A Time for Renewal

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Bapu #766 ``I dont know how much your i.q. is mine last tested by university for assigbnment was 180 ``

Hmmmmmm...You have at least six personalities on chowk (Bapu, Bijli, Faiza, Aamir, and a few others), so obviously you are ADDING UP the i.q. on all six to get to 180. So tell me, nalaik, how much is 180 divided by 6? Forgot your table for 6, huhn?? Bend down and become a murgha!! Your physcial appearance as a murgha now matches your personality of a murgha and also your i.q. of 30 is now that of a murgha (OK, an educated murgha, but still a murgha)!! Ha! Ha!

re bapu

``You are nothing but a CoCo Nut , ``

And you sound like just- a nut. Without the cocoa or any other redeeming quality.

12 Head,

Taslima Nasreen is talking about a kind of hypocritical man who is not very intelligent- but thinks he is,(your comments to Stuka, Zafar;``I have a 180 IQ``) constantly talks about things he knows nothing about,(your advice to Tahmed, everyone else: ``you must be a coconut/renaissance Muslim man``) tells other people how to believe in God and thinks he`s more pious than everyone else(``Taslima Nasreen, Muslim Indians, is/are a kind of false muslim``). This kind of man also gets away with murder because he thinks he can ``shout over``(``They need a real man who can shout over Bill Maher``) everyone else and happens to through no other circumstance other than being male in a patriarchal system (i.e. through no independent ability of intellect, spirit or character), in a position of power and thus abuses the women(``Men can`t control Satan if they see a voluptuous woman, so she should be covered``) around him because he thinks he can get away with it(``That binte begged Farangi Kush to get me off``). If your IQ is so developed, how is it that you missed the meanings of this poem by miles? Your autoimmune system must have declared war on your brain cells; your brain cells are being massacred. Nasreen`s poem sounds like she`s talking about you, Multiple Personalities Sahib. Also note how I made your various comments grammatically correct; your original ones obviously aren`t the result of that so called 180 IQ.

Bapu

“You may be all thing to Samina ,AnNy ,SPM, the giggling Pakistani !/2 Pamjaban with Mothers from Indian refugee womens of U.P. but i have Islam that they have lost faith in.”

….that’s rich…..a n headed hydra lecturing me on my “lost faith” in islam…i don’t feel the pressing need to flaunt my faith in islam to anyone…i know what’s in my heart….do you?

….and i can’t believe i just wasted 30+ words on a person who probably picks his/her/its personality-of-the-day out of a hat each morning…

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Rax,

re:757

Is that a golfing reference? What does it mean? Sorry, not trying to be intentionally dim, just not getting the jist...um, the brownie references are what I have heard...I, unfortunately, or fortunately, am painfully square...little kids run away, when they see me, their kite strings, strangers tell me to ``smile, baby`` although, I think I am a blast after a run or a kickboxing session. But I think the brownie symbol worked well for the coffeeshop. I`ve heard the Netherlands is quite interesting in these and other matters.

regards

Reply Bapu # 756

“… THANK GOD I am NOT a SARDAR”

Haan, I’m sure Sardars are also grateful for this.

Reply Saminashah, RSaxena # 753, 754

Saxena, if you want cash you have to help write the nautanki and also perhaps to act in first production...

Samina, actually on further thought I think we should combine a Fassbinder (or even Monika Treut) sensibility with Andrew Lloyd Weber naatch gaana. Think Querelle of Brest (with muchhi, naturally) crossed with Evita. Yeah…I even have my eye on a rising star who is proving to be very talented in the musical tradition.

Zafar

Re: saminashah

``although I don`t understand some of his and Zafar Bhai`s references...baked desserts mamleh meh ko kuch patha nahin hain.``

you probably have your buy-10-get-one-free card from the magic mushroom shop on the ninth hole now.

semiprecious

Thanks; although that was tapped out when I clearly should have been studying or taking a walk. I liked Zafar Bhai`s interpretation; much more meaningful (Fassbinder, Zafar yaar, how can I compete?)Also Rsaxi should be commended for being such a good sport, although I don`t understand some of his and Zafar Bhai`s references...baked desserts mamleh meh ko kuch patha nahin hain. I had intentions on giving him some hairstyling options, but I think he`s probably doing quite swimmingly without my interference, and after that close call with marriage, probably needs to sit down.:)

regards

Re: Zafar, saminashah

You could write and produce this nautanki for big money...but be sure to give me a royalty fee for using my Chowk character (it`s no easy task managing the RSaxena character).

Bapu/Faiza

Enjoy:

At the Back of Progress

The fellow who sits in the air conditioned office

is the one who in his youth raped

a dozen or so young girls

and at the cocktail party, he`s secretly stricken with lust

fastening his eyes on the bellybutton of some lovely.

In the five star hotels, this fellow tries out his different tastes in sex acts with a variety of women.

This fellow goes home and beats his wife

over a handkerchief

or a shirt collar.

This fellow sits in his office and talks with people

puffing on a cigarette

and shuffling through his files.

Ringing the bell he calls his employee

shouts at him

orders the bearer to bring tea and drinks

This fellow gives out character references for people.

The employee who`s speaking in such a low voice

that no one knows or would ever suspect

how much he coukd raise his voice at home,

how foul his language could be

how vile his behavior.

Gathering with his buddies, he buys some movie tickets

and kicking back on the porch outside, indulges

in loud harangues on politics, art and literature.

Someone is committing suicide

his mother

or his grandmother

or his great grandmother

Returning home he beats his wife

over a bar of soap or

the baby`s pnuemonia.

The bearer who brings the tea

who keeps the lighter in his pocket

who gets a couple of taka as a tip:

he`s divorced his first wife for sterility,

his second wife for giving birth to a daughter,

he`s divorced his third wife for not bringing dowry.

Returning homw, this fellow beats his fourth wife

over a couple of green chillies or a handful of cooked rice.

Taslima Nasreen

Bapu/Aamir

You are bragging about your friend Farangi Kush, your friend who warned ``the jihad is coming`` and has since disappeared. Mashallah, you are quite the fool.

saminashah # 710

….lol…..magnifique!

Reply Saminashah. RSaxena # 745

“Careful Saxi, Zafar`s waiting in the wings to have his way with your romantic life...I hear he`s planned a blonde wearing a burqa who hides behind shrubbery reading mystery novels...in fact, Zafar Bhai, that scenario sounds quite interesting...will you give it a go?”

The way I see it, the (bottle) blonde in the burqa will RAGE onto centerstage ONLY when the priest (ok, nondenomenational celebrant) asks if anybody objects to this marriage taking place (they do that, right?)

