Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Ladd, jhagad, aage badh?
Went to Jadhavgadh for lunch with hubby and beti this Sunday. A nice one hour drive from KP where we live with a cute little uphill route thrown in. Nicely restored fort .. good lunch and a tour of the premises which includes a museum. The building that houses the museum reminded me of traditional homes in Kerala somehow...the open courtyard in the middle, etc. unless ofcourse its because I've not visited any ( if there are any) restored or 'converted to hotels' havelis or homes in Maharashtra like I have elsewhere. I know surprisingly little about traditional Maharashtra though I've spent more than half my life here.
"Ladd, Jhagad, Aage badh" is the catchline on the signboards and advertisements for Jadhavgadh. Beat that!
My daughter wanted to know what the word FORT means. I had to explain how rulers and warriors had to build them to protect and defend their lands against attacks by foreigners. They showed us a dungeon where prisoners were sent. I didn't go down the steps, the very sight of it was claustrophobia inducing because it reminded me of another dungeon in some castle in England where we'd seen wrist and ankle clamps on walls to chain prisoners vertically one foot off the floor and other more inhuman instruments of torture. They were left there to die.. with rodents, the cold damp air and hunger for special effects. She then asked me who the "good" men were in this picture and (as happens often when I'm with her) I had no answer.
These were HUMAN BEINGS of yesterday. Some who attacked and some who defended...like territorial beasts . Some who were 'right' and some who were 'wrong' depending on which side of the border you were on when you took down minutes of the war to be recorded as History for posterity. Land, women, wealth, fame. Wonderful things to have at the cost of other lives and one's own moral dignity.
One glimpse at the newspapers today will tell us nothing much has changed. It is still 'Yeh mehlon, yeh takhton, yeh taajon ki duniya" where we fight using the slightest excuse. Where we're constantly comparing one with the other and fighting over differences instead of celebrating them. I am guilty of this too.
My daughter goes to Karate class, I tell her she must learn to 'defend' herself and not be a weakling. She wants to know who she must defend herself against and why. 'Others' I tell her...others that are physically stronger and who might use that physical strength against her someday and also to protect those others who're weak and might need her help. I tell her not to trust everyone who is sweet to her. When she began school I had to tell her not to be too generous with her snackbox unless she has saved enough for herself. She used to come back home, often hungry and with an empty box thanks to other tots her own age, which is sweet in hindsight but wasn't, back then. She's slightly older and smarter but still asks me when I remind her...'Amma, sometimes you tell me it is nice to share, sometimes you tell me I must not...why do you confuse me?" So now she takes a little extra so she can share and still have enough for herself. I ask her to respect the same rules when she's peeping into a friend's snackbox.
How does this work in the larger picture? I don't know.
These days everything seems to push me down some psychedelic philosophical spiral leaving me angry, drained and disillusioned. (Definitely not great company unless you have a couch and charge by the hour....NO..THAT is not what I meant! )
Fences, defences...around hearts, souls, minds, bodies, homes, cities, countries....and so it goes on. We're isolating/insulating ourselves from everything around us because we're afraid of each other on more levels than one. We'll live in fear till we die... par yeh jeena bhi koi jeena hai, Lallu?
"Ladd, Jhagad, Aage badh" is the catchline on the signboards and advertisements for Jadhavgadh. Beat that!
My daughter wanted to know what the word FORT means. I had to explain how rulers and warriors had to build them to protect and defend their lands against attacks by foreigners. They showed us a dungeon where prisoners were sent. I didn't go down the steps, the very sight of it was claustrophobia inducing because it reminded me of another dungeon in some castle in England where we'd seen wrist and ankle clamps on walls to chain prisoners vertically one foot off the floor and other more inhuman instruments of torture. They were left there to die.. with rodents, the cold damp air and hunger for special effects. She then asked me who the "good" men were in this picture and (as happens often when I'm with her) I had no answer.
