HERE'S THE HEREAFTER, THANK YOU

HERE'S THE HEREAFTER, THANK YOU

It is all here. There is no hereafter. The hereafter itself is here. This location and dislocation business is a thought-trap based on experience and imagination of spatial extension. The channel changes on the television screen showing up new places, scenes and environs. But the screen remains the same. So also with the Self over which sensory superimpositions cast their distinctive images separated by space and time. But in transcendence relativity vanishes and the Absolute reveals itself shorn of all such distinctive designs. It is an integrated Whole without parts or joints, a seamless realm of Self-conscious existence. Upon return to relativity in its finest sense, the frozen moment stretches to engender ticking time and the consciousness-dense void extends to build the fabric of expansive space. Complex conception it may seem from the standpoint of mundane multiplicity but when Self-realisation dawns, things become apparent as the solidified integrated consciousness splits up into diverse thoughts, the One in lonesomeness wishes to become the Many, and lo and behold, the manifold universe comes into being, the single solidified substratum of superconsciousness is enveloped by the mist of multiplicity. That state of transcendence is here and now, and not there and then. It is all here. It is all now.

Written by Sugata Bose

P.S. My responses to observations made by a reader : Television---that is why Thakur spoke in parables.

Philosophy eludes ordinary conception. Myths and tales, parables and rustic notes make accessible subtle truths. But in analogy so often the subtlety of the original concept is lost. Thus is the Spirit rudely rendered into Matter, so to say, in an altered vein. This itself is idolatry that universally prevails upon the mind of the mundane man.

HANDS OFF!

HANDS OFF!

Spirituality is mostly materialism all over. Does the Spirit preach, convert or accumulate wealth? The Spirit just abides and in so 'doing'---for, abiding is hardly doing anything beyond being silently present---spreads its aroma around. Those that come within its ambit are magnetically drawn and transformed, raised unto Self-consciousness. There is neither sound nor word but the tranquil Presence that uplifts. Violence of preaching gone, proselytising takes to its wings and peace abounds, which is the essence and end of spirituality.

Whither spirituality in institutionalised religion, organisation et al? The individual is violated upon by those who wish in their own ignorance to raise him, the blind leading the blind unto the blind alleyway of life and its dead end in death. Hands off, preacher, priest, proselytiser, prophet! Who you wish to save is already saved, says Vivekananda. He is divine and needs not your saving grace. Om!

Written by Sugata Bose 

SUBMISSION TO UNREASON

SUBMISSION TO UNREASON 

They are in the deathgrip of their theology. It crushes and kills, allowing little freedom which is why there is neither growth nor progress within the polity but a stagnation that dates from medieval times and stretches unto modernity which though eludes them in their throttled thinking. The text dominates their lives and inspires them unto futile martyrdom. The focus of existence is elsewhere in the hereafter while life here on earth is passed in constant consternation of an absolute fiat whose judgement they must favourably gain to avoid the Fire they so fear. Enticements galore for the men, here and in heaven, subjugation of women, and submission overall to the divine dictate determine life on earth deemed as a test for a probable passage to a delectable heaven. Hatred of the infidel, the great calling to convert them to the one and only true faith and engagement in activity to that end consume earthly energy, leaving no scope for progress in a world of changing realities. Denied the right to challenge their faith, they are held captive to it, prisoners of transmitted culture from generation to generation, the process of indoctrination of the individual beginning from right after birth. Backwardness fosters hyper-fertility and the numbers grow unceasingly even as the interior rots.

The day is not far---and it is already happening---when newer generations will rebel against this brutalisation of the human soul by archaic absolutist ideology. Then the citadels of theocratic control will fall apart much like it did in the case of Christianity in the past several centuries. Enlightenment is bound to come, for the human soul is infinite and cannot be contained within the finite bounds of dogmatic faith. As of now it is a titanic struggle, the tug of war between identity culture and global liberalising influence. 

The races of the world are diversely developed owing to genetic, climatic and cultural factors. Hence, large sections of the world remain in the dark as yet, clinging to archaic conceptions, explanations of life, creation and the universe which have been debunked by scientific discoveries. The ability to adapt to the environment and evolve is not equally developed in all individuals, neither in the same measure in all races. Thus tribal culture persists in the garb of antiquated religions, holding humanity in its hypnotic grip still. But with the spread of information and the permeation of liberal culture, there will be a loosening of the theological grip on the masses and toxic texts will be rejected as unworthy of veneration by the moden mind. Then shall be light and then shall be liberation and then shall love spread around.

To that dawn, my dear,

I send forth these lines,

They'll waft through the starry skies

To welcome you with the light.

Written by Sugata Bose

POESY: ON WAKING UP

ON WAKING UP

Blessed be the morn

On which I was born.

Now attributes shorn,

In life wearyworn,

I, forlorn,

Am blowing the horn

To rid myself

Off this horrific world

That's stuck in me

Like a pricking thorn.

Life's been lived full force.

Now worn and torn,

Here at last its brief sojourn 

Shall end in scorn

If I tarry more.

For the world is full,

Too full of cares,

Too full of the wares

That crass commerce,

Too full of the snares

That the desirous mind

Have corrupted course.

Now off in flight

To a realm of light,

Leaving the plight,

This battle thrown.

The shore is nigh,

The tide is high,

The vessel's ready,

My spirit's steady.

Set off at eve,

This earth shall leave

When dusk beckons

The darkening dawn.

How many aeons 

This life has been,

How many ages 

Its scenery seen.

Now curtain's call,

Short shrinks the tall,

Breaks steps the ball,

Null sees the all.

I come, O Master, I come.

O Mother who art my sole refuge,

In Thee shall rest my days and nights.

A day of peace

And a night of rest,

Free of care

Nor worry pressed.

Life's been long

And hard and tough,

Rode through the smooth 

And rode through the rough.

Now peace, peace, peace within, 

Light and bliss and formfree win.

Rambling, rambling, carefree soul,

The parts are nought, 

They've fused as Whole.

Composed by Sugata Bose

THE MULTAN DECLARATION

THE MULTAN DECLARATION 

The declaration at Multan was absolutely justified. Tendulkar was crawling towards his prospective double century quite against the demands of team cricket which must put rapid scoring at a premium in order to force a victory. That victory was achieved with a day to spare was not evident then and neither does it matter, considering that cricket is a team game and the interests of the team are paramount, over and above individual interest which must not only be subservient but must not feature at all in the general scheme of things. It is the captain's decision to do what he deems is right for the team and for an individual player to question it is blasphemous in cricketing terms. That Tendulkar had the temerity to do so shows him in poor light as a sort of a selfish character despite many other redeeming features which would sure show him in a brighter light. Dravid's inability to defend his decision in more forthright terms almost gives the impression that he has capitulated to public pressure and holds himself culpable to an error of judgement which, though, is not his true position in regard to the decision to declare. This meekness on his part is unseemly, quite unmanly, so to say, and not befitting a leader of men. That Tendulkar has continued to hold his ground that Dravid was wrong in declaring proves what a poor sport he is after all, despite the contrary claims by all and sundry to his unselfish demeanour. Tendulkar did place person above team in regard to the Multan declaration, was culpable to the cardinal sin of questioning the captain and has in expressing his displeasure in autobiographical publication of the same confirmed his true individualistic frame of mind as opposed to what great teammen like Garry Sobers, Vivian Richards and Virender Sehwag have exhibited as the fundamental feature of their mental make-up in regard to this great team game.

