Mahabharata – Bahagian 4

Hussain dan Hassan masih terpegun mendengar kisah yang disampaikan oleh datuk mereka. Nampaknya kisah di sebalik penghasilan epik Jaya – yang menjadi asas kepada epik Mahabharata – juga amat menarik dan wajar diketahui.

“Saya memerlukan khidmat tukang tulis terhebat untuk berkolobrasi dengan saya bagi menjayakan projek mega ini,” kata Vyasa dengan penuh hormat kepada Brahma yang menjelma di hadapannya.

Selepas berfikir sebentar, Brahma memutuskan bahawa Ganapathi adalah pilihan terbaik untuk memikul tugas penting dan berat ini. Tambahan pula, dewa berkepala gajah itu masih bujang dan tentu tidak menghadapi masalah untuk meluangkan masa yang lama bersama-sama Vyasa. Tidak akan ada isteri atau kekasih yang cemburu buta.

Teks yang dicadangkan oleh Vyasa pastilah sebuah epik yang panjang dan memerlukan masa yang lama untuk dikarang atau dirakam dalam bentuk tulisan. Brahma, Vishnu dan Shiva serta pasangan masing-masing sibuk dengan tugas hakiki dan sukar memberikan komitmen tinggi yang diperlukan bagi menjayakan projek mega menghasilkan teks berdasarkan penceritaan lisan oleh Vyasa.

Traders rally at PM's door as gloomy Deepavali looms

With only about two weeks left to Deepavali, some 40 Brickfields petty traders today took to Putrajaya in a last ditch attempt to have their traditional festive bazaar site for the last eight years restored.

Converging outside the Prime Minister's Department under the scorching afternoon sun, the traders unfurled banners and chanted slogans, appealing for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to intervene in the matter.

The protest comes after weeks of negotiations with the Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Ministry failed to yield results.

The traders are upset that their Deepavali bazaar site had been moved from Jalan Tun Sambathan - the main Brickfields thoroughfare - to the inner street Jalan Berhala, which they say has adversely affected their business.

"There is only about two weeks left before the bazaar ends. Business in the new area is very bad.

“I will not be able to recoup my investment if they don't let us move back," said a frustrated garments trader Joseph Nathan.

Launch nationwide protest, Indians urged

PETALING JAYA: MIC president G Palanivel has called on Indians to launch a nationwide protest against the proposed condominium project slated to be built near Batu Caves temple.

In a statement today, Palanivel also urged non-governmental organisations, irrespective of their political leanings, to voice objections against the 29-storey condominium project.

“The Selangor state government should stop this project. A mere stop-work order to conduct soil tests at the vicinity is not enough,” he said.

On Monday, the Sri Subramaniar Swamy temple chairman R Nadarajah raised objections against the proposed condominium project by Dolotime Industries, slated on a land beside the temple.

The project was approved by the Selayang Municipal Council (MPS).

Selangor state executive councillor for local government, Ronnie Liu, later issued a temporary stop- work order to conduct soil tests on the land to ensure the construction would not damage temple statues.

The temple committee plans to hold a protest tomorrow to pressure the Pakatan Rakyat-led state government and the developer to stop the project.

nPalanivel, who is also a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, said that the state government should look for an alternative land for the condominium project, claiming the soil near the caves was not suitable.

“The hills in Batu Caves are made of limestones. The area tends to become soggy whenever there is a downpour. Development work there may cause the caves and the condominium to collapse in years to come,” said Palanivel.

He added that the soil test is not going to prove anything in the long run.

Palanivel also urged the state government to compensate Dolomite for its losses.

“Hulu Kelang is a water catchment area. It should be left on untouched,” he said.

The condominium project was approved on Sept 27, 2007 when the state was under Barisan Nasional’s administration.

The temple committee had taken fullpage advertisements in major Tamil dailies today to urge people to participate in the rally at temple compound tomorrow.



Source : http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/10/25/launch-nationwide-protest-indians-urged/

Ambiga, a people's hero but no politician

Though the event “Datuk Ambiga (Sreenevasan) Bersama Rakyat” in Kedah yesterday seemed like a political outing, the Bersih icon was quick to dismiss the notion when she said “we are not politicians”.

