The Dharma and The Science

Most of us think that Science and Dharma (religion) are contradictory things. People, who think that science and religion cannot have a meeting point just as the two rims of a river cannot meet at a single point, are found here and there. Some people think that spiritualism and scientific ness are two different poles. Really, more and more people think that science and religion repulse each other. But, neither there is original contradiction in between Science and Dharma (religion) nor vast difference. The action wise difference between science and religion is that the science investigates truth remaining in the state of inquisitiveness based on physical world, where as the religion guides us to meet the truth through physical as well as spiritual realm. The target of both scientific investigation and religiosity is to uncover the truth. The aim of both Science and Dharma (religion) is social progress, advancement, development and happiness along with social welfare and peace.To view Science and Dharma (religion) as contradictory things is the visionary defect. What the fact is that they are two sides of a coin and are complementary to each other. If imperfectness is to lead to perfect ness Science and Dharma (religion) are to be practiced equally. Human society is uncompleted without any of these two. People give ambiguous, hotchpotch and amazing definitions if we ask them what the religion is now days. People are divided in different religion-like trademarks such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Islamism, Jainism and Sikhism etc. Well, they all have elements of real religion but these are sectored trademarks of specific communities. Sectored trademarks may or may not represent the religion in totality but each of them represent school of thought. I think Hinduism is more extensive and generous than others and represent the real religion to a great extent. Since it has the continuity of Vedic philosophy and simultaneously has capacity to associate all the schools of thought it can be taken, as real religion not sectored religious trademark only. But, we cannot neglect the fact that some non-scientific blind faiths had also been imposed in our Hinduism and some of these things are present in these days also. The unscientific blind faiths must be removed. Although our Hinduism approaches scientific ness to a great extent than other religious disciplines even at its present state also. I am fully convinced that the region of pure religion (Dharma) and the region of completed science are one. Science is systematized study and is realized philosophy. Since the Dharma (religion) is the best philosophy, the completed science unites it. In viewing our contemporary practical life the harmonization between Dharma and Science is more essential ever before in the days to come. by- Nirmala Mani Adhikary "Aayod Dhaumya"

Ganesh - Everyone's Favourite Hindu God

Ganesh is the elephant-god and owes his unusual form to his father, Shiva. Dad returned home after a few thousand years of meditation (and he only went out for some cigarettes) to find his wife, Parvati, with another man. He promptly cut the intruder’s head off before he was reminded that it was his son. Full of remorse but still blood-thirsty he cut off the head of a passing elephant and stuck it on.

Ganesh is also hugely popular and is regarded as the god of good fortune. With his long trunk he lifts your problems out of the way. By accepting such a funny-looking god is also a way of embracing the divine nature that lies behind all things. i.e. Believe that and you can believe anything.

Ganesh is one smart god too. He won the right to be lord of humanity over his brother, Kartikey. They had a race to run around the universe; so off Kartikey went at top speed while Ganesh simple walked around his parents, Shiva and Parvati – the implication was that all the universe was contained therein.

Shiva - The Only Really Cool God

Shiva is arguably the only really cool god. He sits around in a loincloth, gets stoned and meditates for thousands of years with cobras around his neck. He’s inclined to do the dance of destruction once in a while and just check out his taste in women – Durga and in particular, Kali, are not goddesses most would want to wake up to.

To his followers Shiva is sometimes seen as everything in one – Creator, Preserver, Destroyer and tooth fairy all in one. His traditional role as the Destructor is not seen as something negative. It’s more seen as the process of change and passing away so that new things may come.
Shiva is the god of yogis as such a steadfast ascetic and celibate. Although with pure Indian logic he’s also a passionate lover and the snakes around his neck represent his kundalini sexual energy. He’s often worshipped through the lingum, a huge clay phallus that will be drenched in milk mixed with bhang, resin from marijuana leaves.

He’s a favourite god of many sadhus. They will cover themselves with ashes, dress in saffron and praise his name each time they smoke a chillum.

by Roadjunky

अन्तै गइस्यो रे शिव–पार्वती त !

— मदन मणि अधिकारी

''प्रभो ! हे देवाधिदेव !! उठिस्यो न भन्या ।'' ब्रह्मतत्वमा लीन भएर परमानन्दको अनुभूति गर्दै रहेका देवमाथिका उपरदेव भगवान्‍ भोलेनाथलार्इ माता पार्वतीले घच्घच्याउनुभयो । एक भमट रनक्क रिस उठ्‍यो प्रभूलाइ एक लात जमाएर खुमरुर्‍याइदिउँ भmँै जङ्‍ नचलेको पनि होइन । तै पनि त्रmोधको पारोलार्इ ओरालेर खिसिक्क हाँस्नुभो भोलेनाथ !

''कति सुकला होइस्या ? अघिदेखिन् बोलाउँदा पनि नउठिसिने !'' पार्वती माताबाट आँखीभौं कर्काउँदै मर्जी भयो । ''के भो पि्रय ? किन भंग गरेकी मेरो ध्यान ? मलार्इ यस्तो बेलामा टोकसेकेा मन पर्दैन भन्ने तिमीलार्इ हेक्का छैन कि कसो ?'' स्वरलार्इ किञ्चित जर्खरो पारेर महादेवले प्रश्न तेस्र्याउनुभो । ''कस्तो भुलिस्या होला । शिवरात्रि आइसकेन ? भmन्‍ अस्ति नै देखी शिवरात्रिमा घुमाउन लाने भनिस्या..........''

हिमालयपुत्रीले अनुहार फुस्रो पार्दै यति भनिसकेपछि देवाधिदेव पशुपतिनाथलार्इ साह्रो पर्‍यो । ''ए हो त'' मनमनै गमे बूढाले ''पार्वतीलार्इ घुमाउन लैजाउँला भनेकै त थिएँ नि !'' त्यस पछि महादेव जुरुक्क उठेर तनक्क आङ तन्काउन लाग्नुभो भने पार्वती लाग्नुभो श ृङ्‍गार(पटार गनर्े काममा । हाम्रा महादेवलार्इ त के छ र, नाङ्गै हिँड्‍दिए पनि कसले के भन्छ ? ''बडाले जो गर्‍यो त्यो हुन्छ शास्त्रसम्मत, छैन शंकरको नंगा भेष्ा निन्दित'' भनेर कविले कविता त्यसै कथेका हुन्‍ त ! जटाजुटधारीलार्इ आफ्नो ख्याल नै कति पो रहन्छ र । उहाँलार्इ त जे भए पनि ठीक जसो भए पनि ठीक । तब न महादेव । प्रभूलार्इ जङ चल्नुपर्छ कालकूट विष्ा समेत घटघटी पार्दिनुहुन्छ । अभmैसम्म कण्ठ नीलोको नीलै छँदैछ ।

'भगवान्‍ नीलकण्ठकी(जय, जय, जय' भनेर चाकरीवाजहरुले जयघोष्ा गर्दानगर्दै पशुपतिनाथले एेनामा आफ्नो हुलिया नजर गरिसक्नुभएको थियो । यसोउसो गर्दागर्दै अबेर होलाहोलाजस्तो भइहाल्यो । ''ए नन्दी, खै कहाँ गयो यो पनि ?'' च्याँटि्‍ठनुभयो इशानेश्वर । नन्दी भने कुनातिर छेल परेर उङ्‍दै थिए, आवाजले भmसङ्ग भmस्के र हतपतमा हाजिर भए । ''सुत्याथिस् कि कसो ?'' भनेर प्रभूले हकानर्ुभो र नन्दीको पीठमा आसन जमाइ पनि हाल्नुभयो । उता माता पार्वतीको शृङ्‍गार(पटार सकिएकै थिएन ।

