543 Part 2 of Godavari River Pushkaralu Festival भागं २ गोदावरी पुष्कर के नहान के लाभ 2వ భాగం గోదావరీ నది పుష్కరాలు, స్నాన ఫలం

At present pushkara River worship, ancestor worship, family-bathing Pushkara festival is going on in South India, located at about 17 degrees North Latitude, and 83 degrees East Longitude, in Rajahmundry City, Kovvur, Narsapur Towns in Residual Andhra Pradesh, Basara, Dharmapuri, Kaleswaram in Telangana. Continuation of Post No. 537. Click to go there, if you wish

It is good that tradition is respected, Rivers are reverred, Ancestors are worshipped. When compared to whiling away time in pubs with binges of gins and vodkas, the time spent on a River front, we can always treat as better-spent.

At the same time, we should not expect exaggerated results from such activities. Priests, to maximise their income (It is pure Classical Smithsonian Economics!) have a tendency to magnify perceived results beyond all reasonable proportions.

The trigger for this particular blog post has come from a promise made by a T.V. preacher on Bhakti TV Channel on 10th July 2015, at about 6 pm, that those who bathe in Godavari River during pushkaram festival, will get benefits of 100,000 aSvamEthA yAgAs (horse-sacrifices). Unfortunately, I could view the TV only for five minutes. During those five minutes, I could not hear the source scripture of the 100,000 horse-sacrifices. He might have quoted it as some skAndha purANa.

Skandha purANa seems to contain a large number of interpolations made by temple authorities and priests at the instance of the authorities, to suit their money-making needs or their rhetoric needs of mesmerising people with false beliefs and keeping them under ecclesiastical control.

REQUEST TO READERS: I do not intend to hurt the feelings of any person or group of persons. I am not a Christian Missionary or any other missionary, on the prowl to convert people. This is only an attempt at genuine self-criticism of the culture of this land.

Even VyAsa Mahabharata scripture also contains some (exaggerated or not Readers have to decide) promises of benefits of horse-sacrifices, for pious activities like bathing, charities, pilgrimages.

We shall see the horse-sacrifice benefit promise from Mahabharata scripture.

From Andhra Mahabharata, Volume 3, Chapter 2, Prose 278:--
"...వ. తొల్లి శతక్రతుండు నూఱుక్రతువులు సేయుటం జేసి పవిత్రంబున కృష్ణవేణియందు దేవహ్రదం బాడిన సర్వపాపవినాశనంబగుఁ బాండ్యపర్వతంబునం గావేరీతీర్థంబును దుంగభద్రయు సముద్ర తీరంబును గన్యాతీర్థంబును నాడి యశ్వమేధఫలంబు వడయుదురు గాయత్రీస్థానంబునం ద్రిరాత్రంబు గాయత్రీ జపంబుఁ జేసినవారికి జన్మదుఃఖంబులు లేవు పెన్నయను మహానది నాడిన మయూరహంస విమానగతులగుదురు. గోదావరీ స్నానంబు సేసిన దశాశ్వమేధఫలంబు వడయుదురు. పయోష్టియు దండకారణ్యంబును శరభంగాశ్రమంబును శుక్రాశ్రమంబును జమదగ్ని సేవితంబయిన శూర్పూరకంబును సప్త గోదావరీ తీర్థంబును నాడిన పుణ్యులు పుణ్యలోక ప్రాప్తులగుదురు...."

Above in Latin Script: tolli Sata kratumDu, nUru kratuvulu sEyuTam cEsi, pavitrambuna krishNa vENi yandu dEvahradamb ADina sarva pApa vinASanambagun, pAnDya parvatambunan kAvEri tIrdhambunu, tungabhadrayu, samudra tIrambun Adi aSvamEdha phalambu vaDayuduru. gAyatrI sthAnambunan tri rAtrambu gAyatrI japambu cEsina vAri janma duhkhambulu lEvu, penna yanu mahAnadin ADina mayUra hamsa vimAna gatul aguduru, gOdAvarI snAnambu cEsina daSASva mEdha phalambu vaDayuduru. payOshTi yu, danDakAraNyambunu, SarabhangASramambunu, SukrASramambunu jamadagni sEvitambaina SUrpUrakambunu sapta gOdAvarI tIrdhambunu ADina puNyulu puNya lOka prAptu laguduru...."

