Dr Mandeep Singh Azad

About 85 per cent of Kashmiriseat non-vegetarian - but exact-ly how much? Official statistics

say Jammu and Kashmir annuallyconsumes a whopping 51,000tonnes of mutton worth Rs.12.06billion (over Rs.1,200 crore), ofwhich 21,000 tonnes is importedfrom outside. Chicks, broilers, lay-ers and eggs amounting to Rs.1.2 bil-lion are imported each year for localconsumption. This is in addition tothe local poultry production worthRs.1.8 billion that also goes intolocal consumption."The officials

say 84 per cent of the state's 10 mil-lion population is predominantlynon-vegetarian." The last decade haswitnessed tremendous growth in the poul-try sector in the state. Poultry farming hascome up in a big way in Jammu, Kathua ,Udhampur, Pulwama Srinagar andBudgam districts, with large number ofeducated unemployed youth taking uppoultry farming as a sustainable means ofearning their livelihood. There are at leastthirteen thousand poultry units identifiedby the animal husbandry department.Each year, Kashmir imports around 5.5crore chickens from neighbouringHaryana and Punjab. 36 lakh chickens areproduced locally. Some 8000 youths inthe state have been given poultry units forself employment till date.

According to an estimate, poultrytraders in Punjab supply over half a mil-lion eggs and 40,000 to 50,000 chickensper day to meet the demand within theJ&K. These supplies cost nearly 50 mil-lion rupees per day. Nearly 90 per cent ofthe poultry farmers of the border belt ofthe Punjab are dependent on the supplyto J&K, as there is huge demand of poul-try products throughout the year in thestate.While the annual figures of the

quantity of mutton consumed in the Val-ley, including Ladakh, is at 340.32 LakhKilograms. Of these, 210 lakh kilogramswere imported from various Indian stateswhile the remaining 130.32 lakh kilo-grams come from the local market. "It ishigh time to take several measures to dis-courage the imports and at the same timeto increase production locally so as toachieve self sufficiency in the state.Kash-mir is the biggest mutton consumer inIndia. Estimates put the quantum ofannual imports of mutton, milk and poul-try to Rs 16000 crore. About 5000 sheepand goats are consumed daily in the val-ley.

India's 2016 broiler production is pro-

jected to increase by approximately eightpercent to 4.2 million tons as demand ris-es from the growing middle class, accord-ing to a report from the USDA's ForeignAgricultural Service . The live poultrymarket constitutes 90 to 95 per cent oftotal sales since most consumers preferfreshly culled chicken meat. In rural areasof Jammu region agriculture is the mainoccupation and way of life for the poorfarmers. But decreasing size of land hold-ings per family (77.97 per cent of farmershave less than 1 hectare of land) andincreasing intensity of drought situationsfor the last few years has resulted in cropfailures putting enormous pressure onthese small farmers. So there is a need ofalternative approach for sustainabledevelopment in these areas. State has33.50 lakh laying birds, of which 90.36%are Kashmir Faverolla (KF) and only9.63% belong to improved category. Lay-er population experienced 60% growthover the last four years. Broiler produc-tion has also sky rocketed at an annualgrowth rate of about 15 percent. Poultrysector in the state contributes 510 millioneggs and 438 lac kg meat. Still state isdeficit in egg by 46 per cent and poultrymeat by 31 per cent. Growth in this sec-

tor has been mainly driven by large-scalecommercial farms while small and land-less farmers have been by passed .

