Creative Challenge #124 - Trickle Down.

Ria is glad to be home.  There is something about the country of birth that she cant quite put her finger on.  She wonders why the phrase has always been "put a finger on" cant it be "put a toe on" or any other appendage? Never mind, She was glad to be home. 

Early next morning she takes her camera and goes out for a walk.  Its been five years since she was last here.  Five years since she walked these streets or saw so many people of the same hair, eye and skin colour as her own. Five years since she walked to get milk or groceries. Five years since she heard the Koyal's call or saw street dogs and cows roam free.  Five years since she saw autorickshaws, heard the temple bells ring or the call to Azaan.  She soaked all the sounds and sights to her minds saturation as she clicked what she knows she maynot see again once she leaves here.  It felt so good. The roads, the stores, the vegetables, fruits and people seem to have shrunk.  She smiles as it occurs to her that she now has a new frame of reference through which she is viewing what she once knew. She titles it "The US lens".  In the past five years, she got accustomed to 4-6 laned roads with traffic following the rules, people who are on an average taller and bigger than the puny Indian she is, stores that are huge that she needed a map to navigate through, grocery just left for our picking, a life lived Kingsize or in her instance, Queensize.

She looks across the Main road that marks the boundary of the neighbourhood where she lives and notices the small make shift cardboard and tarp shelters that have cropped up. "Oh a Slum so close?"  She wonders if no Minister of the Parliament lived close by. If he/she did, slums wouldnt dare crop up in the locality.  She sees that the Old Fair Price Depot has moved to a bigger lot, yet the queue is long for kerosene.  She remembers her childhood when she stood in those queues waiting in line for the ration of sugar, rice, palm-oil and wheat. It felt like so long ago yet the sight brought back the same sense of lack she felt as a child, a sense of inadequacy, of knowing only the lower rungs of the ladder of wealth and a sense of Having Not. Ironic she thinks...when you read about all the "progress and industry" , "India Shining" slogans, the "Emerging Superpowers of India and China" headlines along with the "trickle down" effects of economy that the media outside India, churns out. Yes she thinks as she returns from her walk, whatever Trickled Down probably never touched the ones who lived on the Floor.

Tour the Creative Challenge #124

Olympics, Georgia and Books.

I watched the Opening ceremony  of the Beijing Olympics... Was I impressed? Oh Yes!!!!  it was beautiful, colourful, very precise, showed dedication to wanting it to go well, showed that people believed in the Honour of good work, showed people could work very well as a team if each did their job right, showed people could actually be proud of their history and culture and last but not least, it showed that no one was Cheap in that production team.  The sweetest Icing on my Impressed Cake was when I discovered the next day that - the co-director was Zhang Yimou, the same who directed the Wuxia(Chinese equivalent of the Japanese Samurai) Movies - House of Flying daggers and Hero.  Both movies I enjoyed watching, which implies that the director did a good job telling the story.  The other director was Zhang Jigang, a Chinese Choreographer and Lieutenant General, the only one in China who holds the highest Military rank for a Non-combatant. 

So far I have watched a Football Match between  Ivory Coast and Serbia which was really nice to watch something that I used to enjoy after a long self-imposed exile on watching games. Watched Boxing between Ukraine and Russia, men's and women's Gymnastics, badminton between Singapore and Malaysia, women's volleyball between China and US, gymnastics, basketball between China and US and am still in awe of Yao Ming's height and swimming. 

Closer to home, reading the Medal Tally, India was placed 21st, sharing that place with more than  8 other nations that were in no way comparable with our size in population.  I had such hopes for Marksman Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, since he made India proud in the Athens Olympics, only to be disappointed. Abhinav Bhindra made it and India won ONE measly Gold medal in Shooting. Bravo!! for a population of over 1 billion, we had 56 athletes, played for 4 days and we got ONE Gold medal..India has only won four individual medals in Olympic history since we sent our first team to the Summer Games in 1928. We didnt send a Field Hockey team(a sport which we have a talent for), cause they didnt qualify(How on earth that happenned, I cant fanthom). In rowing we finished fifth. In Singles badminton,  we lost straight sets 13-21  and 17-21 Man! at least giving a fight would have felt good. In tennis doubles and boxing we qualified for the second round, now its a wait and see.  

