You have to read this.

I really, really have no words left. Really.

I’d really like to know what this guy has been smoking. Whatever it is, pliss to stay away from it, y’all.

So happy that the Congress is leading!
For so many reasons. More in detail later. Too busy watching the news right now.

On an aside, have promised too many drinks to too many people if Congress forms the government at the centre. Any one else who’d like to celebrate is most welcome.

Meanwhile, IHM writes two brilliant posts about Pramod Muthalik:

A Sari to make you a Bhartiya Nari and Our India and Their India.

Fox News covers the Pink Chaddi Campaign, while TOI reports that Pramod Mutalik wants to have an ideological debate.

TOI had a front page story on the same, and then another one on Page 13. I got two calls from an NDTV journalist yesterday, and directed her to Nisha Susan, who’ll numbers you’ll find in the comments section of the last post. You could also hop over to the Pink Chaddi blog for addresses of the delivery points.

The PINK CHADDI Campaign

Dear All,
You may have heard of the Pink Chaddi Campaign that kicked off a few days ago to oppose the Sri Ram Sena. The campaign is growing exponentially (2,624 at this point in the life of our Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women) and that is not surprising. Most women in this country have enough curbs on their lives without a whole new franchise cashing in with their bully-boy tactics. Of course, a lot of men have joined the group as well.

Here is we want to do with the Pink Chaddi Campaign. Join in. Be imaginative, have fun and fight back!

Step 1: It does not matter that many of us have not thought about Valentine’s Day since we were 13. If ever. This year, let us send the Sri Ram Sena some love. Let us send them some PINK CHADDIS. 

Look in your closet or buy them cheap. Dirt-cheap. Make sure they are PINK. Send them off to the Sena. 

The address to send the package is:
Pramod Muthalik, 
Chief Bully Boy, Sri Rama Sena, 
#11, Behind New Bus Stand, Gokhul Road, Near Lakshmi Park,
HUBLI – Karnataka
Also, participants in Bangalore have agreed to draw fire from the Sri Ram Sena by organising a press conference on February 13. What would be great fun and also useful as a tactic is to send all our collections to Bangalore. There the packages that everyone has sent will be pooled in front of the national media and publicly sent to the Sena. You can imagine the scene, can’t you? A giant heap of pink chaddis and a very serious press conference where we tell Mr Muthalik what we think of him?

So, the chaddis can also be mailed to:

The Pink Chaddi Campaign,
C/O Alternate Law Forum,
122/4 Infantry Road 
(opposite Infantry Wedding House)
Bangalore 560001
Karnataka
Contact person: Nithin (9886081269)
And, in case you don’t want to mail it yourself, you can drop it off at the Chaddi Collection Points. We will be collecting across the country through this week and sending the packages on February 12. More information about Chaddi Collectors in your city soon on the blog: http://thepinkchaddicampaign.blogspot.com/

Step 2: Send the Pink Chaddi Campaign a photograph of the package. 

Tell us how many chaddis you are sending out and inspire other women in other cities. You can either mail the information here or you can mail it at our facebook address.http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=49641698651&ref=mf 

Step 3: On Valentine’s Day, we do a Pub Bharo action. Go to a pub wherever you are. From Kabul to Chennai to Guwahati to Singapore to LA, women have signed up. It does not matter if you are actually not a pub-goer or not even much of a drinker. Let us raise a toast (it can be juice) to Indian women. Take a photo or video. We will put it together and send this as well to the Sri Ram Sena. 

Step 4: After Valentine’s Day, we should get some of our elected leaders to agree that beating up women is AGAINST INDIAN CULTURE. 

For now, ask not what Dr VS Acharya, Home Minister of Karnataka can do for you. Ask what you can do for him. Here is his blog. 
http://drvsacharya.blogspot.com

Send him some love.

Please note: The article at the bottom of this post was not written originally by my Dad. It was edited by him and modified to fit the context of the Indian soldiers. This is already mentioned at the bottom of this post. And he’s even linked to the original on his blog. Most people who commented here understood that. Strangely enough, there are other people who cannot scroll to the bottom and read, and instead leave rude comments at other blogs.

If Obelix was here, you know what he’d have done, right? Tapped his head (toc toc toc), and said – “These trolls are crazy!”

…

Long, long time since I wrote. And the number of unpublished posts I have is unbelievable. I’ve tried to start writing and then lost the inclination, or had my mind blanking out, or just not had the time to finish.

