The Nagaland I visited!

 

The Nagaland I visited!

In the whirlwind tour of the North-East States which I undertook in the month of April 2025, visiting from one corner of the Seven Sisters to the other, nothing touched my heart like that of Nagaland. I went to the Bangladesh border from Megalaya State and to the Chinese border beyond Bomla pass at 15,200 feet elevation in Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh State. I remember the cold and the shivering at the pass, but Naga country blew me over, not for what it is now, but for what it was a few decades back or even a few centuries back. I will narrate a few facts of its history which I learnt during my trip.

Nagas, people of the State of Nagaland are of many different tribes, as many as 50 tribes, living in Naga hills. They are of Mongoloid stock, close to north Western Myanmar and has river Brahmaputra at its western border. The important tribes being, Angami, Ao, Chang, etc. Some had republican system and others autocratic rule. Angamis practiced a pure form of democracy. The bravery of the Naga chiefs was legendary. “Naga” seems to be a Tibeto-Chinese word, a name for a place, and the people living there became the “Naga people.”

‘Head-hunting’ was the practice of Naga tribes, taking heads of enemies as trophies, which symbolized bravery and ritualistic entrance into manhood and enhanced social status. The greater number of heads hanging at the entrance of his house, the higher was his prestige. Unfortunately, their enemies were their own Naga people, belonging to another Naga tribe. Nagas were feared for their head-hunting practices and their raids into the neighboring states or people. As Christianity spread among them in the 19^th century, the head-hunting practice disappeared slowly but surely. The first church to be established was a Baptist church in 1872. Even today I could see many Baptist churches, and also Pentecostal churches in Nagaland. In Christian seminaries like SABC (South Asian Bible College), Bangalore, and SAIACS (South Asian Institute of Advanced Christian Studies – from where I did my year-long Pre-PhD programme in 2000!), Bangalore, I used to see more students from Nagaland than from anywhere else in India. 90% of the Nagas follow Christianity and they are more fluent with English, having benefitted from the education introduced by the missionaries.

Nagas had problems with the Burmese and have fought a few wars with them. Also, the British who wanted to incorporate them into their Raj had to wage many a war to finally bring them in. The village we visited, Khonoma, of Angami tribe, has a famous fort built in 1825, and from where they fought their wars against the British East India Company, the first one called the first Anglo-Khonoma battle of 1850, where the Nagas defeated the British. In a retaliatory battle of 1851, the British and some of the allied Naga tribes massacred the Nagas including civilians, in Kikruma village, but the British learnt to let the Nagas live their own lives, adopting a policy of non-interference in Naga affairs. In Khonoma itself the fort was demolished three times, and rebuilt, the last one in 1919.

Another site of historical importance was in Kohima itself, the capital of Nagaland, the Commonwealth Kohima War Cemetery, established in 1946 for the fallen in the World War II. In April 1944, around the Tennis court of the Deputy Commissioner, Nagas fought bravely along with their British and British Indian counterparts in the Battle of Kohima, where they effectively halted the invasion of British India by the forces of Japan, with the loss of some 2500 soldiers and officers, who lie buried in this field. The war lasted till June 1944. In this cemetery, I saw tombstones of soldiers from Punjab Regiment; of Royal Indian Army Service Corps; Dorsetshire Regiment; some as young as 19 years old. The allied forces lost some 4000 men, but the Japanese lost some 7000 men and had to retreat and give up their effort to enter into India.  

The independent spirit of Nagas was not extinguished even after India got her independence in August 1947. They continued to fight for preserving their independent existence, safeguarding their traditional ways of life. Though in the beginning they wanted to be a part of Assam as one of its districts, with their own administration and traditional manner of rule, it was not acceptable to the newly formed country India. India could not have afforded an independent enclave within her boundaries, as it was repeatedly denied during the Integration of India, to the Princely States which wanted to have such arrangements.

Then started the so-called “Naga problem.” In 1947 NNC (Naga National Council) submitted a memorandum to the British, that they should be granted independence and not be placed under Indian rule, in view of the help rendered by them in WW II and also because in the 1935 Constitution of India, Nagas were left as an “Excluded Area.” They wanted the British power, on the eve of their departure, to assure them of their independence and be their “Guardian power.” British could not give any such guarantees. Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India tried to make the Nagas join the Indian Union of their own freewill. But this was not agreeable to the Nagas. They wanted internal autonomy. When talks failed open conflict began in 1956. In trying to suppress this tendency and to integrate Nagas into India, Indian Government used force, through the Assam police and Indian army, and it led to many atrocities, a reign of terror with rape, arrests, disappearances, and even executions happening. In 1956 when a leader of Nagas, Sakhrie was killed, the movement went underground. In 1990, A. Z. Phizo, acknowledged as the Father of Naga Nationalism passed away, who was living in self-exile in London since 1957.

Their leader Khrisanisa Seyie, from Khonoma village, member of Naga National Council (NNC), and the first President of Federal Government of Nagaland, in 1959 had this to say: “Nagas are not Indians; their territory is not a part pf the Indian Union. We shall uphold and defend this unique truth at all costs and always.” Nagas sought to create an independent Naga State. With untiring zeal, Seyie tried to unite all the warring Naga tribes under one umbrella. Their mantra was “Nagas will never allow themselves to be called Indians.” The union of India could not afford to give such an independent status within India to Nagas, a privilege which was denied to 565 Princely States.

