Hindu scriptures are divided into three basic categories: Vedas, Upanishads and Puranas. There are differences about the age of those scriptures; some people believe that they go back almost 4,000 years.

One of the amazing prophecies in these Hindu scriptures is the one on the tongue of Maharshi Vyasa, a Hindu saint, that states that the land of Arabs will be corrupted by the evil doers — maybe a reference to the pre-Islamic pagans; and that Mahamad — a slight adulteration of the name Muhammad — will come and guide those who went astray. He will be circumcised, bearded, eloquent; he will create a great revolution; he will announce the call for prayers; he will eat of the meat of lawful animals but not of the swine; and he will fight against irreligious nations. All these descriptions meet Prophet Muhammad (Vidyarthi).

Bhavishya Purana, one of the most important Puranas, includes another prophecy that states that in a foreign country a spiritual teacher whose name is Muhammad will come; he will be a dweller of Arabia; he will gather a large force to fight or kill the devil; and God will protect him from his opponents.   Prophet Muhammad Mentioned in the Upanishad Some Hindu scholars consider the Upanishads scripture to be superior to the Vedas, because they impart divine knowledge and teach how the human soul can get nearer to its Maker and Master.

The most important  prophecy in it is the one that mentions the coming of Prophet Muhammad by name, and the Muslim testimony of faith — there is no God but Allah — is repeated more than once in it.

As a result of the clarity and explicitness of that prophecy, some Hindus actually enter into Islam, which has led some Hindu scholars to claim that perhaps this prophecy was written by a Hindu pundit who converted to Islam. But this is refuted because this prophecy was referred to in some of the ancient Hindu books that predate the advent of Islam or Muslims to India (Vidyarthi). In the Allo Upanishad, the following description of God is given: the name of the deity is Allah, He is one, the King of all the world, He is the Magnificent, the Greatest of all, the Best, the Most Perfect , the Holiest of all, the Nourisher of the whole world, the Manifester of the earth and the space, and the Lord of all creation.

He created the sun, the moon, the stars, and the heavens. He is the Nourisher of all the birds, beasts, animals that live in the sea and those that are not visible to the eye. He is the remover of all evils and calamities, and Muhammad is the apostle of Allah.

Prophet Muhammad Mentioned in the Vedas The third basic category of Hindu scriptures is called the Veda. In the Atharva Veda, it is mentioned that the praiseworthy among people shall be praised; it is known that the name Muhammad in Arabic actually means “the praiseworthy.”

It also states that the promised prophet will be a camel rider, which is interesting because Indian prophets were forbidden to ride camels. Prophet Jesus, according to the New Testament, rode on an ass but not on a camel, but it is well known that Prophet Muhammad rode a camel.

The seventh mantra also speaks about someone who is going to be a guide to all people, and Prophet Muhammad always emphasized that he was not sent to a particular people, like Israelites alone or Arabs alone, but to the whole world.

The sixth mantra speaks about some of the brave people who vanquished without a battle and that the number of their opponents was 10,000, which could be a reference to the battle of the allies or the trench that took place during Prophet Muhammad’s time. The number of the people who put a siege around Madinah were indeed 10,000, and they were vanquished without a battle because God sent a hurricane that finally, after a long siege, forced them to leave.

In the Rig Veda, it speaks about a person who is described as truthful and trustworthy, powerful and generous who will be famous with 10,000. All these are the characteristics of Prophet Muhammad, and the number 10,000 could be a possible reference to the number of the Companions of Prophet Muhammad who entered Makkah victoriously. Works Cited Vidyarthi, Abdul Haq. Muhammad in World Scriptures. New Delhi: Adam Publishers, 1990.

Ben Silva

I wrote this article following the interesting, well researched article by Mahinda Weerasinhe, who exposed how vulnerable Buddhists in the silk route were. Millions of decent peace loving people, living in harmony with nature, around the globe have been murdered by greedy hostile aggressive but more technically able nations.

There are about 40 organised religions and faiths in the world. ref :http://www.religioustolerance.org/var_rel.htm

Religious practices often involve rituals, a code of ethics, and a philosophy of life. There are many Buddhists, Christians and Muslims, who follow the code of ethics given by their respective religions, who are kind, good human beings. At the time Lord Buddha formed Buddhism, there were other religions such as Jainism and Hinduism that also had evolved concepts of Karma, rebirth, Nirvana etc. It is possible that cross fertilisation of concepts may have taken place between religions.

