Just for the sake of a blanket

A Fakir lived with his only  son in a roadside shrine in around 1840 AD. His wife and all other family members had died. Lately he bought a new blanket for himself and his child. The poor father and son were poisoned with Datura just for the sake of the blanket. The following eye witness account of the Fakir is from General Sir WH Sleeman's book ' Rambles and Recollections of an Indian Official';

'I reside in my hut by the side of the road a mile and [a] half from the town, and live upon the bounty of travellers, and the people of the surrounding villages. About six weeks ago, I was sitting by the side of my shrine after saying prayers, with my only son, about ten years of age, when a man came up with his wife, his son, and his daughter, the one a little older, and the other a little younger than my boy. They baked and ate their bread near my shrine, and gave me flour enough to make two cakes. This I prepared and baked. My boy was hungry, and ate one cake and a half. I ate only half a one, for I was not hungry. I had a few days before purchased a new blanket for my boy, and it was hanging in a branch of the tree that shaded the shrine, when these people came. My son and I soon became stupefied. I saw him fall asleep, and I soon followed. I awoke again in the evening, and found myself in a pool of water. I had sense enough to crawl towards my boy. I found him still breathing, and I sat by him with his head in my lap, where he soon died. It was now evening, and I got up, and wandered about all night picking straws—I know not why. I was not yet quite sensible. During the night the wolves ate my poor boy. I heard this from travellers, and went and gathered up his bones and buried them in the shrine. I did not quite recover till the third day, when I found that some washerwomen had put me into the pool, and left me there with my head out, in hopes that this would revive me; but they had no hope of my son. I was then taken to the police of the town; but the landholders had begged me to say nothing about the poisoners, lest it might get them and their village community into trouble. The man was tall and fair, and about thirty- five; the woman short, stout, and fair, and about thirty; two of her teeth projected a good deal; the boy's eyelids were much diseased.'

A benumbing extract from General Sir WH Sleeman's book

Presently I am reading General Sir WH Sleeman's book 'Rambles and recollections of an Indian Official'. I found the following extract particularly benumbing. The incidence narrated must have occurred between 1815 and 1840 AD.

'A stout Mogul officer of noble bearing and singularly handsome countenance, on his way from the Punjab to Oudh, crossed the Ganges at Garhmuktesar Ghāt, near Meerut, to pass through Murādābād and Bareilly. He was mounted on a fine Tūrkī horse, and attended by his "khidmatgār" (butler) and groom. Soon after crossing the river, he fell in with a small party of well-dressed and modest- looking men going the same road. They accosted him in a respectful manner, and attempted to enter into conversation with him. He had heard of Thugs, and told them to be off. They smiled at his idle suspicions, and tried to remove them, but in vain. The Mogul was determined; they saw his nostrils swelling with indignation, took their leave, and followed slowly. The next morning he overtook the same number of men, but of a different appearance, all Musalmāns. They accosted him in the same respectful manner; talked of the danger of the road, and the necessity of their keeping together, and taking advantage of the protection of any mounted gentleman that happened to be going the same way. The Mogul officer said not a word in reply, resolved to have no companions on the road. They persisted—his nostrils began again to swell, and putting his hand to his sword, he bid them all be off, or he would have their heads from their shoulders. He had a bow and quiver full of arrows over his shoulders, a brace of loaded pistols in his waist-belt, and a sword by his side, and was altogether a very formidable-looking cavalier. In the evening another party that lodged in the same "sarāi" became very intimate with the butler and groom. They were going the same road; and, as the Mogul overtook them in the morning, they made their bows respectfully, and began to enter into conversation with their two friends, the groom and butler, who were coming up behind. The Mogul's nostrils began again to swell, and he bid the strangers be off. The groom and butler interceded, for their master was a grave, sedate man, and they wanted companions. All would not do, and the strangers fell in the rear. The next day, when they had got to the middle of an extensive and uninhabited plain, the Mogul in advance, and his two servants a few hundred yards behind, he came up to a party of six poor Musalmāns, sitting weeping by the side of a dead companion. They were soldiers from Lahore, on their way to Lucknow, worn down by fatigue in their anxiety to see their wives and children once more, after a long and painful service. Their companion, the hope and prop of his family, had sunk under the fatigue, and they had made a grave for him; but they were poor unlettered men, and unable to repeat the funeral service from the holy Koran-would his Highness but perform this last office for them, he would, no doubt, find his reward in this world and the next. The Mogul dismounted—the body had been placed in its proper position, with its head towards Mecca. A carpet was spread—the Mogul took off his bow and quiver, then his pistols and sword, and placed them on the ground near the body—called for water, and washed his feet, hands, and face, that he might not pronounce the holy words in an unclean state. He then knelt down and began to repeat the funeral service, in a clear, loud voice. Two of the poor soldiers knelt by him, one on each side in silence. The other four went off a few paces to beg that the butler and groom would not come so near as to interrupt the good Samaritan at his devotions.

