Beautiful is an understatement on the Mandolin Sreenivas concert, I had the privilege to attend yesterday. 40 years of sadhana on the mandolin has given him such ease with that small instrument, he can create magic with it and enthrall an audience which included the Kanchi Kama Koti Peethadhipati Sri Jayendra Saraswati yesterday.Not for a second I felt his fingers should stop, as he started with, "Tatvamariya tarama" in the raga Reethigoula followed by "Panchashath peetha roopini (muttuswamy dikshithar)", "mokshamu galada(tyagaraja) ". He announced this song was very dear to Sri Jayendra Saraswati and I could see that as the sage sang along with the mandolin in a mode of bhakti that is rarely seen.
I particularly liked the song "Venkatachala Nilayam" (PurandarDas) in the Sindhu Bhairavi raaga. I enjoyed it as much as U.Sreenivas enjoyed playing it.
There are a few moments in life when you feel refreshed, free, spiritual, humbled, all at the same time. And if you don't have to pay for it, its bliss!

I suffer from short term memory loss. I vaguely remember 26th Nov. Some gunshots in CST, Leopold's, Nariman, Taj and Oberoi. Some dead and some alive. Then again, I can recall just a few glimpses of the 3rd Dec protest at the Gateway. A 35-something lady telling me not to forget anything. A 40-something man holding the Indian flag and yelling at everyone to come back on the 1st month anniversary. I can still hear his hoarse voice.
I was there at the Gateway on the 26th Dec, one month after the Mumbai attacks. I was one of the 30 odd fools, all of whom collectively suffer from short term memory loss, given the case that all of us forgot we were Indians and that at the end of the day, "khaana-peena-sona" is what matters the most for us.

On the 3rd Dec, as I still remember, albeit my mental condition, there were around 10-20 groups or organizations, all claiming to be working to bring the administration to books. Only one turned up a month later at the gateway.
Jaago Mumbai or Jaago India, they were not sure on the name.Its okie though, names really don't matter. When Jaish = Lashkar = Jamaat = ISI = Jihad, I don't care if Jaago India = Jaago Mumbai. At least they said they are trying to create an umbrella organization to support all individuals and groups fighting terrorism.

I would like to acknowledge the contribution of Aamir Khan in making me so aware of STM. Or was it Dyslexia? Oh Memory loss at it again!!!

Quote a "Quote"

Very few people have the courage to do "only" what their conscience allows them to do. Rest only flow with the wind.
-Speaking Tree (TOI)

Thank God, we have stopped behaving like idiots. Pulled out of the cricket tour.
Some apathetic people who still believe cricket can do peace, need an urgent, complete neurological checkup. I've been listening to this cricket story from my childhood days, and its there for everybody to see how much it has eased the tension(which is more Indian in my case).
Why spend exorbitant amount of money on the cricketers' security? An Indian tour will generate a lot of money. Dawood will bet and become richer by multiple times and use the same money to do you know what.
Pak needs to revise its TO-DO list more than it needs an Indian Tour!

Neck Deep in trouble, we are. I have been waiting for a national address or at least a widely covered press conference from the PM, or the President assuring citizens, but that is not happening. Instead, we see a reluctant new Home Minister, saying there were lacunae in the security setup.
Thanks, Mr. Chidambaram for enlightening us.
What Next?
Where is the action plan?
How many days does it take to devise one?
How many more bodies will we count?
How many days after the Sept 11, did the US take to bomb terrorist outfits in Afghanistan?
And, did they take our permission?
How many times will we parade around the world with our proof of Pakistan involvement? Don't you know nobody cares?
Why demand Pakistan to take action? They cannot set their own house in order!
Why go to the UN? Who is the UN, by the way?
Why ban organizations? We banned LTTE, I can see how much that helped. The US banned Al-Qaeda. They must be laughing their asses off somewhere.
Come on, Mr. Chidambaram, you are one of the most learned men in the parliament, a Harvard alumni, We have our hopes, expectations.

Loved this article on rediff. http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/dec/10mumterror-8-
things-india-inc-govt-must-do-against-pakistan.htm


Here, in Mumbai, two people seem to be completely missing from the political picture. One is Raj Thackeray, and the other of course, is Bal Thackeray. Right after Babri Masjid was demolished, Thackeray, gave a provocative speech from his residence, Matoshree, calling for ethnic cleansing of Mumbai. This time, he is quiet, not because he is old, but because he knows and fears like all of us, if they can come to the Taj, Matoshree is not so far off!

I being a vegetarian, feel strongly against killing animals for consumption. Numerous arguments have been put forth by many non-vegetarians to convince me, most common of them being,
"khake tho dekho..you wont leave."
"without eating you cannot comment."
and of course, how can I forget the worst excuse I have ever heard of,
"what do you think your ancestors ate?"
"I love non-veg food", comes last most of the times, curiously.

So, today, on Eid-ul-Azha(the day of sacrifice), when religious groups debate on "what is the most 'humane' way of animal slaughter", I don't know where to hide. There are videos on YouTube showing animal sacrifice in the famed Kamakhya Devi temple in Assam.

Here's the difference between animal slaughter and animal sacrifice.

