Here I am minding my own business. And then I read an article in Rediff..
I am not sure how many of you have heard of Abu Salem. For the benefit of those who have not, here is what Wikipedia says about it. I figure my version of this is not appropriate for publishing. Here goes:
Abu Salem (born 1968) is an underworld don originally from Azamgarh district in Uttar Pradesh, India. He has been accused in the 1993 Bombay serial blasts case and killing of India's music baron Gulshan Kumar 1997. He, at one time was a close associate of Dawood Ibrahim and later fell off when he seemed too-big-for-his-boots. Before becoming a professional criminal, he worked as a driver and a hawker. He is also wanted in India for murder and extortion cases.
On September 20, 2002, he and his companion Monica Bedi were arrested by Interpol in Lisbon, Portugal. His satellite phone was tracked using GPS techology. He has been accused in the 1993 bomb blasts as well as killing of Bollywood producer Gulshan Kumar, Indian actress Manisha Koirala's secretary, a builder and more than 50 other cases.
In February 2004, a Portugal court cleared his extradition to India to face trial in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case. In November 2005, Portuguese authorities handed him over along with Monica Bedi to Indian authorities on the assurance that death penalty would not be meted on him or his partner Monica Bedi.
Abu Salem was born in a lower middle class family. Abu's father was an advocate by profession. Abu could not complete his education after his father died in a road accident. Initially Abu started a small mechanic shop in his home town to support his family. But soon after he moved to Delhi, the capital city of India. In Delhi he worked as a taxi driver. After some time Abu shifted base to Bombay, the financial capital of India. In Bombay he worked again as a driver. It was in Bombay that he met Dawood, the underworld don, and joined his mafia.
In March 2006, a special TADA court framed charges against him and his alleged associate Riaz Siddiqui for his role in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. Eight charges were filed against him. He is accused of ferrying and distributing weapons.
Interesting so far.. These are the charges that have been filed against him..
Salem was charged with offences under Terrorist And Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, Explosives Substances Act, Explosives Act, Indian Penal Code and Arms Act, while Siddiqui (his accomplice) was charged with offences under TADA (P) Act and the IPC.
Salem is charged with distributing arms and ammunition to co-accused, including film star Sanjay Dutt, and also with participating in the conspiracy leading to serial blasts in 1993 in Mumbai, in which 256 people were killed and 713 were injured.
Siddiqui is charged with particpating in the conspiracy hatched by absconding accused Dawood Ibrahim and his brother Anees Ibrahim to execute the blasts in Mumbai. Besides, Siddiqui is also facing charges of providing vehicles to Abu Salem in which arms and ammunition were brought from Bharuch in Gujarat to Mumbai in the second week of Januar 1993.
Charges framed against Salem include section 3 (3) of TADA (P) Act (collecting and distributing arms and ammunition to co-accused), section 5 of TADA (P) Act (possessing firearms and weapons), section 6 of TADA (P) Act (transporting and storing firearms and weapons).
Salem is also charged with offences under section 4 (b) of Explosives Substance Act 1908 (possessing explosives), and section 5 of Explosives Substances Act 1908 (transporting explosives).
In addition to TADA (P) Act and Explosives Substances Act, Salem is also charged with offences under section 25, 3 and 7 of Arms Act 1959 (for possessing and carrying firearms and explosives). Besides, he is charged with offences under section 5 of Explosives Act 1884 (for possessing explosives).
Very Interesting.. now here comes the icing..
Abu Salem to contest UP Assembly elections
Extradited gangster Abu Salem, who is cooling his heels in the central prison in Mumbai, has decided to contest the upcoming UP Assembly elections from the Mubarakpur constituency as an Independent, his lawyer Ashok Sarogi said on Sunday.
Nearly 20,000 posters and banners of the Gandhi topi and kurta clad don have been put up across the Western UP constituency wishing the people for Id and Diwali as part of a "goodwill-cum-sympathy" campaign for the gangster, Sarogi told PTI in Mumbai.
He claimed that the local unit of the Shiv Sena has already announced support for Salem. He said talks were on with some other political parties for support, but he did not name them.
"Star value is very important in Uttar Pradesh. Bollywood actors and starlets will also be campaigning for Salem though it is premature to reveal their names now. But all of them will be present-day stars and not from yesteryears," Sarogi claimed.
Salem's family members will be managing the campaign for the don, who is currently in high-security Arthur Jail in Mumbai.