In 1997, a ceasefire agreement was executed between Government of India and the national Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM). In 2001 another ceasefire agreement between Government of India and NSCN (Khaplang) came into being. After many false starts, and loss of life, the peace agreement held on and it is only in the last two decades or so there seems to be peace and development in Nagaland.

What a pity! Such a beautiful State, with hills and valleys and river-lets and water-falls, place still unspoiled by modern advances, with virgin forests, and beautiful people had become a battle ground and the people were caught in the fire between Indian government and the Naga freedom fighters. A similar thing is now being repeated in Manipur, where in spite of the guarantees given to them by the Government of India, an attempt is being made to replace the hill tribes Kukis, with Maiteis from Imphal valley. Manipur is still burning, one reason why I could not visit Manipur during my trip this time. I hope and pray that one day very soon peace and justice will prevail there and people would be able to visit without fear and enjoy the beauty of Manipur.

Till then “kei lawm e!” (Good Bye in creole language spoken in Nagaland).

Please see the pictures below.

                                                Fort in Khonoma village

                                               Terrace cultivation in Nagaland

A Baptist church in Nagaland

Hotel where I stayed with the signature design of Angami tribe

                                                                                          

                                     Rows of tombs of the fallen in the Cemetery

                                                         Memorial for the leader Seyie
                                                   

                                                Commonwealth War Cemetery in Kohima

My Mussoorie Days!

 

My Mussoorie Days!

Mussoorie was a turning point, an important mile stone, not only in my career, but also in my life. When I joined the Academy in 1974, my life changed irrevocably. Suddenly the horizon expanded. Madras, now Chennai, where I completed my M.Sc in Zoology, though a metropolitan city was not comparable in lifestyle to Bombay, now Mumbai or New Delhi. The world view was quite different. In Mussoorie, opportunities just exploded. Under Dr. Rajeshwar Prasad, the Director, LBSNAA, extra-curricular activities galore, and one can pick and choose what one wanted to do. Having embroiled in studies to complete M.Sc, then to write the UPSA examination, it was a welcome change. I think I just went mad!

Early mornings went to the riding classes. One had to climb down to the riding ground. I was fairly good at riding and I loved it. My horse was Josaphine, the fine lady! Many a weekend, we went on treks on horseback in and around Mussoorie. It was a good exercise for the body and exhilarating experience with wind blowing on your face and the horse steady on trot or galloping wildly, especially when you lose control! Our riding instructor Nawal Singh, would shout saying, if you cannot control a horse, how would you control a district? Even Indira Gandhi, ex-PM of, seemed to have held such a view. During the British time, Collectors had to use horses to reach the remote interior regions of his district. A colonial relic, may be, but it is an exhilarating experience, giving one confidence and boldness to face any situation in the district or elsewhere.

I was able to continue this favorite outdoor exercise of mine, even after a break of 15 years, when I was posted to Mysore as Divisional Commissioner, Mysore. The Police had their own training school there, Karnatak Police Academy, at the foothills of Chamundi Hills, with a Horse-riding school. I went most mornings for horse riding, many a times accompanied by my son, who was just ten years old that time, and he never missed an opportunity to ride with me. I had the privilege of leading the Dasara procession in the years 1990 and 1991, in the front along with the Mayor of Mysore and the Commissioner of Police on horseback.

Then came Judo, the Japanese martial art, where you throw your opponent by focusing on grappling and throwing techniques, basically a close quarters combat. Many lady probationers took up this course in the Academy, including me. Again, it helps one with physical fitness, self-confidence, and teaches you self-defense. This passion for physical and outdoor activities, blossomed into Jane Fonda aerobic exercises, resistance training with weights and swimming for the next thirty years. It really gives you confidence to face challenging situations in the field.

The other outdoor activity in the Academy was the two weeks annual break, when one went to either a trek in Himalayan Mountain range or attended a specific training programme like rock climbing. Our Deputy Director Sri. Yugandhar was the spirit behind these activities. I went to Uttar Pradesh, now Uttarakhand, to train in Rock climbing and enjoyed learning techniques of foot holds and hand holds and rappelling. Last few days we trekked up to Gangotri glacier to see the beginnings of Ganges River, a bit difficult and tiring trek.

Next year I went for high altitude trek, passing Rohtang Pass and crossing into Lahaul-Spiti valley in Himachal Pradesh, which is around 3980 meters high. The stretch was covered with snow even in summer when we went. The pass connects Kullu valley with Lahaul and Spiti valleys. Once we crossed the pass, we descended into Lahaul Valley, with picturesque villages perched around. The trek offered a spectacular view of the snow-capped mountains, fresh and snow-laden breeze, lush valleys and alpine meadows. It was physically very demanding, but worth the trouble. I refused to wear dark glasses while crossing the pass, and when we reached the valley, I was totally snow-blind! On return to the Academy, when everyone was going about normally, I was going around with sunglasses – a freak?!  

