Save Bharat | Growing intolerance in India

When a few Indians hear the following phrases;

Growing intolerance,  

Modi has failed India, 

RSS is emboldened with extremism

Hindutva...

They go ballistic and busy themselves with hating, cursing and throwing insults, at Muslims and moderate majority of Hindus with common sense.

 I know for sure they are not getting this from Hinduism, but they may be getting it from the RSS ideology of Hindutva, which has nothing to do with Hinduism just as the Islamists have nothing to do with Islam; Neocons to Christianity or Violent Zionism to Judaism.

As Indians of all faiths, traditions and political affiliations, we need to come together and discourage what is divisive and encourage what is inclusive.

The attacks on Aamir Khan, Girish Karnad and other intellectuals show the growing intolerance among a few fellow Indians.  What hurts us is the Indian Americans, a few of whom are more intolerant than the ones in India. I read comments that make me puke at some of them, they have lived in America for a long time, and yet they have not grown up to accept the inclusivism of America. What did they learn here?  Hamare Bhai waisay ke waisay he Rahe!

These very men criticized the UPA government to the hilt, and now they cannot tolerate criticism of Modi’s government, does not amount to criticizing India. It's pathetic that they equate India with Modi, it does not enter their minds that Modi's come and go, but India remains an eternal society. 

We cannot let a few among us tear apart our motherland and hurt her togetherness.  We cannot become a divisive crazy nation like some of the nations we don't appreciate.

I seek your help in writing a white paper, and compile all the intolerant statements made by our leaders and public leaders, as well as the Indian Americans.  

Pull the statements made by Girish Karnad, Amir Khan, Arundhati Roy, and the intellectuals across the spectrum. 

Let this be a document for us to refer to,  and our next generation to see what we have done in preventing destruction of our motherland. We owe it to our motherland to protect her pluralistic ethos.

Please send the links with precise comments and quotes to : MikeGhouseforIndia@gmail.com  

Thank you,

Mike Ghouse, 

(214) 325-1916

Dallas, TX | Washington, DC 

http://MikeGhouseforIndia.blogspot.com

Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, newsmaker and a professional speaker on Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam,  politics, human rights, and foreign policy.  Mike is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. More about him in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at TheGhousediary.com 

India: Prime Minister Modi letting India down

If Prime Minister Modi does not speak up on the issue and stop the extremists of his party members to run over him, he will make India, a Langda India; that is a limping India.

A solid India stands on two firm legs; 1) Prosperity and 2) Social Cohesion.

Prosperity is creating jobs, raising income levels, pulling the ones in ditches onto a level playing field to build a larger Middle class and create an expanded consumer base, whose consumption will create jobs and the economy will multiply and the standards of living will go up. The more people do well, the better the nation does.  Modi is talking big about it and we can give him two years to produce results.

Social Cohesion on the other hand is like human body cohesion - heart, brain, kidneys, liver, vision, nose, tongue, touch, hearing, and the flow of blood, breathing and all parts of the body need to function cohesively to be normal. One failure can cause the whole thing to fail or make the body ineffective. If you think the discharge part of the body is less important, wait till it stops, it will cause the whole or part of the body to malfunction.  Like wise, all people have to function well, and it is in the interest of the body that it makes up the deficiencies, so we as humans, as Indians have to meet those deficiencies in fellow Indians.

Those of you who are blinded by the love for Mr. Modi, I appeal to you to look for greater love for the nation. Modis will come and go, but the Nation will continue. I am challenging your patriotism, none of us want India to go down, so let our loyalty be to India and not Modi, until he proves that he can keep these two functions in shape, I will hold my praise for him, will you?

I don't want my India to be a Langda India, neither do you? If we all wake up and criticize Mr. Modi, guess what will happen? He will be compelled to do the right thing. Don't you want that? 

Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached. Swami Vivekananda must have meant this for us in 2015 and 2016.