There are common features in Jainism and Buddhism which amazed me.

Religion has been a creation and a main part of the ancient world. Indians, Egyptians, Aztecs, Mayans and many other groups practiced religion, generally to do with betterment in the life after death. Some people, such as those following the Muslim faith, believed in one creator God whilst some believe in many Gods. Many religions had concepts of heaven and hell. The equivalent concept of heaven in Buddhism appear to be Nirvana and that of hell appear to be Sansare. The concept of Nirvana is an ancient Hindu concept, along with the cycle of death/rebirth. The man made concepts of heaven, hell, God, Nirvana, Sansare, rebirth appear to have no verifiable evidence, yet billions believe in such concepts Many science thinkers say religion is a thing of the past, ancient world.

Sikhism also had its roots in Hinduism, but later Sikh Gurus, learnt from Muslim threats and developed the militant version of Sikhism, where followers were guided to become soldiers to defend their faith physically.

Followers of various religions believe that their religion is the truth. Christians believe that the Bible is telling the truth, whilst Muslims believe it is the Kuran and Buddhists believe that Buddhism is the truth.

Many ancient believers made offerings at the temples to Gods. This practice can be seen in Kovils and Temples even to day in Sri Lanka. and in other Buddhist countries in the world. Some ancient South American tribes even made human sacrifices. People made offerings to Gods to get various favours from Gods. Religion is associated with Spirituality. A spiritual person may be described as some one who is more aware of things that are not simply physical. Ancient people, who did not have an understanding of nature wanted answers to questions such as “Why I am I here “,“ Where did I come from? “ , ‘Who created the earth ?“and so on. Ancient Indians believed in rebirth and sought ways to end the cycle of life and rebirth. It was a fashion, at the time of Buddha to seek means of salvation.

Religion has many uses such as it brings tranquillity and a peace of mind at times of distress, provides therapy, provides hope, provides possible answers to why some one is disadvantaged, disabled or ill, provides hopes of after life and so on. Religion also perform the useful function of providing guidance on morality and values to its followers. Many religions, specially the Christian and Muslim faiths, promote social interaction and provide a support network to its followers. The community spirit provided by Christians and Muslims appear to be a source of great strength to the followers of the respective religions. I observed that such organised community activity lacking in Buddhist organisations in Sri Lanka, but found in Buddhist orgs in Malaysia. Buddhism has good guidance on morality, such as the precepts. Further, meditation, mindfulness and the middle path are good things in Buddhism. However, concepts such as Nirvana has become questionable for its usefulness in a modern highly competitive world.

Religion has negative effects such as being treated as the opium of the people, its effect as a mind virus and so on.

I would like to respect peoples beliefs, provided religion is not used as a weapon. Muslims have killed Millions of Buddhists. Muslims have killed even fellow Muslims belonging to different sects, on the belief that killing non believers will enable them to go to heaven. Clearly in such circumstances, it would be fair to challenge such beliefs. In fact for non Muslims in Lanka, it is a time bomb, wafting to explode! and both Christians and Buddhists need to be aware of the threat from Muslims who believe that non believers should be killed.. Religious tolerance is important for peaceful co existence in Sri Lanka.

It is also well known that imperialists used religion as a weapon. Imperialists on a grabbing spree for land and resources, used the bible in exchange for land and as a means of subjugating the natives. Again it is fair to challenge beliefs, when religion is used as a weapon. We also have Buddhists who are brain washed to seek extinction and encouraged to give up desires. In a nutshell, we have one group, say group A, who will kill non believers and get their land, we have another group, say group B, who exchange a bible for land. We have a third group, say group C, seeking extinction and encouraged to give up desires. One does not need to be a rocket scientist to work out who will be the loser and who will fight against each other. Evidence shows that Buddhism has been wiped out from most of the previous Buddhist countries. Further evidence is that group A and group B have waged war for dominance.

Buddhism has certain things common with Hinduism, such as Nirvana and rebirth, although Buddhist version of Nirvana is different to that of Hinduism. Sikh religion also has roots in Hinduism. When Sikhs found that Muslims were threatening them, they modified their beliefs to deal with threats from Muslims. Sikhs are now developed as soldiers to fight physically for the faith. This development is due to Muslim aggression. Buddhists could learn from Sikhs.