तॊल्लि शत क्रतुंडु नूरु क्रतुवुलु चेयुटं चेसि, पवित्रंबुन कृष्णवेणि यंदुनु, देव ह्रदंबाडिन सर्व पाप विनाशंबगु, पांड्य पर्वतंबुनन् कवेरी तीर्धंबुनु , तुंगभद्रयु, समुद्र तीरंबुनु, कन्या तीर्धंबुनु आडि, अश्वमेथ फलंबु वडयुदुरु। गायत्री स्थानंबुनन् त्रिरात्रंबु गायत्री जपंबु चेसिन वारिकि, जन्म दुःखंबुलु लेवु। पॆन्न यनु महानदिन आडिन मयूर हंस विमान गतुलौदुरु। गोदावरी स्नानंबु चेसिन दशाश्व मेथ फलंबु वडयुदुरु। पयोष्टियु, दंडकारण्यंबुनु, शरभंगाश्रमंबुनु, शुक्राश्मंबुनु, सप्त गोदावरी तीर्भंबुनु आडिन पुण्युलु पुण्यलोक प्राप्तुलवुदुरु।

Gist as far as Godavari River is concerned: Those who bathe in Godavari River will get fruits of ten horse sacrifices. गोदावरी नदी में स्नान करनेवाले, दशाश्वमेथ करने से लभ्य पुण्य प्राप्तित होते है। గోదావరిలో స్నానం చేస్తే పది అశ్వమేథాలు చేసిన పుణ్యం లభిస్తుంది.

What did Krishna Dvaipayana vyAsa say about bathing in Godavari, Krishna Rivers? కృష్ణ ద్వైపాయన వ్యాసులు తమ వ్యాస మహాభారతంలో ఏమి చెప్పారు ?

తతో వేణాం సమాసాద్య త్రిరాత్రోపోషితో నరః।
మయూరహంససంయుక్తం విమానం లభతే నరః ॥ 3-83-33
తతో గోదావరీం ప్రాప్య నిత్యం సిద్ధనిషేవితాం।
గవాం మేధమవాప్నోతి వాసుకేర్లోకముత్తమం ॥ 3-83-34
వేణాయాః సంగమే స్నాత్వా వాజిమేధఫలం లభేత్।
వరదాసంగమే స్నాత్వా గోసహస్రఫలం లభేత్ ॥ 3-83-35
బ్రహ్మస్థానం సమాసాద్య త్రిరాత్రోపోషితో నరః।
గోసహస్రఫలం వింద్యాత్స్వర్గలోకం చ గచ్ఛతి ॥ 3-83-36
కుశప్లవనమాసాద్య బ్రహ్మచారీ సమాహితః।
త్రిరాత్రముషితః స్నాత్వా అశ్వమేధఫంల లభేత్ ॥ 3-83-37
తతో దేవహ్రదేఽరణ్యే కృష్ణవేణాజలోద్భవే।

జాతిస్మరహ్రదే స్నాత్వా భవేజ్జాతిస్మరో నరః।
యత్ర క్రతుశతైరిష్ట్వా దేవరాజో దివం గతః ॥ 3-83-38
అగ్నిష్టోమఫలం వింద్యాద్గమనాదేవ భారత।
తతః సర్వహ్రదే స్నాత్వా గోసహస్రఫలం లభేత్ ॥ 3-83-39
తతో వాపీం మహాపుణ్యాం పయోష్ణీం సరితాం వరాం।
పితృదేవార్చనరతో గోసహస్రఫలం లభేత్ ॥ 3-83-40
దండకారణ్యమాసాద్య పుణ్యం రాజన్నుపస్పృశేత్।
గోసహస్రఫలం తస్య స్నాతమాత్రస్య భారత ॥ 3-83-41
శరభంగాశ్రమం గత్వా శుకస్య చ మహాత్మనః।
న దుర్గతిమవాప్నోతి పునాతి చ కులం నరః ॥ 3-83-42