These were HUMAN BEINGS of yesterday. Some who attacked and some who defended...like territorial beasts . Some who were 'right' and some who were 'wrong' depending on which side of the border you were on when you took down minutes of the war to be recorded as History for posterity. Land, women, wealth, fame. Wonderful things to have at the cost of other lives and one's own moral dignity.
One glimpse at the newspapers today will tell us nothing much has changed. It is still 'Yeh mehlon, yeh takhton, yeh taajon ki duniya" where we fight using the slightest excuse. Where we're constantly comparing one with the other and fighting over differences instead of celebrating them. I am guilty of this too.
My daughter goes to Karate class, I tell her she must learn to 'defend' herself and not be a weakling. She wants to know who she must defend herself against and why. 'Others' I tell her...others that are physically stronger and who might use that physical strength against her someday and also to protect those others who're weak and might need her help. I tell her not to trust everyone who is sweet to her. When she began school I had to tell her not to be too generous with her snackbox unless she has saved enough for herself. She used to come back home, often hungry and with an empty box thanks to other tots her own age, which is sweet in hindsight but wasn't, back then. She's slightly older and smarter but still asks me when I remind her...'Amma, sometimes you tell me it is nice to share, sometimes you tell me I must not...why do you confuse me?" So now she takes a little extra so she can share and still have enough for herself. I ask her to respect the same rules when she's peeping into a friend's snackbox.
How does this work in the larger picture? I don't know.
These days everything seems to push me down some psychedelic philosophical spiral leaving me angry, drained and disillusioned. (Definitely not great company unless you have a couch and charge by the hour....NO..THAT is not what I meant! )
Fences, defences...around hearts, souls, minds, bodies, homes, cities, countries....and so it goes on. We're isolating/insulating ourselves from everything around us because we're afraid of each other on more levels than one. We'll live in fear till we die... par yeh jeena bhi koi jeena hai, Lallu?
Monday, December 29, 2008
WHAT is going on?
http://www.roguepolice.com/pil20.htm
Recieved this link from my pal Rati Parker and think it MUST be shared. Please read.
Recieved this link from my pal Rati Parker and think it MUST be shared. Please read.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
The mind goggles
Is this true?
I asked in another blog why Kasab and his friends turned to murder and mayhem. Maybe this will give us a clue.
Why are they fed lies and given a distorted self image at an age when they must be innocent and building self esteem? How will they be responsible, self respecting citizens of the world if they're told that they're universally hated? Why wont Pakistan's 'educated' as opposed to 'indoctrinated' citiziens wake up and demand to be told the truth? From Jinnah to Zardari, all their leaders, like their mullahs, have lied to the Pakistanis. A country established and run on the poisonous fuel of lies and dirty politics, it is now seen as an international migraine. Isn't that sad? They used to be us not very long ago and today they're this cringing, kicking, impoverished, frothing at the mouth, mutilated, infected neighbor that we can't bring ourselves to tolerate any longer.
We pray for a real Jihad in Pakistan. A revival of the real Islam. A new dawn of respect...for the truth and themselves. And when that happens, maybe they'll learn to respect the rest of us and earn our respect in return? Inshallah!
I asked in another blog why Kasab and his friends turned to murder and mayhem. Maybe this will give us a clue.
Why are they fed lies and given a distorted self image at an age when they must be innocent and building self esteem? How will they be responsible, self respecting citizens of the world if they're told that they're universally hated? Why wont Pakistan's 'educated' as opposed to 'indoctrinated' citiziens wake up and demand to be told the truth? From Jinnah to Zardari, all their leaders, like their mullahs, have lied to the Pakistanis. A country established and run on the poisonous fuel of lies and dirty politics, it is now seen as an international migraine. Isn't that sad? They used to be us not very long ago and today they're this cringing, kicking, impoverished, frothing at the mouth, mutilated, infected neighbor that we can't bring ourselves to tolerate any longer.
We pray for a real Jihad in Pakistan. A revival of the real Islam. A new dawn of respect...for the truth and themselves. And when that happens, maybe they'll learn to respect the rest of us and earn our respect in return? Inshallah!
