Random Thoughts

I watched the Tehelka expose right after I read the Amitva Kumar book, Husband of a fanatic (intensely self promoting piece of tripe but we will leave that for another day). Both the book and the report left me depressed. To see that after 70 years or so, we still identify ourselves by religion first and as Indians later tends to leave one dismayed. And we are predictable in our reaction to any insult - we mobilize a mob and loot.

One thing that astounds me about mob frenzy is how does a sane, otherwise intelligent person be so carried away so as to take another life? I saw it first time as a child, when a crowd looted, burnt and killed the Sikhs in our community. These people had been neighbors for longer than I had lived and yet the Sikhs were declared enemies, because of their faith they were guilty of the crime committed by the Prime Minister’s body guards. I could not understand it then –I kept asking Dad how could they have killed the PM as these men say, they live here. If it was clear to me as a child, why had the adults lost their sense?

I saw communal hatred , as a young girl, grip India again with the Rath Yatra. As the Babri Masjid came down, a friend remarked, “Ab ke hone wale tamashe mein aur kitne log marenge (How many will die in the aftermath of this)?” He was right. My Bombay burnt. And we saw, people kill, burn taxis and buses or loot. Brandishing swords, young men in my neighborhood talked about ‘protecting’ us. The implication was simple – the cops or law would not. Both the factions had young men, in their early to mid twenties, looting, killing - for what? And more importantly, at what cost? Eventually, things got under control and life resumed –but the bitterness, the inherent distrust continues as we see sparks flying time and time again in Bombay.

I was here, far away in the US, at the time of Godhra incident. And I knew that Gujrat would riot. And as Gujrat’s Hindus retaliated, we saw a new low. Gruesome horror enfolded as women were raped, men killed ,butchered actually and burnt to death, right in front of their kids. And as I read the news, I felt a rage. While I had been hurt and saddened that anyone could kill a whole train carriage of men, I was more shocked that the authorities did nothing again to stop this aftermath, this rampaging herd. The cops knew , the leaders knew. And they did nothing. Nothing. Like they did not in all the earlier cases.

It is a lesson learnt in every Indian’s lifetime – each side (substitute any pair of rivalry of the day here) tries to “take an eye for an eye.” For me, living close to Malegaon as a child has reinforced how easy it is to trigger communal hatred. It is as if someone says in the “name of allah or ram”, and we are to set aside our reason and kill. It is puzzling, how the idea of God can invoke one to lose your rationality and consciousness.

What happens after everything cools down? Do the young men who killed have any remorse? Or is still a sign of pride? I cant eat after I put the mice in my laboratory to sleep. How can these people live with slaughtering human beings? How do you accept a killer into your polite society? What is the difference between him and any other murderer? Why are the masses silent? This is what disillusions me. Instead of moving forward, it seems that time and time again, who ever rules, controls the police, the law is then set aside and for a few hours or days in the name of our God, we can be animals.

Is this the price one pays to be free? Do our leaders represent us? Are they doing or encouraging what we want? If not, why aren’t the people objecting? Is it because it is worth sticking with a devil we know?

Or is it because deep down, in India, we are a fractured society?

PS – read Rohit’s call for Modi to resign. I agree with him that Modi has to take moral responsibility for this disaster.

“Ranjish Hi Sahi” sung by Runa Laila. Lyricist Ahmad Faraz.

The more famous version is of course by Mehdi Hassan but I love this rendition by Runa Laila.

