"JAI HO" to DOUBLE-OSCAR Winner A.R.Rahman

You have brought us not one but Two Oscars and made us all Proud. 

You floored us with your music. 

And you floored us with your humanity.

Now, you have floored us with your humility.

What a fantatstic speech you gave after accepting the Oscar Award.

COOL.

Thinking On the Feet

Anyone who watched the T20 match between Australia and New Zealand on 15th February, 2009, would agree that the real turning point - since there were more than one turning point in the match, the turning point which counted ultimately - was the spectacular catch by the Australian teenager Adam Voges to dismiss NZ wicket keeper batsman Brendon McCullum.

McCullum was going great guns by hitting 61 runs with a strike rate of more than a hundred. He and his partner Grant Elliott have, by then, added 58 runs in 44 balls for the 4th wicket. What was then required for NZ was to get 20 runs in 2 overs with 2 well-set & hard hitting batsmen at the crease & with 7 wickets in hand. When Ben Helfenhuas started to bowl his last over and the 19th of the innings, everyone in SCG as well as those watching on TV knew that this is the over where NZ will go for the win since the last over will be bowled by the miserly Bracken, who has till then given only 6 runs in his previous 3 overs, with a maiden too.

So, it came as no surprise when McCullum moved outside his off-stump to take the first ball of the over as a full toss & hit it high over long-on. In fact, he didn't even bother to run initially thinking that the ball will cross the boundary line. But, alas, cricket is a funny game & what should have been a six, has turned out to be a brilliant catch by the fielder stationed at long on. It was the Australian middle order batsman Adam Voges, who was fielding at the long-on boundary, who caught the ball inches from the boundary ropes. However, while catching the ball, he lost his balance. But, even at such a high pressure situation when win or loss was dependant on that dismissal, this cool cricketer showed his true cricketing brain. Knowing that he is going to step on the boundary rope due to loss of his balance, Voges simply tossed the ball up, stepped out of the boundary ropes, regained his balance, came back into the field, slipped on the way but regained his composure again to have caught the tossed up ball comfortably with a dive. Throughout this episode Voges kept his cool & thus turned around the match in Australia's favour because the man who got out then was McCullum who was going great guns on 61 with a strike rate of nearly 130. Of course, Australia went on to win the match by A Run. Yes. Ultimately the difference was just 1 run. But, Australia psychologically won the match in that moment when Voges caught McCullum gallantly.

Wow. What a scene it was. I simply kept on clapping while watching that scene. First of all, one should appreciate the athleticism shown by him to have caught it so brilliantly in a crunch situation like that but more than anything else, it was the cricketing brain demonstrated by Voges at that juncture, which needs to be appreciated. Any fielder could have caught that ball but then might have crossed the ropes too after the catch due to loss of balance & given away either four or six runs to NZ. That would have surely kept NZ & McCullum alive & hunting & probably led to their win too. But, Voges had other ideas & shown that Australia has got good & thinking brains even in its reserve players. This definitely reflects not only on the players but also on the coaching system in Australia which teaches their budding cricketers about the basics of the game well.

Hope many of the youngsters in India who have watched the match or going to watch that video in future, will learn the importance of knowing about the basic rules of the game & how to put it in practice when it matters most.

தமிழகமே! தலைவன் இருக்கின்றான்

(ஒரே) தலைவருக்கு அன்பு தொண்டனின் இனிய பிறந்தநாள் வாழ்த்துக்கள்.

Sonia’s presence in Delhi is costing India dearly

I found this piece of article in today's (2nd Dec.'08) New Indian Express website written by a French writer by name François Gautier.

As this piece reflects my sentiment too as also in agreement with my blog posts since 26/11 tragedy, I give below the article verbatim for all visitors of my blog to read, swallow, think & act upon when the time comes.

