Coonoor Chronicles : Kodanad View Point

State : Tamil Nadu
Google Map : 11.524722, 76.915833 [Copy/Paste in Google Maps]


This point is about 45 mins to 1 hr drive from Coonoor town and boasts one of the most virgin views in Nilgiris where on both sides you're greeted by tea estates & partial forest lands & shola ranges. The place is known to house the most fortified estates of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister & AIADMK Leader "Jayalalita". One gets a view of her estate with crisply laid tarred roads & well groomed tea plantations around it.


I visited this place during the sunset which I then realized is the most 'wrong' timings of all to go. One needs to visit the place would be late afternoon with evening mist falling on you. I'll be here soon & that's for sure.

Click below on to get a Panoramic View of the place. Brilliant Pic  !!!!!!!!!!!


Click Here to see Panoramic View / Shot of View Point



Geographical Significance of the place is the fact that this is home to the "Meeting Point" or Intersection of Plains of Nilgiri & Starting of Deccan Plateau. One can view the gradual plane of elevation from the plain lands onto the plateau. The view towards left horizon is Karanataka range of Deccan Plateau towns E.g. Mallavalli, Kollegala  & other towns on Sathyamangalam route.


Another prime spot here would be the "Rangaswamy Peak & Pillar".





A view of this mysterious looking peak or pillar suggests its a prime landmark and has history behind it. This peak is famous for the infamous plane crash in 1970's which left all of the passengers dead & rescue teams found bodies of the crew almost half eaten by wild animals.

Nathuram Godse !! The man we knew less about or was made aware less about.

"Gandhiji is being referred to as the Father of the Nation-an epithet of high reverence. But if so, he has failed in his paternal duty in as much as he has acted very treacherously to the nation by his consenting to the partitioning of it. Had Gandhiji really maintained his opposition to the creation of Pakistan the Muslim League could have had no strength to claim it and the Britishers also could not have created it in spite of all their utmost efforts for its establishment. The reason for this is not far to seek. The people of th-is country were eager and vehement in their opposition to Pakistan. But Gandhiji played false with the people and gave parts of the country to the Muslims for the creation of Pakistan. I stoutly maintain that Gandhiji in doing so has failed in his duty which was incumbent upon him to carry out, as the Father of the Nation. He has proved to be the Father of Pakistan. It was for this reason alone that I as a dutiful son of Mother India thought it my duty to put an end to the life of the so-called Father of the Nation who had played a very prominent part in bringing about the vivisection of the country-Our Motherland." ~ Nathuram Godse.
We rarely know about this man. His book "Mee nathuram godse boltoy" is banned. A man who in his initia years was a follower of Gandhian way of revolution later realized that this is of no use.

Let us start by studying the motive behind Godse’s act.

By seeing the nature of the assassination in public space and Godse’s act of turning himself over to the Police, we can see that Godse did not do this for personal reasons. He very well knew that he would be hanged and his name would be disgraced as Gandhi was considered a saint. And again Godse could have ran away and escaped punishment. But he did the reverse. He called a police officer and courted arrest. Before we proceed it would be wise to understand the backdrop of the assassination.

The central government had taken a decision — Pakistan will not be given Rs 55 crores. On January 13 Gandhi started a fast unto death that Pakistan must be given the money. On January 13, the central government changed its earlier decision and announced that Pakistan would be given the amount. On January 13, Nathuram decided to assassinate Gandhi.
Nathuram Godse was a learned man, very sharp and intelligent – editor of “Agrani” (one of the most famous newspaper of that time – with Nana Aapte). In his last editorial of “Agrani” which he changed overnight – he said “Gandhi must be stopped – at any cost” and he justified why Gandhiji’s assassination was not only inevitable but also a delayed action, sth tht shud’ve happened LONG AGO.

In Nathuram’s words - “ I don’t refute Gandhi’s theory of non-violence. He may be a saint but he is not a politician. His theory of non-violence denies self-defence and self-interest. The non-violence that defines the fight for survival as violence is a theory not of non-violence but of self-destruction.The division of the nation was an unnecessary decision. What was the percentage of the Muslim population as compared to the population of the nation? There was no need for a separate nation. Had it been a just demand, Maulana Azad would not have stayed back in India. But because Jinnah insisted and because Gandhi took his side, India was divided, in spite of opposition from the nation, the Cabinet. An individual is never greater than a nation.