P. S. The Multan Test took place from 28 March to 1 April, 2004, the latter being the fourth day of the Test when India won comfortably.  Three months earlier on 5 January, 2004, Ganguly had declared India's second innings at 211--2 to try and force a win against Steve Waugh's Australia at Sydney. Dravid was then batting on 91 and Tendulkar on 60. The match was drawn with Australia staving off defeat by notching 357--6 when stumps were drawn on the fifth day. Earlier Tendulkar had crawled to a double hundred (241 not out) in the first innings which time factor eventually cost us the missed victory as India had eight wickets in the second innings when they were accelerating to go for a probable win. India scored 211--2 in just 43.2 overs. Dravid never grudged his skipper Ganguly's decision nor even dreamed of questioning it. He smilingly got along with what was good for the team, so much so that people have forgotten that he was also denied a century in the team's interest which, perhaps, he could have notched up in a couple of overs more. But Dravid, the team man and a thorough gentleman, bowed down willingly before his captain's decision, although it must be added here than even Dravid as vice-captain of the team had initially gone on batting even after receiving multiple intimations from the dressing room to come off as soon as they could. But in the final analysis Dravid never brewed up a sullen atmosphere in the dressing room consequent on the eventual declaration with him stranded on an unbeaten 91. Not so Tendulkar, though. He harboured hurt feelings and questioned the veracity of the management's decision to declare. And now he has given his position regarding the same in his autobiography, ghost-written by someone else as is the wont with so many cricketers. Now read and draw your own conclusions. 

Written by Sugata Bose 

A RUN DOWN MEMORY LANE

A RUN DOWN MEMORY LANE

A sense of history inspires one to carry on with the finest traditions of the game. I mean cricket with all its glorious past, its village greens, County Championships, Sheffield Shield, Ashes matches, W.G., Ranji, Hobbs and Sutcliffe, Trumper and McCartney, Bradman, McCabe and Ponsford, George Headley, Learie Constantine, Wolley, Rhodes, Verity, Jardine, Larwood and the Bodyline, and the great victories and defeats. Cricket with its rivetting past dated in Hambledon, Yorkshire and Lord's, the Oxbridge matches, Winchester, Eton and Harrow, the Gentlemen and the Players with separate dressing rooms and entrances and exits, the coalminer's son delivering the ball at 90 miles per hour, pulverising batsmen with vicious bumpers at a fiery pace, stumps flying on impact with the dipping, darting yorker, pubs animated in discussions on the elements of the day's game---those were the halcyon days of this glorious game played in the sun in July-August and in the cold English early summer of May when a thousand first class runs was the prized possession of the very best of batsmen and over 3000 runs in a season, as Ranji and Compton achieved, the immortal attainments of the game. This it was, so typically an English sport played in the days of Empire, whose lifebreath was captured in the prose of Cardus and Swanton, of Robinson and Arlott, like moods frozen in poetic metre or as ice melting in a flowing lake. And the interwar years that saw the maturing of batsmanship to new heights, and postwar heroes in Sobers and Kanhai and the three Ws. Hutton, Laker and Lock, locking horns with the Aussies, Graeme and Peter Pollock, Barry Richards, the great Viv, Lillee and Thommo and the fearsome West Indian pace battery--- Roberts, Holding, Daniel, Garner, Croft, Marshall, Patterson, Davis, Sylvester Clarke, Ian Bishop, Ambrose and Walsh, all bloodying batsmen and rolling stumps. Way back in early 20th century we had Sidney Francis Barnes, Bill O'Reilly and Clarrie Grimmett, and just the other day we had Warne and Murali, and earlier the famed quartet of Bedi, Chandra, Prasanna and Venkat coming in the line of Vinoo Mankad, Subhas Gupte, Ghulam Ahmed, Benaud, Gibbs and the redoubtable duo, Ramadhin and Valentine. Gavaskar lit up the Windies and Apartheid robbed the cricketing world of the Pollocks, Barry Richards, Eddie Barlow, Mike Proctor and more. Greig, the Chappell brothers, Kerry Packer and the cricketing revolution has done the rest. Now it is big money, the sibling of cricket, and shorter and faster brands of commercial cricket. Gone now is its languid romance, the rapturous joy of seasonal cricket played on the village greens. Hail to those halcyon days which is to be never anymore!

Written by Sugata Bose 

ALL-TIME INDIA TEST XI

ALL-TIME INDIA TEST XI 

1. VIRENDER SEHWAG 

2. SUNIL GAVASKAR 

3. RAHUL DRAVID 

4. SACHIN TENDULKAR

5. VIRAT KOHLI

6. VINOO MANKAD (C)

7. MAHENDRA SINGH DHONI (WK)

8. KAPIL DEV (VC)

9. JASPRIT BUMRAH  

10. ANIL KUMBLE 

11. JAVAGAL SRINATH 

COMMENTS GALORE ... 41

COMMENTS GALORE ... 41

Sugata Bose @YouTube [Kolkata Literary Meet] : Javed Akhtar has taken too much of the time, almost the whole of it, reducing other panelists to being mere audience to his seemingly never-ending oration. This is terribly unfair, a one-sided affair that has reduced a panel discussion to a monlogue, however stimulating in intellectual content it may have been. Javed Akhtar has even of the cuff taken undue precedence in answering questions from the audience. It seems he has had a mistaken notion of the Meet and has taken it to be 'Javed Akhtar Literary Meet'. Moderation by Mir ought to have taken care of this unseemly anomaly. The audience has been thus deprived of a possible second or even third round of rollicking rolling discussion that would have added flavour to the Meet. In actual effect such a possibility has been waylaid by a single speaker of much knowledge that despite it has made a mockery of a Meet. Such self-centring of group discussion literally should not be allowed at a literary meet.

Sugata Bose @YouTube [MFC 1858] : This thing about Bradman having fallen short by 4 runs to have a career batting average of 100 runs per completed innings overlooks the fact that almost throughout his career he kept averaging well over 100. His average stood at 105 before his last Test series against England and it stood at 101 before his final innings which is why he needed only 4 runs to finish with a fallen average of 100 which, alas, was never to be and which has led to this misperception about he having failed to reach that pinnacle of glory in the final analysis. A baseless understanding of the great man's lifetime batting achievement, a testament to popular unreasearched shallow estimate of things.

Sugata Bose @YouTube [Jaipur Literary Festival] : Rajdeep Sardesai talks for too long depriving other speakers of legitimate talk-time.

It's a Rajdeep Sardesai show to the dismay of Gideon Haigh who hardly gets any chance to speak. What a wasted opportunity! Rajdeep Sardesai typically spoils every such show with his superficial talk. He evidently is a great fan of his own speech.

Sugata Bose @YouTube [The Print] : Why does the anchor (Shekhar Gupta) move his hands so much? Such body language is unwarranted where words ought to do the job.

Sugata Bose @Parnika Bubna : Do not worry. Mother is always holding you. Live your life creatively, expressing yourself freely, exercising your will and, so, strengthening it, manifesting your prodigious powers to the fullest.