NOTE: Those of you who have an interest in Indian affairs, please visit my blog for articles and my notes on India 

http://MikeGhouseforIndia.Blogspot.com

Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer and a speaker on Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam, politics, human rights, foreign policy and building cohesive societies. Mike offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. More about him in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at TheGhousediary.com  

Festivals of the World: Happy Paryushan - a Jain Festival. Michami Dukkadam friends

Paryushan - Festivals of the World | TheGhouseDiary.com
http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2015/09/festivals-of-world-happy-paryushan-jain.html

"Festivals of the World" is an educational series by Mike Ghouse since 1993. When we live in the same communities as neighbors, we might as well learn about each other. The best way to build cohesive societies is for its members to participate in festivities as well as commemorations of each other, or, at least understand each other's' joys and sorrows. Please note the simplicity in writing is designed for people of other faiths to learn and to know, so we can function cohesively. 

Paryushan - a Jain festival of forgiveness

For the Jains, followers of Jainism, a world religion, this is the month of reflection.  Some observe fasting for 9 days and some for 7 days. It is a time to review the past twelve months and acknowledge the good, bad and the ugly aspects of life, and begin it again with a clean the slate.

At the end of the 9 days, they celebrate on the 10^th day and call is Dus Laxan,  every Jain greets the other with “Jai Jinendra” followed by a  powerful phrase “Michami Dukadam,” - let you and I clean our slates and start the new year afresh - Happy Paryushan!

Note to my Jewish friends; the swastika symbol symbolizes four directions and four seasons of life, life is constant movement.  This symbol has been in use for over 2500 years by Jains, whereas Hitler stole it and used it denote his evil empire.

Pariyushan is an annual festival that Jains celebrate all around the Globe, it is either seven or nine days celebration depending on the sect; Swetambra or Digambra, they observe fasting for seven days or 9 days and conclude it on Dus laxan, 10 blessings on the tenth day.  Throughout the time they observe complete fasting and abstain from ill-will, ill-thoughts and ill-actions, just as Muslims do for a month in Ramadan and Hindus do during Navaratri. It is a beautiful way of refreshing our souls on an annual basis.

There is a beauty and joy in forgiving and be forgiven. It brings Moksha, Mukti, Nirvana, Nijaat, salvation and true freedom to every soul. Indeed, the idea of forgiveness is central to every religion; that was Jesus's focus, the dearest person to God is one who forgives, says Mohammad the prophet and Sri Krishna reiterates that throughout in Bhagvad Gita. If all the psychologists in the world were asked, what will bring the most freedom to the mankind, they may be tempted to say "Michami Dukadam".

The Jains have been practicing this tradition for thousands of years and I join them in the Jain tradition of humility and forgiveness I say Michami Dukadam. I am pleased to share the perfect message from Dr. Vastupal Parikh.

In the Jain tradition of humility and forgiveness; SAVVE JIVA KHAMANTU MEMETTI ME SAVVE BHUYESU,VERAM MAJAHAM NA KENAI"

"I forgive (without any reservation) all living beings (who may have caused me any pain and suffering either in this or previous lives), and I beg for the forgiveness from all living beings (no matter how small or big) to whom I may have, knowingly or unknowingly, caused pain and suffering (in thoughts, speech or action, in this or previous lives, or if I have asked, or encouraged someone else, to carry out such activities). (Let all creatures know that) I have friendship with everybody and have no revenge (animosity or enmity) toward anybody."

Michami Dukadam: Indeed, that phrase resonates with me. I had talked about the meaning of Michami Dukadam in several congregations.

In July 2013 when I had a heart attack, after recover I wrote this.
http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/11/michami-dukadam-starting-life-over-with.html


Here is an article about Ramadan - which has a similar essence. http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2009/08/ramadans_spiritual_discipline.html


***** Jainism is a full fledged religion like Hinduism and Buddhism and none is an offshoot of the other as it is often mis-understood. Jainism is contemporary of Buddhism. Both the faiths are life centered where one's deeds (Karma) determine his or her spiritual, physical and mental well being. Although Mahavir is referred to as God in common parlance, in the system, he is the 24th Tirthankara (the enlightened one - an equivalent of a messenger or a prophet in the Abrahimic traditions) who wrapped up the entire philosophy of the 23 earlier Tirthankaras.   In Dallas, oops, it is in Fort Worth, we had an exhibition of the artifacts from that period at Kimball Art Museum several years ago, it was a fascinating experience.

