Banihal
The gate way to Kashmir
Dr P K Kaul
Banihal had remained gate way to the
valley of Kashmir. Located at the foot of Pir
Pantsal ranges, it finds
mention in many ancient and medevial writings.
Rajtrangini (C-1000-1011 AD) mentions this place,
a very harrow mountain valley, as Visalta. This
region in King Uccalas of Kashmiris time was an
escape route from Kashmir for unwanted or
disgruntled elements of the Valley. In Jaysimha
or Kashmir’s time (1128-49) a small fort is
stated to have existed just below the old Banihal
Pass, called by the name of Bansalla literally
meaning, a jungle or grove of trees. This castle
belonged to Khasa Lord Bhagika Ruler of the old
principality of Vishalta, the present Banihal
region. He was the son in Law of Tikka, the Lord
of Buddhal. Abu Fazal has derived the appeletion
of Banihal from Bansala. He also makes a mention
of a temple at Banihal, dedicated to the Goddess
Durga, where in enquiries, pertaining to coming
strife, if any, are made in a curious fashion
(probably in an oracle way of ancient Greeks or
as practised in Naga shrines of Jammu in the
recent past). This is also indicative that
Abu-Fazal, King Akbars’ official historian
may have passed through this route on his way to
or back from Valley of Kashmir.
Pandit Sahib Ram, who in his book
‘‘Tirthas’’ copies
Abu-Fazal’s notes, metamorphosis the
Sanskrit name of village Banihal from Bhanusita
or Bhanusata i.e rocks of the Sun or land of the
Sun... . .....more
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Bollywood
politicians
Zeenat Zafar
 Two former film
heroes from the South, M.G. Ramachandran
and N.T. Rama Rao ended up as Chief
Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Andhra
Pradesh respectively. The memory of one
of them, MGR, is still invoked to seek
votes. Dozens of film stars, particularly
from the Hindi screen, have been
nominated or elected to Parliament. Film
personalities like Nargis, Sunil Dutt,
Shabana Azmi, Raj Babbar and Shatrugan
Sinha have played active roles both
within and outside Parliament. Politics
continues to attract Film stars take part
in election campaign for different
parties and candidates.
Films and politics have remained two of
the most exciting and rewarding
activities on the Indian scene. Politics
has offered new opportunities for fading
film stars to play heroes and heroines,
this time in real life. Vinod Khanna was
not very active in films when the BJP
offered him the Lok Sabha seat from
Gurdaspur and gaining from a BJP wave, he
won. For a long time, Raj Babbar was a
"Trishanku" in Bollywood,
swinging between hero and villain's roles
and the call from Mulayam Singh Yadav to
join the Samajwadi Party must have come
as a welcome relief.
When film stars join politics out of
strong commitment or a genuine desire to
do public good, their credibility is
intact. Sunil Dutt who had a clean record
in public life entered politics to help
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, a family
friend who had nominated his wife Nargis
to the Rajya Sabha. Dutt, along with
Nargis, had entertained jawans at border
posts and helped her in starting the
Spastics Society of India. After Nargis
died, .....
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HOW CELEBRITIES
COPED WITH MIGRAINE
A C Tulli
Migraine headaches stem from various
reasons. They afflict millions of people all over
the world. In the USA alone, there are more than
30 million people who take regular treatment for
migraine. Migraine headache is often described as
a throbbing or pulsating one-sided (unilateral)
pain that is intensified by routine physical
activity, such as coughing, straining, or
lowering of the head. The attack of migraine is
often debilitating, and the sufferers are left
feeling tired and weak once the headache has
passed.
Interestingly, some great men and women of
world-wide fame suffered from migraine for years
and yet, undeterred by this affliction, they
bravely carried on in their respective
professions. For instance, as many as three
American Presidents-Thomas Jefferson, Ulysses S.
Grant and Woodrow Wilson - were chronic patients
of migraine.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), 3rd President of
America, used to have severe migraine attacks,
which he said sometimes lasted for more than six
weeks. Jefferson described his attacks like this:
"They came on every day at sunrise and never
left till sunset." Jefferson's migraine was
diagnosed to have resulted from his inner
conflict and repressed anger. These attacks
occurred through most of his life. But these
ceased after he left the presidency. Unlike most
migraine victims, Jefferson forced himself to
work despite the pain. Alfred Nobel (1833-1896),
renowned inventor and founder of the Nobel
Prizes, suffered from acute pain in the head
periodically. When an attack of migraine had him
down, he would still be carrying on his . ......more
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Saffron An exotic
spice
Dr. Bharat Bhushan
and Dr. Parshant Bakshi
Purple-flowered saffron is a
wonderful plant to which nature has given a
fascinating fragrance, pleasant flavor, a
beautiful color, and a host of other qualities.
