches by Prime Minister Modi delivered in 2014, at FICCI Ahmedabad and the Independence Day, that outline India’s future and what he intends to do for the country. The speech of Par excellence Ex-President, APJ Abdul Kalam, in 2011, defining the vision of India, can never be forgotten. It is superb and so very educational.

On the creative side, there is AR Rahman’s 2009 Oscar Awards Acceptance address and Shah Rukh Khan’s famous ‘Courage in Success’ delivered in 2013.

Lifetime Achievement Awards don’t come easy. Everyone knows about the struggle Azim Premji had to undertake to establish his mighty company. His speech on the occasion at the Economic Times Awards in the year 2013 is also in the list of speeches.

And last but not least, the making of the world champions. Sports achievements are one of the toughest, where you start alone, and if you’re not successful, you go into a depression followed by oblivion. There are three wonderful speeches by Viswanathan Anand, 2007, Speech at NIIT Chennai, Abhinav Bindra, 2013, GoSports Foundation Conclave and Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, 2013, A Farewell to Cricket.

Overall, it’s an interesting read if you want to know about these personalities and their tedious journey to success.

The list of speeches:

Swami Vivekananda, 1893, The Chicago Address (Opening Day)
Mahatma Gandhi, 1912 Banaras Hindu University Speech
Mahatma Gandhi, 1922 The Great Trial of 1922
Shaheed Bhagat Singh 1930 Statement before the Lahore High Court Bench
Veer Damodar Savarkar, 1937 Presidential Address, Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, defining Hinduism.
Rabindranath Tagore, 1941, Civilisation’s Crisis, The Last Testament of Tagore
Subhas Chandra Bose, 1944, Give Me Blood and I Promise You Freedom
Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, 1947, Speech as First Vice-President of India
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, 1947, Tryst with Destiny
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, 1948, Speech at Calcutta Maidan
Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, 1965, Lecture on Integral Humanism
Mother Teresa, 1979, Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance
JRD Tata, 1982, Historic Flight Re-enactment
Indira Gandhi, 1984, The Last Speech
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, 2001, United Nations General Assembly Speech
Narayana Murthy, 2007, Pre-commencement address at New York University
Viswanathan Anand, 2007, Speech at NIIT, Chennai
AR Rahman, 2009, Oscar Awards Acceptance
APJ Abdul Kalam, 2011, Vision of India
Abhinav Bindra, 2013, GoSports Foundation Conclave
Shah Rukh Khan, 2013, Courage in Success
Sachin Tendulkar, 2013, A Farewell to Cricket
Azim Premji, 2013, Lifetime Achievement Award Acceptance, Economic Times Awards
Narendra Modi, 2014, Speech at FICCI, Ahmedabad
Narendra Modi, 2014, Independence Day Speech

Reviewed and written by Kamlesh Tripathi

Author, Poet, & Columnist

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

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INTO THE SUNSET YEARS by Kamlesh Tripathi

July 31, 2025ARTICLE HEALTH, column, spiritual article, Uncategorized100, art, books, gita, kamlesh tripathi, mother earth, parkinson's law, poetry, shloka, shravan charity mission, spiritual, story, sunset years, travel, writingshravancharitymission

As we continue to grow old, our perspectives and lifestyles keep changing. Life is never static, they say. The only permanence is impermanence. The way we see the world at 20 is vastly different from how we perceive it at 40, 60, or even 80. Though it’s often said that age is just a number. The number subtly but significantly influences how we view the remaining time on Mother Earth, and how we choose to live in it. If we consider the average human lifespan as 100 years, the first 50 mainly involve learning, growth, and striving, while the second half leans towards reflection, realignment, and seeking deeper spiritual meaning.

From the moment we are born, we can imagine a hundred years ahead, when the world seems filled with immense opportunities. The future expands like Parkinson’s law, filling the available hundred years. It appears to be brimming with opportunities, ambitions, and several ladders to climb. There’s a blend of excitement and apprehension. But success isn’t guaranteed. The path ahead is tough and winding. At this stage, the focus is on acquiring knowledge, developing skills, and laying down the foundation for a meaningful career and life. We put effort into education, training, and competition. The aim is to secure positions in top institutions or prestigious jobs that offer stability and high rewards. Once these goals are attained, our focus naturally shifts. The initial craving for academic success gives way to pursuits of professional, social, and financial achievement. These are early energetic years of ambition and diligent effort, reaching their peak in climbing the corporate and social ladders. These initial years are about proving oneself and establishing identity and worth in a demanding world. Although moments of introspection occur, the main focus remains on external achievements, recognition, financial security, and maintaining one’s social standing. The mind stays alert, the spirit driven. The challenges are seen as obstacles to overcome rather than signs to slow down.

