Interesting facts about Ancient India

There is so much to know about ancient India that if volumes were written, it will not suffice. So I continue this incredulous journey of revisiting India in its ancient glory. We are now moving to 6^th century BC, when a second urbanization seemed to have taken place, the first one being in Indus Valley civilization of 2500 BC.

At this time in the north-east India, gana-sanghas have come to be, which were confederacy of clans governed through an assembly. They gave equal status to all people within their sangha (Assembly) and did not follow the Vedic rituals or varnas. Chiefdoms and kingdoms also arose, transition from chiefship to king not being very distant. Kingdoms had a centralized system of governance with the sovereign king at the center.

Earlier the kings were from Kshatrya caste, but very soon kings arose from shudra caste also. These required legitimization, which was done by the Brahman priests for gifts and money, conducting huge brahmanical rituals. Thus throne and priesthood were mutually supportive of each other, just as in would be in the later cases of Christendom and Islamic Caliphates.

Four rival states arose in northern India, three kingdoms of Kashi, Kosala and Magadha, and one gana-sangha, Vrijjis. Of these by 550 BC, Magadha will emerge prominent after overpowering the other states. Along with that administrative systems began, collection of land revenue, one sixth of the produce as belonging to the king and other trappings of power. Village was the basic unit and official assessment of the tax was made by the officials of the kingdom on the produce.  

Varna hierarchy became consolidated with Brahmans laying down the rules reinforced by their ritual powers; kshatryas, through rulers had to depend on Brahman priests to legitimize their sovereignty through Vedic rituals; next in importance came traders, the vaishyas, and then the shudras, who managed to get incorporated as Kshatryas when opportunities presented and also as traders and land owners.

Below all of them were the out castes or the untouchables, who were actually the forest dwellers in the margins of the settlements, which either pushed them deeper into the forests or eke out their living as marginalized people at the fringes of the settlements. They were forced to do manual jobs and the dirty jobs for the community and were accommodated as the lowest of the low in the caste system.

As landless and displaced people they had no voice. They were not allowed to have any weapons. The combination of hereditary status with economic deprivation and social disabilities ensured a permanent and subjugated labor force, for the rest of the community – a very convenient form of slavery, which continued for millennia, in some rural parts of India even today. It is nothing but a curse on Indian social ethos, which got ingrained into Indian social system as early as 600 BC.

Magadha Kingdom came into being with Bimbisara by 550 BC and his son Ajatashatru, who died in 461 BC. Their capital was Rajagriha; Pataliputra was an important town. As a means of conquest of the neighboring kingdoms and sanghas, they had to keep a standing army. They controlled the nodal points in Ganges river system, dominating the river trade. Land was fertile in the Ganges valley and the land tax and tax from trade kept their treasuries full.

This was followed by Shishunga dynasty which didn’t last very long and Nanda, a shudra, usurped and established his own Nanda dynasty. He would be the first of many non-Kshatrya kings. Nandas built canals for irrigation even up to Kalinga (Orissa). Mauryas usurped the Nanda throne in 321 BC.

In the north-western India, even more interesting things were happening. During 6^th century BC, north-western India was a part of Achaemenid Empire. In 530 BC Cyrus, Achaemenid Emperor of Persia crossed over Hindu Kush and received tribute from the kings of Kamboja and Gandhara. These became his provinces ruled by local satraps. It is the same Cyrus mentioned in the Bible, who permitted by an imperial order, the Jews living in exile in Babylon to return to their land, Palestine and helped them rebuild their Temple. Check out Ezra[1] in the Bible, the book starts with Cyrus the king of Persia!

Bible makes reference to the Persian king again in the Book of Esther, where it states that the King of Persia, Xerxes, ruled over 127 provinces, stretching from India to Cush (Upper Nile region).[2] Esther’s story happened around 483 BC, when Xerxes was the Emperor.

Herodotus, early historian of renown, names Gandhara as the most populous and wealthy satrapy in Achaemenid kingdom. It is understood from these writings that Indian provinces provided mercenaries for the Persian army to fight against the Greeks in 5^th century BC. Xerxes attacked Greece and won at Thermopylae in 481 BC, but got defeated at Salamis in 480 BC. Indian warriors were dressed in cotton clothes and carried red bows, spear and arrows tipped with iron. Wow, imagine that! Indians taking part in the battle of Thermopylae in Greece! World was quite small even then, I suppose!

There were other cities in north-western India, Tahshashila (Taxila) for example, which was described by Greeks as a cosmopolitan center, where Greek, Iranian and Indian knowledge and learning mingled. Persian coins were copied in India. Even the rock inscriptions of Ashoka, a later Mauryan Emperor, were influenced by the rock inscriptions of Persian King Darius. King Darius also is mentioned in the Bible as one of the Kings served by Daniel,[3] en exile from Israel, who rose to very high positions under Persian Emperors.  

