Justice For Lavanya

On 20 January 2022, a girl student aged 17, who was staying in the hostel of Sacred Heart Higher Secondary School, a Catholic educational institution in Thirukattupalli of Tanjavur district of Tamil Nadu, died after consuming poison.

The girl was forced to convert and she refused and hence mistreated asked to clean the hostel. This girl who was also the topper of the school committed suicide due to the mistreatment.

Please find the attached article in the reference section for full details on news. 

Proselytization is the root of the problem, we have to identify it in unambiguous terms.  I created the following meme and shared it on Twitter and Whatsapp status as a protest. 

References:

https://swarajyamag.com/ideas/forced-religious-conversion-kills-a-child-in-tamil-nadu-again

#justiceforlavanya on Twitter will give you more details

Joe Biden is the worst protectionist on the planet today

The Oxford-Astrazenica vaccine (COVISHIELD) is also licensed to be produced in India by Serum Institute in India (SII). Its the world's largest vaccine manufacturer. By some estimates, about 70% of the world's vaccines are manufactured by SII.

In addition, another Indian company called Bharat Biotech has a vaccine developed entirely in India (Covaxin) that is also widely distributed in India. It's important to note that this vaccine uses a different approach to the vaccine and it can fight even the mutated version of the coronavirus. 

As on 25/April/2021, the Government of India has exported 66 Million doses of Vaccine to 95 countries (1).  Even UK has received 5 million doses to supplement its vaccine supply from India. 

The Indian vaccines have the lowest cost. The reality is without Indian manufacturing at scale, a large section of the world population will not get the covid vaccine any time soon. 

The Indian vaccine manufacturing is not able to scale more because of the restriction introduced by US President Joe Biden to protect only the US interests.

It is an established fact that the US capital markets suck up the capital across the world. 

Similarly,  the Joe Bidens executive orders prioritising U.S.A over other countries are sucking up the raw materials needed for producing covid vaccines.

I don't want to repeat the facts, the following open letter from renounced think tank from India states the facts clearly.

https://www.vifindia.org/article/2021/april/24/to-friends-in-thenited-states-ease-global-vaccine-manufacturing?s=09

Joe Biden is the worst protectionist on the planet today, hurting humanity and the world economy.

This negative impact on the rest of the world is something U.S.A is fully aware of.  The diplomatic discussions between USA and India have picked up this topic and failed to make any progress (4)

The rest of the world does not need the Pfizer vaccine as most can't afford to store it in minus -70 degrees Celcius. It's not even about intellectual property rights, as long as the U.S.A don't choke the supply chain for vaccine raw materials as they do now, the world will move on. 

The 'Hindu Nationalist' government in India is scaling up and exporting vaccines around the globe. The 'capitalist and free government' based in the American continent is choking the vaccine supply chain around the world.

The Financial Times and Economist magazines will not write about it. 

The people around the world are not idiots, they are also watching and talking about this.

Additional references:

1. List of counties that received vaccines from India

    https://www.mea.gov.in/vaccine-supply.htm  

2. https://www.businesstoday.in/coronavirus/why-is-biden-administration-curbing-export-of-covid-19-vaccine-raw-material/story/433072.html

3. Lancet article on different Covid vaccines

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00306-8/fulltext

4. US  State department briefing.

https://www.state.gov/briefings/department-press-briefing-april-22-2021/#post-237339-INDIA

The Gravity Advantage for the ISRO

 

The attached image is the Goce satellite view of Earth's gravity taken by European Space Agency (ESA). 

Note the gravity is lowest in the southern part of India. It's a coincidence that India's satellite launching station is based there. Hope the #ISRO realises this global advantage and exploits this advantage by marketing the relevant fuel efficiency of its launches.

If you are interested in GOCE and how the data for this visualisation was collected please refer to the reference #1.

References: 

1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8767763.stm

Set on Stone : Book Review

Set on Stone- The geology and landscapes of Scotland by Alan Mckirdy
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While visiting the Dynamic Earth a few years ago in Edinburgh with kids, it gave me the background to on our dynamic planet and its formation.  Most importantly, I came to know that "the Geology as field originated in Edinburgh" during the period of the Scottish Enlightenment.  Since then, we have annual memberships for our family to Dynamic Earth for the last couple of years and it is our favorite family activity that is weatherproof :-).  If you are visiting Edinburgh and you have some basic interest in science then Dynamic Earth is a must-visit for your family. 

I came across this book in the bookstall of Dynamic earth, I was intrigued by the details, but I  did not buy it  instead decided to borrow and read from the local library :-).  

The first chapter not only gives the background of the formation of the earth but also the background on originations of the field of Geology. 

As mentioned in chapter-1 of the book, the belief that the earth was about 5000 years old was propagated by the Church and was prevalent in Europe.  In fact, James Usher, the Church of Ireland Archbishop even had a date of 4004 BC (1).

It was James Hutton Scotland's first 'time lord', who discovered from rocks that the earth is much older than that and also brave enough to contradict then established belief propagated by Chruch saying that 'the rocks don't lie'. It was a revolutionary discovery at that time. 

In 1785, Hutton traveled across the country to develop his masterwork "Theory of Earth".  His trips revealed that there were rocks that were older than granite.  

In 1795, Hutton published his 2 volume work "Theory of Earth with proofs and illustrations". The book does not mention the fact but when Charles Darwin went on a voyage around the world on HMS Beagle that helped him to form the theory of evolution,  this book "The theory of Earth" was one of the few books he carried with him. 

All of us now know today that the fact that tectonic plates move (continental plates) but the scale and path traveled by some of some landmasses is a revelation.  This book focuses on Scotland, so it has identified that Scotland was originally near the South Pole 650 million years ago and to the present day location in the northern hemisphere. The journey and path over the last 650 million years have been recorded in rocks.  The Indian in me wishes that "how wonderful if someone performs such detailed study for different parts of India". We have the Himalayas, i.e. one of the oldest mountains on the planet, it will be a wonderful study that will benefit humanity. 

The book also plot the geological map of Scotland colored with different ages of rocks found in a different part of Scotland.  Scotland is unique and even blessed to have different varieties of rocks of different ages located in a relatively small area of geography. 

Again, I wanted to know whether such a study or geological survey was performed in India.  My limited study revealed that the work in this area in India seems very limited(2). It was disappointing again. India, a huge country and an ancient civilization with different geographies, we have not mapped our geology to the greater details. 

