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Most ancient civilizations flourished in river valleys and flood plains. So when the digging for construction of a railway line in Northwestern British India revealed remains of an ancient civilization, archaeologists were not very surprised! Since the first two sites found were Harappa, and Mohen-jo-Daro, in the vicinity of the river Indus (Sindhu) and it’s tributaries, the civilization came to be known as the Harappa civilization or the Indus valley civilization.
Detailed excavations at these sites revealed that these indeed were huge cities with remains of several layers of city living, with the latest layers dated from around 2000 years before Christ, and the oldest, to about 3500 years before Christ.
A View of Mohen-jo-Daro
Detailed excavations at these sites revealed that these indeed were huge cities with remains of several layers of city living, with the latest layers dated from around 2000 years before Christ, and the oldest, to about 3500 years before Christ.
The cities of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, as well as other smaller sites that were found later on, were very well planned with streets running at right angles, and laid with burnt bricks. The cities and had a sanitary system of well connected drains to carry the waste from every house. The sites from this civilization occupied a vast area spread across in an area that now corresponds to parts of Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. 19th century Indologists and archaeologists postulated that invading nomads from central Asia brought this civilization to an abrupt end, since most the sites showed a decline around about 1800-1500 BC, with no continued habitation in those locations.
As more sites were found by archaeologists, they observed something strange found more and more sites, they found a strange thing. A vast majority of them were in the area that now comprises of the Thar desert, far from the Sindhu (Indus) river system of Punjab, but along a dry river bed, what is now called as the Hakra or Ghaggar river. The Ghaggar is a seasonal stream which flows for a few months and which ultimately dries up in the desert without reaching the sea! This was a perplexing indeed.
For the solution of this problem, we have to go to ancient Indian texts called Vedas. Veda means Knowledge, derived from the verb, vid – to know, are the oldest poems in this world that are still extant. The Vedas, instead of talking about the five rivers of Punjab, spoke about “sapta sindhu” or the seven rivers, and the most important river among the seven was Saraswathi. The Rig Veda called Saraswati the “ Most beloved of mothers, the mightiest of all rivers, and the best among Goddesses.” It is also described as a river flowing from the Himalaya mountains to the ocean. But today, the Saraswathi river is a small tributary to the seasonal Ghaggar.
As early as during early 1800s, archaeologists who had found parts of a dry river beds in the desert had postulated a great river must have flown there. interestingly this river bed they had found is the continuation of the Ghaggar, into which the current day Saraswathi river flows as a tributary.
The width of the dry riverbed is generally more than a mile wide, and at places it is as wide as 7-8 miles. But what was the source of the water to fill this huge river? The current source of river Saraswathi could not have provided that vast amount of water!
Now science comes to the rescue: The satellite imagery from the late 20th century has ascertained these earlier observations. These have also confirmed the existence old river beds belonging to two other major rivers, Yamuna, and Satluj which are now part of the Indus and
Ganges river systems, that once flowed into the old bed of now dry Ghaggar.
So what caused the drying up of Ghaggar or the historic Saraswathi? Sometime between the 6000 and 4000 years, due to tectonic movements the rivers Yamuna and Sutlej that were the main feeders for Saraswathi changed course.
The glacier fed Sutlej moved westwards, and started flowing into the Indus river. The other glacier fed tributary of Saraswati, the Yamuna started flowing eastward, into the Ganga river instead of Saraswathi. These events thus deprived Saraswathi a perennial water source.
Probably to support this movement of Yamuna is the common belief held in India even today that the river Saraswathi flows as an invisible river, and joins the Ganga and Yamuna at their confluence at Prayaga (Allahabad).
With this river migration understood, we can easily understand why there are far greater number of archaeological sites in the desert along the dry Saraswathi river compared to the Indus river valley. When the rivers migrated, the people living in the Saraswathi river area had to move to newer locations, and they did so. There is no need to bring in any fictitious “nomads from central Asia” to describe a bloody and sudden ending to the civilization. Indeed a study of later archaeological sites shows that several aspects of the these sites were adapted there as well.
Today, the river Sarswathi may flow from the Himalaya all the way to the ocean. It may have become just a small monsoon rivulet. Or if you go by the popular mindset, the river Saraswathi might have become invisible. But the culture of the people lived on it’s banks is still alive and well! For example, its very easy to find artwork from this civilization, that looks almost the same as some of the artworks created by current day craftsmen and artists! This is but one of the many aspects where such parallels can be drawn.
Given all these facts, it truly befits to call this as the Saraswathi-Sindhu civilization rather than Indus Valley civilization or the Harappa civilization!
