If you believe in Global Warming...
Take Up The Challenge... Help The Planet.
~Video Killed The Radio Star~
What I Read Today
I read this article today on IHT The discouraging rise of pessimism.. on perception of how optimist & pessimist view the world beyond them.. to be frank.. i 'm not sure if i understood what the writer meant to convey.. but anyways its nice mind crunching thought..
[...]
Pessimism as philosophy is skeptical of the idea of progress. Pursuing happiness is a fool's errand. Pessimism is not, as is commonly thought, about being depressed or misanthropic, and it does not hold that humanity is headed for disaster. It simply doubts the most basic liberal principle: that applying human reasoning to the world's problems will have a positive effect.The biggest difference between optimists and pessimists, is in how they view time. Optimists see the passing of time as a canvas on which to paint a better world. Pessimists see it as a burden. Time ticks off the physical decline of one's body toward the inevitability of death, and it separates people from their loved ones.
"All the tragedies which we can imagine," said Simone Weil, the French philosopher who starved herself to death at age 34, "return in the end to the one and only tragedy: the passage of time."
Optimists see history as the story of civilization's ascent. Pessimists believe, in the idea that any apparent progress has hidden costs, so that even when the world seems to be improving, "in fact it is getting worse (or, on the whole, no better)."
As politicians, pessimists do not believe in undertaking great initiatives to ameliorate unhappiness, since they are skeptical they will work. They are inclined to accept the world's evil and misery as inevitable. Camus joined the French Resistance. But pessimism's overall spirit, as Camus noted, "is not to be cured, but to live with one's ailments."
[...]
pretty thoughtful... and heavy on intellect.. i agree with the writer that everything has a price.. some hidden costs.. but i don't think one can live with a general unhappiness in his/her environs.. given a chance if he or she can fix it.. whatever the hidden costs are.. at least i think so..
~Like A Hurricane~
[...]
Pessimism as philosophy is skeptical of the idea of progress. Pursuing happiness is a fool's errand. Pessimism is not, as is commonly thought, about being depressed or misanthropic, and it does not hold that humanity is headed for disaster. It simply doubts the most basic liberal principle: that applying human reasoning to the world's problems will have a positive effect.The biggest difference between optimists and pessimists, is in how they view time. Optimists see the passing of time as a canvas on which to paint a better world. Pessimists see it as a burden. Time ticks off the physical decline of one's body toward the inevitability of death, and it separates people from their loved ones.
"All the tragedies which we can imagine," said Simone Weil, the French philosopher who starved herself to death at age 34, "return in the end to the one and only tragedy: the passage of time."
Optimists see history as the story of civilization's ascent. Pessimists believe, in the idea that any apparent progress has hidden costs, so that even when the world seems to be improving, "in fact it is getting worse (or, on the whole, no better)."
As politicians, pessimists do not believe in undertaking great initiatives to ameliorate unhappiness, since they are skeptical they will work. They are inclined to accept the world's evil and misery as inevitable. Camus joined the French Resistance. But pessimism's overall spirit, as Camus noted, "is not to be cured, but to live with one's ailments."
[...]
pretty thoughtful... and heavy on intellect.. i agree with the writer that everything has a price.. some hidden costs.. but i don't think one can live with a general unhappiness in his/her environs.. given a chance if he or she can fix it.. whatever the hidden costs are.. at least i think so..
~Like A Hurricane~
1984 in 2006
"There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always — do not forget this, Winston — always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face ...for ever."
-George Orwell In 1984.
"To see what's is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle."
-George Orwell
Arguably life imitates art.. or was it the other way round.. but any ways... Winston Smith did not stand a chance.. neither do many other hapless victims... Winston who.. ?? who victims.. ?? its all down the memory hole already...
-George Orwell In 1984.
"To see what's is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle."
-George Orwell
Arguably life imitates art.. or was it the other way round.. but any ways... Winston Smith did not stand a chance.. neither do many other hapless victims... Winston who.. ?? who victims.. ?? its all down the memory hole already...
Colors Of The Fall
this is the picture just taken outside my apartment.. its fall time here in new england.. and all the foliage is covered with all colors possible.. its hard to imagine how nature can be so beautiful & colorful just with trees & only trees...
