Email to Drishtikone from CIWTC Chairman and Managing Director

Last updated on: September 13, 2007 at 12:22 pm By Desh Kapoor

I had posted a blog on how the CIWTC web site had been mis-used when the domain name expired. Today, unexpectedly, I got an email from the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the Central Inland Water Transport Corporation Ltd. Strangely, it did not have his name! That makes me wonder if this was indeed an email from the real CMD? In any case, let me produce that letter for the readers so I can take the message he had for Drishtikone readers. The email was from the address: [email protected] - which does look authentic... but then when the emails themselves are hacked from the Indian Government - one cannot be really sure. I will however, consider this to be an email sent by the true CMD of CIWTC. Read more

Writing in Hindi in देवनागरी

Last updated on: September 13, 2007 at 12:04 pm By Desh Kapoor

Today I had to write in Hindi script (देवनागरी लिपी) for Sukriti's poem. I used HindiKalam.com for this. The good thing about Hindi Kalam is that it gives you suggestions on how to write the Hindi word. It was pretty neat and useful. Earlier, I have used Baraha also - it works for small pieces but not for the big ones... say something that is a page long.. it does not seem to work as well for me. I know there are other ways to do it.. like use word itself.. but I have not been successful in using it as yet. Read more

Kyun (Why?) – a Poem

Last updated on: September 13, 2007 at 5:43 am By jessicafick

I chanced upon a blog of a friend - Sukriti - and read her poetry. I personally found her poetry to be very sensitive and beautiful. She has gracefully agreed to share it with the readers of Drishtikone. It is in Hindi, so I have used the Devanagiri (Hindi) script to show it here.... I used to write Hindi poetry long back.. maybe one day I can share my poetry here too.... Please do let her know what you think? This is the first in the series... क्यूं बार बार आनखोन में तुम करवट लेते हो।।। ना सोते हो, ना मुझको तुम सोने देते हो।।। कहां छुपे हो सीने में तुम,सांसें भारी रहती है।।। नींद में हो या सपनों में, क्यूं पलकें भारी रहती है।। सारे रंग तुम अपने रखना,आंख का रंग तो मेरा हो।।। हाँ, थोड़ी थोड़ी श्याम िक रंगत,हलका हलका सवेरा हो।।। कयुं बार बार आंखों में तुम, करवट लेते हो।। ओह हो ना सोते हो, ना मुझको तुम, सोने देते हो।।।!!! Sukriti writes on her blog "This is Me" Read more

Religious sentimentalism in the US!

Last updated on: September 11, 2007 at 7:09 pm By Desh Kapoor

Something is going terribly wrong with the religious sensibilities in the US. And its not just the right-wingers, but the so called liberal media as well! Humor and critique is not as free as it used to be in the US not long ago. Kathy Griffin won this Emmy award and made a speech. When it is telecast, her speech will be edited and her remarks "bleeped"! Why? Because they are offensive and "wild". You would think she would have made racial slurs or used four-letter words etc. Hmm think again.... here are her "offensive remarks": Read more

How has Osama survived the last six years!

Last updated on: September 11, 2007 at 6:43 pm By Desh Kapoor

It has been six years today after the 9-11 attacks on the US by Al Qaeda. Yet Osama is out at large. How did he escape arrest? It is a tale of carelessness and apathy on part of the US and some smart maneuvering on part on part of Al Qaeda and Osama. Here is an account of how Osama survived from a top Pakistani journalist who has been privy to this information. It is also instructive to read the account of the author's own experience while interviewing Osama. He told how he and his 'Sheikh' survived the American carpet bombing for many days in the Tora Bora mountains of eastern Afgahnistan. It was the third week of December 2001 when Osama and his fighters -- with the help of Haji Zahir, Haji Zaman and Hazrat Ali -- broke the circle created by Americans around them.The majority of Al Qaeda fighters entered the Kurram tribal area of Pakistan from Tora Bora, but Osama headed in a different direction with a small group. Muhammad was also part of that small group. Some Chechen and Saudi fighters provided them cover and they walked all night towards the eastern Afghan province Paktia.A top Afghan security official, Lutfullah Mashal, confirmed to me later that Osama escaped to Paktia from Tora Bora in December 2001. Mashal followed him secretly. He claimed Osama entered North Waziristan, Pakistan, from Paktia, spent some time there and then moved to the mountains of the eastern Afghan province Khost. Read more

Indian History – finally someone talks sense!!

