I have added two new words to my vocabulary: thearchy and millenarianism. Thearchy (as opposed to theocracy meaning government by priests) means rule by god. Millenarianism is the belief in the end of the world in our lifetime. I suggest you add them to your lexicon because they are not, as you might think, of academic interest, but are of practical significance today and may have important roles to play in the future.

I came across these two words in an article in the September-October 2004 issue of The Futurist. It is entitled, ?The Threat of Thearchy & A resurgence of demands for ?rule by God??. It deals with the widespread fundamentalist thinking which could bode ill for world peace. The author is Arnold Brown, chairman of a business firm in New York.

Brown tells us that for the last 200 years, the Western world has witnessed a struggle for supremacy between rule by man and rule by law. Now there is a third contender for supremacy, god. He tells us that we have been so pre-occupied by the rise of Islamic militancy, refuelled by aircraft crashing into business houses and the bombing of governmental buildings in New York and Washington on September 11, 2001, that we have overlooked an upsurge of Jewish militancy in Israel, Hindu religious fascism in India and growing Christian hostility towards non-Christians, mainly Muslim immigrants, in Europe and the Americas.

According to a Time/CNN poll conducted in 2002, well over half of the American population believes in the Biblical prophecy that the world will come to an end in our lifetime. Before that happens, Jesus Christ will re-appear in Israel to establish the Kingdom of God. They support Zionism and dismiss the United Nations as of no consequence.

The rule of Allah is the driving force behind radical Muslim movements like al Qaida of Osama bin Laden. Their mentor, the Egyptian theologian Sayyid Qutb who was executed in 1966, warned Muslim nations against the corrupting influences of the materialistic West, particularly the United States of America. He also maintained that there should be no separation between the state and religion: most Muslim nations like Pakistan and Bangladesh describe themselves as Islamic republics. The new government of Afghanistan is following their example by drawing a constitution combining human rights with Islamic tenets.

This seems to be the pattern our sangh parivar wants to impose on secular India. Its concept of Ram rajya is no different from the fundamentalist Muslims? aim to establish Nizam-e-Ilahee.

The most significant contributing factor to the rise in the levels of intolerance in all religions is their justifying it by pointing accusing fingers at others. Islamic fundamentalists warn Muslims of the corrupting influence of the Christian West and of the Hindus? Islamophobia. Christian fundamentalists warn Christians of the menace of Islamic fanaticism and their frequent calls for jihad. So do Hindu kattarwadis who portray both Islam and Christianity as alien religions gnawing at the roots of their Vedantic beliefs. You can add a third word to your vocabulary, symbiosis ? it is the capacity of organisms to live with each other.

Speaking of love

In the anthology of selections of our (Kamna Prasad?s and mine) favourite pieces of Urdu poetry, on which I have been spasmodically working over the last few months, the following verses of Majrooh Sultanpuri (1919-2000) remain permanently stuck in my mind as some of the best samples. I take the liberty of reproducing them in the original along with my translation, in the hope that discerning readers will point out errors and suggest ways of improving it:

Mujhey sahel ho gaeen manzilein

Key havaa kay rukh badal gaye

Teyra haath haath mein aa gayaa

Keh chiraagh raah mein jal gaye

(When I took your hands in mine/ Winds began to change their course,/ My destinations became within easy sight/ Lamps along my route turned bright.)

The next verse reads:

Voh lajjaaye meyrey savaal par

Ke utthaa sakey na jhukaa key sar

Udee zulf chehrey pe iss taraah

Keh shabon kay raaz machal gaye

(My question made her blush deep red/ Embarrassed she lowered her head;/ Her jet black tresses were such a sight/ Revealing dark mysteries of the night.)

And finally:

Vahee baat jo na voh keh sakey

Merey sher-o-naghmon mein dhal gayee

Vahee lab jinhein main na chhoo sakaa

Qada-e-sharaab mein dhal gaye

(Words that she could not speak/ Found their way in verse and songs of mine/ Lips that I could not touch/ Mingled in my goblets of mine)

To drive home a point

Some time back, I was in Oslo. My friend and I were at an Indian store to buy provisions. There came, unannounced on a bicycle, the home minister of the country with no security, not even a cop in tow. No traffic was stopped. No routine of life was disturbed. I introduced myself to him, and had a brief t?te-?-t?te.

This is in sharp contrast with what happens in India. Here, whenever a VIP visits an area, cops are deployed in every nook and cranny for his security and hassle-free journey. ?Nobodies? are made to wait on the roadsides for the motorcade of the ?somebody? to pass. A Very Important Person has now become virtually synonymous with a ?Very Inconvenient person?, or a ?Very Important Problem?!

Once Reynolds, a painter of the 18th century and a wit in Dr Samuel Johnson?s circle, was walking down a narrow lane in London. From the opposite direction ambled slowly a tall, bulky lord. Both met in the middle of the lane, which did not have enough space for both of them. The question rose as to who should give way, the VIP lord or the commoner Reynolds. Piqued at the audacity of Reynolds, the lord said, ?I never give way to a scoundrel.? ?But I do, sir,? retorted Reynolds.

Obviously the week always have their backs to the wall, and ?nobodies? give way to ?somebody?.

(Contributed by C.D. Verma, Faridabad)