The Middle Kingdom Wallas

Mr Ispahani saheb,

{{jesoos jesus and saud..

Prophet MA (pbuh) was raised by Nanny named Sauda. Sauda=Sauds=soldout
is jesoos jesus christ antichrist resulting in big talk by swindling
technologists` osama 9/11 hunggaMA with $12 bn indus kalabagh swindling chinese
map sophiscation iraq invasion wana invasion sophistication.}}

Your posts remind me of what Eddie Murphy said about the redoubtable James Brown...

``The only person in the world that understands what Jim is saying... is Jim himself!..
And whatever he is saying...is..like ...,real heavy sh*t to Jim``

Evidently, you have a lot of things to say on most international events. Now if I coud have ANYBODY on Chowk explain to me at least 1% of what your posts mean....I`ll die a happy man!:)

rsridhar #66,

To add to what to wrote in your post addressed to Urstruly, as I was browsing through a particular research journal, I noticed that Department of Chemistry, Delhi University has a put an advertisement for a Post Doc. position for research in inorganic nanowires, add to that Prof. C.N.R. Rao has more than 1200 research papers. Just sometime back I saw a paper by some guys from TIFR in Applied Physics Letters.

rshridhar,

You are right that India is more optimistic about its future today, than it was 25 yrs ago, when I came to the US.

My visit to India last yr, after a spate of 10 yrs, was an eye opener for me. The standard of living has immensely improved for middle classes, that is expanding in numbers by leaps & bounds. Even the bhajiwallah, fruitwallah, danawallah who come who used to come to our door, now have cell phones (some more enterprising ones even have fax machines). Sure has hell increased their productivity & disposable incomes.

But as compared to China, India has done poorly. Romair is right in that money goes where it feels most secure. Lets face it, the Chinese have whipped our butts in the development parameters, & in defence. The question we Indians should ask ourself is whether it is worth matching China in defence capacity? I think its foolish & megalomaniacal. We should compete & cooperate with them in trade. To, that end, India is going in the right direction in mending fences with China. I think spending those billions of dollars to refurbish a Soviet aircraft career is a total waste,. We better compete with China by building better infrastructure..think how many airports or power plants those billions could buy.

India`s main external threats are the ``jihadi`` type attacks, or other ``sneak`` attacks like Kargil, from Pakistan..

Urstruly mian,
to India being a regional power( not super-power) means, she cant be arm-twisted, like Pakistan is. Even you admit that Mushy and his na-pak military are Bush`s poodles...being forced to do what Uncle Sam wants NOT what the people of Pakistan want.

I think our educated /literate population is perhaps larger than the entire population of Pakistan. What is also significant is that women of the upper & middle classes work & greatly add to the workforce. Fortune 500 companies are coming to India by the droves to set up research centers. Are you keeing up with international newspapers or are you only reading the Urdu press?!

Vivek,Romair and others interested:

The confidence of a nation and its people is built on the economic backbone. Indians are slowly gaining that confidence. I see a more united India working hard for its destiny than anytime in the previous 58 years. The institutions are stonger today. People see the potential. They are not going to give it up now. India has already exorcised the effects of British Colonization. The newer generation have no idea of the power of the mighty west. All they know is what they are capable of. It is much like the pioneering spirit of the US in the 19th century. They ofcourse still think US is big but that maybe for only the next decade or so.

The very idea of being a Superpower is alien to the Hindu ethos. We believe in spreading knowledge, goodwill and ideas to every corner of the Earth. And the whole world is witness to the power of Indian ideas. The whole of ASIA has Indian imprint,be it Japan or Indonesia or Thailand or Middle East. Even today the entire Africa, middle East etc love to see Indian movies more than Hollywood movies. There is a deeper connection that they make with things INDIAN than they can ever make with the sound bytes of the Hollywood. That is India`s magic. China for all its civilizational achievement is no match for India`s cultural magic.

Today, in the nooks and corners of the US, people take up Yoga and Meditation. And the Indian diaspora is the greatest brand ambassadors. And now the 2nd generation Indians who STILL REMAIN HINDUS will start influencing the rest of America in every single sphere. I wont be surprised if the US is mellowed by Indian influence by the end of the century especially since there will be increased demand for Indians to fill up the jobs left by the retirement of baby boomers.