Arabs have been credited with he development of Al gebra, an important branch of maths. As for the so called Arabic numerals, which were used by Arabic traders, the origin is now thought to be India, along wit development of Zero. The invention of zero is a major event in science, maths and business. Arab scholars are also credited with documenting knowledge originating from Europe and Asia. It has to be acknowledged that modern day scientific knowledge originated from Europe and United states and a large contribution coming from Jews. Vast bulk of discoveries and inventions have been made in the West (Europe and USA). In comparison, the contribution by Arabs is tiny. Europeans advanced in science and technology and the Arabs didn’t. Neither did the Chinese nor the Indians, as long as they hung on to ancient belief systems. The moment, Indians and the Chinese became secular, they have made tremendous progress The progress of Europeans is thought to be due to their better thinking methods and better proving methods..

Is this lagging behind the West due to the influence of religion?. In the ancient world, China was the main source of discoveries and innovation. The reason why China lagged behind the West was researched by Needham, an Oxford academic. Needham accused the belief systems in China, which included Buddhism, for the decline of China.

Since the dumping of religion by both India and China, they have made tremendous progress. This phenomenon cannot be surprising as religions create a biased mind and stop people thinking rationally.

As the law of nature is “survival of te fittest “, it would appear that those seeking extinction, do not want to compete, want to kill off ambition, and will automatically not survive as a result. Nalanda Buddhists did seek extinction and thought it was karma and did not even fight back. They got the extinction they wanted. I hope the Sinhalese think twice before seeking extinction. If Prabakaran had his way, we would have been pushed to the sea and had our extinction. Tamil problem has been there for the past 2500 years and unless we have a strategic survival policy and means to survive, then the future may be bleak. Further those Norwegians and Tamils promoting Buddhism, probably want the Sinhalese to do their own extinction without the assistance of Muslims, Tamils or even without the help of the Western imperialists. Western imperialists have killed millions of natives around the world, made natives extinct and it is crazy to seek extinction ourselves, instead of developing survival skills and fighting spirit..

Many scientists are of the opinion that religion n is a thing of the past. The views of well known thinkers are given below.

The famed science fiction writer, Arthur C Clark, who once denigrated religion as “a necessary evil in the childhood of our particular species. He was so anti religion that he did not want any religeous rights at his funeral.

Russell:. I regard it as a disease born of fear

Einstein: A man’s ethical behaviour should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary

Buddhists in the silk route have achieved their objective of seeking extinction, as now only a few Buddhists are left in the silk route. The Muslims that killed the Buddhists may have thought that they are doing the Buddhists a favour as the Buddhists did not fight back or run away. Do Sinhalese in Sri Lanka want to follow Buddhists in the silk route and seek extinction so that Tamils and Muslims can have Sri Lanka ? Seeking extinction (Nirvana) has a number of disadvantages in a highly competitive world, such as making a person less competitive (Why bother to compete if one is seeking extinction), less ambitious, more passive, more meek, an easy victim as a sitting duck, an easy push over and so on. I believe, this Nirvana is a suicidal dangerous concept and should be avoided. In the modern world, which is highly competitive, when organisations fine tune processes to win, seeking extinction appears to be suicidal. If we ourselves seek extinction, it will be less effort our enemies will have to spend on eliminating us. Further, Nirvana seekers may end up being poorest of the poor due to their lack of competitive spirit. Extinction seeking may be attractive for cowards who are afraid to face the challenges in the real world. Smart people will take Nirvana with a pinch of salt. Unfortunately, blind followers may end up as the most economically weak group. There is a grave danger that, whilst the Sinhalese aim for extinction, the rest aim for survival and winning. One does not need to be a rocket scientist to predict who the losers will be. There are good things in Buddhism that could be used and dangerous things such as Nirvana that could be dropped, just as Sikhs did to their religion. There are already several versions of Buddhism in the world.

If people learn to think rationally, instead of seeking extinction, then the potential is enormous. For the success of anything, clarity of the mission is vital. In life, the mission should be to overcome obstacles and win and not to seek extinction. If Sinhalese continue to seek extinction, then it is likely that they will automatically reach their target. They were nearly there before MR saved them from Praba. If the Tamils make another attempt, we may not have MR to save us, and we have to think for ourselves on how to survive. After all ,Sri Lanka is the only home country we have and we have to save our selves from going extinct, rather than seeking extinction.

