Nathuram Godse's speech at trial

" On January 13, 1948, I learnt that Gandhiji had decided to go on fast unto death. The reason given was that he wanted an assurance of Hindu-Muslim Unity... But I and many others could easily see that the real motive...[was] to compel the Dominion Government to pay the sum of Rs 55 crores to Pakistan, the payment of which was emphatically refused by the Government.... But this decision of the people's Government was reversed to suit the tune of Gandhiji's fast. It was evident to my mind that the force of public opinion was nothing but a trifle when compared with the leanings of Gandhiji favourable to Pakistan.

....In 1946 or thereabout, Muslim atrocities perpetrated on Hindus under the Government patronage of Surhawardy in Noakhali made our blood boil. Our shame and indignation knew no bounds when we saw that Gandhiji had come forward to shield that very Surhawardy and began to style him as 'Shaheed Saheb' - a martyr - even in his prayer meetings...

....Gandhiji's influence in the Congress first increased and then became supreme. His activities for public awakening were phenomenal in their intensity and were reinforced by the slogans of truth and non-violence which he ostentatiously paraded before the country... I could never conceive that an armed resistance to the aggressor is unjust... Ram killed Ravan in a tumultuous fight... Krishna killed Kansa to end his wickedness... In
condemning Shivaji, Rana Pratap and Guru Govind as 'misguided patriots,'
Gandhiji has merely exposed his self-conceit... Gandhiji was, paradoxically, a violent pacifist who brought untold calamities on the country in the name of truth and nonviolence, while Rana Pratap, Shivaji and the Guru will remain enshrined in the hearts of their countrymen forever...

....By 1919, Gandhiji had become desperate in his endeavours to get the Muslims to trust him and went from one absurd promise to another... He backed the Khilafat movement in this country and was able to enlist the full support of the National Congress in that policy... very soon the Moplah Rebellion showed that the Muslims had not the slightest idea of national unity... There followed a huge slaughter of Hindus... The British
Government, entirely unmoved by the rebellion, suppressed it in a few months and left to Gandhiji the joy of his Hindu-Muslim Unity... British Imperialism emerged stronger, the Muslims became more fanatical, and the
consequences were visited on the Hindus...

The accumulating provocation of 32 years, culminating in his last pro-Muslim fast, at last goaded me to the conclusion that the existence of Gandhiji should be brought to an end immediately... he developed a subjective
mentality under which he alone was the final judge of what was right or wrong... Either Congress had to surrender its will to him and play second fiddle to all his eccentricity, whimsicality... or it had to carry on
without him... He was the master brain guiding the civil disobedience movement... The movement may succeed or fail; it may bring untold disasters and political reverses, but that could make no difference to the Mahatma's infallibility... These childish inanities and obstinacies, coupled with a most severe austerity of life, ceaseless work and lofty character, made Gandhiji formidable and irresistible... In a position of such absolute
irresponsibility, Gandhiji was guilty of blunder after blunder...

....The Mahatma even supported the separation of Sindh from the Bombay Presidency and threw the Hindus of Sindh to the communal wolves. Numerous riots took place in Karachi, Sukkur, Shikarpur and other places in which the Hindus were the only sufferers...

....From August 1946 onwards, the private armies of the Muslim League began a massacre of the Hindus... Hindu blood began to flow from Bengal to Karachi with mild reactions in the Deccan... The Interim government formed in September was sabotaged by its Muslim League members, but the more they
became disloyal and treasonable to the government of which they were a part, the greater was Gandhi's infatuation for them...

....The Congress, which had boasted of its nationalism and socialism, secretly accepted Pakistan and abjectly surrendered to Jinnah. India was vivisected and one-third of the Indian territory became foreign land to
us... This is what Gandhiji had achieved after 30 years of undisputed dictatorship, and this is what Congress party calls 'freedom'...

....One of the conditions imposed by Gandhiji for his breaking of the fast unto death related to the mosques in Delhi occupied by Hindu refugees. But when Hindus in Pakistan were subjected to violent attacks he did not so much as utter a single word to protest and censure the Pakistan government...

Gandhi is being referred to as the Father of the Nation. But if that is so, he had failed his paternal duty inasmuch as he has acted very treacherously to the nation by his consenting to the partitioning of it... The people of this country were eager and vehement in their opposition to Pakistan. But Gandhiji played false with the people...

....I shall be totally ruined, and the only thing I could expect from the people would be nothing but hatred... if I were to kill Gandhiji. But at the same time, I felt that Indian politics in the absence of Gandhiji would
surely be proved practical, able to retaliate, and be powerful with armed forces. No doubt, my own future would be totally ruined, but the nation would be saved from the inroads of Pakistan...