But yes, we have challenges which can be managed better by a visionary leader. There maybe some damages done to the Indian fabric by bad specimens like Laloo and other short sighted politicians. But I would say none of them can singlehandedly do much damage. Thanks to democracy, never can one man make a big, balance altering damage. That is the surer ground Nazar Khan is talking about. But the case with China is not so. Another MAO can setback China by a few decades. You cant bet all dictators will be for the good. And it still doesn`t make any difference even if the dictator presumed good things but resulted in catastrophe.

India and China will be healthy competitors, like they were in the past,before Communism. The competition might at sometimes be even fierce. BUT, here is the basic commonality, Chinese or Indians both dont have religion INFRINGING upon each other, like the way the west under Christianity and or Islam does. Chinese are just as religious as the next Indian, just that their view of religion is the philosophical ethos of confucious and their HAN culture and beliefs. THAT IS RELIGION. SEMITIC religions see religion from their prizm of having a set of dogmas, set in stone written with the intervention of God ,either sending prophets to Earth or his Son. Such dogmas will increasingly loose its pull in the information age where everybody can question everything. And when ISlam and Christianity cant give logical answers, their standing will diminish.

Romair,
Capital is built by innovative minds. India today is on the right path with many innovative minds. US,if it cant produce innovation by its own ,meaning white peeople, will start losing its edge in innovation. So even there, What is US loss is Indian gain. Increasingly many Indian innovators are either going back to India or not even coming to the US in the first place. So do not underestimate India or China. There is something about people with direct continutity and link to their civilizational past. They carry it in their gene and the stories of their past. That gives an enormous motivation that others can not only understand but also never match. So Welcome to Asian century and Indian ideas making its mark again,all over the world.

rsridhar, Dost-Mittar

Buddhism is too perfect a religion to survive in a world that gives every bigotry the name of religion. Over the next 150 years Buddhism will be wiped out in China and Japan. The only, even though imperfect, escape route for Chinese and Japanese Buddhists is to partly absorb some elements of Hinduism, Sikhism, and Jainism.

They have given no indication of moving in that direction yet. But they may. Stranger things have come to pass before.

It seems the subject is suddenly riding the coat-tails of China and trying , as usual, to look good by smearing Pakistan. Doesn`t work this way Hindians, never has; never will--We`re muslims!

What else can one expect from those who do Laxmi-pooja, still worship at the altar of Mammon & Baal and do sheesh-aasan at the Oracle of Delhi (sic).

As long as Astrology is valued as a science and PHds in this arcane & hi-IIT is awarded by all Indian universities , as is done now, the present & the future of the world is as glorious--as it has been in the past.

Predictions are very hazardous: They often backfire exactly at the time when one is sund asleep after a good meal of polyana:

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Churchill`s prediction

``India is merely a geographical expression.
It is no more a single country than the Equator``

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Political experts all across the world have predicted the impending collapse of India; for instance Jack Wheeler of the Freedom Research Foundation wrote that

`` [W]ithin 10 years, India will cease to exist as we know [it].``
--The Washington Times`, Oct.7, 1999, Letter by Dr. G. S. Aulakh.

Stanley Wolpert, a professor at the University of California in Los Angeles who wrote a biography on the late Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, predicted on CNN that

``India .. will soon break up``

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The Washington Times`, Oct.7, 1999, Letter by Dr. G. S. Aulakh.

American Congressman Edolphus Towns recently stated in the U.S. Congress that

`` India has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984 in its quest for `Hindutva.` It has also killed tens of thousands of Christians in Nagaland, Muslims in Kashmir, Dalits, and other peoples in this pursuit. Sooner or later, India is doomed to break up. I only hope that it does so peacefully. We must not allow another Yugoslavia to emerge in South Asia, where nuclear weapons are present.``

Edolphus Towns in the U.S. Congress, Tue., July 20, 1999; `Congressional Record`, 106th Congress, p. E1600.

