YAKSHAPRASHNE TO DONATION

The Mahabharatha is being reinvented and several versions have struck the airwaves. The most fascinating episode in the epic, in my humble opinion, is the Yakshaprashna, which is normally relegated to a fable. The mere recounting of each question and the answer is a reminder of the obvious. I happened to get a larger number of these on the website  http://www.dharmasastra.net/yaksha.htm     and with due apologies reproduce some of them hereunder ( Forced to remove most as the blog refuses to save all of them):

Q: How does a man become great? 
A:Man becomes great by Tapas (austerities). 

Q: How does a man become secure? 
A:Man becomes secure by courage. 

Q: How does a man becomes wise? 
A:He becomes wise by living with learned wise men. 

Q: What wealth is the best for those who want to live stable lives? 
A:Growing cows is the best that gives stable wealth. 

Q: Which strong, rich and clever man is considered as not breathing, even if he breaths? 
A:The one who does not look after Gods, guests, servants, ancestors and his own self is considered as not breathing, even if he breaths. 

Q: Which is heavier than earth? 
A:Mother is heavier than earth. 

Q: Which is taller than the sky? 
A:Father is taller than the sky. 

Q: Which is faster than wind? 
A:Mind is faster than wind. 

Q: Which is more in number than grasses? 
A:Worries outnumber grasses. 

Q: What does not move even after birth? 
A:Eggs do not move even after birth. 

Q: What does not have a heart? 
A:A stone does not have a heart. 

Q: Which is the vessel that can contain everything? 
A:Earth is the vessel which can contain everything. 

Q: Where does “heaven” normally reside? 
A:“Heaven” normally resides in truth. 

Q: Where does “pleasure” normally reside? 
A:“Pleasure” normally resides in good conduct. 

Q: What is the soul for man? 
A:Son (athmaja-born out of soul) is the soul for man. 

Q: By controlling which man will never be sad? 
A:By controlling the mind man will never become sad. 

Q: When does a country does not have life? 
A:When it does not have good rulers, it does not have life. 

Q: Which ritual to please manes does not have any result? 
A:When it is done without Vedic pundits, it does not give results. 

Q: When does a fire sacrifice not yield results? 
A:When adequate compensation is not given, it does not have results. 

Q: What is the way? 
A:The way of Godly men is the only way. 

Q: What is water? 
A:Sky is water 

Q: What is food? 
A:Food is beings 

Q: What is poison? 
A:Begging from others is poison. 

Q: What is the proper time to carry death anniversary? 
A:When you see a learned Brahmin, it is the proper time. 

Q: What is the grammar for austerity? 
A:Standing in one’s own Dharma (prescribed just action) is austerity. 

Q: What is “Dhama”? 
A:“Dhama” is controlling the mind. 

Q: What is the “best patience”? 
A:Bearing pleasures, sorrow, becoming great, being downgraded with equanimity is the “best patience”. 

Q: What is Jnana? 
A:Jnana (wisdom?) is knowing the real truth. 

Q: What is “Sama”? 
A:Being peaceful within mind is “Sama”. 

Q: What is the “best mercy”? 
A:Wishing for pleasures for all is the “best mercy”. 

Q: What is righteousness? 
A:Having the same attitude towards everybody is righteousness. 

Q: Who is the enemy who cannot be defeated by man? 
A:Anger is the enemy that cannot be defeated by man. 

Q: Which is the disease that has no end? 
A:Avarice is the disease that has no end. 

Q: Who is considered as a holy man? 
A:He who loves all and does good for all, is considered as a holy man. 

Q: Who is considered as “not holy”? 
A:He who does not have mercy is considered as “not holy.” 

Q: Which is considered as insensibility? 
A:Not understanding Dharma (just action?) is considered as insensibility. 

Q: What is honour? 
A:The pride in oneself is called honour. 

Q: What is laziness? 
A:Not doing Dharma (just action?) is laziness. 

Q: What is sorrow? 
A:Ignorance is sorrow. 

Q: What is considered as stability by holy men and sages? 
A:Steadfastly following one’s own Dharma is defined as “stability” by them. 

Q: What is courage? 
A:Controlling the five senses is “courage”. 

Q: What is a good bath? 
A:Cleaning the mind of the accumulated dirt is the good bath. 

Q: What is the best charity one can do? 
A:Saving life of others is the greatest charity one can do. 

Q: Who is fit to be considered as a scholar? 
A:He who knows Dharma (just action)) can be considered as a scholar. 