Friday, December 26, 2008
Kya irony hai!
Sri Sri Ravishankar "Sssoooooooo Hummmmm fame" goes to Iraq to unite Shias and Sunnis.
Zakir Naik ji? tsk tsk!!!
Zakir Naik ji? tsk tsk!!!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Why?
Antulay still a Union Minister at 79?
And why is he having to quit over this? Don't you have your own doubts? I know I do.
Why are we doing nothing yet? So much discussion...so much self doubt. If we're confident that we have proof, we must act. But will we?
The ball is in our court...and all we're doing is making a racket?
And why is he having to quit over this? Don't you have your own doubts? I know I do.
Why are we doing nothing yet? So much discussion...so much self doubt. If we're confident that we have proof, we must act. But will we?
The ball is in our court...and all we're doing is making a racket?
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Pune wakes up to Bombay's darknight
Yesterday in Pune....
Women in silks, labels and warpaint, men in designer track gear....protesting against corruption and 'mourning' Mumbai's night of terror. More like laughing, catching up...ambling up and down about 1/10th of Pune's little M.G. road. The youth thankfully seemed committed to the cause. Their banners left very little unsaid. A lot of energy...untapped, looking for direction. It frustrates me how not many older people looked 'clued-in' or interested even. I guess it comes from years of taking things for granted and just not caring. I belong neither with the youth ( except in spirit) nor the 'elders' ( except in physical fatigue)..am fuming and self-doubting...a bad position from any angle. Anyway, I signed up ( a little form) for what seems like an impending war against terror and corruption. Small scale, but a war nevertheless. Waiting and hoping it really happens.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Flipside
Words aren't coming easy. So much has already been said about what has happened in Bombay, the city where I was born and spent a good 27 years of my life. A city which gives everyone a chance...now, even the terrorists. In the eye of this crazy storm of negative emotions are my feelings of pity, for these young boys who were brainwashed and sent to their deaths. How were they brought up? What were they before they became these killing machines? There was a piece in yesterday's newspaper which said one of them was given up by his father in exchange for money. Dirt poor, they were. Now they're rich? I don't think this could have been an easy decision, for the father or the son. Yet they made it and acted on it. And suddenly this isn't only about money. There are 'educated', well to do, 'everyday' folks involved in many/all aspects of these operations too. What leads them down this path, I wonder. What sense of injustice, of persecution drives them to plan and execute these dastardly acts? Do the results satiate them? Make them feel better? I doubt it.
While everyone talks of control and reaction, I'd like to speak of positive action...finding the root cause of all these ills. Is it religion? I don't think so...religion is also only another crutch, another means of brainwashing those who need something to hold on to in desparate times. These boys were mere puppets. We need to get to those who hold the strings. Yes, I suppose I seem like some kind of traitor, sitting here and typing away about people who deserve nothing more or less than our complete contempt. They probably always had enough of that, atleast in their minds. Was that what pushed them over the brink? If I feel helpless about Bombay, I also feel sorry for those boys who came here and caused such misery. They weren't bold, they were cowards, scared of some demon they were convinced could be exorcised only this way. They were miserable inside, there was something missing. I don't see an end to this problem unless we find that something and restore the self image and self respect of a people who are perhaps in a scarier hell than we are.
While everyone talks of control and reaction, I'd like to speak of positive action...finding the root cause of all these ills. Is it religion? I don't think so...religion is also only another crutch, another means of brainwashing those who need something to hold on to in desparate times. These boys were mere puppets. We need to get to those who hold the strings. Yes, I suppose I seem like some kind of traitor, sitting here and typing away about people who deserve nothing more or less than our complete contempt. They probably always had enough of that, atleast in their minds. Was that what pushed them over the brink? If I feel helpless about Bombay, I also feel sorry for those boys who came here and caused such misery. They weren't bold, they were cowards, scared of some demon they were convinced could be exorcised only this way. They were miserable inside, there was something missing. I don't see an end to this problem unless we find that something and restore the self image and self respect of a people who are perhaps in a scarier hell than we are.
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