Remembering Vajpayee - the Ajat Shatru, on his 96th Birthday.

 Remembering Vajpayee - the Ajat Shatru, on his 96th Birthday. Merry Christmas 

Image Credits - Wiki Commons.

25th December - the birthday of Lord Jesus Christ,  the son of God - is an auspicious day, which is celebrated the world over - in more than 150 countries, as Christmas Day. It was on this pious day that Lord Jesus - God's redemption, mercy and Grace - was born in Bethlehem and his birth marks an important epoch in the measurement of history of humanity. The period after his birth is now measured by historians as the Christian Era (CE), and the period before his birth is measured as BCE ( Before Christian Era). it was on this auspicious Christmas day - 25th December, in 1924, that Atal Bihari Vajpayee - an outstanding parliamentarian, poet, orator, political stalwart, coalition builder and the recipient of Bharat Ratna and the man who has rightly been given an epithet ‘Ajat Shatru’ (enemy less), was born to a blessed parents in Gwalior. Although the Covid pandemic has disrupted the otherwise colourful and bright celebrations the world over, including the midnight Christmas mass that was so special in Mumbai, yet the spirit of the people to endeavour the long raging Pandemic has not dimmed, rather it has only further strengthened their resolve to endear it and hopefully everyone’s prayers on this holy occasion will be answered and the pandemic ends sooner than later. While wishing all my friends a merry Christmas and seasons greetings I also take this opportunity to remember Atal ji and wish him a very happy birthday and pray for his reverential  soul to continue to rest in eternal peace in the heavenly abode, which is now home to him. 

The memory of Atal ji as a great statesman and an exemplary parliamentarian and an extraordinary opposition leader is some thing, which the whole nation will truly look up to and remember. Stalwarts like Narasimha Rao and Atal ji are now most wanted in the utterly and viciously divided ruling and opposition parties. In the current era the political parties have translated their मतभेद ( difference/ division in opinions)  into मन भेद ( difference/ division of mind) and cannot come together on any issues, including on issues of national interest. I wish, our political leaders while paying respect and remembrance to Vajpayee ji on this day also take note and emulate what former Prime Minister, Narasimha Rao, and the then opposition leader in the Lok Sabha, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, collectively could achieve that triumphant diplomatic victory against Pakistan at the UNHCR session in Geneva in 1994. Narasimha Rao had chosen a team to represent India at this important UN convention  and the team was headed by the opposition leader,  Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee.. Other members of the team included External Affairs Minister Mr. Farooq  Abdullah, the state Minister, Mr. Salman Khurshid and the Indian Ambassador to the UN, former Vice President, Dr. Hamid Ansari. Atal ji led a combative defense against the vitriolic and diabolical attack by Pakistan, who had got the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) to move a resolution at the Geneva session of the UNCHR to censure India for the alleged human rights violations in Kashmir. Atal ji and his team collectively came triumphant to heroes welcome back home in India. It was a historic occasion when India’s voice had to be heard as one voice and the ruling and opposition parties put their ideologies in the back burner to come together as one great nation to defeat the enemy. Will we ever be able to replicate this now or in near future? Time and and time alone will reveal and what you and I can do at present, is only to pray that such moment comes soon so that issues like the ongoing farmers agitation, which is threatening to further derail our economy that is already adversely affected by the Covid pandemic are resolved by the political parties together as one team India. in the interest of our nation and are not further instigated on political considerations. 

Bharat Ratna, Atal Bihari Vajpayee - former PM, Poet, politician, pragmatist orator and statesman- who passed away at an advance age of 93 on the 16th of August, 2018, after a prolonged illness, will truly be missed in current times. Although, after almost three decades of passing through an era of coalition politics, the ruling party - BJP -  has managed to get a back to back majority on its own, yet the need for coalition cannot be wished away, more so when the regional parties are getting stronger by the day across states. The BJP and the NDA leaders will know this better post the recent elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. Atal ji was master of coalition politics and had the unique distinction of successfully running a coalition government with diverse political ideology for full term. It is firmly hoped that his political strategy and coalition धर्म can serve as a beacon in the current era of bitterly divided acrimonious ridden polity. Atal ji is the first and only person, since Jawaharlal Nehru, to occupy the office of the Prime Minister of India through three Lok Sabha (1996, 1998 -2004)

Atal Ji, fondly remembered as the Poet Prime Minister of India, was blessed with brilliant oratory skills. A liberal at heart and secular in practice, Atal ji was often described by opposition parties and the critics of BJP as “the right man in the wrong party”.  His words could easily sway hearts and minds of people. It was this oratory skill that attracted innumerable people to his election rally heralding a new era for his party. BJP is now reaping the benefits of  stalwarts like Atal ji who laid the foundation for his party, which has now managed to have a back to back majority on its own strength in the Lok Sabha. I was one of those millions of Indians who were swayed by the oratory skills of Atal ji, as an young adult. I vividly remember the very first time we heard Atal ji speak during an election rally in Gulbarga (Kalburgi now). We had endured an inordinately long delay of more than 4 hours along with tens of thousand others to listen to him. That was the year 1977, a watershed year for the Indian democracy, which was grievously wounded during the Emergency. Our impatient wait turned out to be one of the most rewarding one when Atal ji took to stage. His poetic articulation of thoughts to critic his primary opponent - the indomitable Smt. Indira Gandhi, the then PM of India - was tempered by the good will of geniality contrary to what we now see, not just in the electioneering but also in the parliamentary debates. Atal ji speech was as mellifluous as his inimitable oratory skills.