re:#45 by Romair
Romair is back to his old ways. When u do not have logic or objectivity and are prejudiced, then u do not see reason.
Romair starts with his prejudice of India and builds on it. I will take time to respond to his nonsense with facts. He has not presented any facts to refute NHK`s claim that India could be a superpower in the future.
What is a superpower? Let us define that first.
I think a superpower not only responds to its own internal needs but influences events globally.
India today is far from being in that category. Even China is not a superpower. No country except USA is.
Can India become a superpower?
I will discuss this in greater detail in my next post.
re: dostmittar`s post addressed to me
You are right.
Buddhism became an intellectual exercise among the upper castes in India. Sometimes Buddhists won, other times Vedantists won. Scales got tilted in favor of Hinduism after islamic onslaught in the North and intellectual onslaght by AdiSankara from South!
Brahmins and Kshatriyas ate meat regularly during the Vedic times. One researcher from Delhi caused consternation by claiming that Cow was regularly killed and eaten by brahmins in the vedic era! Vegetarianism in South and Gujarat seems to be due to Jain influence. Buddhist nations today are predominantly meat eaters.
Sridhar

re:#62 by Urstruly
Economists in the 60s used to write off India as a basket case. India imported food grain from outside. They must all be running for cover today.
India not only produces enough for itself but has been exporting food grain.
During this Tsunami, India showed it can sustain itself.
No doubt, India needs to do a great deal more but then it is on the right path. India is generating growth through its knowledge based industries (outsourcing almost everything; recently, i heard even the school tutions from USA, lawyer`s accounts are being outsourced!). This will generate prosperity in the years to come.
IT, ITES are a big thing in India. India is also making a name in Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals.
There is tremendous potential but it is too soon to say that India could be a superpower. The bigger question is: does one have to be a superpower? If India can take its masses out of poverty in the next 50 years, that will in itself be a great leap for humanity.
Sridhar

re: #62 by Urstruly
``The infrastructure for research is non-existent; investment in research and development of technology is archaic and belongs to the level of 19th century``
Are u talking about Pakistan?
A lot of research happen in some premier institutions in India. Perhaps u do not notice because u, like Romair, have blinkers on. You need to step out of your Jehadi shoes, smell coffee (instead of whatever it is that u smell regularly peddled near the Afghan border) and think for a change.
China is leapfrogging in research. I recently attended a conference in my area of specialization. There were a number of international attendees but the only international paper from Asia was by China!
China and India are civilzational countries and will regain their lost prestige in years to come. Perhaps nature (or call it God) weeded out the worst elements from India in 1947 (when Pak was formed) so India can progress. I can see why this was good for India today.
Sridhar

Sometimes, when I read about China and India, as the emerging superpowers, I wonder what either of the counties has to offer to the rest of the world. Neither of them have any ideology nor any values, and not even principles that can address the contemporary problems in the world. Being a good shopkeeper is not equivalent to being a leader and a guide. So what, if they start selling and buying most of the stuff produced in the world – then what?

China has a political system that is probably working very well for now for them but it is not an exemplary system that the rest of the world is looking at with awe; and same thing goes for their economic system. Similarly, in India, they have a political system that they borrowed from West, and that is the best they could do. The inherent weaknesses that come with a capitalist system in a country, which doesn’t have capital, are apparent. The system may not collapse in the short term, but this is just the beginning. As people, Indians act like the mirasi whose eldest son have just returned from Dubai. The fact of the matter is that they do not have defence or manufacturing related capital industry that forms the backbone of superpower infrastructure – even the medium-tech equipment in this category is bought from outside. The infrastructure for research is non-existent; investment in research and development of technology is archaic and belongs to the level of 19th century; all they have is consumer industry, which is meant to meet the demands of the consumer and not for interplanetary domination. Let’s be honest here, that India and China both are low to medium tech labour pools- no more no less. Could someone please explain to me how with all these basic shortcomings they are going to dominate or for that matter lead the world? ….. what are they gonna do for political leverage? … stop sewing shoes for the rest of the world?…or they will threaten to make only one legged pants?

The truth of the matter is that world is clamouring out for political and economic equity. It already has one too many superpowers. It doesn’t need more – thank you very much. Lets all please get out of 19th century, which ended a hundred years ago. Now this world has shrunken to the size of a village and at the same time capitalists are becoming more vicious and more aggressive in response – because that is the only option they are left with. What happened in the aftermath of Tsunami is an eye opener; Capitalists were forced to open the coffers, which they did grudgingly; all to avert a global sedition, which now seems so inevitable.

Thought provoking article and debate.

