BLACK TUESDAY
Kavita Chhibber - September 11, 2005
Rising from the ashes
"If I see someone (who) comes in that's got a diaper on his head and a fan belt wrapped around the diaper on his head, that guy needs to be pulled over,"
- Congressman John Cooksey, a Republican member from Louisiana who sits on the International Relations Subcommittee for the Middle East and South Asia.
He stood outside his gas station in a seemingly safe suburb of Arizona, a man who had won over the hearts of his neighbors, his customers, the little kids who came in and got free candy and drinks; a man who had given a homeless, out of job American man free pizza day after day, since his arrival a few months ago. He was examining the flowers he had just planted,-four other workers stood near by. A man in a pick up truck pulled in, shot Balbir Singh Sodhi five times at point blank range from the back like a coward, as others watched in horror. The date- 15th September 2001 - four days after the twin towers were destroyed in an act of terrorism master minded by the bearded, turban-clad Osama Bin Laden.
She was all of twenty, and had just returned from Australia after attending an Oral History conference. She was to leave for Punjab, to interview survivors of partition in her grandfather’s hometown, but for Valarie Kaur Brar, images of the crumbling twin towers heralded the rising of something terribly dark and sinister from the ashes. Not much later, a white American man looked menacingly at her through the glass, his eyes full of hatred as she sat alone in her car and asked “Are you Muslim? Are you Muslim?” Racism and ignorance had just made their acquaintance with a girl who thought of herself as a proud American of Sikh heritage.
Last year I watched an anthology of short films - the much talked about 9”11’01. Eleven directors from different ethnicities were invited to give their take on the events of September 11, 2001 in short stories on screen. Each segment lasted 11 minutes, 9 seconds and one frame. None of the directors knew what the other one was making, and the mix of viewpoints and stories made for rather interesting viewing.
Mira Nair, director of “Monsoon Wedding” and the newly released “Vanity Fair”, was one of those invited to contribute. Married to a Muslim, she said to me that she had decided unless she found a worthwhile story to tell, she had no desire to be a part of the project. She found what she was looking for - the true story of a Pakistani American woman whose son was missing in the aftermath of the destruction of the WTC towers. Insinuations flew that the Muslim young man might have been a terrorist. As the mother frantically tried to find her missing son, she had to simultaneously suffer the hostility around her. Suspicious FBI agents insensitively questioned her family. Whispering neighbors spread gossip to the tabloids and press. After six months of sheer agony, her son’s body was finally discovered amongst the ruins of the towers. It turned out that he, as a trained paramedic, had died heroically trying to save lives. An American flag draped his coffin at the funeral. Mira said she was afraid of the world she was raising her son in, and deeply hurt by racial profiling.
I think back to that sunny September morning in 2001 that was darkened forever by visions of hurtling debris swirling around people jumping to their deaths as a stunned world stood and watched. I remember sitting in Atlanta, calling contacts, trying to put together a story for publication and talking to people from the big apple - physicians tearfully recalling the emergency measures, the pain and suffering they valiantly tried to alleviate; stories of relatives, of friends lost in the flames and the rubble; a brother who had arrived from India to do a project; a young pregnant wife anxiously waiting to hear from her husband-he never called, didn’t return. I heard stories of the doomed men and women on the floors of the twin towers hosting the employees of the two companies Morgan Stanley and Cantor Fitzgerald. These poor souls frantically placed calls on their blackberries and cell phones - initially for help, then to bravely say goodbye to their loved ones. I heard firsthand reports from two people who had been in the WTC towers when the planes struck and managed to escape. There were several near misses brought on by simple twists of fate. One man stayed back because his son threw a tantrum. The boy wanted his father to put him on the school bus, thereby forcing the father to catch a later bus. This seemingly insignificant delay saved his life. One Sikh gentleman guffawed at my phone call as I sought to interview his relatives. His cell phone number had somehow found its way into the Indian consulate’s list of the dead. “I am in Chicago Kavta ji,” he said sweetly mispronouncing my name in his Punjabi accent, “Nowhere near the twin towers! But thank you for inquiring about my good health. Please be my guest when you visit Chicago!’ This was the only comic relief in days of grief, confusion and emotional exhaustion that followed.