....I do say that my shots were fired at the person whose policy and action had brought rack and ruin and destruction to millions of Hindus... There was no legal machinery by which such an offender could be brought to book, and for this reason I fired those fatal shots...

....I do not desire any mercy to be shown to me... I did fire shots at Gandhiji in open daylight. I did not make any attempt to run away; in fact I never entertained any idea of running away. I did not try to shoot myself...
for, it was my ardent desire to give vent to my thoughts in an open Court.My confidence about the moral side of my action has not been shaken even by the criticism levelled of against it on all sides. I have no doubt, honest writers of history will weigh my act and find the true value thereof some day in future. "

Why go to Temple?

A Temple goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to Temple every day.

"I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."

This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:

"I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this.. They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work.
If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to temple for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!"

UseFul Information - LPG Expiry Date

Have U ever heard about LPG gas cylinder's expiry date....!!
Do you know that there is an expiry date (physical life) for LPG cylinders?
Expired Cylinders are not safe for use and may cause accidents. In this regard, please be cautious at the time of accepting any LPG cylinder from the vendor.
Here is how we can check the expiry of LPG cylinders: On one of three side stems of the cylinder, the expiry date is coded alpha numerically as follows A or B or C or D and some two digit number following this e.g. D06.
The alphabets stand for quarters -
1. A for March (First Qtr),
2. B for June (Second Qtr),
3. C for Sept (Third Qtr),
4. D for December (Fourth Qtr).
The digits stand for the year till it is valid. Hence D06 would mean December qtr of 2006. Please Return Back the Cylinder that you get with a Expiry Date, they are prone to Leak and other Hazardous accidents ... The second example with D13 allows the cylinder to be in use until Dec 2013 .

A Tribute to the "GREATEST" thing ever happened to INDIA - Thanks NDTV for Snaps :)

1st century: On September 9, 1994 at the Premdasa Stadium in Colombo, the little master scored thfirst of his 45 centuries playing against Australia scoring 110 runs at a strike rate of 84.61.

2nd century: His second century came just a month later on October 28, 1994 against New Zealand at Vadodara. This was also Sachin’s first ODI century in India. Opening the innings, he scored 115 runs at a strike rate of 84.55.

3rd century: Sachin’s majestic form continued as just two weeks later on November 11, 1994 he scored his third century against West Indies at Jaipur. Sachin scored 105 runs at a strike rate of 78.35 this time.

4th century: Sachin went on without a century for nearly 5 months till April 9, 1995 when opening the innings, he scored a blisteringly quick century staying not out at a score of 112 at a strike rate of 104.67. This smashing inning of his won India the match against Sri Lanka at Sharjah.

5th century: His fifth century came again in India when he scored an unbeaten 127 at the Barbati stadium in Cuttack at a strike rate of 92.02 against the Kenyans on February 18,1996. All of his first five centuries helped India register victories in those particular matches.

6th century: Even though Sachin put up a fight, India tasted defeat at the hands of the Lankans on March 2, 1996 at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi. A focussed Sachin kept on going while wickets kept falling at regular intervals. He scored 137 runs of 137 balls. Yet, for the first time his century could not culminate into a win for India.

7th century: Another century for Sachin, yet another loss for team India. Even though Sachin kept his majestic form going, scoring 100 runs against Pakistan, India still ended up losing the match at The Padang, Singapore.

8th Century: Exactly 10 days later India got its revenge against Pakistan and Sachin got his eight ODI century. Opening the inning for India, Sachin scored 118 runs at a strike rate of 84.28, at the Sharjah stadium.

9th Century: His 9th century came on August 28, 1996. A day of mixed feelings for Sachin as even though he scored his first century as skipper, India still lost the match to Sri Lanka. Sachin scored 110 runs at a strike rate of 79.71 playing at the Premdasa stadium in Colombo.

10th CENTURY: On December 14, 1996, Sachin’s tenth ODI ton helped India register a win against South Africa at Sachin’s home ground Wankhede stadium in Mumbai. Opening the innings, Sachin made 114 runs at a strike rate of 90.47.

11th Century: On February 9, 1997 at Willowmoore Park in Benoni, unstoppable Sachin showed the Zimbabweans why he was the most dangerous batsman in the world. Leading India to victory, he scored 104 runs at more than a run a ball.

