Valentine's day, Vandalism and its future in India

Valentine's day is a celebration of love, while it is a meaningful day for most people around the world,  it is a day of harassment and vandalism for some in India.  As Indians should we feel embarrassed about it? Of course not! 

The Vandalism side of the story at - https://www.saddahaq.com/humaninterest/valentinesday/vandals-or-valentines-day

Pictures of Interfaith  couples followed by the positive side of the story and links to a few good romantic songs at - An album of interfaith couples will be set with your pictures of those couples who did not convert the one or the other. to their religious tradition. More about it at:  http://interfaithmarriages.blogspot.com/2015/02/future-of-valentines-day.html

King Akbar Married Jodabai - they remained Muslim and Hindu

 

If you are an interfaith couple and would like to share a picture, I will create an album for the same. Need to have it by 2/15 to be a part of the Album.

 Future of Valentine's day after the pictures:

Throughout the history of language, words have taken on new and expanded meanings; Valentine's Day is no exception.

From an exclusive meaningful rendezvous between two lovers, the Valentine's Day will morph into an all-inclusive romantic day. It will become a universal affection day within a decade.

Valentine’s Day is a universal expression of affection between two individuals. Love has no bounds; it is between two people in love, husband and wife, mother and son, father daughter, brother sister, brothers, sisters, friends, uncles, aunties, Grandpa and Grandma and any one you care about.

Please feel free to say happy valentine to your sister, mother, brother, daughter, dad, uncle or a friend. It is a much bigger word now than it started out to be. Take them out for dinner and send them flowers to let them know that you care if you are the only one for them at this point in life.

While we express it by presenting red roses to our loved ones, the Filipinos will break another record; the number of people kissing at the same time, Brazil will have another major festival on her beaches celebrating love. You are welcome to share other such expressions. Now there is a selfie competition going as well.

On the other side of the world, a few frustrated ones with life go to the other end. The right wingers among orthodox Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews and others will start giving religious tones to it instead of going to their place of worship and seeking God's love.

Sadly, some of you are going to feel lonely, if you miss the love in your life; you have an opportunity to fulfill it. There is plenty in you that you can give by feeding the homeless, visiting lonely patients in the hospitals or nursing homes, disadvantage women and children, our veterans... share whatever little you have with them including the time and just listening to them. When a homeless person asks, give whatever you can, that is the most affectionate thing to do, you will enrich yourselves far greater by sharing.

Whenever the word affection comes to mind, I picture my dad and recall the way he called out my Mother's name Khairun, it was filled with affection and I have always enjoyed the sound of that, it was simply soothing to hear.

I dedicate these three songs to people in love.  

Kenny Roger's, you decorated my life: I particularly like the line which says, there is no rhyme or reason that is what love is all about. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJkPFSt326c

Ronnie Millsap’s, what a difference you made in my life, 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ni1WPGEZtg&feature=fvst

Muhammad Rafi's ai Husn Zara Jaag in Urdu/ Hindi, 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_qGtHjM6Oc

and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's, aap say mil kay in Urdu/Hindi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixRn65ImoRQ

My expressions would be incomplete without honoring the poet of love, Mirza Ghalib, one of the greatest romantic poets of all time who composed his poetry in Urdu/Hindi and Farsi.

Ishk per zor nahin, hai a o aatish ghalib
Ke lagaye na lege, bujhaye no bujhe.

Affection is that flame dear ole Ghalib,
it cannot be lit or extinguished,  it just happens.

If we can learn to respect the otherness of others and accept the God given uniqueness of each one of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

Be good to your fellow beings. 

Happy Valentine's Day 

Thank you
mike
Mike Ghouse
(214) 325-1916 text/talk
...............................................................................................................................
Mike Ghouse is a public speaker, thinker, writer and a commentator on Pluralism at work place, politics, religion, society, gender, race, culture, ethnicity, food and foreign policy. He is a staunch defender of human rights and his book standing up for others will be out soon, and a movie "Americans together" is in the making.  He is a frequent guest commentator on Fox News and syndicated Talk Radio shows and a writer at major news papers including Dallas Morning News and Huffington Post. All about him is listed in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are atwww.TheGhousediary.com and 10 other blogs. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.

Why I didn't vote for BJP: Angry letter from a loyal BJP voter to Modi and Shah

This gives hopes that many a BJP loyalist have not lost common sense in dealing with fellow Indians. I am glad to see a BJP guy standing up for Christians, that's how it should be. Standing up for a fellow Indian, regardless of the caste or religion. I am glad to have read this, indeed he reflects my views and views of a majority of moderate Indians. We need more of them - to say what is right is right and wrong is wrong. 

