EGYPT - THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS

Hello,

As promised I am back on the blog with my story of our trip to Egypt.

The highlight of course starts with the Pharaohs and continues with them through out.

The Pharaohs belived in life after death and I assure you that if you visit Egypt you will surely feel them come alive around you.

We started our tour at Sharm El Sheikh, which is a different world altogether. I will talk about this part of the trip later. I might add though that the experience was good but not as awesome as the remainder of the tour.

We landed in Cairo and were welcomed at the airport by our tour guide who informed us about our plans for the day. The plan was simple

• A trip to the Museum and
• A visit of the Pyramids.

A visitor to Egypt should visit the Museum. This Museum can boast of the largest number of artefacts and the portion that is dedicated to the Boy King 'Tutankhamen' can make your eyes bulge out in astonishment.

Pharaohs, as I have said earlier, were buried in Pyramids and tombs. They started with Pyramids but later when they realized that Pyramids were being targetted by thieves they shifted to tombs in an area near Luxor called the 'Valley of the Kings'. Archeologists have been able to identify and dig out 62 tombs till date and only five such tombs are open for the viewing public.

While the Pharaohs were sure that the Valley was a well kept secret and I am sure it did survive their reign, it did get the attention of the bounty hunters afterwards and almost all the tombs were looted. The Tomb of Tutankhamen is significant as this was the only one that escaped the attention of the thieves. All the treasure that was buried along with the King was found intact and most of them are now displayed in the Museum in Cairo. It is understood that some of the artefacts have found their way to museums in the western world as well.

But it is not the treasure that is important. It is the workmanship of the ancient Egyptian that leave you awe struck.

The pyramids are huge structures rising above the sandy soil like a mountain. The fact that this mountain is built by men like us make us wonder. The boulders used are almost cubical in shape and measure about 6 feet on all sides. It is difficult to fathom the technique they might have used to move these boulders from the hills to the site and then place them on top of each other.

But that is not all. The pyramids have a passage carved out in the boulders and there are a couple of rooms of the size of a modern bedroom within the structure. The science of weight, design, etc, was so well understood by the builders that their creation stand in their original grandeur even after the passage of so many years.

If the graudeur and scale of the Pyramids was mind boggling I feel the Pharaohs and their architects outdid themselves at the 'Valley of the Kings'. The tombs cut out into the belly of small rocky hills are examples of master craftsmanship and artistry. They camouflaged the tombs and the passage to the actual tomb in one case had a a booby trap also. It was so very well thought out and scientific but it is also the art in the form of paintings and sculptures in the belly of the hills astonishes you. All the tombs have been robbed except one.

Do you know why the thieves were not able to trace the tomb of Tutankhamen?

Coming up next.

Best regards,

Manoj

LOVE STORY - Do you remember Erich Segal

Hello,

Erich Segal, writer and academic, was born on June 16, 1937. He died of a heart attack on January 17, 2010, aged 72.

A Classics professor and author of scholarly books on the Ancient Greeks and Romans he knocked off a little novel called Love Story during his holidays. The book ended up being a bestseller in USA in 1970 and then becoming a high grosser film in 1971.

Read the start and you get hooked to it.

“What can you say about a twenty-five-year-old girl who died? That she was beautiful. And brilliant. That she loved Mozart and Bach. And the Beatles. And me.”

Sometimes an author, an artist, a scientist and / or any living Human Being comes up with something so exceptional that it even surpasses his wildest dreams. 'Love Story' was one of such events.

Segal taught classics at Yale University got inspired by a conversation he overheard in 1968 about a girl who supported her husband through graduate school and then died. “I sat down and started writing immediately,” he said. “The story poured out of me.”

The success of Love Story surprised virtually everyone, particularly in the movie business, where it was felt that such old-fashioned weepies were outdated.

But the themes of love against the odds, parental disapproval, misunderstandings and the cruel hand of fate, in the form of leukaemia, remained as powerful as ever. The public appreciated the book, its simple style and emotions, but it proved too big a challenge for many critics (though not all). Several judges threatened to resign if it were not removed from consideration for the National Book Award. They got their way.