My friend Deepak Raghavan, the co-founder of Manhattan Associates, a leading e-commerce company who I had to simultaneously interview for his take on the dot.com bust, made the mistake of asking me the natural courteous opening question – “How are you?” In my reply, poor Deepak was ambushed verbally by all the frustration, anger and exhaustion I felt at the destruction, at hearing story after story of tragedy and loss. He put me on a telephonic couch so to speak and played “Dear Deepak”, until I found my balance back to do his interview. I think he was very very careful in asking me how I was after that, and only when he had a lot of time to kill! It still makes me angry when I read revelations from the 9/11 inquiry commissions stating that the catastrophe could have been avoided.
In spite of outreach programs and vigils, something has changed forever. Unlike my idyllic childhood where we were told that our neighbors were our extended family, that there is so much goodness in the world, today we look at each other with fear and suspicion, hatred and antipathy. My thoughts today are darkened too - by the realization that somewhere at ground zero lies buried the innocence of America.
It has been a life altering 4 years, both for America and its multitude of people. Many have paid a heavy price for the sins of others. It has been a torturous road for those simply having the last name “Khan”. The barbs have been no less for those who wear their culture on their sleeve – those women with hijabs, those turbaned Sikhs who have been mistaken for members of Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaida terrorist organization. It seems as though the anger and bitterness following 9-11 has given way to fear. This, in turn, has dulled America’s intellect and allowed ignorance to breed. It is frustrating when mainstream America cannot or will not take the time to seek out the truth about the diversity within her borders.
The fourth anniversary of September 11 is here, and though we remain relentlessly at “yellow” and “orange alert” across the nation, apathy is slowly setting in. As I said in my previous post memories don’t go away like people do. They linger on forever steadfast and resolute. It is my prayer for the sake of our memories of loved ones lost that, unlike the past, we use religion to unite hearts and souls, to reach out and join hands, and make this world safe for our loved ones and future generations.
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Posted by Kavita Chhibber at September 11, 2005 02:17 AM
Comments
That would be easier said than done Divya. That is why its more practical to pray that we learn to respect and accept the religious beliefs of others, that wish religion disappears.It is not going to happen
I actually wrote a detailed comment to this post on my blog. I did not want to post it here since it would probably not fit in the comment box.
The url :
http://greenburghontherise.blogspot.com/2005/09/black-tuesday-intentblog.html
Kavita you have an inherent honesty and dignity,whatever you write comes from your heart.Very well said.
After meeting you last night i felt the best part about you is your honesty and it reflects in your work....
Kaviata:
Yes you are right everything is changed after 9/11?However there are some simple questions needs to address.
I totally agree with you that racism,sterotypes, hate crimes has been on rise after 9/11 .Question is what percentage?
Imagine some Irish extremist plotted attack on Indian capital Delhi and killed thousands of Hindu, Sikhs and Muslims. What kind of reaction you would expect …well for normal Indian guy it is white guy did it.So every blue eyed white guy(German , Irish , Scand vian etc) is responsible And are you kidding there would be more hate crime then here happened after 9/11 and guess who will leading for this hate crime ..
So may be it is changed American society after 9/11 however it still much better ,free and diverse society then most of the society on earth
may be it is not perfect however give me example of perfect society on earth..This is my personal opinion may be extreme However being atheist I would suggest If wearing turban is troubling some section of society then for common give up that ridiculous ugly turban BTW wearing turban is also religious RIGHT…
"It is my prayer for the sake of our memories of loved ones lost that, unlike the past, we use religion to unite hearts and souls, to reach out and join hands, and make this world safe for our loved ones and future generations."
I join you in this prayer. Religions can and 'should' be able to do, what governments cannot seem to do.
love, blessings to all people everywhere this Sept. 11th day.
The tragedy is the tyranny of fear that has blanketed the hearts of people. My life went into absolute shambles a week after the 9/11 tragedy, for reasons beyond my reckoning. And now, with the Patriot Act looking more and more like a permanent feature of America life, the fear has become a constant stress on the true American values we claim to so love and claim to be so willing to defend. The Constitution is shredded. Human values are deteriorating. We have concentration camps now, it's the new America. We have loss of privacy, free speech, liberty, the total loss of any feeling of safety insured by a protective government. Who are they protecting these days? The corporate machine. Their own. Not us. The people are on their own, as witnessed by the debacle in New Orleans. Still, beyong the death of democracy, the death of the brilliant government created by our forefathers, we can somehow be free, first internally, then in shared way, by living in some form of intengrity, an integrity long gone in our government. We have to take heart, and have trust in our own loving kindness and live that way, government and corporate domination be damned.
