now terrorism has morphed into what it always was, more openly, more brazenly and more shamelessly than ever. with deep anguish I write these lines...yet again our nation has failed before an enemy it is not willing to understand. as this article on south asia analysis says, how dare these sick men preach to us Indians! we are a democracy, however much imperfect we are, we still have noble ideals which we have set out to follow...and what are they? a country built on blood of innocents, who have ethnically cleansed their minorities and till today have no rights for them..a country ruled by dictator donkeys forever and who know no human rights..they preaching to us and claiming to fight for our rights? what audacity!
to quote from the article:
I ask today, as I rage at these terrorists who may not even be citizens of my country, how dare you speak for people of this country? And if it is Babri Masjid and Gujarat that you avenge, how many times should we apologise as a nation and justify your barbarity with heads hung in shame and guilt written on our faces? If we are paying the price for being a tolerant and democratic (although not perfect) nation (there are many dissenting voices tolerated in this country including the voices that speak of hatred against communities of all kinds, voices that talk of revenge and exclusion and voices that are overtly seditious against the state), I reject the guilt, shame and tolerance today for it makes me your ‘enemy’. You punish our innocent people for crimes of a few; and scream hoarse when the ‘innocent’ in your community are held up because of your barbarity. You reject our diversity (of our opinion and politics as well that has defended you and stood for you always), you do not like it when we have spoken with different voices.
I am praying that atleast this latest attack wakes our people up..our leaders up..
well it might take a long time when India can stand up to Islamist terror but I believe in our destinty and no matter how many years it takes, one day we will get there and get there as we are, and not as mirror images of those beasts.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
Indian tricolur on the moon
how does it feel to be among the only 4 countries on the planet that have their flags planted on the moon!
The Indian Triolour is now fluttering on the moon - a nation is over the moon today!
The Indian Triolour is now fluttering on the moon - a nation is over the moon today!
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
CNN goes Obi Wan Kenobi!
Jessica Yellin of CNN has had the fortune of doing a Princess Leia for the first time in this solar system of ours:
watch this amazing video where she beams into CNN's election centre last night all the way from Chicago's Grant Park!
the force is all powerful :)
watch this amazing video where she beams into CNN's election centre last night all the way from Chicago's Grant Park!
the force is all powerful :)
Obama victory!
as someone who hasnt really been convinced about Obama- I feel humbled at being witness to history as just moments back, he clinched the Presidency of the most powerful nation on earth. Seeing millions in Chicago's Grant Park and the genuine feeling of joy and empowerment among the African-Americans across the USA is indeed humbling.
History has been made. And I am honoured to see it all in live action - all the way from the gruelling primary battles with Hillary to this day here. I watched McCain concede defeat graciously and Obama deliver his eloquent acceptance speech, ending with his famously preachy tone of 'yes we can' live on the BBC webcast.
Well this Obama presidency may really not turn out to be all 'goody-goody' as people, often even naively, expect it. For India particularly*, the 'special relationship' with the US under GWB might be diluted. There might be pressure on Kashmir and non-proliferation. But just for the sake of sheer joy of millions in America whose faith in their democracy has been restored this is a remarkable victory.
*But then this is how the world is, what happened during the second term of W. was grace, a rare apportunity for India and obviously it was not going to last forever. Now is the time for India to realize the limits of patronization and the necessity for perseverence. No matter who rules in the US and the world, we in India must work to solve our problems and work towards fulfilment of our destinty.
** on a related note, we can take this rediff.com (which is unabashedly pro-Democrat usually) compilation of Obama's views on India taken out of context with some pinch of salt.
History has been made. And I am honoured to see it all in live action - all the way from the gruelling primary battles with Hillary to this day here. I watched McCain concede defeat graciously and Obama deliver his eloquent acceptance speech, ending with his famously preachy tone of 'yes we can' live on the BBC webcast.
Well this Obama presidency may really not turn out to be all 'goody-goody' as people, often even naively, expect it. For India particularly*, the 'special relationship' with the US under GWB might be diluted. There might be pressure on Kashmir and non-proliferation. But just for the sake of sheer joy of millions in America whose faith in their democracy has been restored this is a remarkable victory.
*But then this is how the world is, what happened during the second term of W. was grace, a rare apportunity for India and obviously it was not going to last forever. Now is the time for India to realize the limits of patronization and the necessity for perseverence. No matter who rules in the US and the world, we in India must work to solve our problems and work towards fulfilment of our destinty.
** on a related note, we can take this rediff.com (which is unabashedly pro-Democrat usually) compilation of Obama's views on India taken out of context with some pinch of salt.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
the State of the Union
Chandrayaan, Deepavali and the continuing social unrest...
There was some sweet news from India in the past few weeks, but the continuing rumble of severe social unrest is worrying and is spoiling all the joy.
The succesful launch of Chandrayaan-1 moon mission was very heart-warming. Although we still are a bit away from manned space missions and quite a distance from where other established world powers are, this was a powerful showcase of our increasingly advancing technical prowess. I hope we indeed go on to develop a space propgramme, one that will give our kids (for once, real- and not bollywood type reel-) starry eyes and dreams!
But the disturbing signs of rapidly spreading social unrest - semingly unending and increasingly audacious Islamist terrorist attacks (Mumbai, Gujarat, Delhi, Manipur, Guwahati...) with fuzzy masterminds, the resurrected parochialism and separatism in the Kashmir valley, the ugly Marathi-Uttarbharatiya spat following on the heels of Tamil-Kannadiga discord on Cauvery, rudderless and chaotic pandering to Tamil ethnocentric passions, rowdy clashes with Christians and Maoist Terror in the tribal belts - and now an irresponsible trial-by-media and the 'Hindu Terror' namecalling : really points to a leadership clueless on the state of the nation.
with the global financial crisis likely to hit investments into India badly over the coming months and such a restive society, the outlook appears very grave indeed. The Chandrayaan appears to be the one of the few silver linings on the cloud hiding the moon...
There was some sweet news from India in the past few weeks, but the continuing rumble of severe social unrest is worrying and is spoiling all the joy.
The succesful launch of Chandrayaan-1 moon mission was very heart-warming. Although we still are a bit away from manned space missions and quite a distance from where other established world powers are, this was a powerful showcase of our increasingly advancing technical prowess. I hope we indeed go on to develop a space propgramme, one that will give our kids (for once, real- and not bollywood type reel-) starry eyes and dreams!
But the disturbing signs of rapidly spreading social unrest - semingly unending and increasingly audacious Islamist terrorist attacks (Mumbai, Gujarat, Delhi, Manipur, Guwahati...) with fuzzy masterminds, the resurrected parochialism and separatism in the Kashmir valley, the ugly Marathi-Uttarbharatiya spat following on the heels of Tamil-Kannadiga discord on Cauvery, rudderless and chaotic pandering to Tamil ethnocentric passions, rowdy clashes with Christians and Maoist Terror in the tribal belts - and now an irresponsible trial-by-media and the 'Hindu Terror' namecalling : really points to a leadership clueless on the state of the nation.
with the global financial crisis likely to hit investments into India badly over the coming months and such a restive society, the outlook appears very grave indeed. The Chandrayaan appears to be the one of the few silver linings on the cloud hiding the moon...
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