Salem was extradited from Portugal in November 2005 and booked in eight cases, including the 1993 bomb blasts and the murders of builder Pradeep Jain and Ajit Dewani, former secretary of actress Manisha Koirala.
Now where else other than in India is this even conceivable? Oh wait.. there is precedence. The Bandit Queen.. So I guess that just supports my point. I am about ready to put my blindfolds on, light a cigar and stand on the rail tracks. Surely, that will be a better future than where we are clearly heading in India.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Ah.. my kingdom.. my kingdom for some sanity
After a near 6 month hiatus, I am back, or atleast I think I am back. During this time, I have come to realize two things. One, I am never going to ever get back to normal sleep ever again, and two, time goes by too fast for comfort. So, given these two constraints, I hope to be able to get back to putting some thoughts together for the other reader of this blog.. (I have also realized that readership often dwindles when there is nothing to read).. so a big hello to all of you. See you soon.
Friday, May 12, 2006
Congratulations!!
To the wise peoples of West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Congratulations. You are getting the leaders you all truly deserve I guess. Enjoy! You are all beyond help.
Friday, March 10, 2006
The Indian Psyche
I came across this article. Or rather, it came across me, via. email. So, I don't know how true this is. But nevertheless, since it has some topics of interest to me, I chose to blog this.
DEVELOPED INDIA
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.
The President of India
I have three visions for India.
In 3000 years of our history, people from all over the world have come and invaded us, captured our lands, conquered our minds. From Alexander onwards. The Greeks, the Turks, the Moguls, the Portuguese, the British, the French, the Dutch, all of them came and looted us, took over what was ours. Yet we have not done this to any other nation. We have not conquered anyone. We have not grabbed their land, their culture, their history and tried to enforce our way of life on them.Why? Because we respect the freedom of others.
My second vision for India is DEVELOPMENT. For fifty years we have been a developing nation. It is time we see ourselves as a developed nation. We are among top 5 nations of the world in terms of GDP. We have 10 percent growth rate in most areas. Our poverty levels are falling. Our achievements are being globally recognized today. Yet we lack the self-confidence to see ourselves as adeveloped nation, self- reliant and self-assured. Isn’t this incorrect?
I have a THIRD vision.India must stand up to the world. Because I believe that, unless India stands upto the world, no one will respect us. Only strength respects strength. We must be strong not only as a military power but also as an economic power. Both must go hand-in-hand. My good fortune was to have worked with three great minds. Dr.Vikram Sarabhai of the Dept. of space, Professor Satish Dhawan, who succeeded him and Dr.Brahm Prakash, father of nuclear material. I was lucky to have worked with all three of them closely and consider this the great opportunityof my life.
I see four milestones in my career:
Twenty years I spent in ISRO. I was given the opportunity to be the projectdirector for India’s first satellite launch vehicle, SLV3. The one that launched Rohini. These years played a very important role in my life of Scientist.
After my ISRO years, I joined DRDO and got a chance to be the part of India’s guided missile program. It was my second bliss when Agni met its mission requirements in 1994.
The Dept. of Atomic Energy and DRDO had this tremendous partnership in the recent nuclear tests, on May 11 and 13. This was the third bliss.The joy of participating with my team in these nuclear tests and proving to theworld that India can make it, that we are no longer a developing nation but one ofthem. It made me feel very proud as an Indian. The fact that we have now developed for Agni a re-entry structure, for which we have developed this new material. A Very light material called carbon-carbon. One day an orthopedic surgeon from Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences visited my laboratory. He lifted the material and found it so light that he took me to his hospital and showed mehis patients. There were these little girls and boys with heavy metallic calipers weighing over three Kg. each, dragging their feet around. He said to me: Please remove the pain of my patients. In three weeks, we made these Floor reactionOrthosis 300-gram Calipers and took them to the orthopedic center. The children didn’t believe their eyes. From dragging around a three kg. Load on their legs,they could now move around! Their parents had tears in their eyes. That was my fourth bliss!
Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation.We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why? We are the first in milk production. We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.We are the second largest producer of wheat. We are the second largest producer of rice.
Look at Dr. Sudarshan, he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters.
I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the dayafter a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamashad struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture Of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert land into an orchid and agranary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details ofkillings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news. In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime.
Why are we so NEGATIVE ? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign TVs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreigntechnology. Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize thatself-respect comes with self-reliance?I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She replied:I want to live in a developed India. For her, you and I will have to build this developed India. You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation. Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance.
Got 10minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice is yours.
YOU say that our government is inefficient.
YOU say that our laws are too old.
YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.