On the other hand, An American of Indian descent is part of the  US men's gymnast team, that won the bronze.  Yay! that means that if there was good guidance, importance given to sports, Indians could actually be GOOD at it.  I think we as  a Nation make poor investments in Sports and other Arts. Ok, I am done feeling miserable over the state of Indian sportsmen. Guess, I dont have the right to say things like this, since I am not a sports man and have a tough time staying fit myself.

Moving on to things other than the games-  the day before the Olympics, Russia had a bombing spree with Georgia... While I am not for war, I am not against defending a nations borders. Somethings are inevitable when it comes to nationhood.  I was amused  when the President of US issued a "Stern warning" to Russia to back off...I imagined Russia's Mr. Putin go in a Thick Russian accent-  "what? are you crazy Man? my borders are being bombed, my people are being killed and you want me to sit tight and do nothing while you go all the way around the world to invade Iraq that was no way involved in the 9/11? Come on Man! be a little fair now, Okay?"

Then I read the news on the Sidney Morning Herald -

"RUSSIAN military attacks may be designed to unseat Georgia's pro-US Government, says George Bush, a move that would represent a "dramatic and brutal escalation" of a conflict Washington officials are describing as Cold War-style aggression."
 
I am thinking - AH! what do you expect?  Its okay for you to put a "PRO-US Anti-rest of the world governments" where ever you want but its not okay for someone else to want a Pro-themselves government among their Neighbours?

In this instance I agree with Mr. Putin- ""Mr Putin decried Western "cynicism" for defending what he said was Georgian aggression against separatists in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. "They, of course, had to hang Saddam Hussein for destroying several Shiite villages," he said of the US."

Here's how the conflict began a week ago - From the Asian News
"Clashes broke out on August 7th when Georgian troops penetrated South Ossetia to regain control of the territory."
My thoughts - Ah! so it was Georgia who was the Aggressor.

" Following a war with Georgia in the ‘90’s the two regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia declared independence from Tbilisi, an independence that has not been recognised by the International community but has Russian support."
My thoughts -  Of course, its not convenient for the US to recognize Independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia(considered as an economically lucrative territory by Georgia which has Israel's support, as they trade oil through Georgia in the Caspian sea)

U.S. President George W. Bush demanded Russia end its armed conflict with Georgia calling it an “invasion”. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, current EU president, heads to Moscow today to lead efforts to end hostilities and bring Russia to a ceasefire.  But a Russian spokesperson says that the Kremlin will not accept any compromise that does not condemn what it calls Georgia’s “aggression”."

My thoughts -  Georgia has oil pipelines,  so its lucrative had the same thing happened in some god-forsaken place in Africa, no one would have DARED comment on it.  Now, its ok for a Super-power to go to a Nation some thousands of Miles across the ocean on a Pre-emptive Strike/Invasion of another nation in-spite of that nation not touching your borders but it isn't alright for a nation to respond when the Neighbour raids your Borders(as is the case with Russia)? How is the US able to keep a Straight-face when it tells Russia to do exactly the opposite of what US did under circumstances that wasn't as Serious as it is with Russia?  And then the US wonders why the International Community has no respect for their words and force them to use the "threats of not so desirable repercussions"?(striking my forehead with exasperation)

I finished reading parts of the huge pile of books I got from the library.  I tend to read a few books together, guess it has to do with my scatter-brained-ness.  So right now.. reading "The namesake-Jhumpa Lahiri" "The undiscovered Chekhov - Anton Chekhov, translated by Peter Constantine" "Arranged Marriage-Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni" "Eats, shoots and leaves-Lynne Truss" "Billions and Billions-Carl Sagan" and  "Haunted Mesa - Louis L'amour". It will probably take me a while until I can say I finished reading.  

Note to Self - Do One thing at a Time if you really learned from the Book on Mindfulness.

Done with Thoughts that no one needs to listen to but still needs Venting.

Off to do chores while Wishing you all a good day

Peace Always 
Rashmi.