A Wanderers Miracle

To find love
in your silence, in the quite noise
that kept reaching my heart
was nothing short of a miracle

looking at you
thinking, hoping, dreaming
was as useless as
waiting for a miracle

wasted were the moments
that I could have used
to say that my love
truly, you are a miracle

but now that you are gone
i think living a life
that i cant share with you
thats the real miracle

DAM YOU MAPLE LEAFS

Only the Toronto Maple Leafs could come back 1 nothing down, to go up 6-3 and still loose a game in a shoot out!
I think I should stick to cricket.

Somethings That Just Dont Get Out Of Your Head

I read this poem by Pablo Neruda a short while a ago and its just stuck in my head. I hope he doesnt mind putting it here:

I do not love you... by Pablo Neruda

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how,
or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way

that this: where I does not exist, nor you
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

GO IGNATIEFF

I usually dont comment about Canadian politics. There isnt much happening in the boring world of it. The devilish blue eyed conserative prime minister from Alberta is running the show these days and he basically came to power because the Liberal power, more popular in the East, did not have a solid leader to garner the votes.
Having said that, the Liberal party is involved a leadership race right now with the finale a month away in Montreal. The current leader of this race is Michael Ignatieff, a Toronto native and former alum of the U of Toronto, Oxford and a PhD from Harvard.
Now considering that I only heard of this chap when he won seat to the federal legislature in last elections, I am not completely aware of what his forte is. He did compete in a tough constituency so thats one accomplishment. But what won me over today was his criticism of Israel's bombing of Lebanon. This in result saw his campaign organizer part ways with him. This comes as no surprise. Susan Kadis, another MP from Thornhill, did not agree with Ignatieffs comment that bombing of the Lebanese village of Qana was a war crime. Being a resident of the Thornhill area I realize why a majority of residents would be critical of Ignatieff's remarks and why Susan Kadis, to support her constituency, can not continue to support this man who has been critical of Israel's policy towards its latest adventures in Lebanon.
Thankfully, the pro-Israeli lobby is not as strong in Canada as it is in the US. That is not to say that the can wield influence, but at the same time, there are other lobbies that could to a certain extent pacify pro-Israeli lobby. Whats sad is that I havent heard of another MP coming out against the current PMs support of Israel because his constituency is composed of Muslim or Lebanese folks. Maybe someday, that will happen too. For now, lets take it once step at a time and hope that Ignatieff wins the leadership race next month.

India's Hitler Connection: Subash Chander Bose

Some had posted this very interesting BBC article on their blog. I forget who it and apologies for not giving that individual the due credit here. It points to a very fascinating aspect, that at least I had never thought of till now. The article talks about the famous political leader of united India, Subhash Chander Bose and his collaboration with Hitler for the purpose of seeking independence from the British Raj.
As the article points out, Hitlers purpose for supporting Bose were at a tangent from Bose's aspirations. It may have been possible that Hitler undermined Bose's capability to influence and instigate a revolution of the magnitude that would shake the foundations of British rule in India. At the same time, I am left wondering that had Bose carried out his plans what would have been the shape of the sub-continent right now.
Would there have been the possibility of government with fascist influences? If so, would the muslims of India have faced the same fate as the Jews of Europre? In case of a South Asian holocaust would the hypothetically subjugated muslims be meted out the same treatment by the west as did the Jews? Unfortunately I feel that the answer to most of these questions would have been negative. Muslims never had the popular backing of the west, if there isnt much response to Muslim genocide in African countries in the world of today, then back in 40s and 50s it may not even have been an issue.
However, the point we must consider is the political inclinations of Netaji a common moniker for Bose in his home state of Orissa and the surrounding areas of Bengal. Us Pakistanis, who have never studied the Indian side of the history may recollect Bose as the man behind the famous line "Give me blood and I will give you freedom". His Indian National Army (INA) is supposedly still active in parts of India. His political approach was exact opposite to Ghandis vision of a non-violent revolution. At the same time, in my brief research over the internet in the past two days did not reveal any aspect of his personality that could be considered fascist. In fact he was more left-winged and anti-imperialist than fascist.
The biggest mystery surrounding Bose was his death. It was said that he died in a plane crash in August 1945 over Taiwan. The account is seriously disputed. One theory that has received some credibility is that Jawahal Lal Nehru along with the British had him exiled at an undisclosed location and eventually executed. This would makes a certain bit of sense as a political gambit that Nehru may have used. He did manage to succeed to power through being a Gandhi supporter as opposed to Bose who was opposed to the Gandhi approach. It is said that in eastern and southern India, Bose commanded immense popularity, and was an evident threat to Nehrus post-partition succession. At the same time the British feared that he would create unrest through violent means which would engage their thinning resources (the after effects of WW2) into an unwanted uprising. Hence it may have made complete sense to rid of Bose.
The truth, if we ever find it out, would take quite a while. In either case, it seems that with demise of Bose, South Asia lost a great political campaigner. He may have been the Che Guevera of India, but now unfortunately makes the list of great mind lost to global politics.

Back To Blog Words: Red

My Favorite Red

Out of time

the worst thing is to have a long weekend and some how sqaunder the time away in doing something that somehow took up all the time.
Theres so much I have to say, so much to share and not enough time in the world. I think I will act like the proverbial geek and take my lappie with me while commuting to make up for the last time.

Till Then
Cheerios!

Weekly Blog Thought: Because I Didnt...

A lot has been said about the anniversary of last years earthquake. I look back on all that I did, all that was done by others and all that could have been done. I read about the contionous plight of the surivors and wonder what else can we do appease their pain. I look at the green wrist band I have been wearing since last year, the one that says "Rebuild Life", and I wonder if that was enough, if more could have been done then, if more can be done now. I wish I could somehow go up to my suffering paisan and tell them they havent been forgotten. I now fear running into a victim of this quake a few year down road and feeling shameful when he looks at me, the look that says that I am a lesser person than he is, because I didnt do all that I could when I should have. I pray I can do more now, before its too late, I pray we all could!

The Cross Hair

Sometimes its just difficult to reach a conclusion to an argument. Especially amongst friends. I have been involved in one such debate with my friends for over a year now. We decided that the best to resolve the issue was to conduct a world wide survey to reach the answer. Hence, I came up with the cross hair. A blog to help conclude all debates that require feedback from a mass global audience like yourself.

Here is what I would like you to do. Visit The Cross Hair (Users in Pakistan click here) and take the quick survey. The survey is avaibale under the "The Answer" heading. We really appreciate your help in this.

Oh yeah, do spread the word.

Cheers

A Wandering Thought: If I Could I Would ....

... Spend all my winters in Karachi, all my summers in Toronto, all of autumn in new york, all of spring in europe, be there for all my friends and family all around the world, write and retire at 45 with enough cash to indulge in all the crazy stuff that I couldnt afford to do now!