Q: Who can be considered as an atheist? 
A:He who does not believe in other worlds is an atheist. 

Q: Who is considered as an arrogant fool? 
A:An atheist can be considered as an arrogant fool. 

Q: What is passion? 
A:That which leads to birth and death is called “passion”. 

Q: Which is considered as “unhealthy competition.”? 
A:Unnecessary turmoil of the mind is “unhealthy competition.” 

Q: What is pride? 
A:Ignorance is pride. 

Q: What is snobbishness? 
A:Telling others that “I am the only follower of Dharma” is snobbishness. 

Q: What is considered as the special God called luck? 
A:The result of charity done by oneself is considered as “the special God called luck.” 

Q: What is considered as the bad habit of carrying tales? 
A:Enjoying telling news about others is this bad character. 

Q: When will the contradictory notions of wealth, passion and Dharma come together? 
A:When your wife and dharma agree with each other, then these concepts come together. 

Q: Which man will reach the indestructible hell? Please reply me quickly. 
A:Indestructible hell is continuously being born and dying in this world again and again. Some of the causes are: 
•Tempting a poor Brahmin with charity of wealth and not giving it. 
•Telling lies in the practice of Vedic rituals. 
•Not enjoying our own wealth and not using to help others also. 

Q: By what, O king, birth, behaviour, study, or learning doth a person become a Brahmana? Tell us with certitude! 
A:Birth, learning of Vedas and knowledge of science are not necessary aspects of Brahmanism. It is due to one’s own character. One with good character never becomes bad and one with bad character is always considered as bad. He who is interested in rituals and who also has full control over his senses is the real Brahmin. 

Q: What does one who tells sweet words get? 
A:He becomes friends for everybody. 

Q: What does one who does planned actions get? 
A:He attains success. 

Q: What does one who has many friends get? 
A:He lives happily. 

Q: What does one who is attached to Dharma get? 
A:He attains salvation 

Q: Who attains happiness? 
A:He, who does not take loan, does not go to a foreign country for living and one who can cook and eat at least green leaves, is the one who attains happiness. 

Q: What is surprise? 
A:The fact that people thinking themselves as stable and permanent, in spite of seeing several deaths daily is surprising. 

Q: What is the path of Dharma? 
A:There is contradiction in teaching of Vedas as well as the teaching of several great sages. Apart from this the path of Dharma as explained by the learned is difficult to understand. 

Q: What is the event that happens daily? 
A:The earth is a very big cooking vessel. Sky is the lid to this vessel. The cook called Time puts all movable and immovable things in to this vessel. He takes the firewood of night and day and lights them up with Sun. He stirs it with ladles called seasons and months and this happens daily. 

Q:Who is called “purusha (man)” among those who are living and with all his desires fulfilled? 
A:Good deeds done with no interests in the fruits or with interests in its fruits, make one’s name spread in heaven and earth. Till his fame lasts, he is called “Purusha” 

Q: Who pervades in everything? 
A:He who considers desire and hatred, pleasure and pain, what is coming and what is being lost etc with equanimity is called “Brahma Jnani (knower of Brahman)” and he is the one who pervades in everything. 

Even as one is startled by the ton of queries, I began pondering as to whether there could be a perpetual life without rebirth. At this juncture, I also happened to be reading the blog Cyber Diary which spoke of eye donation. This only took me to another website http://www.zcck.in which provided more succour to more persons. I have now done my bit would the others follow suit?

NATURE'S ANSWER TO TRAVEL APATHY

It was one of those days I abhorred as we were set to travel. Travelling has never been on my list of favourites and to be travelling on road for over 6 hours had a prejudiced mind as additional baggage. With little choice, I heaved myself on to the rear seat of the Innova while my friend took the navigator's seat on account of his extra long limbs. The middle row was taken by my bosses. Even as the morning sun was rising with benevolence on the travellers, I hmmed and hawed responses as I peered out of the sealed window panes. My friend was not being very helpful as he engaged in a conversation with the person behind the wheel. With a couple of stops for refreshments and taking nature into the stride, we were well on our way to reach the destination. Nature had something else in store as a large tree had yielded to the gravitational pulls and presented a hurdle which to be surmounted. The villagers displayed their belief in treating the crisis as an opportunity. While some went about sawing, a few others were exercising their rugged muscles on the roadblock. The urbane lot chose to pass the wry comments which ranged on the ineptitude of the people in not envisaging the tree fall, to some even helpfully instructing that trees ought not to be planted on highways while the others felt that by leaning on their horns they were adding their mite to the people at work.

