So, with a baby on the way, one of my goals is to read all 9 volumes of Swami Vivekanda. At 5 months, baby senses sound.

This is the Introduction. I read it aloud...Baby, can you hear??

For the first time in history, as has been said elsewhere, Hinduism itself forms here the subject of generalisation of a Hindu mind of the highest order. For ages to come the Hindu man who would verify, the Hindu mother who would teach her children, what was the faith of their ancestors will turn to the pages of these books for assurance and light. Long after the English language has disappeared from India, the gift that has here been made, through that language, to the world, will remain and bear its fruit in East and West alike. What Hinduism had needed, was the organising and consolidating of its own idea. What the world had needed was a faith that had no fear of truth. Both these are found here. Nor could any greater proof have been given of the eternal vigour of the Sanâtana Dharma, of the fact that India is as great in the present as ever in the past, than this rise of the individual who, at the critical moment, gathers up and voices the communal consciousness.

That India should have found her own need satisfied only in carrying to the humanity outside her borders the bread of life is what might have been foreseen. Nor did it happen on this occasion for the first time. It was once before in sending out to the sister lands the message of a nation-making faith that India learnt as a whole to understand the greatness of her own thought — a self-unification that gave birth to modern Hinduism itself. Never may we allow it to be forgotten that on Indian soil first was heard the command from a Teacher to His disciples: "Go ye out into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature!" It is the same thought, the same impulse of love, taking to itself a new shape, that is uttered by the lips of the Swami Vivekananda, when to a great gathering in the West he says: "If one religion true, then all the others also must be true. Thus the Hindu faith is yours as much as mine." And again, in amplification of the same idea: "We Hindus do not merely tolerate, we unite ourselves with every religion, praying in the mosque of the Mohammedan, worshipping before the fire of the Zoroastrian, and kneeling to the cross of the Christian. We know that all religions alike, from the lowest fetishism to the highest absolutism, are but so many attempts of the human soul to grasp and realise the Infinite. So we gather all these flowers, and, binding them together with the cord of love, make them into a wonderful bouquet of worship." To the heart of this speaker, none was foreign or alien. For him, there existed only Humanity and Truth.

Of the Swami's address before the Parliament of Religions, it may be said that when he began to speak it was of "the religious ideas of the Hindus", but when he ended, Hinduism had been created. The moment was ripe with this potentiality. The vast audience that faced him represented exclusively the occidental mind, but included some development of all that in this was most distinctive. Every nation in Europe has poured in its human contribution upon America, and notably upon Chicago, where the Parliament was held. Much of the best, as well as some of the worst, of modern effort and struggle, is at all times to be met with, within the frontiers of that Western Civic Queen, whose feet are upon the shores of Lake Michigan, as she sits and broods, with the light of the North in her eyes. There is very little in the modern consciousness, very little inherited from the past of Europe, that does not hold some outpost in the city of Chicago. And while the teeming life and eager interests of that centre may seem to some of us for the present largely a chaos, yet they are undoubtedly making for the revealing of some noble and slow-wrought ideal of human unity, when the days of their ripening shall be fully accomplished.

Such was the psychological area, such the sea of mind, young, tumultuous, overflowing with its own energy and self-assurance, yet inquisitive and alert withal, which confronted Vivekananda when he rose to speak. Behind him, on the contrary, lay an ocean, calm with long ages of spiritual development. Behind him lay a world that dated itself from the Vedas, and remembered itself in the Upanishads, a world to which Buddhism was almost modern; a world that was filled with religious systems of faiths and creeds; a quiet land, steeped in the sunlight of the tropics, the dust of whose roads had been trodden by the feet of the saints for ages upon ages. Behind him, in short, lay India, with her thousands of years of national development, in which she had sounded many things, proved many things, and realised almost all, save only her own perfect unanimity, from end to end of her great expanse of time and space, as to certain fundamental and essential truths, held by all her people in common.

These, then, were the two mind-floods, two immense rivers of thought, as it were, Eastern and modern, of which the yellow-clad wanderer on the platform of the Parliament of Religions formed for a moment the point of confluence. The formulation of the common bases of Hinduism was the inevitable result of the shock of their contact, in a personality, so impersonal. For it was no experience of his own that rose to the lips of the Swami Vivekananda there. He did not even take advantage of the occasion to tell the story of his Master. Instead of either of these, it was the religious consciousness of India that spoke through him, the message of his whole people, as determined by their whole past. And as he spoke, in the youth and noonday of the West, a nation, sleeping in the shadows of the darkened half of earth, on the far side of the Pacific, waited in spirit for the words that would be borne on the dawn that was travelling towards them, to reveal to them the secret of their own greatness and strength.

Others stood beside the Swami Vivekananda, on the same platform as he, as apostles of particular creeds and churches. But it was his glory that he came to preach a religion to which each of these was, in his own words, "only a travelling, a coming up, of different men, and women, through various conditions and circumstances to the same goal". He stood there, as he declared, to tell of One who had said of them all, not that one or another was true, in this or that respect, or for this or that reason, but that "All these are threaded upon Me, as pearls upon a string. Wherever thou seest extraordinary holiness and extraordinary power, raising and purifying humanity, know thou that I am there." To the Hindu, says Vivekananda, "Man is not travelling from error to truth, but climbing up from truth to truth, from truth that is lower to truth that is higher." This, and the teaching of Mukti — the doctrine that "man is to become divine by realising the divine," that religion is perfected in us only when it has led us to "Him who is the one life in a universe of death, Him who is the constant basis of an ever-changing world, that One who is the only soul, of which all souls are but delusive manifestations" — may be taken as the two great outstanding truths which, authenticated by the longest and most complex experience in human history, India proclaimed through him to the modern world of the West.

