Hidden Tales from the Mahabharat # 3: The Saka/ Scythian Connection

There are a few events and stories in the MB which are not only not compatible with modern times, but are also not seen in India over the last 1,000 years. Commentators and polemicists tend to gloss over these events with a flippant explanation, but I am quite sure they are there due to an underlying connection with the ancient Scythian culture.

( what follows is a brief lesson in history)

The Scythians (known in India as the Saka) are on record from the 7^th century BCE . They were a warlike horse-mounted nomadic pastoralist group who lived in the Eurasian Steppe. Their principal occupation was rearing of cattle and horses and they used both the cattle and horses for food and for trade. They were expert in horse-mounted archery. The Scythians through their interaction with the Assyrians also acquired the use of war chariots. They were also known to be cruel in battle. A Scythian warrior would drink the blood of the first enemy he killed. The location  of the Scythians tribes  over the Eurasian steppes is shown in the map below. To be noted that 3 groups in the middle are called “Saka”.

 

One section (or a tribe within the larger Scythian community), migrated into India and established the Saka Kingdom/s (see map below) which were in control of the regions of present-day Pakistan, Punjab, Gujarat, Rajasthan, MP and UP for 600 years from about about 150 BCE to 400 CE. Some historians have stated that the migrations also continued during this period around 600 years. Their first king was Moga (also known as Maues, Mava in other narrations) who ruled from Takshila. The image below shows a coin issued by Moga. He is riding on a chariot. At its peak the Saka kingdom was a confederation of Saka chieftains known as Kshatraps (English equiv Satrap). During their presence in India, the Saka initially followed Buddhism and later Hinduism. The Hindu calendar Saka Samvat is named after them,

Around 70 CE , the Saka kingdoms of the Takshila region  were displaced by the Kushana  kingdom/ dynasty (aka Yuezhi,  also a tribe from central Asia) whose most famous king Kanishka ruled from Peshawar and Mathura. However several Saka kingdoms in the West (Gujarat/MP ) and North (UP/ Bihar) continued as vassal states under Kushana rule. In Indian history they are known as Western and Northern Kshatraps/ Satraps.

 The MB itself has multiple references to the Saka and depicts them as the “bad guys”. In the Kuruskshetra war they fought on the side of the Kaurava.The MB describes the Saka as a “mleccha” people living the north-west who were  fierce warriors.

Here are the specific points of similarity of Saka with the warriors of the MB.

• Polyandry: Draupadi marries 5 Pandava Brother: There are multiple references from both the Mahabharat and Ramayana of kings having multiple wives but a woman having more than 1 living husband is not only rare , it is unique. This is sought to be explained away by saying Kunti (without realising the consequences) said “share among all 5”, but there is no shloka in the MB which supports this remark of Kunti. Polyandry was practiced  in Scythian culture.
•  Horse sacrifice: Ashwamedha Yagya (described in detail in the Ashwamedhika Parva) clearly mentions that those who participated in the Ashwamedha (royalty, noblemen, courtiers, officiating brahmin priests) ate the flesh of the sacrificed horse. Horse sacrifice was also practised by the Scythians. Interestingly, the Scythians did not slaughter the horse. They strangulated the horse for the sacrifice and this is also how the horse was killed in the Ashwamedha.
•  Cruelty in battle: It was a practice among Scythian warriors to drink the blood of the enemy killed. In the MB , Bheema kills Dushasana in a wrestling match and then drinks his blood.
•  One peculiar feature of  Scythian warriors was that they had very long arms and legs. The MB also describes warriors in a similar way. The Sanskrit word AAJANUBAHU is used. It means with arms reaching till thighs/  knees.
• Chariots, horses  and arrows. All the warriors in the MB are all shown as expert horse-riders and archers. This is common with the Scythians.
• Physique: The Scythians were known to be very tall and well built. The average height of warriors was around 6 ft. They were fair (not white) in complexion. Their eye colour was black/ grey/ amber and hair colour dark/ blonde.

So what we see in the MB is that while the Saka are the “bad guys” their characteristics (physique, battle prowess, marital customs, archery etc) are used in the story.

But there is an interesting twist. Present day Jats of Haryana/ UP/ Rajasthan (and to some extent related communities such as Gurjars and Rajputs) show remarkable similarities with the Saka: They are well-built with long arms. The Jats also follow a custom that when a woman is widowed , the deceased husband’s brother marries the widow. Indeed , a website run by the Jat community mentions their connection with the Sakas and historians are agreed that the Jats are the descendants of the Western and  Northern Satraps. The well-known Jat village council known as KHAP is actually derived from the word Kshatrap.

https://www.jatland.com/home/Scythian_Jats

Some scholars have even suggestd that the word  JAT is derived from the Saka  tribe MASSAGETAE . This is a Greek word pronounced as massa-jetay

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massagetae

 Hidden Tales from the Mahabharat: #2 >> Why are there no tribals in Punjab?

India has roughly 120 million ( 12 crore) tribal population. They form 8.4% of the population. Almost every state and Union territory has a significant tribal population. But Punjab and Haryana are exceptions. They have near ZERO tribal population. And further east along the Ganga, UP and Bihar have very low tribal population (less than 5%) , How did this happen? The answer, again, is in the MB.

In the previous tale we have seen how Khandava Prastha (and other forests) was set afire by the Pandava and the wildlife killed/ driven out eastwards. But what about the people who lived in those forests?