12th Century: On May 14, 1997 at Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore, Sachin scored his second century against New Zealand and his 12th overall ODI century which was also his last century in his first captaincy stint. His 117 runs inning led India to a comfortable victory.

13th Century: Sachin went century-less for nearly a year. On April 7, 1998 he came back to form with a century against Australia at the Green Park stadium in Kanpur. He scored a hundred runs again at a strike rate of more than a run a ball leading India to victory.

14th Century: Sachin had already started giving his opposition nightmares. On April 22, 1998 he single handedly fought Australia scoring a mammoth 143 runs. Although India lost, nobody could forget that particular innings of his at Sharjah.

15th Century: This was the time when Australia really had no answer to the unstoppable force called Sachin. On April 24, 1998, bitter from the last match’s loss, Sachin scored yet another century this time leading India to a win. He scored 134 runs at a strike rate of 102.29.

16th Century: On May 31st, 1998, Sachin scored his 16th century against Kenya. He scored a hundred runs not out at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata leading India to victory.

17th Century: Hitting centuries one after the other had become a habit for Sachin by now. On July 7, 1998 he scored his 17th century leading India to victory against Sri Lanka at the Premadasa stadium in Colombo. Sachin scored 128 runs at nearly a run a ball.

18th Century: In what was yet another victory for team India, Sachin added another century to his records, scoring 127 not out against Zimbabwe at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo on September 26, 1998.With this century, Sachin surpassed West Indian Desmond Haynes' record of the maximum ODI centuries.

19th Century: October 28, 1998: This time we are in Dhaka but the opposition is the familiar Aussie side. Sachin keeps giving them nightmares as he scored a quick 141 runs leading India to another victory over Australia.

20th Century: Sharjah has proved to be really lucky for Sachin in the past. November 8, 1998 was no different. Sachin completed his 20th ODI century playing against Zimbabwe. He scored 118 runs not out at strike rate of 105.35.

21st Century: 5 days later, on November 13, 1998, Sachin scored another century. This time it was even quicker than his last one. He scored 124 not out at an outstanding strike rate of 135 leading India to another comfortable win against Zimbabwe at Sharjah.

22nd Century: Even with the recent loss of his father, Sachin wasn’t ready to slow down. The most dangerous batsman in the world showed Kenya who the real cricketing giant was when he scored an unbeaten 140 runs at a strike rate of 138.61 on May 23, 1999 at County Ground in Bristol. He dedicated this century to his late father Ramesh Tendulkar. This was Sachin’s first ODI century where he did not open the innings.

23rd Century: On August 29, 1999, Sachin returned with the first century of his second captaincy stint. He scored 120 runs against Sri Lanka helping India to a win at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo.

24th Century: On November 8, 1999 Sachin scored his highest ODI score in an inning when he hammered the New Zealand bowlers for an unbeaten 186 runs at the Lal Bahadur Shastri stadium in Hyderabad which India comfortably won.

25th Century: His first century of the new millenium came on March 17, 2000 when he scored 122 runs against the Proteas at the IPCL Sports Complex Ground in Vadodara. Like most of Sachin’s centuries, this one too resulted in a win for India.

26th Century: On October 20, 2000, Sachin kept fighting the Lankan bowling attack on his own and stood his ground. He scored 101 runs but could not lead India to a win. This, at one of his luckiest, the Sharjah stadium.

27th Century: On December 8, 2000, India had a shocker of a defeat to Zimbabwe at the Barkatullah Khan Stadium in Jodhpur. Even a fantastic 146 run knock by Sachin could not save India from a surprising defeat.

28th Century: Another match with Australia, another century for Sachin. On March 31, 2001, Sachin scored 139 runs at more than a run a ball to lead India to victory against the Aussies at the Nehru Stadium in Indore.

29th Century: Sachin scored his second century against the Windies on July 4, 2001 at the Harare Sports Club in Harare scoring an unbeaten 122 runs leading India to a win.

30th Century: In a losing battle against the Proteas on October 5, 2001, Sachin scored his 30th ODI century at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. He made 101 runs at a strike rate of 78.29.

31st Century: Another good innings with a score of 146 came on October 24, 2001 when he helped India win at the Boland Park, Paarl against Kenya.

32nd Century: His first century against England came after being nearly a decade in the sport on July 4, 2002. He scored an unbeaten 105 batting at the number four spot at the Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street. This was his second century batting at the number four spot.

33rd Century: Just a week later on July 11, 2002, he scored a very fast 113 against Sri Lanka at the County Ground, Bristol, leading team India to victory. This was again while batting at the number four spot.