“We are not fighting for BN (Barisan Nasional) or Pakatan Rakyat. We are fighting for you. We want your vote to mean something. We want to make sure they do not steal the value of your vote.

“Whoever comes into power, we should be able to remove them in five years if they are not good,” added the Bersih co-coordinator, as the largely Indian crowd in Paya Besar clapped thunderously.

“We also want the government to support Bersih (the electoral reform coalition). It’s been 55 years, one of the longest (rule) in the world. It is time to make our politicians accountable”.

The pouring rain in Padang Serai failed to deter 1,000-odd crowd  who turned up at the Bersih event yesterday evening, led by Kulim Hindraf chief M Asokan, and other local NGOs.

Ambiga was accompanied by a string of other speakers including Kedah state executive council member Aishah Ghazali, Selambau assemblyperson S Manikumar, PKR vice-president N Surendran, Kedah senator Saiful Idzham, Suaram ecretariat member Cynthia Gabriel and National Indian Action Team chairperson Thasleem Mohd.

Mahabharata – Bahagian 3

Pasangan kembar Hussain dan Hassan tekun mendengar kisah yang disampaikan oleh datuk mereka mengenai Vyasa iaitu individu yang dikreditkan sebagai pengarang epik Mahabharata yang terkenal di serata dunia.

“Vyasa ialah anak kepada Maharishyi Parasara. Kamu berdua sudah sedia tahu mengenai epik Jaya yang dihasilkan oleh Vyasa dan kemudian digabungkan dengan epik Bharata untuk menghasilkan Mahabharata,” kata datuk sambil memegang erat teks Razmnameh yang merupakan terjemahan epik berkenaan ke Bahasa Parsi.

Menurut lelaki tua itu, selepas Vyasa menggubah sepenuhnya epik kisah perang tersebut secara lisan dalam minda, dia memutuskan untuk merakamkannya dalam bentuk tulisan sebagai bahan dokumentasi bagi generasi akan datang.

Pujangga dan pemikir itu dilaporkan mengadakan meditasi dengan penuh khusyuk; memohon petunjuk daripada Dewata bagi merealisasikan impiannya menghasilkan teks Jaya – versi asal Mahabharata – dalam bentuk bertulis. Langkah proaktif ini juga bagi memastikan gubahan yang dipenuhi pelbagai unsur budaya, dharma, moral, etika dan sebagainya tidak hilang begitu sahaja selepas ketiadaannya suatu hari nanti.

“Penduduk beragama Hindu di Benua Kecil India percaya bahawa Brahma muncul di hadapan Vyasa berikutan meditasi yang dilakukannya. Lalu, Brahma iaitu dewa pencipta bertanya kepada maharishyi itu, apa yang dimahukannya.”

Hassan dan Hussain terus khusyuk mendengar cerita daripada datuk. Sambil mendengar, mereka membiarkan daya imaginasi melayang ke masa silam. Seolah-olah kisah itu sedang berlaku di depan mata.

“Saya menyimpan suatu kisah yang sangat menarik dan amat penting untuk dijadikan panduan bagi generasi akan datang. Saya bimbang bahawa kisah berbentuk semi-autobiografi dan faksyen ini akan hilang atau mengalami perubahan yang terlalu banyak sekiranya hanya disebarkan secara lisan,” kata Vyasa kepada Brahma yang muncul di hadapannya.

“Lalu, apa yang mahu dilakukan?” Dewata bertanya.

“Saya mahu supaya kisah yang saya gubah ini dirakam dalam bentuk bertulis supaya menjadi bahan dokumentasi yang kekal merentas zaman,” Vyasa menjelaskan.

“Maka, kamu mahu beralih daripada tradisi lisan yang menjadi amalan manusia selama ini dan masuk ke dalam tradisi bertulis yang sehingga kini hanya menjadi amalan golongan dewa-dewi?”

“Benar. Namun, transformasi dan reformasi ini bukan bermakna tradisi lisan mahu dilenyapkan terus. Sekurang-kurangnya jika versi bertulis sudah ada, tidak akan timbul kemungkinan kisah keturunan Kuru yang saya gubah ini hilang daripada rekod dan sejarah.”

