And meanwhile, in Sudan

British teacher gets 15 days and deportation for her un-Islamic ways.

Well, what can I say... it could have been worse.

Elections in Gujarat, Tehelka, etc.

Why do some people express suprise that Modi was elected in a landslide in Gujarat after the Godhra riots? I understand expressions of horror, but why fucking surprise? Why say stuff like, "I still can't believe Modi was elected...".

What's not to believe? Barely two months after thousands of Sikhs were butchered like animals on the streets of a major world capital, the WHOLE OF INDIA voted Rajiv Gandhi into office with the largest majority that the Indian Parliament has known. A parliament that holds office in that same city. Read that again carefully: the whole of fucking India.

Gujarat is a part of India. The part simply displayed a property of the whole. What's not to believe?

What's...fucking...not...to...believe?

I sometimes wish I was not born in India.

Financial markets for the Easily Confused

Thanks to the recent credit crisis in the United States, I am learning a lot about financial markets. But larnin' is hard, so I have come up with a rough but handy glossary to stop me from getting confused every three seconds. Here is what I have so far.

Structured Investment Vehicles : Crappy Loans.

Alt-A Mortgages: Basically giving away sometimes your money without your permission, and not to charity.

Our portfolio of structured investment vehicles has softened due to the situation in the credit markets: You own stock in our company? Ha, ha, you poor fool.

We are taking a writedown this quarter: Some (insanely wealthy) numbnuts is getting handed the pink slip at our company for making a bunch of crappy loans, but boy, you should see the severance package.

We are taking a writedown this quarter, but it is less than we expected: We got into the crappy-loanmaking game late.

Only words

In the languages that I speak, there is no taxonomy of the obvious. We do not name default positions. That is why "bald" (not the usual condition) is a word, but there is no word like "hairheaded" or "hairful". "One-armed" is a word, but I have never heard the word "two-armed" used to describe somebody, since well...it would be sorta redundant.

We name the deviations from the norm, but we don't usually have words for the norm.

That is why it is my unswerving opinion that any society that has the word "feminist" in currency stinks to high heaven because something is terribly wrong with that society. In an enlightened society, the word would be a meaningless default.

I believe that at some point in time, identifying yourself as an abolitionist had the side-effect of identifying your surroundings as fucked up beyond belief. I don't see how identifying yourself as a feminist is any different.

Bose

Subhash Bose is a much debated figure. Was he a hero, or was he an opportunist who teamed up with Fascists?

I get asked about Bose.

It is assumed that since I am a Bengali, I am an automatic expert on Bose. I am not. My knowledge of Bose is approximately equal to my knowledge of Bal Gangadhar Tilak or Chandrasekhar Azad. But I do know some.

The concerns expressed are:

1. Why did he ally with Imperial Japan and seek the help of Nazi Germany? That would make him an imperialist Fascist.

I have a couple of close friends who are Americans, Indophiles, and history buffs. This question comes mostly from them, and there is an undertone of horror. He was a Nazi! The horror! There is rich irony here, because that sort of logic also leads to the inescapable conclusion that the United States is, at this point in time, a military dictatorship. Don't get it? Well, the United States collaborates with Pakistan, and if Pakistan is a military dictatorship, then...

I do not know if Subhash Bose was a Fascist. I don't think so, but I may be wrong. I do not know if his political views would have aligned with mine. Or even, clearly, what his political views were. I have a vague idea that he admired authoritarian forms of government like in Soviet Union and Germany. I think that he was a military leader first. He did not get a chance to become a political leader. My belief is that India would not be a democracy (for what that's worth) if Subhash Bose had kicked out the English and then taken control of independent India. I think he would have been dictator. Whether he would have been an enlightened one, we'll never know.

2. Wouldn't the Japanese have grabbed India if the British were defeated by the alliance of the Japanese and INA? How was Bose planning to deal with the Japanese in the long term?

I don't know. My belief is that history would have run this course. If Subhash Bose had won, either he (or the Japanese) would have taken control. After the defeat of Japan by the Allied forces, Britain would have attacked India to regain control, possibly with covert American support. This would have been very similar to the French attack on Vietnam after World War II, with possibly similar results.

We'll never know the true course of history for sure of course, but I am almost sure that were I alive then, I would have joined the army. Just to see the sumbitch J. Nehru in fatigues and actually doing something useful for the country for a change. I would risk life and limb to see that.

I would also have liked to see Mohandas Gandhi faced with this delicate choice: Either stick to non-violence in the face of British attack and, in effect, advocate a reversion of free India to British rule, OR take up arms and renounce his cherished notion of non-violence under all conditions. What would he have chosen to become? A violent patriot, or a non-violent traitor? An interesting choice indeed.

Sophia

In my meanderings across the interwebs, I came across the meaning of the name "Sophia". It means "wisdom".

I love these moments. The moments when you see something in a new light. With new eyes. It's like falling in love with a longstanding, familiar friend. I have heard that name a million times. On people, on places. But something fell into place with a click when I read what it means. It makes sense: sophisticated, sophistry, philosophy...Sophia.

Everything is interconnected. We just have to find the connections.

...

Ok, my dweeb moment is over.