Once in Bangalore I joined the club Nature Admire and went on many treks around Bangalore up to Tippu’s fort near Ramanagaram, walking through the fertile paddy fields and sleeping on the parapet wall of the fort. In and around Ramanagaram there are many boulders and we did rock climbing too. I rounded it all off by attending a month-long Basic Mountaineering Course in Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi, now Uttarakand, and passed out with flying colors, obtaining an A! After acclimatizing, in the last week, we trekked up to the Basic Camp in Gangotri region. We did a lot of rock-climbing including rappelling which I thoroughly enjoyed. For the first time I ravenously ate the cold cooked potatoes and full boiled eggs and raisins rationed out to us individually at the start of every day trek. One was hungry to say the least!

These outdoor experiences gave me a love for touring the districts and villages either as an Assistant Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner or Head of the Department of the various departments where one worked during the Service. It gave strength and stamina, courage and a positive outlook, and confidence to meet any challenge in the work.

Of course, one had to be free of mundane works like cooking and cleaning, if one had to go all out on such activities and combine it with work. Fortunately, in the Academy you eat at the mess and they feed you quite well, and an attendant on call to boot for mundane matters. I remember fondly Bahadur, who attended to the Ladies block and was a favorite with all the lady probationers.  

There were many other things going on in the Academy, classes, library, cultural programmes, shramdhan, games like badminton and tennis, yoga and Transcendental meditation, celebrating festivals including Holi, long walks to Library point, visits to Hari’s café, exploring the neighborhood and so on. But what stood out for me was the outdoor activities, which livened my life, not only during the first 2 years at the Academy, but throughout the career and thereafter. I thank my God, the Creator for these wonderful places and the grace given me to enjoy them.

Wonderful and unforgettable Mussoorie days!

(This article was written by me for the Magazine, "Reminiscences and Reflections" of Civil Service Batch of 1974, the Fiftieth Anniversary of which was held at Mussoorie from 2 -4 April, 2025)

 

Silenced by Torture

 

Silenced by Torture

This is an extraordinary life-story of a few missionaries who followed the path led by St. Francis Xavior to evangelize Japan.[1] Christianity first arrived on the shores of Japan via Xavior in 1549 AD. The Society of Jesus or Jesuits, of which St. Zavior was a foundational member, was quite active thereafter and from Portugal missionaries were sent and some three hundred thousand Christians came to be in Japan. In the hierarchical society of the then Japan, the landlord sat on the top of the pyramid, under whom worked the Samurai (the warrior classes), and then came at the bottom the poor peasants. The peasants readily accepted Christ and the message of his love and redemption, for they were under heavy burden of taxation and were considered as filthy insects crawling on the ground, who could be crushed any time by those on the top. During the glory days of evangelism in Japan, even Samurai and the landlords accepted Christ and took baptism.

After the outburst of the Shimbara rebellion in 1637-1638, in which the peasants rebelled against the heavy taxation, led actively by Christian village leaders, and some Christian Samurai, things changed. A terrible persecution of Christianity was launched and kept raging for a long time. In Nagasaki some 26 priests of the Jesuit order were punished and priests all over Japan were evicted, tortured and put to death. Expulsion of all the missionaries from Japan was ordered 1614, because of their alleged role in stirring rebellion among the peasants. Some 70 priests were exiled to Macao, then a popular port in China. For the next 250 years Christianity was banned in Japan and its priests were outlawed.  

The church went underground and some 37 priests secretly remained in Japan, including Father Ferreira, sent from the Society of Jesus in Portugal. He had worked for 33 years in Japan; but he was betrayed, arrested, put to torture of ‘the pit’ at Nagasaki and he apostatized. He had to take a Japanese name, marry a Japanese woman, dress like a Japanese and stayed in Nagasaki under the magistrate’s supervision. His letters to the Society stopped after 1632. Uneme became the magistrate in Nagasaki in 1629 and ever since torture and killing of secret Christians became worse.

In 1635, three priests from Portugal, who were the students of Ferriera, took permission of the authorities in Rome and Portugal, to undertake a secret mission, to go to Japan and investigate whether Ferreira really denied his Master Christ, and what had happened to him. These priests were Rodrigues, Juan Marra and Garrpe, all friends, studied in the seminary of Campolide in Lisbon, where Ferreira had been their teacher once. They departed in the Indian fleet that left the shores of Lisbon in 1638, sailed around Africa, circumventing the Cape of Good Hope, and reached Goa, their destination, after seven months, braving violent storms and turbulent sea on the way.

The next year they proceeded to Macao a base for trade between China and Japan. Portuguese had been forbidden to enter Japan. The Jesuit leader in Macao refused to permit to send these three Jesuits to Japan, on their secret mission, as it was very dangerous, with Dutch and English warships enroute, who were opposed to the Jesuits. In Macao they met a Japanese, named Kichijiro, who promised to put them in touch with the secret Christians in Japan, and after mustering a vessel, captain and sailors, they left for Japan. As Santa Marta was very sick, they left him at Macao and only Rodrigues and Garuppe journeyed further. After a terrible storm, they reached the shores of Japan, somewhere near Nagasaki. Kichijiro led them to a village, Tomogi, where the two missionaries received favorable welcome but in secrecy, and were lodged in a dilapidated hit in the nearby mountain in hiding.

