Wednesday, 3 April 2024

Tribute to Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw

Some important days from his life
  • April 3, 1914: Sam Manekshaw was born in Amritsar, Punjab, British India.
  • Pioneering Legacy: Sam Manekshaw holds the distinction of being India's first Field Marshal, a title earned through a lifetime of exceptional service and leadership. His legacy as a military luminary made the way for future generations.
  • Early Education and Military Beginnings: Commencing his military journey with the first batch of the Indian Military Academy (IMA) in 1932, Sam Manekshaw's Early Education and training laid the foundation for his illustrious career. His academic excellence and commitment set him apart, making him an important figure for a series of key military roles.
  • World War II Hero: During World War II, Sam Manekshaw served with distinction in Burma, where his gallantry earned him the Military Cross, showcasing his mettle on the global stage. His wartime experiences shaped his strategic thinking and leadership style.
  • Key Role in the 1947 Indo-Pak War: Sam Bahadur played a crucial role in the First Kashmir War in 1947-48, showing strategic brilliance that contributed significantly to India's successful defence of Kashmir. His tactical prowess laid the groundwork for his juniors within the military ranks.
  • Insights from the 1962 Indo-China War: The 1962 Indo-China War highlighted Manekshaw's accurate observations, leading to subsequent reforms and modernizations within the Indian military. His commitment to learning from past conflicts and adapting to new challenges showcased his leadership foresight.
  • Leadership during the 1965 Indo-Pak War: In the 1965 Indo-Pak War, Sam Manekshaw's tactical acumen, particularly during the Battle of Asal Uttar, showcased his military genius. His strategic brilliance played a crucial role in India's successful defense against Pakistani forces.
  • Decisive Role in the 1971 Indo-Pak War: The 1971 Indo-Pak War witnessed Sam Bahadur's pinnacle as a military strategist, leading to a decisive victory and the creation of Bangladesh. His brilliant planning and decisive leadership cemented his legacy as one of India's greatest military minds.
  • Chief of the Army Staff: Appointed as the Chief of the Army Staff in 1969, Manekshaw's tenure focused on enhancing professionalism, discipline, and modernization within the Indian Army. His leadership style emphasized the welfare of soldiers and the need for a modern, capable military.
  • Bangladesh Liberation War and Field Marshal Title: Sam Manekshaw's tactical planning during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War earned him the title of Field Marshal, the first in the history of the Indian Army. His contributions to the creation of Bangladesh and the decisive victory highlighted his strategic brilliance.
  • Enduring Legacy: Retiring in 1973, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw left behind a legacy of courage, integrity, and visionary leadership that continues to inspire generations of military personnel. His life story remains a hope of inspiration for those aspiring to serve their nation with dedication and honor.
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Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw's Lecture at Defence Services College, Wellington on Leadership and Discipline 11th November, 1998.
  • The problem with us is the lack of leadership.…there is lack of leadership in every walk of life, whether it is political, administrative, in our educational institutions, or whether it is our sports organizations.
  • Professional knowledge and professional competence have to be acquired by hard work and by constant study.
  •  what comes next for leadership? Absolute Honesty, fairness and justice…
  • "Yes, it is my job to tell you the truth. It is my job to fight and win, not to lose."
  • A 'yes man' is a dangerous man....You have got to have the moral courage to stand up and tell them the facts .Again, as I told you before, a 'yes man' is a despicable man.
  • It is one thing to be frightened. It is quite another to show fear. If you once show fear in front of your men, you will never be able to command.
Read Full lecture (Follow the attachment) 

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कथा : विवेकानन्द केन्द्र { Katha : Vivekananda Kendra }
Vivekananda Rock Memorial & Vivekananda Kendra : http://www.vivekanandakendra.org
Read n Get Articles, Magazines, Books @ http://prakashan.vivekanandakendra.org

