What ailed Indian economy before COVID

India had its worst GDP numbers this quater. These numbers were due to the lockdown imposed to control COVID. However this has set up a debate in India on the reasons for the weakness in economy before COVID.Some have attributed that weakness to GST and Demonetization. Here we discuss and look through data since 2015 to find out what hurt GDP in the pre-covid years.

Understanding RBI Reserve Transfer Issue

Vlog : Uri Attack: Is it right time to punish Pakistan?

Uri Attack: Is it right time to punish Pakistan?

Uri Attack: Is it right time to punish Pakistan?

As we talk 18 soldiers have died and 30 soldiers are injured. The response from the PM and govt is pretty strong worded. There is a huge outcry for a decisive action; however there are voices which fear that any action may result in escalation of tension between two nuclear armed neighbors. It’s a tough call, can an escalation result in a nuclear war or internationalization of the Kashmir issue. What are the options before India and what are the pros and cons of such actions?

Has Baluchistan Issue irked Pakistan?

The recent attacks have come after PM Modi made a reference to the Baluchistan issue? The best way for Pakistani army to deflect the issue back to Kashmir was such an attack; it achieves multiple purposes for Pakistan.  First it brings back attention to Kashmir, demoralizes the Indian army and it humiliates the elected govt. in India. It also gives voices to certain segment in India to push the govt. to go back and talk to Pakistan. It looks like Pakistan has made a strategic move which has pushed India in a corner. This is indeed a challenging situation however if we quickly look through at the various options that Indian govt. can exercise it does not look to be very well thought out by Pakistan.

India has plenty of option to retaliate and it should start with bringing back the focus to Baluchistan. Was the recent attack a response by the Pakistani army against the Indian PM raising the issue human rights conditions in Baluchistan and POK, could India point out these obvious links and reinforce its commitment to human rights for the people in these region.

Surgical Strikes: Will it result in nuclear war?

The second question in the mind of the people is can India make surgical strikes inside the terrorist camps in POK? This is a complex question, while technically the POK is Indian Territory; however the China Pakistan economic corridor passing through it makes any attacks on this region extremely sensitive issue. The generals in Pakistan have also held the threat of a nuclear war in case India decides to strike back. The situation looks threatening and no government would like to jeopardize the growth India is achieving.

However the same arguments that we are holding for not doing strikes actually work in India’s favor. Pakistan today is globally isolated at each and every international forum. Afghanistan and Bangladesh has both accused Pakistan of a sponsor of terrorism in their country. There is little support Pakistan has left in US congress where relations with India has taken a priority and there have been multiple occasions where aid and arms to Pakistan has been cut out by the US congress. Even the Saudis have dumped Pakistan.

The only support that Pakistan is getting these days is from China, but the question is will China back Pakistan in case there is a conflict like situation along the LOC. The CPEC is being protected by 15000 Pakistani soldiers along with 7000 Chinese workers working over it. Leave the nuclear bomb threat even escalation of tension and war like situation with India will make China extremely uncomfortable and the CPEC unviable.The truth is that in case of a surgical strike Pakistan may not even be able to escalate it to the level of war without killing the CPEC project and alienating China forever. This will be a big blow to Pakistani economy. Most likely Pakistan would do what India did after the parliament attacks.They may put up a huge buildup of army across the Indian border and there may be several ceasefire violations for some coming months. Frankly speaking the whole move by Pakistan is based on the assumption that India would not strike back. In case India strikes back no one in Pakistan seems to be aware or have thought through of what is going to happen. The only head that may roll may be the head of Nawaz Sharif. The nuclear threat thus seems to be an overly overblown and that should not be the reason for India to hold back.

Impact on Indian economy?

While the likelihood of the situation escalating is negligible if it happens it may bring economic hardship for India. The Indian economy has still not recovered fully from the follies of the UPA era and any tensions at the border may hit FDI, tourism and services industry and may thus delay the full industrial recovery which is still a few quarters away. However there is never a right time to take such calls, on the positive side this is the time for least impact. The govt. has been successfully able to get the GST through and there is no big legislative or economic agenda on its platter in the near future. Global Oil prices and commodity prices are still close to comfort level in case the govt. decides to mop up extra revenue to deal with escalation.