The magistrate of Nagasaki was not aware of the existence of the secret Christians and the villagers feared that they will all be killed if the authorities came to know that the villagers were hiding Portuguese priests. The priests had to hide in that ramshackle hut for the day and in the nights, they could not light a fire. Rainy season started in June and it poured buckets of water. Confined to the hut, it was a miserable existence, dangerous not only to the peasants, but also to the priests. They had some dry rice for food and may be a potato or so brought up by the villagers. Still the priests conducted prayers, heard confessions and instructed them in catechism, for the Christians there were like sheep without a shepherd. The rewards for their heads fixed by the Japanese government were highly attractive: anyone informing on a priest will get 300 pieces of silver; if a Jesuit brother was informed on, one will get 200 pieces of silver and for a Christian, one will get 100 pieces of silver. It was quite an attractive sum for the starving peasants.

Very soon troubles erupted. In spite of all precautions, someone had informed the authorities and the officials descended on the village, searched their houses and in their second visit took the villagers in a procession, made them stamp with their feet on a metal frame with Christ’s face embossed on it. As a true Christian they cannot bear to put their foot on the face of their Savior. I remember the incidence of St. Polycarp, the Bishop of Symrna, before being burnt on stake, was asked just to say, “Caesar is the Lord.” But he refused saying, “for 86 years I have served Him, and He has done me no wrong, and how can I call another person as my Lord?” And as a reward, he was burnt on the stake. That was in 155 AD. The poor peasants of this village, clenching their tooth, stepped on Jesus’ face, but the authorities identified two villagers who cringed while stamping on the picture. Then they brought out the picture of Mother Mary and the infant Jesus in her lap and asked these two to trample on it. As Catholics they had a special regard for Mother Mary and it was too much for them to do and both refused to stamp on it.

These two unfortunate Christians were taken to the beach and bound on wooden beams, which were planted in the sand and left to stand on the shore. At low tide the sea water came up to their ankles, but during the high tide water came up to their neck. Within three days they both died in great agony. Warned of the officials third swoop, which would be to search the mountain where they were staying, the priests decided to separate and run from their mountain hut. Again some one seemed to have informed on them to the authorities. Rodrigue continues the narrative. He ran amidst bushes and brambles and tore the peasant dress he was wearing and his body. With no food to eat, he plucked the grass growing on the sides and ate it. He met Kichijiro on the way and he took him to another Christian village. The priest had his doubts that Kichijiro could be the informer. Still, he went to the village and walked straight in to the ambush of the authorities, was caught and taken to Nagasaki, where he was imprisoned separately. A group of Christian villagers had also been taken prisoners.   

The magistrate Uneme came with a band of Samurai and tried to convince the priest to deny Jesus and recant. He refused to trample on the face of Christ in the picture. They treat him gently and let him conduct prayers for the villagers in captivity. Then one day, they took him to Nagasaki to meet the priest Ferreira, the priest whom they had come to sees. But he tried to convince the young priest to recant. He himself had denied Christ realizing the innocent peasants were being killed one by one, until he recanted. Also, he was suspended in a pit upside down with legs tied up, and a small insertion made behind the ears from which blood oozed out slowly but persistently, which will lead to a slow, but painful death after a few days. Not able to stand these he recanted. The intension of the magistrate was to remove the leaders, the priests, for once that was done, the people, even if they were secret Christians, the authorities did not bother, for there was no one to lead them.

Rodrigues was brought back to his cell. In the night he heard someone constantly snoring. He raised his voice not able to bear this sound. Ferreira came to him and explained that was not the sound of snoring, but the rasping of two men who had been suspended in the pit and dying. As long as he refused to deny Christ, such torture of the innocents will continue. He cannot kill himself as it was against his religion. Finally, Rodriques relented and trampled on the face of Christ. It seemed to him that Jesus from that picture, with compassion, called him to trample on him. The torture stopped, but the priest was held captive, made to wear Japanese dress, given the name of a dead Japanese, made to live in a house under house arrest. He refused to marry the widow of the dead man, whom they offered. His food was supplied twice a day. He was a captive, never could he dream of returning to Portugal. Many times, during those agonizing days, Rodrigues questioned the Lord, “why are you silent?” He got his answer one day, “I was not silent, I suffered beside you.” In this isolation and agony, he lived for another 30 years and died in Japan at the age of sixty-four. His mortal remains were cremated and the little money he had covered this expense.

In the sixty years that followed St. Zavior’s visit, Christianity flourished in Japan. But things changed after 1605. From 1614 to 1640 some six thousand Christians were killed. First the offenders were burnt, but when they died a martyr’s death, glorified by the others, they resorted to torture by dipping them in hot water or made to stand tied to the pole in the sea or suspended upside down in a pit with a small insertion behind the ear. In 1632 Ferraira apostatized. A few years later, Rodrigues also apostatized. The other priest died. It was not until another 250 (1603-1868) years that doors will be opened for Christianity in Japan. But even today as of 2023, there are only 8,98,921 Christians in Japan, a meagre 0.73% of the population.

 

I remember countries like Turkey, which was for 1000 years a Christian nation under Byzantine Roman Empire, today is totally Islamic, with the change taking place after the capture of Istanbul by Ottoman Turks in 1453 AD. Christianity was wiped out from northern Africa, where most famous Christian teacher, writer and philosopher, St. Augustine was born and lived in the fourth century AD.  Today, in the whole of Muslim Arab world there are hardly any Christians. In India, the RSS, and its political wing BJP, that is governing the country today, would love to wipe off the two and a half percent Christians from the face of country.