There are commercial incentives for performing such a study as it will open up new avenues in Agriculture &  Mining that will, in turn, open up other industries. Its high time such a detailed geological survey is done to understand the land and rocks in India.

Chapter-2: again talks in detail about Scotlands past inferred from different rocks.

Chapter-3: Volcanic past. Earth had an active volcanic period that cooled down and making most of the volcanoes extinct. The past volcanic activity is recorded in igneous rocks. This chapter gives an overview of different mountains in Scotland that have recorded the volcanic activity of the past. 

Chapter-4: This is a generic chapter that gives an overview of the earth's past with some references to Scotland.   The earliest trace of life in Scotland rocks dates back to about 1 billion years with traces of early algae.  The red sandstones of Torridonian Hills of Northwest Scotland carry these early algae.  This early life forms very primitive but had a remarkable quality that they produced oxygen. They changed the atmosphere of earth paving the way to much-specialized organisms later. This set the scene for the 'explosion of life' during the Cambrian Period. At his time the life on Earth was confined to oceans. (sounds familiar - our Matsya avatar :-)). Then a period of life on land came much later. So does our Koorma, Varaha avatars) :-). The period of time from this point onwards to the present day is 'Phanerozoic'.  This is the last 545 million years of earth history when life was abundant on planet earth. 

The five mass extinctions so far:

1. At the end of the Ordovician period about 444 million years ago. 
2. At the end of the Devonian Period about 359 million years ago.
3. At the end of the Permian Period about 251 million years ago.
4. At the end of the Triassic Period about 200 million years ago. 
5. At the end of the Cretaceous Period about 65 million years ago. (hugely popular as dinosaurs become extinct)

My moral of these extinctions as we are at the due for the next major extinction is follows: Earth is resilient. It will adjust itself and life will move on but unless we humans treat the mother earth with respect, we as a species might become extinct in the next extinction, whenever it happens.

People who travel across UK will realize that Scotland is different from the rest of UK even geographically.  During Cambrian Period (i.e 495-545 million years ago) Scotland was part of the North American Continent whereas England and the rest of Europe were on the other side of Iapteus ocean.  The book does not state this but it's worth noting that land masses Eastern Avalonia collided with Laurentia about 425 million years ago, joining England and Scotland. Scottish Nationalists can quote this as another reason for independence, stating that Scotland was different from UK even going back 500 millions of years ago :-)
The rest of the chapter covers Scotland's journey during different periods including the time when it was submerged under the ocean.

It is interesting and even hard to imagine towering Scottish Munroe's underwater.  That's the beauty of our dynamic and ever-changing earth.

Chapter-5 talks about the geological legacy's influence in today's Scotland. Soil development is limited across many parts of Highland and very thin supporting only heather and hardy plant species.

Amazing book a must-read for anyone interested in science. 

References:

1. James Usher. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ussher_chronology 

2. Geological Survey of India. https://www.gsi.gov.in/ 

Response to Jeremy Corbyn on his tweet on Kashmir on Aug 11th 2019.

Subject: Your tweet on Kashmir on Aug 11th 2019.

Dear Jeremy,

A little introduction about myself before jumping to the subject.

I am a Scot of Indian origin, living in Scotland for almost 12 years with my family.  I am a Software architect by profession and have been living in Edinburgh since my arrival in the UK. Like many Scots of Indian Origin, I was disturbed by your recent tweet on Kashmir shown below

It's a late response but still important that you read this because a large section of Scots of Indian origin, will vote en masse against Labour.  SNP has taken a similar view on Kashmir and they will be voting against SNP too. If antisemitism can be an election issue why not anti-Hinduism. Our votes matter too.

Let me give a background of Kashmir issue, from an Indian perspective (the perspective from a free and open society) and it is not based on the Islamic view. 

First, a short history.

When the British ruled India, there were 565 princely states in India -- they were not directly ruled by the British. So, when the British decided to leave and India was to be partitioned into two countries. The princely states were given a choice of joining either a non-theocratic "Republic of India" or the theocratic "Islamic Republic of Pakistan", giving due consideration to geographical contiguities and religious composition.

Three princely states that stood out were Jammu and Kashmir (J & K), Junagadh, and Hyderabad.

The latter two were Hindu majority states ruled by Muslim kings and J & K was different.

The Nawab of Junagadh--egged on by Shahnawaz Bhutto, his minister (whose son ZA Bhutto went on to become future PM of Pakistan) acceded to Pakistan. India sent troops, held a plebiscite and Junagadh was incorporated into India.

Hyderabad and J&K kept vacillating. Eventually, India sent troops to Hyderabad, which duly became part of India.  In Kashmir, Pakistan sent "irregulars" to invade.  Just like Pakistan operates in Afganistan under disguise today. (People with the knowledge of the region will acknowledge that "Taliban leaders are nothing but Pakistani ISI in baggy pants !!!". It was not a coincidence that Osma Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan)

Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of Kashmir, was Hindu. With Pakistani irregulars knocking at the doors, Maharaja Hari Singh appealed to the Indian government for military assistance. He signed the Instrument of Accession, ceding Kashmir to India on October 26, 1947.

Here it is important to give the religious demographics of the state of Jammu & Kashmir. Unlike the popular opinion that circulates today, it was not a Muslim Majority state even in 1947. J &K has 3 major regions Kashmir, Jammu & Ladak. Kashmir -  a Muslim majority with also had about 400,000 Hindus.  Jammu - Hindu Majority and Ladak - Buddist Majority.

The Prime Minister of India at that time, Mr. Nehru, took the Kashmir issue to the UN Security Council.

Pakistanis misquote the US security council resolution that it suggested Plesbicite for self-determination, without ever reading it. It was interesting to see you quoting UN resolution.  If you have not read already,  please do read the UN resolution on Kashmir, it was short and very clear.  The UN resolution proposed 3 things and they are sequential in nature.

1.  Pakistan should withdraw troops and should refrain from interfering militarily by direct or indirect means.

2. Once the first condition is fulfilled to the satisfaction of the Commission, India has to reduce the military presence in Kashmir to the minimal.

3. After the above 2 are done then conduct the plebiscite to know the will of the people of Kashmir.

The first condition never happened, so there is no need to get to the second and Third. Three wars have been fought by India and Pakistan over Kashmir. About 400,000 Kashmiri Hindus were driven out by forcibly out of Kashmir.  This mass exodus happened after Benazir Bhutto called for "direct action" and Mosques in Kashmir started threatening calls in their speakers.

