Dr. B. R. Ambedkar - A Tribute

Today, December 6, is the death anniversary (Parinirvan) of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, father of the constitution of India, saviour of the down trodden, an intellectual of standing, a great social reformer and a fore bearer of revival of Buddhism in India. The whole country and the society at large is paying tributes to the memory of the great leader and worthy son of India, Dr. Ambedkar. I wish to join them with in doing so and pay homage to him.

My family beginning my grand-parents has been Ambedkarites, and rightly so, but with liberal views particularly with regard to political and spiritual philosophy of Dr. Ambedkar. I am no exception. I like and respect Ambedkar's mission and thought specially with regard to his great contribution to India's constitution on the bases of which India is the largest democracy in the world, his crusade for the upliftment of the dalits in India, his struggle for establishing a caste less society and above all for giving a sense of dignity to the poor and under-privileged segments of the society. I write this with a sense of gratitude.

I remember and recall that I used to participate with my father in various functions related to Ambedkar in my childhood in Jalandhar. It continued during my young and formative years as a student. I alongwith my fellow Bootanmandian Ram Lal Kainth participated in a paper reading declamation at the DAV College on the topic " The future of parliamentary democracy in India " sometime in 1967-68 and quoted extensively from Dr. Ambedkar's speech at the DAV College delivered in 1951-52 on the subject. My paper got due attention not only from the students in the audience but the members of the teaching faculty. I was happy and declared myself winner. We observed December 6 and organised a public meeting at Bootan Mandi in 1968-69. Prof. Krishan Lal Sachdev of the History faculty of the DAV College, who had shown keen interest in Dr. Ambedkar at the above mentioned paper reading contest was invited along with Sadhu Singh Hamdard the Chief Editor of the Punjabi daily Ajit as the lead speakers at the function. Prof Sachdev spoke, as usual at a high pitch, very highly of Ambedkar and narrated a few personal anecdotes too. Editor Hamdard, who was little reluctant to come initially, got spirited and spoke at length about the magnetic personality of Dr. Ambedkar and how he was personally impressed when he met Dr. Ambedkar in a sikh delegation to solicit him to become a Sikh. The Editorial write up in the Ajit on that day was revealing. Editor Hamdard in a signed editorial termed Ambedkar as " MUFKRE AJAM and handed over 200 copies of the paper for distribution at the function. I would like to make yet another mention which may be of interest. Keeping with the dictum of Dr. Ambedkar " Educate, Organise and Agitate ". We the dalit students of all the colleges of Jalandhar floated an association/federation of scheduled caste students some time in 1969. The newly created federation of students in co-operation with other organisations arranged a protest march and burnt the effigy of the Jagat Guru who had said something against the interest of dalits.. The march, before its termination at the district headquarter, was turned into public meeting. Though I always preferred to work as a back room boy in all these activities yet I was also invited to speak from the make shift podium and address the meeting which was also addressed by Master Gurbanta Singh and other politicians. The point I would like to make is that it instantly came to my mind and I suggested that the new university which was about to be set up either in Jalandhar or Amritsar shall be named after Dr. Ambedkar. It was a fresh and new idea from a novice like me but it electrified the audience. The demand got registered and later, I am happy to note that an important professional institute has been named after Dr. Ambedkar. It is a tribute to the memory of Dr. ambedkar from my unwritten diary. The great poet Gurdass Ram Alam wrote about Dr. Ambedkar's work and impact:

ਰੁਲਦੇ ਖੁਲਦੇ, ਬੇਘਰੇ ਲਾਬਾਰ੍ਸ਼ਾਂ ਨੂ, ਫੜ ਕੇ ਬੰਦਿਆਂ ਵਿਚ ਬੇਠਾ ਗਿਆ ਓਹ ;
ਬੁਜੇ ਹੋਏ ਅਸ਼ੁਤਾਂ ਦੇ ਦਿਲਾਂ ਅੰਦਰ, 'ਆਲਮ' ਜੋਤ ਅਹਸਾਸ ਜਗਾ ਗਿਆ ਓਹ !

The Countdown - the End of a Facinating Journey - 2

I wrote on November 18 on the process of binding up in Minsk before we move to India on retirement by the end of the year. The schedule is getting tight everyday with farewell calls, preparing for the Good-Bye Receptions we would host on December 8 and December 16. Some of these events turn out to be emotional and rightly so.

During our stay in Minsk and the course of our duty in the realm of public diplomacy, we gave demonstrations to the local media on Indian cooking at the India House which were well received. Vidya my wife is by now well recognised in the diplomatic and social circles in Minsk and also in the media that she is a good cook with simple recipes of north Indian food of Punjabi variety. The iTV, a leading online TV Channel contacted us for an informal cooking session which they would host. Keeping with the demands of our over crowed schedule in the processing of our final departure from Minsk, my wife was not too keen to undertake this long session of about 5 hours. But the iTV insisted and pleaded. We could not say no and the cooking demonstration for the TV was arranged on November 29.

