http://unquietmind.com/ruderetail.html

What has happened to the salesperson and retailers in the world today.

How do you judge a currency with which you are unfamiliar? The conversions are cumbersome, that is for sure.

One of the many disorienting parts of venturing into a new country is dealing with the way the people there make and conduct exchange. By exchange, a variety of things are implied, not the least of which include language, money, trade, stories, advances, etc. But, less important than the actual nomenclature is the manner or style in which things are dealt between people. Within these lie tiny keys to cultural treasures. Watching interactions between locals seems an easy way to observe how polite individuals are to one another, what kind of traditions they display in dealing and passing, formalities and such, and also what kind of body language they are using.

Out of all of this, one first learns how to conduct one’s self in and amongst the traditions of the other culture. If the person is respectful and aware, they will inevitably seek, out of deference to the locals, to exist under the laws and subcultures that bind a society together. This is an important step for a traveler to take, perhaps the ultimate one, because their respect immediately breeds respect in the native people, those that are kind enough to allow you to enter their country freely and observe the way the cogs of the world’s wheel spin on different axles.

Now that the situation has sufficiently been complicated and overstated, let us turn to a more pertinent and meaningful story.

Though I have grown up in Europe and led a life rife with travel, I have lived in the United States for a number of years now. I call it my home, if a home I may call it, for it always feels to me that I am about to uproot myself, or have someone else do it for me. I suppose this is because we were always moving from place to place so I never became too overly-reliant on one locale. Nevertheless, nothing could prepare me for a jaunt to the far-east, a trip spearheaded by my sometimes over-exuberant but terribly good-for-me girlfriend, which we were to then take in April of 2006.

Admittedly, I did not do enough planning for the trip beforehand, what with being a little reluctant (as most are) staring up at the menacing face of multiple 14-hour plane rides. Did I mention I loathe flying like a casino hates winners? We were to arrive in New Delhi, India at 4 o’clock in the morning after 36 hours of straight travel, beginning here in Vail, Colorado. Flying, after all, was and is a necessary evil for me, then particularly so that I could tear myself out of my ski town cocoon and have my eyes held open to the more realistic (or at least more common) pace of life. Landing in Delhi would be easy compared to heavy turbulence. So I might have hoped, at least.

The hotel we booked for our first few nights in New Delhi abandoned us, for reasons still unknown to either party. This meant that we were in the airport, in the darkest hour of the night, surrounded by the drone of touts spouting Hindi and broken, albeit terribly funny, English. Two Colorado-winter-white faces stood with their mouths agape at two hundred other dark and mustachioed Indian faces staring back at them, or at least appearing to do so. It is always oddly funny to realize just how naïve you are sometimes and facing the naivety is difficult without a dose of hilarity. So it was on this morning, our mouths bent to smirks at our own stupidity, when a very small, very smiley Russian gentleman appeared at our wit’s end, and guided us to an overpriced (we found out afterwards) but much needed little sanctuary, a hostel just on the outskirts of the new city.

After the events of the previous night, it was surreal to wake the following morning still in a foreign bed. One expected it to be a dream, but it most surely was not as divulged by the 100 degree desert heat pounding on the drawn shades of our poorly air-conditioned room. India, on the whole, made us both realize how overdone our own lives were, how filled with frills, and how superfluous, and how unfamiliar most of us have become with subsistence living. That morning was the first of many cases when this realization came about and, unfortunately, began dissipating the day we stepped foot back in the United States.

In any case, the rest of India was not quite so intense as our first evening. After a few days, we met and hired a nice gentleman named Mr. Mehta, who was a humble and serious looking character. We toured the greater part of Rajasthan with him, making our way around in a very British looking automobile with horrific suspension, the two of us in the back seat and Mr. Mehta in the front, chewing tobacco that looked like it had been vomited from a Marlboro, speaking to us on occasion about the various habits and hullabaloos and deep traditions of his people. It was through Mr. Mehta’s eyes, those piercing, sad, and yet still compassionate pools of sea foam’s tint that we were told about Indian ways and left to interpret them for ourselves later on.

“The ignorance, exclusion, discrimination, and…lack of social integration” we experienced, however, was somewhat different than we might have guessed beforehand. There was never any real threat posed to us, never tangible aggression or hatred, never even really passing comments with odd tones to them. No. In India, these ideas appeared in the landscapes, the faces and the eyes of the people there, in the nuances of their exchanges. The aggression and ignorance and hatred and all such things took root and shape for us as the hard creases in a furrowed brow, or the crumbling of an historic and once revered monument, or the drying of a majestic lake. India, or perhaps more rightly Rajasthan, appeared to our young and innocent eyes as a state at war with its own part in the script of the world. They rely almost exclusively on tourism as an industry and a source of income for their poverty stricken and overpopulated towns, yet do so to such an extent that it has embittered them towards the very tourists that support them. The incessant touting is bred out of ignorance on two accounts- one on the locals’ for failing to realize the necessity and the good of foreigners coming to their part of the world, and the other on the tourists’ for not keeping with local traditions, for not seeking to be ambassadors and not just photographers, and for promoting and breeding the rudeness of touts by and through their naivety.

We are, by far, not model travelers ourselves. There are always occasions when ignorance just gets in the way and there is nothing to be done about it. But the real challenge and the moral of our trip to India was that all foreigners and all travelers must be mindful ones. A great portion of travel, in fact, is done by the youths of our various nations, young men and young women out to see the world, and this is a wonderful thing. These are the very people who we will depend upon in the future to be globally-minded and tolerant and diverse in thought and action, so travel is the very thing to help them accomplish this. But we must also depend on and entrust them with demonstrating the highest respect at all times.

