international events · and again on nature's overbearing creation. in the iconic novel,...

15

Contents

Bilateral .............................................................................................................................. 5

Business ............................................................................................................................. 13

Cover Special .................................................................................................................... 14

Feature ............................................................................................................................... 18

Traditional Medicine ........................................................................................................ 22

Personality ......................................................................................................................... 24

Religion .............................................................................................................................. 25

Culture ............................................................................................................................... 28

Hungarian Section ............................................................................................................ 30

Hindi Section ..................................................................................................................... 36

Children Corner ................................................................................................................ 37

Photo Gallery .................................................................................................................... 38

05 24

january-february 2014 | amrit | 3

AMRITVol. 1 Issue 3

Bi-monthly Journal of theEmbassy of India, Hungary

Editor in ChiefMalay Mishra

EditorUmesh Kumar

Support teamKrisztina SzabóEszter BerkiMariann OroszAndrás Havas

ContributorsMalay MishraSayantan ChakravartyBéla FazekasVishnu MakhijaniPéter MedgyessySubhash KakRanjan K BaruahMohan Rana Katalin AklanSunita PahujaÁdám LázárKrisztina DávidVirág Réka TúriCsaba KissUmesh Kumar

Cover and Design and LayoutINDIA EMPIRE Publication

Printed byINDIA EMPIRE PublicationsN 126, II Floor, Greater Kailash-I,New Delhi – 110 048, India.M: +91-9899117477Tel: +91-11-29231515

Amrit is a bi-monthly journal published by the Embassy of India,Hungary. It is also available online on the Mission’s websitewww.indianembassy.hu

The views expressed are those ofthe author and not necessarily ofthe Embassy of India, Hungary.

Reproduction in any manner with-out prior permission of theEmbassy is prohibited.

From the Ambassador’s Desk

Dear Reader,

The Indo-Hungarian cultural con-nect is deep, intense and multifariousas it unravelled over an engrossingconversation with Dr. Imre Lazar,current Head of the CulturalDepartment in the Ministry ofHuman Resources. Dr. Lazar hasserved 11 years in Delhi, in two spells,as Director of the Hungarian CulturalCentre and has come out with someprofound publications under hisremit on the subject, besides makingthis a matter of research for his PhDdissertation at the Jawaharlal NehruUniversity. He told me how closelyhe was associated with Elizabeth Brunner, the celebrated Hungarianpainter, daughter of her namesake, Elizabeth Sass Brunner, equally famous,both spending long years in India, with the daughter nearly her life-timewith a Padma Shri in 1985 and a host of Hungarian awards to boot.

Elizabeth Brunner passed away in 2001 in New Delhi, leaving behind arich body of artwork, from famous national leaders (she was a personalfavourite of Pt. Nehru and many of her invaluable works adorn his studyand bedroom in the Nehru Memorial) to Buddhist iconography, the DalaiLama and portraits of ordinary people from various parts of India. Boththe mother-daughter duo spent two years in Santiniketan at the invitationof Gurudev Tagore, (I have discovered countless Hungarians who had vis-ited his abode, each one enriched with India's perennial culture from thefount of civilization in that distant land) in the 1930s and after a shortpelerinage which took them to Japan, USA and Hungary, returned to India,to make it their home.

A wonderful exhibition on the Hungarian connection to India, over thecenturies, was on display at the National Library in Budapest. HungarianExplorers and Travellers in India, a joint publication of the HungarianCultural Centre, makes mention of at least fifty such noble souls who have,imbued with passion and an intense desire to discover the Orient, each withhis or her own pursuit, be it language, culture, religion, way of life,Indology, even practice of medicine or entomology or common game-hunt, have touched foot on Indian soil. Why, you may ask. The answercomes forth from the wonderful foreword written to the compilation fromthe then Ambassador to India, Dr. Geza Palmai, himself a notedIndologist,

"The Hungarians even after having become part of the settled

Malay Mishra

Ambassador

embassy of india, Hungary4 | amrit | january-february 2014

European world have always looked upon Asia with nostalgic feelings, searching for their lost home inthe vast lands of this continent and seeing in every Asian, a possible descendant of ancient ancestors...The reason for this interest lay in the history of Hungary itself, which was a continued struggle for sur-vival and freedom ever since the arrival of the Hungarians from the East in their present country... Thegreat culture of India has been a source of inspiration in maintaining the Hungarian national identityand has helped to strengthen the resolve of the Hungarian people in their own struggle".

No wonder then, the Foreign Minister of Hungary broke tradition and was the Chief Guest at ourRepublic Day celebration and we also had the Minister of Rural Development as the Guest of Honour,two senior Cabinet Ministers of the Orban government marking their presence. The Indo-Hungarianconnect is verily in ebullience. And the thread of such strong bonding indeed goes centuries down. Ourcommunication in the present day has therefore a solid base, despite the ebbs and tides of history. Theconnect has only come stronger and today reflects in every branch of knowledge or socio-economicactivity. We are bound to nurture them to protect a civilizational heritage that has flown from both sides.

My lecture, the first of the year at the Central European University, Budapest, as part of theAmbassador Lecture Series, on “Contemporary Dimensions of India's Foreign Policy”, saw an overfill-ing hall and a highly interactive audience. India has always believed in sharing what she has achievedover millennia and this was just a modest attempt to unravel her policy towards the world of today. The2-day event at the University of Pécs to commemorate the 66th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s mar-tyrdom was more an exercise in promoting awareness about one of the most endearing and impactfulfigures of the 20th century than singing paeans to the Mahatma in the hallowed precincts of the uni-versity. It was, for me, more a journey into the self, for Gandhiji in his very lifetime had elucidated whathuman values of peace, love and non-violence could mean for humanity at large.

My first visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina last December to present my credentials, and journeyingthrough Sarajevo, Mostar and Banja Luka, gave me an insight into a complex, yet to be integrated eth-nically diverse society. In my Bosnia Diary, I have tried to recap some of my recollections. We needto have both our countries develop in our times to the fullest and efforts in that direction are underway.

The land, however, bears fresh scars of war and savagery. History, it seems, has been repeating timeand again on nature's overbearing creation. In the iconic novel, ‘Death and the Dervish', by MesaSelimovic, one of the greatest writers of Bosnia & Herzegovina, based on a first person narrative toldfrom the point of view of Sheikh Naruddin, a dervish at a Sarajevo monastery in 19th century Ottomanrule, the protagonist says,

"I have never thought like this before, everything changes when a man loses his bearings... May beI would be (then) someone new and unknown, whose actions I would not be able to determine or fore-see. Discontent is like a wild animal, powerless at birth, terrible when it grows stronger".

The haze of discontent is gradually lifting, as I observed in those cobbled streets of the old town ofSarajevo. May be a new dawn will break, hopefully. As I complete my page, Sarajevo is up in flamesagain, people’s will asserting against a divisive leadership. The tinderbox is perhaps getting its freshammunition again.

Greetings for a wonderful year ahead.

Malay Mishra

january-february 2014 | amrit | 5embassy of india, Hungary

BILATERAL

Ambassador’s Visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina

Ambassador paid his first visit to Bosnia andHerzegovina (BiH) and presented his credentials to thePresidency, H.E. Zeljko Komsic on the 23rd December. Thiswas followed by a useful exchange of views in pursuance ofthe long-standing relations between India and BiH. EarlierChairman of the Indo-Bosnian Society, Mrs Fatima CitaSomun had hosted a Reception for the Ambassador. TheReception was attended by a broad cross-section of theSarajevo Society, including several members of ISKCON(Hare Krishna Movement) who had put up an exhibition ofpaintings on Indian themes.

Ambassador met Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. ZlatkoLagumdzija and the Minister for Science and Education ofthe Federation, besides several senior officials of the StateGovernment. He also met Director of the eminent Sarajevo

Winter Festival Director, Mr Ibrahim Spahic and Mr MisradPurivatra, Director of the Sarajevo Film Festival who wasaccompanied by the world-famous Bosnian Film Director,Mr Danis Tanovic, maker of the Oscar winning film, ‘Noman’s land’. Discussions centered around India’s participa-tion in both the major events. Tanovic is currently engagedin making a film in India. Issues related to film shoots in BiHand co-productions were discussed. Ambassador also had ameeting with the BiH Foreign Trade Chamber along with theDeputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relationsand had meaningful discussions on exploring ways to scaleup bilateral trade and investments.

He also journeyed to Mostar in the Province ofHerzegovina, home to the world famous Ottoman bridgefrom the 16th century, now a world heritage site. He called

21-29 December 2013

LEFT: Ambassador presenting his credentials to H. E. Zeljko Komsic, Croat member of the Presidency.

rIGHT: Ambassador meeting President Milorad Dodik of Republic of Serbia

LEFT: With the BiH Chamber of Commerce. CEnTEr: Mayor of Mostar presenting a book on

Mostar to Ambassador. rIGHT: With Assistant Minister of BiH for Human Resources


on the Mayor of Mostar, Ljubo Beslic and discussed issuesof mutual interest, besides of course visiting the bridge andtravelling back in history. Ambassador then travelled toBanja Luka and called on the President of Republic ofSrpska (RS), Mr Milorad Dodik and had an engaging conver-sation with him. He subsequently met Mr Zeljko Kovacevic,Minister of Economy, Energy and Mines and found the RSGovernment focused on developing economic relations withIndia. Ambassador also had occasion to meet the executivesof the ArcelorMittal Group based in Zenica. (Brief write-upon the group’s profile below).

India has been friends with Bosnia even when it was partof the Yugoslav Federation, when Pandit Nehru famouslyshook hands with Marshal Tito on the platform of the Non-Alignment Movement, creating an alternative force to thepower blocs which had drawn a divide across nations.Bilateral relations between India and BiH revived after thebreak up of Yugoslavia and end of the ethnic war amongSerbs, Muslims and Croats in 1995. Today the relations havestrengthened with several ministerial and senior official levelvisits from both sides and laying down of framework agree-ments, MOUs, visits of trade delegations, etc. �

BILATERAL

Profile of ArcelorMittal in Bosnia and HerzegovinaThe steel and mining sector represents a very important

component of the economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its

future development. ArcelorMittal is the largest foreign

investor in the country and employs over 3,850 people direct-

ly at their steel plant in Zenica and mines in Prijedor.

ArcelorMittal in Bosnia and Herzegovina depends on the inte-

gration of its mining operations with the steel plant; they have

been adapted to provide an efficient collaboration and ensure

competitive advantages compared with other markets.

Since its arrival, in 2004, ArcelorMittal has invested more

than €140m in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

ArcelorMittal Zenica

� 122-year history of steelmaking in Zenica.

� In 2004, Mittal Steel acquired the Zenica plant; today

ArcelorMittal owns 92% and Government of Federation

of BiH 8%.

� In 2008 integrated production restarted after almost 17

years of stoppage due to the war in Bosnia and

Herzegovina.

� Directly employs 2.700 workers; indirectly more than

10.000 (service providers, metal processing companies,

etc) in Zenica.

Capacity:

� 1 million tons of steel through integrated route and 0.8

million tons through electric arc furnace.

� Production is organized in the following plants: coke

plant, sinter plant, blast furnace, basic oxygen furnace

plant, bar mill, wire rod mill, energy plant, central

services, quality control and transportation department.

Assortment:

� Hot rolled products (wire rod, rebar, mesh, lattice girders,

classic construction materials). Markets: Balkan, EU,

North Africa.

Certificates:

ArcelorMittal Zenica has had a Certificate for System of

Quality Management ISO 9001 (International Organization for

Standardization) since 1998, and systems ISO 14001,

Environmental Management System, and OHSAS 18001,

Occupational Health and Safety Management, since February

2010.

Importance for the local economy and the community:

� Regular payment of salary, contribution and taxes;

� Support to development of other sectors connected to

steel production - working with more than 300 compa-

nies – customers and suppliers;

� More than €226m payment to the domestic suppliers of

raw material (energy coal, natural gas, scrap, railways,

electricity, iron ore, oxygen, etc);

� Contribution in production and supplying Zenica town

with heating energy (€1m per season borne by

ArcelorMittal Zenica)

� Support to local community through ArcelorMittal

Foundation: Since 2005 the company in Zenica has imple-

mented 180 projects in the fields of health, community

development, education, culture, art and sport. For

years, ArcelorMittal Zenica has been one of the most sig-

nificant supporters and partners of various institutions,

organizations and associations in the local community,

reaching 30.000 beneficiaries on average, every year.

ArcelorMittal Prijedor

� 121-year mining tradition in Prijedor.

� ArcelorMittal Prijedor was founded in 2004 as a joint ven-

ture between ArcelorMittal (51%) and Republic of Srpska

Government (49%);

� Production and shipment of iron ore restarted at the end

of 2004, after 12 years of stoppage due to the war in

Bosnia and Herzegovina.

� A new surface pit, Buvac, opened in 2009;

� In 2004-2012, ArcelorMittal Prijedor invested around

€32.5m in direct production and produced and sold

around 12 million tons of iron ore concentrate.

� ArcelorMittal Prijedor supplies ArcelorMittal steel plants

in Zenica, B&H (75%), Poland and Czech Republic (25%).

� The company employs 850 people directly.

� Through ArcelorMittal Foundation activities,

ArcelorMittal Prijedor has been supporting 160 projects

in the community where it operates �


BILATERAL

The foreword to the novel, ‘The Bridge on the Drina’, last ofthe epic trilogy which fetched the Nobel Prize for its diplomatwriter, Ivo Andric, describes Bosnia as “the storm centre for cen-turies on the border of the Eastern and Western worlds”. Todayit has turned out to be the crucible of civilisations. But after alot of blood and gore had spilt among ethnically divided commu-nities, spawning divisions, mistrust and intolerance, leading to a1000-day siege of Sarajevo, rather the country as a whole, withdestruction and death in the name of ‘ethnic cleansing’. WhileEurope was quiet, or at least pretending not to see the gunfiresof enmities, a rich civilization and heritage was getting charred.

As I touched foot on Bosnia in that grey winter afternoonfor the first time, to present my credentials to the Croat mem-ber of the Presidency (a 3-member Presidency holds office byturn for 8 months), I felt a lump in my throat. Here is a city witha rich and long ancestry, from the Byzantines and Turks to theeast, to the Romans, Venetians and Austro-Hungarians to thewest. Where on earth could one boast of a square mile space,home to a Catholic church, an Orthodox Christian church, aJewish synagogue and a mosque (or rather three!) They all stand,testimony to what an integrated society could have ever been.

When one strolls through the narrow-winding cobbledstreets of Old Town one is immediately transported to thatquaint patch of time when warriors from Constantinople hadsucceeded in bringing their culture, religion and heritage to aheretic population, called the “Bojomils’ and taking them over,more by appeasement than with the sword. Today the Kaveh-haz, coffee house, is ubiquitous and young men and women con-gregate in droves in those teeming little pubs, to smoke, drinkcoffee in Turkish cups and gargle on an occasional hukkah!