YOU say that thephones don’t work, the railways are a joke, The airline is the worst in the world,mails never reach their destination.
YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.
YOU say, say and say.
What do YOU do about it?
Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give him a name - YOURS. Give him aface - OURS. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don’t throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground Links as they are. You pay $5 (approx. Rs.60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU comeback to the Parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity. In Singapore you don’t say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn’t dare to eat inpublic during Ramadan, in Dubai. YOU would not dare to go out without yourhead covered in Jeddah. YOU would not dare to buy an employee of thetelephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs.650) a month to, see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else. YOU would not dare to speedbeyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, Jaanta haisala main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so’s son. Take your two bucks and get lost. YOU wouldn’t chuck an empty coconut shell anywhereother than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand. Why don’t YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo? Why don’t YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston? We are still talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India?
Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay,Mr.Tinaikar, had a point to make. Rich people’s dogs are walked on the streetsto leave their affluent droppings all over the place, he said. And then the samepeople turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom everytime their dog feels the pressure in his bowels? In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here? He’s right. We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We sit backwanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are wegoing to stop to pick a up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms.We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries butwe are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity.This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to thepublic. When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women,dowry, girl child and others, we make loud drawing room Protestations and continue to do the reverse at home.
Our excuse? It’s the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my sons’ rights to a dowry. So who’s going to change the system? What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of ourneighbors, other households, other cities, other communities and thegovernment. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with ourfamilies into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away andwait for a Mr. Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away. Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England. When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought homeby the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.
Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one’s conscience too....I am echoing J.F.Kennedy’swords to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians.....ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TOMAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY
Lets do what India needs from us. Forward this mail to each Indian for a change instead of sending Jokes or junk mails.
Thank you
Abdul Kalam
DEVELOPED INDIA
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.
The President of India
I have three visions for India.
In 3000 years of our history, people from all over the world have come and invaded us, captured our lands, conquered our minds. From Alexander onwards. The Greeks, the Turks, the Moguls, the Portuguese, the British, the French, the Dutch, all of them came and looted us, took over what was ours. Yet we have not done this to any other nation. We have not conquered anyone. We have not grabbed their land, their culture, their history and tried to enforce our way of life on them.Why? Because we respect the freedom of others.
My second vision for India is DEVELOPMENT. For fifty years we have been a developing nation. It is time we see ourselves as a developed nation. We are among top 5 nations of the world in terms of GDP. We have 10 percent growth rate in most areas. Our poverty levels are falling. Our achievements are being globally recognized today. Yet we lack the self-confidence to see ourselves as adeveloped nation, self- reliant and self-assured. Isn’t this incorrect?
I have a THIRD vision.India must stand up to the world. Because I believe that, unless India stands upto the world, no one will respect us. Only strength respects strength. We must be strong not only as a military power but also as an economic power. Both must go hand-in-hand. My good fortune was to have worked with three great minds. Dr.Vikram Sarabhai of the Dept. of space, Professor Satish Dhawan, who succeeded him and Dr.Brahm Prakash, father of nuclear material. I was lucky to have worked with all three of them closely and consider this the great opportunityof my life.
I see four milestones in my career:
Twenty years I spent in ISRO. I was given the opportunity to be the projectdirector for India’s first satellite launch vehicle, SLV3. The one that launched Rohini. These years played a very important role in my life of Scientist.
After my ISRO years, I joined DRDO and got a chance to be the part of India’s guided missile program. It was my second bliss when Agni met its mission requirements in 1994.
The Dept. of Atomic Energy and DRDO had this tremendous partnership in the recent nuclear tests, on May 11 and 13. This was the third bliss.The joy of participating with my team in these nuclear tests and proving to theworld that India can make it, that we are no longer a developing nation but one ofthem. It made me feel very proud as an Indian. The fact that we have now developed for Agni a re-entry structure, for which we have developed this new material. A Very light material called carbon-carbon. One day an orthopedic surgeon from Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences visited my laboratory. He lifted the material and found it so light that he took me to his hospital and showed mehis patients. There were these little girls and boys with heavy metallic calipers weighing over three Kg. each, dragging their feet around. He said to me: Please remove the pain of my patients. In three weeks, we made these Floor reactionOrthosis 300-gram Calipers and took them to the orthopedic center. The children didn’t believe their eyes. From dragging around a three kg. Load on their legs,they could now move around! Their parents had tears in their eyes. That was my fourth bliss!
Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation.We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why? We are the first in milk production. We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.We are the second largest producer of wheat. We are the second largest producer of rice.