Saxena will hyperventilate and pass out in horror. (And who can blame, hain?) If the tree-hugger is Dutch she will take a mature and balanced view of events, if she’s Swedish she’ll weep softly for months in the garden refusing to eat anything but boiled fish and potatoes without salt. If she’s Finnish she’ll…well, I don’t need to spell that out, do I?

The Blonde Burqa Home Wrecker will, in the meantime…

(Think: opening scene of Fassbinder’s The Marriage of Maria Braun.)

“As for brownies in Netherland coffeeshops, I have absolutely no idea of what you mean!”

Look Saxena, be careful, haan, nahin tho brownie khaathe khaathe na malum kaise tree hugger se dosthi karne lagoge….beer goggles ko bhool jana…Lajwanti se joda ho jaye tho imagine the in-laws you will have living with you (Fatimah, Shah, AAmir, Studebaker, Deepika - who knows who else lurks there?)

Zafar

Bapu #739 ``NOT ONE COLOURED family profiled.NOT EVEN THE POST 9-11 BACKLASH victims.``

Not true. Unless you read the Kabul Post or the Mazar-i-Sharif Times. Or possibly the Scientific Taliban, and are so engrossed in the advancements in physics by the Nobel Prize winning Mullah Einsteinullah and the results of the lifelong study of Buddha`s Life by Mullah IdolBreakerUllah (using a grant from the Taliban Ministry for the Preservation of Archaeological Sites).

Re: nehru

real vooman are fery good...but sho is real pfathers...did you find your`s?

rsax

re: My Costume Designing Choices

Careful Saxi, Zafar`s waiting in the wings to have his way with your romantic life...I hear he`s planned a blonde wearing a burqa who hides behind shrubbery reading mystery novels...in fact, Zafar Bhai, that scenario sounds quite interesting...will you give it a go?

As for brownies in Netherland coffeeshops, I have absolutely no idea of what you mean!

regards

Stuka,

re: message to Lajwanti/Bapu/etc,

I consider ``uppity`` to be one of the highest forms of praise...

regards

Harish,

I don`t understand why you choose to purposefully misunderstand the posts I and some other Chowkies send. Is it because our ideas don`t fit into a preconceived stereotype? I agree that there are many countries in which despotic leaders subject the citizenry to inexcusable repression. And yes, a shamefully large number of them have been or are Muslim. Iraq, Indonesia, Turkey, and Syria immediately come to mind. I am not even including the countries that discriminate against minorities, women and dissidents. Having said that yet again, what`s your point?

My question to you: can you name all the countries throughout the world in which the US has overthrown or attempted to overthrow governments that the US did not like? Could we start with all the socialist muslim leaders who have been assasinated? And, if you could leave the fireworks at home and just answer the questions, I`d appreciate it.

regards

Saxinajee,

(The only tree huggers I plan to meet are living in Scandanavia right now.)

Good phor u . yu weri impotent man, i ded not now the tres therr are nice. Rr tey beter tan reel vooman ?

Akhlesh # 726

First there was Eklavya,then came narain and now

Akhlesh,what is this ? Chowk or CharBagh??

Regards.

Dear Bapu/AAmir/Bhardwaj:

I read your wonderful reply to SaminaSha. Women who become too uppity deserve to be taught a lesson and you did absolutely the right thing.

I have been very impressed by your thoughts and definitely empathize with you. However, I am very frustrated by the limited interaction we have on Chowk boards. I was wondering if you could be kind enough to publish your real name, address and phone number so I could talk to you to my hearts content and possibly meet with you.

If you do not want to publish your own details on Chowk, I understand, but what about an email adderss? My sole purpose is to learn from you the correct world view. A learned person like you should have pride in his beliefs, and the confidence to reveal his true self. You could be the next Salahuddin, leading the Islamic world to the zenith of glory.

I hope you appreciate my ernestness, and reveal yourself to those who appreciate you.

Regards

Stuka

Lajwanti

Arre bahain, your hijab is tied on too tight-you cannot get much needed H2O to your brain!The mehndi you use has seeped into your tiny brain! Put on your glasses, sister! Drink a glass of sherbet yaar! Listen to some Raffi!Who says I am muslim in shep`s clothing? If you want to pray rather than natch with heeng smelling desis, go to the masjid and leave the rest of us alone.Go to Kashmir and have a protest with your hijabis and jihadis all day! Don`t force everyone to follow your ideas!

Re: binifer

``see now saxena, I`m sure everyone is very aware of your poweress and skills with scandanavian babes.

Would you please stop bringing it up everywhere now?``

On the one hand you claim to hate my guts, on the other you make rather pathetic (and boring) attempts inviting yourself into my business? Which is it?

And you didn`t answer my question...did your hubby-to-be escape at the last minute?

nasah

“Edhi is one Pakistani the whole subcontinent can be proud of -- and emulate.”

….if you’re interested, tehmina durrani has written a really good book on him called, “ a mirror to the blind”….

dost-mittar

``Zahra, Semipreciousme:

Both of you are welcome to come to my lawn and rake all those fallen leaves that have littered my lawn. Me, I am too lazy and waiting for the first storm to blow them away to the neihbour`s lawn; Old desi habits die hard.:-)”

…..go ahead and rake them….and then jump in…you’ll be hooked….i promise…: )

At least one area in which the US/West thinks itself `different` from say AIDS-struck Africa is in patents for medicines.

The Canadian government is likely to ask a Canadian company to break the patent of Cipro held by the company Bayer and begin to manufacture it in sufficient quantities to PREPARE for possible attacks of Anthrax. There is no existing epidemic but noone wants to take chances.

The US Congress may be asked to suspend the Bayer patent on Cipro, unless Bayer agrees to reduce its price. Again, this measure is considered justified, just to PREPARE for large-scale anthrax attacks. These attacks are not a given, but noone wants to take the chance of beign unprepared.

The principles of protecting intellectual property, profit motive for future inventions and the `free-market` price of drugs under WTO? need to be rigorously upheld when there are millions of Africans currently DYING from HIV/AIDS, and whole countries being devastated by huge death tolls, but these same principles can be jettisoned when Canadian and US citizens FEEL unsafe.

Bapu #731 Responding to an evil act by pointing to another evil act is no response. And the acts you point out are ridiculous in any case, as follows:

Bhopal: That was an accident. There is a qualitative difference between an accident and deliberate killing. One is a civil case, the other is a criminal case. Furthermore, the US corporation was sued in India and later in the US. OBL refuses to present himself to court.

``Blowing up of Kanishka in 84 causung 300- 400 dead over the atlantic`` I assume you mean the Air India flight. That was treated as a criminal case, and I think the Sikh extremists behind it were arrested in Canada. And what is your point: because other murders have taken place in the past, one cannot bring a murderer to court today.

``Blowing of Civilian Iranian airlines by us air force`` Again, there is a difference between an accident and a criminal case.