The script used in north-western India around this time was Kharoshthi, derived from Aramaic, the official language of the Persian Acheamenid Empire. Recall, Jesus and his disciples spoke in Aramaic in the first century AD![4]

Acheamenid Empire was defeated by Alexander the Great from Macedonia in 330 BC. Alexander, wanting to conquer the farthest eastern provinces of Persian Empire, came to north-west India and campaigned for two years. As his soldiers refused to go any further, he traveled along the Indus river up to its delta and sent one part of his army back via Persian Gulf and the other took the coastal land route.

It is this latter part of his army that met stiff resistance from Indian kings, especially Porus (Puru), who fought Alexander’s forces at the Battle of Hydaspes (Jhelum River) and was vanquished, but maintained his dignity. Appreciating his valor, Alexander appointed him as his satrapy and left.

Alexander had brought along literate Greeks, who have left their impressions of India, both facts and fable. The invasion opened up routes along which trade and communication flourished. India established connections with Mesopotamia even, through Afghanistan and Iran/Persia.

There was cultural exchange between these countries, for Indian enlightened gurus, munis or sophists are said to have accompanied Alexander to Babylon. Indian thought definitely influenced those of Greek and Persian and in turn borrowed from them too, leading to enrichment all over. Greeks were called Yavana in Sanskrit and Yona in Prakrit.

Another interesting fact: early trade in India was facilitated by setthis, entrepreneurs of trade and finances. Where do you think our Shettys in Mangalore, Chettiars in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu and Shets from north India come from! From these ancient Setthis only. Talk about the ancient roots of castes in India!

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[1] The Book of Ezra, chapter 1, verse 1. (Ezra 1:1)

[2] The Book of Esther, 1:1

[3] Book of Daniel 9:1

[4] Gospel of Mark 5:41 reports Jesus called out to the girl who was dead, Talitha Koum, which meant ‘Little girl, I say to you, get up,’ and she arose! Then Mark reports in Mark 7:34, of Ephphatha, meaning ‘Be opened,’ which Jesus used while giving sight to a blind man; Jesus called his heavenly Father as Abba, meaning Father. Mark 14:34.

The Wonder that India was!

It is a long time since I read Indian history, especially the ancient history of India. So it was a pleasure to read the well researched latest book by Romila Thaper[1] on the subject.

We know that Indians were not very good at writing historical treaties. Anything in writing comes only from 300 BC onward. Having said that I must add quickly that the absence of such historical documents has well been compensated by other more reliable evidences like coins, inscriptions and archaeological findings.  

To start at the very beginning, Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro in Indus valley have been excavated and it brought to the world’s notice that there was a flourishing civilization, an urban one at that, around 3000 to 2600 BC in India. It is amazing to find out that the Indus Valley civilization had contacts with their contemporary Mesopotamian civilization in the Fertile Crescent.

Harappa seals, beads and weights have been found there, confirming trade in those remote times between civilizations far apart. Coastal shipping from western India along Gulf to the Tigris- Euphrates delta has been evolving ever since. Contacts with Afghanistan and Iran were maintained through the mountain passes, in the North West of India.

In Harrapan civilization bead-making was an extensive industry, using gold, copper, shell, semi-precious stones, and ivory. Etched carnelian bead was its trade mark. The cities show a sophisticated sense of civic planning and organisation.

Harappans worshiped goddesses and fertility cult was prevalent as shown by female figurines. But there were no horses on seals or anywhere else as our present government sponsored historians would like to prove, for horse was not indigenous to India. It was around 2000 BC that Indo-Iranian borders show the arrival of horses, chariots and spiked wheel into India from north west India. 

The Hindu Kush Mountains in the northwest India were the route immigrants, traders and conquerors took from time immemorial to reach India. The Bolan and Khyber passes served as passages, the corridors of communication, through which missionaries from Persia, caravans of merchants from Iran, Central Asia, and Afghanistan and invading armies all found their way to India.

In the north east, Himalayan Mountains being at higher altitude and difficult terrain, not much traffic or trade was evidenced, but Central Asian Silk Route passed through it. Southern peninsula had Vindhaya Mountains to filter in the armies and immigrants, but trade did pass through. Central India was peopled by tribal societies and forest people.

The people speaking Indo-Aryan language poured into North West India through these passes in the Second millennium. By 1500 BC, they had become dominant, not necessarily due to military conquest, but mainly because they had advanced technology, including the swift horse, and claim to ritual authority. They spread in the Indus valley and slowly migrated towards the Gangetic valley in the east.