However, as time advances and we approach retirement, something shifts. We start to realise that our time on Earth is limited. There is a gentle yet persistent awareness that our stay here is temporary, and life is, in fact, a journey. At the peak of our professional success, many of us begin to experience a spiritual void, long concealed by material pursuits and external ambitions. This often marks the beginning of the search for inner peace, mostly after you retire. Thoughts about the next phase, the second innings, begin to surface. Questions once ignored now become central. What is the purpose of all this? What lies beyond this life? How should one prepare for the journey hereafter? The ancient Hindu tradition comprehensively captures life through its four ashrams. It provides a roadmap of life’s journey in the stages of Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha, and Sannyasa.

As we approach life’s sunset, Shloka 2.22 in the Gita starts reminding us that the body is temporary, but the soul is eternal. The decay of the physical body is not an end, but a transition, much like changing clothes. The Shloka softens the fear of death by framing it as a natural and graceful process of renewal. It emphasises detachment, acceptance, and the continuity of the soul’s journey:

‘Vāsānsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya
navāni gṛhṇāti naro’parāṇi,
tathā śarīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇāni
anyāni saṁyāti navāni dehī.’ (Just as a person gives up old garments and puts on new ones,
so does the embodied soul discards worn-out bodies and takes on new ones).

Although conceived in an era bereft of mechanical clocks and the Gregorian calendar, they continue to offer timeless wisdom. Today, with our lives measured meticulously in minutes and milestones, we are more aware than ever of time’s passage. This awareness also serves as a reminder to pause, reflect, and live consciously. Ultimately, age isn’t merely about growing old. It is about growing wiser. It teaches us that ambition must be balanced with awareness. Success must eventually give way to surrender, and while youth is about becoming, age is about understanding. Life, after all, is not a race but a journey, a fleeting passage through time. May every sunrise hold more promise and every sunset hold more peace. Don’t simply retire from something; have something to retire to.

Written and posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

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Short Story: The Mystery of Poropkar Villa by Kamlesh Tripathi

July 31, 2025short story, spiritual, story, storytelling, Uncategorizedajoy, art, car, dhaba, dibyajyoti, food, kamlesh tripathi, photography, pranjal, shravan charity mission, sports, tea gardens, technology, The mystery of poropkar villa, villashravancharitymission

The dilapidated villa was crouched between the dark gorge and the sloping hillock. Its windows were like vacant eyes. Beyond the hillock, tea gardens stretched away, like a patchwork of shadow and the fading green, under the encroaching dusk. My car had stalled on the single, empty road, leaving me stranded. I decided to walk, hoping to find help in the nearest village, not expecting the crumbling double-story structure to materialise from the gloom.

Rain began to fall, a cold drizzle that quickly soaked my clothes. The darkness deepened, pressing in. That’s when the villa caught my eye, a flicker of warm light in the front room, a beacon of desperate hope. Relief washed over me; shelter, and perhaps a mechanic in the morning.

Approaching, I noticed the name etched above the door: ‘Poropkar Villa’. The path to it was flanked by tea shrubs that released a damp, aromatic scent. I hesitated on the road; the villa’s other windows were swallowed by blackness. Only that single light flickered. Finally, chilled and weary, I decided to knock on the door.

My first knock was tentative, met only by the drumming rain. I waited, then knocked harder. Footsteps shuffled inside. Relief surged again. A male voice, thin and reedy, called out, “Who’s there?”

‘I’m Ajoy. My car broke down nearby. Could I trouble you for shelter for the night?’

The door creaked open. An old man stood silhouetted against the light. ‘Please, come in, Ajoy. Call me Dibyajyoti.’

His voice snagged at a memory. Familiar, yet altered by age. Voices didn’t usually jar like that.

On the wall, an ornate clock ticked. Its hands pointed at 7:30 pm. My watch read 8:00 pm. ‘Your clock seems to have stopped,’ I said.

He smiled faintly. ‘I prefer it slow. The world rushes enough. Let my time crawl.’

The lagging clock echoed another memory: Pranjal, a colleague years ago, who always kept his watch half an hour behind. We’d worked together briefly before losing touch. Pranjal, the one who disappeared after that awful business with a girl…

A jolt went through me. ‘Dibyajyoti… are you by any chance Pranjal?’ His eyes, deep-set and shadowed, fixed on me. ‘Who are you?’

‘Ajoy. We worked together. Pranjal, where is that girl you were seeing? And why here? Why change your name?’

He sighed, a sound like dry leaves skittering. ‘A long story. After we lost contact, the affair continued. One night, after a movie, I dropped her off near her home. But she never arrived. They found her… in the river days later. Raped and murdered. The police came for me. No alibi, no defence. They sentenced me. Job gone, family gone. Years in prison. I screamed my innocence, but her family… they wouldn’t listen. Later, after I was locked away, friends found evidence – she was taken by goons that night. But it was too late for me. When I came out, I couldn’t face anyone. I came here, to the hills. Did some charity, saved some money, bought this place and changed my name. Pranjal is dead. Call me Dibyajyoti.’

A chill deeper than the rain settled in my bones. Hunger gnawed, but the villa was bare except for water. Dibyajyoti suggested we check the car. Maybe it would start now. ‘Nothing to eat here,’ he said. ‘The distant village might have something.’

