Back to the land of the Free!

Ha ha!.. just kidding; i'm only in the US!

American customs officers have a well earned reputation of being extremely unfriendly, so when the lady officer at the counter first smiled to me i was pleasantly surprised..
That was until i reached the last check point where you usualy hand over the paper saying that you have no goods to declare and are free to go..
But there, for no apparent reason, i was taken away to the back room specialy reserved for "suspect individuals" (needless to mention everyone there had "suspect skin"!)
I was then kept, questioned and searched for over a half hour, while my colleague was desperately waiting outside with no news from me and no way to reach me..

They wouldn't tell me why of course -"random search sir"- but as judged by their obvious looks and questions, i simply had way too many stamps and VISAs on my passeport to be an honest geek on his way to a conference!
and that on top of having an evil Indian name! "You said you were born in France? .. are you sure? ... where did you say you were born?..."

I have long ago stopped coming here for pleasure, but somehow my job keeps dragging me back here every now and again.. can't help it!


Oh well.. on the good side, it's good to see how well the citizens of this country are protected from terrorists: they may sleep tight and fear no attack...

... at least none that would come from outside the country...

International symbol of marriage

... i got this from Mary this morning... do you guys think there's a hidden message to me somewhere??

This is a violent civilisation...

Never cheap of a controversial discussion, i shall respond hereby to my friend Bobby's suggestion: "Post about gun control on your blog, and I will be happy to argue with you :)"

I met Bobby during my end of studies internship in Virginia Tech... this campus recently got some extra notoriety for being the theater of the most recent -and most deadly- university shooting in the US (unfortunately it tends to be so frequent that we have to be precise which shooting we're talking about)

So tell me why is it that, some 200 years after americans have had to "defend themselves against evil native indians" (hmm..), they still all should have guns at home and go shoot each other in universities, ghettos and other suburbs?!

And by the way, what is it about guns that so fascinates kids all the way to the remote buddhist regions of the world?!

May i illustrate by quoting Gil Scott-Heron's excellent song on the subject?

Peace out.

GUN by Gil Scott-Heron

Brother Man nowadays living in the ghetto
Where the danger's sure enough real
Well when he's out late at night
and if he's got his head on right
Well, I lay you 9 to 5 he's walking with steal.

Brother Man says he's 'fraid of gangsters
Messing with people just for fun
He don't want to be next
He got a family to protect
So just last week he bought himself a gun.

Chorus:
Everybody got a pistol, everybody got a 45
And the philosophy seem to be
At least as near as I can see
When other folks give up theirs, I'll give up mine.

This is a violent civilization
If civilization's where I am
Every channel that I stop on
Got a different kind of cop on
Killing them by the millions for Uncle Sam

Saturday night just ain't that special
Yeah, I got the constitution on the run
'Cause even though we've got the right
To defend our home, to defend our life
Got to understand to get it in hand about the guns

(chous repeat & solo break)

Saturday night just ain't that special
Freedom to be afraid is all you want
Yes if you don't want to be next
You've got a family to protect
9 out of 10, you've got a friend, you call the gun.

(chous repeat)

Everybody got a pistol, this must be the NRA
Yeah 'cause when it's time to shine up
You know damn well they're gonna line up
Everybody...

And the philosophy seem to be
At least as near as I can see
When other folks give up theirs, I'll give up mine

Food for thought...

While Christianity and Islam tend to behave like cancers: propagating mainly by violence and destruction of their living environment, Buddhism and Hinduism tend to behave like AIDS: propagating by love and destroying their own defense mechanisms.

Yet all are lethal diseases.

Nudge nudge wink wink say no more!

This visit of Khajurao also reminded me of some funny conversations i had in the trains..

As a single foreigner you are addressed by men painfully trying to hide their excitment and eager to know about sexual practices in "the west"..
Is sex "free" or "open"? is usually how they formulate their question.. (what do you answer to that?!!)

If anything, Khajurao suggests that pre-muslim India was a bit less sex frustrated than what it has become today! And we're lucky enough that they didn't discover this long forgotten site before the English did, or it would certainly have been destroyed like the rest..

Anyway, it's a good opportunity to encourage you to watch again this hilarious skid by the Monthy Pythons:


Man: Evening, squire!
Man with hat: Good evening.
Man: Is your...is your wife a goer? Eh? Know what I mean? Know what I mean? Nudge, nudge! Know what I mean? Say no more!
Man with hat: I-I...I beg your pardon?
Man: Your...your wife. Does she go,eh? Does she go, eh? Eh?
Man with hat: Huh, sometimes she has to go, yes.
Man: I bet she does! I bet she does! Say no more! Say no more! Know what I mean? Nudge, nudge!
Man with hat: I'm afraid I don't quite follow you...
Man: Oh, "follow me, follow me"? That's good, that's very good! A nod's as good as a wink to a blind bat!
Man with hat: Are...are you selling something?
Man: "Selling, selling"...very good indeed! You're wicked, you are, eh? Wicked, eh? Ho-ho-ho! Whoa! Wicked! Say no more!
Man with hat: Huhuh?
Man: Whoa! So your wife's interested in...in sport? Eh?
Man with hat: Ah, she likes sport, yes.
Man: I bet she does! I bet she does!
Man with hat: As a matter of fact, she's very fond of cricket.
Man: She likes "games", eh? Likes "games"? Knew she would, she's been around a bit, eh? She's been around?
Man with hat: Well, she has travelled, yes. She's from Glendale.
Man: Say no more! Glendale, squire? Say no more! Say no more! Say no more! Say no more!
Man with hat: Well...
Man: Whoa! Is your...is your Glendale wife interested in...photography? Eh? Eh? Eh?
Man with hat: Photography?
Man: "Photographs, eh?" he asked him knowingly!
Man with hat: Photography?
Man: Snap, snap, grin, grin, wing, wing, nudge, nudge, say no more!
Man with hat: Sort of...holiday snaps, eh?
Man: They could be, they could be taken on holiday, you know! Swimming costumes, candid...you know, "candid" photography?
Man with hat: No, we don't have a camera!
Man: Ah. Still, whoahaah! Eh? Whoahaah! Eh? Whoahaah! Eh? Whoahaahaha! Huhuh!
Man with hat: Look, are you insinuating something?
Man: Oh, no, no, no... yes!
Man with hat: Well?
Man: Why, I mean, you're a man of the world, squire, you know...you're...you've been around, you know?
Man with hat: What do you mean?
Man: Well, I mean, like, you've...you know, you...like...you've done it, you know...you've slept...with a lady?
Man with hat: Yes.
Man: What's it like?