Some of my thoughts. The new world order that is emerging, ironically religionalist and fundamentalist will be responsible to make religion less important through war of words and weapons; moderates in all societies will gain more space and power; to ensure economic health - nation-states will weaken and emergence of continental size economies will create multi-polar society.

Recent CIA report is a clear pointer to the future where emerging power of India and China is mentioned for debate and understanding, while reducing influence of the U.S. power is also in the forecast.

Another important impact of this world reorder driven by economic priorities will be the recognition of world assets - Oil, Internet Infrastructure, Monetary System, etc. belonging to the world and not to a single nation-state. For the Arab and Islamic world it will mean lesser control over the oil. And good news for skill-surplus regions of the world, means more economic prosperity.

Iraq war, will prove that economic might is more important than the military might. The world best economy will solve the problem in Iraq, rather than the world`s best miltary might. In fact the world`s best economies will solve the problem in Iraq that the world`s most powerful miltary might would leave there.

For Pakistan, choices will be to become the eastern frontier of declining Arab world, or the western frontier of emerging Asian economic powers. With Turkey aligning itself with EU, the Islam as a power block will wither, therefore, the claim of Pakistan being the Islamic superpower is more Quixotic than reality.

In modern day trade, access to warm water ports is not important as air links and Internet links. This means modern technology, modern skills, modern manufacturing and capital are more important (currently neither Pakistan nor Islam has any of of these) than nuclear weapons or conventional army. Pakistan`s visionary leaders do recognize this, from my discussions with the few whom I know quite well.

For some Pakistanis obssessed with satistics and facts, and buried in this jungle, I only want to remind that vision happens first to create statistics and facts. Please give up obsession with facts and statistics, besides these can be interpreted in more than one way. Please remember Pakistani dilemma is not Kashmir, Kashmir is the obsession of its ruling Punjabis.

For them there is a message coming form even the China and Chinese who have learnt to co-exist with Taiwan and Taiwanese. Pakistan and Pakistanis and India and Indians will learn to coexist too. Despite Kashmir.

Like Chinese, and Taiwanese periodically call for the destruction of Taiwan to the independence of Taiwan, I believe, there will be a time for Indians and Paksitanis to call each other names in the name of Kashmir. As longs as the match is reduced to name calling the world around, will accept.

I also want to remind Romair, the stastitics and facts obssessed person, that nations have interests and people have friends. Therefore, India and Pakistan do not have to become friends to do business. I am confident that India and Pakistan will have interests while Indians and Pakistanis will have friends. When India and Paksitan have more common interest, Kashmir will look very different, once the muslim colored glasses are removed, as the fundamentalist religionalists fight and reduce the importance religion and people accept and retire it to their personal space.

India and China have naturally lived and co-existed for centuries. Panchsheel principles of peaceful co-existance were not invented by Nehru and Chau En Lai. They indeed were the basis of spreading buddha`s message to Asia. Please note that chop-stick culture suddenly stops at eastern gates of India. This has peacefully co-existed for most of the 5,000 years except for 50 years. Indochina has been, and so is Nepal, a peaceful buffer between two Asian powers. They had paddled their influence and will continue to do so.

Interestingly, there are very few good written words about Indian civilization by the Arab visitors, but the Chinese visitors wrote eloquently about Indian civilization, thoughts and technologies moved freely between these two Asian giants.

Anil Kapuria

resources:
3D-model of Zheng He`s Ship, by: PBS.org
As this striking animation shows, the ships of Zheng He would have dwarfed European vessels of the time. COPYRIGHT: PBS.org
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sultan/explorers.html

References:
In the Wake of the Admiral by: Time Magazine
Six centuries after Admiral Zheng He set sail, Adi Ignatius finds a China still struggling with its place in the world.
http://www.time.com/time/asia/features/journey2001/intro.html

When China Ruled the Seas by: Louise Levathes
China`s Naval History. Oxford University Press, 1994.

Archaeology and the Social History of Ships by: Richard A. Gould
Chinese``Junks``. Cambridge University Press, 2000.

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Zheng He, the Chinese Muslim Admiral

Little did the famous Muslim geographer, Ibn Battuta know, that about 22 years after his historic visit to China, the Mongol Dynasty (called the Yuan Dynasty in China) would be overthrown. The Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) would begin. A Muslim boy would help a Chinese prince. That prince would become emperor and the boy would grow up to be the ``Admiral of the Chinese Fleet.``

His name... Zheng He. The ships that he would sail throughout the Indian Ocean would retrace some of the same routes taken by Ibn Battuta, but he would be in huge boats called ``junks``. He would go to East Africa, Makkah, Persian Gulf, and throughout the Indian Ocean.

