L’hitraot!

Another week begins and I can only hope that I get to come here on a daily basis. Till then, I will leave you with “L’hitraot” – which in Hebrew means “until we see each other again” - and the following haunting lines:

तेरी जुदाई मे दिल बेक़रार न करू
तू हुक्म दे तो तेरा इंतज़ार न करू
बेवफाई करनी है तो इस क़दर कर
के तेरे बाद किसी पे ऐतबार न करू

I was about to turn in for the night on Saturday when I thought of checking out the news channels. Déjà vu! Though not on the same scale as Mumbai’s 26/11, it was nonetheless sad to watch that the filthy hand of the terrorists continues to strike at will across the country. The first channel that I landed on kept on referring to an attack on a “bakery” in Pune. Just when I was wondering if it was the German Bakery, the channel confirmed it. A few years back, I was staying in Pune for a project at a place that was almost 10 minutes’ walking distance from the this bakery. It was shocking indeed!

Now for a few days, the channels will be busy dissecting the story threadbare but I guess the only undeniable fact is that there is precious little one can do when faced with fanatics who don’t place high value on human life :-( Lately, I have come to believe that these people will finally get their comeuppance at the hands of the very God who they claim they are doing this for. I just hope it happens sooner than later!

The Last Testament – by Sam Bourne

There is no reason for Jerusalem to be on my “Places to Visit” list. I am not a Muslim, a Christian or a Jew. Yet it remains one of the places that I hope I will one day be able to see – a feeling accentuated by this novel.

As far as the story goes, it seems like a purely hypothetical situation – the Middle East situation being what it is or what it always has been! Anyways, the novel begins with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders at the negotiation table, finally. The stakes are high and they get higher when death starts knocking on the doors on both sides. The first to die is Shimon Guttman - an outspoken Israeli activist who is vehemently against any peace plan if that involves yielding an inch of their territory. An eminent Archaeologist on the Palestinian side, Ahmed Nour, is the next victim. And the bloody trail goes on. A reputed American negotiator, Maggie Costello, is dragged back from her forced retirement to drive the teams back to the talks. Teamed up with Shimon Guttman’s son Uri, she discovers that a clay tablet looted from the Baghdad museum is at the bottom of all this mayhem. Of course, you will have to read the novel to find out what the tablet contains :-)

A delightful read for anyone who likes to read about long-lost treasures! I wonder though, who will get to play the devastatingly handsome Uri Guttman if Hollywood ever decides to make a movie on this. ;-)

Another crazy day is coming to an end....well, almost. And again that haunting vista of the snow-capped Himalayas is in front of my mind's eyes. This attraction is beyond me. I am a city-person through and through - born and brought up in a city which is not surrounded by any mountains. But the North has always had a special pull for me. I am determined to do something about it this year. And by God's Grace, I will! Till then, it will be the stuff that dreams are made up of for me. :-)

ROAR FOR OUR TIGERS

Many of us will say "Tiger" if we are asked which is our favorite animal. And yet we are not doing enough to save this majestic beast from being extinct. Don't believe me? Check out http://saveourtigers.com/which says that there are only 1411 left - only 1411!

Please don't say "What can I do?". Speak up. If you have a blog, write about it the way I am doing. If you have friends who have blogs, please ask them to write about this issue. SMS to all your friends about this. Talk about this on Facebook and Orkut. Tweet about it. Write to the editor of your favorite newspaper.

And if you are still not convinced, try watching the ad of that cute little scared cub waiting for a mother who is never going to come back. I don't know about you but I don't have the stomach for watching it again. :-(

I want that tiger cub to survive and fill our forests with a mighty roar once again. Do you?

Kangaroo Court

So now we have the top Victorian cop advising Indians to look as poor as they possibly can. I don't know what that means, do you? More bizarre suggestions like not carrying jewellery or iPods follow. How about the spectacles? Can they wear them, Mr. Outlandish, sorry, Mr. Overland? Should they wear shoes or roam about bare-footed?

He says if Indians can live somewhere safer, they should. Alright then, what are the so-called "Safer" areas in Aussie Land? The Great Barrier Reef, maybe?

I am against the ban on Aussie Players because I don't think this should be an "eye-for-an-eye" kind of a scenario. But here are some tips on how they can protect themselves in the face of the ban by the Shivsena:

1. If they can play somewhere safer, they should.
2. Players should avoid carrying bats, pads or any other cricketing gear.
3. They should try to look as Indian as they possibly can

Howzzat Folks? :-)

May God bless the one who invented Lunch Break! All hell indeed broke loose today morning. First a conference call that kept getting postponed every 10 minutes - thus making sure that I couldn't start any other task. When that was over, there were onsite people clamoring for status updates and others wanting to talk about taking leave. By the time it was 1pm, I was ready to drop dead. :-(

Thought I might just drop in here in the midst of all the mayhem. :-) The circus will begin soon enough.