tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12824677964250049662024-03-14T19:26:08.464+05:30buro anglathe leery light of childhood,glimpses into a dizzying world of fearful and pointless gestures, and other listless adventures...buro anglahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13370995126985812723noreply@blogger.comBlogger94125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1282467796425004966.post-2016706381591585152012-07-09T01:19:00.002+05:302012-07-09T01:57:42.127+05:30Teer-lil-lilli-dong: Chuck and Geck and Other Books by Arkady Gaidar<i>Teer-lil-lilli-dong!<br />Teer-lil-lilli-dong! </i><br />
<br />
Who remembers <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkady_Gaidar">Arkady Gaidar</a>? At some point in my childhood, when the sky was full of stars, I happened to read the adventures of Chuck and Geck, their long journey on the Trans-Siberian railway and on a sledge across the hoary taiga in search of their adventuring father.<br />
<br />
It was probably the best children's book from the Soviet era: it found a readership across continents, and touched the hearts of many eight-year-old kids who lived in cramped Indian cities. Alongside heroes and villains of Indian and British-American persuasions, their good friends were the brave Chuck and Geck, Vasilisa the beautiful, Ivan the dragon-slayer, and Makar the unlucky Yakut. They dreamed endlessly as they stared across muddy roads and dusty alleys that they knew led to exotic lands filled with adventures: they talked to their friends in their dreams. It was such a good book written in wonderful prose, and beautifully illustrated in black and white. <br />
<br />
Now that's all far, far away, and the eight-year-old children have all grown up. For those of them who are still alive, the Soviet Union has become a dull and disturbing subject filling many history books while the publishers of these wonderful books (Mir, Vostok, Raduga) have ceased to exist. Most of these children live like old people now: their adult selves uneasy with the horrors perpetrated in the name of communism; uneasier still, witnessing the way commodities nastily distort the dreams of the children they see around them.<br />
<br />
But in the middle of the night, in the strangest moments of reminiscing childhood, those older children--the readers of Arkady Gaidar-- have curious dreams.<br />
<br />
They dream of a thousand lives, they dream of lonely death. From the darkened hovels where they live in, from the smoggiest zones of some Indian city lit with a thousand neon signs, they dream of strange loud bells ringing in faraway Moscow on a Christmas night. On a hot sweaty summer night, they smell the snow falling on the fir trees of the endless Taiga, and breathe at ease. They see the bear and the wold leap across their windows: they are not afraid. But as they drift off to sleep, they wonder: what do children read now?<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIhq4L7ZipsviHZb1uZeDAYUbeCooqBtKoZiecLrQ4d7UAvCHNYKzh5y7vtbdtglTUPXF99-eJIgeqOOjPD7BbTnMOJoCqygiLYRic8yMgBvgomfUClgEREKXZg7AFEVuzpraC_Q_PpGNB/s1600/Chuck+and+Geck-Arkady+Gaidar.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIhq4L7ZipsviHZb1uZeDAYUbeCooqBtKoZiecLrQ4d7UAvCHNYKzh5y7vtbdtglTUPXF99-eJIgeqOOjPD7BbTnMOJoCqygiLYRic8yMgBvgomfUClgEREKXZg7AFEVuzpraC_Q_PpGNB/s320/Chuck+and+Geck-Arkady+Gaidar.jpeg" width="202" /></a> <br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">For those like me still searching for the works of Arkady Gaider in the ether, here are the download links to three pdf files: three books from the forgotten master. It's still a great pleasure to read them, but ah, the pictures and wonderful illustrations, the dog-eared pages of a book thumbed breathlessly a thousand times, and the eight-year-old mind are badly missed:</span></i><br />
<b><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/o81lufda3d10i4v/Chuck_and_Geck-Arkady_Gaider.pdf" target="_blank"><i>Chuck and Geck </i></a></b><br />
<b><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/771rowhe7da9h1z/timur_and_his_squad-arkady_gaidar.pdf" target="_blank"><i>Timur and his Squad</i></a></b><br />
<b><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/4ocdgw00s5bgp65/the_school-Arkady_Gaidar.pdf" target="_blank"><i>The School</i></a></b></blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src="http://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js" type="text/javascript">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ8h9BhHDcglKHLNzksXTdeDzXIlMl4iqtC_4iuuZG4jtzqejOxJW58AOEyy3cqIXq6ubT-9iDU2jh2fwm2_XuDsAuy_Zj9IdVTYHwK6leIxmg43kjC2BiawxaTul4MFkWqUosKok75aw9/s1600/Tear-Gas-2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
'We can go back in time and look at people cheerleading the Iranian
revolution or the Zimbabwean anti-colonial struggle or the ANC in South
Africa or the Sandinistas or whatever political fight. In all cases
there is an understandable urge to side with the underdog. But what was
the outcome? Why are radicals so quick to patriotically cheer on the
latest thing, when we should be saying: <i>'"Brothers and sisters in
Yemen and Egypt and Algeria and Tunisia, watch out for the states in
waiting, watch out for the 'popular resistance hero'. Remember Mugabe.