We walked back. To my surprise, the car started on the first crank. I thanked him profusely, promising to visit again soon.

An hour’s drive brought me to a cluster of lights, a village. A roadside dhaba glowed invitingly. It was well past midnight. I ordered a meal, shivering despite the warmth inside. An old man nursing a chai looked up.

‘Sir, you’re far from home. Where are you coming from?’

‘From the Poropkar Villa. Met an old friend there, Dibyajyoti.’

The old man’s face hardened. ‘Dibyajyoti? He died five years ago. No one lives in that cursed house. He murdered a girl, served his sentence and came back here to rot.’

‘What nonsense!’ I protested. ‘I spent hours with him just now! We were colleagues! He told me he was framed for a murder that he didn’t commit! His real name is Pranjal!’

The dhaba owner leaned forward, his voice low and grave. ‘Framed? Perhaps. And the girl’s family knew that he was framed. He confessed this on his deathbed, they say. He changed his name to Dibyajyoti to avoid embarrassment—to escape his own ghost.’

The hot food turned to ash in my mouth. Hours spent with a ghost? His plea for understanding? His desperate need to tell me the truth before he parted?

The old man’s words hung in the smoky air. ‘Dibyajyoti came to see you, then. He needed to tell someone whom he knew from before. Someone who might understand him. You were the right person. He told you that he was innocent. Now, maybe, his soul will finally rest.’

Outside, the rain had stopped. The silence felt heavy, filled with the weight of a terrible secret finally spoken, and a spirit, perhaps, finally set free. I recollected suddenly. Dibyajyoti never shook hands nor served any food. Well, ghosts don’t do that, but they have a heart. The Poropkar Villa that night crumbled under heavy rains.

Written and posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

Author, Poet, & Columnist

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

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POETRY & POLITICS, IN LOVE & WAR – FAIZ

July 30, 2025article, author profile, autobiography, book corner, Uncategorized1974, america, art, bangladesh, beirut, bhutto, books, FAIZ, general zia, HUMANISM, kamlesh tripathi, liaquat ali, marxism, movies, pakistan, pakistan times, partition, photography, POLITICS, semitic, shravan charity missionshravancharitymission

FAIZ’S WORK ENDURES BECAUSE ITS CORE IS HUMANISM

A heartbroken teenager, a lecturer in English who was drawn to Marxism, a pioneer of the subcontinent’s political poetry, a supporter of Iran’s Islamic Revolution but not an Islamist, and finally self-exiled in Beirut after General Zia executed Bhutto – Faiz always said it was the early years that shaped the poet in him.

Aur bhi dukh hain zamane mein mohabbat ke siva, rahaten aur bhi hain vasi ki rahat ke siva, mujh se pahli si mohabbat mere mehboob na maang (The world has other problems… other comforts than a lover’s embrace. So, my love, don’t ask I love you like I once did). That’s Faiz marrying romance and politics.

In 1932, Angarey (Fire), an anthology of mostly feminist short stories, was banned but inspired the Progressive Writers Association, of which Faiz was an integral part. He left the army in 1947 to edit the left-leaning The Pakistan Times, disillusioned by Partition’s communal violence — Ye daagh daagh ujala ye shab-gazida sahar, vo intezaar tha jis ka ye vo sahar to nahin (This light stained by darkness is like dawn tainted by dusk. This isn’t the dawn we awaited).

Arrested in 1951for the conspiracy to overthrow Pakistan’s Liaquat Ali govt, he published two books from jail. Dast-e Saba and Zindan Nama. He never gave up on hope: Qafas udaas hai yaaro saba se kuchh to kaho. Kahin to bahr-e-khuda aaj zikr-e-yaar chale (The cage is sad and silent. Say something to the breeze. For god’s sake, let’s talk about my beloved).

On release four years on, he found Pakistan had distanced itself from the Soviets, his inspiration, and aligned with America, which he despised. In 1974, Bangladesh, at Mujibur Rahman’s request, he composed, Ham ki thahre ajnabi itni mudaraton ke baad. Phir banege ashna kitni mulaqaton ke baad (Despite the hospitality, we remain strangers, and who knows how many meetings it will take to become friends again).

Once Zia arrested Bhutto, Faiz self-exiled to Beirut as editor of Lotus- a magazine to promote non-Euro-centric Asian and African writing. But Faiz felt uprooted, longing for his people: Mere dil, mere musafir, hua phir se hukum sadir, ki vatan-badar hon hum tum (My heart, my traveller, the order is issued again, we are exiled again).

His most popular work, Hum Dekhenge, is a poem of dissent. Some find it anti-Hinduism — it’s just as anti-Islam. Inspired by Iran’s Islamic revolution, sourced from the Quran’s Surah al-Waqi’ah – the inevitability of Qayamat (doomsday)- experts are still divided over Hum Dekhenge’s message. A literal translation of key lines: ‘Idols would be removed from Kaaba to establish Allah’s rule.’ But these could also mean: Every idol – false gods and tyrants – will be removed from the house of God that is earth.’ Faiz was no Islamist but simply charmed by the people’s fight to depose the Shah.