References

1. ‘Religion is a mind virus’ “http://home.comcast.net/~plutarch/MindVirus.html”

2.http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p0038x9m

3.“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeSSwKffj9o”

.4..http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab38

I grew up in a traditional Indian household where lessons on integrity and duty were the norm. The word that encompassed those qualities was dharma. When I first encountered the word through the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita and understood its meaning, it seemed to be the quality that I most sought out in a hero. In my childhood war games I usually played the role of a captured prisoner who would be “tortured” but would not give away “the secret” to the “bad guys” even in the face of “death”. At other times, I made up stories in my mind where I would play the role of a friend who would sacrifice his life for his dear companion. It was child’s play, but in my mind it was what I wanted to become. As I grew up though, I began to realize that living with dharma meant more than just a romantic notion. Its meaning is in embracing a life of struggle.

Dharma is a topic that has been celebrated through books and talks by philosophers and academics, both from Indian origin and outside. It’s meaning surfaces as one delves into the depth of the concept. In its simplest sense, dharma in Sanskrit means that which upholds. It is a concept of central importance in Hindu philosophy referring to a person’s duties or obligations based on occupational and situational context tightly intertwined with relationships.

The idea of dharma as duty is found in India’s ancient religious texts. It states that there is a divinely instituted natural order governing justice, harmony and happiness. This requires human beings to discern and live in an appropriate manner that fosters order and cordial living. As simple and as socially attractive as the concept may sound, living a life of dharma poses some complex questions for us as individuals living in a world that is in many ways disconnected from these fundamental concepts.

What exactly is my dharma? Is it my daily occupation or my sense of obligation to my family, society and humanity? To answer this question, one has to investigate into the deeper implication of dharma itself. A deeper understanding of dharma is “that which is inherent or essential to.” For example, we can state that the dharma of sugar is sweetness. The “sweetening” is the duty of sugar. The sense of duty that is derived from dharma is the acting out of that essential property.

In ancient Hindu or Vedic culture, one’s dharma was determined by one’s psychophysical make up — proclivities that stood out in and were inherent to an individual. That aptitude was determined at a young age and nurtured to serve the individual and society at large. This primarily became one’s occupation. Other obligations were embedded based on different stages in one’s life — duty towards self, towards family (parents, spouse, kids, etc.) and towards different segments of society at large that also included animals. All of these duties were considered equally important on an absolute level.

The complexity of dharma becomes evident even in current times when our different obligations take mutually contradictory directions. I work as the president of a non-profit organization and recently I found myself in a situation where I was confronted with the decision to let go of a few employees. They are my personal friends, have great integrity and have made significant contributions in the past but for personal and situational reasons were not able to sustain their performance. The decision was a despairing one to make. As the president of the organization it is my primary responsibility to the stakeholders to ensure organizational efficiency. Bad decisions would not only be detrimental for the purpose of the organization, but would also cost me my job. At the same time, my decision would be humiliating and ungrateful to friends whom I truly value and are facing an hour of great need. What about “The friend in need is a friend indeed”?

It is in this type of emotionally ambiguous situation in which the Bhagavad Gita begins. Arjuna, the Pandava prince, facing a life-or-death battle against his unrighteous cousins. In the opposing army he also finds senior and revered members of his own family who raised him and his brothers when they had become fatherless at a very young age. His heart was only filled with gratitude for the stability, care and teachings that they had bestowed upon him. But according to his dharma, Arjuna has to fight in order to establish justice and that means he has to kill the very individuals whom he worships with all of his heart. The result is despair — a situation where Arjuna feels like “damned if I do and damned if I don’t.” This sets the scene for a classic conversation on the concept of dharma.

As in any complex or paradoxical situation, there are at least two distinct alternatives — the path of least resistance with enough justification that our “rational” intelligence and ego can provide, or the hard struggle to find deeper answers, clarity and grounding. It is easy for the head to justify one decision over another when the gut has already made the decision, but that may simply be our refusal to go through the pain of honest introspection. As the renowned Trappist monk Thomas Merton states in his book Thoughts in Solitude, “Laziness and cowardice are the most dangerous of all when marked as discretion.” Many Nazis did, in fact, justify their acts against the Jews at the Nuremberg trials on the grounds that they were not acting on selfish grounds: they were doing their duty to their country.

