Indian History

Year of the Snake – An Indian perspective through Budo

Vikram M R, , , , , , Leave a comment

A young Spectacled Cobra

Today, 29th January, 2025, is the Chinese New Year. This year is the “Year of the Snake”. More specifically, it is the “Year of the Wood Snake”, “wood” being the element associated with the animal of the zodiac this year. Due to historical cultural connections between China & Japan, we use the zodiac animal associated with the year as inspiration for training, every now and then, in the Bujinkan (which is of Japanese origin). This is not a norm, but something that is not uncommon either. Snakes are animals that have a strong presence in Hindu culture. So, me being a Hindu, a Budoka, and someone who has a deep respect for snakes, inspired me to write this article.

Everyone knows of the main aspects that are considered advantages in the martial arts. These generally are strength, speed and agility. Skill and experience can offset some of these. But weapons mitigate the advantage physical prowess provides. This includes both offensive and defensive weapons. In my previous post, from last week, I had discussed the importance of weapons in the martial arts*. This seems like a nice follow-up. One advantage that weapons additionally provide is reach, or how far away an attack can be carried out. Modern weapons of course also have “range” which is how large an area can be affected (of course, “range” can also be used interchangeably with “reach”, when it comes to modern weapons).

While training the Bujinkan system of martial arts, one story that everyone learns is that of Ishikawa Goemon. Ishikawa Goemon is a legendary character from the Sengoku Jidai (warring states period) of Japan, which is the second half of the 16th century. Ishikawa Goemon is a shinobi from Iga who tries to assassinate either Oda Nobunaga or Hideyoshi Toyotomi, using poison. I have been told that there are stories which describe him as trying to assassinate one or the other, though neither of them are supposedly strictly historical. In both stories, the attempted assassination fails. Goemon is supposed to have been executed along with his family according to some tales while some supposedly say that he escaped.

Chains that guide rain water into a harvesting area – something like Goemon used to guide poison into his quarry’s mouth?

Despite the failure of the attempt, the means he used in the assassination is fascinating! He gained access to the bed chamber of his target and hid in the rafters overhead. When the quarry was asleep, he let poison drip into the mouth of the sleeping individual over a thin rope. Think of this as the chains used to guide water into a harvesting tank below. The poison only made the target sick but was insufficient to kill the person. This legend was used in a sequence in the James Bond movie “You Live Only Twice” starring Sean Connery.

Another story related to “Ninja” using poison is something I saw in the old Discovery Channel series “Ancient Warriors”. This series showed how various groups of historical warriors fought and lived. This series ran between 1994 and 1995. One episode of this series focused on the Ninja and was titled, “The Ninja: Warrior of the Night”! This series has not aged well. The “facts” shown in the series are questioned and not considered entirely accurate.

In this episode about the “Ninja” a situation is narrated where the ninja assassinate a warlord by sprinkling poison powder on flowers in his garden. The ninjas observe that the warlord takes a stroll in his garden every morning smelling the flowers. They use this behaviour of his to kill him. Even in the episode, the name of the warlord is not mentioned, nor is any context given for the assassination. So, I am not sure if this is historical, and if it is just a story, I would request anyone else who might have heard the same, of its antecedents. Who is being referred to in the story and in what quasi-historical situation? I am attaching a link to a video of this episode in the notes below**.

Irrespective of the provenance of the second story, the two stories mentioned above show that the use of poison is certainly attributed to Shinobi. And this links the Shinobi/Ninja to snakes. Many creatures on our planet have developed “Venom” as a survival strategy. These include molluscs (e.g. snails), arthropods (e.g. scorpions), insects (e.g. wasps), amphibians (e.g. frogs) and reptiles (snakes and lizards). But snakes are undoubtedly “top of mind” when it comes to creatures that use chemical weaponry, namely venom (many a time referred to as “poison’).

An old photo of a Saw Scaled Viper

A small tangent here. Venom is poisonous. I have heard a beautiful explanation regarding when the terms venom and poison should be used. I will repeat the same here. If a snake bites a person and the person dies, the snake is VENOMOUS. If a person bites a snake and the person dies, the snake is POISONOUS. In contrast, if a snake bites a person and the snake dies, the person is POISONOUS. If a person bites a snake and the snake dies, the person is VENOMOUS.

This is why there exist frogs referred to as “Arrow Poison Frogs”. These frogs secrete a venom from their skin. So, if any animal bites these frogs or tries to eat them, the frog is POISONOUS and hence they learn to not consider the frog food. Similarly, there are “poisonous” mushrooms, which if eaten, can kill the individuals who eat them. Now, we go back to the main article.

One of the things that a practitioner of the Bujinkan system learns in the first few months of training is the “Hi Ken Juroppo”. This refers to the 16 ways of striking/hitting an opponent, without weapons. This includes the use of the fists, fingers, elbows, knees, feet etc. Apart from this, a concept called “Shizen Ken” is taught. Shizen Ken can be translated as “natural weapons”. This generally refers to nails, teeth and spit in humans. In other words, one can scratch or bite or spit at opponents. These are not trained as a part of “striking” an opponent as these are considered to be more “natural” or something we do due to our evolutionary past.

When it comes to animals, shizen ken would be horns, claws, fangs, tongues (think chameleons), beaks, and of course, VENOM. Obviously, when we consider weapons, we need to consider defensive weaponry as well, the examples mentioned earlier being exclusively offensive in nature.

Defensive weapons in animals include armours (carapace, cuticle, shell ec) in the case of crocodiles, tortoises and crabs, secretions (like the ink used by squids and octopi and the stink raised by skunks), spikes in porcupines and of course the wide range of camouflage that exists in nature. Beyond these, we can include the warning mechanisms used by animals under shizen ken. This includes the warning sounds used by various animals and the bright display colours that poisonous animals like frogs and caterpillars sport.

If we consider protection developed by various creatures against the heat, cold and the natural elements, this list of “natural weaponry” deployed by life on earth increases manifold! Of course, the development of weaponry is not limited to the animal kingdom. Weapons, mainly defensive ones are seen even in the plant kingdom, like thorns, resins, hard shells and of course poison.

Considering just snakes, they have developed a natural weapon that gives them a huge advantage in the battle for survival. Venomous snakes are distributed all across the world, but not all snakes are venomous. Venom is one of the weapons that snakes have evolved apart from size, speed, camouflage, agility and flexibility, which are seen in many species of snakes, sometimes in conjunction with venom.

An old photo of a young Common Krait. I could be mistaken here, this could be a Wolf Snake, which looks very similar to a Common Krait.

One factor about weapons is that they nullify the advantage proffered by size and strength. This is true in all species. This means that venomous snakes can afford to evolutionarily be smaller in comparison to many other snakes. This also means that they can be ambush hunters and minimize the risk they face from prey, struggling or otherwise. Of course, nature being nature, not all venomous snakes are small. Some rattlers and bushmasters in the Americas grow pretty large. Gaboon Vipers in Africa are large as well, and then there is the King Cobra, which is a very big snake by all standards, by length if not weight and girth. But most venomous snakes can be small or medium sized. In India, the Saw Scaled Viper, the Common Krait and many of the Pit Vipers tend to be on the smaller side according to common parlance. Cobras and Russel’s Vipers are medium sized snakes.

A majestic King Cobra

I have seen on some nature documentaries, the afore mentioned African Gaboon Vipers described as “docile”. This is in relation to its behaviour vis-à-vis humans. Of course, every snake has a different temperament and this is only a general characterization that I have heard. I am not even sure if this observation is correct. But assuming what I have seen is correct, I make the following observation. The Gaboon Viper has very large fangs to deliver venom, the largest of any extant snake. It can deliver a large dose of venom in a single bite. So, if I anthropomorphize the Gaboon Viper, it is so certain of its natural abilities and of course weapons, it has no need for any aggression. It knows its opponents will stay away due to fear or evolutionary knowledge of its weapons. Thus, it can AFFORD to be docile!

The Gaboon Viper also has a fantastic camouflage pattern that resembles the leaf litter on a forest floor. Lastly, it is an ambush hunter. Now consider the following traits. The Gaboon Viper can inject sufficient venom to kill its prey in a single bite – it is therefore armed with lethal weapons. Due to its camouflage, its quarry cannot see it coming. Being an ambush hunter, it can lie in wait for long durations. Consider these traits together – it is literally an Ishikawa Goemon from another species! Of course, there are several other snakes that have the same combination of traits and I am just using this as an example.

A Gaboon Viper amidst leaf litter. Image credit – “1000 Wonders of Nature”, published by Reader’s Digest

In India, in the stories from Hindu culture, there are entities called the “Nagas”. Nagas are depicted as part human and part snake in many representations. They are also depicted exactly as snakes in others. I have heard some people distinguish between Nagas and snakes. Snakes are also referred to as “sarpa” in many Indian languages. Some people suggest that Nagas are different from “sarpa” or snakes since they have traits that far exceed those of snakes, traits that far exceed those of humans as well. But the Nagas are definitely linked to snakes and in modern Indian culture, the difference is hardly ever considered. Nagas are also prevalent is South-East Asian culture.

A representation of a Naga as depicted in South East Asia

The Nagas, based on my knowledge have three traits that most Hindus are commonly aware of.

  • Firstly, they are symbolic of fertility, in humans and of the land itself.
  • Secondly, Nagas and snakes in general, are considered guardians. They are depicted as guardians of material wealth, like ancient and hidden treasure. They are also symbolic of wisdom and spiritual prowess.
  • Lastly, Nagas are considered technologically superior as cultures go, which is perhaps an offshoot of their being associated with wisdom.

I will share a couple of examples of this technological superiority. In the Mahabharata, during the Ashwamedha Yajna after the Kurukshetra War, Arjuna is killed by own son Babruvāhana. He is healed and brought back to life by his wife Uloopi, who is a Naga princess. Uloopi uses a “Naga Mani” to heal Arjuna. The “Naga Mani” is a popular trope in modern Indian entertainment as well. It again links treasure (Mani is a gemstone) with the Nagas. This story shows Nagas possessing technology or knowledge that allows them to perform tasks that are beyond normal humans. It brings them closer to the divinities in this sense.

Uloopi summoning the “Naga Mani” or the Gem of the Nagas. Image credit – “Uloopi”, published by Amar Chitra Katha

The other example is the “Sarpāstra” or the “Nagāstra”. “Astra” can be translated as an arrow or a projectile weapon. Astra can be used to depict any weapon that is discharged, with a bow or any other device (the air-to-air missile developed by India for its fighter aircraft is also called “Astra”). This is a special arrow used in both the Ramayana and the Mahabharta. This arrow is supposed to never miss, unlike other arrows. Further, an adversary who is struck by this arrow is either sure to die, with no hope of recovery, or be bound for all time, as one can never escape the weapon’s clutches. In essence, this Naga weapon is more capable compared to those used by humans.

A representation of the “Sarpastra” being superior to a normal human arrow. Image credit – “Uloopi”, published by Amar Chitra Katha

These positive traits associated with Nagas results in names associated with Nagas being widely prevalent in India even today! Names like “Nagaraj”, “Nagaswamy”, Nageshwar (male version) and Nageshwari (female version) and many others associated with Nagas are encountered by all of us regularly. All of these names translate to “King / Lord/ Chief” of the Nagas. I am sure all of us can recall at least one friend or relative who has a name associated with the Nagas. This is not to mean that snakes are not feared in modern India. There is a healthy respect for snakes all across India. The association with the Nagas, and hence snakes, is not new. Many royal lines from the times of Ramayana and Mahabharata to historical times link themselves to Naga ancestry.

It might seem that Nagas, who are part of legend and folklore in India are the ones who have positive traits. It is not snakes that have positive traits. I beg to differ on this point. I will share my personal opinion on this point. Let us begin with venom again. Earlier, I mentioned the astra named after snakes or Nagas. This is literally true in snakes! Snakes have developed the mechanism to deliver venom at a “stand-off” distance. There are multiple species of Spitting Cobras that have evolved a fang with an opening through which they can spray venom on an adversary, and keep them at bay. This is a true astra indeed!

Let us now consider aspects of snakes beyond the use of venom. Let us begin with the physical trait of snakes that everyone recognizes – the forked tongue that snakes possess and flick in and out of their mouth every now and then. Snakes use their tongue to analyse the environment around them. Snakes have an organ on the roof of their mouths, on the inside, called the “Jacobson’s Organ”. The tongue collects samples from the air and deposits it onto the Jacobson’s Organ, which in turn determines what the surrounding atmosphere is like. This is like snakes carrying around a lab inside their heads that can analyse their surroundings! This is miniature technology like no other!

The forked tongue of a snake

Of course, this is not limited to snakes. Other species have evolutionary senses that seem like magic,  or at least marvels of technology, thanks to modern science. Some raptors (birds of prey) can see in the ultraviolet spectrum, sharks can detect the electrical signals in water to find food and elephants can communicate using infra sound. These are just a few examples from the natural world, without even considering the plant kingdom.

Considering evolutionary senses, one cannot ignore “the Pit” used by snakes. Pit vipers and some pythons have an organ called the “Pit” at the top of their heads on the outside. This pit is a sensory organ that allows the snakes that possess them to perceive their surroundings through something like “heat vision”. They can identify temperature differences to identify prey and track them.

So, considering just the two examples above, snakes carry in their heads, heat vision equipment and a lab to study their surroundings! 😛 This does indeed seem like high technology to us humans, in hindsight of course. Therefore, Nagas, who are linked to snakes and sometimes are nothing more than anthropomorphized forms of snakes, are no doubt considered wise and technologically advanced.

Nagas represented as part human and part snake. Image credit – “Uloopi”, published by Amar Chitra Katha

Even if one considers humans before modern science revealed all the “super senses” that snakes possess, we can still explain the fascination with snakes. In a previous article of mine***, titled “Ashta Siddhi and Budo”, I had discussed what are considered the “8 achievements” of a warrior and how they can be understood through modern budo practice. The fifth of these five achievements is called “Praapti”.

“Praapti” can be considered to be “able to receive everything”. This in modern parlance, in my opinion, refers to being able to perceive all the information in a given time and space, which in turn aids in conflict management and hopefully conflict mitigation. For practitioners of the Bujinkan, this would, again in my opinion, be nothing other than “Sakkijutsu”. Sakkijutsu, put simply, is one’s intuitive ability, which could also be termed as “awareness”, “situational awareness” or “mindfulness”.

The sensory abilities of snakes described earlier would be apparent to people in historical times, for they were keen observers of the natural world as well. The senses of snakes might not have been explained, but it would not be something unknown either. So, in a culture where, the ability to perceive the surroundings is celebrated as one of the “8 achievements” and the ability of snakes would be known, would snakes and therefore the Nagas, not be deeply respected as well? I would say that they definitely would be.

All of the above aspects I have mentioned are beyond the usual symbolism attached to snakes – that of growth. The act of moulting has made snakes a symbol of “growth” and therefore “transcendence”. The points shared above are from the perspective of a Hindu in modern India, who is also a practitioner of the Bujinkan (an expression of Budo).

I had started this post with a couple of quasi historical stories from Japanese history. I will now revert to Japan to make yet another point. During my training the Bujinkan, I have learnt from a mentor of ours, Arnaud Cousergue, that the Togakure Ryu, one of the schools of Ninpo Taijutsu (sometimes referred to as Ninjutsu) that we learn, is divided into 18 segments. Only a few of these 18 segments are trained in dojos these days. One of these 18 segments is “Kayaka Jutusu”. This refers to training the use of explosives. There is no segment that is attributed to the practice and use of poisons. But Ninjas did use poison as evidenced by the two stories mentioned earlier. So, could it be that a segment for poisons was not present in just the Togakure Ryu? Or was it subsumed under “unconventional weapons”, the chief of which was gunpowder and explosives in later centuries? I am not a historian and have no answer to this question.

In my personal opinion, this segment, “Kayaka Jutsu”, could perhaps be considered to refer to the use of unconventional weapons. A theory about the origin of the Togakure Ryu states that it originates in the 12th century. This was before Japan’s first encounter with gunpowder and explosives, which was during the Mongol invasion, in the late 13th century. So, maybe this segment among the 18 was added later during the evolution of the Togakure Ryu? Or, as mentioned earlier, was it that this segment referred to “unconventional weapons” in general and later became specific to explosives as that was the primary new weapon? I am assuming it was so. If anyone knows otherwise, please do share your knowledge with me.

While considering “unconventional weapons”, there is one trait of snakes that is truly staggering, the very definition of “unconventional”. Snakes have no ears and do not hear like other animals. Snakes sense vibrations through the bones in their head. But their “hearing” or perception of sound in comparison to humans and other animals is poor. But snakes use sound to warn potential threats.

