Thoughts Within & Around

Shopian Protests and hypocrisy

Rashmi — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 04:56:55 +0000

Yesterday night there was a discussion going on timenow channel. Regarding human rights violation by terrorists in Kashmir! I was amused by this very idea – I mean terrorist have been killing people, women, infants, toddlers for so long in so many parts of India. So the idea of discussing human rights consideration by them was hilarious! It sounds sarcastic but is a reality.

Terrorist killed a 3 year old boy in Shopian yesterday at point-blank range by attacking a house. They killed the father and then his 3 year old son. The interesting thing was that those people were Kashmiris and it was not a case of ethnic violence. After this incidence, there was no protests by Hurriyat Conference like they did few days back for an accidental killing by security forces! And that’s what the channel caught cleverly. I must admire the channel editor Arnab Goswami to bring in such subject. He called a Hurriyat representative and J & K CM Omar Adbullah for the debate and asked the Hurriyat fellow directly – “Why there are no protests this time. Had this boy been killed by security forces even by mistake, there would have been huge protests and vandalism on streets by now. If you are fighting for Kashmiri people and cause , then why are you not concerned about human right violation by terrorist? Why there so muted response for such acts?” Hurriyat representative could not answer him! He simply said , we condemn such acts! But he DID NOT says that we will protest it. He cleverly says that you have to distinguish between a criminal act and a human right violation. Wow, what a differentiation and hypocrisy! If a terrorist kills someone at point blank range, it’s a mere criminal act and if security personnel kills someone accidentally, its human right violation. And there is a huge hue and cry about it.

It was Omar Abdullah’s day yesterday and the clock has turned. He turned back all the heat generated earlier back to Huriyat! And pointed out that the so called protests by Kashmiri people are nothing but a motivated and political movements by Huriyat and separatist. May god or rather Allah help Omar Abdullah to fight them in clever ways – as such fights cannot be fought by force but by mind games and people’s support.

Best of luck Omar !

Taliban threat knocking on our door!

Rashmi — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 05:02:05 +0000

Taliban

I happened to read this article on rediff yesterday. Ahmed Rashid is a Pakistani Journalist and a known expert on Taliban who has written a bestseller book on Taliban. He has warned India that ‘there is a possibility on India Taliban’ in near future. At first, you may ignore such comment, but the more you read this article , the more chilling feeling it sets in.

“If you think infiltration into Kashmir is bad now, wait until the Taliban become your neighbour. Then you will see real infiltration not only into Kashmir, but into India proper.”

“Today, we have the Taliban as a role model for an entire region. We have not only the Afghan Taliban, today, we have the Pakistani Taliban, Central Asian, and very soon you may have the Indian Taliban. You may have the Taliban stretching into the Caucasus and even into the Middle East,”

Well, few years back, there was only Afghan Taliban, now there is Pakistan Taliban – so this venom could definitely spread beyond. In order to prepare for such worst situation, what are the options in front of Indian Government?

Restoring dialogues with Pakistan without it taking any constructive and definitive action against Mumbai attack perpetrators will be see as a weak move.
Even if India restarts the dialog process, it is mainly around the Kashmir issue. Hypothetically, if India and Pakistan do arrive at consensus, then also it does not help us much as Pakistan is already on the verge of a failed state. If, god forbid, Taliban takes over Islamabad, they will be more than happy to thrash any such peace process or dialog.
Another angle to the situation is Richard Hollbroke’s recent comment – India should get involved in US’s af-pak policy. This is a double-edged sword. Taliban threat is very close to India’s border. The chaos has come to front doors from backyards of Afghanistan. We cannot wash off our hands from it nor run away – some day, India will be facing and fighting Taliban ghosts. So shall we wait till that actually arrives? Or shall we start helping US in af-pak? But what are the semantics of this help – this is something that Hollbroke should explain. Whether they want Indian troops to fight in af-pak along with NATO, or whether they want to use our naval & air bases etc. is still not clear. In any case, any kind of active participation in af-pak may lead us toward anarchy :
- It will become a political issue due to minority appeasement policies. There is such a hue-and-cry to ban extremist outfits like SIMI, one can imagine the political blame-game that might start after any military help extended to US.
- Sometime back, Bill Clinton had said that Af-pak may become Obama’s Vietnam if not handled carefully. If we assist US in that mess, we too will be part of that.
- The more active participation will see more extremist reactions in India as well as increase in insurgency in Kashmir.