In India, the pace of a globalized world has begun to wreak havoc and the cracks of its pressure are visible. Monuments are defaced and degraded and purposefully swarmed with tourists who are equally as ignorant, and in the process not only the monument but also the tradition and culture and society surrounding it are lowered in status and trod upon. This must come to a halt if any of the world, not just Rajasthan, is to be preserved and appreciated and is to stand for something. Poverty must never overwhelm art or nature. Monetary need must never subsume values, it must never pervert stares and turn hairs gray and ruin the authenticity of culture and history. Or perhaps, better said, it should not. But it still does.

True, these statements are optimistic and trite. But there is a truth in them that is not always evident unless you have seen the evidence. When it is common for a man to slap another and drag him to the ground simply because of a caste system, as we were witness to one night, or a man to publicly demolish his wife in voice and body, there is a need for change. Yes, of course, who are we to say, and who are we to do anything? Yet, here is an exchange that speaks of the ignorance in its society, an ignorance that cannot be ignored. And the society, in turn, speaks of the ignorance of foreigners who invade it, and pollute it, and pervert it with their own values and their own currencies, and worst of all their own perversions.

We must all be mindful travelers. We must never stop touring the world, never cease to explore each other, forever venture elsewhere in the hopes of understanding both the other and our own. We already have the tools at our fingertips. Study abroad programs, foreign services, even just vacationing can and should be easy, accessible ways for us all to participate in the full pace of life, and are amazing methods of forcing ourselves out of our ignorance and into fluency with the current that runs through life. We are all capable of compassionate, interested, intense, and exhilarating exchange. And once our exchanges become smart, then we will have the “dynamic and harmonious” and truly excellent multicultural societies of which we all dream, and which we all know to be possible.

Let us all raise our canteens, Nalgenes, and gourds to that.

I just visited a Guru in Varanasi who charged me the equivalent in rupees of $80 for a palm reading. Who knew the price of enlightenment was so high?

Were it more spiritual guidance and less blind guessing, it may have been worth the price. This is not to mention the fact that I am the one who forked over the money in the first place and was never forced into parting with my cash (although how could you say no to a man who has read the palms of Goldie Hawn and Michael Jackson?). Still, I already knew that I have three family members and am somewhat unhappy with my job. I didn’t need a prophet to tell me that, especially one who ends saying that without his $110 talisman and $90 massage oil, I will never fully achieve enlightenment.

In truth, I think journeys are the key to enlightenment, in whatever form they might take. Unsettling yourself, extracting your mind and body from the quotidian grind, and immersing them in a barrage of the foreign seems the best manner of testing your own mettle and finding out just what this mettle has you meant to do.

An old adage says, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” This proves true as convincing yourself that you can afford (monetarily, spiritually, and emotionally) to take a break from your everyday pursuits to seek higher goals and loftier (and sometimes more invisible) meanings is oftentimes harder than the journey, itself. Really, once you have taken this first step, you have sparked your momentum. While we’re not in space, it is often very difficult to stop yourself once you’re on the move.

Each destination you reach is ultimately transformed into a stepping-stone leading you to places even more fantastically foreign. This change happens most often as a result of the direction and experience of others, and makes you both thankful that they have done what they have done, and also long to be able to direct others into the same bliss.

Your momentum builds steadily as you further yield yourself to it. It fills your legs with the urge to run, and your eyes with the urge to gaze, and your mind with the urge to absorb. It shuts off your warning bells, and cuts loose your safety harnesses, and encourages you to look harder and reach farther than you might ever have in the safety of the world you know too well.

Momentum can be dangerous, too, if you allow it to carry you too far past your goals and too quickly by the sights. After all, even traveling can become habitual if you allow it to. The challenge is to know when to hit the gas and propel yourself out of a comfort growing too strong, or when to hit the brakes so as to have plenty of time to drink in and digest the space you’re in, and even ask it some questions if it will let you.

It is also said that you can only learn to run after you learn to walk. Sometimes, no matter how agile you are, you will fall flat on your ass. But any of this is better than never having raced against yourself in the first. If you haven’t done so, however will you come to know if you can beat yourself?

There is no victory sweeter than that won over what you thought you could not do.

We met lots of folks from a variety of caste backgrounds. As is typically the case, the people who have the power and privilege will usually downplay the extensiveness of the problem, and live their lives as though the problem doesn't exist. But you don't have to scratch very far below the surface to see things amiss. People say "Oh, no, I don't believe in caste," but if you ask them if they would ever consider marrying outside of their caste, or how many low-caste homes they've spent time in, or how they feel about the reservation system (which is the Indian equivalent to affirmative action), you'll get a very different response. I met at least three people who had been completely cut off from their families for having married outside of their caste.

There are castes for everything - street sweepers, farmers, cobblers, rodent hunters, cadaver removers, everything. The picture here is a typical street sweeper.

The so-called "untouchables," or Dalits, are actually considered outside of the caste system . . . because you have to actually be human in order to be in the caste system. Dalits are considered "talking animals," and therefore, on the outside. As it turns out, this actually gives them some advantages (if you could call them advantages) over low caste people - because the low caste people are actually locked in. These low castes are known officially in India by the term OBCs. What does OBC stand for? "Other Backward Castes." That's right.

The degree to which caste has captured the identity of people is staggering. Dalits and OBCs don't even conceive that they're living under oppression. They've been well trained to accept their fate (actually, their karma) and hope for a better go 'round in their next lives. Meanwhile the upper caste people (a mere ten to twelve percent of the population in India) go through life happily oblivious, often denying the reality that their comfort costs others dearly.

Lest I come across as judgmental, allow me to out myself. I will freely admit that I would have described American racism in much softer terms prior to Hurricane Katrina than after. Why? Because I'm a white, middle class, male - I don't have to think about being a power holder if I don't want to. Katrina woke me up to a different reality than I would have believed before. Again, racism in the West is a far cry from caste, but that's all I've got for now.

Oh, and for the sake of clarity, it's also important to note that caste is so pervasive that it transcends Hinduism. Sadly, caste is alive and well in Muslim, Sikh, and yes, Christian communities.

I'll write another time about a very small thing we did that demonstrated how locked into the caste mentality the Dalits and OBCs are.

