Book Review [34] : Hegemony or Survival

'Hegemony or Survival' by Noam Chomsky is a nice analysis of US "war on terror" since the days of President Wilson. Noam Chomsky in his own style decimates the moral foundation underneath the bloody wars in the "service of mankind". But sometimes he loses almost everything and tries to depict an oversimplifying picture of major world crisis. For him  US is the bad guy and whoever opposes US is the nice guy without any exception whatsoever. 

You can not defeat the evil without fighting using all the means you have at your disposal. This is your right as well as moral obligation. The mess of our modern world is the legacy of the western renaissance. The once mighty and well advanced African civilization of Carthage was destroyed to dust by the mighty Western Roman Empire. The once mighty  Persian empire of Asia was destroyed to dust by the young Greek, we call him Alexander The Great. When some one from West conquers the world we call him Alexander The Great but if some one from East conquers the world we call him Barbarian like Xerxes or Ghengis Khan. The differencebetween Alexander and Ghengis Khan is same as the difference between Bush and Laden. We call one a terrotist and other a proponent of infnite justice. As they say we live in interesting times. We live in time when ego of only super power on earth lies in destroying the least powerful, least educated, most corrupt and most poor nation in our world. They call it a wise war now and we are fine in supporting it. Overall this book is a nice book and after reading chomsky i will say if you have read his one book assume that you have read him all.
Highly Recommended (8/10)
P.S. Kabul is near to Delhi than Bangalore.

No one is a holy cow here

19/11 is a day that has changed the face of Indian Media, forever. The so called last bastion of Indian Republic is under sever fire after the expose by Open Magazine. I don't know whether the tapes are authentic or fabricated but the boycott of this news by entire English media fraternity raises a lot of unanswered questions. I am a regular viewer of NDTV and CNN-IBN and some times i really ponder about the immense power these guys have at their disposal. These guys can make any party, organization or person look silly if they wish. This power is very dangerous as there is no guarantee that these media houses and these journalists follow the standards of journalism. And by sheer virtue of this power they can intern dictate policies and terms. I always thought that the NDTV is bit inclined towards Congress and CNN-IBN is not to different. CNN-IBN top anchor has coined a term "Internet Hindus" to call those internet savy Indians who persistently attack CNN-IBN and NDTV for following double standards in their reporting and their shows.

                               I am not a member of BJP or CPI or Congress and neither  i vote (because i don't find any candidate worthy of my vote) but i was shocked to see the one sided coverage of CNN-IBN and NDTV during assembly election in Gujarat in 2007. These channels were openly campaigning with congress against Narendra Modi. This was totally against all the standards of journalism. The coverage of Ayodhya verdict by NDTV was highly biased although CNN-IBN did a balanced coverage. Media persons can have ideologies but that ideology should not in any way impact their job of fair and true journalism. NDTV and CNN-IBN are perfectly fine to have ideologies but they have no right whatsoever to impose them on their viewers.

The tape controversy is nothing but a tip of the iceberg and i won't be surprised if this controversy is skirted  in a day or two as these media houses in particular and all in general are very very powerful. 

P.S. I have tweeted to Sagarika Ghose, Vikram Chandra and Rajdeep Sardesai that why CNN-IBN is not reporting Barkha Dutt - Nira Radia tapes but so far got no reply. CNN-IBN and NDTV has lost be as a viewer, switch back to Doordarshan :)

Book Review [33] : Autobiography - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

Dr. King(1929-1968) was the one of the greatest apostles of non-violent struggle against the unjust laws and played a key role in civil rights movement of USA. It is hard to believe that pathetic racist laws such as different schools for blacks and whites, different churches, clubs ,different seats in buses etc were prevalent in USA even in 1960's. But the Blacks never lost the hope and under Dr. King they were able to win back their rights after more than 400 years of serfdom. Freedom is not given, its always taken. His dream eventually came true (although symbolically) when Barrack Obama became the president of USA in 2009. USA has made great strides in abolishing almost all racial barriers among different racial groups and it has to be commended for this. As an India, i feel enormous shame when i still see the same caste system is still prevalent with almost same vigor in almost all the villages of India. If Gandhi can inspire some one too distant in space and time why we are not getting inspired. Has the paradise been lost forever or still we have some bits left? The best time for justice, freedom and peace is always now. Its better to die on the roads, jails, fields of India fighting for justice than to make a butchery of our conscience. 
Highly Recommended (8/10)

Book Review [32] : No god but God

'No god but God' is a story of the evolution of Islam since the first revelation in a small cave at Mt Hira not too far from the thriving "Pagan" city of Mecca in 610 AD. This book talks in detail about the first 100 years of middle east from the Battle of Elephants in 570 AD, the evolution of Sufi thought, the Inquisition and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and Wahhabism.  It asks very fundamental question about the socio-economic basis behind the evolution of this great movement. 7th Century Arabian society was a very primitive society with very primitive laws and rules compare to the highly sophisticated Byzantine, Sassanian and Indian civilizations still it managed to defeat all these civilizations and was able to conquer entire middle east, parts of Pakistan and north Africa in a span of just 50 years. Persian history is an apt manifestation of the Tragedy at Karbala. Around 330 BC, a young prince from a tiny Kingdom of Macedonia decimated the mighty Achaemenid Empire and after 100 years a primitive society of Arabs destroyed the mighty civilization of Persia. The Zoroastrian culture and religion disappeared from Persia like column of smoke in mighty winds. When ever Persians think that they are going strong, they go straight in a deep gorge. It has happened in 330 BC, 650 AD, 680 AD. So their mourning to celebrate the martyrdom of Husayn at Karbala has a deep rooted anguish. I completely believe that Islam is nothing but Arabic imperialism in the guise of religion. Why Arabs always try to impose the archaic and barbaric laws of 7th Century Arabia on the converts from highly advanced societies of India, Iran and middle east?The only tragedy with this great religion of Islam is that it had evolved in a wrong society at a wrong time. This religion should be read and followed only after separating the politics and culture of 7th century Arabia and if its not done then no one can stop the spread of Wahhabism and Talibanism in any society. Amen.
Highly Recommended (8/10)