Please refer to the recent testimony of a Kashmiri Hindu Journalist named Sunanda Pushkar in the US congress about the Kashmiri Hindu massacre and exodus.

 Imagine driving out the population of the size of Glasgow and then asking for a referendum.  The calls for the plebiscite are irrelevant unless the displaced Kashmiri Hindus are resettled.

The recent removal of Article 370 is nothing but integrating Kashmir fully with India. Muslims always wanted to be treated special. The SNP government has given in to this wish with "Islamophobia" law in Scotland. Unlike Muslims, we Hindus do not want to be treated special instead be treated equally like other citizens.  That is a fundamental difference.

Even when we disagree, we Hindus will not go on a rampage like the Muslims cause a carnage because that is not in our culture instead, we will express our displeasure democratically with votes.

If you wish to hear the Hindu Perspective and engage with us, then we will have a Hindu Delegation to meet the Scottish Labour leaders.  We will continue to engage with SNP & Scottish Labour, but our community can't vote for you unless the Labour position on this issue changes.

This election is about Brexit. I personally voted remain, but after EU referendum and especially after the lack of leadership in the last parliament, many of us decided to move on and get over with Brexit.  That's why 'Get Brexit done' resonates with us. We can’t have 2 more referendums and 2 general elections in the next 5 years.  It is a more likely scenario under your leadership. You have not figured out your strategy on Brexit even after 3 years.

Ian Murray is a Great MP from my constituency of Edinburgh South. Scottish Labour is different from English in its views towards immigrants. I sincerely wish him that he wins again and continues his good work.  But this Westminster election is about Brexit and I can’t accept the labour under your leadership. Labour under your leadership is so far left it makes Tories look like centre.

Today is the polling day, my prediction is that Tories will easily cross 400 seats.  I will be looking forward to your resignation in the next few days. Best wishes for an alternate career.

References:

1.  US security council resolution of April 1948.

http://unscr.com/files/1948/00047.pdf

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi4Vqdfreeo

3. https://www.opindia.com/2019/09/london-pakistani-mob-led-by-british-labour-mp-attacks-indian-high-commission-smash-windows/. It is worth noting there is no BBC news link coming up in search results. That tells a lot about the BBC.

Email to Nicola Sturgeon on her tweet for about article 370 in Kashmir

Subject: Your tweet on Kashmir on Aug 9th 2019.

Dear Nicola,

A little introduction about myself before jumping to the subject.
I am a Scot of Indian origin, living in Scotland for almost 12 years with my family.  I am a Software Architect by profession and have been living in Edinburgh since my arrival in the UK. Like many Scots of Indian Origin, I  was disturbed by your recent tweet on Kashmir shown below

It's a late response but still important that you read this because a large section of Scots of Indian origin, will vote en masse against SNP in the election.  Corbyn has taken a similar view on Kashmir and they will be voting against Labour too. If antisemitism can be an election issue why not anti-Hinduism. Our votes matter too.

Let me give a background of Kashmir issue, from an Indian perspective (the perspective from a free and open society) and it is not based on the Islamic view. You have upset the Indian community which will en masse vote against SNP because of your tweet.

First, a short history.
When the British ruled India, there were 565 princely states in India -- they were not directly ruled by the British. So, when the British decided to leave and India was to be partitioned into two countries. The princely states were given a choice of joining either a non-theocratic "Republic of India" or the theocratic "Islamic Republic of Pakistan", giving due consideration to geographical contiguities and religious composition.

Three princely states that stood out were  Jammu and Kashmir (J & K), Junagadh, and Hyderabad.
The latter two were Hindu majority states ruled by Muslim kings and J & K was different.

The Nawab of Junagadh--egged on by Shahnawaz Bhutto, his minister (whose son ZA Bhutto went on to become future PM of Pakistan) acceded to Pakistan. India sent troops, held a plebiscite and Junagadh was incorporated into India.
Hyderabad and J&K kept vacillating. Eventually, India sent troops to Hyderabad, which duly became part of India.  In Kashmir, Pakistan sent "irregulars" to invade.  Just like Pakistan operates in Afganistan under disguise today. ( People with the knowledge of the region will acknowledge that "Taliban leaders are nothing but Pakistani ISI in baggy pants !!!". It was not a coincidence that  Osma Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan )

Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of Kashmir, was Hindu. With Pakistani irregulars knocking at the doors, Maharaja Hari Singh appealed to the Indian government for military assistance. He signed the Instrument of Accession, ceding Kashmir to India on October 26, 1947.

Here it is important to give the religious demographics of the state of Jammu & Kashmir. Unlike the popular opinion that circulates today, it was not a Muslim Majority state even in 1947. J &K has 3 major regions Kashmir, Jammu & Ladak. Kashmir -  a Muslim majority with also had about 400,000 Hindus.  Jammu - Hindu Majority and Ladak - Buddist Majority.

The Prime Minister of India at that time, Mr. Nehru, took the Kashmir issue to the UN Security Council.

Pakistanis misquote the US security council resolution that it suggested Plesbicite for self-determination, without ever reading it. If you have not please read the UN resolution, it was short and very clear. The UN resolution proposed 3 things and they are sequential in nature.
1.  Pakistan should withdraw troops and should refrain from interfering militarily by direct or indirect means.
2. Once the first condition is fulfilled to the satisfaction of the Commission, India has to reduce the military presence in Kashmir to the minimal.
3. After the above 2 are done then conduct the plebiscite to know the will of the people of Kashmir.

The first condition never happened, so there is no need to get to the second and Third. Three wars have been fought by India and Pakistan over Kashmir. About 400,000 Kashmiri Hindus server-driven out by forcibly out of Kashmir.  This mass exodus happened after Benazir Bhutto called for "direct action" and Mosques in Kashmir started threatening calls in their speakers.

Please refer to the recent testimony of a Kashmiri Hindu Journalist named Sunanda Pushkar in the US congress about the Kashmiri Hindu massacre and exodus. After listening to it then you can decide whether you still feel parallels between Scotland and Kashmir.

 Imagine driving out the population of the size of Glasgow and then asking for a referendum.  The calls for the plebiscite are irrelevant unless the displaced Kashmiri Hindus are resettled.

The recent removal of Article 370 is nothing but integrating Kashmir fully with India. Muslims always wanted to be treated special. The SNP government has given in to this wish with "Islamophobia" law in Scotland. Unlike Muslims, we Hindus do not want to be treated special instead be treated equally like other citizens.  That is a fundamental difference.