For India herself, the short address forms, as has been said, a brief Charter of Enfranchisement. Hinduism in its wholeness the speaker bases on the Vedas, but he spiritualises our conception of the word, even while he utters it. To him, all that is true is Veda. "By the Vedas," he says, "no books are meant. They mean the accumulated treasury of spiritual laws discovered by different persons in different times." Incidentally, he discloses his conception of the Sanatana Dharma. "From the high spiritual flights of the Vedanta philosophy, of which the latest discoveries of science seem like echoes, to the lowest ideas of idolatry with its multifarious mythology, the agnosticism of the Buddhists, and the atheism of the Jains, each and all have a place in the Hindu's religion." To his mind, there could be no sect, no school, no sincere religious experience of the Indian people — however like an aberration it might seem to the individual — that might rightly be excluded from the embrace of Hinduism. And of this Indian Mother-Church, according to him, the distinctive doctrine is that of the Ishta Devatâ, the right of each soul to choose its own path, and to seek God in its own way. No army, then, carries the banner of so wide an Empire as that of Hinduism, thus defined. For as her spiritual goal is the finding of God, even so is her spiritual rule the perfect freedom of every soul to be itself.

Yet would not this inclusion of all, this freedom of each, be the glory of Hinduism that it is, were it not for her supreme call, of sweetest promise: "Hear, ye children of immortal bliss! Even ye that dwell in higher spheres! For I have found that Ancient One who is beyond all darkness, all delusion. And knowing Him, ye also shall be saved from death." Here is the word for the sake of which all the rest exists and has existed. Here is the crowning realisation, into which all others are resolvable. When, in his lecture on "The Work Before Us," the Swami adjures all to aid him in the building of a temple wherein every worshipper in the land can worship, a temple whose shrine shall contain only the word Om, there are some of us who catch in the utterance the glimpse of a still greater temple — India herself, the Motherland, as she already exists — and see the paths, not of the Indian churches alone, but of all Humanity, converging there, at the foot of that sacred place wherein is set the symbol that is no symbol, the name that is beyond all sound. It is to this, and not away from it, that all the paths of all the worships and all the religious systems lead. India is at one with the most puritan faiths of the world in her declaration that progress is from seen to unseen, from the many to the One, from the low to the high, from the form to the formless, and never in the reverse direction. She differs only in having a word of sympathy and promise for every sincere conviction, wherever and whatever it may be, as constituting a step in the great ascent.

The Swami Vivekananda would have been less than he was, had anything in this Evangel of Hinduism been his own. Like the Krishna of the Gitâ, like Buddha, like Shankarâchârya, like every great teacher that Indian thought has known, his sentences are laden with quotations from the Vedas and Upanishads. He stands merely as the Revealer, the Interpreter to India of the treasures that she herself possesses in herself. The truths he preaches would have been as true, had he never been born. Nay more, they would have been equally authentic. The difference would have lain in their difficulty of access, in their want of modern clearness and incisiveness of statement, and in their loss of mutual coherence and unity. Had he not lived, texts that today will carry the bread of life to thousands might have remained the obscure disputes of scholars. He taught with authority, and not as one of the Pandits. For he himself had plunged to the depths of the realisation which he preached, and he came back like Ramanuja only to tell its secrets to the pariah, the outcast, and the foreigner.

And yet this statement that his teaching holds nothing new is not absolutely true. It must never be forgotten that it was the Swami Vivekananda who, while proclaiming the sovereignty of the Advaita Philosophy, as including that experience in which all is one, without a second, also added to Hinduism the doctrine that Dvaita, Vishishtâdvaita, and Advaita are but three phases or stages in a single development, of which the last-named constitutes the goal. This is part and parcel of the still greater and more simple doctrine that the many and the One are the same Reality, perceived by the mind at different times and in different attitudes; or as Sri Ramakrishna expressed the same thing, "God is both with form and without form. And He is that which includes both form and formlessness."

It is this which adds its crowning significance to our Master's life, for here he becomes the meeting-point, not only of East and West, but also of past and future. If the many and the One be indeed the same Reality, then it is not all modes of worship alone, but equally all modes of work, all modes of struggle, all modes of creation, which are paths of realisation. No distinction, henceforth, between sacred and secular. To labour is to pray. To conquer is to renounce. Life is itself religion. To have and to hold is as stern a trust as to quit and to avoid.

This is the realisation which makes Vivekananda the great preacher of Karma, not as divorced from, but as expressing Jnâna and Bhakti. To him, the workshop, the study, the farmyard, and the field are as true and fit scenes for the meeting of God with man as the cell of the monk or the door of the temple. To him, there is no difference between service of man and worship of God, between manliness and faith, between true righteousness and spirituality. All his words, from one point of view, read as a commentary upon this central conviction. "Art, science, and religion", he said once, "are but three different ways of expressing a single truth. But in order to understand this we must have the theory of Advaita."

The formative influence that went to the determining of his vision may perhaps be regarded as threefold. There was, first, his literary education, in Sanskrit and English. The contrast between the two worlds thus opened to him carried with it a strong impression of that particular experience which formed the theme of the Indian sacred books. It was evident that this, if true at all, had not been stumbled upon by Indian sages, as by some others, in a kind of accident. Rather was it the subject-matter of a science, the object of a logical analysis that shrank from no sacrifice which the pursuit of truth demanded.

In his Master, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, living and teaching in the temple-garden at Dakshineshwar, the Swami Vivekananda — "Naren" as he then was — found that verification of the ancient texts which his heart and his reason had demanded. Here was the reality which the books only brokenly described. Here was one to whom Samâdhi was a constant mode of knowledge. Every hour saw the swing of the mind from the many to the One. Every moment heard the utterance of wisdom gathered superconsciously. Everyone about him caught the vision of the divine. Upon the disciple came the desire for supreme knowledge "as if it had been a fever". Yet he who was thus the living embodiment of the books was so unconsciously, for he had read none of them! In his Guru, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Vivekananda found the key to life.

Even now, however, the preparation for his own task was not complete. He had yet to wander throughout the length and breadth of India, from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin, mixing with saints and scholars and simple souls alike, learning from all, teaching to all, and living with all, seeing India as she was and is, and so grasping in its comprehensiveness that vast whole, of which his Master's life and personality had been a brief and intense epitome.

These, then — the Shâstras, the Guru, and the Mother­land — are the three notes that mingle themselves to form the music of the works of Vivekananda. These are the treasure which it is his to offer. These furnish him with the ingredients whereof he compounds the world's heal-all of his spiritual bounty. These are the three lights burning within that single lamp which India by his hand lighted and set up, for the guidance of her own children and of the world in the few years of work between September 19, 1893 and July 4, 1902. And some of us there are, who, for the sake of that lighting, and of this record that he has left behind him, bless the land that bore him and the hands of those who sent him forth, and believe that not even yet has it been given to us to understand the vastness and significance of the message that he spoke.

