Avenues

Questions are raised every now and then on my writeups on Prithviraj Chauhan on various aspects of his life and valour. It may help me if the questions are elaborate enough to give them proper coverage. I am thankful to my readers. The latest questions raised by Neerja Gupta, Ritika and Krupz are in relation to whether courtship between Prithviraj and Sanyokta was a take over from their earlier acquiantance or it was a sudden event and that how he died. These questions are joined by certain other readers putting their query more or less in the same manner. Historians differ on these points and theirs are the views contradictory to each other. Picking up all these varying versions together read in the context of events in totality, what is normally summed up is that (1) Both of them didn’t meet earlier but as Sanyokta had heard of chivalrous roles of Prithviraj, she developed a feeling of love for him which culminated into Prithviraj picking her up forcefully from the Swayamber that was organised by her father Jai Chand and (2) Prithviraj was a sharp shooter with a capacity to shoot his target with an arrow merely on hearing his voice. It was done at the instance of Chand Bardai, the court poet of Prithviraj. Mohd Ghori somehow escaped, took a revenge, got both him and Chand Bardai blinded, took them away from the country where they were killed. This is supposed to be correct in view of the fact that Mohd Ghori is said to have survived 6 years after the said shoot out. The other version is that Mohd Ghori was shot dead on the spot by arrows of Prithviraj.

Pensioners are nobody’s babes unless they assert themselves is what they are getting constrained to realise in the context of this community being denied their due continuously. Traditionally interpreted as some sort of an exgratia, pension issue is treated as such only by the respective powers that be always pushing back downward the very natural concept that it is as good a basic factor as any fundamentally strong issue. If welfare measures are to count, they are infact the ones who need and deserve more on that count. Resource wise whatever they get residually in the name of pension is too meagre an amount to meet their requirement at an advancing age demanding so much of medical care and liabilities that remained unattended during their period of active service. What is more a matter of concern is that pensioners themselves are not found offering the required assertiveness and they remain confined to looking up to those who have tendency to take the issue as a secondary matter. Strengthwise numerically the pensioners are in much bigger a number now, thanks to Voluntary Retirement Scheme, and they are quite capable of being counted as a force but mere force or numerical strength by itself is not enough unless the required activity is generated with an accelerated movement. Pensioners in general or those from Banking Industry or particularly those from State Bank of India may have to garner and mobilise their ranks not limpingly but vigorously to secure the rights which are very much otherwise due to them.Sustained struggle, and not an apologetic approach, is the answer to such problems.

Trade Union, organised and system based as it is today, is now a career and not just a mission of service as it used to be when the movement in that direction had a take off. There are records indicating that Trade Union movement in India started after 1923 but it is not correct on the face of the fact that it was already launched by the then Bank employees belonging to the then Imperial Bank of India (now State Bank of India) who emerged as such on amalgamation of the 3 Presidency Banks operating in the country. As a mission or as a career both ways this should be possible for the current generation of leaders to keep in mind that how difficult a task it might have been for the leaders to organise a struggle for workers cause those days. A synopsis signifying the take off level of the movement is given below. This is the day when we have to remind ourselves that whatever working class in the country is there it is there because of those martyrs. We salute them.

Azamgarh branch of State Bank of India is a tourist attraction particularly for those who are interested in freedom movement of India. It has a memorial named after Kunwar Singh,  the legendary warrior who fought against the then British rulers in mid 19th century. Traditionally belonging to a local rulers family he was the one who organised a strong morcha against foreign rule in the country and was able to capture several districts around Varanasi from their clutches. The mutiny march led by him to places like Rewa, Banda, Ballia, Ghazipur and Gorakhpur besides several other centers where Mangal Pandey was already recognized as a big terror became his concentration point in organising more and more of strength to foster the cause of freedom movement. On many an occasions he fought even single handedly and was able to overpower the enemies. Mangal Pandey and Kunwar Singh are the two names which are the subject matter of folklore forming part of stories in the families nearby Varanasi and Azamgarh even today. Kunwar Singh was in advancing age but even at the age of 80 he was a terror for the British army. British historian Holmes described him (the old Rajput, as he called him) as an extraordinarily sstrong fighter. He continues to be an inspiration whenever there is a talk on freedom movement of the country. Freedom was hardly possible if men like Kunwar Singh were not there.

