It's been another fascinating 10 days, especially towards the end, which is why I'm kind of glad that I waited until now to blog about recent events. I've gotten most of my cannon fodder, so to speak, from the last three days, in fact. Here's the white, black and yellow from these past 10 days.
Wikileaks. Ha Ha Ha. One would have thought the whole rage had finally subsided - newspapers had stopped publishing special 'Wikileak of the day' features, TV channels also looked like they were giving Assange a break and BANG. Out of nowhere. Pretty incredible, really. The story's kind of stupid but it's gotten so much media attention that it's hard not to talk about. Basically, Wikileaks released a cable that 'accused' Mayawati of being a paranoid control freak, citing that she had food tasters, and some other seemingly random connection with sandals and airplanes that I didn't bother reading into too much. See, austerity isn't something Indian politicians are renowned for. Shashi Tharoor, of course, had it shoved down his throat and the issue has died down since then, but paranoia being reported is a new thing. Mayawati responded in dramatic Indian fashion, of course, calling Assange mental and saying that if he was unable to find a mental asylum, she would house him in Agra with pleasure. Assange, who seems to be raring to have a go at anybody now, sharply reminded her that he was under house arrest and accepted the offer to take asylum, albeit political, in India, a country he loved; which was enough for news channels to go berserk and flash animated pictures of Mayawati and Assange in boxing gear. Pretty hilarious, actually. The way I see it, Mayawati could have made the most of this opportunity by agreeing to at least the security part of the cable. If I was looking to poison her, now I know for sure that she doesn't have a food taster which makes plotting a lot easier. Hmmm.
Another incident that chanced towards the end of this ten day period was the Delhi bomb blasts and earthquakes. Not a lot of casualties, thankfully, but one does get the feeling it's a prelude to something bigger that's coming. Stay safe, guys. The earthquake after that, again, had minimum casualties, but naturally sent the whole city into panic. Quite an unsettling day, no puns intended. On the same note, I wonder why they're called 'casualties'. Hmmm.
If you haven't already noticed, I'm in a pensive, thoughtful mood and hence I feel it's only fair to use a little part of this in mindless speculation. So, from the time we were children, we've been taught about what each colour of the Indian flag signifies. Saffron is bravery and courage; white is peace and Green is truth and chivalry, if you are also a little shameless like me and have forgotten. Well my defence is that from childhood, we are forced to see these colours differently. They lose their initial meaning and at least for me, developed another significance altogether. Saffron became Hinduism, with Hindu saints wearing flowing saffron robes and the Shiv Sena proudly flaunting the same colour as well. At all the Hindu festivals, I'd see people with saffron scarves tied around their heads or some other representation of the colour. White has always stood for peace, in popular culture all around the world, and it's probably the only constant in my head, because Green for me now signifies Islam. With the official flag of Islam, or the colour of a lot of Muslim houses, or the shrouds and sheets used for Namaz; that's all that Green means to me; not truth or chivalry. And to put things in perspective, the Indian flag to me has become all about maintaining peace, literally between Hinduism and Islam. The saffron band is on top because Hindus in India outnumber Muslims, firstly, and secondly because Islam always seems to be at the receiving end of everything. Now here comes the interesting part of my analysis. There's a wheel in the center, a blue chakra that signifies law and order. To me, it means that if the chakra does it's job well, then the saffron and green can be rotated around it until they come to a point where they are horizontal and not vertical, symbolizing perfect peace and equality. Isn't that what India was supposed to stand for, as a whole? Now too bad that if that ever happened, the Italian flag would file a lawsuit. Ah well. So much for contemplation.
We now look at the white, black and yellow from the past week.
White: Id Mubarak and Happy Ganesh Chaturti. This period always symbolizes harmony, and hence peace, aka white band according to not only the Indian flag but also according to my futile analysis of it.
Black: The disgusting jokes about what Delhi's been through ('A blast and a rocking day', seriously, internet?)