The kitchen of the India House, our residence, was turned into a make shift studio by the technical staff. Later a good looking and well groomed middle aged beautiful lady came and we were told that she was Evlina Sakuro, a well known and famous Belarusian actress. She was specially engaged by the iTV to anchor the programme. I acted as the helper of Vidya in the cooking session and Olga, my Social Secretary, helped in interpretation into Russian. One by one, Vidya made chilli chicken, chanamasala, vegetable biryani and assorted vegetable pakoras. It was almost done with a professional touch. After the cooking, the table was laid with the cooked food and it was relished by the whole TV crew. The Producer Director and the Anchor were fully satisfied that the shooting was done without resorting to cuts and retakes. For us, it was a fulfilling experience to promote Indian food as part of diplomacy. The Anchor of the Programme Evlina, towards the end asked whether I knew the name of the programme. I said no. She said that they were considering to title programme as ' The Spicy Ambassador '. I said it sounded sexy. Let us see how would it turn out. We will not be in Minsk to see as the programme would be hosted in the iTV by the middle January 2011.

By the Way - Without Comments

PEACE of MIND

" My formula for 100% peace of mind is 25% money, 25% health, 25% social life and 25% family life "

Jonney Walker, Comedian Actor of Indian Cinema ( as quoted in the weekly Indian magazine the Outlook , November 2010)

PERFECT PROTOCOL

" We were t0 participate in the non-aligned meeting to held in Lusaka (Zambia) in 1970. Sardar Swaran Singh, then Foreign Minister, used to chair briefing sessions of the Indian delegation gor the summit. At one such meeting, Sardarsaab turned to the then Foreign Secretary, T.N. Kaul, and asked whether we had a region-wise break-up members of the non-aligned countries - from asia, africa and elsewhere. Mr. Kaul obviously did not have this kind of nitty-gritty information at his fingertips and looked at us to provide the information. As I raised my pencil to catch the attention of Sardarsaab, he said in Punjabi-Hindi: " Dikshat, tu Joint Secretary Narendra Singh nu dus; Narender foreign secretary nu batayenga; and foreign secretary muijhe batayenga. " Deputy Secretaries were not supposed to break the chain of command even in discussions. They had to be put in place. "

J.N. Dixit, former Foreign Secretary of India ( as quoted in the weekly Indian magazine the Outlook , November 2010)

Shri Bhagwan Das - A Tribute

Shri Bhagwan Das (April 1927 ) passed away ( attained Parinirvana ) in New Delhi on November 18, 2010. He was a renowned scholar, intellectual, researcher of the philosophy and mission of Lord Buddha and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. His contribution to the dalit literature is considerable. The dalit community has lost one of his worthy sons in the death of Shri Bhagwan Das.

I had two opportunities to see him in action long time before. I heard him speaking at a function at the Ambedkar Bhawan at Nakodar Road in Jalandhar in late sixties when I was a young student. I read him many times in the columns of the Bheem Patrika which is edited and published by Shri Lahori Ram Balley, an associate of Shri Bhagwan Das in his research and immense contribution to the Buddhist and Ambedkar thought. The second time I met him at the House Warming ( Greh Pravesh) function of one of my colleagues who was also a Buddhist in Munirka DDA flats in New Delhi amidst the peace giving chants of ' Buddham Sarnam Gashameen'. I was impressed by his personality and knowledge.

Bhagwan Das was a self made man. He educated himself with great effort and dedication from a mere Matriculate when he started working in the Royal Air Force and a Clerk in the Department of Labour and the Controller of Accounts to an MA and then a law Graduate in Delhi. Apart from his intellectual pursuits, he was a successful practising lawyer at the Supreme Court of India. He worked with Dr. Ambedkar as his Research Assistant. Bhagwan Das compiled 4 volumes of the speeches of Dr. Ambedkar and published them as 'Thus Spoke Ambedkar'. As a true disciple of Ambedkar, he was a crusader against social inequality and discrimination. In 1983, Bhagwan Das gave a testimony against the caste system and untouchability in India before the UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. I recently saw a documentary ' Navayana ' - Bhagwan Das - In pursuit of Ambedkar which is good and informative. The passing away of Bhagwan Das is an irreparable loss to the community and the society at large.

हजारों साल नर्गिस अपनी बेनूरी पे रोती है;
बड़ी मुश्किल से होता है चमन में दीदाबर पैदा!

The Countdown - The End of a Facinating Journey

The ' Hi ' and ' Bye ' is an important aspect of the game called diplomacy. We have experienced the both, the happiness and the pain, of the process in the four decade long but fascinating diplomatic journey beginning in March 1970 and coming to an end on December 31, 2010, the day I retire from the Indian Foreign Service. It was a most satisfying and rewarding experience. I say this with a great sense of contentment and humility that from a humble beginning as a Clerk in the Ministry of External Affairs, I could become an Ambassador. I have no regrets and complete my first inning successfully and get ready for the second of which I will workout the details in due course.

