Midway through '09

Who would have guessed we would have come half way through 2009? The year has really flown. While I wished June would have gotten off to a better start, courtesy of work that hasn't been possible, but I am definitely going to be a lot more optimistic. It can never get worst - only better...or at least that's what I keep telling myself. Well lots to talk about and heaps to discuss, lets get on with it shall we?

Headlines Today Impact

I'm always raving about how much I love Headlines Today for various reasons but today, I have love and respect for the channel. The channel managed to unravel two highly sensitive and important cases which have leaders have been completely neglected: the Bullet Proof Jackets, which have yet to reach Mumbai police post 26/11 (they were promised this commodity); and the milk scandal. For starters, leaders promised Mumbai cops that they would receive state of the art modern bulletproof vests for the protection. This of course, after 26/11 when the country realized that their own forces were not being protected correctly. The file apparently went "missing." It was only when HT went ahead and questioned the state of the inquiry, did leaders finally probe further. The vests will reach Mumbai Police soon. Amen.

The milk scandal is relatively new - but HT reporters went undercover to expose this racket. It seems that milkman were faking milk by mixing drain water with a whole bunch of deadly liquids which are poisonous. This faulty play was divulged by the HT crew and badda-bing it was all over! Gotta love that channel.

Gandhi x2

The Gandhi's, Rahul and Varun, both took their respective oaths into congress this week. While it was definitely a sight, Varun took his in Hindi and Rahul in English, the highlight was watching the boys bow down and prostrate to their aunts, Priyanka and Sonia when the ceremony was over. Gotta love boys who know that family feud aside, respect reigns high. Rajiv and Sanjay would be proud. Oh, while we're on the note of politics, for the first time in Indian history, a woman was elected as Speaker of the House: Meira Kumar. Although rumors claim she is quite the quiet one, so I'm not sure how that is going to work. We'll just wait and watch. Incidentally, members keep referring to her as "Sir!" It may take some time for them to adjust to calling her "Madam." Ha!

Air France Tragedy

This story was ultra disturbing. An Air France flight travelling from Brazil to France went down in the Atlantic killing 228 people on board. While every life is precious, it was sad to hear about a young boy who was headed back to boarding school. My prayers are with the families at this tragic time.

Racial Beatings in Aussie

I'd always heard of it - Racism in Australia. In fact they are known for referring to Indians as "Curry." Lame. Anyhow, more recently, local Australians have been beating up Indian students causing them to land up in the ICU. Lamer. It's a sad day in the world when modern students feel the need to make foreign students even more foreign. And the local authorities deem it as "the wrong place at the wrong time." Sick. Interestingly, I've come to believe, and agree with my fav Prabhu Chawla, that it is simply because we play better cricket. Talk about a bunch of sore losers. I really hope those imbeciles are caught and HUNG. Disgusting behavior.

June 4th 1989 Memories

The date is actually special to me. It was on this date 20 years ago that my parents hosted a huge gala which was my brother's naming ceremony. It was also on this day that the Tiananmen Square Massacre occurred. Over 100,000 students protested for freedom on this day only to be killed by local officials in tanks: 7,000 people were dead. You would think that the Chinese officials will be sombre and finally admit their fault. Negative. Instead they are trying to hide their wrong doings. The government has banned Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and the likes to prevent any means of protest around the world. And, any reporters within the Tiananmen Square area were blocked off by officials carrying umbrellas. Since they can't stop me, I can go ahead and condemn the attacks and wish that the Chinese government would GROW UP!

India Unsafe?

Check it out. The US Embassy has deemed India "Unsafe." HA! Unsafer? We are safer than a million other countries. P. Chidabaram of course, the rockstar, went ahead and said they would tell the US to take down the advisory. Whatever America.

And lastly, I finally launched Roshni Magazine: http://www.roshnimagazine.com

So far, the feedback has been awesome. Check it out!!

Photo Credit: June Flowers