Jayasree Saranathan

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

History books must teach credible doubts about Aryan Invasion Theory.

From

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toi-edit-page/are-you-an-aryan-invader-colonial-views-on-fair-skinned-aryans-vs-dark-skinned-dravidians-have-wide-political-currency-today/

Are you an Aryan invader? Colonial views on fair-skinned Aryans vs dark-skinned Dravidians have wide political currency today

Amish Tripathi

A south Indian politician recently accused a north Indian colleague of being an Aryan invader. I was tempted to dismiss it, at first, as another case of the usual politicking. Politicians, after all, will do what politicians do. Some condemn Turkic/Mongol invaders, others British invaders and then there are those who move on to Aryan invaders. One can certainly nurse grudges against assorted invaders; but it has nothing to do with Indians living in the 21st century. That’s obvious.

My surprise, though, emanated from this politician seemingly believing, without any doubt, in the Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT). What is the AIT? We’ve been told that the Indus or Harappan civilisation was peopled by dark-skinned Dravidians (the name was a much later addition; initially the theory called them ‘indigenous people’) who were invaded by fair-skinned Aryans from Central Asia/Eastern Europe around 3,500 years ago.

The Aryans apparently massacred and then pushed the remaining Dravidians to the South, occupied the freed land and composed the Vedas along with a vast body of other Sanskrit texts. They also created the caste system to oppress the Dravidians. This theory was liked by British colonialists, who were struck by the “romantic” parallel of a fresh wave of new white-skinned invaders, repeating an ancient story.

AIT is largely based on linguistics, ie the study of languages. European scholars of the colonial era found striking similarities between Sanskrit and Iranian/European languages, suggesting a common source or intermingling. Many theories were propounded to explain this intriguing discovery. One was the AIT.

Another was the Out-of-India Theory, suggesting that people moved out from their homeland in India in a northwest direction and hence spread their language. There were other theories as well. Now, languages don’t have return addresses, so frankly, one can find enough arguments to support them all.

Linguistics is regarded as a science by some (many others may disagree), but it has inherent limitations as compared to other, more rigorous scientific disciplines. Theories based on linguistics are open to interpretations. Unfortunately, the debate in this area also takes place in a rather “mature” manner (sarcasm alert). Linguistics-driven historians, instead of conducting public and scholarly debates, indulge in name-calling. Insults are thrown freely. That’s unfortunate and childish.

Linguistics, due to its nature, may open the field to contradictory opinions, but fortunately there are other scientific disciplines to evaluate the AIT issue.

Archaeology examines history through site excavations and analysis of artefacts/physical remains. Invaders tend to leave a trail of destruction. Unfortunately for AIT proponents, there is little credible archaeological evidence for a violent invasion 3,500 years ago.

Seeing the sands shift, some proponents of AIT pirouetted and propounded a new Aryan Migration Theory (AMT), ie the so-called Aryans migrated peacefully into India and most of the so-called Dravidians of the heavily-populated Indus civilisation moved south. If this were true, there should have been a massive influx of Eastern Europeans/Central Asians into India at that time, right? Which would show up in genetic records?

Unfortunately for the (now) AMT proponents, genetic science disproves this hypothesis. Most major papers on Indian genetics published in scientific journals like Nature and American Journal of Human Genetics over the last few years agree on one thing: There was no significant addition to the Indian gene pool 3,500 years ago!

So, the AIT/AMT proponents ask us to believe that there was this small bunch of nomadic people called the Aryans who came to India 3,500 years ago. It was such a small band that they do not show up in any archaeological or genetic records at all! And this tiny group did not indulge in mass violence. But somehow, these mythical supermen managed to, peacefully, convince the far more populous, advanced and urbane Dravidians to migrate en masse to south India.

Presumably they debated the so-called Dravidians into abandoning their homes. And while doing so, these nomadic-barbarians also overturned the entire linguistic and cultural landscape of India. Moreover, this alleged foreign culture was so comprehensively absorbed that it survives to this day, thousands of years later, across the country.

Honestly, does this make any sense? Consider another paradox we are asked to believe: The so-called Dravidians who built the greatest civilisation of its time (called the Harappan/Indus civilisation today), left no literature at all. On the other hand, these nomadic-barbarian ‘Aryans’, with no settled homeland, created the largest body of literature, philosophical and technical texts of that era. Creating narratives of hi‘story’ to reconcile these huge contradictions leads to more contortions than a jalebi.

