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| "I have also reached the conclusion that if I am doing what I am doing because I am an "attention whore" then I really need to be committed. I have invested everything I have into trying to bring peace with justice to a country that wants neither. If an individual wants both, then normally he/she is not willing to do more than walk in a protest march or sit behind his/her computer criticizing others. I have spent every available cent I got from the money a "grateful" country gave me when they killed my son and every penny that I have received in speaking or book fees since then. I have sacrificed a 29 year marriage and have traveled for extended periods of time away from Casey’s brother and sisters and my health has suffered and my hospital bills from last summer (when I almost died) are in collection because I have used all my energy trying to stop this country from slaughtering innocent human beings. I have been called every despicable name that small minds can think of and have had my life threatened many times. The most devastating conclusion that I reached this morning, however, was that Casey did indeed die for nothing. His precious lifeblood drained out in a country far away from his family who loves him, killed by his own country which is beholden to and run by a war machine that even controls what we think. I have tried every since he died to make his sacrifice meaningful. Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives. It is so painful to me to know that I bought into this system for so many years and Casey paid the price for that allegiance. I failed my boy and that hurts the most." This is just a couple of paragraphs from Cindy Sheehan letter, where she mentions that she is ending her protest in Crawford Texas. http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/5/28/12530/1525 I echo her sentiments of betrayal by the democratic party because they did cave in the Republican party when they are the majority of the senate and house of representatives. What the hell is that, have some backbone. I have read the commentary on why they did it, and how they claim victory, if that is case then they need to get a clue. | | |
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Let me start by saying that I had a great weekend (was back in DC) and got to spend some quality time with some of the important people in my life. One of the interesting parts of the weekend was seeing Karan Johar latest picture ‘Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna’ in the movie theatres. There was a lot of ‘controversy’ surround this movie because it is one of the first mainstream Hindi movies that deal with the subject of infidelity and the concept of finding your “soul mate” after marriage.
To begin, I have to say that the movie overall was really well made. It definitely drew the audience into the characters and I was definitely emotionally invested. Shah Rukh does a great job playing an anti-hero:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_anti-heroes
in the movie; you end up really hating him. The songs of the movie are also really catchy. If you don’t like them initially you give it a little time and you will start liking them. They are like that “laffy taffy” song…after about the forth time you can’t help but find yourself singing “Nach all night”.
Now let me move on to my rant on the movie. In effect the movie is about two married losers (Rani Mukherjee and Shah Rukh). They have started hating their spouses because their successes remind them of their failures. For Shah Rukh’s character, this is due to the fact that his wife is the bread winner in the household and he feels emasculated. For Rani’s character the reason why she resents her husband is a little less understandable, although it is stated in the movie that she feels that she loves Abhishek as a friend not as a husband. My analysis is the fact that Abhishek loves her as much as he does with all of her failings makes her feel worthless, and unwilling to put up any effort into her relationship. So the two losers meet and having found another person who is equally pathetic, they fall hopelessly “in love” with one another (although I would argue that it is just an attraction). They start having an affair which ultimately leads them to break up their families. In the end the message of the movie is that marriage should be based on love and not on compromise.
At this point I am not really sure how I feel about the movie. I can’t say I hate it, the movie in itself was very thought provoking, and I enjoy “hating” on Shah Rukh and Rani (personally I thought a better ending would be Shah Rukh killing himself after her gets divorced and realizes that he is a worthless human being). I can’t say that I like it either. It is definitely not a movie that I would watch with my parents, and I don’t like how selfishness came so easily to characters in the movie (and was not really discussed). In the end, Shah Rukh and Rank are not together because they love each other, but rather they are looking for an escape from their lives. While the director claims that it was based on a soul mate love, I don’t buy it. In the end, I have issues with any movie that glorifies selfishness.
In other news, 2 husbands have killed their wives after watching the movie…what the hell is wrong these people?
http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-08-21T225354Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-264345-1.xml
http://www.glamsham.com/movies/scoops/06/aug/24_kabhi_alvida_naa_kehna.asp | | |
| The following was taken from New York Times Columnist Thomas Friedman at Williams College's commencement in 2005.
"Ethical productivity is a true god. Whether it's teaching or dishwashing, nursing or directing, the production of worthy products and services matters. There is no better enhancer of society, no better antidepressant, no softer pillow than good work.
Oh, and there's one other true god: love. At and outside of work, suffuse every action with love. That too enhances the world and yourself. I can offer you no better advice than that: Do good work, and love." | | |
| http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/26/AR2005062601091.html
I came across an article today and felt a need to blog about it. I have always said that I feel closer to my cousin in India then I do to my cousins in the states. While I initially thought it had something to do with the people that they are, I have come to realize that it deals more with "Social connectedness" that is present in Indian society.
This article talks specifically about a study that was conducted over 30 years by the World Health Organization about schizophrenia patients doing better in poorer countries like India then they do in more developed countries. While it seems that much of the western world is denial about this, it just goes to prove that you just can’t throw medicine at any problems and hope it goes away. I think the biggest factor here is the involvement of families in a patient’s treatment. In the U.S. due to privacy laws a patient can restrict who comes in communication with their doctors. The only way to get around this is to have the patient deemed incompetent or unable to take care of themselves, which involves a competency hearing. During these hearings the patients is put at odds with the people who are trying to help them. Attempting to get a person declared incompetent also stands to undermine any trust that exists in the relationship. The patient often views the actions of a concerned family as a way to take away their freedom, as opposed to trying to help them. In the end it is love, understanding, and patience that help a patient get better…things which often take a back seat in modern American society (I am guilty of not practicing these enough as well). | | |
| http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_3855309?source=rss&vm=r
The article is about this jerk Lakireddy Bali Reddy who was trying to get his sentence reduced in a California jail. He was sentenced to 97 when he was charged with human trafficking and using some of the women he brought over as sexual slaves (some as young as 13 years old). Here is a more detailed account:
http://www.rediff.com/us/2001/jun/18us2.htm
http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/mar/08usspec.htm
Here is one of the more striking passages from one of the articles:
"Having pleaded guilty to charges that he smuggled Indians from his Andhra Pradesh village into the US for cheap labor, and village girls to be his sex slaves, the humbled, tired man choked on his final statement to US District Court Judge Saundra Armstrong.
"I want to apologize to you, to the court, to my family," he said in a muffled, hurt voice. "... I am very, very sorry .. please excuse me." He wiped his eyes with a tissue, and as he did so, others cried too.
His son Vijay Lakireddy put his hands in his face and wept, bowing in anguish as if someone punched him in the stomach. Across the courtroom, Nalini Shekar, a counselor who has been with Reddy's teen victims for the past year-and-a-half, shook as she cried with joy. "
The thing that really angers me (as well as should anger the community) is that this guy and his lawyer tried to claim that such a relationship would acceptable in India, and were "norms" in Indian society. Does anyone else find this offensive as I do? While I did not grow up in India, I am sure that it is not acceptable.
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