A Journey Across The Sand Dunes of Rajasthan 10

By Manuwant Choudhary

I am happy that the `Mahagatbandhan' for `Secularism' has won in Bihar....but I do worry why we have left secularism to mean simple `arithmetic' to be protected and defended by the likes of Laloo Yadav....

So today my appeal is to the people of India to reclaim the essence of India.

Otherwise, we will continue to elect the Modi's to power...`Ab Ki Baar Money Sarkar' !

Yet, if I tell you that India is not a secular country you may think I am batting for the RSS.

But that is exactly what  Minoo Masani, a member of India's Constituent assembly that framed India's constitution in 1949, told me.

He said India was not a `Secular' country and that is the reason why after debates we decided not to include that word in the Indian constitution...

So if its not Secular then what is India supposed to be?

He explained, "India cannot be Secular..because Secular in its strict sense means to be anti-religion...so if we call India Secular it is wrong...since India is a deeply religious country..with its thousands of gods...so if you ask me I would say our constitution when it was framed was `non-denominational'..that is the government was not to have a religion or favoured religion...."

So in reality `Non-denominational' is what we mean by `dharmnirpeksh' or the equal treatment of all religions.

This word would also give equal treatment to the non-believers or atheists.

But Indira Gandhi in the national emergency introduced two words into the preamble of the Indian constitution...`Secular and Socialist' so now we have a situation that liberal parties cannot even contest elections,,,while a communal BJP rules India !

But right through my journey across the deserts of Rajasthan I came across stories of how Hindus and Muslims co-exist peacefully....they do not really have to be at war.

Like at this temple Tanot Devi at Tanot..just 10 kms from the Pakistan border...we saw a pir baba housed in the same temple as the Devi and both Hindus and Muslims worship together.

The story is that in the 1971 war when Pakistan attacked the temple complex...none of the shells that landed here exploded...so the diety has all the unexploded Pakistani shells around her even now !

Tano Devi is actually an incarnation of Hinglaz Mata in Balochistan...in Pakistan...and both represent `Shakti' or Durga....

Alone under a tree in a desert camp... with a full moon looking down at me through the branches...my mind wandered across the fenced international border with Pakistan....

....to an India of the Hindu Kush mountains...when we were all safe...even Allah..and all our Gods....

A Journey Across The Sand Dunes of Rajasthan 9

By Manuwant Choudhary

I am not sure about others but for some years now I am not interested in speeches from Delhi's Red Fort, extempore or otherwise.

What interests me are stories like Longewala...

I am told Sunny Deol's film Border is based on this famous battle.

But watching a film is nothing like actually being at Longewala...

While India was focussed on the eastern front..liberating Bangladesh...Pakistan attacked India at this point on the western front...

First a tank moved in but it got stuck in the sands...so it called for back-up...soon a crane arrived...accompanied by some force and a Pakistani brigadier....like some siblings fighting over land....in the cover of darkness they tried to shift the Indian border pillar some 10 kms here...

It all happened on the the night of 4th-5 December 1971.

A lone gunner and some soldiers stood guard at this Indian post..the back-up forces were 70 kms away....

The Pakistani's did not see them....

The Indians sent an SOS but they all knew that the back-up could not arrive immediately...

The soldiers had just two choices, either they face the assault or they retreat.

They chose the former.

The lone gunner took his aim and boom....the Pakistani tank was destroyed, alongwith the crane and the Pakistani brigadier killed...

More Pakistani tanks followed but the few Indian soldiers obstructed them and died here fighting until Indian airforce gave them air-cover and destroyed the Pakistani tanks completely.

36 Pakistani tanks were destroyed here and so Longewala is called `a graveyard of tanks'...this was the highest number of tanks destroyed in battle since the second world war.

Forget the Red  Fort, this independence day and every other day always say a prayer for the lone soldier who stays awake on the frontlines...in the line of fire...only to protect us. 

A Journey Across The Sand Dunes Of Rajasthan 8

By Manuwant Choudhary

The top story is that India's Home Minister Rajnath Singh is a rubber stamp !

Its been discovered that files for top appointments don't even come to him...instead it goes directly to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and in the end it is sent to Rajnath Singh and he just has to sign on the dotted line.

In parliament when the Congress MP Digvijaya Singh raised the matter..Rajnath Singh flustered for words....

But was there ever a doubt that Rajnath Singh was a rubber stamp?

It was he as BJP President who rubber-stamped Narendra Modi to Prime Ministership...

And Modi simply bulldozed his way to the top !

Modi is at best a bully...and even his best attempts to playing the good guy by giving money to Nepal and Bhutan does not win him trust.

Its like Amjad Khan (Gabbar Singh) being asked to play hero !

But as I travelled across the deserts of Rajasthan I came across milestones...with Barmer written on it.