Remember Khomeini. The difference between a dictator and a democrat is
only at the ballot box - the factory and the slum will not change. The
'imprisoned opposition leaders' of today will be the jailers of
tomorrow. Stay strong. You will need miracles, and G-d is not
watching. All the proposed solutions are lies!'"</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i> </i>Perhaps it is too soon to say this (Mubarak may hold on), but the
real enemy of those revolting in Northern Africa is the political
opposition that is preparing to take power. And when I say 'take
power', I mean that in the most general way.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If/when a revolt appears where 'we' are, 'we' cannot fall prey to the
indecency of waving flags and banners in support of whatever is
happening. Our task is to pee on the parade. To say "No! Push
further! The old world is not behind you yet!" To point out the
policeman with red and black flags. To maintain our principles and
avoid urgency, even when the situation appears to be moving quickly.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Remember every international revolt you've been excited about in your
life. Look at what happened after each of them. What happened May,
1969? What happened to your enthusiasm? All of the doors that appeared
to be open lead nowhere or were, in retrospect, closed. The freedom
fighters joined or became the government. The political situation was
turned upside down, the old leaders jailed, the elections became free
(at least for one election!), and yet... wage labor, value production,
the unending circulation of commodities and money, the reproduction of
classes, all of this carried on without pause. Why?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Does anyone believe the situation in North Africa is a revolt against
capitalism? If you do, do you think this revolt could lead to
communism (or 'anarchy' or whatever you want to say)? If you say no to
either question, what exactly are you supporting?'</div>
<br />
-- From the<i> <a href="http://www.lettersjournal.org/blog/the-communist-should-not-attend">Letters Journal </a></i><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ8h9BhHDcglKHLNzksXTdeDzXIlMl4iqtC_4iuuZG4jtzqejOxJW58AOEyy3cqIXq6ubT-9iDU2jh2fwm2_XuDsAuy_Zj9IdVTYHwK6leIxmg43kjC2BiawxaTul4MFkWqUosKok75aw9/s1600/Tear-Gas-2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ8h9BhHDcglKHLNzksXTdeDzXIlMl4iqtC_4iuuZG4jtzqejOxJW58AOEyy3cqIXq6ubT-9iDU2jh2fwm2_XuDsAuy_Zj9IdVTYHwK6leIxmg43kjC2BiawxaTul4MFkWqUosKok75aw9/s320/Tear-Gas-2.png" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"Made in USA" tear gas cannister used by the Egyptian police on protestors. January, 2011.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Image source: <a href="http://crisisofcivilization.com/tear-gas-do-not-fire-directly-at-persons-severe-injury-or-death-may-result/"><i>crisisofcivilization</i></a></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;">"</span>[Y]ou are a slave... born into bondage, born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch. A prison for your mind. Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. </i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember: all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more."</i></blockquote>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6oGFzHNQxmwOkv1GLZznxgCpRPZGBAq9Es-OF52IQD2pB9kTOC7WrkvXZ4k3tFJ_l2tKZSxafpe_qGzU3MIIuZUihUa24L7gwdGR2F05_VXQOfds-BeEgkbi31ILDp7_pyHA3CGPDZ6Re/s1600/0-the-matrix-red-blue-pill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6oGFzHNQxmwOkv1GLZznxgCpRPZGBAq9Es-OF52IQD2pB9kTOC7WrkvXZ4k3tFJ_l2tKZSxafpe_qGzU3MIIuZUihUa24L7gwdGR2F05_VXQOfds-BeEgkbi31ILDp7_pyHA3CGPDZ6Re/s320/0-the-matrix-red-blue-pill.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Good and bad. Evil and lesser evil. Blue pill and red pill? Damn them all. <br />
They aren't real choices. Cut out the hyperboles and the symbolisms: it isn't, and never will be, a choice when you've to decide between two, only two. It's a choice when you've the option to choose out of the many, and then decide you won't be having a pill. There are a multitude of truths, and they come in more colours than in a rainbow, and are more complex than a pharmaceutical choice.<br />
<br />
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</span></span></b></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFF3CCIJGSjcpXc809UM2cnTVgczKjTczGIsQldtWTFPNH-oYnsi62TkdZeZVpnvkPz3eBXgZXwyZfaBeqnUPHUNqDPMvKdK5_Vxlg9pBq5KsiahBtmVgtqUU3W7pSROs1iTlLZigWoSp0/s1600/ruins.Jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">"</span>The constructions of history are comparable to military orders that discipline the true life and confine it to barracks. On the other hand: the street insurgence of the anecdote. The anecdote brings things near to us spatially, lets them enter our life. It represents the strict antithesis to the sort of history which demands 'empathy,' which makes everything abstract.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"</span></span></span></b><div>
</div><div>- Walter Benjamin [<i>The Arcades Project</i>]</div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src="http://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js" type="text/javascript">