The oratory skills of Atal ji was first noticed by the then prime minister Shri Jawaharlal Nehru way back in 1952. After his maiden speech in the Lok Sabha as a first time Member of Parliament in 1957, in front of Pandit Nehru, the whole of India and the world took notice of Atal ji’s oratory skills and greatly admired him as a witty and humorous orator with spark. There is also an anecdote that Nehru ji had once introduced Atal ji  to a foreign dignitary as the ‘future prime minister of the country’. It took time (4 decades) for Nehru’s prophecy to come true and Vajpayee became the head of the state on three different occasions – the first time  for just  13 days, the second for 13 months and his third and last stint, which he interestingly commenced on the 13th May, 1999, lasted the full term of five years, thus becoming the first non-Congress leader to complete a full term in office of the Prime Minister in 2004.

Atal ji, notwithstanding his political wit, humour and niceties, was a seasoned politician and an outstanding parliamentarian. Contrary to what some may feel, Atal Ji was known for his cultural moderation, liberal views and political equanimity. Vajpayee ji will ever be remembered for his contribution in ushering in the coalition era and stitching disparate alliances to form a government. The coalition era and the alliances - be it NDA or the UPA - that we are witnessing today, largely vow their genesis to Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He was the master of coalition politics who steered his party to garner regional political party’s support that ultimately became the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Atal Ji deservingly became the first non-Congress prime minister to complete a full five year term in office, a historic accomplishment considering the failed earlier attempts of the non congress governments. Atal ji’s never say quits attitude (फिरसुबह होंगी the film that he and Advani ji saw together post Atal Ji's defeat in the by-election), complemented with the efforts of his 65 years friend and fellow compatriot Advani ji, and hundreds of thousands of his party workers has perhaps paved the way for BJP and his protégé, Shri Narendra Modi ji, to form the BJP led Government with a majority of its own, just over a decade later. Vajpayee’s legacy and his contribution in ushering in the coalition era and proving that even disparate alliances could serve and survive the entire tenure of a government will continue to be celebrated.

Born into a middle class family in Gwalior on the 25th December 1924, Vajpayee’s first brush with politics came at an young age in 1942 when he joined the Quit India Movement against the British. After completing his education, he became a journalist and then joined the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), a fore runner of the BJP, formed by its founder Shyama Prasad Mookerjee in 1951. From being political secretary to Mookerjee, to raising to the pinnacle of Indian democracy of becoming the PM of the largest democracy of the world, Atal Ji has endeared all of it in his long political career, during which he was elected nine times to the Lok Sabha and also served two terms in the Rajya Sabha. He led his party (BJP) to its first national electoral victory in 1996, but his government lasted just 13 days before he resigned as the PM of India in the face of a no-confidence motion. In his famous speech in the Lok Sabha, while facing this no confidence motion against his government, Atal ji made an extraordinary speech before announcing his decision to submit his resignation to the Honourable President. I distinctly remember those words which have been etched in my memory. I am loosely translating the gist of his concluding remarks “Governments will come and go, parties will come and go parties will be elected to power or made to sit in the opposition but then he said "Desh Rahna Chaiye, Is Desh ki Loktantra rahna chahiye”. What a profound statement which must reverberate and touch the hearts and minds of the political parties so that the disruption which we see in parliament and outside comes down. 

Atal ji was returned to power in 1998 to once again form the Government and ruled for another brief tenure of 13 months forging an alliance with 22 parties, mostly regional parties, with disparate local appeal. It was during this period that India successfully conducted the nuclear tests at Pokhran and he famously rephrased Lal Bahadur Shastri’s quote जय जवान जयकिसान with जय जवान जय किसान जय विज्ञान। Conducting the Nuclear test was one of the historic moment which needed an extraordinary courage and conviction for the political leadership. Narasimha Rao Government had considered this option but before it could succeed the news had leaked out to the US and Narasimha Rao came under pressure from US President and other international leaders and the plan had to be abruptly halted. Although Atal ji succeeded Narasimha Rao as PM in 1996, his government could last just for 13 days and between 1996 and 1998, two successive prime ministers, HD Deve Gowda and IK Gujral could not muster the courage to even think of any nuclear tests. After the 1998 mid-term elections, Vajpayee once again got an opportunity to form his government heading a coalition NDA government. The first thing he did was to order nuclear tests at Pokhran, which were conducted on May 11 and 13, 1998, a delicate task which the Indian scientists accomplished with great precision putting India in the elite global nuclear club. Dr Anil  Kakodkar, who was then the Director of BARC and part of the Pokhran 2 team, has written about this exercise and also the Indo - US nuclear deal that followed, in his recently released book. India’s successful conduct of the nuclear test was something which the Americans could never take it lying down. It was therefore no wonder that Atal ji’s government collapsed within a year of the Pokhran tests during India had to face severe economic sanctions by most western powers. But then riding on this success Atal ji was once again elected to form the Government in the 1999 elections and this time his government lasted for its full term (1999-2004) and Atal ji became the first non congress PM to serve a full term in independent India. Most unfortunately although the BJP fought the 2004 elections under Atal ji’s leadership, the shining India campaign could do no help and UPA came back to power and stitched an alliance to form the government under the leadership of Dr Manmohan Singh. 

There are many anecdotal reference to the wit and poetic skills of his articulations when it comes to facing tough questions particularly on his political ideologies of which he was very proud of. However, many veterans have said even during his times that Atal ji is a good man in a bad party. The genesis for this goes back to the writing of Sardar Kushwant Singh who in one of his books had made this statement. In one of his interview with Rajat Sharma in his Ap Ki Adalat  programme when confronted by Rajat Sharma with this question, Atal ji in his inimitable style says " I love Kushwant Singhs writings, but I do not agree with his opinion. He further gives the reason for his disagreement by stating " I am good I cant be in the wrong party. If I am in wrong party, I cant be good person."  Interestingly this very case came up once in the parliament. Atal ji in one of his speech in Parliament had said that he has heard voices in the house saying Vajpayee is good but not in the right party (BJP). Vajpayee responded, ‘SO, what is it that you intend to do with this good Vajpayee’ (“To is achhe Vajpayee se aapka kya karne ka irada hai). The whole house left the whole House reeling in laughter.