Sugata Bose @YouTube [Sky Sports Retro] : Murali, not Warne, is the greatest bowler of this generation by miles.

Sugata Bose @Kevin Chowdhury : Hard work, harder work, and even harder work to the exclusion of all frivolous distractions of life alone pays. Do it and success will be yours.

Sugata Bose @YouTube [Jai Galagali] : Compare the lovely opening music that was afforded with the Australian telecast compared with the pedestrian ones that you provide at the start of some of your videos. While the batsmen rectify their stance as per the prevailing playing conditions, I request you to rectify your musical stance that is primarily aimed at attracting crude public attention. This ought not to be.

Sugata Bose @Tendulkar is a dull fellow who makes insipid comments. Compare that with Dravid's sharp incisive comments and you'll see the difference. Ganguly is another bore of an intellect, superficial and quite innocent of the history of this great game. Tendulkar is a great batsman but a terribly shallow intellect. Listening to him is painfully detrimental to one's intellectual faculties. 

Sugata Bose @YouTube : Ponting's a shame unto the game! Period.

Sugata Bose @Antara Sadhu : Nice original interpretation of my statement. You have a capacity for lateral thinking, sign of an intelligent brain. But my import was otherwise, along quite a different direction altogether.

Sugata Bose @Ratul Roy : Saddened to hear this. My mental final prostration at Mesomoshai's lotus feet. Stay peaceful in loving memory of the dear departed. 🕉

Sugata Bose @YouTube [Random Dawah] : Was this an inter-fath meet designed to prove the superiority of a particular religion by any means? What was the underlying motive? Cheap quotation tactics by Naik to prove his point. This is despicable, most uncivil culture. The philosophical point is more pertinent. Memory-juggling is not spirituality. Such memorising and consequent quotation of a few verses and stating the chapter and verse number may please the public but does not advance one spiritually nor does it prove one's philosophical point in any way. These are populist measures designed to stun the gullible public ever ready to gobble up gibberish dished out at them by clever manipulators of their mind.

Sugata Bose @YouTube [Random Dawah] : Zakir Naik is a master misinterpreter of the Bible as is customary of his kind. He was set straight by Swami Golakanandaji who towered above his lowly level.

Sugata Bose @YouTube [Random Dawah] : Father is a cultured person. His refinement far transcends Naik's unseemly offensive. His cultured repose was a fitting response to Naik's vituperation.

Sugata Bose @YouTube [Random Dawah] : 'Judge the tree by the fruit.' So says the old adage. And that is the apt method of judging the relative merits of the religions under consideration in this meet. The fruits are sweet, bland and toxic. Now judge for yourself which is which.

Sugata Bose @Random Dawah : What a cartoon of a character still preaching the supposed superiority of his political faith after a sizeable sizing up by the Swami!

Sugata Bose @Random Dawah : Stop telling God what to do and what not to do. He is free to do as He pleases without consulting you.

Sugata Bose @YouTube [Enlightened by Sadhguru] : The young lady has jacked this 'guru'. He is so disconcerted that he has resorted to threatening her with hosts of cases which is a despicable way to respond to an honest question. Is might right even in the spiritual world or is it not spirituality after all that is being so marketed?

Sugata Bose @YouTube [Sadhuguru And] : Rubbish! Adi Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, Guru Nanak, Sri Chaitanya, Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda are a few more among many divine incarnations and prophets who have graced this earth post the advent of Islam which effectively gives the lie to the statement that Muhammad is the last prophet that the world has seen.

Sugata Bose @Chaitanyadeb Das : Rejoice that Shree Ram will reign in Ayodhya once again in His newest incarnation which is in keeping with the oldest tradition dating from millenia, way back into remotest antiquity.

Sugata Bose @YouTube [Sportstar] : What a shallow audience! Laughing at Kallicharan's poverty situation that left him with no food at night.

Sugata Bose @YouTube [Franciscan University of Steubenville] : Islam and Christianity are ever at loggerheads with each other because each is an expansionist proselytising faith which objective makes them necessarily antagonistic to each other. Ramakrishna exhorts all to proceed along their individual paths on to God. Spiritual realisation is the key, not converting others to one's fold. Here lies the harmony.

Sugata Bose @Parnika Bubna/Gupta : You are doing yeoman service to the motherland by helping me glean invaluable information about our culture and heritage which is spurring me on to awaken our sleeping Hindu brethren into feeling a sense of rightful pride in their antiquity as Hindu civilisational recovery takes place in the coming decades and centuries. This invaluable support, a la patronage in the rightful sense, is befitting the best of souls that you are and is enshrining your name in the bosom of the great Mother who we fondly address as Bharat Mata. Thanking you will be selling short my indebtedness and your selfless philanthropy. I can express my gratitude in doing justice to the literature that has been made available to me and in serving our motherland in the rightful way by her blessings. 🕉

Sugata Bose @Rudranshu Singh : Learn the spelling of 'Gregorian calendar' first before you speak ji.

Sugata Bose @Rudranshu Singh : Your phone is naughty. It is still playing the fool with calendar and typing it somehow as CALLANDER, and too in two places. You must scold your phone.

Sugata Bose @Rudranshu Singh : Thank you for taking the cue of spelling from me. My IQ helped, you see.

Sugata Bose @Rudranshu Singh : There is no theocratic bigotry anywhere. It is a Sanatan civilisational resurgence, a renaissance that has long been in wait and is now finding fulfilment owing to karmic thrusts ushering in a new age where the Vedas will overspread the world with the message of peace and harmony.

Sugata Bose @Ashit Kumar Pal : Neither am I a relation of Netaji nor do I feel honoured by any such association barring my own familial one, neither am I to be fettered by any in making my observations.

Sugata Bose @Bratisankar Ghosh : It is unbecoming of a gentleman to call another a 'campaigner' by way of first address.

Sugata Bose @Rudranshu Singh : Had rectified it before your comment in response appeared. Evidently it was a typographical error. Nonetheless, thanks for reminding.

P.S. You have made grammatical errors in your comment. It ought to be: Sugata Bose, you have typed 'yout' instead of 'your'.

Nevertheless, you are a good soul, humble and nice, and it endears me to find a fellow countryman to be so, especially in these days of caustic commenting with a malicious slant.

Sugata Bose @Ashit Kumar Pal : Where do you find medieval darkness in illumination of our homes and hearts with the diyas of Deepavali?

Sugata Bose @Inderjeet Singh : Thank you, brother. Such appreciation is rare amongst those who follow my page and when it comes, it is a refreshing spring breeze with its fragrant appeal. Jai Shree Ram!

Sugata Bose @Joydeep Ghosh : The force of history will bring about inevitable amendments. Besides, the baby must not be thrown away with the bathwater. That will prove catastrophic. Evolution must be enlightened. Else, there will be a civilisational collapse and that must never be. Hatred towards Hindutva must not blind one's vision as to pass caustic comments casually. Better scholarship would deem it otherwise. Hence, depth study and clarification of the mind are necessary. Character must be built upon solid spiritual foundations on the bedrock of purity and adherence to the utterances of ancient, medieval and modern sages and divine incarnations.