" I would suggest If wearing turban is troubling some section of society then for common give up that ridiculous ugly turban BTW wearing turban..." Jignesh...
So, we should all wear boots and cowboy hats, be Texas posers, say "y'all" and swagger when we walk to show that we're real Americans? Not me, Pal. My heart goes out to people brave enough to wear their traditional clothes that show who they really are, despite the hatred and bigotry that we can't seem to get away from. I suggest that we find a way to grow enough spiritually, regardles of religious bent, to allow people to dress however they like and to live their ethnicity with a feeling of safety and pride. Or maybe we should tattoo all the towelheads and put them in a gulag. Oopa, we've already done that, Yeah, that's the ticket.
: John
" I would suggest If wearing turban is troubling some section of society then Come on, give up that ridiculous ugly turban BTW wearing turban is also religious"
My Point is It was turban wearing person was responsible for 9/11 It was turban wearing persons responsible for problem all over world like middle east,Chechenya,Afaghannistan,Kashmir etc.So that is the point I know Sikhs are very very peace loving people .
we all know turban wearing person has disturbed our life, our freedom and our peace. It was not Cowboys .
Who started it, not us, it was them. Not only this country all over the world.
If you are the richest country on earth then obviously you should be more protective of your wealth and people and need to sacrifice little bit of comforts and freedom. Because we have something to loose they do not. They want stone age society where no freedom for woman, children.
Being a politically correct sometimes we are ignoring some obvious facts of society.
So may be in short term it seems we are loosing our values, freedom and humanity however I am sure it will led us in to bright future, freedom ,humanity,divercity and peace for all.
"So may be in short term it seems we are loosing our values, freedom and humanity however I am sure it will led us in to bright future, freedom ,humanity,divercity and peace for all."
Sounds like the people in Germany after WWI when Hitler was gaining popularity. How do these means create their opposite ends? How is that possible? That is the exact rationale of tyrants.
Hey, bend over, give up your human rights, give up the essence of the government that was founded in America, give it up, we'll protect you, it'll be okay. yeah, right. That makes about as much sense as trusting my son to a priest to become an alter boy. The trust is betrayed, over and over again. The core values of being American are being choked by the very people who are supposed to be upholding it. It is an American value to protest wrong-doing, to protest tyranny, to see that the emperor is wearing no clothes. It is American to say no when "no" is what is so sorely needed, when everybody is afraid to say no.
And is it people wearing turbins who were responsible, or was it people wearing cowboy hats? Or suits? Or baseball caps? Or military uniforms? Who is responsible? That's what we really don't know. It wasn't Iraqis, was it? Yet we invade, on the false fabricated premises of weapons of mass distruction. Give me a break. Terror is fear magnified. We live in a country shrouded in fear now, and who created, magnified, marketed all that fear?
People in turbins? Please...
Jignesh, Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is one of many letters I wrote in the past, Thought I could present it as a comment.
Dear Dr.Giri,
I am some what apprehensive, i wish all is well. These are Times when we owe it to others, some times to friends, sometimes to our own people and some times to our times and history for what has been bestowed up on us and what we hold as sacred.
It is not only our time but also my life which is going through convulsions, moments where history repeats when we have blissfully and ignorantly have forgotten the best of Human spirit that has seen humanity so far.
Consider these are few words that I wish to bring forth so that people might know how difficult it is to live with Truth and when it is taking away every little thing that you hold dear even the few mellowed breaths, which keeps Ticking, only to remind US that we are still alive.
When times are testing and when blood turns poisonous, Hatred, intolerance, madness and mayhem sieges humans, when Brothers are after the blood of each other, nothing seems Quite and Beautiful. One is only visited by apocalyptic Visions.
It has been like this for the past couple of months, I barely make it for dinner with a feeling that I am dieing every day, and wishing the same. But my spirit is up, some how my body is not willing, with a relief that I don’t have to worry about days/months and years, past and present. Just hoping, so bear with me for good or worst.( Off course I live in perpetual fear, some how my body seems to understand only this language)
Reed ON-
Professor compares 9/11 to Nazi era - [Politics]
Submitted by scienott on 2/6/2005 2:02:05 PM
A professor who likened World Trade Center victims to a notorious Nazi refused to apologize but said his treatise was a "gut response" to the terrorist attacks. "I don't believe I owe an apology," Ward Churchill said Friday on CNN's Paula Zahn Now program - his first public comments since the University of Colorado began a review that could lead to his dismissal. Churchill defended the essay in which he compared those killed in the Sept. 11 attack to "little Eichmanns," a reference to Adolf Eichmann, who organized Nazi plans to exterminate European Jews.