Tantiya Tope, the great lieutenant of Nanaji Deshmukh was tortured and hanged to death by the then British rulers in Company Garden at Kanpur by the then British rulers. Now that a new startling version of the history has come to light that he was not hanged at all and lived long years of life after the incident, the entire history connection with the movement has taken entirely a new turn. It is also said that it was some one else who was hanged in place of Tantiya Tope. Whosoever might that man have been, he was certainly a great martyr for the reason that he died for the cause of the country and that he opted to save Tantiya Tope by disguising himself as such. The battle Tantiya Tope fought for the country and the tortures he had to undergo in the process in the hands of the British are the great parts of the history which factor none can erase. It looks satisfying that he survived the death sentence disappearing obliviously to remote places but how come the historians were ignorant of such a reality till now. The local history of Kanpur contains volumes on this subject mentioning him as a great martyr. Memoral Well in Company Garden of Kanpur and the big banyan tree by which he is said to have been hanged silently wear a testimony to this. History is truth and only truth on facts it is said but when there are clashes in describing the events it certainly causes suspicions on facts. After all history relating to mutiny in India is not a matter of thousands of years, it is spread over between two centuries and this should not be difficult to ascertain necessary factual reality.

Trying hard to write my posts on this favourite site of mine but have landed no where during the last several days. This one I am taking as a test without knowing as to what finally emerges in the matter. I just feel so shuddering on the very thought that this site may not remain functional. The support system of WordPress which I have been trying to apply for redressal of the problem too is closed. Am unable to ascertain any cogent reason for so ticklish a problem. Publishing this post is from the point of view of reaching a finality whether or not it works. I am yet to see this after I finish these scribblings of mine. I have already marked certain comments as spam deleting a few others even remotely doubted contents wise. The big problem lies when there are comments made by the readers in several varying languages and as I see it may not be possible for a blogger to know all the languages of the world.

Knowing a thing and not knowing it at all are phenominally two different factors but both have a capacity to give satisfaction, satisfaction to one who is knowledgeable and satisfaction to one who has no knowledge at all. There is lot to learn when you travel places from one location to other deriving informations both geographically and environmentally besides the social levels. Those who travel and have seen places and met different people do possess a thrilling experience to share with others. On the other hand there are people who did not move out of their village and never saw a city but they too do not lack the very realisation that they are much away from unnecessarily deriving knowledge on different counts which results into mental tension. I know some such persons who never had left their home on an outing and obviously they are the people who are conveniently without any worry which might have been caused to them had they known many a things about others. The great poet Tulsidas wrote Sabse bade hain moorh jinahin na vyapi jagat gati meaning thereby that those who are not to bother about acquiring knowledge on any count from outside are quite free of any sort of uneasiness. You go to interiors in remote areas, come across persons who are destitutes suffering from hunger and naturally develop a serious anxiety on that count which is always likely to take a turn of discomfort to you. You are unaware of such a situation, you are mentally all free with no sort of any strain on your mind. It ofcourse doesn’t justify ignoring the people who are in difficulty but situationally this is what matters from tension point of view. While touring in Orissa, I was told numerous stories on poverty stricken people in Kalahandi where for days together men, women and children in a family had to depend on tree leaves as their food. Such a version kept hovering around my mind for days together.Desirable or otherwise, the very fact that keeping ignorant of an unpleasant scenario enables a person to remain blissfully out of a worry can not be denied.

