Saying

Suddenly came up with a statement and a paragraph on two different subjects. I liked them and hence they found their way here :).

Poetry
Poetry is in the mind of the reader.

Loneliness

Is there pleasure in loneliness? Can lonely greatness ever be better than lowly togetherness? Can the sun be seen at midnight? Does nature create anything for/by/of itself? No quark is alone, neither is an electron, neither is an atom, neither is a molecule, neither is any life form, neither is any society, neither is any country, neither is any planet, neither is any star, neither is any galaxy and neither is any universe. The 'yin' has the seed of the 'yang' in itself and so does the 'yang' contain the seed of the 'yin'. Neither can the 'yin' exist without the 'yang' nor can the 'yang' exist without the 'yin'. There is no 'shakthi' without 'shiva' and there is no 'shiva' without 'shakthi'. Do we even need to debate this?

Great (Shameless) Indian sellout

Dow's Bhopal legacy under scanner - An article in economic times.

I dont like the sound of that article. Have a very bad foreboding that the Indian government is all set to exonerate Dow chemicals of its legal liability towards Bhopal. I could be wrong though. I desperately wish I am. The article only says the government is about to a make a final decision on Dow's legal liability with respect to Bhopal. But having actively watched Indian politics for the past 10 years, I can't help but be cynical.

For those who dont know, Dow chemicals bought Union Carbide a few years ago. It was Union Carbides factory in Bhopal that killed more than 10000 people in Bhopal and seriously injured more than 100000 [1]. Dow chemicals maintains that it does not have legal liability to the past actions of Union Carbide. It will not pay for the killed and the injured of Bhopal. It will not take up the responsibility of cleaning up the site of the factory in Bhopal which to date leaks chemicals into the surroundings thereby badly polluting ground water. To add insult to injury, Dow chemicals spokesperson claims that $500 is plenty good for an Indian [2].

Despite all this, our leaders of business and politicians want to lick Dow's ass and throw the red carpet to them. It does not matter they are the murderers of more than 10000 of our brethren. They still want to bring in Dow. I dont have any adjectives to describe this.

Reference

[1] Cutting costs: At what cost to Bhopal residents - An article in Hindu Business line
[2] $500 is plenty good for an Indian - A pdf file that clearly demonstrates Dows contempt
[3] Bhopal Disaster: BBC - The Yes Men fooled BBC into airing this interview
[4] The Yes Men: Bhopal results - Interview with the fake person once BBC figured it

Words

"If people destroy something replaceable made by mankind, they are called vandals; if they destroy something irreplaceable made by God, they are called developers."

       -   Joseph Wood Krutch, US literary naturalist, 1893-1970


Beautiful. Enchantingly beautiful!!!

இயற்க்கையும் தாமும்

சுற்றி இயற்க்கையாம் திரை காணாதவர்கு
இயற்க்கையினுள் தாமாம் திரை கண்டவர்கு
தாமே இயற்க்கையாம் திரை அகன்றவர்கு

காணாதவர் கண்டவர் ஆவார்
கண்டவர் அகன்றவர் ஆவார்
அகன்றவர்வரும் காணாதவர் ஆவார்
இதை உணர்ந்தவர் யோகி ஆவார்

Articles

Some articles that I read recently and thought were truly excellent ones. Please read them.

1.) Reasons not to glow
A wonderfully well written article arguing against nuclear power. Some excerpts...

The Navajo are fighting right now to prevent uranium mining from resuming on their land, which was severely contaminated by the postwar uranium boom of the 1940s and 1950s. The miners got lung cancer. The children in the area got birth defects and a 1,500 percent increase in ovarian and testicular cancer. And the slag heaps and contaminated pools that were left behind will be radioactive for millennia.

... this has always been one of the prime problems of nuclear energy: the same general processes that produce fuel for power can produce it for bombs. In India. Or Pakistan. Or Iran. The waste from nuclear plants is now the subject of much fretting about terrorists obtaining it for dirty bombs—and with a few hundred thousand tons of high-level waste in the form of spent fuel and a whole lot more low-level waste in the U.S. alone

Sure, you can say nuclear power is somewhat less carbon-intensive than burning fossil fuels for energy; beating your children to death with a club will prevent them from getting hit by a car. Ravaging the Earth by one irreparable means is not a sensible way to prevent it from being destroyed by another.

