Sick and tired of Islamic fanatics holding the world to ransom

The UK government’s decision to bestow knighthood upon Salman Rushdie has scores of Islamic fanatics around the world (noticeably in Iran and Pakistan right now) fuming in collective insanity…..yet again!

Both Pakistan and Iran have lodged strong protests with the UK government and have asked the latter to withdraw Rushdie’s knighthood. Pakistan’s Minister of Religious Affairs (puke) Ijaz-ul-Haq has gone to the extent of calling this an incitement to terrorism on the part of the UK government.

Predictably, effigies are being burnt, slogans are being chanted (Death to Britain, death to Rushdie) on the streets of Pakistan.

Give it a week and news of such incidents would start pouring in from India, Indonesia, Netherlands, far and wide, just like it happened during the Danish cartoon imbroglio.

What really takes the cake is the Pakistani minister justifying future acts of terrorism because of Rushdie being granted knighthood. This is yet another example of Islam-o-freaks threatening the world to fall in line with them or be ready to face the consequences. Their problem is they forget that there is a world beyond the Koran, Prophet Muhammed and Islam, at least for the rest of us. Not everyone in the world has the luxury of being unemployed and illiterate, therefore having the freedom of getting out on the steets protesting this or that/blowing up this or that. We have jobs, not to mention freedom of expression, which may be an alien concept in these societies, but is a way of life for us.

Our world is going a scarier place by the day, if their response to every thing that displeases them is threats of violence. Why is it that they have suddenly become the dictators of what is right/wrong, acceptable/unacceptable to the rest of the world?

Britain is an independent country. Now, if a free country wants to felicitate or punish an individual for their corresponding actions, it should be allowed to do so at free will. How does what the UK government do within its borders, make any difference what so ever to Pakistan and Iran? In fact, why should the latter two give any importance to Britain’s actions? Are they not then claiming Britain’s supremacy to them in the world order? Secondly, Britain’s constitution declares Christianity to be their state faith, with an established church. Given that as well, Britain is not expected to treat other religions at par. Islamic nations should know; they are the worst perpetrators of religious discrimination. In UAE for instance, people from other religions are not allowed to pray in public. Similarly in Afghanistan, historic Buddhist Baamiyan statues were destroyed by the Taliban. I don’t remember Buddhists of the world taking to streets or threatening to become suicide bombers. Would I be committing blasphemy by claiming that this is probably because Buddhism is a religion of peace, and has leaders like Dalai Lama and not the Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid.
A Google search will reveal recent news pieces about Hindus/Christians in Pakistan being threatened to convert to Islam or be killed. While the Babri masjid demolition in India made news around the world and the echoes are still heard, when Malaysia repeatedly bulldozes Hindu temples, no one even blinks.

Why is it that these people are not willing to accord respect to other faiths yet expect the same from the rest of us? Brute force, is what these Islam-o-fascists are becoming and increasingly dividing the world into two factions. Also, would it be too wrong to argue that they know their strength is in their numbers and their spread around the world, and they have now begun to exploit that? Either you are with them or you are against them!!

Given the growing trend of Islamic fanaticism within UK, it won’t be a surprise if the issue soon erupts within the country itself. I for one can only pray to Allah (J) that the UK government doesn’t bow to these bigoted minds!!

15th June, 2007

This was the happiest day in my life so far. Something that I hadn’t hoped in my wildest dreams would ACTUALLY happen, happened…. Wish me, for I am delirious with happiness. I can see heaven right in front of my eyes…

Day 12

My favorite pastime these days is taking a hike in Manhattan during my lunch-break. I figured this is the only way I would truly get to see the real New York city, the whole of it and not just the touristy places. The energy in New York is everything you hear about and more, charged, vibrant, uninterrupted.

It’s a shame I can’t carry my camera around!!!

The thing to appreciate the most about big cities in the West is that immigration has transformed them into microcosms of the world. The true meaning of “multi-cultural” is fathomed only on the streets of cities like New York and Toronto. One day I hope, Delhi, Mumbai and of course Bangalore would come somewhere close.

Possibly because New York is much more populated than other American cities, public utilities come at a relatively cheaper price. I found beauty salons to be much cheaper here, even when compared to a small, sleepy mid-western city. In fact, my discovery for the day is PINKY Beauty Parlor, just a stone’s throw away from my office. So, deliciously New Delhi like….

This just suits me fine…J

P.S:

Call it coincidence, but I just stumbled upon a blog that says this about New York.

It's possible to travel around the world in 24 hours in NY!!!