Now over to the Express article:

In 1898, the French writer Emile Zola wrote an open letter to the then French president in the newspaper L’Aurore, titled j’accuse (‘I accuse’), where he accused the French government of anti- Semitism towards Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer unfairly condemned for treason.

Now it is time for the people of India to say openly that which many, including within the Congress, think secretly and may utter in the privacy of their chambers.

It is not about Manmohan Singh, it is not even about Shivraj Patil, the fall guy; it is about that one person, the Eminence Grise of India.

She who pulls all the strings, She whose shadow looms menacingly over so many, She who holds no portfolio, is just a simple elected MP, like 540 others, but rules like an empress.

Sometimes, one’s very physical presence at the top is enough to move things, to influence the course of events. One word from Her, a glance, a frown, are enough to put the whole heavy, inert, unwilling machinery of India’s bureaucracy and political system in full motion. Sometimes She need not say anything: in the true tradition of Bhakti, Her ministers, Her secretaries, interpret Her silences and rush to cater to Her western and Christian identity.

Nevertheless, she has said and acted enough so that one day she may stand accused on the pages of History for what she must have done to India.

I’accuse Sonia Gandhi as being responsible for the tragedy of Mumbai, having emasculated India’s intelligence agencies by stopping them from investigating terror attacks in the last four years, including the Mumbai train blasts. She has also neutralised the ATS by ordering them at all costs to ferret out ‘Hindu terrorism’, which if it exists, has wrought minuscule damage compared to what Islamic terror has done since 2004. Did the US send a warning to India that there may be an attack on Mumbai and that the Taj would be one of the targets? Were these ignored because the ATS was too busy chasing Hindu ‘terrorists’ on Sonia’s orders? I accuse Sonia and her government of having made the NSG the laughing stock of the world. How many times did the NSG (who took ten hours to reach Mumbai) claim that it had “sanitised the Taj and that the operation was over” and how many times did a bomb go off immediately after? For the last 20 years, the NSG has guarded VIPs and has become soft. See the comments of Israeli terror specialists, who said the NSG should have first sanitised the immediate surroundings of the places of conflict, kept the bystanders and press (who gave terrorists watching TV in the Taj rooms a perfect report of the security forces’ whereabouts) out of the place, gathered enough information about the position of the terrorists and hostages before taking action, instead of immediately engaging the terrorists, and ensuring the deaths of so many hostages.

I accuse Sonia of having let her Christian and Western background, in four years, divide India on religious and caste lines in a cynical and methodical manner.

I accuse Sonia of weakening India’s spirit of sacrifice and courage, so that 20 terrorists (or less) held at ransom the financial capital of India for more than three days.

I accuse Sonia Gandhi of always pointing the finger at Pakistan, when terrorism in India is now mostly homegrown, even if it takes help, training, refuge and arms from Pakistan; of not warning Indians of the grave dangers of Islamic terror for cynical election purposes.

I accuse Sonia of being an enemy of the Hindus, who always gave refuge to persecuted minorities, and who are the only people in the world to accept that God may manifest under different names, in different epochs, using different scriptures.

I accuse Sonia Gandhi of taking advantage of India’s respect for women, its undue fascination with the Gandhi name, and its stupid mania for White Skin.

I’accuse Sonia of exploiting the Indian Press’ obsession with her. She hardly ever gave interview in 20 years, except scripted ones to NDTV, yet the Press always protects her, never blames her and keeps silent over her covert role.

I’accuse Sonia and her government of trying to make heroes of subservient and inefficient men to hide the humiliation of Mumbai 26/11. Before going to his death, Hemant Karkare, the ATS chief, was shown on television clumsily handling his helmet, as someone who uses it very rarely. Why did he die of bullet wounds in the chest when he was wearing a bullet-proof vest? Either Indian vests are inferior quality or he was not wearing one.

How did the terrorists who killed him and his fellow officer escape in the same vehicle used by the ATS chief ? Why did he and his officers go into Cama Hospital without ascertaining where the terrorists were? We honour his death, but these facts say a lot about the ATS’ battle-readiness.