Khabarnya Brahma akur pada alasan, hujah dan rasional yang dikemukakan oleh Vyasa. Apa yang bakal dilakukan oleh Vyasa adalah suatu tindakan proaktif berbentuk transformasi dan anjakan paradigma melampaui zaman. Namun, Brahma sedar bahawa segala apa yang berlaku adalah mengikut aturan yang sudah ditetapkan.


Source : http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/10/21/mahabharata-%E2%80%93-bahagian-3/

Mahabharata – Bahagian 2

Sambil membaca epik Razmnameh dalam Bahasa Parsi – atau apabila mendengar datuk mereka bercerita – Hussain dan Hassan akan menambah watak-watak baru pada rajah keluarga keturunan Kuru.

Dipendekkan cerita, Bhisma tidak mahu menggauli pasangan adik-beradik Ambika dan Ambalika (balu kepada Vichitravirya) kerana sudah bersumpah untuk mengekalkan keterunaannya. Bhisma lalu memujuk ibu tirinya, Satyavati supaya memujuk Vyasa agar menggauli Ambika dan Ambalika demi untuk memastikan jurai keturunan Kuru dapat diteruskan.

Watak Vyasa inilah yang kemudian tampil sebagai penggubah epik Mahabharata yang kini tersebar ke seluruh dunia dan dianggap pula sebagai sebuah kitab suci dalam agama Hindu. Bagaimanapun, Hussain dan Hassan sedar bahawa teks asal yang dipercayai dikarang oleh Vyasa adalah Jaya yang merupakan cerita asas kepada kisah yang kemudian dikembangkan pula oleh Vaisampayana menjadi Bharata.

Sebahagian daripada teks Jaya gubahan Vyasa dikenali sebagai Bhagavad Gita dan sehingga kini mampu berdiri sendiri.  Keseluruhan teks adalah dialog antara Arjuna dan Dewa Krishna, bapa saudaranya. Semasa Arjuna pergi ke medan perang, Dewa Krishna menawarkan diri menjadi pemandu kereta kuda. Dialog yang berlaku antara Arjuna dan Dewa Krishna sepanjang perang itulah merupakan bab keenam dan diberi judul Bhagavad Gita.

Dewa Krishna memberi pelbagai tunjuk ajar, panduan, nasihat, motivasi dan bimbingan kepada Arjuna di medan perang. Memandangkan bab keenam itu mempunyai ciri-ciri yang sempurna sebagai sebuah karya epik, ia diberi judul Bhagavad Gita dan mampu berdiri sendiri sebagai sebuah teks kudus.

Sementara itu, seorang pencerita profesional yang dikenali sebagai Ugrasrava Sauti pula dikatakan menggabungkan Jaya dan Bharata, lalu menghasilkan epik yang dikenali sebagai Mahabharata, teks dengan hampir 1.8 juta perkataan dan panjangnya empat kali ganda Ramayana.

Berbalik kepada kisah Vyasa yang akur pada permintaan ibu kandungnya, Satyavathi, lelaki itu menjadi bapa kepada Dhritarashtra (dilahirkan oleh Ambika dan buta sejak lahir) dan Pandu (dilahirkan oleh Ambalika dan menghidap penyakit kekurangan sel darah merah). Seorang lagi isterinya, Pinjala pula melahirkan anak yang sempurna bernama Suka.

Di kemudian hari, perebutan takhta Kerajaan Hastinapura berlaku antara Yudhisthira (anak Pandu) dan Duryodhana (anak Dhritarashtra). Watak Suka pula akan memainkan peranan penting dalam menyebarkan kisah Mahabharata (Jaya) kepada Raja Parikshit, iaitu cicit Pandu dan cucu Arjuna.