INDEED

Day 11

New York Day 11

Staff meetings I feel, are the bane of corporate existence. The only purpose they seem to serve is for people to say important sounding banal things just to sound important and knowledgeable. It is amazing to me the kind of BS that goes on in the name of STRATEGY meetings.

I just came out of a marathon meeting, and I guess my frustration is showing. If you were to quiz me on the discussion, trust me you will draw a blank. Just in case you think I am the only lackey in the vicinity, rest assured even the CEO, were she to be honest, would accept as much.

Truth of the matter however is that by the time you reach the upper echelons of management, you become a pro in using high-falutin, jargonistic words. I think it almost becomes a language in its own, which its frequent users understand very well. I am complaining now, but I guess that is where I aspire to be, eventually.

I also wonder whether this has more to do with kind of occupation you are in. Marketing for instance, can be in many cases an intangible exercise. Here, one is dealing with deliverables like memory recall, brand placement, brand image etc, which are terms abstract to an extent that we may attempt to measure them, but cannot really measure them truly. Sales is a different question, you either did or did not make those numbers. It’s a fixed quarterly, bi-annual, annual measurement. Not so in marketing. Guess what I am trying to say is that the amount of pointless bullshit you can get away with is determined, by your profession. Unfortunately for me, I am in one with the highest possible BS scope… Oh well, all of us have to justify that salary we draw…

New York New York

New York Day 10:

Today marks my tenth day in the city of New York. Ever since I can remember, I have wanted to come here, see the city, figure out what it is all about. The skyscrapers, the statue of liberty, 9/11 and of course the romanticized idea of the city, spawned in my mind by shows like Sex and the City and FRIENDS.

I am yet to do any tourist-y stuff, dependent as my schedules are on those of my friends, but there is still time to do all that, so I am not that worried.

In terms of first impressions, being here was in a way anti-climactic. New York is huge, its loud, its congested and DIRTY…It is almost New Delhi, that is why probably I felt right at home from day one. The BIG AAAH moment that I was hoping would hit me, as soon as I landed in New York, never really arrived. Other US cities I have visited have been strange, alien. Too clean, too white, too quite or too ritzy. New York on the other hand is cacophonously crazy 24 hours of the day. Here, I do not miss the hustle bustle of Indian life, the fact that I see so many Indian faces around all the time, also helps the cause I guess.

Every day when I walk to work, I notice some thing or another that reminds of me New Delhi. Today, I made a mental list of it, so here goes

Things/Situations common to New York & New Delhi

The word New in the name (heh, sorry bad one, could not resist).
Street Food: Chat pakoris, chicken soup and parantha stalls in New Delhi. Kebab, knish, falafel counters in New York.

Tall buildings: Okay, so buildings in CP are no match for the high rises in the midst of Manhattan, but the feeling somehow is the same. Tall new buildings, mingling with small, ancient ones, past and the present existing together. Something or another is constantly being rebuilt or torn down!

Dirty streets, smelly subways: I seriously believe that smells emanating from a New York and New Delhi subway, are 97.6% alike, human urine (or should I say male urine?) mixed with random garbage of an unidentified nature. Either way, breathing in both is impossible. In no other US city, have I seen garbage openly strewn in streets. Bags upon bags of garbage, openly filthy street corners…the whole nine yards. No New Yorker can ever complain about the filth in New Delhi, at least as long as they are honest to themselves..

Beggars, homeless people: Yesterday, while walking back from work, I was approached by a lady speaking a foreign language I didn’t identify, gesturing me to read a laminated sheet she held in her hand. I kept walking as I knew what it was. Today I saw a homeless person, along with his homeless dog, sprawled in the corner of a street looking dead. Not that any one of us stopped to check if he really was. Do I even need to mention the number of times; we run into such people in India? The only noticeable difference is that I am yet to find a single child beggar.

Honking: As a pucca Delhiite, I missed the jarring horns of vehicles of all shapes and sizes….Much to my delight, New Yorkers have this in common with us. Elsewhere in the US, its considered rude to honk, here its almost mandatory to, much as in New Delhi

RICHSHAWS: It surprises me that while the Indian government talks about phasing out cycle-rickshaws, as they are too laborious, in cities like New York and Toronto, these are actually a tourist attraction.

Congestion: I don’t think any other city in the US is a match for New York in terms of the human traffic and congestion. No matter what time of the day, there is always a sea of people walking in your direction and away from it. Buildings may be sky-high but New York apartments hardly have any space. I have friends living bang in the middle of city in apartments that are small as pigeonholes, smelly, non-airy and yet they pay close to $3000 or above in a month’s rent alone. I have never rented a place in New Delhi, but I have been told it’s quite true for the home city as well.

That is it so far, I am sure though I will stumble upon more..