Keeping this in mind, the KrishiVigyan Kendra, Reasi decided to pro-mote broiler farming as a source of enter-prise for the poor families and adoptedvillage Tanda as the poultry village. Vil-lage Tanda (Dera Baba,Reasi) is sur-rounded by Chenab form one side andban-ganga from other side. Weather hereis quite pleasant and fit for poultry farm-ing. After 2014 flash floods there washeavy losses to the poor farmers in theform their crops ,livestock. It was very tufffor these poor famers to fight back fortheir survivability as they had no moneyand no food .KVK ,Reasi promoted poul-try farming among the affected farmers inorder to provide them with immediaterunning source of income. This initiativeproved to be very effective as farmerswere easily getting cash for their produce.Tanda village has now become a hub forbroiler meat purchasers who directlycome from Jammu, Udhampur, Sunder-bani, Poonch, Surankote, Mahore, Dhar-mari to these farmers and lift their birdson cash basis .The role of middle man isnow finished in this areas which has inturn increased the profit of these farmers.Seeing the success of this village farmersfrom adjoining villages are also comingfor training in order to start poultry farm-ing as an enterprise. Local Youth especial-ly form SC and ST families are more inter-ested in starting this enterprise. Apartfrom imparting financial and economicindependence to the families of the poul-try farmers, this activity has helped inimproving the standard of living of thepeople. It has also indirectly helped insocio-economic development of the farm-ers involved as the health and education-al standards have improved and the par-ticipation and active involvement of ruralpeople in implementation of various gov-ernment schemes has improved signifi-cantly. All the income goes directly in thehands of farmers, the social status of thepoultry farmers in the village hasincreased. Cash earning helps them inspending on their health and food whichhelp them, lead a better life. A whatsappgroup has been made of all the poultryfarmers and daily updates of chick price,broiler prices ,vaccination schedule, dis-ease outbreak is being circulated by theexpert scientists. The ready birds arepicked from the sheds of the members ata fixed price round the year and sold inthe market at prevailing market price. Allthese services are provided to the mem-bers' right at their door steps. In this way,the farmers are neither getting affectedwith the price fluctuation of input norready birds. They get almost a fixedincome every batch. The income will fluc-tuate only with skill,manual input andmanagement of the individual farmer.

As the Harry Potter booksare getting introduced inthe new school syllabus inIndia, Surangama GuhaRoy takes a look at thewomen characters in theseries and the author's portrayal of them

"What's interesting about the wizardingworld is if you take physical strength out of theequation, a woman can fight just the same as aman can fight…" : J.K. Rowling.

As Harry Potter, along with a bunch of oth-er popular fictional characters, prepares toappear in the ICSE school syllabus, kids rejoice

and those who missed it while in school are get-ting justifiably green with envy. The wizardingworld of Harry and his friends had the entireMuggle (non-magic) world going bonkers untilnot so long ago.

As Rowling admirers usher in the twentiethanniversary of the first Harry Potter story, andwelcome the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft andWizardry into schools for Muggles, it would beinteresting to take a look at the women who playan important role in the phenomenally success-ful Harry Potter series. He is the hero, no doubt,but there is a range of female characters, whobecome his greatest strength as he goes throughhis many escapades.

For example, the exceptional young witch,Hermione Jean Granger, who makes her entryin the first book as an insufferable little know-it-all with unkempt hair and oversised teeth, andwhose proud moralistic compass often threatensHarry and Ron who habitually end up gettinginto more trouble than they care for.

Ron describes her as a nightmare in HarryPotter and the Philosopher's Stone, but shebecomes their firm friend half way through thefirst instalment. With her clear logical thinking,a brilliant academic mind, and thirst for knowl-edge, this bookish girl is a far cry from our usu-al heroines who are mostly stereotypicallydefined by their physical beauty, and usually endup as the hero's object of romance in the broad-er scheme of things.

Not the most attractive of girls, Hermionefails to draw attention to herself as a woman untilthe fourth instalment where Rowling hints at apossible something brewing between her andRon. Till then, and even later, Hermione remainsindispensable not because of her gender butbecause of her intellect, quick thinking and herexcellence in performing magic that ensures thetrio's survival on more than one occasion. Froman annoying little class topper, Hermione blos-soms into a woman of rare integrity and willingto make huge sacrifices for the greater good, andfriendship. It is one of Rowling's great achieve-ments, among others, that she manages torefrain from making Hermione another of thoserun- of- the mill heroines and makes her into apowerful witch who is the brain behind much ofthe trio's daredevilry.