~Dust In The Wind~
Being Ten More Than Ninety
does the post title sound insane.. well it is insane... but yes i choosed this name as this is post number 'ten more than ninety'... in easier words.. its the hundreth post.. i need to be congratulated on this.. ahem...
so here goes disarmament for a toss... i am seeing a potential mushroom cloud over the far-east.. you never know how serious the north korean's are on executing their threat to test nuclear weapons.. but yes they have nothing to lose in this jingoism.. and they know that washington is in a fix right now.. so is communist korea playing to the gallery or can they really walk their talk.. well it's anybody guess.. they have the capabilty.. no doubt about that.. but would they leverage that threat for concessions or test the weapons & lose that bargaining chip.. it has to be seen.. equally interesting would be the response of japanese new nationalist prime minister... this theatre has many players.. and many vestiges of the past.. that haven't healed over the time.. both korea's remain technically at war as their war ended in an armistice in '53.. there is also serious hard feelings in korea & china for the japanese militarist past and its abuses.. america has over 50,000 forces stationed in okinawa & south korea.. and now the sudden rise of japanese nationalism... also there is a feeling that china and russia have lost favour with the north korean leadership.. or maybe pyongyang is not in a mood to relent this time... but one thing is clear if north korea bites the bullet... japan is going to renounce its post-war pacifist constitution.. china may take armed japan into future strategic planning... as a spin-off of this imbroglio.. further straining relations... add to this the missile defence that america is building for japan and taiwan.. this would complicate problems for bush jr. and provoke iran to follow suit... hmmmm.... there are more headaches and more mushroom clouds in the offing.. maybe a new one in middle east is not that far really...
~More Than A Feeling~
so here goes disarmament for a toss... i am seeing a potential mushroom cloud over the far-east.. you never know how serious the north korean's are on executing their threat to test nuclear weapons.. but yes they have nothing to lose in this jingoism.. and they know that washington is in a fix right now.. so is communist korea playing to the gallery or can they really walk their talk.. well it's anybody guess.. they have the capabilty.. no doubt about that.. but would they leverage that threat for concessions or test the weapons & lose that bargaining chip.. it has to be seen.. equally interesting would be the response of japanese new nationalist prime minister... this theatre has many players.. and many vestiges of the past.. that haven't healed over the time.. both korea's remain technically at war as their war ended in an armistice in '53.. there is also serious hard feelings in korea & china for the japanese militarist past and its abuses.. america has over 50,000 forces stationed in okinawa & south korea.. and now the sudden rise of japanese nationalism... also there is a feeling that china and russia have lost favour with the north korean leadership.. or maybe pyongyang is not in a mood to relent this time... but one thing is clear if north korea bites the bullet... japan is going to renounce its post-war pacifist constitution.. china may take armed japan into future strategic planning... as a spin-off of this imbroglio.. further straining relations... add to this the missile defence that america is building for japan and taiwan.. this would complicate problems for bush jr. and provoke iran to follow suit... hmmmm.... there are more headaches and more mushroom clouds in the offing.. maybe a new one in middle east is not that far really...
~More Than A Feeling~
Bowling For Columbine
last saturday i was watching micheal moore's bowling for columbine... yet again... in case you don't know.. it documents the reasons for columbine school massacre.. the reason why america leads the figures for gun-related homicide.. and why guns and america is one potent potion... and in the span of last one week.. there has been three school shooting that had fatalities... including the one at pennsylvania today... the symptoms that this documentary talks about are all there... it just manifests differently everytime... this media campaign of fear and anxiety.. of fear-aided-consumption... of an america that is at odds with the generally accepted perception... of america that is living on edge and with lots of guns lying around... of boys who bowled and gunned their way to infamy... of six-year old killing six year old... of people who fail to accept that they have a problem at hand..
as micheal moore said in closing words of the film... "Yes, it was a glorious time to be an American."
~Kinks In Celluloid Heroes~
I wish my life was a non-stop hollywood movie show,
A fantasy world of celluloid villains and heroes,
Because celluloid heroes never feel any pain
And celluloid heroes never really die.
as micheal moore said in closing words of the film... "Yes, it was a glorious time to be an American."
~Kinks In Celluloid Heroes~
I wish my life was a non-stop hollywood movie show,
A fantasy world of celluloid villains and heroes,
Because celluloid heroes never feel any pain
And celluloid heroes never really die.
Let The Good Times Roll
[...]
