Mr. Ahmed

This affliction is not unique to Ahmed. I knew these Afghan women who learned English. Sometimes, I would help them in conversation.

They would spew hatred, I guess whatever they learned from the Mullah. ``ALL Jews are very Bad.``

They did not have any answers to Why? and How? - ``They just are``. When they said this - you should have seen the look on the Chrisitans present.

When they were told about how Quran, and muslim rituals are copies of Torah, Jewish and Christian beliefs and rituals, They came up with same mumbo jumbo as did Mr Ahmed.

The evidence to the contrary confused them. As their brainwashing unravelled, They restored to parroting ``Islam is the fastest growing religion, best religion....blah blah blah blah.``

The same reason Paki history books start with the invasion of Bin Qasim and skip non muslim rules especially Hindu.

They would rather live lies than associate in any way or form with a non muslim (Hindus in particular).

That is why this ``Rajput`` (his last name was Hindu Rajput) Paki claimed he was an Arab muslim from the begining. How foolish and naive.

“He has no idea what he’s dealing with” she said absently. “No idea”, I thought gloomily, “he has absolutely no clue”.


There are exceptions to this behavior of course. From my personal experience, the exceptions form a tiny minority.

Such behavior on their part has made me cynical and wary of muslims (as a group) and their agenda and thinking. I do NOT harbor any prejudice against individauls whether muslims or not.

Dhruva,

Nicely written. Simple, elegant and makes the point perfectly.

I have seen the same phenomenon with sane individuals. The jew=bad formula is drummed into people. I have many friends from the Middle East and Pakistan, and we get along fine all the time. As soon as the issue of Israel comes up, the conclusions drawn are unanimous, I am flooded with statements like ``Watch out for Jews`` , ``Jews are bad`` etc.

It boggles my mind how perfectly normal people with the capabilities to draw independent conclusions turn into zombies. There are exceptions for sure, but the overwhelming majority think alike. It boggles the mind.

Nice story. I must admit I had never heard of this 18 plus 81 business before, but sure enough...its right there on the palm of the hand. :-)

Actually, I think Mr. Ahmed`s broader point was right: we humans are all the same in the eyes of God, and it is about time we stop differentiating among ourselves on the basis of religion.

I think that Mr. Ahmad`s contention about not being ``once Hindus`` is correct. According to the history of Pakhtoon people - the pushto speaking people on both side of Pak-Afghan border - are bani-Isreal, meaning that they are of jewish descent. But instead of calling themselves, one of the lost tribes of Israel, they contend that their migration to this area is a recent phenomenon; actually it happened right after the advent of Islam in Arabia. Pakhtoons also refer to themselves as ``Khalidis`` claiming that they were originally from the same tribe as that of Khalid Bin Valid (may Allah be pleased with him), the legendary General of Islamic history and one of the companions of Holy Prophet (pbuh); who was of jewish descent.

Urstruely sir,

While I do not doubt your assertion about Afghans not being Hindu before the advent of Islam, I doubt that was the point the author attempts to make. It would do us a lot of good not to take everything literally and comprehend the underlying message. There is no gain from being overly pedantic.

However, that being said, thank you for the information, any nugget is welcome as history is a very interesting subject.

regards,

Re: # 7

au contraire I don`t think that writer is being literal here; but anyway the point is that pathans are quite vhement about their assertion in this regard.

If everybody IS a muslims - then who is a kufr?

//... “He has no idea what he’s dealing with” she said absently...//

Why single out muslims? Catholics just ``elected`` a Pope who professes the following characterstics, according Wall Street Journal:

1. The new Pope has spent his life combating secularsim.
2. He is nick-named as the ``Grand Inquisitor``. He thinks Catholicism is better than every other faith in the world, including other cristian denominations.
3. He considers poverty less important issue than ``Church`s identity``.
4. He favors ``conservative`` ideas to ward off ``threats`` from Islam.
5. he is against womens participation in church.

Best of all,
6. He was a Hitler-Youth, a former member of the nazis.

And yet, a billion catholics all over the world are going ra ra over him......Nobody sees a problem over this guy, the Pope Benedict XIV [ or something ].

The difference between this guys and any Grand Ayatollah Mullah is a matter of degree. But they profess the same principles. They both command unquestioned slavish submission from their billion-plus followers ........ So why single out the muslims?

Foolish descendants of Abraham are going cukcoo.

#8

Sir,

Point taken.

The premise of the piece is quite pertinent in today`s world. The propensity of people to erect walls which stand in the way of reason is alarming. I simply do not understand why people absolutely dismiss a different point of view without even ackowledging it.

regards.

#10,

There is BIG difference. In Western states, the secular forces, free thinking and will are too strong to negate such religious right. Cahtolic individuals can shun the dogma easily - not so amongst muslims; they are chased up the trees and shot.

Amongst muslims, even the educated ones, there is multiple personality....the muslim personality almost always overpowers the other.

Re: # 12 kaura
//....There is BIG difference...//

Of course, there is a big difference.

But still, you get a overwhelming feeling of deja vu when you read about this guy - Mr Pope Benedick. I fell of my chair when I read all this about him. Even more flabbergasted to see that there is no outrage.

We need to see some outrage. Otherwise, how can the west claim to fight for modernity and against antiquity?

Dhruva:

welcome to chowk!

the battle lines are already emerging:)

here is my minority report:

the ending had possibilities nullified by your earlier inflections:

“He has no idea what he’s dealing with” she said absently. “No idea”, I thought gloomily, “he has absolutely no clue”. this was a let down in a sense for me...as a writer you could have taken this on a higher plain...

yes there were hindu influence in afghanistan predating advent of islam...but why stop at that?...

we are all human beings...good, bad, ugly...hindu, muslim, christains or professing other faiths...we all come from a womb and return to another...

hence my query...why stop at that?

rgds

t

13,

A talk show host said that US/West/Christians need their fundoos to counter Muslim fundoos. He said only fundoos will be able to take care of other fundoos. Reasonable persons cannot reason with fundoos.

Re: # 14 temp
//...we are all human beings...//

Really? Even a Kufr is a human being? Wow - that`s some radical idea :)))

Re: # 14 temp

PS: everytime somebody says muslims were once hindus, pakis invariably come back with the same stock repsonse ``but why stop at that?... we are all humans``. Somehow to run away from the fact. Wow - the hatred is really astounding.

All Druv was trying to do was establish some kind of kinship, for sake of the conversation. He was NOT trying to bring the guy back into the fold.

#14 :

Sir,

That is an admirable though, one which we must adhere to. Rationality is sadly lacking in the world, especially in the sub-continent.

#16

Sir,

That is a ridiculous attempt at sensationalization and taking things out of context. It is the likes of you that fan the fanatics.

regards,

Two points:


1)
“Why, there was a time when all Afghanistanis were Hindu. Do you know the story of Gandhari?”

