In the 1940s, every year there used to be a quarrel between Hindus and Muslims on Janam Ashtami [Hindu festival] and Miladun Nabi [Muslim festival] but the matter used to be clear within a week or so. The mischief was often started by the Sevak Sang …
Pillar of Fire
I finished reading Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years 1963-65 some time ago but never got around to writing about it. Taylor Branch continues the mammoth project of writing about Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement in this second book of the series. I wrote about the first book, Parting the… Continue reading Pillar of Fire
White Teeth
I have finished reading White Teeth: A Novel by Zadie Smith. It is a very good and fun novel. I would recommend it highly. It has very entertaining images of the different characters and their peculiarities. The English guy Archie and his Jamaican wife Clara, the Bengali Samad and his wife Alsana and their children… Continue reading White Teeth
Miscellaneous
Found while net surfing: HijabMan Blog: A very interesting weblog of a progressive Muslim in Canada. Here is his post about the issue of women and mosques. Via Half Past Nomad, I found Plug-n-Pray. They have kits for Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim and Hinduist conversion. Here’s what they say. For all eventualities — Plug’n’Pray kits… Continue reading Miscellaneous
Afghan Mujahideen and Reagan
One learns something new everyday, sometimes from weblogs. Here’s an excerpt from Juan Cole about Reagan’s role in support of the Afghan Mujahideen fighting the communist Afghan government and the Soviets in the 1980s. In fact, of course, Ronald Reagan bears substantial responsibility for September 11. He and his administration were so gung ho to… Continue reading Afghan Mujahideen and Reagan
A Useless Rant
I have four half-written posts, but you won’t get them today. Instead you will have to read this rant. For I have to deal with some shit in my life. Shit caused by God. Yes, God the All-Powerful. You must be thinking why blame God. Well, don’t the religious among us credit God for all… Continue reading A Useless Rant
Busy with Work and Play
I had to do some work and run some errands on saturday. Then in the afternoon, all of us in the apartment played Hearts of Iron, a World War II real-time strategy game. It was part of our (my friend and I) effort to get the other two apartment-mates to start playing it as the… Continue reading Busy with Work and Play
My Life in Kashmir II
Jammu Tawi was a beautiful and clean town on slant of mountain. Rains were usual and after rain roads and streets used to glitter. Town of Jammu had a specialty. It had flowing waters on its three and a half sides…
Browsing List
You might or might not have noticed my browsing list on the sidebar. It is just below the list of books on the right. This “browsing list” will comprise of any interesting stuff I find net-surfing. Putting a URL on that list does not mean that I agree or endorse the contents of that webpage;… Continue reading Browsing List
My Life in Kashmir I
My great-grandfather, after getting fed up with high handedness of the British rulers of India, took refuge in the state of Jammu and Kashmir (here-after called state) from Qila Sobha Singh, District Sialkot [in the Punjab province of Pakistan and very close to Jammu …