And I thought of Jaswant Singh.

Barmer is far..very far...and I wondered how difficult it would be not just to contest an election from this place but even to nurture this constituency.

Jaswant Singh was born in a princely family and he joined the Indian army having been selected as a cadet at the National Defence Academy.

But at as an army officer he went up to his boss and told him he wanted to resign.

When the boss asked him why he told him that he wanted to write a book and he didn't have time...

On seeing the young officers hurry, the senior officer asked him, "How old are you?"

Jaswant Singh replied, "21".

The officer laughed at him and refused to accept his resignation, "You are 21 and you say you don't have time...The Indian army is the only place where we have all the time..we don't know what to do with it..."

Jaswant Singh resigned again later...this time he told his boss he was getting into politics...

It is the tall leader Bhairon Singh Shekhawat (later India's vice-president) who mentored him to join the Jana Sangh and later the BJP.

Jaswant Singh went on to become India's foreign minister and finance minister.

He is among India's few politicians who has a perfect website (yes, its better than Narendra Modi's website)...check it out at jaswantsingh.com.

He writes there how he never got any pension but what he learnt in the army was his real pension.

Jaswant Singh is a soldier-politcian.

Always dressed in a safari-like shirt with flaps on his shoulders..he did not quite fit the Indian politician mould.

And Swapan Dasgupta writes that its quite amazing how someone like Jaswant Singh could remain on the front benches of Indian politics for such a long time.

Of course, Swapan Dasgupta questions Jaswant Singh's loyalty when he rebelled against the BJP when they did not give him a ticket.

But I would  not think like that....Jaswant Singh is simply the right man in the wrong party.

So it did not surprise me one bit when he chose to contest in Barmer as an independent...and fight for his honour.

I have covered a few pressers of Jaswant Singh and I must admit I never could get myself to do a sit down interview with him...because I may perhaps not comprehend his English fully.

In the Lok Sabha when Jaswant Singh spoke you would think its the House of Commons !

Jaswant Singh is more British than the British.

I would not have written about him..but he unlike other BJP leaders openly condemned the 2002 Gujarat riots and even revealed how Prime Minister Vajpayee wanted to sack Narendra Modi but Advani prevailed over Vajpayeeji...."Bawaal Ho Jayega..."

But Jaswant Singh's interests were for the BJP...not to destroy the party but to make it broader...more appealing and just.

But he is not a very popular leader within the BJP...and people did not quite understand why Vajpayee gave him such importance...Swapan Dasgupta enlightens us that people uncharitably said Vajpayee was over-awed with Jaswant Singh's English.

What made matters worse was that like Advani praised Jinnah and got into trouble...Jaswant Singh went a step ahead and wrote a book praising Jinnah !

Both paid a huge price.

Jaswant Singh disagrees with the Indian view that Jinnah was a demon as well as with the ideography view of Jinnah in Pakistan...

But like in Pakistan...Indian politics too has no place for truth or liberals !

Jaswant Singh lost the elections.

The new BJP is in power and  Ajit Doval has become the National Security Advisor to PM Modi...

Doval is the same man involved in the negotiations in the release of terrorists when Kandahar hijacking took place...and he was critical of Jaswant Singh accompanying the terrorists to Kandahar.

What was worse was when Advani said he was not a part of the decision to send Jaswant Singh to Kandahar.



Jaswant Singh got a reprimand not just from the RSS but a bad press too.

Yet, the fact often missed is the bravery...we must not forget India did not recognise the Taliban government and it was a very difficult moment for India to even figure out whom to talk to...

So Jaswant Singh's presence itself meant something to the Taliban....and to Indians back home.

Jaswant Singh did not go to return the terrorists as `honoured guests'..but to bring back 157 Indians held hostage at Kandahar....

Only Jaswant Singh could have done that...

The mornings papers have a routine report `Jaswant Singh Critical', he remains in coma after a fall at his Delhi home....

Jaswant Singh loved his wine and Scotch. (he was even accused of serving drinks laced with opium)

Do not hold all that against him...

Instead heed his warning against the new BJP that rules India....

India remains critical.

A Journey Across The Sand Dunes Of Rajasthan 7

By Manuwant Choudhary

Our guide at Jaisalmer Fort had warned us about guides at Sam sand dunes they could cheat you...and sure enough we were swarmed by them promising us to take us on a camel safari upto `Sunset Point'.

I had never done a camel ride before.

First you get onto the camel, once seated...the camel is told to rise...but this can be quite tricky...its almost like a roller coster..and if you don't hold on tight you could tumble on your face.....

But once its up..then its a very comfortable...I'd... lets say..journey to Afghanistan...and won't feel  a thing...

But barely had we climbed a dune..the camel-walla...a boy named Ali stopped and said...`Here it is....?'

