The Motorcycle Diaries

I came into close contact with poverty, hunger and disease; with the inability to treat a child because of lack of money; with the stupefaction provoked by the continual hunger and punishment, to the point that a father can accept the loss of a son as an unimportant accident, as occurs often in the downtrodden classes of our American homeland. And I began to realize at that time that there were things that were almost as important to me as becoming famous for making a significant contribution to medical science: I wanted to help those people. — Ernesto Guevara

Spoken: August 19, 1960 to the Cuban Militia
Source: Obra Revolucionaria, Ano 1960, No. 24 (Official English translation)
Translated: Beth Kurti

Ernesto "Che" Guevara was a 23-year-old medical student who saw the plight of the poor across Latin America. It's a grim fate for a revolutionary who wanted to change the world to become only T-Shirt icon in present. Despite his political legacy and the usage of violence, I love his rebel cause to make world a better place. Paraphrasing here two best passages of his travelogue : The Motorcycle Diaries. This travelogue shows Ernesto the Medical Student developing a sense of Pan-Latin Americanism that fuses the interests of indigenous peasants with traditional adversaries like upper-middle-class Argentine intellectuals.

1- Che Guevara while treating a peasant woman dying of tuberculosis.---

"It is at times like this, when a doctor is conscious of his complete powerlessness, that he longs for change: a change to prevent the injustice of a system in which only a month ago this poor woman was still earning her living as a waitress, wheezing and panting but facing life with dignity. In circumstances like this, individuals in poor families who can’t pay their way become surrounded by an atmosphere of barely disguised acrimony; they stop being father, mother, sister or brother and become a purely negative factor in the struggle for life and, consequently, a source of bitterness for the healthy members of the community who resent their illness as if it were a personal insult to those who have to support them.

It is there, in the final moments, for people whose farthest horizon has always been tomorrow, that one comprehends the profound tragedy circumscribing the life of the proletariat the world over.

In those dying eyes there is a submissive appeal for forgiveness and also, often , a desperate plea for consolation which is lost to the void, just as their body will soon be lost in the magnitude of the mystery surrounding us. How long this present order, based on an absurd idea of caste, will last is not within my means to answer, but it's time that those who govern spent less time publicizing their own virtues and more money, much more money, funding socially useful works.

There isn't much I can do for the sick woman. I simply advise her to improve her diet and prescribe a diuretic and some asthma pills. I have a few Dramamine tablets left and I give them to her. When I leave, I am followed by the fawning words of the old woman and the family's indifferent gaze."

2-Che Guevara describe a sojourn spent working with leprosy patients in Peru.---

"Their appreciation sprang from the fact that we never wore overalls or gloves, that we shook their hands as we would shake anybody's . . . that we played football with them. It may seem like pointless bravado, but the psychological lift it gives to these poor people - treating them as normal human beings instead of animals, as they are used to - is incalculable and the risk to us extremely unlikely. "

- Che Guevara, 1952. "The Motorcycle Diaries...Notes on a Latin American Journey" .

Can an Idea change your Life ?

Can an Idea change your Life ? Yes, It can.

There are many sources to keep yourself informed about the newest innovations and the most fascinating ideas of our time, but no written word can express these ideas in the way the people involved in them can. Having the brightest minds of our time talking about the things they love and that changed their life is what TED offers to the world.

Inception movie gives fine glance over power of ideas :

What is the most resilient parasite? Bacteria? A virus? An intestinal worm? An idea. Resilient... highly contagious.

-One was possessed by an idea, just one simple idea that changed everything.
-The subject's mind can always trace the genesis of the idea.
-True inspiration is impossible to fake.
-Once an idea has taken hold of the brain it's almost impossible to eradicate.
-An idea that is fully formed - fully understood - that sticks; right in there somewhere.

V for Vendetta movie portrays character V as the embodiment of an idea rather than an individual through V's dialogue and by depicting him without a past, identity or face.

Quote of the Movie: We are told to remember the idea, not the man, because a man can fail. He can be caught. He can be killed and forgotten. But four hundred years later an idea can still change the world. I've witnessed firsthand the power of ideas. I've seen people kill in the name of them; and die defending them. But you cannot kiss an idea, cannot touch it or hold it. Ideas do not bleed, it cannot feel pain, and it does not love.

Where do ideas come from? by Seth Godin. (Thank to Nimmy)

01. Ideas don't come from watching television
02. Ideas sometimes come from listening to a lecture
03. Ideas often come while reading a book
04. Good ideas come from bad ideas, but only if there are enough of them
05. Ideas hate conference rooms, particularly conference rooms where there is a history of criticism, personal attacks or boredom
06. Ideas occur when dissimilar universes collide
07. Ideas often strive to meet expectations. If people expect them to appear, they do
08. Ideas fear experts, but they adore beginner's mind. A little awareness is a good thing
09. Ideas come in spurts, until you get frightened. Willie Nelson wrote three of his biggest hits in one week
10. Ideas come from trouble
11. Ideas come from our ego, and they do their best when they're generous and selfless
12. Ideas come from nature
13. Sometimes ideas come from fear (usually in movies) but often they come from confidence
14. Useful ideas come from being awake, alert enough to actually notice
15. Though sometimes ideas sneak in when we're asleep and too numb to be afraid
16. Ideas come out of the corner of the eye, or in the shower, when we're not trying
17. Mediocre ideas enjoy copying what happens to be working right this minute
18. Bigger ideas leapfrog the mediocre ones
19. Ideas don't need a passport, and often cross borders (of all kinds) with impunity
20. An idea must come from somewhere, because if it merely stays where it is and doesn't join us here, it's hidden. And hidden ideas don't ship, have no influence, no intersection with the market. They die, alone.

