Between Human and Humane

"I expect nothing except lots of unexpected moments"

Tue, 07 May 2013 16:06:50 +0530

““I expect nothing except lots of unexpected moments””

- sathish tarnas

I like my new shoes and love my old shoes. I like the new one...

Tue, 07 May 2013 15:48:15 +0530

I like my new shoes and love my old shoes. I like the new one because I need it. I had no one to give this to me, but I was badly in need of it, for the winter and for the summer. I would have asked my father if he is alive or my mother if she is with me. Even I thought of my brother and sister but I had no one. The world called me an orphan. What all I just shared with you did not hit my mind when some one gave this to me. Its a new shoe when my old shoes are toned. The old one is see through now but it was with me for last three summers and three winters. Now I have new shoes for my next three summers and winters. I will ware it when I go to school, church, play and to cemetery to meet my father who was a cobbler. I like my new shoes and love my old shoes.

I don’t know where she is. But she is my love for past 5...

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 00:53:59 +0530

I don’t know where she is. But she is my love for past 5 years.

"My father is my friend"

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 00:16:31 +0530

“My father is my friend”

- Sathish Tarnas

"Down fall can be also a destiny."

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 19:22:06 +0530

“Down fall can be also a destiny.”

- Sathish Tarnas

We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 17:15:34 +0530

yanilavigne:

(Quotes here)

Its called love

#Happy #holi #festival of #colors (at Shenoy Nagar Park)

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 03:25:39 +0530

#Happy #holi #festival of #colors (at Shenoy Nagar Park)

sunfoundation: BBC Knowledge Explainer DNA As Will Samuel,...

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 02:57:14 +0530

sunfoundation:

BBC Knowledge Explainer DNA

As Will Samuel, lead designer and animator on the project explains, the approach taken wasn’t just to look into a scientific future. “We needed to find a graphic style to communicate the beauty and intricacy of DNA. We wanted to create nostalgia; taking the audience back to the days of textbook diagrams and old science documentaries, such as Carl Sagan’s COSMOS and IBM’s POWER OF TEN (1977). Using the double helix circular theme as a core design we focused on form, movement and colour to create a consistent flow to the animation, drawing on references from nature, illustrating how DNA is the core to everything around us.”

DNA

Driving Corporate Sustainability through Social Innovation

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 02:07:43 +0530

Driving Corporate Sustainability through Social Innovation:

Europe is trying to drive corporate sustainability through Social Innovation. If the innovation happens under the guidance of government it will be inclusive but if its going mentored by corporations, who will be benefited out of all these innovations the government or the people or the companies.

Willing is not enough you must DO #willing #do #try

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 03:09:02 +0530

Willing is not enough you must DO
#willing #do #try

10 ways to keep yourself happy. To know the10th one buzz me....

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 01:50:04 +0530

10 ways to keep yourself happy. To know the10th one buzz me. #happy #phone #friend #walk #hot #bath #coffee #instagram #book (at Shenoy nagar)

Vishwaroopam - Namaz and Bombs, Namaz and Terror, Namaz and Violence.

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 02:40:29 +0530

Vishwaroopam - Namaz and Bombs, Namaz and Terror, Namaz and Violence.:

I honestly believed in Mr. Hassan but he betrayed all of use through his healthy words and filthy lies. Hear after he has to be watched carefully. I strongly feel he should find his won secular nation in this world. This film is the great shame for India in the international platforms. In this matter India is answerable to all the Muslim and real secular nations.

Vishwaroopam: An Interesting Film That Ultimately Applauds US Imperialism - By Karthik Ramanathan

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 01:50:13 +0530

Fremont, CA: On the night of Friday January 25, I was glad to have the opportunity to see a film screening of Kamal Hassan’s spy thriller ‘Vishwaroopam’ and while not a crazed cine fan like many others in the audience, it was a pleasant occasion to see Mr. Kamal Hassan himself grace the event. Personally, it was the first time I saw an actor whose Tamil movies I have watched and enjoyed since childhood.

Prior to proceeding any further, I would like to state outright that the demand for banning this film even before its released, from the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam and others, is simply outlandish and goes against common sense and constitutionally guaranteed free speech. This would be true even if allegations of the movies prejudice against muslims (or potentially any other religion) have validity, and having watched the film my opinion is that this broad allegation against the film simply does not hold water. The Tamil Nadu government has unfortunately set a negative precedent against protection of free speech by appeasing fringe muslim groups who demand a ban on the film. The current state of affairs where TN Chief Minister Jayalalitha claims protection for free speech in the same sentence that she demands the film maker to modify his film based on the objections of those opposing its release simply defeats logic. Hitler too would have supported free speech if speech he did not like was modified to delete the objectionable content. I hope that the film would be allowed to screen unconditionally with no preconditions whatsoever for modifying its content.