Sugata Bose @Subhasish Papan Ghosh : Not at all, my friend. You are a critic with a cause and humorous too. Do keep enlivening proceedings as before. Welcome to the world of words.

Sugata Bose @Sreekanth Madhavan : Yes, she (Mother Teresa) is to be praised where praise is due. But her conversions of Hindus to Christianity I am opposed to.

Sugata Bose @Chanda Aniruddha : Read 'The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda' thoroughly and you will realise the spiritual essence of Bharatvarsha better. Your understanding of the epics is partial, flawed and slanted. Better sense will prevail with a thorough grounding in Swamiji.

Sugata Bose @Chanda Aniruddha : I make copious posts and have been making so for years on diverse issues concerning the civilisational concerns of the country. But busybody that you are, you have not had the time, occasion or opportunity to read them. Hence, the fault lies not with me, my friend, but in your unavailability on that count. Better by far will be from now to vent your emotions after having studied someone's writings for years. As it is, I can clearly see where your opposition to my writings is coming from, your intents and motives being clear as daylight to any discerning reader.

Sugata Bose @Subhasish Papan Ghosh :  Why do you persist with imagination running riot in your estimation about others with flawed analysis of statements made, as in this case? Is it not saner to read right and respond in accordance? Why pick up a verbal feud where none is due? This is precisely the reason why your comments, sarcastic and often caustic as they are, and out of place in especial, must not be responded to.

Sugata Bose @Anirban Chanda : From the study of Swamiji. Study his Complete Works well and you will also be privy to such sparkling gems strewn across that sublime body of literature.

Sugata Bose @Subhasish Papan Ghosh : India is developing fast. But India is a vast country and with a multitude of antinational forces and indolent agencies of negation and inner erosion that is delaying development. Also, exploding population is a major inhibitor of human development.

Sugata Bose @Goutam Mukherjee : Your steadfastness in support moves me. Amidst the melee of malicious contrivers insinuating unfounded motives and making caustic observations to suit their partisan leanings, yours has been the support of sanity---calm, distilled, courteous and constant, an illustration unto others as to what culture and good grooming is all about. Thank you, my friend, for your steady support. It does help in disseminating the message of truth and light which is what I aspire to always do, gleaning my inspiration from the pages of savants and sages whose lives are their best legacy bequeathed unto us. Jai Swamiji! Vande Mataram!

Sugata Bose @Subhasish Papan Ghosh : Because everybody is not fitted for every job. They have their assigned roles in life and I am pursuing mine in my own way. Politics is not my cup of tea, although many have unduly insinuated on me that I am pursuing through my writings a political course of things which I emphatically deny. To do party politics is to be partisan and, so, lose independence of articulation which as a writer I cannot subscribe to. Moreover, politics involves compromises and speaking falsehoods which I cannot bring myself to doing. I hope this makes it all very clear and satisfies your curiosity about my doings, active and potential. May Sri Ramakrishna bless you!

Sugata Bose @Prabir Bhattacharya : Strange observation considering the facts that pertain to me which is a pointer to the other fact of casualness and lack of study of a subject that characterises so many of my caustic countrymen, immersed as they are in self-indulgence about estimation of others.

Sugata Bose @Rudranshu Singh : Are you questioning your question? You have given the double question mark.

Sugata Bose @Joy Kumar De : Self-promotion is done only by him in India? Is it not a national menace today with its toxic effect consuming the public discourse?

Sugata Bose @Subhasish Papan Ghosh : Most communist leaders in India pursue simple living but all of them pursue slanted thinking along Marxist lines. Some, like Hiren Mukerjee, of course, have led highly frugal lives of exceptional character excellence with very exalted thinking, being philosophically erudite and culturally integrated at a reasonable Marxist distance, though. Such have really been role models of the motto 'simple living and high thinking'.

Sugata Bose @Rudranshu Singh : No, not at all. I choose not to be interviewed by you about my personal data. I do not entertain extraneous questions, especially from someone as unsympathetic as you about the Sanatan cause. But I do appreciate your sense of humour and general civility which is in scarcity these days.

Sugata Bose @Prabhakar Rao : Swamiji always explains like this. You are blessed that you read him. More strength to you.

Sugata Bose @Rudranshu Singh : Said it in an utterly ungentlemanly manner that is characteristic of the caustic critic, your observation replete with unsympathetic attributes unceremoniously ascribed to me. But then that is what is expected of one who cannot read enough into the import of my copious posts but expects me to furnish him with extra material in the comment stream as per the dictates of his wishes. Well, you may entertain whatever opinion of me you wish but shall be denied the privilege of eliciting responses as per your fancies. I am not here to humour your preferences in making my posts but shall do them as I deem it best. Civility is a virtue that gentlemen value and I set a premium to it notwithstanding your opinions of me. May Sri Ramakrishna bless you!

SOLILOQUY

SOLILOQUY 

Sometimes I get the inspiration to rise spiritually to serve as a beacon unto humanity. But these are fleeting glimpses into the deeper recesses of the being that kindle such dispassion and set alight the soul. Then they are gone like the sweet-scented spring breeze and the humdrum existence of day-to-day life overcomes the precipitated person again. 

With advancing age inspiration comes rarer but the moods are more stable now and the capacity to hold onto such flights of the soul is greater. Time flits by, though, and the day of departure inexorably draws near with little done, love and light scarce come by. The battles are lost and won as the war-weary soul trudges through uncharted terrain unto its dead end where what awaits one knows not.

Life has been a long long dream, a confinement in flesh and form, broken hearts, smashed ideals but unceasing hope yet, as if fuelled by some subliminal force that allows neither rest nor respite but careers one on unto the fulfilment of its singular passion---love. Why men chase wild geese, why this fascination for the mirage even after acquaintance with its hollow basis, who can tell?

Sunset is yet to be even as the shadows lengthen on the meadows where the willow is wielded. Nature spins out her magical yarn and the batsman fumbles. It's the wrist-spinner's wrong-un and the reading must be right. Else, on this sticky dog the pavillion will beckon the batsman early and a promising innings will be cut short.

Who cares after all for all this soliloquy but the one musing in reflective solitude? Where is sympathy in this hellhole of a world where necessity dictates human affairs and selfish interests determine life's priorities? Thus does inspiration come to rise above circumstance and be a beacon unto humanity, as if to undo all of life's maladies, all injustice that afflicts it and mars its singular beauty. But will I? 'To be or not to be' ever remains the lingering question.

Written by Sugata Bose 

HOW TO BE A DELIGHTFUL CONVERSATIONALIST

HOW TO BE A DELIGHTFUL CONVERSATIONALIST 

To be an interesting conversationalist one must be well-read, well-informed about diverse issues that affect humanity and must have a perspective of one's own on the same. Creativity is at the heart of a lively conversation and a sense of humour to boot. Witticism enlivens discussion as does serious reflection dive deep into the inner recesses of a subject. The combination of gravity and levity spices up conversation and keeps it going without boring participants. The essence then is to equip oneself with a modicum of data on diverse topics to be able to hold one's own in conversation. Else it becomes frivolous chitchat or an exercise in one-sided talk and one-sided nodding or passive listening. That kills conversation and renders social interaction sterile. To top it all, however, one must also learn the art of speaking to the best of one's ability. Godspeed then unto a delightful discussion and spare us those boring dives into routine domestic talk.

