Blood Is Shed Yet Again

Photo Courtesy: Fox News

Events of violence and terror are spread all across the world. Sporadic gunfire has taken place in the central Nigerian city of Jos, where at least two to three hundred people have died following two days of ethnic and religious clashes between Muslims and Christians. Accusations that an election had been rigged were the prime forces driving the violence. Inter-communal violence has claimed more than 1000 lives in Nigeria since 2001. 

There is no end to violence. With every passing day the world is taking a giant leap forward towards the Doomsday. What a world we are creating for our children! It pains me to even think of these things. I have always tried to look at the good things of the world, thereby telling myself that there is still a lot of LOVE and beauty that is keeping this planet alive. But now I have started to hate mankind. We really need another Great Flood and another Noah. 

Thoughts on The Terror Strikes In India

  Photo Courtesy: BBC

Mumbai has been attacked. More than a hundred people are dead. Some of them are even foreign nationals. In times while India is going through such turbulences, I can not help saying a few things on my blog though my blog primarily deals with my works on photography.

 The most important point that must be noted is that an overwhelming majority of Indians do not care the least to unite and fight terror. All that matters to almost every Indian is his own individual interests and it does not matter to him if someone is a victim until of course he is somehow closely related to him.  A Punjabi does not give a damn to what happens at Bengal. A Keralite would hardly care if thousands in Bihar lack any kind of access to education. And a Bengali is not concerned of anything in the world until it is directly related to himself or his family. It is THIS mean tribal sentiment that is the greatest weakness of our country. And being concerned does not just mean sitting on the sofa and abominating terrorists. Being concerned means building communities, groups, and finally expanding them to powerful institutions in order to fight terror.

And the worst effect of this is that our politicians are exact replicas of our mindsets. Every government that has come into power have failed to protect India from such attacks. Mumbai has been attacked three times in the past eight years. Why? Why are our intelligence and the government in power so weak? The present government has repeatedly failed to protect the public from such terror attacks. And that does not alter the fact that even if BJP comes to power it will not be able to stop this. All our politicians are concerned of is petty political issues that serve their own interests. Raj Thackeray can not bear the fact that Biharis are taking all the jobs in Mumbai and leaving the Mumbai’s youth unemployed. But where is his LOVE and CARE for Mumbai in THESE times?

Our country seriously lacks leaders. And until we – the common men – decide to take strong steps to modify the Indian mindset, nothing is going to happen. But we are so headstrong in our selfish motives that we would NOT change if a few of our cities are not eradicated from the face of this earth by a few nuclear explosions. When terror strikes take place we panic, curse terrorists, wow on the concept of anti-terrorism, and shout our lungs out by screaming “Vande Mataram”. But when every thing is over, we forget all that had happened, and go back to our daily self-centred activities. And look at the unity we have in cricket and Bollywood. Such disgusting sloth!

And the worst thing about India is that whatever happens, the blame is always on Pakistan. It is true that whatever attacks take place, all evidences lead to the involvement of Pakistan. Both the Indian Intelligence and American Intelligence said that Pakistan was behind the blast at the Indian Embassy in Kabul. Barack Obama has said that the Pakistan-Afghanistan belt is the seat of terrorism. Evidences suggest that these terrorists presently terrorising Mumbai had come into the city by a boat from a mother ship which is Pakistani. Their SIM Cards are Pakistani. They talk like Pakistanis. But all of these are allegations that have not been proved concretely. Just because there was a Saudi Arabian among the terrorists who crashed planes on the Twin Towers, it does not mean that Saudi Arabia was behind it. Just because there was a Jamaican behind the London blasts, it does not mean that Jamaica was behind it. So it is not right, as well as vey risky, to always pin point at Pakistan. Pakistan is itself suffering from much internal turbulence. In tribal regions of Pakistan, the disturbances have gone up to such a level that certain tribal regions have gone out of the control of the Pakistani government. And it is feared that it is in those regions that terrorists are breeding. Now that does not mean that the Pakistani government is to be blamed for it. What is essential right now is that India and Pakistan has to STOP behaving like kids and focus on mutual cooperation for resolving these things. But every time there is an attack, the Indian government points its fingers at Pakistan. But then they step back for God-knows-what political reasons. This is NOT going to help.   

Another important thing that we and our government MUST understand is that it is not impossible for a cost guard to have been bribed by the terrorists for getting an easy entry inside Bombay. In a state of such an emergency we suddenly realise the importance of the profession of a fire fighter, of a policeman, and of a coast guard. And these are some of the lowest paid professions of this country. So why will not a poor Coast Guard take bribe of a few lakh Rupees? Will we gain anything by blaming him and sending him to the prison? It is time to take things seriously until we are able to hunt down the dens of these terrorists and eradicate them. If things go back to normal even after this incident at Mumbai is over, I fear nothing is going to happen and things will go out of control. By that time, it will be too late. Thousands will die every year and millions will be threatened. 