International fallout

Does India risks internationalizing the Kashmir issue if it goes for surgical strike in the terrorist camps in the POK area? Well for time being the Internalization of Kashmir issue may happen , however looking at the global isolation Pakistan is facing and the little appetite countries across the world are having for support of terrorism the maximum the world may ask India and Pakistan is to seat and talk. India can clearly do that, it has never shied away from talking on Kashmir and talks can restart with the threat of terrorism going away. However one casualty of any escalation would be India’s quest for NSG seat as any escalation may antagonize China which may delay it a little further. However a strong response from India will also put India in a new light which may help India to negotiate from a position of strength on other issues in coming years.

Domestic Political Impact

One word of caution on the political side of the question ,while strong response to Pakistan may for a little while bring up the moral of the Indian people and the supporters of the govt,  Economic hardships last much longer and may not really be a winning factor in near future if in case it impacts inflation(this scenario however may not occur as Pakistan may not like to escalate the issue beyond a certain point, war seems to be a distant possibility)  However Lok Sabha elections are still 2.5 years away and whichever way things go it is a safe period for the govt. to take such an action.

The govt. must be weighing all these options in the coming days ahead, will we see some action? Well let’s wait for the UN general assembly session to get over. 

#Pathankot: Is Afghanistan the key to Pakistani adventurism?

It’s less than 15 days when PM Modi offered a hand of friendship to bring normalcy in relations with Pakistan by visiting Lahore. While it was expected that there would be some challenges to the peace talk ahead it was not expected that it would happen so soon. The debates on the terror attacks are on expected lines. Some are of the view that talks should continue while others are opposing it. Again and again it is being repeated that Pakistani Army and ISI are not on the same page as Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif. The kind of sophisticated attack that was being carried by the terrorists on the Pathankot air force base leaves little doubt that the plan was orchestrated and handled from the highest echelon of Pakistani military and Intelligence services. The question being floated is that if the army is not on board should we continue to engage with the civilian government to strengthen it or should we try to get the army onboard? It looks like India is totally clueless to this Pakistani provocation and how to deal with it. Modi government is stuck between a rock and a hard place with no one being able to tell how can we inflict a cost to this Pakistani adventurism and still not push the sub-continent to the dangers of a war and derail India’s growth story. Some are asking if India can carry out surgical strikes in the terrorists’ camps in POK, but is that a viable option. Meanwhile the clamor for a covert operation to neutralize terrorists is growing everyday but such capabilities takes years of effort and groundwork and we are not sure if India still has such capabilities. Also till the time we do not have such capabilities what options do we have against Pakistan. Also the question on why is the Pakistani Army not on board with the civilian government to bring peace to Pakistan has not been explored properly and till the time we do not understand that aspect we may not be able to put a cost on Pakistani adventurism.

Why ISI and Pakistani Army may not support peace talks?

While the hatred of Pakistani army and ISI against India may have historical roots with multiple defeats against India it is something more pressing which is making the Pakistani military establishment jittery. It is no doubt that the enemy is trying provoke India to take a strong action against it or trying to force us swallow the humiliation these terrorist attacks do to the pride of a civilian elected government. Both the options have been very well weighted in by the Pakistani military establishment or a section of the military not on board to have peaceful relations with India. The question is if we take a strong action against Pakistan does it help the Pakistani military? In my last article I mentioned how Modi government in a big strategic move has provided attack helicopters to the Afghanistani army. This particular aspect has not been debated fully and its strategic importance has been neglected. To put things in prospective it is important to discuss Operation Zarb-e-Azb which is a joint military offensive being conducted by the Pakistan Armed Forces against various militant groups in north west Pakistan. Over last decade Pakistani army has lost around 6000 security personnel and more than 50000 civilians in this war which is yet not finished. As per their own report from the Ministry of Finance (MoF) statistics and mathematical data survey collections, the economy had suffered direct and indirect losses of up to ~$67.93 billion since 2001 due to its role as a "frontline state" in the American war against terror. According to the MoF-issued Pakistan Economic Survey in 2010–2011, "Pakistan has never witnessed such a devastating social and economic upheaval in its industry, even after dismemberment of the country by a direct war with India in 1971.Things have since then improved there however the war is still far from over and new troubles have started appearing from Baluchistan. The Pakistani army is suffering on two fronts its losing men and its losing its prestige among the people of Pakistan. A war or a small conflict with India is the best possible way out of this mess of fighting the jihadi forces, putting the internal disturbances in Baluchistan to rest plus it also brings back the global attention on Kashmir issue, in case India does not resorts to an offensive strategy the Pakistani army has nothing to lose by inflicting damage to India and Indian assets by continuing the proxy war and then putting the onus of continuing the peace talk entirely on India. In fact a long term peace with India reduces the role of Pakistani army in the overall equilibrium of power politics in Pakistan and not everyone in Pak military may be conducive to that.