Mahatma Gandhi's non-violence approach emanates from Jainism and the idea of validity of multiple paths of the foundation for pluralism ( www.foundationforPluralism.com) has its origin in the idea of Anekant Vaad from Jainism. We have a Jain Temple in Richardson, a suburb of Dallas, and if you want to enjoy the best vegetarian food, go to the temple on Sunday Mornings! I will have to figure out one in Washington D.C.,

Mike is a speaker, thinker, writer, pluralist, TV-Radio commentator and a human rights activist committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. His info in 63 links at MikeGhouse.net and writings at TheGhouseDiary.com 

Aurangzeb the Mogul King, was he a tyrant?

Bhagvad Gita’s wisdom “Finding the truth is one’s own responsibility” turned my life around, when the awakening came, it was strengthened by what my Mother had said,” You alone are responsible for your actions (peace of mind), and for that, she said you’ve to question everything that is dished out to you. She dared, I am your mother and want the best for you, but when it is about the society you should find the truth on your own, including rejecting what I would say. She then concluded, truth sets you free from anger and ill-will. So her litmus test for truth is removal of hate, anger and prejudices in you. 

So, I am set out to find more about Aurangzeb, I read three different articles and the links are provided below. What I had read in the past was derogatory about Aurangzeb and I had concluded that he was a bigot, which I regret, as I am seeing a different picture of him now.  I want to understand the whole truth about Aurangzeb and remove my ill-will towards him if it were unjust.  I do not want to allow falsity make home in my heart. 

The first time, I have heard positive things about Aurangzeb were from Professor Shakil Samdani of Aligarh Muslim University.  He and I spoke at Asim Siddqui Memorial college in Badaun, and during our drive from Aligarh to Badaun, we had good conversation and was taken back to hear positive things about Aurangzeb, that he did not harass Hindus as was given to understand. 

Unless we question everything, we will be blinded by our hate and politics. Aurangzeb is perceived as a tyrant, even though to be fair to him, many Hindu's cite his land grants to the Temples, Gurdwaras, the multi-faith Members in his governance, earning a living by writing and selling copies of Quran, and not using the public funds for his own.  However, he was surrounded by his Chamchas who did not dare tell him when he was wrong. 

In June this year, I wrote a piece on pulling down the confederate flag as it represented a sad part of our (American) history, and a few days later it was pulled down. Now, the name of the street in New Delhi meets a similar fate, Aurangzeb Road is changed to Abdul Kalam Road. Wrongfully or rightfully Aurangzeb represented a symbol of cruelty to fellow Indians who are Hindus.

We the Indians have collectively bonded with hate for the tyrants from the past, we had many rulers who were tyrants, but somehow, a few kings are remembered with intense dislike, two of them were Aurangzeb and Ghazni. They have been symbols of friction between Hindus and Muslims and have been invoked in communal riots. Of course, you will find at least two Kings in every religion who were tyrants towards their subjects whether they were Hindus or Buddhists.

A few Muslims and Hindus may disagree with me, and that I welcome it as a part of learning to respect the otherness of others in a democratic set up. I believe Muslims are sick and tired of being blamed for the acts of Aurangzeb; they are blamed as if they committed the crimes!  Even if I were a grandson of Aurangzeb, should I be harassed for his acts? Should your parents be persecuted for your acts? Aurangzeb was for himself, like all other Kings be it Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist or other kings and he does not represent a Muslim in a democracy.

I hope this is a catalytic event to rename the road from Aurangzeb to Abdul Kalam does well for the Hindu and Muslim psyche. I pray that those few Hindus who carried the burden find Mukti from it, and Muslims have nothing to lose from it.  

However, not the moderate majority of Hindus, but the extreme right wing among them needs to question if what has been told to them makes sense. Is there a joy in destroying things that bear Muslim names for them? Does Hinduism teach this? What is next? Is the RSS hell bent on messing up with our history, do they represent the values of Hinduism? Is Hinduism Hijacked? I know the feeling, the moderate Muslims are still fighting the tiny puny group of extremists among us, now the Hindus have that fight on their hands. Do they believe in live and let live or live with hatred for Muslims. Hinduism does not teach anything they are practicing. 


It would be bad for India, if the extremists among Hindus want a pound of flesh, and want to turn our history upside down.   My friend Dr. Zafar Iqbal pointed out in a conversation that Aurangzeb would not give in to the British, so the British resorted to divide and rule and figured out a way to place a wedge between Hindus and Muslims by writing falsities about Aurangzeb. 