Speak of the world`s first navigators and the names Christopher Columbus or Vasco da Gama flash through a Western mind. Little known are the remarkable feats that a Chinese Muslim Zheng He (1371-1433) had accomplished decades before the two European adventurers.

The Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation (info@fstc.co.uk) retraces the route of China’s 15th century admiral, Zheng He, who ranks as perhaps the country’s foremost adventurer. A Muslim and a warrior, Zheng He helped transform China into the region’s, and perhaps the world’s, superpower of his time.

In 1405, Zheng was chosen to lead the biggest naval expedition in history up to that time. Over the next 28 years (1405-1433), he commanded seven fleets that visited 37 countries, through Southeast Asia to faraway Africa and Arabia. In those years, China had by far the biggest ships of the time. In 1420 the Ming navy dwarfed the combined navies of Europe.

Ma He, as he was originally known, was born in 1371 to a poor ethnic Hui (Chinese Muslims) family inYunnan Province, Southwest China. The boy`s grandfather and father once made an overland pilgrimage to Makkah. Their travels contributed much to young Ma`s education. He grew up speaking Arabic and Chinese, leaming much about the world to the west and its geography and customs.

Recruited as a promising servant for the Imperial household at the age of ten, Ma was assigned two years later to the retinue of the then Duke Yan, who would later usurp the throne as the emperor Yong Le. Ma accompanied the Duke on a series of successful military campaigns and played a crucial role in the capture of Nanjing, then the capital. Ma was thus awarded the supreme command of the Imperial Household Agency and was given the surname Zheng.

Emperor Yong Le tried to boost his damaged prestige as a usurper by a display of China`s might abroad, sending spectacular fleets on great voyages and by bringing foreign ambassadors to his court. He also put foreign trade under a strict Imperial monopoly by taking control from overseas Chinese merchants. Command of the fleet was given to his favorite Zheng He, an impressive figure said to be over eight feet tall.

A great fleet of big ships, with nine masts and manned by 500 men, each set sail in July 1405, half a century before Columbus`s voyage to America. There were great treasure ships over 300-feet long and 150-feet wide, the biggest being 440-feet long and 186-across, capable of carrying 1,000 passengers. Most of the ships were built at the Dragon Bay shipyard near Nanjing, the remains of which can still be seen today.

Zheng He`s first fleet included 27,870 men on 317 ships, including sailors, clerks, interpreters, soldiers, artisans, medical men and meteorologists. On board were large quantities of cargo including silk goods, porcelain, gold and silverware, copper utensils, iron implements and cotton goods. The fleet sailed along China`s coast to Champa close to Vietnam and, after crossing the South China Sea, visited Java, Sumatra and reached Sri Lanka by passing through the Strait of Malacca. On the way back it sailed along the west coast of India and returned home in 1407. Envoys from Calicut in India and several countries in Asia and the Middle East also boarded the ships to pay visits to China. Zheng He`s second and third voyages taken shortly after, followed roughly the same route.

In the fall of 1413, Zheng He set out with 30,000 men to Arabia on his fourth and most ambitious voyage. From Hormuz he coasted around the Arabian boot to Aden at the mouth of the Red Sea. The arrival of the fleet caused a sensation in the region, and 19 countries sent ambassadors to board Zheng He`s ships with gifts for Emperor Yong Le.

In 1417, after two years in Nanjing and touring other cities, the foreign envoys were escorted home by Zheng He. On this trip, he sailed down the east coast of Africa, stopping at Mogadishu, Matindi, Mombassa and Zanzibar and may have reached Mozambique. The sixth voyage in 1421 also went to the African coast.

Emperor Yong Le died in 1424 shortly after Zheng He`s return. Yet, in 1430 the admiral was sent on a final seventh voyage. Now 60 years old, Zheng He revisited the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and Africa and died on his way back in 1433 in India.