Ranjish hii sahi dil hi dukhane ke liye aa
Aa fir se mujhe chhod ke jaane ke liye aa
(ranjish - enmity)

Pahle se maraasim naa sahi fir bhi kabhi to
Rasm-o-rahe duniya hi nibhane ke liye aa
(maraasim -friendly, rasm-o-rahe = tradition)

Kis kis ko batayenge juda_ii ka sabab hum
Tu mujhse khafa hai to zamane ke liye aa

Kuch to mere pindar-e-mohabbat ka bharam rakh
Tu bhii to kabhi mujhko manane ke liye aa
(pindar = imagine)

Ik umr se hoon lazat-e-giriya se bhi meharuum
Aye raahat-e-jaan mujhko rulane ke liye aa
(lazat-e-giriya = taste of sadness, meharuum = wanting, raahat-e-jaan = joy of life)

This is the best reality TV idea.Get a bunch of Psychics together and have them square off in a challenge.

But wouldn’t the Psychics already know who the winner is? So it is one episode only?

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My Alma-mater, UK, has sent me a bill in which it acknowledges I have graduated but it is putting a hold on my registration for next semester.

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Woke up to a perfect day - sunny, gentle breeze blowing, perfectly warm and a holiday to boot. A perfect day for the beach.

Sadly, the air is full of smoke and ash. So indoors, locked up in front of the computer is (again)where I be.

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I am doing fine, folks. Sadly that is not true for the most of San Diego county. The fires are still burning and for the most part are still not contained (0 -10% containment only ). With the wind dying down late today and now that the military helicopters have arrived, things will look better. They say that fires will be contained completely by Oct 28-31. So we have a long way to go still.

A big thanks to all the firefighters who have worked non-stop since Sunday, the San Diego officials who have moved things along smoothly and been there to answer all the anxious people, all the volunteers who have helped at the evacuation centres and to all the people of San Diego County.

Mere pass Ma hai, said Sashi Kapoor in Deewar. And Amitabh was left with all the money and none of the Ma ka pyar.

This is the theme of the tag that Arpz tagged me with. The rules of the tag are simple - pick 5 things (materialistic, people or qualities ) that you have/own that you are fond/proud of and then add something that you would like to add to it. For example, I am fond of apple pie. I am quite fond of a dollop of vanilla ice cream on my apple pie

While waiting for more updates on the fire, this was the perfect thing to do. So here goes my list of things I am proud or fond of -

A. I am both proud and fond of my book collection and my reading habit. Something I have kept up even when work overwhelmed me.

I would (but naturally) wish for more books in my collection.

B. I am fond of my sense of humor. That allows me to laugh at everything in life (eventually, after I have vented off here, of course :P).

I wish that people who got my humor were around me. I miss you, Princess . We shared jokes without saying a word. It is sad that few people have that acerbic, sarcastic sense of humor.

C. I am proud of my sense of self containment. I rarely need people. Those whom I need (for gawd knows what reason) put up with me - this manages to humble me each time.

Sometimes, I wish I could be more social. Mostly because it would stop the nagging.

D. I am proud and fond of my Friends. I have few people who mean a lot to me and these people keep me sane.

I wish they were here with me. Actin and Princess, pliss to note that you can only apply for jobs in this state.

E. I am fond of my work. I love what I do. Absolutely. Even when things don’t work and failure is all I see for weeks on end, I still am happy to go to work. A reason why working 7 days a week does not bother me - tires me, yes but never bother me.

I wish that each experiment would always work out. :P Hey, one can always wish, no?

I tag who ever wishes to take this up.

Seven fires are burning in San Diego today. Major evacuations are going on. What started as two big fires last afternoon has now turned into a catastrophe, worse than the Cedar Fire incident of 2003. The gushing winds, low humidity and hot temperatures are helping the fires spread quickly.

Hoping that the wind dies down enough for the Firefighters to build a control line. Hoping that the fire does not hurt any more of these brave souls who are fighting the fires.

To all those who called, I am fine. The air is full of smoke but the fire is still not close to my residential area. I will keep you all posted.

Update - If you live live north of state Route 56, south of Del Dios Highway, west of Interstate 15 and east of Interstate 5, you are asked to evacuate the area. Looks like half of San Diego is under mandatory evacuation.

I was reminded of this song (the entire sound track, actually) when a friend asked me to mail it over the last weekend. Since then, I have played it countless times and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan magic holds me captive each time.