34th Century: Sachin went without a century for nearly half a year. He then hit his 34th ton against Namibia at the City Oval, Pietermaritzburg on February 23, 2003. Sachin for the second time managed to score in excess of 150 runs with a score of an unbeaten 152 coming at nearly a run a ball.

35th Century: The master batsman got his 35th ODI ton against Australia on October 26, 2003 in Gwalior that resulted in India's 37-run win over the World Champions.

36th century: Bowlers were finding it hard to put a stop to Sachin’s menace. Sachin hit his 36th century playing against New Zealand scoring 102 runs at the Lal Bahadur Shastri stadium in Hyderabad, winning the match for India on November 15, 2003.

37th century: March 16, 2004. It was an India Pakistan match which India went on to lose. Playing at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi, Sachin knocked the ball all around the ground to score 141 runs again at a strike rate of more than a run a ball.

38th Century: Sachin’s next century came again against Pakistan. Although this century came after a gap of more than a year on April 12, 2005 at Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Sachin’s 123 could not win the match for India who had another defeat to Pakistan on their records.

39th Century: Sachin’s 39th century came against Pakistan on February 6, 2006 when he scored a hundred runs playing at Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar. It is ironical that Sachin’s last three centuries came against Pakistan and India still lost those three matches.

40th Century: Tendulkar had slowed down by now and so had his centuries. His 40th century came on September 14, 2006 at the Kinrara Academy Oval in Kuala Lumpur against West Indies when he hit an unbeaten 141 runs. Unfortunately, just like his previous three centuries, India lost this match as well.

41st Century: On January 31, 2007, Sachin scored an unbeaten 100 to establish his 41st century. Playing at IPCL Sports Complex Ground in Vadodara against West Indies, Sachin scored at an impressive strike rate of 131.57 leading India to victory.

42nd Century: Sachin had hit a rough patch by now. Critics were harsh on him and people wanted to see the old Sachin back. Battling average form and the tongues of his critics, he silenced everybody with an unbeaten 117 against Australia in the Sydney Cricket Ground, Australia on March 2, 2008.

43rd Century: If anybody knows how to do it in style, it has to be Sachin Tendulkar. Waiting a full year after his 42nd century, Sachin impressed everybody with an unbeaten 163 against New Zealand on March 6, 2009 at AMI Stadium, Christchurch. Announcement made, Sachin is back.

44th Century: On September 14, 2009, Sachin wisely held the Indian innings together and scored 138 runs against the Lankans, at the Premadasa stadium in Colombo to lead India to victory.

45th Century: It seemed like an impossible task. India were chasing 351 runs for victory in the 5th match of the ongoing India-Australia series. The middle order crumpled, Sachin stayed on. Probably the most exciting run chase of the year, Saching kept scoring all around the ground. Maximising advantage of an injury hit Aussie bowling attack, Sachin kept hopes of a billion Indians alive by leading India very close to a victory. But the tables immediately turned when Sachin was caught at Short Fine Leg at a score of 175 runs. With the fall of Sachin, fell the hopes of an entire nation, and the mesmerising run chase fell short by just 3 runs.

On Indira's Death Anniversery

This is what I Read through an editorial by "Coomi Kapoor" in IndianExpress.

History is written by the victors. So the flood of government advertisements with beatific and benevolent images of Indira Gandhi which appeared on the 25th anniversary of her assassination is not surprising. If the birth anniversary of India's original iron man, which fell on the same day, was ignored, that also is unremarkable. Outside Gujarat, how many still remember Sardar Patel? That Indira Gandhi continues to fascinate people throughout the length and breath of the country is borne out by the long, winding queues standing daily outside 1, Safdarjung Road, the house in which she lived and was shot dead by her own guards. This is in contrast to the Birla House, where Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated, and which now houses a dusty, neglected museum.

But what took me aback was how many of our TV commentators and newspaper analysts rated Indira as one of our best prime ministers. There appeared to be far more rosy recollections than negative memories on the silver jubilee of Indira's death. As someone who has lived through the Indira years and experienced first hand the dark side of her deeply divisive brand of politics and governance, I can't help feeling that some of the nostalgia for her reign is rather misplaced.

To give a cross-section of views by prominent journalists on India's controversial iron lady:

Vir Sanghvi praises Indira for her strength and leadership. He says her critics attack her mainly for her dynastic ambitions and her Left-wing economic policies. The Emergency she imposed, he believes, has been forgotten. Sanghvi credits Indira for keeping India together and gives her high marks for strengthening the electoral process and for her foreign policy.