The poem’s climax, Utthega anal haq ka nara, jo mai bhi hu or tum bhi ho. Bus raj karegi khalke khuda jo mai bhi hu or tum bhi ho. Anal haq means ‘I am the truth.’ In Semitic religions, Islam, Judaism and Christianity, there’s strict duality between God and his creation. In contrast, the Sufi anal haq resonates with the Advait concept of aham brahmasmi or ‘I am one with God.’ The poem’s message then is that humans are the ultimate truth — divinity is within humanity, hence the divine right to self-rule.

(TIMES OF INDIA 5.7.25)

Posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

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21/7/25 Speaking Tree: Radha Rukmini:Two Facets of Love in Krishn Lila

July 23, 2025article, spiritual, spiritual article, Uncategorizedart, dharm, Dwaraka, inspiration, kamlesh tripathi, Krishn Lila, love, Meerabai, mythology, poetry, radha, rukmini, shravan charity mission, sovereign, spiritual, travel, vrindavan, writingshravancharitymission

(Times of India 21/7/25. Speaking Tree: Radha & Rukmini: Two Facets of Love in Krishn Lila by Ganesh Kolambakar)

In Krishn’s divine lila, love reveals itself in many shades, not to confuse us but to awaken us. At first glance, Krishn’s bond with Radha may seem puzzling, especially since Rukmini was his lawful consort. Yet across centuries, temples, songs, and hearts remember Krishn not as ‘Rukmini-Krishn’ but as ‘Radha-Krishn’.
Radha and Rukmini are two expressions of the Divine force. They symbolise two dimensions of love– the worldly and the transcendental, the composed and the consuming. They are not in conflict but in complement, reflecting the soul’s journey towards the divine.
Rukmini, the queen of Dwaraka, embodies maryada, the love that lives within the boundaries of dharm. She is Lakshmi incarnate, graceful and steadfast. Her love stands for a sacred partnership rooted in harmony, order, and purpose. She represents Apara Shakti, Krishn’s manifest energy that sustains worldly life.
Radha, the gopi of Vrindavan, is Krishn’s Hladini Shakti, his bliss, inner song. Her love transcends all boundaries. It is romantic, yes, but not merely earthly; it’s the soul’s cry for union with the Infinite. Radha is Para Shakti, the soul’s longing for the Divine, unbound by law or logic. She is not another love; she is love itself, raw and pure.
To a layperson, Radha and Krishn’s romance is emotionally relatable, a tale of longing, stolen glances, and secret meetings under moonlit skies. But to the seeker, it reveals a profound truth: that the soul, like Radha, yearns not for a husband or a protector, but for oneness with the Divine Beloved. This is why their love stirred saints and poets alike. Meerabai, too, wept and sang for Krishn, not as a king but as her eternal lover. Her devotion mirrored Radha’s fearless and boundless love, pure, sacred, and beyond the bonds of this world.
Rukmini’s love is the temple. Radha’s the sacred fire within. Rukmini walks with grace, and Radha dances in divine ecstasy. Both are true. Both are sacred. One represents Krishn’s presence in worldly life. The other reveals Krishn in the innermost heart. Sri Aurobindo saw Radha as the symbol of the psychic being – the soul’s flame moving toward the Divine. In this light, Radha and Krishn are not two lovers, but the seeker and the sought. Their union is not merely emotional. It is spiritual and cosmic.
Some traditions view Radha and Krishn as Shakti and Shiv, two forms yet ultimately one. Rukmini represents Krishn’s role in society and dharm. Radha is the inner music, his hidden joy. Both are divine movements of the same truth.
To truly understand Krishn, one must embrace both these aspects. He is the cowherd of Vrindavan and the sovereign of Dwaraka. He is Radha’s eternal beloved and Rukmini’s devoted husband. One whispers the mystery of divine ecstasy. The other upholds the strength of divine grace.
Krishn’s lila unveils love in its fullness. In Krishn’s world, love has many faces. Each of them is sacred. Through them, we do not just learn how to love. We learn how to become Love itself.

Posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

Author, Poet, & Columnist

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

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Poem: Arrogance

July 19, 2025poem, POETRY, Uncategorizedarrogance, art, disturbance, divine, happy world, inspiration, kamlesh tripathi, light, poetry, pride, shravan charity mission, skylight, turbulence, writingshravancharitymission

POEM: ARROGANCE

–There is no poison as pungent as arrogance. Shed arrogance and welcome the happy world around you—

There is some turbulence,
There is some disturbance,
Or is it my arrogance,
That disturbs my equilibrium?

It echoes through my hollow pride,
A voice I silenced, now amplified.
It mocks my mask, my constant cloak,
The louder I speak, the less I know.

There isn’t a song left in me,
For arrogance has consumed me completely.
Its embers once felt like a sacred flame,
But now it only burns in shame.

