Home is where the heart is... My home... Oh it is in this foreign land that I miss home the most.. I travelled a lot while I was in India.. but didnt feel it was so far away.. Here I feel that home is really far away.. and going back home is the only thing that runs on my mind these days..
When I was home..i fought with my mom and dad..but now when I am away..i miss them the most.. Oh how I wish I was back home in Mumbai....
Re chech, Koch chech and jithu.. i miss them too... Himas, teena, bets... miss them too... :( but most of all I miss my mom and dad..i wish i was with them...
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Fly away...
I am quite positive that this song "Fly away" by John Denver was written for me .. hehehe.. yea many years before I was born. It is absolutely about a city girl like me. I am sure all of my friends would agree with this song... There are times when each of us wish to fly away....
These are the lyrics of the song...
All of her days have gone soft and cloudy
All of her dreams have gone dry
All of her nights have gone sad and shady
Shes getting ready to fly
Fly away, fly away, fly away
Life in the city can make you crazy
For sounds of the sand and the sea
Life in a high-rise can make you hungry
For things that you cant even see
Fly away, fly away, fly away
In this whole world theres nobody as lonely as she
Theres nowhere to go and theres nowhere that shed rather be
Shes looking for lovers and children playing
Shes looking for signs of the spring
She listens for laughter and sounds of dancing
She listens for any old thing
Fly away, fly away, fly away
Words and music by john denver
I wish... I could just FLY AWAY.......................
These are the lyrics of the song...
All of her days have gone soft and cloudy
All of her dreams have gone dry
All of her nights have gone sad and shady
Shes getting ready to fly
Fly away, fly away, fly away
Life in the city can make you crazy
For sounds of the sand and the sea
Life in a high-rise can make you hungry
For things that you cant even see
Fly away, fly away, fly away
In this whole world theres nobody as lonely as she
Theres nowhere to go and theres nowhere that shed rather be
Shes looking for lovers and children playing
Shes looking for signs of the spring
She listens for laughter and sounds of dancing
She listens for any old thing
Fly away, fly away, fly away
Words and music by john denver
I wish... I could just FLY AWAY.......................
Monday, May 25, 2009
Finally they free Dr. Sen
Dr. Binayak Sen has been granted bail, after long two years. That's a major victory for the humanrights movement in India. But the (false and fabricated) case id still on. The case is an "index" case. It clearly shows up how draconian laws are can be and are actually misused. And how stupendously difficult it would be for a lesser being! And even Dr. Binayak Sen, with 22 Nobel laureates appealing, national and international medical community protesting, foreign governments making queries, retired Supreme Court judge appealing, it took two long years just to obtain a simple bail, which as per the Supreme Court directive should be norm, not an exception. This again shows up the the huge irrational arbitrary powers that the "state" is invested with to crush an ordinary citizen, and a dissenting voice, in particular. This small but significant victory must reenergise the human rights movement in India. We must mobilise ourselves to firmly demand that the Central government must immediately initiate action to create a legal framework to subscribe to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in toto.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Tomorrow it would be you and me...
Am I safe in India?Dr. Binayak Sen's incarceration is has trigged out a lot of public outcry. A doctor who works for the cause of tribals and poor people has been pushed down and locked up. His charge is that he works for the cause of the poor, his charge is that he and his wife dared to work with people whom the State thought they could just overlook, his charge was that he raised his voice against the injustice happening in Chatisgarh, against Salwa Jugum [Salwa Judum (translates as "Peace March") is a anti- Naxalite movement in Chhatisgarh, India, which started in 2005 as a "civilian movement amongst the tribals of the region", and later evolved into a militia as a counter-insurgency strategy in the ,to bring the area dominated by Naxalites (Indian Maoists rebels), back under government control.]
The police arrested him with the charge that he passes letter to naxalites but they have not been able to prove a single charge against him. He has been denied bail all the time. I am waiting what the Supreme Court now gives him.
This doctor is arrested and kept in prison, tomorrow it will be you and me. Tomorrow you and me can be arrested for being human rights activits. Tomorrow I can be arrested by charging me. I work with prisoners and this can activism of mine could be altogether made to stop by simply incarcerating me using a draconian law.
I kept telling my collegue Sana yesterday, "Atleast people know Dr.Binayak Sen.. Who would know Ms. Reena Mary George if she is arrested someday?" We need to voice out our opposition towards the arrest of Dr. Sen because today it is him -- a human rights activits, tomorrow it would be you and me....
Binayak Sen
India is the largest democracy! But the question is ... Is it really democracy or dictatorship??How can a doctor (Dr.Binayak Sen) who works with the tribals and common people's causes be incarcerated for two long years without anything proved against him. The police claims that he passed on letters to naxals!! 
I am sure, if this is the way India is 'progressing', then people like me will end up in prisons as well. Atleast Binayak Sen is a largely known public figure... Who would know any Reena Mary George... who works for the rights of prisoners??? Some day they might just not want me to work for the cause of prisoners and charge me with some absolutely nonsense case and incarcerate me as well... Are we, human rights activits really safe in a country like India where the State players do not want any development in this country, where the State players want to put down human rights activists like Binayak Sen behind bars, where the the State players do not want to uphold human dignity? Am i safe in this country?
It is time... that we fight back and not be silent... One of the poems I heard yesterday at Dhuru Hall, Dadar (A programme organised by the 'Release Binayak Sen Committee') it said... Keeping quite is the biggest mistake we all do... When things go wrong and nothing moves within us..then that is the biggest mistake... lovely poems read by contemporary, progressive readers...
I would lose hope in the Criminal Justice System of India if Binayak Sen is not given bail this time by Supreme Court of India.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Ain't I a Woman?
Truth delivered her best-known speech in 1851 at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention. The speech has become known as Ain't I a Woman? after Truth's refrain.