The Mumbai Attacks, meanwhile, have left me feeling …or actually, have left me wondering what to feel. Angry? Confused? Outraged? All of the above?

I watched the news for four days straight, with only breaks for sleeping at night – horrified at what was happening, and the implications of all of it. Feeling guilty to even be sleeping. No reason for the guilt, I know. But staying awake and watching the news, and feeling the pain, was the only way to take part in what was happening in a city over 1400 Kms away. Over the next few days, I’ve even found myself putting on radio in the car, on the way back from work, and feeling instantly guilty to be listening to music.

Yes, I realise that this makes very little sense.

I have only been speaking about this with my parents, brother and husband – because I just don’t have it in me to engage in a conversation about this with anyone else who doesn’t feel the outrage that we all have been feeling. It is difficult to put this feeling in words, spoken or written. All of us have sat and watched TV with tears flowing down our faces. My brother’s had a fight with a friend, and my husband’s had an argument with a colleague.

Saahil’s friend is doing Hotel Management (so is Saahil), and all he had to say was that he was glad he hadn’t started training in either of these hotels. My brother was incapable of explaining to this boy that it was so not about your own self here. There was so much more.

G’s colleague said that he wished “all these Muslims” would just be sent back to Pakistan.

I’ve felt physical rage at just hearing these two stories from S and G, and do not wish to enter into any conversations myself with people.

I’ve been reading a few blogs off and on. There were people who just reported what had happened, but mostly they were outraged too. Some wondered why the Officers who died had to head these operations themselves, and couldn’t just strategise from the background since they were heads of various teams. Well, maybe because they were “Officers”, and one of the vows they take is to protect their country, their men, and then if they have any life left, themselves – in that order.

I’ve read in many blogs now that it’s sad how the young don’t care. And while I agree that it’s extremely sad that a lot of them don’t, I disagree, mainly because of my 21 year old brother, who does.

I heard people wondering what the big deal was with the Kerala CM not going to Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan’s home. And, while I agree that it isn’t wrong for the Kerala CM to choose to fly to Karnataka a little late, it is still inexcusable what he said.

But, anyway, while on the topic – this is something that might answer some questions that a lot of people have about why the media is suddenly so full of how important our Army, Navy and Air Force are. Yes, people have been wondering why this incident has led to so much being written about them all over the place, even though these same people do the same job every day in J&K. Why is so much being made of it this time around? No, it isn’t because the “elite” got attacked, and the “aam aadmi” didn’t.

We’re talking about them because this incident was not the same thing as what happens every day in J&K. If there is firing at our borders, it is between the Armies of two countries. It isn’t an illogical, all-out attack on civilians of a country by terrorists.

My family has had many people who’ve served in one of the three Armed Forces. Mom’s father (my Nana) was in the Army, both of my Naani’s brothers were in the Navy, and my Dad’s an ex-fighter pilot from the IAF. This is an artcle that Papa wrote while we were all in the midst of watching the news. Do read.

—

Half Man  Half Boy

The average age of the army man is 23 years. 

He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer in the capital of his country, but old enough to die for his country.

He’s a recent school or college graduate; he was probably an average student from one of the Kendriya Vidyalayas, pursued some form of sport activities, drives a rickety bicycle, and had a girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left, or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away. He listens to rock and roll or hip -hop or bhangra or gazals and a 155mm howitzer.

He is 5 or 7 kilos lighter now than when he was at home because he is working or fighting the insurgents or standing guard on the icy Himalayas from before dawn to well after dusk or he is at Mumbai engaging the terrorists. He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark. He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one effectively if he must.

He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional. 

He can march until he is told to stop, or stop until he is told to march. 

He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without spirit or individual dignity. His pride and self-respect, he does not lack.

He is self-sufficient. 

He has two sets of combat dress: he washes one and wears the other. 

He keeps his water bottle full and his feet dry. 

He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle. He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own wounds. 

If you’re thirsty, he’ll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food. He’ll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low.

He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his hands. 

He can save your life – or take it, because he’s been trained for both.

He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay, and still find ironic humor in it all. 

He has seen more suffering and death than he should have in his short lifetime. 

He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and is unashamed to do so.