Still, a ray of sunlight dares to creep,
Into the room where I barely sleep,
Sneaking in through the silent skylight,
Scattering gold into my endless night.

It encourages me to open my mind,
To let the weight of falsehood unwind.
It whispers softly with no demand,
Let go arrogance and do not command.

It tells me to open my arms,
To embrace life without titles or charms,
To welcome the happy scenes around,
And leave the arrogance behind.

Nature says: I am on colourful display,
For eyes that wander, and hearts that stray,
I offer peace that cannot be owned,
But you must come to me unthroned.

But arrogance tries to forestall the interplay,
Building walls that keep joy at bay.
Like a vortex, it feeds on control,
Draining the light from my soul.

Yet the power of the skylight becomes immense,
When it allows the sunlight to shine,
Inside my once-armoured defence,
A quiet light, yet so divine.

The trees outside no longer condescend,
They sway like sages; they do not pretend.
Their wisdom lies in being still,
And bending gently to the will.

I see now: the path is not to reign,
But to walk through sun and storm and rain.
To learn, unlearn, and fall apart,
Until humility reclaims the heart.

So let the sunlight do its part,
Peeling arrogance from my heart,
In this open space, I start afresh,
Because I have miles to go,

Before I rest.

–Bury your arrogance and see the difference in your life—

Kamlesh Tripathi

Written and posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

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Author Sam Dalrymple on India-Pakistan Divide

July 6, 2025article, author profile, autobiography, book corner, Uncategorizedaden, afghanistan, art, asiatic federation, bamiyan buddha, bangladesh, bhutan, british india, cyril radcliffe, dhirubhai ambani, dubai, east india, history, hyderabad, india, indian empire, jinnah, kamlesh tripathi, pakistan, partition, POLITICS, project dastaan, Sam Dalrymple, shravan charity mission, william dalrymple, yemenshravancharitymission

22/6/25 Times of India

SAM DALRYMPLE

WE TREAT INDIA-PAK HOSTILITY AS INEVITABLE, BUT THESE DIVIDES FORMED WITHIN LIVING MEMORY (FOR THE RECORD)

Sam Dalrymple was set for a career in particle physics until a family trip to Afghanistan to visit the remains of the Bamiyan Buddha rerouted him into history. He started a virtual reality project connecting Partition survivors, which, in turn, inspired his debut book 'Shattered Lands', tracing the unravelling of the Indian Empire. In an interview with Neelam Raaj, he talks about why our complex pasts shouldn't be ignored.

Q. Several years ago, you co-founded Project Dastaan, connecting those displaced by the 1947 Partition through virtual reality. Was it Dastaan that sparked off this deep dive into the five partitions or something else?
A. Dastaan was very much the origin of the book. In 2018, my college friends and I began reconnecting individuals displaced in the 1947 Partition of India, the largest forced migration in history, to their ancestral villages through VR. It was while researching the impact of Partition on Tripura and North East India for Dastaan that the book idea first came together: I was chatting with an academic in the region, and when I asked about Partition, he said, "Which one? Burma in 1937, Pakistan in 1947 or Bangladesh in 1971." That conversation made me think about the multiple ruptures and borders that have carved their way through the subcontinent.

Q. The five partitions you write about are the separation of Burma, Arabia and Pakistan from India, the division of 500 princely states, and finally, the creation of Bangladesh. Why did you want to tell this story?
A. We live with the consequences of these partitions every day. Just look at the recent war between India and Pakistan. Today, South Asia is one of the most bordered regions in the world, and you can actually see its borders from space. However, 100 years ago, none of these borders were foreseen. Demands for 'independence' were widespread, but no one could have suspected that the nations India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Yemen and Burma would soon emerge from the wreckage of British India. Nor would anyone have imagined that tiny princely states like Bhutan and Dubai would last until the end of the century, while massive states like Hyderabad would not.

Q. Your book challenges some widely held beliefs, like the idea that India's borders were drawn solely by Cyril Radcliffe. Could you tell us more about that?
A. Cyril Radcliffe was famously charged with drawing the Partition border that would slice through British India. Jinnah had suggested his name because he had never been east of Paris, and supposedly his obliviousness would make him impartial. This, of course, had deadly consequences. But what we often forget is that he only drew the lines dividing Punjab and Bengal. Both the LoC and the entire stretch of the India-Pakistan Border from the Arabian Sea to Sri Ganganagar - collectively 81% of the present India-Pakistan Border fence-result from the decisions of seven local princes and have nothing to do with Radcliffe. Thirty-six per cent of the border with East Pakistan (modern Bangladesh) was made by another ten. Had states like Jodhpur joined Pakistan, or had states like Bahawalpur joined India, the border would look very, very different.