Will someone in the Congress, someone who feels more Indian than faithful to Sonia, stand up and speak the truth? Who said, “Go after Hindu terrorists”? Who insisted on putting pressure on BJP governments in Karnataka or Orissa for so-called persecution of Christians, when Christians have always practised their faith in total freedom here, while their missionaries are converting hundreds of thousands of innocent tribals and Dalits with the billions of dollars given by gullible westerners? Who said, “Go soft on Islamic terrorism”? Who wants to do away with India’s nuclear deterrence in the face of Pakistani and Chinese nuclear threats, by pushing at all costs the one sided Indo-US nuclear deal, which makes no secret of its intention to denuclearise India militarily? I am sure Sonia Gandhi has good qualities: she probably was a good wife to Rajiv, a good daughter in law to Indira and by all accounts, she is a good mother to her children. One also hears first-hand reports about her concern for smaller people, her dignity in the suffering that befell her when her husband was blown to pieces, and her courtesy with visitors.

Nevertheless, she is a danger to India.

Her very presence, both physical and occult, open the doors to forces inimical to India. Even Indian Christians should understand that she is not a gift to them: her presence at the top has emboldened fanatics like John Dayal or Valson Thampu, who practise an orthodox Christianity prevalent in the West in the early 20th century, but no longer, to radicalise their flock. Indian Christians should recognise that they have a much better deal here than Christians or Hindus have in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia or Saudi Arabia.

Under Sonia’s rule, Indian Muslims, too, have been used as electoral pawns. They have been encouraged to shun the Sufi streak, a blend of the best of Islam and Vedanta, for a hard-line Sunni brand imported from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

For the good of India, her civilisation, her immense spirituality and culture, Sonia Gandhi has to go and a government that thinks Indian, breathes nationalism and will protect its citizens must be voted to power.

— fgautier@auroville.org.in

I hope that this message about the danger Sonia poses and has been posing to our country goes out to the millions and millions who vote in the next elections to the Parliament and influences their mind in the right way.

If this is not Islamic Terrorism, then WHAT IS IT?

The Hindu newspaper (dated 2nd December), has published the following story under the title "A journey into the Lashkar".

As we all know, the Hindu is anything but a Hindu newspaper.  As you may read, it clearly says, from the words of the captured terrorist of the Mumbai Seige, that how he & other terrorists have been indoctrinated by the Terrorist organisation operating from Pakistan, LeT.

Iman’s story shows it preys on the most vulnerable poor

For the past week, newspaper readers across the world gazed at photographs of the dark young man who, sack slung over his shoulder, was caught on closed-circuit camera minutes before he opened fire at commuters at a busy Mumbai railway station.  Based on interviews with key officers involved in the investigation and on the interrogation records of the terrorist, The Hindu has been able to assemble key parts of the story behind the face.

Mohammad Ajmal Amir Iman (wrongly identified earlier as Kamaal and Kasav) began his journey to Mumbai on September 15, 2008. He was part of a group of ten men who had spent months training in marine combat and navigation skills in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Punjab.

It is improbable that Mohammad Ajmal Amir Iman’s family has seen the photograph that has made his face known across the world.  Hours before he began firing at commuters waiting at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) last week, Iman, one of ten Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists, was caught on closed-circuit camera.

After he and his partner, Mohammad Ismail, had killed 55 commuters at CST and three senior police officers, including Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Chief Hemant Karkare, Iman was injured and captured — and the story he has since been telling Mumbai police investigators casts new light on how the feared terror group preys on the most vulnerable in Pakistani society to further its agenda of hate.