''कतै जान लाग्यो, यस्तै ताल...'' भुतभुताए बुढा । जेहोस्, एकछिनपछि देवी पर्वतपुत्रीको सवारी भो । ''आज निक्कै राम्री पो देखियौ त पि्रये'' भनेर महादेवले ठट्टा गर्दा मसक्क मस्किनुभयो उहाँ । ''अँ, ल अब मत्र्यमण्डल पृथ्वीको नेपालमा मेरो पि्रय पाशुपत क्ष्ोत्रतिर लैजा'', आवाज अलि रोबिलो बनाउँदै शिवजीले आदेश दिनुभो नन्दीलार्इ ।

''के अरे ? नेपाल जाने अरे ? म त जान्नँ पतिदेव'', पार्वतीले ठ्‍याक्कै कुरा काट्‍नुभो ।

''के भन्छिन् यी ? किन नजाने नेपाल ? भmन्‍ माइती देशमा जान पाउँदा खुशी हेलिन् भन्ठानेको त जान्न पो भन्छिन् ए !'' ''जेसुकै भन्नोस्, म त एक, दुर्इ, तीन जान्नँ । जान्नँ भनेपछि ठ्‍याङ्‍गै जाँदैजान्नँ । नेपालका मान्छेले हाम्रो भत्तmि गर्नै छाडिसके । त्यसै बाहिर देखावटी गरेर हुन्छ र, भित्री हृदयमा हाम्रो इज्जत, आदर भए पो । हेरिस्योस् त पाशुपत क्ष्ोत्रको दुर्दशा । त्यस्तो फोहोर ! भ्रष्टाचार उस्तै मौलाएको छ । हत्या, हिंसा, लुट, बलात्कारको ख्याल गर्दा त नर्कजस्तो बनाइसके । पातकीहरु नै अभm नैतिकता, सुशासनको भाष्ाण्ा ठोक्छन्‍ । हरे शिव, कसरी जानु त्यस्तो ठाउँमा ! म त जान्नँ प्रभो ।''

बूढा महादेवलार्इ पनर्ु पीर पर्‍यो । कुरो यसो गमेर हेर्दा ठीकै पनि हो । न त धर्म छ, न त नैतिकता नेपाल र नेपालीमा । विधर्मीको उत्पातै चलखेल, विशेष अवसरमा आक्कल भmुक्कल आउने राष्टि्रय सम्बोधनमा पनि आफूलार्इ कुनै प्रार्थना छैन । फेरि जातिय क्षत्रिय रुपमा दंगा भड्‍कार्इदिएका छन्‍, जनै लगाउने शिवजीलाइ बाहुन/क्षत्रीको कोटीमा राखेर राजनीति गर्लान्‍ भन्ने डर । त्यसपछि त बूढा लत्रिए, ''उसो भए भन न त पि्रये, हामी कता जाने ?'' ''अन्त जहाँ गए पनि यो नेपालचाहिँ नजाने प्रभो । जबसम्म पाशुपत क्ष्ोत्रको दुर्गति हट्‍दैन, शासक र शासनमा नैतिकता आउँदैन जबसम्म नेपाल पहिला जस्तै पवित्र हुँदैन, तबसम्म नजाने ।'' पार्वती माताको दृढोत्तmि यस्तै थियो ।

तहाँ उप्रान्त टेक्नोलोजीले सुसज्जित भएको देवाधिदेव महादेवको नीजि सचिवालय कैलाशदेखि एउटा र्इ(मेल भेजिएको छ, अरे उपरोत्तm बेहोरा खुलाएर अर्को सालसम्ममा स्थिति सुधि्रएदेखि शिव(पार्वती पाशुपत क्ष्ोत्रमा आउन सक्नुहुन्छ रे । यो सालचाहिँ उहाँहरु अन्तै गइस्यो रे !

Photojournalism

Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism (the collecting, editing, and presenting of news material for publication or broadcast) that creates images in order to tell a news story. It is now usually understood to refer only to still images, and in some cases to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such as documentary photography, street photography or celebrity photography) by the qualities of:

Ø Timeliness — the images have meaning in the context of a published chronological record of events.
Ø Objectivity — the situation implied by the images is a fair and accurate representation of the events they depict.
Ø Narrative — the images combine with other news elements, to inform and give insight to the viewer or reader.

Photojournalists must make decisions instantly and carry photographic equipment, often while exposed to the same risks (war, rioting, etc.).

Photojournalism as a descriptive term often implies the use of a certain bluntness of style or approach to image-making. The photojournalist approach to candid photography is becoming popular as a unique style of commercial photography. For example, many weddings today are shot in photojournalism style resulting in candid images that chronicle the events of the wedding day.A similar and related term fot it, is reportage.

Etymology

The invention of the term photojournalism is often attributed to Cliff Edom (1907–1991), who taught at the University of Missouri School of Journalism for 29 years. Edom established the first photojournalism program there, and created the Missouri Photographic Workshop in 1946. Edom said, during the judging of the 1989 Pictures of the Year Contest (which he also founded), that the then-Dean of the School of Journalism, Frank L. Mott actually coined the word.

History

Foundations

The practice of illustrating news stories with photographs was made possible by printing and photography innovations that occurred between 1880 and 1897. While newsworthy events were photographed as early as the 1850s, printed news stories were illustrated with wood engravings exclusively until the 1880s. News photographs had to be re-interpreted by an engraver before publication in order to be compatible with the printing presses of the time.

The pioneering battlefield photographs from the Crimean War (1853 to 1856) by British press reporters such as William Simpson of the Illustrated London News and Roger Fenton were published as engravings. Similarly, the American Civil War photographs of Matthew Brady were engraved before publication in Harper's Weekly. Because the public craved more realistic representations of news stories, it was common for newsworthy photographs to be exhibited in galleries or to be copied photographically in limited numbers.

On March 4, 1880, The Daily Graphic (New York) published the first halftone (rather than engraved) reproduction of a news photograph. Further innovations followed. In 1887, flash powder was invented, enabling journalists such as Jacob Riis to photograph informal subjects indoors. By 1897, it became possible to reproduce halftone photographs on printing presses running at full speed.

Despite these innovations, limitations remained, and many of the sensational newspaper and magazine stories in the period from 1897 to 1927 were illustrated with engravings. In 1921, the wirephoto made it possible to transmit pictures almost as quickly as news itself could travel. However, it was not until development of the commercial 35mm Leica camera in 1925, and the first flash bulbs between 1927 and 1930 that all the elements were in place for a "golden age" of photojournalism.

Golden age

In the "golden age" of photojournalism (1930s–1950s), some magazines (Picture Post (London), Paris Match (Paris), Life (USA), Sports Illustrated (USA)) and newspapers (The Daily Mirror (London), The Daily Graphic (New York)) built their huge readerships and reputations largely on their use of photography, and photographers such as Robert Capa, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Margaret Bourke-White and W. Eugene Smith became well-known names.


Until the 1980s, most large newspapers were printed with turn-of-the-century “letterpress” technology using easily smudged oil-based ink, off-white, low-quality “newsprint” paper, and coarse engraving screens. While letterpresses produced legible text, the photoengraving dots that formed pictures often bled or smeared and became fuzzy and indistinct. In this way, even when newspapers used photographs well — a good crop, a respectable size — murky reproduction often left readers re-reading the caption to see what the photo was all about. Not until the 1980s had a majority of newspapers switched to “offset” presses that reproduce photos with fidelity on better, whiter paper.