In a democracy you cannot put forward your demands at knife-point. Jinnah did it and Gandhi stabbed the nation with the same knife. He dissected the land and gave a piece to Pakistan. We did picket that time but in vain. The Father of our Nation went to perform his paternal duties for Pakistan! Gandhi blackmailed the cabinet with his fast unto death. His body, his threats to die are causing the destruction — geographical as well as economical — of the nation. Today, Muslims have taken a part of the nation, tomorrow Sikhs may ask for Punjab. The religions are again dividend into castes, they will demand sub-divisions of the divisions. What remains of the concept of one nation, national integration? Why did we fight the British in unison for independence? Why not separately? Bhagat Singh did not ask only for an independent Punjab or Subhash Chandra Bose for an independent Bengal?

I am going to assassinate him in the open, before the public, because I am going to do it as my duty. If I do it surreptitiously, it becomes a crime in my own eyes. I will not try to escape, I will surrender and naturally I will be hanged. One assassination, one hanging. I don’t want two executions for one assassination and I don’t want your involvement, participation or company. (This was for Nana-Apte and Veer Savarkar as they were against ghandhi’s policies too, Godse wanted to assassinate gandhi all by himself and took promise from Nana Apte that he will continue helping Veer Savarkar in rebuilding India as a strong free nation.)

On January 30, I reached Birla Bhavan at 12 pm. Gandhi was sitting outside on a cot enjoying the sunshine. Vallabhbhai Patel’s granddaughter was sitting at his feet. I had the revolver with me. I could have assassinated him easily then, but I was convinced that his assassination was to be a punishment and a sentence against him, and I would execute him. I wanted witnesses for the execution but there were none. I did not want to escape after the execution as there was not an iota of guilt in my mind. I wanted to surrender, but surrender to whom? There was a good crowd to collect for the evening prayers. I decided on the evening of January 30 as the date for Gandhi’s execution.

Gandhi climbed the steps and came forward. He had kept his hands on the shoulders of the two girls. I wanted just three seconds more. I moved two steps forward and faced Gandhi. Now I wanted to take out the revolver and salute him for whatever sacrifice and service he had made for the nation. One of the two girls was dangerously close to Gandhi and I was afraid that she might be injured in the course of firing. As a precautionary measure I went one more step ahead, bowed before him and gently pushed the girl away from the firing line. The next moment I fired at Gandhi. Gandhi was very weak, there was a feeble sound like ‘aah’ (There are proof that Gandhi did NOT say “Hey Raam” at that time – it’s just made up stuff ) from him and he fell down.

After the firing I raised my hand holding the revolver and shouted, ‘Police, police’. For 30 seconds nobody came forward and I scanned the crowd. I saw a police officer. I signalled to him to come forward and arrest me. He came and caught my wrist, then a second man came and touched the revolver… I let it go…”

Nathuram Godse The man whom we understood very less.
"If devotion to one's country amounts to a sin, I admit I have committed that sin. If it is meritorious, I humbly claim the merit thereof. I fully and confidently believe that if there be any other court of justice beyond the one founded by the mortals, my act will not be taken as unjust. If after the death there be no such place to reach or to go, there is nothing to be said. I have resorted to the action I did purely for the benefit of the humanity. I do say that my shots were fired at the person whose policy and action had brought rack and ruin and destruction to lakhs of Hindus." --> Shri Nathuram Godse

Hitlers Secret INDIAN ARMY

In the closing stages of World War II, as Allied and French resistance forces were driving Hitler's now demoralised forces from France, three senior German officers defected. The information they gave British intelligence was considered so sensitive that in 1945 it was locked away, not due to be released until the year 2021.

Now, 17 years early, the BBC's Document programme has been given special access to this secret file.It reveals how thousands of Indian soldiers who had joined Britain in the fight against fascism swapped their oaths to the British king for others to Adolf Hitler - an astonishing tale of loyalty, despair and betrayal that threatened to rock British rule in India, known as the Raj. 

The story the German officers told their interrogators began in Berlin on 3 April 1941. This was the date that the left-wing Indian revolutionary leader, Subhas Chandra Bose, arrived in the German capital. Six months later, with the help of the German foreign ministry, he had set up what he called "The Free India Centre", from where he published leaflets, wrote speeches and organised broadcasts in support of his cause.By the end of 1941, Hitler's regime officially recognised his provisional "Free India Government" in exile, and even agreed to help Chandra Bose raise an army to fight for his cause. It was to be called "The Free India Legion".

Bose hoped to raise a force of about 100,000 men which, when armed and kitted out by the Germans, could be used to invade British India.He decided to raise them by going on recruiting visits to Prisoner-of-War camps in Germany which, at that time, were home to tens of thousands of Indian soldiers captured by Rommel in North Africa. 