The speech as shown here has been revised from the 19th century dialect in which Truth spoke.
“ Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the Negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this here talking about?
That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne five children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?
Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it? [member of audience whispers, "intellect"] That's it, honey. What's that got to do with women's rights or Negroes' rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?
Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.
If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it. The men better let them.
Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain't got nothing more to say.”
--Sojourner Truth
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Was it my vote?!
So just who are you Judge?And just who are you President?
Who made you the Honourable Judge?Who made you the Honourable President?In My Democracy.
Was it my vote?!
Was it my vote?!
So just how much did you know 14-year-old Hetal Parekh, Mr. Judge,(just so we know how much you felt for her)And just how much did you know Dhananjoy Chatterjee?
The same questions to you to Mr. President.
In what judgment did you sit Mr. Judge?Was it legal, was it moral?
Did you give life to Hetal Parekh, Mr. Judge?Did you give life to Dhananjoy Chatterjee?Maybe you did Mr. President?Did you?
What is "life", to you Mr. Judge?And when does it become precious, Mr. President?
Whom did you hang, when 15,310 people died in Bhopal and 300,000 were maimed by Union Carbide?How many people did you hang when the Children of Kumbakonam roasted in their school?Where did you hang the officials, who rotted grain and caused starvation deaths in Orissa, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and in many other states of India?Why didn't you hang the politicians of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra whose "politics" have caused scores of debt-ridden farmers to kill themselves?And whom do we hang for the destruction the nuclear tests have brought, on a poor tribal community in Rajasthan?
So just who are you Mr. Judge?And just who are you Mr. President? Who made you Judge?Who made you President?In my democracy.
Was it my vote?!
- by Lillian D' Costa
(This a poem found in a christian magazine... by Lillian D' Costa... a very well written poem...I would probably ask Mr. Abdul Kalam the same questions if i meet him....)
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.-- M.K. Gandhi
We must inaugurate the Age of Enlightenment and invincibility of society against crime pathology by creating the integrated man. All else, including death penalty, is criminological quackery and jurisprudential philistinism. Law must outlaw the delusive drug of the condemned cell. Our undertaking must be geared to this goal. Our penal code provides for capital punishment for wide range of offence. But sadly, the death penalty has never reduced these crimes in the country.
-- Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer, Judge of the Supreme Court of India.
Death penalty is irrevocable; it cannot be recalled. It is destructive of the right to life. Howsoever careful may be the procedural safeguards erected by the law before the penalty is imposed. It is impossible to eliminate the chance of judicial error. One innocent man being hanged should be enough to wipe out the value of capital punishment for ever.
-- P. N. Bhagwati, former Chief Justice of India.
I was eight years old when my father was murdered. But even as a child one thing was clear to me: I didn't want the killer, in turn, to be killed. I can remember lying in bed and praying, 'Please, God. Please don’t let them kill him.' I saw nothing that could be accomplished in the loss of one life being answered with the loss of another. And I knew, far too vividly, the anguish that would spread through another family-another set of parents, children, brothers, and sisters thrown into grief.
-- Kerry Kennedy Cuomo, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy.
There is no way of constructing a system that will not execute the innocent. The death penalty does not make us safer. That is a lie.
-- Michael O'Connor, Professor of Law at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, The Saint Cloud Visitor, 3/4/2004.
People are willing to concede that it [the death penalty] is just pure revenge and they’re willing to live with that.
-- Hunter Labovitz, Tallahassee attorney.
Even if there's just one person on death row that's innocent, just one that should be enough to take a look at the system ... It's on everybody's hands if we execute somebody who's innocent. The system didn't free me. God did. God manifested the truth.
-- Darryl Eugene Hunt, twice convicted of a 1984 murder and sentenced to life, exonerated in February 2004 when another man confessed to the murder, (1) The Courier-Tribune, 4/27/2004, (2) NBC17 News, 5/12/2004.
Who tries to ease the pain for the parents of the condemned? Who tells us that they are sorry and remorseful for the death of our child? Does the state consider us, the parents, siblings and family of the condemned, as victims? No, they do not. But as surely as I live and breathe, we are the victims who have all the grief and none of the closure.
-- Lyndia Faihtinger, mother of death row inmate Norman R. Clary, letter to the editor, Houston Press, 10/18/2002.
War, capital punishment, the taking of human life, cruelty of all kinds whether committed by the individual, the State or society, not only physical cruelty, but moral cruelty, the degradation of any human being or any class of human beings under whatever specious plea or in whatever interest, ... are crimes against the religion of humanity, abominable to its ethical mind, forbidden by its primary tenets, to be fought against always, in no degree to be tolerated.
-- Sri Aurobindo, Indian politician, philosopher (1872-1950).
A great deal of controversy has attended the question of abolition of the death penalty. Arguments both in favour and against can never settle the question. To my mind, it is ultimately a question of respect for life and human approach to those who commit grievous hurts to others. Death sentence is no remedy for such crimes. A more humane and constructive remedy is to remove the culprit concerned from the normal milieu and treat him as a mental case. I am sure a large proportion of the murderers could be weaned away from their path and their mental condition sufficiently improved to become useful citizens. In a minority of cases, this may not be possible. They may be kept in prison houses till they die a natural death. This may cause a heavier economic burden on society than hanging. But I have no doubt that a humane treatment even of a murderer will enhance man's dignity and make society more human.
- Jaya Prakash Narayan (1902-2002), Indian political leader and theorist.
Must we kill to prevent there being any wicked? This is to make both parties wicked instead of one.
-- Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), French mathematician.
[F]or a doctor to use the tools and expertise they use to treat patients to kill people is a perversion of medical practice. There are people who do such horrendous things, the most horrific, deadly crimes that I don't think they deserve to live. But that's different from saying, 'Well, let's kill them.'