They were hindus or the followers of Santana Dharma? Calling the dwellers of ancient Afghanistan Hindus would be wrong. They were the followers of Santana Dharma.

2)
If Darwin was correct all the dwellers of ancient Afgahnistan were monkies.

So what is the point in writung this piece.

The reality is what you see there now.

Asfand Siddiqui

Re: # 18 bell
//...It is the likes of you that fan the fanatics..//

Yes sir - it`s all because of me. I am your guy. Kill me and fanatics are gone :))

Re: # 19 asfand
//...If Darwin was correct all the dwellers of ancient Afgahnistan were monkies. ...//

This guy is even better:)) He has gone a step further - from ``we-are-all-humans`` to ``we-are-all-monkies``. I am sure another paki is getting ready with ``we-are-all-amoebas`` line.

Jeez.

mohair:

re 16-17

could it be that you are totally misreading me?

to me every child, man, woman is a human being first

what is so wrong with this thinking?

rgds

t

asfand,
I guess you did not understand what the author wanted to convey. He wanted to tell the gentleman that we have a shared history. The islamic invaders from Afghanistan are well known so no point saying them again, instead the author tried of an earlier past. It does not matter if the religion that afghanis followed at that time was hinduism or something esle. But the other gentlemen was narrow minded enough to refuse to even consider a pre-islamic past.

Re: # 22 temp
[...to me every child, man, woman is a human being first ...what is so wrong with this thinking? ...]

Nothing. That`s a good thinking ..... But when this line is blurted out everytime somebody says you were once a hindu - that points to different psyche.

...the author is very cleverly conveying that even educated muslims are basically assholes and are slightly cukoo and there is no hope for them... and anyone not agreeing to this pov is a jihadi as well...;)

mohar: 24:

But when this line is blurted out everytime somebody says you were once a hindu - that points to different psyche.

#16 and #17 were specifically addressed

you have been here since Oct 2002? you must have read a few posts my me to figure out where i stand on this tunnel-visioned religion-nationality debate that we see almost on every board?

my first thread here addressed to the writer was a wistful one...musing had he appealed to the insaniyat...humanism for want of a better word in us..then it would have further elevated this story...just my tuppence...bus itni si baat hay/thee...

rgds

t

adfand #19 writes ``If Darwin was correct all the dwellers of ancient Afgahnistan were monkies...The reality is what you see there now. ``

Apes in turbans??

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Hello chusni/echoboom

tea?-

Mr. Bangopadhyay:

I wouldn`t blame Mr. Ahmad. It depends upon what they teach in Aghan history books. If they do not teach about pre-islamic history they cannot be expected to know any better.
In my experience, every Afghan I have met shows a great deal of affection for Indians; generally more so than they do for Pakistanis.



echoboom#28

You disappoint me!

-It`s not Tridevi but Trivedi (as in three-vedas
-Bandopadhyays are not inferior to Trivedis. Trivedis are higher than Dwedis but lower to Chaturvedis in U.P and M.P. But in Bengal, Bangopadhyays (anglicised into Bannerjees) are among the top brahmins. Most Bangopodhays ate meat, most Trivedis were vegetarians.

BTW this old classification is meaninful only to sociologists; very few hindus care or even know about these things any more.

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This article is like a HUGE Bundho-Padhay! I mean its a colossal Bundho-Padhay.... breaks the record of earlier Bundho-Padhays from Veeresh Malik (there are no chemists in Rawalpindi)...

So let`s trust the author and assume that Faruk Ahmed exists, and also agree with him and his wife that Faruk Ahmed is a chutya of the first degree, but please oh please, how does Mr. and Mrs. Bundho-padhay come to the conclusion that ALL muslims, all frikkin 1 billion plus muslims are like Faruk Ahmed...... How can this exalted Hindu, higher than Divedis and lower than Chutar-vedis, (thanks for the info DM saab) after talking to one muslim, just one frikkin muslim, assume that ALL muslims are doomed...

(“He has no idea what he’s dealing with” she said absently. “No idea”, I thought gloomily, “he has absolutely no clue”.)

dostmittar:
You aren`t a dost of mine for nothing.

Yeah! I did have a hunch something was amiss when I was typing that. Thanks a lot. No wonder CHOWK is such a great place to be.

Bundho-Padhyays notwithstanding. Thanks Ali.

echoboom:

you write ``pehlay hanuman, phir insaan``

But...how about this gentleman mullah omar (last seen heading out of kabul on the back of a motorcycle). Would he qualify as the missing link?? (Just trying to be funny - dont get mad because you know what happens: you start using poster-sized fonts that really messes up this board.)



more seriously, I find this ``we indians are so modern and you muslims are so primitive`` message of this article irritating as well. Coming from a land of astrologers and tons of primitive customs and beliefs, this attitude of indians on chowk is obviously stupid. But that does not mean that the mullah omars of afghanistan are any less primitive.

Mr. Bandopandhay: The last para. of my post below is for you as well. You wrote an interesting story until the last para. If you had been gracious, you would have taken this bit of superstition on Mr. Ahmed`s part in a light-hearted manner (after all, all this gracious gentleman was essentially saying was that all humans are children of God, not anything mean). Instead, you ruined the entire article by indulging in that petty minded anti-muslim propoganda that we see on chowk day-in day-out from too many indian posters.

How you can act high and mighty, when you yourself come from a country where even politicians check astrologers to pick dates for political events, and where weddings are driven by astrologers, would surprise me - if I had not seen enough of it already from Indians on chowk.

tahmed:34

Yaar I can sense that you were always the class-monitor, always got good-conduct prize, always sat on Miss Muffet`s tuffet & let her ply with your chusni, you were boyscouts cub, you prowled as a warden during blackouts..

Class valay aisoN ko bohut buray naam sey yaad krtay thhay.


.but my bholay innocent beebay Panjaabi..

..ubb lollypops choosnaa chhoRRe doa. Mullah Umer ko dafa karo aur Mullah Manto sey zara Chacha Sam kay baaray meiN poochho...Goadee meiN bithha kay gudgudee naheeN krtay voh. Mullah Umer unn kee goadee meiN baithh gaey thhay eik dafaa, look what happened to him. Aaj kUl mushharraf miaN goadee meiN baithhay haiN.

Allama ney kaha hay : `` Jo aap kee `goadee` pey chaRRhaa, phir naheeN uutraa``

..... the first muslims (as told by dr yunus sheikh) .........

........ adam and eve might have been a pair of furry monkeys swinging from the vines, screaming and yelping and picking fleas off of each other and generally raising hell in eden, but it is also true that they were muslims............