Last updated on: September 11, 2007 at 10:25 am By Desh Kapoor

The Indian pseudo-seculars, the Indologists, and the Indian "historians" have long claimed nonsensical stuff in the name of Indian history. Their claims were as credible as Snow-white's story is.. with at times hardly any basis. Never have any scientific methods been used in learning from history by this "intellectuals". That is why the Indian students' intellect has been insulted for last 300 years before and after independence with folk-lores such as Aryan Invasion theory.... which incidentally some bloggers - even highly educated ones still support despite its absolute farcical nature. Here is a video, where the author - David Frawley - uses scientific basis and knowledge gleamed from research by credible archeologists to weave the Indian past together. He shows how the beliefs of the "Harrappan", the "Aryan" and the "Dravidian" civilizations were the same as were the artifacts and culture. When I was a kid in the school and was taught the Aryan Dravidian conflict I thought the teacher was mad! The reason: Harrappans worshipped the Goddesses, the Shiv deity and the deity Vishnu; the so-called Aryans worshipped them too, and so did the "Dravidians". Now, for three set of people divided by such a distance in space and time (different eras separated not by centuries but by millenia and by continents!).... this was too much of a coincidence in my eyes! Therefore, such a claim was fantastic if not completely idiotic, in my mind! But I could not say that to my history teacher without rebuke! Today Frawley explores exactly the same question! It is a rather long video - but worth a watch! Here is an introduction of the video: A vast number of statements and materials presented in the ancient Vedic literatures can be shown to agree with modern scientific findings ... all » and they also reveal a highly developed scientific content in these literatures. The great cultural wealth of this knowledge is highly relevant in the modern world. Techniques used to show this agreement include: - Marine Archaeology of underwater sites (such as Dvaraka) - Satellite imagery of the Indus-Sarasvata River system - Carbon and Thermoluminiscence Dating of archaeological artifacts - Scientific Verification of Scriptural statements - Linguistic analysis of scripts found on archaeological artifacts - A Study of cultural continuity in all these categories. Read more

Glimpse of the Golden Age of Indian Hockey!

Last updated on: September 10, 2007 at 1:39 pm By Desh Kapoor

Here is a video of the how the Indian team played field hockey during the Golden age of Indian hockey! These videos are most probably from the Berlin Olympics of 1936, when India defeated Germany in front of Hitler in the finals by an outstanding margin of 8-1! The only reason there was no controversy was that Indians were considered Indo-Aryans! In this video, while the obvious mastery at stick work will jump up at you, what also seems exceptional is how quick the ball was distributed out.. instead of over-dribbling all over the place! And we are looking at Dhyan Chand and the like playing here.... not the modern Indian players - who are nowhere near Roop Singh and KD Singh Babu and Dhyan Chand! Read more

Pure Awareness

Last updated on: September 10, 2007 at 1:25 pm By Desh Kapoor

Know you are one,Pure awareness.With the fire of this convictionBurn down the forest of ignorance.Free yourself from sorrow,And be happy.-Ashtavakra Gita 1:9 Read more

Indian hockey team wins Asia Cup, 2007!

Last updated on: September 10, 2007 at 6:07 am By Desh Kapoor

Is it the Chak De India effect? It has been a while since India has won a tournament so emphatically! In the recently concluded Asia Cup 2007, India not only equalled a record by defeating Sri Lanka by 20 - 0 , it even won the finals against South Korea - against whom they could not even compete properly not too long ago - by 7-2. Well, India also defeated Thailand 16-0, and Japan 4-1 on the way to the finals! It is as if the team was in one heck of a scoring mode! The last time the Indian forwards were in such punishing mood was in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics when India defeated US by 24-1! But that was the era of Dhyan Chand. Is this the revival of Indian hockey? I hope so. It has been a sport which has been close to my heart! My grand-father was one of the founding members of the Jawahar lal Nehru Hockey tournament and I have spent many a summers going to watch hockey matches in Shivaji Stadium! It used to be a treat to do that! Read more

The Rampant "Slaved Prostitution" by the Indian IT companies!

Last updated on: September 9, 2007 at 6:56 pm By Desh Kapoor

Long back I worked for a leading IT company and came to the US for a short training and then worked on a project - with an alliance consulting partner (a Big 6 firm). Now, at that time the company had no plan in the area of my training to start anything. For coming to work on that project, I had to sign a bond to work for the company for TWICE the period I stayed in the US! And the money of the bond - that I had to repay - included: my air fare monthly allowance (which was pittance - $1800/month while those from the Big 6 working with me were making six figures!) and an additional sum of money. So, here I was working my backside off for the company on pittance only to be bonded and made to do whatever it wished when I went back home. Moreover the company made at least $100k-300k in that one year on me! Read more