It is reported that Tamil Superstar Rajinikanth jetted off to the Himalayas for a spiritual vacation recently. Usually, he heads to the place every time he wraps up a film, and before commencing his next movie. He was accompanied by his elder daughter Aishwarya Dhanush. On his spiritual trip, Rajinikanth reached Haridwar and visited Swami Dayanand Saraswati Ashram in Rishikesh on Sunday. He has been visiting the ashram for several years and enjoying the simplicity of life there. He paid a visit at the samadhi of his spiritual guru Swami Dayanand Saraswati who breathed his last at his Rishikesh ashram in 2015 and then visited his room where he meditated for about 10 minutes. He sought blessings from Swami Shuddhanand Maharaj, who is the Spiritual head of Shri Dayanand Ashram Ganga Dhareshwar Trust. In the evening, he attended Ganga aarti at the Triveni Ganga ghat. He also visited Swargarashram area in Pauri Garhwal and Ramjhula-Muni-Ki-Reti in Tehri Garhwal. Rajinikanth then headed to Badrinath and Kedarnath shrines on Monday and reports say that he stayed at Rudraprayag the whole night. As per the locales, he then left for Garhwal Himalayas to introspect and find peace.

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Rajinikanth meditates in Rishikesh on his way to Garhwal Himalayas - Times of India

Israel has won a total of nine Olympic medals since its debut in 1952 as a country officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee in the Summer Olympic Games in Helsinki. Israels first medal came in 1992 when Yael Arad nabbed silver in judo. The countrys first and only gold medal for Israel went to Gal Fridman in mens windsurfing at the Olympics in Athens in 2004.

At the last summer Olympics in Rio in 2016, Israeli judokas Yarden Gerbi and Or Sasson claimed bronze medals in the womens 63kg and mens +100kg events, respectively. That year, Israel was proud to have sent its largest delegation to the sporting event with 47 athletes competing in 17 sports. It broke Israels previous record of 43 athletes sent to Beijing in 2008.

SEE ALSO: Israels Olympic Committee Partners With Technion For Joint Sports Research Center

And now, Israel is going even bigger with plans to send an estimated 85 athletes to compete in 18 sports in the summer Olympic Games in Tokyo in July 2020. This is according to Vered Buskila, a three-time Olympic sailor who is now vice president of the Olympic Committee of Israel. In a sit-down interview with NoCamels not far from the Olympic Committees headquarters in Tel Aviv, Buskila says more athletes have yet to qualify including Israeli hopefuls for sports like track & field and swimming.

In Tokyo next summer, Israel will be sending its biggest delegation ever, Buskila tells NoCamels, This is a crazy number by Israeli standards. Thats something that we never thought could happen in the near future, she says.

Buskila says what makes the large 2020 delegation even more unprecedented is that the countrys national Olympic Committee changed some of the qualification rules after the 2016 games and made it even more difficult for Israeli athletes to qualify for the Olympics.

We got a lot of criticism about that, she adds.

David Wiseman, a native Australian who runs the English-language Follow Team Israel Facebook page with Canadian-Israeli Shari Wright Pilo since the London Olympics in 2012, is impressed with the number of athletes who will be representing Israel next summer.

Baseball alone is sending 24, he tells NoCamels, referring to the first Israeli team to qualify for the games, This is also the first time sports such as surfing and equestrian are being represented by Israeli athletes.

(Buskila says the baseball aspect is a huge, amazing surprise.)

Wiseman and Pilo created the Follow Team Israel page as a bridge between fans and athletes, he explains. The pair wanted to build awareness of Jewish and Israeli competitors and their incredible achievements and sacrifices.

Buskila, who began sailing at the age of eight as an extracurricular activity in her hometown of Bat Yam and won her first world championships at age 15 in the Womens 420 yachting event, says she understands what the athletes are going through, as she experienced it firsthand as a competitive sailor.

Now that I look back I understand that my talent was determination and persistence, she explains, When I won the world championships, it was decided. Thats what Im going to do for the rest of my life.

After competing for the third time in London 2012, Buskila announced her retirement and went on to earn a law degree and becoming a notable figure in the Olympic Committee of Israel. Her job entails speaking to people around the world on Israels progress in sports.

Buskila explains that Israel expects to have 10 athletes advancing to the finals in Tokyo. In Rio, we had five. We want to double it. We aim to win two medals, she says, We never had more than two medals at the same Olympic Games so maybe this will be our year.

Three would be amazing, she adds, after a pause.

If we can have the best army in the world and the best high-tech in the world, why cant we have the best athletes? she says.

Israeli teams and individual athletes have already qualified for sports like baseball, rhythmic gymnastics, artistic gymnastics, equestrian show jumping, cycling, sailing, and surfing.

More are (likely) on their way. Lets not count out current judo world champion Sagi Muki, windsurfing world champion silver medalist Katy Spychakov and top Israeli runner Lonah Chemtai Salpeter. Also, Israeli swimmers, both mixed team and individuals, are looking very good this year, Buskila says.

In the meantime, get to know some of the Israeli athletes and the sports they will be competing in next summer.

Israels baseball team made history last month by defeating South Africa 11-1 during a six-team Europe/Africa Olympic qualifying tournament in Italy, securing a spot in the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo next summer.

Its the first time a baseball team for Israel has qualified for the Olympic Games and the first time an Israeli sports team has qualified since the national soccer team in 1976.

Israel will be competing against five other teams in Tokyo. Japan is the only other nation that has qualified so far. Two teams will qualify through the 2019 WBSC Premier12 tournament in November 2019, another through the Americas Qualifying Event in March 2020, and the last qualifier will be the winner of the final qualifying tournament early next year.

See you in Tokyo, Israel Baseball!

Israels first place finish in the Europe/Africa qualifying tournament secures their spot for #Tokyo2020.@ILBaseball @wbsc @baseball @Tokyo2020

(: Israel Baseball) pic.twitter.com/xZ8l6FyzkH

If soccer just edges out basketball as the most popular sport in the country, according to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, how did baseball, a sport with a much smaller local following, become the first sport whose athletes qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games?

Prior to the 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC), Israels national baseball team was ranked 41st in the world (and 16th in Europe.) Things began to change in 2017 when Israels team came in 6th at the WBC and ranked 19th in the world. It was around this time that Eric Holtz, a US-born baseball coach who had played for the Israel Baseball League in 2007 and lived in Israel for 10 weeks, was asked to head coach the Israel Senior National Team.

While the national team didnt move ahead in 2017, it turned things around in 2019, effectively winning the 2019 European Baseball Championship B-Pool (the second tier of European Baseball mens competition) in early July 2019.

The team is a mix of local talent and Jewish Americans, who became Israeli citizens as a requirement for the Olympics.

Israels baseball team is made up of 24 Israelis,' Holtz tells NoCamels. Everyone is a passport holder or citizen of Israel. Fourteen or 15 of the guys have made aliyah over the past 18 months. Most of the players are from the minor leagues, but a few have played in the major leagues and a few are native Israelis, including the pitcher Shlomo Lipetz, who was born in Tel Aviv.

