BALI FOR AN UNFORGETTABLE HOLIDAY

My wife Tannie and I have never had a better holiday than the ten days we recently spent in Bali. We had earlier greatly enjoyed the splendors of Egypt, the wonders of Turkey, the temptations of Europe and the joys of ocean cruises but Bali is a place that we want to go back to see again. Thailand offers a much greater variety of places to visit, things to do but you know that you are in a foreign land. Although Bali is exotically foreign it also offers a feeling of human warmth. And, for Indians, a deep river of an ancient common culture is also seductively alluring.

Do not however expect a tropical paradise for there are better beaches, more fun and greater variety of food in many other countries. The Indonesian Rupiah is also initially very scary. There are so many Zeros in the 50,000 Rupiahs you one need to spend on a taxi ride until you realizes that it is just 4 US dollars. After understanding this, the costs of hotels, food, shopping and excursions suddenly become very affordable. Many also fear that Bali will be hot in summer forgetting that it is near the equator that makes the climate pleasant throughout the year. There is a great deal to see and do in the island that is about 150 kms from east to west and 100 kms from north to south. All the beaches are beautiful and the lush green fields and thick forests covering the hilly terrain are a delight.

Bali is predominantly Hindu and there are numerous beautiful red and gold Hindu temples every few kilometers. Lovely examples of Hindu piety are also visible in every house of hotel where colorful rituals are performed every day. We were lucky to witness a most beautiful purification ceremony at our hotel. Hinduism came to Indonesia about 1500 years ago when the great Hindu kingdoms of the Srivijayan and Shailendra kings were established in Sumatra mainly influenced by the cultures of ancient Orissa and Tamilnadu. Brahmin priests with magnificent rites of kingship were eagerly sought by every local chieftain. Though Buddhism followed it many great Hindu temples still survive. Islam was then brought to Indonesia by Arab traders about 600 years ago but the island of Bali remained staunchly Hindu. It was however an archaic Hinduism of about a thousand years earlier and gradually became a bit different from the Hinduism that evolved in different parts of India.

 

The world’s only temple of Varuna, the `purvi devta’ or pre Vedic divinity of water, is just off the coast at Tanah Lot in the south west. This beautiful temple built on a rocky spur lapped by the surging waves of the ocean is truly spectacular. At Ubud in the centre of the island is a 9^th century Goa Gajah temple devoted to Ganesh carved inside a cave. Outside this temple there are sacred tanks fed by a spring. In the ancient Puranic Indian tradition all the water of the world came from Ganga the sacred cosmic river that came to earth through the matted locks of the god Shiva and then splashed out to create all the springs of the world that were channeled through the mouths of cows (gaomukh) or water vessels held by celestial nymphs. At Goa Gajah the waters of the spring pour out of little vessels carried lovingly by six celestial maids.

As in India the Balinese Hindus cremate their dead but only the Brahmins are burned immediately. Most Balinese are from the lesser castes and their bodies are buried for eleven months until their souls are pure and their bones are then cremated in a grand but very expensive ceremony. There are many other customs similar but not the same as those of Indian Hindus.

We went to Bali on a well organized and affordable six day package tour. We first stayed at an excellent 4-star hotel at Legian on the west coast that is full of bars, spas and discos. The package provided us a good small car to take us around and included a Barong Kris dance based on the Ramayana with a long haired two-man tiger and a mischievous Hanuman. Huge and very colorful silk kites filled the skies everywhere in the constant breeze.

We drove through terraced paddy fields to Kintamani where there was a great view of a dormant volcano and lake Batur. We also visited several very interesting temples and workshops making the most delicate gold and silver jewelry. Needless to say we swam in the sea and spent a day doing water sports. The package included a short cruise around the harbor. At the end of the planned trip we spent three extra days at a lovely 5-star hotel at Sanaur on the east coast. This was a quieter beach on a extended lagoon behind a long coral reef that broke the great waves of the Pacific Ocean. Balinese food was very good but lacked the huge variety that Thailand offers.