The MB mentions a forest dwelling beings called Naga. They are sometimes mentioned as serpents and sometimes as human. The MB also mentions one of the 4 wives of Arjun as Uloopi, a Naga princess, the daughter of the king Airavatha Kauravya. So, the Naga were definitely human. The MB also tells us that Parikshit, son of Abhimanyu / grandson of Arjun died of a Naga snake-bite. So Janmejaya (son of Parikshit) vowed to exterminate the Naga. This was to be accomplished through a yagya called the Naga Yagya or Snake Sacrifice (famously known as Janmejaya Ka Naga yagya). When the yagya was conducted, the magical powers of the yagya caused the Naga to fall into the yagya fire and die.

Adi Parva, Chapter 57 (Sarpa Sattra) records

Mahabharata Adi Parva Chapter 57

"Saunaka said, 'O son of a Suta, I desire to hear the names of all those snakes that fell into the fire of this snake-sacrifice!' "Sauti replied, 'Many thousands and tens of thousands and billions of snakes fell into the fire. O most excellent Brahmana, so great is the number that I am unable to count them all. So far, however, as I remember, hear the names I mention of the principal snakes cast into the fire. Hear first the names of the principal ones of Vasuki's race alone, of colour blue, red and white of terrible form and huge body and deadly poison. Helpless and miserable and afflicted with their mother's curse, they fell into the sacrificial fire like libations of butter.

"Kotisa, Manasa, Purna, Cala, Pala Halmaka, Pichchala, Kaunapa, Cakra, Kalavega, Prakalana, Hiranyavahu, Carana, Kakshaka, Kaladantaka—these snakes born of Vasuki, fell into the fire. And, O Brahmana, numerous other snakes well-born, and of terrible form and great strength, were burnt in the blazing fire. I shall now mention those born in the race of Takshaka. Hear thou their names. Puchchandaka, Mandalaka, Pindasektri, Ravenaka; Uchochikha, Carava, Bhangas, Vilwatejas, Virohana; Sili, Salakara, Muka, Sukumara, Pravepana, Mudgara and Sisuroman, Suroman and Mahahanu. These snakes born of Takshaka fell into the fire. And Paravata, Parijata, Pandara, Harina, Krisa, Vihanga, Sarabha, Meda, Pramoda, Sauhatapana—these born in the race of Airavata fell into the fire. Now hear, O best of Brahmanas, the names of the snakes I mention born in the race of Kauravya: Eraka, Kundala Veni, Veniskandha, Kumaraka, Vahuka, Sringavera, Dhurtaka, Pratara and Astaka. There born in the race of Kauravya fell into the fire. Now hear the names I mention, in order, of those snakes endued with the speed of the wind and with virulent poison, born in the race of Dhritarashtra: Sankukarna, Pitharaka, Kuthara, Sukhana, and Shechaka; Purnangada, Purnamukha, Prahasa, Sakuni, Dari, Amahatha, Kumathaka, Sushena, Vyaya, Bhairava, Mundavedanga, Pisanga, Udraparaka, Rishabha, Vegavat, Pindaraka; Raktanga, Sarvasaranga, Samriddha, Patha and Vasaka; Varahaka, Viranaka, Suchitra, Chitravegika, Parasara, Tarunaka, Maniskandha and Aruni.

"O Brahmana, thus I have recited the names of the principal snakes known widely for their achievements—I have not been able to name all, the number being countless. The sons of these snakes, the sons of those sons, that were burnt having fallen into the fire, I am unable to mention. They are so many! Some of three heads, some of seven, others of ten, of poison like unto the fire at the end of the yuga and terrible in form,—they were burnt by thousands!

So this was no ordinary battle. This was genocidal extermination which explains why there are no tribal communities in Punjab/ Haryana.

Interestingly this list mentions one tribal community that still exists in India of the present day: MUNDA. And more interestingly the word MUNDA in Punjabi means a boy which is exactly what it means in the Mundari language (spoken by the Munda tribe). But the Munda tribe today lives in Jharkhand, Odisha and Bengal all of which are at least 2000 km away form Punjab. So, it turns out that the Naga yagya is an allegorical reference to the expulsion and extermination (by the Kuru Bharat dynasty) of tribals from the dense forests that once covered the Indo-Gangetic plains. The tribals, like the wildlife, were also driven eastwards where they live till today in a place called the Chhota Nagpur Plateau! Is that NAG in the Nagpur just a coincidence?

Another point to note. Sanskrit is one of the ancient Indo_european langauges. There are 2 popular words for sanke is Sanskrit: Sarpa and Naga. Surprisingly while other Indo-European languages have SERPENT (equiv to Sanskrit Sarpa), they do not have any word parallel to Naga. What this implies is that the Vedic Sanskrit speakers picked up this word as a result of their contact with the Indian tribal community. The tribals worshipped snakes (as they still do after 3000 years) .

Many other cultural remnants of the Naga are also seen even now. Snake worship by Hindus across the country. The association of snakes with Shiva. The Puranic enmity between snakes and Garuda (Vishnu’s mount), reflects the ideological conflict between Shaiv/ Tribal and Vaishnav sects. The name Naga as a prefix especially in Andhra (Nagarjuna, Nagalakshmi) and as a second name (Bengal, Rajasthan etc).

In forthcoming tales, you can look forward to the tale of dethronement of Indra by Vishnu.

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 Hidden Tales from the Mahabharat: #1 >> Where are the Rhinos of Sindh/Punjab?

