Editor,
It was indeed a great pleasure to read the letter written by Belbora Wankhar. I wish to thank the writer for such inspiring, lucid and well crafted thoughts. As a believer of Ka Niamtre, I feel the need to congratulate the writer for putting forth a true sense of faith and religion. The need of the hour is to understand and practice the essence of religion no matter what faith we are born in or what faith we adopt and follow. I am of the belief that all faiths and religions in the world are different routes leading to one single destination. Hence there is no harm in peaceful co-existence of all faiths and religions without exhibitions of distinctions, copying, arrogance or pride. We the believers of ka Niamtre also believe that religion and culture go hand in hand and personally, I believe that we humans must realise that what really matters is our individual journey in life. No matter what religion we may practice and what faith we may belong to, if our lives are led examples of hatred, anger, envy, cruelty and various other evils then we are only making a mockery of our lives and religion itself. I am happy that the world still has conscientious people like Belbora Wankhar. Thank you!
Yours etc.,
Jenniefer Dkhar,
Via email
Know your Mother first
Editor,
When I first chanced upon the book,‘Great minds on India’ by Salil Gewali of Shillong (Meghalaya) from one of my Canadian friends I was immediately entranced. I didn’t waste a single moment to read the quotes/ opinions in the book from all the learned men of the west that I respected so much, and saw very clearly that they attributed the highest knowledge to India. I found the greatest affinity with Salil’s book for it reflected most of what I now believe with conviction. As a great American humour writer Mark Twain had once said, “India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grandmother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only.” To me, India is Beloved Mother – the source of all knowledge and wisdom — mathematics, geology, astronomy, medicine, chemistry, atomic theory, physics, philosophy, spirituality — name it — everything originated in India as Francois Voltaire writes in his works. Before the Greeks had their Plato or Archimedes, India had its philosophers and scientists already distilling zinc and gave to the world the counting numbers. The Indian sages were great meditators, spiritual masters who were able to unlock the keys of the Universe, and at the same time, they were scientists and mathematicians who could calculate the movements of the heavenly bodies with amazing precision. For a person like me, who is preoccupied in discovering deeper truths, concerning India’s wisdom, I am only at the first level, working myself towards the centre and finding only my Self. I am blessed to be alive in this era where I could read the Bhagavad Gita at my leisure and be filled with the profound revelations of Lord Krishna. ‘What freedom is there in knowing that I am not the doer!’ The knowledge that fascinated nuclear scientist Robert Oppenheimer! Sometimes, it disturbs me when I encounter Indians who are totally unaware of their precious literary heritage; who do not seem to care that they are already endowed, by birth, with the wealth of the Great Mother India. What does it take to wake people up into the appreciation of what they already possess when their thoughts are of creating a life for themselves in the western world and to be as western in speech, dress, thought, and action as possible? I do not know. I only know that Salil Gewali’s book, “Great minds on India” is a rooster’s crow before the break of day, when the truth will finally dawn in the minds of the children of India about the beauty of their Great Mother. May the wisdom of India take them in Her loving arms and fill their thirst with the milk of Her universal truth — that She is without beginning or end — and that they are Hers completely — so that there should be no more hunger, or thirst left, but for their hearts to overflow with peace and equanimity. And in the end, I say, she is the Great Mother to all who seek after truth, and I claim her as my very own. I find it most relevant to recount the words of one of the greatest thinkers of modern times Henry David Thoreau which is from his masterpiece ‘Walden’ : “In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and, cosmogonal philosophy of the Gita, and in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial.” These words must be enough motivation for we all to explore this fathomless treasure trove.
Yours
etc.,
Maria Cristina Bejar, S
t. Louis University, Baguio City,
Philippines
From water boss to electioneering!
Editor,
It is not surprising to hear and read about the former Chief Engineer of PHE department S.K.Sunn planning to contest the 2018 State Assembly polls except that the party he plans to contest from is still unclear. Perhaps he may contest as an independent candidate, who knows? Whatever be the matter, it is an irony that the Department he held for several decades has failed on all fronts to deliver the GSWSS scheme even after sufficient funds, resources, time etc…had been at its disposal. The former engineer who has been in the news for his inefficiency and for alleged misuse of funds should have been taken to task by the Government, but no one will touch him because the stakes are high and also the skeletons in the cupboard are too many lest an investigation suddenly reveals the worst. On what kind of a mandate shall this man promise to deliver when he has not been able to efficiently deliver water to the people of Shillong and its outskirts. That is why when such people win an election and become socalled legislators, legislating laws always take a back seat. This can be seen from the current lot of MLAs’ sitting in the government comprising of businessmen and traders. When shall we see a positive outcome and the reshaping of the political system here in Meghalaya? How long shall we wait?
Yours etc…
Dominic S.Wankhar
Shillong-7