The Drvenija, a tributary of the Bosna river, quietly flowsdown the Latin (or Princip) bridge still, where on the eveningof 28 June 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to theHabsburg crown and his wife Sophie were assassinated by arevolutionary ‘terrorist’ Gavrillo Princip. This led to Austriadeclaring war on Serbia, and Russia, long coveting Serbia, mar-shalling forces against Austria. The first World War had start-ed and the history of Europe, and of the world, was never tobe the same again. Every time I walked to the bridge from myhotel, just about two minutes walking distance, where a pictori-al depiction along the windows of the Museum bring to instantmemory that fateful moment, I had an over-burdened sense ofhistory.

History has been certainly cruel to this land and her peo-ples, uniting and breaking them apart, again and again. Nowenfeebled and tottering, they get up to cross words, if not

Bosnia Diary

At the iconic Sebi (water fountain) in the heart

of the old Town of Sarajevo

Close to the Latin Bridge, right on the spot where the

Austrian Archduke was assassinated

With members of the Hare Krishna Society

By Malay Mishra

swords. And history goes on...To be continued...

—The writer is India’s Ambassador to Bosnia & Herzegovina


BILATERAL

Meeting with Defence Minister

Ambassador paid a courtesy call on Minister ofDefence, Mr. Hende Csaba. He was accompanied byDefence Attache, Pawan Kumar and Counsellor, SushilSinghal. The meeting was held in a very cordial and friend-ly atmosphere in which several matters of bilateral interestwere discussed. �

Meeting with RuralDevelopment Minister

Ambassador met with Minister for Rural Development,Mr. Sandor Fazekas and discussed areas pertaining to waterresource management in the context of the earlier visit ofMinister of Water Resources Shri Harish Rawat and hismeeting with Minister Fazekas. It may be noted that waterresource management area has been deemed a priority in thelast Indo-Hungarian Joint Commission meeting held a dayprior to the State Visit of Prime Minister Orban to India. �

Meeting with Minister forHuman Resources

Ambassador called on Minister for Human Resources,Mr. Zoltan Balog. The meeting covered a good number ofareas given that Minister of Human Resources supervises 8departments, each headed by a Minister. Minister Balogrecalled his excellent visit to India while he was accompany-ing Prime Minister Orban in October last year, during thecourse of which he had inaugurated an exhibition onContemporary Hungarian art at the National Gallery ofModern Art, New Delhi and signed 2 MOUs on bilateralcooperation in traditional medicine and sports. �

Meeting with President,Academy of Sciences of

Hungary

Meeting with Defence Minister, Mr Csaba Hende

Meeting with Minister for Human Resources,

Mr Zoltan Balog

Meeting with Rural Development Minister,

Mr Sandor Fazekas

Meeting with President, Academy of Sciences

of Hungary, Dr Jozsef Palinkas


BILATERAL

AYUSH Centre inauguration

The AYUSH Information Centre was inaugurated in theEmbassy on Friday, 23rd January, in an impressive ceremo-

ny. Former Prime Minister and President of theFoundation of Traditional Indian Medicine for Public

Visit to Szechenyi LibraryAmbassador visited the Szechenyi Library (National

Library) where an exhibition on the Hungarian connectionwith India was on view. Ms. Agnes Pap, Curator of theExhibition, took Ambassador around and showed the var-ious personalities from Hungary who have, in their life

time, had contact with India in various areas that havegone to enrich Indo-Hungarian relations substantially.Ambassador discussed the possibility of bringing theexhibition to the Indian Cultural Centre for a larger pub-lic later this year. �

Ambassador paid a visit to the Hungarian Academy ofSciences (HAS) and met with the President, Dr. JozsefPalinkas. HAS controls a network of 15 science and technol-ogy institutes in Hungary and plays a decisive role in formu-lating the national S&T policy. HAS has close cooperationwith the Indian Ministry of Science & Technology in severalareas and scientists from both sides have been collaboratingon joint projects as well as under the aegis of the JointStrategic S&T Fund which has been recently enhanced to con-tribution from each side by Euro 2 million following a Letterof Intent signed during the visit of PM Orban to India.

Expressing that Hungary recognised India as a countrywith a well-developed R&D and 'Knowledge' infrastructure,Ambassador felt HAS could play an active role in the field ofcooperation to promote research on civilian S&T areas. Prof.Palinkas mentioned about an MOU having been signedbetween HAS and Indian National Science Academy (INSA)as well as ongoing joint projects with Indian institutes likeBangalore Research Centre, IIT Mumbai and with the SahaiInstitute of Nuclear Physics etc. This too has been a long-standing collaboration which has seen scores of Hungarianand Indian scientists visit the other country. �

LEFT: Former PM Dr Peter Medgyessy inaugurating the Ayush Info Centre in the Embassy. CEnTEr: Ambassador with Vice

Rector of Debrecen University and Dr Medgyessy in the Ayush Centre. rIGHT: View of the audience at Ayush Centre Opening

LEFT: Former PM Medgyessy addressing the gathering at the Ayush Centre Opening. CEnTEr: Ambassador with Dr Lazar,

Head of Cultural Department in Ministry of Human Resources. rIGHT: Dr Diksha Sharma with guests at the Reception


BILATERAL

Health in Hungary, Dr. PeterMedgyessy cut the ceremonial ribbonwhile Vice Rector of the University ofDebrecen, representing the Rector,was in attendance. The dignitarieswere taken around the Centre, shownbooks, brochures, films and samplemedicines sent by Department ofAYUSH. Thereafter, the event movedto the auditorium where an hour longfunction was held. This included adocumentary film show on promotingAyurveda, Yoga and Naturotherapy,and a demonstration ofNaturotherapy healing by a localIndian Doctor, Dr. Diksha Sharma.(Dr. Sharma has since started freeconsultancy once a week in theCentre.) Ambassador, in his welcomeremarks, mentioned about the state ofAyurveda in India today and theobjectives of the Department ofAYUSH in promoting traditionalmedicines in India. He also men-tioned that this would be the first ever

Ambassador and Second Secretary

DCD Dass with invited dignitaries

Foreign Minister Dr Martonyi extending

his greetings on Republic Day

Embassy families rendering patriotic songs

AYUSH Information Centre, set upwith the assistance of the Departmentof AYUSH, in Europe. He laid par-ticular emphasis on the MOU onBilateral Cooperation in TraditionalMedicine signed in October last yearduring the visit of Hungarian PMViktor Orban to India. He also talkedabout plans in progress to set up aChair of Ayurveda in the Universityof Debrecen in the context ofexchange of professors as stipulated

Republic Day celebrations, 26 January 2014

On the occasion of India’s 65th Republic Day celebra-tions began from the morning when Ambassador hoistedthe national flag in the Embassy premises. Despiteinclement weather, nearly 150 members of the local Indiancommunity, with their families as well as Embassy person-nel congregated. There was rendering of patriotic songs fol-lowed by reading out of the President’s message. A recep-tion was held at the Embassy Auditorium the same evening.Foreign Minister of Hungary Dr. Janos Martonyi as well as

Minister of Rural Development Minister, Dr. SandorFazekas, with their spouses, attended the reception. Anexhibition on the life of Mahatma Gandhi titled “Gandhi –an Apostle of Peace” was also inaugurated at the CulturalCentre by the two Ministers.

Foreign Minister Dr. Martonyi, extended greetings ofthe Government and people of Hungary to India on thisoccasion. He discarded his written speech and underlined

in the recent MOU.

Vice Rector of DebrecenUniversity, Dr. Laszlo Csernoch, in hisaddress mentioned that a part of themedical community in Hungary wouldbe certainly interested in knowingabout this particular aspect of health-care, particularly since it deals withholistic care of the body. He also saidthat the Pharmacology Department inthe University had come out with a tra-ditional medicine section where theChair of Ayurveda could be physicallylocated. Former Prime MinisterDr. Medgyessy conveyed his happinessin the setting up of the Centre. Hethanked the Government of India, par-ticularly the Department of AYUSH,in this context. He also mentionedabout his own collaboration withAYUSH in the recent past and theupcoming international conference inJune 2014, which he was planning tohost in collaboration with AYUSH. �


BILATERAL

Ambassador reading out President’s message View of the gathering on 26th January morning

Ambassador with Embassy officials at the

Republic Day gathering

Ministers Martonyi, Fazekas & Ambassador at

inaugurating the Gandhi exhibition

Ambassador welcoming the gathering on Republic Day (Left-right) Minister Mr Sandor Fazekas, Mrs Martonyi,

Mrs Fazekas, Dr. Janos Martonyi

the importance of India to Europe, particularly to CentralEurope and referred to the policy of non-violence ofMahatma Gandhi which he claimed changed the course ofworld history and was a great inspiration to the anti-Communist movement in Central Europe during the 1980s.He reiterated Hungary’s support to India’s permanent mem-

bership of the UNSC and underlined the importance ofIndia as an emerging super power in the new global order.He also dwelt upon Indo-Hungarian cultural ties which hada long history of nearly 500 years and termed Indo-Hungarian relations as the brightest spot on Hungary’s pol-icy of ‘Eastern Opening’. �


BILATERAL

Gandhi Conference in Pecs

To commemorate the 66th anniversary of MahatmaGandhi's martyrdom, the Embassy of India and IndianCultural Centre, in collaboration with the University ofPecs, organized a 2-day event at the University on 29-30January. The event was flagged off on 29th January with aphoto-exhibition on the life and times of Mahatma Gandhi,entitled "Gandhi, an Apostle of Peace" inaugurated by theRector of the University, Dr. Jozsef Bodis and Member ofParliament, Peter Hoppal. Ambassador in his welcomeremarks, referred to Mahatma Gandhi's famous statement,“my life is my message” and mentioned that the exhibitionwas an educative panorama for any student wishing to learnabout the greatest political personality of the 20th century,Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

The next day, a conference was held starting with a paneldiscussion with the participation of Dr. Zoltan Wilhelm,Director of the Asia Study Forum, Ambassador BelaFazekas, DG, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ms.IldikoDeri, Principal of the Gandhi School of Pecs. Dr. Zoltanhighlighted a 2011 survey he had conducted among collegestudents in Hungary to determine the knowledge quotienton basic information about Gandhi's life. The results werenot encouraging and he wished more dissemination ofawareness about Gandhi, and in this regard offered the Asia

Study Centre to be the focal point. Ambassador Fazekas,who has served as Hungary's Ambassador in Pakistan andpresently manning the Euro-Asia desk, gave a comprehen-sive account of Gandhi's role in shaping India's foreign pol-icy, particularly in the initial stages, and the present day val-ues in contemporary politics to have been directly influ-enced by Gandhi. (Ambassador Fazekas’s lecture at page…)Principal of the Gandhi School gave a realistic evaluation ofthe School which had the majority of its students drawnfrom the marginalized Roma community and Gandhianteachings, which the school had introduced in its curricu-lum. The Government of India had donated a MahatmaGandhi bust to the School in February 2012 on the School's18th anniversary. The School had been doing commendablework in the promotion of Gandhian values amidst severechallenges.

Ambassador assured all support from the Embassy incoordinating with the Asia Study Centre and the GandhiSchool of Pecs to set up a Gandhi Centre under the aegis ofthe University where a Gandhian study programme couldcommence. The University of Pecs, known to be the oldestuniversity of Hungary, was also represented at the event bythe Vice Rector Dr. Laszlo Komlosei, who was instrumentalin hosting the two-day event. �

Ambassasdor addressing the gathering at University of Pecs on the occasion of the Gandhi exhibition


BUSINESS

InauguratIon of BusIness facIlItatIon centreThe inauguration ceremony at the Embassy

of India, Budapest took place on 5th Februaryby Chief Guest Mr. János Berényi, Presidentof HITA and Ambassador Malay Mishra cut-ting the ribbon at the newly formed BusinessCentre.

After the inauguration ceremony guests wereescorted to the Auditorium of the Embassy,where speeches were given by AmbassadorMalay Mishra, Chief Guest Mr. János Berényi,Guest of Honour Mr. István Bakos andPresident of the Indo-Hungarian Chamber ofCommerce and Industry Dr. Amar Sinha.

The event was followed by light refresh-ments. An estimated 45 guests including Indianand Hungarian businessmen, representatives ofthe government and associations were presenton the occasion. �

To commemorate the CentenaryYear of Indian Cinema, a Film Festivalwas organized at the prestigious PuskinTheatre in Budapest by the IndianCultural Centre. The 10-day FilmFestival was held at Puskin Theatrefrom 7-12 February 2014 and thereaftermoved to the Cultural Centre from 13-16 February 2014. Several award-win-ning films were screened during the

Festival. The Film Festival started withfilm “Mirch Masala“. Besides the Hindifilms, Malayalam Film Parinamam,Telugu Film Stri and Marathi Film EkHota Vidushak were also be screened.The Film Festival was declared open byMs. Judit Hammerstein, Deputy StateSecretary for Cultural Policy, Budapest,and attended by the Guest of HonourMr. Zsolt Horvath, Chairman of Indo-

Hungary Friendship Group ofParliamentarians. Dr. Imre Lazar, Headof Cultural Department, Budapest alsoattended the Festival.

There was a tremendous responsefor the Film Festival from the public onthe opening day. On the weekend alsothe theatre was full of enthusiasticcine-goers. �

Inauguration of Business Facilitation Centre

Inauguration of Film Festival commemorating the Centenary Year of Indian Cinema

1. H. E. Malay Mishra, Ambassador of India, Budapest speaking on the event. 2. Director ICC giving his welcome remarks.

3. Ms Judit Hammerstein, Deputy State Secretary for Cultural Policy, Budapest opening the Film Festival. 4. Front row of Puskin

Theatre; Mr Zoltán Kőrösvölgyi, President of Budapest Film Ltd.; Mr Imre Lázár, Head of Cultural Department, Budapest; Ms Judit

Hammerstein, Deputy State Secretary for Cultural Policy, Budapest, H. E. Malay Mishra, Ambassador of India, Budapest

1 2 3 4


REPUBLIC DAY SPECIAL

THE TALE OF

THREE NATIONS

Like for individuals, so for nations, it is about picking upthe pieces, and then forging a new tomorrow. India, the“Ancient Land of Monks” as described so very eloquently bySwami Vivekananda in his soul-cleansing Chicago address,has lessons to share from its young and modern history. Andthat history is built around its Republic Day, of which the65th was celebrated on 26 January 2014.

A little walk down memory lane takes us to a timewhen President Sukarno of Indonesia was the chief guestat the very first Indian Republic Day in 1950. Sixty fouryears later—a period during which kings and queens, pres-idents and prime ministers came and went as chiefguests—it was Prime Miniser Shinzo Abe from Japan who,as chief guest, rose to receive President Pranab Mukherjeeat the Rajpath.