There is another interesting anecdotal incident of his wit. During his bus diplomacy visit to Lahore, before the Kargil conflict, in one of his interaction with the Pakistani journalists he was confronted with a Pakistani female journalist, who told him that you are still a Batchelor, so I am ready to marry you, but with one condition that you have to give Kashmir in the customary traditions of giving gifts to the newly wed bride for showing her face. Atal Ji, in his poetic style, replied in such a way that the journalist's was silenced. He said that I am ready to marry you and also agree to your demand but you have to give the whole of Pakistan to me in dowry. 

Atal ji went into oblivion suffering from medical ailments. He finally gave up his battle for life and breathed his last on Thursday 16th August 2018. It was a truly solemn and emotional moment througout the country, as Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former prime minister of India and BJP icon, finally passed away at 5.05 pm at AIIMS Delhi, surrounded by top national leaders from all parties across the country amid tight security. The funeral procession of Atal ji witnessed some of the most moving moments with waves of humanity joining the nation to mourn his death. 

लौट के आऊँगा, कूँच से क्यू डरूँ - Laut ke aaunga, kooch se kyun daroon - (I will come back, why should I fear leaving), one of Vajpayee’s  poem was selected by the party top brass to be put up on two large flex canvasses along with a smiling portrait of Atal ji on the gun carriage, which was carrying his body. The lines sum up the emotions that many who turned up from across the country felt for their leader. Every Christmas day, when the world celebrates the birthday of the merciful Jesus, in India, Atal ji will be remembered on this auspicious day with immense love, affection, respect and gratitude. 

I am tempted to quote a statement of Atal ji, which he made while addressing one of the Indian Science Congress, where he cryptically alluded to the circuitous and procedure intensive methods, which the scientists working in Government funded scientific institutions are expected to follow. He said ‘ Our scientists are becoming prisoners of procedures rather than achieves of excellence’. Can this issue be one aspect of Good Governance, which the Honourable Prime Minister, Modi ji, has announced to be commemorated on the birthday of Atal ji? Let us wait and see.

Once again wishing you all Merry Christmas. Long  live Atal ji, you will continue to live in the hearts and minds of people of India and I earnestly hope that our political class will emulate your ideals in the larger interest of India. 

The Great Conjunction of Jupiter & Saturn - 21st December 2020 ( A rare celestial spectacle last seen in 1623) 

The year 2020 is inching towards its closure and hopefully the Covid 19 pandemic, which has rampaged the world and taken away millions of lives including that of our dear friend, Vice Admiral Srikant will begin to fade away with the ever increasing number of vaccine candidates lining up to be introduced into the health care system. Fortunately there is a rare celestial spectacle - The Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn - that is now getting played out in the evening sky and hopefully it helps us in diverting our attention from that singularity of Covid focus and lifts our spirits from the depressing news of Covid 19 pandemic. This celestial spectacle of the great conjunction of the Jupiter and Saturn,  which is getting enacted on the south western skies in most parts of India, is scheduled for its climax on the 21st of December - the winter solstice day. This will be one of the rarest of the rare celestial events that one can’t afford to miss more so since the last time such an incident happened was way back in 1623 and even this incident may not have been witnessed by people since the two planets were too close to the Sun. In that sense and realistically speaking the earliest previous instance of such a spectacular celestial event, which we will be witnessing on 21st December, occurred only in the year 1226. Therefore brace ahead and look up to the evening sky to get a glimpse of this spectacle.

The term Conjunction in the current context is used to describe the meetings of planets in our solar system. And when two of the largest planets in our solar system - Jupiter and Saturn, meet it is called the ‘Great Conjunction’, and on the 21st December we will be witnessing the Great Conjunction in our south western sky immediately after the sun set. The great conjunction happens thanks to the orbital paths of these two giant planets coming into alignment, as seen from Earth. It is well known that the Jupiter orbits our Sun every 12 years or so, while Saturn's orbit around the Sun takes nearly 30 years. This means that approximately every 20 years the two planets - Jupiter and Saturn, come into an alignment to form the Great Conjunction. However, it must be noted that although the Jupiter and Saturn planets will align about every 20 years and that the last such Great Conjunction in this century occurred in 2000, the Great Conjunction that will happen on the 21st December, 2020, will be the most spectacular of most of such Great Conjunctions between the two planets. Primarily because it is the closest observable great conjunction of the two planets for almost 800 years.

Therefore, let us all lift our spirit from that Covid conundrum, now that there seem to be light at the end of the tunnel both in terms of the falling rate of Covid cases and fatalities in India and so also the fact that scientists have managed to develop more than one effective vaccine candidates to combat this  pandemic.  Let us all, for the next week or so,  divert our attention from Covid to the Great Conjunction and focus on the rare celestial event and look to the South West sky every evening -  after sun set, from today to watch the two prominently visible giant gaseous planets - Jupiter and Saturn, of our solar system, inch closer and closer to each other until the D day - 21st December. On this day - 21st December, at around 11 PM Jupiter and Saturn will apparently appear as twin planets, which will be separated by a mere .07 degrees apart. This astronomical phenomenon, as stated above, is called the Great Conjunction, a relatively rare cosmic event. So please don't miss this opportunity to keep tracking these two planets in the evening sky every day, until December 21, 2020, when you will notice that Jupiter and Saturn will be a mere 1/5 of the moon-diameter apart. What an exciting moment it will be to watch this rare spectacle and hopefully the clouds will cooperate and not play spoil sport and deprive us of this unique opportunity. 

Like most planetariums and science museums and such other like minded institutions from across the globe, our Centre - Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai, too has been webcasting live telescope observation of this event for our esteemed audience, and has also organised two lectures on this subject and a very successful workshop. If any of you are priveleged to have a telescope, you can see in one view both Jupiter and Saturn and the three moons of Jupiter and one moon of Saturn in one single window of the telescope. This will truly be a momentous occasion for any one of us to see the Jupiter and its three moons and Saturn and one of its satellite in one window. To see this rendezvous, you will have to look towards the southwest sky immediately after the sunset to locate the more prominently visible planet Jupiter first and to its left will be a relatively less bright object -  the Saturn. 

