Learning History

As an ardent student of history, I always say that  history is bound to be repeated by those who do not learn from them.

Even in today's day and age, this is a very good reason for studying history mainly so that we don't let the evils of prejudice plague our hearts and minds again.

Interesting Historical events: 

Spice and Silk trade 3000 BC
Trojan War 1260 BC
Rise of Rome 700 BC
Battle of Thermopylae 480 BC
Alexander the Great 356 BC
Spartacus 100 BC
Julius Caesar 100 BC
Antony and Cleopatra 50 BC
Ancient Britain - the Druids 43 BC
Fall of Rome 476 AD
King Arthur 600 AD
The Crusades 1095 AD
Rise of Mongols 1200 AD
Scottish War of Independence 1300 AD
Incan Empire 1438 AD
The War of the Roses 1455 AD
Mughal conquests 1526 AD
El Dorado 1600 AD
Rise of Shivaji 1635 AD
American Revolution 1765 AD
The French Revolution 1789 AD
Industrial Revolution 1800 AD
Rise of Britain 1800 AD
Battle of Trafalgar 1805 AD
The First Opium War 1840 AD
California Gold Rush 1848 AD
Britain vs Rest of Europe 1900 AD
Gold vs Silver standard 1900 AD
Russo Japanese War 1904 AD
Japanese occupation of Korea 1910 AD
World War I 1914 AD
Armenian Genocide 1914 AD
Russian Revolution 1917 AD
Rise of the RSS 1925 AD
Second Sino-Japanese War 1937 AD
World War II 1939 AD
Holoucast 1945 AD
Partition Of India 1947 AD
Gandhi vs Godse 1949 AD
Unification of princely states 1951 AD
Cold War 1953 AD
Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 AD
India vs Pakistan wars 1965 AD
The Six Day War 1967 AD
Bangladesh Independence 1971 AD
Watergate 1972 AD
Afghanistan wars 1978 AD
Unification of Germany 1989 AD
Sierra Leone Civil War 1991 AD

Prayer for Humanity

Men have been killed because of one reason or another throughout the ages. Disease counted for a major chunk in the earlier ages with war not behind.

Although we have learnt to defeat disease, war remains an immortal enemy for now.

It still exists because there is still hatred in the hearts and ignorance in the minds of men. The thoughts of superiority of religion, nation, race, culture, language,intellect, gender, social strata still keeps us divided.

Since disease was defeated by Science, I look towards it for solution to this problem as well. I can't but be afraid of how long we are to be pestered by it.

As the race for the survival of this planet and Earthlings nears its perilous end and we come up with ingenious solutions for it (I am looking at you Elon Musk), I pray and hope that we leave all these differences and thoughts behind and unite together for survival as nothing unites as a common ambition.

A commentary on the Justice System in India

Justice is blind as portrayed by the lady with blinds on her eyes but is it really? Justice is served directly or indirectly by an array of people ranging from police officers who don't register FIR's, to clerks who on payment of certain bribe keep pushing certain cases to the back of the queue, to judges who can be bribed to give certain orders. The main problem plaguing India today is not poverty which has been greatly alleviated since its heydays but lack of proper justice which makes its citizens suffer. Ever since I was a child I was constantly reminded by my father not to ever go to the police or a lawyer. I believe that holds true for most homes. There is mistrust in the justice system because it greatly benefits the rich. This can be seen in multiple cases like in the case of Salman Khan where even after being alleged of multiple crimes ranging from killing an endangered animal to running a car over multiple people while drunk, he still roams scot free.

Even before being caught, the rich can bribe officials, flee to another country or just plain disappear from the public like Houdini and evade justice due to them. Take Vijay Mallya's case for example. He fled the country without ever being brought to justice and is using the millions stolen from govt banks in India to live a life of privilege in the UK where his case is being heard. With some help from the British govt, he will never have to face going to prison for his crimes. Similarly the case of Modi and his savage looting of public money and fleeing to New York. With a connected world, it is becoming difficult to hide from the media glare and he was easily traced to New York but still, govt officials deny all knowledge of his whereabouts. With foreign govt help, black money is hidden offshore at various locations- Switzerland, Mauritius, and the Cayman Islands. You don't have to be a genius to prepare a list of all countries which facilitate such transfers and sign treaties with them to help us in tracking and reclaiming black money. It is just a matter of will and sufficient pressure.

