The wedding season is almost done and dusted for this year. With barely any Muhurtas after Diwali, it is safe to say that the 2026 wedding season has officially concluded. I too had the fortune of being part of this mass matchmaking season, with my own marriage and those of almost all my friends and cousins taking place this year. Amidst all the celebrations, however, there was one disturbing pattern that was impossible to ignore. No, this is not about customs, dowry, or people spending beyond their means. It is about something far more normalised and far less criticised.
Professionalism is a joke in large parts of India’s unorganised service sector. Every wedding I attended, including my own, had one thing in common: people demanding money from the groom or his family for absolutely no legitimate reason. This is not a new phenomenon, but it has increasingly crossed the line from custom into outright extortion. Whether it is the band, caterers, decorators, or even the non-cooking kitchen staff, someone invariably blocks the proceedings and refuses to move until money is handed over.
The tradition of Bakshish is supposed to be voluntary. Bakshish given willingly is a gesture of appreciation; Bakshish extracted through pressure is nothing but harassment. Worse, it disrupts some of the most important moments in a groom’s life. These banjo groups, caterers, decorators, and other workers often earn well through their contracted fees and generous tips received during the Baraat itself. Yet they repeatedly stop the groom for more money—during the Baraat, after the Varmala, during the wedding feast, at Bidai, and sometimes even before the newly married couple enters their own home. At what point does appreciation become greed?
Ironically, if one wishes to invoke tradition, forced Bakshish is itself considered inauspicious. Wealth obtained through coercion is often described as Alakshmi—prosperity that brings misfortune rather than blessings. But clearly, very few are interested in customs when easy money is involved. The moment someone appears economically weaker, any criticism of such behaviour is dismissed as insensitivity, even though extortion remains extortion regardless of who commits it.
The obvious question is: why is this even necessary? Every service provider is already paid for the work they were hired to perform. During the Baraat, many families voluntarily shower cash on the band as a celebration. Yet, once the procession reaches the venue, the same people block the groom again. Even the sacred moment of the bride’s homecoming is interrupted because someone decides the couple cannot enter their own house without another payment. That is absurd. Weddings are emotionally significant occasions, not toll booths. If professionalism is the goal, banjo groups and other vendors should themselves ensure that no member of their staff solicits money outside the agreed fee. Charge a higher package upfront if necessary, but stop institutionalising this culture of coercion.
An equally troubling issue is the organised extortion by groups of transgenders, commonly referred to as hijras. In many places, they stop wedding processions and demand anywhere between ₹10,000 and ₹50,000. During one of my cousin’s weddings, we deliberately avoided putting wedding posters on the bus or decorating the car carrying the bride and groom on the return journey solely to avoid attracting such groups. That level of fear speaks for itself. They often enter wedding halls uninvited, demand money, and refusal is met with public humiliation, abusive language, or disruption of the ceremony. Their blessings (dua) or curses (baddua) should never become instruments of financial coercion. If money is to be given, it should be because someone genuinely wishes to give it—not because they are intimidated into doing so.
At the same time, it is equally true that transgender persons continue to face severe discrimination in India. Greater access to education, dignified employment, and social acceptance would naturally reduce dependence on such practices over time. But discrimination cannot become a licence for intimidation. Every community has experienced hardship in one form or another; justice cannot be achieved by transferring suffering onto others. Transgender persons deserve dignity, respect, and equal opportunities—but like everyone else, they are equally bound by the law and by the basic standards of civil conduct.
Customs deserve respect only when they are rooted in consent. The moment a tradition survives by coercion instead of goodwill, it ceases to be culture and becomes nothing more than extortion disguised as tradition.

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Since #NeetPaperLeak has shaken the country and its masterminds are getting nabbed by CBI, let us delve into the reality of Educational Crony Capitalism cutely described as #EdTech

I hail from the town Latur, very famous for being a “factory” of Engineering and Medical entrants, often described as “Mini Kota.” When it all began in the 1990s as an experiment to bring better results by Rajarshi Shahu College (11th and 12th), the “Latur Pattern” flourished, as dedicated, focused and strategic study methods helped many students crack the Medical and Engineering entrance exams. Milking on the waves of students wanting to enter the Shahu College, followed by Dayanand College, coaching classes flourished as well.

One of the main accused, Mr Shivraj Motegaonkar is the most famous name for Chemistry. Back in my days, there were more names as well, like Dhote-Shirsath, Reddy Ma’am, PV Physics classes etc. Somehow Motegaonkar risen above all in the last decade and he aptly used the technological upgrade, established his brand name across Maharashtra, so much that the Pune’s city buses started flexing his name instead of Pune’s grand maesters of MPSC. That’s how grately he captured the market. Reportedly, his annual turnover is over 100 crores and has very close ties with local leaders.

There remains a thin line between an educator and a businessman and almost every famous tutor in India crosses this line. Motegaonkar did nothing different, just a bit more nasty. He had a crazy possessiveness for getting as many national rankers as possible so that his students keep increasing, and his profits skyrocket. It is this hunger that might have compelled him to engage in this paper leak scam. He’s anyways a member of big national syndicate so it is amateur to put it all on him, but it is likes of these people why students’ dreams shatter.

To be fair, Motegaonkar is widely regarded as an effective teacher and many students genuinely benefited from his coaching. That is precisely what makes the allegations more disturbing. Trust is highest in education, and betrayal there cuts deepest.

EdTech was meant to simplify learning, improve accessibility, and make quality education affordable. Khan Sir from Patna, at least so far, exemplifies how scale and affordability can coexist in a win-win model. Motegaonkar, too, possessed the influence and capacity to build something transformative, universities, affordable institutions, or a broader educational ecosystem. Instead, what was once a cluster of pulse mills in Latur is today widely known as “Tuition Area,” a significant portion of which is reportedly owned by him.

Crony Capitalism is exactly this, progressing business at the cost of the very purpose why it was started. Be it Latur, Kota, Pune, Mukharjee Nagar (Delhi), Hyderabad…..these educational capitalists are worsening things for nothing. The order needs restoration, hopefully now it happens!

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1908 मध्ये इराणमध्ये तेलाचा शोध लागला. सुरुवातीचे अनेक वर्ष त्यावर ब्रिटीशांचाच ताबा राहिला. 1951 मध्ये मोहम्मद मोसादेघच्या नेतृत्वातील सरकारने तेलाचे राष्ट्रीयकरण केले. परिणाम? CIA ने इराणमध्ये अंतर्गत संघर्ष घडवून हे सरकार पाडले आणि पुढची 28 वर्षे मोहम्मद रझा शाह पहलवी या अमेरिकाधार्जीन्या नेत्याच्या हातात इराणची कमान राहिली. केवळ ब्रिटिश आणि अमेरिकन नव्हे, तर सोविएत संघाने सुद्धा एकदा ऐन दुसऱ्या महायुद्धात 1941 मध्ये इराणवर ब्रिटिशांसोबत आक्रमण करून उत्तरीय इराणवर कब्जा केलेला. दुसऱ्या महायुद्धानंतर ब्रिटिशांनी इराणमधलं सैन्य काढलं मात्र स्टालिन सोविएत सैन्य काढण्यास तयार नव्हता. संयुक्त राष्ट्रसंघाने ठराव संमत करून स्टालिनवर दबाव आणला आणि सैन्य काढण्यास प्रवृत्त केलं.
साधारण 1979 पर्यंत या पहलवीचं सरकार होतं. 1979 मध्ये झालेल्या इस्लामिक क्रांतीमध्ये आयातुल्ला खोमेनीचं जी एकहाती सत्ता आली ती आजतागायत सुरूच आहे. हे सरकार कटाक्षाने अमेरिका विरोधी आहे आणि त्यामुळेच अमेरिकेचा भारतावर सातत्याने इराणकडून तेल खरेदी न करण्याबद्दल दबाव राहिला. आधीच्या अनेक भारतीय सरकारांनी हा दबाव झुगारला मात्र 2018 पासून भारताने इराणकडून होणारी तेल खरेदी कमी केली. यावर अमेरिकेने कितीही उर बडवला की भारत आमच्या दबावात आला, तरी भारताने इराणचे तेल कमी करून रशिया कडून खरेदी वाढवली हे तथ्य पुरेसे आहे भारत दबावात नाही आला हे सिद्ध करण्यासाठी.
इराणचं अस्तित्व प्रामुख्याने अमेरिका व इस्राएलच्या डोळ्यात खुपतं. जिथं योम कीप्पुर युद्धामध्ये सहा दिवसांत सहा अरबी देशांना धूळ चारणारा इस्राएल ग्रेटर इस्रायलचे स्वप्न साकार करत होता, जिथं अमेरिका संपूर्ण पश्चिम आशियावर ताबा ठेवून होता, तिथं एकमेव इराण होता जो या महत्वाकांक्षेला अडसर बनून राहिला होता. इराणदेखील काही धुतल्या तांदळातला नाही. गाझा पट्टीमध्ये हमास दहशतवाद्यांना उभं करून इस्रायलच्या महिलांवर अत्याचार करण्याचं पाप इराणच्या माथी आहेच. भारताला याच्याशी देणंघेणं नाही. जो देश भारताच्या हिताचा नाही तो भारताचा शत्रू हे साधं सूत्र आहे. इस्राएल कडून आधुनिक शस्त्रांचं तंत्रज्ञान मिळतं म्हणून तोही मित्र, इराणकडून तेल मिळतं म्हणून तोही मित्र. बाजू घेण्याची भूमिका भारताची कधीच राहिली नाही.
आज सुरू असलेलं इराण वि. अमेरिका आणि इस्राएल युद्ध गेल्या महिनाभरापासून अमेरिकेला जड जातंय. मुळात दुसऱ्या देशाच्या भूमीवर जाऊन मात्रागमन करण्याचे प्रकार अमेरिकेचे नवीन नाहीत मात्र यावेळी अमेरिका इराणच्या नव्हे, तर चीन आणि रशियाच्या जाळ्यात अडकला आहे. चीन व रशियाने सावधपणे इराणला प्याद्यासारखं उभं केलंय. हवी ती सगळी मदत इराणला याच दोन देशांकडून होतेय हे स्पष्ट आहे. इकडे अमेरिकी लष्कराची जास्तीत जास्त ताकद मात्र विनाकारण खर्ची पडतेय. काही लाखात बनवलेले इराणी ड्रोन शेकडो कोटींची अमेरिकी शस्त्रास्त्रे निकामी करतोय. उद्या अमेरिका इराणच्या जमिनीवर सैन्य उतरवेल पण असच सैन्य व्हिएतनाम आणि अफगाणिस्तानात सुद्धा उतरवलं होतच की अमेरिकेने. सर्वार्थाने अमेरिकेची सर्व शक्ती अशा एका देशाला संपवण्यात खर्च होतेय जो खरं पाहता अमेरिकेच्या शक्तीपुढे फारसा टिकू शकत नाही, पण तो नुकसान मात्र पुरेपूर करतोय. रामायणाचा संदर्भ इथं आवर्जून द्यावा वाटेल. अमेरिका अहंकाराने माजलेला रावण आहे आणि इराण म्हणजे वानर राज बाली. बालीने आक्रमण करून आलेल्या रावणाला बगलेत धरून तिन्ही लोकी मिरवलं. शेवटी रावणाला बालीचं सामर्थ्य कळलं आणि त्याने हार मानली. इराणदेखील हरणार नाही, जिंकणार तर त्याहून नाही, पण अमेरिकेची अशीच नाचक्की करत राहणार.

