Patriot and National Leader Overshadowed by Mahatma's Charisma :(

Today's is Gandhi Jayanthi, the day one of the greatest men to have walked on this earth was born. The man who came up with the idea of non-violence struggle, strikes and bandhs. India's father of the nation was born on October 2, 1869. Everybody who is aware of the world and its nuances will know about it and surely the billion plus Indians and few hundred million Pakistanis and Bangladeshi's will have heard of him.

Unfortunately for the billion plus Indians the Charisma of Mahatma Gandhi has overshadowed another great leader's legacy and memories. Lal Bahadur Shastri, the 3rd and one of the strongest Prime Ministers of India was born on October 2, 1904 and it is ironical that the nation hardly remembers him on his birthday. This year is 105th birth anniversary of this great leader who showed to the world in 1965 that India was not weak and will take on any power when it comes to the security and national integrity. Another prime minister of India who is strong is yet to take office. His response to China's threats is a solid example of his resolve and courage: "If China attacks India it is our firm resolve to fight for our freedom. The might of China will not deter us from defending our territorial integrity."

Lal Bahadur Shastri is also the most honest and non-corrupt individual to occupy the highest office in India. He is one individual who during his short reign as the prime minister of India worked relentlessly for the betterment of our country and its people. As a railway minister Lal Bahadur was so conscientious that he took moral responsibility and resigned when there was a railway accident in Tamil Nadu which claimed 144 lives.

Taking his example and comparing it to our recent railway ministers who don't care two hoots for those dead in railway accidents or terrorist bombings, it makes me cry tears of blood. I wish this great man were given a little more importance at least in India if not across the world.....

My Take on the Cauvery Dispute

The Cauvery water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu along with lingual and immigration conflict has been raging on since several years. I never bothered much about this dispute because I was of the opinion that this was a dispute created artificially by politicians to create and consolidate vote banks, create a lingual frenzy and gain popularity.

When the dispute was raging during the early 1990s my late maternal grandfather (may his soul rest in peace) used to euologize on his own formula of compromise and justice between the two states. His logic was simple “Maintain the same water level in the largest reservoirs in both states, Mettur’s Stanley reservoir in Tamil Nadu and Krishnaraja Sagar in Karnataka, and let the rest of the water flow freely.” At that point in time I tended to agree with him.

But after my recently acquired knowledge which I accidentally came across during my research on river Cauvery for a radio show my opinion has dramatically changed, and now I feel that Tamil Nadu’s demand for water is atrociously unjust and selfish. Tamil people by demanding water from Karnataka are in reality baying for the blood of our people.

I don’t want to get emotional and write volumes about the dispute. I would just like to state some facts and let you decide on who is right and who is wrong.

Total Land Area
Karnataka: 191,791 sq. km
Tamil Nadu: 130,058 sq. km

Total Land used for Agriculture:
Karnataka: 12.31 million hectares
Tamil Nadu: 6.28 million hectares

Total Population
Karnataka: 52,850,562 (52.8 million)
Population: 62,405,679 (62.4 million)

Percentage of total population dependent on agriculture
Karnataka: 71% (37.48 million)
Tamil Nadu: 56% (34.94 million)

Length of River Cauvery
Total: 765 km
Karnataka: 320 km
Tamil Nadu: (statistics not available)
Kerala: (statistics not available)
Pondicherry: (statistics not available)

Area of Cauvery Basin
Total: 81,155 sq km
Karnataka: 34,273 sq km (42.23 %)
Tamil Nadu: 44,016 sq km (54.23 %)
Kerala: 2,866 sq km
Pondicherry: 148 sq km

Draught area in the Cauvery Basin
Karnataka: 21,870 sq km
Tamil Nadu: 12,790 sq km

Contribution of water to the river from the states areas (Karnataka Claim)
Karnataka: 425 tmc ft
Tamil Nadu: 252 tmc ft
Kerala: 113 tmc ft

Contribution of water to the river from the states areas (Tamil Nadu Claim)
Karnataka: 392 tmc ft
Tamil Nadu: 222 tmc ft
Kerala: 126 tmc ft

Quantity of water demanded
Karnataka: 465 tmc ft
Tamil Nadu: 566 tmc ft
Kerala: 100 tmc ft
Pondicherry: 9.3 tmc ft