The images below are seals from the Indus Valley Civilisation. According to archaeologists they may be from the period 3,000 to 2,500 BCE. That is about 4,500 to 5,000 years in the past from now. While more than 3,000 seals have been found, I have selected a few, all of which show various wild animals. Tiger, rhinoceros, elephant, deer (below the seated human figure), buffalo can all be seen. Of special interest is the rhinoceros because in the present day, the only rhino available in the Indian sub-continent is in Assam which is 2500 km from the Indus valley. So how did a rhino appear on an IVC seal? The answer lies in the Mahabharat (MB).

To get to the answer, we have to first understand the historical and cultural context of the MB. This is going to be a bit long, but here we go:

The orthodox Indian tradition recognises 3 scriptural pillars. The Veda (and associated Brahmana, Aranyak and Upanishad). Collectively they are called the Shruti (revealed). The second pillar is the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana. These are called Itihaas (History). The third pillar are the Purana. The Veda are the oldest composition (2000-1000 BCE) followed by the epics (originally approx. 400 BCE but extended /expanded subsequently over a long period) and then the Purana (300 to 1,000 CE). So, there is about 800-1000 years between the Veda and Epics and another 800-1000 years between the Epics and Purana.

There are several facts about the MB which are not widely known.·

First the name. The Bharat in the name Mahabharat does not refer to a region or province. It refers to the Bharat (भारत) dynasty named after King Bharat (भरत), See note below) who is mentioned very briefly in the Rig Veda. But King Bharat posthumously becomes more well-know because of the exploits of his descendants, the Kuru-Bharat dynasty chronicled in the MB. Indeed, the exploits of the Kuru-Bharat dynasty were so highly admired by a section of Indians, that Bharat / भारत was adopted as a name for the country in the Constitution of India. ·

The MB is a fictional story woven around the Bharat-Kuru Vedic dynasty. It chronicles the rise of Vedic kingdoms in general (and the Kuru kingdom/ dynasty in particular) from Punjab and their eastward expansion into the Gangetic plain.·

The kernel of the Kurukshetra war scenario is the Battle of Ten Kings (aka BTK or Dasrajnya from Rig Veda Mandala 7) which has been dated to about 1200-800 BCE. In this battle, King Sudas (a descendant of King Bharat) defeated the combined forces of 9 Vedic tribes some of who were his own cousins and kinsmen. One can notice the similarity between BTK and MB here (one kingdom against many/ brother-against-brother). The genealogy is King Bharat --7 generations –King Sudas -several generations--King Kuru --several generations –MB era.·

The extant MB is a very large work, but it did not begin so. It was expanded in stages. The MB itself records that the original story was Jaya (Victory) of 8000 verses, expanded to Bharat with 24,000 verses and finally to the Mahabharat with 100,000 verses. So Mahabharat is the Great (Maha) story of the Bharat dynasty. ·

It is these expansions, which likely happened over a period of several hundred years, maybe even a 1000 years, that makes the MB a treasure trove of information on the social, cultural and political changes happening in India in those times. As incident upon incident was woven into the original, the authors (or editors), perhaps unintentionally, recorded contemporary history in a dramatic genre/style. So while the characters (Karna, Yudhishthira , Arjun etc) are fictional, the expanded MB is a very good record of the broad social and political trends in India over perhaps 800 to a 1,000 years. 

So, what about the rhino?

The MB mentions a forest by the name of Khandava Prastha located in present day Haryana. The clearing of the forests is specifically mentioned in the MB in the Adi Parva/ Khandava-Daha section incident which describes the burning of the Khandava Prastha forest by Krisha/ Arjun. This is an allegorical reference to the clearing of Gangetic plains lands (for farming/ agriculture) by the Vedic people and expulsion / displacement of wildlife that lived in the forest. Modern Khandava Prastha is identified as the town of Khanda (Dist. Hissar, Haryana) close to the river Yamuna and about 125 km to the east of Hastinapur.

The MB (Adi Parva / Khandava Daha ) says (from the transltion of the Mahabharata by KM Ganguli 18183-1896)

Vaisampayana said, 'Then those foremost of chariot-warriors (Krishna and Arjuna), riding in their chariots and placing themselves on opposite sides of that forest, began a great slaughter, on all sides, of the creatures dwelling in Khandava. At whatever point any of the creatures residing in Khandava could be seen attempting to escape, thither rushed those mighty heroes (to prevent its flight). Indeed, those two excellent chariots seemed to be but one, and the two warriors also therein but one individual. And while the forest was burning, hundreds and thousands of living creatures, uttering frightful yells, began to run about in all directions. Some had particular limbs burnt, some were scorched with excessive heat, and some came out, and some ran about from fear. And some clasping their children and some their parents and brothers, died calmly without, from excess of affection, being able to abandon these that were dear to them.>>

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Repeat this a few hundred times over a 1,000-year period and you can see why there is no wildlife (or forests) in the Gangetic plains. Also, by the 10th C BCE, the Vedic people were using iron weapons and implements. This made the task of clearing the forests easier. Thus, the rhinos were pushed eastwards to Assam.

But this story does not end here: It gets worse, much worse. Read about it in the next Hidden tale.

Note on Bharat / भरत (the king): The word derives from the Sanskrit root “bhar” which means to fill or to replenish. Bharat is someone who is responsible for replenishing the yagya fire. According to the rules of Sanskrit grammar the progeny of Bharat/ भरत are called Bhaarat/ भारत. The English word “bear” (as in to bear the burden/ responsibility) is a cognate of the same Sanskrit word “bhar”.