I know the pattern well. In my Radio show on the issue of Ayodhya way back in 2003, I quoted a letter of India’s Governor General from the India Gazette in 1853 – he wrote to the bloody King in England that the Muslims and Hindus have built a Ram Chabootra and have started getting along again, if these groups joined, that spells the end of British Raj! (http://mikeghouse.net/Aboutus/Dallas-Observer-on-MikeGhouse.htm )

  
However, together as Indian Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhist and others, we need to preserve our heritage and faithfully guard our history. We must remove the hate for each other and live like equals - that is the right dharma. 

Let this change of name bring relief to our Hindu friends and remove apprehension for Muslims, that they can live freely without being blamed for Aurangzeb and no more griping and no more flipping the world upside down. Let’s get it over and move forward. 

Articles worth reading:

1. Aurangzeb vs Kalam, full article at http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2015/09/aurangzeb-vs-kalam-indian-express.html

2. Was Aurangzeb really a bigot and tormentor of Hindus? A fair assessment by Hindu Scholars : http://caravandaily.com/portal/so-was-aurangzeb-really-a-bigot-and-tormentor-of-hindus-2/

3. Why we should oppose Aurangzebing of Aurangzebhttp://thewire.in/2015/08/30/why-we-should-oppose-the-aurangzebing-of-aurangzeb-9549/

4. Delhi was inspired by history and not bigotry

http://www.firstpost.com/india/renaming-aurangzeb-road-after-apj-abdul-kalam-new-delhi-was-inspired-by-history-not-bigotry-2416606.html

4. Erasing History
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/renaming-aurangzeb-road-after-apj-abdul-kalam/article7604307.ece

5.  RSS to push renaming the roads named after Mughals
http://m.thehindu.com/news/national/rss-to-push-for-renaming-roads-named-after-mughals/article7601138.ece

6.  Why Target Aurangzeb alone Mr. Kejriwal?
http://www.rediff.com/news/column/why-target-aurangzeb-alone-mr-kejriwal/20150901.htm

Mike Ghouse is a motivational speaker committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. His information is in 63 links a www.MikeGhouse.netand his exclusive writings are at TheGhousediary.com 

Mike Ghouse speech in Boston at AFMI's 25th Silver Jubilee Anniversary conference

My speech in Boston at AFMI’s 25^th Silver Jubilee Celebrations.

Its’ a two part speech, first was pluralistic greetings and the second was the motivational uplifting talk.  I appreciate Mr. Frank Islam for making this possible, thank you Frank.

Pluralism Greetings

How many of you agree that you see problems between husband and wife, parents and kids, families, friends, communities, societies and nations?

What is the single biggest reason for that?
We don’t know each other!

And whatever we learn about the others are myths, in case of communities, we paint all Muslims as one person as if all Muslims will do exactly the same…. all Hindus are behaving the same, or Jews should not be trusted… None of this is factual.   And this myth building is the singular cause for the problems and distrust we encounter every day.

What do we need to do about changing this?  Let’s take 2 minutes to do the first thing first – Greetings.

Have you been to a neighborhood, where you felt apprehensive walking there by yourselves, among those strangers!  Guess what, the other person feels the same way. Have you experienced saying a simple “Hi” will change the dynamics? Puts you and the other person at ease?

How many of you have experienced that?

Indeed, when you say Namaste to that stranger, what you are saying is hey man don’t run, we don't need to be afraid of each other. Namaste in its broadest meaning is let the good in you connect with the good in me.  The Abrahimic faiths use the words Shalom, Salaam and peace.

When I say Salaam, Shalom or peace to you, what I am saying is May God shower peace on you, and when you respond back, you are also saying may you be soaked in peace. 

The greetings contains three elements;

1. Acknowledging the stranger
2. A desire to connect
3. Possible friendship.

When we are drenched in peace, then when we think, talk and act peace, and it should give birth to peaceful acts and talks.

I hope we realize the greetings as an ice breaker and a connector. 

Let me greet all of you in at least 9 different religious greetings, you are welcome to repeat after me quietly, loudly or you simply don’t have to if you are not ready for it.