In some cases owing to political pressure, no cases are brought against certain criminals and they don't even have to flee their country.  Robert Vadra is a prime example in case. Although the opposition party, the BJP came to power promising swift justice against Robert Vadra and his ilk, there has been no cases filed against him nor is he being investigated. This could be because of multiple reasons but the most obvious is that birds of the same flock fly together. BJP can't go after the son-in-law of the Gandhis as they would be put on the backfoot as they have criminals in their own party; thus making it a prudent for them to make inside deals with the Congress party.

Even in cases where criminals are convicted like in the case of Lalu Yadav, justice is delayed. He stole millions in his prime and enjoyed his ill-gotten wealth till now when in his old age he is in prison. Justice delayed is justice denied and that cannot be denied by anybody. If everyone gets a chance to enjoy a luxurious life throughout their life and go to prison only after they turn 60, it is a wonder most people don't turn criminals.

Another loophole is the role of age in the conviction of the criminal. Criminals below 18 are considered minors are treated leniently and hence can commit very harsh crimes and still get away with light punishment. Criminals above a certain age can delay cases enough by using money and power to die a natural death and never see prison while criminals between these ages have multiple options available to them. They can delay their conviction so that they serve it while they are old, like in case of Lalu. They can flee like Mallya and Modi. They can just flee to a country where they are unlikely to be traced, gain citizenship by investing a certain amount of money and enjoy living.

All these factors and repeated events of criminals fooling the justice system leads to a certain reticence with trusting the courts to look after your welfare, which brings me full-circle to my initial stand. It is easier to suffer and keep quiet rather than waste both time and money in courts. Delayed justice also promotes crime as criminals know their options and are not afraid of the consequences of being caught.

What is needed are the following -

    1) Like in case of certain courts in the US, AI should be used to decide on the quantum of punishment so that it is not influenced by a judge and can be impartial.

    2)  In certain civil cases, where the case is clear - criminals can admit to crimes and get away with lighter punishment, thus not wasting the precious time of courts.

    3) A watchdog to overview adjudged cases so that corruption in courts can be looked at

    4) Better international relations with criminal hotspot countries

    5) Thorough investigations by ACB and harsher punishment for corruption

    6) Aadhar linking so that criminals even after getting out can be tracked to prevent future crimes

    7) Better childcare services so that children are turned away from lives of crime.

    8) Go digital so that all judgments are available in public scope and easily searchable so that people are not taken for a ride by their lawyers and the courts. This must be provided free of cost

I can only hope that all of these are implemented soon and the India 2020 which was imagined by our dear late president APJ Abdul Kalam will come to reality.

Science - My God

I weep to see
what you have done
With all the time you could have had fun

I weep to see my past, my future
For all that there is to come

For all the minds that have gone
For all the justice you have done

Is this the world the Lord has wrought
the One for which we fought

I am tired of this misery
For all the things my mind sees

I close my eyes and time does fly
I see before me not the empty sky

Why don't i trust the vast expanse ahead of me
Why do I believe in your fallacy,in destiny

Why do I want to believe in more
In things which everyone seem to do
So that I can talk with you
Without seeing the blood that stains your back
Of the people that went by to see you rise
Of the people you sent to paradise

I don't trust your God no more
I trust what I can feel is pure
What I can touch and feel is sure
I just have to close my eyes and feel it there
My God is present everywhere and it is not the same as yours

"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...
it's about learning how to dance in the rain!"

NSS trip

Recently the NSS wing of our college went to some remote village (Mokhada) of Maharashtra.The events they described and the way they described it made me realize how influenced they were by those events. The photos revealed that they sure enjoyed a lot. But they stayed only for a day or two at each of the villages. They said that they were no bathrooms,toilets at a village where they went. Accidentaly I alos had gone to my village during that period. I would like to tell them my side of the story-

My native place is a village named Bhitari near Jaunpur in U.P.. Here we have no bathrooms, no cable television (most of the televisons are black and white and many do not even have one) .We have stolen electricity that is we have a line running from the main line which supplies electricity to the entire village ( This event was described relishfully by one of the NSS sight-seeing group) . Hence we have free power. We bathe and drink from the same river ( This event was also mentioned by them). We had kutchha roads till a year back but thanks to the U.P. government we have now a road till our village.I remember previously a rickshaw had overturned while taking me to my village. We have open air toilets (that's the best way to describe it).
The nearest hospital is 3 hours away. Students cycle for miles to reach their schools(imagine getting up at 6:00 am in the morning in the winter when teamperature is at 8 degrees centigrade and going to school/college).
There are many kuccha houses in my village ( This may sound strange to someone who never lived in a village).