Even when we disagree, we Hindus will not go on a rampage like the Muslims cause a carnage because that is not in our culture instead, we will express our displeasure democratically with votes.

If you wish to hear the Hindu Perspective and engage with us, then we will have a Hindu Delegation to meet the SNP leaders.  We will continue to engage with SNP & Scottish Labour, but our community can't vote for you unless the SNP position on this issue changes.


References:
1.  US security council resolution of April 1948.
http://unscr.com/files/1948/00047.pdf

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi4Vqdfreeo

3. https://www.opindia.com/2019/09/london-pakistani-mob-led-by-british-labour-mp-attacks-indian-high-commission-smash-windows/. It is worth noting there is no BBC news link coming up in search results. That tells a lot about the BBC.

Book Review : The Go-Giver

This is my re-read of this short book. I read it a few years ago and read it again as I could not recollect some part of it.  I might read it again as its a short story with 122 pages filled with valuable lessons. 

I would still classify it as a business book due to its context even though the lessons can apply to other aspects of life. 

The Five Laws of Stratospheric Success that is conveyed by the book through the parable is

The Law of Value

The true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.

The Law of Compensation

Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.

The Law of Influence

Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people's interest first.

The Law of Authenticity

The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself

The Law of Receptivity

The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving. 

India had the first female doctor before Britain had their own !

Today (15-08-2019),

Google had a doodle for Louisa Blake, the first female physician in Britain. Louisa Aldrich-Blake graduated in medicine from the Royal Free Hospital in 1893.

I was curious to find out when India had its first female doctor. Found that Anandi Gopal Joshi was the first female doctor, she completed her MD in 1886 from Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania. On her graduation, Queen Victoria sent her a congratulatory message. She returned to India and was appointed, physician-in-charge of the female ward of the local hospital in Kohlapur.

The interesting fact is India had its first female doctor before Britain. The reason for this comparison is that was the time when India was ruled by Britain.  Google,  we don't have any issues you recognising Lousia Blake. Can you recognise Anandi Gopal Joshi too?

Reached out to Google. let's see Anandi gets her due recognition too. :-)

References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisa_Aldrich-Blake
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anandi_Gopal_Joshi

Book Review : "Speed Reading in a Week" by Tina Konstant

Are you one of the people, who have a long list of books to read (or) a shelf full of books that you always wanted to read but never got around to actually reading them. Yes. I am one of them.  There have been some software books that I have bought that got outdated before I got to read them. :-)  So I was looking at improving my reading speed!. I don't have any shame in acknowledging that I have been "planning" to read this small book for at least a year. :-) 

I have some friends in Scotland who consistently read about one non-fiction book every week !. It always surprised me how they manage to read so fast. 

First "speed reading" is not just about reading fast. It is about structured and selective reading that helps you to grasp "whatever" you wanted to get out of a book in a faster way.

Tina recommends a 5 step process for improving the reading speed. 

1. Prepare
2. Preview
3. Passing Reading
4. Active Reading
5. Selective Reading

Step 1: Prepare

Ask the following questions when you are considering reading anything (book/email/anything else)

Why I am reading this in the first place?

What do I already know?

What do I need to know?

The most important question is What is your Why? If you don't have a good enough reason to read the book. Just don't. One book less. :-) 

Step 2: Prepare

The purpose of this section is to get familiar with the structure of the book.

1. What does it look like?

2. Are there summaries and conclusions?

3. Are there any pictures?

4. What's the size of the print?

5. Is it broken into sections?

In this process, it's important to eliminate sections that you don't want to read and highlight the areas that you want to read.  Reaffirm the decision on what you want from the book. 

A 300-page book will take about 5 minutes for this activity. 

Step 3: Passive Reading

Passive reading will help to familiarise with the language of the book.
1. Scan the pages at the rate of few seconds per page
2. Look for any technical jargons or difficult words? Are you comfortable with the language?
Again, the 300-page book should take only 5-10 minutes for this stage.

Step 4: Active  Reading

This is the first time you actually read the book.
1. Read the first paragraph of each chapter
2. The first line of each paragraph. If the paragraph is long read the last line of the paragraph.
3. If you own the book read actively by underlining, highlighting or mind map.

Step 5: Selective Reading
The purpose of the first 4 steps is to select what you want to read 'intelligently'.
Now you exactly know what you actually want to read in the book.
Not only that you have already scanned through the book a few times and that will help in retaining the content in your memory.
As you read periodically ask 'Do I have what I want '. If yes stop reading.
Even if you decide to read the entire book, you will read if much faster.

There are chapters with techniques for each step. There is also a 21-day program sheet to practice and bring speed reading as a  habit.

After reading the book, I connected with Tina on LinkedIn. Based on her LinkedIn profile this was the first book that she published in 2000. What is more impressive is that she has mastered the art of reading even that younger age clearly articulated the technique in the form of a book. I highly recommend the book for anyone planning read more.

Mission to Mars - Bed Rest Study - an alternate perspective

This was my email sent to NASA HERA team (https://www.nasa.gov/analogs/hera/about ) on 23-April-2019. 

Dear Mars Explorer Team,

I wanted to give my humble perspective on "Mission to Mars - Bed Rest Study "

Recently, I came across the news about "NASA looking to pay 18 grand for 70 day sleep". I was joking with my wife that I need to apply for it and she was also joking that I may get crushed in the stampede of applicants for this temporary position.:-)

The article mentioned that in connection with Manned mission to Mars, NASA was looking at the possibility of making astronauts sleep for 2 week at a time (followed by 2 day breaks)  to reduce food and oxygen consumption for the 8 month journey to Mars.

In our Hindu Epic of Ramayan, there is a character called to "Kumbakarna" who sleeps for 6 months and then be awake for next six months. If we can get some one to sleep that long for the "Manned Mars mission" and ask them to extend the sleep little further, even a 8 month duration Manned mission to Mars can be an "over night journey" from the perspective of that space traveller :-)

Jokes aside:

I don't know whether we can put someone for sleep for even 2 weeks without pushing the current known limits of Anaesthesia and its side effects.

My humble view is that "NASA should look at yoga and meditation as a more viable alternative for oxygen and food (human energy ) conservation during space flight".