July 4, 1907

I lost my job yesterday. Mixed feelings really.

Part of me really wanted to do something I liked. This job was never IT. I was wasting my time, my PhD, the hard, intellectually stimulating work I put in for 6 long years. This job did not require a PhD, or perhaps even a masters degree.

Yeah, most people are not all about degrees. Sadly, I am. Not that I judge people without one differently. But I know I am a stronger, smarter person because of my degrees - - that exposed me to an unknown world, however niche. There is a certain way you think after a terminal degree, something that a MBA or an MA may never give you. And although those 4-6 years were the hardest in my life so far, (I hated those times, never want to re-live them), I am happy I was able to endure.

Then, what was I still doing at my now-ex job?Quantitative surveys from survey monkey, a little-bit-of dabbling with that industry, boring database entries, well - nothing significant. There were a few challenging moments, I do admit - but mainly busy, brain-dead work. And times where certain comments and certain issues made me doubt my own abilities, for instance - my writing skills, my grammar and my confidence. It was time to step up and get out.  

But even after 15 months I did not leave. Well, I know why I was still there. It was the paycheck, and it was my visa issue.

Now that I have been kicked out, I can look at this so much more objectively. Yes, it has only been a day, but a good night's sleep and strong support from my family - - and my thinking is crystal clear.

Its incredible how we end up in jobs we would rather not do. And its incredible, the kind of freedom we feel when we finally manage to get out of them.

I am happy. I feel free. I feel alive.

Everything happens for a reason. Yes, there will be no paycheck. And yes, I may have to be dependent on my husband now. But that's only for a little while. Until I figure out the next adventure. My new gig. Definitely something more intellectually stimulating, and a place more accepting of new ideas and different cultures. Where my accent may not give away my 'bad grammar'. Perhaps academia.

Cheers to a new me.

As an anthropologist, this takes special significance. This TV story, on NDTV.

It's Christmas time and Kolkata is all ready to celebrate. But, instead of regular celebrations, the festival has been turned into Bengali flavour. "We have heard of Jingle Bells and all that. But those are in English. We are Bengali, brought up in a Bengali atmosphere. So we have adapted carol singing to Bengali culture," said Robi Mondal, a Carol singer.

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/video/video.aspx?id=48527

Between Delhi's crushing crowds and Mumbai's glamour and glitz -- not to mention the countless temples and castles -- there's no shortage of exotic attractions for travelers in India. But a growing number of visitors are spending less time at the Taj Mahal, and are instead seeking out the medical and spiritual benefits of traditional Ayurvedic treatment at the high-end spas popping up all over India.

Ayurveda, which literally means "knowledge of life," originated in South India more than 5,000 years ago and is considered a longevity science in the subcontinent. In simple (and possibly overly brief) terms, Ayurveda says the body consists of three main aspects: vata, pitta and kapha. These can come out of alignment due to pollution, stress, disease and even just the strain of everyday life. The goal of an Ayurvedic practitioner, then, is to rebalance to this system -- thereby bringing the subject back to his or her "true self."

While the Indian government doesn't have specific figures for the number of people who come to the country specifically for Ayurveda, a recent McKinsey Report for the Confederation of Indian Industry says that medical tourism from the West could grow at an estimated 30 percent a year. (This includes visitors who come for traditional medical procedures, including surgery. Click here for Forbes Traveler's report on Medical Tourism.) According to the study, this could conceivably add $1 billion to the Indian tourism industry by 2012.

Most luxury hotels in India offer some form of Ayurvedic treatment, usually focusing on prescribed massages using essential oils -- the same types of treatments you can get in the US. But true Ayurvedic practice in India is more holistic.

"People equate Ayurveda simply with massage, but that isn't correct," says Dr Komal Shah-Kapoor, Director of Research at SpaFinder. "In the US, massage and parts of Ayurveda are taken and made into an enjoyable spa treatment, but that's a little different from the way Ayurveda takes place in India. It's not just working on one part of the body; it's working on the whole body."

Traditional Ayurvedic practitioners combine massage with medicinal herb treatments, restricted diet, meditation and yoga. "When they treat an illness, it isn't just about treating the illness," says Dr Shah-Kapoor. "They suggest nutritional guidelines and they suggest lifestyle changes. Everything that they do basically taps into natural resources and helps you to remove the cause of that illness." According to Shah-Kapoor, 80 percent of Indians follow some form of Ayurveda.

Since Ayurveda originated in Southwest India, in the lush forests and swampland of what is now the state of Kerala -- the native home to the herbs and oils used in the treatment -- that's where many of the best known resorts, or shalas, are located.

The Divya Spa at the Leela Kovalam Beach Resort sits atop cliffs overlooking the Arabian Sea, and offers such treatments as Shirodhara (opening of the third eye), a process of pouring warm herbal being in a steady stream onto the forehead. Aside from the spiritual effects, the Shirodhara is said to enhance blood flow to the brain and "synchronize brain waves," resulting in improved memory, healthier hair and reduced tension.

In Calicut, the Taj Ayurveda Center offers a range of therapies that include snana, which is a bath with herbal powders that can last as long as three hours. In a dhara treatment, medicated oil, milk and buttermilk are poured on the head and body to alleviate fatigue, insomnia and a host of other ailments.

For Ashish Sanghrajka, vice president of sales and partner relations for Big Five Tourism expeditions, Ayurveda can lead to better health -- and even better looks.

"Ayurveda can be used to take wrinkles away from the face," he says, and "people have used Ayurveda to try and treat diabetes; they've used Ayurveda to try and cure cancer... It helps people to feel less stressed out, but it also helps them to feel younger. And it's not through medicine -- just through diet, and yoga and body movements, and general massages." For Sanghrajka, the key is increasing blood flow, muscle expansion and flexibility.

Indians undergoing Ayurvedic treatments will often go to resorts for two or three weeks or more, making the pilgrimage for healing and detox programs that include fixed diets, daily regiments of yoga and meditation, and medicinal spa treatments prescribed by a doctor. For more hardcore Ayurvedic practitioners (with more time to spare), centers such as the Agastya Ayurveda Garden Resort offer a 62-day circuit that starts with massages and steam treatments, then progresses to "therapeutic vomiting," enemas and sometimes even blood-letting.