Paraphrasing the principle of Occam’s Razor, the simpler explanation is probably true. Simply put, there was probably no race called the Aryans. The Indus and Vedic cultures were likely one and the same. And most of us in India today, north or south, are descendants of that culture.

Our history books need to teach that there are serious and credible doubts among many historians (not just Indian, but global) about the Aryan Invasion Theory. These alternative theories, based on archaeology and genetics, which largely do not support AIT, must also be taught. Then let students make up their own minds.

I, for one, tend to agree with what a European friend remarked. That the Aryan Invasion Theory is the greatest piece of fiction cooked up by Europeans since the ethereal plays of Shakespeare. Perhaps it’s time to close the book.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

‘Stop Eating Meat if You Want to Live’ – Arnold Schwarzenegger

From

http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2015/12/08/schwarzenegger-pushes-vegetarian-diet-to-save-the-world-from-climate-change/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

Stop Eating Meat if You Want to Live: Schwarzenegger Pushes Vegetarian Diet to Stop Climate Change

Former bodybuilder, action star, and California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is now advocating a part-time vegetarian diet to protect the planet from climate change.

Speaking at the United Nations Paris Climate Change Conference this week, theTerminator star was asked by the BBC whether he would recommend reducing meat consumption to save the environment from greenhouse gases.

The former Mr. Olympia, who is now a staunch environmentalist, told the outlet 28 percent of greenhouse gasses are caused by meat production and meat-eating and said people should be willing to cut back.

Schwarzenegger said asking people to completely eliminate meat and dairy from their diet would be too drastic, and instead advocated one or two vegetarian or vegan days a week.

“You have to start slowly, you can’t just convince people to stop eating meat altogether. It’s a very big challenge, it doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be done and you shouldn’t be on that campaign, but it’s a very hard thing to overcome,” Schwarzenegger said.

As for how prospective bodybuilders are supposed to build muscle without meat, the actor said, “I have seen many bodybuilders and weight lifters that are vegetarians.”

“You can get your protein source many different ways,” he added.

Addressing a message to climate change deniers, Schwarzenegger told The Guardian, “It drives me crazy when people talk about 30 years from now, rising sea levels and so on. What about right now? Thousands of people are dying from pollution. People are living with cancer [because of air pollution].”

He also told the paper, “Global warming is an extremely important issue, the most important issue. You have to communicate it properly. You have to communicate to people that this is right now.”

On his Facebook page Monday, Schwarzenegger penned a lengthy note for fans who disagree with his stance on climate change, which he referred to as a “crusade for a clean energy future.”

“To use one of the four-letter words all of you commenters love, I don’t give a damn if you believe in climate change,” Schwarzenegger wrote. “I couldn’t care less if you’re concerned about temperatures rising or melting glaciers. It doesn’t matter to me which of us is right about the science.”

The Daily Mail reports that Hollywood stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert Redford were also present for the Paris climate summit.

Monday, December 21, 2015

What meat does to man that vegetables do not do.

Excerpted from

Food For Thought: An Epigenetic Guide to Wellness

George J. Febish and Jo Anne Oxley

The following statistics on the effects of vegetarianism on health were found at Dallas- Fort Worth Vegetarian Education Network.

Cancer:-

· Breast cancer rate for affluent Japanese woman who eat meat daily is 8.5 times greater than poorer Japanese women who rarely or never eat meat.

· A low-fat plant based diet would not only lower the heart attack rate about 85% but would lower the cancer rate by 60%

· 41% reduction in risk of prostate cancer for men whose intake of cruciferous vegetables is high.

· 70% increase in risk of prostate for men who consume high amounts of dairy products.

· 200% to 300% greater risk of colon cancer for people who eat poultry four times a week compared to those who abstain.

· Vegetarian food decreases the risk of cancer.

Heart disease:-

· Not only is mortality from coronary artery disease lower in vegetarians than non- vegetarians, but vegetarian diets have been successful in arresting coronary artery disease.

· Heart disease can be actually reversed without medicines through a vegetarian diet in which 10% of calories were contributed by fat combined with a program of modest exercise, no smoking and stress reduction.

