This is the most amazing and counter-intuitive story I have read in a long time. It is not as you would think.. the origin of tools for sexual stimulation for women have a rather therapeutic history.. not something that you would think of generally associated with these contraptions 🙂 Read more
Bhutto's death was a watershed and terrible! But what is happening thereafter is even worse... and under the radar of most media. On Wednesday hundreds of militants - those who had a decade ago fought along with the Pakistan Army - used rockets and powerful ammunition to kill 8 soldiers, while 25 are missing! They ran through a fort in South Waziristan. They are pro-Taliban and pro-Al Qaeda militants who claim they killed 16 and captured 12. After four hours of fighting, the fort in Sararogha area was gone from the hands of the Pakistan Army. That was Wednesday. A day later, another military post in a fort was abandoned in a remote tribal area. Nobody is fool enough to believe that this group of militants can run over an entire country. We all know they cannot. But what is striking is the outrageous nature of the attacks. The very people who they were fighting FOR, now are the sworn enemies. Read more
I went to the blog of Joseph Thomas (Jo calling) who had challenged the call by an Archbishop to the Christians to send their kids to Christian schools only. Jo laments how the Christian schools are just into money and how he studied in a far away school, just because his family could not pay the money, and that they are hardly reflecting "Christian Values"! That made me think. We have seen this to be prevalent in every ideology and religion - The Values of that group are held sacred. But then there are as many values as there are groups! There are "Hindu Values", there are "Islamic Values", "Communist Values", "Capitalist Values" and values of even the Institutions - like Harvard values or GE values! Lets try and analyze what we really mean by values and how nonsensical this entire construct is in the first place! I will use Jo's line to discuss it further - not trying to pick on a particular group or Jo himself (sorry Jo!), but since that is how this thought started off. Christian Values are discussed. Now, are Christian Values... the Values that all Christians LIVE by as a natural fact as soon as they come out of the womb or those that they SHOULD live by but dont always?? It is quite obvious from the discussion that these are values that Christians are "strive" to live by! Hmm... so why should they live by these values? Because a religious fountainhead gave it to them. If this religious fountainhead was even a wee bit serious and had any element of the Universal Consciousness in Him, then it would stand to reason that He would provide something that would be true for the ENTIRE humanity... actually ENTIRE creation.. rather than a certain hitherto unknown, un-created, and evolving/changing group! Isnt it? Its like I became enlightened suddenly and said.. ok, folks, too bad all you guys who came before me but all those who jump into this box that I will now call "Desh-ism" and live by my 13 cardinal rules will automatically assume that you are living by "God's Word"! Read more
In India girl child is treated as a curse! Thousands are killed every year. The worst states in this gory act are those in the North India - specifically Punjab! Now, for the first time, there is a serious scheme being planned, that is aimed at saving the girl child specifically amongst the poor communities! This is what it will be like: ...it will provide upto Rs 1.4 lakh each to families of girl child in 10 poorest districts and worst gender ratio in 5 states, including Punjab and Haryana, where female infanticide is rampant. The money will be spread across the 18 years of the girl child and latter disbursements will be dependent on certain conditions, one being that she is not married before 18 and when she is married, it is to someone of her choice. All these are subjective issues.. but at least a start has been made. We will never know what is wrong with this scheme if we do not try anything! But while Rs one lakh will accrue automatically if the girl child is not married before turning major, her parents can avail of the rest of amount only if they fulfill certain conditions. They will be required not merely to take good care of their daughters but also see to it that they are not forced into marriage before they turn 19 and ensure 80% attendance in school. Economically weak parents are to get assistance also for registration of her birth, completion of the entire range of immunization and education. Read more
There is something wrong in the entire picture... in this term, Dr. Manmohan Singh has really disturbed my sensibility! Honestly. For a person who so highly values education, to have the highest institutions of one's own land go downhill so spectacularly is difficult to explain! This is what happened under his beat: 1. More and More IIMs and IITs were created, thus diluting the brand and the standards! 2. Reservations were pushed on the elitist of institutions! and now the worst of all - IITs do not have enough money to pay the salaries of their teachers! In fact IIT-Bombay will not be able to pay its salaries NEXT MONTH!! Ask yourself, what is the incentive and motivation for these professors to keep teaching in these institutions? The guys who teach courses to GET INTO IITs in Kota make Rs 5 million to Rs 10 million a year.. just preparing students! Why would these teachers teach at fraction of those salaries? Doesn't it sound ludicrous? Read more
Now, this is the freakiest show of nature's prowess that I have seen! I am not sure what went "wrong" in this case, but this bitch gave birth to this baby that looks more human than a dog! It is defintely a "mutant" animal... but the resemblance is so amazing to a human being that it makes you wonder! Was THIS the evolution that Darwin talked about? Well, in this case, I could not find out the element of "competition" involved here.. but oh well! The complete set of pictures are here in this album.. but this is how the baby/pup looks like: Read more
It does not look too good for Pakistan right now! While terrorists are busy blowing up people - different ideologies or different political thought.. A suspected Sunni extremist opened fire in a Shiite mosque Thursday and then blew himself up, killing nine people on the eve of a religious festival that has been scarred by sectarian violence in the past. Read more
"I am in all things, From Brahma to a blade of grass." When you know this, You have no thought For success or failure Or the mind's inconstancy. You are pure. You are still. Read more
Chalte Chalte from "Pakeezah" sung by Lata Mangeshkar This song's music was made by Ghulam Mohammad and lyrics by Kaifi Azmi. I think this is one of best songs in the classical/semi-classical genre. It is amazing in how it uses silence as an instrument! The music stops, but the melody goes on .... somewhere in the middle of this song! Lata has long regarded Ghulam Mohd. as perhaps the best music composer she ever worked with. I couldn't agree with her more! Enjoy the song below if you are reading this after Jan 17, 2007; otherwise play it on the left hand sidebar... Read more
Sharing some interesting news... have fun A giant palm tree - which can be seen on Google Earth/satellites - which spends so much energy it collapses and dies.. a self destructing tree! Is Science an Art? Well Neils Bohr certainly seemed to think so! He thought electrons were closer to Picasso's world than to the science of revolving bodies of the Universe: Bohr's discerning conviction was that the invisible world of the electron was essentially a cubist world. By 1923, de Broglie had already determined that electrons could exist as either particles or waves. What Bohr maintained was that the form they took depended on how you looked at them. Their very nature was a consequence of our observation. This meant that electrons weren't like little planets at all. Instead, they were like one of Picasso's deconstructed guitars, a blur of brushstrokes that only made sense once you stared at it. The art that looked so strange was actually telling the truth. Read more
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