In any case, we cannot be denial mode regarding Taliban threat. In recent future, we will have to take a certain stand regarding af-pak, whether the political system in India wants to take that definate stand or not, they will be forced to do it. As unfortunately, we cannot choose our neighbor nor love thy neighbor.

(Photo copyright: copied from google images)

God and his Divine Creation – Nature !

Rashmi — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:06:17 +0000

I am not an atheist. I do believe in god and go to the temple to pray there. But frankly, I never feel that piece of mind or closeness to god in those religious places. I find them chaotic, crowded and commercial places – barring few temples. However, recently I visited few of the most scenic places during my trip in the US. The natural beauty and scenery not only mesmerized me but also touched something within me which was unknown to me! I was so overwhelmed – it felt as if I have found true peace. It placated my anxieties, calmed my nerves and made me feel so close to God and his divine creation! It is simply an out-of-world experience!

Some may say that it is odd to feel closeness to God in a scenic place! Some may find it very weird!! Well, I would have said the same before visiting Yosemite National Park and Sierra Nevada on the border of California and Nevada states! Sheer pleasure and excitement of seeing something so divine were my first reactions. However, the more places I visited in those 2 days, the more spiritual experience it became! At the end of it – I was so calm & satisfied ! It is really impossible to articulate those feelings!

Let me share few of my favorite photos of that trip and you’ll understand my feelings.

This place is called as “George Lake” in Sierra Nevada. The water so tranquil, so peaceful!

This photo is of the same lake (of a different bank) – since fall color season was starting, I could capture lot of vibrant colors!

This is one of my favorites, it is called as “Twin Lake” and I as lucky enough to catch the twin image of mountain in serene morning water.

I literally yearned to sit for hours at the bank of “Tanaya Lake” – I just could not get enough of its serenity!

Here comes my gem – lovely and unusual “Mono Lake” with salt and calcium structures called as “Tufas” . These were such an intricate and yet unusually beautiful structures. There was scorching heat around while I was clicking these snaps – but this place had a magic, it transformed each and every stone, barren plant, and every element in the surroundings in a photogenic image. My camera was literally swamped with photographs in all directions. I did not want to lose any sight and wanted to capture it hungrily on the camera! I cannot share all of them here – but this one is my favorite.

These places have made a long-lasting impact on my psyche and I cannot wait to visit them and experience that magic again!

(Note: all images/photos are copyrighted to me)

Role of Media in Indian Election 09

Rashmi — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:15:36 +0000

General election 2009 are closing in and there is a chaotic media frenzy! All news channels, opinion polls, vote share statistics, debates, news panel discussion are absolutely hot!! Media industry is in full throttle and covering news endlessly. Unfortunately, what is really missing in all this is a responsible and focused election coverage and debate by media. Same juvenile topics are being chewed upon, unending discussions are carried out again and again, and true issues are lost in this glare. Indian people are being misguided by this and it is going to adversely impact election result. We cannot deny the impact of media on urban voters. Rural ones have their own regional, parochial issues on which they vote. However, for urban class, its these influences and perceptions that matter. And they get created and imprinted on society by news media.

If one looks the issues being discussed just 3 weeks before election, he will be frustrated by the intellectual deficit being exhibited. No one wants to talk about real issues like terrorism, security, recession, lay offs, climate changes, market collapse, food grain challenges, women rights, reservations etc. Everyone in media is hooked on petty subjects.