It is quaint in the back of the boat with everyone sitting around reading or dozing, limbs scattered at random. We have been casually sipping on a bottle of whiskey I fished out of my bag to make the ride a little more bearable. It is also probably part of the impetus for me sitting down to write in this journal in these slowly swaying circumstances.

In retrospect India was quite the experience, if for no other reason than to serve as a point of juxtaposition against the rest of our lives and the rest of our travels. It is a country and a culture that is approaching a state of irreparability with its already monstrous population growing at an exponential rate, and its history and resources being relentless abused as a result. What is most troubling is the maddening coincidence surrounding their situation: they depend on tourism for their livelihood and the endurance of their culture and tradition, but their history and culture are destroyed by the influx of western civilization and the exploitation that their own land and population suffer at the hand of those same tourists.

Similarly unfortunate is their treatment of tourists. While they depend on us for our money, it is an over-dependence. It causes the touts to be necessarily over-bearing and also breeds contempt amongst their culture for the ability of westerners to simply come into India, spend money at will, and leave without ever developing a concept of their effects.

Poverty is an overwhelming and crippling condition. The monetary dependence we have nowadays has perverted even the most remote parts of the world.

What an awful thing when poverty begins to overwhelm beauty. In India, the most beautiful havelis and the most intricate and ornate artwork, the tangible remnants of their past and culture, are falling into utter disrepair because no one can afford the time or the money to maintain them. And how awful it is when poverty begins to overwhelm history and Art, two things that we hold so sacred in the western world. Poverty is literally choking the splendor out of their everyday lives.

The experience of all this, then, leaves one feeling helpless. There is no immediate recourse that could wholly reverse the trend. The question then becomes: Is traveling to these areas more helpful or more harmful than not?

I think the obvious answer to that is that traveling there makes all the difference.

Without knowledge of the situation, nothing can be done. For me, seeing the state of India served both to educate me about the tragic status of their part of the world, and to make me greatly appreciate (to an absurdly more serious extent) the luxuries and good fortune I enjoy by living where and how I do.

Quoting the interrogation report of the Hizb terrorist — identified as Farooq Ahmad Naik alias Imran Ladoo, an intelligence officer said terrorist commanders have been using cellphones of 51 people, including a former MLA, to communicate with their Pakistan-based headquarters and other commanders. "This network is expanding and is used to a great extent in remote areas of Rajouri, Reasi, Doda and Udhampur districts of Jammu & Kashmir in particular," an intelligence officer said.

Besides Naik, intelligence sources have identified commanders of Lashker-e-Taiba, JeM and HMPPR as having used mobile phones of high-profile people. Intelligence agencies said while Ahmed refused to name the former MLA, he has specified that he had received calls on the former legislator's mobile at least three times. Sources also said that most of the people whose cellphones had been used were high-profile and that a number of them had worked as over-ground workers for the terror groups.

Source

Late last week, there was a surge in searches for the graphic representation of Swastika so much so it showed up on Google Trends. TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington wrote a post on it here and mentioned it in a tweet here. It was Arrington’s tweet that I responded to, admittedly less calmly than I do with strangers, and it got me the following response from Michael Arrington:

I was also promptly blocked from following TechCrunch’s tweets, which is really no loss since being more ‘global’ in my outlook, I rarely read the Valley-centric site.

Meanwhile the ongoing conversation on Arrington’s post got hotter until Arrington came out to say that the meaning of the Swastika had been changed by World War II so the rest of us should just ‘get over it’. Expectedly that piece of advice went down like a lead balloon with many of TechCrunch’s readers – including many westerners who have travelled to and worked in other cultures – and the discussion there on got hotter and hotter.

Like much else, this is a multi-faceted controversy. I have taken a whole week to write about this for one reason - I want to have a reasoned approach to debate, and sometimes it is best to let things cool down a bit.

About the Swastika

I do not consider the Swastika a Hindu religious symbol but as identities go, it is a part of my complex, multi-layered, multi-faceted identity. However, I do know that the Swastika does not need me or a billion other Indians and Chinese to defend its honour, so to speak. Many have written about it with more genuine and simply more authority than the gentlemen telling us to ‘get over it’.

That is, of course, my rational mind at work. But if you, like me, lived in Europe, the frequent doses of revisionism would get your otherwise placid and rational goat too.

Prince Harry wears a Swastika on his armband for a fancy dress party – arguably in bad taste for the second in line to a European throne – and alarmists in the European Union rush to seek a ban on the Swastika. The ban was narrowly avoided due to opposition from Britain and other states.

As revisionism goes, Neha raised a pertinent point in her comment on TechCrunch’s post:

“Just because the KKK burned men on stakes - do you get all worked up about someone Googling for the crucifix?”

Worth a pause for thought, isn’t it?

Since we are all so tetchy, isn’t it time to make a tough choice?

Should we stop discussing the meaning of any and all religious or cultural symbols altogether? Or should we seek not to display our ignorance in such full bloom and instead seek a constructive dialogue that enhances our awareness?

What will it be?

About Arrington and 'normal'

Leaving aside the debate about "normal" on the web, the more pertinent point is Arrington's advice (or whatever you wish to call it) to ‘get over it’.

It is unclear what we need to get over.

Should we get over a few thousand years of history and culture for a few years of war?

Why should a few billion - that is billion with a 'B' - people, whose culture and values are embodied in the symbol, give it up for a madman's antics?

Over on the TechCrunch post, B. Shantanu made the point whether it is not time now to re-assess the understanding of the Swastika in an increasingly globalised world. Arrington did not respond but one of the commenters, who identifies himself as Frank Church on TechCrunch’s post, said:

“Sure, Mike will just change the opinion of every uneducated and unthoughtful person in the western world, and, “reassert the original meaning and significance of the symbol”. You are also part of the Tard-wagon? If consumer perception were easily manipulated, advertising spend would be lots smaller than $200B+. Moron.”