-neelanjana
(All photo credits belong to their respective copyright holders)
(p.s: Enough material is available on the Internet about the Saraswathi-Sindhu civilization. Then question may arise why this post 
This was a speech I gave at my Toastmasters Club as part of the “Speaking to Inform” advance speaking manual. The project was : The Speech to Inform)
Who hasn’t heard President Obama’s 2008 electoral pitch – “Yes, We Can”? Although I’m not planning on contesting an elections any soon,I firmly believe in the power of the “Yes, We Can” attitude – Yes, We can, but only if we want it; Yes. We can, only if we persist. Yes. We can, only if we strive for it..
I am reminded of a Samskrta subhashita of Bhartrhari which classifies people into three categories -The people in the lowest rung, who never try because they are scared of failing. The mediocre people who start off with their task, but stop when faced with hurdles and finally those excellent men and women, who despite of being hunted and haunted by troubles and hardships, do not stop in their endeavor, and work towards achieving their goals.
On March 8th, the world celebrated the International Women’s Day.That day, I remembered, Nagamani, a very remarkable woman. Nagamani was born about a century ago in a middle class family in village in south India. As a young girl, she was trained in Indian classical music along with regular schooling. However she wasn’t encouraged to be a performing musician and was married at an young age. To her sorrow, she wasn’t allowed to take the Veena, the musical instrument she was trained on with her because it was considered a family heirloom, one that could only pass to a son. Nagamani moved on to join her husband. Since her husband was a forest officer, that meant she would now live in extremely remote locations, surrounded by the wild and the beautiful but without the music a town life could offer. As a remedy, Nagamani decided to make some of her own, got herself a harmonium and taught herself playing it. She played hours on end, just for herself, and perfected the art.
Life wasn’t a bed of roses for Nagamani: 12 childbirths out of whom 4 did not survive; one of the children became a victim of brain fever and ended up being disabled and needing constant care. But Nagamani did not let go of her music. As the children were growing, she kept playing the harmonium, for herself, and for her kids, and to instill the love of music among them. Years rolled by, and some of her children indeed become performers, something she herself could not do earlier. And her addiction to Indian classical music was passed to many of her grandchildren and great grand children too. She was an example of the “Yes, We can” spirit to engage in activities that are close to our hearts even if there are obstacles on the way.
It’s almost three decades since Nagamani passed away. I was very young then, but I still remember glimpses of her mastery over the keyboard that created wonderful music; and I still carry the love of music that she made a family heirloom. Nagamani, was my grandmother.
Now, let me switch gears to something more contemporary. Susan Spencer Wendel, a journalist left her job as a legal reporter when she was diagnosed with a serious condition called ALS in 2011. The disease left with her muscles dying and now she can barely talk and move her fingers. With her health fast deteriorating, she decided it was time to live the last couple years to the fullest. Last year, she went to the Yukon territories up North to see the northern lights with her best friend. She started writing her memoir typing only with her index finger on her iphone as that was the only functioning finger by then. This memoir, titled “Until I say Good Bye” goes on sale today, March 12th, 2013. Susan is a living example of the “Yes, we can” attitude doing things that we love to do, about in spite of the most grueling hardships.
How many times have we told ourselves that we don’t have time for things we wanted to do or wanted to do better, and blame external factors? “Only if I have more time” – “only if I had more money”, “only if the weather was not so cold” , “only if the neighbours dog didn’t bark so much” – Oh well. I made that last one up. But you get the idea!
Come on, let’s stop making lame excuses and move on! To do things that we really love. To do things that we care about. To do things we enjoy. And to say with pride and satisfaction , “Yes, We Can”.
-neelanjana
(This is the text of a speech I gave at my Toastmaster’s club contest today: March 12th, 2013)
A few years ago, when I wrote about Samasya Pooranam here, and here, I had no clue one day I could try these word games too. But over the last year, thanks to the wonderful lessons and posters on Padyapaana, I did make some effort in this direction. And I thought of presenting a few of those in this post.
Samasysa Pooranam refers to the art of completing a verse in a specified meter when one line of the verse is given. The given line in isolation may often border on being meaningless or ridiculous. It is up to you to solve the puzzle, and bring sense into the senseless line in an effective way.
The open nature of the problem can result scores of interesting solutions. Here are some of my recent trials at Samasya Poorana:
Question: “ರಾಮಗಾಗದ ಕಾರ್ಯ ಕಪಿಗಳಗುಂಪಿಗತಿ ಸುಲಭ ” - “The task easy for a bunch of monkeys is impossible for Rama”
This is the 3/6 line of a verse in written in Bhamini shatpadi meter. How can the almighty Rama be inferior to a bunch of monkeys? Oh Well, hold on. Didn’t a bunch of monkeys build the bridge across the ocean during Ramayana? True, but then how about solving the question a little differently?