Q. The chapter on the Arabian Peninsula ties a global moment -- the British withdrawal from Aden (now in Yemen)-- to a personal story about Dhirubhai Ambani. How did that shape the trajectory of Reliance?,
A. We often forget today that Aden was the Dubai of the 1960s. It was the great business hub of its time, and this remained the case right until 1967 when the British pulled out and the revolutionary NLF took over. Dhirubhai Ambani had worked in Aden until the late 1950s, and after the British evacuation from Aden, he found himself perfectly placed to hire his dispossessed colleagues and found use of 'a ready-made source of educated managers, accountants and salesmen, drilled to European standards'. He had just ended a business partnership with his cousin and gone solo, forming a new company called Reliance Commercial Corporation. Reliance ballooned in the years after the fall of Aden, underpinned by a generation of Indian-origin Adenis versed in free market capitalism rather than Nehruvian socialism.

Q. Given that your book comes out against the backdrop of India-Pakistan tensions, what is the perspective you hope readers will take away?
A.So often, we treat the hostility between India and Pakistan as inevitable. Even President Trump chimed in, telling reporters aboard Air Force One that India and Pakistan had been fighting "for a thousand years, probably longer than that." But this really isn't the case. These divisions were formed within living memory --as were the divisions between India and Bangladesh, Burma and Yemen, etc. Today, the region's borders have become so embedded in our subconscious that it is easy to forget there were other possibilities for a post-colonial South Asia. Several prominent national figures, including PM Nehru and Burma's founding father Aung San, had once spoken of an 'Asiatic federation' in the 'not very, very distant future', a 'United Nations of South Asia' encompassing India, Pakistan, Ceylon and Burma. Long after the British departed, many still hoped the new borders might prove temporary. Yet in every single one of these countries, governments have made sure to paper over the shared cross-border heritage of their peoples. The last decade has witnessed the decline of globalisation, the strengthening of borders and the resurgence of nationalism across the world. India's partitions are a direct warning of what such a future might hold.

Q. Your Dad, historian William Dalrymple, sparked a lot of debate recently, saying that academics don't make their work as accessible as popular historians. Where do you stand on this?
A. I don't think they have to stand in opposition at all. We obviously need both.
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Posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

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Panchatantra: The Curious Monkey

July 3, 2025book corner, short story, short story on wild life, snippet, story, Uncategorizedart, books, friends, kamlesh tripathi, karma, lesson, log, monkey, moral, parable, photography, poetry, shravan charity mission, story, tug, wedge, wood, woodcutters, writingshravancharitymission

“Wow! What’s that?” The curious monkey asked his friends–fellow monkeys. The friends, looking in the direction he was pointing, saw what had attracted his attention. It was a log of wood.
“What’s so interesting about a log of wood?” His friends asked.
Instead of answering the friends, the curious monkey ran to the log and jumped on it. Looking at the wedge in the middle of the log, the monkey reached out to touch it.
A little further down, a group of woodcutters were laughing and enjoying their meal, unaware of the prank the curious monkey was about to play. They had been cutting this log of wood all morning and had managed to cut a part of it, but they had to take a break for lunch. Not wanting the log to close up again, they had placed a wedge in the slit to keep it open.
This wedge was what the curious monkey began to tug at, while the other monkeys stepped aside. Suddenly, the wedge snapped and the log of wood shut, trapping the curious monkey’s leg.
While all his friends ran away in fear, the sad little monkey sat there in pain, waiting for the woodcutters to return from their break.
Lesson: Unnecessary interference in others’ matters may interfere with the matters of your life.

Posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

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Interesting Facts: The Story of Stolen Idols

June 24, 2025article, autobiography, facts, Uncategorizedart, asi, blog, british, buddha idol, customs act, dutch, history, indian art, kamlesh tripathi, los angeles county museum, nalanda museum, national art squad, new york, new york's metropolitan museum of art, shravan charity mission, STOLEN IDOLS, subhash kapoor, temple raiders, true-crime, unesco, vallabh prakashshravancharitymission

INTERESTING FACTS: STOLEN IDOLS ARE SACRED OBJECTS. WE NEED TOUGHER LAWS TO CATCH TEMPLE RAIDERS. (THE TIMES OF INDIA 6/10/24)

