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- Denis Giles
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*Srijata Saha Sahoo
It is really heartening to find that by now; Indian Navy has established a pragmatic position in the Indian Ocean region with too many good achievements to its credit. It is continuously in the process of modernizing and expanding its fleet as well as it is in the endeavour of evolving an initiative to create a forum for the littoral Navies of the region to exchange thoughts in the area of maritime diplomatic cooperation and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief’ (HADR). This initiative is termed MILAN-an effective platform for social, cultural and professional interactions and promoting camaraderie, maritime cooperation’s and inter-operability during humanitarian missions.
MILAN started in 1995. It is a biennial gathering on Navies of the Indian Ocean region and is held for building friendship and mutual understanding between participating Navies. Till date, eight MILANs have been held, in the years 1995, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014. The event was not conducted in 2001 and 2016, as the Indian Navy was hosting a significant international event - The International Fleet Review (IFR) at Mumbai and Vishakhapatnam in 2005 & 2015 respectively. The region was recovering from the after effects of Tsunami which hit these islands on 26 Dec 2004 and therefore the event could not be organized in the year 2005.
In the first MILAN, there were five participating nations- India, Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand. In MILAN 2006, four more countries, Australia, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Myanmar participated including eight ships from seven countries, 200 Officers, 802 sailors and 21 civilians (onboard MV Mahsuri of Malaysia). This was the largest ever congregation for MILAN. A special attraction was first ever participation from a ship from the Myanmar Navy in such an event outside their country.
This time MILAN is being held at Port Blair of Andaman and Nicobar Islands from tomorrow. The eight-day event will witness a diverse mix of professional interactions, social events and sports fixtures. This edition of MILAN will also include a multilateral exercise at sea 'MILES' from 11-13 March, being conducted for the first time, in which 20 warships are expected to participate, including frontline warships of Indian Navy from Andaman & Nicobar Command as well as the Eastern Naval Command. An International Maritime Seminar based on the theme 'In pursuit of Maritime Good Order - Need for Comprehensive Information Sharing Apparatus', will be conducted where eminent speakers will deliberate upon various issues to evolve best practices for multi-lateral cooperation towards strengthening of maritime good order in Indian Ocean region.
This 10th edition will be the largest ever, with participation of 11 warships and 38 delegates from 16 countries namely Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, New Zealand, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand and Vietnam. It will be conducted under the overall command of the Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command (CINCAN) on behalf of the Chief of the Naval Staff of the Indian Navy.
The famed International City Parade, for which the Hon'ble Raksha Mantri will be the Chief Guest, would feature marching contingents from participating countries, flag trooping by helicopters, flypast by aircrafts, sky diving by Marine Commandos, dare devil display of motorcyclists from Army, Beating Retreat Ceremony, Band performances, cultural demonstration by school children and also the Naval Continuity Drill. Also, in order to ensure greater participation of the residents of Port Blair and to provide an opportunity for interaction, these visiting foreign warships will be open for visit to school children as well as the general public to provide them an insight of the prowess of these foreign warships from the Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean Regions.
MILAN 2018 will also provide an excellent opportunity to the participating navies to come together in a spirit of collaboration and mutual understanding to nurture strong ties, especially in the light that the principal maritime interest of India is to ensure and safeguard national security.
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Residents living near Arthur Road jail in Mumbai, and other jails throughout the country are sick and tired of raised voices now creating a huge din from inside jails all over. “It’s louder than fire crackers!” exclaimed one resident, talking to a newspaper reporter, “It’s like all thosethousands of criminalsinterred inside are talking at one time!”
“Yes!” said the warden of the jail, “All this noise started after the arrest of Chidambaram’s son!”
“Why should the arrest of a former minister’s son spark of so much talking?” asked the surprised reporter.
“Remember,” said the warden wearily, “he was arrested based on the testimony of a convicted murderer, a woman who allegedly killed her own daughter, tried to kill her son, buried that same daughter after burning her, and is supposed to be a pathological liar!”
“So?” asked the reporter.
“That more or less sums up most of the hardened criminals in my jail!”
“That still doesn’t explain the noise, the sudden talking jailbirds are doing all over the country!” said the reporter.
