Life, Dreams and Reality -- Sohel's Blog

A classic song from Dire Straits, awesome drum and guitar combination.

September On Jessore Road Allen Ginsberg Millions of babies watching the skies Bellies swollen, with big round eyes On Jessore Road--long bamboo huts Noplace to shit but sand channel ruts Millions of fathers in rain Millions of mothers in pain Millions of brothers in woe Millions of sisters nowhere to go One Million aunts are dying for bread One Million uncles lamenting the dead Grandfather millions homeless and sad Grandmother millions silently mad Millions of daughters walk in the mud Millions of children wash in the flood A Million girls vomit & groan Millions of families hopeless alone Millions of souls nineteenseventyone homeless on Jessore road under grey sun A million are dead, the million who can Walk toward Calcutta from East Pakistan Taxi September along Jessore Road Oxcart skeletons drag charcoal load past watery fields thru rain flood ruts Dung cakes on treetrunks, plastic-roof huts Wet processions Families walk Stunted boys big heads don't talk Look bony skull...

Should past "politically incorrect" comments be taken into account in giving awards to otherwise a talented poet or a writer? Last year it was Germany's Gunter Grass who was under waves of critiques for his "coming out clean" in his memoir, of his involvement with the military branch of Hitler's Nazis when he was a 17 year old man. Many decades ago poet Ezra Pound's "anti-semitic" comments put him under the gun, though his immense talent as a poet was indisputable. Now, in our modern time, another poet with substantial credence is going through similar turmoils at the upper echelon of poetry society where all the "gurus" of poetry are squabbling on the merit of his receiving the prestigious "Frost Medal". Here is an extract from The New York Times article on this increasingly testy issue: In one example, Mr. Hollander, writing a rave review in The New York Times Book Review of the collected poems of Jay Wright, an African-Am...

Against the unarmed protesters, the military junta has unleashed their wrath today, beating them, volleys of tear gas and bullets injuring and killing scores of civilians in the heart of Burma, even a foreign journalist from Japan got killed from indiscriminate flying bullets. Why is this ferocity? Why is the necessity to silence the voice of non-violent protests who have been subjugated for the past 45 years by Burmese military regime? Read the following excerpt from The Guardian: About 3,000 demonstrators sat down in the road before the ranks of riot police, clapping and chanting, taunting the security forces - who took no action at first. But then police and soldiers pushed the crowd and began firing into the protesters, wounding at least four though it was not clear how severely. Clapping and chanting were the only "weapons" of Burmese protesters against bullets and tear gas. Perhaps, the terrified junta knows that the time has come for their end, their inevitable collaps...

Speech Alone by Jean Follain Translated by W. S. Merwin It happens that one pronounces a few words just for oneself alone on this strange earth then the small white flower the pebble like all those that went before the sprig of stubble find themselves re-united at the foot of the gate which one opens slowly to enter the house of clay while chairs, table, cupboard, blaze in a sun of glory.

On The Death Of Friends In Childhood We shall not ever meet them bearded in heaven Nor sunning themselves among the bald of hell; If anywhere, in the deserted schoolyard at twilight, forming a ring, perhaps, or joining hands In games whose very names we have forgotten. Come memory, let us seek them there in the shadows.

For poor, oppressed, whose only consolation is devotion to their deities any forms or shape, shapeless, take them away from daily miseries, pain from humiliation, singing "We don't have anyone except you!"

Another memorable song from Swades -- a scientist returned from America to his native land, teaching the villagers about astronomies. Perhaps this is in Bollywood style movie, but it does talk about positive aspects of science disseminating among the people, poor or rich. "This star, that star, all stars, look at whichever looks lovely to you....", just a novice translation of very last line from the song.

Does it matter if one is from one special country or not? Love for childhood memories where one grew up, where memories from distant time and place stroke like sweetest melody, can that ever be forgotten? Here is a truth from this song: "This is a bond that never can be severed"

So many years ago I'd seen this movie, and especially this unforgettable song from Roja, AR Rahman's music is one of the best.

Playing politics with fear. Executive power trumping all laws, even constitution becomes secondary in the face of shrewd manipulation. Years of unchecked and brazen deceits have made the fear manipulators so much bold in their myth creating agendas that they even dared to " employ false intelligence to convince lawmakers they should temporarily expand domestic spying powers under the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)." MSNBC's Olbermann interviews Representative Jane Harman who had raised her voice against these types deceptions. Check the following video: Another video with Olbermann's commentary can be found below. Here Bruce Fein is interviewed, who is an American lawyer specializing in constitutional and international law and also who had served as an associate deputy attorney general in Ronald Reagan administration: The following link will take the interested readers to ACLU's guide to FISA, what it really is and what the myth surrounding FISA is....

Like most democracy loving folks in our world, Cindy Sheehan, a mother whose son got killed in Iraq, and an American woman who symbolizes through her fearless protests at the heart of conservative foreground how a person whose conscience remains intact even after losing her son and going through immeasurable grief that only a mother knows how to narrate, is respected for her uttering truth in inconvenient manner. Columbia University's fiasco related to Ahmedinejad's appearance and the derogatory remarks he had received from the inviting host, even though it may have truths embedded in it, he still represents a nation of millions of people who was indeed elected by his "peers". Especially, this shameful event becomes more painful when considering the universal norm of treating one's guest in gentle and kind manner which prevalent in our "civilized" world. Cindy Sheehan said the best in her article published in Common Dreams today, a few excerpts are given...

