Ash52's Weblog

Occupy the Wall Street…..or, Occupy your hearts first

ash52 — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 18:07:36 +0000

USofA is a weird place on earth. For example, each and every Pakistani hates US. But given a chance, each one would like to settle in there. Now, the “freest” country in the world is witnessing a strange movement. It is named “Occupy the Wall Street”. I wrote a blog almost 20 months ago titled “Obama chastises money launderers on the Wall Street….” I wrote about the great American dream called greed, where each and every American wants to be a Millionaire, live a life full of great vacations, spread his/her legs in big mansions, run in big cars, fly in jets and never get old. They do not tire of protecting this great American dream at all possible costs. Consume at ever faster rate. Get fat in all respects : be it your belly or your bank account. It is this dream that has been ruining the USof A.

And now comes the movement – occupy the Wall Street. It is seemingly against the money-launderers. But people of US forget that they also share the same dream or, the same greed. And this greed has spread throughout the world. Nobody knows how to control it.

Only way to control it, is by occupying your heart. Get back to it, listen to it and follow the rhythm of your heart. In other words, occupy your heart first.

Who killed MJ? Most of America…

ash52 — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:49:28 +0000

It is most amusing to see the hulla-gulla being raised everyday around the death of that poor man Michael Jackson. He was truly poor and lonely too. In trying to overcome his internal fears and phobias, he created new ones all the time. He lost his body (literally) and his soul too. He must have been a great singer and a great dancer. I do not know much about singing and dancing. But MJ was different, that I can say for sure. There was none like him. But what did he get in the end? He lost his family who resurfaced after his death and tried to look their best on the TV screens worldwide. He lost his friends (did he have any)? He was cheated by each and everyone whom he employed to work for him. They all worked for themselves and tried to stuff all his money in their pockets. And poor MJ did not realise this. They played a game where he will remain their captive forever so that they can extract that last penny. People are blaming his doctor for his death. This is very typical of the seemingly scientific mindset where there has to be a specific cause for everything. They found a hand full of pills in his empty stomach. There was nothing left in his body and they were putting syringes and pills in his body (a body that was not there). That last doctor (I am sure he was one of a string of doctors which came his way to cheat him) was being paid 100,000 pounds a month for doing what even a simple common sense person will not do. And they are cooking up conspiracy theories and looking for a culprit. I think that most of America is culprit which creates such monsters who go after others money in every possible manner. After all most Americans have this dream to become a millionaire in this lifetime (there is no other life for them). May MJ be reborn in India where he may get real love and bonding from his family so that he need not discolor himself white and depend on greedy persons to mismanage his life.

Obama chastises the Money-launderers on Wall Street…and cricketers are sold like slaves in India…

ash52 — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:50:42 +0000

The new president of USA, Obama has rightly criticised the Wall Street barons for usurping the money that belongs to common public and awarding themselves with unprecedented bonuses in a freely falling market. He has decided to reign them in which I believe is a right step. I wrote on Oct 17, 2008 that a greedy capitalism is crippling USA and rest of the world.

I also wrote “Why can they not live on decent profits and keep their workforces on a steady and reasonable paycheck. Why is it a million dollar one day and zero the next day ? Everybody in fact grew greedy and they began to call it the great American dream. Why cannot they build a more healthy system which is caring and loving ?” Unfortunately, the American society thrives on individual dreams of living in ultimate luxury, a vision fulled by the so-called celebrities whose personal lives are worse than hell. A false aura is spread around most of these models and actors; it is sustained by their own managers and stroked everyday by “stupid” fans. People work only to earn money and live only for themselves. This extremely selfish life-style has now pervaded countries like India too.

Today I watched with great disgust the spectacle of cricket players on the block and going down under the hammer for millions of dollar. They were being bought like slaves in the old Roman empire. Only difference being it all looks so glamorous now. When millions of jobs are being lost and people are on the streets, there are these guys gambling on humans in the hope of making many more millions. These are people living utterly artificial lives camouflaged in deceiving pictures and words. Their managers manage columns like God in Gucci for them. They live on criticism of others and abhorrence. Barring a few, which may be counted on fingers, rest are deeply immersed in titillating themselves at the cost of others. As Barack Obama said, “it is shameful” indeed.