Reply Saminashah

You Shaddiup, bogus MuslIM WOLF. IN SHEP CLOTHING!!!!!!

WHAT MY ,STYKLE HAS. TO DO WITH TELLING THE TURTH ABOUT ISLAM/PAKISTAN AND HEEG ;;SMELLING HINDIANS??? Hain

You are like pagan roman emporer Niro/Nehru fiddling and having party while rome GOESW UP THE CHIMNY??

Think about important ,things for change, not just how .cool you are or what colour your nails and hair, MADAME! You are like Shabna Azmi – bneing RUIDE TO IMAM JUST BECAUSE EHE @SUPPRTS MUSLIMS AND NOT NAACHNI HINDIAN FILMY CULTURE LIKE YOU!!!!5%$!!@

Try and learn somethihng beforer trying to correct your betters - ;like Quran, Hadis, proper Islamic bhaviours. Are you clever just because you can do spellche k..? Or just having;freetimje to; do this, not like people who have bjovbs and are busuy?





`US spreading anthrax to cover up Sept 11 defeat’



All evidence indicate that the US is source of the anthrax, said Ath-Thawra newspaper of Iraq



Baghdad, Oct 23 (AFP): Iraq accused the US administration today of spreading the anthrax scare to transform its ``defeat`` in the September 11 terror attacks into a victory in countering alleged bio-terrorism.

``It is a joke ... All evidence and details prove that the United States is the source of the anthrax,`` said Ath-Thawra newspaper, mouthpiece of the ruling Baath party.

``This anthrax has been prepared in American laboratories and the suspect packages which spread the scare have been sent from inside the United States, and this incriminates the American authorities,`` it said.

Ath-Thawra

The United States ``wants to show that its security services have succeeded in uncovering an alleged biological attack in order to make everyone forget its defeat and inability to detect the September 11 attacks on time or to find concrete proof about the perpetrators.``

The anthrax scare has deepened around the world following the deaths of two US postal workers yesterday. Last week, a former UN weapons inspector in Iraq, Scott Ritter, said to blame Baghdad was irresponsible, in reference to US media reports linking Iraq with the anthrax scare.

President Saddam Hussein, Washington`s arch-foe, is the only Arab leader not to have condemned the terror attacks on the United States.

China denies of Taliban contacts



China rejected reports it paid millions to bin Laden to get unexploded US-made cruise missiles launched at his camps



Beijing, Oct 23 (PTI): China today vehemently denied maintaining contacts with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and rejected reports that it paid millions of dollars to terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden to get unexploded US-made cruise missiles launched at his camps in 1998.

``At the moment, China has no relations of any kind with the Taliban,`` Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi told reporters when asked to comment on claims by Taliban commander-in-chief Jalaluddin Haqqani, who said the militia was ``in touch`` with China, which was assisting them in the war against the US.

``I have not read about the report you just mentioned,`` Sun said while restating China`s position against terrorism, which he described as ``consistent``.

In the past, China has acknowledged having contacts with all factions, including the Taliban in Afghanistan. However, it says that since the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US, China has not maintained any contact with the Taliban.

According to reports from Islamabad, Haqqani, who was in the Pakistani capital to hold talks with officials, told reporters that ``China is still assisting Taliban in the war against the United States``. He also said the Afghan militia ``continued to be in touch with Beijing``.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman also denied a report that China paid bin Laden several million dollars for access to unexploded US cruise missiles following an attack on his bases three years ago.

``The allegation that China received cruise missiles is totally groundless,`` Sun asserted.

``Since the outbreak of the September 11 incident, we have found that there are people who have been doing all they can to distort China`s image. These are out of ulterior motives. These attempts will not succeed,`` Sun said.

`The Guardian` of London had reported that an alleged senior agent of bin Laden`s Al Qaeda network in Europe told an associate, in a secretly taped conversation, that Chinese businessmen had paid 10 million dollars for access to the missiles.

Following the 1998 US attack, carried out in reprisal for the bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, reports suggested that China had acquired two unexploded Tomahawk missiles.

The daily said a 32-year-old Libyan terrorist suspect met the head of Al Qaeda`s Italian cell, Sami ben Khemais, in a Milan flat and told him of China`s involvement in the procurement of missiles.

It said unknown to the two men, the flat had been bugged by Italian anti-terrorist officers.

re tahmed 712

``I assume incidentally that you would be mad as hell even if NY was not your city and some of the people killed not from your company. ``

I certainly didn`t mean to give that impression. If I did, I am sorry. It really doesn`t matter what one`s city is or where you work. This was an attack on everything we hold sacred and sacrosanct. As Ambassador A Tariq Karim said,

``All of humanity stood diminished by what they (the terrorists) did in New York``(message to America, Sept 19, 2001)

narain #715:

``but not my Alma mater: St. Francis College?``

When did you pass out of SFC? I finished ISC

(then 11 years) in 1973, and my brother Shailesh

was in the first 10+2 batch.

After a gap of some 18 years, I visited SFC

in Jan 2001. Much has changed, but the campus

remains as beautiful as I remembered it to be.

Drop me a line at axl4@psu.edu.

Akhlesh

Reply Saminashah #710

Is it too much to request a large figure in a burqah hiding behind a pot plant and reading Mary Daly?

Samina:

``Rsax: Er...yes...as a matter of fact, I think Fidel is COMPLETELY misunderstood...and some of my best friends are Pakistani...``

LOL Excellent one. I`m still laughing.

Re: saminashah

Btw, is the woman in the ``coffee shop`` (such places in Amsterdam serve a lot more than just coffee) a natural blonde? I think I know her.

Re: Versace...Gatsby is dead.

saminashah # 708

``It seems for some, that the answer is to strike back blindly and without introspection.``

it also seems that some others will attack the u.s. and its leadership no matter what it does. it has been rather gratifying to see many in america`s mindless left squirm desperatley trying to find something to attack bush on. from the time bush spoke to congress saying that prayers were being given throughout the nation in english, hebrew AND ARABIC to his order to air drop food and medicine to afghan refugees, he has not allowed the left much leverage in their standard attacks against america.

this type of leadership exposes the hypocrisy of those who attack the u.s. but say nothing about the islamic despots who have crushed more muslims then anyone else.

saxena:

(The only tree huggers I plan to meet are living in Scandanavia right now.)

see now saxena, I`m sure everyone is very aware of your poweress and skills with scandanavian babes.



Would you please stop bringing it up everywhere now?

re: narain # 715

Narain bhai,

Jeen haan.

I know the world isn`t fair. You see, it all depends on the kind of people who have had the privilege of knowing me (it is always THEIR privilege). I have some good friends who graduated from St. Francis, but they don`t quite cut it for me. Their crime? They are all boys.