We were also very fortunate to meet a lovely Balinese couple who showed us many aspects of Bali culture that a normal tourist would never see including an amazing cultural festival in which over a thousand amateur musicians and dancers enthusiastically participated. Bali is also the one foreign place that treats Indians as highly honored guests.

Betrayal of Mughal Prince turned the history of India:

THE ECONOMIC TIMES       Aug 16 2015

 Murad Ali  Baig

NEW DELHI:  In 1658 the Mughal  Empire  was  at the peak of its opulence,  but the escalating rivalry  between  Emperor  Shah Jahan's  sons  Dara Shikoh  and Aurangzeb   over the past two decades  had split not only the royal family  but also changed  the history  of the nation  says Author  Murad  Ali Baig.

"The book is about  a gap in Indian  history.  A lot has been written  about the great  emperors Akbar,  Jahangir,  Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb   but the battle  of succession   between  the sons of Shah Jahan  was actually  one of the turning  points  in Indian  history."  says  Baig.

Titled "Ocean  of Cobras"  the book is a historical  fiction  and is a recount  by a eunuch Mubarak  Ali. who is intimate  with  all the princes,  princesses  and  personages  of the Mughal court.  He takes  the reader from the magnificent   royal palace  into the harem.  to royal hunts and to the kjngdoms  of rival and vassal  rulers.

"Roughly  25 per cent of the book is work  of fiction  essentially  to fill in the gaps  and the rest is  based on pure historical  facts with  proper  foot notes.  The book is packed  with so much information  of five battles,  evolution  of the religion  history  of the period  and so on," Baig told

PTJ.

Dara, the pampered  prince  was  a poet and philosopher  who  had to turn a soldier  to combat  his bitter  but battle  hardened  brother.  The conflict  between  Dara's  love of all religions  and Aurangzeb's   narrow  Islamic  beliefs  was to make the battle much  more  than simply  one for the throne.  It became  a series  of battles  for the very soul of India.

"How were we to know that this battle for succession  would  also be a battle for the very soul of India; that this would  be a battle  between Dara's  belief in the essential  unity of all religions  and Aurangzeb's   conviction  that the straight  path  of Islam was the only way to human salvation?"  says the author.

Mubarak  Ali, the narrator.  fights  in the armies  of the rival princes  and describes  six exciting  battles.  His adventures  take the reader  from

the limpid  lakes  of Kashmir  to the deserts  of Sind and the lush forests  of every  part of India.  He tells the story  of the forgotten  Prince  of the

Mughal  Empire.

"Dara was  rather condemned   by the court  historians  as soon as he lost the battle of Samugarh  because  of the betrayal  by his own commander.   Because  of that  betrayal  the whole  history  of India turned.  Dara then vanished  from history.  Dara was probably  the most interesting  of all the Mughal  Princes  and therefore  his story  is the story that needed  to be told." says Baig.

Talk about Dara at Gyan Mandir School

I gave a talk on August 21 to some 200 senior students of Gyan Mandir School about my new novel `Ocean of Cobras' and was most gratified by the enthusiastic response and the interest of many students who said that they knew so little about this exciting period of Mughal history. The interactive session with the students at the end of the talk was most stimulating.

I had not heard of this school before and was very pleasantly surprised that it is one of Delhi’s highly regarded schools with about 1500 students.

I suggested that the school might consider doing a school project to visit places in Delhi associated with Dara Shikoh like the Diwani Khas in the Red fort where he was tried, the Dara Shikoh library near Kashmiri Gate and Humayun's Tomb where princess Jahanara erected a tomb over his headless body when Aurangzeb was campaigning against the Marathas in the Deccan.

A TOMB FOR DARA SHIKOH

356 years ago, at the end of August 1659, Aurangzeb’s eldest brother Dara was tried in the `Diwan I Khas’ of the Red Fort by the qazis and executed for the crime of blasphemy. He was declared to be a heretic and beheaded and stripped of all his rights as a Muslim. His headless body was then unceremoniously buried in the huge vault below Humayun’s tomb without a shroud or any funeral rituals or prayers. Dara had been Emperor Shah Jahan’s eldest and favorite son who had not only been a scholar of Arabic and Persian but also of Sanskrit. 