The Indian economy grew at an unexpectedly brisk pace of 8.9 percent in the second quarter of 2006, propelled by a sharp turnaround in its once laggard manufacturing industry.The Indian growth rate is now among the highest anywhere; at the pace announced Friday, the economy will double in size every eight years. Manufacturing output in the three months through June grew 11.3 percent from a year earlier, beating a 10.6 percent expansion in the roaring Indian services trade of call centers and software houses.
[...]
so we are giving china a fight for the finish in manufacturing as well... it will be years or even decades before we match the cap-ex that china has built over the years.. we need to ensure that these good numbers are not just a flash in a pan.. or some quaterly aberration but the rise of a counter-weight to chinese dominance.. but matching up to china is no one way street.. it has to be built in from in-side and ground-up.. it needs strong phyiscal as well as social infrastructure... as i had already said before in my previous posts...
"Normally the best of the times are there to make the toughest of decisions.. the choices of today will decide the growth of tomorrow... there has to be positive reforms to sustain and further this growth instead of relying on foreign funds to do the trick.. "
but this fractious left-leaning government has done nothing to sustain or augment this growth trajectory.. some would say that current government made it on the pro-poor platform... hmmmm.. so the government wouldn't do anything that's seen pro-big-business... sure.. lets buy this argument for a minute... show me what this establishment has done for its so-called poor votebank.. those marginalised... nothing except rabble rousing.. farmers continue to commit suicide.. not much movement either on infrastructure or so-called social justice front.. a kind of inertia has gripped this government.. and brought it to a halt.. for anything and everything ... everybody looks over their shoulder to sonia gandhi... as if she holds the destiny of over one billion people... such servile attitude of the current leadership is scornful... tell me 'whats the biggest decision this goverment took in last one year'... and you are left scratching your head as if this country was in some utopian land.. an el-dorado.. where all things possible have been achieved.. this inertia.. inaction.. this 'chalta hai attitude' would take us nowhere.. it has taken us nowhere in last sixty years... how can establishment think that things would turn honky-dory with it doing nothing...
~Who Are You~
The Indian economy grew at an unexpectedly brisk pace of 8.9 percent in the second quarter of 2006, propelled by a sharp turnaround in its once laggard manufacturing industry.The Indian growth rate is now among the highest anywhere; at the pace announced Friday, the economy will double in size every eight years. Manufacturing output in the three months through June grew 11.3 percent from a year earlier, beating a 10.6 percent expansion in the roaring Indian services trade of call centers and software houses.
[...]
so we are giving china a fight for the finish in manufacturing as well... it will be years or even decades before we match the cap-ex that china has built over the years.. we need to ensure that these good numbers are not just a flash in a pan.. or some quaterly aberration but the rise of a counter-weight to chinese dominance.. but matching up to china is no one way street.. it has to be built in from in-side and ground-up.. it needs strong phyiscal as well as social infrastructure... as i had already said before in my previous posts...
"Normally the best of the times are there to make the toughest of decisions.. the choices of today will decide the growth of tomorrow... there has to be positive reforms to sustain and further this growth instead of relying on foreign funds to do the trick.. "
but this fractious left-leaning government has done nothing to sustain or augment this growth trajectory.. some would say that current government made it on the pro-poor platform... hmmmm.. so the government wouldn't do anything that's seen pro-big-business... sure.. lets buy this argument for a minute... show me what this establishment has done for its so-called poor votebank.. those marginalised... nothing except rabble rousing.. farmers continue to commit suicide.. not much movement either on infrastructure or so-called social justice front.. a kind of inertia has gripped this government.. and brought it to a halt.. for anything and everything ... everybody looks over their shoulder to sonia gandhi... as if she holds the destiny of over one billion people... such servile attitude of the current leadership is scornful... tell me 'whats the biggest decision this goverment took in last one year'... and you are left scratching your head as if this country was in some utopian land.. an el-dorado.. where all things possible have been achieved.. this inertia.. inaction.. this 'chalta hai attitude' would take us nowhere.. it has taken us nowhere in last sixty years... how can establishment think that things would turn honky-dory with it doing nothing...
~Who Are You~
Written On the Wall
President Musharaff : In 2001, the United States had threatened to bomb Pakistan back to the stone age unless it joined the fight against Al-Qaeda.
Bush Jr. : I would order American troops to take action inside Pakistan if Osama Bin Laden was found to be hiding there.
so the obvious question is.. Is the "honeymoon" over..? such sabre rattling when the general is facing tough time is bound to even lessen the elbow space he has.. after all he was the america's 'best hope'.. and see how the hopes come crashing down... so what has caused the apparently warm realations to cool off so dramatically... i guess everybody saw it comming...