IPL: yes, it is accepted that cricket is insanely popular in India. It is a religion, cult, passion, celebration – whatever you term it! And so IPL enjoyed that larger-than-life glamour and publicity last year. However, how much important is it over elections? At one hand, I still believe that shifting it outside India has sent wrong signals to entire sports community about our security arrangements. BUT one cannot deny the importance of election at this hour. So the stupendous amount of coverage given to IPL, media wars, and political farces being played on was ridiculous. Almost every news channel was running same story again and again for days. Come one guys, use your senses and talk about issues. IPL is not the deciding factor for election 09. Get over this jingoism! Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Lalit Mody, Vijay Mallya etc. are happy or unhappy with this decision – so what? They will be as nonchalant as they possibly can with these elections and the government getting elected next month – as they do not represent “Aam Aadami”!

Varun Ganghi: He has literally became the poster boy of Indian Media and not of BJP. Media is completely obsessed with him and every day there is a news debate going on “Times Now” or “NDTV” about him. It is not the first time, a religion is a key poll plank being played in election. It has happened countless number of times in the past. How many times you are going to play the same video tape over and over?

Is there anybody talking about following issues –

Terrorism: Number of attacks , number of casualties so far, lesions learnt from Mumbai attacks, measures that government has taken apart from setting up NIA, plan for strengthening police force, plan for NSG etc.?

Risk due to unstable Pak: Preparations by our security forces, Taliban – how close /how risky, government action plan for possible issues due to instability in Pak. (Same applies to LTTE risk)

Recession: Global recession impact on India, job losses and counter plan to fight it, bailout package for our economy?

Women right: Newer laws to fight India’s Fritzl cases, security of urban woman (working late nights), pink chaddi campaign and moral policing – how do we handle them?

Food and hunger crisis: The Global Hunger Index for 2008 found that 200 million Indians go hungry. We are doing worse than countries like Ethiopia! At one hand, we have Nano, Infosys, IPL extravaganza going on – at another we have severe food crisis. What is government’s role and plan to tackle this huge difference in urban and rural India?

And so many more…

I’d really like to see responsible debates on these topics. We should start a tradition like US presidential debate on TV – but unfortunately, such offer by Mr. Advani fell on deaf ears of PM Manmohan Singh and Mrs. Sonai Gandhi. Media too failed to recognize its importance and did not launch attack on weakness and inability of congress leadership to take on such fight! They were so busy with their poster boy, Varun!

Stage Fear

Rashmi — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:23:54 +0000

I don’t want to get too philosophical – but lately I have thinking. I am trying to find out my fears, apprehensions, uncomfortable zones. Subconsciously, I have tried to conquer few of my inner and basic fears. Sometimes these efforts are systematic and purposeful – the other times, it happens without putting any efforts. So now I am trying out a balance sheet of what I have achieved so far with respect to my fears. And one of the greatest fears that I can recount is : stage fear.

I am educated in modest Marathi medium schools. There were never any concentrated efforts to build good elocution skills in any of my schools. I always had big time stage fear! I remember an inter-school debate competition in 9th standard – I had failed there miserably in front of a crowd of some 200 students and 30-40 teachers. My mentor in school was visibly upset that I could not continue the great tradition of our school! I was very disappointed too – but at that time, I obviously lacked ability to find out reasons of my failure.

Then there was another instance of delivering a speech in 10th standard in front of the entire school. Learning from my earlier experience, I had literally memorized entire speech word-by-word. And in that stage performance, all I remember is garbling those words one after another in super-fast express fashion. I do remember standing there and not enjoying a single minute of that performance. By this time, I was too embarrassed to do any other such public speech.

Then came one incidence in collage – in my final year of post-graduation, I was supposed to deliver a presentation regarding my project. 3 of us (me and my 2 friends) had taken lot of efforts in completing that project. However, on that day of presenting it in front of examiner, I failed miserably – and garbled lot of slides. Both of my friends got A grade – and I got B for same project due to my worst performance and stage fear. It was an embarrassment once again.