Russel’s Viper

The best example of this are rattle snakes. They have evolved a rattle to warn creatures who intrude on their habitats. Similarly, in India, if anyone has heard the warning hiss of a Russel’s Viper, it sounds like a pressure cooker about to go off! In both these cases, sound is used as a warning device. This means that snakes use a medium of perception to warn creatures, that they themselves do not possess! Snakes cannot hear but know other creatures can! And they use that sense for the benefit of both! How cool is that! It is baffling and “unconventional” to say the least.

Of course, the ability to use a medium one cannot perceive well is a product of evolution over millions of years. And evolution itself brings to mind two aspects that are expressed in the Bujinkan. These are Kami Waza and the fourth of the Gojo, “Shizen no choetsu”.

Kami Waza is a concept where one moves during a fight in such an amazing manner that it seems like one was being moved by something divine. This is exactly what evolution is! The outcome of evolution seems truly magical in hindsight. I had referred to Kami Waza in my article about the Ashta Siddhi, which is linked here. “Shizen no choetsu” could be translated as “the transcendence of nature”. It is the fourth of the 5 Gojo that is oft quoted in Bujinkan dojos. I had written an article some time ago where I have discussed my understanding of the five Gojo. The same is linked here+.

Evolution that is seen in nature is about continuous and incremental changes to overcome challenges in ways that are inconceivable at any given time. The ability of a creature that does not use sound to ward off creatures that do use it, without knowing the experience of sound is exactly that! Transcendence in its essence! First an animal realizes that other animals perceive something that it does not, and then devices a means to use that perception to its advantage, but without developing that perception in itself! 😀 I know, I am saying this a lot, because it boggles the mind!

There is another Gojo, the third of the five that goes, “Shizen no Ninniku”. This can be translated as “the forbearance of nature”. This refers to how one needs to persevere through any activity, just like nature has an abundance of ability to take any challenge and over time overcome the same. I have discussed this also in my previous article. I will use a personal experience of mine to show this trait in snakes.

My family used to run a rescue and rehabilitation centre for wild animals within the city many years ago. This centre functioned from the late 1970s through the late 2000s. Sometime in the late 90s of the early 2000s, an interesting incident took place. We got a call from a local timber yard about a snake in one of the logs at their premises. It was a log that had been transported from Malaysia to India. In the log was a clutch of eggs that had not been noticed earlier and had somehow survived the processing of the tree before transportation.

One of the eggs hatched and a live Small Banded Kukri Snake emerged from the same. It was a Malaysian species of Kukri Snake which hatched in India. Unfortunately the snake did not survive long. But this does show how snakes can survive and extend their territories. In this case an egg travelled from Malaysia to India and hatched. We hear many stories of how Burmese Pythons have successfully created a habitat for themselves in Florida, the other side of the ocean.

A large Indian Rock Python

Snakes can endure habitat destruction, disturbances to their nests and dwellings, human trade in exotic pets and still find new habitats to inhabit. This is a wonderful example of how nature perseveres, its forbearance is infinite. This is not unlike how one needs to spend years to train the martial arts. It is a gradual process, demanding time, effort and many resources to be expended.

That is a roundup of the fascinating connections between snakes, the martial arts and Indian culture. In conclusion, snakes are like a living breathing sensor package, much like modern day fighter aircraft and other weapons systems. This is like “Praapti” in Hindu culture and Sakkijutsu in the Bujinkan. This is also the key behind modern day 5th generation warfare, where conflicts are not kinetic and information gathering is of paramount importance and technology is a vital ingredient. Technology of a natural kind is what snakes also deploy, chemical weaponry, or venom, in a world where strength, speed and size matter. This leads back to the martial arts, where unarmed combat might be basic, but weapons are the true expression of the art. And we have not even spoken about flying snakes or the world of the sea snakes…

Acknowledgements – All images unless mentioned, were taken over the course of many years by various members of my family. I share my deep gratitude to my uncle, Dr. Shashidhar for sharing many images of the many creatures that shared our home over the decades.

This post would be incomplete without sharing a couple of images of another uncle of mine, the late Srinath. He had an innate understanding of all wild creatures and a knack for working with snakes that was, to say the least, intuitive. He could sense the temperament of any snake, or any animal for that matter, in an instant. Watching him work with wildlife will be something that I will never not miss!

Left – With a King Cobra. Right – With a Spectacled Cobra.

Notes:

* https://mundanebudo.com/2025/01/23/the-bujinkan-as-i-see-it-series-1-part-4/

** https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6ch45c – watch between the 10 and 12 minute mark

*** https://mundanebudo.com/2022/12/22/the-ashta-siddhi-and-budo/

+https://mundanebudo.com/2023/03/16/the-gojo-a-personal-understanding/

Budo, prosperity and the Elephant Festival (Aane Habba)

Vikram M R, , , , , , Leave a comment

A majestic tusker in the Nagarahole Tiger Reserve

Nine years ago, on a trip to Japan one of our mentors made a very interesting statement. It was a trip to train at the Bujinkan Hombu1 dojo with some of the senior most teachers in the system. At that time, a lot of us had passed the Sakki2 test to receive the 5th Dan just a few years previously. Many more of our buyu3 passed the test and achieved the 5th Dan during that trip. The 5th Dan is a requisite to receive a “Shidoshi”4 certificate, which is a prerequisite to start teaching the students of the Bujinkan.

During that trip, one of our mentors, Sensei Darren Horvath, said something very interesting. Sensei Darren has always considered the teachings in the dojo as applicable to human life as a whole, and not just as those applicable in a physical altercation.

He said that the achievement of the rank of “Shidoshi” means that the person who achieves this should be able to, in the near term, at least double her or his income, as a result of the learning achieved so far. This was in the context of how the learning from becoming a Shidoshi should lead to a considerable improvement in the quality of life of the Shidoshi. Considering how monetary wealth is vitally important in modern day life, there should be a surplus of it, which allows for other pursuits important to one’s life. It was in light of this opinion that the earlier statement was made.

To put it simply, personal prosperity is supposed to be an outcome of the training put in, to achieve the Shidoshi certification. This could be classified under the personal or self-development that results from training the martial arts. The Sakki test that needs to be passed on the way to a Shidoshi certification requires development of trust in one’s own intuitive abilities. This can also be called mindfulness or awareness of any situation. This development of an individual is expected to help one advance in aspects of life that have nothing to do with physical combat or the martial arts.

As a Hindu and an Indian, the idea of prosperity is an intersection between Budo and Hindu culture that stands out. This idea inspired this post. Personal prosperity (including monetary wealth), as I understand it, is a vital aspect of Hindu culture. One of the Goddesses we routinely pray to is Lakshmi, who is the Goddess of wealth and also the consort of Lord Vishnu. Another divinity, who is not prayed to as much is Kubera, who is considered the God of Prosperity & Wealth. Kubera is also the lord of the Yakshas.

The wealth of Kubera represented by his loan to the wedding of Lord Venkateshwara. Image credit – “Venkateshwara Taanada Chitragalu”, published by Pioneer Publications

In a previous article of mine, I had shared a sutra* from the Arthashastra, one line of which says “Dharmasya moolam arthaha”. This means that “artha”, or wealth, is the root of Dharma. Wealth is vitally important for Dharma to exist and permeate all walks of life. Dharma, as I understand it, is “that which sustains”. This means that Dharma is doing what needs to be done to sustain a good life. This is why Dharma is sometimes referred to as “doing the right thing” or “doing the best thing possible in a given situation”. Thus, wealth, or prosperity, is very important for a good life by doing the right things. Personal prosperity is the root!

One symbol of prosperity in India, since a very long time, is the elephant. This is perhaps because people or institutions who owned an elephant(s) in India were prosperous, for owning an elephant was expensive, not to mention maintaining several of them. One of the eight forms of Devi Lakshmi is titled, “Gaja Lakshmi”, where Gaja means an elephant. The elephant is associated with Lakshmi as she is the Goddess of Wealth/Prosperity, and the elephant is a symbol of the same.

A representation of the arrangement during the celebration of Aane Habba (Elephant Festival)

15th of December, 2024 was celebrated as “Aane Habba” or “The Elephant Festival”. The date of the festival changes every year as it is based on the Tamil Solar calendar. This is a festival specific to my community and not a festival that is widely observed in India, or elsewhere. But the day on which the Aane Habba is celebrated is observed variously by different Hindu communities. The day on which the festival falls is the Poornima (full moon day) of the Kartika month according to the Tamil Solar calendar. It is an auspicious time and hence is celebrated under different names by different groups.

Devi Lakshmi on the white elephant above

One of these is “Kiru Deepavali” or “Little Diwali”. Another is “Vishnu Deepam”. Yet another festival that occurs a day or two earlier is “Karthigai Deepam”

The Kartika month itself is very important for historical reasons. The “Bali Jatra” festival happens in the state of Odisha during this month. Historically this was the beginning of the voyage from India to South East Asia (Bali in particular) for trade. Bali Jatra is associated with the Kartika Poornima festival. This occurred on 15th November in 2024. This voyage generated enormous wealth historically for the merchants involved and for the nations along the coast. This is the Poornima based on the Lunar calendar, hence the difference in the date of the festival.

The Aane Habba itself is specifically celebrating the elephant, which is another way of saying that we celebrate prosperity and wish for more of it, and in perpetuity. This specific aspect of the festival brings us back to the same idea in Budo which I started with. The notion of personal prosperity seems vitally important, if one is a Hindu. The same idea being reflected as an objective for Budo practice, makes it a wonderful reason to train the same. 😊

Notes:

1 Hombu – headquarter

2 Sakki – intuition

3 Buyu – martial family

4 Shidoshi – Master Instructor

* https://mundanebudo.com/2024/01/18/maryada-purushotham-rama-and-the-martial-arts-control-is-the-key/

The Way of the Tree

Vikram M R, , , , , , Leave a comment

A majestic mango tree in Diwar Island, Goa

In martial arts around the world, wood is used a lot for practice weapons. These days weapons made of various polymers like nylon and polypropylene have started to replace wood as the material of choice for practice weapons. But this is not ubiquitous yet. In India, we almost never get training weapons made of anything but wood. It is too expensive due to a lack of demand. Polymer weapons need to be imported, again resulting in great costs. So, wood it is for us for now.

Recently we had a batch of wooden training weapons made and that is where the idea for this article came from. Wood comes from trees. And trees and plants have always played a major role in cultures all over the world from times immemorial, as weapons of both offence and defence. Trees are present in modern day speculative fiction, everyday news and in daily conversations as well. But I have never heard of a “Way of the Tree”.

Let us consider the presence of trees in stories from our tradition, myths from extinct religions, pop culture and modern day conversations.

  • One the most popular fantasy series of recent times is “The Wheel of Time” written by Robert Jordan and later by Brandon Sanderson. In the series there is a community of nomadic people called “The Traveling people” or “Tuatha’an”. This community follows what is called the “The Way of the Leaf”. It is a completely pacifistic way of living with absolutely no violence at all. This people reminds me of some Jain groups in India, who also follow a way living which abhors violence of all sorts.
  • An opposite of “The Wheel of Time” is “A Song of Ice & Fire” written by George R R Martin. In this series there is a kind of tree called a Weirwood. This tree is partially magic and has human faces carved into it. These trees might have a hive mind and also accept sacrifices, including human sacrifices!
  • Who can forget the Huorns and Ents in the Lord of the Rings! The Huorns are literally trees that move! In numbers, they are a forest that moves like an army. And the Ents are called shepherds of the forest, though in my opinion, they are like Generals to the Huorns.
  • In Norse mythology, mistletoe is a weapon. It is used to kill the God Baldur.
  • The plant Sanjeevini is used as a medicine in the Ramayana, to save Lakshmana from a weapon deployed by Indrajit (Meghanath), the son of Ravana.
  • Plant and tree produce are used for healthcare in India, as seen in the ancient Indian science of Ayurveda.
  • There are Gods for wine-making in many cultures. In old Vedic rituals, sacred Soma or Somarasa, which is believed to be an intoxicating drink made from a plant, is used.

I am a Hindu, and trees are all over our culture. We celebrated the festival of Dasara (Dussehra) a few weeks ago. On the last day (10th day) of the Dasara festival, which is Vijayadashami, a tree takes centre stage. The Banni or Shami tree is worshipped on this day. “Banni Mara” is the name in Kannada and “Shami Vruksh” is the name in Hindi. Both of these supposedly refer to Prosopis Cineraria.

Shami/Banni leaves given as “prasada” after a pooja on the occasion of Vijayadashami

In a lot of folklore in India, ghosts are associated with the Banyan tree. On the positive side, trees are worshipped during marriage ceremonies by some communities. The Peepal tree, called the “Ashwath Mara” in Kannada receives prayers by womenfolk during a marriage ceremony. Of course, the Buddha is supposed to have achieved enlightenment under a Peepal tree. This specific tree was called the Bodhi tree.

Social gatherings under Peepal trees were important for local discussions in India and hence the place under the tree was called a “Katte”, which is the Kannada word for a platform where people can sit and discuss. This was specifically called the “Ashwath Katte” or the “Peepal Platform”! Literally a platform for people under the Peepal! Sandalwood is used to make a paste, called “Chandana” and is offered to Gods. This is also applied on the neck of devotees after the offering, as a blessing from the Gods.

A Peepal tree

If we consider martial aspects, we can go back to the Ramayana. The bow used by Lord Rama was called the “Kodanda”. I have heard that a bow made of bamboo was called “Kodanda”. The bow of Rama was supposed to have three curves, in other words, it was a recurve bow made of bamboo. Just to expand on this point, consider the bow of Lord Vishnu. It is called the “Shāranga”. “Shāranga” is supposed to mean “horn”. So, the bow of Vishnu was made of animal horns. So, does that mean that Vishnu used a composite bow? I am not sure. I am basing this on the fact that when horn is used a material for a bow, it is usually a composite bow where sinew, glue and other materials are used to make the bow.

Representative image of Lord Rama with his bow, “Kodanda”. Image credit – “The Ramayana” published by Amar Chitra Katha.

There is a martial art with its origins in the modern day state of Tamil Nadu, called “Silambam”. The main weapon used in Silambam is a staff made of bamboo or rattan. I have seen it said that Silambam literally means “a staff of bamboo” or a “staff from the hills” which again refers to bamboo. And if the staff is not made of bamboo, it is made of a wood from different trees. There is a martial art called “Lathi Khela”, which focuses specifically on fighting with a staff. This martial art is famous all over the country.

Staff fighting is present in multiple martial art forms originating in India. Even as late as the 19th and early 20th century, the staff was the weapon of the enforcers employed by Landlords or Zamindars. These Zamindars used the enforcers for rent seeking and are considered “villains” in contemporary thinking. The staff is called a “Lathi” and the people who used the staff were called “Lathaith”.

Of course, staff fighting is popular all over the world. From the knobkerrie or rungu used in parts of Africa to the shillelagh in Ireland to the bo in Japan, staffs of various lengths are used in fighting all the time. Robin Hood fighting Little John is a popular story and in modern fantasy there is Matrim Couthon in the Wheel of Time series, who can defeat swordsmen with a quarterstaff.

If we consider defensive weaponry, armour made of fabric, like layers of cotton and the billowing cape used by Japanese cavalrymen to protect against a single arrow are well known examples. A cloth turban to protect the head was present in historical India. Another form of protection is the shield. Shields made of wicker were present in historical China while wooden parrying sticks were used in parts of Africa.

We can even use trees in a metaphorical or philosophical sense to expound on martial concepts.

Training the martial arts is a long term activity. It takes years of training to achieve mastery over the forms. It takes even longer to develop the expertise needed to share the knowledge / experience / wisdom gained. It requires commitment and passion for the art form. Conviction is also needed in the benefits of practice of the martial art to motivate an individual to keep at it.

This is not unlike the life of a tree. A tree takes years to grow, especially the large trees, which create a sense of awe in anyone who beholds them. Some trees live for over a thousand years! They grow from a seed or kernel or acorn into a sapling into a small tree into a giant of epic proportions. A great tree is a treasure because of the sheer time it has taken to get there, which could be centuries if not years! This is not unlike the time taken to master the martial arts, scaled down to a human lifetime of course.

Also consider the numbers game in the martial arts and trees in their early life. A very small fraction of all the students who start training reach the higher levels of any martial art. I am not sure if anyone has carried out a study on this, but a popular saying in the dojo I train with, is that less than 1% of all the students who walk into the dojo last for 10 years. Consider the trees now. How many seeds or saplings survive to grow into the giants we see? It is supposed to be a small fraction again, especially in the tropics where the evergreen forests cut-off most of the sunlight from ever reaching the ground. The fight for light space for a sapling on the forest floor in the tropics is same as the effort it takes a student to make time to practice the martial arts.