The words we use while talking or while writing are not necessarily the same as was their origin. Words assume different shapes and shades according to their usage from generation to generation and also from place to place. The saying that appropriately holds good on this goes like Kos kos par paani badle chaar kos par vani meaning that properties of water change after every kos (around 2KM distance) and the language undergoes a transformation after ever 4 kos (around 7KM distance). There are instances where the very original meaning of the word changes to a different sense of expression. Emperor Shahjehan who was a great contributor in Urdu language then in use talked of ‘havish’ which means ‘lust’. This usage got converted to ‘haus’ mainly in rural areas which is used to convey ‘fondness’. Fondness is somewhat quite opposite to ‘haus’. It is very popular amongst people to talk telling say ‘I am very fond of it’ or like ‘I am fond of history based films’. Contrary to this if some one says ‘..my havish is for films’ unless ofcourse he says ‘my havish is for blue films. Such a situation is not confined to a particular language or two, it applies to all the languages in the world be it English, Latin, French, German, Hindi or Sanskrit. Dictionaries are supposed to be an authentic source of interpreting word meanings with their correct spellings but they too have to fall in lilne with the ongoing conversions adopting the latest mode of usage in their list of words. Every thing in Universe is subject to change and so are the words.

Like there are many a questions raised every now and then on Prithviraj Chauhan in the context of my article posted on him in reply to a question raised by Yashica Singh, this one is in reply to query raised by Maria. Maria’s question is to know something more on Sanyokta (or Sanjokta as she has been called by many) and whether it is true that she opted to be the wife of a king who was already having 8 queens. It is actually a guess of some of the historians and may not be entirely true but the fact remains that in those days it was not uncommon, rather it was very common, not only for the kings but equally the commoners in the society to marry several times, a practice flagrantly in vogue then. One aspect that Prithviraj did have many a girls in his harem like other kings used to do which does not denote that all were his wives. Sanyokta fell for him and was unable to resist the temptation of becoming his life partner. There is a mention that her father Jai Chand was dead set against Sanyokta marrying Prithviraj for two reasons -one that her husband should not be a man, even if he happens to be a king, who can’t spare himself as a full timer for her and -two that he considered Prithviraj as his enemy. It was with this aim in mind that Jai Chand organised a Swayambar to see that her choice falls on some other king in the Swayamber and that she goes with him as his wife. Sanyokta was so deeply attracted to Prithviraj that she ignored all plans seeing to it that she goes with the man she loved so much. He  managed to pick her up before she was supposed to reach the Swayamber place, took her along on the horseback. There are versions that he was chased by the soldiers of Jai Chand but he was was strong enough to overpower them and escape. It is not very certain as to which exactly was the place from where he pickedup Sanyokta but the circumstances indicate that this place must have been Kannauj where Jai Chand ruled. Travelling all the way from there, Prithviraj had his first night with Sanyokta at Aamer Fort at Jaipur. The way she conducted herself in remaining with her lovemate through thick and thin continuing at times with him even during some war was going on proves that hers was a real true love for him and not of a kind of so so. She was extraordinarily beautiful, she was brave, she was committed, she was great.

Practicing non-violence is a noble mission and they are really great who do so. Injuring none, causing no violence to any human, animals,birds or even other creatures on earth including those not visible but very much present in the air is the kind of approach made to see that none is harmed in any manner whatsoever. It was Lord Budha, Mahabir Swami or even Mahatma Gandhi, they all preached non-non-violence and practiced it too honestly with their heart and soul. One of the great 8 principles of Budhism being Ahinsa, it became so popular not only in India but in several other countries of the world, rather in certain countries it was much bigger in a measure that the place of its origin itself. Principle of non-violence is a common feature both amongs followers of Lord Budha and those of Mahabir Swami who practice Jainism. Their way of pursuit are ofcourse quite different. Bhikshus in Budhism are always required to adhere to the norms of behaviour that  does not cause any pain or harm to any one. Same thing is done by the Jainism followers who go a stip further to keep their mouth covered with a piece of paper as they believe that even while breathing there insects who enter in the norstrils of persons and in a way it amounts to killing them. Possibly it is too much on the part of those who persue this doctrine in such a stiff measure. You cover your mouth or don’t, the insects are there all over somewhere themselves biting the other living beings and somewhere getting bitten by others. Such a natural phenomenon is not the type tobe eliminated as it is Law of the Nature after all. Persuing a faith in a logical order may not permit such a typical style but suffering as some people do from a dogmatically outmoded an approach, they are the ones sticking to these rituals blindly.

nithari