He said the victims were akin to U.S. military operations' collateral damage - or innocent civilians mistakenly killed by soldiers. "I don't know if the people of 9-11 specifically wanted to kill everybody that was killed," he told Zahn. "It was just worth it to them in order to do whatever it was they decided it was necessary to do that bystanders be killed. And that essentially is the same mentality, the same rubric."
In an interview published Saturday in the Rocky Mountain News, Churchill added, "This was a gut response opinion speech written in about four hours. It's not completely reasoned and thought through." Churchill said his speech had been misinterpreted.” I never called for the deaths of millions of Americans," he said.
Early editions of the Sunday Denver Post reported Churchill gave another magazine interview in which he was asked about the effectiveness of protests of U.S. policies and the Iraq war, and responded: "One of the things I've suggested is that it may be that more 9/11s are necessary."
The furor over Churchill's essay erupted last month after he was invited to speak at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. The speech was later cancelled.
Churchill, who recently resigned as chairman of the ethnic studies department but remains a tenured professor, said he would sue if he were dismissed.
CNEWS
Dear Giri,
Speaking of Islam, probably the ongoing war is not only the bloodiest but also one of the most significant contributions and a sacrifice in both the histories of Islam and Humanity..(Strange it might sound though)
Violence, war, Aggression, decay and abuse of human life that are the marks of our times, when FASCISM finds it way in disguise in to our hearts, then we all are its Perpetrators and victims. In our modern times the boundaries of nations no more hold its entry in to the heartlands. Making mockery of the human wisdom it penetrates deep in to our lives, none are no more left alone. Its distorted forms are so varied that even a greatest of the artistic and scientific minds can not conjure its appearance, call what may, terrorism, religion, ideology, Modern Industrial Economy, even the very Dynamics of Democracy, Secularism, Peace, All are Plagued by one distorted fact "Fascism disguised" .We no more know whom we are serving, there are no exceptions.
What we today witness is one of the bloodiest and cruelest of wars on Humanity in the name of Saddam’s and Osama’s and many other, Approved silently consented by every citizen of this planet, who call ourselves civilized and modern. The truth is so distorted, that the perpetrators of evil are crying fowl, engulfing us all in to one Blood mongering cannibalistic creatures (Humanity).Every one is guilty, the god, the Holy Ghost and his human alley. There are no exceptions. Today every regime and its agents survive by only one means, create the Phantasmagorias vision and unleash it, control it and cast precious and innocent human life as fuel. For as long as the fire keeps burning and the money keeps coming, the souls are warmer and content.
Today in our history Islam is much abused as a religion, which is fighting its bloodiest of wars, where they have none as allies. As terrorism is manufactured in the name of
RELIGION/SECT/CLASS and CASTE. Modern war mechanism and its Industry would have reached the historic glory, posing as Savior’s of democracy and humanity. It is time we start Honoring the warlords and fascists with Nobel peace prize and their Agents with other befitting honors.
The distortions surrounding the historic 9/11 has reached to such glorious heights that we are in need of more and more 9/11 ,to be only fallowed by another mayhem of a war, and to celebrate our victory for peace.
Today the spirit of the modern man can not be at rest and be contented until it creates a 9/11 more often.
Like Germans as a mark of their accomplishments and to celebrate their boredom have created the ghost called Nazi, The most successfully and accomplished of our times have only to better it.
Today the mythical symbolization of 9/11 by the so called advanced and modern world has its clones all over the world, in disguises and Alias, sparing none.