Mike Ghouse
MikeGhouseforIndia.Blogspot.com 

http://www.firstpost.com/delhi/why-i-didnt-vote-for-bjp-angry-letter-from-a-loyal-bjp-voter-to-modi-shah-2091061.html

 Dear Messrs Modi and Shah

I am a BJP voter, as are members of my family. On 16 May, we were over the moon. On 7 February, I voted Nota.

My Modi-bhakt mother voted BJP in her constituency, but only because the candidate is a family friend. The vote was for the individual, not the party. If I had been in that constituency, I would also have voted for the person, not the BJP.

The in-laws of a close friend are not just strong BJP supporters, but have a strong association with the RSS. All of them, except one, voted AAP — even the 85-plus father-in-law, who would switch channels whenever Arvind Kejriwalcame on the TV screen. He thinks you, Mr Modi, have become too arrogant.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a file photo. PTI

We are angry with you. Very angry. And it is this anger which has led to this wipe-out of the party in Delhi. Forget the spin you are putting that the BJP vote share is intact. The fact is many of us refrained from voting for you in some form or the other.

Angry because you appeared to be taking Delhi voters for granted. That just because we gave you seven Lok Sabha seats, we would continue to vote for you even if you did not work to woo us. That you only had to come and address a few election rallies, throw around a few catch phrases and we will all line up and vote BJP.

What else could explain why you did not call for elections in Delhi along with that of other state assemblies? Kejriwal and AAP had started working for assembly elections almost as soon as the Lok Sabha elections were over. We could all see the party working on the ground and were apprehensive that they would recover lost ground. But you ignored those signals. You could have called elections after the BJP did exceedingly well in those state assembly elections. Delhi elections could have been called along with Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand elections. But you did nothing and allowed AAP working quietly but surely to gain strength.

What else could explain why you did not address the many civic issues Delhi faces — especially issues related to the lower middle class that AAP targets – even though Delhi was under central rule and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi was dominated by your party? You had eight months, control of the Delhi government and the urban local body and you did zilch. Sheila Dixit asked "who is Arvind Kejriwal" and paid the price. Neither of you used such words, but completely ignoring the AAP was something very similar and now you have paid the price.

I am angry because of the humiliation of Delhi’s leaders who have devoted their lives to working for the party. Many of these people have built up personal relations with their constituents. When Harsh Vardhan was shifted out of the health ministry, many of us were glad that he is being freed up for the Delhi elections. But that did not happen. You put him in an insignificant portfolio and kept him there. And on top of that you parachute Kiran Bedi as chief ministerial candidate. I decided on Nota that very day. My mother got completely put off when Bedi summoned BJP MPs and councillors for a meeting and started talking as if she were already chief minister. She may not even have gone to vote if it were not for personal relations with the candidate.

You may now blame it on internal sabotage. There was no need for sabotage. That one act had completely demoralised party workers and put off steady supporters/sympathisers. And this kind of mood spreads.

Perhaps Bedi was brought in because of the squabbling in the Delhi unit of the party. But it doesn’t say very much for either of you if you have failed to put an end to this wrangling. Many of the young-ish upstarts would not have dared to openly jockey for the chief minister’s post if you had put your weight behind older leaders who inspired confidence among many of us. But you did not do so.

I am angry with your taking in people from AAP, especially Shazia Ilmi and Kiran Bedi. Shazia Ilmi had attacked you, Mr Modi, savagely when she was in AAP. How could she be allowed into the party?

I am also angry with you for your failure to check the Hindutva fringe elements and condemn 'ramzadon vs haramzadon' kind of remarks. Your statement in Parliament seeking to rationalise the remark in the light of the minister’s background was shameful. Like I said, I come from a BJP supporting family, but such remarks do not go down well with many like us. This kind of polarisation may work in the hinterlands of large states, not in a city like Delhi.

I was also puzzled by your silence on the church attacks. When the first attack in Trilokpuri happened, I sensed something fishy. The Jan Sangh and the BJP have been in a dominant position in Delhi ever since I can remember, but churches have never been targeted. Why was it happening suddenly now? This was clearly a mischievous attempt at communal polarisation and to show that minorities were in danger under a BJP government. But there was no attempt to show up the people behind these attacks. Which led to either of two conclusions. One, that some Hindu fringe outfits were behind these attacks and that is why you were silent. Two, the government’s intelligence machinery was not up to the task. Neither of the two scenarios inspired any confidence in your government.

Or did you hope that even though Hindu groups were not behind the attacks, your silence would reap you some electoral gains from the Hindus? If you did, that was a mistake. Because that lost you a lot of votes that would otherwise have gone to the Congress. Some Christian friends of mine had voted for you in May. That is another reason I am angry. You should have gone aggressively after the Congress votes immediately after the Lok Sabha elections, but you chose to ignore Delhi and focus on other states.