“Sanware tore bin jiya” from the movie Bandit Queen. Lyrics by Riaz-ur-Rehman Sushir/Ayub Anwar. Sung by NFAK and I think the female voice is Humaira Chana. Please correct me if it is not so.

James Watson has done it again.

Dr Watson told The Sunday Times that he was “inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa” because “all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours – whereas all the testing says not really”. He said there was a natural desire that all human beings should be equal but “people who have to deal with black employees find this not true”. [Link]

This is nothing new to the people in the field. This man has made remarks in similar vein towards fellow women scientist, has said that ‘a woman should be allowed to abort her fetus if it tests positive for homosexuality’ and that “increased melanin causes increased libido.” What galls about all his statements is the fact that none is corroborated by science.

Studies have shown that IQ correlates well with socioeconomic status and not with skin color. There is no test for finding homosexuals since there is no gene identified. And as far as I know there is no correlation between pigment color and your libido. All these remarks made by Watson, have no- zilch, nada- proof. He was spouting BS.

But then what did we expect from this man who suffers from perpetual foot-in-the mouthitis and a propensity to talk just to hear himself speak? Here is a man who never credited Rosalind Franklin (still does not, see the interview below), has openly talked of neo-eugenics (aborting gay, stupid fetus) or manipulating genes to generate perfect humans (or as he puts it “pretty women”). He is prone to racist comments. And he is promoting his new book - in essence giving him a platform to mouth such statements.

History shows that such thinking is not tolerated by the scientific community. Nobel laureates like William Shockley (ostracized during his lifetime for believing that certain races were genetically inferior and more so, for suggesting that with IQs under 100 should be given bonuses if they agreed to be sterilized) or Kary Mullis ( who was marginalized after he supported many dubious claims, including the discredited notion that HIV is not the cause of AIDS) are proof of what happens when you piss the community off by indulging in hate and wilful harm. Scientific community has a duty to the people. And we take it seriously.

It is time that the scientific community asks Watson to shut the fuck up about things that have no scientific basis. While speculation is what most scientist do, there is a place and a way to state these thoughts. For a man who is thought of as one of the founders of molecular biology, Watson sure know how not to be a role model.

Watson’s orginal interview from Gaurdian.

My post about Rosalind Franklin’s contribution to the DNA structure.

I love the fall season. When the leaves change color, the weather turns crisp. Back in KY, this time of the year, everywhere you looked, you saw bright red, orange leaves, you breathed in cool air (a big change from hot, humid days), sweatshirts became a norm, almost every thing screamed that the winter was just round the corner and soon the Earth would be covered in welcoming, white snow.

So yesterday when I was really missing KY where you got to see fall colors everyday, I mentioned to JB that I was looking to change template to something that reflected fall. And the sweet girl immediately looked into her photo collection, picked a few for us. This one I loved (there be many where this one came from) and we chose this for the header.

And so this is to remind me that Fall is here and Winter is lurking around the corner. What to do - the 365 days of sunshine and perfect days, makes such reminders necessary

I sat across a couple today at the coffee shop. Cute teenage love which lead them to hold hands and smooch. And yes, very gay. As I sat down to eat my muffin, I heard two desis talk disparagingly about them (in Hindi). I wondered what is it about homosexuality that brings out the worst in people, why ridicule love - just beacuse it is different from your life style?

Two people in love. That is what these two kids were. What is it about gay love that freaks straight people out?

I wanted to ask the two men if they would make the same comment if they knew someone who was gay. Why do we hate people who are different from us? Homosexuality is not a choice. People can no more chose to be gay then they can chose to be white or black, Asian or Caucasian. And yet, it is always the majority who is decides what normal is. Sadly, even though we claim to be creatures with brain, emotion and logic, we cant let go of irrational fears and prejudices.

Sometimes, humanity despairs me.