MJ Akbar believes that India welcomed the realism of Indira Gandhi after the travails of Nehru's idealism. He applauds her for calling elections in 1977 rather than following the example of so many post-colonial dictatorships in Africa and Asia.

Karan Thapar opines that Indira Gandhi's imprint is not just resilient, but perhaps indelible. "She is not only the best remembered of our politicians, but also, I suspect, the most misunderstood," he says. He recalls his personal interaction with the Gandhi family and recounts an incident when as Prime Minister, Gandhi wanted to make sure that she was not later than the President in arriving for a screening of the film "The Pink Panther". Thapar's sister remarked in amazement, "She is virtually a dictator, yet she's so particular about protocol and politeness."

Shekhar Gupta, with a more balanced view, feels that Indira was a different Prime Minister in each of her three spells in office. "She changed and evolved, often for the better, sometimes not quite so. She was "insecure about losing power. The extreme leftward swing in her politics came not from any genuine commitment to socialism, but as an ideological camouflage for a series of dictatorial and subversive blunders which she was to regret later."

Pratap Bhanu Mehta argues that during her tenure, Indira willfully assaulted every single institution: the judiciary, federalism, the police. She tolerated and created a style of politics that was lumpen at its core; an odd combination of corruption, violence and the use of arbitrary power. Her economic policies were largely a disaster. He adds, however, that she was the last leader who truly belonged to the whole of India. The reverence and nostalgia for her has survived, in part because her personal qualities seem to transcend her politics.

Tavleen Singh notes that Indira Gandhi was a charismatic politician with an amazing ability to convince ordinary Indians that she was their one and only benefactress. But "when I try to remember anything good she did for India from an economic or political point of view, I come up with a very short list. By 1984, when she had ruled India for over 16 years, she succeeded in turning India into a country in which everything was in short supply and everything second-rate."

My own assessment of India's iron lady comes closest to those of Tavleen and Mehta.

Many now tend to forgive Indira for her Emergency excesses, and claim that at heart she was a true democrat. After all, she called elections in 1977 when she need not have done so, her apologists argue.

Whether she did so because of her democratic convictions or because she was led to believe that she would win the next general elections and was sensitive to world opinion and her place in history, is something we can never know for sure. But in any case, the imposition of Emergency was not a one-off aberration. Throughout her political career, and not just in the Emergency years, Indira demonstrated her authoritarian and ruthless streak.

She had no compunctions about subverting the Constitution, co-opting the judiciary, emasculating her own party, victimising her opponents through the use of government machinery, unseating lawfully elected state governments and denigrating top Constitutional positions by cynically making appointments on a sole criteria -- whether the person was pliable and loyal to her. She intimidated and bullied the press, ran Doordarshan as her personal propaganda machine, furthered her son's business interests and made no bones about her dynastic intentions.

In recollecting Indira's legacy, many commentators have confused her huge personal popularity and political shrewdness with performance. She may have been a strong leader-- particularly when compared to the fractious, undisciplined leaders who succeeded her -- but the country's economy stagnated during her tenure.

The advantage of a decisive victory over Pakistan, was frittered away with no real gain. Even her enemies would not question Indira's deep commitment to India, but like many of her blind followers she had unfortunately begun to believe then Congress president Dev Kant Baruah's famously sycophantic words, "Indira is India and India is Indira".

Leaflet thrown in the Central Assembly Hall, New Delhi at the time of the throwing voice bombs.

On the 8th April, 1929, the Viceroy's proclamation, enacting the two Bills, was to be made, despite the fact that the majority of members were opposed to it, and had rather rejected in earlier.
THE HINDUSTAN SOCIALIST REPUBLICAN ARMY
(NOTICE)
"It takes a loud voice to make the deaf hear, with these immortal words uttered on a similar occasion by Valiant, a French anarchist martyr, do we strongly justify this action of ours."
"Without repeating the humiliating history of the past ten years of the working of the reforms (Montague-Chelmsford Reforms) and without mentioning the insults hurled at the Indian nation through this House-the so-called Indian Parliament-we want to point out that, while the people expecting some more crumbs of reforms from the Simon Commission, and are ever quarrelling over the distribution of the expected bones, the Government is thrusting upon us new repressive measures like the Public Safety and the Trade Disputes Bill, while reserving the Press Sedition Bill for the next session. The indiscriminate arrests of labour leaders working in the open field clearly indicate whither the wind blows."
"In these extremely provocative circumstances, the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association, in all seriousness, realizing their full responsibility, had decided and ordered its army to do this particular action, so that a stop be put to this humiliating farce and to let the alien bureaucratic exploiters do what they wish, but they must be made to come before the public eve in their naked form."
"Let the representatives of the people return to their constituencies and prepare the masses for the coming revolution, and let the Government know that while protesting against the Public Safety and Trade Disputes Bills and the callous murder of Lala Lajpat Rai, on behalf of the helpless Indian masses, we want to emphasize the lesson often repeated by history, that it is easy to kill individuals but you connot kill the ideas Great empires crumbled while the ideas survived. Bourbons and Czars fell. While the revaluation marched ahead triumphantly."
"We are sorry to admit that we who attach so great a sanctity to human life, who dream of a glorious future, when man will be enjoying perfect peace and full liberty, have been forced to shed human blood. But the sacrifice of individuals at the altar of the 'Great Revolution' that will bring freedom to all, rendering the exploitation of man by man impossible, is inevitable."
"Long Live the Revolution."15
Sd/-
Balraj16
Commander-in-Chief