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Though with it, as with any other, you have to spend hours attaching tags to the books and files you once stored in different folders. And if you really do have the time to systematise your study, I suggest you can use the quotation manager <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://textcite.sourceforge.net/">TextCite</a>, and make a good use of its category functions to organise your reading notes.)<br /><br />My intention here is different. I am disorganised to the extent that the effort and time that goes into my attempted writing of a PhD dissertation makes it impossible for wander beyond my writing, for the time being, or to systematically organise my ebooks for purposes other than that of writing. So what I tell you here might come of help if you're working against a deadline, and your technological capabilities like mine doesn't go beyond a little typing skills in MS Word.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;">The sublime object of Bibliography</span><br /><br />For some time I have been looking for a way to refer to my modest collection of about 10 GB of ebooks in pdf, html, djvu and other formats; about 5GB of journal articles and randomly scribbled notes in MS Word. And I've been trying to access these for the last two weeks to write a chapter of about 20,000 words, and the footnote entries stand as of now at 178, with a book or an article to cite for most. I had to do this following one of the the humanities styles listed by the <span style="font-style: italic;">Chicago Manual of Style</span>, and I found the manual entering of citations is really a pain in the ass, especially when you've to concentrate on the writing, and at the same time, look for the obscure useless book stored somewhere in your hard drive that you've read and which exists for no worthy purposes beyond the cursory citation. This made me look for two things: a organiser of ebooks and articles that is (and importantly) a bibliographic citation manager. Like an idiot, the first thing I turned to was EndNote.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Managing Citations and the complex world of Citation Managers<br /></span><br /></span>After playing with <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.endnote.com/">EndNote</a> for a week, I realised this was not for me. It's expensive: from <span style="font-style: italic;">where</span> does a third world 'researcher' procure $ 300, and pay additional shipping charges, apart from the <span style="font-style: italic;">why </span>of it? And perhaps with the reasons to do with its price, EndNote's interface is confusing for the uninitiated (read someone whose university doesn't have a commercial tie-up with the company). Another of my objections is that EndNote created more problems in terms of storage, unless you constantly upgraded your stuff. Even without upgrading, EndNote sucks. For example, if you've a desktop running on Windows XP with Word2003 installed, and a laptop with Windows 7 with Word2007 installed, and use a USB stick between the two for small file transfers, there's no simple way to migrate your bibliographic data, insert and cite (their 'Cite While You Write' function) from the same EndNote file in which you've once stored your citations. And after an endless session of scanning their tutorial videos, their forums, and googling solutions as how to get rid of the "invalid class string" message that appears every time I try to insert a citation from EndNote to Word, I decided that I had enough.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>I tried <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.zotero.org/">Zotero</a> for a few days, the free and open source add-on for the Firefox browser. While it worked good for synchronising notes taken from the web, there was no going beyond the proverbial Firefox way of crashing. I usually take a long smoking break when my favourite Firefox crashes, but this was a bit more. Zotero crashed everytime I tried to append a pdf ebook to it from my hard discs, and a number of times, without any provocation. I almost got lung cancer!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>And for a day and two after that, I tried using <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.mendeley.com/">Mendeley</a>. As an offline and web-based hybrid citation manager, Mendeley too was free and excellent in terms of its management of books, articles, and citations, and the way it effortlessly scanned my library and fetched names, etc. off the files, and also made the insertion of citations in Word very easy. If you're planning a shorter work (let's say a journal article), Mendeley should be the obvious choice. For longer works though, I'm skeptical about Mendeley on two counts. One, synchronization between the offline version and the online Mendeley account of yours takes hours, especially if you live on slow internet connections in the southern hemisphere. Two, its free online storage capability is only 500 MB (you've to pay to "upgrade" your storage), which plays one of the older tricks of proprietary software industry's money-making.<br /><br />It was at this point, I was on the verge of frustration, and almost decided to go back to the manual entry process in MS Word. I was and am wary of open source: who doesn't know that what the geeks call "really simple", really requires hours and hours of unfruitful scripting for the technologically incompetent such as me? But I thought I would try at least one. And I'm happy that I did, I found one that didn't make me look back.