Notwithstanding the unwarranted epithet at the end of that point – after all, this is not a discussion about breeding – this commenter has a point. Perhaps we are giving Michael Arrington too much importance. After all, he just writes a Valley rag about Valley businesses that even some stalwarts of the Valley do not read (I have received some Tweets to the effect but it would be churlish to stick them here). To him, it is his bread and butter. To the rest of us, it is a drop of information in the enormous ocean of knowledge that we need to survive in a growingly complex and truly globalised world.

The world that no longer brooks quietly any arbitrary revision of its heritage.

John Maynard Keynes famously said:

“When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, Sir?”

That Hitler’s misuse of the Swastika changed the western view of the Swastika is a fact. Some changed their mind after World War II.

But globalisation of the world economy and the shifting sands of the balance of power is also a fact. Time to change our minds again?

About Google and corporate censorship

Subsequently, Google apologised to its users for the 'mistake'. Google’s apology says:

“We have an automated system to identify and remove inappropriate or offensive material in Hot Trends. In rare cases, when such material is missed, we manually remove these results from our Hot Trends list. We apologize to any users who were offended by this situation.”

So, let me understand this. After Arrington, now Google is the arbiter of ‘inappropriate’ and ‘offensive’ on the web. Right?

Pardon me for asking the obvious but isn’t the entire premise of Google’s business is that the search is ‘automated’? Did Google not want us to believe that “the algorithm rules, ok?”? So does it or does it not?

If the algorithm does rule, I suppose this means that I can now not discuss Swastika in my private emails on Gmail either because it would bring up ‘inappropriate’ materials up in the ads on the sidebar.

If it does not, I assume it would be one of those ‘rare cases’ of Google manually removing those results. Would it not? Does that not mean that the emails are no longer private? Is that technically not snooping? If not, what is the term for it?

Either way, Google’s credibility is in question.

Google faced considerable flak when it decided to censor materials in exchange for getting entry into China. They defended it saying that some access is better than no access. They also tried to convince us – and nobody is really convinced - that this was in step with their ‘don’t be evil’ policy.

With India and Indians, Google has a different struggle at hand.

India is one of the very few countries where Orkut, not Facebook, is the social networking site of choice. It is unclear how much money, if any, Orkut makes for Google. But what it does do for Google is get a captive next-generation audience to its products and services. That is nothing to sneeze at, not in an increasingly globalised world, which may not be on Arrington’s Valley centric radar but definitely is on Google’s global radar.

Tell us, Google, do you really think it is worth it?

End piece

The brouhaha however confirms a few things for me.

In a world, where a generation is growing up with the internet as their virtual sixth sense, discretion is not a better part of valour; it is an essential value that needs to be evoked every now and then. It remains important that readers are able to separate “journalism” from “commentary”. The former should be value-free reportage seeking as much balance as possible, the latter nothing but a value-based comment.

The controversy also shows that the web will shape the dialogue on cultural hegemonies. It will be an ugly sausage-making process, and we shall all be witness to and active participants in it.

And last but not the least, anybody, who says ‘I don’t do politics’ better revise their cliché quickly.

Modern business and globalisation is nothing, but politics. The sooner we recognise that, the sooner we will likely understand the dynamics, the better equipped we will be to strategise to win in the ever-changing world.

The BBC previews meetings at which Indian nuclear officials will brief the United Nations on steps the country is taking to safeguard its nuclear facilities.

Read full story.

July 18, 2008. 8:30 am.

Thursday.

Full Moon of Guru (Guru Poornima).

Grace Light pours down, pours deep and pours unconditionally.

The vapours of incense rise to welcome the unseen.
The golden-yellow spear-like flame rests motionless on the wick of the all-witnessing lamp.

Mind stands silent too.
Impurities of the unknown past dissolve like salt in water.
Petals of the heart unfold to hold the overflowing splendour.
Unable to contain the bliss, the heart passes on the joy to blood, hair, cells, spine and head.

The throbbing third-eye jumps with excitement.
The sun and the moon breaths merge with the channel divine.
Coolness is what remains in the body.
Grand emptyness revealed within.

People seem lot closer.
It seems easy to forget, simple to forgive and wonderful to embrace everyone.

Who am I?
What happened to me?
Where is that 'me' of the 'i'?
What did i do to deserve this adventure?
What's coming next?

Peace.
Creativity.
Health.
Love.
Beauty.
Prosperity.

Wait until it pours on you too.
Then my joy shall be yours.
Your joy shall be mine.

O Evershining Effulgence, thank you forever!

Can i have more?

(GraceLight.Com Is The New Home Of Humanity)

"We also create false promises." Very romantic.

Seeing as how our trip, after spending three nights in Cherrapunjee, was really rushed, it's only suiting that my blog account is just as rushed! I'm so behind on the blog, and about to start my Thailand trip "for real" soon, that I won't have any more time to blog about India.

Tejas had suggested that since I was starting my India trip in the wettest place on earth, during the wettest part of the year, it would be fitting to finish in west India, which is desert! I loved the idea! But after looking at the distances, and factoring in how trains and buses run "on India time", I realized I wouldn't have time to go to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, let alone all the way to west India. Also, I loathe the "Footprint" guide to India, as it's so disorganized and hard to find information - I didn't know that it would be a 12 hour journey to Varanasi from Kolkata, and then another 12 hours to Agra. Needless to say, I left the guide with Mike to use as reference material for his research.

So, from Cherrapunjee, we went to "Ri Kynjai," a luxury holiday resort frequented by Bollywood stars (as well as the band "Scorpion"... yeah, I don't know who they are either). On the tab of one of Mike's assignments of course! What can I say - stunning views by the lake from our room. We took the opportunity to just luxuriate, order room service, and a beer or two, or three, or six?

Next, we passed through Guwahti in the state of Assam. Met the owners of a travel agency who Mike needed to chat with for his travel research. They took us to a private club of which they're members, treated us to some drinks and snacks, and drove us in their luxury SUV to the train station for our overnight train to NJP (near Siliguri, in west Bengal).