Why is this hatred towards Christ and his followers? What makes them want to exterminate an enlightened community that is in the forefront of education, health and social services in the country they reside? It dawned on me suddenly that they are scared and worried about the power that is behind the Christian people – power to transform the society, bring education, teach ethics and help the poor and the needy with their services. It is not the Christians doing it, for they are as fallible as any other but, it is the power of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God through His Son Christ, that changes a person and transforms a people, if only given the willingness. Yes, in that power and glory the Lord Jesus Christ will come again to claim what is lawfully His, the Kingdom of heaven on earth. Till then, persecutions will continue, and may the grace of God strengthen them who go through it, and let the hope of eternal life with Christ, the Beloved, bring them peace. Praise God.   

---

[1] Shusaku Endo, “Silence,” 1966 in Japanese; translated version in English, 1969.

 

The Scarlet Pimpernel

The Scarlet Pimpernel! A sweet little star-shaped flower commonly seen in England becomes the title of a historical, adventurous novel published in 1905, by a Baroness named Orczy. The story is set in 1792, the early stages of French Revolution, which started in 1789, with the storming of the Bastille prison in Paris on July 14, 1789. The story narrates events earlier to the beginning of the Reign of Terror, 1793-1794, when aristocrats in scores were subjected to the guillotine and whole families were massacred. The Emperor Louis XVI was guillotined in January 1793. In October the same year the Queen Marie Antoinette was executed by the same guillotine. It will rage until Napoleon Bonaparte took charge in a coup d’etat, abolishing the then ruling Directory, and the revolution ground to a halt in 1799.

In these troubled times there was a ray of hope for the harassed aristocrats of France, many of whom were rescued by a band of tightly knit 20 British aristocrats under the leadership of one calling himself the Scarlet Pimpernel.  Nobody had seen this leader, but he was known as Scarlet Pimpernel, known only by his symbol, the way side red colored flower, scarlet pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis). Stories circulated how daring he was and how ingeniously he cheated the French guards at the gates, to smuggle whole families of French aristocracy, saving them from guillotine. He was a master of disguise and evoked admiration and loyalty for his bravery and the daring feats he accomplished in the face of terror and danger. His rescue efforts rose to almost mythical levels. The rescued French families were safe in England and were seen as the refugees, liberated by the elusive Scarlet Pimpernel.

Sir Percy Blakeney a rich and famous Englishman was seen as a lazy and dim-witted aristocrat in the London circles. In one of his trips to Paris, fell head over heels in love with a beautiful, rich and intelligent woman, Marquerite, marries her and brings her to London in 1792. She was an actress and not an aristocrat in French society. The London society drooled over her and saw also how unfitting the match was; she was intelligent and admirable and Percy was just rich! No intelligence to match. Even the wife was treating him with contempt. But they all adored the Scarlet Pimpernel and his exploits, without knowing who he was. May be that was the attraction!

Marquerite was blackmailed by Chauvelin, the French envoy to England to find out the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel, using her contacts with the rich and the mighty in England society, so that he can capture him and bring him to the guillotine in France. Her own brother Armand, presently in France, was in league with the Pimpernel, and his life was in danger. With this the French envoy threatens and blackmails Marquerite.

 No one could have even remotely associated Percy with the Scarlet Pimpernel, the daring, highly intelligent and formidable swordsman, with quick-thinking, master of disguise. But in a ball one evening Marquerite finds out to her horror that her husband indeed was the elusive Pimpernel. But she had already implicated him unknowingly to Chauvelin, who was now tailing Percy, who had just left for France on another mission of his. Smitten by remorse, Marquerite takes the next boat to France, crossing the Chanel, along with one of the loyal supporters of the Pimpernel, to warn her husband that his identity has been compromised, unwittingly by his own wife.

Chauvelin comes to a decrepit inn, where Percy was supposed to lodge, and there they meet face to face, but Percy manages to give a slip to the French envoy and disappears into the night. Marquerite follows her husband and walks straight into the hands of Chauvelin, who is only too happy to have her as a captive to lure Percy and he proceeds to hut near the coast, the supposed hide out of Percy, making an old Jew to take them there by his cart. But by his clever disguise as a dirty old Jew, Percy manages to throw wool over the eyes of Chauvelin and escapes with Marquerite, who was quite contrite by now, and sails to England in the waiting boat, along with her brother and another of the French aristocrat, whose family Percy had already saved.

The double life led by Percy, as a floppy rich man in London society and the heroic but anonymous Scarlet Pimpernel, saving aristocrats from France is quite romantic. He helped aristocrats to escape from France and the guillotine by adopting ingenious methods, disguises and daring bravery. His wife, by the arduous journey she undertook to warn him, had proved her loyalty to her husband and her trustworthiness to his cause, and wiped off her guilt of having betrayed him. They return to England and lived happily ever after!

It is possible that this very famous novel written by Baroness Orczy which was staged as a play successfully and later made into a film, was the forerunner for later spy super-heroes like Super Man, Batman, Zorro, etc. It contains themes like courage, deception, power and pride and heroism. Loyalty is a major theme in the story.

Though Chauvelin and Prince of Wales, latter King George IV, and many other aristocrats described both from England and French societies are historical, Percy, the Scarlet Pimpernel himself might not be a true historical figure. But there were other such brave aristocrats in England, who had helped the French aristocrats to escape guillotine. The historical events narrated like the Reign of Terror and the horrible guillotine and the massacre of the aristocrats in France are all true and factual.  