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Caste and Colour in India : A genomic pointer to the Aryan Invasion/ Migration Theory ??

Caste and Colour in India : A genomic pointer to the Aryan Invasion/ Migration Theory ??

(This post is under revision/ editing/ additions)

NB: I have referred to caste/ colour etc only for the purposes of identification.

In the last few years a number of genomic research projects have been carried out on South Asian populations. In my opinion, two of these stand out in explaining the extant population mix and caste-related physiognomy. The 2 are:

· Genetic Evidence for Recent Population Mixture in India by Priya Moorjani,* Kumarasamy Thangaraj, Nick Patterson, Mark Lipson, Po-Ru Loh,,Periyasamy Govindaraj, Bonnie Berger, David Reich,and Lalji Singh Sept 2013. http://www.sciencedirect.com/sci...

· Genomic reconstruction of the history of extant populations of India reveals five distinct ancestral components and a complex structure by Analabha Basu, Neeta Sarkar-Roy, and Partha P. Majumder (NIBM and ISI Kolkata ) July 2015.http://www.pnas.org/content/113/...

What I am trying to do here is to present the findings from these 2 research studies in layman’s language (and considering that I am myself a layman in genomics, there could be some mistakes)

Before I get on to the findings of the research projects a little background information is in order. A majority of the world’s current population derives from 3 ancestral races/ lineages: Negroid (dark/ dark curly hair/ dark eyes), Mongoloid (pale/ straight dark hair/ slit eyes) and Caucasoid (white / eyes may be light or dark/ hair may be dark or light and straight or curly) . As the names suggest the three lineages have distinct physical features associated with them. I want to clarify that these are ancestral lineages. Existing population groups will exhibit features that may be a combination of the 3 types depending on the degree of historical mixing or isolation.

In addition there is one more lineage, the Australoid (dark/ dark curly hair) which is not very large but of interest to us in India.

The names of the specific genes applicable to the Indian population are Ancestral South Indian (ASI from Negroid)., Ancestral North Indian (ANI from Caucasoid), Ancestral Tibeto Burman (ATB from Mongoloid) and Ancestral Asia Australoid (AAA from Australoid)

Now the main finding of the 2 research studies are do with the admixture of the genes in the current population and the dates when the admixture started and ended.

1. · Existing population groups of India are a mixture of 2 or more of these 4 groups. (no group is 100% pure ie from a single lineage, though some groups have a very high percentage of a single lineage). A table with details is given in the appendix .
2. · There is a distinct pattern of gene admixture depending on caste / tribe and geography.
3. · ASI and ANI and combinations form the largest part of the non-tribal total population with higher castes showing more ANI and lower caste showing more ASI. This is true both for North India as well as South.
4. · There is a reduction of ANI as we move from North India to South India. And a corresponding increase in ASI as we move from North to South.
5. · The ASI/ANI admixture started only approx 4200 years ago. Before that time there was no ASI-ANI admixture.
6. · ASI is exclusive to South Asia, not found elsewhere. ANI is seen in Iran / Afghanistan/ Central Asia.
7. ·While ASI ANI admixture abruptly stopped about 1900 years ago all over India, the ANI-AAA admixture continued for some more time.
8. · AAA is mostly seen in high percentage in tribals of central and eastern India
9. · ATB is more pronounced in the North East.

Now if you put the points above together, you can see a distinct connection between lineage and caste/ tribal status.

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Appendix. (UC =Upper Caste, MC= Middle caste, TR=tribal)

Populations in bold letters are the ones that have a very high percentage of a single lineage...ie very little admixture.

Of Burqas and Turbans

From my childhood in 60’s and 70’s I remember several newspaper reports of the following type (name is fictitious):

Mr Kartar Singh, a Sikh Bus driver in with the Metropolitan Bus Service, London was denied the right to wear a turban (at work) by his employer. He appealed to the courts on the grounds that his religious beliefs required him to wear a turban The courts after hearing his case directed the employers that Mr Singh cannot be be forced to NOT wear a turban.

This news was reported as a triumph of an Indian against his former colonial masters. Indeed ,I agreed with this view of a triumph, as did, I am quite sure , the rest of India.

Only much later in life it struck me that it was as much as triumph for Mr Singh , as it was a triumph of the British judicial system and its principles of fairness which in turn came from the British democracy.

Could such a thing have happened in the 60’s in another country? Say Germany ? or USA ? or South Africa?

Fast-forward to 2016. I see a lot of criticism on the custom of Indian Muslim women wearing a Burqa. Though I am personally of the opinion that the Burqa is a relic of the middle ages, I think Muslim women should be the ones to decide for themselves if they wish to or do not wish to wear a Burqa

Fresh Paint Smell

Have you noticed freshly painted rooms and furniture have a distinctive smell that goes off after a few days ? Do you know why ?

Here is how it works. Paint as sold in shops has 3 main ingredients. A Binder, a solvent and a pigment. Out-of-the-can paint is usually very thick and difficult to apply to surfaces. So a liquid thinner is added to make the paint easier to spread (or less viscous , technically speaking)

The thinner (also commonly known as mineral turpentine) is usually a mixture of hydrocarbons such as Aliphatic and Alicyclic C7 to C12 hydrocarbons , toluene, benzene , ketones etc. These are derived from petroleum crude oil (in a way similar to petrol/ diesel production). Similar to petrol/ diesel , thinner is a volatile substance. Once the paint (with thinner) has been applied, the thinner slowly evaporates leaving behind only the paint. The evaporation may take from a few days to a month or more (depending on the specific ingredients of the thinner). The “fresh paint smell” is the smell of the evaporating thinner. Once the evaporation is complete , the paint film becomes dry and the process is complete, the smell also fades away.