Look at Dr. Sudarshan, he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters.
I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the dayafter a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamashad struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture Of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert land into an orchid and agranary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details ofkillings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news. In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime.
Why are we so NEGATIVE ? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign TVs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreigntechnology. Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize thatself-respect comes with self-reliance?I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She replied:I want to live in a developed India. For her, you and I will have to build this developed India. You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation. Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance.
Got 10minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice is yours.
YOU say that our government is inefficient.
YOU say that our laws are too old.
YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.
YOU say that thephones don’t work, the railways are a joke, The airline is the worst in the world,mails never reach their destination.
YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.
YOU say, say and say.
What do YOU do about it?
Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give him a name - YOURS. Give him aface - OURS. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don’t throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground Links as they are. You pay $5 (approx. Rs.60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU comeback to the Parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity. In Singapore you don’t say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn’t dare to eat inpublic during Ramadan, in Dubai. YOU would not dare to go out without yourhead covered in Jeddah. YOU would not dare to buy an employee of thetelephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs.650) a month to, see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else. YOU would not dare to speedbeyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, Jaanta haisala main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so’s son. Take your two bucks and get lost. YOU wouldn’t chuck an empty coconut shell anywhereother than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand. Why don’t YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo? Why don’t YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston? We are still talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India?
Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay,Mr.Tinaikar, had a point to make. Rich people’s dogs are walked on the streetsto leave their affluent droppings all over the place, he said. And then the samepeople turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom everytime their dog feels the pressure in his bowels? In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here? He’s right. We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We sit backwanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are wegoing to stop to pick a up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms.We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries butwe are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity.This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to thepublic. When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women,dowry, girl child and others, we make loud drawing room Protestations and continue to do the reverse at home.
Our excuse? It’s the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my sons’ rights to a dowry. So who’s going to change the system? What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of ourneighbors, other households, other cities, other communities and thegovernment. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with ourfamilies into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away andwait for a Mr. Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away. Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England. When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought homeby the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.
Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one’s conscience too....I am echoing J.F.Kennedy’swords to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians.....ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TOMAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY
Lets do what India needs from us. Forward this mail to each Indian for a change instead of sending Jokes or junk mails.
Thank you
Abdul Kalam
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Om.
Sougata has written an outstanding op piece on the Caricature issue and addresses some fundamental perceptions about muslim-ness and its bias..
Just as I was about to highlight what an equivalent 'Hindu' response might have been to a similar situation, I came across this article:
Hindu gods insulted, leaders up in arms
February 14, 2006 18:51 IST
Hindu community leaders in Europe are up in arms against the display of goddess Durga's poster promoting a whisky brand and use of Lord Ram's image on a tissue paper.
It is time Hindus around the world and the Indian government stood up and be counted, Bimal Krishna Das, general secretary of the National Council of Hindu Temples, representing 90 per cent of the United Kingdom's 140 Hindu temples, said.
He said a disco bar in Greece has invited the wrath of Hindus for displaying a poster of goddess Durga promoting a whisky brand. "Large posters at the Balon Oriental Disco Bar in Athens depict the goddess carrying bottles of Southern Comfort whisky. The Indian community in Athens has been trying for the last three months to have the posters removed but in vain," said Paramjit Singh, originally from Jalandhar, now settled in Greece.
Letters have been sent to the American manufacturer of the whisky to withdraw the poster, he said. Also, despite protests, tissues bearing Lord Ram's image still remain in circulation for over a year because their German manufacturer refused to cease production, Das said.
There are two interesting aspects to this article here.. One, the description 'up in arms' has been used very carelessly. According to the article, the Hindus who were 'up in arms' basically sent letters of indignation to the American Manufacturer. Nice piece of journalism - 'while we are at it, might as well cash in on the caricature issue.' Needless to add, there is no description of any kind of violence. Clearly a very loaded headline. Second, and the more pertinent, the reaction of the Hindu to such situations and how it is so different from the classic muslim reaction.
I'd like to take a similar analogy to Sougata. Let's say right next to Al's cubicle, there worked a simple, mild-mannered guy, by the name, er.. Om Eswaraya Namahah (sorry for the lack of imagination). Let's call him Om. Om is typically a non-confrontationalist. He believes that what you get today is a result of what he did in a previous life. Ofcourse, he has no way to prove it, but suffice it to say that he thinks that if everyone dumps work on him, it is because he possibly dumped work on the very same people in another lifetime. He is scared to push back, otherwise, by some twist in the karmic process, he will get pushed back in another life.. He believes that you have to fight for what is right, but is typically consfused about what that 'right' is.