Therefore the option of carrying out a surgical strike in Pakistan on the terrorist camps should be weighed in properly as any such action by  India will bring together these jihadi forces together and provide them the motivation to attack India when they are currently busy killing each other. The next question therefore is if not an offensive action against Pakistan which may actually work in favor of Pakistani army which option will be the one that the Pakistani army will not want India to exercise. The attack on air force assets in Pathankot and an attack on Indian consulate on Afghanistan here give us some ample clues. It looks like Pakistani army hates the idea of India having any strategic say in Afghanistan and it is exactly this option that India should exercise.

Multi Front Options – Afghanistan, Baluchistan and Covert Operations

While Modi government made a significant change in its stand by providing the attack helicopters to the Afghanistani army the time has now come to take it further and provide a clearer military support to the afghan army. India need not fight this battle on its soil and rather strengthen the Afghanistan to stabilize the region and reduce the role of Pakistani army in that region. While till the time Americans are there providing ground troops India should not be getting up there too fast and too soon but an effort to start building a small presence with clear intent to scale it up in case of terror attacks on India will be the biggest nightmare for the Pakistani military . An immediate action on this front will give a strong message to Pakistan as well as to the domestic consistency of Modi who elected this government on the premise of a strong Indian action in case of a terrorist attack.

It is also time India rethinks about its strategy on the issue of Baluchistan. Baluch’s are looking for help and an Indian stand on Baluchistan will not just bring global attention on the plight of this issue it will also help India in dealing with Chinese investment in POK and Baluchistan where the Chinese have overlooked India’s core concern in POK.

The last is the capability to be able to carry out a covert operation to neutralize the terrorists in Pakistan. We are not aware but such a thing might be getting worked out but till that time that happens it is time that some of the options discussed above be looked into seriously.

Deconstructing #ModiInPakistan : What has changed ?

Deconstructing #ModiInPakistan : What has changed ?

Prime minister has made a diplomatic coup by visiting Pakistan on his return from Afghanistan. This has send both his supporters and detractors in a tizzy. It is no hidden truth that BJP has traditionally supported an aggressive stance against a terror fomenting Pakistan and Mr. Modi was himself at the forefront of that earlier, therefore what prompted this change? The congress has sent confused signals, first was the signal that Mr. Modi went there to secure the benefits for an industrialist. Congress confusion is understandable since the party has been seeking direction from Rahul Gandhi who in turn was inspired with Mr. Kejriwal and wanted to learn a few tricks from him. In their endeavor to do a Kejriwal congress has become Kejriwal. Congress was also quick to point out that their govt’s in the past have been following same policy and BJP acted extremely hawkish at that time not allowing the process to go through. Now congress is bound to draw comparisons in order to gain legitimacy for their illegitimate tactics in derailing parliament and in turn derailing India’s growth story. The reaction from other political parties and media houses was on similar lines. There has been a cottage industry in media houses who has always welcomed any dialog with Pakistan irrespective of the situations on ground. The reaction of that cottage industry comes less from a nuanced strategic understanding of the global geo politics or national interest but more because they see peaceful relations with Pakistan as an extension of the communal secular debate in domestic Indian politics. The media debates after the visit therefore continued around these lines giving very little insight into the larger global geo politics shaping up.

What has changed?

The question however still remain unanswered as what changed on ground that prompted this visit and is Modi’s foreign policy on Pakistan an extension of Manmohan Singh’s era. For years Indian foreign policy could be described in black and white. The moment we wanted to have good relations with a country it was considered as an obligation that we would bend our backs to pull a red carpet for them and would not build any strategic levers against them to invite their ire. So relations with china were built on the cost of not building any infrastructure on the border , uncomfortable questions on border transgressions were ignored and any military alliances with other countries were avoided just not to antagonize china. The relations with Pakistan had to be paid in different currency , terrorist attacks had to be ignored, our strategic interest in Afghanistan remained confined to just building roads and schools winning goodwill but short of giving any strategic say in the aftermath of US army leaving back from Afghanistan. Relations with Middle East and Saudi remained outside the realm of our thought process assuming on our behalf that strategy of Middle East countries will forever remain driven from the religion rather than anything further. Pakistan gladly filled that strategic space left by India. For years India seemed incapable of making these crucial strategic choices and we therefore remained a nation reluctant to assume any significance in global geo politics much to the frustration of our allies and to the delight of our enemies. Much of this was the result of Sonia Gandhi led congress appointing a ceremonial head of a state who did not had the political capital to make those choices.