The Famous American Linguist, Prof. Chomsky refers to the present conditions as a COCOON the modern man has built around him self, which eventually out grow the humanity it self to the extent of slaying him. Especially his reference is to the modern and Western educated, and he says this false feeling of security and insensitivity is “DOOM”, which is a predicament of modernity and the situation is quite out of hand, so much so that the Western minds Americans, British and Europeans) are not only the psyched up but also the most unreliable and suspicious of each other. He calls this as Being taken in by the conditions where the modern dynamics Of fascism which has perfected a language of rational Discourse, A new brand of modern imperialism which is not only instrumental in creating the insecurities but also builds a rational ground for the people who in order to be secure should allow it to repress and play around with a free Hand and all this in the name of democracy, which isolates The victim in such a fashion there is no such thing as enquiry or collective realization of what could possible be “THE TRUTH”. It breaks the fiber of the collective wisdom, in creating insecurities and also asking for a larger control over our lives where by it has the mechanism of isolating The voices of victims and labeling them as disturbed or Psyched up or abnormal and further quarantine them in to Such misery that any so called normal person would be so Fearful of knowing the real ground, that he/she is a Willing subject and also a supporter of oppression and Fascism in the name of democratizing the dissent and taming the Uncivilized societies.
He cites examples of western groomed terrorists, who are not only groomed but also willing volunteers, and are used for the end targets so that ultimately the political and corporate nexus would have their way, which according to him is extremely destructive, lacking in direction or the Very purpose for their existence, By then it is most likely man would have lost the tools of wisdom which would have helped him find the path and he wonders why it is such a slow process since according to him the Humanity/US/ especially has All the instruments and institutions at hand, that is given its Potential can achieve the target and end the war in a Month. He says the stupidity of it is they even goof up at that, which is a saving grace for the rest of the world so there is enough time for us all to be awake and start protesting.
“Hail / Damn 9/11”
RAJA INDRAKARAN.
NEW YORK
2/19/2005
Dear Kavita,
Thank you for sharing this story, as tears burn my soul. I cannot bear the pain of 9/11 and here we are again, four years later, as great anguish overcomes my heart. My father shot himself execution style a few months after 9/11 due to “pain” and the authorities questioned us, his daughters, as if we killed him and were to blame for his death. He said he was in “pain,” but they would never give us the suicide note and they did a ‘clean swept’ of his apartment, destroying everything. All I have is what my dad sent me a few months prior to his death and three watches that they released, giving one to each daughter. In my heart, I believe that my father could not bear what had happened to N.Y. Plus one of his long-term buddies was head of the CIA at that time, so I had blamed the government, as well as myself, for his death and whatever they knew, if anything at all. All this I found out as I read what he sent me just months prior to his death. I use to be afraid to talk, but now, I just wish I had answers. I no longer care what happens to me, so I speak up and maybe it's nothing ... who knows? Anyway ... What went wrong? What have we done as nation to ourselves? We can no longer bully nor torment other nations in the name of God …. Cus you know what? … God loves everybody! Thank you for sharing and opening up my heart. Now I seek to close down again as the pain is more than I can bear ...
Love,
Char
Last night, I wrote a post in response to a blog of Deepak's, but chose not to send it. Today, a man who delivered my groceries, out of the blue, told me to keep the faith and believe in my dreams, as he talked about how 9/11 changed his life. I did nothing to encourage this conversation, but just listened. After the man left, I just cried and praised the Lord Jesus Christ for the inspiration that this man gave to me. This man keep saying that he was “blessed,” and he was so happy and positive as I was so down and depressed. He told me to “keep the faith and don’t lose hope of my dreams.” He even said I was a nice lady and at this moment in time, I don’t feel so nice or good. My post to Deepak was on “dreams,” so for me, this is how God answered my burning question on “dreams.” I always feel like such a fool when I burden Deepak with all my silly questions, but you know what, that man never tires of helping his fellow brothers and sisters, as my questions have always been answered whether by Deepak or another source. So, hopefully, 9/11 has changed the course of our lives for the better and not for the worse as we reach out to one another, no different than hurricane Katrina.
Love,
Char
Kavita, you make it sound like 9/11, and some of the stupid isolated incidents of racial profiling that some horrible people committed, are America's fault. Overall, immigrants are treated very well in the US. Look how many Indians have risen to the top.
9/11 is not the US's fault. I hope you realize it is the fault of the 19 Arab Muslim hijackers who attacked our cities.
John:
Well.. may be we are ignorant like Germans after WW1 in Hitler era Which is not at all true however if you want to spread fear this way U have every right to take it that way.
My question to you and all liberal are
1. What you would have done after 9/11 to fight against terrorism or should I say according to you “bombers and their mentors”. Like Prof. Churchill we should blame ourselves and sit or do nothing…
What you would do if you have responsibility to protect American people from terrorist oops I am sorry from bombers.