తతః శూర్పారకం గచ్ఛేజ్జామదగ్న్యనిషేవితం।
రామతీర్థే నరః స్నాత్వా వింద్యాద్బహు సువర్ణకం ॥ 3-83-43
సప్తగోదావరే స్నాత్వా నియతో నియతాశనః।
మహత్పుణ్యమవాప్నోతి దేవలోకం చ గచ్ఛతి ॥ 3-83-44

tatO vENAm samAsAdya trirAtrO pOshitO naraha
3-83-33 mayUra hamsas samyuktam vimAnam labhatE naraha.
tatO gOdAvarIm prApya nityam siddha nishEvitAm
3-83-34 gavAm mEdham avApnOti vAsukEr lOkam uttamam
vENAyAha sangamE snAtvA vAji mEdhaphalam labhEt
3-83-35 varadA sangamE snAtvA gO sahasra phalam labhEt.
brahma sthAnam samAsAdya trirAtrO pOshitO naraha
gO sahasra phalam vindyAt svargalOkam ca gacchati 3-83-36

kuSa plavanam AsAdya brahmacAri samAhitaha।
trirAtram ushitaha snAtvA aSvamEdha phalam labhEt. 3-83-37
tatO dEva hradE araNyE krishNa vENA jalOd bhavE ।
jAti smara hradE snAtvA bhavet jAti smarO naraha.।
yatra kratu Satair ishtvA dEvarAjO divam gataha 3-83-38
agni shTOma phalam vindyAd gamanAdEva bhArata ।
tataha sarva hradE snAtvA gO sahasra phalam labhEt ॥ 3-83-39
tatO vApIm mahA puNyAm payOshTHIm saritAm varAm ।
pitru dEvarcana ratO gO sahasra phalam labhEt 3-83-40
danDakAraNyam AsAdya puNyam rAjan upspriSEt,।

gO sahasra phalam tasya snAta mAtrasya bhArata ॥ 3-83-41
Sara bhangASramam gatvA Sukasya ca mahAtmanaha।
na durgatim avApnOti punAti ca kulam naraha. ॥ 3-83-42
tataha SUrpArakam gacchEt jAmagnya nishEvitam ।
rAmatIrdhE naraha snAtvA vindyAd bahu suvarNakam ॥ 3-83-43
sapta gOdAvarE snAtvA niyatO niyatASanaha।
mahat puNyam avApnOti dEvalOkam gacchati. 3-83-44

Context in Mahabharata महाभारत में संदर्भ మహాభారతంలో సందర్భం:

Pandavas were in exile to forest, after losing their kingdom in games of dice with Kauravas aided by Sakuni. When they were in forest, Sage Narada visited them. YudhishThira worshipped Narada and pleased him. Narada asked Yudhishthira to choose a boon. Dharma Raja wanted his 'ethical duty doubts' , to be cleared by Sage Narada. Then Sage Narada narrated to him the benefits of pilgrimages and bathing in sacred places. Narada was quoting the list of the pilgrimages as advised by Sage Pulastya visited Grand Sire Bhishma PitAmaha. This list starts in verse No. 235 of the Chapter 3 of Volume of Forest (araNya Parva), and continues upto verse No. 287. Around 53 verses. Then Sage Narada advised Pandavas to take up pilgrimages.

ybrao-a-donkey's humble views वैबीराव एक गधे के विनम्र राय వైబీరావ్ గాడిద వినమ్ర వ్యక్తిగత అభిప్రాయాలు

Nannaya's Telugu translation to VyAsa's Sanskrit original is not word to word or sentence to sentence. Basics have been well served, but there are omissions and commissions, which might not have been deliberate. Full translation of VyAsa's verses I am not attempting as this blog post has already become lengthy, and has already been edited many times. I shall take up VyAsa's verses in a separate blog post in future.

