Goose as a traffic cop?

I read this interesting news item in today's Dallas Morning News and felt that I must share it with the readers of my blog. This is a everyday phenomenon in Rowlett city of Texas. A big goose helps cops in traffic management and ensuring that children are safe. The goose stands in the middle of the road and helps students cross the road. The children who were initially surprised to see this winged aquatic creature are not comfortable with it.

Since several months the goose has become so much part of the traffic and school scene that it has been named Sam by the friendly guards and school staff. It is completely intriguing how a wild goose is behaving so much human. Trained dogs and some species of birds are used to help in various human activities but a wild goose that too helping in managing traffic is unheard of. Truly the world is such a diverse and intriguing place.

The story just doesn't end there. Read on to know the incredible story of losing a pet and getting it back after 16 years. This is truly a story worth reading repeating. Isn't it? Your views are solicited.

Smallest girl in the world

I received a set of pictures and information about this tiny teenager from India who has been adjudged as the smallest girl in the world. Looking at the amazing medical condition (dwarfism) which has stunted the growth of this girl I felt I must share it with the readers of my blog.

Born and brought up in India, Jyothi Amge (14), is just 1ft 11in (58cm) tall. No wonder she is the smallest girl in the world. Jyoti is shorter than the average two-year-old child and only weighs 11lb (5kg). She suffers from a medical condition called achondroplasia wihch prevents her from growing taller. In effect she has reached the ultimate height she could ever grow.

When I read about this adorably abnormal teenager I remembered the 18th century (1726-1735) book Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, which I had read during my high school days. In the book the protagonist travels across the world visiting strange lands. During one of his travels he gets shipwrecked and becomes a prisoner in the land of Liliputs, tiny human beings barely 6 inches tall.

Jyothi though a wee bit larger than the legendary Liliputs, could easily evoke such memories and imagination. She is one of those people in the world who has to get everything custom made. Clothes, jewellery, furniture, everything has to be custom made to her size. She sleeps in a tiny bed and uses special plates and cutlery to eat.

Having supportive parents and community she attends a mainstream school in Nagpur, central India. She has her own small desk and chair, and her classmates treat her like any other student. Just because she is of tiny stature Jyoti hasn't lost out on life. Like any other teenaged girl, she is interested in fashionable dresses, music, latest DVDs etc.

"I am proud of being small. I love all the attention I get. I'm not scared of being small and I don't regret it. I'm just the same as other people. I eat like you, dream like you. I don't feel any different," says Jyoti who has already attained celebrity status in her home town. This has helped her get into the glamour biz and she is soon going to be a pop singer of fame. She is releasing a Indi-pop album with Indian pop star Mika Singh (Daler Mehendi's brother).

Her parents Kishanji (52) and Ranjana Amge (45) simply dote on their little girl. "When Jyoti was born, she seemed quite normal. We came to know about her disorder when she was five. We consulted a specialist and he said she will be this size all of her life. Jyoti is small, yet cute, and we love her very much," says Ranjana emphatically.

"I can't separate myself from her even for a single day.. I love her very much. She makes me proud," declares Kishanji categorically.

As for Jyoti, she dreams of becoming a Bollywood star. "I would love to work in a big city like Mumbai, act in films and travel," says Jyoti.

Little steps make even the longest journey possible and Jyoti has already started in the right direction.

Earth Day Celebrations at Dallas

Yesterday was Earth Day in America, a day when people remembered the importance of Mother Earth and talked about the importance of conserving the environment, saving the earth etc etc. When anything happens in Texas, it is always in Texas Size, likewise the Earth Day celebrations were also in equal proporation. Only in Dallas city area there were seven events conducted parallely and this was pegged as the biggest celebration in the US.

We got an invite from a India-oriented non-profit VT SEVA based in Dallas area for the Earth Day celebrations at the Lake Cliff Park in Oak Cliff, Dallas. Always to be part of any Eco-friendly event we went to take a look. Well, it was truly a multi-cultural, multi-faceted and colourful event and well worth visiting. According to the organisers 120 Plus businesses/ non-profits had put up their stalls. Most of them were from environment-friendly and green organisations trying to make people aware of how they can inculcate eco-friendly habits in various aspects of life. Water conservation, green electricity, organic T-shirts, jewellery, recycled picture frames, trekking, mountain biking etc were all being promoted.

The part I liked about the event was the showcasing of several myriad forms of music and dance at the venue. Two stages set up at the venue and parallel dance and music performances carried on throughout the day. Performances ranged from African Mambo Dance to choir singing and from Sanskrit Shloka recitation to Cheerleading. The performances were unique, elegant and very appealing. It is interesting to note that so many cultures exist oblivious of each other and when they come together it feels so beautiful and good. Problem starts when one starts saying we are superior than others. This kind of attitude hurts people and leads to a clash of civilisations.



