SWAMI GURDIP GIRI of PATHANKOT

 

 

I wrote about Swami Gurdip Giri of Pathankot in my earlier blogs too. I have had the chance to meet the great Swami again on August 31 at the residence of my brother Krishan Lal who keeps regular contact with the Swami for various social and spiritual activities. Swami Gurdip Giri is a real saint without false assumptions. That is, inter alia, the appealing trait of his personality which I like the most. My first meeting with him happened in Delhi in 1998-99 when he went to the UK for his spiritual and social mission. It was our pleasure to host him for a couple of times in our small flat in Kalkaji. We found him a simple and honest man with high thinking.  My next meeting with him was at the eve of the marriage of my daughter Vaishali in December 2001 at our home in Bootan Mandi when he visited us on our humble invitation to bless my daughter. I vividly remember that he invoked and recited a hymn of Guru Ravidass “ Seh Ki Sar Suhagan Jane “and advised my daughter to respect her husband and his family and abandon false pride and enjoy the pleasures of life. It was an apt message to the young lady to start her life. Swamiji is so humble and down to earth that he has the charm to win over people by his simple and easy demeanor.  Yesterday he immediately recognized my wife Vidya and my son Rupesh and said that we met here itself some years before at a marriage and it was a pleasant coincident that we were meeting again here. Over the years, Swami Gurdip Giri has attained, by his own right, a much larger persona and status in the society by his lofty deeds and message but personally he remained a simple and humble man. Here lies his greatness. I would like to associate myself with Swami Gurdip Giri and his Dera Jagat Giri Maharaj.

I may add that Swami Gurdip Giri is the Head of the Dera Jagat Giri Maharaj in Pathankot.  Swami Gurdip Giri and the Dera is actively engaged in spiritual, social and educational well being of the poor masses in and around Pathankot, Jammu, and also many more cities of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. Swami Gurdip Giri enjoys a considerable following in many countries abroad. He came back only a couple of weeks before for a month long tour of Australia. Swami Gurdip Giri informed that he was much interested in providing facilities for education to the rural masses and weaker sections of the society besides their daily and routine social and spiritual services. In fact, he has invited me to a meeting in Pathankot towards the last week of September for the purpose. It would be my privilege to go and attend. I wish Swami Gurdip Giri all the very best and further success in his mission.

 

SANT BABA BHAG SINGH EDUCATIONAL COMPLEX

 

 

This week on August 29, I have had an opportunity to visit Sant Baba Bhag Singh Educational Complex at village Khiala near Adampur (famous for an important Indian Air Force base in northern India). Sant Baba Bhag Singh Institute of Engineering & Technology very kindly invited me to speak to the young students of the Institute on any current and relevant theme. On my own, I picked up ‘Emerging India and its Challenges’ as the subject matter of my lecture and interaction with my young audience and members of the faculty and other guests. It was an honour for me to speak at such a prestigious Institution in the area. I only hope I could justice and the lecture and following interaction was useful and mutually benefiticial. I thank Prof. S.S. Saini, Head of Department (ECE) and Prof. Mahesh Chander of the Institute who facilitated my invitation to the speaking engagement.

I was doubly privileged to meet and interact with Sant Baba Malkiat Singh, Patron and Sponsor of Sant Baba Bhag Singh Educational Complex at the lecture. It was an extended honour as I was told that he rarely come for such functions. I found Sant Baba Malkiat Singh an embodiment of humility. He is known as “Bridge Baba” in the area for his tremendous work and strides in doing bridges, roads and other developmental projects in the rural areas in the vicinity of his Dera without any governmental involvement apart from his interest in providing for excellent educational facilities at cost effective basis and also free to the needy and economically weaker sections of the society. I was also informed that Sant Baba Malkiat Singh was equally engaged in providing health care facilities at the grass root level in the region. I salute to Baba Malkiat Singhji and Sant Baba Bhag Singh Memorial Charitable Society which doing excellent work under his stewardship.

It was a pleasure to meet some of the highly placed members of the elite faculty and management of Sant Baba Bhag Singh Educational Complex like Prof Hari Singh, Prof. S.S. Saini, Prof. K.D. Mannan, Principal S.P. Sharma, Lt. General (Retd.) J.S. Dhillon and others. It was gratifying to note that all these highly qualified personnel with considerable experience at their back occupied coveted positions in various institutes of higher education in and around Punjab before their retirement. They are now engaged with Baba Bhag Singh Educational Complex not for material gains but for service to the community. Prof. Mandeep Kaur, a gracious lady, very ably conducted the proceeding of the very well organized lecture. I was informed that the Complex is likely to get the status a university in the near future. I wish Sant Baba Malkiat Singh and his associates all success and further prosperity in the years to come.  It was a rewarding experience for me to be at the Complex.

