Happy Christmas -- War is Over

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong

And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so happy Christmas
We hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
War is over
If you want it
War is over
Now...

-- John Lennon. Happy Christmas (War is Over) lyrics.

1971, Vietnam War.

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

--Rudyard Kipling

The Most Important Lesson

A mentor once told me, and I think this is the most important lesson:

"Doing the right thing is more important than doing things right."

The New Indian

The New Indian is angry -- angry about the chaos and the neglect and the colossal waste of pure Energy and Being -- not just in her own land, but in the World, but is quietly confident about her abilities and her invaluable contributions to the World, and is currently passive in the knowledge that she must prepare herself and prepare herself well, for the *time*, for this time will eventually come...and once again, it is this blessed land with it's mountains, rivers, oceans, saints, silent magicians and everyday people, not the politicians, that will slowly but surely transform the fabric of society, and lead the World out of its spiritual and material poverty, out of its Darkness, into Light, and the pure and ultimate Good that is true of Man.

*More about this goes in this space*

Privatisation of National Security

Asking for a profit/incentive-driven organization that makes National Security its business

Protecting our coastline

What should be done to protect the West and East Coasts of India?

Intelligence has it that 800 Gujarati trawlers were issued illegally to
some Bangladeshis over the last few months and it is suspected that
the entire West Coast of India has been recced by these terror agencies,
so that these miscreants can come in from anywhere at any time...

Having grown up in Goa, the last thing I ever want to experience in my
lifetime, is some family enjoying at the beach being blown up to bits.

When will they learn?

It has been heartening to see on some Indian TV channels that the Muslims in Mumbai have condemned these acts of terror and have issued statements saying that these terrorists who have killed randomly cannot and do not belong to the Faith and will not be granted even burial as per Islamic rites. I don't know if this is a common gesture from them, but it's the first time I had seen something like this. They have had a lot of their own killed as well and said that a few bad elements from outside tar the image of the scores of peaceful Muslims that live in our country.

I hope that more such initiatives from them will help to clarify their position to blind-haters in the public and shed more light on the fact that these types of attacks are more politically motivated than anything else, and common man, whether he is Muslim, Hindu, Catholic or Jew has little influence and bearing upon it.

What is still extremely disturbing though, is how some people still cling to their old divisive beliefs. A certain Mrs Thackeray sending SMS that the police and personnel killed during the attacks were mostly all Marathi. Or certain members of the opposition using it to gain political mileage to gain votes in the next election, instead of supporting the current PM in devising and implementing stronger security measures.

We can only elect politicians as good as the people we can ourselves become!