Believed to have been originally native to the
Mediterranean area, Asia Minor, and Iran, the
saffron crocus has long been cultivated in Iran
and was taken from this country to a number of
other parts of the world as a result of trade
after its high quality and distinctive properties
were understood over centuries of its
application. Iran is most productive and together
with Spain produces more than 80% of the world's
production. In India, it is cultivated in Jammu
& Kashmir and in Himachal Pradesh. Saffron is
more important in Central Asia and Northern India
and is used extensively for rice dishes. Even the
North Indian biryanis are relished due to the
fragrant and aromatic flavor added by the
saffron. Indian sweets like, kheer, ras malai,
Indian yogurt drink (lassi), butter lassi
(makhaniya lassi) have an everlasting culinary
impression due to the saffron added to it. The
use of saffron in sweet dishes is famous in the
desert regions of Jodhpur in Rajasthan in the
Indian sub continent. Saffron is unique among
spices due to its aroma. It has always held a
very special place for its extraordinary
medicinal and flavoring properties as well as for
being a striking yellow dye. Indian saffron is
cultivated on a large scale in the Jammu &
Kashmir valley whose cool dry climate and rich
soil with excellent drainage and organic content
make the location an ideal thriving ground for
this spice. . ........more
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Sir Arthur C
Clarke The Visionary
G V Joshi
 Whenever you watch
news transmitted by Doordarshan
Delhi, from wherever you are in
India through direct to home
service (DTH) or any other cable
company, or your son/daughter
calls you from the USA or the UK,
you should thank Sir. Arthur
C.Clarke, the visionary who as
early as 1945, thought of putting
everybody in instant touch
through satellites.
Clarke passed away at the ripe
old age of 90 in Colombo, Sri
Lanka on March, 18,2008.
When neither the transistors were
invented, or solar cells that
produce electricity to power them
were perfected, or rockets that
could launch a satellite in space
were ready, Clarke thought that a
set of three satellites placed
120 degrees apart in a
geostationary orbit (also called
as geosynchronous orbit) at about
36,000 km (precisely 35,786 km)
above the Earth's surface would
be ideal for creating a global
communications network allowing
radio waves to be bounced off
around the globe.
Clarke's ideas were built on
earlier work on geostationary
orbits by Herman Potocnik and
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. His
conceptual leap was outlined in a
1945 article in 'Wireless World'
magazine.
In a geostationary orbit, the
satellite follows a circular path
around the Earth's equator, at an
altitude of 35, 786 km. At this
height the satellite's period of
revolution around the Earth is
the same as the Earth's period of
rotation, so that the satellite
appears to be stationary to an
observer on Earth.Arthur Clarke
was born on Dec. 16, 1917, in his
grandmother's house in the
southwest English coastal town of
Minehead.. ......more
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Redefining shared
spaces
Shweta Patwardhan
The government plans to make more
stringent the Domestic Violence Act as over the
years it has been found that there are many
loopholes in it. For instance, Rekha (name
changed) had been married for 20-years and had a
16-year-old daughter when she was informed by one
of her husband's colleagues about his affair with
another woman. Her husband had been physically
abusive throughout her marriage. Rekha had run
the home with money she earned from private
tuitions. When she confronted her husband he
became violent. She and her daughter were thrown
out of the house. Rekha gave a complaint before
the nearest All Women's Police Station and with
their help took out one suitcase of clothes and
left the house. She was neither able to enter the
matrimonial home again nor did she ever get
anything else that belonged to her from the
house. She filed a petition for divorce and
maintenance which are still pending, while her
husband lives in the matrimonial home with his
paramour. Rekha's case is not an isolated one; it
can be multiplied many times over. The perceived
safe space of home is the most violent one for
women like her.
In 1999 the Women's Movement in India,
spearheaded by the Lawyers Collective, Delhi,
began lobbying for a law to prevent domestic
violence. Drawing from the experiences of women
who had been subjected to abuse, a law was
drafted to address all dimensions of domestic
violence.