There has been scientific studies that  suggest that the regular practice of Yoga Breathing techniques reduce the oxygen consumption in human by about 35%. (reference 1)

As per the Yogic Science, the humans can stay in Higher meditative state ( called Samadhi) for very long time.  It is said that some yogis have stayed in that meditative state for even years. Space and time does not exist  in the state of Samadhi.   There are different levels of Samadhi (reference 2) and  it will takes years practice to get the body-mind control ( just like space mission taking years to attempt). But achieving above state of Samadhi is not something super human. Yogic tradition believes that "Being human itself is super and realising it expands the possibilities for humans".

To  summarise, the proposal is that "Yoga and meditation can be used optimise body metabolism and conserve the human energy there by reducing the consumption of oxygen and food by Astronauts during prolonged space journeys ".

Of course, scientific measurements and study can be used to prove / disprove the optimisation of body metabolism. In fact its a great opportunity modern science to learn, test and explore the ancient wisdom for human advancement in space.

I am happy to provide further pointers, if there any interest on the above proposal.


with regards
Arul


Follow-up:
i.  NASA as a program called NASA Solve where the public can solve some of the problems faced by NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/solve/index.html . Tried to reach out to the NASA Solve team  on 24-April-2019 but the email bounced.  So trying to get the correct email for the NASA Solve team.
ii. The email was again sent to Human Research Program at JSC https://www.nasa.gov/hrp on n 25-April-2019.

I am yet to receive any response from NASA.  Will continue reach out to NASA and possibly SpaceX.

References:
1.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258129114_Oxygen_Consumption_Changes_With_Yoga_Practices_A_Systematic_Review 

2. https://chopra.com/articles/the-3-levels-of-samadhi

3. Memory, Consciousness & Coma Discussion by Sadhguru at Harvard Medical School
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7irEcQHChw

The relationship of Tamil & Korean language

I have a  Korean neighbour in Edinburgh.  When my parents were here few years ago they noticed that the Korean Children call  their parents as 'Amma' (mother) & Appa (father).   I was surprised by this news and spoke the Korean Children & Parents about equivalent words they use for common Tamil words.  It was surprising to see the similarities. How did this happen? The countries are far apart. Koreans and Tamilans don't even look similar in appearance. That triggered the idea that i need to do some research further on the relationship between Tamil and Korean language.

(work in progress. I have been planning to research and write this article  for several years. One day i will get back to this topic again :-) )


References:

1. Interview with  Jung Nam Kim President, Korean Society of Tamil Studies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGSrEAW0c_A

2. Ankorwat built by Surya Varman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8d_MsLNz4M

3. Rajendra Cholan Kingdom Map
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/archive/c/cf/20110528043623%21Rajendra_map_new.svg

A day trip with Guruji ( Sri Sri Ravishankar)

Had the opportunity to travel in the bus with Guruji during his visit to Edinburgh on 17-June-2016.

We started by bus from Edinburgh to Loch Katrine.  Out of the 4 buses that were arranged for the trip, Guru ji came in our bus in the onward journey. 

Our bus had about 40 people with least 5 different nationalities and more than 50% of the crowd where people not of European origin.  There was a girl from Bulgaria, who was explaining the work done by the Art of Living (AOL) in Sophia (Capital City of  Bulgaria) .

Its was interesting to see how Guruji was mobbed continously people were taking selfies and bothering him with their own problems, continously. 

Guruji was accompanied by Swami Jyothirmayananda.  Swamiji noticed that perhaps I was the only one in the bus who did not take a selfie and encouraged me to to and talk to Guruji. After seeing Guru ji being continously mobbed by people, i was hesitant and decided not to bother him. 

I came home had the dinner and went again to Mandir in the evening for the Sat Sangh. At the end of the Bajan Guruji had a Question and Answer session. 

I have been associated with AOL for almost 3 years now. Learnt Sudharshana Kriya with my wife Mahalakshmi about 3 years ago in Chennai when i was there in Summer of 2013.  Earlier in 2016, I attended the Sahaj Samadhi meditation course conducted by Stephene in Edinburgh.

------  Registering few thoughts on Art of Living (AOL) ----------------

Sri Aurobindo envisoned that 'India will play an enahanced spiritual role in the world'.

Sri Vivekanada proclaimed that 'Millions in every civilized land waiting for the message that will save them from the hideous abyss of materialism in to which the modern money worship is driving them along'.

We can already see the prophecies of those saints are coming true due to the work being done by AOL.

India is not just another country. Its one of the oldest and perhaps the only living civilization. It is not a society that is just stuck with one prophet or with just one messenger of God. Yogis and Rishis have come up again and again on that 'Punniya Bhomi' to prerve "Sanatana Dharma".

One of the greatest contribution of India to the world is "the discovery of the relationship between breathing and mind". AOL is taking this great discovery to every human being with it breathing techniques. 

The Hindu 'Vasudhaiva Kudumbam' (Universal Family) is actually being practiced and as a result a new global family is being created by AOL.

It is not easy to be a spiritual Guru in today's world. 

Thanks to AOL for the services to humanity in helping to preserve humanity. 

--------------------

Brexit - Whats the probability of it happening

Recent polls have been predicting the possibility of Brexit happening.  As of  now, i personally don't think Brexit will happen due the following reasons:

1.  The polls are done on a very small sample (about 1000) hence may not reflect the larger population. I dont think Scotland and Northern Ireland are adequately represented in these polls.  Population wise Scotland and Norther Ireland make about 11% of population of UK. Even with modest 7% vote towards the 'Stay'  from Scoland  (i.e 70% of Scotland voting to Stay in EU). The current projected Leave EU lead will be nullified.  Yes. Scots will the help in preserving EU membership of Britain.

2. Going against the status quo (i.e leaving the EU) needs lot more conviction. A reasonable number of people who are currenly in the border of 'Leave EU" will opt to continue the status quo. I have pesonally found 2 instances where these 2 people decided to go for 'Stay in EU' ( i.e changing from their earlier view before the postal vote).

3. The Stock markets are still not factoring in the possibility of Briexit.  Bookies also have greated accuracy in predicting.  As per the bookies the odds are still very much towards the 'Stay in EU"  campaign.  As per bookies percentage terms the probability of Brexit is only about 33%.

As of now, I think the actually 'Leave' camp will get around 40% vote share in the referendum.

There is also an interesting prespective that the referendum can be rejected by the Westminister parliament.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36457120


References:

1.  The following page tracks the brexit poll outcomes
https://ig.ft.com/sites/brexit-polling/


2. Bookies odds checker
http://www.oddschecker.com/politics/british-politics/eu-referendum/referendum-on-eu-membership-result

Greece: Amazing politics and Interesting times

One of the key lessons in negotiations is 'you will get the best deal only if you are ready to walk away'.