...................... five times a day they would take a break from their monkey business to upend themselves with their big red butts pointed towards the sky and their heads pointed towards the big apple tree in the corner of the garden ............... of course, once in a while, adam would loose his balance and flip over - this greatly amused eve who would let off a shrill scream that later day islamologists have translated as the takbeer .......... and once a year they would stop eating bananas and grubs during the daylight hours and also refrain from sex for thirty days ......... not that it matters, but cain was conceived during one such period when eve not only ate the apple but also seduced adam to break his covenant with god .............

............. everybody was the muslim in those days except for the baboons and their king hanuman who was busy kidnapping and raping hapless monkey-damsels ...........

p.s. i wonder what happened to dr sheikh .......

Wow, this is absolutely insane. Everyone is reading too much into what is written.

Someone goes on a tirade on how Muslims are biased, the other person gives us a lecture like an imam, then people take things out of context and start rattling of against imaginary affronts.

Cacofoenix would be proud indeed !!!!

can you see mr ahmed in this graduating class from akora khattak ?

Mr. Ahmad Furniturewlala, ref:39
Here is the guy your company is looking for collection. He is in the middle with his trailer-trash buddies.

Re: #35 by tahmed32

[How you can act high and mighty, when you yourself come from a country where even politicians check astrologers to pick dates for political events, and where weddings are driven by astrologers, would surprise me - if I had not seen enough of it already from Indians on chowk.]

PEOPLE MAGAZINE May 23, 1988 Reprinted with permission
ON THE COVER: THE PRESIDENT`S ASTROLOGERS
The Reagans have been sneaking peeks at the stars for a long, long time
The year was 1980, the mood in the nation restless. American hostages languished in Iran; American athletes were sitting out the Olympics. In the White House, a dithering peanut farmer President looked to be wreaking havoc on the economy. At least, that`s how it appeared to one conservative society lioness out West -- whose husband had spent some time in politics but was now between jobs. She felt she had a better man for the office.
Just to be certain, however, she called up a friend, a wellborn San Francisco Republican, from whom she had been taking counsel for several years. The woman, one Joan Quigley, quickly did an astrological chart on Jimmy Carter. Then she got back to Nancy Reagan with good news about her husband`s presidential bid: ``I was certain Ronald Reagan wouldn`t have any trouble with him,`` says Quigley, who volunteered her services to the campaign and later provided them, on a regular basis, to the Reagan White House.
Throughout this association, the Vassar-educated astrologer with country club manners was -- as befits a lady -- terribly discreet. By the end of the first term, her fellow astrologers had begun to notice the impeccable celestial timing of many Reagan moves, like the bombing of Libya and his announcement for a second term. ``I had astrologer friends calling me saying, `Reagan must have had his chart done,` `` Quigley recently confided during an interview in a suite at San Francisco`s Fairmont Hotel. ``I just said, `Yes. He must have been consulting someone.` ``
Last week the soignee soothsayer`s cover was blown by former White House aide Donald Regan. In his just-published book, For the Record, Regan spilled what he insisted was ``the most closely guarded domestic secret of the Reagan White House.`` To wit: ``Virtually every major move and decision the Reagans made during my time as White House Chief of Staff was cleared in advance with a woman in San Francisco who drew up horoscopes to make certain that the planets were in a favorable alignment for the enterprise.`` Within hours, an avid press had zeroed in on Quigley as the mystery adviser.
If astrology was the Reagans` little secret, however, it was not very well kept. ``I have known since before Reagan was elected that they went to astrologers,`` says former Washington Post style reporter Sally Quinn, ``and that`s why I`m surprised at all of the surprise and shock.`` In fact the Reagans` interest in astrology goes back to the early `50s -- and amounts to far more than the scanning of newspaper horoscopes that the President once jovially confessed to a reporter. Quigley was only the most recent of several stargazers to enter the Reagans` domestic orbit and exert the pull of the heavens on decisions great and small.
When Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis were first making their way in Hollywood, it was quite in fashion to see an astrologer. And no astrologer was more fashionable than Carroll Righter, the self-styled ``gregarious Aquarius`` who counted Marlene Dietrich, Cary Grant and Princess Grace among his clients. Storefront gypsy he was not. A Philadelphia lawyer, Righter had moved to Hollywood in 1937 on the advice of
a horoscope, and soon became a true believer. He was introduced to star society at the home of Charlie Chaplin. By the time of his self-predicted death this year on April 30 (he had told an associate, ``I will not make it out of this Taurean period``), at the age of 88, Righter was one of the deans of American astrology, his columns syndicated in 166 newspapers.
A dapper, lifelong bachelor, Righter was, in a way, the society ``walker`` of his day, confidante of the rich and famous, who saw him less as a backdoor soothsayer than as social equal. He attended Tyrone Power`s wedding in Rome. He lunched at the Brown Derby. His ``zodiac parties`` in the `50s were the highlights of every season. ``All the stars were there -- Rhonda Fleming, Marlene Dietrich, Lana Turner, Hedy Lamarr, Betty Grable,`` says former Righter pal Arlene Dahl. ``Fish were swimming around in his pool for the Pisces party, and he rented a live lion for my Leo party.`` No matter that Leo was once so doped he fell into the pool and had to be hauled out by guests: The parties were adored and so was Righter. As an astrologist, Righter was a stickler for exact timing. He once informed Susan Hayward that the most auspicious time to sign a movie contract was 2:47 a.m., so she obediently arranged for a 2:45 a.m. wake-up call. Righter himself took calls at all hours, keeping the charts of most-favored clients in a file by his bed for late-night consultations. ``They need me here,`` he said. ``Just like they need a doctor.``
It`s not clear when or how Nancy Davis -- who arrived in Hollywood in the late `40s and signed her first contract with MGM in 1949 -- first came under the seer`s care. By November 1950, however, she ranked high enough on Righter`s roster to merit a mention in his celebrity column for Horoscope magazine. ``With her progressed moon passing through her 10th house . . . Nancy Davis` movie career moves steadily forward,`` wrote Righter between items on Judy Garland, Alan Ladd and Ingrid Bergman. Ronald Reagan, whom Nancy married in 1952, was also getting career advice from Righter in this period. According to his autobiography, Ron read his Righter horoscope while trying to decide whether he should launch a Vegas act. (For better or worse, he did not.)
