The Brain that Killed a Mind

This is my account of the Feb 13th Terrorist Blast in Pune. I tried to get it published but in vain. The city papers apparently only publish spam!

My phone buzzed with calls from friends and family. This was the first that this had happened in a span of thirty minutes. The screams of the crowd and the loud music blaring from the speakers were making it hard for me to hear their words. All I could indistinctly hear was, “blast…you ok?”

Then the texts came pouring in, and I was able to piece the puzzle; there had been a cylinder blast at a joint I frequented in Koregoan Park.

Despite the fact that the band was phenomenal, I was distracted by thoughts of the bakery staff; I knew them. Their faces and smiles flashing before my eyes, “I just hope they are not injured.”

Soon, my friends sent word of media reports announcing that there has been a bomb blast. Let me confess that I wasn’t ruling out the hand of a local faction of the political group that has been behind the banning of Shahrukh’s movie. Neither was I ruling out a terrorist attack by a radical Muslim group. It all seemed unreal and the only thing that mattered was that innocent lives had been lost, and I couldn’t contain my tears and disgust at what had happened. It couldn’t be a terrorist attack, I tried to compose myself and called whomever I knew that frequented the joint or resided in the vicinity.

It was quite a task trying to put these horrifying thoughts out of my mind and to enjoy Parikrama. Following the concert, my friend and I rushed to the sight dodging the road barricades. We noticed the mob that had amassed the area with a curiosity akin to ours.

And there it was, or wasn’t; the German Bakery that served as my hang out for the fresh spread of fruit juices and burgers, and the structure that enveloped a friendly ambience, had come crumbling down.

An onlooker then pointed to us a brain that lay partially exposed under a pile of plastic sheets. While I wasn’t carrying a camera, the sight is engraved in my mind.

This brain, once part of a living body, was now left to be exhibited to the press and curious onlookers. While I was sickened by the pool of blood soaking the brain, I was more disturbed about the brain that dissected this one from its body. This creature’s brain clearly had to have been disconnected from his heart, to have not had any remorse for what he is about engage in.

Lives have been lost; at the end of it all, it is not a matter of knowing the victims or not, it is about humanity- a phrase referred to as “insaniyat” in our national language, which binds us all together. But truly speaking, we are all disfranchised from one another.

The culprits may or may not be identified, but the damage has been done and until we resort to addressing the origins of the problem, let us accept that such events will continue to be a part of the fabric of life. Now, it is for us to decide if we will stand by such deep stains, or work together toward a maintaining a spot-free textile.

There is evidently no logic to hatred, to crime, or to violence. Yet, we have grown to accept them as inevitable. But this need not be the case. Violence leads to more violence and peace is never guaranteed with arms. I fear for the aftermath of the event; my gut feeling tells me that we should be prepared for increased animosity between Hindus and Muslims, considering the unfolding of recent events and both groups playing the blame game. This is not to say that we should overlook the deeply rooted animosity between the two, once united lands.

Instead, a dialogue forum is long overdue. I propose one that would offer all political groups and smaller factions the opportunity to chalk out their differences, and this can be done successfully by first bringing to the table, their commonalities. Clearly, this is not going to be an easy task, but let us not forget that no successful peace accord has been a cat walk. Rome was to take longer than a day to be built, but this didn’t keep the Romans from building their empire!

If only the perpetrator of the blast would have stopped and pictured the consequences of such loathing, the brain that lay in cold blood would have been performing wonders.

Motivation

Saturday Afternoon at the Connecting office

Having had a prolonged break from my blog, I am back. I was struggling to find words to pen, because for the longest time nothing interested me. Now that I am back in Pune, after almost 5 years, I miss Thailand and wish that I was with my students. But due to financial constraints I am compelled to chose my living over happiness. Since my arrival, I was sinking into a silent depression, because everything about being back was frustrating. On the roads, at home, at work- there was nothing exciting and pleasing. I cannot say for sure if this was because I felt that I had betrayed my Burmese students and colleagues in Thailand. What I can attest to was that I was unhappy and I couldn't wait to get away.

Gradually, I began to wake up to a reality, that the selfish nature of people, the corruption, the rusted system, and lack of motivation prevalent in India's youth were the culprits- the cause of my frustration. I couldn't comprehend how people could lead such discouraged lives, where the youth are only considered to serve as a support for their old relatives; the rationale behind India's population growth- More Children = more support for family. But adults who spit out this justification do not give a thought to some other logic that seems to make more sense;

More children = increased financial burdens = poor standard of living and education for the family = unemployment= NO Support System!