There is affinity in the language used in the Vedic corpus authored by these immigrants and the Iranian Avasta. Both have derived from Central Asian Indo-European group of languages.

The Vedic corpus, Mahabharata, Ramayana, the well known epics of Aryan settlers along with Puranas, began as oral traditions and was written down in the present textual form only in the early first millennium AD, after many centuries. Just imagine, the teachings of Jesus of 33 AD were written down within 30-40 years after his death and resurrection!

Rig Veda and its associated writings were primarily manuals of ritual and commentaries on these, composed by 1500 BC. Central Asia was the original habitat of these Indo-Aryan people, who migrated to Iran and into India. Avasta, the religious book of Zoroastrianism and Rig-Veda bear many similarities. Horses arrived with them. They disapproved fertility cult of the farmer inhabitants, but had their own fertility cult involving the wife of the ruler, the Queen and the horse of Ashwameda yagna sacrifice.

Worship of fire became central to the rituals as in Iran and India, and women were kept under control. The wife of a Kshatrya warrior went on to the funeral pyre of the husband. Wow, look at the deep roots of Sati! Why then some of the Rajasthan people are objecting to the depiction of mass immolation of the wives of the warriors, including the Queen, whose husbands faced Kilji and got defeated as portrayed in Padmavat, the recent movie?

Upanishads arrive around 800 BC, carrying with them the explanation for present day suffering as due of the past sins and repeated births and deaths, samsara, to pay off the penalty; Karma theory and a justification of the caste system, which by that time had developed into four familiar varnas and got entrenched in the psyche of Indians.

So caste is not a creation of the British as some would want us to think. It was developed in India since 500-800 BC.

How grateful should believers in Christ be, for their penalty was paid by Christ on the cross, and all that they had to do was to accept Christ and what he did on the cross. No karma theory or samsara entanglement for them.

The Golden Age of Vedic period was said  to be from 1200 to 600 BC by which time the corpus was completed. Sanskrit, the language of the Vedic corpus, had evolved by borrowing many elements of Dravidic and Austro-Asiatic languages which were prevalent in India that time. Very soon the India-Aryan language Sanskrit became the dominant language, reflecting the Aryan speaking people.

Panini wrote his grammar treatise Ashtadhyayi around fifth century BC. The upper castes were familiar with Sanskrit, but preferred use of Prakrit for general and routine matters.

Social codes like Dharmasutras came in by this time and the Brahmanical religion based on Vedic corpus, caste system, karma and samsara and varnashramadharma came to be the dominant cultural milieu in India by the second half of the last millennium, 500 BC.

Well, that is a great historical beginning. If you would like to know what happened from 600 BC onward in the Gangetic plain, where a second urbanization took place, with the emergence of small kingdoms and clans, you need to wait for my next blog.

Good bye till then.  

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[1] Romila Thapar, The Penguin History of Early India: From Origins to AD 1300, Penguin Books, India, 2003.

The Fate of Rohingyas

Another happening in the world around us that really bothered me and intrigued me was the problem of the fleeing Rohingyas refugees. They are not just fleeing, but it is a mass exodus, them fleeing in thousands and tens of thousands.

In 2015 there was a major episode and the Rohingyas fled from Myanmar, a mass migration, when they fled to the South East Asian countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand by boats, giving them the nick name ‘the boat people.’ Around 25,000 of them fled and some 300 of them lost their lives in the waters, while crossing the Straits of Malacca and Andaman Sea.

Now again in October-December 2017, another mass exodus took place, almost 500,000 people left their homes to take shelter in the border town of Bangladesh, Cox Bazar on rickety boats and on foot.

Why is this happening? Why are they fleeing thus? Who is persecuting them and why? Such questions troubled me and I wanted to study the background of the whole matter. What I found was amazing. 

Rohingyas are a Muslim minority group living in the Buddhist majority state of Rakhine, formerly known as Arakan, in the North West Province of Myanmar, the former Burma. Since beginning Myanmar refused to acknowledge this ethnic group as their own. They were considered ‘stateless entities,’ people who had come as refugees from Bangladesh.

The Rohingyas had lived in Arakan area for almost 200 years, ever since British rule was established in Burma (now Myanmar). The British colonized Burma for almost hundred years, from 1824 to 1948. During that time, laborers from India were encouraged to migrate to Burma by the British to cultivate rice. Such migration happened just as any migration would occur depending on the availability of labor and livelihood. The British ruled Burma as a province of India. Such a migration was considered normal, rather encouraged.