At this juncture, one observation: In verse 3-83-34 marked in bold red, Vyasa is promising a benefit of sacrificing a cow "gavAm mEdham avApnOti". On the other hand, Nannaya promised benefit of ten horse-sacrifices. Vyasa has not said "ten horse-sacrifices". Nannaya mahAkavi is saying.

Of course, many of our TV viewers, and newspaper readers do not know the meaning or implications of horse-sacrifices or cow-sacrifices. I have, my self, not heard about a cow sacrifice. YudhishThira's AsvamEdha horse sacrifice in Book 15 of mahAbharata refers to bulls being bound to sacrificial stakes, but I have not heard of cows being directly sacrificed. (This will be taken up separately). Probably vyAsa might have meant sacrifice of a male-calf. (This will also be taken up separately).
aSva mEthAs (horse sacrifices) are sin-cleansing rituals commonly found in vEdas. Formal real aSva mEthA rituals were apparently reserved only to mythological kings and emperors, who used the sacrifices to prove their suzerainty by releasing a horse over the length and breadth of his empire, with an inscription fixed to its face asking those who wish to challenge the king's authority to stop it. If any challenger stops the horse, there will be a battle between the King's forces following the horses to protect it, and the challenger will be subdued. Finally, when the horse returns to the Capital completing its journey and proving King's supremacy, the horse will be used as a sacrificial animal. The horse will be slain and its pieces of fat and flesh, are thrown into a special sacrificial pire. When the fat burns, the result fumes are smelt by the King and his Queens, leading to a clean-up of their sins.

In Valmiki Ramayana we can find two more incidents. The Queen Kausalya was asked to sleep with horse for a night. During the sacrifice, she was asked to stab the horse three times with a gold knife. In Mahabharata, Yudhishthira, after the Kurukshetra war, to cleanse his sins arising from slaying of Bhishma, Drona and other elders, performed the Horse Sacrifice.

VEMANA MAHAKAVI ABOUT BATHING IN GODAVARI RIVER

A totally different view from VEmana poet, approx. 15th Century C.E., in his vEmana Satakam.

తిరుమలకును బోవ దురక దాసరి గాడు
కాశిబోవ లంజ గరిత గాదు
గుక్క సింహ మగునె గోదావరికి బోవ
విశ్వదాభిరామ వినర వేమ!

tirumalakunu pOva turaka dAsari kADu
kASi pOva lanja garita kAdu
kukka simham agune gOdAvariki pOva
viSvadAbhi rAma vinura vEma.

तिरुमलकु पोव तुरक दासरि काडु
काशि पोव लंज गरित कादु
कुक्क सिंहमु अगुनॆ गोदावरिकि पोव
विश्वदाभिराम विनुर वॆम।

(We have to understand and interpret Vemana vis-a-vis his contemporary environment, his own personal likes and dislikes, and historical perspectives. We need not always agree with him. We can leave him aside, if we disagree with him. Readers can use their wisdom, to what extent they can positively or neutrally, or negatively evaluate his views).

Approximate gist तात्पर्य షుమారు సారం: A Muslim will not become a dAsari (a devotee of VishNu, belonging to dAsari caste), if he goes to Tirumala. A prostitute will not become a virtuous woman, if she goes to kASi (VaraNAsi, Banaras). A dog will not become a lion, if it goes to GodAvari River.

A simple gist we can get from the above Vemana's verse is, we should not expect undue benefits by immersing ourselves in Godavari River, as long as we do not change our mindsets and living ethics. వేమన మహాకవి పద్యం ద్వారా మనకు అందే సందేశం ఏమిటంటే, మనం మన జీవన శైలిని మార్చుకోకుండా, మన నైతిక వర్తనను సరిచేసుకోకుండా, గోదావరి స్నానం నుండి అమిత ఫలాన్ని ఆశించరాదనేమో.