Another way of looking at this is the manner in which a forest, through its trees, reclaims land which was inhabited by humans for ages, even with monumental construction. There is the famous photo of the ruins in Cambodia, where the tree has literally taken over what was formerly a human dwelling. This is like sustained siege warfare, that is never let up! The trees are always there, surviving, waiting for an opening to take back what was likely lands they once occupied.

The above two images show trees taking over abandoned settlements at Ta Prohm in Cambodia. Image credit – My cousins

This is like incessant training, making time however possible. It is also like surviving against opponents without trying to win, only focusing on self-protection and self-preservation. Maybe an opening will appear in time, to mitigate the threat of the opponent. One of the senior most teachers in the Bujinkan system of martial arts, Nagato Sensei has a saying which is very popular. He says, “Leave no opening”. This saying of his has actually been put on training t-shirts! 🙂

What Sensei means by his statement, as I understand it, is that one should focus on first ensuring that one has moved to a position against an attack that fully protects oneself. There should be no opening the opponent can exploit or an opportunity to further the attack without revealing an opening in himself or herself. Unless this is achieved, looking to counterattack is counterproductive, as that might in turn give the opponent more opportunities for further attacks.

The above statement by Nagato Sensei is beautifully exemplified by how trees exploit gaps in masonry! If a sapling is not removed in the early stages when it is spotted on masonry, it can go on to crack walls over time and even spread its roots through pipes laid down for wires and plumbing.

Consider how saplings spring up with rains and sunlight in places where there is no soil at all! On concrete terraces with a little debris or construction waste. They are always there, looking for openings and opportunities to grow. This is akin to surviving a fight and to finding time and space to train. It could also be considered a metaphor in negative terms. Could the springing up of saplings on construction waste be more like the retinue of students who pass through a dojo? Like the many that are never really able to stick around to achieve any useful training? After all, a lot of the saplings that spring up are like weeds that do not last very long. Either way, “The Way of the Tree” seems a fine metaphor for the martial arts.

A representation of how flora reclaims gaps in masonry and construction debris.

There are several ways in which the martial arts are described. This includes the martial art systems as a whole, specific forms, weapons used in the art forms and the metaphors used to describe the martial arts as a whole. Top of mind to me for these descriptors are usually reminiscent of animals or geography (including metals, rocks and such), but not really based on flora, either trees or plants. Consider the following examples.

The animal forms of Shaolin Kung Fu have been made famous by the Kung Fu Panda franchise. The Tiger style, Snake style, Monkey style, Crane style, Eagle style, Mantis style are well known.

Metaphors of natural forces like water and wind are also well known, like “flow like water around your opponent”. Responding to the situation metaphorically becomes “water takes the shape of the container”. In India, strength is associated with Vayu, the God of Wind. Vayuputras (sons of the God of the Wind) Bhima and Hanuman are the epitome of strength and martial prowess.

There are representations of metals related to martial prowess as well. Consider Excalibur, which combines metal and water to bestow greatness, which includes martial skill. Another example is the “Sword of Mars” wielded by Attila the Hun. This sword is supposed to have been made of meteor iron and a marker of greatness. Of course, Attila was a great warrior king as well.

Coming to pop culture, in the world of Conan the Cimmerian (Barbarian) written by Robert E Howard and brought to life famously by Arnold Schwarzenegger, is “the riddle of steel”. Again, a metal exemplifies the martial skill embodied by Conan. Even in the world famous “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon”, dedication to the martial arts is called “The Iron Way” due to how hard it is and the sacrifices it supposedly entails.

There are examples of trees and plants used, but a lot fewer, and none in pop culture as I can recall. In the Bujinkan, one of the schools studied is the “Takagi Yoshin Ryu”. The name of this school translates to “School of the Weeping Willow”. Here the willow tree is representative of being flexible yet strong. I opine that it is apt, because the Takagi Yoshin Ryu is an expression of jutaijutsu. Jutaijutsu, as I understand it, could be considered a super set that also includes, wrestling, judo, malla yudha, kushti etc. All of these martial arts do need flexibility and strength.

The first 2 techniques trained with the kunai also have tree based names, though not very representative of the martial style as a whole. The first technique is called “Kiri no hito ha” which translates to “cutting the paulownia leaf”. The second technique is called “Rakka” which translates to “falling petals”!

Beyond the above examples, other plant or tree based names and metaphors in the martial arts escape me at this time, at least as “top of mind” examples. If anyone is aware, do share the same with me. This seems strange to me, considering how ubiquitous trees are in our lives. It seems strange that there is no “Way of the Tree” in the martial arts. Is it likely that we might have such a system in the future? Perhaps, as I have tried to make the case for one above.

Considering the importance of the Peepal tree for us Indians, we once had a Bujinkan training t-shirt that had an image of a Peepal tree leaf on it.

Diwali (Deepavali) with Tom Sawyer and the Bujinkan

Vikram M R, , , , , , Leave a comment

Image credit – “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain, Illustrated Classic Edition published by Moby Books

In my community, Deepavali used to be a 5 day festival until electric water boilers and modern plumbing became commonplace. That would mean the 1970s and 1980s and even the 1990s in many Indian cities. One can add modern transportation to the mix here. This is something I have heard from my parents and grandparents.

We all know of Deepavali being a 3 day festival. The first day is Naraka Chaturdashi, the second day is Amavāsya (not a festival, more like connective tissue between 2 festivals) and the third day is Bali Pādyami. This nomenclature and observance of course, is specific to my community. Every community could observe the days of the Deepavali with different festivals. The number of days celebrated as part of Deepavali could also be different among different groups of people. I am just sticking to what I know with respect to my own community.

So, I mentioned 3 days of the festival. What are the other 2 days celebrated as? Also, the 3 days I mentioned are the second, third and fourth days in the five day festival. Naraka Chaturdashi being day 2, Amavāsya day 3 and Bali Pādyami day 4. Day 1, the first day, was celebrated as “Neeru Tumbō Habba”. Day 5, the last day, was celebrated as “Varsha Todaku”. As I understand these two festivals today, they are both “trick festivals”. Let me elucidate further, starting with the “Neeru Tumbō Habba”.

“Neeru” means “water” in Kannada. “Tumbō” means “filling” or “to fill” in the same language. The filling here is like one fills a vessel or a bucket with water. “Habba” means “festival”, again in Kannada. So “Neeru Tumbō Habba” in Kannada means, “Water filling festival”. Now come the questions, why and where should water be filled and why is this “filling” a festival?

Remember that I stated early on that this was a festival at a time before modern plumbing and electric water heaters were common in Indian homes? This is the key to this festival. Naraka Charurdashi celebrations started early in the day. This required everyone to wake up early, bathe (not shower, bathe), dress in new clothes (or at least fresh ones) and be ready for pooja activities or to have fun bursting firecrackers.

Back then, joint families were a lot more common compared to current times. Also, families were larger, with more than 10 people living under the same roof being common. Imagine that all of these people have to bathe and be ready early, all using the same bathroom (again, not shower!). This takes a lot of water! Early bathing also means that hot water for bathing could be desirable.

How was water heated for bathing? In large vessels over a fire, using wood as fuel. This large vessel, in Kannada, was called “Hande” and was made of a metal that was a good conductor of heat, generally a copper alloy. These were not vessels out in the open. A vessel, the “Hande”, was built into a fireplace in the bathroom. This fireplace was kept burning continuously until everyone finished bathing. So, water was filled in the “Hande” every few minutes. People took water needed for bathing, added cold water to achieve a comfortable temperature and went about their business. This process was repeated for everyone in the family. And this meant a lot of water was used.

The design of a well from 80s and 90s urban India

Where did all this water come from? It is not from a tap, for modern plumbing was not yet a thing. Water was drawn from a well, usually within the household and used for the bathing. Since many people have to bathe one after the other early in the morning, several buckets and vessels were filled with water ready to be used. And this leads to the origin of the “Water Filling festival”.

An exaggerated representation of carrying water. Image credit – “The Invaluable Treasure” from “Jataka Tales – Stories of Wisdom”, published by Amar Chitra Katha

Since everyone had to bathe early in the morning, the many vessels (called “koda” in Kannada) and buckets including the “Hande” were filled up with water the previous day or night, for immediate use the next morning. This activity took quite some time and human effort as all the water had to be drawn from a well and moved to the bathroom and wherever else it was stored for use the next day. This activity was common for the entire community and everyone knew what one would be doing on the day before Naraka Chaturdashi. So, it became a festival in its own right! And this is where Tom Sawyer comes into the picture.

“The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” is a very famous novel written by the American novelist Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) in 1876. Tom Sawyer is in his early teens in the novel. At the beginning of the novel, Tom is tasked with whitewashing a fence as punishment, on a beautiful summer day when he should be having fun. Tom is worried that his friends will make fun of him for working when he should be reveling in fun and leisure. But Tom overcomes this problem with ingenuity.

Image credit – “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain, Illustrated Classic Edition published by Moby Books

Tom, with clever use of words, convinces his friends that whitewashing the fence is “the thing to be doing”. This leads to his friends wanting to try their hand at the whitewashing. Tom makes them trade him apples and trinkets for the opportunity. In the end, Tom gets his friends to do his chore, makes a profit in trinkets and gets the whitewashing completed well ahead of time! So, he is also left with a large part of the day for fun and games, while he was originally going to spend all of it at whitewashing.

Tom Sawyer made drudgery seem like fun and everyone participated in it enthusiastically! In my opinion, this is exactly what the “Neeru Tumbō Habba” does! Call the chore of drawing and filling water a festival and everyone is enthusiastic about it! Add to this, once it is called a festival, the activity becomes a responsibility and everyone participates in it actively. Naraka Chaturdashi was always the first day of Deepavali, but some clever ancestors of ours added a day “minus one” to the festival and made sure everyone is clean and ready on the first day! Genius indeed. 😀 I am sure Tom Sawyer would flip in approval.

Image credit – “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain, Illustrated Classic Edition published by Moby Books

A small aside here. When I was in school, we had a textbook for English called the “Gulmohar English Reader”. These textbooks were used from the first standard to the sixth (I think it would be called “sixth grade” these days). If I recall right, in the Gulmohar textbook for the third standard, the story of Tom Sawyer tricking his friends was a lesson called “Work can be fun” or something like that. If I am wrong about this and anyone recalls differently, please share your information with me.

Now let us have a look at the other festival, the last day of Deepavali, called “Varsha Todaku”. “Varsha” in many Indian languages denotes “year”. “Todaku” in a dialect of Tamil means “continues”. So, “Varsha Todaku” means “The year continues”, in a dialect of Tamil. It is interesting that the first festival “Neeru Tumbō Habba” is in Kannada, while the last festival, “Varsha Todaku”, is named with a word that seems more Tamil than Kannada. This is perhaps because my community originated in what is modern day Tamil Nadu, but have lived for centuries in what is modern day Karnataka, specifically the region that formed the Old Mysore State.

Coming back to the festival, what does “The year continues” mean? How can this be a festival? What is it a celebration of? I do not have clear answers to any of these questions. I have spoken about this to the older members of my family and have no answer that is satisfying to me. I am sharing what I think is the reason for this festival.

Deepavali is an awesome time! It involves holidays filled with visiting and hanging out with family and friends. It involves new clothes, great fun with firecrackers and great food! So, the end of Bali Pādyami leaves one with a heady feeling that one does not want to let go of, and prolong if possible. Back in the early 20th century, would this feeling be more special? Perhaps, I cannot be sure. Either way, getting back to normal life would be hard, or at least leave one with a wistful feeling. Add to this, the cleaning up that might be needed after the celebrations and visitors, a tinge of “I want more” might linger. So, we make the return to normalcy yet another festival!

So, one gradually returns to normal life, starting with cleaning up and maybe a little regular work on the day of “Varsha Todaku”. This is followed by a complete return to normalcy on the next day. Thus, “the year continues”. “Varsha Todaku” then becomes a bridge to come off the festival high and ease back into the routine. If this activity is a festival, it must be important, right? And so must be the letting go of the holidays. This is what I think explains the existence of this festival. Again, if anyone knows differently, please do share what you know with me.

Very few people even in my own family seem to remember or hark back to these two festivals. And Deepavali is now not a 5 day, but a 3 day festival. I feel that this 5 day pattern might not have been followed for very long, maybe a few decades in the first half of the 20th century. If it had been a practice for longer, I opine that its memory would be more prevalent. But I could be wrong here. I request anybody who knows otherwise to please enlighten me.

These days, families are a lot smaller, early starts are not important and hot water is easily made available at all times. So, there is no need to celebrate filling water, “Neeru tumbuvudu”. Similarly, there is so much opportunity to celebrate life these days. There is not even a need to wait for a festival. So, the need of a festival to ease one back to drudgery does not exist. There is no hankering for a festival and hence, no need for a “Varsha Todaku”.

I now have to connect all of the above to the martial arts, for this blog wouldn’t exist without Budo.

Years ago, my teacher shared an anecdote from the Bujinkan. One of the people he was training with, while in Japan, was an ex-paratrooper from France. This person was well built, about 6’3” tall, fit and strong, not to mention a very experienced martial artist. He in turn was training with another individual who was larger than he was. This person was about 6’5” or 6’7” tall. He was as experienced as the paratrooper in the martial arts, specifically the Bujinkan. Most importantly, he was a lot more muscled and in general stronger than the smaller (relatively speaking) individual.

The Bujinkan is not a sport and hence has no weight categories or rules. It is an exploration of real life combat and movement. Due to this and the size difference, the ex-paratrooper had trouble dealing with the larger person in offence and defence. So, he asked one of the senior Japanese teachers, what one can do against opponents that have a considerable physical advantage. The Japanese Sensei is supposed to have said that the way to do this is to make the other, larger person your friend and use his abilities to benefit you, instead of treating the other person as an opponent.

This response is about seeing a problem in a new light, or from a different perspective. Maybe the new perspective will show one how to use the situation which is a problem to one’s own advantage. This is exactly what I think my ancestors did when the festivals of “Neeru Tumbo Habba” and “Varsha Todaku” were added to Deepavali! They changed the perspective and made drudgery fun!

Image credit – “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain, Illustrated Classic Edition published by Moby Books

In Hindi, there is a phrase, “aapada mein bhi avasar hai”. It means “there is opportunity in a crisis”. “Aaapada” is crisis and “avasar” is opportunity in Hindi. This is identical in spirit to the English phrase “Never let a crisis go waste”. This phrase usually means that one should use a crisis to make changes for the better. Perhaps these phrases also arise from situations that gave rise to new festivals and the response from our Sensei in the Bujinkan.

Deepavali (also called Diwali) is the celebration of “Light” and the triumph of Dharma over Adharma (very poorly translated as triumph of good over evil). The “light” is almost always associated with knowledge, wisdom and new experiences that help one benefit oneself in life. I guess when we throw “light” on a problem, the change in perspective leads to a solution, which might or might not have anything to do with the problem in the first place.

And finally we have the word “enlightenment”. My teacher once told me that one feels “light” when a weight is dropped. If you are carrying a heavy backpack and you set it down, you feel “enlightened”. By this definition, letting go of an existing or fixed notion is perhaps enlightenment, for the notion was a burden! And the lack of a burden allows a new perspective, which might show the lack of a problem where one previously existed. 🙂

And this perhaps allows for joyous participation in boring chores and the creation of new festivals – opportunities for the celebration of life!

Wish you all a Bright, Blessed Deepavali!

The Dasara festival & “En No Kiri Nai” – Connection is Survival

Vikram M R, , , , , Leave a comment

Arrangement of toy soldiers, part of a Dasara doll display

I work in the IT (Information Technology) industry. One thing that is common in the IT industry is the need to avoid “escalations”. An “escalation” occurs is when someone (likely on the side of the client) complains that work or delivery of a solution or progress of a project is not happening as expected (relating to costs or timelines). Prevention of “escalations” is of paramount importance, right up there along with usual indicators of cost, revenue, profitability, growth and client relations.

The last part there, client relations is what escalations are believed to affect first. To avoid escalations and to mitigate their consequences when they do occur, steps are put in place to stay connected with the team and clients. These are formal mechanisms that are put in place and are taken very seriously across the industry. This is true for all industry sectors, but especially so in the service sector (beyond IT and extending to hospitality, banking etc.)

This aspect of “staying connected” is at the root of escalation prevention and also key to identifying new opportunities in business. When I was pursuing an MBA, the professor teaching us Sales Management used to say that the work of a Salesperson is to build a relationship with existing and potential clients/customers, and then stay connected. This “connection reveals opportunity” was what he wanted us to take away from his course.