-- Dr. Arthur Zitrin, former director of psychiatry at Bellevue Hospital and chairman of the Dean's Committee on Medical Ethics at New York University, about the participation of doctors in executions, New York Daily News, 5/10/2004.
The application of the death penalty mostly closely resembles the lottery.
-- Robert M. Morgenthau, District Attorney, Manhattan, NY; (3) AP, 12/15/2004; (4) Column, Sheryl McCarthy, Newsday, Inc., 12/16/2004.
My primary concern is not compassion for the murderer. My concern is for the society which adopts vengeance as an acceptable motive for its collective behaviour. If we make that choice, we will snuff out some of that boundless hope and confidence in ourselves and other people, which has marked our maturing as free people.
--Pierre Elliott Trudeau, former Prime Minister of Canada.
To repay brutality with brutality, in any manner does not serve any useful purpose.
--President Sir Dawda Jawara, Gambia.
The fruit of my experience has this bitter after-taste: that I do not now believe that any one of the hundreds of executions I carried out has in any way acted as a deterrent against future murder. Capital punishment, in my view, achieved nothing except revenge.
-- Albert Pierrepoint, former executioner, UK
-- Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer, Judge of the Supreme Court of India.
Death penalty is irrevocable; it cannot be recalled. It is destructive of the right to life. Howsoever careful may be the procedural safeguards erected by the law before the penalty is imposed. It is impossible to eliminate the chance of judicial error. One innocent man being hanged should be enough to wipe out the value of capital punishment for ever.
-- P. N. Bhagwati, former Chief Justice of India.
I was eight years old when my father was murdered. But even as a child one thing was clear to me: I didn't want the killer, in turn, to be killed. I can remember lying in bed and praying, 'Please, God. Please don’t let them kill him.' I saw nothing that could be accomplished in the loss of one life being answered with the loss of another. And I knew, far too vividly, the anguish that would spread through another family-another set of parents, children, brothers, and sisters thrown into grief.
-- Kerry Kennedy Cuomo, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy.
There is no way of constructing a system that will not execute the innocent. The death penalty does not make us safer. That is a lie.
-- Michael O'Connor, Professor of Law at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, The Saint Cloud Visitor, 3/4/2004.
People are willing to concede that it [the death penalty] is just pure revenge and they’re willing to live with that.
-- Hunter Labovitz, Tallahassee attorney.
Even if there's just one person on death row that's innocent, just one that should be enough to take a look at the system ... It's on everybody's hands if we execute somebody who's innocent. The system didn't free me. God did. God manifested the truth.
-- Darryl Eugene Hunt, twice convicted of a 1984 murder and sentenced to life, exonerated in February 2004 when another man confessed to the murder, (1) The Courier-Tribune, 4/27/2004, (2) NBC17 News, 5/12/2004.
Who tries to ease the pain for the parents of the condemned? Who tells us that they are sorry and remorseful for the death of our child? Does the state consider us, the parents, siblings and family of the condemned, as victims? No, they do not. But as surely as I live and breathe, we are the victims who have all the grief and none of the closure.
-- Lyndia Faihtinger, mother of death row inmate Norman R. Clary, letter to the editor, Houston Press, 10/18/2002.
War, capital punishment, the taking of human life, cruelty of all kinds whether committed by the individual, the State or society, not only physical cruelty, but moral cruelty, the degradation of any human being or any class of human beings under whatever specious plea or in whatever interest, ... are crimes against the religion of humanity, abominable to its ethical mind, forbidden by its primary tenets, to be fought against always, in no degree to be tolerated.
-- Sri Aurobindo, Indian politician, philosopher (1872-1950).
A great deal of controversy has attended the question of abolition of the death penalty. Arguments both in favour and against can never settle the question. To my mind, it is ultimately a question of respect for life and human approach to those who commit grievous hurts to others. Death sentence is no remedy for such crimes. A more humane and constructive remedy is to remove the culprit concerned from the normal milieu and treat him as a mental case. I am sure a large proportion of the murderers could be weaned away from their path and their mental condition sufficiently improved to become useful citizens. In a minority of cases, this may not be possible. They may be kept in prison houses till they die a natural death. This may cause a heavier economic burden on society than hanging. But I have no doubt that a humane treatment even of a murderer will enhance man's dignity and make society more human.
- Jaya Prakash Narayan (1902-2002), Indian political leader and theorist.
Must we kill to prevent there being any wicked? This is to make both parties wicked instead of one.
-- Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), French mathematician.
[F]or a doctor to use the tools and expertise they use to treat patients to kill people is a perversion of medical practice. There are people who do such horrendous things, the most horrific, deadly crimes that I don't think they deserve to live. But that's different from saying, 'Well, let's kill them.'
-- Dr. Arthur Zitrin, former director of psychiatry at Bellevue Hospital and chairman of the Dean's Committee on Medical Ethics at New York University, about the participation of doctors in executions, New York Daily News, 5/10/2004.
The application of the death penalty mostly closely resembles the lottery.
-- Robert M. Morgenthau, District Attorney, Manhattan, NY; (3) AP, 12/15/2004; (4) Column, Sheryl McCarthy, Newsday, Inc., 12/16/2004.
My primary concern is not compassion for the murderer. My concern is for the society which adopts vengeance as an acceptable motive for its collective behaviour. If we make that choice, we will snuff out some of that boundless hope and confidence in ourselves and other people, which has marked our maturing as free people.
--Pierre Elliott Trudeau, former Prime Minister of Canada.
To repay brutality with brutality, in any manner does not serve any useful purpose.
--President Sir Dawda Jawara, Gambia.
The fruit of my experience has this bitter after-taste: that I do not now believe that any one of the hundreds of executions I carried out has in any way acted as a deterrent against future murder. Capital punishment, in my view, achieved nothing except revenge.