Why Hindu is a Hindu ?

An odd sort of joke about Hinduism in general is that where the Western religions face up to scientific discoveries with an attitude of "That's blasphemy! You're going to Hell!", Hinduism faces up to them with an attitude of "See? I told you so! We knew it centuries before you did!"

Hinduism as a collection of schools of thoughts is extraordinary, but when you top it off with senseless rituals and practices, contradictory theories, and nationalism and Hindutva forces, it is as dangerous as any other religion. It doesn't denounce brain and have more sophisticated worldview than the Judeo-Christian-Muslim tradition.

It is difficult to debate Hindus because they take advantage of the fact that Hinduism is an unorganized religion. It is fragmented to the level, where one can cherry-pick the "goodies" and glorify Hinduism, but when shown the utter inconsistencies, majority easily disqualify it saying that some sects have them and not Hinduism as a whole.

And due to Hinduism's inherent nature that "Everything is God", nobody really cared what to worship and what not to worship. One thing about Hinduism is that it also embraces atheism into its fold, thus arguing with a Hindu is a pointless exercise.

Why a person follows ones religious identity ? Ask this question to a Christian, Muslim and Parsi, the answer xyz is a follower/believer of Jesus/Islam/Zoroaster. Now ask the same question to a Hindu and there is no doubt that he will be completely bewildered and would not know what to say. Why Hindu is a Hindu ?

B R Ambedkar provides an insight of this puzzling identity question ----

If he says that "I am a Hindu because I hold to the beliefs of the Hindus" his answer cannot be right for here one is confronted with the fact that Hinduism has no definite creed. The beliefs of persons who are by all admitted to be Hindus often differ more widely from each other than do those of Christians and Muhammadans. Limiting the issue to cardinal beliefs the Hindus differ among themselves as to the beliefs which arc of cardinal importance. Some say that all the Hindu scriptures must be accepted, but some would exclude the Tantras, while others would regard only the Vedas as of primary importance; some again think that the sole essential is belief in the doctrine of karma and metempsychosis.

A complex congeries of creeds and doctrines is Hinduism. It shelters within its portals monotheists, polytheists and pantheists; worshippers of the great Gods Shiva and Vishnu or of their female counterparts,.as well as worshippers of the divine mothers or the spirits of trees, rocks and streams and the tutelary village deities; persons who propitiate their deity by all manner of bloody sacrifices, and persons who will not only kill no living creature but who must not even use the word 'cut '; those whose ritual consists mainly of prayers and hymns, and those who indulge in unspeakable orgies in the name of religion; and a host of more or less heterodox sectaries, many of whom deny the supremacy of the Brahmans, or at least have non-Brahmanical religious leaders.

If he says that he is a Hindu because he observes the same customs as other Hindus do his answer cannot be true. For all Hindus do not observe the same customs.

In the north near relatives are forbidden to marry; but in the south cousin marriage is prescribed, and even closer alliances are sometimes permitted. As a rule female chastity is highly valued, but some communities set little store by it, at any rate prior to marriage, and others make it a rule to dedicate one daughter to a life of religious prostitution. In some parts the women move about freely; in others they are kept secluded. In some parts they wear skirts; in others trousers.

Again if he said that he is a Hindu because he believes in the caste system his answer cannot be accepted as satisfactory. It is quite true that no Hindu is interested in what his neighbour believes, but he is very much interested in knowing whether he can eat with him or take water from his hands. In other words it means that the caste system is an essential feature of Hinduism and a man who does not belong to a recognized Hindu Caste cannot be a Hindu. While all this is true it must not be forgotten that observance of caste is not enough. Many Musalmans and many Christians observe caste if not in the matter of inter-dining certainly in the matter of inter-marriage. But they cannot be called Hindus on that account. Both elements must be present. He must be a Hindu and he must also observe caste. This brings us back to the old question who is a Hindu? It leaves us where we are.

Is it not a question for every Hindu to consider why in the matter of his own religion his position is so embarrassing and so puzzling? Why is he not able to answer so simple a question which every Parsi, every Christian, and every Muslim can answer? Is it not time that he should ask himself what are the causes that has brought about this Religious chaos ? "

Only rigid rule defining the identity and followed by Hinduism is the caste system. And Hinduism become extremely authoritarian if you try to leave the caste or go for inter-caste marriages. As the Bible and Koran has allowed for the justification of slavery, the Hindu texts have allowed for the subjugation of a significant group of people under the caste system. It can't be denied that the Hindu texts are still used to support the caste system.

