Bikini beauty from Pakistan: Mariyah Moten

Last updated on: September 6, 2006 at 8:47 am By Desh Kapoor

Here is a bikini clad Miss Pakistan - finally from our western neighbor too. I remember Paki Prez Mushy had said sometime back about the lack of conservative values - which he suggested that Pakistanis revel in... well... this is fairly conservative. hmm.. and I have not even brought up the various MMS' that line the internet these days from Pakistan.. I wonder how with the ISLAMIC republic deal with this beauty? Btw, she is a Houstonian.. and like they say.. "Everything is BIG in Texas".. from fruits to hearts!! 😉 So, Mariyah.. congrats! Something about her: Mariyah Moten, a 22-year-old US-based Pakistani, is being billed as "Pakistan's first Miss Bikini" after she topped the 'Best in Media' category at the Miss Bikini Universe pageant in China last week. Having won the title at Beihai resort in southern China, wowing crowds there and alarming conservatives in Pakistan, Moten is currently in Mumbai for a "special interview" assignment with a major Indian newspaper chain. The News International newspaper reported with the comment: "A few Pakistani women in the past have ventured to compete in beauty pageants but none has gone this far in terms of unsheltered territory." The Houston girl has "created a frenzy by participating in an international bikini contest and even landed a prize - even if not exactly for skin", the newspaper said. Mariyah represented Pakistan at the pageant. She received a trophy, plus cash in the 'Best in Media' section for being "the most photographed and interviewed girl in the entire pageant". Since the pageant, Mariyah has created a splash on television channels like Zee News as well as Khaleej Times, China Daily, Hangzhou Newspaper and various other newspapers in China and elsewhere. Born and brought up in Karachi, Mariyah moved to the US with her family eight years ago, the newspaper said, quoting a report on the popular website DesPardes.com. "It's the first time that Pakistan is participating in the bikini pageant, as we're an Islamic country," Moten was quoted as excitedly telling China Daily. "Now, there's less reproach in Pakistan on women's participation in such beauty contests," she said. "All my family supports me and I'm excited to have the chance to participate in the event." Read more

Ban Vande Mataram.. Muslim kids' education? Not our Problem!!

Last updated on: September 6, 2006 at 8:38 am By Desh Kapoor

Just read the responses of this idiot! He only talks about how the Muslims should not and would not sing Vande Mataram. And explains how the Madrasas should not let it be sung.. but when he asks about the illiteracy levels among the Muslims he conveniently puts the blame for lack of education amongst the Muslim kids on that SAME Government itself!! These leaders have run the entire community to the ground.. and the pseudo-secular crowd in India thinks crying out loud against the Hindutva parties is the sexiest thing possible to uplift Muslim community! They bolster such wretched idiots who just side-track the entire debate in the country!! Read more

Dr. Deepak Chopra on Tuning into Higher Self

Last updated on: September 5, 2006 at 9:26 pm By Desh Kapoor

Dr. Deepak Chopra is no stranger to the world of spirituality and healing. On his blog at Intentblog, he has written a two part series of articles on What is Self? both are excellent articles. Here is something from the second one where he gives - a recipe for reaching a higher self and getting away from the lower one! First, you accept that you and the world you live in is continuous only at the level of the higher self, or consciousness if you prefer that term.Second, you see that birth and death are discontinuities that interrupt this eternal continuity. Which means basically that all experience is also discontinuous. Your brain is a quantum machine for making the world seem to flow along--and you to flow along in it--using the raw material of electrical and chemical activity.Third, because it is connected to the real continuity, your brain can be used to shift your perception from the unreal to the real. Perception has this amazing ability to look onto itself. Self-consciousness is a real phenomenon, and our greatest ally. Read more

Saudi-zation of Indian Islam

Last updated on: September 5, 2006 at 3:02 pm By Desh Kapoor

The landscape in Indian subcontinent is changing. A couple of years back I had heard on an Pakistani radio channel where this lady said that "Allah Hafiz " is the correct phrase and not the ubiquitous "Khuda-Hafiz"! I was surprised. Here is an article which addresses this point and others that are changing the Indian face of Islam. “I was an apolitical Muslim, scared to ask questions,” Patel says until he met one Dr Zakir. Patel was only 15 then but he says Zakir convinced him about the connection between logic, science and the Quran. “Many centuries ago, the Quran had foreseen science as we know it today,” he says, “and it offers answers to all problems around.” He quotes chapter and verse as he argues his case even if it’s the need for the hijaab (“it’s pragmatic,” he says, “read Chapter 33, Verse 59”). Read more

After the Rain: Flickr Pic of the Day

Last updated on: September 5, 2006 at 12:35 am By Desh Kapoor

After the Rain Originally uploaded by 3rd foundation. This is a beautiful picture of droplets after a rain.. looks very similar to the dew drops in the morning... many poets (including me) have been fascinated by the "freshness" of the dew drops and the "virginity" of nature that they represent!! Read more

The New Islamic Jehadi Superstar!