Time goes on and several of his colleagues notice funny looking images of typically human looking creatures but with enormous paraphernalia. It's kinda scary look. They think, "its kinda scary looking but this eastern imagery looks kinda cool in a haloween kinda way.." Mr. Jeez rist, who also moonlights as an ad agency executive looks at a particular image and says, "hey.. with all these hands, imagine what a great ad it would be if each of these hands could hold a bottle of alcohol.. and oh look at that guy with the head of an elephant.. Sweet!" So Jeez scans an image when Om is using the men's room and then fiddles with this photoshop to put something together, and sticks it on the refrigerator door..
When Om sees it, he is obviously indignated, and decides that he is going to write a serious note of objection to the company. But he also figures that Karma will get them and goes about minding his own business. He also proceeds to his computer and initiates a bulletin board discussion and all his Hindu friends talk about how shallow and ignorant everyone else seem to be.
That about sums up a Hindu reaction to anything that may border on blasphemy. So, while Al is busy making life unplesant because of the bright red banner and the mooh daddy reference, Om is busy writing a letter to HR. Opposite spectrums if you ask me..
Would the world at large fool around with Hindu sensitivities if the Hindu community reacted to things the way the Muslim community does? Bet you that 'they' would be afraid.. very afraid to fool around with Muslim sensitivities.. the caricature issue being a glaring example. And why is that? Think Jihad, Fatwa and infidel..
Just as I was about to highlight what an equivalent 'Hindu' response might have been to a similar situation, I came across this article:
Hindu gods insulted, leaders up in arms
February 14, 2006 18:51 IST
Hindu community leaders in Europe are up in arms against the display of goddess Durga's poster promoting a whisky brand and use of Lord Ram's image on a tissue paper.
It is time Hindus around the world and the Indian government stood up and be counted, Bimal Krishna Das, general secretary of the National Council of Hindu Temples, representing 90 per cent of the United Kingdom's 140 Hindu temples, said.
He said a disco bar in Greece has invited the wrath of Hindus for displaying a poster of goddess Durga promoting a whisky brand. "Large posters at the Balon Oriental Disco Bar in Athens depict the goddess carrying bottles of Southern Comfort whisky. The Indian community in Athens has been trying for the last three months to have the posters removed but in vain," said Paramjit Singh, originally from Jalandhar, now settled in Greece.
Letters have been sent to the American manufacturer of the whisky to withdraw the poster, he said. Also, despite protests, tissues bearing Lord Ram's image still remain in circulation for over a year because their German manufacturer refused to cease production, Das said.
There are two interesting aspects to this article here.. One, the description 'up in arms' has been used very carelessly. According to the article, the Hindus who were 'up in arms' basically sent letters of indignation to the American Manufacturer. Nice piece of journalism - 'while we are at it, might as well cash in on the caricature issue.' Needless to add, there is no description of any kind of violence. Clearly a very loaded headline. Second, and the more pertinent, the reaction of the Hindu to such situations and how it is so different from the classic muslim reaction.
I'd like to take a similar analogy to Sougata. Let's say right next to Al's cubicle, there worked a simple, mild-mannered guy, by the name, er.. Om Eswaraya Namahah (sorry for the lack of imagination). Let's call him Om. Om is typically a non-confrontationalist. He believes that what you get today is a result of what he did in a previous life. Ofcourse, he has no way to prove it, but suffice it to say that he thinks that if everyone dumps work on him, it is because he possibly dumped work on the very same people in another lifetime. He is scared to push back, otherwise, by some twist in the karmic process, he will get pushed back in another life.. He believes that you have to fight for what is right, but is typically consfused about what that 'right' is.
Time goes on and several of his colleagues notice funny looking images of typically human looking creatures but with enormous paraphernalia. It's kinda scary look. They think, "its kinda scary looking but this eastern imagery looks kinda cool in a haloween kinda way.." Mr. Jeez rist, who also moonlights as an ad agency executive looks at a particular image and says, "hey.. with all these hands, imagine what a great ad it would be if each of these hands could hold a bottle of alcohol.. and oh look at that guy with the head of an elephant.. Sweet!" So Jeez scans an image when Om is using the men's room and then fiddles with this photoshop to put something together, and sticks it on the refrigerator door..
