Friday, May 13, 2005
Blog on Vacation
This blogger is off on a golf & hiking vacation out West, thus won't be blogging much (if at all) for a week or so. Hope nothing exciting happens while we're away (except on our greens & trails)!
Thursday, May 12, 2005
iPOD is Dead
Headline: Gates Says IPod Success Won't Last
Our blogpost from a month ago: iPOD Has Finally Jumped The Shark
Prescience?!
Our blogpost from a month ago: iPOD Has Finally Jumped The Shark
Prescience?!
An Isolationist Re-interpretation of WWII
Isolationist-conservative Pat Buchanan (with past Nixon and Reagan administration affiliations) who, in 1992, made a stunning call to arms over a self-perceived "culture war" in America, has penned a controversial column questioning the world's understanding of WWII.
Because the war was fought to defend Eastern Europe and because Eastern Europe, subsequent to the outrage at Yalta, fell behind the odious iron-curtain, Mr. Buchanan feels the war was fought in vain.
He fails to mention the moral imperative of fighting the terrorists responsible for the holocaust. He also leaves out the fact that the West continued resisting totalitarianism for half a century after WWII (Mr. Buchanan himself being a cold warrior); consequently, the immoral Russian Revolution was turned back and the liberation of Eastern Europe was finally achieved.
Not surprisingly, his column has provoked strong controversy.
This is an important discussion for Indians to follow since there is a deep isolationist tendency among many Indians as well. Our advocates of military reticence (in the name of peace & prosperity, they say) do not see strategic value in moral imperatives. To them, India should mind its own business and befriend its neighborhood dictators, even if the latter are leading their nations (thus our neighborhood) over a socio-political cliff.
They also fear that India's muscling our neighbors into democratic modernity, notwithstanding the moral validity of such action, might provoke all sorts of terrible outcomes, some (e.g., China's ire) even worse than current nightmares. This is basically Pat Buchanan's argument over why the West should've kept out of WWII.
We reject such thinking completely, believing instead that it is India's moral duty to persuade, failing which coerce, our neighbors into political modernity. It's possible this leads to short-term costs, but there is no denying the long-term gains that will accrue. Pat Buchanan is wrong about West's role in WWII; so are Indians who'd rather not set unilateral standards for modern political conduct in our neighborhood.
Because the war was fought to defend Eastern Europe and because Eastern Europe, subsequent to the outrage at Yalta, fell behind the odious iron-curtain, Mr. Buchanan feels the war was fought in vain.
He fails to mention the moral imperative of fighting the terrorists responsible for the holocaust. He also leaves out the fact that the West continued resisting totalitarianism for half a century after WWII (Mr. Buchanan himself being a cold warrior); consequently, the immoral Russian Revolution was turned back and the liberation of Eastern Europe was finally achieved.
Not surprisingly, his column has provoked strong controversy.
This is an important discussion for Indians to follow since there is a deep isolationist tendency among many Indians as well. Our advocates of military reticence (in the name of peace & prosperity, they say) do not see strategic value in moral imperatives. To them, India should mind its own business and befriend its neighborhood dictators, even if the latter are leading their nations (thus our neighborhood) over a socio-political cliff.
They also fear that India's muscling our neighbors into democratic modernity, notwithstanding the moral validity of such action, might provoke all sorts of terrible outcomes, some (e.g., China's ire) even worse than current nightmares. This is basically Pat Buchanan's argument over why the West should've kept out of WWII.
We reject such thinking completely, believing instead that it is India's moral duty to persuade, failing which coerce, our neighbors into political modernity. It's possible this leads to short-term costs, but there is no denying the long-term gains that will accrue. Pat Buchanan is wrong about West's role in WWII; so are Indians who'd rather not set unilateral standards for modern political conduct in our neighborhood.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
UN: Out Of Our 'Hood!
Via New York Daily News, UN is planning to relocate (alas temporarily) to, gasp, Brooklyn while it renovates its monstrous existing building! An earlier harebrained scheme to build a temporary tower over a neighborhood children's playground has, mercifully, been stalled by New York politicians.
As we noted here, this blogger is a UN neighbor, and given our contempt for the UN, lives to see the day the UN moves out permanently so that we New Yorkers can build our fancy new apartments in the prime location the UN currently sullies.
