Keep the name, Saif and Kareena

Keep the name, Saif and Kareena


Thousands of kids in South Asia are named Taimur—not after Taimur (Timur/Tamelane) the emperor who killed hundreds of thousands of people, but after Taimur who once was an underdog.  The Taimur who was once badly defeated in a battle, his close associates were killed in the combat.  Taimur made a narrow escape and took refuge in a cave. He was bleeding, he was humiliated, and he wondered if he should just give up. Then, reclining against the wall of the cave he saw an ant. The ant was carrying a large food particle in its mouth and was trying to climb a wall. The ant went up a little bit, but because of the weight it was carrying it came tumbling down. The food particle rolled out one way and the ant fell the other way. But then the ant got up again, found the food particle, and started its climb again. This time the ant went up slightly higher than the last time. But then the same thing happened again. The ant fell down. Then the ant got up yet again, grabbed the food, and started climbing back up again. The same thing happened this time too: the ant went up a little bit and then fell down. The ant got up again and restarted the work. But this time too it was no different: the ant fell down.  Taimur kept counting: the ant kept trying. The 5th time, the 6th time, the 7th time…the same thing happened 47 times.  But the 48th time the ant was able to climb the wall with the food in its mouth. Watching the ant, Taimur learned a lesson for life. If you have a dream, you either work hard until you see your dream come true, or you fight and die working to see your dream come true--but you NEVER EVER give up. The Taimur who learned this lesson of perseverance from an ant was a beautiful man. And that is the Taimur you have named your son after, Kareena and Saif.  Keep the name!

This one is for Rattan Kumar

When Rattan Kumar appeared as a child actor in the super-hit movie “Boot Polish” he was around 12.  Shortly after, his family moved to Pakistan where he acted in several movies.  For the last several years Rattan (Ratan) Kumar (Nazeer Hussain Rizvi; Nazir Rizvi)  was living in San Jose, with his children.  He died last night, leaving the South Asian film landscape a little less colorful.

[Will post his picture I took over six years ago, at his home in San Jose.]

[We are with the Balochs, but unfortunately Baloch media outlets don't have much credibility--they are known to make up stories.  These outlets have a simple strategy: make up a story and then keep copy pasting it at different web sites, until the story starts getting a life of its own.  In this propaganda warfare the Baloch media outlets are now aided by rightwing Hindu nationalists.  And that's all there is to it. Consider this story about 44 people abducted from the Dasht area. In order to make the story look credible the story-teller even came up with names. But if you try to verify the alleged abductions from a different source, you will NOT find any such verification. Go ahead and call someone in Quetta, or Nushki, or Kharan.  You will not be able to independently verify this story.  Pathetic!We sympathize with the Balochs, but unfortunately Baloch media outlets don't have much credibility--they are known to cook up stories.  These outlets have a simple strategy: make up a story and then keep copy pasting it at different web sites, until the story starts getting a life of its own.  In this propaganda warfare the Baloch media outlets are now aided by rightwing Hindu nationalists.  And that's all there is to it. Consider this story about 44 people abducted from the Dasht area. In order to make the story look credible the story-teller even came up with names. But if you try to verify the alleged abductions from a different source, you will not find any such verification. Go ahead and call someone in Quetta, or Nushki, or Kharan.  You will not be able to independently verify this story.  pathetic!We sympathize with the Balochs, but unfortunately Baloch media outlets don't have much credibility--they are known to cook up stories.  These outlets have a simple strategy: make up a story and then keep copy pasting it at different web sites, until the story starts getting a life of its own.  In this propaganda warfare the Baloch media outlets are now aided by rightwing Hindu nationalists.  And that's all there is to it. Consider this story about 44 people abducted from the Dasht area. In order to make the story look credible the story-teller even came up with names. But if you try to verify the alleged abductions from a different source, you will not find any such verification. Go ahead and call someone in Quetta, or Nushki, or Kharan.  You will not be able to independently verify this story.  pathetic!We sympathize with the Balochs, but unfortunately Baloch media outlets don't have much credibility--they are known to cook up stories.  These outlets have a simple strategy: make up a story and then keep copy pasting it at different web sites, until the story starts getting a life of its own.  In this propaganda warfare the Baloch media outlets are now aided by rightwing Hindu nationalists.  And that's all there is to it. Consider this story about 44 people abducted from the Dasht area. In order to make the story look credible the story-teller even came up with names. But if you try to verify the alleged abductions from a different source, you will not find any such verification. Go ahead and call someone in Quetta, or Nushki, or Kharan.  You will not be able to independently verify this story.  pathetic!We sympathize with the Balochs, but unfortunately Baloch media outlets don't have much credibility--they are known to cook up stories.  These outlets have a simple strategy: make up a story and then keep copy pasting it at different web sites, until the story starts getting a life of its own.  In this propaganda warfare the Baloch media outlets are now aided by rightwing Hindu nationalists.  And that's all there is to it. Consider this story about 44 people abducted from the Dasht area. In order to make the story look credible the story-teller even came up with names. But if you try to verify the alleged abductions from a different source, you will not find any such verification. Go ahead and call someone in Quetta, or Nushki, or Kharan.  You will not be able to independently verify this story.  pathetic!

Gilgit-Baltistan conquered by India—at least on the globes made in India, and being sold by the Target stores

Gilgit-Baltistan conquered by India—at least on the globes manufactured in India, and being sold by the Target stores

Found this globe at the local Target store, selling for $14.99—please see photos.  It was made in India, and it shows Pakistan having no land border with China, and India having a border with Afghanistan!  How did the ground realities change?  Well, according to this globe, India has taken over the Gilgit-Baltistan area.  Hooray!  No CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) anymore without the consent of India, since the northern stretch of the trade route passes through ‘Indian-controlled’ Gilgit-Baltistan.  And the USA does not need Pakistan’s help anymore, in order to control things in Afghanistan—Pakistan’s archrival India now has a land border with Afghanistan!
All sarcasm aside, who are these idiots working at the Target Procurement Department?
They don’t know geography!  They can’t identify a glaring error in the globes being manufactured in a third world country!  Time for Brian Cornell to fire a bunch of morons Target Corporation can work without.

Urdu Academy's November 2016 methfil

Classical music is about mantras, about creating music from the repeating phrases reverberating in your soul.

Photos form Urdu Academy’s classical music mehfil, arranged by Maestro Nagesh Avadhany.