Friday, August 3, 2012

A MASSACRE IS NOT A MASSACRE; OCCUPATION IS NOT OCCUPATION

A MASSACRE IS NOT A MASSACRE; OCCUPATION IS NOT OCCUPATION


.A poem, but not a poem about the Attack on Flotilla



Written by G. Hage, Prof. of Anthropology and Social Theory, University of Melbourne



A MASSACRE IS NOT A MASSACRE



I don't write poems, but in any case poems are not poems



Long ago, I was made to understand that Palestine was not Palestine;

I was also informed that Palestinians were not Palestinians;

They also explained to me that ethnic cleansing was not ethnic cleansing;

And when naive old me saw freedom fighters,

They patiently showed me that they were not freedom fighters;

And that resistance was not resistance;



And when, stupidly, I noticed arrogance, oppression and humiliation,

They benevolently enlightened me so I can see that

Arrogance was not arrogance,

Oppression was not oppression,

And humiliation was not humiliation.



I saw misery, racism, inhumanity and a concentration camp;

But they told me that

They were experts in misery, racism, inhumanity and concentration camps;

And I have to take their word for it:

This was not misery, racism, inhumanity and a concentration camp.



Over the years they've taught me so many things:

Invasion was not invasion,

Occupation was not occupation,

Colonialism was not colonialism,

And apartheid was not apartheid.



They opened my simple mind to even more complex truths,

That my poor brain could not on its own compute like:

"Having nuclear weapons was not having nuclear weapons",

"Not having weapons of mass destruction" was

"Having weapons of mass destruction."



And, democracy (in the Gaza Strip) was not democracy.

Having second class citizens (in Israel) was democracy.

So you'll excuse me if I am not surprised to learn today

That there were more things i thought were evident that are not:

Peace activists are not peace activists,

Piracy is not piracy,

The massacre of unarmed people is not the masscre of unarmed people.



I have such a limited brain and my ignorance is unlimited.

And they're so f****** intelligent. Really.

One world

One world


. As there are n number of Pakistanis who see Indians in n number of ways, there are 7n number of Indians who see Pakistanis in exactly 7n number of ways.


World is one. We have drawn lines. We have invented different ways of praying to God. We have developed different languages, styles of cooking, dancing, singing, and mourning.

But the earth, the chromosomes, the blood groups, the emotions, the laughter, the joys, the tears, the sufferings, the aspirations, the disappointments - all that is NATURAL is the same.

As there are people who see the glass half full, there are people who try to find out, and highlight what is common between the so called different people.

And as there are people who see the glass half empty, there are people who try to find out, invent, highlight, and decry the differences.

I am an optimist - see the glass not only half full, but will go 100 extra miles to fill it. I love what is common between all the people of the world, and enjoy the differences which make us so colourful.

Hindi and Urdu

Hindi and Urdu

Urdu was born in and around Delhi and UP in the barracks of Army of different rulers. Many rulers from the east and the west had their reigns spread from Afghanistan to East of India.

Basically a sweet mix of Hindi and Persian emerged from this mixing of soldiers and traders - which was named Urdu.

The script used to write Urdu was basically Persian but with some additions and changes to accomodate Hindi sounds.

Hindi has 46 letters (13 vowels and 33 consonants) and 5 complex letters. The sounds of only 17 consonants match the Persian sounds.

So to accomodate all the other sounds of Hindi some new letters were added to the Persian script used for Urdu, namely te (tamaatar), daal (doli) rhe (barhe, kharhe). Everyone who knows the script would know that these new letters do not have normal dots as nuqtah.

Then to accomodate Hindi sounds like bhe (bhindi), phe (phool), the (thaali), the (thokar), jhe (jhoola), chhe (chhaata), dhe (dhamaal), dhe (dhakkan), rhhe (as in barhhe chalo), khe (khaat), ghe (ghar) - "do chashmee he" was added to the consonants be (baazaar), pe (patang), te (titlee), te (tamaatar), jim (jaal), che (chor), daal (davaat), daal (damru), rhe (as in barha beta), kaaf (kursi), gaaf (gaanv) respectively.

Urdu's basic words, almost all the verbs and grammar came from Hindi, as it was born in the Hindi belt, and innumerable Persian and Arabic nouns and expressions became a part of it.

Every word of Hindi, and Persian belongs to Urdu too. There is no limit to it. Many Arabic words too are included.

I mean you can use any Hindi word in Urdu, any Persian word in Urdu, and even Arabic words. That of course makes Urdu a rich language.

Today's Hindi has adopted many Persian words too, and to accomodate the Persian sounds small dots are put under Devanagari letters ka (kursi), ga (gaanv), ja (jaal), and pha (phool) to make them qa (qareeb), gha (gharib), za (zameen), fa (farz) respectively. Hindi has adopted words from many other languages too.