In your effort for a Congress-mukt Bharat, what you gave us was a BJP-mukt Delhi.

None of us expected the BJP to do so badly. We are not deriving vicarious pleasure out of this, as Congress sympathisers are. But there is a certain indifference to the BJP’s plight, a sense that this was inevitable given the way the two of you treated Delhi-ites – as a little child that would rush to oblige you whenever you asked. That was your big mistake.

An angry Delhi BJP voter

India Elections: Congratulations to the people of Delhi for electing the Aam Aadmi Party

Congratulations to the Aam Aadmi Party for winning the elections for Delhi State, it is indeed a landslide victory, but not a good victory for the state. It is a slaughterous victory for democracy by giving 67 out of 70 seats to one party. My biggest disappointment is the future of this kind of democracy where there is no room for opposition.

If you look at the history of democracies be it India, Israel, UK or USA, all the evil wars and implementation of bad policies have been occurred with such majorities. We have got to create a movement where we give majority to a party in each house to cause debates before decisions are made. This will guarantee us the public that we do not have sheepish representatives, but the ones who debate the merits of a bill.

The entire BJP juggernaut was rejected by the Delhi Public. Never in the history of India, the entire national machinery, and 120 cabinet Ministers and the Prime Minister focused on winning the election in the state of Delhi.

Modi has failed the Indians – a lot is written about his inability to control the extremists in his party. This is the first sign of reality catching up with BJP. He cannot help himself, he is not trained to be an inclusive individual, he is trying hard but his RSS Madrasa education prevents him from being inclusive.

Meanwhile, Indians are getting sick of BJP - they promised to focus on prosperity but ended up messing up with social structure - 5 churches were burnt in New Delhi and forced conversions of Muslims is going on, and Mr. Modi has remained silent. This is a pay back and hope Mr. Modi learns.

The problem with Modi is he has got too many Chamchas (sycophants) who blindly praise and even worship him, and perhaps keep him misinformed. It will all accumulate to his ungraceful fall. What he needs is people who are critical of him, that will cause him to be on his toes and succeed in his sab ka sath sab ka vikas goal. On my part I will be critical of him and keep him on his toes. I may look bad to the Chamchas, but that is the right thing to do, than let him fall. If he succeeds, all of us will.

If Mr. Modi does not control the extremists in his party, he is doomed to lose more and the majority of Indians will not cry over it.

I am pleased to add the following incisive analysis by Dr. Amal Mukherjee. I urge Modi supporters to be critical. The greatest enemies of Modi are his Chamchas, defending him on everything he does without realizing its effects on the social cohesion of India. Chamchagiri is the ugliest thing one can do to a leader, be the best citizens of India and criticize where necessary and praise where it is deserved, if not he will fall ungracefully from the esteem you have given him.

==================
67/3 in Delhi, What went wrong for the BJP?
- Inadequate water and electricity in the Capital.
- Failure of law and order
- PM's inability to reign in the so-called fringe / extremist elements.
- Failure to improve the environmental quality of life .
- Ghar wapsi , forced conversions , church attacks .
- Perception-disconnect between the common man and the PM's personal life-style. ( I think this is a bit over-the-top , but the common man has his own notions + his vote ).
- More time spent with foreign dignitaries in India as well as in abroad and with the corporate honchos, less time with the common man on road.
- Name calling of the AAP leaders, especially of AK, by the BJP leaders - backfired on them.
- Hollow promises by BJP leaders (black money etc.), especially by NAMO, before the general election, not fulfilled, made it worse by Jaitley's song and dance.

It is time for BJP to do some serious introspection and soul searching. Basking in the glory of their general election win is gone. They need to break some new ground.
AAP must fulfill their commitments also otherwise soon they will be kicked out. Indian voters are very intelligent and cannot be fooled. Money cannot buy them anymore. Those days of Congress malpractice have long gone.

Amal
==================

Disappointment

As an Indian deeply committed to democracy in India, I am disappointed that we do not have a strong opposition. A strong opposition keeps the government on its toes, and at least somewhat accountable. Fascism takes root when the government has huge majority and huge mandate; it is the most dangerous thing for a nation to give full powers to a single party.

Now that AAP has this mandate, from here on I will be extremely critical of them, that is the patriotic thing to do to prevent the nation from going to dogs. I will be Critical of Modi government as well, even though I spoke favarobly about Modi in the beginning, listening to his thoughtful speeches. I urge Modi supporters to be critical, if not he will fall ungracefully from the esteem he has earned. Modi should speak out against radicalism from his party, and not be a goonga.