And herewith I found my motivation- to empower youth in India so that they can dictate terms for their own future. Witnessing the plight of students in a morbid educational system, there was a need to encourage and enlighten them. This is a huge undertaking, but one that is long overdue. From this desire to shape India's future, YEP- The Youth Empowerment Project was born, and I call on India's youth to join in and shake things from the grassroots level.

I have been part of student organizations and know how exciting it is to be part of change, and I am confident that India's children are no different. So without further delay, I, an offspring of India summon the current generation to assemble with me before the system is left completely dysfunctional.

Burma- An Alternative View

Two months since my last post, and after considering all the consequences of having my name associated with writings about Burma, I have come to the conclusion that the benefits far out number the consequences. There is an urgent need to rebut or support the one-sided, poorly researched and exaggerated media reports about this failed military state and the claims by organizations that have been set up to help the people of this country as a whole or a selected few who in their eyes are more important than the scores of people who are facing the wrath of the government in camps, tucked away from the world view.

I was part of such an organization myself, and honestly it wasn’t until my visit to Burma and interaction with its people that I learnt that no matter how highly we regard human rights, ultimately we are forced to bow down to tainted bureaucracy and politics, and that the world was too wrapped up in the trial of a lady who was only one of millions being tormented each day. I respect Daw Suu Kyi, don’t get me wrong, but not enough to distance myself from her people and their suffering.

A number of my peers in the human rights field will probably disagree with me on this, but I have to pose a question that I frequently ask myself when I feel like I am being carried away by Daw Suu Kyi’s touching story, “are you willing to turn a deaf ear to the thousands of people who face murder, rape, separation, displacement and other forms of torture each passing moment?” Because, by narrowly focusing on her, we are doing exactly this.

Members of organizations that have been striving to secure her release argue that they believe that she is the country’s only hope to cease the oppression. Only hope? Have these claimants made the effort to visit the country recently to speak to the youth and all the things they have been doing as part of their plan to help the people of their country? Do these activists have even the slightest idea of the real problems in this country where majority of the people live in poverty? The Nobel Peace Prize Laureate while well respected and influential, is not the only hope this country has, in fact it is best if she be regarded as a hero and left at that. She has been out of the loop for more than 14 years. How can we expect her to be the answer to this complicated problem called the military junta?

This is why I have no reservations in saying that the answer to the problems of Burma, is not Aung San Suu Kyi but the new generation of politically conscious youth who are working on their plans to create a sustainable society. I am not afraid to make this controversial declaration, but it is not until you visit the country and speak to her people that you will understand this.

Then there are organizations that lobby Congress to impose sanctions on Burma. I have been inside the country and would like to challenge these sanctions, because unless sanctions are targeted, the effects are felt by civilian population who are sinking deeper and deeper into poverty. In the defense of my claim, I would like to invite you to take a tour of Shan State where villagers including the village heads are unaware of the sanctions and claim that their situation has remained unchanged. This goes to show that sanctions are ineffective and unless India and China do more than just utter words, unless we target the hidden bank accounts of all the generals, impose blocks on their lucrative money, including imposing sanctions on India China, and Singapore we will be fighting a lost battle. As you can tell, I am with Sen. John Webb on this (mind you, I am bewildered at his decision to secure the release of John Yettaw, an American who was clearly bought out by the junta to keep Suu Kyi from participating in the upcoming election.

But, I do realize that this is easier said than done. The U.S. government cannot afford to and will not jeopardize their relation with either of the countries and we have to comprehend, and history should be a lesson, that governments are concerned mainly with a re-election, increasing their country’s GDP and also to attain the trust of rich and powerful states.

We would be lucky if “ensuring that the rights of every human being are protected,” does make it to their priority list during their term in office. We have some hope with Obama, but he too has limitations on how he can use his power. He cannot, and Republicans will ensure that they keep him from, meeting all our demands. One, he is accountable to his constituents, many of them concerned with his domestic policy and second, he cannot risk being seen to favor foreign policy over domestic issues especially towards a country that has very little to offer the U.S.

So does this mean that we opt for a concessional option and take whatever we can get? I leave this open for discussion. Be sure to support your arguments with viable explanations.