Written by Sugata Bose

POINT TO PONDER

POINT TO PONDER

Free speech must be protected at any rate. Demographic change is altering even the literary landscape of the free world. Dark days of dastardly dominance are ahead unless the Enlightenment values as of free speech are protected where criticism of any ideology is welcome. If the questioning mind is circumscribed by irrational adherence to dogma and freedom of speech and expression is curtailed to prevent hurt of sentiment of sections of the populace, if scepticism about unproven holy truths is deemed blasphemous to be thereon punished by law or by outlaws, then civilisation is in crisis indeed.

Written by Sugata Bose

COWARDICE, CONCEALMENT AND CONSEQUENTIAL CONSPIRACY

COWARDICE, CONCEALMENT, COWARDICE AND CONSEQUENTIAL CONSPIRACY

Even the greatest of men have not spoken the bare truth about brutal ideologies to suit convenience. Hence, I do not venerate them, for, to my mind, greatness ought not to compromise with untruth. Hiding truth so often harms more than blatant lying, for the former deceives wearing the garb of saintliness and humanity whereas the latter leaves itself open to detection of deceit and, hence, rejection. The former tranquilises us into submission to dastardly ideologies till defence is no more while the latter in its open proselytisation of untruth remains culpable to diagnosis of intent and, hence, ejection. Venerate truth, not messiahs of truth who spice it up with liberal doses of untruth to dish out delicacies.

Written by Sugata Bose

FACE THE BRUTE

FACE THE BRUTE

People like to hear nice things about the country. But the way to make the country nice is to frankly discuss the harsh realities that face us and to combat them head on. Living in one's mental comfort zone hardly improves things but leaving it to face the brute enhances future prospects for the nation. Let us not be cowardly nor wallow in the mire of an unrealistic self-satisfaction but let us exhibit that courage of conviction that does not shy away from truth but squares up to it to forge a brighter future for the country. This is the warrior valour, the fabled kshayriya spirit that must become core characterisic of the polity. Each one of us can and must contribute to the rise of our nation but each one of us must be sincere in facing up to truth---the raw truth that bares our polity in all its nakedness, in all its stark realities, in its weaknesses and strengths---and then act with vigour to build the edifice of this nation whose foundations have already been laid ages ago by our sages and seers of yore and reinforced in every age by countless men and women of learning and light and love. Onward then unto the structuring of the citadel! Charaiveti!

Written by Sugata Bose

MESSAGES GALORE ... 56

MESSAGES GALORE ... 56

1. Democracy is Constitutionally there but is yet to arrive in the public psyche. Worship of iconic personalities instead dominates discourse. And this is fuelled by market forces cashing in on a populace that feeds on myths and legends while rejecting reality. The base of such worship needs to vastly broaden in that case to let democracy grow in proportion. That is the only harmonious solution to this intractable problem that besets our emerging nation. The wider dissemination of education and its deepening consequences for the polity ought to weed away this age-old tendency of the people and set up democracy along Vedantic lines of individual self-expression rather than sycophantic following of a few performing personalities in certain select spheres. Social progress can never be achieved en masse if only select personalities are showered upon with accolades and encomium beyond reasonable proportions. The vast potential of the population lies waste in such unwholesome concentration of national energy on specific individuals to churn out money from the ocean that is the economic reservoir of the nation.

2. I find the word 'batter' so unmusical. The earlier word 'batsman' was so much better.

3. Is exploding population a sign of national progress or regress?

4. It takes long for an idea to set in but it does if you persist at it. The conservative mind is slow to absorb the hard realities of life and prefers old comfort zones of thinking irrespective of changing circumstances. But the force of reality eventually succeeds in bringing sense to people and a response follows in its wake. Sometimes it is too late in coming and the dangers that loomed large over the horizons but were not thwarted in time overcome existing civilisations and fashion barbaric new ones. Then darkness follows for ages. But if the right awareness quickens the right response in time, civilisation is saved despite large destruction and death. At such a crossroad are we situated now with conflicting civilisations threatening to rupture the social fabric in Europe and a bloody resolution of forces looms large. Will Europe survive or will it be Islamised inexorably overtime owing to inevitable demographic change?

5. Wish people read more and rode less on the idle waves of imagination that encapsulates reality in reels.

6. Men of significance are busy indulging in insignificant things while the planet goes to destruction.

7. Evil must not be rationalised and tolerated but must be done away with if its own agenda is to exterminate all else and alone survive.

8. Where is spirituality where there is cowardice in confronting evil that thwarts civilisational flow?

9. ঠাকুর তো বললেন লজ্জা, ঘৃণা, ভয় ত্যাগ করতে | কিন্তু ভয়েতে তো সব জড়সড় | কারোর তো হিম্মত দেখি না অধর্মের বিরুদ্ধে প্রতিবাদ করার |

10. Much of what goes on in the name of spirituality is pure materialism. Superstition persisting through ages is hardly spiritual.

11. Why don't the ones advertising products and services on YouTube improve their diction?

12. Be not frustrated in the short term. In the long term there will be fulfilment if you work sincerely.

13. Hard work pays. All else spend.

14. Truth is my God, none else, none else.

15. Love must go deeper than the body right unto the soul. Then alone is it love.

16. The tragedy of life is that it must end in death. And we are moving towards it with eyes wide open. Whither the third eye?

17. Thoughts are of little value today. Mindless hero-worship is all that counts. Personality and not principle dominates discourse.

18. Indian cricketers must so develop themselves in all phases of the game that they can literally dominate world cricket for decades.

19. Not Sachin but Murali in this age has been the God of cricket.

20. What a pity that Test cricket has poor attendance in India while T20 has crowds flocking!

21. Free speech is of paramount importance and must at any rate be preserved.

22. Why hasn't a batsman of the calibre of Graeme Pollock been born again? He was verily the best.

23. The best way to be spiritual is to reject religion, faith of any denomination, any indoctrinating kind.

24. Religious people are often more cruel than faithless men simply because they feel that they have a righteous right to censure others who seemingly offend them on any insignificant issue. Faith justifies that which reason would reject and makes violent where harmony would prevail in the absence of dogmatic assertion. Religion leads to blind egotism no less than atheistic absolutist political ideologies. The point underscored is that a righteous certitude about things and the usurped right to suppress or punish others ag variance with one's views springs from blind adherence to the unripe ego rather than genuine humane spirituality. 

25. So long as ego lasts, embittered relations last. In humility reigns peace, in acceptance harmony, in understanding cessation of hostilities. There are exceptions to this general rule though, as in ignorance perpetuated through generational doctrinal transmission that has a segmented exclusive world-view which it mandates on all and sundry. But exceptions notwithstanding, humility creates peace in general.

26. We always justify ourselves for self-preservation. 

27. Young girls are not breeding machines. They need to be educated for the fulfilment of life's greater goals. Women's liberation is paramount in today's world where the opportunities are plenty for their self-actualisation should patriarchy move away from hindering them in their path of progress. It is a pitiful sight to watch pregnant girls in their bare teens in theocratic societies that as yet persist in barbaric medieval times. Alas! when will women be free to determine their own destiny?