High blood pressure:-

· The incidence of high blood pressure in meat eaters compared to vegetarians is nearly triple.

· The incidence of very high blood pressure in meat eaters is 13% more than vegetarians.

Obesity:-

· The obesity rate among the U.S. population is 18% The obesity rate among vegetarians is 6%.

· 25% of U.S. children are overweight or obese. Only 8% of the U.S. vegetarian children are obese.

Medical costs:-

· A minimum of $60,000,000,000 in annual medical costs in the U.S. is directly attributable to meat consumption. Compare that to $65,000,000,000 in annual medical costs directly attributable to smoking. We all see the risk of smoking, but why can’t we see the risk of meat consumption.

Osteoporosis:-

· Current research shows calcium loss to be a larger determining factor in osteoporosis than calcium ingested. Animal proteins high in sulfer-containing amino acids, especially cystine and methionine tend to acidify the blood. During the process of neutralizing this acid, bone dissolves into the blood stream and filters through the kidneys into the urine. Meats and eggs contain two to five times more of these sulfer-containing amino acids than are found in protein from plant foods. Research shows that when animal proteins are eliminated from the diet, calcium losses are cut in half.

If you have a chronic illness or dying, change your diet drastically to a vegetarian diet. It may help your body combat the disease and cure you. It can’t hurt you, that’s for sure.

Thursday, December 10, 2015

# Chennai floods – who is responsible for it?

El Nino is a modern term but our land of ancient Tamils had always experienced heavy rains in the solar months of Aippasi and Karthigai. This is made out from the adage “Aippasiyil adai mazhai, Karthigaiyil Gana mazhai”( ஐப்பசியில் அடைமழை, கார்த்திகையில் கனமழை).

The Paripaadal verse on Pavai Nonbu (verse no 11) describes a scene of flood ravaged land that comes to house smaller water bodies called “KuLam” by the time the month of Margazhi begins. For this reason the month of Margazhi was also known as “KuLam” (குளம்).

Our ancestors have laid a fantastic system of hydrology to channelize the flood waters and also to store the excess water for use in dry months. This network can be depicted as below.

(Note: Click on the pictures to see enlarged version)

The network comprises of River water overflowing into subsequent and smaller water bodies.

River > Lakes (Yeri) > KaNmai > KaraNai > Thaangal > Yenthal > OoraNi > KuLam > Kuttai.

These names themselves show that Pazhavanthaangal and Vedanthaangal were water bodies once. Even now there are some street names as Thaangal street in different parts of Chennai. It means there was once a water body adjacent to that street.

The topography and hydrology of Chennai is such that Chennai is a low lying area with an average elevation of only 6.7 metres above the mean sea level, with many parts of it actually at sea level. This landscape of Chennai makes it a marshy land that drains rain water into the adjacent sea. Chennai was indeed dotted with numerous tanks and lakes as per old maps of the British. Agricultural activity was going on at that time supported by these tanks.

The oldest map that I could get from a Google search was of 1893. It shows a long semi curved tank spanning in between Coovum river and Adyar river. (Below)

At that time this tank was identified at two places (in the map) as Nungambakkam tank and Mylapur tank. The ‘Long Tank Regatta’ was held in 1893 “on the fine expanse of water that starts from the Cathedral Corner (once where Gemini Studio’s property was) to Sydapet”.

The southern end of this tank is linked to Adyar river near Saidapet. The map of 1914 gives clear details of this tank which by then acquired the name “Long Tank”. The inset in the 1914 map (below) shows that this link between Long tank and Adyar river is man-made. This must have existed much before the British came. This is the proof of how our ancients thoughtfully connected the waterways and the drainage system.

The Vyasar padi tank in this map was also a huge one at that time. But it is missing at present. The Vyasarpadi Tank was one of the most important tanks of Chennai along with 9 other tanks namely Perambur, Peravallur, Madavakkam, Chetput, Spur, Nungambakkam, Mylapore/Mambalam, Kottur and Kalikundram. All of them have vanished now.

The first official encroachment of water bodies in Madras started in 1923 with the plan to reclaim land from the Long Tank. The party that was in power at that time was none other than the root cause of the Dravidian ideology namely the Justice Party. The party that was unambiguously based on anti-Brahmanism and atheism and had brain washed the masses with a non-existent Dravida ideology found no qualms in destroying a major water source of Madras.

