Two news items that appeared on opposite pages of Gulf News on October 28, 2006 is worth mentioning.
One report talks about the sorry state of Kuldip Singh, a bus driver with Delhi Transport Corporation who on this day last year courageously disposed off a ticking time bomb from his bus saving the lives of all of the 71 passengers on board; but in the process was grievously injured and suffered from complete loss of his eye sight.
Kuldip Singh and his family survive on a meagre income of 100 dollars per month. The fact that he is not getting any help from the government does not surprise me…!
I wonder what the 71 passengers - happily alive today thanks to Singh – are doing to help their saviour??? Have they grown as cold and thankless as their government..???
The other report talks about the arrest of two militants who were planning to blow up the Karnataka Legislative assembly building in Bangalore. The police have traced their satellite phone numbers and calls to Kashmir and Pakistan. Last year gunmen had attacked the prestigious Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore killing one scientist…
I wish the perpetrators of terrorism would put the money that they are spending to destabilise India to better use in their own country!!!
What noble cause can be served by violence, death and destruction…???
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Friday, October 27, 2006
Indians Make Best Husbands
Indians have already proven their mettle in the IT arena…And now, they are being prized as the best foreign husband a Russian woman can get…!!!
According to an article published in Indian Express, Maria Arbatova, the controversial Russian feminist and poetess, feels that Indian men make the best husbands for Russian women.
Twice married Maria is now living with an Indian.
After the Techies, perhaps India should now look at exporting Hubbies !!! Any Takers...????
According to an article published in Indian Express, Maria Arbatova, the controversial Russian feminist and poetess, feels that Indian men make the best husbands for Russian women.
Twice married Maria is now living with an Indian.
After the Techies, perhaps India should now look at exporting Hubbies !!! Any Takers...????
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
The World Needs an alternative fuel …NOW
I drive a Mitsubishi Pajero and I love it. It has a 3000 cc, 6 cylinder engine which delivers a cool 185 bhp power, and has enough room for my entire family and the occasional friends.
I love the feeling of power, the size and the look of the vehicle. But I feel extremely guilty for my thoughtless indulgence in this gas guzzler, because, as much as I love big cars, I am also a conscientious greenie.
I could probably do just as well with a 1300 cc car which would only burn a third of the fuel as my SUV would and emit a third of the green house gases and toxic stuff...
But can you blame me and the scores of other SUV owners for owning the things we love and doing the things we love...?
Answer to the woes – both environmental and economic - lies not in driving people to shift to smaller cars but in pushing the scientific community to develop not just cheaper, but more importantly, cleaner and renewable fuel.
While I appreciate the push for cleaner and more efficient cars, serious efforts are needed in developing alternative clean fuel which will considerably reduce the dependence on gasoline.
Although there are many alternatives to Gasoline as vehicle fuel - Electricity, Ethanol, Methanol, Methane (Natural Gas), Propane and re-formulated gasoline - Ethanol is the most promising alternative to Gasoline.
Ethanol (grain alcohol) is the primary automotive fuel in Brazil and ethanol-gasoline blends (known as gasohol) have been used in US for many years. Pure Ethanol fuel offers excellent performance combined with low hydrocarbon and toxic emission. Ethanol can be produced from corn, sugar cane, as well as from cellulosic material such as wood or paper waste.
Ethanol accounts for 20% of the transport fuel in Brazil whereas the use of alternative fuel in the rest of the world is a scanty 1%. That is a 20% reduction in dependence of fossil fuel and toxic emission from burning of gasoline as compared to the rest of the world!!!
I am looking forward to the day when I can drive my SUV without feeling guilty about it...!!!
I love the feeling of power, the size and the look of the vehicle. But I feel extremely guilty for my thoughtless indulgence in this gas guzzler, because, as much as I love big cars, I am also a conscientious greenie.
I could probably do just as well with a 1300 cc car which would only burn a third of the fuel as my SUV would and emit a third of the green house gases and toxic stuff...
But can you blame me and the scores of other SUV owners for owning the things we love and doing the things we love...?
Answer to the woes – both environmental and economic - lies not in driving people to shift to smaller cars but in pushing the scientific community to develop not just cheaper, but more importantly, cleaner and renewable fuel.
While I appreciate the push for cleaner and more efficient cars, serious efforts are needed in developing alternative clean fuel which will considerably reduce the dependence on gasoline.