GRAMMAR of ANARCHY

We celebrated the 66th Independence Day on August 15. It is just a co-incident that the father of the Indian constitution Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was declared the Greatest Indian since 1947 by a well recognized poll conducted by the CNN-IBN TV Channel on the Independence Day itself. But where are we heading after 65 years of independence and 62 years of the proclamation and adoption of the constitution? The parliament is not allowed to function for the last two days by the opposition mainly the BJP on some matters of alleged corruption in the coal sector on the basis of the CAG report. They are demanding the resignation of the PM and his government. The government is ready to debate the matter in the parliament but the opposition is pressing for the resignation and is not interested in debate. It is a negation of the principles of democracy itself. It is not understandable why the PM should resign when he enjoys support of majority in the Lok Sabha. Does the opposition want mid-term elections? Why PM should oblige them? Why don’t they bring-in a no-confidence motion against the PM and his government and defeat them on the floor of the house, if they feel so strongly. Under the arrangements, CAG is a watch-dog to over-see the accounts and conduct audit on the acts and deeds of the government and report to government. The government is turn present the CAG report to the parliament where the PAC of the parliament will examine it and report back. This laid down procedure is not over and the opposition is interested in procedure. They intend to take the entire country to ransom – the itch to come back to power irrespective of the constitutional provisions to handle the situation. It is estimated that it costs two and a half crore a day to run the parliament and the current year alone 200 man hours have been lost in disturbances in the parliament so far. Are we heading for the “Grammar of Anarchy” as sounded by the Greatest Indian since independencece, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.

The CAG report is important and must be considered in seriousness. In fact, while replying to the debate in the constituent assembly, DR. Ambedkar termed the office of the Audit and Accountant General as one of the most important powerful. We should be happy that the system is working. The CAG reports have the potential to bring the government to its toes. But we are not interest in the smooth run of the system due to vested interests and narrow political gains. It is a pity. Democracy would work only when we adhere to constitutional means and practices. Unfortunately, we are increasingly losing sight of these lofty ideals. The sooner we mend ourselves the better. It will good to listen to the warning given by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in constituent assembly on November 25, 1949 in his last speech before the constitution was passed. He said “If we wish to maintain democracy not merely in form but also in fact, what we must do? The first thing in my judgment we must do is to hold fast to constitutional methods of achieving our social and economic objectives. It means we must abandon the bloody methods of revolution. It means we must abandon the method of civil disobedience, non-cooperation and satyagraha. When there was no way left for constitutional methods for achieving economic and social objectives, there was a great deal of justification for unconstitutional methods. But where constitutional methods are open, there can be no justification for these unconstitutional methods. These methods are nothing but the Grammar of Anarchy and the sooner they are abandoned the better for us. “

 

But unfortunately, the elite of the BJP like Sudhendra Kulkarni ( please see his article in the recent special issue of the Outlook magazine on the greatest Indian) and Arun Shourie ( of infamous book False Gods) are not inclined to recognize Dr. B.R. Ambedkar as a wise statesman who is as relevant today as it was before. This lop sided thinking is driving India to the brink. We must guard ourselves.

ADAB & SALAM to AMBEDKAR

The formal ceremony to announce the outcome of the Greatest Indian poll was held on August 14 at the CNN-IBN TV Channel in a filmy style. Shabana Azami who was the member of the Jury pronounced, with a sense of pride and gratification, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar as the greatest Indian since 1947 (sounds better than saying the greatest Indian after Gandhi) and conveyed her ADAB & SALAM to him. Amitabh Bacchan, Harsha Bogle, Shabana Azami, Madhuri Dixit joined the host Rajdeep Sardesai at the ceremony. Mandira Bedi conducted the show with great aplomb as the Master of Ceremonies. My congratulations and thanks to all of them particularly Rajdeep Sardesai, the CEO of CNN-IBN. I like a drink in the evening. My sense of elation in joining the celebrations ( as Mandira Bedi said that it was not only an announcement but was a celebration too) was so high that with the permission of my wife I took an additional peg while watching the programme on the CNN-IBN

Yet an unfortunate aspect, as I wrote in my earlier blog, is that the print media of India is totally silent. I have not seen a mention of the fact that Dr. Ambedkar has been declared the GREATEST INDIAN since 1947 with due process in line with an internationally accepted format by an established agency and an eminent jury. One of the leading dailies, Hindustan Times, on its front page on August 15 carried a story “Recognition at Last – Pak rights historical wrong, confers Nishan-i-Imtiaz on Manto” It speaks of the mindset of the intelligentsia. What a shame ?