#afghanistan is in midst of the most serious insurgency after US troops marched into Kabul.. and its open secret that from where taliban is drawing its real power... Bin Laden and his men hiding somewhere.. maybe in a cave in miran shah or maybe a luxiourious appartment in downtown karachi...
#the president (Musharaff) himself looks as shaky as ever before... even after eight years in power nothing much has improved on ground... politically.. economically... the democracy is nowhere to be seen.. the muslim right is still powerful.. parts of his country are under tribal or political insurrection...
#recent incidents have shown that his power is slipping or he is incapable of even sound judgement.. the recent military type killing of nawab bugti.. the ceasefire in waziristan ( effectively ceeding those FATA areas to taliban ) has shown that he may not be after all in america's best interest... i have a feeling that this waziristan thing is a prelude to US forces in pakistan...
#pakistan has become The Factory Of Terrorism... not only in its immediate neighbourhood.. but in lands as remote as britain ( the failed plane bombing plot ) has convinced people that camps in kotli don't need kabul or kashmir to spew venom.. it will find reaons anyways... they have become those swamps that need to be drained out...
But i doubt how far the United States is willing to go to tighten the leash aroung Musharaff.. america is not in the best of times militarily and strategically... atleast in this region.. i believe neither Bush nor Musharaff have any other cards to play with respect to terrorism... they need each others back for scratching... and i guess both need Bin Laden back also for scratching.. after all the day he is caught.. Bush and his fabled 'Global War On Terror' will lose its singular fighting ( or existential ) motive.. Musharaff will lose his sole trumpcard.. even though he is playing with empty hands or even possibly with his hands tied at the back...
~Carry On My Wayward Son~
Bush Jr. : I would order American troops to take action inside Pakistan if Osama Bin Laden was found to be hiding there.
so the obvious question is.. Is the "honeymoon" over..? such sabre rattling when the general is facing tough time is bound to even lessen the elbow space he has.. after all he was the america's 'best hope'.. and see how the hopes come crashing down... so what has caused the apparently warm realations to cool off so dramatically... i guess everybody saw it comming...
#afghanistan is in midst of the most serious insurgency after US troops marched into Kabul.. and its open secret that from where taliban is drawing its real power... Bin Laden and his men hiding somewhere.. maybe in a cave in miran shah or maybe a luxiourious appartment in downtown karachi...
#the president (Musharaff) himself looks as shaky as ever before... even after eight years in power nothing much has improved on ground... politically.. economically... the democracy is nowhere to be seen.. the muslim right is still powerful.. parts of his country are under tribal or political insurrection...
#recent incidents have shown that his power is slipping or he is incapable of even sound judgement.. the recent military type killing of nawab bugti.. the ceasefire in waziristan ( effectively ceeding those FATA areas to taliban ) has shown that he may not be after all in america's best interest... i have a feeling that this waziristan thing is a prelude to US forces in pakistan...
#pakistan has become The Factory Of Terrorism... not only in its immediate neighbourhood.. but in lands as remote as britain ( the failed plane bombing plot ) has convinced people that camps in kotli don't need kabul or kashmir to spew venom.. it will find reaons anyways... they have become those swamps that need to be drained out...
But i doubt how far the United States is willing to go to tighten the leash aroung Musharaff.. america is not in the best of times militarily and strategically... atleast in this region.. i believe neither Bush nor Musharaff have any other cards to play with respect to terrorism... they need each others back for scratching... and i guess both need Bin Laden back also for scratching.. after all the day he is caught.. Bush and his fabled 'Global War On Terror' will lose its singular fighting ( or existential ) motive.. Musharaff will lose his sole trumpcard.. even though he is playing with empty hands or even possibly with his hands tied at the back...
~Carry On My Wayward Son~
Being Conservative...
there is a great debate going on in U.S. a kind'of introspection as to where this country is heading under Bush Jr... and you hear terms like neocons.. conservatism.. theocons.. christian right.. over and over again on U.S. media.. 'am not sure what exactly these terms mean in context of american polity.. or the general sense of unease in political circles... i don't know if current administration policy on iraq or on torture or on religion in politics or on gun control or on global warming measures up to being conservative or liberal... but i 'm sure this is not the way to go forward... and i am also sure that i belong to that school of thought in which Bush Jr. is not the leading torch bearer.. be it conservative or liberal... i read this recent essay that speaks on being conservative and on global warming.. i kind'of liked it... so i 'm copying it here...