Eklavya # 714

``As to La Marts, two of their ``best`` students used to be my neighbors. My purest thoughts regarding them used to be: How can any teacher teach them anything but the fine art and science of ...``

As I commented elsewhere you are not as ``Bhola Bhala`` as you try to let on:)))

Regarding your question of kab aur kaisay wrf to

Lucknow...it`s a long story.Maybe someday,if and

when we meet..I end with a verse from Faiz.

Meri khamoshiyoN meN larzaaN hai

meray naaloN ki gum shuda awaaz

Regards.

Tahmed

Don`t misunderstand me, I am not defending either OBL, the persons who did 9-11 or the Taliban - I am making the point that no proof (that will stand up in court) has been offered. Mr. Musharraf says that the evidence presented is enough to indicte, bot convict, OBL - why couldn`t the same be provided to the Taliban? even if the Mullah Omar would have rejected it, at least it would show that the American tried to persuade the Taliban.

Eklavya #714/narain # 715

MashaAllah...yak na shud do shud. Yaani two Lucknawis on this board and no mushaira.Eklavya

Saheb ka kalaam suna..wah wah.Bhai aapka takhallus

kya hai.``Allah kare zor e qalam aur ziyadah``.

Next time no more IT or LaMart,only St Francis.OK.

Regards.

hobbyty #703 Please be fair. Dont let the fact that OBL is a muslim cloud your mind to the facts that are right before your eyes when you watch what OBL has to say on TV and when you examine exactly what Bush asked the talibans to do. The mind is a precious gift of God. Let us use it.

sigalph #235 Thanks for responding to dost-mittar on my behalf. Now I know where to call if I need a good lawyer :-)

I assume incidentally that you would be mad as hell even if NY was not your city and some of the people killed not from your company. Such an act of wonton destruction needs to be condemned. Period. And the perpetrators brought to justice (or justice brought to them if they cannot be brought to justice within reasonable time).

sigalph235 # 704

very well said. your posts always reassure me that at least some desis ``get it.``

harish

re: Eklavya #673

Bhai aap bhi lucknow se hain kya? And why is it that La Matinere and IT get mentioned, but not my Alma mater: St. Francis College?

-narain

re: Banjaara # 699

Banjaara,

Karamat Ali Girl`s has been totally out of bounds for me. One of my younger sisters has been going there :(

As to La Marts, two of their ``best`` students used to be my neighbors. My purest thoughts regarding them used to be: How can any teacher teach them anything but the fine art and science of ...

Missing home now...

EK

P.S.

I.T. dekha, LaMarts dekha,

Dekh chukaa ghar baar humaaraa;

Basti basti,qarya qarya,

Kaise (aur kab) ghoomaa hai banjara???

Regards.

correction: Pedagogy

Rsaxi

re: Scandinavian tree huggers

Scene: coffee shop in the Netherlands

A young woman sits reading a VERY BIG BOOK entitled The Madwoman in the Attic; enter Rsax who trips over her bookbag (writer`s license) and falls on the floor by her feet. A pile of Luna healthbars pour out

Rsax: Sorry...it`s these Imitation of Christ pants...I cant get used to these designer upstarts...

Young woman: I know...things haven`t been the same since Versace was taken from us. Are you okay?

Rsax: Yes(staring at her heels)...are those Manolos?

Young Woman: No they`re knock offs; God bless Hong Kong-I`d have to wear clogs otherwise, (giggles) and I can`t afford real footwear if I`m wearing Xuly-Bet...

Rsax: Hmmmm. (Getting ready to leave, noticing the digi-folkmusic, the copies of Pedogagy of the Oppressed lying around various tables, but against his will almost, turns back to talk to the young woman)You`re not one of those ...tree huggers, are you?

Young Woman: In a world where Pat Robertson calls yoga a form of devil worship, how can you not be? What about you?

Rsax: Er...yes...as a matter of fact, I think Fidel is COMPLETELY misunderstood...and some of my best friends are Pakistani...

Le Fin

Sigalph

So anybody who praised the attack is quilty? yes psychotic and anti social perhaps, but guilty of having organized and ordered this attack? That`s a bit of a stretch.

While it`s sad that your friends were among those killed 9-11, The whole thing is sad but how does that justify innocent Afghans being killed or dispossesed or made refugees?

Did the 19 do it? Well I don`t know and I don`t think anyone else does either - perhaps someone knows but no one that has been identified or know o the press, knows.

I do take your point about precision weapons and such but these are bombs we are talking about and precision is relative, it`s not the surgical precision.

A theme I find very interesting in the Chowk replies is one forwarded by a few people who seem to think that they have a monopoly on suffering after the WTC attacks. My condolences to them. The Wtc attacks have devastated, in some form or another, all of us. We all suffer when someone is hurt, especially if when hurt in an unjust way. I can`t begin to tell you about friends within one of my communities who were part of the greater rescue effort, some of whom never returned. A whole block of firemen were lost near my neighborhood. We have all lost, senselessly. Students have lost family. Innocent people of all races and persuasions are afraid, for various reasons.

When I heard poet Vijay Seshadri read Whitman`s ``Crossing Brooklyn Ferry`` in his gentle, insistent voice, I thought about how we all belong to this New York, to this world.

It seems for some, that the answer is to strike back blindly and without introspection. If one asks for intropection or sober interrogation of the ``facts``, the self perceived sole inheritors of a specific kind of democracy cannot live with the patience, intelligence and humanism such a response requires. This is a time when I feel I must transcend myself, my own limitations.

regards

It is one thing to mourn a senseless and horrific act of terrorism. It is quite another to deal with one`s pain in a unloving way and demand that everyone react in the same vengeful manner.

regards

semiprecious,

Just had a quick glance at your post; will be able to respond in tow days. But quickly, is it being implied that there is an Osama-Chris Cornell connection? Or is there an amoebic universal entity known as teen spirit? Or is Osama and his jihadis as inchoate as a bunch of frusterated adolescents, who sublimate their sexual repression and insecurity into violence? I think this is one case where Jung and Freud might be handy...As for my Chris, those bad people better leave him alone...also Kim Thayil, another fetching rock boy and South Asian, as well...is nothing sacred?

regards!

Reply Banjaara # 700

[``Vaisai Faiza Begum bahuth scientific ho rahi hain, mathlab mitochondrial DNA 100% maternal side se inherit ki jaathi hai na…``

“Jee aap bilkul sahih kahtay hain.Actually us Pakis are still in the dumps and these scientific infos are yet to reach us via Kabul University:))”]

Banjaaraji,

It hurts me to say this but I have a nasty feeling ke yeh Lady Saheb hamare desh (ie Ram Rajya) ki hain….but your big-heartedness in offering to take on the burden is noted and much appreciated (I am sure by more than just my humble self.) God will also reward you.