Erich Segal will live in the hearts of every youngster who has experienced true love.

Best regards,

Manoj

Martin Luther King Day

Hello,

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day is celebrated today (18/01/2010) all across USA.

King was born Michael King Jr. but later, his father Michael King Sr., changed both names to Martin Luther in honor of the German Protestant Leader.

King was born on January 15, 1929 and assasinated on 4th April 1968. The Martin Luther King Day is celbrated on the third Monday of January every year since 1986. The prejudice against blacks can be gauged by the fact that although the proclamation was signed in 1983, the first time it was celebrated all across the 500 states in America was as late as 2000.

Technically without a High School certificate, King received his Doctor of Philosophy in 1951.

He is the most celebrated civil rights leader for blacks in America and had to pay for his activism with his life. He started his activism through the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 and is likened to Mahatma Gandhi for his preference for non-violent resistance.

In 1964 he became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace prize.

He had excellent oratory skills and his speech 'I have a Dream' is considered one of the most important speeches made on racial discimination in USA. Delivered on August 28, 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and it was a defining moment for the American Civil Rights Movement. There are many quotes from the speech that are recognized as an important part of American history.

The entire speech is moving and full of quotes and key phrases that are now a very important part of history.

"It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual."

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

"Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring—when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children—black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics—will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

"This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day."

When King died in 1968 he was just 39 years old but according to the Doctor he had a heart of a sixty year old.

But his life has not been without controversy. a 1980 inquiry revealed that portions his doctorate thesis on "A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman" had been plagiarized.

King was a compulsive womanizer and accused of having several extra-marital affairs. In fact this was one of major weapon the FBI was planning to use against him to remove King from the leadership of the movements on civil rights.

King's biographer David Garrow detailed what he called King's "compulsive sexual athleticism." Garrow wrote about numerous extramarital affairs, including one with a woman King saw almost daily. According to Garrow, "that relationship, rather than his marriage, increasingly became the emotional centerpiece of King's life, but it did not eliminate the incidental couplings that were a commonplace of King's travels." King explained his extramarital affairs as "a form of anxiety reduction".

Today we celebrate the birth of this extraordinary personality who in a sense paved the way for Barrack Obama becoming the President of the USA.

Best regards,

Manoj

THE JYOTI IS EXTINGUISHED - MAY HE LIVE IN OUR HEARTS

Hello,

One of the most honest, hard working and popular leaders in Indian politics, Comrade Jyoti Basu departed for his heavenly abode at 96.

His popularity can be gauged from the fact that even after a decade of being away from active politics his death brought mourners from across the country representing all sections of society. Jyoti Babu, was born in an Aristrocratic Bengali family and studied Law in London but came back and lead a communist combination to power in 1977. As Chief Minister he become the longest serving Chief Minister of any Indian state and retired from active politics in 2000 due to poor health. This was exemplary as generally Indian politicians retire only when cremated or buried.

In 1996 he had an opportunity to become the Prime Minister of India but a 'historic blunder' caused by the short sightedness of the communist leadership deprived him of this deserving appointment. He could have easily lead a revolt then but his dedication and obedience to the party was never questionable and he let this opportunity pass by.

Jyoti Babu brought in land reforms in West Bengal that provided land to several landless people and his 'Fabian Socialism' made him popular amongst the masses. Although there have been question marks over his contribution to the stagnation of the Industrial growth and flight of business from the state it can never be disputed that he was the king who was popular and supreme.

His charisma can also be judged by the fact that after his stepping down from Chief Ministership, the Communists in Bengal are facing an opposition that is growing stronger by the day and we are also witnessing the growth in Maoist activities which means that the party is being gnawed from both sides. While it is loosing its support in the bigger towns to other main stream opposition parties, the villages are getting influenced by the maoist machine operating with the poor people.

Let us pray for peace to his soul and may he be reborn, more capable, for the benefit of our motherland.