This is the ultimate dream come true, said Peter Kurz, Israel Association of Baseball president and general manager of Team Israel in a statement on the Israel Association of Baseball (IAB) website. It was almost too impossible to imagine but with the astounding performances of a dedicated team that always believed in itself.

Rhythmic gymnastics has an avid following in Israel. Thats because Linoy Ashram, an Israeli individual rhythmic gymnast, is considered the countrys best shot at a medal next summer.

The 20-year-old gymnast from Rishon Lezion, has dominated the sport since her first international competition at 12 years old.

She has made a significant mark on the sport for Israel, becoming the first Israeli rhythmic gymnast to win an individual all-around medal at the 2017 World Championships where she snapped up a bronze medal behind Russian twins Dina and Arina Averina. She is also the first Israeli gymnast to win gold in the all-around competition at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup series, nabbing first place at the 2018 Guadalajara World Cup. She is the first Israeli to win gold in a World Cup series apparatus final and the first Israeli gymnast to win gold at the Grand Prix Final.

Since 2017, Ashram has won a total of six silver and five bronze medals in World Championship events.

Also making a name for herself in rhythmic gymnastics is Nicol Zelikman, an individual rhythmic gymnast who scored a bronze for the hoop apparatus at the 2019 European Championships and helped Israel nab a silver medal in the team all-around competition at the 2019 World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan. She also qualified for the Tokyo games by placing 11th in the all-around competition. (The top 16 earn a spot to compete in the Olympics.)

This is the first time Israel will have two representatives at the Olympics in rhythmic gymnastics since 2008.

Israeli equestrian show jumpers qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in July, making it the first time that Israel has earned a spot in the games in this sport.

Four Israeli riders Daniel Bluman, Ashlee Bond, Elad Yaniv, and Danielle Goldstein Waldman edged ahead of Poland at the Olympic qualifier for Group C (Central and Eastern Europe) in Moscow to secure a place in the Tokyo Olympics next year.

Bluman is a returning member to the summer games. He is a native of Colombia and rode for Colombia in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

Goldstein Waldman is a native of New York.

Israeli gymnast Artem Dolgopyat, 22, recently celebrated a victory, snagging a silver medal in the mens floor exercise at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Stuttgart, German, and earning a spot to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

This is the gymnasts second silver medal at the World Championships. He won a silver medal in the same event in 2017.

Israeli gymnast Alexander Shatilov, who has already represented Israel at the last three summer Olympic Games, also qualified for Tokyo 2020 during the World Championships by placing seventh out of the twelve gymnasts eligible for qualification.

Israeli sailors Gil Cohen and Noa Lasry secured a quota for the Israeli delegation by finishing 11th in the womens 470 event at the 2018 Sailing World Championships in Denmark. Mia Morris finished in 12th place in the womens RS:X event and Ofek Elimelech finished in 14th place in the mens RS:X competition, securing two more quotas.

SEE ALSO: Ready For Rio: Israeli Technology To Take Center Stage At Olympic Games

Israeli road racing cyclists secured Israel a place at the Tokyo Olympics by finishing in the top 10 at the 2019 world championships in England.

Israeli shooter Sergy Rikhter secured quotas for Israel in the mens 10-meter air rifle shooting event by winning the gold medal at the 2019 European Games.

Anat Lelior secured qualification for Israel as the highest-ranked surfer from Europe and one of the top 30 surfers in the overall open division at the 2019 World Surfing Games.

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Israel Is Sending Its Biggest Delegation Yet To The 2020 Summer Olympics In Tokyo | Social Awareness - NoCamels - Israeli Innovation News

Britain's Prince William (R), Duke of Cambridge, and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, arrive on a decorated auto-rickshaw to attend a reception in Islamabad on October 15, 2019. - Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan gave a warm welcome in Islamabad on October 15 to Britain's Prince William, the son of his late friend Princess Diana, who is on his first official trip to the country with his wife Kate.AAMIR QURESHI/AFP via Getty Images

On Tuesday evening, the Duke and Duchess were photographed stepping out of a colourful rickshaw for a formal reception in Islamabad. Kate Middleton was clad in a Western-style green gown, while Prince William eschewed suit-and-tie for a dark teal sherwani, a traditional Pakistani outfit.

The photo made headlines as the media and public lauded the couple for its sense of style and efforts to boost local designers. However, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Sophie wore traditional outfits at an event with Bollywood celebrities during their India trip, they were lambasted for going overboard and ridiculed.

The contrast between public reaction to the royals traditional wear and the Trudeaus in February has been consistent the former are praised, the latter condemned.

On one hand, the Trudeaus could have simply chosen the wrong outfits, according to Canadian designers. On the other hand, the difference in the public feedback could also come from the difference in political relations between the respective countries, according to a former Indian ambassador.

As an Indian person, I appreciated the Trudeau familys effort to pay respect to Indian culture and I think they showed a lot of love said Anu Raina, a Toronto-based designer. However, from a professional point of view, the wardrobe could have been better vetted beforehand.

The colours were too bold, she said. And no one wears a sherwani or a brocade sherwani all the time.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, and children, Xavier, 10, Ella-Grace, 9, and Hadrien, 3, visit Sabarmati Ashram (Gandhi Ashram) in Ahmedabad, India on Monday, Feb. 19, 2018.Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press

Media reports criticized the Trudeaus for overdressing during their trips and choosing outfits akin to those worn by an Indian bride and groom. One Twitter user described their penchant for family colour co-ordination as a choreographed cuteness, remarking that it was a a bit much.

I would have recommended a classier look, simpler fabrics and something that would show their personality with a hint of India, Raina said. You dont have to wear all the culture on your clothes.

In this photograph released by the Pakistan Foreign Ministry on October 14, 2019, Britains Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, arrive at Nur Khan military airbase in Rawalpindi.Pakistan Foreign Ministry / AFP

The Duke and Duchess on the other hand, did a better job of blending in with their host country. You can tell theres a designers touch, said Raina. Theres a lot of thought behind (the outfits) and the country, the culture, everything has been taken into account.

The choice to wear Pakistani colours at the formal reception was an especially politically correct move, she added.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (R), his wife Sophie Grgoire Trudeau (L), daughter Ella-Grace (2R) and son Xavier James (3R) pose for a photograph with Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan in Mumbai on February 20, 2018.INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP/Getty Images

Despite the Trudeaus fashion gaffes, Raina believed the criticism they garnered was unfair. They shouldnt have been criticized, she said. India is a bold country and people wear bold colours on the street. They really made an effort to blend into Indian culture.

Rajiv Bhatia, a former Indian ambassador who also served as Consul General of Toronto, said simmering tensions between the Indian and Canadian government during the visit could have added to the media criticism.

There was a great deal of expectation for that visit, said Bhatia, for the simple reason that the relationship was going very well (at the time).