American - Aho piva (Cheyenne)

Baha'i - Allah-u-Abha 

Buddhist - Buddha Namo

Christian - Peace to you

Hindu - Namaste

Jain - Jai Jinendra

Jewish - Shalom

Muslim - Salaam

Sikh - Satsri Akaal

Wicca - blessed be...  Hail to Mother Earth 

Zoroastrian - Hamazor Hama Asho bed

 
A day will come, soon, when these phrases will becomes synonyms and used interchangeably. 

Thank you

---

Uplifting Motivational talk.

Let’s talk for a few minutes about building cohesive societies, that is societies where no human has to feel tense, alienated, apprehensive or fearful of others.

God says he has created all of us from one single couple; a metaphor to mean we all had a common beginning. Then he says he made us in to different tribes, communities and nations and by extension, different religions. 

Guess what, he created each one of us to be unique beings with our own thumb print, eye print, DNA and even taste buds. 

Like a mother knows her children well, the creator knows us well.  He also says that he could have created all of us alike but chose to make us unique individuals.  I am sure the police appreciate that!

You know God could have opened a factory, and specified that all men should be 6’ tall, 2” long noses, 34” long arms… and women to weigh 100 pounds with standard statistics… and produced 7 billion of us out exactly to the precise specifications… but he chose to make us different, each one of us is our own model.

That uniqueness gives birth to conflict… like a mother knows her kids, God knows his creation well and offers the solutions! The best ones among you are those who learn about each other. The emphasis is knowing each other.

Knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to acceptance and appreciation of the otherness of others. If we can learn to respect the otherness of others, and accept the God given uniqueness of each one of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge. Indeed that is the definition of pluralism.

Imagine if Dr. Suhaib Siddiqi decides to take us on a bus tour to Martha’s vineyards,  when all of us sit in the bus with the idea of making the trip,  one of the things that our driver will make sure is that all the ten tires have equal air in them to ensure a safe journey. Don’t you all feel comfortable?

Now imagine each tire to represent a religious, racial or an economic group… and let’s say three tires have low air in it….and the 7 others are doing well.

Can the 7 tires tell the three tires, “Hey look, you Muslim tire, Black tire or Dalit tire, seven of us have worked hard to reach this level, we are not going to give you a hand out, you have to fill up yourselves and act as equal? 

How many of you are familiar with that dialogue?

Can the tires fill themselves up, if they could have, they would have, since they are handicapped we have to give them a hand to bring them onto a level playing field, by lifting others, all of us are lifted and the Bus Journey becomes safe and surer than before. All of us benefit from it. When all the tires have ample air, is our journey, the journey of India be safe, sound, secure and sure?

How many of you want to be those lifters?

Now let me ask some of such lifters to stand up as I call their name – Dr. Nakadar – what a great man he is, AFMI was his concept and his idea, and the group together has uplifted so many children adding the prosperity to India, adding a new consumer in the middle class market and giving a boost to the producer of Goods. More employment and more prosperity.

May I ask Frank and Debbie Islam to rise?

Frank is another blessed rich man, whom God has blessed the ability to make big money and a bigger heart to uplift more people and add to the prosperity of India.  Do you remember Muhammad Ali, Frank is like him in so many ways, he is bold, and takes up the challenge and meets it.  He is our champion!

Bill Gates is one rich man who led the way in changing the world who donated bulk of his wealth to uplift the world. Did you know, the more millionaires he made out of his employees the richer he got.  He is a great role model.

Dr Suhaib Siddiqi, Akram Syed, Frank Islam, Syed Ali Rizvi, Mitha, Naved Syed, Mike Ghouse, Dr. Nagama

Can I ask some of the Uplifters to join us in standing up… Dr. Sardar Aziz, Mr. Ali Quraishi, Dr. Samia and Mustafa Raheem, Dr. Mohamed Ameer Rana, Dr. Iqbal Ahmed, Dr. Aslam Abdullah, Naved Syed, Akram Syed


What Dr. Nakadar, Frank Islam  and these men and women, and many of you have done is amazing!  You are blessed to enjoy the fruits of your charity while you are alive, what a joy it is.

Now, I ask each one of you who has donated a Dollar or more to uplift others to please stand up.

Let’s give a big round of applause to all these men and women!