About Modi - still to be updated. http://mikeghouse.net/NarendraModi.asp

If Mr. Modi does not control the extremists in his party, he is doomed to lose more and the majority of Indians will not cry over it.

Mike Ghouse
www.MikeGhouse.net

About Modi - still to be updated. http://mikeghouse.net/NarendraModi.asp

Mike Ghouse
www.MikeGhouse.net

Indian Democracy Elections and a Qawwali

MikeGhouseforIndia.blogspot.com

As an Indian deeply committed to democracy in India, not the theocracy that will sink every one of us in the end, I hope and pray that the people of Delhi have voted for AAP.  We will wait for the results. Whatever the outcome of Delhi Elections, we have to live with it.

We need a strong opposition to keep the government on its toes, and at least somewhat accountable. Fascism takes root when the government has huge majority and huge mandate; it is the most dangerous thing for a nation to give full powers to a single party.

Radicals no matter where they raise their ugly heads simply destroy the nations – it’s happening in Iraq, and Syria, and gaining ground in Pakistan. None of us want India to become a theocracy like theirs, we want to be a nation of free people and not to be ruled by a bunch of idiots who who tell us what we can drink, eat, wear or believe.

Those radicals who think Hindutva *** Government is the way to go, will severely regret a few years down the road, and will say;

First they came for Muslims,
we didn’t care, we were not Muslims;

Then they came for Christians,
we rejoiced, we were not Christians;

Then they came for Sikhs,
we did not care, they were not Hindus;

And finally they turned it on us,

They wanted us to be obedient dogs,

and there was no one left to defend us.

The only reason I wish AAP wins is not because I like them, but I like our democracy to win and India to win.  The vote would be a reminder to Modi to bring humility in governance and let the ahankar go.

*** Hindutva is a political ideology similar to Islamists. It is neither Hindu nor Hinduism in character, just as Islamist are neither Islam nor Muslim. 

Enjoy the following political video featuring Modi, Kejriwal, Bedi and Shah.

Video link - https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153285734992580

Mike Ghouse
www.MikeGhouse.net  

The black people of India - Learn India by Mike Ghouse

I have written extensively about the nature of India’s multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-cultural society.

In an article on Republic Day a few years ago, I wrote, “We are a nation of all races, ethnicities, cultures and religions.”

Invariably a smart ass Indian objected that we do not have the black race, and I am saddened that many of us Indians don’t know much about India.  How many of us know our neighbors?

Do we know what our neighbors celebrations like Ramnvami, Paryushan, Ramadan, Gurpurab, Easter, Khordad Sal,  Ashura, Rosh Hashanah, and how many of us know the real teachings of different religions? Have we participated in at least 3 different ones?  Socially, are we really smart?


India is really a very diverse nation, as I call America and India, are God's own countries, a cosmic representation of the universe.

The Indian Ocean remains virtually untouched by modern civilization.
http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-indian-ocean-remain-virtually.html

 

Three years ago, in February 2010, Bo died, she was the last speaker of the Bo language, with her died a language of the world. She belonged to one of the oldest tribes on the earth, nearly 5000 years old tribe. A press release was issued then at http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2010/02/press-release-in-behalf-of-indians-of.html 
 

THE SIDI PEOPLE - BLACK PEOPLE OF INDIA

There is so much more to us than we have been taught. Our history is great and stretches further back than we have been lead to believe and is not exclusive to Africa. 
PLEASE SHARE THIS VIDEO WITH YOUR CHILDREN since they will not be taught this at school

THE SIDI PEOPLE - OF GUJARAT
Video - https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=606738259363319

Declare that India is God’s own country, and is represented by every race, nationality, ethnicity, language, culture and religion. We see God as one, none and many; and in every form; male, female, genderless and non-existent, being and non-being, nameless and with innumerable names, and as Indians, we should not be biased towards any one. Aspire for an India that the world can emulate; a pluralistic democracy where everyone can eat, drink, wear or believe whatever he or she wants to in her pursuit of happiness. 

My Republic Day Message to Obama and Modi

http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2015/01/republic-day-message-to-modi-and-obama.html

 

Thank you
mike
Mike Ghouse
(214) 325-1916 text/talk
............................................................................................................................... Mike Ghouse is a public speaker, thinker, writer and a commentator on Pluralism at work place, politics, religion, society, gender, race, culture, ethnicity, food and foreign policy. He is a staunch defender of human rights and his book standing up for others will be out soon, and a movie "Americans together" is in the making.  He is a frequent guest commentator on Fox News and syndicated Talk Radio shows and a writer at major news papers including Dallas Morning News and Huffington Post. All about him is listed in 63 links atwww.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at www.TheGhousediary.com and 10 other blogs. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.