Zheng He`s flag ``treasure ship`` was four hundred feet long - much larger than Columbus`s. In this drawing, the two flagships are superimposed to give a clear idea of the relative size of these two ships. Columbus`s ship St. Maria was only 85 feet long whilst Zheng He`s flag ship was an astonishing 400 feet.

Imagine six centuries ago, a mighty armada of Zheng He`s ships crossing the China Sea, then venturing west to Ceylon, Arabia, and East Africa. The fleet consisting of giant nine-masted junks, escorted by dozens of supply ships, water tankers, transports for cavalry horses, and patrol boats. The armada`s crew totaling more than 27,000 sailors and soldiers.

Loaded with Chinese silk and porcelain, the junks visited ports around the Indian Ocean. Here, Arab and African merchants exchanged the spices, ivory, medicines, rare woods, and pearls so eagerly sought by the Chinese imperial court.

Seven times, from 1405 to 1433, the treasure fleets set off for the unknown. These seven great expeditions brought a vast web of trading links -- from Taiwan to the Persian Gulf -- under Zheng He`s imperial control. This took place half a century before the first Europeans, rounding the tip of Africa in frail Portuguese caravels, `discovered` the Indian Ocean.

Zheng He (1371-1433), or Cheng Ho, is arguably China`s most famous navigator. Starting from the beginning of the 15th Century, he traveled to the West seven times. For 28 years, he traveled more than 50,000 km and visited over 37 countries. Zheng He died in the tenth year of the reign of the Ming emperor Xuande (1433) and was buried in the southern outskirts of Bull`s Head Hill (Niushou) in Nanjing.

In 1983, during the 580th anniversary of Zheng He`s voyage, his tomb was restored. The new tomb was built on the site of the original tomb and reconstructed according to the customs of Islamic teachings.

At the entrance to the tomb is a Ming-style structure, which houses the memorial hall. Inside are paintings of the man himself and his navigation maps. To get to the tomb, there are newly laid stone platforms and steps. The stairway consists of 28 stone steps divided into four sections with each section having seven steps. This represents Zheng He`s seven journeys to the West. Inscribed on top of the tomb are the Arabic words ``Allahu Akbar (God is Great)``.

Related Articles:

A review of Muslim Geography by: FSTC Limited
Muslim geography opened up a vast knowledge of the world. Islam urged people to open their minds and horizons, and know about the wonders of God’s creation and thus Muslim geographers ventured across the known and unknown world.

Mapping the World by: Datuk Dr. Syed Othman Al-Habshi

Dr.Alhabshi discusses some of the great contributions to geography by early Muslims who were driven by an intense interest not only to gain knowledge but also to serve others rather than greed or fame - a genuine Islamic outlook.

Piri Reis maps America by: FSTC Limited

In 1513 Piri Reis presented his famous map of the New World to the Sultan, giving the Ottomans, well before many European rulers, an accurate description of the American discoveries as well as details about the circumnavigation of Africa.

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dost-mittar 30 I get your point. That incident in itself does not mean that poor are in a worse posiiton. But how exactly do we know about that? I dont think macro economic indicators are proof enough. The perspective that it is not just a simple ``wart`` but something which involved about a million people who got HIV through the callousness of officials and not a single bureaucratic head has rolled, is very terrifying.Some official tried to get rich quick by an unregulated business of blood selling, and destroyed innumerable lives. But he still is unharmed. No trials,no nothing. Peasants are being beaten up for protesting against lack of healthcare.Whistleblowers are being detained.I wonder how many of such ``warts`` are still waiting to be uncovered?

dost-mittar #50: ``By laissez faire, I did not mean that the hindus are not religious, but that they are not particular about how anyone practices or does not practice their religion, although they are more ritualistic [so are the Chinese, btw].``

Thanks for the clarification. I don`t know much about religion, inside India. So I cannot comment, much. I just have some statistics available to me and I was surprised to find that India was ranked fourth in the world, in terms of importance of religion. One would actually have to visit India to see how that works. But seeing the Indians around me, I would have to agree with you. They all seem to have a bit different interpretation of religion. At the same time, so do the Pakistanis who belong to the upper middle class and migrate here.

I don`t know how rigid the common man in India is, regarding religion. The common Pakistani is quite rigid on religion. But that is more due to cultural and social issues. For example, nearly all the women work in the villages. They work in the upper-middle class. But they don`t work in the urban lower-middle and middle class in large numbers.........