Author: Atanu Dey

In the jungle, the the mighty jungle the lion sleeps tonight . . . no not that lion (lyrics) but this lion.

Contrast the Prime Minister’s callous indifference [to the alleged torture of the sadhvi] with the sleepless nights he spent when the Australian Police were interrogating Dr Mohammed Haneef for his links with the Glasgow bombers.

Here is an item that handily qualifies for the “Idiotic Statements of the Year Award”: Indira Gandhi’s vision saved us from current financial crisis: Sonia Gandhi

Prudence implies ensuring an economic system that imposes clear, fair rules and rewards those who play by them, Gandhi said.

It implies a system that insists upon transparency in all economic transactions, and accountability on the part of those who conduct them, she added.

Transparency International should be alerted that India must be elevated in their rankings because Ms Sonia Gandhi has said so. Hush my darlings, don’t fear my darlings, the lion sleeps tonight. (Hat tip: Kaushal Desai.)

Moving on, John Pilger writes about what “change” in America really means. The American people continue to sleep tonight. (Link thanks to Jayant.)

It’s not all doom and gloom. For comic relief, you can ask Sri Sri Ravi Shankar questions you always wanted to know the answers to but were never able to answer. Not ordinary questions such as whether the lion sleeps tonight but profoundly deep questions such as “I work for a charity. Does working for charity help one become spiritually enlightened?”

Don’t neglect to watch the featured short videos of people asking profound questions. (Hat tip Sudipta Chatterjee.)

That IBNLive feature helps one understand the meaning of the word “retard.” I got an email this morning from a follower of SSRS. I will spare you the pain and not quote the long email. But let me give you an illustrative sample of gross inanity from it:

. . . someone one asked Sri Sri a question (and I was there listening to this being asked btw) : “Why should I consider that you are my Guru? ” to which Sri Sri replied with his characteristic quick-wit “A Guru does not need a disciple , a disciple needs a Guru. So I am not asking you to make me your Guru. You are the one considering it. Think about it”

Ah so impressive! I really do believe that some of the followers of SSRS are really clueless retards if they get bowled over by vacuous answers and shopworn homilies. The email writer did ask that I don’t reveal her identity.

Moving on, here’s a link to a piece on Islam Watch, a site where ex-muslims scrutinize Islam: Islam Never had it this Good.

We live in strange times; only a few decades ago nobody with interest in Islamic matters could have predicted the scale of the Islamic resurgence that has swept the world. Today, Islam is a truly global religion that is no more confined to the Muslims’ countries but has reached all corners of the world. Islamic words like jihad, sharia and hijab have become parts of all languages. Nowadays, on daily basis, Muslims practice terrorism, which they call jihad, on daily basis and seem to get away with it, or even get praised as peace loving people.

Don’t fret my darlings. The world sleeps tonight.

For me, visiting northern California is like returning home. I arrived here on Saturday evening and feel like I never left this place. This journey to the San Francisco bay area was one of the nicest that I have ever had, thanks to the excellent Jet Airways flight from Mumbai to SFO via Shanghai. That’s a first for me — traveling to the US via China.
Continue reading “Hi from Berkeley, California”

Do you know the way to San Jose?
California dreaming
Hotel California
I left my heart in San Francisco

Any more?

{Followup to part 1.}

Nov 6th, the first day of TiE-ISB Connect 2008 had a packed schedule. The final panel, “Taking India Forward”, was the most memorable for me.
Continue reading “About the ISB Event — Part 2”

These days power availability has deteriorated significantly in Pune. Where I live, power is not available for about seven hours every day, including Sundays. The peak power shortage robs people of an essential resource during the most productive part of the day. If this is the situation in a major metro city like Pune, it is easy to imagine how hard life must be in most of India, especially for the 800 million who have to subsist on less than $2 a day, most of whom live in rural India.
Continue reading “About the TiE-ISB Event”

Sandeep seriously considers why the Pope gets Gandhi’s message wrong:

Benedict’s interpretation of Gandhi’s message of non-violence is false. Gandhi’s non-violence doesn’t stand for a cowardly acceptance of injustice and unprovoked violence. Gandhi viewed proselytisation as cultural invasion and a hindrance to peace.

Andrew Sullivan writing for The Atlantic on why he blogs.

From the first few days of using the form, I was hooked. The simple experience of being able to directly broadcast my own words to readers was an exhilarating literary liberation. Unlike the current generation of writers, who have only ever blogged, I knew firsthand what the alternative meant. I’d edited a weekly print magazine, The New Republic, for five years, and written countless columns and essays for a variety of traditional outlets. And in all this, I’d often chafed, as most writers do, at the endless delays, revisions, office politics, editorial fights, and last-minute cuts for space that dead-tree publishing entails. Blogging—even to an audience of a few hundred in the early days—was intoxicatingly free in comparison. Like taking a narcotic.

I heard from several people in response to my 30th October post on Mr Raj Thackeray. A close friend wrote to me thus:

You have previously argued that one has to obey the law of the land or suffer the consequences. That is a sound position.

But I got a feeling that you let Raj Thackeray off too lightly from this yardstick. So okay, I agree Blue Turban is a bastard, but RajT is a violent goon. Goons belong in jail.

He felt that I was being inconsistent. I replied saying I do not ever want to suggest that Raj T should not be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and that it should be done ASAP, if not sooner. I explained that what I meant was that his emergence is not the least unexpected or shocking to a population which has grown accustomed to much greater criminals. He is merely following the path blazed forth by the more daring and more innovative.

So that there is no confusion on where I stand, I am not defending Raj Thackeray at all. Anyone who incites violence against others must be locked up — period. I just want that those who are doing the locking up should be themselves scrutinized to see if they are guilty of greater or similar crimes. It’s the brazen hypocrisy of those who are protesting Raj Thackeray’s hate campaign against “the other” that makes me feel a little sick.