Last updated on: September 4, 2006 at 7:28 pm By Desh Kapoor

It seems that things are a changing in the world of Global Jehad! Suddenly, Osama is slowly becoming the new "villain"! The new superstar in the pantheon of the Jehadis is Nasrallah of Hezbollah! Maybe this is all for the good.. who knows? Read this interesting article. Some of the illegally-operated FM radio stations in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas are paying hours and hours of tribute to Nasrallah in between recitations from the Koran. What are the Muslim youth in Pakistan's mosques and madrassas saying about Nasrallah and bin Laden? Read more

What is self?

Last updated on: September 2, 2006 at 6:37 am By Desh Kapoor

Just as when a spark from a flame comes into contact with flammable substance it bursts into an independent flame, even so this limitation of consciousness, when it is fed by latent tendencies and memories, condenses into egotism - "I"-ness. This I-ness is not a solid reality: but the jiva sees it as real, like the blueness of the sky. When the egotism begins to entertain its own notions, it gives rise to the mind-stuff, the concept of an independent and separate jiva, mind, Maya or cosmic illusion, cosmic nature etc. The intelligence which entertains these notions conjures up the natural elements (earth, water, fire, air and space). Associated with these, the same intelligence becomes a spark of light, though it is the cosmic light in truth. It then condenses into countless forms - somewhere it becomes a tree, etc. somewhere a bird etc. somewhere it becomes a goblin etc., somewhere it becomes a demi-gods, etc. The first of such modifications becomes the creator Brahma and creates others by thought and will. Thus the vibration in consciousness alone is the jiva, karma, god; and all the rest follows. Read more

Pilot on Potty Break locked out of his Own Cockpit!

Last updated on: September 2, 2006 at 1:58 am By Desh Kapoor

The drawbacks of excessive security measures.. they could lock YOU out of it too!! 🙂 The pilot of a Canadian airliner who went to the washroom during a flight found himself locked out of the cockpit, forcing the crew to remove the door from its hinges to let him back in, the airline said Wednesday. The incident occurred aboard a flight from Ottawa to Winnipeg Saturday. The regional jet, capable of carrying 50 people, was operated by Air Canada's Jazz subsidiary. Jazz spokeswoman Manon Stewart said that with 30 minutes of the flight to go, the pilot went to the washroom, leaving the first officer in charge. But when he tried to get back into the cockpit, the door would not open. Read more

Pain of a Kashmiri Pandit…

Last updated on: August 30, 2006 at 5:53 pm By Desh Kapoor

Rahul Pandita is one of my favorite writers on the web! I love his sensitive writing style... here is a poem from him that captures his family's pain of having left Kashmir and the notalgia that still prevails. For a man who no longer has a homeland, writing becomes a place to live: Theodor AdornoTwo days ago I sawMy land like a touristOn the Discovery channelMy father shouted andTold my niece:Look that is the Dal lakeWhere lotus stems come fromIn his shikaraGulla carriedBunches of NarcissusWhich we would decorateIn a brass plateAlong with a penAnd a coin toWelcome the springNow springs are spentIn colouring rusted coolersTo enable them toProvide succour in heatRelatives from JammuArrive every few monthsBringing with themSouvenirs of my landGreen saag with rootsAnd local sesame breadMy father and motherArrived in DelhiA few years agoFrom JammuAnd now whenHe refers to JammuMy father says:Back in SrinagarAnd then he stopsWhen he realisesThat Srinagar wasWhat he leftSixteen years agoAnd then for daysHe keeps silentHe keeps on staringAt the ceilingHe also does notThen read newspapers Read more

Men will be men!!

Last updated on: August 29, 2006 at 8:12 pm By Desh Kapoor

Men will always be men!! This was a funny looking pic I saw that I thought twice about posting it here.. but it was so hillarious that I couldnt stop myself! Read more

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