P.S - In order to have a good understanding of the present situations, do visit the following links:

1.  Suvro Sir's comment at Tanmoyda's blog, the link of which can be found at the list of my favourite blogs.
2. Link to an analysis on Indo-Pak relationship of Reuters:                                                               http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE4AQ65J20081127
   
3. Another analysis of Reuters on the vulnerability of Mumbai:                                                       http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE4AQ52120081127
4. Who could be behind the attacks?                                                                                                      http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKTRE4AQ14Z20081127
5. BBC's analysis: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7752173.stm    
6. Listen to this oral description of one of the hostages:              http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7753000/7753957.stm                        

It has been a week since I opened this blog of mine. My sitemeter reads 72 visits till this date. I think it is not that bad for starters. I also have a few followers. The voting machine is helping me to get an idea of how my pictures seem to the viewers. I must thank all for their comments and advice. I hope I will be able to improve myself with time.

I would be very glad if more and more people visit my blog, give their comments, vote on the quality of my pictures, and become followers if they want to. There is also a list of blogs on the left of my page. I frequently visit those blogs, and I believe they are very good reads. You may visit them if you want to. I believe once you have gone through them, you will become a little bit better than what you were before reading them.

About Me and my blog

Emotional, sensitive, curious, and passionate – that’s what describes me best. I like to ponder on life and love. With my belief in existentialism and individualism, I might be charming as well as obnoxious. But fortunately, I have been loved and liked by many and hated by very few. As far as my passions are concerned, here I am with one of those: photography.

My love for and enthusiasm in photography has offered me the opportunity to document my perspective of the world. For some the medium is writing, for some it is singing, for some it may be going on adventures, and for me it is taking pictures of the world. But my photography is defined by my love for the world, and hatred as well. When one goes through the works of contemporary photo journalists like G. M. B. Akash, one sees things that stir one's feelings on the world and troubles him. This is important. But it is also important to portray the good things of the world. Such as works of Elliott Erwitt. Humour enlivens his pictures, thereby giving us a sense of satisfaction that the world is still a wonderful place to live in. I, as an amateur photographer, love to take a snap of anything that catches my eyes, whether it is of joy or of pain. When I walk on the streets, I use my eyes as the lens of a camera and try to capture every frame possible on the street. That helps me to improve my skills and my eyes. This exercise is also complemented by my daily analysis of several photographs taken by renowned photographers. That really helps me to improve. But there is another important thing that needs to be mentioned. And that is the necessity of good taste. Frankly speaking, I would not have been what I am today without Mozart, Rembrandt, and Tolstoy. When you see the bells of a temple, you are reminded of “For Whom the Bell Tolls”. If you have a camera you will quickly take it up and perhaps take a great snap of a devotee ringing the bell of the temple. But I do not believe that you can take the picture if you have not loved literature. Likewise, it is necessary to be a romantic and to love Wordsworth or Tagore in order to become a good photographer. So also with your love for music. How can you take a wonderful portrait of a violinist if you have not loved the violin and the symphonies composed to be played on it?

I am new to photography. And this is my first blog. In this blog I have uploaded a few photographs that are some of my best. For taking only a few worthwhile pictures, I have taken innumerable frames. These are only a few of the hundreds of photographs that I have taken till today. I know my efforts might be totally worthless. And that is why this blog is an effort of mine to reach out to the viewers so that I come to understand where my pictures stand in their eyes.

Apart from my photographs, I have also uploaded a few sketches of mine. I love sketching and painting too. They too form a special part of my life. In photography, there are four categories:

1. People

2. Nature

3. Computers

4. Miscellaneous

You will find the labels on the column to the left of this page. You may choose the category you want to visit and give your valuable comments.

I will be more than happy to have your comments. I need to improve. And I can not do it without your help. Any suggestion is welcome. I will also be deeply obliged if you vote on the quality of my photography. The voting machine is at the bottom of this page. You may even be my follower if you want to. By clicking the 'Follow this blog' link on the top left of this page, you may add yourself to the list of my followers. I will be extremely glad.

Happy browsing!

Genius

My tribute to Einstein and Yousuf Karsh. I don't know whether my sketch is good enough. It took me three full hours. I hope it pays.

Beauty

My favourite.

Mesmerised

My sister contemplating.

Nude

A Nude from my archieves. 

Antarmahal - the movie

Elizabeth Taylor