Let me say something about the venue, the Lake Cliff Park. This park is one of the premier green spaces in South Dallas area. Nearly 70 percent of the park comprises of a large lake and rest of it is either sprawling manicured lawns, rolling woods with neat and clean walking and cycling trails. The park also has a dedicated chidren's play area, amphitheatre, several gazebos and restrooms.

Family that has shunned cars
I met Kenny and his cute daughters at the venue. Kenny is an ardent eco-advocate and loves cycling. He has a road bike and a mountain bike and both of them have a pannier/ side car to carry his little daughters. He stopped driving two years ago and he commutes "Solely by bicycle". I am impressed by Kenny's dedication and willingness to give up comforts of driving in a country where cars keep getting bigger and muscular. I am glad I met someone who shares my thought line, I am now more eagerly looking for a bike on Craigslist so I can join this small minority of cyclists who are pushing pedals for environment.

Movie Review: Die Hard IV or Live Free

Movie: Live Free or Die Hard 4 (2007)
Cast: Bruce Willis
Director: Len Wiseman
Genre: Action / Adventure / Crime

I watched this movie few months ago in India but thought I'd write a review on this when I saw it again on DVD here. I guess this movie did better than Rambo IV hence this can be considered as more popular and better than the Stallone starrer. One of the major flaws in this movie is that an older and more tired Bruce Willis is shown as physically stronger and immune to pain. That is quite absurd in my opinion.

Anybody who has seen the Rocky series of movies starring Sylvester Stallone can easily relate to Die Hard 4. The first movie of this series was released over a decade ago in 1988 and it was a blockbuster globally. I really liked the 1988 movie and the action by Bruce Willis looked realistic and convincing of a New York City detective John McClane, who works by his own rules and not that of the state.

I guess it was the phenomenal success of the first movie that led to the making of sequel after sequel featuring more or less the same characters. But the latest movie the fourth part was something of a disappointment to me. The movie tries in vain to combine hard macho action with high-tech weaponry and warfare methods and fails to a large extent. The villain played by Timothy Olyphant as Thomas Gabriel, whose sole aim is to reduce United States into a nation of chaos and anarchy using his strong computer software skills and teams of freelance hackers across the country.

Enter McClane quite by accident as he gets caught in the crossfire while transporting prisoner Matt Farrell (Justin Long). The latter is a handsome geek who can hack anything from police networks to mobile phones to computers. Matters get complicated when the villain kidnaps McClane's daughter, Lucy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and our macho cop goes into a frenzy, destroying everything that comes between and his daughter’s safety.

Laced with sarcastic dialogues, unbelievable action sequences, which portray McClane and Farrell as invincible characters, the story moves along quickly. Directed by Len Wiseman of the Underworld fame, the plot is based on John Carlin’s article A Farewell to Arms (1997). Though the action scenes and stunts look very exciting and ensures that you sit at the edge of your seat in anticipation, they fail in reality.

In the original Die Hard, McClane gets badly wounded and he portrays real pain through his facial expressions and actions. One of the scenes that is etched in my mind is the limping and almost-at-tears expression as he walks across shards of glass in padded feet. But in the latest movie, he is portrayed as someone who can fight everything human or machine and not feel any pain or hurt at all. McClane crashes his car against helicopters, crashes big trucks and even fights with a sexy computer geek who is also a trained ninja fighter. Despite all the injuries, beatings etc McClane doesn’t even groan or wince from pain, isn’t it ridiculous. A decade later I would have presumed that McClane would have matured and become more wiser, but only his body seems to have become stronger because in this movie his bulky structure takes far more abuse than in the first movie.

The movie starts hotting up when McClane goes to arrest and bring in hacker Justin Long for questioning. Like in most movies, the villains use more sophisticated weapons and are smarter than cops. In this the cyber-criminals use deadly computer viruses to disable financial markets, traffic, government institutions and virtually everything. Most part of the movie goes off in showing off the technological prowess of the villain and the machoistic tendencies and power of the good cop, McClane.

I would say that this movie is to be watched purely for entertainment and I would recommend it only to action and stunt lovers. People who don’t like to see destruction, blood and gore on screen better not go to this movie. It is seriously violent movie with a teeny-weeny share of humour.

Trailer of the movie

A poem on the occasion of EARTH DAY

My experiments with poetry continue and I wrote this after participating in the colourful Earth Day celebrations at college. I hope you will enjoy it. Your comments will be appreciated.

Nature

Nature is beautiful
Nature is enticing
Nature is fun and exciting

We can only love it's
wonderful diversity
stunning imagery and
panoramic scenery

Nature is god's gift
which we must cherish and protect
But in the name of development
We have started to demolish and destroy

Nature is tolerant but
beyond a point nature retaliates
with floods, hurricanes and tsunamis'
causing destruction and wrecking havoc.

