..yours randomly!

This India trip was a series of arguments. I felt like a inept solitary ninja wielding my sword against a huge group of fighters closing in on me. The arguments centered around whether the Muslims in India are radicals/terrorists and what should be their fate. Indians i met, (read middle class educated Hindus) are convinced that all Indian Muslims are jihadis or on their way to become one! Most of the arguments are something which one has heard since the time of ramjanmabhomi movement (they cheer for pakistan in cricket matches, fundamentalist etc) and heard from the hardliners of BJP/VHP/Bajrang Dal/modi etc (all are terrorists and out to get us). While the former is plain silly the latter is both unfounded and a generalization. But this time what is scary is that more middle class common Indians seem to be agreeing. Fewer liberal voices are protesting! But the clinching argument often comes from the news of another bomb blast done by some radical group. Another worrisome point is tha...

did you see yahoo's time capsule? and did you notice anything? But first, for those people who actually have a life beyond the internet and are clueless about the time capsule here is the summary: So yahoo wants the future generations to know what 2006 was all . So they want you to "..contribute photos, writings, videos, audio ...drawings ... favorite blog, web site, or podcast. (i assume that this knowledge will not include google's rising profits or yahoo's dwindling ones). It will then be beamed into space and given to the smithsonian museum, where it will be reopened in 2020. Note they give the freedom to put in anything ...as long as it is a potrait of the present to the future. well, you'd think that the netizens would freak out and pour in their passionate hates and cravings.--"Islamophobia, jesus saves, pictures of pamela anderson"....endless possibilities. But wonder of wonders....what do most people put? a pix of the person they love most in the...

I had an talk with an educated, intelligent human being today. Just the mention of human rights activism seemed to arouse his greatest ire. I wondered why! He did not seem to be angry with people who killed other people, or with exploitation or racism or anything which he personally may have been a victim of. His greatest anger is reserved for the ‘activist’; who at the most may be indirectly trying to better his life, do his environment some good, make the world a more secure place for his children or at the very worst can be counted as a harmless eccentric who will never be able to harm him. (Through free will or circumstances or lack of monetary resources). I have often noticed that the same intense anger displayed by other people when confronted with individuals or organizations who may be trying to do the world some good (however misguided it may be). Not disagreement, not sarcasm—just intense passionate anger. This led to a related thought. Has somebody ever realized that it is t...