We looked around and asked, "Where? Er...emmm....what??"

Ali, "Saheb, this is it..Sunset Point !"

We argued without success that he had promised us a ride over the dunes...

So we had to look around and yes the sun was there alright but it was blistering hot...and even though it was evening...it was hardly the sunset we imagined...with some trick posturing with my cellphone camera I managed to get some pictures though...

In the distance we could hear some Gujaratis boisterously cheering some desert nautch girls and throwing Gujarati currency on them...

They must have definitely voted for Narendra Modi....

And there were beer bottles littered around the lovely dunes..left overs from midnight parties earlier....

Despite India's beauty...we do not get enough tourists because of the way we mob them and also because of our poor civic standards.

But then I noticed a Gujarati family seated on the dune..attempting to get the best of the sunset...

They were sober and looked educated but they too must have voted for Modi.

The women wanted to appreciate the sunset...but the man...seemed disappointed....I overheard him interrupt them..."What sunset? This is no sunset...they don't know what a sunset is....The sunset from Tiger Hill in Darjeeling is what a sunset is..."

I smiled quietly and thought he must be a lucky man..because in my 11 years at Darj I never got to see the sunset at Tiger Hill...

Actually, Tiger Hill is famous for its `Sunrise' !

And what efforts we made..getting up at 4 am...in all that chill...and roaring up the slopes on rusty  Land Rovers..only to find ourselves in thick white...

And you can't blow away the clouds...

We would have coffee and return....

But yes both sunrises and sunsets in Darjeeling are memorable..nothing like it...

But we argued with Ali once more about Sunset Point...

What is a Sunset Point? There are no boards to suggest that this is Sunset Point...

The sun sets from every point in the world...

Like even the sunset on the Arabian sea at Bombay's Marine Drive is beautiful.

I have not been to Goa but Atal Behari Vajpayee would always choose Goa for his `Chintan' Baithaks..and his photos with the sunset looked lovely....

I won't blame the Gujaratis for the littered beer bottles because that could be the act of beer guzzling Punjabis....they are so boisterous on flights returning from Bangkok...if I was an airhostess I'd jump out...

But I suspect Gujaratis love only sunrise, not sunset....

(To be continued....next on the Mahabharata within the BJP)

A Journey Across The Sand Dunes Of Rajasthan 6

By Manuwant Choudhary

Jaisalmer is by far the most amazing of Rajasthan's fort towns...its built in yellow sandstone and people actually live in the fort..so its refered to as `The Golden Living Fort'!

Built in 1156 AD by the Bhati Rajput ruler Rao Jaisal, the city gets its name from him....this used to be an important part of the ancient trading routes that linked India to Persia and Egypt.

The fortress is beautiful...and Golden...a guide took us around...and he explained how the kings lived here in the olden times and nothing existed beyond the fort walls. 

Just Brahmins and Rajputs live here as they were the ones brought here by the Rajpur rulers - the Brahmins to perform the pujas and the Rajputs to fight the battles.

People here have some fascination for films...even as I stood simply awed at the marvel that Jaisalmer is..our guide explained how Satyajit Ray made a film based on this fortress called `Sonar Kella' or `The Golden Fort.'

The film itself is based on a novel which is a mystery thriller about a Bengali boy who can recall his previous life and he sees treasures hidden in a golden fort...what follows are kidnappings, suspense, greed and disappoinment.

I know Bengalis love all things golden but if I was a film director I would not have made a Bengali film here but rather a film on the people living within the fortess...

Satyajit Ray should stick to Sonaar Bongaal ! (Golden Bengal)

The guide also showed us in the distance, "That is the Patwon Ki Haweli...its very beautiful.....they were the tradesmen who were very rich and they also sponsored the wars fought by the kings here..."

And we could see large boulders perched at the fort ridges ready to be pushed at enemies below...but it is said boiling oil and water also formed a part of the forts defences.

The fort was captured by Alauddin Khilji and remained in captivity for 9 years and the Rajput women killed themselves at the time...later Mughal ruler Humayun also captured the fort.

Even in ancient India Rajasthan defended India like no other region..from the Mongols to the Khiljis to the Mughals...so honour and valour is a part of their landscape.

And this is what I would call a room with a view !

Jaisalmer has some amazing modern palace hotels...the best of them being Suryagarh...the top room rents are Rs.35,000 per night only !

I wish to revisit Jaisalmer but I'd stay at the ancient fortress and watch the sunset over the city below....I imagine by nightfall everything would turn from gold to diamonds !

A Journey Across The Sand Dunes of Rajasthan 5

By Manuwant Choudhary

This photo I took at Pushkar could be a scene in the Bollywood film..Ramleela !



Of course, Ramleela was based in Gujarat.

But it portrays the violent India we live in.....an intoxicating concoction of  violence dressed in tradition and modernisation (as in a cellphone)...

