Sunrise

This is again one favorite shot. I love the color of this morning sky. It was perfect. Autumn 2010.

Silhoutte

This is one of my favorite shots. I love the way the silhoutte of this tree looks with the background color of the sky. It just came out well. No Picassa touch on this one either. This is coming straight from the camera.

Again shot during our visit to the Kumbalgarh Fort from Ranakpur. Early morning click - Autumn 2010.

Storm Clouds

This photo was shot 3000 ft above the ground from the window of the flight bound from Ahmedabad to Chennai - early morning hours in the autumn of 2010.

One more sunset

Shot from my terrace..

Some crazed facts

There are times when I question the very right to education, whether it should be a right at all and be extended to everyone, or whether it should be treated like the privilege it is at its core and restricted to only those who prove, really prove, that they deserve it. Or maybe, it's none of these things, it's just that current teaching methods and textbooks of the world need an overhaul.

This post is prompted by the gems I read recently from the  History of World Civilizations. In this post, I have made some amends.

Q. Who as Prophet Mohammad?
A. Before Islamism entered Arabia, Arabs were Hindus and Confucius.
The Profit Mohammed was a cool guy. (And he was profitable to have, which made him even cooler.) Islam was made up by combining ideas of Christianity and Muslimism. (This might be my absolute favorite.) Mohammad was the prophet of both the Muslims and the Islamics.

Q. Who was the Buddha?
A. Buddha's real name was Gandhi. (And he attacked the British in 400 BC by flinging chants at them.)
A. Buddhism involves worshiping The Bud. (How much of The Weed are you on, my friend?)
A. Buddha is the one who prays to the Buddah. (I loved this. Very existential.)
A. The Buddha is always in agreement with Allah. (Well, yes, in a matter of speaking.)
A. Buddha is basically THE GOD of the Hindu religion. (AMEN.)
A. The Buddha is not a person, it is a way of life. (Deep. Very deep.)
A. You can become the Buddah once you see everything. (I agree.)

Q. Who are Shias?
A. Shias and Sunnis differ on the issue of who should succeed Brahmid. (I had to call a friend after this one.)
A. Shias are Islamics who believe government officials should be elected.
A. Shias can be gods and goddesses. (I like that there is no curb on their freedom of choice.)
A. Shias are nomadic people who do agriculture. (And Sunnis neither like to travel nor grow produce.)
A. Shias believe you need to keep moving constantly to pray to god because god is everywhere. (I am mildly disturbed at the thought of Shias being restless, little children.)
A. Shias are Muslims who believe that Buddhist leaders should be descendants of Buddha and Ali. (I appreciate that Shias should care so much about Buddhist leadership. This is tolerance at its best.)
A. Shias are middle-eastern people who are actually Christians. (Yes. Deep, very deep inside their souls.)
A. Shias feel differently about Hinduism. (Oh no! Why? That is so sad.)

Q. Was a conflict between the Romans and Jesus inevitable?
A. Yes, they both had strong feelings. (Yes. But about what? Hmm...mysterious. Very mysterious.)
A. Yes, because Jesus taught Jewish stuffs and Romans were Roman Catholic.
A. Yes because Jesus being around got people to get excited but that doesn't exactly means the man should have to get nailed to a cross and sufficate. (Don't you love the image of Jesus running around getting people excited randomly?)
A. Yes, because Jesus flipped over tables in a temple and lost his temper. This got him noticed.
A. Yes, because Jesus had too many opinions.
A. Yes, because Jesus kept getting elected as the King of Jews. (Oh, those Jews and their democracy!)
A. Jesus got into conflict with the Roman Empire because he didn't like their churches. (No, he didn't think they were pretty enough.)

Q. Name 6 countries of Southeast Asia.
A. Asia, Islam and China.
A. Mecca, Medina, Cairo.
A. Greece, Iraq and Iran. (Yes, because they are all right next to each other.)
A. There are no countries here. It is just a chain of 20,000 islands. (All of which were waiting patiently for Columbus' arrival.)
A. Sicily, etc. (I rest my case.)

Our Schools, Their Schools

Teachers are always Ma’am(s) and Sir(s)
Teachers addressed by name

Text books with lengthy paragraphs
Text books with pictures, back to being twelve

Multimedia teaching is a rarity
Multimedia teaching is a way of life, god bless youtube

High propensity to cheat
Even higher potential of academic honesty

Good grades should be announced to all, Pappu pass ho gaya
Grades are a private matter

Parents aware of child’s performance throughout education cycle
Invasion of privacy if parents want to know their 18-year old’s scores

The same teachers and methods continue unthreatened forever
Anonymous appraisals by students, you know exactly why you’re liked or not

Office hours may or may not be held, teacher’s whim can’t be questioned
Too many office hour misses and someone’s bound to notice

Far, far more serious and hardworking
Life’s a peach, it’s mine for plucking.

She Asked For It

I read an article from the first of the four books that the Bangladeshi feminist author, Taslima Nasreen, wrote about her life. The title of the book is Aamar Meyebela or My Girlhood.

It's interesting that Nasreen, has no actual word to denote girlhood. The word for childhood is chhelebela, or boyhood. So no matter whether you are a girl or a boy, your experience of childhood cannot be the uni-gender "childhood." It has to be "boyhood." So in naming her memoir, Nasreen actually made up a new word.

But a common language is all that we share. Nasreen did not grow up in a prejudice-free family.
In her memoir, she candidly talks about all the times when if female children were born to any family, the parents openly wailed. Or they sent their girls to schools for a limited number of years, if at all, simply because in their point of view, women didn't require higher education. Just as they didn't need to learn how to climb trees, fly kites, run in the fields, or read for pleasure.

At present, several of Nasreen's books are banned in her own country. But her citizenship was canceled and she became a political refugee post the publication of her notorious book titled Lajja, a novel that didn't portray her countrymen in an appropriate light.

As someone trying to write something worthwhile, I feel deep compassion for Nasreen. She hasn't been to her motherland in years because there is a price on her head over there. She splits her time between Europe and India and in spite of her scores of awards, bold words, intriguing stories, and obvious love for the land she grew up in, she is not welcome in her own home. There could be few things more tragic than that.

But then, like most women in most parts of the world, Nasreen got this treatment because "she asked for it," didn't she?