I am also a student of the Bujinkan system of martial arts. I heard for the first time, around the year 2009, a Japanese phrase, “En no kiri nai”. This was a phrase that Soke Masaaki Hatsumi used while teaching. As I understand it, the phrase means “do not break/sever the connection”. The idea of this concept is that one needs to be connected to the opponent(s) to be aware of what his/her/their intentions are, and this awareness allows the situation to be controlled. This connection and control can be physical, but not necessarily. Also, the control involves self-control, control of the opponent(s) and control of the overall space/environment of the conflict (conflict could easily be a synonym for “escalation”). In a previous post of mine, I had discussed the idea of “being aware of the opponent” in much greater detail (the idea of Shatrubodha). The link to this post is seen in the notes below1.

Daishihan Alex Esteve from Spain, was in Bangalore a few weeks ago and we had a great few classes with him. During the sessions, he was exploring aspects of the Koto Ryu. As part of this exploration, he was sharing how specific points on the arms, fingers and face can be used to control the opponent. Here, the control was to prevent the opponent from initiating attacks by inducing pain and the threat of potential fractures. This method of control came with a warning.

Daishihan Alex emphasized that if the threat of a fracture or any other damage to the body becomes a reality, control is lost. If the threat comes to pass, the opponent is likely to fight for her or his life and the situation deteriorates, in other words, escalation occurs. Another way of seeing this is as the loss of connection. To control an opponent through a pressure point on the finger, the finger should be connected to the body in the natural manner. If the finger breaks, this connection is broken and the opponent can move with a broken finger which can no longer be used to induce further pain! The pain has increased to a point where the opponent’s brain has switched to a desperate fight for survival, which can overcome all forms of existing control.

Ensuring that the opponent does not go berserk due to the potential of injury requires self-control. This means that one should know when not to overdo the pressure on a pressure point. If one expands this point further, we find examples of laws in some countries for bouncers. The laws require that the bouncers never initiate a confrontation and never strike a person. They can protect themselves, and use grappling or wrestling to subdue the opponent. This means that they can control another person, and thus the conflict, but to achieve this, they need to have self-control, to not strike another person.

In a martial context, the word “opportunity” can be replaced with the word “opening”. Staying connected to the opponent reveals openings to control the opponent and staying connected requires self-control, not a blind adherence to pre-set motives. Also, we are reminded regularly that winning or victory in a conflict, especially in a real physical conflict, is survival, not the condition or fate of the opponent. If this is brought back to the industry example I started with, escalation prevention is survival, is victory.

So, the above points show that opportunities come from connection and connection leads to control. Control leads to self-protection/self-preservation (no escalations remember!). This is victory.

Speaking of victory, we are in the midst of the festival of Dasara (Dussehra to some). Today is Ashtami, the 8th day, tomorrow, the 9th day is Āyudha Pooja and day after tomorrow, the 10th and final day of the festival, is Vijayadashami. Vijayadashami is the celebration of victory and the day to begin new endeavours. Āyudha Pooja is the day to show gratitude to the various inanimate tools and implements we use in our lives. In my post from last year, related to this festival, I had discussed the importance of Āyudha Pooja and Vijayadashami in greater detail2. The link to this post is seen in the notes below.

Weapons in preparation for Ayudha Pooja

Āyudha is the word used for “weapon” in many Indian languages. The term Āyudha can also be applied to any tool or implement that we use to live our lives and earn a livelihood (like laptops, machine tools, tools of any trade etc.). Weapons are just tools used by individuals whose responsibility is security of various kinds. These are the implements used to achieve success or victory.

Earlier in this post, I mentioned that victory is survival. And connection leads to control which leads to survival. So, “connections are a key to victory”! That means connections are a weapon, or a very important tool at the very least.

Connection as I have been using the term, is about being aware of oneself and the surroundings. The surroundings include the space and environment around oneself. It also includes the individuals and organizations one interacts or interfaces with, and that means awareness of the motivations and objectives of people and organizations.

Just as escalation prevention means staying aware of what might be going wrong in a project, prevention of escalation of conflicts at the levels of nations includes diplomacy and espionage. Both involve learning about what friends and foes want, are working towards and are up to. While diplomacy might involve mechanisms of communication that are defined, espionage might involve identifying new connections and using the same for various ends, nefarious and otherwise. So, connection is intelligence too!

This is borne out by several examples from history, including the actions (supposedly) of the Israeli agencies in the ongoing conflict in West Asia. A few other examples that come to mind are shared below.

One of the reasons for the South Indian kingdoms losing to the Khilji (Khalji) and Tuglaq armies is supposed to be poor intelligence, or a lack of awareness of the urgency of the threat posed from the North. When Khilji attacked the Seuna Yadavas at Devagiri in 1296, the large part of the Devagiri army was supposedly raiding further south, likely in Hoysala territory. Also, when the army returned, they fell prey to false reports of the size of the Sultanate army. This indicates a lack of Shatrubodha, or awareness of the enemy! It also reveals a lack of awareness of who the threat is and when it could materialize. In other words, there was a complete lack of connection with what was happening in the North, while the same was not true of the South.

In an eerily similar situation, Malik Kafur (Khilji’s General) is supposed to have been able to defeat the Hoysalas at their capital Dwarasamudra in 1311, as the Hoysala army with its king, Veera Ballala III was campaigning further south in Pandya territory. The Hoysala king Veera Narasimha is supposed to have set aside the taxes from one village, for pilgrims to use as travel expenses and more importantly, the toll levied by the Delhi Sultanate (jizya) while visiting Kāshi. This happened some 80 years before the Sultanate armies were on the doorstep of the Hoysala capital. This again indicates a weak connection to the surroundings or a break in one that existed. The YouTube video linked below shows Sandeep Balakrishna of “The Dharma Dispatch” explain the actions of Veera Narasimha quoted earlier. The link is to the YouTube channel, “Prāna Stories”.

This happening in India is inexplicable as the tradition of the importance of espionage had existed for about 1,500 years before the Delhi Sultanate invaded the Deccan kingdoms. Chanakya, in his Arthashastra, is supposed to have emphasized how a ruler should ensure that he is aware of happenings in countries all around his territory and even beyond. As I recall, Chanakya suggests friendly relations with nations with which a kingdom does not share borders and military superiority over the ones with which there is a shared border. He also advocated always having active spies and being ready for covert action (maybe with the legendary Vishakanyas).

This is another way of saying, “stay connected, always”! For, whether one is making friends or staying dominant, both are forms of staying connected, even if the means and ends differ. Also, whether to make friends or achieve superiority, one needs information and awareness, which comes from intelligence and hence connections.

Even in modern times this holds true. Consider Japan in the middle of the 19th century. It had maintained an isolationist policy for about 250 years by then. But the arrival of Commodore Perry and his fleet forced Japan to sign a one-sided treaty and open its borders. Japan had fallen behind many parts of the world technologically due to its self-imposed isolation. The importance of the incident with Commodore Perry is revealed by the number of Japanese manga and anime that use it as a backdrop for their stories.

This experience of Japan shows that a while policy of minding one’s own business and not getting involved is great self-control, it is a complete lack of connection. And that is a sure shot way to encountering negative consequences. All of us, as individuals, societies and nations are part of a system and disconnecting leads to danger, if not outright harm, on all three levels.

Consider how India handled the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. India took its time to build up its military and intelligence capabilities before declaring war. This is shown by the actions of the R&AW, India’s external intelligence agency and the tri-services. Also, India indulged in diplomacy with all parts of the world to ensure that external interference would not thwart its military objectives. This is revealed by the USSR holding off the efforts of the USA to help Pakistan, its then ally. This is an instance of building and using connections in all domains to achieve objectives successfully.

The thing with espionage is that it knows no friends or foes, for it is connection, pure and simple. I recall reading in a novel many years ago, I think it was a Frederick Forsyth novel, I cannot say for certain, that Israeli foreign policy sees no friends, only enemies and neutrals, so no one is free from being spied upon by Israel (the Kendra Bindu* of news currently!).

An example of this that does not involve Israel is the case of the R&AW officer Ravindra Singh. He is supposed to have spied on India for the CIA and eventually defected to the USA. This happened in 2004, after the relationship between the USA and India had thawed post the nuclear tests of 1998 and friendly (somewhat) relations had been established. So, at least in international relations, friends should expect to be spied upon by friends and not desist from spying on friends of their own. It is all just about staying connected remember! 😛

Coming back to the festival of Dasara, the one distinguishing feature of this festival in parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu is the display of dolls. The displays could have themes or just be a revitalization of memories. People can use new dolls made in traditional styles to tell stories of Rama or Krishna or any other or just display dolls that are inherited from parents and other older relatives. The themes could also be lifestyles in a city, a park, animal life and the like.

However one indulges in the arrangement of the display of dolls – the entire event, from preparing the platform, cleaning stored dolls, arranging them as planned and later the storing of the same for use next year and cleaning up after the festival is done – it is all about connecting with one’s recent history, culture and family traditions. It is a connection across time – to remember a time from a century or a few decades ago and adding it to current lifestyles.

Arrangement of “Bombe” (dolls) at my in-laws place 🙂

The other feature of the Dasara many people in South India associate with, is the Jambu Savaari in Mysuru (Mysore). This is the carnival like parade led by elephants, which recreates the way Dasara was celebrated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This is also a connection across time. The Jambu Savaari is a connection at a community level, even if one only watches the procession on TV or on a live stream. The display of dolls is a connection at a personal level, with family and friends.

The festival of Vijayadashami on the last day of Dasara is when the Jambu Savaari happens every year. This festival is also considered auspicious for any new activity to begin. So, people are encouraged to start something new on this day. Now, consider what I hypothesized earlier. Connections are a tool and Āyudha Pooja is the celebration of tools.

If we put the two festivals together, we celebrate connections on Āyudha Pooja and endeavour to begin establishing new connections on Vijayadashami. For starting a new connection or fixing one that is not great, is a new activity. If connections can provide protection (victory), that is only apt, for Vijayadashami is also the celebration of victory. Thus, a dual purpose is served.

The last point about Dasara brought us to connections across time. This is perhaps vitally important in an Indian context. Indian or Bharatiya civilization has survived an assault by both Islamic and European cultures. Connecting to this past through history should reveal many important points to ponder. One of the important ones is about what happens when the civilization breaks connections with sections of its own people and environment.

American political scientist Harold Dwight Lasswell had produced a paper in 1936 titled “Politics: Who gets What, When, How”. I recently saw an article in the “Frontline”3 which used this title to begin, by saying “Politics is about who gets what”. The article is not relevant to the points I am about to make, but the line is relevant.

Everyone knows that India is extremely diverse in terms of language, food, culture, traditions and even geography and climate. Now, consider the description of “politics” from the previous paragraph. If any of the diverse sections of the Indian population is deprived of any resource, a feeling of a breaking of a connection with the Indian state is created. Something else needs to be done to fix this break and re-forge the connection. This is a perpetual task, considering limited state resources in India. One of the resources is “a feeling of staying in control of one’s destiny” or simply put “a feeling of having power”. So, power sharing is the name of the game, apart from all other resources. So, Indian politics, perhaps all politics, is “to stay connected with everyone”.

“Staying connected to everyone” can be expanded further based on a concept from the Hindu way of thinking. The are 5 “Rnas” or debts everyone is supposed to carry, according to Hindu thought. These connect to not just everyone, but to everything! This should be obvious as seen below.

The 5 debts are –

  • Deva Rna – The debt owed to the Gods for maintaining the natural order of the universe
  • Pitr Rna – The debt owed to the ancestors for their activities that allow us to live the lives we do
  • Rishi Rna – The debt owed to the Sages of the past, for the knowledge, technology and systems they created, that enable our lives
  • Manushya Rna – The debt owed to fellow humans that exist, for we are all connected in invisible ways
  • Bhuta Rna – The debt owed to the natural world (plants, animals, land, climate etc.) for without the ecosystem, our lives are impossible

So, as seen above, these are debts everyone is expected to endeavour to pay. This is a perfect summarization of saying that connections are vitally important to survive and should never be forgotten. Watch the following video from the YouTube channel “Samvada English”, between the 25 and 45 minute marks. Here Dr. Aarti V B, explains the five debts in a beautiful manner, apart from several other concepts of Hindu Dharma.

Leading on from the last few paragraphs, I will end with a point about connections across time! I had discussed how narratives and news are modern day weapons which are “time-based”, just as missiles and bombs are space based, as in, “long range missiles” and “bombs that can flatten a city (geographical spread)4.

The depth of connections can be vast and perhaps only be identified with a hindsight of many centuries. Consider the following video from the YouTube channel of the ‘The Print”. In the video, historian Anirudh Kanisetti explains how the Pandya kingdom drove up the prices of horses all over the world by importing vast numbers of the same from Central Asia. This turned out to be a catalyst for the invasion of Pandya territory by the Delhi Sultanate. To reach the Pandyas, the Sultanate armies had to defeat the Yadavas of Devagiri, the kingdom of Warangal and the Hoysalas. When the Pandyas were defeated, a lot of these horses were part of the loot taken by the Sultanate army.

This video shows that knowledge is another form of identifying connections, even if they are of events that happened centuries ago! The events that transpired during the campaigns of the Delhi Sultanate form narratives that affect Indian politics in current times. So, the past is not really dead and a tool by itself. The use of History as a weapon/tool means one needs to identify its connection to various aspects of contemporary life.

Issac Asimov, one of the greats of Science Fiction writing, wrote a short story called “The Dead Past” in 1956. In the story, a scientist develops a means to see the past, which can be used by everyone. This happens after his request to use the Government controlled technology to do the same, is refused. This has major repercussions he never envisioned. This story is also an exploration of how the past is not dead and connections to it still shape our lives.

And that hopefully explains how connections are the key to everything and how the festival of Dasara and the martial arts lead to the same learning/reminder.

Wish you all a wonderful Āyudha Pooja, Vijayadashami and Dasara in general!

Stay connected, stay strong, it is the primary weapon for survival.

Notes:

1 https://mundanebudo.com/2023/07/06/connect-control-part-1-connect-control-shatrubodha-in-flow/

2 https://mundanebudo.com/2023/10/23/aayudha-pooja-vijayadashami-the-most-important-festivals-for-the-martial-arts/

*Kendra Bindu – Central point or point of focus

3 https://frontline.thehindu.com/economy/indian-middle-class-ambedkar-economic-inequality-nirmala-sitharaman-budget-2024-hindenburg/article68521449.ece

4https://mundanebudo.com/2023/10/15/missile-long-range-weapon-narrative-long-time-weapon/

A Plesiosaur in Kerala :-)

Vikram M R, , , , , , , Leave a comment

A pesiosaurid. Image credit – “The Animal World – from the Knowledge Quest series by Reader’s Digest”

I visited Lake Vembanad in Kerala some time ago. It is one of the largest lakes in India. It is extremely beautiful and allows for some great cruises. The lake is host to several species of birds which make great subjects for photographs. Considering we have great cameras on mobile phones these days, one can take a lot of snaps, which will not be of professional quality, but make for great memories. Combine this with the image search feature on Google, one can also identify the species of bird or animal photographed, which adds to the entire experience. But the identification is not perfect, and depends on the photograph. Sometimes we would expect that photo is clear enough for an identification, but Google seems to disagree, and the search result is surprising. One such surprising result is what drives this article.

While out the lake, I took a short video of a bird swallowing a fish. I also captured an image. I thought it was a purple heron or a darter (snake bird), but was not certain. To confirm, I used the image search on Google. Aaaaaannddd, Google suggested that the creature in the image was…….wait for it……drumrolls…..

A PLESIOSAUR!!!! 😀 😀 😀

It was like I had discovered the local Loch Ness Monster (Nessie)! The image I used to search and result from Google are seen in the images seen below.

The image on the left was what was used for the search. The search result is seen on the right.

Now look at another image I took of the same bird. It definitely bears a passing resemblance to the famous, and very FAKE, Surgeon’s photograph of Nessie*.

The image on the left is the one used for the search. The image on the right is another image of the same bird. The image is the centre is the famous “Surgeon’s photograph” of Nessie. Image credit for the image in the centre – “Myths, Legends and Folktales – from the Knowledge Quest series by Reader’s Digest”.

Here is a video of the bird, just to confirm that it is not a dinosaur.

This incident goes to show how, even in current times, when we have a surfeit of information and access to the knowledge of the Internet, we are saddled with information that is wrong, glaringly and obviously so. And this with absolutely no intent on anyone’s part of deceit, malice or even mischief. And if this can happen, how often can it be that the information and we have is wrong and we are oblivious to the fact? Now, if there is a deliberate intent to pass misinformation or deceive, how incredibly difficult is it to overcome the wrong knowledge emanating in such a situation? Expand this further and if the knowledge is wrong due to a case of delusion, is there any way to escape at all?

Consider the use of deception and misinformation in the world with the few examples seen below.