HAPPY BUDDAY KITOO

ash52 — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 08:56:35 +0000

23 REASONS why we miss you…

Poorva's board on 24th Dec

1. We miss the smile and the toothy grin…
2. We miss the frown “जब कुछ गड़बड़ होती थी …” (when something went amiss)
3. We miss the way you loved the colour RED…
4. We miss the बन्दर (monkey) you became with your stuffed toys…
5. We miss the hugs and the “गोदी में चढ़ कर बैठना ” (ride in the lap)
6. We miss your resting your head in Uncle’s lap & “बाल सहलवाना ” (have the hairs fingered)
7. We miss the board games जिनमें बड़े हमेशा cheating करते थे (where elders invariably cheated)
8. We miss the Budday parties & the Dark rooms…
9. We miss the Powder के खेल (games) and tub में नहाना (bath)…
10. We miss the height markings (of everyone we know) on the wall…
11. We miss how you fought with Bhaiya with the गोल तकिये (round pillows)
12. We even miss how you made fun of my height…
13. We miss the tomato sauce जो हम कितना कम खाया करते थे (which we ate so little!)
14. We miss the Cricket matches & the करोड़ों की शर्तें (bets of millions)!
15. We miss the stars that twinkled on our ceilings…
16. We miss the बादाम का हलवा (sweet halwa of almonds )…
17. We miss your drawings & signatures on every page…
18. We miss the Bournvita & the पानी वाली दाल (watery lentil soup)…
19. We miss how you always found a unique way to get into trouble…
20. We miss the Age of Empires & the KBC…
21. We miss the basketball, the drawing, and all classes attended…
22. We miss the festivals, the dinners, the vaccinations…
23. But mostly we miss the laughs we shared, the joy we spread, and the memories we made…
WE MISS YOU.

Happy Budday KITOO

24th December 2009

Bush gets a taste of Iraqi shoes…

ash52 — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:21:47 +0000

Bush has become the prime hate figure of the world. Everybody loves to hate him. Many people think that he is the source of their trouble. His party was defeated for precisely this reason. It is, however, easy to put the blame on others for your own troubles. The reaction of an Iraqi journalist, who displayed the marksmanship of a trained missile thrower, symbolises the extreme hatred that most of the Arab world and Iraqi people nurture in their hearts.

Not that Bush was loved in America. His party would not loose otherwise. Many Americans could have thrown a shoe at their president because they too hated him. But they expressed their disapproval in a very civilized fashion by defeating him in an election. Their were many ways in which Iraqi people could express their disaproval. But they choose shoes and if possible would choose guns and bombs. They do not throw shoes at each other when they kill each other. They never threw a shoe at Saddam Hussein when he killed miilions of Kurdish people. They do not throw a shoe at Al Qaida when it created havoc in their country.

Iraq was once upon one of the most progressive countries in the Islamic world. The same could also be said of Iran. Both represent one of the oldest civilizations in the world. But both have chosen the path of mutual distruction and disharmony. Democracy does not ring a bell of respect in the Islamic world. But the gun does. It is funny. This probably has very deep historical and cultural roots. When they kill, it is OK. When others kill, they are furious. These countries have everything to become first class nations in a short period of time. But they ignore the basic fundamentals of growth and continue to embrace false notions of superiority (or inferiority). They still think the sword wins all. Those times are gone. That is why one has to pick up shoes. But these should be hurled at all those who destroy the basic tenets of humanity.

Gandhigiri or Gandi-giri…

ash52 — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:53:31 +0000

Gandhi is remembered as the apostle of love, peace and harmony. He renounced everything including the family and became Gandhi. His lessons are now being rewritten by persons like Sanjay Dutt, who is no doubt a versatile actor. But it is also beyond doubt that he was an accomplice in the Mumbai terror blasts of 1992. Courts sentenced him and Gandi-giri saved him. An elaborate and high-pitched compaign was orchestrated to save him from serving in jail. A person who cannot live without smoking and drinking, and drugs have been a part of whose life, suddenly begins to preach Gandhian lessons. Obscure organisations make him the successor of Gandhi and decide to make him his ambassador so that he can be free again and indulge in the same vices again. He is interviewd (after recent Mumbai terror attacks) by anchors for his views on how to counter terrorism. What a sham? If he has some shame left in him, he should serve the jail sentence and tell the world that here I am repenting for what I did. I will come out as a Gandhi now. Instead he cries like a child when he is jailed, he pleads mercy for his children and so on so forth. Believe me, he does not know even the spelling of Gandhi and who Gandhi was. And he has misused his name for his own gains and the media has been bought to propagate this.

Bollywood stars are big hypocrites…

ash52 — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:28:53 +0000

It is most amusing to watch the Bollywood actors and actresses off the screen. They are all screaming and yelling to announce their Angreziat. Not even one of them talks in Hindi, the language in which their films are shot. They all earn their moolah from the Hindi films yet they all try to distance themselves from the laguage. They are almost apologetic that they have to speak in hindi. Only one actor, Amitabh Bachchan does not shy away from Hindi. In fact his Hindi is so good (his Babuji’s influence) that it is a joy to watch him speak Hindi. Most other actors seem to convey that they speak Hindi in their films by mistake. It is another matter that they act in Hindi films and when they win awards, these are given out in english or the acceptance speech is always in english. They try to outdo each other in their Angreziat. I pity them.