When Om sees it, he is obviously indignated, and decides that he is going to write a serious note of objection to the company. But he also figures that Karma will get them and goes about minding his own business. He also proceeds to his computer and initiates a bulletin board discussion and all his Hindu friends talk about how shallow and ignorant everyone else seem to be.
That about sums up a Hindu reaction to anything that may border on blasphemy. So, while Al is busy making life unplesant because of the bright red banner and the mooh daddy reference, Om is busy writing a letter to HR. Opposite spectrums if you ask me..
Would the world at large fool around with Hindu sensitivities if the Hindu community reacted to things the way the Muslim community does? Bet you that 'they' would be afraid.. very afraid to fool around with Muslim sensitivities.. the caricature issue being a glaring example. And why is that? Think Jihad, Fatwa and infidel..
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Just Checkin' In..
Been a while. Just checkin in to make sure that Blogger has not deactivated my account for lack of anything interesting to say at this point. Well actually let me rephrase that.. For lack of anything interesting to blog.. Life has been extremely interesting though.
The Prophet's (peace be upon him) caricatures.. The superbowl (I loved the FedEx and the Hummer ads).. The winter olympics (which by the way, I bet no one is watching).. The caricatures.. oops.. I think I already covered that.
We have a section of people in the world who are not very happy people right now (No, I am not talking about the protesters). They have been persisting ever since the first infidel's throat was slashed by a 'pious' muslim, that Islam was the religion of peace. So far, after 2000 or so years, the hypothesis is yet to be proven. As a matter of fact, it appears that the opposite of that hypothesis is really true.
Ann Coutler's writings are not really a part of my staple reading. I think she is obnoxious and condescending and in general tends to raise the blood pressure of anyone she is speaking with. In a recent article she said, "In order to express their displeasure with the idea that Muslims are violent, thousands of Muslims around the world engaged in rioting, arson, mob savagery, flag-burning, murder and mayhem, among other peaceful acts of nonviolence. The rioting Muslims claim they are upset because Islam prohibits any depictions of Muhammad -- though the text is ambiguous on beheadings, suicide bombings and flying planes into skyscrapers." Me thinks she has a point!
Now, don't get me wrong. I have plenty of truly peace loving friends who happen to be Muslims. What I don't get is what's wrong with the other 99.99% of them? Don't they value human lives? All the talk of virgins aside, anyone who is willing make hell out of life here so that he can go to heaven deserves to be... trying hard not to sound like a angered fundamentalist muslim... er.. put in the same room as GWB and Ann Coutler and locked there for 5 years and forced into a conversation about liberals and Nucular WMD, and their relevance in modern day Halal diets and the holy prophet. Now there is an interesting conversation.
On a lighter note, I believe that when Mr. President Bush visits India later this year, he will not visit the 'samadhi' of Mahatma Gandhi, because he believes that the Gospel of Jesus Christ views cremation as a pagan practice. Good for him.
Sadam Hussein is seeing the benefits of being occupied by a civilized modern nation. He actually gets to walk out of court and yell abuses at the judge and the lawyers without the threat of having chemical weapons being couriered to his house with best wishes from the administration.
The Superbowl. The Seahawks should have won. The Steelers had a fantastic run knocking off 4 of the best offensive teams out there, so I guess they deserved to win. The game was a bit boring, and I am sure you would all agree that we have seen better and more exciting games in previous years. Add to that, there was no Janet Jackson or her wardrobe malfunction at half time and that removed any chance of making the whole thing more interesting. Thank heavens that there were no wardrobe malfunction with the Rolling Stones! The ads were good.
Oh well.. until later then..
The hate mail can now begin.
The Prophet's (peace be upon him) caricatures.. The superbowl (I loved the FedEx and the Hummer ads).. The winter olympics (which by the way, I bet no one is watching).. The caricatures.. oops.. I think I already covered that.
We have a section of people in the world who are not very happy people right now (No, I am not talking about the protesters). They have been persisting ever since the first infidel's throat was slashed by a 'pious' muslim, that Islam was the religion of peace. So far, after 2000 or so years, the hypothesis is yet to be proven. As a matter of fact, it appears that the opposite of that hypothesis is really true.
Ann Coutler's writings are not really a part of my staple reading. I think she is obnoxious and condescending and in general tends to raise the blood pressure of anyone she is speaking with. In a recent article she said, "In order to express their displeasure with the idea that Muslims are violent, thousands of Muslims around the world engaged in rioting, arson, mob savagery, flag-burning, murder and mayhem, among other peaceful acts of nonviolence. The rioting Muslims claim they are upset because Islam prohibits any depictions of Muhammad -- though the text is ambiguous on beheadings, suicide bombings and flying planes into skyscrapers." Me thinks she has a point!