  • The most expansive example is perhaps Operation Fortitude, the large scale endeavour carried out during World War 2, before the Normandy invasion (Operation Overlord) to hide the actual location of the landing.
  • The Indian army used the fear in Pakistani soldiers of being burnt to death in tanks to get them to abandon their armoured vehicles on the western front in the war of 1971.
  • Sounds of weapons were used as psychological warfare during the first Gulf War (Kuwait liberation war) to induce Iraqi soldiers to surrender.
  • This last example is not historical, but is aitihāsic. In the Mahabharata, Krishna uses a solar eclipse (or magic) to get Jayadratha to reveal himself and be slain by Arjuna.

Credit for the 2 images above – “Arjuna fulfills his vow – Mahabharata 35”, published by Amar Chitra Katha

The last example above just goes to show how misinformation has always been used by humans. Could this be an evolution of ambush hunting of animals adapted to attack humans?

Now consider how we look at the use of technology in modern day democracies.

  • In India, specifically during the elections, we discuss how there is a “tool kit”, which is a euphemism to suggest that specific organizations (mostly foreign with Indian allies) and foreign deep states are indulging in narrative warfare to affect the development of India and to control its regime.
  • In the USA and now in Canada, there is talk of election interference and manipulation by foreign powers.
  • National governments are increasingly identifying mechanisms to regulate and control digital and social media as these are the front lines in information manipulation and narrative control, 5th generation warfare, as it is called.

So, there has always been an attempt to achieve superiority through either a denial of information or through the use of misinformation. The counter to this would be to identify misinformation and the acquisition or gathering of authentic information, which might translate to knowledge. Both of these are continuous and incremental processes, not unlike the gradual application of misinformation.

This is perhaps why we have so many festivals in Hindu culture that are attributed to the celebration of knowledge. Consider the previous and coming month. There is a surfeit of opportunities to realize “knowledge is everything”.

  • 22nd August, 2024 was World Folklore Day. Folklore, in many cultures, was a means of passing on knowledge, especially with oral traditions.
  • 24th August, 2024 was Hayagreeva Jayanthi. Lord Hayagreeva is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu where he is depicted with the head of a horse. Lord Hayagreeva is considered the God of knowledge.
  • 26th or 27th August, 2024, was Krishna Janmashtami. Lord Krishna imparted knowledge on several aspects, including through the Bhagavad Gita.
  • 5th September is always Teacher’s Day in contemporary India. It is the birthday of former President Dr. S Radhakirhsnan. It is a day to celebrate teachers who impart knowledge.
  • 7th September, 2024 was Ganesha Chaturthi. One of the epithets for Lord Ganesha is Vidya Ganapati. Vidya is knowledge.
  • 10th October, 2024 will be Sapthami, the 7th day of Dasara. On this day, some communities celebrate Saraswati Pooja. Devi Saraswati is the Goddess of learning.
  • 12th October, 2024 will be Navami, the 9th day of Dasara. On this day, apart from Āyudha Pooja, some communities perform pooja of Lord Hayagreeva as well. As mentioned earlier, Lord Hayagreeva is the God of knowledge.

So, knowledge is a key theme in several festivals of Hindu culture. Another aspect of knowledge that is celebrated in Hindu culture is the time and effort that goes into acquiring knowledge. This includes the development of expertise as well.

The time and effort in developing knowledge or expertise goes into training (including studying, practicing, interacting, experiencing etc.). In the Bujinkan system of martial arts, two Japanese terms are used in relation to training. One is Genjitsu and the other is Genjutsu. Genjitsu refers to reality or the actual truth. Genjutsu refers to using illusions or misinformation, mostly to weaken or negatively affect opponents.

Genjutsu however, could be turned inward; it then becomes a delusion. This is a result of training going bad or being in a silo for too long, when one does not realize that the training one is going through is either not of any benefit or actively detrimental to oneself or others. A mentor of mine, Arnaud Cousergue, has written about this in an article which I am linking below+. He refers to some practitioners choosing to only practice what is termed “cosmic stuff” without a firm grounding in hard training and technical aspects.

I had earlier mentioned how folklore is a means of transmitting knowledge in oral traditions. I personally feel urban legends are modern day folklore, but are not designed to transmit any knowledge. Consider the following two examples to illustrate the same.

Around the year 1990, there was a story doing the rounds in Bangalore of “Nāle Bā”. “Nāle” is “tomorrow” and “bā” is “come” in Kannada. The story was that a supernatural entity was going around parts of the city and causing harm to the residents. The entity’s means of gaining entry to a residence was to knock on the door and speak in the voice of a resident. The easiest way to deter this entity was to ask it to “come tomorrow” or “nāle bā”. This could even be achieved by putting up a board at the gate or write on the main door or the compound the same words (in Kannada). There were several homes which had done this.

In 2001, there was the menace of the “Monkey Man” in Delhi. A creature(s) or an individual(s) in the garb of a monkey/ape was attacking people on the streets of Delhi at night. In this case, there were some people who suffered injuries. These varied from serious to minor ones. There were even a few deaths reported due to the “Monkey Man”. But it was never clear if the cause of death was the attack or an accident caused out of fear and panic. There were also suggestions that some of the incidents were misreported. In the case of “Nāle Bā”, I am not aware of any case of real threat or harm of a grievous kind to anyone.

Both of these are urban legends, but did not serve to transmit any knowledge. It was just a story that gripped a city for a short duration. This is analogous to a delusion in training. One reacts to a situation that is not real or believes that the training one is indulging in is very useful, while it really is not.

So, in the world we live in, with deep fakes, fake news and “narrative setting/engineering”, it is extremely difficult to acquire or develop knowledge with real and accurate information. It is a continuous process to develop one’s ability to sense if a piece of information could be fake or partially false. It is exactly like continuous training with an awareness of whether or not it is relevant. It is the development of the ability to spot the Genjitsu and not be overcome by Genjutsu, whether it is delusions or external illusions.

Sensei Masaaki Hatsumi, the soke (inheritor) of the Bujinkan system of martial used to have themes to focus on for every year of training. This was a tradition that lasted from the 90s to the beginning of the pandemic. The theme for the year 2008 was “Menkyo Kaiden”. This phrase from Japanese can be used to illustrate how changes in the way a word is spoken and the spelling is changed can result is vastly different meanings.

Most of the times, “Menkyo Kaiden”, as far as I know, means that a person has received or learned everything a teacher has to offer, and is ready to add to that body of knowledge. One “receives a menkyo kaiden” after she or he has learnt everything a teacher has to transmit and has imbibed the same to the satisfaction of the teacher.

But when theme was mentioned as Menkyo Kaiden in 2008, Hatsumi Sensei, as far I know, wrote the theme in such a way that, while the pronunciation would remain the same, meant “transmitting falsehoods to the mind”. In practice, it meant, “confuse the opponent” or “mess with the opponent by confusing her or him”. This was all about feints and movements that caused the opponent to react in a manner that put her or him at a disadvantage.

This is literally the opposite of the original meaning! In the first case it was about giving all the knowledge possible. In the second, it is all about confusing a person with information and intentions that could be false or true, the truth of which that person is not supposed to be able to discern!

This is similar to another concept called “Kyojitsu tenkan ho”. This means that truth and falsehood are like a revolving door. It could be faking an attack or the intention to attack or the nature of the attack. The attack might be real, or a feint, which could be an opening to something else. This is something that all martial arts and martial sports teach. So, it is commonplace to want the opponent to be unsettled at all times so one can achieve an objective, which could be detrimental to the opponent.

This in itself would be a wonderful elucidation of how one needs to develop an instinct to determine if information received and knowledge gained are correct, relevant and beneficial. This aspect is also taught in the martial arts. Practitioners of the martial arts are expected to, apart from the physical techniques and abilities, also develop their intuition, awareness of situations and mindfulness of the opponent and factors like the surroundings and the atmosphere/environment of a place.

All of these are intangibles that are related to the instinct that is needed to survive a fight, or a conflict in general (like in the office where there is no physical threat). In the Bujinkan, this is taught as “Sakkijutsu” and is very important to develop over years of practice. This roughly leads to a practitioner having “a feel” of the situation, which includes the opponent, the place, the situation and most importantly, the potential for danger. This hopefully leads to either minimal conflict or hopefully the nullification of one, but in either case, the key is to escape/avoid any harm to the self.

This concept is not specific to the Japanese language either. In many Indian vernacular languages, the term for “experience” and “feeling” is the same. The word “anubhava” in Kannada and “anubhav” in Hindi are used to express this. “Anubhava” could mean quantum of experience, or what one is feeling. In the first case, the sentence in Kannada would be, “ninage yeshtu anubhava ide?” which translates to “how much experience do you have?” In the second it would be, “neenu yenu anubahisuttiddiya?” which would translate as “what are you feeling/experiencing?”

The word for expertise is “parinati”. In other words, while expertise is something that is recognized as a consequence of effort over time, the words for experience and feeling are the same, which could mean that an experience is the feeling that one can receive or gather. And when one is able to “get a feel” for anything, easily or nonchalantly, that is a sign of long experience, which is the root of expertise.

In conclusion, in contemporary times, when information is in surplus and easily accessible, knowledge, which is processed information, is not easy to come by, for the veracity of the information is hard to ascertain. With experience, one can perhaps get a feel for the correctness of information, and this skill could be knowledge unto itself.

I recently saw a video on Instagram where Eminem was discussing chemistry like a pro! It was an AI generated video**. If the maker of the video had not mentioned this, one would be left wondering if Eminem is a chemist by profession! But the video certainly “feels” off and anyone who knows of Eminem will check if this video is fake or not.

We recently had a training session with Daishihan Alex Esteve of the Bujinkan. During the class, Alex mentioned that the knowledge of biomechanics is accessible for anyone who needs it these days. But about 200 years ago, the knowledge of the use of biomechanics in martial arts would be a closely guarded secret, for the knowledge of the same was an advantage to the ones who possessed it, and this knowledge was not available to most of the populace. Go back further, by about a thousand years and the knowledge of biomechanics would have seemed mystical knowledge, for the number of people possessing the same would be a handful in any society and the effect of its use on any individual would perhaps be seen as magical.

In the case of the Eminem video I mentioned, the ability or skills to identify the video as AI generated is not commonplace, not all of us can do it. So, it does seem mystical, if someone can nonchalantly identify it, especially if that person does not know who Eminem is. But the regulation of the use of AI is beginning and an option is now provided on platforms to mark something as AI. This is likely to be the beginning of more people developing the skill to identify AI handiwork. So, as more methods to identify AI are developed, those are likely to be kept secret simply for IP reasons. Now this skill or ability is not mystical, but carefully guarded. And perhaps the ability to identify the involvement of AI without being told so will become second nature in the future. Until then, it is good to have a “feel” for something that doesn’t seem quite right, or all real.

As a last word, I will share a link to a video by Praveen Swamy, on the YouTube channel of the media organization, The Print. In the video he discusses how the conflict between cryptographers and cryptanalysts has been going on since millennia. The context in the video is about hiding information, but it is not that different from misinformation and the hiding of authentic information. This conflict between real knowledge and its duplicitous variants is eternal, all one can do is flow through this battle safely.

Notes:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loch_Ness_Monster – Look at the segment on the “Surgeon’s photograph”

+ https://kumablog.org/2014/07/ – The cosmic stuff that is referred to in the article is the belief that training only soft movements against slow attacks has prepared one for a real fight without having undergone rigorous training in the basics and hard training.

** The video was on the Instagram account of “yourchemistrypal.sg”, who had made the video using Parrot AI.

Why the Prince can’t be PM, yet

Vikram M R, , , , , 2 Comments

In a previous article of mine where I was extolling the relevance of the festivals of Aayudha Pooja and Vijayadashami*, I had described the concept of “Shinken Gata” in the Bujinkan system of martial arts. The Shinken Gata is also a test students of the Bujinkan go through in some dojos. Shinken Gata can be roughly translated as “The Form (Kata) where the Spirit (Shin) in the Weapon (Ken)”. The test involves facing multiple opponents who attack at the same time from different directions, while attempting to perform specific forms.

In my experience, some of the learnings from this test for a student are,

  • Fatigue sets in really fast
  • Multiple opponents cause disorientation
  • Techniques and forms fail routinely and cannot be relied upon
  • Fear sets in when there are multiple opponents, even in a safe simulation
  • The objective of the test was never to check the form. It was to show that the spirit (“Shin”) is the true weapon. One keeps going until there is no life left.
  • Failure will occur. One strives despite this awareness. It is sometimes possible to prepare to avoid failure, not always.

This test is in some ways similar to the “Kobayashi Maru” test in the Star Trek franchise. This test will always result in the individual being tested failing. Its objective is to test character and also to teach that one has to do one’s best despite the knowledge of impending and certain failure.

The Shinken Gata in the dojo where I train is usually administered before a student starts training weapons. In the past, there used to be many of dropouts post the test, but this has reduced in recent years. Individuals did not always drop out because the test was too hard or because they failed. Many a time people left AFTER they passed. I am not certain why, but one reason I have come to expect is that the passing of this test is very satisfying, euphoric even; hence the person who has passed is satisfied with what has been achieved and no longer has a drive to train further.

Those that pass the test and continue training have renewed vigour and train harder for a while. But the learnings from the test remain for a very long time. Those that do not experience the Shinken Gata test always want to. It is like not having tested oneself. Add to this the feeling that one has never experienced a real fight (fortunately) and has not even endured it in simulation, and one always feels deficient.

The simulated reality of the Shinken Gata makes one better prepared for a real conflict, even ones not physical, with an acceptance of reality and its unexpected nature. This experience in most cases helps one endure and survive, if not thrive. Shinken Gata even as a simulation shows what might be needed in the face of death, while facing overwhelming odds. One does everything one can, until the very last instant (the proverbial throwing of the kitchen sink or burning the boats). Hopefully this drive will enable survival and perhaps victory or achievement of an objective.

In my opinion it is something similar to this feeling of Shinken Gata that is part of the moulding of individuals who successfully become leaders. What they do with the leadership once it is achieved is a different matter altogether. This idea is the focus of this article. At the time of writing this article, we are still in the course of the 2024 Indian election to the Lok Sabha; there is still one last phase of voting to go. Hence, me being as political as any other Indian, am sharing some thoughts on why the Lord of the Congress cannot be the PM, at least not yet.

Consider the following well-known rulers/leaders/administrators from various points in Indian history and their struggle to attain the throne/leadership.

Left to Right – Ashoka, Chandragupta 2nd Vikramaditya, Harshavardhana. Credits for all 3 images – Wikipedia

  • Ashoka Maurya had to fight and kill his brothers to achieve the throne of Maghada in the third century BCE.
  • Chandragupta 2nd Vikramaditya had to dethrone his brother Ramagupta to achieve kingship of the Gupta Empire in the 4th century CE.
  • Harshavardhana’s brother Rajyavardhana was the Pushyabhuti king. He was killed treacherously. Harsha had to fight King Shashanka of the Gauda kingdom to protect his family and kingdom in this uncertain time. His limited success in the war protected his kingdom and he took the throne of Thanesar in the early 7th century CE.
  • Pulakeshi 2nd had to fight against his uncle Mangalesha who was the regent and had usurped the throne. This victory in the internecine conflict resulted in his taking the throne of the Chalukya kingdom in the early 7th century CE.
  • Raja Raja Chola had to fight off enemies from within the Chola Empire and also fight external enemies before becoming the king in the late 10th century CE.

Left to Right – Pulakeshi 2nd as depicted in a statue in Badami, Karnataka, Raja Raja Chola depicted in a bronze sculpture. Credits for both images – Wikipedia

  • Rana Sanga had to survive his elder brother’s enmity to become the king of Mewar early in the 16th century CE.
  • Rana Pratap had to survive attacks from the Mughals and also intrigue by his brother before claiming the throne of Mewar in the latter half of the 16th century.

Left to Right – Rana Sanga, Rana Pratap. Credits for both images – Wikipedia

  • Akbar had to fight and win the 2nd battle of Panipat against the forces of Hemu to win the throne of Delhi, during the middle of the 16th century CE.
  • Aurangzeb killed his brothers and jailed his father on his way to becoming the Mughal emperor during the middle of the 17th century CE.
  • Peshwa Madhav Rao had to overcome his uncle Raghunath Rao before taking over as Peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy and restoring its glory after their defeat in the third battle of Panipat. This was in the latter half of the 18th century CE.

Left to Right – Akbar as depicted in the Amar Chitra Katha publication “Birbal The Wise”, Peshwa Madhav Rao as depicted in a statue in Maharashtra. Credit for the image on the right – Wikipedia

  • In the 20th century PM Indira Gandhi had to split the Congress party on the way to becoming the powerful leader that she came to be.
  • Lastly, in the current century, consider PM Narendra Modi. When he was the new CM of Gujarat in 2002, the tragedy of Godhra and the following riots occurred. After this incident, he had to survive opponents within the party, endure international ignominy and be acquitted by the enquiries and judicial processes that followed over the years. He then had to overcome challenges from within the BJP before becoming the PM candidate before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

In all of the above cases, the individual who became ruler or leader had to face serious, almost existential threats to their selves or at least to their leadership ambitions. The leaders either faced very serious external threats or, in most cases, had to fight internecine conflicts before becoming the ruler or leader. I opine that this struggle early in their careers, is akin to the Shinken Gata, but with vastly greater consequences. It is likely this relentless fight to achieve the top post that stood them in good stead later, as they achieved success in keeping the top post against all challenges and also added more fame to their time as the ruler/leader.