With Modi stepping in the first signs of change came right at his swearing in ceremony where he invited all nations of the SAARC nations, the thought was clear India wanted to assume the central role it had in the region. India’s engagement with China also have this new Modi imprint in it, while being pragmatic in having a good relationship with China for the purpose of securing funds for building up India’s infrastructure the Modi govt has not let his sight off the huge strategic challenge it faces vis a vis china in securing the Himalayas in north and securing Indian ocean in south. The Malabar exercises with US has now been expanded and japan has now become a permanent member of the same. The possibility of Australia joining this in near future could not be ruled out. While Chinese have made inroads to Sri Lanka India has returned the favor by laying red carpet to the Vietnamese PM during his visit to India. India has now openly acknowledged modernizing Vietnam’s armed forces and enhancing its maritime capacity. India has also extended a $100 million in credit for defense deals to Vietnam. The results are there to see Japan has given India its second most important civilian nuclear deal , while we were looking at the Chinese for funding our infrastructure it was Japan who clinched the bullet train project by offering a sweetener of a deal. No need to say that projection of power play also helps economically or the vice versa.

Inviting the US president to the republic day parade was another of such master strokes having significant strategic symbolism. And yet the relationship with US has not come at the cost of India’s firm stand in WTO negotiations or climate change deals. India has bargained hard on its position but at the same time taken leadership roles by forming a solar alliance on issues of global importance like climate change.

What has changed with Pakistan?

From the examples above could we now see a clear pattern in Modi’s Pakistan policy? In fact modi’s Pakistan policy seems to be extremely consistent with his overall foreign policy with other nations. In a very strong signal to Islamabad India has agreed to provide attack helicopters to Afghanistan in its fight against Taliban. As reported earlier in Indianexpress   Such a deal would need the tacit approval of the US, and because the equipment is of Russian origin, the transfer will have to be approved by Moscow. With so many countries coming together, notwithstanding the number and vintage of helicopters involved, the transfer assumes greater geo-strategic significance.

Even on the firing across the line of control BSF has been given a free hand in determining the nature of the response it wants to give. As reported in the dailymail from UK “It seems Pakistan’s military establishment did not anticipate a strong Indian response to the shelling at the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border. According to an internal report sent by the Indian mission in Islamabad to South Block, the Pakistani military establishment is now running for cover in the face of India’s retaliation... According to the Indian mission’s report, India’s retaliation has been so effective that Pakistani television channels have been directed by the Pak GHQ and ISI to completely black out any media coverage of the damage caused on the Pakistani side, and not to show any visuals of the casualties or damage on the ground. Even the Dawn newspaper was asked on Wednesday by Pakistan Army commanders to tone down its initial report about a few people being killed in retaliatory Indian fire...”

But what about the red lines that were drawn by cancelling the NSA’s talks over the Pakistani NSA meeting the hurriyat delegation. The Indian media has been quick to point out that it that be construed as a sign of confusion in modi’s policy against Pakistan. However that may well not be true. Modi has drawn a red line and Pakistan may willingly chose not to adhere to it, however in diplomacy such strategic handles are not meant to be used immediately. Only time may tell us how India may decide to use that red line to involve a party which Pakistan may not be very pleased to see.

Under Modi India has therefore started putting itself at the center of global geo-politics and the relationship with Pakistan should also therefore be seen in the larger global context where India is trying to project itself. While Modi’s Pakistan visit may not change the situation or the stand of countries in historic disputes it has signaled India’s intent which is ready to engage with everyone who is ready to build a conducive environment but is ready to take punitive actions and build tactical levers against them as the situation requires. India’s foreign policy is therefore no longer remaining Pakistan centric but Pakistan is becoming a part of a larger global aspiration that India seems to be taking up to build a world class industrialized economy. Economy seems to be becoming the principle factor of modern geo politics. Indian foreign policy under Modi has been changing in such a huge way and is assuming such a significant momentum that it would continue to take this path for the coming decades. If in last century India’s dogma was defined by non-alignment obscuring India in international politics the coming would have the Modi imprint in it propelling India to the center of global power politics.