In my new novel Ocean of Cabras the narrator recounts… “awe gripped the imperial court when prince Dara had confounded both the mullahs and Brahmins by propounding the astonishing idea that a great shining golden river of common faith ran through both Islam and the faiths of the Hindus. The Maulvis had earlier been aghast when he had started to add Sanskrit to the Persian, Turki and Arabic languages that he had earlier mastered but were alarmed when he had started listening to groups of learned Brahmin scholars that he had summoned. They were not too disturbed when he released the first Persian translations  Upanishads and the Bhagavad-Gita that earlier had only been in the secret libraries of a few Brahmin priests but they were appalled when he had the audacity to declare that this heretic philosophy was none other than the `Sirr i-Akbar - the great secret, which he suggested, was none other than the `Kitab-al-Muknum’ or the hidden book mentioned in the fifty-sixth chapter of the holy Quran itself.

Dara had believed that Allah, known by many different names to the different people of the world, loved all his creations and had sent his messages and messengers to all the people of the world in their times of trouble to lead them to Jannat (heaven). He believed that it was the bigoted priests of every faith, who could not see beyond what had been taught to them, who refused to accept that Allah was a loving and merciful god for all of mankind. He believed that the priests of all religions were the real creators of Shaitan (devil) and of Jehannum (Hell) and it was they who used the power of fear and hatred to persecute those who differed with their narrow beliefs. Dara had believed that loving surrender to Allah and to all his creations was the path to heavenly bliss for all humanity. How was anyone to know that this simple and lofty idea, that could do injury to no one, was to anger many Muslims especially his puritanical younger brother who was already burning with envy at Dara’s popularity?”

Many years later while Aurangzeb was in the Deccan fighting the Marathas during the last 29 years of his life their eldest sister Jahanara is believed to have built a cenotaph to honour Dara on the platform of the great monument. She may have also built two other cenotaphs near it for their youngest brother Murad who Aurangzeb had also executed at Gwalior. Another cenotaph might have been for Dara’s valiant son Sikander Shikoh who had been slowly poisioned with poshta at Gwalior.

Ocean of Cobras explores the lives of many fascinating Mughals in the cusp between the golden age of Shah Jahan and the gloomy 49 years under Aurangzeb that really marked the end of a great empire.

BOOK LAUNCH AT INDIA INTERNATIONAL CENTRE

Monday 10^th April, 2015

·         Apart from some 200 people in the audience I greatly enjoyed the launch of my new novel. Siddharth Shriram released the book and said that though he was not very interested in history this book had been such an easy read that he hugely enjoyed it.

·         Professor Pushpesh Pant (retired professor from JNU, historian and author) endorsed the sentiment saying he had read the entire book in a day and is now reading it for the 3rd time as it contains so many nuggets of information and insights into a fascinating period.

·         I then outlined the thrust of the book that concerned a tipping point in India's history with the orthodox prince Aurangzeb and the liberal Dara Shikoh fighting not only for the Mughal crown but for the very soul of India.

·         Few people know that Dara was a Sanskrit scholar who did the first translations of the Upanishhads and the Bhagavat Gita that were not widely known to most people in Mughal times.

·         I explained that while much had been written about the Mughal emperors very little was known about Dara after the court scribes wrote him off after the battle of Samugarh. As the British had contempt for the `native armies’ very little was also known about the Mughal command and control systems and I had to go to the Military Museum in Istanbul to learn more about them. I also personally walked over many of the battlefields and strategic areas to be able to describe them properly.

·         Several people asked how much of the novel was fiction and how much history. I explained that about 25% of the book concerned the adventures of the purely fictitious narrator, the eunuch Mubarak Ali, but that most of the rest was firmly rooted in history.

·         Several people who had read the novel commented that they were waiting for it to be made into a movie as they saw a panorama of vivid mental images as they read of Mubarak’s adventures in the court and on the battlefields.

·         The battles, romances, betrayals, the events of the harem and the battles were then debated in a very lively discussion with the audience.