When I was president of the North Texas Cricket Association, I went to a gentleman to host a dinner for our group, he said it would cost $18/person, and I asked him to do it for $15 and $3 per person would be his contribution… I did not even complete the sentence, he screamed at me… No charity, I have worked hard to earn this money, I am not going to give charity to any one… 

This is true story, three months from then, he was in a road accident and the fence board went thru his face and died on the spot. When I heard that,  my instant response was not good… then I held myself and prayed for him.  What happened after that? His partners robbed his wealth, his kids squandered the money… he did not get a chance to enjoy the life and his money went to waste.  There are many stories like that.

Mani Rahman, my friend in Dallas passed away three weeks ago, a day before I left to Washington; he insisted we have lunch together….  He agreed to join and contribute towards my work after three years!  However he was a rich man and had a will and his money will not go to waste.  He donated generously to different events.

The last one Mani donated was $250 to produce a video on Pluralism in Islam, he got to see the video a month before he passed away in Costa Rica and sent me a text that,  this is the kind of work he wants to support.  I am glad he saw the fruits of his donation. Here is the video about Pluralism in Islam, if you wish to watch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7Tyt7raIXM

How many of you have lost a friend or family member in the last year? Did they leave a will?  Please consider buying a life insurance and donating a big part of it towards uplifting deserving Children thru AFMI and other foundations.  Insha Allah, I will write an article on this topic, as I had promised to my late friend Mani Rahman, who was an Insurance agent. I wrote a tribute to him.  This is another way of continuing your good work. First you enjoy while you are alive, and then your soul will be blessed for years to come.

Friends, if you have the money, you are a blessed one, your kids don’t need your money, they will make a heck of a lot more than you….  Uplift others. Donate the money to your favorite Charity including AFMI. Look at Dr. Nakadar, Frank Islam, and many of you who are seeing the good your donations are doing.

Tomorrow when you wake up, you will thank God for doing the right thing.

God bless America, God bless India and God bless each one of us

Say Amen!

Added: Congratulations to Frank Islam, he was honored with the Prestige of India award at the convention. Details at: http://muslimobserver.com/afmi-renews-commitment-to-excellence/

Mike Ghouse is a public speaker, thinker, writer and a commentator on Pluralism, Islam, India, Israel-Palestine, Politics and other issues of the day. He is a human rights activist, and his book standing up for others will be out soon for others will be out soon, and has published over 3000 articles on the subjects. He is producing a full feature film " Sacred" and it is about changing perceptions about Muslims and Muslims adopting the non-violent principles in dealing with conflicts. He has appeared over 100 times on Fox News with Sean Hannity and on syndicated Talk Radio shows and a writer at major news papers including Dallas Morning News and Huffington Post. All about him is listed in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at www.TheGhousediary.com - Mike is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.

Mike Ghouse honored, he is Dr. Mike Ghouse now

Mike Ghouse honored | TheGhousediary.com 

The Grace International Seminary awarded the Doctor of Divinity to Mike Ghouse – an honorary Doctorate for his work on Pluralism. Thanks to Dr. Karen Hollie-Thibodeuax the Chancellor the Seminary, and Bishop Thibodeuax and Mark Hernandez for facilitating this happening.

Mike is considered an authority on Pluralism. Pluralism is a brand new discipline in the academic world and is yet to be taught as a subject. The course material would be unique, as it will focus on its effect on different aspects of life in building cohesive societies, societies where no one has to live in apprehension or fear of the other. Mike defines pluralism as simply an attitude respecting the otherness of others, and accepting the God given uniqueness of each one of his creation. 

Mike has a dream, a dream that one day in our life time; we all will wake up to a cohesive world, where no human has to live in tension, apprehension or fear of the other, nor should one feel alienated. Indeed, that was the dream of all the spiritual masters of the world, and that is what the creator wants; all pieces of his creation to function coherently. 

Our founding fathers believed, “That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” And that dream was refreshed by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Mike is a Pluralist to the core, and believes that if we can respect the otherness of others and accept the God given uniqueness of each one of  the 7 billion humans on the planet earth.  Most of the problems in the world exists because what we learn about others is negative and build myths about the other.

Mike believes the solutions likes in a simple “knowing each other”, knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to acceptance and appreciation of a different point of view. Mike has a national presence on TV, Radio,Print and the Internet Media. Mike has appeared in over 100 shows with Sean Hannity on Fox News and over 50 times on nationally syndicated radio shows.  Fox News, Syndicated Radio shows, Dallas Morning News, Huffington Post, and a variety of News Papers here and abroad for giving him a strong National and local presence. 