British had promised a separate land to the Rohingyas, a Muslim National Area in exchange of their support for the World War II. While Rohingyas supported the British, the nationalists Burmese supported the Japanese, considered intruders by the British. After the war the Rohingyas were rewarded by the British with prestigious government posts, but were denied a free state. As elsewhere colonial politics played here too and even after hundreds of years a population is suffering due to that.  

However once Burma gained its independence from the British rule in 1948, close on heels of Indian independence, the Rohingyas demanded an autonomous province that was promised to them. But Myanmar, now independent, refused to acknowledge these people as their own and declared their migration to their land during British era as illegal. They were denied citizenship. By 1950s the army crushed all opposition from Rohingyas.

The Act of citizenship of Myanmar of 1948, and thereafter 1982, did not include Rohingyas as one of the 135 ethnic groups of the country that was listed. Ever since they had suffered discrimination, oppression, persecution and forceful eviction. After the military coup in 1962, troubles started. 1970s saw the first military crackdown on them, forcing them to flee.

The basic requirement of citizenship in Myanmar was that the concerned person should have the required proof that a family of theirs had been living in Myanmar prior to 1948. No such record was forthcoming for Rohingyas, because they were considered as migratory laborers and were never issued with any such citizenship.

When registration for citizenship was taken up in 1977, the army which was in power by that time, refused to enlist Rohingyas and they were declared as illegal immigrants. They were given identity cards as foreigners. Thus they were deprived of basic rights. They cannot vote, they had no free access to study, work or travel, marry, practice their religion, or to health services.  They cannot own property; restrictions were placed on them entering certain professions like medicine or law or run for office.

In 2012 fresh violence against Rohingyas started. The trigger was the alleged gang rape and killing of a Burmese woman by some Rohingyas and killing of 10 Burmese women by some Rakhines. Since then riots, burning of the villages of Rohingyas and blood shed have been the norm. The majority Rakhines also persecuted them. It was nothing but a virtual ethnic cleansing. Since 2012 Bangladesh had received some 200,000 Rohingyas as refugees who are living in Cox Bazar.

The recent violence against Rohingyas started in October 2017, when a few of Rohingya militants under the name Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army attacked some of the army stations, a very stupid idea. They are a Muslim militant group and the army suspects that they are trained by ISI of Pakistan and aided with money from Saudi Arabia.

In the military backlash that followed the poor and innocent Rohingyas paid the price. Their houses were torched, youth killed and they were forced to flee the country.  5,00,000 refugees landed in Cox Bazar due to this  2017. They are living in squalor and unhygienic conditions despite the United Nation’s humane services to these poor and displaced people.

Aug San Suu Kyi of Myanmar, it’s elected leader of National League for Democracy, and the winner of Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, and the present State Counsellor, which is a post akin to that of a Prime Minister of the nation, has maintained a stoic silence in the matter of military oppression of Rohingyas, despite international criticism.

The fear of the Myanmar government seems to be that this Muslim minority, a foreign body with a separatist agenda, might swell in the future and overcome the Buddhist majority population, and the country could become a Muslim spot on the world map, brewing up terrorist activities.

May be the way today’s Britain or the West might fear that the Muslim population will overtake them in biological numbers. Or as Qaddafi, while he was alive, said to have assured his fellow religious men, not to resort to terrorism to win the West, but they can do so by sheer numbers very soon.

Or even as some in authority in India worried that Tamil Nadu might want to separate from Indian Union, if joined together with the Tamils in the north east Sri Lanka. I am sure they heaved a sigh of relief when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam of Sri Lanka lost and their leader Prabhakaran was killed in action.

Be that as it may, these are no justifications for a government to uproot and destroy an ethnic minority, especially the poor and the vulnerable who are caught in between. Any person born in a country has a claim to be counted as the citizen of that country, especially if parents were also born and lived in the country. To say that one has no citizenship even after generations of the family having lived in a country, is utter injustice. And this is what is happening to the Rohingyas in Myanmar.

International agencies and institutions will have to bring pressure on the government of Myanmar to be more humane and resolve this crisis in which the poor and the marginalized are bearing the brunt against an organized crime against humanity. A people cannot be treated as cattle, and neither could citizenship be denied to those who have lived in a country for generations. 

Catalonia, What Ails Thee?!

First of all, let me wish you all a very happy New Year, 2018. It has been almost two months and more since I wrote last! Apologies, here after I promise to be more regular!

I have always been intrigued why Catalonia wants to separate from Spain and become independent. Usually a people who are suppressed, oppressed and undergone human right violations would want to separate from such abusers. But what of Catalonia? It is a developed county, doing very well economically, a rich part of Spain, why would they want to separate?

So I dug deep into their history to learn reasons for these recent developments. I was amazed to discover they have a long history and many historical developments starting from 8^th century.