As we noted here, this blogger is a UN neighbor, and given our contempt for the UN, lives to see the day the UN moves out permanently so that we New Yorkers can build our fancy new apartments in the prime location the UN currently sullies.
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Cool News From Pakistan
Via BBC comes this cool story about women cadets in Pakistani Airforce.
From a nation where fanatics assault women for running in marathons, this is truly an impressive advance. Cadet Saba Khan says:
I always wanted to be a fighter pilot, and eventually with Allah's wish and the full support of my parents, I made it this far.
Cadet Saman Ahmed says:
We don't expect compassion, we don't get compassion, and we don't want compassion.
They have the right attitude and hopefully will go far. We wish them the very best in their careers.
One caveat though. If they ever find themselves in dogfights against their Indian counterparts, we'd be forced to root for their jets to be shot down and destroyed -- without mercy. Until then, they have our maximum support for success.
From a nation where fanatics assault women for running in marathons, this is truly an impressive advance. Cadet Saba Khan says:
I always wanted to be a fighter pilot, and eventually with Allah's wish and the full support of my parents, I made it this far.
Cadet Saman Ahmed says:
We don't expect compassion, we don't get compassion, and we don't want compassion.
They have the right attitude and hopefully will go far. We wish them the very best in their careers.
One caveat though. If they ever find themselves in dogfights against their Indian counterparts, we'd be forced to root for their jets to be shot down and destroyed -- without mercy. Until then, they have our maximum support for success.
Remedial Physics Lesson Needed
Via Times of India, the following is the lead paragraph in a story about cheap personal computers:
Marking a great leap in the area of computer technology, Indian scientists have come up with new mobile desktop computers which are much cheaper than the currently available products and run on batteries, thus doing away with the need for electricity.
Marking a great leap in the area of computer technology, Indian scientists have come up with new mobile desktop computers which are much cheaper than the currently available products and run on batteries, thus doing away with the need for electricity.
Come again? Perhaps they should study remedial physics, or this primer: How does a battery produce electricity?!
Monday, May 09, 2005
Jerusalem
We caught Kingdom of Heaven, Ridley Scott's latest war-epic, this weekend. A story of the crusades, New York Times describes it as An Epic Bloodletting Empowered by Faith.
It's also a spring-release which implies the movie has missed its mark.
Nevertheless, one is left to ponder the power of Jerusalem that inspires such intense covetousness among the competing armies of monotheism.
What is modern India's equivalent of Jerusalem? Is our own tryst with destiny in our colonial past, or are there still more to be had? What overarching objective will inspire our people out of their sloth and into our own promised land?
It's also a spring-release which implies the movie has missed its mark.
Nevertheless, one is left to ponder the power of Jerusalem that inspires such intense covetousness among the competing armies of monotheism.
What is modern India's equivalent of Jerusalem? Is our own tryst with destiny in our colonial past, or are there still more to be had? What overarching objective will inspire our people out of their sloth and into our own promised land?
The Den Of Spies
Saturday, we discussed Nepal with a European friend with experience in Kathmandu. We put to him the question raised here: Should India take Nepal?
Why, he asked? Nepal is valuable to India as a buffer state, a junction where Asia's geo-political players swap their (frequently dangerous) wares. Why else do they all maintain outsized diplomatic posts in Kathmandu? Strategic location, pleasant weather, inexpensive real estate, easily "influenced" power-brokers, and a fatalistic populace combine to create the perfect buffer state. Nowhere else in Asia can one find this combination.
So, he argued, India's (and others') interests are served by Nepal as is. The objective must be to keep this espionage-Xanadu intact. From his recent visits to Maoist-controlled areas, he felt the Maoists had already taken Nepal; therefore, the right course is to cut a deal with them and Kathmandu's permanent bureaucracy. The King will be packed off, a toothless "democracy" will be restored, the fatalistic population will shrug its shoulders, and (a profitable) peace will return to Xanadu.
When queried as to why dealing with Maoists doesn't risk Cambodia in Nepal, he asserted that Nepal's (Hindu therefore fatalistic) people are not the same timber as the Khmer Rouge. There'll be violence but Nepal will not become a new killing field.