Being common person like me everyday we are living in fear when we travel to public train or bus…And It is not spread by anybody it is fact of our multicultural society like 9/11,3/11,7/7 And Who are the responsible for bombing we all know..I would love to get answer from you.
Bytheway because of freedom of speech Professor Churchill is still having paid by your, mine and millions of tax paying American’s money.
Tell me what would be his condition if he was in Iraq in sadam era or in Taliban regime and made anti national comments in time of war. he might have been hanged right?
About Iraq WMD, at least government is honest enough to admit that they were wrong.
Hi Guys,
Atleast , now we know a few celebrities who understand the goodness and reachability of cyber world and effectiveness of blogging.
Lets see whether the intentions of Intent work out or not ?
Best Of Luck
Thanks to every one who has shared their thoughts. Char my heart goes out to you, and my prayers are with you.
illmatic-may be you need to re read my blog again and not jump to presumptions that I make it sound 9/11 was America's fault.
I simply shared my experience of what I saw and see around me not as an Indian or as an American, or as a world citizen but as a human being. Some of my closest friends are people of muslim orgin and sikhs-they are paying a heavy price for the action of those hijackers, and America is paying a heavy price too..
I also see tremendous ignorance amongst middle class America and even the higher ups when it comes to racial profiling. As a journalist I investigate this on a regular basis due to some story or the other.
I don't look Indian-I am tall, fair skinned and long haired and I had first hand experience of racial profiling a few months after 9/11 when a cop misread my last name and thought I was of Arab descent. He was rude and belligerent and later did a 180 degree turn when he found out I was from India and not Arabic or Muslim. Ofcourse the fact that I took out my ID and he saw I was from the press was also a deterrent I'm sure.
I see September 11 as a tragedy that has affected America and Americans all across, it has affected humanity all over-and it could have been averted, lost lives could have been saved. We can never truly understand the impact of a tragedy until it affects us personally. Then it doesn't matter whose fault it is..all you experience is never ending anguish like Char has, and all you ask are unanswered questions..
Kavita, a truly moving post - thanks.
9/11 and its after shocks have been tragic for many innocent people regardless of nationality and ethnicity.
I pray that future historians will say that it changed the world for better and not worse.
Jignesh,
I think your question as to how anyone, like me, would have handled the situation is hypothetical. Ordinary people, with good reason, do not have access to information and briefings which heads of state do. Without these inputs it is impossible to decide on a course of action.
That being said, my response to your presumption that the war in Iraq is justified as part of the war on terror is to say that I disagree. The action in Afghanistan, was justified by most nations the world over and even ratified by the United Nations. This was because people accepted the fact that, at times, it is necessary to fight to preserve peace. Of course there were people who opposed it and they had every right to do so. I often wonder why people who are critical of any opposition to the war in Iraq forget the support they received over Afghanistan.
Iraq was different. In this case most countries and a lot of people the world over felt that the case for going to war was not convincing enough. They also questioned whether it had anything to do with the war on terror. In response, the administration(American) conducted a presentation at the United Nations wherein it was mentioned that there was 'hard' intelligence to support the presence of WMD and some of it was shared by way of diagrams and satellite imagery. This was supposed to counter the IAEA findings that there was no conclusive proof of any WMD at the time. All they asked for was another three months time to continue with their inspections. The administration scoffed at Hans Blix and finally hounded him out.
Making a virtue of the admission now that the administration was wrong simply doesn't wash anymore. Most certainly not with the thousands upon thousands of Iraqi families who have had to face immense personal tragedy or for the families of those who have died in fighting this war. Is it also any wonder why many of the families of victims of 9/11 feel used?
I have always wondered why no one in authority has made a count of the Iraqi civilian lives lost in this operation - is it because most of them wore turbans?
ps
I simply cannot resist mentioning Donald Rumsfeld's response to a question on where the WMD were supposed to be hidden. His response - don't have the precise quote - went something like this: "Around Baghdad and Tikrit and also east, west, north, south and thereabouts!" Intelligence doesn't get any harder!!
Hindu culture never promotes remembering sad incidents from past. Only remember great people and positive incidents, from whom you can learn positive things.
The reasoning behind this is simple according to me. I can tell hundreds other such incidents where people were exploited, tortured and killed in the past. This will only lower our morale, create hatred in our minds or charge us immotionally to act in anger.
Our best duty now is to utilize our energies to save people being killed, tortured and exploited NOW, in Tsunami, New orleans, Iraq, Afghanistan, in factories in third world producing cheap goods in in-humane conditions for sale to educated people, people with no knowldge and rights to fight against pollution.