2.) Medicine after oil
Quite scary to know that we might not be able to get even the simplest analgesic easily after oil. And the problem is not because it cannot be shipped. It is because it cannot be manufactured. Some excerpts...

armed guards at gated medical facilities—for the few able to pay, while the rest of Americans are relegated to the jalopy and faced with overt rationing, triage, and curtailment of medical care.

health care is a human right, not a privilege awarded those with higher income.

3.) A dead iraqi is just another dead iraqi
A mind numbing and chilling report on the atrocities committed by a good number of the american armed men in Iraq. The realities of war are crystal clear. Once the violence and fear in a man have been unleashed in the form of war, any act of atrocity becomes just another act.

The article is not a US army basher. It takes us through the psychology of the soldiers in Iraq. They are afterall pawns in the game played by the big shots in Washington. A link to the original article is available from the page to which I have linked. Some excerpts...

...of the Colorado National Guard described a hit-and-run in which a military convoy ran over a 10-year-old boy and his three donkeys, killing them all. “Judging by the skid marks, they hardly even slowed down. But, I mean…

...described her squad leader shooting an Iraqi civilian in the back in 2003. “The mentality of my squad leader was like, ‘Oh, we have to kill them over here so I don’t have to kill them back in Colorado’,” she said. “He just seemed to view every Iraqi as a potential terrorist."

...And this baby looked at me… like asking me why. You know, ‘Why do I have a bullet in my leg?’… I was just like, ‘This is, this is it. This is ridiculous’.”...

...“The frustration that resulted from our inability to get back at those who were attacking us led to tactics that seemed designed simply to punish the local population…”...

Documentaries, blogs and websites

I compiled this info to pass it on to a friend. Felt, it is a good enough collection to be put on the blog. These are some of the resources I use to stay in touch with issues around me.

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Here are some documentaries I've seen, some blogs I read and a few of the sites that I visit often to read their archives. Take a look at them.

Obviously, this is a lot of information for anyone to be able to digest soon. But, I felt putting everything in one place might be useful.


Videos
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1.) 45 days - The life and death of broiler chicken
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KXZu65HpUA

2.) Globalizing inequality - P.Sainath
Sainath is a renowned journalist in India. He talks about how the rush for globalization and development is adversely affecting millions in India and the rest of the third world.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9078987899127917834

3.) Singur
A documentary film based on the forceful acquisition of farmer's land by West Bengal Government in Singur on behalf of TATA Motors.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3052261023426138538

4.) Mahatma Gandhi
A really long (5hr) documentary on the mahatma.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8859891538096241080

5.) The systems view of life - Fritjof Capra
Fritjof Capra is a famed physicist. He talks on his ideas for a new outlook towards our lives and our environment so as to lead a sustainable life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_MDRI-Q76o

6.) Walmart - High cost of low price
Guess, the name is enough description.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3836296181471292925

7.) The corporation
This is a really informative movie on the forces that act on people inside a corporation.

Part1
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3969792790081230711
Part2
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7365345393244917682

8.) Mindwalk - A movie based on the book 'Turning point' by Fritjof Capra
Three people, a poet, politician and a physicist get together and talk about their views of life. This is one of the best movies I have ever watched. Beautiful, informative and absolutely riveting. Do watch this movie at the earliest.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=854094769667634943

9.) Nandigram
A video on the brutal genocide conducted by the WB govt in Nandigram.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6507874900373821154

10.) Slow poisoning of india
Documentry on how the use of Endosulfan (pesticide) has created widespread congential abnormalities in the children of Kochinim, Kerala.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6926416900837431282

11.) Earthlings
An in-depth study into pet stores, puppy mills and animals shelters, as well as factory farms, the leather and fur trades, sports and entertainment industries, and finally the medical and scientific profession, EARTHLINGS uses hidden cameras and never before seen footage to chronicle the day-to-day practices of some of the largest industries in the world, all of which rely entirely on animals for profit.