This undefined territory can only give space to people to exist as an individual and think freely. That is where I differ from Dr. Ambedkar about chaos factor. Any system or an institution will only produce followers.Organization made by human will always be incoherent and suppress the uniqueness and individuality of the participant. Nobody can regard a rag (Religious textbooks) to be binding and infallible because a philosopher or prophet came forward to lend his authority to such a proposal.

One thing become clear that Religion isn't definitely the source of all morality. And any religion and institution denying them will decay with the time.

Hail Feminism !

Halla Tomasdottir managed to take her company Audur Capital through the eye of the financial storm in Iceland by applying 5 traditionally "feminine" values to financial services. At TEDWomen, she talks about these values and the importance of balance.



Girl Desi added her touch and evolved the discussion in feminine zone. (On Google Buzz)

I was thinking the 4 points she put forward are so much feminine from the minute a woman comes to know she is pregnant (wanted pregnancy not forced).

1- Risk Awareness: Every step a pregnant woman takes she measures the risk factors to the unborn. She invests herself with awareness of risks.

2- Straight Talk: She is told in very direct words, how her every action will impact the well being of the unborn. Direct, simple and straight words. And if she miscarries she is told directly no body sings songs to her

3- Emotional Capital: She invests emotions in the unborn even when she is physically uncomfortable, she has long term stakes in the unborn... not just give birth and get over with it...

4- Profit with Principles: She plans for a future of the unborn a future she'll be able to sustain for her child.

Quote of the Day :

I encountered “Everything that rises must converge” while reading Flannery O’Connor, one of my favorite writers from the American South. It is the title of one of her books. She was quoting Teilhard de Chardin, a Catholic priest. In my own life this expression has rung quite true, though the meaning I make of it may be different than theirs. Everything I have ever worked for, rising regardless of circumstances to do my best, has led eventually to the lives of other people who are also rising – sometimes against even greater odds than mine. Embracing this reality removes fear of striking out and upward. Everyone you truly wish to encounter will be there when you arrive (you will realize you have been rising together though on separate continents, perhaps, or even during separate centuries!) or will appear shortly thereafter.

There is much joy and celebration whenever we converge, i.e. meet each other. The spirits we knew. The faces we did not. Usually. ~Alice Walker

Ten Issues - 9

1- India's Telecom Scam: How Can a Corrupt System Be Cleaned? : The telecom scam that recently forced the resignation of telecom minister A. Raja defrauded the country to the tune of nearly US$40 billion. Since telecom is an industry that links backward and forward to several others, the total economic cost could well be hundreds of billions of dollars. This scandal shows that corruption has deep roots in Indian society, but informed voters and the democratic process can help eradicate it, argues Rajesh Jain, managing director of Mumbai-based Netcore Solutions, in this opinion piece.

2- Audre Lorde’s quote “anger is loaded with information” ; When you are at the wrong end of the unjust societies, many truths that are clear to you come out loaded with information. Read complete 6 page essay on Uses of Anger. Thanks to Anu.

3-The narcissism of the neurotic by P Sainath : The Commonwealth Games were no showcase, but a mirror of India 2010. If they presented anything, it was this — Indian crony, casino capitalism at its most vigorous.

4- This is not a panel discussion : Meet four Adivasi intellectuals whose lives have changed the politics and conversations about indigenous people, says G VISHNU

5-The Burden Of Knowing By Charles Hugh Smith: Knowing what lies ahead is a great emotional burden. The knowledge that the present is unsustainable is, for many of us, a great emotional burden. It troubles our sleep, our minds, and our basic emotional well-being. Knowledge, like memory, cannot be erased at will, and thus it runs in the background of our lives, unseen by others but deeply troubling to the knower.

6- Religious Excuse of barbarity by Johann Hari: If you are engaged in an act of cruelty, there is an easy, effective way to silence your critics and snatch some space to carry on. Tell us all that your religion requires you to do it, and you are "offended" by any critical response. Erect an electric wire fence around your nastiest actions and call it "respect".

7- Microfinance is under attack. Even the normally reticent pink newspapers have now begun to bring out the inherent flaws in the microfinance model.Check some facts here- MFIs: Profiteering from poverty and Five myths about microfinance.

8- When girls fear school by Kalpana Sharma: The reasons for the high drop-out rate of girls are simple: Fear of corporal punishment, sexual abuse and the lack of basic amenities like toilets in schools.

9- Valerie Plame, YES! Wikileaks, NO! : It is the American people who should be outraged that its government has transformed a nation with a reputation for freedom, justice, tolerance and respect for human rights into a backwater that revels in its criminality, cover-ups, injustices and hypocrisies.

So savor the Wikileaks documents while you can, because soon they'll be gone. And for the government criminals of the world, and for those who protect them, it will again be business as usual.

10- Meet Dr. Dani: One of the unsung heroes of our public service institutions : . Yet, there are people such as Dani in many of the small hospitals in the country, whose toils go unheard, and whose stories go unsaid.

Thought of the Day :
Julian Assange writes in his blog: “True belief is when a voice booms ‘the prisoner shall now rise’ and no one else in the room stands”.