First instance of delivering a presentation in my professional life was in very first year of my job. By this time, I had learnt lot of lesions and was truly frustrated with myself. So I put in tremendous efforts in making this presentation very attractive as well as simple to explain – revised it 4-5 times in front of the mirror , edited it countless number of times. And yes, then I could do an excellent presentation in front of an audience of 50-60 colleagues and seniors – was very happy to have finally conquered my fear!

I closely watch speeches, interviews by political leaders, sport persons, media people, bollywood stars etc. I truly appreciate few of them and wonder how exactly they manage to speak flawlessly, fluently for so long in front of the camera! Many a times, they really excel in an impromptu interview. I specially like following people -

1. Political Leaders :

Of course Barack Obama (for his magical ‘yes we can’ speeches),
Pramod Mahajan (its really sad he is no more – he had excellent presence of mind and elocution skills in front of camera),
Siddhu (his collection of poems, saying, proverbs etc. is enormous and his ability to continuously cite them during his normal speech is commendable)

2. Media:

Arunab Goswami (Times now)
Barakha Dutt (NDTV)
Karan Thapar (Devil’s advocate – CNN IBN)

3. Bollywood:

Bollywood personalities are gifted speaker. It is immaterial how they perform in movies; but they can talk impeccably in front of camera and have such an amazing presence of mind to field un-comfortable questions from reporters. Be it Shahrukh Khan, Vivek Oberoy, Legendary Amitabh Bachan, Aishwarya Roy, or even Shilpa Shetty – if you listen to their interviews, you get to know so many new words!

One of my idols these days in “Barack Obama”! Man, what an excellent oratory! I was mesmerized while listeneing to his victory speech at the night when US presidential election’s result was announced. It was truly a an arresting public performance and I am sure it will be remembered for ages in history of United States.

Another person which truly inspired me is Shilpa Shetty. I know, the name is surprising as she too surprised me with her mammoth vocabulary when she appeared on a reality TV show – “Big Brother” in the UK. The housemates, anchor of the show, the interviewers, UK media – all of them applauded her for exceptional command on language!

And there are many such examples in day-to-day life – people having this god’s gift. However, what I believe is – if you do not have God’s gift, create your own – by constantly keeping your ears open!

Not without my daughter…!

Rashmi — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 12:26:05 +0000

I had read Marathi translation of this book 6-7 years back. It was such an unputdownable book. Recently, I read the original English book written by Betty Mahmoody and William Hoffer. Well, all I can say is – I literally ate this book in one night! It is so captivating, fast-paced and full of adrenaline! It’s a true story of an American woman trapped in Iran during 1986 – after the Islamic revolution in Iran. And how she found her escape out of it against all odds and life-threatening risks. She was tricked by her Iranian-American husband, Dr. Sayed to spend 2 weeks holiday in Tehran and landed in a life of complete house arrest afterwards. The title “not without my daughter” signifies her struggle to get out along with her daughter. She was given an option to leave without Mahtob, her 6 year old kid – but she flatly refused and was determined to take her along as she could see Mahtob’s bleak future under strict Islamic institution of Iran. In her journey out of Iran, she took a treacherous route of snow-clad mountains across Turk border and landed in Ankara by crossing the border on horse! It is story of hope, struggle &will-power and it reinstates – “when there is a will , there is a way”.

Apart from being a fast-paced thriller, why I was gravitated towards this book was because of deep

Insights it provides in two issues:

Insignificance of Woman’s life: Strict adherence to Islamic traditions made Betty’s life a living hell. Surprisingly, no other women in Dr. Sayed’s family ever complained. Primarily because all of them are blindly following these traditions since childhood. It could be a systematic brainwash or they may never realize that it is a brainwash. A tradition of always wearing a Chador is mentioned to be a Persian one by a well-known Islamic scholar who was a relative of Sayed. He clearly says that it is not a Muslim tradition. Now, such mentions create confusion – as to why it is so strictly and blindly followed if it’s a Persian tradition. There are many ridiculous rules mentioned in the book which were strictly checked by religious police (Pasadar). Such as, “not even one strand of hair should escape a tightly wrapped scarf, Women have to wear a chador, a scarf, socks – basically cover all body part and not even a centimeter of body part can be exposed, a women cannot travel outside the country without husband or a written permission from him ” etc. Now the truth of these rules and adherence can never be known to an outsider. But my general view is : some exaggeration may be there, but most of it has to be true as similar emotions are echoed by other books from Middle East (Princess, a disturbing tale by a Saudi Princess – written anonymously) .

Secondly, it subtly explains how a common, freedom loving man like Dr. Sayed Mahmoody was metamorphosed into a violent husband acting under family pressure. He was immensely influenced by his cousins, sister and did not understand Betty’s plea. It is surprising that he had spent 11 years in free atmosphere in the US and he still embraced the closed society of Iran immediately. Few times, he did express his frustration towards civil society and government. But he largely accepted circumstances. This fact again emphasizes complete control of religion over any educated person. Any sane person can easily become radical extremist with constant conditioning and brain-wash. It really is no surprise that militant groups can produce suicide attackers so easily like soaps made in factory!

After reading the book 2-3 times, I watched a movie based on this book. Made in 1991 featuring Sally Field , this movie is a good attempt depicting circumstances. However, my first impression was that movie does not do full justice to the book for it does not cover Betty’s treacherous journey deeply. The whole escape part is shown to be a bit simpler than compared to book. But performances by Sally and little Mahtob are remarkable.

While searching on youtube, I came across a documentary on Dr. Sayed Mahmoody. Well, I was surprised – did not expect him to come in front of camera! Must appreciate him for his courage of defending himself by this documentary. It also features Betty’s friend in Iran, “Alice” with her daughter and husband. Not surprisingly, all of them have denied the entire episode. Rather, most preposterous claim is : Betty had already planned to write something sensational. She is a typical American who wants to make money by selling their life stories. She knew she had to stay in Iran for long. Its just that her husband did not agree for her to go back US immediately. But he was planning to do that in short time. She is the one who kidnapped Mahtob etc.I find all of this ridiculous! Who would go to Iran in 1986 – with a agenda of escaping from there to write a book and make money??? There could be some amount of exaggeration in the book – but not all accounts can be false. This is primarily because there are countless instances in middle east and Islamic counties – of suppressing women, burning down girls school, banning women education as un-Islamic, forcing women to wear veil, punishing them severely for not complying with such rules etc. etc. How can Iran be different than all of this after Islamic revolution there??? What Dr. Mahmoddy claims is: he has been denied any access to his daughter over last 15-16 years. The custody suite, entire real estate property that he owned in the US has been granted to Betty. And now he is trying to establish contact with his daughter. Name of this documentary is “Without my daughter”. What else do you really expect Mr. Mahmody? This is what is supposed to happen , and it is fair after all that you have done!

My mother happened to read this book – she is not at all a book lover – hardly reads anything beyond newspaper. She too literally finished it in 2 days! So I definitely recommend this book – read this inspirational tale and struggle and hope!

Pseudo secularism: Beyond Varun Gandhi’s remarks

Rashmi — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 18:45:53 +0000

Varun Gandhi faces arrest due to his anti-communal remarks against Muslim community. The moment I read about this news, I thought about so many incidents that have taken place in the recent past – incidents of similar rhetoric by political leaders. And yet, they are either unnoticed or purposely ignored. CNN-IBN proudly reported today that after they showed the so-called hatred video, the election commission has immediately acted upon it. Making any anti-communal remark against any community should be condemned obviously – but media and police should not be biased against this. “Muslim community” is not the only community in India which are a minority. Media should not act like a messiah to certain community.

