By Justice Markandey Katju
In the Mahabharat in Draupadi's 'swayamvar' the test was to lift and string a bow, and shoot an arrow to pierce the eye of a revolving golden fish affixed to the roof of the assembly hall, only by looking at its reflection in a bowl of water. Only Arjun, among all the princes assembled in the sabha who were anxious to win Draupadi's hand, could do that. And that was because of his total focus and concentration on the eye of the fish
Patriotic Indians ( and in that term I include Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, as we are really one country, only temporarily and artificially divided by a British swindle in 1947 ) must become like Arjun. We must see only the eye of that revolving fish, and nothing else. All other thoughts are irrelevant, diversionary, trivial, or at best subordinate issues
What is that eye? That eye is India making a modern industrial giant, like USA or China, as explained in these videos and articles.
On this there can be no compromise. We owe that to our children, grandchildren, and succeeding generations, whom we do not want to see suffering from massive poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, lack of proper healthcare and good education, etc as most of our generation and our earlier generations have suffered. We want them to have a high standard of living and decent lives.
And to achieve this objective the Indian people will have to wage a historical protracted arduous people's struggle, and make a revolution, in which tremendous sacrifices will have to be made, as explained here
As explained in the videos and articles herein, the developed nations will oppose India's transformation into a mighty industrial giant tooth and nail, as their interest is to keep us relatively backward and weak, otherwise we will become a big rival to their industries with our cheap labour. So our struggle with the developed nations, who operate through their local agents, i.e. the Indian politicians, will be long and intense.
Just as Arjun could not see the real eye of the fish, but only its reflection in a bowl of water, so also patriotic Indians today cannot see that eye ( i.e. the revolutionary situation ) as that has not yet developed, but is still far away. India is presently passing through its period of ideological revolution, which, as historical experience shows, precedes an actual revolutiion
So our patriots have to shoot their arrows, i.e. direct their activities, at its reflection, i.e. their vision of it.
In this historical struggle :
May our great Emperors Ashoka and Akbar shower rose petals on our valiant patriots and bless them from the skies.
May our brave fighters in the war of 1857, Rani of Jhansi, Tatya Tope, Nana saheb, Maulvi Liaquat Ali, Kunwar Singh and others inspire us by their heroic deeds
May our great revolutionaries of the 20th century, Bhagat Singh, Surya Sen ( Masterda ), Chandrashehar Azad, Bismil, Ashfaqulla, Rajguru, Sukhdeo, Khudiram Bose, etc, ( who were our real freedom fighters, but whose names have been relegated to the footnotes of our history books, and who have been painted as mavericks and deviants ), who fought to create a just social order in which all Indians would get decent lives, but fell at the hands of British executioners and their agents, may they bestow their blessings on us, their humble disciples. May they steel our wills, fortify and enkindle our spirit, cheer us, applaud us, inspirit us, ennoble us, exalt and embolden us in our travails and protracted struggle against seemingly insuperable odds .
(Justice Katju is a retired judge of the Supreme Court. These are his personal views.)
