A very eventful and exciting Saturday

Slowly but steadily things are starting to get a little busy and interesting for me. As I shake out of my boredom and try to get involved in local activities as much as possible things are looking out ok... but I still miss my footloose and fancy free life in India. My regular outings into the wild, riding my bike over long open highways, climbing rocks, swimming in dams etc are somethings that I really miss.

Before I go on my nostalgia trip let me talk about my day's activities. Well morning started off usual I got up late at 8.00 am and then went for my roller skating class (yes I am learning how to skate :P) and now I can glide. Vibha a US-based non-profit organisation working to provide education and healthcare to children in India had organised a Kite Flying Festival at the expansive Thomas Jefferson Park, Irving.

Oh! Before I forget, today we bought another car, a shiny black Toyota 4 Runner SUV. This new acquisition will be a great boon for my transportation needs in this country with pathetic public transport system. Will post pictures of the black beauty sometime soon.

Coming back to the Kite Flying Festival, it was a well organised affair but, I guess we were there too early so people were just turning up... actually trickling in. There were few people flying kites and others making kites.. yet others spinning thread using an improvised motorised device, a hand held power drill. Since there was nothing much else happening we didn't stick around for too long and headed out towards running some errands.

Towards evening when we reached the supermarket to buy grocery I noticed that there was a Vintage Car Rally cum competition happening at one of the mega parking lots of the shopping complex. I was thrilled to see the golden oldies in their full glory. I never got tired shooting pictures and more pictures of the beautiful machines.

Will post the pictures tomorrow. For now enjoy the pictures of the Kite Festival.

Gazebo in Jefferson Park

Beautiful water body flowing through the park

Young and green trees in Jefferson Park

Children and adults flying kites and enjoying themselves

Children enjoying themselves

A Hudson View - second edition

Sometime ago I had blogged about the launch of Hudson View a bold new publication dedicated to art and poetry. At the time of writing that blog I had only heard of the publication and seen it online. Last week I got a pleasant surprise from Amitabh Mitra, I received the latest winter edition of the Hudson View . I was thrilled to see the colourful volume and immediately started reading through the soul touching compositions of poets from across the world.

Like I had said earlier publishing a poetry digest takes lot of courage, in the modern era, when print is fast losing its allure to broadcast media and internet. But the determination of Amitabh Mitra who I know through an online writers support group "Glorioustimes" has made this venture successful.

In this edition of winter poetry my favourite poems are The Sari Shop written by Alaka Yeravadekar and the two poems titled Immigrants and Freedom by Stanley Onjezani Kenani. While Yeravadekar captures the subtle indulgence of a woman shopping for sari, Kenani hits hard with his poetry. I would like to quote a few lines from the poem Freedom.

They told me I'm free
From Britain I'm free
From Slavery I'm free
From Hunger I'm free
From Disease I'm free
From Envy I'm free
From Ignorance I'm free

Funny thing they told me this in English
The Union Jack still flies on my tongue
The star-spangled banner stills fills our national coffers

This poem really hit my heart hard and reminded of my home country (India) where though we attained freedom from British 60 years ago, the majority are still enslaved in poverty, ignorance and illiteracy. I remember my country and wonder when we will see a strong, vibrant and prosperous India... Will I see it in my lifetime?

A video on motorcycle safety

It is not a safe road trip for Bikers across the world, but the thrill of biking and the love of freedom keeps people hooked to these two wheeled wonders. In third world and developing countries motorcycles are mostly used as modes of transport and people wheel in and out of busy traffic. But in stark contrast in developed countries where road infrastructure is very well developed and in place, motorcycling is more a recreation, sport and pleasure. And the speeds at which these big machines travel is amazing and quite scary too.

Travelling on motorcycles on American roads can be both an amazingly thrilling experince or a completely disastrous one. The average speed of a vehicle on Freeways/ Interstate highways in this continent-sized country is 60 miles per hour (100 km ph). At this speed car drivers often don't see bikers unless they are completely visible or making a lot of noise. One can often see bikers wearing flashy coloured jackets and their metal steeds equipped with glowing lights travelling on the highways.

One heartening and admirable feature of the California state in the US is that they observe the month of May as Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month. And to ensure the safety and education of all motorcycle users the California Highway Patrol (CHP) has released a short film about motorcycle safety. The 13 minute explains the hazards and the precautions motorcyclists need to be aware of. The dangers they would potentially face in their every day commuting are shown in this video and also steps to take to ride safer, and arrive alive.

