Hands Held High.....

Turn my mike up louder I got to say something

Light weights step to the side when we come in

Feel it in your chest the syllables get pumping

People on the street they panic and start running

Words on loose leaf sheet complete coming

I jump in my mind and summon the rhyme, I'm dumping

Healing the blind I promise to let the sun in

Sick of the dark ways we march to the drum and

Jump when they tell us that they wanna see jumping

Fuck that I wanna see some fists pumping

Risk something, take back what's yours

Say something that you know they might attack you for

Cause I'm sick of being treated like I have before

Like it's stupid standing for what I'm standing for

Like this war's really just a different brand of war

Like it doesn't cater the rich and abandon poor

Like they understand you in the back of the jet

When you can't put gas in your tank

These fuckers are laughing their way to the bank and cashing the cheque

Asking you to have compassion and have some respect

For a leader so nervous in an obvious way

Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay

And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day

In their living room laughing like "what did he say?"

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

In my living room watching but I am not laughing

Cause when it gets tense I know what might happen

World is cold the bold men take action

Have to react or get blown into fractions

Ten years old it's something to see

Another kid my age drugged under a jeep

Taken and bound and found later under a tree

I wonder if he had thought the next one could be me

Do you see the soldiers they're out today

They brush the dust from bullet proof vests away

It's ironic at times like this you pray

But a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday

There's bombs in the buses, bikes, roads

Inside your market, your shops, your clothes

My dad he's got a lot of fear I know

But enough pride inside not to let that show

My brother had a book he would hold with pride

A little red cover with a broken spine

On the back, he hand-wrote a quote inside

When the rich wage war it's the poor who die

Meanwhile, the leader just talks away

Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay

And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day

both scared and angry like "what did he say?"

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

With hands held high into the sky so blue,

As the ocean opens up to swallow you.

Adieu Michael.....We will miss a visionary......

Michael Crichton, who died in Los Angeles on November 4, 2008, was a writer and filmmaker, best known as the author of Jurassic Park and the creator of ER. His most recent novel, Next, about genetics and law, was published in December 2006. 

Crichton graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College, received his MD from Harvard Medical School, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, researching public policy with Jacob Bronowski. He taught courses in anthropology at Cambridge University and writing at MIT. Crichton's 2004 bestseller, State of Fear, acknowledged the world was growing warmer, but challenged extreme anthropogenic warming scenarios. He predicted future warming at 0.8 degrees C. (His conclusions have been widely misstated.) 

Crichton's interest in computer modeling went back forty years. His multiple-discriminant analysis of Egyptian crania, carried out on an IBM 7090 computer at Harvard, was published in the Papers of the Peabody Museum in 1966. His technical publications included a study of host factors in pituitary chromophobe adenoma, in Metabolism, and an essay on medical obfuscation in the New England Journal of Medicine. 

Crichton's first bestseller, The Andromeda Strain, was published while he was still a medical student. He later worked full time on film and writing. One of the most popular writers in the world, his books have been translated into thirty-six languages, and thirteen have been made into films. 

He had a lifelong interest in computers. His feature film Westworld was the first to employ computer-generated special effects back in 1973. Crichton's pioneering use of computer programs for film production earned him a Technical Achievement Academy Award in 1995. 

Crichton won an Emmy, a Peabody, and a Writer's Guild of America Award for ER. In 2002, a newly discovered ankylosaur was named for him: Crichtonsaurus bohlini. He had a daughter, Taylor, and lived in Los Angeles. Crichton remarried in 2005. 

CRICHTON, (John) Michael. American. Born in Chicago, Illinois, October 23, 1942. Died in Los Angeles, November 4, 2008. Educated at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, A.B. (summa cum laude) 1964 (Phi Beta Kappa). Henry Russell Shaw Travelling Fellow, 1964-65. Visiting Lecturer in Anthropology at Cambridge University, England, 1965. Graduated Harvard Medical School, M.D. 1969; post-doctoral fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences, La Jolla, California 1969-1970. Visiting Writer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1988. 

Awards: Recipient of Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Allan Poe Award, 1968 ("A Case of Need", written under pseudonym Jeffery Hudson); and 1980 ("The Great Train Robbery"). Association of American Medical Writers Award, 1970 ("Five Patients"); Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Technical Achievement Award, 1995 ("for pioneering computerized motion picture budgeting and scheduling"); George Foster Peabody Award (for "ER"); Writer's Guild of America Award, Best Long Form Television Script of 1995 (for "ER") Emmy, Best Dramatic Series, 1996 (for "ER"). Ankylosaur named Crichtonsaurus bohlini, 2002. 

