Monday, February 27, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
What Gets You Up in the Morning?
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
On this day of your life, Nanay, we believe God wants you to know ... that the most common regret is not living a life true to yourself. | |
![]() | Have the courage to live a life true to yourself, not the life others expect of you. You can start small, but do start honoring at least some of your dreams. Save and publish this message to your wall |
Friday, January 13, 2012
'human zoo'?
Outrage over 'human zoo' on Indian islands
Rights campaigners and politicians Wednesday condemned a video showing women from a protected and primitive tribe dancing for tourists in exchange for food on India's far-flung Andaman Islands.
British newspaper The Observer released the video showing Jarawa tribal women -- some of them naked -- being lured to dance and sing after a bribe was allegedly paid to a policeman to produce them.
Under Indian laws designed to protect ancient tribal groups susceptible to outside influence and disease, photographing or coming into contact with the Jarawa is illegal.
The tribe, thought to have been among the first people to migrate successfully from Africa to Asia, lives a nomadic existence in the lush, tropical forests of the Andamans in the Bay of Bengal.
India's Tribal Affairs Minister V. Kishore Chandra Deo promised to take action over the incident, terming it "disgusting" on Wednesday, and the home ministry has sought a report.
Survival International, which lobbies on behalf of tribal groups worldwide, said the video showed tourists apparently enjoying "human zoos."
"Quite clearly, some people's attitudes towards tribal peoples haven't moved on a jot. The Jarawa are not circus ponies bound to dance at anyone's bidding," said Stephen Corry, the group's director, in a press release.
In June last year, Survival International accused eight Indian travel companies of running "human safari tours" so tourists could see and photograph the Jarawa.
The London-based lobby group called for tourists to boycott the road used to enter the reserve of the Jarawa tribe, who number just 403 and are in danger of dying out.
The Andaman and Nicobar tropical island chain is home to four other rare tribes -- Onge, the Great Andamanese, the Sentinelese and the Shompens, each numbering fewer than 350 members.
Another tribe called Bo died out in January 2010.
The Andaman police downplayed the video, calling it "old" and blamed the British journalist for forcing the Jarawas to dance for the tourists.
"It is obvious that it is the videographer who is breaking the law of the land and who is inciting the tribals to dance," senior Andaman policeman S.B. Deol said in a statement.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
What Are Words
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
If only I am not inside this cage...
On this day of your life, Nanay, we believe God wants you to know ... that you are you not meant for crawling, so don't. | |
![]() | You have wings. Learn to use them and fly. You were born with potential. You were born with goodness and trust. You were born with greatness. You were born with wings. Save and publish this message to your wall |
Friday, December 2, 2011
Everything Japanese
By the end of my talk they gave me a couple of presents which I am bringing with me wherever I go these days. I was greatly touched by the gesture as it gave me a sneak peek at the Japanese culture and tradition, the strong yet gentle characteristics of its people.
I didn't imagine I would be having a great time meeting and actually "conversing" with real Japanse. Growing up all I could remember was hearing my history teacher talking about war with the Japanese invader. My own talk has opened my mind to the reality that those stories are definitely water under the bridge and that this group I met proved that with desire for peace and everything that it consists, will prove every possibility for breaking down walls around the world.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Whatabout Conflict ?
Our existence as human beings is continually fueled with the desire to find meaning – in our experiences, in our survival, in our aspirations. In the pursuit of meaning, man explores all possible causes and effects, all possible reasons and answers. He has to see why, to know why, and he actually needs to elaborate it, to actualize it, make it more tangible. There has to be a proof of his discoveries. That’s why legends were born, folklore, traditions. These are proofs of man’s capacity to conceive ideas, to dream, imagine, eventually to invent – stories, plans, technologies. To quote George Eliot, “The world is full of hopeful analogies, and handsome, dubious eggs called possibilities.” These possibilities provide opportunities for man to discover new things everyday, and also probabilities for him to fail.
From these experiences of man, his successes and failures, his realizations and disappointments, despair and hope, histories are being woven. These are man’s cultural history, its laws, religions, norms, standards, tenets. They become landmarks along the road to man’s civilization. They are signposts that would lead to the next bend, to the next curve. History then defines the person, the society, for that matter, and this would attempt to determine its future, to build the character of the people.
However, we are unique individuals, with unique minds. One can look at a flower and say it’s beautiful while the other one can look at it, smell it and say it smells bad anyway. Conflicts are born out of this -- people reacting to different stimulus, different situations, interpret them, name them, make their choice whether to live them out, practice them, or refuse to do so and behave otherwise.
Society’s tenets are supposed to be designed to make people behave in a certain way, this is in the view of bringing about peace and harmony. But because of our individual differences, this doesn’t prove to be plausible. They’re like bandage on the bruise. Nevertheless, I don’t think a society without a commandment is possible.