Reclamation of land from this tank was started from 1930 by the same Justice Party, to create the Mambalam Housing Scheme on 1600 acres that gave rise to Theagaroya Nagar or T. Nagar (named after the founder of Justice Party). Destruction of hydro system in the name of development was started by these Dravidian ideologists.

From 1941 onwards, further reclamation was done in Nungambakkam. At the westernmost end of the Tank, 54 acres were reclaimed for the Loyola College campus.

In 1974 what was left of the Tank was reclaimed to give the city the Valluvar Kottam campus alongside Tank Bund Road by none other than Karunanidhi.

It must be noted that Valluvar Kottam was constructed right at the deepest part of the Long Tank. Old timers recall that for many years and year after year, Valluvar Kottam was water logged during the rainy season. It would have been apt had they named it as Valluvar Ottam or Valluvar Theppam (Float)!

The following map is that of Chennai today. The location of the missing Long Tank (rough sketch) is shown in the next map.

The Long Tank formed the western boundary of Madras of those years. The Mount road was laid to the east of it. Today’s Mambalam, Mylapore, Panagal Park, Nungambakkam etc were built on this Tank. No wonder when Adyar river overflowed, the waters found their natural slopes in these areas in the recent floods.

A map drawn 65 years ago shows a sprinkle of numerous water bodies such as Yeris and Kulams all over present day Chennai. They were also well connected to drain extra water in times of flood. This map is shown below.

The gray areas are the water bodies which would remain dry in summer but can house rain water in the rainy season.

Today the gray areas are all closed down with habitations. Needless to say why most parts of Chennai is water logged even by short spell of rains.

The presently available water bodies –from among the network in the above map - are shown in the picture below.

In a good monsoon year, where will the rain water go? All the gray areas become water logged.

A compilation of reports on areas of Chennai which were once water bodies or drainage canals.

· Two main rivers Cooum and Adayar cross Chennai. Chennai’s periphery once hosted a massive wetland, which provided a natural flood control barrier in the past.

· Adyar, Cooum, Kosasthaliyar and the man-made Buckingham canal are the macro drainages. They have a huge capacity to carry flood waters which is by now reduced to half the capacity due to encroachments.

· The river Coovum which was once a fresh water source is now reduced to a massive, stinking sewer heaped with the waste generated by a heaving metropolis.

· Similarly, rampant encroachment and urbanisation in its upstream reaches has sapped the ability of the Adyar river to carry flood water.

· Another key waterway, the Buckingham Canal, is also choked with silt and sewage. So, when Chennai floods, there aren’t enough unobstructed channels for the water to get out.

· Around eight medium drainage canals drain in to these rivers. These are the Otteri Nallah, Virugambakkam canal, Arumbakkam canal, Kodungaiyur canal, Captain Cotton canal, Velachery canal, Veerangal Odai and Mambalam canal. They are all missing now.

· Two decades ago, Chennai had 650 water bodies—including big lakes, ponds and storage tanks. The current number stands at around 27, according to the NIDM study. Even those water bodies that have managed to survive are much smaller than before. For instance, the total area of 19 major lakes in the city has nearly halved from 1,130 hectares to about 645 hectares.

· Other water bodies such as Ullagaram, Adambakkam, Thalakanacheri, Mogappair and Senneerkuppam are considered beyond restoration. In the case of water channels like inlet and outlet they have completely disappeared

· There are about 3000 tanks and ponds big and small in the Chennai area. Some of the important tanks are Madipakkam, Velachery, Thoraipakkam, Pallavaram, Madambakkam, Maraimalainagar, Kilkattalai, Pallikaranai, Adhambakkam, Puzhudhivakkam, Thalakanancheri, Kovilambakkam, Chitlapakkam and so on. These tanks can be classified as ENDANGERED.

· The Adambakkam Lake is being closed due to the Metro Rail work and a concretised road leading from Velachery to GST Road is being built.

· Madipakkam Lake has become a dumping yard for garbage and the water is not fit for any use. And on the other side construction of buildings is going on apace.