He has  written nearly 3000 articles, and bulk of them are published in Dallas Morning News, Huffington Post, New Age Islam, Op-ed News , Arab Daily News, Arab News, Saudi Gazette, and several other News papers and periodicals around the world. Of the 2800, 1000+ were on Islam, 1000+ on Pluralism and the rest were on politics, India, Pakistan, Israel-Palestine, Motivational and other topics.

Currently Mike is working on  making a film based on a compelling true story of building a cohesive America, and writing a book on human rights - "Standing up for others"- standing up from Atheists to Zoroastrians and every one in between.

Please watch the 10 Minutes trailer of the documentary in making https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMXsTo4VYh8

Mike is appreciated around the world; indeed, he has over 10 Million views of his profile at Google and 15 Million on his website.  https://plus.google.com/108969690090944956820/about

God has blessed him with an aptitude for mitigating conflicts and nurturing goodwill in everything he does,  that is think, talk and act, and he has been a life time volunteer, and it is a joy to maintain a healthy balance between earning a living and serving the public.

As they say, Pluralism runs in his veins.  The Grace International Seminary awarded the Doctor of Divinity – an honorary Doctorate for my work on Pluralism. Thanks to Dr. Karen Hollie-Thibodeuax the Chancellor the Seminary, and Bishop Thibodeuax and Mark Hernandez my buddy for facilitating this happening.

You can Google - Pluralism Speaker
The old profile - http://www.mikeghouse.net/InterfaithSpeaker_MikeGhouse.asp

These pictures were taken from  cell phone, professional pictures will be added later on.

 

India’s Thaali on her 69th Anniversary of Freedom.

Happy Independence day to Indians | MikeGhouseforIndia.blogspot.com

My dear Fellow Indians, 

As we proudly celebrate the 69^th anniversary of our independence, we must have a full Thaali in front of us to know our motherland sufficiently. It must have every ingredient in it from khatta, meetha, peekha, teekha, khara, patla, gada, sukha, kuchcha and kadva.

Thaali is a balanced plated meal with every ingredient in it; Sour, Sweet, saltless, tasteless, hot, liquidy, pasty, dry, wet and bitter respectively as the words in Hindi-Urdu or Urdu-Hindi translate it.

What does that mean? It simply means we have to live with good, bad and the ugly in each one of us in different proportions.

First, let’s deal with the good.  Like all of you, I am proud of my motherland India, and my homeland America, both are God’s own countries, let me tell you why.

We are a full representation of the universe. As a nation we are made up of Adivasis, Atheists, Bahais, Bos, Buddhists, Christians, Dalits, Hindus, Jains, Jewish, Muslim, Sikhs, Tribal’s, Zoroastrians and every possible grouping.

 
Our Motherland is represented by every race, nationality, ethnicity, language, culture and religion. We see God as one, none and many; and in every form; male, female, genderless and non-existent, being and non-being, nameless and with innumerable names.

We are proud of our nation, it’s a beacon of freedom to the third world, where people mind their own business and live their own lives with free will.

We have to be grateful to our founding fathers, each one of them for going to jail and getting beat up, but worked for creating a better world for us.

Every day when I open my blog about India, I salute their utterly unselfish valor. I am not listing their names deliberately, as I don’t want to miss any, there were so many of them, but I request you to write the names that come to your mind in the comment section below, by next year, I hope we will have a complete list to work from. Believe me, I can write the names, I have passed my IAS and I know my India well. 

After the independence, we were blessed with a visionary leader Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru for nurturing and delivering a pluralistic India to our generation (born after independence). Dr. Ambedkar gave us a solid constitution that will carry us far out into the next millennium; Maulana Abul Kalam Azad laid a great foundation for education with the IIT’s that India is cherishing now. Sardar Patel, the iron man kept the nation together.  I shudder at the thought of so many other nations that have gone haywire. Despite Gandhi being shot by an extremist, we did not run amuck, and did not go the wrong way; thanks to Nehru and Patel for saving the nation and putting it on the right path.  The two legged balanced path of social cohesion and economic prosperity.  I salute all the four and others who have shaped India.