The Brihaspati - Jupiter, the fifth planet in our Solar system, as stated above, takes nearly 12 earth-years to complete one full orbit of the Sun and the Shani - Saturn, the sixth planet in our Solar system, takes nearly 30 earth-years to complete one full orbit around the Sun. This means that both these giant gaseous planets - Jupiter and Saturn, come close to each other every 20 years. The next time these two planets will come close to each other will be in 2040. This celestial event is also called heliocentric conjunction. The super proximity between Jupiter and Saturn will be again visible after 60 years, i.e. 2080. When Jupiter overtakes Saturn while orbiting around the Sun, the two planets will be separated by more than a degree. But this December, the event will be different as they will be separated by just about one-tenth of a degree - almost nil.

Jupiter or Brihaspati is considered as Guru in Indian Astrology and is the largest planet in our solar system. Guru means one which is vast and great. In Hindu mythological texts all the major planets are called Navagrahas. The planet Jupiter - Brihaspati, has its own legend. The Navagrahas are worshipped as  Surya - Sun, Chandra - Moon, Mangala - Mars, Budha - Mercury, Brihaspati - Jupiter, Sukra - Venus, Sani - Saturn, Rahu and Ketu as Gods. There are dedicated temples for each of the Navagrahas and Alangudi temple in Tamilnadu is famous for Lord Brihaspati, where the lord Dakshinamoorthy is propitiated for Brihaspati and moola Shivalingam as the celestial power source for the temple. In this temple Lord Brihaspati is seen riding on a chariot pulled by eight horses and these eight horses are representing eight branches of knowledge.  Brihaspati is known as the Deva Guru of all Gods and also he is praised in Rig Veda.  Sani or Saturn is considered to be the son of Lord Surya and brother of Lord Yama. He has a chariot, or a buffalo or a vulture to ride. Sani has three hands holding an arrow, bow and javelin but the fourth one is in Varada Mudra. There is a famous Sani temple in Shingnapur, Maharashtra close to Nashik, where Lord Sani is worshipped in all his grandeur. 

Many in India are enamoured by these two giant planets - Jupiter and Saturn, now that there is an opportunity to look them up closely and literally as one, don’t miss it walk out and look up the sky to watch the great conjunction on the 21st December. Happy viewing.

Eulogy for our School Buddy and a Jewel of our batch, Admiral Srikant, AVSM, DG, Project Sea Bird (Karwar Naval Base)

Just three months ago, 16^th September, 2020, during the foundation day of the Sainik School Bijapur (SSBJ), Vice Admiral Srikant was invited by the Principal and management of SSBJ to be the Chief Guest and to deliver the 57^th Foundation Day lecture at our school, which he did so admirably. Srikant in his outstandingly motivational address to the young Ajeets, highlighted the significance of education in one’s life and he emphasised the role that Sainik School Plays in shaping the lives of the students and that he is one of those lucky ones to have been an alumnus of this great school. His speech was full of motivation to the young cadets who listened to him with rapt attention and looked up to him as their role model. It was such a great honour and privilege for all of us - the Ajeets of 1970 to 1977 batch, that our very own buddy classmate – Srikant, was invited to be the Chief Guest for our school foundation day. Here is link to my blogpost which I wrote on this occasion.

 

 https://khened.blogspot.com/2020/09/sainik-school-bijapur-celebrates-its.html

 

All of us – Tigers77, the SSBJ classmates of Admiral Srikant, and other Ajeets – SSBJ alumni, would never ever in our wildest of dreams imagined that the phrase “time and tide wait for no man” would play out its cruelty to snatch away our beloved school friend and buddy for seven years – Vice Admiral Srikant, AVSM, who bid good bye to this world at 12.45 AM today, 15^th December 2020. The Raksha Mantri in his tweet paid his homage to Admiral Srikath and said “The MoD and the Indian Navy will always remember his stellar contributions and remarkable service to the nation” Srikant was serving as the Director General (DG) of the most prestigious Navy project - Project Sea Bird (Karwar Naval Base), and was scheduled for his superannuation on 31^st of this month but then destiny had different plans for him in the heavenly abode, which is now home to him. He leaves behind his beloved wife Mrs. Sudha Srikant and his doting daughter, Shraddha and the entire Ajeet family (Alumni of the Sainik School Bijapur of which he was one) and friends and our countrymen in whose service Admiral Srikant served the Indian Navy with extraordinary distinction for nearly four long decades.

At the time of his demise Srikant was holding the most prestigious and pivotal position of the DG of the largest naval infrastructure project for India, Project Sea Bird - the 21^st Century Smart Naval Base, which is being developed at Karwar, Karnataka, which is spread over 11,300 Acres. This project when completed will provide the Indian Navy with its largest naval base on the west coast. Incidentally this will also be the largest naval base in the east of the Suez Canal. This project will be able to support several major warships and submarines and yard crafts besides housing specialized dockyard repair and maintenance facilities (with piers, wharfs, revetments, quay walls, etc.), covered dry berths for ships and submarines, new technologically advanced security and communication systems, a Naval Air Station, which would include multiple runways, hangars, housing, ordnance handling areas, services, personnel support infrastructure, etc. are some of the other facilities that are a part of this prestigious project of the Indian Navy and our dear friend, Admiral Srkant was heading this prestigious project. This is one of the many responsibilities, which Admiral Srikant shouldered admirably in his long and illustrious career of nearly four decades in the Indian Navy, in which he was commissioned in January 1982.
 