-- Albert Pierrepoint, former executioner, UK
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Mumbai meri Jaan
Is it going to be same after two years? Another tragedy. The loss we had during the bomb blast the railway station. Terrorist will find new ways and means to attack us. My question to you is, “are our systems in place to tackle these terrorists again?” please do not divide us in the name of religion,
Mr. Raj Thackeray, do not divide us in the name of outsiders and insider. I am very much an insider as you are. And mind you the so called ‘outsiders’ came to save our city. We are Indians first and then anyone else. I would call myself an Indian living in Mumbai. Wondering where you went hiding during this entire process!
My question to Modi, Is the 1 crore his government will offer Mr. Karkare’s family a price paid to heave a sigh of relief that, “At last somebody killed him!” Get out of my city Mr. Modi.
Mr. Advani, stop blaming the current government. Rather join hands with them to tackle the situation together. Atleast for once in your life share a common platform to tackle this situation in our country.
Mr. Prime Minister, what will happen if the laws are stringent? Aren’t there good enough laws already? We don’t want more laws rather train our men and women to combat such highly trained terrorists
Mr. Dutt, very grateful to you for saving my city. Your men, (weren’t there any women officers?) have done a very commendable job. I salute all the heroes of this war.
My heart goes out to the families of the officers who lost their lives in this terror. My heart goes out to the families of individuals who lost their lives; my heart goes out to the little child who lost his parents a day before his 2nd birthday.
Journalists! Kindly be unbiased while covering news... why is CST left uncovered by any of you? Taj is the icon of whose India?
(Was written immediately after the terror attack however couldn't post it on the blog)
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Open Letter to Raj Thackarey by Rajdeep Sardesai
My Dear Raj,
My apologies for having to communicate through the editorial pages of a newspaper, but frankly am left with little choice since you seem to have decided to stay away from the so-called 'national' non-Marathi media. Let me at the very outset say that I am impressed with the manner you have carved a niche on the political landscape of Maharashtra. I distinctly remember meeting you in February last year soon after the Mumbai municipal corporation elections. It wasn't the best of times: your party, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena had been marginalized while your cousin Udhav Thackeray and the Shiv Sena had captured power in the city. With many of your supporters deserting you, you appeared down, if not quite out. Twenty months later, I see you've bounced back: every local and national daily has you on the front page, you are the subject of television debates and your politics has even united Bihar's warring netas.
And yet, my friend, there is a thin line between fame and notoriety, more so in the fickle world of politics. Bashing north Indian students may grab the headlines, getting arrested may even get you sympathy and strident rhetoric will always have a constituency, but will it be enough to secure your ultimate dream of succeeding your uncle Bal Thackeray as the flagbearer of Marathi asmita (pride)?
If Balasaheb in the 1960s rose to prominence by targeting the south Indian "lungiwala", you have made the north Indian "bhaiyaa" the new 'enemy'. In the 1960s, the Maharashtrian middle class in Mumbai was feeling the pressure of job competition for white collar clerical jobs. Today, it seems that there is a similar sense of frustration at losing out economically and culturally to other social groups in Mumbai's endless battle for scarce resources. With the Congress and the NCP having become the real estate agents of the state's rural-urban bourgeoise and the Shiv Sena a pale shadow of its original avatar, the space has been created for a charismatic leader to emerge as a rabble-rouser espousing the sons of the soil platform.
But Raj, I must remind you that electoral politics is very different from street agitations. Sure, round the clock coverage of taxis being stoned and buses being burnt will get you instant recognition. Yes, your name may inspire fear like your uncle's once did. And perhaps there will always be a core group of lumpen youth who will be ready to do your bidding. But how much of this will translate into votes? Identity politics based on hatred and violence is subject to the law of diminishing returns, especially in a city like Mumbai, the ultimate melting pot of commerce. Your cousin Udhav tried a "Mee Mumbaikar" campaign a few years ago that was far more inclusive, but yet was interpreted as being anti-migrant. The result was that the Shiv Sena lost the 2004 elections - Lok Sabha and assembly - in its original citadel of Mumbai. Some statistics suggest that nearly one in every four Mumbaikars is now a migrant from UP or Bihar. Can any political party afford to alienate such a large constituency in highly competitive elections?
Maybe, your not even looking at winning seats at the moment, but simply staking claim to the Sena legacy in a post Bal Thackeray scenario. Perhaps, thats exactly what the ruling Congress-NCP combine in Maharashtra wants: like a market leader who gets competing brands to crush each other, the Congress-NCP leadership seems to be practicing divide and rule politics once again. They did it with Balasaheb and the communists in the 1960s, with Bhindranwale and the Akalis in the 1980s, even with the Kashmir valley politicians in the 1990s. A larger-than-life Raj Thackeray suits the ruling arrangement in Maharashtra because it could erode its principal rival, the Shiv Sena's voter support. It's a dangerous game, but often when politicians run out of ideas, they prefer to play with fire. It's a fire that could leave Mumbai's cosmopolitanism scarred for life.
Now, before you see my writings as the outpourings of an anglicized non-resident Maharashtrian, let me just say that, like you, I too am proud of my roots. I too, would like to see the cultural identity of Maharashtrians preserved and the economic well-being of our community assured. Where we differ is that I am a citizen of the Republic of India first, a proud Goan Maharashtrian only later. Fourteen years ago, I left Mumbai for Delhi to seek professional growth and was distinctly fortunate to be readily embraced by the national capital. Like millions of Indians, I too am a migrant and a beneficiary of a nation whose borders don't stop at state checkpoints.