Modelled on the author herself (Rowlingadmitted in an interview), this young characteris not just Harry Potter's friend, but has become

something of an icon herself for her extraordi-nary qualities, and her unfailing loyalty.

Look also at Rowling's embodiment of amother's love. Orphan Harry finds two strongmaternal figures in his life, one is his biologicalmother Lily Potter who protects him with herlove, fighting to save the one-year old from thecurses of a formidable wizard; the other is Mol-ly Weasley who treats him as her son.

Lily Potter continues to be integral to Har-ry's story although she is dead before the storytakes off. Molly Weasley on the other hand is theplump, fussy and protective mother, who veryspontaneously comes to think of Harry, heryoungest son's best friend, as one of her own. InHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Mol-ly encounters a boggart (magical shapeshiftersthat show a person's greatest fears) that appearsas the lifeless bodies of members of her own fam-ily, including Harry, embodying her fear of los-ing her loved ones, including Harry. Molly'saffections for Harry are implied throughout theseries as she is one of only very few people whosends Harry yearly Christmas gifts, and evenpresents him with an old watch of her own latebrother, a gesture that one would only maketowards family. She also treats him more gentlythan she does her own family.

Lily, even in death, becomes central to Har-ry's survival. Described as "a singularly giftedwitch" of uncommon kindness, Lily, togetherwith the slightly dowdy yet thoroughly compe-

tent, spirited and kindly Molly, who adores herfamily, symbolise Rowling's portrayal of the love,sacrifice, and devotion of the tigress mother pro-tecting her brood. In fact, Molly Weasley's snarl,"Not my daughter, you bitch!" right before shekills Bellatrix Lestrange to defend her onlydaughter Ginny, remains one of the most belovedone liners in the series.

In contrast, hatred. One of Rowling's mostintriguing women characters is a squat woman,strangely toad-like, in hideous girlish attire, witha fake honey-sweet voice and a fascination forcats. This "twisted, mad" female who goes by thename of Dolores Jane Umbridge is pure evil withher revolting sense of justice and sickeninglysweet smile. Although never pronounced as aDeath Eater (name used for followers of LordVoldemort) Umbridge's sadistic nature givescruelty a nauseating new level.

For young Harry especially, Umbridge ismonstrosity per se. Her sadistic pleasure in pun-ishing him- she actually forces him to write hislines with a pen that uses his blood for ink.Umbridge is Rowling's personification of ruth-less malevolence in a woman, inducing deephatred in the heart of the protagonist as well asthat of the readers.

While on the subject of women with dubiousmorals, there are two other women who areunsympathetic, but who reveal certain sides oftheir nature that might redeem them or, at anyrate, offers an interesting analysis of the femalepsyche.

From the very first chapter, the author gen-erates a sense of hatred for Harry's family, theinimitable Dursleys. Petunia Dursley is Harry'saunt, and Lily Potter's sister.

When Harry is first introduced, to themoment when he bids his aunt goodbye, there isabsolutely nothing that justifies Petunia's thor-oughly obnoxious behaviour towards herorphaned nephew, unless perhaps the flashes ofmemory that reveal itself, and indeed a lot more.As the reader finds, as does Harry, Petunia hat-ed magical people whom she considered 'freaks',but her hatred might have sprung from a deep-seated jealousy towards her only sister who wasa gifted witch, and possibly their parents'favourite.

But why would a woman who so detested achild, provide him with food and shelter, howev-er pathetic, for sixteen years? Was there, after all,a trace of sisterly affection left in her? What elsecould it have meant when during the final good-bye, Petunia had "stopped and looked back. Fora moment Harry had the strangest feeling thatshe wanted to say something to him.She……seemed to teeter on the edge of speech,but then……she bustled out of her room after herhusband and son." Had the author, at the lastminute, toyed with the idea of revealing a softerside to cruel Petunia? After all, she did feel mater-nal towards her own son, albeit in a slightly twist-ed way.then there is Narcissa, mother to DracoMalfoy, Harry's arch enemy at Hogwarts. Nar-cissa is wife to Lucius, a villainous Death Eater,and herself a follower of the Dark Lord. Althoughperipheral to the main storyline, Narcissa Mal-foy is an interesting study. Sister to Bellatrix, afanatical disciple of Voldemort, Narcissa lovesher son. She yearns to protect him, and for thatshe is willing to lie to Voldemort, no longer car-ing for her own life, or for her master's victory.

