Sunday, October 30, 2005

Terror Strikes Home....AGAIN!!!!

Once again India became the (easy) target of terrorists. Atleast 70 people died on Saturday night when three car bombs went off in busy market areas of Delhi. The victims here ,as always are, are again innocent people.... Shopping for the coming festivals of Diwali & Eid.
It is really sad and makes me really angry that innocent people continue to die by these unjustifiable acts of terror. And I don't know for how long does the Indian government(s) lets this carnage to continue year after year. When would it stand up against these terrorists who have been making attack after an attack on Indians for many decades now ???
Photo : AP

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Schwarzenegger Street…

I came across this political cartoon on Schwarzenegger @ The Huffington Post today . It ain't tht gud like the "This Land" cartoon from Jib Jab during the '04 elections, but it's worth having a look at.

And those who haven't yet checked the latest one from Jib Jab.... titled Second Term...do check it out.

N joy!!!

The hijacking of Swastika / Swastik

A few days ago, I came across a photo-blog by two Americans who've visited India recently and what caught my attention is that these two guys were initially surprised ( they later found out its significance) to find the symbol of Swastika/Swastik being widely & prominently used everywhere in India.

Like most Westerners they too though that it kind of represents an allegiance to the philosophy of the Hitlers' Nazi Party or an acceptance of fascism and racism , of which the symbol is generally associated with in the West. Most of the Westerners would have shown the same reaction on their first visit to India as they are all unaware of its significance and importance in the Hindu way of life in India.

Swastika has been in use by the Hindus for thousands of years now. It is a symbol of good luck and auspiciousness for Hindus. It could be widely seen all over India on temples, houses, shops, new vehicles or machines etc.,I myself , having a Hindu brought up, have seen it being marked on my books during the festival of Lord Ganesha , on the wedding cards of my cousins and relatives and we even have it marked on the entrance of the meditation and puja room in our house and, to be honest I never thought of it in any other way than I knew it was.

It is really sad to see that such taboo is attached to a symbol because one crazy racist party hijacked it to represent there ideology. That's crazy!!!! It is like doing the same to the cross because of it being used by the crusaders during the 11th and 13th centuries or for the KKK using it as a prominent symbol. It sounds ridiculous right!

And after seeing the above mentioned blog I made some research on this topic and found out that Swastika was used by various civilizations during various periods of time and still certain cultures around the world use it in the similar way as the Hindus do. ( Check this! )

Now it is up to the large number of expats of these cultures present around the world to enlighten the world about the misconceptions on the use of Swastika and should see to that the neo-Nazi parties,still present in some parties of the world, stop using it to represent their ideology which one shouldn't forget resulted in one of the darkest moments known in history.

Update: And if you believe in this cause and would like to get the icon up in your blog then go over to this place and try out the code!

I'd like to make clear that i purely see this as a cultural issue and not as a religious or any other issue. I deeply respect and understand the complexity of this issue and what it means for the Holocaust Survivors around the world. I no way or ever will endorse the repulsive and unacceptable ideology of the Nazis.

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

An Insight into the minds of google......

If u are a google fan like myself, do check out the link tht I've given . It gives u an insight into the minds of men behind google and there is also a lot of useful stuff in those blogs too.

Even if u r not a google fan u cld jst read it as an interesting blog.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

A Sad "milestone" in Iraq for America....

A Sad "milestone" for the US Military in Iraq....the number of MP dead crossed the 2000 mark today.

And the number of Iraqis killed lies anywhere between 36000 to 100,000!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't even think about the number of injured on both the sides.....you wld(shld) be disgusted with yourself....that is if u consider yoursef to be a human being and have any conscience in you.

All for.....What?

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Are we (really) there yet???


Until an year ago, living in India, I always used to believe (& dreamt) that we are going to be a developed nation pretty soon...may be within the next 20 years. But thanks to the "Sarkars" of India, I was always wakened up to the reality of India and assured that the dream of a developed India may always remain a dream.

The last week's earthquake in South Asia is a good example of the defects and potholes that still riddle the bureaucracy inherited from the Raj. The way the state & central administrations failed to stand up for their own people in the hour of need just shows that we have a very long way to go in terms of being a developed nation. Here was the one opportunity where we could have won the hearts and minds of those disgruntled percentage of kashmiris who might be having hard feelings towards India and we floundered it real bad. It's pathetic. What else could describe the situation when even after one week aid hasn't reached to some parts of the state????

