Amway. Conway?

The people participating in this scam are victims of a sort and deserve to be rescued

I went through the same thing and even took some promotional material and then returned it.

They use classic social influence tricks which was fun to observe

They pretend to speak to folks on the phone (higher ups) etc. etc.

But this scam deserves to be thoroughly exposed for what it is

Samosey mein aloo: why not Laloo?
Bihar is a strange place... despite having huge mineral wealth (now of course its split into different parts and smaller) it remains economically and socially backward and possibly the most caste ridden society one can find.

most capable biharis (and there are many bright ones) dont stay in Bihar... and even the poorer sections migrate to Punjab, Calcutta and Bombay for menial work

its ironical that Bodh Gaya should be in Bihar of all places.. But then Bihar`s present bears little connection with its past (Nalanda University)

Even highly educated biharis sometimes cling to social mores that seem quaint.. Like I knew one esteemed professor who was a bigamist, with one wife in the village and another for the public eye.

Lalu represents the worst that Bihar has to offer. I wonder how many Bihari muslims migrated to Pakistan after partition. perhaps they were the better off. As far as I know, Bihari muslims are one of the backward groups in that state.

On the positive side Lalu doesnt bother about the actual admin and budgeting of the railways.. so consequential decisions are made by the PM and bureaucrats and apparently has had a positive effect. The Kulhar episode was funny.. unlike what most people think these clay pots do not degrade easily and pollute the environment for a long time.

Deadly Earthquake this is a terrible tragedy.. worse than katrina by an order of magnitude

but musharraf misses an opportunity



Musharraf misses chance to mend fences
(Filed: 11/10/2005)

The earthquake in the Hindu Kush literally shook the foundations of the boundary between India and Pakistan in Kashmir. Yet it took a while to jolt General Pervez Musharraf out of accustomed ways of thinking on one of the great political faultlines of our day.

On Sunday, India offered to put helicopters at the general`s disposal. At first, Islamabad said they weren`t needed, which, given the scale of the disaster, was manifest nonsense. Then it came up with the feeble excuse that there could be no question of joint rescue operations because there was no population on the line of control. Finally, it agreed yesterday to accept a 25-tonne planeload of relief supplies.

The greatest natural disaster in Pakistan`s history offered a rare chance to warm the slight thaw in relations with India. By first prevaricating, then accepting only limited help from a neighbour with vast resources, Gen Musharraf has displayed a depressing lack of imagination. And that small-mindedness at the highest level was yesterday reflected in the refusal of the Pakistan High Commission in London to grant a visa to Krishnan Guru-Murthy, the Channel 4 News presenter, because his parents were born in India.

Natural disasters and shared grief have the power to break barriers of prejudice. That happened after the earthquake in northwest Turkey in 1999, when the Greeks sent rescue workers and ships and planes loaded with relief supplies, bridging the gap between neighbours who had been at odds for decades over the Aegean and Cyprus.

A few weeks later, the Turks were able to reciprocate when a smaller earthquake struck Athens. More recently, the Indian Ocean tsunami hastened a peace agreement between the Indonesian government and the separatist Free Aceh movement, thus ending a struggle that had lasted nearly 30 years and taken 15,000 lives. However, there was no breakthrough in Sri Lanka, another tsunami sufferer, which has long been racked by a vicious war between the government and the Tamil Tigers.

In the wake of Saturday`s earthquake, Pakistan has not totally snubbed India. But it should have made much quicker and more extensive capital out of New Delhi`s offer. With a faultline like that across the sub-continent, you need leaders with the political courage to seize the moment.

In failing to do so, Gen Musharraf has let down the earthquake victims and damaged the long-term interests of his country.

What will I teach my daughter? congrats.. but you dont need to make such complicated plans..

the environments that your girl has opportunities to experience are more important than what you tell her. For example if you feel that she should be exposed to other cultures and religions, you should set an example.. its that simple. How you behave at home, interact with your wife and child matters more than what you say to her on these matters. Her involvment in sports and other activities will count for more. Will she able to have friends from other backgrounds?

I havent seen hamidm on this thread.. he can certainly give his 2 bits

I agree with Pardesi that daughters are great.. Fathers can form deep bonds with daughters. It is their choice. Treat them like individuals with a mind and spirit of their own and with affection; you will reap the rewards for as long as you live.

Dev, Harry and I hey.. I liked this... neat stuff

keep writing

Rape of another Kind
it is obvious that the comment was a stupid one and an educated or westernized person such as PM would normally be aware not to make such remarks.

but the reason why it was made may be due to the stress the general was facing. When folks are stressed out, they are more likely to fumble and reveal something of their true selves. If I am not wrong, very little headway was gained on the foreign policy front (with India and the USA) and the UN speech also shows a strange disconnect. all this suggests a lot of stress/frustration and also is reflected in the encounter with the woman protestor in one of the talks.

another possibility is that .. and this is pure speculation ... is that the general himself has some skeleton in his personal closet.. perhaps somewhere in his career .. making such statements more likely ..