If we can't live in harmony with nature
We will perish for sure.

An India-Phobic Panel Discussion

Today I attended a panel discussion titled "Who gets the fuel? Us or them?" at the Preston Ridge Campus of the Collin County Community College, where I am currently taking a course in Business Mathematics. This panel discussion was conceived and organised as part of the college's "Earth Day" celebrations. There were different activities in the college all related to environment in some way or the other. There were stalls of Animal Shelters, Electricity Companies, Eco-friendly tattoos, a flute recital etc.

The panel discussion was the grand finale of the event. When I came to know about the discussion couple of weeks ago I felt both outraged and hurt. These people are accusing India of competing with them for fuel. I am pretty sure that more than half of Americans have never been to India and would never visit our country at all. They have so little knowledge about the country but they want to point fingers. Hence I did some research about petroleum consumption and after carefully making notes I went to the discussion to make my point.

The panel comprising of four students of the college was moderated by faculty members from the Geology, Chemistry and Sociology departments. The discussion started with a presentation by the faculty members about how it would be a catastrophe if India's major car manufacturers Tata Motors released their newest car Tata Nano (650 cc) into the market. They expressed fears over millions of Indians buying the small car which would result in increased fuel consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and pollution. One of the ideas put forth by the faculty was that "Should America exert pressure on India to ban production of the Nano Car?"

As I sat through the presentation I didn't know whether to laugh or to wring my hands in despair. They presented comparative facts about India and America which were packaged to portray as if India was a potential world polluter.

In my opinion the title of panel discussion is a big farce. It is the same as a huge elephant saying that it is not finding enough food because the little rabbit ate it all and so the rabbit should be banished from the forest.

After the panelists had had their say the audience was given a chance to speak. Though I was one of the first to raise my hand, my chance came last after all the others had had their say. Last but definitely not the least, here are some of the facts that I presented. At the end of my talk the panel, moderator and other faculty were apolegetic about some of their statements and said so.

Population Vs fuel consumption
America accounts for a mere 5 percent (300 million) of the world's population, but consumes an unfair amount of the world's total fuel production. 44 percent. On the other hand India accounts to 20 percent of the world's population (5 times America's population) and consumes only 4 percent of the world's production of fuel.

Number of Cars and other vehicles
American has over 270 million passeger cars and trucks, 12.9 million recreational boats and 6.2 million motorcycles. (833.34 cars per 1,000 people)

India has only 9.17 million passenger vehicles vehicles, a few hundred recreational boats and 7 million motorcycles. (7 cars per 1,000 people)

Average Cars
The average car in America is at least 3,000 cc and runs on a V-6 engine (6 cylinder)
The average Indian car (Maruti 800) runs on a 800 cc, 3 cylinder engine.

Average Fuel efficiency
America's vehicles return an average fuel efficiency of 17.1 miles per gallon.
Indian cars return an average fuel efficiency of 35.65 miles per gallon.

Fuel consumption
America consumes over 92,53,000 barrels per day (388.6 million gallons per day)
India consumes only 38.8 million gallons a day.

Most Fuel Efficient car in America
Toyota Prius - powered by two engines churning out a mammoth 145 horsepower, this car returns a fuel efficiency of 46 miles per gallon.

Most Fuel Efficient Car in India
Tata Nano - powered by a small 650 cc engine, churns out a decent 30 horsepower and returns a superb 54 miles per gallon.

Greenhouse Gas emission
America - 1,559 metric tonnes
India - 250 metric tonnes

Here is the biggest punch. Everyone in the world says India is a dirty country. But who generates most trash in the world? It is the world's self-appointed policeman and big brother AMERICA.

Per capita Garbage/ solid waste generated per year
US - 230 million tons (about 4.5 pounds per person per day)
India - 18 million tons of trash. If we were to calculate the amount of solid wastes generated by individuals in India it would be abysmally low.

I am really glad I attended the panel discussion and made people aware of the reality. Perhaps it will lead them to think about the future of the world and probably one of them may decide to buy a smaller car. MAYBE.... I don't know... and I wont know too.

I look forward to hearing from my blog readers about their opinions on this subject.

New sights in Arbor Hills

Last week we had been to Arbor Hills Nature preserve, this is probably the dozenth time we are visiting. But I am not bored of the place, every visit presents new sights, offers new experiences and the park unveils new facets. This time the effect of spring was shown to me in full glory. Everything that was brown, grey and appeared lifeless was green, healthy and full of life now. Numerous bushes and plants had sprouted buds and flowers sporting bright hues.

Massive tract of earth caved in along the creek due to the recent thunder storm

Of course last week's hurricane damage was also obvious for everyone to see. Several trees had been broken by the wind like little twigs. Soil erosion around the creek was vast and it appeared as if the earth had caved in completely. As I walked round the lake, it was obvious that water level had risen by almost one ft. Taking a few pictures we walked towrads the tower.