Namun, sebelum itu, Hassan dan Hussain tidak sabar untuk mendengar datuk mereka menceritakan bagaimana Vyasa berjaya menghafaz dan menyanyikan epik Jaya yang dipercayai dirakam dalam bentuk tulisan oleh Dewa Ganesha berkepala gajah. –


Source : http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/10/14/mahabharata-%E2%80%93-bahagian-2/

Extortion: Police urge death-in-custody kin to help probe

Police will investigate the claim that personnel from the Cheras district police headquarters had demanded RM300 from the wife of P Chandran prior to his death in their custody, Cheras OCPD Mohan Singh said today.

"We are investigating the matter to verify if the claim is true, and we invite the family to come forward to help identify those they allege made the demand," Mohan said when contacted.

Of the three police reports lodged on Chandran's death and the circumstances surrounding it, he said, only one was lodged in the Cheras police district, at the Pudu police station.

The other two, lodged by the deceased's brother P Gunalan, were made in Simpang Renggam, Johor, and were about incidents that took place under the jurisdiction of the Dang Wangi police district.

"The Kuala Lumpur police will be investigating all claims," Mohan said when asked about the extortion claim stated in a police report lodged by Chandran's brother-in-law, R Rajan Naidu.

In his report, Rajan said Chandran's widow N Selvi told him that police personnel had asked her for RM300 when she sought information on Chandran, when he was still alive.

Police raised money for family

The other two reports were lodged by Gunalan claim that police negligence led to Chandran's death. Police claimed that Chandran died from heart disease and classified it as "sudden death".

The family insists that he was suffering from hypertension, and that police did not allow Selvi to see him and pass his medication to him, resulting in his death on Sept 10.

While the extortion claim will be investigated, Mohan said, he pointed out that Gunalan in one of his police reports acknowleged that police assisted the family in sending Chandran's remains to Simpang Renggam.

"They said they wanted to take the body home on the same day, so we arranged for everything. We even raised RM200 among us to help them as they said they had no money.

"It was a humanitarian act and I don't think there is anything wrong with that," Mohan added.

The family yesterday sent a memorandum to federal police chief Ismail Omar asking for Chandran's death to be investigated.

The have also engaged a lawyer to file a negligence suit against the police and government.

VIDEO|2.20 mins

Source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/211520

Police 'extorted' wife of death-in-custody victim

Police asked the wife of death-in-custody victim P Chandran to pay RM300 when she sought information about her husband at the Cheras district police headquarters just before his death.

This is stated in a police report filed by the victim's brother-in-law, R Rajan Naidu.

Rajan says in the report that Chandran's wife, N Selvi, told him a police officer asked her to pay RM300 before disclosing information about her husband.

"She told me that the police officer had sought RM300 for information on her husband, and told her that police were taking him to court," the police report lodged says.

The report says Selvi had to "sleep under a bridge" during the two nights she stayed in Kuala Lumpur to check on Chandran, and to pass him his hypertension medication.
The victim, a lorry driver, and his family which consists of six daughters aged 17 and under, are based in Simpang Renggam, Johor. His youngest daughter is a toddler.

Selangor to reward Paralympic Games medalists

The Selangor government has announced that it will reward two national athletes who bagged medals in the 2012 London Paralympics Games.

State exco Dr Ahmad Yunus said that archer Hasihin Sanawi (right), who won silver in the men's individual recurve W1/W2 event, will be awarded RM30,000 while Mohd Ziyad Zolkefli, who clinched bronze in the men’s shot putt F20 category, will get RM20,000.

"The prize money will be handed over during the state athletes award ceremony, which will be held before the end of this year," he said.

Meanwhile, at the same press conference, Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim played down calls from Selangor PKR for his political secretary Faekah Husin to resign for criticising deputy president Azmin Ali.

"That is a normal comment in internal PKR party politics. My stand is this should be resolved internally," he said.

Quit rent not paid

Meanwhile, Abdul Khalid said the Selangor government will be appealing a High Court's decision to overturn the government's move of seizing Yayasan Basmi Kemiskinan's (YBK) land in Serendah for not paying quit rent.
                          
He added that the appeal was based on a legal issue, but said YBK could have the land back as long as it paid its quit rent in full and followed the necessary procedures.

Yayasan Melaka had in 2010 offered to pay the quit rent due on behalf of YBK but was rejected by the state government.

"You can't ask someone else to pay for your land, however, if they want to pay it, they should give the money and you use it to pay yourself.