By the `60s, Reagan`s interest had turned to politics, and his stable of advisers had widened to include Jeane Dixon. ``She was always gung ho for me to be President,`` goes one story he has told on himself. But at the time, she said, ``I don`t see you as President. I see you here at an official desk in California.`` When Reagan did gain the Governor`s mansion, however, it was likely the time-conscious Righter, not Dixon, who prevailed upon him to schedule the inauguration for the ungodly hour of 12:10 a.m. -- which caused much merriment among the astrologically hip in California.
Eight years later, after Governor Reagan had completed his second term, he was considering a run for the Presidency. During this period, reports a former associate of Carroll Righter, Nancy was a regular customer at the seer`s sprawling Hollywood Hills mansion. Making her appointments under the name Nancy Davis, she would arrive in sunglasses with a bandanna over her head, in a red Datsun driven by a liveried chauffeur. ``Carroll told Nancy that this was simply not the time to try,`` the associate recalls. ``She was very, very angry. When she didn`t like what she was hearing, she became really whiny. She really wanted him to explain why it wasn`t a good time.``
At some point in the early `70s, talk show host Merv Griffin introduced Nancy to Joan Quigley, who was a frequent guest on his show. The daughter of prominent hotelier
John Quigley, she`d been raised in the penthouse apartment of the family`s Drake-Wilshire Hotel. Joan and her sister, Ruth, were famous San Francisco beauties, driven to parties in the family Rolls and regularly mentioned in the society columns. Neither ever married, and to this day they share a luxury address on Nob Hill. After studying art history at Vassar, Joan developed an interest in astrology and was soon writing on the subject for Seventeen magazine.
She wrote her first book under the nom de plume Angel Star because, she says, ``my father disapproved of it terribly. He thought it was bunk.`` But he changed his mind, Joan recalls, when she read the chart of one of her father`s friends and guessed the date of his first marriage (along with his penchant for philandering). ``When I did my second book, under my real name,`` she says, ``Daddy gave me a piece of jewelry and was really very sweet.`` He need hardly have worried about her falling in with a low-life crowd. Quigley is very snobbish about her clientele. ``People who are very successful or very famous always have easier charts to read than the average Joe Blow,`` she says. ``They`ve lived up to everything in their charts. I just take people of great depth whose lives are interesting.``
From the first, Reagan fit the bill. ``When I first saw his chart, I said, `Wow!` I knew he was going to do fantastic things,`` says Quigley. Nevertheless, his electoral prospects for 1976 looked dim, and though ``I did a little bit on his `76 campaign,`` she says. ``I knew it wouldn`t work out.`` In 1980, however, the charts improved. ``I felt that Reagan had a very good chance of winning, so I did donate my expertise to the campaign. . . . If he had been a Democrat, I probably wouldn`t have offered to help.``
Quigley`s help during the campaign, however, didn`t prevent Reagan from catching some heat for stargazing. In July 1980 he told a reporter about the Jeane Dixon episode and added that he read his daily horoscope. Immediately, a delegation from the Federation of American Scientists -- including five Nobel laureates -- wrote the President to say they were ``gravely disturbed`` by the item. ``In our opinion, no person whose decisions are based, even in part, on such evident fantasies can be trusted to make the many serious -- and even life-and-death -- decisions required of American Presidents,`` they wrote. To which Reagan cordially responded, ``Let me assure you that while Nancy and I enjoy glancing at the daily astrology charts in our morning paper, we do not plan our daily activities or our lives around them.``
But it seems that all that changed in March 1981, after John Hinckley attempted to assassinate the President. ``I could have predicted it -- it was very obvious,`` says Quigley, adding ruefully, ``I was doing other things.`` But Nancy, who according to friends and family was deeply traumatized by the shooting, soon got back in touch. ``She called,`` Quigley remembers, ``and said she was very concerned for the President`s safety and ((asked)) could I get together with her on a professional basis. Which we did.``
Since then, the First Lady has been a regular, paying client, though Quigley will not say how often they consult. She stresses that she has met the President only once, in the receiving line of a 1985 State dinner for the President of Algeria. ``I know his horoscope upside down,`` she has said. ``But I don`t know him.`` (Ronald Reagan`s precise birth moment, which is essential for accurate charting, is a carefully guarded secret, known only to a few.)
In fact, Donald Regan claims that by 1985 Quigley`s reading of the President`s charts had a hammerlock on the business of the White House. Taking cues from her ``Friend,`` Nancy changed the time and date of scheduled events, canceled trips and severely restricted activities outside the White House. Regan was forced to keep a color-coded calendar on his desk to track the President`s ``good``, ``bad`` and ``iffy`` days, and on at least one occasion Nancy gave Regan a list in which large chunks of time were marked ``stay home,`` or``be careful`` or ``no public exposure.`` For the 1985 Geneva summit, Regan claims, it was left to the San Francisco seer to choose the most auspicious moment for our lame-duck Aquarian and the Russians` newly elevated Pisces to meet.
Quigley vehemently denies ever playing such a key policy role. ``The summits were arranged by the State Department and Reagan and Shultz. I had absolutely nothing to do with it,`` she says. ``I think people are overemphasizing my role.``
Still, she`s always considered secrecy the best policy in her dealings with Nancy and other clients. ``I said to Nancy, `I hope this doesn`t get out,` `` Quigley says. ``I wanted secrecy more than Nancy.`` Now that it is out, Quigley claims she has sworn off presidential clients. ``After the end of this year . . . I will never do anything connected with any U.S. President . . . again,`` she declared. Yet Quigley admits that she and Nancy have spoken since their relationship became public knowledge last week.
For her part, the First Lady says she has never stopped her perfectly harmless pastime of seeking guidance in the stars and has no plans to. So perhaps she directed her husband`s attention to his horoscope in old friend Carroll Righter`s Los Angeles Times column the day news of Reagan`s secret scheduling adviser broke over the heads of his stunned minions in the executive branch. The horoscope for Aquarius that day read: ``Several good friends may have the feeling you`ve been ignoring them.``
Copyright 1988 Time Inc.
Joyce Wadler, with Angela Blessing in Los Angeles, Dirk Mathison in San Francisco, and Margie Bonnett Sellinger in Washington

