Tuesday, July 30, 2002

Vicky

I was reading some of Queen Victoria's amazingly sharp letters to her daughter about women and child bearing. She writes, "It is indeed too hard and dreadful what we have to go through and men ought to have an adoration for one, and indeed to do everything to make up, for what after all they alone are the cause of! I must say it is a bad arrangement."

Bad arrangement indeed :) She would know! She was pregnant nine times I think. I know of and have met women of my grandmother's generation who had been pregnant more than twelve times. If you really think about it, they have had to deal with pregnancy and nursing and taking care of toddlers pretty much through out their adult life. That sort of puts their achievements, however small it may seem now, be it tending plants or learning prayer songs or even cooking a variety of dishes, into perspective doesn't it?

Thursday, July 25, 2002

Tortoise

This morning, along with a group of giggling toddlers, I took a peek at a tortoise. A little one, barely two months old, palm size, he was dashing about cutely in his little glass box. He was remarkably fast for a two month old his size, it is quite believable he beat the hare ;)

The lady next to me told me that he will grow quite heavy and will live upto a hundred and fifty years. Amazing! This little tortoise will live to see what we make of this world a century and a half from now. I wonder if he or anyone else will remember this indifferent ejournal writer then

Monday, July 15, 2002

Compensation

With regards to partition and its aftermath, maybe we, that is Pakistan, India and Bangladesh should jointly sue the British for compensation. It is incredible the boundaries for the then two countries had been determined in less than six months. I realize there were talks about it before, but the actual commission seems to have worked only for a short period of time,  less compared to the time taken to split Burma. And no plebiscite too. And the British players - Lord MountBatten and Radcliffe seem to be the main culprits.

But then how can we sue the British when our leaders have also said yes to whatever the commission had proposed. Hindsight is an important factor no doubt, but isn't making important decisions in anticipation of future is what is called vision? It is amazing to me that no one had that kind of vision in 1947.

But what do I know? It was perhaps such a superhuman effort. "Leave her to God or leave her to anarchy" is what Gandhi had said after all. I suppose after two hundred years of alien rule one would be in an urgency to win freedom at whatever cost.

Tuesday, July 09, 2002

Redwood

Last few days, drove through acres and acres of lush green fields, meandering streams, massive lakes and majestic redwoods. Nature filled my heart.

It is very unlikely that I would be able to see such scenery for a stretch so long anymore, where I grew up. The loss of such aesthetic enjoyment is one of the sad side effects of over population.

I remember the amazing beauty of rain beating down on a stretch of road filled with red soil (which they market wonderfully well in Hawaii by the way), not a decade ago. Now the same stretch of road is paved with asphalt and lined with shops and neon lights.

Wednesday, July 03, 2002

Caltrain

I took the train to work today. No book, no newspaper, no chat with the person sitting next to me... I had to ruthlessly crush the juggler in me screaming of all the things I could do in half an hour - to let go. In between, I watched the passing scenes lazily, the man struggling to pick up the ticket and rush before the train left, the three senior ladies insisting on finding a seat that is facing the direction in which the train moved, the commuter immersed in his lap top.. Half an hour to idly follow the clouds and the roof tops and dream of something else. What luxury!