For a deluxe Ayurvedic experience -- without the blood-letting -- The Coconut Lagoon in Kumarakom is a safe bet. The resort sits upon Vembanad Lake and can only be accessed via boat along Kerala's renowned backwaters. They offer a full slate of Ayurveda paired with excursions to nearby cultural attractions.

Ayurvedic practitioners generally say that the muggy summer monsoon season is the best time to undergo treatment because heavy rains are effective in taking dust out of the air and sweating is thought to be purifying. But Southern India can be brutally hot in the summer. If you're not up for the heat, one of the north's top Ayurvedic destinations is the 21,000-square-foot Ananda Spa, located in the Himalayan foothills near Rishikesh, the former home of the Maharaja of Tehri-Garhwal. Many of the spa's 79 body and beauty treatments combine Ayurvedic principles and yoga with other Western practices.

See Slideshow:�India's Top Spa Retreats

She has always been one of my favorite authors  - - She comes up with a fresh perspective, perhaps an emotional response - - but timely and fair. Her 'Enough-is-Enough slogan struck a chord - - she's updated her blog since then. Here's her latest update, and a link to the blog to the end.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Friday, November 28, 2008

Cry, my beloved city

Please don’t utter another word about the ‘Spirit of Mumbai’. Or how it is ‘Business as usual’, because the time to be philosophical/stoical about our shattered lives is over. Initial numbness has been replaced by rage and sorrow. Those policemen did not have to die. Those innocents need not have been killed. Mumbai’s abject humiliation at the hands of a few misguided youth, is complete. And there are no answers – how? Why? Gabbar Singh’s menacing question, “Kitney aadmi the?” may never get the correct response from a cowardly and evasive administration that has once again let down the people of this megapolis .It is not about a numbers game. It is about the powerlessness that has paralysed what is considered one of the most dynamic cities in the world.Mumbai today is a city in a coma…. One it may never recover from. Dazed and desperate. As I write this, a mere half a kilometre away from both the hotels targeted by the terrorists, my heart aches, my eyes are heavy, and my throat painfully constricted. Strange how a monumental tragedy affects individuals. Our first thoughts are about the safety of our own – are those we love okay? Yes??? Thank God! Selfish emotions dominate our actions – as they did mine…. I’m ashamed to admit.
My husband and I were at a sitdown dinner in another 5-Star hotel, a few miles from the Taj and Trident. This was unusual in itself…. The newly-opened Four Season’s is outside the ambit of hard -core South Mumbaiwallas like ourselves. But this was no ordinary occasion. The French Ambassador was hosting an evening for Nadir Godrej who had recently received a French civilian honour. Yashodhara, a beautiful chanteuse from Delhi, had just started to croon throatily, when Amrita, Simi Garewal’s sister, came to our table to whisper they’d received a call about a terrorist attack at the Oberoi and Taj hotels. Five minutes later, while all of us were desperately calling our contacts for grim confirmations, we heard two loud blasts –terror came directly at us…. the sound hit me in the solar plexus…. and there was no place to run. Top cops advised us to stay put. But our children were at home!!!! Stay put. Stay put. They repeated. The streets are unsafe, roads blockaded, police vans hijacked…. there are armed maniacs on the loose hurling hand grenades and firing randomely into the crowd with lethal automatic weapons. Now they are attacking hospitals!! Oh no…. they’ve blown up a petrol pump!! Yes. The one close to our home. Look….. the Taj is on fire! CST …. OH MY GOD…. They are moving rapidly …. the airport is next, and the Marriott. It was like being cast in a macabre, surrealistic horror film . But one without a director to call, “Cut’’.
The sight of the Taj burning, is the one that will remain forever etched on my mind – a ghastly and tragic reminder of this city’s vulnerability…. and also it’s grandeur. That is where I was courted, got married.The place I consider my second home. Taj is family. That is where my daughter is getting married ten days from now… or that was the dream…. the plan.Till last night.Today, that beloved heritage building – Mumbai’s pride and joy - is a monument to death and destruction. The Taj has always been an inspiring emblem of India’s defiance and glory when it was built in 1903 by a great son of Mumbai, Sir Jamshedji Tata, to let the British know that there can be a magnificent hotel built by Indians, for Indians. As I watched the flames engulfing the top floor, my tears flowed for those incredibly brave men and women from the hospitality industry who performed such a stupendous job, along with the others, in saving as many lives as possible. The terrorists picked their targets well – by hitting Mumbai’s most-loved symbols of wealth and prosperity, cosmopolitanism and progress, they succeeded in their mission of demonstrating to the world just how simple it is to attack iconic institutions and hold a teeming metropolis to ransom.Yes. My daughter will get married. And yes,the ceremony will be at the Taj - burnt…. but not bowed. We will always love it. Terrorists may destroy a structure. But our souls are our own.

http://shobhaade.blogspot.com/

Smruti koppikar, Bureau Chief for Outlook India, who was my teacher at SCM sent the group this info:

The Citizens Initiative for Peace- will be meeting on Tuesday Dec. 2nd at 5.30 pm at the YMCA International House to complete the planning for the Human Chain by everyone under a general banner of Mumbai for Peace- on December 10th in Mumbai. The draft flyer for the event is below.

The government has indicated that they will give permission.  We now have to see that every woman, man and child participate in the chain!
Please come to the preparatory meeting.

Regards
A hundred organisations/individuals (and growing) of 'Mumbai for Peace'.

 
Calling all Citizens of Mumbai!

Join "Human Chain" in South Mumbai, afternoon 1 pm on December 10^th, 2008 International Human Rights Day!

                                                                                        SAY NO TO TERROR! SAY NO TO VIOLENCE!

We, the people of Mumbai, from all walks of life, of all faiths, all linguistic groups, all ages, will express our  commitment to peace, and our condemnation of terror and violence in any form, by coming out on the streets on the day when the world will be commemorating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948. The theme for 2008, which is "Dignity and justice" has a poignant resonance for the people of Mumbai, traumatized and fearful after the attack on its spirit by criminals who are without a shred of humanity or conscience.