Save Me from My Well Wishers this piece was very nice.. real and witty

you should have lots more time to write

all the best

That’s me in the Corner Losing My Religion what a crappy article

#6

I third this suggestion.. no more religion ..

this thing has been thrashed to death..

Pipe Dreams?
#60 sigh

hinduism (sanatana dharma) is NOT a religion in the judaeo-christian-islamic sense... Hence there is no formal mechanism to get converted ... similarly, if you are born into hinduism (which actually as a term is of recent vintage), there is nothing you can do to get excommunicated.. there is no such thing. Theological beliefs are a secondary aspect of hindu traditions; hence there is a large diversity of such beliefs and even accomodates atheists. Historical events, which are crucial in JCI religions, also have little importance.

there are lots of people who actually follow the tenets of sanatana dharma but are not ``official`` hindus due to an accident of birth. About a million (mostly white) americans fall in this implicit category (taking interest in yoga, vedic literature, meditation, interest in vegetarianism etc.). I know quite a few muslims who fall in this category (Indian President Abdul Kalam is one such). Likewise there are plenty of born hindus who dont have any interest in any of the above but remain nominal hindus to varying degrees depending on their exposure to various cultural traditions.

references

Dharma FAQ     Essentials     Myth of Hindu sameness

The Dance of the Damned
There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of castes (jatis) in India. Dalits are perhaps 10-15% are have been traditionally severely disadvantaged.. much like african americans in the US context ... the former President of India Mr. K. R. Narayanan was a dalit (perhaps converted to xtianity).. the most famous Dalit is the chair of the committee that wrote the Indian constitution, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. In fact, if I am not wrong, dalits (not to be confused with shudras or lower castes) are outside the caste system. Mahatma Gandhi called Dalits as Harijans (children of God) but this term isnt used a whole lot and doesnt have the militancy associated with the term ``dalit``.

In the urban setting, caste has mostly relevance for purposes of marriage.. This is seen in the format for various matrimonial ads (interestingly caste or some variant also plays a role in endogamy in xtians, muslims and sikhs)

inter caste marriages however are quite common.. I suppose in these cases caste loses what little meaning it has for the kids. identity would be based much more on class, language and other aspects.

most urban indians nowadays would not even know what caste someone belongs to, unless said individual was from their own specific caste and spoke the same language (or came from the same region). It is considered very rude to ask someones caste and most people simply have no clue regarding the caste of the other (unlike their linguistic or regional identity as a Punjabi for example)

nowadays caste discrimination/violence mostly happens between the so-called lower castes and the dalits (or even between different sets of lower castes) and a lot of this is in the cow-belt (UP, Bihar).

indian politics is increasingly dominated by the lower castes... the upper castes will be found in large numbers in the MNCs, private enterprise, Science&Tech and to an extent in the bureaucracy.

in modern institutional settings there is minimal caste awareness, at least compared to language/region awareness. sometimes people are clueless about their own caste! esp. if they have dropped their last name.

having said all this.. it is unclear as to what the point of this article is. The main point that urban society is even more casteist is flat out wrong and not worth debating. It is very class conscious.. which city is not ?

Close Encounter
I only lurk here mostly.. and so am not fully informed about the local politics.. I fail to see why so much energy is being expended on insults here.. Quite possibly the insulters and insultees take great pleasure in the exchanges

Salim (with all his nicks) undoubtedly has a sharp wit.. Makes no sense to censor him provided he cleans up his act (sticks to one nick for starters) and doesnt cross certain boundaries. Isnt it obvious that Salim is looking for attention and recognition?

regarding this piece.. its not horrible.. it is simply mediocre. The J^3 reminded me of A^3 (a hindi movie from the 70s).. Too much of this is in the third person.. the few first person conversations are unconvincing and sound phony. Maybe t has a big reputation here and has stepped on toes.

speaking of which.. Nikkas pakistan was a very fine tale... and it hardly got any discussion.

Close Encounter a completely, totally unrelated cut and paste that is somewhat entertaining (unlike most of this thread).

While humans get jailed for crossing the India-Pakistan border, animals caught for the same offence enjoy special status with the local police till their fate is decided by a court. A camel was caught while it was being used to ferry RDX explosives from Pakistan to India in 2000 near the Pachcham area of Kutch district. Three riders who were with the camel escaped. The camel had 24 kg of explosives strapped to it.

The camel has been nicknamed `Musharraf` after the Pakistan president. After bringing `Musharraf` to a court, a suit was filed against his supposed owner for trafficking explosives. While 70 camels attached to the Kutch police toil hard patrolling the border region, `Musharraf` rests under judicial protection. The animal is considerably healthy too, compared to its Indian counterparts.

``The RDX smuggling case has not been solved for five years. And the law says that any animal caught in connection with crime be confiscated too, like property, till the case is settled,`` Mounted Branch sub-inspector BL Jhala said.

``Therefore, we cannot use the camel for patrolling too,`` he added.

``People are amazed to see how trained `Musharraf` is. When he spots army officers or the army vehicle in the desert, he immediately sits down. ``Once the case is over, he will be an asset for our branch,`` Jhala said.