Did you see the review of Ocean of Cobras in the Sunday Business Standard?

BEYOND BUSINESS » PEOPLE » PEOPLE

The Mughal fusion of Hindu-Muslim culture is a tradition to be cherished: Murad Ali Baig

Interview with author
Uttaran Das Gupta August 8, 2015 Last Updated at 21:31 IST

The majestic tomb of the second Mughal emperor, Humayun, in New Delhi hides another grave - of Dara Shikoh, scholar, philosopher and the man who would have ascended the Peacock Throne if history had not intervened. Murad Ali Baig's novel, Ocean of Cobras, which will be launched on Monday, fictionalises the Mughal War of Succession (1657-1661) that sealed Dara's fate.Uttaran Das Gupta talks to the author about his upcoming book

From writing on cars to a historical novel - how did this happen?

I have written on cars, travel, environment, rural India as well as history, mythology and religion. My last book, 80 Questions to Understand India, sold about 30,000 copies. I follow my passions: a man can love his wife and also his dog.

Hillary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, said writing historical novels was a second choice when she realised she would not be a historian. You were already well-reputed as a journalist and a non-fiction writer. Why the move to fiction?

I am a historian with an MA in history. So access to records was not too difficult. Textbooks unfortunately mention Dara only as a footnote to the history of Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb and others.

My experience in marketing tractors and motorcycles took me to every part of India, and I visited many of the sites where battles took place, and other places mentioned in the book.

It was not easy learning to write fiction after straight narratives on many different subjects. Ocean of Cobras is authentic history as told by a fictitious narrator - a eunuch in the Mughal court, who is a witness to everything, from the intrigues of the harem to the battlefields.

Can you tell us something about the title of the book?

The Mughals took omens very seriously. Strange events like millions of snakes suddenly appearing in Bengal or the predictions of a wandering fakir prejudiced Shah Jahan against Aurangzeb, which in turn made the prince bitter and determined.

Dara has gained a sort of mythical reputation as a poet and secular-minded leader. Do you think he would have made an able administrator of the Mughal empire?

Dara, Shah Jahan's favourite son, was a great scholar but also an able military commander, who continued the armed struggle against his brother Aurangzeb for more than a year. The Persian scribes of the Mughal court wrote off Dara after the Battle of Samugarh. European writers depended mainly on street gossip.

Dara had deep respect for Hindu and Sufi philosophy, and his ascent to the throne might have led to a continuation of religious harmony for keeping the Mughal empire together. This was shattered by Aurangzeb's bigoted interpretation of Islam. But my novel does question if Dara was strong enough to hold such a turbulent empire together.

On the contrary, don't you think Aurangzeb earned a reputation of a ruthless bigot and religious fundamentalist?

Aurangzeb really became bitter and bigoted in the last 30 years of his life. (He lived to be nearly 90.) He usually tried to be just to all his subjects.

There has been some speculation of how different Indian history would have been if Dara had ascended the throne.

Indian history would have been different. Many would be surprised to learn that Dara had translated 59 Upanishads, and the Bhagwad Gita from Sanskrit to Persian so that the Hindu religious texts would gain wider circulation in the empire. Others would find it surprising the Dara considered Allah to be god to everyone and not just Muslims, like Aurangzeb did.

Mughal history has served as inspiration for fictional work in India for centuries. Do you think your novel has contemporary relevance?

I think my novel is very relevant: many Mughal customs of governance and taxation survive to this day.

The fusion of Hindu and Muslim culture during Mughal times is a tradition all Indians could cherish.

REVIEW OF OCEAN OF COBRAS

When a glowing Murad Ali Baig announced on Facebook that he had authored a novel called ‘Ocean of Cobras’ I could not get my hands fast enough on it, as his previous work ’80 Questions to Understand India, History, Mythology and Religion’ had proved so fascinating a read that I had not only devoured it but let others participate in the rich mental feast as well. His original, unorthodox approach and answers to questions that might have churned silently in many a mind yet never been asked or, if asked, been answered, fascinated me no end. They also made me conscious how differently historical periods and events can be depicted, analyzed and interpreted and that in a way that truly engages not only the mind, but also the soul and senses.