Dhruva

Well written.

I come across it on a regular basis. Well educated, well travelled people suddenly come up with views that sound naive. And they have full conviction.

Yesterday my friend Idrees wasted my 2 hours in the office trying to prove some mathematical calculations of space which were `ALREADY` given in some Ayat of Quran.

My humble submission to him was that the Holy Book was a matter of faith and it does not need to proved through a reverse engineering.

And similarly, all the Holy Scriptures and spiritual concepts are a matter of faith for their followers. And this eagreness to prove any one Right or Wrong through `LOGIC` is a futile time and energy wasting effort.

nhk

Re: #35 by tahmed32

[If you had been gracious, you would have taken this bit of superstition on Mr. Ahmed`s part in a light-hearted manner (after all, all this gracious gentleman was essentially saying was that all humans are children of God, not anything mean). Instead, you ruined the entire article by indulging in that petty minded anti-muslim propoganda that we see on chowk day-in day-out from too many indian posters.]

If saying that everyone is really a Muslim means that all humans are children of God, then he could have accepted that if there was a time all Afganisthanis were Hindu* , then they were children of God too.

Nothing for him to vehemently deny, is there?


* Which by the way is an ABSOLUTE historic fact.

Re: #32 by Ali_1

[So let`s trust the author and assume that Faruk Ahmed exists, and also agree with him and his wife that Faruk Ahmed is a chutya of the first degree, but please oh please, how does Mr. and Mrs. Bundho-padhay come to the conclusion that ALL muslims, all frikkin 1 billion plus muslims are like Faruk Ahmed...... How can this exalted Hindu, higher than Divedis and lower than Chutar-vedis, (thanks for the info DM saab) after talking to one muslim, just one frikkin muslim, assume that ALL muslims are doomed...]

Maybe the author should have run a worldwide statistical survey first. But maybe he is going by his personal experiences as well, and this incident is the one that broke the camel’s back.

In the absence of statistical surveys, one just has to look at the current crop of Pakistani writers on chowk. Except for the statistically insignificant handful, the rest are rabid enough to put most Mullahs to shame.

Re: #32 by Ali_1
[how does Mr. and Mrs. Bundho-padhay]

Bandopadhyay is a last name based on sanskrit, which is also the basis for your mother tongue.

Do not think that just because you became more of a mutt by your ancestors being enslaved and repeatedly raped by succeeding invading army soldiers, you have become exactly like any one of them.

Your language – however much you sprinkle arabic and persian words like raisins in pudding, or try to write in a camel-jockey script - is still grammatically and phonetically hindi.

Just by trying to sidle up to camel jockeys by ending your names with “ikht”, “ukht” and “ullah” won’t get you a ticket into their society. Many Iranians have told me that they look down upon Pakistanis, and many Arabs have told me the same.

So, try to develop some self-respect, instead of peeing over your own ancestors, and thus, yourself.

#22 by temporal on April 21, 2005 2:42pm PT
mohair:

re 16-17

could it be that you are totally misreading me?

to me every child, man, woman is a human being first

what is so wrong with this thinking?

rgds

t

---

T sahib what is wrong with it is that..it is not only a thought. It is a fact. Now don`t start claiming that facts are result of your thinking.:-)

Dost-Mittar ji...thorha chaanan pao iss gall te. I was thinking about this duvedis and trivedis....I understand our own Bedis were Vedis...how come we have only Vedis and you go further east you get Duvedis and Trivedis and you go further south you get Chaturvedis....looks like saade baabay (Nanak was a Bedi) did not go beyond one-ved.
:-)

echoboom#28

{{Bandhopadhay as in PaRRhaey--study reading--is a Pandit}}

and dost-mittar #

{{Bangopadhyay}}

I’m unsure to what extent you two are joking – especially echoboom with his ‘pehle hanumaan phir humaan’ and his reference to the Monkey and Swine People of the Book. Be that as it may – it is Bandopadhyay (not Bangopadhyay) – i.e. ‘prefix + upAdhyAy’, where upadhyay means ‘teacher, preceptor’. There are three other Bengali names with the same ‘upadhyay’ ending – Mukhopadhyay, Chattopadhyay, and Gangopadhyay (the last is more commonly rendered as ‘Ganguly’, as in Sourav). These belong (along with Bhattacharya, I think) to a group of Bengali Brahmins that are supposed to have migrated east to Bengal many hundreds of years ago. And while we are obsessing on the author’s name, I might as well mention that Dhruva refers to the (fixed) North Star, i.e. Polaris.

and furthermore, pls leave poor cacophonix out of it... he`s got enuff problems of his own. :)

This being a very weary stuff. But the sudden responsive attitude of Mr. Ahmed coils the story from furniture shop to a remark of undying history and then twists back to equipment muttering. Apart from this gear there is no curiosity in this story.

Well number ‘81’ and ‘18’ which are adorned on humankind is been told by an old person to me whereby he also told the Five Fingers in Each Hand as an indication to “Punjtun panch…Mohammad(P.B.U.H), Ali, Fatima, Hassan and Hussein” whose Souls/Noors are believed to be eternal before Universe foundation. Furthermore 14 divisions on each hand be a sign of 14 Imams.

Well it all seems a bewildered faith instigated in a furniture shop. Remindes me of Kirshin Chandar Novel .. ``Thali ka Baingan.``

Alephnull#58:

You are absolutely correct. ``Bangopadhyay`` was a typo and thanks for correcting it. I wonder why Bhattacharyas took their name differently; they took their name from the district (Bhatpara) to which they belonged. I am told that they considered themselves superior to everyone else, even Mukherjees.


dullabhatti#47:

The question has occurred to me also but I do not know the answer. Especially, since Diwedis, Trivedis, etc. are brahmins and Guru Nanak was a khatri. Maybe the mass slaughter of brahmins in Panjab resulted in their scarcity to such an extent that some khatris were allowed to learn vedas, and started calling themselves vedis/bedis. (purely speculative hypothesis on my part!).


echoboom:

Here is some more info. for you. Diwedis and Chaturvedis are also called Dubeys and Chaubeys in UP. You might have heard the expression:

Chale thay Chaubey, Chhabbey bananey
Reh gaye Dubey ban ke!

[paraphrase: Chaubey tried to claim superiority over others by saying that he knew six vedas, thereby displaying his ignorance and downgrading himself]

dost-mittar:51
Well the most famous Chaubays I`m aware of are from Mathra. Their legendary appetite for LaDDoos & assorted sweetmeats is reason for their fame. I heard they could eat endlessly. ( exaggerating a bit here--me!)

Looking forward to learn more from AlphaNull.

What are people so angry about? This is one man, and his behaviour could be seen as ignorance, bigotry or naivety. If one ran into the likes of Urstruly or His Excellency in real life, one would probably have the same impression.
Tahmed is becoming more and more overt, which is unusual, he usually tries to look good.

`` “He has no idea what he’s dealing with” she said absently. “No idea”, I thought gloomily, “he has absolutely no clue”.
``

Since when did the word HE start referring to ALL ONE BILLION MUSLIMS?? I don`t think this dude is anti Muslim at all. Hindus who are anti Muslim do not think of inviting Muslims to their homes.

Muslims should understand that there is a difference between their religios perceptions and Hindus and also Vice Versa.

When Muslims interact with infidels their instinct is to convert them. Witness Echoboom`s posts about every reformed junkie who finds Islam.

When anti Muslim Hindus interact with Muslims, they will infact seek to minimize contact and not invite him home for dinner. After all you have to break the crockery after a Muslim eats of it.

Therefore, the author is not anti-Muslim. He just misjudged the religious inclination of another human being.

Another fact is that whereas religious people understand the motivations of secular people, the latter cannot even BEGIN to comprehend the inclinations of a religious person.

Let alone a Muslim hating Hindu fanatic, this author would prolly be an NYT reading, latte drinking, going to temple once a year type liberal. The brown equivilant of the Yahoods who live on the upper east side.

nb:

Muslims I guess are learning from the Jews. Make enough noise about anti Islamism and all legit talk gets squelched as well.

.........mr ahmed is a very wise man ..........