मस्जिद तो बना दी सव भर में इमां की हरारत वालों ने;

मन अपना पुराना पापी है बरसों से नमाज़ी हो न सका !

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar - THE GREATEST INDIAN

"The hunt for The Greatest Indian has come to a Celebratory End! The votes are in and the people of India have spoken.

The Greatest Indian to have ever lived after Mahatma Gandhi is Dr.B.R Ambedkar"

This is the announcement made by the CNN-IBN news channel on August 11, 2011 as the outcome of the poll conducted by them along with History TV 18 channel and the magazine Outlook. It is good to be late than never -देर आयात दरुस्त आयात . This recognition of Ambedkar was overdue. The CNN-IBN schedule of programmes indicates that the formal announcement will be made on the Independence Day on August 15. Of course, it is a fulsome tribute to the great son of India and rightly so. The poll on the greatest Indian conducted, in line with such polls on the BBC, by the CNN-IBN and History TV 18 is appreciable. The media partner of the exercise, the magazine Outlook has done a tremendous work in bring out a special number –‘B.R. Ambedkar – Greater than Nehru’ which quite informative. My congratulations to the organizers of the opinion poll.

Three things come to my mind which I would like to share. One – to become the greatest Indian is a well deserved recognition of the worthy son of India, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar which shall be appreciated and accepted by all. Second, we shall tend avoid the controversy on comparisons of greatness like the greatest Indian after Gandhi or greater than Nehru. The fact that Ambedkar has topped the elite club of the greats by his own right, the other greats like Gandhi and Nehru and many more have become ‘one of the greats. The monopoly has been broken. Thirdly, it is clear that Ambedkar is not an icon of the dalits alone but a national hero. The earlier it is accepted the better. Yogendra Yadav, one of the Jury members, rightly said in his assessment “The selection (of nominees) as much about us…we still largely see through Nehru’s eyes. Dr. Ambedkar stands very very tall (despite being ignored by the main stream). He was just not a dalit icon but a scholar as well.”

Yet another thought before I conclude. It is the hypocrisy of the urban middle class. The Market Research Survey, one of the components of the poll for the greatest Indian, conducted by AC Neilsen ranked Ambedkar at number 6 out of the ten short listed. It clears spells the mindset of the caste ridden society. The Jury of the poll was high power and well represented by the intelligential and the upper crust of the society. The intellectual bankruptcy was at its best. Out of the 28 members of the jury only 6 voted for Ambedkar as against 14 for Nehru. Two of the Jury members voted for Patel and one for JRD Tata. Five members did not cast their votes. The Jury ranked Ambedkar at number 2 after Nehru. The popular vote clearly and decisively weighed in favour of Ambedkar with highest number of votes. In spite of all obvious odds, Ambedkar made it to the top in the final run. The final results would be formally made known on August 15. The media is silent. No national paper, to my knowledge, has picked up the event as news worthy. It is shameful of the so-called independent and free media.

उडाए कुछ बर्क लाला ने कुछ नर्गिस ने कुछ गुल ने;


चमन में हर तरफ बिखरी हुई है दास्ताँ मेरी,

उड़ाई कुछ कुमरिओं ने तुतिओं ने अन्द्लिवों ने ;

चमन वालों ने मिलके लूट ली तर्ज़े फुग्हन मेरी ,

SOME CONTEMPORARY DALIT HEROES – 5 – My FRIEND MALKIAT SINGH

Sometime before I started writing in this blog about the contemporary dalit heroes. I could not carry forward the project owing to lack of contact and information. I was living abroad at that time. Nevertheless, I had been referring to the dalit talent and up-coming youngsters in my blog entries under various other heads and in the process wrote about Pawan Tinu, Hardev Kaur Shant, Madan Jalandhari, Sushil &Jaswinder Sheemar, Babita and Anupam Kler and more recently Sunil who has been selected in PCS recently.