My nephew who lives in England visited his village in Bihar and he told me that he could not understand why Indian villages have no electricity or toilets but they have five cellphone towers !

30 years ago Rajasthan was more peaceful.

We stayed in a small town called Gangapur in Bhilwara....and in a month the only crime report that appeared in a newspaper was a theft...within a few hours the thief was caught..and the thief was a Bihari !

I'm not a Shiv Sainik.

But now there are high-profile kidnappings in Rajasthan..and crime news is a daily event...even rapes..and the criminals are not just Biharis.

The Hindu right wing Bharatiya Janata Party is in power.

Driving down from Ajmer to Jodhpur you can see just barren land....stony...and treeless.

The highway is wider and in a planned way modern dhabas have come up which is a nice concept.

So its not hard to guess why so many have migrated from Rajasthan...over the years....long before Rajasthan began its journey to industrialise. Now it has a very rich textile industry and stone industry...

I often tell the owner of `Rajasthan' restaurant in Patna that I will open a restaurant in Jaipur  called `Bihar'!

Its the marwaris I am talking about...as our car entered Jodhpur..I realised this region is called Marwar...

The marwaris are India's traditionally trading communities..and it is them who have done remarkably well in post-independent India.

Most left Rajasthan with nothing but a `lota' (a utensil to drink water), today they run small businesses in every nook and corner of India...some like the Birla's are household names..while L.N. Mittal is a global tycoon.

Even now it is economic interests that keep Marwaris glued to where they live...but its never a problem for them....if economic interests demand... they move...

That could be a secret to their success amongst other things like hard work...and the single-minded pursuit of money and profits.

But once rich they also do charity like no other community, they are religious if only it may be to redeem their sins.

But Indians have a lot to learn from the Marwaris.....if India wants to become an economic superpower.

As you enter Jodhpur all you can see is the dome of a palace..its called `Umaid Bhawan'....

It houses a 5 star hotel and a museum and the private residence of the Maharajah of Jodhpur....

Its beautiful and the driveway to the palace is lovely...you can spot peacocks here and they will even pose for you.

The Maharajah it seems is building apartments below and they look modern and upmarket for NRIs perhaps..but much better  than the ones in our cities....though it may be expensive...But living here you will look like his subject.

I would rather buy an old fort like Mehrangarh !

A Journey Across The Sand Dunes of Rajasthan 4

By Manuwant Choudhary

Indian journalists have simply lost the plot.

They are highlighting Natwar Singh as though his name never figured in the UN's Volcker Report...on corruption in the Oil For Food program...

Did it not become Oil For Food & Money Program...and Saddam Hussein regime happily obliged.

Or was this money meant for the Congress Party?

I am not saying Sonia Gandhi is without fault but let us not crucify her for the wrong reasons.

Otherwise you will get another book..this time by Suresh Kalmadi !

As for Mr. Natwar Singh he should know better `The Nehru-Gandhi family does not wear old shoes !'

But why just Sonia Gandhi,  in ancient India we did not even spare our Gods.

The Pushkar Lake  is said to be created from Shiva' s teardrops after his wife Sati passed away but the other story is that the gods released a swan with a blue lotus in its beak and wherever the lotus fell the lake was created for Brahma to perform the Mahayagya..

                                        Brahma is the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer.

The story is that Brahma wanted to perform a yagya (a prayer) at Pushkar Lake to overcome the demon who was killing people...but his wife Saraswati or Savitri did not arrive on time so he married Gayatri a Gujjar girl...only so as to perform the puja.

But when Sarawsati heard of this second marriage she was angry and she cursed Brahma that he would never be worshipped anywhere and  allowed only one temple for Brahma in the entire world.

So the only Brahma temple in the world is at Pushkar.

But people pray to Brahma only at the lake...at the Brahma temple no offerings are made...just a darshan...even Muslims come here..(and no I am not suggesting they are Muslim Hindus like Goa's Christian Hindus !)

I think Brahma is a lucky God.

At least he is not thronged by the crowds of people from all over asking for this and that...like our other 3000 Gods.

The blessings of Brahma and Saraswati is important for creativity and knowledge and solving the worlds problems.

He is also known as the timekeeper for the universe...

I wonder why Saraswati was late at the Mahayagya...and no not just women, all Indians are so poor at keeping time.

The book to read is Mark Tully's `Non-Stop India'..in its opening he describes the scene at one of India's railway crossings, how the traffic builds up...and how slowly a long train passes and how leisurely the gates are opened...and what follows is a complete jam in the middle of the railway track !

I wonder how many stops our Bullet Train will have ?

But somehwere I get this feeling Brahma married Gayatri because she must have been very beautiful.

My neice gifted me a nice leather shaving bag....on it was written....

"Happily Unmarried"!!!