Trivia

 Trivia

Linen iron: On most steam-irons (interestingly in South India they are often called Iron Boxes) there is a dial with which you set the temperature. Nylon, Wool, Cotton etc. Most of the time Linen is also one of the settings, and it is always the setting with the highest temperature. I had wondered for many years why Linen should find a place there because it was (and is) never a commonly used fabric. Then one day it struck me that the setting was not for a fabric but for a type of items , bed-linen: bedcovers , bed-sheets , pillow covers etc. Since traditionally these items are made from thicker material they require a higher temperature setting. Big revelation that !!

Victoria in Mumbai: In the 70 s there was a movie called Victoria Number 302. It was a mystery story set in Bombay around a horse-drawn carriage. I also knew that horse drawn carriages in Bombay were known as Victoria. These are 4 wheeled carriages usually pulled by a single horse but sometimes 2 horses are also used. They were a common sight in Bombay till the 70 s. But why these carriages were called Victoria in Bombay no one seemed to know. Then some years ago I went to London. The Central bus-station in London is called Victoria Coach Station, and before it became a bus-station it was a place where the horse carriages in London were to be found. Hence the name for carriages in Bombay came to be Victoria

Why Six plates (or Glasses or Cups) in a set ? Not so long ago, crockery (and cutlery) was sold only in sets, and specifically in sets of six. No one seemed to know why this was so. Why not 4 or 8? Does anyone have an answer ?

Shopping for export surplus clothes in Bangalore

Shopping for export surplus clothes in Bangalore

Bangalore is the biggest centre for software (export and domestic) in India. But what most people , even those living in Bangalore, do not know is that Bangalore is also the largest producer for stitched garments for export. The number of people employed in the industry is estimated to be between 50 and 60 thousand. In addition Tirupur (for knitted garments ) and Chennai and Ambur (for shoes and leather products ) are also nearby. All this makes Bangalore a paradise for the bargain hunter looking for high quality branded stuff. So if you are tired of shopping in malls (both because of the boring sameness of malls and also their price tags), read on for a rewarding time.
But first a word of caution: There are many “fake” surplus garments also doing the rounds, so one has to learn how to spot the fakes. I have given some tips at the end.
Since most of my Bangalore stay has been in East Bangalore (Indiranagar, Whitefiled . Koramngala , MG Road et al) I am not able to provide much information on other areas.
Stitched garments:
Garments can be broadly classified under “export surplus” , ‘export reject” and “local old stocks” . So how does a garment become surplus/ reject ? There could be a several reasons.
• Over-production: Buyers typically accept 5 % over the order quantity. So if a buyer orders a 1000 shirts the manufacturer will start with a lot of 1100 shirts anticipating some rejection. If he ends up with 1075 good shirts , he will ship 1050 and will be left with 25 “export surplus” shirts.
• Rejects (or “seconds”) In the above example, the manufacturer will also end up with 25 or less “export reject” shirts. Some of the rejects will be for very minute quality defects.
• On occasion an entire lot might become “surplus” because the manufacturer was not able to ship them by the agreed upon last date.
• Or sometimes an entire lot might be a rejected because the colour is slightly different from the specification.
• In addition surplus garments from nearby Bangladesh, Srilanka and Malaysia also find their way to India.
• Local brands (Louise Philip, Thomas Scott, etc) often remain unsold for long and then go out of fashion. Brand-owners/ retailers then sell them at very low prices to distributors who bring them to “surplus” retail.

So these are the ways the export surplus / reject garments are generated. These garments are picked up at wholesale prices from manufacturers (often on a Rs/ kilo basis) and find their way to retailers. Some of the retailers are:
• HUM India: This is the biggest and the only one of the few that has more than one outlet. They are mostly into surplus (rather than “ reject” garments) . They have outlets in Commercial Street, Church Street and Indirananagar. The range covers tops/ trousers/ shorts/ dresses/ shoes for women and shirts/ tee shirts/ trousers/ shorts/ shoes/ suits/ jackets / shoesfor men. Brands seen are Levis, Abercrombie, Old Navy, Haggar, Hacket, Tommy, Ralph Lauren and several more. Hugo Boss and Zegna suits are also available. Prices are not among the lowest . Men’s Tee shirts’ are between 550 to 1000/- , trousers from 900 to 2000/-, suits from 5,000 to 15,000/-. Most of the stuff is not fake but sometimes the Paul Smith shirts look fake. They have an annual sale which is advertised on FM radio and in newspapers
> Mota Royal Arcade, Brigade Road. The top 2 floors aree occupied by VIVA.. they stock all kind of stuff (Men , women, shoes, linen..)  including unsold inventory of local brands. Specailly good for XL and XXl  (or large) sizes.
• Password: Located in Domlur (Approx location Near TERI https://goo.gl/maps/h6KFj). Well known brands are available. The stores are not as large as HUM India but they are worth a visit. Some of the stuff (specially Tommy Hilfiger/ Ralph Lauren shirts) is fake .They have another outlet in Kormangala (Password +(91)-80-41253061, No.507, 6th Main, Koramangala, Near naga kitchen, Bangalore – 560034) .Prices are lower than Hum India but selection is not as large.
• There are a number of shops near Jyothi Niwas college selling surplus garments. They stock mainly women’s garments, but some men’s garments can also be found.
• Fashion One,Indiranagar (Near RUOSHShoeshttps://goo.gl/maps/mK5W1).
• American Colors (Koramangala 80 Feet Rd, Koramangala 7th Block, Bengaluru, 560030, ) +91 80 4131 3824 opp Raheja Arcade.