Moreover, I cannot accept that 'goondaism' is the way forward to forging a robust Maharashtrian identity. By vandalizing a shop or stoning a taxi, what kind of mindless regional chauvinism are we promoting? Taking away the livelihood of a poor taxi driver or beating up some defenceless students from Bihar reflects a fake machismo that is no answer to what ails Maharashtrian society today. The Maharashtra I once knew was inspired by the progressive ideals of the bhakti movement, by a Shahu-Phule-Ambedkar legacy of social reform. Are we going to dismantle that legacy under the weight of hate politics?
When you started your party a few years ago, it had been pitched as a party committed to a "modern" Maharashtra. If that vision still stands, why don't you take it forward in real terms? Why don't you, for example, set up vocational courses and technical institutes for young Maharashtrians to make them competitive in the job market? Why not, for that matter, start English-speaking classes for Maharashtrian students to equip them for the demands of the new economy? If cultural identity is such a concern, why not launch a statewide campaign to promote Marathi art, theatre and cinema by financially supporting such ventures? If Mumbai's collapsing infrastructure worries you, then target the politician-builder nexus first. And isn't it also time we realized that Mumbai is not Maharashtra, that the long suffering Vidarbha and Marathwada farmer needs urgent attention? Why not use your political and financial muscle to start projects in rural Maharashtra instead of focusing your energies on Mumbai's bright lights alone? An employment generation scheme in a Jalna or a Gadchiroli may not make the front pages, but it will have far greater value for securing Maharashtra's future.
Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra!
This was a forward i received....on our beloved Raj Thackarey while he was constantly fighting for the Marathi Manoos...(i wonder why doesnt anyone include women when they talk) . I love this idea.. and our recent attacks also showed how the North Indians and South Indians saved Mumbai from terror... but Raj Thackarey was not to be seen anywhere around nor did he make any statements! wow... i wish he would speak when it is necessary and otherwise just be silent.
Don't struggle too much, best things happen when not expected!!' We all should support Raj Thackeray and take his initiative ahead by doing more...
1. We should teach our kids that if s/he is second in class, don't study harder.. just beat up the student coming first and throw her/him out of the school
2. Parliament should have only Delhiites as it is located in Delhi Prime-minister, president and all other leaders should only be from Delhi
3. No Hindi movie should be made in Mumbai. Only Marathi..
4. At every state border, buses, trains, flights should be stopped and staff changed to local men/women
5. All Maharashtrians working abroad or in other states should be sent back as they are SNATCHING employment from Locals
6. Lord Shiv, Ganesha and Parvati should not be worshiped in our state as they belong to north (Himalayas )
7. Visits to Taj Mahal should be restricted to people from UP only
8. Relief for farmers in Maharashtra should not come from centre because that is the money collected as Tax from whole of India, so why should it be given to someone in Maharashtra ?
9. Let's support Kashmiri Militants because they are right in killing and injuring innocent people for the benefit of their state and community..
10. Let's throw all MNCs out of Maharashtra , why should they earn from us? We will open our own Maharashtra Microsoft, MH Pepsi and MH Marutis of the world
11. Let's stop using cellphones, emails, TV, foreign Movies and dramas. James Bond should speak Marathi
12. We should be ready to die hungry or buy food at 10 times higher price but should not accept imports from other states
13. We should not allow any industry to be setup in Maharashtra because all machinery comes from outside
14. We should STOP using local trains... Trains are not manufactured by Marathi manoos and Railway Minister is a Bihari
15. Ensure that all our children are born, grow, live and die without ever stepping out of Maharashtra , then they will become true Marathis
Don't struggle too much, best things happen when not expected!!' We all should support Raj Thackeray and take his initiative ahead by doing more...
1. We should teach our kids that if s/he is second in class, don't study harder.. just beat up the student coming first and throw her/him out of the school
2. Parliament should have only Delhiites as it is located in Delhi Prime-minister, president and all other leaders should only be from Delhi
3. No Hindi movie should be made in Mumbai. Only Marathi..
4. At every state border, buses, trains, flights should be stopped and staff changed to local men/women
5. All Maharashtrians working abroad or in other states should be sent back as they are SNATCHING employment from Locals
6. Lord Shiv, Ganesha and Parvati should not be worshiped in our state as they belong to north (Himalayas )
7. Visits to Taj Mahal should be restricted to people from UP only
8. Relief for farmers in Maharashtra should not come from centre because that is the money collected as Tax from whole of India, so why should it be given to someone in Maharashtra ?
9. Let's support Kashmiri Militants because they are right in killing and injuring innocent people for the benefit of their state and community..
10. Let's throw all MNCs out of Maharashtra , why should they earn from us? We will open our own Maharashtra Microsoft, MH Pepsi and MH Marutis of the world
11. Let's stop using cellphones, emails, TV, foreign Movies and dramas. James Bond should speak Marathi
12. We should be ready to die hungry or buy food at 10 times higher price but should not accept imports from other states
13. We should not allow any industry to be setup in Maharashtra because all machinery comes from outside
14. We should STOP using local trains... Trains are not manufactured by Marathi manoos and Railway Minister is a Bihari
15. Ensure that all our children are born, grow, live and die without ever stepping out of Maharashtra , then they will become true Marathis
Hotel Taj : icon of whose India ? Gnani Sankaran- Tamil writer, Chennai
Hotel Taj : icon of whose India ? Gnani Sankaran- Tamil writer, Chennai
Watching at least four English news channels surfing from one anotherduring the last 60 hours of terror strike made me feel a terror ofanother kind. The terror of assaulting one's mind and sensitivity withcameras, sound bites and non-stop blabbers. All these channels havebeen trying to manufacture my consent for a big lie called - Hotel Tajthe icon of India.
Whose India, Whose Icon ?
