XPost: soc.culture.indian, alt.fan.jai-maharaj, alt.religion.hindu
XPost: uk.religion.hindu, free.bharat, soc.culture.india
From:
alt.fan.jai-maharaj@googlegroups.com
In article
<
c9d719bd-bd68-4ac9-a69c-a11135399fe9@googlegroups.com>,
Arindam Banerjee <
banerjee...@gmail.com> posted:
That's AB you're talking to. Do you think mere facts are
relevant?
Facts about myself and the Iron Pillar of Mehrauli.
In the 1960s there was much overt nationalism in India, as
India had become free of direct British rule if not Western
influence. While we were taught that Aryans invaded India,
and that Alexander defeated Porus, there was nevertheless
pride in the ancient glories of India, to be renewed
shortly by our young ebullient selves. Sad now to think,
how we were so misled, and how treacherous our Gandhi-
Nehru-type politicians really were. Nothing worked out, as
a result, as hoped for; as the thrust of the Indians in
power, actually bootlickers of the West, was to put down
all talented young Indians in every possible way, to
continue the Western supremacy with the corrupt or mediocre
local bailiffs.
Still, the powers on high had to do something to show there
was something worthwhile about the Indian past, and one
such tangible example of past glory was the rust-defying
Iron Pillar of Mehrauli (Delhi). In the past, the Indians
had techniques to produce a kind of iron alloy that would
defy rust and the subsequent corrosion for thousands of
years. If the Egyptians could find glory in the pyramids,
in India we have our Iron Pillar. Heh. When the Europeans
were uncouth savages poking around with sticks, making
clicking noises, we in India lived in such grand style (as
described in the epics) that we got tired off, in due
course, and desired simpler existences.
Having heard so much of the Iron Pillar, both in the
history books and also from my friends and relatives, I was
eager to see it. My wish was granted in early 1966. It is
part of the Qutb Minar complex. In due course the Qutb
Minar will be declared a Hindu monument, but that is
another story. No one now says that the Iron Pillar is
anything but Hindu in origin, but who knows, they have
sealed off the place and can say anything! Like, as I find
among the degraded here, it is rusting and corroding! Hide
the truth, and tell lies, is the anti-Hindu strategy,
amusing.
In January 1966 I was nearly 10, so I could just hug the
pillar. My father tried to put his arms around the pillar
with his back to it, as urged by the onlookers, but his
hands did not touch. He would not rule India! He had a
bigger chance than most, for he is tall and the pillar
tapers slightly. Needless to add, the pillar had no rust on
it, and was shiny in the areas where people tried to
encircle it. As I have noted earlier, there was a dent in
the pillar, as a result of it deflecting a cannonball fired
at it by the British in their attempt to destroy it.
In colour it was dark grey in 1966 and was that way when I
last encircled it, around 1986. It wasn't too far from IIT
Delhi where I was studying for my M.Tech degree, so at
times I visited that place for it revived old memories. In
1972 I made my second visit to the Iron Pillar, and then -
wonder of wonders - I could encircle the Iron Pillar with
my arms! My hands touched on the other side! I would rule
India - what a brilliant thought! My destiny was clear.
Alas, such ebullience could not last for ever. In 1982 I
tried a repeat performance, and failed by a few
millimetres. Politics was not for me, then. My newly-
married wife was relieved. "Why bother about politics, they
will just kill you. Better do what you are trained for, be
a good engineer." And so, I, my mistress' thrall, became
just that: "Love's fire heats water; water cools not love".
I've never seen color photos of it before. Sure seems to
have a rust-colored cast to it. (Or maybe the photos were
taken near sunset.)
Or maybe they have put a red coating on it now, to make it
look like rust. Who knows. The whole modern system is
corrupt to the core. To get foreign funds and backing, they
will do anything to please the Eurocentrics.
Cheers,
Arindam Banerjee
My post from 2002 (it includes a post by one "singh",
and my post from 1993) follows:
[ Subject: Re: MYSTERY OF IRON PILLAR SOLVED
[ From:
use...@mantra.com (Dr. Jai Maharaj)
[ Date: 19 Jul 2002 15:02:55 GMT
[
[ In article <
10269947...@nntp.acecape.com>,
[ "singh" <
poo...@acedsl.com> posted:
Mystery of Delhi's Iron Pillar unraveled
Press Trust of India
New Delhi, July 18: Experts at the Indian Instituteof
Technology have resolved the mystery behind the 1,600-year-
old iron pillar in Delhi, which has never corroded despite
the capital's harsh weather.
Metallurgists at Kanpur IIT have discovered that a thin
layer of "misawite", a compound of iron, oxygen and
hydrogen, has protected the cast iron pillar from rust.
The protective film took form within three years after
erection of the pillar and has been growing ever so slowly
since then. After 1,600 years, the film has grown just one-
twentieth of a millimeter thick, according to R.
Balasubramaniam of the IIT.
In a report published in the journal Current Science
Balasubramanian says, the protective film was formed
catalytically by the presence of high amounts of
phosphorous in the iron-as much as one per cent against
less than 0.05 per cent in today's iron.
The high phosphorous content is a result of the unique
iron-making process practiced by ancient Indians, who
reduced iron ore into steel in one step by mixing it with
charcoal.
Modern blast furnaces, on the other hand, use limestone in
place of charcoal yielding molten slag and pig iron that is
later converted into steel. In the modern process most
phosphorous is carried away by the slag.
The pillar-over seven metres high and weighing more than
six tonnes-was erected by Kumara Gupta of Gupta dynasty
that ruled northern India in AD 320-540.
Stating that the pillar is "a living testimony to the skill
of metallurgists of ancient India", Balasubramaniam said
the "kinetic scheme" that his group developed for
predicting growth of the protective film may be useful for
modeling long-term corrosion behaviour of containers for
nuclear storage applications.
[
[ I posted the following in 1993:
[
[ Subject: Origins of Metallurgy in India
[ From: Jai Maharaj
[ Newsgroups: sci.materials
[ Date: 26 May 1993
[
[ Abstract of Source
[
[ NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
[ Volume 167, Number 4, April 1985
[ page 527
[ India's heritage of solving problems is often
[ overshadowed by centuries of colonialism and conquest.
[ Outside Delhi I visited one of the oldest monuments to
[ that history . . . pillar of iron alloy, smelted by
[ Indian metallurgists with such skill that it has remained
[ rustless for 1,500 years. (Photograph on page 533.)
[ These superb technicians were brethren of
[ Indian thinkers who originated the concepts of zero and
[ infinity and devised the inaccurately named Arabic
[ numeral system, giving the science of mathematics to a
[ world drenched in superstitious ignorance.
[ - Bryan Hodgson
[
[ Jai Maharaj
[ Om Shanti
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
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