We disagree with him on his understanding of Hindu timber therefore the Cambodia risk, but are intrigued by his other point. If India were to take Nepal (which is what an invasion would imply), where will Asia re-convene its new den of spies? Singapore? Colombo? Bangkok?
Why, he asked? Nepal is valuable to India as a buffer state, a junction where Asia's geo-political players swap their (frequently dangerous) wares. Why else do they all maintain outsized diplomatic posts in Kathmandu? Strategic location, pleasant weather, inexpensive real estate, easily "influenced" power-brokers, and a fatalistic populace combine to create the perfect buffer state. Nowhere else in Asia can one find this combination.
So, he argued, India's (and others') interests are served by Nepal as is. The objective must be to keep this espionage-Xanadu intact. From his recent visits to Maoist-controlled areas, he felt the Maoists had already taken Nepal; therefore, the right course is to cut a deal with them and Kathmandu's permanent bureaucracy. The King will be packed off, a toothless "democracy" will be restored, the fatalistic population will shrug its shoulders, and (a profitable) peace will return to Xanadu.
When queried as to why dealing with Maoists doesn't risk Cambodia in Nepal, he asserted that Nepal's (Hindu therefore fatalistic) people are not the same timber as the Khmer Rouge. There'll be violence but Nepal will not become a new killing field.
We disagree with him on his understanding of Hindu timber therefore the Cambodia risk, but are intrigued by his other point. If India were to take Nepal (which is what an invasion would imply), where will Asia re-convene its new den of spies? Singapore? Colombo? Bangkok?
Friday, May 06, 2005
India Dimming?
Via New York Times, Global dimming reverses; except in India.
In India, CAG blasts 'India Shining' campaign.
Coincidence?!
In India, CAG blasts 'India Shining' campaign.
Coincidence?!
Pigs At The Trough
Amit alerts us to India's lamentable pandering of labor unions.
Labor unions have done much, over the decades, to advance worker rights. For this, they've secured an honorable place in history. Regrettably, they've now lapsed into a suicidal greed which discredits their noble antecedents.
It's not just in India where labor union greed is destroying value. In Europe, labor unions have created a structural low-growth, high unemployment economy. From America, read yesterday's headline: S&P Cuts GM, Ford Ratings to 'Junk' Status -- courtesy their unions.
In the past few years, multiple US airlines have gone bankrupt. Again, courtesy the unions.
Conceptually, collective bargaining is about capital and labor agreeing on the size of the value pie, then negotiating respective shares consistent with the size and market-driven prices for their contributions. This is the best way for equitably sharing an ever-increasing pie.
In practice, in some economic sectors (e.g., airlines, automobiles, public sector), unions have such a stranglehold that market-driven pricing goes out of the window. Consequently, the union gets carte-blanche, and the higher it grabs for itself, the lesser return the capital gets (in case of US automakers, this leads to lower stock prices and junk debt; in case of Indian public sector, this leads to a transfer of wealth from taxpayers to union members).
In the end, this is equivalent to racing one's car closer and closer to the cliff; sure, there is temporary thrill, but in the end, there's nothing but void.
Labor unions have done much, over the decades, to advance worker rights. For this, they've secured an honorable place in history. Regrettably, they've now lapsed into a suicidal greed which discredits their noble antecedents.
It's not just in India where labor union greed is destroying value. In Europe, labor unions have created a structural low-growth, high unemployment economy. From America, read yesterday's headline: S&P Cuts GM, Ford Ratings to 'Junk' Status -- courtesy their unions.
In the past few years, multiple US airlines have gone bankrupt. Again, courtesy the unions.
Conceptually, collective bargaining is about capital and labor agreeing on the size of the value pie, then negotiating respective shares consistent with the size and market-driven prices for their contributions. This is the best way for equitably sharing an ever-increasing pie.
In practice, in some economic sectors (e.g., airlines, automobiles, public sector), unions have such a stranglehold that market-driven pricing goes out of the window. Consequently, the union gets carte-blanche, and the higher it grabs for itself, the lesser return the capital gets (in case of US automakers, this leads to lower stock prices and junk debt; in case of Indian public sector, this leads to a transfer of wealth from taxpayers to union members).