There were loads of people out there. Apparently the local Boy Scouts had scheduled their graduation ceremony in the tower area. We decided to stay back and watch the ceremony. As it became dark the ceremony started with drum beats and several older boys dressed like native Americans. I was surprised to note that, the Boy Scout movement was started in London and this chapter/ branch is in Texas, US. They have no connection with American Indians, except for the fact that the original Europeans who moved to America fought and killed the native Americans. I wonder why this Boy Scout group dressed up like them and narrated stories related to American Indians and also called themselves a tribe.

People assembled for the Boy Scout Ceremony

Anyway I found all this a farce, because there was not even one American Indian in the entire group of people assembled there. Yet these people were trying to enact an American Indian scene and relate it to the Boy scout movement. I find it so artificial and gross. Anyway it is their customs and traditions, these are only my opinions. Here are some pictures shot in the dark, not very clear, I will try to edit these pictures and post them soon.

Pictures of the Boy Scout Ceremony

Another byline and some more acceptance of my work

I have been working hard to achieve a few bylines in the online and print media in the US since I arrived here five and half months ago. It has been a long and arduous journey. Competition is high and the writing style is totally different. I have not been very successful but have achieved a byline here and there and mostly in the local newspapers here. One of the biggest achievements was get myself and my pictures featured in a cover and photo feature on the Neighbors Go supplement of the Dallas Morning News.

Now after the print comes online byline with Schmap Guides selecting one of my pictures to be featured in their online tourist guide. One of the pictures I had shot of the tower in Arbor Hills Nature Preserve, has been featured in an online tourist guide known as Schmap Gudes.
Do take a look at the guide whose interactive version is placed in the form of a widget below. It would be great to hear your encouraging words, which make me strive towards making my blogs better.

Lull after the storm!

I purposely chose the title for the blog. I woke up this morning to a bright, sunny day with clear blue skies and great weather. Thinking it is going to be a great day I started my daily chores. The first surprise was that there was no paper at the door. Then Padma asked me if I slept well last night. I said absolutely well, like a log in fact. Then she said that last night a thunder-storm had hit the city and there was lot of rain, heavy winds, thunder and lightening. So this morning's nice weather and cool breeze is the lull after the storm.

I had absolutely no idea about what happened last night. Padma said she was woken up by the roaring winds and thunder and couldn't sleep for the major part of the night. I didn't give it much thought and when I did venture out of the home I was surprised to see destruction all around. Luckily our apartment block is sited at the very end and at a lower level so not much damage has been caused. The parking shelter adjacent to our apartment has been torn down by the winds, as also several trees in the complex. Some buildings were not so lucky, their roofs and porches were blown off. I went round the apartment complex and shot some pictures of the devastation, take a look.

And yes there was complete blackout for about 4-5 hours throughout the region experiencing the thunder storm. So it is not only in Bangalore that power shuts off as soon as it rains. I guess it is a universal phenomenon that electricity can't be played with and when it rains it is best to switch off the mains. Especially when 90 percent of the homes are built of wood.

Parking shelter adjacent to our home was torn down by the heavy winds. It is right next to our apartment block. Luckily nothing happened to our building.

This tree near the car wash in the complex was also attacked. The winds tore away one of its healthy branches

Two other trees which were also casuality to the wind's fury

Pictures of devastation both to buildings as well as trees

Texas is truly a crazy place, at least in terms of weather it surely is. It is bright and sunny today and there is no guarantee that it will remain so tomorrow. For all I know tomorrow may be freezing cold with hail storms and what not. And day after it may be just humid and stuffy. That is the weather of Texas. When I was in India I thought Bangalore weather was crazy, but I don't think it is crazier than Texas.

Three (3) minutes of Fame

Having been here for the past nearly 6 months I have been trying to achieve bylines and get to see my name in print. I have been successful in the past on two occasions when the pictures I shot were published in the Dallas Morning News and its supplement Neighbors Go. But yesterday's paper was my biggest byline or feature so far. I hogged limelight on the cover page of the Neighbors Go supplement, got mentioned in the editorial and also had two half pages dedicated to the pictures I have shot. I guess I got my three minutes of fame in America. Need to work harder to get more minutes....
Meanwhile as I work you can have a look at the scanned images of the paper and leave your comments.

This the cover page of Neighbors Go supplement of yesterday's Dallas Morning News. Limited circulation only in the three cities of Carrollton, Addison and Farmers Branch.

Yesterday's editorial spoke about photographs and memories and linked my cover feature to it.

Pictures I had uploaded on my blog and submitted to the paper.

More pictures of Carrollton and surroundings which captured the attention of the editors of Dallas Morning News.

Can III Grade students plot a teacher's assault?