This is about three nations—India, Japan andIndonesia—that have risen from the depths in the last sixdecades. Sixty four years ago all three nations were in eco-nomic shambles. While the British and Dutch empires hadretreated from India and Indonesia respectively, the emper-or himself had fallen in Japan. Independence in India andIndonesia had come accompanied by a great deal of uncer-tainty. And for Japan it was a question of raising itself on itsfeet from the dust into which it had been ground, especiallyafter it had been inflicted sharp body blows by America.

From India, the empire had finally left, but with itsreceding steps had vanished the nation’s fabled riches.India’s share of world income, according to Cambridge his-torian Angus Madison, was 22.6 per cent in 1700, a timeduring which it had, unwittingly, shaken hands with the EastIndia Company. India’s economic strength was nearly equalto that of entire Europe’s at the time, close to 23.3 per cent.From the accounts of numerous travelers who came toIndia from foreign shores, from the anecdotes availablefrom the nation’s great storytellers of the past, it was evi-dent that India was a rich nation, second to none. But by1952, the rugs of riches had been pulled, the treasure chestshad been pillaged, and India had become a poor, bleedingnation. It now accounted for a mere 3.8 per cent of theworld’s income. Economically, the country had beendrained out by colonial rule, and it was down on its knees.

President Sukarno (2nd from left) and Madame Fatmawati

with P.M. Nehru and his sister Ms Vijay Lakhmi Pandit

(extreme left) at a reception in New Delhi, 1950

One could so easily have scratched the bottom of its coffersand come up with nought. But one thing there was in abun-dance. There was plenty of hope. For the first time in threecenturies, India was breathing the fresh air of freedom.Change lay in store.

The tailwinds of history had similarly caught up withIndonesia. It declared independence from the Dutch on 17August 1945, two years before India could secure its own.The period also coincided with the Japanese emperor’s sur-render in the Pacific. Indonesia’s economy lay completelyshattered, its infrastructure had to be raised from scratch,and the nation had to rediscover itself. The task wasimmensely difficult. Indonesia could be thankful to the likesof President Sukarno, chief guest at India’s first RepublicDay in 1950, who was among those who could lead thecountry out of its colonial shackles, and promise a newtomorrow.

And then Japan, a nation that had by 1945, keeled over. Inretaliation for the attack on Pearl Harbour, Japan’s cities werebombed into submission by the USA. Japan had to surrenderunconditionally and its empire had come crumbling down. In1946, amid the devastation, the country made significant amend-ments to the constitution of the Empire of Japan. The salientcharacteristics of the draft included the abolishing of the

By Sayantan Chakravarty

COVER SPECIAL


The Chief Guest, Prime Minister of Japan, Mr Shinzo Abe and the President,

Shri Pranab Mukherjee being received by the Prime Minister,

Dr Manmohan Singh, on their arrival at the 65th Republic Day

celebrations in New Delhi on 26 January 2014

Japanese imperial system and the adoptionof republicanism, and along with it, dem-ocratic centralism and socialist policies.Significantly, sovereignty was transferredfrom the emperor to the people. As anation, Japan renounced war and with itthe right to build a military force. Anymoral training that fostered extremenationalism was abolished.

Each nation was picking up itspieces. And the story had begun anew.

THE MODERN ERAStrong work ethics, the mastery of

high technology and small defence allo-cations, helped moving Japan towardsbeing a technologically advancednation. In 2013, Japan stood as the 4thlargest economy in the world, after theUSA, China and India.

Ironically for a country that haddeliberately forged a policy to shunwar, it was a war that had boosted theJapanese economy during the modernera. The USA purchased much of itssupplies and equipment for the KoreaWar from Japan. The allied powers had

once envisaged Japan as an essentiallyagricultural nation. Instead, Japanbecame a world leader in cars, steel,ships and electronics. Today, it has anestimated per capita income of USD35,900 for a population of 127 million.

Indonesia on the other hand has alsomoved on to become a trillion dollareconomy, the 16th largest in the world.Even though there are ongoing chal-lenges to its infrastructure, and plenty ofunemployment and labour unrest, it hasmanaged a per capita income of USD4,900 for a population of 251 million. Itwent through a process of industrializa-tion and urbanization over the past 50years such that the share of manufactur-ing in GDP increased by 19 per centbetween 1967 and 2009. During thisperiod, the share of agriculture fell by35 per cent. Indonesia had been able toindustrialize very fast.

THE INDIA STORYIndia has in the past 64 years raised

itself to an open-market economy. Itsdiverse economy encompasses tradi-tional village farming, modern agricul-

ture, handicrafts, a wide range of mod-ern industries. It has a large, educatedEnglish-speaking population that hashelped it become a major exporter ofinformation technology services, busi-ness outsourcing services and softwareworkers. In 2010, the Indian economyrebounded robustly from the globalfinancial crisis, in large measure due tostrong domestic demand.

Of the three nations, India remainsthe youngest. About 50 per cent of itspopulation is below 25 years in age,and nearly 88 per cent below 54 yearsin age. The outlook for India’s medi-um-term growth is positive due to ayoung population and correspondinglow dependency ratio, healthy savingsand investment rates, and increasingintegration into the global economy.Only 17 per cent of Indonesia’s popu-lation is below 25, while for Japan thefigure is about 10 per cent.

A British writer based in theHimalayas for several years once men-tioned to this author that wealth has thisuncanny habit of moving from east towest, and beyond. Indeed, around thetime when India’s riches were beingtaken away, Europe’s economic prosperi-ty, under various empires, was booming.Then in the 19th century, the New Worldwas discovered, the gold rush had begun,and the planet’s centre of wealth shiftedacross to the other side of the Atlantic.America’s time had come. Then startingsomewhere in the 1960s, wealth contin-ued its westward journey, this time acrossthe Pacific. Japan whose Prime Ministerwas chief guest at the last IndianRepublic Day, prospered early. India andIndonesia—whose President was chiefguest at the first Indian Republic Day—began to find their place in the worldeconomic order a few decades later.

In the last 64 years since Indiaturned a republic, the pieces have beenpicked. As they have been for Japanand Indonesia during this period.Between the visits of PresidentSukarno and Prime Minister Abe, anew dawn has broken. �

COVER SPECIAL


COVER SPECIAL

REPUBLIC DAY SPECIAL

INDIA CELEBRATES 64 YEARS

OF BEING A REPUBLICBy Vishnu Makhijani

There’s the pageantry and the pompbut it’s not just a party. As India cele-brates its 64 years of being a Republicthis 26 Jan, it also is an occasion for thenation to remember the day it shed thelast vestiges of colonialism and adoptedthe Constitution that laid the frameworkfor the “sovereign, socialist, secular,democratic Republic” that it is today.Independence from the British rulecame on 15 August 1947, but it was notuntil 26 January 1950, that it became atruly free nation – free to chart itscourse its own way. Till then, the head ofIndian state still was the British Crownrepresented in what was then called the

Viceregal Lodge by a Governor General.

All that changed on 26 January 1950.Not only did India come out of thepurview of the Crown to become aRepublic but it also adopted aConstitution that for the first time codi-fied the rights and duties of citizens andthe manner in which the governmentwould protect these and administer thecountry. Once the Constitution came intobeing, the post of Governor-General wasdone away with and replaced with thePresident, who since then has presidedover an annual parade that showcasesIndia’s military and cultural prowess every

Republic Day in New Delhi.

The country also got its firstPresident in Dr. Rajendra Prasad andthe nomenclature of the ViceregalLodge changed to Rashtrapati Bhavanor the presidential palace. What theConstitution did was to spread egalitar-ianism across the land and formaliseadult franchise for all those over 18without discrimination of gender,caste, colour, creed or religion. It is notthat women could not vote before 26January 1950 – till then, however, theright was confined only to the rich andthe feudal classes and was certainly not


COVER SPECIAL

available to those in the lower strata ofsociety or the marginalized. The signif-icance of this can be gauged from thefact that within three years of inde-pendence, India guaranteed the vote towomen across the spectrum – some-thing it took a nation like the UnitedStates a century and a half to achieve.

India thus became the first Britishcolony to gain independence and tobecome a Republic, when even todaynations like Australia, Canada and NewZealand owe their allegiance to theBritish Crown through their respectiveGovernors General. In declaring itself aRepublic, India also sent out a powerfulmessage that it was second to none inthe world and the majority of its peoplemight be poor and unlettered but theywere certainly not uneducated or unin-formed. This was the legacy of the free-dom movement led by stalwarts likeMahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehruand Maulana Abul Kalam Azad thatallowed Indians to look at themselvesfrom a global perspective. What then,does the Constitution, whose draftingbegan on 6 December 1946, with theConstituent Assembly being called intosession, guarantee to the Indian people?

Two key elements stand out: theFundamental Rights that enable thepeople to live without fear or discrimi-nation in a democratic set-up and theDirective Principles of State Policy that

are not obligatory but are intended toserve as a guide to what successive gov-ernments should attempt to imple-ment. One of the Directive Principlesrequires the equitable distribution ofresources of production among all citi-zens and prevention of concentrationof wealth in the hands of a few.

The Constitution guarantees allIndians six Fundamental Rights:

� Right to Equality—Since everyIndian is born equal, they are all tobe treated equally. All citizens areequal before law and there is nodiscrimination on the basis ofcaste, sex or place of birth.

� Right to Freedom—Freedom ofan individual is the essence ofdemocracy and all Indians have free-dom of thought and equal rights tofreedom of speech and expression.

� Right against Exploitation—Noindividual can be forced or com-pelled to work without wages.

� Right to Freedom of Religion—Citizens have the right to followtheir religion and all religions aretreated alike. Religious bodies havethe freedom to manage their affairs.

� Cultural and EducationalRights—With India being a land

of many languages, scripts and cul-tures, there are many minoritygroups and their rights are ensured.

� Right to ConstitutionalRemedies—This enables citizensto directly petition the SupremeCourt if their Fundamental Rightsare violated.

Till the 1970s, these rights wereopen to judicial review and early in thedecade, they were placed in the NinthSchedule of the Constitution to takethem out of the purview of the courts.This made Fundamental Rights invio-lable and sacrosanct.

As for the Directive Principles ofState Policy, these enjoin the govern-ment to, among others, secure for allcitizens adequate means of livelihood,make all material resources beneficialto the common good, prevent concen-tration of wealth, ensure both men andwomen get equal pay for equal work,provide for free legal aid to the poor,promote cottage industries, and pro-vide free and compulsory education forchildren up to 14 years of age.

With the Republic grounded in aConstitution as all-encompassing asthis, it is but natural that 26 January iscelebrated with a grand parade in thenational capital that blends the mightof the armed forces and the paramili-tary forces with the rich and diverseculture of the country and showcasesthe talent of the country’s youth.

Other countries do have militaryparades and there are events like theSamba Carnival in Rio de Janeiro or theMayor’s Parade in London but nowhereelse do the multifarious aspects of anation come together at one event.Truly does the Republic Day Parade,both in its scale and concept, serve asshining example of India’s ‘Unity inDiversity’, a phrase the country’s firstPrime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru usedto describe the myriad strands thatbind this nation together. �

—The writer is a journalist


FEATURE

Gandhi’s message and the Hungarian “Look East Policy”By Béla Fazekas

Gandhi’s legacy or what we call Gandhism is a wholecomplex of philosophy, religious and social ideas, moral val-ues, social technique, a way of life. A philosophy which isstill very popular even in the contemporary western soci-eties. So, does Gandhi still matter? He definitely does. Agood proof to that is the sheer fact that currently 50 univer-sities in the United States are offering special academic pro-grams dedicated to Gandhism or Gandhi’s philosophy.Nevertheless I completely agree with the notion that themain message of Gandhi’s philosophy and political activitywas and still is the idea of non-violence.

The idea and the technique of satyagraha became theiconic feature of Gandhi’s philosophy at the very beginningof the 20th century in South Africa. His idea lately has influ-enced the political credo of such historic persons like MartinLuther King, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, or Aung SanSuu Kyi, the Burmese opposition leader who visitedHungary just a few months ago. The only differencebetween Gandhi and these persons is that Gandhi had nomotives whatsoever to run for an office, he had no politicalambitions at all. On the other hand it would be a mistake tolimit Gandhi’s legacy only to the idea of non-violence.Gandhi has shaped India's history not only up to its inde-pendence in 1947 but far beyond.

Apart from setting independence as a goal, Gandhi alsohad a clear vision on India’s future place in the world andalso on India’s role to play in making this world a betterplace to live. As you know this year in 2014 we mark the cen-tenary of the beginning of the First World War. But therewas something else which also happened in July 1914. It wasexactly at that time Gandhi decided to leave South Africa. Iam not sure whether it is only a coincidence or there mightbe a relation between the two events but I think it is a goodquestion to address. The fact is that after having fulfilled hishistoric mission by securing basic liberties for the Asiansthrough his satyagraha technique in South Africa he decidedto return home with a short break in Europe. By the end ofOctober 1914 more than 20,000 Indian soldiers have alreadydied in Europe, and Gandhi should have known about thatwhile being in London. That is why later on Gandhi’s idea ofnon-violence was intended not only to solve national prob-lems of injustice but also international conflicts and wars.

Gandhi had a clear position on the issue where an inde-pendent India should stand in a new world order. ForGandhi the issue of independence was never a goal by itself.To some extent Gandhi’s movement for national independ-ence was aimed at the reordering of the world power-struc-ture which was based on the imperialistic-colonialistic pat-

tern of international relations. He wanted freedom for Indianot to isolate her from the rest of the world but to promoteinternational cooperation.

Gandhi has said in one of his speeches: “We want free-dom for our country not at the expense or exploitation ofothers. I want the freedom of my country so that othercountries may learn something from my free country, so thatthe resources of my country might be utilized for the bene-fit of mankind.”

We have all the reason to say that the roots of contem-porary Indian foreign policy lie in the freedom movementled by Gandhi and the main priorities of this policy shapedby Gandhian ideas are still applicable: these are non-align-ment, moral and economic support against old and newforms of colonialism and racism, non-violence and nucleardisarmament, and India’s role as international peace broker.Although these priorities sometimes had to be upgraded andfine-tuned according to the changes of the global geostrate-gic environment, their Gandhian basis remained unchanged.

Today, sixty-six years after Gandhi’s passing away Indiastands proudly as the largest democracy in the world and has


FEATURE

emerged as a responsible strategic player not only economi-cally but also politically and culturally. In 1939 Gandhidescribed the future India as follows: „A free and democrat-ic India will gladly associate herself with other free nationsfor mutual defence against aggression and for economic co-operation. She will work for the establishment of a realworld order based on freedom and democracy, utilizing theworld’s knowledge and resources for the progress andadvancement of humanity.” That is exactly the path Indiafollows today.