In the end, this is equivalent to racing one's car closer and closer to the cliff; sure, there is temporary thrill, but in the end, there's nothing but void.
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Why Blogs Matter
This past Sunday, we had dinner with a leading Indian advocate for economic liberalism.
We brought up the recent blog-protest against Musharraf's visit. Why wasn't there even one similar protesting view expressed in our traditional media, we asked? Surely other Indians, besides the protesting bloggers, disagreed with India's outreach to the Pakistani dictator? If so, where were their voices?
We then suggested that traditional media, particularly on foreign policy issues, smothers all opinion that dissents from the Government view. Thus, our media is hardly a place for reasoned debate; rather, it's a means for the Government, and its proxies, to shape public opinion. Perhaps blogs could fill this intellectual void, we speculated.
Our guest disagreed. The commercial media caters to the market, he argued, and prints/broadcasts content that sells. His implication was that our kind of hawkishness likely has no market in today's India. As for blogs becoming a place for debate, well, they have so little readership that they don't really matter.
He's likely right. Then, should serious bloggers just give up? We think not.
We hate to quote from a movie, much less a movie we've recently dismissed as being terrible(!), but there's a nugget of good in all things. In The Interpreter's climactic scene, the vicious dictator reads, at gunpoint, the following from his autobiography (written when he was still an honorable man):
It's hard to hear among the gunfire...But even the softest whisper can be heard when it tells the truth.
We think this is a pretty important point. Blogs may not (yet) have the megaphone the traditional media has, but as long as they have integrity, their whisper will find receptive ears.
We brought up the recent blog-protest against Musharraf's visit. Why wasn't there even one similar protesting view expressed in our traditional media, we asked? Surely other Indians, besides the protesting bloggers, disagreed with India's outreach to the Pakistani dictator? If so, where were their voices?
We then suggested that traditional media, particularly on foreign policy issues, smothers all opinion that dissents from the Government view. Thus, our media is hardly a place for reasoned debate; rather, it's a means for the Government, and its proxies, to shape public opinion. Perhaps blogs could fill this intellectual void, we speculated.
Our guest disagreed. The commercial media caters to the market, he argued, and prints/broadcasts content that sells. His implication was that our kind of hawkishness likely has no market in today's India. As for blogs becoming a place for debate, well, they have so little readership that they don't really matter.
He's likely right. Then, should serious bloggers just give up? We think not.
We hate to quote from a movie, much less a movie we've recently dismissed as being terrible(!), but there's a nugget of good in all things. In The Interpreter's climactic scene, the vicious dictator reads, at gunpoint, the following from his autobiography (written when he was still an honorable man):
It's hard to hear among the gunfire...But even the softest whisper can be heard when it tells the truth.
We think this is a pretty important point. Blogs may not (yet) have the megaphone the traditional media has, but as long as they have integrity, their whisper will find receptive ears.
Good News From Afghanistan
Via Christian Science Monitor, Afghan girls kick down old barriers.
Not surprising from women with such indelibly determined eyes.
Not surprising from women with such indelibly determined eyes.
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Indians Seeking Saudi Citizenship?
From Indian Express, Indians rush to get Saudi citizenship. This is a regime that kills innocent people and kills them viciously. Why these Indians want citizenship of this civillizational desert is beyond our comprehension?
Perhaps these myopics should read the following from Stratfor:
Rumors swept through Kuwait on Tuesday that King Fahd bin Abdel-Aziz al Saud had died. Fahd has not truly governed Saudi Arabia for several years because of his deteriorated physical condition -- Crown Prince Abdullah manages daily affairs -- and his health had been reported as declining for several weeks. The rumors were not properly denied by the people you would expect to deny them. Throughout the day, we were left with the impression that if death had not occurred, it was imminent.
The succession to the top is fairly clear. Abdullah, a half-brother to the king who also heads the National Guard, will become king upon Fahd's death. Prince Sultan, the head of the Ministry of Defense, is the King's full brother and will dominate the Sudairi clan of the Sauds. Abdullah and Sultan are personal and institutional rivals. Sultan is expected to be named crown prince after Fahd's death and Abdullah's elevation. The Sudairis must be concerned that Abdullah will weaken their power.