Continuation of Post No. 537. Click to go there, if you wish

(To continue सशेष ఇంకా ఉంది.).

542 How will you solve the problem of farmer suicides? किसानों के आत्म हननों को रोकने के लिये आप कैसै परिष्कार सुझाते हैं ? రైతు ఆత్మహత్యల సమస్యకు మీరేమి పరిష్కారాలను చెప్పగలరు ?

Quest: Six tenant farmers attempted suicide, and among them two persons died few days back, in a village in Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh, as the Government snatched away their livelihood, for auctioning them to maximise income. Telangana State is not lagging behind, in farmer suicides. One farmer by name Anjanaiah committed suicide in Godal Village, Balmur Mandal, Mahabubnagar District, Telangana. How will you solve this problem?

Ans जवाब జవాబు: Within the framework of Capitalism and Feudalism पूंजीवाद और भूस्वाम्यवाद परिथि में పెట్టుబడిదారీ మరియు భూస్వామ్యవాద పరిథిలో

Not possible to solve this problem. यह साध्य नहीं है। ఇది సాధ్యం కాదు.

Reason: Agriculture in India today, is highly monetised, and highly risky. Farmer has to buy all his inputs by paying money. Seed-quality, wageries of monsoons, pests, decide his fate. A week's dry spell is sufficient, to spell doom for him-her. Or a day's down-pour is adequate, to ruin him-her. Till 1947, farmers were not buying their inputs. Their farm animals, dairy animals, small animals (sheep, goats, etc.), biomass of trees in compounds, used to meet the needs of their manures. They used to produce their own seeds. For tilling their lands, they were not hiring tractors. They were either using bio-pesticides or no pesticides. As population was very less, their landholdings were large. Even after payment of 1/4, 1/3 of produce as taxes to State, they used to have surplus for consumption. All their daily needs used to be met by their farm, dairy and farm animals, small animals, domesticated fowls, vegetables grown in the home, etc.

Farmers were not incurring huge expenditures on children's school fees, electricity bills, cable TV bills, petrol for bikes, hospital expenses, cinemas, wineshops, domestic gadgets, cell phones. Today, everything is to be paid in Cash. Irrespective of crop failures, they have to generate cash for all these payments.

Consequently, borrowings both from institutional lenders, and non-institutional lenders, have become inevitable, at very high rates of interests. They borrow at rates as high as 60% to 120% p.a. from village money lenders. Our large industrialists make a hue and cry when Banks raise interest by 0.25% points. Our industrialists never borrow at rates of 60%, 120% p.a. It is a very profitable business for landlords in villages, who have good land records and land titles, to borrow from Banks and re-lend to small, marginal and tenant farmers, at usurious interest rates.

When the small, marginal and tenant farmers, fail to repay the loans, landlords and private money lenders abuse and insult not only the farmers, but also their family members. This ill-treatment, becomes unbearable, when there are series of crop failures and marketing problems, continously.

Of course, the Andhra Pradesh Government has announced an ex gracia of Rs. 500,000/- to the kith and kin of the deceased farmers. But this is post mortem, intended to subside media criticism and public outcry.



Question, प्रश्न, ప్రశ్న: Your knowledge seems to be bookish, and does not appear to be based on field-level facts.

Ans: I have worked as a Bank Field Officer both in Palnadu area (both dry and wet), as well as the Capital Region area (dry farming) of Guntur District and both dry and wet areas in Mahabubnagar District. I had also the fortune of working near Godal village, Balmur Mandal farmer suicide place, quoted above. Whatever I have written here, is based on hard realities learnt by me through close interaction with the farmers. Of course, it was about three decades back. But, the agricultural situation in India can only worsen year by year, as the population has doubled to 1.3 billion, and the lands got further fragmented.