Animal Slaughter Or Halal :
A deep swift cut done instantaneously and quickly to the blood vessels of the neck (the two carotid arteries which carry blood to the brain and head, the two jugular veins which bring blood from the brain back to the heart), the trachea (windpipe) and the esophagus (gullet), but the central nervous system (the spinal cord) should be kept safe and intact (not cut).This deep, large cut through all the blood vessels of the neck causes acute blood loss and hemorrhagic shock.

Animal Sacrifice Or Jhatka:
There are Hindu temples in India as well as Nepal where goats and chickens are sacrificed. These sacrifices are mainly done at mandirs following the Shakti school of Hinduism where the female nature of Brahman is worshiped in the form of Kali Ma and Durga. There are lots of village temples in Tamilnadu where this kind of sacrifice takes place.Hindu way of animal sacrifice is called Jhatka where head of the animal is severed completely by a single blow of heavier sword. This is considered as the most merciful and painless death for the animal as the spinal chord and blood supply to brain are severed immediately.

Two completely different ways of killing animals in the name of religion, to reach heaven, to attain moksha.
On top of it debating which one is more "humane", to legitimize the act.I totally sympathize with the debating parties over the confusion in selecting the winner.

Gross. "Ethics" goes right into the gutter. Oh, did I forget, that never is an issue anyways, Naa?

6th Dec 2008

I want to discontinue writing on terrorism..I fear I will become an expert and obviously, this country doesn't care for any..

Some folks around here have used almost all of the 10% of brain capacity they are entitled to use, to give the less equipped junta, some more nightmares. For instance, look at this derivation, which is apparently being circulated via e-mail, with subject as "Next Blast".

13 May -------- JAIPUR

June -------------------

26 July------------ AHMEDABAD

August ---------------------------

13 September------------ DELHI

October -------------------------

26 November--------------- MUMBAI

December ----------------------------

13 January ----------------- Where Next?
Be Very Careful and Cautious.


Somebody applied software logic and arrived at this theory.No wonder we couldn't prevent 10 people from ravaging Mumbai.
Whoever this person is, has already assumed nothing is up next in December.

Brilliant..Can we please rise and emerge out of slumber and stop displaying our very "Own", very "cute", mob mentality..
Arrrgh!!!

More than the audacity of the terrorists who attacked Mumbai last week, it is the callousness of the people surrounding me, that irritates me like hell.

Like,
when I and a few of my friends came back from Gateway, after protesting, one of them asked me if I think this kind of protest will work. Don't you think most of the people there were more of a show-off? Everything will be forgotten, he quipped.

Why did you go then, if you were not sure?Can't you at least hope? I shouted at him. I said a lot of other things which I cannot write but, I stand anguished, period.

And like,
when in an open discussion at my workplace, regarding areas of improvement, I pointed out that it was important for every organization to ensure safety of employees and train them against terror attack and fire, I was snubbed aside, and was told that the terror situation in the world has become so gross that the onus lies on an individual to decide what to do in case of such a mishap.
I stand pained by this candid behavior, period.

How things would have been if those commandos had acted individually?
Well, what can I say...

Messages, Momentum, Movement..Mumbai on 3rd Dec, 2008

I am going to the Gateway of India today. I will take a train to Chatrapati Shivaji Terminal. And I don't want to imagine what I am likely to feel.

I am going, not because a lot of people will be going, but because I want to see what misinterpretation of religion and mindless hatred can result in.

I want to stand at each place and say a small prayer, that, though it is difficult to fight, because we are fighting nobody but minds of people who stand with clear conscience after doing such acts,
We will not give up! Join me and a lot many like me..

Enough 's enough..really?

2nd Dec 2008

Last night as I dined with my sis and her friend at Papa Pancho in Bandra, we hit upon the terror topic, again. I went on with the Enough is Enough song when my sis came up with something I didn't ponder upon so far.
She told me she thought I was over reacting because this time it was the "Taj" and the "Oberoi" and not some nondescript place like an institution of justice in Guwahati where scores of lawyers lost their lives barely 2 months back..
No one said enough is enough then..
She argued that it is the presence of foreigners including Israelis, among the dead, that has forced Rice, rush to India to calm down soaring temperatures.
The dead included employees of the Tata group and some of the highest tax payers in India, in fact, the entire area of south Mumbai which came under fire contributes to a chunk of taxes in India.

And so, enough is enough?

No one seems to be talking about Malegaon or Lumbini Park in Hyderabad or the local train blasts in Mumbai or my beloved Karol Bagh in Delhi anymore..Why? Have the perpetrators been caught?Those lives were inferior or unimportant or what? Aren't those places equally symbolic of our democratic values? If we had acted then, could we not have averted this?
From 1993 to 2008, does it take 15 good years to say enough is enough?

I could only manage a feeble.. u mm..m mm..yes dahling..you have a point ..

In the mean time, plugged into TV to watch Sanjay Dutt sharing his feelings about the attack and shameful scenes of our heroes(really??), the commandos being taken away in a BEST bus after the ordeal ended. And just how we reacted, blocked traffic when our cricket team won the 20-20 cup..Real heroes, who? Dhoni or Major Sandeep..Do we understand the difference?
Weep, my country, weep..there is no respite..