As yours truly watched the entire theatre of the absurd, it took little time to realise that I was the leader of this urbane crowd being a mute spectator with little display of any proactive approach. Even as I pondered on this aspect, my friend had unleashed his GPRS enabled gadget and identified that a small pathway on the left a few yards away could act as a by pass. He spoke to the riders and drivers to create a pathway from where we were parked to the entry point of the bypass. Soon with the presence of his mind and the way indicated on the gadget. we were balancing ourselves on a bund like structure amidst areca fields winding our way to the destination of Shivamogga.

The journey had the elements of the thrills of a Himalayan expedition with the man at the wheel negotiating hairpin bends whilst cyclists challenged the right of path by negotiating from the opposite side without as much as even attempting to dismount. Hardpressed for the feast of the eyes which lay on both sides with areca in a straight line which would put a geometry expert to shame and their elegance enhanced by the laden plantain shrubs amidst them vying for attention with streaming canals and the nonchalance of the village folks, I had forgotten my urbane roots as well as my hatred for travelling.

Within minutes we had reached the highway and the nature's unrivalled feast merely lingered on in the mind. In contrast we hit on to one of the best patches of roadways I have ever set foot on. A total contrast within a space of a few kilometres. As we set foot on the land at Shivamogga, I did not fail to place my appreciation for the presence of mind of my friend and gratitude for the feast he placed before us. At the time of our return, he gave us another opportunity to sail through another set of such fields. 

The travel taught me several lessons - the most significant one was the realisation that bereft of travel I was the typical kupa manduka - the frog in the well.  Rejuvenation by nature is better any day compared to artificial methods. Months have rolled by but the experience remains fresh - nature fresh - in my mind.

WITH MALICE - A TRAIN OF THOUGHTS

A gutsy sardar has been felled on the last of the nervous nineties just short of a memorable century. The man who dared to differ and court controversies enjoyed the admiration of even his most vocal critics. Khushwant Singh -the unforgettable Sardar with a Scotch and a leer endeared himself to men and women alike as he could speak of their base instincts with the ease which was the envy of most. His Illustrated Weekly of India was the altar at which yours truly was baptised into the realm of current affairs. The ravishing portraits and sketches apart, it presented the other side of the famed Goenka version of Emergency. His malice was an education to look at things with varied perspectives. In later years, this made each of us wonder whether we were hypocritical in not voicing these concerns or emoting as he did. 

An unforgettable piece was on the demise of  his wife and also as to how he rated Advani though a teetotaller to be impractical. Any other person who had half the temerity of the Sardar would have invited a violent reaction from the saffron brigade but not this evergreen hero. His penchant to needle the people in power and his lust for life remain remarkable but ---

his best would remain the Train to Pakistan which in all probability introduced the mega serial concept to Indian Television by Buniyaad. The Train to Pakistan would make a Godse think of the other side of the coin. It freezes the blood of a post Independence born and makes the peninsular India which was largely insulated to hope for the moment of healing of the wounds. The range from this to his Joke book have been amongst my favourites and the desire to celebrate his life in the form of this tribute could not be held back for long.

Sardar Khushu -as yours truly fondly referred to him - Good night!!! Happy Journey!!!

YEAR END MUSE

The emergence of another year is round the corner and many a momentous experience would again be consigned to the leaves of history as we move on with new aspirations and expectations. The month has been tumultuous and the most lasting moment, undoubtedly, has been the graceful adieu bid by the tallest leader at least yours truly has had occasion to share the planet. As channels, magazines, newspapers and others vied with each other to place the year in perspective, yours truly sought to place the year in perspective on some discoveries.

The year was essentially one of friendship. The movement to another place with friends giving their all to place yours truly in comfort zone and the reorganisation bringing back contacts with some friends in the organisation. The interim period had been one of development. One facet that emerged was one of my friends sharing his writing skills which showcased his keen thought process embedded in striking small sentences which provoked the thought process in the reader. One of the verses he had placed in an article and lingered on is extracted for posterity

“Oh, wearisome condition of humanity,

Born under one law, to another bound,

Vainly begot and yet forbidden vanity,

Created sick, commanded to be sound.

 What meaneth nature by these diverse laws,

 Passion and reason, self-division’s cause?”