Rowling's women range from being thor-oughly upright to being quite depraved, from thesprightly to the more sedate. There is little thatshe does not try her hand at. (TWF)

Puran Chander Sharma

Sri Sarada Devi the Holy Mother was the Divineconsort and first disciple of Sri Ramakrishna thusan integral part of his spiritual self and of the sav-

ing massage he delivered unto mankind. Unlike the spiri-tual counterparts of the past incarnations like Rama,Krishna and Buddha and some others, Sri Sarada Deviwas born in a poor but cultured Brahman family of Bengalin the village of Jayrambati in the Bankura district, situat-ed about sixty miles to the West of Calcutta. Born on 22ndDecember, 1853, as the oldest daughter of RamchandraMukherjee and Shyamasundari Devi, her early childhoodwas spent, as in the case of most girls of rural upbringing,invarious domestic chores.

MarriageWhile little Sarada was growing up at Jayrambati assisting her

mother in her domestic duties, the great soul whose partner in life shewas to become, was passing through a remarkable period of spiritualdevelopment in another part of the country.

Born in 1836 as the third son of Khudiram Chatterji of Kamarpukurin the district of Hoogly, Sri Ramakrishna had becomethe priest of Kali at the temple of Dakshineswarin the year 1855. The strange marriage ofGadadhar (Sri Ramakrishna) of twentythree years of age with Sarada of fivewas part of a divine dispensation,and took place in a way that canonly be described as providen-tial. When Gadadhar, as SriRamakrishna the GreatMaster used to be known inthose days, was passingthrough the early phaseof his spiritual adventure,his near and dear onesthought the marriagewould have a resettlingand stablishing effect onhis mind, which had lostall interest in wordlyaffairs. But their searchfor a suitable bride metwith failure every time theystarted on it, until Gadadharhimself came to the rescue.The relatives had kept theirplans unknown to Gadadhar, asthey feared a vehement protestfrom him, but upsetting all their word-ly-wise calculations, Gadadhar himselfcame to their rescue of his disconcerted rel-atives. In an ecstatic mood, he declared : “Why areyou searching for a bride here and there? She who is ‘marked’ for me is await-ing at the house of RamachandraMukherjee at Jayrambati’’. And that‘marked one’ they found, was noneother than Sarada Devi of Jayrambati.

With Sri Ramakrishna at DakishniswarAfter the marriage, Sri Sarada Devi continued to live with her par-

ents and came to live with Sri Ramakrishna only when she was six-teen. Sri Ramakrishna looked upon her with reverence and she servedhim whole heartedly. Their marital life was free from all physical pas-sions and they lived a life of holiness and purity. It is known from theMaster’s own statement that he had prayed to the Divine Mother tofree Sarada from all body passion and make her a suitable mate forhim. It was found that this prayer was amply answered when, afterSarada’s arrival at Dakshineswar, the Master pointedly put her a ques-tion :”Do you want to drag me down into Maya’’?

Sarada Devi’s answer was equally promit and to the point. She

said, “Why should ‘I’ do so ? I have only to help you in the path of reli-gious life’’. A noble answer indeed!

Sri Sarada Devi received from her husband all that a Hindu wifeexpects. But some may perhaps object, that she had no issue. Her ownmother

Shyamasundari Devi once lamented, “My Sarada has been mar-ried to an ascetic. She will never know the happiness of being addressedas ‘Mother’. The Master, who happened to hear it remarked, “yourdaughter will have so many children that she will tired of beingaddressed day and night as ‘Mother’. And countless indeed were herspiritual ‘sons and daughters’. She was the Sahadharmini, a compan-ion in life, not of an ordinary man, but of the incarnation of the age,who came to generate Bhakti and Jnana among men, and whose mainteaching inculcate renunciation of lust and possession. In conformitywith his ideal, which was hers too, the children born of her were notphysical but spiritual, and of these she had a countless number.

