Tibet - Global Day of Action, March 31

Avaaz.org - The World in Action

China has got it all, except love and respect. Can it FREE ITSELF from a "negative" past?

Would Chinese President Hu Jintao CHOOSE freedom and peace FOR China?

Members of Avaaz - the organization that has collected more than a million signatures in the last week calling on Hu Jintao for dialogue with the Dalai Lama - will join Tibet organizations around the world in a Global Day of Action for Tibet on March 31st.

Please see here to find an event near you.

Sign the Petition to Chinese President Hu Jintao -it will be delivered Monday, March 31st to Chinese embassies and consulates worldwide:

As citizens around the world, we call on you to show restraint and respect for human rights in your response to the protests in Tibet, and to address the concerns of all Tibetans by opening meaningful dialogue with the Dalai Lama. Only dialogue and reform will bring lasting stability. China's brightest future, and its most positive relationship with the world, lies in harmonious development, dialogue and respect.

Celebrating February 11: A Story of Freedom

Around 100 years ago, one of the earliest thoughts on freedom of South Africa came from Gandhi. In the year 1908, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi spoke to a gathering at Johannesburg:

"If we look into the future [of South Africa], is it not a heritage we have to leave to posterity, that all the different races commingle and produce a civilisation that perhaps the world has not yet seen?"

Fast forward to February 11, 1990: Nelson Mandela is freed from prison after 27 years (Watch video). Thousands danced and celebrated on the streets of Cape Town. Addressing 50,000 people assembled outside the balcony of Cape Town's City Hall, he declared:

"Our struggle has reached a decisive moment. Our march to freedom is irreversible."

He was the 466th prisoner at Robben Island in 1964 - he was anointed as prisoner number "46664". After his freedom, he immortalized this number by using this number as an icon for a global HIV AIDS awareness campaign.

In his book, Long Walk to Freedom he said:

I have walked that long road to freedom.
I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way.
But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill,
one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.
I have taken a moment here to rest,
to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me,
to look back on the distance I have come.
But I can rest only for a moment,
for with freedom comes responsibilities,
and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended.

His ideas on freedom:

"For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."

Read this line again - "respect and enhance the freedom of OTHERS"!

Amazing!

Now, how would you define freedom?

Man versus God: The Truth about Us

Peter Legge has a copy of an anonymous poem which "often seems to fit the struggle of humanity".

He shared the poem in "How to Soar With The Eagles".

The poem takes us through pain, sin, hate, hell, wars, despair and disaster ....but, finally reveals the truth about us - Who is to blame and who is to take responsibility?

I walked today through the slums of life,
Down the dark streets of wretchedness, and of pain.
I trod today where few have trod
and as I walked I challenged God.

I saw the sots in the bar rooms.
I saw the prostitutes in the dance halls.
I saw the thieves as they picked pockets.
I saw men and women devoid of life,
living in a world of sin,
and above the din I whispered, "Why God, Why?"

I walked today down the lanes of hate,
Hearing the jeers of bitter men,
Hearing the names as they cursed and spat
"Dago, Nigger, Kike, jap."
I saw the defected men they stoned.
I felt the anguish of their cries.
I saw them as they slapped the lonely,
as they turned their backs on human needs.
Snarling, growling were the fiends of hell.
These, God called his sons!
Gasping for air, I cried "Why God, Why?"

I walked today through wars of grim dregs...
over graveless men.
I saw the dead, the crucified, the headless,
the limbless, the pleading, the crying.
I saw the pain, the waste.
I smelled the odor of rotted flesh.

I saw the children gathered round..watching naked, hungry, weeping, diseased, dirty....
The baby trying to nurse from a dead mother.
The ruins...the agony...the despair!
Disaster..........disaster............all around!

Blinded with tears, I fled down these streets.
I stumbled, then stopped.
I shouted "Why God, Why?"
Why do you let man sin, hate and suffer?
Unmerciful Father! God, are you blind?
Are you wicked and cruel?
God, can you watch and do nothing?
Why must this be?

The world grew silent.
I awaited reply.
The silence was heavy.
I started to tremble.
I waited long..haft rebuking, half fearing,
Then I heard from close behind me
"Why.....Man.........Why?"

~Anonymous

Foreign Brand Names!

For years, I have smiled at small Photocopier outlets in some regions like Maharashtra displaying, "Zerox" instead of Xerox.

But, when a recent visitor from "The Auto Expo 2008", Delhi told me that her friends loved the "VOKS-WAGON" car, I thought a quick look at the pronunciation of some Foreign Brand Names could be useful to many!

He were go!

Adidas :AH-dee-dass
Bayer :BYE-er
Blancpain :Blahn-pa(n)
Braun :Brown
Cartier :Kar-t-yay
Christian Dior : Cree-st-yaa(n) DEE-or
Hermes : Air-mez
Louis Vuitton :Loo-wee Vee-tuhh(n)
Piaget :PEE-uh-jay
Porsche :PORSH-uh
Renault :Ray-NOH
Tissot :Tee-SOh
Versace :Ver-sah-cheh
Volkswagen :Folks-VAH-gn
Yves Saint Laurent : Eaves-sahn Lore-rahn

The above pronunciations are indicative only. For accuracy or wherever you are not sure, please download specific sound files which are available at many sites.

And then, there are many more brands out there!

Please feel free to add to the list!

The Calendar Girls!

Aalochana! In Sanskrit, it means Critical Review. As a NGO, it is the Centre for Documentation and Research on Women, set up in 1989 by "five feminists".

Their Vision:

"Our vision is to work towards the creation of a gender just and democratic society based on equality and freedom for all. To achieve this we have committed ourselves to the creation of awareness amongst women about their rights and what they can do to change their lives and the lives of their communities. It
is towards achieving these goals that Aalochana was set up."

Their annual calendar features 12 women achievers from rural areas in Haryana, Uttaranchal, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. Freelance writer-cum-photographer Vidya Kulkarni travelled for a month across these states to capture "the strength and the confidence that the women exuded" on camera.

The list includes Bele, a zilla parishad member and chairperson of Women and Child Development Committee from Latur, and Latifa Sheikh, sarpanch of Raimoha gram panchayat in Beed.

Is Photography Dead?

Is photography now threatened by "Pixelization" of Media and use of Animation in movies?

Read it all in Newsweek, where Peter Plagens, says:

The last art form to be tethered to realism, its factual validity has lately been manipulated and pixelated to the point of extinction.

Photography is the easiest art, which perhaps makes it the hardest.~Lisette Model

Drop The Mask

Unless you drop your personality you will not be able to find your individuality.

Individuality is given by existence; personality is imposed by the society.

Personality is social convenience. Society cannot tolerate individuality, because individuality will not follow like a sheep.

Individuality has the quality of the lion; the lion moves alone. The sheep are always in the crowd, hoping that being in the crowd will feel cozy.

Being in the crowd one feels more protected, secure. If somebody attacks, there is every possibility in a crowd to save yourself. But alone? - only the lions move alone.

And every one of you is born a lion, but the society goes on conditioning you, programming your mind as a sheep.

It gives you a personality, a cozy personality, nice, very convenient, very obedient.

Society wants slaves, not people who are absolutely dedicated to freedom. Society wants slaves because all the vested interests want obedience.

~Osho