Rigveda: Celebration of life, Pursuit of excellence

Rigveda: Celebration of life, Pursuit of excellence

इयं विसृष्टिर्यत आबभूव यदि वा दधे यदि वा न ।

यो अस्याध्यक्षः परमे व्योमन्त्सो अङ्ग वेद यदि वा न वेद ॥७॥ (nasdia sukta -Rigveda)

 “he is a wise man , he has read the Vedas”, it was one of those lines by my grandfather in appreciation of someone very learned that put the desire in me probably for the first time to read and understand the Vedas. Years later when I first took a Hindi translation of the book(rig veda) various thoughts passed my mind; I had some kind of imagery in my mind about the Vedas. What lied in Vedas was a mystery, Vedas have been the source of wisdom for ages; they are the foundation of India’s spiritual wealth throughout millennia’s. Right from Indian gurus like Vivekananda, Aurobindo or dayand Sarasvati in recent times to religious text like Gita , Ramayana and Upanishads all have their roots in the Vedas. It was therefore an assumption before picking up the text that it would be a fountain of spiritualism, just like Gita which in a breath establishes the principal of karma without worrying for the results there was one big message that I was looking in the Vedas. To prepare the ground I did read some of the commentaries by Aurobindo where he attempts to find higher philosophical and spiritual meanings in the hymns of the Vedas or Tilak who tries to find out geographical origins of the Aryan people who composed Rigveda. There were other questions in my mind the answers to which I was looking ahead to find in the Vedas questions regarding the origins of the trinity of the Hindu pantheon ,regarding the mention of animals , geography ,rivers, castes , tribes , kind of spiritualism ( idol worship , nature worship , dualism etc. etc.).

The journey of reading the book continued for almost 4-5 months, though it is not that voluminous however with the limited time I used to get, the numerous stories with each passing hymn and the thoughts that the book used to leave me throughout the day it was worth to go slow and ruminate on each thought invoked by the RigVeda. The book started with invoking the Agni and then story of Indra and vriata started. It took me a couple of hundred pages to realize that the most talked about god in Rigveda was not going to be lord Vishnu or Shiva but it was rather Indra. It has since then puzzled me why and how Indra lost the place he had in Rigveda’s to the trinity of brahma Vishnu and Mahesh.

The conundrum

As I progressed on my reading I must accept I rather started growing a bit uncomfortable .Vedas presented a challenge before me ,some may think it might have been the complexity of Vedas which challenged me unfortunately that was not the case it was rather the simplicity of the text which took me by surprise. The most important text of Hinduism didn’t talk the language of asceticism renunciation and spiritualism that I had grown up hearing. It rather talked of such simple things of life that it made me uneasy if it was indeed simple or was I missing something. To find the answers I went back to Aurobindo and he started making more sense. He had put it precisely what I was going through in my mind. In the opening remarks of his book “The secret of vedas” he starts with the following

“Is THERE at all or is there still a secret of the Veda? According to current conceptions the heart of that ancient mystery has been plucked out and revealed to the gaze of all, or rather no real secret ever existed. The hymns of the Veda are the sacrificial compositions of a primitive and still barbarous race written around a system of ceremonial and propitiatory

rites, addressed to personified Powers of Nature and replete with a confused mass of half-formed myth and crude astronomical allegories yet in the making. Only in the later hymns

do we perceive the first appearance of deeper psychological and

moral ideas”

It was the kungfu panda moment for me, where the secret recipe was actually no secret at all. I went back to Aurobindo and it made a little more sense, that the cows and horses ghrat (ghee) described in a text described almost 5000 years ago just did not literally meant objects as we know now but they had rather philosophical meaning. It took me some more distance ahead with my reading but the doubt remained. However it comforted me that I was not the only one challenged by the simplicity of the Vedas but the Vedas have always presented this challenge to everyone who has tried to peek into the wisdom from antiquity. It is no surprise that the earliest translations of RigVeda done by Sayana in around 1300 where the interpretation of Vedas were done with more inclination towards the ceremonial aspects, centuries later Aurobindo while he appreciated the efforts of sayana to preserve the text he strongly criticized him for the literal, incoherent translation and the narrow sense to which he had reduced the Vedas

 “..the central defect of Sayana’s system that he is obsessed always by the ritualistic formula and seeks continually to force the sense of the Veda into that narrow mould. So he loses many clues of the greatest suggestiveness and importance for the external sense of the ancient Scripture,—a problem quite as interesting as its internal sense. The outcome is a representation of the Rishis, their thoughts, their culture, their aspirations, so narrow and poverty-stricken that, if accepted, it renders the ancient reverence for the Veda, its sacred authority, its divine reputation quite incomprehensible to the reason or only explicable as a blind and unquestioning tradition of faith starting from an original error.”