We demand:

1. Government must take responsibility and map out long term and short term strategies, and take action on them.
2. Joint action between India and Pakistan governments to curb religious extremism of all shades in both countries.
3. Better coordination amongst various security and intelligence agencies to deal with terror; and sharing of intelligence and information.
4. Punishment of those responsible for attacks on minorities, which are also an attack on the majority and the multi-cultural body politic of India.
5. Swift, transparent and credible trial and punishment for all those involved in terror, whatever the religion they may profess,
6. A comprehensive Communal Violence Bill in place of the one pending in Parliament.
7. Immediate implementation of Police reforms, providing equipment and training, basic service conditions to police personnel and state security forces.  Active facilitation of community participation in security and intelligence gathering.
8. Ensuring moderation and sensitivity in media reporting of violence whether terrorist or any other form, through self-regulation or fiat.
9. Evolve a policy for legal action against hate speech and demonization of any religion or community.
   

NO MORE SILENCE! WE MUST SPEAK OUT!

 
   MUMBAI FOR PEACE: a campaign of Mumbai based organizations.

On Ali's webpage, I found Vrushali's featured blog. She has several articles dedicated to this topic, but this one is the most recent -

Thirteen years too late. The judgements in the 93 blasts case will unfold in the coming months, with the announcement of the sentences for those found guilty. Sentences that range from five years to life imprisonment. Five years? For helping destroy a city? It's not even a slap on the wrist; it's kissing the Godfather's hand, with the violin score in the background.

Ask most Mumbaikars about what they expect from the verdict and you'll probably get just a resigned sigh. Because they've learned over the years, to expect nothing. 'Why stress about it -- the real masterminds won't be caught anyway,' is what one hears constantly. Maybe it's fair enough, given the general perception about justice in India. But is it ok to be apathetic, and just pass it off as just another failure of justice? Have we just stopped feeling that sense of outrage? Because it's more convenient for us to collectively be comfortably numb?

Can the city afford to forget its pockmarked past? America will make sure the world doesn't forget 9 / 11, here in Mumbai, come rain, riot or a couple of blasts, we're all ready to head to work, briefcases packed, ties neatly tucked in, dupattas firmly knotted, focusing only on making it in time to smell the armpits in the nine-seventeen fast to churchgate. An attitude that's euphemistically called the spirit of Mumbai or its counterpart, the spirit of survival. But does survival mean erasing the past? We'll forget the dead, we'll forget the injured, unless it happens to be someone we know. We'll forget the riots, the blasts that came later and walk unblinkingly into the future. Maybe that's the problem with Mumbai - that we forget all too easily.

This one is written by a dear friend. I had written to her when I heard about the terrorists, and never heard back until yesterday. Yes, I was worried - - and then I get an email from her with a link to her initial report.

Eyewitness account: A date with terror

Aliefya Vahanvaty / Forbes-Network18

Published on Sat, Nov 29, 2008 at 11:26 in Nation section

Late in the evening on Wednesday, November 26, 2008, Mumbai eventually got its very own 9/11. Watching room after room at one of the most majestic and stately symbols of the city, the Taj Mahal Hotel, go up in flames it was hard not to ask the same incredulous and seemingly naive question, "Why do they hate us?"

11.30 pm: I start out at the other side of town from Colaba, at Vile Parle east on the western express highway, where the wreck of the taxi and the fresh red stains on the concrete were being white chalked by the investigating team: It is believed the taxi was heading towards the international airport loaded with RDX when its consignment blew up, killing five including the two passengers (suspected terrorists) and driver. Vijay, a 17-year-old who lives in the hutment by the road, recounts a terrifying sight. He was just sitting down to dinner when he heard the blast. He went out to see and a few steps out of his front door, was greeted with the dismembered head of one of the victims. Vijay has seen his share of calamity during the floods of 26/7/05 and then again during the train blasts of 11/7/06. He states matter-of-factly, this is another date with terror he will never forget.

12.15 am: There are rumours of a hold-up at a suburban hotel, but it turns out to be a hoax call, which nonetheless gets the hotel and the police to sound a red alert in the area. In the meanwhile there are unconfirmed reports of shootouts and casualties in south Mumbai. After a few minutes of deliberating, I jump into a cab with three photojournalists from three different publications who were heading in that direction. Expecting to be stopped at every bend, we keep prepping our taxi driver on do's and don'ts in case the police stops us. Between non-stop phone calls from colleagues with updates on the escalating battle scene, we caution the driver to slow down to a snail's speed the minute he sees a red light and stick to the narrow, quiet bylanes instead of the main roads as far as he can. We warn him to stay with his cab at all times. We were reassuring and preparing ourselves for whatever lay ahead. He simply nodded and drove as directed. We made it to Haji Ali without seeing a single police car.

1.45 am: At Haji Ali, we encounter the first police blockade. They tell us in no uncertain terms that it is dangerous to carry on and demand that we turn back. We turn left towards Nana Chowky and continue towards town. Just then we receive news of a gun-down at Chowpatty. We already have reports that ATS chief Hemant Karkare, additional CP (eastern region) Ashok Kamte and top encounter cop Vijay Salaskar were among those gunned down in an ambush by two terrorists near Azad Maidan a short while ago. The Mumbai police were out to get those who had taken out their best. At Sukh Sagar, the taxi driver hesitates a brief instant, waiting for some indication that he should turn left. The silence in the taxi is loud enough a sign for him to turn right. He parks at the side of the road and we cautiously approach the carnage in front of us. The Skoda carrying the terrorists who were believed to have killed the Mumbai police top brass is untouched at the front. The bullet holes instead have shattered the glass at the rear. Cartridges, shoes, bloody notes and other debris are being collected for evidence. The cops there have blood stained clothes but they also have their revenge—both terrorists dead. "We will not let our officers' death be in vain," says the officer on site. Girguam is also where, in the stillness of the night, watching Mumbai police turn armed weapons at approaching vehicles, we get a real sense of the magnitude of what is happening that night to the city. The city has been scarred before. The city has been gravely wounded before. The city has bled before. How bad is it going to be this time around? Beyond imagination? Most certainly. But then, didn't we think that in 1993? In 2006?