By contrast Life, one of America’s most popular weekly magazines from 1936 through the early 1970s, was filled with photographs reproduced beautifully on oversize 11×14-inch pages, using fine engraving screens, high-quality inks, and glossy paper. Life often published a United Press International (UPI) or Associated Press (AP) photo that had been first reproduced in newspapers, but the quality magazine version appeared to be a different photo altogether.
In large part because their pictures were clear enough to be appreciated, and because their name always appeared with their work, magazine photographers achieved near-celebrity status. Life became a standard by which the public judged photography, and many of today’s photo books celebrate “photojournalism” as if it had been the exclusive province of near-celebrity magazine photographers.

The Best of Life (1973), for example, opens with a two-page (1960) group shot of 39 justly famous Life photographers. But 300 pages later, photo credits reveal that scores of the photos among Life’s “best” were taken by anonymous UPI and AP photographers.
Thus even during the golden age, because of printing limitations and the UPI and AP syndication systems, many newspaper photographers labored in relative obscurity.

Since the late 1970s, photojournalism and documentary photography have increasingly been accorded a place in art galleries alongside fine art photography. Luc Delahaye, Lauren Greenfield and Chien-Chi Chang are among many who regularly exhibit in galleries.

Professional organizations

The Danish Union of Press Photographers (Pressefotografforbundet) was the first national organization for newspaper photographers in the world. It was founded in 1912 in Denmark by six press photographers in Copenhagen. Today it has nearly 800 members.

The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) was founded in 1946 in the U.S., and has about 12,000 members. Others around the world include the British Press Photographers Association (BPPA) founded in 1984, then relaunched in 2003, and now has around 450 members. Hong Kong Press Photographers Association (1989), Northern Ireland Press Photographers Association (2000), Pressfotografernas Klubb (Sweden, 1930), and PK — Pressefotografenes Klubb (Norway).

News organisations and journalism schools run many different awards for photojournalists. Since 1968, Pulitzer Prizes have been awarded for the following categories of photojournalism: 'Feature Photography', 'Spot News Photography' and 'Capture the Moment'. Other awards are World Press Photo, Best of Photojournalism, and Pictures of the Year as well as the UK based The Press Photographer's Year.


Ethical and legal considerations

Photojournalism works within the same ethical approaches to objectivity that are applied by other journalists. What to shoot, how to frame and how to edit are constant considerations.
Often, ethical conflicts can be mitigated or enhanced by the actions of a sub-editor or picture editor, who takes control of the images once they have been delivered to the news organisation. The photojournalist often has no control as to how images are ultimately used.

The emergence of digital photography offers whole new realms of opportunity for the manipulation, reproduction, and transmission of images. It has inevitably complicated many of the ethical issues involved.

The U.S. National Press Photographers Association, and other professional organizations, maintain codes of ethics to specify approaches to these issues.

Major ethical issues are often inscribed with more or less success into law. Laws regarding photography can vary significantly from nation to nation. The legal situation is further complicated when one considers that photojournalism made in one country will often be published in many other countries.


The impact of new technologies

Smaller, lighter cameras greatly enhanced the role of the photojournalist. Since the 1960s, motor drives, electronic flash, auto-focus, better lenses and other camera enhancements have made picture taking easier. New digital cameras free photojournalists from the limitation of film roll length, as hundreds of images can be stored on a single microdrive or memory card.

Content remains the most important element of photojournalism, but the ability to extend deadlines with rapid gathering and editing of images has brought significant changes. As recently as 15 years ago, nearly 30 minutes were needed to scan and transmit a single color photograph from a remote location to a news office for printing. Now, equipped with a digital camera, a mobile phone and a laptop computer, a photojournalist can send a high-quality image in minutes, even seconds after an event occurs. Video phones and portable satellite links increasingly allow for the mobile transmission of images from almost any point on the earth.

There is some concern by news photographers that the profession of photojournalism as it is known today could change to such a degree that it is unrecognizable as image-capturing technology naturally progresses. There is also concern that fewer print publications are commissioning serious photojournalism on timely issues.




Photography

Photography is the process of making pictures by means of the action of capturing light on a film. Light patterns reflected or emitted from objects are recorded onto a sensitive medium or storage chip through a timed exposure. The process is done through mechanical, chemical or digital devices known as cameras.


The word comes from the Greek words φως phos ("light"), and γραφις graphis ("stylus", "paintbrush") or γραφη graphê, together meaning "drawing with light" or "representation by means of lines" or "drawing." Traditionally the product of photography has been called a photograph. The term photo is an abbreviation; many people also call them pictures. In digital photography, the term image has begun to replace photograph. (The term image is traditional in geometric optics.)

Photographic image-forming devices

The camera or camera obscura is the image-forming device and photographic film or a digital storage card is the recording medium, although other methods are available. For instance, the photocopy or xerography machine forms permanent images but uses the transfer of static electrical charges rather than photographic film, hence the term electrophotography. Rayographs published by Man Ray and others are images produced by the shadows of objects cast on the photographic paper, without the use of a camera. Objects can also be placed directly on the glass of a scanner to produce digital pictures.

Photographers control the camera and lens to expose the light recording material (usually film or a charge-coupled device; a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor may also be used) to the required amount of light. After processing, this produces an image.
The controls usually include but are not limited to:
Focus of the lens

Aperture of the lens - adjustment of the iris, measured in f-stops, which controls the amount of light entering the lens. Aperture also has an effect on focus and Depth of field.

Shutter speed - adjustment of the speed (often expressed either as fractions of seconds or as an angle, with mechanical shutters) of the shutter to control the amount of time during which the imaging medium is exposed to light per each exposure. Shutter speed may be used to control the amount of light striking the image plane, though doing so has implications for the amount of motion blur visible in the exposed image.

White balance - on digital cameras, electronic compensation for the color temperature associated with a given set of lighting conditions, ensuring that white light is registered as such on the imaging chip and therefore that the colors in the frame will appear natural. On mechanical, film-based cameras, this function is served by the operator's choice of film stock. In addition to using white balance to register natural coloration of the image, photographers may employ white balance to aesthetic end, for example white balancing to a blue object in order to obtain a warm color temperature.

Metering - measurement of exposure at a midtone so that highlights and shadows are exposed according to the photographer's wishes. Many modern cameras feature this ability, though it is traditionally accomplished with the use of a separate light metering device.
ISO - traditionally an indicator of the selected film speed on film cameras, ISO ratings are employed on modern digital cameras as an indication of the imaging chip's light sensitivity.

Auto-focus point - on some cameras, the selection of a point in the imaging frame upon which the auto-focus system will attempt to focus. Many SLR cameras feature multiple auto-focus points in the viewfinder.
Many other elements of the imaging device itself may have a pronounced effect on the quality and/or aesthetic effect of a given photograph; among them are:
Focal length and type of lens (telephoto, macro, wide angle, or zoom)
Filters or scrims placed between the subject and the light recording material, either in front of or behind the lens

Inherent sensitivity of the medium to light intensity and color/wavelengths.
The nature of the light recording material, for example its resolution as measured in pixels or grains of silver halide.

Remembering Camera controls are inter-related, as the total amount of light reaching the film plane (the "exposure") changes proportionately with the duration of exposure, aperture of the lens, and focal length of the lens (which changes as the lens is focused, or zoomed). Changing any of these controls alters the exposure. Many consumer-grade cameras may be set to adjust most or all of these controls automatically, with little or no input from the operator. This automatic functionality may be useful to amateur photographers, who may not have mastered the ability to expose their photographs manually.

