Two leaders made into the headlines of the media this week.One of them attracted the world's attention and the other one attracted the indian media.
The first man is Yasir Arafat.The way i see his life,he was the chief and godfather of the Palestinians(is that how they are called?)for more than 30 years.He held a strange record of surviving most number of murder attempts.For any leader in such position,natural death is really an achievement and a rarest one.
Whatever his stands on the Middle east issue,there is no doubt that he was a great leader and was the man to look upon whenever Palestinian people had any issue.I doubt whether there is any fitting and natural heir for him in PA.
Talking about leaders,Arafat was also a great orator and used to deliver several spell bound speaches.One of his notorious speaches was his addressing of UN,roaring 'I have come here with gun in one hand as a fighter and an Olive branch in the other as a peace negotiator.Please do not make me drop the Olive branch'.
I see oratorial power as a common factor among all the famous( and infamous too) leaders.One interesting exemption in that list is Mahatma Gandhi,i think.Though his writings were great,i do not see anybody remembering him for his oratorial skills.It takes amazing will power and inborn leadership qualities to be a leader.I am sure Arafat had it through out his life.
The Israel and Palestinian dispute is easily looked over as 'Middle east dispute' these days.Hope the peace is restored in that region soon enough.Because,the people in that region have paid a lot for that.
Now,the second one is Shankara Mutt's spiritual leader, HH Jayandhra Saraswathi.He has been detained by TamilNadu police in connection with a murder.It is very clear to even a common man, that he will be out of this case with elan.Such is his influence in the Indian politics.
I do not hold anything against him.But,a spiritual leader landing up in jail is not a welcoming event.This may raise serious doubts in the minds of the 'not so serious followers' of him.That is because,he already raised many eyebrows some 10 years back,by walking out of the mutt abruptly.
As a well wisher,i would love to see him out of this case and stay away from the politics and involve more in the spiritual activities.
Friday, November 12, 2004
Friday, November 05, 2004
From Here to Where?
Elton John is marrying his long time 'BoyFriend'.(For those who do not know Elton john,he is a very famous singer who has withstood the test of time.).After reading this news,I feel like singing the song "Enge sellum indha paadhai?" ..Duh.
How much ever justifications are done on this issue,i will never be able to understand this breaking of the very basic law of the nature.
This is just the starting.I think the stage is all set for many more mockeries to come.Now that the gay marriages have become legal in few states and more states are thinking about making it legal.
Behold!Thou shalt witness this in umpteen!
How much ever justifications are done on this issue,i will never be able to understand this breaking of the very basic law of the nature.
This is just the starting.I think the stage is all set for many more mockeries to come.Now that the gay marriages have become legal in few states and more states are thinking about making it legal.
Behold!Thou shalt witness this in umpteen!
Thursday, November 04, 2004
How to name it?
This is a thing that most of the Indian guys who travel abroad would have faced.The question about the fair and equal treatment of desis abroad.Though there are many cases of bad treatment that desis face,there are also some cases where the desi guys are over cautious about this issue and misunderstand an unintentional act as a purposeful act.
I came across one such incident when i traveled from Tokyo to Chennai sometime back.I happened to meet a young Indian IT guy who was also flying with me from Tokyo to Malaysia.We soon became acquainted and sharing some lighter moments.After a good meal ,he asked for a glass of Orange juice.The stewardess brought the juice and kept it on the front tray of his seat.Generally,it is a good gesture to give it in the hands.But,as she was in the middle of serving lunch for other passengers,she was visibly in a hurry.So,her act was very understandable by anybody.But,my friend was very upset and very angry with this act.He was fuming and telling me that she did that very intentionally and she was a racist.Oops!i started realizing how funny it may turn up if he raises up such an allegation in front of all.
He already pressed the button on top to call the crew members to report this.He was telling me that he was going to demand an apology from her.I tried explaining him about the hurry she was in and showed him the lunch issuing difficulties,with such a narrow aisle and dragging the cart all along.Though he was not a first timer to the flight journey,anger shadowed reasoning.I told him not to blow up this thing unnecessarily and told him that i did not feel she did that on any mean intentions.Luckily,he calmed down,though not fully satisfied.I had to distract him by showing some movies in my laptop and make him listen some songs.