Aurobindo criticized the philosophical meanings which sayana took away from his translation even though Sayana admitted that earlier such meanings existed (“multi-significance of roots ) and gave multiple interpretations of the same hymns in his original composition, however if we go deep Aurobindo rather seemed to be uncomfortable with the materialistic aspect of the Vedas  presented by Sayana. As he puts down at another place

“But if we accept the current interpretations, whether Sayana’s or the modern theory(translations by European scholars), the whole of this sublime and sacred reputation is a colossal fiction. The hymns are, on the contrary, nothing more than the naive superstitious fancies of untaught and materialistic barbarians concerned only with the most external gains and enjoyments and ignorant of all but the most elementary moral notions or religious aspirations.”

Aurobindo interpretation were much nearer to Swami dayanad Sarasvati however even they differed considerably in their interpretations of the Vedas.He puts it down eloquently

“Dayananda’s interpretation of the hymns is governed by the idea that the Vedas are a plenary revelation of religious, ethical and scientific truth. Its religious teaching is monotheistic and the

Vedic gods are different descriptive names of the one Deity; they are at the same time indications of His powers as we see them working in Nature and by a true understanding of the sense of the Vedas we could arrive at all the scientific truths which have been discovered by modern research. Such a theory is, obviously, difficult to establish. The Rigveda itself, indeed, asserts that the gods are only different names and expressions of one universal Being who in His own reality transcends the universe; but from the language of the hymns we are compelled to perceive in the gods not only different names, but also different forms, powers and personalities of the one Deva. The monotheism of the Veda includes in itself also the monistic, pantheistic and even polytheistic views of the cosmos and is by no means the trenchant and simple creed of modern Theism. It is only by a violent struggle with the text that we can

force on it a less complex aspect.

While Aurobindo had his points, Aurobindo’s argument that everything in Vedas is just limited to spirituality was again reducing Rigveda’s to just one sense. In fact Aurobindo criticism of sayana is not entirely correct. Sayana’s commentary on Vedas is not just the only complete work of translation of Rigveda but also Sayana identified the multiple roots of words and also provided multiple inferences of the same hymns (gothic, spiritual etc) wherever he could identify. However on the other side Rigveda does not even seems to be rooted in ritualistic formula and ceremonies as emphasized by Sayana.

The revelation

It started to puzzle me why did the interpretation of Vedas were so different by different people. Why did sages who wrote hymns on creation of universe, cosmology (e.g. nasdia sukta) and spirituality in the later part of Rigveda which leaves the reader mesmerized were so simple in their composition towards the start of the Vedas. Was it the result of chronology where the hymns with more thoughts were created later but even if it was true why was it allowed to stay a part of the whole work for thousands of years, what was the message that the sages wanted to pass to the generations who may be reading it many thousand years after they composed them? Did that happened by chance?

Quite unlikely, as the bus I used to take for office passed through the snow laden roads and as winter slowly started to make way for summer my mind started wondering if it was intentional. Any interpretation of Vedas will always have this battle of taking the literal meaning against taking the philosophical and spiritual meaning. If we take it literally then Rigveda mention some of the most amazing technological and medical science advancements which sweep the readers off his feet. If however we derive a spiritual and philosophical meaning then it destroys the argument that it was primitive or ritualistic, it starts to makes more sense .However going one way to read it does not hold well enough for the whole text. I therefore decided to read it as it is mentioned, try to look for an inference with much more sophisticated thoughts but if I can’t find one read it as it is. Somehow just like all others before me who arrived at a meaning which had a lot of commonality yet they held different meanings I too arrived at a sense of Rigveda’s which had something from everyone before me who had written their commentary on it and yet it contained a message so fresh and so contemporary it left me wiser.

Celebration of life

It was the celebration of life Hymns after hymns that started making a connect with me , the emphasis on rationality ,the culture of questioning ,the focus on scientific temper and the pride it took in the accomplishments of the human race.

सोमानं सवरणं कर्णुहि बरह्मणस पते | कक्षीवन्तं याुशिजः || 

O BRAHMANAPSATI, make him who presses Soma glorious,

Like Kaksivan Ausija.