It is a matter of great shame that these channels simply did notbother about the other icon that faced the first attack fromterrorists - the Chatrapathi Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station.CST is the true icon of Mumbai. It is through this railway stationhundreds of Indians from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, West Bengaland Tamilnadu have poured into Mumbai over the years, transformingthemselves into Mumbaikars and built the Mumbai of today along withthe Marathis and Kolis
But the channels would not recognise this. Nor would they recognisethe thirty odd dead bodies strewn all over the platform of CST. NoBarkha dutt went there to tell us who they were. But she was at Taj toshow us the damaged furniture and reception lobby braving the guards.And the TV cameras did not go to the government run JJ hospital tofind out who those 26 unidentified bodies were. Instead they wereagain invading the battered Taj to try in vain for a scoop shot of thedead bodies of the page 3 celebrities.
In all probability, the unidentified bodies could be those of workersfrom Bihar and Uttar Pradesh migrating to Mumbai, arriving by train atCST without cell phones and pan cards to identify them. Even after 60hours after the CST massacre, no channel has bothered to cover indetail what transpired there.
The channels conveniently failed to acknowledge that the Aam Aadmis ofIndia surviving in Mumbai were not affected by Taj, Oberoi and Tridentclosing down for a couple of weeks or months. What mattered to themwas the stoppage of BEST buses and suburban trains even for one hour.But the channels were not covering that aspect of the terror attack.Such information at best merited a scroll line, while the cameras haveto be dedicated for real time thriller unfolding at Taj or Narimanbhavan.
The so called justification for the hype the channels built aroundheritage site Taj falling down (CST is also a heritage site), is thatHotel Taj is where the rich and the powerful of India and the globecongregate. It is a symbol or icon of power of money and politics, notIndia. It is the icon of the financiers and swindlers of India. TheMumbai and India were built by the Aam Aadmis who passed through CSTand Taj was the oasis of peace and privacy for those who wielded powerover these mass of labouring classes. Leopold club and Taj were thehaunts of rich spoilt kids who would drive their vehicles oversleeping Aam Aadmis on the pavement, the Mafiosi of Mumbai foreverfinancing the glitterati of Bollywood (and also the terrorists) ,Political brokers and industrialists.
It is precisely because Taj is the icon of power and not people, thatthe terrorists chose to strike.
The terrorists have understood after several efforts that the AamAadmi will never break down even if you bomb her markets and trains.He/she was resilient because that is the only way he/she can evensurvive.
Resilience was another word that annoyed the pundits of news channelsand their patrons this time. What resilience, enough is enough, saidPranoy Roy's channel on the left side of the channel spectrum. Samesentiments were echoed by Arnab Goswami representing the right wing ofthe broadcast media whose time is now. Can Rajdeep be far behind inthis game of one upmanship over TRPs ? They all attacked resiliencethis time. They wanted firm action from the government in tacklingterror.
The same channels celebrated resilience when bombs went off in trainsand markets killing and maiming the Aam Aadmis. The resilience of theordinary worker suited the rich business class of Mumbai since work ormanufacture or film shooting did not stop. When it came to them, therich shamelessly exhibited their lack of nerves and refused to beresilient themselves. They cry for government intervention now toprotect their private spas and swimming pools and bars andrestaurants, similar to the way in which Citibank, General Motors andthe ilk cry for government money when their coffers are emptied bytheir own ideologies.
The terrorists have learnt that the ordinary Indian is unperturbed byterror. For one whose daily existence itself is a terror of governmentsponsored inflation and market sponsored exclusion, pain is somethinghe has learnt to live with. The rich of Mumbai and India Inc arefacing the pain for the first time and learning about it just as themiddle classes of India learnt about violation of human rights onlyduring emergency, a cool 28 years after independence.
And human rights were another favourite issue for the channels to whipat times of terrorism.
Arnab Goswami in an animated voice wondered where were thosechampions of human rights now, not to be seen applauding the brave andselfless police officers who gave up their life in fighting terorism.Well, the counter question would be where were you when such officerswere violating the human rights of Aam Aadmis. Has there ever been any24 hour non stop coverage of violence against dalits and adivasis ofthis country?
This definitely was not the time to manufacture consent for the extralegal and third degree methods of interrogation of police and army butArnabs don't miss a single opportunity to serve their class masters,this time the jingoistic patriotism came in handy to whitewash theentire uniformed services.
The sacrifice of the commandos or the police officers who went downdying at the hands of ruthless terrorists is no doubt heart rendingbut in vain in a situation which needed not just bran but also brain.Israel has a point when it says the operations were misplannedresulting in the death of its nationals here.
Khakares and Salaskars would not be dead if they did not commit themistake of traveling by the same vehicle. It is a basic lesson inmanagement that the top brass should never t ravel together in crisis.The terrorists, if only they had watched the channels, would havelaughed their hearts out when the Chief of the Marine commandos, anelite force, masking his face so unprofessionally in a see-throughcloth, told the media that the commandos had no idea about thestructure of the Hotel Taj which they were trying to liberate. But theterrorists knew the place thoroughly, he acknowledged.
Is it so difficult to obtain a ground plan of Hotel Taj and discussoperation strategy thoroughly for at least one hour before entering?This is something even an event manager would first ask for, if he hadto fix 25 audio systems and 50 CCtvs for a cultural event in a hotel.Would not Ratan Tata have provided a plan of his ancestral hotel tothe commandos within one hour considering the mighty apparatus at hisand government's disposal? Are satelite pictures only available forterrorists and not the government agencies ? In an operation known toconsume time, one more hour for preparation would have only improvedthe efficiency of execution.
Sacrifices become doubly tragic in unprofessional circumstances. Butthe Aam Aadmis always believe that terror-shooters do better planningthan terrorists. And the gullible media in a jingoistic mood would notraise any question about any of these issues.
They after all have their favourite whipping boy - the politician theeternal entertainer for the non-voting rich classes of India.