There were three important factors that this law
had to address to prevent violence within the
home. It had to recognise that the place of
residence, called the "shared
household" is the site of abuse and unequal
power relations. As neither society nor family
provide a safety net and shelter for women in
such situations, the woman should have the right
to reside in the shared household. This concept
of a shared household would then include
daughters, widows, .........more
SAY IT WITH TATTOO
 A needle can do wonders to
your skin and life. Sreya Basu finds out how
tattoos are no longer just a fashion statement
but a stylish means of self-expression
Remember Shefali Jariwala in the "Kanta
laga" remix- wooing her boyfriend with the
"I Luv You " tattoo on her arm? That
was on silver screen and way back in 2003. This
year tattoos have pierced into the Indian
lifestyle in a new avtaar- they are being
considered by Gen X as the "coolest"
way to express and emote.
Sms-es and emails are there, but when it comes to
communicate in special situations with novelty,
tattoos are taking the cat away. Proposing to
your beloved, celebrating a long-cherished
success, a family reunion after ages, a dream
house or even making your loved ones feel special
are being communicated with ink and needle on
your skin; as it is human instinct always seeks
permanency.
There are umpteenth examples from Bollywood
–Saif Ali flaunting his love for Bebo with a
"Kareena" tattoo, and Esha Deol
expressing her "spirituality" with the
Gayatri Mantra and auspicious "Om"
tattoos among others. But following the screen
sizzlers blindly- Nah! Today's youths are smarter
than that.
Kolkata-based tattoo artist Raja Pyne said:"
Till last year youths used to go for traditional
or trendy designs or abstract art. But this year
the craze has heavily oscillated to expressionist
tattoos. Recently a 23-year boy got himself inked
his family tree to celebrate a family ......more
Different
ways of remembering God
Lt Col R K Langar
 God
worship is common in all religions though
the modes of worship may differ. First
and foremost prayers which form an
integral part of religion. It is the
quintessence of every religion. Prayers
establish communication between human
beings and God. While praying one may ask
God for one’s own personal benefit
or ask something for the good of one and
all. Take for example vedic prayers which
are addressed to God for the good of
entire humanity and not for any
particular sect. Sarva Santu Niramya- May
every one be free from disease. A short
selfless prayer runs like this.
‘‘May I be friendly towards all
and delight in seeing the meritorious.
May I be compassionate towards the
sufferers.’’
Prayers to be effective must be done with
the unshakable belief that God is our
only refuge. At the same time one must
believe in the possibility of what one is
praying for. Repeating prayer with
deepening attention spiritualize prayers.
Prayers to be effective must have
persistence and depth of earnestness. Sri
Ramakrishna says that sincere and humble
prayers are listened by God. They pierce
cloud and donot depart till God hears
them. Prayers fill up emptiness, bring
security and sense of spiritual well
being. They prevent us from doing for
bidden acts. One should not pray as a
beggar but with utmost love for God. Most
important thing to remember is that when
you pray to God a new cause is introduced
which would produce a corresponding
effect. Prayers make us disciplined,
guide as to upright way of life, provide
patience, courage, hope and confidence.
Prayers develop gratitude in us and make
us ready to return kindness ... .
...more
Effective
communication
Dr. Arun Sharma
Dr. Manoj Bhat
Very often we get news of
doctors being manhandled by a mob or
furious relatives. Recently, there was
news of a resident doctor in a peripheral
hospital in Mumbai suffering the wrath of
an angry mob. The furious mob went on a
rampage smashing glasses, damaging
property in the casualty ward and
injuring the doctor on duty. This mob
fury followed the death of a patient who
was probably brought to the hospital in a
critical condition, with very little
chances of salvage.
After all, no doctor would possibly
neglect any patient, let alone a dying
one. It is equally true that doctors
cannot save every single case admitted
under their care. Like in other spheres
of life, medical practice has its own
limitations. It is unfortunate that these
limitations are not fully appreciated by
lay men, who have come to expect miracles
of doctors at all time.
The question is 'How can this growing
menace be stopped or at least curbed?' No
amount of legislation and police
enforcement can replace sound
communication. What does "sound
communication" really mean? It only
means that the doctors need to be calm
and patient; should listen to the
relatives most intently and, above all,
should display compassion and sincerity
that must be explicit. The relatives
should be told of the patient's condition
on admission and from time to time in
clear words, without the use of medical
jargon.
Very often, misgivings occur because the
relatives are forbidden from entering
into ICUs. Such prohibition adds to their
anguish and possibly breeds doubt in
their minds. It would, therefore, be
worthwhile to insist that relatives enter
the ICU at a stipulated time and see for
themselves the condition of the patient
and care that is being given. ........more
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