यो रेवान यो अमीवहा वसुवित पुष्टिवर्धनः | स नः सिषक्तु यस्तुरः || 

2 The rich, the healer of disease, who giveth wealth, increaseth store,

The prompt,-may he be with us still.

मा नः शंसो अररुषो धूर्तिः परणं मर्त्यस्य | रक्षा णो बरह्मणस पते || 

3 Let not the foeman's curse, let not a mortal's onslaught fall on us

Preserve us, Brahmanaspati. (Hymn 18)

तद राधो अद्य सवितुर्वरेण्यं वयं देवस्य परसवे मनामहे | 
अस्मभ्यं दयावाप्र्थिवी सुचेतुना रयिं धत्तं वसुमन्तं शतग्विनम ||

5 This is to-day the goodliest gift of Savitar: this thought we have when now the God is furthering us.On us with loving-kindness Heaven and Earth bestow riches and various wealth and treasure hundredfold! (Hymn 159)

Such thoughts mentioned above where rishis made prayers for wellbeing are not few in fact Rigveda is replete with such hymns. The same hymns which initially looked primitive started to make connect with me. It was the desire of life the desire to live happily the desire to be safe , the desire to grow, the desire to progress, the desire to earn wealth, the desire to be healthy that made a connect with me. It is written in a language so simple and yet does not bind itself to one fixed meaning. Rigveda did not romanticize poverty though it urged you to help others. It touch every aspect of human life and the rishis take pride in their accomplishments and how those accomplishments ,discoveries or inventions made life easy for them at that time. From hyms on gravity and speed of light to hyms on how the sun has kept the earth and other planets of the solar system Rigveda touched every aspect of life at that time from the cycle of birth and death, cosmology, science, governance, astronomy, creation of universe, gods, medical science, married life, human relationships etc. If Rigveda would have been written today it definitely would had mentioned the great achievements we have made in the field of science, space, nuclear, digital, and cloning and other areas.

Achievements of the Ashvinikumars

युवं चयवानमश्विना जरन्तं पुनर्युवानं चक्रथुः शचीभिः | युवो रथं दुहिता सूर्यस्य सह शरिया नासत्याव्र्णीत || 

13 Ye with the aid of your great powers, O Asvins, restored to youth the ancient man

Cyavana.The Daughter of the Sun with all her glory, O ye Nasatyas, chose your car to bear her.(hymn 117)

जुजुरुषो नासत्योत वव्रिं परामुञ्चतं दरापिमिव चयवानात | 
परातिरतं जहितस्यायुर्दस्रादित पतिमक्र्णुतं कनीनाम || 

10 Ye from the old Cyavana, O Nasatyas, stripped, as 'twere mail, the skin upon

his body,Lengthened his life(restored to youth the ancient man) when all had left him helpless, Dasras! and made him lord of youthful maidens.

अजोहवीन नासत्या करा वां महे यामन पुरुभुजा पुरन्धिः | 
शरुतं तच्छासुरिव वध्रिमत्या हिरण्यहस्तमश्विनावदत्तम || 

13 In the great rite the wise dame called, Nasatyas, you, Lords of many treasures, to assist

her.Ye heard the weakling's wife, as 'twere an order, and gave to her a son Hiranyahasta.

आस्नो वर्कस्य वर्तिकामभीके युवं नरा नासत्यामुमुक्तम | 
उतो कविं पुरुभुजा युवं ह कर्पमाणमक्र्णुतं विचक्षे || 

14 Ye from the wolf's jaws, as ye stood together, set free the quail, O Heroes, O

Nasatyas.Ye, Lords of many treasures, gave the poet his perfect vision as he mourned his trouble.

चरित्रं हि वेरिवाछेदि पर्णमाजा खेलस्य परितक्म्यायाम | 
सद्यो जङघामायसीं विश्पलायै धने हिते सर्तवेप्रत्यधत्तम || 

15 When in the time of night, in Khela's battle, a leg was severed like a wild bird's pinion,

Straight ye gave Vispali a leg of iron that she might move what time the conflict opened.