In 2008 the world suffered one of the most severe eco-nomic and financial crises in history. One of the main char-acteristic of the changes generated by global economics crisesis that as a result it led to restructuring of the global econo-my. This was the case after the Great Depression which putthe US on the driver’s seat. As a result of the global crises of2008 a massive shift in global economic power took placefrom West to East. The centre of gravity has moved from theAtlantic to the Indo-Pacific. The world has witnessed therapid emergence of India together with the rise of China andother Asian economies. These changes had enormous impli-cations both in political and economic terms. Asia, includingIndia which had an 8% GDP growth even during the globalfinancial crisis has emerged to be an engine of the Globaleconomy which naturally goes together with the growth of itspolitical role and responsibility at the same time.

The growing interdependence, the spectacular rise ofAsia, India and China in particular, the power shift fromWest to East have forced Hungary just like the EuropeanUnion or the United States to adapt her foreign policy tothese new realities. The Hungarian Government announcedits strategy of Global Opening in 2010. Within the GlobalOpening the Government launched its „Look East” policywhich aimed at enhancing a more active engagement with theemerging economies of Asia that also fitted into the EU’ssimilar efforts.

Thus the new “Look East Policy” was a historic necessi-ty for Hungary to reposition herself and the only appropri-ate answer which could be given to the challenges of the rap-idly changing geostrategic environment. For Hungary the“Look East Policy” is not a goal by itself. The new strategywas designed to secure our economic and trade intereststhrough setting up strategic partnerships mainly with thosepartners in Asia with whom we share common values andaspirations, and who are ready for a mutually beneficial andlong term economic and trade cooperation with Hungary. Inthis regard India plays a highly significant role. Apart fromsharing basic values Hungary aims at gaining as much bene-fit as possible from the economic dynamism and enormousdevelopment of India and other Asian countries. Our aim isto triple the share of non-European destinations in ourexport by 2018.

The launching of Hungarian “Look East Policy” in 2010does not mean that until then India was a white patch on themap of the Hungarian foreign policy activity. On the con-trary, Hungary is particularly proud of being among the firstcountries to establish diplomatic relations with independentIndia. Nevertheless the history of encounters of our twopeoples goes back in time, much beyond the establishmentof diplomatic relations. For us Hungarians, the culture andrich spirituality of India was always and still is an importantsource of intellectual inspiration. In the last 200 years, hundreds of young Hungarians decided to make theirOriental Studies under the influence of Indian civilization.Our bilateral relations and successful cooperation havealways been characterized by friendly atmosphere and a spir-it of mutual understanding.

This relationship also witnessed historic moments, likethe intervention of Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister ofIndia at the UN General Assembly on behalf of the leadersof the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

Today the shared fundamental principles like democracyand the rule of law combined with the long and rich historyof cultural and economic ties provide us with an exceptional-ly solid basis to enhance this strategic partnership. Recentyears have seen the rapid upswing of our economic coopera-tion. There is still great potential for cooperation in suchareas like energy security, mainly renewable and green energy,agriculture, food security, food processing, biotechnology,sustainable water management, environment protection, theIT sectors, pharmaceuticals, automotive industry, defenceindustry, education, regional service, R&D and tourism.

Hungary appreciates India’s growing international activi-ty. We are convinced that India deserves the permanentmembership in the UN Security Council and we support this.Increasing significance of India’s international position andprestige is manifested in the external relations of theEuropean Union as well. India is a strategic partner of theEU and this partnership is also reflected in the practice ofannual summit meetings.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s visit to India lastOctober was a great success in opening a new chapter inour relations. Prime Minister Orbán, who was accompaniedby more than 70 Hungarian business persons, talked aboutgiving a new approach in our relations. Accordingly, themain message of his visit was that it was time to turn our“Look East” policy to a higher gear. It means it is notenough to “Look East” anymore. In fact we should “ActEast” and the sooner is better. �

—The writer currently heads the EU-Asia Division in theHungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was one of the panelists

at the Gandhi Conference in the University of Pécs. The above is aparaphrase of his lecture.


FEATURE

theory and practice in the teachings

and life of the mahatma

The world commemorated the 66th anniversary of thedeparture of the greatest leader of non-violence on 30January 2014. With this article we wish to pay homage tothe most genuine political leader and thinker of the 20thcentury.

Mahatma Gandhi is duly revered throughout the world asthe Apostle of Non-violence. His birthday, on 2nd October,was chosen by the United Nations to be celebrated as theInternational Day of Non-Violence. This choice in itselfshows that Gandhiji is the iconic symbol of non-violence allover the world. What he and the Indian nation have achievedis unparalleled in world history, and their example of apply-ing non-violence to achieve political aims demonstrates theonly viable way to resolve conflicts now pending around theglobe. What was their secret? How could the Indian nation,with Bapu’s guidance, achieve independence, a treasurewhich peoples in world history had achieved only througharmed revolutions before them? The answer lays in theMahatma’s teachings, which embraces all areas of humanexistence, and in his personality and way of living which dulyreflected and exemplified his thoughts.

Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings are as relevant today as theywere at the time when he formulated them. At the heart ofhis teachings lay his belief in God, whom he called many dif-ferent names. He associated God with truth, or satyā inSanskrit. God and Truth are the moral basis for all humanaction. God and Truth are the law of life. It is the same aslove for all humans, and, in an extended meaning, love for allsentient beings, which is expressed through ahimsā—non-violence, as is usually translated, but literally, it means “non-injury”. Ahimsā has been an important element in traditionalreligions of India: Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. Inaddition to these, Gandhi studied thoroughly all major reli-gions, such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Rooted in hisHinduism, which is famous for religious tolerance, he hon-ored all religions. But Gandhiji’s spirituality stands abovereligions. He regarded that religions are multiple forms ofthe same God. “Religion is one tree with many branches. Asbranches, you may say, religions are many, but as a tree, reli-gion is only one.”

He was deeply religious. He stated “My politics and allother activities of mine are derived from my religion”, and as

he further explained: “My religion is based on Truth andNon-violence. Truth is my God. Non-violence is the meansof realizing Him.” Although his personality was deeply influ-enced by his spirituality, he did not live in an unattainablespiritual height. He regarded that “A religion that takes noaccount of practical affairs and does not help to solve themis no religion.” His main aim and greatest achievement waspolitical, but he also had firm and practical concepts andteachings for all fields of human existence, expounded in themonumental legacy of his writings.

His main political goal was independence for India.Earlier in South Africa, he fought for equal human and civilrights for the Indian residents. The Satyāgraha movement wasborn in South Africa. The word Satyāgraha was coined tosubstitute the English term “passive resistance”, but itbecame more than that. Literally, the word means “a firmresolution to Truth”, “adherence to Truth”, but it designat-ed a movement whose means were uncompromisingly non-violent. Not only did the participant Indian residents usepassive resistance but actively sought novel ways, alwaysexplored new methods and new responses to the new chal-lenges, with which they could express their dislike and non-cooperation. When Gandhiji went back to India, the move-ment travelled with him. An important feature of satyāgrahais the deliberate readiness for self-sacrifice: each individualsatyāgrahī is always prepared to suffer and to give even hisown life to achieve his aim. He gains the strength for thisreadiness from a faith in God, which gives him fearlessness.His firm belief in God provides the satyāgrahī with courageto face with every possible hindrance and danger, as, para-doxically, it takes more courage to be non-violent than ittakes to be violent.

Independence for Gandhiji was unimaginable withoutinterdependence. In his ‘Non-violence in Peace and War’,written in 1942, he made a comparison between the idealsociety and “oceanic circles”, as he called it. He comparesthe society to a stone dropped in the ocean and the concen-tric circles it creates. In the centre one can find the individ-ual, the satyāgrahī, whose actions are utterly moral, and whois ready to sacrifice his life for truth and for the whole ofsociety. In the first circle around him we find his village,which is self-sufficient to a large degree, but not totally. It isnot cut off from the rest of the world, but is in meaningful

By Katalin Aklan

Homage to maHatma gandHI


FEATURE

interaction with its immediate environment, with its neigh-boring villages. Thus in the next circle we find a group ofvillages who work together with this first village. This groupof villages, again, cooperate with other such groups in theregion, and so on, until the outmost circle represents thetotal of society.

As the individual is the basic unit of society, each personshould be a satyāgrahī, or else someone who is trained in andhas acquired moral principles based on “living belief in a liv-ing God”. Everyone is capable of this – even the untouch-ables. Gandhiji has recognized that the institution of theuntouchables was a serious problem which impeded thesocial and economic welfare of the country. He aimed at thedemolishing of the caste system. His magazine Harijan wasdedicated to raise the voice of lowest castes to tackle thisdifficult problem.

In economic terms, an independent society consists ofself-sustained villages. An ideally simple lifestyle can bemaintained by a village-sized group. Gandhiji realized thatvillage life in India in his times was far from that. His idealaim was to “uplift all”, or sarvodaya in Sanskrit terms. Thismeant opportunity and equality even for the most impover-ished strata of society. A further economic means toachieve uplift and which contributed to self-sustainability atthe same time was svadeśī, the preference of home-madeIndian products instead of imported goods, especiallyBritish alternatives. Textile and clothing was the most obvi-ous and symbolic representations of the svadeśī movement.Gandhiji dedicated some time each day to spin yarn on thecarkhā, the traditional Indian spinning wheel. This symbolicact at the same time rejected British rule and promotedhome industries, while providing opportunity to the poor to

clothe themselves.

Lastly, we need to mention the Mahatma’s zeal for natur-opathy, his interest in health and dietetics. Rooted in hisahimsā, he was a conscious vegetarian and propagator of veg-etarianism. He believed that most illnesses could be healedthrough natural cures. He always experimented with newmethods of healing and eating. For him, fasting was a spiri-tual, medical and political means. His enthusiasm for healingothers is rooted in a concept of utmost importance to him:that of serving others. Service, for him, meant a way of life.

After and despite all the above mentioned teachings andachievements of the Mahatma, critics do not neglect to spec-ify some points where his teachings of ahimsā failed. Themost often mentioned critique is a political one, and it isdirected not so much against Gandhiji, but the world helived in (and we still live in). The bloodshed after and beforethe Partition, the massacre of Calcutta in 1946, and the reli-gious upheavals from that time on seem to be the pricewhich the Indian subcontinent had to pay for her independ-ence from the British. Nationalist and fundamentalist forceshave had their role to trigger utmost violence all over thearea even up to the present day. Peace is still desperatelyneeded not only in many parts of the world, but also inIndia. Moreover, Gandhiji himself was assassinated by aHindu extreme nationalist. Regarding these tragical events,one cannot help asking the question: Were Gandhiji’s teach-ings totally without influence? Did he preach in vain?

Gandhiji’s life and teachings show that, as a true satyā-grahī he was prepared even for the most unexpected. Rather,the mystery is that he could survive all the imprisonments,the hardships he had to experience, and nobody hadattempted to take his life earlier contrary to all the revolu-tionary activism he had led. His teachings and actions arenovel in the sense that non-violence as a complex and all-governing system had never ever before been used in thepolitical field, especially not on such a large scale. He didsucceed in transforming the thinking of many but he maynot have succeeded in transforming all. Non-violence is anarduous path even for those who deliberately choose it – itis not his fault that there are people who do not even try. Heduly deserves the respect of the whole world for introducingnon-violence into politics. He has shown a difficult roadwhich waits for posterity to follow – and it must be followedif humankind wishes to survive. Besides the political mean-ing, we must include in the concept of non-violence the eco-nomic and ecological aspects, as Gandhiji also propagated. Iwould like to urge every one of us to imbibe the teachingsof the Mahatma and follow his footsteps: “Be the changeyou want to see in the world!” �

—Anna Katalin Aklan, Indologist and Classical Philologist, Ph.D. Candidate, Dept. of Medieval Studies, Central European

University, [email protected]


TRADITIONAL MEDICINE

AYURVEDA

The idea that breath (prana) is central to health occurs veryearly in the Vedic literature. In Ayurveda, which is one of the sec-ondary sciences associated with the Atharvaveda, health is seenas balance of the three doshas, or primary forces of prana or vata(air), agni or pitta (fire), and soma or kapha (water). Vata wastaken to represent the principle of motion, development in gen-eral, and the functions of the nervous system in particular. Pittasignifies the function of metabolism, including digestion and theformation of blood, and various secretions and excretions thatare either the means or the end product of body processes.

Kapha represents functions of cooling, preservation, andheat regulation. The imbalance of these elements leads to illness.The predominance of one or the other dosha leads not only todifferent physiological but also to different psychological types.Just as the body mirrors the entire universe in a recursive fashion,the three doshas are defined recursively within the body. Each ofthe doshas is recognized to be of five kinds. Vata appears asprana (governing respiration), udana (for uttering sounds andspeaking), samana (for separating the digested juice), vyana (car-rying fluids including blood to all parts of the body), and apana(expelling waste products). Pitta appears as pachaka (digest andimpart heat), ranjaka (impart redness to the chyle and blood), sad-hika (increase the power of the brain), alochaka (strenghthenvision), and bhrajaka (improve complexion). Kapha appears askledaka (moisten food), avalambaka (impart energy andstrength), bodhaka (enable tasting), tarpaka (govern the eye andother sensory organs), and shleshmaka (act as lubricant).

Every substance (animal, vegetable or mineral) is a dravyawith the following properties in different proportions: rasa,guna, virya, vipaka, and prabhava. The gunas are qualities suchas heat, cold, heaviness, lightness, and so on, in a total of twen-ty types. Of the twenty gunas, heat (ushna) and cold (shita) arethe most prominent. Virya is generative energy that may also behot or cold. Vipaka may be understood as the biochemicaltransformations of food, whereas prabhava is the subtle effectof the substance on the body. Food is converted into rasa by thedigestive action of jatharagni, or the fire in the stomach. Rasasare six in number: madhura, amla, lavana, tikta, katu, andkashaya. Each rasa which is recognized by taste is a result of thepredominance of two elements. Knowledge of the rasa isimportant in therapeutics.

The five elements in various proportions are said to formseven kinds of tissue (dhatu). These are: rasa (plasma), rakta(blood), mamsa (flesh), medas (fat), asthi (bone), Majja (mar-row), and shukra (semen). The activity of the dhatu is repre-sented by ojas (vitality) or bala (strength). Ojas is mediated

through an oily, white fluid that permeates the whole body. Thefunctions of the vital organs like the heart, brain, spleen, andliver are explained on the basis of the flow and exchange of tis-sues. The heart is considered the chief receptacle of the threechief fluids of the body: rasa, rakta, and ojas. The body has 107vital points or marmas, which are points of vulnerability whereimportant vessels, nerves, muscles, and organs are situated.

Physiological References in the Vedic TextsThe Garbha Upanishad describes the body as consisting of

five elements (with further groups of five as in the Sankhya sys-tem of philosophy) supported on six (the sweet, sour, salt, bit-ter, acid and harsh juices of food), endowed with six qualities,made up of seven tissues, three doshas, and twice-begotten(through father and mother). It further adds that the head hasfour skull-bones, with sixteen sockets on each side. It says thatthe body has 107 joints, 180 sutures, 900 sinews, 700 veins, 500muscles, 360 bones, and 45 million hairs. In ChhandogyaUpanishad, organisms are divided into three classes based ontheir origin: born alive (from a womb), born from an egg, andborn from a germ.