In India, being secular is very simple. Just issue a pro-Muslim statement! That’s it – you are secular automatically. I have nothing against Muslim community; but what I don’t understand is: how pro-Muslim anti-Hindu politics can be a secular one? When you issue a statement in favor of one community, you are obviously being biased against another one. So how can you call that a so-called “secularism”? If you talk about a Mosque or apologize for a Mosque demolition, you are secular. But if you talk about a temple, you are immediately stamped as a communal leader. Sponsoring Haj is secular – but talking about hindu pilgrimage like Amarnath is communal. When people cry about one mosque’s demolition, do they ever consider hundreds of Hindu temples and Buddha monuments being demolished in swat valley. Do they even know that Afghanistan, Swat, & Kashmir was a heaven of Hindu and Buddha spiritual studies? Its easy to say that Afghan and swat are not part of India – but facts cannot be denied.

Now, another vote bank fashion in India is to issue anti-brahmin statement. Ok, I accept that previous generation of brahmins did lot of unjustifiable & cruel crimes. They suppressed and denied basic rights to lower-caste people. But why punish brahmins of this age for all those medieval crimes? Didn’t all Muslim emperors robbed India and Indian people for centuries? Can you punish the muslim community for all barbaric acts committed by Mughals, Turks, Afghans for centuries? It seems absurd, isn’t it? They why punish Brahmins? You already have a heavy reservation system in place – and it is still not enough! Every so called “secular”"pro-dalit” ( I don’t like this word at all, it is self derogatory) party in India loves to lambast Brahmins and upper castes. Let me site some examples here -

1. Just a few days back, Lawyers in Chennai high court raised slogans like “
‘Brahmin Dog! Brahmin Dog! Subramanian Swami Brahmin Dog!” ()- So calling a Brahmin as a dog is not communal???

2. The most shocking thing is a election slogan of BSP few years back. I am not sure if Mayavati is still using this slogan.
Tilak, taraju aur talwar- inko maaro jootey chaar (throw shoes at all upper castes).
Is this not a clear anti-communal statement? If this is used by BSP as a election slogan in the past, was EC sleeping that time???

As I mentioned earlier, it is a fashion in Indian politics to issue pro-muslim and anti-hindu or anti-upper caste statement and become secular automatically.

Osama…the movie

Rashmi — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:02:35 +0000

It’s a movie made by a Afghani film maker in post-Taliban time, 2003. It’s a heart-breaking story of an Afghani girl, her mother and grand mother living in Kabul during Taliban rule. Osama lost her father in war and there was no other male member of her family alive. Taliban had strict and inhuman rules for women that they cannot leave home without being accompanied by a male member of family. Now in case of Osama and her mother, the biggest hurdle is ‘how to earn their daily bread without going out’? In an desperate attempt, Osama starts earning their living by disguising as a boy! However, within no time she is forced in a militant training camp for boys. Eventually, she gets caught there and sent to the jail. The film ends on tragic climax and it leaves such an emptiness, hopelessness & anger in you. It gives true insights in cruelties of Talibani barbarians, insignificance of women’s life in Islamic fundamentalism, and finally impact of religious radicalism on human mind!

The film is shot entirely in Kabul and one can the signs of destruction and war in each frame shot. The performance by the lead actor, Marina Gulbahari is heart-wrenching. Specially, her desperate calls to her mother in the scene before she gets caught is very disturbing. It made me thank god that I am born in a country where women are respected and have equal (if not completely at least to some extent) right! If there is a hell on earth – it is in such countries where life is very primitive and women are treated worse than animals.

However, the film also shows few good people who help Osama and her mother. Unfortunately, those are very few ones and they probably never dared to voice against Taliban. It also shows “Sharia (Islamic law) proceeding” of disputes and I could not stop wondering – if this is how Sharia rules, then Pakistan has committed a blunder by accepting a peace deal in swat. The way the proceeding are shown in the movie looks very medieval way of solving disputes.

Do watch the movie if you have a strong soul – you will not get over its disturbing after-effect for few days!