ನೇಮದಲಿ ಹಂಬಲಿಸೆ ಸೀತೆಯು
ಕಾಮ ವೈರಿಯ ಮಡದಿ ಮಂಗಳ
ಧಾಮೆ ಗೌರಿಯ ಲಕ್ಷ ಪೂಜೆಗೆ ವಾನರರ ಸೈನ್ಯ
ಆಮರೀಮರಕೆಲ್ಲ ನೆಗೆದಾ-
ರಾಮದಲಿ ಹೂಗಳನು ಬಿಡಿಸಿರೆ
ರಾಮಗಾಗದ ಕಾರ್ಯ ಕಪಿಗಳಗುಂಪಿಗತಿ ಸುಲಭ!
When Seeta wanted to perform the Laksha Pooje for Mangala Gouri, who else but the monkey army could climb up trees and bushes and pick all those flowers? Certainly Rama could not have done it so fast. Right?
Since we’re on the topic of Ramayana, here is a related samasya poorana – this one in mattebhavikreedita meter:
ಪತಿಗಳ್ ಸೀತೆಗದೆಷ್ಟು ಮಂದಿ ಗಣಿಸಲ್ಕೇನೊರ್ವರೇ? ಇರ್ವರೇ?
Sounds on the border of being offensive – Right? This kind of talk definitely not befit Seeta, who is considered the epitome of virtue!
I had to send Seeta to her Physics classroom to solve this
ಹಿತದೊಳ್ ತೋರ್ಪೆನು ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಪಾಠಗಳ ನಾಂ ನೀ ಬೇಗಬಾರೆಂದೆನ-
ಲ್ಕತಿಸಂತೋಷದಿ ಬಂದ ಸೀತೆ ಮುದದೊಳ್ ಕಣ್ಣಲ್ಲೆ ಕಣ್ಣಾಗಿ ಜಾ-
ಗೃತಿಯಿಂ ಪಟ್ಟಕಮಂ ತಳೆರ್ದಿರೆ ಮೊದಲ್ ಬಾನಲ್ಲಿ ಕಂಡರ್ ದಿವ-
ಸ್ಪತಿಗಳ್ ಸೀತೆಗದೆಷ್ಟು ಮಂದಿ! ಗಣಿಸಲ್ಕೇನೊರ್ವರೇಯಿರ್ವರೇ ?
What did Seeta see in her Physics class when she turned the kaleidoscope towards the sky? A hundred (or more) Suns! Definitely qualifies for the adjective “uncountable”!
(ಪಟ್ಟಕ = prism, but used here to mean a kaleidoscope ದಿವಸ್ಪತಿ = literally, the “lord of the day”, or the Sun)
OK, now let me move from Ramayana to Bharata, that is to India, more specifically today’s India. One of the samasya poorana lines given during the Shatavadhana in Dec 2012 was “ಭಾರತದಿ ದುಶ್ಯಾಸನನೆ ದ್ರೌಪದಿಯ ಸಖನಲ್ತೆ!” – “Truly, Dushyasana is a friend of Draupadi”.
Here is my solution, which unfortunately, is based on what happened in Delhi during Dec 2012:
ನಾರಿಯೋರ್ವಳ ಬೀದಿಬೀದಿಯ
ಲಾರು ಕೇಡಿಗ ದುರುಳರು ಬಲಾ-
ತ್ಕಾರಗೈದಿರೆ ಗೈದಿರೆ ಯಾರು ಕಾಯ್ದರು ರಾಜಧಾನಿಯಲಿ ?
ಕೌರವನ ಖಳಸಭೆಯಲೆನ್ನಯ
ಸೀರೆಯನ್ನೆಳೆದವನೆ ಲೇಸೀ
ಭಾರತದಿ ದುಶ್ಯಾಸನನೆ ದ್ರೌಪದಿಯ ಸಖನಲ್ತೆ !
In one of my earlier posts on this subject here, I’d sort of mixed up two distinctly different puzzlers: Dattapadi and Samasya poorana. Let me not dwell into that, but suffice it to say that while Samasya Poorana refers to completing a verse when one of the lines is given, Dattapadi refers to composing a verse that includes set of given words are given, on a specified topic – Not unexpectedly, often the words totally unrelated to the topic are given.
Here is one such example - How would an experienced politician advice an upcoming politician to take the right ways to success ? Since this is the internet era, the solution must contain the words: e-mail, chat, phone and gram!
Here are two different solutions I came up with in the Bhamini shatpadi meter:
ಗ್ರಾಮ ಪಂಚಾಯ್ತಿಯಲಿ ಕಾಲಿ-
ಟ್ಟಾಮೆಯಂತೆಯೆ ಬೆಳೆಸು ಚರ್ಮವ!
ಸಾಮದಲ್ಲಿಯೆ ಗಳಿಸಿ ಫೋನಲಿ ಸೋನಿಯಳ ಕೃಪೆಯ!
ನೇಮದಲ್ಲಿರೆ ಹೈಕಮ್ಯಾಂಡಿನ
ಮೈಮೆಯಲೆನೀ ಮೇಲಕೇರುವೆ!