In ‘Ocean of Cobras’ Murad, a self-professed ‘mongrel of good pedigree’ (from Timur to Mayflower pilgrims via numerous other illustrious characters!) presents from an insider’s perspective not only a rich tapestry of the life and times of Shah Jahan’s reign, but shows, how from early childhood on, the emperor himself incidentally fostered the animosity between the two of his sons, who should later become the main protagonists in the battle for his succession.

While Shah Jahan adored his eldest son Dara Shikoh, an easy going, scholarly aesthete, who was convinced that, ultimately, all religions were one and, thus, there was no need for a conflict between them, the emperor openly rejected the sterner prince Aurangzeb and his narrow interpretation of the Koran.

Keeping the companionable Dara as much as possible by his side, the emperor often got rid of Aurangzeb by sending him to distant trouble spots to subjugate rebellious vassals. Over the years, he thus became a battle-hardened soldier and able administrator, qualities that proved as attractive to some as Dara’s love of humankind to others. Whatever, the hatred and rivalry between the two brothers constituted an important factor in the battles for succession, which cost many a life and an emperor his freedom.

The way Murad juxtaposes Dara’s all-inclusive approach to religious beliefs and Aurangzeb’s narrow interpretation of the Koran makes one wonder what would have happened if not Aurangzeb but Dara had won the crown, - intriguing fodder for thought, indeed, which might nourish a desire to turn the wheel of history a bit backwards –in Dara’s direction.

‘Ocean of Cobras’ is a heady cocktail of adventure, romance, betrayal, battles of the mind and sword and much more. Well researched, it gives insights into court life, marriage ceremonies, tribal customs etc., and, most important, it is a jolly good read.

Roswitha Joshi

When a glowing Murad Ali Baig announced on Facebook that he had authored a novel called ‘Ocean of Cobras’ I could not get my hands fast enough on it, as his previous work ’80 Questions to Understand India, History, Mythology and Religion’ had proved so fascinating a read that I had not only devoured it but let others participate in the rich mental feast as well. His original, unorthodox approach and answers to questions that might have churned silently in many a mind yet never been asked or, if asked, been answered, fascinated me no end. They also made me conscious how differently historical periods and events can be depicted, analyzed and interpreted and that in a way that truly engages not only the mind, but also the soul and senses.

In ‘Ocean of Cobras’ Murad, a self-professed ‘mongrel of good pedigree’ (from Timur to Mayflower pilgrims via numerous other illustrious characters!) presents from an insider’s perspective not only a rich tapestry of the life and times of Shah Jahan’s reign, but shows, how from early childhood on, the emperor himself incidentally fostered the animosity between the two of his sons, who should later become the main protagonists in the battle for his succession.

While Shah Jahan adored his eldest son Dara Shikoh, an easy going, scholarly aesthete, who was convinced that, ultimately, all religions were one and, thus, there was no need for a conflict between them, the emperor openly rejected the sterner prince Aurangzeb and his narrow interpretation of the Koran.

Keeping the companionable Dara as much as possible by his side, the emperor often got rid of Aurangzeb by sending him to distant trouble spots to subjugate rebellious vassals. Over the years, he thus became a battle-hardened soldier and able administrator, qualities that proved as attractive to some as Dara’s love of humankind to others. Whatever, the hatred and rivalry between the two brothers constituted an important factor in the battles for succession, which cost many a life and an emperor his freedom.

The way Murad juxtaposes Dara’s all-inclusive approach to religious beliefs and Aurangzeb’s narrow interpretation of the Koran makes one wonder what would have happened if not Aurangzeb but Dara had won the crown, - intriguing fodder for thought, indeed, which might nourish a desire to turn the wheel of history a bit backwards –in Dara’s direction.

‘Ocean of Cobras’ is a heady cocktail of adventure, romance, betrayal, battles of the mind and sword and much more. Well researched, it gives insights into court life, marriage ceremonies, tribal customs etc., and, most important, it is a jolly good read.

Roswitha Joshi (author)