[...]
Conservatives do not seek to remake the world anew. We do not hope to impose upon it some abstract ideological “truth” or bring about some new age for humanity. We seek as conservatives merely to live up to our generational responsibility and to care for the inheritance we have in turn been given. This ecological vision is a Burkean one, which is why Toryism’s natural colour is as much green as blue.
Of all those likely to be alarmed by freakishly hot summers, potentially freezing futures and drastic events such as super-hurricanes, conservatives should surely be the most prominent. Conservatives tend to like things as they are and have been. They are discombobulated by change, which they always experience as, in some measure, loss.
And loss it is. When an old tree is uprooted by a storm, when an old church is razed or an old factory turned into loft apartment, we all sense that something has been lost — if not the actual thing then the attachments that people, past and present, have forged with it, the web of emotion and loyalty and fondness that makes a person’s and a neighbourhood’s life a coherent story.
Human beings live by narrative. We become sad when a familiar character disappears from a soap opera, or an acquaintance moves, or an institution becomes unrecognizable from what it once was. These little griefs are what build a conservative temperament. They interrupt our story, and our story is what makes sense of our lives. So we resist the interruption, and when we resist it we are conservatives.
Resisting massive climate change is resisting a huge disruption of what we have been and there are few endeavors more conservative than that. The sadness one feels at the destruction of, say, New Orleans, is a conservative emotion.
[...]
you can read the entire essay here
~Bang A Gong (Get It On)~
[...]
Conservatives do not seek to remake the world anew. We do not hope to impose upon it some abstract ideological “truth” or bring about some new age for humanity. We seek as conservatives merely to live up to our generational responsibility and to care for the inheritance we have in turn been given. This ecological vision is a Burkean one, which is why Toryism’s natural colour is as much green as blue.
Of all those likely to be alarmed by freakishly hot summers, potentially freezing futures and drastic events such as super-hurricanes, conservatives should surely be the most prominent. Conservatives tend to like things as they are and have been. They are discombobulated by change, which they always experience as, in some measure, loss.
And loss it is. When an old tree is uprooted by a storm, when an old church is razed or an old factory turned into loft apartment, we all sense that something has been lost — if not the actual thing then the attachments that people, past and present, have forged with it, the web of emotion and loyalty and fondness that makes a person’s and a neighbourhood’s life a coherent story.
Human beings live by narrative. We become sad when a familiar character disappears from a soap opera, or an acquaintance moves, or an institution becomes unrecognizable from what it once was. These little griefs are what build a conservative temperament. They interrupt our story, and our story is what makes sense of our lives. So we resist the interruption, and when we resist it we are conservatives.
Resisting massive climate change is resisting a huge disruption of what we have been and there are few endeavors more conservative than that. The sadness one feels at the destruction of, say, New Orleans, is a conservative emotion.
[...]
you can read the entire essay here
~Bang A Gong (Get It On)~
Is 'Conservation' A Dirty Word
is conservation a dirty word out here... why is that even after dire warnings about global warming & oil at $70+ a barrel.. only lip service is being paid to conservation... maybe everybody has some stakes in keeping the oil wells pumping and light bulbs burning... last week i paid a casual visit to a casino.. had lunch buffet.. where i think the whole concept was how many times and how much could you waste food... such unbridled excesses... 5% of global population consuming i guess anywhere between 30-40% of global output of anything... and everything.. and with the growth of chinese and indian middle class ( another 2 billion+ wannabees ).. consider what will happen if these also live the lifestyles of an average american.. consume like them.. drive cars like them... waste like them... i am pretty sure that my energy consumption here vis-a-vis when i was in india is maybe 10 times over... maybe more... so is my daily carbon footprint... ( in case you don't know carbon footprint ) where will all the resources and energy come when most of us in india/china will live lives that be 'carbon-copies' of life out here.. can we sustain such consumption patterns... The world is not only 'round' and 'flat' but also 'finite'... but George Bush won't speak the word 'conservation' as if preservation was something of a pariah... as if preservation was something way out of american psyche.. he talks for taxing Big Oil... for opening up Alaska for drilling... in the same breath as he talks about going green.. and virtues of less fuel guzzling cars... what a hypocrisy.. the world needs to act and act fast to conserve and preserve what we inherited.. but then somebody has to walk the talk...