2.30 am: We return 15-minutes later from the scene under Girguam bridge to our taxi and again, it is silence that prompts the taxi driver to continue down Marine Drive towards the Oberoi Hotel. We approach Oberoi around 2.45 am: OB vans occupy one side of the street. Ambulances and fire brigade vehicles are on the other side. Joining the media personnel flocked outside the hotel, stories are exchanged on who has been where and seen what. "CST station was the worst. An AK-47 on rampage is the worst nightmare to happen in Mumbai," says one reporter. No one has any confirmed reports on what exactly is happening inside the hotel. Yes, there are terrorists holed up there. Yes, there are hostages. Firing. The fire brigade personnel are huddled in a group on the parapet at Marine Drive. The medical team is waiting, disposable gloves and masks on. Anxious friends and relatives, guests staying at the hotel who were returning from previous engagements are being calmed by authorities. Shocked cops from the ATS are coming to grips with the loss of Hemant Karkare and others.

3.30 am: By now, our party of four has dwindled to two. We decide to head towards the epicentre. Again to our incredulity, there is no police presence from Marine Drive, down Vidhan Bhavan near Churchgate station until we reach Regal cinema. Our taxi driver says he will park near the museum, insists he will wait for us and for the first time issues a softly spoken, "Be careful."

3.45 am: We walk down Colaba Causeway and take the first left from Regal cinema to head towards the Taj. I have walked down these streets a few hundred times over the years, at various times of the day and night. I have lived at the adequate Moti Mahal hotel here for a brief month. I have spent many an enjoyable and eventful evening at Leopold Café. The walk from Regal to Taj has never felt so heavy at each step of the way.

The first glimpse of the Taj is serene. The night sky dotted with stars and the impressive vertical lines of the new building and the iconic dome of the old Taj. A few steps more and the floodlights from the fire brigade illuminate the grim reality. The Taj stands pitch black except for the flames licking the top floor of the old building. Gun shots, armoured vehicles, more fire brigade vehicles, ambulances and of course, a sea of journalists. It doesn't take me long to find my colleague there at the scene. We huddle together with a few other journalists at the Apollo Bunder side of the Taj. From there we have a clear view of the fire brigade personnel attempting to control the flames in a room in the far left corner of the old building. But soon the room after that is seen glowing orange. And then the room after that. Wooden balcony frames, foam mattresses and other combustible material are a perfect recipe for disaster. Glass cracking under intense heat crashes to the ground below. There is no more gunfire. It is all quiet except for the crackling fire. It is all dark except for the glowing embers.

6.00 am: At the first sign of day break on November 27, the fire brigade with their elevator ladders swing into action, rescuing harried guests trapped inside the old Taj building. Several of those trapped are brought down to safety, wrapped with white towels and bed-sheets as protection against smoke inhalation. Large hoses are dousing the flames.

We are kept a safe distance away by the police and with our lenses capture the worst disaster to have struck the heart of this city by the bay. As night turns to day, we continue to document and to witness. And yet, it is difficult not to be affected by the heat of the burning Taj. It is difficult not to be affected by the cold bloodedness of the attackers.

7.30 am: As the fire brigade finishes its operations, we think the worst is over. We are hungry and thirsty and want to carry on with the business of filing our stories and pictures. Making our way towards the Gateway of India side of the Taj we mingle with journalists and police attempting to piece together a cohesive timeline of events. It is a false dawn, the quiet before the storm. Gunshots from the Taj get us running for cover. Retaliatory gunfire from the ground follows.

Over the next few minutes, the Army has taken positions. The media is cordoned off. The Gateway of India has snipers strategically placed. The area is declared a no-man's zone. No one can move. No one wants to. And then one more window in the old Taj is seen glowing.

8.00 am: The Army commandos storm the new building. BEST buses are put into service to transport civilians to safety. More ambulances arrive. Tense anticipation fills the air. An hour later, the first group of rescued civilians emerges from the building, escorted by armed personnel. They make it as far as the side of the road before shots are fired again. They instinctively duck for cover. So do we. A few minutes of anxious silence later they are quietly herded into a waiting BEST bus. An injured person—it is unclear whether he is a civilian or suspected militant—is carried on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance.

Soon a few more civilians are escorted from the hotel. The media get access to some sound bytes from frightened employees. "It was the worst thing I have lived through in my life. I was here on a business trip and my wife decided to accompany me. We were due to leave tomorrow in the evening and return home to Tokyo. Now I have no idea where my wife is and I just don't know what to do and what to think. I just don't know…" a Japanese middle-aged man is narrating to a journalist nearby. No one is able to say what really is going on. And then another blast is heard. Eerie silence envelopes the area. And then more Army personnel storm into the building.

12.30 pm: Morning turns to noon. It has been quiet for a couple of hours since the last blast. We soon find out why. Everybody makes a beeline for Nariman House, a few streets away. A couple of those being held hostage, including a two-year-old girl, are rescued. But the terrorists are still holed in there with more hostages. Army personnel explain that it is difficult to storm either the Taj, the Oberoi or Nariman House because the safety of innocents being held would be gravely compromised. And so they can only take very small steps at a time to gain a foothold in the garrisons the terrorists have set up.

5.00 pm: At the Taj, again more gunfire and soon another room on fire. It seems like the militants have done their groundwork very well indeed. They make very few mistakes. It is surreal to stand and stare at immaculate window dressings of the best luxury names in the business while the top floor of the same building is being gutted.

As twilight descends, the atmosphere is almost relaxed. Rescue operations at the Oberoi have been a success. CST station has been cleaned up and trains were running, albeit sparsely populated. We manage to get a meal.

10 pm: We return to the Taj. It has now been 24 hours. Fire still glows. No one has any confirmed figures on how many rescued, how many still trapped, how many terrorists still holed up. We are exhausted. It is time to head home, rest and see what November 28 would bring.

Aliefya Vahanvaty is chief copy editor with the new business magazine to be launched by Network 18 in alliance with Forbes of USAhttp://ibnlive.in.com/news/eyewitness-account-a-date-with-terror/79339-3.html

So many people have expressed their feelings -- Thought I should share these writings.

This is one of the last emails... will keep adding to this list, some old, some new - - but all heart-rendering, and relevant.

As the Fires Die: The Terror of the Aftermath

As the smoke lifts from Mumbai, skepticism must prevail over those conjectures
which support the official state narrative. It is crucial to increase the
pressure for transparency and accountability at this moment to ensure that India
doesn't slide into the same state as post-9/11 USA.