Hi All,
Kavita - a very beautiful piece, thank you.
It's easy to get mired in the pain, suffering and darkness of the world. Especially when the news media focuses so much on all of the problems that the world is experiencing. However, I see much more light in the world then darkness. Husbands and wives still kiss and smile at each other, babies are cuddled. A driver hands a dollar to a homeless man and they smile at each other, connecting at the heart. Every day someone takes time to clean up a highway or wave at a neighbor. Children of different races and religions play together freely...some children have their race so mingled that there really is no way to identify what "race" they are...other than the human race; this is beautiful. Here in Minnesota there are many, many couples of different races walking hand in hand down the streets (not so long ago this was rare...anywhere). Families easily worship at temples, churches and mosque quite often interchangeably. Plants still grow and every day someone finds a way to help out a species of animal that is endangered. People are cured of diseases, someone designs a better prosthesis for a stranger who has lost a limb. Doctors and nurses care for the sick. Billions of dollars in aid from citizens is given to complete strangers in need.
It's easy to see the glass as half full and we all get pulled into that. It is my belief that where we put our attention there is growth and where we take our attention away from withers. I would just remind everyone in the midst of all of this suffering that there is MUCH more love and healing happening in the world than there is destruction. So be aware of suffering, but keep in your thoughts the belief that the cup is much more than half full and we'll manifest more of that.
Peace,
Scott.
And yet we look at past lessons, past experiences to decide how to conduct ourselves in the future. Some times those very sad memories teach us to be better human beings in the future.
So I don't buy that theory.
The past is a rich treasure trove to learn from.
The world has changed after September 11. I take this opportunity to share my feelings, feelings of an ordinary Indian from a far off place. I feel in the din of sympathy, a voice from a far off society may give a different perspective.
I vividly remember the day. It was evening time at Hyderabad, India. The whole city was dark due to power failure. I switched on the small pocket radio just to find out the reason for the black out. The news came from the radio, there seems to be some accident of planes hitting WTC. That’s all. The accident at a far off place did not evoke any response. I had a nice sleep.
It is only the following morning when I got the clear news. For hours I sat in front of the TV and watched the live footage of (now recorded) murder of innocent people. Till that time I had only heard or seen the effects of terror after it happened. I don’t remember ever before human eyes experienced such kind of terror while happening. I watched with horror human beings looking out of windows from the buildings that are collapsing to their short journey to grave.
But except the personal sympathy for individuals, as a whole I did not feel anything. On the contrary I felt a sense of satisfaction; now the Yankees will realize how it feels to be terrorized by militants. ‘As long as we Indians were suffering at the hands of terrorists, they were not able to differentiate between terrorists and freedom fighters.’
The following days went for soul searching and after observing the FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM for 4 years, I am till in dark about how to solve this problem, how to bring sense, how to bring a new order?
Responding to the reaction of American society: It is not only in America, in any part of this earth, whenever crime is committed by a section (Outsider) of people, a sense of revenge generates among the local people. And I can only imagine, for a white American, (he needs to search a map only to figure out where on earth does these terrorists belong to) who feels that the Muslim terrorists belongs to some godforsaken places and not to be counted as civilized human beings, how it felt to be attacked in their own country. So there is nothing surprising in the kind of hatred shown by a section of the American society. It is the basic animal instinct of any human society. And during these trying periods people hardly think individually. Till now America has fought all the wars in other countries. They never had the personal experience of innocent people suffering for none of their own fault.
To the assertion of writer; “In spite of outreach programs and vigils, something has changed forever. Unlike my idyllic childhood where we were told that our neighbors were our extended family, that there is so much goodness in the world, today we look at each other with fear and suspicion, hatred and antipathy. My thoughts today are darkened too - by the realization that somewhere at ground zero lies buried the innocence of America.”
I never had been to America; hence I don’t have personal knowledge about the innocence of America. But as an outsider, I don’t feel the same. For me the history book says ‘the only country who used atom bomb on this earth is United States of America’. For me, ‘till date the human race is searching for an answer to the question whether the second atom bomb was needed?’ ‘Who has encouraged the Taliban during Russian occupation of Afghanistan?’ All of us watched, and some with pleasure, the bombing of Iraq by cruise missiles, day in and day out, what a sight it used to be on TV screen, covered so beautifully by CNN crew, just to punish a rogue called Saddam Hussain. (Some fools may call it a battle for oil fields).