These are the words that were used by men that had formally sworn an oath to the British king: "I swear by God this holy oath that I will obey the leader of the German race and state, Adolf Hitler, as the commander of the German armed forces in the fight for India, whose leader is Subhas Chandra Bose."

I managed to track down one of Bose's former recruits, Lieutenant Barwant Singh, who can still remember the Indian revolutionary arriving at his prisoner of war camp.

"He was introduced to us as a leader from our country who wanted to talk to us," he said.He wanted 500 volunteers who would be trained in Germany and then parachuted into India. Everyone raised their hands. Thousands of us volunteered." 

Demoralaised

In all 3,000 Indian prisoners of war signed up for the Free India Legion.But instead of being delighted, Bose was worried. A left-wing admirer of Russia, he was devastated when Hitler's tanks rolled across the Soviet border.Matters were made even worse by the fact that after Stalingrad it became clear that the now-retreating German army would be in no position to offer Bose help in driving the British from faraway India.

When the Indian revolutionary met Hitler in May 1942 his suspicions were confirmed, and he came to believe that the Nazi leader was more interested in using his men to win propaganda victories than military ones.So, in February 1943, Bose turned his back on his legionnaires and slipped secretly away aboard a submarine bound for Japan where he formed the "INA - Indian National Army".

Atharva Veda An Introduction

Before the Vedic thought began to evolve on the banks of the River Saraswati, there existed among the people a “primitive” religion. Like all primitive religions this was steeped in sorcery and witchcraft. For a long time Vedic seers were able to keep their way of life untouched by primitive culture, and therefore both evolved independently. But it was only a matter of time before interaction took place. The common people found the Vedic thought mystic and the primitive religion practical and wanted to be a part of both.
The Atharva Veda is an amalgamation of these two ways of life. In a sense parts of the Atharva Veda predate the Riga Veda because they speak about practices that existed before the composition of the hymns of the Riga Veda. However the actual amalgamation and the composition of the hymns of the Atharva Veda took place much after the Riga, Yajur and Sama Vedas were composed. In fact the hymns of what is now known as the Atharva Veda were looked down upon initially and were given the status of a Veda only much later.
Certain hallmarks of Hinduism are seen in the Atharva Veda. The spirit of tolerance, co-existence, compromise and a sympathetic understanding of other points of view are all present. Even today Hinduism is an inclusive religion that accepts that there are other ways to reach God.
From the primitive religion the Atharva Veda introduces sorcery, witchcraft and superstitions. Incantations are offered as solutions to problems involving disease, misfortune and even death. Such incantations even today remain a part of the Hindu culture among the uneducated rural population. It must be said for the amalgamation process that curative incantations were preferred over the ones that promised revenge on or destruction of ones enemies. The concept of Hell or Naraka is introduced in the Atharva Veda. This is similar to the Christian concept of Hell, where the sinners and criminals go to after death to face an eternity of torture. Though this concept of Heaven (reward) and Hell (punishment) does not exist in the law of Karma, which is mainstream Hindu philosophy, it does enjoy a common popularity.
From the Vedic part, the Atharva Veda contains concepts that lead to the evolution of Hindu philosophy and theology. The ultimate principle that encompasses space, time, knowledge and morality is one of them. It is given different names like Brahma, Prajapati and Purusha. Of importance is the worship of time known as Kaal, which eventually consumes everything. Later, as mentioned in the Gita, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra Krishna manifests Himself as Kaal to show Arjun the awesome spectacle of a creature with many heads. From some of the heads a multitude of galaxies are emerging and in others a multitude of them being destroyed. Living creatures are being continuously consumed by some of the heads, while being born through some of the others. The Atharva Veda also introduces the Pranas or the life giving principles of nature. On the theological part there is the evolution of Rudra into Pashupati the Lord of the beasts who in later theology is transformed into Shiva, one of the Hindu Trinity.

A ronin was a samurai with no lord or master during the feudal period (1185–1868) of Japan. A samurai became masterless from the ruin or fall of his master (as in the case of death in a war), or after the loss of his master's favor or privilege.

The word rōnin literally means "drifting person". The term originated in the Nara and Heian periods, when it referred to a serf who had fled or deserted his master's land. It then came to be used for a samurai who had lost his master.

Thousands of modern works of Japanese fiction set in the Edo period cast characters who are ronin. They are often portrayed as yojimbo (bodyguards) or as mercenary fighters. Another stereotypical occupation for fictional ronin is the umbrella-maker.

Bound and dedicated men, most samurai resented the personal freedom that the wandering ronin enjoyed. Ronin were the epitome of self-determination; they were independent men who dictated their own path in life, answering only to themselves and making decisions as they saw fit.