I think,the main reason behind such an over cautious act is that India is in the transition stage now.I had seen videos of India-pre independence in Discovery channel.While the so called Maharajas were moving around with the East Indian Company's bigwigs happily,the poorer people were acting more like jokers in front of the Brits.Even long after the independence,the mentality did not change much.Now,IT has opened up the windows to the world,Indians are getting opportunities to explore the world and adapting themselves.So,this overconscious act is a part of this evolution and let us hope it disappears soon.
But,the sad part is,many Asian countries still have that colonial attitude in their blood.They still do not believe in themselves all are equal.I can mention some incidents for this too.One is,when i was flying to Thailand from Tokyo for a holiday.Just before landing,all the passengers were given a small basket of flowers and fruits as a welcoming gesture from the Thai Air.I was sitting between my two Japanese colleagues.When everyone was receiving,naturally i also put out my hand to receive it.That stewardess ignored me and gave one to my colleague next to me.Ok..even if she was not intentional,she should have been decent enough to welcome me when i put out my hand.how do i name this cheapest act?She did not realize that she had let down the whole country with this.No wonder Thai tops the world in prostitution and AIDS.
Another example is,when Beckham visited Japan,some Japanese TV channel invited him for a programme.You should have seen the way the hosts behaved in front of him.They were crwaling on the floor and scratching like monkeys and doing all sorts of animated things in front of him to impress(!) him.It was merely annoying and pathetic to see them.
All said ,I know i do not have too much of exposure to assert my points.i should say these are all just my views on this.I am glad to be corrected.
I came across one such incident when i traveled from Tokyo to Chennai sometime back.I happened to meet a young Indian IT guy who was also flying with me from Tokyo to Malaysia.We soon became acquainted and sharing some lighter moments.After a good meal ,he asked for a glass of Orange juice.The stewardess brought the juice and kept it on the front tray of his seat.Generally,it is a good gesture to give it in the hands.But,as she was in the middle of serving lunch for other passengers,she was visibly in a hurry.So,her act was very understandable by anybody.But,my friend was very upset and very angry with this act.He was fuming and telling me that she did that very intentionally and she was a racist.Oops!i started realizing how funny it may turn up if he raises up such an allegation in front of all.
He already pressed the button on top to call the crew members to report this.He was telling me that he was going to demand an apology from her.I tried explaining him about the hurry she was in and showed him the lunch issuing difficulties,with such a narrow aisle and dragging the cart all along.Though he was not a first timer to the flight journey,anger shadowed reasoning.I told him not to blow up this thing unnecessarily and told him that i did not feel she did that on any mean intentions.Luckily,he calmed down,though not fully satisfied.I had to distract him by showing some movies in my laptop and make him listen some songs.
I think,the main reason behind such an over cautious act is that India is in the transition stage now.I had seen videos of India-pre independence in Discovery channel.While the so called Maharajas were moving around with the East Indian Company's bigwigs happily,the poorer people were acting more like jokers in front of the Brits.Even long after the independence,the mentality did not change much.Now,IT has opened up the windows to the world,Indians are getting opportunities to explore the world and adapting themselves.So,this overconscious act is a part of this evolution and let us hope it disappears soon.
But,the sad part is,many Asian countries still have that colonial attitude in their blood.They still do not believe in themselves all are equal.I can mention some incidents for this too.One is,when i was flying to Thailand from Tokyo for a holiday.Just before landing,all the passengers were given a small basket of flowers and fruits as a welcoming gesture from the Thai Air.I was sitting between my two Japanese colleagues.When everyone was receiving,naturally i also put out my hand to receive it.That stewardess ignored me and gave one to my colleague next to me.Ok..even if she was not intentional,she should have been decent enough to welcome me when i put out my hand.how do i name this cheapest act?She did not realize that she had let down the whole country with this.No wonder Thai tops the world in prostitution and AIDS.
Another example is,when Beckham visited Japan,some Japanese TV channel invited him for a programme.You should have seen the way the hosts behaved in front of him.They were crwaling on the floor and scratching like monkeys and doing all sorts of animated things in front of him to impress(!) him.It was merely annoying and pathetic to see them.
All said ,I know i do not have too much of exposure to assert my points.i should say these are all just my views on this.I am glad to be corrected.
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