The film incorporates many rarely used concepts in Indian cinema including wide use of computer graphics, innovates a storyline that is both unique and multithreaded. A true suspense thriller, it also keeps the viewer guessing about the motives and identities almost till the very end. For these, the film is a pleasure to watch, if one were to not pay attention to the historical events portrayed.

A narrative of mutually beneficial alliance with US imperialism

But as a person of conscience, one cannot be blind to the political narrative that is ultimately projected by the film. Mr. Hassan plays the role of a muslim RAW (Indian intelligence) agent Wasim. Wasim infiltrates Al-Qaeda infrastructure in Afghanistan, posing as a jihadi, as part of assisting the US invasion force in the year 2002 and this supposedly is to the benefit of India as well. As to why, assistance to a occupation, illegal by international law, and their military operations is beneficial to Indians is not made really clear, except for some short recordings about crazy plans by Al Qaeda operatives to carry out terror attacks on India. This suggests rather wrongly that Al-Qaeda is a central command organization, when in fact the best available analyses indicate disparate sets of individuals and groups only loosely connected to each other with a leadership that is more symbolic than organizational [1].

This is a narrative that has broad implications for a globalized India, and the inclination to look at ourselves as “natural allies” of the US – a state that routinely invades and terrorizes and murders innocents and nations in the name of freedom and justice – forgetting our moral obligations as people who were colonized by similar powers in the not too distant past. Mutual benefit of a meaningful kind from a US alliance is an oxymoron, as our Pakistani neighbors find out the hard way, with innocents being killed by drone attacks on their soil on an almost daily basis and a military that is too dependent on US support to defend its civilian population.

Oh.. Imperial crimes are only well intentioned mistakes or unintended collateral…

I recollect two scenes in the film, one where a US soldier in a helicopter, fires accidentally at a civilian and the film makes sure to show signs of remorse in the expression on the snipers face. In another, the American aircraft in the course of a firefight, bombs a structure housing women and children – even as Islamists themselves exhume confidence that the Americans will not kill women and children – apparently unknown to the well-intentioned aggressors. These are contrasted to images of murders and slayings by the Islamist fighters, who have no sense of remorse or mercy even at their own women, let alone their victims. By doing this, the film plays into a colonial narrative that simply flies against the logic of imperialism and historical fact. No one in India thinks the British carried out their mass crimes of economic deindustrialization, manmade famines and massacres such as the Jalianwala Bagh out of error. The films simply pretends to not know the supreme crime called aggression condemned at Nuremberg and how it applies to the US invasion of Afghanistan. Suffice it to say, that the US knew prior to the invasion and the carpet bombing of Afghanistan, that it was leaving “millions of Afghans… at grave risk of starvation”. [2] We know since that the US has not only resulted in tens of thousands of Afghan casualties but also extended its campaign into neighboring Pakistan resulting in even more innocents being killed. [3]

Colonial aggression: fact, memory and film making

A scene in the end really sent an arrow threw my heart: Wasim is presented as heroically killing a muslim individual who is trying to fire a rocket at a attacking US helicopter, and successfully foils the attempt. By implication, Mr. Hassan is conflating armed resistance to a foreign aggressor with acts of terrorism and thereby criminalizing acts of resistance. Not many Indians would like to think heroically of the British who put to death Rani Lakshmi Bhai or Tipu Sultan or the thousands of unknown Indians who gave their lives trying to liberate their nation even in the face of a superior enemy. Neither does the UN, which specifically excluded resistance from its most forceful denunciation of terrorism.[4] Why portray in a purely negative fashion the Afghan resistance to US occupation unless the point of the film is to crave favorable reviews in the Western press and Hollywood even at the cost of supporting imperial crimes.

There is one thing the film does get right. Wasim is a loyal Indian muslim always willing to do the bidding of the Indian State. But he is always preoccupied about ensuring the success of the US, be it in Afghanistan or later in ensuring the safety of New York – activities that should be the preoccupation of US agencies. Even while inaccurately presenting a picture of Indian intelligence capabilities as being superior to inept US investigators, this does strike a chord with reality: The Indian government and its middle classes assign an unusually high priority for doing the bidding of the worlds powerful even as they forget the priorities of governing their own people, their needs, history and constitution.

