Wednesday 7 December 2011

What does it mean to live in an Independent Country?

What does it really mean to live in an independent country? 

Today here in Finland people are celebrating Finland’s 94th independence day and there are big celebrations. Finns celebrate their independence in a unique way. In the evening there is a big party at the president’s official residence. The glitterati are invited and almost 60% of the population are glued to their TV sets watching this livecast. Who’s there with whom and wearing what motivate the curious watchers.



What does living in an independent state really mean?

Does independence mean owning the land or being able to own land? 

Then 1.338 billion Chinese are not independent as by Chinese law, people have only land-use rights, which in the case of residential property, expires after 70 years (40 years for commercial property).  


Does independence mean having your own language and culture? 

There are many communities speaking the same language yet they do not have their own country e.g., 4,7% of Bulgarians are Roma people but they do not have their own state.

Does independence mean recognition by other states? 

This criterion is also not universally valid. The State of Palestine is an official member of the Arab League, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and UNESCO in addition to being recognised by 127 UN member states. But Israel does not recognise it and occupies the land and even though the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) recognises Israel.


Does independence mean having your own currency? 

What about the Euro then? It is the only legal tender in 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. 

  • In the UK, Scottish, Northern Irish, Channel Island and Manx banknotes are legal tender and technically can be used all over the UK. But they are considered a local issue of banknotes denominated in GBP and these areas are not separate countries.

Does independence mean having your own army? 

The Vatican is recognised as a sovereign state but does not have an army (any more after 1970). Costa Rica abolished their army in 1949. Liechtenstein also abolished its army in 1868. They do have a SWAT team in case someone is planning something naughty against them. 

Then there are non-state armies such as the 

  • Mahdi army in Iraq
  • the Taliban in Afghanistan
  • the Hezbollah in Lebanon and 
  • the Al-Qaeda. 
  • About a dozen separate armed groups fight the Junta (and sometimes each other) in Myanmar. 
  • Private armies like the Bakassi Boys in Nigeria can be found in many countries alongside national armies. 

Does independence mean having your own legal system and court of laws? 

British Overseas Territories like Falkland Islands, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, Gibraltar or Bermuda have their own legal systems (based on English common law) but they are not independent states. Non-state judicial systems can be found in many parts of the world e.g., Bangladesh and Philippines. 


Does independence mean having the rights to tax people? 

People living in most countries pay taxes to different bodies like central or federal government, state government, municipalities, and cities. Nation states like Monaco have no income tax. Companies can also deduct money from employee salaries to pay for their pensions, e.g., Mandatory Provident Fund in Hong Kong, Employees Provident Fund in Malaysia and Employees Provident Fund in India.

Max Weber in Politics as Vocation approached this issue of defining an independent state through the criteria of compulsory political organization and the right to a monopolyof the legitimate use of force

  • Would the people of Iraq and Afghanistan (with soldiers from 23 countries using their monopoly of the legitimate use of force on some Iraqis) agree?
  • The militaries of three foreign countries - Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan - are now operating in or around the edges of DR Congo. 

Is independence just a feeling?

Positive feelings are closest to people’s heart when asked about what being independent (as a country) means. People who have lived in areas occupied by “other” outside countries, states or powers often talk about experiencing oppression but not always. 

  • Could it be that in reality, the majority of the people staffing the local level mechanisms of oppression operated by outsiders are indigenous people? They stand to gain the most by helping to maintain the power imbalance.


  • Oppression and unjust treatment can be got from one’s own elected representatives. The plethora of class-action lawsuits and the current civil unrest in many countries (mostly rich democracies) do reveal this sad truth. 
  • Are the common people in stateless Palestine under occupation more miserable than people in North Korea ruled and oppressed by their own people?

Did all the people in history who lives "stateless" not know what Independence means? For 99.8% of known history, people have lived rather autonomous lives without strong central authorities controlling them (Carneiro, 1978).

Most of the symbols of nationhood, statehood or cultural hegemony come from a people’s history. Many factors, some careful manipulation, have influenced how these have gained the power to generate emotive responses in the people. 

Is the feeling of being a proud patriot contradictory to the lofty concepts of universal brotherhood of man? Sometimes they may seem to be, but they need not necessarily be so.


Crew of the Japanese submarine I-29 after the rendezvous with the German submarine U-180 300 km southeast from Madagascar. At bottom left is the Indian nationalist Subhash Chandra Bose. 28 April 1943.

In most countries, where independence was not always there (meaning limitation of basic rights and some other state power dictating local matters), independence is portrayed as having been won and defended by precious blood. Later generations, who have never experienced such strife, usually consider many earlier hard-earned freedoms as givens, their birthright. 

Let us hope that they should never need to experience loss in order to value what they have.