He feels every note of the Jana Gana Mana vibrate through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to ’square-away’ those around him who haven’t bothered to stand, remove their hands from their pockets, or even stop talking. In an odd twist, day in and day out, far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful. Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great-grandfather, he is paying the price for our freedom.

Beardless or not, he is not a boy. 

He is your nation’s Fighting Man that has kept this country free and defended your right to Freedom. He has experienced deprivation and adversity, and has seen his buddies falling to bullets and maimed and blown.

And he smiles at the irony of the IAS babu and politician reducing his status year after year and the unkindest cut of all, even reducing his salary and asking why he should get 24 eggs a week free! And when he silently whispers in protest, the same politician and babu aghast, suggest he’s mutinying!

Wake up citizens of India! Let’s begin discriminating between the saviours of India and the traitors!

- Flt. Lt. Rajiv Tyagi

Edited to add: This article isn’t written entirely by my Dad. It’s just been modified to fit the Indian context. He actually wrote another piece for a newspaper, which I shall post when he sends it to me. (Hurry up, Papa!)

A lady who used to live in our building, passed away today. We didn’t know her personally, probably never had even seen her, but when we heard there was a small memorial service in the community hall of our housing society, we decided to go and pay our respects.

So, we walked up to the community hall and entered to see that men sat neatly to one side of the hall, and women sat on the other side. This is something I’ve seen so often – in memorial services such as this one, in wedding ceremonies, havans and poojas – and it surprises me each time.

Of course, I don’t follow the segregation and sit anywhere. My whole family doesn’t subscribe to it either. Like, G sat with me today, and not in the men’s side of the hall. In fact, both of us sat almost in the middle of the two sides, towards the back. My father or my brother would’ve done the same too.

What surprises me though is how diligently this is followed. I saw one elderly man come in with a woman – maybe his wife, or maybe a daughter-in-law. She was looking towards the front of the hall as she walked in, so maybe hadn’t noticed the segregation, and where she was “supposed to” sit. The man she was with sat down in the men’s side, and as she was following him, he very properly and dismissively pointed out where she was supposed to go sit. And so she went and sat in the women’s side, of course.

Why the segregation, is my question. And, does it happen all over the country? Does it happen in other countries as well? It obviously started from the segregation of “one” sex, from “the other”. Simone de Beauvoir points out in her book The Second Sex that the male has traditionally been “the one”, and so by default, the woman is “the other” or the second sex. It’s amazing how such segregation becomes such a part of our everyday culture/life, and how it seeps so deep in, that it isn’t even questioned.

After this post, G and I had a long discussion (read: argument) about the issue last night. And, I just read this comment on the last post.

Though G signed up on the Facebook page for the Light a Candle event, he doesn’t really believe that it’ll actually make a difference. I disagree. And I refuse to accept that anything that you may do will not make a difference. I care about what happens to Tibet. I have cared even more since I read Tenzin’s poetry a few years back. G says that he cares too, but maybe not as much as me. That may be, like he says, because he hasn’t read that much about it, he hadn’t read Tenzin’s poetry till I made him read it, and the basic point being that what happens to Tibet, or that matter, to Israel, doesn’t really affect him in his daily life. I agree – it doesn’t really. But, isn’t that sad? Isn’t it sad that we’re so stuck in our daily life, problems, work, that we’ve become apathetic to things like this?

So, yes – I do care. But, will I go to Parliament house and sit in a dharna? No, I won’t. Will I maybe go on a peaceful hunger strike to protest? No, I won’t. Will I stop using things that are “Made in China”? Again, I won’t. Those things are too much a part of my daily life. And, there are bigger, better, less selfish people than me out there – who will probably do that – who will make that effort.

But, will I light that candle? Yes, I will. Will I send this on to as many people as I can? Yep. Will I talk to people about it? Yes. Will I at least do my bit in spreading awareness? Yes.

And, I refuse to believe that even that little bit will not make a difference.

I’ve heard people saying that they do not agree with this protest against China. They read it as it being against the Olympics. Aamir Khan says (on his blog) that the Olympics do not belong to China. They belong to sports persons all over the world, and by refusing to run with the torch one is disrespecting the spirit of the Olympics. I don’t think anyone is protesting against the Olympics. I think what we’re doing is talking about an issue that China needs to give answers to at a time when the spotlight is on China. Maybe it’s the right time to ask questions. Aamir also goes on to equate the Tibet-China dispute to any dispute anywhere in the world. He says that all countries have their own problems. He says that the Kashmir issue can be equated to the Tibet one.