Another animal, a mare, was found grazing on the northeastern border of Kutch, near the village Bela in 2002. The search for its owner proved in vain and it was assumed that the animal had come from across the border. The animal was named `Benazir` after former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

The mare was sent to the court and a suit was filed against the owner, if there was any, for letting it graze near the border. As nobody claimed its ownership the mare was declared a trespasser. After the case was over, the mare was trained for patrolling and inducted into the Mounted Branch of Bhuj police.

The mare`s nickname was changed from `Benazir` to `Vijeta`. Its previous name, however, has remained popular and the department still knows it as `Benazir`. ```Benazir` was not so fortunate as `Musharraf`. The case against it got over and now she has to work for us,`` said Jhala. There is a provision in law to return an animal to its owner after the court case is over if the owner pays for its maintenance during captivity. As the two animals have come from across the border, nobody has made claims for their ownership.

Losing My Religion
I mostly lurk once in a while..

Are there cases of multiple identities talking to themselves? it is so confusing.

In some ways the atmosphere in chowk mirrors trends outside.. Namely, this is not a good time to be a pakistani/muslim... even mush seems to be apologetic

re the article, nandita seems to be clueless. first of all the concept of ``religion`` is semetic. there is no parallel entity called hindu religion. the right word for it is ``dharma`` or sanatana dharma. as someone pointed out ``baig`` is not logically muslim and even if it was inconvenient, changing a name is not a big deal. people routinely do this in america.

see http://www.boloji.com/hinduism/102.htm for bground on dharma

Indians Do Not Like Each Other
I think the chowk editors had a fit of temporary genius... some of the interacts are quite hilarious.... lol

Acting Under Orders
#16

---

Probably nothing.. As long as she kept out of the media. But if she did, then life would become just a bit more complicated for her. Singapore is very liberal on sexual matters as long as it doesnt involve politics.. the worlds oldest profession thrives there and could be a model for other countries (as the infectious diseases are kept well under check).

little india is a great place with lots of character and good shops and small eateries.

coming back to the main point: singaporean intellectual remains an oxymoron (with the exception of the founder Lee Kuan Yew)

Acting Under Orders
Singapore, for those who have lived in it, can be a very dehumanizing place.

Make no mistake. It is great for the tourist, for the businessman, for the shopper. It has developed systems that can be emulated elsewhere. It has good educational institutions.

But it is hell for anyone who wishes to express their opinion freely and without fear.

In their quest for the $, it has become a soulless place

It is a tradeoff.. perhaps one that can work in a city state. China has learnt quite a bit from Singapore on how to make the transition from 1-party communism to 1-party ``democracy``. Both countries lead the world in number of executions (death penalty cases) .

Opinions such as what I have posted above rarely make it to a ``letters to the editor`` of the sole official newspaper (all newspapers and media are govt controlled); debate is strictly regulated to be within certain boundaries so that people dont get the wrong ideas.

---

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.04/gibson.html


Disneyland with the Death Penalty

We sent William Gibson to Singapore to see whether that clean dystopia represents our techno future.


By William Gibson

``It`s like an entire country run by Jeffrey Katzenberg,`` the producer had said, ``under the motto `Be happy or I`ll kill you.``` We were sitting in an office a block from Rodeo Drive, on large black furniture leased with Japanese venture capital.

Now that I`m actually here, the Disneyland metaphor is proving impossible to shake. For that matter, Rodeo Drive comes frequently to mind, though the local equivalent feels more like 30 or 40 Beverly Centers put end to end.

;-)

Was it Laurie Anderson who said that VR would never look real until they learned how to put some dirt in it? Singapore`s airport, the Changi Airtropolis, seemed to possess no more resolution than some early VPL world. There was no dirt whatsoever; no muss, no furred fractal edge to things. Outside, the organic, florid as ever in the tropics, had been gardened into brilliant green, and all-too-perfect examples of itself. Only the clouds were feathered with chaos - weird columnar structures towering above the Strait of China.

The cab driver warned me about littering. He asked where I was from.

He asked if it was clean there. ``Singapore very clean city.`` One of those annoying Japanese-style mechanical bells cut in as he exceeded the speed limit, just to remind us both that he was doing it. There seemed to be golf courses on either side of the freeway. . . .

``You come for golf?``

``No.``

``Business?``

``Pleasure.``

He sucked his teeth. He had his doubts about that one.

Singapore is a relentlessly G-rated experience, micromanaged by a state that has the look and feel of a very large corporation. If IBM had ever bothered to actually possess a physical country, that country might have had a lot in common with Singapore. There`s a certain white-shirted constraint, an absolute humorlessness in the way Singapore Ltd. operates; conformity here is the prime directive, and the fuzzier brands of creativity are in extremely short supply.

The physical past here has almost entirely vanished.

There is no slack in Singapore. Imagine an Asian version of Zurich operating as an offshore capsule at the foot of Malaysia; an affluent microcosm whose citizens inhabit something that feels like, well, Disneyland. Disneyland with the death penalty.

......... http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.04/gibson.html has the complete article which runs into many pages