    The US recently handed over 297 stolen antiquities to India. But getting them back was not an easy task. S Vijay Kumar’s love for Indian art and antiquities prompted him to set up the India Pride Project in 2014. It now has volunteers across the globe who help track down pieces of our looted heritage. A veritable Sherlock Holmes of art crimes, Kumar speaks to Sneha Bhura about what’s needed to stop the plunder.
    Q. You and your team spend hours looking at brochures, identifying marks on artefacts, and working with law enforcement. Tell us what an idol chase involves.
    A. It takes years of effort. Leads usually come from friends and volunteers. One of our important victories, for instance, was the return of an 8th-century bronze Buddha idol stolen from the Nalanda Museum in 1961. It ended up at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), and though India had been seeking its return since the ’70s itself, the museum denied the request for lack of proof. We worked with the ASI and Economic Advisory Council (EAC) member Sanjeev Sanyal, who helped gather evidence and the Buddha idol was finally handed over in 2023. Many museums don’t reveal provenance (proof of origin), making it harder to trace missing artefacts.
    Q. Why does it take so long for countries to give them back to India?
    A. No country willingly returns stolen artefacts as they are often acquired for millions of dollars. India neglected restitution efforts for decades, recovering only 19 objects between 1970 and 2000—and none between 2000 and 2012—owing to the lack of a national art squad or theft registry despite being a signatory to the 1970 UNESCO convention against illicit cultural property trafficking. From 2012 on, the country has secured over 2,000 restitutions. Including the current haul, the US has returned 578. It may seem like a significant number, but they stem from that one big arrest of notorious art smuggler Subhash Kapoor in 2011. When his storage was raided in New York, 2622 objects were seized, 1600 of which belonged to India. Tracking sales of Kapoor’s stolen items to various international museums has also helped India recover many of these artefacts. As for delays from the US, it’s partly because of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) insisting on physically inspecting and certifying each object in storage locations—a costly and unnecessary step. There have been several improper identifications as well, causing more delays.
    Q. What happens if an artefact is with a private collector rather than a public museum?
    A. Recovery from private collectors is particularly difficult since naming and shaming tactics don’t work. Collectors often hide the objects for years until public memory fades, only for the items to reappear in private estates, like swimming pools or gardens.
    Q. Subhash Kapoor’s arrest shook the international art world as it exposed a wide network of smugglers, restorers and suppliers who looted temples and low-security sites, selling artefacts to collectors and prestigious museums including New York’s The Metropolitan Museum of Art. But has the arrest stopped the smuggling of antiquities abroad? Are we doing enough to protect our own heritage?
    A. Not really. We are losing thousands of art objects every decade. Sadly, even Kapoor has been charged with only four cases pertaining to Tamil Nadu thefts. India doesn’t have a specific law under the IPC for temple or heritage theft. So, these crimes were often tried under IPC Section 380 (housebreaking theft) or the Customs Act, with minimal sentences. Tamil Nadu amended Section 380 in 1992 to impose stricter penalties for temple thefts, but a drafting error set the maximum penalty at just three years. This resulted in a 12-year sentence for Kapoor, which he has already served. Also, the broader smuggling cartel remains active, with key figures like antique dealers Vallabh Prakash and his son Aditya still absconding. In 2022, EAC submitted a report to the PMO recommending a national art squad and a finder’s fee for recovering missing objects. But except for the signing of the Cultural Property Agreement with the US this year, little has changed. Idols are still leaving the country. Countries like Italy engage law firms in America to take auction houses and museums there to court. But India lacks the capacity to handle international art crimes. These responsibilities shouldn’t fall on ASI alone.
Q. Many Western museums and collectors argue they are “taking care” of these ancient treasures and should be allowed to keep them without acknowledging the colonial loot. Your take?
A. This argument is unfair and was never valid. History belongs to its geography, and these artefacts were illegally removed, often by colonial powers. British and Dutch rulers took priceless idols in exchange for trivial items like sacks of rice or spectacles. These objects were not created as art but as sacred objects to worship, intended to reside in temples. Today, India can care for them. Moreover, most stolen artefacts end up in private collections, often tied to money laundering and tax evasion, making this a large issue of organised crime. My work is to ensure that Indian art is not seen as fair game in the international art market. If we don’t stop the open auction of stolen Indian antiquities, thieves will continue to rob and plunder.
Q. What happens to the artefacts once they return to India?
A. We advocate for returning artefacts to their temples or sites, which has happened in Odisha and Tamil Nadu. When idols were restored, entire villages celebrated. It was like the homecoming of the gods. Rather than quietly ending up in a Delhi museum, artefacts from archaeological sites should be returned to their respective states, for they are the real custodians. (TIMES OF INDIA, OCTOBER 6, 2024).

Posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

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https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

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Interesting Facts: Sweet Mango Faces a Bitter Heat Challenge

June 10, 2025article, articles, column, farm mechanization, Indian Agriculture, Uncategorizedagriculture, ambika, art, arunika, baghpat, books, chausa, cish, dussehri, farming, food, gaurjeet, gorakhpur, icar, janardan pasand, kamlesh tripathi, langda, Lucknow, malihabad, mangoes, orchards, rataul, saharanpur, shravan charity mission, technology, varanasishravancharitymission