I previously blogged about our experience in the hills of west Bengal near the border of Sikkam, so you can go back and read that if you wish... Though to describe the third night we spent at a Gorka guesthouse/homestay, Mike likened it to a "hippy commune". All the food that was served to us was organically grown by the family (tea, chickens, orange blossom honey, etc.), and they were almost completely self sufficient and able to grow most of what they needed on their land. The family that owned the guesthouse was a huge family of 42 members (excluding the daughers who had already married and left the house), and eating there, I was reminded of eating with my own family. They kept putting food in my dish just as I was trying to finish up the last of what I had, despite being full! One of the young fellows, a twenty-something year old,(?) was a pretty cool guy. He leads rock climbing groups that visit, spoke excellent English, could play guitar and sing in several languages, and was our "guide" for the area, showing us around their estate. Pointed out the cow shed, where they produced manure for the bio-gas, as well as the various plants they grew there.

"This is a broom tree." Mike: "You call it that because you make brooms out of its leaves?" "Yes." Maybe you had to be there, but I thought it was pretty amusing!

There weren't many tourists because the monsoon causes landslides, making travel difficult. As well, it obscures what would be some jaw-dropping vistas, makes trekking difficult, and rock climbing impossible. Which is why I have to return one day!

From NJP/Siliguri, we caught a night train to Kolkata. Only stopped to pick up Bel, who came in from Dhaka to join us on an all expenses paid trip the Sunderbans!

Now... I have to admit... I'm not a wildlife person. And boat rides either make me queasy or sleepy. I hoped we would spot a tiger - the group leaving when we were arriving had seen one the day before - but the chances we would see one were very slim. We saw more wildlife in the Sunderbans this trip than Mike did on his previous three trips (on the Bangladesh side), but still I wasn't satisfied. Not even seeing two crocodiles in the wild was enough for me. But hey, now I know - if it's not underwater, then I'm not so keep on it. We made three trips out to the watch tower over two days, where we saw a bunch of water monitors (lizards), deer, and a monkey. For me it was a bit boring, since I'm so impatient. On the boat, I'm like, "Wake me when you see a tiger."

However, the camp we stayed at was amazing. Cottages had a grass roof, and were made of bamboo and mud. But the design of the exterior is what really looked great! Also, the food served there was amazing. Mike and I were always stuffing ourselves at every meal, and I kept resolving that I wouldn't eat so much next meal around. Of course, it never happened. Our last lunch there, Mike's like, "OK, this is the last chance!" (before Kolkata, where we'd be paying our own way again). Bel said, "You shouldn't think like that. There'll be other chances!" (so that Mike wouldn't stuff himself yet again. Didn't work though, haha!)

Then after the Sunderbans, we returned to Kolkata, to chill out for a few days. I really loved it there, though I totally wasn't expecting to! I think having been in Bangladesh, a more difficult country to travel in, and reading "Shantaram", and becoming attached to its characters, of whom you see a bit of in every Indian (and Bengali as well), really changed my view.

I'm not sure if I mentioned that Bengalis and Indians love having their photo taken, but I have a few hilarious stories about that. I'll save the story for when I have the photos up, as it'll make more sense then.

I chatted with theyoung clerk at Ashalayam, a store that sells handicrafts created by former streetchildren, who he himself also used to be on the street. It was quite heartening to know, from his own words, that he came from a life of hardship that I can't even begin to imagine, to one where he feels optimistic and looks forward to his future! If you're ever in Kolkata, be sure to check it out and support the centre.

I felt very safe walking around Kolkata, especially compared to Bangladesh. Not that I felt in particular danger in Bangladesh, but I always tried to keep my guard up, and was always preoccupied with the image I was giving off.

We also did a walking tour in Kolkata, with a guy whose name escapes me. We had had dinner at Peter Cat (where we had amazing kebabs) with him the night before, and I was blown away by how cool he was. He looks like a Bollywood star, with light brown skin, striking features, athletic build, and western clothing. And his English was excellent, with a really sharp sense of humor - really a sign that you're completely fluent in a language, when you're able to be funny.

One thing I learnt was Kolkata has a rather sizeable Chinese community. I was forced to lookat my own preconceptions and beliefs when I was shocked to hear that there are Chinese in Kolkata who have been there a few generations - who only speak Hindi and/or English! And they speak NO CHINESE! So why am I so shocked when I myself speak mainly only English? Just so strange for me to think of, even though the situation is the same!

Um, hello, this is half the reason why your game is an Olympic sport, it's basically one step up from paddle ball. "We want to give a good fight in the game and not the dress code," said Kanaka Mahalakshmi, one of the members of the Indian team. The rules of beach volleyball do allow for women, "out of respect for the religious, cultural and ethical sentiments of participating countries" to wear different outfits, and so the Indian women will be wearing shorts and t-shirts. Boring!

Zoe Chater, a Frenchwoman in India to play in a tournament who will be wearing her bikini said, "everything is possible in sports to respect culture of different countries. We don't mean to offend anyone. We are here to play the sport." I think I know which team the crowd will get behind.

On his way out of the town mosque, through a green archway, Ghulam Sarwar Sheikh was handed a copy of the community newspaper. Quietly glancing over the front page, he sighed. The article that had caught his attention was about a series of bombings in an Indian city last month that killed 80 people and injured more than 150.A previously unknown group, calling itself the Indian Mujahidin, claimed responsibility for the attack. It blamed the government for deliberately delaying justice for Muslim victims of religious riots.

"These are dangerous times. We cannot trust anybody," Sheikh, a 28-year-old taxi driver, whispered as other worshipers around him nodded in agreement. "We are holding on to our teenage boys by a very fragile thread. We have to protect them from outsiders who come to change our moderate ways."