First, a few words about the place. Catalonia is situated in the north east border of Spain and France. It has a population of 75 million people and 95% of them are Catalan people. Theirs is a prosperous region with highly successful cities like Barcelona, which is also a port.

The Moors, the Muslims invaded and conquered Iberian Peninsula, consisting of today’s Spain and Portugal, in 711 AD. Christian reconquest along the north and eastern coastline began by Franks. Catalan county became the buffer zone between the Christian and Muslim territory known as Marpa Hispanica.

By 9^th century County of Barcelona, a teeming city in Catalan was formed by the efforts of Charlemagne to establish a buffer zone between his Frankish Empire and the Muslim ruled Spain.

In 1131 Ramon Berenguer IV, the Count of Barcelona married Queen Patroilla of Aragon, which united the county with the kingdom of Aragon, but Catalan kept its own trade rights and parliament assuring it’s self rule. Catalan flourished. In 1469 Ferdinand I of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile married uniting their kingdoms to form the Kingdom of Spain.

When Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas in 1492 and trade shifted from Mediterranean Sea to Atlantic Sea, Catalan’s fortunes dipped a little. In Reaper’s war in 1640-52, Catalan revolted against the tax policies of Philip IV, king of Spain and declared a republic, with French protection, but was reoccupied by the Spanish troops. So the problem started very much in 17^th century itself.

In the War of Succession of Spanish throne in 1704-14, Catalan supported the rival claimant to the crown, Archduke Charles of Austria of the House of Hapsburg, against King Philip V of the House of Bourbon. When Philip became the king, he took revenge and suppressed Catalan’s rights to independent parliament and trade liberties. Spanish language and laws were imposed on them.

In 1716, decrees were issued dismantling the separate Catalan legal system and bringing it under the direct rule of Madrid, Spain. The administrative use of Catalan language also was abolished.

Napoleon briefly occupied Catalan in 1812-13, and the first Carlist war took place in Catalan during 1808-1833. By the end of 19^th century Catalan speedily industrialized herself and became a rich county and started to experience a cultural renaissance within Spain. Catalan nationalism started to rise too.

In 1931 Spain became a republic and Catalan also was proclaimed as a republic. After negotiations Catalan accepted autonomy within the Spanish State and an autonomous Catalan regional government was created. Modern politics of Catalonia starts from this point onward.

Unfortunately in the Spanish civil war that ensued in 1936, General Francisco Franco came to power and he abolished Catalan autonomy. During his dictatorship extending up to his death in 1975, Catalan was suppressed culturally and administratively.

After 1975, Spain became a democracy and Catalan as granted autonomy, regional government and its own police force and control over its educational system. The political parties in Catalan concentrated on obtaining autonomy rather than independence. But, demands for full independence started to arise in Catalan very soon.

In 2006 the autonomy agreement granted Catalonia the status of a nation within Spain with tax raising powers.  From 2009 to 2011, 550 municipalities in Catalonia voted in favor of the referendum.

The Supreme Court in 2010 ruled that some of the articles of the 2006 Statute of Autonomy were unconstitutional. This sparked off fresh demands for independence and protest erupted all over Catalan region.

In snap elections held in 2012, a pro-independent party won majority and formed government. In 2013, Catalan sovereignty was declared and it was given the freedom to decide its own political future. In 2014 when Catalan government wanted to become independent and conduct a referendum, the Spanish government referred it to the Supreme Court, which turned it down as unconstitutional.

Thereafter the situation steadily declined. On 1 October 2017 a fresh referendum on independence was conducted and 90% of the people said yes to independence. 43% was the turn out. Spain in Madrid wouldn’t accept even conduct of this referendum and sent its police force to prevent it from happening. The excesses of police forces during this referendum tilted the scales. Even those who did not seek separation from Spain wanted to separate now.

On 27.10.2017, when Catalan declared independence, President Mariano Rajoy took direct control of Catalonia, as per Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution. Catalan leaders were arrested for sedition and its President, Carles Puigdemont fled to Belgium. Snap regional poles were ordered on 21.12.2018. The pro-independence parties won majority, albeit narrowly.

Whatever is the outcome of the present embroiligo, it is seen that Catalonia has had a long history of wrestling for independence and compromising for a regional autonomy within the country Spain. Now why is this so?

Apart from having their own language, customs, education, self-rule and such privileges, Catalonia is also a rich region. Economically, 25.6% of exports from Spain are contributed by Catalonia. It contributes to 19% of Spain’s GDP. It accounts for 20% of Spain’s foreign investment. It is a significant part of Spain and Spain cannot afford to lose it.