There is no question but that Abdullah will ascend to the throne, and Sultan is by far the most likely to become crown prince at that point. But likely is not certain: The al-Faisal branch of the royal family -- descended from King Faisal, who was assassinated in 1975 -- would like to make a comeback. The key to that is holding the position of crown prince. If the crown prince is not a Sudairi, the political balance of power in the royal family would shift dramatically. A fight for the position of crown prince, should it be intense, would be destabilizing as well.
The royal family has a vested interest in not permitting instability to break out, of course. The recent confrontation with jihadists in the kingdom, the tremendous instability in the region and the need to use high oil prices to stabilize and improve the kingdom's economy make it rational for the princes to work this out. And they might well succeed in doing that. But it should be noted that the heirs of King Fahd are themselves not young men. Most are in their 70s. That means that there is a massive generational shift coming soon, and that stability at that point likely will be much more difficult to maintain.
It must be remembered that Saudi Arabia remains the key oil supplier in the world and a key player in the Arab and Islamic world; therefore, the succession has global implications. It should also be noted that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington has just said that the United States does not, at the moment, have the resources to effectively prosecute a major war outside of Iraq, without a major buildup of forces.
Since a major buildup would require a great deal of time, what is being said is that the United States is in no position to intervene should the situation in Saudi Arabia blow apart. There is little risk of that at the moment, and Fahd's death, by itself, would not trigger instability. But down the road a bit, the Saudis will have to sort things out -- and when that happens, things will get dicey.
Instability in Saudi Arabia certainly would be of global significance, but the cop on the beat is tired.
Perhaps these myopics should read the following from Stratfor:
Rumors swept through Kuwait on Tuesday that King Fahd bin Abdel-Aziz al Saud had died. Fahd has not truly governed Saudi Arabia for several years because of his deteriorated physical condition -- Crown Prince Abdullah manages daily affairs -- and his health had been reported as declining for several weeks. The rumors were not properly denied by the people you would expect to deny them. Throughout the day, we were left with the impression that if death had not occurred, it was imminent.
The succession to the top is fairly clear. Abdullah, a half-brother to the king who also heads the National Guard, will become king upon Fahd's death. Prince Sultan, the head of the Ministry of Defense, is the King's full brother and will dominate the Sudairi clan of the Sauds. Abdullah and Sultan are personal and institutional rivals. Sultan is expected to be named crown prince after Fahd's death and Abdullah's elevation. The Sudairis must be concerned that Abdullah will weaken their power.
There is no question but that Abdullah will ascend to the throne, and Sultan is by far the most likely to become crown prince at that point. But likely is not certain: The al-Faisal branch of the royal family -- descended from King Faisal, who was assassinated in 1975 -- would like to make a comeback. The key to that is holding the position of crown prince. If the crown prince is not a Sudairi, the political balance of power in the royal family would shift dramatically. A fight for the position of crown prince, should it be intense, would be destabilizing as well.
The royal family has a vested interest in not permitting instability to break out, of course. The recent confrontation with jihadists in the kingdom, the tremendous instability in the region and the need to use high oil prices to stabilize and improve the kingdom's economy make it rational for the princes to work this out. And they might well succeed in doing that. But it should be noted that the heirs of King Fahd are themselves not young men. Most are in their 70s. That means that there is a massive generational shift coming soon, and that stability at that point likely will be much more difficult to maintain.
It must be remembered that Saudi Arabia remains the key oil supplier in the world and a key player in the Arab and Islamic world; therefore, the succession has global implications. It should also be noted that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington has just said that the United States does not, at the moment, have the resources to effectively prosecute a major war outside of Iraq, without a major buildup of forces.
Since a major buildup would require a great deal of time, what is being said is that the United States is in no position to intervene should the situation in Saudi Arabia blow apart. There is little risk of that at the moment, and Fahd's death, by itself, would not trigger instability. But down the road a bit, the Saudis will have to sort things out -- and when that happens, things will get dicey.
Instability in Saudi Arabia certainly would be of global significance, but the cop on the beat is tired.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
The Sissification Of IITs
First, IITs, IIMs to open doors to Pakistanis and now IIT-JEE to be made simpler. The end of days must be upon us.