Now, don't get me wrong. I have plenty of truly peace loving friends who happen to be Muslims. What I don't get is what's wrong with the other 99.99% of them? Don't they value human lives? All the talk of virgins aside, anyone who is willing make hell out of life here so that he can go to heaven deserves to be... trying hard not to sound like a angered fundamentalist muslim... er.. put in the same room as GWB and Ann Coutler and locked there for 5 years and forced into a conversation about liberals and Nucular WMD, and their relevance in modern day Halal diets and the holy prophet. Now there is an interesting conversation.
On a lighter note, I believe that when Mr. President Bush visits India later this year, he will not visit the 'samadhi' of Mahatma Gandhi, because he believes that the Gospel of Jesus Christ views cremation as a pagan practice. Good for him.
Sadam Hussein is seeing the benefits of being occupied by a civilized modern nation. He actually gets to walk out of court and yell abuses at the judge and the lawyers without the threat of having chemical weapons being couriered to his house with best wishes from the administration.
The Superbowl. The Seahawks should have won. The Steelers had a fantastic run knocking off 4 of the best offensive teams out there, so I guess they deserved to win. The game was a bit boring, and I am sure you would all agree that we have seen better and more exciting games in previous years. Add to that, there was no Janet Jackson or her wardrobe malfunction at half time and that removed any chance of making the whole thing more interesting. Thank heavens that there were no wardrobe malfunction with the Rolling Stones! The ads were good.
Oh well.. until later then..
The hate mail can now begin.
Sunday, January 08, 2006
Proof of God's Existence
The Internet.. folks.. The Internet. Some would say thanks to Al Gore. (Mostly Gore himself). If you have a question, the web will find you an answer. On a whim, I decided to see if I could find proof of God's existance on the web. After all, I figured, if God does exist, I don't have to re-invent the wheel to determine how to find him.
Here's some interesting proofs that I found for God's existence.
ARGUMENT FROM MIRACLES
(1) My aunt had cancer.
(2) The doctors gave her all these horrible treatments.
(3) My aunt prayed to God and now she doesn't have cancer.
(4) Therefore, God exists.
ARGUMENT FROM CREATION
(1) If evolution is false, then creationism is true, and therefore God exists.
(2) Evolution can't be true, since I lack the mental capacity to understand it; moreover, to accept its truth would cause me to be uncomfortable
(3) Therefore, God exists.
ARGUMENT FROM THE BIBLE
(1) [arbitrary passage from OT]
(2) [arbitrary passage from NT]
(3) Therefore, God exists.
ARGUMENT FROM INCOMPREHENSIBILITY
(1) Flabble glurk zoom boink blubba snurgleschnortz ping!
(2) No one has ever refuted (1).
(3) Therefore, God exists.
ARGUMENT FROM INFINITE REGRESS
(1) Ask Atheists what caused the Big Bang.
(2) Regardless of their answer, ask how they know this.
(3) Continue process until the Atheist admits he doesn't know the answer to one of your questions.
(4) You win!
(5) Therefore, God exists.
ARGUMENT FROM ARGUMENTATION
(1) God exists.
(2) [Atheist's counterargument]
(3) Yes he does.
(4) [Atheist's counterargument]
(5) Yes he does!
(6) [Atheist's counterargument]
(7) YES HE DOES!!!
(8) [Atheist gives up and goes home.]
(9) Therefore, God exists.
ARGUMENT FROM INSECURITY
(1) We have gone to absolutely berserk lengths to establish that Atheists are laughable morons.(1.5) Actually, we did so in the hopes of curing our own insecurities about theism -- but there's no chance in hell we'll ever admit that.
(2) Therefore, Atheists are laughable morons.
(3) Therefore, God exists.
and my personal favorite..
ARGUMENT FROM EXHAUSTION (abridged)
(1) Do you agree with the utterly trivial proposition X?
(2) Atheist: of course.
(3) How about the slightly modified proposition X'?
(4) Atheist: Um, no, not really.
(5) Good. Since we agree, how about Y? Is that true?
(6) Atheist: No! And I didn't agree with X'!
(7) With the truths of these clearly established, surely you agree that Z is true as well?
(8) Atheist: No. So far I have only agreed with X! Where is this going, anyway?
(9) I'm glad we all agree.........
(37) So now we have used propositions X, X', Y, Y', Z, Z', P, P', Q and Q' to arrive at the obviously valid point R. Agreed?