I am not saying that the NSS show was a farce. They did some really good job by teaching a few kids. They even counselled some of the students from the 10th and 12th standards. The students who had gone also realized the state of villages. From the photos I gleaned I realized that they also enjoyed a lot. But all this is of some use only if these people do not consider this as a vacation but feel to bring out a real change in society.

                                             THE MOKHADA GROUP ON A VACATION

P.S. There was one event which made me laugh when they said 15 people had to go in a Tata sumo.12 people go in a rickshaw in my place and 25 people would go easily in a Sumo(with luggage of course).

Oye lucky Lucky Oye jugni Song

This is one of the best movies of 2008.

watch this excellent comedy here-http://www.watch-hindi-movies.com/Hindi-Movies-Oye-Lucky-Lucky-Oye

It is one of the better movies of this year.I like the songs of the movie especially the Jugni one below.

The heroine Neetu Chandra has done fabulous acting in this movie. Now you'll must be thinking what jugni means-it literally means female firefly but singers use it to refer it to a sweet innocent girl. There is hardly a Punjabi singer who hasn't used the word in his songs. Refer this for detail-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jugni

Ghajini

Just saw Ghajini on this site- www.watch-hindi-movies.com/Hindi-Movies-Ghajini

It is an awesome movie even more interesting than what I had expected it to be. The story is intriguing till the end. The acting of Asin and Aamir Khan is really commendable. It is the story of Sanjay Singhania and how he loses his memory after getting hit on his head. The whole story revolves around Sanjay (Aamir Khan) hunting for Ghajini-the person who killed Kalpana (Asin), the girl whom he loved. 

I really enjoyed the movie and it comes as a pleasure to the mind among the awful filth that Bollywood churns out.

Mumbai attacks

I know this post is a little late(exactly one month after the attacks) but better late than never.

The horrendous Taj attacks can teach us a lesson,if we do not learn now these terrorists will keep doing it again. They face neither paucity of money and neither men. So why can't they do it again?? 

These are the steps that have to be taken in the wake of the Mumbai attacks-

1) Aamir Kasab the lone terrorist alive must be interviewed live on television in front of foreign media about his origins.

2) He must then be prosecuted swiftly.

3) DNA analysis should be performed to prove his pakistani origins so that Pakistani media is silenced once for all.

4) Trace the accounts on the basis of which the credit cards were issued to them (Most of the adresses will be faked but still doing it will bring no harm).

5) Upgrade the police instead of lathis atleast give them something to fire.

6) A mobile phone has been recovered. Names and phone numbers of prominent terrorists are there in it. Declare everything to foreign media.

7) Stop blaming the navy. It can't check each and every boat. 

8) Whatever they did was not possible without internal help. Investigate into that instead of what Karkare and others were doing at Cama Hospital(got it Mr. Antulay?).

Who is backward??

Well I would like to make it clear once for all what I mean by backward etc.

I am a Bhumihar Brahmin(google it to see if you do not know what it is).The people of this caste refuse to call themselves Brahmin and rightly so since they do not perform rituals. So we are from a upper caste heh... . But I would like to bring to your notice that in today's world caste counts for nothing. In my village there are no facilities whatsoever. The nearest market is 15 kms away and you will only get the basic stuff there. Still many people there live in kuchcha houses(houses made of mud). We do not get electricity from the government. We steal electricity from the lines going towards Benaras(Hence we get voltage of 440 V). If all this is stuff meant for the higher castes then I want to know what backwarness means.This is a far cry from what the SC/ST/OBC's seem to be enjoying in the cities(there are quite a few of them here). My point is that backwardness cannot be measured on basis of caste only.You have to consider all the aspects-economical,social and behavioural.

So if you still beleive that SC/ST/OBC reservations are necessary I am sorry to say that you are going against the very ideals of Equality.Give reservations to people who are really needful, people of my caste who are even being denied basic education since there is no good school or college for about 60 kms(unless you call a school set up under a tree as a school which is about 10 kms away). It is not their fault if they belong to a higher caste, right?? 