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India’s GDP stands at $4.19 trillion as of April 2025, according to the International Monetary Fund. Growing at a steady pace of 6.2%, it’s expected to retain its position as the fastest-growing major economy this year. With this trajectory, India is set to surpass Japan and become the 4th largest economy, and if this growth rate sustains, the 3rd largest isn’t far off either.

It’s been a long journey, from being the 10th largest economy in 2014 to knocking on the door of the top 3 in 2025. A lot has changed. Infrastructure has improved. GDP growth has been consistent and impressive. But as always, the devil lies in the details.

No, the issue isn’t about per capita GDP or income, it can be a misleading parameter for literally the most populous country in the world. There are simpler, more visible indicators that reflect the actual economic strength of a nation. Let’s take public transport, for instance,specifically, railways. On one side, we have semi-high-speed trains like Vande Bharat and Namo Bharat (Delhi-Meerut RRTS), metro rail expanding in over 25 cities, and stations getting a long-overdue facelift. But on the other hand, we still struggle with something as basic as train frequency. No data is needed, just try booking a Tatkal ticket and watch the waiting list climb. Long-distance travellers are often inconvenienced by local commuters boarding mid-journey, a problem worsened by the lack of dedicated local trains in many regions.

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train, our flagship high-speed rail project, won’t be operational until 2030. Meanwhile, China already boasts over 45,000 km of high-speed rail. So yes, India might soon be the third-largest economy, but in terms of development parity, we still trail significantly, especially behind China. Public transport is a powerful indicator of real development. It shows how easily people can commute, how much time and fuel is saved, how economic opportunities spread. It minimizes disparity and brings people together. India’s issue is not only the pace of development, it is also about the false sense of accomplishment for smaller milestones.

Defence and space? Those are areas where we’re faring much better. India has demonstrated its military strength decisively in the recent conflict with Pakistan. Our air superiority and air defence are literally one sided, and moreover we can own the enemy in a few hours if we decide. It was all visible during the conflict. In space, we may still be behind the U.S. Russia, and China, but we lead much of the rest of the world and are progressing steadily.

However, challenges like urban-rural divides, water scarcity, underdeveloped agriculture, and untapped tourism potential remain pressing. So yes, we’re about to be the 4th largest economy—but we still have a lot to catch up on. We need to connect our rivers, irrigate more fields, move beyond freebies, and ensure that everyone gets a seat—on a bus, on a train, in an educational institute, or at the workplace.

Education, Healthcare and Civil Safety – we all know where do we exactly stand here. Not too critical and not too praiseworthy. Education is surely a big issue. Free Education is not worth employment and the quality education costs lifetime savings. Healthcare as well, is certainly not at a level it should be for the fourth largest economy.

Time is short. We have miles to go. And the first thing we must unlearn is our tendency to over-celebrate small wins. True leadership—a real Vishwaguru—is earned only when access, quality, and excellence reach every corner, for every citizen. It may sound idealistic, but it isn’t impossible

Warm Regards,

Dnyanesh Make “The DPM”

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June 6^th, 1674. This day marked a history to be remembered for at least a thousand years if not forever. Probably for the first time after Chandragupta Maurya, a man with no royal family background was coroneted as a Chhatrapati. For the first time in previous 150 years, a truly native ruler backed by the truly native people had risen up to be the King. The next sentence might hurt those who love the left-narrated versions of Mughal history but I don’t care, because the truth was that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj became king against all odds set by the megalomaniac bigot, the imperialist monarch, the butcher of Hindus called Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb had lost his biggest battle the day Maharaj refused to bow down before him while throwing away his tray of gifts, coronation was just the symbolic and religious ceremony to embrace the fact. In our blog today, to celebrate the 350^th year of Shivrajyabhishek in 2023, we’re going to take a look at why Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s Hindavi Swarajya was a foundation stone of India’s independence struggle.

1. The rivalry between Aurangzeb and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

Perhaps only two people in 17^th Century knew each other fully well, Aurangzeb and Shivaji Maharaj. You have to know how strong Aurangzeb was, and thus you’ll know how Shivaji Maharaj was even stronger.

During the reign of Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb was sent to conquer Deccan where Shivaji Maharaj was also laying strong foundation of Maratha Empire at the same time. Aurangzeb started conquering one after another forts of Adil Shahi. At the Siege of Bidar in 1657, it was Adil Shah’s strongest commander, Afzal Khan who captured Aurangzeb. Note that Aurangzeb begged for mercy, tried threatening with taking his father’s name but Afzal Khan wouldn’t listen. However, the then Army Chief of Adil Shahi, Khan Mohammad was feared enough with the threat of Shah Jahan. He gave safe passage to Aurangzeb and thus Aurangzeb fled the sight. 2 years later in 1959, this same Afzal Khan approached Shivaji Maharaj with a massive 40,000 army, 3000+ cavalry, 1600 cannons, 85+ elephants and a promise that He’ll capture King Shivaji dead or alive without even descending from his horse. We all know what happened on 10^th November 1659, this invincible, cruel, mighty Afzal Khan was ripped open by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on broad daylight and his army was defeated, many killed, some managed to flee.

This was noted by Aurangzeb and he very well knew that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was going to be a threat for him in future. That’s why, he sent his invincible commander and his maternal uncle Shaista Khan with an army of 1,00,000 to Pune in 1660. By the time, Maharaj had already finished more than half of Adil Shahi but was stuck at Rajgad with less manpower. Shaista Khan committed horrendous atrocities on people of Pune and nearby, deliberately so, to bring Shivaji Maharaj out of the mountains. He saw what happened to Afzal Khan when he entered Maharaj’s mountains. That’s why he was risking nothing from his side. Maharaj defeated all his army raids and blocked their passages to Konkan. He deliberately sent the defeated soldiers back alive so that Shaista Khan gets depressed to see himself losing, to defeat his courage. On a fine night in 1663, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj did a surgical strike on Shaista Khan and cut 3 of his fingers. Shaista Khan fled with all of his army and tails between his legs. This was a big psychological and military win for Shivaji Maharaj and a direct message to Aurangzeb.

Aurangzeb started his reign in 1658 after killing his own brothers and imprisoning his father. He committed atrocities against Sikhs, their Gurus, erased Hindu temples and killed many Hindus, re-imposed Jaziya, a tax for non-Muslims to practice their religions, which was earlier abolished by his grandfather Akbar. Entire North India under Aurangzeb was traumatized, feared, terrorized and no one dared to speak against him.

After losing the Shaista Khan chapter, Aurangzeb played a brilliant card by sending Mirza Raja Jaisingh to defeat Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The battle and siege of Purandar resulted in a treaty, as Maharaj avoided potential loss coming out of a full-scale war. Maharaj lost 23 forts to Mughals.

2. The Agra Chapter – Turning Point of Indian Medieval History

Afterwards in 1666, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was invited to Agra for Aurangzeb’s birth anniversary. Here’s a catch, Aurangzeb was a well-known deceiver and it wasn’t surprising for Shivaji Maharaj as he had around 5000 spies in his employment. Maharaj knew what Aurangzeb would do to the rival who killed the mighty Afzal Khan in broad daylight and made the strongest Mughal Commander flee in just a surgical strike. Aurangzeb did have plans, so did Shivaji Maharaj. And this is why, we need to understand what exactly was happening between them, and how this Agra chapter made Shivaji Maharaj the ultimate power, despite having a way smaller Empire than that of Aurangzeb.

From what I understand, Aurangzeb wanted Shivaji Maharaj to submit before him as a Mansabdar (Ruler under patronage) and was not ready to treat him as a King of equal merits.

That’s why he deliberately positioned him backward in his court when arrived, and treated him like a Mansabdar. Shivaji Maharaj reacted furiously and what he did next, marked the beginning of end for Mughal Empire. He threw away the Qillat (gift) offered by Aurangzeb, refused to perform Kurnisht (a symbolic gesture of submission) and spoke against him eye-to-eye. Remember, the court was full of rulers all across India and nobody was allowed even to look at Aurangzeb, let alone be speaking eye-to-eye and insulting him. This sheer action by Shivaji Maharaj spread like a bullet in every corner of Agra and later, everywhere in North India. People got to know that Mughals could very much be challenged and their Messiah is none other than a Maratha King from Deccan called Shivaji Raje Bhosale.

Aurangzeb held Maharaj captive for this so called “Ghustakhi” and planned to kill him, but Shivaji Raje escaped under the nose of Aurangzeb and returned safely to Deccan. By the time he returned, entire India was aware of him and his bravery. When he killed Afzal, ballads were sung in entire South India and this Agra Chapter made him a Hero in North India.

Here is one more thing to note, that Shivaji Maharaj was brave enough to face and insult Aurangzeb in his court despite having no one on his side, while the mighty Aurangzeb did not even try to enter Deccan until after Shivaji Maharaj passed away. This is the difference between a Tyrant and a true King. Aurangzeb very well knew that people loved Shivaji Maharaj. They backed him in Deccan and so would they do in North India as well. A few alliances on his side and Shivaji Maharaj would march on Delhi at his own pace and will. Aurangzeb wanted to stop all these, and that is the exact reason he spent 27 out of 50 of his years of reign just to demolish Hindavi Swarajya. Yes, you heard it right, he thrown away his Crown “Kimansh” swearing that he’ll wear it only when he destroys Maratha Kingdom root and stem, he died without the crown on his head. That’s the legacy that Shivaji Maharaj had left behind.

3. The Coronation or “Rajyabhishek”

Aurangzeb did everything in his capacity to stop Shivaji Maharaj from getting coronated. He bought Brahmins of Deccan to declare Maharaj a Shudra, Maharaj called the biggest Brahmin of the era “Gaga Bhatt” from Kashi to coronate himself. Gaga Bhatt declared Maharaj to be of pure Suryawanshi Rajput lineage, related to that of Maharana Pratap. The coronation happened as planned at the new Capital of Swrajya called Raigad. Many people including two British East India Company officers had attended the ceremony. Shivaji Maharaj had taken care of purifying the Marathi language, that the burden of coronation expenses would not fall on shoulders of his subjects and releasing his currency with a Sanskrit quote written on it. He also started a calendar named “Shivshak”. Shivaji Maharaj became Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj with titles such as “GoBrahmanPratiPalak”, “PraudhPratapPurandara”, “Kshatriyakulavatans”, “Maharajadhiraj”, “Yogiraj”, “Gajapati”, “Ashwapati”. Remember folks, he was not born a King, neither seized any throne by killing his own brothers, he became King because his people believed in him, fought for him and died for him.