Quantity of water to be allocated according to Tamil Nadu
Karnataka: 177 tmc ft
Tamil Nadu: 566 tmc ft
Kerala: 5 tmc ft
Pondicherry: 0.0 tmc ft

Major Tributaries which feed into River Cauvery
Karnataka: Shimsha, Arkavathy, Hemavathy, Harangi, Suvarnavati, Honnuhole, Lakshmanathirtha, Lokapavani,
Tamil Nadu: Bhavani, Noyyil, Amaravathy
Kerala: Kabini

Capacity of large dams built across Cauvery River
Karnataka: Krishnaraja Sagar – 49 tmc ft
Tamil Nadu: Mettur Dam aka Stanley Reservoir: 93.4 tmc ft

Utilization of Cauvery Water (1972)
Karnataka: 277 tmc ft
Tamil Nadu: 489 tmc ft

Kaveri Tribunal Award (2007)
Karnataka: 270 tmc ft
Tamil Nadu: 419 tmc ft
Kerala: 50 tmc ft
Pondicherry: 7 tmc ft

The above statistics clearly prove that Tamil Nadu is seeking an unfair share of water of river Cauvery. According to the state’s claim Tamil Nadu contributes only 222 tmc ft (30 %) of water to the river, but the state wants 75 percent of the rivers water, so what if all other states involved were to die of thirst.

In terms of the tributaries which feed the Cauvery river, Karnataka contributes much more. Only in terms of gross population and land area in Cauvery basin does Tamil Nadu score above Karnataka...And of course in its unjustifiable demand for water. In all other aspects Karnataka stands head and shoulders above Tamil Nadu.

Karnataka has always been conservative in utilizing water from Cauvery river, while Tamil Nadu has been using the water quite extensively. Isn't it time they tightened their belts and started conserving water in larger quantities?

Even though Karnataka contributes (according to Tamil Nadu’s claim) 52.9 percent or 392 tmc ft of water to Cauvery river, Tamil Nadu feels that Kannadigas should receive only 177 tmc ft or 23 percent of the river’s water. I wonder whose screwed up logic this is, probably someone who has lost all his rockers or someone who is completely selfish and cruel much like the white people who murdered millions of native-Americans in the US and aborigines in Australia to establish their “New World”.

In my opinion Karnataka and Tamil Nadu’s political leaders have muddled up and created the conflict between the states. Of course the unjustifiable demand of Tamil Nadu is definitely not done… their people… at least those who are not chauvinistic, educated and have a sense of justice should look into these statistics and attempt to educate the people and stop this chaos which is causing devastation in both states… particularly in Karnataka.

Sources of statistics:
1. Wikipedia
2. Wikipedia
3. The Hindu
4. Asian Development Bank

India's National Flower comes under attack!!

Everything that is ancient, historical and related to Sanatana Dharma or Hinduism in India seems to be wrong in the opinion of scientists, secular politicians, forward thinking individuals. The media takes pleasure vicarious pleasure in bashing Hindus and Hindu practices at every possible pretext. Well this time it is India's National Flower and one of the most auspicious flowers for Hindus that is coming under attack. I read this newsreport on Times Of India in which the newspaper's reporters state that cultivation of Lotus plants are responsible for death of several tanks in the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu.

According to the article the lotus flower has become a menace in Kanyakumari, causing havoc to dozens of ponds and tanks depleting the ground water and thus leading to unbalancing the fragile ecology of the district. And these facts were revealed by none other than the Chairman of Nature Trust and a former principal scientist of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, R S Lal Mohan.

Since it comes from an eminent scientist I would say these findings might be true. But with Sonia Gandhi at the helm of the central government and a pro-Christian, anti-Hindu government in place in Tamil Nadu, I wonder if the research has been fixed?

The newsreport goes further to say that there were 3,500 tanks in the district during 1960s and about 1,050 had perished due to weeds and that weed is Lotus. I never knew that Lotus was a weed, and why does the eminent scientist refer to this as a weed and say that it has been cultivated in the same breath. When a plant is cultivated it ceases to be a weed, this is common sense. Weeds which destroy lakes are species of Water Hyacinth which thrive on surface of water and destroy lakes by cutting out oxygen supply. Lotus leaves also cover surface of water but they don't grow so dense and thickly as Water Hyacinth.

I wonder why scientists, governments, politicians, missionaires always tend to pick on Hindu practices, icons and beliefs constantly?

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