Law of contradiction

The more errands I run each day, the more there are remaining to be run

The lesser I blog, the lesser there is to blog about…

World beaters, we Indians !

CRPF men beat up Argentine football coach:

(from rediff)

An Argentine coach, training young talent for a month in Srinagar at the request of the Jammu and Kashmir Football Association, was allegedly beaten up on Wednesday by personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force for not knowing Hindi
…

“No such incident took place. The coach mistakenly entered the wrong place as he could not speak Hindi, an English speaking officer showed him the right way,” he said, adding that the Argentine had left his visiting card with the officer as evidence that he was not treated badly.

Unfortunately, none of us will be surprised, far less outraged, by such an incident. Bad as the incident is, check out some of the comments folks left on the story:

raimer rainer, you need psychological treatment. read some of your comments below. i concluded one thing. the table spoon i use at home has more wisdom than you have

I mean, where do people find the time for all this “web-enabled activism” !!!

When will we learn ?

“Only after the last tree has been cut down
Only after the last river has been poisoned
Only after the last fish has been caught
Then will you find that money cannot be eaten.”

Cree Prophecy

True meaning of democracy

Two pieces of writing that struck me today:

Baroda Blues and Amartya Sen’s essay on democracy.

Somewhere in between our daily dose of news-channels and talk shows and elections, we have forgotten what democracy really is. Too often we equate democracy with “rule of the majority”. Far from it. Democracy is the model of society where every voice is heard and every person has the right to speak, irrespective of his/her social standing.

Can we please keep this in mind when we next attack an artist/writer !

Role of Parents

At what point in the lives of their kids do parents let go ?

When kids have learnt how to read and write ?

When kids graduate out of high school ?

When kids start earning ?

When kids get married ? When they have kids of their own ?

Can we let go ? Ever ?

The reading list — an open thread

Friends..It is time to celebrate the passion of reading !

As someone who loves reading and loves the feel of a new book in my hands, I would like to know what you are reading, what you find interesting and what you would recommend to your friends.

Drop in your comments, your favorite books, books that you would love to read, books that are waiting on your bookshelf…anything.

Here is my list:

Books read this year:

1. Faster — by James Gleick
2. Black Friday — by S Hussain Zaidi
3. No Onions Nor Garlic — by Srividya Natarajan
4. Getting Past NO — by William Ury
5. The Richest Man in Babylon — by George S Clason
6. One Night at the Call Center — by Chetan Bhagat
7. The Reluctant Fundamentalist — by Mohsin Hamid
8. Hard Times — by Charles Dickens
9. 13 December: The Strange Case of the Attack on the Indian Parliament — a collection of essays.
10. Tuesdays with Morrie — by Mitch Albom
11. The Great Gatsby — by F.Scott Fitzgerald
12. Dateline Islamabad — by Amit Baruah
13. Going To The Movies — by Syd Field
14. The Purple Cow — Seth Godin
15. The Search — John Battelle

Currently Reading:

1. The Intelligent Investor — by Benjamin Graham
2. Event, Metaphor, Memory — by Shahid Amin

Waiting in the bookshelf (my neglected list):

1. Why I am not a Christian — by Bertrand Russell
2. The God of Small Things — by Arundhati Roy
3. Eats, Shoots and Leaves — by Lynne Truss

So, there. That is my list. Waiting for your list(s).

The free speech debate

There is a fantastic debate over free speech raging here and here.

The point being debated is: Is the right to free speech absolute or does it need any preconditions.

What do you folks think ?

I will add my own two cents in a separate post should I feel the need.

Hope !

I am 30..and it is yet to sink !

I wish I was the person that is there in my head. I am not the books I read, I am not the person who writes these blogs (It is a pity that I would be satisfied just with becoming that person — but that only goes to show how small I am in my own view !)

I read books and garner knowledge, but I fail to garner the personality.

That is how frail my life is !

However, there is hope !

Here’s to hope, here’s to life — three cheers !