The countdown for the first leg of the journey has started. My wife Vidya, who remained a constant companion throughout, has started the process of binding up in Minsk. She hosted a 'Good bye Reception' at India House for the members of the Minsk Diplomatic Ladies Club on November 18. She told me that it turned out to be an emotional event. Along with traditional parting gift of a set of Belarusian table linen, there is an entry in the coffee table book 'Minsk and Surroundings' by the ladies from the Turkish Embassy and I quote " ....we love you and respect you and will remember you all the time. We love India and the Indian movies." A diplomat's success gets manifestation when the country he or she represents gets recognition and comes in the reckoning. I feel good in writing that though Vidya has a limited ability to communicate in English yet she has a god given attribute to make friends with her earthy and simple style and manners. It is satisfying to note that we could make it together. The nature of a diplomat's work and job is such that the lady at home has to be fully supportive and engaged. Vidya fitted the bill. Jawaharlal Nehru, speaking in the Parliament in the early years of the founding of the Indian Foreign Service and referring to the wives said that we pay salary for one and employ one and a half. Of course, Vidya is my better half.

I will write again on the process of The Countdown -The End of a Fascinating Journey.

OUR DIWALI AT STOCKHOLM

I, alongwith my wife Vidya, came to Stockholm to be with our son Naresh and his lovely family - Anju, Pallavi and Arvind on the Diwali festival. I found Palloo and Abi totally excited. They took extra pains in seeing that we were comfortable in whatever small way they could think and belong to their grand parents. We felt very good. God bless them. They are lovely children.

Now a days, generally, I tend to keep such visits as a private affair but Naresh's circle of friends is good and hospitable and it is just not possible to sit at home. The week of Diwali, obviously, remained fully busy parting and enjoying in and around

Stockholm. We started with a small friendly but impromptu dinner at home on November 3 over a session of cards which is by now is traditional must on the Diwali. Inder & Poonam treated us over a heavy dinner on November 4 at a wonderfully done new villa in the outskirts of Stockholm and we again ended up with a session of cards. The Diwali day, November 5, strated with exchange of greeting on the FaceBook which is increasingly becoming an essential routine. Naresh planned to

take us out for lunch for a change at a Pakistani Dhawa owned by the brother of one of our old friends, Salim and Salma. But it was not to be. Ajay & Anmol, friends of Naresh & Anju insisted to lunch with them to which we could not say no. Ajay thoughtfully ordered some of the dishes from the same Dhawa where we inteded to eat. It was good and we enjoyed the lunch. The after dinner party was hosted by Seema and Stephen, a mixed Indian and Swedish couple with a twin purpose to celebrate Diwali and do the House Warming of their redone villa in Upsala. It was a fair mix of Indians and Swedes. We were happy to see the culutual

mix with Swedes dressed in traditional Indian Kurta Piyjama and Saree. Some of the Swedes both gents and ladies were even playing cards (Indian poker- Teenpati). The Diwali weekend i.e. Novermber 6 and November 7 was fully loaded with further fun. A

nil and Lena, again a mixed couple and long time friends of Naresh and Anju organised a big Diwali dinner. It was good. We could meet many of the friends circles in Stockholm at one go over a good meal. Anil, I know personally, is a good cook himself. Children enjoyed the fire works and we, as usual, ended up with session of Teenpati. It was a good fun. It was a different flavour the next d

ay, a musical evening of traditional songs with Pakistani friends at the residence of Kuldip and Indu. We could meet again a very cultured couple Mushtak and Farida and listen to Khawaza Sisters from Pakistan singing good old Punjabi songs on the beats of Dholak. Anju who herself sings and enjoys joined them and added to the sitting.. The hosts Kulip and Indu, to my surprise, sang almost professionally both as karoke and otherwise. The Diwali week and our short leave turned out to be fully rewarding with a fun filled festive activity. We are grateful to all our hosts and friends of Anju and Naresh for a wonderful time we spent in Stockholm. God bless them all. Ofcourse, Naresh Anju, inspite of their busy schedule, planned our holidays very well.

We will go back to Minsk tomorrow the November 9 with the hope that we will come back again to continue our connection and friendship in the eautiful city of Stockholm.

THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS - DIWALI

Tomorrow, November 5, is Diwali - the Festival of Lights. It is one of the most important festivals of India which is celebrated through out the country and abroad with great ferver and festivity. Without going into the religious or denominational aspects of it, I personally feel one shall tend to jointhe mainstream of the society in celebrating and enjoy the movements of joy and festivity and bring cheer to ones ownself and the society at larde in these days of strife and tension. I think it is good enough a reason to celebrate Diwali. Diwali is also celebrated in many more countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mauritius, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname, Malaysia, Singapore, and Fiji.

The Diwali is an important occasion in the lives of the Hindus - Lord Rama returned back after excile and defeating Ravana, the Jains - Lord Mahabira attained nirvana and the Sikhs - Guru Hargobindji alongwith many more were released from the Mughal prisons and Sikhs observed the day as the Bandi chod Diwas.

I take this opportunity to wish all my friends and their families all the very best in the year to come and say HAPPY DIWALI. A famous Punjabi poet Gurdass Ram Alam said about Diwali:

Har saal de picho milde ne bishde sahel diwali nu,

sajna de chehre dekhan lyi bali da tel diwali nu !

saun kha ke lagiya preetan di, jo bahda kar ke aunde nahi,

ulfat de imtian bichon ho jande fail diwali nu !