Frankthoughts

Happy New Year 2007! With every year that passes by, there are events that have taken place, which affect you in some way or another and change your world. Occurrences that leave an indelible mark on your memory, and change you forever. Each one of us is affected in a different way, and each one of us reacts differently to the same event. This year too saw many such events. I have listed three that affected tremendously and changed me in some way, forever. Ironically, all the three I have listed, transpired within a week of each other.   The recent football world cup will be remembered as one that belonged to the underdogs. Teams that were pitted to win the cup, like Germany, Argentina and Brazil, did not. Instead, two teams that were far from being at their best reached the finals. Both Italy and France reached the finals with a little luck and gritty football. The stage was set for a great game of football, and what a game it turned out to be! Two thrilling goals scored, with e

As I sit staring at the computer screen wondering what to write, some random thoughts run through my head...have I nothing to say? Have I nothing to communicate? Has writing a few words become so difficult for me? Am I suffering from writers block? Have I become so addicted to online games that I cannot sit in front of the computer unless there is some animated activity going on? What the hell is wrong with me? Let me try and answer all these questions and try and figure out what the problem is?  I do have stuff to say and do have things to tell!  Here goes... I have just put in my papers at my current job and am going to be in Melbourne this July. I will be starting my Masters in Professional Communications at Deakin University! This will be the start of a new era in my life...I will be in a completely new environment...an entirely new country! I am going through such mixed emotions currently...I am excited about the newness I am going to experience, am anxious about what the fut

In a suspected terror attack, 68 people, including some Pakistani nationals, were killed in explosions in two coaches of the Delhi-Attari special train Samjhauta Express for Lahore at Deewana near Panipat, about 100 km from Delhi.  Several people were also injured in the incident, which the Northern Railway (Indian Railways) said was a clear case of sabotage. The explosions in the train took place at 11.55 pm on Sunday night. The bi-weekly train left the Old Delhi railway station at 10.40 pm. Preliminary examination of the material found in the two charred coaches of the Samjhauta Express has revealed that a deadly mix of kerosene, sulphur and potassium nitrate (low grade) was used for the explosives, official sources said on Monday. These materials were packed in clothes and a timer device in suitcases, the sources said. A senior police officer said a Pakistani national has also given information to police regarding some explosive being planted on the train. Pakistan Presiden

The delay in writing this post is only because of my laziness and procrastination. I have been busy with work and other stuff but could have made the time to write, but I was plain lazy.  In this period, I have watched a couple of thoughtful and heart wrenching movies. The two I am going to write about, have communalism and terrorism as their backdrop. Both these topics have always intrigued me no end. How can man be so insensitive and brutal to take another human’s life? Does religion teach us revenge or forgiveness?   Parzania, tells the true story of a Parsi family, caught in the cross-fire of the Hindu- Muslim communal riots in Gujarat in 2002.   Black Friday, is about the bomb blasts that rocked Bombay in 1993. These blasts were a direct repercussion of the communal riots that happened the previous year in the city.  These films were bold enough to discuss topics that almost always end up in political propaganda for or against it.  For Indian producers and directors to ch

Diamonds or the diamond industry is not all bad. But, whenever something of great value is found, many people lose their lives because of it, and diamond is no exception. The recently released movie‘Blood Diamond’, that stars Leonardo DiCaprio, and is set during Sierra Leone’s diamond fueled civil war, has created a mini public relations crisis for the diamond industry. As per recent media reports A-list celebrities such as Beyoncé Knowles and Jennifer Lopez are part of a multimillion-dollar campaign by the industry to avert this disaster. Knowles and Lopez agreed to wear jewel-encrusted rings on their right hands at last week’s Golden Globe award ceremony in return for the promise from the diamond industry of $10,000 each donated to the African charity of their choice.   Other Hollywood stalwarts too are being approached to promote diamonds at the Academy Awards next month. And that’s not all, the industry’s campaign - titled ‘Raise Your Right Hand’ - does not stop at the mov

Did they find the ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’in Iraq? Did they “smoke out” Osama Bin Laden from Afghanistan? Have they restored democracy in Iraq or any other country they have tried to do so? Then what in god’s name making the fall for the United States led imposition of sanctions on Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme, even though they were invited to visit all their nuclear facilities*? (Ironically, the Iranian nuclear programme was started with US help in the 1950s during the cold war) Why are they falling for the same story again? Speaking in the southwestern provincial capital of Ahvaz, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the Security Council’s resolution of 23 December 2006 was invalid and had left the world body’s reputation in tatters. “You are nobody,” he told the Western powers. Recalling the West’s support for Iraq, then ruled by Saddam Hussein, during its eight year war with Iran in the 1980s, he said: “If all the powers that supported Saddam in his war against Iran we