Training a VaidyaThe Ayurvedic physician was trained in eight branches of

medicine: kayachikitsa (internal medicine), shalyachikitsa(surgery, including anatomy), shalakyachikitsa (eye, ear, nose, andthroat diseases), kaumarabhritya (paediatrics), bhutavidya (psy-chiatry, or demonology), agada tantra (toxicology), rasayana (sci-ence of rejuvenation), and vajikarana (the science of fertility).

Apart from learning these, the student of Ayurveda wasexpected to know ten arts that were indispensable in the prepa-ration and application of medicines: distillation, operative skills,cooking, horticulture, metallurgy, sugar manufacture, pharmacy,analysis and separation of minerals, compounding of metals, andpreparation of alkalis. The teaching of various subjects was doneduring the instruction of relevant clinical subjects. For example,teaching of anatomy was a part of the training in paediatrics andobstetrics, and the knowledge of physiology and pathology wasinterwoven in the teaching of all the clinical disciplines.

Dissection and SurgerySushruta laid great emphasis on direct observation and

learning through dissection (avagharshana). Sushruta classifiedsurgical operations into eight categories: incision (chhedana),excision (bhedana), scarification (lekhana), puncturing (ved-hana), probing (eshana), extraction (aharana), evacuation anddrainage (vishravana), and suturing (sivana). Sushruta lists 101blunt and 20 sharp instruments that were used in surgery

By Subhash Kak


TRADITIONAL MEDICINE

instructing that these should be made of steel and kept in aportable case with a separate compartement for each instru-ment and describes fourteen types of bandages. Surgical oper-ations on all parts of the body were described, ncluding laparo-tomy, craniotomy, caesarean section, plastic repair of the tornear lobe cheiloplasty, rhinoplasty, excision of cataract, tonsillec-tomy, excision of laryngeal polyps, excision of anal fistule,repair of hernias and prolapse of rectum, lithotomy, amputa-tion of bones, and many neurosurgical procedures.

Medications were used for pre-operative preparation, andmedicated oils were used for the dressing of wounds. Ice, caus-tics, and cautery were used for haemostasis. Medicated wineswere used before and after surgery to assuage pain. A drugcalled sammohini was used to make the patient unconsciousbefore a major operation; another drug, sanjivani, wasemployed to resuscitate the patient after operation or shock.

DiagnosisIt was enjoined that diagnosis be made using all five senses

together with interrogation. The diagnosis was based on: cause(nidana); premonitory indications (purvarupa); symptoms (rupa);therapeutic tests (upashaya); and the natural course of develop-ment of the disease (samprapti). Sushruta declares that the physi-cian (bhishaj), the drug (dravya), the nurse (paricharaka), and thepatient (rogi) are the four pillars on which rest the success of thetreatment. Different methods of treatment, based on the diagno-sis of the patient, were outlined. The drugs were classified into75 types according to their therapeutic effect. For successfultreatment, the following ten factors were to be kept in mind: theorganism (sharira); its maintenance (vritti); the cause of the dis-ease (hetu); the nature of disease (vyadhi); action or treatment(karma); effects or results (karya); time (kala); the agent or thephysician (karta); the means and instruments (karana); and thedecision on the line of treatment (vidhi vinishchaya).

One of the most impressive innovations arising out of later

Ayurveda is that of inoculation against smallpox. It is believedthat this treatment arose before 1000 A.D. From there it spreadto China, western Asia, and Africa, and finally, in the early eigh-teenth century, to Europe and North America. Indian treatmentwas described by John Z. Holwell in 1767 to the College ofPhysicians in London in a report titled „An account of themanner of inoculating for the smallpox in the East Indies”. Itnot only described the system in great detail, it also providedthe rationale behind it.

It appears that the idea of inoculation derived from agada-tantra, one of the eight branches of traditional Ayurveda thatdeals with poisons and toxin sin small dosages, and applicationof specific concoctions to punctures in the skin for treatmentof certain skin diseases (Sushruta Samhita in Chikitsasthana9.10). The Charaka Samhita 1 speaks of how deadly poisonscan be converted into excellent medicine and how two toxinscan be antagonistic to each other.

An Ayurvedic classification, based on etiological factors,divides diseases into seven categories: hereditary conditionsbased on the diseased germ cells (adibala); congenital disease(janmabala); diseases due to the disturbance of the humours(doshabala); injuries and traumas (sanghatabala); seasonal dis-eases (kalabala); random diseases (daivabala); and natural condi-tions such as aging (svabhavabala). Menstrual disturbances, dis-eases of the female genital tract, and their treatments are classi-fied. The clinical course and the various stages of labor, themanagement of pueurperium, miscarriage and abortion, anddifficult labor are discussed in detail. The different malpositionsof the fetus are well understood and many diseases of childrenare described in detail. �

—The author is Regents Professor in Department of Computer Science at Oklahoma State University


PERSONALITY

“We want that education by which character is formed,strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded, andby which one can stand on one’s own feet,” said SwamiVivekananda who was one of the great philosophers, bornon 12 January 1863. Swami Vivekananda, known in his pre-monastic life as Narendra Nath Datta, was born in an afflu-ent family in Kolkata.

His sayings and speeches still inspire millions of peoplein the country and abroad. He discovered the country bytraveling to different parts. During his travels all over India,Swami Vivekananda was deeply moved to see the appallingpoverty and backwardness of the masses. He was the firstreligious leader in India to understand and openly declarethat the real cause of India’s downfall was the neglect ofthe masses.

The immediate need was to provide food and other barenecessities of life to the hungry millions. For this theyshould be taught improved methods of agriculture, villageindustries, etc. Thus the masses needed two kinds of knowl-edge: secular knowledge to improve their economic condi-tion and spiritual knowledge to infuse in them faith in them-selves and strengthen their moral sense. The next questionwas how to spread these two kinds of knowledge among themasses? Through education – this was the answer thatSwamiji found. Swamiji founded Ramarishna Mission as hefelt that an organization was needed to carry out welfareactivities for the masses.

His speeches of the World’s Parliament of Religions heldin September 1893 made him famous as an ’orator by divineright’ and as a ’Messenger of Indian wisdom to the Westernworld’. After the Parliament, Swamiji spent nearly three and-a-half years spreading Vedanta as lived and taught by SriRamakrishna, mostly in the eastern parts of USA and also inLondon. Making an objective assessment of SwamiVivekananda’s contributions to world culture, the eminentBritish historian A L Basham stated that “in centuries tocome, he will be remembered as one of the main mouldersof the modern world”.

sWamI VIVeKananda and

‘natIonal YoutH daY’Are Indian youths losing their roots? In the age of globalisation, will it be possible tokeep the culture intact and move forward? It is time for the youth of India to think

positively and move ahead strategically for the country’s development

By Ranjan K Baruah

Contd on page 27


RELIGION

on tHe emBanKments of

tHe rIVer of faItH

On the bank of the Ganges I ask ayoung woman - ‘Is this your first visitto Allahabad?’ ‘This is my first trip tothe Kumbha. We stay here for fourdays. It is said that if you take a holybath in the Ganges during the KumbhaMela, you are freed of all your pastsins. I took five dips. We could not seethe Naga Sadhu's parade. It takes placeonly when the Makar Sankranti is cele-brated or on full moon night. WeIndians hold this event in high esteem’.

‘You seem to be lost. Can I helpyou?’ The voice is somewhat familiaryet the face and the clothing are com-pletely unlike the speech.

‘We are not lost, it is just that wedon’t quite know which way we shouldgo. We are trying to locate the PressCentre’- I answer while trying to searchthe face and my memory for the famil-iar voice.

‘This is why most of us are here, tofind which way to go. The Press Centreis only a few blocks away’- answers theturbaned Sadhu with big brass earrings.I look at the bearded man wearing thesaffron- coloured robes of the Indianholy monks. He looks like a Sadhu butwith his cheeky smile, and his Cockneyaccent he is somewhat of an enigma. Ilook at him with disbelieve as I realisewho he is. ‘Chris, what are you doinghere dressed like a Sadhu?’ I ask, fromthe former friend of my universityyears in London. ‘I am a Sadhu, butthat is a long story. What are you doinghere?’ – he asks me. Our conversationis taking place in India in Allahabad,not far from the holiest Hindu townVaranasi. The occasion of my visit hereis the Kumbh Mela in January 2013.We needed a ‘Journalist Pass’ in order

By Ádám Lázár

to walk about freely among the millionsto select the most interesting shots forour photo-journalistic on work aboutthe event. Like hungry men in a pastryshop looking at the cakes we are sittingat one of the bridges with our camerasready and taking pictures constantly ofpeople coming and going. India withthe faces, the colours and customs is apicture gallery for the photographer.

What is Rome for the Christians,Jerusalem for the Jews, Mecca for theMuslims, that is Varanasi and near to itAllahabad for the Hindus. The KumbhMela is the biggest human gathering onEarth, attracting several million. Whovisit the Triveni the junction of GangaYamuna and the mythical SArasvati, totake a holy trip. The Hindus believethat in their lives the Kumbh Mela -meaning the festive cup- is a stage, acleansing process of rebirth. Gurus

and saints, fervent fans, pilgrims, reli-gious leaders and ordinary believerscome here in hordes. Some travel fordays, some walk for weeks and somestay for months. Most of them at leastonce in themselves in the waters of theHoly Ganges to purify their karma.

The selection of the site has amythological basis. It is said that thegods once lost their strength, and want-ed to regain it. They had to obtain thenectar of immortality. For that theywould have needed the help of thedemons. They agreed to distribute theelixir equally. But when the sacred nec-tar of immortality appeared in the cup,they began to fight. 12 nights and daysthey fought. That is why the pilgrimagetakes place of every 12 years. Finally awinner, one of the gods flew off withthe goblet. However, from the cup fourdrops fell into the river when he flew


RELIGION

over India. At these locations, the cer-emony is held every three years alter-nately.

The date is specified. When Jupiterenters Aquarius and the Sun is in Ariesthat is the night when the Kumbh Melabegins. It is believed that during thisperiod, a corridor will be open to othermajor planets from earth, so the soulcan easily reach the heavenly world. Sowhen bathed in the holy river, the sinsof the past are washed away the soul isable to reach moksha, and it is allowedto be released from the cycle of birthand death.

Looking for the Press Centre wewalk about and enjoy the experience ofmeeting with the real India. We comeacross parades of faces, clothes, smells,cultures and sounds. Groups of Sadhusfrom all over India pass us constantly.Some estimates recon that four- fivemillion of these holy men and womenlive in India and many hundreds ofthousands come here for this occasion.The Sadhus leave all material andhuman attachments behind and live incaves, forests, ashrams, in huts on theedges of villages, or in temples. It isalso thought that the austere practicesof the Sadhus help to burn off theirkarma and that of the community atlarge. Thus seen as benefiting society,Sadhus are supported by donationsfrom many people.

Suddenly we come across the great-est spectacle of our visit so far. A Nagaon a motorbike passes us. The Nagasare naked Sadhus who wear their hairin thick dreadlocks, and cover them-selves only by ashes. A popular charac-teristic of their ritualism is their utiliza-tion of marijuana known as charas.During our stay we often meet old-looking Sadhus and Nagas but neverreally old ones as the drug slowlydestroys their lungs. From their tentsone hears coughing all the time.Standing outside a tent I watch as ahalf-naked man pushes back his orangeturban and gets down to work. Hebreaks off chunks of hash and mixes

them with tobacco in his bony fingers,then dumps the contents into a conicalclay pipe. The flaming wooden matchlights up the painted lines on his fore-head as he shouts, "Bom Bhole!" andstarts puffing away, his head disappear-ing behind a cloud of smoke. After twomassive lungfulls, he passes the pipeonto his brethren dressed in minimumof cloth, with long beards, matted hairand a happily glazed look in their eyes.The Nagas are known for carryingweapons like tridents, swords, canes,and spears. It is said that once theyfunctioned as an armed order to pro-tect Hindus from the Mughal rulers.Today most of the time they are com-pletely peaceful, their weapons are onlysymbolical.

Looking about the masses of peo-ple one wonders how do the authori-ties cater apart from the religious needsof the pilgrims for their accommoda-tion, food, health, and hygienicrequirements? This year's ritual was

held from 27 January for 55 days. Thepre-festival preparations of building,setting up and erecting: roads, electric-ity, water supply, sewage disposal tookmonths to organize. In dry season onthe flood areas of the Ganges 20 kmlong and the same width chessboarddesign is set up. In this settlement a seaof tents are erected. The numbersspeak for themselves. Apart from thepermanent iron bridge 17 temporarypontoon bridges are set up. At the tentcity’s 14 temporary hospitals 240 doc-tors are on permanent call. Every day80 million liters of drinking water isconsumed and got rid off in 40,000toilets. 156 miles of road was built. Onthe side of the roads from 770 kilome-ters of electric cables 22,000 lampswere lighting. The main streets are con-nected by small lanes. There was drink-ing water everywhere, supplied by 550miles of water pipes. The security andthe peace of the town were guarded by30,000 police officers, soldiers, andsecurity guards. But to talk about peaceis difficult because there is constantnoise of the crowd. The tent city lookslike an amusement park. The gurus’tents are illuminated by flashing col-ored neon lights and the music is blar-ing out from huge loudspeakers. Thepeople at different times might have anap but this town while the festival ison never sleeps. The people sing,dance, pray, meditate and listen to theteachings of the gurus.

There are some who lie on a bed ofnails, some who holds their arms aloftfor years, some who lie buried underearth for days. Gurus and saints,Sadhus, fanatic fans, pilgrims, religiousleaders or just everyday believers comehere en masse. The holy men are con-stantly talking. Are they talking aboutdifferent subjects or about the same? Ifthey are talking about different things,which one is telling the truth? If theysay the same things what is the point tolisten to so many?

Even in the country of 1.3 billionpeople, the tens of millions of pil-grims, is a number that is too high to


RELIGION

ignore. At the 2013 Kumbh Mela more than 100 million peo-ple were expected to attend. To report such an event is avery exciting task. Even more exciting is to try to answersome questions. In the land of the million Gods which goddo they pray to? How does the event change their lives?There are so many questions and so many people. Even ifonly for a few days but during the event the people of dif-ferent social backgrounds unite in faith by praying next toeach other.

At Allahabad the Kumbh Mela is held once in everytwelve years. One of the principal features is the holy dipwhile followers singing and shouting praises of theAlmighty. They carry embroidered umbrellas, silver staffs,garlands, trumpets and drums. Some are seated on elephants,others on horses, while millions simply walk. The areaswhere the Sadhus are bathing are marked out and the timesfixed. Prayers are read, images of gods are bathed offeringsof fruits, flowers and sweets made to the river and then theSadhus are ready for their holy dip.

