….cute, but slightly premature. After all, he was only in office for 11 odd days when the nominations closed !
Great intentions, great promise of a better tomorrow …. but delivery would be nice !
It was fun being on twitter yesterday – pithy one liners flew across the length and breadth of the world - 140 characters of dripping sarcasm 
some of my favorites :
@sumants RT @MitchBenn: It’s official: George Bush was such an asshole you can win the Nobel Peace Prize just by not being him.
@sidin Obama to win Commonwealth Gold & lifetime Oscar. Also X Prize, Magsaysay and Bigg Boss 3. And Dancing With The Stars
@shefaly Ok let me understand this then. Obama has been granted anticipatory No-bail?
@IndiaVoice india’s bomb makers — the ones who made the thermonuclear dud — are better deserving of the nobel peace prize.!!!!!!!
@MrsStephenFry Yet ANOTHER year overlooked for the Nobel Peace Prize. How many more do I have to kill to win that thing?
@samitbasu I hear next week’s special item on Mafia Wars is a Nobel Peace Prize.
I hope that the world is not destroying the man with the weight of expectations. He is not the Messiah — he is flesh and blood and fighting a rather cranky system. Give him space and time to get his work done …. .. and, maybe then a second Nobel would be in order…
But, on the positive side, atleast he didn’t get it for literature !
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… actually have been back since Friday, but was recovering from the mother of all pith/migraine attacks…how did it feel ? like i went 20 rounds with Mike Tyson without the sense to give up in round one..
lots of things have happened in the week that i have been out…
Things that made me smile:
O-bam-a … I caught the coverage in Nepal with a goofy smile. i had tears in my eyes at some parts – especially when i saw civil war vetrans with tears in their eyes….. I guess that just as we were all American after 9/11, we are basking in their triumph for this one…. i don’t know why, but this victory feels good and reinforces that the vast majority of people in the world are good and act mostly with decency. Hats off to the American voters…..
Kumble Retiring - it was more a sense of my own mortality. He is my age and he has retired. What a career and i respected the fact that he was one of the true unselfish players…….Maybe we should start the chant ‘Kumble for coach’
2-0 - India v/s Australia. Never thought that it would me give greater pleasure to see India beat Australia than India beat Pakistan. The Australians needed a serious lesson in humility and they got it. Goodbye Saurav….
Indian Airlines - the craft may be old, the air hostess maybe my mom’s age — but boss are they efficient and helpful. I think that it is about time that we start looking beyond the packaging – and look at quality. IA has professionals ….
Stuff that made me Proud
Maharashtra Anti Terrorist Squad. It cannot have been easy to go after Hindutvadi’s who planted bombs, let alone sadhvis. So i won’t even comment on how hard it must have been to arrest a serving Army Officer – or how strong your evidence must have been. The concept of Hindutvadi’s planting bombs does not at all surprise me, nor does the involvement of those who have supposedly renounce life and ties to life. What saddens me beyond belief is that an Army Officer sworn to lay down his life to protect the citizens of this country – will be involved in a bombing campaign against citizens.
so officers and wo/men of Maharastra ATS – stand up and take a bow. you have done well !
Stuff that made me Scratch my Head and Say WTF
The silence in the Sangh Pavar on the Hindu Terrorists – it actually hurt me to write Hindu terrorists. is this what we have come down to. The Nation is supreme and anyone who indulges in terrorism against citizens is a terrorist. Why is this concept so difficult to understand for a constitutional party like the BJP or a nationalist organization like the RSS ?
Legal representation for those who arrested – again it is a constitutional right . they have the right to be represented – whether it is Geelani or Kulkarni ….
And finally, stuff that made me forget to breathe …
behold the mighty Himalayas…..
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Nita has a good post here that looks at Mayawati and Obama, there is an interesting discussion that is also taking place. I began putting my two bits in and it just got so long that i decided to blog about it (thanks Nita, it has been a long time since i posted anything that i thought too much about
When we look at Obama, we need to look at him beyond his colour and see him for what he is – the child of two post graduate students, who has seen the world – not as immigrant labor or an army brat — but as part of the academic intelligentsia. His father was from Kenya – and the elite there, foreign education is not for the truly down trodden. His mother was an anthropologist and development worker. That is his background — and his value systems have possibly been shaped by that. If the US was not such a colour conscious country – they would look beyond the colour and see him as another one of the ‘upper class’ elite. If he was typically African American – he wouldn’t have got this far . If he was typically white working class – he wouldn’t have got this far either
Contrast that with Mayawati. She is the second generation to gain from reservations. Her father was a government clerk. Her origins have more in common with the mainstay of the BJP vote bank. She was the protege to Kanshi Ram – possibly one of the most charismatic leaders of India post independence. In a way she is also part of the political elite. which is why she has got this far ….. the question is whether she will go further. Will she become Prime Minister ?
For me, caste and gender are not the only defining factor here. You possibly also need to look at region. She is a UP leader. If you want to be more charitable – she is a North Indian leader. Talk to the electorate in Maharashtra (even the ‘dalit vote bank’)- and she doesn’t have too many takers, talk to them in TN – they possibly would not even have heard of her. Talk to the in West Bengal – and she possibly does not even feature in the top 20. The problem with Mayawati is not that she is woman or Dalit or autocratic or corrupt. She faces the same problem that Sharad Pawar and MGR had, that Mulayam and Lallu have — they are regional heroes. Unless Mayawati positions her party and herself beyond where there are now — she will not be the PM. It has nothing to do with being either Dalit or Woman.
The Dalits in India are as diverse as any other community – in terms of language, culture, rituals, gods, heroes and even voting patterns. Pan Dalit identity is as difficult as a Pan Hindu or a Pan Muslim or a Pan Christian or even a Pan Indian identity. Unless Mayawati or anyone else overcomes their regional & caste persona and project a national persona – it is going to be difficult to be even a pan Indian Dalit leader . And, i am not sure that she should be positioning her self that way. If she has to succeed then she has to be a pan Indian leader and the BSP has to be a pan Indian party.
It is difficult in India to have an Obama or even a Clinton or a McCain. Our system is different. Our nation is different. We may follow the same broad principals – but our cultural variations make it impossible to project the one ……
btw – when all commentators talk about where is our Obama, he happened 70 years ago … despite the variations in culture, and the complete stranglehold of caste ……he was called Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar…..:)
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