Our jaw dropped at reading this:
According to sources, the first change may be to limit questions to the +2 syllabus. "The HRD ministry feels many of the IIT-JEE questions are based on topics that are not taught at the +2 stage, and are, in fact, of a far advanced standard. This forces candidates to start preparing at least three years in advance - from Class IX itself. They overload themselves and this leads to depression, which sometimes leads to suicides," IIT-Kharagpur director SK Dubey told TOI.
In the finals, candidates have to answer three papers - physics, chemistry and mathematics - through a gruelling six hours on a single day. The ministry feels it is too taxing and has asked the committee to work out a better "fatigue and rest cycle."
What in heaven's name is going on here? What are these guys smoking? If memory serves right, when we took the JEE (in the 80s), our IIT classmates had not only secured high ranks in the JEE, they were also merit rankers in the +2 exams. No sweat. And we didn't kill ourselves either (to be precise, most of us did not). BTW, we were anything but geeks. Isn't this the profile of students we want at IIT? (Or, should we now offer neck massages for IIT aspirants as they crawl out of the exam hall, de-energized from having just squared C and multiplied it with M?!)
Fatigue and rest cycles?! After only six hours of work that doesn't even involve physical effort? If only the millions of Indian farmers and laborers had such luxury. This is truly pathetic.
Please don't consider us callous. We sympathize with the struggling kids trying to make it to the big leagues. We applaud their effort and understand their stress. We think there are other ways to resolve this than emasculating the IITs. Lets open up more non-IIT engineering colleges, for example, as advocated here.
This proposed sissification of IITs is, alas, one more example of the general softening of India we've been lamenting here for some time.
Our jaw dropped at reading this:
According to sources, the first change may be to limit questions to the +2 syllabus. "The HRD ministry feels many of the IIT-JEE questions are based on topics that are not taught at the +2 stage, and are, in fact, of a far advanced standard. This forces candidates to start preparing at least three years in advance - from Class IX itself. They overload themselves and this leads to depression, which sometimes leads to suicides," IIT-Kharagpur director SK Dubey told TOI.
In the finals, candidates have to answer three papers - physics, chemistry and mathematics - through a gruelling six hours on a single day. The ministry feels it is too taxing and has asked the committee to work out a better "fatigue and rest cycle."
What in heaven's name is going on here? What are these guys smoking? If memory serves right, when we took the JEE (in the 80s), our IIT classmates had not only secured high ranks in the JEE, they were also merit rankers in the +2 exams. No sweat. And we didn't kill ourselves either (to be precise, most of us did not). BTW, we were anything but geeks. Isn't this the profile of students we want at IIT? (Or, should we now offer neck massages for IIT aspirants as they crawl out of the exam hall, de-energized from having just squared C and multiplied it with M?!)
Fatigue and rest cycles?! After only six hours of work that doesn't even involve physical effort? If only the millions of Indian farmers and laborers had such luxury. This is truly pathetic.
Please don't consider us callous. We sympathize with the struggling kids trying to make it to the big leagues. We applaud their effort and understand their stress. We think there are other ways to resolve this than emasculating the IITs. Lets open up more non-IIT engineering colleges, for example, as advocated here.
This proposed sissification of IITs is, alas, one more example of the general softening of India we've been lamenting here for some time.
General Aurora R.I.P.
1971 war hero Lt General J S Aurora dead
General Jagjit Singh Aurora led India to its single most significant post-independence victories in war.
That war of Bangladesh's liberation was unilateral, not supported by other great powers, without UN sanction, and -- in history's eyes -- entirely legitimate. India has lost the spirit of '71 somewhat in recent years; perhaps General Aurora' passing will remind us again of that year of our moral & political triumph.
General Jagjit Singh Aurora led India to its single most significant post-independence victories in war.
That war of Bangladesh's liberation was unilateral, not supported by other great powers, without UN sanction, and -- in history's eyes -- entirely legitimate. India has lost the spirit of '71 somewhat in recent years; perhaps General Aurora' passing will remind us again of that year of our moral & political triumph.