“Can’t you see?”asked the warden, “Now these fellows in my jail suspectif they make up a good enough story, they also will get better comforts in jail, have their sentences reduced, or even be set free for sudden lack of evidence! We’ve just received a confession from the convict who did the serial murders in the suburbs last year..”
“What’s his confession?” asked the reporter excitedly.
“He says that Rahul is actually a married man, who’s left his wife and pretending he’s a bachelor!”
“That won’t work,” said the reporter, “Even our present leader’s done that!”
“But this man says, she is from Pakistan!”
“Whoa! Whoa!” said the reporter, “Can I meet this man?”
“The CBI has already taken him to Delhi for questioning!” said the warden, “Meanwhile we’ve been told to install an air-conditioner in his cell!”
“I guess there must be many such tales!” said the reporter.
“I know an opposition leader who eats beef!” shouted a convict from inside the jail, and the reporter saw police officials running hurriedly to the criminal, carrying a bowl of chocolate and cookies.
“Kejriwal’s wife is the actual ruler of Delhi!” shouted another convict.
“Manmohan Singh is not really a doctor!” shouted another.
“MamtaBannerjee wears jeans and T shirts in her home!” shouted a voice from an isolation cell.
The reporter watched as officials from the premier police force rushed to each of the convicts with the same special treat, even as other jailbirds shouted even louder to get the special favours.
The reporter wrote in his report, “Residents living near jails throughout the country are sick and tired of loud voices creating a huge din from inside jails all over, but what people of India are really scared of, is soon there will be a scarcity of chocolates and cookies in the country..!”
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BY YOGI ASHWINI
Trividham narakasyedam dwaaram naashanamaatmanah | Kaamah krodhastatha lobhastasmaadetattrayam tyajet || Bhagwad Gita, Chapter 16, Verse 21 ||
Lust (kaam), anger (krodh) and greed (lobh) are triple doors to hell, which bring about the destruction of soul. One should get riddance from all three, says Lord Krishna.
Lust of any kind, whether for food, sex, power or money ties you to the physical (which is temporary) and creates veils such that you cannot see reality. Blinded by desire you chase the unreal, and before you realize you are in the ICU breathing your last. The birth wasted, and lower, far more painful one lying ahead. History is proof…it was Ravan’s lust for a woman that brought his downfall, Bhasmasur’s lust for power that destroyed him.
Anger, too, robs a man of his ability to think and act constructively. It is a sign of attachment. There is an interesting story of Japanese Samurais in this regard. It was war time and two Samurais were engaged in a fight. After a fierce fight, one of the Samurais got disarmed and fell on the ground. His opponent was about to kill him when he suddenly spat on the opponents face. The opponent put his sword back in. On being asked why he did so, he replied that had he killed the man back then, it would have been out of an emotional reaction (anger) rather than for the war. The samurai had power and advantage over his opponent, yet he controlled his anger. Had he not, he would have taken upon himself the karma of killing a person (not for war, but for self). That is the sign of a sadhak, only such a person is entitled to moksha. When negative emotions like anger take possession of the body, the person misses his/her spiritual goal and wastes his/her birth and life fast moving towards destruction. Proof of this is that when you get angry, your pulse rate shoots up as does the rate of breathing and in extreme cases, you become breathless. These symptoms are similar to those experienced by a dying person.
Greed is the opposite of nature. Nature rests on the principle of giving and non-hoarding. Sun gives light, rivers give water, plants give food and earth holds us together. If any of them becomes greedy and starts collecting for self, creation will collapse. Same is true of humans, as a microcosm of creation. It is human greed that drives men to cheat, to plunder natural resources, to destroy animal’s habitat and to abuse them. By doing this man is taking upon himself the karma of destruction of creation...hells are waiting, says Gita.
Creation functions in opposites. If there is light, then there is darkness. If there is silence, then there is sound. If there is hell, there is heaven…Gita tells us how to reach both. The opposite of these three take one to heaven.
Yogi Ashwini is the Guiding Light of Dhyan Ashram. He can be reached at www.dhyanfoundation.com
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The only difference between scams that surrounded the previous UPA government and those of the present NDA, is that all Congress scams where discovered when scamsters were within the country, while that of the BJP, after they’ve left our shores.
A guruji termed itthe Art of Leaving!
“It is a highly advanced art,” continued the guruji, “Much like the ancient Indian rope trick where the performer climbs a rope and vanishes. Now they fly into the skies and disappear.