DEEP Salaams,

Zafar

anNy:

….well, i guess my view might be a little one-sided since i knew some very nice and non-ganda ones : )

Stuka:



…more to the south of new england…although i must admit…vermont and connecticut have some of the best scenery around...

re dost-mittar to tahmed

``How many of the 19 people suspected of the 9-11 hijacking have been indicted in a court of law?``

By English Common Law, it is almost impossible to indict dead men.

``-Have you seen any evidence that any of them got their orders from OBL?``

The SOB has repeatedly praised the attack and the perpetrators; what else do you need? A sworn statement in front of a California Notary Public(I mean a qadi, of course)!

``--How many of the suspected hijackers of Sept. 11 are Afghans?``

The question ought to be ``how many are paid and instigated by the Afghan regime and its henchmen.

``-Is it fair to bomb innoncent Afghan men, women and children because you are afraid to put your own paid soldiers in harm`s away to search the non-Afghani proverbial needle in the Afghanistani haystack?``

No it is not. Hence, the United States and the UK is taking maximum precaution to bomb only military and quasi-military targets. Quite a foreign concept for the jehadis, of course.

`` To call misguided suicide bombers cowards and American bombers brave soldiers reminds me of an old Urdu shair:

Junoon ko khird kare, khird ko junoon

Jo chaahe aapka krishma-e-husn saaz karey``

Your apologia reminds me of another old Urdu shair:

`Kaabe kis mu se jao ge Ghalib

Sharm tumko magar nahin aati`

``I am as outraged as you are at the heinous crimes against humanity committed on Sept.11.``

Obviosuly not.

`` But the response runs the risk of making a bad situation worse.``

The only proper response is to pummel the den of evil to the ground for generations to come. One response that is NOT proper is to create constant excuses for those who aided, abetted, finances, and morally supported the mindset that led to this massacre. My homeland has been attacked by treachery, my way of life threatened, my colleauges(yes, people in MY company) murdered, my city (yes, my family had a home there and many of them live there)ravaged. Don`t tell me it can get any worse!

I am sick and tired of the summa apologia that lefitists and rightists are proferring up for the murderers.

Dost Mittar

Valid points you have raised. So finally there is at least one thing we agree upon (for a while, anyway)

I don`t believe there is really any proof against these suspects and indeed Osama either, I mean the kind to be able to use in a court of Law.

Indeed in this melieu, ``bring them to justice`` just means physically eliminate them.

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DEHRADUN: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is likely to visit the shrine of Badrinath in Chamoli district on October 27, Kedarnath-Badrinath Samiti chairman Vinod Nautiyal said on Monday.



Two criminals held in Delhi

NEW DELHI: The Delhi police have arrested two alleged underworld criminals, believed to be having links with Dawood Ibrahim, here and recovered Rs 25,000 counterfeit currency and two pistols from their possession.



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GUWAHATI: Three ULFA militants were shot dead during an encounter with the Army in Nalbari district on Monday. Police said the militants exchanged fire with the troops at Bholpur village under Tamulpur P.S.



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NEW DELHI: S.S. Banyal, former chief of bureau of the Hindustan Times, died here on Monday following a heart attack. Banyal is survived by wife and three daughters.



Nritya Ratna for Chitra Visweswaran

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Karnataka announced a special package for Bellary. Two years have passed since then but it is yet to be translated into a reality.

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The remarks made by American political leaders suggest that `USS Clueless` has embarked on another voyage into an unfamiliar world, and as has been the case with so many American interventions in the past, says K.P.S. Gill.

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Former Pak soldiers ask Indian defence minister for pension

SUMIR KAUL

Turtuk, October 22, 16:17









ounds not less than a wonder, but this happened in this far flung sector in the icy Himalayan terrain when two former Pakistani soldiers ``stopped`` Defence Minister George Fernandes and asked for pension from the government.

``Hazoor, hamara pension sharu karva dijye (Sir, please start pension for us),`` cried Ali Hassan and Abdul Rehman, both residents of Tykshi village in this sector. Hassan and Rehman were enrolled in Karakuram Regiment of the Pakistani Army and had retired from it in 1970. However, on December 16, 1971, the area was taken back by the Indian Army leaving the two residents of the village without any source of income. Interestingly, the Corps Commander of the 14 Corps Lt.Gen. Arjun Ray had provided the sons of these two people a job in the Ladakh Scouts.

Hassan had raised the matter with Union Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani, when he was on a visit here this summer. ``Advaniji had assured me that he would take up the matter with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf but nothing has happened so far,`` Hassan said.

``Ab agar woh humko pension nahi de rahe hain to aap hi dijye (if Pakistan is not giving us the pension, then you give us),`` Hassan told Fernandes with folded hands and whispered in his ears: ``We are your countrymen.``

Acknowledging the fact that conditions for survival in India are very good, Hassan said: ``They (Pakistan) did not care for us and used this village only as a piece of land. But India has developed this piece and provided employment to the youth of not only this village but several others.``

Speaking highly of the Army, both Hassan and Rehman said: ``At least they provided some relief to us by recruiting our sons in the Ladakh Scouts and Guides.``

Habibullah Khan, son of Hassan, who was in the uniform was specially called by Fernandes and patted on the back. ``I feel very proud of serving my country and people,`` Khan said. The two sons of Rehman are at present undergoing training in Leh.

Rehman, who was even a prisoner-of-war, said that he was with the Karakuram Regiment for three years but left the Pakistani Army in 1971 after his native village, Turtuk, was taken back by the Indian Army.











``When I reached Kargil, I was detained and taken to Udhampur (Jammu region) for 10 months. After a decent interrogation, I was brought back to my native village and allowed to live like an Indian citizen,`` Rehman said while narrating his story.

Rehman feels that state or the Central government should provide them with some monthly relief if ``not a pension.``

However, their prayer is unlikely to be granted and even the defence minister, after giving a patient hearing to the duo, remained noncommital about the matter.(PTI)



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Securitymen were on high alert after intelligence reports indicated a threat to Prime Minister Vajpayee`s life during Monday`s visit to Lucknow. Vajpayee is the weakest Prime Minister, says Balraj Madhok

Balraj Madhok, one of the founders of the Jan Sangh, has described A.B. Vajpayee as the ``weakest`` Prime Minister and demanded his resignation.











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dost mittar #693

Dost mittar ji,there is a persian saying that,

``khata-e-buzurgan griftan khata ast``.It means

pointing out the mistakes of the elders is a mistake.I just wanted to correct the beautiful

verse you quoted in your above message without

hurting your feelings,which is not my intention.

Khirad ka naam junuN rakh diya junuN ka khirad

Jo chaahay aap ka husn-e-karishma saaz karay

Regards.