Sheikh's concerns reflect the growing anxiety among Indian Muslims, a minority in this country of more than 1 billion people, following a series of bomb blasts carried out by radical Islamic groups over the past three years. Many in his community are proud of their moderate tradition and wary of straining the social fabric of this multi-religion nation. As a result, they and other Indian Muslims are starting to guard against Islamic groups that advocate stricter interpretations of the religion.

The modest prayer hall of Sheikh's mosque, for instance, has posted a painted sign warning outsiders to stay away. The sign lists the names of stricter Islamic groups, whose members are not welcome in the mosque.

In the past two years, several mosques here in the Indian state of Maharashtra have taken similar measures.

About two-thirds of India's 130 million Muslims are Barelvi Sunnis. In addition to attending mosques, they follow the mystical strain of Islam known as Sufism and attend shrines of Sufi saints -- seen by more conservative Muslims as blasphemous.

Shabeeb Rizvi, a professor at Rizvi College in Mumbai who is researching Islamic ideologies in India, said the Barelvis have increasingly felt besieged by Islamic groups with stricter interpretations of Islam, particularly Wahhabism, a conservative school of Islam that originated in Saudi Arabia.

"Most of the Barelvi Sunni mosques are in a dilapidated condition, and the groups loosely connected to Wahhabi ideology donate money for repairs, appoint their own priest and slowly begin to take over," Rizvi said. "About 30 percent of their mosques have been taken over by front organizations of Wahhabi ideology in 10 years. This brings a new aggressiveness to the Indian Muslim landscape."

Two years ago, a violent clash broke out at a Barelvi mosque in the town of Chimur, also located in Maharashtra, over ideological differences among the worshipers. Those with more conservative views took over the mosque, and the others are now building a new one, replete with a sign warning that not all are welcome.

The group now in charge of the mosque does not advocate violence of the sort that has inspired fears among moderate Muslims. Rather, the head cleric said in an interview that his group simply did not approve of Muslims who visited Sufi shrines and wanted to enlighten them. (Source/Full Article)

Of particular interest to me was the provision of finance, the source of whom is probably Saudi petrodollars, in order to build or renovate mosques and then taking them over. This has also happened in Pakistan. A comprehensive study would be welcome to decisively answer whether wahabbism is  growing in India but these accounts are nevertheless alarming.

Direction le grand cinéma de Nerhu place. Pour 200 roupies (3 euros), je m'offre trois heures de film (avec entracte), un végéburger et des masal chips.

Pas besoin de comprendre le hindi pour apprécier. Voyez vous même. Les producteurs n'ont pas prévu de diffuser ce film en Europe. Mais je peux vous rapporter le DVD. Inscriptions ouvertes!

La Bo est sur toutes les ondes des rickshaws:

Dans l'histoire, son chat est mort, donc il chante pour la réconforter.

En revanche, l'interview du nouveau chouchou de Bollywood, Imran Khan, c'est en exclusivité dans Tehelka.

In India the caste system is still entrenched into the mindset.  That being said, one member of the "untouchable" caste has risen pretty far in Indian politics and now serves as an inspiration for all that would want to follow her.

 Mayawati, a Dalit daughter of the soil and, as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, one of the most influential politicians in the world's largest democracy..........(more)

He was killed because he asked for payment of the service rendered to the Dora. Reddy dora was in fumes as no one ever dared to question their power and autocratic rule that was above the Indian Constitution for decades and the law of British Queen for generations. No body every asked for explanation in the gram panchayat that has been his mouthpiece for ages.

Hussainappa, a young activist from dalit background, was threatened and attacked before his death, he went to the local MLA with his mother for protection from heinous hooligans who are after his blood. He was advised to leave the village otherwise he would be killed. He was innocent, he thought, and his sincere work as a Congress activist would give him some strength in his fighting. He forgot that the same Congress MLA was also a kin of the other Reddy, who is ruling from the time of NTR in Kodangal area against whom nobody ever dared to stand up and question

He didn’t know that what he learnt in text books in schools and what her heard from teachers on school is all bullshit. he believed there is freedom in this world and he was also like any other human being. he wanted to ask what his conscience told him to ask for the wages of his labor. He got wages for his sins of believing in truth

Hussainappa as naive and stupid dalit forgot that all police and other MLAs work only for the 'caste' members of the community. He didn't know the reality of how the society works and he believed that this is society where everybody is equal and that nobody is above another citizen

He tried to seek justice under SC ST Atrocities Act that was not registered by the officials. On the contrary for daring to come all the way to file a complaint he butchered into pieces. Wages of sins he committed in democratic India!

A hero, an innocent soul that believed in truth and equality was killed in day light. So no one will ever say human beings are equal and ever ask for protection of the Constitution that says you are free Indians

He died in a pool of blood. After his death, a few people's organisations called for a meeting and dharna in Kodangal town of Mahbubnagar district, yesterday. Police refused to give permission, still they went ahead. They implemented Act 30, around 2000 CRPF Jawans were all over the place. One small pamphlet made them to come that place to protect the prestige of local MLA. Dora managed to utilize local laws, people in power, and the shield of law all turned in his service instead of serving the citizen of this country

He used his party's SC Cell, local agents for his purpose against these civic societies.
What a democracy that we have in Telangana today after 60 years of independence from colonial rule? Hats off and heads hung in shame as no one in the society today talks of this day light murder of basic human values

Today, Praja Yudha Nowka Gaddar is receiving threatening calls. He approached police for his safety. He was leader, dalit Puli, but do not have protection. There may be any force, or group tomorrow who can kill anyone who is questioning the system. Any party in India only works for exploiting classes and castes.

We are silent when our resources were looted, when our women were raped, when our lives pulled away from us. Where are people's struggles gone?

