From the first part of this story:
As Guru-ji returned to Punjab in 1670, news of his increasing influence reached Aurangzeb. Royal reporters mentioned how “For years by now…he (Guru Tegh Bahadur) has been conducting an extensive whirlwind tour of the country. He has been going about with many thousand men. He is also collecting funds”
Aurangzeb received these reports in the North-west where he was dealing with the rebellion of Pathans. As Kartar Singh-ji notes:
He (Aurangzeb) had no time to make intensive enquiries about allegations. …

As Manipur tries to sleep through the *60th night* of blockade…

…girls paint their bodies with World Cup slogans in far-away Moradabad…

…the top two “Most Read” news-items on Timesof India’s website are “Bride turns out to be a boy” and “Big B Wishes speedy recovery to SRK” (which reminds me, can we please request SrBachchan to put Manipur on the national agenda through his blogs/ tweets?)

…the top 2 “Most Shared” news item are “Five foods every woman must eat” and “Bride turns out to be a boy”…(can you please share …

Continuing the series of posts from North-East, here is a brief compilation of some of the questions I was asked at various meetings and dicussions re. politics, FTI, corruption etc. Hopefully you will find them thought-provoking. I have summarised my responses too.
***
Q1: Why did you decide to leave your job/work and get into politics?
A: Because I believe this to be the only way to improve the current situation in India (along a number of dimensions -  not just in terms of socio-economic conditions but also in terms of policies …

Many of you would remember the promise I made some days ago to share  the inspiring story about the life of Guru Tegh Bahadur-ji on this blog.
I was hoping to do last week but my visit to North-East delayed this post. That said, Guruji’s story is timeless…and will no doubt be retold many many times…What follows is my humble attempt at depicting the life of this saint.  Although we are all very familiar with Guru Tegh Bahadur’s name, his deeds – like hundreds of other proud chapters from Indian history …

Post triggered by a notice-board I spotted at Guwahati airport (pl click below to enlarge; take note of the last name on the list)

I wonder why Sh Robert Vadra is exempted from pre-embarkation security checks when he is with “SPG Protectees”? Would it be embarrassing to Priyanka to see her husband being frisked by “ordinary” security personnel? Would it embarrass the children to see their father being “security checked” in public? Or would it embarrass the other “SPG Protectees” he may be travelling with to see him being so checked?
Or …

This weekend, please find a selection of articles from the North-East, touching on some of the topics previously discussed here. More “Notes from North-East” next week. Stay tuned.
The first extract on Majuli, the world’s largest riverine island in the world and its “Satras“:
Majuli was one of the nerve-centres of the Neo-Vaisnavite Movement during its heydays. It was at Majuli (then known as Dhuwahat, Ahom territory) that Mahapurusha Srimanta Sankaradeva met his foremost disciple and apostolic successor, Madhavadeva for the very first time, in the 16th century. This event, referred to …