‘Is the water cold?’- I ask Chris. ‘I don’t know, I was

One of the most significant contributions of SwamiVivekananda to the modern world is his interpretation ofreligion as a universal experience of transcendent reality,common to all humanity. Swamiji met the challenge of mod-ern science by showing that religion is as scientific as scienceitself; religion is the ’science of consciousness’. As such, reli-gion and science are not contradictory to each other but arecomplementary.

Another great contribution of Swami Vivekananda wasto build a bridge between Indian culture and Western culture.He did it by interpreting Hindu scriptures and philosophyand the Hindu way of life and institutions to the Westernpeople in an idiom which they could understand. He madethe Western people realize that they had to learn much fromIndian sprituality for their own well-being. He showed that,in spite of her poverty and backwardness, India had a greatcontribution to make to world culture. In this way he wasinstrumental in ending India’s cultural isolation from the restof the world. He was India’s first great cultural ambassadorto the West.

In spite of her innumerable linguistic, ethnic, historicaland regional diversities, India has had from time immemo-rial a strong sense of cultural unity. It was, however, SwamiVivekananda who revealed the true foundations of thisculture and thus clearly defined and strengthened the senseof unity as a nation. Swamiji gave Indians proper under-standing of their country’s great spiritual heritage and thus

gave them pride in their past.

Free India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru wrote:“Rooted in the past, full of pride in India’s prestige,Vivekananda was yet modern in his approach to life’s prob-lems, and was a kind of bridge between the past of India andher present…he came as a tonic to the depressed and demor-alized Hindu mind and gave it self-reliance and some rootsin the past.” Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose wrote: “Swamijiharmonized the East and the West, religion and science, pastand present. And that is why he is great. Our countrymenhave gained unprecedented self-respect, self-reliance andself-assertion from his teachings.”

Swamiji’s most unique contribution to the creation ofnew India was to open the minds of Indians to their duty tothe downtrodden masses. Long before the ideas of KarlMarx were known in India, Swamiji spoke about the role ofthe labouring classes in the production of the country’swealth. Swamiji was the first religious leader in India to speakfor the masses, formulate a definite philosophy of service,and organize large-scale social service.

In 1984, the Government of India declared and decidedto observe the Birthday of Swami Vivekananda (12 January,according to English calendar) as National Youth Day everyyear from 1985 onwards. �

—The author is a liberal youth activist and social entrepreneur of India working with people for a vibrant civil society

sWamI VIVeKananda and ‘natIonal YoutH daY’

standing next to my Guru. Since I have been waiting for thisoccasion for the last 12 years, I felt only excitement notcold’- answers the English born Sadhu. �

—The author is a noted photo-journalist.

Contd from page 24


CULTURE

The Busho Carnival - the far-famed folk custom of theCroatian minority -, since 2 October 2009, is inscribed onUNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible CulturalHeritage of Humanity.

The Busho Carnival is part of protecting, practicingmagic to fecundity, end-of-winter and welcoming springtimefestivities. It is related to many nations’ traditions and festiv-ities.

The Busho Carnival starts on Thursday (last day) ofCarnival time, and ends on Pancake Day. The main day ofthis festivity falls on Sunday.

In Mohács town, the origin of the tradition is usuallyexplained by the legend of driving out of the Turkish fromHungary. However, this legend has no historical basis (it tellsthat inhabitants of local Croatian minority, taking refuge inthe morass of Mohács Island and being tired of slavery, tookterrifying masks and by making ear-splitting noise they drovethe Turkish out of Mohács. Mohács town got delivered fromthe Turkish domination in 1687, and settling Croatian fami-lies on a larger scale had been started only ten years after that

time. This tradition must have been carried along from theearlier country of the Croatians, then had been formed andassumed its present shape here, during the years. The firstreports on this tradition date back to the 18th century.

The clothing of a Busho appears the same that it waslong time ago: sheepskin usually turned inside out, trousersstuffed by straw. He usually puts on coloured stockings, spe-cially made for women, and a kind of moccasin. The sheep-skin is usually gathered round the waist by a rope or a chainwith one or several cattle bells on it. Other accessories of theclothing are flappers and a long wooden cornet. But, themost important accessory – and that makes a real Busho – ishis mask carved of willow wood and painted by animalblood.

Bushos generally appear campaigned by the specialgroup of “jankele”s, these ones playing the role in keep-ing people in a distance of the bushos. Jankeles are tobeat young girls in the streets, by sacks filled up formerlywith ashes or flour, but nowadays only with sawdust orrags. Women hiding their face by veil, men dressed up infolk costumes and figures dressed up in fancy dresses are

THE BUSHO CARNIVAL OF MOHáCS


CULTURE

called mascarades.

Long time ago, the aim of bushos by making terrifyingnoises with shaking cattle bells and flappers, or blowing ahorn was to collect gifts of drink and meat by expressingtheir best wishes and performing magic.

Nowadays, this folk custom, turned into the channel oftourism, is returning to its original tradition.

The Busho Carnival of present time starts in Kólósquare, in its former centre. That’s the place wherebushos, jankeles and other figures, dressed up in their spe-cial clothes, meet other busho groups. Nowadays, about27 groups represent themselves in the procession. At thethundering of old busho canons, these groups start to

enter the main (or central) square of the town by takingthe main street. Then they go to the bank of the Danubeand into the small streets of the old Croatian quarter ofthe town, with making dreadful noises, celebrating carni-val season. At nightfall, they return to the centre of thetown to continue celebrating by dancing round the bonfireand joking with people. That’s how Carnival Sunday ends.The celebration of inhabitants falls on Carnival Tuesdaywhen bushos, putting a coffin – this one symbolising win-ter – on a bonfire and burning it, say goodbye to the win-ter and celebrate with dancing and joking, the arrival ofspringtime.

This year the Busho Carnival is between the 27th ofFebruary and the 4th of March. �

—Contributed by the Mayor of Mohács

Az Indiai Ősi Gyógymódok a MagyarországiEgészségügyért Alapítvány létrehozásához az a felismerésvezetett el, hogy az ötezer éves hagyományos indiai gyó-gyászat a megelőzés, a helyes életvitel és gondolkodás,terápiában a természetes hatóanyagok használata révén, azeurópai gyógyászatot jól kiegészítve segíthet a magyarságegészségi állapotának javításában. Ezért Alapítványom céljaa hagyományos indiai gyógymódok megismertetése, ter-jesztése, művelésének bátorítása, feltételeinek segítése.Emellett azonban szándékom a szakavatott indiai profess-zorok, egyetemek, kutatók segítségével és természetesenmagyar orvosok bevonásával, a legszigorúbb minőségi kontroll biztosítása is.

Legutóbbi indiai látogatásomkor – melyre az indiai kor-mány megtisztelő meghívására került sor – 2013 már-ciusában ismertettem e célkitűzéseket az AYUSHállamtitkárság vezetésével, elnyerve államtitkár úr támo-gatását. A célkitűzések szolgálatában határoztuk el és kezd-jük meg az AYUSH államtitkársággal, valamint IndiaBudapesti Nagykövetségével együttműködésben egy 2014június végén rendezendő Ayurveda konferenciaszervezését. Számítunk arra, hogy a 2013 októberébenaláírt „Hagyományos Orvoslási Rendszerek területénTörténő Együttműködésről” szóló kormányközi megál-lapodás is segítette a téma iránti figyelem élénkülését. Az„Ayurveda az integratív gyógyítás jegyében” címmel ter-vezett rendezvényre az Ayush három magas szintű vezetőjétés neves indiai előadó professzorokat várunk.

A kétnaposra tervezett rendezvénysorozat első napján amagyar és az indiai (Ayurveda) egészségügy vezető szakem-

berei, orvosprofesszorok, akadémikusok szűkebb körbentalálkoznak, brainstorming jelleggel. Az indiai szakemberekismertetik azokat az eredményeket, kutatási módszereket,melyek illusztrálják, alátámasztják az ayurvedikus gyó-gyászat módszereinek eredményességét. A résztvevők ter-vezett létszáma 30-35 fő.

A második napon indiai és európai professzorok előadá-sai hangzanak el, bemutatják szakgyógyászati területekayurvedikus kezelését, az elért eredményeket. A kiválasztottszakgyógyászati területek a magyar egészségügyi helyzetprioritásaival összhangban (mint pl. anyagcsere-betegségek,mozgásszervi betegségek, neuro-muszkuláris gyermek- ésfelnőttkori betegségek, gerontológiai kérdések, stb.) kerül-nek kiválasztásra. Egy-egy előadásban tervezzük érinteni azAyurveda gyógynövények/gyógyszerek kérdését, valamint amagyarországi Ayurveda oktatást is.

E rendezvénynapon széleskörű hallgatóságot várunk,egészségügyi szakembereket, a hagyományos indiai gyó-gyászat és életmód alapjait alkalmazó és gyakorló vagy eziránt érdeklődő személyeket és szervezeteket hívunk meg ésszervezzük a sajtójelenlétet. Ezen a második napon 80-100fő részvétele várható.

Mindezek alapján szeretnénk újabb lendületet adni azősi indiai gyógymódok magyarországi terjedésének éshozzá kívánunk járulni a magyar polgárok egészségénekmegőrzéséhez, javításához. �

—Dr. Medgyessy Péter, volt miniszterelnök, az Indiai ŐsiGyógymódok a Magyarországi Egészségügyért Alapítvány alapítója

IndIaI ősI gyógymódok


HUNGARIAN SECTION

Az elmúlt két évszázad sok társadalmi, gazdasági és politikai változást hozott India életében. A nők élet-minősége, személyes biztonsága, szerepeik és a társadalom-ban betöltött pozíciójuk a 19. század második felétől a mainapig a tudományos, politikai és művészeti diskurzusok középpontjában áll. A 20. században a különbözőművészeti ágak hamarabb kezdtek el reflektálni a nőketérintő kérdésekre, mint a tudomány egyes területei, így aszociológia vagy a gender studies. Mind a képzőművészet,mind pedig az irodalom legtöbbször arra az élesen szem-beötlő folyamatra reflektál, mely az indiai nők gondo-lkodását, a társadalom hozzájuk fűződő elvárásait, és így anők szerepeit is átalakította. A kortárs indiai nők attitűdjekét fogalom, a tradicionalizmus és a modernizmus menténragadható meg, mely fogalmak által körülhatároltviselkedésformák sosem jelentkeznek egy nő személy-iségében tisztán, hanem különböző élethelyzetekben hol azegyik, hol pedig a másik jelenik meg erőteljesebben. Azutóbbi években a szociológia az irodalmi alkotások mellettaz indiai filmeket is, mint forrás értékű kulturális ter-mékeket vizsgálja.

Érdekes eredményt kapunk, ha végigkövetjük az indiaifilmek női karaktereiben történt változásokat az évtizedekmentén. Azt feltételezhetjük, hogy a női karaktereklineárisan „fejlődnek” a tradicionalitástól a modernizmusfelé; valamint figyelembe véve az országban végbementgazdasági és társadalmi változásokat az 1991-es indiai gaz-dasági liberalizáció után a filmekben a modern hősnőkszáma robbanásszerűen megugrik, de míg ez a megállapítás

helytálló az indiai irodalmat tekintve, addig a filmek ettőlkissé eltérő képet mutatnak.

TRADICIONALITÁS ÉS MODERNIZMUSA tradicionalitás és a modernizmus fogalmainak megál-

lapítása pontosan olyan komplex és bonyolult feladat, mintmagának a kultúra fogalmának a pontos meghatározása. Atradicionalitást a szakirodalom gyakran azonosítja az indi-aisággal, vagyis egyfajta kulturális identitással. A kulturálisidentitás jelöli az egyén bizonyos csoporthoz, vagy tár-sadalomhoz való tartozását, így az indiaiság, vagy indiai iden-titás a nagycsalád intézményéhez való tartozás általmeghatározott. Az indiai társadalom hagyományosan kollek-tivista, mely szemlélet a nyugati társadalmak individuálismagatartásának ellenpólusa. Azonban a globalizáció tér-nyerésével, és az oktatás elterjedésével az individualistatörekvések, mint a modernizmus legjelentősebb vívmányaiegyre inkább beférkőztek a közösség-központú indiai tár-sadalomba. Megállapíthatjuk, hogy a tradicionalitás a ha-gyományok által meghatározott viselkedési mintázatokatfoglalja magában, míg minden, ami ezzel szemben áll, a mo-dernséget képviseli.

A fenti megállapítás fényében elmondhatjuk, hogy az indi-ai hagyományos női szerepek csakis családi közegbenértelmezhetőek. A lányok s asszonyok mozgástere a házonbelül és annak szűk környezetében meghatározott. A nőszerepei csakis férfi rokonai viszonyában értelmezhetőek,tehát a nők anyák, feleségek, leánygyermekek vagy húgoklehetnek, de kollégák, iskolatársak vagy barátok nem. Mivel a

Hagyományos és modern női

karakterek az indiai filmbenBy Dávid Krisztina


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nők legfontosabb rituális kötelességeiket feleségként tudjákbetölteni, így életük középpontjában a házasság áll, melylehetőség ad a nőnek, hogy beteljesítse a sztrí-dharma általrárótt legfőbb kötelességét, vagyis az anyaságot. A hagy-ományos hindu társadalomban a feleség dolgozik, így nemvesz részt a család anyagi biztonságának fenntartásában. A férfiak legfőbb kötelessége a családfenntartás, a nőké pedig a gyermeknevelés. Mivel a nőnem dolgozik, így anyagilag kiszolgáltatott helyzetben van,vagyis minden életszakaszban függ valamely férfi család-tagjától (apjától, férjétől, fiától). Mivel a nő el van zárva apénzkereseti lehetőségtől, így gazdasági státusza alacsony,ezért nem vehet részt a társadalomi struktúrák kialakításában,és nem rendelkezik szabad önkifejezési lehetőségekkel. Azalárendelt pozíció elfogadását az olyan mitológiai példaképekis erősítik, melyeket a nők elé állítanak. Szítá alakja a mainapig az ideális nőként jelenik meg az indiai kultúrában. Ő atökéletes feleség, aki minden igazságtalanság, megaláztatás éselnyomás ellenére kitart férje mellett, akit bálványként tisztel,valamint kész életét áldozni családjáért.

Ezzel szemben a modernizmus a nyugati individualistatörekvéseket jelenti. Olyan nőket tartanak modernnek, akikemancipáltak, anyagilag függetlenek, és a hagyomány általrájuk rótt szerepeket elutasítják, mert az önkiteljesítés útjánkívánnak haladni.