I looked across the seas and saw Vijay Malya, Lalit Modi and now this newer Modi waving like cheerleaders at the authorities in India and put my head down in shame.“You should not feel bad!” said the guruji, “Our soil is sacred and this government has managed to keep it holy, while these criminals are polluting…”
“America!” I said.
“And England,” continued the guruji. “It’s all because of the Art of Leaving our soil is kept clean. Now all businessmen have to graduate in this course to start any business in our country!”
“What!” I exclaimed.
“I run the school,” said the guruji quietly, “and the cream of our nation’s businessmen attend it! Just look at that!” I watched with astonishment as a familiar tycoonwho had revolutionized the car industry in India was seen trying to push the monstrous front gate open. Both the guruji and I watched him struggle awhile, “Soon he will realize, it’s not muscle but grease that’s needed to open the gate!” smiled the guruji, “and that will be his first lesson, on the art of leaving!”
“Greasing gates to escape quietly!” I said thoughtfully.
“Generally, the gatekeeper!” said the guruji, “The lessons are very symbolic!”
“There’s someone fleeing with a pack of hounds behind him!” I exclaimed, “What’s he throwing?”
“Little tit bits to keep the pack of dogs at bay!” said the guruji.
“I can guess!” I said, “He’s learning to hand out bits of useless information to the press, to keep them happy, while he escapes!”
“You’re a fast learner,” said the guruji approvingly, “Can you can guess what’s happening here?” I watched as police dogs and their masters with heavy weights attached to their legs were instructed to run with it.
“Those are law enforcement, police and other government officers!” I said. “Are they learning to run with weights?”
“No!” smiled the guruji, “When they finish our course, they’d have lost their speed and will hereafter run after escapees very slowly, giving businessmenand tax evaders time to escape. Our course as you can see is also for officials!”
“Tell me!” I said, “To run a school of this magnitude must require a lot of funding?”
“We’re government aided!” said the guruji proudly, “And our success rate pleases our leaders!”
“Any awards or rewards?” I asked.
“The silence of our national leadership,” said the guruji proudly, “Is ample reward..!”
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My banker neighbor who till a year ago was the most amiable fellow in the colony, now hardly greets any of us, “How he’s changed!” sighed the secretary of the colony, “Last year, he would chase me everyday to shift my account to his bank, but now he tells me, “No fixed deposit, no Adhaar card, no account!”
There was the sound of the lift gate being closed and I watched as thesame banker walked to his car. It was a different walk from the casual friendly gait he had before, and two security men strodeon either side of him.The secretary of the colony, tried to approach him but was pushed away roughly by the two guards, “Sir, it is about the colony bank account!” shouted the secretary.
“The boss does not want to talk to you!” said one of the security rudely, “Can’t you see he has other things on his mind?”
“But it is about his own colony!” said the secretary desperately, “If we do not open, we won’t be able to manage running it!” There was no response from the banker as he spat out the wad of paan he was chewing.
A lady on the top floor screamed, “Sir your wife and I are good friends, she said she will talk to you about my husband getting a loan!”
“Sahib does not listen to his wife anymore!” said one of the security men looking up at the window,“and sahib does not like people making noise when he leaves for work!”
A moment later I saw his wife running towards the car, “Dearest, you did tell me I could open our son’s account today, didn’t you?” she screamed, but the guards held her back and I watched as the bank manager did not even glance in her direction, but continued chewing his paan. He even spat a wad in her direction.
I felt sad seeing her crestfallen face, also that of the secretary of my colony and the pair of despondent eyes that peeped from the window above my flat, when suddenly there was the unmistakable sound of police cars approaching our gates. I watched amazed as policemen jumped out and surrounded the bank manager, “Whoa! Whoa!” I whispered to myself, “What’s happening!”
“You’re under arrest!” shouted the inspector, “Please step into the van!”
“For what?” asked the bank manager with a trembling voice, his paandribblingfreely down his once spotless shirt, “Why am I under arrest?”
“Fraud!” shouted the inspector, “Nine thousand crore loan without security!”
I watched the secretary of the colony, turnto the banker’s wife, then look at the woman peeping out of her window and staring up at me, said, “No wonder banks don’t need the common man anymore, they’re into bigger things!”
“Without security..!” I said, as the bank manager’s security scooted.
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