                                                                                 - FULKE GREVILLE

Similarly, yours truly had the occasion to meet a long lost friend albeit for a short span in a new avatar (somehow the term incarnation seems to be woefully short in translation). He had emerged as a master in reunions. Merging persons who had met over 25 years back into a single forum with meticulous planning exposed the shortfall in our systems in tapping hidden talents. Marvelling at this man's dedication to reach out and share the treasure trove moments of the reunion which humbled yours truly with a lesson in friendship.

Earlier in the year about a dozen had anchored a lesson in leadership by bringing almost all our college day classmates together with the lecturers too. This lesson was coupled with another reunionist from college days who had singlehandedly masterminded a souvenir which showed that the will paves the way. As yours truly picked the souvenir and was spellbound by the layout, the preface - the truth surfaced.

They were no Mandela or icons. However, a question also arose would yours truly ever be able to match any of them who ventured to provoke a thought in another effortlessly? - probably a goal to set for the years to come.

MADIBA - TRIBUTE MUSE

Five years short of a magnificent ton, Rolihlala Dalibhunga Mandela who chose to ignore small irritations to achieve larger good has bid adieu on his terms as Nelson Mandela. His walk to freedom from the long medical treatment was parallel to his walk to freedom. The man who restored the pride to the dark handsome men of fiction to reality and stood as a rock between any violence or revenge. Humanity should be proud that one of its species demonstrated that the future beckons and the past be left behind. Imagine a man incarcerated for 27 long years retaining his sanity, to negotiate the emergence of a rainbow nation with a representative of his oppressor. The magnanimity with he shared the Nobel with the iconic F W De Klerk was a beacon to itself. The Nobel which had rendered itself poorer by not adding the Mahatma to its feathered cap wasted no time and ensured that it would be richer by its association with Mandela. 

The man who made his clan proud as the world mourns "Mandela" more and less of Rolihlala has made our nation proud too by adorning the Bharat Ratna. He is one of those men who has made the persons around richer by his infectious laughter, immaculate vision, grit to pursue the dream and the success of implementing it to the last syllable. Yours truly could neither comprehend the persona nor his personal life. The magic of the man would however continue to befuddle. There are no vain dreams to emulate or follow. There is only a tall dream of at least admiring the legend of my lifetime.

The tribute would be incomplete but for reciting Invictus a poem of William Ernest Henley which was recited by the great legend every day in the prison

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods maybe

For my inconquerable soul

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced or cried aloud

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloiody but unbowed

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the horror of shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid

It does not matter how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate

I am the captain of my soul

All Heads of States and Governments especially those who are in conflict would do well to pay tribute to this great man on his demise by being personally present at his funeral. The soul would facilitate healing of the real and false wounds paving way for peace all round. This could be the only token tribute we could pay to this humanist who has made many icons like Lincoln, Martin Luther King. Helmut Kohl, Gandhi amongst others hope that many more would follow. The poet William Henley would marvel at the man who lived his muse till the last breath and would thank him for making it immortal. Will we be able to place this small wreath a token of our humble tribute or would we just be contented with words such as "an end of an era" or " we are poorer" or the much celebrated " light has gone out of our lives"? Ponder over as Madiba has hung his boots. The sportsperson in him could be remembered by handing over the baton of hosting the championship of all games in the near future to South Africa - an economic token to boost his favourite nation as well as to help it retain the fabric he weaved in a short span of time. 

Madiba would you not accept these tokens with the same grace which you have displayed through the trials and triumphs of life?

A TON FOR TWO GREAT MEN

It has been my firm belief that farewells at the time of retirement or demise are largely hypocritical and do not reflect the true sense of the goodwill garnered. This view was shaken exactly 16 days before the farewell of Sachin Tendulkar. One of the ever smiling colleague with his shade of hair still as dark as one could wish it to be and with his trademark greetings was to bid farewell to the organisation at the age of sixty. Being the only one to bid farewell the farewell was organised in the conference hall but had to be moved to the auditorium. Even yours truly made it to be the part of the beeline to the auditorium. It was a matter of fascination that persons from every station he had served in were there and many with garlands and shawls. Some of the retired colleagues had ascertained the D day and were part of the felicitation. The more gifted ones lavished poems while the less gifted shared their experiences and the introverts warmed their hearts in the deluge. Finally. the guest of the day rose to speak and his first sense of gratitude went to his parents who left him with a caring sister who chose siblings over marriage. The saga stunned everyone as his domestic woes had at no time been reflected in his work or attitude to workmates. He wholeheartedly thanked his family for the support.