I read this news report in today's Dallas Morning News about a mixed group of class III students plotting and almost executing a murderous attack on one of the class teachers. Apparently the group had planned the assault well and brought necessary tools such as a broken knife, steel handcuffs, duct tape, etc. Luckily for the teacher one of the students who was not involved in the group revealed the plot and the school called in the police.

What is more shocking is the plan itself than the seriousness of the plot. How could third graders make such a serious criminal plot? Are children here so smart, cunning and downright ruthless? All that I remember of my third grade years is being forced to do math and read by teachers and parents. Apart from that it was play, games and fun time with my friends in class. But today's third graders seem to be very vindictive and ruthlessly cruel.

Agreed that the world has changed over the past couple of decades. The education system is far more advanced than it was when I was in grade III, but is this what is being taught to students? Where is the innocence of childhood? Childhood for me means long days of playing; eating ice creams and chocolates without worrying about putting on weight or contracting diabetes; visiting grand parents during holidays; play innocent pranks in class such as flying paper planes. But this kind of plotting to hurt the teacher is shocking. What are the schools teaching?

News I read yesterday. Surprising and Shocking

I am a regular reader of Dallas Morning News and every day its content evokes surprise, shock and an array of reactions deep within me. I would like to share two small and almost insignificant news items in yesterday's newspaper which touched me.

First the surprise
I read about this courageous woman who manages a wildlife refuge and rehabilitation center here. She was mauled by two cheetah's during an exhibition show of the animals. Even after being hospitalised with cuts, bruises and stiches, she is not worried or scared. She wants to get back to work immediately. I admire this lady's courage and adventurous spirit. I have come across wildlife handlers in my experience and have found them extremely careful and courageous. I believe every human being should develop such courage.

Now the Shock
Can you believe that a 14-year-old girl could give birth to a still-born baby in the airplane toilet and say that she didn't know she was pregnant? Well, I find it hard to believe. Given a benefit of doubt that the 14-year-old didn't realise she was pregnant, surely the parents should have noticed. In the first place how did a 14-year-old get pregnant? What with so much of sex-education, awareness, free distrubution of condoms in high schools, etc going on, how did this happen? What are the school authorities doing? What are her parents doing?
I was under the impression that this kind of incidents occured only in extremely backward locations such as sub-Saharan Africa, remote parts of rural India, Nepal, some parts of SE Asia. But to read about such instances in the world's most advanced country, I am shocked beyond wits. I hope parents will read this blogpost/ article will take better care of their children and that school counsellors will educate them about hazards of unprotected sex.

A Guide to Employing Women!

I recently came across this interesting article which is a reproduction of the original guidelines issued to male supervisors when they started hiring women to work in factories, business establishments etc way back in the World War II period. That was perhaps the initial phases when women entered the work force and helped spur America's development into a strong economy. This continues to this date with most women working shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts contributing to the growth of the country. But these 1943 guidelines are rather funny and worth reading to get an understanding about how the society at that time was.

Movie Review: Meet the Browns

Title: Meet the Browns
Genre: Comedy-drama.
Cast: Angela Bassett, Rick Fox, David Mann and Lance Gross.
Story and Direction: Tyler Perry.

Lots of people complain about the tough times they endured growing up in poverty in large towns, not having enough to eat, less clothes etc. But the plight of a single mother struggling to bring up three children, when she suddenly loses her job, the sole source of livelihood for the family is incomparable. And this is the central theme of the Tyler Perry film Meet the Browns.

The central character Brenda Brown, played by Angela Bassett portrays how a single mother struggles to keep her children happy even at the face of having to go without food and electricity and a job loss. Brenda's teenage son Michael is a good basketball player and his sneakers start falling apart in the middle of the big game. The children's father has left Brenda and refuses to pay child-support, though he has a job which pays him $25 an hour. Director-writer Tyler Perry has done a wonderful job in creating characters in this touching movie.

Even as Brenda is struggling against odds to make a decent living in Chicago, she receives a letter with bus tickets inviting her to attend her father's funeral in Georgia. A person whom she has never met in her life. Arriving at Georgia with children in tow, Brenda gets acquainted with the loving, loud and eccentric small-town Brown family and their family friend an ex-NBA ballplayer Perry, who wants to help her son become a professional player. Brenda is firm on one thing, that Michael is first completing college and then playing professional basketball.

After the funeral, the family lawyer reads out the will and surprisingly old man Brown has left a country home to Brenda. The home is rundown and needs lot of work to bring it into a condition to live in. Brenda doesn't have the money, so she decides to head back to Chicago and try to get a job. But life in Chicago is tough and her son is invited to make money peddling dope. Brenda resents this and tells him to walk out of the house, Michael relents and returns the dope earnings but the gang doesn't want to leave him. In the ensuing confrontation he gets shot and is hospitalized. With a heavy heart she decides to move to Georgia taking her children and renovate her inherited home and live there. She has a surprise waiting there, which gives you the message "all is well that ends well".