It is also a point to remember that Wesley of Methodist fame, is credited with saving England and its aristocrats from a revolution as it happened in France. At about the same time (17-3-1791), he went around the slums and downtrodden folks, illiterate and easily enflamed, preaching Christ and his love and peace as written in the gospels. He organized schools for them, educated them, worked for nearly 60 years among the working class of the British, to uplift them with the message of Christ that all are equal in the eyes of our God, the Creator, which gave the poor a sense of dignity and acceptance, which they had not received from the hierarchical society. That is the power of Gospel, and the love which God showed humanity through the death of his Son, for saving humanity from their sins. As an aftermath, the ruling class of Britain, started many reforms in the working conditions of the poor and welfare services to save Britain from such massacre of the ruling class! But, it is God's love through His Son Jesus Christ that won in the end. 

Institutes of the Christian Religion

 

Institutes of the Christian Religion

It had been my desire to read the Institutes of the Christian Religion by the Reformation-famous John Calvin, penned in 1536. It is almost a text book for the newly formed Protestant churches, dealing with every possible theological and doctrinal matters, which are very much different from the doctrines of the Catholic Church. But little did I imagine the digital book to have 975 pages and that too full of serious and quite dry matter! I ploughed through, but took almost a year to completely read it! The task was so massive and difficult.

Calvin (1509-1564 AD) was a French theologian, and reformer in Geneva, and his brand of Reformed church is known as Calvinism. He was just 26 years old when he wrote the first draft of the book. He expanded it and wrote it to be a book to help common people understand the basics of the Christian faith. His book has four major divisions: 1. Knowledge of God; 2. Knowledge of God the Redeemer; 3. Mode of obtaining the Grace of Christ; and 4. The true Holy Catholic Church.

I thought I will give some of the points that Calvin makes which still rule the Protestant churches as the rule book on all matters connected with Christianity, and enrich our understanding of our own faith. Some points of history of Christianity also, I have pointed out, for our own knowledge.

·       After creation, man was corrupted and this passed on to the posterity by heredity.

·       Man’s natural gifts have all been corrupted by sin, and as Augustine of Hippo says, “Of our own we have nothing but sin.”

·       A sense of God is naturally engraven on the human heart.

·       Augustine of Hippo called the Jews, “The librarians of the Christian church.”

·       For the first 500 years of Christianity, there were no idols in the church, not even the images of Christ or mother Mary.

·       God operates on our wills to do what He wills, through the Holy Spirit and the Word.

·       No saint will ever attain perfection, so long as he is in the body. There is always sin in the saints until they are freed from their mortal frame.

·       Number 7 is the number of Perfection.

·       OT is literal and has temporal blessings, whereas NT is spiritual and endows spiritual blessings.

·       On account of his mother, Jesus is called the Son of David, and on account of his Father, he is the Son of God.

·       It was Innocent III (1160-1216 AD), a Catholic Pope, who introduced confession to one’s own priest, once a year.

·       People were imposed penitents (fasting, etc.,), as punishment for sins, and when they found it too severe, and petitioned the Church for relaxation, the church devised the remission of sins by Indulgences, in 11^th and 12^th centuries, against which Martin Luther and other Reformists fought.  

·       After Justification, where we are forgiven of sins by Christ, good works follow. Hence no conflict between faith and works.

·       The only Mediator is Christ, not Moses, not the dead, nor anyone else.

·       The body in which we will be resurrected will be the same body as at the present; no new body will be given; but the quality of the body will be different.

·       Church is a must in the believers’ life, because church is where the Word is preached and sacraments are observed.

·       No church will be altogether free from blemish; we are not to abandon church due to minute objections and variants.

·       For the appointment of the pastors, and bishops the consent of the people, the congregation was taken. Even when elections were introduced some 500 years back, the election of the clergy and the cardinals should be ratified by the consent of the people/congregation.

·       Pope Hildebrand, named Gregory VII (1020-1085 AD), received the rule of the Western Empire from the Emperor Henry IV, and the emperors became subordinate to the Popes. Popes used excommunication as a weapon to make the Kings/Emperors obey them. He established the primacy of the Papacy, stating that his power was absolute as a successor of Apostle Peter.

·       Marriage was forbidden to priests in 12^th century by Pope Calistus (1123 AD). Calvin was married and had children also, but they did not survive infancy.

·       A woman can take a vow of continence only after her 60^th year, according to Catholic norms.

·       Baptism by immersion of sprinkling is immaterial, and any of the two methods is permissible depending on the climate.  

·       Children born to Christian parents are received by God as heirs to Covenant, so they can be baptized while still babies. (infant baptism is alright).

·       Catholic church has added seven sacraments, while only 2 are biblical, that is Baptism and Holy Communion. Catholics added confirmation, penitence, extreme unction, ecclesiastical orders and marriage as sacraments, which are not biblical.

·       Calvin held that the gifts of the Holy Spirit were temporary and ceased after the apostles. (Many of us may not agree with this!)

·       According to Calvin, the offices of Prophets, Apostles, Evangelists are temporary, but that of Pastors and Teachers are of perpetual duration.

·       Magistrates and rulers are to be strict and firm, for example, a murderer must not go unpunished.

·       Just war is still permissible for Christians.