Yellow: The Mayawati Assange duel, definitely. Yellow journalism at it's best. Take a look for yourself and enjoy a few laughs.
That's all for this week. Stay tuned. :)
Wikileaks. Ha Ha Ha. One would have thought the whole rage had finally subsided - newspapers had stopped publishing special 'Wikileak of the day' features, TV channels also looked like they were giving Assange a break and BANG. Out of nowhere. Pretty incredible, really. The story's kind of stupid but it's gotten so much media attention that it's hard not to talk about. Basically, Wikileaks released a cable that 'accused' Mayawati of being a paranoid control freak, citing that she had food tasters, and some other seemingly random connection with sandals and airplanes that I didn't bother reading into too much. See, austerity isn't something Indian politicians are renowned for. Shashi Tharoor, of course, had it shoved down his throat and the issue has died down since then, but paranoia being reported is a new thing. Mayawati responded in dramatic Indian fashion, of course, calling Assange mental and saying that if he was unable to find a mental asylum, she would house him in Agra with pleasure. Assange, who seems to be raring to have a go at anybody now, sharply reminded her that he was under house arrest and accepted the offer to take asylum, albeit political, in India, a country he loved; which was enough for news channels to go berserk and flash animated pictures of Mayawati and Assange in boxing gear. Pretty hilarious, actually. The way I see it, Mayawati could have made the most of this opportunity by agreeing to at least the security part of the cable. If I was looking to poison her, now I know for sure that she doesn't have a food taster which makes plotting a lot easier. Hmmm.
Another incident that chanced towards the end of this ten day period was the Delhi bomb blasts and earthquakes. Not a lot of casualties, thankfully, but one does get the feeling it's a prelude to something bigger that's coming. Stay safe, guys. The earthquake after that, again, had minimum casualties, but naturally sent the whole city into panic. Quite an unsettling day, no puns intended. On the same note, I wonder why they're called 'casualties'. Hmmm.
If you haven't already noticed, I'm in a pensive, thoughtful mood and hence I feel it's only fair to use a little part of this in mindless speculation. So, from the time we were children, we've been taught about what each colour of the Indian flag signifies. Saffron is bravery and courage; white is peace and Green is truth and chivalry, if you are also a little shameless like me and have forgotten. Well my defence is that from childhood, we are forced to see these colours differently. They lose their initial meaning and at least for me, developed another significance altogether. Saffron became Hinduism, with Hindu saints wearing flowing saffron robes and the Shiv Sena proudly flaunting the same colour as well. At all the Hindu festivals, I'd see people with saffron scarves tied around their heads or some other representation of the colour. White has always stood for peace, in popular culture all around the world, and it's probably the only constant in my head, because Green for me now signifies Islam. With the official flag of Islam, or the colour of a lot of Muslim houses, or the shrouds and sheets used for Namaz; that's all that Green means to me; not truth or chivalry. And to put things in perspective, the Indian flag to me has become all about maintaining peace, literally between Hinduism and Islam. The saffron band is on top because Hindus in India outnumber Muslims, firstly, and secondly because Islam always seems to be at the receiving end of everything. Now here comes the interesting part of my analysis. There's a wheel in the center, a blue chakra that signifies law and order. To me, it means that if the chakra does it's job well, then the saffron and green can be rotated around it until they come to a point where they are horizontal and not vertical, symbolizing perfect peace and equality. Isn't that what India was supposed to stand for, as a whole? Now too bad that if that ever happened, the Italian flag would file a lawsuit. Ah well. So much for contemplation.
We now look at the white, black and yellow from the past week.
White: Id Mubarak and Happy Ganesh Chaturti. This period always symbolizes harmony, and hence peace, aka white band according to not only the Indian flag but also according to my futile analysis of it.
Black: The disgusting jokes about what Delhi's been through ('A blast and a rocking day', seriously, internet?)
Yellow: The Mayawati Assange duel, definitely. Yellow journalism at it's best. Take a look for yourself and enjoy a few laughs.
That's all for this week. Stay tuned. :)
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