Please remember this cycle; Nehru sought help from America to upgrade the steel plants and our infrastructure, at that time, the Americans thought we were not capable of handling the new technology.  That is when the Soviet Union jumped in and became a partner in our progress. When the Union broke, America was ready to accept India as equal partner and here we are today. Prime Ministers Morarji Desai, Rajiv Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh have delivered a capitalistic, ready to flourish India to Prime Minister Modi.

Modi gave a lot of hope for change and I hope we realize that, however, his eerie silence on issues is tearing the social cohesion apart, causing the nation to be a one legged nation.  We cannot be blind to it, we must acknowledge it, and all of us must join together and ask him to restore the social dharma back again. If Modi speaks, people will listen. He needs to speak tough and take us back to  “live and let live” philosophy of India.

My request to Modi is to watch for the chumchas, those who assure him that everything is alright, but everything is not alright, true followers will tell him like it is and not let him fall in to the abyss.

If you are a genuine supporter of Modi, become his critic, tolerate criticism from others, and help him fix the problems rather than bulldoze them or remain silent. Demand the release of Teesta Salvad, a great patriot of India. I would praise Modi, if he stops his chumchas from shutting a critical voice of the nation. I will guarantee you this, without the voices of Teesta, democracy will be the loser and our freedom would be the victim.  Remember Emergency rule?

We must commit ourselves to genuinely free ourselves from pettiness, free ourselves from our prejudices towards fellow beings, free ourselves from treating a fellow Indian less than ourselves and we must certainly shelve the arrogance that God favors us and not others. 

We must also commit to defend the freedom of others, we must cherish the otherness of others and let everyone freely breath, drink, eat, wear or believe whatever suits them, and crush the thoughts of forcing others to behave the way we want them to behave. No one shall be a slave in free India.

An Indian is an Indian is an Indian, period.

For over 5000 years, India has been a beacon of pluralism - it has embraced Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Baha’i and Zoroastrianism to include in the array of the indigenous religions; Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism.  

We may want to consciously start thinking and acting as one people, one people within a nation and a community and one people globally.

Our combined philosophies believe in one world; Hinduism describes the world as Vasudhaiva Kutumbukum, the whole world is one family, the idea of Ek Onkar (one) in Sikhism, and idea of one family that we are all created from the same couple as Quran puts it and Jesus embraced every one regardless of who any one is... similar philosophies are grounded in all our religions.  

A few don't follow their own heritage and resort to thievery, loot, murder, terrorism, rioting, rapes, infanticide and other evils that destroy the fabric of the society,  but a majority of every group goes about their own way, living their life with struggles and ease and don't even bother others. We should build upon the 99% of population and not on the less than 1% that does not follow any principles.

On this day, and every day from here forward, make a pledge to yourselves to talk about in terms of us Indians - and not Malyalee, Gujarati, Bengali.... or Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Isaee. Don't expect others to jump and say the same, give them the time and if you are consistent for at least a year, you will see others emulating you.

Indian democracy is a shining example to the world, where the people have peacefully transferred the powers.
 
Through the years we have expressed the highest degree of maturity on handling extreme situations; the more divergent opinions we hear, the larger our heart grows, the bigger our embrace would be and we can cushion more differences. Let’s continue to honor the concept that there is always another side to the story, as finding the truth is our own responsibility. I am proud of my heritage and am proud to be an Indian-American.

Click and enjoy:

 

Our National Anthem National Anthem 2 Twenty Patriotic songs on click India's Map

Jai Hind

Mike Ghouse

http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/

Mike is a speaker, thinker, writer, pluralist,  TV-Radio commentator and a human rights activist committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. His info in 63 links at MikeGhouse.net and writings at TheGhouseDiary.com

PATRIOTIC SONGS

• Apni Azaadi ko hargiz hum
• Vande Mataram - AR Rahman
• Vande Mataram
• Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna ab
• Saray jahan say achha -1
• Saray Jahan say achha - lata
• Mere Desh Ki Dharti
• Mera rangde basanti chola
• Kar chalay hum fida,
• Jahan Daal Daal par sone
• Hum laye hain toofan say kishti
• Hai preet jahan ki reet sada
• Ganga Meri Maa ka Naam
• ai watan ai watan, tujh ko
• Ai mere pyaare watan,

• Aao bachcho tumheien sire
• A jo des hai tera - Shahrukh
• A desh hai veer jawanon ka