ರಾಮನೇ ನೀ? ಬೇಡ ಸೇವೆಯ ಗೀಳು! ಹುಚ್ಚಾಟ!
ರಾಮರಾಜ್ಯದ ನೆಪದಿ ನೀಕು-
ಗ್ರಾಮದಲೆ ಮುಂದಾಳುವಾಗು! ನೋಡೈ
ನಾಮಹಾಕುತ ಜನಕೆ ಮಾಡುತಲಷ್ಟು ಕಿರುಚಾಟ!
ನೇಮವಿಡೆ ಮೇಲ್ನವರ ಫೋನಾ-
ರಾಮದಲ್ಲೇ ಹುದ್ದೆ ತರುವುದು!
ಗೇಮೆಯಲ್ಲೇ ಮೇಲಕೇರ್ವುದು ದಿಟದಿ ಬಲುಕಷ್ಟ!
And now, how about describing an outdated mode of transportation 
– such as a bird using some modern vehicles? The question here is to describe the well known story of Gajendra Moksha, using the words “Cycle”, “Van”,”Lorry” and “Car”.
Here is my attempt at answering the question in a pancha mAtrA choupadi – a traditional 4 lined meter:
ಅಸುವು ಹೋಗುತಲಿಹವು ವ್ಯಾನಾದಿ ಪಂಚಕವು
ತುಸು ನೀನು ಕರುಣಿಸೈ ಕಲ್ಲಾಗಿಸದೆ ಮನವ
ಮೊಸಳೆಯಿಂದೆನ್ನುಳಿಸಲಾರಿಹರೆನಲು ಗಜವು
ಎಸೆವ ಕಾರ್ಮುಗಿಲಿಂದ ಗರುಡವಾಹನ ಬಂದ!
Here is another small variation of the same question to describe Gajendra Moksha episode, using the words “Auto”, “Rickshaw”, “Volvo” and “Lorry”.
ಮೊಸಳೆಯಾರ್ಭಟವೇನು! ಆಟೋಪವಿನ್ನೇನು!
ಹಸುಳೆಯಾನೆಯ ಬಾಳೆಗಿಡದವೋಲ್ವೊರಗಿಸೆ
ಅಸುವ ಕಾಯೆಂಬ ಮೊರೆಗೆಲ್ಲಾರಿಗೂ ಮೊದಲು
ನಸುನಗುತ ಹರಿಯಂತರಿಕ್ಷದಲೆ ಪೊರೆದ!
But to really enjoy Samasya Poorna, Dattapadi and many more interesting poetic puzzles in Kannada, I must urge you to visit Padyapaana, a great resource of fun in learning prosody. I’m sure you’ll definitely be astounded by the variety of answers to each such puzzle on Padyapaana. I strongly encourage you to go and checkout a few posts here.
-neelanjana
(Picture courtesy: Wikipedia; Gajendra Moksha sculpture on the walls of Dashaavataara temple, Deoghar)
Last couple months we’ve seen some nice conjunctions of Jupiter and the Moon. On January 21st, they will come closest seen from the Earth. They would be seen about half a degree apart at the closest. As a comparison, the full Moon is about half a degree in diameter.
Here is a simulated view of the conjunction.
This conjunction is well placed seen from the western hemisphere, because it happens during the early part of night for this side of the Earth. The closest point being around 7:00 pm Pacific time. If you remember the Moon moves almost 13 degrees in one day,the conjunction may not appear so close from the eastern hemisphere unless you wait until late in night/early morning. In any case, don’t forget to look up at the Moon on 21st January 2013
This conjunction is also a good time to observe the movement of the Moon in the background of stars on the Ecliptic. Jupiter being farther away does not move much in a few hours. But the Moon is much closer, and also there is a the advantage of a bright Jupiter close by – So if you see the Moon at an hours interval a few times in the night, you will easily be able to see how the Moon has traveled towards East in the background of stars.
A bonus this time is the conjunction occurs in a very star-studded region of the sky – surrounded by prominent constellations such as Orion, Taurus, Auriga and Perseus. And by the way, the orange-red star close to the Moon & Jupiter is Aldebaran, also known as Alpha Tauri in sky-terminology, and is the 4th nakshatra Rohini, in the Indian lunar Zodiac.
-neelanjana
The first time I came across the phrase 'graha bheda' was in a book called Sangeetha Darpana by Prof. Ramaratnam. For someone who exactly knew the aarohana and avarohana of three or four raagas, a detailed discussion of graha bheda, it's possibilities and limitations were too much to swallow. What? Getting Kalyani from Shankarabharana and todi?
Luckily, I had the luxury of having my grandma's old harmonium at my disposal.
My friend Pavan pointed out that the google video link wasn't playing anymore. So, reblogging with updated youtube link.
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