India's economy is now growing @ 7-8% an year and is forecasted to maintain the same or even higher growth rate in the coming years, progress is being made in providing health care,education,drinking water,good infrastructure throughout the country , the quality of life in general is increasing and we have a USD 143.435 billion forex reserves ( and counting). IT has been and still is a major factor in fueling the present growth and it may eventually take us to the top. But...Is it enough to sustain us at the top for ever? The answer is simple...NO.

Also the question here is...Is the wealth that is being created reaching the poor? Around 40-45% of the 1.3 Billion population in India still lives behind the poverty line,the same percentage of people are also illiterate, corruption is still a major demon that needs to be tackled,minor ethnic and communal strifes still plague the country.....the list goes on....

I'm an optimist. I believe that we could still make it to the top league, but we need an initiative from the political establishment that would usher in the golden days that people in India are waiting for the last 58 years. India as a nation has three valuable qualities--a vibrant democracy,a secular identity and sovereignty--which a very few nations in the world could boast of having. And I believe that as long as these three form the pillars on which the nation stands there is always HOPE.

P.S. : The Photo above is of a Kashmiri boy trying to stay in line for the supplies at a relief camp.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Stunning postcards....

Two images tht wld take your breath away....




This stunning image taken by the Cassini spacecraft was released by NASA two days bck. This is an image of Dione ,one of the moons of the Saturnian system, against the back drop of Saturn and its rings. These images keep getting better and better with every day and I cldn't stop myself from posting this image.

For those of you who want to know more details about this particular image....go to image ......and for those who want to know more abt the mission try Cassini-Huygens .




And this image won the best black n white wildlife photograph award for 2005 (BBC). It shows a crowd of elephants (wht does one call a crowd of elephants?) against the backdrop of Mt. Kilimanjaro which is 25miles away.

Simply amazing!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

First Link...

I'm glad to add on Dr. Alamandrax as my first outside blog link....

Monday, October 17, 2005

What a farce!!!



World Champions ( Australia ) vs World XI.....

It was billed as the "Super" series that would take the cricketing world by storm and which would be held every four years on the lines of the world cup. But alas! What a false beginning, for this mega event of cricket , it turned out to be at the end!

The more than convincing 210 runs victory by the aussies in the just concluded Super test at the Sydney Cricket Ground has already dug up its' own grave as a tournament, all for a brilliant concept still in its nascent stages ( ICC ) .This test victory follows the 3-0 thumping received by the World XI from the ruthless aussies in the one day series that preceded the Super test.

The World XI really had themselves to blame for the thrashing they received at the hands of the aussies. Even though it had the likes of Lara, Dravid, Flintoff, Inzy among others in its ranks, the lack of cohesiveness and team spirit in addition to lack of match practice and form led to the downfall of the World XI. I believe the selectors are also to blame for their sloppy selection of the team. The process of selecting the probables was made four to five months prior to the tournament, too early to begin with, and the current form of the players was grossly ignored.

On the other hand, the aussies were rearing to go after a humiliating Ashes loss to the English. This series was taken by the aussies as an opportunity to strike back at there critics who began to doubt if there dominance of world cricket is coming to an end after the Ashes defeat. And they rightly have proven that they still are among the best in the world, if not the "invincibles" that they once were.

Finally, I think that it would be a big mistake to drop this tournament just because of the reason that an out of form team was thrashed by the world champions. It would be foolish on part of the ICC to do so. In-fact, the ICC should be willing to promote this idea in the future to keep the sense of compadre seen among the players and most importantly among the people of different nations who turned up to watch it. The (cricketing) world needs this after what all is happening in the world currently.

Friday, October 14, 2005

Kudos to the Chinese


Well let me first congratulate the Chinese for their country’s second successive launch of humans into space. Nice job!

This successful launch is a good sign for the space community around the world after some disappointing setbacks to the American shuttle program. I believe this augers well for the future as it would keep the interest of other developed nations in sending humans into space.

China’s space programs’ position right now could be mostly attributed to the Russian technology and the extent of its own indigenousness is still questionable. But as with most of the things in China there is a great deal of secrecy in this too and thus hard to make out whether China really has the cutting edge technology to take the next obvious step, to be more precise to land on the moon. Officially though, it is planning to send an unmanned spacecraft to the moon in 2010. Anyways I think china is making fantastic strides, and that to at a very quick pace, in its’ space ambitions and definitely a booming economy is also playing a major role in this. This is helping China in putting up a face in the international arena as a powerhouse and aiming to be a superpower in the not too distant future.