There was significant amount of  'fear mongering' similar to the levels seen in the Scottish elections last year.

Still the Greece has taken the brave step of getting ready to walk away. May be from Euro zone or may be even from European Union. If at all the Greece will get any better deal it will be now or never. I personally don't think the Greek debt will be written off unless the Greece defaults.  It may be very difficult times for the Greeks, especially for the next few weeks.

Greece has become the first country from the Europe to default after it defaulted on 1.5 billion Euros to IMF last week. It is has another 3.5 billion Euros of ECB payment coming on in 2 weeks.
It is said being said that the Greek banks will run out of money in the next 48 hours unless ELA levels increased by the ECB.

Greece may not be the last country in Europe to default. Many more will follow.  I have written in the past about the unsustainable sovereign debt levels http://4mythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/are-rich-countries-really-rich.html.  Holding interest rates artificially near zero is like Sharia finance (Sharia Finance is absurd because it negates the key concept of  'Time value of Money' that is a one of the corner stones of finance).

Is it the beginning of end of the debt fueled 'Capitalism' that considers 'saving as sin and spending a virtue'.   Time will tell the answer.

Book Review: SynchroDestiny

Book Review: Sychrodestiny

Namaste Deepak ji,

More than 10 years ago, when i was undergoing difficult times, i came across this book in a library in States for the first time.  I was not able to read if fully at that time.  Again recently under more difficult circumstances, I decided to buy the book and read it fully. I hope I will be able to turn around my life at least now.  I wish that I had read this book fully 10 years ago. Anyway, better late than never. 

Every Sutra that you have used in the book is from Hinduism. Still you have not used the word 'Hindu'  a single time in book.  Is that the gratitude you have towards that ancient civilization?  Its hard for me to believe its a omission without intent. 

Many Hindus especially the English educated ones carry a huge 'secular' luggage and  they look down upon the word 'Hindu' and does not use it. 

By the word Hindu, I refer to all "Dharmic traditions (Shaivam, Vainavam, Baudham, Jainam, Sikh,etc) that originated in Bharat including Vanvasi Tradition".

Your worldly and spiritual experience is greater than my age. I have lot of respect and regard for you and your thoughts.  My intent is not to sound rude but deliver a clear message for you to ponder. 

Have you ever wondered whether you would been the same person as you are today, writing about the consciousness and non-local wisdom,if you were not born in a Hindu family in India. 

Do you think you would possessed the same open mind on spirituality, if you were born in the Christian or Muslim family.

Certainly not, Christianity and Islam by their very design, does not create open mind in their followers about other traditions. 

It is not just the vast amount of knowledge that you have reflected in your book is from the wisdom of Hinduism, but your own state of mind (especially the openness) is  a product of the Hinduism. 

What have you given back to that ancient civilization? 

My fellow Hindus are leaving the ancient tradition in thousands. Various Evangelical groups are on a full swing in Southern states of India harvesting souls causing permanent damage to the social fabric of the nation.  People like you who see great value in ancient traditions are no where to be seen in action in India. 

Hinduism is not a tradition that is stuck with one prophet or the single middleman who has wholesale franchise of  God.  Literally hundreds of Gurus ( people who have realized the higher consciousness) have come up from every walk of life & from every part of the nation. We have survived more than thousand of years of aggression only because of these people, who did their part in ensuring that Sanathan Dharma's  continues. 

Some Indians might be happy to see you as successful writer abroad.  But I think you can be much more than successful publisher and spirituality businessman. Some people say spirituality is becoming big business these days. I would its not just a business, its an industry. It has been like that for a long time. Catholic church is the oldest multinational company (MNC) in the world, we don't need many more like them. 

Bharata Mata is calling people like you to work for her children in India. Will you please answer her call?

(I have also sent this feedback to the Deepak ji via his website email option, awaiting a response)

Why I would vote YES in Scottish referendum

You would have heard lot of promises from the Yes camp and the No Camp.  What you would not have heard from both camps is that ‘if there is Independence then like many other counties we will have an additional public holiday called ‘Independence day ‘that we don’t have currently.  :-)

I would vote 'Yes' for a simple reason that Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) has very clearly stated that an Independent Scotland would welcome immigrants.  This has been clearly declared in SNP's blue print 'Scotland's Future'. The document is available online. Libraries carry it. Irrespective of the outcome or your decision on referendum, i would recommend reading it. If not at least get a copy of it. It’s a historic document.  The same immigration friendly attitude has been reinforced by speeches of Scottish parliament ministers as well.

This reason is close my heart. As majority of us are first generation immigrants, we need to think what will be favorable to us. This is the reason close to my heart.  That is good enough for me to vote 'Yes'.

If you would like to understand other reasons (for the head) for voting 'Yes' then continue to read. :-) 

The first time I came to know about Scotland (long before migrating) was through the movie ‘Brave Heart’. So I don’t have any difficultly in seeing Scotland a nation.   It has been an independent nation for a long time. Even under the Roman rule about 2000 years ago, Scotland was not under Roman Empire.  Until 300 years ago, (act of union in 1707) Scotland has been independent.   There is nothing wrong in getting back to that Independent state.

People of Indian Origin, generally don’t like to get stigmatized with being called a Nationalist.  I don’t have that problem with that because even in India, I have always been a Hindu Nationalist. It is a natural choice for me here.  If I had to take another passport than my current Indian passport, I would prefer a Scottish passport than British. It is about personal comfort with identity.

Some general questions / concerns people rise

Would independent Scotland be economically viable? Or Can Scotland survive after Independence.

Yes.  Scotland will not only survive after Independence, but flourish.  

As per today’s revenues, an Independent Scotland will be one of the 20 richest countries in the world.  Moody’s rating agency acknowledges it by saying ‘All possible outcomes point to Scotland being among wealthiest nations’.

Another global rating agency Standard and Poor says ‘Even after excluding North sea output, Scotland will qualify for the highest economic assessment.

What will happen to Currency?

Even after Independence, there is a time frame of about 18 months time to negotiate the terms of Independence.  The currency will be decided at that period.  It is good to keep the options open. The most likely choice will be the keeping pound Sterling with a currency union.

Everyone in Yes denies that possibility because accepting it will only support the ‘Yes’ Camp.

Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) has already indicated that they will be less willing to take a share of the national debt if there is no currency union.  As of Q1 2013 UK government debt amounted to £1,377 billion, or 88.1% of total GDP. Westminster will not let Scotland walk away without a slice of it.  So currency union most likely thing to happen.   In my humble experience 'You get the best deal, only (i repeat) only if you are ready to walk away from it.'

As an Indian Immigrant, what is beneficial to me?

Scotland has little more than 5 million (i.e. about 50 lacs) population i.e. only half of Chennai.  The vast majority of the population (about 80%) lives in the central belt with about 50 miles wide between Glasgow and Edinburgh.  Scotland needs people. The immigration policies are hurting Scotland.

SNP has very clearly stated that an Independent Scotland would welcome immigrants. This is the single most important reason for me.

Majority of Indians in Edinburgh have a stigma towards the Scottish Independence

This mainly stems from India’s own difficult experience on Partition and other later separatist movements in India.  You need to understand that India’s partition was driven by an intolerant religion that wanted its own identity whereas Scottish independence is driven by Governance and Economics.

 What will happen to Jobs? Will large businesses leave?

Corporations/Businesses do not care about politics.  Businesses will operate in a place where it makes business sense i.e. profitable.   Scotland already has reputed Universities that produce talent.  If Scotland has necessary financial incentives  ( e.g a lower corporation tax  than rest of UK ) then businesses will not only leave but even relocate their business to Scotland.  For your information:  Apple corporation had a subsidiary in Ireland with huge cash reserves because it was tax efficient.

Larger risk: If you vote ‘No’ then after 2 years if UK leaves EU (as the current tories are talking about leaving EU ) Scotland will be at the higher risk.  If UK leaves EU, it will lose its largest trading partner. Scotland will have less deciding power in that referendum (like many things now) because England is more heavily populated compared to Scotland.   If Scotland is independent then it can make a decision on its own about EU.

In simple words ‘A country’s political future will drive its Economics' not the other way around. What kind of future do you want for Scotland? Independent or Dependent?

Is Winston Churchill a racist?

Today, I got a interesting Facebook forward on the role of British in the infamous 'Bengal Famine'. It had some quotes of Winston Churchill.

Some of his quotes on India  in the article are :

I hate Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion.

- In conversation to Leo Amery, Secretary of State for India. This quotation is widely cited as written in "a letter to Leo Amery"

Indians 'Breed like Rabbits'.

The above comments were disturbing to me and that made me to wonder whether 'Winston Churchill is a racist’? 

I was trying hard to not judge  him by the above quotes alone, because  politicians are often mis-quoted. I continued to read bit more over the Internet about Churchill, I came across the following quotes:
It is alarming and nauseating to see Mr Gandhi, a seditious Middle Temple lawyer, now posing as a fakir of a type well known in the east, striding half naked up the steps of the viceregal palace, while he is still organising and conducting a campaign of civil disobedience, to parlay on equal terms with the representative of the Emperor-King.

-          Commenting on Gandhi's meeting with the Viceroy of India, 1931

I do not admit... that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America, or the black people of Australia... by the fact that a stronger race, a higher grade race... has come in and taken its place.

-          Churchill to Palestine Royal Commission, 1937

The above 2 comments clearly shows his 'superiority' attitude.  

 My initial views on Churchill were too naive. All I knew was that he was British prime minister of the UK during the troubled period  is called 'Second World War'. I have seen few the old video and audio clippings of his speeches. What I did not know is that he is prolific writer and was awarded noble prize for his writing, especially, for his work on Second World War.

If you want to read Winston Churchill online (www.winstonchurchill.org ) is a good place to start. It’s interesting to see that he above centre is based in the U.S.

Here is my summary of his speech 'Our Duty in India':

Churchill views the Indian National Freedom movement as 'Brahmin oligarchy'. [I have heard similar views in communist writings in India (what many refer as 'vomiting' of western views in India), maybe this is their source]  He disapproves Gandhi's leadership. 

He ridicules Nehru as a benefactor of British Empire with the following quote

'Already Nehru, his young rival in the Indian Congress, is preparing to supersede him the moment that he has squeezed his last drop from the British lemon.'

For many of you,  who are already aware that Nehru was more British by his upbringing than Indian, the above comment will not be a surprise. 

 In his Churchill's own words India was easier to administer.

'Do not be disquieted by exaggerations of the difficulty of maintaining order in India which are spread about for interested motives by the Socialist ministers and their allies. In the whole of the disturbances of the last year - except on the frontier - scarcely a British soldier has been required. Very few people have been killed or severely wounded in the rioting'.

He clearly supports the Christian Evangelisation in India  and it will be impacted if the British leaves India.

'There are also nearly five million Indian Christians in India, a large proportion of whom can read and write, and some of whom have shown themselves exceptionally gifted. It will be a sorry day when the arm of Britain can no longer offer them the protection of an equal law.'

Here are my favorite quotes from his speech on 'Our Duty in India':

'The Hindus do not possess among their many virtues that of being a fighting race. The whole south of India is peopled with races deserving all earnest solicitude and regard, but incapable of self-defence. It is in the north alone that the fighting races dwell. '

'there dwell in India seventy millions of Moslems, a race of far greater physical vigour and fierceness, armed with a religion which lends itself only too readily to war and conquest. While the Hindu elaborates his argument, the Moslem sharpens his sword. '

The  question may still linger in your mind that 'Is Winston Churchill a racist'? The following incidents and statement from Leo Amery might throw some light.

During the infamous Bengal Famine, Leo Amery then Secretary of State for India and Burma and Viceroy of India, Wavell, tries had to convince Winston Churchill to get some food supply to India.  Churchill responded with a telegram to Wavell asking, "if food was so scarce, why Gandhi hadn't died yet."   The fact that about 4 million people died in the Bengal Famine will show how insensitive Churchill had been on the food supply to India at critical juncture. 

"Naturally I lost patience," Amery records, "and couldn't help telling him that I didn't see much difference between his outlook and Hitler's, which annoyed him no little."