Yes, every country has it’s own issues. But, has India reacted to any of those issues in the way that China has reacted to the Tibet issue? This isn’t all about politics, is it? It shouldn’t be. It is about giving people back their home. Giving them their “promised land”.

IMM, I don’t think this is about venting one’s hatred towards China. I think it’s only, purely about standing by something that you believe in.

Last night, G also told me a story that one of his colleagues told him. About all religions having a basis in politics. I completely agree. All religions have been propagated by its spiritual leaders for purely politic, power grabbing issues. Apparently, Buddhist monks used to strip off poor peasants’ skin to punish and scare them, and make them work in the monasteries. Gruesome picture it draws of the peaceful Buddhist monks that we’ve all seen, doesn’t it? But, haven’t all religions done that? What were the crusades about? More recently, doesn’t the Babri Masjid demolition, or the Gujarat riots, sound similar too?

I don’t think this is about giving Buddhism back its home. I don’t think it has anything to do with religion at all. The Dalai Lama doesn’t just stand for Buddhism. He also stands for the millions of people who believe in him, and who believe in the peaceful struggle that he believes in. This is about that. This is about giving people back the home that they were promised.

G says I’m more idealistic than he is.

That’s true. But, what’s wrong with being idealistic? Won’t change really come only with people’s ideals?

Really. Won’t it?

…

Copy-pasting some of Tenzin’s poetry from the earlier post here:

TIBETANNESS

Thirty-nine years in exile.

Yet no nation supports us.

Not a single bloody nation!

We are refugees here.

People of a lost country.

Citizen to no nation.

Tibetans: the world’s sympathy stock.

Serene monks and bubbly traditionalists;

one lakh and several thousand odd,

nicely mixed, steeped

in various assimilating cultural hegemonies.

At every check-post and office,

I am an “Indian-Tibetan”.

My Registration Certificate,

I renew every year, with a salaam.

A foreigner born in India.

I am more of an Indian.

Except for my Chinky Tibetan face.

“Nepali?” “Thai?” “Japanese?”

“Chinese?” “Naga?” “Manipuri?”

but never the question – “Tibetan?”

I am Tibetan.

But I am not from Tibet.

Never been there.

Yet I dream of dying there.

…

I wish you’d all go to Avaaz.org, and sign up for the petition.

…

…

Edited to add: This is an excerpt from a letter from the Dalai Lama to the people of China:

This year, the Chinese people are proudly and eagerly awaiting the opening of the Olympic Games. I have, from the start, supported Beijing’s being awarded the opportunity to host the Games. My position remains unchanged. China has the world’s largest population, a long history and an extremely rich civilization. Today, due to her impressive economic progress, she is emerging as a great power. This is certainly to be welcomed. But China also needs to earn the respect and esteem of the global community through the establishment of an open and harmonious society based on the principles of transparency, freedom, and the rule of law. For example, to this day victims of the Tiananmen Square tragedy that adversely affected the lives of so many Chinese citizens have received neither just redress nor any official response. Similarly, when thousands of ordinary Chinese in rural areas suffer injustice at the hands of exploitative and corrupt local officials, their legitimate complaints are either ignored or met with aggression. I express these concerns both as a fellow human being and as someone who is prepared to consider himself a member of the large family that is the People’s Republic of China. In this respect, I appreciate and support President Hu Jintao’s policy of creating a “harmonious society”, but this can only arise on the basis of mutual trust and an atmosphere of freedom, including freedom of speech and the rule of law. I strongly believe that if these values are embraced, many important problems relating to minority nationalities can be resolved, such as the issue of Tibet, as well as Eastern Turkistan, and Inner Mongolia, where the native people now constitute only 20% of a total population of 24 million.

]]> http://threedrinksahead.wordpress.com/2008/04/11/lighting-the-candle/feed/ 4 threedrinksahead http://threedrinksahead.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/candle-in-my-window-for-tibet/ http://threedrinksahead.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/candle-in-my-window-for-tibet/#comments Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:55:19 +0000 Aanchal Tyagi http://threedrinksahead.wordpress.com/?p=233 ]]>

Copy-pasting this from MM’s. If any of you is on Facebook, please follow the link given at the bottom, and join the group too.

Also, linking to a previous post on Tenzin Tsundue’s poetry.

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