However, Catalan pays more tax to Madrid, than the other regions, and its riches go to subsidize the poorer regions in Spain. Catalans are tired of subsidizing practically the rest of Spain, while they hardly get equivalent budgetary support from Madrid. No major infrastructural projects have been taken in Catalonia in spite of need. Hence they want to manage their own finances and development, without financially supporting the country, Spain.

Unfortunately, Spain is also one of the few countries, along with Greece, Portugal and Ireland, heavily indebted to European Union, which has imposed heavy austerity measures on the country. Catalans also suffer under these austerity measures and they feel they can manage their affairs better without having to bear the burden of the whole country. In short they want to control their own economy.

Well, what will happen next? No one, especially in European Union wants Spain to be split up. It might trigger similar demands all over Europe.

May be Catalonia will settle down if more fiscal autonomy is granted within the Spanish Constitution, along with political autonomy.

Let’s hope for the best. 

The marvelous ‘Namma’ Metro Ride!

Ever since the Bangalore Mass Rapid Transit system, known popularly as ‘Namma’ Metro, Phase I was thrown open to the public, on June 18th, 2017, my friend and colleague Mrs. Shamim Banu and myself were planning gleefully to take an end to end, bumper to bumper ride on the Metro. 

After many postponements, similar to the inaugural date of the Metro, we finally hopped in on 14th October 2017, to see how Namma Metro is doing. Our plan was to get on one southernmost station in a line, the Green line, because that is closer to us and travel to the very end of that line. Then return to the central Kempe Gowda station and traverse the other line, the Pink one, from end to end.

We took a cab from home and got dropped at Jayanagar Metro station. There was a flight of steps leading to the station, where we were to buy the tickets. We did muse that Namma Metro might not be very ‘Elder-friendly,’ if at every station they must climb so many stairs. What about people in wheel chair? They shouldn’t even think of travelling by Metro, I suppose! 

The Jayanagar station was prim and proper, clean and neat, and quite ultramodern. From there we bought tickets, Rs.50 each to Nagasandra, the last station in the Green line. Within two minutes as announced, the train arrived as noiselessly as would a pussy cat and exactly at 10 AM we boarded the train. 

We got seats and giggling like school girls, we sat and arched our backs to see the scenaries outside. The train whizzed past South End circle, Lalbagh, and National college. It entered underground stations as it passed through KR. Market and Chickpet, when the crowd started picking up. We crossed the central Kempe Gowda, Majestic station. One lot got down but another of equal size got in. 

                                                                                                  Crowded escalators at Majestic 

The train emerged to glimpse the outside world after crossing Sampige Road station, Mantri squire station. By the time we crossed Mahakavi Kuvempu station and Rajajinagar, the crowd became less.  Then we were passing through lesser known stations like Mahalakshmi, Sandal Soap station and then of course the well-known Yeshwnathpur station. Goraguntepalya and Peenya stations quickly passed by and Peenya Industry, Jalahalli, Dasarahalli staions speeded by and finally we reached Nagasandra station, the endpoint of Green Line. 

It had taken us 41 minutes up till this point. The ride was smooth and no hassles. There was enough standing place inside the car and these were clean and of course new. We didn’t see any graffiti on the walls or anywhere else.  

Promptly we went to the ticket counter and bought tickets from Nagasandra to Majestic central station and there on to Byappanahalli, costing us Rs.58 each. It started at 11 am and we reached Majestic centre, where we got down and got up the escalators to climb two levels and then reach the point where the trains going to Byappanahalli, the Pink line, would come. 

    

As we waited for the train to come, we noticed arrow marks indicating where people have to stand in queue to get in and which blocks of area are to be left free for the people getting down. I was really surprised to see people standing in queue very tamely, one behind the other. People have learnt their manners at last! And what no one could enforce, Namma Metro had achieved, we exclaimed to each other. 

The train came, and there you go! The queue melted in a second and people just rushed to the doors. So much for our people learning any manners! One improvement, they left some passage for the disembarking people for a few seconds and then rushed in to close that also.  

We got into the train by 11.40 AM. Interesting stations were to come in this route. First was Sri. M. Visveswaraya station – Central college, then Vidhana Soudha, the heart of the city, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar station, and Cubbon park station, which were underground. So, missed viewing the glorious citadel of the city, the famed Vidhana Soudha, the seat of the power in the State.  

                                                                                    

                                                                                               Shamim at an escalator 

Eyes were rewarded as the train emerged into the open on Mahatma Gandhi Road station. I was eagerly trying to catch the sights of familiar places. But the train was so overcrowded, I didn’t even get a seat to sit. It was the second Saturday, a holiday for government offices, and what were people doing travelling in the Metro? Can’t they sit at home and relax? Shamim pointed out that private offices and companies might still be working. Hmm, bad luck for us!