"Economically, China has changed beyond re cognition, but Mao Zedong's heirs remain in power, and for them Taiwan is still an essential cause. They may be biding their time, until not a single little country recognises the upstart alternative to the People's Republic, and the American and Chinese economies are so integrated that there is no question of Washington risking everything to defend a leftover bit of history." Link: Why Beijing cares about tiny Nauru

English Nasheed: a beautiful song. Song Lyrics: Today, upon a bus, I saw a girl with golden hair. And wished I was as fair. When suddenly she rose to leave, I saw her hobble down the aisle. She had one leg and wore a crutch. But as she passed, she smiled. Oh God, forgive me when I whine. I have two legs the world is mine. With feet to take me where I `d go. With eyes to see the sunset's glow. With ears to hear what I'd know. Oh God, forgive me when I whine. I have blessed indeed, the world is mine. I stopped to buy some candy. The lad who sold it had such charm. I talked with him, he seemed so glad. If I were late, it `d do no harm. And as I left, he said to me, "I thank you, you've been so kind. You see," he said, "I `m blind" Oh God, forgive me when I whine. I have two eyes the world is mine. With feet to take me where I `d go. With eyes to see the sunset's glow. With ears to hear what I'd know. Oh God, forgive me when I whine. I have blessed i...

A few excerpts from Reason magazine: "...........conflicts of interest undermine public trust in and support for scientific research, endanger research subjects and patients, and boost medical costs by encouraging physicians and patients to use new treatments that are no better than cheaper alternatives. Yet public trust in biomedical research remains high, and that trust seems to be justified. Subjects in clinical trials hardly ever suffer serious harm, and instances in which dangerous side effects turn up after drugs are approved are relatively rare. Rather than making medicine unnecessarily expensive, pharmaceutical innovation ultimately reduces health care costs, because new drugs usually have advantages that pay off in lower medical bills. The critics’ concerns are not entirely groundless. Driven by self-interest, drug companies and researchers do occasionally hide data or run drug trials that produce data of scant clinical value. But private initiatives by medical journals, ...

A research scientist has made remarkable strides in cancer research, including a potentially very effective anti-cancer drug using DCA - dichloroacetates which is a salt made from dichloroacetic acid. Dr. Evangelos D. Michelakis has published the following update in University of Alberta website with recent update of his research and on coming clinical trials and also he has shed light on the arduous process that goes behind before any successful drugs can be released to broader public. Here is the pdf link: http://www.depmed.ualberta.ca/dca/letter_092407.pdf To go to the Official University of Alberta DCA Website, please click here . Link to Wikipedia on DCA: Cancer Research - Dichloroacetic acid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I don't know how authentic this study is, but it looks alarming. More authoritative studies and revelations must be done by public health officials around the world who are not tied with cell phone or tech industries. This is a serious issue considering the ubiquitous status of cell phone in almost every strata of human lives from New York to New Delhi, from Chittagong to Caracas, cell phone usage has become part of our life. If there is any truth in these studies, that should be revealed to world populace without consideration of economic impact for cell phone manufacturers and global marketeers. Public health comes first before market consideration. Without a healthy global populace, there is also no profitable market. Here are a few excerpts from this article: Cell phones are more like radios than traditional telephones in your home. They emit low levels of radiofrequency energy (RF) in the microwave range while being used. They also emit very low levels of RF when in the stand-...

His entire life he devoted to music as a revered musician in Bangladesh Radio, but when time comes for retirement what he and other musicians get? “Surprisingly, the musicians are not yet regular government service holders, but are hired on a monthly contractual basis,” he says. “After they retire, the musicians are deprived of provident fund or pension benefits; instead they are handed a mere month's salary as gratuity. If we have the right to vote why shouldn't we be entitled to a right to live?” says Dutta." His melodious music once and still have rippled people's heart, now his very basic question "shouldn't we be entitled to a right to live?" utters a cry of help from ignored humanity. The Daily Star Article Link: Subal Dutta on the deplorable state of radio artistes

One of the most repressive regimes in the world is facing spontaneous protests marches of Buddhist monks, even general populace have joined them in their non-violent movement against Burmese military dictators. The reason for this march is the following along with a subtle others that can be found anywhere where people's very basic rights of freedom are trampled and thwarted by bayonets and muzzles of guns: "......want an apology for the beating and arrest of several monks at a protest three weeks ago. They also want the junta to roll back the steep fuel price increases that touched off the demonstrations in the first place, and for the government to release political prisoners." Yesterday more than 100,000 took the streets like all the previous days, and today is no different. Only difference is that the uneasy Burmese regime have started to counter the monks and general populace by putting military back on the street in various disguises: ".......troops had infilt...

Blood Diamond is a well-directed movie I had seen earlier this year. If you have seen it, then perhaps you can relate to the picture above. Photo Link: http://image.bayimg.com/aahgcaabd.jpg