This is not to say that those who do not survive a civil war or severe external threats will not become rulers or leaders and be successful thereafter. The examples of Bindusara, Samudragupta and Rajendra Chola demonstrate this. These rulers inherited kingdoms which were not on the brink of war and did not fight family on the way to the throne. Yet they are remembered as successful monarchs, even great ones, in the case of the latter two.

I am suggesting that when one fights hard to achieve the top post, and especially when one fights a civil war to achieve the same, even if it is not bloody and only full of intrigue, the chances of becoming a great leader is higher. Even if one is not yet fighting for the top post of PM or monarch, but has had to fight to achieve the highest post or any objective one aspired to, the struggle and endurance is likely to stand that individual in good stead should she or he aim higher, maybe for the top post.

Conversely, if the highest post one has held is handed to that individual on a platter, and that person aims higher, for the post of PM in today’s context, the lack of struggle to achieve the previous highest position could come as a handicap. The experience of a fight or conflict of any kind would lend itself to the strife that needs to be endured to win an election against a powerful opponent. And any fight to be PM would indeed involve powerful (skillful, wily, ruthless, choose your adjective) opponents.

Apply this to the principal challenger for the post of PM in the current elections, Rahul Gandhi. He has not had to fight against his own party members to become the leader of the Congress party. But he has been fighting for the post of PM for ten years now. Of course, it can always be said that he is not keep on the post of the PM, but if one chooses to believe that, that is their choice.

Rahul Gandhi is facing current PM Narendra Modi, who is as incredible an opponent as there can be. Rahul Gandhi was going up against a seasoned political and electoral warrior forged over the course of many past conflicts without any such history on his side. If Rahul Gandhi had had to fight hard to become Congress President, would that experience have changed his fortunes against Narendra Modi? I suspect that would indeed have been the case. This lack of past conflicts did him in, in both 2014 and 2019.

But things have changed in the last year. Since 2023, Rahul Gandhi is a much different political warrior compared to the one he was in both 2014 and 2019. The fight and defeats of the last two elections have been experience after all. Add to this the urgency or desperation to win or at least not lose as badly as the last two times have made him a stronger competitor. He is more fiery, applying greater effort and using all means that he can perhaps consider. In my limited observation, this includes building a coalition of limited strength and using the skill sets and resources of individuals and organizations outside India.

The drawback to these efforts will likely turnout to be the late start. The improved efforts will not result in the leader of the Congress becoming PM in 2024. The experience gained has not translated into successful application of the same to overcome the current PM. Hence, the Prince cannot be the PM. But, the struggles of the 2024 elections will translate into ability, if the effort is sustained. And hence, the Prince is not the PM, yet. His struggles could have put him on the long road to eventual success. But that, the future will tell, perhaps in 2029.

Disclaimer – I am not a historian, nor a specialist in the social sciences, and I could wrong about all the above points.

Notes:

* https://mundanebudo.com/2023/10/23/aayudha-pooja-vijayadashami-the-most-important-festivals-for-the-martial-arts/

The Illusion of a Majority

Vikram M R, , , , , , , Leave a comment

“Naruto” is an awesome manga and anime series. Similarly, “Mortal Kombat” is an awesome video game franchise which has spawned series and movies. One of the most enduring memories of both Naruto and Mortal Kombat is the use of the “Kunai”. The kunai as used by characters in Naruto is not unlike a knife, a throwing knife in many instances. The kunai in the hands of the Mortal Kombat character Scorpion is more like a rope dart, with a chain replacing the rope and the kunai being the dart. In both cases, the kunai is used as a ranged weapon, which is thrown at opponents.

The above image is of a harmless replica kunai. The shape seen is iconic, from several manga, anime and video games.

The kunai is learnt as part of the Bujinkan system of martial arts. Naruto and similar characters inspire individuals to train the martial arts. Of course, no one believes the fantastical elements and abilities of the characters in these fictional worlds. But when new students realize that the kunai is indeed a real weapon that they will get to train as practitioners of the Bujinkan, there is an unmistakable glimmer of joy in their eyes!

But the kunai as trained in the Bujinkan is not a ranged weapon, it is instead a close quarter short distance weapon. As I understand it from my teacher and mentors, the forms of the kunai we currently train were adopted from those of the jutte many years ago by Sensei Masaaki Hatsumi. Further, the kunai, is a glorified little shovel, which could be used in one’s garden!

Can the kunai be thrown? Sure it can, but in as much as any weapon can be thrown. The shovel, which is the kunai, is not designed to be thrown at opponents. But as we see with training, it definitely can double up as a small weapon when in a tight spot.

The image above shows a possible representation of a real kunai. Even a bricklayers trowel could be a kunai substitute, in my opinion.

The training version of the kunai we use in the dojo looks very much like a fish. It could be made of wood and be padded to enable safe training. So, the pop culture version of the kunai, while it could exist, is not the super-weapon it is made out to be in manga and anime. That version is imaginary, an illusion.

The above image shows a training version of the kunai. It is quite different from the pop culture version of the same. Note the fish like appearance. I have heard a mentor of mine say that the word kunai, could mean a fish or death! But the more common meaning I have heard for the word kunai is “no suffering” or “hardship being nil”*.

That said, the illusion is the reality when the word “kunai” in mentioned to most people. The first image that comes to mind is the one from pop culture, not the trowel or the gardening implement! So much so, that the kunai could be associated with stories for young adults or even kids and hence training the kunai would lead to the martial art form itself being considered with scepticism! For it is fictional and not be taken seriously! This potential for illusions to overshadow reality and warp the way we as individuals and large social groups perceive ideas and process information drives the ideas expressed further in this article.

**

All of us are citizens of one country. Some have citizenship of more than one country, but no one is a “citizen of the plant Earth”. This is despite all of us knowing that the borders are artificial and we are all inhabitants of the plant, specifically one of its many ecosystems at any given point in time in our lives.

The one thing that reminds us most glaringly these days about how borders of nations are artificial is climate change. Consider El Nino; the warming of the Pacific Ocean throws the weather out of whack in different ways in several countries. Similarly, even though the carbon footprint of specific parts of the world is much larger than the rest, the effects of the same are endured by all countries of the world. A simpler way of looking at this would be wild life.

All of us have always known that animals do not respect national borders. This is sometimes remarked on wistfully when we humans have to put in the effort to secure passports and visas. These days, multiple countries work together to create wild life corridors to enhance conservation efforts and preserve genetic diversity in endangered species. The tiger or elephant corridors that are under consideration between Nepal, India and Bhutan could be examples of this.

So, it is clear that all of us are citizens of Earth. But one area where this knowledge always takes a back seat is politics, specifically that which makes the need for passports and visas paramount – identity politics.

Hindus are a majority in modern day India. They are supposed to comprise about 80% of the total population. But look at the world as a whole and Hindus are a distant third as numbers of practitioners of major religions go. Hindus are still a massive majority compared to Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Jews and several other religions in the world. But they are only about a half of the total practitioners of Christianity and Islam.

Even more glaring is the spread of the practitioners of the two major faiths. Practitioners of the Hindu faith are concentrated predominantly in India, with very small numbers in all other countries they live in. In comparison, practitioners of Christianity and Islam inhabit a far larger number of countries, which occupy a much larger area of the planet compared to India.

Now consider the phrase that is used fairly often. “Hindus have a minority complex”. I recently learned that this phrase is a variation of a statement made by a Sri Lankan scholar, Stanley Tambiah, who said of South Asian communities, that they are majorities with a minority complex3. This phrase is used to remind Hindus that they are a massive majority in India and should not have any worries about their culture being under threat, within India. It sometimes is used to suggest that Hindus need not “work to maintain their culture against threats from other religious minorities”. Is this statement correct? Or fair? Perhaps, or could it be an illusion?

**

I opine that there is a flaw in this concept of “minority complex” that is felt by Hindus. The flaw that I suggest in the above concept is that people who repeat it all the time (in my opinion) assume that Hindus always confine their identity to be in relation to the CURRENTLY EXTANT boundaries of the Republic of India.

As discussed above, all individuals in this day and age are global citizens. Considering the inextricably linked supply chains, financial systems and continuously fluid political relationships, what happens in one part of the world invariably affects every other. What is also true is that what happens in some parts of the world affects the rest more visibly and with greater impact than those in other parts of the world.

This is evidenced by how oil prices rise and affect all our lives every time there is potential military escalation in West Asia. Also, we all remember how wheat supplies to several countries were affected due to the war between Russia & Ukraine. This war also affected the supply of essential military hardware to India like the remaining units of the S-400 air defence systems. A conflict that potentially created a business opportunity for India is the one between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenia has procured a lot of military hardware from India and this has improved India’s prospects of acquiring a greater share of military exports in the world. At the same time Indian tourists visiting Azerbaijan has also increased2.

Beyond all this, all of us distinctly remember the pandemic that not only affected every aspect of our lives, but also caused supply shortages of chips in many industries, due to the crippling effect of the pandemic on supply chains. Also, the current war in Gaza has the potential to cause friendships between people to breakdown in parts of the world that have no stake in the conflict at all. If one individual posts a lot in support of Gaza and her or his friend cannot agree with the sentiment, the rift that this disagreement causes can cause harm to their relationship. This despite both individuals living faraway, in India or the USA. Considering the USA, the manner in which the protests on many university campuses is affecting the life of several individuals is another example of how we are Global Citizens, despite being citizens of one or a few more countries.

With the rise of the internet and the age of information overload, a very large number of people in this integrated world have access to news and opinions from all over the world. With this information access, it is very easy to realize, which parts of the world wield the ability to affect the other parts more strongly and not be as affected in return. This makes these specific parts of the world more powerful than some others. Also, these parts or regions of the world can easily be associated with specific countries or nations. And nations can always be associated with a majority or in most cases a dominant religion.

The key facets that affect this power of some nations are military might, cultural might, economic might and numerical (population size) might. There could be more, but these are top of the mind for me, as of now. Military, economic and technological might are mostly related to each other. Let us consider each of these.

The two nations that are unequivocally more powerful than India militarily are the USA and China. The USA is culturally a Judeo-Christian nation even though it is technically a secular country. China is actively anti-religion and also anti-culture unless it is its own (this “culture” includes the middle kingdom belief). Many other western nations and Israel though smaller in terms of the size of their military forces are far superior when it comes to the technological prowess of the military forces. These nations include Russia, France and the UK. One could include Israel in the western ambit. Of these nations, all are Christian by culture while Israel is Jewish. This is despite the fact that most of them have secular constitutions. Also, the ability of minority religions and cultures to affect the majority in these nations was very small and is only now beginning to change.

Culturally, the only nation that could be argued to be more powerful than India would be the USA. Many other nations in the Middle East, Western Europe and China and Japan could be equal to India’s cultural power, but are not necessarily superior. Here again, most of the nations that are either India’s equals or superior are all either Christian or Islamic by either religion or culture.

We could look at “culture” in different ways as well. While Indian culture is original and vast in its variety, its audience is primarily the people who already live in India or form a part of its diaspora. While Indian art and culture is appreciated in different parts of the world, and this number is increasing in the last few decades, this is not influencing the culture in other parts of the world in a significant manner, as far as I know.

However, the culture of many other countries influences the life of Indians and those of many other parts of the world as well. Considering the past of Islam and Christianity in India, it is easy to see that these religions are a strong part of the cultural export of the countries that espouse these. Both religions practice proselytization and hence, the religion itself is a cultural export. Similarly, the Marxist ideology that controls Indian academia is a western export and has influenced everything in India from Government policy to cinema.

Compare this with Indian cinema, music, spirituality, religious literature and architecture. How many societies around the world are affected by the same? As far as I know, the influence of these is very small, even if the appreciation for the same might be fairly large. Bollywood simply does not compare with religion in its ability to influence lifestyle and culture. So, while India might be equal to many other countries in cultural quality and output, it would be less influential anywhere outside the Subcontinent.

When it comes to economic might, specifically when per capita GDP is considered, several nations in the Americas, Europe, West Asia, East Asia and South East Asia are all a lot more powerful when compared with India. Most of these are again, Christian, Islamic, Jewish or Judeo-Christian by culture or religion. Consider the videos below. It is from the YouTube channel of the media outlet “The Print”. The Editor-in-Chief of The Print, Shekhar Gupta explains how Qatar, which is really tiny and has a small population exudes an influence on the world which is way above its weight. This is simply because of its economic might.

In terms of technological might the situation is similar to that of economic might, but there are fewer nations that are superior to India. In this case again, the nations that are ahead of India are mainly Christian, Jewish or Judeo-Christian.

Consider the following article from the Eurasian Time website, the link to which is see below. The article considers three rankings. One is a global ranking by US News and Media. The second is an Asian ranking by the Lowy Institute of Australia, and the last is a global military ranking of countries by Global Firepower. The links to all three rankings are seen in the notes below+. I would suggest that everyone have a look at the original data available there.

US Ranking ‘Kicks Out’ India Out Of World’s Most Powerful Countries; South Korea Scores Over Japan

The US News and Media ranking ranks India 12th in the world, below the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea and of course China as countries in Asia go. Consider how much smaller in area and population compared to India the UAE and Saudi Arabia are, and yet are considered more powerful. I have to add one caveat here. In the past I have suggested that global rankings and reposts of this kind could be weapons that act over time and not distance. This is based on the motivations behind the organizations and sponsors of these rankings. A link to the article where I mention this is seen in the notes below1. That said, these reports do show how we are considered by a certain kind of external gaze. These rankings would also allow us to see what others possess in terms of resources which translate into power, and hence cannot be ignored altogether.

We now come to the size of population. It is easy to think, India has a superiority in this aspect. But when one looks at the size of the practitioners of specific religions we see a different picture. One can say that the Hindus outnumber all other religions in India as they are somewhere between 75 to 80% of the populace. But herein lie several problems.

Hinduism unlike Christianity or Islam is not a monolith. It is more an umbrella term which could be easily replaced by “Dharmic” or “Indic” religions. Hinduism is a set of all those cultural and religious practices in the Indian Subcontinent where interaction with the divine is not about fear or obedience or adherence to a book, but a transactional faith based belief system, where most individuals have specific personal relationships with their divinities. Hinduism consists of all the smaller tribal, community based practice systems. Thus, despite being large as an umbrella organization, each of the groupings that make up this super set are pretty small.

Consider the remarks made a few months ago by the heir apparent of the DMK, where he compared “Sanātana Dharma” with a host of diseases and said that it should be exterminated just like those diseases. His party further explained the statement saying they only refer to the “Brahmanical” aspects when they refer to “Sanātana Dharma”. So, they classify Sanātana Dharma as Brahmanism and suggest that Hinduism is not the same or maybe they mean, it is a small subset of Hinduism which needs to be destroyed.

For several Hindus, Hinduism and Sanātana Dharma are synonymous. In this vein, another statement in late 2022 had caused consternation. Tamil filmmaker Vetrimaaran had suggested that the great Chola king Raja Raja was not a Hindu. Raja Raja Chola was responsible for the construction of the Brihadeshwara temple in Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu. It is a place of great importance for Hindus. Raja Raja was an ardent of Lord Shiva as far as I know. There are people in the political and movie industry circles in Tamil Nadu who suggest that the people of Tamil Nadu are not Hindus but are Shaivaites or Vaishnavites. Both Shiva and Vishnu are at the heart of the Hindu faith.

So, from the little that I understand, all of this seems to suggest that there is an attempt to split Hinduism as it exists today into multiple faiths. In Karnataka, there is an attempt from time to time to call the people of the Lingayat community separate from Hinduism. When I was younger, Lingayats were an integral part of Hinduism, to the best of my knowledge.

There is also the idea of the caste census these days, considering it is election season. The idea is not wrong, if it is purely to further progressive affirmative action. But the suspicion of this proposed exercise is that it is another attempt to split Hinduism and cause its component communities to be at odds with one another. One hears often in Indian media that the idea has been to split Hindus along caste and community lines while uniting the non-Hindus, to further vote bank politics.

This is contrast to some who consider all the practitioners of the faiths that had their origin in India, including Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism as Hindus4. But there are many who choose to disagree with this, which seems to be in keeping with the attempt to split Hinduism into smaller components. And then there are the anti-religion groups like the Marxists, who will prefer the end of any religions as part of their ideology (religion? 😛 ).

