as a believer, pilgrims' deaths always bother me. i feel bad about the mohammedans dying in mecca. i wrote at length about this a few years ago when there was another big fire or something and a few hundreds died.
kapidhwaja, i believe i am sentimental about believers. a character flaw, perhaps?
speaking of ghazis, there is an intriguing story about jawaharlal nehru's ancestors. Our First Prime Minister (TM)'s grandfather was supposedly one ganga dhar. right, not gangadhar nehru, just ganga dhar. he was apparently the kotwal of delhi police station (whatever kotwal means, head constable or something?).
the interesting thing is that the *only* known portrait of ganga dhar is him in a full afghan warrior outfit with beard etc. curious, isn't it, that he chose to spend the money to get his portrait done in *that* outfit?
some people have a theory that ganga dhar was actually one ghiyasuddin ghazi, who ran away from delhi after the 1857 war of independence, when the british treated delhi's mohammedans pretty badly, especially the armed ones, like kotwals and other policemen. and that he surfaced soon thereafter as 'ganga dhar', minus beard.
that would explain the afghan portrait, wouldn't it? and perhaps lots of other things as well?
the 'nehru' comes from the river 'nehr' where these people were fishermen and ferrymen. no, not traditional aristocrats by any means.
how 'ganga dhar' had a son named 'motilal nehru' is not clear to me.
amazing stuff that we don't often hear about the dynasty, no?
Strangely, I honestly felt no sorrow when I saw/heard of the stampede deaths.
What they worship and believe in was returned to them in some form. Nature is never unjust, and in the end, we will all only get what we deserve, at some point or other. At least, this is what I believe.
The interesting thing however, is that in the end, we are all going to die anyway. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves of that, and ask ourselves what we want to do in the meantime. (Just a thought that randomly crossed my mind, as it does from time to time......not advising or preaching or anything).
I am going to see "Munich" when it comes, as I said I would when you recommended it. I can stand any graphic, stomach-churning stuff in the proper context, espcially when I know it's only an image. Only I close my ears if the noise is too much.
I enjoyed your comments, Darkstorm. Plus all the wisdom from KapiDhwaja and Mahashivaji.
I'd like to add that I consider Sri Krishna a very effective and peaceful warrior. He was effective because he was compassionate to both sides, had a strong sense of justice and fair play, willing to give the bad guys their chance to be good (we call it peace-process in modern times), was very very intelligent in the subjects of both peace and war, was not emotionally hyper and excitable, was very level-headed and a cool guy, and also damn smart, and ABOVE ALL, he had the power of Atma-Gnyan (Self-knowledge), which he gave to Arjuna. (well, He had the total power of universe, but let's just consider him as a man with powers, and study what those powers were).
This was a truly winning combination that led to the success of the Pandavas who apparently had less military might.
And the way to go is the way of Sri Krishna, the way of the smart and peaceful warrior.
4 comments:
kapidhwaja, i believe i am sentimental about believers. a character flaw, perhaps?
speaking of ghazis, there is an intriguing story about jawaharlal nehru's ancestors. Our First Prime Minister (TM)'s grandfather was supposedly one ganga dhar. right, not gangadhar nehru, just ganga dhar. he was apparently the kotwal of delhi police station (whatever kotwal means, head constable or something?).
the interesting thing is that the *only* known portrait of ganga dhar is him in a full afghan warrior outfit with beard etc. curious, isn't it, that he chose to spend the money to get his portrait done in *that* outfit?
some people have a theory that ganga dhar was actually one ghiyasuddin ghazi, who ran away from delhi after the 1857 war of independence, when the british treated delhi's mohammedans pretty badly, especially the armed ones, like kotwals and other policemen. and that he surfaced soon thereafter as 'ganga dhar', minus beard.
that would explain the afghan portrait, wouldn't it? and perhaps lots of other things as well?
the 'nehru' comes from the river 'nehr' where these people were fishermen and ferrymen. no, not traditional aristocrats by any means.
how 'ganga dhar' had a son named 'motilal nehru' is not clear to me.
amazing stuff that we don't often hear about the dynasty, no?
KapiDhwaja,
Strangely, I honestly felt no
sorrow when I saw/heard of the
stampede deaths.
What they worship and believe in
was returned to them in some form.
Nature is never unjust, and in
the end, we will all only get what
we deserve, at some point or other.
At least, this is what I believe.
The interesting thing however, is
that in the end, we are all going
to die anyway. Sometimes we have to
remind ourselves of that, and ask
ourselves what we want to do in the
meantime. (Just a thought that
randomly crossed my mind, as it
does from time to time......not
advising or preaching or anything).
I am going to see "Munich" when it
comes, as I said I would when you
recommended it. I can stand any
graphic, stomach-churning stuff in
the proper context, espcially when
I know it's only an image. Only I
close my ears if the noise is too
much.
I enjoyed your comments, Darkstorm.
Plus all the wisdom from KapiDhwaja
and Mahashivaji.
I'd like to add that I consider
Sri Krishna a very effective and
peaceful warrior. He was effective
because he was compassionate to
both sides, had a strong sense of
justice and fair play, willing to
give the bad guys their chance to
be good (we call it peace-process
in modern times), was very very
intelligent in the subjects of both
peace and war, was not emotionally
hyper and excitable, was very
level-headed and a cool guy,
and also damn smart, and ABOVE ALL,
he had the power of Atma-Gnyan
(Self-knowledge), which he gave to
Arjuna. (well, He had the total
power of universe, but let's just
consider him as a man with powers,
and study what those powers were).
This was a truly winning
combination that led to the success
of the Pandavas who apparently had
less military might.
And the way to go is the way of
Sri Krishna, the way of the
smart and peaceful warrior.
Justice and fair play includes
paying the enemy back in their
own coin! :-)
As long as we did not start any
cheating, we are on the right
side of dharma.
Repaying cheats in their own coin
does not amount to adharma at all,
because it amounts to self-defense,
not first offense.
Especially after peace process has
been done and a fair chance for
the enemy to reform has been given.
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