28. Negative bowling down the leg-side in Test cricket must be banned by instituting the no-ball rule as it is in limited overs cricket. Only the allowance of pitching the ball outside the leg-stump may be a little more in terms of measure. Batsmen who are full set and are on the verge of making a big score are today often prevented from doing so by such negative tactics and induced into indiscretion to force the pace somehow. This is unfair to both the batsmen and yo the spectators who are denied an exhibition of strokeplay that can in general pull in crowds. Test cricket dwindling in audience attraction today deserves a better deal and making negative bowling unlawful should be a step towards redressing it. A point for ICC to consider. By way of immediate illustration comes to mind how in a Chennai Test match the English left-arm spinner Ashley Giles under skipper Nasser Hussain's instruction bowled negative to frustrate Tendulkar and deny him a much deserved century. Tendulkar fell for 90 after being tied up through such abominable use of down the leg-side bowling for nearly an hour. Same was when Sangakkara in a Test match played in India tied down the rampaging Indian batsmen through adoption of the same tactic. The law ought to be amended and such bowling outlawed.

29. Do you realise that riches acquired are paid us by others, alternatively,  collected by us using clever means and ploys which are deemed business? It is society's wealth held in custody which is no way ours barring a minuscule fraction of it. Do you really realise?

30. We are slaves to our nervous associations. We must break free of them. That is called spiritual conquest. 

31. Warne is a great bowler but Murali is greater and doubtlessly so. His bowling action has been cleared by ICC after successful biomechanics test. Hence, he was never a thrower of the ball but his congenitally deformed hand gave all the illusion that he did so. Murali's Test record is far better than Warne's and there the matter rests as to who the greater bowler was.

31.

Whiskey, soda, wine,

My life is fine.

How about thine?

32.

Q. What work have you other than cricket?

A. I am batting for the great ball of life. And that's cricket.

33. "I love to take up a challenge. I never shy away from it. I love to play pace helmet-free and hook and pull, cut and drive that strikes fear into the hearts of the pacers. You have a ball that you hurl as a missile and I have a bat that can hurtle it over the boundary. You wage the war and I combat you on your stated terms. Now let us see who vanquishes whom?" --- Monologue imagined by the author (Sugata Bose) on behalf of the Master Blaster Viv Richards. 

34. There is nothing called the past or the future, there and hereafter. It is all here and now. The moment extended is eternity, the present dilated is memory and imagination stretching the depths of time gone by or ages yet to unfold. This very existence is God, Soul, Atman, Brahman, everything. And love, that primeval attraction between components of an unbroken whole, weaves its magical web through it all.

35. Every now and then a saint comes along to lower the temperature of our feverish world. But they are unable to resist the cumulative might of our ignorance and, so, the tussle continues, the undulating game of life and death.

36. The first sip must be steaming hot. But he whose last sip is steaming hot as well has solved the secret of life. Unto him belongs eternal peace and the benediction beyond. The job is to keep the vitality going through a lifetime of trials and tribulations, the breath of life pulsating fine as layer after layer of coffee unfolds before the sipping lips.

37. The western nations are superior to us in almost every aspect save in deeper civilisational terms. They frequently fight to settle disputes, protracted violent wars that destroy weaker nations. The West is evidently still in the clutches of Darwinian evolution where the struggle through might for earthly survival and prosperity holds fort. We, on the contrary, have evolved ages ago to the humanistic fold where reason, understanding, compassion and peacefulness have striven to resolve issues in the spiritual light. Here the West remains immature owing to the youth of their emerging civilisation while ours has matured in the distillery of experience over millenia and in consequence stands spiritually superior. We have to activate our spirituality in surface life to overcome its incongruities whereas the West has to deepen its surface life in the hidden reserves of the Soul. Thus, complementary civilisations will in opposite advancement achieve a global synthesis which shall usher an age of peace and light. Humanity in essence is a whole and must in the end attain its spiritual wholeness. Let India show the way through self-amendment in every phase of her life and in holding the light aloft for it to shed its lustre on all the spiritually darkened nations of the world. 

38. I'll overcome all odds and even out life. Am I not God? This is the spirit and this the application of the Vedanta from the pages of texts onto real life. 

39. Self-help must not degenerate to arrogance as is the wont with some people. Mutual help is the basis of cooperative social life and self-help is but an effective component of it and no more. This element of self-segregation when it suits and utilisation of others' resources when needed is the bane of democracy and the seed of dictatorship. The gregarious culture of the human species at its present state of evolution deems it a sacrilege on paper but blissfully allows it in practice with all pseudo-rationalising propping it up. This is sectarian selfishness, narrow nationalism and mean individualism that is the cause of persisting pain to evolving humanity.

40. The current system of education scatters the mind. What is needed, though, is to gather the mind, bring it to a focus and keep it in the zone for sustained periods. This is the key to bringing about academic success.

41. Waydaanta is the way.

42.

They all have departed to the land of dreams.

I, forlorn, remain awake in this world,

Awaiting a further wakefulness.

Composed by Sugata Bose 

43. Alas! when will you have time for me? When my days are done?

44. Curiosity in children often takes the blind lane.

45. The Hindu has transcended relativity and attained to the Absolute, and in so doing has crossed all limits of acceptance. He finds everything worship-worthy including evil which in its bare nakedness leads as well to the Absolute. Does it mean that the Hindu condones evil and practises it? No, certainly not. But he sees evil as a darker reflection of Truth, as Truth in its lower manifestation. Relativity itself shines in all its aspects as the fairer or the darker face of the Divine.

46.

সারাটা জীবন 'ভগবান', 'ভগবান' করে ভূতেরই পেছনে ছুটেছি |

চারিদিকে ভগবান, দৃশ্যমান জগত, অনাদৃত রইল পড়ে |

47. অযোধ্যায় রামলালার বিগ্রহ প্রতিষ্ঠা হতে চলেছে | লক্ষনীয়, ঠাকুর রামলালার সাধনাই করেছিলেন জটাধারীর কাছে মন্ত্র নিয়ে | রামলালাকে নিয়েই সবসময় থাকতেন | গঙ্গায় স্নান করতেন যখন, রামলালা ধাতূমূর্তি হতে জীবন্ত শিশুরূপ ধারণ করে তাঁর সাথে সাঁতার কাটত | জটাধারীর প্রাণাধিক প্রিয় রামলালা ঠাকুরের কাছেই থেকে যায় ও আজও দক্ষিণেশ্বরের মন্দিরে বিরাজমান |

আশ্চর্য সংযোগ বলে বোধ হল যে বাবরকৃত অযোধ্যার রামমন্দির ধ্বংস হওয়ার পর রামলালা নরবিগ্রহে অবতরিত রামকৃষ্ণরূপী রামচন্দ্রের কাছেই অবস্থান করেন | আজ সেই অবস্থানের পরিণতিস্বরূপ বুঝি অযোধ্যায় রামমন্দির স্বমহিমায় পুনঃপ্রতিষ্ঠিত হতে চলেছে | আগামী ২২ জানুয়ারী, ২০২৪, রামলালার প্রতিষ্ঠাদিবস |

রামবিগ্রহ যেখানে মুসলমানের হাতে লাঞ্ছিত, সেখানে রামচন্দ্র স্বয়ং পরম রামভক্ত ক্ষুদিরাম চট্যোপাধ্যায়ের ঘরে আবির্ভূত হলেন গধাধর রামকৃষ্ণরূপে ও নিজপ্রতিষ্ঠার ও সনাতন ধর্মের পুনঃপ্রতিষ্ঠা, অর্থাৎ, ধর্মসংস্থাপনের ব্যবস্থা করে গেলেন | সংযোগটি কি বোঝা গেল?