Cut and move to the day 16 days later. The iconic Sachin was bidding farewell. Many of the similarities were striking me. His sister Savita had gifted the first willow. His brother was his mentor and his Guru's appreciation was ultimate to him. The dedication of every feat went to his parents. A nation was moved to tears and the normally dormant Government acted to confer the Bharat Ratna. Even this did not cause any controversy as to the likes of Dhyanchand, Fereira, Anand and others being overlooked. Media covered it exhaustively.

The two farewells spoke of the manner in which the persona in question had dealt with their lives. Both thanked their families for bearing with their frustrations. Both thanked their friends for seeing them through highs and lows. 

It is only natural that whilst many records fell in felicitating these two men, the best tribute yours truly could pay was to dedicate to the centurion and the smiling genius the hundredth blog. 

APEX COURT'S VERDICT - A TRIBUTE TO SARDAR PATEL

Six decades later the Sardar is making the headlines again. There is suddenly a tussle for his legacy as well as to appropriate him. The question of who will be entitled to pay a tribute and the manner of the tribute is also likely to make the Iron Man wonder as to whether his memory should have even resurfaced.

At this very hour, the Supreme Court has quietly and effectively paid its tribute by handing a judgement which is touted to unshackle the bureaucrats much against the opinion of yours truly as reminding the bureaucrats of their role. Even as the epitaph of imperialism was being written in India by its Constituent Assembly, a debate raged as to whether the bureaucracy in its form needs to be retained. There were many a legendary figures who were led by their patriotic fervour over the rationale to write off the bureaucracy and put a new form of administration in place. The Sardar led the defence of retaining them by pointing to the diverse fabric of the nation and the need to have a continuous chain which could effectively administer even as the political winds change. In his own words, “There was no alternative to this administrative system….The Union will go, you will not have a united India, if you have not a good All India Service, which has the independence to speak out its mind, which has a sense of security …. If you do not adopt this course, then do not follow the present Constitution…. This constitution is meant to be worked by a ring of service, which will keep the country intact. There are many impediments in this Constitution, which will hamper us. ….. These people are the instruments. Remove them and I see nothing but a picture of chaos all round the country.”

On the same day the Sardar delivered a sterling message to Parliamentarians, bureaucrats and citizens alike which cannot be better rendered than in his own words which were , "When Mr. Hender son came here to settle this question of the Services, he had long discussions with me. He said that before the transference of power arrangements should be made to the satisfaction of the Parliament, that transference of power will take place only when guarantees are given to the members of the Secretary of States' services, each individual member of which has a Covenant with the Secretary of State for permanency and for certain other guarantees. More than fifty per cent. of the Secretary of State's services were Europeans. Britishers, and the rest were Indians. It was then suggested by him that there should be a treaty between England and India on this question. The suggestion was also made that they should begiven due compensation if they have to leave the Services because they would not like to serve in the Indian administration, and that they should be given proportionate pension. Their status, their time-scale of pay, everything was

to be settled before any question of transfer of power could be considered.

Now, I had long negotiations and it was then a joint Government of the Muslims and the Non-Muslims. It was an all-India Government at that time and these negotiations resulted in certain conclusions which were placed before the Cabinet-it was a joint Cabinet at the time-and they were accepted by them. Then those conclusions were sent to Parliament and it was accepted there.

Many of the Europeans who were in the services here have left now, but when the negotiations were going on, I told them to leave the case of Indians to us, that we shall deal with them as we deemed just, that they will trust us and we will trust them; and finally they agreed on certain conditions.

 Now, I wish to point out that hardly anybody raised any objection to the arrangements that we were making at that time, but if they had suspected us. then there was plenty of scope at that time for them to come out and get better terms from outside agencies. Even now, if you are not willing to keep them, find out your substitute and many of them will go; the best of them will go. I wish to assure you that I have worked with them during this difficult period I am speaking with a sense of heavy responsibility-and I must confess that in point of patriotism, in point of loyalty, in point of sincerity and in point of ability, you cannot have a substitute. They are as good as ourselves, and to speak of them in disparaging terms in this House, in public, and to criticise them in the this manner, is doing disservice to yourselves and to the country. This is my considered opinion.