Although there are many alternatives to Gasoline as vehicle fuel - Electricity, Ethanol, Methanol, Methane (Natural Gas), Propane and re-formulated gasoline - Ethanol is the most promising alternative to Gasoline.
Ethanol (grain alcohol) is the primary automotive fuel in Brazil and ethanol-gasoline blends (known as gasohol) have been used in US for many years. Pure Ethanol fuel offers excellent performance combined with low hydrocarbon and toxic emission. Ethanol can be produced from corn, sugar cane, as well as from cellulosic material such as wood or paper waste.
Ethanol accounts for 20% of the transport fuel in Brazil whereas the use of alternative fuel in the rest of the world is a scanty 1%. That is a 20% reduction in dependence of fossil fuel and toxic emission from burning of gasoline as compared to the rest of the world!!!
I am looking forward to the day when I can drive my SUV without feeling guilty about it...!!!
Veil Issue : From Egypt to England
Debate is raging if veil is indeed an Islamic tradition stipulated by the Holy Quran or just a tribal tradition that came to be associated with Islam.
Veil has increasingly started appearing on the streets from Egypt to England and from India to Indonesia.
In the more moderate Muslim majority countries like Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, veiled women are now a prominent sight where as it was rare a decade ago.
Is this the assertion of the new and emerging face of a radical islamic identity or a veiled protest against the mainstream society…?
The US and allied forces’ reaction to 9/11 – the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq – has undoubtedly driven moderate Muslims to embrace a more radical form of Islamic identity.
The irony in the case of Aishah Azmi, the veiled teaching assistant in England and that of Iman Ahmad, the 21-year old University of Halwan student who was banished from residence halls of the university, is that these women have embraced the veil (known as niqab) on their own free will…!!!
The vast majority of Muslim women in the arab world do not wear the full face cover, but opt instead to wear only the headscarf known as the Hijab
"I don't agree that the veil should be compulsory, and I don't like it," says Soad Saleh, a professor of Islamic law and former dean of the women's faculty of Islamic studies at Al-Azhar University, which is more than a thousand years old.
According to her “Quran does not say that women have to cover up their face – it is an old Bedouin tradition”.
Whatever one may say about the veil – pro or anti – the veil row is here to stay for a while.
As per press report in Egypt, a 63 year old Egyptian grandmother divorced her husband of more than 40 years because her ophthalmologist husband does not favour her wearing the veil!!!
Veil has increasingly started appearing on the streets from Egypt to England and from India to Indonesia.
In the more moderate Muslim majority countries like Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, veiled women are now a prominent sight where as it was rare a decade ago.
Is this the assertion of the new and emerging face of a radical islamic identity or a veiled protest against the mainstream society…?
The US and allied forces’ reaction to 9/11 – the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq – has undoubtedly driven moderate Muslims to embrace a more radical form of Islamic identity.
The irony in the case of Aishah Azmi, the veiled teaching assistant in England and that of Iman Ahmad, the 21-year old University of Halwan student who was banished from residence halls of the university, is that these women have embraced the veil (known as niqab) on their own free will…!!!
The vast majority of Muslim women in the arab world do not wear the full face cover, but opt instead to wear only the headscarf known as the Hijab
"I don't agree that the veil should be compulsory, and I don't like it," says Soad Saleh, a professor of Islamic law and former dean of the women's faculty of Islamic studies at Al-Azhar University, which is more than a thousand years old.
According to her “Quran does not say that women have to cover up their face – it is an old Bedouin tradition”.
Whatever one may say about the veil – pro or anti – the veil row is here to stay for a while.
As per press report in Egypt, a 63 year old Egyptian grandmother divorced her husband of more than 40 years because her ophthalmologist husband does not favour her wearing the veil!!!
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Is God Alive..?
The idea here is not to negate the existence of God. If anything, I am a habitual believer… One who is a believer by habit, more than out of conviction.
God is the most simplistic explanation for the life forces that modern science can not explain…
What keeps the sun and moon in their place..? Ask a physicist and he would answer gravity….
What is gravity…? It is the force exerted by two bodies, he would answer…
What is force…? Force is THAT which changes or tends to change the state of rest or motion of a body…
What is THAT...??? hmm !!!!
Almost habitually, I am inclined to call it God…the life force behind everything living and non-living.
The big question here is - IS God worth killing for or dying for…?
If God is the giver of life, how can one appease Him by taking a life…. Whether it is the ritualistic animal sacrifice or the expansionist crusades or the insane inter-faith killings and the murderous sectarian violence…
If God created man and man created religion, why can’t religion bring compassion and love..?