AZ INDIAI FILMEK NŐI KARAKTEREIA populáris filmművészet folyamatosan alakítja az

emberek kulturális, szociális és politikai értékeit, emellettpedig visszatükrözi az adott kor kultúráját. Ez a reflexióazonban nem csupán az adott kor kulturális és társadalmijelenségeinek filmvásznon való visszatükröződése, hanemtovább kutatva megismertet minket az adott film célközön-ségének nézőpontjával, vágyaival, és elvárásaival.

A kétezres évekig az indiai filmekben néhány női karakteregyáltalán nem jelenik meg, míg más karakterek túlreprezen-táltak. Nem a modernnek mondható hősnők hiányoznak,hanem azok a női figurák, akik a narratíva alakításában résztvesznek. A női szereplők, bár bizonyos aspektusban moderntulajdonságokkal rendelkeznek, mégis a legfőbb feladatuk,hogy a férfi hős számára élvezetet nyújtsanak, és gyakortanem mint személyiségek állnak előttünk, hanem pusztán tár-gyak, a film dekoratív elemei. A hősnő másodlagos a hősselszemben, és személyiségét csakis a főhőssel, és egyéb férfiszereplőkkel való vi-szonyaiból ismerjük meg, mely nézőpon-tot értelmezhetünk a tradicionális, patriarchális nézőpontfilmvásznon való továbbélésének.

Az 1950-es évektől egészen a nyolcvanas évekig a po-puláris filmek pozitív hősnői Szítá, az ideális feleség alakjávalálltak párhuzamban. Passzív, elnyomott feleségekként jelen-tek meg, akik képesek voltak a teljes önfeláldozásra. Ilyenfilmek a Dahej (1950), Gauri (1968), Biwi Ho To Aisi (1988),

vagy a Pati Parameshwar (1988). Ezen filmek hősnőit a ha-gyományos „tökéletes feleség” ideája mentén alakították ki,alakjaik kevéssé valóságosak, sokkal inkábbsztereotípiákként jelentek meg.

Az abszolút pozitív női karakterek mellett azonbanmegjelentek a démoni csábítók, akiket modernnek tit-uláltak. A csábító nőket nyugati jellemzőkkel ruháztákfel, függetlenek, és szexuálisan agresszívek voltak, nyu-gati módon öltözködtek, nyilvánosan fogyasztottak alko-holt, és dohányoztak. Ilyen módon a nyugati, vagy másnéven a modern eszmék egyet kezdtek jelenteni a rom-lottsággal, és a bűnnel, míg a hagyományos értékeketvalló „jó lány” karakterek a tisztaság, és a nemességszimbólumaivá váltak.

Bár a munka nem tartozott a hagyományos nők fela-datai közé, de a hetvenes évek dühös, lázadó férfi karak-terei mellett helyet kaptak a vásznon a dolgozó nők is, ígypéldául az ikonikussá vált Sholay (1973) című filmbenHema Malini egy falusi tongavezetőt alakít. A nyolcvanasévektől kezdve azonban egyre kevésbé jelenik meg afilmekben a dolgozó nő. Bár a nyolcvanas évek filmjeibenenyhülést látunk, és a nők egyre inkább képesek artikulál-ni a vágyaikat és igényeiket, de ezen figurák is az indiai tár-sadalom erősen tradicionalista és patriarchális kereteiközött lettek megalkotva.

A sztereotípiákat felvonultató populáris filmek mellett ahatvanas években megjelentek a művész filmek. Az „ÚjHullám” nevet viselő irányzat mind tematikájában, mindpedig szerkezetében új filmeket gyártott. A művészfilmekmegkísérelték átalakítani a korabeli sztereotip női karak-tereket. A filmrendezők egy új generációja lépett fel, akikprogresszív gondolataikkal szociális és gazdasági kérdéseketvittek vászonra. Az „Új Hullám” rendezőinek csoportjaerősen kötődött az „Új Novella,” vagyis a kortárs irodalmiirányzat íróihoz. Nem meglepő, hogy az Új Hullám rendezői


HUNGARIAN SECTION

hasonló társadalomkritikai szemléletet vettek fel, mint az ÚjNovella mozgalom írói, és témáik között igen népszerűvéváltak a nőket érintő kérdések. Ellentétben a korszakbanmegszokott alárendelt és kötelességtudó anyákkal valamintfeleségekkel, a művészfilmek női karakterei dominánsak éserősek voltak.

A Mirch Masala (1989) című film az egyik legjelentősebbolyan művész filmes alkotás, mely középpontjában a nő áll. Aszokással ellentétben személyiséggel ruházza a fel a nőket, ésmentes a nők tárgyiasításától. A film szembeszáll amegszokott sztereotípiákkal, és bár a főszereplő nő megmen-tésre szorul, a patriarchális társadalom elbukik a védelmezőszerepében, és kiszolgáltatja a nőt a negatív hősnek. Míg apopuláris filmekben általában egy fiatal, izmos férfi siet ahősnő segítségére, addig itt az idős férfi vállalja magára ezt aszerepet. Az utolsó jelenete tette a filmet a nőmozgalmakikonjává, és egy abszolút új síkot adott a hősnő alakjához. Ajelenet az ind mitológiából ismert Kálí, vagyis a vérszomjasistennő képét hívja elő az indiai nézőben. A főszereplőnősarlóval a kezében; vastag, fekete kádzsallal a szeme körül,mint maga a megtestesült Kálí istennő, a levegőben szállóvörös csili por pedig, mintha a vért szimbolizálná. A MirchMasala az első olyan film, mely nem Szítát, az önfeláldozófeleséget állítja a nők elé mintaképül, hanem Kálít, a félel-metes istennőt, akit még a férfiak is félnek.

1991-ben Indiában nagymértékű gazdasági liberalizá-ció zajlott le, aminek következtében a globalizáció addigsoha nem látott méreteket öltött. A nyugati termékek éseszmék rendkívüli gyorsasággal árasztották el az országot.A kilencvenes évektől kezdve az indiai állam úgy tekin-tetett a filmekre, mint egy olyan médiumra, amely a „fel-sőbb jót szolgálhatja,” így a politika felszólította afilmkészítőket, hogy olyan filmeket gyártsanak, melyek azindiai tradíciókat és a nemzeti eszméket terjesztik. Emiattúj irányt vett az a nyolcvanas években elindult folyamat,melyben a hősnők elindultak az emancipáció útján, és bára globalizáció hatására a női karakterek bizonyos elemek-ben nyugati tulajdonságokkal rendelkeztek (például azöltözködést tekintve), mégis erősen tradicionalista elveketvallottak. A női karakterek jellemzése sokkal komplexebbévált, mert a filmgyártók igyekeztek harmóniát teremteni anyugati és indiai elemek között. A tradiciona-lizmus újformájával találkozunk, a karakterek legjellemzőbb ellent-mondása, hogy bár a narratíva folyamán általában nyugati,individualista nézőpont alapján hozzák meg a döntéseiket,a film végére visszatérnek a klasszikus, indiai értékekhez.Tehát a hősnők jellemfejlődése a nyugati értékektől valóeltávolodást, és az indiai kulturális gyökerekhez való vis-szatérést jelentette. Ezt a gondolatot viszik tovább későbba kétezres években készült romantikus komédiái, aholgyakorta találkozunk a nyugati eszmék által megrontott,tévelygő nőkkel, akik a főhős segítségével visszatalálnak ahagyományos indiai értékekhez. (Például Cocktail (2012))

A modern típusú nőket, vagyis akik karrierrel ren-delkeztek és gazdaságilag független voltak, a társadalomérzéketlennek és gondoskodásra képtelennek tekintette, ígynegatív szereplőkként ábrázolták őket. Mivel az individua-lista nő veszélyt jelent a tradicionálisan kialakult családi hier-archiára, így a kilencvenes években a filmek újra az önfelál-dozó, erkölcsileg feddhetetlen női karaktereket erősíti, ésmég ha dolgozik is a hősnő, a film során soha sem látja aközönség munka közben, hanem leginkább a házimunkávalvan elfoglalva.

Csak az ezredforduló hozott igazi változást a hősnőkkarakterét illetően. A 2000 után készült filmek korábbi tabutémákhoz is hozzá mertek nyúlni, és megjelent a narratí-va alakításában saját magának szerepet követelő női karakter.Az ilyen filmek közé tartozik a Cheeni Kum (2007), vagy a2012-es év hatalmas sikerfilmje a Kahaani. A főszereplőemancipált, a saját életét irányítani képes, független nő. Ezeka hősnők már aktív szereplői a történeteknek; tudják, hogymire van szükségük, és képesek hangot is adni annak. Bár anyugati individualizmus megtestesítői, mégsem negatív karak-terek. Az utóbbi évek legnagyobb hatású, új típusú női karak-tere a Kahaaniban jelenik meg. Az erővel felruházott nő ábrá-zolását egy korábbi művészfilmes elem átemelésével hangsú-lyozza a film. Ahogyan a Mirch Masalaban Szónbáí karaktereKálí istennővel rokonítható, úgy Vidya Bagchi alakja is. AKahaani több mitologikus utalást is elrejt a vizuális elemekközött, így téve egyértelművé a párhuzamot. A Kálíval valóazonosítás abszolút erővel ruházza fel a hősnőt, és azt azüzenetet hordozza, hogy egy olyan erős nőről van szó, aki ígyképes önmagát kiteljesíteni a férfiak uralta társadalomban.

Az újfajta nőalak megjelenésének legfőbb magyarázata anézőközönség összetételének megváltozásával ma-gyarázható. Megjelent a közönség egy olyan csoportja,akinek igénye van aktív, önmagáról gondoskodni tudó nőikarakterekre. Feltételezhetjük, hogy ez azt a folyamatotjelzi, hogy kialakult Indiában egy olyan közösség, amelyhangot követel a nőknek, és elutasítja a társadalmilagalárendelt pozíciójukat.

Az indiai filmek minden korszakának megvoltak a sajátnőtípusai, de azok általában a hagyományos patriarchálisértékrend mentén lettek kialakítva, hogy kiszolgálják férfiközönség ízlését és vágyait. A női karakterek kezelése jól jelzia társadalom berendezkedését és elvárásait a nőtagjai felé. Anarrációban aktívan részt vevő nők csak az ezredfordulóvaljelentek meg az indiai filmes palettán, és arányait tekintve amai napig kisebbségben vannak. A változó igényeket mutat-ja, hogy míg a nyolcvanas-kilencvenes években leginkábbcsak a művészfilmekben jelent meg az önmaga sorsát irányítónőtípus, addig a kétezres évek után a fősodorbeli, populárismoziban is nagy sikereket érnek el az ilyen karaktereketfelvonultató filmek. �

—Szerző: Dávid Krisztina, indológus


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Odisszi tánc, mint szertartásBy Túri Virág Réka

A történelem során sokfélemódon jelent meg, és társadalmilagnem mindig előkelő pozícióban volt atáncos megítélése, mint ahogy ma

sem. Hogy miért? A tánc egy nyelv, atest nyelve, az érzelmek nyelve.Amikor az érzések a szív legmélyérőljönnek fel, akkor beszélünk táncról.

Ilyeneket és ehhez hasonlókat gondo-lunk a táncról. Természetesen a maembere a mai kor táncformáit idézifel, amelyek felszabadult szenvedélyről, vagy művészetről szól-nak inkább, mint Istennekközvetlenül szóló formákról.

A Bharata Purana a táncot úgy írjale mint a táncos tisztelgése aFöldanyának. Aki szívéből Istennektáncol, az könnyedén átszeli az okoza-ti óceánt és felszabadul.

India tradicionális táncai olyanérzelmekről szólnak, amelyek egy fel-sőbb világ felé irányulnak. A templomitáncos épp ezért tisztán tartottaérzékeit, hiszen a táncban bár kötöttsorozatokban, és szabályok szerintmégis az érzelmek meztelenül és spon-tán mutatkoznak meg. Tehát nem ele-gendő csupán a tánc technikájáttökéletesítenünk, a testhajlékonyságán, erején és ügyességéndolgoznunk, hiszen a gondolataink,érzelmeink éppúgy látszódnak, minttestünk és mozdulataink. Ezek afizikai tényezők, és természetesenrendkívül fontosak, ez az egyik elsőlépcsőfok, az esztétikus táncos testkialakítása. Aki a táncművészet nemesgyakorlatát szeretné művelni, annakkülső és belső erényekkel is kell ren-delkeznie Dr. Bidut KumariChaudhury szerint. Ezek akövetkezők: önátadás, türelem,határozottság, napi gyakorlás, önu-ralom, szabályozott evés, alvás,pihenés, fehérje gazdag étkezés,egészséges test, egyszerűség, feladniazt, hogy ebből pénzt akarjon keresni,elhagyni a tudatot módosító szerekhasználatával, luxus nélkül élni, béke aszívben, kecsesség, kemény munka,nagylelkűség, kegyelem, kedvesség,vonzerő, feladni az egot.

A tánc az itt és mostban létezik,lefoglalja a hallásunkat, a látásunkat,


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és betölti a szívünket és lelkünket. Atáncos teste egy hangszer, ahol a tán-cos a technikai tudását adja, a ritmusraés gesztusokra figyelve Istennek enge-di át az irányítást. A táncos egy médi-um, egy közvetítő a világok között.

A legősibb tánckönyvA Nátjasásztra keletkezése kétez-

er évvel ezelőttre tehető, Krisztuselőtt 200 és Krisztus után 200 közé. Ale-genda szerint, amikor aranykorbólaz ezüstkorba léptünk, az emberekelkezdtek az érzéki örömökhöz job-ban vonzódni. Indra, a félistenekvezetőjeként felkereste Brahmát, ateremtőt azzal a kéréssel, hogyszeretnék megállítani a romlást aFöldön, hallhatóvá és láthatóvászeretnének válni. Mivel a már létezőVédákat a súdrák nem hallgatják, ígyarra kérték, hogy hozzon létre egyötödik könyvet, ami az előző négyVéda esszenciáját tartalmazza.Brahmá meditációba mélyedt, ésmegalkotta a Nátjavédát és az iti-hásákat, a Mahábháratat ésRámajánát. Brahmá elmondta, hogyezek az írások útmutatások azemberek számára, megtalálható ben-nük minden szentírás, mindenművészet lényege. A Nátjavéda a négyVédából tevődik össze, a recitálás aRig-védából, a dallamok a Száma-

védából, az történetek a Jadzsur-védából, az érzelmek az Atharva-védából. Brahmá Indrának: „Atörténeteket én írtam meg, és nekedaz istenekkel el kell játszanod.” Indraválasza: „Az Istenek nem képeseksem átvenni, sem megérteni, semhasználni ezeket. A szentek, akikmegtartják a fogadalmakat, ismerik aVédák misztériumait, képesek aNátjavédát megérteni és gyakorlatbaültetni.” Brahmá ekkor úgy döntött,hogy Bharatának, a bölcsnek adja aNátjavédát, és arra kérte a bölcset,hogy száz fiával együtt ültessék át agyakorlatba. Bharata nyomban el iskezdte a munkát, a tánc és drámatudományának terjesztését. Ilymódon a Nátjasásztra nem istankönyvnek, hanem szent könyvnektekinthető, amelynek tartalma öröktőlfogva létezett. Tudósok szerint azegyes slókákat, verseket szájról szájraadták tovább az írott műkeletkezéséig.