By this time I feel I must have been branded as anti American. But the matter, which should concern everyone is, ‘this is the feeling of a normal citizen of a third world country’. It looks cruel, but can we shy away from these observations? Today American society needs to notice the ground reality. But are we listening? Till today we find that America supports President Musharaff, as their ally in their fight against terrorism, whereas the whole world knows that Pakistan is the breeding ground of Islamic fundamentalism.
Yes it is the cry of the day for all of us to seek a new order in our life. It will only be achieved by providing justice to all, which is a tall order to achieve.
Bikash - your post resonated with me. I know other Indians who had the same "serves them right" reaction. I don't blame them since America is a meddlesome bully in every way.
I live in NY so this tragedy shook me up rather badly and I cried for 2 months straight! But then all New Yorkers did, including the Arabs.
Good news for libreals
FEMA Chief Brown Resigns
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,169169,00.html
Good news for liberals
FEMA Chief Brown Resigns
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,169169,00.html
Bikash, you don't understand how the world works.
Countries follow their interests at the time, nothing more. It is just the way the world operates.
In WW2, Germany and Japan were very close to having the atomic bomb technology as well. Who would you rather have had drop it and win the war? Would you rather see NAZI values or American values propogate through the world? Which system would you have prefered prevail?
If the NAZIs or Japanese had dropped the bomb, there may be no Jews in the world today, no freedoms, no mutual cultural respect.... look at how Europe and Japan have transformed positively since we won the war.
As for training Al Qaida, we didn't know what would result out of that, but at the time we had to train them as the USSR was the biggest threat. Stalin is a similar example. He was evil but we had to work with him because comparitively the NAZIS were a bigger threat to the world.... so we used Stalin to defeat the NAZIS, and then we defeated Stalin and his sytem in the Cold War.
You can always keep saying "why this" or "why that" but you can't go back in time.
On the other extreme, in life you could do so much good for someone and they can come back and attack you and lash out at you. Countries and like people, they follow their interests, and conflict is perpetual. Look at this argument. Now you will come back at me and try to win this little battle.
I hope you realize just how good the US is to its immigrants compared to most other countries, and yes I am an Indian-American.
Illmatic,
I'll skip the debate on the justification for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There will always be differing views on this and that will never change.
Let me also add that most people have great admiration for many things American. I for one appreciate amongst many other things their better than average legal system, the higher educational and research opportunities it provides to people the world over. More importantly, in spite of recent blemishes which I hope are temporary, the opportunities for people to make a better life and reap rewards for their effort and hard work are there for anyone and everyone. Most people agree that America is the land of opportunity and that is undeniable.
There is also no doubt, that seen from the outside, US foreign policy is an unmitigated disaster. It is this that is creating problems not just for the US but also for people the world over. It is perhaps the single most prominent factor that has created much bitterness and in my opinion is a self inflicted injury.
Illmatic,
I'll skip the debate on the justification for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There will always be differing views on this and that will never change.
Let me also add that most people have great admiration for many things American. I for one appreciate amongst many other things their better than average legal system, the higher educational and research opportunities it provides to people the world over. More importantly, in spite of recent blemishes which I hope are temporary, the opportunities for people to make a better life and reap rewards for their effort and hard work are there for anyone and everyone. Most people agree that America is the land of opportunity and that is undeniable.
There is also no doubt, that seen from the outside, US foreign policy is an unmitigated disaster. It is this that is creating problems not just for the US but also for people the world over. It is perhaps the single most prominent factor that has created much bitterness and in my opinion is a self inflicted injury.
Ditto to Dara's last post--Dave
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Recent Comments
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David commented on BLACK TUESDAY
Ditto to Dara's last post--Dave
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Dara Cooper commented on BLACK TUESDAY
Illmatic,
I'll skip the debate on the j
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Dara Cooper commented on BLACK TUESDAY
Illmatic,
I'll skip the debate on the j
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ILLMATIC commented on BLACK TUESDAY
Bikash, you don't understand how the world work
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Jignesh commented on BLACK TUESDAY
Good news for liberals
FEMA Chief Brown
Hi Kavita,
Religion is inherently divisive. It would be more logical to pray that religion gradually begin to lose its grip over humanity till it totally disappears so we have a better chance to unite our hearts and souls.