A Joke

The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray: "Take only ONE. God is watching." 
Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies. 
A child had written a note, "Take all you want. God is watching the apples.

Regionalism Bane

You are a bhaiya, I m a Maharashtrian so you are an outsider. Some kind of filmy dialogue?huh

No. This is what is going in all of Maharashtra. Now if Maharashta is a part of India it is bound by the Constitutuion of India. The constitution states that any citizen of India is free to go anywhere in the country. Jammu and Kashmir is exempted from this. Now the government is here to protect this right or is it? The government does nothing but stand and watch. Are the bhaiyas the only outsiders? Are the people of other religions and States not outsiders??

Are the so called Maharashtrians not outsiders??  as this land originally belonged to the Kohlis.

What has happened to the common sense of the people? Have they lost it?

If these outsiders wouldn't have come, Mumbai would have remained a city just like Nagpur or Pune.

And did you know that a Nepali watchman in Mumbai has managed to bring his entire family here and even got a  ration card somehow.The authorities are clueless what to do about this.

Or did you know that there are thousands of Bangladeshis with illegal documents and even some without any documents staying in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.

Are these people not outsiders?? Will it take another terrorist attack to convince us that these are the real outsiders?

Down with Reservations

What a funny concept and what an immature justification. To say that the present generation has to pay for something that their fore-fathers did and to quote the Bhagavad Gita in support is not only stupidity it also displays the backwardness of the person saying so. 

If you still don't know about it, this is what a Supreme Court judge of India was saying in order to defend reservations for SC/ST/OBC. 

It also makes me laugh that around 30% of the population is SC/ST/OBC and we are asking 50% reservation for them at various posts. To clarify-

1) Any section of the society which comprises 30% of the population is not to be considered as a minority.So how can they be given reservation which is a concept related with minority.

2) To give them more than their percentage in population is discriminating towards others.

Now if it is not enough, Reservation is being called to extend in private sectors too.What a joke!

If 50% of the posts will go to 30% of the population then out of the remaining 70% only 50% will get selected.Where will the remaining 20% go??? Outside the country perhaps.

And then we creen and fight on how to stop Brain Drain.Are all these things some kind of a joke??.

Isn't there any person in the higher echleons of the politicial muddle who has got some sense and can raise this point?

You are forcing 20% of the population to leave the country and then you tell the youth to think of ways to reverse Brain Drain.

They say our country is democratic.You can speak your mind. But who hears you? No one. That is India's democracy.You can speak anything you want but no one will listen to you. Then people talk about change. This makes me  agnostic.

How long will the people live in the dark? 

How long???

Note-This series is the first in a list which will bare the hollowed ideals of our great country which prides itself on people who are not even part of the country(Take for example honouring 

Kalpana Chawla or  Mittal) and ignore the real heroes.

A letter by Bhagat Singh

There were a few letters Bhagat Singh wrote while in jail, these letters form a mirror of his thoughts as a person going to die in a few days.

 

“I deny the very existence of that Almighty Supreme being. Why I deny it shall be dealt with later on. Here I want to clear one thing, that it is not vanity that has actuated me to adopt the doctrines of atheism. I am neither a rival nor an incarnation nor the Supreme Being Himself. One point is decided, that it is not vanity that has led me to this mode of thinking. Let me examine the facts to disprove this allegation. My atheism is not of so recent origin. I had stopped believing in God when I was an obscure young man.”

 

“The most important thing was the clear conception of the ideal for which we were to fight, As there were no important activities in the field of action I got ample opportunity to study various ideals of the world revolution. I studied Bakunin, the Anarchist leader, something of Marx the father of Communism and much of Lenin, Trotsky and others the men who had successfully carried out a revolution in their country. They were all atheists. Bakunin's "God and State", though only fragmentary, is an interesting study of the subject. Later still I came across a book entitled 'Common Sense' by Nirlamba Swami. It was only a sort of mystic atheism. This subject became of utmost interest to me. By the end of 1926 I had been convinced as to the baselessness of the theory of existence of an almighty supreme being who created, guided and controlled the universe. I had given out this disbelief of mine. I began discussion on the subjects with my friends. I had become a pronounced atheist.”