Vice Admiral Srikant is an alumnus and our batch mate of the Sainik School Bijapur – SSBJ, our Alma mater, an extraordinary residential school where we studied from 1970-77. Srikant was born on 1^st January 1960 in Bangalore and did his early education in Bangalore before his admission into the Sainik School, Bijapur in 1970. He studied at the SSBJ from class 5 to class 11 and was selected for the prestigious National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, Pune from where he completed his Bachelor of Science and was Commissioned in the Indian Navy in Jan 1982. He then joined the Submarine Arm of the Indian Navy in 1983. Admiral Srikant has held various operational appointments on three classes of conventional submarines of the Navy and commanded the first indigenously built submarine INS Shalki.  His large Surface Combatant Commands have been of Destroyer Ranvijay and larger Destroyer Delhi. He held various Staff and Administrative appointments at the Naval Headquarters, New Delhi, during his long career with the Indian Navy.
 
Admiral Srikant also holds the distinction of graduating from the prestigious United States Staff College, New Port, Rhode Island in 1995 with Distinction, standing First in the Order of Merit. He is also a graduate of the Naval War College, Mumbai (2004) and the prestigious National Defence College, New Delhi (2009) where his thesis ‘China’s Nuclear Capability’ was adjudged worthy for a prestigious Book Prize by the Ministry of Defence. One of the prestigious posting for the serving officers in Defence is a posting in Pakistan and Admiral Srikant has that distinction. He served as the Naval Adviser at the Indian High Commission, Islamabad, Pakistan during the most sensitive period from 1998 to 2002. This was the period when Operation VIJAY and Operation PARAKRAM were conducted by India and the relationship between India and Pakistan were at their lowest and the post which Srikant held in Islamabad was very sensitive and quite risky as well. He served this period admirably and his contributions during this challenging Diplomatic Tenure in Pakistan were duly duly acknowledged by the Navy, Ministries of Defence and External Affairs.
Srikant was also involved in the Nation’s Strategic Submarine Programme from 2004 to 2015.  As the Project Director, he managed the large Manpower inductions and positioning in various Technical Work Centres spread across the country. He was elevated to the position of an Admiral in 2011 and he held the Appointment of the Submarine Class Authority at Visakhapatnam dealing with Doctrines, Safety, Training, Indigenization and HR aspects of both Conventional and Nuclear Submarine Forces of the Indian Navy.  He was promoted to a Vice Admiral in April 2015. Srikant has served as the Inspector General, Nuclear Safety of Naval Nuclear Platforms and Assets. Aspects related to Nuclear Submarines’ Acquisition, Training, HR aspects, Contract conclusion with the Foreign Consultants and large scale Infrastructure development were both initiated and steered by him and the Nuclear Submarines, Arihant and Chakra were commissioned into the Navy under his direct responsibility.
 He also served as the Commandant of India’s Highest Institution of Strategic Learning, the prestigious National Defence College, New Delhi from 2018-19.  A “Draft” National Security Strategy Document was prepared under his guidance for consideration by the Govt. of India.  During the two years as the Commandant, he led High Level Delegations to South Africa, France, Republic of Korea, Australia, Nepal, Japan, Bangladesh, UAE, Israel and Singapore to reinforce the Institution’s footprints and mandate of Nation-building efforts. It was during this period that I invited him to open a new Science Odyssey Show “Aircraft Carriers – Guardian of the Sea” at our centre, which he was very kind to accept. This new show was opened by Admiral Srikant on 30^th June 2018 at the Nehru Science Centre and three of my classmates – Milind, Arvind and Pradeep Talikoti and four other Ajeets from Mumbai joined me in greeting and welcoming Srikant to Mumbai. For his meritorious service of nearly four decades, Admiral Srikant has been conferred with Commendation Medal by the Chief of the Naval Staff, and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) by the President of India. Srikant held sensitive posts in Defence, which mandated that he keeps away from public and therefore although he was a member of our TIGERS 77 SSBJ group, he was always a silent spectator who always never forgot to each of us on our birthdays and such other occasions separately.
 
Srikant was always very adventurous and a compulsive optimist and never spared any effort to achieve any goal set out to him. He exemplified this trait from school days. He was in my neighboring house - Hoysala House and this made it that much more possible for cadets in Vijayanagar house (my house) and Hoysala house cadets to meet very often. While at school he was known for his dare devilish acts one of which included his penchant for catching snakes alive. Our school was spread over 450 acres and there were too many snakes in the campus and whenever he saw one irrespective of whether it was poisonous or not, he made it a point to catch it alive and give it to biology lab. He also caught scorpions and one of the incident will remain etched in my memory. He had caught a scorpion with some babies and he was playing with the baby scorpion in his hand. One of the seniors asked him to eat it. Lo and Behold Srikant swallowed the baby scorpion live. That was our Srikant the dare devil boy from his very young days. He was one of those who came from a very poor family background. There is another incident which comes to my mind which speaks of his daringness and his compulsive optimism. This was narrated to me by Sudhir Phadnis our classmate.
 After passing his NDA exam and clearing his SSB (Service Selection Board) interview, Srikant was called for the medical examination at the Pune Military Hospital. Sudhir, who was studying in 12^th class in the Garware College in Pune recalled that one fine day Srikant landed in his hostel and that too barefoot. He had run out of all his money and wanted Rs 200/ for travelling to Delhi to challenge the medical report of Pune which had declared him unfit. Srikant, a diehard optimist was convinced that he will never be medically unfit and therefore had preferred to challenge the medical report of Pune. He travelled all alone to Delhi, where he was once again medically reexamined and declared fit and rest is history. He joined the NDA and rose to a very high level office of the Vice Admiral a three-star General.
 