Let's work on "Swamiji's Vision - Eknathji's Mission"
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मुक्तसंग्ङोऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वित:।
सिद्ध‌‌यसिद्धयोर्निर्विकार: कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते ॥१८.२६॥

Freed from attachment, non-egoistic, endowed with courage and enthusiasm and unperturbed by success or failure, the worker is known as a pure (Sattvika) one. Four outstanding and essential qualities of a worker. - Bhagwad Gita : XVIII-26

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Tuesday, 2 April 2024

Tribute to Varahaneri Venkatesa Subramaniam Aiyar


Varahaneri Venkatesa Subramaniam Aiyar (2 April 1881 – 3 June 1925), also known as V.V.S. Aiyar, was born to a middleclass family of Tiruchi on 2nd April 1881. He studied Tamil, Sanskrit, English, French and Latin. He was a good wrestler, sharp shooter, proficient in all branches of athletics including swimming. He was 44 years old when he died on 3 June, 1925. It was a relatively short life. He will be remembered both as an early Tamil revolutionary and as the father of the modern Tamil short story. Aiyar was amongst the foremost Tamil writers to compose excellent short stories giving adequate notice to form, which is of supreme significance. The renowned Tamil short story writer has also translated one of the short stories, titled Kapulivala, composed by Rabindranath Tagore (in Bengali) into Tamil.

Three brilliant sons of Tamil Nadu, Poet C. Subramania Bharathi, Scholar-Revolutionary V.V.S. Aiyar and Swadeshi Steamship hero, V.O. Chidambaram Pillai were all dedicated patriots who worked with a passion, each in his chosen field for the liberation of Bharatmata. Whilst the names of Bharathi and Chidambaram Pillai are familiar to present day India, it cannot be said that it is equally familiar with the name of V.V.S. Aiyar.

V.V.S. Aiyar passed the Pleader's Examination in Madras in the First Grade in 1902 and thereafter practised as a Pleader in the District Court of Tiruchi. In 1906, he went to Rangoon, and practised as a junior in the Chambers of an English Barrister whose clientele included a number of Tamil businessmen who were resident in Burma. From Rangoon, he left for London in 1907, enrolled in Lincoln's Inn with a view to becoming a Barrister at Law. His intentions at that time was to study English music and also to learn English dance.  However, his life changed dramatically when he came in contact with Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.  He was the righthand man of Savarkar in organizing the Indian Home Rule League and giving training for a violent uprising for India's liberation.

In 1910, Aiyar resigned his membership of Lincoln's Inn. A warrant was issued by the British for his arrest and Aiyar escaped to Paris. But he had no wish to remain in Paris as a political exile. He returned to India, albeit to French Pondicherry, and there met with both Subramaniya Bharathi and Aurobindo. He remained in Pondicherry for ten years until after the end of the first World War.  In Pondicherry, Aiyar was involved in the plot to assassinate Ashe, the Collector of Tirunelveli. One of his students, Vanchinathan assassinated General Ashe. Thus, more trouble arose for Aiyar and his companion Subramanya Bharathi. It was during this period that he translated the whole of the Thirukural into English. Aiyar thought that the French Government might any day force him out of Pondicherry, and wanted to leave something behind him which might keep his memory green among his countrymen even though his body should be removed by force out of the Tamil land which he loved so dearly. He therefore set about to think as to what would be the best thing for him to do under these circumstances, taking into consideration the very short and precarious period of time at his disposal. It did not take him long to decide that if he could translate into English the shortest and at the same time the most perfect of the ancient Tamil classics, he could claim a small corner in the memory of his countrymen. He therefore set to work at it at top speed and completed it in 5 months.

After the end of World War I, V.V.S.Aiyar returned to Chennai and functioned as the Editor of the journal Desabhaktan. In September 1921 he was arrested for sedition and sentenced to 9 months imprisonment. And it was in prison that V.V.S.Aiyar wrote his magnum opus – a study of Kamban's Ramayana. He wanted, as was his personal trait, to infuse a sense of courage and heroism in people and towards this end he wrote a number of biographies of freedom fighters and warriors.  A biography of Garibaldi, the Italian patriot, was written by him as a serial in 'India'. He did a biography of Guru Govind Singh also.