Philanthropy

Yesterday, was watching star news program which declares "Bhagavan Sathya Sai of Puttaparthi" as a person who cheats Indian Public and declares himself as "GOD". The program also demonstrated various foul tricks that he does to lure public. Well, i myself one of the few people who doesn't believe in all these mans and gurus for me they are just a part of living. But then i came across one of the article by Mr. Gurumurthy on "Philanthropy" and this what he says:


We have in our country a long but uneven tradition of philanthropy’.

The charity run by Bhagwan Sathya Sai of Puttaparthi. His work for the poor is unmatched; yet equally unknown. Here are just two illustrations of his work. Anantapur district in Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh was known for water scarcity and water salinity and high fluoride levels in drinking water. Moved by the suffering of the poor, Sai Baba decided to do what the government could not for 50 long years; provide potable drinking water to the whole of Anantapur — yes, for the whole district.

He declared in November 1995, “Today it is ‘Raatlaseema’ (rocky region); it must be transformed into ‘Ratnala Seema’ (land that glitters like diamond)”. It took just 18 months. The work involved laying some 2,000 kilometres — yes 2,000 km — of water pipeline; building 43 sumps of 1.5 lakh to 25 lakh litres capacity; constructing 18 balancing reservoirs of three to 10 lakh litres capacity — where? — on top of hillocks; erecting 270 overhead reservoirs holding 40,000 to three lakh litres; installing 1,500-plus concrete pre-cast cisterns of 2,500 litres capacity, each attached with four taps for people to draw water.

This is how the 9th Planning Commission document describes the initiative. The Sathya Sai charity ‘has set an unparalleled initiative of implementing on their own, without any state budgetary support, a massive water supply project with an expenditure of Rs 3,000 million to benefit 731 scarcity and fluoride/salinity affected villages and a few towns in Anantapur district in 18 months’. Baba’s trusts repeated this feat in fluoride-affected Medak and Mehboobnagar districts. They provided water to some 4.5 lakh poor in 179 villages in Medak, and to some 3.5 lakh poor in 141 villages in the next. The drinking water projects in these districts covered more than 1,000 villages with some 20 lakh people.

Then, he saw the poor in Chennai struggling for water. He declared on January 19, 2002, “Today I have made a new resolve. Madras is suffering from acute shortage of drinking water. The rich can buy water. What will the poor do? I have decided to work towards bringing drinking water to Madras, no matter how difficult and how costly the task”. His central trust took up the construction of a 63-km stretch of the 150 km canal in the Telugu Ganga scheme, left incomplete for want of funds, thus denying water to Chennai. Thanks to Baba, Krishna water reached Chennai, irrigating some three lakh hectares of agricultural land on the way. These projects cost over Rs 600 crore.

The Sathya Sai trusts in Puttaparthi and Bengaluru run world-class speciality hospitals. They have performed some 24,000 cardiac surgeries, 34,000 cardiac cathertisations, 7,000 neuro surgeries, 40,000 eye surgeries, and 600 orthopaedic surgeries and treated millions more — all free. What is absent in these two hospitals is a billing department. The bill for these services might exceed Rs 1,000 crore. Baba’s trusts also run free educational institutions, cultural centres and music colleges. Secular India generously released a stamp to note the charity in Anantapur.

Well reader can always cross check this. Intellectual people or I can say media why the hell they don't spread positive environment across India which we need more.

As an Indian I am not starting myself as follower of "SAIJI " but then he has doen some considerable work which I really appreciate.