Sudhir, recounted that Srikant returned the money in an envelope containing 10 numbers of 10 Rupee note and 5 of 20 Rupee note. Srikant kept in regular touch with most of our classmates including yours truly. I used our acquaintance and ensured that he accepts my invitation to open a science odyssey film Aircraft Carrier. He delivered such a wonderful inaugural lecture. Subsequently during one of my visits to Delhi, I visited Srikant in the prestigious National Defence College of which he was the head – The Commandant. Notwithstanding his pre-occupation he personally showed me the entire campus, known for its name and fame. He even asked me how he could improve the aesthetic ambiance of one of the rooms in the NDC. I guided him to the Archaeological Survey of India and suggested that since the NDC building and the proposed room is historical in nature, he may use the vintage and rare photographs of the archaeological sites of Delhi to embellish the room. He always wanted to do the best wherever he served and in whatever capacity he served.
 
There are innumerable other instances, which were shared in our batch group chats which has revealed that Srikant has always made it a point to wish everyone of us on special occasions. He also tried to find time to attend social gatherings and functions. He has attended the marriages of some of our classmate’s children for which he used to fly down and return on the same day. In one instance quoted today Srikant flew down from Delhi to Bangalore to meet our class mate V S. Patil, who is presently in US, during the funeral of V S Patil’s father. Srikant had great vision for the School, he was discussing as to what he could take up post his retirement, which was just 15 days away. He was also invited as the Chief Guest in one of the most reputed schools in Ooty – The Good Shepherd International School by one of our former teachers Shri P. C. Thomas. Just before the Covid-19 lockdown Srikant had flown to Mumbai for an official meeting in the month of February, 2020 and he was to go back on the same day. It so happened that while he was crossing the Bandra Worli Sea link, he realised that he was about 15 to 20 minutes ahead of his schedule and therefore he called me and asked me if we could meet for about 15 minutes. Accordingly, we met at the Nehru Centre and had wonderful nostalgic memories. He remembered that Satish Maneshinde, one year senior in Sainik School, has an office in Worli and asked me about it. Satish’s office was just on the other side of the road. He expressed how he had more time so that we could go and meet him. He also told me that he will come once again and that all of us meet Satish in his office. But then almighty had other plans for him.
 
Srikant took the lead role in our batch meeting to construct a memorial Ajit Dwar in memory of our batch mate Colonel Ajit Bhandarkar, who was martyred in Kashmir not before showing exemplary valour to exterminate three terrorists and in the process he was awarded the coveted Shaurya Chakra. In memory of our martyr friend Ajit all of us had united to raise the requisite funds to construct the AjIt Dwar at the SSBJ. Srikant co-ordinated entire event and he was supported by all of us particularly Arjun Misale, GS Patil, Jagdish Nandi and A N Gudi.  The Ajit Dwar was opened by Srikant himself in the presence of the Principal of the Sainik School and several of our school mates were present for the opening including Smt Shakuntala the wife of our Martyr friend Col Ajit and so also two of his sons who are now both in armed forces. Most unfortunately, I could not be one of those lucky ones to go to Bijapur for this occasion.
 
There is so much to write about Srikant that words fail to come to my mind due to the shock that we all received this morning.  On this occasion, while paying our reverential salutation to Vice Admiral Srikant, I wish to state that the whole nation and our classmates and the entire Ajeet fraternity join us in paying for the noble departed soul of our dear Srikant to rest in eternal peace in the heavenly abode, which will now be home to Srikant for eternity. Our prayers are also with Sudha Srikant, the wife of Srikant who stood by him every moment, and his doting daughter Shraddha. We pray that God give that indomitable strength and courage, which he bestowed on Srikant to Mrs Srikant and his daughter to tide over this colossus irreplaceable loss.
 
Mrs. Sudha Srikant is a home maker and is a Graduate in English, Sociology and Public Administration, who always took keen interest in various Naval Wives Welfare Association activities.  Their Daughter Shraddha holds a Master’s degree in Development Economics from the London University and presently she is working for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) at New Delhi.

Srikant was given a ceremonial cremation in the true traditions of the Indian Navy including the firing of volleys and wreath laying ceremonies and his mortal remains were confined to the holy fire at 1300 hours this afternoon at the Brar Square Crematorium.
 
Srikant, my dear friend you will continue to remain in the hearts and minds of all of us.
 
Rest in peace my friend. 

 

Maski Rock Edict : Missing link that Conclusively Connects Asoka with Devanam Piyadasi.

 Maski Rock Edict : Missing link that Conclusively Connects Asoka with Devanam Piyadasi.

Maski, a nondescript small town in Karnataka state, is located some 90 kms from my home town Raichur - the district headquarters of Maski. Maski is home to a historically significant rock edict ( Minor Rock Edict), which conclusively connects the Mauryan King Asoka with Devanam Piyadasi - one of the epithets attached to the emperor Asoka. The Maski Rock Edict and other Asoka rock and pillar edicts, which are spread across the Indian sub continent, constitute a unique branch of Indian epigraphical literature which have a special significance in the history of India,  particularly the Mauryan Empire. They offer earliest evidential records in the Brahmi and Kharoshthi scripts in several forms of Prakrit language and shed light on the great Emperor - Asoka, and his administration and religious policy and so also his love and compassion. 

Asoka (also spelled as Ashoka) is one of the world’s most remarkable rulers, whose style of administration and functioning has been revealed to us through the inscriptions that are found in rock and pillar edicts across the Indian sub continent. The rock edict discovered at Maski - known to the locals as Asoka Lipi, is classified under the category of  Minor Rock Edicts. Recently ( 13 -24th November) I visited Maski to meet my eldest sister, who had undergone a follow up surgery. During my trip to Maski I also visited the Ashokan Rock edict, which I used to visit quite frequently as a school boy with friends. My visit has motivated me to post this blog on the Maski Rock Edict.

My experience of the Asoka Lipi, during this visit was completely different. Now that I am working for the science museums for more than three decades and also have quite a number of friends in archeology, I was perhaps able to make better sense and understanding of the historical importance of the Maski Rock Edict.  Not much has changed at the Rock edict site, as far as the infrastructure facilities are concerned nor has there been any increase in the visitors visiting this site. There was neither any visitor nor any security guard or other persons at site when we visited this place. But then this very place, which I had visited many many times earlier, looked completely different to me this time around. Some how I felt that I have travelled back in time by more than 2000 years and the Rock edict inscriptions appeared to speak to me to convey their historicity and uniqueness. 

