A life well lived

Bekhudee kee jindagi hum jiya nahi karte,
Jaam doosron se chheen kar hum piya nahi karte,
Unko mohabbat hain to aakar izhaar kare,
Peechha hum bhi kisika kiya nahi karte.

Phool hoon gulab kaa chameli ka mat samajhna,
Aashiq hoon aapka, apne saheli ka mat samajhna

Tere Dil Mein Meri Saanson Ko Panaah Mil Jaaye,
Tere Ishq Mein Meri Jaan Fanaa Ho Jaaye

A protestor of the movie "Fanaa" died of his injuries suffered due to self-immolation. The ruling BJP party in the state of gujrat banned the movie after the lead actor criticized the government efforts in the rehabilitation of the farmers affected by the Narmada river dam. The views (not different from the Supreme Court ruling) were seen as a personal affront to the party, even
though the movie had no connection to the political scenario.

After the supreme court overturn on the ban, the movie was released in one movie theatre in the entire state. One of the protestors of the movie then set fire to himself as an act of protest. The region faces chronic droughts, the infrastructure is non existant, has a history of religious tensions and the most worthy reason the youth had to end his life was to protest a badly made movie. To add to the thoughtlessness of the entire situation, locals thought his sacrifice was for a good cause and raised 100000 Rs for his family.

All in all, by general consensus, a life well lived.

Get your betting money out, the world cup is here

I've been following the 2006 Football world cup without picking a team to support (India sucks as they can't qualify for the world cup qualifiers) . Now after analyzing the games here are my world cup predictions.

(1-First Place, 2-Second Place, Alphabets are the groups)

1A Germany v Sweden 2B - Germany
1C Argentina v Angola 2D - Argentina
1B England v Ecuador 2A - England
1D Portugal v Netherland 2c - Netherland
1E Italy v Australia 2F - Italy
1G SKorea v Ukraine 2H - Ukraine
1F Brazil v Ghana 2E - Brazil
1H Spain v Swiss 2G - Spain

Germany v Argentina - Argentina - :) due apologies to german fans, I know they are good
England v Netherland - England
Italy v Ukraine - Italy
Brazil v Spain - Brazil

Argentina v Italy - Argentina
England v Brazil - Brazil (oh come on english fans, I hope u seriously didn't think you would win the world cup)

Argentina v Brazil - BRAZIL!!!

So if you are looking at betting predictions for the winner of this year's world cup, go for brazil.... ole ole ole ole ole viva la brazil. Brazilian fans make room for the sixth star on your jersey.

Hoping for a diamond

I've just got back from a short vacation around this beautiful country. Drove around 2500 miles across the east and north eastern parts of the country.During my travel, I visited the Smithsonian Institute in DC where amongst the fine items on display, was the Hope Diamond.

Now the "Hope Diamond" has a bloody history associated with it.

It was originally mined in India in the Golconda region. Legend has it that the French traveller Jean-Baptiste Tavernier stole it from a Hindu idol of Sita. The Hope diamond made the eye of Sita and the priests on knowing it was stolen placed a curse on whoever owned the diamond.

Tavernier later sold the diamond to King Louis XIV of France. The diamond was passed down the line to King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette who were beheaded during the French Revolution. The crown jewels were stolen thereafter and whoever owned the diamond had misfortune fall upon them.

The diamond has been blamed for the murder and death of quite of a few of its future owners. The Russian prince Kanitowski, who supposedly lent it to French actress Lorens Ladue, who he later shot, and was later himself killed by revolutionaries. It was also blamed for the forced abdication of the Turkish Sultan Abdul Hamdi and the bankruptcy of others.

So considering the history of the diamond's past, it's quite interesting to note that the diamond is right at the heart of the most powerful nation in the world. It will be left to be seen if the curse of the diamond is a legend or not :)