'All being ready, one of the four, in a low undertone, gave the "jhirnī" (signal), the handkerchiefs were thrown over their necks, and in a few minutes all three—the Mogul and his servants—were dead, and lying in the grave in the usual manner, the head of one at the feet of the one below him. All the parties they had met on the road belonged to a gang of Jamāldehī Thugs, of the kingdom of Oudh. In despair of being able to win the Mogul's confidence in the usual way, and determined to have the money and jewels, which they knew he carried with him, they had adopted this plan of disarming him; dug the grave by the side of the road, in the open plain, and made a handsome young Musalmān of the party the dead soldier. The Mogul, being a very stout man, died almost without a struggle, as is usually the case with such; and his two servants made no resistance.'

Micromax 40T2820FHD 40 Inch Full HD LED Television - A product review

We got this TV via Snapdeal. The service of Snapdeal is good but nowhere near the delivery service of Flipkart. No site other than Snapdeal offered to deliver this product at Jagraon. Even for Ludhiana only Snapdeal has a delivery arrangement. So I gave some address of Ludhiana and collected it from Gati courier Ludhiana when it reached there. I paid them Rs 25835 as it was cash on Delivery. We carried it to our house on our Alto car.

We switched it ON by our own efforts but the proper installation was done by the company official. Customer is required to just send an sms to the company after receiving the product. Since we have an PS3 attached with our TV, it can be connected to internet also. All the memory of PS3 which is several hundred of GB becomes the memory of the TV. My son made his phone act as a local media server. He could play all his media files on the TV as the PS3 gets connected by the LAN and shows the files on the screen. Over all the purchase was very satisfactory.

Would not give a review for the movie 'Haider' - a thought

Watching a movie on our Tab may not be ethical. On the top of it trying to criticize a movie for which we have not paid anything can hardly be ethical. I saw the Bollywood movie 'Haider' which I got  via the Application called 'Superbeam' from my elder son. He is here with us to celebrate Diwali.

The movie was above 700 mb. I would refrain from passing comments any further as I have not watched it at any cinema hall or via 'Movie on demand' plan of Dish TV. Hopefully in the future there would be some scheme where movies would be directly released over the internet for some nominal amount.

Drifting by Providence - a thought

If a politician is late by a few hours it is often joked that he is punctual as per the Indian Standard time. However for me 5 pm had always meant exactly 5 pm. Several times I reach at social or religious functions before all others. But it is not the same for most of the people of my country. Here 5 pm can easily mean 7 pm. Very rarely do I meet a person who is particular about the exactness of time.

A part of me feels that it is a kind of shortcoming in me. On several occasions, I have been driving my car or motorcycle unusually fast to keep up with the comittment of time. I am thankful to God who has been saving me from accidents all along.

From today onwards I resolve not to take time related commitments seriously. In the first place I would try not to commit any fixed time to anybody at all. Moreover my body is not as strong as it used to be earlier. I must allow myself some relaxation. I hope it would do no harm to anyone as it is absolutely fine to be late in our culture.

Yesterday someone from the neighbourhood asked me to attend the Antim Ardas (Last prayers after death) of his father-in-law at village Hans Kalan which is about 20 km from my place. In Punjab a grand feast is organised if the senior most person of a family passes away. Firstly a person is treated with Pakoras and sweets of all kinds along with tea and coffee. After the prayer session there is a lunch that includes the best of vegetarian dishes. I assured the gentleman that I would be present at the occasion. But today I cannot attend the function for a couple of reasons. I am feeling helpless with a lowered self esteem. Seldom do I make false promises like that. But from now onwards I would take my words and promises a bit lightly. After all age has started showing on my physical strength. It may not always allow me to honour my words all the time.

{ He plans to go towards the West but Providence drifts him towards the East - Guru Arjun Dev }

Cold shoulder - an experience

Dear reader, thank you in advance for finding time to read this. Today I would like to share someting which may reflect a lot of weakness within me also.

It rarely happens that a person feels unhappy after shaking hand with someone. But today it happened to me. It is quarter past nine now and about half an hour ago I went to a grocery shop in the vicinity. While returning I came across a person whom I saw after a gap of more than two years. This person had been quite friendly to me a few years ago. But for the last two and half years, he has started behaving very indifferently for no apparent reason. As I came near him today, he tried his best to ignore me. However, I persisted on making an eye contact and said 'Hello'.Then I went forward for a hand shake too. After all what does a warm greeting cost a person?

But the hand shake was as chilled as ice and the greeting I received lacked feeling. It was quite artificial, stale and unfriendly. What a bad taste it left within me! How I wish I too had ignored him! 

Dear reader, a person needs to be thick skinned nowadays. May God bless the one who gave me a cold shoulder today.

A Soldier's Experience by T Gowing - a book review

'A Soldier's experience' by T Gowing is a personal narrative, collection of letters, biography of some soldiers plus a lot of information pertaining to military establishment. I read his personal narrative along with the collection of letters that he wrote to his parents from the battle field.

