Floods currently all over North India (and many other parts as well). Huge loss of life and property. Hoping for communities to recover from the pain as soon as possible.

regards

I just got back from St. Tropez for a weekend under the sun. I went with some Arab/European friends and was the only proper desi in the group.

While all of them were fretting about being burnt or how their tans would look (some hairs go blond, some faces go pink) I was very happily (& easily) able to soak up the scorching sun’s rays.

I should have used sun factor (all people should regardless of colour or complexion) but it felt so good to be able to stride through the broad sunlight uplands without any care or concern. We coloreds of the world (the vast & growing majority btw) be proud to be brown, black & yellow if only because we can tan so well (use sun screen though wherever you are).

This applies to all of us. Point your criticisms to people other than the small community that supports this blog. It creates a hostile atmosphere for everybody but especially for women, I note with some anguish that all the ladies have disappeared and a “boys only” space currently exists on BP. This is completely unacceptable.

To repeat, there is much to disagree (which is fine) but dont make it personal.

regards

ZackNote: To echo what Sid has just written. Let’s try to make BP above the personal attacks & abuse in general. I’ve always encouraged an open forum format but let’s also keep it constructive & meaningful; it’s not about trolling the comments board but also gaining from the experience (which is why I’ve always encouraged commentators to transition to authors, vox populi vox dei peeps).

Otherwise I’m happy to report that Sid is a lucky token for BP; it’s the first time in a month that we’ve topped 300 views, no idea why but I’m declare today Sid (& ND) Appreciation Day.

The Pak establishment takes the first critical step to re-establish order. This initiative signifies the coming together of the civilian and military wings under the able guidance of PM Nawaz Sharif. With victory anticipated in 2014, things are looking fairly promising on the home (and near home) front.

Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed has given a ‘fatwa’ that militant activities within Pakistan cannot be considered a part of ‘jihad’ and asked terrorists to desist from carrying out attacks in the country.
“Militant activities in Pakistan do not fall in the category of jihad. I appeal to all jihadi organizations not to carry out attacks inside Pakistan as it is not jihad (holy war). America and India are taking benefit from their activities,” Saeed alleged in a statement. He said: “Our strength is in unity and not in infighting among us. However, Muslims will have to continue jihad to maintain their freedom”.

regards

Right after Woolwich, this will not improve community relations in England. Also the police taser did not work….what if the assailant had a gun instead of a knife?

Police said the arrested man was local, believed to be of Somali origin. He was attending the mosque for the first time. Dr Arshad Mahmood, who was at the mosque, told the BBC: “A man started stabbing one of the guys who was just sitting right next to him. I don’t know what exactly was the reason but he just started stabbing him. “We went to save him. He had multiple injuries, three or four wounds. Then the policeman came and was also attacked and stabbed.”

Mohammed Shafiq, the leader of the Ramadhan Foundation, a Muslim organisation, said: “I have spoken to someone who lives a few doors down from the mosque and they described hearing an argument inside the mosque. “It escalated into violence and a police officer has been stabbed. People, anti-Muslim extremists, are going to try to take advantage of this – it’s very serious that a police officer has been stabbed during duty.”

regards

Javed Akhtar sent his last telegrams to his grandchildren. Shabana (present wife) tweeted that she was sad at the loss of telegrams. Why? She is on Twitter, which is a far better communicating medium than telegrams (including other modern innovations as well).

The thing that interested me were the names. Javed and Honey (Irani) had children Farhan (Urdu name means pleasant) and Zoya (Urdu name means caring). Farhan and Adhuna have children named Shakya and Akira (Japanese name means knowledgeable, also film background).

How about Shakya? Shakayamuni is of course the Buddha but then again this is a girl. Regardless we have culturally middle-eastern (CME) people choosing a CSA name (and a CEA name for the other daughter). Food for thought.

Shakya background (ref. Wiki): Shakya is a Suryavanshi Kshatriya dynasty of Hindu religion in India.The Genealogy of Shakyas is found in Book IV of Vishnu Purana, the Shrimad Bhagavatam and the Brahma Purana.

King Shakya was one of the last decendants of Ikshvaku dynasty, commonly known as Suryavansha. Rama was one of the earlier decendants of Ikshvaku. Chapter 1 of Vishnupurana mentions that Brahma created Daksha out of his thumb. Daksha had a daughter Aditi, who was mother of Sun. From the Sun was born Manu. Since the Sun-god was Manu’s father, his lineage came to be known as the Suryavansha. Manu had many sons…Ten sons survived, one of whom was Ikshvaku.

Shakyas considered themselves as the purest race. To protect their race they married only within their community. So when Prasenjit king of Kosala asked to marry a Shakyan princess, they gave him a slave girl instead. Son of Prasenjit and the slave girl was Virudhaka. When Virudhaka came to know about this he was ashamed and wanted to take revenge. He attacked the Shakya empire, Kapilvastu. Shakyans were killed in masses. Some fled from Kaplivastu to a place named Pipphalvana and adopted a fake title “Maurya” probably because of the large number of peacocks in that area who were considered sacred…..As the history goes, Chandragupta Maurya overthrew the ruling Nanda Dynasty and establised the Maurya Empire.

regards