Today the form of Hindi/Urdu or Hindustani, we usually use, has English words too, which enriches the language further. The Bambaiya Bollywood language has Marathi, Gujarati and other words and expressions too.

Let us not play a winning and losing match by fighting over which language is richer or not. With us our languages also evolve to become richer and sweeter, and make communication easier by the day.

OUR OWN LITTLE SONU SINHA

OUR OWN LITTLE SONU SINHA


ARUNIMA SINHA

You are a real hero..
Saw you lying on a hospital bed with a leg amputated
Still confident of reaching the skies
Saw you donate the donations given to you,
To your impoverished sport's academy
Greedy billionaires and corrupt politicians should learn from you
Today your leg has been amputated further
Still no tears in your eyes,
But i'm not brave enough to hold back mine..

Get well soon.. The world needs you..



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गर्व से कहो - हम भस्मासुर हैं

गर्व से कहो - हम भस्मासुर हैं


धर्मेन्द्र चतुर्वेदी

मैंने बचपन में सोचा था कि पढ़ूँगा वैदिक दर्शन के बारे में,

जानूँगा क्या होता है साररूप होना,

क्या होता है अद्वैत दर्शन का तत्वमसि हो जाना


सोचा था कि क्या है कृष्ण में जो खींचे रखता था रसखान को अपनी ओर,

क्यों मीरा इतनी पागल थी,

और क्यूँ लोग कबीर के इतने दीवाने होते हैं?



मैंने चाहा कि जानूँ सूफ़ी संतों के बारे में,

क्यूँ उनके चेहरे तेज से भरपूर होते हैं,

कैसे पाते हैं वो ईश्वर प्रेम के ज़रिये?

मैंने चाहा कि जानूँ बुद्ध को,

कौन सा जादू था उनके वचनों में,

उनके चेहरे में,

जो उन्हें देखकर लोग बन जाते थे उनके भक्त,

जो रात भर में उनके अनुयायी समंदर पार भी बन जाते थे




ठीक उसी समय जब मैं ये सब जानने ही वाला था,

उन्होंने मुझे रोका और बताया

कि वैदिक दर्शन जानने के पहले ज़रूरी है

जानो देवी-देवताओं की संख्या,

जानो देश भर में कितने राम मंदिर हैं

और कितनों के बगल में मस्जिद हैं;



और कबीर को जानना इतना इम्पोर्टेंट नहीं है

जितना महाराणा प्रताप को जानना,

परशुराम को जानना,

और यह जानना कि छत्रपति शिवाजी कितने वीर थे,

और कैसे औरंगज़ेब को नाकों चने चबाने पड़े थे




उन्होंने बताया कि

तुम्हारे बाबा के बाबा के मौसा को

उनके ही गाँव के एक आदमी ने मार डाला था

और उस आदमी का मज़हब तुम्हारे सूफ़ी संत के मज़हब से मेल खाता है,

इसलिए वह सूफ़ी संत ख़ूनी है




बुद्ध को उन्होंने विष्णु का दसवाँ अवतार बताया।

"और चूँकि राम भी थे विष्णु के अवतार,

इसलिए राम और विष्णु एक ही हैं,

और कोई ज़रूरत नहीं रह जाती तब बुद्ध को जानने की",

उन्होंने कहा।



इतने सब ज्ञान के बाद उन्होंने मुझे आज्ञा दी

"जाओ मेरे धर्म-रक्षक, देशभक्त, वीर,

और इस बेवक़ूफ दुनिया को भी बतलाओ

असली और नक़ली का भेद"।



तब से मैं जहाँ भी जाता हूँ,

वहाँ फट जाता हूँ

और पैदा करता हूँ

अपने ही जैसे पचास भस्मासुर

"ऐसा करने से स्वर्ग की प्राप्ति होती है"

ऐसा उनका कहना है।

Sanjiv Bhatt's Open Letter

Sanjiv Bhatt's Open Letter

Sanjeev Bhatt:
I have principle and no power
You have power and no principle
You being you & I being I
Compromise is out of question
So let d battle begin
I have truth and no force
You have force and no truth
You being you and I being I
Compromise is out of question
So let the battle begin
You may club my skull I will fight
You may crush my bones I will fight
You may bury me alive I will fight.
With truth running through me I will fight
With every ounce of my strength I will fight..
With my last dying breath I will fight
I will fight till the Castle that you built with your lies
Comes tumbling down
Till the devil you worshipped with your lies
Kneels down before my angel of truth.
May the kind God give you the requisite strength
To be equitable and benevolent towards one and all!
Satyamev Jayate![Please, share]



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