..............a few years ago dr younus shaikh, was sentenced to death for suggesting that the prophet did not become a muslim till the age of 40 (when he received the first message from god) and the prophet’s parents were non-muslims because they died before islam existed............. so now anyone with half a brain would not dare suggest that adam and eve were anything other than practicing muslims regardless of the fact that they were probably swinging from the trees throwing monkey-doo at each other .............

((I wouldn`t blame Mr. Ahmad. It depends upon what they teach in Aghan history books. If they do not teach about pre-islamic history they cannot be expected to know any better.
In my experience, every Afghan I have met shows a great deal of affection for Indians; generally more so than they do for Pakistanis. ))

Yes, the afghans show great hospitality. They show it even to the enemy who asks for `punnah`. They feed him clothe him. And as soon as the person crosses the compound boundary, he has a bullet in his back.

Repeat after me, Hospitality is NOT equal to goodness. I`ve dealth with them in business as well. Their ``hospitality`` and graciousness is a tool and means....nothing more. Their hospitality can be compared to the ``hospitality`` of a Suniaara (goldsmith). Are suniaaras gracious??

History books are biased even in India and the US. Most non muslims and citizens of secular states have the nerve and free will to question the history and change their knowledge when confronted with contrary literature. Muslims, mostly, do not want to deal with any opposition to their religious dogma and brain washing.

actually ramayana has a lot more science..monkey to man evolution, rocket propulsion, civil-engineering feats. next time i try to sell my bandhopadhay full sofa in a yard sale, i will convince mrs. brewer, or better yet the new young ukrainian bride of the elederly gentleman why we ought to be together since its in ramayana.

.......... the incorrigible (and unwashed) afghan ...........

......... before anyone says anything, let me point out that half my relatives are afghans who moved from miserable places like kandahar and jalalabad less than a hundred years ago ............ having said that, the afghans are a blight on the face of the earth - just look at what they have done to my hometown, rawalpindi - no wonder vereesh could not find a chemist there ............ all the chemists have become drug dealers ........... parts of pindi and islamabad look more like kabul with dari speaking dentists and syphilitic pushto speaking prostitutes on every corner ............ my siblings have regressed and will eat nothing but afghani naan and are busy clogging their arteries with chappal kababs deep fried in sheep-lard ........... all the steel manhole covers have been stolen and people are afraid to hang out their laundry on the line .............. not to mention that the sheep are running scared and global warming is on the rise ............

............ accrding to an uncle, who is a magistrate in peshawar and a full-blooded noble savage himself, the temperature in peshawar has gone up at least 10 degrees since the afghans moved in ...........``you know they burn tyres and anything else they can find and there are no trees left in landikotal ``...........as if landikotal was a lush green tropical forest when alexander passed through the khyber pass !


.......... anyway, here is what khushal khan khattak, the only pathan who could read or write said about his countrymen a hundred years ago ............

Of the Pathans that are famed in the land of Roh,

Now-a-days are the Mohmands, the Bangash, and the Warrakzais, and the Afridis.

The dogs of the Mohmands are better than the Bangash,

Though the Mohmands themselves are a thousand times worse than the dogs.

The Warrakzais are the scavengers of the Afridis,

Though the Afridis, one and all, are but scavengers themselves.

This is the truth of the best of the dwellers in the land of Pathans,

[...Especially, since Diwedis, Trivedis, etc. are brahmins and Guru Nanak was a khatri...]

Dwivedi, not Diwedi...Dwi meaning two, Tri meaning three, Chatur meaning four...

Re #54 by Stuka

[`` “He has no idea what he’s dealing with” she said absently. “No idea”, I thought gloomily, “he has absolutely no clue”. ``]

Did it ever occur to you that “He” refers to the President of the United States in the context of the story?

[When Muslims interact with infidels their instinct is to convert them. Witness Echoboom`s posts about every reformed junkie who finds Islam.]

What Muslims probably don’t know is that Hindus are mostly terrified of them. Like you’d be terrified of spreading cancer. They know that once in the majority, the Mullahs always take over and then muslims treat non-Hindus in the prescribed manner. The decent muslims keep silent, probably out of fear. Maybe it’s not so bad in Pakistan, but then there are international considerations there as well as India next door.

On the other hand, Hindus aren’t a threat to Muslims because they are not looking to recruit more people to their fold to prove any point (btw, if numerical superiority proved anything, then Galileo would have been dead wrong). Muslims are always safe as long as they don’t start burning dozens of Hindus alive. When they do, antisocial elements in Hindu society get the upper hand, and sometimes even seemingly reasonable people turn bestial.

So for Muslims to feel safe, they just have to refrain from burning Hindus alive.

The first person killed after the Ayodhya temple incident was NOT A MUSLIM, but a Hindu, in the hands of a Muslim mob, in India. Remember there have been many Ayodhya-temple-like Hindu temple destructions in Pakistan and Bangladesh before, but no Muslim got killed.

Ask yourself, what would have happened to the miniscule number of hindus remaining in Pakistan, if HINDUS HAD BURNT A TRAINFUL OF MUSLIMS ALIVE IN PAKISTAN.

What would have happened to a temple in Pakistan, if it was historically rumored to have been build after destroying a mosque linked to Prophet Mohammed’s birth. You think it would have lasted 10 seconds? Crazed fanatics like echoboom and Ali_1 would burn it down in half a second. The Indian Government would probably give travel vouchers to pious muslims to help out.

But of course you won’t ask yourself any of this (and a host of other, much more fundamental things).

Because asking is forbidden.

#59..this is hilarious indeed...

...parts of pindi and islamabad look more like kabul with dari speaking dentists and syphilitic pushto speaking prostitutes on every corner ............ my siblings have regressed and will eat nothing but afghani naan and are busy clogging their arteries with chappal kababs deep fried in sheep-lard ........... all the steel manhole covers have been stolen and people are afraid to hang out their laundry on the line .............. not to mention that the sheep are running scared and global warming is on the rise ............

............ accrding to an uncle, who is a magistrate in peshawar and a full-blooded noble savage himself, the temperature in peshawar has gone up at least 10 degrees since the afghans moved in ...........``you know they burn tyres and anything else they can find and there are no trees left in landikotal ``...........as if landikotal was a lush green tropical forest when alexander passed through the khyber pass !
...

[more than honest]....
the afghanis don`t even go and pee on ziaulhaque qabr who was their bypass to let them in with a big sympathetic heart.

I am not sure why some people are upset / annoyed about this story. This actually is a non story. Religions and rituals are crazy to start with any way. We have seen in the recent past an Indian Prime Minister preaching Urine Drinking in the name of religion. And now the Second largest Party in India and former ruling party RSS/BJP are actually selling aftershave, cologne etc from their party platform in the name of religion. People are actually buying and wearing those aftershave made of urine. Talk about body odor.
Now who makes you roll your eyes more: an Indian Prime Minister or a furniture Salesman?