Arjuna, at first, also justifies his gut decision to escape the battle with convincing arguments, but eventually musters up the courage to become vulnerable to the struggle and go deeper in his inquiry. And the deeper meaning of dharma manifests. Krishna, Arjuna’s friend and confidante, unravels the profound meaning of dharma as going beyond the psychophysical nature of our existence and its corresponding duties and obligations. Instead Krishna encourages Arjuna to discover his true spiritual identity, for that alone can harmonize the conflicting and temporary responsibilities of this world. Referring back to the meaning of dharma as “that which is inherent or essential to”, Krishna tells Arjuna that our essential identity is pure consciousness that is born from the spiritual soul, totally distinct from our psychophysical material nature that we so strongly identify with. Arjuna’s ethical crisis transforms into a spiritual renaissance, where he realizes that his true dharma is that which aligns deeply with his spiritual and not his material identity.

Living with dharma can present paradoxical and despairing circumstances where our sense of goodness is severely tested. It has been humbling for me to realize that even with best possible intentions I cannot produce solutions that can satisfy everyone involved in a situation. The struggles have helped me to be less judgmental about other people’s actions and understand that pure ethical living and idealism, although very admirable, also has its limitations. I realize that the primary aim for living the life of dharma is not only to ensure a society with high ethical conscience but also to go beyond the ethical into the realm of the spiritual. That is why the ancient Vedic texts encourage us to live by dharmic principles and furthermore struggle through despairing contradictions to seek deeper answers on responsibility, integrity and duty. This is where despair becomes a surpassing excellence and the movement from the ethical to the spiritual begins — as the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard put it. This is where striving to live by dharma becomes our spiritual emancipation. It has awakened a deeper spiritual understanding into the real purpose of my existence, which I will highlight in my next article.

“India is a place of splendor and rags, of palaces and hovels, of tigers and elephants, the cobra and the jungle. It has a hundred tongues, a thousand religions and two million gods. It is the cradle of the human race, birthplace of human speech, mother of history, grandmother of legend, great-grandmother of tradition.” -Mark Twain

Most people go to India, I think, to see the Taj Mahal. It is indeed something to see. But in India, you don’t just look. You absorb. An Indian woman told me “India is a place to experience, not just a place to be a tourist.” Just over a week into the trip, we were sitting around one evening with some fellow travelers and someone suggested we name our three top experiences so far on the trip. Not one person mentioned the Taj Mahal, even though we had visited it just a few days before.

The Delhi airport where we landed has a wall of circular copper plates with giant silver hands that have fingers and palms in meditation positions. The hands were comforting to see after leaving Dallas and being in the air for two flights of nine hours each. We broke up the trip with a three-hour layover in Amsterdam.

Delhi, the capital city of India, is full of parks and wide boulevards and looks like other capital cities in Europe or South America. The city is divided into new and old, with the old portion full of narrow streets, rickshaws and modest stalls that sell everything from car parts to haircuts. Old Delhi is populated mostly by Muslims whose lives revolve around work and the local mosque. We toured the country’s largest mosque called Jama Mashid. The emperor used to enter the huge square on an elephant that passed through a giant archway.

We were there on a Sunday, a day of relaxation and visiting. We saw a young couple celebrating their first week as newlyweds. The wife wore a series of bracelets on her arm and her hands were painted in an intricate henna design. Women in India decorate themselves in every way possible from toenails to head, wearing anything that shines or sparkles. Several women had diamonds on their noses.

We rode a bus to the mosque, and had our first glimpse of the city’s commerce. A street bazaar about a mile long had hordes of people shopping. I don’t recall anyone smoking. Goats, dogs, pigs, cows, donkeys and water buffalo wondered around, most of them hungry like many of the people. The street scenes of carts pulled by camels, bicycles carrying dozens of bird houses or baskets, beggars, hawkers, crowds of men in white and women in vibrant colors leave a lasting impression of the country.

We visited the Red Fort, the seat of Mogul (from Mongolia and Turkey) power from 1639 to 1857. It covers an area of a square mile and a half and has gardens, a palace and other buildings that feature imperial architecture, carvings and beautiful inlay. While waiting to enter the Red Fort, ladies were in one line, gents in another. We were inspected at almost every important historical site. Women usually were separated from the men for privacy. We spent some time at the India Gate, a memorial to soldiers lost in World War One.

In Delhi we were fortunate to visit with Sunny Dua, a resident of Jammu in Northern India who stayed in our home 11 years ago on a Rotary exchange. He took off four days of work to be with us and show us his country. Sunny is a Sikh (a faith that actively preaches unity and equality among all religions) and wears a turban. He took us to a Sikh temple, an elegant and imposing structure where volunteers feed thousands of people daily free of charge. Food is prepared and served on the premises. Hungry people eat a lentil stew made with cauliflower, cabbage and onions. Indian flat bread is used to scoop the stew and vegetables. A pool on the grounds is considered to contain holy water and people stick their feet in it for a blessing. Some people completely immerse themselves in the water.