In my opinion this movie displays the grit and courage of an individual who struggles to bring up a family single-handedly without any support from the spouse. She never seeks help even when she is down to the last penny. This movie is an inspirational story to all those young and old single-mothers who are often led astray in a bid to make ends meet. This movie gives the strong message that irrespective of what if one believes and does the right thing, life will end up alright.

Who better than Tyler can give this kind of a message through his captivating story and direction. His ability to effectively present a melodrama using humor, sarcasm and pain is very good. A must watch in my opinion.

Here is a trailer of the movie for you to get a sneak preview.

Entry fee for Jallianwala Bagh: A boon

Post-independence India adopted Soviet-style socialist model and in a bid to make everything accessible to everyone every public service was free and accessible. Entry fees were kept at negligible or nothing so that the poorest of the poor can access the services/ spots. Tourism is one sector that had been completely ignored both interms of its revenue generation capacity and its image building virtue.

Only during the past few years that the benefits of tourism is being realised. Tourism promotion is still in its nascent stage in India and tourism revenues are lower than small countries such as France, England etc. This is primarily because of lack of the instinct to ruthlessly pursue revenue generaiton out of tourism. Anyway the sense seems to be slowly dawning upon the Indian establishment.

I have visited the historic Jallianwala Bagh Memorial in Amritsar several times. The entry has always been free, which I feel is an insult to the martyrs who gave up their lives in the cause of freedom. I always wished that there were couple of multi-lingual guides who would take groups of tourists, school students and visitors around the vast grounds and tell the story of the Martyrdom of the thousands of unarmed Indians who were brutally massacred by the British. These monuments should be used to generate national pride among Indian visitors and awe among foreign tourists and if they are British make them feel ashamed of their nation and the cruel deeds of their founding fathers. Generations of Jews have not forgotten the holocust and German concentration camps and the World War II war crimes against their ancestors. But Indian's believe in forgetting, forgiving and loving even the most cruel and deceitful enemy, so this will never happen.

But at least one positive step has been taken in the right direction. The secretary of the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Trust, S Mukherji, recently announced that the trust has written to the Union Ministry of Culture that entry fee should be charged for tourists visiting the memorial.

"We are going to introduce a light and sound show which will recreate the firing on a gathering of defenceless men, women and children on April 13, 1919 by British soldiers under the command of Brigadier Reginald Dyer at the Jalianwala Bagh, near the Golden Temple, for those visiting the site of the massacre," he said. The work for the light and sound show has already started and it is being installed at a cost of around Rs.5 crore, added Mukherji.

"Even the whole memorial will get a facelift soon. We will have a big museum in the memorial which will house many new exhibits. Renovation work is also in full swing in the memorial," he said.

The annual budget of the Trust is only Rs 25 lakh but after the installation of the light and sound show the expenditure will rise manifold. "So to cope with the rise in expenditure we have asked the ministry to consider introducing an entry for those visiting the memorial".

I am sure that this entry fee will generate much revenue which can help maintenance of the place and also better management of visitors and museums.

News Source: Deccan Herald
Picture Source: Jallianwala Bagh Photo Gallery

Price of Iraq War! Is it worth it?

America's global war on terror which started immediately after the the 9/11 WTO bombings by the Al Qaeda over seven years ago continues. Afghanistan seems to have been stabilised or rather at least there is no news about what's happening there. But Iraq is constantly in the news both within the US and outside. Iraq seems to be taking a huge toll on America both in terms of people and resources. Despite two bloody wars and continued battles in Iraq, no weapons of mass destruction has been recovered from Iraq. It is very clear to the entire world that American war on Iraq was for oil and has nothing to do with WMD or global terror or anything of that sort. Over the past few weeks I have noticed a surge in reporting on Iraq war and almost everyday there is one major article about the war in the newspapers. I read only one newspaper here, Dallas Morning News and my observations will be limited to what I have read.

Plight of Civilians in Iraq
A recent article highlighted the plight of civilians caught between Allied Forces (US, UK and others) and rebel militia. According to the article, Iraqis are suffering more now than under Saddam Hussein. Corruption is rampant, phones never work, electricity is available only 2-4 hours every day, taps go dry for several hours every day and when water does flow it is infested with worms and smells foul. Employees of the phone company, electric and water supplies routinely harass home owners for bribes. Majority of schools and colleges have been closed down as academics and teachers have fled the country. One housewife was quoted saying that though salaries were lesser during Saddam Hussein's reign they had decent services. Most civilians lead a meal to meal existence, doing grocery shopping every day for their daily needs.