The duration of an exposure is referred to as shutter speed, often even in cameras that don't have a physical shutter, and is typically measured in fractions of a second. Aperture is expressed by an f-number or f-stop (derived from focal ratio), which is proportional to the ratio of the focal length to the diameter of the aperture. If the f-number is decreased by a factor of 2, the aperture diameter is increased by the same factor, and its area is increased by a factor of 2. The f-stops that might be found on a typical lens include 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, 32, where going up "one stop" doubles the amount of light reaching the film, and stopping down one stop halves the amount of light.

Exposures can be achieved through various combinations of shutter speed and aperture. For example, f/8 at 1/125th of a second and f/4 at 1/500th of a second yield the same amount of light. The chosen combination has an impact on the final result. In addition to the subject or camera movement that might vary depending on the shutter speed, the aperture (and focal length of the lens) determine the depth of field, which refers to the range of distances from the lens that will be in focus. For example, using a long lens and a large aperture (f/2.8, for example), a subject's eyes might be in sharp focus, but not the tip of the nose. With a smaller aperture (f/22), or a shorter lens, both the subject's eyes and nose can be in focus. With very small apertures, such as pinholes, a wide range of distance can be brought into focus.
Image capture is only part of the image forming process. Regardless of material, some process must be employed to render the latent image captured by the camera into the final photographic work. This process consists of two steps, development, and printing.
During the printing process, modifications can be made to the print by several controls. Many of these controls are similar to controls during image capture, while some are exclusive to the printing process. Most controls have equivalent digital concepts, but some create different effects. For example, dodging and burning controls are different between digital and film processes. Other printing modifications include:

Chemicals and Process used during film development

Duration of exposure (equivalent to shutter speed)

Printing Aperture (equivalent to aperture, but has no effect on depth of field)

Contrast

Dodging (Reduction in exposure of certain print areas, resulting in a lighter areas)

Burning (Increase in exposure of certain areas, resulting in darker areas)

Paper Quality (Glossy, Matte, Etc)

Uses of photography

Photography has gained the interest of many scientists and artists from its inception. Scientists have used photography to record and study movements, such as Eadweard Muybridge's study of human and animal locomotion (1887). Artists are equally interested by these aspects but also try to explore avenues other than the photo-mechanical representation of reality, such as the pictorialist movement. Military, police and security forces use photography for surveillance, recognition and data storage. Photography is used to preserve memories of favorites and as a source of entertainment.

History of photography

Chemical photography

For centuries images have been projected onto surfaces. As argued by artist David Hockney, some artists used the camera obscura and camera lucida to trace scenes as early as the 16th century. However, this theory is heavily disputed by today's contemporary realist artists who find the device almost impossible to use. Furthermore, these artists are able to produce work of extremely realistic and accurate quality using techniques of measurement and observation passed down in generations old traditions, and not any sort of tracing. These traditions were used by the old masters in their lineage and it is not plausible that the camera obscura would have been widely used, as other freehand techniques are more accurate and very easy to use with proper training. These early cameras did not fix an image, but only projected images from an opening in the wall of a darkened room onto a surface, turning the room into a large pinhole camera. The phrase camera obscura literally means darkened room. While this early prototype of today's modern camera may have had modest usage in its time, it was an important step in the evolution of the invention.

The first photograph was an image produced in the 1820s by the French inventor Nicéphore Niépce on a polished pewter plate covered with a petroleum derivative called bitumen of Judea. Produced with a camera, the image required an eight-hour exposure in bright sunshine. Niépce then began experimenting with silver compounds based on a Johann Heinrich Schultz discovery in 1724 that a silver and chalk mixture darkens when exposed to light.

In partnership, Niépce, in Chalon-sur-Saône, and Louis Daguerre, in Paris, refined the existing silver process. In 1833 Niépce died of a stroke, leaving his notes to Daguerre. While he had no scientific background, Daguerre made two pivotal contributions to the process. He discovered that exposing the silver first to iodine vapour, before exposure to light, and then to mercury fumes after the photograph was taken, could form a latent image. Bathing the plate in a salt bath then fixes the image. In 1839 Daguerre announced that he had invented a process using silver on a copper plate called the Daguerreotype. A similar process is still used today for Polaroids. The French government bought the patent and immediately made it public domain.
William Fox Talbot had earlier discovered another means to fix a silver process image but had kept it secret. After reading about Daguerre's invention Talbot refined his process, so that it might be fast enough to take photographs of people. By 1840, Talbot had invented the calotype process. He coated paper sheets with silver chloride to create an intermediate negative image. Unlike a daguerreotype a calotype negative could be used to reproduce positive prints, like most chemical films do today. Talbot patented this process, which greatly limited its adoption. He spent the rest of his life in lawsuits defending the patent until he gave up on photography. Later George Eastman refined Talbot's process, which is the basic technology used by chemical film cameras today. Hippolyte Bayard had also developed a method of photography but delayed announcing it, and so was not recognized as its inventor.

In 1851 Frederick Scott Archer invented the collodion process. Photographer and children's author, Lewis Carroll, used this process.
Slovene Janez Puhar invented the technical procedure for making photographs on glass in 1841. The invention was recognized on July 17 1852 in Paris by the Académie Nationale Agricole, Manufacturière et Commerciale.

Herbert Bowyer Berkeley experimented with his own version of collodian emulsions after Samman introduced the idea of adding dithionite to the pyrogallol developer. Berkeley discovered that with his own addition of sulphite, to absorb the sulphur dioxide given off by the chemical dithionite in the developer, that dithionite was not required in the developing process. In 1881 he published his discovery. Berkeley's formula contained pyrogallol, sulphite and citric acid. Ammonia was added just before use to make the formula alkaline The new formula was sold by the Platinotype Company in London as Sulpho-Pyrogallol Developer.

Popularization

The Daguerreotype proved popular in responding to the demand for portraiture emerging from the middle classes during the Industrial Revolution. This demand, that could not be met in volume and in cost by oil painting, added to the push for the development of photography. Daguerreotypes, while beautiful, were fragile and difficult to copy. A single photograph taken in a portrait studio could cost USD $1,000 in 2006 dollars. Photographers also encouraged chemists to refine the process of making many copies cheaply, which eventually led them back to Talbot's process.

Ultimately, the modern photographic process came about from a series of refinements and improvements in the first 20 years. In 1884 George Eastman, of Rochester, New York, developed dry gel on paper, or film, to replace the photographic plate so that a photographer no longer needed to carry boxes of plates and toxic chemicals around. In July of 1888 Eastman's Kodak camera went on the market with the slogan "You press the button, we do the rest". Now anyone could take a photograph and leave the complex parts of the process to others, and photography became available for the mass-market in 1901 with the introduction of Kodak Brownie.

Since then color film has become standard, as well as automatic focus and automatic exposure. Digital recording of images is becoming increasingly common, as digital cameras allow instant previews on LCD screens and the resolution of top of the range models has exceeded high quality 35 mm film while lower resolution models have become affordable. For the enthusiast photographer processing black and white film, little has changed since the introduction of the 35mm film Leica camera in 1925.

Economic history

A photographer appears to be photographing himself in a 19th century photographic studio., c. 1893
In the nineteenth century, photography developed rapidly as a commercial service. End-user supplies of photographic equipment accounted for only about 20% of industry revenue.
With the development of digital technologies and of communications devices, such as camera phones, understanding the economics of image use is becoming increasingly important for understanding the evolution of the communications industry as a whole.