Arnabs and Rajdeeps would wax eloquent on Nanmohan Singh and Advanivisiting Mumbai separately and not together showing solidarity even atthis hour of national crisis. What a farce? Why can't these channelspool together all their camera crew and reporters at this time ofnational calamity and share the sound and visual bites which couldmean a wider and deeper coverage of events with such a huge humanresource to command? Why should Arnab and Rajdeep and Barkha keepharping every five minutes that this piece of information wasexclusive to their channel, at the time of such a national crisis? Isthis the time to promote the channel? If that is valid, the politicianpromoting his own political constituency is equally valid. And theduty of the politican is to do politics, his politics. It is for thepeople to evaluate that politics.
And terrorism is not above politics. It is politics by other means.
To come to grips with it and to eventually eliminate it, the practiceof politics by proper means needs constant fine tuning andimprovement. Decrying all politics and politicians, only helpsterrorists and dictators who are the two sides of the same coin. Andthe rich and powerful always prefer terrorists and dictators to dobusiness with.
Those caught in this crossfire are always the Aam Aadmis whose deathsare not even mourned - the taxi driver who lost the entire family atCST firing, the numerous waiters and stewards who lost their livesworking in Taj for a monthly salary that would be one time bill fortheir masters.
Postscript: In a fit of anger and depression, I sent a message to allthe channels, 30 hours through the coverage. After all they have beenconstantly asking the viewers to message them for anything andeverything. My message read: I send this with lots of pain. Allchannels, including yours, must apologise for not covering the victimsof CST massacre, the real mumbaikars and aam aadmis of India. Yourobsession with five star elite is disgusting. Learn from the printmedia please. No channel bothered. Only srinivasan Jain replied: youare right. We are trying to redress balance today. Well, nothinghappened till the time of writing this 66 hours after the terrorattack.
Watching at least four English news channels surfing from one anotherduring the last 60 hours of terror strike made me feel a terror ofanother kind. The terror of assaulting one's mind and sensitivity withcameras, sound bites and non-stop blabbers. All these channels havebeen trying to manufacture my consent for a big lie called - Hotel Tajthe icon of India.
Whose India, Whose Icon ?
It is a matter of great shame that these channels simply did notbother about the other icon that faced the first attack fromterrorists - the Chatrapathi Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station.CST is the true icon of Mumbai. It is through this railway stationhundreds of Indians from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, West Bengaland Tamilnadu have poured into Mumbai over the years, transformingthemselves into Mumbaikars and built the Mumbai of today along withthe Marathis and Kolis
But the channels would not recognise this. Nor would they recognisethe thirty odd dead bodies strewn all over the platform of CST. NoBarkha dutt went there to tell us who they were. But she was at Taj toshow us the damaged furniture and reception lobby braving the guards.And the TV cameras did not go to the government run JJ hospital tofind out who those 26 unidentified bodies were. Instead they wereagain invading the battered Taj to try in vain for a scoop shot of thedead bodies of the page 3 celebrities.
In all probability, the unidentified bodies could be those of workersfrom Bihar and Uttar Pradesh migrating to Mumbai, arriving by train atCST without cell phones and pan cards to identify them. Even after 60hours after the CST massacre, no channel has bothered to cover indetail what transpired there.
The channels conveniently failed to acknowledge that the Aam Aadmis ofIndia surviving in Mumbai were not affected by Taj, Oberoi and Tridentclosing down for a couple of weeks or months. What mattered to themwas the stoppage of BEST buses and suburban trains even for one hour.But the channels were not covering that aspect of the terror attack.Such information at best merited a scroll line, while the cameras haveto be dedicated for real time thriller unfolding at Taj or Narimanbhavan.
The so called justification for the hype the channels built aroundheritage site Taj falling down (CST is also a heritage site), is thatHotel Taj is where the rich and the powerful of India and the globecongregate. It is a symbol or icon of power of money and politics, notIndia. It is the icon of the financiers and swindlers of India. TheMumbai and India were built by the Aam Aadmis who passed through CSTand Taj was the oasis of peace and privacy for those who wielded powerover these mass of labouring classes. Leopold club and Taj were thehaunts of rich spoilt kids who would drive their vehicles oversleeping Aam Aadmis on the pavement, the Mafiosi of Mumbai foreverfinancing the glitterati of Bollywood (and also the terrorists) ,Political brokers and industrialists.
It is precisely because Taj is the icon of power and not people, thatthe terrorists chose to strike.
The terrorists have understood after several efforts that the AamAadmi will never break down even if you bomb her markets and trains.He/she was resilient because that is the only way he/she can evensurvive.
Resilience was another word that annoyed the pundits of news channelsand their patrons this time. What resilience, enough is enough, saidPranoy Roy's channel on the left side of the channel spectrum. Samesentiments were echoed by Arnab Goswami representing the right wing ofthe broadcast media whose time is now. Can Rajdeep be far behind inthis game of one upmanship over TRPs ? They all attacked resiliencethis time. They wanted firm action from the government in tacklingterror.
The same channels celebrated resilience when bombs went off in trainsand markets killing and maiming the Aam Aadmis. The resilience of theordinary worker suited the rich business class of Mumbai since work ormanufacture or film shooting did not stop. When it came to them, therich shamelessly exhibited their lack of nerves and refused to beresilient themselves. They cry for government intervention now toprotect their private spas and swimming pools and bars andrestaurants, similar to the way in which Citibank, General Motors andthe ilk cry for government money when their coffers are emptied bytheir own ideologies.
The terrorists have learnt that the ordinary Indian is unperturbed byterror. For one whose daily existence itself is a terror of governmentsponsored inflation and market sponsored exclusion, pain is somethinghe has learnt to live with. The rich of Mumbai and India Inc arefacing the pain for the first time and learning about it just as themiddle classes of India learnt about violation of human rights onlyduring emergency, a cool 28 years after independence.