Massive Death Toll
Recently the death toll of allied forces personnell reached an astronomical figure of 4,000. There has been a huge outcry about this in US and UK, two countries which account for the maximum casualities. But several articles which trumpeted this 4,000 number and also carried several follow-up stories on the subject have completely ignored civilian casualities due to the war. The number of civilian casualties in Iraq alone is estimated at 82,418-89,938 by Iraq Body Count, a website which documents civilian deaths in Iraq. A figure in excess of 20 times of military casualities. But civilians are Iraqis, why should we bother seems to be the attitude of the newspapers who don't bother even to spend one line to mention the number. Why did the war kill so many civilians? Is America justified in killing so many civilians while claiming that the war was to rescue them from a cruel dictator? These questions continue to be unanswered.

Financial Implications of the war
A whole country destroyed and demolished. Rebuilding will take away the possibility of a decent life for at least two generations of Iraqis. What right does any nation, including America has to devastate the lives of millions of innocent civilians? Is American's thirst for oil so much that the world of millions of people has to be destroyed to quench it?

The financial devastation of the war can be felt in America too. A research paper by Harvard budget expert Linda Bilmes and Nobel-prizewinning Columbia economist Joseph Stiglitz claims that the final cost of the war to US could be $2 trillion — 10 times as high as the worst-case scenario of $200 billion suggested by a White House official before the war. The National Priorities website has a counter running and at the time of writing this article was $505,876,218,058. The website further reveals that the war costs as $4,681 per household; $1,721 per person and $341.4 million per day.

Troop Deployment
When the war started there were 250,000 men from US, 45,000 from UK, 2,000 from Australia and 194 from Poland. As I write this blog there is a 166,000-strong military inlcuding 10,500 from 27 countries fighting the war on the Allies side. Of course there are forces from contracted security agencies which total to 161,000 (53 percent (85,300) Iraqi, 17 percent (27,400) American, 30 percent (45,500) Others) and then there are 30,000 private mercenaries fighting on behalf of America.

Socio-cultural-economic impact
On the socio economic front the impact has been perhaps the highest, both in Iraq and in America. In Iraq of course the devastation has been the highest, with millions losing parents, brothers, spouses, children etc. Families have disintegrated not because of divorce but due to death and war. Children have been rendered orphans or separated from parents due to widespread demolition of the cities. Family structures have broken down with the more affluent and educated members fleeing the country to safer locations.

The impact in America has not been much different. Thus far there have been 16,000 soldiers who have been permanently disabled due to war. These people are entitled to receive payments for lifetime cost of disability and health care. To replace them recruitment budgets have to be enhanced.

With over 150,000 soldiers and officers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan there has been significant impact on their lives back home. According to a report in Time magasine there were 10,477 divorces in 2004, 8,367 in 2005 and data for subsequent years are available and will be published soon. That is an amazing number of broken homes and that many people under stress and combating depression.

Meanwhile on the domestic front in America, the economy is going south. Gas prices are rising, despite America being in total control of Iraqi oil. The common man is stretched to his limit. Job losses are common, hundreds of thousands of homes are facing foreclosure because the owners have lost jobs and are unable to pay mortgage. Where is the country heading towards? If the war continues more money has to be pumped into it.

Imagine if there was no war and the same amount of money ($ 2 trillion) were to be invested on poverty eradication, education and development programmes in Sub Saharan Africa or Asia. Better still if it was invested in various parts of America on technology enhancement, job creation and improvement of education infrastructure or bolstering university budgets wouldn't the dollar have achieved much more? Almost all universities across the US are announcing a steep hike in their tuition. I am pretty sure this could have been avoided if the country was not at war. Perhaps gas prices wouldn't have gone so high if there was no war.

Think of it, is this high price for the war worth? Your comments are welcome.

Information Sources:
Iraq Body Count
Iraq Coalition Casualities
Washington Post
Time Magazine
National Priorities website
Global Security
Wikipedia

Message in the Bottle

This article in the Dallas Morning News captured my attention and imagination. During my early childhood days I used to enjoy reading Phantom comics and would wonder how he managed to remain powerful, fast and strong through generations. One of the stories involved kidnapped scientists putting out a SOS message in a bottle and throwing it into the sea. This message is found by Phantom and he rescues them and solves a mystery.

The news item I read is about a similar but amazing incident. This time around the message sender is not kidnapped but an elementary school student who in a burst of enthusiasm placed a letter in an envelope and inserted it in a bottle and set it afloat in the sea. The message read "This letter is part of our science project to study oceans and learn about people in distant lands. Please send the date and location of the bottle with your address. I will send you my picture and tell you when and where the bottle was placed in the ocean. Your friend, Emily Hwaung."

The bottled letter sent from a suburb in Seattle was found 1,735 miles away in an Alaskan fishing village, accessible only by boat or plane, 21 years after it was sent. Amazing isn't it. The finder did contact the sender of the message, who had totally forgotten about the school project and the bottle. Anyway all that is well ends well, the sender and the finder are both surprised and happy at the developments.