Photography types

Color photography

Color photography was explored throughout the 1800s. Initial experiments in color could not fix the photograph and prevent the color from fading. The first permanent color photo was taken in 1861 by the physicist James Clerk Maxwell.

One of the early methods of taking color photos was to use three cameras. Each camera would have a color filter in front of the lens. This technique provides the photographer with the three basic channels required to recreate a color image in a darkroom or processing plant. Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii developed another technique, with three color plates taken in quick succession.

Practical application of the technique was held back by the very limited color response of early film; however, in the early 1900s, following the work of photo-chemists such as H. W. Vogel, emulsions with adequate sensitivity to green and red light at last became available.
The first color film, Autochrome, invented by the French Lumière brothers, reached the market in 1907. It was based on a 'screen-plate' filter made of dyed dots of potato starch, and was the only color film on the market until German Agfa introduced the similar Agfacolor in 1932. In 1935, American Kodak introduced the first modern ('integrated tri-pack') color film, Kodachrome, based on three colored emulsions. This was followed in 1936 by Agfa's Agfacolor Neue. Unlike the Kodachrome tri-pack process the colour couplers in Agfacolor Neue were integral with the emulsion layers, which greatly simplified the film processing. Most modern color films, except Kodachrome, are based on the Agfacolor Neue technology. Instant color film was introduced by Polaroid in 1963.

As an interesting side note, the inventors of Kodachrome, Leopold Mannes and Leopold Godowsky, Jr. were both accomplished musicians. Godowsky was the brother-in-law of George Gershwin and his father was Leopold Godowsky, one of the world's greatest pianists.
Color photography may form images as a positive transparency, intended for use in a slide projector or as color negatives, intended for use in creating positive color enlargements on specially coated paper. The latter is now the most common form of film (non-digital) color photography owing to the introduction of automated photoprinting equipment.

Digital Photography

Traditional photography was a considerable burden for photographers working at remote locations (such as press correspondents) without access to processing facilities. With increased competition from television there was pressure to deliver their images to newspapers with greater speed. Photo-journalists at remote locations would carry a miniature photo lab with them and some means of transmitting their images down the telephone line. In 1981 Sony unveiled the first consumer camera to use a CCD for imaging, and which required no film -- the Sony Mavica. While the Mavica did save images to disk, the images themselves were displayed on television, and therefore the camera could not be considered fully digital. In 1990, Kodak unveiled the DCS 100, the first commercially available digital camera. Its cost precluded any use other than photojournalism and professional applications, but commercial digital photography was born.

Digital imaging uses an electronic sensor such as a charge-coupled device to record the image as a piece of electronic data rather than as chemical changes on film. Some other devices, such as cell phones, now include digital imaging features. Even though there are no chemical processes, a digital camera captures a frame of whatever it happens to be pointed at, which can be viewed later.

Although at first glance digital imaging appears to be photography, and even meets some of the criteria to be defined as such, it is fundamentally different. The primary difference lies in that photography inherently resists manipulation due to the fact that it is an analog process involving film, optics and photographic paper, while digital imaging is a highly manipulative medium since it is purely digital from the beginning. This difference allows for a degree of image post-processing which is impossible in photography, and thus the distinction has less to do with visual dissimilarities, and far more to do with their quite different communicative potentials and applications.

Digital imaging is replacing photography in the consumer and professional markets at a rapid pace. In 10 years, digital point and shoot cameras have become widespread consumer products. These digital cameras now outsell film cameras, and many include features not found in film cameras such as the ability to shoot video and record audio. Kodak announced in January 2004 that it would no longer produce reloadable 35 mm cameras after the end of that year. This was interpreted as a sign of the end of film photography. However, Kodak was at that time a minor player on the reloadable film cameras market. In January 2006 Nikon followed suit and announced that they will stop the production of all but two models of their film cameras, they will continue to produce the low-end Nikon FM10, and the high-end Nikon F6. On May 25, 2006 Canon announced they will stop developing new film SLR cameras.

The price of 35 mm and APS compact cameras have dropped, probably due to direct competition from digital and the resulting growth of the offer of second-hand film cameras.
Because photography is popularly synonymous with truth ("The camera doesn't lie"), digital imaging has raised many ethical concerns. Many photojournalists have declared they will not crop their pictures, or are forbidden from combining elements of multiple photos to make "illustrations," passing them as real photographs. Many courts will not accept digital images as evidence because of their inherently manipulative nature. Today's technology has made picture editing relatively easy for even the novice photographer. Even beginners can easily edit color, contrast, exposure and sharpness with the click of a mouse, whereas those same procedures would have taken an extensive amount of time in a traditional darkroom.

DARKROOM PROCESSING

Darkroom is a room for processing photography materials. It must completely seal out light from outside the room. In the early days of the medium, many photographers traveled with portable darkrooms, which were housed in horse-drawn wagons or carried by servants. Today many people have a home darkroom built in their basement, laundry room, or closet.

Darkroom is divided into a dry side and a wet side. The dry side is used for loading, enlarging, and preparation; the wet side contains a sink with temperature-controlled running water, and is used for the chemical processing of films and prints. Because many processing chemicals are toxic, certain precautions are necessary: the darkroom should have an exhaust fan to expel fumes and dust, and the photographer should always wear latex gloves when handling wet materials and a dust mask when mixing powdered chemicals with water.

During the process of exposing and developing black-and-white printing paper, a special orange-colored light bulb called a safelight can provide some illumination. But during the processing of black-and-white films, color films, and color printing papers, the darkroom must be totally dark, because these materials are panchromatic—that is, they are sensitive to all types of light.

In the home darkroom, film is customarily developed in a lighttight tank, which holds metal reels onto which the exposed film has been wound. Photographers make prints with an enlarger, an upright device that functions much like a camera except that it contains its own light source. The enlarger light shines through the negative, the enlarger lens focuses this light, and a large image of the negative projects onto the printing paper, which sits on a flat easel at the base of the enlarger.

Developing the Film

Developing Film Developing photographic film requires a series of chemical baths that cause the latent image on the exposed film to become visible as a negative. The process begins with the developer (1), which causes metallic silver to form where the film has been exposed to light, in densities that depend on the amount of exposure. To stop the action of the developer, film goes into a stop bath (2). After a rinse in water, the film goes into a fixer (3) to removes any silver salts not converted to metallic silver. After a short rinse, the film is submerged in fixer remover (4) to clear any remaining fixer from the film. The final bath (5) is a thorough rinse in water. The developed negative is then allowed to dry.

Photographers develop film by treating it with an alkaline chemical solution called a developer. This solution reactivates the process begun by the action of light when the film was exposed. It encourages large grains of silver to form around the minute particles of metal that already make up the latent (not yet visible) image. As large particles of silver begin to form, a visible image develops on the film.

As large particles of silver begin to form, a visible image develops on the film. The density of silver deposited in each area depends on the amount of light the area received during exposure. In order to arrest the action of the developer, photographers transfer the film to a solution called the stop bath, which chemically neutralizes the developer. After rinsing the film, they apply another chemical solution to the negative image to fix it—that is, to remove residual silver halide crystals unexposed to light. The solution used for this process is commonly referred to as hypo, or fixer.
After a short rinse, a fixer remover, or hypo-clearing agent, is applied to clear any remaining fixer from the film. The film must then be thoroughly washed in water, as residual fixer tends to destroy negatives over time. Finally, bathing the processed film in a washing aid promotes uniform drying and prevents formation of water spots or streaks.






