Peace Be With You

Peace Be With You! - [From time.com]

Life and experiences

Life is about learning from experiences not shying away from them.

Rang

"Warden Kaka, Yeh Rang Kitne Rang ke hote hain?" - Awesome stuff... watch till end [link via IndiaUncut].

Tanha

Tere bare mein jab soncha nahin tha main tanha tha magar itna nahin tha.....

- From a Jagjit Singh Ghazal.

Red Blooded Woman

You will never get to heaven if you are scared of getting high! - Kylie Minogue - Red Blooded Woman

Why?

Why are people born in Iraq? Why are people born in Africa? Why are people born in the USA? Why in India or why in any other part of the world?

Well because people in the parts of the world reproduce!

Why is a person born black? Why is a person born white? Why is a person born a Brahman? Why a Sudra? Why a Hindu? Why a Muslim or a Christian?

Well these are traits or identities a person acquires from his parents and ancestors!

Why does a person end up being a child of black parents or Indians or white parents or Muslim parents?

Why?

Why wasn't the black child born to white parents (as a white child)?

Why wasn't the African child born to American parents?

Why?

I don't really have an answer and so wonder why people get so fanatic about their beliefs, origins, color and etc.

They said so! - The taliban!

"They said music is a sin and prohibited in Islam" [link]. I guess they also said that looting/killing/coercion/vandalism are all the gateway to heaven!

Gaussian Life

Every individuals life and its many vagaries can probably be described by just two parameters, one the mean and other the variance of a Gaussian Random Variable! [CLT]

Diye Jalte Hain!

I love this song!

Diye Jalte Hain Phool Khilte Hain
Badi Mushkil se Duniya Mein Dost Milte Hain

Jab Jis Waqt Kisika Yaar Juda Hota Hai
Kuch Na Poocho Yaaron Dil Ka Haal Bura Hota Hai
Dil Pe Yaadon Ke Jaise Teer Chalte Hain

Is Rang Roop pe Dekho Hargiz Naaz Na Karna
Jaan Bhi Maange Yaar to Dede Na Naraaz Na Karna
Rang Ud Jaate Hain Dhoop Dhalte Hain
Diye Jalte Hain Phool Khilte Hain.. Diye Jalte Hain!

Daulat Aur Jawaani Ik Din Kho Jaati Hai
Sach Kehta Hoon Saari Duniya Dushman Ho Jaati Hai
Umr Bhar Lekin Dost Saath Chalte Hain

Diye Jalte Hain Phool Khilte Hain
Badi Mushkil se Duniya Mein Dost Milte Hain.. Diye Jalte Hain!

- Namak Haraam/ Sung by Kishore Kumar

Is this what a bandh should be?

The entire state has come to a halt [link]! Why shouldn't an individual have the right to go on with his/her day as he/she wants to? What if one doesn't support the bandh? What if one doesn't think that the bandh is a solution to the problem? What about my right to freedom?

Declaration of a bandh should just be that, a declaration. Peoples' mandate should make it successful or unsucessful!

Phd Oscars!

"An award like this is a rare and beautiful thing," said Colin Davidson, honored for his work on 3D modeling. "An award like this to a geek is a rare and beautiful thing squared." [Link at Time.com]

Koi dost hai na rakeeb hai

Koi dost hai na rakeeb hai
Tera shaher kitna ajeeb hai

Woh jo ishq tha woh junoon tha
Yeh jo hijr hai yeh naseeb hai

Yahan kiska chehra padah karoon
Yahan kaun itna kareeb hai

Main kise kahoon mere saath chal
Yahan sab ke sar pe saleeb hai

Koi dost hai na rakeeb hai
Tera shaher kitna ajeeb hai!

- Rana Sahri (Sung by Jagjit Singh in the Album : Visions Vol. II)

The many shades of the word Articulate!

How many flukes simply constitute reality?

Iraq

Photo Courtesy CNN

Chastity!

“Chastity has no meaning in the current period and it applies to both men and women" says Sushmita Sen [link]. S Greesh Kumar has a problem! The first part of the quote makes sense though I am not sure why something nonsensical should apply to both men and women. Mr. Kumar has purportedly taken upon himself the onus of ensuring that Indians don’t forget the virtue of being chaste. Mr. Kumar is sure chasing fame in the short term. I wish him all the best. Anyway!

 

Judgments on chastity of an individual lead to honour killings. Association of honour with the chastity of women makes women easy prey to violence. One example that comes to my mind is that of partition of India when women were forced to jump into wells else the honour of the families would be at stake.

 

“Many women died trying to avoid sexual violation, preserve their chastity, and protect their religious and family honor. Scholars of India’s partition have noted numerous ways in which women took their lives. Some jumped into the nearest well or set themselves ablaze. Sometimes the act was accomplished alone, sometimes all the women in a family committed mass suicide.” – [link]

 

There ought to be better metrics, if at all required, to determine a family’s or society’s honour! It is just plain selfish and criminal on part of a society to associate honour with the chastity of women or men for that matter. It only victimizes women who have been victims of sexual violation. It avenges rape by raping another woman instead of punishing the rapist [Mukhtar Mai]. Indeed chastity should not have any meaning at all and even if it is to have a meaning it is for one to determine whether he/she is chaste or not.