Monday, May 02, 2005
Pogrom Poems
Keki Daruwala reviews Seeme Qasim's After Gujarat And Other Poems in this week's Outlook. Here, Ms. Qasim writes about her feelings over the Gujarat pogrom.
After Gujarat, I remember
the Saryu flowing
Near an ornate temple
the azaan
travels
into myself....
After Gujarat, I remember
frail Amma at her namaaz
We're reminded of a pretty cool Nida Fazli verse on the same subject we read somewhere, some time ago. Here it is (sorry, non-Urdu speakers):
Mujhe maloom hai tumharey naam sey mansoob hain tootey huey sooraj
Shikasta chand, kala aasmaan, curfew-zada rahein
Sulagtey khel ke maidan, roti cheekhti maae'n
Mujhe maaloom hai charo taraf jo ye tabahi hai
Hukumat mein siyasat ke tamashe ki gawahi hai
Tumhein Hindu ki chaahat hai na Muslim se adaavat hai
Tumhara dharm sadiyon se tijarat tha tijarat hai
Mujhe maloom hai lekin tumhe mujrim kahoon kaisey
Adaalat mein tumharey jurm ko sabit karoon kaisey
Tumhari jeib mein khanjar na haaton mein koi bum tha
Tumharey rath pe to Mariyada Purshottam ka parcham tha.
After Gujarat, I remember
the Saryu flowing
Near an ornate temple
the azaan
travels
into myself....
After Gujarat, I remember
frail Amma at her namaaz
We're reminded of a pretty cool Nida Fazli verse on the same subject we read somewhere, some time ago. Here it is (sorry, non-Urdu speakers):
Mujhe maloom hai tumharey naam sey mansoob hain tootey huey sooraj
Shikasta chand, kala aasmaan, curfew-zada rahein
Sulagtey khel ke maidan, roti cheekhti maae'n
Mujhe maaloom hai charo taraf jo ye tabahi hai
Hukumat mein siyasat ke tamashe ki gawahi hai
Tumhein Hindu ki chaahat hai na Muslim se adaavat hai
Tumhara dharm sadiyon se tijarat tha tijarat hai
Mujhe maloom hai lekin tumhe mujrim kahoon kaisey
Adaalat mein tumharey jurm ko sabit karoon kaisey
Tumhari jeib mein khanjar na haaton mein koi bum tha
Tumharey rath pe to Mariyada Purshottam ka parcham tha.
Don't Throw Stones If You're In A Glass House
In today's Dawn, Jawed Naqvi writes about Parables from an Indian Abu Ghraib.
Rather than throwing stones at India, he should've focused on Syed Saleem Shahzad's Detentions: A case against Pakistan in today's Asia Times.
Rather than throwing stones at India, he should've focused on Syed Saleem Shahzad's Detentions: A case against Pakistan in today's Asia Times.
Arjun He Ain't!
Check out the grimace on this Pakistani almost-archer's face (click over to picture 7 of 8)! Mukha, indeed!!
The Interpreter
Caught Sydney Pollock's new movie The Interpreter, starring Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn.
Many of the film's sequences were filmed on location, inside the UN complex -- courtesy Shashi Tharoor (UN's under secretary-general for communications and public information).
Setting aside our mirth at the embattled UN needing Nicole Kidman to rescue its public image, we must note that the film itself is quite bad. Much like the UN, The Interpreter fails its high ambition. Its caricature of Africa -- her zen-like tribal wisdom, her savaged & savage children -- is trite to the extreme.
The only redeeming feature of the movie: gorgeous aeriel shots of mid-town Manhattan's skyline, including the First Avenue apartment building where this blogger lives!!!
Many of the film's sequences were filmed on location, inside the UN complex -- courtesy Shashi Tharoor (UN's under secretary-general for communications and public information).
Setting aside our mirth at the embattled UN needing Nicole Kidman to rescue its public image, we must note that the film itself is quite bad. Much like the UN, The Interpreter fails its high ambition. Its caricature of Africa -- her zen-like tribal wisdom, her savaged & savage children -- is trite to the extreme.
The only redeeming feature of the movie: gorgeous aeriel shots of mid-town Manhattan's skyline, including the First Avenue apartment building where this blogger lives!!!
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