Let us now get back to the total populations of each of the big 3 religions that are prevalent in or inform the cultures of each of the nations we considered earlier. Even when Hinduism is considered as a whole, the total number of practitioners of this religion is far smaller in number as compared with the practitioners of either Islam or Christianity. This holds true even if one considers just Sunni Islam or Roman Catholic Christianity. There is in Islam the concept of an “Ummah” or “Ummat”, which means all Muslims constitute a single state and existing national boundaries are irrelevant. Granted, the number of Muslims who believe in this might be small. But it is not small enough for anyone who chooses to worry about them to ignore this aspect altogether. Thus, even if superficially Hindus seem to have sufficient numerical might and this might be true to a certain extent within India, they are just another minority at a global level.

What should be obvious is that the spread of Islam and Christianity in the world is so large that their density in specific countries might be low when compared with that of Hindus (as a monolith, not its components) in India. But the actual population is considerably larger. And the area available for these populations to develop is larger still! Simply because there are more countries they inhabit, unlike Hindus, who can only depend on the area available in modern India for any development. This availability of area for development, in my opinion, is like the ability to scale up industrial capacity. It is a great boon that can be used as necessary.

Of the three religions that inform the culture of the nations that are superior to India as seen above, Judaism is not a proselytizing religion and consequently no religion or culture in India feels threatened by the Jews or their culture.

Christianity and Islam on the other hand are proselytizing religions. They actively believe in converting people of other religions and cultures into their own. They seem to have no qualms either today or in the past about the extinction of all beliefs and traditions of the religions they want folk to convert out of. This activity might not be as mainstream in India as the previous few centuries, but it has not stopped either. Even in cases where practitioners of these two faiths and general populace of the nations whose culture is informed by the same, do not actively support proselytization in other nations, they do not actively denounce this activity either. No Christian or Islamic organization or people of majority Christian and Islamic nations, as far as I know, actively call for a proactive ban on the conversion of peoples into either of these religions.

Consider the video below. The speaker here is looking at Indians as potential converts into Christianity and India as fertile ground to “spread the word” as he sees fit. He exhorts people to put in greater effort to achieve the same. He further adds that one should study and understand Indians to be able to convert them. He does not seem to have any malicious intent. It appears that he genuinely believes that he is doing the “right thing”. But when one looks at it from the eyes of a Hindu, who is the target of his attempts, in my opinion, there is no option but to feel fear, apprehension. He is nothing but a threat, for what he is advocating, is not needed, and what he thinks about all this in not relevant, if it is indeed a free world his country of origin believes in.

We saw earlier how we are all global citizens and how India is inferior to many other nations on the economic and technological fronts. Add to this the fact that we are not superior in cultural power terms compared to many other nations. As we also saw, most of the nations more powerful than India are either Christian or Islamic. Now further observe that Hindus are not really even possessing of numerical might on a global level. This indeed makes one realize that as expression of power or even confidence in holding power goes, Hindus are fairly low on the ladder and are justified in being aware of this imbalance, even if they are not actively afraid.

Further, the numerical superiority that exists within India itself, when even remotely threatened only adds to the concern which might push one towards being more afraid. This is especially true when one remembers that there is absolutely no evidence of either Christianity or Islam, in the last thousand years, of carrying out any activity to preserve the culture of even converted populations. What is left over is that which did not threaten the new religion into which the peoples converted or proved useful in the conversion in the first place!

Now consider the fact that there is an active movement within Hinduism itself to split it into its component parts which are not in harmony with one another. And then there are the anti-religion movements. Past-Hindus, actively denounce Hindu practices, suggest that Hindus should not denounce either the denouncers of their religion or the practices of other religions, nor denounce active conversion out of Hinduism or even suggest why someone should not convert! These folk also never state the positives of Hinduism, while they wax eloquent about its supposed problems.

This above group can draw on technological, economic and cultural might from not only within the country, but also from nations that are superior to India, which creates a genuine power imbalance against Hindus.

Considering all the above aspects, Hindus feel outnumbered not in India (yet!), but within the Global ecosystem where we all live today. This will continue until Islam and Christianity give proactive and well enforced declarations that they will never convert anyone to their religions, at least within the existing political boundary of India. This declaration will have to be in perpetuity and not time bound. Additionally they should allow an audit of the practice of this declaration by Hindus. Lastly, they cannot oppose any attempts to reconvert Christians and Muslims within India into any other Dharmic faith. In short, Islam and Christianity cannot have objections to reducing their own number in the civilizational Hindu homeland of India**. When all of this comes to pass, the “Majority” of Hindus will be become real from the current notional. After this perhaps, the “Minority complex” can be ridiculed and the Illusion of a Hindu Majority will have been shattered.

Since this is a long and wordy article, let me reinforce in conclusion. Hindus live in a country that is not overly powerful in the world. The size of their population is not an advantage as is expected and even this is not unchallenged, and faces threats. The geographical spread of Hindus is very limited as well. So, any factor of comfort that arises based on superficial conventional wisdom might not be relevant. The minority complex is relevant, considering this is with relevance to the whole world, not just India. The “majority” is just an illusion and the majority would do well to not have the “illusions” of a majority!

Notes:

* https://www.tanoshiijapanese.com/dictionary/entry_details.cfm?entry_id=97220

3 Watch between the 17 and 18 minute mark.

2 https://www.onmanorama.com/travel/outside-kerala/2024/03/19/azerbaijan-europe-asia-tourism-e-visa-caspian-sea.html

2 https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/from-bhutan-to-baku-indian-tourists-look-everywhere-for-their-travel-plans-in-summer-2024-12712173.html

2 https://www.timesnownews.com/travel/amid-schengen-visa-delays-indian-tourists-flock-to-these-new-holiday-hotspots-article-110247148

+ https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/rankings/power

+ https://power.lowyinstitute.org/

+ https://www.globalfirepower.com/countries-listing.php

1 https://mundanebudo.com/2023/10/15/missile-long-range-weapon-narrative-long-time-weapon/

4 I have heard it said that there is a definition from either the Supreme Court or in the Constitution, where there is supposed to be a definition of Hindus as the people of India who are not Christians, Muslims and Parsis. I personally am not sure where this definition is from and have not been able to find it. So, I am mentioning this point in the notes. If anyone know where this definition is from, kindly help me by sharing the source of the same.

**Every sentence in this paragraph is fantastical to say the least. How any of this can be done and the part about the audit specifically – I have no idea this is feasible in reality without causing problems, even if the words make it seem plausible (like faster than light propulsion).

“Real” Issues

Vikram M R, , , , , , , 1 Comment

Let me start by sharing 3 anecdotes. The first is something I heard from a colleague of mine. This colleague is also someone I consider a good friend and I respect his opinions and observations. The anecdote goes thus.

My friend is a Manager and leads a team 60 to 70 strong. Many of his team interact and report directly to clients. One such member of his team put in her papers. While discussing the reasons for her resignation, she said that the pressure of work was too much and the client she was working with had too many demands in too short a duration. She simply could not keep up and the client could not understand the same. The client was not Indian, she was from a European nation.

My friend made a suggestion to the lady who had put in her papers. He suggested that she start saying “NO” to any work she could not do at a given time. She was also told to give exact timelines about when she could take up anything new and tell the client how long the existing work would take. This included the delays due to personal responsibilities. She could do this without any worry as she was on the notice period and had 90 days to experiment with this new way of working. Additionally, my friend, the manager, would protect her from any blow-back. In simple terms, he told his teammate to stop saying “YES” to everything the client asked for; specifically on the timelines she expected.

The client had no problem at all with the lady saying “NO” many a time and accepted the timelines she was provided based on realistic expectations. The lady took back her resignation and continued working for the team. At the risk of sounding racist, here is an additional detail. The client was White.

This is a common problem when Indians work with Europeans (and likely other cultures as well). Indians, especially the ones that work in salaried jobs are raised to be averse, if not afraid, to say “No”. One is raised at home, at school, at work and society in general to be ashamed to say “No”. Saying “No” when one is asked “Do you know this/how to do this?” or “Can you do this (or within a given time)”? is anathema. One assumes that it is a shame to not know something and there will be adverse consequences career-wise if one cannot do everything, even if this means always being overworked.

So, when the ability to say “NO” is realized and experienced, it is a wondrous experience, even cathartic! In reality, saying “No” is not a big deal and most people, including clients have no problem being told “No”. It is just a start to new direction in a conversation. But for many Indians, letting go of old conditioning and changing the mind-set to be able to say “No” is a very big deal. And it is a matter of pride to have made the mind-set switch that makes “No” a commonplace answer. This is especially true when the person to whom “No” is said is a foreigner, and even more so, if the foreigner is White.

Now consider the next anecdote. A close friend of mine and a fellow black belt in the Bujinkan system has been running his own company (“start-up”) for about 10 years now. A fellow martial artist from France was in India training with us, some 7 years ago. This Frenchman decided to intern with my friend’s company.

One day a visitor made his way to their office for the first time. This visitor had not met anyone in my friend’s office earlier. On that day both my friend and the Frenchman were at the office, apart from other regular staff. I need to add here, the Frenchman, is White. The first person the visitor decided to approach for queries and instructions was the Frenchman.

It is by default assumed that one who is White is the boss. If not, the White is at least someone who knows better, if not best, in any given situation. This again comes as no surprise to many of us. Being a country with a history of colonization, even though most of us are born long after the British left, this behaviour is obvious and expected.

This though is changing, as evidenced in the first anecdote, with greater interaction with people from around the world and due to greater travel by Indians. The change again is in the mind-set. This change has made many Indians surer of themselves and assertive with respect to their ideas, opinions and experiences.

Now for the third anecdote. Back when I started training the Bujinkan two decades ago, we had a rule while training with women. We could not hit women or hurt them. We trained to take their balance with no force and with effective movement. This rule was used, as far as I know, in a few other countries in Europe, but most other dojos from outside India did not have this rule and I recall some women practitioners from abroad being surprised by this rule we practiced.

The rule was completely valid in the Indian context. The number of women practicing the martial arts was small in India back then (so was that of men, but this was more pronounced in the case of women). The number of both men and women practicing the martial arts has increased in the last 2 decades, proportionally. Back then, even the women who did train were a lot more concerned about physical pain and felt vulnerable. So, to create a safe environment, only once a women attained a black belt could she choose to ask men to hit, but with lower power if necessary. Women could gradually increase the intensity and speed of the attacks they encountered during training.

This notion of all women being vulnerable in the dojo has changed. The female practitioners who have started at our dojo more recently seem to not feel vulnerable, or at least feel a lot less so than years ago. The young women who have joined us recently are not worried about physical pain and train just like the men. One of them even said that she expects to feel pain and overcome it with time! This is a marked change. It is not that they are not worried anymore, they are a lot more comfortable communicating how they would like to train. They are also far more certain of their own abilities and the reasons for their training in the dojo.

While this is true of young women, we have a fellow budoka who is in her fifties and started training a couple of years ago. Even she seems a lot more comfortable with pain, to the extent of coming back to class after recovering from a fractured leg. So, the self-confidence and self-awareness of practitioners, specifically women, has changed and is becoming similar to those of women from other parts of the world.

All the 3 anecdotes above, in my opinion, demonstrate the same thing. Indians and therefore India is a much-changed nation over the course of the last decade and a half, thanks to much greater interaction with the rest of the world, increasing income levels and to a large extent, the internet revealing new (and old) ideas that were not widespread earlier.

Indians are now a lot more confident and assertive. This awareness of the newfound confidence and assertiveness and the fact that they can be that way and earn respect across the world is a vitally important aspect in the lives of many Indians. Perhaps this was always true about Indians and the respect they earned across the world, but the number of Indians who are aware of this is vastly greater of late, thanks to various media platforms. This change is lovingly acknowledged at all levels of social interaction – at work, in the family, among friends and any other that one can think of.

Granted, all of this is anecdotal experience, and the sample size is small. The concurrence about these opinions of mine is also from the set of people I interact with regularly at work, in the family and in the dojo, and the set of friends I interact with often. This is not a large number and could be the experience and opinion set of a bubble or an echo chamber. But considering that this is being spoken of at a national level on various fora, I opine that it is a larger trend. I would be glad to be proved wrong.

With this introduction, I would say that one major “REAL ISSUE” for many Indians was the need to have self-confidence and develop the traits in life that lead to the same. The ability to be assertive, to say “NO” and to in general be confident of oneself and one’s background and identity is a HUGE positive and fulfillment of a desire for Indians. And if a government is seen to either facilitate or help improve the development of the mind-set needed for self-confidence, then that government will be seen to have done a great deal for the people, or at least to the section of society that feels an improvement in its mind-set. If this section is large enough, it is likely to sway the result of elections.

Confidence is a part of one’s identity. Self-Confidence, despite a background that is not a driver of confidence is an even greater and cherished part of one’s identity. And this mingles with the other aspects of what defines an identity, which could include religion, heritage, traditions, community affiliations, family background, employment, hobbies, life experience, education, wealth, prosperity, skill sets (including physical abilities) and any other one can think of.

Any aspect of identity that gets enhanced due to government actions, due to any of the various affiliations of an individual, will boost the chances of that individual voting for the government. This leads us to yet another aspect we see in India, considering that it is election season.

**

We hear a phrase a lot these days on the “News” on Television, in all the English news channels in India. This phrase is, “to distract from the real issues”. This phrase is used by many from the opposition political parties and also from people inclined to be aligned with that is referred to as the “leftists”. These individuals use this phrase mainly when they refer to the various temple-mosque or conversion related issues that are high in the mind space of Indians. Consider the reactions to the inauguration of the temple at Ayodhya or the telecast to “The Kerala Story” on Doordarshan to get an idea of the same.

A modified photo of a news story on TV on April 17, 2024. This day was Rama Navami, a major festival, in 2024. On this day, there was a lot of talk about the “Surya Tilak” on the vigraha/murthy (statue in a simplified sense) of Lord Ram Lalla in the new temple at Ayodhya. As expected, when this was a major new item, the statement that highlighting this event was a “diversion” from “real” issues was making rounds as well.

They claim that the current central government is not improving the quality of life of Indians and to distract from this fact they resort to polarizing Hindus from followers of the Abrahamic faiths by making them want a restoration of old temples as against a “better quality of life”.

Now, this makes one ask, what is a “real issue”? In my opinion, a real issue is anything that a voter thinks the government should do for her or him if they are to expect her or him to vote for them (either as a repeat vote or for the first time). That said, one needs to know what any voter wants. When a large enough number of voters want something, that becomes an important issue for the government or a government wannabe to address to the satisfaction of the maximum number of voters wanting the same.

A large number of voters want better employment opportunities, better health care, education that can help aspiration fructification. There are also still many in our country who would want easier access to cooking fuel, shelter, clean water, good roads and healthy meals. Thus, these are “real issues”, no doubt there. Now consider the issue of access to and potential reclamation of temples, or at least the Gyanvapi mosque and Shahi Idgah in Kashi and Mathura respectively. Are these “real issues” or not? Let’s attempt a break down.

There is definitely a large section of the population in our country which has access to good quality food, water, shelter, roads, healthcare, education and employment opportunities. This is not to say that they do not aspire for cheaper healthcare or better roads, better education and better paying employment opportunities. They certainly do, but they are not deprived of any of these at the current moment. Of course, inflation is a problem for this set of citizens as well and they do wish for it to be controlled. But they also know that they are better off compared to crores of others. They also realize that inflation in its current form is a global problem the government can only do so much about. They also realize that the government is trying and doing things for the better, albeit slower than what can be desired and not to the expected levels. This same holds true for the problem of youth underemployment. But in my personal opinion, every government in our country has improved upon its predecessors and hence we are definitely progressing.

This progress has improved the lives of crores over time, while crores more are yet to be beneficiaries at the same level as the rest. Those that have been beneficiaries of reasonably good governance over the last several decades know that, and with that knowledge their definition of “issues” have also changed.

If one has a country to live in where one’s life and livelihood are not under threat of extinction and one can lead a life without active government support, then one of the things citizens might wish for is pride in their own country and in themselves. Pride in one’s country is not uniformly defined. For several communities that that have existed for millennia longer that the modern nation of India, pride in the nation extends to its civilizational history and not just to the republic and its supposed values.

So, these people might feel that they have what is needed for a good life and now aspire for civilizational pride by having a temple where it is known that an external aggressor built a place of prayer to humiliate those that revered the temple. Does this then not become a “real issue”? If snob value can be an attribute of a brand, why can yearning for pride in civilizational history not be one? Is this need to have pride in one’s culture/civilization not an extension of one wanting to be self-confident and assertive? I would opine that it is.