The man in the photo was born on July 13, 1987 at Faridkot village in Dipalpur tehsil of Okara district in Pakistan’s Punjab province. His family belongs to the underprivileged Qasai caste. His father, Mohammad Amir Iman, runs a dahi-puri snack cart. His mother, Noori Tai, is a homemaker.  Iman is the third of the family’s five children. His 25-year-old brother, Afzal, lives near the Yadgar Minar in Lahore. His sister, Rukaiyya Husain, 22, is married locally. Iman’s younger siblings, 14-year-old Suraiyya and 11-year-old Munir, live at home.

Iman’s desperately poor family could not afford to keep their second son, an indifferent student, at the Government Primary School in Faridkot past the fourth grade. He was pulled out of school in 2000, at the age of 13, and went to live with his older brother in Lahore. Afzal, who lives in a tenement near the Yadgar Minar in Lahore, eked out a living on a labourer’s wages, and could barely afford to look after his brother. For the next several years, Iman shuttled between the homes of his brother and parents.

Adrift

After a row with his parents in 2005, Iman left home, determined never to return. No longer welcome in Afzal’s home, he stayed at the shrine of the saint Syed Ali Hajveri until he could pick up some work. He began working as a labourer and by 2007 his work brought in Rs. 200 a day. Iman, however, found the work degrading. He soon began spending time with small-time criminals in Lahore. Along with a friend, a one-time Attock resident named Muzaffar Lal Khan, Iman decided to launch a new career in armed robbery.

On Bakr Eid day in 2007, Iman has told the Mumbai Police, the two men made their way to the Raja bazaar in Rawalpindi, hoping to purchase weapons. In the market, they saw activists for the Jamaat-ud-Dawa — the parent political organisation of the Lashkar-e-Taiba — handing out pamphlets and posters about the organisation and its activities. After a discussion lasting a few minutes, Iman claims, both men decided to join — not because of their Islamist convictions but in the hope that the jihad training they would receive would further their future life in crime.

A life in Lashkar

But at the Lashkar’s base camp, Markaz Taiba, Iman’s world view began to change. Films on India’s purported atrocities in Kashmir, and fiery lectures by preachers, including Lashkar chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, led him to believe that the Lashkar’s cause — the greater glory of Islam, as the organisation presented it — was worth giving his life to. It is possible, an official involved in the interrogation suggested, that the atmosphere of the camp gave him the sense of family he had lacked for much of his life.

When he returned home for a two-month break after his indoctrination at the Lashkar base camp, he found a respectability within his community and family that had eluded him most of his life. Where Iman had earlier been seen as a burden, he was now self-sufficient — and bore the halo of religious piety.

Later that year, Iman was chosen for the Lashkar’s basic combat course, the Daura Aam. He performed well and was among a small group of 32 men selected to undergo advanced training at a camp near Manshera, a course the organisation calls the Daura Khaas. Finally, he was among an even smaller group selected for specialised marine commando and navigation training given to the fidayeen unit selected to target Mumbai.

According to Iman, Lashkar military commander Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi promised that his family would be rewarded with Rs. 1.5 lakh for his sacrifice.

If these terrorists, who carry out their terrorist acts by killing innocent civilians, believe that they are doing such acts for the greater glory of Islam and that cause is worth giving their life to, then is it not Islamic Terrorism & are they not Islamic Terrorists?  If not, then who are they?

Howsoever the psudo-secularists try to paint a rosy(?) picture and want the world to believe that terrorism has no religion, the stark reality is, unfortunately, quite opposite and Islamic Terrorism is a reality today.  That is why, Super PM Sonia & her goons are trying their level best to paint Hindus also as terrorists by fabricating evidences & foisting cases against people who have not done any terrorist act.

For this purpose they have been mis-using a state agency, Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Maharashtra, which was mandated to quickly fix some Hindus & Hindu organisations as Terrorists so that the BJP can not accuse Sonia Congress of pampering Muslims & Islamic Terrorism at the cost of the nation's security.  But, in the process of doing its master's job, the ATS could not focus on its actual job - that of nabbing the real terrorists.  And due to this grave lapse, Mumbai & the nation is now presented with the latest terrorist tragedy - The Mumbai Siege.