I am not familiar with all Hindu rituals and stories but I see this on TV that Hindu religious figures used to fly without wings. We already know that one prominent Muslim traveled to the skies to meet God without any spaceship.

I don’t understand why people beg for their life in front of stones or bang their head several times on concrete floors everyday. I believe most of the religious people are brain damaged after spending so much time banging their heads on concrete floors.
We also know that Christ will born again. Why did he die in the first place if he wanted to come back so desperately? It almost sounds like some Indian movie title like “Issa Ki Wapsi” or Tarzan ki Wapsi”

Ajeya:

``What Muslims probably don’t know is that Hindus are mostly terrified of them``

I don`t know about ``most`` Hindus but I know you are terrified of them. Which is why you hate them. You are running scared.

I am a Hindu and I am not scared of Muslims. To me they are equals, no more and no less. That is why I don`t hate them.

Re #64 by Stuka

[Which is why you hate them. ]

No, I don’t hate them. I have several Pakistani and Iranian friends that are truly nice people. To say that people of any religion are bad is an obvious stupidity. But I am afraid. Just like many of them are. At least, I am willing to give them the benefit of doubt that the reason they keep silent is because they are afraid too.

[I don`t know about ``most`` Hindus]

Well I do. Overwhelming majority of Hindus I know and have met. As well as me. For example, I would never set foot in Bangladesh. And if I ever go to Pakistan (which will probably be never), I’ll try to go to places where mostly westernized people exist. I’m not taking chances.

[Well I do. Overwhelming majority of Hindus I know and have met. As well as me. For example, I would never set foot in Bangladesh. And if I ever go to Pakistan (which will probably be never), I’ll try to go to places where mostly westernized people exist. I’m not taking chances. ]

The you have met the wrong sample, the overwhelming majority of hindus I know have no qualms about going to BD or Pak, and harbour no such misgivings about Muslims. You assertion is aking to equating tha VHP to the whole of India. Please spare us the faulty reasoning.

Re #66 TheDivisionBell

[the overwhelming majority of hindus I know have no qualms about going to BD or Pak]

Are you Hindu? If not, they might not be so open to you.

In any case, I am telling you about my experience honestly. Both of my Hindu friends who introduced me to chowk are so $hit-scrared that they won`t post on Chowk. They say they need an Anonymizer software.

Americans I work with drop their voices if a Muslim passes by, if we are talking about something political. They don`t want any trouble, they tell me. And they are Americans living in America.

My family has been hounding me to stop posting on Chowk because of similar reasons. I might just do that.

Ajeya: you write ``For example, I would never set foot in Bangladesh. ``

Why not??

....When Muslims interact with infidels their instinct is to convert them....
#54:stuka
My proud unafraid-of-muslims hindu friend.

Truer words have seldom been uttered here.

But then every hindian tries to convince Pakistanis `` but we are the same, our ancestors were the same, we should be one in body and spirit.

Now who in human history has seen such a passionate love-affair. The deep desire to get anull the divorce, remarry but get screwed in the process by farangi priests.

---

Let me ennunciate in clear plain language:

Pakistani Muslims` deep desire: All of Indians should be either muslim or come under muslim domination.

Indian Hindus` deep desire: All muslims should become Indians; no problem if they want to rule over hindus as long as they love India more than Islam.

This is almost axiomatic. There is no reason to debate & intellectualise it in arcane pol.sci/soc kind of Harvardese.

---

Now there are two categories of people in either country who are completely oblivious to such Universititis hypnotitis.

The very poor: The farmer, the laborer, & the homeless etc etc.

They simply can`t afford.

The ones who can afford: The rich & the powerful
Their religion is money and power. Navaz sharif has/had no qualms making steel deals/contracts with Sikhs all around the world--even during Kargill. Bibi & Rajeev had no problem comparing notes as to how to keep their respectives mobs under control. So did Z.Bhutto/I. Gandhi ( alerting her: ``please don`t mind if I call you O maee, to placate my `masses``); the Smugglers/filmakers/ programme producers who collude & contrive to bilk the emotional & financial capital of the unwary `masses``.

The only group which loses sleep is the professional intellectual who get psychotic and worries about loss of job or tenure. If this hate furnace suddenly cools off what will become of their jobs. This wretched calss has not been prepared or trained to earn a living outside Instituitional environment or welfare. This is the class which despises & looksdown upon self-made millionaires & tries to compensate such a talent-deprivation by getting into
art-galleries, book-readings, and coffe-latte mocha kind of cheapskatery. Here they find some mutual-misery company seek comfort in massaging each others egos by dropping arcane & weird names of movies, books, and their most-recent perversion.

Once the world gets rid of intellecualism-for-hire, brains-for-rent, and wisdom-on-welfare
this world would be a garden of eden...or pretty close anyway.

[Note: as of all my rants; exaggeration is for effect & entertainment-- & ALSO for reaction]

Re #68 by tahmed32

Because there, even the liberal opposition party leader is not safe. Because she is not radical enough.

Nadia #63 I kind of enjoy the afghani naan and chapli kebabs myself. And the Afghan shopkeepers and all in Islamabad seem to be fine, normal people. As for the ``pashto speaking prostitutes``, I think the noun in that phrase is the problem, not the adjective (i.e. the fact the degradation of women that this ``oldest profession`` represents is the problem, not the fact that they are pashto or panjabi speaking).

HP,
About the cow products, I don`t think many people buy them. I mean one has to be nuts to buy a perfume of that kind, although I wouldn`t blame the seller, heck if it makes money I am ready to sell it too.

About the role of religion, as long as we don`t take it literally its a fine concept.

Ajeya: I visited Bangladesh a few times in the late 90`s, including places far removed from Dhaka. I found the people to be invariably friendly and non-threatening. Even met a mukti bahini leader who told me he fought six months against the pakistan army, and yet welcomed me with a hug like a brother and shared a meal with me to tell me how much he liked Pakistan. So, lets not give Bengalis a bad name for nothing.

.....so $hit-scrared that they won`t post on Chowk.......
#67 Ajeya

Such confessions in public are really undoing the fine work by your ministries. Even when your friends are -`shit-scared` please take some medicine before theypost here. Never admit even if you are scared. It makes the rabid elements among muslims bold and bloddthirsty.

Now imagine what a bad name have you brought to ALL hindus, just as Mr. Ahmed brought a bad name (Trivedi board--I`m now scared of that PhaDDay name) to ALL muslims.

But honestly a clipping of ` that` a few millimeter does eliminate the fear of the sight of `first blood` .

[can you laugh loudly now, without leaking...]

Re #69 by echoboom

[Indian Hindus` deep desire: All muslims should become Indians]

You could not be more wrong on this. You are dead wrong. Just because I said we have common ancestors does not mean that I want a reunification. VERY far from it. It would be hard for you to imagine how much relief it is to Hindus that there are less fanatics to worry about.