Printing the Photos

Printing Photographs Producing a photographic print from a developed negative also requires a series of chemical baths. The process begins by projecting light from an enlarger through the negative and onto a piece of photographic paper (paper treated with a light-sensitive coating). A developer bath (1) makes the positive image visible on the paper; a stop bath (2) stops the action of the developer so the print won't continue to darken; and a fixer bath (3) and a thorough rinse in water (4) remove any remaining reactive chemicals. The finished print then dries

Photographers produce prints by either of two methods: contact or projection. The contact method works for making prints of exactly the same size as the negative. Using this method, they place the emulsion side of the negative in contact with the printing material and expose the two together to a source of light. Photographers with 35-millimeter cameras commonly use this method to print what is called a contact sheet, which shows all the exposures from a single roll of film in small size.
For projection printing, photographers first place the negative in the enlarger and place a piece of sensitized printing material on the flat easel at its base. Switching on the enlarger light source projects an enlarged image of the negative onto the paper. An aperture on the enlarging lens controls the exposure, along with a timer connected to the enlarger light. The exposure commonly lasts from ten seconds to a minute. By blocking part of the light source with hands or small tools, the photographer can reduce or increase the amount of light falling on selected portions of the image, thus lightening or darkening those areas in the final print. This technique is known as dodging when used to lighten an area and as burning when making it darker.
For either printing process, prints are made on sheets of paper or plastic that have been coated with a light-sensitive emulsion. This coating is similar to that used for film but is much less sensitive to light. After exposing the print, the photographer can then develop and fix the positive image by a process very similar to that used for developing film. To process black-and-white prints, the paper is usually placed in a series of open trays; for color prints, a drum or automatic roller processor is preferred.

ऋग्वेदमा सूर्य-सन्दर्भ

ऋग्वेदमा सूर्य-सन्दर्भऋग्वेदमा सूर्यस“ग सम्बन्धित जम्मा १४ सूक्त छन् । तीमध्ये ११ सूक्तहरु सूर्यको उपवर्ण्र्ाा, स्तुति या महत्व-प्रतिपादक छन् । ऋग्वेद तथा वैदिक परम्पराका ग्रन्थहरुमा सूर्यका अनेक नामहरु पाइन्छन्, जस्तै- मित्र, अर्यमा, भग, वरुण, दक्ष, अंश, धाता, विवस्वान्, आदित्य, इन्द्र, पूषा, त्वष्टा, सविता, विष्णु, सूर्य, रवि, आदि । वस्तुतः सूर्य एकै हुन् र कर्म, काल, परिस्थिति अनुसार उनका विविध नाम राखिएका हुन् । यी प्रत्येक नामले छुट्टाछुट्टै अर्थ बोकेका छन् । उदाहरणकालागि 'आदित्य' नामलाई लिऊ“ । 'आदित्य' किन भनियो - अदितिलाई सूर्यकी माता पनि मानिएको छ । यिनै अदितिको नामबाट सूर्यलाई आदित्य पनि भनिएको हो । पुराणहरुमा अदिति कश्यप ऋषिकी पत्नी एवम् देवमाता (एक नारी) की रुपमा वर्ण्र्ाागरिएकी छन् । परन्तु, 'अदिति' शब्दको यौगिक अर्थ 'अखण्ड' हो भन्ने संस्कृतज्ञहरुको मत छ । यस अर्थमा हेर्दा ऋग्वेदले सूर्यलाई कुनै अदिति नामकी नारीको पुत्र भन्ने जनाउनकालागि भन्दापनि कुनै गूढ अर्थमा 'आदित्य' नामले सम्बोधन गरेको बुझिन्छ । ऋग्वेदमा सूर्यका सर्न्दर्भमा बताइएका तथ्यहरुलाई आधुनिक विज्ञानको आ“खाबाट हेर्दा रोचक लाग्दछ । जस्तै : आधुनिक विज्ञानले प्रमाणित गरेको छकि सूर्यको किरणमा सात रङ्ग समेटिएका हुन्छन् र ती सात हु“दाहु“दैपनि तिनमा एकत्व छ । यसैलाई जनाउने गरी ऋग्वेद मंडल २, सूक्त ३६(२ मा भनिएको छकि सूर्यको एक चक्रवाला रथमा सात घोडा जोतिएका छन् र एकै अश्व ढकिरण) सात नामले रथ बोक्दछ । सूर्यको किरण सेतो रङ्गको देखिन्छ, तर यसमा सात रङ्ग निहित छन् । अनि ती सात रङ्गलाई संयोजन गर्दा एकै रङ्ग ढसेतो) बन्छ भन्ने तथ्य त हाम्रा विज्ञान पढ्ने विद्यार्थीले विद्यालयमा 'प्राक्टिकल' गरेर हेरिरहेकै छन् ।अर्को एक सर्न्दर्भ हेरौं । हामीले अनुभव गरेकै कुरा होकि प्रातः कालमा सूर्य उदाउनु भन्दा केही समय अघिनै उज्यालो हुन्छ र यसलाई उषाकाल भनिन्छ । ऋग्वेद मंडल १, सूक्त १२३, मन्त्र ८ मा भनिएको छकि उषा सूर्यभन्दा ३० योजन अगाडी रहन्छे । यसबारेमा आचार्य सायण लेख्नुहुन्छ( "उषा सूर्यभन्दा ३० योजन पूर्वगामिनी भएकी हुनाले सूर्योदय भन्दा करीब आधा घण्टा पहिले उषाको उदय मान्नुपर्छ ।" अझ अर्को वैज्ञानिकतापूर्ण उदाहरणको रुपमा ऋग्वेदमै मंडल ५, सूक्त ४०, मन्त्र ५(९ मा सूर्यग्रहणको पूर्ण विवरण छ । यसैगरी विभिन्न मन्त्रहरुमा सूर्यको कारणले नै वर्ष महिना, दिन र रात हुने हो भन्ने तथ्य बताएको देखिन्छ । साथै, तेह्रौं महिना -मलमास अथवा मलिम्लुच) बारेमा पनि बताइएको छ । सौर र चान्द्र दुबै मास वैदिक कालमा प्रयुक्त हुने र ती दुईमा सामञ्जस्य ल्याउन अधिक् मास वा मलमास मलिम्लुच पनि राखिएको ऋग्वेदबाट ज्ञात हुन्छ । यो प्रचलन आजैसम्म पनि यथावत् छ । ऋग्वेद( १।१५५।६ मा कालका ९४ अंश बताइएका छन् । संवत्सर, दुई अयन -दक्षिणायन र उत्तरायन), पा“च ऋतु -हेमन्त र शिशिरलाई एकै मानिएको), बाह्र महिना, चौबीस पक्ष, तीस अहोरात्र, आठ पहर र बाह्र राशि गरी यिनको संख्या जम्मा ९४ हुनआउ“छ । ऋग्वेद( १०।१४९।१ मा सूर्यको आकर्षा शक्तिको कारणले नै पृथिवी र अन्तरिक्षलाई अड्याएको बताइएको छ । सौरमण्डलको अवस्थिति सूर्यकै कारणले हो र यसमा आकर्षाशक्ति रहेको छ भन्ने तथ्य अनादि कालदेखिनै आर्यहरुलाई थाहा थियो भन्ने कुराको बलियो प्रमाण मिल्छ । सूर्यको किरणले अनेक रोगहरुको निवारण गर्न सकिने कुरा पनि आधुनिक वैज्ञानिकहरुले बताएकै छन् । उता, ऋग्वेदमा रोग-निवारणार्थ सूर्यको किरण उपयोगी हुने तथ्य बताउने तीन मन्त्रहरु छन् । मंडल १, सूक्त ५० मा मन्त्र ८, ११, र १३ ले सूर्य किरणबाट रोगको उपचार बारेमा बताएका छन् । वैदिक वाङमयका अन्य ग्रन्थहरुमा यसको विस्तार छ“दैछ । सूर्य नमस्कारलाई उपचार पद्धतिको रुपमा स्वीकार गरेर आरोग्यलाभ गर्नेहरु त्यसका प्रत्यक्ष प्रमाणका रुपमा आजपनि भेटिइन्छन् ।चन्द्रमाको आफ्नो प्रकाश हु“दैन र यो सूर्यको प्रकाशले प्रकाशित हुने हो । यो यथार्थता आज विज्ञानको सामान्य विद्यार्थीलाई पनि थाहा छ । खुशीको कुरा छकि ऋग्वेदमा स्पष्टतः यही कुरा बताइएको छ । मंडल १, सूक्त ८४, मन्त्र १५ को व्याख्या गर्दै सायणले अर्थ्याएका छन्( "सूर्यको एक किरण चन्द्रमण्डललाई प्रदीप्त गर्दछ । सूर्यबाट नै चन्द्रमामा प्रकाश आउ“छ ।" -अथाप्यस्यैको रश्मिश्चन्द्रमसं प्रति दीप्यते । आदित्यतो˜स्य दीप्तिर्भवति ।।) यसको अलावा, ऋग्वेदमा खगोलवर्त्तीप्तषिर्, ग्रह, तारा तथा उल्का आदिको पनि उल्लेख छ । सौर परिवारको बारेमा वैदिक विज्ञानलाई विस्तृत ज्ञान भएको देखिन्छ । वैज्ञानिकताको आ“खाले जा“च-परख गर्ने होभने यस्ता अनेकौं उदाहरणहरु भेटिनेछन्, जस्ले ऋग्वेदको र्सार्वजनिनताको थप प्रमाण दिनेछन् । बाकसभित्र बहुमूल्य सम्पत्ति त छ, तर त्यसको सदुपयोग गर्न सक्ने वा नसक्ने भन्ने कुरा त हाम्रो क्षमता वा अक्षमताले निर्धारण गर्दछ । "ल्हासामा सुन छ, कान मेरो बुच्चै" लाई चरितार्थ गर्न पटक्कै हु“दैन र "बाबुले घिउ खाएका थिए, नपत्याए मेरो हात सू“घ्" भन्ने प्रवृत्तिले पनि हु“दैन । पुनर्जागरणको युग नआई यस्ता वैदिक युगका कुरा कुरैमा सीमित रहनेछन् । धार्मिकतायुक्त विज्ञान एवम् वैज्ञानिकतायुक्त धर्मको समन्वयात्मक विश्व-दृष्टिकोणको उत्थान नभइकन हु“दैन । हाम्रो देशमा सरकारी सहयोग एवम् आर्थिक योगदानमा वैदिक शोध संस्थान हुनुपर्ने देखिन्छ, तर नेपालमा एउटैपनि वैदिक शोध संस्थान नहुनु अवश्यै खेदको कुरा हो । अस्तु ।
—निर्मलमणि अधिकारी