Some Thoughts About Independence From Around the World

From USA, this is Veteran Walter Smith’s message to Finland on its 94th Independence Day.  

"The old Finns were a lean and hardy lot. Emerging from years of oppression, they cherished their hard won freedom. Alas in too many nations fat with prosperity, their people have drifted off into complacency, as their freedoms were slowly shriveled away by political corruption. 
I live in a Roman style republic, and like old Rome, my nation has become a military empire of conquest, my freedoms become less and less by the day. But there is one freedom they cannot take away, and that is the freedom to Love.  
As Emma Goldman once said: 
Free love? As if love is anything but free! Man has bought brains, but all the millions in the world have failed to buy love. Man has subdued bodies, but all the power on earth has been unable to subdue love. Man has conquered whole nations, but all his armies could not conquer love. Man has chained and fettered the spirit, but he has been utterly helpless before love. High on a throne, with all the splendor and pomp his gold can command, man is yet poor and desolate, if love passes him by. And if it stays, the poorest hovel is radiant with warmth, with life and color. Thus love has the magic power to make of a beggar a king. Yes, love is free; it can dwell in no other atmosphere. In freedom it gives itself unreservedly, abundantly, completely. All the laws on the statutes, all the courts in the universe, cannot tear it from the soil, once love has taken root.

I love Finland, home of the brave; in war and peace, yours is a history to be proud of♥."
From India, this is Aswani Srivastava with his thoughts about living in an independent country.
"Independence is everything. Freedom is everything. I think it is foolish to debate over the same. One has to agree with me. Being independent is what everyone aspires for. And I am very much sure of the fact that today most of us are enjoying the fruits of freedom. Life without freedom is a waste, a disaster to be more specific. I really cannot imagine myself being in such situation at any point of time in my life.

I love my country and I am glad we are living in one of largest democratically independent countries of the world. As a citizen of an independent nation, I have nothing much to wish except see my country grow fourfold. No doubt, the growth has been staggering since the day we got independence, but there’s still a lot to be done. We are still being rated amongst the developing nations and this is really sad to know. I think a lot depends on the youth brigade, which I believe has the firepower to make it happen at anytime in future. Hopefully, we shall achieve the same status one day...!"

Source: Robert L. Carneiro, "Political expansion as an expression of the principle of competitive exclusion", p. 219 in: Ronald Cohen and Elman R. Service (eds.), Origins of the State: The Anthropology of Political Evolution. Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human Issues, 1978.

Thursday 27 October 2011

What is so special about Diwali festival?

A dazzling display of light and colours; loud noises, new clothes and exquisite delicacies just cheer up the festive mood. When millions of oil lamps, candles and colourful electric lights blink and firecrackers light up the sky for many nights in a row you know that Indians are celebrating Diwali. 

In 2009, US President Barack Obama also attended Diwali in the White House.


Every sixth person on the planet celebrates Diwali somehow and it is an official holiday in 10 countries outside India.

  • In Malayasia Diwali is celebrated as Hari Deepawali
  • In Singapore, it is Deepawali
  • In the USA, Diwali has been given official holiday status by the congress in 2007 and San Antonio in Texas was the first US city in 2009, to sponsor a fireworks display
  • In the UK, it is a grand excuse for anyone loving fireworks, light and partying
  • In Australia and New Zealand, Diwali is a festival of light as also all things Indian

So what is Diwali?

As a five-day event, Diwali or deepavali or Kali Puja or festival of lights is one of the most important festivals of India and not only for Indians but also for many people in other countries as well.

Significance of Diwali for different religious traditions

As with all things Indian, Diwali has multiple layers of meanings and different significance for different religions.



  • For the Jains, Diwali is the day when their 24th and last tīrthaṅkara (prophet) attained Nirvana around 527 BC.
  • For the Sikhs, Diwali celebrates Bandi Chhorh Diwas or day of freedom, when their sixth Guru, Guru Hargobind Ji was released from imprisonment by the Muslim emperor Jahangir in 1619.
  • Buddhists also celebrate Diwali as the day the great Buddhist Emperor Ashoka converted to Buddhism around 265 BC.
  • Hindus celebrate Diwali for many reasons. 