<br /><br />I found <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://jabref.sourceforge.net/">JabRef</a> . And my ecstatic advice to you:<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> </span></b><span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">If you're looking for one that makes your work easy, try JabRef- the best bibliography manager for the present.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span> The best thing for JabRef is that it easy for the first-time user and uncomplicated. It takes at the most 10-15 minutes to learn. Moreover, it is consistent than EndNote, or the word citation manager that comes default in MS Word 2007; it is so because the techies say JabRef is based on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibtex">BibTeX</a>. And finally it always free to try, and improve on (if you are into coding), because it is open source.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;">How JabRef works</span><br /><br /></span> Once you download and install it, you open JabRef, create a database, and click the green (<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">+</span></span></span></b>) sign for a new entry. (BTW, you have to have Java installed on your computer. If you don't have it, get it from <i><a href="http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp">here</a></i>).<div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS0Zq7pJSFO5BqN8pGQgTDmuVIJOjLLSgZZ67pMpjBT4uM6QqLxzSNCGBjZLi4MGkfYKq86JPaJf0fx9vScL6r9TuV72aNWmE3diHewYrE_D-UtYCNxbAwlZugjZsEvGmDgdrzEnfGJTKf/s1600/jabref.gif"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS0Zq7pJSFO5BqN8pGQgTDmuVIJOjLLSgZZ67pMpjBT4uM6QqLxzSNCGBjZLi4MGkfYKq86JPaJf0fx9vScL6r9TuV72aNWmE3diHewYrE_D-UtYCNxbAwlZugjZsEvGmDgdrzEnfGJTKf/s320/jabref.gif" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490499263872637618" /></a><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>There appear simple fields to insert your bibliographical data<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>and linking facilities to either files in your computer or on the web. It's really that simple! And this YouTube video below explains most of the rest:<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QRteWsNfMeg&hl=en_US&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QRteWsNfMeg&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="480"></embed></object><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span>I found out that I can easily customise on the input fields for the bibliographic entry. And if you require more variations on the Chicago style using JabRef, they don't come by default with the JabRef software. But you can easily download an excellent plug-in (developed by Juan Jose Baldrich) called "Chicago Manual of Style export filters" (check <a href="http://jabref.sourceforge.net/plugins/net.sf.jabref.export.ChicagoExport%28English%29-1.0.jar"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">here</span></i></a> for the English version). Download the plug-in and install it in the following steps:<em></em><br /><blockquote><i>JabRef>Plugins> Plugin Manager> Install Plugin</i></blockquote>Once you've installed the plug-in, you can export your entire bibliography (or select entries) in a rich text format (.rtf) file that opens in MS Word with your citations arranged according to your preference following the <i>Chicago manual</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Also if you're lazy like me to desire a set of insert buttons in MS Word that automatically insert a citation, or create a bibliography on the document in which you are working, you <span style="font-style: italic;">can </span>do that with JabRef. For that, you just have to install two other pieces of free software: the basic version of a word-processing package called <span style="font-weight: bold;">MikTeX</span> (available <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.miktex.org/2.8/setup">here</a>) and the Word-integration software called <span style="font-weight: bold;">Bibtex4Word</span> (available <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.ee.ic.ac.uk/hp/staff/dmb/perl/bibtex4word.zip">here</a>). The developer of Bibtex4Word has put up a very comprehensible step-by-step installation instruction <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.ee.ic.ac.uk/hp/staff/dmb/perl/index.html">here</a>, and you can refer to it if you have problems installing. (As I've found out, with JabRef running, Bibtex4Word works perfectly with Word 2003 and Word 2007). Again the chicago style doesn't come by default, but you can download it (and numerous other sytles) off the MikTeX site by going through the following steps and choosing:</div><div><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><i>Your Computer's Start Menu>All Programs> MikTeX>Maintenance>Package Manager> chicago or chicago-annote (you find these by scrolling down the entries on the left side of your screen). Select chicago-annote and click the install (+) button.</i></blockquote><br />Once done, you can integrate JabRef with MS Word to seamlessly insert your citations in your manuscript, and to look up ebooks, articles, and links inside the same window. It really saves time; believe me!<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src="http://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js" type="text/javascript">