Question Of The Day : George W. Bush always says that terrorists are out there to destroy the American Way Of Life... i 'am left scratching my head... what exactly is this 'American Way Of Life'... ?
~Fade To Black~
Question Of The Day : George W. Bush always says that terrorists are out there to destroy the American Way Of Life... i 'am left scratching my head... what exactly is this 'American Way Of Life'... ?
~Fade To Black~
What We've Learned
this week five years have passed since the twin towers came crashing down... five years have passed since america realized that terrorism is not something which afflicts other nations.. five years since "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists" jingoism.. five years of now quickly unravelling "Global War On Terror".. so the obvious question now is... are we anywhere safer than we were before 9/11... has the terrorists hideouts been eliminated.. and the swamps that breed these terrorists have been drained out... I think NO... neither is america any safer now, nor those muslim grievances that bred alienation have been removed.. in all cases the muslim youth out on street is more rabid anti-U.S. than ever before.. and yet Mr Bush. espouses a foreign policy thats difficult to understand and impossible to justify..
i am quoting some of the lines ( that i liked.. ) from the cover story in Time.com about the five years post 9/11 and the Great Mess we are in right now....
[....]
All wars, even the noblest, bring a reckoning of means and ends. The war on terrorism has long since lost its crisp moral lines. Who foresaw that the battle would require a national seminar about when it's O.K. for Americans to torture prisoners and whether near drowning counts? Or a debate over which clauses of the Constitution might be expendable? We may agree that terrorism is wicked, but we're still unsure about how to answer it."
Presidents make their hard decisions and then abide forever with their mistakes and regrets. Since the decision to commit soldiers to battle is the most fateful he makes, it is here that a President--his instincts, his judgment, his pride and his purposes--is most exposed. If he succeeds, the errors are footnotes; if he fails, the best intentions are just dust.
[....]
[....]
No, we don't know how the story ends. The idea that history is written by the victors has been wrongly credited to Winston Churchill, but he did say, "If you are going through hell, keep going." But you wonder whether years from now--5? 10? 50?--there will come a day when the victors actually know that they've won, that the battle is over and they can set about the writing. And whether even then, we will be sure that we have got the story right.
[....]
~Gypsy Eyes~
i am quoting some of the lines ( that i liked.. ) from the cover story in Time.com about the five years post 9/11 and the Great Mess we are in right now....
[....]
All wars, even the noblest, bring a reckoning of means and ends. The war on terrorism has long since lost its crisp moral lines. Who foresaw that the battle would require a national seminar about when it's O.K. for Americans to torture prisoners and whether near drowning counts? Or a debate over which clauses of the Constitution might be expendable? We may agree that terrorism is wicked, but we're still unsure about how to answer it."
Presidents make their hard decisions and then abide forever with their mistakes and regrets. Since the decision to commit soldiers to battle is the most fateful he makes, it is here that a President--his instincts, his judgment, his pride and his purposes--is most exposed. If he succeeds, the errors are footnotes; if he fails, the best intentions are just dust.
[....]
[....]
No, we don't know how the story ends. The idea that history is written by the victors has been wrongly credited to Winston Churchill, but he did say, "If you are going through hell, keep going." But you wonder whether years from now--5? 10? 50?--there will come a day when the victors actually know that they've won, that the battle is over and they can set about the writing. And whether even then, we will be sure that we have got the story right.
[....]
~Gypsy Eyes~
Miles To Go Before I Sleep
after reading so many lists at My50.com & 43things.com and host of other sites.. I have come up with my list of things that i wish (thinking of wishing... ) to do in my life-time.. please note that some things (i think all) may not be humanly or even Godly possible... but then if wishes were horses.. the list is no apparent order though.. even my life/priorities are no longer in order though..