We reached Baiyappanahalli after crossing Halasuru, Trinity, and Indiranagar stations. It was 12.01 PM. By now I was feeling a bit hungry, craving for a mid-morning snack. I had not packed anything thinking that we can buy something or the other at the stations. 

                                               

                                        Arrow markings, showing space on the platform

                                                     for disembarking people

Unfortunately, there were no stalls at all inside the stations. No coffee or tea even. Wonder why? If some are mad enough to want to travel in the Metro from end to end, as we did, should they not have some food to eat on the way, so that their energy level does not drop, while shifting from one line to the other? I think Namma Metro must think afresh on the matter and make some arrangements for sale of packed snacks and bottled drinks including iced coffee or tea. 

                                                                                                Shamim waiting in line

Also, there were no toilets at all at any station. These need not be at the station where trains come and go, but at least near the ticket booths or at the entry and exit points of the stations, such facilities need to be provided for. 

At Baiyappanahalli we tried one experiment. We now had to go to Mysore Road station, the end of the Pink line and then return to Majestic central station to switch to the Green line and reach our place Jayanagar. Can we travel without buying a ticket from Baiyappanahalli to Mysore Road? We tried and crossed over to the station, where train to Mysore Road was coming. We climbed down the stairs and joined the crowd. Voila! No checking!

  City near Mysore Road, 

            as seen from the Metro

We got on to the train and arrived at the Mysore Road station, the endpoint of the Pink line. Shamim was quite stricken by conscience by now and insisted we buy the tickets for our journey up to Majestic centre and then to Jayanagar. So, we got our tickets another Rs.45 each and reached Jayanagar by 1.25 PM.

We decided to give a miss to four stations after Jayanagar in the Green line, these being Rashtreeya Vidalaya Road, Banashankari, Jaya Prakash Nagar and the last station Yelachenahalli, as we were quite tired by this time. We hopped on to an autorickshaw and proceeded to Al Bek restaurant for a sumptuous lunch. As we sat and broke the butter naan, scooping out Nlli Nihari, we reminisced.  

                                                                                        

                                                                                     Tree tops full of flowers 

                                                                                                        seen from the Metro

Well, for one thing it was mission achieved. Second, we had a first-hand knowledge of Namma Metro and could recommend it to our friends and acquaintances. Third, I would hope that the present MD. Metro will read this and take pride their achievements and also take note of the suggestions we have made, we being their former senior colleagues!

Like the absence of escalators at the entrance to the stations; necessity of toilets and vending machines or snack bars inside the stations. At the same time, we are hoping the ticket-less travel we made at one line will either be ignored or overlooked!  

 Congratulations and long live Namma Metro! 

The Splendor of Athens

The last day of my visit to Greece, was a day trip in tourist bus, in the city of Athens, the capitol of Greece! I was dying with anticipation! Imagine, touring the city which laid the foundations of the Western Civilization. It was the cradle of Western civilization. 

Athens was the heart of Ancient Greece, it’s empires and civilization. In the classical age, it was a powerful city-state. It was the center of art and philosophy. It was the birthplace of democracy. Its architecture is still influencing public buildings in the world today. It was ‘Numero Uno’ in many matters!

                                                                                                     

                  Temple of Zeus       

                                                                                       

We passed through the Temple of Zeus, where as usual only a few columns were standing for the visitors to view. It was almost at the center of the city. We also glimpsed the Hadrian Arch on the site, constructed by the Roman Emperor Hadrian. This got me interested to look up the history of the city Athens. 

 

                                                                                                    Hadrian Arch

Athens has 7000 years of history. The city might have got its name from the goddess Athena offspring of Zeus, whose face is beautifully drawn in many places, including the hotel where we stayed. 

  Goddess Athena, painted on the hotel's walls

In 1400 BC, Mycenaean civilization flourished here, which in turn drew inspiration from the Minoan civilization that flourished in these places in 2000 BC, especially in Crete. The remnants of this Minoan civilization, I had the privilege to visit in Acrotiri excavations, in the island of Santorini. 

By 6th Century BC, classical Greek civilization started and democracy was introduced here in 508 BC. Play writers like Sophocles, Historians Herodotus, and Thucydides, Physician Hippocrates and most importantly philosopher like Socrates lived and contributed to their civilization, which would lay the foundations of the Western civilization. This period was called the Golden age of Athens.

As we passed through the Academy of Athens, with the sculptures of Socrates and Aristotle adorning the front, I recalled the famous “Academy” of Plato, which he established in 387 BC, where he taught and where Aristotle studied for twenty years. It survived till 529 AD, when it was closed under orders from Roman Emperor Justinian II. 