If you look around , you might spot such surplus retailers in the area that you live

A few tips to spot fakes
• Quality of fabric/ stitching will be visibly inferior.
• Most commonly faked items are Polo, Tommy Hilfiger, Old Navy, Gap. Abercrombie.
• In the case of trousers, if the brand is American and the zipper is nylon, it is a fake.
• If the brand label is mutilated or cut-out, it is genuine.
… will continue later ..

Request to people who read till the end.  A. Please add additional information through the comments sectio, so that other people can benefit. B. Please let me know (again thru comments) if the information I provided was useful (or incorrect)

Was the Jana Gana Man written in praise of King George V ?

Was the Jana Gana Man written in praise of King George V ? 

(Note: It is not my ontention to blame anyone or ask/ suggest  that the Jana Gana Mana be replaced.) 

There is sometimes a debate around our Indian National Anthem, the Jana Gana Mana . Some people say that Tagore wrote it in praise of King George V of Britain on the occasion of the King's visit to India in Dec, 1911 , the event which is known in history as the Delhi Durbar , and for the which the Gateway of India was erected at Mumbai.

Now I have sung the Jana Gana from childhood and I love the song, but there seems to be some truth in argument that it was written as a song of praise for King George V , rather than as praise for the land that later became India. The lyric was written in 1911 and thus neatly coincides with the Delhi Durbar event. If we look at the words themselves , they read

Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people,
Dispenser of India's destiny.
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sindhu, Gujarat and Maratha,
Of the Dravida, Utkala and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,
mingles in the music of Yamuna and Ganga and is
chanted by the waves of the Indian Ocean.
They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise.
The saving of all people waits in thy hand,
Thou dispenser of India's destiny.
Victory, victory, victory to thee.

The reference to a person (of power) , is rather obvious. “Thou Art” cannot be construed to be Indian nationhood / India /People of India. It must also be remembered that all literary references to India , even in pre-indepencence times are for “Mother India/ Bharat Maata”, and this is not seen in the Jana Gana Man.

Finally take a look at the geographical areas mentioned . They are Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, Maratha, Dravid (Tamil Nadu) Utkal (Odisha) Banga, Vindhya (MP) , Himachal, Yamuna Ganga (Uttar Pradesh, Bihar) . How and why did Tagore miss JnK, Rajasthan (then known as Rajputana) , Karantaka (then Mysore ) and Kerala ? Now if one looks at the Map of Indian British Empire in 1910, we find that these areas were Independent nations which were under the alliance / political protection of the British but were not considered British territory. ( see Map of India 1910 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/British_Indian_Empire_1909_Imperial_Gazetteer_of_India.jpg

Why is it easy to be a godman in India?

Why is it easy to be a godman in India?


We have so many godmen in India. The other day I asked myself this question.. and of course there is an answer.. all thought up by yours truly. In my opinion there are 6 reasons. Of course the prime mover is the fact that in our culture, and perhaps other cultures as well, people have a need for religion in their lives. They need it and they want it and when they can’t get it from traditional sources, they will get it from godmen.

• Godmen must have a size-able following before they are recognized as godmen. Here they have a bumper opportunity. With India’s 1.1 billion population, no shortage of followers / devotees. If you have a relevant (or even sometimes irrelevant or even no message at all) becoming a godman is easy on India.
• Another reason is that Hinduism is a very unstructured and open religion. If someone is seen as a godman or proclaims to be one, there is no Pope or Ayatollah like figure to question the claim. Also, since popular Hinduism is not mono-theistic (we have Vishnu, Shiva, Ram, Ganesh, Lakshmi and many more), the existence of a godman does not contradict any popular Hindu belief.
• A third reason is that the traditional religious heads, such as the Shankaracharyas of various Mathas/ Mutts are very reclusive. They are hardly seen in public and they do not engage with their followers on any noteworthy scale. They do not point out a moral path or provide spiritual solace to the masses of Hindus in India. In effect they have ceded religious leadership and there is a leadership vacuum ready to be filled by godmen.
• Traditional Hinduism prior to Independence looked down upon dalits and backward classes. They were not allowed to enter temples. Even now the leaders of Hinduism are very aloof, even apathetic, to dalits and backward classes. So people from dalit and backward classes are very willing to align with a godman who promises religious inclusion with social equality.
• To be a godman in India one des not need any special knowledge or scholarship or spiritual ability. Instance are available where people have become revered by doing such odd and ordinary things as not speaking for an year , standing on one foot for a long time or living on a machaan (a raised wooden platform) for a period of time. Even the ones who appear on TV channels have no special ability. One has to only watch one 30 minute episode to see that most of them talk pure nonsense.
• For godmen it is easy to attract urban middle-class women followers because attending a bhajan gathering or a satsang is a socially acceptable and even desirable for a woman in conservative / orthodox families. One of the things that surprises me about the upper caste TV godmen is preponderance of women in their audience. 