Fiction can never be expected to present all facts. But this film consistently errs on the side of imperialism and whitewashes its role in inflaming tensions in the region. Mr. Hassan and others in the Indian cine fold could also consider making movies based on our own history of film making that calls for a just social order. Even in fiction for example, a potential and similarly exciting multithreaded storyline could center on innocents who are torn apart by the US war machinery and their illegal torture and detention, and manage to escape its clutches to find their lives and humanity and positive ways to resist the American empire. In such an endeavor he would actually have allies in North America, in film makers such as Michael Moore (Farenheit 911) or James Cameron (Avatar). Hollywood may not invite Mr. Hassan then but he may then be remembered in the halls of justice and in the minds of freedom loving peoples everywhere. The choice is with him and the rest of India’s film makers. But history will not be very kind to those who forget it.

[The author is a professional based out of San Jose, CA and can be reached at ramanath.karthik@gmail.com . Outside of work, he has been involved with writing and participating on various human rights issues such as war, healthcare, cuba solidarity.]

References:

1. See book by British investigator Jason Burke: “Al-Qaeda”.

2. Samina Ahmed, International Security 26, no. 3, 2001-02.

3. The following Human Rights Watch report looks at the years 2006-07 and early 2008.http://www.hrw.org/news/2008/09/07/afghanistan-civilian-deaths-airstrikes
The report probably underestimates civilian casualties by making assumptions about civilian versus Taliban, something impossible to do without a fair court of law to make a judgement. Even with these underestimates, the total civilian toll is still of the order of tens of thousands when extrapolated over the entire period from 2001-2012. And this also excludes those who died of starvation and illnesses and imprisonment resulting from the US invasion. Drone strikes in Pakistan have further inflamed tensions and fears of a breakup of the Pakistan military, and further rise in Islamic militancy.

4. UN Resolution 42/159, 7 December 1987. The US State department identified 1987 as the peak year of terrorism. For more treatment of such issues of resistance and terrorism and justifications for US war in Afghanistan, see Hegemony or Survival, by Noam Chomsky.

Karthik Ramanathan is a Senior Engineer at Samsung Electronics in San Jose , California . Outside of his work, he has written about and been involved with various political movements against war, third world solidarity and economic justice in the United States . He can be contacted at ramanath.karthik@gmail.com

நம் எல்லோரது அன்பிற்கும் பாத்திரமான பேரா. Dr ஜவாஹிருல்லா அவர்களுக்கு ஏற்படுத்தப்பட்டுள்ள இந்த அவமரியாதயை எல்லோரும் கண்டிப்போம்

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 00:11:00 +0530

விஸ்வரூபம் தடை நீக்கப்பட்டதை ஒட்டி ‘புதிய தலைமுறை’ தொலைக்காட்சியில் விவாதம் நடந்து கொண்டிருக்கிறது.

முனைவர். ஜவாஹிருல்லா.எம்.எல்.ஏ அவர்கள் தொலைபேசி மூலம் பேசினார். தடையை எதிர்த்து மேல்முறையீட்டிற்கு முஸ்லீம்கள் தயாராவதைப் பற்றி பேசிக்கொண்டிருந்த போது நிகழ்ச்சி ஒருங்கிணப்பாளர் கேட்டார் : அஜ்மல் கசாப் போன்றவர்களைப் பார்த்த பின்பும் இந்த நாட்டு மக்கள் உங்களையெல்லாம் சட்டமன்ற உறுப்பினர்களாக தேர்ந்தெடுத்திருக்கிறார்கள்.. இன்னுமா இந்த நாட்டின் மீதும் சட்டத்தின் மீதும் உங்களுக்கு நம்பிக்கை ஏற்படவில்லை”

#பேரா.ஜவாஹிருல்லா எல்லோராலும் மதிக்கப்படக்கூடிய, சனநாயகப் பாதை மீது நம்பிக்கை கொண்ட ஒரு அரசியல் தலைவர். த.மு.மு.க நிறுவனர். மனிதநேய மக்கள் கட்சித் தலைவர். முஸ்லிம்களின் உரிமைகளுக்காக மட்டுமல்ல, மத நல்லிணக்கத்திற்காகவும் பாடுபடுபவர்.