शतं मेषान वर्क्ये चक्षदानं रज्राश्वं तं पितान्धंचकार | 
तस्मा अक्षी नासत्या विचक्ष आधत्तं दस्रा भिषजावनर्वन || 

16 His father robbed Rjrasva of his eyesight who for the she-wolf slew a hundred

wethers.Ye gave him eyes, Nasatyas, Wonder-Workers, Physicians, that he saw with sight

uninjured. (hymn 116)

It is interesting to see how “ Ashvinikumars” one of the most revered figures are described in Rigveda. Their achievements on creating artificial limbs, restoring youth, curing blindness and many more such hymns symbolize the focus Vedic times had on the pursuit of human excellence, though they (ashvinis) can also be symbolized as the shining of sunrise and sunset (and that’s the challenge as when do we take the literal sense and when do we switch to the symbolic and the philosophical/spiritual meaning).

Spirit of skeptical inquiry, rationality and a contemporary world

We have often heard that religion encourages blind faith and discourages the spirit of reasoning questioning and critical analysis and somewhere I thought that this view had a valid point. But this whole thought of mine was bulldozed and I was left speechless by the famous nasdiya sukta, while the scholars from the world over have been spellbound by the way the creation of the universe has been defined in this was so exact in description to the famous big bang theory I was amazed what it said in the end. I am putting here its first two lines where it starts to delve the creation of the universe but it is the last para which left me spellbound.

First two lines

नासदासीन्नो सदासीत्तदानीं नासीद्रजो नो व्योमा परो यत् ।

किमावरीवः कुह कस्य शर्मन्नम्भः किमासीद्गहनं गभीरम् ॥ १॥

Then even nothingness was not, nor existence,

There was no air then, nor the heavens beyond it.

What covered it? Where was it? In whose keeping?

Was there then cosmic water, in depths unfathomed?

Last para

को अद्धा वेद क इह प्र वोचत्कुत आजाता कुत इयं विसृष्टिः ।

अर्वाग्देवा अस्य विसर्जनेनाथा को वेद यत आबभूव ॥६॥

But, after all, who knows, and who can say

Whence it all came, and how creation happened?

the gods themselves are later than creation,

so who knows truly whence it has arisen?

इयं विसृष्टिर्यत आबभूव यदि वा दधे यदि वा न ।

यो अस्याध्यक्षः परमे व्योमन्त्सो अङ्ग वेद यदि वा न वेद ॥७॥

Whence all creation had its origin,

he, whether he fashioned it or whether he did not,

he, who surveys it all from highest heaven,

he knows - or maybe even he does not know.[9]

The nature of the skeptical inquiry and questioning that we witness here in the last two lines where the

Rishis even raise doubts on whether even the gods know or not know all the answers were simply just too overwhelming for me but it was not the only place in Rigveda where even gods are put under the boundaries of reasoning and questioning. It has since then liberated me and propelled me to think that there are no limits to the horizon of the human thoughts and accomplishments and human race is meant to go on conquer as far and wide as we allow us to think and the fountain of highest thoughts in hindu religion does not put any chains in that instead it facilitates it. The Rigveda breaks all conventional thoughts which we usually associate with the religion, from women rishis who have composed different hymns in Rigveda to the equality of women in education, their right to choose their groom for marriage (swamwar) ,widow remarriage , the composition of hymn by a supposedly rishi belonging to shudra caste , the election of the president by people, the majority of thoughts mentioned in rigveda are far more superior to the contemporary world we live in.

The question is whether this very contemporary interpretation of Rigveda is correct on my behalf. Because it was exactly this what Aurobindo resented and yet I did not find it objectionable in any manner. Why should life not be celebrated? Why should be leading a happy and prosperous life be a taboo for god. I did not saw any of those objections in Rigveda. But it is also true that your meaning from Rigveda’s can be very different from mine ,as the rishis have said “it reveals itself to the seeker “. But as I look closer I find more and more evidence on what I have felt. I see the same fundamental message when I look at the stories of Krishna and his message of karma where the focus was on man and his actions and not of some divine help and see the same celebration of life in colors of holi and lights of deepawali. Was this one of the reasons for the fall of Indra as somewhere Indra has become a symbol of divine intervention and symbolic of rituals and traditions something which was corrected by internal corrective mechanism of the religion in the story of goverdhan and Krishna where Krishna discards old tradition of offerings to Indra. The same message was repeated when Krishna does not fights Mahabharata on his own but just act as a guiding force. And same was his message to Bhsima and Drona who continued to stay stuck with traditions even when confronted with choice between dharma and adharma. As someone said “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom.” The yogis understood it long back and left us a treasure where freedom was not limited to just physical occupation but where freedom was meant to liberate you of any limitations in thoughts as well as in being. And they wrote a text which was relevant in their times but still open enough to be interpreted and reinterpreted again and again and in that effort they made it immortal.