The significance of Diwali can be interpreted through three themes in Hinduism:
  • The victory of light over darkness/evil theme - Narakasura, a big baddie, goes on a rampage. He conquers almost everything on Earth (literally meaning a large chunk of the Indian sub-continent) as also the heavens. In one version eventually a woman, Krishna’s wife Satyabhama kills this personification of evil and the rule of evil gives place to the rule of light.
  • The return of the rightful ruler theme - Rama one of the central figures of the Indian epic Ramayana returns home after 14 years of Vanbas or banishment. He is welcomed by diyas (ghee/oil lamps) lit in rows of 20. The Pandavas of the other Indian epic, the Mahabharata also return after 12 years of exile and 1 year of agyatavas on this day.
  • Correct aspiration over formal practice in religion theme – Krishna (who represents the highest level in Hinduism and an incarnation of Vishnu) discovers farmers about to offer their annual offering to Indra, who is a sort of prime minister of heaven (also deity of thunder and rain). Krishna questions the farmers' fuss about this ritualistic offering and expectations of being able to influence natural phenomena. He teaches them that being farmers, their efforts should be better directed at farming. So they neglect Indra’s offering. This annoys Indra and being a touchy god, he promptly floods the villages. Krishna (as he emanates from a higher plane of being then Indra) lifts the gigantic Mount Govardhan and holds it to shield the people and their cattle from rain. Finally Indra gets the message and stops persecuting the villages. This story elucidates the foundation of the Karma philosophy so very central to Indian thought.

What is The Esoteric Significance of Diwali?


All things spiritual and religious have two aspects, the exoteric and the esoteric. The exoteric is all about details and form of rituals, sacrifice, observance of rules and who does what and who shouldn’t do what. Almost all of the quarrels, fights and wars concerning religions stem from this aspect.

The esoteric aspect is an entirely different affair. It refers to things beyond representation. This is done through allegories, myths and symbolism. Often the esoteric employs mundane and very familiar everyday symbols to hint at hidden truths. So, what is the esoteric significance of Diwali?

Why should we celebrate after four thousand years a certain king coming back from exile and being welcomed? Does it really teach us something if a divine being is said to have being going around teaching deeper truths about life? Yes and no. It depends, on the eyes of the beholder.



Narakasura is the Asura or demon son of the earth goddess Bhudevi or Bhumi and Vishnu (from the highest levels of the Indian pantheon). So, he is pretty much indestructible, unavoidable and quasi eternal. The Narakasura story tries to tell us of a recurring condition of life. "Baddies" or bad events happen every now and then. There cannot be life totally without them. So we should learn to accept them as recurring challenges with equanimity and nothing more. This teaches the idea of equanimity. Equanimity or upekkhā (in Buddhism) is not indifference.

Photo source

In Hinduism it is an active principle of functioning with full attention to phenomena without attachment to negative factors. The path to equanimity is very difficult in real life as we have to fight our "demons" inside us. This struggle on the way to equanimity is the real Jihad (and not killing people who don't agree with us).

The desperate people going to seek help from Krishna shows that we need to achieve humility and ask for help. Then if these attitude factors are in place, we always get help, though from unexpected sources and in unexpected manner. We should also be perceptive enough to recognize this help as it may be different from what we expected.

Now Krishna is omnipotent. So he could just as well undo or delete the demon. But he doesn't and goes to fight a bloody battle. Why does he then bring his wife Satyabhama into the deadly battle with the demon Narakasura? It is not very usual that big strong men going to battle take their wives to be beside them in battle. In one version, at some point in the struggle Krishna pretends that he is mortally hurt and his wife Satyabhama promptly takes the opportunity to kill the demon.


How should we interpret this? We can go utterly wrong if we choose to interpret these events historically or literally. Does this contain a hidden feminist agenda or should we understand that even women could be strong when standing in a chariot next to a god? Hardly.

What about a symbolic interpretation? Should we interpret this so that Krishna symbolises our intellect and Satyabhama the emotions? Only by combining intellect and emotions and using them together skilfully can we defeat demons (i.e., solve recurring problems). In order to succeed we need intent, motivation and then skilful application of right effort in the desired direction. Then and then only success is achieved.



So, by switching our perspective away from the literal and historical interpretation to a symbolic approach we learn deep truths about how we can live our lives better no matter where we live and in whatever age. Reading this ancient story on an iPhone, iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab in 2012 would still bring you gems of life lessons only if you have got the right mindset to grasp them.

Photo source

Happy Diwali!


Monday 3 October 2011

Are Business Books Worth Reading?

There are 1.9 million business books currently on sale on sites like Amazon and thousands are published each year. How can you know if reading business books in general brings any value before you could decide which particular book is worth reading? Think carefully:
  • Is it really worth reading business books?
  • Do business books make you smart or skilful?
  • Do they bring business success?