My friend Malkiat Singh of Balan (famous for Sachkhand Dera Balan) provided me an inspiration to undertake the subject again by inviting me to the anniversary of his father on July 2 at Mai Bhaggo Gurudwara at Balan. The function was organized by the family trust – Munshi Ram Charitable Trust, started some years before by the family of Malkiat Singh. The purpose of the trust is to encourage and facilitate the students of the village and around by providing monetary assistance and also help to the needy poor for medical etc. It is an appreciable activity. The trust and its Chairman Malkiat Singh were kind enough to associate me with the function. I was asked to distribute the prizes and awards which was an honor for me. I am also grateful for an honor ( Saropa) conferred on me by the esteemed Mai Bhaggo Gurudwara on the occasion

Coming to the subject of contemporary heroes, Let me start with Malkiat Singh himself. In fact he is the hero and the subject of my blog. Rising from an ordinary background in the village Balan, Malkiat scaled the heights of success and position in the establishment and society at large. After post graduating in political science from the DAV College in Jalandhar, Malkiat was selected to join the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1977 and allotted UP cadre. It was a great success for an ordinary village boy. He deserved it fully. My recent interaction with his college day friends like Ram Lal, Sharat Sabharwal (currently High Commissioner of India to Pakistan) and also his alma mater Dr. K.C. Mahindru and Prof. K.K. Ghai indicated that Malkiat was not only a brilliant and dedicated student but also a fine man. Obviously, Malkiat rose in the hierarchy of the service he joined and adorned the coveted position of the Director General of Police in UP, the highest position in the IPS career. During his long career in the IPS, Malkiat held challenging positions and handled difficult situations. In the process, Malkiat earned due reputation and appreciation and also recognition in the social and governmental circles. The political establishment headed by Ms. Mayawati as the Chief Minister of UP rewarded, rightly so, Malkiat Singh with a coveted and constitutional position as the Chairman of the UP Public Service Commission, on his retirement from the IPS early in the year 2012. Malkiat Singh is heading the constitution body of the largest state of India, UP with distinction and élan.

I am proud of my friend Malkiat and wish him all success and further prosperity in the years to come. Malkiat is one of contemporary heroes of the community.

THE GREATEST INDIAN OPINION POLL & Ambedkar

I wrote about the greatest Indian in this blog some days before. The voting in the CNN-IBN poll (second phase) started yesterday evening for the 10 short listed Indians out of 50. The first 10, in terms of the vote in the first round, were: 1 Dr. B R Ambedkar 2812494, 2 A P J Abdul Kalam 2391374, 3 Vallabbhai Patel 1091479, 4 Kanshi Ram 252728, 5 A B Vajpayee 67794, 6 Sachin Tendulkar 43627, J R D Tata 29484, 8 Mother Teresa 29456, 9 Rajinikanth 25383, 10 Rajagopalachari 25290, I was under the impression that these 10 personalities would be considered for the second run and the final tally but it is not the case. I don’t know the details of the consideration and the methodology Adopted by the Jury. The ten short listed for the second round of voting are: Lata Mangheskar, B.R. Ambedkar, Vallabbhai Patel, Mother Teresa, APJ Abdul Kalam, RED Tata, A.B. Vajpayee, Indira Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sachin Tendulkar. It may be observed that Kanshi Ram, Rajnikanth and Rajagopalachari have been taken off from the list and three names who did not figure in the first 10 on the basis of the voting have been included in the short list. It is strange. It means the Jury has over ridding powers to do or undo as they like. In the circumstances, it is yet to be seen as to how fair the poll would be in the caste ridden society and inherit prejudices. Kanshi Ram stood at number 4 in the voted list but his name has been dropped. The announcement made by the organizers of the poll says “The people have spoken and the verdict is out. These are the 10 shortlisted Greats who have been chosen from the list of 50. Cast your vote now for that one Great Indian who you believe is the most iconic, inspirational and impactful of these”. Let us wait and see till the final results are made known on August 15.

I have voted for Ambedkar as the greatest Indian. He secured the highest votes (with considerable margin) as compared to the second in the run APJ Abdul Kalam. I am confident that Ambedkar would still remain in the run and in all probability would make to the top – The Greatest Indian. I think the book “Makers of the Universe “published by the Oxford University has already raised the curtain by listing 100 personalities who influenced the world over 10,000 years. The first name of the list is that of Gautama Buddha and the fourth name is that of B.R. Ambedkar.