References:

1. The facebook forward that i received on Bengal Famine

http://www.sanskritimagazine.com/history/chilling-portrait-indias-forgotten-holocaust/

2. Article with similar view on the Bengal famine in the Telegraph:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/not-his-finest-hour-the-dark-side-of-winston-churchill-2118317.html

3. Churchill's Empire - book critical of Churchill

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Churchills-Empire-Richard-Toye-ebook/dp/B004PYDBTE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403256091&sr=8-1&keywords=Churchill%27s+Empire

4. There is a book review of the 'Churchill Empire' defending the Churchill.

http://www.winstonchurchill.org/learn/speeches/speeches-of-winston-churchill/105-our-duty-in-india

5. Defending Churchill in the review of  another book thats Critical of Churchill

http://www.winstonchurchill.org/learn/in-the-media/churchill-in-the-news/966-without-churchill-indias-famine-would-have-been-worse

6. Wikipedia article on Churchill

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill

  

AAP – The party is not revolutionary not even a new experiment.

As an active social worker (a swayamsevak) and a social observer for more than half of my life now, I have been part of election campaigns before.  My views here are not the views of a political commentator / an academic, but it’s the view of a normal social worker from the normal middle class background who has experience in working in the streets.

After the Delhi elections, some of my friends from Bharat, were surprised with of AAP winning so many seats and were wondering whether it’s a beginning of a new type of Indian politics. My humble response to them was the path taken by AAP is nothing new (or revolutionary) and it will not work in the long term, even if AAP managed to form a government in Delhi. (Nothing has changed in the last few months that will force me to change the above view.  AAP is progressing ! exactly as i anticipated. )

The following reasons for making the above statement.

1.       Political change will not bring about social reform.

Corruption is not a problem only at the government level.  It has pervaded all walks of national life.  Unfortunately the common man is also corrupt.  There was a similar view resonated in a Tamil weekly magazine by a retired IAS officer, who said people who are running AAP does not know how corrupt and selfish the common man has become now-a-days.  

Let me give a small example to drive home this point. Many of us would have stood in a queue in railway stations for getting tickets, have we not seen people who walk to the front of the  line asking people in the front of the line to get tickets for them as they don’t want to stand in the queue.  These are common people too. I am proud to say that I have fought with some of them in railway stations for their unfair selfish behaviour; unfortunately there is large number of them.   The point that I am trying to make here is ‘common man’ is not a qualification.

Coming from political family is not a qualification. Similarly being a common man is not a qualification for working for society.  Doing work for the society means we need people with some basic qualities (Love for the our samaj - i.e community, integrity in Character, a heart that can cry for others, a humble head, good team building skills and most importantly the ability to put organization above oneself - all the time).  People with those attributes don’t jump from sky and they are made in our neighborhoods and they rise up to become our leaders. The social movements that the produce such leaders bring about social change and not just a mere change in government. 

2.       Political change without adequate social reform will not be sustainable even if the political change happens.

We the people of Tamil Nadu over throw the Congress party in 1967. Mr Karunanidhi as per his own biography ( Nenjukku Nedhi – in Tamil meaning Justice for the heart) started his public life without another pair of cloths to change.  (Unlike Mr Arvind  Kejriwal whose family holidays in Singapore). Mr Karunanidhi started the political carrier from such humble background and we the people of Tamil Nadu elected such a common man and his party  to power (many of them were college students when winning elections).

Today his family(s) J  is one of the richest families in Asia or even may be in the world. (The additional s family is not a mistake as Mr Karunanidhi is known to be married 3 times with 2 wives still alive). After about 50 years of Dravidian party rule, Tamil Nadu is one of the backward states today (when compared to Gujarat) with poor roads, poor water supply and poor state of electricity supply just like many other part of Bharat.

Something similar happened in Assam. The students there decided to replace the government and succeeded (Assam Gana Parishad - AGP in short). The AGP contested the State Assembly elections held in December 1985 and swept the polls by winning 67 of the 126 seats apart from capturing seven of the 14 Lok Sabha (Parliament) seats, and formed the Government of Assam.  Unfortunately it did not result in any major development of the state of Assam nor did the infiltration from Bangladeshis into Assam stopped (one of the key points that AGP fought for – i.e. to end Bangladeshi Muslim infiltration)

3.   Particularly in the case of AAP that was born out of the India against Corruption movement

·        Most of the people who were part of the Anti corruption movement are not supporting AAP. (People like Sri Anna Hazare, Sri Baba Ramdev and  Smt. Kiran Bedi )

Some of them are even against AAP. Smt Kiran Bedi has openly come forwarded and conveyed her support for Sri Narendra Modi in the National election.

(https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=456639444466311&set=vb.435329576597298&type=2&theater )

·        AAP missed the golden opportunity: They were given chance to form the Delhi government but resigned on their own in less than 2 months.

·         A party with only a negative campaign that every other political party is bad will be become another bad political party. I can already see it in their behaviour

o   their anti-India Statements on Kashmir,

o   Muslim appeasement  by appealing to their community separately asking them to vote from them

o     Only Muslim AAP candidates contesting  in Muslim majority constituencies. (i.e. they are also playing the communal card like Congress)

·        AAP is another communist party with a new name. This is no secret about it and you can see it evidently in their calls to ask Maoists to join their party, we have communists in different flavours CPI (alphabets A to Z in brackets). Since there is a communist party almost on every capital letter after CPI, (instead of trying out CPI with lower case alphabet extensions) they might have wanted to try out a new name.  As Sri Subramanian Swamy quoted ‘AAP will become a text book study for many of our communist comrades’ on how to launch a communist party into main stream politics.

·         AAP- A party hyped by the media.  Lot of journalists have been part of the AAP (typically from the English press- many of them left  leaning). Some of them have been rewarded with seats in the National elections.  They can write whatever they want in their own respective media spear of influence  but winning elections needs different set of skills.

·         Most importantly, the following is the demography the supports AAP:

o   Smaller section of the educated middle class that still carry the ‘secular’ luggage.      These ‘secular luggage’ carriers are afraid to support BJP due to the so-called ‘unsecular’ stigma associated with it. (I used to carry that luggage too, then I decided to drop it and move on after understanding the social fabric of the nation –i.e.  India is secular only because it’s a Hindu nation. )

o     Minorities – who have been always tactical voters- generally voting for alternatives to BJP. Especially for Muslims  -supporting AAP willl makes them appear less communal! than Muslims supporting Akbaruddin Owaisi [from All India Majlis-e Ittihad al-Muslimin party].   Please don't feel bad, if you can’t pronounce that party name  J

The above constituents will not dent the BJP vote share, what you will see in the election results in 2014  is the erosion of vote share of congress and the ‘secular’ members of the ‘imaginary’ third front.

This will be the last election that AAP will be talked about in this large scale. In the next election they will be part of the long list of losers.