an old timer's nostalgia.

The Allahabad of mid 1950s

Britishers came to India as traders but eventually became the rulers of India. They gradually moved North West from Bengal  and gradually captured power in whole of  India. 

what is now Uttar Pradesh was known as United provinces and its  capital at  first was Allahabad where the Britishers planned an entirely modern extension of Allahabad City with a   University,v several grand administrative buildings and markets. The market for the Britishers in Allahabad was called civil lines market.

In  1950s civil lines market used to be a very posh very clean,  single storied, uncrowded  and open market place. There were two cinema hall also and one of the was plaza and the other was called palace .

PALACE cinema at civil lines had a high status. It mostly screened Hollywood movies. 

In those days Balcony and first class in cinema halls cost rupees 2.25 and rupees 1.25 respectively and there was a student concession also. 

Several eating places were there in civil lines. There was a coffee House. Close by that was the high status Guzdhars restaurant. There was also a low budget but high quality famous Indian restaurant by the name of Lucky sweet mart . LUCKY SWEET MART was a low budget popular  tea and snacks restaurant in civil lines.. 

 KOHLI PHOTO shop was a high status photography shop . There was another photography shop a little distance from the market by the name of GLAMOUR  studio.

Jukebox was a craze at the BN Rama'sv big department store which used to charge 25 paise for one song. 

MASTONS was an elite tailoring shop next to Kohli photo . At rupees thirtyfive for stitching a woolen coat they were known to have one of the  highest rates in Northern India.  

Rickshaw hiring charges from civil lines to Muir hostel was just 25 paise. BULAKI 's hair cutting salon adjacent to Palace cinema was patronised by affluent University students. 

The clock tower above the senate hall of the university had a clock identical to the big Ben of London and  its gongs were  powerful and  similar to the big Ben of London.

. JAGATI was a very old restaurent  of University Road.

There were no transister radios in India until late 1950s . There always used to be a huge radio set in the common hall of the hostels and students used to gather there in big number to listen tova cricket commentary and BINACA GEET MALA. Vizzy and Pearson sureta were the most well known cricket commentators. And for binaca Geet mala we had the famous Amin Sayani, a man with a golden voice.

As I look back, it was at all together different time as compared to today with the very laid back life 

of astrologers and people in trouble

All over the world astrology is a popular subject . Lot of people read their Sunsigns forecasts in newspapers everyday. Books are sold based on sun signs. lot of astrologers are seen sitting in  footpaths at tourist popular spots advising people on the past and future. 

what is the truth about astrology ? 

well, astrology is an  ancient science  dealing with the past and future of  person according to the precise position of planets at the time of birth at particular location. A chart is drawn and then according to the principles of astrology the astrologer uses his knowledge to tell us about our past and future and also tell remedies.

There are fraudulent people in every walk of life and astrology is no exception.

There are things that are beyond the understanding of science.

Science is always in a denial mode for anything that cannot be translated into a formula.

The ancient Hindus believed that human body has an electromagnetic field but science kept denying it and mocking it until 1954 . You must realise that science is at a primitive stage in the scheme of things of the universe. Science is not in a position to explain why certain things happen.

It is common knowledge in India that's a good tantrik can read your thoughts. How do scientists explain this ? 

The test to which these tantriks are put under controlled condition is not conducive to the working of psychic power.

Go to any well known AGASTYA  NADI reader and you will be surprised to see how he can tell things about your past with amazing ease and correctness.

According to my experience astrology is a complicated but authentic science but most people who call themselves astrologer have limited knowledge about  the subject. It has  become a good means of income for the so called astrologers. but astrology is a very efficient and authentic scientific instrument to know about a person's past and future

The problem with the world is that it has  a closed mind to things that it cannot understand. All along the history of the world many people suffered on account of this - such as Nicolaus Copernicus.

It is generally accepted that since the future is in a  fluid state these thought readers cannot have a proper grip over the events that have not happened. That's why their reading for the future is open to error. 

The bottom line is that you already know your past so these thought readers are not of much use to you unless you are curious to test their power to read your past. And at the hands of a good astrologer, astrology is a useful instrument to be guided about the future.