Another unfortunate development during these three decades is: owners of lands have migrated to Cities for gainful businesses and occupations, like Government employment, trading, setting up industries, even for idle residence in the guise of children's education. In the process, they have become ABSENTEE LANDLORDS with passbooks and title deeds in their namess. Actual cultivation is done by oral tenants who do not have any written proof of their status. The Revenue Officials in the villages and the Mandals also do not change the names of the actual cultivators in the land records for three reasons: 1. The Revenue Officials cannot get proof of absentee landlordism. 2. They get annual bribes from the absentee landlords for continuing the land records in their name. 3. The village elders pressurise the Revenue officials to continue status quo ante. In the circumstances, tenant farmers become orphans in village unprotected by anybody, though they pay large amounts as rents for the land. The tenants cannot get Bank loans, as their names do not appear anywhere. The absentee landlords or the lazy landlords take the bank loans, showing the land records. When Govt. provides input subsidies, flood relief, drought relief compensations, agricultural debt relief, everything is pocketed by the land record holder, who has all the where-with-all to satisfy the bureaucrats administering the Govt. benefits.

Institutional lendings are misused by land-title holders and large farmers. Informal usurious lenders are none other than the absentee landlords and lazy landlords, who have a nexus with Banks and Govt. Officials.

Small and marginal farmers, as the quantum of lands in their own names will be very less (too small for sustenance), take more acres on oral lease. Thus small and marginal farmers often play a dual role of owner-farmer and tenant-farmer.

Summary: Existing feudalistic, Capitalistic system is not conducive to the welfare of small and marginal farmers, tenant farmers, and agricultural laborers in villages. Landholders do not reside in villages.


Question, प्रश्न, ప్రశ్న: How to solve the problems of small, marginal tenant farmers and agricultural laborers in a Total Socialist / Marxist set up, which you are keen on spreading?

Ans: All activities of production of goods and services both agricultural and non-agricultural sectors will be only in Government Sectors. There will be no private lands, businesses, industries, service institutions. Everything will be only in public sector. All risks in every activity are borne by the Government.


Question, प्रश्न, ప్రశ్న: You mean to say that there will be State Capitalism! State Capitalism failed in Communist countries and Socialist countries in the past!

There were no truly Total Socialist or Marxist countries in the past (also present). All those were dictatorships. Dictators will be interested only in their own luxuries and comforts. They have nothing to do with the welfare of the people, except when there were temporary crises and upheavals. For success of Total Socialism or Marxism, democracy of proletariat is an essential prerequisite. The proletariat should be sufficiently enlightened. The proletariat should be free from alcoholism, religion, and superstitions. Homogenization and paradigm uplift of proletariat needs to be developed at least for 20 years through enlightened teams of proletarians.

Radical changes such as removal of private property, abolition of currency notes, minimisation of number of private vehicles, abolition of private shares, abolition of banking system, have to precede or to be simultaneous with introduction of Total Socialism or Democracy of Proletariat. All this has to take place through ballots and elections only. There can be no place for violence. Every member of the proletariat should develop his awareness levels, and help other members to develop their awareness levels. Educational Institutions, Media, could have tremendously helped in this task, but they cannot do it, simply because they are owned by Capitalists and they have a stake in continuing the present exploitative set up. Why will they raise the awareness levels of the proletariat?

Question: Do you support the Andhra Pradesh Government's opposing the Palamur Project launched by the Telangana State?

AnsIn Total Socialism: This problem will not be there, as entire agriculture whether irrigated or unirrigated will be in Government Sector. Where to irrigate and where not to irrigate will be the headache of the Govt. There will be no private farmers.

Ans: In Capitalist Set up: Palamur Project need not be objected to, as long as the equitable distribution of water is managed by the Central Government, and not left to the hateful KCR & Co.