HINDUTVA: THE GREAT NATIONALIST IDEOLOGY

In the history of the world, the Hindu awakening of the late twentieth century will go down as one of the most monumental events in the history of the world. Never before has such demand for change come from so many people. Never before has Bharat, the ancient word for the motherland of Hindus - India, been confronted with such an impulse for change. This movement, Hindutva, is changing the very foundations of Bharat and Hindu society the world over.Hindu society has an unquestionable and proud history of tolerance for other faiths and respect for diversity of spiritual experiences. This is reflected in the many different philosophies, religious sects, and religious leaders. The very foundation of this lies in the great Hindu heritage that is not based on any one book, teacher, or doctrine. In fact the pedestal of Hindu society stems from the great Vedic teachings Ekam Sat Viprah Bahudha Vadanti -- Truth is One, Sages Call it by Many Names, and Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam -- The Whole Universe is one Family. It is this philosophy which allowed the people of Hindusthan (land of the Hindus) to shelter the Jews who faced Roman persecution, the Zoroastrians who fled the Islamic sword and who are the proud Parsi community today, and the Tibetan Buddhists who today face the communist secularism: persecution of religion.During the era of Islamic invasions, what Will Durant called the bloodiest period in the history of mankind, many Hindus gallantly resisted, knowing full well that defeat would mean a choice of economic discrimination via the jaziya tax on non- Muslims, forced conversion, or death. It is no wonder that the residents of Chittor, and countless other people over the length and breadth of Bharat, from present-day Afghanistan to present-day Bangladesh, thought it better to die gloriously rather than face cold-blooded slaughter. Hindus never forgot the repeated destruction of the Somnath Temple, the massacre of Buddhists at Nalanda, or the pogroms of the Mughals.Thus, the seeds of todayUs Hindu Jagriti, awakening, were created the very instance that an invader threatened the fabric of Hindu society which was religious tolerance. The vibrancy of Hindu society was noticeable at all times in that despite such barbarism from the Islamic hordes of central Asia and Turkey, Hindus never played with the same rules that Muslims did. The communist and Muslim intelligentsia, led by Nehruvian ideologists who are never short of distorted history, have been unable to show that any Hindu ruler ever matched the cruelty of even a RmoderateS Muslim ruler.It is these characteristics of Hindu society and the Muslim psyche that remain today. Hindus never lost their tolerance and willingness to change. However Muslims, led by the Islamic clergy and Islamic societyUs innate unwillingness to change, did not notice the scars that Hindus felt from the Indian past. It is admirable that Hindus never took advantage of the debt Muslims owed Hindus for their tolerance and non-vengefulness.In modern times, Hindu Jagriti gained momentum when Muslims played the greatest abuse of Hindu tolerance: the demand for a separate state and the partition of India, a nation that had had a common history and culture for countless millenia. Thus, the Muslim minority voted for a separate state and the Hindus were forced to sub-divide their own land.After partition in Pakistan, Muslim superiority was quickly asserted and the non-Muslim minorities were forced to flee due to the immense discrimination in the political and religious spheres. Again, Hindus did not respond to such an onslaught. Hindu majority India continued the Hindu ideals by remaining secular.India even gave the Muslim minority gifts such as separate personal laws, special status to the only Muslim majority state -- Kashmir, and other rights that are even unheard of in the bastion of democracy and freedom, the United States of America. Islamic law was given precedence over the national law in instances that came under Muslim personal law. The Constitution was changed when the courts, in the Shah Bano case, ruled that a secular nation must have one law, not separate religious laws. Islamic religious and educational institutions were given a policy of non- interference. The list goes on.More painful for the Hindus was forced negation of Hindu history and factors that gave pride to Hindus. Hindu customs and traditions were mocked as remnants of a non-modern society, things that would have to go if India was to modernize like the west. The self proclaimed guardians of India, the politicians of the Congress Party who called themselves secularists, forgot that it was the Hindu psyche that believed in secularism, it was the Hindu thought that had inspired the greatest intellectuals of the world such as Thoreau, Emerson, Tolstoy, Einstein, and others, and that it was Hindus, because there was no other land where Hindus were in a significant number to stand up in defence of Hindu society if and when the need arose, who were the most nationalistic people in India.When Hindus realized that pseudo-secularism had reduced them to the role of an innocent bystander in the game of politics, they demanded a true secularism where every religious group would be treated the same and a government that would not take Hindu sentiments for granted. Hindutva awakened the Hindus to the new world order where nations represented the aspirations of people united in history, culture, philosophy, and heroes. Hindutva successfully took the Indian idol of Israel and made Hindus realize that their India could be just as great and could do the same for them also. In a new era of global consciousness, Hindus realized that they had something to offer the world. There was something more than tolerance and universal unity. The ancient wisdom of sages through eternity also offered systems of thought, politics, music, language, dance, and education that could benefit the world.There have been many changes in the thinking of Hindus, spearheaded over the course of a century by innumerable groups and leaders who made their own distinct contribution to Hindu society: Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, Gandhiji, Rashatriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Swami Chinmayananda, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Muni Susheel Kumarji, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bharatiya Janata Party, and others. Each in their own way increased pride in being a Hindu and simultaneously showed Hindus their greatest strengths and their worst weaknesses. This slowly shook the roots of Hindu society and prompted a rear-guard action by the ingrained interests: the old politicians, the Nehruvian intellectual community, and the appeased Muslim leadership.The old foundation crumbled in the 1980s and 1990s when Hindus respectfully asked for the return of their most holy religious site, Ayodhya. This demand promptly put the 40-year old apparatus to work, and press releases were chunked out that spew the libelous venom which called those who represented the Hindu aspirations RmilitantS and Rfundamentalist,S stigmas which had heretofore found their proper place in the movements to establish Islamic law. Hindus were humble enough to ask for the restoration of an ancient temple built on the birthplace of Rama, and destroyed