Are psychological or emotive desires not real issues? If yes, then this Gyanvapi issue is a real issue and there is no distraction at play. The distraction might be to underplay the emotive desires of an electorate. A clever government would obviously identify an emotive need that other governments chose to not identify and tap into it as a means to achieve adulation from citizenry, and hence electoral success.

Now, if this is a real issue as suggested above, what does that say about those saying this is “distraction from real issues”? Are they not saying that until everyone in our country has the same standard of living, those that have a good standard of living currently should put all their aspirations on hold until those whose lives are not as good as their own match what they currently have? Is this anything more than clumsy ideology considering that an “issue” might have to be on hold for years? They are saying, “your desire is not a real issue because there are other issues that we consider as real issues, and you should listen to us”. They are also saying that many people need to consider as real issues, only those that are issues of others and those less unfortunate, irrespective of what they consider as real issues for themselves.

In summary, they are saying they know better, and many people do not.  Also, this line of thinking means that many people should not want what they do because others have less. So, should they be happy with what they have for indeterminate times? And be at risk of being shamed, as what they want do not constitute “real issues”? It certainly seems so. This leads me to the last part of the aspects I wanted to share.

**

There were two interviews recently on the YouTube channel “Mojo Story”, run by the well-known journalist Barkha Dutt. One was with journalist Neerja Chowdhary in early January 2024 and another was with yet another journalist, Vir Sanghvi in late February 2024. I am sharing links to both below.

The two interviews show diverging views about the current Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. Vir Sanghvi agrees that one major plus point attributed to PM Modi is that he has improved India’s stature on the global stage. This extends to Indians being seen with greater respect abroad and Indians at home feeling more confident due to the same. But Mr. Sanghvi also ridicules this idea saying nothing much has changed abroad, meaning Indians were respected earlier as well and that the stature of India while it has improved has not changed greatly. He is an experienced journalist, and his observations could be right. But this does not take away from the fact that the mind-set among many Indians has changed and they might just be seeing the respect more clearly and hankering for more, and pondering actions to get the same.

Ms. Chowdhary expands on the idea of the change in the mind-set of many Indians. In the interview she shares her experience and states that specifically Hindus are seeing a resurgence in cultural pride. This is seen as an extension of confidence and greater aspirations. There is also no diffidence or guilt about being Hindu and the purported weaknesses with their religion among those who identify as Hindu. Ms. Chowdhary shares how she has seen the number of devout visitors in Kashi increasing manifold and at the same time being younger, indicating a hunger to connect with the ancient culture of the land.

She goes on to say that the phenomenon of PM Modi is not yet understood well in India. She also states that she is not sure if the consistent popularity and approval of PM Modi is a consequence of a changing India or if the change in India is a consequence of the NDA Government led by PM Modi. The change in India she refers to, as I understand it, is related to the aspirations and change in mind-set that we discussed earlier, apart from just increasing disposable incomes and awareness of one’s standing in the world.

I personally think that election of PM Modi is a reflection of the changing mind-set in India and not the other way around. The increasing number of people sharing the mind-set in a short duration of a decade might be partly attributable to the Government, but not its initial rise to power and continuing popularity. I believe that there is a large enough section of the electorate in India whose basic physical needs are met and now the psychological/emotive needs of cultural affinity and pride in one’s civilization, history and identity is what is desired. The culture and narrative debates in India on all media platforms likely fuels this desire to greater urgency than in the past.

The points in the above few paragraphs, in my understanding, explain why the need to retell Indian history and highlight the positives of the same are now very REAL issues. They are not just “distractions” as some sections of the media and others would like everyone to agree.

I am currently reading a book titled “Sword and Soul” by Hindol Sengupta**, the link to which is seen below. The book is about the history of and potential near future of Political Hinduism. I am only a third of the way through the book. The author walks the journey of political Hinduism from roughly the time of the Company Raj, through the time Ananda Math was written through Veer Savarkar, the Revolutionary movement and the interaction of all of these with the INC of old. Based on what I am reading, it seems that the yearning for civilizational pride that is seen and spoken of today is pretty much the same as that expressed over the last 125 years. It also seems that this yearning was suppressed post-independence for some five decades and then it came back with renewed vigour, with improving circumstances of a considerable section of Indian citizens. This further lends credence to the fact that any issue related to identity, pride in the same and the mind-set change of a people will likely always be a REAL ISSUE, until it is fully satisfied.

**

In a previous article, I had shared some thoughts on the various opinions of western content creators on YouTube, regarding the practice and effectiveness of different martial art forms. The link to the article is seen in the notes below*. One common theme among a section of martial artists is that one should focus on training ONLY fighting styles that prepare one for self defence in a modern context (they are mainly referring to western scenarios, but are not limited to the same). Some of them are disparaging with regard to traditional martial arts which focus on fighting as it existed in the past.

These opinions are absolutely correct. But, there is another side to this line of thinking. Their opinions assume that everyone who trains the martial arts, does so ONLY to learn self defence. In other words, their opinions regarding the reason for training is ONLY physical. This again is a valid assumption for a large section of practitioners of the martial arts. To be fair some of the content creators I am referring to only have a problem with martial artists who claim to be teaching self defence without actually testing the same in a tough simulation.

There could however be several other reasons for people to train the martial arts. In the article I wrote I came up with some 16 reasons, some of which had nothing to do with physicality of any sort. Some of these involved reasons of recreation, meditative attributes of the martial arts, self-development and the like. These are reasons that are PSYCHOLOGICAL and not really physical, despite have a physical component to the training.

This divergence in opinion for the reasons of training the martial arts is exactly like the Leftists suggesting that any “real issue” has to do with the physical needs of citizens alone, and anything that has to do with matters of cultural confidence or civilizational pride is a distraction from the real issues they define. Could this partly be due to the lesser focus in India on matters of mental health? Or is there a lack of focus on mental health due to psychological needs not being considered real? I do not have an answer; perhaps someone who knows can shed some light on this.

I feel that it is precisely because the current government of India has a focus on both the physical and psychological needs of the electorate that they continue to enjoy a high rate of approval. The physical needs of the citizens are addressed in the form of the free rations, better toilets, access to cooking gas, electricity and drinking water and the digital platforms for ease of doing business for small traders. The psychological/emotional needs are addressed in the actions on the temple building, CAA and other activities that emphasize civilizational pride and a decolonization of the Indian mind.

We live in a time when debates do not result in any change of position or opinion. In such an environment, I suppose the “real” in what one considers is a real issue is purely personal. It depends on the political leaning and convictions of every individual, and that in turn depends on the social circles one chooses and the narratives those emphasize. Perhaps the only real issue was that we considered that there was a shared reality which everyone could agree on. There are likely as many “REAL ISSUES” as there are people. Perhaps this need for a “real” and personal reality is what led to there being 300 versions (supposedly) of the Ramayana, each of which are likely undergoing personalization with every reading and retelling.

Notes:

** https://www.amazon.in/Soul-Sword-History-Political-Hinduism-ebook/dp/B0CJRKDZYM/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3BFE4YOMX9U5K&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ThIbasUc6bjV43OeZKU63gpE4ikp8r7zfkVTUvnHiW-C6gojdwKZOiHxeBloN1ah2uEPNHlj6u8dS4OMJ9FmhS52X_-JI3rou5A-4-3k_HGx7xVUEBbf5NRE16ci23YBxYEwXhNlR0xljt2CCEbFBoouO-37LIFRmFJZ3jssbi-dtTC-UjwSB2SIKGl12uJtyW3JiuDJVkAFNI-s8gvhlK_qUuA_L0XlQrzmFoV04Z4.hzg9y3wwXIjhMw3AMUnnTOeXGFJD8EFowDv27sqdK88&dib_tag=se&keywords=sword+and+soul&qid=1712822288&sprefix=sword+and+soul%2Caps%2C3106&sr=8-1

* https://mundanebudo.com/2024/03/14/effort-luck-effectiveness-morality-some-thoughts-also-why-do-you-train/

The Book vs The Library

Vikram M R, , , , , , Leave a comment

In the Bujinkan system of martial arts, we are reminded constantly of how adapting is the key to survival. This is not different from what we all hear in our daily lives and at work, “Change is the only constant”. Practitioners who have trained for many years are reminded every now and then that we need to be able to unlearn techniques. Techniques are vital in the early part of one’s martial training journey. But over time, the concept behind the technique is more important the technique itself. If the concept is not explicit, it needs to be realized with training, be it with peers or seniors or different teachers.

But martial arts manuals, scrolls and books contain techniques. They do contain concepts, but these are not easy to practice without what in the Bujinkan is called “kuden”. “Kuden” is knowledge that is transmitted orally, and is not present in literature or manuals. It is a part of experiential learning. This fact leads to another statement that we hear fairly often, “The book will not fight for you”. Variants of this statement are “Do not fall in love with the book/technique” and “Sticking to a technique in a real fight will get you killed”.

So, it is drilled into a practitioner of the Bujinkan that with experience it is very important to not become someone who “collects techniques”. One needs to learn to respond to the attack or situation as it presents itself. One cannot depend on techniques. This is not a new concept and all of us face changes regularly in life and unexpected challenges every now and then. But we deal with these as a matter of course. We might be irritated, angry or sad and experience other negative emotions at the moment of the challenge. But we deal with it and move on, maybe even laugh over it in hindsight and if we are lucky, gain something positive from the experience.

Adherence to dogma from just one book might be detrimental to any person. Exposure to multiple opinions and sources of knowledge and ideas is vital. Art work by Vishnu Mohan

We are currently in the high noon of elections in India. The general elections of 2024 for the Lok Sabha are starting in a few days. Like everyone else in the grand democracy that is India, I have political opinions and also have a blog. 🙂 Add to this my love for and experience, such as it is, in the Bujinkan, and my political opinions are coloured by concepts and learnings from the martial arts.

I started this article with a reference to books and the knowledge in them. I also mentioned how they cannot be an exact guide to life, even if what they contain is vitally important. Multiple books might help us lead a better life, but no one of them can be THE BOOK to live life by. This is common sense, even if some or A BOOK has a far greater influence on our lives than others. Of course, these days we can replace the “book” in the previous few statements with the media that one consumes most.

The rest of this article is my opinion about a few things that are heard every now and then in Indian media as part of the current political discourse.

We hear a lot these days about how the Constitution of India is supreme, when it comes to informing our social interactions on a day-to-day basis. This assertion is made on various media platforms. It is assumed that it is common sense to realize this. It is supposed to be “known” that the Constitution is what defines the current Republic of India.

The reference to the constitution being supreme is mainly mentioned in reference to the way the Government conducts itself. But considering that the Government is elected by the people, would this not extend to the electorate? Perhaps it does not, but it could, as elucidated below.

The electorate might appreciate a specific aspect of the government or a political party and hence vote for the same. At the same time, if the Government or a party senses a specific aspect as the pulse of the electorate that votes for it, will they focus on it to increase their chances of winning an election? It would seem likely. If the “aspect” that is likely to bring a party or a government to power is in contradiction to an existing Constitution, what happens then? Would the government or party not want to deviate from the existing principles of the constitution to achieve victory? If yes, would that mean that the electorate is what was responsible for an eventual change to the constitution? If this is true, would the argument that government should adhere to the constitution not extend to the electorate? As they are responsible for the creation of the government. Since the electorate is the people, does not the expectation of adherence to the constitution then not extend to the people of the country as well? It is hard to have a clear answer, but the answer does seem to be a yes. The people are expected to adhere to the constitution.

In this way of thinking of the relationship between the Constitution and the Country (more than just the republic, including the geography and the life forms within it), the people of the Republic of India are supposed to be a People of the Book. Of course, the Book here is the Constitution of India. One can’t help but feel that the Constitution thus makes Indians exclusively like the followers of Abrahamic religions, who are the people generally referred to when one thinks of “People of the Book”. The Jews, the Christians and the Muslims all follow one “Book” respectively.

But the Indian people have always followed several different traditions even when it comes to governance, administration and law and order. There have been multiple treatises in the past that attest to how government and interaction of people “should be”. A few these could be Vidura Neeti, Krishna Neeti, Shukra Neeta, Brihaspati Neeti, Chanakya Neeti, the practices of the medieval South Indian kingdoms, the practices of the various Sultanates in India etc.

But none of these were binding on the administrators during different periods of history. They could and in some cases did know of many of these various traditions. They used these in the ways they though best, based on the situation and context of the same. This is not unlike one using a library or the internet to refer to all possible sources of knowledge to come up with a new feasible solution, in a given space and time. There is no need to adhere to a “Single Tradition” even if some facets of the same are useful. This then makes Indians if anything, a “People of the Library”. This is not something I have come up with; I heard Dr. David Frawley use it once and it seems apt.

The memory of past governance traditions is alive, even if in an imperfect manner (the notion of a Dharma Rajya, for example). Also, these governance traditions of the past are part of the cultural identity for many Indians, for they are a part of the socio-religious knowledge and texts that are a part of one’s upbringing and heritage.

The contents from a library will serve to help oneself over the course of a lifetime. 🙂 Artwork by Vishnu Mohan

Now consider the article in the link seen below. It came out a little after the Prāna Pratishta of the Rama temple at Ayodhya. It speaks of how the Government is supposed to adhere to “Constitutionalism”. The article only addresses the Government and not the citizens.

https://scroll.in/article/1062519/in-its-74th-year-indias-constitution-has-been-emptied-of-its-soul

But if, as I was pondering earlier, the Government is the people, does the need to adhere to “Constitutionalism” extend to the people as well? The article literally adds an “ism” to the Constitution. Considering how the culture of Hindus also has an “ism” at the end, “Hinduism”, one can’t but help feel like the article is really close to telling people that there is a primary religion we owe allegiance to, the religion of the Constitution. This again feels like an attempt to make Indians a “People of the Book”, the Book being the Constitution of the Republic of India. I reiterate, this is my feeling, not something I am certain of, but it does seem plausible.

Next, consider the following article. It specifically speaks of how “culture” and maybe even “customs” should not have a place in law, with respect to marriages.

https://thewire.in/law/marriage-equality-narasimha-supreme-court-cji-chandrachud

I am not aware if the author is of the inclination that this should be the case in general or only with respect to marriages and similar social relationships/contracts. But if it is in general, again, there is an argument against cultural precedents in governance. This again would extend to a cultural memory of other traditions of governance being a no-no as well.

Considering the opinions expressed in the above two articles, is it not akin to telling people that no matter what, their belief systems, culture and traditions are going to be second to the Constitution? If the past traditions of governance are linked to their religions and cultural identity, what then? Will this subordination not be exacerbated if the memory of past governance traditions is alive? I am not certain I have clear answers to these. I only have opinions, and those are not static. Based on my limited experience, this is also true for many other people.

India has a hoary tradition of ideas and texts related to governance having commentaries (Bhāshya) written about them. These commentaries can have criticisms and preferences as well. There could even be suggestions of what in a given text should be followed and what should not. This is not unlike an amendment to a doctrine when the same is needed (whatever the root cause for the same might be).

Considering this tradition of criticism and change to traditions of governance, what if the electorate prefers a change to the Constitution or addition of newer (or older) traditions of governance into the same? Would this be a threat to the constitution or a violation of “constitutionalism”? I would opine that neither is true.

After all, the idea of the constitution NOT being THE BOOK is well known. Otherwise, there would not be 106 amendments to the document. It is an organic, living document that is changed as the nation evolves. There might be a lag in the change and the speed of response, but that it should be changed is not disputed.

Indians thus, do not believe that this latest tradition is perfect, but needs constant correction, just like past traditions of governance. Some of these might be informed by other traditions, not even necessarily from the geography of present or past India. The Library, will be referred to no matter what. The numerous and consistent amendments to the tradition of the Constitution itself is a testament to this. “The Library” here refers of course, to the other traditions of Governance that are in the memory of the citizens. These are the various Smritis and the “Nitis” that I referred to earlier and the overarching concept of a “Dharma Rājya”.

Granted, the Constitution of India is very long and fills in several books, but it certainly is a single tradition of governance, administration and law and order. Assuming that Indians will by default adhere to this latest tradition, specifically when memory and knowledge (and baggage) of other similar traditions from the past persists, is a bit rich.

So, when people make assertions that suggest India will cease to exist if the Constitution (or the institutions it defines) stops being sacrosanct are both right and wrong. They are wrong because India has always been India and never static, but always in flux, which seems to be its natural state. They are wrong because the Constitution will be yet another tradition in the Library to refer to, never to be excised from our collective existence. They are wrong simply because Indians are not a “People of the Book”, and the Constitution does not define the geography or the life that thrives within it. They are right because they only refer to the “Republic of India” and not “India” when they make this assertion. This prerequisite has to be stated and again and again, and never wrongly assumed to be common sense. They are right because India was never meant to be stuck to a given tradition for too long. India is always dynamic and in flow and that is what defines it, the absorption of traditions and the expansion of “The Library”.