4. The Ram-Rajya of Swarajya

Shivaji Maharaj’s Hindavi Swarajya was truly a remarkable Kingdom. Despite being small on territory and revenue, Maharaj’s soldiers had the best salaries. His officers were strictly warned for not taking even a stem from farmers without paying them adequately. The soldiers were warned not to touch even a leaf of grass of farmers on any mission, and if you must, you must compensate. Shivaji Maharaj did not even spare his uncle when he came to know about his corruption. He exempted taxes on many occasions such as droughts, hailstorm and even on festivals.

During the 6 years followed by coronation, Shivaji Maharaj continued his conquest southwards and liberated people from the cruel Adil Shah and Bahamani Sultunate. He extended his empire all towards Gingi and Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu. In his own words, “अहत तंजावर, तहत पेशावर, हे हिंदवी स्वराज्य व्हावे, हे तो श्रींची इच्छा!”, Meaning it is God’s will to have an indigenous rule from Thanjavur to all the way Peshawar.

While Aurangzeb was a religious fanatic, Shivaji Maharaj never hated, neither did he discriminate based on religion. He very well knew the difference between protection of motherland, culture, Dharma and invasion, butchery and bigotry.

5. After the Demise of Shivaji Maharaj

The news reached Aurangzeb and he came running towards Deccan in 1681. He wanted to demolish the Maratha Kingdom. He thought the Marathas would become weak after the demise of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, turned out his son was a lion. For 9 years straight, Aurangzeb fought more than 100 battles with Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj and lost all of them. He was seeing himself lose and thus got impatient. He captured Sambhaji Maharaj by deception and killed him mercilessly after torturing him for 40 days. He then burnt down the Capital of Swarajya “Raigad”, captured Sambhaji Maharaj’s wife and brother. He hoped at least then he would triumph, turned out a 25-year-old widow queen, Shivaji Maharaj’s daughter in law, Queen Tararani made him drink the water of all the ponds of Sahyadri and continued the resistance. They say Aurangzeb died of old age in 1707, but I am pretty sure he died of ego crash seeing himself lose against a widow queen.

Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath made sure that the Mughal lineage destroys by placing a dummy prince on Delhi throne with the help of a Mughal commander he befriended. He then seized all the territory for Marathas and confined Mughals to the borders of Delhi. We all know what his son, Peshwa Bajirao-I did in his conquest. Even after losing in Panipat war, Marathas made sure Abdali won’t return for next 50 years. Marathas made Abdali flee in the earlier conquest and had set their flags beyond the borders of Attock, present day Pakistan. Thus, the descendants of Shivaji Maharaj, both biological and ideological, fulfilled the wish of Shivaji Maharaj’s “Peshawar to Thanjavur Hindavi Swarajya”. It is the Marathas from whom Britishers took control of India. The Duke of Wellington had famously said that defeating Napoleon was much easier than defeating the Marathas. This is the legacy of the man who dared enough to challenge the mightiest empire in the world by throwing away his gifts and by refusing to submit. This is the legacy of a man who built a Kingdom for the welfare of people. This is why Shivaji Maharaj is the most important and greatest ruler India has seen in a thousand years.

6. Influence on Freedom Struggle and Social Reforms

The First War of Independence was led by Queen of Jhansi, Rani Laxmi Bai, who herself was a Queen of Maratha Kingdom of Jhansi, and thus a devout follower of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Other great freedom fighters such as Lokmanya Tilak, Subhash Chandra Bose, Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, Birsa Munda, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Chaphekar Brothers etc were all influenced by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and had clearly mentioned it. Social Reformers like Mahatma Phule, Dr. B R Ambedkar, Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj (who himself was a King in Shivaji Maharaj’s lineage) had also referred to Shivaji Maharaj on many occasions. Philosophers like Swami Vivekananda and Shri Aurobindo Swami were staunch followers of Shivaji Maharaj’s ideology and work. In fact, Shri Aurobindo Swami referred Shivaji Maharaj as a Vibhuti, without whom our entire civilization would have wiped out from this planet, just like it did in present day Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Even after the independence of India, The Sanyukta Maharashtra Chalval, The Mill Workers Protests and even the protests against Emergency drew motivation from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Shivaji Maharaj is still alive in the ignited Marathi minds, in the ignited Indian minds and will always empower those who fight against injustice.

“दावा दृमदंड पर, चीता मृगझुंड पर,
भूषण वितुंड पर, जैसे मृगराज है;
तेज तम अंस पर, कान्हा जिमी कंस पर,
त्यों मलिछ बंस पर, सेर शिवराज है!!”
-	Kavi Bhushan (Shivaji Maharaj’s Court Poet)

जय भवानी जय शिवराय,

Dnyanesh Make

The post Shivrajyabhishek – Rise and Importance of Hindavi Swarajya! appeared first on Words Of DPM.

Some things are destined to be special. My trip to Hampi in July 2022 was one of them. Being a history and travel enthusiast, Hampi attracted me for almost a decade before I went there finally with my friends Satyajeet and Vyankatesh. The capital city of one of the greatest empires of medieval era is now in ruins, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Hampi attracts a lot of foreigners because of its astonishing architectural marvels. I had a greater reason to go, a hostility towards the last empire which preserved true Indian, Sanatani Hindu Culture through its architecture that still have some strong vibes. I wasn’t disappointed though.

History of Hampi

Hampi was the capital city of the Vijayanagara Empire. The Empire mostly covered modern-day Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Goa, Tamil Nadu, and the Kerala States of India. During the times of King Krishna Deva Raya, The empire was also extended till Udaygiri, present-day Udgir, dist. Latur in the state of Maharashtra. Basically, the empire was huge. Established in 1336 by King Harihara Raya I of the Dynasty Sangama, the Empire went on expanding against many challenges, especially during the times when the great Kakatiyas of Warangal (Present day Andhra Pradesh) and Yadavas of Devgiri (Present Day Maharashtra) were fallen to the invasions of Foreign Islamic Invaders. This was indeed an inspirational Kingdom where the Sangamas united all the Hindu powers of South India against the invaders, and risen above all like phoenix. A Portuguese traveler named Dominigo Paes visited Hampi in 1520 during Krishna Deva Raya’s rule. He described Hampi as the second largest city in the world after Beijing, as beautiful and large as Rome, and was so technologically advanced that the likes of which lacked in the Europe at that time. He also described the advanced and robust system of irrigation that allowed farmers to yield the best crops at the lowest cost. He described city as a market full of precious stones, gold, abundant vegetation, artificial lakes, nearly 3000 temples, educational hubs, and so on. Basically, Hampi was the city of dreams built and preserved by the people.

Not only in development and asthetics, Vijayanagara Empire had a powerful army and political wisdom too. Any invader would not even dare of meeting Vijayanagara soldiers on the battlefield, and those who dared enough failed miserably. The only thing that doomed Hampi, was a fraction of their own soldiers. The Muslim soldiers in Vijayanagara Army fought for the Islamic Bahamani Army when the Bahamanis attacked Vijayanagara. The Radical Islamic power was so obsessed with wiping out the cultural heritage of a Hindu empire that they spent years demolishing each establishment, temple, palace, and idol in Hampi. Eventually, they ran out of money and manpower but the architectural marvels are still there. If they look so beautiful and dope in ruins, imagine what it would look like if it weren’t brutally destroyed. Taj Mahal is overrated, real architectural wonders are still there in Hampi. A disclaimer, though some of you might label me as an Islamophobe, whatever I said is an official archeological record. In any circumstance, interpretation, or narration, I do not intend to disrespect any Islamic religious ideology at all. I am against the tyrants who destroyed my nation in the medieval era.

Best Spots in Hampi

You will find a plethora of blogs, articles, and YouTube videos regarding what to see in Hampi. I am briefing my experience about some places that I loved the most, and some travel advices as well.

1. The Virupaksha Temple

All the ancient temples in Hampi are under the authority of Department of Archeological Survey of India (ASI) except a few. The Virupaksha Temple is a grand religious establishment which is still under worship. There is an entry fee for the Grabha Griha (The closer look of God Virupaksha Mahadev) of ₹ 25/-. The temple is full of mesmerizing views. It is really hard to believe that the Shikhars (High temple towers) carved with thousands of idols and having altitude of around 100 feet are still standing without any depreciation, even after 600 years. The next wonderful thing you notice is when you enter the temple there is a Mandapam (banquet halls made for carrying out religious and cultural functions. Every pillar is carved with ancient Hindu sculptures. In fact, all these pillars convey pictorial representation of the

Dashavtar saga depicted as per Hindu mythology.

As you enter the Garbha Griha, there is an ancient idol of Mahadev Virupaksha in a calm, blissful environment. After exiting the Garbha Griha, there is a pool beyond a door and 3 adjacent temples. We need to climb down the stairs to visit the ancient pool. The entire view looks beautiful. In the temple premises, there are some other Hindu deities with separate Garbha Griha for each. The pillars look like a polished marble work, but they’re ancient.

2. Kadlekalu Ganesh

Located just beside Virupaksha Temple on a hilltop, Kadlekalu Ganesh is a 30 feet, monolithic Ganpati Idol in a temple. There are Dashavtar and other Hindu Sculptures carved on literally each temple pillar of Hampi. There is a mandapam in this temple too. Entire Hampi looks beautiful from this hilltop.

3. Hazar Rama Temple

Few kilometers from Virupaksha Temple, Hazar Rama Temple is perhaps the legit 8^th wonder. Entire epic of Uttar Ramayana (Ramayana’s later parts) is carved on stones in this temple. As you enter, there is a Yadnya Mandapa on the right, Kalyan Mandapa on the left and a grand Rama Temple in front of you. The pillars, ceiling, terrace palisades are so delicately carved that we literally feel two eyes are not enough to see this beauty at its full.

4. Underground Shiva Temple

This is one of the earliest establishments of Vijayanagara Empire. This temple was built by King Bukka Raya I in probably 14^th Century. The idol of Lord Shiva in this temple is known as Prasanna Virupaksha or Pataleshwar. For some reasons I don’t know, I felt a weird vibe here. The ruins of temple might have made me feel nervous but the feeling was same as when I saw the fictional city of Old Valyria in Game of Thrones.

5. Vijaya Vitthala Temple

This temple is the main reason why all the national and international tourists visit Hampi. Widely known for the famous Stone Chariott inside the premises, the temple is a real eye catcher. Built in 16^th century over 42 years by 2 Kings, the temple contained musical pillars in its main Sangeet Mandapam (Music Hall). The pillars were made of stone and sounded like musical instruments. It is said that on Mahanavami festival, there used to be a music program in this temple and the sound of musical pillars could be heard from 2 kilometers afar. On the other hand, the chariot made of stones depicts the chariot of Arjun in Mahabharat. Despite the efforts of demolishing, the entire Vijaya Vitthala Temple is still a beauty. The Garbha Griha of temple contained idols of God Vitthal and Goddess Rukmini together. Locals say the same idols have been relocated to Pandharpur’s famous Vitthal Mandir in Maharashtra. However, this theory is debatable. There are still some musical pillars in there, you can hear them sound like Tabla and Pakhwaj.