And human rights were another favourite issue for the channels to whipat times of terrorism.
Arnab Goswami in an animated voice wondered where were thosechampions of human rights now, not to be seen applauding the brave andselfless police officers who gave up their life in fighting terorism.Well, the counter question would be where were you when such officerswere violating the human rights of Aam Aadmis. Has there ever been any24 hour non stop coverage of violence against dalits and adivasis ofthis country?
This definitely was not the time to manufacture consent for the extralegal and third degree methods of interrogation of police and army butArnabs don't miss a single opportunity to serve their class masters,this time the jingoistic patriotism came in handy to whitewash theentire uniformed services.
The sacrifice of the commandos or the police officers who went downdying at the hands of ruthless terrorists is no doubt heart rendingbut in vain in a situation which needed not just bran but also brain.Israel has a point when it says the operations were misplannedresulting in the death of its nationals here.
Khakares and Salaskars would not be dead if they did not commit themistake of traveling by the same vehicle. It is a basic lesson inmanagement that the top brass should never t ravel together in crisis.The terrorists, if only they had watched the channels, would havelaughed their hearts out when the Chief of the Marine commandos, anelite force, masking his face so unprofessionally in a see-throughcloth, told the media that the commandos had no idea about thestructure of the Hotel Taj which they were trying to liberate. But theterrorists knew the place thoroughly, he acknowledged.
Is it so difficult to obtain a ground plan of Hotel Taj and discussoperation strategy thoroughly for at least one hour before entering?This is something even an event manager would first ask for, if he hadto fix 25 audio systems and 50 CCtvs for a cultural event in a hotel.Would not Ratan Tata have provided a plan of his ancestral hotel tothe commandos within one hour considering the mighty apparatus at hisand government's disposal? Are satelite pictures only available forterrorists and not the government agencies ? In an operation known toconsume time, one more hour for preparation would have only improvedthe efficiency of execution.
Sacrifices become doubly tragic in unprofessional circumstances. Butthe Aam Aadmis always believe that terror-shooters do better planningthan terrorists. And the gullible media in a jingoistic mood would notraise any question about any of these issues.
They after all have their favourite whipping boy - the politician theeternal entertainer for the non-voting rich classes of India.
Arnabs and Rajdeeps would wax eloquent on Nanmohan Singh and Advanivisiting Mumbai separately and not together showing solidarity even atthis hour of national crisis. What a farce? Why can't these channelspool together all their camera crew and reporters at this time ofnational calamity and share the sound and visual bites which couldmean a wider and deeper coverage of events with such a huge humanresource to command? Why should Arnab and Rajdeep and Barkha keepharping every five minutes that this piece of information wasexclusive to their channel, at the time of such a national crisis? Isthis the time to promote the channel? If that is valid, the politicianpromoting his own political constituency is equally valid. And theduty of the politican is to do politics, his politics. It is for thepeople to evaluate that politics.
And terrorism is not above politics. It is politics by other means.
To come to grips with it and to eventually eliminate it, the practiceof politics by proper means needs constant fine tuning andimprovement. Decrying all politics and politicians, only helpsterrorists and dictators who are the two sides of the same coin. Andthe rich and powerful always prefer terrorists and dictators to dobusiness with.
Those caught in this crossfire are always the Aam Aadmis whose deathsare not even mourned - the taxi driver who lost the entire family atCST firing, the numerous waiters and stewards who lost their livesworking in Taj for a monthly salary that would be one time bill fortheir masters.
Postscript: In a fit of anger and depression, I sent a message to allthe channels, 30 hours through the coverage. After all they have beenconstantly asking the viewers to message them for anything andeverything. My message read: I send this with lots of pain. Allchannels, including yours, must apologise for not covering the victimsof CST massacre, the real mumbaikars and aam aadmis of India. Yourobsession with five star elite is disgusting. Learn from the printmedia please. No channel bothered. Only srinivasan Jain replied: youare right. We are trying to redress balance today. Well, nothinghappened till the time of writing this 66 hours after the terrorattack.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Fly up high
This is the first song written by me ... We have named it "Fly up high" and myself, Hims & Harsha composed it.
Wings are tired , body is crushed
But He promises that we won't be broken
Soar like an eagle-- free-spirit minded,
He promises to take care of you
Chorus :
So fly up high (3)
We have this baby born,
who lift us up...when we're down
So fly up high
Every cell born in the world,comes with a purpose
Formed in the eyes of the Maker
It ain't no mistake, it ain't no accident
He promised to remain with us forever
He weeps with us in our sorrows,
He laughs with us in our joys,
Human to the very core
Wants us to love all more
Wings are tired , body is crushed
But He promises that we won't be broken
Soar like an eagle-- free-spirit minded,
He promises to take care of you
Chorus :
So fly up high (3)
We have this baby born,
who lift us up...when we're down
So fly up high
Every cell born in the world,comes with a purpose
Formed in the eyes of the Maker
It ain't no mistake, it ain't no accident
He promised to remain with us forever
He weeps with us in our sorrows,
He laughs with us in our joys,
Human to the very core
Wants us to love all more
Monday, March 24, 2008
Death Penalty
I wonder if the Indian Government can be charged under IPC Section 302 for ‘legally’ killing convicted criminals?? When the constitution guarantees right to life… how does it give the judges to take away the same right? I am in no way justifying the crime committed by the inmates. Every person violating someone else’s human rights should be punished and punished severely… but killing them because they killed someone? It is then “murder for murder” and an eye for an eye… Like Gandhi says... “An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind” I am sure if this is the rate India is progressing in awarding death penalty then the whole system will turn blind very soon.
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