V.V.S. Aiyar drowned in the Papanasam Falls in June 1925 while trying to save his drowning daughter.

On his death, Vinayak Damodar Sarvakar paid a moving tribute in the journal, Mahratta: "For indeed he was a pillar of strength, a Hindu of Hindus, and in him our Hindu race has lost one of the most exalted representatives and perfect flower of our Hindu civilisation – ripe in experience, and mellowed by sufferings and devoted to the service of men and God, the cause of the Hindu Sanghatan was sure to find in him one of its best and foremost champions in Madras….. It is the loss of Aiyar, the scholar, the friend, the noblest type of a Hindu gentleman, the author of Kural (in translation), the saintly soul whose life has been one continuous sacrifice and worship, that we so bitterly bewail today and bitterly chafe at our inability to pay a public tribute to his memory in a fashion worthy of the noble dead. Oh, the times on which our generation has fallen! The noblest sink down and are washed off to the shores of death, while the unworthy keep gaily swimming on the tides of life. But thou hast done thy duty, friend! It was for Human Love that thou lived, and died too for human love as martyr unto her. Thou knew no peace in life, oh Soldier of God. But peace be with thee in Death. Oh friend, peace be with thee and divine rest!"

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कथा : विवेकानन्द केन्द्र { Katha : Vivekananda Kendra }
Vivekananda Rock Memorial & Vivekananda Kendra : http://www.vivekanandakendra.org
Read n Get Articles, Magazines, Books @ http://prakashan.vivekanandakendra.org

Let's work on "Swamiji's Vision - Eknathji's Mission"
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मुक्तसंग्ङोऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वित:।
सिद्ध‌‌यसिद्धयोर्निर्विकार: कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते ॥१८.२६॥

Freed from attachment, non-egoistic, endowed with courage and enthusiasm and unperturbed by success or failure, the worker is known as a pure (Sattvika) one. Four outstanding and essential qualities of a worker. - Bhagwad Gita : XVIII-26

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Monday, 1 April 2024

Dr Keshav Baliram HedgewarJi

Dr.Hedgewar Transformed the Hindu Society

The B.B.C. of UK in one of its Quiz programmes had posed a question "Which is the biggest non-governmental voluntary organization in the world?" Not getting suitable answers, the quiz master himself declared that "the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu voluntary organization working in India." This was a few decades ago. As at present, the organization has expanded in multiple proportions and still growing. But very few outside Sangh circles know the name of the founder of this mighty R.S.S., Dr.Keshav Baliram Hedgewar.

Dr.Hedgewar was a unique and extraordinary person. He was a passionate patriot, an undaunted, determined, relentless practical worker, a deep and clear thinker, a versatile organizer all rolled into one. From his boyhood he struggled to free the country from the foreign yoke, adopting every method. Very honest and earnest in all his attempts, he ultimately came to a conclusion and decided to start a non political organization to mould men of character, inculcating discipline with absolute selfless dedication and readiness to sacrifice everything for the Motherland and its people. Rashtriya  Swayamsevak Sangh is the distinctive, genuine end product of the intense Tapas of such an unparalleled practical worker.  

Organising the Hindu society was not an easy job. The great king maker Arya Chanakya has made a significant statement that "The inactivity of the good Hindu has caused greater havoc and damage to the Nation than the intense activities of the evil minded and barbaric wily invaders." Every Hindu was intelligent but dormant and not practical. Moreover the Hindu society was amorphous with so many diversities and divisions.