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (L) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands at Hyderabad house in New Delhi on February 23, 2018.MONEY SHARMA/AFP/Getty Images

However, Trudeau treated the visit with sartorial diplomacy, which complicated the Indo-Canadian relationship, he explained.

There was a considerable delay in scheduling the visit of Trudeau because it was well into Modis first term (as prime minister of India). And the second factor was the way the visit was designed. It gave the impression that the main people being addressed were Canadians back home more than the people in India.

He added that the Liberal administration had also disrespected Indias protocol when it comes to hosting foreign visits. Trudeaus schedule had him travel around the country Agra, Ahmadabad, Mumbai and Amritsar before he was formally received in New Delhi, the national capital.

Indias protocol is that the prime minister visit Delhi first but the Canadians chose to reverse that order, he said.

Finally, Trudeaus perceived endorsement of the Sikh separatist movement by the Indian government, marked by the invitation of Jaspal Atwar to a formal dinner by the Canadian High Commissioner was the final nail in the coffin, he explained.

Britains Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attend a meeting with Pakistans Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad, Pakistan, October 15, 2019.Andrew Parsons/Reuters

The political significance of the Duke and Duchesss visit to Pakistan, which is rocked by domestic turmoil, paints a different picture. The visit of the British royals comes as a godsend to Pakistan, he said. It gives them a clear signal that they are not without friends in the West.

What if the royal couple were to visit India in the future? If it is done in balance,it would be taken positively, he said. It would be taken as a signal that the British, who are in doldrums thanks to Brexit, are trying to connect to the people of India.

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Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are praised for wearing traditional clothes. Months ago, the Trudeaus were ridiculed for the same - Clinton News Record

Bal Mitra Gram (BMG), a path-breaking concept introduced by Kailash Satyarthi Childrens Foundation, is a village where all the children are free from exploitation and are going to schools to pursue education. The most important and integral part of this concept is the participation of the children themselves as also the relationship of friendship that develops between the community and the children. Children get their first tryst with the principles of democracy as they elect the Bal Panchayat among themselves. The idea is to ensure the protection of rights of all children through the engagement and involvement of the villagers, the constitutional body ~ Gram Panchayat, or the village council, ~ and the local administration.

These children, when they become a part of this Panchayat as Bal Pradhans, or members, of the Bal Panchayat, are made aware of their roles and responsibilities by Bal Ashram activists. Leadership and decision-making are two paramount pillars of this arrangement, which these girls clearly exemplify in their fight against social issues that ails their villages be it child marriage or child labour. In fact, some girls, after coming in touch with the Foundations activists, have stopped their own child marriages and now campaign against it in their villages and neighbouring areas.

Till date 540 BMGs have been instituted in six states of India. The model has also been replicated in villages of Nepal and Uganda. To mark the International Day of Girl Child, which fell on 11 October, we bring to the readers a few case studies of some amazing girls:

Arti Kumari: Casteism, illiteracy, child labour, child marriage ~ 13-year-old Arti Kumari is fighting them all. She has initiated a fight against these social evils in her village, vowing to eradicate them.

Arti Kumari hails from village Raipura in Alwar, Rajasthan. Her father, a jawaan in the Indian Army, is posted in conflict areas of Jammu. Her mother looks after four children, including Arti. A student of Class VIII, Arti studies in the Rajkiya Uchch Prathmik Vidyalaya (Government Primary School) along with her siblings.

Artis village comprises many families from backward castes and tribes. Access to social spaces and village infrastructure depends very much on a persons caste. Despite the fact that Arti never faced any discrimination, her zeal to take up the issue of casteism at such a young age is noteworthy. How can you decide how to treat another person based on their caste? This isnt even something they choose for themselves, she asks passionately. One wonders about her motivation.

Arti noticed that none of the children from lower castes or the Banjara community went to school. This drove Arti and some other children to work to change this situation. As a result, today, all 96 children in her village are enrolled in schools.

When BBA started its work here in 2015, every third child in the village was either out-ofschool, or not enrolled. Many children worked in the stone quarries for a meager sum of money. The area is also considered to be a source point for child trafficking.

The Banjara community, a nomadic tribe, lives on the outskirts of the village, ranking the lowest in the societal hierarchy. None of the Banjara children from here ever went to school until 2015. Guided by the activists, Arti along with other children, learnt about the rights children have. They were astonished to see how these rights were violated regularly, especially of children from the Banjara and other low-caste communities. This realisation made the group decide to take the matter into their own hands.

Thus motivated, Arti contested the Bal Panchayat elections and became an elected member. As a child leader, Arti, and the other children organised rallies, door-to-door campaigns and personal meetings with parents, highlighting the consequences of ill-practices like child marriage, child labour, abuse and exploitation of children. With the support of village elders and activists, they were even pivotal in stopping child marriages in their village.

Convincing the Banjara parents to send their children to school wasnt an easy task. Who will take the cattle out for grazing? Who will go earn for the family? Will the children from the upper caste even talk to our children? Questions like these hounded the Bal Panchayat members.

Therefore, the group changed their strategy. They started regularly engaging the Banjara children in sports and playing with them. Slowly, they convinced the Banjara children about the importance of education and play. The Bal Panchayat members and the Banjara children together convinced the parents to send their children to school. In the second year, the Bal Panchayat had a Banjara boy elected as the Sarpanch (head), which was groundbreaking. Arti, as the secretary of the council, continued to focus on regularisation of education for children from the Banjara community.

The group also campaigned against caste-based discrimination, and for improving the quality of education and infrastructure in their schools.

The Bal Panchayat members come up with innovative ways to challenge various regressive practices. The latest was on harvest festival, Makar Sankranti, when the members decided to feast in the houses of children belonging to the so-called lower castes.

The Gram Panchayat also recognizes this Bal Panchayat and thus acts swiftly on childrens concerns. Due to their impact, the Block Development Officer and other administrative officials also cooperate with them.

They have collectively been able to contribute to the villages development tremendously, especially the condition of schools. Improved attendance of enrolled children owing to regular teachers, improved meals, better student-teacher ratio, and better play grounds have been some of the major achievements of this collaboration.

At present, the children are trying to get an open drain adjacent to their school diverted. The drain overflows during the rains and spews waste around the school and the play ground. The Gram Panchayat has told us that they will act on this soon, said Arti, with a twinkle in her eyes that speaks of the confidence these kids have in themselves.

Tara Banjara: Belonging to a poor family from Nimdi village, District Alwar, Rajasthan, Tara Banjara, 13, had always wanted to study but her deprived community could not allow her to do so.

She belongs to Banjara Community, which is mostly illiterate. Since they migrate from one place to another, they do not give importance to education. At a very young age of 7, Tara would clean the road during construction together with her mother and sometimes took care of her younger siblings while her mother was away for work. Taras parents were not keen to send her to school.