Best regards,

Manoj

MY TRIP TO EGYPT

Hello,

The last week of December was spent in Egypt. We visited Sharm El Sheikh - a modern snorkelling and Scuba diving destination and then moved on to the ancient with visits to Cairo, Aswan and Luxor.

The trip was fabulous overall but there were some notes which were not so musical. I will post my experience in bits and pieces over the next couple of days so that people visitng the place can have some idea of what to look for when there.

Best regards,
Manoj

IS OSAMA BIN LADEN SPANISH

Hello,

After initially claiming to have used cutting edge technology to come up with a photofit image of Osama Bin Laden in his 50s, the FBI has now admitted that all that they did do was to use the usual cut/paste option and lift features of left-wing politician Gaspar Llamazares. Gasper isa member of Spain’s Communist party and a critic of the US “war on terror". He was astonished and said he would no longer feel safe travelling to the United States.

“I was surprised and angered because it’s the most shameless use of a real person to make up the image of a terrorist,” he said.“It’s almost like out of a comedy, if it didn’t deal with matters as serious as Bin Laden and citizens’ security.”Llamazares intends to ask the US government for an explanation and is considering legal action. He said he has “no similarity, physically or ideologically, to Bin Laden”.

Meanwhile all the intelligence of the FBI has not been able to give them a single clue on where Osama is hiding. They say he in the hills dividing Afghanistan with Pakistan, but no one seems to know where. The attacks by the extremists group led by him continue unabated and get sophisticated (or simple enough) to get through the radar and other vigilance systems used by the west.

Can the US actually win the "war on terror" or is it a ploy to continue the arms production and interference policy.

Best regards,

Manoj

MY MOTHER IS AN UGLY WOMAN

Hello,

Read a wonderful blog with the above title. The link to the blog is here and all Indians should read it once: http://www.mindtree.com/subrotobagchi/my-mother-is-an-ugly-woman/.

The writer narrates his experience at a student seminar in Germany and tells us how disappointed he was when he heard an educated, well placed Indian trying to tell the German listeners about Indian habits.

I am not sure if all of us will actually agree with the sentiments of the writer but I do agree that the blog is well written and the sentence where the writer connects to the readers by mentioning 'mother' does pull the heartstrings. I also found the speech of the Ugly Indian interesting and humorous.

Humor is at its best when people have the ability to laugh at themselves. It is therefore not surprising that a comedian gets the loudest laughs when he potrays himself as a bumbling fool.

The Ugly Indian speaker who is potrayed to be inconsiderate and lacking in love for the motherland has actually done a wonderful job of making people laugh by becoming the butt of jokes himself. He, I feel, did fine till his error about Indians not being honest with their intentions.

There are jokes about how Indians can never form an orderly line and how like the crab they keep trying to pull down the other and how they will go to the extremes to save money.

These are fine. There is nothing wrong with such stories as these can be replicated for many other countries. We joke about stingy Indians, crabby Indians and unruly Indians ourselves.

But what is absolutely wrong is his joke about Indians inviting people and then not being ready. 'Athiti Devo Bhava' - 'The visitor is God' is engrained in every Indian mind and even an unexpected visitor can never go empty handed from an Indian house.

Except for this error the other things are normal and even this joke, although not applicable, did click because the people could connect with it. Every society and country have people who say things they do not mean. Germans of all people - the people who showed brutality towards their own people and lead to the world war II can hardly be the country who can treat others with disdain.

People can laugh at the Indian way as it is so different from the western way. It is stupid to say that just because we do not do things the western way we are not to be taken seriously. It is in this context that I remember the interview Aishwarya Rai did with David Letterman. DL tried to joke about the fact that Aishwarya at 26 was still staying with her parents. His statement made the audience roar with laughter but what Aiswarya said next made the studio go quiet and then the applause was deafening. She said something like "Yes I stay with my parents. This way I do not have to take an appointment with them for having dinner together."

What she pointed out was that just because we are different does not mean that we are disadvantaged in any way. She also made it clear that she saw advantage in the difference.

My mother may be an ugly woman but I love her. Just because I joke about my siblings does not make me a mother hater.

Best regards,

Manoj