More has been killed in the name of God than the two world wars put together…
If religion can not promote peaceful co-existance, why do we need religion…???
I look at the conflicts around the world and wonder – Is god really alive..???
I look at the misery of people in Darfur and Ethiopia and wonder if God is really alive today…
What have these people done to deserve such appalling misery…? Hundreds of thousands are dying of sectarianism in the name of religion and politics. In Africa and other regions in Asia millions are starving to their death…
Why would God allow this if he were alive…?
God is the most simplistic explanation for the life forces that modern science can not explain…
What keeps the sun and moon in their place..? Ask a physicist and he would answer gravity….
What is gravity…? It is the force exerted by two bodies, he would answer…
What is force…? Force is THAT which changes or tends to change the state of rest or motion of a body…
What is THAT...??? hmm !!!!
Almost habitually, I am inclined to call it God…the life force behind everything living and non-living.
The big question here is - IS God worth killing for or dying for…?
If God is the giver of life, how can one appease Him by taking a life…. Whether it is the ritualistic animal sacrifice or the expansionist crusades or the insane inter-faith killings and the murderous sectarian violence…
If God created man and man created religion, why can’t religion bring compassion and love..?
More has been killed in the name of God than the two world wars put together…
If religion can not promote peaceful co-existance, why do we need religion…???
I look at the conflicts around the world and wonder – Is god really alive..???
I look at the misery of people in Darfur and Ethiopia and wonder if God is really alive today…
What have these people done to deserve such appalling misery…? Hundreds of thousands are dying of sectarianism in the name of religion and politics. In Africa and other regions in Asia millions are starving to their death…
Why would God allow this if he were alive…?
Friday, October 20, 2006
Introspection
I sit still…
In the apparent safety of my car’s interior…
The cool air gushing from the grills of its air-conditioner
With a dampened hiss, perhaps of protest
Comforting me with an obligation…
The tinted glasses hugging my eyes
Filtering off ‘unwanted’ rays from the scorching sun
Oblivious to myself,
And the numerous cars raging past (as if there is no tomorrow)
I sit still, in the car
Taking me to my destiny!
From the depths of my mind
A voice awakens me...
Of concern and inquisition
Echoing in the emptiness of my ears
“What makes you YOU…?”
Mind dilates with the urge to decipher
Wide eyes searching with greed to behold
Ears listening anxiously to absorb…
The clues that may give away...
The answer to my quest…
Thoughts swirl inwards,
Extending, expanding, wandering and searching…
Through the alleys I have walked
Through moments I have breathed
Through the days that I have lived
Through the scenes I have seen, and
The sounds I have heard
And the wisdom my senses has accumulated
As my mind heaves
In the labor of this intercourse
Of mind and thought
Of time and space…
Cold realization precipitates
Heavy beads of contempt
Sighing deeply
As if to revitalize..
Shaking my head
As if to dispel the ill thoughts
Blinking to contain bewilderment
In sheer disbelief..
Do I utter this to myself
I know not…
What makes me ME....!!!
In the apparent safety of my car’s interior…
The cool air gushing from the grills of its air-conditioner
With a dampened hiss, perhaps of protest
Comforting me with an obligation…
The tinted glasses hugging my eyes
Filtering off ‘unwanted’ rays from the scorching sun
Oblivious to myself,
And the numerous cars raging past (as if there is no tomorrow)
I sit still, in the car
Taking me to my destiny!
From the depths of my mind
A voice awakens me...
Of concern and inquisition
Echoing in the emptiness of my ears
“What makes you YOU…?”
Mind dilates with the urge to decipher
Wide eyes searching with greed to behold
Ears listening anxiously to absorb…
The clues that may give away...
The answer to my quest…
Thoughts swirl inwards,
Extending, expanding, wandering and searching…
Through the alleys I have walked
Through moments I have breathed
Through the days that I have lived
Through the scenes I have seen, and
The sounds I have heard
And the wisdom my senses has accumulated
As my mind heaves
In the labor of this intercourse
Of mind and thought
Of time and space…
Cold realization precipitates
Heavy beads of contempt
Sighing deeply
As if to revitalize..
Shaking my head
As if to dispel the ill thoughts
Blinking to contain bewilderment
In sheer disbelief..
Do I utter this to myself
I know not…
What makes me ME....!!!
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