Different Kinds of Business Books

A bookshop classifies business books according to their topics or themes they address. But looking at business books another way gives us another classification.
  • Ego-trip books – CEOs or other important people inflate their egos with ”inside” stories of How I did it? or How great am I for having achieved so much success etc.
  • Cure everything formulas – Consultants and other smart Alecs promote their ideas, products or services for solving every problem known to business. They also claim to solve unknown problems.
  • Settling Score Tirades – Have-beens, would-have-beens, never-have-beens with unquenched desire for power, recognition and success write these ”business” books to vent their hurt feelings and hurt their ”enemies” with revealing titles like Never before revealed secrets of America’s greatest tycoon or This is how Corporations Really Cheat etc. 
  • Get Rich Instantly – This is a huge zillion-dollar business. Most of the writers use a lot of effort to convince readers how they have decided to share these never before revealed secrets with the readers out of pure agape or selfless love. Some of them have similar authors joining forces to promote and recommend each other. This guarantees great benefits to them in the form of increased sales.

Photo source

Who Reads Business Books?

To read business books, you need to be intelligent and literate, patient with a reading habit and have lots of time. Wouldn’t such a person be better off doing what s/he knows best rather than reading other people’s ideas, suggestions and experience? Why don't the writers have ultra successful businesses?

Are all business books meant for the smart and business savvy folks? No. There are, of course books for dummiesIn spite of the name, books in these series are usually professionally written with serious matter served in an easy style. Being a real dummy doesn’t help at all in this respect. 

Besides, who defines what is a dummy. Aren’t we all dummies every now and then!


Some lists of The Most Influential Business Books of All Times have books like
These are wonderful, extremely serious books with great ideas, which are not the easiest stuff to understand. One may know the individual words, read coherently entire sentences but still fail to get the real meaning. 

Take Karl Marx for example. A significant portion of the entire humanity living under communism, a never ending army of theoreticians spending their entire academic careers on public funding have failed to grasp his message entirely, in trying reach an agreement on main issues with others not to mention applying what Marx probably meant.


Is it only men in dark suits who read business books? 

Women also read business books as much as men. 

The reading list of smart women at the top of their fields can be very educative. 

Typical women's list of favourite business books:


  • Principle Centred Leadership by Stephen R. Covey
  • The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
  • Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
  • Reowrk by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier
  • Leading from the Front: No Excuse Leadership Tactics for Women
  • The Four Hoour Work Week by Tim Ferriss
  • A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink
  • The E Myth by Michael Gerber
  • Your Million Dollar Dream by Tamara Monosoff
  • Creating Money by Sanaya Roman  Diana Packer
  • The 10 Laws of Enduring Success by Maria Bartiromo
Do people who should read these business books ever read them? Yes, many do in spite of the fact that getting new ideas means unlearning old ideas. 

Many busy people are quite capable of achieving such mind shifts. This is precisely what Stephen Covey says in his best seller The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It is the seventh habit: Sharpen the Saw.



How Should We Judge Which Business Books to Read?

Most of the people who buy and read all the business, self-improvement and get-rich-instantly books hardly ever get the results they wish. So, does reading books help? This is what Faber in Ray Bradbury’s book Fahrenheit451 has to tell us about the importance of books. 3 things we can get from books:
  1. Quality of information
  2. Leisure time to digest what you read
  3. The right to carry out actions based on what you have learnt
If any organisation or society lacks any of these three, that society is on a downward spiral. How then to judge the authors who write business books? We can get some help from Faber again: 
"The good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones rape her and leave her for the flies."

Socrates, who probably never wrote anything, asks in Platos’ Pheadrus the question 
Then what is the nature of good writing and bad?” 
and answers it by 
It’s not speaking or writing well that’s shameful; what’s really shameful is to engage in either of them shamefully or badly”.
One test of a good writer is:
  • The writer has something to say
  • The writer knows really what s/he is saying
  • What is written actually speaks to you, touches you or moves you
  • You have changed after reading

The best tool for evaluating a writer is given by Ernest Hemingway. 
The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shock-proof shit detector”.
Think - does the author of the book you are about to buy have it? Looking at it from a writer’s point of view, Sholem Asch, the Polish born American writer also said it pertly: 
Writing is a lot easier if you have something to say”.

Some Examples of Great Business Books

Some business books have been extremely influential. They have become iconic classics. One way to get about finding the value of a business book is to ask from people who you consider to be successful in business.


To help you out, here is a nano list of great business books:

Why are you Going to DO After Reading a Business Book?

After reading a book about cooking or gardening you try to cook or improve your garden. So, what action does a business book prompt you to? Are you going to:
  • Try out the new idea
  • Discuss with business colleagues
  • Begin implementing an idea because the writer so forcefully argued for it
  • Decide that it is a great idea but nah it won't work for me 

For really busy people who have no time to read but need to get the gist of a book even if to say that they have read it, here's help. A business book summary service.


Business Books by Non-USA Authors

Yes, most business books are written by authors in USA. But some excellent business books come from Asian countries also. Here's some from India:
Enjoy your business book!