The Rock (Major and Minor) and pillar inscriptions of emperor Ashoka, who ruled most parts of India during the period 268‑232 BCE, are spread across the Indian subcontinent. These inscriptions are an important source of documentary evidence that have helped in reconstructing the history of India and also that of the great Mauryan empire, which ruled most parts of the Indian sub continent during the period 324‑187 BCE. The Ashokan rock edicts are the oldest and perhaps the largest corpus of royal inscriptions found in the Indian subcontinent. They are unique in their style and content, and form a rich source of information on Ashoka’s political ideas, ideologies and practices. The inscriptions help in unravelling the relationship between Ashoka and his new found love for Buddhism and understanding his concept of Dhamma ( Dharma). These rock edicts also help in understanding the functioning and administration of Ashoka and throw light on his relationship with Buddhism and it’s associated morals and virtues, which the King advocated to his subjects. The ‘Dhamma’ that Ashoka followed was not exactly Buddhism, but was mostly identical to it. Ashokan Dhamma appears to be a form of religious faith originally propagated by Bhagwan Gautam Buddha and it, perhaps, predates Buddhism, which spread far and wide beyond the Indian sub continent. The most significant part of the Ashoka’s Dhamma was ethics, which he attached to governance. It must be noted that during the ancient times - the Mauryan period - ethics in governance was uncommon and therefore Ashoka and his Dhamma were very unique to the ancient world. Ashokan Dhamma enshrined primacy to the propagation of morality within and beyond his empire. Ashoka also attached importance to nonviolence in his political thought and practice, especially his measures for the protection of animals, care for ecology, and his renunciation of war. The Ashokan rock edicts are a living testimony to these virtues of the great emperor Ashoka. He also introduced generosity and forbearance in politics and administration and was remarkable not only for his piety but also for his liberal and impartial dealings with his subjects. 

Most unfortunately the Ashokan rock edicts and his values and virtues that he propagated through these inscriptions were completely forgotten in few centuries, after the death of Ashoka. The Prakrit language, which was majorly prevalent during the Mauryan times, and the Brahmi and Kharosthi scripts and inscriptions used in the edicts lost their glory since the Prakrit language and the scripts were replaced by other languages by the succeeding rulers. As a result Ashokan inscriptions became mostly indecipherable and therefore the importance of the inscriptions and their moral and ethical values were lost in history and completely forgotten for several centuries. It was only during the colonial rule by the British, who were also great chroniclers of history, that an English historian James Prinsep took profound interest in the study and understanding of the Ashokan rock inscriptions. Through his painstaking research and study, Prinsep helped us to bring Ashoka back into the national consciousness. He however could do this ‘standing on the shoulders of the giants’ who preceded him in trying to understand these inscriptions. James Princep’s interest in the Ashokan rock edicts were shaped by another British scholar - William Jones.  It was around 1794 that Jones came across a Ashokan pillar with ‘strange’ inscriptions.  He soon realised that similar inscriptions were scattered across the Indian Subcontinent in other pillars and Rock edicts. Scripts used in these rock and pillar edicts was Brahmi, which had remained undeciphered for several centuries. Interestingly the Britishers referred to this script as the ‘pin man script’ owing to the resemblance of stick figures in letters that are used in these inscriptions.

James Prinsep was a chemist who was working in Calcutta (now Kolkata) Mint. He became interested in numismatics and epigraphy (study of edicts and inscriptions) and took up the challenge of deciphering the Ashokan script. His interest in numismatics and his study of the newly excavated coins issued by Indo-Greek rulers, helped him in deciphering the script used in the rock edicts. The coins that he studied contained obverse text, which was written in Greek script and the same text was translated onto the reverse side in the Brahmi script. The coins that he studied, mostly contained only the names of the rulers and the monetary denomination of the coin. Prinsep needed more clues to better understand the Brahmi scripts. After close examination of his notes, some scholars believe that the repetitive word ‘danam’ (charity or donation) found on the Sanchi Stupa (built to venerate Gautama Buddha’s relics) was the missing clue that helped Prinsep crack the Brahmi script. Danam word was common on the Stupa because Buddhist monks relied on alms to meet their daily needs. Combining the coins, edicts and other inscriptions, Prinsep was able to finally decipher the inscriptions used in the edicts. Deciphering of the Brahmi script was however not helpful in solving some of the mysteries associated with these inscriptions, primarily who the king referred to in the inscriptions was. This was because the Maski Rock Edict was yet to surface. 

Prinsep’s deciphering the Brahmi script was a major breakthrough in understanding about the Ashokan edicts, primarily the pillar edicts, which had remained illusive for several centuries. However, there was still one major puzzle to be solved to make sense of the Mauryan Empire, particularly king Ashoka. Almost all the inscriptions found across India in different Rock edicts - main and minor rock edicts - and so also in the pillar edicts, the inscriptions include one or a combination of the three epithets  given to the king, in Sanskrit, namely Devanampriyah ( beloved of the gods) Priyadarsi and Raja. Some inscriptions contained a shortened title Devanampriyah (found in Rock Edict XII and XII)  and in the Minor Rock Edict found in  Bairat  the inscriptions mention the name as Priyadarsi Raja, and in the three Cave Inscriptions the title used is Raja Priyadarshi. In none of the rock or pillar or other inscriptions the titles alluded to which king the epithets Devanampriyah or Priyadarshi belonged to. Therefore, for many years archeologists, epigraphists and historians were not sure who Devanampriyah or Priyadarshi was. This missing link or the mystery was solved with the discovery and interpretation of the Maski Minor Rock Edict, in which the inscription clearly mentions ‘Devanampriya Asoka’. This important discovery helped in reconstructing the Mauryan history and therefore the Maski Rock Edict, although it is classified as a minor rock edict that was discovered in 1915, enjoys a special status among all the Ashokan edicts. The Maski edict finally laid to rest any possible doubts on the identity of the king who was responsible for these rock edicts, which are spread across India.