6. Kishkindha and Anjanedri

Though it lacks historical evidences, I strongly believe that the epic of Ramayana had happened for real. Speaking of wonders spoken in the story, I believe we, and especially the Indians exaggerate things too much. So much so that even real incidents seem fake. When it comes to the Vanar Sena, the army of Monkey-like species in Ramayana, I believe they were one of the highly evolved but not human kind of monkeys. Even until the 20^th Century, the North Sentinal Island in India had humans who were having tails. Therefore there is a good chance that the Vanar Sena, possibly the Neanderthal men existed in South India during the times of Ramayana.

The Kishkindha empire was the kingdom of Vanaras. They were strong, huge, spoke languages and possessed knowledge as well. Present day Hampi was the capital city of Kishkindha. Lord Hanuman was born here. The birthplace of Lord Hanuman is the Anjanedri Hill. There is a temple atop the hill for which one has to climb around 700 steps. Temple does not look like its ancient but there’s a stone in a glass shelf inside the temple. The stone was one of the millions that were used for building the Ram Setu. Interestingly, the stone is floating above the water even today.

From the hilltop, you can get a mesmerizing view of nature. For me, climbing this hill was the most divine experience ever.

There are other hills in Kishkindha as well, including those where Vanara King Bali and his brother Sugreev used to live.

7. Tungabhadra Dam, Hosapete

After all the ancient architectures you have seen and all the places you have visited, the Tungabhadra Dam feels like a delicious dessert after a feast. The River Tungabhadra flows through Hampi as well and there are Coracle Rides available for enjoyment. The river further goes to Hosapete, a nearby town and a huge dam is built on it in the British Era. The dam is surrounded by some mountains. Once you visit the entry gate of dam, a bus comes and takes you up to the light house of the dam. The dam looks immensely beautiful and huge from atop the Light House hill. Another bus then comes and takes you down to the dam wall. There are gardens all beside this wall and a closer look to the dam gives chills. Down the line, there are musical fountains, dashing cars and so many other recreational activities that make this place truly enjoyable.

Travel Guide for Hampi

1. How to Reach Hampi ?

If you are an international or even an Indian tourist not from Karnataka or nearby, traveling to Bengaluru by flight is the best option. From Bengaluru, there are a lot of trains available to Hosapete. Hosapete is a town located 12 KM from Hampi. From Hosapete, you can reach Hampi by 3 modes

1. City Bus from Hosapete Bus Station, available on 20-30 minutes frequency, costs around 20 ₹
2. Auto Rickshaw, costs ₹ 200-300 for 3 people
3. Cabs – Costs around ₹ 1000 for 4 people

If you are from Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, Train to Hosapete is the best commute. You can also come by your own vehicle as Hosapete is situated on a junction of national Highways.

If you’re anywhere from the north of Maharashtra, flying to Bengaluru is the best option. Trains are also an option when time is not a constraint.

2. Where to stay?

The best advice can be to stay at Hosapete, as it has hospitals, chemist shops, good hotels, resorts, security, daily needs shops etc. Hampi is a small village and there are no hospitals or chemist shops. There is also a network connectivity issue in there. You can go to Hampi during day and return to Hosapete in the evening.

However, I liked staying at Hampi. I stayed at this beautiful guest house called “Temple View Guest House” in Hampi. It is located just 200 meters from Virupaksha Temple. The rooms were clean, every necessity was available including high-speed Wi-Fi. There is a restaurant at the ground floor run by Mr. Shambhu. Shambu makes delicious Dosa and Uttapam.  At night, the view of Virupaksha Temple from its terrace was dope. The cost of stay at this restaurant was very reasonable and the owner was very kind and welcoming. I would highly recommend you all to stay at this guest house.

There was one more restaurant right in front of this guest house called Taste of Brahmins. It was a home-style food restaurant. If you love South Indian food, this place is highly recommended. I loved the taste of Idli and Appam.

3. How to commute?

The best way to commute in Hampi is by hiring a cab. I highly recommend Travel MaaYa travel agency to book your cab. The fares are reasonable, their drivers are experienced & disciplined and cars are clean as well. My experience was pretty good with Travel MaaYa. Apart from cabs, you can hire scooters from Kamalapur, a village 4 KM from Hampi. You can also hire an auto rickshaw for 3 people. There are bicycles and mopeds available on rent in Hampi. The total area is around 30 KM. So it is best you consider bicycles and mopeds for a limited distance.

4. Sanitation and Other Services

There are public toilets available at every site in Hampi. However, best advised that you should get your stuff done at the hotel itself and then leave for exploration. There are a lot of Lemonade and Juice Stalls at every spot. Snacks, biscuits, and fruits are also easily available. There are some Italian and continental restaurants in Hampi too. So if you feel hungry or thirsty during exploration, do not worry at all.

One more thing to keep in mind, as there is a severe network connectivity issue in Hampi, it is best that you take enough cash and change with you to avoid the card and UPI payment. There are high chances that low-speed internet can disrupt the transaction.

5. When to go?

Though I visited Hampi amidst light rain showers and low rush in July and it was beautiful too, the best time to visit Hampi however, is during October to February as there is low heat and humidity in that period. A pleasant weather and lush greenery will be welcoming you.

6. Security and Other Issues

There are less than 1% chances that you’ll get robbed or attacked in Hampi. It is a completely police-protected area. The people in Hampi i.e. the hotel owners, shop owners, agents, tour guides, small vendors all are very genuine and they do not charge beyond limits. Their hospitality is commendable as well.

7. Overall cost

A day in Hampi will cost anywhere between ₹ 1500 to ₹ 3000 depending upon the level of accommodation and mode of commute. It may even cost ₹ 5000 to ₹ 10000 per day if you stay at a 3 star hotel or a resort. My total cost from Latur to Hampi and return was ₹ 5000 for 2 days, including train tickets and almost every penny I spent in the entire tour.

However, the hotel and guest house prices may increase during peak days.

What happens in Hampi, becomes a happy memory lifelong!

Warm Regards,

Dnyanesh Make ” The DPM”

The post The Hampi Tour appeared first on Words Of DPM.

Year 1965.

Around 18 years of their independence have completed and India-Pakistan indulged in a war for the second time. This time, India’s decisive power was in the safe hands of Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Ji. The second Prime Minister of the world’s largest democracy showed that India can very well defend itself and can retaliate aggressively. India won the war but the border tensions wouldn’t settle.

Russia, being “United Soviet Socialist Republic” (USSR) or simply “Soviet Union”, was a big superpower back then. The cold war between USSR and USA was at its peak when Soviet Union decided to mediate between India and Pakistan to show the world that USSR wanted to bring peace.

Thus, Soviet Russia brings Indian Prime Minister Shastri Ji and Pakistani President Gen. Ayub Khan on one table in a global conference held at Tashkent, Uzbekistan (Part of Soviet Union back then). The Tashkent Declaration for ceasefire and holding the military back was signed by both Khan and Shastri Ji. Few hours after he signed this agreement, Shastri Ji died of a heart attack on the early morning of 11^th January 1966.

This story is the official record of Government of India. There are many suspicions over this and they have been talked about, questioned at the government at that time as well. Looking at the facts of all the visible records, Shastri Ji’s death story seems like a big cover up.

Who was Lal Bahadur Shastri?

Lal Bahadur Shastri was a freedom fighter in India’s Freedom Movement. A true follower of Gandhiji, Shastri Ji wore Khadi, lived a simple life and also convinced his wife to follow the same. After Jawaharlal Nehru’s death in 1964, he sworn in as India’s second Prime Minister.

India was heavily dependent on USA for food grains back then. Shastri Ji brought Green Revolution and White Revolution, the fruit of which is that our parents and us could happily and readily feed ourselves this long. He held India’s image very high and prominent during his tenure as a PM.

Those were very tough days. Indian military was under transformation, Indian citizens were facing absolute poverty and Pakistan was getting equipped with American weaponry to attack India. A two month war happened between India and Pakistan. Probably Pakistani president General Ayub Khan would have thought that the simple looking, low heighted person Shastri Ji was an ineffective leader. Turned out Shastri Ji was a dragon. “We will answer weapons with weapons” he said, and Indian military had literally reached Lahore Camp attacking the Pakistanis.

The Tashkent Summit

As stated above, Soviet Russia intervened. The Cold war between USA and USSR was a nasty power show off. Arms race, space race were aligned to the traditional border influencing strategies by both of the superpowers. Thus, USSR called for a global level summit in Tashkent in January 1966. Many countries and their Head of States were invited. World had their eyes on two pairs of enemies, the other being India and Pakistan.

Not going much into the Tashkent Declaration between India and Pakistan, one line to conclude would be that it was a compromise on both ends and an absolute victory for USSR. Shastri Ji had a history of not getting influenced by power as he condemned USA in Vietnam war, knowing fully well that USA will stop our food grain supply. Thus, if returned alive, Shastri Ji would definitely have taken a different stand and would have done everything that was right for India that time. By the American and Soviet news records of that age, it is pretty evident that Soviet President Premier Kosygin had to face a lot of difficulty in negotiating with both India and Pakistan. Till 9^th of January 1966, the declaration was far from being agreed by Shastri Ji. On 10^th January, when nobody expected, Shastri Ji signed the declaration. Probably Kosygin had bulldozed him or probably Shastri Ji tried to be diplomatic in order to win big. Convincing his companions, Foreign Minister Swaran Singh and Defence Minister Yashwantrao Chavan, Shastri Ji said that people of India will be happy to listen the decision I took. He was confident about his intention and further moves.

That Unfortunate Night

Few hours after the declaration, Shastri Ji returned to his Dacha (Villa) in Tashkent where his stay was arranged by the Soviet Government. Having had snacks at the party in the evening, he initially refused to have any dinner but then instructed his Personal Attendant Shri Ram Nath to make something for him. Ramnath instructed the same to Mohammad Jan, the cook of Indian Ambassador in Tashkent. He made the curry of spinach and potato. Ramnath served it to Shastri Ji at 10:20 PM. After that, Shastri Ji spoke with the Prime Minister Officials in Delhi on telephone and with his family as well. At about midnight, Shastri Ji went to his bedroom. Ramnath gave him milk as per his daily routine. Shastri Ji also asked for some water. Ramnath served him water out of the flask which was there in his bedroom. At 12:30 in the midnight, Shastri Ji asked Ramnath to leave before putting the lights off.