"You can't let someone else pay it under their name or next time they may claim it is their land, he said.

Source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/211352

Bkt Jalil residents to meet PM’s special officer again

PUTRAJAYA: Former Bukit Jalil estate workers, who are in a tug-of-war with the government over the last two years, will meet Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s special officer Ravin Ponniah at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) tomorrow in an effort to reach an amicable solution to their problem.

Bukit Jalil estate workers committee treasurer K Balakrishnan said this was conveyed to him when he and four other committee members delivered a memorandum to the PMO this morning.

It is learnt that Najib had offered a low-cost flat and an additional RM35,000 to each family of the former estate as compensation as the land they are staying has been earmarked for development. The offer was RM9,000 more than the previous offer by the government.

However, the estate committee representing 250 members from 41 families are not happy with the latest government offer.

“The fundamental issue here is not about money but the land which we have been staying for more than four generations,” Balakrishnan told reporters when met outside the PMO.

Why discriminate Paralympic winners?

PETALING JAYA: MCA parliamentarian for Pandan Ong Tee Keat has questioned the discriminative and ‘unfair’ reward system for disabled athletes and is planning to raise the issue in Parliament soon.

Ong said he would devote a portion of his debate speech on Budget 2013 to question the system, which offers a lucrative one-off cash reward to Olympics medalists but not to their Paralympics counterparts.

Under the Athlete Incentive Scheme (Shakam), gold medal winners at the Olympics received a one-off RM1 million payment while silver and bronze medal winners receive RM300,000 and RM100,000 respectively.
This was in stark contrast to Paralympic gold medal winners who received RM300,000 while silver and bronze medal winners get RM200,000 and RM100,000 respectively.

“Today, despite them winning medals, there is still a world of differences in terms of the treatments they got as compared to Lee Chong Wei or Pandelela (Rinong).

“Disabled athletes fork out double efforts to take part in Paralympics, they should be given equal shares of reward,” Ong said in a video clip posted on his YouTube channel.

When contacted by FMT, Ong also disagreed with Sport Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek’s recent remark that the reward gap was due to the Paralympics games’ structure, where multiple sub-categories are found under a category such as 100 meter sprint.

He said the ministry should take into account the physical challenges the disabled athletes need to endure and the jobs they may forgo to take part in the trainings.

Hence, he urged the ministry to come out with a mechanism that would ensure disabled athletes’ job security.
“The adoption scheme (bapa angkat) should be extended to disabled athletes, whereby government-linked companies and big corporate entities adopt them and provide them with a flexible job.

“At least they don’t need to worry that if they go for training for two or three times in a week, they will lose their jobs,” he said.

Malaysia bagged one silver and one bronze medal in the London Paralympics Games last month, equaled the achievement of the able-bodied athletes in Olympics.

Of the 23 athletes in Malaysia contingent, Hasihin Sanawi won a silver medal in archery while Mohd Ziyad Zolkefli clinched a bronze in shot putt.


Source : http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/10/07/why-discriminate-paralympian-winners/

Mahabharata – Bahagian 1

Hussain sedang menelaah teks Razmnameh dalam Bahasa Parsi bersama-sama Hassan apabila dia menyedari betapa Mahabharata adalah sebuah epik yang amat kompleks dan sukar dihuraikan secara terperinci dalam masa yang singkat. Tidak hairanlah datuk mereka turut menghadapi masalah untuk menjelaskannya secara mendalam.

Vyasa selaku pengarang epik klasik India ini ternyata menggunakan cerita berbingkai dan plot kompleks dalam menyampaikan cerita yang menggabungkan unsur politik, agama, geografi, teknik perang, dharma, moral, falsafah, keluarga, persahabatan, ketaatan dan ribuan topik lain dalam sebuah epik yang diperakui sebagai teks puisi terpanjang di dunia.

Epik Mahabharata pada asalnya ditulis dalam bahasa Sanskrit pada sekitar kurun ke-5 Sebelum Masehi dan kurun ke-2 Masehi.  Ia mengisahkan perang saudara antara golongan Kauruva (seramai seratus orang) dan golongan Pandava (seramai lima orang) berikutan tindakan golongan Kauruva merampas kerajaan daripada golongan Pandava secara tipu muslihat.