·       Levy of taxes and imposts are the legitimate revenue of the princes/rulers.

·       Christians can go to the court, to alleviate their problems, and to receive justice, but not with hatred and a will to harm the opponent.

·       Even the most tyrants of the rulers are appointed by God to be used for His glory; eg. Nebuchadnezzar.

·       Nothing happens by chance, but by the will of God.

·       The ceremonial and judicial/political laws given to the Jews have been repealed, but not the moral law. Ten commandments fall under this category of moral law and are relevant even today.

·       Predetermination by God since foundations of the world is upheld. God had determined before all-time who would be eternally saved and who would be condemned to hell.

·       Christian liberty as taught in Galatians is that the conscience freed from the yoke of the Law, may cheerfully obey the will of God.

·       Prayer is important in the life of a Christian and ought to be offered to God, the Almighty through Jesus Christ.

·       Our obedience to Magistrates/State ought to be such, that the obedience which we owe to the King of kings (God) shall remain entire and unimpaired.

Well, some points to ponder! The purpose of the Institutes was the edification of the church and clarification of many disputed matters and also to bring out the wrong doctrines of not only Catholics, but also of mysticism, humanism and fanaticism (of Anabaptists), that were prevalent those days, and still linger on. According to him, Scripture alone is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice. His book is a systematization of the faith itself. He discusses in detail the Ten Commandments, The Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, the sacrament of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper and Christian liberty.

It has been said that the main principle of Martin Luther’s theology is justification by faith, whereas Calvin gave importance to the sovereignty of God in everything. Calvin believed in total deprivation of mankind, unconditional love of God, availability of atonement to man, and predestination.

Though difficult to read, it is an enriching exercise, to be undertaken by every Christian. So go ahead and delve into it. Bravo! All the best, and God bless your efforts to fathom the rich minds of the saints of yester years through their writings.  

 

The Wonder that was India!

It is a long time since I met you all in my blog. The last blog was posted in June 2024, some five months back. But my videos on Apocalypse were running till the end of August 2024 and it was great to connect with you all through that series. So, it is only two months and a few days since my inactivity!

Monsoon seasons are just getting over, with the South West monsoon having retreated by the middle of October, and the North East monsoon starting also in the middle of October and running till the end of that month, may be will stay active till December end. Can you imagine these same monsoons, known as Trade winds, took ancient Indians to far flung nations, to enrich themselves and their country? That is what they did.[1] Knowing the direction of the monsoon wind and the beginning and end of each these two, meant they could manure successfully, to their advantage, these biannual seasonal winds.

And where did they go? In the winter winds, they sailed from the west coast of India, Gujarat, and the southern peninsula, to the east coast of Africa to reach Ethiopia. Thereafter they could take the northern Persian Gulf to Iran and Mesopotamia or the southern path through Aden via Red Sea to Egypt. Then they took the summer monsoon to return home in August. Trip one way took just 45 days at the most!

It would surprise us Indians to know that Indian merchants had established colonies in 2300 BC in today’s Iraq, of Sumerian civilization. Etched carnelian beads from Gujarat have been dug up from the tombs of kings of Ur – a place from where Abraham, the father of Jews, hailed, which he left to journey over to Canaan. Items from Indus Valley Civilization have been found here in the second millennium. Indian spices like cinnamon, pepper, diamonds, beads, silks, have been found in Egypt in 1213 BC, and Greek islands. To fight in the Roman arenas, they imported tigers, leopards, panthers and even rhinoceros from India via Red Sea. Other luxury items imported by the Roman Empire from India were, diamonds, rubies, pearls, ebony, teak, amethysts, onyx, sandal wood, red coral, elephant tusks, tortoise shells, Indian cotton, Chinese silk, etc. Also carved furniture, ivory mirrors, and boxes. An Indian ivory figurine, a dancer wearing anklets was popular abroad and was found amidst the ruins of Pompey! Tamil and Sanskrit words for many spices had become familiar in the West. The word pepper came from Tamil pipali and ginger from Tamil singabera.

Ship building was a great industry within India, in Gujarat and in the south, where strong ocean-going sturdy boats or ships were built. These could carry 1000 passengers and up to 3000 vats or amphorae, and travel via Red Sea and return. This flourishing western trade made Pliny the Elder of the first century Rome, described India as “the sink of the world’s precious metals,” that is, gold and silver, up to 55 million sesterces annually. Once the Roman conquest of Egypt was made by the 1^st century BC, the trade underwent a sixfold increase. Greek geographer Strabo writes that from Ethiopia and northern most Nile, some 120 vessels sailed to and from India every year. Rome also collected tax on the incoming trading vessels; it was so profitable that it covered one third of the entire revenue of the Roman Empire!

Roman coins keep surfacing from south India in hoards! In Kottayam in Kerala, a large brass bowl containing 8000 gold aurei, Roman coins were unearthed recently. Ancient Tamil ports of Arikamedu, Poduke, in today’s Tamil Nadu, have yielded artifacts from Roman, Egyptian, Italian, France, and Spain. Near these ports, Roman settlements were found, and Roman gold coin hoards have been dug up from here.  