At around 1:20 AM on 11^th January 1966, Shastri Ji came walking to the door of his Private Secretary J N Sahai and asked him to call doctor. Seeing him in distress, Sahai ran to Dr. Chugh. By the time Dr. Chugh reported to Shastri Ji, he fell on ground and was losing conscious. With the patient’s history of two previous heart atracks, Dr. Chugh started his remedial actions. He gave Shastri artificial respirations and two injections. The efforts didn’t succeed. At 1:32 AM, Shastri Ji went completely unconscious.

The Soviet Government’s doctor in charge, Dr. Evgenia Yeremenko entered the room at this very moment. Few minutes after, seven Soviet doctors followed. They tried every therapy that was needed in that hour. All the efforts failed and they declared Shastri Ji as dead.

The news spread like a bullet in every corner of Tashkent. Indian media, Soviet media and global media woke up in shock to listen to this news. The word reached India as well.

Bearing Shastri Ji’s coffin were Soviet President Premier Kosygin, Pakistani President Ayub Khan, Defence Minister Y B Chavan and Foreign Minister Swaran Singh. Thousands of people gathered around the streets of Tashkent to bid farewell to Shastri Ji. At around 2:30 in the afternoon, Shastri Ji’s deadbody reached Palam Airport, New Delhi. Lakhs of people were gathered on this utterly tragic event. Many world leaders expressed their grief over the sadly demise of Shastri Ji and many had even joined his funeral including Premier Kosygin himself.

Certainly Not a Natural Death

Though the official record state that Shastri Ji died of a heart attack, there are many prima facie suspicions that were observed and questioned that time. There is no satisfactory resolution to all these suspicions at all, they were rather strategically suppressed with the passage of time. Let’s take a look at them one by one.

1. The Thermos Flask

In an interview with Dharmyug on 4^th October 1970, the renowned weekly in the 1960s, Mrs. Lalita Shastri, Shastri Ji’s wife, opened up many secrets. She told that Shastri Ji was repeatedly pointing towards the flask from which he was served water whilst getting unconscious. At first, Dr. Chugh thought he needed water but when offered, Shastri Ji did not take it. Now what must this mean? Did Shastri Ji realise that there was something poisonous in that flask or was it a natural gesticulating during a heart attack? Most important thing is, that Thermos flask was Shastri Ji’s personal asset and it was not returned with his dead body, neither was it found again even after thoroughly searching the dacha afterwards. The flask and his personal diary went missing right after Shastri’s death.

2. Decomposition of Dead Body

Though this is going to be another point but the reference is evident here that Soviet Government had offered post mortem of Shastri Ji’s dead body, which was apparently refused by Defence Minister Y B Chavan. The temperature when Shastri Ji died in Tashkent was 0-1 degree celsius, which is pretty cold. 12 hours past his death when the body reached Delhi, the temperature in Delhi was not anywhere more than 20 degree celsius.  Plus, the body was embalmed i.e. a fluid was inserted in the body to preserve it for a while by Soviet Doctors. This means there was no ground that the body would decompose and change its colour within at least 24 hours of death.

 Lalita Shastri explained in that interview that Shastri Ji’s dead body  had turned blue, was badly bloated, so much so, that when the dead body was being bathed as per Hindu rituals, his vest had to be torn off. Blood was flowing from his neck. There was a surgical cut on his stomach as well. Now the question is, in which heart attack does the dead body turn blue? Embalming fluid is inserted only through the back, then how come there were surgical cuts on his stomach? What was the reason Shastri’s family was repeatedly kept afar from his dead body? These are not my questions, this is what Lalita Shastri said in that interview.

3. The Post Mortem

Even a common accidental or out-of-illness death is followed by a post mortem. Why was post mortem not done either in Tashkent or in New Delhi? A Prime Minister has died on a foreign soil, has any other suspicion even required to justify a post mortem? Why the post mortem offered by Soviet Government was rejected by our Defence Minister? The absence of post mortem is perhaps the biggest factor why this death hard to believe to be unnatural.

4. Two Medical Reports

Two “identical” medical reports of Shastri Ji’s death were made. One, English report for Indian government and another, Russian report for Soviet Government. It can be understood that similarity of Russian names for Calcium and Potassium (Kaltsi and Kali respectively) may have caused a translation mistake in the report, the fact that the Russian report was signed by 8 Soviet doctors and the Indian report was signed by 6 Soviet doctors still leave a room for suspicion. The two doctors who abstained from signing the report were Dr. Gordon and Dr. Yeremenko. Yes, the same Dr. Yeremenko who reached the scene of death before any Soviet doctor. Question is, did she understand the possible foul play and cover up of facts for which she abstained from signing Indian report? God knows what she was up to!

5. Grave Mistakes in Accommodation

Before a Prime Minister goes and stays anywhere, a team of security experts examine the location in and out. All the necessary arrangements are made sure at the site. With the medical history of two heart attacks, it was important that Shastri’s Bedroom had an emergency oxygen supply, an emergency ring/alarm bell and an emergency telephone service. Initially, Shastri’s stay was decided to be at Intourist Hotel and all arrangements were made in that way. Nobody knows what was the reason his accommodation was changed at 11^th hour from Intourist hotel to a 250 yards away villa. Further, there was no oxygen in his bedroom. There was an emergency telephone but that was in the study room, instead of being in bedroom. These sudden changes in his accommodation are acute, yet very subtle. These are very serious protocol breakdowns for a Prime Minister and apparently no one even questioned it then and there.

6. A Forged Letter

A Mumbai based weekly called “Blitz” ran an article paying condolences to Shastri Ji on 19^th January 1966 in which the editor Russi Karanjia had mentioned of a letter that Shastri Ji had officially sent him before he went to Tashkent. The letter was dated 2^nd January 1966. Shastri Ji had supposedly mentioned in the letter that he was positive about his forthcoming Tashkent Journey and was prone to the Tashkent declaration, while in reality, Premier Kosygin himself stated that it was difficult to bring Shastri on table for the said declaration. Two obvious things here are, the letter was forged as allegations had been made in Rajya Sabha in this regard and the corresponding government had made every escape to this question instead of providing a copy or a serial number of such letter; and the other thing is that Editor Karanjia must have made this forgery in a certain assurance, otherwise Prime Minister’s Office would have had him on fire if Shastri were returned alive for this forgery. Significant information here is, that the Blitz Weekly was a Pro-Soviet Union media. The forgery was very much questioned in Rajya Sabha and in media as well. In fact, this forgery was one of the greatest driving factors that lead the Shastri’s death issue on public ground.

People who Raised Voice

A democratic India would definitely not sit silent on a gravely suspicious death of its second Prime Minister. Rajyasabha, the Upper House of Parliament was shaken top to bottom by some of the opposition leaders of that time and even some of the ruling party leaders over this issue. Those include Members of Rajya sabha such as Shastri’s childhood friend T N Singh, Lokenath Mishra, M K Mohra,  Raj Narain and Mahabir Prasad Bhargava. In the Lower House ‘Loksabha’ as well, veteran leaders like Dr. Ram Subhag Singh, Prakash Vir Shastri, Dharam Yash Dev,  Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani had held the government on serious charges. One of the prominent MPs who raised a question and also wrote a book called “Was Shastri Murdered?” was a person named Dayabhai V Patel, Dayabhai Vallabh Bhai Patel, son of Sardar Patel. His book was later banned in India, and is still hard to find.

Suspects

After 6 major observations as described above, Shastri Ji’s death mystery starts unfolding step by step. Now the question is, if he was murdered, who must have done this, and why?

1. The CIA

As India in 1960’s to 1980’s was much of a Soviet Union group country, the American Intelligence Agency CIA is the foremost suspect. Going by the records that CIA had declassified pertaining to that era, CIA never saw Shastri as a threat. Plus, CIA had produced a 14 page special report on Shastri Ji, titled “Shastri’s first year as India’s Prime Minister” in June 1965, which had in short applauded Shastri of being a good leader and had also predicted that Shastri was going to be India’s PM for a very long period. Very much certainly, CIA never saw Shastri as a threat and thus, stands negligible in any conspiracy theory of Shastri’s death.

2. The KGB

The Soviet Intelligence Agency. KGB  was perhaps the most dangerous spy agency of the world. Corresponding records suggest that KGB was an entire government in disguise. So much so, that even Soviet Presidents were used to be unaware of KGB’s plans. Assassinating major global politicians was a sports to KGB spies. Most of the most dangerous poisons would attack you and no one would even doubt how did you die. Looking at the circumstances that Shastri was not ready to sign the Tashkent Declaration that benefited greatly to the USSR and the forged letter conspiracy mentioned above, KGB was a suspect for sure. What takes KGB out of this list is what brings many Indian politicians in the prime suspects. When “A Statement of Facts” issued by then Home Minister Y B Chavan had debunked almost every allegation that read Shastri’s death was unnatural, and strategically suppressed almost all the suspicions by 1970’s, a very interesting news from a Russian Tabloid “Komsomolskaya Pravda” turned the tables upside down in 1998. The story was about a Russian Butler Ahmed Sattarov who helped Mohammad Jan in preparing the food of Shastri Ji on that unfortunate night. The story was also translated in English by British Daily “Telegraph” which read that Sattarov and Mohammad Jan were taken into custody on the charges of poisoning Shastri Ji on 11/01/1966 at 4:00 AM. Though the cooks might later have turned out to be innocent but it raises 2 very important questions:

1. Was the Government of India, especially Foreign Minister and Defence minister unaware of the fact that cook of their ambassador was arrested by Soviet Police on charges of poisoning their own Prime Minister?
2. If Russians could at least arrest and interrogate on the suspicion of a foul play in Shastri’s death, what made Indian government so confident that they didn’t even consider doing a post mortem of Shastri Ji?

The suo moto investigation by the Russians is enough to conclude that Russians were not involved in the death of Shastri Ji, especially when they had invited Shastri to their homeland and Shastri had agreed to their terms. If KGB had to kill him, they would have chosen any other manner but to kill him in their own nation, risking their country’s prestige.

3. Someone in India

As the CIA report clearly read that Shastri was not going to be off chair anytime sooner, political environment back then was definitely not in favour of a grassroots leader. Many were in line after Nehru’s demise to replace him as a Prime Minister but the wise party command of K Kamaraj chose Shastri Ji out of nowhere. Was someone in the waiting list of Prime Minister not happy with Shastri holding the Chair? Was someone not happy to see a grassroots leader being immensely popular? What was the reason that Y B Chavan was accompanying him in Tashkent, saw whatever happened to him and suspected no foul play, rather escaped every suspicion in Rajya Sabha? What was the reason ambassador T N Kaul pressurized journalist Kuldeep Nayar to stick to the official stand? What was the reason that before Shastri Ji’s unfortunate death, Indira Gandhi had rather negatively predisposed relations with him? If Shastri Ji was poisoned, the answer must be anywhere between these questions.

Towards the Conclusion

From mysterious death of Shyama Prasad Muckerjee to suspicious death of Lal Bahadur Shastri Ji, early years of post independent India had many dark secrets where the country had lost many gems. Despite having some clearly visible evidences, we can only conclude that Shastri Ji’s death certainly had a foul play in it, but who was the culprit, is indeed a matter of investigation, which is mostly unlikely.