48.

মহাসমুদ্রে ঢেউ উঠছে নামছে |

এবারের ঢেউ নামলে আর উঠবে না |

এবার সমুদ্র হব ||

49. Serving is a science and serving is an art. When the two are combined well, it qualifies to be service, and service leads to God. Perfection in service and detachment to its fruits burn the seeds of desire and fill the heart with the light of realisation. Art, music, literature, science---these are verily the disciplines which combined with continent love and purified contemplation lead the aspirant unto the highest end of Self-realisation.

50. কি হবে কাউকে বলে খারাপ? কেউ ভাল, কেউ বেশী ভাল | বিচারটি অন্তরে থাকলেই হল যাতে সত্যের অপলাপ না ঘটে, মান না খর্ব হয় | এতেই সুস্থতা, এতেই শান্তি |

51. Multiculturalism will wipe out Europe's distinctive culture. With mass immigration of Muslims and their refusal to integrate, Europe will face a reverse colonisation with proliferating Muslim population outpopulating Europeans in their own homeland. This is a serious issue to which Europe is slowly awaking. 

Western foreign policy and domestic shortage of workforce have much to do with Europe allowing mass immigration. Where all this leads is to be seen but, if not checked now, the clash of Europe with Islam will be bound to take a bloody turn where Europe will rescue herself only by wading through a deluge of blood. Hope she awakes before it is too late.

Question is, will Europe survive eventually the steady growth of indigenous Muslim population till the Christians---believing and cultural---have been outnumbered?

52.

খেলাশেষে সব যাব ঘরে,

কেউ আগে আর কেউ পরে ||

53. খাবার দাবার খেয়ে কি লোকে বাঁচে? লোকে বাঁচে ভালবাসায় |

54. A forgotten soul, I shall be forgotten soon as I drift into the Sea of Silence.

55. I have freed myself of all struggle. Now resign I unto Thee, O Mother. Thy Will be done!

56. বাবা-মাকে চিনতে চিনতে সারা জীবন চলে যায় | যত চৈতন্য, তত চেনা |

57. We can make beautiful art even in poverty. Prosperity need not be the precondition to the creation of beauty.

58. Poor is that soul which has forgotten its inherent grandeur and become dependent on a crude externality. 

59. Introspection holds the key to spirituality. 

60. The scholar needs to hold a neutrality of stance, an intellectual equanimity to be able to arrive at a wise appreciation of truth.

61. If God can be violent enough to send disbelievers to hell, it is easily understandable why the fanatically faithful resort to earthly violence in the name of the faith they espouse.

62. Routine brainwashing is the basis of this barbarous political ideology that masquerades as a religion. Fear and greed, lust and loathing form the fabric of this fanatical faith.

63. Sometimes I feel it were better if people signed off on a sweeter note than they quite so often do, for in an eventuality, should it unfortunately happen, such a leave taking would surely remain as a source of perennial blissfulness in saddened memory.

People aren't sensitive enough to understand these subtler elements that would make life infinitely sweeter. Who cares after all for all these in a world driven merely by business instincts?

64. The earth is warming, yet population is exploding. Whither are we headed?

65. জনসংখ্যার বৃদ্ধির সাথে সাথে শিক্ষার অবনমন বড় ভয়ঙ্কর পরিস্থিতি তৈরি করতে চলেছে | অবিলম্বে শিক্ষার মানোন্নয়ন ও সেই উন্নত শিক্ষার ব্যাপক প্রসার এর প্রতিষেধক বলে বিবেচনা করি |

66. দেশগঠনের প্রকৃষ্ট উপায় স্বামীজীর 'বাণী ও রচনা' পাঠ জনে জনে |

67. As yet in this civilised world of ours, might is right. When will real civilisation be?

68. The year ends. Let it end on a bright note of hope and harmony. But hope is one and reality another. May the twain meet!

69. বছরের শেষ দিন | সকলকে শুভেচ্ছা আগামী বছরের জন্য | সুস্থ থাকুন, আনন্দে থাকুন সকলে |

70. However utopian it may seem, business ought to be conducted with the motive of maximising service and not profit.

71. It is important to savour the moment for who knows what the future holds.

72. Worldly life must be subordinated to spiritual life. Too much of worldliness is not good. A balance between worldly life and spiritual life is necessary. And that should gradually be spontaneous through initial discriminate effort. Dispassion and practice are the dual aspects of this spiritual discipline.

73. Truth triumphs but who dares to speak it? All are cowering in fear and making compromised statements that conceal more than they reveal.

74. What is the point in trying to prove that your religion is superior and so trying to convert others to your fold? The moot point remains: Have you realised God?

75. Proselytising is not a good thing after all. It is an archaic feature, an expansionist attitude that is best done away with.

76. Spread the harmonic message of Sri Ramakrishna to usher in a golden age of peace and goodwill. But do not be naive about evil.

77. Unless rational standards radically rise across the face of the earth, religious bigotry will not cease.

78. মানুষের সচেতনতার ওপর নির্ভর করে ওজন | অতিরিক্ত না খেলে কি আর ওমনি ওমনি ওজন বাড়ে?

79. Men are the slaves of scriptures. God is free of them. Literature written by men has such a hold on the superstitious.

80. মানবসভ্যতার আজ সর্বোচ্চ ভরসা শ্রীরামকৃষ্ণ | তাঁর প্রদর্শিত পথেই সম্প্রীতি, সমন্বয়, শান্তি |

81. 496 years after the demolition of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya in 1528 CE by the invading force of Babur, it is being reconstructed and is awaiting inauguration on 22 January, 2024. What a momentous day it is in the history of renascent India when heritage will be restored and historical injustice redressed!

82. Sri Ramakrishna had revealed himself to Narendranath Datta (later Swami Vivekananda) as Shree Ram and Shree Krishna at Kashipur Garden House days before his earthly disappearance. His epic words ring even today in the hearts of devotees, "He who was Ram, He who was Krishna, is now incarnated as Ramakrishna but not in your Vedantic sense."

83. It is difficult to get beyond childhood indoctrination which is why vast masses of men are in the grip of superstition and fear.

84. The family deity of Sri Ramakrishna was Raghuvir or Ramchandra. And Shree Ram incarnated himself as Sri Ramakrishna again in this age to defeat the demonic forces of the day and establish the Sanatan Dharma suited to the age.

85. Vilification of the Sanatan Dharma and the Hindus has become a pleasurable pastime with certain sections of people who are ill-disposed to our age-old national culture and heritage. Despicable! The renaissance of Hindu civilisation is on and in full swing. None can resist its onward movement. A great spiritual tidal wave is on the rise. Every demonic disposition will be swept away by the all-embracing current of divine love. Come ye all and plunge into the holy waters of this onrushng Ganga. Save yourselves by its saving grace. Jai Shree Ram! Jai Shree Krishna! Jai Sri Ramakrishna! Jai Swami Vivekananda!