After Bal Ashram staff convinced them of the importance of education, Tara was enrolled in the school in January 2013, and became the first generation school learner. She is in Class IX now. Along with academic education, Tara is also active in social work. She has learnt about issues like child labour, child marriage, intoxication and child trafficking. She is actively advocating for childrens rights, particularly for girls, for the last five years. Through her initiative, she managed to enroll seven children in school. Now there is no child labour in Taras community and child marriage is completely eliminated in Nimdi.

Lalita Duhariya: Belonging to a poor family of Dera village, Viratnagar Block, Rajasthan, Lalita Duhariya, 14, is an active member of Bal Panchayat since 2015. She has emerged as a child leader who has been fighting for girls education and girls rights in her as well as the neighboring villages. Her father is a construction labourer and mother is a housewife.

She wants to be a doctor and want to serve in rural parts of India. Lalitha has been actively campaigning against castism and untouchability in her village. To set an example, she initiated and participated in communal lunch on the occasion of Makar Sankranti. Lalitha, along with other Bal Panchayat members, went door-to-door to the family of all castes and had lunch together. She thus spread the message to the entire community to join hands and work together for the development of the community.

Children, who dropped out of the schools, were engaged in domestic help. She motivated the parents to send their children to school which led to school enrolments and regularisation of school dropout children in the schools.

Through her initiative and awareness campaign, 12 children were re-enrolled in the school. Her campaign together with Bal Panchayat led to the complete elimination of child marriage in her village and from the neighbouring villages.

Payal Jangid: A child rights prodigy from the hinterland of Rajasthan, Payal shows that where there is a will there shall always be a way! A glint in the eye and determination in the walk marks the 17-year-old Payal Jangid from Hinsla in Rajasthan. The infectious teen rubs off positivity with a resolve to stand up for what is right for the children ~ a voice that is accepted in her native village.

Elected as Sarpanch (Head) of Bal Mitra Gram (BMG), she was also chosen as jury for the World Childrens Prize for the Rights of the Child. Payal, the second Bal Pradhan of the Bal Panchayat (Childrens Council) in 2013, got engaged in community work through the mechanism of BMG set up by Kailash Satyarthi Childrens Foundation. After foiling her own marriage at the age of 11 by raising voice against her parents and especially her grandmother, Payal, along with other children of the village, began protests against the social evil of child marriage and Ghunghat Pratha (women veiling their faces).

Within a year, everyone could see conditions changing. Women, as well as children started coming out and voicing their opinion. People started getting more aware of their rights and responsibilities.

Eventually, Hinsla became a child marriage-free village. This was a victory for Payal. In 2013, she was chosen as the jury for Worlds Childrens Prize for the Rights of the Child for her community work. In Sweden she got the opportunity to meet other achievers like herself. I was chosen to pick up the Queen. It made me feel special, recalls the young girl.

In 2017, she received the Young Achiever Award by the global sports and fitness brand Reebok. Recently, Payal Jangid was given the prestigious Changemaker Award by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation at the Goalkeepers Global Goals Awards held in New York.

This award has been conferred upon her in recognition of her work for abolition of child marriage in her village, Hinsla and other neighboring villages. As a Bal Pradhan, she undertook a lot of field activities to empower not only children but also women of her village. As a child rights advocate, she pleads for children to come together and raise their voices against any injustices done to them.

Until and unless children themselves realise that they have rights, they wont be able to relate. However, there should be someone to guide the child through, added Payal.

Champa Kumari: As vice-president, National Maha Bal Panchayat (NMBP), 13-year-old Champa Kumari, who won the prestigious Diana Award for her work against child marriages in mica-mining areas of Jharkhand, was felicitated and honoured by Jharkhand Governor Dropdi Murmuat Raj Bhawanin Ranchi. Champa Kumari was once a school dropout and would go to mines to collect mica as her education was never a priority for her family.

In 2016, Kailash Satyarthi Childrens Foundation intervened in Champas village to end practices like child marriage, child labour, child trafficking and all forms of child exploitation, as well as ensuring 100 per cent enrolment of children in school.

With the efforts of a KSCF activist, she was enrolled in school. She is now the president of Jamdar villages children council and also the vice-president of National level childrens council. Having worked near mica mines, she understands how hazardous it is.

Champa not only led the initiative to spread awareness about child marriage but intervened in two child marriages in her village, successfully foiling them. Champas village is a changed one now and she has emerged as the catalyst for the change. Being the vice-president of National Level Bal Panchayat, she presented the Childrens Charter of Demands along with co-members to the incumbent Union Minister of state for Labor and Employment Santosh Gangwar.

She also presented Childrens Manifesto to the British High Commissioner and Parliamentarians and had also shared the stage with Chief Minister of Jharkhand Raghubar Das and Nobel Peace Laureate Shri Kailash Satyarthi for the cause of making mica supply chain child labour free in Koderma.

Pinki Kumari: Belonging to a lower middle class family, 16-year-old Pinki Kumaris father works as a cook and a waiter in a hotel. Her mother is a housewife. The family income is around Rs 6500 per month. Due to her familys monetary and social issues Pinki Kumari had to drop her education after Class V.

Since the BMG initiative started in her village she aspired to be part of the Bal Panchayat. She was elected as a member of the Bal Panchayat and was vocal about the prevailing issues. She also encouraged other children to know about their basic rights and to be a part of the Bal Panchayat.

The Bal Panchayat members intervened when her parents decided to fix her marriage. Despite their rigorous counseling her parents did not relent. Other stakeholder groups were also involved and they collectively prevented the marriage plans. Now, Pinki wishes to study further and be independent.

She is now getting admission into Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidhyalaya. She aspires to be a teacher.

(Compiled by Kailash Satyarthis Children Foundation)

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Girl power to the fore - The Statesman

October this yearmarks Mahatma Gandhis 150th birthday. One of the 20th centurys most iconic figures, Gandhis legacy defines how many people think about peace, self-reflection and the path to a more just world.

Much less celebrated is Gandhis friend and follower, the American pacifistRichard Bartlett Gregg.

Gregg never made any significant speeches, so no grainy newsreels feature his words. And his books are not required reading in college courses.

Gregg has nonetheless been an influential figure in taking forward Gandhis message regarding the power of nonviolence. Gregg explained Gandhis ideas in a way that made sense to a Western audience. His books eveninfluencedMartin Luther King Jr.s understanding of nonviolent resistance.

My own interest in Gregg was something of an accident. Im apolitical scientistwith interest in peace activists as agents of change. I learned of Gregg a few years ago from acolleague, who told me that dozens of Greggs personal notebooks weremoldering in a yurton a farm up in northern Maine. These journals soon became the subject of my scholarship.

Gregg was born to a Congregational minister in 1885. It was a time of rapid industrial growth andindustrial conflict, as railroads and industrialization proceeded quickly.

Gregg discovered Gandhi in a journal article he read in a bookstore in Chicago in 1924.Deeply impressedby Gandhis philosophy, at the age of 38, Gregg, a largely self-taught scholar, resolved to study with him in India.