Central Government should have a clear policy on to how many kilometers distance from the River bank, water can be carried to. It should not under any circumstances allow the water to be carried to long distances, without first satiating the water needs of all the dry areas adjacent to the rivers. It will be immaterial whether they will be in Telangana or Andhra. For example without completely irrigating Wanaparti, Gadwal and Achampet areas, water cannot be taken to Ranga Reddy, Medak, Nizamabad, and Adilabad. In the same manner, without satisfying all the needs of Anantapur, Kurnool, Prakasam, Guntur adjacent to Krishna River Banks, water cannot be allowed to be taken to Cuddapah and Chittoor. Similarly without completely wetting Khammam and West Godavari Dt. dry areas, East Godavari dry areas, Visakhapatnam dry areas, Godavari water cannot be transported to Vijayavada, and then to Chittoor. Mr. Chandra Babu Naidu (his predecessor Rajasekhara Reddy) and Mr. Devineni Umamaheswara Rao (A.P. Irrigation Minister), KCR & Co. seem to have this selfish-motives, to take the River Waters to their own constituencies, while leaving all the fields near the River Banks to get scorched. River Banks should get priority. Earlier this was not possible because rivers were flowing in low vallies, and Telangana lands, Rayala Seema lands were in high-elevation plateaus. Now that, we have modern methods like Lift Irrigation, Tunnel Digging, we cannot continue the old method of releasing all the water only to Deltas. Conversely, the Delta farmers too have to discontinue their practices of wasting water. They have an erroneously belief that more water means more output which is not always correct. Even in Delta areas, the farmers who have their fields near to Canal bunds, do not show any mercy to farmers having their fields at tail ends. Consequently, tail end farming has become worse than dry land farming. A dryland farmer clearly knows that he must depend only on Rain God, and perform marriages to frogs. A tail-end farmer's life is haunted by uncertainities. We can write 1000 pages on this topic.

(To continue सशेष ఇంకా ఉంది.).

541 Why BJP couldn't stomach her coming out and talking out? श्रीमती जशोदा बॆन की उपस्थिति से बीजेपी को क्यों परेशान ? శ్రీమతి జశోదా బెన్ గారు సభకు వస్తే బిజేపీకి కంగారెందుకు ?

Ms. Jashoda Ben is the third Lady of India. (First Lady, President's wife, Second Lady Vice President's Wife, Third Lady Prime Minister's wife). Throughout the world, wives of Prime Ministers get great respect. They accompany their husbands in their foreign visits. Occasionally, they lay foundation stones for some projects / inaugurate some plants. In India Today, even petty film actresses (not petty male actors) inaugurate malls, jewellery shops. But, why the Third Lady of India is neglected? Reasons are not known. Here is a recent news report dated from Telegraphindia.com (The Telegraph newspaper, published from Calcutta), issue dated 12th June 2015 contains a contribution from Shri Basant Rawat, from Ahmedabad, dated line 11th June 2015.

Click to go to Telegraphindia.com/1150612/jsp/nation/story_25267.jsp

Briefly:

1) Namo Sea, a fan club of Shri Narendra Modi arranged a seven day event in Surat. 2) Its second day was June 4. 3) Ms. Jashoda Ben, dharma patni of Shri Narendra Modi was reported to have arrived at the place as a guest at the social awareness event. 4) Surat BJP President and two of its MLAs were said to have asked the organisers to close the event straightaway, five days ahead of the event. 5) BJP National President is said to have rapped the organisers over phone. 6) Ostensible reason for closing the event was, of course, not Ms. Jashoda Ben. But it was use of BJP symbol. The Namo Sena has no official link to BJP.

But the social awareness event was for the support of Centre's Beti Bachao, Beti paDhAo, for girl child's welfare. Till Ms. Jashoda Ben arrived, the event progressed well. Since it was stopped soon after her arrival, the brake seems to be her arrival.

Quote from the Telegraph Report:

Back at the venue, Jashodaben expressed a desire to address the gathering. "But by then we had received the summons and sensed trouble. We dissuaded her and she agreed not to speak," Goswami said.

At Pranesh's office, the organisers "were threatened and pressured into ending the function", Goswami said.