There are Che Guveras and Castros and Saddams.to inspire generations. We have our illustrious leaders like Bhagath Singh, Subash Chandra Bose, Ambedkar, Devulapalli Venkateswara Rao, Nagi Reddy, Mallu Swarajyam, Maqdoom Mohiuddin, Belli Lalitha, and others in thousands over the decades

When will our society rise to become human form within? When we raise our voice against injustice against anybody irrespective of what caste he or she belongs. Look for a day when we all feel glad to be part of this society that respects humanity and that nobody did any mistake for taking birth in any house or caste or community

Hoping for better humanity, dignity and Telangana

Thought Bubbles: Books: The work of PremChand, Idealizing and idolizing women, The austerity of worshipping beauty, Goddesses in Indian culture

Based on my previous article I thought of publishing my own view about the Nuclear Deal or the 123 agreement between Indian and USA which is about to topple the UPA government, in a very simple way so that anyone can understand it.

As per my understanding of the Deal from various newspaper articles, emails, and web readings, the deal will allow USA to make a one time exception in Atomic Energy Act of 1954 under section 123.

USA will provide India with nuclear fuel, machinery and assisting technology to help India produce nuclear power.

For that India must separate its civilian and military nuclear facilities and allow its civilian facilities to be inspected by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

India will be the first country to sign this pact without signing Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The pros's I think from this deal are

1.India will be able to produce more nuclear power, thus dependency on fossil fuel(read oil) will be less.

2.India may very well use the nuclear fuel it has, in military facilities.( Some one might not think it as an advantage.)

3. Improved India - USA relationship.

The con's of this deal are

1. India has to separate and reveal its civilian and military facilities, and the former can be inspected by IAEA.

2. Even if the deal is breached by India, the facilities will still be open for inspection by IAEA.

3. India has to spent a whopping 50,000 Crore Rupees to double its nuclear power production to 6% .(Why not think about increasing power by hydro, solar and wind power projects?)

4. Spoiling relationship between India-Iran and India-China.( Was there any news about a big pipeline project for transfer of natural gas between India and Iran?)

I personally do not think we should go ahead with the nuclear deal.

There are many alternative sources of power generation present in India, the money would rather be spent upon exploring those, than to buy nuclear fuel.

I hope I kept it simple.

There were six of us in the room: an Englishman called Ian, from Braintree in Essex, who believed that his body had become translucent and who asked us to watch him drink a glass of lassi so that we could observe the liquid passing through his digestive tract; an American Vietnam war deserter, who had shaved his head, burned his passport and dispensed with all his clothes, except for a pair of baggy khaki shorts; a French junkie, who went through other people's belongings while they were asleep; an Australian couple - both Capricorns, I think - who had quite serious dysentery; and me.

It was December 1971 in Calcutta (Kolkata)and I was staying in what you might call, but we did not, a hippy hotel. The day I arrived, India had declared war on Pakistan - a war that would shortly lead to the independence of Bangladesh - and Calcutta, like all major cities, was subjected to a black-out. Millions of refugees had fled the fighting and hundreds of thousands of them were sleeping in the streets. What happened to half a dozen little people in a room off Chowringhee did not really amount to a hill of lentils, but that did not stop the residents of our hotel being in a constant state of real or imagined turmoil.

More:

The Big Issue magazine for the homeless is taking on its biggest challenge yet by launching in a country with 170 million people without proper homes - India.

A team of 10 journalists has been recruited and the magazine is looking to train some slum dwellers as regular contributors - as well as columnists. John Bird, who co-founded the Big Issue in the UK in 1991, hopes to have the publication on the streets as early as Christmas.

He said the magazine would launch in Mumbai and Kolkata. Bird travelled to India in March to meet local journalists, charities and contacts who could help with the printing of the magazine.

More:

Fri, Jul 18th, 2008 2:30 pm BdST

Chapainawabganj, July 18 (bdnews24.com) – Indian border guards gunned down two members of Bangladesh Rifles on the Raghunathpur border in Chapainawabganj in the early hours of Friday, a BDR officer said.
The dead were identified as Havildar Abdul Hannan Sarkar, 55, and Lance Naik Krishnapada Saha, 28.
Lt-Col. Golam Kibria Md. Neyamat Ullah, commander of BDR 39 Battalion, told bdnews24.com that a group from the Indian Border Security Force entered about 1300 yards into Bangladesh territory in Durlavpur union, shortly after Thursday midnight.
On a tip, Abdul Hannan Sarkar along with a BDR team rushed to the area and challenged the BSF members. But the Indian border guards opened fire on them killing the two BDR men at the scene, said Golam Kibria.
The incident has coincided with a foreign secretary-level talk between Bangladesh and India in New Delhi, where border security is one of the issues on the agenda.
Senior BDR officials visited the scene.
bdnews24.com/corr/my/rah/1250 hours

You can have a look at the bottom of this blog post. This post is tagged under "India is a Bad Neighbor". I've been using that tag since I've started blogging. Some ask me why I have created such a tag like this; what's wrong between me and India. Now, the news story block-quoted above explains my reasons quite better.

Chapainawabganj is not a locality where fear of man-eater species has been discovered. That's not a place where international hostile groups carry on their drills and commit acts of terrorism. There is no threat from Bangladeshi security apparatus to attack India. There is no exasperation presently taking place between Bangladesh & India diplomacy. There is no riot anywhere threatening lives of any people. It's not like Bangladesh Riffles personals look like a target practice card. So, what can be shown as reason of shooting at security forces of a neighboring country? What can be the reason of gunning down two BDR personals at the border? Were those two BDR personals taking preparations of India invasion?

To the date, some thousands of Bangladeshi citizens have been murdered by Indian security wacko group BSF. Border area residents of Bangladesh have been experiencing the tyrannical acts of India since our liberation. Kidnapping, torturing in BSF camps, kidnapping young Bangladesh women and then raping them, are common tendencies of BSF. Being ranked as one of world's grossest smuggling-friendly frontier military unit, BSF has been doing these crimes and have been becoming the reason of international tension for many years. As the present regime of Bangladesh is not a elected one, rather they have been working as a close ally of India in all senses, it's not sure how'll be the reply from the Bangladeshi authority side. The guy, who's already flushed off all points of Vienna Convention down to his commode, is Indian Ambassador to Bangladesh, the guy named Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty. His words never reflect any prospect of friendship between two nations. So, we do not expect any ambitious reply from Bangladesh against this murder of two BDR personnels. All I can say is, those BDR jawans should have known before risking their lives that their authority is not going to take care of how many of them are killed.