In along letterto his family explaining his decision to move to India, Gregg said he was so profoundly disenchanted with the violence of American labor relations and the American system that he sought alternatives.

As I write in my forthcoming book, Gregg arrived at Sabarmati Ashram in the western Indian state of Gujarat in early February 1925. Gandhi, just released from prison, returned to his home at the ashram a few days afterGregg arrived.

During an evening walk,Gregg writesin his notes, he told Gandhi why he had come to India:

I felt at first awed by his presence, but he listened attentively to what I said and made me feel entirely at ease, Gregg recalls.

It was the start of a 23-year friendship thatended only with Gandhis death on Jan. 30, 1948.

Gregg spent those yearstraveling, teachingand studying in India.

At the time, apacifistmovement was emerging around the world. Pacifists are those who believe in confronting both domestic and international violence with peaceful resistance.

Gregg learned more deeply about Gandhis strategy of nonviolence. He wrote an important book, The Power of Nonviolence, in his first four years with Gandhi, whichprovided guidanceon how to make pacifism more effective.

Greggarguedthat onlookers should see the violent assailant, when confronted by nonviolent resistance, as excessive and undignified even a little ineffective.

This was a tactic that Gandhi had used with enormous effect during theSalt Marchagainst Britains domination of India in 1930. The march demonstrated Gandhis ability to mobilize tens of thousands of Indians, who were forced to pay a salt tax to the British colonialists.

The peaceful demonstrators, who followed Gandhi to the Arabian Sea Coast to make their own salt, were beaten up and more than 60,000 arrested by British troops. The world watched, appalled at therepression of the British colonial rule.

Learning from Gandhi, Gregg also wrote that nonviolent protests should serve as amedia spectacle. He knew nonviolence was not passive resistance: It was an active planned strategy that required intense even military-style training, both physical and spiritual.

This was controversial and shocking to many pacifists. But Gregginsisted that nonviolent protest represented a war of its own.

Gregg learned Hindi during his time with Gandhi and came to understand theGandhian valuesof simplicity, self-reliance and how to live in harmony with the world.

Gandhi encouraged each home to have its own spinning wheel so Indians would not have to depend on cloth made in British factories. Gregg embraced the philosophy behind each Indian home spinning its ownkhadi clothand became a leading advocate of organic farming and simple living.

Like Gandhi, Gregg believed that a peaceful world could only come about as humans developed inner peace and recognized theirharmony with nature.

In 1936 Gregg publishedThe Value of Voluntary Simplicity, a term he coined while serving as director of the Quaker retreat at Pendle Hill in Pennsylvania. In that post, he continued to build on Gandhis belief in simple living and harmony with nature as part of the true path to peace.

He was not, however, a Quaker; he remained deeply Christian.

Although he rejected Marxism and Soviet-style socialism, Gregg came to believe that the only solution to violence and injustice lay in a completetransformationof production and consumption.

There is no doubt that Martin Luther King Jr. wasawareof Gandhis ideas from other sources. But Greggs book, The Power of Nonviolence, deeply affected how he thought about passive resistance. Gregg put these ideas in a context that more closely fit the American civil rights struggle.

I argue, Kings writing during this period carried very similar themes and perspectives to those laid out by Gregg. King made the distinction that nonviolent resistancewas not cowardicebut rather a brave act that required great training.

In 1959, King wrote theforewordfor The Power of Nonviolence, having already become deeply familiar with Greggs earlier editions of the work. It went on to be published in108 editions in six languages.

On the 150th anniversary of Gandhis birth, Greggs role in translating the Mahatma meaning a great soul for a Western audience and in being an early advocate of simplicity is worth commemorating, too.

How deeply he understood Gandhis ideas is evident in Gandhis own words, recorded in apersonal letterto him from a friend in India:

If you understood me as well as Richard Gregg does, he once said to a group of Indian independence leaders, I would die happy.

This article was originally published in The Conversation

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Gandhi's 150th Anniversary: How America Embraced the Mahatma - Qrius

Banda (UP), Oct 16 (PTI) A 65-year-old priest was killed and two others were injured after their SUV hit a roadside tree when the driver tried to avoid hitting a stray cattle, police said on Wednesday.

Sri Sri Shantipuri Maharaj, the chief priest of Baraudiya Kalan Shantipuri Ashram in Madhya Pradesh''s Indore, died on the spot near Mahua village under Girwa police station limits here on Tuesday, they said.

The ''mahant'' was returning from UP''s Chitrakoot in his vehicle, along with a disciple, the police said.

While trying to avoid hitting the cattle, the priest''s driver Rahul lost control of the vehicle and it hit a roadside tree, they said.

The two injured were admitted at a hospital where Rahul''s condition was stated to be serious, the police said. PTI CORR SAB ADAD

Disclaimer :- This story has not been edited by Outlook staff and is auto-generated from news agency feeds. Source: PTI

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Priest killed as SUV hits tree in UP''s Banda - Outlook India

Aurangabad: Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson Tushar Gandhi on Saturday said a new "Father of the Nation" has come up with the emergence of new India, but the Mahatma could never have become the father of such nation.

He also termed as "sacrilege" the theft of an urn which was used for immersing ashes of the Father of Nation in Madhya Pradesh recently and slammed the governments at Centre and Madhya Pradesh for their "silence".

Tushar said the incident was a "pre-planned act to sully the image of the Mahatma by political parties who are ruling today and for the last seven decades".

A portrait of Mahatma Gandhi was found defaced at Bapu Bhawan in Laxmanbagh Sansthan at Rewa on Gandhi Jayanti by unidentified persons who wrote "deshdrohi" (traitor) over it and also stole an urn which was used for immersing his ashes.

Addressing reporters in Aurangabad in Maharashtra, Tushar said more painful than the theft of the Mahatma's "mortal remains" is the "silence" of the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh and the BJP dispensation at the Centre over the incident.

"The theft and the sacrilege of the poster is painful. However, it's more painful to note that Congress government in Madhya Pradesh and the BJP-led Central government have not uttered a single word to condemn the incident. Sixty hours have passed since the incident occurred," he said.

Tushar ruled that while the nation was celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of the Mahatma, his mortal remains were stolen from Rewa.

"This silence of political parties and media speaks a lot. I request the government to get those mortal remains back and immerse them. Because such act is painful to me as the great-grandson of the Mahtma and also to those who follow his philosophy," Tushar said.

Responding to a query, Tushar said government agencies were serving notices to residents of the Sabarmati ashram in Ahmedabad for vacating the premises.

"A reason is being given that a big memorial of Mahatma Gandhi will be erected at that place. But when every individual visiting Sabarmati bows at the 'Hriday Kunj' (present ashram), what is the need for a new memorial?" he questioned.

"This is a clear case of land grabbing. This is an attack on institutions working for Gandhian philosophy. The agencies are also asking for archives and all those things which belonged to Mahatma Gandhi that are kept in Sabarmati premises," he said.

