Play with thy Neighbour: Indo-Pak Cricket Series

Ram Puniyani There has been mixed response to the BCCI's decision to host Pakistan Cricket Team in December-January for a limited-over’s series (July 2012). Ex cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar and Kirti Azad are critical of this decision of BCCI, while many others on both sides of the divide have welcomed this idea. Imran Khan, ex-cricketer turned politician welcomed the idea saying that this will pave the path for bringing normalcy to relations between the two countries through negotiation...

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Eating Glass & Drinking Nitric Acid: Hata Yogi’s Other Tricks!

B Premanand (Note: Some of the items described in this series should be performed only under proper expert guidance. One should never try them on one's own) Experiment No. 49 Effect: A thread is put in one nostril and taken out through the other. Props: 12" twine thread. Method: There is a connection between the two nostrils. One has to practice putting the thread in one nostril without sneezing. Bend the top of the thread a little, push thread in the nostril and just exhale...

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Lt. Col Purohit: Acts of Terror and Finding Escape Route

Ram Puniyani In the wake of the various acts of terror and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur’s motor cycle being traced, it became clear that the investigating agencies are acting on the wrong thesis that ‘all terrorists are Muslims’. A Pandora’s box opened and the link of ex-ABVP activist, Pragya Thakur, Swami Dayanand Pandey, retired Major Upadhayay, Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit and Swami Aseemanand came to surface, Role of two organizations inspired by the ideology of ‘Hindu nation’, Abhinav...

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Walking on Water

B Premanand In the history of miracles Jesus Christ is said to have walked on water without any props. In 1968 Hata Yogi L.S. Rao, with the connivance of Blitz Weekly, set out to fool a gullible public. Week after week articles published by R.K. Karanjia, told of the supernatural powers of this Hata Yogi. Finally it was announced that, he would walk on water without getting his feet wet. This was advertised as a billion dollar yogic TRICK. Tickets to watch this feat in Bombay one evening...

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Live Burial in a Pit under Samadhi

B Premanand Pilot Saba of Delhi is an expert in live burial. In 1988 he was to perform an underground samadhi for 7 days at Nagpur in a pit of 10' x 10' x 10'. He was challenged as to why he needs such a big pit if after samadhi all his body functions came to a stop. He then agreed to do the feat in a glass chamber just enough for his body to fit. This would be sealed and made air-tight after re­moving the air. However, he never showed up to demonstrate his yogic powers. Earlier, on October...

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Celebrating Harmony and Peace

Ram Puniyani Communal violence is the sad reality of South Asian states. India in particular has been witnessing this violence more so after the coming of British. British in pursuance of their policy of ‘Divide and Rule’, introduced communal historiography and sections of population who wanted to preserve their feudal privileges, picked up this version of History and used religion as a cover for their politics. Both Hindu and Muslim communalism, in a way played a supplementary role to the...

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Abraham Kovoor’s Case Diary: The Curative Power of the Water of the River Ganges

Abraham Kovoor Kerala, the land of my birth, is very similar to Lanka in its topography, climate, fauna flora and even the cultural and ethnic qualities of its peoples. The phonetics of the Malayalam language is more similar to the spoken Tamil of Jaffna than that of South India; yet, the morphology of the Malayalam alphabets is more similar to those of the Sinhala language than the Tamil. The industrious and adventurous nature with their thirst for education make Keralians more similar to...

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Levitation

B Premanand The Godman of this century is Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who has exploited thousands of his disciples by offering to teach them levitation. In 1978 he held the first levitation demonstration of his students at New Delhi. The Supreme Court judge Y.R. Krishna Iyer had written an article that he had himself wit­nessed levitation by the students of Mahesh Yogi at Switzerland. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi  They were seated on 12" thick foam beds, and hopped up and down like frogs....

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Violence and ‘Clean Chits’: Sangma Backs BJP on Kandhamal

Ram Puniyani Electoral politics is a strange game. We can observe that with the present weaknesses of electoral system many alliances are made up, which do not have much ideological basis. Amongst many flaws of the present system is the system of first past the poll. This prevents the true representation of people in the elected bodies. Many a times, the players on the political chess board, highlight and undermine facts depending on their political contingencies keeping in mind the need to...

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Yogic Siddhis – Stopping Pulse and Heart Beat

Godmen claim that when they are in samadhi all their bodily functions also stop like the pulse, heart-beat etc. The yogi asks the doctor to check his pulse. Then he goes into 'samadhi' and the doctor is surprised to find there is no pulse. Experiment - 42 Effect: Stopping the pulse.  Props: Two lemons or two handkerchiefs, a medical doctor. Courtesy: Wikipedia Method: Hold the two lemons in the two armpits. Or make a big knot in the handkerchiefs and tie them on either shoulder...

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