The worship of ‘Shodasi’Sri Ramakrishna worshiped the Holy Mother Sarada Devi as

Shodadi- the third of the ten Mahavidyas known as Kali, Tara, Shodasi,Bhuvnesvari, Bhairvi, Chhinna-masta, Dhumavati, Bagla, Matangiand Kamala.

The Masters’ vow of Sadhana was completed with the wor-ship of Shodasi. The holy fire of passion for God inebri-

ation was burning constantly in his heart for twelvelong years, keeping him tirelessly engaged in the

practices of various spiritual moods withoutallowing him any rest even after the com-

pletion of the Sadhanas of a particularmood. With the worship of Shodasi, it

now ceased to burn, having receivedthe Purnahuti or the completing andfinal oblation.

Shodasi Puja is a landmark inthe life of Sri Sarada Devi. It madeher a vital part of Sri Ramakrish-na’s mission. In that rite the Mas-ter invoked in her the presence ofthe Divine Mother - the same.Suprme Energy that was mani-festing it self through his own per-sonality. Henceforth, just as in thecase of the Master, her body and

mind became the venue of expres-sion for that Energy. She and Mas-

ter could henceforth be described astwo bodies actuated by the same spir-

it- the Divine Mother.Her Teachings

Holy Mother’s life is a bright example ofhow to live a life of purity and calmness. She

illustrated through her life the ideal of love andcompassion for all. Indeed, she continues to live amidst

us, granting all our sincere prayers and inspiring us towardsliving a higher life. She told us, “I am the Moth-er of the viatuous, I am the Mother of thewicked, whenever you are in distress, say toyourself, ‘ I have a mother. Today the humanbody is, tomorrow it is not, even the shortest

span of life is beset with pain and misery. He whois able to renounce all for God’s sake is a living God.

Her MessageHer final message to mankind is, If you want peace, she said, ‘do

not see the faults of others. rather see your own faults, learn to makethe whole world your own’. These words are an expression of her owninnate nature and a summary of the tenor of her whole life. What ismore, it is the point at which we get a glean of her Divine nature burst-ing through the thick veil of her humanity. We are here face to facewith ‘Gods’ Motherhood.

(The author is the translator of, “ The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna” into Urdu titledas “ Sri Ramakrishna Ke Alwal-e-Zarin,”. The book is available at Rama KrishnaMission, Udheywala, Jammu)

Hemant Dharmat

Sant Shri Samarth Ramdas was a multifaceted religiouspersonality, who helped Shivaji shape the history ofMaharashtra. He was an accomplished Siddha Yogi and

had a slim, well-muscled athletic physique. The thoughts andideas contained in his famous book 'Dasbodh' have beeninspiring monks, warriors, administrators, political leaders,householders and the common folk all alike. His sermons findrelevance in day today challenges in the modern world as well.His composition 'Manache Shlok' is extremely popular inMaharashtra. He enunciated the ideal of establishing a har-monious, spiritually conscious Hindu society adhering to highmoral standards through religious reforms with sociopoliti-cal content.