Some even ask what is the point in digging out lost mysteries. Simple answer is, History Repeats Itself. Had the lessons learnt in time, two of India’s great prime ministers Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi wouldn’t have been brutally assassinated. Foreign powers would hate to see India rise and some nasty powers in India would hate to be outperformed by a commoner, be it a grassroot mass leader or a businessman trying to grow bigger. It is our duty as an Indian citizens to learn from these mistakes and be well aware of the internal enemies. Tributes to one of the few selfless leaders on his 56^th Death Anniversary. Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Hind!

Warm Regards,

Dnyanesh Make “The DPM”

Our Survey of the Opinions

Before writing the blogs, I asked on our instagram page about the opinions our readers had regarding Shastri Ji’s death. Some of them are:

CA Anup Rathi says,

 “Some say it’s natural death, some say it’s a murder. I personally feel there is some foul play as the cook who made dinner for Shastri Ji went missing, that there was no enquiry after his death. Whatever the truth was, it went along with Shastri Ji. We must revisit the truth.”

Vitthal Bang says,

“From the very fact that he died on a foreign soil, I can certainly say that it’s a well planned murder.”

Akshay Naikade says,

“The topic is a buffer zone between truth and framed truth. Official record of Government of India says it’s a heart attack but some prominent evidences of poisoning were also noticed.”

References:

1. “Your Prime Minister is Dead” by Investigate Journalist Anuj Dhar
2. “Mitrokhin Archives” by KGB Archivist Vasili Mitrokhin
3. Shri Anuj Dhar’s Lecture in Dayanand Auditorium, Latur in 2019

Indirect References

1. “Lal Bahadur Shastri – A Quintessential Gandhian” by L P Singh
2. “Lal Bahadur Shastri – A Life of Truth in Politics” by C P Shrivastava
3. “Was Shastri Murdered” by Dayabhai V Patel
4. The Movie “The Tashkent Files” by Vivek R Agnihotri

The post Lal Bahadur Shastri – Death Mystery of a Prime Minister appeared first on Words Of DPM.

A report of McKinsey Global Institute mentions, “We estimate that between 400 million and 800 million individuals could be displaced by automation and need to find new jobs by 2030 globally, based on our most rapid report of automation adoption scenarios.” The report also says that the demand for professionals (accounting & finance) in India will drastically come down to about 46% of the demand now.

Is Automating the Processes Really Important?

No, but we will surely end up paying the cost for not automating it, which maybe by losing our jobs, maybe losing certain work assignments. It is not like if we don’t automate, others too won’t. But it is like everyone will be bound to automate processes and tasks after a certain period of time. And let us all not forget that the pandemic of COVID-19 has taught us a lot in these terms that we all are now dependent on technology in all spheres of our life be it personal or professional meetings, work, collaboration, be it any task, activity or process, everything has now become online, on the cloud for us and gradually with the help of artificial intelligence (AI), our tasks and processes will be automated soon, too.
There are various AI frameworks and tools already in the market viz. AWS, AI-ONE, Deeplearning4j, Azure, PyTorch, UiPath, etc. These tools not only do help us with to automate our tasks, activities, and processes but also help us interact with our clients, business partners, customers, team members, and literally everyone using the chatbots and related tools.
Earlier the world was focused on humans to learn and to plan and then to execute the tasks given and now it is for the machines to go through the same. Machine learning is an AI application that supports the systems to automatically learn and improve from experience without being specifically programmed for it. Machine learning focuses on the access of data and using it to learn for themselves through the development of computer programs.
The concept of robots is not new as the first autonomous robots were created by William Grey Walter in the history of automation in 1948. These two ‘tortoises’ were: Elmer and Elsie. These robots found find their way around obstacles without human intervention by following the light and making use of a bump sensor. The success in the interaction of these light and touch inputs enabled robots to work, also helped us to understand our own nervous system better. Alan Turing in 1950 formulated and designed a way to measure the ‘intelligence’ of a machine, which tested the thinking ability of a machine. The above test is famously known as The Turing Test and is in use still today.

Business Process Automation or BPA

Business Process Automation or BPA (recently becoming known as robotic process automation or RPA) is becoming more refined, efficient, and turning out to be productive. Today, automation software has become a necessity rather than a luxury. Its widespread use is optimising employee time and work, and leading to enormous resource and time-saving. We experience AI & automation in our daily routine activities too, be it on Twitter, in emails, in our video games, and so on. We have AI assistants in our phones, in our cars, and in our homes. Siri doesn’t always give us the answer, Alexa occasionally makes mistakes in hearing us. Recently in 2016, we saw the failure that was of Microsoft’s Tay. But despite these shortfalls and failures, AI and automation are more versatile now than ever before. And they’re developing and improving by the day.

What is BPA?

BPA automates business processes – either simple tasks or multi-layered workflows and domains. You might have heard it called robotic process automation, which refers to the notion of “software bots” or implies AI input which in short catalyses the activities and processes. Either way, the automation of business processes typically involves an automation platform, design and flow, formulae and syntax, multiple system integrations, and a series of conditional processing rules (If this happens, then do that).

How Will BPA be of Use to Us at Business?

BPA is useful for activities and process, big and small. First, it can take monotonous, mundane, or repetitive tasks on hand and help us save our time there. But it’s also capable of handling complex tasks and orchestrating larger workflows (i.e., ones that involve a series of steps and actions across multiple applications) and don’t be surprised if it does it wonderfully. In fact, one of the best things about automation software is that it is so flexible and customisable and also can be programmed accordingly. BPA is not an out of the box solution at all. It’s more of a personalized platform that you control. You develop a structure and set rules for the software to follow, and you design workflows to cover the tasks you want to automate. Then, BPA does its work. This means that BPA can help you with any particular area or all areas of your business, from customer management to sales processes to IT workflows to accounting and bookkeeping and various other tasks and processes. It’s really up to us. So, automation will do whatever you need it to do so that you can save time and resources and use them to focus on the more challenging and higher value tasks.

RPA in Use

RPA is also said to as a system to manage data of transactions flowing from a myriad of systems and applications related to IT. At several large multinational companies, automation is fully in process, in the accounting and finance departments assisting accountants finance executives in the analysis of their company. Most of the automation in finance is deployed in cash applications and invoice creation for international orders to cash and in various other tasks too. Director of Finance, Bob Kurpershoek, at NBC Universal says: “The volume of our transactions is high, and the processes are quite standardized. Therefore the combination of these two makes the return on investment of putting a robot in place very positive.

When Will Accounting be Automated?

Accounting is being automated right now. Software like Accounting Seed, Automation Anywhere, Auto Entry, etc are leading the way in delivering accurate, streamlined financial management and access to real-time data to make better decisions faster. Does this eliminate the human factor? Will accountants be replaced by robots? Not at all. Automated accounting software simply helps businesses and financial professionals to get automated yet customized reports and being more productive in lesser time and then to save the time of the executives and human resources to do their job more efficiently.
We’ve come a long way and have had a lot of changes in the accounting and bookkeeping domain. The creation of the double-entry bookkeeping was probably the last innovation in accounting. That was over 500 years ago! Now is the age of automation, and, accounting is at the forefront. Accounting automation focuses on the lifecycle of entire accounting, not just one part of financial management but everything related to which means that the entire process of accounting, the capturing, manipulating, and interpreting of data (transactions), is done by software, with less dependence on manual transactional entries by people

How should we determine what type of automation is best for us?

There’s no right answer to this! Firstly, the companies range in size, in terms of both revenue and budget matters. This means that even a company with significant revenue might not have the budget or need for accounting automation. Secondly, companies span many different industries usually which means that accounting processes can be specialized based on the core operations of a business, and therefore require different capabilities.

The Way Forward & What Next?

The automation history, despite a few obstacles along its way, has seen a lot of success in a short period. It continues to grow and evolve even today, providing us with more creative and innovation-based solutions, interactive AI, and assists in unraveling the secrets of the universe. It’s impossible to know if the science fiction writers wrote right about a robot rebellion in the future and we will only come to know this in the near future and the years to come. What’s clear is that the future looks to be automated, gradually but fully. The current and future tech is really exciting, we should not forget the history of automation or the work that it has taken to get us where we are today which has really proved to be of very much use and productiveness to us.
Automation is on a rise in across all the industries and in all the parts of the world. We can see them in customer experience, product development, manufacturing and operations, and other processes and departments too. They’re on the job in legal and HR and now gradually into finance and accounts as well. In our motive of improving efficiency, being more productive without, and of course sacrificing quality, automation is a new suite of technology tools you can put to work. As organizations look to continue with their automation journey in the digital world (referring to the human-driven process vs RPA image above taken from a report of ACCA Global), here are some steps to consider as prescribed by ACCA Global in their report: Learn more; Build a list of opportunities; Identify pilot possibilities; Pilot projects; Scale that works. So, let us all Start now; Explore; Learn; Invest, have an automated environment in place, and Focus on our core tasks!

Thanking You,

CA Karan Chandwani

Chartered Accountant, Trainer and Mentor

Owner and Proprietor at Karan Chandwani & Co.

The post Begining of Automation Era appeared first on Words Of DPM.

We’re very fortunate to have the legend Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as a very great, glorious part of our history. Along with feeling proud for that, there are certain things that we must learn from him. Let’s discuss them one by one.

Management Skills

No other King in the medieval history has been as good as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj when it came to management. Let me remind you a historic moment when Aurangzeb sent Mirza Raje Jaising to defeat Shivaji Maharaj. Mirza Raje was very tough to deal with in the battlefield which would have cost bloodshed of Maharaj’s own people to a great extent. Maharaj avoided war by giving up 23 forts in the Treaty of Purandar. Jaising left. Now both Maharaj and Aurangzeb knew that nobody will follow the treaty. Later, despite of facing many life threatening challenges, Maharaj regained each of the forts by his guerilla warfare. That’s how we should manage things in times of crisis. Avoid damages, negotiate to the best of your efforts and turn the tables when you get the right chance.

Gratitude

The capital of Hindavi Swarajya was Raigad as we all know. Architect of Raigad was Hiroji Indulkar. When asked about reward by Maharaj, he said give me something which will endure through generations. Along with monetary rewards for all his great work, Maharaj ordered to write Indulkar’s name on a welcome stone of Jagadishwar Temple at Raigad. We can see the name of Indulkar with an appreciation line “Seveche Tatpar Hiroji Indulkar” which translates as “Hiroji Indulkar- the man of efficient service!” On one hand in medieval history, we had some over glorified Shah Jahan who cut the hands off of those who built Taj Mahal for him and on the other hand we have Shivaji Maharaj who glorified the architect of Raigad in such a wonderful way. Choose your historic idols wisely as Indian historians have always portrayed Shivaji Maharaj in a dim light. Thus, we should learn gratitude from Maharaj. Appreciate everyone who helps you achieve your dreams.