 Now, I will give you another series of facts which will convince you why guarantees were given. You had seen what was happening in the Punjab. In the five districts where havoc was being wrought, five British officers were in power and nothingcould be done. I tried to get the District Magistrate of Gurgaon transferred. I could not succeed, and the British officer there arrested leading Congressmen when they were not at fault and put them in jail as hostages; he had the cheek to write on the application presented to him by the President of the Bar Association there to the effect that those were innocent and they should not be arrested and that they should be released immediately, that those people were being kept as hostages. This is the way he was doing this business. I was shocked and I went to Gurgaon. I saw him coming on the way and I asked him, "Have you arrested people as hostages?" He said, "No, who told you?" Fortunately, I had the document with me on which he had made that endorsement, and I showed him the endorsement. He asked, "How did you get this?" I said," That is not the question. Is this your endorsement or not?" After that, I

tried hard, I wrote to the then Governor of the Punjab, I pleaded with the Viceroy, but I found it difficult to remove him, and you know the havoc that was played in Gurgaon an these other districts. It was not in the Punjab alone; in other places also many such things were done. It was a time of touch and go and we could have lost India. Then we insisted that we had come to a stage when power must be transferred immediately, whatever happens, and then we decided to resign. It was at that time that Lord Mountbatten came.

I give you this inner history which nobody knows., I agreed to Partition as a last resort, when we had reached a stage when we could have lost all. We had five or six members in the Government, the Muslim League members. They had already established themselves as members who had come to partitions the country. At that stage we agreed to Partition; we decided that Partition could be agreed upon on the terms that the Punjab should be partitioned-they wanted the whole of it-that Bengal should be partitioned-they wanted Calcutta and the whole of it. Mr. Jinnah did not want a turncated Pakistan, but he had to swallow it. We said that these two provinces should be partitioned. I made a further condition that in two months' time power should be transferred and an Act should be passed by Parliament in that time, if it was guaranteed that the British Government would not interfere with the question of the Indian States. We said, "we will deal with that question; leave it to us; you take no sides. Let paramountcy be dead; you do not directly or indirectly try to revive it in any manner. You do not interfere. We shall settle our problem. The Princes are ours and we shall deal with them." On those conditions we agreed to Partition and on those conditions the Bill in Parliament was passed in two months, agreed to by all the three parties. Show me any instance in the history of the British Parliament when such a Bill was passed in two months. But this was done. It gave birth to this Parliament.

 You now say, why did the leaders give these guarantees? In order to allow you to have an opportunity to attack the leaders on this very point. What else? You are responsible Members of the Parliament of a huge country. The Leader of this Parliament has been invited to America, the highest honour that could be done to him. He is treated with great respect. They are giving him all honours. You here say, "Why did the leaders give these assurances?" Think of the past. Why do you forget it? Have you read your own recent history? What is the use of talking that the service people were serving while we were in jail? I myself was arrested, I have been arrested several times. But that has never made any difference in my feeling towards people in the services. I do not defend the black sheep; they may be there. But are there not many honest people among them? But what is the language that you are using? I wish to place it on record in this House that if, during the last two or three years, most of the members of the services had not behaved patriotically and with loyalty, the Union would have collapsed. Ask Dr. John Matthai. He is working for the last fortnight with them on the economic question. You may ask his opinion. You will find what he says about the Services. You ask the Premiers of all provinces. Is there any Premier in any province who is prepared to work without the Services? He will immediately resign. He cannot manage. We had a small nucleus of a broken Service. With that bit of Service we have carried on a very difficult task. And if a responsible man speaks in this ton about these

Services, he has to decide whether he has a substitute to propose, and let him take the responsibility. This is not a Congress platform."

Imagine a situation emerging within six decades wherein the bureaucrats become yes masters as well as collude against the interests of the nation. The vision of the great man was in ruins. It is a matter of tragic travesty that while his adversary on this count Nehru respected the bureaucracy leading to names of offices such as HM Patel, T N Chaturvedi, Rau amongst a host of other luminaries figuring in the list which held the nation together, it was his own daughter, Indira who chose to undo several of these institutions. The gradual corrosion combined with the stinking rot needs to be stemmed by seeking inspiration from souls who could even sacrifice the post of Premier at the altar of the interests of the nation at large. 

It is a sterling message sent out by the judges of the Supreme Court. The question is whether we are ready to receive it and abide by it will be answered in the times to come. In the meantime, let us look for innovative methods of furthering the memory of the Iron Man. Let us also bury our differences as we pay such a tribute. Furthermore, the differences amongst ourselves should not be aired at the solemn moment of paying such a tribute. These would ensure that the Sardar is not unhappy even if it does not give him happiness.