Terrorists strike again…and will do so again through Bangladesh

ash52 — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:42:01 +0000

I have been feeling stunned by the terror strikes in Mumbai. I feel grief and sad but more than it a revulsion at the very thought and sight of all that has happened. I feel like spitting and vomiting at most of our political class. They are plain incompetent. I think I have used the wrong word. They are plain callous. They arrange for their own safety at our cost. They indulge in futile talks at our cost. They make money at our cost. This callous attitude has percolated to the police and other officers also. The red-light culture that they have created and want to cling to it, is one of the root causes of this mayhem. Where are the Amar Singhs and Mulayams now? And where is the mighty Raj Thackrey? Where is the home minister Patil who has to dress appropriately first and then repeat the same words year after year? And where is that man Jaysawal (sick) who carries a fixed expression on his face like a robot? And where is the smug Chief Minister Deshmukh and his equally thick skinned Deputy? They all deserve to be fired and banished from the public life. I am sure that there are many officers too who deserve this treatment.

And believe me, this is not the last attack. Having failed to enter through the land, they have chosen the sea route which is difficult to guard. However, there is definite evidence that prior information was there and was being regularly provided by the agencies like RAW. However, our callous attitude has taken the huge toll.

Pakistan of course remains the root cause but there is clear evidence that Bangladesh is emerging as the hub of similar terrorist activities. We blame Pakistan but forget Bangladesh, a country that we helped create. Its people are not only ungrateful, they seem to be hurting their own interests. I have every reason to predict that there will be similar attacks from the Bangladesh side also. And we will again act or not act in a similar way.

Millions of killers on the road…Is the Supreme Court of India listening?

ash52 — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:42:16 +0000

More than 120000 people die in road accidents every year in India. And about 10 times get injured, some seriously. The number keeps rising every year. This is more than the number dying in epidemics these days. Most of the killings are due to shear negligence as well as stubbornness of the drivers. Almost 90% of those on the road are first time drivers. Having a car has always been considered a big status symbol in India. Those who acquire the car for the first time drive it on the road as if they are the only persons on the road. They have obtained the driving license sitting at home by paying bribes. They are totally ignorant about any kind of rules or road signs. It is like giving a loaded canon to a fool. Yet they drive. Almost everyday I hear about the news of some young man or some family member of a known person dying in a road accident. Yet nobody is bothered. Their next of kin again drive in the same “stupid” spirit of “nothing happens to me”. Now try to think how many killers are on the road. More than a million. Because nobody gets caught.

Consider this. The driving license authority does not provide even a simple book with simple driving rules and road signs to those getting the licence let alone taking an examination. Young children, who are underage, are driving bikes and cars without licence with impunity. Most of the heavy vehicles (like buses and trucks) do not have any back-lights and brake-lights. The public transport buses are the most dangerous as their drivers drive like hell trying to kill every passerby. If he survives, it is because of the timely step taken by him. Drivers do not have the simple concepts of stopping at the crossings or on the entrance to a road. They just come like a blind person and continue without the simple rule of stop-look-go. Overtaking from the wrong side is a rule. The companies selling cars and bikes are advertising by the pick-up speeds (100km in 5 seconds) and the dangerous speeding stunts by professionals as if this is how everybody should drive. All this while there are no roads to drive. And the red-light culture (vehicles with red beacons) has spread like a flu. Everybody wants a red light on top of his/her car. The way these vehicles are then driven is amazing to see.

In my view, the following points can resolve the menace quite effectively. (1) Every car purchase must accompany a drivers manual for which a price should be charged. And this should be mandatory. (2) Driving licenses cannot be handled by the government. It should be given to private companies who will take proper tests, grant license and maintain the data base. Government should only monitor this. These two steps will also create millions of new jobs. (3) All the “foolish” commercials on various TV channels must be stopped. (4) Maintaining an order on the road will go a long way in maintaining law and order. Private traffic controllers must be hired who will earn their salary from the fines. (4) Responsibility must be fixed for maintaining the roads according to the road manuals. (5) All the illegal structures on the roads (be it a temple or a mazar) should be demolished.

Only one authority can make all this happen. The Supreme Court of India. Is the Supreme Court of India listening?

And now a Fatwa on MadhuShala!

ash52 — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:07:57 +0000

I recently read a news story that a Maulvi (an Islamic preacher) has issued a Fatwa (an Islamic dictat) denouncing the fabled Madhushala of Harivansh Rai Bachchan written almost 70 years ago. Madhushala is considered an unique work in Hindi poetry, a class in itself. It flows like a mountain stream becoming a river merging into ocean in a flash of a photon. It quantizes millions of thoughts into few words. It is soothing as well as enchanting. It mesmerizes you. I have not come across something equal to it since I read it in the sixties. Millions of copies of Madhushala have been sold and it has been sung a trillion times. And here we come across a Maulana who has locked himself in an olden slot of time, issuing a dictat against it. If Maulana does not want to read it nobody is forcing him to do that. But he has no right to encroach upon the freedom of others. He can keep himself locked in time but he cannot force others to do that. This is free India of the 21st century. Such Mullas should be banned from making public statements which encroach upon the freedom of others.