Zafar Al Talib # 679

``Vaisai Faiza Begum bahuth scientific ho rahi hain, mathlab mitochondrial DNA 100% maternal side se inherit ki jaathi hai na…``

Jee aap bilkul sahih kahtay hain.Actually us Pakis

are still in the dumps and these scientific infos

are yet to reach us via Kabul University:))

Regards

Eklavya # 673

Janab ! Why IT College and not Karamat Ali Girl`s

Inter College,its next door neighbour.... hain?

How about La Martinere in Hazrat Ganj.Mast Ram has

a valid point:))

``Basti basti,qarya qarya ghoom chuka hai banjara``

Best regards.

Reply Faiza #692

Kaisa dimagh hai aap ka?

Jidhar nahin mangtha, udhar wholesale...

MastRam,

Hahahaha.....

Aap tau jauwahari hain.

Re: binifer

Did your husband-to-be sneak out the window and escape at the least minute? If not, why all this anger and obsession with picking fights on Chowk?

Re: saminashah

``it is the spiritual aspect in defacing a work of art/worship that saddens me,``

Agreed

``Hold on to that little corner of insistence, Saxi; it will be all the more enjoyable to watch when you eventually meet a fetching tree hugger...``

The only tree huggers I plan to meet are living in Scandanavia right now.

Re: Dost-Mittar

``How many of the 19 people suspected of the 9-11 hijacking have been indicted in a court of law?``

Dost, you don`t indict dead people in any court.

AReply #: 677

semipreciousme

from whitman`s world: (sorry i keep switching boards but by the time i got around to replying, it was off the main)

bhardwaj:

``If Anny & Semi has boyfriends they better not be seen alone with him.Isnt it crime under Hudood to go out as unmarried couple.?``

…..looks like you’re a little out of touch….

IAM S H O C K E D !!Evenwhen80$% akistani are Osama-Taleban according to Sadna,Jay,..u know who else brigade??

anNy:

{``….hey stuka, this burger thing is getting pretty insulting :(`` }

”haan burgers bohat losers hotae hain...so, how would you classify our brand though? crazy? or is there a more eleqouent way around it?”

….more eloquent than crazy?….’fraid not….

“p.s: Semi please excuse the liberty i just took- experience tells me that this mattter needs to be killed right here unless you wish to be stalked and harassed endlessly.”

….lol…..not at all

I DONT THINK U UNDERSTOOD ,before you agreed!

Stuka

semipreciousme:

”mujhe maaf karo please. Arrey, no insult intended, I swear. From reading the earlier interacts, I was getting the idea that any English speaking westernised person was called ``Burger`` as slang. That`s all.”

….maaf kiya…burger here translates into one word: wannabe…and confused (ok, that’s 2 words)….so now you know why it’s kinda insulting….: )

SIMPLE BOLO NA ABCD(american born CONFUSED desi ke tarah

Re Eklavya #673

I wonder why you started your list of places in trans-gomti Lucknow with I.T. College. There is more to you than meets the untrained eye. Just kidding, of course.

Dost-Mittar:

If you will have a nice pumpkin pie, well-made samosas, and properly made chai[with milk] ready for me then I may look into it. Batayaen? ( *_ *)!

TAhmed:

Take Care!

Edhi is one Pakistani the whole subcontinent can be proud of -- and emulate.

Faiza #471 And one last thing,the last post was a joke. You know, as in :-)

Cheers

Faiza #471 And one more thing to my previous post: replacing my respectable suffix of 321 with 420 wont make you right either.

Faiza #671 You write: ``May be you dont know living in well known as Paindoo ,``

I honestly cant figure out what you are saying. Could you please repeat in English what you are trying to say.

I read the piece from Ms. Rai, and see that she too (like some other folks on chowk as well) thinks that the US should not go after the terrorists since this will breed more of them. I think she needs to understand that there is a threshhold beyond which one stops being enlightened and becomes a doormat. After the violent attack of September 11, when 5000 people going about their everyday business were brutally slaughtered, not only does is the US have what it has every right to do, from a longer perspective the US is also doing the right thing.

I am all for Gandhi`s non-violence, but there comes a time when one has to stand up and fight. Or lie down and become a doormat that every thug can wipe his dirt on.

It is we South Asians who need a lesson from the US on when to be tolerant and when to stand up and fight. Not the other way round. Much as we like to believe otherwise. And those goes for intellectuals like Ms. Rai and self-indulgent morons (sorry if this offends you) like Imran Khan.

Faiza,

``I have problem witth the word SECULAR ,it does not mean as 99 % of indian thins equality,freedom & human rights .See English is 2nd language to indians of any religions.Indian chose Secularism to mean all that but in language SECULAEISM means DEVOID of any religion.Why does other western democracy have EQUAL RIGHTS,HUMAN RIGHTS,AFFIRMATIVE ACTION ,LIBERTY,LIFE & PURSUIT OF HAPINESS instead??``

What do you care the word literally means? You should care for what the Indians take the word to mean.

``I told you to read previous posts to Eklavia & Saxsena ,you did not & you jumped in between the discussion.``

I read your posts to RSaxena and Eklavya. You haven`t agreed that US harps about being secular all the time. Much more than Indian, in fact.

BTW, you still haven`t answered my question on why shouldn`t Indians wear secularism on their sleeves.

``I ll give you example of friendship between theocratic state ISRAEL & democratic U.S.A. So tell me EVEN IF PAKISTAN IS THEOCRATIC why not India be friends with it ???Its not SECULARISM or any such thing IS IT?``

India will be friends with a theocratic country as long as it doesn`t harm India`s interests. Are you out of your mind? Comparing US/Israel with India/Pakistan? India is friends with Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabia is a theocratic country.

``I still insist take any actress hindu for opinio n on Hindu matters.Shabana gave opinion about filming WATER movie you hindus conveniently bashed he as anti Hindu ,now you want to USE her to rail road muslims??``

Are you really dumb or do you like acting dumb? Kajol is not a social worker. And mind you nobody solicited Shabana Azmi`s opinion. If Kajol volunteers a statement I am sure it will appear in the newspapers.

What is this about bashing Shabana Azmi for anti-Hindu opinions? Who did that? Did Hindus on chowk do that? Or are you confusing RSS/VHP goons with people on this board.

``At least by profession he has to be a practicing muslims.I did not say Bukhari represented muslim opinion.AGAIN YOU DID NOT READ THE DICUSSION EKLAVIA & SAXSENA`S POSTS .Thats your problem.I said he has right to voice his opinion as citizen& NOT be threatened with DEPORTATION OR JAIL!!``

If Bukhari has a right to voice his opinion then so does Shabana Azmi. Just because Shabana Azmi said he should be dumped in Afghanistan doesn`t mean that the Indian govt. is going to do so.

What kind of idiotic statement is ``Bukhari is a practising muslim``? Shabana Azmi is not?