बच्चों के पढ़ाई के विषय

शिक्षा नीति क्या  होनी चाहिए

हमारी शिक्षा नीति ऐसी होनी चाहिए की बारहवां दर्जा पास करके हम इस लायक हो जाए की अपने पैरों पर खड़े हो सके और अगर हमें नौकरी ना मिले तो हम जीवन निर्वाह के लिए अपने आप कुछ काम कर सके।

जब मैं स्कूल में पढ़ता था तो एक विषय था हिस्ट्री। अब बालक या बालिका के लिए है यह क्या जरूरी है कि वह याद रखें कि  क्या मोहम्मद तुगलक पागल था।।

 यह भी आवश्यक नहीं है कि उसे पता होना चाहिए की मुगल साम्राज्य के पतन के क्या कारण थे। इसी तरह दुनिया का इतिहास पढ़ाने  पर भी सवाल उठता है। क्या हमारे लिये बचपन में यह  जानना जरूरी कि फ्रांस और रूस के युद्ध में क्या हुआ था और नैपोलियन ने अपने  युद्ध में क्या गलतियां की थी जिससे वह हार गया।

पर यह सब हमें पढ़ाया जाता है और इम्तिहान पास करने के लिए जरूरी है कि हमें पता होना चाहिए की  तुगलक पागल था या नहीं।

 इससे बड़ी बकवास क्या हो सकती है। 

हमें यहां नहीं पढ़ाया जाता कि हमें किस तरह स्वस्थ रहना है या बाजार में बिकने वाली चीजों में क्या चीजें हैं स्वास्थ्य के लिए हानिकारक और कौन से खाद्य पदार्थ नहीं खाने चाहिए।  यानी कि जीवन निर्वाह के लिए जो  याद होना चाहिए स्वास्थ्य संबंधी उसके बारे में एक भी शब्द नहीं पढ़ा जाता। 

अब एक दूसरा विषय ले लीजिए । वह लिटरेचर है ।चाहे वह अंग्रेजी लिटरेचर हो चाहे वह हिंदी लिटरेचर हो ।

अब इसका एक बच्चे के भविष्य से क्या ताल्लुक है ? क्या निराला की कविताओं कोई बच्चों के लिए समझना जरूरी है ? या क्या यह जरूरी समझता है कि शेली या कीट्स ने अपनी कविताओं में क्या लिखा था और क्यों लिखा । यह तो पूरा पागलपन है और एक बच्चे के साथ अन्याय है।

अब भूगोल को भी एक पूरे विषय के रूप में सेकेंडरी एजुकेशन में नहीं पड़ना चाहिए क्योंकि ऑस्ट्रेलिया की जलवायु क्या है या विश्व में कहां-कहां तेल के कुएं हैं यह जानना है एक बच्चे के लिए जरूरी नहीं है। 

इस तरह के और भी विषय है जैसे मनोविज्ञान। पैवलौव ने अपने कुत्ते के ऊपर क्या एक्सपेरिमेंट किया था 

और उसका क्या मतलब निकलता था इसका एक बच्चे से क्या लेना देना है ? मनोविज्ञान विषय भी हायर एजुकेशन का ही सब्जेक्ट होना चाहिए।

शिक्षा नीति जो अंग्रेजों की बनाई हुई है (और उस समय यह बहुत काम की थी) को सिर्फ ग्रेजुएशन लेवल पर ही पढ़ाया चाहिए जिन लोगों को इसमें दिलचस्पी हो और इस विषय में आगे अपना कैरियर बनाना चाहते हैं।

प्रजातंत्र का सबसे बड़ा हिस्सा होता है देश का और प्रदेश का चुनाव और जिस तरह से वातावरण बनता जा रहा है ज्यादातर नेता अपने चुनाव के बारे में ही सोचते रहते हैं कि किस तरह पब्लिक को लगाकर वोट लिया जाए और उनके पास कम समय होता है देश की समस्याओं को सुलझाने का खासकर देश की शिक्षा नीति को जो बहुत जरूरी है ।

देखना यह है कि इस तरह के सुधार कब आते हैं जिस देश का कल्याण हो।