Patience

Almost everyone knows how Maharaj killed Afzal Khan. This angle which I’m going to tell you, is quite rare and a little risky to quote because it holds religious sentiments. When Afzal Khan had left to capture Shivaji Maharaj with a massive army, he very well knew Maharaj’s guerilla warfare techniques and thus he wanted Maharaj to leave the mountains and face Afzal in the open ground. For that, Afzal did everything, he thought, that might trigger Maharaj to leave Pratap Gad. He went to Tuljapur and broke the idol of Goddess Tulaja Bhawani, which was Maharaj’s ultimate devotion. Apparently the local priests managed to replace the original idol with duplicate before Afzal came. Afzal Khan also killed the priests of many temples. Maharaj did not take any offense all this while. He let Afzal come closer till the valleys of Pratap Gad. We all know what happened next, he was brutally killed by Maharaj in a personal meeting when Afzal tried to kill him. This story explains how important it is to have some patience in order to focus on your target. Maharaj did not take offense neither was he distracted by Afzal’s all the evil tricks.

Character

In one of the raids by Maratha army to Kalyan fort, the Subhedar (lord) of Kalyan fort fleed, leaving his own family in danger. His daughter-in-law was presented before Maharaj as “gift” by one of the Knights of Maratha Army. Maharaj became furious at that knight and scolded him for mistaking about the character. Maharaj sent that woman back with honour and gifts. This great lesson of having a good and pure character is surely why I personally admire Shivaji Maharaj very much. Just to remind you all one incident happened a few months back when an old video of a female comedian making jokes on Shivaji Maharaj went viral, many of Maharaj’s so called Bhakts openly made rape and death threats to her. If only Maharaj were here, he would have punished all those who made such remarks. We are definitely failing him in this case it seems. We must learn the lesson of character from Maharaj.

Protection and Preservation of Culture and Religion

Very few people out there know this fact that before getting coronated, Maharaj purified the Marathi dictionary. Many Farsi and Urdu words were mixed in Marathi at that time. Maharashtra had been under invasion attacks continuously for more than 500 years before Maharaj came to power. The Marathi language and the cultural identities were very much distorted during all this while. Shivaji Maharaj replaced every Farsi or Urdu word with proper Sanskrit words in his official language of reign.

This fact is even lesser known that Portuguese were forcibly converting Hindus of Goa. Maharaj tried to convince them to stop all these and when they refused, Maharaj beheaded four of such Portuguese missionaries, not a single forceful conversion happened ever again in Goa whilst Maharaj was alive. Maharaj was very secular when it came to respecting other religions but this is something very needed to be learnt from him that secularism doesn’t ever mean you should ignore the religious  cultural attacks on any community. Maharaj respected every religion but never spared anyone who made forceful conversions or tried to attack the religious identities of any community.

Foresight

There are many examples to quote because Maharaj’s greatest quality I believe, was foresight. At the time of coronation, two British officers came to Maharaj with a long list of requests, most of them were about asking permissions to trade in his reign. Maharaj agreed on many of them but straightaway refused one, which was about using British currency to trade with the Britishers. Many a times Maharaj said that Britishers were the real enemies.

Another example of foresight is Maharaj’s greatest contribution to India. Maharaj built first, full fledged and indigenous navy. He always used to say that Enemy will come from the sea. French, Dutch, Portuguese, Britishers, terrorists..Everyone came from sea. If only any ruler had half as much foresight that Maharaj had, India would already have been a global superpower. Foresight is a very useful asset to have, which we can learn from Shivaji Maharaj.

Leadership Skills

You have two options. Analyse and read as much books as you want to learn leadership skills or just read about Shivaji Maharaj and embrace leadership skills. Ever wondered that Aurangzeb had a massive empire and if he wished he would have conquered entire Asia, yet he was running after the much smaller empire of Shivaji Maharaj? Because he knew the people fighting for him have immense faith in him. Aurangzeb’s military fought because he commanded, Mavale fought with Maharaj because they believed in him. When Udaybhan died, Aurangzeb felt like he was a dead investment and when Tanaji Malusare died in the same battle, Maharaj cried for him. When Aurangzeb’s military would pass by villages, villagers used to hide and when Maratha army would pass by the villages, villagers would welcome them and offer them food and shelter. The leadership skills Maharaj had, were very pure because it came from the emotion of fighting for motherland and fighting for his own people. The leadership skills involved much love and respect for his people. That’s what we should learn. Leadership skills must involve a genuine cause and genuine desire to serve your own people.

Shivaji Maharaj is too great to be understood in a single blog but we can always try to learn from him. On this Shivjayanti, we should embrace a few of skills he possessed.

Warm Regards,

Dnyanesh Make “The DPM”

The post 7 Things to Learn from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj appeared first on Words Of DPM.

It has been a practice of Indian historians to undermine some of the greatest heroes of our nation, Netaji’s aura surpasses their theoretical suppressions. The only thing that keeps bothering me as an Indian citizen, is the mystery of his death, and the fact that not once in all these 70 years of independence, had the Indian government honestly tried to reveal this mystery. Apart from that, we’ll thoroughly discuss other dimensions of his life too. Let’s get started.

Who is Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose?

Born on January 23^rd, 1897 in Cuttack (Present day Odisha State of India) to Janakichand Bose and Prabhavati Dutt, Bose went on in education till he became a graduate from University of Calcutta and the Cambridge University. He was born in quite a wealthy family.

He joined Indian Freedom Movement after the infamous Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. He was very much influenced by the teachings of Swami Vivekananda and was largely inspired by Mahatma Gandhi. His strong leadership quality, thorough knowledge of politics, science & geo-politics  and his integrity towards the nationalism soon made him popular amongst the freedom fighters and he was elected as a President of the Indian National Congress in 1938.

Netaji’s Popularity and the Attempts of His Political Assassination

Subhash Chandra Bose was everyone’s favourite after the provincial elections of 1937. Result of which was, that Subhash Chandra Bose won the 1938 Haripura Congress Session Election and became party president.

Many people may not believe that Gandhiji was jealous of Netaji’s rise as a mass leader. In the 1939 Tripuri Session Elections, while Nehru was away from it, enjoying holidays in Europe, Gandhiji desperately wanted someone from his panel to contest against Netaji in that election. When Nehru returned, he wanted Nehru to do so, but Nehru suggested Maulana Azad’s name. Azad did stand for the election but withdrew the nomination afterwards. He then put Dr. S Pattabhi to contest against Netaji. Pattabhi lost. Netaji won. This is something Gandhiji said in a letter afterwards and I quote, “I am glad of his (Subhash’s) victory, and since I was instrumental in inducing Dr. Pattabhi not to withdraw his name after Maulana Azad Sahib done so, the defeat is more mine than his.”

Not only this, but when Netaji went to Wardha (Present day, in the state of Maharashtra) which was then a resident of Gandhiji, not only had he failed to restore the relations with Gandhiji, but also with Nehru, Netaji had some differences. While Netaji was in Wardha, he stayed for some days. Even after being Congress president, he considered it important to have an advise of Gandhiji to make a panel. Some mysterious things happened meanwhile. He had a severe headache. Gandhiji personally made a medicine out of local herbs and applied it on Netaji’s forehead. The headache stopped in few hours.

Netaji then left for Howrah in a train. People were welcoming him on every station. At Nagpur, he found himself having a severe 103 degree fever. After going to his home in Kolkata, he was bedridden for a lot while. He missed some very important meetings of Congress committee.

 All the meetings went chaotic. Subsequently 12 out of 13 members in panel resigned and waited for the recovery of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Just for your information, those 12 who resigned in order to wait for Netaji, included Sardar Patel and the 13^th one who did not resign, was Nehru. Everything quoted here has a source at the bottom of this blog. Now the question is, majority of the Congress members clearly wanted Netaji to lead but only a few and their supporters tried best to bully him. Make your conclusions readers. I only quoted what happened.

Why did Netaji Quit as a Congress President?

Now that he had the commands of freedom movements, he decided to go violent against the Britishers. In 1939, World War II started. The Britishers needed men to fight in the war. As a colony, they looked upon Indian soldiers but none of them would fight for Britishers unless Congress asks to do so. The command was held by Netaji, and he knew that Britishers desparately needed Indian soldiers. A little patience and a strong denial would definitely result in getting independence. Just look at the circumstances happened afterwards. Britishers were badly beaten by the Germans and if it weren’t for Indian soldiers’ support, they would definitely have lost to the Germans. Netaji had this foresight. He knew that Britishers will be weakened and that would have been the best time to attack them. Trust me, he would literally have Britishers flee from India maximum by 1942. Alas, Mahatma Gandhi wasn’t amused by this idea. His great values of non violence were offended by the decision of Netaji to not to help Britishers in the war.

This difference of opinion caused a vertical divide in Congress and Netaji resigned as the President of Congress. He was kept in a house arrest by the Birtish Government in Kolkata. He disguised himself as someone else and left Kolkata right under the nose of Britishers.

Netaji’s Heroic Tour

He then went on traveling in disguise towards Northwest. He went to Moscow via Delhi, Peshawar (Present day Pakistan), Kabul (Afghanistan) etc. Attention readers, he didn’t go by air, neither did he have a solid passport to go through any nation by road. All he travelled was an epic adventure. He travelled amidst a world war. He went to politically unstable and war-hit countries like Russia. He went to the most dangerous nation of that time, Germany and met with the most dangerous man in the World War, Adolf Hitler. Now think for a little while, will you risk your life to this extent even for yourself? Netaji did this, just for the nation.

Netaji stayed in Germany for around a year. Meanwhile he spread awareness about Indian freedom movement amongst the German people and he united many Indo-Europeans for this cause. Hitlerrefused to partake in Indian independence as he was busy dictating Germany and screwing around the entire Europe. He did help Netaji by offering him a submarine. Meanwhile in Germany, Netaji probably had a secret marriage with an Austro Hungarian women called Emilie Schenkl. They also had a daughter named Anita in 1942. Following are the pictures of Emilie and Anita.

Netaji left his wife along with the daughter in war time. One more big sacrifice on the list.

Netaji went till Madagascar in that German submarine. Japan, Axis powers’ another strong member agreed to help Bose with Indian independence. Japan helped him get to Singapore and Malaya. There were a lot Indian war prisoners in Singapore, Malaya and Andaman. Bose gathered them all. He restructured the INA and became the first declared supreme leader and a commander in chief for armed forces against Britishers. This news had spread amongst all the Indian soldiers in British Indian forces and now they also started to show the symptoms of rebellion. Here, INA was all set to attack the British India from North Eastern fronts with the help of Japan.