Mahatma Gandhi is celebrated and revered in India. This man of peace was assassinated in Delhi. Although there was a crowd at his monument, most of the people were from India. I get the impression from the number of Indians we saw at all the tourist sites that they are extremely proud of their country and interested in its history.

We were in India at a good time. Flowers were sill in bloom and were everywhere. It is an emerging country, whose residents are full of hope, energy and confidence. India is one-third the size of the United States. The British handed over control to the Indians in 1947 and since then, India has been creating its own republic. The country will become the most populated country in the world within a few years. Right now the population is 1.2 billion, compared to China’s 1.3 billion residents. Like China, most of the population lives in rural areas. The majority of homes in India do not have bathrooms; residents use public facilities.

In India, if you do not already know the answer, you must not ask the question. You will always get an answer, but it might have nothing to do with the question. The type of English spoken in India is close to the type spoken in the US, but it is not the same. That’s why American movies carry subtitles in (you guessed it) English.

The bus ride from Delhi to Agra is just a few short hours and it was our first glimpse at highway traffic. It’s no different from city traffic. Buses, cars, trucks and other motorized conveyances compete for space on the highway with chickens, pedestrians, rickshaws and carts pulled by a variety of animals. Drivers of motor vehicles in India are some of the bravest people on the planet. They have nerves of steel. There are constant games of chicken with vehicles coming right for them. Traffic in India is like one big video game. There are no straight lines of vehicles. They wander all over the place. They remind me of butterflies, which seem to go in all directions with no advance warning. Indians drive on the left side of the highway, which makes things even more confusing for western visitors.

While I was walking on the outside wall on the way to the Taj Mahal, I looked over the wall and saw some of the structure’s white marble. I think my heart actually skipped a beat and I had chills. It was a thrill to actually stand in front of an architectural masterpiece I had heard of all my life. A Shah built it as an eternal symbol of his love for his favorite wife. It was started in 1641 and took 20,000 laborers 22 years to complete. The marble was hauled in by elephants from a quarry 20 miles away. We spent three hours at the Taj and got to observe the changing colors of the marble at sundown. We left Agra with the memory of the Taj and the image of a large monkey climbing the wall of the hotel where we stayed peering into a fifth-floor window.

We visited Ranthambhore and stayed in a hotel called Nahargarh that looks like a palace. The next day we visited a national park and saw a tiger. We had been in the same spot for sometime and many observers left. But our guide insisted we stay. Suddenly we saw a deer rush up a hill and heard the husky growl of the big cat, which echoed out over the canyons and hills. Then we saw it. The guide yelled out, “Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!” and the cameras clicked. My wife was so overcome with emotion she cried. Later, I made a movie of monkeys jumping into a tree.

At Jaipur, we went to the Palace of the Wind and photographed it in the morning light. Then we went to the Amber Fort, one of the biggest and most interesting things on our trip. It has a wall that looks like the Great Wall of China, palace grounds and a fort.

We rode elephants. It was smoother than I was expecting. We also visited an outdoor observatory that covered a city block. A remarkable astronomer built it in 1590. The observatory is an extremely modern group of structures that tell time according to the sun’s shadow with an accuracy so exact the time is within two seconds of GMT.

We flew from Jaipur to Cochin in the southern part of India. We changed planes in Mumbai and never entered the terminal. We got off one plane and simply walked a few yards to another. Very efficient. Cochin is considered the jewel in the crown of the state of Kerala, which is hailed as “God’s Own Country.” Cochin has some of the oldest European architecture and a number of Christian churches.

In a neighborhood called “Jew Town” we went to a synagogue built in 1568 that has a floor made of thousands of Chinese tiles, each one different. Kerala has the highest literacy rate in India. We saw a shady park area near where fishermen dip their nets and market fresh fish. You can pick out a fish and take it to a nearby restaurant and they will prepare it the way you want it.

The most relaxing part of the trip by far was a day and night cruising the backwaters region of Kerala on a houseboat. We were pampered by a cook who prepared some delicious meals, snacks and drinks. Some of the sights along the waterways were spectacular: People in small narrow boats hauling everything from appliances to hay; people washing clothes and bodies; school kids crossing a waterway on a small boat; men and women on foot, bicycle and motorbike traveling on paths beside the water; tall palm trees on the bank and unique birds dipping into the water for food.