#1 Learn Guitar
#2 Visit Kailash Mansarover
#3 Have A Comet/Asteroid Named After Me
#4 Write A Book & Get It Published
#5 Learn To Eat By Chopsticks
#6 Travel On Foot-steps Of Marco Polo Along Fabled Silk-route
#7 Have A House With Luxiourous Swimming Pool & Fully Stocked Bar
#8 Smoke A Original Havana Cigar
#9 Buy A Really Good Telescope
#10 Make A Rock Band & Cut An Album
#11 Meet Bob Dylan In-Person
#12 Be At Pink Floyd's Concert
#13 Have A Great English Movies DVD Library
#14 Visit Tibet & Israel Someday
#15 Set My Foot On Antartica/Greenland
#16 To Be Abandoned On A Barren Island
#20 To Become A Foreign Policy Expert
#21 Fight In Bloody Valleys Of Kashmir
#22 Do My Part For Making India Great
#23 Make A Killing In Stock Market One Day
#24 Own An Island & A Yatch
#25 Cook Good Food
#26 Re-forest A Barren Patch Of Land
#27 Own A Non-Fossil Fuel Vehicle
#28 See Aliens And E.T. And U.F.O.
#29 Set Up A Renewable Energy Company
#30 Learn How To Fly A Airplane
#31 Cover WWIII As A War Correspondent
#32 Be Somebody Like Warren Buffet
#33 Play The Role Of Forrest Gump
#34 Understand All Of Quantum Physics
#35 Kick George W. Bush A**
#36 Know What I Have Done Wrong In My Whole Life
#37 Dive Down To The Depths Of Ocean Trench
#38 Catch & Cook A Fish All By Myself
#39 Travelling Around The World In Hot-Air Ballon
#40 Find A Dinosaur Fossil
#41 Visit Siachen Glacier
#42 Have A Time Machine Contructed And Visit The Past & The Future
#43 Own A Tiger As A Pet
#44 Own The Passport Of Every Country
#45 Have A Robot (Something Like The One In Movie A.I.)
I would be great if in my life i could even manage to get into double digits with this list..
Question Of The Day : Why does two 'desis' never talk on the lift.. or in the store.. or on the metro.. or for that matter anywhere.. ?
~For Whom The Bells Toll~
#1 Learn Guitar
#2 Visit Kailash Mansarover
#3 Have A Comet/Asteroid Named After Me
#4 Write A Book & Get It Published
#5 Learn To Eat By Chopsticks
#6 Travel On Foot-steps Of Marco Polo Along Fabled Silk-route
#7 Have A House With Luxiourous Swimming Pool & Fully Stocked Bar
#8 Smoke A Original Havana Cigar
#9 Buy A Really Good Telescope
#10 Make A Rock Band & Cut An Album
#11 Meet Bob Dylan In-Person
#12 Be At Pink Floyd's Concert
#13 Have A Great English Movies DVD Library
#14 Visit Tibet & Israel Someday
#15 Set My Foot On Antartica/Greenland
#16 To Be Abandoned On A Barren Island
#20 To Become A Foreign Policy Expert
#21 Fight In Bloody Valleys Of Kashmir
#22 Do My Part For Making India Great
#23 Make A Killing In Stock Market One Day
#24 Own An Island & A Yatch
#25 Cook Good Food
#26 Re-forest A Barren Patch Of Land
#27 Own A Non-Fossil Fuel Vehicle
#28 See Aliens And E.T. And U.F.O.
#29 Set Up A Renewable Energy Company
#30 Learn How To Fly A Airplane
#31 Cover WWIII As A War Correspondent
#32 Be Somebody Like Warren Buffet
#33 Play The Role Of Forrest Gump
#34 Understand All Of Quantum Physics
#35 Kick George W. Bush A**
#36 Know What I Have Done Wrong In My Whole Life
#37 Dive Down To The Depths Of Ocean Trench
#38 Catch & Cook A Fish All By Myself
#39 Travelling Around The World In Hot-Air Ballon
#40 Find A Dinosaur Fossil
#41 Visit Siachen Glacier
#42 Have A Time Machine Contructed And Visit The Past & The Future
#43 Own A Tiger As A Pet
#44 Own The Passport Of Every Country
#45 Have A Robot (Something Like The One In Movie A.I.)
I would be great if in my life i could even manage to get into double digits with this list..
Question Of The Day : Why does two 'desis' never talk on the lift.. or in the store.. or on the metro.. or for that matter anywhere.. ?
~For Whom The Bells Toll~
View From My Office Window
This is the view from my office window.. doesn't it look great.. it doesn't feel like working once you are here..
we are here on the Cambridge side ( in case you don't know.. Cambridge is the home town of america's two best universities.. the Harvard and MIT ) on the other side of the river Charles is Boston ( one of america's oldest cities and famous for Boston Tea party ... if anybody remembers the class VIII History chapter on American Revolution... ) it looks awesome.. well just AWESOME...