 

 

“'Belief' softens the hardships, even can make them pleasant. In God man can find very strong consolation and support. Without Him, the man has to depend upon himself. To stand upon one's own legs amid storms and hurricanes is not a child's play. At such testing moments, vanity, if any, evaporates, and man cannot dare to defy the general beliefs, if he does, then we must conclude that he has got certain other strength than mere vanity. This is exactly the situation now. Judgment is already too well known. Within a week it is to be pronounced. What is the consolation with the exception of the idea that I am going to sacrifice my life for a cause ? A God-believing Hindu might be expecting to be reborn as a king, a Muslim or a Christian might dream of the luxuries to be- enjoyed in paradise and the reward he is to get for his sufferings and sacrifices. But what am I to expect? I know the moment the rope is fitted round my neck and rafters removed, from under my feet. That will be the final moment, that will be the last moment. I, or to be more precise, my soul, as interpreted in the metaphysical terminology, shall all be finished there. Nothing further.”

 

“British rule is here not because God wills it but because they possess power and we do not dare to oppose them. Not that it is with the help of God that they are keeping us under their subjection but it is with the help of guns and rifles, bomb and bullets, police and militia and our apathy that they are successfully committing the most deplorable sin against society- the outrageous exploitation of one nation by another. Where is God ? What is he doing? Is he enjoying all I these woes of human race ? A Nero; A Changez : Down with him.

Do you ask me how I explain the origin of this world and origin of man? Alright I tell you. Charles Darwin has tried to throw some light on the subject. Study him. Read Soham Swami's "Commonsense". It shall answer your question to some extent. This is a phenomenon of nature. The accidental mixture of different substances in the shape of nebulae produced this earth. When? Consult history. The same process produced animals and in the long run man. Read Darwin's 'Origin of Species'. And all the later progress is due to man's constant conflict with nature and his efforts to override it. This is the briefest possible explanation of this phenomenon.”

“When informed of my atheism, he said, "During your last days you will begin to believe". I said, No, dear Sir, it shall not be. I will think that to be an act of degradation and demoralization on my part. For selfish motives I am not going to pray. Readers and friends, "Is this vanity"? If it is, I stand for it.”

 

 

 

 

Guessed the topic????

Here is a poem about a recent happening in Mumbai. Just guess what I mean by that-

"First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a communist; 
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak out for me. "

-Martin Niemцller

Here are 3 weird facts about Windows:-

1. Nobody can create a folder named Con.

Try to create anywhere on your hard disk a folder called "Con" (without the quotes). Go to a location on your hard disk, right click, choose "New" and then select "Folder" from the menu that appears. Name the folder "Con" (without quotes) and hit Enter. You’ll see that the folder won’t be named "Con". It will be "New folder".

2. A text file made with Notepad, with the following content : "Bush hid the facts" (without quotes) won’t display the actual text.Write in Notepad the following text : "Bush hid the facts" (without quotes) then Save the file and exit Notepad. Now go to the text file you created and open it. You’ll see that the text you just wrote and save won’t show.

3.Open Microsoft Word and on the first line write : "=rand(200,99)" (without the quotes) and hit Enter key. You'll see 156 pages filled with the same line.

How foolish can people become?

Well here is a site http://www.carm.org/atheism.htm which claims to answer questions of atheists and purify them by removing all their sins (which they have committed by refusing to believe in God) while they have given any link for anyone to comment on any of their posts directly.Everything has to be emailed to them. This shows that they are scared and afraid to make the process transparent. Why can't they allow questions directly?

There are million of atheist blogs shouting Where is god? Who is god? and giving their opinions about him but there is no logical answer to them. Will they ever take the challenge ? We already know the answer.

This site http://www.carm.org/atheism/atheistandethics.htm claims that since atheists do not believe in God,they do not have absolute moral values. They give an example and say that if a person believes in god he wouldn't kill an unborn baby,but if he doesn't believe in God there is nothing to stop them.Looks like they have never heard of something called morals,conscience and character of a person.No sensible person leave alone an atheist can think of killing anyone leave alone an unborn child.But who can blame them since they do not think logically at all(If you haven't already read a post on this on my other blog http://www.blitzscience.blogspot.com). 

New Quotes

I know you'll must be tired of quotes but here are some of my favourite two-

1)Everyone wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die.

2)All fools think alike but geniuses may not.

Favourite Quote from Kung-Fu Panda

One often meets his fate on the road he takes to avoid it.

A good Quote

     “Since my earliest childhood a barb of sorrow has lodged in my heart. As long as it stays I am ironic -- if it is pulled out I shall die.”

--Soren Kierkegaard