Namun begitu, sebagai permulaan kepada kisah yang terbahagi kepada 18 parva (bahagian) ini, Hassan dan Hussain mahu mengenali individu bernama Vyasa yang bukan sahaja bertindak sebagai penggubah epik itu, malah turut tampil sebagai salah satu watak penting di dalamnya. Hal ini boleh dibandingkan juga dengan kehadiran Valmiki sebagai watak dan juga penggubah sebuah lagi epik klasik Sanskrit iaitu Ramayana.

Satu lagi nama timangan bagi Vyasa ialah Krishna. Bagaimanapun, nama itu adalah sempena kulitnya yang gelap dan bukan merujuk kepada Dewa Krishna – yang kebetulan juga tampil sebagai satu lagi watak penting dalam Mahabharata.

Vyasa dikatakan anak kepada Satyavati dan Parashara. Terdahulu, Satyavati bersuamikan Shantanu dan salah seorang anak yang lahir ialah Vichitravirya. Maka, Vyasa dan Vichitravirya merupakan adik-beradik tiri; seibu tetapi berlainan bapa. Demikian Hussian dan Hassan pernah mendengar cerita daripada datuk mereka.

Menurut kisah dalam Mahabharata, Vichitravirya berkahwin dengan pasangan adik-beradik, Ambika dan Ambalika. Malangnya putera itu meninggal dunia akibat batuk kering. Maka ibu mendiang, iaitu Satyavati, cuba memujuk Bhisma (anak tirinya) supaya menggauli Ambika dan Ambalika demi meneruskan generasi Kuru.

Ya, kisah dan jurai keturunan dalam Mahabharata memang amat kompleks. Satyavati bersuamikan Shantanu sebelum mengahwini Parashara. Shantanu pula sebelum itu sudah mengahwini Ganga yang melahirkan Bhisma. Maka, Bhisma, Vichitravirya dan Vyasa adalah adik-beradik tiri dalam suatu keluarga yang amat kompleks.

Pasangan kembar Hassan dan Hussain terpaksa membuat rajah khas untuk menggambarkan hubungan kekeluargaan keturunan Kuru supaya dapat mengikuti kisah Mahabharata dengan lebih baik.


Source : http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/10/07/mahabharata-%E2%80%93-bahagian-1/

India’s Oscars fiasco

Indian selectors have been unashamedly and unconcernedly picking the wrong film and sending it up to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for an Oscar nomination. Barring a few occasions, this has been happening for years.

This year, Anurag Basu’s Barfi is India’s choice to compete with some of the masterly works from around the world. Michael Haneke’s Amour and Christian Mungiu’s Beyond the Hills are just two in an otherwise impressive list.

The works of Indian directors like Girish Kasaravalli, Rituparno Ghosh, Buddhadeb Dasgupta and Tigmanshu Dulia among others were just dumped into the din by the selectors.

With an attitude which smacks of arrogant parochialism and nepotism, it is not surprising that ever since 1957, when India began sending a movie, only three Indian works have made it to the Oscars shortlist of five in Best Foreign Language Picture category.  The three films, all in Hindi – Mother India, Salaam Bombay and Lagaan – could not clinch the actual Oscar.

Budget not aimed to fish for votes, says PM

The tabling of the 2013 Budget is not to fish for votes, but a commitment by the government to bring prosperity to the country, said Najib Razak today.

Thus, the prime minister said the government should not be accused of being populist because it had succeeded in achieving numerous successes and fulfilling its promises to the people.

He said the government had implemented policies and spent on projects to encourage economic growth to the extent that it was capable of recording a remarkable economic growth when the world was facing economic crisis.

He cited the listing of Felda Global Ventures Holding (FGVH), which recorded the second highest initial public offer (IPO) after Facebook, as one of the major succeses.

"This is our pride, so we cannot be accused as being a populist government.

"A populist government is one that is irresponsible, which promises things which are impossible to implement," he said in his speech at the Paroi Youth and Sports Stadium in Seremban today.