By Biju Mathew

This piece originally appeared in Samar 31,
http://www.samarmagazine.org/archive/issue.php?issue_num=31
published online December 1st, 2008.

The deaths continue even as I write this. The death toll stands at 195. And of
the several hundred injured some may not survive. It is now official. The siege
is over. The last of the gunmen inside the Taj Hotel has been shot dead. The
Oberoi/Trident hotel was cleared earlier today and the Nariman House Jewish
Center at the corner of Third Pasta Lane on the Colaba Causeway was stormed
close to 24 hours ago. The other targets - the Leopold Cafe (a popular tourist
hangout), the CST railway terminus (also called the Victoria Terminus), the
Metro Cinema, the Cama Hospital, all seem to be targets the gunmen attacked as
they zoned in on the hotels and Nariman House. In the end this has become a
story of two sets of men with guns.

The human story of the innocents who died, the hotel staff who kept their cool
and moved guests around the hotel through the service entryways and exits, those
who helped each other escape, will not really make it to the headlines. The
maintenance worker at the Oberoi who shielded guests and took the bullets in his
stomach will remain unsung. The hospital orderlies who ran in and out with
stretchers carrying the wounded - each time not knowing if they will make it
back themselves to the ambulance, will not be noted. The several trainee chefs
at the Taj who fell to bullets even as other kitchen workers escorted guests
away from the firing and hid them inside a private clubroom will not be written
up in the book of heroes. The young waiter at Leopold who was to leave to work
in a Cape Town restaurant will soon be forgotten. The two young men who dragged
an Australian tourist shot in the leg away from the Leopold entrance and carried
her to a taxi will not
even identify themselves so that she can thank them. These stories, in as much
as they are told, will remain on the lips of only the workers, the guests and
the tourists who helped each other. The officials will try and produce a clean
story to tell the world. And we know the clean story is untrue.

The official story that has already begun to emerge is one that may have some
facts embedded in it. But we must remember that between every two facts is a lot
of conjecture. The conjectures that unite the few facts (16 gunmen, AK47s,
grenades, passports of multiple nationalities, boats on which at least some of
them arrived, a dead Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) chief, Hemant Karkare, who was
heading the investigation against the Hindu Right wings' terror campaign, the
gunmen trying to identify British and American citizens) makes the story. The
story then is as much a product of the conjecture as it is of the facts. And
there are certain stories that we are already oriented towards. The conjectures
that create that story - the story we are already prepared for - is the one the
State will dole out for our consumption. Already the conjectures that will serve
the State, are out there in great profusion.

Several reporters have noted that the gunmen were clean-shaven, dressed in jeans
and T-shirts. The silent conjecture is that they were expecting and were
surprised by the fact that these men did not have beards and did not sport the
Muslim prayer cap. Every newspaper worth its salt - the Times of India, the
Jerusalem Post, the Independent from the UK, among scores of others - have
already run commentary on the unsecured coastline of India. The conjectural
subtext is that securing the coastline is possible and if India had done so,
this attack would have been prevented.

There is also a quick labeling going on -- India's 9/11. The subtext is that
India could and should act as the US did after 9/11 - decisively and with great
aggression. There is also the subtext that the Indian State is soft on terror
that adds to the US-tough-on-terror contrast. Sadanand Dhume, writing in the
Wall Street Journal, has castigated the Indian government for withdrawing the
Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) and for preventing states like Gujarat from
passing their own version of the draconian worse-than-Patriot Act legislations.
Neither Mr. Dhume, nor the several reporters who will now write stories about
how the POTA repeal represents the Indian State's soft attitude towards terror
will ever feel the need to explain how POTA could have prevented this attack.

The dead are on the floor. The vultures are moving in. The conjecture will try
to unite the country into a series of unexamined positions. That POTA must be
recalled. That States must be allowed to pass even more draconian laws. That
Hindu terror is not a big issue and must be forgotten for now - especially now
that we may not find an honest policeman or woman to head the ATS. That the
defense budget must go up. That the coastline must be secured..

None of the well educated masters of the media will write that the 7000 odd
kilometer coastline cannot be protected - that all it will translate to is
billions in contracts for all and sundry including Israeli and American
consultants. Nobody will write that a hundred POTAs will not prevent a terror
attack like this one; that Guantanamo Bay has not yielded a single break
through. Nobody will write that higher defense budgets have been more often
correlated with insecure and militarized lives for ordinary citizens. Nobody
will write that almost without exception all of US post 9/111 policies have been
disasters. Bin Laden is still around, I am told and so is the Al Qaeda. The
number of fundamentalist Christians, Muslims, Hindus and Jews have probably gone
up over the last decade. So much for good policy. But the conjecture will go on.

The foreign hand and its internal partner will be floated without ever naming
anything precise. But the country will read it just as it is meant to be read -
Pakistan and the Indian Muslim. Everything will rest on the supposed confession
of the one gunman who has been captured. A Pakistani from Faridkot, I am told.
Why should we believe it? Didn't the same Indian State frame all the supposed
accomplices in the Parliament attack case? Didn't the same Indian State claim
that the assassins of Chattisinghpura were from across the border until that
story fell apart? And more recently, didn't the same Indian State finally agree
that all the accused in the Mecca Masjid bombings were actually innocent? And
even if Mr. Assassin supposedly from Faridkot did say what he did say - why
should we believe him? Why is it so difficult to believe that he has his lines
ready and scripted? If he was willing to die for whatever cause he murdered for,
then can he not lie? Oh
the lie detector test - that completely discredited science that every
militarized State trots out. And the media love the lie detector test because it
is the best scientific garb you can give to conjecture.

I certainly don't know the truth. But I do know that there is more than enough
reason for skepticism. The problem is that we need a new theory of the State. We
need to re-understand the State.

There is such unanimity when it comes to analyzing the Pakistani State - that
the ISI, and if not all of the ISI, at least a segment of it, is a rogue element
Furthermore, that its bosses may not be sitting in Islamabad, but perhaps
elsewhere in the country or even abroad. If we can accept that about the
Pakistani State, why is it so difficult to accept it about the Indian State? We
all know that Colin Powell was a kind of a patsy - a fall guy, who trotted out
some lies on behalf of a segment of the neo-conservative movement firmly
entrenched within the American State (which Obama will not touch). We also know
that if the ISI has a rogue element in it, it was in good part created by the
CIA. Then why do we think that the same guys couldn't render another State -
such as the US - itself hollow from the inside.