Emily Shih, who is now an accountant, said she didn't remember the project that required her fourth-grade class to send a message in a bottle out to sea. That note was found 21 years later in an Alaskan village 1,735 miles away.

Trammell Crow Lake in Trinity Park

Last week we went exploring Dallas downtown and the south of the commercial district. Thus far we had been to cities like Frisco, McKinney, Plano, Carrollton etc, all located North of Downtown Dallas. I always wondered what was their on the south side. Sometime ago an opportunity presented itself for us to explore this part of the city.

As we approached the south side of Dallas on the I-35 I was a little shocked by its rundown appearance. It looks like a ghost town, narrow, pot-holed streets, dirty neighborhoods. If not for the absence of crowds, beggars and walking public, this part of the city looks more like small town India. But for cars whizzing past one would think it is really a ghost town abandoned by its people. As we were driving we chanced upon a vast open space flanking both sides of the road. We stopped to take a closer look and inside there is a small lake with a boat ramp/ pier, walking trails and cattle sculptures installed to beautify the place.

Signboard announcing the name of the park and lake.

Even in this seemingly forsaken place it is commendable that the local authorities have put in their effort to create such a beautiful, landscaped open space for recreation. There are facilities for football, soccer, hiking, running, boating and fishing in this park. There is no entry fee and there were hardly anybody in the park. Perhaps because it was in the afternoon or perhaps it is still winter here. Spring is just starting and people are just beginning to stir outdoors. Sometimes I feel that people here hibernate much like animals, they don't come out during winters and come summer they are all out in their finery.

Here are some pictures of the Trinity Park and the Trammell Crow Lake, south of Dallas downtown. Do leave your comments if you like them or hate them.

Bird perched upon one of the posts in the boat pier.

Cattle and cowboys are inseparable part of Texas. If not the real ones then the sculptures made of stone, metal or even concrete will do.

Closer view of the cattle sculptures in Trinity Park, near the Trammel Crow Lake.

Another cow, this is tired and sitting in the shade of a large tree which has shed leaves during fall and is slowly turning green as spring appoaches.

The road cuts right across the park, but in a bid to cause minimum disturbance to people enjoying the park the road is built like a flyover across the park. That is a nice thought and should be emulated elsewhere in the world.

The solitary tree near the Trammel Crow Lake which is just sprouting green buds presents a great sight.

Holi Celebrations in Dallas

Holi revellers dancing to the drum beats

Holi the festival of colours was celebrated in Dallas today. The premises of the DFW Hindu Temple, Irving was a riot of colour as hundreds of Desis congregated at the venue. I would summarise the event as "Colour, chow, charm, carol* singing, riotous dancing, and loads and loads of laughter and fun".

Before I continue I would like to give a little background about the festival of colours. Holi is celebrated on Phalgun Purnima month of the Hindu calendar which is sometime around the Christian months of February end or early March. The origins of Holi can be traced back to antiquity and like all Hindu festivals it is a celebration of the victory of good over evil. It was created as an event to bridge social gap and renew sweet relationships.

Traditionally celebrations begin with the ceremonial lighting of bonfire on the Holi eve to signify incarceration of all bad desires of the human mind. Numerous legends & stories associated with the origin of Holi celebration. One of the legends is about the burning of "Kama" the god of love by Lord Shiva. Kama would have shot the cupid's arrow and made Shiva come out of penance and fall in love with Parvathi, princess of the Himalayan Kingdom. But Kama had already accomplished his purpose of making Lord Shiva fall in love and hence it is also a festival of love and colours. A festival to celebrate love and colours. This is also a festival to herald spring of the season of freshness and colour. People welcome this season by applying gulal on each other.

Coming back to the celebrations at Irving Hindu temple. There was loads of food of all cuizines from Brownies in our stall, pizza in another and nachos in yet another stall. Of course Indian foods including the ubiquitous idly, dosa, pani puri, pav bhaji, mango lassi etc were also being sold. The stall and food and time was our donation to the temple. All proceeds went to the temple trust. Music blared throughout the day reeling out Holi numbers from bollywood superhit movies. A few aspiring singers belted out bollywood numbers and youth and the young at heart present danced away to glory. I guess this is the only way one can feel close to their home land while having to make a living and livelihood in an alien land surrounded by alien cultures.

SEF Stall in the Holi celebrations, selling brownies. (from left) SEF volunteers Shanti, Padma Mariam, Uma Suresh and Prabha.

I was there as part of the volunteer contingent of Sankara Eye Foundation, a California-based non-profit organisation which is working towards eliminating curable blindness in India. Along with five other volunteers we put up a booth to sell sweet and crunchy home-baked brownies. Our stall was very popular among children and youngsters with a sweet tooth and we sold over 250 brownies and were clear by 3.00 pm.

*Carol means "festive song".