With the fall of Western Roman Empire in 5^th century AD, the trade declined, more so with the constant wars between Persia and Byzantium in the 6^th century AD. With this the Indian merchants shifted their focus and overseas trade to the east, to “Suvarnabhumi,” the Land of Gold, comprising today’s Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, mainly South-east Asia. Indian sailors, especially from the southern tip of India, sailed every eastward monsoon, carrying beads, textiles, metal goods, and other Indian manufactures and exchanged these with spices, gold, camphor, resin and other raw materials from this region. By the 5^th century, a direct route from southern India through Straits of Malacca, went straight up to China. Bay of Bengal became a single cultural and geographical area within the Indosphere, uniting countries on both its sides.

As Indian influence and culture spread in all these areas, Indian merchants brought with them skilled artisans from today’s Tamil Nadu, to work in these areas, and the gold they bought in Sumatra, Borneo, Malay peninsula and Thailand. From Bengal also these vessels plied. At a temple site in Thailand, archaeologists have found goldsmith’s touchstone etched in Tamil inscription in the 1^st century AD. Indian style jewelry have been found here in the 3^rd century BC itself. Suvarnabhumi was full of gold and Indian artisans took full advantage of it, by staying there and working on these. Archaeologist have dug out plenty of golden ornaments from this area of Mekong River delta. It was really a land of gold! Along with trade and artisans, Indian language, art, and architecture also got exported to South-east Asia. Sanskrit, Indian epics Mahabharata and Ramayana spread to these places. It became a part of Indosphere.

Buddhism spread to Sri Lanka and South-east Asia through the same route, travelling up to China. Mauryan Emperor Ashoka with his capital in north India, Pataliputra, modern Patna in the State of Bihar, converted to Buddhism, repenting the lives lost in his war against Kalinga and his conquest of the region, in 250 BC. He made maximum efforts to spread Buddhism across the world. His conversion to Buddhism was as dramatic as the conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine to Christianity in the 4^th century AD. It changed the course of history.  Ashoka sent his own son Mahindra and daughter, as missionaries to the Raja of Sri Lanka with some relics. The Raja was converted and donated a park for the monks of the Sangha to build a great monastery.

Buddhism reached northwards to Afghanistan and Tibet and then to China. From China it spread further eastward to Indo-China, Korea and Japan, by 6^th century AD. South-east Asia became predominantly Hindu-worshippers, but Buddhism made inroads and today we see the population here are mainly Buddhists. What Buddhism lost in its own place of birth, India, she made good in other places, across South -east Asia, China, Indo-China and Japan. It is interesting to note that having driven away Buddhism from its land of birth, riding on the wave of Hindu revival under Shankaracharya in the 8^th century AD, India is now inviting Buddhism back, may be to reap the potential of Tourism.

The largest Hindu temple in the world to day is not in India, but in Cambodia, the Angkor Wat, a temple devoted to Hindu god Vishnu. The largest Buddhist complex is in Java at Borobudur. This cultural hegemony or soft power of India over its neighbors stayed till 12^th and 13^th centuries AD. This was achieved, we must remember, not by sword, as with the spread of Islam over the world in the 6^th and 7^th centuries onwards. It was not through colonialism or imperialism as with the spread of Western powers, with the help of gunpowder and oppression and fleecing the countries of their wealth and suppressing their culture. It was done through peaceful means, a rich cultural exchange between regimes and countries which were equal to each other.   

India discovered the use of numbers as we see today and the use of zero at the end, making it possible for us to calculate in an easy manner, the decimal system. It passed on to the Islamic Abbasid empire in Baghdad, by the Arab merchants in 8^th century AD, and spread all over the Western world. The Roman numerals being used by the West till then was very cumbersome. The Sanskrit texts from Indian mathematicians like Aryabhata (550 AD) were translated in Arab first and then into the European languages.

But what happened to all these intelligence and advance in trading methods and astronomy and mathematics and Sanskrit texts and the influence of the south Indian temples and so on? How did they lose their flavor? Research shows that the Mongol invasion of the 13^th century wrecked the traditional trade routes and they began to break down. A new trade network through Central Asian land became paramount, later to be called the Silk Roads, from China up to Mediterranean. This is what enabled Marco Polo to travel from Venice, Italy, up to Mongolian Emperor, Kublai khan’s regime in China in 1271 AD. Inside India, Muslim conquests from 8^th century onwards destroyed the peaceful pursuit of art and literature and ancient wisdom. Temples were demolished and mosques were built on them. Sanskrit lost its fame, and Persian became the court language in Delhi. This will last well into the East India Company’s rule, and only change into English, with the crown of England taking over the rule in 1857 AD. Next two hundred years or so, the British did terrible damage to the culture, drained off the wealth of India and left us as a Third World Country.

What was the reason that we let all these foreigners to walk over us? There was no central governance in the country. The Mughals stabilized India during their rule and the money and wealth stayed in India, unlike during the British Raj, when money left Indian shores to the West, oiling their Industrial revolution. When Mughal rule floundered, the East India Company stepped in. There was no strong ruler to stop them or galvanize the whole of India against the foreign enemy. That is why the Constitution writers of the independent India went in for a strong unitary center, with States forming federation.

Can we undo the past damages and rise as one India to claim our place in the world? Can we take back our lost position as the world’s most industrious, intelligent and manufacturing people? Possible, if only we can unite India and not divide India.  

God bless India and Indian people.  

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[1] Read “The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World, by William Dalrymple, 2024; a very interesting read!