A tánc felajánlás eredetileg a tem-plomi szertartás része volt

Az Odisszi indiai tánc fejlődéséta Puri-beli Dzsagannáth templomhoz köthetjük leginkább.Dzsagannáthot elsősorbanKrisnaként, de vannak, akikBuddhaként, Sivaként tisztelik. A 12.

századtól Dzsagannáthot a vaisnavák(visnuiták) Istenükként imádják,húga Szubhadrá, és bátyja Baladévatársaságában. Az odisszi aDzsagannáth templom épülésétőlmegjelent a templomi szertartásban.1435-ben Kapiléndra király leje-gyeztette a templom külső falára atáncfelajánlás pontos menetét. Eszerint naponta két előadássalörvendeztették meg az ÚrDzsagannáthot, melynek témájakizárólag a költő Dzsajadéva GítaGóvindája lehetett, mely magyarul ismegjelent Weöres Sándorfordításában.

A táncosnőket az odisszi maharik-nak, míg a legnépszerűbb dél-indiaiBharatanatyam táncban dévadászik-nak nevezték. Ők fiatal nők voltak,akik életüket a múrti (kegyszobor,melyben az Istenség megjelenik) szol-gálatának szentelték. Férfiakkal nemmaradhattak kettesben, nem házasod-tak meg. Táncfelajánlás előtti naponnem is beszéltek a másik nem tag-jaival. Érzelmeik tisztaságát ígyőrizték, kizárólag a Gíta Góvindamegjelenítésekor bontakoztatták ki.Ennek ellenére házas nőknek tekin-tették őket, ami Indiában igen áldásosdolognak számított és számít ma is.Úgy tartották, hogy a mahariknakuralmuk van az Úr Dzsagannáthfelett, aki függ az táncosai szol-gálatából származó örömtől. A tán-cosnők szívében lévő odaadás az Úrfelé a zene és a tánc apró részletekigkidolgozott finomságain keresztülnyilvánult meg.

A napi két táncfelajánlás délben éseste történt. A tánc mindig virágfela-jánlással kezdődött, amelyben valami-lyen istenségnek szóló imádság is meg-jelent, legtöbbször Dzsagannáthnak,vagy Sivának. Majd úgynevezett tisztatánc következett, lírai mozdulatokkalfolytatták, amely az odisszi ékessége,ezt Pallavinak hívják. A tánc tetőpont-ja az abhinaya, vagyis a „mesélős”tánc, ahol lehetőség nyílik az istenekrőlszóló történetek eltáncolására. Végül anégy égtáj felé imádkozva zárul.


HUNGARIAN SECTION

Eredetileg ez egy összefüggő tánclehetett, ami akár több órán át is tar-tott. Később tételekre bomlott szét.Színpad szertartásai ma

A 20. században nagy fordulatkövetkezett be az indiai klasszikus tán-cok életében, ami egybe esett az indiainemzeti identitás fellángolásával azakkori gyarmati angol uralom ellen.Korábban a kiválasztott leánygyer-mekeket felajánlották táncosnőnek azÚr szolgálatára. Ezt csak 1947-bentiltották be, az önállóság kivívása előt-ti években. Van egy olyan verzió is,hogy azért tiltották be, mivel burkoltprostitúciónak gondolták. ADzsagannáth templomban egyébkéntma is komoly imádat folyik. Kétezerszakács és templomi segítő, úgy-nevezett pudzsári végzi a napi szol-gálatok, felajánlások hosszú sorát,valamint a számtalan ünnepséglebonyolítását. A tánc természetesenma már kimarad a szertartásból.6

A táncok újraélesztésénekkiemelkedő alakja Rukminí Déví volt,

aki Anna Pavlova indiai turnéján, ahíres balerinával való találkozása utánkezdett saját népe tradícióinak felku-tatásába Madraszban, ahol saját iskolátalapított. Egy másik kiemelkedő isko-la, szintén az angol uralom idején jöttlétre Bengáliában. Ez a santiniketaniiskola, mely Rabindranáth Tagore,híres indiai költő munkájával jött létre.Elsőként négy táncot különböztettekmeg, ezek: a Bharatanátjam, Kathakali,Kathak és a Manipuri. Későbbötödikként hozzátették az Odisszit,majd a Móhiní Áttam és a Kucsipudikövetkezett.

Az odisszinél maradva a tánc makialakult formája szerint öt tételből áll,ezeket a 20. század közepén fektettékle. Az első tétel a Mangalacharan,vagyis virágfelajánlás, amely egy imád-ságot is tartalmaz. Majd egy tiszta tánc-tétel következik, amely a táncos rit-mikai, technikai tudását hivatott bemu-tatni, ez a batu. A harmadik tétel egylírai tiszta tánc, az Odisszi ékessége apallavi. A negyedik az abhinaya, ez a

„mesélős” blokk, időben a leghossz-abb. Az utolsó tétel a moksa, a négyégtáj felé való táncolás, egyfajta ima ezis.

Az odisszi témája a színpadontovábbra is lírai, de nem korlátozódikkizárólag a Gíta Govindára. A mester-ről tanítványra való átadás, és ennekrituáléi még jelen vannak a táncban.

A színpadi táncra valófelkészüléskor a tradicionális smink éskosztümfelvétel megmaradt. Az ék-szerek a táncos egész testét díszítik,mely tánconként más és más, készül-het aranyból vagy az odisszi esetébenezüstből. Legfőbb ékességük a boka-csengőjük. Kezüket és lábfejüketvörös festékkel színezik, ami a nézőszemét a mozdulatokra tereli. Arcukerősen festett, a szemek és aszemöldök feketével kiemelt.

Az előadás előtt a táncosnő meg-keresi mesterét és hódolatát fejezi ki,amennyiben nincs jelen, akkor csakelmében, vagy egy kép előtt. A szín-padra lépés előtt közvetlenül, mégmielőtt a táncos lába érintené a szín-pad padlóját, elsőként az ujjbegyekkelérinti, majd ezt a homlokához közelíti,elméje meghódolását, és tiszteletétkifejezve ezzel, megnyitva egy sza-krális teret és időt az előadás helyéreés idejére.

Vajon különbség van-e a mai szín-padi odisszi tánc, és az egykori oltárelőtti szertartás között. Igen,bizonyára különbség van, bár mi ittvagyunk és nem tudhatjuk mi voltrégen, ám ma is vannak, akik azt vár-ják, hogy mikor lehet ismét Jagannathelé járulni, hogy méltó helyérekerüljön az odisszi. Évről évre fel-röppen a hír, hogy most már talánlehetséges lesz hamarosan a tem-plomban táncolni. Azt gondolom,hogy régen is voltak, és ma is vannak,akik szívükben Istennek táncolnak.Ehhez még talán a forma sem kell,csak a tiszta szív. �

—Túri Virág Réka, Odisszi táncos, moderntánc tanár MTF

Lingaraja Temple, Bhubaneswar


HINDI SECTION

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HINDI SECTION

CHILDREN CORNER

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Élt egyszer egy tóban egy teknőc.Odajárt a tóhoz inni két hattyú.Lassacskán a teknőc és a két hattyúmegismerkedtek, és mély barátságalakult ki köztük. Nem telt el nap, hogyne találkoztak volna. Míg nem voltalkalmuk közösen megbeszélni azaznapi dolgokat, nem volt nyugtuk.

Nagy szerencsétlenségükre egyszer

úgy telt el egy év, hogy egy csepp esőnem sok, annyi sem esett. Mind a hár-mójukon úrrá lett az aggódás. Valamimegoldáson kezdtek töprengeni.Merthogy a tó bizony ki fog száradni.Találni kellene egy másik tavat.

A teknőc nagyon elgondolkozott, ésszomorú hangon szólt a két hattyúhoz:

- Barátaim, ti könnyen találtok

másik tavat, ahol szomjatokat olthatjá-tok. De nekem megpecsételődött a sor-som. Ha nem lesz víz, ahol úszkálha-tok, gyorsan el fogok pusztulni.

Erre a két hattyú azt válaszolta:

- Teknőc barátunk, ne aggódj!Keresünk egy tavat, és visszajövünk érted.Valahogy csak elviszünk téged is a tóig!

a repülő teknőc(A Pancsatantra egy meséjének népmesei változata)


CHILDREN CORNER

The Question of IdentityEach and every moment

The Distracted Mind

Goes on and on

With the same question!

Who am I, from where have I come?

What, after all

Is the nature of my Identity?

It matters not where we are

We still keep asking, why?

How do we exist?

What is the purpose

of this existence?

Sometimes like the

waves of the sea

In this mind stir

frustratingly difficult questions

Causing great concerns:

What is your identity?

And is it really important

to know everything,

but again why?

What makes this

question important?

When does at all

the mind stops

Rather it eagerly inquires:

What is our culture,

What is civilization?

What is our religion?

The mind knows

and understands

that it really is important

to find the answers.

Because then only we shall be clear

about the direction and

the condition of life.

The real dilemma:

What road shall we take

To get all the answers?

Shall we try to understand “native”?

and get connected to our

roots our “homeland”.

Can we broach this question

By wandering in our own

Place of Birth or

Find out roots

From the birthplace

of our ancestors.

But, why at all do

we need to look on Earth

And do we expect this

wandering

to come to an end with death?

From the depth of

our consciousness

Which is different from

Body consciousness that goes on

When the body ceases to be:

It is quite different from

what humans are

In comparison to Manwantara

that confirms our mortality

As far as body consciousness

is concerned

But by peeping

Into the innermost Self Within?

Asman? Aakaash?

The light of light:

Straight to the Isha Upanishad

Another beautiful world

With these eyes

looking upwards

While Brahma is

seated on Prakasha

The mantle of

consciousness within

And who asks the

interviewer, the Self

How will we know?

Or assume to know?

By that Irrevocable trust

Endowed in the Self

In the knowledge that we are all

Children of the same Father

And that –

This is it

Our only identity!

—Translation by Balkrishna

Naipaul, From the original

poem in Hindi,

Prashn Asmita Ka

(iz'u vfLerk dk)

by Sunita Pahuja

Published in Yatra

(July – August 2012)

E szavakat hallva a teknőc kicsitmegnyugodott, és búcsút vett a két hat-tyútól.

Másnap a hattyúk egész nap csakrepültek, keresték a tavat. Messze jár-tak, mikor hirtelen megpillantottak egyhatalmas víztükröt. Leszálltak,szomjukat oltották, és vidáman úszkál-tak a vízen. Az egész napos repülésfáradalmai egy pillanat alatt eltűntek.Nagy boldogan, kiáltozva, énekelveszálltak visszafelé.

Aztán eszükbe jutott a teknőc:hogyan is segíthetnének neki idáigeljutni? Messze van biz' ez a tó. Erre jólelszomorodtak. Aztán elgondolkoztak,és kisütötték a megoldást.

Másnap reggel elmentek ateknőchöz, és elmesélték neki az újtavat. Mondják a teknőcnek:

- Már tudjuk is, hogy hogyanfogunk téged odaszállítani.

- Odaszállítani? Hogyan? - kérdeztea teknőc.

- Fogunk egy botot. Én megtartom a

csőrömben az egyik végét, ő a másikat.A közepét neked kell erősen elkapnod aszájaddal. Rá kell harapnod, de nefeledd: út közben nem szabad kinyitnoda szádat, nem szabad beszélned, mertlepottyansz! - magyarázták a hattyúk.

Erre mosolyogva válaszolta ateknőc:

- Barátaim, bolondnak néztek?Gondoljátok, hogy repülés közbenelengedem a botot?

Ezt hallva megnyugodtak a hattyúk.Körülnéztek, és hoztak egy erősneklátszó botot. A közepére ráharapott ateknőc. Az egyik végét az egyik hattyúvette a csőrébe, a másikat a másik, ésfelrepültek az égbe.

Csak repültek és repültek, míg egyfalu fölé nem értek. Látják azemberek a repülő teknőcöt, és nagy-on elcsodálkoznak. Látja a teknőc,hogy mindenki őt nézi. Nagyon tet-szett ez a teknőcnek. Elöntötte abüszkeség. Nagy büszkeségébenelfelejtette a hattyúk intelmét, ésmegszólalt:

- Látjátok, barátaim, mindenkiengem néz!

De be sem fejezhette, és márzuhant is lefelé. A két hattyú nagyonelszomorodott. Látták, hogy nincs mittenni. Keserves sírások közepetteérkeztek meg a tóhoz.

A teknőcnek viszont szerencséjevolt. A hátára, a páncéljára esett, és egykarcolás sem esett rajta. A falusiak alábára állították, és elvitték ugyanahhoza tóhoz, ahol barátai keseregtek aszerencsétlenségén.

Nagyon megörültek egymásnak ateknőc és a két hattyú. A teknőcmegígérte, hogy ezentúl mindig hallgatbarátai tanácsára. Máig is nagy barát-ságban élnek, ha meg nem haltak. �

Ambassador with President Milorad Dodik of Republika Srpska (BiH) Gandhi Conference at the University of Pecs – 30 January

Ambassador with Rector of Pecs University Prof Dr Jozsef Bodis

at the Mahatma Gandhi Exhibition

Ambassador with Mayor of Mohacs Mr Jozsef Szeko. In the background the

tapestry depicting the famous battle of Hungarian with the Ottoman Turks in 1526

Ambassador delivering his talk at Central European University Ambassador outside the Buso Museum, Mohacs

Director Umesh Kumar with Ambassador and ladies of the

Mission at the Cultural Centre

Sitar concert by the local group Sitaram at the

Gandhi exhibition opening in Pecs

PHOTO gALLERY

INDIA GATE

India Gate is a national monument situated in the heart of the national capital of NewDelhi. The monument, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, commemorates the valour of70,000 Indian soldiers who had lost their lives fighting for the British Army during theWorld War I. It bears the names of more than 13,516 Indian and British soldiers killed inNorth-Western Frontier in the Afghan War of 1919.

India Gate is 42-metres tall. The entire arch stands on a low base of red Bharatpurstone and rises in stages to a huge moulding. Following India’s independence, India Gatebecame the site of the Indian Armed Force’s Tomb of Unknown Soldier, known as AmarJawan Jyoti (the flame of the immortal soldier). The eternal flame burns throughoutday and night under the arch to remind the nation of its soldiers who laid down theirlives in the Indo-Pakistan War of December 1971.

Published by

The Embassy of India, Hungary1025 Budapest Búzavirág utca 14, Hungary

Telephone Numbers: (36-1) 325-7742, (36-1) 325-7743Fax Number: (36-1) 325-7745

Website: www.indianembassy.hu

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