Tushar said a protest could be planned to "save" the ashram area.

Targetting the BJP, Tushar said the saffron party has "(Nathuram) Godse (assasin of the Mahatma) in mind and Gandhi on their lips. As the new India is emerging, new 'Father of Nation' has also come up. Mahatma Gandhi can never be the father of such new nation," he said without taking any names.

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New 'father of nation' has come up with emergence of new India: Mahatma Gandhi's grandson - Economic Times

By Sudheendra Kulkarni

When Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Mahabalipuram for his second informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, October 11-13, i hope he visits the Aurobindo Ashram in nearby Puducherry. Apart from knowing about Maharshi Aurobindo, the renowned Hindu sage of modern times, he will also be able to pay tribute to distinguished Chinese philosopher, Prof Xu Fancheng, who lived in the ashram for 27 long years, from 1951-1978. Earlier, Prof Xu lived in Santiniketan for five years.

Who was Prof Xu? According to Luo Zhaohui, who was his student and who later served as Chinas ambassador to India (and as vice foreign minister now he will be accompanying Xi to Mahabalipuram), He was the first Chinese who introduced Sri Aurobindo to China. There were three great men in modern India Gurudev Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi and Sri Aurobindo. The first two men were well known in China. It was due to Prof Xus contribution that China began to know about Sri Aurobindo. He translated Sri Aurobindos The Life Divine and Integral Yoga into Chinese. He also translated Fifty Upanishads, Bhagwad Gita and Shakuntala into Chinese. As a Chinese philosopher who lived in India for the longest period of time, he became a bridge linking China and India.

Xu thus belongs to the noble lineage of those who introduced the best of India to China. In ancient times, there were those like Kumara Jiva, Hiuen Tsang, Fa Xian and Bodhidharma. In modern times, Prof Tan Yunshan came to India under Tagores influence and became the first director of Cheena Bhavana at Santiniketan. Padma Bhushan Prof Ji Xianlin, who is regarded as Chinas Gurudev, translated the Ramayana into Chinese.

Modi and Xi will no doubt discuss many important contemporary issues that impact our two countries and the world. It is equally important for the two leaders to reaffirm the value of the deep cultural-spiritual ties between India and our great northern neighbour that are over 2,000 years old. Hinduism, Buddhism and Sanskrit form the bedrock of these ties.

Mahabalipuram, the site of magnificent Hindu temples facing the Indian Ocean, itself is an eloquent symbol of India-China exchanges in the past. Pallava King Narasimhavarman II (680-720), who built some of these temples, had sent envoys to China. These temples were called the Seven Pagodas of China by some European explorers, on account of the architectural resemblance between the sacred structures in our two countries. Ships sailed from the shores of Tamil Nadu to China proof that India was very much a part of the ancient maritime silk road, whose modernisation is a component of Xis ambitious Belt and Road project. I have seen telltale exhibits of this in the maritime museum in Chinas port city of Quanzhou. In the citys famous Kaiyuan Buddhist Temple, one can see carved images of Narasimha, Shiva, Krishna and other Hindu deities.

During his first visit to India in 2014, Xi had said, I have had a deep interest in Indian civilisation since I was young. I have read historic books on the Ganges River civilisation, the Vedic culture. I have paid great attention to the life and thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi, hoping to penetrate the development path and psychology of this great nation.

May Mahabalipuram greatly augment the Chinese presidents interest in Indian civilisation in general and in Hinduism in particular. (The author was aide to former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee).

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

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Xi Jinping's chance to rediscover Hinduism - Times of India

Sacred Games that is based on Vikram Chandra novel and directed by Anurag Kashyap-Vikramaditya Motwane created an immense buzz for itself right from the inception. The series went to become a massive hit and has been nominated for the Emmy Awards this year. The second season of the series that was launched on August 15 this year also ended on a cliff-hanger. So here are the biggest twists and turns from season two and an overview of season one.

Ganesh Gaitonde dies in the first episode itself but does not forget to warn inspector Sartaj Singh regarding the looming danger. The season runs into two parallel storylines. One storyline is Gaitondes rise in Mumbai and the second timeline is Sartaj Singh and RAW agent AnjaliMathur trying to figure out Gaitondes warning. According to the first timeline, Ganesh Gaitonde meets Kanta Bai and they start creating their own empire. Slowly and steadily more secrets are revealed and the number of deaths also increases.

RAW agent Mathur, Gaitondes right hand Bunty, TV actress Nayanika who wasSartajs informant, Gaitondes love interest Kukoo, and Sartajs junior Katekar all end up being killed in the process. Sartaj got closer to finding out about the secret that Gaitonde was referring to and bumps into Guruji. In the final episode, the link between Ganesh Gaitonde and Sartajs father is revealed. Sartaj also finds about the godman Guruji and his role in regards to the danger looming over the city and people in general.

Also read |Nawazuddin Siddiqui's Top 10 Sacred Games Dialogues

Ganesh Gaitonde starts working for RAW in the second season. In the first season, Sartaj gets to know about his familys connection to Gurujis cult. Now in the second seasons first episode, Sartaj joins the mission to foil the conspiracy and Gaitonde can be seen in an ocean. Trivedi and Yadav Sir pay a visit to Gaitonde. Sartaj Singh also pays a visit to Gurujis ashram with the terrorist-cell investigation underway. In the third episode, Sartaj discovers about Shahid Khans nuclear consignment delivery to India.

Also read |Nawazuddin Siddiqui: All About The Sacred Games Actor's Fashion Sense

Gaitonde can be also seen working for the RAW in this season and chooses to become friends with Isa. Malcolm who is one of the major links to the conspiracy shoots himself this season. Sartajs visit to Gurujis ashram backfires on him as he gets addicted to Gochi the drug. Gurujis mission of starting Satyug and preaching Balidaan also gains limelight. Two new relationship angles between Gaitonde and Guruji and Sartaj and Batya are explored. The season ends with Sartaj using the pattern for detonating the bomb and it ends with an 11-second cliff-hanger.

Also read |'Sacred Games' Finds Space At Emmy's, Saif Ali Khan Reacts

Also read |Sacred Games At Emmy: Nawazuddin Siddiqui Gaga Over Anurag Kashyap

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Sacred Games: All the major plot twists from the Emmy nominated series - Republic World - Republic World

NurPhoto via Getty ImagesAn artist dressed as Ram, performs during the play of Ramleela, in Allahabad on October 11, 2018.

How many Rmyanas? Three hundred? Three thousand? At the end of some Rmyanas, a question is sometimes asked: How many Rmyanas have there been? And there are stories that answer the question. Here is one.

One day when Rma was sitting on his throne, his ring fell off. When it touched the earth, it made a hole in the ground and disappeared into it. It was gone. His trusty henchman, Hanumn, was at his feet. Rama said to Hanumn, Look, my ring is lost. Find it for me.