Disclaimer: I do not have any visibility in Islam or Sharia, my opinions are solely based on what is depicted in the movie.

Moral Policing!

Rashmi — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:08:36 +0000

Tomorrow’s date is 14^th Feb 2009 – it’s valentine day! Valentine’s Day or Saint Valentine’s Day is an occasion on which lovers express their love for each other by sending Valentine’s cards, presenting flowers, or offering confectionery. I just love this concept! What I don’t understand is: why don’t moral police like “Sri Ram Sena” or “Shiv Sena” like valentine day and what’s wrong in that? I have few simple questions -

Lakshman Temple Khajuraho

1. If you don’t like free expression of love – why don’t you rampage Khajuraho which is a free expression of love & sex. It is ok to see God & Goddess sculptured in such positions, but you cannot see a boy and a girl talking to each other? Now don’t say that you don’t know about our great culture and Kamsutra!

2. If you think that it’s a hideous expression of love and lust, then how come you watch hindi movies with item songs, miniskirts and tons of cleavage? Now don’t say that you don’t watch and enjoy Rakhi Sawant!

3. If you say that today’s youth has crossed its boundaries in celebrating this day, then why don’t you stop the ugliest ways of celebrating “Ganesh Utsav”, “Doorga Pooja” on the streets with piles of speakers and songs like “Ae Ganpat chal daroo la”! I have not seen any of you opposing to vulgar item songs being played in front of Lord Ganesha – during such festivals! Now don’t say that you don’t dance there on the rhythms “Beedi”!

Man’s Search for Meaning – Great book !

Rashmi — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:30:45 +0000

Recently, I read this great book by Viktor Frankl, “Man’s search for meaning“. It’s a short book by a Jew psychiatrist who survived world war II holocaust. He served in many dreaded concentration camps like , “Aucshwitz” and was finally liberated by American Army in 1945. I have read many books and online articles on WWII – even watched so many great movies on this subject : like “Life is beautiful”, “The pianist”, “Schindler’s List” etc. I was always surprised by cruelty of nazis and wondered how people fared in that fearful genocide! Many such available reads provide you numbers of Jews killed, number of camps, and war history. However, this books tells you an insider story of their daily accounts, primitive needs, their faith & hopelessness, physical hardship, and endless suffering. But its not just a tragic story at all; It throws light on these events from psychological aspect. It conveys the most important philosophy: Man’s life never ceases to have a meaning – even in the most primitive form and hopeless situation. It always serves a meaning – you just need to find it.

Viktor Frankl describes the step-by-step reactions of camp inmates: from surprise, to apathy to hopelessness. How human beings were boiled down to level of animals because of their hunger and constant fear of death. He describes the inmates as a herd of sheep constantly protecting itself from dogs and in search of food. However, even in such a fearful mental and physical condition, how few people survived only because of hope.

One of the important lessons it teaches is: your mind controls your body completely. So if the mind has a will and is hopeful, it makes the body tough enough to survive any situation – like surviving on one piece of bread and a soup a day, working endlessly on sites to lay down railway tracks, not being able to wash tooth for years, using similar clothes for years, not having adequate protection from cold, walking barefoot on snow for hours and finally not having any medication for illness – and their body still survived only because of tremendous will power and hope! He quotes a famous German philosopher, Nietzsche – “He who has a why to live can bear almost anyhow. “

Frankl tells you an example to stress his point about hope: In last days of war, one of camp’s warden was very hopeful that the war will end by Mar 1945. However, American army was nowhere close to their camp and there were no signs of war getting over by end of Mar. As March end approached, this warden fell ill and finally he died on 30th Mar. He had gone through so much pain and hardship for so many years – however, when his mind lot hope, the body could not survive and he died merely 2 months before liberation!

There are some other wonderful and motivating quotes from Frankl in this book -

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.

Fear makes come true that which one is afraid of.

(Image copied from “ img.tesco.com/pi/Books/L/93/9781844132393.jpg” . Original copyright not known)