The book has been written with a lot of patriotic fervour. Despite that the narration is unbiased. The first part of the story is from the war against Russia and the second part is related to his stay in India. Out of his ten children born in India, only two survived. Six died in a single day due to Cholera. The letter he writes to his parents to break the sad news reflects the brave heart of a soldier. After reading a few books related to soldiers, I have concluded that human life was very cheap in those days. Deaths due to diseases were very common and thousands died on the battle field only to be forgotten soon. Death of a few hundred or a few thousand people hardly created any stir anywhere.

The mutiny of 1857 is a lot different if it is seen from the English perspective. Hundreds of English women were reported to be dishonoured and killed in Kanpur. Even children and infants were not spared. Some say that the mutineers believed that the seed of an enemy should never be spared. Long ago a resident of Kanpur was our guest at NOIDA. He had a firm believe in this policy and according to him it was taught by the political Legend Chanakya. Anyway, the massacre perpetrated by the forces of Nana Sahib infuriated the Britons and they avenged every drop of blood of women and children that was shed at Kanpur.

The author is full of praise for bayonet. According to him it is the queen of weapons. He has described several battles were the tables were turned by the use of bayonets, 'the cold steel' as he often called it.

This book can be downloaded from the following link   http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46989

Ten years in India - a book review

The autobiography of soldiers often make a very interesting reading. But 'Ten years in India and three years in Africa' was slightly short of expectations. It is mainly because the author WJD Gould had only a half baked knowledge of our country. He was in India in the middle of the nineteenth century. Sometimes it appears that the writer is hiding something from the readers. Usually the soldiers go on a rampage and indulge in looting after the fall of their enemy. This aspect is not disclosed at all. Perhaps it is to show the British army in perfect light. Still the book is worth reading. It can be downloaded from the following link https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46823

HP 10 inch tablet - a product review

HP has newly entered the tablet market. Being an experienced company in the field of computers, it has put in the right blend of features inorder to deliver seamless performance. A very powerful camera for a small screen device isn't of much use. Similarly, loading a tablet with the phone calling features would only sap out its power.It is, therefore, important that a device should possess features that are in perfect tune with the hardware and the efficiency of the microprocessor. The 10 inch tablet of HP has the latest chip set from broadcom. The tablet is priced at 13000k which is nearly half the price of other branded tabs. I purchased it via flipkart yesterday. The delivery of flipkart is unmatched. The tablet is a fine piece of technology. Camera etc are of lesser power but that is justified as the real power of a tab is in its screen. The performance of camera is also  okay if there is sufficient light. The tab runs without any lag. There is no phone calling feature. Afterall who would use a ten inch device for calling? Only the data of a 3g sim is used. It supports external SD card up to 32 GB. The card needs to be inserted when the device is on and has to be rebooted after that. The USB port can be used for connecting a pen drive. However one has to purchase the OTG cable from the market for making that work. Since whatsapp does not support data only tablets, the application has to be installed using small tricks which can be easily known by googling. The net speed is excellent. The sim that  had problems catching signals on my phone runs with extra swiftness on the tab. The wifi hot spot can be used by all the family members as it is very efficient. The operating system becomes 4.1.2 Jellybean after updation.

The 10 inch tabs are poised to replace the bags of the students in the future. A few years ago the government of India launched an extra cheap tablet called Akash. The project did not click. But the HP 10 inch tab is excellent for reading PDF files and ebooks. Maybe the  elite schools of the country would start teaching by such devices soon. Overall it was a very satisfactory purchase.

Experimenting with truth via equation of eggs - a short essay

Gandhiji, the father of the nation,  experimented with truth. If he ever told a lie he admitted it frankly. But such a type of truth is called physical truth. Carving out nations, kingdoms and taking interest in political affairs is much outside the domain of subtle truth which we call as metaphysical truth. For this reason all his experiments eventually earned him a bullet by one of his co-religionist. The nation bled profusely due to partition. He propogated the theory of non-violence. Ironically the pursuit of self rule by non violent means gave the nation 1947 which witnessed one of the most violent times in the history of mankind. His countrymen inscribed his picture on the currency notes that are again much outside the domain of ultimate truth. There has hardly been anyone in the country who inscribed his principles on his heart. Arvind Kejriwal is an exception but the countrymen find it easier to ignore him and go along with spineless guys desperate to run the show.

Gandhiji is my hero. He was a brave man of firm convictions. It is better to die experimenting with truth than live shamelessly with falsehood. His experiments did not go waste. Some of the wonderful things one learns from his life are as follows:
1- Means are more important than ends. Many a times journey is more valuable than the destination.
2- If someone lives by a sword he only dies by a sword. He fought for freedom in a non violent way. The only reason why the nation is still surviving is because it was based on the principles of truth and nonviolence.
3- The journey of metaphysical or ultimate truth is impossible without practising physical truth of which Gandhiji was a champion.

Jains of Jagraon are strict vegetarians like Gandhiji. The other day I was telling my students who belong to Jain community that telling a lie is equivalent to eating two eggs. They were asked to read ten pages from their history book each day. They were told that if they failed to do so, they ought to tell honestly and pay a fine of Rs ten for each day the reading is not done. If they tell a lie, it would be like eating a non-vegetarian dish.