Up until this time, we had been with a tour group, which was the recommended way to see India. We were with a bunch of well-traveled folks and had a great time with them.

When we left them at the airport in Mumbai (the British called it Bombay) we were met by Vidya Srinivas, a former student of mine at UTPB who had a career as a newspaper and television journalist. Her husband Sri is a surgeon and he and Vidya are well-respected citizens in Mumbai and have lots of friends and a full social calendar. We spent four nights with them and went to four parties. Sri practiced in Midland from 1992 until 1999. Vidya and Sri live in a two-story penthouse on the 19th floor of a high-rise building. They have a fantastic 180-degree view of the Arabian Sea and the skyline of Mumbai. Vidya took us to places most tourists don’t get to see.

Mumbai is a like a whole other country. It is a combination of New York and Hollywood. Making movies is big business in Mumbai and attracts young people from all over the country who have seen “Slumdog Millionaire” and want to be movie stars. They will live in hovels and do any kind of work to get the chance to try out for a movie.

As soon as we got to Vidya’s flat, she gave us a detailed itinerary of activities for the next three days. She had scheduled me to speak to graduate students in communications at St. Xavier University, one of the leading journalism schools in India. The teacher asked me to listen to some documentaries the radio students had produced and to critique them. They were quite good (especially one of the three I heard) and I bragged on the students’ work. The equipment the students use is leased out to ad agencies, production houses and such. A portion of the studio time is allocated to the students, who have a certain amount to get their work done. If they don’t finish their work in the allotted time, they have to pay for the studio time. Also, they cannot touch the equipment. An engineer has to sit with them and the students tell the engineer where to edit, add music, sound or voice.

Mumbai is the most populous city in India and the second most populous city in the world. Nearly 14 million people live there and nearly that many live in its suburbs. It is the financial capital of India and the country’s richest city. Mumbai is built on what were seven islands of fishing communities. By 1845 the seven islands were joined by landfills and bridges and became a single land mass.

We took an hour-long ferry ride to the island of Elephanta and visited caves dug into stone. Giant pillars and statues were carved into the basalt rock by hand in the sixth century. There are two groups of caves; five are Hindu and two are Buddhist. It became a World Heritage Site in 1987 and is maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India. The ferry left from the port area of Mumbai near the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, which is just across the square from the Gateway to India archway. The hotel was heavily damaged by terrorists in 2008 but has since been repaired. One hundred and sixty-six people from the US, UK, India, Israel and other countries were killed in the attack. Indians refer to that date (November 26, 2008) the way we refer to 9/11. They call it 26/11, since they put the day’s date before the month.

After a walking tour with an architectural student to see some of the important buildings in Mumbai, we went to the Bombay Gymkhana, a sports arena originally built as a British-only club. It is one of the most exclusive clubs in the country. The waiting period for membership extends into years and the fees to join are in the millions of rupees. A cricket match was in progress while we were there. In fact, we were in India during the World Cup of Cricket, which India won.

India is the world’s largest, oldest, continuous civilization. India never invaded any country in its last 10,000 years of history. It is the world’s largest democracy. India invented the number system and had the world’s first university.

Sanskrit, the ancient and sacred language of the Hindus in India, is the mother of all the European languages. India was the richest country on earth until the time of British invasion in the early 17th century. The art of navigation was started in India. Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India. So did the game of chess. India is the largest English-speaking nation in the world.

The co-founder of Sun Microsystems, the creator of the Pentium chip, the creator of hotmail, the GM of Hewlett-Packard and the CEOs of Citibank and Pepsi are Indians. In 2005, India’s $575 billion economy grew by 8.2 percent. In 2009, India had the largest election turnout in human history. The Congress party was given the go-ahead to continue its programs of reforms. The day after the election, India’s stock exchange became the best performing in the world.

We had a magnificent time in India. People all over the US go there for vacations, including some college students we saw who were on spring break.

None of our close traveling friends ever have been to India, even though they go to destinations more distant. Why? Is it fear of seeing too much poverty? There was no sign of poverty at the parties we attended. Do they think it’s just too different? Is it the fact the British left? Like any good traveler, they should put away all their concerns and go there with an open mind and realize they are going to see something unusual and have unique experiences. Isn’t that why we travel in the first place?