Associations: Member of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Author's Guild, Writers Guild of America, Directors Guild of America, P.E.N. America Center, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Phi Beta Kappa. Board of Directors, International Design Conference at Aspen, 1985-91; Board of Trustees, Western Behavioral Sciences Institute, La Jolla, 1986-91. Board of Overseers, Harvard University, 1990-96. Board of Directors, Drug Strategies, 1994-, Author's Guild Council, 1995-, Board of Directors, Gorilla Foundation, 2002-, Board of Trustees, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2006- 

References: Contemporary Authors, 1971-; Who's Who in America, 1974-; Current Biography, April 1976; Film Encyclopedia, 1979-; International Motion Picture Almanac, 1996; International Television & Video Almanac, 1996. 



Novels
THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, Knopf, 1969
THE TERMINAL MAN, Knopf, 1972
THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY, Knopf, 1975
EATERS OF THE DEAD, Knopf, 1976
CONGO, Knopf, 1980
SPHERE, Knopf, 1987
JURASSIC PARK, Knopf, 1990
RISING SUN, Knopf, 1992
DISCLOSURE, Knopf, 1994
THE LOST WORLD, Knopf, 1995
AIRFRAME, Knopf, 1996
TIMELINE, Knopf, 1999
PREY, Harper Collins, 2002
STATE OF FEAR, Harper Collins, 2004
NEXT, Harper Collins, 2006

Non-Fiction
FIVE PATIENTS: The Hospital Explained, Knopf, 1970
JASPER JOHNS, Abrams, 1977
ELECTRONIC LIFE, Knopf, 1983
TRAVELS, Knopf, 1988
JASPER JOHNS (revised edition), Abrams, 1994

Published Screenplays
WESTWORLD, Bantam Books, 1975
TWISTER (with Anne-Marie Martin), Ballantine Books, 1996

Films
PURSUIT, ABC Movie of the Week, 1972. (Director)
WESTWORLD, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1973. (Writer/Director)
COMA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1978. (Writer/Director)
THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY, United Artists, 1979. (Writer/Director)
LOOKER, The Ladd Company, 1981. (Writer/Director)
RUNAWAY, Tri-Star Pictures, 1984. (Writer/Director)
PHYSICAL EVIDENCE, Columbia Pictures, 1989. (Director)
JURASSIC PARK, Universal, 1993 (Co-writer)
RISING SUN, Twentieth Century Fox, 1993 (Co-writer)
DISCLOSURE, Warner Brothers, 1994 (Co-producer)
TWISTER, Warner Brothers/Universal, 1996 (Co-writer, Co-producer)
SPHERE, Warner Brothers, 1998 (Co-producer)
13TH WARRIOR, Touchstone, 1999 (Co-producer)

Other Films From Crichton's Books
THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, Universal, 1971
THE CAREY TREATMENT, MGM, 1972
DEALING: OR THE BERKLEY TO BOST0N FORTY-BRICK LOST BAG BLUES, Warner Bros, 1972
THE TERMINAL MAN, Warner Bros, 1974
CONGO, Paramount, 1995
LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK II, Universal, 1997
TIMELINE, Paramount, 2003

Television
ER, NBC, 1994 Creator, (co-exec. producer)

Computer Games
AMAZON, Tellarium, 1982
TIMELINE, Eidos, 2000 

Lost in Translation.....

A year has passed since Rizwanur lost his life for his love.

Lot of questions been asked, views exchanged, candles lit, consciences introspected, the social and religious dogmas shaken; the concept of civil liberties, the right of social justice discussed exhaustively. People have wept for Rizwanur, they have stood up for him, and they have fought for him.

A lot has happened for someone who could easily be classed as “a nobody” in our country. Somebody not connected to the police, the politicians or the underworld and did not have filthy amount of money to lavish on all of the above. Sadly that is the profile of most of us. And perhaps that is why Rizwanur feels so close to us. For it could easily be you, me or her.

Most of us are pragmatic. We accept the chains of society and religion that tie us. We do not dare and at times do not even yearn to break free. We accept our limitations. We know we cannot fight the power of religion on one hand and the police, politicians and the underworld on the other. So we give up, at times with bitterness and on occasions with frustration. But deep down, the ordinary nobody in us always wants to be somebody. Somebody who wants to make a difference, somebody who can break free. And that is why Rizwanur feels like a hero to us. For he was the nobody who actually became somebody.

But was it all worth it?

There are lots of questions lot of us need to answer. If not to others then at least to ourselves.

In a moment of pure speculation the mind wanders and asks what would the person who may have actually killed Rizwanur be thinking one year on? What did they do with the money they got? Bought their kids their school books, a new pair of shorts! Every time they caress the messy hair of their little one do they remember Rizwanur!

Perhaps he was not murdered. Perhaps he was driven to suicide. Anyone feels responsible!? One year on Perhaps a tear of repentance, an unspoken apology- would it lessen their burden of guilt- who knows? In their solitude do they ever feel they made a mistake? Could they have done things differently?