Now Hanumn can enter any hole, no matter how tiny. He had the power to become the smallest of the small and larger than the largest thing. So he took on a tiny form and went down the hole.

He went and went and went and suddenly fell into the netherworld. There were women down there. Look, a tiny monkey! Its fallen from above! Then they caught him and placed him on a platter (thli). The King of Spirits (bht), who lives in the netherworld, likes to eat animals. So Hanumn was sent to him as part of his dinner, along with his vege tables. Hanumn sat on the platter, wondering what to do.

While this was going on in the netherworld, Rma sat on his throne on the earth above. The sage Vasistha and the god Brahm came to see him. They said to Rma, We want to talk privately with you. We dont want anyone to hear what we say or interrupt it. Do we agree?

All right, said Rma, well talk.

Then they said, Lay down a rule. If anyone comes in as we are talking, his head should be cut off.

It will be done, said Rma.

Who would be the most trustworthy person to guard the door? Hanumn had gone down to fetch the ring. Rma trusted no one more than Laksmana, so he asked Laksmana to stand by the door. Dont allow anyone to enter, he ordered.

Heritage Images via Getty ImagesIllustration from the Ramayana by Valmiki, second half of the16th century. Artist: Mir Zayn al-Abidin (active 1570-1580)

Laksmana was standing at the door when the sage Vivmitra appeared and said, I need to see Rma at once. Its urgent. Tell me, where is Rma?

Laksmana said, Dont go in now. He is talking to some people. Its important.

What is there that Rma would hide from me? said Vivmitra. I must go in, right now.

Laksmana said, Ill have to ask his permission before I can let you in.

Go in and ask then.

I cant go in till Rma comes out. Youll have to wait.

If you dont go in and announce my presence, Ill burn the entire kingdom of Ayodhya with a curse, said Vivmitra.

Laksmana thought, IfI go in now, Ill die. But if l dont go, this hot headed man will burn down the kingdom. All the subjects, all things living in it, will die. Its better that I alone should die.

So he went right in.

Rma asked him, Whats the matter? Vivmitrais here.

Send him in.

So Vivmitra went in. The private talk had already come to an end. Brahm and Vasistha had come to see Rma and say to him, Your work in the world of human beings is over. Your incarnation as Rama must now be given up. Leave this body, come up, and rejoin the gods. Thats all they wanted to say.

Laksmana said to Rma, Brother, you should cut off my head.

Rma said, Why We had nothing more to say. Nothing was left. So why should I cut off your head?

Laksmana said. You cant do that. You cant let me off because Im your brother. ThereII be a blot on Rmas name. You didnt spare your wife. You sent her to the jungle. I must be punished. I will leave.

Laksmana was an avatar of esa, the serpent on whom Visnu sleeps. His time was up too. He went directly to the river Saray and disappeared in the flowing waters.

When Laksmana relinquished his body, Rma summoned all his followers, Vibhsana, Sugrva, and others, and arranged for the coronation of his twin sons, Lava and Kua. Then Rma too entered the river Saray.

Hindustan Times via Getty ImagesKhon Ramakien (Masked played Ramayana) Thailand, during International Ramayana festival organised by ICCR at Kamani Auditorium on October 10, 2016, in New Delhi.

All this while, Hanumn was in the netherworld. When he was finally taken to the King of Spirits, he kept repeating the name of Rma. Rma Rma Rma ...

Then the King of Spirits asked, Who are you?

Hanumn.

Hanumn? Why have you come here?

Rmas ring fell into a hole. Ive come to fetch it.

The king looked around and showed him a platter. On it were thousands of rings. They were all Rmas rings. The king brought the platter to Hanumn, set it down, and said, Pick out your Ramas ring and take it.

They were all exactly the same. I dont know which one it is, said Hanumn, shaking his head.

The King of Spirits said, There have been as many Rmas as there are rings on this platter. When you return to earth, you will not find Rma. This incarnation of Rma is now over. Whenever an incarnation of Rma is about to be over, his ring falls down. I collect them and keep them. Now you can go.

So Hanuman left. (1)

This story is usually told to suggest that for every such Rma there is a Rmyana. The number of Rmyanas and the range of their influence in South and Southeast Asia over the past twenty-five hundred years or more are astonishing. Just a list of languages in which the Rama story is found makes one gasp: Annamese, Balinese, Bengali, Cambodian, Chinese, Gujarati, Javanese, Kannada, Kashmiri, Khotanese, Laotian, Malaysian, Marathi, Oriya, Prakrit, Sanskrit, Santali, Sinhalese, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Tibetan-to say nothing of Western languages. Through the centuries, some of these languages have hosted more than one telling of the Rama story. Sanskrit alone contains some twenty-five or more tellings belonging to various narrative genres (epics, kvyas or ornate poetic compositions, purnas or old mythological stories, and so forth). If we add plays, dance-dramas, and other performances, in both the classical and folk traditions. the number of Rmyanas grows even larger. To these must be added sculpture and bas-reliefs, mask plays, puppet plays and shadows plays, in all the many South and Southeast Asian cultures. Camille Bulcke (1950), a student of the Rmyanas, counted three hundred tellings. Its no wonder that even as long ago as the fourteenth century, Kumravysa, a Kannada poet, chose to write a Mahbhrata, because he heard the cosmic serpent which upholds the earth groaning under the burden of Rmyana poets (tinikidanu phanirya rmyanada kavigala bhradali). In this paper, indebted for its data to numerous previous translators and scholars, I would like to sort out for myself, and I hope for others, how these hundreds of tellings of a story in different cultures, languages, and religious traditions relate to each other: what gets translated, transplanted, transposed.

John S Lander via Getty ImagesKUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA Hanuman at Batu Caves Temple - dedicated to Lord Muruga with ornate shrines.

Obviously, these hundreds of tellings differ from one another. I have come to prefer the world tellings to the usual terms versions or variants because the latter terms can and typically do imply that there is an invariant, an original or Ur-textusually Vlmki s Sanskrit Rmyana, the earliest and most prestigious of them all. But as we shall see, it is not always Vlmkis narrative that is carried from one language to another.

It would be useful to make some distinctions before we begin. The tradition itself distinguishes between the Rma story (rmakath) and texts composed by a specific personVlmki, Kampan, or Krttivsa, for example. Though many of the latter are popularly called Rmyanas (like Kamparmyanam), few texts actually bear the title Rmyana; they are given titles like lrmvatram (The Incarnation of Rma), Rmcaritmnas (The Lake of the Acts of Rama), Ramakien (The Story of Rama) and so on. Their relations to the Rma story as told by Vlmki also vary. This traditional distinction between kath (story) and kvya (poem) parallels the French one between sujet and rcit, or the English one between story and discourse (Chatman 1978). It is also analogous to the distinction between a sentence and a speech act. The story may be the same in two tellings, but the discourse may be vastly different. Even the structure and sequence of events may be the same, but the style, details, tone, and textureand therefore the importmay be vastly different.