# ஒரு முஸ்லீம் அரசியல் தலைவரை நூற்றுக்கணக்கான மக்களைக் கொன்று குவிக்கும் நோக்கத்தோடு வந்த ஒரு தீவிரவாதியுடன் ஒப்பிட்டுப் பேச எத்தனை நெஞ்சழுத்தம் இருக்க வேண்டும்?? இந்த இந்துத்துவத் திமிருக்குப் பெயர் தான் கருத்துச் சுதந்திர உரையாடலா??

# முஸ்லிம்களை அரசியல் ரீதியாக ஒன்றிணைக்கும் ஒரு முக்கியத் தலைவரை அஜ்மல் கசாப்போடு ஒப்பிட்டுப் பேசியது வன்மையாகக் கண்டிக்கத்தக்கது. உண்மையில் இந்தப் பேச்சு ‘விஸ்வரூபத்திற்கு’ நேர்ந்த சிக்கல்களின் கடுப்பில் இருந்தும் தடை நீக்கபட்ட வெற்றியை கொண்டாடும் திமிரில் இருந்தும் வெளிப்பட்டதாகத் தான் தோன்றுகிறது.

# “தடை பல வென்று சரித்திரம் படைத்தவன் நீ” என்ற விஸ்வரூபம் பாடலை ஒவ்வொரு இடைவெளியிலும் ‘situation song’ ஆகப் ஒளிபரப்பிக் கொண்டிருக்கிறது புதிய தலைமுறை. உண்மையில் கமலை விட இவர்கள் தான் அதிகம் குதூகலிக்கிறார்கள்.

# ஊடக இந்துத்துவத் திமிரை வன்மையாகக் கண்டிப்போம்!! பேரா.ஜவாஹிருல்லா மீதான இந்தக் கொச்சை அவமதிப்பை எதிர்ப்போம்!! -

Cimi Meena

http://www.facebook.com/cimi.meena.3

Money is rote of all politics. #money #rote #politics

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 04:16:37 +0530

Money is rote of all politics. #money #rote #politics

This fear kills me like any thing

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 00:13:06 +0530

(It’s a short conversation between me and my sister who is teaching in Dubai. I call/MSG her whenever there is a problem with in me and which it can’t be solved by itself. I still remember 4 years before i wrote a same kind of a short MSG about reduction in the speed of my work and her reply was “when we take full responsibility of some action or process, all its effects without depending on others, we’ll take some time to calculate and plan the process properly to end it without any issues and problems so it will take some time and that is what you feel as a slowing down”. This MSG relay motivated me and made me to believe i am not small any more and depending on somebody. As the same now i wrote a below MSG.)
Today
00:16

Sathish Tarnas

I am taking a brack and writing this short msg to you. I think you will remember I spoke to you about I’m slowing down in my work nowadays. This was like 4 years before. Now I have change in me. I have a problem of fear. You know about me. But this fear kills me like any thing. Msg me when you are free. Good night.
00:17

Sathish Tarnas

Say hi to ji

Tell him that ‘I love him’
Today
20:47

Archu Joyce

We love you Sathish

Fear is good. It shows you are in unfamiliar territory… you are moving along and not stuck

That’s why you are scared

You should welcome fear

You should bw afraid if fatigue

You are meant to be afraid but not let it defeat you

"Knock for peace. Every knock is an information, every information is a resource, every resource is a..."

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 04:42:05 +0530

“Knock for peace. Every knock is an information, every information is a resource, every resource is a development, every development is a change, every change is a peace.”

- Satish Tarnas

I admire him a lot. My friend, My friend and again my friend. I...

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 15:00:42 +0530

I admire him a lot. My friend, My friend and again my friend. I am unable to define a word friend being a friend of this black hero. He came in to my life throu a phone call. And stood with me when all my friends wanted to nurture their relationship with me only in the evenings and after sunset, because they wanted to be my friends for my qualities and that 2 only secret becouse of my enemies. When we met first time he tolled me that ’ satish you are a hero come out of the guilt and fight the battle and you’ll win. I was happy about this solidarity but was wondering about that winning part. Asked him how your so sure about my victory. Looked at me and said ‘i tolled you already ’ you are a hero and no hero failed in history.

"Change in thought is hope but that in action is truth. Make others thought full and you truthful"

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 21:52:29 +0530

“Change in thought is hope but that in action is truth. Make others thought full and you truthful”

- Satish Kumar Tarnas

Incube, the formula of social innovation. (at Thozhamai office,...

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 12:29:56 +0530

Incube, the formula of social innovation. (at Thozhamai office, semmencherry)