by Babar, a foreign invader. The vested interests were presented with the most secular of propositions: the creation of a monument to a national hero, a legend whose fame and respect stretched out of the borders of India into southeast Asia, and even into Muslim Indonesia. A hero who existed before there was anyone in India who considered himself separate from Hindu society. The 400-year old structure at one of the holiest sites of India had been worshipped as a temple by Hindus even though the Muslim general Mir Baqi had partially built a non-functioning mosque on it. It was very important that no Muslims, except those who were appeased in Indian politics, had heard of anything called Babri Masjid before the pseudo-secularist apparatus started the next to last campaign against the rising Hindu society. It was also important that no Muslim had offered prayers at the site for over 40 years.Hindus hid their true anger, that their most important religious site still bore the marks of a cruel slavery that occurred so very recently in the time span of Hindu history. It was naturally expected in 1947 that freedom from the political and economic chains of Great Britain would mean that the systems and symbols that had enslaved India and caused its deterioration and poverty would be obliterated. Forty years after independence, Hindus realized that their freedom was yet to come.So long as freedom to Jews meant that symbols of the Holocaust in Europe were condemned, so long as freedom to African- Americans meant that the symbols of racial discrimination were wiped out, and so long as freedom from imperialism to all people meant that they would have control of their own destinies, that they would have their own heros, their own stories, and their own culture, then freedom to Hindus meant that they would have to condemn the Holocaust that Muslims reaped on them, the racial discrimination that the white man brought, and the economic imperialism that enriched Britain. Freedom for Hindus and Indians would have to mean that their heros such as Ram, Krishna, Sivaji, the Cholas, Sankaracharya, and Tulsidas would be respected, that their own stories such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata would be offered to humanity as examples of the brilliance of Hindu and Indian thinking, and that their own culture which included the Bhagavad Gita, the Vedas, the temples, the gods and goddesses, the art, the music, and the contributions in various fields, would be respected. Freedom meant that as the shackles of imperial dominance were lifted, the newly freed people would not simply absorb foreign ideas, they would share their own as well.In India, something went wrong. The freedom from Britain was supposed to result in a two-way thinking that meant that non- Indian ideas would be accepted and that Indian ideas would be presented to the world. So long as the part of India giving to the world was suppressed, the freedom was only illusory and the aspirations of the freedom hungry would continue to rise in temperature.The freedom could have been achieved if a temple to Rama was built and the symbol of foreign rule was moved to another site or demolished. The battle was never really for another temple. Another temple could have been built anywhere in India.The humble and fair demand for RamaJanmabhoomi could have resulted in a freedom for India, freedom from the intellectual slavery that so dominated India. This freedom would have meant that all Indians regardless of religion, language, caste, sex, or color would openly show respect for the person that from ancient times was considered the greatest hero to people of Hindusthan. For the first time, Hindus had demanded something, and it was justifiable that a reasonable demand from an undemanding people would be realized. Imagine if the Muslim leadership had agreed to shift the site and build a temple in Ayodhya. How much Hindu- Muslim unity there would have been in India? India could then have used that goodwill to solve the major religious, caste, and economic issues facing the country.But some of the vested interests in politics and in the Muslim community saw that such a change would mean that their work since 1947 would be overturned and that this new revolution would displace them. Rather than join forces and accept the rising tide, the oligarchy added fuel to the greatest movement in Indian history. One that on December 6, 1992 completely shattered the old and weak roots of Indian society and with it, the old political and intellectual structure. The destruction by the Kar Sevaks of the dilapidated symbol of foreign dominance was the last straw in a heightening of tensions by the government, and the comittant anger of more and more Hindus to rebuffs of their reasonable demands.The ruthless last-ditch effort of the powers-that-be was the banning and suppression of the leaders of the Hindu Jagriti. The effort of the rulers reminds one of the strategy of all ill-fated rulers. Throughout history, when monumental upheavals have taken place, the threatened interests have resorted to drastic measures, which in-turn have hastened their own death.Hindus are at last free. They control their destiny now and there is no power that can control them except their own tolerant ethos. India in turn is finally free. Having ignored its history, it has now come face to face with a repressed conscience. The destruction of the structure at Ayodhya was the release of the history that Indians had not fully come to terms with. Thousands of years of anger and shame, so diligently bottled up by these same interests, was released when the first piece of the so-called Babri Masjid was torn down.It is a fundamental concept of Hindu Dharma that has won: righteousness. Truth won when Hindus, realizing that Truth could not be won through political or legal means, took the law into their own hands. Hindus have been divided politically and the laws have not acknowledged the quiet Hindu yearning for Hindu unity which has until recently taken a back seat to economic development and Muslim appeasement. Similarly, the freedom movement represented the supercedence of Indian unity over loyalty to the British Crown. In comparison to the freedom movement though, Hindutva involves many more people and represents the mental freedom that 1947 did not bring.The future of Bharat is set. Hindutva is here to stay. It is up to the Muslims whether they will be included in the new nationalistic spirit of Bharat. It is up to the government and the Muslim leadership whether they wish to increase Hindu furor or work with the Hindu leadership to show that Muslims and the government will consider Hindu sentiments. The era of one-way compromise of Hindus is over, for from now on, secularism must mean that all parties must compromise.Hindutva will not mean any Hindu theocracy or theology. However, it will mean that the guiding principles of Bharat will come from two of the great teachings of the Vedas, the ancient Hindu and Indian scriptures, which so boldly proclaimed -TRUTH IS ONE, SAGES CALL IT BY MANY NAMES - and - THE WHOLE UNIVERSE IS ONE FAMILY.

हिन्दूत्वको आधार

- मूलमन्त्र ॐ
- वेद वा/तथा वैदिक परम्पराका मत वा शास्त्रमा आस्था
- निराकार वा/तथा साकार परम्सत्तामा अखण्ड विश्वास
- मूर्त वा अमूर्तको पूजा वा ध्यान- कर्म अनुसारको फल मिल्दछ भन्नेमा विश्वास
- 'आत्मा' तथा 'पुनर्जन्म'मा विश्वास
- मानवजीवनको परम्लक्ष्यका रूपमा 'मोक्ष'