Are you a practising Muslim? Shabana Azmi represents the liberal section of the Indian Muslim society and Bukhari represents the narrow minded section of the Indian Muslim society. Which one do you belong to?

re drumz 660

Reassures me what we have known for the longest time: amongst the most ungrateful people in the world, one is likely to find a large number of Canadians and French.

Reply Banjaara # 655

“Since when one is identified from the maternal roots,I was under the impression that it was the paternal side that took care of the origin of a person.”

Vaisai Faiza Begum bahuth scientific ho rahi hain, mathlab mitochondrial DNA 100% maternal side se inherit ki jaathi hai na…

Zafar

Reply Saminashah # 657

“Hold on to that little corner of insistence, Saxi; it will be all the more enjoyable to watch when you eventually meet a fetching tree hugger...”

Wearing which designer label? Lemme guess, an Osho spinoff.

But I agree, and it’s more than likely to happen in Scandinavia…

from whitman`s world: (sorry i keep switching boards but by the time i got around to replying, it was off the main)

bhardwaj:

``If Anny & Semi has boyfriends they better not be seen alone with him.Isnt it crime under Hudood to go out as unmarried couple.?``

…..looks like you’re a little out of touch….

anNy:

{``….hey stuka, this burger thing is getting pretty insulting :(`` }

”haan burgers bohat losers hotae hain...so, how would you classify our brand though? crazy? or is there a more eleqouent way around it?”

….more eloquent than crazy?….’fraid not….

“p.s: Semi please excuse the liberty i just took- experience tells me that this mattter needs to be killed right here unless you wish to be stalked and harassed endlessly.”

….lol…..not at all

Stuka

semipreciousme:

”mujhe maaf karo please. Arrey, no insult intended, I swear. From reading the earlier interacts, I was getting the idea that any English speaking westernised person was called ``Burger`` as slang. That`s all.”

….maaf kiya…burger here translates into one word: wannabe…and confused (ok, that’s 2 words)….so now you know why it’s kinda insulting….: )



“You do have a way with words, and I mean that as a compliment. That`s why, when you came up with that Punjabi ditty about Benazir and Nawaz (which was absolutely hilarious I might add), I was a bit surprised…”

….oops….um….guess i didn’t make it clear….that was a punjabi saying….had no part in inventing/making it up….

“Didn`t really think of you as the Punjabi speaking type…”

….unfortunately, i don’t…i mean i do…i mean i try…but…..

DRUMZ

“...So this thread has nothing to do with the Whiteman`s world”

….after the first 3 and one-fourth posts, do the rest ever have any relevance to the subject?…..

samina, i know you’ll find this interesting….

http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/oct2001-weekly/nos-

21-10-2001/instep.htm

Rocking reality Reading today`s reality into

yesterday`s song,

Muniba Kamal keeps her fingers crossed for rock music

Since September 11, BBC CNN junkies have multiplied like victims of a deadly virus on the loose. Even as the world as world focus is on the War Against Terror, there is more introspection happening in America that its media lets on. Log on to any website from www.rollingstone.com, the home page of the music magazine for the MTV generation to www.salon.com, where feminists like Camille Paglia and intellectuals like Noam Chomsky air their opinions and you will find features on the WTC terrorist attack and the war it is propagating. Opinions are mixed and that is heartening.

In an uncertain world balancing precariously on the pinnacle of self-destruction through hatred, the urgency to communicate is overriding all other priorities. The media has gone into maximum overdrive and food for thought is dropping like bombs and bread. Reality is convoluted and the truth remains out of focus. So what we are left with is abstraction which doesn`t convolute truth like hard facts can. Hard facts make people do really stupid things. Case number one is the bombs and bread campaign which says: ``We will destroy your country, but we will air drop food supplies because we respect your right to live.`` It sounds worse than a load of bull especially when President Bush grieves for the people who lost their life in the WTC attacks and refers to civilian deaths in Afghanistan as collateral damage. And the perception of the United States is a real as reality gets - so much so that even nuclear powers toe the line.

The results of reality are harsh. It is dictated by the power of facts and facts are dictated by the powers that be. Humanity at large buys them and prospers or it disagrees with them and is oppressed. That is why the abstract ideas that dominate art, literature and music can be ominous portents of time s to come. Take the song Limo Wreck in Soundgarden`s 1994 release Superunknown which I listened to repeatedly after having my fix of CNN on 11 September 2001.

Tears of the feeble

Hands of the slaves

Skin of the mothers

Mouths of the babes

Building the towers

Belongs to the sky

When the whole thing

Comes crashing down

Don`t ask me why

Penned by Chris Cornell, the song is sung with a dragging fatalistic passion and over rides every instrument being played. The man has an absolutely great voice. Though Soundgarden were eclipsed by the enigmatic and destructive Kurt Cobain and his outfit Nirvana and the equally enigmatic but constructive Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam, he is an infinitely better singer than either one of them. Unlike Eddie, this one didn`t need any lessons from Nusrat, but if he was a qawwal, what a qawwal he would have been.

Any how, with the arrival of Smells Like Teen Spirit, the grunge offering that relit all the candles on the altar of grunge rock, the stage was set for musicians who sang from the gut as opposed to the heart. New Kids On The Block couldn`t survive the onslaught of music that breathed in the angst of the nineties and exhaled redemption songs that became panacea for the young and restless.

The tragedy of the end of the nineties was that they saw the end of restlessness. Sex, drugs and rock and roll were not enough because they could no longer be the mantra of rebellion. All three became norms and norms are boring. The spirit of rock lay exhausted without rebellion. The prosperity of the Clinton years left no room for it. In a nutshell, the young remained, but the cause for restlessness evaporated in what seemed to be a perfect world. Though David Letterman and Jay Leno were inspired by cigars and unlaundered little blue dresses with presidential stains, rockers wilted down from Bob Dylan to Jakob Dylan and now they are virtually non-existent. Bands like Cold Play and Travis are carrying on and they sound good, but they are tame compared to the wonderful wild jungle that rock was not all that long ago.

However everything changed on 11 September. There will be enough introspection happening in America, Britain and the rest of Europe for quite some time to come. In 2001, rock will start seeing the fruits of discontent that have been sown in a region that has long been home to a decadent complacency.

Under the shelf

The shelf of the sky

Two eyes, two suns

Two heavenly blinds

Swallowing rivers

Belongs to the sea

When the whole thing washes away

Don`t run to me

Two eyes, two suns, two heavenly blinds that divide two civilizations standing daggers drawn as air strikes blaze across Afghan skies and the overt fear of covert anthrax stinks up the air far west. A couple of Caucasians have been killed in the Middle East; a couple of Asians in America. Fundamentalism is raising its head everywhere, while the fundamentals of every religion have been put aside in favour of jihad versus self righteous retaliation. The tragedy in Manhattan is being avenged by the tragedy in Afghanistan while those responsible for both sit tight. One smug and smirking, revels in his might. The other calm and controlled, revels in the plight of might. It`s perfect cud for rockers.