"Government's work is God's work"!

Hinduism part 2..

To understand India it is very important to understand that equality is not part of the game and Indians are incapable of thinking in terms of equality!.. Hinduism is based on the idea that nature is not equalitarian: some trees are bigger, some are smaller, and some are crooked.. and the small crooked ones that grow in the shadow of the bigger ones don't complain!.. If God created nature unequal, why should we think better?

Even corruption finds its roots in this well-thought religion.. One shall pay money to priests and temples for God to reward with good health and good harvest...
Now on the House of Parliement of the state of Karnataka, you find these words carved in the stone in big letters: "Government's work is God's work"!!.... you make the link!

The latest achievement of "God's work" that is all over the newspapers these days is the new "Garib Rath" or "Chariot for the Poor": a new type of 3rd class air conditionned train coach aimed at "making A/C travelling available to the poor"...
Although the idea of making cheaper travels is fine, it all sounds like the government has no idea what "poor" means in this country.. I don't see a rickshaw man, a farmer or a vegetable reseller affording this.. not to mention the countless who don't even have a job..

So for the government of India, "poor" starts with the middle class!

The rest and majority of the population can continue paying for their previous life sins... until the government notices them!

Reincarnation or humanity's most evil plot!

Something like 5000 years ago, Indians have come up with a superbe idea.. magnificient in its simplicity and evil perfection.. pure genius! To such extent that to this day it still drives the Indian minds in spite of any external influence...

This idea is the theory of reincarnation.

How do you secure the leaders place, keep the wealth for a few chosen ones, keep the poor poor and exploit the population.. all this without raising discontent and revolutions? Think about it, it's not easy!
It has been the goal of all leaders of all times, but no one ever succeeded like indians do. Dictators spend loads on military power to keep the population quiet, while democrats compete in hypocrisy and communication skills to make you think you're being taken care off...

In India none of this! Maharajas where no more tender than our european kings.. while today's Indian administration is corrupted to the core and has no regards for the millions of people sleeping in the streets in miserable sanitary conditions.. crippled beggers everywhere are ignored by their fellow citizens... and Indians are happy with the way things are! No one would ever think of a revolution, and when asked where they would whish to be reborn, 89% of Indians accross all layers of the population would do it again.. (against only 36% in China for the comparison)

How do they manage?? So many leaders have been killed for much less!

Hinduism is the magic key..

Hinduism teaches that life is an eternal cycle and you will be reborn after death. And the conditions in which you will reborn depend on your balance of good vs bad actions in your current life. It is a wonderful way of making people responsible and self conscious of their actions. They don't need to refer to a Pope or any other high commander in chief, they just need to make sure that their own individual actions do not harm others, to secure comfort in their next life. The idea makes so much sense i'm about to drop a tear!

Now the real beauty comes in the counterpart of this law of reincarnation: Your current life accounts for your actions in your past
life! If you are poor, crippled, exploited.. it is certainly not the fault of your corrupted leaders: you shouldn't blame anyone but yourself for your past bad actions! And you better keep quiet and docile or your next life will be even worse!
If i see a poor man dying in the street, i know he is paying for his past life and it's only fair! I shall pay the same price if i act bad! So why should i care? You don't spend your days visiting murderers in their cells, do you? And if he's dying it's even better; he's about to be liberated! Good for him!

I don't know what true genius originally came up with this idea, but i would like to pay tribute for the priests and Brahmins who managed to keep it alive for 5000 years and make of India the wonderfully peaceful country it is today!

As the saying goes: "You may survive the bite of a snake, but never that of a Brahmin!"

Gandhigiri.. or not!

(Expression made popular by the recent Bollywood movie "Lage Raho Munna Bhai", meaning "a man acting according to the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi")

In the very country where Mahatma Gandi fought against racial discrimination, people still get judged by the color of their skin: In every monument or touristic attraction you will find two different prices on display: one for "Indians" and one for "Foreigners". With the foreigner's fee being of course at least 25 times higher.

Now how does the cashier make out between an "Indian" and a "Foreigner"? In a country where noone is required to go around with an ID proof.. The cashier will never ask dark skin people for their ID, whereas white skin automatically means full price. If someone comes from Bangladesh, Nepal or Pakistan, he'll look Indian enough to get local price, while, say, a chinese looking man from Sikkim could be bothered and required to show a ID proof..

So this is the way the law is implemented.. and I call this straight up racial discrimination!

Now of course, when you argue about it, the official reason is not racial discrimination.. the official reason is that foreigners (understand "not indian looking") have "more money"..
So it is a money problem.. Fine! make the discrimination on money: "10 rupees for the poor and 500 for the rich"... But then the government officials and IAS officiers, who are heavily paid by taxpayer money to come up with these stupid rules should also be charged full price!..

And actually, the few Indians who can afford to travel to France are essentially amongst these, so I would suggest the entrance to the Louvre should be 25 times higher for Indians than it is for the rest of us.