St James Church Delhi

Today (19 December 2016) I visited St James Church Delhi.  This is an Anglican Church built in 1836 by Colonel James Skinner, hence also called Skinner's Church.  The church is situated near Kashmiri Gate of old Delhi.

Demonetization of Indian Rupee Notes 500 and 1000

On 08 November 2016, Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India has announced about the demonetization of Rupees 500 and Rupees 1000 currency notes with immediate effect.   He assured the nation that this measure is to curb the black money.  The black money refers to the unaccounted, non-taxed money held by individuals.  As per his plan new notes were ready and within two days the old currency notes could be replaced.

500 and 1000 Rupee notes constitute around 84 % value of Indian currency.  Demonetization of such huge share of the currency has caused great difficulties for the ordinary citizens.  

After one month of the demonetization the scarcity of currency felt across the country.  Almost all the ATMs are dry.  Huge queues are visible outside the bank branches and ATMs for withdrawal of the cash.  The scarcity of the cash affected the life Indian poor.

Meanwhile huge amount of new currency recovered from individuals.  Employees of the private sector bank Axis Bank were arrested for unauthorized exchange of old currency with the new currency.  


         

Brahmanism and Indian Society

The concept of the Brahmanism originates from the oldest Hindu holy scripture Rigveda where in the Brahmans were assumed the highest position in the social strata.  The Manusmriti which is a detailed work about the social structure of the ancient India, clearly talk about the four class caste system. Brahmans who are the priest placed on the top of the pyramidal social structure.  Various other ancient Indian scripture also talks about the Brahman superiority; for example the Arthasastra which is a political treatise talks about the privileges of Brahmans over other casts.  Through out the history of India, Brahmans dominates the society.  They are the priests of Hindu temples.  The education and higher leanings were limited only to the Brahmans.

During the time of Hindu Kings Brahmans were the chief advisers of the King and virtually influenced all the political decisions taken by the Kings.

During the time of Muslim rulers they had lost some charm in the society.  However, Mughals were accommodating and appointed able Brahmans as advisers.  Even during the Muslim rule Brahmans retained the control the religious activities of Hindus.

During the British Raj the Brahmans constituted the highest number of the top jobs especially in Indian Civil Service (ICS).           

Skewed Wealth of Indians

In the middle of so called "fastest development ever of Indian economy" the gap of wealth distribution is disturbing. I just gone through a The Hindu article on this http://www.thehindu.com/data/indias-staggering-wealth-gap-in-five-charts/article6672115.ece It is more disturbing to see the effect of financial inequality in the attitude of the people.  I am living in Indian Metropolitan cities in last ten years; Bangalore and Delhi.  The attitude of the rich looking down the poor is very evident in every day experiences in the streets of these cities especially in Delhi.  The response of a Car driver to a pedestrian is the classic example.  

New American President

Donald John Trump elected as new President of USA.  He was earlier branded by media and opposition as against minorities and immigrants. However he found profound support from the Modi (Prime Minister of India) admirers from India.  Even senior BJP (Bharathiya Janatha Party-the ruling party in India) leaders have compared him with Modi.  Many in India argues that Trump being strict towards minorities of USA (say Muslims) is good for India, not realizing that Indians are minorities in USA. The elite Indian (essentially Hindu upper caste) have a strong feeling that due to their Aryan origin they are comparable with the White Anglo-Saxon Whites in USA, hence they will be treated at above other migrants by white Americans.  The fact is that Americans hardly distinguish between Indian, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis and these communities always stayed to together whenever there was attacks on any of them in America. Trump cannot deviate much from the American value system which protects minorities and freedom of religion. The Academia in USA which stands for liberty and critical thinking is very active and cannot be smeared easily.

Today (13 Nov 16) The Hindu (the Indian News Paper) reported that many Indians voted against Hillary Clinton due to her proximity with one Muslim assistant.  It is hard to believe that only the 51% of the American Indians are Hindus and rest are either Christians, irreligious, Muslims, Sikhs etc.  Further all American Hindus may not have apprehension against Democrats only due to Muslim follower of the presidential candidate.  It is very important for the educated voters to think above the religious lines to ensure that right candidates are elected.

     

Clean North East

Had a short visit to Sikkim.  It is one of the North Eastern state of India.  Apart from scenic beauty, the state maintains high level of neatness.  I perplexed by the civic sense and neatness shown by the people of the Sikkim.  I wonder why the north east states are able to maintain such level of the neatness compared to the rest of India. I feel it is because the culture.  The basis civic sense and neatness has nothing to do with the education and financial status.  Staying for last two years in Delhi, I could see many educated people throwing rubbish in public.  Whereas in North eastern states even the poor and uneducated people has commendable positive attitude towards the upkeep of surroundings.

Indian Anthropologist (British Origin) Verrier Elwin in his remarkable works on Indian aboriginals have mentioned about vibrant culture of various Indian tribal and their skill and interest to keep the surrounding clean without disturbing the echo-system.  Unfortunately by bringing them into the mainstream of the country most of the aboriginals lost their skills and culture to keep the surrounding clean.  Probably neatness of the north-east due to their tribal background which has not been polluted by intermingling with the so-called modern India.