(THE TIMES OF INDIA 21/7/24 SWEET MANGO FACES A BITTER HEAT CHALLENGE

    Be it the sweet and succulent Dussehri of Maal-Malihabad, Langda of Varanasi, Saharanpur’s Chausa, or Rataul variety of Baghpat – mango, the king of fruits, continues to reign supreme.
    Another significant constituent of UP’s diverse mango wealth is Gaurjeet of Gorakhpur, for which the UP government is trying to get a GI tag. If this happens, UP will become the state with the maximum GI-tagged mango varieties.
    What, however, has emerged as a challenge for mangoes in UP in the last few years is the unpredictable weather. Lucknow-based ICAR lab, Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture (CISH), is working to make mangoes climate-resilient by introducing new technologies and, also, new varieties.
    “Last year, it was the untimely rain, and this time, it was the extreme temperature and heat which affected the crops.” Said director, CISH, T Damodaran.
    CISH Lab conducts research on mandated subtropical fruits, mangoes being the one, to come with improved varieties.
    In the case of mangoes, Dussehri, being an early ripening variety, is 80% more susceptible to heat and high temperatures. “In many fruits, we saw premature ripening this time, ” the director said.
    To deal with the impact of weather on mangoes, CISH is working at two levels – developing climate-resilient technologies and making efforts to come up with genetically improved hybrids. Many orchards in Malihabad had mangoes covered with paper bags this year, to control the impact of the heat. “This was only one of the ways devised to tackle the impact of heat. We have also come up with technologies to control the attack of pests on mangoes, as unpredictable weather may also trigger that,” he said.
    The institute has already released two hybrid mangoes – Ambika and Arunika. The varieties are genetically improved and were tested over a period before they were released for commercial production. Each is a cross of two types of mangoes.
    Ambika is a cross of Amrapali and Janardan Pasand, and Arunika is a cross of Amrapali and Vanraj, a mango from Gujarat.
    Two more varieties developed by CISH, Samriddhi and Madhurika, are ready for release shortly. Besides, at least 11 other hybrid mangoes may be up for screening by the institute to be released for commercial production.
    The hybrids are genetically improved, have high productivity and yield a better-quality fruit. They are also tolerant to heat waves and biotic stress due to the attack of pests and insects. The varieties developed scientifically are also nutraceutically improved. Along with this, CISH has also come up with improved varieties of Dussehri.
    It is by mid-March that a Dussehri tree usually completes its flowering stage, and within a week, the fruit may set in. In Dussehri’s cycle of growth, rain in March may be damaging because that is when the flowers just open and pollination takes place. “Rain may make flowers either drop or turn black, something that happened last year,” said Naseeb Khan, a mango entrepreneur in Malihabad.
In that case, some fruits that develop may be false fruits as they would lack seeds. Mangoes need a temperature between 27 degrees Celsius and 35 degrees Celsius to grow ideally in March and April. The varying temperature damages the fruit. Cloudy weather, high humidity and high velocity winds may further hit the crop. “In many fruits, this year, the seed may become soggy, affecting the taste. It was because of the extreme heat,” said Khan. UP accounts for over 23% of the total mango production in the country. Lucknow, Saharanpur and Meerut are the main mango-producing regions. In the last few years, mango varieties from the state have been exported to Singapore, Malaysia, the US, England and Dubai.
(PICTURES OF MANGO VARIETIES ON A PLATTER)
(‘OG’ (ORIGINAL) MANGOES OF UP)
– Dussehri from Maal-Malihabad in Lucknow, Langda from Varanasi, Rataul from Baghpat, Gaurpreet from Gorakhpur and Chausa from Saharanpur grow naturally in UP.
– Dussehri, Rataul and Langda are GI tagged. The UP government has sought a GI tag for Chausa and Gaurpreet.
– Dussehri, Langda and Chausa are exported outside UP and India and are commercially successful and popular.
FIRST HYBRID MANGO VARIETIES
– Work to develop hybrid varieties of mangoes started in the 1960s at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi
– The purpose was to develop varieties that would bear every year and have high productivity, besides yielding good quality fruits.
– Amrapali (cross of Dussehri and Neelam) and Mallika (cross of Neelam and Dussehri) were the first hybrids.
– Dussehri is from North India, and Neelam is from South India. While North Indian varieties are biennial, those from South India bear annually.
– CISH CONSERVES AND PROPAGATES 775 MANGO VARIETIES
– CISH has the biggest collection of mango germplasm in the world.
– Many varieties are now extinct at their places of origin
– Collection started in 1975 when the institute started as the Central Mango Research Station.
– Kensington Pride from Australia was the first exotic variety brought to the institute.
– Today, it has 17 others, including Tommy Atkins, Sensation, Edward, Eldon, Keitt, Kent, Osteen, Palmer, Kitchner, Starch, Filipino, Lilly, Maya, Carabao, Kowasaji Patel, St Alexander & Prior-de-Amroesia.
– Mangoes have been sourced from nurseries and orchard owners over a period of time, and are used to develop new varieties.

Posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

Author, Poet, & Columnist

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

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Shravan charity mission

Our NGO works for poor children suffering from life threatening diseases especially cancer: We cover our blog with short stories, children's stories, articles, book reviews, vignettes, spiritual, episodes, poetry, analysis, news report, general knowledge, quotes for the benefit of our readers.

Tag Archives: art

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Poem: Arrogance

Author Sam Dalrymple on India-Pakistan Divide

Panchatantra: The Curious Monkey

Interesting Facts: The Story of Stolen Idols

Interesting Facts: Sweet Mango Faces a Bitter Heat Challenge