So, it is the responsibility of all right thinking citizens of this country to remember that it is Sonia Congress and its UPA allies, who are responsible for this ghastly tragedy & they have to be punished for their crime when the next Lok Sabha elections come.

Patriotism by ACTION

Yesterday's terror strikes in Mumbai have been unprecedented on more than one count. Though this is not the first terrorist attack happeneing in Mumbai - some reports indicate that there were six major terrorist attacks in Mumbai since the March, 1993, serial bomb blasts - the latest terror strike seems to have been carried out in a qualitatively different level.

1.  WAR ON INDIA BY TERRORISTS: For one, this time, the terrorists are not anonymous people (like many rogue commenters in blogs).  They have come in groups and opened gunfire & hurled grenades & bombs on crowded areas, without bothering about being captured.  This, according to me, is a clear signal by the terrorists to Indian State that they have declared War on India.

2.  WELL-CORDINATED NETWROK:  As the terrorist attacks have been cariied out across South Mumbai at 12 different public places - many of them already under high security - and with precision and co-ordination, they have shown the world that they have a well-oiled & co-ordinated network with latest and high quality weaponry at their disposal as also highly trained people (Jihadis) to carry their cowardly act.

3.  STRIKE AT INDIA'S ECONOMY:  The terrorists seem to have trained their ire this time on Mumbai tourists - mainly foreigners (Westerners).  It seems they want to kill two birds with one stone - One, to scare away the Western tourists from coming to India and at the same time take revenge on them for their countries' strict anti-terrorism measures.  Second, to strike at Mumbai, the Commercial Capital of India, and by targetting tourists & their likely places of stay in Mumbai, they want to strike at the base of India's flourishing economy & the support India gets from Western countries - particularly from the US.  They want to show that India is no different from Pakistan, where the Jihadis carried out a dastardly act on a five star hotel killing hundreds of people recently.

All the above shows one thing clearly - that the terrorists PERCEIVE INDIA AS A SOFT TARGET.  This is because of the following reasons:

1.  There are no tough anti-terrorism law.  Whatever was their like POTA & before it TADA, have been annulled by the "secularist" UPA Govt. in order to garner minority votes at the cost of country's security.

2.  The prevarication of UPA Govt. in NOT hanging the Supreme Court convicted terrorist Afzal Guru - again for garnering minority votes.  So, now terrorists seem to think that even if they are caught(!) and then convicted (!!), they will have the sympathy of Sonia Gandhi, Commies, "secularists" & "media" to ensure they are not hanged.  Provided, these terrorists belong to the "right community".

3.  There is no strong leadership in India.  Manmohan Singh, even though he is called the Prime Minister, is constantly under watch by the Super PM Sonia.  Sonia goes by the words of her cronies & other corrupt politicians like Lalu, Paswan, Karunanidhi, etc.  None of these people have ever shown any willingness or blodness to tackle terrorism related events with a firm & iron hand.  All these people have been regularly hob-nobbing with terrorists of some kind or other like Karunanidhi never speaks against LTTE or takes firm action against those speaking for LTTE.  Same is the case with Sonia whose daughter secretely met her father's killer & convict Nalini in the prison.  These kind of people only rule India today & we, the general public, are under their mercy.  So, any terrorist worth his salt, will get his first stint in India only and then graduate to other tougher places.

As concerned citizens, if we want to put a stop to these kind of terrorist attacks, we have to do the following:

1.  We should GO TO THE POLLING BOOTH & VOTE on the voting day.

2. We should, starting from today itself, canvass with our friends, relatives & other acquaintances, to enquire whether they are registered voters and if not, persuade them to get registered immediately.

3.  When the elections come, we should urge all our friends, relatives and other acquaintances to GO TO THE POLLING BOOTH & VOTE on the voting day.