(38) Atheist: Like I said, so far I've only agreed with X. Where is this going?....
(81) So we now conclude from this that propositions L'', L''' and J'' are true. Agreed?
(82) I HAVEN'T AGREED WITH ANYTHING YOU'VE SAID SINCE X! WHERE IS THIS GOING!?....
(177) ...and it follows that proposition HRV, SHQ'' and BTU' are all obviously valid. Agreed?
(178) [Atheist either faints from overwork or leaves in disgust.]
(179) Therefore, God exists.
ARGUMENT FROM CLEVER USE OF VOCABULARY
(1) Many Atheists will not be convinced by an argument with "Therefore, God exists" as its conclusion.
(2) Consequently, God exists.
ARGUMENT FROM ASSUMPTION
(1) God exists.
(2) Therefore, God exists.
(3) Consequently, God exists.
ROTFL!!!! Ha ha! Have not laughed this hard in a while.
For more, click here. Great job guys!
Here's some interesting proofs that I found for God's existence.
ARGUMENT FROM MIRACLES
(1) My aunt had cancer.
(2) The doctors gave her all these horrible treatments.
(3) My aunt prayed to God and now she doesn't have cancer.
(4) Therefore, God exists.
ARGUMENT FROM CREATION
(1) If evolution is false, then creationism is true, and therefore God exists.
(2) Evolution can't be true, since I lack the mental capacity to understand it; moreover, to accept its truth would cause me to be uncomfortable
(3) Therefore, God exists.
ARGUMENT FROM THE BIBLE
(1) [arbitrary passage from OT]
(2) [arbitrary passage from NT]
(3) Therefore, God exists.
ARGUMENT FROM INCOMPREHENSIBILITY
(1) Flabble glurk zoom boink blubba snurgleschnortz ping!
(2) No one has ever refuted (1).
(3) Therefore, God exists.
ARGUMENT FROM INFINITE REGRESS
(1) Ask Atheists what caused the Big Bang.
(2) Regardless of their answer, ask how they know this.
(3) Continue process until the Atheist admits he doesn't know the answer to one of your questions.
(4) You win!
(5) Therefore, God exists.
ARGUMENT FROM ARGUMENTATION
(1) God exists.
(2) [Atheist's counterargument]
(3) Yes he does.
(4) [Atheist's counterargument]
(5) Yes he does!
(6) [Atheist's counterargument]
(7) YES HE DOES!!!
(8) [Atheist gives up and goes home.]
(9) Therefore, God exists.
ARGUMENT FROM INSECURITY
(1) We have gone to absolutely berserk lengths to establish that Atheists are laughable morons.(1.5) Actually, we did so in the hopes of curing our own insecurities about theism -- but there's no chance in hell we'll ever admit that.
(2) Therefore, Atheists are laughable morons.
(3) Therefore, God exists.
and my personal favorite..
ARGUMENT FROM EXHAUSTION (abridged)
(1) Do you agree with the utterly trivial proposition X?
(2) Atheist: of course.
(3) How about the slightly modified proposition X'?
(4) Atheist: Um, no, not really.
(5) Good. Since we agree, how about Y? Is that true?
(6) Atheist: No! And I didn't agree with X'!
(7) With the truths of these clearly established, surely you agree that Z is true as well?
(8) Atheist: No. So far I have only agreed with X! Where is this going, anyway?
(9) I'm glad we all agree.........
(37) So now we have used propositions X, X', Y, Y', Z, Z', P, P', Q and Q' to arrive at the obviously valid point R. Agreed?
(38) Atheist: Like I said, so far I've only agreed with X. Where is this going?....
(81) So we now conclude from this that propositions L'', L''' and J'' are true. Agreed?
(82) I HAVEN'T AGREED WITH ANYTHING YOU'VE SAID SINCE X! WHERE IS THIS GOING!?....
(177) ...and it follows that proposition HRV, SHQ'' and BTU' are all obviously valid. Agreed?
(178) [Atheist either faints from overwork or leaves in disgust.]
(179) Therefore, God exists.
ARGUMENT FROM CLEVER USE OF VOCABULARY
(1) Many Atheists will not be convinced by an argument with "Therefore, God exists" as its conclusion.
(2) Consequently, God exists.
ARGUMENT FROM ASSUMPTION
(1) God exists.
(2) Therefore, God exists.
(3) Consequently, God exists.
ROTFL!!!! Ha ha! Have not laughed this hard in a while.
For more, click here. Great job guys!
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