As stated above, Maski lies in the Raichur district, Karnataka, and is located some 85 kilometres to the west south west of the town of Raichur. Maski has been of great interest to archeologists and anthropologists and this interest is continuing even today. This is evidenced from a recent project ‘Maski Archaeological Research Project (MARP), which started in 2010 and is continuing. Just last year, in July 2019, two researchers - Andrew M. Bauer and Peter G. Johansen from the Department of Anthropology, Stanford University, USA, and Department  of Anthropology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada, respectively,  published a paper entitled ‘The Maski Archaeological Research Project (2010–18): initial results from a multi-period interdisciplinary project on the Raichur Doab, Karnataka‘ in Current Science. This and many other research findings confirm the historicity of the town of Maski. Previous excavation of Maski, carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in the 1950s, have shown that there were human occupations in this small town, which date back to the Neolithic period ( 3000 - 1200 BCE) The excavations further revealed that the occupations have continued through to medieval period (500 - 1500 CE). The Ashokan edict is a standing testimony to the historicity of this town, which goes back to the Mauryan period. According to Rao Bahadur, Hoskote Krishna Sastri (1870-1928), an eminent Indian Epigraphist who worked for the Archeological Survey of India and is credited for his work in deciphering the Brahmi Inscriptions of the Ashoka Edict at Maski, the village of Maski was once the capital of the house of rulers. He has said that Maski inscription have revealed an interesting fact that Maski was one of the notable towns of South India as early as the third century BC. 

The discovery of the Ashokan rock edict is relatively recent. It was on the 27th of January 1915, C Beadon, an engineer who was working for M/S. Taylor and Sons Company, in the Hyderabad Nizam province, accidentally discovered the Maski Rock edict. He was searching for ores of Gold in Maski area and accidentally discovered traces of an old inscription on a natural boulder at the entrance of the spacious cave on the south western slopes of the hill, which was very close to the village of Maski. The hill has been described as a typical South Indian Grannite outcrop some 400 to  450 feet high and 4000 feet long, which was surrounded by wide stretches of cotton soil land. With the help of one Mr. Basheeruddin, then first Taluqdar of Raichur,  Beadon carefully managed to work on the concealed inscriptions and succeeded in exposing seven lines of the inscriptions, which were engraved on the rock. He suspected that these inscriptions could be of historic importance and therefore took the assistance of the Bishop of the Hutti Gold mines and managed to prepare copies of the inscription. These copies were then sent for examination to Rao Bahadur H Krishna Sastri, who was then the incharge of the office of the government of epigraphist for India in the Hyderabad Nizam area. 

The news of the accidental discovery of the rock edicts and the mysterious inscriptions reached Mr. G. Yezdhani, then Superintendent  of Archeology Government of Nizam of Hyderabad. He too visited the rock edict site in Maski and examined the inscriptions and successfully managed in tracing the eighth and last line of the epigraph. Rao Bahadur Krishna Sastri himself examined the inscription and prepared big impression of the inscriptions by the middle of 1915. He then went on to study the inscriptions in detail and published a small monograph entitled ‘The New Ashokan edicts of Maski’, with Plates. This paper was published in the same year in one of the Hyderabad Archeological series by the Nizams government. Next year J F Fleet drew attention of the scholars to the inscription with his publication which was followed by another publication on this issue by E Senart, who examined the epigraph in further details. A German scholar, E Hultzsch reedited the inscription first in German and later again in English which he published under the title ‘ Inscriptions of Asoka’ in a journal in the year 1925. 

The discovery of the Maski Rock edict site and its location is best seen in the words of Krishna Sastri, who describes the inscription and its find spot in the following words : “The cavern in which the inscribed Boulder stands is formed of a huge rock resting at various points of its periphery on other smaller ones, some of which are partly buried in the gravelly soil below. The Boulder, which is a block of crystalline grey granite of irregular shape stands at the southern entrance into the cavern, with the writing facing inwards. The surface of the Boulder has peeled off at various places, some times right up to the depth to which the letters were incised, and measures roughly 8feet 9 inches by 5 feet. At the right hand corner of the bottom, a piece of the Boulder lies separated by a big crack which must have existed already at the time when the inscription was engraved on it, since the writing is not continued on that piece as otherwise it would have been. The lines are crooked and the letters vary in size, the largest being 4 3/4 inch in height and the smallest 2 inches. The inscribed surface curves inwards as we get to the last lines of the inscription and hence, perhaps, the jaggedness and irregularity of the letters in this part of the record”.  These words resonate when one visits the site and carefully look at the inscriptions. 

The Maski inscription belongs to the class known as the Minor Rock Edicts of Asoka and is a copy of MRE I. Before the one at Maski, versions of the same record had been discovered in six different parts of India. These were published by Hultzsch along with the Maski inscription in his corpus volume in 1925. Subsequently three more versions have been discovered during the next few years and two of these sites are in Karnataka at Gavimath and Palkigunda very close to the city of Koppal, which I hope to visit next time. The Maski Rock edict enjoys a position of paramount importance, not only among the versions of the Minor Rock Edicts but indeed among all Asoka records.  It’s extraordinary significance lies in the fact that the Maurya Emperor, who is called in his other epigraphs merely by the epithets or secondary names, Devanampriya Priyadarshi Raja (the King who is beloved of the Gods, and looks upon all with love) is mentioned at the Maski Rock edict by his personal name Asoka, known formerly from some literary works and a few later inscriptions together with the epithet Devanampriya.  

I earnestly hope that the Asoka Lipi at Maski is maintained in a much better way and that the importance and significance of this edict is communicated more effectively so that it attracts at-least some visitors, which I feel is not the case now.