Bueno, gente… Aprovecho para informaros que mañana mismo empiezan mis vacaciones, por lo que este blog permanecerá inactivo hasta el día 5 de Agosto como mínimo. De paso, os informo que un servidor emprenderá viaje a la India este domingo en compañía de sus señores padres. Sí, señor; tal y como lo léeis: ¡con lo fácil que habría sido optar por Benidorm!

Pero, ¡que va! Mejor nos pasamos catorce horitas en avión, que se antojan una penitencia ridícula a cambio de semejante experiencia. En apenas un par de semanas nos recorreremos todo el norte del país, desde Delhi a Katmandú, pasando por Mandawa, Jaipur y Agra, por aquello de visitar el Taj Mahal.

Eso sí, para el que suscribe el plato fuerte de la ruta no es otro que la visita al Swyambhunath Stupa, o lo que es lo mismo, el universalmente conocido como "Templo del Mono".

A la vuelta os cuento.

Vaazhum payirkku thaneer vaendum...
Kaadhal kadhaikkum kanner vendum...

Marudhaani Vizhiyil yaen
adi poadi deepaali
Kaayam man meethu saayathu
Nijamaana kadhal than..inaiyaana paadal thaan...
athan oasai ennaalum oyaathu...

Maruthaani...Maruthaani...Maruthaani vizhiyil yaen...

Avan idhaya veetil vaazhum tamil degam venthu poagum
ena avan arunthida maataan sottu neerum sottu soarum..
kaadhali kai nagam ellaam pokkisham poale avan semiththaan...

oh...oh..tha ra ara raa .. (Our Boss hums)

oruthikkaaka vazhkira jaathi
vunaravillai innoru paathi

Maruthaani vizhiyil yaen..
marudhaani vizhiyil yaen..
adi poadi deepali..
Nijamaan kadhal than..inaiyaana paadal thaan...
athan oasai ennaalum oyaathu...

oh..ah...oh...oh.oh...ah...ah...ah...ah

aval avan kadhal nenjil kandaale siru kutram
avan nenjam thaai pal poaela ennaalum pari suththam
Aathiram naethiram vooda paalayum thallayaval paarkiraal ?????

oh...oh..tha ra ara raa .. (Our Boss hums)

Aaga motham avasara koalam
avalakku athu kaatitum kaalam
Marudhaani...Marudhaani...Marudhaani vizhiyil yaen..
Adi poadi deepali
Gangai enra kaanalai kaatum
kaadhal kaanal enru Gangai kaatum..
Vaazhum payirkku thaneer vaendum...
Kaadhal kadhaikkum kanner vendum..

Marudhaani Vizhiyil yaen
adi poadi deepaali
Kaayam man meethu saayathu
Nijamaan kadhal than..inaiyaana paadal thaan...
athan oasai ennaalum oyaathu...

Marudhaani...Marudhaani...Marudhaani Vizhiyil Yaen....

Supplies are expected to double by 2010 when KG-D6 reaches peak of 80 mmscmd and flow of additional LNG (read production from RIL K- G Basin blocks) . However, by them demand projections made by Petroleum Ministry see the need for about 230 mmscmd of gas.

K-G Basin Estimated Reserves:The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, the oil and gas regulator, had earlier said gas reserves in the block amount to 1.38 tcf. Reliance Industries' block, one of the largest discoveries in the country, in the same basin has reserves of 11.3 tcf.

Patel also said GSPC had booked a capacity of 10 million cubic metres per day (mcmd) in the gas pipeline that Reliance Industries is laying to transport its oil from Andhra Pradesh to Gujarat.

On Shore Terminal at Kakinada: Modi added that 300 acres had been acquired in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, to build an onshore gas processing terminal.

GSPC has drawn a master-plan at a cost of Rs 8,000 crore for setting up city gas distribution projects in 40 cities in Gujarat, the company said in a statement recently.

Source: BS, Hindu

Well... I will save the details for my personal newsletter. If you would like to be a part of that mailing, please send me an email or leave me a comment and I will be happy to include you on our mailing list. I'll try to capture for you a nutshell of what our summer has been about.

We were here initially for the wedding of James (my younger brother). However, as most of our trips go, we don't usually just come to India alone. This summer was by far the busiest for us. There were primarily three teams that we took under our wings. The first team was a team of college students, two boys, who are here in India on a specialized technical mission project. They were involved in an "on-site" recording of the New Testament. This has never been done before and it has been quite exciting to formulate and carry out.

The second team is a large college team as well. They are here in India on a Summer Study Abroad program. This fulfills part of their cross cultural college requirements and they do receive credits for it. That has also been a fun team to work with. We have been their "cultural interpreters." Somebody gave us that moniker and I particularly love that. They have book-ended their trip in Bangalore and Katy and I love to be the hosts for people who arrive fresh in India. We do a lot of cultural activities, the primary goal being to avoid touristy "things" and to get into areas where Indians like to go.

The last team that arrived was a team of three guys from Michigan. They are part of an organization that is seeking to work with us in India. This gave us the chance to travel some more so they can see and find ways that might help both organizations in the long run. It was a short three days with them but we packed it as full as we could! Not a difficult thing in India.

As far as monkeys go...  we just enjoy them, and in your heart, you know you do too!

So... this weekend, Katy and I travel again to Vellore to meet up once again with the study-abroad team to do some debriefing and take introduce them to a dear friend of ours. Should be a fun visit. I am looking forward to seeing how they have done this week.

I hope this entry fills in some of the cracks. I have had to be vague about some items but our newsletters should have more of the actual details, so you can look forward to that sometime late this summer.