But what about rock musicians in the land of the pure? Rock is dead here and it`s going to be quite some time before it comes back to life. With Pepsi, Pantene, Mobilink and other brands promoting faces to sell their products, grunge is out of the question. Long haired delinquents are too risky to promote. Clean cuts poppers that won`t pop a damn thing are the order of the day. Haroon, Fakhir, Yasir, Georgie, Porgie, Pudding and Pie. Raking in the money and escaping taking all their escapist stars-in-my-eye fans with them.

The problem is the poetry we are accustomed to. People still listen to Ghalib, but only die hards know what is happening in the world of contemporary Urdu poetry. Urdu ghazal writers will never come out with rock anthems. Rock is the prerogative of the young as The Rolling Stones` dismal Voodoo Lounge proved. The young of Pakistan need to find a voice and then they need to wear stubborn blinders of self righteousness that will shield that voice from being struck dumb by the colour of money. And make no mistake, money is a dangerous thing.

Rockers need belief more than anything.

I`ll be going down

For the rest of the slide

While the rest of you

Harvest the gold

Just throw yourself down and hope for a safe landing. All will be fine. Just ask the Taliban about this philosophy. They have entered a dark tunnel hoping for a light at the end. As KFC is torched, effigies of Bush and Musharraf are burnt, the fire that envelops these symbols is their light. In their own ultra conservative and extremely misguided way, they are rebels against the greatest super power in the world. And horrific as it may sound, in them I see the same spirit of rebellion that has fed rock music over the years. Not given to emotion, they have a brutal singularity of purpose that is defying the collective efforts of the `civilised` world.

A handful of suicide pilots have brought a thriving economy to its knees. Camps are destroyed while terrorists hide in the hills. A ruined country is being bombed by the most technologically advanced super power in the world. The bread that accompanies these bombs are an antithesis of manna from heaven. The wrath of an arrogant super power and the five million dollar prize money on Osama`s head is not enough to catch him. It is an equation the powers that be can not understand.

This is a combination of Pakhtunwali, the code that Pashtuns value more than life itself. The same code of yore that keeps women away from education, work and men and whips and kills them when they resist their shackles is the code that keeps Osama safe. It is a code he promotes and values. It is a code that is a bitter pill to swallow, but it is what it is. It is not a sugar coated pill like the West is giving Afghanistan.

And the wreck of you

Is the wreck of you all

And the wreck of you

Is the break

And the fall

I`m the wreck of you

I`m the wreck of you all

I`m the wreck of you

I`m the break and the fall

Reads like the anthem of Osama Bin Laden doesn`t it? How things come to pass. The song of a Seattle grunge guy fits the life and times of the man whose name is anathema to some and sacred to others.

This unusual multi-millionaire chose a destroyed country as the base of his operations. He wears an army jacket like a man heading out for war, but he is no ordinary warrior. He is waiting for war knock on his doorstep. For pampered marines and secret service agents fresh from training to lock horns with war hardened Mujahideen turned Taliban. A man born with a silver spoon in his mouth who learnt how to fire a gun and more. A man who wants the ``infidels out of the land of Muhammad`` and who feels for the plight of the Palestinians and the Iraqis, but not for the plight of the Afghanis. He has taken over their land and he is using it for a greater, grander purpose. He is not going to turn himself in to save them.

Yet this is not an anomaly. Osama Bin Laden and the Afghans remaining in Afghanistan know embrace death the way the U.S. embraces life. They showed pictures of Kabul the day after it was bombed. It was business (whatever little there was) as usual. Four planes did far more damage in America than all their bombs can do in Afghanistan. Thousands of people have been laid off. Others suffer from airplane phobia and something tells me that the entire nation will soon be tested for anthrax. It is turning a clash of civilizations. Intellect versus belief. Science versus nature. Bombs versus a death wish. The end remains to be seen. And soon the music I so love will come back and maybe, just maybe, September 11 will become the day that rock returned to life.

Under the red

Break of the lights

Heroes in stretches

Inch to the site

Blowing the pieces

Belongs to the wind

When the whole thing

Blows away

I won`t pretend

Songs will probably be written even as this is read. It is time to burn the midnight oil and contemplate the use of ground troops that can`t go on land until the air force bombs the country they are invading to smithereens. Bombs that say `Bin Laden or Bust` speak volumes for the naivete of an army. They have been going bust so far. Despite having the fastest planes and the most sophisticated ammo, America could only get supremacy over Afghan skies after five days of bombing. And then they wonder why people hate them. Yes, the wise there will be searching themselves but America has always had a knack for searching itself silly. Ask Chris Cornell about it.

I`ll be going down

For the rest of the slide

While the rest of you

Harvest the souls

The dust will settle once all the bombs have dropped. Then we will have to harvest the crop of the collective soul of the world. It has so many scars on it that need to heal. Towers reduced to ashes. Countries used as a battleground. A stone hurled from a sling shot answered by Goliath gun fire that kills teenaged Davids. The terror of holy wars. The terror of infinite justice. The world seems to have become a bomb waiting to explode. Hopefully hearts will explode before doomsday and anger, logic, illusion and disillusion will roll out as one glorious ball towards a vision of reality that trespasses all boundaries.

Hopefully we will see it on MTV next year.

Behind the blood red break of the lights

Lies the wreck of you for the rest of your life

One can only hope that the blood red break of the world somehow becomes the great white hope of rock. And rock is not escapist. It tackles reality head on. That is why it is only as inspiring as reality itself. And reality is as real as it is harsh. Today as harsh as harsh gets.

Have I hijacked a song? Have I imbued someone else`s work with my own prejudiced meaning? But that is what songs are for - aren` t they? Anyway, nothing beats Ronald Reagan`s posthumous Star Wars program. I personally prefer the George Lucas version.

Aamir:

{THE WASHINGTON TIMES

“Pakistan`s leading Muslim cleric, moments after addressing the largest anti-American rally yet, said yesterday that an Islamic revolution had begun in Pakistan that would eclipse the 1979 revolution in Iran that brought the Ayatollah Khomeini to power.

It`s bigger, no doubt, than in Iran. Everything is prepared,`` said Qazi Hussain Ahmad, leader of Pakistan`s largest religious political party, Jamaat-e-Islami.”}

…..if this idiot leaves for his jihad (fat chance…) tomorrow, it wouldn’t be a day too soon….

Zahra:

“The other ironic part was, ``the abundance of alcohol,`` that was mentioned during her talk. She mentioned that she has never seen that much alcohol in her life that she came across in Saudi Arabia”

…..very true….a cousin, w