Born in April 1608 AD on Ramnavmi, in a Brahmin fami-ly of village Jamb in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, ShriSamarath was named as Narayan, one of the most commonnames of Vishnu. Whereas his elder brother Gangadhar wasa quiet and obedient child, Narayan had quite opposite traitsin that he was very naughty, inquisitive and enthusiastic.Besides, he was adventurous, fond of swimming and oftenvanished into dense forests. At the time of Gangadhar's initi-ation into spiritual path, Narayana also insisted for initiation.On being refused, he was taken aback, became introspectiveand started meditating for several hours at a stretch. Hisfather Suryaji Pant passed away when he was barley 8 yearsold. His mother, Ranubhai decided to marry him as heattained 12 years of age. Child marriage was the norm duringthe period. He fled from the wedding podium in the middleof the wedding ceremony, when 'Purohit' uttered the word'Savdhan' implying "Beware or be alert". He immediately leftthe village, proceeded to Nasik and began penance standingwaist deep in river Godavari, at a relatively serene place calledTakli. He used to murmur Gayatri Mantra and 'Shri Ram JaiRam Jai Jai Ram' endlessly. He didn't have a Guru in physi-cal form and was directly led to the spiritual path by LordRama. Once he fasted for twenty-one days continuously atRam Mandir in Nasik. The temple doors burst open, LordRama appeared before Shri Samarth and blessed him. There-after people started calling him Ramdas. He stayed at Nasikfor 12 years. During the next 12 years, he traversed the lengthand breadth of India paying obeisance at places of pilgrimageand apprising himself with the condition of oppressed Hin-dus. He was greatly moved by the deplorable state of Hindusociety and penned two books 'Sultani' and'Parachakraniroopan' detailing the conditions of those times.While the Brahmins and the warrior Hindu clan had to willy-nilly hobnob with the rulers, the trading class had no optionbut to follow the administrators' diktats. Shri Samarth influ-enced Hindus to stick to spiritual and moral values in the faceof all odds. He singlehandedly devoted himself to rejuvenateoppressed Hindu society. He established numerous Hanu-man temples and monasteries in Maharashtra besides a tem-ple dedicated to Lord Ram. During his visit to a place of pil-grimage in north India, he is believed to have met Sikh GuruHargobind in early 1630 at Srinagar located in district PouriGarhwal of Uttarakhand State during latter's journey toGurudwara Nanakmata Sahib. At her mother's request,Samarth Ramdas briefly visited his native village Jamb andcured her of blindness just by a touch of his hands on her eye-lids.

He met Shivaji soon after the latter conquered Torna.Swayed by his eloquence and sagacity, Shivaji became his dis-

ciple. The saint asked Shivaji to establish secular Hindu king-dom under a 'bhagwa' flag. With renewed vigor, Shri Ramdasbegan meeting influential persons and the able-bodied youthexhorting them to support Shivaji. He continued his missionof inspiring Hindus to uphold spiritual and moral values, toshed worldly ways and imbibe the spirit of the warrior clan soas to confront Moghul chieftains. During his sojourn in thecountryside he met Shivaji's brother Vyankoji, who alsoagreed to become his 'shishya'. Shivaji succeeded in over-throwing Moghuls from large swathes of lands in Maharash-tra. Having realized his cherished goal, Chatarpati Shivaji wasformally crowned in 1674. Samarth Ramdas blessed the Kingon the occasion. According to a story Shivaji is believed to haveoffered his kingdom to Shri Samarth Ramdas as 'dakshina'.Both Guru and his disciple went around Satara town beggingfor food. On return Shivaji sought further instructions fromhis Guru. Shri Samarth Ramdas directed him to rule the king-dom never forgetting that he was not its owner but that it wasentrusted to him by the Almighty to govern with righteous-ness.

The King gave Sajjangadh fort to the saint for setting up apermanent monastery. Shivaji died in 1980 at Raigarh fortafter ruling the kingdom for barely 6 years. He was succeed-ed by his son Sambhaji. Samarth Ramdas wrote a letter toSamhaji incorporating Do's and Don'ts to be followed for rul-ing the kingdom, which is treasured as a historical document.Shri Samarth Ramdas attained 'Mahasamadhi' in 1781 at Saj-jangarh monastery. His disciple Kalyan, who compiled Das-bodh as dictated by Shri Samarth, died when his 'Asthis' werebeing immersed in the holy waters of the Ganges. Later KingSambhaji built Samadhi temple of Samarth Ramdas at Saj-jangarh fort, which has over the years become a place of pil-grimage.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2016 (PAGE-3)

Sant Shri Samarth Ramdas Sarda Devi, the holy motherSACRED SPACE

Say hello to the witches!LITERATURE

Tanda emerging as poultry villageBUSINESS

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