Warning: Contains extremely repulsive and gross images.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1282796533661048967

12.) The future of food
THE FUTURE OF FOOD offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade.
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=4310450826413949175

13.) Jane Goodall - What separates us form the apes
Jane Goodall has been researching the relationship between apes and humans for over 40 years. She opines that the only difference between primates and humans is the presence of complicates speech in humans. Otherwise, especially with respect to emotions and feelings, there is absolutely no difference.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/11


Blogs
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1.) Simple Living
http://simplereduce.wordpress.com/

2.) No Impact Man
Experiences of a man living in the heart of manhattan trying to reduce his consumption.
http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/

3.) Monbiot
George Monbiot is a journalist who writes in The Guardian, UK. Very informative blog.
http://www.monbiot.com/

4.) Casaubon's Book
Efforts of very concerned person to reduce her consumption and ecological foot print.
http://casaubonsbook.blogspot.com/

5.) Realclimate
Real climate science by a lot of climate scientists. Objective, scientific and unbiased posts.
http://www.realclimate.org/

6.) Orion magazine
Articles on a wide range of issues. Its one of my personal favorites.
http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php

7.) SEZ India
Aggregates all news related to SEZ in India.
http://sez-india.blogspot.com/

8.) David Suzuki
David Suzuki is a famed canadian activist. Very informative posts on immediate action that can be taken by anyone.
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/blog/default.asp

9.) Common Dreams
A news aggregator on a wide range of issues.
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/

10.) Blank Noise
A blog on the issue of street sexual harassment in India.
http://blanknoiseproject.blogspot.com/

11.) Compact
Efforts of an american in going beyond recycling to counter the negative impact of all aspects of modern lives.
http://sfcompact.blogspot.com/

12.) Climate denial
This blog explores the topic of the psychology of climate change denial - with observations and anecdotes about our weird and disturbed response to the problem.
http://climatedenial.org/


Websites
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All these websites contain some amazing articles. Absolute gems.

1.) In context
http://www.context.org/ICLIB/backi.htm#

2.) Margaret Wheatley
http://www.margaretwheatley.com/

3.) Ratical
http://www.ratical.org/

4.) Re-cognition
http://www.re-cognition.org/

5.) Satya Magazine
http://www.satyamag.com/

Recently inspired message

"First, they ignore you.
Then they laugh at you.
Then they fight you.
Then you win."

-Mahatma Gandhi

Some Experiences: Swaraj is a way of life, where everyone lives ..... happy, importantly the self.

Yoga and animals

During my time in HCL-CODC, I saw a series of posters with this theme. Spoke about that recently with a friend. Wanted to recreate the idea from HCL-CODC here.

Many yoga poses are modeled after some organism or the other. The rate at which many animals are being killed and the nonchalance with which we are destroying their habitats might lead to scenario where we are forced to describe about these animals to our kids through these yoga poses. So, its better to be informed about some of these poses.

1.) Kurmasana (Tortoise)

2.) Kukutasana (Cock)
3.) Salabasana (Locust)
4.) Ustrasana (Camel)
5.) Mayurasana (Peacock)6.) Bhekasana (Frog)
7.) Vrischikasana (Scorpion)
8.) Kapotasana (Pigeon)
9.) Tittibhasana (Firefly)

I hope the day that this theme talks about does not come about in reality.


PS: Didnt want to embed all images as it might be too much of a load on some connections.

SEZ articles

Good articles on SEZ in Infochange.
1.) The Shenzhen Syndrome: Will India repeat China’s mistakes?
2.) The Shenzhen Syndrome: Growth compromises equity
3.) SEZs: Stirring up a storm along the Indian coast

Gives more credence to the acronym SEZ - Special exploitative zones.

Words

These are the words of the No Impact man.

To me, global warming is a wake up call. It is the straw that breaks the camel's back. It is the canary in the coal mine that might finally call us not just to clean up the planet but to examine whether our culture is really going in the direction we want it to go in.

Very well said. I've been trying to say this to myself for a long time. I knew this all along but could'nt put this feeling in words. Thanks to No impact man for the words.

Kudos Mr.Krishnan

Kudos Mr.Krishnan of Akshaya. Truly, a great inspiration.