Similarly, Aristotle established his own academy called “The Lyceum” in 335 BC, which was destroyed along with its famous library in 267 AD, with the sack of the city by Goths. 

The rich heritage of these philosophers and their writings motivated people to cherish free thinking and democratic mode of governance, with discussions and arriving at decisions, which are still with us in the modern world. 

                                                                                     

                                                                                                                 Parliament

We passed the Royal palace, which now functions as Parliament, the National Library, with Doric style heavy columns with round capitals at the top with no base. You can see this type of architecture replicated in the columns of our own Rashrapathi Bhavan in New Delhi.

We also passed by the National Library, Athens University and the old Parliament which is now a museum. National Archaeological Museum also passed by. For want of time we couldn’t stop and gawk at these beautiful monuments. The loss was ours alone!

At the modern stadium, designed just like the classical ones, we disembarked and looked around. It was massive and built completely of white marble, the material that the ancients used in building temples and buildings in the Parthenon and other places. It was built in the same place where ancient stadium stood centuries before and it could accommodate 65,000 onlookers. The very first revived Olympic games were held in Athens in 1896 in this stadium, and later the Summer Olympic games were held in 2004. 

                   The Stadium

Finally, we reached the Acropolis hills, which house the ancient Greek classical buildings famously known for Parthenon temple. This temple was dedicated to the goddess Athena, whom the Greeks considered as their patron goddess. The construction was completed by 432 BC, and was meant to celebrate Hellenic victory over the Persian attack and as a thanksgiving to their goddess. It also served as a city treasury. It was of classical Doric style. 

On the way to Parthenon, Odeon of Herodes Atticus

The temple was damaged and reconstructed thereafter. During Byzantium time it was used as a church and during Ottoman’s time as a mosque. But in the 15th century AD, the Ottomans used it as an ammunition dump. In the battle it got ignited and major destruction to the temple and other nearby buildings resulted. Many marble sculptures were taken away and some sold to the

British in 1816, who exhibit till today in their British Museum. 

             The columns of Parthenon

A row of Caryatids, marble statues of young women, that supported the south porch of the Erechtheion building in Acropolis, was a beautiful vision to hold, the originals kept inside the Acropolis Museum on Acropolis hills. The fine folds of the garments worn by these young girls, who supported the building, could be seen through the marvelous work of the sculptors. 

  

                                                                                      A row of Caryatids serving as columns

Two Caryatids in the Museum

To recapitulate history of Acropolis citadel, there were three wars that happened to be fought here. The first one was in 490 BC, when Persian army under the rule of Darius I attacked the rebellious Greek states, and the Persians were defeated. Parthenon was built to commemorate that victory. 

                                                                               

       The Acropolis Hills with Parthenon          

Persians under Xerxes attacked once again and after fierce battle the Greeks won the battle again at Salamis in 480 BC. Resenting the ascendancy of Athens, other states fought them in the Peloponnesian war from 431- 404 and Athens was defeated and its power and prestige declined. It is interesting to know that both the Emperors Darius and Xerxes are mentioned in the Bible in the books of Daniel and Esther. 

                         Massive columns of Parthenon

Greece was swallowed up in the expanding kingdom of Philip II of Macedonia and then later the Empire of Alexander the Great. It then passed on to the hands of Romans, who had great fascination for Greece for it was Greek civilization that was ruling those days. 

It is good to remember that the whole New Testament was written in Greek, which was the lingua franca of those days. The New Testament writers used a form of local Greek known as ‘Koinonia Greek,’ which was commonly spoken by the populace. 

   Entrance to Parthenon and other buildings

                  crowded with tourists

Byzantine rule followed and in 9-10th century AD it came under the influence of the Crusaders and became prosperous. But in 1458 AD, it was conquered by Ottoman rule. In 1832 AD, the Greeks fought and won their independence.

Sculptures in the Museum. Fine folds of the       dresses seen 

Today Greece is a modern democracy, with a population of 6,65,000 people, ranked 39th richest country in the world. However, during 2006-2008, it came under the Great Recession and government debt crisis, when its GDP growth turned to minus. It picked up and got out of the debt trap with severe austerity measures, but still it is growing only at 0.02% in 2016, which is very low.

        Modern tram running in Athens

                                                                                        A statue of a Runner, in Athens metropolis

This was obvious in some ways, as we did see many poor people lying on cardboard planks in the city squire and in front of other buildings, with a cup in the front to receive alms from the passers-by. 

The economy is still to pick up and I sincerely wish and pray that the great ancient Greece will be restored to its ancient glory and prosperity and I wish the government and their people well.