Hinduism is a way of life: Origin and growth

Hinduism is a way of life: Origin and growth

(I have used the word shudra in this article to describe a caste in Hinduism. While Hinduism believed that they were low caste, I have no such belief. I use the word only to identify a set of people)

In the earlier posts we have seen that Hinduism is a complex phenomenon and that a majority of India’s “Hindu” tribal populations were not really Hindu till recently.

When we want to examine the origin and growth of Hinduism, specifically historical timelines, we again run into problems because it has no “founder “or prophet. So historian and scholars use the dates of creation of Hinduism’s sacred texts to arrive at the timelines. While there is considerable debate and disagreement among scholars on the exact dates, there is a wide consensus that many of the gods and rituals of present day Hinduism were in evidence by 1000 to 700 BC. There is also an agreement that the area initially covered by people of Hindu faith ranged from the west to present day Pakistan to east till the eastern edge of Bihar. But who were the people who founded Vedic Hinduism and where did they come from? And, during the early days of Hinduism were there people in India who did not follow Hinduism but some other religion.

Hinduism even as known today shares a lot of features with the Zoroastrian religion (which is the religion of Parsis in India). Names of gods, the importance of fire in rituals and even the caste system is common. In addition the principal language of Vedic Hinduism, Sanskrit, has many similarities with the classical language of Zoroastrianism, i.e. the Avestan. (see this interesting link http://www.ancientscripts.com/avestan.html)

Using these similarities , historians have generally agreed that the people who originally developed Vedic Hinduism were not the oldest inhabitants of India. Strong similarities with the ancient religions and languages of Iran and Central Asia compel us to the conclusion that the founders of Vedic Hinduism came from those regions and when the came they carried some of the initial ideas of Hinduism, including the caste system. These ideas were to later develop into Hinduism in India and Zoroastrianism in Iran.

The next logical question is therefore who lived in India BEFORE the Iranians / Central Asian came ? One obvious answer is the people of the Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC) but it is not a complete answer, because the IVC does not have any sites/ evidence to the east of Rajasthan or to the west of Sindh. It is entirely absent in present day UP, Bihar and Bengal, MP.

Another, less palatable but more probable part of the answer is that it was the ancestors of present day tribals who were the original inhabitants of India. The Vedic Hindus seemed to have done 2 things

• They forced the indigenous people/ tribals to move deeper into the jungles and hills where they remained for the next nearly 3000 years ..i.e. till now as we see in central India. As I have mentioned in an earlier post the tribals in Central India even today do not follow traditional Hinduism.
• Some tribals were “captured” and forced to become shudras in the Vedic Hinduism caste system

Taken together these two statements are very controversial and contentious , but I believe them to be true both from evidence as well as logic.

In the form of evidence we only have to observe the people of today in the shudra caste vs. the other castes. There is a distinct difference in the physiognomy. One set is noticeably darker skinned and has “tribal” facial features than the other. (To be noted I am not for or against a particular skin colour. I am not advocating that fairer skin is better than darker or vice versa).

On the logic side, consider this> The percentage of backward castes/ tribals in Hinduism today is more than 60 percent. Now look back 3000 years. A new religion, Hinduism, is coming in. Would anyone willingly join the religion as a shudra , the lowest strata ? So there is compelling logic to believe that the founders of Vedic Hinduism (often referred as Aryans) forced the indigenous people into joining Hinduism as shudras. While it may sound strange in the context of Hinduism, enslaving of vanquished local people has been seen time and again in history. Vedic Hinduism did more or less the same, except that instead of calling them slaves, they called them shudra.

An associated thought is that not ALL the local people were relegated to shudra status. Either initially or over a period of time some communities moved into other castes. The important point to note here is that it was not individuals who could break out of the caste system, though entire communities could.

Many Hindus today believe that the caste system was a division of labour and a person could move to a higher caste depending on his merit. This alas is not borne out by facts. Or one would have to assume that Indian/ Hindu society in the ancient times was so punitive that it condemned 60% of its people to the lowest strata.

A question will be asked..with its pernicious caste system, how did Hinduism spread so much in India? The answer is simple. It is like launching a new toothpaste in today’s market. The consumption will spread quickly if there is no / very little competition and if the promotional effort is strong. This happened with Hinduism 3000 years ago. There was no competing organized religion and Vedic Hindus were a more organized community with better resources than the local population.

In summary, what is important to note is

• The founders of Vedic Hinduism were not the original inhabitants of the Indo Gangetic plain.
• Vedic Hinduism forced the locals to jungles or captured them as shudras.
• Caste was always determined by birth and not merit.
• The claims made by many Hindus today that Hinduism is the only religion which has not converted people, are false. Hinduism has definitely converted people. The difference is that the people who were converted followed a religion or set of beliefs which did not have a name and about which very little is known today


Many people who read this might label me an anti-Hindu. Nothing is further from the truth. What i have attempted to do, is to answer for myself some of the uncomfortable questions regarding Hinduism using knowledge available in the public domain. Unfortunately, the truth can sometimes be bitter.

I would welcome any differing opinions /comments provided they are backed by logic and fact.

Hinduism: Its not a religion, it’s a way of life Part 2

Hinduism: Its not a religion, it’s a way of life Part 2

So as we have seen Hindusim is considerably more complex than the simple 3 God (Brahma , Vishnu, Mahesh) and 4 Caste system phenomenon that is often presented for public consumption. It has many layers and a limitless scope for discussion and change. The moral teachings come from a large number of sources (Vedas, Puranas , Ramayana etc) and not from a simplified source like the 10 commandments in Christianity. Again, the moral/ ethical teachings are presented through stories, most of which are about the life and times of gods, demi-gods and kings. This multiplicity of sources leads to some degree of contradiction. For instance, to quote the most famous example, Krishna exhorts Arjun to kill people who are his own relatives and kinsmen. While I am not suggesting that Krishna’s message was wrong (in the context he made it) , we do not see this kind “advice” in other religions.