Azad Hind Fauj aka Indian National Army (INA)

{ Before you read this section, here’s a request. Kindly plug in your earphones, keep the volume moderate and listen to “Kadam Kadam Badhaye Ja”, the marching song of Azad Hind Sena. You’ll feel the energy as you read.}

Formed in 1942 by General Mohan Singh, the army was made up of Indian Prisoners of  War in the second world war. In 1943, Rash Behari Bose made Netaji the Commander-in- Chief of INA. Under his leadership, INA grew stronger. With the Emperor of Japan by side, Netaji planned to attack the Britishers from North Eastern fronts. The INA and Japanese Army attacked Imphal and Kohima which are the present day capital cities of Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur respectively. On 19^th March 1944, the INA had captured the Moirang village in present day Manipur state. Here the history needs to be put straight. The British version, and even the Wikipedia says that it was a battle between the Japanese and Britishers or between the Axis and the Allied powers. Make no mistake readers, Axis powers and especially Japan was never interested to take on against the British by themselves while they were already busy fighting with the US. While the Britishers accept it to be the hardest battle ever fought, they fought it against the INA alongside the Japanese and not precisely against the Axis powers.

Though the Japanese lost this battle, INA was successful in capturing the Moirang village, near Manipur from Britishers and it is also said that they had captured nearly half of the present day Nagaland state.

The Japanese then fleed after the defeat. The soldiers of INA literally cried when they touched the soil and hoisted the flag of INA in Moirang. A provisional Government in Exile was already set up by the INA with Netaji being the Supreme leader, the flag hoisting made it quite clear that the INA will be unstoppable regardless of the fact that Japanese left their support, because now the soldiers of British Indian Armed Forces were also eager to call out a mutiny. With the lesson of 1857 in memories and the sheer terror of Netaji’s INA lead the British Government to seriously consider for India’s Independence and avoid any further loss. This is not my opinion. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar quoted this in an interview with BBC. Listen it here.

The context in that video is, Clement Atlee was British PM back in 1950. He said in a conversation with Former Justice of Calcutta High Court Mr. Chakraborty, that the British Government was precisely not afraid of non violent movements by Gandhiji. They rather feared for the possible violent mutiny that was about to begin after INA’s first victory against the Britishers. The mutiny was almost sure when the news of Netaji’s death and arrest of more than 16000 INA soldiers was spread in India. Justice Chakraborty quoted this in a letter and this letter was published in the Tribune of February 12, 2006. Page no. 11.

In a matter of 15 days, Axis powers’ strongest contender, the Nazi Germany weakened. On April 30^th, 1945, Hitler committed suicide and Germany’s slices were shared by the allied forces. Japan was heavily aggressive against the US. On August 6^th, 1945, a nuclear bomb detonated on Hiroshima. In 3 days, another one detonated on Nagasaki. Japan surrendered. Now the question arose, what would happen to the INA?

Netaji decided to discuss terms of surrender with the Emperor of Japan, that whether to surrender with them or to surrender separately. For this, he had to go to Japan.

On 16^th August 1945, Netaji went to Saigon, Taiwan (Present day, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam). He discussed some very important things with Japanese Military Officials. On the next day, some Japanese officials and Netaji went in a Japanese Bomber Plane. The aircraft halted at Matsuyama Aerodrome before reaching Tokyo. When the plane took off, one of the bombs blasted inside the plane and the plane crashed. Netaji died out of 3^rd degree burns. His most honest official and fellow, Habib Ur Rehman was also injured. Don’t get sentimental, dear readers. Despite being on official records, this story has zero direct evidences and for sure, Netaji did not die in that plane crash. Let me put this straight, no plane was crashed at all!

Netaji’s Death Mystery and Conspiracy Theories

There are many conspiracy theories that Netaji was in Russia, or Netaji met former Prime Minister Shastri Ji in Tashkent, or Netaji was killed by the CIA etc. One of the conspiracy theories has to be true. Mostly the one which holds more evidences. Let’s take a look.

Netaji joined hands with Axis powers in World War II and the Axis were finally defeated after the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Now whoever fought with the Axis, was a war criminal in the eyes of US. Subhash Chandra Bose was one of the most wanted war criminals for US. The year was 1945, India was still under British Raj. Bose did not want the INA to stop. He also knew that the war was technically not over and thus he made this brilliant plan of faking his own death.

Official records say that he was going to surrender, but he knew very well that this wasn’t the option. His plan was to involve Russia (USSR) in his mission, along with Japan. He new that USSR will have hard relations with the US and the Western Europe, including the Britishers. The Cold War started right after the Second World War. This situation would definitely favour the Indian Freedom Movements as well. He did fly from Saigon to Matsuyama Aerodrome. From there, he changed the route. He went to Russia through Manchuria. He was in Stalin’s Gulag (Concentration Camp) for a few years. His plan of aligning Japan and Russia for India’s cause against the Britishers did not succeed, neither was it needed as Britishers passed the Independence of India Act in July 1947.

Afterwards he came to India via Tibet, probably in 1951. The reason that him being the war criminal, and had that been revealed that he was in India afterwards, India would definitely have faced some serious problems during the early days of independence. Thus, he never appeared before public in his entire lifetime till 1985. He was a true Hindu. He believed in Sanyastha Aashram  (the phase of monkhood when you get away from the material world after your causes have fulfilled). Thus, not only had he disguised as a Sadhu (a monk), he lived rest of his life as a monk. He never showed his face to anyone. Sometimes when people doubted him of being Netaji, he left the places he lived. During his remaining life, he lived in many cities of UP such as Lucknow, Faizabad, Ayodhya etc. His last place of residence was Ayodhya. People called him by the name Bhagvant Ji, or the more famous one, “Gumnaami Baba.”

Netaji died on September 18^th, 1985, at the age of 88. His dead body was burned as per Hindu rituals, right where Lord Shri Ram took the Jal Samadhi.

Everything quoted here is backed by some solid evidences. These are as given below.

Evidences

The Reports of Investigation Commissions

Like us today, many people had questioned the so called plane crash theory. To investigate into this, the Shahnawaz Committee of 1956 and the G D Khosla Commission of 1970 were established by the Indian Government. Leave about investigation, they overlooked the flaws in the plane crash theory. Just one example, one of the members of Shahnawaz Committee was Mr. Suresh Chandra Bose, elder brother of Netaji, issued a dissentient report debunking the plane crash theory. Even Pt. Nehru was convinced over this. The G D Khosla Commission also, did not properly investigate into the circumstances. The only Commission which indeed examined every aspect in detail, was the Mukherjee Commission, headed by Justice Mukherjee. Justice Mukherjee himself went to the accident spot, to Japan where the so called Asthi or remains of Netaji are kept in a temple. He himself examined the circumstances and the evidences submitted by the members of The Netaji Mission. The Mukherjee Commission concluded that

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose did not die in a plane crash. Here is the the conclusion on page no. 123 of Mukherjee Commission Report.

While the previous two commission reports were approved by the Congress Governments of 1956 and 1970, they were later rejected by the Morarji Desai Government in 1977. The NDA Government initiated Mukherjee Commission in 1999, which continued till 6 years. Apparently it was Congress Government back in power in 2005 and they rejected the report of Mukherjee Commission without any strong reason.

The Plane Crash Hoax

There are many reasons why this plane crash theory is a big hoax. Those are as follows.

1. According to the Aerodrome officials, no plane crash was ever recorded anywhere near the Aerodrome in 1945
2. All the witnesses told different stories of plane crash. Some said it fell on the air strip while some said it fell outside the Aerodrome.
3. Not a single dead body was found. Not of Bose and not even the Japanese Military Officials flying with him.

There are a lot reasons to be explained under this, kindly look into the sources.

Netaji in Russia

From Major General G.D. Bakshi to veteran leader Subramanian Swamy, to almost every Indian in 20^th century had this statement on their mouth, that Bose was not dead and was in Russia. This may or may not be true. Also if he was in Russia, it is still unknown that, for how long he was there. An Indian Engineer, working in Russia, named Ardhendu Sarkar once confronted Indian Ambassador for Moscow that his boss, Mr. B. A. Zerobin has met with Bose in Russia, in the year 1948. Netaji told Zerobin that he was returning to India for sure. This is recorded in the National Archives of India. The corresponding record is given below in the sources.

The Gumnaami Baba

When Bagwant Ji alias Parde Wale Baba or Gumnaami Baba was alive, many important people would visit him such as Chief Minister, Ex INA Soldiers & Officials, the family members of Netaji etc. Even those meetings have a lot to reveal, the greatest key to this puzzle, are the belongings of Gumnaami Baba. High Court of Allahabad ordered to open those 24 trunks containing 2760 belongings of Gumnaami Baba, years after his death. Make no mistake, almost everything of those 2760, either belonged to Netaji, or was in any connection with Netaji. Checkout the following pictures.

Many letters were found, in which the monk was the recipient and he was addressed as Netaji. Some of the prominent people who sent letters to Gumnaami Baba addressing him as Netaji, were Pavitra Mohan Roy, Leela Roy, Sunil Das, Dr. Hedgewar, M. S. Golwalkar etc. All these were either public figures or people of Netaji’s close circles.

The DNA tests of Gumnaami Baba were forged. Though they cited that the monk was not Netaji, the DNA reports lacked the most vital part, the electro pherogram. Electro pherogram is the machine developed chart of DNA examination. The handwritings of Gumnaami Baba and Subhash Chandra Bose were also the same according to the best handwriting examination expert of India, Mr. B Lal Kapoor. He examined the handwritings for no lesser than 460 times. Yet the handwriting examination report was rejected.

Conclusion

Though Mukherjee Commission made a detailed research, the government rejected it in a few seconds. There must have been involvement of politics to suppress the truth, as it always happens. Although I am personally convinced that Gumnaami Baba was Netaji, I do not compel this opinion on you people. I have cited some very rarely known facts and I’m providing authentic resources. It is upto you to decide.

Even after so much detailed analysis of Mukherjee Commission and the tireless efforts of Netaji Mission, the mystery is still unsolved.

From sacrificing a luxorious life for nation’s cause to fighting for freedom of India, from quitting as a Congress President over intellectual and operational differences to starting the first Government in Exile, from being a nightmare to Britishers to being mystery in Independent India’s history; Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose has suffered too much, only for his idea of Sampurn Swaraj i.e. Total Independence. Let’s not make this man’s history being limited to the dialogue of “Tum Mujhe Khoon Do, Main Tumhe Aazadi Doonga”. Let us read more about him. Let us tell more about him.

Jai Hind

Warm Regards,

Dnyanesh Make “the DPM”

Post Script

Our sincere thanks and tributes to the members of The Netaji Mission. Journalist Mr. Anuj Dhar and his team have worked day and night for many years to research on this mystery. Anuj Sir, hats off.

I personally recommend you to watch the movie “Gumnaami” which based on the hearings of Mukherjee Commission.

Take a look at the trailer

Sources:

1. Mukherjee Commission Report
2. Dissentient Report by Suresh Kumar Gupta
3. Disappearance of Netaji Report from National Archives of India
4. “India’s biggest Cover-Up” by Anuj Dhar
5. “Mahanayak” by Vishwas Patil

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