Dr.Hedgewar took up this challenging task of transforming the Hindu. The timid   and docile Hindu was to be made a virile, active and assertive Hindu. Dr.Hedgewar's instrument of transformation was a simple programme of bringing together young ones of a locality for one hour at a particular place and time. This was also not an easy task. But Dr.Hedgewar's tireless efforts of going to the homes of every person and informally having a personal talk with full of affection, his transparent sincerity and intense love for the Motherland, made every person he contacted submit and follow him and the daily 'Shakha' was started. Shakha begins with hoisting Bhagwa Dhwaj with salutation, then in a disciplined atmosphere some games and physical exercises, patriotic group songs and a small talk about the country ending with a prayer would give the necessary samskars for the body mind and intellect to mould every person into a Swayamsevak, keeping Dr.Hedgewar himself as the model before them. This is the simple but most effective technique that Dr.Hedgewar adopted, the main content of which was informality and intense affection. Swayamsevaks moulded in this manner formed the backbone of the organization and the chain of such swayamsevaks are responsible for the present enormous growth of the Sangh and its allied activities.

Foreword in the book "Dr.Hedgewar, Seer, Patriot and Nation Builder" by Maa.Sri K. Suryanarayana Rao, Senior Pracharak.
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Some Important Days from His life
  • April 1, 1889: Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar Ji was born in Nagpur, Maharashtra, India.
  • 1908: Joined the National College in Calcutta (now Kolkata) to study medicine.
  • 1910: Left the National College and joins the Government Medical College, Nagpur, from where he completeed his medical studies.
  • 1921: Participated in the Indian National Congress's Non-Cooperation Movement, led by Mahatma Gandhi.
  • 1925: On Vijayadashami day (October 27), Keshav Baliram Hedgewar founded the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Nagpur, with the aim of promoting Hindu unity and organizing Hindu youth.
  • The first Shakha of the Sangh was started with a handful of youth at Nagpur. Gradually, Shakhas sprouted in other provinces. Soon, there were vast numbers of 'Pracharaks' (whole-time social workers totally dedicated to nation-building activities) working for fulfilment of the Sangh mission.
  • 1929: The first RSS shakha outside Nagpur is established in Wardha, Maharashtra.
  • 1930: HedgewarJi was arrested.
  • 1931: Released from prison and resumed his work.
  • 1934: The RSS formally adopts its uniform of khaki shorts and white shirts.
  • 1939: Appointed Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar Ji, popularly known as Guruji, as  Sarsanghachalak .
  • 1940 : Sangh Prarthana was written by Narahari Narayan Bhide JI, a Sanskrit professor under the guidance of  Dr. K. B. Hedgewar JI and Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar Ji and other senior RSS leaders.
  • May 18, 1940: The Sangh Prarthana was first publicly sung by RSS Pracharak Yadav Rao Joshi Ji in Sangh Shiksha Varg held at Nagpur.
  • June 21, 1940: Dr. Hedgewar Ji toiled night and day to lay a secure foundation for strengthening and growth of the Sangh. That tremendous work spanning fifteen years did take its toll, and Dr. Hedgewar Ji succumbed to illness - at the comparatively young age of 51.

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कथा : विवेकानन्द केन्द्र { Katha : Vivekananda Kendra }
Vivekananda Rock Memorial & Vivekananda Kendra : http://www.vivekanandakendra.org
Read n Get Articles, Magazines, Books @ http://prakashan.vivekanandakendra.org

Let's work on "Swamiji's Vision - Eknathji's Mission"
Follow Vivekananda Kendra on   blog   twitter   g+   facebook   rss   delicious   youtube   Donate Online

मुक्तसंग्ङोऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वित:।
सिद्ध‌‌यसिद्धयोर्निर्विकार: कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते ॥१८.२६॥

Freed from attachment, non-egoistic, endowed with courage and enthusiasm and unperturbed by success or failure, the worker is known as a pure (Sattvika) one. Four outstanding and essential qualities of a worker. - Bhagwad Gita : XVIII-26

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