86. Despite the tyranny of the times, God is awaking in the hearts of men. Such is the newest dispensation of the Divine. Jai Sri Ramakrishna!

87. 

In season and out of season

Hitchens remains so full of reason

While roguish religiosity is so often treason.

88. The monarchy ironically is now the bulwark of British democracy as alien theological forces gain ground in Britain.

89. মাতৃভাষার থেকে মধুর আর কি আছে? বিদেশী ভাষায় ব্যুৎপত্তি ভাল কিন্তু তা মাতৃভাষার বিস্মরণের মূল্যে নয় |

90. If following Vivekananda does not awaken manliness, then following him has been in vain.

91. আর এক পক্ষকাল মাত্র বাকি রামমন্দির পুনঃস্থাপনের | সেই মাহেন্দ্রক্ষণের প্রতীক্ষায় অগণিত ভক্তগণ | [Dated 7 January, 2024. Ramlala image consecration scheduled on 22 January, 2024.]

92. The Aryan Invasion Theory is a European colonial construct which is wholly untrue and a fabrication to suit colonial purposes. Swami Vivekananda categorically rejected it.

93. A fortnight more and Ramlala will be formally installed at his birthplace once more in full glory. The resurrection of Sanatan civilisation is heartwarming. Jai Shree Ram!

94. Hindu civilisation is the hope of the world. Jai Shree Ram! Jai Shree Krishna! Jai Sri Ramakrishna!

95. ভারত জাগছে সনাতন সভ্যতার পুনরুত্থানের সাথে সাথে |

96. What a development India is having these days like never before! Rapid development of the economy in its diverse phases. The Sanatan spirit is on the rise. We are now truly proud to be Indians as the world looks upon us with increasing respect and growing reverence for our spiritual culture. Some roguish elements will ever be who will find fault with every advance that India makes but they must be ignored. The nation rejoices at the renaissance that is unfolding in India. Vande Mataram! Jai Shree Ram!

97. যাঁরা রামমন্দিরের পুনঃপ্রতিষ্ঠায় খুশী নন, তাঁদের সম্বন্ধে আর কি বলব? তাঁদের আচরণই স্বয়ংবাক |

Those who are unhappy with the reconstruction of the Ram Temple, what more must I say of them? Their attitude is eloquent enough.

98. We must develop our country internally and we can do it. We need not depend on foreign nations for achieving this objective.

99. After 496 years Ramlala will be reinstalled in full glory at his birthplace. Historical injustice to be redressed at last.

100. 72 hours from Swamiji's birthday. Let us all gear up to celebrate it in a befitting manner.

A DIFFERENT WORLD CUP WHERE WE ALL ARE PLAYERS

A DIFFERENT WORLD CUP WHERE WE ALL ARE PLAYERS

Instead of indulging in idle hero-worship of cricketing idols, fans should absorb their life lessons, especially their disciplined hard work, and put them into practice in their own lives. Then each one becomes a representative of the country, a force to reckon with, and a contributory factor in the national life which is the larger cricketing sport being played on the pitch of the world, nations competing with nations in the continuous World Cup whose league matches are in progress. In this game despite many injuries we have survived yet and ought to duly carry on. Upon us rests the responsibility that our country does not get knocked out of the tournament in its penultimate and ultimate phases. We are all donning the India cap and must honour it. Ours is to score heavily and contribute to the national output so that our time-tested nation may lift the World Cup whose fate over millenia is yet to be decided.

Written by Sugata Bose 

Photo: Sunil Gavaskar, courtesy, internet.

DOWN MEMORY LANE ... 1

DOWN MEMORY LANE ... 1

I have seen Tiger Pataudi smash 17 runs (four boundaries) in one over of Vanburn Holder with a bandaged broken jaw. It was the third Test Match of 1974-75 between West Indies and India being played at the Eden Gardens. In the pre-lunch session around 11 'O clock Tiger was hit by a sharply rising delivery of Andy Roberts and retired hurt only to return at the fall of a wicket in the post-tea session. Clive Lloyd, the Wedt Indian skipper promptly put the ball in paceman Vanburn Holder's palm whereupon Pataudi unleashed an array of scintillating strokes to smash four consecutive boundaries. Eden Gardens erupted as the Indian skipper was all wrapped up in bandage round his jaw even as he taught the Windies pacemen a lesson in batsmanship. It was an unforgettable moment and I recall it clearly after 48 years, myself 13 years and 6 months old then. Just remember Pataudi played his cricket with one eye and with a broken jaw this day. After scoring a quick-fire 36 he got out but he had made his point as to who was the boss in that brief hour of memorable strokeplay. India went on to win the Test Match with Chandrasekhar beguiling the formidable West Indian batting lineup under the astute leadership of Tiger whose bold move to open attack on the fifth and final day of the Test Match with Chandra, a rather risky gamble with Kallicharan and Lloyd poised to take the game away at 163/3, paid off as Chandra removed both the batsmen fast to put India in the driver's seat. This was the only time I had witnessed Tiger Pataudi bat, and bat he did at his vintage best. A glorious memory of those golden days of Test Match cricket which I so miss now in these days of hype and hoopla and the associated crass commerce centring the gentleman's game.

Written by Sugata Bose

YOUR CHOICE OF INDIA'S GREATEST EVER TEST MATCH BATSMAN---JUST ONE CHOICE

YOUR CHOICE OF INDIA'S GREATEST EVER TEST MATCH BATSMAN---JUST ONE CHOICE

Many names had been left out in my last list of great Test batsmen from where the numero uno was asked to be chosen, simply bevause there was space shortage in the coloured box for the post. Here comes the sequel to that post therefore by way of due extension of the list. Now happily make your choice please. Only one name must be chosen by you as the greatest Test batsman of all time who played for India.

C.K. Nayadu

C.S. Nayadu

Nawab Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi

Vijay Merchant 

Mushtaq Ali

Lala Amarnath

Vinoo Mankad

Madhav Apte

Vijay Hazare

Pankaj Roy

Polly Umrigar

Vijay Manjrekar

Nari Contractor

Chandu Borde

Nawab Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi

Hanumant Singh

Abbas Ali Baig

Farokh Engineer 

Dilip Sardesai

Salim Durrani

Ajit Wadekar

Gundappa Vishwanath

Mohinder Amarnath

Sunil Gavaskar

Brijesh Patel

Dilip Vengsarkar

Yashpal Sharma

Chetan Chauhan 

Kapil Dev

Sandeep Patil

Ravi Shastri

Mohammad Azharuddin

Navjyot Singh Siddhu

Sanjay Manjrekar

Sachin Tendulkar 

Vinod Kambli

Sourav Ganguly 

Rahul Dravid

V.V.S. Laxman

Virender Sehwag 

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Yuvraj Singh

Virat Kohli

Rohit Sharma

Cheteshwar Pujara

K.L. Rahul

Shubman Gill 

The floor is yours now to select your greatest ever Indian Test Match batsman. Remember, only one choice.

My choice is Sunil Gavaskar. What is yours?

Photos: Internet