The problem that Indians now have is, how to control the remaining amount of cancer that is within us (by “cancer” I mean the inevitable 10% of population within the Muslims that is most rabid, vocal, and aggressive, and always dictates happenings in the Muslim world).

As I said in a post earlier, I would be willing to give over Kashmir, the land of my forefathers, to Pakistan, IF THEY PROMISE TO TAKE EVERY LAST MUSLIM FROM INDIA WITH THEM.

Yes, the good ones too, because they may have a son or a daughter that is rabid, or potentially rabid – just look at Osama and his family.

67,

Ajeya.

You hijras should stop clapping. They want you to be scared.

Americans lower their voice the same reason Indian and other secular citizens lower their voices. They are NOT afraid. They don`t want the PC police and the liberals and leftists, and the 5th colunm after them. And, muslims see it as a sign of cowardice.

There is a Punjabi saying, ``laj karenda andar wadya, natkhay kiha maithon darya.`` I think if you frankly discuss, it is better. When you shy away, it means more trouble for you.

95% of Hindus I talked to, in private, hate muslims, or think lowly of them, and vice versa. My two ears are witness to this. They use the choicest word for Muhammed. They lower the voice, or change the subject in presence of muslims.

Same thing with Pakis. I had friends who were from and Pakistan and Nepal. The Pakis would cuss the Hindus out. But, in the Nepalis` presence, they were buddy buddy.

The Pakis cussed Americans out during first Iraq war, and cheered the Iraqis and hoped they would kill Americans, when Americans were around, they did the drama of cheering Americans.

further to my post #71 below: i see zehra was merely quoting hamidm. damn. God made the apostrophe (````) for a reason, ms zehra. please use them next time you cut and paste.

#74 by echoboom

[Now imagine what a bad name have you brought to ALL hindus]

Hindus are afraid of sneaky lowlife backstabbers, slimy grenade throwers and houri-crazed homicide bombers.

Never afraid of face-to-face fight.

We always have, and always will kick Paki butt anywhere, anytime. The only thing that has saved you ba$tards so far is your sucking up to the US. Otherwise the Indian army would have rolled over you guys long time ago.

Have you noticed how you Muslims make it a habit to lose wars. To Israel, to India, and everyone else.

And no, I have to BJP/RSS/VHP affiliations.

#76 by kaurasch

You misunderstood.

...IF THEY PROMISE TO TAKE EVERY LAST MUSLIM FROM INDIA WITH THEM....
#75: Ajeya
Where do I sign? and when do I take title of land of Kashmir & repatriate my brethren.?

But what will you do if more and more hindus convert, even after this, do I get more land
for a fresh crop of muslims ?

Please let me sign on the dotted line, never mind the small print.

---

You are the first true antiIndian I have met. Of course you do it as a do-gooder. You have undone years of harwork of your compatriots. If I were you I would watchout for Kaura`s kirpan more than a muslim`s tinka-in-his-daRRhee.

kaurasach: You seem to have lowlife as friends (i.e. people whose only topic of discussion is badmouthing those not present). But then, a man is known by the company he keeps...

Ajeya: bhai sahib, musalmaanoN ko gaaliaN deynay ki zaroorat (or should I say jaroorat) nahiN hai. If you hate us so much, just take the advice of your wonderful family and dont come to chowk. You will be happy, and we will not miss you.

DivisionBell,

Have you checked Farzana`s board?

Please read Dost Mittar`s posts on that board.

Hindu population in Bangladesh has come down to 10% from 30% in 1947. Shows you how well Bangladeshis treat Hindus.

Ajeya,

Don`t gloat. How dare you compare Israel with India? What an insult to Israelis.

The Pakis and ISI have thumb up India`s ass. All the lalas can do is stare growl and moan....that too from behind the Sikhs, Jats, Gorkhas, Garhwalis, and Marathas.

The fifth column in India is actually enjoying the thumb up the ass. Perverts!

Ajeya: I visited Bangladesh a few times in the late 90`s, including places far removed from Dhaka. I found the people to be invariably friendly and non-threatening. Even met a mukti bahini leader who told me he fought six months against the pakistan army, and yet welcomed me with a hug like a brother and shared a meal with me to tell me how much he liked Pakistan. So, lets not give Bengalis a bad name for nothing.

Lucky for you that you are a Muslim. You wouldn`t be saying similar things if you were a Hindu.

Mahesh#84, 84:

I had a wonderful personal experience in Bangladesh.

[
Are you Hindu? If not, they might not be so open to you.

In any case, I am telling you about my experience honestly. Both of my Hindu friends who introduced me to chowk are so $hit-scrared that they won`t post on Chowk. They say they need an Anonymizer software.
]

That is absolute bunkum. I am hindu (at least culturally), and have never encountered your apprehension, this is indeed a first. I suggest you educate yourseld before giving in to such wild notions.

Anonymizer software ? HAhahahahha, just to protect your IP, that too on chowk ? To be honest, I have a tough time believing that you are for real. The attitudes in India are far different from what you think. When I was an undergrad in India, there were no such religious qualms at all, everyone celebrated everything and we all had fun, this was 1999.

I reiterate that it`s the likes of you that gived Indians a bad name.

Maheshg #84 Get the name right at least. Even though you are incapable of getting anything else right. That was my post you quoted, not Ajeya.
(first and last post to you on this board).

“He has no idea what he’s dealing with” Do you have any idea “What you were dealing with??”

He gave you your own medicine, Guy was nice to you and you had enough common ground to talk about, then why you started with Hindu history and brought religion in the conversation at the first place with a person you hardly know? Besides what sort of “historic” similarities you were trying to find even if Afghanistan was a Hindu state some frekin 1000 years ago?? So deal with the reality check my friend. His heritage/religion is important for him so as yours for you. I am not seeing any difference between an educated afghan Muslim and educated Indian Hindu.

On a side note to Veeresh sir. I am at Lawrence Ooty for 4 years, fom 89 to 93, was one of the best times of my life.

Tauheed Ahmed,

I did not have this bitterness till I ran into these Pakis for the first time. If I had harbored any qualms, I wouldn`t have been roommate with one of them. Hadn let the other in to my home - motherfukker thief stole from me. went into a Bsns with a Paki, tried to rob me. Thank God for the American justice system, the basturd couldn`t even lick his wounds. Now, life is so short, that I don`t have any patience for more.

When someone tells me that it is a great deed to kill a kafir. Sikhs are not as bad as Hindus, but only little better, to the face. I have no appologies for hating such hate.

These things happen in other communities, but not with such lack of shame as among plate pissers.


Even after this, if a muslim, approaches me as a good human being, I do help them. I am just cynical and wary. Self preservation is an instinct. I am no longer a liberal leftist - an affliction that had dulled my instinct.

On a side note to Veeresh sir. I was at Lawrence Ooty for 4 years, fom 89 to 93, was one of the best times of my life.