· Puzhudhivakkam Lake was once an important reservoir and used to host a number of rare birds. This valuable natural resource has now been gradually converted into a housing colony. Inundation in Puzhudhivakkam and Madipakkam is caused by the disappearance of the Veerangal Odai which connects the Adambakkam and the Pallikaranai marsh.

· Chitlapakkam Lake was once the water source for the Sembakkam and Hastinapuram villages. The total area of this lake is 86.86 acres which has subsequently shrunk to 47 acres due to encroachments such as the development of the district court, bus terminal and the Tambaram taluk office.

· Chitlapakkam lake is getting water through 3 channels from the foothills. However, in this region the water table level is higher than in other areas. This lake is further contaminated by household sewage and waste from commercial establishments.

· Chennai, Thiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu are hydrologically integrated. As per the tank memoir prepared by the British, there are 3,600 tanks in these districts and the surplus from around 20 tanks have also contributed to inflow in Chembarambakkam. All these have been encroached now.

· Pallikaranai marshlands, which drains water from a 250 square kilometre catchment, was a 50 sq km water sprawl in the southern suburbs of Chennai. Now, it is 4.3 sq km—less than a tenth of its original.

· Pallikaranai marsh acted as a natural flood sink when the rains overwhelmed Chennai. “The marsh that was till about 30 years ago spread over an area of more than 5000 ha (hectares) has been reduced to around one-tenth of its original extent due to anthropogenic (manmade) pressures. The free flow of water within the entire marsh has been totally disrupted due to mega construction activities and consequent road laying,” a 2007 study by a group of German and Indian scientists noted.

· The growing finger of a garbage dump sticks out like a cancerous tumour in the northern part of the marshland.

· Two major roads cut through Pallikaranai waterbody with a few pitifully small culverts that are not up to the job of transferring the rain water flows from such a large catchment. The edges have been eaten into by institutes like the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT). Ironically, NIOT is an accredited consultant to prepare environmental impact assessments on various subjects, including on the implications of constructing on water bodies.

· There were 16 tanks downstream of Retteri called Vyasarpadi chain of tanks. Kodungaiyur tank was one among them. Now, there is no sign of them.

· There was also a tank in Thirumangalam area which is missing now.

· There were once 13 water bodies in Neelankarai (the name itself shows that this place was on the banks of a water body). Only 2 lakes remain now.

· The Virugambakkam drain was 6.5 km long and drained into the Nungambakkam tank. It is now present only for an of extent of 4.5 km. The remaining two km stretch of the drain is missing.

· Nungambakkam tank (part of Long Tank) was completely filled and built. This along with the loss of Koyambedu drain has resulted in the periodic flooding of Koyambedu and Virugambakkam areas.

· The surplus channels connecting various water bodies in western suburbs such as Ambattur and Korattur have been encroached upon.

· The water body in Mogappair has almost disappeared.

· The Veerangal Odai that connects the Adambakkam lake with Pallikaranai marsh ends abruptly after 550 m from its origin and the remaining part is not to be seen. This causes inundation in places such as Puzhithivakkam and Madipakkam.

· The Chennai Bypass connecting NH45 to NH4 blocks the east flowing drainage causing flooding in Anna Nagar, Porur, Vanagaram, Maduravoyal, Mugappair and Ambattur.

· The Maduravoyal lake has shrunk from 120 acres to 25 acres. Same with Ambattur, Kodungaiyur and Adambakkam tanks.

· The Koyambedu drain and the surplus channels from Korattur and Ambattur tanks are missing.

· The South Buckingham Canal from Adyar creek to Kovalam creek has been squeezed from its original width of 25 metres to 10 metres in many places due to the Mass Rapid Transit System railway stations.

· Important flood retention structures such as Virugambakkam, Padi and Villivakkam tanks are no longer there.

· Elevated Express freight corridor from Chennai harbour to Maduravoyal had reclaimed a substantial portion of the Coovum’s southern bank drastically reducing the flood-carrying capacity of the river.

· The lost water body of Velacheri between the year 2000 and 2015 is shown below.

· The two drainage canals that went missing when I.T park was developed in Siruseri.

· Water bodies shrunk by the Sholinganallur I.T park is shown below.

· A comparison of the Chennai topography with the missing Long Tank is shown below. In the figure, No1 shows Coovum river. No 2 shows Adyar river. Where is No 3?