Here are two tellings of the same episode, which occur at the same point in the sequence of the narrative. The first is from the first book (Blaknda) of Vlmkis Sanskrit Rmyana; the second from the first canto (Plakntam) of Kampans lrmvatram in Tamil. Both narrate the story of Ahaly.

Seeing Mithila, Janakas whiteand dazzling city, all the sagescried out in praise, Wonderful!How wonderful!

Rghava, sighting on the outskirtsof Mithil an ashram, ancient,unpeopled, and lovely, asked the sage,What is this holy place,

so like an ashram but without a hermit?Master, Id like to hear: whose was it?Hearing Rghavas words, the great sageVivmitra, man of fire,

expert in words answered, Listen,Rghava, Ill tell you whose ashramthis was and how it was cursedby a great man in anger.

It was great Gautamas, this ashramthat reminds you of heaven, worshipped even by the gods. Long ago, with Ahalyhe practised tapas (4) here

for countless years. Once, knowing that Gautama was away, Indra (called Thousand Eyes),acs husband, took on the likenessof the sage, and said to Ahaly:

Men pursuing their desire do not waitfor the proper season, O you whohave a perfect body. Making lovewith you: thats what I want.That waist of yours is lovely.

She knew it was Indra of the Thousand Eyesin the guise of the sage. Yet she,wrongheaded woman, made up her mind,excited, curious about the kingof the gods.

ASSOCIATED PRESSJakarta's National Wayang Secretariat Sena Wangi stage artiste perform the 'Epic of Ramayana' in Chennai, Nov.18, 2007.

And then, her inner being satisfied,she said to the god, Im satisfied, kingof the gods. Go quickly from here.O giver of honour, lover, protectyourself and me.

And Indra smiled and said to Ahaly,Woman of lovely hips, I amvery content. Ill go the way I came.Thus after making love, he came outof the hut made of leaves.

And, O Rma, as he hurried away,nervous about Gautama and flustered,he caught sight of Gautama coming in,the great sage, unassailableby gods and antigods,

empowered by his tapas, still wetwith the water of the riverhed bathed in, blazing like fire,with kua grass and kindlingin his hands.

Seeing him, the king of the gods wasterror-struck, his face drained of colour.The sage, facing Thousand Eyes now dressedas the sage, the one rich in virtueand the other with none,

spoke to him in anger: You took my form,you fool, and did this that should neverbe done. Therefore you will lose your testicles.At once, they fell to the ground, they felleven as the great sage spoke

his words in anger to Thousand Eyes.Having cursed Indra, he then cursedAhaly: You, you will dwell heremany thousands of years, eating the air,without food, rolling in ash,

and burning invisible to all creatures.When Rma, unassailable sonof Daaratha, comes to this terriblewilderness, you will become pure,you woman of no virtue,

you will be cleansed of lust and confusion.Filled then with joy, youll wear againyour form in my presence. And sayingthis to that woman of bad conduct,blazing Gautama abandoned

the ashram, and did his tapason a beautiful Himalayan peak,haunt of celestial singers andperfected beings.

Emasculated Indra thenspoke to the gods led by Agniattended by the sagesand the celestial singers.

Ive only done this work on behalfof the gods, putting great Gautamain a rage, blocking his tapas.He has emasculated me

and rejected her in anger.Through this great outburstof curses, Ive robbed himof his tapas. Therefore,

great gods, sages, and celestial singers,help me, helper of the gods,to regain my testicles. And the gods,led by Agni, listened to Indra

of the Hundred Sacrifices and wentwith the Marut hoststo the divine ancestors, and said,Some time ago, Indra, infatuated,

ravished the sages wifeand was then emasculatedby the sages curse. Indra,king of gods, destroyer of cities,

is now angry with the gods.This ram has testiclesbut great Indra has lost his .So take the rams testicles

and quickly graft them onto Indra.A castrated ram will give yousupreme satisfaction and will bea source of pleasure.

People who offer itwill have endless fruit.You will give them your plenty.Having heard Agnis words,the Ancestors got togetherand ripped off the rams testiclesand applied them then to Indraof the Thousand Eyes.

Since then, the divine Ancestorseat these castrated ramsand Indra has the testiclesof the beast through the powerof great Gautamas tapas.

Come then, Rma, to the ashramof the holy sage and save Ahalywho has the beauty of a goddess.Rghava heard Vivmitras words

and followed him into the ashramwith Laksmana: there he sawAhaly, shining with an inner lightearned through her penances,

blazing yet hidden from the eyesof passersby, even gods and antigods.

(Sastrigal and Sastri 1958, knda 1, sargas 47-8; translated by David Shulman and A.K. Ramanujan)

NurPhoto via Getty ImagesPaintings depicting scenes Hindu epic Ramayana at the Sita Amman Temple (Seeta Amman Temple) in Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka, on 5 Septermber 2017.

They came to many-towered Mithilaand stood outside the fortress.On the towers were many flags.

There, high on an open field,stood a black rockthat was once Ahaly,

the great sages wife who fellbecause she lost her chastity,the mark of marriage in a house. [Verse 547)

Rmas eyes fell on the rock,the dust of his feetwafted on it.

Like one unconscious coming to,cutting through ignorance.changing his dark carcassfor true formas he reaches the Lords feet,

so did she stand aliveformed and colouredagain as she once was. [548]

Rma then asks Vivmitra why this lovely woman had been turned to stone. Vivmitra replies:

Listen. Once Indra,Lord of the Diamond Axe,waited on the absence

of Gautama, a sage all spirit,

meaning to reach outfor the lovely breastof doe-eyed Ahaly, his wife. [551]

Hurt by loves arrows,hurt by the look in her eyesthat pierced him like a spear, Indrawrithed and cast aboutfor stratagems;

one day, overwhelmedand mindless, he isolatedthe sage; and sneaked into the hermitagewearing the exact body of Gautama

whose heart knew no falsehoods. [552]

Sneaking in, he joined Ahaly;coupled, they drank deepof the clear new wineof first-night weddings;and she knew.

Yet unableto put aside what was not hers,she dallied in her joy,but the sage did not tarry,he came back, a very ivawith three eyes in his head. [553]

Gautama, who used no arrowsfrom bows. could use more inescapablepowers of curse and blessing.

When he arrived, Ahaly stood there,stunned, bearing the shame of a deedthat will not end in this endless world.

Indra shook in terror,started to move awayin the likeness of a cat. [554)

Eyes dropping fire, Gautamasaw what was done,and his words flewlike the burning arrowsat your hand:

May you be coveredby the vaginasof a thousand women!In the twinkle of an eyethey came and covered him. [555]

Covered with shame,laughingstock of the world,Indra left.

The sage turnedto his tender wifeand cursed:

O bought woman!May you turn to stone!and she fell at once

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How Hundreds Of Ramayanas, Across Languages And Cultures, Relate To Each Other - HuffPost India