Like other old religions, Hinduism also comes with ideas that do not sit well with the modern times. A major problem area is with the caste system . In traditional Hindu thinking prior to Independence, caste was immutable. But at the level of the Indian nation, we have managed to deal with it by giving , at least on paper, in the Constitution, equal rights / opportunity to all Indians and a special status to tribals and lower caste Hindus. At the individual and social level, we see many inter-caste marriages now, and pleasantly, many, though not all, are not opposed by families/ parents.

Women have been treated unfairly by most religions, and Hinduism is no exception. The Manu Smriti, which is the closest to what one can call Hindu Laws, do not give equal status to women (or to lower castes as well) . Here again the Constitution guarantees women equal rights and at the social level also there is an ever-growing acceptance for the equality of women. We see it in the growing presence of women in prominent positions in Politics, Business and Education and almost all spheres of actvity. Mamta Banerji, Mayawati, Jayalailta, Sheela Dikshit and Sushma Swaraj (to quote just a few names) would never have reached where they are, if India had clung to the old and strict ideas of Hindusim.

Interestingly, thus, the lack of a single difficult-to-challenge religious source actually makes Hinduism more open to change and so while Hinduism is a way of life, our own ways of life now help to re-define Hinduism. I am deeply satisfied and encouraged by this adaptive quality of Hindus and Hinduism.

… to be continued

Hinduism: Its not a religion, it’s a way of life

During discussions I occasionally hear this sentence “Hinduism is a way of life “ . It is often said with a sense of pride and to possibly assert that Hinduism is thus superior to religions. So what doe this mean ?

Now if we look at the major religions of the world, Islam, Buddhism , Christainty and Hinduism.. there are at least  couple of things that are unique about Hindusim. Hinduism, unlike the other 3 does not have a single , identified “founder” . In Islam there is Prophet Mohammed, in Chrisitanty there is Jesus and Buddhism has Gautam, but Hinduism does not have anyone similar. We have multiple names of Rishis and Gurus but no one or 2 or even 10 names that can claim to have “authored” Hindusim. Also while Islam has the Quran and Christianity the Bible as the chief and main source of their teachings and faith, Hindusim does not have an equivalent. Instead Hinduism (or more correctly Vedic or Sanatan Dharma) has over 50 texts consisting the Vedas , Puranas and Upanishads and these lay down what a Hindu should and should not do both in ritualistic and ethical terms. Hence the remark “A way of life”. In addition of course we also have the Mahabharat and Ramayana regarded as sacred texts , but again these are legends about good and evil and not really the equivalents of the Bible or Quran

Therefore the absence of a single book/ founder makes Hinduism  different from other religions, and hence the use of the phrase “a way of life” as compared to “religion”. Now whether it makes Hinduism a better or “superior” religion I leave to the readers to decide.

There also also some interesting things about Hinduism which are visible but not noticed by many people. Caste is a strong social driver in Hinduism and popular Hindu belief recognizes 4 castes. But his is mainly in urban communities. Move to rural areas and you come across prominent communities which do not fall within the 4 castes. These are essentially land –owning and farming communities , sometimes described by the word “peasantry”. For example in the north we have the Jats, Bishnois  Patels  and Yadavs and in the south there are the Gowdas, Reddy’s and Patils. These communities form a sizeable chunk of the population and are often economically and politically powerful. Interestingly they are all endogamous (traditionally marrying only within the community) thereby following the “caste system” without actually being a part of the well known 4 tier caste system.

The second interesting aspect of Hinduism in India is the place / status accorded to tribals (known in different parts of India as adivasi, janjati,  girijan, vanvasi, banjara/ vanjara, lambadi, gujar, gujjar ) The census records the number of tribals in India as 10 crores. More than 80% are classified Hindu by the census (in MP, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Himachal, Uttarakhand, Ladakh, Odisha, Andhra Padesh) most of the  remaining are Christian (mainly North Eastern states of Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal and  Mizoram) and few have no religious affiliation (Andaman/ Nicobar) . Now interestingly, when the Indian census records a person’s religion, if it is not Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Budhism, Jain or Jew, it is by default recorded as Hindu.  A bulk of the “Hindu” tribals are thus classified.

The question then arises,  are (or were) they really followers of Hinduism ? Till about 50 years back , most “Hindu” tribals did not worship Hindu gods such as Shiva, Ram or Krishna  or Ganesh. They had, in each region, their own gods. In many cases their gods were similar to animist gods. Animals (monkeys , cows, peacocks and cobra) and trees (Pipal, neem, Tulsi)  were, and are,  considered sacred. They did not believe in re-incarnation. Their marriage rituals did not align with Hindusim. For example the Santhals were polygamous and pre-marital sex was common. The contemporary traditional Hindu society itself did not define them in terms of the 4 castes. With the passage of time and spread of communications, many tribals (except in North East) have now started identifying loosely with traditional Hinduism. For sociologists this is an interesting example of cultural assimilation. Many others have converted to Christianity due to efforts or christian missionaries. The lack of a well-defined religion , and only a loose connection with traditional Hinduism made the conversion to Christianity  easier.

..to be continued