Only by making more people to register & vote when elections come, can we ensure that a Government, which we think or perceive is capable of taking a firm stand on matters of country's security, comes to power & start taking firm actions against such terrorist outfits.

Till such time, if we allow the commies, secularists & corruptors to dictate matters, they will concentrate only on their selfish goals and will not bother about the security of India.  After all Commies live for the welfare of China, Sonia is for Italy and Karunanidhi will sell India or TN, provided he gets the right price.

It is high time, WE, AS INDIANS, TAKE THE MATTER IN OUR HANDS and DEMOCRATICALLY THROW-OUT THE INCOMPETANT & IMPOTENT UPA GOVT. TO THE DUSTBINS & usher in a new and competent alternative, which has the will to tackle terrorism head-on.

COME ON INDIA & INDIANS, THIS IS THE TIME FOR YOU TO SHOW YOUR PATRIOTISM TO YOUR COUNTRY BY ACTION RATHER THAN WORDS.

McCain will be a better bet for India than Obama as US President

Though Obama seems to be enjoying a clear lead over McCain in the race for the US Presidency, for India, from an Economic perspective at least, McCain seems to be a better bet as per the following piece written by the famous Economics writer Sawminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar in Times of India:

McCain is one of the few American politicians in either party with the courage and conviction to stand up to protectionist populism. By contrast, Obama embodies protectionism....

McCain has voted 88% of the time against bills creating trade barriers, and 90% of the time against export subsidies for US producers. Few other senators have such a splendid record.

Obama has served a much shorter time in the Senate, and avoided voting on many key issues. He has voted against trade barriers only 36% of the time. He supported export subsidies on the two occasions on which he voted, a 100% protectionist record in this regard.

In 2007, he voted to reduce visas issued to foreign workers (such as Indian software engineers), and to ban Mexican trucks on US roads. He sometimes voted for free trade - he supported the Oman Free Trade Act and a bill on miscellaneous tariff reductions and trade preference extensions. More often he voted for protectionist measures including 100% scanning of imported containers (which would make imports slower and costlier), and emergency farm spending.

In 2005 he voted to impose sanctions on China for currency manipulation, and against the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). He voted for the Byrd amendment, a disgraceful bill (later struck down by the WTO) that gifted anti-dumping duties to US producers who complained, thus making complaining more profitable than competitive production.

Obama says the North American Free Trade agreement is a bad one, and must be renegotiated. He has opposed the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement on the bogus ground that Colombia is not protecting its trade union leaders from the drug mafia. In fact, such assassinations have fallen steadily from 205 in 2001 to just 25 last year. Obama is cynically twisting facts to woo the most protectionist US trade unions. This cannot but worry India, which may also be subjected to bogus slander and trade disadvantages.

By contrast, McCain has consistently voted for open trade. He has opposed federal curbs as well as private curbs on outsourcing to countries like India. He opposed the disgraceful Byrd amendment on anti-dumping duties. He voted against farm subsidies and labour standards for imports (which are not necessarily bad but could become a disguised form of protectionism).

Unlike Obama, McCain voted against imposing trade sanctions on China for supposedly undervaluing its currency to keep exports booming and accumulate large forex reserves. India has followed a similar policy, though with less export success than China. But if indeed India achieves big success in the future, it could be similarly targeted by US legislators and, will need people like McCain to resist.

Obama favours extensive subsidies for US farmers, hitting Third World exporters like India. This has been one of the issues on which the Doha Round of WTO is gridlocked. McCain could open the gridlock, Obama will strengthen it.

Obama also favours subsidies for converting maize to ethanol. The massive diversion of maize from food to ethanol has sent global food and fertiliser prices skyrocketing, hitting countries like India. But McCain has always opposed subsidies for both US agriculture and ethanol. While campaigning, he had the courage to oppose such subsidies even in Iowa, an agricultural state he badly needs to win if he is to become president.

Let us hope McCain stages a last minute recovery and pips Obama at the hustings.