"When we demanded to know the reason, the city BJP chief asked Pathak to talk to Amit Shah over the phone. Shah scolded Pathak and asked him to leave Surat at once. He left for his home in Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh)."

Pranesh refused comment. Surat mayor Niranjan Janjhmera claimed ignorance about the incident, as did almost every city BJP official or MLA this newspaper spoke to.

For those who wish to read a Hindi news report, here is a link from Hindi.news24online.com.

Click to go to hindi.news24online.com/jashodaben-at-a-event-party-rushes-to-shut-it-19

"...'द टेलीग्राफ' की रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक नमो सेना संस्थापक और संघ-वीएचपी कार्यकर्ता संजय गोस्वामी ने बताया कि बीजेपी अध्यक्ष अमित शाह ने भी फोन पर उनपर कार्यक्रम रद्द करने का दबाव डाला। हालांकि गोस्वामी ने बताया कि ना ही प्राणेश और ना ही अमित शाह ने जशोदाबेन का नाम लिया। उन्होंने बस बीजेपी के सिम्बल का इस्तेमाल करने पर आपत्ति जताई। क्योंकि नमो सेना का पार्टी के साथ कोई आधिकारिक संबंध नहीं है।

गोस्वामी ने बताया ये कार्यक्रम बेटी बचाओ और बेटी पढ़ाओ अभियान के लिये लिये किया जा रहा था। जो दो दिनों तक आसानी से चला। लेकिन जसोदा बेन के आते ही उनके आने की खबर स्थानीय नेताओं तक 2 मिनट में ही पहुंच गयी। कार्यक्रम में जसोदाबेन ने बोलने की भी इच्छा जताई पर तब तक कार्यक्रम को बंद करने के आदेश आ चुके थे। परेशानी को समझकर उन्होंने बोलने से मना कर दिया।..."

The News24online.com also has quoted the Telegraph report as their source.

ybrao-a-donkey's humble views वैबीराव एक गधे के विनम्र राय వైబీరావ్ గాడిద వినమ్ర వ్యక్తిగత అభిప్రాయాలు

I am unable to trace this news from any other source on the entire internet, particularly the newspapers, and TV channels from Gujarat. It is not clear why this particular news has been suppressed? Our newspapers and channels allocate great space and time, for Obama and the American First Lady, the Grand son and newly born babe Grand daughter of Queen Elizabeth, the affairs of Mr. Hollande, French President, Imran Khan, Pakisthan's Opposition Leader, so on and so forth. If Salman Khan and Lulia Vantur come closer or move apart, it becomes a great news item for them. But why the Third Lady of India is neglected by the Indian Media? Can't she be allowed to talk in a small social event intended for saving Girl Child in India?

I also greatly appreciate the COURAGE of Mr. Basant Rawat, the news reporter of Telegraph, Calcutta, who sent the report.

Incidentally, I find that it is normally difficult to get email addresses. For those who wish to know the email addresses of journalists in Gujarat, here is a blog link: Click to go to jansatt.wordpress.com.

For those who wish to know the Twitter address of Ms. Jashoda Ben: @benjashoda. But this may (may not) be a genuine Twitter handle of the third Lady of India. More verifications are necessary. Everybody knows the Twitter handle of our beloved Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi @narendramodi. భారత్ యొక్క తృతీయ మహిళ శ్రీమతి జశోదా బెన్ గారి ట్విట్టర్ అడ్రస్ @బెన్ జశోదా లాగా కనిపిస్తున్నది. అయితే ఇది అసలుదో నకిలీదో తెలియదు. ఇంకా కొంత పరిశోధన చేసుకుని ధృవపరచుకోవాల్సి ఉంటుంది. మన ప్రియతమ ప్రధాన మంత్రి శ్రీ నరేంద్ర మోడీ గారి ట్విట్టర్ హాండిల్ అందరికీ తెలుసు.

(To continue सशेष ఇంకా ఉంది.).