To those who hold power and are supposed to look after the law of the land-the police and politicians alike- it is hard for them to do any soul searching for their cannot be much of it left in them. But still it’s worth a try. The nexus, the bullying, the high handedness, the disregard of the constitution was it all worth it? You can be moved around, shuffled, demoted and promoted, you can run and hide from the media gaze but can you hide from yourself. When your kids go to school do you worry about their safety in the jungle you have created and perpetuated? History is at least read if not learnt from. Doubtless the next generation in your families will read this history in years to come. Will they be proud of what you gave them?

Lot many questions remain- some we need to answer or at least think about? Have we changed our perspectives? Are we ready to sacrifice our dogmatic views and prejudices? What are we doing for developing a fairer and more tolerant society? What are we doing to protect our kids? Shall we chain them and tell them never to break free or should we give them the wings to fly? Shall we keep reminding them they are nobodies and should always remain so just like us or shall we teach them to be somebody?

Altleast for the time being the miscreants clad in police uniforms have found themselves behind bars.

Justice is the inevitable.

Love seeks nothing. Love fears nothing. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. [1 Corinthians 13:4-8a]

Can we still believe in love?

I for one am not very sure.....

Wake me Up When September ends....

I remember the first time I had seen the very disturbing footage of rubble, glass raining from the sky with smoke enveloping the skies of the Big Apple. I was paralysed momentarily. As if in a trance I watched the second plane ferociously ramming into a tall skyscraper. When my brain slipped back into reality, the shocking realisation dawned on me. It's 7 years since then.It's funny how time elegantly flew since then. The once WTC is now Ground Zero.

We often hear of the word 'Terrorism' either on television news broadcasts. But what actually is 'Terrorism'. I could remember from a Dan Brown paperback, the protagonist Robert Langdon defining it as 'an attempt to cause terror'. But what is the motive behind such acts ? Oppression leads to Terrorism thus an eye for an eye makes the world go blind. This blindness is going to prove to be the sole cause of the destruction of the human race lest we try to comer out of the darkness surrounding us into the light.

Glad to be back.....after a long while....

Strangely enough education inhibits the hobbies of youngsters these days. However even the the most constructive co-curricular activities are considered fatuously dangerous to one's career . For me I don't know how playing a guitar or writing blogs for instance can hamper one's academic life. Truthfully speaking it is rather obvious that a student cannot study for 24 hours a day . So if one studies for at least 4 hours a day why can he not spend the quarter of an hour in doing something re creative. The definition of career is rather ambiguous . What does career mean ? Does it mean giving up every thing in life that brings joy and spending time with only and only the academic coursework. The question that keeps coming back to me is do we always become what we want to be or are driven in the rat race to destroy our dreams slog as students in schools and colleges as well as through work in our later life. Then what exactly is life worth and why is it worth living if not lived happily.Is it only for earning money..??? This question is hard to answer and even harder to ask.

Who am I ...???

Lots of people have been saying lately that my blog is kind of abstract and that I merely live in the world of problems and refuse to seek solutions. In fact if we closely examine the world the chances are that we find more questions than answers. Without questions the world today would never have been what it is. In the very beginning I had said that I can't and rather won't try to offer solutions to problems.Finding solutions were never easy. Galileo and Copernicus were pushed to the edge of their grave just because they were searching for answers. But apparently the answers weren't satisfactory to a section of people. In my analysis of human nature, I found that it is habitual to find the solutions provided by people unacceptable . The thought that "I am always right" always overshadows common sense. Although sense is so 'common' in this world we seldom seem to look towards it in order to find solutions.

Many questions remain still remain unanswered as we find solutions to one. I still am yet to find out my true identity. The answer continues to elude me and I no clue when I would be finally get hold of it. As the time passes I unravel one clue after another which furthers me on to the realisation of my goal. I might appear twisted and uncouth as some people say . If that's what I am no one can change that...not even me.

Questions Without Answers.....

We often enter into relationships without much thoughts on its persistence or survival, yet when we are about to pull out we are often engrossed in thought. The Question that I have always tried to ask is,' Are we afraid to be alone ? Are we incapable fulfilling our own requirements ? Are we an insecure species who cannot survive by self but constantly need some one to watch our very step from our infancy ?'
Quite often I find there are more questions in life compared to the insignificant number of answers. But have we even tried looking for answers ? Some time ago I heard a decent quotation which goes like this." Love is a way nature cons mankind into making more babies." In a way this is true . This hypothesis perhaps explains infidelity and man's insatiable lust. I have little experience and little patience in romance, though many head over heels in love may contradict me. Uniquely enough for me it didn't quite work out. I wouldn't say I was happy after my first shot at a relationship turned out to be a misfire. But with time, I learnt to heal my wounds they did remain fresh for a long time .So now I am recluse.I do not however resent the fact. It gives me strange kind of freedom, a satisfaction that for once in my life I can do the things I've always wanted to do completely by myself without sharing myself with a woman.