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But yes, too many people have also died in the meantime. You learn it from the sophomoric television that Israeli planes are dropping bombs at Gaza. Men, women, and children wiped into oblivion under the fire and the debris.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">You've watched...</span><br /><br />You've watched the flames rise up on the screen as the newscaster on some Indian channel switches to discuss the weather over New York sky, even when you're across the globe. Or when she invites someone who's an expert on global recession, CO2 emission, on Obama's radicalism and Chomsky's pacifism, on aardvarks, emus and intergalactic refrigerators aboard India's moon mission, someone who'll now discuss with a serious face all the implications of the UN chief Ban Ki-moon's sudden discovery: "Too many people have died." Really?<br /><br />When was the first time you had watched? Oh, it had been the CNN coverage of the bombing of Baghdad in the early nineties, you and your friends played "Scud" and "Patriot" in the courtyards of crumbling colonial houses. Or simply gaped at Pranoy Roy showing his GK in <span style="font-style: italic;">World This Week </span>as how the UN could never tolerate such an aggression on Kuwait. And now since you've grown older, you remember important events as how you watched or missed them on TV, and under what circumstances, often or not as glimpses that left without visible traces.<br /><br />You had been doing a maths homework, and planning to watch Superhit Muqabila (the old crappy Channel2 TV show on Indian TV that listed the most popular movie songs), when you caught a glimpse of Russian planes bombing Chechnya. Did you, at that time, think that children of your age were getting killed in their sleep? Oh no, you had been busy playing with a toy Uzi and a model fighter plane and bombing terrorist hideouts in the backgarden.<br /><br />Then time had flowed, the sun rose, moved across the sky and set, and you were reading Kundera, laughing, forgetting, and eating a crampy cheese-burger at the canteen when the twin towers crumpled. An undergrad was yelping like Tarzan as he ran across the university, spreading the news: "Hello! Everyone! Pentagon has been fucked." You returned home and watched the tragedy and all the melodrama that followed. You saw it again and again, and thought why America is hated throughout the world.<br /><br />You now know the answer why.<br /><br />You had heard of bombs being dropped in Afghanistan, and had rushed to the canteen where they were busy watching a cricket match. No, you couldn't switch the channel. No, not even during the advertisements when beautiful females and macho males were gulping down Pepsi, Coke, or similar toilet cleaners, and asking you to do the same. You had to wait till you could travel back to your district home, and be content with the few seconds of national television news that told you little of what happened in Afghanistan, but what every revolting politician said, shouted, screamed, winked or farted to the media during that day. (Radical flag marches, effigy-burnings of Bush followed, you melted in a universe of hot-blooded slogans, but to what effect? The killings continued, the marchers felt bored, and left)<br /><br />You also know by now that 24/11 is never the direct coefficient of 9/11; just some stoopid Indian journalists pretending to be too intelligent apes after the Mumbai attacks, which some people suspect might be a covert operation of Mossad. You never know, but you know exactly why you hate these TV journalists. It's perhaps why you had stopped watching the idiot box after you had 'grown up'. Ah!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">What do you feel like in 'newsless' oblivion?</span><br /><br />The second attack on Iraq was part of shared office excitement and individual searches. Your colleagues clustered around a desktop as you together watched Saddam swinging. And you watched all the pictures of the dead Iraqi kids, shifted uncomfortably through innumerous blogs and YouTube videos posted by Iraqi bloggers who thought that they would make the world understand, and you felt like screaming. But then, time flew, and before you knew the occupation of Iraq had become so commonplace that a hundred people killed everyday ceased to be 'news'. But now, since the bombs are dropping on Gaza, what will you do? Will you sit before the TV, and switch to another comfortable channel that speaks of lifestyle? Or do another survey of blogs, videos, and podcasts, and rest content that at least you're more informed than the others?<br /><br />I don't know, but gentle reader, once again, let me wish you all my scorn and hatred for all the military-industrial empires of the world. And for all who've died in Gaza, it will be very easy to say in the glib way of those like us who can lead uninterrupted placid lives far from their pain that the oblivion they suffer would be a fate worse than death. But no fate is worse than being roasted alive, believe me.<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2dI2aI1R9uQ&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2dI2aI1R9uQ&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src="http://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js" type="text/javascript">
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