A note of caution before you click on play to view the video. This short film contains graphic footage from actual crash scenes involving motorcyclists. Viewer discretion is advised.



But the bottomline for anyone is to ride safe and be aware of the hazards and enjoy biking.

American Soldiers affected by post-combat depression

A few months ago I had blogged about how an increasing number of US soldiers are committing suicide due to post-combat stress and related depressions and also about the high price, the world in general and America in particular have to pay for the Iraq war.

On May 1, 2008 I read another article equally shocking in the Dallas Morning News. According to the article posted above, nearly 20 percent of the 1.6 million (320,000) soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from mental health problems. But alarmingly less than half of those affected are seeking help. Military personnell are hesitant to approach a mental health professional because they feel that it might harm their careers.

This is both very sad and dangerous. Sad because these innocent, patriotic and committed men and women are suffering silently. Dangerous because this mental illness will make them act differently and might cause problems to others around them. Guantanamo bay was one such example, killing civilians, torturing prisoners inhumanly and other sadistic behaviour could be a result. The articles states that thousands of troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering from war-related anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress.

Psychologists and mental health professionals recommend therapy and medication to these people, which is the need of the hour. But I would like to examine the reasons due to which these brave soldiers end up being emotional wrecks and psychological disasters in the face of adverse circumstances in Iraq and Afghanistan. Are they scared of danger? Do they miss family? Do they miss the comforts and prosperty which they take for granted at home?

I would like to draw a parallel to the Indian army, which has been fighting a proxy war with Pakistan since the past three decades (30 years). There have been cases of suicides, mental trauma but not at these astronomical numbers. Every soldier/ officer serving in the borders, fighting to be alive and keep the country's peace intact have tremendous family support. Which unfortunately is not so great in the US. I have written in my article on the Iraq War, about how many divorces have taken place due to long term deployment of forces in Iraq.

The societal structure in the US is very open and lays lot of emphasis on individuals rights and preferences. It doesn't lay a spiritual significance to relationships. While in India the culture and societal structure is strong and lays great emphasis on survival of families and intra-family bonding. Between cousins, siblings and even second and third cousins. I believe if there was adequate family support to these young and old soldiers who have been deployed at far flung locations they would not suffer so much trauma and mental stress.

Dallas Asian Festival 2008

Last weekend (May 3, 2008) the Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerice (GDACC) organised its annual Asian Festival. The event aimed at showcasing Asian-American culture, food and business was staged at the Dallas City Hall Plaza in downtown. According to the GDAACC website the mission of Asian Festival is to "introduce Asian Cultures to the North Texas population" and was part of the celebration of the month of May as the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. This unique and colourful festival has been organised every year since the past sixteen years.



The entire City Hall area was abuzz with activities and the atmosphere was thick with the aromas of Asian food. Large crowds of Chinese, Indians, Koreans, Bangladeshis, Indonesians and of course Texans milled around the venue visiting stalls selling indigenous products, food etc. But the maximum crowd concentration seemed to be around the super-high dias/ stage where all the cultural programmes were performed. I guess this was the biggest mistake of the organisers, to erect such a high stage. It was so high that people sitting among the audience had to crane their necks to see the performances.

And there were these pesky press photographers and other camera weilding people who seemed to be glued to the stage and obstructed the view of the audience. During one of the performances I got so irritated with the press photographer I had to walk to up to the organisers and complain. One of the reasons I couldn't get any good pictures of the event.

The event featured a slew of myriad performances including and not limited to traditional Indian dance of Bharatnatyam, Bollywood funk dancing, Hawaiian dance, Indonesian music, Tae Kwondo, Shaolin Kung fu and other martial performance and of course my favourite The Chinese Lion/ Dragon Dance. Till saturday I had seen the Lion dance only in Jackie Chan movies and I must say that this is what motivated me to attend the festival. The lion dancers swirled around, jumped and danced just like a cat would do. It was thrilling to watch the live performance.

Other performances that were notable were the superb Tae Kwondo performance by the Arlington club. The group delivered an excellent performance to the racy beat of the background music. The theme of war was effectively portrayed through their dance perforance. The dances by children of Indonesia, India and Hawaii were interesting too. Here are some pictures of the festival.

Tai Chi Performance, of course you can see the photographer's backs better than the performers

Chinese Lion Dance

Chinese Lion Dance, another picture

Traditional Indian dance

Hawaiian dance by kids

Hawaiian dance by adults