The contemporary State is a different being. For every story of money-corruption
you hear, there could just as well be one of political-corruption. Every vested
interest who locates himself inside the State apparatus is not just a vested
interest going after money but could just as well be securing the space for
creating a certain politics. The RSS has a long history of trying to take over
the bureaucracy, doesn't it? So do the neo-cons and so do the jamaatis. Then why
do we believe in a theory of the State that is unified and with liberal goals?

The history of the liberal State and its relationship with capitalism of all
types is a simple one. The longer that relationship persists the more corrupt
and hollow the liberal State gets, leaving the space open for political
ideologies to occupy its very insides. The logic for this is inherent in the
very system. If profit is above all, then given the power the State has, it must
be bought. Cheney is no different from Shivraj Patil, and Ambani is no different
from Halliburton. They are both part of the story of hollowing the State out.
And once the hollowing process begins, every ideological force can find its way
in, as long as it has resources. The archetypal bourgeois liberal State is over.
It never really existed, but what we have at the end of four decades of
neo-liberalism bears no resemblance to the ideal formulation whatsoever. What we
have instead is a series of hollowed out States with their nooks and crannies,
their departments and offices
populated with specific neo-conservative ideological interests. The US has its
variant. India has its. And Israel its very own. It is incapable of delivering
the truth, and not just the truth, it is only capable of producing lies.

If this story of skepticism makes sense then we have only one choice. To
understand that it is crucial to increase the pressure for transparency at this
moment, to be relentless in our demand for openness and detail, in our call to
ensure that no investigation or inquiry that was in place be halted and that
every one of these be subjected to public scrutiny. It is our responsibility to
reject the discourse of secrecy based on security and demand specific standards
of transparency. What we should demand is that every senior minister and every
senior intelligence officer be examined and the records be made available to the
public. What we must demand is that an officer of impeccable record be found to
replace Hemant Karkare. What we must demand is that we get explanations of how a
POTA clone would have stopped this crime. What we must ask is how POTA or the
Patriot Act could have ever helped prevent terror? What we must do is support
the Karkare family in
their demand for a full investigation of his death in the company of the
encounter specialist- Salaskar. What we must have is an open debate on every
single case of terror over the last decade in India.

When I am in Bombay, I always stay at a friend's on Third Pasta Lane. Each
afternoon I would walk out and see the Nariman House. I have wondered what the
decrepit building was. I have always contrasted the drabness of the building
with the colorful sign on the next building that announces Colaba Sweet House.
The next time I won't wonder. I will know that it was one of the places where
the drama that inaugurated India's renewed march towards fascism unfolded.
Unless we act. Unless we act with speed and determination demanding transparency
and accountability and a careful rewriting of the story of terror in India. Only
a renewed movement can ensure that India doesn't slide into the same state as
post 9/11 USA.

Biju Mathew is a member of the Campaign to Stop Funding Hate and the Coalition
Against Genocide and is a co-founder of the New York Taxi Worker Alliance

Tripr.tv: Pays Hotels Guests to Video Their Hotel Room!
First Web Portal Which Pays Travelers for Their Videos Launched

MIAMI, Florida, For anyone who stays in hotels, there's a new way of making money - without any effort. Simply make a short film of your room, recording your comments, and send it to the newly launched international travel website"Tripr.tv". When someone books a room at the hotel as a result of watching your video, you get a cut of the booking commission.

Launching all around the world today after 6 months of very successful trials, Tripr.tv (www.tripr.tv) is the first company of its kind - showing potential hotel guests what a hotel is really like, unlike the corporate pictures and videos which the hotels themselves show you.

"Almost a thousand hotels are already on the site, but we want tens of thousands more," explained Mr. Jan Kooman, Tripr.tv CEO. "We are basically a kind of YouTube for the hotel business. Moving images are much more realistic than the, often outdated and glamorized, pictures which hotels themselves show. Our way, potential guests can really trust the hotel. When you're filming for Tripr.tv, you're actually walking around your room. Everyone can see the truth!"

Try this! To get the Om symbol on your computer screen, open MS Word and key in backslash ( \ ) in Wingdings font. You will type in Om!

I am now the Co-Chair of the Green Committee at work. I've started to think more about the different things I can do for the environment. I thought this was an interesting article for green-conscious consumers:

As more and more things claim to be green, how can you tell which are truly environmentally friendly, and which are just trying to cash in on the latest trend? About 30 hotels in the U.S. now boast LEED Certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design); a badge of honor handed out by the U.S. Green Building Council, but there are also accommodations without a certification that still provide green design elements. From low-flush toilets to the use of non-toxic materials and cleaning supplies to recycling programs and water conservation, here are the ten best green hotels across America, where you can enjoy your stay without harming Mother Earth.

___________________________
CALIFORNIA

American Canyon
Gaia Napa Valley Hotel & Spa
www.gaianapavalleyhotel.com

San Francisco
The Orchard Garden Hotel
www.theorchardgardenhotel.com

 

___________________________
ILLINOIS

Chicago
Hotel Allegro
www.allegrochicago.com

___________________________
MASSACHUSETTS

Nantucket
Hotel Green
www.vanessanoelhotelgreen.com

___________________________
NEVADA

Las Vegas
The Palazzo Resort-Hotel-Casino
www.palazzolasvegas.com

___________________________
NEW MEXICO

Taos
El Monte Sagrado
www.elmontesagrado.com

___________________________
NEW YORK

Manhattan
70 Park Avenue Hotel
www.70parkave.com

___________________________
WASHINGTON

Seattle
Hotel Monaco Seattle
www.monaco-seattle.com

___________________________
WASHINGTON D.C.

Washington D.C.
The Fairmont Washington, D.C.
www.fairmont.com/washington

___________________________
WYOMING

Jackson Hole
Hotel Terra
www.hotelterrajacksonhole.com

More about green hotels Top 10 Eco-Resorts Worldwide Read about more of the world's best hotels

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