~Take It Easy~
we are here on the Cambridge side ( in case you don't know.. Cambridge is the home town of america's two best universities.. the Harvard and MIT ) on the other side of the river Charles is Boston ( one of america's oldest cities and famous for Boston Tea party ... if anybody remembers the class VIII History chapter on American Revolution... ) it looks awesome.. well just AWESOME...
~Take It Easy~
View From My Apartment Window
its a beautiful morning out here in Boston and the view from my eleventh floor apartment is one obscured by the clouds... and you are already feeling a little cold (its just august summer here.. the tough winter blizzards are long way off.. ) in the light T-shirt and the pajamas.. i wonder why it rains always on weekends... maybe it rains anytime here... and in this effortless morning... you could see the distant higher ground... it looks same as from my home in doon.. except that the mountains are bit closer here.. and scores of people jogging around fully loaded with iPod and a water bottle.. ( people jog any time here...even during the mid-noon... ) and in immediate neighborhood you could hear the hustle-bustle of the high traffic of Route 93 i guess ( its some number.. ! ) and the occasional yet frequent siren of police cars.. the police station is nearby.. so they are usually nearby to buzz all the way.. and from the apartment window.. i could see lot number of american homes that have masted their star-spangled banner over the rooftops or on balconies.. an occasional "support our troops " banner... i must say americans love their country... they really do... and i think post-9/11.. post-Afghanistan and iraq.. post -hurricane katrina.. post-outsourcing ( and the subsequent loss of jobs to india/china ) the feeling the america is invincible has all been but lost.. its no longer the macho approach.. no longer take 'em all and smoke 'em all... its no more of an interventionist.. but more of inward-looking.. of not "why-not" but "why"... as we approach 9/11 and katrina anniversary... this feeling is all reflected in the media... maybe its the best approach for america but not for the lone superpower of the world.. after all iran is different from dafur... north korea is different from horn of africa... but seeing it from an eyes of an average american... the idea of troops heading somewhere in god-forsaken lands just shudders them.. it should.. nearly 3000 american troops have died fighting for a cause as alien as iraq.. not counting the countless iraqis and the insurmountable misery they are in right now... but the administration out here likes battle-cry.. it likes belligerent iran.. it wants a more ominous intelligence warnings.. it wants more red and orange level alerts... maybe it works for it.. it often does.. not only here but everywhere.. it works in india as well... maybe he (George W. Bush... who else.. uuh. ? ) would like the next "mission accomplished" jingoism even before the war starts... ( people might say why 'am i writing it on america when troops back home are fighting on every domestic frontier possible... its a good question.. and you may or may not agree with my answer.. we don't need to justify why we are fighting in kashmir.. it would be an insult to the fallen men.. we have a mission to fight for.. and god forbid.. if we ever fail in it.. for my blood boils when i see young bright men.. heading for that killing fields of valley.. for all these brave men have seen my doon.. they have spent there some best years (IMA) in there.. and i tell you they are among the best of the lot.. they really are.. ) you know politicians are same everywhere... back home the politician is out there to be brought cheap... while here they are out there selling cheap.. its just the way you look at it.. two sides of the same coin...
~Hey You~
~Hey You~
In The Land Of Americana
It has been two weeks since i have arrived in U.S... in this land of yankees... in the eastern heartland of america.. the land which the immigrants made... and in these two long weeks learning the ways of an average american... ( 'am not turning american any time soon... ) i have realized that the America is way way different than the rest of world ( or may be i haven't seen rest of world.. so its much much different from india anyways... ) am getting used to takeaway lunches.. on the dishwasher and onDemand TV... on huge convenience stores.. on dime & cents... on not paying for the newspaper.. on climbing on the stairs even though the escalator is moving... it will take time to settle down.. by that time its time to head home... :) but yes.. life is fast here.. very fast... and everything is disposable here... always ready to consume and always ready to throw... and its highly mechanized and digitized... and yes beer is cheaper than distilled water... and energy costs are dead cheap.. traffic sense is civilized... and people in general are helpful and responsive... but then this sense of self-assurance allows fatigue to creep in very fast... you get bored very easily... nothing holds your frame of mind for long... and in just two weeks.... doing home to office and back home.. it seems like i have been doing it for ages... maybe i should get used to living alone in lands distant.... following the great american dream....
~Should I Stay Or Should I Go~
~Should I Stay Or Should I Go~
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